Movements Making Our Time

After 500-1000 yrs when our time will be read as history Year 2012 will be acquiring a very significant space in chapters of memorabilia .Today when we analyze the way in which the streets of India witnessed the series of non stop protest in year 2012 it gives us strong feeling of astronomical significance as some political script intervened by divine when our country hailed the commotion of significant movements on its arrival .Post 2012 Our politics will never be the same. We must be thankful to us that we were present to witness these two major global events happened in our country.

1-Anna anti corruption movement

2-Protest against bus rape in Delhi .

These were the people’s movement in true sense. The protest and grumble were directly coming out of the heart of the people for universal cause of saving the moral of humanity. The movement were truly secular, honest and direct in its aspiration .People who were shouting supremely aware that what they were shouting for? With clear specific motive without any funded provocation with a burning desire of bringing a change in functioning of administrative machinery and institution .The vision of crowd was clear and beyond a shadow of a doubt showing strong posturing at India’s democratic nation state symbols. People shouted “this is a solution and you implement it” .The protest and movement happened all around the world like Arab spring and protests during G8 summit cannot be even nearly compared with these two great intellectual movement occurred on the street of India We people and world at large should actually thanks ourselves to witness high level protest. The world at large can learn a lot from modern democratic, secular, intellectual society like that ourselves and can emulate it according to their own ethnic culture .However some sadistic media from some countries adopted their own traditional approach of simplistic propaganda against India instead of looking it as some kind of inspiration and source of enrichment for their own rotten and decaying societies they resorted to vulgarism or self denial feared that these protest can spark same fire in their own continent.

                                                         








Some thinkers tried to hyphenate this civil protest with Middle East’s spring revolt intentionally unrealising that protest in India was against a democratic elected government, protest in India was for change the way in which the administration and public institution run in India, protest in India was ignited by people who elect their leaders through free and fair voting , protest in India was for again re establishing the Constitutional notion of equality before the law and equal protection of law , protest in India moreover was peaceful .People used peaceful march and slogan to mark the protest .People came in street breaching all the boundaries of class, caste, sex and religion to celebrate an idea of true liberal and progressive state. While Arab spring was nothing but a usual violent protest by failed clan based societies deeply embedded in religionism where concept of state is defined by the identity of religion. The outcome of failure of Arab “spring” was not surprising but on other hand the result of 2012 INDIAN REVOLUTION was phenomenal .It change the course of politics the way it runs in our country and made people responsive about gender equality and institutional reforms. What happened in India 2012 cannot be compared with what usual happens in G8 protest which is nothing but a sex weekend for camp lovers and hooligan who are paid to shout, quack and throw fires bottles at authorities to showcase and project the importance of these political events .Western societies not surprisingly tried to downplayed the intellectual achievement the movement achieved in India .They are certainly convenient with failed and weedy states which still follows medieval clan base society pattern but not convenient with something superior happening in other democratic and free country like India which challenges their own position and idea about institutional development in modern nation states “when chips are down these civilized people eat each other” certainly for any country who also gives primacy to spirituality along with cogent module in making of modern nation states will difficult to find resonance with such anarchic thought involved in building of society which inevitably betray the ugly face in time of war with naked greed and voracity as what we see happened in both world wars where the most ‘civilized’ people on earth became the most un civilized people on the earth never witnessed by history of mankind before.   
   

American society constantly suffered from the "attic culture” built in their home which became more or less the hub of corruption and all sort of unnatural crime like cannibalism, bestiality, pedophilia, incest –countless instances of father enchaining and hiding his own daughters constantly raping her for half life producing illegitimate babies, psychopath butchering people and hiding bodies them in their unholy basement for years without any trace and suspect -the society which takes proud in being following individualistic pattern of social lifestyle certainly have very extensive history of such crime still continuing today that a long epic can be written and still be updated on monthly basis .Every month (in many unreported case) some gun tottering frustrated hallucinated psycho enter in school and use his bullet on innocent student fulfilling his dream of blood salvation .India anti corruption movement would have provided them the golden opportunity to renew their society by spreading awareness against such moral, cultural and social crime deeply inhibited in their hyper nuclear society. Today American society does not need a debate on their govt’s espionage activity, rights of Julian Assange or Iraq war but the population of unmarried pregnant mothers who end up become prostitute or involve in flesh trade and black negroes who are still living at the edge of the society and the severe chronic hunger 64 p% of American are facing daily.

Since18th century especially after the ‘invention’ of nation states there is a pattern of tendency among nations to doze themselves with hyper trance of self supremacy to constantly boost themselves with delusion of confidence first the Britain followed by German, Japan , America, Russia and now the Chinese doing the same not realizing they are almost looking like a stupid laughable clown by behaving “oh look we arrived too”. These border skirmishes is nothing but sign of nuisance occurring by their “arrival”. Certainly Britain too with more than half of the population is living in deplorable poverty, hunger, unemployment depreciating in education and science, following corrupt homosexual lifestyle, where more than 90% of population born through invalid means without any proper system of legal marriages but still have time to say “oh look we are still kicking!!” however when the delusion and quest of powers shatters and “chips are down” due to severe in competency there is a hysterical obsession and concern of deceiving self by taking cover behind shouting about supposed problem of morally and ethically superior societies which is doing fine in compare with them.

