Mughals - How Tyrannic And Oppressive

[Bodhi]

Rajkumari Surya Kumari was the eldest daughter of Raja Ajitsingh of Khetadi principality in Shekhavati, and was married to the Raja Umed Singh of Shahpura. Swami Vivekananda had stayed in her father's state for a few months during one of his travels in Rajasthan before he became so famous, and as a child she was impressed by the young Swami.

Later, when she became Maharani, she established grants for authentic Indic researches in History, Philosophy and Literature. She was particularly interested in making popular the works of Swami Vivekanand by getting those translated in Hindi and other languages. She also gave grants for research subjects in history.

With one such grant, Ram Chandra Verma of Kashi Nagari Pracharini Sabha undertook further work into Akbar's life, and produced a 3-volume 'Akbari Darbar' in Hindi, which was first published in 1927-28.

The worth of this volume is that it offers a plain, straight and honest account of not just Akbar, but all the people surrounding him, especially his navaratna-s. It takes effort to, for example, unearth the accounts of Trilochan Pandey (Tansen), Mahesh Das (Birbal), Abdurrahim Khankhana (Rahim), and Todar Mal.

Really a good reference, if not a complete work in itself.

===

Rahul Sankrityayan has also written 'Akbar'. Written in 1957 this might be his last work. He even has a chapter called 'Islami Samyavadi' where he tried to showcase how the message of communism had existed in Islam since centuries, and how a certain sufi-s were probably the first suspected bleeding heart martyrs!

And more I read, more I get convinced how extremely overrated is the scholarship of Mahapandit! He has done plenty of mistakes in his effort to glorify Akbar and underplay anything uncomfortable.

[Bodhi]

Today elephants are not found in the wilds of North, anywhere northside of Vindhyachala-s, except for a very few remaining spots in the wilds of Uttaranchal, Nepal border of UP, Bihar etc. And we generally understand Elephants to be only habitated in the wilds of South India and North-East India today.

As per the Elephant Census of India 2005, total population of Elephants in India is between 101,350 to 119,550. Regional breakup is 37-44K in NE; 12-15K in East; 36-42K in South; and a meagre 5-10K in the North and West India, and none in central india (MP, Maharashtra etc).

However, was that always so?

Probably not. Right from the days of Mahabharata, down to Alexander, and even more clearly till the days of the Islamic Gazi-s, Elephant was an absolutely integral part of the North Indian wild habitat, and a unique and invincible war machine used as much by North Indian Kingdoms as by the Southern ones. Besides, Elephant of one army against the enemy army having elephants is useless - it is effective in war against the enemy that does not have elephants - and therefore it was even more useful in the North-west Indian frontiers.

Read the accounts of Taimur Lang, about his incursions in India. His army was rampaged over by the living tanks of that day, massively armoured Elephants - hundreds of them, trampling his army, and the enemy artillery attacking from behind that frontal cover. He has provided detailed accounts about how in the further battles, his army even dared to refuse him (who was dreaded by one and all) to go to the front for the fear of these beasts, and very interesting rumours doing the rounds in his camps about the nature of the animal. Of course until he found the Achilles' heals of the massive war elephants - its eyes. Eyes were the only part of the body that were not shielded much - and eyes are not a small target for a trained spearsman. A blinded and hurt Elephant is equally disasterous for both the sides.

Taimur Langda later captured the elephants of the enemy and sent contingents of these to all over the Muslim world for study by the war strategists - as far as Turky, Baghdad, Bukhara, Uzbegistan etc.

Century later, Baboor also wrote about Elephants being his big trouble in his wars, and after a few decades his son Humayun would be routed from the sultanate of Delhi by a relatively smaller army of Shershah Suri. Suri, who was ruling from the East had control over the forests of Bihar and East UP, and had a strategic advantage through the elephants coming from those forests.

In his first battle, Akbar's armies commanded by Bairam Khan also almost lost out to the armies of Hemchandra Vikramaditya - until again some elephant trouble on the Hemu's side, (besides Hemu's army was much smaller and lacked other resources).

However, I got digressed too far. Purpose of the post is to explore, what happenend to the Elephants in North India? Why do we associate today the Elephants to only South and North-East?

Answer lies at the doorsteps of Mugals - especially Akbar. Read the different narratives of Akbar's life: one thing would remain constant - his obsession about monopolizing the control over Elephant-resources all over the domains under his control.

At the end of every expansionist conquest, the debrief sent by his chief commanders to his courts would invariably include an inventory of howmany elephants were involved, howmany have been captured and so on. All such Elephants would be carefully accounted, tracked and collected. In the details of the booty that is sent to Akbar after the wars, invariably it includes the line item of the Elephants (apart from of course other strategic item: the women-folk of the defeated rival for addition to his harem.)

At one place there is an account of how surrender of the Elephants was one of the key demands he made from his rivals in the East (Battle of Jaunpur). Motives of his rapacious invasion of the domains of Rani Durgavati, with an entire might of his army, probably also includes that the powerful Queen commanded the forests of Madhya Pradesh which was naturally one of the richest habitat of Elephants.

At another place there is an account where his commanding officer fudges the actual number of Elephants captured in his report, and keeps a good chunk for his own personal disposal. Akbar comes to know of it and takes serious exception of it.

And if you analyze carefully, you would see a pattern. Akbar would monopolize and control the Elephant resources. And he would also destroy them - lest his rivals tap from these same resources after he returns back to the capital.

We must also look at how he hunted. His hunting was not just a pleasure-hunt, but a calculated enterprise. There is a horrifying account of how such Hunts were done using Turkish method called - kamaragaa. In Kamaragaa he would encircle a huge area (as large as 25-30 miles or more in radius) through his army, and the army would slowly move inwards towards the center of the seige. This way all the animals would get concentrated in a small circle - and that is when they begin the kill. There is a description of one such Kamaragg he did in the Punjab in 1567. His illustrious ancestors Taimur and distant one Changez Khan had also used the same method to capture or destroy the wild horse resources of the enemy.

This technique was an effective way to leave a defeated domain under control - destroy the horses and elephants and any other strategic resource of war so that the locals never get those resources to rise in revolt against you.

The secular historians can not see the pattern? They say Akbar tamed elephants as a great lover of the animal! But the fact that Elephants are all but vanished in the North today, while they still thrive in the South and North East, speaks for itself.

I refer again to the Census of Elephants in India 2005 by Project Elephant.
{Repeated: total population of Elephants in India is between 101,350 to 119,550. Regional breakup is 37-44K in NE; 12-15K in East; 36-42K in South; and a meagre 5-10K in the North and West India, and none in central india (MP, Maharashtra etc).}

Is it a mere coincidence that where Akbar's control had reached - elephant population is still dwinding four centuries down, whereas the regions where he could not really reach - still have a healthy Elephant population?

[Bodhi]

Sri Dilip Chandra Vedi was a scholar of Indian Classical Music and its history. He has written in detail about Trilochan Pandey / Tansen.

