Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History

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^^inayak ^bamodar

iSavarkar

Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History By V . D . Savarkar

Translated

and

Edited

By S. T . G o d b o l e

COPYRIGHT R E S E R V E D

First Edition

: January

1971

Pages I to V I I I + 5 6 8 Price

3f

3f

R s . T h i r t y F i v e [35.00]

Publishers BAL SAVARKAR Savarkar Sadan, Bombay—28 Associate Publishers & Sole

Distributors

Rajdhani Granthagar, 59, H IV Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi—24 (India) Jf.

Printers AJAY PRINTERS Navin Shahdara, Delhi—32.

PUBLISHER'S This

is the

last w o r k

NOTE

of Veer

oompleted during his illness a n d

Savarkarji which

o l d age.

he

After its M a r a t h i

a n d H i n d i e d i t i o n s h a v e b e e n C i r c u l a t e d , w e feel i t a m a t t e r of profound

pleasure

and

E n g l i s h version o f the popular

pride to

book.

offer

H o w far

to the p u b l i c the the

book

h a s been

c a n e a s i l y be seen f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t i t s H i n d i

J U a r a t h i editions have been p u b l i s h e d The author wanted i n t o E n g l i s h himself,

to

and

repeatedly.

translate this voluminous

b u t he c o u l d n o t

work

d o so b e c a u s e o f h i s

f a i l i n g h e a l t h . H i s w o r l d f a m o u s b o o k , The Indian War of pendence,

Inde­

1857 w a s t r a n s l a t e d i n t o E n g l i s h f r o m the o r i g i n a l

M a r a t h i b y h i s s e v e r a l p a t r i o t c o l l e a g u e s , b u t the final t o u c h given

to

Hindutva

the

b o o k was

of the

author

a n d Hindu-Pad-Padashahi

Savarkar

was

himself.

H e wrote

originally in English,

a writer of great

eminence i n M a r a t h i ,

Besides the charm o f language, there is a s t r i k i n g o r i g i n a l i t y i n his w r i t i n g s , a n d thought is paramount.

H e n c e t h e neces­

s i t y o f m a k i n g his w o r k available i n other languages invariably. mistress.

But The

translation,

charm

o f the

they

say,

is l i k e a

o r i g i n a l goes.

arises

faithless

The

learned

• t r a n s l a t o r , h i s l a b o u r t e m p e r e d w i t h d e v o t i o n , has, h o w e v e r , t r i e d t o g i v e h i s best. S h r i S.T. Godbole has not

translated

the

book

in

the

c u s t o m a r y w a y . T h e scores o f b o o k s ( g i v e n i n t h e A p p e n d i x ) w h i c h he has q u o t e d

i n support

of the assertions

t h e a u t h o r w h i l e , o n t h e one h a n d ,

lend

made

by

a u t h e n t i c i t y to the

book, they, on the other h a n d , show the colossal labour p u t i n b y h i m i n the project.

W e are e x t r e m e l y t h a n k f u l t o h i m .

S a v a r k a r saw the p a n o r a m a o f I n d i a n h i s t o r y i n the rise and fall of the H i n d u s .

This concept of history moulded his

p o l i t i c a l t h i n k i n g a n d career. ful i n presenting reader.

H o w f a r he has b e e n success­

h i s p o i n t o f v i e w is l e f t t o t h e

discerning

A W o r d In Confidence I t is w i t h great pleasure and satisfaction t h a t I p r e s e n t to the

readers

Marathi.

this

I consider

opportunity

translation

of

the

of translating

such an

i m p o r t a n t book b y the

l a t e S w a n t a n t r y a - V e e r V . D. S a v a r k a r , m y casual private

talk with

secretary

Shree

of that

translated every

original book i n

i t a piece of good l u c k to have had a n w h i c h c r o p p e d u p in.

B a l a r a o S a v a r k a r , the Prince of Patriots.

devoted

A f t e r i t was-

chapter went t o the illustrious author who

h o n o u r e d me

by going through

h a d the good

fortune to meet h i m personally o n the

it very carefully and when I comple­

t i o n o f t h e u n d e r t a k i n g , he o b l i g e d m e b y s a y i n g t h a t he w a s satisfied w i t h the t r a n s l a t i o n a n d appreciated the h a r d l a b o u r it entailed.

W o u l d t h a t S w a . Veer S a v a r k a r h a d been aliv&

t o d a y t o see t h i s E n g l i s h t r a n s l a t i o n o f h i s b o o k i n p r i n t ! Veer Savarkar's book, commentary—not significant

"*in?ftq ^fafRRnoT g f l

a history

i n its academic

events and p e r i o d s

broad survey

is a sense—on

the

i n o u r n a t i o n a l l i f e , t a k i n g a.

of the g r o w t h a n d s u r v i v a l o f our H i n d u race.

I n a w a y t h i s a t t e m p t o f S a v a r k a r has been s i n g u l a r , b a r r i n g a few honourable exceptions. The general

trend

of the

Histories, w r i t t e n , read a n d

t a u g h t i n s c h o o l s a n d colleges has b e e n one o f e u l o g i z i n g t h e foreigners and deprecating the H i n d u race, r e l y i n g w h o l l y o n the biased Attempts

records o f the foreign are,

historians

happily, being made

to

and

travellers,.

reconstruct

and

r e s t a t e t h e h i s t o r y o f I n d i a f r o m t h e n a t i o n a l p o i n t o f view,^ using to the utmost a l l a v a i l a b l e n a t i v e records o f coins a n d inscriptions and covert allusions i n the otherwise

non-histo­

r i c a l w o r k s , s l e n d e r t h o u g h I h e y m a y be ; b u t t h e y a r e s t i l l sporadic phase

of

and

isolated, relating to

Indian

Glorious Epochs of our recorded

History.

of Indian

This

this

volume

History'

history i.e. f r o m

or that p a r t i c u l a r presents

since the

'Six

beginning

the days o f Chandragupta.

Maurya

to

the

end

o f the

British

dominance

over India.

H e n c e , l i k e its predecessor, ' T h e W a r of I n d i a n Independence •of 1 8 5 7 ' , w h i c h the w o r l d

g a l v a n i z e d the p u b l i c o p i n i o n a n d

outlook on that

changed

phase o f o u r n a t i o n a l life, t h i s

b o o k too is very likely to start re-orientation o f our histori­ cal concepts

and the

accepted

h i s t o r i c a l theories.

A need

f o r a n E n g l i s h t r a n s l a t i o n o f t h i s b o o k w a s , therefore, felt

with

a view to introducing i t to

sorely

the people who

are

unable to read or understand M a r a t h i . A b o o k o f t h i s t y p e h a d t o be s u b s t a n t i a t e d w i t h p r o o f s , e s p e c i a l l y w h e n i t was replete w i t h

thought-provoking—even

-at t i m e s s h o c k i n g — s t a t e m e n t s a n d c o n c l u s i o n s . ences w e r e ,

therefore,

an

unavoidable

B a s i c refer­

necessity ; but

the

a u t h o r , w h o h a d a l r e a d y crossed t h e b a r o f e i g h t y y e a r s , a n d whose p h y s i c a l ailments h a d already created diflSculties expected

i n the

writing

of this

insurmountable

book,

c o u l d n o t be

to s t a n d the r i g o u r o f p i n - p o i n t i n g his

voluminous

as t h e y w e r e .

responsibility. this

very

The

appendage

v o l u m e is thus

my

of the

humble

c l e a r l y show to the reader

b a s i c references

contribution.

t h a t t h e facts

v o l u m e are f u l l y b a c k e d b y e v i d e n c e . these facts

references,

I, therefore, h a d to shoulder t h a t to

They will

mentioned i n this

The interpretation

of

and the conclusions d r a w n from them, however,

a r e t h e a u t h o r ' s s p e c i a l p r i v i l e g e s , i f o n l y t h e y o b e y t h e laws o f l o g i c a l r e a s o n i n g . T h e c h a p t e r s are n u m b e r e d s e r i a l l y f r o m one t o t w e n t y - t h r e e . a t the

Each

beginning, w h i l e the

graphs

indicate

index,

the

paragraph figures

reference

reference i s m a d e

is serially numbered

i n the b o d y of the p a r a ­

number.

In

to the paragraphs

preparing

the

a n d n o t to t h e

pages. My going Index.

thanks

through I am

are the

due type

to

my

son, S h r i P . S . Godbole for

w r i t t e n sheets a n d p r e p a r i n g

t h a n k f u l to S h r i B . D . V e l a n k a r , the

the

Asiatic

S o c i e t y o f B o m b a y a n d the U n i v e r s i t y o f B o m b a y for l i b r a r y facilities.

I am

also

thankful

t o the

publishers who

have

brought out this book. S. T.

Godbole

C O N T E N T S 1st G l o r i o u s E p o c b Chapter

I.

Chanakya-Chandragupta

1—Sft

2nd G l o r i o u s E p o c h Chapter

II.

Yavana-Destroyer, Pushyamitra

60—87

3rd Glorious Epoch Chapter

III.

Vikramaditya,Shaka-KushanMenace 88^111

4th G l o r i o u s E p o c h Chapter

IV.

Y a s h o d h a r m a , the C o n q u e r o r of the H u n s

112—127

5th G l o r i o u s E p o c h

128—454

Chapter

V.

The Climax of Maharashtrian Valour

128

Chapter

VI.

The Beginning of Muslim Incursion

131

Chapter

VII.

T h e P e c u l i a r N a t u r e o f the M u s l i m

Chapter

VIII.

Perverted Conception of Virtues

167

Chapter

IX.

S u p e r - D i a b o l i c Counter-OfFensive

188

Atrocities

148

Chapter X.

Intermittent H i n d u Retaliation

198

Chapter

XL

T i p u S u l t a n , The Savage

223

Chapter

XII.

A Resume

251

Chapter

XIII.

Hindu War Policy

254

Chapter

XIV-

Chapter

XV-

Chapter

XVI-

A g e - L o n g R e l a t i o n s o f the A r a b s with India

259

Twelfth to Thirteenth Century

266

M u s l i m Invasions on South India

281

Chapter XVII.

Khushrukhan and Devaldevi

294-

Chapter

XVIII.

B e g i n n i n g of the F i n a l O v e r t h r o w o f the M u s l i m E m p i r e

324

Chapter

XIX.

New H i n d u E m p i r e of Vijayanagar

341

Chapter

XX.

T h e E n d of the 16th C e n t u r y

370

Chapter

XXI.

The Marathas

403

Chapter

XXII.

Attock and B e y o n d

6th G l o r i o u s E p o c h Chapter

XXIII.

449 455—475

India Freed From British Domination

455

Appendix—Books Referred

477

Index

537

Abbreviations

559

Errata

567

The Author Born 1883—Died 1966 Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History Completed in 1963

7 J Glorious Epoch CHAPTER

1

CHANDRAGUPTA—CHANAKYA 1. phase

According to modern historical

o f t h e d a w n o f o u r n a t i o n a l life

from

I

research, the dates

five

to ten thousand

y e a r s ago^.

Babylon,

Greece a n d o t h e r

ancient nations our

back

L i k e t h a t of China,. ancient his­

t o r y , too, is clothed i n the p o e t i c a l garb o f mythology. replete

first

almost

It is

w i t h anecdotes, folk-lore, a n d deification o f n a t i o n a l

heroes a n d h e r o i n e s , a n d r e s o r t s t o s u p e r n a t u r a l a n d s y m b o l i c description.

Y e t these ancient mythologies (Puranas) o f ours

a r e t h e p i l l a r s s u p p o r t i n g t h e edifice o f o u r a n c i e n t h i s t o r y * . Just

as t h e s e e x t e n s i v e P u r a n i c t e x t s

o f ours are a m a g n i ­

ficent t r e a s u r e o f o u r a n c i e n t l i t e r a t u r e , o u r k n o w l e d g e , o u r glorious deeds a n d o u r g r a n d e u r and w e a l t h , i n a s i m i l a r w a y t h e y are a v a s t store-house o f t h e a c c o u n t s o f o u r p a s t , d e s u l ­ t o r y , chaotic, even at times, a m b i g u o u s t h o u g h i t m a y be. 2.

Our 'Puranas,

h o w e v e r , are n o t

'history' pure

and

unadulterated'. 3.

Hence, I propose

t o set a s i d e t h e

consideration o f

the ' P a u r a n i c times' i n the present context. F o r the 'Glorious

The number indicate reference to the book given in the Appendix.

2

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

E p o c h s ' , t h a t I a m g o i n g t o refer t o , a n d d i l a t e u p o n , b e l o n g n o t so m u c h t o t h e P a u r a n i c t i m e s , a s t o t h e h i s t o r i c p e r i o d s o f o u r n a t i o n a l life. T H E BEGINNING O F INDIAN HISTORY 4.

The main

places and

criterion of history

descriptions o f

is t h a t t h e d a t e s a n d

events referred to

necessarily bear the s t a m p o f a u t h e n t i c i t y , be

corroborated,

as

f a r as

therein

must

and they should

possible, b y foreign

as w e l l

as

indigenous evidence. 6.

The account of our past w h i c h f a i r l y stands t h i s test

begins a p p r o x i m a t e l y from the t i m e o f L o r d B u d d h a . many

Indian and

Buddhist

Western

Orientalists

have

Hence

accepted

p e r i o d as t h e b e g i n n i n g o f I n d i a n h i s t o r y * .

the The

i n c e s s a n t a n d i n d e f a t i g a b l e l a b o u r s o f these O r i e n t a l i s t s m a y i n f u t u r e i n c l u d e some o f t h e s o - c a l l e d

'Pauranic period' into

t h e h i s t o r i c a l one i f s o m e n e w e v i d e n c e w e r e t o come t o l i g h t . T i l l t h e n a t l e a s t we h a v e t o r e g a r d the B u d d h i s t i c p e r i o d as the s t a r t i n g p o i n t of our h i s t o r y . 6.

A g a i n , i n respect of establishing the authentic h i s t o r y

of any nation beyond doubt, contemporary able. ted

t h e c o n v i n c i n g references i n t h e

literature of other

n a t i o n s are r e a l l y

invalu­

T h e a n c i e n t p e r i o d o f o u r h i s t o r y w h i c h c a n be s u p p o r ­ b y the

historical

now

available, unimpeachable

records

of countries other

evidence

than India

in

the

is the

one

w h i c h begins r o u n d a b o u t the times of E m p e r o r C h a n d r a g u p t a M o u r y a ^ . For, s i n c e t h e d a t e o f A l e x a n d e r ' s s o - c a l l e d i n v a s i o n of

I n d i a numerous

r e f e r e n c e s t o e v e n t s i n I n d i a are t o

found i n the h i s t o r i c a l accounts o f the Greek w r i t e r s and

be the

description of their travels b y the Chinese travellers. 7.

W h a t s h o u l d be

the c r i t e r i o n for

determining

the

G l o r i o u s E p o c h s , I a m g o i n g t o discuss here. F o r t h a t m a t t e r there are nation

h u n d r e d s o f g l o r i o u s epochs i n t h e h i s t o r y o f o u r

which stand

the tests

o f poetic exuberance,

music,

p r o w e s s , affluence, t h e h e i g h t o f p h i l o s o p h y a n d d e p t h o f t h e o ­ l o g y and m a n y other criteria.

B u t b y the ' G l o r i o u s E p o c h '

3

3 ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

T m e a n the one f r o m t h e h i s t o r y o f t h a t w a r l i k e g e n e r a t i o n •and t h e b r a v e and

lead i t

leaders

a n d successful

warriors who

on to a w a r o f l i b e r a t i o n i n order to

inspire

free

their

n a t i o n from the shackles o f foreign d o m i n a t i o n , whenever i t has the

misfortune to

aggression

and

to

fall

a prey to

grovel abjectly

m a t e l y drive away

such

powerful

fatal

under it, and who u l t i ­

the enemy m a k i n g i t an

absolutely

free

a n d sovereign n a t i o n . E v e r y n a t i o n extols such epochs o f the wars o f independence w h i c h inflict crushing enemy. dence.

T a k e for instance, The day

dence f r o m battlefield,

defeats

o n the

the A m e r i c a n W a r of

Indepen­

on which A m e r i c a wrenched her

indepen­

England,

vanquishing

her

is a red-letter d a y i n the

completely

on

the

history of America and

is celebrated l i k e a f e s t i v a l a l l over the country. T h e moment r e c o r d i n g t h i s s u c c e s s f u l s t r u g g l e f o r f r e e d o m is a c k n o w l e d g e d as a g l o r i o u s e p o c h i n t h e h i s t o r y o f A m e r i c a . GREAT

NATIONS AND T H E OF

8.

FOREIGN

CALAMITY

DOMINATION

Moreover, the b i r t h o f the

U n i t e d States of America,

is o n l y o f a recent date. I n the v e r y short span o f her h i s t o r y i t i s n o t u n n a t u r a l t h a t o n l y one s u c h t e r r i b l e c a l a m i t y b e f e l l lier and consequently overcome it.

gave her o n l y one glorious occasion to

B u t the

nations

like China,

E g y p t , ancient Peru, ancient Mexico, m a n y others, years,

w h i c h can boast

naturally

and oppressed

had

many

B a b y l o n , Persia,

Greece a n d

of a history occasions

of

of being

b y m i g h t i e r f o r e i g n aggressors*.

m o n s t r o u s c a l a m i t i e s some o f these n a t i o n s again and again

Rome and

thousands of overcome

P r o m these

freed

themselves

w i t h exceptional valour, and humbled

r o u t e d the enemy.

These

nations with

and

a long tradition of

t h o u s a n d s o f y e a r s are n a t u r a l l y p r o u d o f m a n y s u c h g l o r i o u s moments recording their signal victories over

t h e i r enemies.

T h e h i s t o r y o f I n d i a as c o m p a r e d w i t h t h a t o f o t h e r has a consistent and that

flourished

unbroken record.

side b y

side w i t h

nations,

M o s t o f the n a t i o n s

her i n the past

are

uow

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

4 extinct

and

are remembered

only by

their

names.

China

s t a n d s t o d a y as a n o l d w i t n e s s o f t h e g r e a t n e s s o f I n d i a . 9.

Both China

maintained ancient

their

days.

and

India

independence

N o wonder

m o r t a l dangers o f foreign lived nations. too.

are v a s t and

they

countries a n d have

power to

right

face

from the

many

more

domination than the other

short­

The unerring

had

w h e e l o f f o r t u n e affected

them

J u s t as I n d i a w a s a t t a c k e d b y t h e S a k a s , t h e H u n s , t h e

M u g h a l s a n d o t h e r s , so w a s C h i n a t o o a v i c t i m o f t h e i n v a s i o n s o f these a n d o t h e r a l i e n n a t i o n s ' ' . S h e h a d t o b u i l d t h e w o r l d famous

China-wall

against the

all around

H u n n i s h inroads.

her

t e r r i t o r y as

a

bulwark

Nevertheless the enemies

did

conquer C h i n a , sometimes b y c i r c u m v e n t i n g the great w a l l

or

at times crossing it^.

at

M o s t l y o n l y i n parts, but sometimes

least, w h o l l y , C h i n a h a d to w r i t h e a n d s q u i r m u n d e r the y o k e of foreign

domination^.

