Category: Hindus’ History

From: Savarkar Vinayak < >

 

A History of The Kashmiri Pandits Race

 

Myth and reality move together in the Saffron Valley of mystic splendour. The reclamation of land from Satisar created certain complications. The Saraswati River that flowed into the eastern Punjab, Rajasthan, Sind and other parts of Indian subcontinent suddenly got dried up. Geologists are of the opinion that all those streams, which fed Satisar and form the source of water for the Saraswati river, mostly ran underground [Now evidenced c.40,000 years ago]. Once the cleft materialized at Baramulla, the water of the Satisar flowed out in on opposite direction, leaving the Saraswati basin dry. The Aryan Saraswat Brahmans, who used to live on the banks of Saraswati River, migrated to the Kashmir Valley to continue their austerities. With the passage of time these people came to be known as ‘Bhattas’ in Kashmir. The word is derivative of Brahman. Now they are called the Kashmiri Pandits or the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir, who believe in the mystic combination of Shaivism, Kali Bhakti, Shakta worship and Tantra. The valley housed great Rishis – Seers – who were the source of all basic knowledge to advance a world civilisation on a spiritual rather than a material base.

History of the Kashmiri Pandits is the history of Kashmir since last more than 11,000 years. They are associated with its society, culture, civilization, customs, traditions, myths and realities and Kashmir was then the fountainhead of all civilisations, divine spirituality on this planet. However only a couple of millennia ago the impact of Buddhism and reactions by Brahmans gave rise to a long struggle between the two rival ideologies. Buddhism did flourish though in the north of the Valley during the reign of Durnadeo, Simhadeo, Sundersen, Ashoka and Kanishka. The great Buddhist council was held at Kanishpur in Kashmir during the rule of Kanishka and it was presided over by two eminent scholars — Asvaghosha and Vasumitra. About 500 monks from different parts of the subcontinent attended the same. Nagarjuna, a Bodhisattva and the greatest philosopher of Buddhism, lived in Kashmir. During the reign of Abhimanu, a number of people were converted to Buddhism. It was first struggle of the Kashmiri Brahmans for their survival. A number of Kashmiri scholars – Kumarajiva (AD 384-417), Shakyashri Badhra (AD 405), Ratnavera, Shama Bhatta (5th Cen AD) and others went to China and Tibet to preach Buddhism. However, the Brahmans regained their supremacy during the reign of Nara I. The struggle between Buddhism and Brahmanism came to an end with the emergence of modern Hinduism. A period of comparative historical validity began with the establishment of the Karkuta rule in AD 627. Avantivarman (AD 855-833) is believed to be the first Vaishnavite ruler of Kashmir. During his rule there was a tremendous cultural development in the Valley. The great Shaiva philosophers of this period were Kayyatacharya, Somananda, Muktakantha Swamin, Shiva Swamin, Ananda Vardhana and Kallata.

 

The struggle between the Brahmans and other castes, such as Kayasthas, began during the reign of Shankara Varman. The authority of the Brahmans was broken and the sacred character of their citadels was violated. However, the Shaivite thought and philosophy flourished. Pradyumana Bhatta, Utpalacharya, Rama Kantha, Prajnarjuna, Lachaman Gupta and Mahadeva Bhatta have made a tremendous contribution to this philosophy. During the regime of Lohara dynasty, Kashmir came into contact with the Muslim invaders who attacked India. When Mahmud Ghazni annexed the Punjab, most of the tribes on the borders of Kashmir embraced Islam. At that time the Valley was ruled by Sangram Raja (AD 1003-1028). Even after their conversion to Islam, these people continued to visit Kashmir – as traders, wanderers and even missionaries. There are historical evidences that some of these tribal settled in the Valley and made some venture into propagating their new religion.

 

Harsha (AD 1089-1101), was a man of extravagant habits and a jumble of contraries. He robbed the temple treasures and melt idols of gold and silver to tide over his financial crisis. Before him two other kings, Jalauka and Kalasa, employed the same approach of plundering the temples and melting the images of gold and silver to augment their depleted treasuries. Harsha also employed Muslim generals, who are called Turushkas by Kalhana, for the first time in the history of Kashmir. Now Muslims as a class appeared in the political field and began to consolidate its roots. Bhikshachara, a descendant of Harsha, organized a cavalry force mainly consisting of the Muslims. During the reign of Gopadeva (AD 1171-1180), the Brahmans consolidated their position. But the Lavanya tribe shattered their roots once again. The Damaras, Lavanyas and other tribes never allowed the Brahmans to monopolize. In the reign of Jassaka (AD 1180-1198), two Brahmans – Kshuksa and Bhima, endeavoured to capture the throne. But it was the fear of Damaras or feudal lords that prevented them. Ramadeva (AD 1252-1273) humiliated those Brahmans who had helped him in his coronation. They conspired against him but could not succeed. A reign of terror, loot and plunder was let loose against them. Many Brahmans were killed and others crushed barbarously. This was the first direct assault against them in the history of Kashmir. To save themselves they cried “ Na Batoham” (I am not a Bhatta). The Kashmiri Pandits are even now taunted as Bhattas and Dalli Bhattas.

To counter the supremacy of the Brahmans, the rulers of Kashmir encouraged the influx of Muslims into the Valley. During the reign of Suhadeva (AD 1301-1320) many Muslim adventurers came to Kashmir. The chief among them was a Muslim missionary- Bulbul Shah. Two others were Shahmir from Swat and Rinchana from Tibet. Shahmir came in AD 1313 along with his numerous relations. Suhadeva granted him a jagir in a village near Baramulla. Ramachandra, the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of Kashmir, employed Rinchana and granted him jagir in a village in the Lar Valley. These two adventurers were instrumental in the establishment of the Muslim rule in Kashmir. Another adventurer who received Suhadeva’s patronage was Lankar–Chak.

Dulucha, a Tartar chief from Central Asia, invaded Kashmir with 60,000 strong horsemen. Suhadeva tried to induce him to retreat by paying him off a large sum of money. For this purpose he imposed heavy taxes even upon the Brahmans who had never before been taxed. But Dulucha refused to retreat and struck terror. He ravaged the Valley with fire and sword. Monstrous miseries were inflicted upon the people including the Brahmans. According to Baharistan – i -Shahi, “Dulucha and his soldiers killed everyone they could find. People who had fled to the hills and forests were pursued and captured. Men were killed; women and children were reduced to slavery and sold to the merchants of Khita ( Turkistan ), whom the invaders had brought with them. All the houses in the cities and the villages were burnt. The invaders ate as much of the corn and rice as they could. Whatever was left, they burnt and destroyed. In this way the whole of the Kashmir Valley was trampled underfoot”. Suhadeva fled to Kishtwar, leaving the Kingdom to the cruel aggressors. Dulucha stayed here for eight months and took about 50,000 Brahmans with him as slaves. But all the troops and slaves perished while crossing the Devsar pass. It was a terrible experience for the legendary Kashmiri Pandits.

Dulucha went away from the Valley but left it haunted. The cursed people had lost all faith in their ruler- Suhadeva. Taking the advantage of the chaos and confusion, Rinchana- the refugee from Tibet, occupied the throne with the help of some chiefs. He killed his benefactor, Ramachandra, in the fort of Lar by treacherous means and-married-his-daughter-Kota-Rani.

Rinchana, a pseudo- Buddhist wanted to get initiated into the Brahmanical fold to strengthen his political position. At that time, Shaivism was the most extensively practised religion in the Valley. So he called Sri Devaswami, the religious head of the Shaivas, to indoctrinate himself into the Hindu religion. Devaswami called a secret meeting of the prominent Pandits, who refused to accept Rinchana into Hinduism because of his low birth. Jonaraja says,” The King asked Devaswami to initiate him in the mantras of Shiva, but as he was Bhautta (Tibetian), Devaswami feared that the King was unworthy of such initiation and did not favour him”. This was a monstrous blunder on the part of Pandits, which turned the course of history. In fact, the Brahmans were not ready to share their privileges with an outsider. Thus deflected, Rinchana wanted to establish a uniform faith of warring sects and creeds in Kashmir with himself as its head. But Shahmir and Bulbul Shah manipulated his conversion to Islam. Ramachandra’s son, Ravanachandra, and many others also embraced Islam. A Muslim ruling class came into existence. In this way the Kashmiri Pandits were responsible for the destruction of their own ascendancy and the ruin of their very existence. They are tremendously paying for it till today.

People of poorer families and subordinate castes were subdued into Islam by gradual methods. This newly established Muslim class slowly consolidated its position and employed various methods to propagate the new faith. However, the Brahmans put a brave front and resisted the tide. After the death of Rinchana (AD 1326), Udyanadeva, the brother of Suhadeva, was installed on the throne of Kashmir and Shahmir was appointed as Commander-in-Chief.

Achala, a Turkish chief, invaded Kashmir during the reign of Udyanadeva, laying waste the territories he passed through. The king fled to Tibet. Kota Rani – the queen, faced the invader, procured his death and saved the kingdom. In this operation, Shahmir played the dominant role. Jonaraja says, “Strange that this believer in Allah became the saviour of the people. As a dried up river allows men to cross it and gives them shelter on its banks, even so this believer in Allah, calm and active, protected the terrified subjects.” Shahmir’s influence increased tremendously and he further strengthened his position by entering into matrimonial relations with the powerful nobles in Kashmir. A subversive struggle was born between the tolerant Hinduism and the militant Islam.

In AD 1339, after defeating Kota Rani by a foul stratagem and procuring her death, Shahmir ascended the throne of Kashmir under the name of Sultan Shamas-ud-Din (The Light of the Religion – Islam). He got khutaba read and the coins struck to his name. Islam became the court religion. Shahmir became the legitimate author and architect of Muslim rule in Kashmir. With the establishment of the new regime Muslim missionaries, preachers, sayyids and saints penetrated into the Valley. Sayyid Jalal-ud-Din, Sayyid Taj-ud-Din, Sayyid Hussain Simnani, Sayyid Masud and Sayyid Yusuf came to Kashmir to avoid the intended massacre by Timur. Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (Shah Hamadan) entered Kashmir with 700 sayyids; and, his son, Mir Muhammad Hamadani, with 300 more. They endured in the Valley under royal protection and disseminated the message of Islam. This naturally caused animosity among the Brahmans and resulted in frail rebellion during the reign of Shihab-ud-Din (AD 1354-1373). In order to break the upheaval among the Hindus and to make them prostrate, the Sultan turned his attention towards their temples. All the temples in Srinagar, including the one at Bijbehara, were wrecked to terrorize the poor Kashmiri Pandits. It seems that by this time, the sultans of Kashmir were perfectly Islamized as a result of their contacts, interactions and intercourses with the sayyids. These sayyids came here as absconders in search of safe harbours, but manoeuvred the events for their own cause and fanatic iconoclastic zeal. The Hindus began to feel deserted and alienated in their own land. To consolidate their rule, sultans institutionalized the “policy of extermination” to eradicate all traces of Hinduism in any form. However, the Kashmiri Pandits stuck to their own religion and traditions, ignoring the atrocities, barbarism and cruelties of the privileged ruling class. But there were many from other castes that, either by conviction or in order to gain royal favour, embraced Islam. The Kashmiri Pandits looked down these new converts upon as traitorous and treacherous, with no loyalty for time-honoured values. This gave rise to a new class rivalry. Suha Bhatt, who after embracing Islam took the name of Saif-ud-Din, became the leader of the fresh, converts during the reign of Sikandar (AD 1389-1413).
Sikandar- the Butshikan, was bigoted with fanatic religious zeal to spread Islam in the entire Valley. Mir Muhammad Hamadani stimulated this fanaticism. Sikandar appointed Suha Bhatt – the convert, Prime Minister and both hatched a deadly conspiracy to persecute the Hindus and enforce upon the Nizam-i-Mustaffa. Jonaraja says, “The Sultan forgot his kingly duties and took delight day and night in breaking images. He broke images of Martanda, Vishaya, Ishana, Chakrabrit and Tripureshvara. There was no city, no town, no village, and no wood where Turushka left the temples of the gods unbroken.” According to Hassan (History of Kashmir), “This country possessed from the times of Hindu rajas many temples which were like the wonders of the world. Their workmanship was so fine and delicate that one found him bewildered at their sight. Sikandar, goaded by feelings of bigotry, destroyed them and levelled them with the earth and with the material built many mosques and khanqahs. In the first instance he turned his attention towards the great Martand temple built by Ramdev (the temple was rebuilt by King Lalitaditya, AD 724-760) on Mattan Kareva. For one year he tried to demolish it, but failed. At last in sheer dismay, he dug out stones from its base and having stored enough wood in their place, set fire to it. The gold gilt paintings on its walls were totally destroyed and the walls surrounding its premises were demolished. Its ruins even now strike wonder in men’s minds. At Bijbehara, three hundred temples including the famous Vijiveshwara temple, which was partly damaged by Shihab-ud-Din, were destroyed. With the material of Vijiveshwara temple, a mosque was built and on its site a khanqah, which is even now known as Vijiveshwara Khanqah.” The stones and bricks which once configured a marvellous and splendid temple or monastery now hold up mosques. Hassan further adds, “Sikandar meted out greatest oppression to the Hindus. It was notified in the Valley that if a Hindu does not become a Muslim, he must leave the country or be killed. As a result some of the Hindus fled away, some accepted Islam and many Brahmans consented to be killed and gave their lives. It is said that Sikandar collected, by these methods, six maunds of sacred thread form Hindu converts and burnt them. Mir Muhammad Hamadani, who was a witness of all this vicious brutality, barbarism and vandalism, at last advised him to desist from the slaughter of Brahmans and told him to impose jazia (religious tax) instead of death upon them. All the Hindu books of learning were collected and thrown into Dal Lake and were buried beneath stones and earth.” Sikandar issued orders that no man should wear the tilak mark on his forehead and no woman be allowed to perform sati. He also insisted on breaking and melting of all the gold and silver idols of gods and coins the metal into money. An attempt was made to destroy the caste of the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans by force and those who resisted were subject to heavy fines. Farishta says, “Many of the Brahmans, rather than abandon their religion or their county, poisoned themselves; some emigrated from their native homes, while a few escaped the evil of banishment by becoming Muhammedans”. To strictly enforce the Nizam-i-Mustaffa, Sikandar established the office of Shaikh-ul-Islam.

According to W.R. Lawrence, the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir were given three choices-death, conversion or exile. “Many fled, some were converted and many were killed, and it is said that this thorough monarch (Sikandar) burnt seven maunds of sacred threads of the murdered Brahmans”. As for the statements of Hassan and Lawrence, six maunds of sacred threads of converts and seven maunds of murdered Pandits were burnt. The number of people, to whom these thirteen maunds of sacred threads belonged, might have been tremendously colossal. A mammoth number of the Saraswat Pandits also went into exile, causing the first disastrous mass exodus of the community. When Suha Bhatt- the convert, came to know that many Brahmans were leaving Kashmir, he tried to check their exodus and ordered the frontier guards not to allow anyone to cross the borders. The unfortunate Pandits caught while crossing the border were awarded severe punishments. Even the converts were required to pay jazia as they were suspected of secretly clinging to their old-religion.

Not only Sikandar- the Butshikan, but Suha Bhatta – the convert, also was responsible for this barbarous, murderous and cruel approach towards the mythical Kashmiri Pandits. Jonaraja says, “ Suha Bhatta- the convert, after demolishing the temples felt the satisfaction, and with the help of sayyids, ulema and newly converts tried to destroy the caste of the people… the illustrious Brahmans declared that they would die rather than lose their caste and religion, and Suha Bhatta – the convert, subjected them to a heavy fine, jazia, because they held to their caste and religion.” There is no parallel of this religious persecution in the history of the subcontinent.

