Posted on August 17, 2011 by Stephen Knapp

ATTACKS ON VEDIC CULTURE

USING PROPER VOCABULARY TO DESCRIBE VEDIC CONCEPTS
Time and time again I see and hear the most improper words used to describe various concepts of the Vedic
tradition. The peculiar thing is that this happens not only amongst non-Indians, as you might expect, but also
amongst Indian Hindus, even scholars who should know better, and even amongst Indian gurus and teachers.
Why should we surrender to the use of words given by foreigners and non-Dharmists that often so inaccurately
describe the specific concepts found within the Vedic tradition? Some Vedic writers have written about this
before, but it is still an issue that does not seem to be resolved, or people simply don’t understand the damage it
can do. So let us take a few examples.
MYTH OR MYTHOLOGY: This is a word that I see used on a regular basis when describing what some
people call the “Hindu or Vedic mythology.” Don’t people understand what they do when they use this word?
When you say mythology you immediately take away all reason for taking the Vedic texts seriously, such as
thePuranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana. When you describe them as myths, you are indicating that they are
just fiction, nothing more. They may convey some ideas or principles in them, but the events that they describe
have no other purpose. Or that the stories have nothing to do with history or actual events that have taken place.
The dictionary describes the meaning of the word myth as a traditional or legendary story, usually
concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation.
This is especially the case when the story is concerned with deities or demigods and includes some practice, rite,
or supernatural aspect of nature, all of which are in the realm of myth. Thus, such stories are accepted as
invented ideas to include some concept, but it basically imaginary or fictitious. Thus, all places, persons, things,
and events in the story have no basis in fact but is a false collection of mere beliefs.
Even the Sanskrit root of the word “myth” means fiction. So why should we use this word? Or is this all the credit
we intend to give to the Itihasas and other Vedic texts?
The fact of the matter is that many scholars of Vedic literature and its traditions have discovered that the stories
found therein are filled with historical events and descriptions. They are not fiction. So, naturally, the point is that
the word myth or mythology, when using it in connection with the Vedic stories, is completely incorrect.
Therefore, we should simply stop using it in connection with our Vedic tradition and its ancient texts.
IDOLS AND STATUES: Here are another few words that I hear people use all the time, even India gurus
and spiritual teachers, in relation to the deities in the temple. The deities in Sanskrit are called murtis. And when
the murtis or deities have undergone the Prani Pratishta ceremony, which calls and invites the Divinity to accept
the form of the deity and the service that we can offer to Him or Her, the deities are then accepted as having the
life force of the particular Divinity residing within. Thus, they are no longer mere idols or statues, but are indeed
worshipable. But as soon as you say idol or statue, you are again taking away all credibility from the image and
indicating that it is merely stone, paint, or wood, and nothing more. This is a complete misrepresentation of the
true meaning of the deity. Therefore, we should stop using these words in relation to the deities in the temples.
RELIGION: This word is also easily used in connection with Hindu or Vedic Dharma, as if it is just
another religion. So why shouldn’t we call it a religion?
The word yoga, based on yuj, the root of the word, means to “link up” or “unite.” Interestingly enough, the
word religion is based on the Latin word religio, which means to “bring back” or “to bind.” What is to unite with or
to bind to is the individual soul with the Supreme Soul. This involves uniting one’s body, mind, will, emotions, and
intellect to God while becoming detached or less attracted to the material world. Thus, the ultimate aim of yoga
and religion is the same, which is to spiritualize our consciousness, transcend all forms of temporary material
happiness and distress, and increase our understanding and realization of the Supreme.
However, religion is usually accepted to mean that we establish our relationship with God through the
church or some institution or church authority, and in that way we attain salvation, or are “saved” from our sinful
ways. And if we do not have a proper or approved connection with the church, mosque, or some authority in the
religion, then we have no relationship with God. Whereas dharma means to reawaken what is already there, and
act according to our duty as a spiritual being. This means that we are not necessarily “saved” from our sins and
brought to God, but we merely reawaken our spiritual identity and then, with proper guidance, we learn how to act
in that way. In other words, we are already a spiritual being with a connection with God. It only has to be
reawakened. This is the path of dharma, which brings us to the state of dharma, or spiritual balance and
realization. The premise is that we are always a spiritual being and are connected with God, and we merely use
whatever tools the Vedic tradition provides to act in that way and to realize and perceive our spiritual identity and
connection with God. By such guidance, knowledge and realization, we begin to perceive the spiritual dimension
and our existence in it. It is not that someone or some institution is the via media between us and God and give
us the means to be “saved”, but we have to do the work ourselves but with the assistance of God and the Vedic
system. It depends on us. We cannot simply sit back and think we can do whatever we want because we are
“saved.” But we must still work to spiritualize our consciousness to reach moksha, liberation from material
existence by entering the spiritual domain.
Furthermore, when it comes to understanding the meaning of Sanatana-dharma, we have to be aware of
its Sanskrit definition. The root of the word dharmacomes from dhri, which means to uphold or maintain. The
Sanskrit says dharayati iti dharmaha, which translates as dharma is that which upholds. However, not only what
is supported is dharma, but that which does the supporting is also dharma, dhriyate iti dharmaha. So dharma
consists of both the force that sustains as well as what is sustained. It can also be said that there is the path of
dharma as well as its conclusion, the object of dharma, or what we are seeking, the goal of life. So dharma is the
means as well as the goal.
Dharma is also said to be the force which maintains the universe. Where there is dharma there is harmony and
balance individually, socially, and inter-galactically. So the path of dharma brings about the harmony and
contentment that is also another aspect of what we are seeking. In this way, we want harmony inwardly, in our
own consciousness, but we also cannot have individual peace unless there is harmony or cooperation socially,
amongst the masses. So where there is no dharma, there is disharmony and a state of being that is out of
balance. And socially it means that without dharma, there is a lack of cooperation, along with escalating quarrel
and fighting. When we act against the law of dharma, we disrupt the very harmony and cooperation that we want.
Doing what should not be done is called vidharma, which is a type of adharma or nondharmic activity. The
conclusion, therefore, is that if we want happiness and peace we must learn how to live according to the path of
dharma.
The practice of dharma should be done not out of compulsion but out of love due to the perception of the
Supreme in all living beings. With this motivation, dharma can assist in preventing injury to others and treating
each other respectfully. Dharma also means righteous conduct. This includes following social laws and proper
moral activity and behavior. It encourages truthfulness of thought, word and deed. The point of which is to reach
the goal of dharma.
Dharma also means truth. So we follow the path of dharma to free ourselves from illusion and reach the ultimate
Truth, which is the topmost reality, the spiritual strata. The Absolute Truth means the final philosophical goal and
end of all knowledge, or Vedanta, which is God, the Supreme Being. So when we want to attain liberation from
material existence, after realizing the futility of its temporary nature, and wish to reach God, then it becomes
much easier to follow the path of dharma and overcome the temptations of the temporary material world. Then
we can let go of the illusory objects that are, in fact, hurdles on the path to Truth and God, and happiness in
general.
On a national, ethnic, or racial level, dharma is an instrument of unity, not divisiveness. That which helps unite
everyone and develop love and universal brotherhood is dharma. That which causes discord or disharmony or
provokes hatred is adharma. And we can plainly see that many religions, being based on the idea that they are
the only way to God, actually perpetuate differences between us all, especially with such ideas that say some are
“saved”, and those who are not are going to eternal damnation. Thus, it becomes obvious that the basis for many
quarrels in the world is the differences in religions.
That which works against or tries to destroy dharma is adharma. With this understanding we can perceive that
certain religions that exist on this planet actually encourage divisiveness between those that are “saved” and
those that are supposedly going to hell, or those which primarily focus on differences between their sect and
others. This is actually adharmic. Those religions that do not teach that we are all spiritual beings, all children of
the same God, all equal in the eyes of God, areadharmic. They may merely be limited in their depth of knowledge
and awareness, but until they adopt the dharmic principles they will continue to produce disagreements,
restlessness, harsh attitudes and even hatred amongst people in the name of religion. The reason is that they are
absent of real transcendental knowledge and deep spiritual insights. Since such religions lack dharma, they will
not be able to deliver one to dharma, or to the Absolute Truth. They remain too much absorbed in the bodily
condition of life. Thus, lack of peace and harmony amongst various religions will be commonplace until this is
remedied. In this way, the path of dharma is more than a religion or belief system. It is the means to directly
perceive and live according to that higher reality and spiritual unity between us all. Therefore, the Vedic path is
not merely a religion, it is Sanatana-dharma.
HINDU: This is another word that has been given to the people who practice the Vedic tradition by outsiders and
which does no justice for expressing any concept or idea about the Vedic tradition. It is odd that in some circles if
you use the word Hindu, you are frowned upon, while in other circles if you do not use the word, they feel you are
offensive. There is much that has been discussed about this label, and I have fully written about it elsewhere. But
for the above reasons in regard to Sanatana-dharma, we should also consider how accurate or inaccurate the
name Hindu really is, and why we should continue to use it, except due to over-familiarity with it by most people.
Otherwise, I would prefer, as a follower of Sanatana-dharma, to be called a Dharmist or something like that. At
least that label is certainly connected with the actual Sanskrit upon which the Vedic practice is based.
CASTE: This is another word that carries much baggage with it, and as soon as you mention it, you get
people who want nothing to do with it, or who require a long explanation about what it really is. Here again is a
word that comes from outsiders that give a misconception about what should be called by its proper Sanskrit
term,varna, and not caste.
Caste is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “an endogamous and hereditary social group
limited to persons of the same rank, occupation, and economic position.” The word caste is derived from the
Romance word casta (seen in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian), which (in addition to representing the same
concept as English caste) can mean “lineage” or “race.” It comes from Romancecasto, which can mean “pure” or
“chaste.” Casto in Latin means “chaste,” which is derived from castus, meaning “pure, cut off, separated.”
What is also explained is “What remains, however, and is common to many cultures is the “outcaste,” the
people considered below the level of common humanity of all the others, “untouchable.” They and their
descendants, the dalit in India, theburakumin in Japan, the baekjeong in Korea, all have faced discrimination, and
some continue to do so today.” [http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Caste_system]
The problem with this is that in the Vedic tradition, no one was considered an untouchable or something
sub-human. In the Vedic system, outcastes were those who were so materialistic, or evil, or barbaric that they
would not follow any portion of the progressive Vedic principles. So where do you put them?
So this should make the foreign origins of the word obvious, and make us ask again why we have
surrendered to using a term that immediately misrepresents the real concept of varna and varnashrama dharma.
As we have written elsewhere, the system of Vedic varna was never to restrict the upward progress of a person,
but was meant to encourage it as a social design for the growing progress of a individual, the contentment of one
in their occupation and contributions to society, while still making proper spiritual advancement. One’s varna as
judged by birth alone, which is the way things seem to be in the modern caste system, was never established in
the Vedic system. In fact, there are shastric injunctions and rules that establish the direct opposite of that.
However, once one’s varna was established by their talents, abilities, interests, level of intelligence, etc., than that
was considered the best classification for an occupation for that person to reach perfection in life. Thus, again,
we should use the word varna and not caste to help establish what was really meant by the social design for
humanity in the Vedic tradition.
HINDU MONKEY GOD: This is another demeaning label when describing Hanuman. But I have even
heard Indian gurus use this term. If you cannot say Hanuman, then it may be better to just keep quiet. The point
is that it indicates that Dharmists worship monkeys as gods, without understanding that Hanuman was not merely
a monkey. He was part of a specific race of beings that existed and helped Lord Rama in His pastimes of
rescuing Sita, as explained in the Ramayana. Hanuman was also known as the son of Vayu, the god of the
winds. This is why Hanuman was so strong, could jump fantastic distances, and was able to live so long. He was
an extraordinary being, and people still worship him as the most exemplary devotee of Lord Rama, and who can
give blessings for us to increase our own devotion to God. So to call him the “monkey god” is a complete
disregard and misrepresentation of what and who he really is.
However, this could also be said when we refer to Lord Ganesh as the “elephant god.” He was far more
than an elephant. Plus, saying that he is “the Hindu elephant god” again creates demeaning and inaccurate
impressions in the minds of people that we worship elephants as gods, when the respect and admiration for Lord
Ganesh is far more specific than that. Therefore, once again, to more accurately describe who and what they
really are, we should use the correct terminology and title for the Divinities in the Vedic tradition.
HINDU TERRORISTS: This is another phrase that is a contradiction in terms. I have always said that
Hindus make lousy terrorists, which means they just don’t have it in their hearts to do such things. They are
generally the most tolerant of all people. And I have seen so many times when there has been some terrorist
activity that is blamed on Hindus, it usually comes out, after proper investigation, that someone else was the
cause, yet the media does little to apologize for improper information, or to correct the report, or change public
opinion. So whenever Hindus try to provide the proper information, or defend themselves from those who try to
demean or criticize them, or who try to defame their culture, they are immediately called communalists or
“saffronites,” as if they are simply trying to “saffronize” the nation, which means make everything a part of Vedic
culture.
So when the term Hindu Terrorism, or saffronization, or communalists comes up, you can be pretty sure
that it is merely for the convenience of politicians trying to blame an easy target to get the votes of non-Hindus in
India. Or it is because of the secular (meaning the non-Hindu) media who try to show their impartiality by being
anti-Vedic and anti anyone who is following Vedic Dharma. All this needs to change. But Dharmists / Hindus in
general need to be less apathetic when it comes to speaking out against such things, or for voting good
politicians into office in India, if there are any good politicians in India.
For example, I once gave a lecture at a temple in Mumbai to a crowd of about 1500 people. As I was talking
about the politicians in India who actually work against the Vedic tradition and Hindu population, I asked how
many people voted in the last election. Not one hand went up. This is another of those things that need to
change. Politicians will never care about the Hindu people if they won’t vote. They will always cater to those who
will support them. And, meanwhile, the anti-Vedic people will gain more power and control at the expense of the
Dharmists who will become overruled by those who participate in politics and the electoral process. This means
that gradually Dharmists will continue to watch as more and more of their freedoms are taken away. Yet, if they
do not do anything about it, what else can they expect?
Therefore, it is time for people who follow Sanatana-dharma to unite and make a stand for what they want
in their own future. Otherwise, as the generations unfold, the new youth will be increasingly less loyal or
interested to participate in or preserve whatever remains of the Vedic tradition. Using the above points and
changing our vocabulary in regard to the words that are mentioned herein and many others will help at least a
little to change that scenario.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged: Attacks on
Hinduism, Cultural Preservation, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma | 1 Comment »
Prophet Mohammed: Is He Really Predicted in the Vedas
Posted on March 17, 2011 by Stephen Knapp
The Bhavishya Purana has a reference regarding someone named Mahamada, which some people are very
eager to make the claim that it means Prophet Mohammed, thus saying that the Prophet is predicted in the Vedic
literature. But before we come to that conclusion, with additional research, let us take a closer look to see what
the full reference to Mahamada really says.
It is explained in the Bhavishya Purana (Parva 3, Khand 3, Adhya 3, verses 5-6) that “An
illiterate mleccha [foreigner] teacher will appear, Mahamada is his name, and he will give religion to his fifth-class
companions.” This does not describe much in regard to his life, but it does mention someone by the name of
Mahamada, and what he was expected to do, which was to give his own form of religion to the lower classes of
his region. Some people suggest this person to be Prophet Mohammed, and are, thus, most willing to accept that
Prophet Mohammed was predicted in the Bhavishya Purana. Some Muslims then suggest that if he was
predicted in this way by a Vedic text, then Hindus should all accept Mohammed and become Muslims. However,
on the other hand, it would seem odd that Muslims would accept a Vedic text to try to convince Hindus to become
Muslims. But if we look at the full translation of this story, they may not want to jump to the conclusion that this
story represents Prophet Mohammed.
So here is the Roman transliteration of the Sanskrit in the Bhavishya Purana, however accurate it may be (Prati
Sarga: Part III, 3.3.5-27).
mahamadh ithi khayat, shishya-sakha-samniviyath 5
……. mahadev marusthal nivasinam.
mahadevthe snanya-pya punch-gavua samnivithya
tripurarsur-nashav bahu-maya pravathiney 7
malech-dharma shav shudhaya sat-chit-anandaya swarupye,
thva ma hei kinkare vidhii sharanaghatham 8
suta uvacha: ithi shurthiya sthav deva shabadh-mah nupaya tam,
gath-vaya bhojraj-ney mahakhaleshwar-sthale 9
malech-shu dhushita bhumi-vahika nam-vishritha
arya dharma hi nav-vathra vahike desh-darunya 10
vamu-vatra maha-mayi yo-sav dagdho myaa pura
tripuro bali-daithyane proshith punaragath 11
ayoni sa varo math prasava daithyo-vrudhan
mahamadh ithi khayath , paishacha-kruthi thathpar 12
nagathvaya thvya bhup paisachae desh-vartake
math prasadhayane bhupal tav shudhii prajayathe 13
thi shruthva nupshav svadesha-napu maragmath
mahamadh toi sdhav sindhu-thir mupaye-yav 14
uchav bhupati premane mahamadh-virshad
tva deva maharaja das-tva magath 15
mamo-chit sabhu jiya-dhatha tatpashya bho nup
ithi shruthya ththa hata para vismaya-magath16
malechdhano mathi-shasi-tatsaya bhupasaya darutho17
tucha tva kalidas-sthu rusha praah mahamadham
maya-thei nirmithi dhutharya nush-mohan-hethvei 18
hanishyami-duravara vahik purusha-dhamum
ityak va sa jidh shrimanava-raja-tathpar 19
japthya dush-sah-trayach tah-sahansh juhav sa
bhasm mutva sa mayavi malech-dev-tva-magath 20
maybhithashtu tachya-shyaa desh vahii-kamayuuah
guhitva svaguro-bhasm madaheen tva-magatham 21
swapiit tav bhu-ghyot-thro-shrumadh-tathpara
madaheen puro jath thosha trith sayam smurthaum 22
rathri sa dev-roop-shav bahu-maya-virshad
paisacha deha-marathaya bhojraj hi so trivith 23
arya-dharmo hei to raja-sarvoutham smurth
ishapraya karinayami paishacha dharma darunbhu 24
linga-chedri shikhaheen shamshu dhaari sa dhushak
yukhalapi sarva bhakshi bhavishyat jano maum 25
vina kaul cha pashav-thosha bhakshava matha maum
muslanav sanskar kushariv bhavishyat 26
tasman-musal-vanto hi jathiyo dharma dhushika
ithi pishacha-dharma mya kruth 27

To set the scene, in this section of the Bhavishya Purana, Shri Suta Gosvami first explained that previously, in
the dynasty of King Shalivahana, there were ten kings who went to the heavenly planets after ruling for over 500
years. [This gives these kings roughly 50 years of rule for each one.] Then gradually the morality declined on the
planet. At that time, Bhojaraja was the tenth of the kings on the earth [who would have ruled about 450 years
after King Shalivahana]. When he saw that the moral law of conduct was declining, he went to conquer all the
directions of his country with ten-thousand soldiers commanded by Kalidasa. He crossed the river Sindhu
[modern Indus River] going northward and conquered over the gandharas [the area of
Afghanistan], mlecchas [present-day region of Turkey], shakas, Kashmiris [Kashmir and present-day
Pakistan], naravas, and sathas. Crossing the Sindhu, he conquered the mlecchas in Gandhar and the shaths in
Kashmir. King Bhoj grabbed their treasure and then punished them.
Then, as verses 7-8 relate, the Aryan King Bhojaraja, who had already left India for the lands across the Sindhu
River and to the west, meets Mahamada [some say this is Mohammed], the preceptor of the mleccha-
dharma [religion of the mlecchas], who had arrived with his followers. Thereafter, however, the King went to
worship the image of Lord Mahadev, the great god Shiva, situated in the marusthal, desert. King Bhoj bathed the
image of Shiva with Ganges water and worshiped him in his mind with panchagavya (the five purificatory
elements from the cow, consisting of milk, ghee, yogurt, cow dung, and cow urine), along with sandalwood paste,
etc., and offered him, the image of Shiva, sincere prayers and devotion. King Bhoj prayed to Lord Mahadev, “O
Girijanath who stays in the marusthal (land of deserts), I offer my prayers to you. You have forced maya [the
illusory energy] to destroy Tripurasur [the demon Tripura]; but the mlecchas are now worshiping you. You are
pure and sat-chit-anand swaroop [eternal knowledge and bliss]. I am your sevak [servant]. I have come under
your protection.”
Verses 10-27 relates next that Suta Goswami explained: After hearing the king’s prayers and being pleased with
him, Lord Shiva said: “Let the King go to Mahakaleshwar (Ujjain) in the land of Vahika, which is now
contaminated bymlecchas. O King, the land where you are standing, that is popular by the name of Bahik, has
been polluted by the mlecchas. In that terrible country there no longer exists Dharma. There was a mystic demon
named Tripura (Tripurasura), whom I have already burnt to ashes once before, he has come again by the order
of Bali. He has no origin but he achieved a benediction from me. His name is Mahamada and his deeds are like
that of a ghost. Therefore, O king, you should not go to this land of the evil ghost. By my mercy your intelligence
will be purified.” [This would seem to indicate that this Mahamada was an incarnation of the demon Tripura.] So
hearing this, the king came back to his country and Mahamada came with them, but only to the bank of the river
Sindhu. He was expert in expanding illusion, so he said to the king very pleasingly, “O great king, your god has
become my servant. Just see, as he eats my remnants, so I will show you.”
The king became surprised when he saw this happening before them. Then in anger Kalidasa, the king’s
commander, rebuked Mahamada, “O rascal, you have created an illusion to bewilder the king, I will kill you, you
are the lowest…” Then the king left that area.
Later, in the form of a ghostly presence, the expert illusionist Mahamada appeared at night in front of King
Bhojaraja and said: “O King, your religion is of course known as the best religion among all. Still, by the order of
the Lord, I am going to establish a terrible and demoniac religion and enforce a strong creed over the meat-
eaters [mlecchas]. My followers will be known by their cut [circumcised] genitals, they will have no shikha [tuft of
hair on their head, like Brahmanas], but will have a beard, make noise loudly, and eat all kinds of animals except
swine without observing any rituals. They will perform purificatory acts with the musala, and thus be called
musalman, and not purify their things with kusha grass [one of the Vedic customs]. Thus, I will be the originator of
this adharmic [opposed to Vedic or Aryan Dharma] and demoniac religion of the meat-eating nations.” After
having heard all this, the Bhavishya Purana goes on to relate that King Bhojaraja returned to his land and palace,
and that ghost of the man also went back to his own place.
It is lastly described how the intelligent king, Bhojaraja, established the language of Sanskrit amongst the
three varnas – the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas — and for the Shudras he established prakrita-bhasha,
the ordinary language spoken by common men. After ruling his kingdom for another 50 years, he went to the
heavenly planets. The moral laws established by him were honored even by the demigods. Thearya-varta, the
pious land is situated between Vindhyachala and Himachala, or the mountains known as Vindhya and Himalaya.
The Aryans reside there, but the varna-sankaras reside on the lower part of Vindhya. The musalman people were
kept on the other [northwestern] side of the river Sindhu.
***
Thus, from the interpretations of the present editions of the Bhavishya Purana that are available, it seems to say
there was someone named Mahamada that King Bhojaraja met in the desert, who was supposedly a
reappearance of the Tripura demon, who would start his own religion for those mlecchas who are unable to follow
the spiritual codes of the deeper aspects of spiritual culture, or Vedic Dharma, and who would also
spread adharma, or that religion that would be opposed to Vedic Dharma. Plus, Mahamada knew and accepted
the depth of the Vedic spiritual path and admitted to its superiority. But is Mahamada really Prophet Mohammed?
Let me assure everyone that this section is not a commentary on Prophet Mohammed or Islam, and is only an
explanation of what is said in the Bhavishya Purana. But since some people accept this to be a prediction, we
need to take a closer look at it.
So, the first few lines of this translation does seem to hold a possibility of referring to the Prophet. But after that, it
could be questionable whether a person would really want to accept this story to be about Prophet Mohammed or
not.
Historically, however, we know that Prophet Mohammed was born between 570-580 CE, became interested in
religion at age 40, preached in Mecca for 10 years, and then went to Medina in 621 CE at age 51 when he finally
established a following. He started engaging in armed conflict in 624 CE, gained possession of Mecca in 630,
and died in 632 CE at age 62. So, he would have had to have met King Bhojaraja only after he had a following,
between the years of 621 and 632. That is an extremely narrow eleven-year window of time. However, herein it
also says that Mahamada went with King Bhojaraja to the Sindhu River, but there is never any historical record
that Prophet Mohammed personally went to that area, which establishes another doubt of whether this could
have been the Prophet.
Furthermore, even though it is described how King Bhojaraja conquered over thegandharas [the area of
Afghanistan], mlecchas [present-day region of Turkey], shakas, Kashmiris [Kashmir and present-day
Pakistan], naravas, and sathas, it never mentions that he went into the area of central Saudi Arabia where he
would have had to go in order to meet the Prophet at the particular time when the Prophet had a following.
Plus, if King Bhojaraja was the tenth king after Shalivahana, who was supposed to have existed about the time of
Jesus Christ, according to the evidence provided in the previous section, that would mean that this king lived
about 450 to 500 CE. This is too early to allow for a possibility to have met the Prophet. However, there are a few
King Bhojaraja’s that are recorded in history. The one in the Bhavishya Purana is noted as intelligent, and who
“established the language of Sanskrit amongst the three varnas – the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas — and
for the Shudras he establishedprakrita-bhasha, the ordinary language spoken by common men.” The King
Bhojaraja who was known for being a Sanskrit scholar is credited with being the author of two books,
the Saraswatikanthabharana, and the Shringaraprakasha. Of these, the first is a compendious volume in five
chapters, dealing with the merits and defects of poetry, figures of speech, language, etc. However, this scholar
King Bhojaraja is said to have lived from 1018 to 1054 CE. This is way too late to have enabled him to personally
have met the Prophet.
Therefore, at least with the present information that is available, we are left to conclude that, though King
Bhojaraja may have indeed met a person named Mahamada, the meeting between the king and Prophet
Mohammed as an accurate historical event is extremely unlikely. Thus, in this description from the Bhavishya
Purana, Mahamada is not the Prophet. Beyond this point of view, is this a later interpolation? Who can say? Or is
this is a prophecy in an allegorical form? That would be left to one’s own opinions or sentiments.
* * *
Was Prophet Muhammad in the Vedas?
Starting With the Rig-Veda
In this article we will take a look at some of the verses in the Vedas that some people, such as Dr. Zakir Naik, say
that Mohammed is mentioned or foretold in them. This is a summary based on the research by Dr Radhasyam
Brahmachari and others, and shows that these verses in fact do not speak of Prophet Mohammed, but are used
in a way that is based on mistranslations to justify that idea.
First of all, the Rig-Veda is globally recognized and accepted as the oldest book created by man and hence if it
could be shown that there is mentioning of Prophet Mohammed in that text, it will be immensely helpful to paint
the Arabian Prophet as a divine personality. Not only that, it will be helpful to deceive the Hindus and convert
them to Islam. So, it does not become difficult to understand what has inspired Dr Zakir Naik and others to
discover the mentioning of Mohammed in the Rig-Veda and in other Vedic texts. But as his investigation
culminated into a failure, he had no other way but to apply stupid arguments to befool the kafirs and infidels but to
twist the meanings and translations into something different, all the while acting most scholarly and convincing.
First of all, we should see what the Rig-Veda actually says about Prophet Muhammad. It should also be
mentioned at the outset that two Sanskrit wordsśaṃsata and narāśaṃsa play the central role in these arguments
of such people as Zakir Naik. According to him, the word śaṃsata stands for an individual who praises. In Arabic,
such an individual is called Ahammad, the other name of Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, wherever he could find
the word śaṃsata, he took it as the mentioning of their Prophet.
According to him, the second word narāśaṃsa means an individual who is to be praised or who is praiseworthy.
The Arabic word Muhammad means a man who is praiseworthy. So, wherever he could have found the
word narāśaṃsa in any Sanskrit texts, he took it to be a mentioning of Muhammad.
In fact, both the Sanskrit words śaṃsata and narāśaṃsa stand for a deity or God, who is praiseworthy. According
to Sāyana, the most reputed commentator of the Vedas, the word narāśaṃsa means a deity or a respectable
entity (not a man) that deserves to be praised by man.
However, we should have a closer look to see what Zakir Naik has to say. According to him, the verses (1/13/3),
(1/18/9), (1/106/4), (1/142/3), (2/3/2), (5/5/2), (7/2/2), (10/64/3) and (10/182/2) of the Rig-Veda contain the
word narāśaṃsa, and hence mention Muhammad, and the verse (8/1/1) of the Rig-Veda contains the
wordśaṃsata (Ahmmad), or the other name of Muhammad. So here he begins with another blatant lie and says
that the word śaṃsata stands for a man who praises, the Arabic equivalent of Ahammad and hence mentions
Muhammad. The said verse (8/1/1) of the Rig-Veda reads:
Mā cidanyadvi śaṃsata sakhāyo mā riṣṇyata l
Indramitstot ā vṛṣaṇaṃ sacā sute muhurukthā ca śaṃsata ll (8/1/1)
“Glorify naught besides, O friends; so shall no sorrow trouble you. Praise only mighty Indra when the juice is
shed, and say your lauds repeatedly.” (Translation: R T H Griffith; The Hymns of the Ṛgveda, Motilal Banarsidass
Publishers, Delhi; 1995, p-388). So the word śaṃsata (praiseworthy) in the above verse refers to deity Indra, and
not a man who praises (Ahammad) as claimed by Dr Zakir Naik.
We shall now see what the verses containing the word narāśaṃsa say. In Rig-Veda, a verse is refered as (x/y/z),
where x stands for Mandala, y stands for Sukta and z stands for the Verse or Ṛk. The verse (1/13/3) of Rig-Veda,
as mentioned above, belongs to 13th Sukta of the 1st Mandala. It should also be noted here that every Sukta of
the Rig-Veda is dedicated to a deity. The presiding deity of the 13th Sukta of the 1st Mandala is Agni (the God of
Fire). The verse says:
Narāśaṃsamiha priyamasminajña upahvaye l
Madhujihvat haviṣkṛtam ll (1/13/3)
“Dear Narāśaṃsa, sweet of tongue, the giver of oblations, I invoke to this our sacrifice.” (tr: ibid, p-7)
As Agni is the deity of the entire 13th Sukta, there is no doubt that the word narāśaṃsa(praiseworthy to man) in
the verse refers to Agni. One should also note that the wordnarāśaṃsa does not signify a man who is
praiseworthy, as some people claim.
The verse (1/18/9) of the Rig-Veda says:
Narāśaṃsaṃ sudhṛṣṭamamapaśyam saprathastam l
Divo na sadmakhasam ll (1/18/9)
“I have seen Narāśaṃsa, him most resolute, most widely famed, as ‘twere the Household Priest of heaven.” (tr:
ibid, p-11)
The 18th Sukta, to which the verse belongs, is dedicated to Brahmaṇaspati, the Priest of heaven and hence the
word narāśaṃsa (praiseworthy to man) in this verse refers to Brahmaṇaspati, the Priest of heaven.
The verse (1/106/4) of the Rig-Veda says:
Narāśaṃsaṃ vajinṃ vajayinniha kṣayadvīraṃ pūṣaṇaṃ summairī mahe l
Rathaṃ na durgādvasava sudānavo viśvasmānno ahaṃso niṣpipartana ll (1/106/4)
“To mighty Narāśaṃsa, strengthening his might, to Pūṣaṇa, ruler over men, we pray with hymns. Even as a
chariot from a difficult ravine, bountiful Vasus, rescue us from all distress.” (tr: ibid, p-69)
The 106th Sukta of 1st Mandala, to which the verse belongs, is dedicated to the Viśvadevas, and hence the
word narāśaṃsa (praiseworthy to man) in this verse refers to the Viśvadevas, again not to Mohammed.
The verse (1/142/3) of the Rig-Veda says:
śuci pāvako adbhuto madhvā yajñaṃ mimikṣati l
narāśaṃsasthrirā divo devo deveṣu yajñiyaḥ ll (1/142/3)
“He wondrous, sanctifying, bright, sprinkles the sacrifice with mead, thrice, Narāśaṃsa from the heavens, a God
amid Gods adorable.” (tr: ibid, p-98)
The 142nd Sukta, to which the verse belongs, is dedicated to the deity Āprī, and hence the word narāśaṃsa in
this verse refers to Āprī. Most of the scholars agree that Āprī is the other name of Agni and hence the
word narāśaṃsa in this verse refers to Agni, the god of fire.
The verse (2/3/2) of the Rig-Veda says:
Narāśaṃsaḥ prati dhāmānyañjan tisro div prati mahṇā svarciḥ l
Ghṛtapruṣā manasā havyamundanmūrdhanyajñasya sanamaktu devān ll (2/3/2)
“May Narāśaṃsa lighting up the chambers, bright in his majesty through threefold heaven, steeping the gift with
oil diffusing purpose, bedew the Gods at chiefest time of worship.” (tr: ibid, p- 132)
Like the earlier one, 142nd Sukta of 1st Mandal, this present 3rd Sukta of 2nd Mandala, is dedicated to the deity
Āprī or Agni and hence the word narāśaṃsa in this verse refers to Agni the Fire God.
The Verse (5/5/2) of Rig-Veda says:
Narāśaṃsaḥ suṣūdatīmṃ yajñamadābhyaḥ l
Kavirhi madhūhastāḥ ll (5/5/2)
“He, Narāśaṃsa, ne’er beguiled, inspireth this sacrifice; for sage is he, with sweets in hand.” (tr: ibid, p- 240)
This 5th Sukta of 5th Mandala is also dedicated to Āprī or Agni and hence the wordnarāśaṃsa in this verse refers
to Agni the Fire God.
The verse (7/2/2) of Rig-Veda says:
Narāśaṃsasya mahimānameṣamupa stoṣāma yajatasya yajñaiḥ l
Ye sukratavaḥ śucayo dhiyandhāḥ svadanti devā ubhayāni havyā ll (7/2/2)
“With sacrifice to these we men will honor the majesty of holy Narāśaṃsa – to these the pure, most wise, the
thought-inspires, Gods who enjoy both sorts of our oblations.” (tr: ibid, p- 334)
Again this 2nd Sukta of 7th Mandala is dedicated to Āprī or Agni, and hence the wordnarāśaṃsa in this verse
refers to Agni the Fire God.
The verse (10/64/3) of the Rig-Veda says:
Narā vā śaṃsaṃ pūṣṇamagohyamagni deveddhamabhyarcase girā l
Sūryāmāsā candramasā yamaṃ divi tritaṃ vātamuṣasamaktumaśvinā ll (10/64/3)
“To Narāśaṃsa and Pūṣaṇ I sing forth, unconcealable Agni kindled by the Gods. To Sun and Moon, two Moons,
to Yama in the heaven, to Trita, Vāta, Dawn, Night and Aśvins Twain.” (tr: ibid, p- 578)
This 64th Sukta of 10th Mandala is dedicated to the Viśvadevas, and the wordnarāśaṃsa in this verse refers to
the Viśvadevas.
The verse (10/182/2) of Rig-Veda says:
Narāśaṃso na avatu prayāje śaṃ no astvanuyajo habeṣu l
Kṣipadaśtimapa durmati hannathā karadyajamānāya śam ṣoḥ ll (10/182/2).
“May Narāśaṃsa aid us at Prayāja; blest be out Anuyāja at invokings. May he repel the curse, and chase ill-
feeling, and give the sacrificer peace and comfort.” (tr: ibid, p- 650)
The 182nd Sukta of 10th Mandala, to which the above verse belongs, is dedicated to Vṛhaspati, and hence the
word narāśaṃsa refers to Vṛhaspati, the Priest of the Gods.
Another verse (1/53/9) of the Rig-Veda says,
Tvametāñjanarājño dvirdaśābandhunā suśravasopajagmaṣaḥ l
ṣaṣtiṃ sahasrā navatiṃ nava śruto ni cakreṇa rathyā duṣpadā vṛṇak ll (1/53/9)
“With all-outstripping chariot-wheel, O Indra, thou far-famed, hast overthrown the twice ten Kings of men, with
sixty thousand nine-and-ninety followers, who came in arms to fight with friendless Suśravas.” (tr: ibid, p-36)
To narrate the incident, Sayana, the renowned commentator of the Rig-Veda, says that twenty kings with a force,
60,099 strong, attacked the King Suśrava (Prajapati) and Indra alone defeated them and frustrated their ambition
(the Vayu-Purana also narrates the incident).
Most of the scholars agree that the Rig-Veda was composed more than 5000 years BCE, and hence the incident
narrated in the verse (1/53/9) took place more than 7000 years ago. And Muhammad conquered Mecca in 630
AD. But Zakir Naik has proceeded to link the incident with Muhammad’s capturing Mecca, which any sane man,
except a Muslim, would feel shy to undertake. To give his mischief a shape, he has, firstly replaced the word
Suśrava with Suśrama and says that the word Suśrama stands for one who praises, and hence equivalent to
Ahammad in Arabic, the other name of Muhammad. And he claims that the verse narrates Muhammad’s
conquering Mecca, as the then population of the city was about 60,000 and Muhammad had invaded Mecca with
20 of his closest followers. It is not difficult for the reader to discover the absurdity of this claim and the deceit
involved with making it.
The verse (8/6/10) of the Rig-Veda says,
Ahamiddhi pituṣpari medhamṛtasya jagrabha l
Ahaṃ sūrya ivājrani ll (8/6/10)
“I from my Father have received deep knowledge of the Holy Law: I was born like unto the Sun.” (Tr: ibid, p- 396).
In this verse the word ahamiddhi stands for “I have received.” But as the word spells like Ahammad, the other
name of Muhammad, Zakir Naik claims that the verse mentions Muhammad, which shows how he is prone to
error on account of his Islamic bias.
Thus we have studied all the verses of the Rig-Veda which, according to Naik, mention Muhammad. It has been
said above that the Sanskrit word narāśaṃsastands for a deity or God who is praiseworthy to man, but not a man
who is praiseworthy to other men, which is what Naik claims. So, according to this kind of childish logic,
whenever someone uses the word “praiseworthy,” it should be taken granted that he mentions Prophet
Muhammad. But that is far from the truth.
However, the intellectual level of those who try to use these techniques of mistranslations are revealed when they
try to do the same thing with the wordnarāśaṃsa in other Vedas, like Atharva-Veda and Yajur-Veda and is again
projecting them to be mentioning Prophet Muhammad. Though it is sheer wastage of time to deal with the
utterances of such insane people as this, we may discuss these matters more thoroughly in the future. In the
meantime, many are those who are realizing the confusing and inaccurate conclusions such as these and are
losing confidence in such people who depend on this kind of tactic, as they also become an embarrassment to
the religion they represent.
Debunking the Atharva-Veda Connection
Atharva-Veda, HYMN CXXVII
A hymn in praise of the good Government of King Kaurama
1 Listen to this, ye men, a laud of glorious bounty shall be sung. Thousands sixty, and ninety we, O Kaurama,
among the Rusamas have received.
2 Camels twice-ten that draw the car, with females by their side, he gave.
Fain would the chariot’s top bow down escaping from the stroke of heaven.
3 A hundred chains of gold, ten wreaths, upon thee Rishi he bestowed,
And thrice-a-hundred mettled steeds, ten-times-a-thousand cows he gave.
4 Glut thee, O Singer, glut thee like a bird on a ripe-fruited tree.
Thy lips and tongue move swiftly like the sharp blades of a pair of shears.
5 Quickly and willingly like kine forth come the singers and their hymns:
Their little maidens are at home, at home they wait upon the cows.
6 O Singer, bring thou forth the hymn that findeth cattle, findeth wealth. p. 364
Even as an archer aims his shaft address this prayer unto the Gods.
7 List to Pariksit’s eulogy, the sovran whom all people love,
The King who ruleth over all, excelling mortals as a God.
8 ‘Mounting his throne, Pariksit, best of all, hath given us peace and rest,’
Saith a Kauravya to his wife as he is ordering his house.
9 ‘Which shall I set before thee, curds, gruel of milk, or barley-brew?’
Thus the wife asks her husband in the realm which King Pariksit rules.
10 Up as it were to heavenly light springs the ripe corn above the cleft.
Happily thrive the people in the land where King Pariksit reigns.
11 Indra hath waked the bard and said, Rise, wander singing here and there.
Praise me, the strong: each pious man will give thee riches in return,
12 Here, cows! increase and multiply, here ye, O horses, here, O men.
Here, with a thousand rich rewards, doth Pūshan also seat him-self.
13 O Indra, let these cows be safe, their master free from injury.
Let not the hostile-hearted or the robber have control of them.
14 Oft and again we glorify the hero with our hymn of praise, with prayer, with our auspicious prayer.
Take pleasure in the songs we sing: let evil never fall on us.
This hymn is merely a praise of King Kaurama (probably of Rajasthani origin). Some people, like Zakir Naik, have
tried to twist this to mean that the first 13 verses tell the story of Mohammed! “Kaurama” actually means “born of
a noble family” and has nothing to do with referring to Mohammed. It is closely related with the term Kaurava.
And “Kuntapa” merely means the internal organs in the belly and has no alternate meaning as “safe journey” or
as such. Sanskrit words aren’t as multi-layered as Arab words. All the verses in the Atharva-Veda from 126-133
are considered Kuntapa, but only one mentions a desert.
The Sama-Veda Connection
Some people (and you can guess who) think that the Sama-Veda, Book II, Hymn 6, verse 8, refers to
Mohammed.
The verse -
1. Indra whose jaws are strong hath drunk of worshipping Sudaksha’s draught,
The Soma juice with barley brew.
2. O Lord of ample wealth, these songs of praise have called aloud to thee,
Like milch-kine lowing to their calves!
3. Then straight they recognized the mystic name of the creative Steer,
There in the mansion of the Moon.
4. When Indra, strongest hero, brought the streams, the mighty waters down,
Pushan was standing by his side.
5. The Cow, the streaming mother of the liberal Maruts, pours her milk,
Harnessed to draw their chariots on.
6. Come, Lord of rapturous joys, to our libation with thy bay steeds, come
With bay steeds to the flowing juice
7. Presented strengthening gifts have sent Indra away at sacrifice,
With night, unto the cleansing bath.
8. I from my Father have received deep knowledge of eternal Law:
I was born like unto the Sun.
9. With Indra splendid feasts be ours, rich in all strengthening things, wherewith,
Wealthy in food, we may rejoice
10. Soma and Pushan, kind to him who travels to the Gods, provide
Dwellings all happy and secure.
So some people say that verse eight says “Ahmed acquired from his Lord the knowledge of eternal law. I
received light from him just as from the sun.” Then they associate the word as Ahmed to be Mohammed. But let
us understand the verse accurately.
In these verses, Indra is strengthened with Soma sacrifice and the Priests cry out for Indra’s arrival. The priests
recognize the name of the creative Seer – the personification Soma, there in the mansion of the moon – which in
Vedic symbolism, resembles a drop of Soma. Next, Indra’s legendary battle with Viritra the dragon who holds
back the waters of the Earth is reflected and it is seen how Indra brings the streams towards Earth with Pushan
by his side. The description of a cow pouring forth her milk is also given and is thought akin to Indra’s action.
Then, the priests once again call to Indra as the lord of joy to give his strengthening gifts to Soma and Indra doing
so, fades away. The Priests partake in the Soma and receive knowledge of the eternal law – the law that governs
nature (no Law in the ‘Jurisdiction’ sense) and share a feeling of warmth as if they were born unto the Sun. Once
again, the Soma is praised for its strengthening qualities. Soma the personification and Pushan thus travel to the
Gods.
Soma is a non-intoxicant juice from a certain vine that is burnt in Vedic rituals and the leftover remnants are
eaten. This is not done anymore because nobody knows what the Soma plant is (presumed extinct). The Soma
plant is renown for its strengthening properties and is drunk before war. Indra is a deity especially fond of Soma.
So the conclusion for this verse from the Sama-Veda is that there is no place for any “Ahmed” in this verse either
storywise or literarywise. Adding “Ahmed” here is saying the grammatically incorrect (the Veda is gramatically
perfect) – “Ahmed have received.” And besides, it is akin to saying Mohammed himself did the ritual to Indra’s
glory, and partook in the leftovers and knew the Sharia – which is once again akin to idolatry for Muslims. The
phrase “I from my father” seems second most likely (it refers to the Priests receiving knowledge from “Soma”
about the Eternal Law) but the most likely seems to be Aham + Atha. It would translate the sentence to – “I now
have received the eternal law.”
* * *
We could go on like this, and other people have, and compare additional verses from the Vedas to show how by
mistranslations, people have tried to place references to Prophet Mohammed in them, thus misleading the public
into thinking that the Vedic literature was advocating and giving credence or even prophecies to the Prophet
Mohammed, but no such honest references can be found therein. It is another trick, the type of which is
becoming increasingly common in order to persuade people to drop out of the Dharmic spiritual path and to
convert to something else.
Such trickery is only successful with those who are under-educated in the Vedic philosophy, and are used by
those who still lack genuine spiritual depth that can itself attract people. When that is missing, then they have to
resort to all kinds of deceit and trickery, or worse, such as types of violence and attacks, to show the superiority
of their religion. This is a pathetic technique but seems to be the last resort of those religions who especially want
to gain popularity without showing a truly deep and sacred and enlightening spiritual path that is meant solely for
the upliftment of the individual and society in general, rather than control through dogma and peer pressure and
status from a growing congregation.

Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, Preserving Vedic Culture, Vedic Prophecies | Tagged: Attacks
on Hinduism, Cultural Preservation, Hinduism | 19 Comments »
Why All Religions Are Not the Same, by Stephen Knapp
Posted on February 6, 2011 by Stephen Knapp
Why All Religions Are Not the Same
By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana dasa)
It is often said by some Hindu gurus and leaders that all religions are the same. But is this really the
case? Naturally, anyone who studies religion can see many similarities between them. And if we are talking about
getting closer to God and increasing our understanding and love for God, then what religion is not trying to do
that? Who cannot go to a church, mosque, or temple and worship and bow to God in prayer? It is what many of
us do no matter where we may be. So, what is the difference? Are not all religions the same?
SIMILAR FACTORS IN ALL RELIGIONS
We can all recognize how many of the moral principles that we follow are observed and recommended by
all religions. For example: no matter whether we talk about Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism,
Jainism, Buddhism, or Zoroastrianism, they all recommend daily prayer. In Islam they are regulated to pray five
times a day, while in Hinduism they chant the gayatri mantra three times a day. And in all religions they pray any
time of day. All of these religions believe that God or the Absolute Truth is ultimately one, except Buddhism in
which some sects do not except the soul or a God. They also believe that we are spiritual beings, and that we
should become sincerely devoted to and develop love for God. They also recommend giving alms and doing
welfare work for society. They also accept the idea of meditating or calling out the holy names of God, fasting,
and remembering God, especially on their holy days.
All of these religions also advise pilgrimage, going to the holy places that are important to them. They also advise
that followers be humble, honest, and tolerant in their religious practice, and compassionate to all living beings.
Thus, several of these religions outline the ideal of being vegetarian. They all recommend, or at least advise the
decrease of the consumption of alcohol and intoxicants, as well as the restriction of gambling. Monogamy in
marriage is often considered the highest standard, and divorce is never recommended or is discouraged. Thus,
there are many principles that are common amongst all religions. So, what is the difficulty?
The point is that it is often soothing to try to show how we could all live peacefully if we all focused on our
similarities. Who in their right mind would not want that? It is certainly much easier than focusing on our
differences. The core of each religion, meaning its ultimate purpose, is similar to others in that they all promote
the increase in one’s devotion to God, being kind and compassionate to all, and give the principles to follow to
live a good and moral existence. And for those who recognize these similarities, they all can easily come together
and worship God in unity, and respect one another and their traditions. Yet, to actually find this kind of a situation
with mutual respect seems quite rare. Not only do those of various religions separate themselves from others, but
even within the same religion there can be many different sects that do not agree, or even fight to the death with
one another. So, it seems that many religions do not agree with each other on the finer details, and at best may
succeed at only tolerating one another while being quick to criticize the other. Quite honestly, it can be said that
some of the most unsettling and warring factors created in this world are caused by religions and their attitudes
and views toward one another. History has shown that the major focus of most wars has been the differences
people perceive in one another’s religion. For example, the blood that has been spilt in the name of Jesus or
Allah is inestimable. So, is there any chance that real harmony can exist between the various religions of the
world?
Two factors that keep the world from being united is the presumption of racial superiority, and the desire
to conquer and convert. This means that often times the status of religions is viewed by how much territory it
controls, and how many converts it has made. If this is how religions view their success, then there is no way in
hell that harmony will ever be created by religion. In fact, it turns them into nothing different than political parties
vying for influence. Thus, they create hell on earth rather than being able to bring in the Kingdom of God, as
some of them say they can.
The only way to breakthrough the barriers of distinction that seem to exist between us is with love. However, that
love cannot be love of the body or one’s own society. It has to be better and higher than that. It has to be a
spiritual love for all beings. TheDammapada (5-6) explains: “For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time:
hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule. The world does not know that we must all come to an end here; but
those who know it, their quarrels cease at once.”
Therefore, it is only the path of genuine spirituality that can bring us to a level higher than what ordinary religion
offers. It has to be based on the transcendental principles of spiritual realization, not merely on the basics of
moral foundations. And if you look into the teachings of most religions, such a lofty view of spirituality is not easily
found. Thus, there is no question that they are not all the same.
SARVA DHARMA SAMBHAVA
Another part of this issue, at least amongst the Hindus, is the phrase “Sarva Dharma Sambhava,” which
many people take to mean that all Dharmas or religions are the same, or are equal, or that they all are merely
different paths that lead to the same goal. Thus, with this line of thought, any religion is as good as any other.
When viewing the essence of religions, we may find this to be a fair assumption, with differences only in their
outer superficialities. So, while using this form of logic, it should not matter if one is a Hindu, Muslim, Christian,
Jew, etc. But this is also a mistranslation if we analyze the phrase carefully.
We could say the same thing in regard to foods—that they are all the same. But are they really? Are they
the same in every way? They are the same in that they are food, and the goal of food is to satisfy and nourish the
body. So, are they all the same? Some food is Chinese, Italian, Mexican, French, Indian, etc. Plus, they are
made using different ingredients, they come from different cultures, they have different tastes, and different
effects on the body, and so on. There are specific variations which distinguish them in ways that make some
people prefer certain foods over others. Thus, there is no way they are all exactly the same.
So, when it comes to understanding the meaning of Dharma, we have to be aware of its Sanskrit
definition. The root of the word dharma comes from dhri, which means to uphold or maintain. The Sanskrit
says dharayati iti dharmaha, which translates as “dharma is that which upholds.” However, not only what is
supported is Dharma, but that which does the supporting is also Dharma, dhriyate iti dharmaha. So, Dharma
consists of both the force that sustains as well as what is sustained. It can also be said that there is the path of
Dharma as well as its conclusion, the object of Dharma, or what we are seeking, meaning the ultimate goal of life.
So, Dharma is the means or path as well as the goal.
Dharma is also said to be the force which maintains the universe. Where there is Dharma there is
harmony and balance individually, socially, and inter-galactically. Therefore, the path of Dharma brings about the
harmony and contentment that is also another aspect of what we are seeking. In this way, we want harmony
inwardly, in our own consciousness, but we also cannot have individual peace unless there is harmony or
cooperation socially, amongst the masses. Without that, no one can have peace, unless you are completely
outside the effects of society.
The practice of Dharma should be done not out of compulsion but out of love due to the perception of the
Supreme in all living beings. With this motivation, Dharma can assist in preventing injury to others and treating
each other respectfully. Dharma also means righteous conduct. This includes following social laws and proper
moral activity and behavior. It encourages truthfulness of thought, word and deed. The point of which is to reach
the goal of Dharma.
Dharma also means truth. So, we follow the path of Dharma to free ourselves from illusion and reach the
ultimate Truth, which is the topmost reality, the spiritual strata. The Absolute Truth means the final philosophical
goal and end of all knowledge, or Vedanta, which is God, the Supreme Being. So, when we want to attain
liberation from material existence, then it becomes much easier to follow the path of Dharma and overcome the
temptations of the temporary material world. Then we can let go of the illusory objects that are, in fact, hurdles on
the path to Truth and God, and happiness in general.
Furthermore, doing what should not be done is called vidharma, which is a type ofadharma or nondharmic
activity. The conclusion, therefore, is that if we want happiness and peace we must learn how to live according to
the path of Dharma. So, where there is no Dharma, there is disharmony and a state of being that is out of
balance. And socially it means that without Dharma, there is a lack of cooperation, along with escalating quarrel
and fighting. When we act against the law of Dharma, we disrupt the very harmony and cooperation that we want.
In other words, we create a life for ourselves in which there is stress, confusion, discontent, and frustration, and
even war. And when we feel this way, that becomes our contribution to the general social condition. It is the exact
opposite of what we wish to attain. Thus, to live a life outside of Dharma means to work against ourselves.
Therefore, we can conclude that if each and every religion really had Dharma as the basis of its teachings, and
helped spread Dharma, there would be no conflict. But as we can plainly see, this is not the case.
With this analysis in mind, there are a few questions we should ask. For example:
1. How many religions really offer true Dharma to its followers?
2. How many really uphold the principle of Dharma within its teachings?
3. How many truly offer mutual respect for others, even those who are outside their own religion?
4. How many actually teach the ways to provide balance and harmony throughout society, rather than dividing
people into false classifications, such as those who are “saved” and those who are hell-bound, kafirs, infidels,
disbelievers, etc?
5. How many so-called religions actually spread adharma or nondharmic activities, such as the needless
killing of useful animals like cows and bulls, or the Brahman class of society who help preserve the Dharmic
traditions, or who try to unnecessarily criticize other religions in their attempt to gain converts?
This makes it more obvious that not all religions promote Dharma, nor live up to the saying of “Sarva
Dharma Sambhava.” And understanding this should cut down on the confusion that makes some people think
that all religions are the same, or are equal.
What this phrase actually refers to are the other sects within the Vedic fold. Sanatana-dharma or the
Vedic path has various schools of Vedanta; including Vaishnavism, Saivism, Saktism, etc. It has various creeds,
and the Vedic path accommodates all types of men. This is the glory and liberality of the Dharmic process which
provides spiritual guidance for all. Thus, no one is considered a non-believer or hell-bound when they are only
taking up different levels of their spiritual quest through some aspect of the Vedic teachings. Therefore, Dharma
means an inclusive spiritual process, not an exclusive system which considers only certain people being eligible
to participate, or that only those who follow the dogma of a certain religion are eligible for heaven or the promised
land. Therefore, Dharma in the phrase of “Sarva Dharma Sambhava” really means the different schools of
thought, lineages, or paramparas within the Vedic fold, those that actually know and contain the principles of true
Dharma. It does not mean that every religion throughout the world is the same or propagates true Dharma or
deep spirituality. This is something we need to clearly understand.
A religion may indeed have some level of Dharma in it, and similarities they all should share, as we have
previously analyzed. But you may have to cut through so many layers of externals before you reach it. These
layers may include forms of politics, prejudice toward outsiders or “nonbelievers” of other religions, or ethnic
superiority, or the feeling that they are the only true followers of the only true faith, the only ones who are really
saved or who understand the teachings given by God at the exclusion of everyone else, and so on. Somewhere
in all that there may be some genuine Dharma, but by the time you reach it, and many never do, there may
already be too many corruptions or perversions in the teachings to see the core of what it was meant to be,
unless you have been educated in a system that allows you to know and recognize genuine spirituality
beforehand, which also is rarely the case. Thus, the differences between religions can be glaringly obvious, and
are what many people cling to, and are held more firmly than some people would care to admit.
Furthermore, if a religion has too much rajo-guna or tamo-guna, meaning too much of the mode of
passion and ignorance in it, then it keeps a person bound to that level of consciousness, imprisoned by the
dictates of a mere belief system or a rigid dogma rather than a spiritual process that can bring a person to the
ultimate freedom of spiritual self-realization. This is the danger. In this case, such a religion certainly cannot bring
one to the level of sattva-guna or to the mode of goodness from which one can progress to the level of sudha-
sattva, or the quality of pure goodness of the spiritual dimension. It is no longer a process for reaching total
freedom up to and including moksha, or liberation from all material existence, but instead keeps one bound to the
realm of samsara, repeated births and deaths in the material creation regardless of how pious that person may
be.
ALL RELIGIONS ARE REALLY NOT THE SAME
So, let’s face the truth, in spite of many similarities in their core purpose, each religion offers very different views
of themselves, of other religions, of those who do not follow their particular path, as well as different views of God
and the purpose of life. Plus, they are often quick to create and show deep boundaries between each other at the
slightest provocation.
One of the most important points is that if we look closely, we can easily recognize that each religion certainly
brings their followers to different levels of understanding and consciousness, both materially and spiritually.
Which level of consciousness they attain will make a great deal of difference in how they perceive themselves in
relation to others. They will have different ideas on what is their spiritual identity, on who or what is God, how to
please Him, and what His attitude is toward His followers and who are not considered to be His followers, at least
according to the dictates of that particular religion.
Furthermore, like I said, some Hindu gurus say that all religions are the same, but you really never hear the
authorities of other religions say that. Who among the Christians, Muslims, Jews, or even the Buddhists say that
all religions are the same? Some big preachers from non-Hindu religions even vehemently disagree with that
point and not only disrespect those of other religions, but say they are all condemned to hell in the eyes of their
God. Well, isn’t that a soothing thought? This is also why an increasing number of people are giving up the
conventional forms of religion and taking up what can be called spirituality, which can be more personal and not
tied to the dictates of a dogma. Why would someone do this? Obviously, they want to continue in their own
development without being a part of all the trouble, divisiveness, and quarrel that comes from holding an
allegiance toward one particular religion. Freedom to think, ask, inquire, investigate, and experience what we
want in our spiritual quest certainly begins to make more sense than to be tied to the obligation of accepting a
dogma in order to be accepted by the church or mosque or institution for getting to heaven, if you believe in such
a thing.
Another point is that some people think the Hindu sages of old said that truth is one, but the paths to it are many.
So, again we have a misunderstanding that keeps some Hindus thinking all religions are equal. However, once
again that is not accurate. The real saying is “ekam sat, vipra bahuda vadanti,” that truth is one, but the names
for it are many. This means something else entirely. Thus, it becomes obvious that different religions also
prescribe different ways to reach God, or attain heaven, or whatever it is they promise people. And each religion
thinks that they offer the one true and only way, as if they have a patent or copyright on the process and
teachings, as if God spoke only one time to one person and no one else, and now that person is the only
representative of God that we must all follow, or go to eternal damnation. Here again is only mankind projecting
their own weaknesses into their conception of God. And when that is the case, there is no end to the variations or
differences in religions.
To get a better idea, let us compare some of the differences in religions that we can easily recognize.
DIFFERENT FACTORS IN VARIOUS RELIGIONS

• One book or many. Here we can start with the fact that the Christians have their Bible, composed of a
variety of books, divided into the Old and New Testament. Then we have the Koran for the Muslims, and
a few other books for the Jews. While in the Vedic system we practically have a whole library that takes
a person through many levels of understanding the Absolute Truth. These include the Vedas, like
the Rig, Atharva, Yajur, and Atharva, then theUpanishads, Vedanta-sutras, Ramayana, Mahabharata of
which the classicBhagavad-gita is a chapter, then the 18 major and 18 minor Puranas, the
various Agamas, and others. Thus, there are differences in the religions from the start.
• One savior or many. Again we see that the Vedic system provides a variety of teachers, gurus,
prophets, as well as avataras of God to help guide humanity at different times throughout history. While
in the conventional religions there is one God, one savior, one main messenger and no one else, and
you either believe in him, or you are as good as condemned.
• One God or many forms. In the Vedic tradition there are many forms of God, many descensions
or avataras of God, all of whom show the pastimes, characteristics and qualities of the one Supreme
Being. But in other religions, they do not accept this. In fact, they do not even know any descriptive form
of God. You ask them what God looks like, and they are not sure. They may say something about His
character, but even very little of that. And Christianity says that God appears only as Jesus, or maybe a
great cloud over a mountain, a dove, or something in a figurative sense. Islam, on the other hand, does
not present any form of God, nor does Judaism.

· One God, or Brahman, Paramatama and Bhagavan. In the Vedic system, these are the three aspects of
God, namely the all pervasive Brahman, spiritual energy; the Paramatma or localized expansion known as the
Lord in the Heart or Supersoul; then Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality. Whereas in Christianity they are known
as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, though the meanings of which are not as profound or specific as that given in
the Vedic descriptions. So, from the start, the concept of God is not the same. In this way, the Vedic culture
establishes one Absolute Truth that appears in many forms, whereas the western and middle eastern religions
say there is only one personal God with only one form, of which they are not sure what that is.
· In the Vedic system God can expand and appear in the localized form of the Deity in the temple, whereas
the western and middle-eastern religions condemn Deity worship.
· Dharmists (those who follow Sanatana-dharma, the Vedic path) are usually very tolerant of other religions
and can recognize the spiritual truths wherever they may be, in whatever form. Many Christians and Muslims
may also be tolerant, but many are not, and are quick to criticize those of other religions since they cannot
recognize spiritual truth so easily in other forms. One of their criticisms they often use is that if it is not of their
religion, then it must be of the devil. Where is the logic in this?
 · Dharmists often welcome other religions, as in the way we have seen so many that have settled in India
and made it their home, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, the Parsis, Jews, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Baha’i, etc.
While Christians and Muslims, on the other hand, have a vast history of destroying any other culture or people in
whichever land they invaded. This is a profound difference that history cannot deny. Intolerance kills.

• So, we can see the liberality, kindness and openness of Dharmists, yet in any Muslim country, they
allow but one religion to flourish, and any other religion must practice undercover, or they are
persecuted and driven out or even thrown into prison, just as we are seeing many Hindus and Christians
being driven out of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, etc.
• The Vedic system says there are various ways to progress toward God, but the western and middle-
eastern monotheistic religions generally say there is only their way to God.
• The Vedic system says that all is God, while other religions say God is far away and takes great
endeavor and approval through the church to reach God.
• The Vedic tradition says that one can take many lifetimes to attain the spiritual dimension or reach God,
while others says there is but one life to reach perfection or go to eternal hell.
• This brings us to the point wherein the Vedic system says there are numerous temporary heavenly or
hellish realms that we may have to work through, based on our pious or impious deeds, while western
religions says there is but one heaven or one eternal hell.
• Vedic Dharma says that a person can ask many and any questions to understand spiritual truths, while
the western religions curb many questions regarding its dogma, and say you are a doubting person if
you ask too many questions.
• Eastern religions explain that one’s situations in life are due to karma for which a person has to take
responsibility, while the western religions have little philosophy to clarify one’s good or bad
circumstances in life.