Vedi says that although Tansen was also a very good poet, we dont have many poems/songs of Tansen preserved or surviving today, nor are we aware of any collection of his original poetry. However there can still be encountered some original chhanda-s that he wrote and composed. Vedi presents one such brija pada from tradition, and says that this composition was probably used as a prayer in Akbar's court, and is dedicated to Surya:

prabhAkar divAkar dinakar himAkar bhAnu prakaTe vihAn
tere uday pAp tAp kaTe karma dharma prem nem, hoy guru-gyAn-dhyAn
jagamagAt jagat par jag-chakshu jyoti-rUp, kasyap-suta jagat-prAN
tere uday jaga-kapAT khulat, tAnasen kIje kripA, vidyA-nidhAn

[Bodhi]

Was India always full of well-bodied but idling beggars even when there were no famines or other outbreaks of calamities? While there are pre-sultanate records mentioning the bhikshuks, tirthyatri-s, sadAvarta-s etc - but those are mostly limited to pilgrim places or large urban centers, and begging is not mentioned or taken as a 'full time occupation'.

So where did so many beggars come from? What made these many begging Faqirs?

KS Lal provides a hint:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In Hindu society there is no caste of beggars.  But any number of beggars would be born if they could get free food without doing any work.  It is stated in almost every chronicle that in medieval times food was very cheap, even then, many idlers would have avoided to do work if they could get free food just for a change of name - religion of the poor being the proverbial bread.  Muslim regime provided it and Faqirs flocked to it and to Islam.  The number of Faqirs had grown so large by the time of Ghayasuddin Tughlaq (1320-25) that the sultan wanted to put a stop to a free treat to them and wanted them to take up some work, but his attitude was resented and the sultan maligned.23  According to Ahmad Abbas 40, 000 beggars used to be fed by Ghayas's successor Muhammad Tughlaq.24  Muhammad Tughlaq sometimes even attended the funeral of Faqirs.25  The Faqirs were so well paid under Firoz Tughlaq26 that some nobles, who used to recommend them to the liberality of the sultan, did not fail to take a ?bribe? out of their gains.27  Generosity of kings and nobles towards Faqirs never slackened even during the Mughal period.  A good number of people would have converted in medieval times to become Muslim Faqirs to form a caste in the Muslim social order in modern times.

http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/imwat/ch5.htm#23
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[ramana]

Folks can some of you access the full article by going to the libraries that are participating?

Historicizing the harem: the challenge of a princess's memoir

Look at bottom right corner for th elink to full article.

[ramana]

The impact of Sonia Gandhi on the INC and New Delhi is similar to that of Nur Jahan on Mughal Durbar during Jahangir's rein. There are many similarities and a few differences. The common one is that both are palace coups that enabled a small coterie close to the women to take over India. In Nur Jahan's case her rule ended when Shah Jahan took over as king after the death of Jahangir.

[Bodhi]

trina jo danta para dharahi, tinahi mArat na sabala koi,
ham nitaprati trina charahi, bain uchcharahi dIn hoi,
hinduhi madhur na dehi kaTuka turkahi na piyAvahi,
paya vishuddha ati stravahi, bachchha mahithambhan jAvahi,
sunu shAh akabar! araja yah, kahat gau joe karan,
so kauna chUka mohi mAriyat? muye chAm sevahu charan

{those who hold grass-leaf under teeth*, are spared by the powerful
we, who graze the grass everyday, very humbly address you like this
we never commit any partiality, like giving sweet milk to Hindus and bitter one to turks
we not only give purest drink to one and all, but our calf also till your lands.
Listen O Emporer Akbar! we cows ask you with folded hands -
do tell us our crime for which we are slaughtered in your rule? In death, we even leave behind our skins for service to your feet.}
* holding grass leaf under teeth - sign of sharaNAgati.

As per a kiMvadanti, bhakta-saint and awadhi poet narahari once sent above appeal to Akbar to ban the cow slaughter, in form of a chhanda in which cows are addressing Akbar. Akbar eventually issued an order to banning the cow-slaughter in his domains. It is not clear if it is the same narahari who was the guru of tulasidas, but that is not improbable.

Jain Acharya-s hIravijayasUri and jayachandrasUri also appealed to akbar to ban the slaughters. Akbar not only completely banned the cow slaughter but also banned any animal slaying during certain days of the year. Badayuni mentions this, and this is also corraborated from contemporary jain narrative vijayaprashasti.

During Jahangir's reign these orders were not only upheld, but he went further by declaring a weekly meat-free day - banning any form of slaughter one day a week (if his diary is to be beleived).

[Pandyan]

<img src='http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Mughals.JPG' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

This map is alleged to show the extent of the Mughal Empire around the year 1700. Now, considering the fact that Shivaji died in 1680 and that many Hindu powers existed all over India maintaining differing levels of sovereignty, how accurate is this map? Why does it show all green? My guess is, not at all accurate. I would like to know from people knowledgeable of this period in history to post about what Hindu powers ruled with absolute sovereignty in this time frame. Please also post the boundaries of their rule. Have to re-do the map and edit the article.

[Bodhi]

An extremely detailed political map of India between 1707 and 1766, showing the evaporated Mughal control and rise of sovereignity of Maratha-s in central and south, Rajputs in west, Sikhs in Panjab-Kashmir, Ahoms in NE, Shah-s in Nepal. Mughals had just disappeared. In name of large remaining states controlled by Muslim rulers, you have Nizam, Awadh, Bengal, and recently usurped Mysore - of which Bengal fell to British fairly early and Mysore was about almost taken by Marathas by the time British got there.

Awadh was sovereign only in name by the mid 1700s. Safdarjang of Awadh used to pay chauth revenue to Marathas, and Maratha army was the one which used to guard North India from Afghans. Remember Panipat-III and also even before Peshwa's generals were the ones which used to save Safdarjung's state by frequently molesting the ruhilla afghans of the west UP. Likewise on Bengal front, Orissa was completely taken by Peshwa second and taking Bengal was a matter of time. Western front was secured after the establishment of Sikh rule there which controled all the way up to Peshawar and whole of Kashmir including its passes. Eastern front was secured by Ahoms and Mugals never defeated them anyways. All the Himalaya-s was freed up from the Muslim control - Kangda, Kumayun and in the end Kashmir - by the time British came.

added later: I must have added Jats, who were bleeding Mugals right in their heart - from Agra and Bharatpur, steadily since Alamgir's time but setting themselves up firmly from 1712 onwards.

[Guest]

Akbar's Jodha a happy myth: Rushdie
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->peaking at the Rubin Museum in New York on Tuesday to mark the release of his newest novel The Enchantress of Florence, Rushdie said Akbar's queen was indeed a Rajput princess called Mariam-uz-Zamani.

"<b>You can tell from her name that she is a Muslim convert and is the mother of Jehangir. Jodha is not the mother of Jehangir. His mother is Mariam. Jahangir had a minor wife called Jodha</b>," Rushdie said.