Yet

e v e r y t i m e she c o u l d r e v i v e

her strength a n d overthrow the foreign aggression a n d h e r i n d e p e n d e n c e , a n d e v e n t o d a y she i s a n powerful

nation.

This i n itself

adopted.

But

specially when sway,

many

and

is a marvel of history. A n

appraisal of I n d i a n h i s t o r y d e m a n d s the under the B r i t i s h

regain

independent

our

s a m e c r i t e r i o n t o be

country

was

smarting

E n g l i s h w r i t e r s h a d so m u c h

p e r v e r t e d the I n d i a n h i s t o r y a n d o b l i g e d t w o o r three genera­ t i o n s o f I n d i a n s t u d e n t s i n t h e i r schools a n d colleges to l e a r n i t i n such a way,

that

not

o n l y the

rest

o f the

world but

even our o w n people were m i s l e d . A b s u r d a n d m a l i c i o u s state­ m e n t s i m p l y i n g t h a t I n d i a as a n a t i o n has a l w a y s been u n d e r some f o r e i g n

rule or

the

u n b r o k e n c h a i n o f defeat

other or t h a t

I n d i a n h i s t o r y is a n

after defeat o f the H i n d u s ^ " , h a v e

been used l i k e currency a n d are accepted b y our people w i t h ­ o u t affront o r r e m o n s t r a n c e

or even a formal protest.

r e f u t e these s t a t e m e n t s i s e s s e n t i a l n o t of view of

honour

historical truth.

of the

To point

b u t also f o r the s a k e o f

Efforts being made b y other historians i n

this direction have to propaganda.

nation

o n l y f r o m the

be

supported,

as f a r

as p o s s i b l e , b y

T h a t i n itself is a n a t i o n a l d u t y .

T h a t is w h y

5

1ST GLORIOUS E P O C H

I h a v e d e c i d e d here to

describe the

o f those generations a n d of their vanquished the

historical

achievements

representative

aggressors from t i m e to t i m e

leaders w h o

and

liberated

their country. ALEXANDER'S AGGRESSION 10.

A l e x a n d e r ' s a t t a c k o n I n d i a is the

first

well-known

foreign i n v a s i o n d u r i n g the ancient p e r i o d o f I n d i a n h i s t o r y . I t t o o k place i n 326 B . C . " , a

period of human history when

the modern E u r o p e a n nations l i k e E n g l a n d , F r a n c e , G e r m a n y ^ n d others were not even b o r n . ^s

yet any foundation

who

were

resounding

The R o m a n Empire had not

l a i d for i t . the

I t was

European

•city-states r u l e d t h e m s e l v e s i n d e p e n d e n t l y . a n d A t h e n s were the m o s t progressive. separate

city-states

well-organized, they

were

were to

face

efforts

Persian armies.

him

O f these

Sparta

B u t w h e n these s m a l l

by

the ruler

successfully.

b e s t t o fight t h e

p r o v e d fruitless before N a t u r a l l y , the

Greeks

S m a l l Greek

of a vast,

unitary and very powerful Persian

unable

•Greek r e p u b l i c s d i d t h e i r a l l their

invaded

o n l y the

stage^*.

empire,^'

Those s m a l l

enemy back,

the vast

but

ocean-like

Greeks earnestly thought of

effecting a fusion o f a l l t h e i r separated s m a l l c i t y - s t a t e s •a, p o w e r f u l G r e e k K i n g d o m Philip,

K i n g of M a c e d o n i a , who was

ambition, conquered

into

and forming a united front.

a l l those

fired

small Greek

w i t h the republics";

h e d i e d before he c o u l d d e v e l o p t h e m i n t o a m i g h t y

So

same but

nation^^.

H o w e v e r , his son w h o succeeded h i m to the throne, was m u c h more

ambitious,

w h o m he pired

more

eager t o

surpassed i n valour^*.

g a i n power t h a n his father I t was A l e x a n d e r .

H e ins­

t h e w h o l e G r e e k C o m m u n i t y w i t h a sense o f s o l i d a r i t y

and militant nationalism. and marched

H e organised an i n v i n c i b l e army,

o n the Persian E m p e r o r ,

Darius,

himself, who

h a d been the arch-enemy of the Greeks^'. T h i s well-organised Greek a r m y s i m p l y routed the vast but i l l - o r g a n i z e d Persian army.

A t the b a t t l e

field

o f A r b e l a (331 B . C . ) w h o l e o f t h e

P e r s i a n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n v i r t u a l l y collapsed^^.

W i t h his victo-

6

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORV

rious

army

capital

Alexander marched straight on

a n d after

emperor

of

c o n q u e r i n g i t he

that

country^*.

This

whetted

his lust for conquests.

empires

a t h i s feet,

limit.

to the

Persian

proclaimed himself unprecedented

the

success

W i t h the Greek a n d P e r s i a n

the s k y seemed

to h i m well w i t h i n

his-

H e was i n t o x i c a t e d w i t h the w i l d a m b i t i o n to conquer

t h e w h o l e w o r l d a n d t h e r e f o r e he p l a n n e d to i n v j i d e I n d i a , o f w h i c h the Greeks h a d been

h e a r i n g so m u c h

for g e n e r a t i o n s

t o g e t h e r . H e t h o u g h t he w o u l d r u n o v e r I n d i a as e a s i l y as he^ h a d crushed the P e r s i a n

as

w e l l as t h e a n c i e n t B a b y l o n i a n

e m p i r e . I n o r d e r t o e x e c u t e t h i s d a r i n g p l a n he f o r m e d a n e w powerful

army

w i t h the p i c k of his Greek

soldiers, full of

y o u t h f u l e n t h u s i a s m a n d e q u i p p e d i t w i t h g l i t t e r i n g -weapons. This

a r m y consisted

o f one

foot-soldiers a n d a c a v a l r y

hundred fifteen

and twenty

thousand

thousand

strong*".

brave soldiers, m a d w i t h v i c t o r y after v i c t o r y , h a d much impressed b y the u n b r o k e n quests t h a t t h e y

Theseb e e n so-

chain of Alexander's con­

looked u p o n this great general a n d emperor

as a d i v i n e b e i n g . A l e x a n d e r h i m s e l f b e g a n t o p o s e as t h e s o n o f t h e G r e e k G o d , Zeus^^. G E O G R A P H I C A L DIMENSIONS O F INDIA 11.

I n t h o s e d a y s , s o m e t w o t h o u s a n d a n d five h u n d r e d

years ago, spread Persia.

the I n d i a n c o m m u n i t y a n d I n d i a n W n g d o m s h a d

far b e y o n d the

Indus,

right up

to the

boundary o f

T h e m o u n t a i n r a n g e k n o w n t o d a y as t h e H i n d u k u s h

was a t t h a t t i m e c a l l e d P a r o p n i s u s * * , b y t h e G r e e k s . A f g h a n i s t a n was c a l l e d G a n d h a r ,

known in

Modern

Indian tradition

b y the name, Ahiganasthan*^, w h i l e the r i v e r K a b u l has been called

Kubha

i n our ancient literature**.

Throughout

the

whole region up to the H i n d u k u s h m o u n t a i n , r u l e d peacefully v a r i o u s s t a t e s , some s m a l l , o t h e r s large*^.

R i g h t f r o m these

I n d i a n states, a l l a l o n g the b a n k s o f the I n d u s , to the place where broken

chain of I n d i a n states w h i c h

Vedic religion.

straight

i t leaps i n t o t h e sea, w a s a l o n g a n d strictly followed

up un­ the

M o s t o f t h e m -were r e p u b l i c s * " a n d w e r e t h e n

7

1ST GLORIOUS E P O C H

called 'Ganas' or 'Ganarajyas'. tially democratic.

T h e i r c o n s t i t u t i o n w a s essen­

There were o n l y t w o or three monarchies

w o r t h t h e n a m e , one o f w h i c h t h e b i g g e s t a n d s t r o n g e s t ,

was

r u l e d b y a P o u r a v K i n g , w h o m the G r e e k s called Porus*'. DR. JAYASWAL'S 12.

HINDU POLITY'

D r . J a y a s w a l , one o f the p r o m i n e n t m e m b e r s

revolutionary party, y e a r s o f 1907-1910,

'Abhinava Bharat',

d u r i n g the

of the critical

and later on a world-famous Orientalist,

has g i v e n , after a c r i t i c a l research, a v e r y d e t a i l e d account o f the different ' B h a r a t e e y a G a n a s ' spread a l o n g b o t h the b a n k s o f t h e I n d u s r i g h t u p t o i t s confluence w i t h t h e s e a . 13.

A c c o r d i n g t o G r e e k m y t h o l o g i e s , t h e y seem t o h a v e

believed

that

their

ancestors

branch of the original

had migrated

A r y a n S t o c k from the

o t h e r r e g i o n s b e y o n d t h e Indus**.

as a s e p a r a t e Gandhar

and

W h e n A l e x a n d e r ' s forces

entered the precincts o f I n d i a t h e y a c c i d e n t a l l y came across a s m a l l c o m m u n i t y of people w h o c a l l e d themselves the o r i g i n a l Greeks*'. T h e y h a d been c o m p l e t e l y m e r g e d w i t h the I n d i a n s , b u t as

s o o n as t h e y s a w

this Greek army they

avowed that

t h e y w e r e t h e a n c i e n t b r e t h r e n o f t h o s e Greeks'**. A l e x a n d e r , too, was l e d to believe t h a t I n d i a m u s t be the o r i g i n a l of

his ancestors.

lighted they

at the sight

stopped

festival.

of this,

fighting

The

abode

H e a n d h i s w h o l e a r m y w e r e so m u c h their antique

f o r some

Greeks

fatherland,

days a n d celebrated

performed

a

sacrifice

and

de­ that

a great offered

oblations to p r o p i t i a t e t h e i r G r e e k deities'^. 14. closely.

The

Greek

Gods

resembled

Their names h a d undergone

t i o n b y c o r r u p t i o n i n course o f t i m e . m e d sacrifices as t h e

Indo-Aryans did,

t h r o u g h t h e fire t o t h e i r

the

Vedic

changes

ones v e r y

i n pronuncia­

The Greeks too perfor­ a n d offered o b l a t i o n s

various deities'*.

T h e y were

also

called lonians. IONIAN' A N D 15.

YAVAN'

I t is l i k e l y t h a t these Greeks were the descendants

8

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

o f A n u , the son of Y a y a t i ? later o n corrupted to I n d i a n .

One

wonders i f A n w a y a n was

T h i s b i t o f a guess m u s t , h o w ­

e v e r , be l e f t t o t h e r e s e a r c h s c h o l a r s . the

Indians

called

The fact

remains t h a t

these Greeks ' Y a v a n a s ' f r o m

the

very

b e g i n n i n g , as i s seen f r o m t h e S a n s k r i t l i t e r a t u r e ' * . I t is f r o m t h e G r e e k w o r d ' l o n i a n s ' t h a t t h e y came t o be c a l l e d ' Y a v a n s ' or ' Y o n s ' i n I n d i a . BUDDHA NOT HEARD OF FROM

GANDHAR-

PANCHANAD T O SINDH 16.

O n e m o r e f a c t d e s e r v e s m e n t i o n here.

porary

Greek writers have

given

The contem­

i n their books

detailed

descriptions o f the v a r i e d life o f the people from those p a r t s of I n d i a where A l e x a n d e r m o v e d — f r o m G a n d h a r to P a n c h a n a d (the P u n j a b ) a n d t h e n c e a l o n g b o t h t h e b a n k s o f t h e I n d u s t o the v e r y place where

i t flows i n t o

t h e sea.

But

a l l t h e s e d e s c r i p t i o n s n o t a s i n g l e reference t o

throughout either

B u d d h a o r t h e B u d d h i s t i c c u l t o r sect c a n b e f o u n d ,

t h e r e a r e n u m e r o u s references t o the V e d i c H i n d u s ' * . t h i s a n d , o f course, f r o m o t h e r

Lord

whereas From

c o n t e m p o r a r y references i t i s

quite clear t h a t at least t i l l t h a t t i m e the B u d d h i s t ; sect was quite u n k n o w n b e y o n d the S h a t a d r u (Sutlej) r i v e r . that for

It

means

a b o u t t w o h u n d r e d a n d fifty t o t h r e e h u n d r e d y e a r s

after t h e d e a t h o f t h e B u d d h a t h e B u d d h i s t c u l t s p r e a d h e r e a n d there r o u n d

a b o u t M a g a d h a a n d n o t f a r t h e r off,

a fact

w h i c h deserves special notice for the p r o p e r i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f subsequent history'*". A GREEK MEANS A YAVAN ! 17.

Our contemporary

Indian

aggressive Greek foreigners, w h o

ancestors

professed

called

these

a slightly

alien

r e l i g i o n , ' Y a v a n s ' . B u t t h a t is n o t the r e a s o n w h y we s h o u l d c a l l a l l f o r e i g n aggressors ' Y a v a n s ' . take.

I t is o b v i o u s l y a m i s ­

Especially when our people began to call.the M u s l i m s

'Yavans',

they really committed

G r e e k s w e r e aggressors

a blunder.

a n d foreigners,

Although

the

they were, compara-

9

1ST GLORIOUS E P O C H

tively

speaking,

considered

to

be

learning and highly cultured and

particularly devoted

civilized

to

according to the

standards o f the time. The M u s l i m hordes that i n v a d e d I n d i a , centuries afterwards, were h i g h l y f a n a t i c a l , d i a b o l i c a n d r u t h ­ lessly destructive. to call them

It w o u l d have been i n the

T o c a l l t h e m ' Y a v a n s , is d o u b l y duly

flatters

fitness

'Mussalmans' i n view of their

of things

demonic

nature.

w r o n g i n as m u c h as i t u n ­

t h e m a n d does a v e r y g r e a t i n j u s t i c e t o t h e w o r d

' Y a v a n ' itself.

The Mussalmans may

be c a l l e d ' M l e n c h h a s ' ,

mot ' Y a v a n s ' . A L E X A N D E R AND STUPID MUSLIMS 18.

A s t u p i d n o t i o n common amongst most of the M u s ­

l i m s is w o r t h a

m e n t i o n here.

The

name

'Alexander'

•corrupted i n t o ' S h i k a n d a r ' i n the P e r s i a n language. as t h e G r e e k e m p i r e h a d

Persia under its sway

was

So long

many

of the

P e r s i a n people h i g h l y impressed b y the unprecedented v a l o u r •of A l e x a n d e r n a m e d t h e i r on even

after

practice

the

n e w - b o r n sons S h i k a n d a r .

Persians

of naming

their

were

converted to

children

T h e M u s l i m converts i n I n d i a

'Shikandar'

adopted

that

word

thousands

believe

of Muslims i n India

fondly

others, the

this

persisted.

practice.

ignorant o f the h i s t o r i c a l o r i g i n o f the M o h a m m a d A l i , K a s i m and

Later

Islam

But

'Shikandar' that,

like

n a m e S h i k a n d a r is a

^ M u s l i m n a m e ; a n d ( t h a t v a l i a n t A l e x a n d e r m u s t be s o m e M u s ­ l i m p e r s o n a l i t y ) . N a y , he c o u l d be so v e r y v a l i a n t a n d a w o r l d •conqueror s i m p l y b e c a u s e he w a s a M u s l i m . to convince

I f a n y one t r i e s

these fanatics, v u l g a r a n d v a i n - g l o r i o u s M u s l i m s

t h a t ' S h i k a n d a r (Alexander) was not a M u s l i m , t h a t he c o u l d n e v e r be o n e , as

M o h a m m e d Paighamber, the founder

M u s l i m r e l i g i o n , w a s h i m s e l f b o r n n o t less t h a n

a

of the

thousand

years after the d e a t h o f S h i k a n d a r , these, d i e - h a r d M u s l i m s , would call that person un-informed. 19. that

The eastern

time

was

the

boundary

of Alexander's

H i n d u k u s h mountains.

•crossed these m o u n t a i n s

he

marched

with

empire

at

After

having

his vast

armies

10

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

Straight to T a x i l a i n I n d i a

The K i n g of Taxila, K i n g

(Ambhi) accepted his overlordship w i t h o u t battle'®.

Ambuj

giving him

any

Some Greek writers assert t h a t this v e r y K i n g o f

T a x i l a had i n v i t e d A l e x a n d e r i n order to put d o w n his r i v a l , K i n g Porus'*".

I f t h a t i s so, A m b h i h a d q u i t e n a t u r a l l y

to

p a y for his treachery b y his w i l l i n g , t h o u g h abject submission t o the Greeks. U N I V E R S I T Y IN T A X I L A A N D A STRANGE COINCIDENCE famous

Indian

U n i v e r s i t y of the t i m e , where students from different

20.

T a x i l a was

the

seat

o f the

most

count­

ries c a m e t o s t u d y v a r i o u s sciences a n d a r t s . E v e n t h e P r i n c e s , of different states came there, l e a r n t p o l i t i c a l science a n d got lessons i n t h e a r t o f g o v e r n a n c e , w a r f a r e a n d s t r i c t l y o b s e r v e d the rules of discipline prevalent t h e r e ' ' . 21.

B y some s t r a n g e c o i n c i d e n c e , j u s t w h e n A l e x a n d e r

was m a r c h i n g at the head o f his a r m y i n t o I n d i a , after reduc­ ing T a x i l a , a brilliant y o u t h , who, a little later, was destined to carve a glorious page i n the h i s t o r y o f I n d i a was l e a r n i n g the sciences o f war a n d

politics i n the

T a x i l a ' 8 . H e was c a l l e d C h a n d r a g u p t a .

same U n i v e r s i t y

of

The o l d teacher who

w a s w e l l - v e r s e d i n different l o r e s o f t h e t i m e a n d w a s a l s o a n astute

p o l i t i c i a n a n d was g i v i n g

tional

revolutionary activities to this splendid y o u t h under

lessons i n p o l i t i c s a n d n a ­

the p o r t a l s o f the same U n i v e r s i t y , was C h a n a k y a ' * . 22.

B u t i n the confusion wrought b y

A l e x a n d e r these t w o not yet attracted

exceptionally gifted

public attention

to

this

invasion of

personalities

themselves.

had

Both of

t h e m h a d been w a t c h i n g v e r y closely the movements o f A l e x ­ ander's vast forces.

Alexander had,

crowns a n d coronets of K i n g s ,

as

it

were, p u t a l l the

and kings of kings and of a l l

the s m a l l R a v ' s a n d R a v a l ' s , into a m e l t i n g pot and a single

c r o w n to p r o c l a i m himself the

Emperor

forged

of I n d i a ;

w h i l e t h e o l d sage, A c h a r y a C h a n a k y a , was s e c r e t l y p l a n n i n g

11

1ST GLORIOUS E P O C H

an

easy

transfer

of that

covetable

d i s c i p l e ' s h e a d b y m e a n s o f a coup WAR 23. said,

crown to

his

young

d'etat.