· The Vedic spiritual path explains that all beings have souls, while the western religions say that only
humans have souls.
· The Vedic tradition has always accommodated diversity, while western religions say that you must fit in or
face excommunication, and another says even death.
· The Vedic Dharmists have always spread their culture through the use of philosophy and spiritual purity,
while the western religions have often spread through the use of force, fear, intimidation, and by criticizing and
threatening all other religions, which is but materialism and ego (“my religion is best”). We can especially see this
when Muslims have demonstrated in London in their campaign for ruling the world over everyone else, with signs
that said death to non-Muslims and that Islam will rule the world, and so on. Or when some fanatics try to commit
suicide while blowing up themselves and as many people of other religions as possible, or even other sects of
their own religion, thinking that is a way to get to heaven. Thus, we can see different views within each religion
and the numerous sects.
· Another difference is how Dharmists use the Sanskrit phrase “Vasudhaiva Kutumbukam”, which means
the whole universe is all one family. This shows the spirituality of each other and how it is important that we all
cooperate and work together. Yet, we can see that Dharmists have rarely received the same respect from those
of other religions, even those who have settled in India. How is this an example of all religions being one? Yet, if
Hindus stand up and defend themselves and their culture in their own homeland against the conversion tactics of
Christians, or the violence of Muslims with similar strength, they are often labeled as saffron communalists or
extremists. It is as if to be a good Dharmist or Hindu, you must lay your head down so others may cut it off, while
those of other religions can do as they like.
· The fact is that Christianity and Islam will never agree that they are one with Vedic culture, Hinduism, or
that they are the same, or even part of the same family. They say they are the only one true faith, and all others,
especially Hindus, worship Satan and devils, and are in darkness and must be “saved”.
· Thus, in what other religion do you find the “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” concept? Where do you find that
any other religion tries to offer the spiritual vision of seeing the unity between us all? They may promote that
there is unity between all those of thesame faith, but they do not value those of other faiths, unless they are seen
as potential converts. In fact, Christians and Muslims often disdain those who worship differently, even when in
the different sects of the same religion. What kind of religions are these? Why do they not also advocate seeing
the Divine or spiritual identity within all regardless of religion?
· Vedic tradition does not have a particular founder of the culture. Whereas there is a specific founder in
most conventional religions with a clear history of how it developed and from where it originated.
· The origins of Vedic culture predates recorded history and certainly predates any other of the prominent
religions that exist today, such as Christianity (2000 years old) and Islam (almost 1400 years old), and is not a
response to some issue or quarrel. It has stood on its own for many centuries before the ones that now say they
are the only way, or that you are lost and going to hell if you do not convert to their way of thinking. Since when
do they have the audacity to say such a thing? Since when do they justify their hostility toward any other religion?
They are but recent inventions compared to Vedic culture and the many older indigenous traditions around the
world.
· How is it that western religions, which are all relatively new, all think nonbelievers will go to hell? Or think
that Hinduism came from the Bible, when it is obvious that Hinduism predates Christianity by hundreds if not
thousands of years? Dharmists / Hindus do not think like this.
 · All religions have validity by what they offer, but how many are ready to admit that? How many are ready
to show respect to other traditions? If they really did, it would take away from their reason for conversion
campaigns. For example, when will Christianity or Islam admit that they are not the exclusive religion, the only
one authorized or approved by God? When will they admit that other religions also have validity and spiritual
knowledge to offer? If they cannot, then their view is but an immature form of egotistical materialism.
· Hindus/Dharmists are always seeking higher levels of spiritual truth, either by knowledge or realization and
experience, whereas the monotheistic religions say they already have the truth.
· Vedic knowledge is often in harmony with science, whereas the western and middle-eastern religions are
often contrary to science, keeping their own dogma no matter what.
· Vedic culture accepts reincarnation and karma, but western and middle-eastern religions do not accept it
and say that we all have but one life to attain spiritual perfection by faith, or meet our place in eternal hell.
· Vedic tradition says you were born divine and must merely awaken to that divinity, while western religions
say we were born sinners or “in sin” and must work to be rectified and saved from our sins.
· Vedic followers accept responsibility for their actions as part of their own karma, while the western
religions say it is the devil that tempts them to do evil things. Or even if they succumb to their temptations they
are saved by the blood of Jesus, who is their savior, or they are saved by their faith in Allah.
· In the Vedic tradition there is no supreme evil force or devil, or prince of darkness, though there are
certainly evil beings that exist in both the gross material realm and the subtle realm. Whereas in conventional
western religions there is a devil or Satan that is the cause of the evil in the world, and who in this way fights with
God.
· Vedic Dharmists accept that the means for liberation or freedom from continued material life is by
education, following a spiritual path, and reaching spiritual or God realization, while conventional western
religions feel that their savior and faith in him is the only way to reach heaven, which may include baptism, going
to church, reading the Bible, etc. Therein, liberation is promised by Jesus, while in the Vedic premise, liberation
must be earned by the individual.
· Dharmists can view everything as spiritual. Thus, their path becomes more than a religion but a way of life.
While conventional western religions often divide what is religious and what is secular.
· Vedic Dharmists often try to work in unity with nature, but the West and western religions often want to
control nature and take whatever they want from her in whatever way they want, often causing trouble and
imbalance in the process.
· The Vedic tradition offers many, many names of God, such as found in theVishnu-sahasranama or
“Thousand Names of Vishnu” which are based on His activities, pastimes and many characteristics. Whereas in
other religions His name is only a title, or is limited to Jehovah, Yaweh, or Allah, or the unnamable. This shows a
most limited understanding of the real character and nature of the Supreme.
· The philosophical purview of the Vedic tradition is wide, and can include the Purva Mimamsa of Jaimini,
the Uttara Mimamsa of Vyasa, Vaisheshika of Kanada, Nyaya of Gotama, Samkhya of Kapila, Yoga of Patanjali,
Vedanta of Vyasa, and others such as Vaishnavas, Shaivites, Tantrics, and Brahmanandis. Though these are all
schools of thought with their own followers, they are all still part of the Vedic and Dharmic fold. While in
Christianity or Islam there is only a rigid view or dogma to be followed, whether it makes clear sense or not, and if
there is any difference of opinion, then that person or persons become forced out or become a separate sect that
disagrees with everyone else.
· Dharmists believe that hellish punishment can exist after death if one is too evil, but that it is temporary
after one becomes rehabilitated. However, in Christianity or Islam they feel a person has but one chance to reach
heaven or hell, and that is also eternal with no chance of rehabilitation. This seems to give a harsh view of God
and fly in the face of any idea that God is merciful and full of unconditional love.
CONCLUSION
We could go on describing such differences, but this should be enough to make our point clear. You
could also say that these differences listed above are but rifts between the ways of religion as we know it today
and spirituality. The core purpose of each is meant to be the same, which is to help a person connect with the
spiritual dimension or bind themselves to God. But conventional religion seems to have taken a different route,
based on the desire to conquer, convert and control. This is much like a political movement that gives the people
just enough information to make them think they are making progress in the right direction, but still withholds the
most essential knowledge in order to keep them under the influence of the institution. Religion, thus, seems to
expect people to blindly accept whatever is given or forced on them without question. Spirituality, on the other
hand, is the freedom a person can exercise in his or her search for the spiritual path that provides the lessons,
knowledge and experience that is most suitable for that person’s inner development in this particular lifetime.
Spirituality is basically an internal process, which is emphasized in yoga and meditation. Spirituality is often more
personal and individual then the way we see religion today, though it is sometimes shared in groups such as on
holy days when large gatherings may take place. Nonetheless, it does not depend so much on outer customs,
although external rituals may be done for the development of internal changes or other benefits. Furthermore,
anyone practicing religion is usually considered a religious person, but is not necessarily spiritual if he or she is
not able to recognize the spiritual essence within that is shared by one and all. If a person cannot recognize the
spiritual identity of oneself and others, then he is not spiritual, no matter how religious he may pose himself to be.
This is one of the main differences between ordinary religious practice and genuine spirituality. And this is
something that should be kept in mind.
In conclusion, it is a great disservice and a misjudgment to say that all religions are equal, or are the same.
Actually, they all take you to different levels of consciousness, different views of God, varying levels of
understanding, assorted reasons for life, and dissimilar views of each other or of ethnic groups. In fact, in this
way, some religions perpetuate what is really a materialistic view, the bodily concept of life, which also
emphasizes the ego and one’s status or position compared with others. This gives way to views such as “I’m
better than you, my religion is superior to yours, my God is better than yours.” This latter point certainly leads to
disharmony between us. It leads to quarrel, friction, persecution of others who are different, and even religious
wars, which the world has seen so much of, and which is not the purpose of real religion. This is not the way to
reach the goal of life.
Thus, the reality is that religions and spiritual paths are not all the same, and it behooves us to understand and
distinguish what is genuine spirituality or Dharma, and learn how to follow it to attain the inner realizations that
make all the difference between mundane or faith-based religion and that which will take us to a higher
consciousness and perception of who and what we really are. This is the real purpose, rather than merely being
sold a level of self-glorification or pride for considering ourselves to belong to a particular religion that gives us
the favor from who or what we think is God, and, thus, privileging ourselves to think that we are automatically
“saved” simply because we “believe”, and are above all others who are not “delivered” in such a way. That is
another egotistical conception that should have been overcome and left behind long ago if and when we follow a
real spiritual path that uplifts us above and beyond such a view. It is only at that time when we might have the
possibility for genuine religious harmony.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Personal Spiritual Development, Preserving Vedic Culture |
Tagged: Attacks on Hinduism, Cultural Preservation, Personal Spiritual Development, Preserving Sanatana-
Dharma | 1 Comment »
Islamic Destruction of Hindu Temples
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp
Islamic Destruction of Hindu Temples

For those who don’t believe or do not know of the amount of destruction that took place in India at the
hands of the Muslim invaders and Islamic rulers who established themselves in parts of India, we can review the
Islamic chronicles of the deeds of these rulers of the day, as written by the Muslim contemporary writers or
historians. So what follows is a review of some of the books and their authors who recorded the histories of the
Islamic rulers, and quotes from some of the descriptions within them about the cities they attacked and the
temples they destroyed. It really shows how demoniac and cruel these rulers were.
The evidence of destruction of thousands of Hindu temples can be primarily found from two different
sources:
1. Literary Evidence from the work of renowned Islamic historians
2. Epigraphic Evidence from the inscriptions on numerous Mosques all over India.
This article deals with only the literary evidence.
Hundreds of Muslim historians have glorified the deeds of their Muslim heroes all over India. This by no
means is an exhaustive list! To learn more about this, please read both volumes of, Hindu Temples: What
Happened To Them? by Sita Ram Goel.
There is elaborate literary evidence from the Islamic sources which glorify the crimes committed by the
Muslims in India. Crimes such as the desecration of the Hindu idols, looting of the temples, killing devotees and
raping have been well documented by the Muslim historians themselves. They have done so because according
to them these Muslim rulers by doing such deeds were following the tenets of Islam and Sunnah of the prophet
Mohammed. The literary evidence stated below is in chronological order with reference to the time at which a
particular work was written.
1. Name Of The Book: Hindustan Islami Ahad Mein (India under Islamic Rule)
Name Of The Historian: Maulana Abdul Hai.
About The Author: He is a highly respected scholar and taken as an authority on Islamic history. Because
of his scholarship and his services to Islam, Maulana Abdul Hai was appointed as the Rector of the Darul Nadwa
Ullum Nadwatal-Ulama. He continued in that post till his death in February 1923.
The following section is taken from the chapter Hindustan ki Masjidein (The mosques of India) of the above
mentioned book. Here we can see a brief description of few important mosques in India and how each one of
them was built upon plundered Hindu temples.
a. Qawwat al-Islam Mosque at Delhi: “According to my findings the first mosque of Delhi is Qubbat al-
Islam or Quwwat al-Islam which, Qutubud-Din Aibak constructed in H. 587 after demolishing the Hindu temple
built by Prithvi Raj and leaving certain parts of the temple outside the mosque proper; and when he returned from
Ghazni in H. 592 he started building, under orders from Shihabud-Din Ghori, a huge mosque of inimitable red
stones, and certain parts of the temple were included in the mosque…”
b. The Mosque at Jaunpur: “This was built by Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi with chiseled stones. Originally it
was a Hindu temple after demolishing which he constructed the mosque. It is known as the Atala Masjid.”
c. The Mosque at Qanauj: “It is well known that this mosque was built on the foundations of some Hindu
temple that stood here. The mosque was built by Ibrahim Sharqi in H. 809 as is recorded in Gharbat Nigar.”
d. Jami Masjid at Etwah: “This mosque stands on the bank of the Jamuna at Etawah. There was a Hindu
temple at this place, on the site of which this mosque was constructed. .”
e. Babri Masjid at Ayodhya: “This mosque was constructed by Babar at Ayodhya which Hindus call the
birth place of Ramchandraji… Sita had a temple here in which she lived and cooked for her husband. On that
very site Babar constructed this mosque in H.963 “
f. Mosque at Benaras: “Mosque of Benares was built by Alamgir Aurangzeb on the site of Bisheshwar
Temple. That temple was very tall and held as holy among Hindus. On this very site and with those very stones
he constructed a lofty mosque, and its ancient stones were rearranged after being embedded in the walls of the
mosque. It is one of the renowned mosques of Hindustan.”
g. Mosque at Mathura: “Alamgir Aurangzeb built a mosque at Mathura. This mosque was built on site of
the Govind Dev Temple which was very strong and beautiful as well as exquisite.”
2. Name Of The Book: Futuhu’l-Buldan
Name Of The Historian: Ahmed bin Yahya bin Jabir
About The Author: This author is also known as al-Biladhuri. He lived at the court of Khalifa Al-
Mutawakkal (AD 847-861) and died in AD 893. His history is one of the major Arab chronicles.
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Ibn Samurah (AD 653)
Siestan (Iran)
“On reaching Dawar, he surrounded the enemy in the mountain of Zur, where there was a famous Hindu
temple.” “…Their idol of Zur was of gold, and its eyes were two rubies. The zealous Musalmans cut off its hands
and plucked out its eyes, and then remarked to the Marzaban how powerless was his idol…”
b. Qutaibah bin Muslim al-Bahili (AD 705-715)
Samarkand (Farghana)
“Other authorities say that Kutaibah granted peace for 700,000 dirhams and entertainment for the
Moslems for three days. The terms of surrender included also the houses of the idols and the fire temples. The
idols were thrown out, plundered of their ornaments and burned…”
c. Mohammed bin Qasim (AD 712-715)
Debal (Sindh)
“…The town was thus taken by assault, and the carnage endured for three days. The governor of the
town, appointed by Dahir, fled and the priests of the temple were massacred. Muhammad marked a place for the
Musalmans to dwell in, built a mosque, and left 4,000 Musalmans to garrison the place…”
“…Ambissa son of Ishak Az Zabbi, the governor of Sindh, in the Khilafat of Mu’tasim billah knocked
down the upper part of the minaret of the temple and converted it into a prison…”
Multan (Punjab)
“…He then crossed the Biyas, and went towards Multan…Muhammad destroyed the water-course; upon
which the inhabitants, oppressed with thirst, surrendered at discretion. He massacred the men capable of bearing
arms, but the children were taken captive, as well as ministers of the temple, to the number of 6,000. The
Musalmans found there much gold in a chamber ten cubits long by eight broad…”
d. Hasham bin ‘Amru al-Taghlabi
Khandahar (Maharashtra)
“He then went to Khandahar in boats and conquered it. He destroyed the Budd (idol) there, and built in
its place a mosque.”
3. Name Of The Book: Tarikh-i-Tabari
Name Of The Historian: Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Jarir at-Tabari
About The Author: This author is considered to be the foremost historian of Islam. The above mentioned
book written by him is regarded as the mother of histories.
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Qutaibah bin Muslim al-Bahili (AD 705-715)
Beykund (Khurasan)
“The ultimate capture of Beykund (in AD 706) rewarded him with an incalculable booty; even more than
had hitherto fallen into the hands of the Mohammedans by the conquest of the entire province of Khorassaun;
and the unfortunate merchants of the town, having been absent on a trading excursion while their country was
assailed by the enemy, and finding their habitations desolate on their return contributed further to enrich the
invaders, by the ransom which they paid for the recovery of their wives and children. The ornaments alone, of
which these women had been plundered, being melted down, produce, in gold, 150,000 meskals; of a dram and
a half each. Among the articles of the booty, is also described an image of gold, of 50,000 meskals, of which the
eyes were two pearls, the exquisite beauty and magnitude of which excited the surprise and admiration of
Kateibah. They were transmitted by him, with a fifth of the spoil to Hejauje, together with a request that he might
be permitted to distribute, to the troops, the arms which had been found in the palace in great profusion.”
Samarkand (Farghana)
“A breach was, however, at last effected in the walls of the city in AD 712 by the warlike machines of
Kateibah; and some of the most daring of its defenders having fallen by the skill of his archers, the besieged
demanded a cessation of arms to the following day, when they promised to capitulate. The request was acceded
to the Kateibah; and a treaty was the next day accordingly concluded between him and the prince of Samarkand,
by which the latter engaged for the annual payment of ten million of dhirems, and a supply of three thousand
slaves; of whom it was particularly stipulated, that none should either be in a state of infancy, or ineffective from
old age and debility. He further contracted that the ministers of his religion should be expelled from their temples
and their idols destroyed and burnt; that Kateibah should be allowed to establish a mosque in the place of the
principal temple….”
“…Kateibah accordingly set set fire to the whole collection with his own hands; it was soon consumed to
ashes, and 50,000 meskals of gold and silver, collected from the nails which had been used in the workmanship
of the images.”
 b.. Yaqub bin Laith (AD 870-871)
Balkh and Kabul (Afghanistan)
“He took Bamian, which he probably reached by way of Herat, and then marched on Balkh where he
ruined (the temple) Naushad. On his way back from Balkh he attacked Kabul…”
“Starting from Panjhir, the place he is known to have visited, he must have passed through the capital
city of the Hindu Sahis to rob the sacred temple — the reputed place of coronation of the Sahi rulers — of its
sculptural wealth…”
“The exact details of the spoil collected from Kabul valley are lacking. The Tarikh [-i-Sistan] records 50
idols of gold and silver and Mas’udi mentions elephants. The wonder excited in Baghdad by baghdad by
elephants and pagan idols forwarded to the Caliph by Ya’qub also speaks for their high value.”
4. Name Of The Book: Tarikhu’l-Hind
Name Of The Historian: Abu Rihan Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Biruni al-Khwarizmi.
About The Author: This author spent 40 years in India during the reign of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (AD
997 – 1030). His history treats of the literature and learning of the Hindus at the commencement of the 11th
century.
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Jalam ibn Shaiban (9th century AD)
Multan (Punjab)
“A famous idol of theirs was that of Multan, dedicated to the sun, and therefore called Aditya. It was of
wood and covered with red Cordovan leather; in its two eyes were two red rubies. It is said to have been made in
the last Kritayuga …..When Muhammad Ibn Alkasim Ibn Almunaibh conquered Multan, he inquired how the town
had become so very flourishing and so many treasures had there been accumulated, and then he found out that
this idol was the cause, for there came pilgrims from all sides to visit it. Therefore he thought it best to have the
idol where it was, but he hung a piece of cow’s flesh on its neck by way of mockery. On the same place a
mosque was built. When the Karmatians occupied Multan, Jalam Ibn Shaiban, the usurper, broke the idol into
pieces and killed its priests…”
b. Sultan Mahmud of Gazni (AD 997-1030)
Thanesar (Haryana)
“The city of Taneshar is highly venerated by Hindus. The idol of that place is called Cakrasvamin, i.e. the
owner of the chakra, a weapon which we have already described. It is of bronze, and is nearly the size of a man.
It is now lying in the hippodrome in Ghazna, together with the Lord of Somnath, which is a representation of the
penis of the Mahadeva, called Linga.”
Somnath (Gujrat)
“The linga he raised was the stone of Somnath, for soma means the moon and natan means master, so
that the whole word means master of the moon. The image was destroyed by the Prince Mahmud, may God be
merciful to him! –AH 416. He ordered the upper part to be broken and the remainder to be transported to his
residence, Ghaznin, with all its coverings and trappings of gold, jewels, and embroidered garments. Part of it has
been thrown into the hippodrome of the town, together with Cakrasvamin, an idol of bronze, that had been
brought from Taneshar. Another part of the idol from Somnath lies before the door of the mosque of Ghaznin, on
which people rub their feet to clean them from dirt and wet.”
5. Name Of The Book: Kitabu’l-Yamini
Name Of The Historian: Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al Jabbaru’l-Utbi.
About The Author: This author’s work comprises the whole of the reign of Subuktigin and that of Sultan
Mahmud down to the year AD 1020.
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Amir Sbuktigin Of Ghazni
Lamghan (Afghanistan)
“The Amir marched out towards Lamghan, which is a city celebrated for its great strength and abounding
wealth. He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing
idol temples, he established Islam in them. He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted
wretches, destroying the idolaters and gratifying the Musulmans.”
b. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (AD 997-1030)
Narain (Rajasthan)
“The Sultan again resolved on an expedition to Hind, and marched towards Narain, urging his horses and
moving over ground, hard and soft, until he came to the middle of Hind, where he reduced chiefs, who, up to that
time obeyed no master, overturned their idols, put to the sword the vagabonds of that country, and with delay and
circumspection proceeded to accomplish his design…”
Nardin (Punjab)
“After the Sultan had purified Hind from idolatry, and raised mosques therein, he determined to invade
the capital of Hind to punish those who kept idols and would not acknowledge the unity of God…He marched with
a large army in the year AH 404 (AD 1013) during a dark night…”
“A stone was found there in the temple of the great Budda on which an inscription was written purporting
that the temple had been founded 50,000 years ago. The Sultan was surprised at the ignorance of these people,
because those who believe in the true faith represent that only seven hundred years have elapsed since the
creation of the world, and the signs of resurrection are even now approaching. The Sultan asked his wise men
the meaning of this inscription and they all concurred in saying that it was false, and no faith was to be put in the
evidence of a stone.”
 Thanesar (Haryana)
“The chief of Tanesar was…obstinate in his infidelity and denial of God. So the Sultan marched against
him with his valiant warriors, for the purpose of planting the standards of Islam and extirpating idolatry..”
“The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously, that the stream was discoloured, not withstanding its
purity, and people were unable to drink it…The victory gained by God’s grace, who has established Islam for ever
as the best religions, notwithstanding that idolaters revolt against it…Praise be to God, the protector of the world,
for the honour he bestows upon Islam and Musulmans.”
Mathura (Uttar Pradesh)
“The Sultan then departed from the environs of the city, in which was a temple of the Hindus. The name
of this place was Mahartul Hind… On both sides of the city there were a thousand houses, to which idol temples
were attached, all strengthened from top to bottom by rivets of iron, and all made of masonry work…”
“In the middle of the city there was a temple larger and firmer than the rest, which can neither be
described nor painted. The Sultan thus wrote respecting it: –’If any should wish to construct a building equal to
this, he would not be able to do it without expending an 100,000,000 red dinars, and it would occupy 200 years
even though the most experience and able workmen were employed’… The Sultan gave orders that all temples
should be burnt with naptha and fire, and levelled with the ground.”
Kanauj (Uttar Pradesh)
“In Kanauj there were nearly 10,000 temples, which the idolaters falsely and absurdly represented to
have been founded by their ancestors two or three hundred thousand years ago…Many of the inhabitants of the
place fled and were scattered abroad like so many wretched widows and orphans, from the fear which oppressed
them, in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Many of them thus effected their
escape, and those who did not fly were put to death.”
6. Name Of The Book: Diwan-i-Salman
Name Of The Historian: Khawajah Masud bin Sa’d bin Salman
About The Author: Khawajah Masud bin Sa’d bin Salman was a poet. He wrote poems in praise of the
Ghaznavid Sultans-Masu’d, Ibrahim and Bahram Shah. He died sometime between AD 1126 and 1131.
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Sultan Abu’l Muzaffar Ibrahim (AD 1059-1099)
“As power and the strength of a lion was bestowed upon Ibrahim by the Almighty, he made over to him
the well-populated country of Hindustan and gave him 40,000 valiant horsemen to take the country, in which
there were more than 1000 rais…The army of the king destroyed at one time a thousand temples of idols, which
had each been built for more than a thousand years. How can I describe the victories of the King…”
Jalandhar (Punjab)
“The narrative of any battles eclipses the stories of Rustam and Isfandiyar… By morning meal, not one
soldier, not one Brahmin remained unkilled or uncaptured. Their heads were levelled with the ground with flaming
fire… Thou has secured the victory to the country and to religion, for amongst the Hindus this achievement will be
remembered till the day of resurrection. “
Malwa (Madhya Pradesh)
“…On this journey, the army destroyed a thousand idol-temples and thy elephants trampled over more
than a hundred strongholds. Thou didst march thy army to Ujjain… The lip of infidelity became dry through fear of
thee, the eye of plural-worship became blind…”
7. Name Of The Book: Chach-Namah
Name Of The Historian: Mohammed Al bin Hamid bin Abu Bakr Kufi
About The Author: The Persian history was translated from Arabic by the above mentioned author in
the time of Nasiruddin Qabacha, a slave of Mohammed Ghori.
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Mohammed bin Qasim (AD 712-715)
Siwistan and Sisam (Sindh)
Mohammed bin Qasem wrote to al-Hajjaj, the governor of Iraq:
“The forts of Siwistan and Sism have been already taken. The nephew of Dahir, his warriors and
principal officers have been dispatched, and infidels converted to Islam or destroyed. Instead of idol temples,
mosques and other places of worship have been built, pulpits have been erected, the Khutba is read, the call to
prayers is raised so that devotions are performed at sacred hours.”
Multan (Punjab)
“Mohammed Qasem arose and with his counselors, guards and attendants, went to the temple. He saw
there an idol made of gold, and its two eye were bright red rubies… Muhammed Qasem ordered the idol to be
taken up. Two hundred and thirty ‘mans’ of gold were brought to the treasury together with the gems and pearls
and treasures which were obtained from the plunder of Multan.”
8. Name Of The Book: Jamiu’l-Hikayat
Name Of The Historian: Maulana Nuruddin Muhammed `Ufi
About The Author: The author was born in or near the city of Bukhara in Transoxiana. He came to India
and lived in Delhi for some time in the reign of Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-1236)
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Amru bin Laith (AD 879-900)
Sakawand (Afghanistan)
“It is related that Amru Lais conferred the governorship of Zabulistan on Fardaghan and sent him there
at the head of four thousand horses. There was a large Hindu place of worship in that country, which was called
Sakawand and people used to come on pilgrimage from the most remote parts of Hindustan to the idols of that
place. When Fardaghan arrived in Zabulistan he led his army against it, took the temple, broke the idols in pieces
and overthrew the idolaters… “
9. Name Of The Book: Taju’l-Ma’sir
Name Of The Historian: Sadru’d-Din Muhammed Hasan Nizamii
About The Author: The author was born at Nishapur in Khurusan. He had to leave his ancestral place
because of the Mongol invasion. He came to India and started writing his history in AD 1205.
The Muslim Rulers He Wrote About:
a. Sultan Muhammed Ghuri (AD 1175-1206)
Ajmer (Rajasthan)
“He destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples and built in their stead mosques and
colleges, and the precepts of Islam, and the customs of the law were divulged and established. ..”
Kuhram and Samana (Punjab)
“The Government of the fort of Kohram and Samana were made over by the Sultan to Kutuu-din. He
purged by his sword the land of Hind from the filth of infidelity and vice, and freed it from the thorn of God-
plurality, and the impurity of idol-worship and by his royal vigor and intrepidity, left not one temple standing…”
Meerut (Uttar Pradesh)
“Kutub-d din marched from Kohran and when he arrived at Meerut which is one of the celebrated forts
of the country of Hind, for the strength of its foundations and superstructure, and its ditch, which was as broad as
the ocean and fathomless- an army joined him, sent by the dependent chiefs of the country. The fort was
captured, and a Kotwal was appointed to take up his station in the fort, and all the idol temples were converted
into mosques.”
Delhi
“He then marched and encamped under the fort of Delhi…The city and its vicinity were freed from idols
and idol-worship, and in the sanctuaries of the images of the Gods, nosques were raised by the worshippers of
one God. Kutub-d din built the Jami Masjid at Delhi and adorned it with stones and gold obtained from the
temples which had been demolished by the elephants, and covered it with inscriptions in Toghra, containing the
divine commands.”
Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)
“From that place (Asni) the royal armi proceeded towards Benares which is the center of the country of
Hind and here they destroyed nearly 1000 temples, and raised mosques on their foundations and the knowledge
of the law became promulgated, and the foundations of religion were established. .”
Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh)
“There was a certain tribe in the neighbourhood of Kol which had occasioned much trouble. Three
bastions were raised as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcasses became the food of beasts of prey.
That tract was freed from idols and idol-worship and the foundation of infidelity were destroyed.”
Bayana (Rajasthan)
“When Kutub-d din heard of Sultan’s march from Ghazna, he was much rejoiced and advanced as far
as Hansi to meet him. In the year AH 592 (AD 1196), they marched towards Thangar, and the center of idolatry
and perdition became the abode of glory and splendour..”
Kalinjar (Uttar Pradesh)
“In the year AH 599 (Ad 1202), Kutub-d din proceeded to the investment Kalinjar, on which expedition
he was accompanied by the Sahib-Kiran, Shamsu-d din Altmash… The temples were converted into mosques
and abodes of goodness, and the ejaculations of bead counters and voices of summoners to prayer ascended to
high heaven, and the very name of idolatry was annihilated. .”
b. Sultan Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-1236)
Delhi
“The Sultan then returned from Jalor to Delhi..and after his arrival ‘not a vestige or name remained of
idol temples which had raised their heads on high; and the light of faith shone out from the darkness of infidelity..
and the moon of religion and the state became resplendent from the heaven of prosperity and glory.”
10. Name Of The Book: Kamilu’t-Tawarikh
Name Of The Historian: Ibn Asir
About The Author: The author was born in AD 1160 in the Jazirat ibn Umar, an island on the Tigris
above Mosul.
The Muslim Rulers he Wrote About:
a. Khalifa Al-Mahdi (AD 775-785)
Barada (Gujrat)
“In the year 159 (AD 776) Al Mahdi sent an army by sea under Abdul Malik bin Shahabu’l Musamma’i
to India. They proceeded on their way and at length disembarked at Barada. When they reached the place they
laid siege on it. The town was reduced to extremities and God prevailed over it in the same year. The people
were forbidden to worship the Budd, which the Muhammadans burned.”
11. Name Of The Book: Tarikh-i-Jahan-Kusha
Name Of The Historian: Alaud-Din Malik ibn Bahaud-Din Muhammed Juwaini
About The Author: The author was born a native of Juwain in Khurasan near Nishapur. He was the
Halaku during the Mongol campaign against the Ismai’lians and was later appointed the governor of Baghdad. He
fell from grace and was imprisoned at Hamadan.
The Muslim Rulers he Wrote About:
 a. Sultan Jalalud-Din Mankbarni (AD 1222-1231)
Debal (Sindh)
“The Sultan then went towards Dewal and Darbela and Jaisi… The Sultan raised Masjid at Dewal, on
the spot where an idol temple stood.”
12. Name Of The Book: Mifathu’l-Futuh
Name Of The Historian: Amir Khusru
About The Author: The author, Amir Khusru was born at Delhi in 1253. His father occupied high
positions in the reigns of Sultan Shamsu’d Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-1236) and his successors. Reputed to be the
dearest disciple of Shykh Nizamuddin Auliya, he became the lick-spittle of whoever came out victorious in the
contest for the throne at Delhi. He became the court poet of Balban’s successor, Sultan Kaiqbad.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
a. Sultan Jajalu’d-Din Khalji (AD 1290-1296)
Jhain (Rajasthan)
“The Sultan reached Jhain in the afternoon of the third day and stayed in the palace of the Raya he
greatly enjoyed his stay for some time. Coming out, he took a round of gardens and temples. The idols he saw
amazed him. Next day he got those idols of gold smashed with stones. The pillars of wood were burnt down by
his order. A cry rose from the temples as if a second Mahmud has taken birth. Two idols were made of brass,
one of which weighed nearly thousand ‘mans’. He got both of them broken, and the pieces were distributed
among his people so that they may throw them at the door of Masjid on their return to Delhi.”
b. Sultan Alaud-Din Khilji (AD 1296-1316)
Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh)
“When he advanced from the capital of Karra, the Hindus, in alarm, descended into the earth like ants.
He departed towards the garden of Behar to dye that soil with blood as red as tulip. He cleared the road to Ujjain
of vile wretches, and created consternation in Bhilsan. When he affected his conquests in that country, he drew
out of the river the idols which had been concealed in it.
Devagiri (Maharshtra)
“But see the mercy with which he regarded the broken-hearted, for, after seizing the rai, he set him free
again. He destroyed the temples of the idolaters, and erected pulpits and arches for mosques
13. Name Of The Book: Nuh Siphir
Name of the Historian: Amir Khusru
About the Author: The above mentioned book is the fourth historical mathnavi which Amir Khusru wrote
when he was 67 years old. It celebrates the reign of Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
a.. Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji (AD 1315-1320)
Warrangal (Andhra Pradesh)
“They pursued the enemy to the gates and set everything on fire. They burnt down all those gardens and
groves. That paradise of idol-worshippers became like hell. The fire-worshippers of ‘Bud’ were in alarm and
flocked round their idols…”
14. Name of the Book: Siyaru’l-Auliya
Name of the Historian: Sayyed Muhammed bin Mubarak bin Muhammed
About the Author: He was the grandson of an Iranian merchant who traded between Kirman in Iran and
Lahore. The family traveled to Delhi after Shykh Farid’s death and became devoted to Shykh Nizamu’d-din
Auliya.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
a.. Shykh Mu’in al-Din Chisti Ajmer (AD 1236)
Ajmer (Rajasthan)
“..Because of his Sword, instead of idols and temples in the land of unbelief now there are mosques,
mihrab and mimbar. In the land where there were the sayings of the idol-worshippers, there is the sound of
‘Allahu Akbar’…The descendants of those who were converted to Islam in this land will live until Day of
Judgement; so too will those who bring others into the fold of Islam by the sword of Islam. Until the Day of
Judgment these converts will be in debt of Shaykh al-Islam Mu’in al-din Hasam Sijzi…”
15. Name of the Book: Masalik’ul Absar fi Mamalik’ul Amsar
Name of the Historian: Shihabu’d-Din ‘Abu’l Abbas Ahmed bin Yahya.
About the Author: He was born in AD 1301. He was educated in Damascus and Cairo. He is considered
to be a great man and scholar of his time and author of many books. He occupied high positions in Syria and
Egypt.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
a. Sultan Muhammed bin Tughlaq (AD 1325-1351)
“The Sultan is not slack in Jihad. He never lets go of his spear or bridle in pursuing jihad by land and sea
routes. This is his main occupation which engages his eyes and ears. Five temples have been destroyed and the
images and idols of ‘Budd’ have been broken, and the lands have been freed from those who were not included
in the daru’l Islam that is, those who had refused to become zimmis. Thereafter he got mosques and places of
worship erected, and music replaced by call to prayers to Allah… The Sultan who is ruling at present has
achieved that which had not been achieved so far by any king. He has achieved victory, supremacy, conquest of
countries, destruction of the infidels, and exposure of magicians. He has destroyed idols by which the people of
Hindustan were deceived in vain…”
 16. Name of the Book: Rehala of Ibn Battuta
Name of the Historian: Shykh Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Lawatt at-Tanji al-Maruf be Ibn
Battuta.
About the Author: He belonged to an Arab family which was settled in Spain since AD 1312. His
grandfather and father enjoyed the reputation of scholars and theologians. He himself was a great scholar who
traveled extensively and over many lands. He came to India in 1325 and visited many places. He was very fond
of sampling Hindu girls from different parts of India. They were presented to him by the Sultan Mohammed bin-
Tughlaq with whom Ibn Battuta came in close contact. He also married Muslim women wherever he stayed and
divorced them before his departure.
a. His Travel description:
(Delhi)
“Near the eastern gate of the mosque, lie two very big idols of copper connected together by stones.
Every one who comes in and goes out of the mosque treads over them. On the site of this mosque was a bud
Khana that is an idol-house. After the conquest of Delhi, it was turned into a mosque…”
17. Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Firuz
Name of the Historian: Shams Siraj Alif
About the Author: The author became a courtier of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq and undertook to complete
the aforementioned history of Barani who had stopped at the sixth year of Firuz Shah’s reign.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
a. Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (AD 1351-1388)
Puri (Orissa)
“The Sultan left Banarasi with the intention of pursuing the Rani of Jajnagar, who had fled to an island in
the river…News was then brought that in the jangal were seven elephants, and one old shoe-elephant, which
was very fierce. The Sultan resolved upon endeavoring to capture these elephants before continuing the pursuit
of the Rai… After the hunt was over, the Sultan directed his attention to the Rai of Jajnagar, and entering the
palace where he dwelt he found many fine buildings. It is reported that inside the Rai’s fort, there was a stone idol
which the infidels called Jagannath, and to which they paid their devotions. Sultan Firoz, in emulation of Mahmud
Subuktign, having rooted up the idol, carried it away to Delhi where he placed it in an ignominious position.”
b. Nagarkot Kangra(Himachal Pradesh)
“..Sultan Muhammed Shah bin Tughlaq and Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq were sovereigns especially
chosen by Almighty from among the faithful, and in their whole course of their reigns, wherever they took an idol
temple they broke and destroyed it.”
Delhi
“A report was brought to the Sultan that there was in Delhi an old Brahmin who persisted in publicly
performing the worship of idols in his house; and that people of the city, both Musalmans and Hindus, used to
resort to his house to worship the idol. The Brahmin had constructed a wooden tablet which was covered within
and without with paintings of demons and other objects. An order was accordingly given that the Brahmin, with
his tablet, should be brought into the presence of the Sultan at Firozabad. The judges and doctors and elders
and lawyers were summoned, and the case of the Brahmin was submitted for their opinion. Their reply was that
the provisions of the Law were clear: the Brahmin must either become a Musalman or be burned. The true faith
was declared to the Brahmin, and the right course pointed out, but he refused to accept it. Orders were given for
raising a pile of faggots before the door of the darbar (court). The Brahmin was tied hand and foot and cast into it;
the tablet was thrown on top and the pile was lighted. The writer of this book was present at the darbar and
witnessed the execution. The tablet of the Brahmin was lighted in two places, at his head and at his feet; the
wood was dry and the fire first reached his feet, and drew him a cry, but the flames quickly enveloped his head
and consumed him. Behold the Sultan’s strict adherence to law and rectitude, how he would not deviate in the
least from its decrees!”
Here Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq glorifies his own criminal acts in Bharat as sanctioned by the “holy” Koran.
18. Name of the Book: Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi
Name of the Historian: Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq
About the Author: Sultan had got the eight chapters of his work inscribed on eight slabs of stone which
were fixed on eight sides of the octagonal dome of a building near the Jami Masjid at Firuzabad.
a. Prayers of Temple-destroyers in this Book
“The next matter which by God’s help I accomplished, was the repetition of names and titles of former
sovereigns which had been omitted from the prayers of Sabbaths and Feasts. The names of those sovereigns of
Islam, under whose happy fortune and favour infidel countries had been conquered, whose banners had waved
over many a land, under whom idol-temples had been demolished, and mosques and pulpits built and exalted…”
Delhi and Evirons
“The Hindus and idol-worshippers had agreed to pay the money for toleration (zar-i zimmiya) and had
consented to the poll-tax(jiziya) in return for which they and their families enjoyed security. These people now
erected new idol-temples in the city and the enviorns in opposition to the law of the Prophet which declares that
such temples are not to be tolerated. Under divine guidance I destroyed these edifices and I killed those leaders
of infidelity who seduced others into error, and the lower orders I subjected to stripes and chastisement, until this
abuse was entirely abolished. The following is an instance: In the vilalge of Maluh, there is a tank which they call
kund (tank). Here they had built idol-temples and on certain days the Hindus were accustomed to proceed thither
on horseback, and wearing arms. Their women and children also went out in palankins and carts. Then they
assembled in thousands and performed idol-worship. …when intelligence of this came to my ears my religious
feelings prompted me at once to put a stop to this scandal and offence to the religion of Islam. On the day of the
assembly I went there in person and I ordered that the leaders of these people and the promoters of this
abominations should be put to death. I destroyed their idol-temples and instead thereof raised mosques.”
Gohana (Haryana)
“Some Hindus had erected a new idol-temple in the village of Kohana and the idolators used to assemble
there and perform their idolatrous rites. These people were seized and brought before me. I ordered that the
perverse conduct of the leaders of this wickedness should be publicly proclaimed, and that they should be put to
death before the gate of the palace. I also ordered that the infidel books, the idols and the vessels used in their
worship, which had been taken with idols, should all be publicly burnt. The others were restrained by threats and
punishments, as a warning to all men, that no zimmi could follow such wicked practices in a Muslaman country.”
19. Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi
Name of the Historian: Yahya Ammad bin Abdullah Sirhindi
About the Author: The author lived in the reign of Sultan Muizu’d-Din Abu’l Fath Mubarak Shah (AD 1421-
1434) of the Sayyid dynasty which ruled at Delhi from AD 1414-1451.
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
a. Sultan Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-1236)
Vidisha and Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh)
“In AH 631 he invaded Malwah, and after suppressing the rebels of that place, he destroyed that idol-
temple which had existed there for the past three hundred years. Next he turned towards Ujjain and conquered it,
and after demolishing the idol-temple of Mahakal, he uprooted the statue of Bikramajit together with all other
statues and images which were placed on pedestals, and brought them to the capital where they were laid before
the Jami Masjid for being trodden under foot by the people
20. Name of the Book: Tarikh-i-Muhammadi
Name of the Historian: Muhammed Bihamad Khani
About the Author: The author was the son of the governor of Irich in Bundelkhand. He was a soldier who
participated in several wars. His history covers a long period – from Prophet Mohammed to AD 1438-39
The Muslim Rulers he wrote About:
a. Sultan Ghiyasu’d-Din Tughlaq Shah II (AD 1388-89)
Kalpi (Uttar Pradesh)
“In the meanwhile Delhi received news of the defeat of the armies of Islam which were with Malikzada
Mahmud bin Firuz Khan…This Malikzada reached the bank of the Yamuna via Shahpur and renamed Kalpi
which was the abode and center of the infidels and the wicked, as Muhammadabad, after the name of Prophet
Muhammed. He got mosques erected for the worship of Allah in places occupied by temples, and made that city
his capital. “
b. Sultan Nasiru’d-Din Mahmud Shah Tughlaq (AD 1389-1412)
Prayag and Kara (Uttar Pradesh)
“The Sultan moved with the armies of Islam towards Prayag and Arail with the aim of destroying the
infidels, and he laid waste both those places. The vast crowd which had collected at Prayag for worshipping false
gods was made captive. The inhabitants of Kara were freed from the mischief of rebels on account of this aid
from King and the name of this king of Islam became famous by this reason.”
Another Moghul ruler by the name of Babur who was in love with a young boy named Baburi glorifies his
lecherously Islamic deeds in the Babur-Nama.
21. Name of the Book: Babur-Nama
Name of the Author: Zahiru’d-Din Muhammed Babur
About the Author: The author of this book was the founder of Mughal dynasty in India who proclaimed himself a
Padshah (Ruler) after his victory in the First Battle of Panipat (AD 1526), and a Ghazi (killer of kafirs) after the
defeat of Rana Sanga in the Battle of Khanwa (AD 1528) While presenting himself as an indefatigable warrior
and drug-addict he does not hide the cruelties he committed on the defeated people, particularly his fondness for
building towers of the heads of those he captured as prisoners of war or killed in battle. He is very liberal in citing
appropriate verses from the Quran on the eve of the battle with Rana Sanga. In order to ensure his victory, he
makes a covenant with Allah by breaking the vessels containing wine as also the cups for drinking it, swearing at
the same time that “he would break the idols of the idol-worshippers in a similar manner”. In the Fath-Nama
(prayer for victory) composed for him by Shykh Zain, Allah is described as “destroyers of idols from their
foundations” The language he uses for his Hindu adversaries is typically Islamic.
a. Zahirud-Din Muhammed Babur Padshah Ghazi (AD 1526-1530)
Chanderi (Madhya Pradesh)
“In AH 934 (AD 1528), I attacked Chanderi and, by the grace of Allah, captured it in a few hours. We got
the infidels slaughtered and the place which had been a daru’l-harb for years, was made into daru’l-Islam. “
Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)
“Next day, at the time of the noon prayer, we went out for seeing those places in Gwalior which we had
not seen yet. Going out of the Hathipole Gate of the fort, we arrived at a place called Urwa. Urwa is not a bad
place It is an enclosed space. Its biggest blemish is its statues. I ordered that they should be destroyed… “
a. Name of the structure: Quwwat al-Islam Masjid
Location: Delhi in Uttar Pradesh
Inscription:
“This fort was conquered and the Jami Masjid built in the year 587 by the Amir(*), the great, the glorious
commander of the Army, Qutub-ud-daula wad-din, the Amir-ul-umara Aibeg, the slave of the Sultan, may Allah
strengthen his helpers. The materials of 27 idol temples, on each of which 2,000,000 Delhiwals(** ) had been
spent were used in the construction of the mosque.”
*The Amir mentioned above was Qutubud-Din Aibak, slave of Muhammed Ghori.
**”Delhiwal” was a high denomination coin current at that time in Delhi.
b. Name of the structure: Mansuri Masjid
Location: Vijapur in Gujrat
Inscription:
“The Blessed and Exalted Allah says, ‘And verily, mosques are for Allah only; hence invoke not anyone
else with Allah.’ This edifice was originally built by the infidels. After the advent of Islam, it was converted into a
mosque. Sermon was delivered here for sixty-seven years. Due to the sedition of the infidels, it was again
destroyed. When during the reign of the Sultan of the time, Ahmad, the affairs of each Iqta attained magnificence,
Bahadur, the Sarkhail, once again carried out repairs. Through the generosity of Divine munificence, it became
like new.”
c. Name of the structure: Masjid at Manvi
Location: Manvi in Karnataka
Inscription:
“Praise be to Allah that by the decree of the Parvardigar, a mosque has been converted out of a temple
as a sign of religion in the reign of the world-conquering emperor, the Sultan who is the asylum of the Faith and
the possessor of the crown, who’s kingdom is young, viz. Firuz Shah Bahmani, who is the cause of Exuberant
spring in the garden of religion, Adu’l-Fath the king who conquered. After the victory of the emperor, the chief of
chiefs, Safdar (the valiant commander) of the age, received the fort. The builder of this noble place of prayer is
Muhammad Zahir Aqchi, the pivot of the Faith. He constructed in the year 809 from the Migration of the Chosen
(prophet Muhammdad) this Ka’ba like momento.”
d. Name of the structure: Mausoleum of Shykh ‘Abdullah Shah Changal
Location: Dhar in Madhya Pradesh
Inscription:
“The centre became Muhammadan first by him(*) (and) all the banners of religion were spread… This
lion-man came from the centre of religion to this old temple with a large force. He broke the images of the false
deities, and turned the idol temple into a mosque. When Rai Bhoj saw this, through wisdom he embraced Islam
with the family of his brave warriors(**). This quarter became illuminated by the light of the Muhammadan law,
and the customs of the infidels became obsolete and abolished.”
*Shykh ‘Abdullah Shah Changal
**In this case the Hindu King was Bhoj II and during his reign Jalalu’d-Din Khalji (AD 1290-1296) of Delhi
invaded Malwa. Changal was the Muslim missionary who accompanied Khalji’s army. This army after plundering
and looting the kingdom of Bhoj II converted a Hindu temple into a mosque and forced the ruler and his subjects
to accept Islam.
e. Name of the structure: Jami’ Masjid
Location: Malan in Gujrat
Inscription:
“…(The Prophet), on him be peace, says ‘He who builds a mosque in the world, the Exalted Allah builds
for him a palace in Paradise.’ In the auspicious time of the government and peaceful time of Mahmud Shah, son
of Muhammad Shah, the sultan, the Jami’, mosque was constructed on the hill of the fort of Malun (or Malwan) by
Khan-i-Azam Ulugh Khan…at the request of the thandar Kabir, (son of Diya), the building was constructed by the
son of Ulugh Khan who is magnanimous, just, generous, brave and who suppressed the wretched infidels. He
eradicated the idol-houses and mine of infidelity, along with the idols… with the edge of his sword, and made
ready this edifice… He made its walls and doors out of the idols; the back of every stone became the place for
prostration of the believer…”
f. Name of the structure: Jami’ Masjid
Location: Amod in Gujrat
Inscription:
“Allah and His grace. When divine favour was bestowed on Khalil Shah, he constructed the Jami’ Masjid
for the decoration of Islam; he ruined the idol-house and temple of the polytheists, (and) completed the Masjid
and pulpit in its place. Without doubt, his building was accepted by Allah.”
g.. Name of the structure: Shrine of Shah Madar
Location: Narwar in Mdhya pradesh
Inscription:
“Dilawar Khan, the chief among the king’s viceroys, caused this mosque to built which is like a place of
shelter for the favourites. Infidelity has been subdued, and Islam has triumphed because of him. The idols have
bowed to him and the temples have been razed to the ground along with their foundations, and mosques and
worship houses are flowing with riches.”
h. Name of structure: Hamman Darwaza Masjid
Location: Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh
Inscription:
“Thanks by the guidance of Everlasting and the Living Allah, this house of infidelity became the niche of
prayer. As a reward for that, the Generous Lord constructed an abode for the builder in paradise…”
i. Name of structure: Jami Masjid
Location: Ghoda in Maharashtra
 Inscription:
“O Allah O Muhammed ! O Ali ! When Mir Muhammed Zaman made up his mind, he opened the door of
prosperity on himself by his own hand. He demolished thirty-three idol temples and by divine grace laid the
foundation of a building in the abode of perdition.”
j. Name of structure: Gachinala Masjid
Location: Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh
Inscription:
“He is Allah, may be glorified. During the august rule of…Muhammed Shah, there was a well established
idol-house in Kuhmum…Muhammed Salih…razed to the ground, the edifice of the idol-house and broke the idols
in a manly fashion. He constructed on its site a suitable mosque, towering above the building of all.”
Note: Works of Arun Shourie, Harsh Narain, Jay Dubashi and Sita Ram Goel have been used in this article.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Attacks on
Hinduism, Cultural Preservation, Hinduism, India, Indian culture, Islamic persecution of Hinduism, Islamic
terrorism, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma | 7 Comments »
A Short History of India–It’s Heroes and Invaders
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp
A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIA—ITS HEROES AND INVADERS
This relates the invasions, challenges, massacres, and struggles of India’s people and heroes against the
criminals who tried to destroy India and its culture. This is presented to preserve the real history of India.

Contents

ALEXANDER AND THE GREEKS

THE ARAB INVASIONS
THE TURKISH INVASION
THE MAMLUK (SLAVE) DYNASTY
THE KHILJIS
THE TUGHLAQS
THE SAYYID & LODHI DYNASTIES
THE BAHAMANIS
THE MUGHALS
THE PORTUGUESE
THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY
THE INITIAL STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
THE BRITISH RAJ
CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI
HEROES AFTER SHIVAJI
ADDITIONAL HEROES WHO WORKED FOR PROTECTING INDIA AND ITS CULTURE
HALL OF SHAME (Muslim Rulers and Criminals Against India)

For more than two millennia, India has suffered one bloody invasion after another, leaving a Holocaust of millions
of lives and a civilization and culture left in near ruins. Through it all, India is the only one of the great ancient
civilizations that has survived today. Hinduism is the most ancient and only continuously surviving religion and
culture that has successfully maintained itself while so many other cultures and civilizations have vanished. No
other ancient civilization has retained its ancient religion and culture under the onslaught of the western
Abrahamic monotheist religions.
The first of the major invasions came from Alexander of Macedonia. His invasion of India was intended to bring
Greek culture to India and to encourage cultural exchange between the Indic and Hellenic worlds. This invasion
was mild compared to the savage invasions of Islam, which continue even today, attempting to decimate the
Indian religions of Dharma and the Culture of Bhaaratvarsha (India). The contemporary French writer François
Gautier has said, “The massacres perpetuated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger than the
Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis; or the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than
the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese.”
Just as India was about to successfully throw off the yoke of Islamic barbarism after nearly 1000 years of
slaughter, the British and Portuguese came with their missionaries. They tried to finish what Islam had begun,
beginning centuries more of colonial strangulation of the great Vedic Culture of India, until finally India won her
Independence in 1947. By then, so much damage had been done that India was forced to accept partition along
religious lines and give up much of her northern territories to what are today the Islamic States of Pakistan and
Bangladesh.
What is left of modern India is still rife with a growing population of Muslims and the continuing threat of Christian
missionaries, openly seeking to wipe out Hinduism, which is not only the majority religion of India, but more than
that, the Indian way of life and her very culture. Here we present a brief overview of the history of the foreign
invasions and occupations of India.
ALEXANDER AND THE GREEKS
336 B.C.E. – 323 B.C.E.
Alexander was the King of Macedonia, a nation north of the city-states of ancient Greece, which was heavily
influenced by the Hellenic (Greek) culture. Alexander was just 21 years old in the year 336 B.C.E., when he
decided to invade India, after having conquered much of Asia Minor and the Middle East. At the time, King
Taxiles ruled a large area in India. When he heard that Alexander was coming, Taxiles did not wait, but went in
person to meet him in peace. “Why should we make war on each other,” Taxiles said, “if the reason for your
coming is not to rob us of our water and our food? Those are the only things that a wise man has no choice but
to fight for. As for any other riches or possessions, if I have more than you I am ready to share. But if fortune
has been better to you than to me, then I have no objection to being in your debt.”
These courteous words pleased Alexander, and he replied: “Do you think your kind words and courteous conduct
will avoid a contest between us? No, I will not let you off so easily. I will do battle with you on these terms: no
matter how much you give me, I will give more in return.”
Thereupon Taxiles made many fine presents to Alexander, but Alexander responded with presents of even
greater value and topped them off with a thousand talents in gold coins. This generosity displeased Alexander’s
old friends but won the hearts of many of the Indians.
King Porus, however, refused to submit, and he took up a position to prevent Alexander from crossing the
Hydaspes River. Porus was a huge man, and when mounted on his war elephant he looked in the same
proportion as an ordinary man on a horse. After a long fight, Alexander won the victory, and Porus came to him
as a prisoner. Alexander asked him how he expected to be treated, and Porus replied: “As a king.” When
Alexander asked a second time, Porus explained that in those words was included everything that a man could
possibly want. Alexander not only allowed Porus to keep his kingdom as a satrap, but he also gave him more
territory.
This was a costly victory, however. Many Macedonians died, and so did Alexander’s old war horse,
Bucephalus. This grieved Alexander so much that it seemed as though he had lost an old friend. On that spot
he ordered a city to be built, named Bucephalia after his beloved horse, Bucephalus.
Such a difficult victory over only 22,000 Indians [May 326 B.C.] took the edge off the courage of the
Macedonians. They had no enthusiasm for Alexander’s proposed crossing of the Ganges, a river said to be four
miles wide and six hundred feet deep, to encounter an army on the other side consisting of 200,000 infantry,
80,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 6,000 war elephants.
Alexander was so angry at their reluctance that he shut himself up in his tent, saying that if they would not cross
the Ganges, he owed them no thanks for anything they had done so far. But finally the persuasions of his
friends, and the pleas of his soldiers, got Alexander to agree to turn back.
To exaggerate his reputation, Alexander left bridles and armor that were much bigger than normal, and huge
altars to the gods. On a flotilla of rafts and barges, Alexander’s army floated down the Indus River.
Along the way, they stopped to take some fortified cities, and at one of them Alexander came very close to losing
his life. Alexander was the first one up the ladders onto the wall of the city of the Mallians, and then he jumped
down into the town with only two of his guards behind him.
Before the rest of the Macedonians could catch up and save him, Alexander had taken an arrow in the ribs and
had been knocked dizzy by a club. He was unconscious when they carried him away, and he fainted when the
doctors cut out the arrow. Rumors spread that Alexander was dead.
While in India, Alexander took ten of the Brahmins prisoner. These men had a great reputation for intelligence,
so Alexander decided to give them a test. He announced that the one who gave the worst answer would be the
first to die, and he made the oldest Brahmin the judge of the competition.
Which are more numerous, Alexander asked the first one, the living or the dead? “The living,” said the Brahmin,
“because the dead no longer count.”
Which produces more creatures, the sea or the land? Alexander asked the second. “The land,” was his answer,
“because the sea is only a part of it.”
The third was asked which animal was the smartest of all, and the Brahmin replied: “The one we have not found
yet.”
Alexander asked the fourth what argument he had used to stir up the Indians to fight, and he answered: “Only
that one should either live nobly or die nobly.”
Which is older: day or night? was Alexander’s question to the fifth, and the answer he got was: “Day is older, by
one day at least.” When he saw that Alexander was not satisfied with this answer, the Brahmin added: “Strange
questions get strange answers.”
What should a man do to make himself loved? asked Alexander, and the sixth Brahmin replied: “Be powerful
without being frightening.”
What does a man have to do to become a god? he asked the seventh, who responded: “Do what is impossible
for a man.”
The question to the eighth was whether death or life was stronger, and his answer: “Life is stronger than death,
because it bears so many miseries.”
The ninth Brahmin was asked how long it was proper for a man to live, and he said: “Until it seems better to die.”
Then Alexander turned to the judge, who decided that each one had answered worse than another. “You will die
first, then, for giving such a decision,” said Alexander. “Not so, mighty king,” said the Brahmin, “if you want to
remain a man of your word. You said that you would kill first the one who made the worst answer.” Alexander
gave all of the Brahmins presents and set them free, even though they had persuaded the Indians to fight him.
Alexander’s voyage down the Indus took seven months. When he finally arrived at the Indian Ocean, he
decided not to take the army home by ship but to march them through the Gedrosian Desert. After sixty
miserable days, they arrived at Gedrosia, where they finally found enough to eat and drink. Many died in that
desert: out of the 120,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry that Alexander took with him into India, only one in four
came back.

THE ARAB INVASIONS

636 C.E. – 850 C.E.
In one of the Hadiths (Muslim scripture) the Prophet Muhammad is quoted as saying “Two groups of my Ummah,
Allah has protected from the hellfire: a group that will conquer India and a group that will be with Isa ibnu Maryam
(Jesus, son of Mary).” The first attempted invasion of India by Muslims occurred in 636 CE — under Caliph
Umar, within four years of Muhammad’s death. The first 16 invasion attempts utterly failed. But the 17th attempt
to invade India by Muhammad bin Qâsim, which was carried out against the wishes of the Kalifate, was
successful. Muhammad bin Qâsim marched to Sindh with 15,000 men. He arrived at Debal, a port city near the
modern Karachi, in 711. There he was bolstered by the arrival of his artillery by sea, and took the town. This was
followed by his conquest of Alor, located north of Hyderabad in June 712. In the fighting before Aror the Raja
Dâhir was slain. The next year he also conquered the important city of Multan.
Following the rapid conquest of Sindh, Arab progress was checked. In part this was caused by internal division.
In 714 Hajjâj died, and in 715 the Calif Walid I (705-715) took interest in the campaign and recalled the
conquering general, Muhammad bi Qâsim. Arab control thereafter rapidly disintegrated, leading many local rulers
to repudiate their allegiance to the Arabs. The Arabs also met stiff resistance from neighboring Indian kings.
When an Arab governor of Sindh, Junaid, sought to seize Kacch and Malwa, he was foiled by the Pratihara and
Gurjara kings. The Arabs were thus unable to expand beyond Sindh, but they were able to maintain their hold on
the province. In 985 an Ismaili Fatamid dynasty declared its independence in Multan.

THE TURKISH INVASION

1000 C.E. – 1206 C.E.
The break-up of the Gurjara-Pratihara empire led to a phase of political uncertainty in north India. As a result,
little attention was paid to the emergence of the aggressive and expansionist Turks from north-west.

Rajputana States
The three most important of the Rajput states in north India were the Gahrwals of Kanauj, the Paramaras of
Malwa and the Chauhans of Ajmer.
There were other smaller dynasties in different parts of the country, such as the Kalachuris in the area
around Jabalpur, the Chandellas in Bundelkhand, the Chalukyas of Gujarat, the Tomars of Delhi, etc. Bengal
remained under the control of the Palas and later, the Senas.
There was a continuous struggle and warfare between the various Rajput states. It was these rivalries which
made it impossible for the Rajput rulers to join hands to oust the Ghaznavids from the Punjab. In fact, the
Ghaznavids felt strong enough to make raids even up to Ujjain.
Most of the Rajput rulers of the time were champions of Hinduism, though some of them also patronized Jainism.
The Rajput rulers protected the privileges of the brahmanas and of the caste system. Between the tenth and the
twelfth century, temple-building activity in north India reached it’s climax.
The most representative temples of this type are the group of temples at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh.
Most of these temples were built by the Chandellas, who ruled in the area from the beginning of the ninth to the
end of the thirteenth century. In Orissa, magnificent examples of temple architecture are the Lingaraja temple
(11th century) and the Sun temple of Konark (13th century). The famous Jagannath temple at Puri also belongs
to this period.

Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni raided the country in 1000 AD, with his first great victory against the Hindushahi kings of
Peshawar. The muslim rulers of Multan were the second targets. In a short period of 25 years, he is said to have
made 17 raids into India. From the Punjab, Mahmud raided Nagarkot in the Punjab hills and Thanesar near Delhi.
His most daring raids, however, were against Kanauj in 1018 and against the fabulously rich Somnath
temple in Gujarat. No attempt was made to annex any of these areas. The rich spoils from the temples, which
were repositories of wealth, helped him to consolidate his rule and embellish Ghazni with palaces and mosques.
He died in Ghazni in 1030.

Muhammad of Ghur
The second Turkish attack was led by Mu’izzu’d-Din Muhammad (also known as Muhammad Ghuri), who
conquered Sindh and Lahore in 1182. Soon after, he commenced his attack on the Rajput kingdoms. Prithviraj
Chauhan successfully led the Rajputs against Ghuri at the first battle of Tarain in 1191 AD. However, at the
second battle of Tarain in 1192 AD, Prithviraj was defeated and the kingdom of Delhi fell to Muhammad Ghuri.
Before Ghuri’s assassination in 1206, Turkish control had been established along the whole length of the Ganga.
Bihar and Bengal were also overrun.
Ghuri’s conquests started a new era in Indian history… The Delhi Sultanate
THE MAMLUK (SLAVE) DYNASTY
1206 C.E. – 1290 C.E
Ghuri’s conquest became the nucleus of a new political entity of India – the Delhi Sultanate. For almost one
hundred years after that, the Delhi Sultanate was involved in foreign invasions, internal conflicts among the
Turkish leaders and the dispossessed Rajput rulers and chiefs to regain their independence.
Ghuri left his Indian possessions in the care of his former slave, General Qutb-ud- din Aibak. He played
an important part in the expansion of the Turkish sultanate in India after the battle of Tarrain.
On the death of his master, Aibak severed his links with Ghazni and asserted his
independence, and founded the Slave Dynasty (mamluks). This helped to prevent India being drawn into central
asian politics and enabled the Delhi Sultanate to develop independently.
Iltutmish (1210 AD – 1236 AD), son-in-law of Aibak – succeeded Aibak as the sultan by defeating Aibak’s son.
Thus, the principle of heredity, of son succeeding his father was checked at the outset. Iltutmish must be
regarded as the real consolidator of the Turkish conquests in north India.
He gave the new state capital, Delhi, a monarchical form of government and governing class. He
introduced Iqta – grant of revenue from a territory in lieu of salary. He maintained a central army and introduced
coins of Tanka (silver) and Jital (copper). The famous Qutub Minar was completed during his reign. He
despatched an expedition against the Chalukyas of Gujarat but it was repelled with losses.
Around this time, Mongols under the leadership of Ghinghiz Khan, swept across central Asia and
mercilessly sacked the kingdoms. They periodically crossed river Indus to attack Punjab and Iltutmish had to
keep constant check on this side.
During his last years, Iltutmish finally nominated his daughter Raziya (1236 AD – 1239 AD) to the throne. Raziya
was the First and only Muslim lady to sit on Delhi Throne. In order to assert her claim, Raziya had to contend
against her brothers as well as against powerful Turkish nobles, and could rule only for three years.
Though brief, her rule had a number of interesting features like the beginning of the struggle for power
between the monarchy and the Turkish chiefs, sometimes called as the forty or Chahalgami. She sent an
expedition against Ranthambhor to control the Rajputs, and successfully established law and order in the length
and breadth of her kingdom. In 1239 AD, an internal rebellion broke out in which Raziya was imprisoned and
killed by bandits.
The struggle between the monarchy and the Turkish chiefs continued till one of the Turkish chiefs Balban
(Ulugh khan) (1265 AD – 1285 AD) ascended the throne. During the earlier period he held the position of naib or
deputy to Nasiruddin Mahmud, a younger son of Iltultmish. He broke the Chahalgami and made the Sultan all
important.
After Balban’s death, there was again confusion in Delhi for some times. In 1290, the Khilji’s, under the
leadership of Jalaluddin Khilji, wrested power from the incompetent successor of Balban.

THE KHILJIS
1290 C.E. – 1320 C.E.
The Khiljis used their Afghan descent to win the loyalties of the discontented nobles, who felt that they had been
neglected by earlier Slave sultans.
Jalaluddin Khilji (1290 AD – 1296 AD) tried to mitigate some of the harsh aspects of Balban’s rule. He
was the first ruler to put forward the view that the state should be based on the willing support of the governed
and that since the majority of Indians were Hindus, the state cannot be truly Islamic.
Alauddin Khilji (1296 AD – 1316 AD) treacherously murdered his uncle and father-in-law, Jalaluddin. By
harsh methods, he cowed down the nobles and made them completely subservient to the crown. He was
ambitious and dreamt of an all India empire.
Over a twenty five years period, Malwa, Gujarat and Rajasthan was brought under his control. To solve the water
problems in summer, he constructed lot of Baolis (Wells). His famous general Malik Kafur led the campaign
(1308 AD – 1312 AD) to the south and defeated the Yadavas of Deogiri, the Kakityas of Warangal and the
Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra.
Alauddin also repelled the Mongols successfully. His military success was because of the creation of a large
standing army directly recruited and paid by the state. He revoked all grants made by previous sultans,
introduced price control covering almost the entire market and rationed the grain.
In order to effectively subordinate nobles, he banned drinking of intoxicants. The sultan’s permission was
necessary before marriage could be arranged among the member of nobility, so that marriage alliances of a
political nature could be prevented. No further rebellion took place during his life time, but in the long run his
methods proved harmful to the dynasty. As the old nobility was destroyed, the new nobility was taught to accept
any one who could ascend the throne of Delhi.
Kings followed in quick succession after his death, till in 1320, a group of officers led by Ghiyasuddin
Tughlaq raised the banner of revolt and put an end to the Khilji dynasty.

THE TUGHLAQS
1320 C.E. – 1412 C. E.
The Tughlaqs also wished to rule the whole of India. Ghyasuddin’s (1320 AD – 1325 AD) campaign to Warrangal,
Orissa and Bengal were directed towards this end. He built the city Tughlaqabad near Delhi.
By 1324 AD, the territories of the Delhi sultanate reached upto Madurai. However, his economic policy
was not consistent with his political ambitions. As the Iqta holders were permitted their earlier perquisites, power
gradually slipped back into the hands of nobles.
Muhammad-Bin-Tughlaq (1325 AD – 1351 AD) succeeded his father and was referred to as an ill-starred
idealist, whose experiments generally ended in failure. He extended the kingdom beyond India, into Central Asia.
To meet the expenses of the large army Muhammad increased the tax but the peasants refused and rebelled.
Though the rebellion was suppressed, the taxation policy had to be revised. He decided to issue token coins in
brass and copper which had the same value as silver coins. But due to the absence of a central mint, people
began to forge the new coins, and the token coins had to be discontinued.
Muhammad Bin-Tughlaq decided to move his capital from Delhi to Deogir (Daulatabad), in order to
control the Deccan and extend the empire into the south. The plan ended in failure because of discontent
amongst those who had been forced to move to Deogir and Muhammad also found that he could not keep a
watch on the northern frontier.
In 1334 bubonic plague wiped out more than half his army, and the army ceased to be effective. Due to this, in
1334 the Pandyan kingdom (Madurai) rejected the authority of the sultanate and this was followed by Warangal.
In 1336 the Vijayanagara empire and in 1337 the Bahamani kingdom were founded. They built magnificent
capitals and cities with many splendid buildings, promoted arts and also provided law and order and the
development of commerce and handicrafts. Thus while the forces of disintegration gradually triumphed in north
India, south India and the Deccan had a long spell of stable government.
Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351 AD – 1388 AD) succeeded Muhammad. Having become sultan with the
support of the nobles and the theologians, he had to appease them. His death was followed by civil war among
his descendants.
The sultanate became weak and in 1398, the Mongols, under the leadership of Timur (Tamerlane),
mercilessly sacked and plundered Delhi. Timur returned to central Asia leaving his nominee to rule in the Punjab.

THE SAYYID & LODHI DYNASTIES

1414 C.E. 1526 C.E.
The Tughlaq dynasty ended soon after the Timurs invasion but the sultanate survived, though it was merely a
shadow of its former self. Timurs nominee captured Delhi and was proclaimed the new sultan and the first of
Sayyid Dynasty (1414 AD – 1451 AD), which was to rule the earlier half of the fifteenth century.
Their rule was short-lived and confined to a radius of some 200 miles around Delhi. They kept the
machinery going until a more capable dynasty, the Lodhis, took over. The Lodhis were of pure Afghan origin, and
brought an eclipses to the Turkish nobility. Bahlul Lodhi established himself in Punjab after the Timur’s invasion.
The most important Lodhi Sultan was Sikandar Lodhi (1489 – 1517), who controlled the Ganga Valley as far as
Bengal. He moved his capital from Delhi, to be able to control the kingdom better, to a new town which later
become famous as the city of Agra.
The last, Lodhi Ibrahim, asserted his absolute power and did not consider the tribal feelings. This lead to his
making enemies with them. Finally they plotted with Babar and succeeded in overthrowing him in 1526 at the first
battle of Panipat.
As the power of the Sultanate declined, a number of other kingdoms arose.
In Western India – Malwa and Gujarat,
In Eastern India – Jaunpur and Bengal,
In Northern India – Kashmir, and
In the Deccan and the south – The Vijayanagara and the Bahamani.
As the Islamic population in India swelled, the identity of the Indian Moslem acquired a new definition.
Islam now actively influenced most facets of life. The Hindu elite adopted the purdha system and their language
began to be written in Arabic script, leading to a new language, Urdu. Calligraphy came into its own and was
raised to the highest form of aesthetic expression.
Around this time on the north-western part of India, especially around Punjab a new religion Sikhism
started to gain popularity

THE BAHAMANIS
1346C.E. – 1689 C.E.
The Bahamani kingdom was founded by Hasan Gangu, who led a rebellion against Sultan Muhammad- Bin-
Tughlaq and proclaimed the independence of the Bahamani kingdom (1346 AD).
He took the title of Bahaman Shah and became the first ruler of the dynasty. This kingdom included the
whole of the northern Deccan upto the river Krishna. South of the kingdom was the Vijayanagara Empire with
which it had to fight continueous wars for various reasons.
The most remarkable figure in the Bahamani kingdom was Firuz Shah Bahamani (1397 AD – 1422 AD),
who fought three major battles with the Vijayanagara Empire without any major result. He was well acquainted
with religious and natural sciences. He wanted to make the Deccan the cultural centre of India.
Ferhishta – the court poet, calls him an orthodox Muslim, his only weakness being his fondness for
drinking wine and listening to music. Firuz Shah was compelled to abdicate in favour of his brother Ahmad Shah
I, who was called a saint (wali) on account of his association with the famous Sufi Gesu Daraz. He invaded
Warangal and annexed most of its territories.
The loss of Warangal changed the balance of power in south India. The Bahamani kingdom gradually
extended and reached its climax under the prime ministership of Mahmud Gawan (1466 AD – 1481 AD). One of
the most difficult problems which faced the Bahamanis was a strife among the nobles, who were divided into
Deccanis (old-comers) and Afaqis or gharibs (new-comers).
Since, Gawan was a new-comer, it was hard for him to win the confidence of the Deccanis. His broad policy of
conciliation, could not stop the party strife. In 1482, Gawan who was over seventy years, was executed by Sultan
Muhammad Shah of the Deccan.
After his death, the party strife became more intense and various governors became independent and
were finally divided into five parts, namely, Adil Shahi of Bijapur, Qutub Shahi of Golconda, Nizam Shahi of
Ahmadnagar, Barid Shahi of Bidar and Imad Shahi of Berar.
This kingdom together crusaded against Vijayanagara Empire and defeated it in 1565. Later on, Imad Shahi was
conquered by Nizamshah (1574 AD) and Barid Shahi was annexed by Adilshah (1619 AD). These three
kingdoms played a leading role in the Deccan politics till their absorption in the Mughal empire during the
seventeenth century. It was Aurangzeb, the Mughal king, who after the death of Shivaji, marched towards the
south and annexed Bijapur (1686 AD) and Golconda (1689 AD) and brought an end to the Bahamani kingdom.
One of the largest domes of the world, Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur and Charminar at Hyderabad were the fine
examples of architecture of this time. The Bahamanis, in many respects were similar to the Delhi sultanate. Their
income came almost entirely from land and the administration revolved around the assessment and collection of
land revenue.
The Bahamani kingdom acted as a cultural bridge between the north and the south. The culture which developed
as a result had its own specific features which were distinct from north India.
These cultural traditions were continued by the successors states and also influenced the development of Mughal
culture during the period.

THE MUGHALS
1526 C.E. – 1857 C.E.
The Mughal period can be called a second classical age in northern India. In this cultural development, the Indian
traditions were amalgamated with the Turko-Iranian culture, brought to the country by the Mughals.
The Mughal rulers of India kept up the closest of contacts with Iran and there was a stream of scholars
and artists coming over the frontiers to seek fame and fortune at the brilliant court of the Great Mughal, Babar.

Babar (1526 AD – 1530 AD)

Babar founder of the Mughal dynasty, was the king of Kabul. He was invited to India to fight against Ibrahim
Lodhi. He confronted and defeated Lodhi in 1526 at the first battle of Panipat.
Babar was the first king to bring artillery to India and succeeded because the cavalry that he had brought from
central Asia, which was new to the Indian army, and the fact that he was a good general, with an easily moved
army.
Before his death, he had made himself the master of the Punjab, Delhi and the Ganga plains as far as Bihar. He
wrote Tuzuk-i-Babari an autobiography, containing a lively description of India, in Turkish.

Humayun (1530 AD – 1556 AD)

He inherited a vast unconsolidated empire and an empty treasury. He also had to deal with the growing power of
the Afghan Sher Shah, from the east, who had Bihar and Bengal under him. Sher Shah defeated Humayun in
Kannauj (1540 AD) and Humayun passed the next twelve years in exile. In 1555, after Sher Shah’s death,
Humayun regained the throne from his weak successor.
Akbar, his son, succeed him in 1556 AD, and consolidated the empire. He was such a good builder that
the edifice he had erected lasted for another hundred years in spite of inadequate successors.
There was great subversion of Indian culture, in an effort to Islamicize it. Indian music was adopted as a
whole and with enthusiasm by the Muslim Courts and the nobility. Literature and poetry were also encouraged
and among the noted poets in Hindi some were Muslims. Ibrahim Adil Shah, the ruler of Bijapur, wrote a treatise
in Hindi on Indian music.

Akbar (1556 AD – 1605 AD)

He consolidated the occupying Mughal empire. Daring and reckless, an able general, and ruthless. An idealist
and a dreamer, and yet a man of action and a leader of men who roused the passionate loyalty of his followers.
He was only thirteen, when he came to the throne. His first conflict was with Hemu, a general of Adil
Shah, under whom the Afghan resistance had regrouped. King Hemu was the only one Hindu King who ever
ruled the Delhi Throne in Indian History. At the second battle of Panipat (1556 AD), Hemu was defeated and
Akbar reoccupied Delhi and Agra. Akbar annexed Malwa and brought a major part of Rajasthan under his
control. He built the Buland Darwaza, after his successful campaign in dominating Gujarat. Most of the Rajputs
were forced to recognise his suzerainty, except Mewar, which continued to resist under the great hero Rana
Pratap and his son Amar Singh.
After his success in military activities and administration, Akbar’s insatiable quest and his personal need led him
to build the Ibadat-Khana – Hall of prayer (1575 AD). Initially it was open only to the Sunnis but later in 1578, it
was opened to people of all religions in an effort to win over those who refused to convert. However, in 1582, he
discontinued the debates in the Ibadat-Khana.
Later the academic, spiritual and metaphysical aspects of it crystallized into Tauhid-i-Ilahi (Divine Monotheism).
Akbar did not create a new religion but suggested a new religious path based on the common truths of all
religions, which continued to place Islam in a supreme position. The word Din (Faith) of Din-i-Ilahi, was applied
after eighty years.
Akbar claimed to believe that a ruler was the guardian of his subjects and had to look after their welfare
irrespective of their sect or creed. He claimed a policy of Sulh-i-kul (peace to all).
Because of his attempt to convince the native population that he was a generous and tolerant tyrant, he has
come to be called by the gullible as one of the great rulers in Indian history, a lie still believed by many today.

Salim (1605 AD – 1627 AD)

Akbar’s son, Salim succeeded him as Jahangir after his death. He strengthened his control over Bengal and his
four successive campaigns forced Amar Singh of Mewar to accept his suzerainty. The Mughal empire became
more vulnerable to attacks from central and western Asia. Towards the end of his reign, he had to deal with the
rebellion of his son Shah Jahan. Toward the end of his reign, the East India Company (1600 AD) was established
in India. An important event of his reign was the active interest taken by Nur Jahan, his queen, in matters of the
State and she also ruled the empire when he was ill.

Shah Jahan (1628 AD – 1658 AD)

On his succession to the throne, the first thing he had to face was revolts in Bhundelkhand and the Deccan. The
former he put down easily and the latter came into control with difficulty. Meanwhile the Marathas also emerged
as a major threat to the authority of the Mughals.
The Famous peacock throne and the Red Fort were completed by him. He seized and remodeled a great
Shiva Temple, the Tejo Mahila, and turned it into a graveyard for one of his dead wives and renamed it Taj
Mahal. His failing health started a war of succession amongst his four sons in 1657.

Aurangzeb (1658 AD – 1707 AD)

Aurangzeb, the third son treacherously emerged victorious by killing his brothers and imprisoned his father in
Agra fort till his death. He ruled for almost 50 years. During his long reign the Mughal empire reached its territorial
climax. At its height, it stretched from Kashmir in the north to Jinji in the south, and from the Hindu Kush in the
west to Chittagong in the east.
He was an orthodox in his outlook and kept himself within the narrow confines of the Islamic law. He
discarded Akbar’s supposedly secular principles and vigorously enforced the Jaziya Tax on all non-muslims with
severity and destroyed many temples. This did not make Muslims more loyal to the Islamic state, although, the
vast native Hindu majority became even more alienated.
Most of his time was spent in trying to put down the revolts in different parts of his empire. While the empire was
rent by strife and revolt, the new Maratha power was growing and consolidating itself in western India. Shivaji, the
Maratha King, stopped Aurangzeb’s mission of expanding towards the south. However after Shivaji’s death
Aurangzeb accomplished his mission of southward expansion. Apart from him, no one else, except the Britishers
held India under a single rule.
Aurangzeb, the last of Mughals, tried to put the clock back, and in his attempt broke up the empire. After his
death, the Mughal empire collapsed with internal conflicts among the successors and was reduced to the area
around Delhi.
The various provinces declared their independence and the Marathas under the leadership of Peshwas,
gradually extended their hold in North India. Foreign invasion of Nadir Shah Abdali in 1729 AD and Ahmed Shah
Abdali in 1747-61 AD further weakened the empire. The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was
imprisoned by the Britishers after the 1857 mutiny.

