The idea of INDIA!!!

It has been quite a while since I wrote my last blog and I really started thinking, what good topic could I share with you. Then came Anna Hazare with his protest for the Jan Lokpal Bill, and I saw a wave of patriotism and support sweeping our motherland for one just cause. Though I do have my personal reservations on the protest, I have always supported any anti corruption movements in our country, but that again guarantees nothing, unless and until the mindset of our people changes and they realize the love for their motherland came first, more than their own selfish cravings.

It's a very strange and a fascinating fact that we as a country today, have so many different kind of people living in it, who speak in different languages, and who come from different geographical regions, are called by one name, Indians, and the country called as India.

Coming to think of it, was it possible our ancestors really think this could have been possible about 200 years ago? I seriously doubt it, because the idea of India, never existed and was never in the minds of the people living in it. The land which lied south of the Himalayas, east of Persia, north of the Indian ocean and to the west of China was known as Hindustan or Bharatvarsh. However, the latter term was later known as the Greater India sphere.

Historically, the Indian Peninsula was united for just four times since the Indus Valley Civilization. Five times, if we count the original Kuru kingdom of Emperor Bharata who existed may be around 5000 BC, where India was at its largest extent ever.
The other four times was during the rule of Emperor Ashoka The Great, of the Mauryan Empire, Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire, the British Empire in 1857 and when the present Indian Republic was formed in 1950.

The name India, is a Greek word inspired from the river Indus, and meant the area which lied east of it, since the 5th century BC and was known only in the Hellenistic western world.

According to the epics, India was known as 'Aryavrath', during the time of Ramayana. The term 'Bharat Ganarajya' or 'Bharat varsha' was known as the land, under Emperor Bharata who was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, and an ancestor of the Pandavas and Kauravas of the Mahabharata. His empire was supposed to have spanned, the present day India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, parts of Persia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgistan, Parts of Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia,  Tibet, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, parts of China and supposedly, parts of Australia(which seems most unlikely).

However, after the war of the Mahabharata, kingdoms were supposed to have disintegrated into several republics and were known as the Mahajanapadas. This is the point where recorded history of India began, as history before it was lost in the dark ages. That part became a myth and were classified as mythologies.

The best thing about this part of the history was the Mahajanpadas carried the same name as the Aryan kingdoms that existed in the Mythology, thus giving us a thought to ponder that the stories in the mythologies may have happened. The sixteens states were, Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Magadha, Sindhu, Gandhara, Matsya, Kashi, Anga, Vidarbha, Chedi, Kamboja, Avanti, Vrijji, Malla, Surasena or Yadu.  All these kingdoms have been mentioned in the mythologies like Ramayana of Kosala fame and Mahabharata, which had almost all the above mentioned kingdoms participating in the war. These events occurred at least 2000 years before the recorded history which began in 600 BC. The mythologies have unconfirmed reports to have been occurred between 7500-6500 BC for Ramayana and 3500-3000 BC for the Mahabharata War. All this, around the same time when Achilles, from Homer's 'Iliad', made his name in Greece and Helen in Troy. Makes me wonder, does that mean that these kingdoms survived for such a long time. Wow!

Then came the Mauryan Empire, which under Chandragupta Maurya sought to unite the entire sub continent under one monarchy for the first time in recorded history, and was know as the first true emperor of the whole of India. His son, Bindusara and grandson Ashoka the Great, added more areas to the kingdom and made kingdoms south of present day Karnataka subject to the Mauryan empire, and this included Lanka.

After this episode,a number of empires came and went and Gupta even ushered the Golden Age of India, but did not have the entire country under them. Never until the Muslim rule of Mughal Empire, that we were again united under one flag. With them the concept of 'Hind' seeped in, which was derived from the Persian language for area beyond the Sindhu river, and thus the name Hindustan.

It's very interesting to know, that the name Hinduism, was derived from the Sindhu river. Sindhu river became our identity for years to come. It was also known as Indus for west.