Indian protesters shout slogans as policemen use water canon to disperse them during a march towards the Presidential Palace in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. Police used tear gas and water cannons to push back thousands of people who tried to

A protester at a demonstration over the Indian government's handling of rape cases braced herself against

 The  moral of the lesson is that through these social movements India is offering a lot to world which can be great learning experience for other countries however it needs honest intention to acknowledge it .

Unanswered Contentions

Ayodhya verdict delivered by Lucknow high court bench (recently stayed by S.C) opened the new course where possible negotiation and further re-negotiation could be made to find a common ground where solution could be acceptable to both the parties. However the title suit where histories and faiths were also the question of grievances i.e. (What destroyed first? temple or mosque?) kept people and scholars remain clueless about the future of cultural relationship between Hindu and Muslim which is still swinging in limbo. The enthusiasts who regarded Ayodhya dispute as a last thorn in the flesh of Hindu Muslim troubled relationship are too naive to acknowledge the fundamental differences exist between these two evolved streams. The self and a mutual perception of both communities will remain be a determining factor in 21st century while dealing with each other. There exists severe fundamental philosophical contention which must be addressed and answered if everlasting peace has to be arrived.

But before to understand and solve a complex matrix exists between these two streams the relationship of Hinduism with other ‘ism’ needed to be analyzed. Since independence the relationship of Hindus with other religion having Indic and non Indic origin is peaceful and conveniently settled with some minor occasional frictions which can be only considered as exceptions in long peaceful relationship and there is two specific reason for that -

1:Insignificant population of follower of other non-indic belief system ;

2:A confirmed and time immemorial following of those cultural traditions by other religions to which Hindus are convenient with for example the wearing of traditional Indic (bindi-sarees) attire by Parsees women , Christians ordinarily using Hindu names as their first name thus unapologetically accepting their historically converted status and also using a localized ethnic traditions in expressing their mode of worship ;

3: Other innumerous offshoots religions (Buddhism ,Jainism , Sikhs, Baha’is etc) following Sanskritized traditions like idol worshiping and rituals similar to Vedic pattern

Thus in day to day living these communities reflexively follows the tradition and mores of Hindus in such a way that even inter-religious marriages goes without inviting any major trouble which in case against Mohammedans adopts a complete different picture .There are various visible line of differences between these two stream which can’t be ignored neither any sensible scholar try to adopt escapist approach in trying discussing it which is normal tendency in our day to day media debate and or in any editorial writings . The major factors responsible for contention as follows:-

1: A sizable population though not very crucial but notwithstanding any percentage created fault lines in many spheres like- Kerala, Kashmir, Karnataka, Varanasi etc.

2: A very powerful natural belief inherited in Hindus that being a progenitor of Indic civilization the god and legends they worship in temple and home born on this very land, who’s books and epics conveys the stories, event, mythologies and poetries related with this part of geography so their relationship with India is not that of a nature which bear mere nation state affinity but that of a spiritual ‘oneness’ with a land who’s civilization continuity can’t be questioned.

3: Thus Hinduism is a core belief system of India without it the very character of India won’t be survived.

4: A self persuaded belief in especially upper elite class Mohammedans that they are offspring of some distant tribe who entered in this sub-continent 1000 yrs ago and ruled till the advent of British, this perception became more acute and severe specially after the disastrous defeat of Pakistan in 1971 Bangladesh war. This phony belief was generated to boost and re-ignite themselves with confidence and self pride to overcome the supposed shame which Hindu India inflicted on psychology of Muslim Pakistan.

5: Thus Islam as an identity in sub-continent is not just something to be proud of but became a divine legitimacy to make disappear and erase the memory of their own overwhelmingly Hindu past which must be forgotten at any cost.
In near future none of the above stated self-belief seems in a mood of temperance to retract a bit and to create a space of common understanding but uncompromisingly locked in a sense of self superiority and there the crux of the problem lies.

India just like any other nation state of 21st century bear a tendency to characterize herself and to show gratitude for her crucial achievements to its very own unique values which it derived from its past culture, history and civilization and that it supremely predominantly considers as Hindu and only that portion of medieval Islam is accepted which shows a certain degree of tolerance and harmonization with its culture. For the unconvinced here are some factual truths. :-

(a) All the names of strategic warships-cruise missiles-tanks –fighter jets and military regiments kept on the name of ancient mythological or real historical figures and kings like Chandragupta, Samudragupta or Arjun etc but there is hardly any name on Aurangzeb or Tughlaq or Iltutmish or even on Akbar –the great .

(b) Same with space related programs too where names are often kept on Sanskritic traditions like Aryabhatt or Chandrayan .Thus the secular India indirectly attest the popular impression that all intellectual work related with medicine or science done in ancient age while medieval age was only flooded with self-eulogicalizing autobiographies of illiterate Islamic kings whose works are hardly fit to be get suggested as a title tag for any modern work dealing with science or technology.