THE PORTUGUESE
India’s connection with the west has predominantly been related to trade. Amongst the modern Europeans, the
Portuguese were the first to establish themselves in India and the last of the Europeans to leave. They arrived as
early as 1498 via the ocean route discovered by Vasco-da-Gama.
He was the first discoverer of sea route via Cape of Good Hope to India, when Constantinople came
under Arab power. Portuguese left behind Roman Catholic Christianity with its Baroque churches, its musical
liturgy and its great monastic order committed to education. What happened to India when the Portuguese
arrived?
European interest in India has persisted since classical times and for very cogent reasons. Europe had
much to steal from India such as spices, textiles and other oriental products. The best classical accounts are in
fact the commercial ones. When direct contact was lost with the fall of Rome and the rise of the Muslims, the
trade was carried on through middlemen. In the late Middle Ages it increased with the increasing prosperity of
Europe. It should be remembered that the spice trade was not solely a luxury trade at that time. Spices were
needed to preserve meat through the winter (cattle had to be slaughtered in late autumn through lack of winter
fodder) and to combat the taste of decay. Wine, in the absence of ancient or modern methods of maturing, had to
be ‘mulled’ with spices. This trade suffered two threats in the later Middle Ages. There was
the threat of Mongol and Turkish invasion which interfered with the land routes and threatened to engulf the sea
route through Egypt, and there was the threat of monopoly shared between the Venetians and Egyptians.
In 1510 Affonso de Albuquerque captured the island of Goa on the west coast of India from the Sultan of
Bijapur and made it the capital of the Portuguese eastern empire. Its strong points besides Goa were Socotra off
the Red Sea (he could not take Aden), Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, Diu in Gujrat, Malacca, the entrepot for the Far
East and the spice trade in the East Indies, and Macao in China. The function of Goa was to supervise Malabar,
to control the pilgrim traffic to Mecca as well as the general trade to Egypt, Iraq and Persia, and of Malacca to
control the East Indian spices at their source.
However, the Portuguese irked some of the Mughal and preceding rulers because of the toll they took of the
trade from the port of Surat and the pilgrim traffic. In seizing and retaining their strong points they acquired a
reputation for cruelty and peridy because their practice on both these points was below the current Indian
standard. They were deeply impregnated with the idea that no faith need be kept with an infidel. It was from this
period that the word feringi (lit.farangi, frank) acquired the opprobrium of which echoes may still be heard today.
However, the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir admired their pictures and had them copied. Emperor Akbar listened
with interest to Jesuit Father’s discourses. The New Testament was translated into Persian. However, during the
whole of the 16th century the Portuguese disputed with the Muslims the supremacy of the Indian seas, and the
antagonism between Christianity and Islam became gradually more intense. In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan, a
Portuguese navigator commanded the first expedition to sail around the world. In the Collins Encyclopaedia it is
written that Magellan set sail to check the power of Muslim navy and fleet that was dominant. In 1560, the
Portuguese
being intolerant in religion, introduced the Inquisition with all its horrors. This was regarded as sub-standard from
the Indian standpoint, advertising this trait in their rough handling of Syrian Christians of Malabar to secure their
submission to the Catholic faith.
Socially the policy of Albuquerque in encouraging mixed marriages had important results. His object was to rear a
population possessing Portuguese blood and imbued with Portuguese Catholic culture who would be committed
by race and taste to the Portuguese settlements and so form a permanent self-perpetuating garrison. The result
was the race long known as Luso-Indians and now as Goansese or Goans. They are mainly Indian in blood,
Catholic in religion, and partially western in outlook. In recent times, they have spread all over India as traders
and professionals, a less successful version of the Parsis. (Of all the Asians in Britain, a majority of whom are
Muslim, the first Asian MP had to be a Roman Catholic of Goanese descent, Keith Vaz).
Some Portuguese words have even crept into the Urdu language such as the names of items for furniture (mayze
for desk, almaari for cupboard/wardrobe). Also vindaloo (curry) is part Portuguese and part Urdu: vian is
Portuguese for meat and aloo is the Urdu for potato – thus we have meat and potato curry.
The Portuguese were soon followed by European rivals like the French, Dutch and British. Rivalry between the
Dutch and English resulted in the Dutch East India Company “winning” Southeast Asia and Indonesia (known to
Europeans as the East Indies); and the British East India Company having to settle for “second-best”, that is
India.

THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY

The East India Company chartered by the British crown and ultimately responsible to the parliament, launched
British rule in India. The British East India Company was established under a Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I
for 15 years for spice trading on 31st December 1600 AD with the capital of £70,000.
By the middle of the eighteenth century, the company succeeded in establishing power in Bengal, Bihar,
Orissa and the east coast. After the battle of Plassey, in 1757, they secured permission from the Mughals to
collect land revenue from these provinces in return for an annual tribute and maintaining of order and peace.
They collected the land revenues through the local Nawab and took control of his army. This gave them
power without responsibility. The Company took control of Mysore by defeating Tipu Sultan in 1792 and the
Marathas were finally defeated in 1817 AD – 1819 AD. Further the company expanded its rule by defeating Nepal
in 1814-16, Sind in 1843, Punjab in 1848-49 and Burma in 1886.
The cruel management of the company ultimately lead to the mutiny of 1857, after which its rule over India ended
and the British Crown officially took over the administration in 1858.

THE INITIAL STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE

The many changes that Britain had brought about in the administration and the ways of life created considerable
discontent; and there were many risings in various parts of the country from 1816 to 1857. This culminated in the
Revolt of 1857, which shook the very foundation of the Company’s rule in India.
After nearly a century of British rule, the spirit of revolt was growing, especially among the feudal chiefs
and their followers. Even amongst the masses, discontent and an intense anti-British feeling was wide spread. In
March 1857, the Indian army at Barrackpore mutinied and this spread rapidly like a wildfire and assumed the
character of a popular rebellion and a war of Indian independence.
By 1857 the material for mass upheaval was ready and required only a spark to set it afire. The episode
of greased cartridges provided this spark and the revolt was started by Mangal Pande. The greased cartridges
which were to be chewed before firing contained fats of cow and pig. The cow was holy for Hindus where as pig
was the most unholy animal for muslims.
Immediately the revolt engulfed North and Central India. On May 10, 1857 sepoys stationed at Meerut
mutinied and marched to Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor, as the Emperor of
India.

THE BRITISH RAJ

The Revolt of 1857 severely jolted the British administration in India and forced its reorganisation. By the act of
1858, the governing power was transferred from the East India company to the British crown. This power was to
be exercised by the Secretary of State for India (member of the British cabinet and responsible to Parliament)
aided by
an Indian Council, which had only advisory powers.
For administrative purpose India was divided into three presidencies, namely, Bengal, Madras and
Bombay Presidency. The interests of the British thus became paramount in the governance of India. The policies
and interests of the British in India were determined by the industrialists, the most powerful section in British
society.
Indian resources were also utilized to serve the interests of the British empire in other parts of the world and in
costly wars. The queen’s proclamations of 1858, promised not to extend British territories in India by annexing
Princely
states and they were subordinated to the British government. By the act of 1876, Queen Victoria assumed the
title of Empress of India. This implied that Britain would protect the Indian states from internal as well as external
danger and get the unlimited powers to intervene in the internal affairs of the State.
Thus after 1857, India was divided into two parts – British India, directly governed by the British
government and the Indian states ruled by Indian princes. Britishers gradually stopped their support to the
reforms which resulted in the
preservation of social evils. After 1857 mutiny, they followed the Divide and rule policy, in a aim to create a rift
between the Indian Hindus and Muslims.

CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI
He founded the Hindu kingdom in the Deccan against all odds, fighting against the mighty Mughals. He inspired
and united the common man to fight against the tyranny of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, by inculcating a sense of
pride and nationality in them. At the age of 16, he took a pledge to establish a sovereign Hindu state. His life
appears like a fairy tale to children. He clearly outstands all the rulers and generals of India by the exemplary life
he lived and is thus respected by the entire cross section of Indians. Shivaji is to India what Napolean was to
Europe.
He raised a strong army and navy, constructed and repaired forts, used guerilla warfare tactics, developed a
strong intelligence network, gave equal treatment to the people from all religions and castes based on merit, and
functioned like a seasoned Statesman and General. He appointed ministers with specific functions such as
Internal security, Foreign affairs, Finance, Law and Justice, Religious matters, Defense etc. He introduced
systems in revenue collection and warned the officials against harassment of subjects. He thought ahead of
times and was a true visionary. In his private life, his moral virtues were exceptionally high. His thoughts and
deeds were inspired by the teachings of his mother Jijabai, teacher Dadaji Konddev, great saints like
Dnyaneshwar & Tukaram and the valiancy and ideals of the Lords Rama and Krishna.
The tiny kingdom established by Chhatrapati Shivaji known as “Hindavi Swaraja” (Sovereign Hindu state) grew
and spread beyond Attock in Northwest India (now in Pakistan) and beyond Cuttack in East India in course of
time, to become the strongest power in India. The Peshwas (Pune), Shindes Gwalior, Gaekwads (Baroda) &
Holkars (Indore) contributed to its growth. The history of India is incomplete without the history of Marathas and
Shivaji is the nucleus of Maratha history. Shivaji has been a source of inspiration and pride and will continue to
inspire generations in future.

Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj

and the National Revival under the Marathas
by Sudheer Birodkar

The Marathas – Samurais from Western India

The Marathas are a proud and hardy race who are a sub-set of the wider Hindu Community. They are first
mentioned in Indian history as the stout fighters in the army of the Chalukya King Pulikeshin who resisted the
Southward march of Emperor Harsha in the 7th century C.E.
The Maratha dynasties of the ancient (pre-Muslim) period are the Chalukyas (500 C.E. to 750C.E.), the
Rastrakutas (750 C.E. to 978 C.E. and the Yadavas or Jadhavs (1175 C.E. to 1318 C.E.).
The Marathas were the first who crossed Malik Kafur’s path, when he invaded the deccan in 1314 C.E. They
were then led by the last scion of the Yadava dynasty – Ramdev Rai Yadava who ruled from Devagiri (today’s
Daulatabad). In their first clash with the Muslims; the Marathas lost to the invaders and accepted the status of
being vassals and mercenaries of their Muslim overlords.
The Marathas before Shivaji were Mercenaries and revenue Collectors for the Muslim Rulers. In keeping with the
feudal tradition, the Maratha Sardars (Generals), before Shivaji kept shifting their loyalties from one Muslim ruler
to another. And there were many Muslim rulers like the Adilshahis at Bijapur, the Nizamshahis at Ahmednagar
(Berar), the Qutubshahis at Golkonda (Hyderabad), etc.
Shahji Bhosale, who was Shivaji’s father typified this practice of shifting loyalties from one Muslim overlord to
another. He was from time-to-time in the service of the Mughals, the Adilshahis and the Nizamshahis. The
thought of establishing an Independent Maratha-Hindu kingdom, does seem to have crossed his mind, but he
never really got about to doing it successfully. The germ of this idea however seems to have got rubbed into
Shivaji – his son by Jijabai.

Shivaji Maharaj – the Visionary Saint-Soldier

Shivaji was born in the year 1627 at the Fort of Shivneri in Maharashtra in Western India. Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai
was a direct descendant of the erstwhile Yadav royal family of Devagiri. She seems to have nursed deep within
her mind the idea of recovering independence from Muslim rule which her Yadav forebears had lost in the year
1318. Shivaji grew up with these ideas embedded into him. His childhood stories are those of playing games in
which he and his friends attacked and captured forts held by the enemy.

The Oath of Independence – at Raireshwar

When Shivaji was seventeen, he decided to transform what were till then simply games to a reality. He and his
friends encouraged by Jijabai and his Guru Dadoji Kondeo; decided to take a formal oath to free the country from
the shackles of Muslim tyranny. This was done in the year 1645 in a dark cavern housing a small temple to the
Hindu God Shiva (locally called Raireshwar).
At the cave temple of Raireshwar in the Sayhadris Shivaji and his select band of teenaged Maratha friends slit
their thumbs and poured the blood oozing from it on the Shiva-linga (representing the Lord Shiva). By this act
they declared a blood-feud against
Mughal tyranny.
This was the beginning of a long and arduous Maratha-Mughal struggle that went on for the next century and a
half to culminate in the defeat of the Mughals and their replacement by the Marathas as the dominant power in
India when the British came into the scene. (But more of the British later.)

Shivaji’s encounter with Afzal Khan

When Shivaji started his military career by capturing the fortress of Torana, it sent shockwaves in the Adilshshi
court at Bijapur. Here was a local Hindu chieftain, daring to challenge the might of a Muslim ruler. The retribution
was swift and Adil Shah sent in his most fearsome general named Afzal Khan to bring back Shivaji dead or alive
to Bijapur. Afzal Khan who was reputed to be more than six feet tall and of a real massive built, set on his mission
and in order to lure Shivaji down into the plains, he destroyed the Hindu temples at Tuljapur, Pandharpur and
Shikhar Shenganapur.

Afzal Goes Up to Pratapgad

This ploy failed to work and Shivaji stuck to his Hill fastness in the Sahyadris. Shivaji even sent a letter to Afzal
Khan praising the legendary strength of Afzal Khan’s powerful arms and his reputed fearlessness. Shivaji
addressed him as his uncle and said that he was afraid to come down to meet Afzal Khan. Shivaji asked him to
come up into the hills to meet him and on condition that Afzal Khan came with not more than few select soldiers.
The proud Khan felt that the Dekkhan-Ka-Chuha (Rat of the Deccan as the Muslims scornfully addressed Shivaji)
had really chickened out.

Afzal Meets his Nemesis in Shivaji

Khan-Saheb agreed to go up the hills at Pratapgad to meet his nemesis. When the meeting took place,
Afzal Khan embraced Shivaji and with his diminutive enemy (Shivaji was less than five feet in height) in his grip,
Afzal suddenly pulled out his dagger and tried to stab Shivaji. When Afzal’s dagger could not plunge into Shivaji
Maharaj due to the protective armour which Shivaji was wearing, Afzal tried to throttle him. But the wily Maratha
was more than prepared for this as he had come down not only with full armour that was hidden by his thick satin
robes, but he also had with him the ‘Wagh Nakh’ – a sharp weapon resembling tiger claws that could be hidden
in the grip of one’s fist. In addition, he had the Bichhwa – curved dagger hidden in the pocket of his
waistcoat.

Jiwa Mahalaya
On sensing that the Khan meant to throttle him, Shivaji pierced the tiger claws deep into Khan’s belly and
pulled out his intestines. After which Shivaji repeatedly stabbed him with the bichhwa. The Khan bellowed “Daga”
“Daga” and yelled for Syed Banda, his bodyguard to come to his rescue. When Syed Banda, also a burly Muslim
was about to strike Shivaji with his sword, Shivaji’s bodyguard Jiva Mahalya struck off Banda’s upraised arm in
the air itself.
Santaji Kawji
After this commotion, the bleeding Khan tried to make good his escape and rushed into his palanquin. As the
palanquin bearers set off with the fleeing Khan, Santaji Kawji, another of Shivaji’s select warriors cut-off the feet
of the bearers and Khans’ palanquin, with its load of Khansaab fell to the ground. Santaji Kawji, then finished off
the task of sending Khan to his final resting place. Khan’s army which was waiting in the valley was ruthlessly
massacred by the Marathas who were hiding behind every crevice and bush in the densely wooded jungles
around the Pratapgad fort. At the place where this encounter took place on 10th November 1659 between Shivaji
Maharaj and the Khan, there stands today a Kabar (grave) erected by Shivaji for the departed Khan’s soul to rest
in peace.

Bijapur Stymied
The result of this dramatic encounter was that the Bijapur ruler panicked and after that never posed a serious
threat to the growing Maratha power. The next Muslim power which Shivaji turned to was that of the Mughals.
Here was the real challenge for Shivaji. The Bijapur rulers were a provincial power, while the Mughals were an
power of imperial dimensions whose writ ran almost all over Northern India.

The Siege of Panhalgad

Despite this defeat, Bijapur’s Adil Shah made one last attempt to check Shivaji by sending another general
named Siddhi Jouhar against him. Siddhi besiged Panhalgad where Shivaji was camping. The seige went on for
some months, from summer till the monsoons. But Shivaji Maharaj slipped out of Panhalgad and reached safely
at Vishalgad.

The Brave Deed of Baji Prabhu Deshpande

It is during this escape that Baji Prabhu Deshpande held the pursuing enemy troops at a narrow pass called
Ghod Khind. Baji Prabhu immortalized himself by laying down his life but ensured that his Master reached safely
at Vishalgad. This narrow pass is today known as Pawan Khind i.e. a Holy Pass. Made holy by Baji Prabhu’s
memorably brave deed.

Encounter with Shaista Khan – Aurangzeb’s Uncle

The next Khan to come down ‘literally’ before Shivaji was Shaista Khan. On hearing Shivaji’s depredations,
Aurangzeb was furious and wanted to desperately crush this infidel upstart. He sent his uncle maternal Shaista
Khan with a large and powerful army to checkmate Shivaji.
He set an example of religious tolerance in an age when conversion at the point of the sword was the norm. He
defended the honour of womenfolk in an age when captured women of the enemy were considered to be the
rightful property by their Muslim captors
to be put in the Harem – concubine chamber. Shivaji Maharaj was way ahead of his times
in his vision and mission.
But even this time the wily Maratha proved that brain was stronger than the brawn. Shaista Khan came into
Maharashtra and started devstating towns, villages fields, temples, forts and everything that came in his path.

Shaista Establishes his Harem in Shivaji’s Devghar (Prayer Room)

To provoke Shivaji, Shaista Khan established his camp in Shivaji’s home in Pune called Lal-Mahal. And to top it
up, he put up his Harem in Shivaji’s Devghar (prayer room).

Shaista is Lucky – He Only Loses His Fingers

Shivaji bided his time for many months and one on fine day (night), he with a select band of Maratha Samurais,
sneaked into Pune and into the Lal-Mahal. He tracked down the sleeping Khan to his bed. The Khan sensing that
his time was up tried jumping out of the window. At that point Shivaji cut off the Khan’s fingers with which he was
holding on to the window sill.
On the Khan’s wife’s pleading before Shivaji to spare her husband’s life as she considered Shivaji to be her
brother. And so killing her husband would mean making her a widow, Shivaji spared the Khan’s life. This was a
mistake for which Shivaji was to pay dearly later. Shivaji made good his escape from the Khan’s lair, but not
before the treacherous Khan ordered his troops to give chase and try to capture the fleeing Shivaji.

Shaista’s Retreat from Maharashtra

The Khan however, decided that enough was enough and returned to Delhi – without his fingers. This happened
in April 1663 The failure of his uncle peeved Aurang to no end and he now sent another general to subjugate
Shivaji. This was Mirza Raja Jai Singh, Aurangzeb’s Hindu general who was also the scion of the house of the
Suryavanshi Kachhawaha’s who we saw earlier had ingratiated themselves to the Mughal rulers by giving away
their daughters in marriage to the Mughal Padishah. (The Moghuls
incidentally never returned the favour by giving, or even offerring, their daughters to the Rajputs!).
This Mirza Raja Jaisingh who came with a powerful force was smarter than Shaista Khan sent earlier by
Aurangzeb. Mirzaji laid siege to Purandar alongwith a systematic loot and destruction of rural Maharashtra.

The Brave Deed of Murar Baji

When Raja Jai Singh and his general Diler Khan laid siege to the Fort of Purandar. Murar Baji was the Maratha
Fort Commandant at Purandar. To break the morale of the Maratha troops, Diler Khan launched a viscious attack
on the fort and laid waste the surrounding countryside. The Mughals succeeded in forcing their way into the outer
defenses of Purandar.
However, the Marathas were not easily intimidated, they withdrew to the inner fort (bali-killa) and kept on their
attack on the besieging Mughals. One day, Murar Baji decided to rain hell on the enemy and the Marathas
stormed out of the fort and fell upon the Mughals who were occupying the outer fort. In face of the Maratha
attack, the Mughals broke ranks and fled to their main camp in the plains below, where Diler Khan was camping.
Seeing the ferocity of the Maratha attack, Diler Khan, decided to tempt Murar Baji with an offer of making him a
general in the Mughal army if he betrayed Shivaji. When news of this offer reached Murar Baji, in the midst of the
battle, his rage knew no bounds, and in a rash act he pushed into the ranks of the Mughal troops, hacking right,
left and center towards Diler Khan and shouted at him that he would reply Diler’s offer by cutting off his head and
taking it to Shivaji Maharaj.
Murar Baji had left his own troops behind and was now surrounded by Mughal troops on all sides, but he could
only see Diler, whose head he wanted. This act was brave but rash and cost Murar Baji his life. Their leader
dead, the Marathas withdrew into the fort. The news of this battle and the passing away of Murar Baji and the
long drawn siege along with the destruction of the countryside forced Shivaji to reach out for a compromise with
Jai Singh in the interests of the sufferring population of Maharashtra.

The Treaty of Purandar

The treaty of Purandar signed between Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Shivaji Maharaj had among many conditions,
one condition that Shivaji accompany Mirzaji to Agra. Shivaji decided to go to Agra in 1666.

Shivaji’s Visit to Aurangzeb at Agra

At Agra, when Shivaji presented himself at the Moghul court, Aurangzeb deliberately insulted him by making him
stand behind a lesser noble whom Shivaji has once defeated in battle. This was a calculated humiliation that
Aurang had arranged for Shivaji. As a result Shivaji left the court in a huff. This gave Aurangzeb an excuse to
declare Shivaji of having committed the offence of insulting the Mughal court.

Imprisonment of Shivaji
Aurangzeb detained Shivaji in Mirza Raja Jai Singh’s house where Shivaji had put up. Shivaji seems to have
read Aurangzeb’s mind of having him put to death. Aurag had made plans to shift Shivaji into the proper Mughal
dungeons.

Shivaji’s Escape from Aurang’s Clutches

Shivaji struck upon an idea and said that he wanted to make peace with God by sending fruit and sweetmeats to
Brahmins and holy men. To this Aurangzeb consented. One fine day Shivaji and his son Sambhaji hid himself in
two of the sizable baskets in which fruits and sweetmeats had been packed everyday and made good their
escape from Aurnag’s custody. In doing this Shivaji must have had in mind what had happened to his general
Netaji Palkar who after being captured by the Mughals had been forced to embrace Islam and change his name
to Quli Mohammed Khan. Netaji was forced to serve as a Mughal soldier in Afghanistan, till he too made good his
escape and returned to Shivaji to reconvert to Hinduism and join the forces of Swaraja once again. Others were
not so lucky, they were made to convert to Islam and some others were simply tortured to death – as was to
happen later with Shivaji’s son Shambhu Raje or Sambhaji, after
Shivaji’s death.

Shivaji Maharaj’s Seal

Shivaji Maharaj was the first Hindu King to ascend a throne after a long time. During the Dark Days of Muslim
Tyranny, Shivaji Maharaj was one of the very few (along with the Ranas of Mewad), to issue his own coinage.
Shivaji’s coinage was in
Sanskrit. The coins were in two main denominations, the Shivrai made of copper was a
lower denomination coin and the Hon was a gold coin of a higher denomination. To erase
the memory of Shivaji Maharaj, Aurangzeb issued an order after the passing away of
Shivaji Maharaj that all Hons were to be imponded and melted. That Aurang did not
succeed in erazing Shivaji Maharaj’s illustruous personality from our memory is another
matter.

Coronation of Shivaji as Chattrapati

After returning to the Deccan, Shivaji again raised an army and recaptured all the forts that he had been made to
surrender to the Mughals as per the treaty of Purandar. In this phase we see the exploits of his brave general
Tanaji Malusare who perished while recapturing the invincible fort of Kondana from Uday Bhan – the renegade
Rajput who was the Mughal commandant of the fort.
After all the forts had been recaptured, Shivaji was pursuaded by Gaga Bhatt (a brahmin from Benaras) and his
mother the ageing Jijabai to formally crown himself as the king of the Marathas. The coronation took place at
Raigad on the 6th of June 1674.

Narvir Tanaji’s Impossibly Brave Deed

The fort of Kondana, which is today on the outskirts of Pune town was then an outpost overlooking Pune and the
surrounding countryside. It was strategically placed in the center of a string of forts of Rajgad, Purandar, and
Torna. The capture of Kondana was necessary if Shivaji Maharaj was to re-establish de facto control over the
Pune region.
Recognizing the strategic importance of Kondana, the Mughals had maintained a battalion of 5000 troops led by
Udai Bhan, a relative of Mirza Raja Jai Singh. The fort was built in such a way that all its approaches were
covered by cannon-fire. Only on turret was not well defended as it was at the top of a vertical overhanging cliff.
Tanaji decided that this was the only way, he could enter the fort. He dressed himself as a Gondhali (devotee of
the Goddess Bhavani of Tuljapur) and roamed the surrounding villages. He won the trust of one Mahadev Koli
who was in the service of Udai Bhan. Koli presented the disguished Tanaji to Udai Bhan, who was suitably
impressed by this “devotee” and allowed him free access to the fort.
Tanaji carried out a careful surveillance of the fort and at that very night when he was told that at the overhanging
cliff Udai Bhan and all his senior commanders would be celebrating a usual party with an alcohol and dance orgy;
Tanaji decided that he should seize this opportunity.
With almost all his troops, Udai Bhan had a roaring party on top of the overhanging cliff. Unknown to them after
midnight, Tanaji and his brave followers who numbered 300 scaled the cliff using ropes tied to a reptile called
Ghorpad. The Ghorpad can stick fast to any surface and a number of adults can use this force to scale a vertical
cliff with the help of a rope, one end of which is tied to the Ghorpad. Silently Tanaji and his comrades slunk up to
the top of the cliff.
On the other side his uncle Shelar Mama and his brother Suryaji had moved close to the other gates of the forts
with another 300 Mavalas (Maratha Soldiers). On a signal from Tanaji, all his comrades who has taken up
strategic position all round the celebrating Mughal army, broke into the party and mercilessly fell upon their
enemies. They started slaughtering the surprised and ill-prepared and drunken Muslim soldiers.
When Udai Bhan saw that Tanaji – the leader of this invading band of Marathas was no other than the devotee
whom he had given permission to visit the fort, he flew into a mad rage. On seeing Tanaji, Udai Bhan rushed at
him and we are told that for a few fatal seconds, Tanaji started dancing in the same fashion as he had done as a
Gondhali (devotee) when he had met Udai Bhan earlier in the day. The enraged Udai Bhan lunged at dancing
Tanaji and cut off the arm with which Tanaji was holding his shield. But undaunted Tanaji used his turban to ward
off further thrusts from the blade of Udai Bhan’s sword and continued fighting him for 2 hours in this state with his
wristless left arm bleeding profusely. It is for this feat of Tanaji, that he is called Narvir – Brave amongst Men.
At the end of this ordeal, the exhausted Tanaji fell to a fatal swish of Udai
Bhan’s sword. But Udai Bhan too was throttled by Shelar Mama and thus lost his life.
Shivaji Maharaj is said to have said on this occasion “Gad aala, paan Simha gela” (We have won the fort but
have lost the Lion – Tanaji). The fort of Kondana was renamed as “Sinhagad” in honour of Tanaji’s brave deed.

A “Nazarana” – The Daughter-in-law of the Muslim Subahdar of Kalyan

During the days after the coronation, many Maratha generals presented Nazaranas (tribute in kind) to the newly
anointed King of Maharashtra. It was then a practice of the Muslims to abduct any fair maiden and to force her
into the harem as a concubine. (A harem is a term for the living quarters of abducted women, nominally treated
as wives.) On one such occasion, following the “illustrious” example set by the Muslim aggressors, a Maratha
Sardar also (general) abducted a daughter-in-law of the Muslim Subahadar of Kalyan, near Mumbai (Kalyan was
then under Mughal occupation).
This Sardar presented this “Nazarana” to Shivaji Maharaj, expecting to be patted on the back for such a “fair”
tribute. Shivaji Maharaj’s reaction at this occasion, gives us an insight into the mind of the person who lived 300
years before us. Shivaji not only chided the general, but warned him and all the other Maratha generals that such
a heinous offence would henceforth attract a penalty of the offender’s hands being chopped off. The dazed
general was asked by Shivaji to return with full honours, the daughter-in-law of the Muslim Subahadar of Kalyan.
The Maratha ballads (Povadas) that describe this event say that on hearing Shivaji’s dialogue in Marathi the
teenaged girl is said to have exclaimed “Ya Allah, yeh aadmi nahin farishta hai. Ees farishtey pe kamyaabi bahal
karna.” (“O Lord, this is not an ordinary man but an angel. Bestow success on this angel.”) The Maratha
balladeers, while narrating this event say that “Asseech amuchi aai asatee,sundar roopavati; amhi hee sundar
zhalo asato – vadaley Chattrapati” (“If my mother had been as beautiful, I too would have been as beautiful –
exclaimed Chattrapati”).
These dialogues might as well be a later romanticization of what actually happened. But it proves a point –
Shivaji Maharaj had risen above the attitudes of religious bigotry, and beastly behaviour that had come to typify
the Indian ruling class under Muslim rule.

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Campaigns of Shivaji

After this Shivaji launched his campaign in Karnatak, which took him up to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The period
from 1674 up his passing away in 1680 was a relatively peaceful period, as the Mughal made no more attempts
to molest the Marathas. Only after the passing away of Shivaji Maharaj did Aurang again dared to venture into
Maharashtra, and then too he did not entrust the task to any general. He came himself in 1682 and stayed on in
the deccan till his death in 1707.

HEROES AFTER SHIVAJI

The Marathas After Shivaji Maharaj – Sambhaji
After the passing away of their illustrious leader, the marathas fell into relative disarray. Shivaji’s eldest son
Sambhaji did not prove adequate to the responsibility of preserving the flame of independence to which his father
had given the initial spark. Sambhaji was extremely fearless and brave. Maratha chronicles (Bakhars) refer to him
as in fact more assertive and independent than his father. But in addition to all this Sambhaji also had vices like
wine and women. In his eventful life, Shivaji Maharaj did not seem to have had enough time to groom his
successor.
Sambhaji’s temper had a short fuse. During Shivaji’s life-time itself, he had once quarreled with his father and
had gone over to join the Mughals as one of their Mansabdars. Subsequently, he realized his folly and came
back to his father and repented. But this act of his deeply hurt his father nad also displayed his chimerical nature
for which he was to pay later with a painful death.
After the death of Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji was crowned as Chattrapati. He brazenly followed policies
detrimental to the fledgling Maratha power. In this he was given short-sighted advise by his friend Kavi Kalash.

Sambhaji’s Assassination
Sambhaji did not falter in battling the Mughals, as well as the Portuguese. In those days Aurnagzeb had come
over to the Deccan. After subjugating the Bijapur and Golkonda kingdoms, he turned his attention on the
Marathas. He carried on a ceaseless campaign against the Marathas. Sambhaji performed many daring acts in
this guerrilla campaign especially in the Konkan region. But in spite of his bravery, his short temper and his vices
went against him. One night, when he was passing thru Sangmeshwar with a small band of bodygaurds, he was
waylaid by the Mughals and was brought in chains before Aurangzeb.
On being presented to Aurabgzeb, Sambhaji was asked to surrender all his forts, accept Islam and enter the
service of the Mughal Emperor. To this affront, Sambhaji scronfully replied that he could consider this if
Aurangzeb gave him his daughter in marriage and proclaimed him as the successor to the Mughal throne! On
hearing this Aurang flew into a rage and decided to torture Sambhaji to death. Sambhaji’s eyes were gouged, his
tongue was cut off, followed by his arms and legs. Sambhaji died an inhuman death, but till the agonizing end he
never recanted his faith.

Rajaram, Tarabai and Shahu

After Sambhaji’s assassination, his step-brother Rajaram became the king. He was not especially brave and is
said to have been physically weak. During his time Aurangzeb besieged and captured Raigad. Instead of fighting
the enemy, Rajaram fled from Raigad when the fort was about to be besieged. Raigad fell into the hands of the
Mughals in 1689 when a renegade Maratha called Suryaji Pisal betrayed the defences of the fort to the besieging
Mughals. During the capture of Raigad, Sambhaji’ wife Yesubai and his son Shahu were taken captive by the
Mughals. Rajaram’s life as Chattrapati was spent mostly in fleeing from the Mughal armies.
Nevertheless during his times, the generals like Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav carried out a whirlwind
guerrilla campaign to harras the Mughal army and never let Aurangzeb rest in one place. Thus in spite of his
presence in the Deccan for more than 25 years from 1680 to 1707, Aurang could not subsume the flame of
independence lit by Shivaji Maharaj.
In 1700, Rajaram died of sickness and he was succeeded by his wife Tarabai. She was the nominal leader of the
Marathas from 1700 to 1707, although the military activities were coordinated by the duo of Santaji and Dhanaji.

Aurang’s Death in 1707

When Aurang died in 1707, his son Azamshah who was with him at his deathbed, proclaimed himself the Mughal
Emperor and prepared to battle his elder brother Muaazam, who was then in Kabul. To ensure that the Marathas
came over to his side, Azamshah released Shahu who was till then held as a prisoner by the Mughals. Shahu
had been a prisoner for 18 years from 1689 up to 1707. When Shahu staked his claim to the throne, Tarabi was
ruling. A battle between the two was inevitable. This battle fought at Khed went in favour of Shahu and he
became the Chattrapati. He was incidentally the last de facto Chattrapati of the Marathas.

Prime Ministers Peshwas become de facto Kings

During the days of Shahu, his general Dhanaji Jadhav had a very able accountant named Balaji Vishwanath
Bhatt. This accountant rose in Dhanaji’s favour by dint of hard work. His successful track record brought him
visibility in the eyes of Shahu.
On Dhanaji’s passing away, Shahu appointed him as his accountant. During this period, Shahu was attacked by
forces loyal to Tarabai. To face this attack, Shahu appointed Balaji Viswanath Bhatt as a Senakarta (i.e.
Commander). Balaji Viswanath proved to be an able soldier too. This increased the confidence Shahu had in him
and he appointed Balaji Viswanath as his representative to negotiate with Kanhoji Angre, the Admiral of the
Maratha Navy, who was at that time with Shahu’s rival Tarabai. Before, balaji Viswanath could take up this
assignment, he asked Shahu to appoint him as a Prime Minister or Peshwa. To this request Shahu conceded
and Balaji Vishwanath Bhatt became the Chattrapati’s first Peshwa.
Balaji negotiated with Kanhoji Angre and both consented to accept the other’s independent sphere of influence.
With Balaji Vishwanath in charge of the Maratha military and Kanhoji in charge of the Marathas Navy. This
agreement set the course for Balaji Viswanatha’s rise as a Peshwa during his subsequent visit to Delhi with an
army of 12,000 Marathas. During this visit to Delhi, on an invitation from the Syed brothers in their struggle with
the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyyar, the Maratha forces led by Balaji Viswanath clashed with the forces of Mughal
Emperor and defeated them. This was the first Maratha victory over the Mughals in Delhi. This event marks the
asendency of the Marathas in Delhi an asendency that was to last for almost a century till they were supplanted
by the British in 1803.

The Peshwas – Baji Rao, Balaji Baji Rao, Madhav Rao

As we saw above, after Shahu, the de facto executive power passed into the hands of the hereditary Prime
Ministers the Peshwas. Balaji Viawanath Bhatt was succeeded by his son Baji Rao the first. Baji Rao was a very
able and ambitious soldier and he was the one who consolidated Maratha power in North India.
Baji Rao died at a relativey young age of 40 in the year 1740. His was succeeded by his son Balaji Baji Rao.
Balaji Baji Rao played a tragic role in Maratha history and the fissiparous tendencies he let loose ultimately let to
the downfall of the Maratha empire.
His first mistake was to go back on the agreement between his grandfather Balaji Viswanath Bhatt and Kanhoji
Angre according to which the Peshwa was to have no direct control over the Maratha Navy. He attacked the his
own navy and weakened one arm of the Maratha might.
During his rule, North India was invaded by Ahmed Shah Abdali first in 1756. Balaji Baji Rao then sent his brother
Raghunath Rao along with Malharrao Holkar to defeat Abdali. Raghunath rao not only defeated Abdali but
chased him up to the Khyber pass till Attock in Paktoonistan.
This success of Raghunath Rao aroused the jealousy of Balaji Baji Rao’s wife Gopikabai, who started conspiring
against Raghunath Rao to undermine his influence. This led to corresponding jealousy from Anandibai who was
Ragunath Rao’s wife. The unfortunate fallout of this court intrigue ws to end in the disastrous 3rd battle of Panipat
in 1761.Let us see the event that led to this catastrophe at Panipat.

The Persian Invasion of 1740 by Nadir Shah

Some 80 years after Shivaji when the Mughal Empire had been weakened by repeated Maratha attacks, the
Afghan raider Ahmed Shah Durrani (Abdali) invaded North India. As the Mughals were past their prime and were
now living at the mercy of the Marathas, they did not dare oppose Ahmed Shah. The task of challenging him was
left to the Marathas. The Marathas who then were on their ascendancy in North India had since the first Persian-
Afghan invasion by Nadir Shah, the king of Persia in 1740, established themselves as a dominant power in
Northern India. The 20 years from 1740 to 1760 saw a see-saw battle between the Afghans and the Marathas for
the domination of North India.
With the defeat of Mohammed Shah, the Moghul Emperor in 1740 by Nadir Shah (in whose army Ahmed Shah
Abdali was a general), the Mughal power steadily declined and its place was usurped by the Rohillas who were
led by an ambitious and ruthless chieftain named Najib Khan. Najib’s ambition was to supplant the Moghal
Emperor and crown himself as the ruler of India by capturing Delhi.

The Marathas Liberate Punjab

The growing power of the Marathas in their northward expansion, stood between Najib and his ambition. To
overcome the Marathas, in 1755, Najib invited Ahmed Shah Abdali from Afghanistan to help him in defeating the
Marathas and crown himself the ruler of India. In this, he was thwarted by the Marathas who decisively defeated
the Rohillas and Afghans near Delhi in 1756.
The defeat was so decisive that Najib Khan surrendered to the Marathas and became their prisoner. The
Maratha forces were led by Shrimant Raghunath Rao and Malhar Rao Holkar.
After defeating the Afghan-Rohilla forces, the Marathas pursued the Afghans into the Punjab and beyond up to
the Khyber pass. The last frontier of the Marathas was at Attock in today’s NWFP (or Paktoonistan) on the
Afghan border. (This campaign of the Marathas led by Shrimant Raghunath Rao is called as Raghu’s Bharari –
i.e. whirlwind campaign.
Thus after nearly 800 after the last Punjabi King Tirlochan Pal Shahi had been defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni in
1020 C.E. did that part of India come under Indian rule in 1756 due to the liberation of Punjab by the Marathas.
Meanwhile with machinations and trickery, Najib Khan won over Malhar Rao Holkar and secured his release. On
his release Najib started to undermine the Marathas once again and treacherously killed Dattaji Shinde (eldest
brother of Mahadji Shinde). Najib continued to battle the Shindes in 1757-58 and with his newly found confidence
again invited Ahmed Shah Abdali to invade India.

PANIPAT – A Result of Court Intrigues at Pune

The court intrigues at Shaniwarwada in Pune between Gopikabai (Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao’s wife) and Anandibai
(Raghunath Rao’s wife) led to the sidetracking of Raghunath Rao in favour of the Peshwas cousin, Sadashiv Rao
Bhau (along with Viswas Rao the Peshwa’s son and successor) as the Supreme commander of the Maratha
forces that were to give battle to Abdali a second time. It was unfortunate for the Marathas, that due to rivalries, a
successful commander like Raghunath Rao was bypassed in favour of another general.

The 3rd Battle of Panipat

When Abdali launched his second invasion in 1759 the Marathas who after their successes in 1756 had been
hibernating in Maharashtra and Central India again woke up and in alliance with the Jat King Suraj Mal of
Bharatpur formed an alliance. This alliance led by Shrimant Sadshiv Rao Bhau and Shrimant Vishwas Rao (the
Peshwa Shrimant Balaji Baji Rao’s son) won spectacular victories and captured Delhi and Kunjapura (where the
Afghan treasury and armoury was located). Here the alliance developed cracks due to the Maratha insistence on
not allowing the Jats to loot Delhi. This ultimately split the alliance and Suraj Mal withdrew from the alliance.
The Marathas consequently marched upto Panipat, but instead of continuing their attacks to completely defeat
the partly defeated Abdali and Najib Khan, they stayed put at Panipat, blocking the way of the Afghans back to
Afghanistan. Seeing their way back to their homeland blocked, the Afghans now became restless. They in turn,
decided to block the way of the Marathas back into the Deccan.

Stand-off for one year

This stand-off continued for one whole year from the 14th of January 1760 up to the 14th of January 1761. This
led to the fall in the morale of the stranded Marathas and ultimatley led to their defeat at Panipat. The Marathi
term “Sankrant Kosalali” meaing “Sankranth has befallen us” comes from this event. During this stand-off the
Afghans cut-off all supplies to the huge Maratha army. The Afghans with Najib Khan meanwhile also recaptured
Delhi and Kunjpura. On the decisive day of 14th January 1761 (Makar Sankranti), the Marathas decided to break-
through the Afghan blockade and re-enter Deccan. The disastrous battle saw about one hundred thousand
Maratha troops being slaughtered in a matter of eight hours. But the Afghans too suffered heavy losses and
decided enough was enough and went back to Afghanistan never to return to India.
The defeat of the Marathas and the withdrawal of the Afghans created a power vacuum in North India in the
period 1761-1790. It was this vacuum that was filled up by the rising British power.
The Sikhs meanwhile united under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and carried on the unfinished task of
the Marathas. The Sikh general Jussa Singh Ahluwalia invaded Abdali’s kingdom, defeated Abdali ignominiously
and captured his capital city of Kabul. The saffron flag (Nishan Saheb) then fluttered over Kabul after a gap of
800 years after Raja Jaya Pal Shahi lost the city to Sabuktagin in 980 C.E.

ADDITIONAL HEROES WHO WORKED FOR PROTECTING INDIA AND ITS CULTURE

Mahadji Shinde
Meanwhile in India proper, in the period between 1761 and 1790, the Maratha power was consolidated by
Mahadji Shinde, Nana Phadnavis and Shrimant Madhav Rao Peshwa. Mahadji Shinde took initiative in military
matters and he successfully checked the British in the first Anglo-Maratha war. Later of course, the Marathas
were to succcumb to the British in after the third Anglo-Maratha war of 1817.
Maratha Rule did not Change the Feudal Relations of Production and Distribution
But as far as changing the feudal economic relations were concerned, the Maratha rule did nothing. The feudal
relations remained intact. Politically speaking too, the Maratha intermission from around 1720 to 1790 was too
brief a period and though the writ of the Marathas ran in the whole of western India with parts of the north and
south under their domination they could not bring the entire country uniformly under their rule. And in those parts
of the country they ruled, the feudal relations did not undergo any fundamental change apart from the abolition of
the Jazia penal tax levied on the Hindus by the Muslim rulers and general freedom from religious persecution of
petty Muslim chieftains and representative of the Muslim monarchy based at Delhi.

Rani Laxmibhai
Maharana Pratap was a great Rajput King. The Rajputs are a brave and a chivalrous race who were
feudal kings in ancient India before the Mughals came. They were the first to resist the Mughal invaders and
many wars were fought between the Rajputs and the Mughals. Though the Mughals captured the north of India
they were unsuccessful in capturing central India where they faced tough opposition from the Rajput kings
there. Akbar wanted to control the whole of India and used a mix of tolerance, generosity, and force to over
come the Rajput kings. One of the most gallant Rajput kings was Rana Pratap who did not want to give up his
kingdom to the Mughals. Rana Pratap was the Grandson of Raja Udai Singh (Udaipur is named after him), the
king of Chittod. Rana Pratap led the Rajputs against the army of Akbar to preserve the independence of Mewar.
Rana Pratap not only had to face the mighty Mughals but also had to fight against other Rajput kings (Raja Todar
Mal and Raja Man Singh) who aligned with the Mughals. In the Battle of Haldighati (1576) fought between
Maharana Pratap and the Mughals; the Rajputs were not able to overcome the combined strength of the Mughals
and the renegade Rajput princes who had played the role of traitors.
Maharana Pratap was badly hurt in the battle and was saved by his wise horse Chetak, who took him in
an unconscious state away from the battle scene. Rana Pratap died in 1597 when his son Amar Singh took over
the kingdom. Although Maharana Pratap was not able to thwart the Muslims successfully, the saga of Rajput
resistance to Muslim rule continued till the 17th century when the baton of the struggle for Indian Independence
from Mughals was taken up by the upcoming power of the Marathas, who brought about an end to Muslim
domination of India.

Tatia Tope
He was a hero of the fight for freedom in 1857. His very name made the mighty English generals tremble.
Deceived by his friend, he faced death like a hero, for the sake of his country. The British troops had pitched their
tents on the parade grounds near the fort of Shivpuri, 75 miles from Gwalior. The day was April 18, 1859. It was 4
o’clock in the afternoon. A smiling, charming prisoner was brought out of the prison.
His hands and feet were chained. Under guard he was taken to the hangman’s post. He had been condemned to
death. The prisoner stepped towards the post fearlessly. There was no hesitation as he stepped upon the
platform. It was the custom to cover the eyes of the condemned man with a scarf. When soldiers stepped forward
with the scarf, he smiled and made signs to say, ‘I don’t need all this.’ Nor did he allow the hands and feet to be
bound. He himself put the noose around his neck. The rope was tightened. Then, at last, there was a pull…. In a
moment it was all over.
It was a heart-rending scene, which moved the whole country to tears. The man who was hanging lifeless on the
gallows of the English was no criminal. He was not a thief, nor was he a cutthroat. He was the supreme
commander in the War of Indian Independence, which in 1857, had challenged the hold of the British over India.
It was he who, more than anybody else, shook the mighty British Empire to its foundations. Holding aloft the flag
of freedom, he sought to break the chains of slavery and fought the military might of the English heroically. His
name was Tatia Tope, a household word for bravery.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji

He is one of the most radiant stars in the galaxy of religious leaders. Time cannot wither nor stale the luster of the
sacrifices that he made for the cause of religious freedom. His transformation of senile and sloppy mentality of
degraded and demoralized Hindu society of that time into militant and challenging fervor is a landmark in our
history. It can be said, throughout the annals of history there was no other individual who could be a more
inspiring personality than Guru Gobind Singh’s. But mankind has yet to know and appreciate and understand the
height of his spiritual ideals and his own practical adherence to their dictates and the way in which they sprouted
and blossomed in the hearts of his followers.
A study of his life and personality and all that he achieved in a span of forty two years that he lived, confirms that
he has become a most eloquent symbol of all that is virile and positive in our religious traditions.
Govind was born at Patna (Bihar) in the year 1666 and was assassinated at Nandar (Deccan) in the year 1708
A.D. He was hardly nine years of age when Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred at Delhi. Guru Gobind Singh then
assumed the Spiritual suzerainty and became Guru. He soon trained himself for fulfillment of his duties both in
spiritual and temporal sense. He became a great poet, a mystic scholar, a fine soldier, a tactical General, and an
astute politician. He was soon able to consolidate the Sikhs into a body of brave fighting people with common
loyalty and common purpose. As he has his life’s mission: “Extend the region of righteousness on earth seize and
destroy the evil and the sinful”
It reached a culmination point in 1699 when Guru originated baptism-Nectar-Amrit ceremony for the saint
soldiers. They stood liberated, this information was verily a psychological miracle. Low born and untouchables
shed their inborn and innate repression. The outstanding example of Guru Gobind Singh’s power to make the
sparrow to hunt the hawk and one man fight a legion was the sovereign tested truth after the baptism. These
liberated souls were Guru’s Khalsa – Guru in his tribute to the Khalsa records.
“All the battles I have won against tyranny I have fought with the devoted backing of these people.”
All baptized Sikhs must wear the five symbols which are bestowed on them – the five “K’s” KESH, KANGA,
KARA, KIRPAN, KACHCHA – namely unshorn hair, a comb, a steel bangle, a sword and short underwear.
This uniform of unshorn hair and bearded appearance enjoined by the Guru for the baptized disciples was a bold
step as one to feel that he has emerged from larval skin leaving behind chrysalis of a dead past. Guru Gobind
Singh thus built on foundations so nobly laid by his predecessors an enduring nationality. He infused new
enthusiasm for freedom, democracy, righteousness and self sacrifice in to the minds of vanquished people
suppressed under the killing weight of Mughal despotism. He kindled an unextinguished passion for brave deeds
in love of God and down trodden which made the Sikhs a distinct people a model of inspiration for all times.
In performance of divine mission his two sons were lost fighting the Mughal hordes while other two were bricked
alive at Sirhind under orders of a Mughal Governor. Guru Gobind Singh retained equanimity in all circumstances
whether he was at Anandpur riding his blue steed, with regal plume or in desert of Machivara barefoot and forlorn
his heart was in constant harmony with the Supreme Being.
All the battles Guru fought had no personal ambitious or territorial aim. They depict man’s inner struggle against
tyrannies, religious, social and otherwise. They vividly portray that spirit ultimately triumphs against all
impediments. His life’s emblem of sacrifice, represents the price spirit has to offer to redeem freedom.
The other great thing in the career of Guru Gobind Singh is his self effacement in the domain of spiritual
leadership. He abolished the office of earthly guru. He declared Guru Granth was to act as GURU henceforth and
it will act as supreme leader and teacher while his personality will amalgamate with Khalsa.
Khalsa mera Roop-e-Khas Khalsa me ho Karu Nivas. Khalsa represents my facial appearance and I indwell with
them. Thus he achieved his mission of life.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

He was a great Sanskrit scholar and astronomer. He fixed the origin and date of Rigvedic Aryans, which was
highly acclaimed and universally accepted by orientalists of his time. His role in Congress and advocating Home
Rule for India were enormous. His newspaper (Kesari) founded in 1881 is going strong even today. He was Guru
to V.D. Savarkar and hundreds of nationalists and thousands of Indians. He led the Indian Freedom Movement,
till 1920, his death. After him Gandhiji took over. Although Gandhi accepted Gokhale as his mentor, in practice,
he adopted all of Tilak’s ideas of Swadeshi and of social reform.
His words, “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!” roused a sleeping nation to action, making Indian
people aware of their political plight under a foreign rule. Tilak did not question the British Sovereignty nor his
demands were rebellious or revolutionary. All he was asking was favorable conditions in India, to enable people
to learn to govern themselves. May be all over the world, the separatist forces should follow his vision and define
freedom as ability to govern one’s land. But the handful rulers who ruled India’s millions thought otherwise. They
thought that Tilak was whipping a rebellion and he was imprisoned twice; two years for the first and six during the
second. They said, he had committed treason.
 Born in Ratnagiri, a small coastal town in 1856 in a middle class family, Tilak had to feed himself for
college education. At an early age he was convinced that the educational system the British provided for the
Indians was not at all adequate. After graduation and a law degree, he helped found a school which laid
emphasis on nationalism. He started a news paper ‘Kesari’ which tried to teach Indians of their glorious past and
reminded them to be self reliant (Swadeshi).
Tilak rightly calculated the attitude of the British towards the economic exploitation of the Indians. The
British used the raw material from the Indian soil and produced finished products in their country, which in turn
were sold in India. This made the Indians totally dependent on the British. In the process, all the self-employing
industries of India like spinning, weaving, glass making, sugar ,dyeing, paper making were destroyed. People
became destitute for no fault of theirs to help an empire become richer and stronger.To fight this situation, he
gave four mantras called Chatuhsutri: (1). Boycott of foreign goods (2) National Education (3) Self Government
(4) Swadeshi or self reliance. He realized that mere protest against British rule was not going to help and insisted
on native production and reliance.
He founded Deccan Education Society to give better education as per the country’s needs. He wrote
articles over inhuman punishment meted out to the nationalist youth who protested the division of Bengal
(VangaBhanga). Indian newspapers were not to criticize the British policy in those days and two articles titled
“Has the Government lost its head ?” .and “To Rule is not to wreak vengeance” appearing in Kesari landed him in
jail, after a namesake trial. For the first time in British history, intellectuals in England (including the great
orientalist, Max Muller) were able to convince the Government that the trial was unfair. But the second time
(1908) was no different. Tilak advocated his own case and when the judgment of six years of black-waters (kala
pani) imprisonment was pronounced, he gave the famous statement :
“All I wish to say is that in spite of the verdict of the jury, I maintain my innocence. There are higher
powers that rule the destiny of men and nations. It may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may
prosper by suffering than by remaining free”.
His trial and punishment led to national upheaval. But the British were careful enough to arrange
everything in secret and the judgment was delivered at midnight and Tilak was taken under military vigil to be
deported to Burma (present Myanmar, which was also under British control).
At 52, Tilak wrote his famous commentary on Bhagavad-Gita, the sacred book of Hindus; Geeta-Rahasya
in the jail. By the time Tilak completed his six year prison term, he was the unquestioned leader of the Indians –
the uncrowned king. He was known as the Tilak Maharaj.
There was unprecedented jubilation after Tilak was free and back in India. Civil resistance, the concept of
Swaraj, and nationalism had taken deep roots. Tilak’s suffering did not go in vain. A band of leaders, full of zeal
for nationalism and self-sacrifice was coming up. National schools were coming up in all corners of India. He
paved the way for Khadi (hand woven cloth), picketing against foreign goods and alcoholism. His death in 1920
brought Mahatma Gandhi on the scene and Gandhiji gave a concrete shape to Tilak’s ideas of Swadeshi.

Bhagat Singh
He was born in September 27, 1907 in the village Banga of Layalpur to Mata Vidyavati and Sardar Kishan Singh.
Bhagat Singh grew up in a patriotic atmosphere as his father and uncle, were great freedom fighters and were
put in jail many times by the British.
Bhagat Singh grew up at a time when the Freedom struggle was all around him. Since his young age he
wondered why so many Indians could not get freedom from a few British invaders, he dreamed of a free India.
The massacre at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919 drove him to go to Amritsar, where he kissed the earth and
brought back home a little of the blood soaked soil, he was just 12 years old then. Kartar Sing Sarabha, hanged
at the age of 19 by the British was Bhagat Singh’s hero.
Bhagat Singh, along with the help of Chandrashekhar Azad, formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army
(HSRA). The aim of this Indian revolutionary movement was defined as not only to make India independent, but
also to create “a socialist India.”
In February 1928, a committee from England visited India. It came to be known as the Simon Commission. The
purpose of its visit was to decide how much freedom and responsibility could be given to the people of India.
Indian freedom fighters started an agitation called “Simon go back”. It was in this agitation that during a police
lathicharge, Lala Lajpat Rai was hurt and died. To avenge the death of Lala Lajpat rai, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru
shot and killed the British Officer who had hit Lala Lajpat Rai.
In April 1929, the Central Legislative Assembly met in Delhi. The British Government wanted to place before the
Assembly two bills which were likely to harm the country’s interests. Even if the Assembly rejected them, the
Viceroy could use his special powers and approve them, and they would become laws. Bhagat Singh and
Batukeshwar Dutt planned to throw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly and, get arrested. On 8th of April 1929
this is what they exactly did. The idea of the attack was not to kill anyone but to create awareness about India’s
freedom struggle. They were arrested after this attack.
In their trial Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt stated, “If the deaf are to hear, the sound has to be very loud.
When we dropped the bomb, it was not our intention to kill anybody. We have bombed the British Government.
The British must quit India and make her free.”
In the trial it was decided that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were to be hanged for all their anti
British activities. On 24th of March 1931 Bhagat Singh walked upto the hanging rope kissed it and put it around
his neck to be hanged.
Bhagat Singh became “Shaheed Bhagat Singh” or Martyr at the age of 24. The stories of his courage and
patriotism became an inspiration for many youth at that time who wanted to see India independent. Even today
Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s memory continues to inspire the youth and many poems and songs have been written
about his courage and undying patriotism.

Ramprasad Bismil
He was a brave revolutionary who gave up his life smilingly for the sake of the Motherland. He was persecuted by
an enraged foreign government, hunted by the police and betrayed by follow workers. And yet he lit the fire of
revolution to burn down the slavery. He was the brave leader of the Kakori Rail Dacoity episode. His poetry is
also a lamp lighted at the altar of the Mother land.
Kakori is a village near Lucknow. It became famous, because the attack on the train took place near by.
It was the evening of the 9th of August 1925; the number eight down train was passing near Kakori.
Ramaprasad and his nine revolutionary followers pulled the chain and stopped it. They looted the money
belonging to the government, deposited in the Guard’s carriage. Excepting that one passenger was killed by an
accidental shot, there was no bloodshed.
This extremely well planned dacoity jolted the government. After a month of detailed preliminary inquiries
and elaborate preparations the government cast its net wide for the revolutionaries. Arrest warrants were issued
not only against the ten participants but also against other leaders of the Hindusthan Republican Association.
With the lone exception of Chandrashekhar Azad, all participants were caught.
The case went on for over a year and a half, Ramaprasad, Ashfaqullah Roshan Singh and Rajendra
Lahiri all four were sentenced to death. A strong campaign was organized throughout India to save the lives of
these revolutionary heroes. All the leaders of public life appealed to the British Government to show mercy to the
condemned men. But the Government was unyielding.
It was the 18th of December 1927. A middle-aged lady was waiting at the main gates of the Gorakhpur
Central Jail. Her face was radiant but anxiety was writ large on it. She was eagerly waiting to be called into the
prison.
By that time her husband also arrived there. He was surprised that his wife was there before him. He also
sat down to wait for the call.
Another young man came there. He was not related to them. He knew that the couple would be permitted
to enter the prison. But how could he manage to enter? This was his problem.
The officials of the prison called in the husband and the wife. The young man followed them. The guard
stopped him and rudely asked, “Who are you?”
“Permit him also, brother. He is my sister’s son”, the lady said in an entreating voice. The guard relented.
All the three entered the prison to visit a freedom fighter that was to face his death on the morrow.
The freedom fighter was brought there in chains. They were like ornaments on him. This was the last time that he
could see his mother, the last time he could address her as ‘Mother’. At this thought grief welled up in him. He
stood speechless and tears rolled down his cheeks.
In a firm voice the mother said, ‘What is this, my son? I had thought of my son as a great hero. I was
thinking that the British Government would shiver at the very mention of his name. I never thought that my son
would be afraid of death. If you can die only in this way, weeping, why did you take up such activities?”
The officials were astounded at the firmness of the mother. The freedom fighter replied, “Mother dear,
these are not tears of fear – the fear of death. These are tears of joy – joy at beholding so brave as mother!”
The brave son of that brave mother was Ramaprasad Bismil. He was the leader of the famous Kakori Rail
Dacoity case. The last meeting ended.
Next morning Ramaprasad got up earlier than usual, bathed and said his morning
prayers. He wrote his last letter to his mother. Then he sat down with a calm mind awaiting his death.
The officials came and removed his chains. They took him from the prison cell-towards his death.
He was completely untroubled and walked like a hero. The officials were amazed. As he moved to the
gallows he joyfully chanted Vande Matharam’ and ‘Bharath Matha ki Jai’. At the top of his voice he shouted down
with the British Empire.” Then he calmly recited prayers like ‘Vishwani deva savithaha dunithani….” And
embraced death.
As he was being executed, there was a strong guard around the prison. When he was dead the officials
brought out the dead body. Not only his parents but also hundreds of his countrymen were waiting in tears.The
people of Gorakhpur deco rated the body of the brave son of Bharath as befitted a hero and carried it in a
procession. Flowers were showered on the body, and the last rites were performed.
Ramaprasad Bismil joined the select band of martyrs who dreamt of a free India and made the supreme
sacrifice, so that the dream might come true.
‘Bismil’ is the penname of Ramaprasad. As ‘Bismil’ he is well known as a great
revolutionary poet in Hindi. At the end of his autobiography, he has reproduced some selected poems. Every line
of his poems throbs with patriotic fervor.
In one poem he prays: ‘Even if I have to face death a thousand times for the sake of my Motherland, I
shall not be sorry. Oh Lord!Grant me a hundred births in Bharath. But grant me this, too, that each time I may
give up my life in the service of the Mother land.’
In a poem written just before going to the gallows, he prays: ‘Oh Lord! Thy will be done. You are unique.
Neither my tears nor I will endure. Grant me this boon, that to my last breath and the last drop of my blood, I may
think of you and be immersed in your work.’
(Excerpts from Author N.P.Shankara Narayan Rao)

M. S. Golwalkar
He was known throughout India as Guruji, was the second Sarsanghchalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
His full name was Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar. His was an impressive personality: dignified gait; a long flowing
beard reaching down to his chest; curly locks of hair touching the shoulders; a face luminous with innate intellect
and learning. His was an inspiring presence. It aroused instant reverence. Whoever saw him spontaneously
folded their hands and bowed their heads. Such was Guru.
He instilled patriotism in the hearts of millions of youths of the country. He explained to them the Hindu way of life
and philosophy in simple words. Like a true friend, he shared in the joys and sorrows of his countrymen. He
molded them into effective instruments for the worship of Bharat Mata as her worthy children. He demonstrated
that strength derives from organization. He traveled untiringly through the length and breadth of the country
almost a hundred times during the 33 years of his glorious tenure as Sarsanghchalak, kindling in the society the
immortal flame of enduring love for the Motherland.
He had scaled the highest levels of spirituality through his intense austerity and perseverance. By constant study
and reflection he had become a veritable treasure of knowledge. He was a voracious reader even as a boy. He
avidly read whatever books he could lay his hands on, from childhood through youth. Several are the disciplines
in which he had acquired commendable mastery – History, Art, Religion, Culture, Sciences, Sociology and
Economics, to name a few; and he dedicated all his stupendous intellectual faculties to the service of the country.
He vastly expanded the network of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in multipledirections, and inspired and guided
thousands of efficient dedicated workers spread throughout the country.
Countless discourses, thousands of letters and hundreds of press statements by Shri Guru are now part of the
cherished knowledge legacy of humanity. The life of Shri Guru is lustrous and multi – faceted. His thoughts are a
perennial source of inspiration for mankind. Here are a few rays of that brilliance:
1. Fearlessness is the first and foremost virtue of the brave, and the starting point of all sublime qualities.
2. ‘This is my Dharma, my Vedanta. This is my Hindu Rashtra. I have to live and strive for its realization. I must
live as an example for the entire world to follow’-only such abiding faith would provide a firm foundation for
reorganization of theHindus.
3. The will of a person becomes tempered like steel when he prepares himself for the supreme sacrifice for a just
and lofty goal.
4. We are not so narrow-minded as to call any one as ‘alien’ merely because he has changed his mode of
worship. We have no objection to the use of any name in addressing God. We in the Sangh are Hindus in every
particle of ours. That is why we respect all religious faiths equally. A person with religious intolerance cannot be
called a Hindu at all.
5. The most demeaning sin is to remain weak in the world. It not only destroys us, but also incites others to attack
us with violence.
6. No doubt it requires two to fight. But both of them need not necessarily be fighters. It is, all the same, a fight,
even if one goes on beating and the other gets beaten. There is no guarantee that others would behave properly
with us even if we remain peaceful and cordial with them.
7. There must be an axis at the center of a wheel if it has to rotate. No wheel would rotate if its axis were outside
it. There cannot be a circle with its center outside it. It is impossibility. Those cherishing extra-national loyalties
can only be called traitors. Will it not be treacherous if an individual is drawing inspiration from elements beyond
the boundaries of his country?
8. A grain of salt completely dissolves in water, and then retains no separate existence. But the salty taste will
beevident in each drop of that water. Likewise an individual should dissolve him in the nation.
Author – Rasika Puttige

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

He was born on 18th May, 1883 in Nasik, Maharashtra. In his later years he came to be known as Vir Savarkar.
He was born at a time which was the preparatory period for India’s freedom Struggle.This was the time when
Indian national Congress was initiated.
The end of nineteenth century and the start of twentieth century saw the revolutionary movement gain
momentum.
This was also the period of English cultural influence on Indians. Well-to-do fathers wanted their sons to
go to England, learn the English language, acquire the English way of life and manners.
Madanlal Dhingra, Aurobindo Ghose, Vir Savarkar, had all gone or been sent to England for this purpose,
to acquire English education and English way of life, but they all became more Indian. The more they came close
to the English language and the English life-style, the more their hearts burned for revolution, for freeing their
Motherland from the shackles of foreign rule.
Savarkar was also such an able son of India. After getting his B.A. degree, he went to England to study
Law, but he joined the Indian revolutionaries there. The British Government had kept an eye on them. Vir
Savarkar was arrested and was deported, that is, sent back to India. But the man of independent spirit that he
was, he wanted to be free and jumped from the ship into the water. He was captured, brought to India and was
sent to the Andamaris (prison).
There he had to grind oil and do all sorts of strenuous work. His elder brother Ganesh Savarkar was also
there. They had to face evil behaviour of their keepers. The British Authorities wanted to break the spirit of these
young patriots. The British thought that physical pain and torture would make these revolutionaries forget their
mission and bring them on the right or normal way of life.
 The British had no knowledge of the urge and devotion felt by these revolutionaries. No amount of torture
could turn away these brightest sons of India from their determined course. On 26th February, 1966, Savarkar
passed away. Yet another brighter star from the Indian sky had fallen.

Subhashchandra Bose
He was the most visionary and fierce activist in the pre-independence era. Known as Netaji, he followed the path
which no one even could have thought of.
An unparalleled example of the declaration of Independent Indian government with a cabinet & its own
army was seen in form of the Indian National Army under the leadership of Subhash Chanda Bose. It literally had
a military attack on British India & had confronted them till Imphal. With the help from Germany & active support
from Japan, they shook the very foundation of the British Empire. The saga of their valor is chronicled separately,
under the head Indian National Army.
While he was the president of Indian National Congress during 1937 to 1939, he founded the Indian
National Congress. He was acclaimed as a god-like figure and continued as a legend in Indian mind.
Subhas Chandra was born on January 23rd 1897 in Cuttack (in present day Orissa) as the ninth child
among fourteen, of Janakinath Bose, an advocate, and Prabhavatidevi, a pious and God-fearing lady. A brilliant
student, he topped the matriculation examination of Calcutta province and passed his B.A. in Philosophy from the
Presidency College in Calcutta. He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and was known
for his patriotic zeal as a student. He joined the Indian Civil Services in England as per his parent’s wishes. This
kept him a little away from the Indian Freedom Movement. He finished those examinations also, at the top of his
class (4th rank), he could not complete his apprenticeship and returned to India, being deeply disturbed by the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian National
Congress . Gandhiji directed him to work with Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, the Bengali leader whom Bose
acknowledged as his political guru.
Due to his outspoken character for the British Government, he went to jail for around 11 times between
1920 and 1941 for periods varying between six months and three years. He was the leader of the youth wing of
the Congress Party, in the forefront of the trade union movement in India and organized Service League, another
wing of Congress. He was admired for his great skills in organizational development .
Bose advocated complete freedom for India at the earliest, whereas the Congress Committee wanted it in
phases, through a Dominion status. Other younger leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru supported Bose and
finally at the historic Lahore Congress convention, the Congress had to adopt Poorna Swaraj (complete freedom)
as its motto. Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom and the inability of the Congress leaders to save his life infuriated Bose
and he started a movement opposing the Gandhi-Irvin Peace Pact. He was imprisoned and expelled from India.
But defying the ban, he came back to India and was imprisoned again!
He was elected president of the Indian National Congress twice in 1937 and in 1939, the second time
defeating Gandhiji’s nominee. He brought a resolution to give the British six months to hand India over to the
Indians, failing which there would be a revolt. There was much opposition to his rigid stand, and he resigned from
the post of president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block (1939).
During the World War 2nd he was against rendering any kind of help to the British. He warned them so.
The second World War broke out in September of 1939, and just as predicted by Bose, India was declared as a
warring state (on behalf of the British) by the Governor General, without consulting Indian leaders. The Congress
party was in power in seven major states and all state governments resigned in protest.
Subhas Chandra Bose now started a mass movement against utilizing Indian resources and men for the
great war. To him, it made no sense to further bleed poor Indians for the sake of colonial and imperial nations.
There was a tremendous response to his call and the British promptly imprisoned him . He took to a hunger-
strike, and after his health deteriorated on the 11th day of fasting, he was freed and was placed under house
arrest. The British could do nothing except locking him in the prison.
It was in 1941, that Bose suddenly disappeared. The authorities did not come to know for many days that
he was not in his Barrack ) the house in which he was being guarded) He traveled by foot, car and train and
resurfaced in Kabul (now in Afghanistan), only to disappear once again. In November 1941, his broadcast from
German radio sent shock waves amongst the British and electrified the Indian masses who realized that their
leader was working on a master plan to free their motherland. It also gave fresh confidence to the revolutionaries
in India who were challenging the British in many ways.
The Axis powers (mainly Germany) assured Bose military and other help to fight the British. Japan by this
time had grown into another strong world power, occupying key colonies of Dutch, French, and British colonies in
Asia. Bose had struck alliance with Germany and Japan. He rightly felt that his presence in the East would help
his countrymen in freedom struggle and second phase of his saga began. It is told that he was last seen on land
near Kiel canal in Germany, in the beginning of 1943. A most hazardous journey was undertaken by him under
water, covering thousands of miles, crossing enemy territories. He was in the Atlantic, the Middle East,
Madagascar and the Indian ocean. Battles were being fought over land, in the air and there were mines in the
sea. At one stage he traveled 400 miles in a rubber dingy to reach a Japanese submarine, which took him to
Tokyo. He was warmly received in Japan and was declared the head of the Indian army, which consisted of
about 40,000 soldiers from Singapore and other eastern regions. Bose called it the Indian National Army (INA)
and a government by the name “Azad Hind Government” was declared on the 21st of October 1943. INA freed
the Andaman and Nicobar islands from the British and were renamed as Swaraj and Shaheed islands. The
Government started functioning.
 Bose wanted to free India from the Eastern front. He had taken care that Japanese interference was not
present from any angle. Army leadership, administration and communications were managed by Indians only.
Subhash Brigade, Azad Brigade and Gandhi Brigade were formed. INA marched through Burma and occupied
Coxtown on the Indian Border. A touching scene ensued when the solders entered their ‘free’ motherland. Some
lay down and kissed, some placed pieces of mother earth on their heads, others wept. They were now inside
India and were determined to drive out the British! Delhi Chalo (Let’s march to Delhi) was the war cry.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the history of mankind. Japan had to surrender. Bose
was in Singapore at that time and decided to go to Tokyo for his next course of action. Unfortunately, the plane
he boarded crashed near Taipei and he died in the hospital of severe burns. He was just 48.
He was the man whom the Indians looked upon as their future leader. They never believed that he died in
plane crash. Some believe that he is still alive.

Vallabh Bhai Patel

He was the iron-man of India, born on 13th October, 1875, in a small village Karamsadh of Bombay region. His
father Jhaber Bhai Patel was a simple farmer and mother Laad Bai was a simple lady.
From his childhood itself, Patel was a very hard-working individual. He used to help his father in farming and
studied in a school at Patelaad. He passed his high-school examination in 1896. Throughout school he was a
very wise and intelligent student. Inspite of poor financial conditions his father decided to send him to college but
VallabhBhai refused. Around three years he stayed at home, worked hard and prepared for the District Leader’s
examinaton, hence passing with very good precentage.
Sardar Patel hated to work for anyone, especially the Britishers. He was a person of independent nature. He
started his own practice of law in a place called Godhara. Soon the practice flourished. He saved money, made
financial arrangement for the entire family. He got married to Jhaberaba. In 1904, he got a baby daughter
Maniben, and in 1905 his son Dahya was born. He sent his elder brother to England for higher studies in law. In
1908, Vittha Bhai returned as barrister and started practising in Bombay. In 1909 his wife became seriously ill
and was taken to Bombay for treatment VallabhBhai had to go for the hearing of an urgent case and his wife
died. He was stunned. He admitted his children in St. Mary’s school Bombay, and he left for England. He became
a barrister and retuned to India in 1913.
He started his practice in Ahmedabad and soon he became aware of the local life, activities and people’s
problems. He became an extremely popular person and he got elected in the Municipal Corportaion in 1917.
Around 1915, he came across Mahatma Gandhi. The Swadeshi Movement was at its peak. Gandhiji gave a
lecture at a place in Ahmedabad where Patel heard him and was very impressed and started actively
participating in the freedom movement. The British government’s atrocities were increasing. The government
declared to confiscate all the lands of farmers. He forced the British government to amend the rules. He brought
together the farmers and encouraged them and hence got the title of ‘Sardar’ and thus became famous.
The British government considered him as a threat and his lectures were considered anti-government and he
was imprisoned several times. In 1942, he took part in the Quit India Movement under the leadership of Mahatma
Gandhi. He was arrested along with other leaders and was sent to Ahmednagar jail. Inspite of the British Rule,
rulers of the small kingdoms were spending a lot of public money, and were having a nice time. Sardar Vallabh
Bhai opposed this.
With great wisdom and political foresight, he consolidated the small kingdoms. The public was with him. He
tackled the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Junagarh who intially did not want to join India. There were a
lot of problems connected with the reunion of the numerous states into India. Sardar Patel’s untiring efforts
towards the unity of the country brought success. Due to the achievement of this massive task, Sardar Patel got
the title of ‘Iron Man’. ‘ He is one of the prestigious leaders of the world who became immmortal by uniting a
scattered nation without any bloodshed.
His enthusiasm to work for the independent nation got a big jolt when Gandhiji was murdered. Patel was very
attached to Gandhiji and considered him, his elder brother and teacher. He was encouraged by Mahatma Gandhi
in all his work. Gandhiji’s death left him broken. On 15th December, 1950 he died of a cardiac arrest. The news
of his death spread all over the world. The entire nation plunged into deep sorrow, everyday life came to a
standstill. A grateful nation paid a tearful homage to it’s beloved leader. In 1991 the grateful nation conferred
upon him the honour of Bharat Ratna.