WITH PORUS

T h e k i n g o f T a x i l a , A m b u j o r A m b h i h a d , as a l r e a d y

bowed down

single battle, treacherous

to the

Greek might

a n d therefore act,

as

it

without

h u m i l i a t e d the

order to counteract i t , the

fighting

a

e v e r y b o d y b e g a n t o jeer a t h i s braver

spirits.

neighbouring I n d i a n

In

monarchies

a n d r e p u b l i c s d e c i d e d t o force a b i t t e r s t r u g g l e o n t h e G r e e k s . It

is

really unfortunate

that

these

various

I n d i a n states d i d not t h i n k of m a k i n g i t a perhaps h a d no t i m e to do i t .

A s s o o n as he r e a c h e d T a x i l a , .

A l e x a n d e r w i t h o u t a n y loss o f t i m e , s e n t the

n e i g h b o u r i n g I n d i a n states,

surrender,

and

when

independent

c o m m o n cause, o r

Taxila's

u l t i m a t u m , to a l l

demanding unconditional

very next

neighbour.

King

P o r u s , ignored his u l t i m a t u m a n d t o o k u p the challenge, the G r e e k captain-general macrhed o n him*". 24.

K i n g Porus mainly

depended

on his war-chariots

and elephants, whereas the Greeks relied u p o n brigades. armies.

The

river V i t a s t a (Jhelum)

their cavalry

separated

the

A l l o f a s u d d e n , e v e n before t h e t w o a r m i e s

joined

b a t t l e , t o r r e n t i a l rains overflowing the r i v e r w i t h h i g h began to assail t h e m a l l r o u n d . a n d l o w a n d i n a few d a y s the r i v e r was

fordable.

two

A l e x a n d e r searched

floods high

found to the n o r t h a place where

W i t h p r e c i p i t a t e h a s t e , he

crossed

t h e r i v e r a n d w i t h h i s fine c a v a l r y , d a s h e d a g a i n s t t h e f o r c e s of K i n g P o r u s " .

This disturbed

the whole p l a n o f Porus;

s t i l l he f o u g h t o n a f i e r c e b a t t l e . the

field

m u d d y ^^o, r e n d e r i n g

great instruments

of war,

H e could not, therefore,

B u t the rains h a d turned u t t e r l y useless

namely

Porus's

chariots and

successfully

check the

brisk

energetic attacks of A l e x a n d e r ' s horsemen.

I n the

the

and

battle,

fighting,

Porus

seated

on

his elephant

w a s g r i e v o u s l y wounded*^''

a n d fell

two

elephants. and

thick of

desperatly

i n t o the h a n d s

of the enemy. T h u s , p a r t l y because o f P o r u s ' s misfortune a n d

12

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

partly field,

because o f A l e x a n d e r ' s m i l i t a r y s k i l l

on the

battle­

t h e G r e e k s w e r e c r o w n e d w i t h success. VICTORY—SHREWD POLITICAL 25.

W h e n Porus

STRATEGY

w a s t a k e n as a c a p t i v e before A l e x a n ­

der, the latter asked the I n d i a n K i n g ,

" H o w should I treat

you ?" Porus promptly replied, 'like a K i n g ' . has evoked the comment of E u r o p e a n historians

that

impressed

by

this

as

bold

This apt reply

w e l l as reply,

our

own

Alexander

returned to Porus his t e r r i t o r y m a k i n g h i m a governor under him, instead

of putting h i m to death"".

But

this

inter­

pretation

of A l e x a n d e r ' s treatment of P o r u s is wrong,

therefore,

s u c h p l a t i t u d e s s h o u l d be

and

avoided i n school text­

books. 26.

O b v i o u s l y , A l e x a n d e r was not like the artless simple

I n d i a n K i n g , H a r i s h c h a n d r a , who gave away his k i n g d o m i n his w a k e f u l hours i n order to fulfil a promise m a d e i n d r e a m . H e k n e w i f he k i l l e d P o r u s o r l i q u i d a t e d h i s k i n g d o m , p l a c i n g in

his place

some

Greek Satrap,

o f t h e s t a t e w o u l d be the

Greeks.

Now

the

highminded

aflame w i t h r a g e a n d

Alexander wanted

to

hatred fight

people towards

his w a y a l l

a l o n g to the chief C a p i t a l o f I n d i a , n a m e l y P a t a l i p u t r a ! C o u l d he e v e r d o so w i t h t h e sole

support of his own Greek a r m y ?

O n the other h a n d , i t was far Porus w i t h apparent done to

king

more

magnanimity

profitable and

to w i n

over

k i n d n e s s as h e h a d

A m b h i of T a x i l a (Takshashila) a n d

enlist his

active support i n order to facilitate the a c c o m p l i s h m e n t o f his d a r i n g p l a n o f the conquest o f I n d i a . I t is, therefore, n o t for the sake of appreciating the b o l d a

clever p o l i t i c a l strategy,

that

rejoinder of Porus arch

b u t as

diplomat Alexander

returned to Porus his K i n g d o m . H e even annexed the smaller neighbouring states, w h i c h

he

had

conquered

immediately

before or after his clash w i t h P o r u s to the l a t t e r ' s H e h a d a p p o i n t e d h i m as h i s S a t r a p I n d i a n province**.

(governor)

kingdom.

of this vast

P o r u s t o o g a v e h i s a s s e n t uo A l e x a n d e r ' s

proposals to simply wait

f o r h i s t i m e f o r f o r t u n e h.ad p l a y e d

IS

1ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

f o u l w i t h h i m . P o r u s h a d d o n e h i s d u t y , as a K s h a t r i y a w a r ­ rior w o u l d do, of his n a t i o n .

In

fighting

fact

t i l l the end against

cIRcT

t^^^J^ ( B i d e t h e t i m e ! ) is a

v l u a b l e tenet i n political sion of k i n g

the enemy o f

science. K n o w i n g t h a t the

submis­

P o r u s was o n l y t i m e serving, the I n d i a n

popu­

l a c e a l s o d i d n o t t a k e i t a m i s s . I t w i l l be s h o w n l a t e r h o w a t the opportune

time

K i n g Porus

(now S a t r a p Porus)

turned

the tables against A l e x a n d e r himself. 27. himself

A f t e r the end o f the war w i t h up to

P o r u s , A l e x a n d e r set

the task o f s t a b i l i s i n g the n e w l y

conquered

n e i g h b o u r i n g states a n d began a careful s t u d y of the the people

there a n d

i n the

yonder

regions.

life

of

Besides, to

replenish his a r m y t h a t was depleted i n numbers a n d energy because of the incessant

wars from the

H i n d u k u s h to

the

P a n c h a n a d , A l e x a n d e r o r d e r e d fresh r e g i m e n t s o f forces f r o m his Satraps i n B a b y l o n and his

fighting

forces w h o

Greece, a n d sent b a c k those of

were w o u n d e d a n d r e n d e r e d i n v a l i d

a n d also those w h o were shirkers*'. INQUIRY O F T H E INDIAN ASCETICS 28.

The

scouts

whom Alexander had

sent

s u r v e y the local c o n d i t i o n o f the people i n the as w e l l as n o n - s u b j u g a t e d reports,

detailed

provinces, brought, among

descriptions

forests, a n d o f the ascetics, o i l w o r l d l y bonds,

r o u n d tosubjugated

of the

anchorites, recluses, freed

wandering

about

other

penance-groves i n the from

a l l alone i n search

of

k n o w l e d g e a n d a l s o o f t h o s e sages w h o w e r e d e e p l y e n g r o s s e d in

philosophical thought.

Alexander himself

learning a n d p h i l o s o p h i c a l discussions, for the

disciple of the

great

philosopher, Aristotle.

already heard m u c h i n Greece i t s e l f o f such austere

Brahmins.

was

S o he e a r n e s t l y

fond of

he c a l l e d h i m s e l f He had

ascetics and o f

desired to

see p e r s o n ­

a l l y at least some o f these austere B r a h m i n s i n I n d i a , who the Greeks called 'Gymnosophists' and have talks with them. So he s e n t f o r

some

o f such hermits from their

a n d some he s a w i n t h e i r s e c l u d e d c e l l s .

forest-abodes**

The Greek writers.

14

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

themselves

have

g i v e n some

occasions.

I would

like

those i n the words o f the

to

interesting tales

about

cite a tale or two f r o m

such among

G r e e k w r i t e r s t h e m s e l v e s , so as t o

t h r o w some l i g h t o n t h e t h o u g h t s

a n d feelings o f the

Greeks

a n d t h e i r leader, A l e x a n d e r . 29.

" T h i s p h i l o s o p h e r ( K a l a n o s ) , we are

A l e x a n d e r a s y m b o l of his empire.

H e threw

told,

showed

down on the

g r o u n d a d r y a n d s h r i v e l l e d h i d e a n d p l a n t e d his foot o n the edge o f i t .

B u t w h e n i t was

trodden

started up

e v e r y w h e r e else.

He

d o w n i n one p l a c e , i t

then walked all round

it

a n d s h o w e d t h a t t h e s a m e t h i n g t o o k p l a c e w h e r e v e r he t r o d , u n t i l a t l e n g t h he made it

a l l lie

stepped i n t o the flat.

m i d d l e a n d b y d o i n g so

T h i s s y m b o l was

A l e x a n d e r t h a t he s h o u l d c o n t r o l

intended to

his empire from its

show centre

a n d not wander away to its d i s t a n t extremities"*^. THE CANON OF DANDAMIS 30. have a heard

A l e x a n d e r k e e n l y f e l t t h a t he personal

talk with

one

should

Brahmin,

so m u c h i n T a x i l a ( T a k s h a s h e e l a ) .

this B r a h m i n 'Dandamis'*" but

send for a n d

o f w h o m he

had

The Greeks called

I h a v e n o t so

far s u c c e e d e d

i n t r a c i n g d o w n his o r i g i n a l S a n s k r i t name. T h e B r a h m i n , bent w i t h age a n d k n o w l e d g e , w a s free wandered n a k e d everywhere.

f r o m a l l w o r l d l y ties

H e d i d not p a y a n y heed

and to

A l e x a n d e r ' s messages. T h e r e u p o n A l e x a n d e r sent h i s o w n offi­ cer ' O n e s i k r e t o s ' t o t h i s selfless r e c l u s e w h o t o l d h i m , " A l e x ­ ander,

the v e r y son o f G o d Zeus (Sansk: D y u s ) a n d a w o r l d -

conqueror has summoned y o u to

his court.

I f y o u still fail

t o c o m e , y o u w i l l be b e h e a d e d i n s t a n t a n e o u s l y . " T h e B r a h m i n began to laugh

vociferously at this

A l e x a n d e r is t h e s o n t h e same r e a s o n

of Zeus; i n the

threat and

replied, " I f

same manner

and

for

I a m also t h e s o n o f t h a t v e r y Z e u s ( D y u s ) .

A s to his boast of being a w o r l d - c o n q u e r o r , i t is

absolutely

v a i n ! H e has n o t as y e t seen t h e o t h e r b a n k o f t h e r i v e r V y a s . I f he s u c c e s s f u l l y faces t h e b r a v e yonder

still,

the

powerful

I n d i a n states b e y o n d and,

empire of Magadha, and

still

15

1ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

remcains a l i v e , w e s h a l l h a v e t i m e

to consider

w h e t h e r e he is

a w o r l d - c o n q u e r o r . A l e x a n d e r offers m e l a n d a n d g o l d , b u t go a n d t e l l h i m t h a t ascetics l i k e me s p i t upon such things. T h i s mother-land of mine

provides

me w i t h

w i t h the l o v i n g care o f a r e a l mother.

everything I

want,

I f A l e x a n d e r is g o i n g

t o c h o p m y h e a d off, t h e n m y h e a d a n d b o d y

would mix

up

w i t h t h i s e a r t h o f w h i c h t h e y are m a d e , b u t he w o u l d n e v e r b e able to murder m y soul.

I t is invincible,

indestructible and

i m m o r t a l . G o a n d t e l l h i m t h a t he s h o u l d i s s u e t h e s e t h r e a t s t o t h o s e w h o are s l a v e s o f g o l d a n d death.

B e f o r e us t h e s e

threats of a

power a n d

mortal like Alexander

f a l l flat a n d a r e p o w e r l e s s ! F o r , a t r u e n e v e r be w o n o v e r b y g o l d , w o n ' t come! G o 31.

n o r does he

ascetic B r a h m i n can e v e r fear d e a t h !!

I

away."

W e have q u o t e d o n l y some o f the

the r e p l y

are a f r a i d o f

of Dandamis

to

Alexander.

sentences

Greek

from

writers have

g i v e n t h e f u l l t e x t o f h i s f e a r l e s s a n d d i r e c t reply**". P l u t a r c h t o o , has m e n t i o n e d these tales. S o m e w r i t e r s * ' a s t o u n d e d his dauntless and

straight-forward answer,

" I f at a l l a n y o n e i n the Alexander,

who

had

world

conquered

has

so

have

by

remarked,

successfully

defied

so m a n y k i n g d o m s ,

i t was

t h i s n a k e d , o l d B r a h m i n ascetic of I n d i a " * ' " . BRAHMINS H A N G E D FOR POLITICAL CONSPIRACY 32.

I n his survey A l e x a n d e r came to k n o w t h a t although

these world-forsakers,

ascetics,

wandering all alone, their

recluses

and

others

were

opinions exerted a powerful influ­

ence b e c a u s e o f t h e i r d i s i n t e r e s t e d n e s s , fearlessness a n d t h e i r d i s r e g a r d for a n y consequences whatever, u p o n the ments of I n d i a n republics and t o n g u e s o f t h e s e free sharp they

edges

like

protested

sharply

and

and

against

spread,

the

first

adoration

of the unjust

o p e n l y or

against A l e x a n d e r amongst his

also on the monarchies.

fearless

the swords

govern­

B r a h m i n ascetics

The had

Indian Kshatriyas and Greek

secretly,

aggression

very

great

discontent

the I n d i a n populace.

Naturally

o f these ' G y m n o s o p h i s t s ' s u d d e n l y g a v e

16

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

place

to

his intense

Thereupon them*8.

hatred

against

the B r a h m i n h e r m i t s .

he b e g a n t o seize some s u c h B r a h m i n s a n d h a n g

B e f o r e b e h e a d i n g one s u c h B r a h m i n , w h e n A l e x a n ­

d e r a s k e d h i m as t o w h y he i n s t i g a t e d a c e r t a i n I n d i a n r u l e r a g a i n s t t h e G r e e k s , he

fearlessly a n d and

that

replied that it

sacred

ought to

h o n o u r a b l y , else he s h o u l d d i e

live

tenet

firmly

was his most

i f he w e r e t o l i v e , he honourably."

(Plutarch L X I V ) . 33.

After defeating K i n g Porus, Alexander thought his

dazzling v i c t o r y should unnerve the neighbouring force t h e m to s u b m i t mostly belied h i m .

meekly, but his A s he

marched o n w a r d , the

hopes i n t h i s

respect

crossed the V i t a s t a (Jhelum) a n d

various

republics, big or small, on his

w a y b e g a n t o offer s a n g u i n a r y battles**. a t the battlefield, t h e y

states a n d

W i t h o u t a decision

w o u l d never accept his

overlordship

m e e k l y . A l t h o u g h the superior n u m b e r a n d m i g h t of the Greeks went

on overpowering the Indians, the

consequent s t r a i n o f

i n c e s s a n t fighting d i d n o t f a i l t o m a k e i t s e l f f e l t o n t h e G r e e k s . 34. with

Greek

writers

various Indian

mention them some

either

o f the chosen

have described

republics, but at

some

incidents

length have

many

this

such

is no

or briefly. got

to

a t some l e n g t h , a t l e a s t as a m a r k o f r e s p e c t

battles

occasion

However,

be g i v e n to

to

here

those brave

I n d i a n r e p u b l i c s w h o , t h o u g h n o t j o i n t l y y e t s e v e r a l l y , offered the

toughest of resistance

hundred

thousand

famous,

captain-general

pously to trample

gallant

to t h a t m i g h t y Greek a r m y of a soldiers

and their brave,

A l e x a n d e r , who had

over the

world-

vowed

pom­

whole of I n d i a a n d conquer the

C r o w n o f M a g a d h a . f o r h i m s e l f , a n d w h i c h finally f o r c e d h i m t o strike a retreat homeward from the v e r y threshold of India. REPUBLICS OF SAUBHOOTIS AND KATHAS 35. cratic.

T h e c o n s t i t u t i o n of b o t h these r e p u b l i c s w a s demo­ W r i t e s a G r e e k w r i t e r D i o d o r o s , ^ " ' t h e y were

gover­

n e d b y l a w s i n t h e h i g h e s t degree s a l u t a r y a n d t h e i r p o l i t i c a l system

was

admirable'^"".

One

s p e c i a l feature

of

these

17

1ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

republics

was t h a t w i t h a v i e w to p r o m o t i n g healthy, strong

and

handsome

was

not

progeny,

left

to

controlled by

the

beauty*'"'. on the

the

procreation of human

individual whims state.

and

T h e y were v e r y fond

H e n c e m a r r i a g e s were a r r a n g e d

handsome

dowry, but

species

fancies, b u t

was

of physical

not w i t h an

eye

with proper consideration o f

m u t u a l p h y s i c a l fitness, b e a u t y

a n d health, a n d the

ability

of the bride a n d

the b r i d e g r o o m to

sturdy children.

E v e n w h i l e electing t h e i r leaders, who were

to guide the

bring forth healthy

n a t i o n a n d bear the y o k e o f n a t i o n a l

and

welfare,

sufi"icient w e i g h t a g e w a s g i v e n t o t h e c a n d i d a t e ' s b u i l d o f t h e b o d y and physical strength.

T h e i r laws regarding the p r o p e r

p r o d u c t i o n o f h u m a n species w e r e so s t r i c t t h a t w i t h i n t h r e e months of their the

birth

c h i l d r e n were m e d i c a l l y e x a m i n e d b y

state authorities,

and i f a child

were f o u n d w i t h some

n a t i v e d e f e c t o r t o he s u f f e r i n g f r o m some or

i n c u r a b l e disease

d e f o r m e d , i t was i m m e d i a t e l y p u t t o d e a t h u n d e r

state

o r d e r s w i t h o u t a n y mercy*"". 35-A.

Readers of history

know well that tht R e p u b l i c

o f S p a r t a h a d s i m i l a r l a w s a b o u t heredity*^. 36.

Though

Saubhootis and

n o t so v e r y the

Kathas,

strict and

ruthless

there were

other

republics i n I n d i a who

p a i d special attention

a n d the b r i n g i n g forth

of strong

The 'Vrishnis' times, about

to

and handsome

the world-famous

physical strength

leader

or

children. ancient

the p h y s i c a l beauty a n d strength o f their The

the

heredity,

w e r e also v e r y p a r t i c u l a r , f r o m t h e

ers a n d s t a t e officials. of

as

Ganas

and

of these V r i s h n i s , L o r d

lead­ beauty Shree

K r i s h n a , h a s been i m m o r t a l i z e d . L o r d S h r e e K r i s h n a ' s s o n s , too, have

been c r e d i t e d

b y the Puranas** w i t h

exceptional

beauty. REPUBLIC SUBSISTING B Y A R M S 37.