Ali Shah – (AD 1413-1430), son of Sikandar- the Butshikan, during his short rule of six years, carried on his father’s 24-year tyrant reign with homicides, conversions, tyranny and enforced jazia. Suha Bhatta – the convert, who retained the prime minister ship, continued his earlier crimes and atrocities against the Kashmiri Pandits. Jonaraja gives a graphic account of the plight of the illustrious Kashmiri Pandits in the draconian reign of Ali Shah. He says,” Suha Bhatta- the convert, passed the limit by levying fine, jazia, on the twice – born. This evil-minded man forbade ceremonies and processions on the new moon. He became envious that the Brahmans who had become fearless would keep up their caste by going over to foreign countries, he therefore ordered posting of squads on the roads, not to allow passage to any one without a passport. Then as the fisherman torments fish, so this lowborn man tormented the twice born in this country. The legendary Brahmans burnt themselves in the flaming fire through fear of conversion. Some Brahmans killed themselves by taking poison, some by the rope and others by drowning themselves. Others again, by falling from a precipice. The country was contaminated by hatred and the king’s favourites could not prevent one in a thousand from committing suicide. A multitude of celebrated Brahmans, who prided in their caste, fled from the country through bye-roads as the main roads were closed. Even as men depart from this world, so did the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir flee to foreign countries? The difficult countries through which they passed, the scanty food, painful illness and the torments of hell during life time removed from the minds of the Kashmiri Pandits the fears of hell. Oppressed by various calamities such as encounter with the enemy, fear of snakes, fierce heat and scanty food; many Brahmans perished on the way and thus obtained salvation.” This was the second miserable mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits. Jonaraja calls it “ Chandh-Dandh” – violent, cruel, brutal and horrible punishment, for the abandoned and vulnerable Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. History repeated itself again in AD 1989-1990.

The brutal religious persecution of the Kashmiri Pandits has been borne testimony to by almost all the Muslim historians. Hassan, Fauq and Nizam – ud – Din have condemned these excesses in unscathing terms. It was the reign of terror and homicide. The majority of the Hindus were converted forcibly and a large number had left the Valley. Yet many more were passing their days in the most deplorable conditions only on payment of jazia. The allowances of the Brahman academicians were stopped to destroy the ancient learning, literature, education, art and culture. These enlightened intellectuals had to move from door to door for food, like dogs. One can’t imagine a higher level of mental torture!

The Brahmans, even after paying jazia, could not openly declare themselves as Hindus nor could they apply tilak on their foreheads. Neither could they pray in their temples or perform any religious ceremony. Even then they did not forget their past and rich tradition. As the custodians of their extraordinary cultural heritage, they wrote the illuminating treatises on the stupendous Kashmir Shaivism, colossal literature, splendid art, marvellous-music,-grammar-and-medicine.

Sultan Zainul Abidin-the Budshah (Great Monarch), ruled Kashmir from AD 1420 to 1460. The son of Sultan Sikandar – the Butshikan, and the brother of Sultan Ali Shah- the tyrant, Zainul Abidin followed the policy of tolerance, endurance, patience, sympathy and broad mindedness. He recalled the Kashmiri Pandits who had left the Valley during the rule of Sikandar and Ali Shah. Jazia was abolished and the Brahmans were given their earlier positions in administration. Demolished temples were rebuilt and new ones constructed. Zainul Abidin at Ishbar, Srinagar, built two temples. The Sultan also participated in the Hindu festivals. A large number of houses were built for the widows of the Brahmans who had suffered during the reign of terror. Zainul Abidin stopped the killing of cows, restricted the eating of beef and catching of fish in the sacred springs of the Hindus. Even the personal law as laid down in the Shastras was adopted for the Hindus. The legendary Kashmiri Pandits were resurrected and resuscitated. Ferguson observes that indeed history has very few examples where the policy of a father was so completely reversed by the son. Even the Mughal monarch, Akbar, capitalized on the religious policy of Zainul Abidin. But the conservative and dogmatic Muslims reacted very sharply to this policy of toleration and mutual coexistence. According to Mulla Bahauddin, “The Sultan re-imported practices of infidels which had once become extinct”.

But the honeymoon of the Kashmiri Pandits proved very brief. During the reign of Haider Shah (AD 1470-1472) – the prodigal son of the Zainul Abidin, Kashmiri Pandits once again suffered tremendously. Under the evil influence of Purni- the Hindu barber, Haider Shah adopted various corrupt and cruel practices against the Saraswat Brahmans. The repression was so terrible that the tolerant Pandits lost their cool. Hassan says, “the patience of the Pandits having reached the breaking point, they rose in a body and set fire to some mosques which were built with the material of the Hindu temples once demolished by Sikandar. The rising was quelled by the sword; many more Pandits were drowned in rivers; and, loot and plunder was practiced with unbridled licence.” Srivara also illustrates the cruel and inhuman treatment given to the mythical Kashmiri Saraswat Brahmans, “many Pandits struggled and threw themselves in river Vitasta to be drowned there. The arms and noses of many people were cut off, even of those Brahmans who were king’s servants.” Ravage and arson of the sacred places continued during the indifferent rule of Hassan Khan (AD 1476-1487), when the real authority was with the gang of three persons- Shams Chak, Shringhar Raina and Musa Raina. The pressure exerted on the illustrious Kashmiri Pandits was so barbarous that, in order to save themselves from merciless brutality, some of them gave up their caste and screamed – “ I am not a Bhatta, I am not a Bhatta” (I am not a Hindu). They went in strict seclusion to avoid any argument or controversy.

Mir Shams-ud-Din Iraqi, who visited the Saffron Valley twice in AD 1477 and 1496, was the founder of Nurbakhshiya order (Shia sect) in Kashmir. His mission was the vigorous propagation of his faith. So, not contented with peaceful preaching, violent methods were employed. In this adventure, the homicidal creature and most dreaded tyrant- Malik Musa Raina, a convertee, whose original name was Soma Chandra, helped Iraqi. Not only the poor vulnerable Brahmans, but also the Sunni Muslims were also violently converted to Shia sect by murderous techniques. This dogmatic fanaticism even crippled the Sunni ruler of Kashmir, Fateh Shah (AD 1510-1517). A khanqah was built at Zadibal ( Srinagar ) by Iraqi, which became the nucleus of Shia concentration.

Kashmiri Pandits suffered ferociously under the instructions of Shams-ud-Din Iraqi and Musa Raina. About 24,000 of them were forcibly converted to Shia sect of Islam. Iraqi had even issued orders that everyday about 1500 to 2000 Brahmans be brought to his doorsteps, remove their sacred threads, administer Kalima to them, circumcise them and make them eat beef. These decrees were ferociously and brutally carried out. The Hindu religious scriptures from 7th century AD onwards and about 18 magnificent temples were destroyed, property confiscated and ladies abused. Thousands of Brahmans killed themselves to evade this horrific barbarism and thousands migrated to other places, resulting in their third tragic mass exodus from the Saffron Valley of Kashmir. Those who stayed behind were not only forced to pay jazia, but their noses and ears were chopped off. To escape the tremendous pain and agony, they cried. “I am not a Hindu.” After Kashmir, the next destination of Iraqi for war against so-called infidelity was Kargil. It is now a Shia –dominated area and there are frequent sectarian clashes between them and the Buddhists.

In AD 1519, about ten thousand Kashmiri Pandits died during pilgrimage to Harmukh Ganga, where they had gone to immerse the ashes of those eight hundred Hindus who had been massacred during Ashura a year before. Poet-historian Suka says about this cataclysm, “ Ganga was oppressed with hunger, as it was after a long time that she had devoured bones; she surely devoured the men also who carried the bones.” It was after a gap of many years that the people were allowed to go on a pilgrimage to Harmukh Lake, which ended in the most devastating tragedy.

Qazi Chak, the founder of Chak rule in Kashmir (AD 1553-1586), carried on ferocious religious policy and made conversion of many Hindus to Shia sect of Islam. According to Suka, one thousand cows were used to be killed every day without any opposition under the orders of the Chak rulers, who were Shias, just to injure the religious sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits. These celebrated and highly educated Aryan Saraswat Brahmans were made the objects of laughter and reproach. They were publicly taunted, abused and humiliated. The last Chak ruler, Yaqub Chak, had a bigoted zeal for the propagation of Shia sect and planned mass conversion of the Hindus. However, he could not administer his criminal designs because of the Mughal annexation.

Akbar was tremendously influenced by the amazing moral supremacy of the Kashmiri Pandits. Abul Fazl records in Ain-i-Akbari, “the most respectable class in this country ( Kashmir ) is that of the Pandits, who, notwithstanding their need for freedom from the bonds of tradition and custom, are the true worshippers of God. They do not loosen their tongue of calumny against those not of their faith, nor beg, nor importune. They employ themselves in planting fruit trees and are generally a source of inspiration for others”. The Mughal Emperor abolished jazia and other unjust taxes imposed upon the Hindus. He also evinced great interest in the rehabilitation of the Pandits. Suka says, “The Emperor announced that he would without delay reward those who would respect the Brahmans in Kashmir and that he would instantly pull down the houses of those who would demand the annual tribute from them.” The greatness of Akbar lies in his magnificent and fascinating policy of religious tolerance. Jahangir and Shah Jahan were not so tolerant. But their religious enthusiasm cannot be termed as fanatic. During this period, the Brahmans could perform their religious ceremonies after paying some tribute. But the whole scenario changed with the accession of Aurangzeb to the throne. With his bigoted fanatic and dogmatic approach, the Kashmiri Pandits were once again made vulnerable. Iftkar Khan, the Mughal governor of Kashmir during the reign of Aurangzeb, brutally tyrannized over the Brahmans to such an extent that they approached Guru Teg Bhahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, at Anandpur in Punjab and solicited his personal intervention with the Emperor. This ultimately led to the Guru’s martyrdom and made Guru Gobid Singh to create the Khalsa to fight the oppressors. Muzaffer Khan, Nassar Khan and Ibrahim Khan were other governors of Aurangzeb who ferociously terrorized the Kashmiri Pandits. These celebrated scapegoats were once again forced to migrate from the land of their origin. It was the fourth disastrous mass exodus of the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans from Kashmir.

During the rule of later Mughals, Kashmir witnessed the outbreak of the worst kind of religious intolerance. In AD 1720, Mullah Abdul Nabi, also called Muhat Khan, a non-resident Kashmiri Muslim, was appointed as Shaikhul Islam. In order to assert his religious authority, he asked the Deputy Governor, Mir Ahmed Khan, to start a campaign of persecution of the Kafirs (infidels) – as the Kashmiri Pandits were called. In order to satisfy his satanic ego, the Mulla issued six commandments:

 

No Hindu should ride a horse, nor should a Hindu wear a shoe;

That they should not wear Jama (Mughal costume);

That they should move bear arms;

That they should not visit any garden;

That they should not have tilak mark on their foreheads;

That their children should not receive any education.

 

But Ahmed Khan refused to execute the mischievous decree. The Mullah then excited his followers against the Kashmiri Pandits. He established his seat in a mosque, assumed the duties of the administrator under the title of Dindar Khan and let loose the reign of terror. The Hindus were wickedly tormented, their houses burnt and property looted. Hundreds of Brahmans were killed, prostrated, maimed and humiliated. They began to run away in large numbers and hide themselves in mountainous terrain. This was the fifth dreadful mass exodus of the legendary Kashmiri Pandits from their mystic motherland. Those who remained behind lived in the most horrific and terrible conditions generated by the Mullah and his gang. But soon his rivals assassinated him and his son, Sharif-ud-Din, become the new Shaikhul-Islam. The son improved upon the brutal methods of his father and inflicted most barbaric, cruel and inhuman tortures upon the vulnerable Brahmans. The plight of the Kashmiri Pandits during this period became tremendously miserable and tragic.

The Afghan rule in Kashmir (AD 1753-1819) was a period of cruelty, homicide and anarchy. W.R. Lawrence calls it the “reign of brutal tyranny.” The barbarous Afghans employed every wild, inhuman, primitive, ferocious, cruel and brutal method to suppress the Kashmiri Brahmans. A pitcher filled with ordure was placed on the head of a Pandit and stones were pelt on it, till it broke and the unfortunate Brahman become wet with filth. Their brutality and atrocity crossed the extreme limits when Hindus were tied up in grass sacks, two and two, and drowned in the Dal Lake. The victimized Hindus were forced to flee the country or were killed or converted to Islam. There was horrible mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits, sixth one, to faraway places like Delhi, Allahabad, etc. Many covered the long distances on foot.

Hindu parents destroyed the beauty of their daughters by shaving their heads or cutting their noses and ears to save them from degradation. Any Muslim could jump on the back of a Pandit and take a ride. Mir Hazar – an Afghan governor, used leather bags instead of grass sacks for the drowning of Brahmans. Turbans and shoes were forbidden for them. The Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir were also forced to grow beards and tilak was interdicted. The Afghans are now only remembered for their barbarity, brutality, ferocity, tyranny and cruelty. They thought no more of cutting of heads than of plucking a flower.

The Shahmirs, Chaks, Mughals and homicidal Afghans tore the fabric of society in Kashmir and left deep scars on it. When the Afghan oppression became intolerable, the Pandits turned with hope to the rising power of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. But they were suspected. The Afghan governor, Azim Khan, confiscated their jagirs and imposed jazia on them. Eminent Pandits were brutally killed, humiliated and their authority was snatched. Nur Shah Diwani – a cruel Muslim official, who was in charge of revenue collection, hatched a conspiracy in league with Azim Khan to eliminate the distinguished Kashmiri Brahmans. But this evil manoeuvre was exposed and a galaxy of Pandits saved. Pandit Sahajram, the Diwan, played a prominent role in the rescue operation.

Azim Khan had appointed Sukhram Safaya, Mirza Pandit and Birbal Dhar as revenue collectors. Birbal Dhar could not collect the required amount due to failure of crops. The atrocious Afghan governor browbeat Pandit Birbal to make the payment of one lac rupees. Rowdy and boisterous soldiers were sending to threaten him and other Pandits. Sensing the Afghan tsunami, distinguished Kashmiri Pandits called a backstairs meeting in which it was resolved to invite Ranjit Singh for the conquest of Kashmir and salvation of the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans. Accordingly Birbal Dhar and his minor son, Raja Kak Dhar, secretly left for Lahore with a petition signed by the prominent Kashmiri Pandits through which as invitation was extended to Ranjit Singh to take over the Valley. When Azim Khan came to know about these developments, he sent his soldiers to nab Birbal Dhar and teach him a lesson. But when these bandits met with no success, the cruel governor turned his guns towards the wife and daughter-in-law of Birbal Dhar. Both the ladies had taken shelter in the house of a trustworthy Muslim, Qadus Gojwari. Azim Khan asked Pandit Basa Kak to hunt down the innocent ladies. Basa Kak knew about the retreat of ladies but did not disclose it even after monstrous tortures and oppressive penalties. At last his abdomen was ripped open in the most barbarous manner and the dead body discredited – the most unfortunate and brutal crime against humanity in the civilized world. The poor ladies were also captured. Birbal Dhar’s wife committed suicide by swallowing a piece of diamond. The younger lady was violently converted to Islam and handed over to an Afghan noble, who carried her to Kabul.

Nervous to the marrow of his bones and crazy with rage, Azim Khan tormented all those Kashmiri Brahmans whom he suspected to be in league with Birbal Dhar. Prominent Pandits were detained in a concentration camp at Nishat Garden and ferociously tortured. But on learning about the Sikh advances towards Kashmir, he lost all nerve and solicited instruction from Pandit Sahajram Dhar. The illustrious Pandit advised him to send off his ladies folk to Kabul. It was the only way to save them from the ignominious treatment. Sahajram himself escorted the ladies to Kabul and saved them from disastrous shame. Azim Khan himself ran away from the Valley, leaving the administration into the hands of his brother, Jabbar Khan. However, atrocious Afghans were crushed and the Sikhs annexed Kashmir. Some extremist Sikhs, including Phul Singh, endeavoured to knock down the mosque of Shah Hamadan. But celebrated Birbal Dhar, at a considerable risk to his own life, made them desist from this action. According to GMD Sufi, “It is to the lasting credit of Birbal Dhar that when a deputation of Muslims headed by Sayyid Hasan Shah Qadiri Khanyari approached him to dissuade the Sikhs from the destruction of the Khanqah, he moved in the matter, used his influence and saved this historical structure from vandalism.” It reveals the true personality and character of a distinguished-Kashmiri-Pandit.