Madame Cama
She was the fiery patriot who first unfurled India’s flag at an international assembly. She turned away from a life
of luxury and lived an exile – to serve her country. And the mighty British Government grew afraid of her.
Madame Cama, Veer Savarkar and some other patriots met and designed that tricolor flag in 1905. It was flown
first in 1905 in Berlin and next in 1907 in Bengal.
The tricolor flag contained green, saffron and red stripes. In the green stripe at the top there were eight
blooming lotuses. India was then divided into eight provinces and the flowers represented these provinces. The
words ‘Vande Mataram’ in Devanagari script across the central saffron strip of the flag were a salutation to
Mother India. In the red stripe at thebottom there was a half-moon on the right and the rising sun on the left. Red
represents strength, saffron represents victory; and boldness and enthusiasm are represented by green. “This
flag was designed by a distinguished selfless young Indian patriot” said Madame Cama. She was referring to
Veer Savarkar.
In August 1907, she learnt that the International Socialist Conference would be held in Stuttgart ‘in Germany.
Madame Cama got a golden opportunity to expose to worldview the conditions in enslaved India. A thousand
representatives from several countries of the world attended the Conference. When India’s turn came, Madame
Cama ascended the rostrum. She was wearing a colorful saree. She had an attractive personality. Dignity shone
in the face. The representative’s thought: ‘She is an Indian princess.’
Madame Cama spoke about the sorrows and the poverty of lakes of Indians who were suffering silently.
‘One-fifth of mankind lives in India. All lovers of freedom should cooperate to free these people from
subjection.’ This was the gist of the resolution, she boldly placed before the conference. She condemned the
British Government which was looting from India thirty-five million pounds every year. She explained how the
Indian economy was growing weaker day by day because of the lawless imperialists sucking the blood of India.
At the end of her speech she unfurled the Indian flag and said:
“This flag is of Indian Independence. Behold it is born! It has been made sacred by the blood of young
Indians who sacrificed their lives.I call upon you, gentle men, to rise and salute this flag of Indian Independence.
In the name of this flag I appeal to lovers of freedom all over the world to cooperate with this flag.”
As if held by magic, the whole assembly stood up and honored the flag. Madame Cama was the lady who
first unfurled the Indian flag, in a foreign land, in the presence of representatives of many countries! “It is my
practice to speak under the flag of my country” – she would say and unfurl the flag before she spoke at any
function.
After the conference in Germany concluded she came to America. To gain the support of the people there for the
sacred cause in which she was engaged she had to start a campaign. In New York she explained her objects to
press reporters who met her and they were full of praise for her. She told the reporters that lakes and lakes of
people in India,although illiterate and suffering from hunger, loved their country. There was confidence and hope
in the voice of Madame Cama when she said that Indians would attain independence within a few years and live
in liberty, equality and brotherhood.
It was 28th October 1907. The Minerva Club had organized a meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The speaker
was Madame Cama. In her speech she said that Indians should be given the political right to vote.
“People here may know of Russia. But they may not know much about conditions in India. The British
Government is adopting the practice of destroying people who are educated and can think, or of sending them to
jail. They are torturing the people and driving them to hospitals in jails. We desire a peaceful atmosphere and not
bloody revolution. By proceeding in a non-violent manner as far as possible we have to overthrow despotic rule”
said Madame Cama. Also Madame Cama spoke at several places. She may be called Mother India’s
representative to the United States of America.
In 1914, when the First World War began, Madame Cama’s activities to gain the country’s freedom became
intense. The leading articles in the press condemning the autocratic rule of the British grew sharper.
To the Indian soldiers fighting for the British, she gave a warning in the following words: “Children of
Mother India, you are being deceived. Do not take part in this war. You are going to fight and die, not for India,
but for the British.The British have put shackles on Mother India’s hands; think how they can be removed. If you
help the British, you will tighten the shackles.”
She herself would visit army camps in Marseilles. There she would meet Indian soldiers and ask them to
keep away from the war. Questioned she: “Are you going to fight for those who have imprisoned your mother?”
Return the arms, she would preach.
The French were allies of the British. Therefore the French Government must have been dissatisfied with
the propa- ganda carried on by Madame Cama. The French Government warned Madame Cama that she was
carrying on false propaganda against the British.
Madame Cama passed away on 13th August 1936. She had fought for India’s freedom. That freedom dawned
eleven years after her death.
In a sense Madame Cama’s life abroad where she fought for India’s freedom was like living in obscurity. She
sacrificed her life for the motherland. Even during the last moments of her life she urged repeatedly: “To gain
freedom from subjection stand up against all difficulties.” “He who loses freedom will lose virtue. Opposition of
tyranny is obedience to God’s command” said Madame Cama; she practiced what she preached.
(Exerpts from Author M.S.Narasimha Murthy)

HALL OF SHAME (Muslim Rulers and Criminals Against India)

There have been many villains throughout the history of the many invasions and occupations of India. And many
of the worst of these despots and murderers are today considered by many to have been “great leaders” of
India’s past. In an effort to appease the Muslim minority, some of the worst of the butchers of the Hindu people
have been turned into national heroes, and the true heroes and defenders of the Indian people have been all but
forgotten. Here we offer brief biographies of those who invaded, occupied and butchered Hindus throughout
India. Some may argue that these were great rulers who contributed great things to Indian civilization, but we
must always remember that Adolf Hitler also brought great efficiency to German government and made the trains
run on time as well.

HINDU KILLERS
Mahmud Ghazni
Mahmud Ghori
Firaz Shah Tughlaq
Shihabuddin
Aurangazeb
Babur
Jahangir
Shah Jahan
General Reginal Dyer

Mahmud of Gaznavi
(From the accounts of arikh-i-Yamini of Utbi the secretary of Mahmud of Gaznavi)
At Thaneshwar.
“The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously at Thanesar that the stream was discolored, not withstanding its
purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise
be to Allah for the honor he bestows on Islam and Muslims.”
At Somnath
“The Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and
worshipers of sun and fire…. The number of infidels killed exceeded 50,000″
At Mathura
“The infidels…deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river…but many of them were slain, taken or
drowned… Nearly fifty thousand men were killed.”

Mahmud of Ghori
(from Hasan Nizami’s Taj-ul-Maasir)

At Kol (Modern Aligarh)

“Those of the horizon who were wise and acute were converted to Islam, but those who stood by their ancestoral
faith were slain with the sword”
20,000 prisoners were taken and made slaves. Three bastions were raised as high as heaven with their heads,
and their carcases became food for the beasts of prey.

At Kalinjar
50,000 prisoners were taken as slaves

At Varnasi or Kasi (Benaras) :

Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir records, “The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared
except women and children,(who were taken into slavery) and the carnage of men went on until the earth was
weary.”

Zahiru’d-Din Muhammed Babur (1526 C.E. – 1520 C.E.)

Babur’s Own Words on Killing Hindus: “For the sake of Islam I became a wanderer, I battled infidels and Hindus,
I am determined to become a martyr. Thank God I became a Killer of Non-Muslims!
From Baburnama, the Memoires of Babur Himself: In AH 934 (2538 C.E.) I attacked Chanderi and by the grace
of Allah captured it in a few hours. We got the infidels slaughtered and the place which had be Daru’l-Harb
(nation of non-muslim) for years was made into a Daru’l-Islam (muslim nation).
Guru Nanak on Babur’s atrocities: Source:Rag Asa Guru Nanak Dev witnessed first hand the atrocities Babur
committed on Hindus and recorded them in his poems. He says: Having attacked Khuraasaan, Babar terrified
Hindustan. The Creator Himself does not take the blame, but has sent the Mugal as the messenger of death.
There was so much slaughter that the people screamed. Didn’t You feel compassion, Lord? pg (360)
On the condition of Hindu women in Babur’s monster rule: Those heads adorned with braided hair, with their
parts painted with vermillion – those heads were shaved with scissors, and their throats were choked with
dust.They lived in palatial mansions, but now, they cannot even sit near the palaces…. ropes were put around
their necks, and their strings of pearls were broken. Their wealth and youthful beauty, which gave them so much
pleasure, have now become their enemies. The order was given to the soldiers, who dishonored them, and
carried them away. If it is pleasing to God’s Will, He bestows greatness; if is pleases His Will, He bestows
punishment pg(417-18)
On the nature of Mughal rule under Babur: First, the tree puts down its roots, and then it spreads out its shade
above. The kings are tigers, and their officials are dogs; they go out and awaken the sleeping people to harass
them. The public servants inflict wounds with their nails. The dogs lick up the blood that is spilled. Source:Rag
Malar, (pg.1288)
From an article by Dr. Harsh Narain on Muslim Testimony (Indian Express 2/26/90): Since the establishment of
Zahiru’d-Din Ghazi’s rule, officers and religious leaders spread Islam vigorously desteroying the Hindu faith. We
cleared the filth of Hinduism from Faizabad and Avadh.

Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq

(from Insha-i-Mahry by Amud Din Abdullah bin Mahru)
Delhi: -a punishment in detail (from Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi), “A report was brought to the Sultan than there was in
Delhi an old Brahman who persisted in publicly performing the worship of idols in his house and that people of
the city, both Muslims and Hindus used to resort to his house to worship the idol. The Brahman had constructed
a wooden tablet which was covered within and without with paintings of demons and other objects. An order was
accordingly given to the Brahman and was brought before Sultan.The true faith was declared to the Brahman and
the right course pointed out. but he refused to accept it. A pile was risen on which the Kaffir with his hands and
legs tied was thrown into and the wooden tablet on the top. The pile was lit at two places his head and his feet.
The fire first reached him in the feet and drew from him a cry and then fire completley enveloped him. Behold
Sultan for his strict adherence to law and rectitude.”
Delhi : (after Hindus paid the toleration tax (zar-i zimmiya) and poll-tax(jizya) they were foolish enough to build
their temples.so…) “Under divine guidance I (Sultan) destroyed these temples and I killed the leaders of these
infedility and others I subjected to stripes and chastisement “
Gohana (Haryana): “Some Hindus had erected a new idol-temple in the village of Kohana and the idolaters used
to assemble there and perform their idolatrous rites. These people were seized and brought before me. I ordered
that the perverse conduct of these leaders of this wickedness be punished by publicly abd that they should be put
to deathe before the gate of the palace.”
Jajnagar:(Expedition objectives as stated by Sultan: Source:Ainn-ul-Mulk) massacring the unbelievers,
demolishing their temples, hunting the elephants, getting a glimpse of their enchanting country.
Orissa: ‘Sirat-i-Firoz Shahi’ records his expedition with the following words:
“Nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations The
swordsmen of Islam turned the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers. Women with
babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service
in the house of every soldier.”

The Jihads of Shihabuddin, the Sultankalka of Ghur

Around 1140, the Islamized Turko-Mongol chiefs of the Shansabanid tribe occupied Ghor in Afghanistan. Initially
it was a vassal of the Ghaznavid Sultans, but around 1130 it came into conflict with them, after one of the leading
Shansabanid nobles was murdered by the Ghaznavid Sultan, Bahram. A ferocious war ensued between the
Sultans of Ghor and Ghazni, till Alla-ud-din Ghori invaded Ghazni with his entire cavalry and wrested it from
Bahram. Alla-ud-din sacked the Indian spoils that Mahmud had placed there, massacred the city’s population in a
7-day killing spree and subsequently burnt it down. The next Ghaznavid Sultan, Khushro Maliq was driven out of
Afghanistan by a coalition of Oghuz Turks and the Ghorids in 1157, and the Oghuz took Ghazni. The sons of
Alla-ud-din, Ghiyas-ud-din Mu’azz-ud-din Ghori and Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Ghori defeated the Oghuz and
annexed Ghazni in 1174. Ghiyas-ud-din, crowned himself Sultan, and appointed his brother Sultankalka. Shihab-
ud-din was assigned the task of extending the kingdom to the East and he naturally gravitated towards India. 13
bloody campaigns that ravaged Northern India followed:
• Early in 1175 he invaded Punjab and sacked and burned Uch…(1)
• In 1178 he advanced south and marched towards Gujarat, but here the Indians acted quickly and rallying under
the western chAlukya king MUlarAja II routed the Islamic forces completely forcing him to retreat…(2)
• In 1179 Ghori sent a message to PrithivirAja chAhamAna to make common cause with him against the
Chalukyas. Prithivaraj however, wise disregarding his foolish minister, kadambavAsa’s advise to make a common
cause with Ghori, preemptively attacked NaDDula and reconquered it from the Moslems.
• Shihab recovered in 1180 and invaded Sindh and ravaged the population carrying away much loot…(3)
• Then Shihabuddin Muhammad, quickly followed it up in 1181 and 1184 with two invasions of Lavapura (Lahore)
accompanied with much slaughter…(4+5)
• In 1186 he invaded the Ghaznavid occupied Punjab and defeated the Sultan Khushro Maliq and wrested
Punjab…(6)
• 1188 The Ghur Sultankalka invaded the ChAhamAna kingdom and sacked the fort of Tabarhindah killing the
Hindu male populace and raping the women. Hindu refugees flocked around Delhi alarming the
ChAhamAnas…(7)
• 1191 PrithivirAj advanced to meet Shihabuddin’s raid and routed him in the great battle of Tarai. While the
Muslims suffered a crushing defeat, the Indians failed to butcher them to man and allowed Shihab to get away
unharmed. He fled back to Central Asia leaving Punjab completely undefended…(8)
• 1191 PrithivirAj attacked Tabarhindah and took it back from the Muslims. Here the biggest mistake of the
Hindus was not to reconquer and arm Punjab suitably.
• 1192 Shihab returned and sacked Tabarhindah again. This was followed by the second battle of Tarai, the
ChAhamAna army was crushed and Prithiviraj was captured and brutally tortured to death…(9)
• 1192 the Ghur Sultankalka made a second trust towards Ajayamerupura (Ajmer) and sacked it smashing Hindu
temples and a Hindu university in course of this invasion. The Hindus captured in this expedition caused slave
prices to fall to a few Dirhams in the Muslim markets…(10)
• 1193 The sultankalka invaded Kannauj and slew the GAhadwala king Jayachandra. He followed this up with an
invasion of vArANsipura slaughtering Hindus with great savagery and desecrating the holy city…(11+12)
After this, his viceroy Kutub-ud-din (also his lover?) and the Turkish adventurer Ikhtiyaruddin Khalji furthered the
violence of Islam in the land of Hind. Meanwhile Shihab’s brother died in Ghazna and he crowned himself Sultan
and immediately launched himself into another Jihad on the infidels of Hindustan in 1206. The exact course of
this campaign is not clear. While on the North-western reaches of the Sindhu, he was ambushed by the Khokar
chiefs and shot down by an arrow…(13). Thus ended the carrier of the Moslem brigand who brought misery to
the whole of northern India through his 13 invasions.
The Jihads of Alla-ud-din Khalji
The one time when it appeared that the sanAtana dharma might vanish off the face of bhArata was during the
ferocious jihads of Alla-ud-din of the Khalji tribe. The Khaljis entered India from Ghazna during the reign of the
Mamluq Sultan Qutub-ud-din Aibak. The first of them to make his mark Bakhtiyar Khalji, whose savage jihad in
Bihar and destruction of the Indian centers of learning like Nalanda is only well known. Jalal-ud-din Khalji,
another member of this tribe, was accepted as the Sultan of Delhi by a confederation of Turkic tribes, after the
collapse of the Mamluq Balban’s regime. Jalal opened his innings by consolidating the Turkic regime in India by
suppressing other competing Maliqs and appointed his nephew, Alla-ud-din to expand his domains. We shall
briefly consider his campaigns:
• In 1291 he was sent to destroy the remaining Kaffirs of Bhilsa in Central India. Il-tut-mish, the Mamluq had
earlier desecrated this Hindu-Buddhist temple-university complex but it had fallen away from Islamic control. Alla
invaded and conquered Bhilsa and total exterminated the Kaffirs and left behind a ghost city whose long lost
temple remnants can be seen even today.
• 1292 He attacked the Vidisha in Central India, a great center of learning and destroyed it completely and slew
the inhabitants.
• 1292 His spies got him the news of the great wealth of the yAdava dynasty of mahArashTra and Alla promptly
invaded it and carried away a large amount of loot.
• 1295 In a remarkable campaign Alla carried the war right to Devagiri the heart of the yAdava kingdom. He
demolished and looted all the temples in Devagiri.
• In 1296 with this loot Alla bought most of the Khalji army and murdered his uncle Jalal and drove away his aunt
and cousin and declared himself Sultan of Hind. Jaziya was imposed on the Kaffirs.
• 1296. Latter in the year he joined the Southern Alliance of the Chagadai Ulus (predominantly Turkic tribes)
against the Northern Alliance (predominantly Mongolic) and routed the latter in a battle at Jallandar securing the
Panjab for himself.
• In 1297 he invaded Gujarat and destroyed the ancient Surya temples at Mehsana and subjugated the Hindus of
the land with much slaughter. The rAja of Gujarat fled to Devagiri and the Hindu kings tried to fight back under
shankara yAdava. Alla sent Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan against them, who defeated the yAdavas and the
Gujarat king. They captured and castrated a Hindu youth who was name Maliq Kaffr and presented him to Alla,
who took him as his lover.
• 1298 He sent his fiercest il-ghazi, Zafar Khan, to wage a jihad against the pagan Northern Alliance chief Suldus
who was sent by Chagadai Kha’Khan Duwa. The battle concluded in a draw after fierce fighting.
• 1298 Later in the year he battled against Qutulugh Khawaja, a son of Duwa, of the Northern Alliance, the results
were inconclusive
• 1299 Qutulugh Khawaja reached the doors of Delhi with a large horde. Alla’s il-ghazi’s Zafar Khan, Ulugh Khan
and Nusrat Khan defeated Qutulugh Khawaja, but Zafar Khan was shot dead by an arrow in this battle.
• 1299 Ulugh Khan was sent to quell the Hindu resistance in Gujarat. He conquered the fort of Junagad and
demolished all the temples in the surrounding regions and then went on to attack Somnath and destroy the great
temple that the Hindus had rebuilt.
• 1299. Hammira Deva of the Ranthambhor defeated Alla as he attempted to sack the Rajput stronghold.
• 1301. Alla returned with his entire force to sack Ranthambhor. He succeeded and slew Hammira Deva. He
conducted a massive temple demolition operation destroying all the temples of Jhain and Sawai Madhopur and
slew the inhabitants.
• 1303. Chittor alone that had held out against the Muslims, attracted Khalji’s attention due to its beautiful queen
Padmini. Khalji sacked and burned Chittor after slaying Rana Rattan Singh.
• 1303. Turghai and Ali Beg of the Northern Alliance wrested the Punjab from Alla and invaded Sindh. They
blockaded Delhi itself for two months but retreated due to the summer heat.
• 1304. Jihad was launched on Ujjaini. This ancient center of Indian learning was destroyed completely. Chanderi
was attacked next by Alla and the ancient temples were demolished.
• 1305. Malwa and Mandu were savaged and the inhabitants slaughtered.
• 1306. Then Turghai and Ali Beg defeated Khalji’s army and captured Lahore and Amroha near Delhi. Tughlaq
Khan, a general of Alla, counter-attacked defeated and captured 9000 Pagan Turko-Mongols of the Northern
Alliance. He had them all trampled to death by elephants for refusing to accept Islam.
• 1308. Qebek (another son of Chagadai ruler, Duwa) and Ibaqmand of the Northern Alliance struck back
captured Multan. But Alla defeated them on their way back and again slaughtered all the pagan prisoners he
took.
• 1308. Later in the year, the Rajputs regrouped in Sivana and declared independence but Alla smashed them in
a lightning campaign and destroyed the temples in the region.
• 1309. He sent Maliq Kaffr against Devagiri that was attempting to reassert itself. Maliq Kaffr defeated the
yAdavas and penetrated the Hoysala kingdom.
• 1310 Maliq Kaffr destroyed Dwarasamudra after a fierce battle and ended the Hindu Hoysala rule over those
regions.
• 1311 Maliq Kaffr devastated Telengana and destroyed the temples of Warangal. He then invaded Madhurai and
destroyed the Pandyan kingdom. The temples of Madhurai and Chidambaram were destroyed. Kaffr returned
with enormous amounts of gold looted from the destroyed temples.
• 1311 Alla invaded Jalor to destroy the Rajput fight back and massacred the Hindu population while destroying
the city.
• 1313 Devagiri made another attempt to defy the Muslim terror, Alla personally invaded mahArashTra to ravage
the Devagiri kingdom.
• 1314 Alla more or less became a puppet in the hand of his lover Kaffr and subsequently died in 1316.
• 1316 Death.
Thereafter, Maliq Kaffr killed all the members of the Khalji tribe except for Qutbuddin Mubarak, Alla’s last son,
and ruled in his name. Kaffr was murdered by the Turkish chiefs of the Southern Alliance and Mubarak ascended
the throne. In 1318 Qutbuddin Mubarak invaded Devagiri again as its ruler Haripala Deva had cast off the Muslim
yoke. Haripala faced a massive defeat and was captured. He was skinned alive and his head and skin were
placed on display at the entrance to the Devagiri fort. Thus ended the yAdava dynasty and Hindu sovereignty in
mahArashTra. Mubarak’s lover Khusru murdered him and made himself Sultan. Amir Qazaghan of the
Qara’Unas tribe, from Konduz, became the lord of the Southern Alliance and sent his commander al Ghazi al
Maliq Tughlaq to seize the throne of Delhi after murdering Khusru.
Sources: Histoire des Mongols D’Ohsson.; Hafiz-i-Abru, trns Byani (Paris 1936). Tazjiyat-al-amsar va tajriyat of
Wassaf; A Forgotten Empire : Vijayanagar : A Contribution to the history of India”, Robert Sewell

Aurangazeb (1658 C.E. – 1707 C.E.)

Aurangzeb considered himself “The Scourge Of The Kafirs” (non-believers) and closed Hindu schools and
libraries. In his lifetime he destroyed more than 10,000 Hindu, Buddhist and Jam temples and often erected
mosques in their stead.3 In 1669 in Agra he had hacked off the limbs of the recalcitrant Hindu King Gokla and in
1672 several thousand revolting Hindus were slaughtered in Mewat.
From: Maasi-i-Alamgiri: He issued general order to destroy all centers of Hindu learnings including Varnasi and
destroyed the temple at Mathura and renamed it as Islamabad
In Khandela (rajastan) he killed 300 Hindus in one day for they resisted the destruction of their temple.
In Udaipur all Hindus of the town were killed as they vowed to defend the temple of Udaipur from destruction —
172 temples were destroyed in Udaipur. 66 temples were pulled down in Amber. All Hindu clerks were dismissed
from the office of the Imperial empire.
In Pandhpur , Maharashtra, the Emperor ordered and executed the destruction of temple and butchering of cows
within the temple.
Aurangazeb also tortured to death the disciples of Guru Tegh bahadur before his death and also killed Guru.
Guru Tegh Bahadur – the pride of Hindustan was martyred for he spoke for the persecuted Hindus of Hindustan.
Aurangazeb also killed Guru Gobind singh’s two children aged less than ten by walling them alive for not
accepting the choice of Islam. In Punjab Muslim governors killed hundreds of Sikh children and made Sikh
women eat the flesh of their own killed children. Banda Bahadur another great Sikh martyr before being torturd to
death was also made to eat the flesh of his own children killed before his eyes. Any Muslim bringing the head of a
dead Sikh was also awarded money.

Jahangir (1605 C.E. – 1628 C.E.)

Source: Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri: Though in the beginning of his rule Jahangir followed the humanistic rule of his father
Akbar the great -the policy of sulehkul even issued a proclamation against the forcible conversion of Hindus to
Islam, he revoked Akbar’s orders that those who have been forcibly converted from Islam could return to
Hinduism. He severely punished Kaukab, Sharif and Abdul Latif for showing inclination to Hinduism. He also
prohibited the free inter-marriage customs between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. Hindus marrying Muslim
girls and those who had already married were given a hoice between Islam and death. Many were killed.
Jahangir’s torture of Guru Arjun Dev ji: Guru was imprisoned at Lahore fort. He was chained to a post in an open
place exposed to the sun from morning to evening in the summer months of May to June. Below his feet a heap
of sand was put which burnt like a furnace. Boiling water was poured on his naked body at intervals. His body
was covered with blisters all over. In this agony Guru used to utter.
Tera Kiya Metha lage, naam padarath Nanak mange(whatever you ordain appears sweet. I supplicate for the gift
of name)
The Guru was ordercd to be executed. In addition a fine of Rupees two lakhs was imposed on him. Some
historians say that, as a measure of clemency at the intervention of Mian Mir, this fine was imposed in lieu of the
sentence of death. The Sikhs offered to pay the fine themselves but the Guru forbade them to do so. He replied
to the Emperor, “Whatever money I have is for the poor, the friendless and the stranger. If thou ask for money
thou mayest take what I have; but if thou ask for it by way of fine, I shall not give thee even a Kaurz (penny).” The
Guru accepted death by torture.

Shah Jahan (1658 C.E. – 1707 C.E.)

In 1632 Shah Jahan ordered that all Hindu temples recently erected or in the course of construction should be
razed to the ground. In Benares alone seventy six temples were destroyed. Christian churches at Agra and
Lahore were demolished. In a manner befitting the Prophet he had ten thousand inhabitants executed by being
“blown up with powder, drowned in water or burnt by fire”. Four thousand were taken captive to Agra where they
were tortured to try to convert them to Islam. Only a few apostacised, the remainder were trampled to death by
elephants, except for the younger women who went to harems.
Shahjahan put enormous eonomic pressure on Hindus particularly peasents to become Muslims. The criminals
too were forced to become Muslims.
Source: Badshah Nama, Qazinivi & Badshah Nama , Lahori
When Shuja was appointed as governor of Kabul he carried on a ruthless war in the Hindu territory beyond
Indus…The sword of Islam yielded a rich crop of converts….Most of the women (to save their honour) burnt
themselves to death. Those captured were distributed among Muslim Mansabdars.
Source: Manucci, Storia do Mogor vol-II p.451 & Travels of Frey Sebastian Manrique
Under Shahjahan peasents were compelled to sell their women and children to meet their revenue
requirements….The peasents were carried off to various Markets and fairs to be sold with their poor unhappy
wives carrying their small children crying and lamenting. According to Qaznivi Shahjagan had decreed they
should be sold to Muslim lords.

General Reginal Dyer — Commander of Amritsar Massacre

Soon after Dyer’s arrival, on the afternoon of April 13, 1919, some 10,000 or more unarmed men, women, and
children gathered in Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh (bagh, “garden”; but before 1919 it had become a public square)
to attend a protest meeting, despite a ban on public assemblies. It was a Sunday, and many neighbouring village
peasants also came to Amritsar to celebrate the Hindu Baisakhi Spring Festival. Dyer positioned his men at the
sole, narrow passageway of the Bagh, which was otherwise entirely enclosed by the backs of abutted brick
buildings. Giving no word of warning, he ordered 50 soldiers to fire into the gathering, and for 10 to 15 minutes
1,650 rounds of ammunition were unloaded into the screaming, terrified crowd, some of whom were trampled by
those desperately trying to escape. According to official estimates, nearly 400 civilians were killed, and another
1,200 were left wounded with no medical attention. Dyer, who argued his action was necessary to produce a
“moral and widespread effect,” admitted that the firing would have continued had more ammunition been
available.
The governor of the Punjab province supported the massacre at Amritsar and, on April 15, placed the
entire province under martial law. Viceroy Chelmsford, however, characterized the action as “an error of
judgment,” and when Secretary of State Montagu learned of the slaughter, he appointed a commission of inquiry,
headed by Lord Hunter. Although Dyer was subsequently relieved of his command, he returned a hero to many in
Britain, especially conservatives, who presented him with a jeweled sword inscribed “Saviour of the Punjab.”
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre turned millions of moderate Indians from patient and loyal supporters of
the British raj into nationalists who would never again place trust in British “fair play.” It thus marks the turning
point for a majority of the Congress’ supporters from moderate cooperation with the raj and its promised reforms
to revolutionary noncooperation. Liberal Anglophile leaders, such as Jinnah, were soon to be displaced by the
followers of Gandhi, who would launch, a year after that dreadful massacre, his first nationwide satyagraha
(“devotion to truth”) campaign as India’s revolutionary response.
“It was a horrible duty to perform. But I think it was a merciful thing. I thought I should shoot well and shoot
straight so that I or anybody else would not have had to shoot again.”
The words of Brigadier General Reginald Dyer himself — the perpetrator of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which
left 379 dead and 1,500 injured in 1919.
Deposing before the Hunter commission inquiring into the shooting, General Dyer said his action was meant to
punish the people if they disobeyed his orders. He thought from a military point of view, such an action would
create a good impression in Punjab.
However, what was more damning was his statement, ”I think it quite possible that I could have dispersed the
crowd without firing but they would have come back again and laughed, and I would have made, what I consider,
a fool of myself.”
He contended that martial law existed de facto in Amritsar at that time although only demonstrations had been
forbidden. He also claimed that his military column had stopped at every important point to announce that all
meetings have been banned which were accompanied by the beating of drums.
However, when questioned with the help of a map of the city, General Dyer was forced to admit that important
localities had been omitted, and a large number of people would not have known about the proclamation.
He confessed he did not take any steps to attend to the wounded after the firing. ”Certainly not. It was not my job.
Hospitals were open and they could have gone there,” came his pathetic response.
However, the misery suffered by the people was reflected in Rattan Devi’s account. She was forced to keep a
nightlong vigil, armed with a bamboo stick to protect her husband’s body from jackals and vultures. Curfew with
shoot-at-sight orders had been imposed from 2000 hours that night.
Rattan Devi stated, ”I saw three men writhing in great pain and a boy of about 12. I could not leave the place. The
boy asked me for water but there was no water in that place…At 2 am, a jat who was lying entangled on the wall
asked me to raise his leg. I went up to him and took hold of his clothes drenched in blood and raised him up.
Heaps of bodies lay there, a number of them innocent children. I shall never forget the sight. I spent the night
crying and watching…”
General Dyer admitted before the commission that he came to know about the meeting at Jallianwala Bagh at
1240 hours that day, but took no steps to prevent it.
Colum, a scholar who interviewed his widow and consulted his papers, said, “This unexpected gift of
fortune, this unhoped for defiance, this concentration of rebels in an open space — it gave him an opportunity as
he could not have devised. It separated the guilty from the innocent, it placed them where he would have wised
them to be — within the reach of his sword.”
However, General Dyer admitted in his deposition that the gathering at the Bagh was not a concentration only of
rebels, but people who had covered long distances to participate in the Baisakhi fair.
Swinson, an English journalist, described the scene as: ”Hundreds were asleep in the sun, others were
concentrating on their game of cards. A number of them had come with their children, three to 12 years old.
Some 27,000 odd people had gathered in the Bagh, an open space surrounded on all sides by houses with only
four narrow entrances.”
General Dyer said he would have used his machine guns if he could have got them into the enclosure, but these
were mounted on armoured cars. He said he did not stop firing when the crowd began to disperse because he
thought it was his duty to keep firing until the crowd dispersed, and that a little firing would do no good.
He was censured by the Hunter commission for his action. He retired and was sent back to England. However,
he continued to maintain that he had done no disservice to the Raj, and what he did was right, for which the
British ought to be thankful.
In London, the general was given a hero’s welcome. Called ”the saviour of India,” the editor of the
Morning Post collected 3,000 pounds to award him for his services. The Tories and a majority of members in the
House of Lords rallied to his support. The army counsel which took up the case charged him only for an error of
judgement, and recommended his retirement on half pay with no prospects of further employment. A British court
even exonerated him of this charge.

* * *

The Hindu Holocaust continues throughout the world today. More than any other religious group anywhere,
Hindus are being persecuted and murdered by fanatical members of other religious groups, and even by the
Government of India itself. In the supposedly “secular” country of India, we find that the minority religions are
given special treatment and allowed to manage their own affairs. Muslims in India are offered a financial subsidy
to pay for their religious pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj Subsidy), and Christian missionaries are allowed to run
rampant using various forms of deception and material promises to convert entire villages, while the Hindu
religion is denigrated in India’s universities. Patriotic Hindus are called fundamentalists and fanatics, while Muslim
and Christian terrorists carry out an unprecedented campaign of murder and violence against Hindus. Hindu
temples are not allowed to be managed by the Hindus themselves, rather huge amounts of donations are
collected by the “secular” government and pocketed by non-Hindu officials while the Temples are left to fall into
ruins. At the same time, Muslim “Madrassas”, or religious schools, are growing by leaps and bounds, and left free
to preach their hatred against Hindus. Muslim and Christian separatists threaten to tear Mother India apart even
more than she has already been in order to secede and carve out new nations from India based on religious
governments, rather than on secular lines that insure religious freedom for all.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Attacks on
Hinduism, Hinduism, India's Heroes, India's invaders, Indian culture, Indian History | 2 Comments »
A Summary of India’s Real History: And the Numerous Attempts to Destroy its
Vedic Culture
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp
A Summary of India’s Real History
And the Numerous Attempts to Destroy its Vedic Culture

During the last years, many people in India and outside India have become aware of the need to establish the
truth about the real history of India. Historical and archeological research has progressed greatly, and the debate
in academic circles has become extremely interesting. Some books have been published, and websites are being
developed. Due to the limited scope and size of this publication, we cannot include a complete history of India,
but for the completeness of our discussion, we want to present some information found missing in the biased
history that is taught in schools at present.
It is said that history is written by those who win the wars and hold the power. The other party is given no chance
to leave their version of the story, because that would undermine the position of the conqueror or the
establishment. It would not be “politically correct”.
Certainly this has been happening for the last 5,000 years, under the influence of Kali-yuga, but it does not need
to continue like that. Let’s just give truth a chance.
The entire planet is undergoing a change. The ideas of human rights and ethical principles in society, academics
and politics, that started to develop in western countries in the 1700s with the French revolution, have seeped
into the conscience of many and are now offering a golden opportunity to establish truthfulness and justice. Let
us not be intimidated by those who are afraid of truth.
The Vedic period of India is the time when our “golden heritage” was built. The crumbs of that civilization have
made India famous all over the world for the last 2,000 years, and inspired great philosophers along history, from
Socrates and Pythagoras to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. What do we know about the Vedic period, apart the
descriptions found in the Vedas themselves?
Indian archeology had its first important finding in 1922, when a Buddhist monk informed Rakhaldas Banerjee,
superintendent of West Circle of Archaeological Survey of India, that in Larkana (district of old Sindh, now
Pakistan) there were some ancient remains. The monks supposed that they were from Buddhist period, so they
wanted the site to be investigated and protected.
However, the two sites, called Mohenjodaro and Harappa, were dated at least 1500 years BCE (Before Current
Era), about 1000 years before the birth of Buddha, creating a sensation in academic circles and posing a difficult
problem to mainstream archeology and history. Especially because the archeologists had found an area, at a
short distance from the city, where a large deposit of clay had been vitrified as if by a nuclear explosion – the
date of which could not be before 1500 BCE according to the instruments of the researchers.
In the following years many more sites were discovered, and what was once called “Indus valley civilization”
appears now to have been existing in all northern India, down to the Narmada River in Maharastra, and in the
ancient basin of the now disappeared river Sarasvati. It is also very likely that such advanced civilization was also
present in the entire subcontinent, because we must keep in mind that for thousands of years until the 20th
century, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and Sri Lanka were all part of Bharata
Varsha.
It is very interesting to note that these cities, built over 5000 years ago, were extremely modern. The streets were
12 to 30 feet wide, designed according to a perfect city planning, where the main streets were all oriented from
North to South and the lanes from East to West at right angles with each other, in order to keep the city free from
air pollution by the action of the wind. All the streets had rounded corners to facilitate the passage and turning of
big vehicles and heavy traffic, they were paved with cooked bricks under which the sewage drains ran, and had a
complex system of lighting posts to illuminate the city during the night. All industries were kept outside the town to
control pollution and keep a good quality of life in the residential areas.
Every house had a private well, toilet and bathroom with a perfect hydraulic system and drainage soak pits. The
external drainage system connecting the various houses had manholes at regular intervals for inspection. The
houses were generally two storied, with big stairways and a pleasant environment.
The city of Harappa had a public swimming pool 55 by 35 meters, 2.4 meters deep, with walls made of cooked
bricks, mortar and bitumen, and a drainage system for periodic cleaning. Inside the building of the public
swimming pool there was a veranda with various rooms and galleries, very similar to a modern “commercial and
service center”.
The city had also a big assembly hall 25 x 25 meters, with 20 big pillars made of bricks. Another city on the coast,
Lothal, also had a large naval dockyard.
The script of this civilization was an alphabetical script consisting of 62 basic signs, which means that their
language was very complex and refined. It was directly connected to Sanskrit, which has 13 vowels and 33
consonants, plus a great number of possible graphic variations (“complex consonants”) and a number of signs
(anusvara, visarga, etc.). Usually, the more advanced is a civilization, the more complex is its language and
script.
Harappa and Mohenjodaro contained a wealth of artifacts: bronze artwork and sculptures, jewels, toys and more
than 2000 seals made of steatite, terracotta and copper. The decorations of the houses and objects found by the
archeologists show that the inhabitants of those cities loved to play music, sing and dance, were fond of games
and happy life. They used cosmetics like lipstick and kajal, and were a rich and civilized people. Their religion
was centered on Shiva and the Mother Goddess, and they performed fire yajnas (rituals). They traveled a lot and
were in contact with foreign countries; Harappan seals and other articles were found in Mesopotamia, Akkadia
and Sumer. The findings in many more areas confirm that the “Indus-Sarasvati” civilization actually spread all
over India, with consistent evidence of Vedic civilization.
Why did these rich and civilized people disappear from their cities? And where did they go?
The old theory of the colonialists said that some foreign invaders, the Aryan nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes
coming from Central Northern Asia, conquered the pacific civilization of Dravidians, killed them by the thousands
(although no evidence is showing such a massacre), made many slaves of them and drove the rest to South
India. However, no finding has ever shown human remains of the Dravidian race in Harappan areas; rather the
skeletons found have the same racial features of the modern inhabitants of Sindh and Gujarat.
Today, according to the most recent discoveries, it seems more likely that the people of that civilization had to
move away gradually because of some natural climatic changes that dried up the Sarasvati River, which was the
actual support of those people. The dried bed of the Sarasvati has recently been located on the basis of photos
from satellites: it runs from the Sivalik mountains near Simla up to the Rann of Kutch, and most of the one
thousand sites of Harappan civilization were located on both the banks of the dried river bed. The river served as
a natural transportation route over long distances. The Rig Veda mentions Sarasvati as the largest river of the
land, and for a long time before the discovery of her dried bed, scholars believed it was a mythological river.
These Vedic peoples just moved east and south towards the Ganga and the Yamuna, and joined the cities of
Hastinapura (Delhi), Kashi (Benares), Prayag (Allahabad), Mathura, Ayodhya, and others mentioned in Vedic
literature as very ancient settlements. These cities existed also during Vedic times, but their buildings had been
renovated and substituted because they continued to be inhabited.
Central and South India had also civilized people for a very long time; some of these sites continued to be
inhabited, others were abandoned. On 8 September, 2003, anthropologist S. Chakraborty from Kolkata (Calcutta)
found evidence of the oldest human habitation in India, dating to 2 million years, on the banks of the
Subarnarekha River. The 30-mile stretch between Ghatshila in the province of Jharkhand and Mayurbhanj in
Orissa has reportedly yielded tools with evidence of human habitation without a break from 2 million years ago to
5,000 BCE. Other important findings of “pre-historic” times were in the Narmada basin in Madhya Pradesh and
the Velamadurai-Pallavaram rectangle in Tamil Nadu.

ARYAN INVASION?

The misconception around the term Aryan has created the greatest problems to Hinduism and India.
According to mainstream history, India was invaded around 1500 BCE by Aryan tribes coming from the
Caucasus; such nomadic and war-mongering tribes were of the Aryan race, or white complexioned, blond hair
and blue eyes, tall and strong. Supposedly, they brought Sanskrit and the Vedas to India, “civilizing” the pacific
but primitive Dravidian tribes that lived there and turning them into slaves (the sudras).
To properly understand how this theory of the Aryan invasion has been given so much credit in the past, we must
examine the situation in which it was first formulated by European scholars in the 19th century during the time of
the British empire.
It is important to note that the need of those times was the justification of the slavery and the colonization of the
“non-white” people, who had to be considered “inferior”.
Cultures other than the White Christian had to be presented as inferior and backward, primitive and savage.
European “colonizers” massacred the aboriginals of the Americas, Africa and Australia, where civilizations were
relatively simple, or had already declined past the peak of their glory. The peoples they met were innocent and
trusting, and their philosophical and theological systems were simple and direct, they had practically no literature
and history. They had never come in contact with Europe before, and it was easy to pass them off as “savages”
in the eyes of the world.
India was something else. Fabulous stories about India’s wisdom, science, architecture, wealth and “magicians”
had been circulating in Europe from the times of Alexander the Great, who considered the Vedic texts as an
essential part of the huge library he founded at Alexandria of Egypt and employed a team of translators for their
Greek version.
Anyone could see that Sanskrit was a very complex and precise language: certainly not a primitive language of a
primitive people. The quantity and quality of the philosophical and scientific literature of India was overwhelming.
How to reconcile these evident facts with the need to affirm Indians’ cultural inferiority?
The theory of the “White Man’s Burden” claimed that God had given the white Europeans better capabilities than
other peoples and he had asked them, or expected them, to rule the other races and “look after them”. This
applied all the more on the cultural and religious level, because Christians were the “chosen people” and they
had the religious and moral duty to “convert the heathens”. In India, where religion is so strictly connected with
philosophy and knowledge, the whole structure of culture had to be systematically dismantled.
It may be surprising to learn that the first pioneer in Indology was the 12th Century Pope, Onorius IV, who
encouraged the learning of oriental languages in order to preach Christianity amongst the pagans. Soon after this
in 1312, the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican decided that “The Holy Church should have an abundant number
of Catholics well versed in the languages, especially in those of the infidels, so as to be able to instruct them in
the sacred doctrine.”
William Carey (1761-1834) was the pioneer of the modern missionary enterprise in India, and of western
(missionary) scholarship in oriental studies. Carey was an English oriental scholar and the founder of the Baptist
Missionary Society. From 1801 onward, as Professor of Oriental Languages, he composed numerous
philosophical works, consisting of grammars and dictionaries in the Marathi, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Telugu, Bengali,
and Bhatanta languages. He printed over 200,000 Bibles and Christian literature volumes in about 40 different
languages and dialects at the Serampore press.
Carey and his colleagues experimented with what came to be known as Church Sanskrit. He wanted to train a
group of “Christian Pandits” who would probe “these mysterious sacred nothings” and expose them as worthless.
He was distressed that this “golden casket (of Sanskrit) exquisitely wrought” had remained “filled with nothing but
pebbles and trash.” He was determined to fill it with the “riches beyond all price” i.e. the doctrine of Christianity. In
fact, Carey smuggled himself into India and caused so much trouble that the British government labeled him as a
political danger. After confiscating a batch of Bengali pamphlets printed by Carey, the Governor General Lord
Minto described them as “Scurrilous invective…Without arguments of any kind, they were filled with hell fire and
still hotter fire, denounced against a whole race of men merely for believing the religion they were taught by their
fathers.” Reverend A. H. Bowman wrote that Hinduism was a “…great philosophy… the last and the most subtle
and powerful foe of Christianity.”
The famous Colonel Boden established in 1811 the prestigious “Boden Chair for Sanskrit” at the Oxford
University to promote the translation of Christian Scriptures in Sanskrit to proceed to the conversion of the
natives of India to the Christian religion.
Richard Temple said in an 1883 speech to a London missionary society: “India presents the greatest of all fields
of missionary exertion… India is a country which of all others we are bound to enlighten with external truth… But
what is most important to you friends of missions, is this that there is a large population of aborigines, a people
who are outside caste…. If they are attached, as they rapidly may be, to Christianity, they will form a nucleus
round which British power and influence may gather.”
He addressed a mission in New York in bolder terms: “Thus India is like a mighty bastion which is being battered
by heavy artillery. We have given blow after blow, and thud after thud, and the effect is not at first very
remarkable; but at last with a crash the mighty structure will come toppling down, and it is our hope that some
day the heathen religions of India will in like manner succumb.”
Macaulay, who formulated the Indian education policy in the 1830s, wrote in 1836 a letter to his father: “…It is my
belief that if our plans of education are followed up, there would not be a single idolater among the respectable
classes in Bengal within the span of thirty years… And this will be effected without any efforts to proselytize,
without the smallest interference with religious liberty, by natural operation of knowledge and reflection. I heartily
rejoice in the project.” He planned to use the strength of the educated Indians against Hinduism by creating a
class that would be “Indian in blood and color but English in taste, in opinion, in morals, in intellect.” He firmly
believed that, “No Hindu who has received an English education ever remains sincerely attached to his religion.”
A French Christian abbot, the Abbé Dubois, who lived in India from 1792 to 1823, alleged that India had been
inhabited very soon after the Deluge, by the descendents of Noah’s son Japhet. According to his theory, these
descendents of Japhet reached India from the north, coming from their first abode in the Caucasus (northern
Germany, Scandinavia, southern Russia, Pamir, etc.). Those people were supposedly semi nomadic warriors
and cattle breeders like the other peoples who were still living in that area in the 1700s. Dubois said that their
king was called Indra and their gods were cruel destroyers like Shiva. The theory said these nomadic marauders
enslaved the black Dravidian people, establishing the caste system on racial basis. The secret of their victory
was the domestication of horses on which they rode, and the use of iron weapons because the “pre-Aryan”
people were very primitive people who had never seen horses nor iron implements and weapons, which were
considered a “sign of cultural advancement”. Today we know that such a theory was completely wrong. In the
“pre-Aryan invasion” cities of Mehergarh, Harappa, Dvaraka and other places of Indus-Sarasvati civilization the
inhabitants already used horses and iron implements and weapons and were extremely civilized.
On his biblical belief that the creation of the whole world had taken place only in 4004 BCE, Max Muller fixed the
date of the Aryan “invasion” in India in 1500 BCE, the compilation of Rig Veda in 1200 BCE, the other Vedas in
1000 BC, the Vedanta Sutrain 800 BCE, and the Upanishads in 600 BCE. Today such dates are considered very
dubious by scholars. Dr. A. C. Das states that Vedic civilization, expressed in Sanskrit language, was already
there at least 25,000 years ago, especially in South India. One Harappan site at Mehergarh, near Bolan Pass in
Beluchistan, shows the city was abandoned in 8000 BCE.
To justify the wonderful, advanced and rich culture that had been present in India many centuries before the
arrival of the Europeans, it was necessary to formulate a suitable theory. Thus, the Aryans were described as a
race of white people, coming from Central and Eastern Europe (Germany, England, Russia), who had invaded
India through the Himalayas and civilized it by bringing Sanskrit, the Vedas, and what was described as the caste
system. Similarly, the new invaders, the British, had all rights to “civilize” India on “racial basis” again as their
forefathers had already done.
So the basis of the racist theory of European scholars was:
1) Aryans invaded India and destroyed her primitive indigenous civilization massacring the population, then
settled there. Aryans were fair-skinned and handsome (that is to say, had “European” tracts).
2) Aryans drove Dravidians to the south and captured north India. Aryans and Dravidians are two different
civilizations and two different nations.
3) India became one country and one nation only after the British took control over it.
4) The rigid caste system based on racial considerations was the basis of Vedic civilization.

Opposed to these points, these old theories are being brilliantly defeated by the new generation of Indian
archaeologists and by the advancement of archaeology in the West:
1) Humanity cannot be divided into a small number of well divided races. Above all, the color of the skin and the
somatic traits have nothing to do with intelligence and ethics.
It is unscientific to state that the individuals of white race have mental and moral qualities superior to those found
in other races.
2) The term “Aryan” has been in use in Indian culture since ancient times and it has always meant anything or
anybody that is good. It has never meant a race, but rather a behavior that respects certain civilized and ethical
rules of conduct.
3) The original Vedic civilization of Sanskrit language that called Aryans its members was the Indus-Sarasvati
civilization, identical to the civilization of the Ganges-Yamuna area. Simply, the Sarasvati River dried up and
those cities were abandoned.
4) The Indus-Sarasvati civilization was destroyed not by Aryan invasion but by natural calamities connected to
the drying of the great river.
5) In spite of various linguistic, physical and behavioral differences, India has been a cultural unit since Vedic
times. There is a definite continuity between the Indian culture described in the Vedas and the one found in
Indus-Sarasvati civilization.
The theory of the Aryan invasion of white complexioned people who defeated, enslaved and chased away
a black complexioned indigenous population of Dravidians was also intended to create hostility and separation
between the various ethnic groups in India, especially between north and south India. The European colonizers
needed to manipulate the sentiments of northern Indians, already weakened by the centuries of submission to
the Muslim invaders and rulers, against the south Indians who had been fiercely opposing the Muslim invasions
and still largely maintained Vedic civilization and knowledge. As we may remember, during the Middle Ages most
of the great teachers of Vedic knowledge came from South India: Adi Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva.

THE “HISTORICAL” PERIOD

Historical records, according to western academics, cannot contain concepts about divine consciousness, poetic
expressions and presentation of moral, religious or ethical teachings, which are considered characteristics of
myth and epics. Since Vedic civilization is strongly based on divine consciousness, loves poetic expressions in all
aspects of life, and always strives to improve the character of people through teachings in its literature, the
enormous wealth of historical recordings contained in Vedic texts is not accepted as “real history” by mainstream
academics.
Thus, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, as well as Homer’s famous books, Iliad and Odyssey, have been
classified by academics as “epics” and “mythology” while Herodotus’ stories have been classified as history. The
Greek Herodotus is considered the first historian of mankind, and history texts in the planet’s schools teach about
ancient civilizations according to his word. He speaks mainly of Egyptians, Persians and Greeks, so school books
consider “historical” the period starting with India’s documented contact with Persians and Greeks, confirmed in
Greek records. Meghasthenes, Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, wrote the Indika
reports.
Also the Chinese Buddhists Fahien and H’uen Tsang left diaries of their travels through India. The Chinese
people were also deeply influenced by Indian culture for at least 2,000 years.
According to mainstream history, the Persians were the first foreign invaders of India (518 BCE).
However, the Persian emperor Darius did not dare to cross the Sindh and just annexed the western part of the
Punjab. The Persians or Parsis seem to have deeply respected and shared India’s culture in many ways. For
example, the governors of the provinces of their kingdoms were called Satraps, from the Sanskrit word Kshetra-
pa, “protector of the land”. They worshiped the Sun (under the name of Mitra).
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, arrived in India in 326 BCE in his campaign to conquer the world (he
had already annexed Greece, Persia, Egypt, Afghanistan and surrounding territories). However, he was pushed
back by the Indian kshatriyas in the Ganges valley.
Western history books say that Alexander’s army was “tired from the long war and feared the unknown
territories”, so their leader just turned back. It is possible that such decision was simply dictated by the fact that
Alexander’s army was composed by foot infantry and horsemen, while the Hindu warriors had elephants and
chariots. However, there are also some documents with stories told by his soldiers that include “magic wonders”
like fire-weapons, flying missiles, and other war devices that Greeks had never seen before. They could not fight
against such superior technology, so they refused the battle.
However, Greeks were strongly impressed by the contact with India. Greek philosophers, like Anaxarchus and
Pyrrho, had been in the train of Alexander and had mixed with the Indian gymnosophists or “naked philosophers”.
Even the more ancient Pythagoreans were influenced by Indian ideas – vegetarianism, communal property and
the “transmigration of souls” (which they called metempsychosis). For Greeks,psyche meant “soul”.
At those times, India was teeming with culture and science. In 700 BCE the university of Takshashila had more
than 10,500 students from all over the world, studying over 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda was built in
the 4th century BCE. The sciences studied algebra, trigonometry and calculus. Medicine and surgery were also
extremely advanced. In 600 BCE Sushruta recorded complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial
limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known
in ancient India. Over 125 surgical instruments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology,
embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
The Bactrian (Afghan) Greeks or Seleucids also came in contact with India, and reached Punjab. However, they
were strongly influenced by Indian culture. One of their kings, Menander or Milinda, was defeated by king
Pusyamitra and he converted to Buddhism.
Heliodorus, ambassador of king Antialkidas, became a Vaishnava (and erected the famous Garuda pillar at
Basenagar, the modern Bhopal). [This Heliodorus Column is found in the town of Vidisha. It states that he had
become a Vaishnava, and this proved that the Vaishnava tradition pre-dated Christianity by at least 200 years.]
The Romans never even considered the possibility to embark in the conquest of India, and contented themselves
by greedily purchasing her goods.
The Sakas (Scythians) who came to India from the 1st century BCE belonged to cultures that had been strongly
influenced by Vedic knowledge, if not originally Vedic. They settled in Gandhara, Taxila, Mathura, Maharastra
and Ujjain, but they did not oppose Vedic culture in any way.
The Parthians or Pahalavas could also be considered as belonging to Vedic culture, although they are said to
have came from the Caspian Sea region. They were accepted as Vedic peoples because they spoke Sanskrit
and honored Vedic knowledge.
The next famous “foreign” kingdom, the Kushanas headed by Kanishka, was a Buddhist state (around 110 CE).
The capital city of Kanishka was Purushapura (Peshwar), from which we can easily understand that he also
spoke Sanskrit. Under his patronage, the Sanskrit scholar Asvaghosa (author of Buddha
Charita andSutralankara) and the physician Charaka (author of Charaka Samhita) prospered. Other famous
scholars at the court of Kanishka were Vasumitra (author ofMahavibhasha Sastra, an encyclopedia of Buddhist
philosophy) and Nagarjuna (author of Madhyamika Sutra, a treatise on philosophy).

THE HINDU KINGDOMS

North India, where already the Indus-Sarasvati civilization flourished, the kingdoms tended to expand and create
empires.
The sixteen main kingdoms of the north were (Maha jana padas) were known as Kashi (Benares), Anga
(Bhagalpur), Videha (north Bihar), Chedi (Bundelkhand), Kuru (Delhi), Matsya (Jaipur), Avanti (Malwa), Surasena
(Mathura), Kosala (Awadh), Magadha (Patna and Gaya), Malla (Gorakhpur), Vatsa (Kaushambi), Panchala
(Bareilly), Asmaka (Godavari valley), Gandhara (north west province), and Kamboja (Afghanistan).
In the south, the dynasties of Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras remained peacefully settled in their territories.
After these, the Vakatakas, Chalukyas, Pallavas and Pandyas became prominent. The history of South India is
full of prosperous and beautiful kingdoms that loved peace and order. It is said that peaceful and prosperous
times are very pleasurable for those who live in that period, but make scarcely interesting history. Specifically,
South India was spared, for a long time, many of the problems that north India had to face, such as the invasions
of hostile peoples who came generally from north-west.
The contacts of the Hindu kingdoms of South India with foreign lands were mostly with the cultural colonies in
south east Asia, such as Sri Lanka, Singapore (Simhapur), Java (Yavadvip), Cambodia (where the Hindu temple
of Angkor Vat still stands), Bali, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia. When Buddhism was spread by
Ashoka, monks traveled to China, Korea and Japan where Buddhism had great success.
The kingdom of Magadha is documented from 542 BCE with records about Bimbisara, Ajatasatru and the
Nandas.
Ajatasatru reigned from 495 to 463 BCE and defeated king Prasenajit, the king of Kosala, who then offered him
his daughter in marriage. Ajatasatru also defeated the rulers of Vaisali after 16 years of competition and built a
fort at Pataliputra, at the confluence between the Ganga and the Sona. His last successor, Kalasoka, was killed
by Mahapadma Nanda in 362. Mahapadma died in 346, and his kingdom was divided into 8 smaller kingdoms by
his sons. In this period Darius the Persian and then Alexander came in contact with India.
In 321 BCE Chandragupta Maurya defeated the Nandas and started the Maurya dynasty. He was famous also
because of his advisor Chanakya Pandit. Chandragupta had regular diplomatic relationships with the Greeks and
also started to have commercial relationships with the Roman Empire.
The son of Chandragupta, Bindusara, became king in 297 BCE and Bindusara’s son, Ashoka, became king in
273 BCE.
Ashoka is famous as the emperor who converted to Buddhism, transforming it from a small movement into the
state religion of his empire. He ruled from Pataliputra (modern Bihar), and in the effort to expand his kingdom he
descended to south to conquer Orissa. He found a very strong resistance, and the battle of Kalinga, just outside
the present day Bhubaneswar, cost the lives of many thousands of people. The river became tainted with the
blood of the warriors, and Ashoka fully realized the tragedy of violence. He became a Buddhist and in the same
place (Dhauli) he declared the famous edicts for his government. He established hospitals for human beings and
animals, built roads and rest houses for travelers, planted shady trees and bore wells for the prosperity of all his
subjects.
The empire of Ashoka included a vast area of the Greeks’ eastern empire established a century earlier. After
Alexander, the Seleucides ruled the Greek empire east of the Euphrates. A century later they had taken over the
kingdom of Antigonus in Syria and Asia Minor but had lost control of Parthia, Bactria and the Indus valley. The
edict of Ashoka reads: “Now it is conquest by Dhamma that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best
conquest …And conquest by Dhamma has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away,
where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and
Alexander rule … Here in the king’s domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas … everywhere
people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods’ instructions in Dhamma. Even where ‘Beloved-of-the-Gods’ envoys
have not been, these people too, having heard of the practice of Dhamma and the ordinances and instructions in
Dhamma given by Beloved-of-the-Gods, are following it and will continue to do so …This conquest has been won
everywhere, and it gives great joy – the joy which only conquest by Dhamma can give. But even this joy is of little
consequence. Beloved-of-the-Gods considerd the great fruit to be experienced in the next world to be more
important. I have had this Dhamma edict written so that my sons and great-grandsons … consider making
conquest by Dhamma only, for that bears fruit in this world and the next.”

In 185 BCE the last Mauryan king, descendent of Ashoka, was killed and the empire declined. Pushyamitra
founded a new dynasty, called Shungas, with its capital at Pataliputra. Pushyamitra ruled from 185 to 158 BCE.
Several texts circulated in his period, such as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Panini’s grammar, and the Manu
Smriti.
The last king of the dynasty, Devabhumbi, was succeeded by his minister Vasudeva Kanva who founded his own
dynasty and reigned for 46 years. In 28 BCE the last king of his dynasty was succeeded by king Susarman of
Andhra, starting the Andhra dynasty.
In the first century CE the Shakas and Kushanas came in contact with India, as we have already mentioned.
In 320 Srigupta conquered Magadha. His successors were Ghatotkacha, Chandragupta I, Samudragupta (who
expanded the empire from ocean to ocean, but leaving the kingdoms to the previous rulers, contenting himself
with the payment of tributes), Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (who defeated the Saka satraps of Malwa, Gujarat,
Konkan and established his capital in Ujjain). At the court of Vikramaditya there were nine great scholars, among
those the poet Kalidas. The next kings in the dynasty were Kumaragupta and Skandagupta.
The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa Hien started his travels from China in 399 and remained in India from 405 to
411, writing a detailed account of the Gupta period. He returned to China in 414. He writes that the government in
India was very good. The taxes were low, the roads safe, with a very good discipline among the people. There
were no criminals or bribery: corruption among government officers was punished by the king with the amputation
of the hands. The people obtained medicines free of charge, and there were free rest houses for travelers. The
entire population was vegetarian. Their religion was Hinduism, Buddhism, or Jainism.
In this period the universities developed. The famous Taxila grew with many students, and other universities were
founded at Nalanda, Sarnath, and Vallabhi. Some of the most famous scholars of these learning centers were: in
astronomy, Aryabhatta (who affirmed the heliocentric cosmology) and Varahmihira, in mathematics
Brahmagupta, and in medicine Vriddha Vagbhatta.
In 550, the Gupta empire became weaker after the invasions of the Huns, who at some point controlled Malwa,
Punjab, Kashmir, Sindh, Gujarat, Bengal, and Assam.
Around 600, two new powers emerged, the Vardhanas of Thaneswar (near Kurukshetra in Haryana) and the
Maukharis of Kanauj. Prabhakar Vardhana was the first Vardhana ruler. In 606 his son Rajya Vardhana was
killed in a war against Deva Gupta and his ally Sasank (ruler of Bengal). The brother of his wife Rajya Sri,
Harshavardhana, became king. He united the two kingdoms of Thaneswar and Kanauji, shifting the capital to
Kanauji, gathered a large army (50,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 5,000 elephants) and in 619 he conquered
Bengal avenging his brother-in-law. He also allied with Bhaskar Varma of Assam to get local support.
Harshavardhana then defeated Dhruvsena of Vallabhi (Gujarat), included Magadha, Prayag, and Orissa, and
expanded his territories in the south until he was stopped by Pulakeshin II Chalukya.
The Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang reports that his government was very good and he cared for his people like a
father. His kingdom was strictly vegetarian and slaughter of animals was forbidden.
The religious worship was centered on Shiva and Surya, then Buddhism became more prominent. Religious
assemblies lasting 23 days were held every 5 years; about 4,000 Buddhist monks and 3,000 brahmanas
participated. In 643 the assembly moved from Kanauji to Prayag.
Harshavardhana himself wrote two Sanskrit plays, Ratnavali and Priyadarsika. His friend Bana Bhatta wrote
the Harsha charita and the Kadambari. One fourth of the tax income was spent on education and patronage of
culture and arts. The universities continue to prosper, free of charge (even boarding and lodging were financed
by the government).
The empire was divided in provinces, called Bhuktis, in turn divided into districts called Visyas, divided into
smaller areas called Pathakas. Pathakas included various villages or Gramyas.

THE MUSLIM INVASIONS

While the previous contacts of India with foreign peoples “on the other side of the Sindhu” did not harm the Vedic
civilization but rather contributed to make it famous and honored in all the ancient world, the Muslims were
determined to destroy it. They were “the only chosen people”, destined to be the absolute masters of all other
people, and their duty was to convert everybody to Islam or turn them into slaves.
Arabs were a very hardened people, living in deserts, from where they raided neighboring people for slaves,
cattle, food, and wealth. They were divided in tribes, fighting against each other constantly to establish
supremacy. Even within the tribe and the family, the only logic was violence and oppression. Their society was
strongly male dominated, so much that women were considered simply slaves, segregated in harems, sold and
purchased or killed at will: mere property of men.
In 610 CE Mohammed started preaching Islam in Mecca, adapting for the Arab people the teachings of the Bible
he had studied from Jews and Christians. However, a fierce opposition against his preaching of moderate
reforms forced him to flee to Medina in 622. There he gathered followers and went back to fight the tribes who
opposed him and conquered Mecca in 630.
His successors, the Caliphs, continued to fight against the tribes that did not submit to Islam, and even the “rebel”
Muslims who did not accept their authority, like the Shiites. In fact the succession to Mohammed at the head of
Islam was difficult and characterized by quarrel, conspiracy and assassination. Several groups claimed the right
to succession, and they continued to fight each other.
Simultaneously, they immediately started to look outside Arabia to conquer new territories: the Byzantine Empire,
Persia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt fell one after the other under the Muslim assaults, within 642 CE. In spite of
internal fights and divisions, the Muslims continued to conquer North Africa, and in 711 they reached India on one
side and Spain (Europe) on the opposite side of their world. They conquered the Sindh in 712 but they were
stopped there. Also, after conquering Spain, the Muslims were stopped by the Franks in 732 at Poitiers, France.
For a period, they suspended their invasions to consolidate their power in their new lands and make some money
by selling the booty to those peoples they had been unable to conquer. They also used their wealth to develop
trade. During this time, their frequent contacts with India in their trade business enabled them to acquire a great
knowledge of Indian sciences, which they spread in their lands and in the lands of the people with whom they
were trading. They also observed the Indian society and mentality, studying their weak points, and made careful
plans for the future.
The next Muslim wave of invasion was led in 1000 CE by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, famous as a ruthless
destroyer and plunderer of temples. He raided India 17 times, destroying Nagorkot (Kangra), Thaneswar,
Mathura, Somnath, and innumerable other holy places of Vedic civilization.
From the accounts of Arikh-i-Yamini of Utbi, the secretary of Mahmud Gaznavi, we read that at Somnath, “The
Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and
worshipers of sun and fire…. The number of infidels killed exceeded 50,000.” At Mathura, “The infidels…deserted
the fort and tried to cross the foaming river…but many of them were slain, taken or drowned… Nearly fifty
thousand men were killed.” At Thaneshwar, “The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously at Thanesar that the
stream was discolored, not withstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with
plunder which is impossible to count. Praise be to Allah for the honor he bestows on Islam and Muslims.”
The violence and ruthlessness of the invaders, and their knowledge of the Indians’ weak points, caught Indian
kshatriyas unprepared and divided. Their strength had already been weakened by the decline of Vedic
knowledge due to the Kali-yuga: frustrated by the unqualified brahmanas who misinterpreted the scriptures and
monopolized religion for their materialistic profit, many princes and kingdoms had turned to the extreme non-
violence, tolerance and peacefulness of Buddhism and Jainism.
The others were distracted by the materialistic interpretations of the scriptures that weakened their people, had
lost the original knowledge of kshatriya principles and the science of warfare, and had fallen into endless rivalry
and political conspiracies aimed at getting more material power by taking it from others.
The Muslim marauders attacked and plundered the Hindu temples, and they completely destroyed all
Buddhist monasteries and universities. For them, the Hindus were simple “idolaters”, but the Buddhists were
declared “atheists” and therefore “enemies of God”.
While until around 1000 CE Buddhism had become the most important religious movement in India, after the
terrorist attacks of Mahmud of Ghazni and his successors, all the Buddhists of India were either slaughtered or
fled outside India, east and south. They settled in Indonesia, China, Japan, Tibet, Lanka, and prospered there.
The Turkish Muhammad Ghori invaded India in 1191 CE. This time he would not content himself of
plundering raids: he was determined to remain in India as the ruler. At first he was defeated by Prithviraj
Rajputan, but he managed to procure local alliances against the Hindu king, and in the second battle of Tarain
(1192) Prithviraj was defeated, captured and killed. Thus, Muhammad Ghori captured Ajmer and Delhi, and the
Turkish conquest expanded later in the same way to Bengal and Bihar, Malwa and Gujarat. The great city of
Nadia, the capital city of Bengal under king Lakshmanasena, was captured and completely destroyed. In fact,
nothing today shows that it used to be the rich and powerful capital of Bengal. The same fate had already
happened to Mathura.
From Hasan Nizami’s Taj-ul-Maasir, we read this account of the activities of Mahmud of Ghori. In Kol (Modern
Aligarh), “Those of the horizon who were wise and acute were converted to Islam, but those who stood by their
ancestral faith were slain with the sword… Three bastions were raised as high as heaven with their heads, and
their carcasses became food for the beasts of prey… 20,000 prisoners were taken and made slaves.”
The Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir records the destruction of Kashi (Benares): “The slaughter of Hindus (at
Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children (who were taken into slavery) and the
carnage of men went on until the earth was weary.”
By imposing terror with their unprecedented cruelty and ruthlessness, by treason and conspiracy, and especially
by exploiting the divisions and weakness of the small local kingdoms, and the greed and foolishness of their
unqualified rulers, Muslims gradually defeated all the Hindu kings and created a powerful empire. They destroyed
everything on their way and carefully arranged the rules of their government in such a way that Hindus could not
re-organize and revolt. For example, by exploiting the degraded caste system they forcibly “polluted” important,
intelligent or capable Hindus, who were then ousted by their own community. How could they “pollute” a Hindu,
causing him to irrevocably “lose his caste” and “religion” in the eyes of his community? Simply by throwing some
water at him from their cup. Such an easy and childish trick guaranteed that all of the victim’s family and
descendents were also ousted by the Hindu community forever.
Qutbuddin Aibek, a former slave (Mamluk) of Muhammad Ghori, was the first ruler of the Sultanate of
Delhi, the major power in India from 1192 to 1526, although under different dynasties. In order to control the
higher classes of Hindus and prevent alliances among them, all marriages among the nobles had to be approved
by the Sultan himself. In 1324 the territories of the Delhi Sultanate reached up to Madurai, but from 1334 to 1336
the Hindu Pandyan dynasties of Madurai and Warangal took advantage of an epidemic of bubonic plague that
had decimated the Sultan’s army, and created a space for themselves. Harihara Pandya founded the empire of
Vijayanagar, thus creating an oasis of Vedic civilization in south India, where many Hindus, especially scholars,
fled from the north. In Vijayanagara’s kingdom women were highly honored and had prominent positions also in
religious life. The administration and defense of the kingdom was supported by many local military chiefs called
Nayaks. The kingdom lasted until 1565, when it was crushed by the combined armies of the Deccan Sultanates.
During their domination, Muslims imposed their customs on the Hindus all over India, especially the
purdah system (the systematic segregation, dress code and oppression of women) and the use of Arabic script in
Indian languages (which led to the creation of the new language, Urdu). The use of Devanagari script was
prohibited.
Dance, arts and literature were strongly modified, losing much of their freedom of expression. Temple worship
and rituals were greatly restricted or forbidden altogether.
Muslims also systematically destroyed Hindu temples and built mosques on the most important holy places of the
Hindus, such as Ayodhya (the birthplace of Rama), Mathura (the birthplace of Krishna) and many others.
They imposed a heavy tax on all those who did not accept to become Muslims, and cut them out from any
government job and gave Muslim names to cities and people. This practice is currently ongoing in Indonesia. All
along, they built mosques everywhere and their priests thundered against idolatry, polytheism, the backward
superstitions, and indecent customs of the Hindus. At the same time, they offered great benefits to all those who
accepted to convert to Islam, guaranteeing jobs, financial benefits, social respect, and power. In this way, they
multiplied their numbers creating enemies for Hindus from the same cultural and ethnic groups. The greatest
number of converts came from the lower castes of Hinduism, who had a long standing social resentment against
the higher castes. In order to convince their masters of the genuineness of their conversion, the new Indian
Muslims were often more fanatical and oppressive against Hindus than the invaders themselves.
To try to soften the Muslims’ attitude towards Hindus, Guru Nanak started his movement, known as
Sikhism. Sikhism is nothing but Hinduism presented in a language and form that can be more easily acceptable
by Muslims. This protected the Sikhs from the persecution of the Muslims and gave them the possibility to
survive, become better organized, and eventually fight for freedom.
The Sikhs were later organized in a military and political organization by Guru Gobind Singh (born in 1666 in
Patna, Bihar, and killed in 1708 at Nandar, Deccan), who became Guru of the Sikhs at the age of nine, when the
previous Guru Tegh Bahadur was murdered in Delhi. He introduced the Sikh baptism for his disciples and the
symbols of their belonging to the faith as the 5 Ks, or Kesh, Kanga, Kara, Kirpan, Kachcha: namely unshorn hair,
a comb, a steel bangle, a sword, and short underwear. He declared that after him, the Grantha (book) of the
Sikhs would become their Guru. Two of his sons were killed in battle against the Mogul, and the other two were
buried alive by a Mogul governor.
The Muslim mystics called Sufis, too, absorbed many Hindu practices thus making them more acceptable
to the mainstream Muslims. Sufis insisted on love of God (bhakti), gentleness towards all living entities, non-
violence (and vegetarianism), charity, renunciation of material power, acceptance of the spiritual guidance of a
self-realized saint (guru). They also started monasteries to take care of the needs of pilgrims and travelers (the
equivalent of Hindu dharmashalas). Their preaching gave more importance to the merciful aspect of God and the
compassionate teachings of Mohammed, who had reformed Arab society by abolishing many cruel customs.
By stressing the fact that God is one only, father of all human beings and creator of all living entities, the Sufi
saints convinced the Muslims that Hindus, too, were worshiping the same God although in different ways.
Simultaneously, they offered an example of transcendent spirituality and asceticism to the Hindu society that was
already being reformed by the followers of Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva. These great Hindu teachers
did not deny the value of traditional Vedic rituals and Deity worship, but they gave great importance to
philosophy, theology and mysticism already contained in the Vedas that enabled Hinduism to resist the cultural
invasion. Previously, the cultivation of philosophy, theology, and mysticism, called Bhakti, was practiced by a
small elite of renunciants or priests, while the majority of the population relied on external rituals and social
religiosity.
The Muslim oppression forced Hindus to change their attitude and rethink their approach to religion. The Bhakti
movement was strongly favored because it could be compared, in the eyes of the Muslim rulers and population,
to the Sufi movement that had developed in Islam from the contact with Hinduism, and therefore it was more
acceptable than the traditional Vedic ritualistic approach. Simultaneously, the worship of the Mother Goddess,
with its philosophical and social implications, became secret (the Tantric tradition), leaving the front line to the
worship of Vishnu, who was more easily understandable and acceptable by the Muslims, equating him with their
Allah.
For example, saint Kabir, a Muslim born in 1440 CE and equally honored by Muslims and Hindus, preached that
Allah and Rama are both names of the same God, and all human beings are equal to God because they have
been created by him.
On the Hindu side, Bhakti flourished with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Bengal and Orissa, Ramananda
(disciple of Ramanuja) in north India, and the Rajput queen Mirabai in west India. Surdas, Tukaram, Namdeva,
and Ekanam became famous in Maharastra.
All these saints accepted both Hindus and Muslims as their disciples and favored the personal relationship with
God and the congregational glorification of God against the social and ritualistic aspects of temple worship. In
fact, such practices as the chanting of God’s names, cultivation of exclusive devotion for the Supreme God (very
similar to the Muslim theological concept) and renunciation to worldly life in favor of asceticism and
transcendence, non-violence, and tolerance, were more easily allowed by the Muslim rulers, who did not consider
them dangerous for their government.
In 1398 the Sultanate of Delhi was weakened by the invasion of the Mongol Tamerlane (Talmur), a relative of
Gengis Khan (who terrorized north Asia and Europe by killing 4 million people there). The Sultanate finally ended
in 1526 when the Mogul (Mongol) Babur, descendent of Tamerlane, killed Ibrahim Lodhi, the last Sultan of Delhi,
on the battlefield. Lodhi was the only Sultan who died in battle in all India’s history.
The weakening of the Delhi Sultanate allowed some space for other kingdoms to rebuild their power: in western
India Malwa and Gujarat, in eastern India Jaunpur and Bengal, in northern India Kashmir, and in southern India
Vijayanagar and Bahamani. Some of these kingdoms were Hindu, some were Muslim. Subsequently, they were
absorbed by the Mogul empire.
The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, witnessed first hand the atrocities Babur committed on Hindus: “Having
attacked Khuraasaan, Babar terrified Hindustan… There was so much slaughter that the people screamed.”
About the treatment of Hindu women: “Those heads adorned with braided hair, with their parts painted with
vermillion – those heads were shaved with scissors… They lived in palatial mansions, but now… ropes were put
around their necks, and their strings of pearls were broken. Their wealth and youthful beauty, which gave them
so much pleasure, have now become their enemies. The order was given to the soldiers, who dishonored them
and carried them away.”

