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