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English Pages 157 Year 2020
SHADOWING THE TURBULENCE
ARYAN TOMAR
Copyright © 2020 Aryan Tomar All rights reserved. ISBN: 979-8-5770-3698-0
DEDICATION I hereby dedicate this book, with great enthusiasm, to my father, for his support for everything throughout my life. To my grandfather, for forming me into who I am today and unknowingly inspiring and encouraging me. To the women who raised me, my sister, and my mother. To the loving memory of my grandmother. And lastly, I would like to dedicate this book, with great respect and reverence, to the honorable fallen rebels of our nation, who sacrificed their lives and inspired and motivated others to fight injustice.
CONTENTS
I. II. III. IV.
Disclaimer Acknowledgments Foreword: Kintsugi Preface: Chronology Introduction Prologue Irregularity: The British in India Diffusivity: Glory, Dignity, and Riches Chaos: Twilight A Summary of Events So Far Momentum: Dalel Singh Epilogue Afterword Notes Bibliography
i 1 5 11 17 23 29 59 83 97 101 119 125 127 143
DISCLAIMER This work is not meant, in any way, to offend or otherwise hurt any group mentioned or omitted in its reading. All opinions are written in the form of non-fiction and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, or principles of the author. The resemblance of any character and person(s), living or otherwise, is purely inspired by histories, books, and the author's ancestors from the Tomara dynasty. Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The decision to write a short, readable account took form, however, only in 2020 during the pandemic of the coronavirus. In December of that year, I started reading many other historical accounts on the British Raj, the Company rule, Maharajas and Maharanis, and freedom fighters. After the bestowing of my Pagri in 2018 by Dr. Mehak Singh in the village of Anangpal Dev Tomar, I received a letter declaring: Congratulations on receiving the Pagri, and we appreciate your proactive contribution towards the youth Tomara clan diaspora by acknowledging the responsibilities, duties, and obligations to spread the values and heritage of the Tomara dynasty. In the culture of Hindusim, wearing a Pagri 1
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designates one’s pinnacle of social status, as kings and rulers wore Pagris. Today, the Pagri perpetuates to signify the obligations towards the select community and holds responsibilities of ascendancy, authority, and leadership. In our inaugural address, we stated that we require an incipient era of responsibility—an apperception on the component of every Tomara that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the planet. These are duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize blissfully, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit than giving our all to an arduous task. Your volunteer accommodation demonstrates the kind of commitment to your community that moves the Tomara community a step more proximate to its great destiny. Your exceptional and distinguished responsibilities have been duly acknowledged. We, as members of the Tomara clan, are glad to delegate our hearty felicitations to you for 2
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having been venerated and honored by the prestigious Pagri. This letter got me keen and more curious to study my history after learning the actual value of being bestowed a Pagri, all thanks to Dr. Mehak Singh and Chaudhary Harveer Singh. I would also like to show my appreciation towards Professor Deepak Chandra Goel, Captain Dharm Singh, Dr. Veerottam Tomar, Guruji Bhu, Manvendra Singh, Mukesh Tomar, Pulkit Dahiya, Baba RK Tomar, Dr. Harendra, Ch. Sanjeev Kumar, Ch. Sanjeev Dhull, and a dozen more people who helped me to understand and compile this amazing piece of non-fiction biographical literature.
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FOREWORD: KINTSUGI "Bloody hell," I thought out loud, "this kid must be even crazier than me." There was a crowd of over three thousand people, and immediately after the show, I went to meet the director and the senior officials from the Korean ministry. I requested Aryan to take control of our international guest artists, and obviously, the thirteen-year-old tried his best. But the masses started climbing up on the massive stage, over 100 feet wide, and it got crowded with hundreds of enthusiasts and started taking selfies with those beautiful and talented professionals. The girl in the traditional Korean royal outfit stepped back to give out space for the drummer in black shorts, which resulted in other artists spreading away, and ultimately, their precious folkloric instruments smashed, and there it was. Pin-drop silence. Recently, during my father's birthday, at the time of the coronavirus, we thought to surprise him on his 84th birthday on the 4th of 5
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November, and produce a video documentary on my late mother, VVe Being Donna: The Light, the Dark, and also compile a coffee table book, Philosophy and i Déjà vu, but due to the sudden reinforcement of the lockdown, we couldn't visit the sage in his manor, where he is caged in his own tremendously grand mansion of over a hundred rooms. The Pagri ceremony was a turning point for this Indo-Canadian teenager. I recall Dave L'Heureux, who visited India in 2018 to see us and witness the heritage sites of Anangpal Tomar, being curious to learn more about the culture, "V, dude, does Aryan even understand the royal value and importance of the turban you just explained to me about, and what makes Dr. Mehak Singh trust Aryan on this one and make him take the authority?" It wasn't only Dave who raised this question in front of the Sarpanch, but even I was in shock and looked at Mehak Singh with uncertainty. And now, to you, Dave, and the other readers holding this book with curiosity, here's the answer to the power of trust of a philosopher and historian, Dr. Mehak Singh, and the Indian imperial customs. During the pandemic, we read more books than ever and revisited several movies we loved, such as Paan Singh Tomar, Bajirao Mastani, Panipat, Padmaavat, which evoked Aryan's inner soul to open the debate between our royal heritage and our multi-planetary future. Similarly, the movie, Dangal, has opened the debate in two thought of schools. The first one 6
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being if Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) was forcing his dreams to make her daughters the best, and on the contrary, the second one being Mahavir letting their daughters get married, have children and let them live a conventional mediocre life. In 2001, when I was at the premiere show of Lagaan with Aamir Khan and my friend Partha, I could sense this little gnome is going to compete with Kevin Costner and James Cameron, who are some of my favorites and I studied a lot about them during my film studies at Vancouver Film School. It was no wonder that Dangal crossed USD 288 million in gross. In computer architecture, multithreading is the ability of a CPU to provide multiple threads of execution concurrently. So does our young chap in two extreme directions, TOMARS.SPACE and the other on the Mahabharata epic. TOMARS is creating a retail hub to distribute and merchandise space-lifestyle products and services through innovating space-lifestyle by alliances between astropreneurs with space frontiers accelerated through sharing knowledge, experience, infrastructure, and market reach. The venture aims to tap into the valuable and unutilized resources of outer space to increase the global standard of living for all and sustainability. On the other hand, the project i Déjà vu is an intersection between Bella’s bike race consequences and her mentally linked reimagined past of the ancient civilization, revolving around the genetic memory to the cognizance and flow of the 7
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mind, the i Déjà vu trilogy thought experiments fire the philosophical imagination, encouraging us to challenge ourselves beyond our imaginary limitations for decision making in the battlefield of life using the ethical constraint. As soon as I returned from my book launch for the same, i Déjà vu, in Singapore, the moment I stepped at my door, around a dozen parents came up to me and started interrogating me. "How could you let your tween play such games like Grand Theft Auto, Assassin's Creed, and Mafia, he is a bad impression on our kids," they jumped at me, and after a week-long debate, only two of the parents were convinced to let their kids get the exposure, and fortunately, their children are still among the toppers in their schools since the last five years. When I and Aryan got into our flight of thoughts and the battlefield of our debates, we decided to take a break and watched Rang De Basanti. We were at our highest stage with the doze of this masterpiece, blending the pop culture and the sacrifices of our fallen troops. The upbringing of Millenials is influenced by the scams such as the Bofors scandal, Asaram Bapu, Ram Rahim, and Vijay Mallya. On the other hand, the youth are left in the dilemma of the hardworking and destiny of entrepreneurs such as Harshad Mehta or Elizabeth Holmes. This Diwali, the whole planet was a mess, and we were trapped in a "Chakravyuh," while my father in his 80s is burned out in isolation; daughter, after topping in Italy, is under house arrest; the company owes debts and haven't paid even to the few retained loyal employees; 8
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all the house loans and credit cards are not paid since the pandemic lockdown; the most anticipated funding from the World Bank through the Indian ministry in association with the Korean conglomerate was forgotten. My daughter, who completed her finals during the lockdown in Italy and was airlifted due to the thrash situation in Italy, recently mentioned to Aryan on Bhai Dooj the art of Kintsugi which is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with powdered gold, but it's deeper than just pottery. As we made gold adhesive from our success and scars globally to make us even more robust. Er. Vikas Tomar
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PREFACE: CHRONOLOGY 736: Anangpal Tomar reestablishes Indraprastha (present-day Delhi) as the seat of his power. 1176-1192: Muslims' triumph for Delhi's seat of authority. 1206: The commencement of the Delhi Sultanate. 1221: The Mongol invasion of India. 1305: Alauddin Khilji sends a force of 30,000 to 40,000 horsemen to meet the Mongols and inflict a crushing defeat. 1310: Alauddin Khilji seizes the Kohinoor. 1434: The commencement of Casa da Índia (Portuguese Empire). 1505: The commencement of Portuguese India. 1526: The commencement of the Mughal empire. 1600: The British Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I forms the East India Company with the purpose to trade in the Indian Ocean region. 11
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1611-1612: The East India Company establish their factories and trading posts in Masulipatnam and Surat. 1612: East India Company's major triumph over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally at Suvali in Surat. 1612: The British's triumph, with the patronage of the Mughals, over the Portuguese, which eventually pushes the Portuguese off the coast of India. 1612: The commencement of British India. 1615-1618: The Mughals pass the farman to the British for setting up and planting factories and trading posts. 1628: The commencement of the Portuguese East India Company. 1633: The Portuguese East India Company dissolves. 1700: India accounts for 22.6 percent of the world economy. 1721: The establishment and commencement of the princely states. 1751: Robert Clive captures Arcot in modernday Tamil Nadu as French and British fight for authority over South India. 1757: The British's triumph over Nawab Sirajud-Daula to conquer and rule Bengal under the order of Robert Clive in the Battle of Plassey. 1757: The commencement of the Company rule. 1765-1815: The British are each year extricating roughly USD 24.1 million from India. 1767: The first Anglo-Mysore war breaks out.
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1767: Hyder Ali of Mysore earns his triumph over the defeated united armies of the East India Company, the Marathas, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. 1770: The Great Bengal Famine of 1770. 1771: The Marathas recapture Delhi. 1772: The British establish their capital in Calcutta. 1772: Warren Hastings is appointed as the de facto Governor-General of Bengal. 1773: The East India Company takes a monopoly on the production and trade of opium in Bengal. 1773: Warren Hastings is appointed as the first Governor-General of India. 1775-1800: Vital innovations and reforms transpire in the cotton trade of the East India Company. 1781: Tipu Sultan's triumph over the British Forces. 1784: William Pitt the Younger passes the East India Company Act (EIC Act 1784). 1793: The British, under Lord Cornwallis, introduce the land revenue system of "permanent settlement." 1799: The Chinese ban opium imports as per the orders of the Jiaqing Emperor, although the smugglings still continue. 1799: Tipu Sultan gets killed in a battle against 5,000 British soldiers. 1810: The commencement of India's deindustrialization. 1824: Birth of Maharani Satya Devi. 1824-1948: British rule in Burma.
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1825: Money needed to buy tea in China is raised by the illegal opium trade. 1833: Casa da Índia dissolves. 1838: Maharani Satya Devi marries Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar. 1842: Birth of Raghvendra Singh. 1848: Lord Dalhousie gets appointed as the Governor-General. 1849: The British seize Punjab. 1849: The Kohinoor is turned over to Queen Victoria. 1851: The Kohinoor goes on display at the Great Exhibition in London. 1851: Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar gets assassinated. 1856: Remarriage of Hindu widows in all jurisdictions of India gets legalized under the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 by East India Company rule. 1857: The commencement of the Indian independence movement. 1857: Baba Shahmal Tomar gets assassinated. 1857: Mangal Pandey is sentenced and executed to death. 1857: A substantial part of former Mughal India is under East India Company's control. 1857: The Indian Rebellion of 1857 (Sepoy Mutiny). 1857-1858: A major defeat of the Mughals in battle. 1858: The last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, gets deposed by the British East India Company and is banished.
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1858: Indian possessions of the East India Company gets nationalized by the British crown. 1858: Raghvendra Singh marries Vedjyoti. 1858: The commencement of the British Raj. 1858: Reorganisation of the British Indian Army. 1859: The death of Maharani Satya Devi. 1860: The Upper Doab Famine of 1860. 1863: Birth of Rai Singh. 1868: Raghvendra's Mass Protest for tax resistance of 1868 in Bijrol and Baraut. 1869: The death of Vedjyoti. 1872: Sher Ali assassinates Viceroy Lord Mayo in Port Blair. 1875: Dayananda Saraswati founds the Arya Samaj movement. 1879: Raghvendra Singh gets assassinated. 1889: The Interpretation Act of 1889 is passed. 1890: Birth of Chaudhary Hansraj Singh. 1896: Construction of Kala Pani begins. 1906: Kala Pani's construction is complete. 1915: Birth of Dalel Singh. 1919: Thousands of people are executed by the British in Jallianwala Bagh, who were commanded to keep shooting till their ammunitions don't run out. 1925: The Kakori Train Robbery. 1928: Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru shoot a British cop dead. 1929: Central Assembly Bombing by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt. 1929: The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 is passed. 15
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1930: Dalel Singh is imprisoned. 1931: Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar are sentenced and executed to death. 1931: Dalel Singh is freed from jail. 1936: Birth of Er. Vijai Pal. 1937: Birth of Dr. Mehak Singh. 1943: The Bengal Famine of 1943. 1947: Establishment of the Indian Independence Act 1947, which ultimately resulted in the dissolution of the British Raj. 1949: The dissolution of the princely states. 1951: Indian literacy rates are at 18.33 percent. 1952: India's account in the world economy drops down to 3.8 percent. 1961: Death of Dalel Singh. 1961: Portuguese India dissolves. 1971: Bangladesh separates from Pakistan. 1971: Birth of Er. Vikas Tomar. 1996: Anandpal Tomar gets assassinated. 2006: Birth of Aryan Tomar. 2018: Aryan Tomar gets bestowed the Pagri.
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INTRODUCTION India is the world's largest democracy, with approximately 1.4 billion people, and has a great, long, and extremely fascinating history revolving from the Bronze Age of Indus Valley Civilization to the early medieval period; from the Delhi Sultanate and the Tomara dynasty to the Mughal Empire; and from the East India Company rule in India to the British Raj. The British entered the sub-continent as traders by establishing the English East India Company, which was granted exclusive trading rights by the Crown. This led to the exordium of the corporate culture, where there was a Board of Directors and the shareholders, with the directors being initially answerable to the Crown. This was an interesting concept which became the rudimental framework for all future Indian companies. Although the British entered India as traders and established their factories as sanctioned by the Mughals, they later went
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from just trading to colonizing India, which led to extreme conditions and circumstances. The British plundered India. They purloined the treasures of maharajas and nawabs and looted their gems, and seized estates and lands owned by farmers, maharajas, nawabs, and zamindars. Indians lived under the British rule when India had lost her freedom for over 200 years. When the East India Company took control of the country, in the chaos that ensued after the collapse of the Mughal empire, India's portion of world GDP was 23 percent. When the British left, it was just above 3 percent. During India's colonization, Indians were mercilessly disrespected, though, despite their tortures and brutal penalizations, remarkable valiant personalities fought for India's liberation. These freedom fighters and revolutionaries had the most paramount influence on India's independence. If today the British were still in power, India would not have been the world's largest democracy, India would have run under capitalism, Indian industries would have never developed, Indians would not have the freedom of speech, and nor would Indians have had the freedom of choosing their own government. The liberation we have today is because of the exceptional intellectuals who fought and strived for India's freedom. Lamentably, many of us have forgotten the value of the freedom we hold. Moreover, other than our freedom, our culture and traditions are withal gradually fading and being forgotten. I, as a technocentric individual and an 18
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entrepreneur in the field of technology, vigorously believe that westernization has brought us the development of society, individuals, and technology, but this should not result in the killing of our history and culture. They who remember their history honor their parents and ancestors. They who forget their history spit on their parents and ancestors. They who forget their history and culture are assured defeat. They who remember their history and culture are assured victory. The 26th of January denotes a unique day in our schedules. For Indians in India and the world over, our country's Republic Day represents all that our incredible, free, popularity-based, mainstream country represents and exemplifies. Qualities that we now and again underestimate. Advantages that we should secure, sustain, support, and appreciate. Freedom of thought and articulation, to rehearse one's confidence—the ability to decide. The distinct endowment of Free Will. There are amazing crucial learnings we should inherit from certain freedom fighters. Each of these stouthearted men and women, when confronted with a moral dilemma or difficulty, took it on, head-on, and took an intrepid, bold, unafraid stance with the right attitude. The intensity of cooperation, too, is 19
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also decisive to every one of them. During the period of British India, with restriction to genuine and compelling methods for quick or mass correspondence and communication, these freedom fighters communicated through gigantic missions, wars, dissents, driven masses of individuals, and coordinated developments, simply because they perceived, acknowledged, and put forth attempts to set up, and profoundly powerful correspondence structure in order to communicate. Another crucial lesson is to understand that these freedom fighters had confidence in a reason far greater and more noteworthy than themselves that they enthusiastically relinquished their own lives, vocations, wellbeing, security, risking everything for everyone's benefit, the benefit of a country in trouble, rouses us with their fearlessness of conviction. It wasn't just savage power of obstinacy of direction that drives every one of these political dissidents to accomplish their objectives. It was, in every person's case controlling light, a principled way of thinking that every one of them trusted in, that made them be effective freedom fighters. It was this way of thinking of battling for what was legitimately their own that assembled them into a typical mission, in spite of the fact that their strategies or intends to that regular end may have been unique in relation to each other. Their experiences also teach us that it is important to dream, to dream big. Had these freedom fighters not seen a common dream, not yearned for a free, autonomous India, their motivation couldn't have ever come to fruition 20
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as the developments they each drove so bravely. And finally, all of them were restless, actionoriented, they finished the unexecuted, and marched on till their commitment was finally accomplished. This book is a memoir orbiting around the life of my ancestor, Raghvendra Singh, and my great-grandfather, Dalel Singh. I am believed to be the original descendent of the king of the Tomara dynasty, Anangpal Tomar, the first ruler to make Delhi his capital. Part memoir, part oral testimony, this book, Shadowing the Turbulence, provides a unique and engrossingly intimate view of life in the erstwhile royal household of Raghvendra Singh, which he later abandoned because of his self-dignity, and Dalel Singh's sufferings for India's independence. It is an important addition to the untold histories of the Company rule in India, and as well as the British Raj. I am proud to be coming from such a family of fearless intellectuals who made sacrifices, objections, uproars, and experienced turbulences to achieve what they truly desired, and to hold the bloodline of such individuals who were revolutionary and dauntless. This work is purely written from personal knowledge, testimonies, facts, research, and study.