We also have descriptions written by the Muslims themselves, for example from theInsha-i-Mahry by Amud Din
Abdullah bin Mahru. In Delhi, regarding the Sultan Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi: “A report was brought to the Sultan than
there was in Delhi an old Brahman who persisted in publicly performing the worship of idols in his house and that
people of the city, both Muslims and Hindus used to resort to his house to worship the idol. The Brahman had
constructed a wooden tablet which was covered within and without with paintings of demons and other objects.
An order was accordingly given to the Brahman and was brought before Sultan. The true faith was declared to
the Brahman and the right course pointed out, but he refused to accept it. A pile was risen on which the Kaffir
with his hands and legs tied was thrown into and the wooden tablet on the top. The pile was lit at two places his
head and his feet. The fire first reached him in the feet and drew from him a cry and then fire completely
enveloped him. Behold Sultan for his strict adherence to law and rectitude.”
After Hindus paid the “religious toleration tax” (zar-i zimmiya) and poll-tax (jizya) they believed they had the
permission to build their temples, but it was not so. “Under divine guidance I (Sultan) destroyed these temples
and I killed the leaders of these infidelity and others I subjected to stripes (flogging) and chastisement.”
In Gohana (Haryana), “Some Hindus had erected a new idol-temple in the village of Kohana and the idolaters
used to assemble there and perform their idolatrous rites. These people were seized and brought before me. I
ordered that the perverse conduct of these leaders of this wickedness be punished publicly and that they should
be put to death before the gate of the palace.”
The objectives of the expedition of the Sultan to Jajnagar, Orissa, as stated in Ainn-ul-Mulk, were, in order,
massacring the unbelievers, demolishing their temples, hunting the elephants and getting a glimpse of their
enchanting country. The Sirat-i-Firoz Shahi records the expedition: “Nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken
refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations The swordsmen of Islam turned the island into a basin
of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers. Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled,
fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier.”
These are only a few of the numerous accounts of similar expeditions and jihad(“holy” war) campaigns of the
Muslims against the Hindus.
From 1338 to 1339 the Muslim rulers of Bengal, who had been subject to the Delhi Sultanate, developed a strong
desire to form their own Sultanate. In 1342 Mubarak Shah was deposed and murdered by one of his officers, Haji
Iliyas, who declared himself the independent master and Sultan of Bengal with the title of Shamsuddhin Iliyas
Shah.
Then he proceeded to completely subdue Bihar, invaded Assam and Nepal and plundered Orissa. A Hindu
kshatriya of Bengal, named Raja Ganesh, succeeded to take the power away from the Muslims for about 32
years, and his government was so much better than the previous Muslim governments that at his death both
Muslims and Hindus mourned him. Unfortunately, the power soon returned in the hands of the Muslims, with the
Habsi kings (Abyssinian slave rulers) whose tyranny disgusted even their Muslim subjects. These revolted and
chose Hussain Shah for the throne (1493-1519), who invaded Assam and offered government jobs to Hindus
who were willing to merely change their names and dress. Several Hindus accepted, such as Dabir Khas and
Sakar Mallick.

The successors of the Delhi Sultanate were the Mughals or Moguls, also Muslims. As already mentioned, in 1526
the Mongol Babur, a descendent of Tamerlane who had conquered vast territories, including Kabul in
Afghanistan, came and defeated the last Sultan of Delhi. The Mogul rule was constantly threatened by the
Afghan Sultans, who had become very powerful in the region of Bengal and Bihar and wanted revenge.
Babur’s son Humayun succeeded him. Humayun’s son Akbar ascended the throne in 1556 and he immediately
started to conquer new territories to expand his empire. He defeated the Hindu queen Rani Durgabati of
Gondwana who died on the battlefield, then attacked the Rajput states, Gujarat and Bengal, then South India.
At the time of Akbar’s death the Mogul empire extended from the Himalayas to the Godavari, from the Hindukush
to the Brahmaputra. However, he was fiercely opposed by the Rajputs, and especially the kingdom of Mewar, led
by Rana Pratap and his son Amar Singh.
Akbar observed that the wave of conversions of Hindus to Islam had stopped. He tried to take advantage of the
growing Bhakti movements by instituting a “Hall of Prayer” open to all religions in 1578, but apparently the idea
didn’t work according to his plans, because he decided to close it indefinitely in 1582.
Akbar’s son, Salim called Jahangir, succeeded to conquer the kingdom of Mewar and the Rajputs. He pushed
back the Portuguese who had tried to take hold of Bengal, by killing 4,000 of them. However, he maintained
friendly relationships with the English traders who seemed to be rivals to the Portuguese.
Jahangir’s son Khurram or Shahjahan deposed his father and ascended the throne.
In 1632 Shahjahan ordered that all Hindu temples recently erected or in the course of construction should be
razed to the ground. In Benares alone seventy-six temples were destroyed. He had ten thousand inhabitants at
Agra and Lahore executed by being ‘blown up with powder, drowned in water or burnt by fire”. Four thousand
were taken captive to Agra where they were tortured to try to convert them to Islam. Those who refused to do so
were trampled to death by elephants, except for the younger women who went to harems. Under Shahjahan,
peasants were compelled to sell their women and children to meet their revenue requirements. The peasants
were carried off to various markets and fairs to be sold with their poor unhappy wives carrying their small children
crying and lamenting. According to Qaznivi, Shahjahan had decreed they should be sold to Muslims.
To increase his personal prestige, Shahjahan created the famous Peacock Throne and the Red Fort in Delhi. He
remodeled a famous Shiva temple in Agra, called Tejo Mahila, turning it into the tomb of one of his wives, with
the name Taj Mahal. Soon after that, he became ill and his four sons started to fight among them for the
succession. He appointed Dara Sirok, but Shuja and Murad independently crowned themselves. Aurangzeb, the
fourth son, was more clever and chose to build alliances first: he offered his support to Murad and together they
defeated the imperial army led by Dara Sirok. After the victory, Aurangzeb imprisoned Murad in Gwalior, then
entered Agra where the old emperor Shahjahan was recovering from his illness, and imprisoned him, too. In 1658
Aurangzeb ascended the throne, captured Dara Sirok by treason and put him to death the following year, then
defeated Shuja, who was also killed while escaping. Then Aurangzeb dedicated his full attention to suppress
rebellions throughout his reign and expanding its limits, destroying temples and persecuting Hindus until his
death in 1707. Aurangzeb considered himself “The Scourge of the Kafirs” (non-believers) and closed all Hindu
schools and libraries. In his lifetime he destroyed more than 10,000 Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples and often
erected mosques in their stead. In 1672 several thousand revolting Hindus were slaughtered in Mewat.
From Maasi-i-Alamgiri we read, “Issued general order to destroy all centers of Hindu learning including Varnasi
and destroyed the temple at Mathura and renamed it as Islamabad.” In Khandela (Rajastan) he killed 300 Hindus
in one day because they resisted the destruction of their temple. In Udaipur all Hindus of the town were killed as
they vowed to defend the temple of Udaipur from destruction, 172 temples were destroyed in Udaipur and 66
temples were pulled down in Amber. In Pandhapur, Maharashtra the Emperor destroyed the temple and ordered
the butchering of cows in it. In Punjab Muslim governors killed hundreds of Sikh children and made Sikh men and
women eat the flesh of their own killed children. Any Muslim bringing the head of a dead Sikh was also awarded
money.
Aurangzeb’s tyranny was successfully opposed for some time by the Hindu kingdom of the Marathas from west
India, led by Shivaji.

SHIVAJI AND THE MARATHAS

The Marathas are a proud warrior race that had resisted the conquest of emperor Harsha in the 7th century. The
Maratha dynasties of the ancient (pre-Muslim) period are the Chalukyas (500 CE to 750 CE), the Rastrakutas
(750 to 978) and the Yadavas or Jadhavs (1175 to 1318). They opposed the Muslim invasion in 1314 under the
last Yadava king, but they were defeated and became vassals and mercenaries (Sardars or generals) of the
Muslim rulers, collecting revenue for them.
Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai, was a direct descendent of the Yadava royal family of Devagiri, and deeply influenced
her son, together with his teacher Dadaji Kondeo and great saints like Jnanesvara and Tukaram.
In 1645, at the age of 17, at the cave temple of Shiva Rairesvar in the Sayhadris, Shivaji and his friends took a
blood oath to establish a free Hindu state, called “Hindavi Svaraja”.
In the course of time, it became the strongest power in India, its territories stretching from Attock in present
Pakistan to Cuttack in Orissa.
Shivaji started by capturing the fortress of Torana from the Muslim ruler at Bijapur. The Sultan of Bijapur, Adil
Shah, sent his most powerful general Afzal Khan to punish Shivaji. His plan was to get Shivaji down from the
Sahyadri hills by destroying Hindu temples in the plains at Tuljapur, Pandharpur and Shikhar Shenganapur.
Shivaji sent Afzal Khan a letter inviting him to come up the hills to meet him with a few select soldiers for a duel,
and Afzal Khan accepted. Arrived at Pratapgad on 10th November 1659, Afzal Khan tried to stab the apparently
unarmed Shivaji while embracing him, but Shivaji was wearing a coat of armor under his heavy silk robes, and
hiding two small weapons, too: a Wagh Nakh, a sharp blade resembling tiger’s claws, and a Bicchwa, a small
curved dagger. Afzal Khan was killed. The Khan’s army waiting in the valley was defeated by the Marathas who
jumped out from the jungles around Pratapgad fort.
Later, Adil Shah sent another general, Siddhi Jouhar, who besieged Shivaji’s fortress in Panhalgad for some
months, but Shivaji managed to escape to Vishalgad. Then the Bijapur ruler dropped the idea of fighting against
the Marathas and Shivaji turned his attention to the Mogul empire.
Aurangzeb was furious about Shivaji’s attacks and sent his uncle Shaista Khan with a big army who
destroyed temples, forts, towns, villages and fields on its path. Shaista established his camp in Shivaji’s home,
the Lal Mahal in Pune, and put up his harem in Shivaji’s Devghar (prayer room). Finally, in April 1663, Shivaji
sneaked into the Lal Mahal at night time and attacked the Khan cutting his fingers while he was trying to escape
from the window. He spared the Khan’s life on the request of the Khan’s wife, and this gave the Khan the
opportunity to call his troops. Shivaj escaped. The Khan returned to Delhi and Aurangzeb sent another general,
Mirza Raja Jai Singh from the Suryavanshi Kachhawaha, a Hindu general at the service of the Muslim. This
Hindu dynasty had submitted to the Muslims by giving their daughters in marriage to the Mogul Padishah. Mirza
and his general Diler Khan laid siege to Purandar and systematically destroyed rural Maharastra.
The Maratha fort commander at Purandar, Murar Baji, stormed out of the fort and pushed back the Moguls to
Diler Khan’s camp in the plains. Diler Khan tried to bribe Murar Baji by offering him the post of general in his
army, but Murar Baji refused the proposal and was killed during his visit in the Mogul camp.
Shivaji signed a treaty with Mirza Raja Jai Singh, and as a part of the conditions he went with him to Agra to meet
Aurangzeb. There he was imprisoned in Mirza’s house. While he was waiting to be shifted to the Mogul
dungeons, he escaped with his son Sambaji hiding in two large baskets of fruits and sweetmeats that were to be
sent from the house as gifts to brahmanas. Shivaji’s general Netaji Palkar, also captured, was forced to convert
to Islam and change his name to Quli Mohammed Khan, serving as a Mogul soldier in Afghanistan, but he
managed to escape and return to Shivaji and to his Hindu faith. Some of his other friends were tortured to death.
After escaping from Agra, Shivaji regrouped his army and recaptured all the forts that he had been forced to
surrender to the Moguls with the treaty of Purandar, including the fort of Kondana, a strategic position near Pune,
in the center of a line including Rajgad, Purandar, and Torna. The conquest of Kondana was made possible by
the bravery of Tanaji who died in the fight, so the fort was renamed as “Singhagad” in honor of their “lion” warrior.
Then Shivaji was crowned as the king of the Marathas by Ganga Bhatt, a brahmana from Benares. The
coronation took place at Raigad on 6th June, 1674.
In the days after the coronation, a Maratha Sardar (general) abducted the daughter in law of the Muslim
Subahadar of Kalyan near Mumbai, to offer her as a Nazarana (tribute) to the new king. To his surprise, Shivaji
returned the girl to her family with all respect, and rebuked the general warning that any Maratha general who
committed a similar offense to women would be punished with the amputation of his hands. It is said that the girl
then called him “an angel” and prayed the Lord to bless him with all success. Later, Shivaji launched his
campaign in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu up to Thanjavur. From 1674 to Shivaji’s death in 1680, his kingdom was
relatively peaceful because the Moguls had given up trying to molest the Marathas. The kingdom of Shivaji, like
the kingdom of Mewad, was bold enough to issue their own coinage with Sanskrit inscriptions in gold and copper.
After Shivaji’s death, Aurangzeb ordered all these coins to be collected and melted.
Shivaji’s son Sambaji became the next king, but he was not as qualified as his father. He was finally captured by
the Moguls and tortured to death. His step brother Rajaram was then crowned king, but he was also weak and
fled Raigad when the fort was about to be besieged by Aurangzeb, leaving behind his wife and son who were
taken captive by the Moguls. He spent the rest of his life fleeing around, while his generals like Santaji Ghorpade
and Dhanaji Jadhav fought a guerrilla war against the Muslims. In 1700, Rajaram fell ill and died, and his wife
Tarabai reigned from 1700 to 1707, with the support of the two generals.
In 1707 Aurangzeb died and his son Azamshah proclaimed himself emperor. In order to win the Marathas to his
side, Azamshah freed Rajaram’s son Shahu, who had been a prisoner from 1689 to 1707, and Shahu claimed
the throne against Tarabai. He fought the Maratha army and he installed himself as the Chatrapati (king of the
Marathas). However, he had to rely heavily on his assistant, who became Prime Minister (Peshwa) and the actual
ruler. From that time, the Prime Ministers became more powerful than the king.
The Maratha forces led by the first Peshwa, Balaji Vishvanath, defeated the Mogul army in Delhi, in an alliance
with the Syed brothers against the Mogul emperor Farrukhsiyyar. This was the beginning of the Maratha’s
influence on Delhi that lasted until 1803, when they were supplanted by the British. In 1740, about 80 years after
Shivaji, the Marathas fought against the invasion of the Afghan Nadir Shah and his general Ahmed Shah Durrani
(Abdali) who had attacked north India taking advantage of the decline of the Mogul empire. Another ambitious
general, Najib Khan, wanted to crown himself emperor and ruler of India by capturing Delhi: he allied with Ahmed
Shah but they were both defeated by the Marathas lead by Srimant Raghunatha Rao and Malhar Rao Holkar.
The Marathas pursued the Afghans into Punjab up to Khyber Pass on Afghan border. Najib Khan convinced
Malhar Rao Holkar to release him, but as soon as he was released he organized the killing of Dattaji Shinde, the
eldest brother of Mahadji Shinde, and again encouraged Ahmed Shah to invade India.
The continuous court intrigues at Pune gradually weakened the Marathas and divided them. The ensuing war
against the Afghans had a long stand off of one year from January 1760 to January 1761, in spite of the
Marathas’ conquest of Delhi and Kunjapura (the treasury and armory of the Afghans). In the final battle at Panipat
100,000 Maratha troops were killed in 8 hours but the Afghans, who had also suffered heavy losses, decided to
retreat back to Afghanistan, never to return to India again. Later, the Sikhs united under Maharaja Ranjit Singh
and completed the task of the Marathas, invading Abdali’s kingdom and capturing his capital city Kabul. Between
1761 and 1790 Mahadji Shinde, Nana Phadnavis and Shrimant Madhav Rao Peshwa fought against the growing
power of the British in the three Anglo-Maratha wars. Finally they succumbed in the third war of 1817.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE PORTUGUESE

In 1498 the Catholic Portuguese sailor Vasco de Gama had opened the sea route to India that enabled the
Christian ships to avoid the need of crossing the Muslim occupied territories in order to reach India and China for
trade. In 1510 Alfonso de Albuquerque captured the island of Goa on the west coast of India from the Sultan of
Bijapur and made it the capital of the Portuguese colonial dominion in India.
The militaristic and imperialistic attitude of the Catholic Church was very similar to the Muslim “holy war” to
conquer the world. The Church of Rome had established itself in Europe as the absolute and supreme political
power, controlling kings and emperors with intolerable tyranny. By the 1500s, the Protestant reform, supported by
the kingdoms of north and west Europe, left the pope with two servants only: Spain and Portugal. To rebuild the
power of the Church, the pope decided to launch both of them into a world conquest “blessed by God” for a
renewed power of the Church.
In 1417, with the bulla Rex Regnum, Pope Martin V gave to the king of Portugal the “right of crusade and
conquest” over the Atlantic coast of Africa. At Sagres (Portugal) the Church created a great center of nautical
studies, military arsenal and shipyard, and a naval base at Lagos (Portugal). From there the naval army of
Portugal conquered almost all the eastern part of Africa.
Spain had also reclaimed the territories it had lost to the Muslims since the 700s (with the fall of Grenada, in
1491), converted or killed all the Muslims and Jews who lived there, and made the pope’s Inquisition the absolute
and unquestionable power in the police and judiciary systems. Besides, in 1492 Columbus (financed by Spain)
had “discovered” the immense territories of the Americas and claimed rights on them.
The pope wanted to keep his two servants from wasting energies in fighting each other for supremacy, so in 1494
with the treaty of Tordesillas pope Alexander VI (Ferdinando Borgia born in Jativa, Valencia, Spain, who was
pope from 1492 to 1503) officially and “legally” divided the property of the entire planet between Spain and
Portugal.
A line was drawn on geographical maps and the pope ordered the two kings, by “God’s authority”, to conquer all
the new territories by any means, make them Christian and take away all their wealth. Portugal was allotted India
and the eastern territories, while Spain retained the Americas (the “west Indies”). Both armies were accompanied
by the priests of the Inquisition, who were in charge of the forced conversion to Christianity of the new territories.
Whoever refused to become a Christian was either killed or made a slave. When Columbus landed in Cuba,
America, in 1492, the island had 8 million inhabitants, while 4 years later 50% of the entire population had
already been massacred and the Spaniards were forced to import slaves from other islands in the Caribbean.
America was called “west Indies” (as opposed to the “east Indies”, i.e. India proper), and since the Spanish
conquerors of South America spoke Spanish, the native Americans in those areas (Maya, Inca, Aztec, Toltec,
etc) came to be known as “indios”, the Spanish equivalent of the English “Indian”. In 1520 Mexico had 25 million
inhabitants, while in 1592 the number was 1.5 million: 95% of the inhabitants had been killed. Those who
remained in the subsequent centuries were a mixed breed and completely Christianized. Their original languages
and customs practically lost forever.
A large part of the non-white populations of South America, besides the mixed Spanish-Indio breed, are black
people or mixed breed of African origin (Spanish+African or African+Indio), because Spaniards and Portuguese
carried many more slaves from Africa (who were physically stronger than Americans) to cultivate the sugar,
tobacco, coffee, and cocoa fields in their new territories.
The only native populations who survived in those areas were very small numbers of nomadic and “uncivilized”
tribes hiding in the deepest Amazon forests. Altogether, at the beginning of 1500s, the native populations of the
entire Americas (both south and north) were estimated at about 80 million, and in the mid 1600s the number was
10 million, in a time when the entire population of the world was less than 400 million people.
The Portuguese had the same philosophy of life of the Spaniards, because they were servants of the Catholic
Church, but in India the situation was more difficult than in America. They had to face the Muslim rulers, who
were at least as ruthless and powerful as they were, and ready to fight back any Christian attempt at eating away
their territories. An attempt of establishing a Portuguese base in Bengal was quickly stopped by the local Sultan
who killed 4,000 Portuguese at one time. Then they tried on the west coast of India, establishing themselves on
the island of Goa and surrounding territories. Immediately they destroyed all the Hindu temples in the area and
stopped all Hindu worship and even the popular traditions that were not directly connected with the religion. All
Hindu rituals, including marriages, were prohibited, and all Hindu priests were banned from the Portuguese
territories. The Hindus were denied jobs while Christians were preferred, and all Hindus were obliged to
assemble periodically in churches to be lectured by the priests about the inferiority of their religion.
The laws enforced by the Inquisition in 1560 prohibited the use of Indian musical instruments and Indian songs
during marriage ceremonies, the use of betel and pan, and the distribution of food to poor people in honor of
some deceased person. Other prohibitions concerned the harvest festivals, cooking rice without salt, fasting on
Ekadasi, the holydays on Wednesdays, full moon and new moon, bathing before entering the kitchen for
preparing the meals, wearing of dhoti for men and choli for women.
They also ordered all the coconut trees and Tulasi plants to be uprooted from all gardens.
All those who disobeyed the orders of the Inquisition were subject to horrible punishments. More than 2,000
people were burned alive.
Paul William Roberts, in Empire of the Soul, Some Journeys in India, writes about the methods of the
Portuguese Inquisition: “Children were flogged and slowly dismembered in front of their parents whose eyelids
had been sliced off to make sure they missed nothing. Extremities were amputated carefully, so that a person
could remain conscious even when all that remained was a torso and a head… Those subjected to other
diabolical tortures could also be counted in the thousands and the abominations continued until a brief respite in
1774… The evil resumed, continuing, almost incredibly, until June 16, 1812. At that point, British pressure put an
end to terror (with) the presence of British troops stationed in Goa.”
The main preacher of Christianity in India, the Portuguese priest Xavier who was made a saint by the Church for
his activities, boasted of having destroyed “hundreds of Hindu temples” by himself and “miraculously” converted
people by the thousands. M. D. David, author of Western Colonialism in Asia and Christianity, writes: “…A
particularly grave abuse was practiced in Goa in the form of ‘mass baptism’ and what went before it. The practice
was begun by the Jesuits and was initiated by the Franciscans also. The Jesuits staged an annual mass baptism
on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25), and in order to secure as many neophytes as possible, a
few days before the ceremony the Jesuits would go through the streets of the Hindu quarter in pairs,
accompanied by their Negro slaves, whom they would urge to seize the Hindus. When the blacks caught up a
fugitive, they would smear his lips with a piece of beef, making him an ‘untouchable’ among his people.
Conversion to Christianity was then his only option.”
Others found conversion politically useful, like the fishermen of Tamil Nadu who sold their souls to Christian
priests in exchange of the protection of the Portuguese army against their Muslim neighbors. However, the deal
was not completely voluntary. Those fishermen who refused to convert were attacked on the Malabar coast by
the Portuguese navy. Entire fishing boats were set ablaze, as their women and children helplessly watched from
the shores. Those fishermen who jumped into the water to save their lives, were either bayonetted or shot dead.

Xavier’s new converts were immediately taught to fight against Hindus: “When all are baptized, I order them to
destroy all the temples of their false gods and break to pieces all the idols. I can give you no idea of the joy I feel
in seeing this done.” Even children “… show an ardent love for the Divine law, and an extraordinary zeal for
learning our holy religion and imparting it to others. Their hatred for idolatry is marvelous. They get into feuds with
the heathens about it, and whenever their own parents practice it, they reproach them and come off to tell me at
once. Whenever I hear of any act of idolatrous worship, I go to the place with a large band of these children, who
very soon load the devil with a greater amount of insult and abuse than he has lately received of honor and
worship from their parents, relations, and acquaintances. The children run at the idols, upset them, dash them
down, break them to pieces, spit on them, trample on them, kick them about, and in short heap on them every
possible outrage.”
To fuel hatred of the newly converted Christians against the Hindus, the Portuguese spread many false stories.
One referred to Thomas the apostle, who was said to have landed in India in 52 CE at Cranganore on the
Malabar coast and established the first church later known as the Syrian Church. In 68 AD, St. Thomas was
allegedly martyred near modern day Chennai (Madras) and a large cathedral there now houses a basement crypt
containing the relics of St. Thomas. In the cathedral of St. Thomas at Chennai (San Thome Cathedral Basilica)
there is also a painting that shows Thomas praying while he is being stabbed to death with a lance by a
Ramanuja Vaishnava brahmana wearing Vishnu tilak. It is interesting to remember that the Shree Vaishnavas
and their tilak did not come into history until the 11th century.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH

Since the beginning of the colonial period, the kings of England and Holland (who had recently won its
independence from Spain by the Protestant revolt) had organized pirate fleets to get some crumbs of the
enormous pie of the “New World” that was greedily devoured by Spain and Portugal and transported by ships to
Europe. South America was very rich in gold and silver and other new and special products, such as tobacco,
cocoa, maize, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, etc. These foods became extremely popular in Europe.
Those plants which could grow in Europe also became widely cultivated.
England and Holland were the natural adversaries of Spain and Portugal because they had become Protestant. A
little later, with the French revolution against the monarchy supported by the priests, France became a fierce
adversary of the Catholic Church, too, and also engaged in the colonial race.
The success of Sir Francis Drake in piracy encouraged the government of England to finance an expedition to
North America, where the British “purchased” (for a very small price and bribery) or conquered (generally by a
clever game of alliances, further dividing the tribes who had already some hostility against each other) vast and
scarcely populated territories. These were then used by Britain to settle “colonies” of their unwanted citizens
(including religious dissidents) and procure wealth in the form of taxes from agriculture and minerary activities
supported by the labor of the slaves brought from Africa. The colonies produced cotton, coffee, sugar, and other
semi-tropical and tropical products that could not be grown in Europe, large amounts of timber and furs from the
north, and served as a base for the hunting of whales and seals. France and Holland had the same plans, but in
a much smaller scale.
Asia presented a very different situation than North America: much more interesting because of the legendary
wealth already present, but densely populated and controlled by strong political powers, such as the Muslim
rulers. The emphasis was then laid on commerce and trade, especially of spices, indigo dye and tea, that had
been marketed in Europe since the times of the Roman Empire. The British East Company, a commercial
company, was established on 31 December 1600 for spice trading, and India was the center of its attention.
According to an agreement, the Dutch East India Company secured the monopoly over southeast Asia and
Indonesia, while the more powerful British East Company obtained the rights on India.
In 1608 captain Hawkins landed at Surat and came to Jahangir’s court at Agra to obtain some trade concessions.
Shahjahan was annoyed by the Portuguese and allowed the British to open a factory at Surat, hoping that British
and Portuguese would weaken each other. In fact, the British troops finally defeated the Portuguese and
established the factory in 1612. In 1633 the East India Company also established a factory at Hariharpur (under
Bengal) on the delta of the Mahanadi River. In 1640 Fort St. George was built at Madras, then the British started
to acquire Bombay. In 1690 Job Charnock started a factory on the Hoogly River, not far from a Hindu holy place
in the forest, called Kali Ghat. In 1695 Sobha Singh’s rebellion led the British to build Fort William there. At that
time the three villages of Kali ghat (Calcutta), Sutanati and Govindapur were assigned by the Moguls to the
British on lease at the annual rent of 12,000 rupees. Later, the East India Company was granted right to free
trade in Bengal with an annual tax of 3,000 rupees. The British were also permitted to settle and acquire land
anywhere in Calcutta.
By the middle of the 18th century, the British East India Company had established centers in Bengal,
Bihar, Orissa, and the east coast. French traders arrived in India around 1668, and they also established
factories and centers. By 1720 Pondicherry and Chandernagar were the two main centers. Between 1720 and
1740 the volume of French trade was 10 times larger than the British. British and French then started to fight
against each other for supremacy until 1763 with the three Carnatic wars, involving also local princes and
politicians who sided with either party. Finally the French were defeated.
After the battle of Plassey, in 1757, the British obtained from the Moguls the right to collect revenue from these
areas in return for an annual tribute and for keeping order and peace by using the army of the local Nawabs.
Then the Company defeated Tipu Sultan of Mysore in 1792 and the Marathas in 1819, Nepal in 1814-16, Sindh
in 1843, Punjab in 1848-49 and Burma in 1886. The idea of commercial enterprise for Europeans was amply
supported by the use of force.
Although Britain had rejected some of the most heinous methods of the Catholic Church (like the Inquisition), still
they were Christians and believed that white Christians had the right to become the masters of the world. British
traders secured their business by openly battling against the local rulers who opposed their presence and
activities. In their military force Europeans were a small minority of officers, while the majority of the soldiers were
Indians, either Hindus or Muslims, previously employed by the local Nawabs. The mutiny of the Indian army
against the British traders started at Barrackpore in 1857 about the grease used for rifle cartridges that required
biting before loading the weapon (the grease was said to be made from cow and pig fat) and spread on vast
areas in Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Arrah (Bihar) etc. On 10 May 1857 the sepoys of Meerut marched on
Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor, as the Emperor of India, hoping that he
would oppose the British.
Among the participants to the revolt, there were Tantia Topi, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Kunwar Singh, Bahadur Shah II,
Nana Saheb, the Wahabis in Patna, and the Hindu community in Benares. However, other powerful leaders like
Holkar, Sindhia, the Nawab of Bhopal and others actively opposed the revolt and helped the British to suppress
it.
The British Crown, worried about the situation, officially took over the administration of the Company in 1858. The
presence of the British in India ceased to be a simple matter of trade and became a war for the imposition of
British rule on the entire territory.
Britain appointed a Secretary of State for India, a member of the British cabinet responsible to the Parliament,
and divided India into three presidencies: Bengal, Madras and Bombay. The Hindu or Muslim princely states that
accepted subordination to the British government were allowed some independence, but in 1876 Queen Victoria
assumed the title of Empress of India claiming the supreme power.

The main characteristic of British rule in India was the “divide and rule” policy, aimed at creating hostility among
Indians – northern and southern, northern and eastern, rich and poor, high castes and lower castes, Hindus and
Muslims, Hindus and Jains, and even among the various groups of Hindus like Shaivites and Vaishnavas. They
created Christian schools everywhere and imposed the Christian “morals” on society, justice, and culture.
However, they did not destroy Hindu temples or persecute Hindu priests, so under their rule several temples
were rebuilt by wealthy Hindus.
In India the British introduced railways, machineries, telegraph, postal system, newspapers, and imposed the use
of English on the entire territory. Although they did so for their own advantage and tried to control them strictly,
these innovations became very useful instruments for the organization of a nation-wide Swaraj movement.
Furthermore, by facilitating communication and traveling, they helped Indians to discover a greater spirit of unity
and to learn to cooperate at national level. Even the introduction of English helped because it was a common
language that helped communication among Indians of different areas and cultures.
The British also built roads and improved communications, also at International level. Many Indians went to
England to get an education – from Madanlal Dhingra, Aurobindo Ghose, Vir Savarkar, to Gandhi. By moving
around in England, they came in contact with the liberal movements there and learned how to organize people in
a democratic way. They saw how rallies and marches were held in Europe by the developing movement of civil
rights, and how the labor unions had started to organize workers in the factories to oppose oppression of the
capitalists. They studied British and International law and found ways to create associations and political groups,
many became lawyers.
Some English born liberals, such as Annie Besant, also came to India to help the cause of civil rights, freedom,
and self-determination.
In the beginning, the self-determination movement (Swaraj) did not question the British sovereignty over
India, they simply wanted more civil freedom and a better government.
Among the first protagonists of the Independence struggle, the Sanskrit scholar and astronomer Bal Gangadhar
Tilak was the leader of the Indian Freedom Movement until his death in 1920 before Gandhi. Like all the other
leaders of the Freedom Movement, he was jailed by the British government for several years, but while in jail he
wrote a commentary to Bhagavad Gita.
Tilak was convinced that the educational system was a very important weapon: schools controlled by the British
taught children blind submission to the political authority and the intrinsic inferiority of Hindu culture and religion
compared to Christianity. Therefore he started a school based on Hindu values, and later founded the Deccan
Education Society to inspire other people to open more schools. He also started a newspaper (Kesari) in 1881 to
educate people in general.
The other important factor that had to be tackled was economic exploitation: the British sent raw materials from
India and brought back finished goods from their industrial factories in England, such as textiles, glass, paper,
etc., to sell in India. Since the industrial products were cheaper and the texture was smoother and finer, Indian
people started to purchase them instead of the local production. The local self sufficiency and prosperity of rural
India was practically destroyed, and many people became destitute.
Tilak preached four “mantras”: 1. boycott British goods, 2. create an Indian system of schools, 3. self
determination in local government, 4. economic self sufficiency, with the production of necessities at the local
level.
After his jail term in Burma where he had been deported, Tilak returned to India and actively organized the Khadi
movement (hand woven cloth), also picketing against alcoholism and against imported goods.

In 1883 the Indian Association (Bharat Sabha) organized an International exhibition in Calcutta, together a
political conference on all-India basis, with discussions about reforms and a list of requests to be presented to the
British government. The second conference was held in 1885 for the foundation of the Indian National Congress.
The convenor of the first session of the INC was Allan Octavian Hume, a retired employee of the British
government, with the presidency of an eminent Bengali lawyer, WC Bonnerjee.
Something extraordinary was happening. People were starting to unite and cooperate: Indian peasants, lawyers,
students, scholars, writers, teachers, women and even British civil rights fighters. The Indian people had found
leaders, had started to understand the nature of their enslavement, and could see there was an opportunity to
become free from bondages.
The most profitable trade for the British Crown was probably the indigo dye. In Bengal, farmers were forced to
grow indigo plants as monocultures instead of the variety of foods that allowed them to live and prosper in a self-
sufficient way. The money they received for their produce was very little, and they had to pay heavy taxes that
forced them to get indebted with the money lenders or to sell their lands to the British enterprises. These used
also other methods to drive peasants out of their lands – torching villages, abducting women, for example. The
farmers went on strike and refused to cultivate indigo any more, and the middle class intelligentsia of Bengal
came to their help by joining their protest through newspapers and other literature; a popular drama about the
plight of the farmers was also translated in English and published by James Long.
Bengal became the heart of the Freedom Movement, with such a great success that the British government
started to worry. In 1905, in order to weaken the spirit of the movement, Lord Curzon was appointed to organize
the partition of Bengal, with the prime purpose of creating hostility between Muslims and Hindus.
West Bengal, of Hindu majority, was to include Bihar and Orissa, while east Bengal, with a Hindu minority, had
Assam, Malda, and Tripura. The anti-partition protest movement blazed everywhere with shop strikes, picketing
in support of the boycott of British goods, and religious ceremonies, such as bathing in the Ganga River and
performing rakhi-bandhana (tying a red string around each other’s wrists) to signify the bond of brotherhood
among the protesters.
Together with the boycott of British goods, Indians started their own local enterprises of textile mills and weaving
industries producing the coarse Swadeshi cloth, as well as sugar mills, match and soap industries, to offer the
“fair trade” alternative to the local market.
College and university students joined the movement by denouncing the bias of the British educational
institutions, “houses for manufacturing slaves”, and dropped out of school in protest. In 1902 they started the
“Dawn Society”, then the National Council of Education in 1905, to create Bengali medium schools with Indian
teachers. Clandestine newspapers mushroomed in support of the freedom movement. The word spread all over
India and the example was followed in many other areas. Many also took to guerrilla action against the British,
especially in Bengal, Maharastra, Punjab, and Madras.
Groups like the Anushilan Samiti were formed to fight against western culture.
The heritage of Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, who died in 1886, was carried on by his disciple Vivekananda with
more than a touch of nationalistic pride: Vivekananda traveled abroad to affirm the values of Indian culture and
spirituality, winning much sympathy at the international level. Rabindranath Tagore founded his university at
Shanti Niketan, and became famous at international levels: he was awarded knighthood by the queen of Britain.

In Bengal the Brahmo movement (founded in 1857) and in Maharastra the Prarthana Samaj made a special effort
to present Indian philosophy in terms that could be understood by the western mentality – both for the growing
international support and for the westernized class of British educated “brown sahibs”. All of these points are still
of primary importance today, in order to allow others to understand the value of Vedic culture.
The Brahmo movement was also at the origin of the first workers’ organizations. In 1870 a Brahmo leader,
Sasipada Banerjee, founded the Sramajivi Samiti and the newspaper Bharat Sramajivi. The cotton mill workers in
Bombay started an association in 1890. Later, however, the workers’ movements became influenced by the
socialist and communist ideals that had been spread by the Russian revolution of 1917. This ideology was also
supported by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Ram Mohan Roy in Bengal spearheaded a reform of Hinduism to eliminate the results of the social degradation
of Indians, such as the mistreatment of women and the plight of the lower castes.
Swami Dayananda Sarasvati founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 for a rediscovery of the genuine spirit of Vedic
culture, and encouraged the conversion of non-Hindus to Hinduism. Even today, the interest of non-Hindus in
Hinduism and Vedic culture is a reason why Yoga is presently so prominent in the Western countries.
Aurobindo Ghose, who had studied in England, started his public life as an extremist activist in Bengal’s Jugantar
dal, and was jailed for his first line participation to the movement. Later he developed a more spiritual approach,
and became famous as a saint. He moved to Pondicherry and laid the spiritual foundations of the future Auroville.
He cooperated first with Margaret Elizabeth Noble (known as Sister Nivedita) and then with Mirra Alfassa (known
as Mère, “the Mother”).
The Muslims, however, felt they were losing too much ground to the Christian British on one side, and to
the Hindus on the other side. They started a strategy of cooperation with the British against the Hindus, and at
the same time they made some efforts to reform the social customs that did not sit well with the British morality,
like the purdah (segregation of women), polygamy, and the talaq (easy divorce for men). Syed Ahmed Khan
started a Muslim cultural center in Aligarh that later became a university.
In 1911 the British government gave in and annulled the partition of Bengal; the capital of the British Raj
was also moved from Calcutta to Delhi. However, the police continued to suppress the guerrilla of the secret
societies, and many of their members were forced to flee abroad, in London, Paris, Germany, United States,
Canada, and various areas of Asia. From there, they collected money to send funds and weapons for the
revolution back home, securing the help of Indian emigrates and foreign governments who were unfavorable to
Britain.

World War I offered more opportunities to the Indian Freedom Movement: Madame Cama had already conducted
a successful campaign in France, Germany, and the United States presenting the cause of India and unfurling
the new Indian tricolor flag in Berlin (1905). She continued to campaign, revealing to the international press the
enormous profits of the British Crown in the colonial business (35 million pounds every year) and asking that
Indians should be given the political right to vote.
In 1915 the Jain lawyer Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returned to India after a period in South Africa, where he
had observed the effect of the racist apartheid government. He immediately started a non-violent protest
movement, called Satyagraha, spreading it in Bihar, Ahmedabad, and Gujarat. The charisma of Gandhi
encouraged moderate and extremist activists to join forces. Thousands of students, lawyers, and government
employees left their occupations in protest against the government.
The British civil right activist Annie Besant cooperated with Bal Gangadhar Tilak starting the Home Rule League.
Women also started to participate actively in the Movement.
Even the Muslims were attracted, and while previously they had tried to cooperate with the British, in 1913 they
changed their course and started cooperating with the Indian National Congress.

In 1919 the British government decided to give some concessions, and appointed Montague and Chelmsford to
concede a limited freedom in local self government, education, health, cooperatives, but retained full control of
police, finance, and land revenue. On the other hand, with the Rowlatt Act, the British tightened the laws against
“anarchical and revolutionary” activities to stop the political movement, ordering arrest and deportation for
suspects, special tribunals, and prohibition of freedom propaganda. The protest continued, spearheaded by
Gandhi, who was arrested. The suppression of the protest had the worst episode in Amritsar, where on 13 April
1919 General Reginald Dyer ordered to his 50 soldiers to open fire without warning on a peaceful crowd of about
10,000 people, men, women and children, gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, a public square, for the Baisakhi Fair.
The place was surrounded by buildings and there was no escape; according to the official estimates about 400
people were killed, and another 1,200 were left wounded without medical attention. The casualties could have
been higher, but the troops could not use machine guns because the armored vehicles on which they were
mounted were too large to be brought in from the narrow lanes around the square, and the rifle ammunitions
ended in about 15 (1,650 rounds).
The curfew was imposed and the governor of Punjab placed the entire province under martial law. The Viceroy
Chelmsford considered the incident as a strategic mistake, and Secretary of State Montagu appointed a
commission of inquiry. Dyer was relieved of his command. The protest against the massacre gained momentum
in Amritsar and spread to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Amaravati, Nagpur, Ankola and Bombay. In protest,
Rabindranath Tagore renounced his British knighthood. In some places the protest became violent, and Gandhi
withdrew his Satyagraha movement to dissociate from the violence.

With the end of World War I, Turkey was defeated, and the Indian Muslims asked the British to respect the
position and dignity of the Sultan of Turkey, who was the Caliph of all Muslims in the world. The Khilafat
movement was supported by Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Tilak and others with the hope of uniting Hindus and
Muslims in the protest against the British rulers. However, in the end Kemal Pasha in Turkey abolished the post
of Caliph and the Khilafat movement died out in 1921. This enraged the Indian Muslims who started clashing
against the Hindus. The riots between 1922 and 1927 killed about 500 people. The possibility of an agreement
between the movement, represented by Gandhi, and the British failed due to the Muslim opposition. Gandhi
resumed his Satyagraha movement with Vallabhabhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Purushottamdas Tandon, and
Subhash Chandra Bose. All of them were jailed because the British government declared the movement “illegal”.
In 1922 the Swaraj Party was founded, trying to unite the political movement that had already divided
with the Hindu Mahasabha, the Sikh League and the Muslim League. At the same time, Jawaharlal Nehru and
Subhash Chandra Bose were inspired by the Russian revolution and started to spread the ideas of socialism. In
1925 the All India Communist Party was founded, and the guerrilla in Bengal took a socialist hue with the
Socialist Republican Association (1928). Women also started to participate in the communist movement that
gathered many of those who were searching for a solution that was different from the hostility between Muslims
and Hindus: rejecting all religions.
The British tried to relieve the situation by appointing the Simon commission in 1927 for constitutional
reforms, but no Indians were included in the commission, and this did not satisfy the freedom movement. In 1928
an all-parties conference prepared a draft constitution for the commission: only the Indian National Congress
approved it.
The Muslim League, lead by Jinnah, broke ties with the Congress, demanding 14 points to protect the interests of
the Muslims, which included a federal India with autonomous provinces, with not less than 1/3 Muslims in the
central government, a separate representation for religious groups on the same percentage basis (although the
Muslims were a minority), no laws against the interests of religious minorities and full freedom to all religions,
facilities for Muslim culture and education, Muslims in all local governments (at least 1/3), separate Sindh from
Bombay, maintain Muslim majority in Bengal, Punjab and north-western states, and so on. His position was
supported by many, including the poet Iqbal, who openly wanted a separate Muslim nation within India.
Not all Muslims agreed with the extremist position of Jinnah and his Muslim League; for example Khan Abdul
Gaffar Khan and his social organization Khuda khid mudgar (“the red shirts”) in the north-west provinces wanted
to cooperate with the Hindus.
However, the next year the Congress, too, decided to demand complete independence from the British.
That was declared on 26 January, 1930. The movement regained momentum with the Salt March (Dandi march)
of 320 km, performed by Gandhi and a large group of activists to go to the sea shore and collect salt directly from
the sea, challenging a law on the salt monopoly by the government. Thousands of people followed his example.
Lord Irwin invited Gandhi to London for talks in 1931.
In 1932 the British Prime Minister MacDonald announced the “Communal Award” Act by which the
different religious groups could send their representatives separately to the provincial legislatures. The
disadvantaged or “scheduled” castes of Hindus also had a separate provision. Gandhi asked the Hindus to stand
united, and B. R. Ambedkar and the other representatives of the lower castes rejected the offer of the British
government.
In 1933 Gandhi suspended the Satyagraha movement and devoted himself to the Harijans (the new name for the
lower castes) only. Gandhi launched and withdrew the Satyagraha movement several times, hoping to educate
the mass of people to non-violent protest only, but his attempts failed again and again. Finally in 1934 he
terminated the Satyagraha movement and left the Congress, which turned to socialism.

In 1934 the British banned the communist party, and continued to negotiate with Gandhi and the
Congress. In 1935 with the Government of India Act, the British introduced a federal structure offering to the
native states (princely kingdoms) the option to participate or not. A Governor General would have 10 Ministers
elected by local legislatures, and 2 chambers also elected locally. India was divided in 11 provinces with
Governors, plus a number of special areas directly under the Governor General. However, the Governor
maintained the power of veto over all decisions of local Governors, and could also make and enforce new laws
without consulting them. It was not a very good deal, but the Congress accepted to run in the elections. It
obtained the absolute majority in 5 provinces, and a majority in 2. The minority of the Muslim league demanded
coalition ministries for all the provinces.
This government experience for the Congress was difficult because of the conflicting interests of Hindus and
Muslims, landlords and peasants, businessmen and workers. Good work was done by helping negotiation
between employers and workers, distribution of land to landless peasants, anti-usury laws, tenancy, education,
and freedom of press.
Under the presidency of Subhash Chandra Bose (1938, 1939) the Congress became more and more oriented to
socialism. When he became too extreme, he was forced to resign and he proceeded to found the Forward Block
within the Congress. He was finally expelled by the Congress for his extremism. In the same year World War II
started, and Britain declared that India was also participating to the war; all Indian ministers resigned in protest.
Bose, kept in house confinement by the British, managed to escape in 1941 and he reached Russia through
Kabul. From there he reached Germany, where he was welcomed by Ribbentrop and spoke to Indians from the
German radio.
Bose convinced the Nazis to free a number of Indian prisoners of war and organized them as for the new
“Independent India army”. There the slogan “Jai Hind” started. After about one year Bose was called to Japan by
Rashbehari Bose, who had fled there already in 1915 to organize a conference of the Indian emigrates in
Southeast Asia.
In the meantime, in India Gandhi launched a new Satyagraha campaign. In 1941-1942 Japan occupied
Singapore and Burma. Britain tried to consolidate their position in India by sending a socialist member of the
British government, Cripps, to propose a Dominion status with regional autonomy, but he could not convince
anyone. Gandhi considered his proposal a “postdated cheque on a crashing bank” and observed that Japan was
ready to invade India from Burma. He launched the “Quit India” campaign, which was adopted by the Congress.
Almost all the members of the Congress were arrested by the British on the very next day. The people revolted in
mass in the “August revolution”: peasants, students, and workers rallied, and local governments were formed.
Among the other examples, there is the famous case of a 72 years old peasant widow, Matangini Harza who led
a big crowd to occupy the Tamluk police station in Midnapore in support of the local government founded by the
Freedom movement. However, the British suppressed the movement in 2 months.
In 1943, Subhash Chandra Bose became the president of the Indian Independent League in Singapore, declared
a Free India Government, and declared war to Britain and America. His Indian National Army liberated the
Andaman and Nicobar islands from the British and went with the Japanese up to Kohima, Nagaland. However, in
the meantime the Japanese had to accept defeat after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Indians
who were allied with them were taken prisoners by the British. Subhash Chandra Bose is said to have died in an
air crash on 18 August, 1945 near Taipei while he was flying to Tokyo, but many think he survived the crash.
At the trial of the generals of the Free India Army (Azad Hind Fauz) at the Red Fort, the vast movement of
protest of the population forced the acquittal. Strikes and rallies were held everywhere; in Calcutta the police
killed 2 students, but revolts continued. Gandhi completely retired from politics to serve the Harijans (called
Achhut, “untouchables”), and then he was killed on 30 January, 1948.
Jinnah continued to demand a separate nation for Muslims, called Pakistan, creating more riots. C.
Rajagopalachari proposed to consider the idea after obtaining independence from Britain, a plebiscite in the
regions that would be affected, and some kind of mutual agreement of cooperation. Jinnah refused. At the Simla
conference in 1945, Lord Wavell also proposed an interim government with equal proportions of representatives
of Muslims and Hindus, but Jinnah also rejected that proposal.
In 1946 even the Indian navy revolted; the mutiny started in Bombay and soon spread to all the ships in
Calcutta, Madras, Karachi, and so on. The soldiers demanded the release of the INA generals, refused to go to
war against Indonesian freedom fighters, and also complained about the quality of the food they were getting.
The revolt was soon joined by the air force and the army. The British Prime Minister Clement Atlee announced
that Britain was ready to quit India. Elections were organized in 1946.
The fracture between the Congress and the Muslim League became irreversible, and the partition of Bengal and
Punjab was inevitable. On 11 August, 1947 Jinnah became the president of the Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan in Karachi. In 1971 East Pakistan declared its independence and became known as Bangladesh.

AFTER INDEPENDENCE
Jahawarlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India, from 1947 to 1964. Initially he was influenced by the
British “Fabian” socialists, then he visited the Soviet Union in 1926-1927, where he was impressed with the
atheistic philosophy of communism, that considered religion “the opiate for the people”. In fact Russia had been
heavily subjugated by the Christian orthodox Church, consecrating the political power of the Czars and the
oppressive feudal system, so the Bolshevik revolution, like the French revolution about 200 years earlier, had
taken away all power from the priests, closed the churches and prohibited religion. In the enthusiasm of their
early government, Russian Soviets had embraced communism as their religion, substituting the old faith and
superstitions.
Other important socialist ideas that Nehru collected in Russia were the central role of the government in economy
and the planning for industrial development in manufacturing and agriculture aimed at total industrialization of the
country. This concept included the perpetuation of monocultures in agriculture, subject to the control of the
government, with some form of protection for the farmers consisting in cooperativism.
However, around the mid 60s, India was still heavily depending on western aids, with a severe economic crisis.
The Chinese aggression of 1962 weakened Nehru’s position of peaceful co-existence and socialism. The
concept of non-alignment had been affirmed in order to retain full independence for India; the example of the
various countries of east Europe, who had come to be fully dominated by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
was not very inspiring. However, the political and military pressure from China and Pakistan was mounting. In
1965 the first war with Pakistan pushed Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964-1966) to officially ally with
Russia, since in 1954 the US had granted military aid to Pakistan. The ties with Russia became stronger.

Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977. In 1971 the Congress started to lose popularity, until the
breaking point in 1977. Indira declared state of emergency. This move actually alienated the people, and from
1977 to 1980 the Prime Ministership went to Morarji Desai and Charan Singh. With the support of Russia, Indira
Gandhi returned to power again in 1980 and tried to tackle the problems “the Russian way”, or in other words, by
dictatorship and oppression of dissenters. In 1981 Indira decided to solve the “problem of the Sikhs” in Punjab by
sending the army to attack the Golden temple in Amritsar, with the declared intention of arresting the “Sikh
terrorists”. Needless to say, the move deeply alienated the people of Punjab, who were already in a very difficult
position, pressurized by Pakistan that hoped to acquire Punjab to its territories by increasing the percentage of
the Muslim population (by killing or scaring away the others). The Punjabi people already felt abandoned by the
central government, and the violent repression of their discontent strengthened the separatists’ resolve.
In 1984 Indira Gandhi was killed in her garden by two Sikh body guards, and a pogrom was unleashed
against Sikhs all over north India. Two regiments of Sikhs left the army.
Rajiv Gandhi, second son of Indira (the first, Sanjiv, had died in a plane crash), became Prime Minister
from 1984 to 1989, on the wave of popular sentiments against the killing of his mother; he was also killed in Tamil
Nadu in 1991 by a terrorist attack during an election campaign. Tamil Nadu, like Punjab, Assam, Tripura and
other north-east states, is a hot spot of separatist movements. Nobody from the Gandhi family, considered by the
masses as the natural successors to the Gandhi-Nehru leadership, was available for the post of Prime
Ministership, and the Congress could not propose a convincing alternative. The Congress kept losing popular
support, and had to rely more and more on alliances with other parties which kept forming. The central
government was then formed by various coalitions under the Prime ministership of Visvanatha Pratap Singh,
Chandra Shekhar, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and Deve Gowda, until 1998, when the coalition collapsed and new
elections were called.

In the meantime, the Hindus had started to become organized politically, mainly with the Vishva Hindu Parishad
and the Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh. The main point of the Hindu political activists was simple: with their
electoral power, a majority of Hindus over the minorities of Muslims, Christians, secularists and communists
could restore good dharmic Hindu rulers at the government, after so many centuries of oppression. The
movement to reclaim the Hindu holy sites for Hindu worship grew. The Hindu movement had asked, among the
thousands of holy places lost to forced Islamization and Christianization, the return of three sites: Ayodhya,
Mathura and Somanath, respectively the birthplace of Rama, the birthplace of Krishna and a famous ancient
Shiva temple.
Only Somanath had been obtained, while the holy sites in Ayodhya and Mathura were still covered by mosques
that had no religious significance for the Muslim community, other than the satisfaction of preventing Hindus from
worshiping in their ancient traditional holy ground. For many centuries Hindus had longed for the return of the
Rama Rajya, the godly government that, in the words of Krishna in Gita, would protect the good people,
annihilate the evil-doers and re-establish the principles of dharma.
The Maha Purna Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, during the month of December-January 1986, had seen over 22
million pilgrims during the peak weeks of the festival. People had come from all over the world to participate to
the special event, and religious feelings were running high. Many wanted to go in pilgrimage to Ayodhya, a very
important holy site near to the Kumbha Mela camp. In 1949 the Hindus had already installed the Deities of Sita-
Rama in a small temple in Ayodhya and on 31 January 1986 they had obtained the authorization for opening the
small temple to the public. However, the actual spot of the birthplace of Ramachandra, the Rama janma bhumi,
was not open to Hindus as a mosque had been built about 300 years earlier over the site of the previous Hindu
temple that was at least 2,000 years old, having being built by the Hindu emperor Vikramaditya. The ancient
beautiful temple had been completely destroyed by the Muslim invaders who killed many Hindus in the process,
and the mosque was built on the razed site, so that no Hindu could ever rebuild a Rama temple there.
Some of the participants to the Kumbha Mela felt they couldn’t wait any more to re-establish the Rama janma
bhumi, and the Babri Masjid (Babri mosque) in Ayodhya was attacked on 17 February 1986. The agitation
continued for many months and between 1992 and 1993, for two months, there were riots in Bombay between
Hindus and Muslims. Bal Thakre’s organization, Shiva Sena, was blamed for the violence.
With the victory of the Bharata Janata Party on the wave of new hope from the Hindus, Sitaram Keshri
resigned from the Congress’ presidency and Sonia Gandhi became the president of the Congress. Previously
Mrs. Gandhi had always refused to take part in politics, also because of the open hostility of some of the leaders,
who considered her just a foreigner and a woman.
The BJP obtained the power, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee became Prime Minister, working closely together
with Lal Krishna Advani. However, the resurgence of the Hindu movement with its legitimate demands was not
the only matter they had to deal with. The new government had many problems to face, both internally and
externally.
Politics at home required alliances with strange partners, not always fit for the posts they had bargained for in the
election deals. The border problems with Pakistan and Bangladesh were also intertwined with domestic problem,
mainly Kashmir and the north-eastern states of India (bordering Bangladesh), where a strong pressure of
Christians who were trying to win independence by indoctrinating the tribal populations of Nagaland (Naga),
Mizoram (Mizo), Assam (Bodo), and Tripura with terrorism.
The connection between the Christian missionaries and the separatist terrorism in north-eastern states of
India is amply known. When Nagmanlal Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was arrested
by the Tripura police, he had 50 gelatin sticks, 5 kg of potassium and 2 kg of sulphur and other ingredients for
making explosives. Mr. Halam confessed that his activities for the saving the heathen souls involved buying and
supplying explosives to the NLFT over the past two years. Another church official, Jatna Koloi, who was also
arrested, admitted that he had received training in guerrilla warfare at an NLFT base last year.
The Baptist Church of Tripura was initially set up by proselytizers from New Zealand 60 years ago. Despite their
efforts even until 1980 only a few thousand people in Tripura had converted to Christianity. The murder (following
the open death threats issued by the NLFT) of inmates and workers of non-Chistian educational and social
workers’ institutions among tribals already forced the closure of many institutions like schools and orphanages,
set up by the slain religious leaders in various parts of Tripura. Armed NLFT militants torch and blow up villages,
schools and social centers, kidnap people for ransom, ambush convoys, attack vehicles, buses, trucks,
murdering several thousands of people and in general conduct all sorts of terrorist activities, hoping to push the
central government to concede them their fully independent Christian “promised land” from where all the Hindus
will be kicked out. The NLFT has been an active partner of the Baptist Church in winning converts to the Christian
creed by terrorist attacks, also launching proclaims (with official communication to the press) prohibiting people
from celebrating all Hindu festivals like Durga Puja and Makar Sankranti, and even listening to Indian music.
Such proclaims also prohibit women from wearing bangles or bindis, etc.

The Kashmir valley had always had a Muslim majority, although before partition several Hindu Kashmiri
pandits lived there. In 1941 the Muslim population was 61%, but it had gradually increased (due to the
disappearance of Hindus) up to 95%. From 24 May to August 1999 there was a serious confrontation between
India and Pakistan in the Kargil-Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir, to push out Pakistani infiltrators.
Pakistan had been supporting terrorism in Kashmir in a low intensity war since partition, and there have been 3
“official” Indo-Pakistan wars. Previously, in 1948-1949 Nehru and Girija Shankal Bajpay had presented a
complaint to the Security Council of the United Nations, which declared that the people of Kashmir should decide
if they wanted to be part of India or Pakistan. However, from 1965 to 1998 the United Nations never mentioned
the Kashmir problem once, although its gravity was no less than the Middle East problems, originated by the
same dynamics (Muslim separatism).
In 1974 the first atomic tests were performed in India, following the general global trend and especially the
armaments race of USA and Russia. However, from the 1970s onwards, and especially with the end of the cold
war and the fall of the communist regime in Russia, the nuclear option had become more and more unpopular in
the international public opinion, and both US and Russia had been forced to start disarming. The echo of global
trends rarely reaches India’s public opinion, and the government had not been very open to consider the world’s
public opinion. So when both India and Pakistan were the only nations to refuse to sign the CTBT
(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty) in 1997, considered a global necessity by the majority of the world countries,
international criticism and concern about the political and military situation in the subcontinent became very
serious.
Pakistan tested the Ghori missiles during the first week of May 1998, only a few months after the BJP was
elected to power (February 1998). On 12 May of the same year the Indian Shakti missiles were tested at
Pokhram, in Rajasthan.
In June the new defense budget of the Indian government was increased of 14%, and the nuclear budget was
increased of 68%. Unfortunately neither India nor Pakistan realized that a nuclear war between two countries that
lie so close together would destroy both countries even if only one of them was struck and the other had no time
to retaliate. The gravity of the effects of nuclear weapons is totally ignored by the mass of people, and probably
even by the government leaders. In western countries a popular movement of awareness about the nuclear
dangers had brought the governments, under the pressure of the people, to give up nuclear power plants and
nuclear armaments.
The traditional alliance with Russia against the United States (that traditionally supported Pakistan, aiming at their
petrol) already had a severe blow when the communist regime fell, revealing a shattered economy and society
that had been carefully kept hidden by the control of media and repression of dissenters. All over the world, the
communist parties in various countries had either waned or changed their approach. Still, due to the lack of
information and communication especially at international level, Indian communists still lived in an idealized past.
Mainstream communism has traditionally been strong in Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Extremism had also been
present all along, and with the economic crisis of the 1960s, extremists had lost all faith in the participation to the
government. The Naxalites, a particular brand of communist extremist terrorists, originated in Naxalban, a
subdivision of Darjeeling (West Bengal) in 1967, when the tribal cultivators rebelled against the tea plantation
economy that had monopolized the land.
A similar movement had developed Andhra Pradesh in the late 1960s, when the “Girijans” forest tribals became
restless because they were losing land to money lenders. Their economic situation was extremely precarious. In
1968 an organization was founded on a Maoist line, called Girijan Sangam, vowing the “annihilation of class
enemies”. From 1969 to 1971 they occupied the Government’s wastelands, forest land and the farms of the big
landlords. The army repressed the movement in 1971.

Apart the political problems posed by the Muslim community (supported by foreign Muslim countries), the
separatist movements and terrorist activities, the communist pressure, the growing conversion campaigns and
political pressure of Christian missionaries, the BJP government had to deal with other uncomfortable legacies.
In 1951 the literacy percentage of the population was 18%. In 1998 it had raised to 64%. However, literacy
campaigns were often conducted for political purposes by Christians and communists (Kerala has a literacy rate
of 100%), creating new problems while solving a previous one.
Another problem connected with literacy is the sad plight of women in India. In the 1990s, the percentage of
illiteracy among women (national average) was still 75% in urban areas and 95% in rural areas. The difficulties
women face in India start from inequality in education. When the purdah was imposed by Muslim rulers on Hindu
society, women lost all influence on society and were denied education (even literacy). Even today, the results of
the purdah are afflicting Indian society: generally women are discouraged from public careers, they have no right
to choose their partner or divorce, or remarry if they become widows. The dowry and the exorbitant costs of
marriages also puts a tremendous burden on the families, and this has caused huge percentages of female
infanticide and abortions of female fetuses (the sex of the fetus can be detected by ultrasound). Malnutrition and
mistreatment of women, especially in backward and illiterate groups of population who are already prey to
ignorant beliefs and a bad quality of life, fatally brings to malnutrition and poor health in children and
complications in childbirth and in the subsequent adult life.
Unfortunately, the problem of ignorance, lack of education, malnutrition and mistreatment of women is not limited
to illiterate and destitute sections of society: it also affects wealthy and “educated” families who send boys to
schools but believe that the only possible future of a girl is getting married. These are still various issues waiting
to be corrected in modern India.
As we can see, India has grown tremendously through the years, and now that India is free from the controlling
influence of major invaders and oppressive rulers, it is no surprise that it is again becoming a great nation,
meaning a major power in the economic world. Still, there is much growth for it to do and many issues that it is
resolving, but there is much hope for what India can show the world, if it can overcome the corruption in business
and politics, and social discrepancies that divide instead of unite India as a society.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Attacks on
Hinduism, Hinduism, India, Indian culture, Indian History, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma| 2 Comments »
Christ and North-East India
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

Christ and North-East India

by Francois Gautier

The Indian Express

November 20, 2000

Jesus Christ was a great avatar of Love in the history of humanity and his message of compassion, charity, of
caring for one and another, is even more relevant today, in this fast and merciless civilization of ours, than it was
20 centuries ago, when people were more simple and living closer to Nature. Indeed, there are Christians who
today try quietly and unobtrusively to put into practice Christ’s precepts – and you can find missionaries in India,
such as Father Ceyrac, a Jesuit, who has lived for more than 60 years in Chennai, tending to the poorest
sections of this society, while respecting their culture (Father Ceyrac, who speaks fluently Tamil, often quotes
from the Upanishads).

Unfortunately, there has crept in the purity of the early Christianity an exclusiveness, a feeling of sole propriety
over the Copyright of God. This exclusiveness, this feeling amongst Christians, that “we are the only true religion,
all other gods are false gods”, has had the most catastrophic and bloody consequences: millions have been killed
in the name of Christ, entire civilizations, such as the Atzecs and Incas, have been wiped-out, in order “to bring
them the word of Jesus” and Christians have even savagely murdered each other, whether in France or England.
One would hope that this intolerance, this fanatical and militant drive to convert, forcibly or otherwise, pagans to
the “true” God has ceased in this new millennium of “enlightenment”. Unfortunately it is not so. For nearly three
centuries, India has been the target of a massive conversion drive. It is even more so today, as Christianity is
dwindling in the West, there are less and less people going to Church and very few youth willing to become
priests and nuns. The Church is thus looking for new converts in the Third World, particularly in India, where
people have such an innate aspiration to spirituality. Indeed, the Pope has earmarked this new millennium as “the
Evangelization of Asia”. And it is in India’s North-East that this evangelization is meeting with the most success,
because it is peopled with simple, poor and uneducated tribals, who make an easy target.

In Tripura, for instance, there were no Christians at independence, the maharaja of the state was a Hindu and
there were innumerable temples all over the State. But from 1950, Christian missionaries (with Nehru’s blessings)
went into the deep forests of Tripura and started converting the Kukis. Today, according to official figures, there
are 120,000 Christians in Tripura, a 90% increase since 1991. The figures are even more striking in Arunachal
Pradesh, where there were only 1710 Christians in 1961, but 115000 today, as well as 700 churches! What to
say of Mizoram and Nagaland, where the entire local population is Christian! The amount of money being poured
by Christians into the North-East is staggering: The Saint Paul’s school of Tripura, for instance, gets an 80 lakhs
endowment per semester. Which Hindu school can match this? No country in the world would allow this. France,
for instance, has a full-blown Minister who is in charge of hunting down “sects”. And by sects, it is meant anything
which does not belong to the great Christian family, particularly if it has Hindu “pagan” overtones!
Isn’t it also strange that many of the North-East separatist movements, such as the Mizo or the Bodos, are not
only Christian dominated, but also sometimes function with the covert backing of the missionaries? The Don
Bosco schools, for example, which are everywhere in the North-East, are known by the Tripura Intelligence
Bureau to sometimes harbor extremists at night. But the Tripura Marxist Government chooses to close its eyes,
because in India, Communists are often walking for their own selfish purpose – hand in hand with Christians.
Does the common man in India know that the nexus between the separatists and the Church is so strong in
Tripura and Assam that temples are being demolished, that people are scared to practise pujas, except in
strongholds such as Agartala, that Hindu social workers do not dare go in the interior? On the other hand, every
other day a new church springs-up in the North-East, every week a new Christian school is opened without facing
the threat of any extremist attack. Is it the way of treating a country, which from early times gave hospitality to
Christians, indeed, the first Christian community in the world, that of the Christian Syrians, was established in
Kerala in the first century AD?

It’s not only that conversion is an unethical custom, but also that it threatens a whole way of life, erasing centuries
of tradition, customs, wisdom, teaching people to despise their own religion and look westwards to a culture
which is alien to them, with disastrous results. Look how the biggest drug problems in India are found in the North
East, or how Third World countries which have been totally christianized have lost all moorings and bearing and
are drifting away without nationalism and self-pride. It is time that Indians awoke to the threat of Christian
conversions here. The argument (mostly put forward by “secular” thinkers) that Christians are only 3% in India
and therefore cannot be a threat, is totally fallacious: the influence that Christians exercise in this country through
their schools, hospitals and the enormous amount of money being poured in by western countries for the purpose
of converting Hindus, is totally disproportionate.

The message of Christ is one of Love, of respecting other’s cultures and creed – not of utilizing devious and
unethical means for converting people. It is false that Jesus is the only true God. The Divine has manifested
Himself throughout the ages under different names and identities, whether it is Christ, Buddha, Krishna or
Mohamed. Let this be the motto of the 21st century. Then only will true spirituality emerge, beyond all religions
and intolerances.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture |
Tagged:Christianity, Christianity and North-east India, Cultural Preservation, Hinduism, Indian culture,Indian
History, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma, Vedic culture | 1 Comment »
Thirteen Years of Killings in Tripura by the NLFT
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp
Thirteen Years of Killings in Tripura by the NLFT
(The National Liberation Front of Tripura)

The Violence in Tripura Continues

In our concern for the violence that takes place daily in India’s Northeast region, here is a sample of the typical
but atrocious news that comes out of the region due to the insurgency of the terrorist, militant Christian groups
that act in the area. These groups, in their promotion of Christianity, continue to kill thousands of local people in
their attempt to ban all Hindu practices and convert everyone into Christians.

Hindu Genocide in Tripura

By S. Aravindan Neelakandan
“I came not to bring peace, but a sword” – Jesus Christ
For seven-year-old Shreema, 13th Jan 2002 was a special Sunday. All through the year, the girl had awaited the
dawn of this day. For, that was the day one goes out and purchases new clothes, new toys and sweets, as the
next day would be Makar Sankranthi — the harvest festival celebrated throughout India. The Singicherra Bazar
was bustling with activity. Like Shreema’s family there were many people looking forward to a happy Makar
Sankranthi. But they didn’t realise that they were violating a fatwa issued by the Baptist Church-created Christian
Al-Qaeda, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT). Nor did they know that they would pay with their lives
for celebrating a heathen festival of their motherland.
Shreema would never again celebrate Makar Sankranthi. She died, along with sixteen others, on the spot as 13
terrorists of the NLFT encircled the people shopping for the festival and fired indiscriminately. The soldiers of
Christ have done again in Tripura what they have been doing for centuries to heathens throughout the world.
The Baptist Church of Tripura is not just the ideological mentor of the NLFT; it also supplies the NLFT with arms
and ammunition for the soldiers of the holy crusade. Never mind that the holy war involves killing infants and
torching the huts of ‘heathen Hindoos’. The NLFT does all these to bring to the infidels the peace and love of
Christ. So, when Nagmanlal Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was arrested by the
Tripura police he had rather curious tools for evangelisation, which included along with the gospel 50 gelatin
sticks, 5 kg of potassium and 2 kg of sulphur and other ingredients for making explosives. Mr. Halam confessed
that his activities for the saving the heathen souls involved buying and supplying explosives to the NLFT over the
past two years. Another church official, Jatna Koloi, who was also arrested, admitted that he received training in
guerrilla warfare at an NLFT base last year. Surely, gelatin and AK-47s have more efficiency when it comes to
bringing the light of the only revealed truth to the disbelievers suffering in ‘spiritual darkness’. Those who are in
doubt can check it out with another great light-bearer of the other ‘only true book’, Osama bin Laden (that is,
when and if the prophet of terror is captured).
The Baptist Church of Tripura was initially set up by proselytizers from New Zealand 60 years ago. Despite their
efforts, even until 1980, only a few thousand people in Tripura had converted to Christianity. Then the Church
used one of its most efficient and time-tested weapons of evangelisation — creating racial and ethnic divide
among the people. In the aftermath of one of the worst ethnic riots, engineered by the Church, the NLFT was
born — but not without the midwife role of the Baptist Church. From its very inception, the NLFT has been
advancing the cause of Christianity through armed persuasion. Every trace of indigenous culture is being
eliminated through violent means. Every resisting group is made to bleed its way to extinction.
The case of Jamatya tribals provides a telling example. These tribals have strong spiritual leaders and a network
of social service organisations headed by their religious leaders. These indigenous sects are neither exclusive
nor expansionist. The Baptist Church has always failed miserably in its conversion efforts with regard to this well-
knit community. Hence, it is no wonder that the NLFT has made Jamatya institutions and their religious leaders
the targets of their attacks. In the August of 2000, religious leaders of the Jamatya community like Jaulushmoni
Jamatya and Shanti Kumar Tripura were killed by the NLFT, and Jamatya families were uprooted from their
homelands and made refugees. The death threats issued by the NLFT to the inmates of these institutions have
already forced the closure of 11 Jamatya institutions like schools and orphanages, set up by the slain religious
leaders in various parts of Tripura4. Interestingly, these tribals are not close-minded fanatics. For one thing, they
do not mind teaching the theory of evolution in their schools.
The greatest challenge to the Bible inspired mission of the NLFT comes from the Sangh Parivar’s Banbasi
Kalyan Kendra. The dedicated life workers of RSS have started empowering the tribals by running many
educational institutions which while empowering them through imparting secular technical education also retain
their tribal cultural and spiritual identity. Rather than making them disown their roots, the Kendra made the tribals
feel proud of their culture. It even conducts national level tribal sports festivals. If the NLFT is to carve out a
kingdom for Christ out of the secular republic of India, it has to make sure that the Kendra activities are stopped
at all costs. In July 2000, armed NLFT militants torched a residential school and students hostel run by the Seva
Mission in the remote Ananda Bazar area of North Tripura. They had also taken hostage four RSS life workers.
These RSS workers were all in their sixties. The crime committed by these old men was that they had dared to
run educational institutions for tribals while preserving the tribals’ culture. Later, all four were killed by the NLFT.
The NLFT has been an active partner of the Baptist Church in winning converts to the Christian creed. They have
killed tribal priests to threaten communities and effect mass conversions. But those tactics have obviously
backfired. In 2001 alone, the NLFT killed more than 20 Hindus who refused to ‘accept the love of Christ’. They
also torched to death a Hindu family sleeping in a hut. In 2001, community chiefs and religious heads of 19 tribes
formed the ‘Tribal Culture Protection Committee’ to counter the threat posed by the NLFT7. Despite the NLFT
taking all possible steps to enforce conversions, the conversions are still slow. Frustrated, the NLFT has now
begun an all out war against Hindu tribals. They have issued fatwas against infidel activities. These fatwas
prohibit people from celebrating festivals like Durga Pooja and Makar Sankranthi, listening to Indian music,
watching Indian TV channels and films, and prohibit women from wearing bangles or sporting bindis, etc. Just a
year before the NLFT started all these atrocities in India, the Southern Baptist Church of the United States of
America had given a clarion call to bring the light of the gospel to “millions of Hindus and Jews lost in the
darkness” of their religions.
Shreema, the seven-year-old girl from Tripura, died with bullets pumped into her tender body. Her crime
was that she violated the Christian fatwa which prohibited her from celebrating an Indian festival. She was not
just a victim of barbaric terrorism but she is also a martyr for Indian culture, a culture that has preserved
thousands of tribal customs from barbaric persecution. Yet, she will not make it to the glossy covers of the weekly
magazines of English speaking Indian media. Unsubstantiated, fabricated stories of Hindu fundamentalists (an
oxymoron) killing Christian priests have been making their headlines. However, these fabrications have their use.
They do help in the covering up of such acts of Christian love like killing in cold blood a seven-year-old girl or
burning a family to death.