(c) All the characters in print comics like Lot Pot, Chandamama, Super Commando Dhruv, Nagraj or Billlu–Pinki ,Chacha Chaudhary there is one thing common i.e. they all belong to upper middle class Hindu background , there is hardly any Muslim superhero shown doing welfare for Indian people .

(d) Indian films since long ago stopped projecting the title name in Urdu at the starting of their movie.

(e) Ministry for external affair actively stepping up its diplomacy to make Hindi as one of
The official language of U.N but not Urdu

(f) All the inauguration functions even in govt. related public works starts with an age old auspicious Hindu tradition of smashing a coconut fruit or in some extreme case there is a full fledged ritual of reciting a Vedic hymns but no where we hear officials are following Islamic norms or any practice.

(g) Asoka empirical seal became a natural choice for the constitutional makers to mark it as national emblem as they found it more convincing to symbolize the idea of unified India. The signs and symbols of Islamic dynasties failed to appeal them.

(h) Post independence apart from restructuring and remodeling of Hindu temples the transliterations and translations of old empirical documents into English and Hindi done with same vigorous zeal.

The reactive fundamentalism emerged in early nineties in Hindus though showing a sign of fading up but it must be kept under regular watch however the inherent tendency of Muslims of looking towards west Asia every time for their evolution in legal jurisprudence or getting effected by the events taking place in those regions ,bandwagoning behind their newly formed religious parties or even doing a well integrated tactical voting and manipulating it as something showing tender support to secular parties remain unchanged. The intrinsically fundamentalist nature of their religion will keep them uprooted, identity less and moreover aggrieved (read as a sense of detachment from their ummah). It must be curbed with strong will and determination by politics in power for a safe future of India. Thus there can be countless of such observations which are un- evident to ordinary eyes but are shaping parts of larger contention. 

  Thus for largest minority the secular and democratic India remains an un-spacious territory and for majority the growing tendency of even regarding genuine secularism as pseudo secularism and hindrance to its authoritative morality is matter of grave concern. So the lawyers who were showing a victory sign and people who were feeling offended after delivery of bench judgment both trend but (not only one) is alarming and must invite our concern.

The major portion of Ayodhya suit dispute undoubtedly was to decide claim of title but it also had its religious and social implications .Those who denied this and questioned the rational reliability of judges in fact never observed the charged atmosphere of Court no. 21 of Lucknow bench, never witnessed the evidence (religious books and gazetteers along with legal journals) which was pressed at the dias, never heard the argument given by lawyers who were contending or ever been to a separately dedicated Ayodhya-Babri dispute section in Lucknow high court bench which almost taken shape of overstuffed mini library-and moreover failed to analyze that how a Gomati river in our city flow like a metaphoric boundary not only separating old and new area but is also the running fault line separating a two different ideologies trying to live in a space in which it is inconvenient to live together and its holds true for other part of country too.

                   

Re-Ordering Asia

THE 21’st century is going to witness a strange relationship between ASIA and WEST with past prejudices, self centered mutual contempt , geo- strategic alliances , fear , friendship and a bygone history along with future possibilities will act as a strong driving force for determining present developments between these two great civilization .Since an era when Acheminian Persia intimidating the puny cattle herders of Europa to Alexander the great overtaking Persia , from indigenous tribe of Asia storming and destroying the mighty Roman empire to Jesus Christ an ‘Asian’ man becoming the God of Europe or Islamic Arabian conquering Spain or from Christendom’s crusade assaulting West Asia to Ottoman Turks taking over Constanipole with finally a Victorian Europe becoming the colonial masters of world and the magic of capitalism generation never seen before, the world taken a full whole round waiting for the fresh chapters to be written in new global age .Foreign policies just like any other policies are driven by two needs : (a) Immediate & (b) Long term .For long term there are some strong,static, fundamental realism which India should strongly keep in regard whatever plan she adopts for the furtherance of international politics.

(1) India cannot detach herself with Asia how much she is diplomaticaly getting closure with the West.Our policy of making the balance between geography and ideology should not go at such level damaging our long term interests.

(2) Though Asia as a continent is traditionaly at advantaged position for covering 70% of earth’s geography,it is equally vunreble due to its far stretched ethnic & ideological diversities.

(3) West Anglo Saxons though pretend that they consider Asia and ‘downtrodden’ Africa with same eyes but they are equally and fearfully aware,feel insecure with Asia’s past and inconvienient with its developing efficiencies and specially ‘big’ nations of Asia will be always regarded as contender of power and prestige whatever ideology these countries follow suiting to West or not.