A g o o d m a n y r e p u b l i c s , i n t h e P a n c h a n a d (the P u n j a b )

and along both the banks of the l e a p i n t o t h e sea,

were s a i d t o

Indus, right up to its great be l i v i n g o n weapons*'.

The

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

18

m o s t r e m a r k a b l e f a c t a b o u t t h e m was t h a t but the

w o m e n too

i n those

not o n l y the m e n

republics, h a d

necessarily

to

u n d e r g o m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g so t h a t a t t h e t i m e o f w a r , l i t e r a l l y the

whole

Although

nation

could

different

respects,

their

drafted

each

for

other

c o n s t i t u t i o n s , needless

tially democratic. all

be

from

military

i n some to say,

action.

particular

were

essen­

W h e t h e r b i g or s m a l l i n size, t h e y

were

independent. THE REPUBLIC OF T H E YOUDHEYAS 38.

i n the

T h e R e p u b l i c o f the Y o u d h e y a s , spread far a n d w i d e fertile lands

to the south

o f the

river Vyas

in

the

P a n c h a n a d (the P u n j a b ) , w a s t h e m o s t p r o m i n e n t o f t h e m a l l . It

was

looked upon

because

of its

w i t h awe

and

valiant youths who

respect

by

every

always fought

one

for their

independence regardless o f t h e i r lives. I t was t r u l y c a l l e d , b y t h e f o r e i g n historians**, ' A n a t i o n i n a r m s ' . law

They too had

a

n e c e s s i t a t i n g e v e r y o n e b e t w e e n t h e ages o f 18 a n d 21 t o

undergo sound m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g which kept not o n l y their male but

even

the

female

population well-equipped

with

arms. 39.

On

seeing

(Jhelum) and the

Alexander march

Chandrabhaga

down

the

Vitasta

( C h e n a b ) i n o r d e r t o cross

the V y a s , after defeating K i n g P o r u s , the adjoining republics a n d the

hill tribes,

the south abject Yet

surrender the

the gallant

Youdheyas**,

o f the river, spurned and

so-called

began Emperor

who

were t o

Alexander's ultimatum

all-out preparations of

Magadha,

for

of

war.

the c o w a r d l y

D h a n a n a n d , was not roused from his stupor. T h a t l i l y - l i v e r e d c o w a r d d o e s n o t seem t o h a v e s e n t a n y m i l i t a r y gallant Youdheyas very ready

portals t o face

strength.

i n order

of I n d i a .

help to the

to v a n q u i s h A l e x a n d e r at

Nevertheless,

the

Youdheyas

the got

Alexander, relying on nothing but their own

19

1ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

ALEXANDER'S ARMY STRUCK WITH 40.

W h e n A l e x a n d e r ' s a r m y came

TERROR

fighting

to the banks

o f the r i v e r V y a s , after crossing the Indus, the V i t a s t a , the Chandrabhaga, t h e y

came

to

know that

beyond

r i v e r the democratic Y o u d h e y a s h a d t a k e n arms to their independence against the Greeks. about their bravery

and

Ganges

were

Greek

states along

that beyond the banks

m a k i n g r e a d y t o fight w i t h t h e m .

soldiers a l r e a d y

spent a n d disgusted

Vyas

and

join

battle

B u t the l u s t

for w a r

and

of

the the

T h o u g h the

d a r e d n o t cross

w i t h the courageous

I n d i a n states l i k e the Y o u d h e y a s a n d the 41.

for

w i t h unceasing

warfare w i t h the Indians i n the P a n c h a n a d , the

fight

Besides, they learnt

also of the fact

Youdheyas mightier Indian

and that

and daring

others**.

conquest of their war-

i n t o x i c a t e d enterprising, a n d e x c e p t i o n a l l y courageous

cap­

tain-general a n d emperor, A l e x a n d e r , was n o t quenched i n the least.

H e proclaimed,

throughout a l l the

army, his immutable decision to

divisions of his

cross t h e V y a s , c o n q u e r t h e

Y o u d h e y a s a n d m a r c h s t r a i g h t off t o M a g a d h a .

This obsti­

nate d e c l a r a t i o n o f A l e x a n d e r roused a great furore a n d rage amongst

the

already

war-weary

army, even

veterans ! The Greek soldiers secretly t i o n s , g r o u p b y g r o u p , t o refuse

amongst

the

b e g a n t o pass r e s o l u ­

s t r a i g h t a w a y t o go a h e a d .

I n s p i t e o f t h e f a c t t h a t t h e y h a d been c o n s i d e r i n g A l e x a n d e r unconquerable a n d the son of G o d Zeus, they were e x t r e m e l y d i s g u s t e d w i t h h i s l u s t for p o w e r .

N o sooner d i d A l e x a n d e r

s m e l l o f t h i s d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n a m o n g s t h i s s o l d i e r s , he d e l i v e r e d a n i n s p i r i n g speech. A L E X A N D E R S S P E E C H T O HIS 41-A

" O n seeing t h a t

ARMY*'

y o u , 0 Macedonians a n d allies !

no longer follow me i n t o dangers w i t h y o u r w o n t e d I have summoned y o u persuade turn back

y o u to

to

this assembly

go f a r t h e r

o r t o be

that I

persuaded

alacrity.

may

either

by you

to

i f we have d r i v e n the S c y t h i a n s b a c k i n t o t h e i r

d e s e r t s , a n d i f besides t h e

Indus,

Hydaspes,

Akesines

and

20

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

H y d r a o t e s flow t h r o u g h t h e should y o u hesitate to afraid

territories

that

are

ours,

pass t h e H y p h a s i s a l s o

why

? Are you

?

41-B

" F o r m y part,

there is no other

aim

I think

and

end

that

to a man

of his

labours

of

spirit

except

the

" B u t i f a n y one wishes to k n o w the l i m i t s o f

the

labours themselves 41-C present

warfare, let h i m u n d e r s t a n d

that the

river

Ganges

a n d t h e E a s t e r n sea are n o w a t n o g r e a t d i s t a n c e off. 41-D

"But

i f we

extending beyond

turn

the

back,

many

H y p h a s i s to

warlike

E a s t e r n sea

nations

and

many

o t h e r s l y i n g n o r t h w a r d s b e t w e e n these a n d H y r k a n i a , t o s a y nothing o f their neighbours, the S c y t h i a n tribes, b e h i n d us

unconquered,

cause t o fear lest in their are

fidelity,

still

the

so t h a t

conquered

m a y be

independent.

i f we

nations,

instigated to 0

c r o w n s t h e deeds o f t h o s e

as

revolt by

expose

there

is

yet wavering

Macedonians a n d who

w i l l be l e f t

turnback,

those

who

allies !

glory

themselves to

toils

a n d dangers 41-E back

to

" S u c h o f y o u as w i s h t o r e t u r n your

own country,

or

home I shall send

even m y s e l f w i l l lead y o u

back." 41-F glories

A c c o r d i n g to of

their

Smith,

wondrous

"he (Alexander) recited the

conquests

from

Hellespont

to

H y p h a s i s , a n d promised t h e m the d o m i n i o n a n d riches o f a l l Asia.

B u t glowing

words fell on u n w i l l i n g

ears

and

were

received w i t h p a i n f u l silence, w h i c h r e m a i n e d u n b r o k e n for a l o n g t i m e " ( P . 79). 42. to

his

B u t t h e effect o f b i s i n s p i r i n g s p e e c h w a s c o n t r a r y expectations.

A s i t was

very lips of Alexander that

now

more sanguinary wars of attrition, marrow.

amply

t h e y w o u l d be

t h e y were

D r . J a y s w a l w r i t e s i n h i s Hindu

a r m y refused to m o v e a n

clear

inch forward

from the

required to

Polity, against

fight

scared to the "The Greek the

nations

whose v e r y name, according to A l e x a n d e r , struck h i s soldiers with

terror"*'.

21

1ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

43. soldiers

A l e x a n d e r was

extremely

disobeyed h i m by flatly

i n order to

e n r a g e d t o see t h a t h i s

refusing

save a l l further trouble,

roughly exhausted a n y rest**.

and

t o cross t h e

because t h e y

were t h o ­

afraid to fight i m m e d i a t e l y w i t h o u t

B u t A l e x a n d e r w a s as c u n n i n g as he was

A p p r e h e n d i n g danger,

A l e x a n d e r refrained

despair.

H e stopped

w a l k e d off i n t o

t a l k i n g to

anybody.

d i d not show himself outside his tent for three

t i v e days*". his m i n d .

T h e n he

thoughtfully hatched

H e , thereafter,

gathered

brave.

from doing any

t h i n g r a s h i n a fit o f a n g e r a n d s t r a i g h t a w a y his tent in utter He

Vyas

consecu­

a new

plan in

the whole of the

Greek

a r m y a n d t o l d t h e m t h a t he h a d g i v e n u p t h e p l a n o f cross­ i n g the V y a s . Greece".

H e said,

" I have now

d e c i d e d t o go b a c k t o

T h i s statement naturally elated the r a n k and

of his army.

file

A l e x a n d e r t h e n a s k e d , " B u t h o w are we t o go

b a c k ? I f we t u r n o u r

b a c k s s t r a i g h t a w a y a n d go t o

Greece

b y t h e same r o u t e as w e came a l o n g , a l l t h i s I n d i a n t e r r i t o r y we have are

conquered

stricken

straight

w o u l d rise

w i t h terror.

off t o w a r d s

i n revolt, thinking that

So instead

the

of turning

l a n d route

to

Greece

our we

we back

should

b e t t e r go a l i t t l e o b l i q u e l y t o t h e sea a l o n g t h e b a n k s o f t h e Indus a n d then r e t u r n to P e r s i a a l o n g the sea-route. time when the

we s h a l l c o m e a g a i n t o I n d i a ,

Indian

states beyond

the Ganges

we s h a l l

Next

conquer

and accomplish

our

conquest o f India"*"". 44.

T r u e i t is t h a t A l e x a n d e r said ' W h e n once again we

s h a l l come t o I n d i a ' — " B u t 0 again ! T r u l y ! B u t when ?

Greek

Captain General,

L e t alone the

t h e G a n g e s b u t i f these v e r y s t a t e s t h a t y o u h a v e t o d a y were to

renounce

become indepedent,

the y o k e

once

kingdoms beyond

of your

t h e n ? N a y , e v e n before

conquered

sovereignty and that

next time

y o u m e n t i o n e d , i f y o u y o u r s e l f were t o be no m o r e t h e n . . . ? E v e n the race o f Zeus can

succumb

to

the

ravages of time,

m a y i t then belong to Greece !" 45. iave

I f those I n d i a n G y m n o s o p h i s t s , ascetics a n d recluses

ridiculed Alexander's

threat

of

coming back

again

22

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

to I n d i a i n some such manner,

i t c o u l d n e v e r h a v e been

out

of place. ALEXANDER'S 46.

However loudly and

have swaggered

with his

Greek soldiers took

a

pompously Alexander

mouth,

feght

b e j ' o n d t h e V y a s a n d hence that

RETREAT

of

the fact the

might

remains t h a t the

Y o u d h e y a s and others

A l e x a n d e r could not dare cross

river! Indian valour had

t a k e n the conceit

out of the

h a u g h t y s p i r i t o f t h e a d v a n c i n g G r e e k a r m y , a n d so t h e y h a d to strike a retreat. Greeks proved

Alexander d i d not retire willingly.

The

t o be p o w e r l e s s before t h e I n d i a n s , a n d h e n c e

w a s t h i s i g n o b l e r e t r e a t ! T o h i d e t h i s s i m p l e fact

the

Greek

and E u r o p e a n historians w r i t e , ' ' H a d he but crossed the V y a s A l e x a n d e r w o u l d have defeated

not o n l y the

Youdheyas but

the M a g a d h a empire also. T h e Y o u d h e y a s a n d the M a g a d h a s h a d never a c t u a l l y defeated the G r e e k a r m y of A l e x a n d e r o n the open b a t t l e f i e l d " . " be

answered

most

These b o a s t f u l ' i f s ' a n d

'whens'

a p t l y on behalf of the valorous

can

Indian

Y o u d h e y a s i n some s u c h w a y :

—Kalidas' Shakuntalam, A c t 3 Shi oka 1 [Why

fight

with an

e n e m y w h o flees a w a y a t t h e m e r e

t w a n g o f o u r bow] 47.

Again

this

f i g h t i n g i n the open

typical

field

Indian military strength a

was

itch

t o be

little

was to m a k e his e n t r y o n the

o f the

Greek

army

for

a l l a y e d for ever b y the

later ! Soon

Chandragupta

m i l i t a r y stage of I n d i a .

Wait

a bit, 0 y o u , reader ! ALEXANDER BUILDS A POWERFUL 48.

S o o n after

his

h a d five to six hundred way

to

the

sea

retreat from

NAVY

the V y a s , A l e x a n d e r

warships built in order to

a l o n g t h e course o f t h e

Indus*'.

make his Embark-

23

1ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

ing thousands

o f h i s w e l l - e q u i p p e d w a r r i o r s o n these

ships, he began to m a r c h

off t o

the

A b o u t the commencement of this

sea

voyage

the waters of the Indus, a r r i v e d the forces

ordered from

the heretofore

Babylon

war-weary

and

through

the

war­ river.

of Alexander along

t w o fresh

regiments o f

Greece*'".

Naturally,

and

rebellious Greek soldiers o f

A l e x a n d e r were c h e e r e d u p o n c e m o r e . 49-

B u t while A l e x a n d e r was

making his way towards

t h e sea a f t e r s t r i k i n g a n ' h o n o u r a b l e ' r e t r e a t a very great political conspiracy began secretly

throughout

the

to

Greek-trodden

from the V y a s ,

shape i t s e l f most Indian

territory

f r o m the b a n k s o f the V y a s r i g h t u p to G a n d h a r . t h a t c o n s p i r a c y we s h a l l

have

occasion

to

But of

speak i n a more

d e t a i l e d w a y a l i t t l e l a t e r . H e r e i t s h o u l d suffice t o s a y the I n d i a n whether

republics along both

big or

small-made

the

light

banks

of the

that Indus,

of Alexander's threat to

c o m e a g a i n t o c o n q u e r I n d i a as n o t h i n g m o r e t h a n a p o m p o u s p o l i t i c a l stunt, and prepared grimly to severely

and

as

stubbornly

a decision t a k e n separately was

not

a

oppose

as p o s s i b l e . b y each

well-organized, united

But

h i s forces a s alas ! i t was.

particular republic. I t effort,

under

a

central

a u t h o r i t y to destroy the Greeks under A l e x a n d e r . H e n c e the same s t o r y o f G a n d h a r a n d P a n c h a n a d was repeated here, a n d the

well

organized

army

of Alexander, with

numbers, could successfully fight go a h e a d .

E v e n i f these s t r a y

each I n d i a n

battles with

its

superior

republic

and

various Indian

a r m i e s d i d n o t f a i l t o e x h a u s t a n d w e a k e n A l e x a n d e r ' s forces, s t i l l they could not

crush

course, s o m e e x c e p t i o n s t o

him completely. these

t h e m at l e a s t t w o , w h i c h even

the

separatist hostile

praise whole-heartedly a n d w h i c h gave

There

were, o f

war-efforts. Greek

Of

historians

s u c h a severe b l o w t o

A l e x a n d e r , d e s e r v e a b r i e f m e n t i o n here. THE REPUBLICS OF T H E MALAVAS AND

THE

SHUDRAKAS

50. T h e t w o republics led their separate lives a l o n g the

24

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

banks of the Indus.

B o t h were r i c h , brave democracies w i t h

a h i g h sense o f h o n o u r .

O f the two, M a l a v a r e p u b l i c was the

more famous from the ancient times a n d was quite extensive. These two republics h a d at times

been h o s t i l e t o each o t h e r .

B u t w h e n t h e y s a w A l e x a n d e r ' s p o w e r f u l n a v y w e n t o n defea­ ting

every single I n d i a n state i n various battles

on forging

i t s w a y t o t h e sea, t h e p o l i t i c a l

these r e p u b l i c s d e c i d e d

to

correct

the

several I n d i a n democracies w h i c h fought superior enemy, a m i s t a k e wider national interests.

which

mistake

kept

of

these

singly w i t h a vastly

was p r o v i n g f a t a l to their

So, instead of fighting

a r m y singly, they decided to amalgamate their u n d e r a u n i f i e d control**.

and

leaders o f b o t h

the Greek

fighting

forces

N o t only d i d they unite their men

at arms but they i n t e r m a r r i e d i n order to b r i n g about p o l i t i ­ cal of

and social castes a n d

ceremony, 'Ganas'

unity among blood

them.

they had

wherein at least

F o r the i n t e r m i n g l i n g

a great

collective

a thousand girls

(republics) were i n t e r - m a r r i e d to

marriage

from b o t h

the

the y o u t h s o f t h e

other republic. 51.

While

republics was

this

unified

fighting

army

of the M a l a v a - S h u d r a k

t o o t h a n d n a i l w i t h the Greeks, A l e x a n ­

der l a i d siege t o one o f t h e i r i m p o r t a n t c i t i e s . name of this

city cannot

Although

be a s c e r t a i n e d p o s i t i v e l y ,

the

it must

h a v e been s o m e c a p i t a l c i t y or o n e o f s i m i l a r i m p o r t a n c e . A s this republican city kept on

fighting

desperately

the

Greek

siege h a d t o be p r o l o n g e d . T h e h a u g h t y A l e x a n d e r c o u l d n o t b e a r i t . H e t h o u g h t o f o r d e r i n g t h e l a d d e r s t o be p u t u p o n t h e ramparts of the enemy stronghold and commanding his Greek oldiers to climb them up a n d straightaway storm the city. 52. against once

B u t the Alexander

same

sort

began

to

experienced at

of unrest be

seen

and

disaffection

i n his a r m y

the time of the crossing of the

as

was

Vyas.

T h e G r e e k a r m y was a v o w e d l y w e n d i n g its w a y h o m e w a r d i n order to a v o i d new wars. B u t a l l a l o n g the b a n k of the I n d u s t h e y h a d to f i g h t fresh b a t t l e s .