Naganland: Baptist Militants Kill Local Political Leader

The Telegraph, Calcutta, Agartala, May 16, 2005
[Though we do not collect these reports like listed below, this shows that such killings still continue on a regular
basis.]
A local tribal CPM leader was clubbed to death in Tripura’s Sadar (north) by militants belonging to the
Biswamohan faction of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) yesterday. Police said Kishore Debbarma,
secretary of a CPM local committee had gone to attend a party program at Shanitola yesterday.
After the meeting, Debbarma, accompanied by a few other tribal cadre of the CPM, was having tea at a stall
in a market around 5 pm when he was dragged away at gunpoint by a group of NLFT militants. The party leaders
and workers were unable to resist the rebels but immediately informed Sidhai police. Within a short while the
police and TSR jawans reached Shanitala and launched combing operations.
Around 11pm, Debbarma’s body with multiple head injuries was found at a roadside ditch in the Katabon
area. The police said he had been clubbed to death by the militants. Senior CPM leader and the party’s
secretariat member, Gautam Das, condemned the killing and held the INPT-NLFT combine responsible for the
incident. “The NLFT carried out the killing but it had acted at the behest of the INPT,” Das
said.http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050517/asp/northeast/story_4747409.asp

More Deaths at the Hands of Extremists

September, 2003
1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1089578.stm
Police in the northeastern Indian state of Tripura say a leading Hindu religious leader, who was kidnapped by
suspected separatist rebels on Monday, has been found dead. Police say the body of the man, Labh Kumar
Jamatia, was discovered in a forest in Dalak village in southern Tripura.
2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/953200.stm
Separatist group bans Hindu festivities. The leading separatist group in the north-east Indian state of Tripura has
ordered indigenous tribespeople to stay away from celebrations of the Hindu festival Durga Puja. The outlawed
National Liberation Front of Tripura warned that any tribal members seen taking part in the festival would be
killed.
3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/899422.stm
Hindu preacher killed by Tripura rebels. A tribal Hindu spiritual leader has been killed by separatist rebels in the
northeastern Indian state of Tripura. Police say about ten guerrillas belonging to the outlawed National Liberation
Front of Tripura, the NLFT, broke into a temple near the town of Jirania on Sunday night and shot dead Shanti
Tripura, a popular Hindu preacher popularly known as Shanti Kali. The separatist group says it wants to convert
all tribespeople in the state to Christianity.
Two killed, three abducted by NLFT in Tripura
Press Trust of India, Agartala,
May 1, 2003

Two persons were killed and three others kidnapped by NLFT insurgents in separate incidents in West Tripura
district, police on Thursday said. Two collaborators of the banned outfit were kidnapped at gun point by the
armed ultras from Jangalia village in the district last night and one of them was later shot dead.
The other collaborator was taken away, the police said, adding the two men were kidnapped as they had
expressed their wish to surrender. A search operation has been launched in the area, the police said.
In a separate incident, another group of insurgents of the same outfit raided Tuikhamar village in the district
during the day and hacked a person to death, the police said.
Three other persons engaged in laying railway lines were kidnapped from Jirania in the district on Wednesday at
gun point, the police said, adding efforts were on to trace them.
Insurgents kill 19 people in Tripura
Wednesday, May 7, 2003 (Agartala):

Suspected insurgents of the banned All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) raided Sidhai village of west Tripura district
late last night and opened indiscriminate fire. As many as 19 people died on the spot and six others were injured
in the attack. The ATTF is said to be a militant group that crossed over from Bangladesh into Tripura. The group
is reportedly behind the killings of 17 people in this very village two years ago.
Tripura militants massacre 31 people
Thursday, May 8, 2003 (Agartala):
Thirty-one people including eight children and six women have been killed in Tripura since late Tuesday night in a
sudden burst of violence by militant groups. Most of the victims are non-tribals.
Insurgents from the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) raided a market in the West Tripura
district and opened indiscriminate fire in which ten people were killed.
Four people including a woman were injured. Police are now conducting search operations in the area.
Earlier, members of the All Tripura Tiger Force raided Satchhari, a border village in West Tripura district and set
fire to ten houses before opening fire killing 17 non-tribals.
In another incident, suspected NLFT militants shot dead a couple at Radhanagar village in North Tripura district.
Normal life in Tripura was affected today due to the dawn-to-dusk bandh (strike) called by ruling Left Front and
opposition Congress-Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura, official sources said. Shops and other business
establishments remained closed and flow of vehicles on roads was also thin in the early hours of the day, they
said. No untoward incident was reported from any part of the state during the bandh, called in protest of
yesterday’s militant attacks in different parts of the state killing 31 non-tribals.

The following is a list of murders by the NLFT terrorist group of Tripura in Northeast India, which aims to establish
a “free Tripura for Christ”. It has banned Hindu practices in Tripura. Several Baptist missionaries have been
caught with arms and propaganda pamphlets for the NLFT which shows their support for such terrorist
organizations. You can find updated figures at the following website:
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/tripura/terrorist_outfits/NLFT.HTM

2003
April 8: Five persons, including a woman and a child, are killed and eight more injured in an NLFT-attack on a
private gathering at Jagabandhpura, Dhalai district.
April 7: Chief Minister Manik Sarkar while speaking at a public meeting in Ramchandra Nagar, West Tripura
district asks the kin of NLFT and ATTF terrorists to exert pressure on the latter to shun the path of violence.
April 5: NLFT- Nayanbasi Jamatiya terrorists abduct a Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel from Tufaniamura,
Takarjala police station limits, West Tripura district. Police recover dead body of a tribal, killed by NLFT terrorists
from Bhati Maidan area, Champahaor police station limits, West Tripura district.
April 4: Police personnel camping at Mathulungbari, Killa police station limits, South Tripura district, repulse an
attack by NLFT. Four police personnel sustain injuries in the attack. NLFT terrorist arrested from Mathulungbari,
Killa police station limits, South Tripura district. Special Police Officer killed and four police personnel are injured
in an NLFT laid-ambush at Maithulungbari, South Tripura district. Three NLFT terrorists surrender to Assam
Rifles at Bhangmun, North Tripura
April 1: NLFT terrorists kill a colleague at Jamaraipara village, Kanchanpur subdivision in North Tripura district.
March 31: Dead body of a political activist, abducted by NLFT terrorists, on March 26 is recovered from
Ichachara, Champahour, police station-limits, West Tripura. An SF personnel succumbs to injuries at a Hospital
in Kolkata. He was injured on March 26 in an NLFT attack while escorting the Additional Director-General of
Police (ADGP) Pranay Sahay, in the Barmura Hills, West Tripura district.
Three persons, abducted by NLFT terrorists on March 12 return home safely at Raghna, North Tripura district.
March 30: Two NLFT terrorists surrender in separate incidents in the West Tripura district.
March 29: Five SF personnel and two civilians are killed in an NLFT laid-ambush at Sindukumarpara, Manu
police station limits, Dhalai district.
March 27: Eight cadres of the BNCT, an NLFT offshoot, surrender in Agartala.
March 26: Four NLFT terrorists, including a ‘sergeant’, along with an ATTF terrorist surrender at Narsingarh in the
West Tripura district.
March 24: A girl child is killed in Dhalai district by NLFT terrorists at Champaicherra village.
NLFT terrorists attack Hridaybasti village and set ablaze four huts. A young girl is injured while taking cover from
firing by terrorists.
March 25: Chief Minister Manik Sarkar alleges that Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, the Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) is providing arms training to terrorists operating in the Northeast
region, including NLFT and ATTF in Bangladesh.
March 20: Four railway construction workers are abducted by the NLFT from S K Para area, Manu police station-
limits, Dhalai district.
March 19: A front ranking NLFT terrorist Mangal Debbarma, his four female associates and another accomplice
are arrested from a place under Teliamura police station-limits, West Tripura district.
March 16: Police arrest an NLFT terrorist from Srirampur and also recover an AK-56 rifle and three magazines
from his possession.
March 17: Bishwamoni Debbarma, an NLFT ‘commander’ surrenders with a self-loading rifle to the security
forces.
March 14: Three Borok National Council of Tripura (BNCT) terrorists are arrested from Atharamur hill range,
Dhalai district.
March 13: NLFT terrorists abduct and kill a local-level CPI-M leader, in Madhuharipara village of Dhalai district.
March 1: BNCT terrorists at Asharmbari village, in West Tripura, kill two women activists of the CPI-M.
February 26: Five SF personnel and a civilian returning from poll duty are killed in an ambush laid by NLFT
terrorists at Snatarampara, West Tripura district. Three more BSF personnel are injured in the attack. NLFT
terrorists attack a SF convoy at Gulsingbari, Champahaor police station-limits, West Tripura injuring four SF
personnel. NLFT terrorists abduct two CPI-M supporters from Shambhucharanpara, Jirania police station limits,
West Tripura district.
February 19: NLFT terrorists kill a local level leader of the CPI-M at Kakracherra village, West Tripura.
February 17: BNCT terrorists kill a CPI-M supporter at Dukhiapara village, West Tripura.
February 15: NLFT terrorists kill a local level leader of the CPI-M at Jaydebpara village, Ampi police station limits,
South Tripura district. NLFT terrorists abduct and later kill two CPI-M supporters at Karnasinghpara village,
Gandacherra police station limits, Dhalai district.
February 11: NLFT terrorists kill a local level CPI-M leader at Arjun Thakurpara village, West Tripura district. A
civilian abducted by NLFT is later killed at Kachhima, Amarpur police station limits, West Tripura district. NLFT
terrorists kill two terrorists of the rival ATTF at Ekraibari, Kalyanpur police station limits, West Tripura district.
February 10: Nayanabashi Jamatiya faction of NLFT issues poll boycott call.
February 5: NLFT terrorists kill two Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists in Dhalai district.
February 4: NLFT kills CPI-M supporter and his five-year-old grand child at Laksmansardarpara, West Tripura
district.
February 2: Suspected BNCT terrorists, an NLFT offshoot, abducts 16 artists from Emrapasha in North Tripura
district. While four hostages manage to escape near the Bangladesh border, 12 more continue to remain in
captivity.
January 30: Assam Rifles posted in Tripura deny allegations that its official has linkages with NLFT and that he
facilitated transfer of arms and ammunition to them.
January 29: Suspected NLFT terrorists abduct three employees of Border Road Task Force from Raishabari in
Dhalai. Government enquiry is initiated into alleged nexus in Tripura between an Assam Rifles personnel and
NLFT. The officer allegedly facilitated transfer of at least 6,000 rounds of ammunition and a large number of arms
to NLFT.
January 28: A suspect is arrested in connection with the January 26-massacre of 11 persons by the NLFT in
West Tripura district.
January 26: 11 persons, including five women, killed by NLFT terrorists at CPM election rally in Mandai village,
West Tripura district.
January 23: NLFT terrorists kill local level CPI-M leader at Chamanu in Dhalai district.
January 22: Ruling CPI-M alleges that Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) is NLFT’s ‘political front’.
January 21: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill a Tripura resident in Lower New Colony, near Laitumkhrah in
Meghalaya’s capital Shillong.
January 22: At least 10 Northeast-based terrorist outfits, including NLFT, give Republic Day (January 26) ‘boycott
call’.
January 19: NLFT terrorists kill two suspected CPM activists in West Tripura district.
January 15: NLFT terrorists kill tribal activist of the ruling CPM in Ekjancherra area, South Tripura district.
January 14: NLFT kills three of a family–a local businessman, his son and daughter in Assam Basti area of North
Tripura district. NLFT terrorists abduct and later kill two CPM activists from
Akchhapara village, South Tripura district.
January 13: Tripura State Rifles personnel arrest eight NLFT terrorists from Kanchanpur in North Tripura district.
January 12: NLFT terrorists abduct and later kill a woman at Jamircherra, Dhalai district.
January 6: Two NLFT terrorists killed in encounter with Tripura State Rifles personnel in Dhoopicherra, Dhalai.
January 5: NLFT terrorist killed at Shilpara, Kanchanpur subdivision in North Tripura district.

2002
December 31: NLFT terrorists abduct a local-level Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader from new
Bhomracherra, under Natunbazaar police station-limits, West Tripura district.
December 30: Three terrorists of the NLFT-Biswamohan Debbarma faction are killed in an internecine clash with
the rival Nayanbasi Jamatiya group, in Narayanbari, Takarjala police station-limits, West Tripura district. NLFT-
Biswamohan Debbarma and the Jamatiya Hoda faction exchange fire at Arjunthakurpara, Takarjala police
station-limits, West Tripura district.
December 28: NLFT terrorists abduct six workers from Kathalbari in Tripura’s Dhalai district. An NLFT-
Nayanbasi Jamatiya terrorist and a student are killed during a clash with All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) terrorists
in Uddhav Vaishnabpara, in Khowai subdivision, West Tripura district.
December 26: NLFT terrorists kill two civilians, including a woman, in separate incidents in West Tripura and
Dhalai districts of Tripura. Three NLFT terrorists are arrested while making an extortion call in R.K. Nagar, under
Ranir Bazar police station-limits, Agartala West Tripura district, by a combined force of Tripura police and Tripura
State Rifles personnel.
December 19: NLFT terrorists abduct three sons of a local level-Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader
in Machhlimukh village, Manu police station-limits, in Tripura’s Dhalai district.
December 13: An NLFT terrorist is killed in an encounter in Krishnajay Reang Para village, Tripura’s Dhalai
district. Three NLFT terrorists are arrested from a place in Gandacherra sub-
division, Dhalai district.
December 7: Five NLFT terrorists are arrested from Khumulwung village, West Tripura district.
December 5: India asks Bangladesh to hand over two hardcore NLFT terrorists reportedly arrested by
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on December 1
November 27: AnNLFT terrorist surrenders at Takarjala police station, West Tripura district.
November 23: NLFT terrorists kill a local level-leader of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) near
his residence in the Amabassa area, West Tripura district.
November 8: Reports say NLFT terrorists have set free six captives near the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura.
Terrorists abducted 11 persons on October 2 from Netaji Para village, North Tripura district. Five more continue
to remain in the NLFT’s captivity
November 7: NFLT terrorists kill a ruling Communist Party-Marxist (CPM) activist in Champaknaga village of
West Tripura.
November 6: NLFT terrorists kill a person in Tuibaklai village, South Tripura district.
November 4: NLFT terrorists abduct a civilian from Rata Roajapara village, in Tripura’s Dhalai district. Police
arrest NLFT terrorist Aranyapaja Jamatia from Ambassa village, Dhalai district. Another NLFT terrorist Nagendra
Reang is also nabbed from Raisyabari village of the district.
October 21: NLFT terrorists kill two persons, including a security force personnel, in Takarjala, West Tripura
district.
October 17: Two NLFT terrorists are arrested from Kangrai and Golakpur villages of North Tripura district, in
separate raids.
October 16: Security forces arrest an NLFT terrorist from Kanchancherra village of Dhalai district, under the
National Security Act (NSA), and separately three more NLFT terrorists are arrested in Ampura village, West
Tripura.
October 11: Media report says the NLFT has warned tribals in Tripura to not intermingle with urban and semi-
urban populations during Durga Puja (A 10-day religious festival of Hindus).
October 9: NLFT terrorists kill nine security force personnel in an ambush in Raishabari, in Tripura’s Dhalai
district.
October 4: Four NLFT terrorists, allegedly trained in Bangladesh, surrender to the district authorities in Tripura’s
Dhalai district.
September 22: A report says NLFT terrorists abducted a villager from Khedacherra village of North Tripura
district. But does not mention the date.
September 20: Two terrorists of the NLFT- Biswamohan faction and another belonging to the rival NLFT-N are
killed in an internecine clash in Ghaniamara area, West Tripura district. Two NLFT terrorists–Rabi Debbarma and
Rajesh Debbarma–are arrested from Chikencharra and Chankhola villages respectively, in West Tripura district.
September 13: NLFT terrorists allegedly abduct an assistant teacher of the Kanchancherra senior school in
Agartala, West Tripura district.
September 10: Two NLFT terrorists surrender to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel at the latter’s
Gamaibar camp in West Tripura district. Police exhume skeletons of three victims abducted and subsequently
killed allegedly by NLFT terrorists from Khirodsardarpara village, West Tripura district.
September 9: NLFT-N self-styled ‘sergeant’ Maya Darlong surrenders at Kailashahar police station, Agartala.
September 7: Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) executive committee member Sridam
Debbarma is set free in Dhalai district by NLFT terrorists. He had been abducted on May 3, 2002.
September 5: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill two Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPM) activists in
Bhandarima village, Kanchanpur police station limits, North Tripura district. NLFT terrorists abduct five traders
from a local market in Dhumachara village, Manu police station limits, Dhalai district.
September 1: Suspected NLFT terrorists abduct an eight-year old boy from Satkard village, Dhalai district.
August 25: NLFT terrorists set free three State Health Department officials abducted on July 26 from the Lefunga
health camp, Sidhai police station limits, West Tripura.
August 24: Police arrest two NLFT terrorists from a hideout in Hirapur village, West Tripura district, in connection
with the August 20-massacre of 20 Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel.
August 22: Bikram Bahadur Jamatia, head priest of the Jamatia Hoda, a tribal ‘Hindu group’ in Tripura, alleges
that the NLFT forcibly converted approximately 14,000 tribals in the State to Christianity in the past five years.
August 21: The Nayanbasi Jamatiya faction of the NLFT, in a statement by its ‘commander’ Nayanbashi Jamatia
alias Nakbar, owns-up the
August 20 -Hirapur massacre of 20 TSR personnel.
August 20: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill 20 Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel in an ambush laid in Hirapur,
West Tripura district.
August 9: Six NLFT terrorists, three each from the Nayanbasi and Biswamohan factions, and an ATTF terrorist
surrender to the Assam Rifles in Agartala.
August 7: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill the chief of the Aidankur village council, near Agartala.
August 6: NLFT terrorists allegedly kill a local-level Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) activist at
Champawhar village of West Tripura district.
August 5: NLFT terrorists allegedly shoot at a moving vehicle and injure two civilians in Shikaribari, Dhalai district,
Tripura.
August 3: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill four persons–three members of a family in Birshaipara village–and
another in Kuchmanipara village.
August 2: Four CPI-M activists are allegedly killed by NLFT terrorists in Chandipur, Kanchanpur sub-division,
North Tripura.
July 31: Reports say NLFT is training its ‘armed women’s wing’ under Lara Darlong in Thouhanthaimaoi,
Khagracherri, Bangladesh.
July 27: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill one person in North Tripura district.
July 26: An NLFT ambush at Debendra Sardarpara in West Tripura district kills six security force personnel
escorting a group of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) field staff, a civilian driver and an NLFT terrorist.
July 23: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill a surrendered All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF <Attf.htm>) terrorist in
Kalyanpur village, Agartala.
July 21: Suspected NLFT terrorists abduct five labourers from Jamir Chara in Dhalai district.
July 17: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill two Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists in West Tripura
and Dhalai districts in separate incidents. A group of suspected NLFT terrorists abduct nine CPI-M activists from
Mendi village, South Tripura district.
July 13: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill a local-level Tribal Youth Federation (TYF) leader in Burhuria village,
South Tripura district. Two other TYF members are also abducted from Lambucherra village in Dhalai district in a
separate incident.
July 08: Report says the Biswamohan faction of the NLFT in the February issue of Yok (its mouthpiece) declared
it would talk to the State government only if ‘sovereignty and independence of the Twipra kingdom’ would be
included in the talks agenda.
July 06: Three NLFT terrorists surrender with large amount of arms and ammunition in Agartala.
July 02: Suspected NLFT-Nayanbasi terrorists kill a woman activist of the CPI-M in Mungiabari, West Tripura
district.
July 01: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill a women at Ramkrishna Para village in West Tripura district.
June 23: Two NLFT terrorists arrested in separate raids–one from Salema village in Dhalai district, and another a
hideout at Joykrishnapara village, West Tripura.
June 21: An unconfirmed report says NLFT-N terrorists killed nine ATTF cadres in separate attacks at
unidentified locations in Bangladesh.
June 15: Dilip Debnath, the Desher Katha journalist abducted by suspected NLFT terrorists on June 8 set free.
June 12: Two NLFT terrorists surrender in Agartala.
June 8 :Suspected NLFT terrorists abduct Dilip Debnath, a journalist of a local daily, Desher Katha, from Chebri
in West Tripura district.
June 6: NLFT terrorist killed in an encounter at Radhacharanpara in West Tripura district.
May 29: Four Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel killed and ten others injured in an ambush laid allegedly by
NLFT terrorists at Ghagracherra in Tripura’s Dhalai district.
May 25: NLFT terrorists kill a terrorist from a rival faction and a civilian, besides abducting two youths in West
Tripura district. Three suspected NLFT terrorists, including an `area commander’,
arrested in West and South Tripura districts.
May 19: Security forces unearth NLFT money racket in West Tripura district and arrested one.
May 14: Suspected NLFT cadres abduct three members of a tribal family in Katalutma, Dhalai district. Suspected
NLFT terrorist killed at Ompi in south Tripura.
May 13: Suspected NLFT terrorists abduct two school students and another in Kamalpur, Dhalai district.
May 11: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) local-level leader at
th
Ramchandraghat, West Tripura. Two dreaded NLFT terrorists surrender to the Assam Rifles 18 Battalion in
Kanchanpur.
May 10: Suspected NLFT-N terrorists abduct two persons in Chamubasti, Khowai subdivision of Tripura.
May 3: Suspected NLFT terrorists abduct a local leader of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) from
Gurudayalpara in West Tripura district. NLFT-N terrorist surrenders at the Border Security Force’s Teliamura
camp, West Tripura district
April 24: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill four of a family in Nimanjoypara and another in Dayal Sing Para village in
West Tripura. Fourth captive in the Amarendranagar abduction episode also found dead.
April 23: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill three of the four tribals abducted on April 21from Amarendranagar in the
Takarjala area of West Tripura district.
April 22: Five persons injured in bomb blast caused by suspected NLFT terrorists at Lalcherra village, West
Tripura district.
April 18: NLFT terrorist and two others killed in Kuki Chara village, Dhalai district.
April 16: NLFT terrorist killed in an encounter in a jungle near Shantirbajar village of South Tripura district.
April 12: NLFT terrorists kill two persons in Jirania.
April 13: One person killed by suspected NLFT terrorists in West Tripura district.
April 7: Five NLFT terrorists- four at Ramchandra Ghat, West Tripura, and one at Manu, Dhalai, killed by ATTF
cadres in an internecine clash.
April 4: Three NLFT terrorists surrender at Jirania in West Tripura.
April 1:One suspected NLFT terrorist arrested from Krishnanagar area of Agartala.
March 29 :Two non-tribals, abducted on February 8, rescued from an NLFT hideout. NLFT terrorist arrested
elsewhere in the State.
February 9 :Benjamin Hrangkhal, a top terrorist of the NLFT-Nayanbasi Jamatiya faction [NLFT-N] killed in an
encounter with security forces.
February 5 : NLFT terrorists kill six tribals belonging to Gana Mukti Parishad at Paschim Nalicherra in Dhalai
district.
February 3 :Two NLFT terrorists killed in an encounter at Sibbari in Dhalai district.
January 1 :NLFT terrorists kill two tribal youths near Jamthung village.
January 28 :Six persons injured in an attack by NLFT terrorists at Panboa in Dhalai district.
January 13 :NLFT terrorists kill 16 persons at Singicherra in West Tripura district.

2001
December 13 : NLFT terrorists injure five villagers at Dangabari in North Tripura district.
November 30 :Two NLFT terrorists killed and 10 more injured at Chunagarh in West Tripura district in a clash
with the Border Security Force (BSF).
November 24:Three terrorists killed in internecine clashes between NLFT and All Tripura Tiger Force ATTF along
the India-Bangladesh border.
November 23: NLFT terrorists kill two persons in West Tripura district.
September 25: NLFT-N kills two senior workers of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and abducts
another, believed to have been killed later, from Takarjala in West Tripura district.
September 22: NLFT terrorists kill two leaders of the Tripura Upajati Ganamukti Parishad (TUGP), a tribal wing of
the ruling Left Front at Manu village in Dhalai district.
September 18: Five NLFT-N terrorists and a civilian killed in internecine conflict between NLFT-N and NLFT at
Takarjala in West Tripura district.
September 2: NLFT kills six persons of Jamatiya tribe in South Tripura district, including three Communist Party
of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders. Tripura government decides to formulate special measures to tackle killings of
CPI-M leaders by NLFT.
August 31: NLFT terrorists kill three ruling CPI-M leaders at Radhacharan Thakurpara in West Tripura district.
August 21: Three NLFT terrorists led by an ‘area commander’, Amar Sadhan Jamatia, surrender at Jirania in
West Tripura district.
August 18: Suspected NLFT terrorists kill Jagadish Debbarma, a CPI-M leader and chairman of Kandaicherra
Gaonsabha (village body) in West Tripura district.
August 10: Four NLFT terrorists surrender to the Commandant of the 22nd battalion of Assam Rifles at Dulubari
camp in Dhalai district.
August 8: NLFT terrorists kill local-level CPI-M activist and injure his wife, who later dies, at Jampaijala in West
Tripura district. NLFT terrorists also kill another CPI-M leader and chairperson of the Block Development
Committee at Jampaijala.
August 6: Six employees abducted by NLFT terrorists from two tea gardens in North Tripura district.
July 30: Three divisional committee members of CPI-M killed by NLFT terrorists in the Longthoraivally subdivision
of Dhalai district
July 29: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) claims that four of their pracharaks (local leaders) were
recently killed by NLFT terrorists at their camps in Bangladesh. They had been abducted by NLFT terrorists from
Banabasi Kalyan Ashram at Kanchancherra in Dhalai district, on August 6, 1999.
July 1: 11 NLFT terrorists escape from the Udaipur Central prison in Agartala.
June 11: Nine terrorists of the Nayanbashi Jamatia faction of the NLFT led by ‘Corporal’ Swapan Debbarma
surrender at Agartala.
June 4: Three persons and a child killed and four others injured by NLFT terrorists at Kanakchowmuhani in West
Tripura district.
May 16: 14 people injured in an attack by a group of NLFT terrorists on the Bholagiri Ashram, a Hindu religious
place on the outskirts of Agartala.
April 1: NLFT ‘foreign secretary’ Joshua Debbarma alias Jogendra and ‘senior commander’ Janabir Debbarma
quit the mainstream faction of the outfit along with some cadres, and join the breakaway faction of NLFT led by
Nayanbasi Jamatya.
March 24: Two security force personnel and three civilians killed in an ambush by suspected NLFT terrorists at
Shikaribari in Dhalai district.
March 21: 11 persons, including four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, killed in an ambush by suspected
NLFT terrorists in North Tripura district.
February 21: NLFT terrorists release nine railway workers abducted on
January 7, somewhere near Dhamchara in Dhalai district.
February 12: NLFT terrorists kill local-level CPI-M leader in Maharani village, Dhalai district.
February 8: 21 Jamatia tribals, earlier taken hostage by NLFT terrorists, on January 29, set free near Nitya
Bazar, South Tripura district.
February 6: Suspected NLFT terrorists abduct six non-tribals from Dataram village, South Tripura district.
January 15: A group of 25 NLFT terrorists assault women and kill a person in Begrambari village.
January 8:NLFT terrorists abduct 14 employees of the Indian Railways and two others in separate incidents in
North Tripura and Dhalai districts, on January 7 and January 8.

2000
December 29: Several persons injured as more than 25 NLFT terrorists loot shops and indulge in violence at a
hill market in Ramraibari, South Tripura district.
December 26: NLFT terrorists ransack a Buddhist temple in Almara village, South Tripura district, and escape
with scriptures and an idol.
December 25: NLFT terrorists kill a Jamatiya leader in Dalak village, South Tripura district, for refusing to
embrace Christianity
December 13: At the 410th Conference of the Jamatia Hoda, tribal leaders resolve not to pay any kind of tax to
terrorists in the region.
December 5: Suspected NLFT terrorists ransack a Buddhist temple in Almara village, South Tripura district.
December 4: NLFT terrorists attack yet another hermitage in Jirania Khola.
November 19: 14 persons killed by suspected NLFT terrorists and in the subsequent communal violence in
Borahaldi in North Tripura district.
October 27: Five civilians, including a child, killed by suspected NLFT terrorists in Debendra Sarkarpara, West
Tripura district.
October 21: Three civilians killed by suspected NLFT terrorists in Dewanbari, South Tripura district.
September 22: Three NLFT terrorists killed in an encounter in Mikrossapara.
September 2: Split occurs in NLFT following the expulsion of Jogendra Debbarma, chairman of the political wing.
The expelled chairman establishes the Borok National Council of Tripura (BNCT).
July 9: NLFT terrorists raid the headquarters of the Mizoram-based Bru Naitonal Liberation Front (BNLF) terrorist
outfit in the Jampui Hills across Bangladesh and gun down 70 BNLF cadres, including some top leaders.
May 18: NLFT terrorists kill four women and three men, besides injuring five others, in South Tripura district.
May 17-20: Terrorists belonging to NLFT and United Bengali Liberation Front (UBLF) gun down 45 persons in
separate incidents in West Tripura district.
April 20: NLFT terrorists gun down eight people in Laxmipur, North Tripura district.
April 15: NLFT terrorists kill 12 people and injure seven others in West Tripura district.
March 29: NLFT terrorists gun down a local CPI-M leader in Tulashikhar, West Tripura district.
March 19: NLFT terrorists abduct 12 workers of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) from
Gulakathalarpara, West Tripua district.
March 16: NLFT terrorists gun down a local CPI-M leader and abduct three people in South Tripura district.
February 7: Security forces arrest six NLFT terrorists from South Tripura district.
January 16: NLFT terrorists gun down a local CPI-M leader in Alutola, South Tripura district.

1999
December 25: In repeated clashes between NLFT terrorists and agitated mobs, three persons are killed and 100
houses burnt down, in Bishramganj, West Tripura district.
November 22: Eight security force personnel killed, five others seriously injured in an ambush laid by NLFT
terrorists in Banduar, South Tripura district.
November 5: Union Home Ministry extends ban on NLFT.
September 6: NLFT terrorists abduct 16 State government officials from Manu, Dhalai district.
August 12: NLFT terrorists gun down six persons in Manu, Dhalai district.
August 6: NLFT terrorists abduct four senior Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders in Dhalai district.
March 10: Eight NLFT terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces in Khedachara, North Tripura district.
March 2: Security forces arrest five NLFT terrorists from South Tripura district.
February 2: NLFT terrorists kill eight people in North Tripura district.

1998
October 10: NLFT militants gun down eight people in West Tripura district.
March 31: NLFT terrorists assassinate the Sate Health Minister, Bimal Sinha, in an ambush in Abhanga, Dhalai
district. The Minister’s brother is also killed in the incident.
February 12: NLFT cadres ambush a security patrol at Champraipara in Dhalai district killing six Tripura State
Rifles (TSR) personnel.

1997
November 7: Nine security force personnel, 11 others killed in a bomb blast allegedly set off by NLFT terrorists, in
Dhalai district.

1995
September 15: NLFT terrorists lay an ambush in South Tripura district and kill three security force personnel.

1993
September 20: Seven security force personnel killed and nine more injured in an attack by NLFT terrorists on a
police station in North Tripura district.

1992
October 11: 14 NLFT terrorists killed in raids on two terrorist hideouts in Chakakujra

1989
National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) established under the leadership of Dhanjoy Reang. Demands the
creation of a sovereign Tripura.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Cultural
Preservation, Deaths in Tripura, Hinduism, Indian culture, Indian History, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma, terrorism
in Tripura, Tripura, Vedic culture | Leave a Comment »
Christian Persecution in India: The Real Story
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

Christian Persecution in
 India: The Real Story
We have heard about what the Christians in India have called the persecutions against them. However, there is
much more to this story than we often hear, and there are certainly two sides to it. The following is a first-hand
investigative article that relates what has really been going on with the Christians in India, much of which has
been kept from the public. This shows the duplicity in the Christian activities in India. This article, by Francois
Gautier, is reprinted from the “Annual Research Journal, 2001″ published by the Institute for Rewriting Indian
[and World] History.

WILL HINDUISM SURVIVE THE PRESENT CHRISTIAN OFFENSIVE?

By Francois Gautier
When Prime Minister Vajpayee was in the US in September (2000) , the National Association of Asian Christians
in the US (whom nobody had heard about before), paid $ 50,000 to the New York Times to publish “an Open
Letter to the Honorable Atal Bihari Vajpayee, prime minister of India.”
While “warmly welcoming the PM,” The NAAC expressed deep concern about the “persecution” of Christians in
India by “extremist” (meaning Hindu) groups mentioning as examples “the priest, missionaries and church
workers who have been murdered,” the nuns “raped,” and the potential enacting of conversion laws, which would
make “genuine” conversions illegal. The letter concluded by saying “that Christians in India today live in fear.”
The whole affair was an embarrassment (as it was intended to be) to Mr. Vajpayee and the Indian delegation,
which had come to prod American businessmen to invest in India, a peaceful, pro-Western and democratic
country.
I am born a Christian and I have had a strong Catholic education. I do believe that Christ was an incarnation of
Pure Love and that His Presence still radiates in the world. I also believe there are human beings who sincerely
try to incarnate the ideals of Jesus and that you can find today in India a few missionaries (such as Father
Ceyrac, a French Jesuit, who works mostly with lepers in Tamil Nadu) who are incarnations of that Love, tending
tirelessly to people, without trying to convert them.
But I have also lived for more than 30 years in India, I am married to an Indian, I have travelled the length and
breadth of this country and I have evolved a love and an understanding of India, which few other foreign
correspondents have because they are never posted long enough to start getting a real feeling of this vast and
often baffling country (nobody can claim to fully understand India). And this is what I have to say about the
“persecution” of Christians in India.
Firstly, it is necessary to bring about a little bit of a historical flashback, which very few foreign correspondents
(and unfortunately also Indian journalists) care to do, which would make for a more balanced view of the problem.
If ever there was persecution, it was of the Hindus at the hands of Christians, who were actually welcomed in this
country, as they have been welcomed in no other place on this planet. Indeed, the first Christian community of
the world, that of the Syrian Christians, was established in Kerala in the first century. They were able to live in
peace and practice their religion freely, even imbibing some of the local Hindu customs, thereby breaking the
Syrian Church in two.
When Vasco de Gama landed in Kerala in 1498, he was generously received by the Zamorin, the Hindu king of
Calicut, who granted him the right to establish warehouses for commerce. But once again, Hindu tolerance was
exploited and the Portuguese wanted more and more. In 1510, Alfonso de Albuquerque seized Goa, where he
started a reign of terror, burning “heretics,” crucifying Brahmins, using false theories to forcibly convert the lower
castes, razing temples to build churches upon them and encouraging his soldiers to take Indian mistresses.
Indeed, the Portuguese perpetrated here some of the worst atrocities ever committed in Asia by Christianity upon
another religion. Ultimately, the Portuguese had to be kicked out of India, when all other colonisers had already
left.
British missionaries in India were always supporters of colonialism. They encouraged it and their whole structure
was based on “the good Western civilized world being brought to the Pagans.” Because, in the words of Claudius
Buchanan, a chaplain attached to the East India Company, “Neither truth, nor honesty, honour, gratitude, nor
charity, is to be found in the breast of a Hindoo!” What a comment about a nation that gave the world the Vedas
at a time when Europeans were still grappling in their caves!
And it is in this way that the British allowed entire chunks of territories in the East, where lived tribals, whose
poverty and simplicity made them easy prey to be converted to Christianity. By doing so, the Christian
missionaries cut a people from their roots and tradition, made them look westwards towards a culture and a way
of life which was not theirs.
And the result is there today for everyone to see: it is in these eastern states, some of which are 90 per cent
Christian, that one finds the biggest drug problems (and crime) in India. It should also be said that many of the
eastern separatist movements have been covertly encouraged by Christian missionaries on the ground that
“tribals were there before the ‘Aryan Hindus’ invaded India and imposed Hinduism upon them.”
The trouble is that the latest archaeological and linguistic discoveries point to the fact that there NEVER was an
Aryan invasion of India –it just was an invention of the British and the missionaries to serve their purpose.
Aryanism is a synonym of Vedic culture.
Secondly, Christianity has always striven on the myth of persecution, which in turn bred “martyrs” and saints,
indispensable to the propagation of Christianity. But it is little known, for instance, that the first “saints” of
Christianity, “martyred” in Rome, a highly refined civilization which had evolved a remarkable system of gods and
goddesses, derived from Hindu mythology via the Greeks, were actually killed (a normal practice in those days)
while bullying peaceful Romans to embrace the “true” religion, in the same way that later Christian missionaries
will browbeat “heathen” Hindus, adoring many gods into believing that Jesus was the only “true” god.
Now to come to the recent cases of persecution of Christians in India at the hands of Hindu groups. I have
personally investigated quite a few, amongst them the rape of the four nuns in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, nearly
two years ago. This rape is still quoted as an example of the “atrocities” committed by Hindus on Christians.
Yet, when I interviewed the four innocent nuns, they themselves admitted, along with George Anatil, the bishop of
Indore, that it had nothing to do with religion: It was the doing of a gang of Bhil tribals, known to perpetrate this
kind of hateful acts on their own women. Today, the Indian press, the Christian hierarchy and the politicians,
continue to include the Jhabua rape in the list of atrocities against Christians.
Or take the burning of churches in Andhra Pradesh a few months ago, which was supposed to have been
committed by the “fanatic” RSS. It was proved later that it was actually the handiwork of Indian Muslims, at the
behest of the ISI to foment hatred between Christians and Hindus. Yet the Indian press, which went berserk at
the time of the burnings, mostly kept quiet when the true nature of the perpetrators was revealed.
Finally, even if Dara Singh does belong to the Bajrang Dal, it is doubtful if the hundred other accused do. What is
more probable, is that like in many other “backward” places, it is a case of converted tribals versus non-converted
tribals, of pent-up jealousies, of old village-feuds and land disputes. It is also an outcome of what — it should be
said — are the aggressive methods of the Pentecost and Seventh Day Adventist missionaries, known for their
muscular ways of conversion.
Thirdly, conversions in India by Christian missionaries of low caste Hindus and tribals are sometimes nothing
short of fraudulent and shameful acts. American missionaries are investing huge amounts of money in India,
which come from donation-drives in the United States where gullible Americans think the dollars they are giving
go towards uplifting “poor and uneducated” Indians.
It is common in Kerala, for instance, particularly in the poor coastal districts, to have “miracle boxes” put in local
churches. The gullible villager writes out a paper mentioning his wish such as a fishing boat, a loan for a pucca
house, fees for the son’s schooling. And lo, a few weeks later the miracle happens! And of course the whole
family converts, making others in the village follow suit.
American missionaries (and their government) would like us to believe that democracy includes the freedom to
convert by any means. But France for example, a traditionally Christian country, has a minister who is in charge
of hunting down “sects.” And by sects, it is meant anything that does not fall within the recognized family of
Christianity — even the Church of Scientology, favoured by some Hollywood stars such as Tom Cruise or John
Travolta, is ruthlessly hounded. And look at what the Americans did to the Osho movement in Arizona, or how
innocent children and women were burnt down by the FBI (with the assistance of the US army) at Waco, Texas,
because they belonged to a dangerous sect.
Did you know that Christianity is dying in the West? Not only is church attendance falling dramatically because
spirituality has deserted it, but less and less youth accept the vocation to become priests or nuns. And as a
result, say in the rural parts of France, you will find only one priest for six or seven villages, whereas till the late
seventies, the smallest hamlet had its own parish priest.
And where is Christianity finding new priests today? In the Third World, of course! And India, because of the
innate impulsion of its people towards god, is a very fertile recruiting ground for the Church, particularly in Kerala
and Tamil Nadu. Hence the huge attention that India is getting from the United States, Australia, or England and
the massive conversion drive going on today.
It is sad that Indians, once converted, specially the priests and nuns, tend to turn against their own country and
help in the conversion drive. There are very few “White” missionaries left in India and most of the conversions are
done today by Indian priests.
Last month, during the bishop’s conference in Bangalore, it was restated by bishops and priests from all over
India that conversion is the FIRST priority of the Church here. But are the priests and bishops aware that they
would never find in any Western country the same freedom to convert that they take for granted in India? Do they
know that in China they would be expelled, if not put into jail? Do they realize that they have been honoured
guests in this country for nearly two thousand years and that they are betraying those that gave them peace and
freedom?
Hinduism, the religion of tolerance, and spirituality of this new millennium, has survived the unspeakable
barbarism of wave after wave of Muslim invasions, the insidious onslaught of Western colonialism which has
killed the spirit of so many Third World countries, and the soul-stifling assault of Nehruvianism. But will it survive
the present Christian offensive?
Many Hindu religious leaders feel Christianity is a real threat today, as in numerous ways it is similar to Hinduism,
from which Christ borrowed so many concepts. (See Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s book: “Hinduism and Christianity”)
It is thus necessary that Indians themselves become more aware of the danger their culture and unique
civilization is facing at the hands of missionaries sponsored by foreign money. It is also necessary that they stop
listening to the Marxist-influenced English newspapers’ defense of the right of Christian missionaries to convert
innocent Hindus.
Conversion belongs to the times of colonialism. We have entered the era of Unity, of coming together, of
tolerance and accepting each other as we are, not of converting in the name of one elusive “true” god.
When Christianity accepts the right of other people to follow their own beliefs and creeds, then only will Jesus
Christ’s spirit truly radiate in the world.
[The author, who writes "The Ferengi's Column" in The Indian Express, is the correspondent in South Asia for Le
Figaro, France's largest circulating daily. He has just published "Arise O India" (Har-Anand).]
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Attacks on
Hinduism, Christian persecution against Hinduism | Leave a Comment »
Facts on Pakistani Terrorism Against Kashmir
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

Facts on Pakistani Terrorism Against Kashmir

Number of Terrorist Camps in Pakistan: 37

Number of Terrorist Camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir: 49

Number of Pakistani-run Terrorist Camps in Afghanistan: 22

Total Number of Hardcore Terrorists Operating in Jammu and Kashmir: 2300

Total Number of Foreign Mercenaries Operating in Jammu and Kashmir: 900

Number of Pakistani terrorists killed by Indian security forces: 291

Number of Pakistani terrorists in Indian jails: 125

Number of Indian civilians killed by Pakistani terrorists: over 29,000

Number of firearms recovered from Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 47,000

Amount of explosives recovered from Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 60 tons (30,000 kg)

Number of explosions carried out by Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 4,730

Nationalities of Foreign Mercenaries Operating in Jammu and Kashmir:

Pakistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq

Deadliest Pakistani Terrorist Groups Active in Jammu and Kashmir:

Harkat-ul-Ansar (recently renamed Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin) Headquarters: Muzaffarabad (Pakistan-Occupied

Kashmir) Lashkar-e-Toiba Headquarters: Muridke (Pakistan) Hizbul Mujahideen

Peak time of annual infiltration of terrorists into India:

Summer months, when the snows have melted, under cover of Pakistani Army firing

Number of people in Jammu and Kashmir killed in violence waged by Pakistan-supported terrorists over the last
decade: over 20,000.

Ethnic Cleansing in Kashmir: Nearly 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits (original Hindu inhabitants of Kashmir valley)
driven out of their ancestral homeland by Pakistan-supported terrorists.

Pakistan’s response to charges of terrorism support: “It only provides diplomatic and moral support to the
terrorists”. To see through this outright lie, read about the “credible reports of official Pakistani support to
Kashmiri terrorist groups…” in the US State Department 1997 report on global terrorism.

The US Tomahawk missiles killed Pakistani terrorists belonging to Harkat-ul-Ansar in the Khost camps in
Afghanistan this year. These terrorists were training to fight in Kashmir.

The Harkat-ul-Ansar and the Lashkar-e-Toiba threatened US citizens recently in open news conferences in major
cities in Pakistan (Kashmir Chronicle, Vol. 1, No. 6).

The Pakistani government makes no attempt to shut down any of these groups.

Most recent recruits to Pakistani terrorist camps: Kashmiri Muslim children as young as 12 years old, coerced
into a dead-end career by Pakistani terrorist groups.

Why is the Pakistani economy in shambles? 70% of its budget goes to the military plus its debt payments, much
of the military spending being on sustaining the Kashmiri terror
The Truth on Kashmir and Terrorism in India
India has been the most terrorized country in the world
-US State Department Report on Terrorism
India Is an Extraordinary Democracy

C Our current Ambassador to India, the Hon. Mr. Blackwill, while being a Harvard faculty and briefing
candidate Bush in 2000 on foreign affairs at his Texas ranch, asked him why he was so interested in India. Mr.
Bush replied, AA billion people in a functioning democracy! Can you believe it? Can you believe it?@ (from the
Times of India.)

C On 12-21-01, the British High Commissioner (Ambassador) to India, the Hon. Mr. Rob Young told
the press that the British government A… never asked India to exercise restraint@ because AIndia is a highly
responsible democracy@, and that ABritain supports India=s right to self-defense.@

C US Congress passed a resolution congratulating India for successful elections in 1999. Of 400
votes cast, 4 were opposed. The tiny opposition included Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Don Burton (R-IN),
who have spoken out on behalf of khalistan terrorists.

What is the Kashmir Issue?

C UN Security Council resolutions 38-40, and particularly the resolution of August 13, 1948, said that
Pakistan had attacked Kashmir, and ordered Pakistan to withdraw its forces and its tribals. Pakistan has yet to
obey UN Security Council and withdraw from lands (now called POK, Pak Occupied Kashmir) controlled illegally.

C Recently released documents reveal that in 1948, the then US Secretary of State Gen. George C.
Marshall told the pro-Pak British that Kashmir=s accession with India was legal and final as far as US was
concerned.

C In 1952, the Kashmir legislature, elected in elections recognized by observers as free and fair, with
100% of the legislators Muslim, voted to ratify Kashmir=s accession with India.

C Pakistan gave away large part of the POK to China, which now claims those lands as its own.

Pakistan is a State-Sponsor of Terrorism

C In April 1993, then CIA director James Woosley at an open Senate hearing said, A… Pakistan,
while not yet on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism,@ but is Aon the brink@.

C In December 1999, the Director of CIA George Tenet and State Department Coordinator for
Counterterrorism Michael Sheen testified before a Senate subcommittee that US has evidence that Pakistan is a
state-sponsor of terrorism against India.

C In 2000, State Department=s report on terrorism described Pakistan=s official involvement in

terrorism against India, but fell short of adding Pakistan to list of countries sponsoring terrorism because that
would have automatically triggered severe sanctions against an old cold-war ally.

C In 2000, a bipartisan Congressional commission on terrorism recommended to the State

Department that sanctions be imposed on Pakistan for its role in terrorism, but this report was ignored.

C The British government in Spring 2001 put several Pakistan-supported organizations openly
engaged in terrorism on the official list of terrorist organizations, to be followed later by the US.

C Major political parties in Pakistan and Pak media have repeatedly asked Pak governments over
the years to break bonds with terrorists and get out of the Kashmir issue, because supporting terrorists has
resulted only in increasing Talibanization of Pakistan.

C Benazir Bhutto, ex-Pak Prime Minister, has said that ISI (Pakistani government=s intelligence
service) is a force onto itself, and she had no knowledge of what ISI was doing when she was PM.

C On 11-21-01, the Hon. Mr. Robert D. Blackwill, US Ambassador to India, told the press that
Pakistan-supported individuals involved in killings in Kashmir are terrorists and that AThey are not freedom
fighters. No country will be permitted to provide sanctuaries to terrorists.@ He made similar comments again on
2-27-02.

C On 11-29-01, the British Parliament was told by the Foreign Office Minister that the British
government has told the Pakistani government to cease support to terrorists.
C Pak Government=s direct and obvious involvement in terrorism against India over decades has
resulted in 50,000 Hindus being amongst 70,000 innocent civilians killed and 500,000 Hindus fled Kashmir in
terror; world has been silent about this ethnic cleansing of Hindus from Kashmir.

C Pak does not have just Hindu blood on its hands. Pak press reported that one of the first things
General Musharraf did after grabbing power in Nov. 1999 coup was to shut down a Pak commando unit being
trained by CIA to go after bin Laden. If only bin Laden had been caught in 2000 …

C Pakistan, which created, nurtured and protected Taliban, has claimed that Taliban is not terrorist.

C Pakistan press reported in Dec. 2001 that Pak dictator Musharraf was a Director of Rabita Trust, a
terrorist organization masquerading as a charity, and US had to warn him to step down before adding this
organization to a terrorist list.

C Pak v. US: CBS News quoted numerous workers to the effect that Osama bin Laden had received
his kidney dialysis at their Pak military hospital on the eve of 9-11.

C Pak v. US: NY Times reported that Pak had to send airplanes to rescue its army fighting US
coalition in Afghanistan; when asked, the Pentagon issued only non-denial denials. CNN reported on 1-12-02,
that 50 Pak soldiers, arrested at Kandahar, admitted to fighting under Pak officers.

C Regarding Musharraf=s promises about Pak eliminating terrorism, NY Times said that he had to
redefine Pakistan’s sense of itself Aafter two decades of drift into lawlessness and violence.@

C President Bush, British PM Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, have all demanded
that Musharraf act on his promises to root out Pak terrorism against India.

C The Daily Telegraph (London) said in its lead story on 2-23-02 that British and American special
forces have joined Indian troops to hunt down Osama bin Laden in one of Kashmir=s remote areas Athat are
nearly impossible for the Indian Army to police@. Bin Laden is believed to be hiding there with the help of
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, one of Pak terrorist organizations.

C An editor of the Karachi Herald wrote that Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed, the alleged mastermind
behind the abduction of Mr. Daniel Pearl, indicted in US in 1994, operated in Pakistan freely since his release
from an Indian prison in exchange for hostages aboard a hijacked Indian airliner.

C One week after Omar Sheikh turned himself in to ISI for protection, the Pak military intelligence,
Pak lied that the police had arrested him on the eve of Musharraf=s visit to the US, and ABC publicized Pak lies
that India was behind the kidnapping of Mr. Pearl.

C NY Times reported on 2-26-02 that a Pak Army/ISI Brigadier had a role in nurturing
Jaish-e- Mohammed, the terrorist organization behind the kidnapping and murder of Mr. Pearl, and suggested
that investigations in killing of Pearl would reveal a great deal about ties between terrorists and ISI.

C Newsweek reported on 3-5-02 that Pearl=s killers might have been agents of Pak government=s
ISI.

C NY Times and the Boston Globe have reported that 4,000 Pak army officers were involved in Pak
ISI conducting terrorism against India.

The Ram Temple and Communal Riots in India

C Hindus believe that God himself takes birth on earth in times of dire need, and that Ram and
Krishna were such human incarnations of God. Places of these births of God are especially holy for Hindus.

C Muslim conquerors destroyed over 5,000 temples in North India, including those at the sites
holiest for Hindus. They built mosques there instead, which have no particular significance to Islam. In order to
reconstruct their holiest temple, Hindu organizations have offered compromises to Muslims.

Bangladesh is also a State-Sponsor of Terrorism

C The world is also silent about harrowing abuse and ethnic cleansing of Hindus from
Bangladesh. Amnesty International has publicized horrible atrocities against Hindu women in Bangladesh, such
as gang-rapes in front of their fathers and husbands, resulting in floods of Hindu refugees from that
country. Bangladeshi government does nothing beyond denying facts.
 Friends of India Society International, Inc.
Chandrakant Panse, M.Sc., M.A., Ph.D., New England Chapter
617-527-9283, 617-414-4626 (BUSM)
DrCP@rcn.com, PanseDr@bu.edu, DrUCP@yahoo.com

India’s War Against Terrorism

l The central issue in the world today is terrorism
l The reason India is threatening military action against Pakistan is
terrorism.
l Pakistan has been a state sponsor of terrorism!
Therefore, it is terrorism we want to talk about.

Demographics
Kashmir Fact Sheet
Developed by US India Relations Group
180 million Moslems live in India and 140 million live in Pakistan.
1947: 40% of Pakistan was Non-Moslem. Today ONLY 3 % are left while the world has
looked the other way.
1947: 25% of India was Moslem (60 million). 1991: 95.2 million. Despite migration of
millions of Moslems to Pakistan, TODAY 18% (150 million ) of Indians are Moslems.
This shows that the Moslem population is reaching pre-partition demographics in
India.

Pakistan’s Role in Terrorism

l December 1999: George Tenet, Director of CIA and Michael Sheen, State
Department Coordinator for Counter Terrorism, Michael Sheen testified before a
Senate Sub-Committee that :
l US intelligence has sufficient evidence that Pakistan is a state-sponsor of
terrorism against India

Pakistan & Terrorism

l In 2000, the State Dept’s report on terrorism described Pak’s official
involvement in terrorism against India.
l – But fell short of adding Pak to list of countries sponsoring terrorism to
avoid triggering severe sanctions against an old cold-war ally.
Pakistan & Terrorism
l Year 2000: a bipartisan congressional commission on terrorism recommended to
the State Dept that sanctions be imposed on Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism.
l Spring 2001: The British put Pakistani organizations openly engaged in terrorism
on their official list of terrorist organizations.
Pakistan is a State Sponsor of Terrorism
November 2001: According to Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan:
l Non-Kashmiris engaged in killings in India are terrorists. “If I had been Prime
Minister of Pakistan, (the events of) Sep. 11 would not have happened” – Benazir
Bhutto, November 2001.

Pakistan and Terrorism

l Our own American Taliban, John Walker, has admitted to fighting in
Kashmir. This could not have happened without the help of ISI, which created and
nurtured the Taliban.
Robert Blackwill: US Ambassador to India, Nov. 21, 2001 New Delhi, stated in a press
conference for foreign media that “all persons involved in killings in Kashmir were
terrorists and that they were no freedom fighters.”
Ethnic Cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir
l Pakistani government’s direct aiding and abetting of terrorism in Kashmir
has resulted in:
l 20,000 Hindus killed and 500,000 Hindus have fled Kashmir in terror. The
world has been mostly silent about this ethnic cleansing of Hindus from Kashmir.
Musharraf as Army Officer
Musharraf as Dictator
l Dec 2001: The “Kunduz Airlift” sent airplanes and helicopters to rescue Pakistanis
fighting with the Taliban/El Quaeda against the US coalition.
(Seymour Hirsch New Yorker Feb 2002)

Musharraf as Chief of Army Staff

Recent Documents have Revealed
l 1948: US Secretary of State Gen. George C. Marshall told the British that
Kashmir’s accession with India was legal and final as far as US was concerned.
l Therefore the lie of “Kashmir being a disputed territory” is very disturbing
while it has further emboldened the position of Islamic militants.

THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CRISIS IN KASHMIR

Struggle between two conflicting value systems.
1) To India just like the US, secularism with a peaceful co-existence with
cultural, ethnic and religious diversity is the most important issue.
2) Pakistan calls itself an “Islamic Republic”, and its stated raison d’etre is the “two
nation theory” that Moslems cannot and must not be allowed to co-exist with other
religions.
1947: Result of this Dichotomy
l One section of Muslims led by Jinnah and his Muslim League Party demanded and
agitated for a separate country.
l Nearly as many Muslims rejected this, and firmly believed in India’s secular policy.
They opposed partitioning India on the basis of religion. They chose to remain in India
after India achieved its independence from the British. Today they are full citizens
of India.

Important to clarify
l There were two categories of pre-partitioned India
l 1) British India that was partitioned based on religion
l 2) Princely States where the ruler had full autonomy to join India OR
Pakistan by signing the Instrument of Accession, in which Kashmir joined with India.

1947: India
l When the British left, the 584 princely states, constituting 45% of
undivided India became sovereign entities with 2 options:
l 1) Join Secular India
l 2) Join Moslem Pakistan

National Conference Party

l Was the largest political party of Kashmir with a preponderance of Moslems with
Hindus and Buddhists as members under the leadership of a Moslem – Sheikh
Abdullah.
l This party had consistently since the 1930s expressed opposition to the two
nation theory and in 1947 urged that Kashmir join secular India.
Sheikh Abdullah: 1947
l Leader of the opposition to Maharaja Hari Singh.
l Jailed by Hari Singh.
l BUT: Insisted on joining a secular India so that Kashmir would remain
secular and multi-ethnic.
l Rejected Pakistan and its Islamic bigotry.

Further more
The religious composition of the Princely States was not relevant at the time per
British policy.
Pakistan did not ascertain the will of the people of the princely states that acceded to
it in 1947.
PAKISTAN Invaded Kashmir
October 22, 1947
l Commanded by General Akbar Khan, later promoted to Chief of Pakistan’s
army.
l “Tribesmen” included many Pakistan Army officers and men, in and out of
uniform. C3I and artillery provided by regular Pakistan Army
- Just like the Taliban Army, 2001.
l Entire villages e.g. Baramula, Rajouri and Poonch were destroyed by the
Pakistani army while committing murder, rape and plunder.
l Rather than any negotiated settlement, Pakistan chose the route of brute
force in 1947.
l Is this out of concern for Kashmiris?

Pakistan attacked Baramula

Kashmir: October 1947
l Killing 7,000 in a town of 10,000 people
l Especially brutal to Sikhs, whom the Pakistani army labeled as “Ball Walle Kafir”,
the non-believer with hair.
l Destroyed the hospitals, Hindu and Sikh temples and the church of Baramula.
l Skardu (POK): Radio message from Pak Commander to Pak HQ: “Skardu
liberated. All Sikhs killed. All women raped”.

Ruler of Kashmir appealed to India for help

l Why? Because Kashmir’s small state army was no match for the Pakistani army.

Instrument of Accession to India was signed

l October 1947: Lord Mountbatten, the Governor General of India accepted the
Kashmiri ruler’s request to join the Indian Union
l A legal document called the Instrument of Accession was signed between India
and the Kashmiri ruler.
l This same document was also signed by the other 584 princely states.

Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir – updated reprint 1995

l “Sounder than Texas’s accession to the USA, Kashmir’s accession to India
is legal, final, binding and irrevocable”.
Source: A S Anand Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India – p. 96

Kashmir is saved from Pakistani invasion

l October 1947: Lord Mountbatten asked India to send its troops to save Kashmir
from Pakistani aggression.
l Indian Premier Nehru insisted on Sheikh Abdullah being freed from prison as
condition for Indian intervention.
l Indian troops were sent with the enthusiastic consent of Sheikh Abdullah
Source: Lord Mountbatten’s diaries

Sheikh Abdullah
l October 1947: Kashmir’s popular Moslem leader Sheikh Abdullah supported
Kashmir’s accession to India
l Of interest: Earlier Sheikh Abdullah had demonstrated against the Kashmiri ruler
for greater democracy & civil rights.
l Now: Sheikh Abdullah expressed the sentiments of the majority of Kashmiri
people in a famous speech.

A key point of Sheikh Abdullah’s speech

l “We the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have thrown our lot with the Indian
people, not in a heat of passion or a moment of despair, but by a deliberate
choice.” Sheikh Abdullah: October 1947

First Muslim leader of Kashmir was appointed by India

l October 31, 1947: Sheikh Abdullah a Moslem was appointed Head of the Kashmir
Emergency Administration
l Then was made the first Prime Minister of Kashmir. His was the
first people’s popular government in Kashmir.
l For most of the time since 1947, AND TODAY, “Indian-Kashmir” has been ruled by
the National Conference Party of Sheikh Abdullah and always headed by a Moslem.

Pakistan’s pattern of aggression

l Initially Pakistan denied having sent troops into Kashmir in October 1947
l Subsequently admitted by Pakistani leaders and army officers.
l This is a consistent Pakistani pattern in 1947, 1948, 1965, 1971 and recently in
1999 in Kargil.
l Same tactic used in Afghanistan, where 40% of the Taliban’s Officer corps and
30% of its troops were Pakistani, until Operation Enduring Freedom began.

United Nations: Jan 1, 1948

l India complained to the UN so as to get Pakistan to end Pakistani
aggression against India in Jammu and Kashmir.
Noteworthy
l Despite military superiority even in 1947 India did not want to use force to vacate
the Indian territory in Kashmir occupied by Pakistan.
l Instead, India turned to the UN. If India had believed in a military solution on
Kashmir, it could have done so in 1965, 1971 and 1999. And today.

The United Nations Security Council

l UN avoided taking sides between India and Pakistan.
l UN did not even question the legality of Kashmir’s accession to India.
l Doing such would be like questioning the legality of the very partition of
British India into India and Pakistan.

United Nations Appointed a Commission: 1948

l Under Charter 6: to mediate between India and Pakistan
l UN stated the issue is for India and Pakistan to resolve & these resolutions
are NOT a directive, only recommendations.
l Four UN resolutions were issued on April 21, 1948, August 13, 1948, Jan.
5, 1949 and March 14, 1950.
 UN Resolution: Jan 5, 1949
Called for three actions in this sequential order
l (1) First, Pakistan must withdraw all its troops and all non-Kashmiris from
Kashmir.
l (2) Next India should withdraw bulk of its troopsRETAINING those required for
law and order; all those who had left Kashmir (on both sides) as refugees should be
allowed to return.
l AND ONLY THEREAFTER ascertain the wishes of the Kashmiri people in both
portions of Kashmir under UN supervision.

Pakistan violated the UN Resolution

l Pakistan is non-compliant: has not withdrawn its occupied forces thereby
violated the first of the 3 actions outlined by the UN resolution.
l ON the contrary India has only permitted Kashmiris to own land in India’s
Kashmir per Article 170 of the Indian Constitution and per UN resolution.
2 Questions
1) Is Pakistan willing to implement step one even now by withdrawing its military from
the portion of Kashmir it has occupied by aggression in 1947?
2) If refugees are allowed to return and claim their lands, would that include the non-
Moslem citizens?
These are Kashmiri Pandits – 400,000 to 600,000 are still living as Displaced Persons
today.

Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK)

l Lacks all democratic institutions. Administered by a Pakistani “minister for Azad
Kashmir” or Military Governor appointed by Islamabad.
l Pakistan officially disallows the option of an independent Kashmir. If anyone
in POK raises that demand, it is an act of treachery and punishable by death. POK
residents must sign Oath of Loyalty to Pakistan to get ration cards.
l Residents of the “Northern Areas” of Gilgit/Baltistan are afforded no citizenship
rights

Pakistan Refused to Withdraw

l Pakistan has consistently refused to withdraw its forces from the Pakistan-
occupied Kashmir portion.
l Instead, Pakistan joined big power blocks and received massive military
and economic aid from the West.

Pakistan Attacked India in 1965

l Dictator Ayub Khan sent 34,000 Pakistani soldiers into Kashmir and Gujarat in
massive land and air attacks against India.
l Targets: (1) Jammu-Kashmir, (2) New Delhi
l Of 3 Indian soldiers awarded the “Param Vir Chakra” (all posthumous) for
heroism, one was Moslem – Havildar Abdul Hamid.
l Pakistan was defeated by India and signed the Tashkent agreement with India.

Pakistan Attacked India in 1971

l Pak Dictator General Yahya Khan killed 3 million Pakistani citizens in East
Bengal after rejecting election results, and launched air-land attacks on India – which
led to the birth of Bangladesh.
l In all three wars, Kashmiris rose to the defence of India. They joined the
Indian army to defeat the Pakistanis.

Birth of Bangla Desh

l Buried the two nation theory of dividing nations on the basis of religion.
l July 1972: Pakistan signed the “Simla Agreement” with India.
l Simla Agreement: Pakistani PM Z.A. Bhutto, who replaced Yahya Khan,
agreed to resolve all issues peacefully through bilateral negotiations.

Furthermore
l 1971: India had captured vast areas of Pakistani territory and 93,000 POWs.
l India agreed not to let Bangla Desh try the Pakistani POWs on War Crimes
charges.
l India returned captured territory in both ’65 and ‘71,even in Jammu-Kashmir –
proof that India is: (a) not interested in acquiring foreign territory; (b) willing to settle
all disputes through negotiations.

The Simla Agreement

l Supported by the UN and the US the “Simla Agreement” required all
disputes between Pakistan and India to be resolved bilaterally and not to resort to
aggression to solve problems.
l A Line of Control was established in 1972 as a result of the Simla
agreement between Indira Gandhi and ZA Bhutto.

Simla Agreement
l The 1972 Simla agreement was later endorsed in the 1999 Lahore
Declaration between Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif stating that all differences will be
resolved by bilateral negotiations.
l Musharraf then army chief and his ISI did not like this action by Nawaz
Sharif and continued the terrorist acts against India.

UN and Kashmir
l “Unless the two sides approach us, we cannot get involved. If India and
Pakistan approach the U.N. on this (Kashmir) issue, it will be ready to help. The best
solution lies in direct contact between the two countries.” Boutros B. Ghali, the U.N.
Secretary General, March 1992

FOURTH Invasion by Pakistan

1999 Kargil War
l When Prime Minister Vajpayee went to Lahore, Pakistan for signing a
peace agreement in a BUS-Diplomacy tour, the Pakistani army secretly invaded India
and even occupied a portion of Indian territory in Kashmir.

Pakistan Violated Simla Agreement

l The 1999 Kargil War was a violation of the “Simla Agreement”by illegally taking
control of part of Indian portion of Kashmir territory.
l Subsequently Clinton & Nawaz Sharif met at Camp David & Clinton asked Nawaz
Sharif to withdraw Pakistani army from Kargil, India.
l With support of the world community India went to a limited war and had it
vacated.

Lahore Declaration
l Musharraf refused to be present when Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif signed
the “Lahore Declaration”.
l He was the Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces at the time; said he would
not want to salute Vajpayee.

Current UN Secretary General

December, 2000
l UN Secretary General Kofi Anan has said: “I call upon both India and
Pakistan to retain the spirit of the Lahore Declaration.”

Pakistan’s obsession with Kashmir

l Madrassas of Pakistan: In last 12 years, unemployed youth educated in the
religious madrassas of Pakistan are trained by Pakistan’s spy agency ISI to infiltrate
into Indian Kashmir and ethnically cleanse the Hindus, Sikhs and secular Moslems,
destroy schools, hospitals, and basic infrastructures.

September 11, 2001 & Pakistan’s Madrassas

l These same “madrassas” are also the breeding ground of terrorists who
supported Al Queda and the talibans and were responsible for the 9/11 attacks on US.

Loss of Lives in Kashmir

l Today, of the 2,400 militants active in the Kashmir valley alone, 1,400 are
foreigners. In last 12 years 20,000 lives have been lost and the world has remained
silent.

Informal Observation
Pakistan & US anti-terror coalition
l Was not a change of heart by Pakistan
l It was due to the ultimatum given by US after the September 11 attacks.
l The recent promise by Musharraf of cracking down on Kashmiri terrorists
operating from Pakistan needs to be matched with REAL actions.

LA Times Editorial: January 15, 2002 “Pakistan’s Moderation”

The Times Editorial rightly states “India welcomed the address (by Musharraf) but
rightly demanded action as well. The key will be Pakistan’s dealings with the border
guerrillas that it considers fighters for freedom of the disputed territory. India
considers them terrorists.”

Core of Indian Nationhood

l President Bush has said the September 11 attacks were an attack on the US spirit
of freedom and democracy;
l Likewise the terrorists activity going on in Kashmir is an attack on the principles
of multi-cultural pluralism. This is the core of the Indian nationhood.
l The world community must insist Pakistan stop attacking India’s principles of
multi-cultural pluralism.
Conclusions
India and the US are the twin tower’s of the world’s democracies. Therefore it
behooves the US to insist that:
l Pakistan dismantle ALL its terrorist training complexes and not just move
them.
l Pakistan bring about a change of attitude in its army to honor the present
line of control with India.