During the Sikh rule in Kashmir, AD 1819-1846, the celebrated Pandits reclaimed their past glory and magnificence. They claimed back the prominent places of trust and honour. Cow slaughter was banned, temples renovated and the earlier wrongs rectified. The legendary Kashmiri Pandits received a healing touch after centuries of barbarity, ferocity and tyranny. But by the time, the Sikhs conquered Kashmir in AD 1819; about nine-tenths of the population had become the followers of Islam. Out of the 10% Hindu population, a large number had migrated to the Punjab and other provinces. The Pandits in general belonged to the middle class while the upper and the Muslims dominated lower classes.

With the formation of Jammu and Kashmir State; and, establishment of the Dogra rule in 1846, Kashmiri Pandits were imperceptibly elbowed to the background. Administrators and officials were deputed from Jammu region. Though they enjoyed comprehensive religious freedom and social emancipation, political rights of the Kashmiri Brahmans were confined. On certain occasions, they even became victims of intrigue and suspicions. The vicious communal forces also turned their wrath against them. During the communal disturbances of July 1931, shops and houses belonging to the Kashmiri Brahmans were not only looted but also burnt. Three innocent Hindus lost their lives. This communalism in the state politics aggravated and magnified with the passage of time. It was fed for years with vicious communal propaganda and brainwashing.

After independence and accession of Jammu & Kashmir state to India, Kashmiri Pandits were pushed back to the uncultured Afghan era. They were given the sugar-coated dozes of poisonous toxics. Article 370 of Indian constitution just reduced them to cipher and liquidated their population. Under the pretext of economic reforms, their jagirs (properties) were confiscated and distributed among the Muslim peasants. The administration of Shaikh Abdullah adopted malicious and pernicious approach towards the Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. They were taunted on one excuse or the other. Hindu temples were desecrated, looted and plundered. Minor girls of the community were forced to embrace Islam and marry the Muslim youth.

Shaikh Abdullah tried to create “Shaikhdom” for his dynastic rule in Kashmir. But his dreams were shattered when he was arrested in 1953 for anti-national activities. In 1958, he was released but detained again after three months under the Kashmir conspiracy case. However, the case was withdrawn in 1964 because of political reasons. But he was arrested again in May 1965 for his subversive activities and released in January 1968. Again, in January 1971, a ban was imposed forbidding him to enter the Jammu Kashmir state. This restriction was lifted in 1972.

During 1953-1974 Shaikh Abdullah characterized India as an imperialist power endeavouring to subjugate the people of Kashmir. He asserted that the accession of Kashmir with India was his greatest blunder for which history will never forgive him. He also demanded the right of self-determination for the people of Muslim – dominated Kashmir, but ignored the Hindu- dominated Jammu and Buddhist- dominated Ladakh regions. The sophist Shaikh advocated plebiscite and unconditional withdrawal of Indian army from the Saffron Valley. He also campaigned against the import of food grains from India and asked people to eat potatoes grown in Kashmir. For such arguments, Shaikh Abdullah was nick named as “Aaloo Bab” — Feeder of Potatoes. He made emotional solicitations that after death his body should not be buried in the subjugated Valley, but immersed into the sacred waters of Arabian Sea. However, today his magnificent tomb stands on the banks of beautiful Dal Lake in Srinagar and is guarded by the Indian security personnel. By such gratuitous and conflicting statement, his secular credentials evaporated into thin air. The prospect of disloyalty and sedition began to haunt the Saffron Valley. Kashmiris switched over to political vandalism and bigoted fundamentalism. Shaikh Abdullah desperately held Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, a Kashmiri Pandit, responsible for the shattering of his malevolent dreams in 1953. The mortified Shaikh ambiguously decided to retaliate against the whole Pandit community in Kashmir. In vindictiveness, he instigated his associated that while making a choice between a Kashmiri Pandit and dreaded cobra kill the Pandit first. A vicious campaign of terror was launched against the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. They were refused entry to government jobs and institutions of higher learning. Besides hurling strong statement against the Government of India and Kashmiri Pandits, the Shaikh derided that the whole lot of Indian army cannot save the Hindus in Kashmir against the malevolence of Muslims. Farooq Abdullah also employed the same approach towards the crumbled Pandits when his brother-in-law, Gulshah, seized the chief minister ship in 1984.The reactionary leaders- Afzal Beg, Maulvi Farooq, Mohi-ud-Din Kara and Maulana Masoodi; ignored the very existence of Kashmiri Pandits during their political adventurism. The Kashmiri Pandits were made to pay for every move on the political chessboard in Kashmir because they represented the pseudo-secularism, incognito- socialism and flowering- democracy of India. They were scolded and emotionally hurt in the Afghan fashion.

But then the whole political scenario in Kashmir took a dramatic turn in 1974, when Indira-Shaikh accord was signed by virtue of which the Shaikh became the Chief Minister of the State after the lapse of 22 years. Ignoring the great expectations he had created among the people in Kashmir and his vigorous campaign for plebiscite, the sophist Shaikh began to speak the language of Indian nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularism. The slogans of plebiscite, self-determination and independent Kashmir melted away. But other corrupt self-styled politicians for their own interests exploited the Hate- India virus, infused by him into the blood of the Muslim youth in Kashmir, from time to time. Their own leaders created a vacuum because the people were betrayed disillusioned, politically raped and left in wilderness.

Omkarnath Ganjoo, who established the Index Branch of the Jammu & Kashmir Criminal Investigation Department under the directions of Union Home Ministry in early 1960 and managed the same up to 1986, established a powerful network in the State. He collected detailed information about the seditious, subversive and treasonous persons and sent the detailed dispatches to the government from time to time. He also excavated the nefarious designs of ISI- the Pak Intelligence Agency, and informed the concerned authorities. But the state as well as the central administration lacked the determination and resolution to act.

The programmes and policies of Bakshi, Sadiq, Qasim, Farooq and Gulshah were also damaging for the Kashmiri Pandits. They were continuously haunted by antagonistic, hostile and rebellious elements. Mufti Syed is even believed to be responsible for the anti-Hindu communal riots of 1986, when cows were slaughtered and temples destroyed in Anantnag district. From 1947 to1986 about four lakh Kashmiri Pandits silently migrated from Kashmir. Hypocritical atrocities and criminal ignorance of political leaders were responsible for this development. Pakistan, to avenge the defeat of Bangladesh, blatantly sponsored the violence and terrorism in the Valley, resulting in the turmoil of 1989-90. The then celebrated governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Jagmohan, wrote a detailed letter to the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, on April 21,1990, endorsing the alarming signals earliest transmitted by discerning Omkarnath Ganjoo. But Indian leadership was still unconcerned.

“Aay Zalimu,.Aay-Kafiroo,- Kashmir -Hamara-Choudh-Dou”–“Bharat-Kay Aiwanu Ko-Aag Lagado, Aag Lagado”

The final assault on the Kashmiri Pandits started with these slogans. Terrorists from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Sudan and even Saudi Arabia penetrated into the Saffron Valley. Brutal, wild and barbarous techniques were employed to hound and kill the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. Even the helpless ladies were not spared. JKLF militants who repeatedly gang-raped her and eventually killed her on 25th April abducted Sarla Bhat, a nurse in Soura Medical Institute, on 19th April 1990. Girja Tikoo, a teacher from Bandipur, was kidnapped, raped and eventually shred to pieces by a saw mill on 4th June 1990. Bimla Braroo from the Nai Sarak, Srinagar, who along with her daughter, Archana, was raped in the presence of her husband, Sohanlal, before all the three were killed on 31st March, 1992. There are dozens of such brutal instances. Even the Afghans will be feeling sorry in their graves for the satanic holocaust of the legendary Kashmiri Pundits.

The barbarous murder of hundreds of innocent Brahmans of Kashmir caused their seventh and final agonizing mass exodus from the Valley. This was the final knock down of ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Kashmiri Pandits. The mass massacres at Sangrampora (1997), Udhampore (1997), Prankot (1998), Wandhama (1998) and Nadimarg (2003) were the follow up cleansing operations. Pandits in Kashmir dwindled from 10% in 1947 to fewer than 5% in 1989 and to less than 1% today. The pretended world bodies, contaminated human rights organizations, pseudo-secularists, self-styled leaders, so-called policy makers, tainted political parties and slack bureaucracy have failed to express serious concern at this great human tragedy. Dance macabre is going on. During 1990-2005, the security forces seized around 30,000 assault rifles, over 15,000 pistols, more than 20,000 kg explosives, about 2000 UMGs and RPGs, from terrorists. In the barbarous turmoil about 45,000 persons including the Kashmiri Pandits, nationalistic Muslims and Sikhs have been killed. However, the government is keen to provide a healing touch to militants. But the legendary Kashmiri Pundits, who were virtually exterminated from the Valley, have not even received the displaced status since the few remaining live like refugees in their motherland India.

 

Dr. Satish Ganju

 

The World Biggest Holocaust White Wash From History

THE HINDU HOLOCAUST

Compiled by Deva S. Samaroo

 

The genocide suffered by the Hindus of India at the hands of Arab, Turkish, Mughal, Afgan and the British for a period of over 1200 years is as yet formally unrecognised by the World. Though Alexander –the- Great entered India he did not cause genocide or destruction like the Mughals and British Colonialism.

The only similar genocide in the recent past was that of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis; of the Africans during the slave trade and also the almost total extermination of native populations like the Aboriginal people in Australia and the native Mayan Indians, Aztecs, Incas, etc. in North and South America and of recent years nearly 2 million Tibetans were killed by the Chinese insurgence and invasion of Tibet. Over half million Kashmiri Hindu Pandits have been displaced and many thousands killed by Indian Kashmiri Muslims. In the last century nearly 270 million people have been killed by fundamentalist Islam and proselytizing crusading Christians in the world.

The holocaust of the Hindus in India was of even greater proportions; the only difference was that it continued for over 1200 years, till the brutal regimes were effectively overpowered in a life and death struggle by the Sikhs Guru Govind Singh in the Punjab and the Hindu Maratha Chhatrapati Shivaji armies in other parts of India in the late 1700’s.

We have elaborate literary evidence of the World’s biggest holocaust from existing historical contemporary eyewitness accounts. The historians and biographers of the invading armies and subsequent rulers of India have left quite detailed records of the atrocities they committed in their day-to-day encounters with India’s Hindus. Because of India’s so called secular system it is extremely difficult to tell the absolute TRUTH and NOTHING ELSE BUT THE TRUTH just to be politically correct.

There are contemporary records that boasted about and glorified the crimes that were committed – and the genocide of tens of millions of Hindus, mass rapes of Hindu women and the destruction of many thousands of ancient Hindu / Buddhist temples. Libraries have well documented and provide solid proof of the World’s biggest holocaust of mankind. It is estimated to be over 100 million Hindus and Buddhists and later Christians have been killed over a period of 12 centuries hence the WORLD BIGGEST HOLOCAUST
What many Hindus are jealous of, that the massacre of over 6 million Jews by Hitler and the persecution Jews have suffered all over the world in the last 15 centuries has been meticulously recorded by Jews themselves after 1945 and has been enshrined not only in history books, but also in Holocaust museums, the most famous one being in Washington DC. It has not been done with a spirit of revenge – look at Israel and Germany today – they are in the best of terms; yet, facts are facts and contemporary Germany had to come to terms with its terrible actions during Second World War. However, Hindus are denied this right to tell the truth under the present political atmosphere in INDIA.

As a Hindu I feel it is necessary to let the Jewish Community knows that The Hindu Swastika is always (i).”Clockwise”(ii).Four dots in between,(iii).the ends of all four limbs are flame shaped going upwards and (iv).the colour used to paint Swastika is always red the colour of Sindur. The adoption by Nazi of this religious divine symbol of Hinduism and by wrongfully drawing it upside down is misunderstood.

 

Before the advent of Islam on Indian soil, India had as many as 20 large universities some of them which were international in nature and known. Some of the prominent ones were Takshashila, Nalanda, SharadaPeeth ( Kashmir), Varanasi, Kanchipuram, Valabhi, Vikramshila, Jagaddala, Lalitgiri, Phuphagiri, Udayagiri, Odantapuri, Ratnagiri (Odisha) etc., where student from across the world studied Mathematics, Algebra, Astronomy Physics, Alchemy, Medicine, Anatomy, Surgery, Literature and a whole lot of other subjects. As Muslim invaders progressed east across India, these Universities were extinguished one by one starting with Takshashila, the largest and the oldest university in the world, to the brutal destruction and burning of Nalanda by Bhaktiyar Khilji in 1193 AD. In turn, none of these benign invaders from Bin Qasim to Kutub-udin-Aibak to Babur, Akbar to Aurangzeb to Nadir Shah instituted a new University or centre of learning. None of these barbarian invaders and ‘ Mughal conquerors’ promoted science, education and learning and institutionalized learning. They looted India and take all they could and say that Islam is the source of all Knowledge and science which many western Christian leaders procrastinate that Islam is the father of civilisation.

 

Wahabism is against secular arts like, dance, drama, music, painting and literature: They are most interested in raping, murdering converting and spreading Sharia illiterate ideology, especially the Sunni Muslims. They do not wish to educate women folks. Hindu culture and educational system were stolen and taken to the Middle East. Many Western Leaders and Christian missionaries procrastinate that Islam is the father of civilisation and often claim that Islam invented Zero, Mathematics, Arts, architecture, Astronomy etc. How untrue. Islam changed the names of many areas of India as they conqueror them eg Prayag a Holy Hindu City existed over 5000 BC became Illahabad etc.

 

In the field of secular arts like, dance, drama, music, painting and literature:

In the near-1200 year presence of Islam in India starting with 626 AD when periodic invasions began to the occupation by the British in 1857, I am hard pressed to find any contribution of Islam towards the advancement of fine arts. Islam did not introduce anything unique that already did not exist in India or take any art form forward. Dance and music was banned except in Royal Palaces or in brothels. Drama, dance and music were not encouraged and continued under the patronage of Hindu Kings, village and town folks. Mughal paintings were poor one-dimensional renderings which had not evolved since the 10th century whilst Europe was mastering and perfecting painting in the same time period; the art of ‘Shilpkaari’ or sculpting was banned so was temple building. No major literary works were written except panegyrics of emperors and Nawabs and court chronicles. However, for India, with its own rich ancient tradition of Sanskrit literature and language, the absence of Urdu wouldn’t have really mattered.

Quotes from Historians

 

Sri K. S Lall a foremost Hindu Indian historian states that according to his calculation and estimation that the Hindu population decrease by nearly 80 MILLION between the years 1000 AD to 1525 AD. This does not take into account the year when the Mughal invasion started in 625 AD to 1000 AD and continues 1525 AD until the 1914 AD, ended midway during British rule. Many renowned Indian historians feel that the true figure of the genocide perpetuated on Hindus by masquerading ISLAM is horrendous. These atrocities perpetuated for over 12 centuries first by Islam then by Colonial Christianity.

 

Dr. Koenraad Elst in his article and in his book “Negation in India”:

“Was there an Islamic Genocide of Hindus”? States:

“There is no official estimate of the total death toll of Hindus at the hands of Islam. A first glance at important testimonies by Muslim chroniclers suggests that, over 13 centuries and a territory as vast as the Indian Subcontinent, Muslim Holy Warriors easily killed more Hindus than the 6 million of the Holocaust.

 

The biggest slaughters took place during the raids of Mahmud of Ghaznavi (ca. 1000 CE); during the actual conquest of north India by Mohammed Ghori and his lieutenants (1192 ff.); and under the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526).”

Francios Gautier in his book “Rewriting India History”

“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.”

Will Durant argued in his 1935 book “The Story of Civilisation: Our Oriental Heritage” (page 459):

“The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride the slaughters of millions of Hindus, forced conversions, abduction and rape of Hindu women and children to slave markets and concubines and the destruction of thousands of temples carried out by the warriors of Islam during 800 AD to 1700 AD. Millions of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam by sword during this period.”