A n d they k n e w t h a t unless

A l e x a n d e r gave up his aggressive designs c a l c u l a t e d to p a c i f y

25

1ST GLORIOUS EPOCH

iis

unsatiable

able.

lust for conquests b r u t a l wars were u n a v o i d ­

Because of this bitter w a r w i t h the M a l a v a - S h u d r a k

•conabined forces, t h e G r e e k d i s c o n t e n t r e a c h e d t h e c l i m a x a n d there were

rebellious whispers

openly

flouting

Alexander's

•commands. 52-A iad

' W h e n the M a c e d o n i a n soldiers f o u n d t h a t

still

on hand

a fresh

war

which

the

they

most war-like

n a t i o n s (lujjjS) w o u l d be t h e i r a n t a g o n i s t s , t h e y w e r e

struck

w i t h unexpected terror and began again to upbraid the K i n g i n t h e l a n g u a g e o f s e d i t i o n . ( C u r t i u s B k . I X C h . I V as q u o t e d i n ' H i n d u P o l i t y ' ) {Mc Crindle

I. L. by, Alexander

P. 234).

53. S t i l l i n the end A l e x a n d e r p r o m u l g a t e d his command to his soldiers to c l i m b up the ladders

and leap straight into

t h e e n e m y s t r o n g h o l d w h i c h v a l i a n t l y d e f i e d t h e G r e e k siege. Seeing t h a t his Greek soldiers hesitated

to

'daring

commander

feat,

that

exceptionally valiant

'Greeks, the m i g h t y A l e x a n d e r , h i m s e l f began

undertake

the

o f the

t o c l i m b one o f

the ladders p u t u p against the r a m p a r t s of the s t r o n g h o l d . A t t h i s t h e whole M a c e d o n i a n a r m y was s u d d e n l y i n s p i r e d to do the great deed, a n d a l l began to climb instantaneously.

Once

at t h e top o f the r a m p a r t s A l e x a n d e r s t r a i g h t a w a y

jumped

d o w n i n t h e m i d s t o f t h e e n e m y a n d t h e r e ensued a

hand-to-

h a n d fight b e t w e e n the I n d i a n a n d t h e G r e e k forces. A n d suddenly— 54. venomed

A n d suddenly an I n d i a n warrior took out an a r r o w f r o m his sheath

string and

l e t i t fly w i t h a n

a n d a p p l i e d i t to his

en­ bow­

u n m i s t a k a b l e a i m at the p l a c e

where A l e x a n d e r stood edging on his warriors, a n d shining i n h i s g o l d e n helmet**. 65.

It

was n o t a n a r r o w , i i ; w a s i n f a c t

i n c a r n a t e . T o use t h e l i n e s o f p o e t

Indian

revenge

Moropant (with a slight

v a r i a t i o n , o f course) we c a n s a y —

( w i t h apologies to M o r o p a n t !rRfm'^cr-^?TfIAN HISTORV

WHY DID T H E MUSLIM ARMIES GO BACK AFTER THE PILLAGE OF VIJAYlNfAGAR ? 915.

The u n d e r l y i n g reason

w h y the

Muslim

•drew b a c k a f t e r p i l l a g i n g V i j a y n a g a r a n d d i d n o t fleeing

Hindus

armies

pursue the

is t h a t t h e y d a r e d n o t d o so; f o r t h e s t a t e o f

V i j a y n a g a r h a d b r o k e n away from the o l d H i n d u t r a d i t i o n of meek submission and t i g h t - l i p p e d endurance and had

begun

to reciprocate atrocities w i t h counter-atrocities, a n d reprisals -with s u p e r - r e p r i s a l s ! 916.

A s has a l r e a d y b e e n t o l d a b o v e , R a m r a i ' s b r o t h e r ,

•Commander

Tirumalrai, had

his a r m y into the S o u t h a n d

already left was

Vijaynagar with

r e - f o r m i n g h i s forces

for

a n o t h e r k n o c k . H a d t h e M u s l i m s a d v a n c e d f u r t h e r t h e y were •bound t o m e e t w i t h s t r o n g o p p o s i t i o n f r o m T i r u m a l ' s

army.

-Partly o w i n g to t h i s fear the M u s l i m s retreated

Vijay­

from

nagar, content w i t h whatever they c o u l d sack there. 917.

A n o t h e r reason

speedy retreat was Muslim Sultans !

which

was

responsible for

t h e o p e n i n g o f t h e ' o l d sores'

T h e i r b e l o n g i n g t o d i f f e r e n t sects, l i k e t h e

Shias a n d Sunnis, h a d always created them.

this

among the

N a t u r a l l y , as

bickerings

amongst

s o o n as t h e h o s t i l i t i e s w i t h t h e

Hindu

state of V i j a y n a g a r ended, their t e m p o r a r y alliance went pieces a n d f r e s h w a r f a r e e n s u e d ' * . arch-enemies, ors,

the

Shahjahan the

and

then

Aurangzeb, invaded

them

with

h e l p l o o k i n g for

their

support

growing M a r a t h a chieftains a n d their s t u r d y

followers i n Maharashtra. from the N o r t h b y the internally

their

M u s l i m s i n the N o r t h , the M o g h a l E m p e r ­

invincible armies, they could not from

A little later when

to

eaten

Being most mercilessly hammered

powerful Moghal

away

by

the

armies

and

being

very M a r a t h a Sirdars who

were c a l l e d for h e l p , t h e s e M u s l i m p o w e r s i n t h e

South peri­

s h e d one a f t e r a n o t h e r !

SHAHAJI, T H E VALIANT! 918» and

the

T h e m o s t p r o m i n e n t o f a l l these M a r a t h a S i r d a r s , one i n w h o m a l w a y s b l a z e d t h e

•establish a H i n d u p o w e r

was

Shahaji,

secret a m b i t i o n t o the

valiant, of

the

367

•6TH GLORIOUS E P O C H Bhosale family. 919.

It

has been a l r e a d y s t a t e d

t h a t after the collapse

o f V i j a y n a g a r T i r u m a l r a i a n d o t h e r H i n d u p r i n c e s fled t o t h e S o u t h a n d established another independent i t y a t P e n u k o n d a i n i n A . D , 1567'*. son, r e m o v e d his death". they

Other

were,

empire

C h a n d r a g i r i after

his

father's

princes, too, founded their s m a l l States,

i n fact,

n o w set

'Nayaks'

capital to

Hindu principal­

Shreerang, Tirumalrai's

the

adrift

(Subhedars)

consolidated their called themselves

fragments

after

the

of the

power

o f the

deluge.

but

old Vijaynagar O f the

different

V i j a y n a g a r e m p i r e a few now

and

ruled

independently.

'Palegars' and founded the

Tanjawar a n d other small H i n d u states''.

Some

states of J i n g i ,

S o e v e n after

the

collapse o f V i j a y n a g a r the whole region south o f the capital right up t o R a m e s h w a r a m was under the H i n d u sway'*. L a t e r •still

with

the

nominal

suzereinty o f the S u l t a n o f V i j a p u r ,

S h a h a j i , as a V i j a p u r i S i r d a r , e s t a b l i s h e d h i s ' d e f a c t o ' o v e r l o r d s h i p i n the south a n d brought t h e m a l l under his unifying c o n t r o l . S h a h a j i e x e r t e d a g r e a t influence as a n a b l e p o l i t i c a l •and m i l i t a r y

leader,

because o f his victories, right

Ahmednagar

to Rameshwaram

f r o m the M o g h a l s o f D e l h i Vijapur.

to

under the

every

from

M u s l i m power,

moribund Sultanate

H e w a s e q u a l l y k n o w n e v e r y w h e r e as t h e

of

staunch

s u p p o r t e r o f t h e H i n d u s ! H i s was t h e d e c i d i n g v o t e i n r e s p e c t o f the p o l i t i c a l manoeuvres i n the south. temporary

poet,

days, stated that

which became

a

A line from a con­

common s a y i n g i n those

t h e earth was r u l e d b y the two guardians

o f d i r e c t i o n s ' . 3tt W ^ f f f ftlrl Wf^lt t I ('Shahajahan i n the n o r t h a n d Shahaji i n the South.') 920'

For

Shahaji thus to conquer the r e m n a n t s

V i j a y n a g a r E m p i r e i n the name of a first

s i g h t seem h i g h l y p r e p o s t e r o u s

h i g h treason against the H i n d u the

same

Muslim

o f the at

the

and would even smell of

nation.

But it

should,

at

t i m e , be r e m e m b e r e d t h a t i t i s b e c a u s e he b r o u g h t

a h these scattered a n d v a n q u i s h e d H i n d u unified

would

control that

he

states

under

his

c o u l d overawe his very S u l t a n a n d

r u l e the S o u t h l i k e an independent

Hindu

King

at

Mysore.

368

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN H I S T O R V

That

he

d i d this i n order t o r o o t out a l l the M u s l i m Sultans-

from the D e c c a n a n d Hindu

Kingdom

to

found

s o o n o n e o f h i s s o n s c o u l d set and

conquering H i n d u

all-embracing powerful

of his

up a n

independent

Empire and

secretly i n t h a t great cause. lious' son

an

c a n a m p l y be p r o v e d b y t h e f a c t t h a t v e r y

could

That this 'insignificant' 'rebel­

not

have

grown into a

empire-builder without, not o n l y the of

Shahaji,

but

also h i s

g u i d a n c e , requires no reasons flashed

just

connivance

Although

we m a y

yet,

successful

secret a s s i s t a n c e a n d

elucidation*".

o f c h r o n o l o g i c a l sequence like a

benevolent

active but

further

illustrious son of Shahaji

powerful

t h a t he c o u l d h e l p h i m

it must

for

not name

this

already

have

l i g h t n i n g i n the hearts of the readers !

There

c a n be n o d o u b t a b o u t i t ! 921.

In

1316-1322,

similar

circumstances,

Khushrukhan

d u r i n g the years A . D .

commanded

the

Sultan's

whole

a r m y a t D e l h i as a M u s l i m , b e c a u s e t h e H i n d u m i l i t a r y h e l p was

readily

forcibly

the

available, and Southern

conquered

t h e i r o w n a c c o r d , as p a r t s o f t h e Sultan;

(Oh. X V I I ) .

and

vast

empire

overnight,

monarch.

of a

Muslim

A n d o n l y a f t e r he s u c c e e d e d i n p e r f e c ­

t i n g t h e p l a n s f o r h i s c o u p d ' e t a t , d i d he k i l l Delhi

consolidated

H i n d u States, which never u n i t e d o f

ascending

the throne

H e merely brushed aside,

as

the S u l t a n o f

himself

as a H i n d u

i t were,

the

lable

' M u s l i m ' from the i m p e r i a l throne and wrote i n bold

letters

' H i n d u ' over i t .

empire

became and

Bukka

rotting

Within a day

a H i n d u empire ! were

the

all-India Khilji

A g a i n a little later when H a r i h a r

captured

and

i n c a p t i v i t y at D e l h i ,

made

Muslims

and

were

t h e y first e m p l o y e d t h e s a m e

K o u t i l e e y a code o f e t h i c s t o w i n t h e confidence o f t h e S u l t a n of D e l h i under their M u s l i m garb. T h e y i n v a d e d the rebellious H i n d u s o f t h e S o u t h as M u s l i m c o m m a n d e r s a t t h e a

Muslim

earliest

army

and

opportunity

themselves

and

aided

by

Muslim

they

joined

being reconverted

the to

strategy was used

of

rebellious

Hindus

H i n d u i s m founded a

strong independent H i n d u empire at Vijaynagar. Kontileeya

head

wealth; but at the

The

same

b y Shahaji i n conquering the

369

5 T H GLORIOUS E P O C H

H i n d u States right upto J i n g i a n d Tanjawar w i t h the V i j a p u r army

and

at

under the

the

Vijapuri

expenditure

nominal sovereignty

Immediately

of the

and bringing them Sultan

of

was c o n s o l i d a t i n g t h e H i n d u m i g h t t o o v e r t h r o w t h e domination

a n d to establish a sovereign H i n d u

w h i c h was

Hindus. tion

destined

to

b r i n g the

final

before

future

it,

v i c t o r y for the

T h i s was the momentous job o f l a y i n g the

o f the

Muslim

government,

w h i c h w a s g o i n g t o be f a r m i g h t i e r t h a n a n y gone and

Vijapur.

after the f a l l of the V i j a y n a g a r empire, S h a h a j i

founda­

H i n d u v i c t o r y t h a t Shahaji was engaged

i n those perilous times ! 922.

Because o f these h e a r t e n i n g events the i n d o m i t a b l e

H i n d u n a t i o n a l aspiration could easily survive the fall

grievous

o f V i j a y n a g a r , whereas the M u s l i m s (could n o t a v a i l o f

i t i n t h e least, so as t o s h a p e t h e f u t u r e i n t h e i r f a v o u r !

•

CHAPTEIi X X T H E END OF T H E SIXTEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER 923. the

A f t e r h a v i n g so f a r r e v i e w e d I n d i a n H i s t o r y f r o m

standpoint

some

o f the H i n d u n a t i o n ,

connected

events

o f the

we s h a l l n o w t a k e u p

sixteenth

century

and

thereafter.

SWARM OF EUROPEAN PIRATES INVADE INDIA 924. was

T h e first o f t h e E u r o p e a n

Portugal.

navigator,

It

was

w h o first r o u n d e d t h e C a p e

discovered a straight guided

by

marine^,

nations to i n v a d e I n d i a

Vasco De Gama,

one

sea-route to I n d i a .

of the

captains

w h o p l i e d to a n d fro

A f r i c a n coasts. C a l i k a t on the

the

of Good

Hope

and

H e was, however,

o f the

between

Portuguese

Indian mercantile the I n d i a n

and

the

I n A . D . 1498 he first l a n d e d i n t h e p o r t o f Western

coast of India^, professing p u r e l y

c o m m e r c i a l i n t e r e s t s w h i c h s u b s e q u e n t l y s e r v e d t o be a v e r y fine p r e t e x t f o r t h e o t h e r P o r t u g u e s e a n d E u r o p e a n n a t i o n a l s who

followed

ambitions years

suit,

to

in India.

camouflage t h e i r

i n A . D . 1500 c a m e P a d r o

Portuguese admiral with and weapons traders had he

went

there

first

thirteen

warships

cherished

fitted

two

another

w i t h guns

Seeing t h a t the M u s l i m

established themselves well i n C o c h i n , to

undermine

inter-continental trade. had

territorial

Alvaira's Cabral,

under his command'. already

secret

A c c o r d i n g l y , i m m e d i a t e l y after

their

preponderance

in

F r o m the beginning the Portuguese

inveterate

e n m i t y t o w a r d s t h e M u s l i m s as a

result o f the h o r r i b l e r e l i g i o - p o l i t i c a l aggression o f the latter on in

Spain and Paras

539

P o r t u g a l as to

546.

has

already

been referred

L a t e r i n A . D . 1509

to

Albouquerque

371

5 T H GLORIOUS EPOCH

wais m a d e t h e India.

G o v e r n o r o f the

H e i t was who

conquered

territory from the M u s l i m I t w a s he

Portuguese

possessions

G o a and the

surrounding

S u l t a n s o f V i j a p u r i n A . D . 1510*.

again who encouraged his Portuguese

to m a r r y , even

in

compatriots

w i t h force a n d d e c e i t , i f n e c e s s a r y ,

Hindu

.girls i n o r d e r t o e n s u r e t h e p e r m a n e n t P o r t u g u e s e s e t t l e m e n t s in

India*.

•claimed

About

that

it

this

was

time the

their

supreme

proselytize the H i n d u s even w i t h issue a

royal

sanction

order to that

that

the

Portuguese

priesthood

religious

duty

to

force, a n d m a d e their k i n g

effect*.

Portuguese

in

I t is Goa

under

this royal

perpetrated

the

indescribable atrocities, rapes a n d various other outrages on t h e H i n d u s , m e n a n d w o m e n , t h e r e as a r e m e n t i o n e d i n P a r a s 539 t o 5 4 6 o f t h i s b o o k . 925.

The

Portuguese Saint

patron-saint

d i r e c t i n g these b l o o d - c u r d l i n g

religious formalities

was

F r a n c i s X a v i e r , w h o m the

the Jesuit missionary.

persecuted H i n d u s called

•Satan i n c a r n a t e ! H e c a m e t o I n d i a i n 1 5 4 0 . 925-A. states

This so-called

in

one

of

his

'Saint' Xavier

letters

himself proudly

his triumphant

success

t h e d e v i l i s h p e r s e c u t i o n o f t h e H i n d u s (see P a r a g r a p h s to 546).

innumerable

n i t y w i t h a l l sorts o f brutalities violent Div,

men

and

women

persecution*. Daman,

(Bombay) near

Madras,

Vasia

Western

and

Hugli

made

over by

Christia­

escape t h i s

gradually

(Bassein),

i n Bengal, English

of

conquered

Choul,

coast o f I n d i a a n d

1668 (1661-2 ?) b y t h e P o r t u g u e s e subsequently

suicide to

The Portuguese

Sashti,

o n the

H i n d u s to

and vandalism'. Countless

committed

( B o m b a y was presented to the

to

539

H e himself and hundreds of other missionaries who

came after h i m , c o n v e r t e d Hindu

in

Mumbai

Saint Home

which

Mumbai

K i n g as a d o w r y i n

K i n g Charles I P .

K i n g Charles I I

of

I t was England

E a s t I n d i a C o m p a n y f o r a n o m i n a l r e n t o f £ 10 a year*".

T h e rest of the region r o u n d about B o m b a y i n the possession was

released b y the M a r a t h a s .

major possession left i n the Portuguese hands. 926.

Portuguese

G o a was the o n l y •

T h e Dutch : — Q u i c k on the heels o f the P o r t u e u e s e

372 the

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN H I S T O R Y

Dutch of H o l l a n d

India

entered

India.

C o m p a n y was formed i n A . D .

b u t t h e y c o u l d n o t find a Sumatra,

however,

directed a l l their stronghold.

firm

proved

The

Dutch

East

1602 f o r t h e purpose^",,

footing i n India.

congenial to thetn.

Jawa and Hence they

attention to that region a n d made i t t h e i r

W h e n the

English

b e g a n t o d a b b l e t h e r e , the-

D u t c h c u t t h e m a l l b u t one a t A m b o i n a , a n d r u l e d p r a c t i c a l l y the whole of the Indonesian archipelago unhampered^i. 927.

The English : — A l t h o u g h the E n g l i s h E a s t I n d i a

Company

was

formed

i n A . D . 1600, i t

first f a c t o r y i n I n d i a t i l l

A . D . 1608.

c o u l d n o t o p e n its-

Jahangir

gave

them,

p e r m i s s i o n t o o p e n one a t S u r a t i n A . D . 1613^2. A f t e r a w h i l e i n 1689 t h e m o n o p o l y

of the

British

East India

Company-

was c a n c e l l e d b e c a u s e o f m a n y m a l p r a c t i c e s a n d r i v a l r i e s i r t the C o m p a n y ' s servants and t e d to c a r r y such

on I n d i a n Trade^'.

c o m p e t i t i o n was

British

another c o m p a n y was f o r m u l a ­

Nation

as

B u t w h e n i t w a s seen t h a t

detrimental to a

whole

the

the

i n t e r e s t s o f the-

two companies

were-

amalgamated^*. 928.

A s t h i s B r i t i s h E a s t I n d i a C o m p a n y w a s l a t e r on.

to enlarge

the

scope

o f h e r a c t i v i t i e s t o s u c h a n enormous-

e x t e n t as t o e n c o m p a s s a f o r e i g n s t u p e n d o u s I n d i a n e m p i r e , i t is out o f place a n d even impossible to discuss its extensivehistory

i n these i n t r o d u c t o r y

remarks.