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PROLOGUE Four to five centuries prior, Europeans were on a loot mission in India, Asia, Africa, and the Americas basically on the grounds that their social orders were exceptionally poor. Would they go too far grounds, for what other reason, and for what reason would they say they were poor? Since days of yore, they had been living in viciousness inclined social orders that were controlled by whoever was generally merciless and whoever had the greater weapon. Frequently the rulers would gather a greater armed force to attack more fragile social orders. Their life reasoning was guided by the law of the collection of animals: endurance of the mightiest. Human existence had very little incentive for them. Interestingly, India was honored with the information of dharma since old occasions that makes human existence remarkably significant and turns individuals harmony cherishing and peaceful. Selfacknowledgment (the accomplishment of 23
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Moksha) through contemplation and Yoga was their prime objective of life. Information on dharma gave them knowledge into how to advance a quiet and prosperous society and stay in profound interests. Along these lines, India was a specific culture with tremendous thriving and non-warrior society ever slanted to improve human existence than previously. In this manner, it turned into an obvious objective of loot first by Islamic savages and afterward by the Europeans. However, notwithstanding hundreds of years of demolition, Indians actually figure out how to keep dharma in their direct and reproduce a fairly serene and reformist society. They needn't bother with savagery to demonstrate their reality. That is the strong understanding of information on dharma gives to humankind. Since outsiders don't consider dharma and stay kept to shallow convictions, outfits, and ceremonies and feel that weapons alone make individuals extraordinary, they infrequently draw near to a big motivator for India, and how dharma pervades across different Indian culture. In ancient periods, individuals from everywhere in the world were quick to come to India. The Persians, followed by the Iranians and Parsis, moved to India. At that point came the Mughals, and they, too, settled down forever in India. The Mongolians attacked and plundered India ordinarily in the period between 1221 to 1327, with many of the later raids made by the Qaraunas of Mongol origin. The Mongols occupied parts of the subcontinent 24
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for decades, unto Alauddin Khilji came in, who sent an army to meet the Mongols and inflicted a crushing defeat, and this army comprehensively defeated the Mongols, with the capture of 20,000 prisoners, who were put to death in 1305. Christopher Columbus, as well, needed to come to India, yet rather arrived on the shores of America in 1492. Ultimately, the Britishers came and administered over India for almost 200 years. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British accomplished political force in India. Also, their centrality was set up during the residency of Lord Dalhousie, who turned into the Governor-General in 1848. He attached Punjab, Peshawar, and the Pathan clans in the north-west of India. Also, by 1856, the British victory and its power were solidly settled. And keeping in mind that the British force picked up its statures during the center of the nineteenth century, the discontent of the nearby rulers, the working class, the erudite people, normal masses as likewise of the warriors who got jobless because of the disbanding of the militaries of different states that were attached by the British, got boundless. This soon broke out into a revolt that assumed the dimensions of the 1857 Mutiny. The British set up themselves as a different decision position, criticizing the Hindu religion. They didn't embrace the Mughal custom of polygamy, yet stayed monogamous and acquired their ladies. Some British slipped on the slant of sexual misuse of local workers or subordinates. These blended variety 25
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individuals tuned pariahs and couldn't incorporate into Indian or neighborhood British society. The British kept to their clubs and homes in extraordinary rural areas known as cantonments and common lines. They kept up the Mughal custom of the authentic ceremony, luxurious homes, and entourages of workers. While overflowing with the fantasy of "Racial domination" they likewise built up their image of pompous presumption. They viewed themselves as purveyors not of the mainstream but rather of good government that implied upkeep of severe lawfulness. The striking thing about the British Raj is that it was worked by scarcely any individuals. In 1805, there were just 22,000 white men in the military in India and 2,000 in the common government. The number expanded significantly after the 1857 Uprising and afterward stayed consistent. In 1911, there were 66,000 Britishers in the military and police, and 4,000 in the common government. In 1931, there were 60,000 in the military and police, and 4,000 in the common government. These numbers were far more modest than the Mughal hardware. In the august expresses, the leftovers of the Mughal gentry proceeded with their excesses including huge royal residences and estates, arrays of mistresses, crowds of retainers (retinues), and attendants, smaller than expected armed forces, stylized elephants, tiger pursuits, and corrals brimming with luxurious automobiles. Ensuing to the disappointment of the Revolt of 1857 disobedience, one additionally observed the finish of the East India Company's standard 26
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in India and numerous significant changes occurred in the British Government's approach towards India which looked to reinforce the British principle through prevailing upon the Indian rulers, the bosses and the landowners. Sovereign Victoria's Proclamation of November 1 1858 announced that from there on India would be represented by and for the sake of the British Monarch through a Secretary of State. The British stole 45 trillion dollars from India, and even if India now demands the United Kingdom to pay 10 percent annual interest on 45 trillion dollars for the next 200 years, it would add up to 4.5 trillion dollars per year, which is 1.5 times more than the current GDP of India, and imagine how fast the Indian economy would grow.
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I. IRREGULARITY: THE BRITISH IN INDIA On 31st December 1600, the British Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) formed the East India Company (EIC) with the purpose to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the Indian subcontinent (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives) and Southeast Asia (Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). The Company later ended up seizing control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, and the British empire in India was laid, with the colonization of India. After setting up their factories and trading post in Masulipatnam in 1611 and at Surat in 1612, the Mughals granted Britain the right to trade and plant factories. After the Mughals passed down the right to the EIC for trading and establishing factories in the time period 29
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between 1615 and 1618, the English started the full-fledged trade in India but soon the trading interest clashed with other European countries: the Portuguese, French, Dutch, and the Spaniards. This led to some conflicts in order to secure a trading monopoly in the Indian market, as well as China and Southeast Asia among the European trading companies. Soon after that, the East India Company was pushed out of Indonesia by the Dutch East Indies as they gained a more powerful foothold in the region, which eventually drove the East India Company to trade in India. Moreover, with the aid of the Mughals, the Company ultimately pushed out the Portuguese trading Company of Estado da India, which had a massive control of trading in India. The Company achieved a major victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally in 1612, at Suvali in Surat. The Company decided to explore the feasibility of gaining a territorial foothold in mainland India, with official sanction from both Britain and the Mughal Empire, and requested that the Crown launch a diplomatic mission. Subsequently, the EIC kept on expanding its development and spread across India with several trading posts, while the main ports were located around Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. These three ports allowed the Company to trade silk, cotton, indigo, spices, and saltpeter all over the routes of the Indian Ocean. In 1700, India was paramount to economics, accounting for 23 percent of the world economy, not only because
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of the EIC but as well as the Mughal's patronage. After having the monopoly with significant help from the Mughals, the East India Company took steps towards complete conquest and conquer. In 1751, Robert Clive (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, at the age of twenty-six, seized Arcot in modern-day Tamil Nadu as French and British fought for authority over South India, and six years later, the British, under Clive, defeated Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula (1733 – 2 July 1757) to conquer and rule Bengal, the richest province of India, under their order. Furthermore, in 1767, the first Anglo-Mysore war broke out, in which Hyder Ali of Mysore (c. 1720 – 7 December 1782) successfully defeated the united armies of the East India Company, the Marathas, and the Nizam of Hyderabad altogether. Soon after, in 1771, the Marathas recaptured Delhi. Bengal, Hyderabad, and Awadh were the three successor states of the Mughal empire founded by Mughal provincial governors. The regional power who rebelled and had an autonomous kingdom were the Marathas, the Sikhs, the Jats of Bharatpur, and the Afghan kingdoms of Farukhabad and Rohilkhand. Apart from the successor states and the rebel states, there were also a few principalities, like the Rajput kingdoms, Mysore and Travancore, which already enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy in the past and now in the eighteenth century became completely independent. In 1772, the British established their capital in Calcutta, and in 1773, the Company obtained a 31
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monopoly on the production and trade of opium in Bengal, and Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was appointed as the first Governor-General of India, the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and thereby the first de facto GovernorGeneral of Bengal from 1772 to 1785. He is credited along with Robert Clive for laying the foundation of the British Empire in India. Despite the Chinese ban on opium imports, reaffirmed in 1799 by the Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), the drug was smuggled into China from Bengal by traffickers and agency houses such as Jardine, Matheson & Co., David Sassoon & Co., and Dent & Co. in amounts averaging 900 tons a year. The proceeds of the drug-smugglers landing their cargoes at Lintin Island were paid into the Company's factory at Canton and by 1825, most of the money needed to buy tea in China was raised by the illegal opium trade. In 1781, Tipu Sultan (20 November 1750 – 4 May 1799), the Tiger of Mysore and the son of Hyder Ali, defeated the British Forces. Subsequent to that, William Pitt the Younger (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) passed the India act to bring the East India Company under Parliament's control. In 1793, the British under Lord Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) introduced the land revenue system of "permanent settlement," and followed by that, Tipu Sultan, in 1799, gets killed in a battle against 5,000 British soldiers. After the downfall of the Mughal empire, the most superior rule at the time, in 1857, a 32
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considerable part of former Mughal India was under East India Company's control. After a crushing defeat in the war of 1857-1858 which he nominally led, the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862), was deposed by the British East India Company and exiled in 1858 and, therefore, the British took account of their collision and rose up to the jurisdiction of authority across India in the eighteenth-century. They captured and conquered enormous lands and estates and brought maharajas (Indian princes) and nawabs (viceroys) to their knees, and oppressed them. The maharajas and nawabs were dismissed and replaced, for which the British looted and plundered their treasures and their wealth, and took over their states, lands, and properties, and displaced farmers of their possession of the fields they had cultivated for periods. As the painstaking statistical work of the Cambridge historian and economist Angus Maddison (6 December 1926 – 24 April 2010) has shown, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, India’s portion in the world economy was 22.6 percent in 1700, which was as large as all of Europe's portion in the world economy put collectively. By the moment the British left India, India's account in the world economy had dropped down to as low as 3.8 percent in 1952. The reason being India legislated and ruled for the interest of Britain. Certainly, at the beginning of the twentieth century, "the brightest jewel in the British Crown," was the poorest country and was at its degradation in the world in terms of per capita income, and 33
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partly because of endemic corruption, the Company was gradually deprived of its commercial monopoly and political control, and its Indian possessions were nationalized by the British crown in 1858. It was formally dissolved in 1874 by the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act (1873). The industrial revolution of Britain was fostered by India's destruction, killing, falling, crushing, and its deindustrialization prompted by the Company itself through its mass corruption. The trade and production of textiles is a great model of India's reduction of industrial activity, which was the beginning of the vast deindustrialization of the modern world. Textiles were in high demand in England, for which the East India Company planted its first factory in Masulipatnam, which is famous for its Kalamkari textiles. Machilipatnam is known for its handloom industry, which produces Kalamkari textiles, now at present, exported to the United States and other Asian countries. Other notable local industries are boat building and fishing. Machilipatnam was a trading base for the Europeans in the 17th century and was known for minting copper coins, exporting diamonds, textiles, etc., through the port. The AP (Andhra Pradesh) state government is taking measures to bring back the glory of the former port city. On 7 February 2019, it has started construction of a deep seaport and associated industrial corridor under the Machilipatnam Area Development Authority.
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In the mid-eighteenth century, Bengal’s textiles remained nevertheless to being exported to Egypt, Turkey, Persia, Java, China, and Japan in the East, accompanying wellestablished trade routes, and to Europe too. The vanquishment of the Mughal Imperium additionally led to the predicaments of aggregate supply for Indian manufactured goods. Other shreds of evidence for deindustrialization causes include the revolution in world convey and productivity gains by Britain from cottage production to factory goods resulted in uneconomic production in India. This resulted in Britain initially gaining control over the export market and then the domestic market as well and, therefore, India experienced the phase of deindustrialization after 1810 because of favor in terms of trade shocks and free commitment of trade between the trading patterns for colonial rulers. In the period amid 1775-1800, vital innovations and reforms occurred in the textile (cotton) trade of the East India Company, which increase their total output and the cost of production declined. It engendered consequential challenges for the Indian produced cotton which was high in prices. In additament, during this duration, the control and influence of the British incremented in the eastern region of the globe and their control of the Indian sub-continent incremented significantly. Furthermore, the policies of the British rulers of these colonies considered the desideratum of incrementing the market for 35
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British engendered cotton. The British cotton was often engendered in surplus quantity by utilizing sophisticated machinery and was exported to the British colonies. The British cotton faced unequal competition from the indigenous cotton industry of the colonies. The prices of the British cotton industry were abbreviated significantly to increment the ascendance of British cotton. It led to a decline in the indigenous cotton industry of the colonies and the domestic activities associated with the production of Indian cotton fell. The fall of the Indian cotton industry is one of the paramount factors abaft the decline of Indian GDP under British Rule. The standard of living of the British incremented from the middle of the seventeenth century and in the same period, the standard of living in India decremented significantly. During the 1600s, the Indian GDP was 60 percent of the British GDP and by the cessation of the 19th century, it decremented to less than 15 percent in comparison. The fall in the hegemony of Mughals abbreviated the overall productivity of agriculture and truncated the supply of grains. The grain was the primary consumption good for the Indian workers and was non-tradeable. The abbreviation in the supply of grain resulted in the ascension of its prices. This ascends in prices and negative supply shock led to ascension in the nominal wages in the cotton and weaving industry. The incremented competition from British cotton and ascending nominal wages abbreviated the profitability of the cotton industry of India. Thus, the negative 36
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supply shock in agricultural production is withal a paramount reason abaft the deindustrialization of cotton industries. The effect of deindustrialization on the Indian subcontinent is difficult to observe before 1810. The factory driven technologies for the production of cotton appeared between 1780 and 1820, but, India started to lose its dominant position as the exporter of cotton before this period due to low wages in the Indian cotton industry. It also acted as a catalyst in migrating the workforce from the cotton industry to the Indian grain industry. The production capacity of the Indian cotton industry started to decline due to the prevailing wage rate. Furthermore, Indian deindustrialization is also hard to track due to its relatively low share of textile exports in the total textile production. The deindustrialization of India played a consequential role in the underdevelopment and incrementing penuriousness of the country. The British-led globalization of Colonial India led to the paramount inflow of British Cotton which led to falling in the output of the domestically engendered cotton due to low prices. Consequently, the process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity incremented the unemployment of artisan and employees of the indigenous cotton industry of India. The unemployed artisans and employees resorted to agriculture and it withal contributed to the regression towards agriculture and resulted in the surplus-labor of land. 37
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The colonial policies associated with the land and taxation undermined the faculty of these poor peasants to control and command the land. It pushed these peasants to take consequential debt from non-cultivating moneylenders who charged significantly high intrigues and availed in the underdevelopment and impecuniosity. This additionally swiped a moiety of the population of Bengal due to the crisis. As the economic growth was on a much minor scale, the effects of this on countering the deindustrialization are much smaller. As Amiya Bagchi (born 1936), an Indian economist aptly stated: “Thus the process of deindustrialization proved to be a process of pure immoderation for the several million persons...” The reality is the group declination resulting from the process of deindustrialization. The British yet continued their ill-treatment through taxation, for which they used India as an angel or a money-spinner. The Company's income and earnings from their taxation flowed into London’s wealth and repository and was described as "the redemption of a nation," and "a kind of gift from heaven," by William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham (15 November 1708 – 11 May 1778). The British extricated from India roughly USD 24.1 million each year amid the time period of 1765 and 1815. The British were merciless, cruel, and hardhearted. Tax debtors and defaulters were locked up in cages and were tortured so viciously, that it led fathers to sell their children to meet the tax price, as stated by Will Durant (November 5, 38
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1885 – November 7, 1981), an American writer, historian, and philosopher. Durant was so disturbed by the calamitous poverty and starvation he saw as a result of British imperial policy in India that he took time off from his stated goal and instead concentrated on his polemic fiercely advocating Indian independence. The ones who didn't pay taxes were abused and maltreated in order for them to pay up. And despite their stupidity and corruption, the majority of the British were not ashamed, hesitant, embarrassed, or apologetic at all. Clive of India, every time he visited England back, used to take away huge amounts of money for him and England, and not just money, but gold and jewels as well, which he used to sell for five times the original rate in India. Robert Clive started only as a writer for the East India Company, who established the military and political supremacy of the EIC after securing the decisive victory in Bengal and looting its treasury of an estimated USD 3.1 billion in modern terms. In return for supporting the Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar on the throne, Clive was granted a jaghire of USD 40,000 per year which was the rent the Company would otherwise pay to the Nawab for their tax farming concession, when he left India he was a millionaire by his wealth from looting India, which he remitted through the Dutch East India Company. Blocking impending French mastery of India, and eventual British expulsion from the continent, Clive improvised a military 39
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expedition that ultimately enabled the Company to adopt the French strategy of indirect rule through a puppet government, a government which was endowed with the outward symbols of authority but in which direction and control are exercised by his power. Hired by the Company to return a second time to India, Clive conspired to secure the Company's trade interests by overthrowing the ruler of Bengal, the richest state in India. Back in England, he used his treasure from India to secure an Irish barony from the then Whig PM, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (21 July 1693 – 17 November 1768), and a seat for himself in Parliament, via Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis (before 9 April 1703 – 10 September 1772), representing the Whigs in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (1761–1774), as he had previously in Mitchell, Cornwall (1754–1755). It took no effort to obtain money for the Britains while in India during the period of British India. Their primary source of income was their ownership of lands and estate, which they stripped and looted, as well as the jewels and golds of maharajas and nawabs, which were not recognized or acclaimed as treasures in the imperial crown of the British or prized symbols of royalty and imperiality, as the famed Kohinoor diamond would later be, rather, they were both desired and craved for, and overwhelmed as imports that filched domestic British's wealth, and intimidated to change British politics essentially.