"The only Jodha in history is the second wife of Jehangir and not his mother. So it is just a thing that has come up, exactly because everybody believes that she exists," Rushdie said. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The genocide of Brahmin men women and children by Tipu</b>

In independent India, the muslim terrorists explode bombs on Hindu festival days in crowded markets, to kill maximum number of Hindus.  This reminds me of a time more than 200 years ago when the muslim ruler Tipu had herded some 700 Brahmin men, women and children and brutally beheaded all of them in the typical muslim fashion on a Deepavali day in Karnataka. The decapitated Karnataka  Brahmins belonged to the mandyam Iyengar sect of Karnataka and related to Tirumaliengar, the Pradhan of Mysore.  Because it was on a Deepavali day that Tipu beheaded these Brahmin ancestors their descendents belonging to the Mandyam Iyengar sect stay away from Deepavali celebrations.  Deepavali is the reminder of a black day for this Brahmin sect.

The muslim king, Tipu had ruled his kingdom only for sixteen-and-a-half years, from December 7, 1782 to May 4, 1799. The territory of Malabar was Under his effective control only for a short period of eight years. He had a treacherous Brahmin Divan by name Purnaiyya.  Purnaiyya had managed to gather some 90,000 soldiers, three crore rupees, and huge quantities of gold ornaments and precious stones from the Hindu population for Tipu.  Seeing this wealth Tipu wanted to rule South India and wanted to become an Emperor of India.    Tipu had to defeat first the British to become an emperor.  Superstitious Tipu consulted many Hindu astrologers in Sree Ranganatha Swami temple.  These astrologers did not see Tipu becoming an emperor, but suggested that if some of the suggested remedial Hindu rituals were performed; he could achieve his cherished ambition.  Believing the astrologers the idiotic Tipu performed all Hindu pujas in the Sree Ranaganatha Swami temples as suggested by the astrologers.  Tipu gave costly presents to the astrologers. This act is being widely interpreted by leftist and minority historians as the love and respect for Hindu religion and traditions by Tipu.  But there is a long list of Hindu temples that were desecrated and razed down by Tipu and his muslim army in South India and in Malabar.  On the eve of Tipu¢s death  there was only two Hindu temples left standing with in the Sreerangapatanam fortress.  Tipu did not consider the Hindu rulers of Maharashtra, Coorg and Travancore or the Muslim ruler Nizam as impediments. He was afraid of only the British.  Tipu was convinced that he could easily become the Emperor of India if he could somehow vanquish the British.  Because of his intense anti-British attitude, the leftist and minority historians of Congress have made a vain attempt to paint Tipu as a great national hero.  Opposition to foreign powers need not be always due to one¢s love for the country.  To achieve his selfish goal and to face the British forces, Tipu sought the assistance of another foreign power, the French, who were maneuvering to establish their own domination in the country. How is it possible, therefore, for Tipu to be an enemy of foreign forces when he himself had sought help from Napoleon who was then a prisoner in St. Helena Island and also from the French King, Louis XVI?  Besides, Tipu also wanted to establish Islamic rule in the country.  To achieve his Islamic empire he had to defeat the British first. For this purpose, Tipu solicited the assistance of Muslim countries like Persia, Afghanistan and Turkey. It is true that Tipu did not harm the Raja of Cochin or anyone for that matter who surrendered and pledged loyalty to him. But this was only a tactic of the typical muslim ruler who wanted to establish first, before eliminating the Hindu Kingdoms of the south. Tipu was never a friend of Hindus.  Tipu and the Hyderabad Nizam were the only Muslim rulers in the Deccan at that time and hence he wanted to avoid any dispute with the Hyderabad Nizam.  When Tipu was a teenager, his father, Hyder Ali Khan had asked Hyderabad Nizam¢s daughter in marriage for young Tipu, but that marriage proposal was rejected by Hyderabad Nizam.  With the ambition of becoming a muslim emperor, Tipu asked a daughter of Hyderabad Nizam for his own son.  But the Hyderabad Nizam, considering Tipu as an upstart with no aristocratic heredity, refused the proposal.  As if to spite the Hyderabad Nizam, Tipu got another of his sons married to the daughter of Arackal Bibi of Cannanore mainly to secure the loyalty of Malabar Muslims for subjugating the entire Malabar region.  The family of Arackal Bibi, though converted to Islam was following the matriarchal system and Tipu who was a muslim fanatic was totally against it and wanted to change it. 

Tipu's rule was that of a typical muslim fanatic.  In a deliberately designed taxation scheme, the religious prejudice  of Tipu Sultan became quite clear. His co-religionists, Muslims, were exempted from house tax, commodity tax and also the levy on other items of household use. Also those who were converted to Islam were given similar tax exemptions. Tipu made provisions for the education of the muslim children only. Tipu had deep hatred towards all non-muslims and stopped appointing Hindus in different administrative and military jobs as practiced by his father, Hyder Ali Khan.  During the entire period of sixteen years of his regime, the Brahmin traitor, Purnaiyya  was the only Hindu who had adorned the post of Divan among a group of muslim Divans under Tipu Sultan.  Two years before the death of Tipu not even a single Hindu was present in Tipu¢s top 65 senior officials.  All the Mustadirs were also Muslims. In 1789, when the Hyderabad Nizam and other Muslim rulers decided that only Muslims would be appointed in all Government posts, Tipu Sultan also adopted the same policy in his Mysore State. Just because they were Muslims, even those who were illiterate and inefficient, were also appointed to important  Government posts. This attitude of muslims prevails even today against non muslims.  In 1996 the Dubai Sheikh had issued an order to all heads of the government departments, who were mostly local mullah¢s or from the royal relations, that only muslims should be appointed in Dubai government jobs and those non muslims working already in various government departments should be terminated upon the completion of their contract without the usual automatic extension and if need be they should be removed saying that they are inefficient in the jobs. 

Even for getting promotions, one still had to be a Muslim under Tipu Sultan's regime. Based on the writings of Tipu's son, Ghulam Muhammad it is known that all the records relating to tax revenue, were ordered to be written in Persian rather than in Marathi and Kannada as followed earlier. He even tried to make Persian the State language in place of Kannada. Ghulam Muhammad had written that all the Government posts were filled by lazy corrupt and irresponsible Muslims.  A Muslim historian like Kirmani¢s writing also confirms Tipu¢s Islamisation policy. As a consequence the Hindu population had to suffer a great deal because of these incompetent and corrupt Muslim officials. The Muslim staffs at all levels were totally corrupt and dishonest.  Tipu had changed even the Hindu names of places as Tipu could not tolerate Hindu names.  Mangalapuri which is the present day Mangalore was renamed as Jalalabad by Tipu.  Kanwapuram which is the present day Cannanore was renamed as Kusanabad.  Vaippura which is now known as Bepur was renamed to an Islamic name Sultanpatanam or Faruqui.  Mysore was renamed as Nazarabad, Dharwar to Quarshed-Sawad, Gooty to Faiz-llissar, Ratnagiri to Mustafabad, Diridigul to Khaliqabad, and Kozhikode to Islamabad by Tipu.  After the death of Tipu the local people reverted to their old names.

The cruelties committed by Tipu on the Hindu population of Coorg  have no parallel in history.  On one occasion, Tipu under the threat of beheading them forcibly converted over ten thousand Hindus to Islam.  On another occasion, Tipu rounded up and tortured more than one thousand Hindu Coorgis and forcibly converted them to Islam before imprisoning them in the Sreerangapatanam fortress. 