Fernand Braudel wrote in A History of Civilisations (1995), that Islamic rule in India as a “colonial experiment” was “extremely violent”, and “the Muslims could not rule the country except by systematic terror. Cruelty was the norm – burnings, summary executions, crucifixions or impalements, inventive tortures. Hindu temples were destroyed to make way for mosques. On occasion there were forced conversions. If ever there were an uprising, it was instantly and savagely repressed: houses were burned, the countryside was laid waste, men were slaughtered and women were taken as slaves.”

“Abdali’s soldiers would be paid 5 Rupees (a sizeable amount at the time) for every enemy head brought in. Every horseman had loaded up all his horses with the plundered property, and atop of it rode the girl-captives and the slaves. The severed heads were tied up in rugs like bundles of grain and placed on the heads of the captives…Then the heads were stuck upon lances and taken to the gate of the chief minister for payment.

 

Timur was a Turkic ; A conqueror and founder of the Timurid Dynasty. Timur’s Indian campaign (1398 – 1399 AD) “they said that on the great day of battle these 100,000 prisoners could not be left with the baggage, and that it would be entirely opposed to the rules of war to set these idolaters and foes of Islam at liberty. “In fact, no other course remained but that of making them all food for the sword’
Alain Danielou in his book, Histoire de l’ Inde writes:

“From the time Muslims started arriving, around 632 AD, the history of India becomes a long, monotonous series of murders, massacres, spoliations, and destructions. It is, as usual, in the name of ‘a holy war’ of their Muslim faith, of their sole God Allah, that the barbarians have looted and destroyed the oldest civilizations of mankind, try to wiped out an entire races from the face of the earth”

Irfan Husain a Muslim in his article “Demons from the Past” observes:

“While historical events should be judged in the context of their times, it cannot be denied that even in that bloody period of history, no mercy was shown to the Hindus unfortunate enough to be in the path of either the Arab conquerors of Sindh and south Punjab, or the Central Asians who swept in from Afghanistan…The Muslim heroes who figure larger than life in our history books committed some dreadful crimes. Mahmud of Ghazni, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, Balban, Mohammed bin Qasim, and Sultan Mohammad Tughlak, Tipu Sultan, Akbar, Aurangzeb etc all have blood-stained hands that the passage of years has not cleansed. Seen through Hindu eyes, the Muslim invasion of their homeland was an unmitigated disaster.

“Hindus temples were razed, their idols smashed, their women raped, their men killed or taken slaves. When Mahmud of Ghazni entered Somnath on one of his annual raids, he slaughtered all 50,000 inhabitants. Aibak killed and enslaved hundreds of thousands. The list of horrors is long and painful. These conquerors justified their deeds by claiming it was their religious duty to smite non-believers. Cloaking themselves in the banner of Islam, they claimed they were fighting for their faith when, in reality, they were indulging in straightforward slaughter and pillage.

 

 

 

One of the Sura of the Muslim Hadith says go and destroy Ale-Ind meaning India. It is this Sura Allah having empowered you.

 

Humanity, realization, understanding and compassion does not exist, does not exist Allah commands.

Rizwan Salim a Muslim in his article “What the invaders really did”:

 

On the anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid. It is important for Hindus and Muslims to understand the importance and TRUTH of the event in the context of Hindustan’s glorious past and recent. Muslims savages were at a very low level of civilisation understanding and culture, began entering India from Arabia and West Asia. They demolish Hindu temples and built mosques, shattered uncountable architecture and statues and idols, plunder innumerable wealth, palaces and fort of Hindu Kings and built Muslim Forts and Killed millions of Hindus in name of Allah. The demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6^th 1992 by Hindus was just one episode in the millennial struggle of Hindus to repossess their religion-centered glorious pass, culture, tradition and nation

 

 Meanwhile, hundreds /thousands of ancient Hindu temples all over Hindustan forsaken and destroyed by invading Muslims, wait reawakening, must come to terms with the past of

Hindu pride and Nation to be rebuilt repair and restored to their original ancient glory reclaiming the past and their heritage.

 

“Reasonable Muslims must speak out and Islam must introspect that as they want to reclaim recent pass in the Middle East so thus Hindus have the fundamental right to reclaim their glorious past.”

 

Dr. Anwar Shaikh a Pakistan Muslim-born author who lived in Cardiff for many years. He is best known for his many books on Islam. He wrote in: Islam: The Arab Imperialism

 “India is yet another major victim of Islam.”

 

The day Muhammad bin Qasim, entered Sindh as a conqueror, must rank as the most ominous, odious and outrageous moment in the history of India, whose proud, pious and powerful traditions have been the torch-bearer of world civilisation. The Indians, used to enjoying the warmth of ahimsa, were stunned by the violence that the Arab raiders displayed in robbing the rich and seducing the indigenous damsels. Yet, the irony was that they did all this in the name of the Most Compassionate and Just Allah, who counts these felonies as acts of fairness when they are committed to torture the unbelievers.”

 

“India was a prosperous, peaceful and proud country, which has not only been reduced to extreme poverty and ignorance by the Muslim predators and the Islamic rule, but has also been fragmented into geographical and political units.” 

 

“Most Muslims think of Bharat not as their Motherland but Dar-ul-Harb = battlefield, where people murder, plunder and deceive out of hatred and greed. It is totally false to say that Islam is the ambassador of international brotherhood and Peace. This is far from the truth”

Andre Wink Professor of History at University of Madison, Wisconsin,

Describes that this aspiration to conquer India had existed since the time of the Prophet, as is evidenced by the sacred texts:

 

“… in the hadith collections the prophet Muhammad himself is credited with the aspiration of conquering India. Participants in the holy war against al-Hind [the Hindus] are promised to be saved from hell-fire… Thus also an eschatological work which is called the Kitab al-Fitan (‘Book of Trials’) credits Muhammad with saying that God will forgive the sins of the members of the Muslim army which will attack al-Hind, and give them victory and save the unbelievers.”

 

Dr Charles Sabillon author of several books has observed in his article Christianity and Islam: Which is the Worst?

 

“The origins of both religions are based on the claims of two men, Jesus and Mohammed, and both men proved equally incapable of demonstrating their divine mandate. From that perspective, the two creeds are equally based on false propositions and can be classified as nothing more than lies. 

 

Mohammed ordered his followers to do it by the sword and that is what they did once he died. They launched into one of the most enthusiastic conquering ventures the world has

ever seen and forged an empire that extended from Central Asia to the southwest of Europe. 

For most of the sixty-three years of his life, Mohammed was a merchant, then a religious leader, and finally a general. He was an active military leader for ten years.

 

While Jesus told his disciples to spread his teachings by persuasion that extended from Central Asia to the southwest of Europe, Nations were ruthlessly converted to Christianity by the sword just like Islam converted Arabia, Central Asia, and Africa by the sword.

Will Durant (1885-1981) the well-known American historian would like the West to learn from India, tolerance and gentleness and love for all living things. 

 

He says in the book “…the Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex order and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without and multiplying from within.” Almost all the Muslims of South Asia are descendants of weaker elements of the population who had succumbed to forcible Islamic conversion.”) “No blood has been shed for religion in India except by its invaders. Intolerance came with Islam and Christianity; the Moslems proposed to buy Paradise with the blood of “infidels” and the Portuguese, when they captured Goa, introduced the Inquisition into India.”

 

“The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history”. The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride of the slaughters of Hindus, forced conversions, abduction of Hindu women and children to slave markets and the destruction of temples carried out by the warriors of Islam during 800 AD to 1700 AD. Millions of Hindus were converted to Islam by sword during this period. “

“The growth of Buddhism and monasticism in the first year of our common era sapped the manhood of India, and conspired with political division to leave India open to easy conquest. When the Arabs came, pledged to spread a simple and stoic monotheism, they looked with scorn upon the lazy, venal, miracle-mongering Buddhist monks, they smashed the monasteries, killed thousands of monks, and made monasticism unpopular with the cautious. The survivors were re-absorbed into the Hinduism that had begotten them; and eased the return of the prodigal by proclaiming Buddha a god.”

 

V Kamath the Indian columnist has written eloquently: 

 

“For no other country in the world from East to West, faces the agony that the Hindus in India have to face. They are the injured party; but they are crucified by the secularists—most of them themselves Hindus—at every stage. No country in the world has been so ravaged and raped by outside forces as India has been down the centuries: Not Japan, not China, not Russia, none of the European countries, neither the Arab nations, and certainly not the United States of America. Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagar Empire did not send his forces to Portugal to tear down churches, use force to convert Christians to Hinduism and indulge in religious terrorism.

Prithviraj Chauhan did not invade Afghanistan nor Central Asia and raise temples. ‘

“No Chola, Chera or Pandya ruler sent a fleet to Saudi Arabia to tear down the Ka’aba and build a temple to Meenakshi on its ruins or even next to it to demonstrate Hindu might. India and Hinduism have been ravaged beyond belief. Hindu missionaries did not accompany a conquering horde to Britain and under their benign rule set to convert Scottish peasants to Hinduism—or even Buddhism

 

The Afghan ruler Mahmud al-Ghazni invaded India no less than seventeen times between 1001-1026 AD. The book ‘Tarikh-i-Yamini’ – written by his secretary documents several episodes of his bloody military campaigns: “The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously [at the Indian city of Thanesar] that the stream was discoloured, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it…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.”

Conclusion

 

It is tragic that thousands of educated and intelligent people seek to negate the Hindu Holocaust–mostly unwittingly. That is partly the result of reading fabricated history right from childhood, and partly for being politically correct. A nation cannot be built on a foundation of half truths, falsehood and outright lies about its own history. It leads to mistrust among its own people, as is very evident today. There’s nothing more shameful in admitting Islam’s destructive role in medieval India. On the contrary, it should, like the Holocaust museum, serve as a reminder of what should not be repeated. Ever.

Finally, does it really matter what you call it? Holocaust, annihilation, liquidation, extermination, jihad, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, final solution, genocide, crime against humanity…all, facets of the same ideology of imperialism. There’s very little difference between Hitler and Aurangzeb.

What the world should not forget and should know that the genocide against Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and other NON SUNNI Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh is happening as we are remembering. At the time of division of India in 1947 the population of Hindus in Pakistan was about 25 million just above quarter of the population of Pakistan then, today there are only 1.5 million Hindus. In Bangladesh there were nearly 20 million Hindus and Buddhist today there are about 8 million. Continuous genocide is happening now and the world is sleeping.

Hinduism organised system and tenacity proved to the world its freedom of thought and expression. This will be Hinduism lot now to work for Global Revival of SPIRITUAL FREEDOM from Dogma, Hatred, prostilization and a UNIVERSAL CIVIL CODE.

 

Acknowledgement:

I am deeply indebted to Narain Kataria, Koonrad Else. Ram Ohri, Ashok Joshi for supplying me with the necessary information, their encouragement and for reviewing this presentation. Without their invaluable help I would have been at loss.

 

 

Bibliography, Articles and Links:

Negationism in India, by Dr Koenrad Elst. (Voice of India, New Delhi.)

“Was There an Islamic Genocide of Hindus?” (article) by Dr. Koenraad Elst (http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/irin/genocide.html)

Rewriting Indian History by Francois Gautier (Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi 1996)

‘‘Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records’’(An exhibition) by Francois Gautier’s Trust :

‘FACT – India’ URL(http://www.aurangzeb.info/)

The Story of Civilization. Vol. 1: Our Oriental Heritage by Will Durant (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935.)

A History of Civilisations by Fernand Braudel (Penguin Books, New York 1995)

Histoire de l’Inde, by Jean Danielou. (Editions Fayard, Paris.)

Growth of Muslim population in India (A.D. 1000-1800) by K.S. Lal. (Voice of India, New Delhi.)

“Demons from the Past” (article in the ‘Daily Times’, Pakistan August 30, 2004) by Irfan Husain (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_30-8-2004_pg3_4)

The ‘Hindu Wisdom’ website : http://thedevil.com/The_Hindu_Holocaust_by_Muslims/Islamic_Onslaught.htm

stephen-knapp.com website : http://www.stephen-knapp.com/islamic_destruction_of_hindu_temples.htm
The Hindu Holocaust

 

Help us bear the burden of secularism and- The Crescent and the Cross

By M. V. Kamnat

 

A sample of contemporary eyewitness accounts of the invaders and rulers,

during the Indian conquests and

 

OTHER HISTORICAL EVIDENCE AND READINGS

WHAT MUSLIM RULERS WROTE ABOUT

 

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

9

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 travelled 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. Everyone 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 these 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 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 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 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.”

1962 war. The Army had no map – Claude Arpi

 

Ten truths about the 1962 WarBy Claude ArpiIssue Net Edition | Date : 23 Nov , 2012
Mules carrying ammunition over a mountain pass during 1962 War

Here are some truths about the 1962 China’s War which are not often mentioned in history books or Reports from the Government.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive.

1. The precise location of the border

In the Army HQ in Delhi as well as locally in the NEFA, nobody was really sure where exactly the border (the famous McMahon Line) was. It is the reason why the famous Henderson-Brooks report has been kept out of the eyes of the Indian public for fifty years. Till the fateful day of October 20, 1962, the Army bosses in Delhi were unable to tell the local commanders where the border in Tawang sector precisely was?

2. There was no map

Lt. Gen. Niranjan Prasad, GOC 4 Infantry Division wrote in his memoirs (The Fall of Towang): “It is hard to understand how any purposeful negotiation could have been conducted with Communist China [in 1960] when even such elementary details as accurate maps were not produced; or, if they were in existence, they were certainly not made available to the Army, who had been given the responsibility for ensuring the security of the border.”

…when Lt. Gen. Kaul was evacuated from the Namkha chu on October 8, having fallen sick due to the altitude, he was carried pick-a-back by ‘local’ porters. It was later discovered that one of them was a Chinese interpreter in a PoW camp in Tibet. The secrets were out!

The Army had no map.

There is the story of Capt. H.S. Talwar of the elite 17 Parachute Field Regiment who was asked to reinforce Tsangle, an advance post, north of the Namkha chu on October 16. Without map, he and his men roamed around for 2 days in the snow; they finally landed a few kilometers east at a 2 Rajputs camp (and were eventually taken PoWs to Tibet with Brig. John Dalvi on October 21).

3. Some troops fought extremely well

Take the example of the 2 Rajputs under the command of Lt. Col. Maha Singh Rikh who moved to the banks of the Namka chu river by October 10 as a part of 7 Infantry Brigade. The brigade was stretched out along nearly 20 kilometers front beside the river. It was a five-day march to walk from an end to the other (the confluence with the Namjiang chu). Not a single man from the Rajputs was awarded any gallantry medal, because there was no one left to write the citations; all the officers or JCOs who were not killed or seriously wounded were taken POWs. Out of 513 all ranks on the banks of the river, the 2 Rajput lost 282 men, 81 were wounded and captured, while 90 others were taken prisoners. Only 60 other ranks, mostly from the administrative elements got back.

Major B.K. Pant of 2 Rajput displayed exemplary heroism while wounded in the stomach and legs. Though his Company suffered heavy casualties, he continued to lead and inspire his men, exhorting them to fight till the last man. When the Chinese finally managed to kill him, his last words were “Men of the Rajput Regiment, you were born to die for your country. God has selected this small river for which you must die. Stand up and fight like true Rajputs.” Ditto for 4 Rajputs under Lt. Col. B. Avasthi in the Sela-Bomdila sector

The Indian troops fought pitches battles in the Walong sector of the NEFA and Chushul in Ladakh where the Chinese were inflicted heavy losses.

4. A complete intelligence failure

A flamboyant new Corps Commander, Lt. Gen. B.M. Kaul planned Operation Leghorn to ‘evict’ the Chinese by October 10. Kaul took over Corps IV, a Corps especially created ‘to throw the Chinese out’. On his arrival in Tezpur, Kaul addressed the senior officers: “The Prime Minister himself had ordered these posts [near the Thagla ridge] to be set up and he had based his decision on the highest Intelligence advice.” The ‘highest intelligence’ inputs from Mullik turned out to be a sad joke on the 7 Infantry Brigade.

Till the last fateful minute, the arrogant IB Chief, B.N. Mullick said the Chinese would not attack, they don’t have the capacity. Such a blunder!