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One of the earliest Company employees that popularised the Indian diamonds was Thomas Pitt (5 July 1653 – 28 April 1726), an English merchant involved in trade with India who served as President of Madras and six times as a Member of Parliament. He was the grandfather of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, and was the great-grandfather of William Pitt the Younger, both prime ministers of Great Britain. The employee acquired "the finest jewel in the world," a diamond jewel. He shipped the 400–carat gem to Britain. Soon after his diamond’s appearance in Britain, he gave up his authority and governorship, and got so rich that he purchased a grand estate, and paid liberally for a seat in Parliament. Though it is firmly and shamefully believed that Pitt snatched the diamond from the eye socket of a statue of a Hindu God. The Kohinoor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats. It is part of the British Crown Jewels. Possibly mined in Kollur Mine, India, during the period of the Kakatiya dynasty, there is no record of its original weight – but the earliest well-attested weight is 186 old carats. It was earlier acquired by Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji (1266 – January 1316) in 1310, the most powerful emperor of the Khilji dynasty who ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. The diamond was also part of the Mughal Peacock Throne. It changed hands between various factions in south and west Asia, until being ceded to Queen Victoria (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) after the British annexation of Punjab in 1849. 41
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Originally, the stone was of a similar cut to other Mughal-era diamonds, like the Darya-iNoor, one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing an estimated 182 carats. In 1851, it went on display at the Great Exhibition in London, but the lackluster cut disappointed to grab the attention of its viewers. Prince Albert (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861), the husband of Queen Victoria, ordered it to be recut as an oval brilliant. Because of the great fightings between men, the Kohinoor's history acquired a reputation and, therefore, acquired a reputation within the British royal family for bringing bad luck to any man who wears it. Due to the same belief, since its arrival in the UK, it has only been worn by female family members. Today, the diamond is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, where it is seen by millions of visitors each year. The governments of India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan have all claimed rightful ownership of the Kohinoor and demanded its return ever since India gained independence from the UK in 1947. The British government insists the gem was taken legally under the terms of the Last Treaty of Lahore and has rejected the claims. The British, through the Company, did not only deindustrialize India, or destructed India in terms of wealth and economy, but they also reformed India's justice system, education, and social groups and societies. What did the Indians receive in return? Brutal tortures; savage beatings; injustice; prejudice; discrimination; ill-treatment; victimization; 42
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abuse; unfairness. Indians have undergone the kind of treatment you cannot even conceive or conceptualize. Although, the British colonization has had an influence on the Indian culture noticeably. The most noticeable influence is the English language which emerged as the administrative and lingua franca of India followed by the blend of native and gothic architecture. Similarly, the influence of the Indian language and culture can be seen in Britain, too; for example, many Indian words entering the English language (i.e. loot, thug, pukka, dekko, etc.), and also the adoption of Indian cuisine. In the nineteenth century, the British administered changes against what they considered were unjust Indian practices. Much of the time, the enactment alone couldn't change Indian culture adequately for it to retain both the ideal and the ethic supporting the change. For instance, upper-caste Hindu society had since quite a while ago gawked at the remarriage of widows to ensure both what it considered were family honor and family property. Indeed, even juvenile widows were relied upon to carry on with an existence of somberness and forswearing. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, sanctioned in the winding down long stretches of Company rule, given legitimate shields against loss of specific types of the legacy for a remarrying Hindu widow, however not of the legacy due her from her perished spouse. In any case, not many widows really remarried. Some Indian reformers, for example, Raja Ram Mohan Roy (22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833), Ishwar 43
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Chandra Vidyasagar (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), even offered cash to men who might accept widows as ladies, yet these men frequently abandoned their new spouses. Even the education of Indians had become a topic of interest among East India Company officials from the outset of the Company's rule in Bengal. In the last two decades of the 18th century and the first decade of the nineteenth century, Company officials pursued a policy of conciliation towards the native culture of its new dominion, especially in relation to education policy. During the 19th century, the Indian literacy rates were rumored to be less than half of the post-independence levels which were 18.33 percent in 1951. The policy was pursued in the aid of three goals: "to sponsor Indians in their own culture; to advance knowledge of India; to employ that knowledge in government." Excerpt From: William Digby (1 May 1849 – 29 September 1904). Prosperous British India: A Revelation, originally published in 1901: It was a Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, still living and engaged in strenuous work in London, who, a few years ago, remarked, in response to a suggestion that closer co-operation in the higher spheres of rule between Europeans and Indians would give the latter an opportunity of teaching us many things we did not know:— 44
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'The Indians teach us! Absurd! Why they know nothing we have not taught them! The natives teach us!' In exactly the same spirit Mr. Eickards, in 1831, was asked:— 'Can you name anyone improvement which, has been made by the natives in your time that cannot fairly be traced to the example, or influence, of Europeans?' The answer was as emphatic as it was lucid and undeniable:— 'I have already observed,' he said, 'that the improvements introduced by Europeans are limited in comparison with what might be the case if the natives of India were sufficiently encouraged; but in their present state of extreme poverty and almost slavery, it is not reasonable to expect that any great improvements can flow from them. One of the greatest improvements, however, of which the mind of man is susceptible, has been made by natives from their own exclusive 45
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exertions. Their acquirement of knowledge, and particularly of the English language and English literature, of which there are many examples in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay at the present moment, is quite astonishing. It may even be questioned whether so great a progress in the attainment of knowledge has ever been made under like circumstances in any of the countries of Europe'. As far as the reformation of the justice system in India is concerned, Provincial courts of criminal judicature were made in the core, which comprised of Indian court officials who were pandits (Hindu researchers, regularly additionally a rehearsing priest), who were regulated by authorities of the Company. Likewise established were Courts of the circuit with redrafting purview in criminal cases, which were generally managed by the adjudicators of the common investigative courts. All these too were under a Chief Court of Criminal Appeal for criminal cases. However, there was still a great deal of separation and prejudice against the Indians as far as peace, and wrongdoing, and discipline. There was just foul play, bias, and imbalance for British India and its kin. Equity, in British India, was a long way from a daze: it was exceptionally mindful of the skin shade of the respondent. Violations submitted 46
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by whites against Indians pulled in an insignificant discipline. Just a small bunch of Englishmen were sentenced for homicide in India in the initial 150 years of British standard. The demise of an Indian at British hands was consistently a mishap, and that of a British on account of an Indian's activities consistently capital wrongdoing. Indian-appointed authorities additionally endured racial segregation as well. Racial oppression (white supremacy) was an immense constituent of supreme bigotry. Indians were, in a real sense, dealt with like slaves during the time of British India. The British were merciless and had no compassion, comprehension, or pity. At the point when Clive assumed responsibility for Bengal as the primary selected Governor in the wake of vanquishing Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah, the destitution stricken area was attempting to scarcely take care of its kin. However, Clive was not finished with simply plundering their riches; the East India Company kept on expanding the assessment on bequests and products. A senior authority of the Mughal rule in Bengal stated in his journals, "Indians were tortured to disclose their treasure; cities, towns, and villages ransacked; jaghires and provinces purloined: these were the 'delights' and 'religions' of the directors and their servants." This lack of food prompted the Great Bengal Famine of 1770, which remained for more than four years taking right around ten million lives in Bengal.
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Winston Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War and again from 1951 to 1955, had huge scorn for Indians and was especially intense, and it became apparent when his resoluteness caused the demise of three million individuals and along these lines, created the Bengal Famine of 1943. Writer and consistent intellectual of British imperialism, Shashi Tharoor (9 March 1956), a politician and the MP (Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha) of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009, blamed Churchill for having as much blood on his hands as Hitler does. Churchill apparently reprimanded Indians for the shortage expressing "they were breeding like rabbits." In an official reminder sent by the Bengal expert for help, he stated, "If the shortages are so bad, why has Gandhi not died yet?" Churchill on record stated, "Indians are a beastly people with a beastly religion." One of the most violent events that have taken place during the years of the British Raj has been the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh. On April 13, 1919, a great many individuals assembled at the Jallianwala Garden in Amritsar, Punjab to calmly exhibit against the dubious Rowlatt Act (The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919). Yet, under the order of Acting Brigadier Reginald Dyer (9 October 1864 – 23 July 1927), British soldiers were requested to continue terminating at the protestors until they ran out of their bullets. In those ten minutes of unremitting terminating, 48
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more than a thousand people were killed and injured. In the event, around 120 individuals passed away from bouncing into a well on the compound. After this slaughter, the British parliament set up a request named the Hunter Commission. General Dyer stated in his declaration, "I could have dispersed the crowd without firing, but chose not to do so because they would have come back and laughed," he emphasized, "I would have used machine guns to kill even more if I could have. I did not see any reason to help the wounded." One of the most racist and cruel rulers of British India was Clive of India, of course, but John Nicholson (11 December 1822 – 23 September 1857) was no less cruel than Robert Clive. John Nicholson is viewed as one of the most abnormal characters among all the British military authorities. His reputation arrived at such a degree that local people of the northwest boondocks of India really venerated him as the dreadful God "Nikal Seyn." Nicholson has been blamed for expressly regulating the hanging of regimental cooks for supposedly poisoning soups for the British fighters during the Sepoy Mutiny (Indian Rebellion of 1857). He lost his life in a similar fight while battling for the British. He was purportedly blamed for being attached to "flogging" as a discipline for Indians on practically any ground. Though this was originally an execution process by the Mughals, later, the Portuguese colonials utilized it. At the time of the Sepoy Mutiny, "blowing from a gun" was a method of execution, in which the victim was typically tied 49
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to the mouth of a cannon, which was then fired. George Carter Stent (1833-1884), a soldier in the guard of the British legation, described the process as follows: The prisoner is generally tied to a gun with the upper part of the small of his back resting against the muzzle. When the gun is fired, his head is seen to go straight up into the air some forty or fifty feet; the arms fly off right and left, high up in the air, and fall at, perhaps, a hundred yards distance; the legs drop to the ground beneath the muzzle of the gun; and the body is literally blown away altogether, not a vestige being seen. The Revolt of 1857 came precisely 150 years after the death of devotee Mughal lord Aurangzeb (3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707) which essentially stamped the breakdown of the Mughal Empire. It was effectively the most momentous single occasion throughout the entire existence of the Indian opportunity battle. What added to its significance was the HinduMuslim solidarity and investment of individuals from practically all segments of the general public. It must be viewed as the start of the Indian battle of autonomy that proceeded until 1947. It was set off by minor insubordination of Indian troopers in Meerut which before long snowballed into a significant fight immersing a few pieces of India. The late 50
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spring of 1857 saw savagery on an exceptional scale. At no other time and never after throughout the entire existence of British guideline in India was there brutality at such a repulsive level. Such was the power of the repressed indignation against the misuse by the East India Company that when the British could bring back "regularity" in 1858, they stood completely estranged from the Indian masses and their chiefs. It severely broke the picture of the strength of the British Empire. The 1857 disobedience changed the manner in which British India was governed. The effect of the 1857 uprising was significant. Truth be told, the exceptionally compelling realistic progressive, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966) properly called it India's "First War of Independence." It definitely changed the manner in which India was administered in the British Raj until 1947. The British Crown assumed direct responsibility for India, the Mughal domain was disbanded, nominal Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar was ousted to Burma, and the Indian armed force was rearranged. Presently "Divide-and-Rule" turned into its premier arrangement managing device and the British did everything to keep Indians partitioned, especially Hindus and Muslims, and perfectly abused the dissident inclination of the Muslim people group. India's freedom was one of the principal prominent decolonization moves that the British made in the post-war time. English decolonization began not long after the finish of World War II. The country was running out of 51
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assets to keep up the realm because of the misfortunes in the war and referred to that as the purpose behind the destruction of the domain. At the point when the British left India after almost a hundred years of fights, uproars, and developments, it was the first of a 52-year period of British decolonization. Numerous nations under the British Empire before World War II had accomplished territory status with the crown staying as the head of state. In the decolonization time frame, nonetheless, a few of these nations became republics. India's freedom fighters had a great impact on India's independence, although they went through brutal beatings, tortures, prejudice, and mistreatment, and yet they still didn't stop, they stood up for what they truly believed. One such example to illustrate the disrespect of these courageous, daring, and fearless fighters is the imprisonment of these individuals in Kala Pani (Cellular jail). As the British Raj began in 1858, one of its first demonstrations was to set up a corrective state on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (a gathering of 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal) and begin banishing detainees to it. Indeed, the shrewd thought was imagined while the British Rule was incapacitated by the 1857 defiance. The island chain was picked by 2 British specialists for the reformatory examination on miscreants and agitators. It was ideal for mystery and confinement. Before long detainees began showing up from Calcutta, Madras, Karachi, Singapore, and Burma, with their wrongdoing and discipline. At that point, 52
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it was close to a confined unfriendly backwater and endurance was just a matter of chance despite seemingly insurmountable opposition. The Cellular Jail was implicit in 1906 at Port Blair, Andaman. In February 1872, Viceroy Lord Mayo (21 February 1822 – 8 February 1872) came for an assessment in Port Blair. He was executed by a convict Sher Ali (died 11 March 1873). The information on this prominent homicide was smothered by the British. Towards the finish of the 1880s, the number of inhabitants in detainees had gotten unmanageable; in this manner, they chose to fabricate a high-security prison to house them. In 1890, a two-part commission reviewed the reformatory settlement of Port Blair, Andaman Nicobar. The British plainly proposed to make a hellfire for Indian political dissidents. The Cellular Jail appeared in 1906 at Port Blair. The Cellular Jail was named so in light of the fact that it totally comprised of individual cells for isolation – 693 out and out. Life in the prison was forlorn, unforgiving, and hopeless. During its dynamic life from 1906 to 1939, it quietly saw the most severe and brutal monstrosities allotted to Indian political dissidents. Specialists tested new medications on the detainees. Gatekeepers were required to treat the political detainees in a manner that would break their soul and totally unsettle them. Prisoners were made to work as slaves, with the tiniest respect for their lives. The life would be loaded up with torment, yearning, and forlornness. Some would go distraught; others would be headed to self-destruction. For the detainees, it resembled 53