Against the solemn oath given to the Raja of Coorg, Tipu has shown the barbaric muslim trait and he forcibly abducted a young princess from the Coorg royal family and made her his wife against her will.

The atrocities committed by Tipu in Bidnur in North Karnataka during and after its capture, were most barbarous and beyond description. Kumaran Nambiar from Chirackal Kingdom was captured and circumcised and forcibly converted to Islam by Hyder Ali and was given the name Ayaz Khan.  Ayaz Khan was later appointed by Hyder Ali as the Governor of Bidnur. Hyder Ali¢s son Tipu was jealous of Ayaz Khan from the very beginning because his father Hyder Ali considered Ayaz Khan more intelligent and smart than Tipu. When Ayaz Khan learnt that Tipu was scheming to kill him secretly, he escaped to Bombay with plenty of gold. Tipu then went to Bednur and under the threat of sword, forcibly converted its entire Hindu population to Islam. After Tipu captured Mangalore, thousands of Christians were forcibly sent to Sreerangapatanam where all of them were circumcised and converted to Islam.

The heroic queen Rani Lakshammanni wife of Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar who lived most of her life under house arrest made relentless battle for the restoration of her throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.  Though Lakshammanni begins her quest for the restoration of the throne from the ascension of Hyder Ali to the throne, she started negotiating with the British in the 1760's with the help of Tirumalaiengar and his brother Narayan Row. Queen Rani Lakshammanni had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and one-tenth of the income of the state as their salary in perpetuity, should they succeed in their endeavor. On coming to know of this, Hyder imprisoned all their relatives who were belonging to Bharadwaja gotra known as mandyam Iyengars. This Brahmin sect is related to Tirumaliengar, the Pradhan of Mysore.  Mandyam Iyengars were living between Mandya and Srirangapatna area, and it was known as Tirumala Row.

Tipu in 1790 came to know of an agreement between Gen. Harris, the then Governor of Madras, and Tirumaliyengar.  Tipu immediately herded all the relatives Tirumalaiengar some 700 in total, for butchering.  The torture and beheading of the Brahmin men, women and children were carried out on the Deepavali day on the specific orders of Tipu.  After the genocide of these Brahmins of Karnataka, their descendents till date have not celebrated a single Deepavali festival. The cruelty inflicted on the innocents has parallel only to the christian Nazi concentration camps of the second world war. The Karnataka Brahmins belonging to the mandyam Iyengars observe Deepavali as a Dark Day. 

The Mogul historians downwards to the historians of the British colonial and the subsequent historians selected by Nehru tried to glorify the muslim terrorist rule in India.  Nehru always installed muslims to head even our Archeological Survey of India so that truths like the Taj Mahal was Tejo Mahalaya, is in fact was a Siva Temple that existed long before Shajahan was born not revealed to the Indian public.

As per the reputed historian, Lewis Rice, who wrote the History of Mysore, he states Tipu as a muslim fanatic. As per Lewis Rice on the eve of Tipu¢s death there was only two Hindu temples left standing within the  Sreerangapatanam fortress. It was only for the satisfaction of his Hindu astrologers who bluffed Tipu that he will one day be an emperor that Tipu had spared those two temples. The entire wealth of every Hindu temple was looted before 1790 itself by Tipu.

The result of Tipu¢s brutal conversion of Hindus in the south India is there for everybody to see.  Mini Pakistans have come up in all those areas where Tipu ruled.  If Tipu had not secured the assistance of a traitor Brahmin Purnaiyya, there would not have been so many terrorist muslims in the states of Kerala and Karnataka. Hindu population and prosperity was reduced in the areas where Tipu ruled.  In these mini Pakistans, muslims raise Pakistani flags, and run a mini Islamic state.  When these muslims in these areas earn seven rupee per head the Hindus who are outnumbered earn just one rupee per head. 
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[Guest]

Mudy, here's another on Tipu Sultan (thanks HH)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->This describes the massacre of Kannada Iyengars by Tipu.

There was a VOI book detailing the atrocities of Haider in Malabar. I also
found a detailed account of that in a book on Tyagaraja the musician.:
Tyagaraja: Life and Lyrics - by William J. Jackson,

For an account of the Nair warriors defense of Kerala from Tipu's invasions
you could check: Rama Raja Bahadur by C. V. Raman Pillai

Deepavali, the festival of lights, is observed as Dark Day even now by their
descendants


Less than three weeks from now will occurs Naraka Chaturdashi, the famous
festival of lights, but Mandyam Iyengars don't celebrate it; they observe
it as a Dark Day. It was on this day over 200 years ago that Tipu Sultan herded
nearly 700 men and women belonging to this community and put them to a cruel
death, according to two Mysore-based scholars who have more than academic
interest in this particular aspect of history.

Dr MA Jayashree and MA Narasimhan, whose close relation with the Wadiyars of
Mysore goes back to more than 150 years, have brought out this fact in a paper
they jointly presented at a seminar of significance at Dhvanyaloka, Mysore, not too long ago. Their all-important observations went unrecorded in the main due
to poor media coverage of the seminar what was essentially academic in
character. The ongoing animated debate on Tipu, set off by Minister Shankara
Murthy, who has since apologised for what he said, provides an opportunity to
highlight what the two scholars describe as "the forgotten chapter in the
history of Mysore".

In their detailed account of the event, the couple says that the mass killing
of Mandyam Iyengars, related to Tirumaliengar, the Pradhan of Mysore (referred
to by the British as Tirumala Row) and living between Mandya and Srirangapatna,
is very much a fact of history, not fiction created by the enemies of Tipu.

Iyengars who belongs to to Bharadwaja gotra, the lineage of the Pradhan, stay
away from Deepavali celebrations because it was on the same day that Tipu
Sultan killed their ancestors. Every child of those families is told about the
bloody event that day, the paper points out.

The heroic role that dowager queen Rani Lakshammanni and her relentless battle
for the restoration of the throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu
Sultan, is not adequately mentioned (except in the three-volume History of
Mysore by Hayavadana Rao). "It is a pity that her persistent effort and
courage despite being confined behind the curtains of the royal palace and constantly threatened by the mercurial temper of Tipu Sultan in bringing about the promise that she had made to her husband Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, finds scant mention by the historians. We do not even have an authentic biography of this
grand dame of Mysore who lived most of her life under house arrest," it says.

Historians have not done justice to the pradhans of Mysore either, Dr Jayashree and Nrasimhan complain, adding that Without Tirumalaiengar and his brother
Narayan Row, Lakshmmanni could not have achieved her cherished goal. "The
history of the pradhans is all the more endearing to us for we belong to Tirumalaiengar's family.

What was the provocation for Tipu to put the 700 members of this family to
sword? Though Lakshammanni begins her quest for the restoration of the throne
from the ascension of Hyder Ali to the throne, she started negotiating with the

British in the 1760's with the help of Tirumala Row and Narayana Row. She
had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and one-tenth of the
income of the state as their salary in perpetuity, should they succeed in their endeavor. On coming to know of this, Hyder imprisoned all their relatives.