The Prime Minister himself, at Palam airport on his way to Colombo told the waiting journalists that he had ordered the Indian Army “to throw the Chinese out”. He generously left the time to the discretion of the Army. This was on October 12, 1962, just 8 days before the fateful day. He had received intelligence inputs from Mullik.

5. Chinese spies

Just as today Beijing can hack into any computer system, in Mao’s days, the Chinese intelligence knew everything about Kaul’s and his acolytes’ plans.

The Chinese had infiltrated the area using different methods. In his memoirs, Prasad recalled: “From our own Signals channels I had received reports of a pirate radio operating somewhere in our area, but when we referred this to higher authorities the matter was dismissed: we were curtly told that there was no pirate radio transmitter on our side of the border. Subsequently it was confirmed that the Chinese had indeed sneaked in a pirate transmitter to Chacko (on the road to Bomdila) in the Tibetan labour camp. The aerial of their transmitter was concealed as a tall prayer-flagstaff so common in the Buddhist belt of the Himalayas.”

This is probably how Mao was aware of Operation Op Leghorn.

Some war veterans recall that on the way to Bomdila, there was a dhaba manned by two beautiful ‘local’ girls. All officers and jawans would stop there, have a chai and chat with the girls. It turned out later that they were from the other side.

An informant tells me that when Lt. Gen. Kaul was evacuated from the Namkha chu on October 8, having fallen sick due to the altitude, he was carried pick-a-back by ‘local’ porters. It was later discovered that one of them was a Chinese interpreter in a PoW camp in Tibet. The secrets were out!

6. Gallantry Awards

The entire operation theater was plunged in deep chaos due to contradictory orders from the Army HQ (Lt. Gen. B.M Kaul, the Corps Commander was directing the Operation from his sick-bed in Delhi). Adhocism was the rule before, during and after the Operations.

To give an example, the GOC, 4 Division was not informed that Subedar Joginder Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra for some actions in Bumla (he later died of a gangrenous foot in a PoW camp in Tibet). The awards were decided by Delhi without consulting the local commanders.

An officer who had run away was given the Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest gallantry award. The Government had distributed these lollipops to each regiment to show that everyone fought well.

7. The Role of some Monpas

A senior war veteran, Maj. Gen. Tewari who spent nearly 7 months as a PoW in Tibet wrote: “In Kameng Frontier Division (Tawang) itself, they had many local people on their pay roll. They had detailed maps and knowledge of the area, how otherwise can you explain that they were able to build 30 km of road between Bumla and Tawang in less than 2 weeks?”

According to local Monpas only a few villages sided with the Chinese under duress (after all they were ‘chinky’ like us, said the Chinese). Tewari recalled: “I was in for a still bigger shock when it was discovered that almost all the secondary batteries had arrived without any acid. I presume that what had happened is that the porters must have found it lighter without liquid and they probably decided to lighten their loads by emptying out the acid from all the batteries.”

It was an indirect collaboration with China, though the majority of the Monpas were rather patriotic.

8. Pensions and Pay

About 500 Indian jawans and officers were taken prisoner in the Tawang sector alone. As Brig. A.J.S. Behl says in his interview: “My family got two telegrams: ‘2nd Lt Behl missing, believed dead’.”

Till the Chinese authorities sent the names of the prisoners to the Indian Red Cross, all those killed and taken prisoners were considered as ‘missing-in-action’ and their salaries were cut. For no fault of theirs, their wives and families had to manage on their own.

9. Mao’s return to power

In early 1962, Mao was out of power due to the utter failure of his Great Leap Forward. Some 45 million Chinese had died after a 3-year man-made famine. Mao Zedong managed to come back on the political scene in September 1962. If he had not managed to return at that time, the war with India would have probably not taken place. Of course, with ‘if’ many sections of world history could be rewritten, but it is a fact that once Mao’s ideological hard-line prevailed in Beijing, it was difficult to avoid a clash.

10. The dirty American Role

Averell Harriman, the US Assistant Secretary of State and Duncan Sandys, the British Secretary for Commonwealth Relations visited India on November 22, 1962. This was the day China declared a unilateral ceasefire in the war with India. The visit was supposedly to assess India’s needs to resist Communist China; but both envoys “made clear their governments’ willingness to provide military assistance to India but pointed out the related need for negotiations to resolve the Kashmir dispute.”
A clear signal was given to India who had hardly recovered from the blackest month of her history: she had to compromise on Kashmir.

Consequently six rounds of talks between India and Pakistan were held to find a solution for the vexed issue, but to no avail. However, Ayub Khan, the Pakistani President, must have taken the Western intervention as an encouragement for his claim.

The Kennedy and later the Johnson Administrations thought of ‘re-balancing’ the assistance to Pakistan, with the condition that India should accept to ‘settle’ the Kashmir issue.

1962 War: Chinese claim they fought in self defence

Author Claude Arpi

Writes regularly on Tibet, China, India and Indo-French relations.

He is the author of 1962 and the McMahon Line Saga,
Tibet: The Lost Frontier and Dharamshala, and
Beijing: the negotiations that never were.
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/ten-truths-about-the-1962-war/

 

From: Arjun < >
“Taj Mahal was Hindu Temple “Tejo Mahalay” not built by any Mughal ruler: 108 Proofs

 

[Must Read and Share ! Please Spend your few minutes of time to learn and spread the truth which history text books and media doesn’t show]

Taj Mahal was Hindu Temple “Tejo Mahalay” the temple of shiva which was destroyed by mugals(Muslims) and changed a bit and called it their structure.  Most evident of such structures is Taj Mahal–a structure supposedly devoted to carnal love by the “great” moghul king Shah Jahan to his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal.  Please keep in my mind that this is the same Shah Jahan who had a harem of 5,000 women and the same Shah Jahan who had a incestuous relationship with his daughter justifing it by saying, ‘a gardner has every right to taste the fruit he has planted’! Is such a person even capable of imagning such a wondrous structure as the Taj Mahal let alone be the architect of it?
The answer is no.  It cannot be.  And it isn’t as has been proven.  The Taj Mahal is as much a Islamic structure as is mathematics a muslim discovery! The famous historian Shri P. N.  Oak has proven that Taj Mahal is actuallyTejo Mahalaya– a shiv temple-palace.  His work was published in 1965 in the book, Taj Mahal – The True Story.  However, we have not heard much about it because it was banned by the corrupt and power crazed Congress government of Bharat who did not want to alienate their precious vote bank–the muslims.

After reading Shri Oak’s work which provides more than adequate evidence to prove that Taj Mahal is indeed Tejo Mahalaya, one has to wonder if the government of Bharat has been full of traitors for the past 50 years! Because to ban such a book which states only the truth is surely a crime against our great nation of Bharat.
The most valuable evidence of all that Tejo Mahalaya is not an Islamic building is in the Badshahnama which contains the history of the first twenty years of Shah Jahan’s reign.  The writer Abdul Hamid has stated that Taj Mahal is a temple-palace taken from Jaipur’s Maharaja Jaisigh and the building was known as Raja Mansingh’s palace.  This by itself is enough proof to state that Tejo Mahalaya is a Hindu structure captured, plundered and converted to a mausoleum by Shah Jahan and his henchmen.  But I have taken the liberty to provide you with 109 other proofs and logical points which tell us that the structure known as the Taj Mahal is actually Tejo Mahalaya.
There is a similar story behind Every Islamic structure in Bharat.  They are all converted Hindu structures.  As I mentioned above, hundereds of thousands of temples in Bharat have been destroyed by the barbaric muslim invaders and I shall dedicate several articles to these destroyed temples.  However, the scope of this article is to prove to you beyond the shadow of any doubt that Taj Mahal is Tejo Mahalaya and should be recognized as such! Not as a monument to the dead Mumtaz Mahal–an insignificant sex object in the incestous Shah Jahan’s harem of 5,000.
Another very important proof that Taj Mahal is a Hindu structure is shown by figure 1 below.  It depicts Aurangzeb’s letter to Shah Jahan in Persian in which he has unintentionally revealed the true identity of the Taj Mahal as a Hindu Temple-Palace.  Refer to proofs below.

Proofs follow below:

1. The term Tajmahal itself never occurs in any mogul court paper or chronicle even in Aurangzeb’s time.  The attempt to explain it away as Taj-i-mahal is therefore, ridiculous.

2. The ending “Mahal” is never muslim because in none of the muslim countries around the world from Afghanistan to Algeria is there a building known as “Mahal”.

3. The unusual explanation of the term Tajmahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal, who is buried in it, is illogical in at least two respects viz. , firstly her name was never Mumtaj Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zaman i and secondly one cannot omit the first three letters “Mum” from a woman’s name to derive the remainder as the name of the building.

4. Since the lady’s name was Mumtaz (ending with ‘Z’) the name of the building derived from her should have been Taz Mahal, if at all, and not Taj (spelled with a ‘J’).

5. Several European visitors of Shahjahan’s time allude to the building as Taj-e-Mahal is almost the correct tradition, age old Sanskrit name Tej-o-Mahalaya, signifying a Shiva temple.  Contrarily Shahjahan and Aurangzeb scrupulously avoid using the Sanskrit term and call it just a holy grave.

6. The tomb should be understood to signify Not A Building but only the grave or centotaph inside it.  This would help people to realize that all dead muslim courtiers and royalty including Humayun, Akbar, Mumtaz, Etmad-ud-Daula and Safdarjang have been buried in capture Hindu mansions and temples.

7. Moreover, if the Taj is believed to be a burial place, how can the term Mahal, i. e. , mansion apply to it?

8. Since the term Taj Mahal does not occur in mogul courts it is absurd to search for any mogul explanation for it.  Both its components namely, ‘Taj’ and’ Mahal’ are of Sanskrit origin.

Temple Tradition

9. The term Taj Mahal is a corrupt form of the sanskrit term TejoMahalay signifying a Shiva Temple.  Agreshwar Mahadev i. e. , The Lord of Agra was consecrated in it.

10. The tradition of removing the shoes before climbing the marble platform originates from pre Shahjahan times when the Taj was a Shiva Temple.  Had the Taj originated as a tomb, shoes need not have to be removed because shoes are a necessity in a cemetery.

11. Visitors may notice that the base slab of the centotaph is the marble basement in plain white while its superstructure and the other three centotaphs on the two floors are covered with inlaid creeper designs.  This indicates that the marble pedestal of the Shiva idol is still in place and Mumtaz’s centotaphs are fake.

12. The pitchers carved inside the upper border of the marble lattice plus those mounted on it number 108-a number sacred in Hindu Temple tradition.

13. There are persons who are connected with the repair and the maintainance of the Taj who have seen the ancient sacred Shiva Linga and other idols sealed in the thick walls and in chambers in the secret, sealed red stone stories below the marble basement.  The Archaeological Survey of India is keeping discretely, politely and diplomatically silent about it to the point of dereliction of its own duty to probe into hidden historical evidence.

14. In India there are 12 Jyotirlingas i. e. , the outstanding Shiva Temples.  The Tejomahalaya alias The Tajmahal appears to be one of them known as Nagnatheshwar since its parapet is girdled with Naga, i. e. , Cobra figures.  Ever since Shahjahan’s capture of it the sacred temple has lost its Hindudom.

15. The famous Hindu treatise on architecture titled Vishwakarma Vastushastra mentions the Tej-Linga amongst the Shivalingas i. e. , the stone emblems of Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity.  Such a Tej Linga was consecrated in the Taj Mahal, hence the term Taj Mahal alias Tejo Mahalaya.

16. Agra city, in which the Taj Mahal is located, is an ancient centre of Shiva worship.  Its orthodox residents have through ages continued the tradition of worshipping at five Shiva shrines before taking the last meal every night especially during the month of Shravan.  During the last few centuries the residents of Agra had to be content with worshipping at only four prominent Shiva temples viz. , Balkeshwar, Prithvinath, Manakameshwaran d Rajarajeshwar.  They had lost track of the fifth Shiva deity which their forefathers worshipped.  Apparently the fifth was Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheshwar i. e. , The Lord Great God of Agra, The Deity of the King of Cobras, consecrated in the Tejomahalay alias Tajmahal.

17. The people who dominate the Agra region are Jats.  Their name of Shiva is Tejaji.  The Jat special issue of The Illustrated Weekly of India (June 28,1971) mentions that the Jats have the Teja Mandirs i. e. , Teja Temples.  This is because Teja-Linga is among the several names of the Shiva Lingas.  From this it is apparent that the Taj-Mahal is Tejo-Mahalaya, The Great Abode of Tej.
Documentary Evidence

18. Shahjahan’s own court chronicle, the Badshahnama, admits (page 403, vol 1) that a grand mansion of unique splendor, capped with a dome (Imaarat-a-Alis han wa Gumbaze) was taken from the Jaipur Maharaja Jaisigh for Mumtaz’s burial, and the building was known as Raja Mansingh’s palace.

19.  The plaque put the archealogy department outside the Tajmahal describes the edifice as a mausoleum built by Shahjahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, over 22 years from 1631 to 1653 That plaque is a specimen of historical bungling.  Firstly, the plaque sites no authority for its claim.  Secondly the lady’s name was Mumtaz-ulZamani and not Mumtazmahal.  Thirdly, the period of 22 years is taken from some mumbo jumbo noting by an unreliable French visitor Tavernier, to the exclusion of all muslim versions, which is an absurdity.

20.  Prince Aurangzeb’s letter (Refer to Figure 1 above) to his father, emperor Shahjahan, is recorded in atleast three chronicles titled Aadaab-e-Alamgi ri, Yadgarnama, and the Muruqqa-i-Akbar abadi (edited by Said Ahmed, Agra, 1931, page 43, footnote 2).  In that letter Aurangzeb records in 1652 A. D itself that the several buildings in the fancied burial place of Mumtaz were seven storeyed and were so old that they were all leaking, while the dome had developed a crack on the northern side.  Aurangzeb, therefore, ordered immediate repairs to the buildings at his own expense while recommending to the emperor that more elaborate repairs be carried out later.  This is the proof that during Shahjahan’s reign itself that the Taj complex was so old as to need immediate repairs.

21.  The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur retains in his secret personal KapadDwara collection two orders from Shahjahan dated Dec 18, 1633 (bearing modern nos.  R. 176 and 177) requestioning the Taj building complex.  That was so blatant a usurpation that the then ruler of Jaipur was ashamed to make the document public.

22.  The Rajasthan State archives at Bikaner preserve three other firmans addressed by Shahjahan to the Jaipur’s ruler Jaisingh ordering the latter to supply marble (for Mumtaz’s grave and koranic grafts) from his Makranna quarris, and stone cutters.  Jaisingh was apparently so enraged at the blatant seizure of the Tajmahal that he refused to oblige Shahjahan by providing marble for grafting koranic engravings and fake centotaphs for further desecration of the Tajmahal.  Jaisingh looked at Shahjahan’s demand for marble and stone cutters, as an insult added to injury.  Therefore, he refused to send any marble and instead detained the stone cutters in his protective custody.

23.  The three firmans demanding marble were sent to Jaisingh within about two years of Mumtaz’s death.  Had Shahjahan really built the Tajmahal over a period of 22 years, the marble would have needed only after 15 or 20 years not immediately after Mumtaz’s death.

24.  Moreover, the three mention neither the Tajmahal, nor Mumtaz, nor the burial.  The cost and the quantity of the stone also are not mentioned.  This proves that an insignificant quantity of marble was needed just for some supercial tinkering and tampering with the Tajmahal.  Even otherwise Shahjahan could never hope to build a fabulous Tajmahal by abject dependence for marble on a non cooperative Jaisingh.

European Visitor’s Accounts

25.  Tavernier, a French jeweller has recorded in his travel memoirs that Shahjahan purposely buried Mumtaz near the Taz-i-Makan (i. e. ,`The Taj building’) where foriegners used to come as they do even today so that the world may admire.  He also adds that the cost of the scaffolding was more than that of the entire work.  The work that Shahjahan commissioned in the Tejomahalaya Shiva temple was plundering at the costly fixtures inside it, uprooting the Shiva idols, planting the centotaphs in their place on two stories, inscribing the koran along the arches and walling up six of the seven stories of the Taj.  It was this plunder, desecrating and plunderring of the rooms which took 22 years.