Though West is uniting itself under the banner of E.U & N.A.T.O but it wants different kind of systematic arrangements for Asia where different powers,civilisations and Political States keep on balancing each other viciously interlocked in a inconvienient relationship towards each other and from here the whole problem starts.India living in such a volatile atmosphere will badily jeopardise her power and position. History shows big states and empires don’t do mistakes and disasters.Empires are clever, smart, their working is not based on fancies and whims of mob idealism but work on true principles of strategic realism – constantly trying to mould possibilities,political ‘profits’ in its favour .Ego of individual+Resource control+Long Term Political Advantage are three overlapped reasons and need due to which any war on this globe is fought, well in the era of ‘United Nation Conventions & Regulations’the first two reasons are not possible now for any nation initiating warfare adventure but in a process Iraq was quiet smartly invaded by America for third reason to creat a powerful Islamic Shia block in the Islamic world dominated uptill by Sunni sect of Islam and reasons for invasion cleverly manupulated by West media by sponsoring various after various giving twisted reasons that invasion was done to find W.M.D or capturing oil fields or to finish evil empire of Saddam and then finally invasion proclaimed as a great disaster!! to misguide the world from knowing the actual cause of unprovoked adventure .The problem is grave because West is going to sort this kind of arrangement for this part of ASIA too and will try to creat the long bridge of ‘balancers’with India balancing China and Pakistan balancing India.Well China and India are mature nation , they will only allow a degree of mutual hostility which will not be self-destructive for themselves but this can’t be said about Pakistan which as a rogue nation ,long ago culturally converted whose ethinicaly scattered people have only history of being hired as feudal mercinaries and free lance fighters fulfilling the assingments of past Indian kings and empires,it today govern itself on the ‘Murawa’ tradition of Arabian tribal politics much handicaped to understand the sophisticacy of 21st century world politics.Pakistan is politicaly failing not due to lack of democracy but due to lack of ‘history’.

For West,Tibet and Kashmir is still the unresolved issues which must be solved even at the cost of territorial integrity of these two big powerful countries but somehow the internal dissents in Pakistan is not at all the issue and somehow it must be kept stable, united and peacful at any cost so in future it could be willfuly used as handy trumpcard to control India’s unboundable rising power and presitge, infact the way in which U.S is silently fuelling Pakistan with modern military equipment capable of holding large scale warfare now truly exposing the true intention of U.S which looks to be more brutal and dangerous than criminal determination of ‘Jehadis’ against India.Now we can decisively conclude that Pakistans Kargil misadventure against India and occasional unprovoked firing at borders somewhere points towards the backing of suspicious intigation of Britannia and America or Europe & America with a very covered hand & with a very high degree of scoundrelism provided Pakistan with various nuclear arsenals risking the entire security of subcontinent preparing small countries as an islands for counter launchpad against big country like India on which the stability of whole Asia depends,so what’s the solution of such dirty politics?- yes the solution is to play more dirty politics i.e to bring out and work for the worst fear of West i.e ‘UNITY OF ASIA’ofcourse not in a impossible political sense but in a sense of ‘conscience of common interests’and its only Indian politicians and administration who can creat such conscience as other nation of Asia are incapable or intellectually inefficient to do this .India must try to initiate and catalyse a new table conference for Asia on its soil where only those countries of Asia should be the member which technicaly at one or other point of their history were the creators or cradle of various civilizations,religion and culture these nation can be-: (1) Saudi Arabia-[Babylonian hub& sunni sect of islam] (2) Iran-[Persianate influence&shia sect of islam] (3) Israel-[land of jews] (4) Japan-[Shinto Buddhism] (5) China-[Confucist] (6) Russia-[Orthodox Christian] (7) India-[Hindus] (8) Thailand-[another brand of Buddhism] (9) One country of rest of ASEAN each time on rotationary basis (10) One country of Central Asia each time on rotationary basis .

Even with one percent of common understanding through such meet India could achieve many things for herself such as-:
(1) It will put a severe check on the tendency of America and Europe of putting the nose in every small skirmishes in Asia and becoming the broker of peace in every small conflict.
(2) It will also prove a big blow to Pakistan’s continous attempt of projecting itself as a champion representative of Sunni Muslim world. With such forced isolation from this big league Pakistan indirectly will be shown its actual place in global world.
(3) Such common meet can also discuss the legitimacy and actual intentions behind things like Kyoto protocals which looks more like the frivilious agenda aired for haulting Asians industrial progress , it is something to do more with West inconvienience regarding rapid Asian modernization rather than climatic change or degradations which was not at all the issue when Western civilization was modernizing itself.
(4) Such common conference will also be very much fruitful for India solving its inconvienient relationship with China which is there due to unsettled border confusion.China could be decisively convinced regarding the futility of encircling India and needless assertion which will only result in regional tensions and as result there will be bandwagoning of every Asian country tending to invite non Asian parties to meddle in its affair, same as such for Saudi Arabia too which could also be convinced for diverting its wahabism away from Asian countries as it is causing unstability to whole continent and indirectly to them also.
(5) Through such common conference India can also initiate some kind of joint Asian forces comprising that of India’s, Iran,Russia,Japan or even China looking after the security of Afghanistan if in future U.S vacate that region in uncertainity which now seems to be more possiblity as U.S seems want to hand over indirectly a more strong hand and want to provide much stronger muscle to Pakistan to impose influence in that region .
(6) Such common meet can also look for some kind of re-negotiation in the very fundamentals of international laws related with intellectual property rights and copyright issues.The new age technology,whoever invent or even innovate it should have full right to reap profits from its trade and mutual sharing without any necessity of asking license from ‘self proclaimed hereditary holder’ of those technologies.
(7) Such common meet will also proved to be prompt in questioning the logic behind establishment of every united nation offices,agencies and headquarters solely in European states and America.
(8) Such common meet can reach and compel to various U.N. base organisations to also include the agencies and machineries of Asian countries for any global survey or research conducted in any part of the globe rather than mere using some Asian personality as a fake intellectual pawn sitting as a pseudo- head in any survey or research conducted solely by European syndicates under the garb and tag of ‘U.N agencies and institutions’.
(9) Such common meet can also compel Vatican City, a christian city state to re-define its political status and competency of being a distinctive political member in united nation organisation .The door should be also open for other religious city state heads too.