It was in 1790's that Tipu Sultan, on coming to know of the agreement
between Gen. Harris, the then Governor of Madras, and Tirumaliyengar, herded the
latter's relatives for decimation. "There is no mention of this in any
history book, but 200 years after the horror, the Mandyam Iyengars do not celebrate the festival. This itself is a strong indication how true the event is and how
strongly they feel about the cruel end their ancestors met with for no fault of theirs," the couple points out.

Narasimhan, who is the superintendent of Jaganmohan Art Gallery, and his wife
Jayashree identify themselves a a "group of people who are trying to set
down the norms for re-writing of the history of India with an Indian
perspective" as from the Moghul historians downwards to the historians of the colonial and modern period, there seems to be a gradual polarization of presentation, which is "glaringly biased".

"It somehow slips in to a mode where the conquerors are heaped with all
the encomiums and the vanquished is made to shoulder all the opprobrium the
historians see and create," the couple says. Questioning the stand of
noted historian Romila Thapar that history has to be read in between the lines (of
inscriptions), it deprecates the tendency to brush aside folklore and
tradition, "the backbone of Indian history".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>MUST SEE: <b>the exhibits of the "Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records : an exhibition mounted by FACT - India"</span></b>

<img src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_Nl44M8p5lDw/SEbSXH4A9SI/AAAAAAAAA1k/OHyy3mzHcPc/s400/3.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Scene Depicting Dara Shikoh being paraded after being captured by Awrangzib.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The painting based on Dr. Bernier’s eyewitness account, shows captive Dara Shukoh and his son being carried on an elephant on the streets of Delhi, girt round by troops ready to foil any attempt to rescue the prisoner, and led by Bahadur Shah on an elephant. Behind Prince Dara Shukoh is Nazar Beg, their goaler. Dara is shown throwing his wrapper to a beggar who had cried out, “Dara! When you were master, you always gave me alms, today I know well thou hast naught to give”. Describing the scene Bernier writes, “The crowd assembled was immense; and everywhere I observed the people weeping and lamenting the fate of Dara in the most touching language … men, women and children were wailing as if some mighty calamity had happened to themselves”.

The outburst of popular sympathy for Dara Shukoh and the contemptuous response which Aurangzeb had received from the people for his outrageous treatment of his brother made him procure in all haste a decree from the Clerics in his own pay, and had his elder brother beheaded on the charge of apostasy.

This was a sad end of a genuine seeker of truth, translator of the Upanishadas, author of many works on Sufi philosophy, and one who could have revived and carried the enlightened policies of his great ancestor Akbar to fulfillment.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>THE SWORD OF TIPU SULTAN
Making darkness by closing one's eyes</b>

V.M. KORATH Former Editor of Mathrubhoomi

Historical novels are usually an admixture of historical facts and imagination. As such they are not expected to truthfully portray all the historical events. However, authors of historical novels have the moral responsibility to present historical facts without blatant distortions.

Mr. Bhagwan Gidwani, the author of the controversial novel, The Sword of Tipu Sultan, does not seem to be bound by any such ethical obligations; he does not have any qualms even to deliberately falsify historical facts. Therefore, a tele-serial based on such a novel also cannot be otherwise.

Mounting opposition to this controversial serial also stems from this basic reason.

PSUEDO-RESEARCH

Mr. Gidwani claims that his novel is the result of thirteen years of historical research. He asserts that he has studied and scrutinized all the historical documents available from various sources in India and abroad. Then, why did not this researcher make any effort to visit Kerala, particularly Malabar region, the main area of Tipu Sultan's cruel military operations for a decade, or to scrutinize the historical evidence available from Malabar regarding the atrocities committed by Tipu Sultan, or to study the ruins of temples destroyed in Malabar during that period?

AUTHOR'S CREDIBILITY

When a serious author is collecting historical data for writing a historical novel on Tipu Sultan, does he not have an obligation or responsibility to at least visit the Malabar region, the main area of the operations of Tipu Sultan, and try to understand the significance of his activities there? The mere fact that Mr. Gidwani did not bother to do so, is itself sufficient reason for suspecting the credibility and credentials of the author.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS FATHER

The major part of Tipu Sultan's rule was spent in conducting military operations for subjugating Malabar. Wars of territorial conquest waged in Malabar by Hyder Ali Khan, with the assistance of Ali Raja of Arackal and his Mappila Muslim followers of Cannanore, were intended more for spreading the Islamic faith by killing and forcible conversion of Hindus coupled with widespread destruction of Hindu temples, than for expanding his kingdom.

Hyder Ali Khan had expressed his satisfaction for these cruel achievements.<b> A broad picture of atrocities committed against the Hindu population of Malabar by the army of Hyder Ali Khan along with the local Mappilas can be had from the diary notings of a Muslim officer of the Mysore army as edited and published by the then surviving son of Tipu Sultan, Prince Ghulam Muhammed (Cited in Malabar Manual, William Logan).</b>

Before his efforts to conquer the entire Malabar region could succeed, Hyder Ali Khan died in December, 1782. Tipu Sultan who succeeded his father, considered it his primary duty to continue this unfinished jîhâd started by Hyder Ali Khan. However, the Islamic fanaticism of Tipu Sultan was much worse than that of his father. His war-cry of jîhâd was "Sword" (death) or "Cap" (forcible conversion). This makes very clear the character of Tipu Sultan's military operations started in 1783. <b>The intensity and nature of sufferings which the Hindu population had to bear during the nightmarish days of Padayottakkalam (military regime) were vividly described in many historical records preserved in the royal houses of Zamorin and Kottayam (Pazhassi), Palghat Fort and East India Company's office. </b>There is no apparent reason to disbelieve them. It is absurd and against reason to describe all this evidence as being forged for the purpose of creating enmity between Hindus and Muslims (as presumed by Dr. C.K. Kareem and others).

During the cruel days of Islamic operations from <b>1783 to 1791, thousands of Nairs besides about 30,000 Brahmins had fled Malabar, leaving behind their entire wealth, and sought refuge in Travancore State</b> (according to the commission of enquiry appointed by the British soon after Tipu Sultan's death).

This report was prepared exclusively for the information of the British authorities and not for writing a book, or for discrediting or defaming Tipu Sultan. Therefore, according to the learned historian, Dr. M. Gangadharan, there is no point in disbelieving the validity of this report (Mathrubhoomi Weekly, January, 14-20, 1990): "<b>Besides, there is enough evidence that a few members of Zamorin family and many Nairs were forcibly circumcised and converted into Muhammadan faith as well as compelled to eat beef</b>."

So far as the history of Malabar region is concerned, the most dependable book for basic historical facts is definitely the Malabar Manual written by William Logan. Serving in various administrative positions including that of a Collector for 20 years upto 1886, he had gone through and extensively researched a variety of documents for preparing his well-acclaimed book. The present edition has been scrutinized, edited and published by the reputed Muslim historian, Dr. C.K. Kareem, with the support of Cochin and Kerala universities. Therefore, the authenticity of its contents cannot be doubted.

There are plenty of references in the Malabar Manual about the cruel military operations and Islamic atrocities of Tipu Sultan in Malabar-forcible mass circumcision and conversion, large-scale killings, looting and destruction of hundreds of Hindu temples, and other barbarities.