26.  Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra recorded in 1632 (within only a year of Mumtaz’s death) that `the places of note in and around Agra, included Taj-e-Mahal’s tomb, gardens and bazaars’.  He, therefore, confirms that that the Tajmahal had been a noteworthy building even before Shahjahan.

27.  De Laet, a Dutch official has listed Mansingh’s palace about a mile from Agra fort, as an outstanding building of pre shahjahan’s time.  Shahjahan’s court chronicle, the Badshahnama records, Mumtaz’s burial in the same Mansingh’s palace.

28.  Bernier, a contemporary French visitor has noted that non muslim’s were barred entry into the basement (at the time when Shahjahan requisitioned Mansingh’s palace) which contained a dazzling light.  Obviously, he reffered to the silver doors, gold railing, the gem studded lattice and strings of pearl hanging over Shiva’s idol.  Shahjahan comandeered the building to grab all the wealth, making Mumtaz’s death a convineant pretext.

29.  Johan Albert Mandelslo, who describes life in agra in 1638 (only 7 years after mumtaz’s death) in detail (in his Voyages and Travels to West-Indies, published by John Starkey and John Basset, London), makes no mention of the Tajmahal being under constuction though it is commonly erringly asserted or assumed that the Taj was being built from 1631 to 1653.

Sanskrit Inscription
30.  A Sanskrit inscription too supports the conclusion that the Taj originated as a Shiva temple.  Wrongly termed as the Bateshwar inscription (currently preserved on the top floor of the Lucknow museum), it refers to the raising of a “crystal white Shiva temple so alluring that Lord Shiva once enshrined in it decided never to return to Mount Kailash his usual abode”.  That inscription dated 1155 A. D.  was removed from the Tajmahal garden at Shahjahan’s orders.  Historicians and Archeaologists have blundered in terming the insription the Bateshwar inscription when the record doesn’t say that it was found by Bateshwar.  It ought, in fact, to be called The Tejomahalaya inscription because it was originally installed in the Taj garden before it was uprooted and cast away at Shahjahan’s command.
A clue to the tampering by Shahjahan is found on pages 216-217, vol.  4, of Archealogiical Survey of India Reports (published 1874) stating that a “great square black balistic pillar which, with the base and capital of another pillar…. now in the grounds of Agra, …it is well known, once stood in the garden of Tajmahal”.

Missing Elephants

31.  Far from the building of the Taj, Shahjahan disfigured it with black koranic lettering and heavily robbed it of its Sanskrit inscription, several idols and two huge stone elephants extending their trunks in a welcome arch over the gateway where visitors these days buy entry tickets.  An Englishman, Thomas Twinning, records (pg. 191 of his book “Travels in India A Hundred Years ago”) that in November 1794 “I arrived at the high walls which enclose the Taj-e-Mahal and its circumjacent buildings.  I here got out of the palanquine and…. . mounted a short flight of steps leading to a beautiful portal which formed the centre of this side of the Court Of Elephants as the great area was called. ”
Koranic Patches

32.  The Taj Mahal is scrawled over with 14 chapters of the Koran but nowhere is there even the slightest or the remotest allusion in that Islamic overwriting to Shahjahan’s authorship of the Taj.  Had Shahjahan been the builder he would have said so in so many words before beginning to quote Koran.

33.  That Shahjahan, far from building the marble Taj, only disfigured it with black lettering is mentioned by the inscriber Amanat Khan Shirazi himself in an inscription on the building.  A close scrutiny of the Koranic lettering reveals that they are grafts patched up with bits of variegated stone on an ancient Shiva temple.
Carbon 14 Test

34.  A wooden piece from the riverside doorway of the Taj subjected to the carbon 14 test by an American Laboratory and initiated by Professors at Pratt School of Architecture, New York, has revealed that the door to be 300 years older than Shahjahan,since the doors of the Taj, broken open by Muslim invaders repeatedly from the 11th century onwards, had to b replaced from time to time.  The Taj edifice is much more older.  It belongs to 1155 A. D, i. e. , almost 500 years anterior to Shahjahan.
Architectural Evidence

35.  Well known Western authorities on architechture like E. B. Havell, Mrs. Kenoyer and Sir W. W. Hunterhave gone on record to say that the TajMahal is built in the Hindu temple style.  Havell points out the ground plan of the ancient Hindu Chandi Seva Temple in Java is identical with that of the Taj.

36.  A central dome with cupolas at its four corners is a universal feature of Hindu temples.

37.  The four marble pillars at the plinth corners are of the Hindu style.  They are used as lamp towers during night and watch towers during the day.  Such towers serve to demarcate the holy precincts.  Hindu wedding altars and the altar set up for God Satyanarayan worship have pillars raised at the four corners.

38.  The octagonal shape of the Tajmahal has a special Hindu significance because Hindus alone have special names for the eight directions, and celestial guards assigned to them.  The pinnacle points to the heaven while the foundation signifies to the nether world.  Hindu forts, cities, palaces and temples genrally have an octagonal layout or some octagonal features so that together with the pinnacle and the foundation they cover all the ten directions in which the king or God holds sway, according to Hindu belief.

39.  The Tajmahal has a trident pinncle over the dome.  A full scale of the trident pinnacle is inlaid in the red stone courtyard to the east of the Taj.  The central shaft of the trident depicts a Kalash (sacred pot) holding two bent mango leaves and a coconut.  This is a sacred Hindu motif.  Identical pinnacles have been seen over Hindu and Buddhist temples in the Himalayan region.  Tridents are also depicted against a red lotus background at the apex of the stately marble arched entrances on all four sides of the Taj.  People fondly but mistakenly believed all these centuries that the Taj pinnacle depicts a Islamic cresent and star was a lighting conductor installed by the British rulers in India.  Contrarily, the pinnacle is a marvel of Hindu metallurgy since the pinnacle made of non rusting alloy, is also perhaps a lightning deflector.  That the pinnacle of the replica is drawn in the eastern courtyard is significant because the east is of special importance to the Hindus, as the direction in which the sun rises.  The pinnacle on the dome has the word `Allah’ on it after capture.  The pinnacle figure on the ground does not have the word Allah.

Inconsistencies

40.  The two buildings which face the marble Taj from the east and west are identical in design, size and shape and yet the eastern building is explained away by Islamic tradition, as a community hall while the western building is claimed to be a mosque.  How could buildings meant for radically different purposes be identical? This proves that the western building was put to use as a mosque after seizure of the Taj property by Shahjahan.  Curiously enough the building being explained away as a mosque has no minaret.  They form a pair af reception pavilions of the Tejomahalaya temple palace.

41.  A few yards away from the same flank is the Nakkar Khana alias DrumHouse which is a intolerable incongruity for Islam.  The proximity of the Drum House indicates that the western annex was not originally a mosque.  Contrarily a drum house is a neccesity in a Hindu temple or palace because Hindu chores,in the morning and evening, begin to the sweet strains of music.

42.  The embossed patterns on the marble exterior of the centotaph chamber wall are foilage of the conch shell design and the Hindu letter OM.  The octagonally laid marble lattices inside the centotaph chamber depict pink lotuses on their top railing.  The Lotus, the conch and the OM are the sacred motifs associated with the Hindu deities and temples.

43.  The spot occupied by Mumtaz’s centotaph was formerly occupied by the Hindu Teja Linga a lithic representation of Lord Shiva.  Around it are five perambulatory passages.  Perambulation could be done around the marble lattice or through the spacious marble chambers surrounding the centotaph chamber, and in the open over the marble platform.  It is also customary for the Hindus to have apertures along the perambulatory passage, overlooking the deity.  Such apertures exist in the perambulatories in the Tajmahal.

44.  The sanctom sanctorum in the Taj has silver doors and gold railings as Hindu temples have.  It also had nets of pearl and gems stuffed in the marble lattices.  It was the lure of this wealth which made Shahjahan commandeer the Taj from a helpless vassal Jaisingh, the then ruler of Jaipur.

45.  Peter Mundy, a Englishman records (in 1632, within a year of Mumtaz’s death) having seen a gem studded gold railing around her tomb.  Had the Taj been under construction for 22 years, a costly gold railing would not have been noticed by Peter mundy within a year of Mumtaz’s death.  Such costl fixtures are installed in a building only after it is ready for use.  This indicates that Mumtaz’s centotaph was grafted in place of the Shivalinga in the centre of the gold railings.  Subsequently the gold railings, silver doors, nets of pearls, gem fillings etc.  were all carried away to Shahjahan’s treasury.  The seizure of the Taj thus constituted an act of highhanded Moghul robery causing a big row between Shahjahan and Jaisingh.

46.  In the marble flooring around Mumtaz’s centotaph may be seen tiny mosaic patches.  Those patches indicate the spots where the support for the gold railings were embedded in the floor.  They indicate a rectangular fencing.

47.  Above Mumtaz’s centotaph hangs a chain by which now hangs a lamp.  Before capture by Shahjahan the chain used to hold a water pitcher from which water used to drip on the Shivalinga.

48.  It is this earlier Hindu tradition in the Tajmahal which gave the Islamic myth of Shahjahan’s love tear dropping on Mumtaz’s tomb on the full moon day of the winter eve.
Treasury Well

49.  Between the so-called mosque and the drum house is a multistoried octagonal well with a flight of stairs reaching down to the water level.  This is a traditional treasury well in Hindu temple palaces.  Treasure chests used to be kept in the lower apartments while treasury personnel had their offices in the upper chambers.  The circular stairs made it difficult for intruders to reach down to the treasury or to escape with it undetected or unpursued.  In case the premises had to be surrendered to a besieging enemy the treasure could be pushed into the well to remain hidden from the conquerer and remain safe for salvaging if the place was reconquered.  Such an elaborate multistoried well is superflous for a mere mausoleum.  Such a grand, gigantic well is unneccesary for a tomb.

Burial Date Unknown

50.  Had Shahjahan really built the Taj Mahal as a wonder mausoleum, history would have recorded a specific date on which she was ceremoniously buried in the Taj Mahal.  No such date is ever mentioned.  This important missing detail decisively exposes the falsity of the Tajmahal legend.

51.  Even the year of Mumtaz’s death is unknown.  It is variously speculated to be 1629, 1630, 1631 or 1632.  Had she deserved a fabulous burial, as is claimed, the date of her death had not been a matter of much speculation.  In an harem teeming with 5000 women it was difficult to keep track of dates of death.  Apparently the date of Mumtaz’s death was so insignificant an event, as not to merit any special notice.  Who would then build a Taj for her burial?

Baseless Love Stories

52.  Stories of Shahjahan’s exclusive infatuation for Mumtaz’s are concoctions.  They have no basis in history nor has any book ever written on their fancied love affairs.  Those stories have been invented as an afterthought to make Shahjahan’s authorship of the Taj look plausible.

Cost

53.  The cost of the Taj is nowhere recorded in Shahjahan’s court papers because Shahjahan never built the Tajmahal.  That is why wild estimates of the cost by gullible writers have ranged from 4 million to 91.7 million rupees.

Period Of Construction

54.  Likewise the period of construction has been guessed to be anywhere between 10 years and 22 years.  There would have not been any scope for guesswork had the building construction been on record in the court papers.
Architects

55.  The designer of the Tajmahal is also variously mentioned as Essa Effendy, a Persian or Turk, or Ahmed Mehendis or a Frenchman, Austin deBordeaux, or Geronimo Veroneo, an Italian, or Shahjahan himself.
Records Don’t Exist

56.  Twenty thousand labourers are supposed to have worked for 22 years during Shahjahan’s reign in building the Tajmahal.  Had this been true, there should have been available in Shahjahan’s court papers design drawings, heaps of labour muster rolls, daily expenditure sheets, bills and receipts of material ordered, and commisioning orders.  There is not even a scrap of paper of this kind.

57.  It is, therefore, court flatterers, blundering historians, somnolent archeologists, fiction writers, senile poets, careless tourists officials and erring guides who are responsible for hustling the world into believing in Shahjahan’s mythical authorship of the Taj.

58.  Description of the gardens around the Taj of Shahjahan’s time mention Ketaki, Jai, Jui, Champa, Maulashree, Harshringar and Bel.  All these are plants whose flowers or leaves are used in the worship of Hindu deities.  Bel leaves are exclusively used in Lord Shiva’s worship.  A graveyard is planted only with shady trees because the idea of using fruit and flower from plants in a cemetary is abhorrent to human conscience.  The presence of Bel and other flower plants in the Taj garden is proof of its having been a Shiva temple before seizure by Shahjahan.

59.  Hindu temples are often built on river banks and sea beaches.  The Taj is one such built on the bank of the Yamuna river an ideal location for a Shiva temple.

60.  Prophet Mohammad has ordained that the burial spot of a muslim should be inconspicous and must not be marked by even a single tombstone.  In flagrant violation of this, the Tajamhal has one grave in the basement and another in the first floor chamber both ascribed to Mumtaz.  Those two centotaphs were infact erected by Shahjahan to bury the two tier Shivalingas that were consecrated in the Taj.  It is customary for Hindus to install two Shivalingas one over the other in two stories as may be seen in the Mahankaleshwar temple in Ujjain and the Somnath temple raised by Ahilyabai in Somnath Pattan.

61.  The Tajmahal has identical entrance arches on all four sides.  This is a typical Hindu building style known as Chaturmukhi, i. e. ,four faced.
The Hindu Dome

62.  The Tajmahal has a reverberating dome.  Such a dome is an absurdity for a tomb which must ensure peace and silence.  Contrarily reverberating domes are a neccesity in Hindu temples because they create an ecstatic dinmultiplying and magnifying the sound of bells, drums and pipes accompanying the worship of Hindu deities.

63.  The Tajmahal dome bears a lotus cap.  Original Islamic domes have a bald top as is exemplified by the Pakistan Embassy in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, and the domes in the Pakistan’s newly built capital Islamabad.

64.  The Tajmahal entrance faces south.  Had the Taj been an Islamic building it should have faced the west.
Tomb is the Grave, not the Building

65.  A widespread misunderstandin g has resulted in mistaking the building for the grave. Invading Islam raised graves in captured buildings in every country it overran.  Therefore, hereafter people must learn not to confound the building with the grave mounds which are grafts in conquered buildings.  This is true of the Tajmahal too.  One may therefore admit (for arguments sake) that Mumtaz lies buried inside the Taj.  But that should not be construed to mean that the Taj was raised over Mumtaz’s grave.

66.  The Taj is a seven storied building.  Prince Aurangzeb also mentions this in his letter to Shahjahan (Refer to the Figure 1 above).  The marble edifice comprises four stories including the lone, tall circular hall inside the top, and the lone chamber in the basement.  In between are two floors each containing 12 to 15 palatial rooms.  Below the marble plinth reaching down to the river at the rear are two more stories in red stone.  They may be seen from the river bank.  The seventh storey must be below the ground (river) level since every ancient Hindu building had a subterranian storey.

67.  Immediately bellow the marble plinth on the river flank are 22 rooms in red stone with their ventilators all walled up by Shahjahan.  Those rooms, made uninhibitably by Shahjahan, are kept locked by Archealogy Department of India.  The lay visitor is kept in the dark about them.  Those 22 rooms still bear ancient Hindu paint on their walls and ceilings.  On their side is a nearly 33 feet long corridor.  There are two door frames one at either end ofthe corridor.  But those doors are intriguingly sealed with brick and lime.

68.  Apparently those doorways originally sealed by
Shahjahan have been since unsealed and again walled up several times.  In 1934 a resident of Delhi took a peep inside from an opening in the upper part of the doorway.  To his dismay he saw huge hall inside.  It contained many statues huddled around a central beheaded image of Lord Shiva.  It could be that, in there, are Sanskrit inscriptions too.  All the seven stories of the Tajmahal need to be unsealed and scoured to ascertain what evidence they may be hiding in the form of Hindu images, Sanskrit inscriptions, scriptures, coins and utensils.