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being moved for life to the valley of death. The assemblages of the dead were tossed in the ocean attached with stones. Kala Pani's construction started in 1896 and was completed in 1906. I personally honor and admire freedom fighters excessively for their protests, actions, and uproars. They were action-oriented, big dreamers, philosophical, and greatly understood the value of teamwork and union. There were many legends such as Bhagat Singh (September 1907 – 23 March 1931), Chandra Shekhar Azad (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 – 17 November 1928), Shivaram Rajguru (24 August 1908 – 23 March 1931), Ashfaqulla Khan (22 October 1900 – 19 December 1927), Ram Prasad Bismil (11 June 1897 – 19 December 1927), Rajendra Lahiri (29 June 1901 – 17 December 1927), Sachindra Bakshi (25 December 1904 – 23 November 1984), Roshan Singh (22 January 1892 - 19 December 1927), and so many more (whom all deserve great honor and account of credit) who were intrepid, they knew their circumstances and punishments, yet they still took a stand for what they believed in. The story of Bhagat Singh and his associates is quite fascinating. In December 1928, Bhagat Singh and a partner, Shivaram Rajguru, lethally shot a 21-year-old British cop, John Saunders, in Lahore, British India, mixing up the policeman, who was as yet waiting on the post-trial process, for the British police administrator, James Scott, whom they had planned to assassinate. They trusted Scott was liable for the demise of famous 54
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Indian patriot pioneer Lala Lajpat Rai, by having requested a lathi charge in which Rai was harmed, and, fourteen days after which, passed on of a heart attack. Saunders was felled by a solitary shot from Rajguru, a marksman. He was then shot a few times by Bhagat Singh, the posthumous report indicating eight projectile wounds. Another partner of Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, gave dead an Indian police constable, Chanan Singh, who endeavored to seek after Singh and Rajguru as they fled. After getting away, Singh and his partners, utilizing pen names, claimed to avenge Lajpat Rai's demise, setting up arranged banners, which, in any case, they had modified to show Saunders as their proposed target. Singh was from that point on the run for a long time, and no feelings came about at that point. Surfacing again in April 1929, he and another partner, Batukeshwar Dutt, detonated two extemporized bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi. They showered flyers from the exhibition on the administrators underneath, yelled mottos, and afterward permitted the specialists to capture them. The capture, and the subsequent exposure, had the impact of uncovering Singh's complicity in the John Saunders case. Anticipating preliminary, Singh increased a lot of public compassion after he joined individual litigant Jatin Das (27 October 1904 – 13 September 1929) in a hunger strike, requesting better jail conditions for Indian detainees, and finishing off with Das' demise 55
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from starvation in September 1929. Bhagat Singh was later indicted and hanged in March 1931, aged 23, along with Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar (15 May 1907 – 23 March 1931). Bhagat Singh turned into a mainstream society saint after his demise. The Indians went through a lot of dissatisfaction, disturbance, and agitation, the reason being colonial India. Before British India (1612–1947), it was Portuguese India (1505– 1961), when, in the period of 1434–1833, there was Casa da Índia, and during that period of time, in 1628–1633, there was the Portuguese East India Company. And soon, the Portuguese were pushed off by the strong foothold of the British, who established the East India Company in 1612 till 1757, and just after that, in 1757–1858, the Company rule in India, and abruptly, there was the British Raj from 1858 till 1947, the same year of India's partition. But, moreover, during the time of the British Raj, there was also British rule in Burma (1824– 1948), and the princely states (1721–1949). The Partition of India of 1947 was the division of British India into two independent ascendancy states, India and Pakistan. The Ascendancy of India is today the Republic of India; the Ascendancy of Pakistan is today the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The partition involved the division of two provinces, Bengal and Punjab, predicated on district-sapient non-Muslim or Muslim majorities. The partition additionally optically discerned the division of the British Indian Army, the Royal Indian Navy, the Indian 56
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Civil Accommodation, the railways, and the central treasury. The partition was outlined in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted in the dissolution of the British Raj or Crown rule in India. The two self-governing countries of India and Pakistan licitly came into existence at midnight on 15 August 1947 (Independence Day). The partition dismissed between 10 and 12 million people along religious lines, causing inundating refugee crises in the incipiently constituted dominions. There was enormous violence, with estimates of the loss of life accompanying or preceding the partition disputed and varying between several hundred thousand and two million. Strict religious viciousness detonated as Hindus and Sikhs fled toward India, and Muslims toward Pakistan, the from early on the incited country for South Asia's Muslims. A large number of individuals were removed and dislodged from urban areas, towns, and towns where their families had lived for ages. It was the most cosmically enormous mass relocation of the twentieth century. Throughout a year, an expected 15 million individuals crossed fringes that were drawn up in scramble by the British Imperium. En route, scenes of fierceness played out: Mobs rampaged through urban communities and open country, pouncing upon and slaughtering individuals from religions not their own. "Ghost trains" bountiful of evacuees' corpses handled the railroad tracks in spooky quiet. Ladies, edgy to shun kidnapping and rape, ended it all. There were terrorizing crimes, plunderings, and bombings. The bellicose nature of the partition 57
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engendered an atmosphere of belligerence and suspicion between India and Pakistan that plagues their relationship to the present. The term partition of India does not cover the secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971, nor the earlier disunions of Burma (now Myanmar) and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the administration of British India. The term additionally does not cover the political integration of princely states into the two incipient dominions, nor the disputes of annexation or division arising in the princely states of Hyderabad, Junagadh, and Jammu and Kashmir, though violence along religious lines did break out in some princely states at the time of the partition. It does not cover the incorporation of the enclaves of French India into India during the period 1947–1954, nor the annexation of Goa and other districts of Portuguese India by India in 1961. Other contemporaneous political entities in the region in 1947, the Kingdom of Sikkim, Kingdom of Bhutan, Kingdom of Nepal, and the Maldives were impervious to the partition. Among princely states, the violence was often highly organized with the involution or complacency of the rulers. It is believed that in the Sikh states (except for Jind and Kapurthala) the Maharajas were complacent in the ethnic cleansing of Muslims, while other Maharajas such as those of Patiala, Faridkot, and Bharatpur were heavily involved in authoritatively mandating them. The ruler of Bharatpur is verbalized to have witnessed the ethnic cleansing of his population, especially at places such as Deeg. 58
II. DIFFUSIVITY: GLORY, DIGNITY, AND RICHES In 1842, Raghvendra Singh (1842 – 1879) was born to Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar (died 1851), or Maharaja Abhay Tomar (The name Abhay literally means Fearless and is of Indian origin) as he preferred to be known, and Maharaja Abhay Tomar's wife, Maharani Satya Devi (1824 – 1859). Although Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar lived a life of luxury, wealth, and royalty, and had all facilities including having a diverse number of servants and coadjutants to owning immensely colossal estates, unlike many other maharajas and nawabs, Maharaja Abhay Tomar had different tastes and hobbies, and a unique character personality. The Maharaja was not a drinker and did not consume alcohol, and nor was a smoker, which was pretty whimsical as of his high status and the royal blood he held, though he always had champagne and wine stored in his palace for his guests. He had an inordinately fascinating and 59
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interesting routine, the Maharaja only used to slumber for four hours at most and had the habit of staying up till past midnight, conventionally till around 3 AM or 4 AM. Every morning, the first thing he did was to practice and follow the ritual of hawan, which is a fire ritual performed customarily on special occasions by a Hindu priest for a homeowner. The purpose of Hawan is to intensify the energy and spirit of the human body and make it healthy and progressive. The therapeutic value of Hawan is based on the ingredients used in the ritual. (People engage in rituals with the intention of achieving a wide set of desired outcomes, from reducing their anxiety to boosting their confidence, alleviating their grief to performing well in a competition. Recent research suggests that rituals may be more rational than they appear because of the power of your subconscious mind). One of the main ingredients used is cow “Ghee” from cow milk, which has enormous beneficial properties. After his hawan ritual, Maharaja would usually read books or play chess. Intriguingly, dissimilar to many maharajas and nawabs, Maharaja Abhay Tomar had only one wife whom he very much revered and cherished. In spite of his tremendous fortune, he understood the value of money and capital and did not spend it relentlessly, though he adored Maharani Satya Devi awfully, who he highly venerated and treated her like a goddess, so much that he arranged her anything she fancied or asked for.
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The Maharaja had high regard for everyone, including his peasants, treated everyone with parity despite his rank, and had no abhorrence or rage against anyone. Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar lived a magnificent lifestyle and was very obdurate, but he had no interest in wagering, gambling, cricket, or hunting cheetahs and rather had a huge love for animals, he supplementally had two canines of his own who were given congruous care, and the Maharaja had five auxiliaries assigned to his canines for their ministration. Furthermore, he was additionally a complete vegetarian. A Hindu himself, the Maharaja suppositiously had a reverence of Islam as well. Raghvendra Singh, too, lived a great lifestyle and had commenced learning to ride elephants early at the age of seven. He had an ardency and passion for himself. Prior to Raghvendra Singh's birth, Maharaja Abhay Tomar had another child two years elder than Raghvendra Singh but had died at just the age of four due to an unusual health condition. Following his father's footsteps, Raghvendra had a great veneration for everyone and maintained a high reputation with his family and friends. Many of Raghvendra's friends additionally belonged to a royal family, though very little is known of Raghvendra's relations in his early life. It is widely accepted that Raghvendra was over-specific in his attire, gems, and elephants and horses (livestock). Raghvendra was a receptive individual, and he would purportedly frequently stroll around in his garden learning more about his precursors 61
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and the historical backdrop of the Tomara dynasty. Raghvendra was entranced by the works of Anangpal Tomar, the king of the Tomara dynasty, who ruled parts of present-day Delhi and Haryana in India during the time period between the eighth century to the twelfth century. Their rule over this region is attested to by multiple inscriptions and coins. In addition, much of the information about them comes from medieval bardic legends. They were displaced by the Chahamanas (Chauhans) of Shakambhari in the twelfth century. Limited is known about Anangpal, whose ancestors had settled in the Aravalli Hills around the end of the first millennium CE. Some archaeological evidence survives of earlier settlements in the area and may be related to a ruler called Surajpal. The primary source for information of Anangpal comes from the Prithviraj Raso, a historical poem of Prithviraj Chauhan (c. 1166 – 1192) which was written much later by Chand Bardai (30 September 1149 – 1200). Some sources state that physical evidence at Lal Kot (literally translates to Red Fort, not to be confused with the present-day Red Fort), which he is thought to have built and which is the oldest identifiable city in the area, suggests that he lived in the eleventh century but others state that it was the eighth century. The history of the Tomara dynasty is pretty disordered. The Tomara dynasty has a proud history, but no historian. They have long memories, but little
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sense of history. Their record in patriotic valor is glorious. Anangpal Tomar was someone who Raghvendra Singh looked up to as an icon. It is believed that after the destruction of Indraprastha, it became less than a village and was deserted, with no great prominence over the next 800 years. In about 736 CE, Anangpal Tomar, following in the footsteps of his ancestor Vikramaditya, re-established Indraprastha as the seat of his power. The last ruler of the Tomara dynasty, Anangpal Tomar III, was succeeded by his grandson, Prithviraj Chauhan, who renamed the Lal Kot fort as Qila Rai Pithora, and ruled both Delhi and Ajmer, and built the city which bore his name at the former place. He was later killed in a battle with the Muslims at Tarain in around 1176 to 1192, and from then onwards, Muslims ruled Delhi, starting from the Delhi sultanate to the Mughal dynasty. There is recondite information regarding Maharani Satya Devi, who, as well, came from royal heritage. Maharani Satya Devi married Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar at the age of fourteen in 1838, four years before Raghvendra Singh's birth. During the period, in many parts of the world, including India, China, and Eastern Europe, women tended to marry immediately after reaching puberty, in their mid-teens. Societies, where most of the population lived in small agricultural communities, were characterized by these marriage practices well into the 19th century. Men tended to marry later 63
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in societies where a married couple was expected to establish a household of their own. That usually meant that men remained unmarried until they accumulated sufficient wealth to support a new home, and were married in their mature age to adolescent girls, who contributed a dowry to the family finances. In 1929, The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed during the tenure of British rule on Colonial India. It forbade the marriage of a male younger than twenty-one or a female younger than eighteen for Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and most people of India. However, this law did not and currently does not apply to India's 165 million Muslim population, and only applies to India's Hindu, Christian, Jain, Sikh, and other religious minorities. This link of law and religion was formalized by the British colonial rule with the Muslim personal laws codified in the Indian Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937. The age at which India's Muslim girls can legally marry, according to this Muslim Personal Law, is nine and can be lower if her guardian (wali) decides she is sexually mature. Over the last 25 years, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other Muslim civil organizations have actively opposed India-wide laws and enforcement action against child marriages; they have argued that Indian Muslim families have a religious right to marry a girl aged fifteen or even twenty-five. Several states of India claim especially high child marriage rates in their Muslim and tribal communities. India has the world's highest total number of child marriages. 64
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Raghvendra Singh lived a decent and copacetic life, but later in the years, in 1851, the same year as to when the Kohinoor went on exhibit at the Great Exhibition in London when Raghvendra Singh was only nine years old, Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar was found dead in his bedroom at midnight. Sources state it was a homicide since when Maharaja Abhay Tomar's cadaver was discovered, he had his sword in his grasp, as stated by numerous chroniclers. Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar's homicide stays a secret, even today, and nothing has been found against who killed the Maharaja. Numerous rumors pass around saying it was the British who legitimately commanded Maharaja Abhay Tomar's demise in view of certain contentions between the Maharaja and the British. Different rumors make them express that he was executed by an assistant, while different stories recommend that Maharaja Abhay Tomar told one of his kin to murder him, however many contradict that record of talk accepting "Maharaja Abhay Tomar was not the sort of leader who'd have suicidal noetic conceptions, or needed to end his own life." Maharaja Abhay Tomar's demise was a defining moment for his family, including Maharani Satya Devi and Raghvendra Singh, and the individuals under Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar's power and injunctively approves. Maharaja's hapless demise drove the royal family to be controlled by the widow, Maharani Satya Devi, all things considered, Raghvendra Singh couldn't be given the 65
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purview because of his minor age. There are not many essential sources concerning the group of Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar, Maharani Satya Devi, or Raghvendra Singh and their set of experiences, yet from my own savviness and the intellect amassed by optional sources and oral declarations, it is accepted that anon after Maharaja Abhay Tomar's demise, the British pillaged Maharaja Abhay Tomar's gems and a significant number of his bequests yet the royal residence he lived and passed on in. Maharani Satya Devi was suffering from challenging affliction and her life's most ominous occasions initiated after her beloved spouse's passing. The Maharani, in mental agony and stress, was getting sick day by day, despite the fact that she was getting perfect consideration from her coadjutants. After six years of the Maharaja's demise, in 1857, fifteenyear-old Raghvendra set out on a peregrination to Bijrol to look for congruous care for his mother's wiped out state. Bijrol is a village in the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Having a population of more than eleven thousand people today, this village is 6 km from the city of Baraut, the subdistrict of Baghpat. Visitors usually travel to see the Ashoka Pillar. The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (304 BCE – 232 BCE) during his reign from c. 268 to 232 BC. While Raghvendra Singh, alongside a portion of his escorts and sentinels, was out on 66