By 1700 AD India, under Aurangzeb, was united in territory matched to what Ashoka had achieved 1500 years before him.

However, by this time, peace was not to last under Aurangzeb as he had many political, financial, territorial and demographical problems and no sooner than he died, the Empire started to crumble, just few years after it had reached it's pinnacle of glory.

All the Governors of the empire began to declare themselves independent and formed their own small kingdoms, which the British took advantage of by 1756. They defeated Siraj Ud Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal and took over areas of the present day Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, under him.

Just before this happened the Marathas tried to resurrect the Hindu power in India and were successful till their expansion was checked by Ahmed Shah Abdali. Their success was never meant to be. Infighting and constant wars with the British weakened the unity of the country to a great level. The  One Nation theory was just not in the minds of the rulers of those days.They were just interested in their selfish motives. The British, who on the other hand were ardent patriots, did everything for their country, king/queen, company and took advantage of the prevailing situation and established one of their biggest territorial gains, which later became a jewel in the crown of the British empire.

  They contributed much to the country in the fields of science and communication, which is not very appreciated and acknowledged by us Indians, however on the other hand depleted the country of its natural resources, cultural and traditional businesses and turned a country which had the highest GDP in the world for 4000 years, into an economic disaster.  Indians began opening their eyes to realize what was happening. The one nation theory was taking birth in the minds of intellects and thinkers. This manifested into the freedom movement of India. However, before gaining independence, the British systematically disintegrated India into several countries. The British cut off Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, parts of Afghanistan years before 1947. The last of it was Pakistan, thanks to the contributions made by our own people for the formation of it.

Today, independent India, still maintains the core essence of its culture and heritage.

India today is just a small fragment of a once great territory called Arya Vrata, Bharat varsha, integrated by Emperor Bharata, who apart from expanding territories, gave its people a lifetime of peace and justice.

The point is not to wonder what we lost, but what we could lose in the future if we continue to go this way. From 14 states we now have 30 states to manage and people keep saying Yeh Dil Maange More!! I wonder what Shri Vallabhai Patel would have felt about it when he integrated over 520 states into one single country in just 2 years.

The decision whether the idea of India remains or not, now rests with the younger population of this country and I do sense that the idea will remain for very long time.

Indian War of Independence

As children we have often came across the topic of the 'First War of Independence' or the 'Sepoy's Mutiny' or 'The Indian war of 1857, in our social studies textbooks. I have often wondered, if the 'First World War' was known as the 'Great World War' or simply 'The Great War', before the second world war broke out, like a sequel, when was the second war of independence fought, to call it the first as it was the only war fought by a confederation of a few small Indian kingdoms, against the East India Company(EIC) and their allies. Do you realize that it was the last ground war ever fought in the heart of mainland India, involving some of our major cities of that era. After the war was over, the British promptly described it as the Sepoy's Mutiny to avoid any kind of publicity or hype to the entire episode, with attention to the Indian public.
 
This war was NOT fought for the unification of India as projected in media and movies, but a war fought by rulers of small kingdoms, who rebelled against the imposition of the Doctrine of Lapse by the then Governor General Lord Dalhousie of the  East India Company, which stated in one of its clauses that, if the ruler was incompetent or died without an heir of the same blood line, the kingdom will be annexed to the company. When the first sparks were lit by Mangal Pandey at Barrackpore which raged after he was hung, there were many rulers who did not support or stand for the cause and instead joined hands with the EIC, some of them thinking that the return of the Mughals with Bahadur Shah Zafar as the emperor, as the foremost power of India, in a situation if EIC loses the war, the smaller kingdoms will be subject to a status established prior to 1700 AD.


 Did you know that 22 Indian states of that time, formed a coalition with the EIC against only 7 Indian kingdoms who came together under the Mughal emperor and had leaders like Peshwa NanaSaheb II, his general Tatya Tope(who was one of the greatest Generals of India) and Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. I again wondered what name I could give this war, where in a majority of the Indian states joined hands with the British, against other Indian states. On a light note, I could be sure that the rebelling states would have lost heavily, even if there was a free and fair democratic elections held at that time. And yet, we call it our First War of Independence. It sounds more like the need of Independence by India, from India.