69.  Apart from Hindu images hidden in the sealed stories it is also learnt that Hindu images are also stored in the massive walls of the Taj.  Between 1959 and 1962 when Mr.  S. R.  Rao was the Archealogical Superintendent in Agra, he happened to notice a deep and wide crack in the wall of the central octagonal chamber of the Taj.  When a part of the wall was dismantled to study the crack out popped two or three marble images.  The matter was hushed up and the images were reburied where they had been embedded at Shahjahan’s behest.  Confirmation of this has been obtained from several sources.  It was only when I began my investigation into the antecedents of the Taj I came across the above information which had remained a forgotten secret.  What better proof is needed of the Temple origin of the Tajmahal? Its walls and sealed chambers still hide in Hindu idols that were consecrated in it before Shahjahan’s seizure of the Taj.
Pre-Shahjahan References to the Taj

70.  Apparently the Taj as a central palace seems to have an chequered history.  The Taj was perhaps desecrated and looted by every Muslim invader from Mohammad Ghazni onwards but passing into Hindu hands off and on, the sanctity of the Taj as a Shiva temple continued to be revived after every muslim onslaught.  Shahjahan was the last muslim to desecrate the Tajmahal alias Tejomahalay.

71.  Vincent Smith records in his book titled `Akbar the Great Moghul’ that `Babur’s turbulent life came to an end in his garden palace in Agra in 1630′.  That palace was none other than the Tajmahal.

72.  Babur’s daughter Gulbadan Begum in her chronicle titled Humayun Nama refers to the Taj as the Mystic House.

73.  Babur himself refers to the Taj in his memoirs as the palace captured by Ibrahim Lodi containing a central octagonal chamber and having pillars on the four sides.  All these historical references allude to the Taj 100 years before Shahjahan.

74.  The Tajmahal precincts extend to several hundred yards in all directions.  Across the river are ruins of the annexes of the Taj, the bathing ghats and a jetty for the ferry boat.  In the Victoria gardens outside covered with creepers is the long spur of the ancient outer wall ending in a octagonal red stone tower.  Such extensive grounds all magnificently done up, are a superfluity for a grave.

75.  Had the Taj been specially built to bury Mumtaz, it should not have been cluttered with other graves.  But the Taj premises contain several graves atleast in its eastern and southern pavilions.

76.  In the southern flank, on the other side of the Tajganj gate are buried in identical pavilions queens Sarhandi Begum, and Fatehpuri Begum and a maid Satunnisa Khanum.  Such parity burial can be justified only if the queens had been demoted or the maid promoted.  But since Shahjahan had commandeered (not built) the Taj, he reduced it general to a muslim cemetary as was the habit of all his Islamic predeccssors, and buried a queen in a vacant pavillion and a maid in another idenitcal pavilion.

77.  Shahjahan was married to several other women before and after Mumtaz.  She, therefore, deserved no special consideration in having a wonder mausoleum built for her.

78.  Mumtaz was a commoner by birth and so she did not qualify for a fairyland burial.

79.  Mumtaz died in Burhanpur which is about 600 miles from Agra.  Her grave there is intact.  Therefore, the centotaphs raised in stories of the Taj in her name seem to be fakes hiding in Hindu Shiva emblems.

80.  Shahjahan seems to have simulated Mumtaz’s burial in Agra to find a pretext to surround the temple palace with his fierce and fanatic troops and remove all the costly fixtures in his treasury.  This finds confirmation in the vague noting in the Badshahnama which says that the Mumtaz’s (exhumed) body was brought to Agra from Burhanpur and buried `next year’.  An official term would not use a nebulous term unless it is to hide something.

81.  A pertinent consideration is that a Shahjahan who
did not build any palaces for Mumtaz while she was alive, would not build a fabulous mausoleum for a corpse which was no longer kicking or clicking.

82.  Another factor is that Mumtaz died within two or three years of Shahjahan becoming an emperor.  Could he amass so much superflous wealth in that short span as to squander it on a wonder mausoleum?

83.  While Shahjahan’s special attachment to Mumtaz is nowhere recorded in history his amorous affairs with many other ladies from maids to mannequins including his own daughter Jahanara, find special attention in accounts of Shahjahan’s reign.  Would Shahjahan shower his hard earned wealth on Mumtaz’s corpse?

84.  Shahjahan was a stingy, usurious monarch.  He came to throne murdering all his rivals.  He was not therefore, the doting spendthrift that he is made out to be.

85.  A Shahjahan disconsolate on Mumtaz’s death is suddenly credited with a resolve to build the Taj.  This is a psychological incongruity.  Grief is a disabling, incapacitating emotion.

86.  A infatuated Shahjahan is supposed to have raised the Taj over the dead Mumtaz, but carnal, physical sexual love is again a incapacitating emotion.  A womanizer is ipso facto incapable of any constructive activity.  When carnal love becomes uncontrollable the person either murders somebody or commits suicide.  He cannot raise a Tajmahal.  A building like the Taj invariably originates in an ennobling emotion like devotion to God, to one’s mother and mother country or power and glory.

87.  Early in the year 1973, chance digging in the garden in front of the Taj revealed another set of fountains about six feet below the present fountains.  This proved two things.  Firstly, the subterranean fountains were there before Shahjahan laid the surface fountains.  And secondly that those fountains are aligned to the Taj that edifice too is of pre Shahjahan origin.  Apparently the garden and its fountains had sunk from annual monsoon flooding and lack of maintenance for centuries during the Islamic rule.

88.  The stately rooms on the upper floor of the Tajmahal have been stripped of f their marble mosaic by Shahjahan to obtain matching marble for raising fake tomb stones inside the Taj premises at several places.  Contrasting with the rich finished marble ground floor rooms the striping of the marble mosaic covering the lower half of the walls and flooring of the upper storey have given those rooms a naked, robbed look.  Since no visitors are allowed entry to the upper storey this despoilation by Shahjahan has remained a well guarded secret.  There is no reason why Shahjahan’s loot of the upper floor marble should continue to be hidden from the public even after 200 years of termination of Moghul rule.

89.  Bernier, the French traveller has recorded that no non muslim was allowed entry into the secret nether chambers of the Taj because there are some dazzling fixtures there.  Had those been installed by Shahjahan they should have been shown the public as a matter of pride.  But since it was commandeered Hindu wealth which Shahjahan wanted to remove to his treasury, he didn’t want the public to know about it.

90.  The approach to Taj is dotted with hillocks raised with earth dugout from foundation trenches.  The hillocks served as outer defenses of the Taj building complex.  Raising such hillocks from foundation earth is a common Hindu device of hoary origin.  Nearby Bharatpur provides a graphic parallel.  Peter Mundy has recorded that Shahjahan employed thousands of labourers to level some of those hillocks.  This is a graphic proof of the Tajmahal existing before Shahjahan.

91.  At the backside of the river bank is a Hindu crematorium, several palaces, Shiva temples and bathings of ancient origin.  Had Shahjahan built the Tajmahal, he would have destroyed the Hindu features.

92.  The story that Shahjahan wanted to build a Black marble Taj across the river, is another motivated myth.  The ruins dotting the other side of the river are those of Hindu structures demolished during muslim invasions and not the plinth of another Tajmahal.  Shahjahan who did not even build the white Tajmahal would hardly ever think of building a black marble Taj.  He was so miserly that he forced labourers to work gratis even in the superficial tampering necessary to make a Hindu temple serve as a Muslim tomb.

93.  The marble that Shahjahan used for grafting Koranic lettering in the Taj is of a pale white shade while the rest of the Taj is built of a marble with rich yellow tint.  This disparity is proof of the Koranic extracts being a superimposition.

94.  Though imaginative attempts have been made by some historians to foist some fictitious name on history as the designer of the Taj others more imaginative have credited Shajahan himself with superb architectural proficiency and artistic talent which could easily conceive and plan the Taj even in acute bereavment.  Such people betray gross ignorance of history in as much as Shajahan was a cruel tyrant, a great womanizer and a drug and drink addict.

95.  Fanciful accounts about Shahjahan commisioning the Taj are all confused.  Some asserted that Shahjahan ordered building drawing from all over the world and chose one from among them.  Others assert that a man at hand was ordered to design a mausoleum amd his design was approved.  Had any of those versions been true Shahjahan’s court papers should have had thousands of drawings concerning the Taj.  But there is not even a single drawing.  This is yet another clinching proof that Shahjahan did not commision the Taj.

96.  The Tajmahal is surrounded by huge mansions which indicate that several battles have been waged around the Taj several times.

97.  At the south east corner of the Taj is an ancient royal cattle house.  Cows attached to the Tejomahalay temple used to rear there.  A cowshed is an incongruity in an Islamic tomb.

98.  Over the western flank of the Taj are several stately red stone annexes.  These are superfluous for a mausoleum.

99.  The entire Taj complex comprises of 400 to 500 rooms.  Residential accommodation on such a stupendous scale is unthinkable in a mausoleum.

100.  The neighbouring Tajganj township’s massive protective wall also encloses the Tajmahal temple palace complex.  This is a clear indication that the Tejomahalay temple palace was part and parcel of the township.  A street of that township leads straight into the Tajmahal.  The Tajganj gate is aligned in a perfect straight line to the octagonal red stone garden gate and the stately entrance arch of the Tajmahal.  The Tajganj gate besides being central to the Taj temple complex, is also put on a pedestal.  The western gate by which the visitors enter the Taj complex is a camparatively minor gateway.  It has become the entry gate for most visitors today because the railway station and the bus station are on that side.

101.  The Tajmahal has pleasure pavillions which a tomb would never have.

102.  A tiny mirror glass in a gallery of the Red Fort in Agra reflects the Taj mahal.  Shahjahan is said to have spent his last eight years of life as a prisoner in that gallery peering at the reflected Tajmahal and sighing in the name of Mumtaz.  This myth is a blend of many falsehoods.  Firstly, old Shajahan was held prisoner by his son Aurangzeb in the basement storey in the Fort and not in an open, fashionable upper storey.  Secondly, the glass piece was fixed in the 1930′s by Insha Allah Khan, a peon of the archaeology dept. just to illustrate to the visitors how in ancient times the entire apartment used to scintillate with tiny mirror pieces reflecting the Tejomahalay temple a thousand fold.  Thirdly, a old decrepit Shahjahan with pain in his joints and cataract in his eyes, would not spend his day craning his neck at an awkward angle to peer into a tiny glass piece with bedimmed eyesight when he could as well his face around and have full, direct view of the Tjamahal itself.  But the general public is so gullible as to gulp all such prattle of wily, unscrupulous guides.

103.  That the Tajmahal dome has hundreds of iron rings sticking out of its exterior is a feature rarely noticed.  These are made to hold Hindu earthen oil lamps for temple illumination.

104.  Those putting implicit faith in Shahjahan authorship of the Taj have been imagining Shahjahan-Mumta z to be a soft hearted romantic pair like Romeo and Juliet.  But contemporary accounts speak of Shahjahan as a hard hearted ruler who was constantly egged on to acts of tyranny and cruelty, by Mumtaz.

105.  School and College history carry the myth that Shahjahan reign was a golden period in which there was peace and plenty and that Shahjahan commisioned many buildings and patronized literature.  This is pure fabrication.  Shahjahan did not commision even a single building as we have illustrated by a detailed analysis of the Tajmahal legend.  Shahjahn had to enrage in 48 military campaigns during a reign of nearly 30 years which proves that his was not a era of peace and plenty.

106.  The interior of the dome rising over Mumtaz’s centotaph has a representation of Sun and cobras drawn in gold.  Hindu warriors trace their origin to the Sun.  For an Islamic mausoleum the Sun is redundant.  Cobras are always associated with Lord Shiva.
Forged Documents

107.  The muslim caretakers of the tomb in the Tajmahal used to possess a document which they styled as Tarikh-i-Tajmah al.  Historian H. G. Keene has branded it as a document of doubtful authenticity.  Keene was uncannily right since we have seen that Shahjahan not being the creator of the Tajmahal any document which credits Shahjahn with the Tajmahal, must be an outright forgery.  Even that forged document is reported to have been smuggled out of Pakistan.  Besides such forged documents there are whole chronicles on the Taj which are pure concoctions.

108.  There is lot of sophistry and casuistry or atleast confused thinking associated with the Taj even in the minds of professional historians, archaeologists and architects.  At the outset they assert that the Taj is entirely Muslim in design.  But when it is pointed out that its lotus capped dome and the four corner pillars etc.  are all entirely Hindu those worthies shift ground and argue that that was probably because the workmen were Hindu and were to introduce their own patterns.  Both these arguments are wrong because Muslim accounts claim the designers to be Muslim, and the workers invariably carry out the employer’s dictates.
The Taj is only a typical illustration of how all historic buildings and townships from Kashmir to Cape Comorin though of Hindu origin have been ascribed to this or that Muslim ruler or courtier.
It is hoped that people the world over who study Indian history will awaken to this new finding and revise their erstwhile beliefs.
Those interested in an indepth study of the above and many other revolutionary rebuttals may read Shri P. N.  Oak’s other research books.
Proofs with Photographs Visit at Research of Stephen-Knapp.

(An Excerpt from “Advancements of Ancient India’s Vedic Culture”)

By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana dasa)

 

As devotees and followers of the Vedic path, we already accept the premise that Lord Krishna appeared 5,000 years ago and spoke the Bhagavad-gita in the Mahabharata war. But it is always nice when scholars, other researchers and science can add support to what we already propose. So let’s take a look at this.

One aspect that can show us the early nature of Vedic society, and with a little more reliability, is highlighting the time when Lord Krishna was present. This is another point that has generated many opinions, but is now much clearer than ever with more recent research and findings.

Astrophysicist Dr. Narahari Achar, a physicist from the University of Memphis, clearly showed with astronomical analysis that the Mahabharata war took place in 3067 BCE. Examining the Mahabharata, books 3, 5, and 18, his sky map software showed that all these descriptions converge in the year 3067. Achar also acknowledged that some 30 years earlier, in 1969, S. Raghavan had arrived at the same date.

In determining the date of the Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra, astronomical references in the epic can be used, of which there are more than one hundred and fifty. Most of these that pertain to the war, though there are many scattered throughout the texts, is in the Udyoga and Bhisma Parvas. Those in the Bhisma Parva are especially systematic and are also in accordance with the astrological omens described in the Atharva Veda and its Parishishtas, referring mostly to comets. When these are put together with the retrograde motion of Mars before reaching Jyestha, this leads to the unique date of 3067 BCE for the date of the war, which was previously proposed by Professor Raghavan. ¹

This corroborates with the view that the age of Kali-yuga started in 3102 BCE, according to Dr. Achar. As stated in the Puranas, Kali-yuga had already begun, but its full influence was held back because of the presence of Lord Krishna. Then when Lord Krishna departed from this world, which is said to have occurred 35 years after the war of Kurukshetra in 3067, making it the year of 3032 BCE, then Kali-yuga began to show more of its effects. ²

In the time line for the passing away of Grandfather Bhisma, for example, it is said that Bhisma passed away on the Magha (January-February) shukla ashtami, after the winter solstice, which leads to the date of January 13, 3066 BCE for the winter solstice. ³

So, in considering the chronology according Professor Raghavan, we have:

Lord Krishna’s departure from Upaplavya nagara on the mission for peace–September 26, 3067 BCE

Krishna reaches Hastinapura–September 28, 3067 BCE

Lunar eclipse–September 29, 3067 BCE

Krishna rides with Karna–October 8, 3067 BCE

Solar eclipse–October 14, 3067 BCE

The war begins–November 22, 3067 BCE

Fourteenth day of the war, continued into the wee hours of the morning–December 8, 3067 BCE

Balarama returns–December 12, 3067 BCE

Winter solstice–January 13, 3066 BCE

Bhisma’s passing away–January 17, 3066 BCE ⁴

Departure of Lord Krishna– 3031 BCE.