If one accepts even a small portion of the Islamic atrocities described in this monumental work of history, then Tipu Sultan can be depicted only as a fanatic Muslim bigot. The historical works of Col. Wilks (Historical Sketches), K.P. Padmanabha Menon and Sardar K.M. Panicker (Kerala History), Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai (research articles) and others, also do not project Tipu Sultan in any better light. One of the leading Congressman of pre-independence days, K. Madhava Nair, observes on page 14 of his famous book, Malabar Kalapam (Mappila outrage): "<b>The communal Mappila outrage of 1921 in Malabar could be easily traced to the forcible mass conversion and related Islamic atrocities of Tipu Sultan during his cruel military regime from 1783 to 1792. It is doubtful whether the Hindus of Kerala had ever suffered so much devastation and atrocities since the reclamation of Kerala by the mythological Lord Parasurama in a previous Era. Many thousands of Hindus were forcibly converted into Muhammadan faith.</b>"

Since the same Congressman admitted that Tipu had not discriminated between Hindus and Muslims in Mysore and administered his country well, his observations about Kerala could be accepted as impartial comments.

In 1789, Tipu Sultan marched to Kozhikode with an army of 60,000, destroyed the fort, and razed the town to the ground. Gunddart says in his Kerala Pazhama that it is just not possible to describe the cruel atrocities perpetrated by the barbarian Tipu Sultan in Kozhikode .

William Logan gives in his Malabar Manual a long list of temples destroyed by Tipu Sultan and his army.

Elankulam Kunjan Pillai has recorded the situation in Malabar as follows:

"Kozhikode was then a centre of Brahmins. There were around 7000 Namboodiri houses of which more than 2000 houses were destroyed by Tipu Sultan in Kozhikode alone. Sultan did not spare even children and women. Menfolk escaped to forests and neighbouring principalities. Mappilas increased many fold (due to forcible conversion).

"During the military regime of Tipu Sultan, Hindus were forcibly circumcised and converted to Muhammadan faith. As a result the number of Nairs and Brahmins declined substantially. "

Atrocities committed in Malabar during the days of Tipu Sultan's cruel military regime have been described in great detail in the famous works of many reputed authors-Travancore State Manual of T.K. Velu Pillai and Kerala Sahitya Charitam of Ulloor Parameshwara Iyer.

Is it not absurd to condemn what all these respected authors have written about the atrocities of Tipu Sultan and label it as a deliberate attempt to defame him? All the historical documents of that period clearly indicate that Tipu Sultan's attack on Malabar had some purpose other than simple territorial conquest. That purpose was to Islamicise the whole of Malabar by forcibly converting all the Hindus there.

THIS WAS AN ISLAMIC WAR

Even if we concede, for the sake of argument, that all those who call Tipu Sultan a fanatic Muslim are pro-British and all the historical data is meant only to create hatred between Muslims and Hindus, the letters written by Tipu Sultan himself help us to understand his real character. Some of these letters, obtained from India Office Library, London , were published in Bhasha Poshini magazine of Chingam 1099 (corresponding to August, 1923) by Sardar K.M. Panicker.

The letter dated March 22, 1788, to Kantancheri Abdul Kadir, and the letter dated December 14, 1788 to his army commander in Kozhikode , do not require further explanation about Tipu's real intentions in Malabar.

Still, if some people want to describe Tipu Sultan as an apostle of peace and religious tolerance, let us leave them alone - those large-hearted admirers of Tipu! However, there is quite a large number of people who are not that large-hearted, especially the descendants of those Hindus who were killed by the sword of the bloodthirsty Tipu while resisting forcible conversion and humiliation.

TIPU'S RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE-A POLITICAL GIMMICK

Tipu had committed a variety of atrocities on the Hindus in Malabar - barbarous mass-killing, wholesale forcible circumcision and conversion, and widespread destruction and plunder of Hindu temples. Being fully aware of this background, if Tipu is projected as a lover of Hindu religion and traditions and not as an intolerant Muslim fanatic, by citing some "new evidences' obtained by certain motivated historians and apologists of Islam such as the alleged land-grants to a few Hindu temples and Sringeri Mutt and protection of Sree Ranganatha Swami temple near the palace, then at the most they could be treated only as scandalous exceptions. Even this was part of a political strategy. Writing in Mathrubhoomi Weekly (January 14-20, 1990), Dr. M. Gangadharan says. "In the socio-religious- political conditions prevailing in Mysore of Tipu's days, such things could not be avoided. The financial assistance to Sringeri Mutt meant for conducting religious rites to ward off evil spirits, was clearly specified in the letter sent by Tipu Sultan. As such, these cannot be accepted as evidence of Tipu's respect for Hindu religion."

SAME SITUATION IN MYSORE ALSO

The orchestrated propaganda that Tipu Sultan was tolerant and fair-minded towards the Hindus in Mysore is also without any foundation, as explained in history of Mysore written by Lewis Rice as well as M.M. Gopalrao. According to Lewis Rice, during the rule of Tipu Sultan, only two Hindu temples inside the Sreerangapatanam Fort were having daily pujas while the assets of all other temples were confiscated.

Even in administrative matters, Muslim bias was blatantly evident, especially in the matter of taxation policy. "Muslims were exempted from all taxes. Even those who were converted to Islamic faith were also allowed the same concessions," says Gopal Rao. In the case of employment, Hindus were eliminated to the maximum extent possible. During the entire period of 16 years of Tipu Sultan's rule, the only Hindu who had occupied any important official position was Purnaiyya.

NIGHTMARISH DAYS OF PADAYOTTAM (MILITARY ATROCITIES)

However, Tipu and his Padayottam were a nightmare, especially for the Hindus of Malabar, whatever may be the arguments provided by Gidwani or the secularist historians who have specialized in proving a wolf to be a goat. There is no point in making it dark by closing one's eyes.

Under these circumstances, a TV serial glorifying Tipu Sultan as a magnanimous person can only remind the Hindus of Malabar about the nightmare experienced by their forefathers during the cruel military regime of Tipu Sultan. That can, in turn, shatter the prevailing communal harmony and peace in Kerala.

Opposition to the proposed TV serial on Tipu Sultan is not inspired by religious sentiments alone. It is also not against anybody's freedom to make a tele-serial based on a novel. It is the people's objection and anger against the Government's attempts to project a historical personality by suppressing, distorting and falsifying authentic historical evidence about his life and deeds. The official media like television and radio networks have certain basic obligations towards the public. Not to misguide the people, especially by falsification and distortion of recorded history, is the most important obligation. Therefore, projection of a tele-serial based on Gidwani's scandalous novel is outside the broad framework of basic guidelines and objectives. That should not be allowed. Kesari (Malayalam Weekly), February 25, 1990 <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

May the Spirit of Dara Shikoh come back to India and bring back Islam to a more tolerant human face.
[QUOTE]

Had Dara not been betrayed by his own and had succeeded tot he throne then the course of Indian history would have been diffirent .Aurengzeb ascended the throne and virtually destroyed the social fabric that Akbar had built and amalgamated.