This not at all to suggest that India should start despising West or loving Asian countries but she must be quick to understand the need of the time and science and should act according to that.In 21st century India must govern herself according to what the ancient Maurayan’s,Gupta’s or Mughal’s wished for her but not according to what today’s ‘basterdize coconuts’ think.The nation of India must decide what kind of power it want to be? mere balancer degrading herself and other around or the country writing the very ‘definition of globalization’.

India After Maurayan Empire

Rule of Pushyamitra Sunga after Brihadratha Maurya 

Examples of simple housing. Art work from Maurya's successors(Sungas, Andras) mostly

Pushyamitra Sunga (185 B.C -149 B.C ) proved a major turning point in Indian history .After masterminding an assassination of last Maurayan king 'Brihadratha' he put a conclusive fullstop to Maurayan lineage kingship and quite successful in frictioning and slowing down the disintegration of India which was happening fastly after Ashoka-The Great.He was also a contemporary of Panini the great grammarian. However he seemed to be advocated Brahmanic dharma that's why he was seen with a contempt from Buddhists.He repulsed indo greek attack on India and put a foundation of Saket (modern Ayodhya) . 

Shunga royal family, West Bengal, 1st century BCE.

The Shunga Empire was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled vast areas of the Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 78 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Shunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire. Its capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar (modern Vidisha) in eastern Malwa.

Shunga masculine figurine (molded plate). 2nd-1st century BCE.

Pushyamitra Shunga ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra. There were ten Shunga rulers. The empire is noted for its numerous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers. They fought the Kalinga, the Satavahana dynasty, the Indo-Greek Kingdom and possibly the Panchalas and Mathuras.
Art, education, philosophy, and other forms of learning flowered during this period including small terracotta images, larger stone sculptures, and architectural monuments such as the stupa at Bharhut, and the renowned Great Stupa at Sanchi. Shunga rulers helped to establish the tradition of royal sponsorship of learning and art. The script used by the empire was a variant of Brahmi script and was used to write Sanskrit.
The Shunga Empire played an imperative role in patronizing culture at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place. Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya was composed in this period. Artistry also progressed with the rise of the Mathura art style.

The Kanva dynasty succeeded the Shungas around 73 BCE.

Pushyamitra deserves some credit that in an age of decay and dissolution, he could at least keep a larger part of the Gangetic valley in unity under his rule. In the wider context of historical continuity, thus, the Sunga rule is noteworthy for maintaining law and order in the Magadhan kingdom, even though for a brief period.

Shunga woman with child. 2nd–1st century BCE.

Some accounts about the rule of Pushyamitra Sunga are available from the Buddhist literature. Divyabadana describes him as a king who was hostile towards the religion of the Buddha. It is said that he attempted to destroy the famous Buddhist monastery at Kukkutarama built by Emperor Asoka near the capital Pataliputra.

But he failed to do so, because some supernatural forces intervened to protect that sacred place. It is also mentioned that the King wanted to take the life of some Buddhist monks of Eastern Punjab, but here, too, he could not succeed. Taranatha, the renowned Tibbetan Author, also described about some of the activities of Pushyamitra against Buddhism.

Some historians presume that the Buddhists were perhaps unhappy with the Sunga king for his pro-Brahmanic policies, and therefore painted him in a dark colour. On the other hand, evidences are there to show that Pushyamitra showed equal respect to the sentiments of both the Brahmins and the Buddhists.

Bronze coin of the Shunga period, Eastern India. 2nd–1st century BCE.

For example, it is known from a small inscription found at Ayodhya that the King performed an ASHWAMEDHA YAJNA or the ceremony of Horse-Sacrifice in accordance with the ancient monarchical tradition. This would have certainly pleased the Brahmins who saw no such religious rites during Asoka’s days when the Buddhists opposed the practice of animal-sacrifice.At the same time, however, when that Brahmin King Pushyamirta ruled, the Buddhists could construct huge Buddhist Stupas at places like Sanchi and Barhut. Evidences are also available to show that during the Sunga rule, the people made big donations to Buddhist monasteries without any fear. It can be said that though the Sungas ruled their kingdom as Brahmins, they allowed the Buddhists to freely carry on their religious activities in the country. That speaks of the spirit of tolerance which prevailed in India in ancient times in matters of religion.

• An inscription at Bodh Gaya at the Mahabodhi Temple records the construction of the temple as follows:

"The gift of Nagadevi the wife of Emperor Brahmamitra."

• Another inscription reads:

"The gift of Kurangi, the mother of living sons and the wife of Emperor Indragnimitra, son of Kosiki. The gift also of Srima of the royal palace shrine.