M o r e o v e r , as

the

E n g l i s h w e r e t o m e e t t h e M a r a t h a s o n the b a t t l e f i e l d s a m i d s t , the clash of arms, the

boom of cannons

wagers

as

with

empires

the

tempting

and

the swaggering,

stakes,

we w o u l d

r a t h e r d i s c u s s i t a l i t t l e l a t e r so f a r as i t w i l l be p o s s i b l e t o do so. 929. followed

The

F r e n c h : — O f the

the eastern trade a n d the last

European

s u i t after the Portuguese a n d t h e overseas

t o a p p e a r o n t h e scene.

Company was

floated

as

late

nations

t r i e d their

who

hand

at

e m p i r e s t h e F r e n c h were F o r the F r e n c h E a s t I n d i a .

as

A . D . 1664^'.

prospered quickly i n their

commercial activities.

c r e d i t is t o b e g i v e n t o a n y

European

first t i m e o f a c q u i r i n g n o t

only small scattered

But

they

Why, if

w h o t h o u g h t f o r thefootholds.

373

•5TH GLORIOUS EPOCH but

large

empires

in India

and who

t r i e d to realize these

a m b i t i o u s schemes o f h i s b y large-scale m i l i t a r y i n t e r v e n t i o n in

Indian politics,

i t was French Governor D u p l e i x " .

n e x t c l a i m a n t to t h a t honour is t h a t v a g a b o n d tuous

English youth, Robert

•common

soldier",

but who

The

a n d tempes­

C l i v e , w h o e n t e r e d I n d i a as a

soon

came

to

command

large

a.rmies a n d t o l a y t h e f o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e v a s t B r i t i s h E m p i r e in India.

The

basic

two

far-sighted

ing

great

i d e a u n d e r l y i n g the schemes o f these

young men

drilled

and

was

that

f o r m e d here i n I n d i a out o f the v e r y •a v e r y

short time,

uncorruptible

with

well-disciplined

and that, with

European

military

proper

armies

train­

could

be

I n d i a n soldiers w i t h i n

competent,

efficient a n d

officers a n d

commanders

a t the head o f this v e r y I n d i a n a r m y they could easily b u i l d up their strong Empires i n I n d i a .

I t w i l l be d i s c u s s e d i n i t s

proper

h a r v e s t t h a t these d a r i n g

place

how

great was

the

schemes reaped i n the years to come. 930.

It

is, however,

proper

to

discuss

the

French

affairs i n I n d i a to a c e r t a i n e x t e n t .

F o r although for a t i m e

the French

amongst

a n d the E n g l i s h

fought

themselves o n

the Indian soil a n d although

they t o o k opposite sides i n the

internecine civil

Indian

the

end

the

wars o f the

K i n g s and

F r e n c h were on l o s i n g g r o u n d s .

Princes, i n Again

defeat at the hands o f the E n g l i s h i n the E u r o p e a n •of w a r r e n d e r e d t h e F r e n c h a u t h o r i t i e s incapable

of defending

increasing

severity

like Dupleix,

Busie,

their

of the

i n India thoroughly

positions

against

E n g l i s h attacks^*.

Suffren

a n d spent the best of their

their

theatres

and others,

the

ever

T h e leaders

who worked hard

energies f o r t h e e x p a n s i o n o f t h e

F r e n c h empire i n I n d i a , were v e r y

shabbily treated at home

b y the F r e n c h people a n d the F r e n c h G o v e r n m e n t " . N o b o d y a,ppreciated

their

best

efforts a t

them any support.

Again

fought

against

Marathas

receive

stunning

the

blows

began to help

the

on a

a n d as s u c h

the chances o f the F r e n c h they

the proper times nor gave

this Indian

empire

Indian

few

a r m y of the F r e n c h occasions,

only to

w h e n i t was clear t h a t

i n I n d i a were a l m o s t n i l l ,

princes

and

especially the

374

SIX G L O R I O U S EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

M a r a t h a s p a r t i c u l a r l y i n respect of the t r a i n i n g of the a r m y a n d t h e use o f t h e n e w g u n s . T h e E n g l i s h w e r e v e r y r e l u c t a n t to help

any

sell them

native ruler

create a

newer weapons

t h e P r e n c h were

like

o n l y too

for large sums o f money or e s p e c i a l l y so, i f t h a t a struggle

with

realized the

the E n g l i s h .

training

of troops

weapons

of war

fire-arms.

willing

like

do

the

authority

of l a n d , and

was engaged

ini

The Marathas, i n particular, production

various

European type o f o f t h e efficient n e w

types

of small and big

they employed French veteran

officers a n d

their satellites i n their armies.

Gardi,

famous

the

to

But

t h a t i n exchange

grants

greatness o f the

and the

Hence

to

substantial

purchasing

inevitable

disciplined a r m y or

the guns a n d cannons.

artillery

commander

military

Ibrahim K h a n i n the

Maratha

a r m y a t t h e b a t t l e s o f U d g e e r a n d P a n i p a t , h a d r e c e i v e d histraining

in that

field

i n the F r e n c h

artillery divisions^".

L a t e r o n M a h a d a j i S h i u d e ( S c i n d i a ) e m p l o y e d F r e n c h officers like De B o y n e and M . .Perron

as t h e

chief

commanders o f

their a r t i l l e r y a n d other divisions^^ a n d formed a well-equip­ ped, well-trained, mechanized

a r m y of his o w n .

W i t h this-

well-trained strong a r m y M a h a d a j i c o u l d over-awe the whole of

the

antagonistic

various

military

north

and

vanquish

engagements.

But

the

after

enemies a while

E u r o p e a n N a t i o n s w o r k i n g i n I n d i a h a d come to a unwritten understanding, the

European nationals,

no

sides w i t h t h e I n d i a n later

at l e a s t as

event of any I n d i a n ruler

on

when

certaia

regards I n d i a , that i n

fighting

against

any

of the

E u r o p e a n a r m y leader should take

and help h i m w i t h his army.

Shinde

ini the

(Scindia) was

engaged

A s such

i n a deadly

struggle w i t h the E n g l i s h , D e B o y n e , who h a d been r e c e i v i n g t h o u s a n d s of rupees b y w a y o f s a l a r y , a n d the a r m y t r a i n e d by him

flatly

conscious

refused

of such

a

to

fight^^.

The Marathas,

treacherous behaviour

these s a l a r i e d f o r e i g n e r s some t i m e o r t h e o t h e r . Marathas,

on their

manufacture

to

open factories to I n d i a n officers to-

the

had

begun

part of

Hence, the

s i m i l a r guns a n d to p r e p a r e

train and drill

part,

t o o , were

on the

a r m y on E u r o p e a n lines.

B u t i n those

375

5 T H PLORIQUS E P O C H

s t o r m y days o f incessant warfare i t w o u l d have been

unwise

to depend solely on nothing but such trained army divisions. E v e n second rate states, l i k e the J a t s a n d the S i k h s , m a i n t a i n ­ ed such battalions. O n the whole the existence o f the E r e n c h military might i n India onward

march

o f the

Marathas, Tipu,

the

helped here a n d British

there to check t h e

imperialistic power, a n d the

Sikhs a n d other I n d i a n rulers d i d not

f a i l to u t i l i z e i t to t h a t extent*'.

T H E SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK OF ALL T H E NON-HINDU NATIONS OF T H E WORLD ON THE DECCAN (SOUTH INDIA) 931.

W h e n the

European

powers,

mentioned

above,

i n v a d e d I n d i a t h e y a l l d i d so b y t h e s e a . N a t u r a l l y , t h e i r tremendous

Deccan a n d especially b y the Marathas.

Earlier, N o r t h India

h a d to bear for s i x or seven centuries the whole b r u n t fierce a n d m a r a u d i n g

attacks

of the

had

to

offer

them

the

of the

fanatical Muslims

the M o g h a l s , the T u r k s , the A f g h a n s , the and

first

o n s l a u g h t s h a d t o be b o r n e a n d r e s i s t e d b y t h e

like

A r a b s a n d others,

sternest possible

resistance.

E v e n t u a l l y a l l these A s i a t i c M u s l i m n a t i o n a l s a n d the B a r b a r tribes fell v i o l e n t l y i t for ever.

u p o n the

i n v a d i n g from the were

defending

deadly wars,

offering

their

their

religion,

as

a view to conquer

enemies

N o r t h a n d the

them i n bloody and Hindus

South with

E v e n w h i l e a l l these

in which

precious they

were

repeatedly

Deccan was engaged with thousands

of

lives for the sake of

d i d i n the

North,

the

S o u t h e r n I n d i a n p e o p l e were i n v a d e d , b y t h e sea, b y t h e n e w European

Christian nationals,

themselves.

as

n u m e r o u s as

T h e enemies c r o w d e d i n u p o n

the

locusts

the D e c c a n n o t

o n l y f r o m the n o r t h - w e s t or the n o r t h - e a s t b u t also f r o m the w e s t . N o t o n l y b y l a n d b u t b y sea a l s o d i d a l l t h e c o m b a t i v e marauding,

aggressive a n d

fanatic

Muslim

and

Christian

n a t i o n s h a d s i m u l t a n e o u s l y a t t a c k e d the D e c c a n at the t i m e to o v e r r u n the

Hindu

r e l i g i o n f r o m the l a n d .

states there a n d to eradicate

Hindu

376

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

932.

N o r t h I n d i a h a d t o face

w h i c h itself was not a n H i n d u s h a d been

only the M u s l i m nations,

easy j o b .

fighting

The

d e a d l y w a r t h a t the

w i t h the M u s l i m s over centuries o f

y e a r s w a s as fierce a n d b e s e t w i t h

a l l s o r t s o f d a n g e r s as t o

exhaust even the G o d s w h o h a d fought against the demons ! B u t the

D e c c a n h a d the

misfortune

those M u s l i m s but also the

of facing not only a l l

European Christian nations

like

the Portuguese a n d others who were even greater enemies o f Hinduism

t h a n the

cruelty to

proselytize the

Hindus—and

Muslims

and

especially the

their leadership

i n this

who t r i e d every f o r m of

Hindus.

A n d the S o u t h I n d i a n

Marathas

war—showed

who had the

rarest

a n d irresistible d a r i n g to repel single-handed o f aggression

rising

all round them.

H i n d u s h a d been fsacrificing

their

t h e i r wives a n d c h i l d r e n o n the

assumed tenacity

these

While

waves

thousands

of

lives a l o n g w i t h those o f

religious front against

the

M u s l i m s a n d t h e P o r t u g u e s e C h r i s t i a n s , as m a n y o t h e r s w e r e fighting

battles

political and the

after

battles

and

m i l i t a r y fronts.

H i n d u s against

wars after

wars on

the

This exceptional struggle

f o r e i g n aggressors

of

is w o r t h a g l o r i o u s

m e n t i o n i n the h i s t o r y o f the w o r l d .

HINDU VIKRAMADITYA, HEMOO 933.

The

many

collected together

Rajput

and

Muslim

states, who h a d

under the leadership o f R a n a Sang,

and

who had aspired to re-establish the H i n d u empire h a d joined battle

with

B a b a r at

R a n a S a n g was

finally

t i o n of the M o g h a l

Kanvah.

empire

d i e d and was succeeded turn

was

dynasty.

overcome A s Sher

Delhi.

fighting

S o o n i n 1530 B a b a r

by Sher

Shah, the

Shah Sur captured Delhi, various

his

founder of the S u r H u m a y u n had

countries

like

Kabul,

P e r s i a a n d o t h e r s , o f w h i c h we n e e d n o t g i v e a n y

detailed account.

I t is e n o u g h t o s a y t h a t e v e n i n t h e r o y a l

dynasty of Sultan Sher inevitable

at

fierce

B a b a r l a i d the founda­

b y his son, H u m a y u n , who i n

t o wander i n exile through Kandahar,

B u t after

defeated a n d

i n every

Shah,

Muslim

the

regime,

upheavals, took

place

usual

and

and

after

377

S T H GLORIOUS EPOCH

violent

rebellions and

bloodshed M o h a m m e d A d i l s h a h was

•at l a s t i n s t a l l e d as t h e E m p e r o r * * . 934.

This

Mohammed

administration H!emoo,

to

an

able

Adilshah Hindu

had

Vazir

entrusted

named

his

Hemoo.

t o o , w i t h o u t ever endangering his H i n d u religion i n

the least a p p r o p r i a t e d the de facto

power

o f the S u l t a n

to

h i m s e l f a n d r u l e d h i s d o m i n i o n s efficiently**. 935. JMuslim

B u t this roused the jealousy sirdars.

In

and

anger

of

other

t h e m e a n w h i l e i n 1542 w h i l e he w a s y e t

i n exile H u m a y u n h a d a son, n a m e d A k b a r , who was later o n •destined

to

be

a great emperor.

W i t h the help o f the S h a h

•of I r a n ( P e r s i a ) H u m a y u n i n v a d e d I n d i a , a n d eyes

burning

the

of his faithless brother and inflicting exemplary punish­

ments on other after

his

enemies

he

regaining the

reconquered

Delhi.

But

soon

t h r o n e o f D e l h i he s l i p p e d o v e r t h e

•marble s t a i r c a s e o f h i s p a l a c e a n d d i e d i n 1 5 5 6 , g i v i n g r i s e t o anarchy

everywhere.

Emperor

Mohammed

Bumayun

had

fled

T h e last emperor o f the S u r d y n a s t y , Shah

Adil,

who

was

to the north-west frontier.

minister, Hemoo, however, lingered on i n D e l h i

defeated

by

B u t his able itself

trying

to a v a i l himself of that opportunity. 936.

A very scanty

lyiuslim

reference

historical writings about

H e m o o , the v a l i a n t H i n d u leader.

has the

been

made

in

past or future life o f

A H i n d u historian was a n

i m p o s s i b i l i t y at t h a t time a n d whoever tried his h a n d •on a t w r i t i n g about

h i s t o r y has not said a n y t h i n g

Hemoo.

But

we

have

the

already

later

independently

shown i n

Chapter

"Seventeen a b o u t H i n d u E m p e r o r D h a r m a r a k s h a k ( N a s i r - u d din)

that

his

actual

heroic deed is far more i m p o r t a n t a n d

reliable a proof t h a n any written record. try

to

S i m i l a r l y , we s h a l l

g i v e h e r e t h e a c c o u n t o f t h e H i n d u H e r o , H e m o o , as

f a r as w e c a n d o so w i t h t h e s a m e u n a s s a i l a b l e l o g i c . 937.

It

is t o

be

noted

t h a t e v e n w h i l e he a s p i r e d t o

f o r m a H i n d u E m p i r e , he r e c e i v e d h e l p f r o m sirdars

who had

fallen

foul

many

Afghan

o f the M o g h a l M u s l i m s * ' a n d

•especially of the B a b a r f a c t i o n . 938.

It

is

obvious

that

the life

and

career

of

the

378

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN

earlier H i n d u E m p e r o r , Shree din), must have Hemoo

as

s e r v e d as a n

Dharmarakshak ideal to

fflSTORy

(Nasir-ud-

be f o l l o w e d

before

regards the original i n s p i r a t i o n to f o u n d a H i n d u

e m p i r e a n d t h e f o r m a t i o n o f a d e t a i l e d scheme o f h i s w a r independence

was

concerned.

w h i c h sought to overthrow Hindu

of

A n u n d y i n g fire o f f r e e d o m

the

Muslim rule

and

found

a

E m p i r e i n its stead h a d once i n s p i r e d Shree D h a r m a ­

rakshak

(Nasir-ud-din)

unsuccessful

military

R a j p u t warriors to

to

bring

about

coup, spurred

a

Rana

cross s w o r d s , a l t h o u g h

glorious

yet

Sang and other not successfully,

w i t h B a b a r at K a n v a h a n d at hundreds of places earlier a n d later, had stimulated millions of H i n d u men undergo

and

women

to

a l l e x t r e m e t i e s o f f o r t u n e s , t o fight h o r r i b l e b a t t l e s

o r t o i m m o l a t e t h e i r l i v e s t o save t h e i r

religion.

The

same

b l a z i n g fire o f f r e e d o m g l o w e d c l e a r a n d b r i g h t i n t h e H i n d u heart of H e m o o , the ambitious H i n d u leader. 938-A.

A s h a s b e e n s a i d a b o v e he s e c r e t l y p r e p a r e d for-

a decisive battle, organized the

Moghals and

Delhi^'.

the

the

Hindu

M u s l i m dissentients army

and

h i m w h e n he w a s t h e C h i e f M i n i s t e r

other

politicians and

opposition worth

d r e a d e d i n f l u e n c e as chief

marched

against

A l l t h e H i n d u - M u s l i m officers a t D e l h i h a d

under no

against

the the

Hindus name,

a Vazir.

capital of Moghal

(Vazir).

i n general

surrendering

served There,,

offered h i m to

his once

H i s conquest of D e l h i ,

the

empire, caused a great c o m m o t i o n

everywhere. 939.

H e m o o was

born a

staunch H i n d u .

D u r i n g the

S u l t a n ' s r e g i m e he rose t o p o l i t i c a l e m i n e n c e b y sheer d i n t o f his m e r i t w i t h o u t the slightest slur on his H i n d u

individua­

l i t y . I n t h e e n d , a s s u m i n g r e s p o n s i b i l i t y as t h e w e a k S u l t a n ' s V a z i r , he b e g a n t o c o n t r o l t h e w h o l e i m p e r i a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , , and consolidate power into his own hands. openly Hindu

hoisted the imperial

standard

A n d n o w he h a d

of H i n d u i s m ! boosted

power t r a m p l i n g d o w n the

up

whole of

a.

the

M u s l i m S u l t a n a t e I Q u i t e n a t u r a l l y the whole of the M u s l i m w o r l d was r o c k e d to the b o t t o m w i t h the cry t h a t I s l a m was. doomed and t h a t kafiirs

flourished

!

379

6TH GLORIOUS EPOCH

940.

I m m e d i a t e l y after

ascended the

the

capturing

imperial throne

adequate

pomp

Vikramaditya

for

and

Delhi

glory and

himself**.

assumed

Then

after

i n t r o d u c i n g efiicient management o f the he

started

new

he h a d w o n

conquests.

fifteen

to

publicly

the

title

stabilizing

affairs

of his

of and

state

F o r m e r l y as t h e S u l t a n ' s V a z i r

sixteen

battles

crushing

r e v o l t s o f t h e M u s l i m a n d o t h e r chieftains**. a

he

as a H i n d u e m p e r o r w i t h a l l

down

the

A s s u c h he h a d

g r e a t s e l f - c o n f i d e n c e i n h i s a b i l i t i e s as r e g a r d s t h e efficient

c o n d u c t o f w a r w a s c o n c e r n e d . A t t h e first s t r o k e he s t o r m e d a n d seized the second great M o g h a l fort o f Agra**, w h i c h was c o n s i d e r e d t o be i m p r e g n a b l e , a n d t h e c i t y a r o u n d i t . 941.