About when Vedavyasa composed the main Vedic texts– 3000 BCE

About when the Sarasvati had dried up or disappeared–1900 BCE

The above accounts for 48 days from the time of Bhisma’s fall to the time of his passing. However, it is generally accepted that Grandfather Bhisma had 58 sleepless nights between the time of his fall and the time of his passing. Yet, if you count the 10 days that he lead the armies into war in which he may also have not been able to sleep, that would give the full 58 sleepless nights that are described.⁵

From the internal evidence in the Mahabharata text, the coronation of Maharaja Yudhisthir can be determined to be 36 years before the beginning of Kali-yuga, or about 3138 BCE. One scholar, Dr. Patnaik, had calculated the date of the starting of the Mahabharata war to be October 16, 3138 BCE from references available in the epic itself.

Of course, different scholars may arrive at variations in their calculations, and there have been a few different versions of the Mahabharata, and over the many centuries since it was written additions and accretions are found. For example, verses 2.28.48-9 mention roma and antakhi in Sanskrit, which some scholars interpret to mean Rome and Antioch. This places these mentions not earlier than 300 BCE since Antioch was founded in 301. ⁶ However, this does not limit the age of the earlier form of the Mahabharata, which is known to have been written shortly after the war of Kurukshetra.

Nonetheless, as B. N. Narahari Achar explains, other scholars have proposed varying years for the Mahabharata war, from 3102 BCE to 3139 BCE. However, none of these dates can produce the astronomical configurations described in the Mahabharata.

Another point of consideration is that it is generally accepted by most Vedic scholars that the age of Kali-yuga began in February 17-18 of 3102 BCE, which also coincides with the astronomical configurations. This also is given credence from the Aryabhatta Tradition in which Aryabhatta, who lived 476-550 CE, explains that when he was 23 years old, 3600 years of Kali-yuga had elapsed. Aryabhatta, one of the great mathematicians and astronomers of India in the 5^th century CE, examined the astronomical positions recorded in the Mahabharata. In his work, the Aryabhattiya, he calculated that the approximate date to be 3100 BCE, justifying the date of the Kurukshetra war to have been fought about 5000 years ago, as the tradition itself and most Hindus have always said.

This again identifies the year of 3102 BCE. However, the Mahabharata itself does not describe when Kali-yuga began. All it says is that the war took place some time during the interval of Dvapara and Kali-yugas, and it certainly took place before Lord Krishna left this world. But there is evidence that Kali-yuga had already begun before Lord Krishna disappeared.

In the Bhagavata Purana (1.15.36) it is explained, “When the Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna left this earthly planet in His selfsame form, from that very day Kali, who had appeared partially before, became fully manifest to create inauspicious conditions for those who are endowed with a poor fund of knowledge.”

Therefore, Kali-yuga had already appeared, but it was only due to the presence of Lord Krishna who was holding back its influence. But after He left this world, Kali’s full potency took effect, which is also stated in the Kali-raja Vrittanta. Thus, the war is most likely to have been in 3067 BCE and the beginning of Kali-yuga accepted as 3102 BCE.

Some people, such as Max Muller and others, have had trouble accepting this date as the time of the Mahabharata, because they felt that the descriptions of the planetary positions of the Saptarishis (Ursa Major) were not real. However, a similar description is also given in the second chapter of the twelfth canto of the Bhagavata Purana, which helps verify the time of the Mahabharata.

One particular point to consider is that it has been shown that the positions of the Saptarishis, as explained in the work of Anthony Aveni, noted author of The Empire of Time: Calendars, Clocks and Cultures, that in many cultures, even in Africa and American Indian cultures, it is believed that the entire solar system revolves through the galaxy of the Milky Way, around the brightest star of the Pleiades, in the Taurus constellation. These are known as the Seven Sisters or Krittikas in the Vedic tradition. The brightest star in the Pleiades is Alcyone, and the sun completes one revolution around this star in approximately 3000 years. This has made the Pleiades a sacred object in the sky in many cultures. But the point is that it is this periodic revolution that is why the Saptarishis repeat their positions described in the Bhagavata Purana every 2700 years. Thus, when calculations are based on the position of these stars, we have to realize that the Vedic texts, including the Ramayana and the descriptions therein, could be relating to time periods much earlier than we think.

Additional evidence that can help establish the time of Lord Krishna was in Mohenjodaro, where a tablet dated to 2600 BCE was found which depicts Lord Krishna in His childhood days. This shows that Lord Krishna was popular at least prior to this date. ⁷

We also have records from Greek travelers who came to India following Alexander’s invasion which have left references to Krishna. Authors like Pliny referred to Krishna as Heracles, based on Hari Krishna. They record that Heracles (Krishna) was held in special honor by the Sourseni tribe (Shuraseni, based on Shura the father of Vasudeva and grandfather of Lord Krishna) in such places as the major city of Methora (Mathura).

The Greek records go on to record that Heracles (Krishna) lived 138 generations before the time of Alexander and Sandrocottas, which was about 330 BCE. This then calculates, based on about 20 years per generation, to roughly 3090 BCE, which is about the right time considering 3102 BCE is the date when Kali-yuga began. Thus, Lord Krishna was a genuinely historical figure who lived about the time of 3200-3100 BCE, having lived to 125 years of age.

 

WHEN LORD KRISHNA LEFT THIS WORLD

The above information leads us to the approximate date when Lord Krishna left this world. As B. N. Narahari Achar again describes: “According to the epic Mahabharata, Krishna first appears [in the epic] at the time of Draupadi’s wedding, and His departure is exactly 36 years after the war. No information about His birth is available in the epic itself, although there is information about His departure. Krishna observes omens (Mahabharata 14.3.17), similar to the ones seen at the time of the war, now indicating the total destruction of the Yadavas. [Astrological] Simulations show that in the year 3031 BCE, thirty-six years later than 3067 BCE, there was an eclipse season with three eclipses. A lunar eclipse on 20 October was followed by an annular solar eclipse on 5 November, followed by a penumbral lunar eclipse on 19 November, within an interval of 14 days and at an aparvani time. Thus the date of departure of Lord Krishna is consistent with the popular tradition that He passed away 36 years after the war. The information about His birth can be gathered from the Harivamsha and the Bhagavata Purana…. It should be understood, however, that the date of His departure from this world is established on the information in the epic and on the basis of [astronomical] simulations, and it turns out to be 3031 BCE.” ⁸

 

MORE PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF LORD KRISHNA

Sometimes there are comments and even controversies amongst those who are less informed regarding whether Christianity or Vedic culture came first. Some people point out that the devotional elements within the Vedic tradition, especially in regard to the Bhakti movements, must have come from Christianity first and then appeared in the Vedic Vaishnava tradition, the followers of which exhibit much love and devotion to Lord Krishna and Vishnu and His other avataras. But this idea, that Vedic culture came from Christianity, which some Christian preachers in India still try to use in their attempts to convert people, could not be further from the truth. The fact is that there is archeological proof that the Vaishnava tradition of devotion to Lord Vishnu existed many years prior to the appearance of Christianity.

Not far from the Buddhist site of Sanchi in Central India, we take a 45-minute ride on the very bumpy road to Vidisha or Besnagar where we find the Heliodorus column, locally known as the Khamb Baba pillar. This was erected by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador to India in 113 BCE. Heliodorus was sent to the court of King Bhagabhadra by Antialkidas, the Greek king of Taxila. The kingdom of Taxila was part of the Bactrian region in northwest India, which had been conquered by Alexander the Great in 325 BCE. By the time of Antialkidas, the area under Greek rule included what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Punjab.

Heliodorus writes on the stone pillar the time it was erected and the fact that he had converted to Vaishnavism, or the worship of Lord Vishnu. The inscription on the column, as published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, says:

“This Garuda column of Vasudeva (Vishnu), the god of gods, was erected here by Heliodorus, a worshiper of Vishnu, the son of Dion, and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as Greek ambassador from the Great King Antialkidas to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior, then reigning prosperously in the fourteenth year of his kingship. Three important precepts when practiced lead to heaven: self-restraint, charity, conscientiousness.”

This shows that Heliodorus had become a worshiper of Vishnu and was well versed in the texts and ways pertaining to this religion. It can only be guessed how many other Greeks became converted to Vaishnavism if such a notable ambassador did. This conclusively shows the Greek appreciation for India and its philosophy.

It was General Alexander Cunningham who was doing an archeological survey in 1877 who first took notice of the significance of the column. However, he did not attend to the inscription that was on it because it was covered with vermilion. This was because the pilgrims who worshiped had a custom to smear the column with vermilion.

It was only in January of 1901 when a Mr. Lake uncovered the paint from what he thought was some lettering. Once the ancient Brahmi text was translated, the historical significance of the column became ever more apparent.

The British Sanskritists, due to their superior views of themselves, had developed the idea that much of the Vedic traditions and legends of Lord Krishna had to have been incorporated from the Bible and the stories of Jesus. However, this Heliodorus column was the archeological discovery that proved to the disappointed British that knowledge of Krishna and the Vaishnava tradition predated Christianity by at least 200 years. The column indicated that the Indians did not adopt legends of Christ to put in their Puranas to be used for the stories of Krishna as the British had hypothesized since this gave proof that knowledge of Krishna predated Jesus by almost 200 years.

Another point to consider is that if a Greek official was so impressed with the philosophy of Vaishnavism that he converted to it in 200 BCE, then it means that Vaishnavism and the element of spiritual devotion to God, as found in the Bhakti tradition, had to have originated several hundred years if not several thousand years earlier in order for it to have developed to a stage wherein the Greeks were so much impressed by it. So this is a serious historical site to see.

The Heliodorus column also indicates that the Vedic tradition accepted converts at that time. Only after the difficulties between Hindus and Muslims was there a hesitancy on the part of Hindus to accept converts to the Vedic tradition. The Vedic religion saw itself as universal and welcomed all people into its embrace. As Raychaudhari writes: “The Beshnagar record testifies to the proselytizing zeal of the Bhagavatas [Vaishnavas] in the pre-Christian centuries, and shows that their religion was excellent enough to capture the hearts of cultured Greeks, and catholic enough to admit them into its fold.”

This evidence further shows that Greece was but a part of Vedic culture and repeated what it and its philosophers had learned from the Vedic sages rather than being a source of the higher levels of philosophy as some people think. Furthermore, this evidence bears witness to the fact that the Christian tradition and its main element of devotion or bhakti to God was found in Vedic culture long before it appeared within the confines of Christianity. In fact, much of the deeper spiritual philosophy in Christianity is but a repeat of what had been previously established and much more deeply developed in the older Vedic tradition. So to fathom the deeper aspects of the different levels of devotion to God, one can investigate the Vedic and Vaishnava tradition to learn the finer details.

Additional archeological finds include the Mora Well and Ghosundi Inscriptions, which tell us that the rich and complex Vaishnava conception of God and full expansions of the Godhead into the material universes were already well established in the first two centuries before Christ. Seven miles west of Mathura in the small and unimposing village of Mora, General Cunningham made another vital find regarding the historicity of Vaishnavism. In 1882, on the terrace of an ancient well, he discovered a large stone slab filled with inscriptions. Although more than half of the writing had already peeled away on the right side, the remainder was legible. It was transcribed, and a facsimile of the inscription was published in the Archaeological Survey of India’s Annual Report. The message was clear. Not only was Krishna worshiped in the centuries before Christ, but also His expansions or associates, especially “the five heroes of the Vrishni Clan.” Scholarly research makes evident that these five are Krishna (Vasudeva), Balarama (Sankarshana), Pradyumna, Samba, and Aniruddha.

This was the proof that the complex theology, metaphysics, and cosmology of Sanatana-dharma and Vaishnavism definitely existed in an advanced state centuries before Christ. The Mora Well inscription is an important archeological proof of this historical fact.

Furthermore, in the village of Ghosundi in the Chitor district of Rajasthan is found the Ghosundi Inscription, which largely duplicates the message of the Mora Well Inscription. Kaviraja Shyamala Dasa first brought this evidence to light in The Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society. Today, the inscription can be inspected in the Victoria Hall Museum in Udaipur.

The surviving part of this inscription relevant to this chapter reads as follows: “[this] railing of stone for the purposes of worship is [caused to be made] in the Narayana-compound, [dedicated] to the Blessed Ones [bhagavabhyam] Samkarshana and Vasudeva, the gods…”

The inscription is in a form of Sanskrit script called Northern Brahmi script, which dates the inscription as being from the second century BCE in either the late Maurya or early Sunga periods. An almost identical inscription also was uncovered nearby and is called the Hathi-vada Inscription. According to K. P. Jayaswal of the Archaeological Survey of India, these inscriptions demonstrate that not only the Kshatriyas but also the Brahmanas or priestly and intellectual class worshiped Krishna as the “Lord of all,” and, thus, Vaishnavism was entrenched in the entire Indian society.

The same point is made in the famous Nanaghat Cave Inscription in the state of Maharashtra, where Vasudeva and Sankarshana (or Krishna and Balarama) are included in an invocation of a Brahmana. On epigraphical grounds, this inscription is dated conclusively as coming from the second half of the first century BCE. Additionally, Raychaudhuri reports:

The Nanaghat Inscription shows further that the Bhagavata [Vaishnava] religion was no longer confined to Northern India, but had spread to the south and had captured the hearts of the sturdy people of Maharashtra. From Maharashtra it was destined to spread to the Tamil country and then flow back with renewed vigor to the remotest corners of the Hindu Vedic world.

There is also much numismatic evidence that corroborates the antiquity of Krishna. For instance, excavations at Al-Khanum, along the border of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, conducted by P. Bernard and a French archeological expedition, unearthed six rectangular bronze coins issued by the Indo-Greek ruler Agathocles (180?-?165 BCE). The coins had script written in both Greek and Brahmi and, most interestingly, show an image of Vishnu, or Vasudeva, carrying a Chakra and a pear-shaped vase, or conchshell, which are two of the four main sacred symbols of God in Vaishnavism.

 

DATE OF LORD RAMA

Another point we could discuss is the approximate date of Lord Rama. Lord Rama appeared in the Solar Dynasty, but even the time frame of His appearance may shed more light on the antiquity of Vedic culture. Naturally, scholars have different views on when He may have existed. Some say He was here a few thousand years before Lord Krishna. In fact, in an April 2011 edition of the Times of India, Saurabh Kwatra writes that using the zodiac and the recorded tithis, days marked according to the phases of the moon, he calculated that the birth of Lord Rama, as related in the Valmiki Ramayana, was December 4^th, 7323 BCE. While using other forms of planetary computer software, others have come up with other dates.

Though these may be some of the more recent calculations, still the tradition places the era of Lord Rama much earlier than that. For example, the Vayu Purana (70.48) says:

tretayuge chaturvinshe ravanastapasah kshayat

I

ramam dasharathim prapya saganah kshayamlyavan

II

This relates that the misbehaving Ravana was killed with his kiths and kins in a war with Rama in the 24^th Treta-yuga. We are presently in the 28^th chaturyuga (cycle of 1000 yugas) of the Vaivasvat manvantara. Furthermore, this is corroborated by Rupa Goswami in his Laghu Bhagavatamrita that Rama appeared in the Treta-yuga of the 24^th yuga cycle. There are 71 cycles of the four yugas in a manvantara period, which would mean the appearance of Lord Rama would be about 18 million years ago.

Another interesting point is that in the Suderkand section of the Valmiki Ramayana (5.4.27)elephants with four tusks are mentioned as standing at the gates of Ravana’s palace. Also in 5.27.12 an ogress named Trijata sees in her dream Lord Rama mounted on a great elephant with four tusks. The fact that they knew of elephants with four tusks is very intriguing since, scientifically speaking, a quick reference to the elephant with four tusks is called a Mastondontoidea, which is calculated to have evolved around 38 million years ago, and is suspected of becoming extinct around 15 million years ago. This would help verify the ancient date of Lord Rama to be around 18 million years ago. Interesting… isn’t it?

The more we look in the right places for the right evidence, the more we see that the Vedic tradition indeed holds the universal spiritual truths.

CHAPTER NOTES

1. B. N. Narahari Achar, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 203.

2. Nicholas Kazanas, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 53.

3. B. N. Narahari Achar, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 225.

4. Ibid., p. 231.

5. Ibid., p. 244.

6. Nicholas Kazanas, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmouth, USA, 2010, p. 53.

7. V. S. Agrawal, India in the Days of Panini, 1953.

8. B. N. Narahari Achar, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 246-7.