Cunningham has regretted the loss of the latter part of these important records. As regards the first coping inscription, he has found traces of eleven Brahmi letters after "Kuramgiye danam", the first nine of which read "rajapasada-cetika sa". Bloch reads these nine letters as "raja-pasada-cetikasa" and translates this expression in relation to the preceding words:

"(the gift of Kurangi, the wife of Indragnimitra and

the mother of living sons), "to the caitya (cetika)

of the noble temple", taking the word raja before

pasada as an epithet on ornans, distinguishing the

temple as a particularly large and stately building

similar to such expressions as rajahastin 'a noble

elephant', rajahamsa `a goose (as distinguished from

hamsa 'a duck'), etc." Cunningham has translated the

expression by "the royal palace, the caitya",

suggesting that "the mention of the raja-pasada would

seem to connect the donor with the king's family,"

Luders doubtfully suggests "to the king's temple" as

a rendering of "raja-pasada-cetikasa."

Political Achievements:

The former glory of Magadha was no longer there when Pushyamitra Sunga occupied the throne of Pataliputra. The size of the kingdom stood much reduced. Even that reduced territory was not secured. Exactly at the time when Pushyamitra killed the last Maurya Emperor, the territory of Vidarbha proclaimed independence and separated itself from the Magadhan territory. The new king, therefore, declared war against Vidarbha. At a much later time, the great poet Kalidasa of the Gupta Age described in his historical drama ‘Malavika- Agnimitram’ about the heroic deeds of Prince Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra Sunga, and of his victory over Vidarbha.

There was a historical controversy over an important issue in connection with the rule of Pushyamitra. In the famous Hatigumpha Inscription of Emperor Kharavela of Kalinga it is mentioned that Kharavela invaded Pataliputra and defeated the ruling King of Magadha named Brihaspati Mitra. At first, some historians identified this Brihaspati Mitra with Pushyamitra Sunga.But further researches led to the conclusion that the aforesaid identification was not correct. It was established that Emperor Kharavela belonged to the First Century B.C. and was not a contemporary of Pushyamitra. So, when he invaded Pataliputra, the ruling King of Magadha was a different person and his name was Brihaspati Mitra whom the Inscription wrote as ‘Bahasatimitam’.

In brief, Pushyamitra Sunga maintained his authority over the territory which he inherited from the last Maurya monarch. Even though he was not an aggressive King to extend his Kingdom, yet he ruled over a large portion of the Gangetic valley and Northern India.

Foreign Invasions:

The time of Pushyamitra saw some foreign invasions which endangered northern India. These invaders were usually termed in Indian literature as the Yavanas’. But, it is ascertained from historical evidences that they were, in fact, the Bactrian Greeks. From Patanjali’s writings it is understood that these foreigners from the North-West penetrated into the Gangetic Valley and advanced as for as Ayodliya. In the writings of Kalidasa also are seen references to battles between the invading Yavanas and the Sunga armies.

It is not clear who was the leader or king of the foreign invaders during the Sunga period. While some historians tried to identify that invader as King Demetrius, some others think of him as Menandar. Whosoever might have been the king of the invading forces, he was not able to conquer the Sunga territory. Evidences suggest that a grandson of King Pushyamirta led the royal army against the enemies, defeated the Indo-Greek forces, and drove them out from the Sunga Kingdom.

Death of Pushyamitra:

For achieving victory over Vidarbha and for his successes in driving out the foreign invaders, Pushyamitra demonstrated his glory as a powerful king by performing two Horse-Sacrifice ceremonies. According to ancient Brahmanical traditions, it was only ‘a victorious king who was entitled to the privilege of performing the Ashwamedha Yajna, and not the kings of ordinary stature. In order words, Pushyamitra might not have been a great king, but yet, he was not too weak as a ruler.

Agnimitra Sunga:

The founder of the Sunga Dynasty Pushymitra was after all a regicide. He might have saved the dying kingdom of Magadha for some time, but his kingship suffered from criticisms. He was described as a pro-Bralimanic and anti-Buddhist king by some critics. His son and successor Agnimitra, however, came to the throne as a legitimate king. Furthermore, he proved himself as an able and benevolent ruler.

When Agnimitra was the Crown Prince, he showed his administrative capability as the governor of the Vidisha region. When Magadha had to fight against Vidarbha, it was Agnimitra who led the Sunga army as its supreme commander against the enemies. By virtue of his courage and heroism, he won the battles. It was for him that Vidarbha became a part of the Sunga Kingdom.

His heroic deeds seem to have made him a legendary figure, so much so that the celebrated poet of the Gupta golden Age, Kalidasa, wrote his famous historical drama ‘Malavika-Agnimitram’, depicting therein Prince Aghimitra as the hero of the drama.

Some coins of Agnimitra’s reign have come to light. But they do not provide any indication about his personality or rule, unlike the Gupta coins of the later times. It is rather tragic that this King ruled only for eight years, as is ascertained from some historical evidences.

Fall of the Sungas:

Darkness descended on the reigns of the successors of Agnimitra Sunga. It is presumed that his son Vasumitra came to the throne after the death of his father. About this king, only this much is known that as a grandson of Pushyamitra, while a very young prince, he led the Sunga armies against the foreign Yavana invaders and defeated them in battles.