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the journey for peregrinating to Bijrol for looking for an aide for his mother, he experienced something colossally alarming and abnormal. He experienced a tree with a slashed off head holding tight it. Raghvendra's guards recommended him to return back to his palace as there may be difficulty ahead in Bijrol, yet Raghvendra Singh relucted on the grounds that he needed to fulfill his dharma. It was the head of Baba Shahmal (or Shah Mal; Shamal; Sah Mal) Tomar (21 July 1857) he had experienced, another person of the Tomar gotra. Baba Shah Mal was a Tomar Jat inhabitant of Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh. He was a political dissident of 1857. Unfortunately, he isn't very well renowned today, however, he was one of the main political dissidents who unmistakably relinquished their lives for the opportunity of India from the British at the hour of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. His role in the freedom movement of 1857 is unparalleled. The farmers of the area had suffered from over-taxation by the British in the years prior to the outbreak of the first freedom movement in 1857 (making him the first freedom fighter of India). Shah Mal put together a combined force of Jat and Gujjar farmers of the area against the East India Company. His army attacked and plundered the tahsil of Baraut and the bazaar at Baghpat. Within a short period, he took hold of 84 villages of Tomar Desh Khap. During the revolution of 1857, he made his headquarters at the bungalow of the Irrigation Department on the Yamuna River and supervised and controlled his operations from there. 67
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The British army could not face the army of Shamal. Graves of British Soldiers and Officers killed on 30th and 31st May 1857 can be seen today at the Meerut Road Crossing near Hindon River. The British officer Dunlap could escape very marginally in a war with the army of Shahmal in July 1857. Unfortunately, the turban of Shahmal got entangled with the legs of his horse. An English officer named Parkar, who knew Shahmal, took advantage of this situation. He not only killed Shahmal but also cut his body to pieces and chopped his head off. The British army hanged the head of Shahmal on a jawline to terrify the public on 21 July 1857, and that's when Raghvendra Singh had encountered Baba Shahmal's head. There were numerous villagers and farmers surrounding the tree, all terrified, with some of them crying, some of them in hysteria, and some of them in trauma. Likewise, Raghvendra's escorts were confused and went onwards to interrogate the villagers about the killing. After learning about the assassination and hanging of Shahmal's head, Raghvendra Singh was motivated and his fire against the Britishers was ignited. The martyr Baba Shahmal was so valiant for shaking the precepts of the British guideline in the insurgency of 1857 that even the British shuddered from his corpse. A large number of the whites, who couldn't assemble the mental fortitude to raise Baba, were executed by their own administration. The fire of transformation that began from Meerut on 10 May 1857 additionally spread to Baghpat and the area of 68
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Baraut. Thousands of peasants from Bijrol village in Baghpat led by revolutionary, Baba Shahmal, attacked the Baraut tehsil and looted the government treasury. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal ruler who drove the progressives in India, delegated Shahmal as the Subedar of the Baraut locale from the Delhi court. Henry George Keene (1826–1915), an English historian of medieval and modern India, in his book, Fifty-Seven: Some Account of the Administration in Indian Districts During the Revolt of the Bengal Army, states: The next event was the rising of some Jats under a local leader, named Sah Mal, who enlisted a number of escaped convicts, and other lawless persons, and began ravaging the northwest portion of the district. But soon followed what must have seemed, to the hard-pressed officials, the first bit of blue in their stormy sky. About 125 men of the 11th Native Infantry, who had remained faithful, were suspected and ordered to depart to their homes. Nearly the whole of these poor fellows begged so hard to be allowed to remain in Government employ, that, apparently more out of compassion than of confidence, they were allowed to stay and serve as policemen in the district. Some were slain while acting in 69
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that capacity, while about ninetynine of them remained faithful and active, "continued to do good service, collecting revenue, guarding it, escorting it into the station, fighting or threatened constantly, openly scouted and abused as often as they came into Meerut with treasure.” Truly, a marvelous record; and pleasant it is to add that, on the restoration of order, these good soldiers received honors and promotion and became the nucleus of a restored regiment of the line. On the 11th June, Major Williams arrived at Meerut; and instead of taking refuge in the entrenchment, calmly installed himself in a house on the Mall which had escaped the conflagration. [The] next day he was joined there by Mr. Dunlop. This intrepid officer, since he heard of the disturbances of the preceding month, had marched down from Kulu, in the mountains, proceeded via Simla and Ambala to the camp at Dehli, and thence ridden over alone only attended by four mounted constables (natives) — through the most disturb[ing] part of the country, and assumed charge of 70
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his district. Well might a spectator write afterward of this: - "The facts of his return from the Hills, his trip to the rebel city, and daring ride to Meerut, showed the metal (sic) of the man . His energy of character," adds Major Williams, "soon turned the adverse tide of events in our favor, and shortly recovered for the Government the district that had well nigh slipped from its grasp." Further on, he elaborated on the point: [...] The picture that he drew was alarming. The Gujars were in open rebellion throughout the district. The Jats were generally loyal; but those of Bharaut, under Sah Mal, had committed acts of insurrection. The whole forces thus arrayed were estimated at 15,000 fighting men. The communications with headquarters before Dehli were seriously threatened. The revenue could not be collected; and the treasury contained only some seven thousand pounds. Meanwhile, among the Rajputs, no less than among the majority of the Jats, there still continued a feeling of attachment to the Government and the existing 71
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order of things, quo ante, that only needed encouragement to become actively useful. But, till this was done, the district would be almost totally disorganized: “Unless some vigorous measures are taken to assist our friends and punish our foes, we shall be totally deserted by the mass of the people: those still faithful are becoming disgusted at our apparent apathy and the rebellion of today may become a revolution." When it is remembered that this account was given nearly six weeks after the outbreak, it will be seen that it was indeed high time for exertion. Accordingly, a Volunteer Corps was formed, armed and equipped. It included Major Williams, commandant; Captain (afterward Sir) Charles D’ Oyly, second in command; Captain (now Major - General) E . Tyrrwhitt, adjutant; twenty-eight officers of the Civil Service and army, gentlemen privates; fortyfive other British troopers; and seventeen native horsemen from cavalry regiments that had mutinied. There were also twentyseven Christian infantrymen and sixteen faithful sepoys. They were 72
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dressed in khaki (dust-colored) uniforms and aided by a couple of mountains - train guns. Space does not admit [to] the introduction of Mr. Dunlop's pleasant characterization of his comrades: the judge in his spectacles; the magistrate of Bulandshahr singing to them on their night marches, in “utter defiance of time and tune"; the High Church assistant, who “took to fighting in the grade of a trooper, as an ordinary step in nature”; the “squire,” whose Meltonian equipment, and [an] easy seat on horseback, were conspicuous in their expeditions; their manners and customs at [the] mess, when, to put the Musalman attendants on a wrong scent, [the] bad news was always read aloud with accompaniments of cheers and laughter. These things are side-lights, but their details would now only interest a few elderly survivors and their immediate circle of friends. The first exploit of the Volunteers had for its object three Gujar villages notorious for their crimes. The villages were burned, and out of forty prisoners taken thirty four were hanged after inquiry. 73
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Collections of revenue quickly signalized this first success. It was followed a few days later (8th July) by another expedition, conducted by Mr. Dunlop in person, to avenge a Gujar attack upon the Jats of Begamabad, now a station of the railway between Meerut and Dehli. Taking his troop of volunteer horsemen, fifteen sepoys, twenty native Christians armed with muskets and bayonets, and the two mountain guns, manned by native gunners, the magistrate stole upon the Gujar camp in the grey of dawn, and the Khákis fought a sharp action, storming a village that was stoutly defended, laying about them like paladins, and sparing, “carefully protecting, all women and children.” [...] But it is time to come to the crowning exploit of the Volunteers. The Gujars had, as we saw, received a stunning blow; remained the redoubtable Sah Mal, the Jat “Sabahdar" of Bharaut. On the 18th [of] July Mr. Dunlop went against him, accompanied by Melville — whom we have seen 74
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distinguishing himself in the subsequent work at Muzaf[f]arnagar - and by a force comprising two mountain guns, fifty Khakis, forty of the Rifles, and a motley band of some fifty native foot. This was but a small force to lead against Sah Mal, who was being reinforced from Dehli (only twenty miles off) by two regiments of native infantry, 150 cavalry, and four 9 - pounder guns, and who was fighting with a rope [a]round his neck. But the magistrate trusted to two things that seldom fail against Asiatics, audacity[,] and celerity. As he says, a severe example was needed, revenue must be collected, the Civil establishments that had been driven out must be restored. The Dehli reinforcements made one attempt to surprise Dunlop, but being foiled went back to the city. After what the Commissioner justly characterizes as a display of “rather rash zeal,” in which he confessedly got the worst of it, Mr. Dunlop had the satisfaction of joining his main body near Bharaut, where they were presently attacked by the whole countryside. The Khakis immediately charged and killed 75
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thirty of the enemy, who retired, followed by the whole force, the Rifles skirmishing and driving the foe out of the trees and sugar cane which masked the village. Sah Mal now hastened to the encounter with his main strength: but he was singled out and slain by a young planter named Tonnochy; and then the little body (“grand” total 149) advanced on the village, driving the enemy before them. Mr. Dunlop and his followers remained masters of the field, having scattered a hostile array of 3,500 men, of whom 450 in all were slain. “Sah Mal's head being stuck upon a pole inspired our native friends with mingled satisfaction and dread.” Supplies came freely in, and revenue was once more collected. Sardhana was next visited; Narpat Singh, another rebel leader, was attacked, and killed fighting; and a strong detachment of loyal sepoys was left for the protection of the Palace. Meantime, Cracroft Wilson continued his independent labors on the eastern side of the district, on one occasion carrying off Rs. 14,000 in the teeth of a large body of insurgents.
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Raghvendra to some degree began to look all starry eyed at the town of Bijrol, in spite of the fact that it was a little town with very little abundance, and particularly in the wake of studying Baba Shahmal's discord towards the British and his demise. He remained in Bijrol for about seven days with the royal treatment given to him by the townspeople and his escorts. Before long, he returned back, with an assistant for his mother, to his royal residence to see his mother much more wiped out than previously. Maharani Satya Devi was not in a decent actual state and had powerless ailments, which made the individuals of the royal residence and Raghvendra Singh despaired. Maharani Satya Devi was been furnished with the most extreme consideration from the specialist of Bijrol. The specialist used to take adjusts in the royal residence of the royal family, subsequent to having taken his rounds, which went on for a few hours toward the beginning of the day, and in the wake of taking notes of the different diseases from which the Maharani was enduring, he used to come and answer to Raghvendra. The specialist conveyed a report book in which to record the sickness of the Maharani, prescriptions endorsed, and the therapies recommended. This report was introduced to Raghvendra Singh. Each visitor who used to remain at the royal residence was given appropriate consideration and decent treatment. The specialist had been paid and remained for till the Maharani was restored. A couple of months passed, and luckily, the Maharani was at long last restored. 77
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The specialist requested distinctly about Rs. 700, yet Raghvendra Singh worked out a request for the specialist to be paid Rs. 1000 every month. Such was Raghvendra Singh's liberality and abundance. It was unprecedented for a nawab, maharaja, or even a kunwar to have direct relations with the retainers of the illustrious family, however, Raghvendra Singh was accepted to have high cordiality and generosity: he'd pass without help from anyone else to anyplace he was not needed to go regardless of many individuals under him; he'd straightforwardly impart to his workers and assistants of the family, for example, the specialist of Bijrol himself. Raghvendra Singh trusted in keeping solid associations with individuals paying little heed to their economic wellbeing, may it be a maharaja, or may it be only a worker. Soon after Maharani Satya Devi was at last recovered from her illness, she had decided on the marriage for Raghvendra. Arranged marriage is a tradition in the societies of the Indian subcontinent, and continue to account for an overwhelming majority of marriages in the Indian subcontinent. Despite the fact that romantic love is "wholly celebrated" in both Indian mass media (such as Bollywood) and folklore, and the arranged marriage tradition lacks any official legal recognition or support, the institution has proved to be "surprisingly robust" in adapting to changed social circumstances and has defied predictions of decline as India modernized. Arranged 78
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marriages are believed to have initially risen to prominence in the Indian subcontinent when the historical Vedic religion gradually gave way to classical Hinduism (the ca. 500 BCE period), substantially displacing other alternatives that were once more prominent. In the urban culture of modern India, the differentiation between arranged and love marriages is increasingly seen as a "false dichotomy" with the emergence of phenomena such as "self-arranged marriages" and free-choice on the part of the prospective spouses. In 1858, prior to the commencement of the British Raj, sixteen-yearold Raghvendra Singh married Vedjyoti (died 1869), of whom very little is known as there are not enough mentions or pieces of evidence against the life of Vedjyoti but her existence. After Raghvendra Singh's marriage, the British, taking advantage of Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar's demise, had seized more estates of him, which inflamed Raghvendra Singh even more against the British. India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory: British India and the Native States (or the Princely States). In its Interpretation Act 1889, the British Parliament adopted the following definitions in Section 18: (4.) The expression "British India" shall mean all territories and places within Her Majesty's dominions which are for the time being governed by Her Majesty through the Governor-General of India or through any governor or 79
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other officer subordinates to the Governor-General of India. (5.) The expression "India" shall mean British India together with any territories of any native prince or chief under the suzerainty of Her Majesty exercised through the Governor-General of India, or through any governor or other officer subordinates to the Governor-General of India. In general, the term "British India" had been used (and is still used) to refer also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also been used to refer to the "British in India". The terms "Indian Empire" and "Empire of India" (like the term "British Empire") were not used in legislation. The monarch was officially known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victoria's Queen's Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. In addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. Suzerainty over 175 princely states, some of the largest and most important, was exercised (in the name of the British Crown) by the central government of British India under the viceroy; the remaining approximately 500 states were dependents of the provincial governments of British India under a governor, lieutenant-governor, or chief commissioner (as the case might have been). A clear distinction 80
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between "dominion" and "suzerainty" was supplied by the jurisdiction of the courts of law: the law of British India rested upon the laws passed by the British Parliament and the legislative powers those laws vested in the various governments of British India, both central and local; in contrast, the courts of the Princely States existed under the authority of the respective rulers of those states. There were many major events that took place during the British Raj, starting from 1858 under the presiding viceroy, Viscount Canning. One of the most major events that took place in 1858 was the reorganization of the British Indian Army (contemporaneously and hereafter Indian Army), and the Upper Doab famine of 1860– 1861. As there was promptly the establishment of the British Raj after the Company rule in India, Maharani Satya Devi's household was now run under the authority of the British, a notion of which Raghvendra was completely against and opposed to the conception. Raghvendra Singh could not do anything about it as of now because of the Britisher's high power and jurisdiction, but Raghvendra was also willing to put everything at stake in order to fight for the freedom of India.