Aurengzeb was instrumental in the destruction of the Hindu historical records and Library with his intolerant policy which was so meticulously collected and accumulated over the ages of peaceful existence in Varanasi and other monumental temples in terms of inscriptions, which were the main source of evidence of the past for our history.

The cultural bankruptcy he created is evident in the "Biwi ka Makbara" at Aurengabad in Ahmedabad dist of Maharashtra.This was originally designed for his tomb then he had his wife buried there.This structure is the epitome of the degeneration of the Mughal architecture and the death of its unique history .Its a replication of Taj Mahal in a very bad taste and very few people know about it .Even today you can see many of the monuments that were built during his time were structures extracted from destroyed hindu temples.

Shikoh devoted much effort towards finding a common mystical language between Islam and Hinduism. Towards this goal he translated the Upanishads from its original Sanskrit into Persian so it could be read by Muslim scholars. His translation is often called "Sirre Akbar" or The Greatest Mystery while in Arabic, the Upanishads are referred to as "Kitab al-maknun" or the hidden book. His most famous work, Majma ul-Bahrain ("The Mingling of the Two Oceans") was also devoted to finding the commonalities between Sufism and Hindu Monotheism. He was also a patron of fine arts, music and dancing, a trait frowned upon by his sibling Aurangzeb.

Dara perhaps would have changed the course of history with communal unity and perhaps upheld the great Hindustan that Akber had built as he was an able administrator,patron of art and literature and the most important thing was he wanted to have a harmonious blend of Hinduism and Islam

[Bodhi]

<!--QuoteBegin-Kishore+Dec 16 2008, 10:01 PM-->QUOTE(Kishore @ Dec 16 2008, 10:01 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->May the Spirit of Dara Shikoh come back to India and bring back Islam to a more tolerant human face.

Had Dara not been betrayed by his own and had succeeded tot he throne then the course of Indian history would have been diffirent.Aurengzeb ascended the throne and virtually destroyed the social fabric that Akbar had built and amalgamated.
[right][snapback]91894[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

will any dara or any akbar ever be able to supercede what is written in The Book or what the prophet taught by his life example?

of course akbar tried that openly by decaring himself to have superceded the prophet. but whatever akbar "built", did not last even a decade after his death.

fringes dont define the mainstream. The Book is the unambiguous mainstream and sunnah its banks. No construction of dams over this river can alter the ground reality of its flow.

Solution is not window-dressing Islam, but rather undressing it, to show the poor muslims what it really is, and help the victims liberate themselves.

[Guest]

Regarding the post about Tipu Sultan, can any learned gurus tell me how Tipu was able to steam roll through Northern Kerala?

Was it that the local rajas were not equipped to face modern tech? lack of organization?

I would appreciate if someone could point me to some links that talks about this period of Kerala history in detail.

[G.Subramaniam]

The Ajmer Sufi - Attn Kishore

Vijayvaani

From Jinnah to Khwaja: ideological malleability of a self-styled loh purush
Shreerang Godbole
16 Dec 2008


L.K. Advani, the man whom the Bharatiya Janata Party would make Prime Minister, evidently thinks he can fool most Hindus all the time. The political fortunes of the BJP, floundering in the maelstrom of Gandhian Socialism, had touched a new low in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984. But once Ayodhya captured the imagination of the Hindus, Advani hijacked it to bring himself to the centre-stage of national politics.


Subsequent events proved that when the netaji was riding the rath to Ayodhya, he was in fact taking Hindus for a ride. Unmindful of the day in 1948 when his family had to finally flee the land of his forefathers because of marauding Muslims, Advani has consistently described the Babri demolition as the “saddest day in my life”. He has thus repeatedly insulted the memory and the sacrifice of kar sevaks who gave up their lives in the run up to this epic event.


Once in power, Advani repeatedly humiliated Hindus. His deliberate mishandling of the Ayodhya issue, his masterful inactivity during the kidnapping and brutal murder of six senior RSS pracharaks, his disastrous non-performance as Home Minister in the face of repeated jihadi attacks, his eulogy to Jinnah, his defiant chumminess with individuals whose credentials are suspect, his inane stand that terrorism has no religion, his statement equating re-conversion with conversion…the list is endless.


Then, sensing that there was an even chance of finally ascending the PM’s gaddi, netaji is grabbing every opportunity to shed the undeserved appellation of a hard-line Hindu leader - a designation he assumed to fool Hindus while flirting with secularists, and one with which secularists have in turn been taunting him with.


Recently (1 December 2008), Advani sent a ghilaf or chadar to the tomb of Sufi ‘mystic’ Khwaja Mu‘inu’d-Din Chisti (hereafter “the Khwaja”) at Ajmer, Rajasthan. This offering, in the immediate aftermath of the Mumbai massacre, is only the latest instance of the ideological malleability of this self-styled loh purush. For this is not the first time Advani has paid respects to the Khwaja.


During his Bharat Suraksha Yatra in 2006, Advani visited this tomb amidst much fanfare. Advani (or his ghost-writer) described that visit in considerable detail in his autobiographical tome. Pictures of Advani solemnly bowing his head to the Khwaja’s memory occupy pride of place on his personal website. Advani mentions that visit as a shining example of his commitment to the phoney secularism he once accused his opponents of practicing. When Advani’s party colleagues (poor gullible souls) suggested that he visit the sacred Hindu shrine of Pushkar, Advani insisted on adding the Khwaja’s dargah to his itinerary! Asked why he chose to visit the dargah, the dhimmi in him responded: "Ajmer aaker mera farz tha ki itni pak saaf jageh par aana."


To be fair to Advani, he has not been the only BJP leader to rub his nose before the Khwaja’s tomb (incidentally, tomb-worship is a very un-Hindu practice; it is Abrahamic faiths that make a morbid fetish of their dead). Toadying to the secularist establishment has been the hallmark of top BJP (and Bharatiya Jan Sangh) leaders. As Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat spent a cool Rs. 25 lakh from the state exchequer for the renovation of the dargah! Little wonder then that when Shekhawat stood for the Presidential election as NDA candidate in 2008, a delegation led by Sayed Abdul Sari Chishti from the Ajmer Dargah met Shekhawat and pledged to campaign among Muslim MPs and MLAs on his behalf.


As Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee regularly offered chadar at the Khwaja’s tomb during the annual urs. Ideological rot has a way of percolating down. On 27 March 2006, a herd of 40 BJP MLAs from Jharkhand led by then Chief Minister Arjun Munda went on a thanksgiving pilgrimage to the Khwaja’s tomb. If this is the sort of ideological clarity and awareness of history that so-called Hindu leaders have, is it any wonder that thousands of ordinary Hindus flock to the Khwaja’s tomb?


To return to Advani and his patron saint! Had Advani been intellectually honest, he would have cared to examine the Khwaja’s record before kowtowing to his memory. Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi’s classic two-volume A History of Sufism in India (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1986 reprint) gives the Khwaja’s career in detail. Born circa 1142 CE in Sistan province of present-day Iraq, the Khwaja travelled widely and finally left for Delhi from Lahore in March 1206. He reached Ajmer towards the end of the same year. As Rizvi writes, “It would appear that the Khwaja lived in Ajmer fort and his simple, ascetic life was an inspiration to both the Turkic ghazis, who swelled the Islamic forces through a lust for plunder, and to the Hindus who were forcibly converted to Islam”(Vol.1, p. 121).