A t this time the future

emperor,

mere l a d of t h i r t e e n or fourteen years. khan,

was

his

administration. resolved right

guardian

and

the

A k b a r , was

a

H i s Vazir, Bahiramde

facto

head

of

his

O n h e a r i n g t h e n e w s o f H e m o o , he a t

once

to crush d o w n this b o l d r i s i n g o f the H i n d u s .

But

from

Rajputana

to

the

Deccan

numerous

Hindu-

M u s l i m states, b o t h b i g a n d small, h a d risen i n r e v o l t against this newly formed M o g h a l empire. sirdars

keep young A k b a r Bahiramkhan

at

firmly

Kabul

i n safety.

Muslim

Bahiramkhan

marched

army, and

But

the

discreet

asserted t h a t H e m o o ' s r i s i n g i n the name

o f a H i n d u e m p i r e h a d t o be p u t ful

Hence the other

a d v i s e d B a h i r a m k h a n t o p u t these d o w n first a n d t o

instead

down

firmly.

on H e m o o at the

Accordingly

head of a

power­

of sending y o u n g A k b a r to K a b u l he

t o o k h i m along to the battle-field. T h e armies of B a h i r a m k h a n a n d H e m o o met near P a n i p a t . V i k r a m a d i t y a H e m o o ' s w a r r i o r s f o u g h t w i t h e x c e p t i o n a l b r a v e r y a n d s k i l l . I t seemed f o r a t i m e t h a t H e m o o h a d w o n t h e b a t t l e , b u t as i l l - l u c k w o u l d h a v e i t , i n t h e v e r y h o u r o f g l o r y V i k r a m a d i t y a H e m o o was s t r u c k i n t h e eye b y a s t r a y arrow*^, f r o m t h e and

he

havoc

fell in

army

of Bahiramkhan

from his elephant unconscious !

the

Hindu

ranks

T h i s created

o f H e m o o , while the

a

Muslim

s o l d i e r s i n B a h i r a m k h a n ' s a r m y b e i n g q u i t e m e r c e n a r y were i n a w a y let loose. made

this

With

a

determined

attack

Bahiramkhan

confusion worse confounded a n d vanquishing the

380

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

leaderless H i n d n army, captured H e m o o alive'^.

Taking him

to y o u n g emperor A k b a r B a h i r a m k h a n requested the latter to •behead H e m o o w i t h h i s o w n r o y a l h a n d s . •could n o t

B u t young Akbar

b r i n g himself up to do such a cruel deed.

So the

enraged B a h i r a m k h a n himself _ unsheathed his sword a n d cut off H e m o o ' s h e a d ' * . 942.

This martyrdom that

V i k r a m a d i t y a H e m o o cour­

t e d w a s as o b v i o u s l y ( m a n i f e s t l y ) d o n e i n t h e cause o f H i n d u l e l i g i o n , and the

greater g l o r y o f the

H i n d u w e l f a r e as a n y o t h e r .

so !

and

this hero,

who

un­

is n o t so r e m e m b e r e d a m o n g s t t h e v e r y f e w s o -

called m a r t y r s and warriors i n the it

nation

The H i n d u nation must always

b o w d o w n its head i n a l l reverence to fortunately

Hindu

Hindu

world.

Well,

be

B u t e v e n i f t h e m i l l i o n s o f these s e l f - d e c e i v e d a n d

ungrateful H i n d u s have forgotten h i m , the

Hindu

n a t i o n as

a whole must always remember t h a t the u n d y i n g H i n d u a s p i ­ ration

t o free

itself which

was

kept

through a succession o f generations gether

and

which

and

ultimately rent to

imperial power, planting on its

dead

continually

ablaze

over centuries pieces

remains

the the

glorious

banner of a n I n d i ^ - w i d e H i n d u empire, was fed on the forgotten

martyrdom,

and

t h e s a c r i f i c i a l offerings

lives o n the altar o f war, of the numerous

to­

Muslim now

of their

b r a v e heroes

like

H e m o o , w h o were fatwff^ "l^fate^: ( a m b i t i o u s o f b e i n g t h e l o r d s of Delhi). 943. to

the

H e r e i t s e l f m a y we offer

our reverential

tributes

glorious m e m o r y of V i k r a m a d i t y a H e m o o , the great J

a n d proceed further !

THE VALIANT QUEEN DURGAWATI 944. Delhi;

B a h i r a m k h a n , thereafter, took A k b a r straight

later

they

two

together reduced a l l the rebels

to

upto

•Gwalior ( G w a l h e r ) . B u t t h e y s o o n f e l l o u t a n d A k b a r a s s u m e d •supreme was

authority, whereupon

defeated'*.

Even

then

B a h i r a m k h a n rebelled,

Akbar

r i g h t , but sent h i m a w a y to M a k k a .

did

not k i l l

but

h i m out­

B a h i r a m k h a n , however,

f e l l a p r e y to a revengeful enemy of his of the earlier days'^.

381

5 T H GLORIOUS EPOCH

945.

In A . D .

1564 t h e

independent

Rajput

Gondwana, named Veer N a r a y a n , was attacked K i n g Veer N a r a y a n was a minor. well-equipped

imperial

army

such a tough resistance that for a astounded.

in

Akbar'*.

Y e t his mother, the d o w a ­

ger Queen D u r g a w a t i , d e c i d e d not to surrender the

King

by

of

but

Akbar,

while the

to

and

fight offered

invaders

were

She b r a v e l y defended the cause o f H i n d u i s m t i l l

she w a s o v e r w h e l m e d b y t h e v a s t l y s u p e r i o r n u m b e r s M u s l i m emperor.

B u t d i d she sue f o r p e a c e

and

of

lay

the

down

a r m s ? D i d she a s k f o r t h e i m p e r i a l c l e m e n c y as f o r a p o w e r ­ less

woman ?

O r , d i d she

send a

'Rakhi'

to

Akbar

a b j e c t l y r e q u e s t h i m t o t r e a t h e r as a s i s t e r a n d

t o h e r as d i d some o t h e r R a j p u t l a d i e s off a n d o n ? at a l l !

and

show mercy N o , not

K n o w i n g f u l l w e l l f r o m h u n d r e d s o f s u c h cases h o w

these M u s l i m w o l v e s i l l - t r e a t e d a n d molested the r o y a l H i n d u ladies who

fell

captives

i n their

hands.

s t a u n c h l y refused to do a n y t h i n g o f the contrary,

offered

her

Rani

kind.

Durgawati

She,

on

the

body, along w i t h m a n y o t h e r ladies o f

t h e c o u r t , t o t h e ' s a c r e d ' fire o f t h e

battle.

She

left

strict

orders to her a t t e n d a n t to b u r n her dead b o d y a n d n o t to l e t the

M u s l i m infidels t o u c h i t " .

E v e n after

V e e r N a r a y a n c o n t i n u e d t o fight w i t h t h e resistance forces

was

put

and in A . D .

down

by

the

her death R a j a

Muslims,

but

his

vastly superior Muslim,

1562 h i s s m a l l s t a t e

of Gondwana

was

annexed to the M o g h a l e m p i r e " . 946.

A k b a r t h e n began to entice the softer

ones o f

R a j p u t rulers, who had been disgusted w i t h incessant

the

warfare

w i t h the M u s l i m s over generations together, w i t h v e r y a l l u r ­ ing promises of honourable Hindus. rulers

and

friendly treatment

B u t o n seeing t h a t , even w h e n these

were

prone

to

accept

Akbar's

to

the

docile R a j p u t

terms,

they

often

h e s i t a t e d a n d f o u g h t s h y o f d o i n g so i n t h e face o f t h e

high

sense o f h o n o u r a n d p r i d e i n t h e i r r e l i g i o u s a n d r a c i a l p u r i t y w h i c h made the belligerent R a n a

of Chitod

staunchly

turn

d o w n a l l overtures of peace from the M o g h a l E m p e r o r , A k b a r decided to subdue the f o r t

of Chitod

l a i d siege to i t i n A . D . 1 5 6 7 " .

first

and

accordingly

The R a n a of Chitod

at

that

382

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY

time

was

U d a y Singh, who h a d not even a s m a l l

of the dauntless v a l o u r o f his celebrated father, who had

earlier fought w i t h B a b a r .

who was at fled

to e x t r a o r d i n a r y

valour*".

a w a y t o t h e forest, t h e g r e a t

•Chitod l i k e J a y m a l l a , P a t t a with

B u t t h e one

the

Moghals".

and

courtesan

Rajput

Even

when

L a t e r when J a y m a l l a and was

to

flight

P a t t a were

absolutely certain,

H i n d u s of C h i t o d instead of becoming dispirited

a n d d i s - h e a r t e n e d were t o u c h e d t o t h e q u i c k a n d to the

Uday

feudatory lords of

others continued

k i l l e d on the battle-field a n d defeat the

Sang,

that time wielding real power i n Chitod inspired

the R a j p u t s Singh

percentage

Rana

extreme.

A l l the

soldiers desperately

infuriated

entered

the

battle-field a n d w i t h the w a r - c r y ' H a r , H a r M a h a d e v ' h e a p e d u p m o u n d s o f the m a s s a c r e d M u s l i m w a r r i o r s .

B u t ultimate­

ly when the R a j p u t s themselves

killed

were

almost

b a t t l e , a l l t h e R a j p u t l a d i e s o f C h i t o d set a b l a z e t h e which

was

kept

ready for

from the ramparts of the glorious

tradition, with

fort

brave

and leapt

according to

small

the acclamations i n praise These

the purpose

their

was

the

b i g fire therein age-long

c h i l d r e n at t h e i r breasts a n d

of their

religion

on their

lips.

l a d i e s r e d u c e d t h e m s e l v e s to ashes b u t d i d n o t

a l l o w t h e h a t e f u l M u s l i m - t o u c h t o defile t h e i r This

in

the

third

great

pure

bodies !

self-immolation b y the ladies o f

Chitod**. 947.

I t w a s t h e same h e a r t l e s s

A k b a r who caused s u c h

a great havoc amongst the H i n d u s , but H i n d u historians of today

w h o m the

spineless

call the most l i b e r a l of monarchs;

t h e one, t h e y s a y , w h o y e a r n e d t o b r i n g a b o u t a m i t y b e t w e e n , a n d u n i t y of, t h e H i n d u s a n d t h e M u s l i m s ; t h e o p i n i o n , w h o t r e a t e d t h e H i n d u s far any

Muslim

r u l e r before

more

one, i n t h e i r

honourably

than

or after h i m ; w h o was, a c c o r d i n g

to t h e m , a v e r i t a b l e R a j a R a m c h a n d r a a m o n g s t t h e M u s l i m s ! 948.

B u t l e t i t a l s o be r e m e m b e r e d t h a t , as i f n o t

con­

t e n t t h i s b l o o d - c u r d l i n g sacrifice o f m e n , w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n of C h i t o d , A k b a r entered the put

blood-stained

city of

Chitod,

to s w o r d e v e r y one o f the b e w a i l i n g H i n d u c i t i z e n s t h a t

r e m a i n e d there**—and m a r k w e l l I he m a d e n o e x c e p t i o n

for

Sxia d L O R i d u s the H i n d u

383

EPOCH

women.

Thirty

thousand H i n d u s lost their lives

i n t h i s one b a t t l e o f C h i t o d .

E v e n t u a l l y i t seems t h e s t o r e s

a n d o t h e r i n a n i m a t e objects, o f C h i t o d deadly

enemies o f the

Muslims

hence t h i s d e v i l i s h d e s t r o y e r

as

appeared

the

to

him

H i n d u s there,

A k b a r went

on pulling

as and

down

t h e H i n d u temples, p r a y e r halls, palaces, houses—everything t h a t came his w a y a n d reduced t h e m a l l to a n d ashes**.

of

rubble

T h e temple of the p r e s i d i n g Goddess o f C h i t o d

likewise was rased to the ground, and

heaps

a l l the

courtyard

being

the

idol

o f the

Goddess

completely destroyed.

The

b e a t i n g d r u m s , t h e fifes, t h e l a m p s , j e w e l l e r y a n d o r n a m e n t s , d o o r frames a n d every sort o f v a l u a b l e or grand H i n d u interest were sent a w a y to A g r a . ing his

fiendish

•destruction

fanaticism a

little

articles of

O n l y after q u e n c h ­

with

such

an

inhuman

o f the H i n d u capital o f Chitod d i d this

Muslim

E m p e r o r A k b a r r e t u r n to D e l h i c a l l i n g h i m s e l f ' G a z i ' for this virtuous and pious act of his. 949. ing

O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , U d a y S i n g h , w h o was

i n the forest for

•destruction of his

wander­

four years unable to avenge the b r u t a l

k i n g d o m a n d the c a p i t a l city of

Chitod,

d i e d o f g r i e f i n A . D . 1572*'.

RANA PRATAP SINGH, T H E JEWEL AMONG T H E HINDUS 950.

U d a y S i n g h ' s son, R a n a P r a t a p S i n g h , i m m e d i a t e l y

ascended the non-existent, imaginary throne o f C h i t o d ! B u t , •as he w a s offered t h e t r u l y g r e a t t h r o n e i n t h e the staunch

Rajputs

and

emblem of their invincible Pratap

Singh

shone w i t h

enthroned kings. •Rana,

who

would

as

he

was

courage a n d more

hearts

considered

dazzling

of a l l

the

valour, this glory

than

H e t u r n e d o u t t o be t h e one s u c h

very Rana many

Rajput

never, under a n y odds—even at the p e r i l

o f h i s l i f e — l e a v e t h e t r a d i t i o n a l h i g h sense o f h o n o u r o f t h e Rajputs.

Instead o f seeking the h u m i l i a t i n g friendship w i t h

A k b a r a n d t h e m o m e n t s o f peace a n d ease t h a t i t w o u l d h a v e •offered he p r e f e r r e d t o be t h e d i r e s t e n e m y o f t h e m o s t p o w e r ­ ful of M u s l i m E m p e r o r s , regardless of u n t o l d miseries

and

384

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS OF INDIAN HISTORY:,

calamities

that

such

c o n s i d e r e d i t t o be

him.

,He^

the h a l l - m a r k o f true H i n d u i s m a n d

an

enmity

devolved

on

true-

H i n d u k i n g s h i p t o d o so ? 951.

A s C h i t o d w a s i n t h e h a n d s o f t h e M u s l i m s he k e p t ,

his capital moving with

him through

villages and

towns,,

i n those perilous times, a n d g r a d u a l l y rescued a large p o r t i o n of his lost kingdom*'. desperate naught.

but

H e also

devoted

formed

a

followers who

staunch

held

their

army

of

lives

at

I t is a p i t y t h a t we c a n n o t d e s c r i b e h i s t h r i l l i n g ,

e x p l o i t s a n d p i t c h e d b a t t l e s h e r e f o r w a n t o f space. 952.

I n t h e e n d h i s i n f l u e n c e g r e w so p o w e r f u l

a n d sO'

widespread t h a t A k b a r h i m s e l f h a d to send his i m p e r i a l a r m y to subdue h i m .

S h a m e f u l as i t i s . R a j a M a n s i n g h o f J a y p u r

who h a d surrendered h i m s e l f to A k b a r a n d

the R a j p u t

vert Mahabatkhan committed an unpatriotic Prince

Salim's army

marching

act

con­

of joining

against R a n a P r a t a p at the

E m p e r o r ' s orders*'. A n d a t t h i s t i m e i t w a s t h a t t h e c e l e b r a ­ t e d battle o f H a l d i g h a t was fought.

I n the heat

of

fighting

R a n a P r a t a p rode his horse s t r a i g h t at the elephant o f P r i n c e S a l i m a n d t h a t u n r i v a l l e d horse, C h e t a k , w i t h o u t the slightest hesitation, elephant

made

straight

at

and planted his front

the

trunk

feet o n

it.

o f the With

Prince's, lightning

speed R a n a P r a t a p ' s spear w h i z z e d past P r i n c e S a l i m ' s t h r o a t so d r e a d f u l l y as t o s t u n t h e l a t t e r f o r a m o m e n t . that his dart missed the m a r k equal

speed

and

Rana

Pratap

B u t seeing

retreated

with

g o t m i x e d u p w i t h the a r m y t h e v e r y n e x t ,

m o m e n t , a n d w a s n o t t o be s i n g l e d out**. 953.

S o o n he r e t r e a t e d f r o m t h i s u n d e c i d e d b a t t l e w i t h

thousands o f dare-devils for his f a i t h f u l followers, who were s w o r n t o h i s cause a n d c a p t i v a t e d b y h i s v a l o u r

and

carried

the swift guerrilla warfare throughout M e w a d d e s t r o y i n g the Muslims and

freeing

capital

of Chitod.

city

the

whole of Mewad

except

I n the e n d R a n a P r a t a p

his m o v i n g c a p i t a l at U d e p u r , w h i c h never t i l l to Akbar.

for

the-

stabilized,

the

end

fell

T h e l a t t e r d r o p p e d peace-feelers, b u t R a n a P r a t a p .

n e v e r p a i d a n y h e e d to t h e m . chivalrous and

romantic

H i s r e g i m e i s so

adventures,

deeds

of

replete w i t h exceptional

385

5 T H GLORIOUS EPOCH

v a l o u r d o n e b y c o m m o n f o l k s , as t h o s e b y t h e g r e a t w a r r i o r s and the

Rana

himself,

that

our young

generation

should

d e l v e d e e p i n t o t h e m a n d l e a r n t h e m b y r o t e as r e v e r e n t i a l l y as t h e y w o u l d t h e s t o r i e s f r o m

Ramayan

and

F o r t u n a t e l y the r o m a n t i c Rassos o f R a j p u t date

o f the

great

poet

Mahabharat.

Bhats upto

B h o o s h a n are s t i l l a v a i l a b l e , w h i c h

s h o u l d r e a l l y be a p p o i n t e d i n the s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l s as pulsory

text-books.

the

But

alas ! i n this

critical

s u r v e y o f o u r s t h e r e is n o p l a c e f o r c i t i n g a n y

com­

historical

passages f r o m

them. 954-955.

NOT n o w i n t h e f a d i n g l i g h t o f m y l a s t

days

is a n y t i m e left f o r t h e m ! T h i s R a n a P r a t a p S i n g h , a g r e a t o r n a m e n t t o the H i n d u society, died in A . D . 1581".

THE RISE OF T H E SIKHS IN THE PUNJAB A NEW AWAKENING OF T H E HINDU MIGHT 956.

A s a i n t l y person, b y name G u r u N a n a k ,

n e w r e l i g i o u s sect i n t h e P u n j a b b y t h e century,

the

was

group calling themselves

disciples of G u r u

Nanak.]

not a sanyasi—a recluse—but

bring up. service

H e preached t h a t the

fifteenth

themselves

Shikh [Sikh—

Shree

a

started a

o f the

followers o f w h i c h soon organized

into a homogeneous ^izjBO—ffjie

end

Guru

Nanak

man with a family to

worship

o f God and

of h u m a n i t y was possible through devotion.

the

'Every

m a n c a n f o l l o w t h i s p a t h o f d e v o t i o n !' he asserted*^. 956-A.