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III. CHAOS: TWILIGHT The uprising of 1857 was a statement of unconstrained resentment against the frontier abuse that had been stewing in the majority for quite a while. Just a flash was expected to light the fire. Talk spread that the cartridges of the new Enfield rifles were lubed with the fat of cows and pigs. (For many Hindus, who make up nearly 80 percent of India's 1.4 billion strong population, the cow is a sacred animal. In Hindu mythology, the animal is depicted as accompanying several gods, like Shiva, who rides on his bull Nandi, or Krishna, the cowherd god. In ancient Hindu texts, the cow appears as "Kamdhenu" or the divine cow, which fulfills all desires. Its horns symbolize the gods, its four legs, the ancient Hindu scriptures of the Vedas and its udder, the four objectives of life, including material wealth, desire, righteousness, and salvation. Hindus who do eat meat, often distinguish all other meat from beef. The respect for cows is part of Hindu 83
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belief, and most Hindus avoid meat sourced from the cow as cows are treated as a motherly giving animal, considered as another member of the family. The hymn 10.87.16 of the Hindu scripture Rigveda, states Nanditha Krishna, condemns all killings of men, cattle, and horses, and prays to god Agni to punish those who kill). Prior to stacking them in the rifles, the sepoys needed to gnaw off the cover on the cartridges. Both Hindu and Muslim sepoys not just wouldn't utilize them for strict reasons however they felt exceptionally annoyed. The main fighter to dissent was Mangal Pandey (19 July 1827 – 8 April 1857); he was hanged within weeks. Bahadur Shah Zafar was a disastrous Mughal King to have died in exile. On April 25, 1857, eighty-five warriors in Meerut wouldn't utilize the cartridges, yet they were placed in prison. Indian troopers executed their British official and liberated their partners and walked to Delhi where they were joined by more warriors. They held onto Delhi and announced the Mughal sovereign, Bahadur Shah Zafar the Emperor of Hindustan. Ruler Canning (14 December 1812 – 17 June 1862) pronounced tranquility on July 8, 1858. This unconstrained uprising can be effectively called the principal battle of India's freedom – as it was depicted by Veer Savarkar in his book in 1909. It genuinely shook the establishment of the British standard and gave the most noticeably terrible bad dream to the rulers who were living in a pipedream of being invulnerable. It gave a "final knockout" to the powerful Company and finished whatever was left of the empty Mughal rule in Delhi. 84
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The British government assumed control over the Company's military, domains, and assets through the Government of India Act of 1958. Along these lines started the time of high colonialism in India – the British Raj. The British government nullified the Doctrine of Lapse and began including Indians in the organization. They kept on the decision for an additional ninety years year until 1947, however, the connection among rulers and control had changed for eternity. The East India Company proceeded with its paper presence for an additional 17 years. It was at long last broken down on 1 June 1874, through the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act, and its investors got pay from Parliament. This officially finished the long adventure of corporate voracity that has no restrictions. In 1860, Bodi (1860 – ?), the eldest child of Raghvendra Singh by Vedjyoti, was born. Prior to the birth of Raghvendra's first child, Bodi, Raghvendra Singh's mother, Maharani Satya Devi passed away from a fatal cardiac arrest. Maharani Satya Devi was found unconscious at her residence, not breathing and in cardiac arrest. She was resuscitated and doctors were called to the palace, where she died after premature reports of her death throughout the day. A memorial service was later held. This obviously left Raghvendra Singh in trauma and his wrath animated. The passing away of Maharani Satya Devi left no one in authority for the palace or the family, however, Raghvendra Singh, who was only seventeen at the time. This was opportunism for the British 85
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to plunder and loot Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar and his family's belongings. The British pulverized a large portion of the Maharaja's belongings and kept what was valuable to them including domains and riches and, therefore, there don't remain many shreds of evidence against the existence of Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar, Maharani Satya Devi, or even Raghvendra Singh and his family. Soon after the death of both of his parents, Raghvendra Singh was treated with bias, though he still had the avail to reside at his palace along with his family. Raghvendra Singh had no estate left to him, nor any wealth, and had a family to take care of, and still, Raghvendra Singh refused to live in the palace. Is it accurate to say that he was inept? Did he not need extravagance? Is it accurate to say that he was settling on a moronic choice? By no means! It is believed that he did not want to live in the estate, the reason being his dignity. Raghvendra Singh did not want to live under anyone's rights or authorization, and that's what triggered him. He respected himself very much and was so obstinate to the extent that he was willing to leave the palace, and was prepared constantly for it. Initially, many areas in India ran under the form of a republic, but Maharajas, specifically Salakshanpal Tomar, in order to decentralize and desist wars for land, formed the idea of democracy in India by himself during the tenth century or the eleventh century. In 1863, Raghvendra Singh and Vedjyoti brought forth their subsequent youngster, Rai 86
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Singh (1863 – ?), and inside the time span of six years after the introduction of Rai Singh, two other kids were destined to Raghvendra and Vedjyoti, Naval and Mukha. Since Raghvendra Singh was amazingly irate against the foundation of the British Raj, and as of now having mental tension on him, he chose to contradict the usage of violence, and pull out the utilization of anything from the British, which incorporated the royal residence that was heavily influenced by the Britishers. Eventually, Raghvendra Singh, who didn't have any abundance or land left to him, took the choice to relocate to Bijrol until the end of time. Raghvendra Singh's choice for relocation sounded exceptionally uncanny to me from the outset when I found out about the reality of Raghvendra's development, yet we need more bits of proof to demonstrate the amount of this set of experiences is, in reality, a fact or how reliable. After effectively showing up in Bijrol alongside his family and with no escorts, he had abandoned all that him and endeavored to be a superior individual. He settled at a house in Bijrol close to Baraut and regardless of no abundance, he didn't carry on with a poor life, yet a normal household. Raghvendra Singh was plainly in torment, yet kept up his grin and his trying and obstinate character, Raghvendra Singh had a striking disposition and he was simply the sort of individual who'd let develop from all that experienced him. Following a couple of long stretches of settlement in Bijrol, Raghvendra Singh 87
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purchased another horse named "Raja," due to Raghvendra's enormous love for elephants and horses, similar to his dad. Motivated by rebels such as Baba Shahmal Tomar and Mangal Pandey, Raghvendra Singh needed to carry a change and was prepared to make penance for the freedom and the government assistance of his nation. Raghvendra Singh needed his voice to be heard and was prepared to make his commotion. Raghvendra shaped a network and got various townspeople to unite together. He'd frequently give incredible talks to his locale and ignited anger in his alliance. It is said that in one of his talks, when someone asked Raghvendra, "What if we fall flat, Chaudhary Ji?" Raghvendra answered, "And what if we fly?" He didn't just give excellent discourses, yet he additionally served his locale and furnished them with financial aid. Raghvendra had no dread against anybody because of his conviction that his life was worth risking everything for a dream nobody yet only he could see. The individuals who set out to flop hopelessly can accomplish enormously. One night, Raghvendra set out on a mission to put off the over-tax assessment being stacked on helpless farmers and shop owners, one of his most remarkable protests. At the point when the occupation British Raj endeavored to force a house charge, 10,000 inhabitants of Bijrol, Baraut, and other cities nearby shut their shops, left their homes, assembled en masse led by Raghvendra, and petitioned the occupation government to lift the tax. This massing 88
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occurred in December 1868. The Raj at first made a show of force but eventually rescinded the tax. This was later recalled as "Raghvendra ki Hartal," or "Raghvendra's Mass Protest." In 1869, while giving birth to Raghvendra's fifth child, Anta, Vedjyoti passed away dying from maternal death. At the time, Raghvendra was twenty-seven and Rai Singh was only sixyears-old. This death caused a bolt from the blue as there was only Raghvendra Singh left in the household for taking care of the children. In 1875, the Arya Samaj (I, myself, am proud to be an Arya Samaji) movement was found. Arya Samaj is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) on 10 April 1875. Members of the Arya Samaj believe in one God and reject the worship of idols and statues. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu organization to introduce proselytization (the act of religious conversion) in Hinduism. Dayananda Saraswati was an Indian philosopher and a social leader, who was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak (23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920). Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship prevalent in India at the time, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan (5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975) called him one of the "makers of 89
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Modern India," as did Sri Aurobindo (15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950). He was a sanyasi (ascetic) from boyhood and a scholar. He believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of Karma and Reincarnation. He emphasized the Vedic ideals of brahmacharya, including celibacy and devotion to God. Among Dayananda's contributions were his promotion of equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures, and his commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as in Hindi. Those who were influenced by and followed Dayananda also included many respectable leaders and rebels such as Bhagat Singh, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and Ashfaq Ullah Khan. When Dayanand was only eight years old, his Yajnopavita Sanskara ceremony was performed, marking his entry into formal education. His father was a follower of Shiva and taught him the ways to impress Shiva. He was also taught the importance of keeping fasts. On the occasion of Shivratri, Dayananda sat awake the whole night in obedience to Shiva. During one of these fasts, he saw a mouse eating the offerings and running over the idol's body. After seeing this, he questioned that if Shiva could not defend himself against a mouse, then how could he be the savior of the world. He believed that Hinduism had been corrupted by divergence from the founding principles of the Vedas and that Hindus had been misled by the priesthood for the priests' self-aggrandizement. For this mission, he founded the Arya Samaj, 90
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enunciating the Ten Universal Principles as a code for Universalism, called Krinvanto Vishwaryam. With these principles, he intended the whole world to be an abode for Nobles (Aryas). The ten principles of Arya Samaj are: 1. The primeval cause of all genuine knowledge and all that is known by means of knowledge is God. 2. God is truth-consciousness: formless, omnipotent, unborn, infinite, unchangeable, incomparable, omnipresent, internal, a regulator of all, undecaying, immortal, eternal, holy, and creator of the universe. God alone deserves worship. 3. The Vedas are repositories of all of the true knowledge. It is the paramount duty of all Aryas to study and teach and to propound the Veda. 4. We should be ever ready to imbibe truth and forsake untruth. 5. All acts should be done in accordance with Dharma, i.e. after deliberating upon what is truth and untruth. 6. The prime object of Arya Samaj is to do good to the whole world, i.e. to achieve physical, spiritual, and social prosperity for all. 7. Our conduct towards all should be guided by love, by injunctions of Dharma, and according to their respective positions. 8. One should dispel ignorance and promote knowledge. 91
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9. One should not be content with one's own prosperity only but should consider the prosperity of all as his own prosperity. 10. All human beings should abide by the rules concerning social or everyone's benefit, while everyone should be free to follow any rule beneficial for him/her. Arya Samaj allows and encourages converts to Hinduism. Dayananda's concept of dharma is stated in the "Beliefs and Disbeliefs" section of Satyarth Prakash, he says: I accept as Dharma whatever is in full conformity with impartial justice, truthfulness, and the like; that which is not opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas. Whatever is not free from partiality and is unjust, partaking of untruth and the like, and opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas— that I hold as adharma. Further on, he elaborates: He, who after careful thinking, is ever ready to accept the truth and reject falsehood; who counts the happiness of others as he does that of his own self, him I call just. Rai Singh was one of the earliest members of the Arya Samaj movement. 92
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Jats are the genuine inheritors of Vedic culture. They are following the Vedic standards and have not acknowledged odd practices. It was nevertheless common that the Arya Samaj development spread all the more quickly in Jat overwhelmed regions of Punjab (counting Pakistani piece of Punjab), Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh - the force of character and determination of Swami Dayanand worked in Jat territories more than Swamiji's own home state (Gujarat). Swamiji realized this Jat factor and in his works, he has cited Jats. However, Raghvendra Singh had no association with the development of Arya Samaj and wasn't a lot mindful of it. Raghvendra Singh proceeded with his disobedience demonstrations against the British and in 1879, Raghvendra was at last caught and beaten fiercely with a lathi. In the very year, ensuing his beatings, Raghvendra was tossed behind bars. Following his detainment, numerous townspeople from Raghvendra's people group had lobbied for the treachery demonstration with Raghvendra. Notwithstanding, Rai Singh and his siblings would frequently come and meet their father often, where he would converse with them about his life in jail, he'd inform them regarding his political exercises and defiance acts. Raghvendra's children must be given appropriate consideration in view of their mother's nonattendance and their father's detainment. The youthful siblings, Bodi, Rai Singh, Naval, Mukha, and Anta, stood by day by day for Raghvendra to be liberated from the 93
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jail. The jail, like different positions at that point, had Indian cops and monitors under the authority of the British. It is accepted that one day, in a beating and torment of Raghvendra by an official in the prison, Raghvendra made a protest against the senior cop, "Look. Simply take a gander at yourself, you filthy allegedly so-called 'Indian'. On the off chance that you were a genuine Indian, you'd battle for your country instead of tormenting your own brother. What difference is left as of now between you and those narrowminded frauds and selfish scoundrels? I couldn't care less in the event that you are doing this since you are getting paid for it. I will unquestionably stand firm for what I legitimately own. Individuals like you are a humiliation to our country. Beat me as much as you need, yet that won't benefit you in any way. Simply take a gander at yourself. Disgrace on you!" The official, outraged by Raghvendra's declaration, kicked and punched Raghvendra Singh until the snapshot of his demise. Raghvendra Singh passed away in bloodshed. Eleven years after Raghvendra Singh's execution, in 1890, Rai Singh gave birth to Chaudhary Hansraj Singh (1890 – ?). The oldest and the youngest siblings of Rai Singh, the children of Raghvendra Singh, Bodi and Anta didn't marry anyone and passed away unmarried. Other than Chaudhary Hansraj Singh, Rai Singh gave birth to four other children younger than Chaudhary Hansraj Singh — Khajaan (later the parent of Ilamchand, Atal Singh, and Lichami), Prathi (later the 94
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parent of Tika, Dharampal, Bhora, Jaggo, and Chanankor), Hukum, and Shyam Singh (later the parent of Surta, Malooka, and Mahendri). Rai Singh's sibling, Naval gave birth to three children, Sahajram (later the parent of Raja and Jahana. Raja later became the father of Aasa, Balveera, Sukhveer Singh, Khamchand, Aasi, and Prakashi), Karm Singh (later the parent of Gyana Singh, Tilamram, Kartaram, and Ved Singh), and Balvant. Likewise, Mukha also gave birth to three daughters.
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A SUMMARY OF EVENTS SO FAR At the point when somebody discusses the British vanquishing India, it gives the wrong impression that the British government sent its military to involve India and colonized it. The fact of the matter is unmistakably more unordinary. The British came as dealers of an exchanging organization – The East India Company – in the mid-seventeenth century. As their impact developed over the next 150 years, they took first regional control in quite a while, in the Bengal territory in 1757. And afterward, in the next 50 years, it extended to stepped its clout on the Mughal lord sitting in Delhi. By 1857, the organization's domains extended to incorporate what was the whole spread of the Mughal Empire in its prime. En route, the British government consistently fixed its grasp on the Company through changes to the Company Charter lastly blaming the uprising of 1857 the British government assumed control over the control of India from the Company. 97
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This was the beginning of the "British Raj" when India went under the immediate control of the British parliament. Despite the motivation behind occupation continued as before – the loot of India to enhance Britain which proceeded until the British left India in 1947. In spite of hundreds of years of rehashed Islamic loot. In 1835, the strength of the Indian culture and its success was accounted for in the British parliament alongside the devilish arrangement to wreck it by forcing the outsider training framework on Indians. In 1842, Raghvendra Singh was born to Maharaja Abhay Singh Tomar and Maharani Satya Devi. Raghvendra Singh was from a rich and wealthy royal family, but after the death of his father in 1851 and the death of his mother in 1859, Raghvendra Singh took sannyasa from his aristocratic life and royal lifestyle because of his dignity and hatred against the British. He left all of his estates because of his disbelief against the British Raj and the British colonization of India and migrated to Bijrol leaving his royal tradition and history behind. While migrating to Bijrol, Raghvendra Singh did not bring many of his belongings, rather he started his life from de novo. After settling in Bijrol with his new family, Raghvendra Singh, inspired by Baba Shamal Tomar and Mangal Pandey, formed a community within his area in order to protest and campaign against the British in India. This led to the consequential event of Raghvendra's arrest and he was sentenced to imprisonment. Raghvendra Singh had five children: Bodi; Rai Singh; Naval; Mukha; and Anta, of which the 98
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eldest one, Bodi, and the youngest one, Anta, didn't marry anyone.
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IV. MOMENTUM: DALEL SINGH On 11th October 1915, Dalel Singh (11 October 1915 – 11 August 1961) was born in a Jat family in the village of Bijrol, Baghpat district, UP Province. His father was Chaudhary Hansraj Singh, the son of Rai Singh. Because of being the youngest in his family amidst another elder brother he had, Salel Singh, he acquired the prefix of Master and would often be referred to as "Master" Dalel Singh. Dalel Singh joined his primary school in January 1922, and studied till high school, passing out in tenth grade. During the period of his teenage, he married Mukhtyari Devi (1913 – 2001) from the village of Bhoura Kalan, Muzaffarnagar district. He studied for his middle school examination in Baraut, 9 km from his village, then enrolled in a school in Muzaffarnagar. He passed his graduation examination and vernacular final exam and accounting exam with an academically high percentile and after 101
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he consummated his physical training (PT) course, he further proceeded to be in a job of edifying, due to his credence of accommodating his society, with a distinction in Urdu. Dalel Singh got his first job as an educator in Grain Chamber School, Muzaffarnagar, and taught there till 1st April 1943. After that, in 1944, he proceeded to work as a supervisor in Shamli Sugar Mill till 1947. During the 1940s, Dalel Singh was an adherent of the Indian National Congress Party (INC), which was one of the first parties composed and was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Imperium in Asia and Africa. Subsequent to his job in Shamli Sugar Mill, Dalel Singh again proceeded as a pedagogia and taught at Gurukul University, Jwalapur. Consequently, he then became a teacher in a primary school in Baraut till 1955, and after 1955, he had no job. Prior to his working jobs, and as an adherent of Gandhi and an employee of nonviolent resistance, Dalel Singh protested against the British Raj and was plenarily against the British colonization. He relucted to consume any goods provided by the East India Company, leading him and his wife to engender their own cotton fabrics and apparel. As such, he was tortured and brutally treated by the British, which withal included the order of confinement, and Dalel Singh served in jail from 23rd August 1930 to 28th February 1931. His certificate states: Certificate that Sri Dalel Singh Son of Sri Hans Ram resident of Bijrol 102
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District Meerut is a political sufferer who took part in the country's fight for freedom in the time of British Rule and undergone imprisonment u/s 4 Ordinance Act No. 5 of 1930 from 23.9.30 to 28.2.31. (D. P. Singh, I.A.S.) District Magistrate Muzaffarnagar 26.7.52 Dalel Singh was the first pradhan (sarpanch: the top of a town; Sar, which means head, and panch meaning five, gives the significance top of the five chiefs of the gram panchayat of the town) of his village for a very long time and was an authentic Arya Samaji. A sarpanch is a chief, chosen by the village level established assortment of nearby selfgovernment called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The sarpanch, along with other chosen panchayat individuals (alluded to as magistrates or a panch), comprise the gram panchayat. The sarpanch is the point of convergence of contact between government officials and the town network and holds power for a very long time. In spite of the fact that panchayats have been in presence in India since the artifact, in post-Independence India, the greater part of the provincial turn of events and network improvement ventures have been tried to be executed through panchayats. India's government structure of administration implies that various states have 103
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various laws overseeing the forces of the gram panchayats and sarpanches. In numerous states, decisions were not held for quite a long time, and rather than chose sarpanches, the gram panchayats were controlled by administratively named managers. With the section of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments in 1992, various protections have been inherent, including those relating to ordinary decisions. Dalel Singh had a very good and decent personality. He supported the idea of joint families rather than living in a household of a nuclear family. Likewise, Dalel Singh also worshipped and highly paid respect to his parents and siblings, and was a dedicated Pancha Yagna (worshipping our providers) follower. The five Pancha Yagna (also known as Pancha Maha Yagna) are: 1. Deva Yagna (worship of Devas) 2. Pitr Yagna (worship of one's forefathers) 3. Bhuta Yagna (worship of other beings) 4. Manushya Yagna (worship of fellow humans) 5. Bramha Yagna (worship of knowledge) Parts of his life were dedicated to educating and aide Dalits (untouchables) and Muslims. He studied the Bhagavad Gita and was very much influenced by its philosophies, additionally, he also studied the Bible and the Quran. Likewise, coming from the roots of an Arya Samji family, he was also very impressed by the works of Dayananda Saraswati for his movement of the Vedic dharma and to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians."