What was the Khwaja’s record vis-à-vis the Hindus whose descendants are the bulk of Advani’s voters? Ajmer (and Delhi) was then ruled by Rai Prithviraj (called Pithaura Rai by Islamic chroniclers). Later Islamic accounts gloatingly describe how the Khwaja stamped out idolatry and unfurled the flag of Islam. Some chroniclers credit him with effecting the conversion of 700 Hindus. Prithviraj’s mother, an expert in astronomy and magic, had prophesized the Khwaja’s arrival twelve years before the actual event. She drew pictures of the Khwaja and Prithviraj had them distributed to his officers to prevent the Khwaja’s entry into his kingdom. Every foreigner’s face was compared to that picture.


At Samana, Prithviraj’s officials recognized the Khwaja from his picture and requested him to stay at the palace. But Prophet Muhammad warned the Khwaja during his meditation (so Islamic chroniclers claim!) against the treachery of officials, so he left for Ajmer. There, the Khwaja and his followers moved to a place near the Anasagar Lake. His servants killed a cow and cooked kebabs for him. Some members of the Khwaja’s party went to Anasagar and some to Pansela Lake for ablutions. There were 1000 temples on the two lakes. The Brahmans stopped the ablutions and the Muslim party complained to the Khwaja. He sent his servant to bring water for his ewer.


As soon as the ewer touched the Pansela Lake, all the lakes, tanks and wells around became dry. The Khwaja went to the Anasagar Lake temple and asked the name of the deity. He was told it was Sawi Deva. The Khwaja asked whether the image had talked to them. On receiving a negative reply, he made the idol recite kalima and converted it into a human being, naming it Sa’di.


To cut a long story short, Prithviraj asked his Prime Minister Jaipal to fight the Khwaja. After allegedly subduing Jaipal with his spiritual powers, the Khwaja asked him to convert to Islam. Jaipal relented, but Prithviraj refused to accept Islam, at which the Khwaja prophesized that Prithviraj would be handed to the Islamic army. Later, Sultan Mu‘izzu’d-din Muhammad’s army arrived from Ghazna, attacked the forces of Prithviraj and defeated them.


Prithviraj was taken alive and thus the Khwaja’s prophesy was fulfilled. To hitherto celibate Khwaja married at the ripe age of ninety (according to one legend); his second wife was the daughter of a local Hindu chieftain captured in war.


Shorn of its Islamic triumphalism, the foregoing account leads to the following conclusions:

? The Khwaja indulged in or actively encouraged deliberate vandalism of lakes, idols and temples holy to Hindus
? The Khwaja indulged in cow-slaughter to hurt Hindu sentiments
? The Khwaja effected the conversion of ordinary people and the nobility
? Unmindful of his age, the Khwaja converted and married a Hindu maiden who had been won as war booty (a famed Islamic practice)
? Far from being an ambassador of a mythical Hindu-Muslim unity which leaders from Gandhi to Advani have been mindlessly chasing, the Khwaja was an Islamic zealot


Equally noteworthy is the sustained psychological and physical resistance offered by ordinary Hindus and leaders like Prithviraj in the face of the Islamic onslaught led by the Sultans and Sufis. This is in stark contrast to the meek surrender offered by tired old men like Advani to Abrahamic ideologies bent on destroying Hindu dharma. This time around, Hindus are not willing to be fooled by a leader who reveres the adversary, be it a medieval Khwaja or a modern-day Jinnah!


The writer is a Pune-based endocrinologist, social activist and author

[G.Subramaniam]

<!--QuoteBegin-thayilv+Dec 17 2008, 05:15 AM-->QUOTE(thayilv @ Dec 17 2008, 05:15 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Regarding the post about Tipu Sultan, can any learned gurus tell me how Tipu was able to steam roll through Northern Kerala?

Was it that the local rajas were not equipped to face modern tech? lack of organization?

I would appreciate if someone could point me to some links that talks about this period of Kerala history in detail.
[right][snapback]91907[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


The local muslims in kerala switched sides to support the invader
The local rajas were divided and did not have artillery
Tipu had a french trained army of 60,000

[Guest]

[quote=G.Subramaniam,Dec 17 2008, 06:55 AM]
The Ajmer Sufi - Attn Kishore



To be fair to Advani, he has not been the only BJP leader to rub his nose before the Khwaja’s tomb (incidentally, tomb-worship is a very un-Hindu practice; it is Abrahamic faiths that make a morbid fetish of their dead).


Dear Subramaniam,

May I draw to your attention to the fact that We as hindus have also practice the tradition of detification of the samadhis of our acharyas or pontifs.Be it the Shankaracharya mutt or the gauda brahims in Bengal or the madhava brahmins in the south or the lingayats

We not only rub our forehead and nose at the samadhi of the gurus but also worship the sthala as a temple no less than the kwajas dargah.

Mantralayam in present day Andhra Pradesh, close to the Karnataka border, is the abode of Raghavendra Swami. The Raghavendra Mutt in Mantralaya (previously known as Manchale) is visited by millions of devotees every year. Raghavendra Swami attained samādhi at Brindavan (sacred tomb) which is located at Mantralaya. Sri Raghavendra Theertha is also known as Guru Rajaru and Rayaru lovingly by his devotees.This has been going on from last 800 years.

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Your statement

Then, sensing that there was an even chance of finally ascending the PM’s gaddi, netaji is grabbing every opportunity to shed the undeserved appellation of a hard-line Hindu leader - a designation he assumed to fool Hindus while flirting with secularists, and one with which secularists have in turn been taunting him with.

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Any leader who is not clear in his principles or ideology will face this kind of situation. people who practice this pseudo secularism not only make a fool of themselves but also the nation. Alas!! The followers remain confused lot unable to fathom what is the right judgement.Either a leader can be completely a secular person or completely fundamental but these characters are neither on this side or the other and change side s to suit the situation and convenience of politics.

Can these characters be even called true leaders? A leader is one who is not averse to change and thinking differently but must work from the place of strong conviction. But these people not only change sides but also lead enmass a lot of individuals to confusion and then chaos ......then make a complete U turn on their stand .......that’s why we have a toothless leadership in India currently.

People who have risen purely on the bases of ideology, betterment of the people, the nation, and clear judgment are the leaders to be chosen on merit and not opportunistic leadership who rise not because they are true national leaders but leaders of sectarian or fragmented thinking who not only mislead people but themselves also .They are tribal leaders who project an image of nationalism and at some point of time get exposed to their inadequacies.

I think personally the old man is repenting his earliar actions and passing through a confused phase of his life ......but refuses to give up his ambition to place himself in history at the pivotal level.

This is the reason we have no strong leadership at the centre stage today and cannot replace charismatic leaders like Mr Vajpayee with such a great cultivated mind .In the absence of the lions only the jackals and hyenas thrive.