The war had a great effect on the psyche of the people of India. The result of the war was a complete annihilation of the rebel forces, permanent destruction of the Mughal power in India, along with the Mughal Royal family. Every male member of the family was beheaded and the emperor exiled to Rangoon to avoid any further communications with the rebels, Nanasaheb disappeared and was nowhere to be heard of, just rumors prevailed about what may have happened to him, Tatya Tope and many heroes like him were executed. It was widely believed that he was blown away tied to a cannon in contrary to the claim made that he was hung. Delhi was purged, its citizens were ruthlessly massacred by the British forces just for spite, something that went unnoticed in our popular version of written history. What happened to the British was, that the EIC was destroyed forever, never to live again. Instead the Crown took over the country directly under it. The idea of India was being born in the minds of the people, which gave rise to the later part of the struggle for freedom, of our beloved country The British realized that the only way to avoid such conflicts in the future, was to form military regiments based on castes and regions, which is followed till this day.(Wonder why we have the Jat Regiment, the Sikh Light Infantry, The Gurkha Regiment, the Punjab Reg., The Rajputana Rifles, etc.)

Sometimes, I still wonder, what if all the states of India had come together for this one cause, what kind of history would I have read at school and what kind of India would I have been living in today. It's unimaginable.
Coming back to the present, its sad to see that our successive governments, our people don't take lessons from the past and first think about our country, rather keep thinking about their own selfish gains, which benefit them only in the short run, but which always has disastrous consequences in the long run. This attitude of ours, had already made us subject to a foreign ruler many times in the past. Its time for at least once, to think about our country.

Its always when we secure our country, that we have a future, in return makes us secure and gives us a future, in turn making our children secure and providing them with a better future, later making them the future of this country,making it secure.

Pictures: Starting from Top to bottom: (Mangal Pandey, the Jhansi fort at the time of Rani Lakshmibai's rule, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar on his death bed(only photograph ever taken of a Mughal emperor), The Red Fort in 1857, another picture of a gate at the Red Fort, Tatya Tope handcuffed, war heroes being hung and blown away by cannon.)

The throne of Tipu Sultan

In Indian history, the throne had a special place in minds of the rulers, the people and the empire. Three such thrones had become popular and were known to the common man. 


The first was the legendary throne of Emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain. Legends, stories were passed on by way of books and word of mouth. In modern times, a television serials  was telecasted popularly know as 'Vikram Betal', And 'Raja Bhoj'. Amar Chitra Katha issued the comic book 'Vikramaditya's throne' for the children, which we grew up reading.
However, evidences and details about the throne became history, history became legend and legend, myth. 


The second throne was the Peacock throne which belonged to Emperor Shahjahan of the Mughal Empire. This throne was one of the most treasured mughal artifacts and the pride of the empire. Nadir Shah plundered the red fort in 1738 and took away this throne and other mughal treasures with him to Persia. The French jeweller Tavernier, who saw Delhi in 1665, described the throne as of the shape of a bed (a "takhteh" or platform), 6 ft. by 4 ft., supported by four golden feet, 20 to 25 in. high, from the bars above which rose twelve columns to support the canopy; the bars were decorated with crosses of rubies and emeralds, and also with diamonds and pearls. In all there were 108 large rubies on the throne, and 116 emeralds, but many of the latter had flaws. The twelve columns supporting the canopy were decorated with rows of splendid pearls, and Tavernier considered these to be the most valuable part of the throne. Estimates of its value varied between Rs. 40 million (Bernier) and Rs. 100 million (Tavernier).The original peacock throne is now lost in the sands of time and a replica was made in its place. There were rumours that the throne was broken down during the various revolutions that took place in Persia after Nader Shah's death and was broken down by miscreants. Thus resulting in the loss of one of India's biggest treasured artifact.