Nothing is known about the successors of Vasumitra. But one fact is certain that there was a King named Brihaspati Mitra who ruled over Magadha when Kharavela led his armies to invade the north. According to the Puranic sources, the Sunga rule in Pataliputra lasted for a period of 112 years. The last king of that Dynasty Devabhuti was driven out from the throne by his minister Basudeva who established a new ruling dynasty known as the Kanva Dynasty.

Ritual Vase
India - Chandraketugarh
1st c. BC
terracotta
68 cm       

Guru Nanak and Babur

Convinced of the Pathan victory many miracle working pirs had assured Emperor Ibrahim Lodhi that their spells against the Mughal invader, Babur, would work wonders. All the Mughals would be rendered blind. Once again, giving, a study of contrast of the tragic fate of Pathans against the false hopes and assurance of charlatans and magic mongering pirs and astrologers, Guru Nanak Says;

Guru Nanak Says;

Hearing Babur was coming,

Pirs and divines used spells;

Assuring they would blind the invader;

Babur came all the same,

He burnt and razed to the ground their mansions;

He cut the nobles to pieces,

Their heads rolled in dust.

The spells and charms of pirs did not work.

They whose hour had come,

Fell and lost the battle.

Wives of the Hindu, Turk, Bhatti, Rajput Soldiers, Tore down their veils in despair,

And went in search for their dead.

How would they, whose husbands would never return Pass their days and nights ?

Lord's Will is such,

He alone knows the cause of all that.

STRATEGIC OFFENCE & TACTICAL DEFENCE: PANIPAT, 1526

In war, it's advisable to advance into a region that's strategically valuable and, once there, to defend a strong tactical position and force the enemy to make a costly attack. Babur, the ruler of Kabul, set out to defeat Lodi, the sultan of Delhi, but he had just 12,000 men against 100,000, and though his force was armed with gunpowder weapons, their slow rate of fire made his men vulnerable to Lodi's cavalry. Babur advanced rapidly to Panipat near Delhi, knowing this sudden threat to his opponent's capital would prevent him from seeking refuge behind its walls. He selected the battlefield carefully and formed a barrier of wagons, and Lodi's men made a series of fruitless assaults. Having inflicted heavy losses, Babur counter-attacked, then resumed his offensive into India.

Thus, in spite of the assurance of the astrologers and miracle working pirs, the Afghans were not only routed but they were cruelly treated. Their rock like mansions were destroyed, their palaces set ablaze. Princes were hacked to pieces and trampled under dust. Guru Nanak clearly points out that wealth and luxury, the pursuit of physical pleasures sapped the vitality of the Indians and weakened their will and strength to defend themselves. Nations and political powers are born stoic but they die epicurean. So thorough was the destruction, and so complete the route, that Babur could now make up his mind to live and rule India.

It appears that after the battle Guru Nanak went to the battle field. He saw the spectacle with his own eyes. Out of his deeply moved heart came the poignant cry and a question to the generation that lives in disgraceful luxury and dies in despair and humiliation. It is a question he put to the civilization of his own times. It is a question that can be asked on the battle-fields of any war of wanton destruction;

Where are the stables and steeds ?

Where are bugles and drums that beat ?

Where are the buckled sword and arms ?

Where are the scarlet uniforms ?

Where are the mirrors and handsome faces ?

Thou, O Lord of the earth,

In a moment Thou createst,

In a moment Thou destroyest.

Babur ( February 14, 1483 – December 26, 1530) was fourteen years younger than Nanak. He became king of Farghana almost in the same year in which Guru Nanak received the call and the apostolic sovereignty of God at Sultanpur.  When Babur conquered Kabul in 1505 and aspired to conquer India Guru Nanak left Punjab for the moral conquest of the world. The Qadihya Dastgir Pir of Baghdad called Nanak, intoxicated dervish with a rare charm. In a downright earthly way Babur, who like Nanak, loved music and poetry wrote:

A Book of verses underneath the bough,

A jug of Wine, a loaf of bread, and Thou

Beside me singing in the wilderness,

Oh ! wilderness were Paradise enow.

Man, being reasonable must get drunk;

The best of life is but intoxication.                                                                          

The reign of Ibrahim Lodhi had been an unvaried scene of confusion and revolts. His haughty and cruel temper, joined to the impolitic arrogance with which he had treated the Afghan nobles, who considered themselves as having raised his family to the throne, and as being still placed not very far below it, had completely alienated their affection. 

Many of his discontented nobles had retired beyond Ganges and the whole of the eastern provinces were in the hands of the rebels. The Punjab was held by Daulat Khan, and his sons Ghazi Khan and Dilawar Khan, who Afghans themselves, were alarmed at the fate of the Afghan nobles in other parts of the empire and were eager to deliver themselves from the power of the emperor. They felt it was safer to rebel than to continue in subjection to a prince whose violent and unrelenting disposition added new terrors to the harsh maxims of his government. All these things had destroyed their confidence in him. Guided by their fears, they sent envoys to offer their allegiance to Babur to beseech him to march to their succor. No circumstances could have been more in unison with the wishes of Babur.