Summary
l Kashmir must remain an integral part of India. US must support India’s secular
position on Kashmir.
l Loss of Kashmir could result in the slow disintegration & talibanization of India.
l India must remain a proud secular democratic republic like the US.
Acknowledgement
l The author profusely thanks the following persons for contributing information &
for carefully critiquing this presentation:
l Damodar Sardesai, PhD Professor Emeritus of History UCLA
l Dr Kalpesh Desai
l Chandrakant Panse
l Narayanan Komerath
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Cultural
Preservation, Indian History, Kashmir Terrorism, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma, Terrorism in India, Vedic
culture | 1 Comment »
Kashmir: My Experience in Srinagar
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

Kashmir: My Experience in Srinagar

By Stephen Knapp

It had been several years since I had first wanted to go to Kashmir until I was finally able to visit in June of
2007. I had almost traveled to Srinagar and made arrangements to go once before, but then a few days later the
Kargil war broke out, and that stopped that idea. The violence and terrorism in the area made it restricted or not
recommended to foreigners for years, and most Indians stayed away as well. But things had changed since then,
and though warnings were still posted by the U. S. State Department about entering the region, I made my way
up into Kashmir.
The trip up into Kashmir and seeing the landscape was enjoyable, the beauty of the hills and mountains
was great. When I got to Srinagar, I was surprised to find the place was packed with Indian tourists. Of course, it
was the hot season and temperatures had soared in the plains and cities like Delhi and Mumbai, so many Indian
tourists were looking for places to escape the heat. The houseboats and hotels were filled except for a few. It
seemed like India had rediscovered how nice Srinagar and the mountains and tourist spots of the area could be.
I also wanted to see the sites of the area, such as drift on Dal Lake on a shikhara boat, or go to Gulmarg
or Yusmarg, and other places in the mountains. Shankaracharya Hill and the Vedic Shiva temple on top is also
an historical place of pilgrimage. In fact, numerous Hindus were walking up the final 270 steps and visiting the
place to do puja there. It also provides excellent views over Srinagar and Dal Lake. But there is heavy security
that you have to go through at the base of the hill before you can drive up to the final stairway. And no cameras
are allowed around the temple.
There are some important mosques in the area as well, and the Moghul gardens are some of the best I’ve
seen in India. And the Rauzabal in the old section of town, the controversial place that is supposed to be the
tomb of Jesus, was also on my list of places to see. And though the sign outside said no photography or
videography, I took my chances anyway and took a number of shots of the place, both outside and in. Though I
have to admit, it was smaller and less significant that I had imagined. There is really not that much to see. It is a
small building, while inside is a smaller room with the grave of Jesus and the Islamic saint Syed Nasir-ud-Din.
Through a small window inside you can see the real grave in an underground chamber, which is said to have
sunk due to the ground giving way. A set of feet are carved into the cement next to the grave that are depicted as
scarred the same way the feet would have been injured from the crucifixion. It was quite fascinating for me to see
it after having read about it for so many years. To see where Jesus may be buried was not a boring occurrence
for me. But more about this some other time.
I also saw the Shri Pratap Singh Museum that included large rock sculpted deities of Vishnu and other
th
Vedic divinities from the Verinag and Anantnag areas that date back to the 6 century A.D. This showed that this
area was a significant part of Vedic culture since at least that time, and Islam entered only sometime later. In fact,
the Shah Hamdan mosque is dedicated to Shah Hamdan who originally brought Islam to Kashmir from Iran in
1370. If not for him, the place may have likely remained primarily connected to Vedic culture.
However, while in Srinagar I also wanted to do some serious investigation into the conditions of Kashmir.
So I took the opportunity to talk with the local Muslims of the area to get their views on how things are, and what
it has been like to have lived here with the terrorism and violence for so many years.
A few such opportunities included when I talked with a shop keeper who makes his living by operating a
carpet factory and selling Kashmiri crafts, such as carpets, shawls and other textiles that Kashmir is known for. In
another case I was able to talk to a Muslim family who has been in the tourist business for years and owns a
super deluxe houseboat, and also rents rooms of their home to foreign tourists. So to get their views on things
was quite fascinating.
The family actually reminisced about living in their neighborhood when people of all religions and cultures
lived there, and they all lived together peacefully. Even now there were still Muslims, primarily Sunnis with about
25% Shiites in Srinagar, along with Christians who celebrate Christmas, and Sikhs who also celebrate their own
holidays, all in the same neighborhood. And they also share such festivities with those of other faiths. The
Muslims I talked to said that they did not mind it like that at all. It is not like all Muslims wanted all non-Muslims
out of the area.
Mr. Abdulla, who works in the tourist trade, said that it never mattered what a person was years ago. They
all got along and worked together. But when the terrorism started, it affected everyone and stirred up tension
between them. Mr. Abdulla also said that to add to the confusion, some of the tourist companies from other areas
of India would hire people to create disturbances in Srinagar to scare people away from coming to Kashmir, thus
increasing business in other tourist spots in India. I’m not sure if he had hard evidence of this, or if this was only
his theory. But many times after various terrorist activities took place, whoever did it would not identify
themselves as being responsible, so they were not always sure of who did what. And the press was always quick
to make headlines of any such trouble, which further scared people from coming to Srinagar.
The shop keeper said that he had lived in the area of the Moghul gardens years ago, which was an area
where the militant Muslims would sometimes come down out of the hills and knock on the door of anyone they
chose and demand food, water and money. When you have guns pointed at you, there is little else you can do.
Or they would even separate the men and women and then rape the women. And this was to other Muslims. The
militants would especially target those who had money, such as going to the wealthy homes, like doctors. But
such people soon left Srinagar for other places. He said that many terrorists came in from Afghanistan and were
paid by Pakistan to cause trouble in the area. Many still are, but now focus on rural regions outside and far from
Srinagar where it is easier to get away with their dirty work. Thus, even the residents of Kashmir know that
Pakistan is still the home or shelter of numerous terrorists that reside there, or assist them in creating trouble in
places like Kashmir in hopes of assimilating that area into Pakistan.
At the time, no one could speak out against the militants. You could not say anything to even your wife or
children because if word got out in any manner that you were against the interest of the militants, you might be
the one killed or missing the next day. You had to tolerate what was happening or die. You had to watch in
silence what occurred to other Muslims, and especially what happened to the Hindus of the area, or even the
Sikhs, or any other non-Muslims, many of whom were terrorized, mistreated, tortured in terrible ways, and even
killed. Thus, fear tactics for ethnic cleansing of the area of all non-Muslims took place for several years.
As many as 150,000 Kashmiris have been killed or disappeared during the 1992 to 1996 years because
of the insurgent terrorists. However, more than 400,000 Kashmiri pandits have been driven out of Kashmir and
into India, who are now living as refugees in squalid camps, due to ethnic cleansing by the Muslims.
I had talked to one Hindu man when I was in Haridwar who came from Srinagar. He said that it was the
greatest place in the world, a heaven on earth. But because of what he had been subjected to by the Muslims of
the area, he had to take his family and leave his property and belongings to escape the area. And the final point
he made about it was that because of the way he had been treated by the local Muslims, he would never go
back.
Actually, the terrorism has drastically reduced from what it was and it is now much safer than it used to
be. These days any terrorist attacks are generally directed toward the police or military. But that does not mean
that civilians do not get in the way of such attacks and are also killed. If a tour bus is going by an attack on a
police vehicle, then too bad for whoever is there. This no longer happens often, but it is still a chance you have to
take. Any Kashmir newspaper or website will let you know.
Many Indian tourists are returning to Srinagar for vacations and holidays, but you still do not see many
tourists from outside India. Maybe a few young people or hippie-type travelers who think nothing of braving the
area. But foreigners still have to be cautious if going into the old part of town where the locals sometimes still
throw stones at westerners. So the shop keepers never advise their customers to go into the old section of town,
at least not without an escort, even though some foreigners still go. They obviously are not aware of the potential
danger, though this should also decrease with time.
One of the reasons for the reduction in terrorism is the great military presence of the Indian Army.
Sometimes it seems like it’s too much, with a soldier every 50 feet along the roads, or even truckloads of soldiers
at particular intersections that stop traffic or check the identification cards of the local people. But more than that
is the change of policy in dealing with terrorists. First, it was to capture the terrorists and then put them in jail. But
they found that after spending five years in prison and being released, the militant fanatics would go back to their
old ways of terrorism and violence. Then the army seemed to change the strategy that if they found any terrorists,
rather than taking prisoners, they fought to the death. Thus, the number of militants gradually began to decline,
and they started to back away from situations in which they could be killed by the Army.
The shop keeper that I talked to also said that this is what is necessary, that the militant Muslims be killed
so that Srinagar could go back to being a peaceful place. I have to admit that this was the first time that I ever
heard one Muslim recommending the death of another Muslim for any reason whatsoever. But he was adamant
about it. I could see that he had experienced too much fear and trouble from the militant Muslims himself to have
any pity for them.
One thing to realize is that Kashmir does not really have particular products that they produce for their
economic development. Most of what they depend on is tourism, and selling their crafts to tourists who visit, or
shipping such items for others to sell in other places. So when the militant Muslims entered the area, it damaged
and hurt everyone’s life because the tourism trade was drastically reduced. For several years, no one came to
Srinagar. Plus, the militants not only intimidated the Hindus or the Kashmiri pandits to leave the area, or kill them
and take possession of their property, the militants also burnt down places that were well known tourist spots.
These included nice restaurants, hotels, or roads leading to known locations. Even the main tourist office was
burnt down a few years ago. So when I went looking for it to get certain types of information, as listed in a
recently published guide book I had, all that was in its place was a barren lot. Nor have many of these places
been rebuilt or repaired yet. This will still take more time and more confidence in the situation there.
As it stands now, about 85% of all Kashmiris want to stay with India and do not support the idea of the
militants to separate from India. In fact, they never did, but for years they could not say anything. Only in the last
few years have they felt secure enough to be able to start speaking out and expressing how they really feel, and
participate in elections. Only about 10% of Kashmiris want to be independent, and 5% want to be with Pakistan.
Those who do not want to stay with India also do not want to have elections. They do not want the means for the
general Kashmiri populace to be able to express their preferences.
However, the area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir has little facility, and the people have hardly enough to
eat. Pakistan does not have the means to really take care of their area of Kashmir, so many of the people there
are very poor. So, as the shop keeper asked, why would anyone want to stay with Pakistan? While in the Indian
area of Kashmir, people have the freedom and opportunity to develop their businesses and enjoy life. Plus, India
supplies the people with many of the facilities they need. Only those with a criminal mentality want to stay with
Pakistan, because they get paid from their Pakistan connections to pose in that way. Yet, if you look at them, this
is the only way by which they have the money to live in nice houses and send their children to college in England,
or even the United States. They prepare them to leave Kashmir, not to remain there or stay with Pakistan. So the
shop keeper felt that India has done so much for the Kashmiri people. Why change that?
So most Kashmiris that I talked with felt that Srinagar is now safe for tourists, and foreigners, who could
stay in any hotel. But not in the old town yet. That is why when I was visiting the Hazratbal Mosque and someone
asked where I was from, I answered that I was from Canada rather than saying the United States. I just didn’t
know what the reaction would have been.
All the Muslims that I talked to in Kashmir felt angry at Bush for attacking Iraq and thus putting American
citizens at unnecessary risk while they travel in foreign countries. This was the big thing, not the invasion itself,
but that there had been so much dislike developed toward Americans because of what Bush did. Yet they all
loved Bill Clinton and talked nicely about him, but felt that Bush was just stupid.
Most of the Muslims I talked to very much appreciated the American people. In fact, the shop keeper
almost desperately wanted me to convey the message that he loved Americans. He felt they were God’s gift to
the region since they are important to their survival in their participation in tourism. He pointed out clearly that not
all Muslims feel like the militants but do indeed want to get along with all others and Americans especially.
Indians are coming back to Srinagar, but they do not purchase much of the handicrafts like carpets, shawls, etc.
So Kashmir is still dependent on foreigners for their livelihoods. If the peace continues, then as the Indians have
returned to Kashmir, in time more foreigners will also begin to return to Srinagar.
There was a time before 1989 when tourism was really high. You would not be able to find a houseboat or
hotel room for weeks in the tourist season, which is the three to four months of the summer. But for years now
that has not been the case. Only recently are things getting busier and numerous people are again crowding the
area, renting houseboats on Dal Lake, or the quieter lakes, and occupying the hotels. Due to the terrorism of the
militants they have all suffered so much, and also because of crooked politicians who want Kashmir for their own
agenda. But now things are getting better.
I do not know what this may mean for the thousands of Hindu Kashmiri pandits that have been forced out
of Kashmir and are now living as refugees in India. Whether they will be able to return, or if they even want to,
remains to be seen. They still may not have much to return to even if they did come back to see what was left of
their property. That part of this episode has been a sad state of affairs, and I feel that India did not do enough to
defend the people of that area, especially the Hindu Kashmiri pandits, from the terrorism of the militant Muslims
when they could have done so.
Even though most Kashmiris say that the military presence of the Indian Army is too much, and
sometimes it seems that they harass more than protect, still it may be a necessity to make sure that terrorism
does not raise its ugly head again in the region. Or until an ultimatum is given regarding Pakistan so that it is no
longer an easy shelter for terrorists. Most everyone knows this, but it is treated favorably by the U.S. and a few
other countries. This should not remain so, at least not until things change in a more positive manor and when
the terrorists are really routed out of Pakistan.
Each time when I left the people with whom I was conducting these conversations and interviews, they
always asked that I return to Srinagar, and that I also carry this message to the Western world. They were
touched by my interest and my involvement in the issues of Kashmir. I certainly hope that things will continue to
improve there for the benefit of everyone.
You may also read: The Truth on Kashmir and Terrorism in India and Facts on Pakistani Terrorism Against
Kashmir.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Cultural
Preservation, Hinduism, Indian culture, Indian History, Kashmir, Kashmir Terrorism,Preserving Sanatana-
Dharma, Vedic culture | Leave a Comment »
The War Against Hinduism
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

The War Against Hinduism

(Written July, 2001, but not much has changed)
By Stephen Knapp

Over the years we have all heard about the many attempts that have been made in India to convert various
sections of society from Hinduism to either Christianity or Islam. But only after one of my trips to India did I really
get a much clearer understanding of what has been going on. Furthermore, most people, as well as many
Indians, are not fully aware of how the war against Hinduism is happening, nor how serious it is. It is taking place
on many levels, and because of this, in some areas the practice of Hinduism is declining rapidly.
When I was traveling in June of 2001, I had gone on a lecture tour, speaking every night at places like Mumbai,
Nagpur, Warangal, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Hyderbad, Bangalore, Trivandrum, and Chennai. So I had the
chance to meet with many of the intellectuals and some of the spiritual leaders in these areas, and learned how
conversion was a very hot issue.
Now I don’t have anything in particular against Christianity itself. I was born and raised a Christian, so I know
what it is, but also how they work. My main contention is when the teachings that are said to come from Jesus
are twisted and misinterpreted into something that does not spread the genuine love of God and humanity that
we are all supposed to develop, but becomes the dog-like barking and criticism against every other religion that is
not Christian. This does not only go on toward every religion outside of Christianity, but also within it between
Catholics and Protestants and other denominations. It seems that this faith has become not something that
promotes our similarities for cooperation, but our differences in that everyone who is of an unrelated Christian
denomination are all going to hell.
In regard to India, there is a great number of missionaries of various denominations who are working there right
now, all competing for the most number of converts. The Southern Baptists alone are a group that has nearly
100,000 career missionaries in North India, all working to spread the “good word.” We also find that in order to
make converts from Hinduism some of the numerous Catholic priests in Southern India dress like sannyasis, and
call their organizations ashramas. This is to make Christianity more similar to the Vedic traditions. Bharat Natyam
dance is also taught in the Christian schools, but with Christian symbols and meanings replacing the Vedic. This
is all in the attempt to actively sway Hindus over to Christianity.
One way they are trying to bring Christianity deep into the culture of India is by superimposing its rituals,
symbols, and even types of dress on the Hindu forms of the same. Thus, you will see the cross on the lotus,
some priests dress in saffron, and some churches have the ambiance of a Hindu temple. If this keeps up, maybe
one day Christianity will be more Hindu than Christian.
While traveling in the far Northeastern states of India I have seen some of the tactics that the Christian
missionaries have used to help make converts, such as offering cheap polyester pants to the tribals of the
Northeast if they become Christian, or even offer motor bicycles if they help convert their brothers, which also
means their wives and family. In other places like Madhya Pradesh, as noted in the Neogy Report, the
missionaries give small loans on interest to the tribals, who cannot pay back such loans easily. However, if they
become Christian, then such loans and the interest are dismissed. This is what goes on in the democracy of
India, and under the tolerance of the Hindus, while if one such incidence would ever occur in a Muslim country,
the result would be an immediate expulsion of the missionary from that nation.
Another trick that has been done is that missionaries, while treating the sick, will give medicine of no value and
ask the tribal to take it while offering prayers to his local deity. Naturally, no cure of disease is likely to occur with
the useless medicine. Then the missionary gives the tribal real medicine and asks the tribal to take it while
offering prayers to Jesus. Then when there is a recovery, it is attributed to the power of Christ and not to the
medicine. Such conversion activities take place these days more often in the tribal areas under the guise of social
service. However, true social service should be done without expecting anything in return, including conversion.
Another thing that takes place is mass healings at meetings similar to revivals. What they do is pay people to
attend the healings portraying themselves as being sick, or invalids on crutches, etc., who then get called up and
are miraculously cured of their disease. This is attributed to the power of Christ, which then convinces many
tribals that they too can benefit in various ways if they become Christian. This has not had much of an effect
amongst the Brahmana classes, but the lower classes who attend are more vulnerable and are impressed by
such things, and are then swayed toward Christianity. This is why Christian conversion tactics have been focused
more toward the tribal areas than other regions of India. So these conversions are not taking place due to pure
preaching of the Bible or the message of Jesus, but are accomplished by trickery and the emphasis on material
facility. This is, of course, what is being objected to by the general Hindu population. However, when or if people
convert for purely spiritual reasons, then there is no objection.
Another way conversions are accomplished is with the promise to the Dalits or the lower caste Hindus that they
will not have any more caste recognition by becoming Christians. However, after conversion many find out that
this is not true. Even amongst the converted Christians there is found to be a caste mentality, with the lower
castes forced to use separate doorways, separate seating, or have marriages performed only among equal caste
Christians and in separate facilities, or to even be buried in separate cemeteries. When this becomes obvious to
those who are newly converted, some of them want to come back to being Hindus again, which has been
facilitated by such organizations as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
An interesting point is that in spite of these duplicitous ways of converting that the Christians have used, the
Christian churches have threatened violence against the process of reconversion back to Hinduism that had been
launched by the VHP. It is as if they do not want anyone to have the right to do what they are already doing. It
was Rev. V. K. Nuh, secretary of the Nagaland Baptist Convention who said, “If someone tries to impose their
faith, Christians in this region will not surrender. There will be a battle and we shall have no option. There will be
a physical and religious war if attempts are made to propagate Hinduism by forceful means in the Northeast.” In
this same line of thinking, Rev. M.D. Oaugma, head of the Garo Baptist Convention of Meghalaya said, “It could
be a threat to Christianity if we remain silent to the VHP’s game plan of mass conversion. We shall have to fight,
we shall have to resist.” (Maharashtra Herald, July 11, 1998)
Of course, it is easy for Hindus to be nonchalant toward other religions because they feel that each spiritual path
takes you toward God. So in this light, it is alright to be tolerant of them or let them thrive. But the problem is that
not all religions feel the same way toward Hinduism. Some feel that Hinduism is a culture that should be removed
or destroyed. An example of this is that in Northeast India, in states like Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur, they
have witnessed a surge of nearly 200% in their Christian population in the past 25 years due to the wily tactics of
foreign missionaries. Their grasp is so strong now that practicing Hinduism is forbidden in some areas. Where is
the democratic freedom in that? Hindus can no longer do worship or arati in the open because of the fanaticism
in parts of the land. Durga pujahas become almost obsolete as deities are destroyed or stolen in broad daylight.
This confrontational climate has led to numerous militant outfits sponsored by the Church who are fighting for
secession from India. So now the Northeastern portion of India wants to secede from it, and another part of India
will be lost if this should happen.
If the Catholic Church in particular is supposed to espouse the message that God is love, and that it is by love of
God and neighbor that mankind is saved, it certainly has not shown much of that kind of love toward any other
religion. With the Pope’s recent call for conversions in Asia, it certainly shows that it is not a friend of other
religions, but still holds the goal that other spiritual paths should be brought down to be replaced by Christianity.
This should be clearly understood. This is also the case with the Baptists and other denominations.
While I was in New Delhi, I also met with Mrs. Shanti Reddy, a member of a government agency called the
National Committee for Women. She revealed that another thing that missionaries have done was to kidnap
young Indian children. What one Christian missionary couple in Chennai was doing before they were arrested
was to bribe tribals into giving their young baby girls to them. They would pay the tribals as little as 2000 to 5000
rupees for baby girls, and then turn around and sell the girls to foreigners for as much as $30,000 to $40,000.
According to the records that had been confiscated from the missionaries’ home, this had been a thriving
business, and nearly 25 of such transactions had already taken place. The Indian authorities said they probably
saved 300 baby girls from such a fate from the indications on the records they found. So this has been another
one of the forms of activities that such missionaries do for their own benefit and profit against the real interest of
India. However, whenever Hindus react with force against such people, they are labeled as fundamentalists,
antagonists, communalists, or worse. But how can you expect that Hindus should not display serious and violent
reactions when such activities become obvious? It usually takes a lot to make Hindus react, as they are often
most pacifistic and tolerant people. This is also why they make lousy terrorists, they just do not see things that
way.
Nonetheless, another way that India is slowly losing its Vedic culture is through the process of secular or English
and Christian education. Of course, in public schools all Vedic books have been removed from the curriculum. So
there are no possibilities to study the ancient Indian literature or art in such institutions. So Vedic values are no
longer part of what the children are taught. Furthermore, the Christian schools, often staffed by Christian
missionaries, can teach Christian values in their classes, and include a short study of the Bible everyday, or the
Koran if it’s an Islamic school. The so-called secular government has even helped them with free land and
facilities. Since these schools offer English in their education, along with good discipline, many of the middle
classes of Indians are favoring sending their children to these schools. Today, in the Indian cities, many of the
parents of children are the graduates of Christian schools, who also send there own children to such schools. As
this trend continues, there will be a decreasing number of Hindus in the educated sector. Thus, children in India,
with the help of the secular government, are learning Christian values and perceiving their own history and
culture as something less than honorable. They are taught that such important books as the Bhagavad-
gita,Ramayana, Bhagavata Purana and other Vedic texts are nothing more than mythology, and not a result of
one of the most profound civilizations in the world. They are also taught that their own God is but a demon and
the only real way to God is through Jesus.
An example of this is that a few devotees from the New Delhi Iskcon (Hare Krishna) temple go out and give
presentations to the children’s classes in schools. Some of the questions that are asked by the children are,
“Who is your God?” and “hat can your God do for me?” and so on. Obviously, these questions are nothing but a
direct result of the Christian and English oriented education that these children are receiving. Now I ask anyone,
isn’t this practically a covert form of conversion? This form of education indoctrinates the children to doubt their
own culture, and disrespect their own history and traditions. As a result of this form of education, the Hindu
population is slowly forgetting the unique history and lofty culture of their homeland.
As I traveled around, it was not unusual to see elementary schools around India with a name something like
“Saint Xavier’s School.” People should know that this Francis Xavier, who is now one of the greatest so-called
“saints,” feverishly declared, “When I have finished baptizing the people, I order them to destroy the huts in which
they keep their idols; and I have them break the statues of their idols into tiny pieces, since they are now
Christians. I could never come to an end describing to you the great consolation which fills my soul when I see
idols being destroyed by the hands of those who had been idolaters.” (From “The Letters and Instructions of
Francis Xavier,” 1993, pp 117-8) This was his goal, to destroy Indian culture and make India a Christian nation.
So it is ironic that now India embraces the schools that honor him in this way. How could they not know his true
intention?
What is often not recognized is that, up until recently, for the last 50 years the politicians who have been directing
the destiny of India are the ones who have an anti-Hindu attitude. They have set the economic direction and the
educational policies that the country has been forced to follow. They have also promised the protection of the
religious minorities with the hopes of acquiring votes. This has been one of the reasons why the secularists in the
Congress party have treated everything that is Hindu with disdain.
Another aspect of the loss of Vedic culture in India is that the younger Indian people, especially ages from 15 to
25, are readily giving up Vedic customs to follow the more decadent so-called freedoms of the West. They see
the western movies, they read what the celebrities say in the papers, and they admire them and want to adopt
their forms of dress and lifestyles. Thus, in the big cities like Mumbai you have Indian couples living together
without marriage, which is something you never would have seen before a few years back. Now the Vedic
principles are looked upon as something obsolete, something that restricts the style that those who look to the
West want to adopt. Thus, they are leaving Indian traditions behind and losing respect for anything Vedic. In this
way, they adopt foreign standards, or lose so much respect for Indian and Vedic values that they become
embarrassed to admit their Hindu background and heritage. Furthermore, Sanskrit scholars at the temples are
also slowly dying out, and the modern Indians view the Ramayana and Mahabharata as merely myths or gaudy
television shows.
Although India has been invaded by outsiders so many times and has always survived, what we are talking about
is more than mere property or geography. What is actually being threatened is the basis of Indian culture itself.
As younger generations give up their Vedic heritage, even if they return to it later when they are older and looking
for more philosophical support, with whatever percentage of loss occurs with each generation, time has shown
that it is never fully recovered. A portion of it is lost forever.
Another way of looking at this is that India presently enjoys an 85% Hindu majority in its population. This may
sound quite significant, but in actuality this includes 15% Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains. So it is really only a 70%
majority. How many more generations will go by before we see a big drop in this percentage due to the process
of secular (meaning Christian or English, or even Islamic) education, or with the present rate of conversions by
tactless Christians? This percentage could easily drop well below 50% in only a few more generations at the
present rate of change.
How many more generations will it take before the Hindu majority is no longer a majority, but a minority in its own
country? As Hinduism declines, you will see that the demands on the government and those voted into politics
will also change, and the laws will also alter more in favor of the increasing minority religions at the expense of
declining Hinduism. Then as the years go by there will appear only small clusters of Hindu or Vedic communities,
most likely centered around prominent holy places, until the more aggressive religions act in ways to diminish
these as well, in the same way that they are presently doing in other countries.
The point of all this information is that it is time for all Hindus and supporters and followers of the Vedic culture,
Sanatana-dharma, to realize what is actually happening and give up your timidness or nonchalance and speak
out while such freedom still exists. We must become more pro-active for defending this culture. The point is that if
you do not take it seriously, I can assure you that there are others who take this inaction and tolerance extremely
seriously to promote their own goals and religions in India. It is because of this that India may not always remain
the homeland of an active and thriving Vedic culture as it is now. We need to protect whatever is left of it and
maintain the present liberties that Hindus or followers of Vedic culture still have in India. Then we all can continue
to engage in Vedic traditions without hindrance, and with full freedom. For this, we need to unite ourselves in a
concerted effort to make this happen. And it most certainly is possible.
Not long ago, as told to me by Professor Subhash Kak, it was noted in a reputable publication that now 1% of the
Russian population claim that they are Hindu. The article stated that this was primarily due to the preaching
efforts of Iskcon. This shows a major social impact. This shows what is possible if we can work together in a
concerted effort. This is why I am convinced that if we all work in a pro-active way under the banner of a united
family of Vedic followers, or Global Vedic Community, we can keep and even expand the present freedoms that
we now have to practice Vedic and indigenous traditions, and keep India as the homeland of Vedic culture, the
most ancient roots of humanity.
India must be protected and kept as the homeland and center of the Vedic heritage, Sanatana-dharma,
Hinduism. Without it, what is its value, in spite of whatever else it accomplishes? The value of Hinduism and India
are clearly expressed in the words of the famous English theosophist Dr. Annie Besant. She put great emphasis
on the value of India, its history, the Vedic culture, and its importance to the world. As written in the cover notes
from the book, Hindus, Life-Line of India, by G. M. Jagtiani, she says: “After a study of some forty years and more
of the great religions of the world, I find none so perfect, none so scientific, none so philosophic, and none so
spiritual as the great religion known by the name of Hinduism. The more you know it, the more you will love it; the
more you try to understand it, the more deeply you will value it. Make no mistake; without Hinduism, India has no
future. Hinduism is the soil into which India’s roots are struck, and torn of that she will inevitably wither, as a tree
torn out from its place. Many are the religions and many are the races flourishing in India, but none of them
stretches back into the far dawn of her past, nor are they necessary for her endurance as a nation. Everyone
might pass away as they came and India would still remain. But let Hinduism vanish and what is she? A
geographical expression of the past, a dim memory of a perished glory, her literature, her art, her monuments, all
have Hindudom written across them. And if Hindus do not maintain Hinduism, who shall save it? If India’s own
children do not cling to her faith, who shall guard it? India alone can save India, and India and Hinduism are one.”
In this light, it is absolutely necessary that as followers of Sanatana-dharma, Vedic culture, we realize that we
need to repair whatever differences we have between us regarding whatever issues there may be. This is
necessary in order to work with some cooperation with whomever we can if we expect to be a substantial force in
defending the Vedic cause. Otherwise, all the issues that invariably come up, although these should not be
ignored, should not take so much of our attention that our preaching or sharing or promoting of our culture stops.
Otherwise, we will only serve as contributors to the continuing deterioration of all spiritual standards as the age of
Kali-yuga progresses. This preaching, of course, means that we must all stay in touch with and practice the Vedic
standards, and be ready to let others know of its advantages, and to defend it from those who wish to see its
demise.
We cannot allow ourselves to be led into the danger of endless debate that leads to inaction. We all must be pro-
active in some way to help defend and spread Vedic culture. Then we can work together to keep the freedom we
presently have to practice the Vedic traditions and keep India as the homeland of a thriving, dynamic, and still
living tradition. Such freedom does not come without its challenges, and we must be prepared as a society to
meet those challenges. To take such freedoms for granted means that it’s only a matter of time before they are
lost. And that is exactly what some people want to happen. So we must be willing to work all the harder to
prevent such a decline of our Vedic heritage.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged: Attacks on
Hinduism, Cultural Preservation, Hinduism, Indian culture, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma, Vedic culture | Leave a
Comment »
Solid Evidence Debunking the Aryan Invasion
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

“Solid Evidence Debunking Aryan Invasion”

by David Frawley

One of the main ideas used to interpret – and generally devalue – the ancient history of India is the theory
of the Aryan invasion. According to this account, India was invaded and conquered by nomadic light-skinned
Indo-European tribes from Central Asia around 1500-100 BC, who overthrew an earlier and more advanced dark-
skinned Dravidian civilization from which they took most of what later became Hindu culture. This so-called pre-
Aryan civilization is said to be evidenced by the large urban ruins of what has been called the “Indus valley
culture” (as most of its initial sites were on the Indus river). The war between the powers of light and darkness, a
prevalent idea in ancient Aryan Vedic scriptures, was thus interpreted to refer to this war between light and dark-
skinned peoples. The Aryan invasion theory thus turned the “Vedas”, the original scriptures of ancient India and
the Indo-Aryans, into little more than primitive poems of uncivilized plunderers.
This idea – totally foreign to the history of India, whether north or south – has become almost an
unquestioned truth in the interpretation of ancient history. Today, after nearly all the reasons for its supposed
validity have been refuted, even major Western scholars are at last beginning to call it in question.
In this article we will summarize the main points that have arisen. This is a complex subject that I have
dealt with in depth in my book “Gods, Sages and Kings: Vedic Secrets of Ancient Civilization”, for those
interested in further examination of the subject.
The Indus valley culture was pronounced pre-Aryans for several reasons that were largely part of the
cultural milieu of nineteenth century European thinking. As scholars following Max Muller had decided that the
Aryans came into India around 1500 BC, since the Indus valley culture was earlier than this, they concluded that
it had to be pre-Aryan. Yet the rationale behind the late date for the Vedic culture given by Muller was totally
speculative. Max Muller, like many of the Christian scholars of his era, believed in Biblical chronology. This
placed the beginning of the world at 400 BC and the flood around 2500 BC. Assuming to those two dates, it
became difficult to get the Aryans in India before 1500 BC.
Muller therefore assumed that the five layers of the four ‘Vedas’ & ‘Upanishads’ were each composed in
200 year periods before the Buddha at 500 BC. However, there are more changes of language in Vedic Sanskrit
itself than there are in classical Sanskrit since Panini, also regarded as a figure of around 500 BC, or a period of
2500 years ago. Hence it is clear that each of these periods could have existed for any number of centuries and
that the 200 year figure is totally arbitrary and is likely too short a figure.
It was assumed by these scholars – many of whom were also Christian missionaries unsympathetic to the
‘Vedas’ – that the Vedic culture was that of primitive nomads from Central Asia. Hence they could not have
founded any urban culture like that of the Indus valley. The only basis for this was a rather questionable
interpretation of the ‘Rig Veda’ that they made, ignoring the sophisticated nature of the culture presented within it.
Meanwhile, it was also pointed out that in the middle of the second millennium BC, a number of Indo-
European invasions apparently occurred in the Middle East, wherein Indo-European peoples – the Hittites,
Mittani and Kassites – conquered and ruled Mesopotamia for some centuries. An Aryan invasion of India would
have been another version of this same movement of Indo-European peoples. On top of this, excavators of the
Indus valley culture, like Wheeler, thought they found evidence of destruction of the culture by an outside
invasion confirming this.
The Vedic culture was thus said to be that of primitive nomads who came out of Central Asia with their
horse-drawn chariots and iron weapons and overthrew the cities of the more advanced Indus valley culture, with
their superior battle tactics. It was pointed out that no horses, chariots or iron was discovered in Indus valley
sites.
This was how the Aryan invasion theory formed and has remained since then. Though little has been
discovered that confirms this theory, there has been much hesitancy to question it, much less to give it up.
Further excavations discovered horses not only in Indus Valley sites but also in pre-Indus sites. The use
of the horse has thus been proven for the whole range of ancient Indian history. Evidence of the wheel, and an
Indus seal showing a spoked wheel as used in chariots, has also been found, suggesting the usage of chariots.
Moreover, the whole idea of nomads with chariots has been challenged. Chariots are not the vehicles of
nomads. Their usage occured only in ancient urban cultures with much flat land, of which the river plain of north
India was the most suitable. Chariots are totally unsuitable for crossing mountains and deserts, as the so-called
Aryan invasion required.
That the Vedic culture used iron – & must hence date later than the introduction of iron around 1500 BC –
revolves around the meaning of the Vedic term “ayas”, interpreted as iron. ‘Ayas’ in other Indo-European
languages like Latin or German usually means copper, bronze or ore generally, not specially iron. There is no
reason to insist that in such earlier Vedic times, ‘ayas’ meant iron, particularly since other metals are not
mentioned in the ‘Rig Veda’ (except gold that is much more commonly referred to than ayas). Moreover, the
‘Atharva Veda’ and ‘Yajur Veda’ speak of different colors of ‘ayas’(such as red & black), showing that it was a
generic term. Hence it is clear that ‘ayas’ generally meant metal and not specifically iron.
Moreover, the enemies of the Vedic people in the ‘Rig Veda’ also use ayas, even for making their cities,
as do the Vedic people themselves. Hence there is nothing in Vedic literature to show that either the Vedic
culture was an iron-based culture or that there enemies were not.
The ‘Rig Veda’ describes its Gods as ‘destroyers of cities’. This was used also to regard the Vedic as a
primitive non-urban culture that destroys cities and urban civilization. However, there are also many verses in the
‘Rig Veda’ that speak of the Aryans as having cities of their own and being protected by cities up to a hundred in
number. Aryan Gods like Indra, Agni, Saraswati and the Adityas are praised as being like a city. Many ancient
kings, including those of Egypt and Mesopotamia, had titles like destroyer or conqueror of cities. This does not
turn them into nomads. Destruction of cities also happens in modern wars; this does not make those who do this
nomads. Hence the idea of Vedic culture as destroying but not building the cities is based upon ignoring what the
Vedas actually say about their own cities.
Further excavation revealed that the Indus Valley culture was not destroyed by outside invasion, but
according to internal causes and, most likely, floods. Most recently a new set of cities has been found in India
(like the Dwaraka and Bet Dwaraka sites by S.R. Rao and the National Institute of Oceanography in India) which
are intermediate between those of the Indus culture and later ancient India as visited by the Greeks. This may
eliminate the so-called dark age following the presumed Aryan invasion and shows a continuous urban
occupation in India back to the beginning of the Indus culture.
The interpretation of the religion of the Indus Valley culture – made incidentally by scholars such as
Wheeler who were not religious scholars much less students of Hinduism – was that its religion was different than
the Vedic and more likely the later Shaivite religion. However, further excavations – both in Indus Valley site in
Gujarat, like Lothal, and those in Rajsthan, like Kalibangan – show large number of fire altars like those used in
the Vedic religion, along with bones of oxen, potsherds, shell jewelry and other items used in the rituals described
in the ‘Vedic Brahmanas’. Hence the Indus Valley culture evidences many Vedic practices that can not be merely
coincidental. That some of its practices appeared non-Vedic to its excavators may also be attributed to their
misunderstanding or lack of knowledge of Vedic and Hindu culture generally, wherein Vedism and Shaivism are
the same basic tradition.
We must remember that ruins do not necessarily have one interpretation. Nor does the ability to discover
ruins necessarily give the ability to interpret them correctly.
The Vedic people were thought to have been a fair-skinned race like the Europeans owing to the Vedic
idea of a war between light and darkness, and the Vedic people being presented as children of light or children of
the sun. Yet this idea of a war between light and darkness exists in most ancient cultures, including the Persian
and the Egyptian. Why don’t we interpret their scriptures as a war between light and dark-skinned people? It is
purely a poetic metaphor, not a cultural statement. Moreover, no real traces of such a race are found in India.
Anthropologists have observed that the present population of Gujarat is composed of more or less the
same ethnic groups as are noticed at Lothal in 2000 BC. Similarly, the present population of the Punjab is said to
be ethnically the same as the population of Harappa and Rupar 4000 years ago. Linguistically the present day
population of Gujarat and Punjab belongs to the Indo-Aryan language speaking group. The only inference that
can be drawn from the anthropological and linguistic evidences adduced above is that the Harappan population
in the Indus Valley and Gujarat in 2000 BC was composed of two or more groups, the more dominant among
them having very close ethnic affinities with the present day Indo-Aryan speaking population of India.
In other words there is no racial evidence of any such Indo-Aryan invasion of India but only of a continuity
of the same group of people who traditionally considered themselves to be Aryans.
There are many points in fact that prove the Vedic nature of the Indus Valley culture. Further excavation
has shown that the great majority of the sites of the Indus Valley culture were east, not west of Indus. In fact, the
largest concentration of sites appears in an area of Punjab and Rajasthan near the dry banks of ancient
Saraswati and Drishadvati rivers. The Vedic culture was said to have been founded by the sage Manu between
the banks of Saraswati and Drishadvati rivers. The Saraswati is lauded as the main river (naditama) in the ‘Rig
Veda’ and is the most frequently mentioned in the text. It is said to be a great flood and to be wide, even endless
in size. Saraswati is said to be “pure in course from the mountains to the sea”. Hence the Vedic people were well
acquainted with this river and regarded it as their immemorial homeland.
The Saraswati, as modern land studies now reveal, was indeed one of the largest, if not the largest river
in India. In early ancient and pre-historic times, it once drained the Sutlej, Yamuna and the Ganges, whose
courses were much different than they are today. However, the Saraswati river went dry at the end of the Indus
Valley culture and before the so-called Aryan invasion or before 1500 BC. In fact, this may have caused the
ending of the Indus culture. How could the Vedic Aryans know of this river and establish their culture on its banks
if it dried up before they arrived? Indeed the Saraswati as described in the ‘Rig Veda’ appears to more accurately
show it as it was prior to the Indus Valley culture as in the Indus era it was already in decline.
Vedic and late Vedic texts also contain interesting astronomical lore. The Vedic calender was based upon
astronomical sightings of the equinoxes and solstices. Such texts as ‘Vedanga Jyotish’ speak of a time when the
vernal equinox was in the middle of the Nakshtra Aslesha (or about 23 degrees 20 minutes Cancer). This gives a
date of 1300 BC. The ‘Yajur Veda’ and ‘Atharva Veda’ speak of the vernal equinox in the Krittikas (Pleiades; early
Taurus) and the summer solstice (ayana) in Magha (early Leo). This gives a date about 2400 BC. Yet earlier eras
are mentioned but these two have numerous references to substantiate them. They prove that the Vedic culture
existed at these periods and already had a sophisticated system of astronomy. Such references were merely
ignored or pronounced unintelligible by Western scholars because they yielded too early a date for the ‘Vedas’
than what they presumed, not because such references did not exist.
Vedic texts like ‘Shatapatha Brahmana’ and ‘Aitereya Brahmana’ that mention these astronomical
references list a group of 11 Vedic Kings, including a number of figures of the ‘Rig Veda’, said to have conquered
the region of India from ‘sea to sea’. Lands of the Aryans are mentioned in them from Gandhara (Afganistan) in
the west to Videha (Nepal) in the east, and south to Vidarbha (Maharashtra). Hence the Vedic people were in
these regions by the Krittika equinox or before 2400 BC. These passages were also ignored by Western scholars
and it was said by them that the ‘Vedas’ had no evidence of large empires in India in Vedic times. Hence a
pattern of ignoring literary evidence or misinterpreting them to suit the Aryan invasion idea became prevalent,
even to the point of changing the meaning of Vedic words to suit this theory.
According to this theory, the Vedic people were nomads in the Punjab, coming down from Central Asia.
However, the ‘Rig Veda’ itself has nearly 100 references to ocean (samudra), as well as dozens of references to
ships, and to rivers flowing in to the sea. Vedic ancestors like Manu, Turvasha, Yadu and Bhujyu are flood
figures, saved from across the sea. The Vedic God of the sea, Varuna, is the father of many Vedic seers and
seer families like Vasishta, Agastya and the Bhrigu seers. To preserve the Aryan invasion idea it was assumed
that the Vedic (and later Sanskrit) term for ocean, samudra, originally did not mean the ocean but any large body
of water, especially the Indus river in Punjab. Here the clear meaning of a term in ‘Rig Veda’ and later times –
verified by rivers like Saraswati mentioned by name as flowing into the sea – was altered to make the Aryan
invasion theory fit. Yet if we look at the index to translation of the ‘Rig Veda’ by Griffith for example, who held to
this idea thatsamudra didn’t really mean the ocean, we find over 70 references to ocean or sea. Ifsamudra does
not mean ocean, why was it translated as such? It is therefore without basis to locate Vedic kings in Central Asia
far from any ocean or from the massive Saraswati river, which form the background of their land and the
symbolism of their hymns.
One of the latest archeological ideas is that the Vedic culture is evidenced by Painted Grey Ware pottery
in north India, which appears to date around 1000 BC and comes from the same region between the Ganges and
Yamuna as later Vedic culture is related to. It is thought to be an inferior grade of pottery and to be associated
with the use of iron that the ‘Vedas’ are thought to mention. However it is associated with a pig and rice culture,
not the cow and barley culture of the ‘Vedas’. Moreover it is now found to be an organic development of
indigenous pottery, not an introduction of invaders.
Painted Grey Ware culture represents an indigenous cultural development and does not reflect any
cultural intrusion from the West i.e. an Indo-Aryan invasion. Therefore, there is no archeological evidence
corroborating the fact of an Indo-Aryan invasion.
In addition, the Aryans in the Middle East, most notably the Hittites, have now been found to have been in
that region at least as early as 2200 BC, wherein they are already mentioned. Hence the idea of an Aryan
invasion into the Middle East has been pushed back some centuries, though the evidence so far is that the
people of the mountain regions of the Middle East were Indo-Europeans as far as recorded history can prove.
The Aryan Kassites of the ancient Middle East worshiped Vedic Gods like Surya and the Maruts, as well
as one named Himalaya. The Aryan Hittites and Mittani signed a treaty with the name of the Vedic Gods Indra,
Mitra, Varuna and Nasatyas around 1400 BC. The Hittites have a treatise on chariot racing written in almost pure
Sanskrit. The Indo-Europeans of the ancient Middle East thus spoke Indo-Aryan, not Indo-Iranian languages and
thereby show a Vedic culture in that region of the world as well.
The Indus Valley culture had a form of writing, as evidenced by numerous seals found in the ruins. It was
also assumed to be non-Vedic and probably Dravidian, though this was never proved. Now it has been shown
that the majority of the late Indus signs are identical with those of later Hindu Brahmi and that there is an organic
development between the two scripts. Prevalent models now suggest an Indo-European base for that language.
It was also assumed that the Indus Valley culture derived its civilization from the Middle East, probably
Sumeria, as antecedents for it were not found in India. Recent French excavations at Mehrgarh have shown that
all the antecedents of the Indus Valley culture can be found within the subcontinent and going back before 6000
BC.
In short, some Western scholars are beginning to reject the Aryan invasion or any outside origin for Hindu
civilization.
Current archeological data do not support the existence of an Indo-Aryan or European invasion into South
Asia at any time in the pre- or proto historic periods. Instead, it is possible to document archeologically a series of
cultural changes reflecting indigenous cultural development from prehistoric to historic periods. The early Vedic
literature describes not a human invasion into the area, but a fundamental restructuring of indigenous society.
The Indo-Aryan invasion as an academic concept in 18th and 19th century Europe reflected the cultural milieu of
the period. Linguistic data were used to validate the concept that in turn was used to interpret archeological and
anthropological data.
In other words, Vedic literature was interpreted on the assumption that there was an Aryan invasion. Then
archeological evidence was interpreted by the same assumption. And both interpretations were then used to
justify each other. It is nothing but a tautology, an exercise in circular thinking that only proves that if assuming
something is true, it is found to be true!
Another modern Western scholar, Colin Renfrew, places the Indo-Europeans in Greece as early as 6000
BC. He also suggests such a possible early date for their entry into India.
As far as I can see, there is nothing in the Hymns of the ‘Rig Veda’ which demonstrates that the Vedic-
speaking population was intrusive to the area: this comes rather from a historical assumption of the ‘coming’ of
the Indo-Europeans.
 When Wheeler speaks of ‘the Aryan invasion of the land of the 7 rivers, the Punjab’, he has no warranty
at all, so far as I can see. If one checks the dozen references in the ‘Rig Veda’ to the 7 rivers, there is nothing in
them that to me implies invasion: the land of the 7 rivers is the land of the ‘Rig Veda’, the scene of action. Nor is it
implied that the inhabitants of the walled cities (including the Dasyus) were any more aboriginal than the Aryans
themselves.
Despite Wheeler’s comments, it is difficult to see what is particularly non-Aryan about the Indus Valley
civilization. Hence Renfrew suggests that the Indus Valley civilization was in fact Indo-Aryan even prior to the
Indus Valley era:
This hypothesis that early Indo-European languages were spoken in North India with Pakistan and on the
Iranian plateau at the 6th millennium BC has the merit of harmonizing symmetrically with the theory for the origin
of the Indo-European languages in Europe. It also emphasizes the continuity in the Indus Valley and adjacent
areas from the early neolithic through to the floruit of the Indus Valley civilization.
This is not to say that such scholars appreciate or understand the ‘Vedas’ – their work leaves much to be
desired in this respect – but that it is clear that the whole edifice built around the Aryan invasion is beginning to
tumble on all sides. In addition, it does not mean that the ‘Rig Veda’ dates from the Indus Valley era. The Indus
Valley culture resembles that of the ‘Yajur Veda’ and they reflect the pre-Indus period in India when the Saraswati
river was more prominent.
The acceptance of such views would create a revolution in our view of history as shattering as that in
science caused by Einstein’s theory of relativity. It would make ancient India perhaps the oldest, largest and most
central of ancient cultures. It would mean that the Vedic literary record – already the largest and oldest of the
ancient world even at a 1500 BC date – would be the record of teachings some centuries or thousands of years
before that. It would mean that the ‘Vedas’ are our most authentic record of the ancient world. It would also tend
to validate the Vedic view that the Indo-Europeans and other Aryan peoples were migrants from India, not that
the Indo-Aryans were invaders into India. Moreover, it would affirm the Hindu tradition that the Dravidians were
early offshoots of the Vedic people through the seer Agastya, and not un-Aryan peoples.
In closing, it is important to examine the social and political implications of the Aryan invasion idea:
First, it served to divide India into a northern Aryan and southern Dravidian culture which were made
hostile to each other. This kept the Hindus divided and is still a source of social tension.
Second, it gave the British an excuse in their conquest of India. They could claim to be doing only what
the Aryan ancestors of the Hindus had previously done millennia ago.
Third, it served to make Vedic culture later than and possibly derived from Middle Eastern cultures. With
the proximity and relationship of the latter with the Bible and Christianity, this kept the Hindu religion as a sidelight
to the development of religion and civilization to the West.
Fourth, it allowed the sciences of India to be given a Greek basis, as any Vedic basis was largely
disqualified by the primitive nature of the Vedic culture.
This discredited not only the ‘Vedas’ but the genealogies of the ‘Puranas’ and their long list of the kings
before the Buddha or Krishna were left without any historical basis. The ‘Mahabharata’, instead of a civil war in
which all the main kings of India participated as it is described, became a local skirmish among petty princes that
was later exaggerated by poets. In short, it discredited most of the Hindu tradition and almost all its ancient
literature. It turned its scriptures and sages into fantasies and exaggerations.
This served a social, political and economical purpose of domination, proving the superiority of Western
culture and religion. It made the Hindus feel that their culture was not the great thing that their sages and
ancestors had said it was. It made Hindus feel ashamed of their culture – that its basis was neither historical nor
scientific. It made them feel that the main line of civilization was developed first in the Middle East and then in
Europe and that the culture of India was peripheral and secondary to the real development of world culture.
Such a view is not good scholarship or archeology but merely cultural imperialism. The Western Vedic
scholars did in the intellectual sphere what the British army did in the political realm – discredit, divide and
conquer the Hindus.
In short, the compelling reasons for the Aryan invasion theory were neither literary nor archeological but
political and religious – that is to say, not scholarship but prejudice. Such prejudice may not have been intentional
but deep-seated political and religious views easily cloud and blur our thinking.
It is unfortunate that this approach has not been questioned more, particularly by Hindus. Even though
Indian Vedic scholars like Dayananda Saraswati, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Arobindo rejected it, most Hindus
today passively accept it. They allow Western, generally Christian, scholars to interpret their history for them and
quite naturally Hinduism is kept in a reduced role. Many Hindus still accept, read or even honor the translations of
the ‘Vedas’ done by such Christian missionary scholars as Max Muller, Griffith, Monier-Williams and H. H.
Wilson. Would modern Christians accept an interpretation of the Bible or Biblical history done by Hindus aimed at
converting them to Hinduism? Universities in India also use the Western history books and Western Vedic
translations that propound such views that denigrate their own culture and country.
The modern Western academic world is sensitive to criticisms of cultural and social biases. For scholars
to take a stand against this biased interpretation of the ‘Vedas’ would indeed cause a reexamination of many of
these historical ideas that can not stand objective scrutiny. But if Hindu scholars are silent or passively accept the
misinterpretation of their own culture, it will undoubtedly continue, but they will have no one to blame but
themselves. It is not an issue to be taken lightly, because how a culture is defined historically creates the
perspective from which it is viewed in the modern social and intellectual context. Tolerance is not in allowing a
false view of one’s own culture and religion to be propagated without question. That is merely self-betrayal.
References:
1. “Atherva Veda” IX.5.4.
2. “Rig Veda” II.20.8 & IV.27.1.
3. “Rig Veda” VII.3.7; VII.15.14; VI.48.8; I.166.8; I.189.2; VII.95.1.
4. S.R. Rao, “Lothal and the Indus Valley Civilization”, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, India, 1973, p. 37, 140 &
141.
5. Ibid, p. 158.
6. “Manu Samhita” II.17-18.
7. Note “Rig Veda” II.41.16; VI.61.8-13; I.3.12.
8. “Rig Veda” VII.95.2.
9. Studies from the post-graduate Research Institute of Deccan College, Pune, and the Central Arid Zone
Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhapur. Confirmed by use of MSS (multi-spectral scanner) and Landsat Satellite
photography. Note MLBD Newsletter (Delhi, India: Motilal Banarasidass), Nov. 1989.
Also Sriram Sathe, “Bharatiya Historiography”, Itihasa Sankalana Samiti, Hyderabad, India, 1989, pp. 11-
13.
10. “Vedanga Jyotisha of Lagadha”, Indian National Science Academy, Delhi, India, 1985, pp 12-13.
11. “Aitareya Brahmana”, VIII.21-23; “Shatapat Brahmana”, XIII.5.4.
12. R. Griffith, “The Hymns of the Rig Veda”, Motilal Banarasidas, Delhi, 1976.
13. J. Shaffer, “The Indo-Aryan invasions: Cultural Myth and Archeological Reality”, from J. Lukas(Ed), ‘The
people of South Asia’, New York, 1984, p. 85.
14. T. Burrow, “The Proto-Indoaryans”, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, No. 2, 1973, pp. 123-140.
15. G. R. Hunter, “The Script of Harappa and Mohenjodaro and its connection with other scripts”, Kegan Paul,
Trench, Trubner & Co., London, 1934. J.E. Mitchiner, “Studies in the Indus Valley Inscriptions”, Oxford & IBH,
Delhi, India, 1978.
Also the work of Subhash Kak as in “A Frequency Analysis of the Indus Script”, Cryptologia, July 1988, Vol XII,
No 3; “Indus Writing”, The Mankind Quarterly, Vol 30, No 1 & 2, Fall/Winter 1989; and “On the Decipherment of
the Indus Script – A Preliminary Study of its connection with Brahmi”, Indian Journal of History of Science,
22(1):51-62 (1987). Kak may be close to deciphering the Indus Valley script into a Sanskrit like or Vedic
language.
16. J.F. Jarrige and R.H. Meadow, “The Antecedents of Civilization in the Indus Valley”, Scientific American,
August 1980.
17. C. Renfrew, “Archeology and Language”, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1987.

Check more articles from David Frawley at: http://www.vedanet.com/.

You may also read his book “The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India” online
at:http://www.hindubooks.org/david_frawley/myth_aryan_invasion/index.html.

ARYAN INVASION IS A MYTH

European scholars following Max Muller in the nineteenth century decided that the Vedic people – whom
they called the Aryans after a misinterpretation of that Vedic term – invaded India around 1500 BC. They were
said to have overthrown the primitive and aboriginal culture of the time, which was thought to be Dravidian in
nature, and brought a more advanced civilization to the land (though they themselves were still regarded as
barbarians). The indigenous aborigines were identified as the Dasyus or inimical people mentioned in the Vedas.
The rationale behind the late date for the Vedic culture given by Muller was totally speculative and based
only on linguistic grounds. Muller had assumed that the five layers of the four Vedas and Upanishads were each
composed in two hundred year periods before the Buddha at 500 BC, as they were in existence by that time.
However, the rates of change for languages are quite speculative, particularly for those languages like
Sanskrit or Latin which became scriptural or scholarly languages apart from common dialects. There are more
changes of language within Vedic Sanskrit itself than there are in classical Sanskrit since Panini, regarded as a
figure of around 500 BC, or a period of 2500 years. As classical Sanskrit has remained the same for that time
period, the two hundred year strata for the Vedic language carries no weight at all. Each of these periods could
have existed for any number of centuries and the two hundred year figure is likely too short a figure.
The idea that the Aryans were a particular race was not accepted by everyone. Max Muller himself
rejected it. Yet it has become ingrained in the Aryan theory so much that the common mind has accepted it as a
fact. This idea of the Aryans as a particular race, speaking a particular language is what I call the “first birth” of
the Aryan theory. Yet in its first form, the Aryan invasion was of people who were as or more advanced in culture
than the indigenous aborigines that they overcame.
Harappa and Mohenjodaro were not excavated until the early part of the twentieth century. As by this time
the 1500 BC date for the Vedic people was accepted and since Harappa was dated before this it was uncritically
accepted that the Harappan culture must be pre-Vedic. The Aryan invasion theory was rewritten to make the
Aryans the uncivilized destroyers of the civilized Dravidian-Harappan culture. Yet few questioned this rewriting of
the Aryan invasion theory in light of new evidence. This we could call the “second birth” of the Aryan invasion
theory – in which the Vedic Aryans were not only violent and intolerant but the destroyers of one of the great
civilizations of antiquity – which makes the Vedic Aryans appear as proto-Nazis. This is the view of the Aryan
invasion that is most commonly accepted today, even after it has been accepted by all scholars that there is no
evidence of any Harappan cities being destroyed by invaders. Because it is the most negative view of the Aryans,
it has been most seized upon by those opposing Hindu or Vedic culture.
Meanwhile other archaeologists in the early part of this century pointed out that in the middle of the
second millennium BC, various Indo-Europeans appear in the Middle East, wherein Indo-European Hittites,
Mittani and Kassites conquered and ruled Mesopotamia for some centuries. A Greek invasion of Europe was also
postulated for this period, as it marked the period when the Minoan culture declined, which was assumed to be
non-Indo-European. Hence an Aryan invasion of Greece and the Middle East was proposed. An Aryan invasion
of India was regarded as another version of this same migratory movement of Indo-European peoples around the
middle of the second millennium BC, which became one of the most dramatic migrations in the history of the
world and for which no real cause has ever been given.
On top of this, excavators of the Indus Valley culture, like Wheeler, thought they found evidence of
destruction of the culture by an outside invasion, confirming the idea (though Wheeler’s so-called skeletal
evidence of the massacre of Mohenjodaro has long since been refuted it still appears in many historical accounts
even today!).
Vedic culture was thus said to be that of primitive nomads who came out of Central Asia with their horse-
drawn chariots and iron weapons, like the Indo-European Hittites in the Near East who were among the first to
use iron weapons, and overthrew the cities of the more advanced Harappan culture, with their cruder culture yet
superior battle tactics. It was pointed out that no horses, chariots or iron were discovered in Harappan sites, and
since such things are mentioned in the Vedas, this culture must be pre-Vedic.
To support this theory other aspects of the Vedas were molded according to it. Vedic references to
destruction of cities were related to Harappa. The Vedic metal ayas was said to be iron, though it is only a
generic term meaning metal. Vedic references to the ocean were reduced to mean only the Indus river or some
other large body of water in northwest India or Afghanistan. Vedic references to rivers from the Indus to the
Ganges, which are merely a list of rivers, were interpreted to show a movement from the west to the east of India.
The Aryan invasion theory was imposed on archeological and literary evidence, even if it required altering the
data.
This was how the Aryan invasion theory formed. The logic was inevitable. Once the image of invading
Aryans was formed, it had to be drawn out to its ultimate form envisioning the Aryans like Atilla the Hun.
The languages of South India are Dravidian, which is a different linguistic group than the Indo-European
languages of the North of the subcontinent. The two groups of languages have many different root words (though
a number in common we might add), and above all a different grammatical structure, the Dravidian being
agglutinative and the Indo-European being inflected. Dravidian languages possess a very old history of their own,
which their legends, the Tamil Sangha literature, show a history in South India and Sri Lanka dating back over
five thousand years.
Along with the difference of language there is a difference of skin color from north to south of India, with
the southerners being darker in skin color (though northerners are hardly light in color by Western standards, with
the exception of some people of the far northwest). Though a less pronounced difference than that of language it
has been lumped together along with it again assuming that race and language must be the same.
The Aryan invasion theory has been used to explain both the linguistic and racial differences between the
peoples of North and South India, and such differences have been put forth as “proof” of the invasion (as if no
other explanation were possible). As the Aryans were made into a race, so were the Dravidians and the
Aryan/Dravidian divide was turned into a racial war, the Aryan invaders versus the indigenous Dravidians of
Harappa and Mohenjodaro. By this view the Vedic people promoted the superiority of their race and language
and simply drove away those of different races or languages. We have already discussed how Sanskrit Aryan is
never a racial term but a title of respect. Even the Dravidian kings called themselves Aryan. Nor is there anything
in Vedic literature that places the Dravidians outside of the greater Vedic culture and ancestry. Hence to place
Aryan against Dravidian as terms is itself a misuse of language. Be that as it may, the Aryan and Dravidian divide
has also failed to prove itself.
Now it has been determined that there is no such thing scientifically speaking as Aryan and Dravidian
races. The so-called Aryans and Dravidian races of India are members of the same Mediterranean branch of the
Caucasian race, which prevailed in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Sumeria and is still the main group in
the Mediterranean area, North Africa, and the Middle East. The Caucasian race is not simply white but also
contains dark skinned types. Skin color and race is another nineteenth century idea that has been recently
discarded.
Darker skin color is commonly found in peoples living in more southern regions and appears as an
adjustment mechanism to hotter climates and greater sunshine. For example southern Europeans are darker in
skin color than northern Europeans, though they are not a different race because of this. This suggests that the
Dravidian branch of the Mediterranean race must have lived in South India for some thousands of years to make
this adjustment, and the same thing could be said of the people of North India as well if we would make them
originally light-skinned invaders from the north.
The issue of language is similarly more complex. It is now known that Dravidian languages, with their
agglutinative patterns, share common traits and are of the same broad linguistic group as such Asian and East
European languages as Finnish, Hungarian, old Bulgarian, Turkish, Mongolian and Japanese, the Finno-Ugric
and Ural-Altaic branches of languages. As the common point between these groups lies in Central Asia some
scholars have recently proposed that the Dravidian peoples originally came from this region.
 The same linguistic speculation that led to the Aryan invasion theory has following the same logic
required a “Dravidian invasion.” Not only are the Dravidians like the Aryans styled invaders into India, they took
the same route as the Aryans. The city-state of Elam in southwest Iran, east of Sumeria, which had a high
civilization throughout the ancient period, shows an agglutinative structure like the Dravidian, as does possibly
the Sumerian itself. This would place Dravidian type languages in Iran as well. Thereby the Dravidians, just like
the Aryans, would have migrated (again the reason for which is not clear) from Central Asia and into Iran, with
one group moving west to Mesopotamia and the other, apparently larger group, going east into India. Later the
invading Aryans are said to have forced the Dravidians to move to the south of the country from their original
homeland on the Indus and Sarasvati rivers. (However, we have already noted that there is no evidence of such
migrations, nor of any Dravidian references to the Sarasvati like those of the Vedas.)
The Dravidian and Aryan invasion theories turns the migration of particular language/racial groups from
Central Asia into a kind of panacea to explain the developments of race and language for much of humanity,
particularly for India. However both invasion theories appear far too simplistic given the complex ways in which
cultures, languages and races move and interact.
The Dravidian claim to be indigenous to India has, like the Aryan, been discredited by linguistic argument.
Yet the argument brings the Aryans and Dravidians back into contact with each other and derives them from the
same region, suggesting a long term association between them outside of India. However if we give up the
invasion model such association can be better explained by contact within India which we know was an historical
fact.
Certainly the present population of India – which even the ancient Greeks and Persians regarded as dark-
skinned – was not produced by light-skinned people from Central Asia (whether Aryan or Dravidian). Moreover,
there cannot be a Dravidian invasion changing the language but not the population of India just like the Aryan
invasion, as the idea is far-fetched to happen once but to happen twice in a row in the same region and by the
same route is ridiculous.
If both the Aryan and Dravidian languages of India have affinities with those of Central Asia, and to
peoples of different ethnic groups (the Indo-Aryan with the lighter skinned European and the Dravidians with both
light-skinned Finns and Hungarians, and Mongolian race Turks) a phenomenon is created that is too complex to
be explained by mere migration alone. It takes languages across the racial boundaries that migration theories up-
hold and places them on par with other cultural affinities (like art or religion), which are not limited by race.
The linguistic divide between Aryan and Dravidian, as that between the Indo-European and other
language groups is also now being questioned. A greater Nostratic family of languages has been proposed that
includes Indo-European, Dravidian and Semitic languages and looks for a common ancestor for all three. This
requires a greater degree of contact between these groups which remote Central Asia cannot afford. Moreover,
there are affinities between Sanskrit and the Munda or aboriginal languages of India, as S. Kalyanaraman has
noted, that indicate a long and early contact, if not common evolution, which could have only happened in India.
Such Vedic scholars as Sri Aurobindo have stated that the Dravidian and Sanskritic languages have much more
in common than has yet been admitted and appear to have a common ancestor.
Dravidian history does not contradict Vedic history either. It credits the invention of the Tamil language,
the oldest Dravidian tongue, to the rishi Agastya, one of the most prominent sages in the Rig Veda. Dravidian
kings historically have called themselves Aryans and trace their descent through Manu (who in the Matsya
Puranais regarded as originally a south Indian king). Apart from language, moreover, both north and south India
share a common religion and culture. Prior to Vedic Sanskrit there may have been a language that was the basis
of both the Dravidian and Sanskritic languages in India.
The idea that the same culture cannot produce two different language systems may itself be
questionable. It may have been the very power of Vedic culture and its sages, with their mastery of the word, that
they could have produced not only Indo-European like languages but also Dravidian.
In any case the Aryan/Dravidian divide is no longer sufficient to up-hold the Aryan invasion theory. It leads
to a more difficult to maintain Dravidian invasion theory. The Dravidian invasion theory is just a shadow cast by
the Aryan invasion theory and reveals the erroneous nature of the latter.
Other aspects of the Aryan-Dravidian divide are predicated upon the invasion theory. For example the
idea that South India represents a pre-Vedic Shaivite culture as opposed to the Brahmanical culture of the north
follows only from this. Otherwise we see Shaivism in the North, in Kailas, Benares and Kashmir, and Shiva as
Rudra of the Vedas. What have thereby been proposed as radical cultural differences between the North and
South of India are merely regional variations in the vast cultural complex of the subcontinent and its interrelated
spiritual traditions.
Dravidian pride or nationalism need not depend upon the Aryan invasion theory or denigrating the culture
of North India. The Dravidians have long been one of the most important peoples of India and, perhaps ironically,
have been the best preservers of Vedic culture itself. The best Vedic Sanskrit, rituals and traditions can be found
only in the south of India. That South India was able to do this suggests the importance and antiquity of Vedic
culture to this region.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Aryan
Invasion, Cultural Preservation, Hinduism, Indian History, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma,Vedic culture | 1
Comment »
The Aryan Invasion Theory: History of Politics
Posted on July 20, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

THE ARYAN INVASION: HISTORY OR POLITICS?

 By N.S. Rajaram

Aryans: race or culture?

The evidence of science now points to two basic conclusions: first, there was no Aryan invasion, and second, the
Rig-Vedic people were already established in India no later than 4000 BC. How are we then to account for the
continued presence of the Aryan invasion version of history in history books and encyclopedias even today?
Some of the results – like Jha’s decipherment of the Indus script – are relatively recent, and it is probably
unrealistic to expect history books to reflect all the latest findings. But unfortunately, influential Indian historians
and educators continue to resist all revisions and hold on to this racist creation – the Aryan invasion theory.
Though there is now a tendency to treat the Aryan-Dravidian division as a linguistic phenomenon, its roots are
decidedly racial and political, as we shall soon discover.
Speaking of the Aryan invasion theory, it would probably be an oversimplification to say: “Germans invented it,
British used it,” but not by much. The concept of the Aryans as a race and the associated idea of the ‘Aryan
nation’ were very much a part of the ideology of German nationalism. For reasons known only to them, Indian
educational authorities have continued to propagate this obsolete fiction that degrades and divides her people.
They have allowed their political biases and career interests to take precedence over the education of children.
They continue to propagate a version that has no scientific basis.
Before getting to the role played by German nationalism, it is useful first to take a brief look at what the
word Arya does mean. After Hitler and the Nazi atrocities, most people, especially Europeans, are
understandably reluctant to be reminded of the word. But that was a European crime; Indians had no part in it.
The real Aryans have lived in India for thousands of years without committing anything remotely resembling the
Nazi horrors. So there is no need to be diffident in examining the origins of the European misuse of the word. In
any event, history demands it.
The first point to note is that the idea of the Aryans as foreigners who invaded India and destroyed the existing
Harappan Civilization is a modern European invention; it receives no support whatsoever from Indian records –
literary or archaeological. The same is true of the notion of the Aryans as a race; it finds no support in Indian
literature or tradition. The word ‘Arya’ in Sanskrit means noble and never a race. In fact, the authoritative Sanskrit
lexicon (c. 450 AD), the famous Amarakosa gives the following definition:
mahakula kulinarya sabhya sajjana sadhavah.
An Arya is one who hails from a noble family, of gentle behavior and demeanor, good-natured and of righteous
conduct.
And the great epic Ramayana has a singularly eloquent expression describing Rama as: arya sarva samascaiva
sadaiva priyadarsanah.
Arya, who worked for the equality of all and was dear to everyone. The Rigveda also uses the
word Arya something like thirty six times, but never to mean a race. The nearest to a definition that one can find
in the Rigveda is probably:
praja arya jyotiragrah … (Children of Arya are led by light) RV, VII. 33.17
The word ‘light’ should be taken in the spiritual sense to mean enlightenment. The word Arya, according to those
who originated the term, is to be used to describe those people who observed a code of conduct; people were
Aryans or non-Aryans depending on whether or not they followed this code. This is made entirely clear in
theManudharma Shastra or the Manusmriti (X.43-45):
But in consequence of the omission of sacred rites, and of their not heeding the sages, the following people of
the noble class [Arya Kshatriyas] have gradually sunk to the state of servants – the Paundrakas, Chodas,
Dravidas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Shakhas, Paradhas, Pahlavas, Chinas, Kiratas and Daradas.
Two points about this list are worth noting: first, their fall from the Aryan fold had nothing to do with race, birth or
nationality; it was due entirely to their failure to follow certain sacred rites. Second, the list includes people from
all parts of India as well as a few neighboring countries like China and Persia (Pahlavas). Kambojas are from
West Punjab , Yavanas from Afghanistan and beyond (not necessarily the Greeks) while Dravidas refers
probably to people from the southwest of India and the South. Thus, the modern notion of an Aryan-Dravidian
racial divide is contradicted by ancient records. We have it on the authority of Manu that the Dravidians were also
part of the Aryan fold. Interestingly, so were the Chinese. Race never had anything to do with it until the
Europeans adopted the ancient word to give expression to their nationalistic and other aspirations. Scientists
have known this for quite some time. Julian Huxley, one of the leading biologists of the century, wrote as far back
as 1939:
In 1848 the young German scholar Friedrich Max Müller (1823-1900) settled in Oxford , where he remained for
the rest of his life. … About 1853 he introduced into the English language the unlucky term Aryan as applied to a
large group of languages…. Moreover, Max Müller threw another apple of discord. He introduced a proposition
that is demonstrably false. He spoke not only of a definite Aryan language and its descendents, but also of a
corresponding ‘Aryan race’. The idea was rapidly taken up both in Germany and in England. It affected to some
extent a certain number of the nationalistic and romantic writers, none of whom had any ethnological training….
In England and America the phrase ‘Aryan race’ has quite ceased to be used by writers with scientific knowledge,
though it appears occasionally in political and propagandist literature. In Germany the idea of the ‘Aryan’ race
found no more scientific support than in England. Nonetheless, it found able and very persistent literary
advocates who made it very flattering to local vanity. It therefore spread, fostered by special conditions.
This should help settle the issue as far as its modern misuse is concerned. As far as ancient India is concerned,
one may safely say that the word Arya denoted certain spiritual and humanistic values that defined her
civilization. The entire Aryan civilization – the civilization of Vedic India – was driven and sustained by these
values. The whole of ancient Indian literature: from the Vedas, the Brahmanas to the Puranasto the epics like
the Mahabharata and the Ramayana can be seen as a record of the struggles of an ancient people to live up to
the ideals defined by these values. Anyone regardless of birth, race or national origin could become Aryan by
following this code of conduct. It was not something to be imposed upon others by the sword or by
proseleytization. Viewed in this light, the whole notion of any ‘Aryan invasion’ is an absurdity. It is like talking
about an ‘invasion of scientific thinking’.
Then there is also the fact that the concept of the Aryan race and the Aryan-Dravidian divide is a modern
European invention that receives no support from any ancient source. To apply it to people who lived thousands
of years ago is an exercise in anachronism if there ever was one.
The sum total of all this is that Indians have no reason to be defensive about the wordArya. It applies to
everyone who has tried to live by the high ideals of an ancient culture regardless of race, language or nationality.
It is a cultural designation of a people who created a great civilization. Anti-Semitism was an aberration of
Christian European history, with its roots in the New Testament, of sayings like “He that is not with me is against
me.” If the Europeans (and their Indian disciples) fight shy of the word, it is their problem stemming from their
history. Modern India has many things for which she has reason to be grateful to European knowledge, but this is
definitely not one of them.