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He also contributed to society uplifts such as scheduled tribes and scheduled castes and was against the practices of sati, likewise, he was also against the notion of dowry. Dalel Singh's life philosophy was guided by the Sanskrit sayings: Maano hi mahataam dhanam. Which translates to: Dignity is the biggest wealth. And another: Jananee janm bhoomishch svargaadapi gareeyasee nam. Which translates to: Birth native and birth mother are higher than heaven. In Krantipath ka Pathik, a publication by the son of Dalel Singh, Er. Vijai Pal (born October 12, 1936), Captain Dharm Singh addresses Dalel Singh in his statement in the book: At that time there was reverence for Arya Samaj and awareness was continuously increasing. The general public was getting attracted towards Arya Samaj and there was a stir among the general public to give admission to their 105
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boys in Gurukuls. I was studying at Gurukul College, Jwalapur, Haridwar, and I was admitted to a smaller class. There was a feeling among the people of the nation about the independence of the country. Somehow the country should be independent. This sentiment was even greater among the Gurukuls. There was a fire inside the country. Holi of foreign clothes was being lit. Everyone was very aware. We, the students of Gurukul, were wearing only khaddar clothes. The impact of the movement in the country had the greatest impact on the Gurukuls. One day when we were doing Yajna in the morning, someone told me that three people have come to the Gurukul new and they have left their jobs and joined Satyagraha and come to this Gurukul. Some also said that these people were teachers and have jumped here in this movement and have come here after serving some punishment. One of the three persons was Prabhudayal Lakh, who was from the district of Muzaffarnagar, the second person was Pampankanak Singh Ji from Dhanira village who 106
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was also from the Muzaffarnagar district, and the third individual was Master Dalel Singh Ji from Bijraul in Baghpat district. Baba Shamal Singh Tomar, who participated in the freedom struggle, was a major influence on Dalel Singh. He was also influenced by Mahesh Yogi, a respected yogi of India. Dalel Singh, since his teenage years, started actively participating in the movements for the independence of the country. His area of work was Shamli, and he actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Once in Shamli, a high official was supposed to arrive. So Dalel Singh Tomar was such an opportunist that whenever an English officer came to that area, he used to make protests knowing that the English officer was supposed to come. In 1930-31 AD, a big officer, Aslam, was to come. Aslam, fearing Dalel Singh's performance, arrested him. He was beaten so much by the lathis that his toe broke and bled. He saw a tricolor cloth lying nearby. Barely moved, raised the flag, and started raising slogans of Bharat Mata Zindabad. In an injured state, Aslam put Dalel Singh in a well. By the grace of 107
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nature, there was no water in the well. After a few hours, he was removed from the well. Aslam was so cruel that today any government rage in the entire Shamli region is referred to as Aslamgardi. At this time, he was working in a school. His job kept ongoing. During this period, he was imprisoned in Muzaffarnagar jail from 23.08.1930 to 28.02.1931. He was imprisoned for his rebellion acts for freedom. He fell ill in the forty-first year of his life. He was taken to many doctors, and he was treated. But he had no rest. On August 10, 1961 AD, he was admitted to Delhi's Irvine Hospital. [...] I was introduced to him later when I was in a higher class, and I was not aware of him and when he came from Gurukul, I did not pay any special attention. I graduated from Gurukul, then I did not care to meet him and completely forgot him. Perhaps it is a crime conducted by me that cannot be forgiven. [...] The history of such freedom fighters is written not with black ink, but with the thick blood of martyrdom. They 108
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themselves take pride in their determination to overthrow the British rule, unleashing the mantra of "Subjugated Dreams, Sukh Nahi" to ignite the fire of freedom. Shiromani, a poet writes in her poem, addressing Dalel Singh: Yo na samjho desh ki svadhinta yu he milli hai Har kalli iss baag ki kuch khoon peekar he khilli hai Bicch gaye jo neev mein, deeval ke neeche gadde hai Itna he nahi... Tumne diya desh ko jeevan, desh tumhe kya dega. Apni aag tej karne ko, naam tumhara lega. Which translates to: Don't think that the country's independence is like this Every bud blooms after drinking some blood from this garden
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Those laid in the foundation, are built under the wall This palace stands on umbrellas of its martyrs
the
Not only this... You gave life to the country, what will the country give you? To raise your fire, the country will take your name. Furthermore, Captain continues in his address:
Dharm
At the time this freedom fighter died: his widow, Mrs. Mukhtyari Devi was 40 years old; the elder son, Vijai Pal 22 years; Jaipal Singh 8 years; Vimla Devi 4 years; Anandpal 2 years; and Kamlesh 8 years old. His wife and his elder son, Vijai Pal, with his hard work, taught the whole family, married, and even sent them abroad. Today, all the boys and girls of this family occupy the highest positions with the hard work and passion of Vijai Pal. Today, not only in his district, Baghpat, is Er. Vijai Pal a known social leader and a social worker, not only in Uttar Pradesh but in the whole 110
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nation. There is a dire need for community and social workers like Vijai Pal. He is performing his responsibility well. Blessed is the mother who gave birth to Bhai Vijai Pal Singh. Honesty and hard work are the principles of his life. Chaudhary Dalel Singh was not only tortured by the British, but he was evicted from the land, and his job was taken away. Not only this, in the famous scandal of "Aslamgardi", the British tortured him and threw him in a bloodless state in a dark well. [...] His huge work and beautiful health were the centers of attraction for all. In his thoughts, a grand feeling of nationalism, faith in faith, and maturity of righteousness was full of smell in flowers, coolness in water, heat in the fire. His life was full of economic purity like Ganga water. He was an ardent preacher of high thinking, simple living. Idleness, jealousy, malice, and lack of spirit, etc. did not dare to come to his courtyard. He was a man of very calm and serious nature. [...] He used to enjoy serving society. 111
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Like the Ganga flow that flows uninterruptedly to the supreme sacred tradition of the patriotic complete national movement of our village, it must be included in its patriotic enemy. Upon finding out, it is his duty to reach the door of the victim's teardrop of the eye. One feels self-gratification by giving donations as much as possible to the needy. The DS Bhawan manor always waits eagerly for social activities or other events. Their doors are always open for hospitality service. In which his wife has special participation, as well as his two sons. To provide stability to the memory of his father, [Er. Vijai Pal] has established a school as DS Public School in the name of the same saintly soul, whose aim is not to earn money but to establish high ideals, discipline, and best Arya rites in the children of the society. Such a virtuous soul sitting in heaven must surely be cheerful to see his son and family members walking on high ideals. While praying to God, the Supreme Father of the happy and long life of such high family families, I 112
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dedicate myself to the freedom fighter Chaudhary Dalel Singh Ji's saintly soul on his death anniversary and pay homage and devotion. Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti. Today, Er. Vijai Pal's place of residence dedicated to his father, Dalel Singh, in Baraut, Baghpat district, is known as "D.S. Bhawan" (English: D.S. Mansion) and "Engineer Saab ki Kothi" (English: Engineer Sir's Mansion). The school nearest to his house is now known as "D.S. Public School", which was established for philanthropy objectives, and was later managed by senior intellectuals and nation-centric individuals such as the grandson of Mangal Pandey. A samadhi (tomb) for Dalel Singh's wife was created in her memory where she was cremated. Furthermore, there were many publications on Late Shri Dalel Singh including a biography on him authored by Er. Vijai Pal. Additionally, There was a journal press established in his memory, which released its social issues every month under the supervision of Late Shrimati Dr. Veerbala, the wife of Er. Vijai Pal. After the death of Dalel Singh, Er. Vijai Pal (my grandfather) had to take on all responsibilities including getting his siblings educated, protecting them, raise them up, and be like a parent to them as he was the eldest of them all. After a few decades, Er. Vijai Pal's siblings, unfortunately, passed away, one by getting murdered, and the other one died 113
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because of a seizure. This led Er. Vijai Pal to raise his brothers' young children as well. Er. Vijai Pal is truly a great soul, and even a few paragraphs for him is not enough for showing my appreciation. Er. Vijai Pal states in his book: Chaudhary Dalel Singh was dated 11-08-1961. On death, the responsibility of looking after everyone came over me (Vijai Pal). I nurtured those 6 plants and watered them on time. Rescued them from the storm, excess rain, and animals. After being diseased, the best doctor of India at that time was called and the fittest treatment was provided. Also protected from strong sunlight. Taking care of all this, a 40-year-old entire jawan tree (Anandpal) was given away to the Badmash on 21 May 1996. On the night of May 1996, a tree (Pujya Mataji), which had completed its life, itself dried on the date (May 2001) and got mixed up in the soil, and disappeared forever in front of our eyes. The third 40-year-old plant (Jaipal Singh), which had been a victim of the disease since childhood, did not survive even after adequate treatment and was completely destroyed on the date (11 June 1983). Three plants (Dr. Veerbala, Premlata, and Anju 114
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Tomar) were also brought from outside and 8 new plants were prepared in the garden. Thus, in this garden today, in March 2013, 49 plants are wearing healthy blood and 3 plants are forever gone. Similar to Baba Shamal Tomar, Poornachandra Arya (1900–1971) was also a great influence on Dalel Singh. Poornachandra Arya was born in a farmer family in 1900 to Chaudhary Lajja Ram. Poornachandra Arya's family was completely dedicated to the advancement of society and were patriots like any other family in district Meerut since the previous century. He got his primary education in Baraut, and then he moved to Janta Vedic Inter College, then he pursued his education in Meerut, where he graduated in SLC in 1920 and was among the most bright students in college, and his love for the nation and society was overwhelming and has been in his blood and, therefore, in any debate against Vedic Dharam, he would have arguments against Christian teachers frequently. After his education, he was selected in Police and was assigned as a sub-inspector while police services were completely managed by the British rule. Therefore, when Gandhi made his announcement in 1921 against Britishers and the British rule, he immediately resigned from his post and went to jail. After coming out of jail, he followed Gandhi at his Sabarmati Ashram, and followed his strategy 115
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and plans for the freedom of the nation, and continued his efforts for the freedom of the country from Rohtak, where he established a school. He further continued his studies in Lahore at Brahm Sanskrit Maha Vidalya under a renowned guru, Vishwa Bandhu Shastri. In 1925, Poornachandra Arya got married to Shrimati Yashoda Devi. In 1930, he followed Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March in Sabarmati, and his whole family, including his siblings, was dedicated to the fight for freedom, and they, too, went to jail. Further, in 1939, in Hyderabad, he was imprisoned for a year for protesting against Nizam Shahi's torture against Hindus. In 1944, he gave his speech to promote the Vedic community, and he also protested against the celebration of Pitu Nawab Jamshed Ali's knighting, who was an infamous leader of the Muslim league. In 1948, he was again imprisoned in Banaras jail while his wife was extremely sick, and in 1957, he also contributed to Hindi Satyagraha Andolan. On the 18th of July, 1971, Poornachandra Arya eventually passed away. Dalel Singh's death is the most appropriate illustration of discrimination, bias, and unfairness. He had gone through many tortures prior to his death, and for what? For taking back what belongs to him? The British treated Dalel Singh with total inequality that he didn't deserve and disrespected Dalel Singh in many different methods, one of them being when he was thrown in the dry well, of course, but he had gone through other acts and events of prejudice as well such as when he had been 116
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replaced with a bull in a "Kohlu" (Reed or sugarcane mower; oil extracting machine by crushing mustard and other oilseeds, and is usually utilized through a bull). Dalel Singh had a vision of getting his children educated, unlike many of his ancestors, and as a teacher, he was a very polite and lenient individual. He had a habit of often picking up garbage and throwing it in the bin while transporting to his school or work, or returning back to home, and moreover, he was also very strict towards time, he did not find it pleasant to get late for even a minute. In villages, even today, it is disrespectful for a person from a higher-caste or a backward-caste to sit and eat with a lower-caste (Dalit) individual, however Dalel Singh, because of his loving and respecting nature, still ate with Dalits most of the time and believed we all are one, which indeed is true.
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EPILOGUE On the account of this book, I would like to conclude with a short message: Today, there remain many stories that are untold or are not much recognized. It is important that we spread awareness of the personages who fought for our nation, yet remain forgotten in spite of their brave acts and daring achievements. Dalel Singh and Baba Shamal Tomar are a great example to illustrate and portray this, but there are others as well who don't get enough recall, and it is our role, as Indians, to bring those stories out to the world and spread the message of their bravery and glory, and not let the true Indian spirit die. Now, people do not even stand up for their national anthem, showing disrespect, and it is unfortunate to see that India today is not the nation it was before, our cultures and traditions barely exist now and we have let the Indian spirit fall, though we can still 119
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revive it and bring back our rich history and culture, and make Indians proud of their past. The main reason for me writing this short account was to spread the message of India's glorious past and why we should be celebrating it, and ignite the fire within us with our aggression. Being granted a Pagri, I strongly believe this is my responsibility as an Indian to spread the message of our heritage, yet there are other responsibilities I hold as well, but now it is your chance as well to be fulfilling your dharma. Jai Hind! Aryan Tomar
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Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata Panjaba-Sindhu-Gujarata-Maratha Dravida-Utkala-Banga Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga uchchala-jaladhi-taranga Tava Subha name jage, tava subha asisa mage, gahe tava jaya-gatha. Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata. Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he, jaya jaya jaya jaya he.
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Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, The dispenser of India's destiny. Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat and Maratha, Of the Dravida and Odisha and Bengal; It echoes in the hills of Vindhya and the The Himalayas, Mingles in the music of Ganga and Yamuna and is chanted by The waves of the Indian sea. They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise. The saving of all people waits in thy hand, Thou dispenser of India's destiny. Victory, victory, victory to thee.
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AFTERWORD Our story started from Brahma > Maharishi Atri > Chandra > Budh (who married Mannu's daughter, Eila) > Aayu > Nayush > Yayati, who had five children: Turvashu; Yadu; Puru; Anu; Duhu. The story of Chandravansh continues from Bharat and the biggest epics, Ramayana and the Mahabharata. There was a lot more that started again since Anangpal Dev's rule in 736 with an interesting and thrilling journey passing down from generation to generation and has passed Anangpal's genes to the 36th generation (Aryan's generation). Western UP has a very rich heritage, and sacrifices of several unsung heroes. Somehow, many of them are not captured in history or are lost. Young Aryan, who's an Indo-Canadian teenager, had a global perspective to interpret these stories. Every time I share a new incident of whether it is the origin of a God or a struggle
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story of his grandfather, he'd get very inquisitive and meddlesome. I am so intrigued to learn about his excitement for beginning his research of his ancestors rooting back from Hastinapur and Indraprastha to the modern-day Delhi. Mehak Singh, Ph.D.