Guru Nanak had time and again warned the rulers that nemesis would overtake them. His warning given again and again had gone unheeded. His reflections on the times speak volumes on the political and cultural degradation: But we find from the writings of Guru Nanak, that he was an eye witness to the third, fourth and fifth invasions. He roundly condemned Babur's cruelty and treatment of innocent citizens, particularly women of the conquered cities. The first song of Guru Nanak is about the sackage of Syedpur (now known as Eminabad), the second is about the rape of Lahore in the fourth invasion, and the third is about the terrible slaughter and aftermath of the battle of Panipat, which the Emperor of Delhi lost in spite of the assurances of astrologers and miracle working pirs. Guru Nanak points out that it was a battle between arrows of Afghans showered from the backs of elephants by the Afghans and the artillery of Mughal army.

Ravage and Plunder of Syedpur

In 1919 when Guru Nanak was with Lallo at Syedpur on his third tour of Punjab, Babur came like a whirlwind in his third attempt to conquer and subdue India. “He advanced to Sialkot, the inhabitants of which submitted and saved their possessions; but the inhabitants of Syedpur, who resisted, were put to the sword; their wives and children carried into captivity, and all their property plundered”⁴ Streams of innocent blood flowed in the city and the whole of Syedpur was a city of corpses. Guru Nanak sang this song of protest and lamentation and even poignantly blamed God, for this sufferings of the iambs in the hands of wolves, though he felt God would not take any blame on H imself. God had saved Khurasan, but terrorised poor Hindustan of Guru Nanak.

The Rape of Lahore

Babur gave a stunning defeat to the Afghan nobles. “When he entered Lahore in triumph he set fire to the bazars, a superstitious practise common among the Mughals. Babur remained only four days in Lahore, before he proceeded against Dipalpur. The garrison having forced him to risk an assault, he put the whole to the sword, as he did at Syedpur.

The sensitive mind of Guru Nanak vividly brought the miserable lot of the women prisoners of noble families contrasting it in tragic contrast to their normal life before capture. Many times he had warned that someday this city of wanton lust and destructive revelry would suffer from the inevitable results of utter moral degradation. The point to be noted is that Guru Nanak does not accuse Babur of any iconoclast zeal, nor particularly of any anti-Hindu crusade. Both the Hindu and Muslim women were the tragic victims. Their men had been put to the sword, or were away in some other battle. In the whole of this hymn the most touching and pitiable condition of the women of high families is brought to the fore. They had lost their character. They had lost their courage. They lost their freedom and were treated worse than captive slaves were ever treated. Guru Nanak adds:

If these folks had taken heed to the future,

Need they have been reduced to such plight?

Pursuing worldly love and sensual pleasures’,

Desecration and desolation follow in the footsteps;

Of the great Mughal Babur.

From Lahore Babur marched rapidly to Panipat, capturing the Lodhi posts on the way and defeating two detachments sent by Ibrahim in advance of himself, one north-west of Delhi and the other eastward in Doab. Against such a swift-paced compact enemy force Ibrahim Lodhi moved in the lordly Indian fashion, making one march of two or three miles and halting for two days. His camp was one vast disorderly moving city.”⁸

Babur’s forces according to Wolsely Haig were estimated to be 25,000 men. Ibrahim Lodhi is said to have moved with one thousand war elephants and one lakh men. Later historians have given lesser figures. Babur used artillery, which Jadunath Sarkar calls light guns mounted on carts. Afghan nobles felt secure on the howdahs of their elephants and fired arrows and spears. Giving a vivid portrayal of this study on contrast of the modes of fighting Guru Nanak writes about the battle of Panipat thus;

Mughal pathana bhai ladal ran meh tegh vagai,

oni tupak tan calai Oni hast cadhdai.

Ferocious battle raged Between Mughals and Pathans

The sword flashed and clashed in the battle-field,

The Mughals fixed and fired their guns,

The Pathans fought riding their elephants.

If there was one single material factor which more than any other conduced to his ultimate triumph in “Hindustan” writes Rushbrook Williams, it was his powerful artillery.” Describing this battle Jadunath Sarkar writes: “The elephants on which the Indians chiefly relied proved of no use; their drivers were shot down or galled with arrows and the beasts wounded and forced to turn back, treading down their own men. The matchlockmen of Ustad Ali Quli (centre front) and the carted guns of Mustafa Khan Rumi (left of the centre) worked havoc among the densely crowded Afghan ranks. The Indian army was now entirely surrounded and pushed back into a disordered circle. The Afghans fought with desperate fury of trapped beasts; some of their captains even attempted counter charges here and there. But it was all in vain; the mischief of wrong tactics and inferior arms could not be remedied, though six thousand of their men fell in circle round their dead king Ibrahim Lodhi. Then their host broke up in flight; a relentless pursuit followed in which slaughter, plunder and abduction were carried to the very gates of Delhi. Pyramids were built with the heads of the slain.

*Note these are the events centred around Babar encounter with Lodis before encountering his most decisive battle against Rana Sanga which sealed his fate in India in Battle Of Khanwa fought on 16 March 1527 .