However, what many Indians did not know and which was never taught in schools, was that there was a third throne known in the erstwhile state of Mysore, and that, was the throne of Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of Mysore or Sultanate -e-Khudadad. Most of us got to know him through our text books in schools and through the famous television serial 'The Sword of Tipu Sultan' telecasted in the late 80s and early 90s.  He was also given credit for being the inventor of rockets for military applications and recently came into media limelight when Mr.Vijay Mallya brought one of his swords back to India. 

The original throne was octogonal in shape and had 8 tiger head finials at each bend and had a tiger head in the centre. It had an umbrella with a 'Huma' bird mounted on top of it. 
After Tipu was defeated in 1799, the invading forces of the East India Company and Hyderabad ransacked the palace and pillaged the city of Srirangapatnam. Even before the Duke of       Wellington, Lord Wellesley was informed      about the throne, it was broken down by the soldiers as spoils of war. The Lord intended to present it to the King George III as a gift and mark of victory. The east India Company estimated the price of the throne to be worth 30,000 Star Pagodas, a form of standard currency issued by the Madras Presidency and was in circulation in Southern India at that time. This coin was made of gold and weighs 3.4g. 
After it was taken to England , the remains of the throne was stored in various castles of England and then came into limelight after Sotheby's auctioned one of the finials for 389,600 pounds. Presently, there are only three gem crested finials left in the world today from a total of eight pieces, the rest being lost or destroyed. The central tiger head and the huma bird still lie in England awaiting its final fate. I sincerely hope an Indian gets it back to where it should rightfully belong, India.

The glorious city of Vijayanagar

Has anyone ever visited Hampi? Well, I am not taking you through a guided tour of the place, as this has been written over and over again by many writers and publishers. The easiest way is to access Wikipedia and you may get all answers you need to know whats where in the ruins of this erstwhile capital of the Vijayanagar empire.
What I will be sharing with you is the feeling I felt of being there and the imagination of myself travelling back in time during the rule of Aliya Rama Raya, the de facto ruler of the empire. He was the son in law (Hence the name Aliya in Kannada for Son in law) of one of the greatest emperors of Vijayanagar and one of the greatest kings from India,  Emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya. As children we remembered Sri Krishnadevaraya easily because of his court poet Tenali Rama, who was as brilliant as Birbal in Akbar's court.
Hampi was supposed to have been underground for over 4 centuries. When I last visited Hampi with my cousin, it took me two and half days to cover the sites that were popular, with good road connectivity and which existed on every tourist map there was. I realised the best parts of the city still lie unexplored and had to be explored on foot. Trust me, three days was just not enough, I wish I stayed over for at least a week, to really get and see what I was looking for. We came across areas where work on stones, boulders, rocks and temples were unfinished or incomplete in many parts which ran along the river. I gazed upon one such boulder of rock and wondered why was the work on it incomplete. At this point my mind took me in imagination,back in time when the Ramaraya left the city with his troops to take on the united sultanates of deccan. The 500,000 citizens of the city who woke up as usual on the morning of the battle and resumed their day to day profession, never realised that the confident army(which was much bigger than the combined strength of the sultanates) that left the city in the morning would never ever return. What came after they left, was a wave of murderers, looters and savages, that plundered the defenseless city and turned it to its present state. The sculptor who probably thought he would convert that huge piece of rock into a beautiful sculpture, would never realize his dream. That rock must have seen blood of the very man working on it. No man must have ever worked on that rock again and that's when I came back to the present and I said to myself, Holy Shit!

This place is still the best bet for any Indiana Jones wannabes. Treasures are still found to this very day in forms of gold coins and precious stones, however, there has been a very strict vigilance imposed after gold prospectors and treasure seekers tried vandalizing the monuments in search of gold. Most of the areas which were residential or commercial have all been turned to banana and coconut plantations by the government. This has completely put a halt on any unauthorized excavations.

This is one place I must visit again soon.