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NOTES Foreword: Kintsugi 1. VVe Being Donna: The Light, the Dark is a documentary on Late Smt. Dr. Veerbala, who was more than just a homemaker, the 10minute documentary focuses on the ups and downs (turbulence) of her journey, the dark side of her life, and the bright one. The documentary imparts the value of selfawareness. It speaks to the attributes of understanding and the knowledge of self, how she fought through the struggles and obstacles in her life. Powerful keys learned through the life experiences of Lt. Smt. Dr. Veerbala will be the gateway to many developed minds. 2. Philosophy and i Déjà vu is a documentary that runs around the philosophy of ancient civilization to citadels to cities and towns to future cities, showcasing a journey of selfrealization. What appears an end, might be a new beginning of this journey. Philosophy and i Déjà vu is also a coffee table book as well, highlighting the history of Tomaras 127
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and Jats. Introduction 1. The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilizations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area stretching from northeast Afghanistan, through much of Pakistan, and into western and northwestern India. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along with a system of perennial, mostly monsoon-fed, rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the seasonal Ghaggar-Hakra river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The civilization's cities were noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large nonresidential buildings, and new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The large cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa very likely grew to contain between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals, and the civilization itself during its fluorescence may have contained between one and five million individuals. Gradual drying of the region's soil during the 3rd millennium BCE may have been the initial spur for the urbanization associated with the civilization, but eventually weaker monsoons and reduced water supply caused the
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civilization's demise, and to scatter its population eastward and southward. The Indus civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilisation, after its type site, Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated early in the 20th century in what was then the Punjab province of British India and now in Pakistan. The discovery of Harappa and soon afterward Mohenjo-Daro was the culmination of work beginning in 1861 with the founding of the Archaeological Survey of India during the British Raj. There were however earlier and later cultures often called Early Harappan and Late Harappan in the same area; for this reason, the Harappan civilization is sometimes called the Mature Harappan to distinguish it from these other cultures. By 2002, over 1,000 Mature Harappan cities and settlements had been reported, of which just under a hundred had been excavated, however, there are only five major urban sites: Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Dholavira, Ganeriwala in the Cholistan, and Rakhigarhi. The early Harappan cultures were preceded by local Neolithic agricultural villages, from which the river plains were populated. The Harappan language is not directly attested, and its affiliation is uncertain since the Indus script is still undeciphered. A relationship with the Dravidian or Elamo-Dravidian language family is favored by a section of scholars like leading Finnish Indologist, Asko Parpola. 2. Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). Five dynasties
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ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the Mamluk/Slave dynasty (1206–1290), the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451), and the Lodi dynasty (1451– 1526). It covered parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and some parts of southern Nepal. As a successor to the Ghurid Sultanate, the Delhi Sultanate was originally one among a number of principalities ruled by Turkic slave-generals of Muhammad Ghori, who had conquered large parts of northern India, including Yildiz, Aibek, and Qubacha, that had inherited and divided the Ghurid territories amongst themselves. After a long period of infighting, the Mamluks were overthrown in the Khalji revolution which marked the transfer of power from the Turks to a heterogenous Indo-Mussalman nobility. Both of the resulting Khalji and Tughlaq dynasties respectively saw a new wave of rapid Muslim conquests deep into South India. The sultanate finally reached the peak of its geographical reach during the Tughlaq Dynasty, occupying most of the Indian subcontinent. This was followed by a decline due to Hindu reconquests, states such as the Vijayanagara Empire and Mewar asserting independence, and new Muslim sultanates such as the Bengal Sultanate breaking off. In 1526, the Sultanate was conquered and succeeded by the Mughal Empire. The sultanate is noted for its integration of the Indian subcontinent into a global cosmopolitan culture (as seen concretely in the development of the Hindustani language and Indo-Islamic architecture), being one of
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the few powers to repel attacks by the Mongols (from the Chagatai Khanate) and for enthroning one of the few female rulers in Islamic history, Razia Sultana, who reigned from 1236 to 1240. Bakhtiyar Khalji's annexations were responsible for the largescale desecration of Hindu and Buddhist temples (leading to the decline of Buddhism in East India and Bengal), and the destruction of universities and libraries. Mongolian raids on West and Central Asia set the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from those regions into the subcontinent, thereby establishing Islamic culture in India and the rest of the region. 3. The Tomara (also called Tomar in modern vernaculars because of schwa deletion), also known as Tomaras of Delhi was an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Delhi and Haryana in India during the 8th–12th century. Their rule over this region is attested to by multiple inscriptions and coins. In addition, much of the information about them comes from medieval bardic legends. They were displaced by the Chahamanas of Shakambhari in the 12th century. According to the Mahabharat, Parikshit took the throne of Indraprastha after Yudhistra. His dynasty ruled for 1864 years or 28 generations, the last king Khemkaran was defeated by Vishrawah, who took the throne. His dynasty ruled for 14 generations. It lasted 500 years. The third dynasty ruled for 15 generations. Then Raja Dughsen came to power and his, fourth dynasty came to power, and after nine
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generations, the last king was Rajpal. This is supported by the Rajatarungani, and by other inscriptions. This fourth dynasty was uprooted by Raja Vikramaditya Tanwar (Tomar). He destroyed Indraprastha, (modern-day Delhi) and shifted the seat of power to Avanti in Ujjain. According to Todd, Vikramaditya, not only destroyed Indraprastha but also started a new era which is the Vikramaditya era which started in 57 BCE. After the destruction of Indraprastha, it became less than a village, with no great prominence over the next 800 years. In about 800 CE, Anangpal Tomar, following in the footsteps of his ancestor Vikramaditya, re-established Indraprastha as the seat of his power. The Tomars renamed Indraprastha as Dhilli or Dilli. Delhi was the center of power for the Tomar dynasty and stayed that way even after them. In the Delhi area this capital shifted to a number of places, its name may have changed, but the center of power remained in Dilli. Dilli was uprooted many times, and it re-established many times 4. The Mughal Empire, or Mogul Empire, selfdesignated as Gurkani, was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. For some two centuries, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan plateau in south India. The Mughal empire is conventionally said to have been founded in 1526 by Babur, a
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warrior chieftain from what today is Uzbekistan, who employed aid from the neighboring Safavid and Ottoman empires, to defeat the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodhi, in the First Battle of Panipat, and to sweep down the plains of Upper India. The Mughal imperial structure, however, is sometimes dated to 1600, to the rule of Babur's grandson, Akbar. This imperial structure lasted until 1720, until shortly after the death of the last major emperor, Aurangzeb, during whose reign the empire also achieved its maximum geographical extent. Reduced subsequently, especially during the East India Company rule in India, to the region in and around Old Delhi, the empire was formally dissolved by the British Raj after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Although the Mughal empire was created and sustained by military warfare, it did not vigorously suppress the cultures and people it came to rule; rather it equalized and placated them through new administrative practices, and diverse ruling elites, leading to more efficient, centralized, and standardized rule. The base of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator, were paid in the wellregulated silver currency and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion, signaling the Proto-industrialization. The burgeoning European presence in the Indian Ocean, and its increasing demand for Indian
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raw and finished products, created still greater wealth in the Mughal courts. There was more conspicuous consumption among the Mughal elite, resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture, especially during the reign of Shah Jahan. Among the Mughal UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Asia are Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Lahore Fort, Shalamar Gardens, and the Taj Mahal, which is described as "the jewel of Muslim art in India, and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage." I. Irregularity: The British in India 1. Alaud-Dīn Khaljī (r. 1296–1316), born as Ali Gurshasp, was the most powerful emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative changes, related to revenues, price controls, and society. He is noted for repulsing the Mongol invasions of India. Alauddin was a nephew and a son-in-law of his predecessor Jalaluddin. When Jalaluddin became the Sultan of Delhi after deposing the Mamluks, Alauddin was given the position of Amir-i-Tuzuk (equivalent to the master of ceremonies). Alauddin obtained the governorship of Kara in 1291 after suppressing a revolt against Jalaluddin, and the governorship of Awadh in 1296 after a profitable raid on Bhilsa. In 1296, Alauddin raided Devagiri and acquired loot to stage a successful revolt against Jalaluddin. After killing Jalaluddin, he consolidated his power in Delhi and subjugated Jalaluddin's sons in
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Multan. Over the next few years, Alauddin successfully fended off the Mongol invasions from the Chagatai Khanate, at Jaran-Manjur (1297–1298), Sivistan (1298), Kili (1299), Delhi (1303), and Amroha (1305). In 1306, his forces achieved a decisive victory against the Mongols near the Ravi riverbank and later ransacked the Mongol territories in presentday Afghanistan. The military commanders that successfully led his army against the Mongols include Zafar Khan, Ulugh Khan, and his slave-general Malik Kafur. Alauddin conquered the kingdoms of Gujarat (raided in 1299 and annexed in 1304), Ranthambore (1301), Chittor (1303), Malwa (1305), Siwana (1308), and Jalore (1311). These victories ended several Hindu dynasties, including the Paramaras, the Vaghelas, the Chahamanas of Ranastambhapura and Jalore, the Rawal branch of the Guhilas, and possibly the Yajvapalas. His slave-general Malik Kafur led multiple campaigns to the south of the Vindhyas, obtaining a considerable amount of wealth from Devagiri (1308), Warangal (1310), and Dwarasamudra (1311). These victories forced the Yadava king Ramachandra, the Kakatiya king Prataparudra, and the Hoysala king Ballala III to become Alauddin's tributaries. Kafur also raided the Pandya kingdom (1311), obtaining much treasure and many elephants and horses. At times, Alauddin exploited Muslim fanaticism against Hindu chieftains and the treatment of the zimmis. According to the later chronicler Barani, he rarely heeded to the orthodox ulema but believed "that the Hindu will never be submissive and
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obedient to the Musalman unless the Hindu is reduced to extreme poverty." He undertook measures to impoverish them and felt it was justified because he knew the Hindu chiefs and muqaddams led a luxurious life but didn't pay a jital in taxes. Under the Mamluks, Hindus were deprived of positions in the higher bureaucracy. However, Amir Khusrau mentions a Hindu officer of his army despatched to repel the Mongols. In addition, many non-Muslims served in his army. During the last years of his life, Alauddin suffered from an illness and relied on Malik Kafur to handle the administration. After his death in 1316, Malik Kafur appointed Shihabuddin, son of Alauddin and his Hindu wife Jhatyapali, as a puppet monarch. However, his elder son Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah seized the power shortly after his death. 2. The Khalji or Khilji dynasty was a TurkoAfghan dynasty which ruled on the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320. Founded by Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji as the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India, it came to power through a revolution that marked the transfer of power from the monopoly of Turkish nobles to a heterogeneous IndoMussalman nobility. Its rule is known for conquests into present-day South India and successfully fending off the repeated Mongol invasions of India. III. Chaos: Twilight 1. Swaraj can mean generally self-governance or "self-rule," and was used synonymously
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with "home-rule" by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati and later on by Mohandas Gandhi, but the word usually refers to Gandhi's concept for Indian independence from foreign domination. Swaraj lays stress on governance, not by a hierarchical government, but by self-governance through individuals and community building. The focus is on political decentralization. Since this is against the political and social systems followed by Britain, Gandhi's concept of Swaraj advocated India's discarding British political, economic, bureaucratic, legal, military, and educational institutions. S. Satyamurti, Chittaranjan Das, and Motilal Nehru were among a contrasting group of Swarajists who laid the foundation for parliamentary democracy in India. Although Gandhi's aim of totally implementing the concepts of Swaraj in India was not achieved, the voluntary work organizations which he founded for this purpose did serve as precursors and role models for people's movements, voluntary organizations, and some of the non-governmental organizations that were subsequently launched in various parts of India. The student movement against oppressive local and central governments, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Udit Swaraj, and the Bhoodan movement, which presaged demands for land reform legislation throughout India, and which ultimately led to India's discarding of the Zamindari system of land tenure and social organization, was also inspired by the ideas of Swaraj. IV. Momentum: Dalel Singh
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1. Dalit, meaning "broken/scattered" in Sanskrit and Hindi, is a name for people belonging to the lowest caste in India characterized as "untouchable". Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Dalits now profess various religious beliefs, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, and various other belief systems. The term Dalits were in use as a translation for the British Raj census classification of Depressed Classes prior to 1935. It was popularised by the economist and reformer B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956), who included all depressed people irrespective of their caste into the definition of Dalits. Hence the first group he made was called the "Labour Party" and included as its members all people of the society who were kept depressed, including women, smallscale farmers, and people from backward castes. Ambedkar himself was from a Mahar community, and in the 1970s the use of the word "Dalit" was invigorated when it was adopted by the Dalit Panthers activist group. Gradually, political parties used it to gain mileage. Leftists like Kanhaiya Kumar subscribe to this definition of "Dalits"; thus a Brahmin marginal farmer trying to eke out a living, but unable to do so also falls in the "Dalit" category. India's National Commission for Scheduled Castes considers official use of Dalit as a label to be "unconstitutional" because modern legislation prefers Scheduled Castes; however, some sources say that Dalit has encompassed more communities than the
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official term of Scheduled Castes and is sometimes used to refer to all of India's oppressed peoples. A similar allencompassing situation prevails in Nepal. Scheduled Caste communities exist across India, although they are mostly concentrated in four states; they do not share a single language or religion. They comprise 16.6 percent of India's population, according to the 2011 Census of India. Similar communities are found throughout the rest of South Asia, in Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, and are part of the global Indian diaspora. In 1932, the British Raj recommended separate electorates to select leaders for Dalits in the Communal Award. This was favored by Ambedkar but when Mahatma Gandhi opposed the proposal it resulted in the Poona Pact. That, in turn, influenced the Government of India Act, 1935, which introduced the reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes, now renamed as Scheduled Castes. From soon after its independence in 1947, India introduced a reservation system to enhance the ability of Dalits to have political representation and to obtain government jobs and education. In 1997, India elected its first Dalit President, K. R. Narayanan. Many social organizations have promoted better conditions for Dalits through education, healthcare, and employment. Nonetheless, while castebased discrimination was prohibited and untouchability abolished by the Constitution of India, such practices are still widespread. To prevent harassment, assault, discrimination, and similar acts against these
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groups, the Government of India enacted the Prevention of Atrocities Act, also called the SC/ST Act, on 31 March 1995. 2. Sati, or suttee, was a historical practice found chiefly among Hindus in the northern regions of South Asia, in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. The extent to which sati was practiced in history is not known with clarity. However, during the early modern Mughal period, it was notably associated with elite Hindu Rajput clans in western India, marking one of the points of divergence between Rajput culture and Islamic Mughal culture. In the early 19th century, the East India Company, in the process of extending its rule to most of India, initially tolerated the practice; William Carey, a British Christian evangelist, noted 438 incidences within a 30-mile (48-km) radius of the capital Calcutta, in 1803, despite its ban within Calcutta. Between 1815 and 1818, the number of incidents of sati in Bengal doubled from 378 to 839. Opposition to the practice of sati by British Christian evangelists, such as William Carey, and Hindu reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy, ultimately led the British GovernorGeneral of India Lord William Bentinck to enact the Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829, declaring the practice of burning or burying alive of Hindu widows to be punishable by the criminal courts. These were followed up with other legislation, countering what the British perceived to be interrelated issues involving violence against Hindu women, including the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, Female Infanticide Prevention Act,
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1870, and Age of Consent Act, 1891. Isolated incidents of sati were recorded in India in the late 20th century, leading the Indian government to promulgate the Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, criminalizing the aiding or glorifying of sati. 3. A dowry is a transfer of parental property, gifts, or money at the marriage of a daughter (bride). Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment by the groom or his family to the bride's parents, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride's family to the groom or his family, ostensibly for the bride. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at the time of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control. Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it. Dowries continue to be expected and demanded as a condition to accept a marriage proposal in some parts of the world, mainly in parts of Asia, Northern Africa, and the Balkans. In some parts of the world, disputes related to dowry sometimes result in acts of violence against women, including killings and acid attacks. The custom of dowry is most common in cultures that are strongly patrilineal and that expect women to reside with or near their husband's family (patrilocality). Dowries have long histories in Europe, South Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world. 4. Five persons, including three businessmen, were shot dead and two seriously injured allegedly by a gang of twelve persons at Baraut, who stole the gun from DS Bhawan
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for their murders. The armed gangsters decamped with valuables and jewelry worth lakhs of rupees. According to a senior superintendent of police, RG Sindhu, the incident took place around 2:30 AM in the posh Madhuban locality when members of the three businessmen were asleep in their houses. According to Mr. Sindhu, who visited Baraut along with other senior police and district officials, the gangsters first entered the bungalow of Anandpal Tomar (or Anand Pal Tomar) (42) and went to the first floor, where Mr. Tomar and his wife were sleeping. His servant Ravindra (25) was getting ready to go to Delhi in connection with some work. The armed persons fired at him. Hearing the sound of firing, Mr. Tomar came out of his bedroom with his licensed rifle. The gangsters shot at him from pointblank range, killing him on the spot. In the meantime, his wife, Anju, also reached there along with another servant Satvir. Both of them were shot at and injured critically by the gangsters. The condition of Anju and her servant Satvir (22) is reported to be critical. While Ms. Anju had been admitted to a private nursing home, Satvir had been admitted to the Meerut district hospital. According to the police, the killings appeared to be the handiwork of professional gangsters. However, it is yet to be ascertained if the motive of the crime was just dacoity or murder.
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Dass Diwan, Jarmani. Maharani. Penguin Random House India Private Limited, 2020. Digby, William. Prosperous British India: A Revelation. T. Fisher Unwin, 1901. E. Wilson, John. India Conquered. Simon & Schuster, 2016. Eraly, Abraham. The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate. Penguin UK, 2015. George Keene, Henry. Fifty-Seven: Some Account of the Administration in Indian Districts During the Revolt of the Bengal Army. W.H. Allen, 1883. Henry Powell, Baden. The land systems of British India. Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2015. Hibbert, Christopher. The Great Mutiny: India 1857. Penguin Books, 1980. James, Lawrence. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. Little, Brown Book Group, 2010. Keay, John. India: A History. Paw Prints, 2008. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. Yale University Press, 2007. Kincaid, Dennis. British Social Life In India, 1608–1937. Rupa Publications India, 2015. Mill, James. The History of British India. Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, 1817. Moxham, Roy. The Theft of India: The European Conquests of India, 1498-1765. HarperCollins, 2016. Mukerjee, Madhusree. Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II. ReadHowYouWant.com, 2011.
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Orwell, George. Burmese Days. Harper & Brothers (US), 1934. Pal, Vijai. Krantipath ka Pathik. Vikas Tomar, 2014. Rai, Lala Lajpat. A History Of The Arya Samaj: An Account Of Its Origin, Doctrines And Activities With A Biographical Sketch Of The Founder. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Limited, 1992. River, Charles. The British Raj: The History and Legacy of Great Britains Imperialism in India and the Indian Subcontinent. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. S. Pillai, Manu. Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji. Juggernaut, 2018. Saraswati, Swami Dayananda. Satyarth Prakash. Subodh Pocket Books, 2011. Singh, Bhagat. Why I Am an Atheist. Srishti Publishers & Distributors, 1931. Singh, Mahek. Praacheen Bharat mein Prajatantr. Ram Lal Kapoor Trust, 2017. Singh, Mahek. Samant Samrat Salakshanpal Dev Tomar. Samant Samrat Salakshanpal Dev Tomar Education Trust, 2011. Stein, Burton. A History of India. Oxford University Press, 2002. Sunderlal, Pandit. How India Lost Her Freedom. SAGE Publishing India, 2018. Tharoor, Shashi. An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India. Aleph Book Company, 2016. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire. Aleph Book Company, 2017. Tomar, Vikas. Ruler's Creed. Partridge Publishing, 2016. 145
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Ward Fay, Peter. Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence, 1942-45. Rupa & Co; New edition, 1994.
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i Déjà vu: Ruler’s Creed
i Déjà vu: Call for Freedom
Philosophy and i Déjà vu
Triumph over Turbulence
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR An author, astropreneur, filmmaker, and an Ivy League aspirant, Aryan Tomar is an ethical hacker and is passionate about AI, ML, UX, and CREZ. Currently, as a core team member of TOMARS, he is contributing to merchandising authentic Indian apparel inspired by his royal heritage of the Tomara dynasty. Shadowing the Turbulence is Tomar's second book, while there are more in pipeline. The Indo-Canadian teenager is also an Arya Samaji, and has opted for vegetarianism, and is a Janeu (Upnayan thread) holder. Aryan is expediting his cognizance for XR and haptic technology.
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