European currents: ‘Aryan nation’

As Huxley makes clear in the passage cited earlier, the misuse of the word ‘Aryan’ was rooted in political
propaganda aimed at appealing to local vanity. In order to understand the European misuse of the word Arya as
a race, and the creation of the Aryan invasion idea, we need to go back to eighteenth and nineteenth century
Europe, especially to Germany. The idea has its roots in European anti-Semitism. Recent research by scholars
like Poliakov, Shaffer and others has shown that the idea of the invading Aryan race can be traced to the
aspirations of eighteenth and nineteenth century Europeans to give themselves an identity that was free from the
taint of Judaism. The Bible, as is well known, consists of two books: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Old Testament gives the traditional history of mankind. It is of course a Jewish creation. The New Testament
is also of Jewish origin; recently discovered manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls show that Christianity, in
fact, began as an extremist Jewish sect. But it was turned against the Judaism of its founding fathers by religious
propagandists with political ambitions. In fact, anti-Semitism first makes its appearance in the New Testament,
including in the Gospels. Nonetheless, without Judaism there would be no Christianity. To free themselves from
this Jewish heritage, the intellectuals of Christian Europe looked east, to Asia . And there they saw two ancient
civilizations – India and China. To them the Indian Aryans were preferable as ancestors to the Chinese. As
Shaffer has observed:
“Many scholars such as Kant and Herder began to draw analogies between the myths and philosophies of
ancient India and the West. In their attempt to separate Western European culture from its Judaic heritage, many
scholars were convinced that the origin of Western culture was to be found in India rather than in the ancient
Near East.”
So they became Aryans. But it was not the whole human race that was given this Aryan ancestry, but only a
white race that came down from the mountains of Asia , subsequently became Christian and colonized Europe .
No less an intellectual than Voltaire claimed to be “convinced that everything has come down to us from the
banks of the Ganges – astronomy, astrology, metempsychosis, etc.” (But Voltaire was emphatically not intolerant;
he was in fact a strong critic of the Church of his day.)
A modern student today can scarcely have an idea of the extraordinary influence of race theories in eighteenth
and nineteenth century Europe . Many educated people really believed that human qualities could be predicted
on the basis of measurements of physical characteristics like eye color, length of the nose and such. It went
beyond prejudice, it was an article of faith amounting to an ideology. Here is an example of what passed for
informed opinion on ‘race science’ by the well-known French savant Paul Topinard. Much of the debate centered
on the relative merits of racial types called dolichocephalics and brachycephalics, though no one seemed to have
a clear idea of what was which. Anyway, here is what Topinard wrote in 1893, which should give modern readers
an idea of the level of scientific thinking prevailing in those days:
“The Gauls, according to history, were a people formed of two elements: the leaders or conquerors, blond, tall
dolichocephalic, leptroscopes, etc. But the mass of the people, were small, relatively brachycephalic
chaemeophrosopes. The brachycephalics were always oppressed. They were the victims of dolicocephalics who
carried them off from their fields…. The blond people changed from warriors into merchants and industrial
workers. The brachycephalics breathed again. Being naturally prolific, their numbers [of brachycephalics]
increased while the dolichocephalics naturally diminished. … Does the future not belong to them?” [Sic: Belong to
whom? - dolichocephalic leptroscopes, or brachycephalic chaemeophrosopes?]
This tongue-twisting passage may sound bizarre to a modern reader, but was considered an erudite piece of
reasoning when it was written. In its influence and scientific unsoundness and dogmatism, ‘race science’ can only
be compared in this century to Marxism, especially Marxist economics. Like Marxist theories, these race theories
have also been fully discredited. The emergence of molecular genetics has shown these race theories to be
completely false.
By creating this pseudo-science based on race, Europeans of the Age of Enlightenment sought to free
themselves from their Jewish heritage. It is interesting to note that this very same theory – of the Aryan invasion
and colonization of Europe – was later applied to India and became the Aryan invasion theory of India. In reality it
was nothing more than a projection into the remote past of the contemporary European experience in colonizing
parts of Asia and Africa. Substituting European for Aryan, and Asian or African for Dravidian will give us a
description of any of the innumerable colonial
campaigns in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. According to this theory, the Aryans were carbon copies of
colonizing Europeans. Seen in this light the theory is not even especially original.
The greatest effect of these ideas was on the psyche of the German people. German nationalism was the most
powerful political movement of nineteenth century Europe. The idea of the Aryan race was a significant aspect of
the German nationalistic movement. We are now used to regarding Germany as a rich and powerful country, but
the German people at the beginning of the nineteenth century were weak and divided. There was no German
nation at the time; the map of Europe then was dotted with numerous petty German principalities and dukedoms
that had always been at the mercy of the neighboring great powers – Austria and France. For more than two
centuries, from the time of the Thirty Years War to the Napoleonic conquests, the great powers had marched
their armies through these petty German states treating these people and their rulers with utter disdain. It was
very much in the interests of the French to keep the German people divided, a tactic later applied to India by the
British. Every German at the time believed that he and his rulers were no more than pawns in great power
rivalries. This had built up deep resentments in the hearts and minds of the German people. This was to have
serious consequences for history.
In this climate of alienation and impotence, it is not surprising that German intellectuals should have sought
solace in the culture of an ancient exotic land like India. Some of us can recall a very similar sentiment among
Americans during the era of Vietnam and the Cold War, with many of them taking an interest in eastern religions
and philosophy. These German intellectuals also felt a kinship towards India as a subjugated people, like
themselves. Some of the greatest German intellectuals of the era like Humbolt, Frederick and Wilhem Schlegel,
Schopenhauer, and many others were students of Indian literature and philosophy. Hegel, the greatest
philosopher of the age and a major influence on German nationalism was fond of saying that in philosophy and
literature, Germans were the pupils of Indian sages. Humbolt went so far as to declare in 1827:
“The Bhagavadgita is perhaps the loftiest and the deepest thing that the world has to show.” This was the climate
in Germany when it was experiencing the rising tide of nationalism.
Whereas the German involvement in things Indian was emotional and romantic, the British interest was entirely
practical, even though there were scholars like Jones and Colebrooke who were admirers of India and its
literature. Well before the 1857 uprising it was recognized that British rule in India could not be sustained without
a large number of Indian collaborators. Recognizing this reality, influential men like Thomas Babbington
Macaulay, who was Chairman of the Education Board, sought to set up an educational system modeled along
British lines that would also serve to undermine the Hindu tradition. While not a missionary himself, Macaulay
came from a deeply religious family steeped in the Protestant Christian faith. His father was a Presbyterian
minister and his mother a Quaker. He believed that the conversion of Hindus to Christianity held the answer to
the problems of administering India. His idea was to create an English educated elite that would repudiate its
tradition and become British collaborators. In 1836, while serving as chairman of the Education Board in India, he
enthusiastically wrote his father: became the most populous and powerful country in Western Europe and the
greatest threat to British ambitions. Belief was widespread among British Indian authorities that India and
Sanskrit studies had made a major contribution to German unification. Sir Henry Maine, a former Vice Chancellor
of Calcutta university and an advisor to the Viceroy echoed the sentiment of many Englishmen when he said: “A
nation has been born out of Sanskrit.”
“Our English schools are flourishing wonderfully. The effect of this education on the Hindus is prodigious……. It
is my belief that if our plans of education are followed up, there will not be a single idolator among the
respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence. And this will be effected without any efforts to proselytise,
without the smallest interference with religious liberty, by natural operation of knowledge and reflection. I heartily
rejoice in the project.”
So religious conversion and colonialism were to go hand in hand. As Arun Shourie has pointed out in his recent
book Missionaries in India, European Christian missions were an appendage of the colonial government, with
missionaries working hand in glove with the government. In a real sense, they cannot be called religious
organizations at all but an unofficial arm of the Imperial Administration. (The same is true of many Catholic
missions in Central American countries who were, and probably are, in the pay of the American CIA. This was
admitted by a CIA director, testifying before the Congress.)
The key point here is Macaulay’s belief that ‘knowledge and reflection’ on the part of the Hindus, especially the
Brahmins, would cause them to give up their age-old belief in favor of Christianity. In effect, his idea was to turn
the strength of Hindu intellectuals against them, by utilizing their commitment to scholarship in uprooting their
own tradition. His plan was to educate the Hindus to become Christians and turn them into collaborators. He was
being very naive no doubt, to think that his scheme could really succeed converting India to Christianity. At the
same time it is a measure of his seriousness that Macaulay persisted with the idea for fifteen years until he found
the money and the right man for turning his utopian idea into reality.
In pursuit of this goal he needed someone who would translate and interpret Indian scriptures, especially
the Vedas, in such a way that the newly educated Indian elite would see the differences between them and the
Bible and choose the latter. Upon his return to England, after a good deal of effort he found a talented but
impoverished young German Vedic scholar by name Friedrich Max
Müller who was willing to undertake this ardous task. Macaulay used his influence with the East India Company
to find funds for Max Müller’s translation of the Rigveda. Though an ardent German nationalist, Max Müller
agreed for the sake of Christianity to work for the East India Company, which in reality meant the British
Government of India. He also badly needed a major sponsor for his ambitious plans, which he felt he had at last
found.
This was the genesis of his great enterprise, translating the Rigveda with Sayana’s commentary and the editing
of the fifty-volume Sacred Books of the East. There can be no doubt at all regarding Max Müller’s commitment to
the conversion of Indians to Christianity. Writing to his wife in 1866 he observed:
“It [the Rigveda] is the root of their religion and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, is the only way of
uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last three thousand years.”
Two years later he also wrote the Duke of Argyle, then acting Secretary of State for India: “The ancient religion
of India is doomed. And if Christianity does not take its place, whose fault will it be?” The facts therefore are
clear: like Lawrence of Arabia in this century, Max Müller, though a scholar was an agent of the British
government paid to advance its colonial interests. But he remained an ardent German nationalist even while
working in England. This helps explain why he used his position as a recognized Vedic and Sanskrit scholar to
promote the idea of the ‘Aryan race’ and the ‘Aryan nation’, both favorite slogans among German nationalists.
Though he was later to repudiate it, it was Max Müller as much as anyone who popularized the notion of Arya as
a race. This of course was to reach its culmination in the rise of Hitler and the horrors of Nazism in our own
century.
Although it would be unfair to blame Max Müller for the rise of Nazism, he, as an eminent scholar of
the Vedas and Sanskrit, bears a heavy responsibility for the deliberate misuse of a term in response to the
emotion of the moment. He was guilty of giving scriptural sanction to the worst prejudice of his or any age. Not
everyone however was guilty of such abuse. Wilhem Schlegel, no less a German nationalist, or romantic, always
used the word ‘Arya’ to mean honorable and never in a racial sense. Max Müller’s misuse of the term may be
pardonable in an ignoramus, but not in a scholar of his stature.
At the same time it should be pointed out that there is nothing to indicate that Max Müller was himself a racist.
He was a decent and honorable man who had many Indian friends. He simply allowed himself to be carried away
by the emotion of the moment, and the heady feeling of being regarded an Aryan sage by fellow German
nationalists. To be always in the public eye was a lifelong weakness with the man. With the benefit of hindsight
we can say that Max Müller saw the opportunity and made a ‘bargain with the devil’ to gain fame and fortune. It
would be a serious error however to judge the man based on this one unseemly episode in a many-sided life. His
contribution as editor and publisher of ancient works is great beyond dispute. He was a great man and we must
be prepared to recognize it.
Much now is made of the fact that Max Müller later repudiated the racial aspects of the Aryan theory, claiming it
to be a linguistic concept. But this again owed more to winds of change in European politics than to science or
scholarship. Britain had been watching the progress of German nationalism with rising anxiety that burst into near
hysteria in some circles when Prussia crushed France in the Franco-Prussian war in 1871. This led to German
unification under the banner of Prussia. Suddenly Germany
This obviously was an exaggeration, but to the British still reeling from the effects of the 1857 revolt, the specter
of German unification being repeated in India was very real. Max Müller though found himself in an extremely
tight spot. Though a German by birth he was now comfortably established in England, in the middle of his
lifework on the Vedas and the Sacred Books of the East. His youthful flirtation with German nationalism and the
Aryan race theories could now cost him dear. German unification was followed in England by an outburst of
British jingoism in which Bismarck and his policies were being daily denounced; Bismarck had become extremely
unpopular in England for his expansionist policies. With his background as a German nationalist, the last thing
Max Müller could afford was to be seen as advocating German ideology in Victorian England. He had no choice
but to repudiate his former theories simply to survive in England. He reacted by hastily propounding a new
‘linguistic theory’ of the Aryan invasion.
So in 1872, immediately following German unification, the culmination of the century long dream of German
nationalists, Friedrich Max Müller marched into a university in German occupied France and dramatically
denounced the German doctrine of the Aryan race. And just as he had been an upholder of the Aryan race theory
for the first twenty years of his career, he was to remain a staunch opponent of it for the remaining thirty years of
his life. It is primarily in the second role that he is remembered today, except by those familiar with the whole
history.
Let us now take a final look at this famous theory. It was first an Aryan invasion theory of Europe created by
Europeans to free themselves from the Jewish heritage of Christianity. This was to lead to Hitler and Nazism.
This theory was later transferred to India and got mixed up with the study of Sanskrit and European languages.
Europeans–now calling themselves Indo-Europeans–became the invading Aryans and the natives became the
Dravidians.
The British hired Max Müller to use this theory to turn the Vedas into an inferior scripture, to help turn educated
Hindus into Christian collaborators. Max Müller used his position as a Vedic scholar to boost German nationalism
by giving scriptural sanction to the German idea of the Aryan race. Following German unification under Bismarck,
British public and politicians became scared and anti-German. At this Max Müller worried about his position in
England, got cold feet and wriggled out of his predicament by denouncing his own former racial theory and turned
it into a linguistic theory. In all of this, one would like to know where was the science?
As Huxley pointed out long ago, there was never any scientific basis for the Aryan race or their invasion. It was
entirely a product–and tool–of propagandists and politicians. Giving it a linguistic twist was simply an
afterthought, dictated by special circumstances and expediency.
The fact that Europeans should have concocted this scenario which by repeated assertion became a belief
system is not to be wondered at. They were trying to give themselves a cultural identity, entirely understandable
in a people as deeply concerned about their history and origins as the modern Europeans. But how to account for
the tenacious attachment to this fiction that is more propaganda than history on the part of ‘establishment’ Indian
historians? It is not greatly to their credit that modern Indian historians–with rare exceptions–have failed to show
the independence of mind necessary to subject this theory to a fresh examination and come up with a more
realistic version of history. Probably they lack also the necessary scientific skills and have little choice beyond
continuing along the same well-worn paths that don’t demand much more than reiterating nineteenth century
formulations.
It is not often that a people look to a land and culture far removed from them in space and time for their
inspiration as the German nationalists did. This should made modern Indian historians examine the causes in
Europe for this unusual phenomenon. It is one of the great failures of scholarship that they failed to do so.
We no longer have to continue along this discredited path. Now thanks to the contributions of science–from the
pioneering exploration of V.S. Wakankar and his discovery of the Vedic river Sarasvati to Jha’s decipherment of
the Indus script–we are finally allowed a glimpse into the ancient world of the Vedic Age. The Aryan invasion
theory and its creators and advocates are on their way to the dustbin of history.
Conclusion: historiography, not Indology, is the answer. The rise and fall of Indology closely parallels the
growth and decline of European colonialism and the Euro-centric domination of Indian intellectual life. (Marxism is
the most extreme of Euro-centric doctrines – a ‘Christian heresy’ as Bertrand Russell called it.) The greatest
failure of Indology has been its inability to evolve an objective methodology for the study of the sources. Even
after two hundred years of existence, there is no common body of knowledge that can serve as foundation, or
technical tools that be used in addressing specific problems. All that Indologists have given us are theories and
more theories almost all of them borrowed from other disciplines. If one went to botany to borrow tree diagrams
for the study of languages, another went to psychology to study sacrificial rituals, and a third – followed by a
whole battalion – borrowed the idea of the class struggle from Marx to apply to Vedic society. Not one of them
stopped to think whether it would not be better to try to study the ancients through the eyes of the ancients
themselves. And yet ample materials exist to follow such a course. With the benefit of hindsight, even setting
aside irrational biases due to politics and Biblical beliefs, we can now recognize that Indology has been guilty of
two fundamental methodological errors. First, linguists have confused their theories–based on their own
classifications and even whimsical assumptions–for fundamental laws of nature that reflect historical reality.
Secondly, archaeologists, at least a significant number of them, have subordinated their own interpretations to
the historical, cultural, and even the chronological impositions of the linguists. (Remember the Biblical Creation in
4004 BC which gave the Aryan invasion in 1500 BC!) This has resulted in a fundamental methodological error of
confounding primary data from archaeology with modern impositions like the Aryan invasion and other theories
and even their dates. This mixing of unlikes–further confounded by religious beliefs and political theories–is a
primary source of the confusion that plagues the history and archaeology of ancient India . In their failure to
investigate the sources, modern scholars–Indian scholars in particular–have much to answer for.
As an immediate consequence of this, the vast body of primary literature from the Vedic period has been
completely divorced from Harappan archaeology under the dogmatic belief that the Vedas and Sanskrit came
later. This has meant that this great literature and its creators have no archaeological or even geographical
existence. In our view, the correct approach to breaking this deadlock is by a combination of likes–a study of
primary data from archaeology alongside the primary literature from ancient periods. This means we must be
wary of modern theories intruding upon ancient data and texts. The best course is to disregard them. They have
outlived their usefulness if they had any. In the final analysis, Indology–like the Renaissance and the Romantic
Movement–should be seen as part of European history. And Indologists–from Max Müller to his modern
successors–have contributed no more to the study of ancient India than Herodotus. Their works tell us more
about them than about India . It is time to make a new beginning. The decipherment of the Indus script–and the
scientific methodology leading up to it–can herald this new beginning.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Aryan Invasion
Theory, Cultural Preservation, Hinduism, Indian culture, Indian History, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma, Vedic
culture | 3 Comments »
Speaking Out Against Prejudice Toward Hinduism and India
Posted on July 20, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

Speaking Out Against Prejudice

Toward Hinduism and India
by Stephen Knapp
Although I am primarily engaged in writing books, there are times when I notice that prejudice and false ideas
about Hinduism and India become too apparent in various publications to disregard. In such cases, we will write
in and speak out to present more accurate views regarding the true nature of Vedic culture.
Here is an example of our response to a Christian minister who wrote a letter to the “India Tribune” about his
false notion regarding the need for the freedom of Hindus to convert to Christianity to bring them out of their plight
of poverty and oppression under “Hindu” leaders. His prejudice and bias was so obvious that we felt compelled to
write in a more accurate and truthful view of the situation. This was also appreciated by others who wrote in their
approval of our letter, and contributed additional valid points with which we agree, some of which we have
included following our letter. We wrote it under our publicist’s name of Jim Martin. The letter was published in the
September 2, 2000 edition of the paper, and was printed and titled as follows:
 Invaders Aimed to Dismantle Indian Culture
by Jim Martin
Dear Sir:
I am writing in response to the letter published in the August 5 edition of India Tribune, by Rev. Dr. George E.
David, titled “Legitimate Conversions Must Be Supported.” He is a Christian minister and I am also one who was
born and raised a Christian. However, I have some serious differences of opinion in response to what he said in
his letter.
First of all, I also agree that everyone should have the right to decide for themselves what faith is most
appropriate for them. No one has to really monitor that, as he seemed to suggest. It is a freedom in any
democratic country. But he goes on to criticize Hinduism as being to blame for the poor and illiterate people in
India. And that the Hindu leaders have kept people under control through such illiteracy and poverty. He suggests
that is the reason why there is a need for so many Christians, due to their love of Jesus Christ, to come to the
rescue and save India and help the needy.
There are many parts of the world who need humanitarian work, and to do that is fine. However, as a Christian
myself, I know and have heard time and time again this ploy as a standard tactic to justify why Christians need to
go to India and “Deliver the good news about Jesus” while bringing different kinds of humanitarian help. I have
heard this from local churches as well as numerous television evangelical preachers as well, such as Jerry
Falwell and others, and then watch them count their success in how many converts they have made. So this is
nothing new. And after a while you begin to see through it.
To me this seems completely unfair to make such an assumption that illiteracy and poverty are caused by
Hinduism, as if Rev. David knows all about the history of India and why it has lost so much of its glory and power,
and the immense damage the “Christian British” did to India, and its attempt to dismantle whatever there was of
Hinduism and its Vedic literature. Also, how they purposely controlled food production and distribution of
commodities in order to turn people to Christianity. How they purposely tried to control and change the Vedic
texts to reduce the high standards of living, morality, and its understanding of God so that people would more
easily be converted to Christianity, along with so many other things they did. He has little right to blame the social
conditions of India on Hinduism.
Rev. David goes on to say how he sees anger and hatred in a prior letter of Dr. Gangadhar Maddiwar, as if Dr.
Maddiwar would prefer to keep Hindu people of India being poor and illiterate, rather than knowing other faiths.
Here is another ploy to get Indians to stop being Hindus. Rev. David seems not to understand in the slightest
degree that simply knowing other faiths is hardly anything that will improve the education of Indian citizens. The
poor and illiterate is a social condition that was inflicted upon India and caused by outside invaders, from which
India is still slowly recovering. It was never caused by Hinduism. History shows that.
Even though I am born and raised a Christian, I believe in finding the truth. And anyone can investigate the true
history of India and look back to see how India has been controlled and dominated by invaders of all kinds for the
past 1000 years and more, invaders from the Middle East, the British, and even their missionaries. They have all
come to dismantle what is India and its culture and force a new religion and government on its people, whether
through obvious or covert attempts. During his latest visit to India the Pope stated: “Just as in the first millennium
the Cross was planted on the soil of Europe and in the second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray
that in the third Christian millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and vital continent of Asia.”
Do you think that does not mean to make Indians Christians??
So there is no doubt that the Christian motive is not necessarily to help all people of the third world countries in a
selfless manner simply to express their love of Christ, but also to provide the means by which everyone can be
swayed to adopt the same religion. Once you begin to truly investigate history, anyone can understand that India
has the oldest religion and culture in the world, and it can work perfectly well if it is given a chance. A chance
outside the dictates of its past invaders, or present sectarian government officials who work for the cause of
minorities at the expense of the majority Hindus. Do not think that a born and raised Christian and American such
as myself cannot see this. In fact, anyone can.
For example, there have been two newly released books that are packed with important and revealing
information about India’s history from thousands of years ago up to the present. One book is “Proof of Vedic
Culture’s Global Existence” by Stephen Knapp (available through The World Relief Network, P. O. Box 15082,
Detroit, Michigan, 48215), and the other is “The True History and the Religion of India” by Swami Prakashanand
Saraswati (available through the International Society for Divine Love, Barsana Dham, 400 Barsana Road,
Austin,Texas, 78737).
These books show how India once had a glorious past and was a global influence, in fact the parent of humanity
and the heritage of all religions. It was advanced in many medical, mathematical and scientific inventions that the
world uses today without recognition of their origins. These books also show the damage that invaders, including
the Christian British and German nationalists, did to the true culture of India and its people in general, and how
India has been making an uphill battle since then to regain stability. Furthermore, these books show that many
practices of the ancient Vedic culture, which is far older than either Judaism or Christianity, were adopted by
each of these newer religions. Even the story of Jesus has many adaptations and similarities to the older story of
Lord Krishna.
It would be to the advantage of any Indian to be aware of the abundant information that these two books contain
to keep in mind the antiquity and authenticity of their true past and heritage. There has been many attempts to
stifle and suppress the knowledge in the above mentioned books for years. After learning this information myself,
I am embarrassed whenever I see these same age old tactics as found in Rev. David’s letter, to belittle India and
its religion by unjustly using social issues to criticize religions, and thereby try to establish the superiority of their
own religion, such as Christianity, which has proved to be one of the most violent and dominating religions in
history. And I know this is something that most Christians don’t like to discuss. However, even the Pope has
acknowledged and apologized for the cruel past of Christianity, so this cannot be denied. Therefore, Indians have
every right to be proud of their culture, and every right to be a little tired of those who make continued efforts to
defraud or tear it down in any way, religious or otherwise. This has gone on long enough. So, as Rev. David says
at the end of his letter, let us work together to give peace a chance, but I say let everyone follow the religion of
their choice without the continual attempt to sway them this way or that.

_____________________________________________________________________________

In response to our letter were others, such as the following that appeared in the October 14, 2000 issue, that not
only praised us for speaking out, but also made creditable points to which we agree, and share with you here.
This makes it evident that it is better not to be shy about speaking the truth, for when it is done appropriately, it
may also become a gathering point and provide the impetus for others to come forward to do the same.

Tolerant Hindus Respect all Religions

by S. Arora
Dublin, OH: I read with great interest Jim Martin’s opinion — “Invaders aimed to Dismantle Indian Culture”–
published in India Tribune dated September 2, in response to Dr. George E. David’s view – “Legitimate
conversions must be supported” – appeared in India Tribune dated August 5.
I was greatly impressed by Jim Martin who rightly said that invader’s aim was to dismantle the Indian culture. I
think, it is praiseworthy and highly creditable that one such as Jim Martin, who is born and raised as a Christian,
would so boldly proclaim what he sees as the truth. He has done his homework well, for he definitely has a fair
grasp of Indian culture and the reasons that gradually led to its decline over the centuries.
Anyone who has read about Hinduism knows how at one time India was respected and looked up to for guidance
in matters of religion and spirituality. Even Jesus Christ is said to have gone to India for several years during his
early life to get guidance and spiritual instruction from the sages and yogis of north India. (Reference: “Jesus
Lived in India” by Holger Kerston).
Swamy Vivekananda represented Hinduism as a delegate in September 1893 to the Parliament of World
Religions in Chicago, where delegates from all nations gathered. There, he emphasized the harmony of all
religions, and got a standing ovation, significant of their approval. For two minutes, he attempted to speak, but
the wild enthusiasm of the audience prevented him. When silence was finally restored, he introduced Hinduism
as “the mother of religions, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance,” and
he quoted two passages from the Hindu scriptures in support. “As the different streams having their sources in
different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different
tendencies, various though they may appear, crooked or straight, all lead there.”
The second quotation, “All men are struggling through paths, which in the end, lead to Me,” is indicative of the
truth which his guru, Sri Ramakrishna, had taught him, “as many paths, so many religions.” Hence, in a
democracy, each one should have the freedom to follow his conscience, and opt for and follow the religion of his
choice, without being pressured to conversion to other religions.
Referring to Swami Vivekananda’s speech, the president, Merwin-Mariesnell, of the assembly said, “One of the
chief advantages has been in the great lesson which it has taught the Christian world, especially to the people of
the US, namely that there are other religions more venerable than Christianity, which surpass it in philosophical
depth, in spiritual intensity. . .”
In light of this, it is hard to understand why Christian missionaries go to India to convert the poverty-stricken
Hindus to Christianity, under the guise of humanitarian reasons. As Jim Martin has pointed out, the Indians have
the invaders (wave after wave of them) to thank for the present plight of India and the Indians today. In the last
1,000 years, at least, India has not invaded any country, but it has patiently suffered the onslaught of aggression
from foreigners who have scrupulously taken advantage of the trusting Hindus.
Hinduism accommodates all religions, so Hindus not only tolerate, but respect all religions as true, without trying
to convert followers of other religions to Hinduism. Should not followers of other religions do the same, and live in
a spirit of peace, goodwill and co-existence?

_____________________________________________________________________________

Another letter in support of our views appeared in the October 7, 2000 edition, and was published as follows:

God is Too Big for any one Religion

by A. Ramachandran
Shrewsbury, MA: I wish to compliment Jim Martin for his lively opinion–”Invaders Aimed to Dismantle Indian
Culture”–published in India Tribune dated September 2. It was his response to Rev. David’s views–”Legitimate
Conversions must be Supported”–published in India Tribune dated August 5.
First, I also agree that conversion is a moral right. India has a long tradition of conversion from one faith to
another. When Lord Buddha preached his eight-fold path to Nirvana, Hindus in large numbers converted to
th
Buddhism. When in the 8 century Adi Shankar expounded his philosophy of Adwaita, many Buddhists converted
 th
to Hinduism. In the 16 century, Guru Nanak offered his simpler way to God and many Hindus chose to become
Sikhs. In 50 A.D., when St. Thomas brought Christianity to Kerala, many Hindus converted to this faith.
All these conversions were motivated by the hearts and intellects of the individuals and no temptation or coercion
was involved. Unfortunately, St. Thomas was martyred in Madras because of his insistence that Hindu gods were
false and their devotees were bound to go to hell. (We hear these words are repeated even today–please see the
Southern Baptist’s Prayer Book.)
Hindu India in the first millennium was a very prosperous country, rich in culture, sciences and wealth. Thanks to
their religion, they were a gentle and mild people. (Read the impressions of the two Chinese pilgrims to India.)
However, India’s fame attracted booty-seekers from the West who came to plunder, pillage, massacre,
subjugate, rule and eventually pauperize economically.
The Christian missionaries followed in the wake of this conquest and proselytized under the protection of the Raj.
They used Western funds, material goods, and medicines to entice poor people to convert. They also used the
threat of hell to convince the gullible and berated the Hindu religion.
This manner of spreading Christianity was also employed in South America by the Spanish conquerors and in
North America by the European settlers, when the natives were vanquished by saber, spear, gunfire and then by
the Christian cross-war, planted on their soil to save the “poor heathens.”
India lost everything to the Western conquerors except its soul, and hence Gandhi was born, the freedom
movement evolved, and India was able to free itself from centuries of debilitating foreign rule.
When the Indians gave themselves a Constitution, they incorporated the ancient Hindu belief of “Sarva Dharma
Sambhava”–all religions are equal–contrast to the recent Vatican statement that orthodox Catholics and other
denominations are imperfect. A bumper sticker says it all–”God is too big for any one religion.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

One final letter that we will include that was inspired by our original letter, and which holds some strong points
with which we also concur, was published in the January 27, 2001 edition of India Tribune as follows:

India subjugated by invaders – Hindus are secular-minded

by Bhikhu Patel
Marshall, TX: I am writing this belatedly in appreciation of Jim Martin’s opinion–”Invaders armed to dismantle
Indian culture”–published in India Tribune dated September 2, 2000.
Jim Martin needs to be congratulated for his efforts to seek out the truth about India’s past, and then being a
Christian, had the courage to express it in a newspaper.
Hindu-bashing has been a fashion in the Christian and the Islamic worlds. Hindus and their organizations have
been labeled as fundamentalists. They are being held responsible for all the aches and pains the two creeds are
having with their policy to proselytize the Indian subcontinent.
A Hindu cannot be a fundamentalist because of his universally accepted belief in the “Sarva Dharma Sambhava.”
Dan, Daya and Dharma are the three ingredients of the behavior in daily life. That does not mean that every
Hindu would qualify for a sainthood. He carries all the traits of the human weaknesses. However, his overall
performance towards his brethren carries high marks. India was ruled by foreigners for nearly 1000 years. The
British came last, seeking trade, but ended up acquiring the whole of India.
The Indians were dazzled and outwitted by the cunningness of the invaders. The Hindus knew very little of the
atrocities and terrorism of the crusades of Jehads. Still less, they knew about the spread of the two religions in
the “Old World.” The Indian elite adopted the English way of dressing and mannerism. Persian and English
replaced Sanskrit. The Christian missionaries with the help of the British proceeded to Christianize India. The
method adopted was unique.
India was unique. Islam, which was successful in converting the whole population in other countries, was only
partially successful. Christianity, which successfully converted the continents and destroyed cultures of the “New
World,” had a very weak foothold.
This unique method was developed by Muller, Cunningham and Jones. The fictitious theory of invading Aryans
was invented. The scriptures were doctored derogatively to demoralize Hindus. The records in the Archeological
Department were manipulated. Many rare copies of scriptures were destroyed. The Hindu building structures
became Moghul. The art turned Persian. The etiquette became English. The architect of the Taj Mahal was an
Italian, maybe a Spaniard, not sure. Thus, the roots of India-bashing or Hindu-bashing were laid centuries ago
and are very deep. The Indian history was rewritten by the British and Islamic rulers. It was like Hitler that was
given the task of writing British history.
Hindus have been the temple builders, not the temple destroyers. India welcomed people of other cultures who
were being persecuted in their own land, and lived amicably with them. The ruins that one may find all over the
world were not the handiwork of the Hindus. The cultural and civilizational destruction of the Aztecs, only 500
years ago, was criminal, was not carried out by the Hindus, nor had any hand in the management of slavery. This
is by no means a full list of big crimes. The worst was to come.
The Jewish people continued to suffer at the hands of their brothers, the people of the Books. It reached the peak
during the second world war, when trains loaded with human cargo were sent into gas chambers. The Jewish
race was nearly exterminated in Europe. The Jewish people in India were quite happy living among the Hindus.
When around 392 AD, Christianity became the favored and predominant religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor
Theodosius proclaimed it the sole legal religion and ordered all Roman subjects except Jews to become
Christians. To be a Christian was henceforth a matter of law, not of religious conviction.
The burning of the main scientific medical library in Cordoba, Spain, was carried out on the pretext of “horrible
calamity” to Islam. The famous library of Alexandria, which was in existence for nearly 1,000 years containing
700,000 manuscripts, was destroyed at the instance of caliph Omar. Prior to that, the same library suffered
destruction at the hands of the Roman emperors in the years 272 AD and 391 AD. The actions were criminal.
Hindus have always been the promoters of knowledge.
Hindus have never entertained crusades or Jehads against any religion, nor sent missions to other countries on a
religious conversion drive. The world population comprises 2.5 billion Christians and 1.5 billion Muslims. Still, the
zeal of these two creeds to proselytize continues unabated. The Pope’s recent “call for conversion” of Asia, and
the Southern Baptists’ prayers for the “more than 900 million people lost in the hopeless darkness of Hinduism”
suggest a very strong Christian desire for proselytizing the Indian subcontinent. They can do it. They have the
power, organizations and the people to act upon their instructions.
The Islamic desire has taken to the road of violence and terrorism. The Islamic organizations have built up a
worldwide network of organizations to train people in terrorist activities and send them to all parts of the world. All
sorts of clandestine activities are undertaken, unashamedly to fund these terrorist cells. Mosques and madrasas
are also being used to indoctrinate people, particularly children. Bodarsky, in pointing out the strong, unyielding
and violent attitudes among the Islamic groups, states that “the dominant historic trend in the region (Middle-
East) is adamant opposition to the mere existence of Israel, let alone peace with it.” In their prayers, “Dua” of the
Azzam Organization states, “O Allah! Cause this relation to come in the form of intensified attacks on the Hindu
forces in Kashmir.” Further, the organization states openly its support to Pakistan in its war against India. These
terrorist groups have no physical boundaries. Professor Masud-ul-Hasan, in his book, “History of Islam,” writes
“Islam is the end all and be all of the existence of the Muslims.” The American government, in supporting the
Afghanistan war against Russia, poured funds and armaments into Pakistan. The Americans have created a
monster they know not. They certainly don’t know how to handle it. It is growing in power and its reach is
extensive. Does Lord Jesus need Christian organizations with their loaded purse and devious methods to
propagate the message of love? Does Prophet Mohammad need Islamic organizations with their highly devoted
Jehad to propagate the message of submissiveness to God? Perhaps not. There would not be sufficient space to
list the ways in which these groups may be able to destroy the fabrics of India. Christian, Islamic or other groups
should be barred and restricted from any activity of forced conversions on Indian soil.
India is a secular and democratic country. The Indian Constitution provides for equality and progress for all.
Every Indian has a duty to make certain that foreign groups do not play “tricks” on India. All Indians have lived
together quite happily in the past. The Christian and Muslim brethren and sisters need to disassociate
themselves from the clutches of these groups.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged: Cultural
Preservation, Hinduism, Prejudice Against Hinduism, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma, Vedic culture| Leave a
Comment »
Are Hindus Destined to Become an Extinct Race?
Posted on July 20, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

Are the Hindus Destined to Become an Extinct

Race?
By Ishani Chowdhury
In the Spring of 2000, the democratically elected Fijian government led by Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry
was held hostage by a guerrilla group, headed by George Speight. They were demanding a segregated state
exclusively for the native Fijians, thereby legally abolishing any rights the Indian inhabitants have now. Port Louis,
Mauritius witnessed three days of racial violence in February 1999, when popular reggae singer Kaya died in
police custody. Riots quickly developed along racial lines with black Creoles attacking Hindus. Police stations
housing terrified
Hindus were not spared. Likewise, Northeast India has witnessed a surge of nearly 200% in their Christian
population in the past 25 years due to the wily tactics of foreign missionaries. So strong is their grasp there that
practicing Hinduism is forbidden in these areas. Durga puja has become almost obsolete as deities are destroyed
or stolen in broad daylight. This confrontational climate has led to numerous militant outfits, sponsored by the
Church, who are fighting for secession from India.
Every minute of everyday an innocent Hindu is attacked solely because of his faith. It is absolutely heart-
wrenching to see that being Hindu gives almost everyone the right to automatically verbally and physically abuse
us. Have we taken ahimsa [nonviolence] to such an extreme that merely standing up for one’s own rights has
become a dreadful thought? It is a sad fact to say that while Southern Baptists are openly calling for the
conversion of “heathen” Hindus, that the vast majority of us sit quietly in our fancy homes and luxury cars falsely
reassuring ourselves that “they do not mean me.” But indeed they do, and it is happening every minute of
everyday in almost every country in the world where we live. So pathetic is the present situation that not only are
we being abused and terrorized by the minorities in our own country, but also by the majority population in the
lands where we live abroad. Indeed we can distinctly go down in history as the most cowardice race that has ever
lived.
This long tradition of having a slave mentality started thousands of years ago. History has been witness to the
numerous onslaughts that we have suffered not only due to disunity, but also to our selfish interests. Even the
prior knowledge of Alexander’s conquest did not stop many Hindu kingdoms from willingly joining hands with him.
This led to the successful expansion of Alexander’s empire. Even after Alexander’s death, many kingdoms, such
as that of Raja Parvataka’s Keykai, chose to remain a lackey to the Greek governor appointed to the region. It
was only one brave man who came forward to set India free. It was the passion in Chanakya’s heart that led him
to form the great Mauryan Empire, an empire which brought together the many small, fragmented kingdoms. For
the first time it was demonstrated how one man could stir a person’s soul and become a force to reckon with.
But history has played a cruel joke, for the Mauryan Empire lasted but a short time, and so by the seventh
century AD, we became the targets of another set of tyrannical conquerors — the Muslims. For eight hundred
years we watched as our women were raped, our treasure house of books burned (including the world-renowned
Taxila and Nalanda university libraries), our temples destroyed, our people sold as slaves to Middle Eastern
countries, and killed or forcibly converted. At that time very few Hindus, if any, chose to rise. Instead, we were too
busy being a traitor to our own people and becoming a foot-boy for the king. The Koran, with the countless
verses calling for jihad against the “infidels,” became a weapon for every Muslim ruler from Mahmud of Ghazni to
Tipu Sultan. So poisonous is the Islamic creed that having a Hindu lineage did not even matter as was the case
with Jehangir, son of Akbar and his Hindu wife, Jodabai.
By the arrival of the Portuguese and the British, much of Gandhara (present-day Afghanistan) and Western India
(present-day Pakistan) was demographically lost to the Muslims. The terrible pogrom known as the Goan
Inquisition led to the forcible conversion of Hindus to Christianity and the large-scale confiscation of ancestral
property. Scores of temples were demolished and churches built in their place. To add insult to injury, one of the
greatest so-called “saints,” Francis Xavier, feverishly declared “When all are baptized, I order all temples of their
1
false gods destroyed and idols broken into pieces. I can give you no idea of the joy I feel seeing this done.” With
the cross in one hand and the sword in the other, these European forces went about annihilating Hindus, so
much so that we have now lost about 35% of our Goan brothers to Christianity.
The British drained us of our wealth and left us crippled in 1947. The rising, violent Muslim demand for the
separate homeland led to the vivisection of one-third of India. As Gandhi was preaching “shanti, shanti” [peace,
peace], Muslims perpetrated the most heinous pogrom remembered in partition history, the Noakhali Danga.
There is not one family in India that has not seen or suffered the brunt of partition. Gandhi did not do much or say
much when his fellow Hindus were being hounded like prey, instead he accusingly stressed to us that we be kind
and considerate to our “gentle” Muslim brethren. One cowardice act led to another, as Nehru created our problem
of Kashmir and chanted “Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai” while the Chinese were attacking Arunachal Pradesh. By this act,
we have lost a large portion of our land to yet another set of modern invaders.
In 1971, while troops under Indira Gandhi’s direction liberated Bangladesh, it turned a blind eye to the nearly
three million Hindus killed by the Pakistani army and the ten million refugees that flooded the border. She willingly
fed, sheltered and handed over 90,000 captured Pakistani troops. Inconsiderate of the fact that we lost hundreds
of our soldiers in the front line, she returned to Pakistan a portion of POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) that we
managed to re-capture from them. Is this the way one treats one’s enemy? Certainly let us not forget Kargil,
when bodies of Indian troops were found butchered, their genitals severed, tongues cut and eyes gouged out.
This scene takes you back to the medieval days when Muslim kings would not only kill their own relatives for
power, but use these same exact means to slowly torture them to death. Indeed, the injunctions of the Koran are
followed even in this most advanced day and age. And what does our beloved India do after seeing the condition
of these unfortunate Kargil martyrs? Exactly what she did over eight hundred years ago, absolutely nothing!
Our government has become a lackey for the minority population, just begging to appease them at any instance
they get, even if it may be an unreasonable, outrageous demand. But what has happened to the 85% of the
population who are Hindus, do our votes not count? Apparently not. And how is it that our most “loyal” civil
servants are feeling this way? It is simple, because we ourselves do not care what is happening, so why should
they?
The fault lies not with ministers, governors or the Prime Minister, it lies solely with us. We are the people, and the
voice of power. If we are weak, why should they even bother? But, if 12% of the population, the Muslims, scream
and shout, they win the battle, as well as the war. While the rest of the world’s democratic, secular countries only
allow for one man to marry one woman, India has given Muslims the special privilege of marrying up to four
wives, not to mention alimony for only three months. Even the Supreme Court did not have a say when Rajiv
Gandhi overturned their verdict in the Shah Bano case, and instead enacted a law making sure that the court
finds no scope of jurisdiction in the matters of Muslim marriage, divorce, etc. in the future.
Minority institutions, namely churches, madrasas (Islamic schools), etc., in India receive special funding from the
government. Likewise, minorities also receive subsidies on pilgrimages, such as the hajj [a Muslim's pilgrimage to
Mecca]. Yet there is no such facility for Hindus, even though we have become a minority in six states in India.
Millions of Kashmiri Hindus have been driven from their ancestral land and are living a dismal life in squatter
camps, yet not one government minister is doing anything to address the situation. Sixty ancient temples were
destroyed in 1992, but no one said a word. Hindu marriage parties and neighborhoods are singled out and
attacked, even children as young as eight are not spared and our papers remain silent. We have become
2
refugees in our own homeland.
We are not second class, but third class citizens in our own country. Documented numerous times, Christian
missionaries are openly calling our devas “shaitans,” compelling tribal converts to illegally confiscate land for
building churches, urinating on deities, forcing marriages of Christian girls to Hindu boys (so as to make the
3
“nonbeliever” a convert) and pressuring converts to force family members to embrace Christianity. SIMI, the
Students Islamic Movement of India has declared an openjihad against Hindus. Posters being circulated include
one that exhorts young Muslim boys to follow the teachings of Islam passionately and trample upon those who
4
arekaafirs (non-believers in Islam).
If tribal Christians pelt stones at Hindus and we retaliate, we are blamed. If Christians and Muslims openly
slander our devas, it is considered natural, but if we try to defend ourselves or retaliate in kind, we are considered
communal. It has come to the point where even saying that one is Hindu is a shameful thing. Many organizations
are aghast at the thought of putting the sacred Om on booklets, or rush through pujas so as not the risk losing the
audience. We have successfully demeaned and cheapened our religion to such an extent that images of deities
are sold on shoes and goddesses are drawn naked. Has Hinduism become so much of joke that Christians and
Muslims find it so easy to “buy” a Hindu convert? How can a few saris induce one into discarding his ancestral
faith? Why are millions of Hindus fleeing Bangladesh, is it because the rest of the Hindus can not help or stand
behind them? Has Chanakya’s dream of a united Hindu nation become a mockery?
While India is a total failure in protecting the Hindu population (case in point: Kashmir, the Northeast, the border
districts of West Bengal) Hindus in other countries are not that well off either. According to the Fijian constitution,
Indians can not own land, and Parlimentary seats are not allocated as per normal democratic means. On July 27,
2000 two hundred terrified Indians were rounded up and held hostage by George Speight’s supporters. Even at
44% of the population we can not do a thing, and the Indian government does not say a thing.
Fifty thousand Hindus in and around Dhaka, Bangladesh were killed in 1964 when a holy relic from a mosque
was stolen in Kashmir. In 1992, three thousand Hindu temples were destroyed and thousands of Hindus killed in
religious riots in Bangladesh. This is not something new. “There were riots in East Pakistan almost every year,
and severe killings in 1944, 1947, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1960 and 1963,” states S.K. Bhattacharya in Genocide in
East Pakistan/Bangladesh. Added to the long list of mass attacks is the daily harassment of Hindus. The Dhaka
newspaper Sangabad reported on September 24, 1989, the story of Ms. Birajabala Debnath of Niradabad. She
became a widow after her husband was murdered because he refused to give up his land to his Muslim neighbor.
Then she and her five children were abducted in the middle of the night and murdered. Amnesty International’s
1996 report details the attack on innocent Hindu students at Dhaka University’s Jagannatha Hall. Seven hundred
law enforcement personnel raided the University’s only Hindu hall firing tear-gas, stealing valuables and raping
5
and beating students. The three hour raid saw hundreds of deaths and injuries.
There have been legal assaults against the Hindus by the Bangladesh government as well, most especially the
Vested Property Act, formally called the “Enemy Property Act.” It allows for the lands of a person who has fled the
country to be seized and redistributed. In 1989, Bangla Land Minister Sunil Gupta stated that between 1984-1989
700,000 acres of land was confiscated from the Hindus, plus thousands of homes, shops, ponds, etc. The
Bangladesh government is totally nonchalant about this and other incidents. It can be safely said that the
government is indeed playing a major role in systematically exterminating the few remaining Hindus. Even as
early as 1971, the new Bangladesh government chose to turn a blind eye to the incidents that were happening
around them.
The Ramna Kali Bari in Dhaka, hundreds of years old, was shelled by the Pakistani Army and the new
Bangladesh government confiscated the land, bulldozed the remains and turned the 66-acre area into a park.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina goes one step further to say “Bangladeshi Hindus have one foot in India
and other in Bangladesh” and asked, given the divided loyalty, what should they expect and how much the local
Muslims will listen to her government. It seems as though Sheik Hasina is suffering from an acute case of
amnesia as it was her family that the Indian government saved from the hands of a military coup and the
assassination of her father in 1975. Indeed, the Koran’s injunction of not trusting a non-Muslim, as stated in 4:144
of the chapter entitled An-Nisa (Women): “O ye who believe! Take not for friends unbelievers rather than
believers: Do ye wish to offer Allah an open proof against yourselves?” is followed to this day.
Bangladesh has indeed followed in Pakistan’s footsteps of exterminating Hindus. Pakistan’s Hindu population,
once numbering 15% has been reduced to about 1%. In a recent Indian Express article, the remaining few are
6
adopting Christian names so as to escape persecution by the Muslims.
India Today’s November 8th (2000) article details the life of Pakistani Hindus who are crossing the border to
7
settle in India, all due to sustained harassment by Muslims. Bangladesh has successfully driven its once 35%
Hindu population at partition to a mere 10% now. Conceivably, by 2050 Bangladesh will achieve the status of
Pakistan: no significant Hindu population.
Nepal, the only Hindu kingdom in the world, has not escaped either. The Christian population, which was almost
nil in 1960, has increased by leaps and bounds. Billions of dollars have been pumped in for conversion activities.
Christians are asking everyone, via the Internet, to save the “lost Hindu” souls of Nepal. Islamicmadrasas are
cropping up in the border districts. The Muslim population of 2.5% in 1981 has increased to 3.5% in ten years. In
December 1998, Muslims held rallies in Janakpur, Sita’s birthplace, calling for the conversion of Nepal to an
8
Islamic state. It is indeed apt to ask if Nepal, in effect, is a Hindu state.
While Americans are displaying pictures of Sri Krishna in gay magazines and branding the images of our deities
on lunch boxes and t-shirts, half-way around the world, Hindus are losing their lives to Christian and Muslim
fanatics. What is the use of organizing massive conferences detailing our past history when we are losing our
future every single minute? Can such conferences save our fellow Hindus from the wrath of Abrahamic radicals?
9
How many of the world’s one billion Hindus protested when 25 Hindus were massacred in Kashmir?
Compare this with the immense Hindu response that was given when one bamboo church was burned in the
Dangs. Are Hindu lives that dispensable? The Kurds, a people without a homeland, rocked the world with
simultaneous protests when their leader was handed over by Greece to Turkey. But the Hindus remained silent
when in 1997 50,000 Reang tribals fled Mizoram — in fear of the Catholic spree of looting, burning, raping and
killing. We are blissfully ignoring Sri Krishna’s message to Arjuna: to fight adharma [non-religion] wherever it may
be.
It can safely be said that not only are we the most cowardice race that has ever lived, but also the most selfish
one. Sending our children to Ivy League colleges can not wash away their Indian features or their Hindu heritage.
We are doomed to be confined to the exhibits of a museum to be gawked at by curious onlookers, for many of
whom we are ancestors.
Let us remember Swami Vivekananda’s words regarding conversions: “And then every man going out of the
Hindu pale is not a man less, but an enemy more.” At the same time, let heed his warning: “Religion and religion
alone is the life of India, and when that goes, India will die, in spite of politics, in spite of social reforms, in spite of
10
Kubera’s wealth poured upon the head of every one of her children.”
Footnotes:
1. E Sa, Mario Carbel, Is the March Over?, Hinduism Today, October 1997, p.49.
2. Ahmed, Mukhtar, Pandits start to trickle out of Kashmir, Rediff on the Net, March 14,
2000; http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/mar/14jk1.htm.
3. Alleged assault on boys for refusing to convert, The Times of India, February 4,
2000, http://www.timesofindia.com/040200/04indi1.htm: 11 NLFT rebels shot dead by Bangladeshi troops, India
Today, June 18, 2000, http://www.india-today.com/ntoday/newsarchives/100/6/18/n24.shtml: Goel, Sita Ram,
Pseudo-Secularism, Christian Missions and Hindu Resistance, Voice of India, 1998;
Shourie, Arun, Missionaries In India: Continuities, Changes, Dilemmas, HarperCollins, 1994;
Agrawal, Dr. Ravindra; Church Conspiracy In The Guise Of
Service,http://hssworld.org/all/baudhik/christianity/CHURCH_CONSPIRACY.html, Bhosle, Varsha, Heaven’s
Gate, Rediff on the Net, July 10, 2000,http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/jul/10varsha.htm; Bhosle, Varsha,
Preying Chruch, Rediff on the Net, January 21, 1999,http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/jan/21varsha.htm;
Kashyap, Samundra Gupta, More reconversion stories, this time from Assam, Indian Express, July 10,
2000;http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20000710/ina10046.html, Kumar, Raj, Sahibganj sits atop conversion
volcano, The Times of India, March 7, 2000,http://www.timesofindia.com/070300/07mpat1.htm; Niyogi
Commission Report on Christian Missionaries, http://www.secularindia.com/niyogi_commission_report.htm,
4. Verma, Amita, UP students’ body calls for all-out jihad, Asian Age, June 20,
2000,http://www.asianage.com/asianage/21062000/detfro05.htm.
5. Amnesty International, http://www.amesty.org/ailib/aipub/1996/ASA/31300496.htm.
6. Vij, Bhavna, Shyam Sharma turns Peter Joseph, but still doesn’t feel safe in Lahore, Indian Express, May 3,
2000,http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20000503/iin03050.html.
7. Parihar, Rohit, Home Away From Home, India Today, November, 8, 1999, p. 6.
8. Jha, Hari Bansh, Whither Nepal?, Hinduism Today, October 1999, p.13.
9. Kashmir: The Slaughter of Hindus Quietly Continues, Hinduism Today, June 1999, p.21; Mercenaries
massacre 23 Pandits in Valley, The Hindustan Times, January 27,
1998, http://www.hindustantimes.com/ht/nonfram/270198/detFRO01.htm; Dutt, Vijay, Evidence of Pak Support to
ultras in J&K: Amnesty, The Hindustan Times, April 3,
1999, http://hindustantimes.com/confram/040399/detFOR99.thm.
10. “Quotes & Quips,” Hinduism Today, August 1999, p.9.
Filed under: Attacks on Vedic Culture, Hinduism, India History, Preserving Vedic Culture | Tagged:Cultural
Preservation, Hinduism, India, Indian culture, Indian History, Preserving Sanatana-Dharma, Vedic culture | Leave
a Comment »
The Threat Against Hindu Temples and Vedic Culture in India
Posted on July 20, 2009 by Stephen Knapp

The Threat Against Hindu Temples and Vedic Culture in India

This article shows how the Indian government is purposely jeopardizing the future of Hindu temples.
With a little attention, anyone can see how Hindu institutions and Hinduism in India are unfairly targeted by a
combination of vote bank politics and unscrupulous politicians and businessmen. Particularly alarming is the
destruction of Hindu institutions and the illegal mass conversions by other religions.
Through the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act (HRCE Act) of 1951, state governments have
appointed managers to the boards of temples in the name of better administration, while mosques and churches
are completely autonomous. This Act allowed the state governments and politicians to take over thousands of
Hindu temples and maintain complete control over these temples and their property. Many abuses are committed
by multiple state governments using the power accorded through this Act. Then they can sell the temple assets
and properties and use the money in any way they choose. Often the temple and the devotees who patronize
them do not see any of the money, nor does it come back to assist the Hindu community to which the temple
belongs. Some of this money is that which is directly donated by the pilgrims and devotees who attend the
temple, given for the temple upkeep, or for the priests and deities. However, some of the money is disbursed by
the government for ulterior causes or to other non-profit organizations based on political connections.
In Andhra Pradesh under the Chief Minister, tens of thousands of acres of temple lands are sold away leaving
temples with little economic basis. This is done without the permission of the local Hindu community. The state
government and the endowments department, whose duty is to safeguard the temple properties, have turned a
blind eye to such encroachments or take overs of temple properties. The state government recently went to the
extent of regularizing encroachments at nominal prices. These encroachments are often found to be closely
associated to various political parties.
In Andhra Pradesh, Hindu temples, institutions, and Hinduism itself are illegally targeted by the crusade of the
government. Under the Temple Empowerment Act, about 34,000 temples had come under government control.
Only 18% of the revenue of these temples is said to be given back for temple purposes, while the remaining 82%
is used for other things by the government at their discretion. Such looting, massive sale of temple lands,
demolition of temples, encroachments of temple properties, and the utilization of aggressive religious conversion
tactics by Christians in the vicinity of temples is occurring all over Andhra Pradesh. The government, which is
supposed to be a protector has become a destroyer of the culture, which threatens the very existence of Hindu
institutions. Only after large public protests has the state government given back a majority of the temples, yet
the most profitable were still kept under state control.
Even the world famous sacred temple at Tirumala-Tirupati is not spared. This temple collects over Rs. 3,100
crores (tens of millions) every year, and the state government has not denied the charge that as much as 85% of
this is transferred to the state exchequer, much of which goes to causes that are not connected with the Hindu
community or Vedic temples. The government also attempted to take over 5 out of 7 Tirumala hills for churches
and tourism for the profit of development companies and other affiliates not connected with the temple. The 1000
pillar Mantapam hall was illegally demolished. Recently, in response to Sri Chinnajeeyar Swami’s petition, the
Andhra Pradesh High Court has declared the demolition illegal and instructed the TTD management at Tirupati to
reconstruct it. If anyone has seen the Tirupati temple and the difference there is without the 1000 pillar hall, it is
shocking.
The Andhra Pradesh government also allowed the demolition of at least 10 temples for the construction of a golf
course. Imagine the outcry, protests, and riots that would have happened if that would be suggested for a
mosque. The son of the Chief Minister even blew up the Sunkulamma Hindu Temple in Anantapur, and his
brother, by constructing his own building, has encroached on Gurukula trust lands worth crores (tens of millions)
of rupees. While taking extra precautions to protect churches and mosques with money from the state treasury,
the government has been selling or donating, for various government schemes and non-Hindu purposes, tens of
thousands of acres of temple lands worth thousands of crores of rupees that are meant for the perpetual
sustenance of the temples. This will irreparably cripple these Hindu institutions. Of course, that seems to be part
of the plan.
The temples and Maths that did not earlier come under government supervision are taken into government
control for selling away their lands. The State Endowment Board with 77,000 employees, all of whom are
supported by 15-18 percent of the income from 33,000 temples, has done little for the welfare of the Hindu
institutions. At the same time, priests of temples are penniless and temples are decaying due to lack of
maintenance. Hindu priests do not want to train children in priestly activities for lack of economical basis. This
seems to be the goal of the government to systematically wipe out Vedic culture across India.
Even while this is going on, the Andhra Pradesh government pays 12,000 rupees per pilgrim for the Haj trip to
Mecca each year, and is considering proposals to pay Christians for trips to Bethlehem. At the same time, the
government has imposed a 50% raise on the fares of state buses on MahaShivaratri festival day, like a tax that
takes advantage of the Hindu community and makes it even more difficult for them to observe their own holidays.
This is not unlike the jizya tax the Muslims imposed on Hindus years ago just for being Hindus. Furthermore, the
most important Hindu holidays, such as RamaNavami, are being taken off the government holiday list to be
replaced by secular holidays.
The net result of this strategic and planned selling of all temple properties, along with taxing the Hindu community
while providing funds for Christian purposes, seems to be designed to systematically and completely cripple
Hindu institutions in the state with little hope for their survival. The Andhra Pradesh government Order 21 gave
crores (tens of millions) of rupees for the renovation and construction of churches, thus helping to pave the way
for major Christianization of the state using illegal techniques for mass conversions. Almost all these activities are
a violation of the Indian constitution that is supposed to separate the state and religion. The government also
controls the media that ignore any Hindu representation. Even the rare newspapers like Eenadu that do
represent the Hindu view of things are persecuted by unfair tax raids, and attempts to stop their Hindu devotional
telecasts. They then use the secular news media to spread false claims of attacks on Christians by
fundamentalist Hindus, and to defame popular Vedic saints who make great strides for the Dharmic cause. Their
next step has been to convert movie stars to gain influential voices, and with large amounts of money buy the
cooperation of more politicians.
Activities in other parts of India include providing provisions to the poor, as long as they convert to Christianity. I
have also seen where hospitals provide free medical care, such as for women giving birth to babies, as long as
they sign papers that say they convert to Christianity. Or new water wells established in a poor village, but in front
of a church where the pastor makes sure no non-Christians are allowed to draw water. Or large corporations hire
people for upper management only if they are Christian. In these and other ways, the plan is to convert with
goods and allurements.
Other strategies include that Hindus and tribals are told that the worship of Vedic gods is actually the worship of
the devil or Satan. Or create a fear in them of hell that can only be rectified by accepting Christianity, and tell
them that they remain poor because they have not converted. The newly converted are asked to make other
converts, and to destroy Vedic temples to prove their dedication to their new faith. These are all strategies that
often involve trickery and lies that actually go against the real teachings of Jesus.
In Karnataka, for example, in 2003, as reported by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and in “India Today”, 79 crores
($790,000,000) was collected from about two lakh (200,000) temples. From that, temples received 7 crores
($70,000,000) for their maintenance, Muslim Madrassas and the Haj subsidy (for trip to Mecca) was given 59
crores, and churches about 13 crores. Because of tactics like this, twenty-five percent of the two lakh temples
i.e., about 50,000 in Karnataka, will be closed down for lack of resources. The only way the government can
continue to do this is because people have not stood up enough to stop it.
In Kerala, funds from the Guruvayur temple are diverted to other government projects denying improvements to
45 Hindu temples. Land belonging to the Ayyappa temple (in Sabarimala) has been grabbed and church backed
encroaches are occupying huge areas of forestland running into thousands of acres near Sabarimala. The
communist state government of Kerala, which naturally has little to no respect for the Vedic culture and religion,
wants to pass an ordinance to disband the Travancore and Cochin Autonomous Devaswom Boards (TCDB) and
take over their limited independent authority of 1800 Hindu temples. In this way, the looting of temple finances
and properties continues unabated. It is said that this state alone has 29,000 Christian missionaries and clergy
and 19,000 in Muslim counterparts whose main preoccupation is conversion of Hindus. Kerala is a precursor for
the state of things to come for the Hindu community in India. With a 56 percent Hindu population, it hardly
controls 25 percent of the economy.
The Maharasthra state government has been moving to pass a bill that would enable it to take over the 450,000
Hindu temples in the state. This would supply a huge amount of revenue to correct the state’s bankrupt condition
after its bad economic policies. So, now that the state politicians have ruined the financial condition of the state,
they want to take money from the Hindu temples and community to adjust the situation. This is but another crime
against India and its Vedic culture at the hands of its incompetent political leaders.
This is a precursor to repeat the process already happening in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. Articles
25 and 26 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees public establishment and maintenance of religious
institutions and to administer such property in accordance with law, has been completely ignored toward Hindu
foundations. While looting Hindu institutions, the Governments subsidizes the “Hajj” pilgrimage for the Muslims to
the tune of Rs. 380 crores annually (including subsidy to airlines), and provides 1000 crores per year for the
salary of Imams, and provides funds to churches.
You may be questioining why the same pilgrimage privileges are not given to Hindus to go to Tirupathi, Varanasi,
Rameswaram, Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Badarinath, etc? It is very simple, Hindu brothers and sisters are in deep
slumber. They seem to be in denial, are pacifists, and are certainly disunited. Plus, they do not seem to know
what to do or what plan to use. Otherwise, why should they not stand up to demand the same privileges, or to
stop this kind of unfair discrimination?
The state government of Bihar has also paved the way for the loss of Rs. 2000 crores of temple owned
property because of its Endowments department, according to the religious trust Administrator. In Orissa, the
state government intends to sell over 70,000 acres of endowment lands from the Jagannatha Temple, the
proceeds of which would solve a huge financial crunch brought about by its own mismanagement of temple
assets. The state government of Rajasthan also wants to auction various Hindu temples to the highest bidder,
regardless of whether they are Hindu or not. This flagrant diversion of wealth from Hindu temples is directly
opposite the ideal of a secular country, and a bold travesty of the principle of separation of church and state.
Why such occurrences are so often not known is that Indian media, especially the English television and
press, are often anti-Hindu in their approach, and, thus, not inclined to give much coverage, and certainly no
sympathy, for anything that may affect the Hindu community. Therefore, such government actions that play
against the Hindu community go on without much or any attention attracted to them. If it was not for the attention
drawn to these matters by such organizations as the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, convened by Swami
Dayananda Saraswati, or the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation in the U.S., there would probably be little
organized protest of such activities against the state governments of India. However, it is because of these
organizations and the volunteers who work with them that the public is being notified and called to action to do
something about this. And also why I’m writing about it here. In this way, the constitutional validity of the HRCE
Act is being challenged. It is time that the same rights as the minority religions of India are given to the majority
Hindus and followers of the ancient Vedic Dharma.

PROTECTING VEDIC TEMPLES

It is obvious that the current laws in the country are discriminatory and against Hindu religious institutions, and it
is important that Hindus demand that the government accord Hindu institutions the same status as Muslim and
Christian institutions. The existence of the Hindu majority of India is being threatened in their own homeland.
Selfish politicians seem to be bent on destroying the Vedic Dharma.
It is a strange thing to see, at least for me, when the bulk of the Hindu population does not protest when a strong
reaction should naturally be there. You easily see a protest against any Hindu activity from the media, the so-
called secularists and intellectuals and any other anti-Hindus. But the Hindu majority does not speak out. This
may also be due to the continued influence of a foreign rule, or a slave mentality that remains after so many
generations of being dominated by outsiders. But this will not help to preserve the culture. There is a need for
another leader who can help them focus their energy in a constructive way for them to rise up in a defensive
manner.
It may also be the result of living under a constitution that does not hold the values of the Vedic path. If
the state does not recognize your personal culture as a citizen of Dharma, then you will need to fight against it.
Otherwise, your own values, tradition and the Vedic path itself may begin to wane and even you will lose the
rights to pass it along to your children in an effective manner.
If the state is not taking care of your heritage, preserving your religion and traditions, and all the
monuments or temples that are meant to uphold your culture, then you must refuse to merely be a citizen of the
Republic, and be a citizen of Bharata Varsha, the Vedic society.
There are many intellectuals in America, I know as I am one of those who wonder why the Indian people
tolerate so much while they see their culture being denigrated by their own so-called leaders, the politicians who
have been voted into office. There are many Westerners that are sympathetic to the Vedic path and what it has
offered. But, when they hear of the injustice within the Indian country, how others have the rights and government
assisted funds to go on the Haj pilgrimage, or how minorities have rights and funds to build and operate their own
schools and churches, then they wonder why do the majority Hindus tolerate this and not demand equal rights?
The trouble can be found in the Indian constitution itself, which was formed by those who had less respect
for Vedic society and provided laws to protect the minorities at the expense of the majority. The anti-Hindu, anti-
India attitude must be changed. If we are going to see the continuation of the tradition that gave the world Yoga,
then we must work against this neglect toward the profound history of India and its unique and deep Vedic
tradition. Every religion should be given the same rights by establishing a uniform code of conduct that every
Indian must follow, not that the Hindus are second class because the Muslims or Christians are minorities and
must be offered extra rights and advantages, as outlined in the constitution. As these minorities have used these
rights for their own advantages, and they have grown to a sizable society that can take care of themselves, then
they no longer need these extra privileges. Thus, the constitution can be changed to provide a uniform code for
everyone, and the people should demand it so that everyone can live under the same rules and laws, without
some minorities having special privileges. This should be the goal of a true democracy, if that is what India is
going to be. And there should be no fear to express this. This should be the goal. Otherwise, if equal rights and a
uniform code are not to be found in India, then India is not a true democracy.
Therefore, readers are requested not to merely stand by and hope that nothing will happen to Hindu Vedic
Dharma, the culture that brought us the system of meditation, pranayama and so many other things. One
thousand years of foreign rule has resulted in the loss of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the cultural loss
of Kashmir. Today a half-million Kashmiri pandits are living as refugees in their own mother land for more than a
decade and are dying in large numbers. There has also been the cultural loss of the four states of northeast India
which were a Hindu majority as recently as 1948. Next in line for losing its traditional culture is Andhra Pradesh.
Hindus who are complacent need to understand the consequences if the current situation continues. Missionaries
with the help of leftists and crooked politicians, pseudo-secularists, working in a democracy with a highly corrupt
political system, a culturally deprived intelligentsia, with billions of dollars and little scruples, have the potential to
convert a majority of India’s population away from the culture of their homeland in just a few years. This, along
with vote bank politics, can result in complete marginalization of Hindus and the division of India. In such a
situation, those who do not convert will be at an enormous disadvantage economically and spiritually.
Any Hindu or Dharmist who is more concerned with himself, his family, and his own personal occupational
advancement over and above his contribution to his society and culture, only decreases the future well-being of
them and its traditions, and reduces his own participation in securing a positive future for them.
Nowhere in the free, democratic world are the religious institutions managed, maligned, and controlled by
the government, thus denying the religious freedom of the people of the country. But it is happening to Hindus in
India. Government officials have taken control of Hindu Temples because they smell money in them, they
recognize the indifference of Hindus, they are aware of the unlimited patience and tolerance of Hindus, they also
know that it is not in the blood of Hindus to go to the streets to demonstrate, destroy property, threaten, loot,
harm, and kill. They also do not vote as a block in the elections like the Christians and Muslims. The government
has usurped the freedom of Hindus to manage their temples, denied their human rights, and engaged in
continued discrimination of Hindus.
Times have changed. The threat to the survival of Hindu civilization is real. Billions of dollars are pouring into
India every year for conversion purposes to both Christian and Islamic groups. Even Mahatma Gandhi who
fought all of his life for social justice and religious tolerance called religious conversions by missionaries the
deadliest poison that ever sapped the fountain of truth.
Many Hindus are sitting and watching the demise of their culture. Hindus should not sit quiet, but must be active.
They need to contribute generously to promote their culture. They have to exercise their right to fight for their
freedom. They need to express their views loud and clear. It is time for all of us to wake up and see what is
happening to our Hindu culture before we lose the freedom to practice it. As I have said numerous times, the way
things are going we practically have more freedom to practice the Vedic traditions in America than in India. If we
are not careful, in the future we may have to import the Vedic path back to India from America.
Another example of the instrumental process of losing the Vedic culture and accurate rendition of India’s past is
that in 1982, the (NCERT) National Council of Educational Research and Training issued a directive for the
rewriting of school texts. It stipulated that the “characterization of the medieval period as a time of conflict
between Hindus and Moslems is forbidden.” Thus, denial of history, or negationism, has become India’s official
educational policy. In this case, how will people ever understand or know of the real history of India and the trials,
tribulations, and sacrifices that were made in order for their Vedic tradition to endure? Hence, every Hindu has an
obligation to read and learn the history of our forefathers who were subjected to violence, cruelty, atrocities, and
carnage. Such sacrifices under the torture of the invaders of India were the only way that we still have the
freedom to participate in the Vedic customs that still exist today.
It is time for all Hindus and supporters of Vedic culture to stand strong for Dharma and to unite and work together
to preserve and protect their culture and glorious past by consolidating their votes to remove those politicians
who are not supportive of Vedic Dharma, and to bring in those who are. We must remove all superficial
differences among the numerous Hindu organizations and realize that without a unified platform, all forms of
discord will be taken advantage of by those who work against us and wish to see the demise of Vedic culture.
This must never happen, and we can all work together to prevent it. Now is the time to work together more than
ever.
In conclusion, we need to understand that it is necessary for all Hindus across the globe to participate in the
protection and even revival of the Hindu heritage, in freeing the temples from government control, and in bringing
unity among different sects,sampradayas, and varnas or castes. There is a need in preserving and protecting the
rights of Hindus in different countries, and in restoring our prestige, honor, and the essence of the Vedic tradition.
Our motto should be “Let us work together to protect, preserve, and promote our Vedic/Hindu culture.”
The point is that if Hindus do not preserve their culture, who will preserve it? If Hindus do not promote their
culture, who will do it? If Hindus do not learn and practice their culture, who will do it? If Hindus do not defend
their culture, who will do it? Therefore, let us all join our hands and pray that we all will serve as guardians and
champions of our heritage, so that we will not be condemned or mistreated as we have in the past, and that our
rights to observe our Vedic traditions will go on long into the future.

MORE INFORMATION
For a complete report on the U. S. Government=s connection with and support for evangelistic organizations
committed to conversion activities all over India, please see this article on Tehelka.com at:
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main.asp?filename=ts013004shashi.asp&id=1

Articles on http://www.stephen-knapp.com or here atwww.stephenknapp.wordpress.com that

compliment the purpose of this report include:
1. Hindus Must Stand Strong for Dharma,
2. Time to Plan the Survival of Vedic Culture,
3. An Action Plan for the Survival of Vedic Culture,
4. Save Your Culture,
5. Preaching in India’s Northeast for Cultural Preservation,
6. My Northeast India Mission in 2003-4.

Also see:
http://www.christianaggression.org – to keep up with events and plans of Christian aggression.
http://www.crusadewatch.org – latest news on the plans and attempts of Christian organizations to make the
world Christian.

Www.hinduministries.org/pointers.htm – is a Christian site that provides training missionaries and Christians

worldwide how to win the hearts of Hindus to Christ.
Also: http://www.hinduministries.org/hindu_links.htm – links for different approaches to win Hindus. This gives
inights into the techniques that can be expected that Christians use to bring Hindus to Jesus.

Many more sites like this can be found.

How India is Losing It’s Culture

by francois gautier

Democracy in India has been hijacked. It takes a fortune to be elected. Politicians, elected by and for the people,
once they are locked in the ivory tower that is Delhi, forget all about the people.
What is it that which India is fast losing as you read this article? Its culture. Entire patches in the northeast are
being converted to Christianity. Missionaries tell tribals that it is sinful to enter a temple, women are asked not to
wear bindis, and children are taught to look down on their culture as animist or heathen.
India is fast losing communal harmony. Today, even the Sikh community feels it wants to separate from its Hindu
brothers, and Christians and Muslims are encouraged to look down upon Hindus.
In the Indian media, there is a witch hunt against gurus, a deriding and mocking of Indian spirituality, a
marginalizing of Hinduism and Hindus, who constitute the immense majority in India and are a billion worldwide,
one of the most law-abiding, religious, educated, affluent communities in the world.
More and more, Indian television particularly, but also newspapers and magazines, are casting a look on India
that is not only very critical (if you open any newspaper nowadays, you can only end up depressed), but which in
its very nature is a Western look — which judges India according to Western standards.
India’s intellectuals defend an artist who paints one of the most revered ancient Hindu gods doing unmentionable
things to a Hindu goddess. Someone who is part of a diabolical plot to kill Indian leaders and storm Parliament
gets the benefit of the doubt from the same intelligentsia in the vision particularly, but also newspapers and
magazines, are casting a look on India that is not only very critical (if you open any newspaper nowadays, you
can only end up depressed), but which in its very nature is a Western look — which judges India according to
Western standards.
India’s intellectuals defend an artist who paints one of the most revered ancient Hindu gods doing unmentionable
things to a Hindu goddess. Someone who is part of a diabolical plot to kill Indian leaders and storm Parliament
gets the benefit of the doubt from the same intelligentsia in the name of judicial correctness. Some Indians are
more and more divided. Instead of feeling first Indians, they feel they are first Muslims and then Indians, first
Dalits and then Indians, first Christian and then Indians. This is a dangerous trend and it spells the death of the
minimum unified nationalistic pride that can take a country forward. Instead, Indians today take pride in melting
abroad, or adopting a ‘secular’ creed, which basically makes them soul-less and identity-less, however brilliantly
they ape the West.
As a foreigner who loves India, I feel that this blind copying of the West’s ignorant and doubting mind, the aping
of whatever is has proved wrong in the West – wild consumerism, or savage capitalism – will be a tragedy for
India. The Westernization of India must not be at the cost of her culture and spirituality. Yet, there are signs that it
is already happening here.

iReview Ads