At

that

time

not

throughout the whole o f I n d i a

only the

i n the

Muslims

Punjab

had

but

waged

a

t o t a l w a r against H i n d u i s m a n d resounded the whole c o u n t r y w i t h t h e c l a s h o f s w o r d s , t w a n g o f the a r r o w s a n d of and

drums.

But

the H i n d u

throughout populace

the

beat

the whole o f I n d i a H i n d u rulers had

been

bravely

resisting

the

M u s l i m aggression on every battlefield.

A l l a u d d i n ' s almost

completed India-wide conquest a n d

consequent

the

Muslim

empire was p r e c i p i t a t e l y b r o k e n i n t o numerous fragments a n d

386

SIX GLORIOUS EPOCHS O F INDIAN H I S T O R Y

free a n d s t r o n g H i n d u S t a t e s l i k e t h e V i j a y n a g a r e m p i r e a l r e a d y been e s t a b l i s h e d . the H i n d u kings w i t h

had

In Eajputana and Gondwana, too,

their

d a r i n g armies

had

frequently

B u t i n the P u n j a b alone there was

left

no

w o r s t e d t h e M u s l i m forces ! 957.

Hindu

s t r o n g enough to challenge the M u s l i m government.

A t such

a dark hour SHREE

GURU

NANAK

began to preach i n the P u n j a b t h a t from the p o i n t of v i e w of Ood

b o t h t h e H i n d u s a n d t h e M u s l i m s w e r e t h e same.

the

communities

could

attain

bliss through

Both

his p a t h

of

d e v o t i o n . B o t h t h e c o m m u n i t i e s were o n e c o m m o n f r a t e r n i t y . I n h i s sect, he s a i d , he between the t w o . accord,

very

disciples.

d i d not

recognize a n y

Y e t w i t h a l l his p r e a c h i n g o f this c o m m o n

few

Muslims

A l l the

could

be f o u n d

others were H i n d u s .

h i m s e l f was a K h a t r i * * .

H e d i e d i n 1538.

sons

did not

of his

distinction

own they

amongst

A l t h o u g h he

follow his tenets.

i n s t a l l e d h i s d i s c i p l e A n g a d as t h e c h i e f p r i e s t after This

sect

his

Shree G u r u N a n a k had

So

he

himself.

o f Shree G u r u N a n a k , however, was at least u p t o

his d e a t h n o t h i n g more t h a n a mere d e v o t i o n a l g r o u p , a s i n g ­ ing

choir

of devotional

politically.

Still

songs

his grief

at

and

the

mattered

very

little

miserable plight of the

H i n d u s f o u n d echoes i n s o m e o f h i s w r i t i n g s . P o r e x a m p l e :

958.

^rf^r^rf ft sr^ir rft^r

%

^

greatest and mightiest

one—the s i x t h i n order—that

British

utterly

was i n the end

defeated

by

India

the

of

the

and

its

p o l i t i c a l d o m i n a t i o n crushed to pieces I 1139.

Thus disappeared

A n d when i t d i d disappear,

the

mighty English

i t d i d so, so

empire 1

very suddenly and

s p e e d i l y , so v e r y c o m p l e t e l y , t h a t t h e t r a n s f e r

o f the empire

— i n s t e a d o f a p p e a r i n g t o be t h e t r a n s f e r o f p o w e r — a p p e a r e d t o be a change o f d r e a m .

T i l l but

yesterday

not a

straw

m o v e d i n I n d i a w i t h o u t express o r d e r s f r o m t h e E n g l i s h 1 B u t today ! N o t an English 1140.

is to be f o u n d i n I n d i a .

T h i s v i c t o r y o v e r t h e E n g l i s h w h i c h deserves t h &

Commemoration THE

Officer

by

GLORIOUS

A

H o r s e - S a c r i f i c e is T H E S I X T H O F

HINDU

VICTORIES

over

foreign

aggressors ! X-

Books Referred

CHAPTER

1.

M R K - A H I . p . 24. Anti-I;

2.

(i) •(ii>

I

Singhal : S p h i n z : p. v i i

Barnet-

S m i t h : E H I . p . 28.

D r . H a r e K r i s h n a Mahetab : H . 0 . V o l . I, P p 13-14. Singhal :

Sphinx,

p.

11;

S m i t h — E H I . p.

12.

G o k h a l e : S G V p . 94. 3.

Singhal :

S p h i n x , p . 11. S m i t h — E H I . p . 30.

Gokhale

S G p . 94 4.

G o k h a l e — B & A p . 127;

S m i t h — E H I p . 12;

Mookerji;

— C M T p . 1-3. R a y — D H N I (p. x x x i — x x x i i ) •6.

(i)

Greek

writers like Ktesias,

Ptolemy, Quintus

Curtist

Herodotus,

Arrian,

Rufus, Plutarch, P l i n y

e t c . cf. M ' C r i n d l e : 1 . 1 . A . & h i s A . I . (ii)

Accounts

of

Chinese

travellers :

Ssu-ma-Chen.

(100 B C ) P a - h i e n (399 A D ) , H i u e n T s a n g — ( A D 6 2 9 645) ete. (iii) S m i t h — E H I . p . 95. 6.

(i)

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p . 784; p . 288; p . 4 2 6 .

(ii) T a b l e V ( T i m e o f T r o u b l e s ) i n A . J . T o y n b e e ' s : S H a b r i d g e d b y D . C . S o m e r v e l l (1954) 7.

C P . F i t z e r a l d — C h i n a (1961) p.176.

p.l62,

Pp.139.140..

p.l65. 8.

H . G . W e l l s — O H p. 505.

9.

H . G . W e l l s — O H p . 707; 720.

10.

D r . B . R . A m b e d k a r — A n n i h i l a t i o n o f C a s t e (1936) p . 3 4 .

11.

M R K - A H I . p . 66; S m i t h — E H I . p . 67; M a r s h a l l — T a x i l a , V . l . p . 17.

478 12.

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p . 288 a n d 4 2 6 .

13.

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p . 313; P p . 2 9 4 - 2 9 5 . p . 3 2 1 . , p . 2 9 7 .

14.

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p . 346. p p .

15.

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p . 350.

16.

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p - 354,

17.

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p . 356.

349-360.

18.

H . G . W e l l s — O H . p. 361. M R K - A H I . p. 65.

19.

H . G . W e l l s - O H . p . 361. M R K - A H I . p . 65.

20.

W . W . T A R N — A l e x a n d e r t h e G r e a t . V . l . (1948) p . 8 3 .

21.

(i)

Plutarch—Alexander 'Alexanders'

L X V E . M ' C r i n d l e — H A p . 316.

D e i f i c a t i o n — A p p e n d i x 22

T A R N ' S A l e x a n d e r the Great, V J I , Pp. (ii)

in W.W.

(1953).

347-373.

P h i l o s o p h e r O a l l i s t h e n e s w a s t h e origi]}e.tor p f tjbjs m y t h ' . T A R N — A l e x . V J . A p p e n d i x 221, p . 77.

22.

S m i t h — E H I . p . 126.

W.W. TARN—Alex,

V . L (1948)

p . 66. 23.

M . A . R a h i m — H i s t o r y o f t h e A f g h a n s i n I n d i a , ( A D 15461631) p . 2 8 . H a r B i l a s S a r d a ^ H i n d u S u p e r i o r i t y (1906) p . 6. M o o k e r j i — C M T p , 2 8 0 ; A - L . S h r i v a s t a v a - r - S D p . 3Q f n , i .

34.

' K u b h a , the V e d i e n a m e for the K a b u l r i v e r ' , J a y a s w a l :

25.

J . W . M ' C r i n d l e : A n c i e n t I n d i a as d e s c r i b e d i n C l a s s i c a l

H P p . 121. L i t e r a t u r e , p . 150 n 3. E l p h i n s t o n e : H i s t o r y o f I n d i a P p . 331-33626.

J a y a s w a ] : H P . p . 114.

27.

J a y a s w a l — H P P- 6 7 . P l u t a r c h : A l e x a n d e r — L X .

28.

Jayaswal—HP. p. 120—Smith—EHI. p. 35.

29.

Smith—EHI.

M ' C r i n d l e — I I A . p . 308. Pp.65-56.

M'Crindle—IIA.

Pp.

Jayaswal—HP. 80-82.

(Arrian's

Pp.

120-1^1

Anabasis—V

C h II.) ffm sTfTT?: I 3r2T^^R#^ ^r^FTt T t n r r ^

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dated

150 A D ( E p i I n d v i i i ) 34.

K A N S — A N M . p . 324. p . 108 ; J a y a s w a l : H P . p . 3 1 . M ' C r i n d l e — A I . p. 67n.

34-A. 35.

S m i t h — E H I p . 197 ; K A N S — A N M . p . 2 9 9 . (i)

A l e x a n d e r the Great—mentioned

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divine commission.

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(Zul-Qarnian) :

H u g h e s — A D I p 13, 717. (ii)

S i k a n d a r L o d i , S u l t a n of Delhi. S i k a n d a r S h a h (son o f M u h a m m a d T u g h l a q ) Sikandar

Shah

o f K a s h m i r ( A D 1394-1420)

and

m a n y others. {iii) " H e ( A l a - u d - d i n ) e v e n c a u s e d

h i m s e l f t o be s t y l e d

S i k a n d a r Sani (Alexander the

second) i n h i s c o i n s

as w e l l as i n p u b l i c p r a y e r s . "

K . S . Lai—History

o f the K h i l j i s p . 9 0 .

History in medieval period : 850 F i r s t A r a b i n v a s i o n : 655 S e c o n d A r a b i n v a s i o n : 656 M a s s r e c o n v e r s i o n s i n : 512 S i n d h i a : See S h i n d e : S h a h a j i , B h o n s a l e : 917-921 Shah-jahan : 917, 961, 963 Shaivites : P o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t i e s o f : 719 S h a l i v a h a n : d y n a s t y : 711 K i n g s : 461 S a k a : 226-29 Shalva d y n a s t y : 8 8 2 A - 8 8 4 S h a m s u d d i n : 856 S h a n : 521 S h a n k a r , L o r d : 876 Shankaracharya, Shree : 718 S h a n k a r b h a s h y a : 718 Shankardev, Y a d a v : 734, 737 S h a t a d r u : see S u t l e j :

557 S h e r s h a h , S u r : 933 S h i k a n d e r S u l t a n : 446 Shiladitya : R u l e r i n Gazani : 321 S h i n d e , J a y a j i r a o : 1050 M a h a d a j i : 930 S a b a j i : 1083 S i v a j i . C h h a t r a p a t i : 101-102 B i r t h o f : 1015 T i m e s o f ; 998 R e c o n v e r s i o n o f H i n d u s : 516 C h i v a l r y of : 450-51A S h i v n e r i , F o r t o f : 887 S h o o r p a n a k h a : 460 S b r a w a s t i : 346 Shireeram : 640 S h r e e r a n g : 919 Shreevijay : 716 Shudrakas: see M a l a v a s

S u r dynasty : 933-35 S u r a t : 927 Suryadevi a n d P r a m i l a d e v i : d a u g h t e r s o f D a h i r : 331 Swat : ( r i v e r ) : 127 T a h v a d i : b a t t l e o f : 671 Taimur Lang (Timur) : 8 3 7 - 3 8 , 910 Taimurshah : 1057,1063-1064,1066,1073 T a l i k o t : 906, 1018 Tangadgi:906 See R a k s h a s a b h u v a n T a n j a w a r : 919 Tanjour : See T a n j a w a r T a s h k e n t : 236 T a r i k : 358 Tawarikh-e-Sona : 609-10 T a x i l a : U n i v e r s i t y o f : 20 S i d d h a r a j , J a i s i n g h : 435-438 R u i n o f : 281 Tej Bahadur, G u r u : S k u n d g u p t a : 2 7 1 , 275-80 S l a v e d y n a s t y : 688-99 463, 963 6 3 A Smith, Vincent : T e l a n g a n : 882 O n A l e x a n d e r ' s c a m p a i g n : 83 T h a i l a n d : 495 On Chandragupta Mourya : Thaneshwar : 139-40 B a t t l e o f : see S t h a n e s h w a r T h a t t h a : 1049 O n C h a n d r a g u p t a I I : 261 T i l a k , L o k m a n y a : 1121-23 O n M i h i r g u l a : 284 T i m u r : See T a i m u r L a n g : O n V a i d i c H i n d u s : 286 T i p u , S u l t a n : 555-71 O n t h e defeat o f H u n s : 300 Sons o f : 686-588 O n India's i m m u n i t y from W a r w i t h the E n g l i s h : 1097 foreign attack : 322-322A O n B u d d h i s t A h i m s a : 337-38 T i r u m a l a c h a r y a : 1123 T i r u m a l r a i : 905, 919 S o m a l d e v i ; 501 T o d d , M a j o r : 505 676 S o m n a t h : 432-34 Soiibhooti: I n d i a n r e p u b l i c : 35 T o j o , G e n e r a l : 1126 T o p e , G e n e r a l T a t y a : 1117 S o u r a s h t r a : 259 T o r m a n : 2 8 1 , 283 Spain : T r a t i k a : 460 M u s l i m r e l i g i o n s aggression : T r i s a m u d r e s h w a r : 529 497, 924, 1 0 7 4 A T u g h l a k h , d y n a s t y : 818-839 R o u t o f I s l a m : 625-26 G h y a s - u d - d i n : 818-20 Sparta : republic of : 1035A Mohammed : Sthaneshwar : B a t t l e o f : 681 820, 827, 862 S u d d a : 879 P h e r o z s h a h : 827-28, 833-35 S u m a t r a : H i n d u K i n g s of: 716 T u l u v : d y n a s t y : 884, A d v e n t o f t h e D u t c h : 926 8 9 1 - 9 5 . 898-99

558 T u n g b h a d r a , r i v e r : 869 T u r a n : 1030 T u r a n i n a , M u s l i m s : 445 T u r k , M u s l i m s : 445 T u r k s : 3 7 9 , 6 6 7 , 996 Aggression on I n d i a 931-932, 1031 Struggle with Mongals see : MoDgal-Turkish s t r u g g l e U d a y s i n g h , R a n a : 946 U d e p u r : 953 U j j a i n : 259 U s m a n : 324 U t t a r K u r u s : 321 V a i d i c G o d s : 14 Vaishnavas : 645 V a i s h y a : 388 V a l m i k i : 993 Varma : S h y a m j i K r i s h n a : 1123 Vasai : 9 2 5 A Vasishtha, Sage : 677 Vasudeo, S a m r a t : 248 Vasudev B a l w a n t : 1120 V a s u m i t r a , S h u n g a : 198 V e r u l : 715 Victoria, Queen : 1112-18 V i d a r b h a : See B e r a r V i d y a r a n y a , S w a m i Shanka­ r a c h a r y a : 861 Establishment of V i j a y a n a g a r E m p i r e : 513 B o o k s o f : 867 Religious counter-aggression : 513 V i j a p u r : 886, 901 Vijaynagar, E m p i r e : 5 1 3 , 823, 8 5 8 A - 6 1 , 878-84, 891-900-6 1018, 1021 N r u s i n h s t a n d a r d o f : 874, 876-77 N r u s i n h t e m p l e o f : 872 C i t y o f : 861, 8 7 1 , 8 9 1 , 907-10 V i k r a m S a m v a t : 221-24, 259 Vikramaditya : See C h a n d r a g u p t a , I I ( G u p t a dynasty)

Vikramaditya I : ( C h a l u k y a d y n a s t y ) : 711 V i k r a m a d i t y a II ( C h a l u k y a d y n a s t y ) : 712-13 Vilivayankur : 230 V i l i v a y a n k u r II : 286 V i n d h y a s : 252 V i r u p a k s h a : 882 Vishakhadatta : 2 5 5 Vishnugupta : A l i a s C h a n a k y a : 98 Vishnu-Stambh : See K u t u b - M i n a r V i s h w a m i t r a : 641 V i t t h a l , S h i v d e v : 1064, 1069-70 V o d y a r s : 555, 571 C h i k k a K r i s h n a r a j : 555 V r i n d a v a n , G o k u l : 1059 V r i s h n i : I n d i a n R e p u b l i c : 36 V y a n k a t a d r i : 905 W a l l : 860 Warangal : Western Nations : A d v e n t i n I n d i a : 883 White, G e n e r a l : 1110 W i m a , K a d p h i s e s : 2 2 5 , 234, 236 W o r l d W a r II : 1125 Xavier, Saint Francis : 543-44, 9 2 4 - 9 2 5 A Yadavas R e i g n o f : 703-5 D e f e a t b y A l l a - u d - d i n : 725 Y a s h o d h a r m a : 265-310 Yavans : (Greeks) : 15, 17, 461 Y o u d h e y a : 38-39 D e f e a t o f S a k a s : 218-19 Y u g a n t a r S a m i t i : 1123 Y u k a v i h a r : 338-339 Zamorin, K i n g See S a m u d r i n

BOOKS AND JOURNALS REFERRED TO AND THEIR ABBREVIATIONS 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

7.

8. 9.

10.. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17.

18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

H . A . A c w o r t h & S.T. Shaligram : H i s t o r i c a l B a l l d s (1911)' Afif ; Shams-i-Siraj Afif : Tarikh-i-Firozshahi ; E x t r a c t translated into English in H I E D by H . M . E l l i o t and J . D o w s o n , L o n d o n , 1867. ( V o l . H I . P p , 269-273). A H D - C S H I : Cambridge Shorter H i s t o r y of I n d i a : ed. b y J . A l l a n , S i r W o l s l e y H a i g a n d D o d w e l l . (1934). A i y a n g a r , D r . K . K r i s h n a s a s t r i : Source B o o k of V i j a y a ­ nagara H i s t o r y . J . A l l a n : Catalogue of Indian Coins i n B r i t i s h M u s e u m (Ancient India). A m b e d k a r , D r . B . R : A n n i h i l a t i o n of Caste : Speech p r e p a r e d f o r t h e A n n u a l Conference o f the J a t - P a t T o d a k M a n d a l a t L a h o r e , b u t n o t d e l i v e r e d . (1936). A m i r K h u s r u : (a) T u g h l u q N a m a : T r . b y S. H u s h a m i i n I s l a m i c C u l t u r e V o l . I l l P p . 301-312. (b) A s h i q a o r D i w a l r a n i - w a - K h i z r K h a n : E x t r a c t t r . i n t o E n g l i s h i n H I E D ( V o l . I l l P p . 544-556). (e) N u h S i p h i r : T r . i n t o E n g l i s h i n H I E D ( V o l . I l l P p . 557-565). (d) T a r i k h - i - A l a i : E x t r a c t t r . i n t o E n g l i s h i n H I E D ( V o l I I I P p . 67-92). A r c h e r , J . C . : T h e S i k h s : P r i n c e t o n , 1946. A r n o l d : P . I. [Sir T . W . A r n o l d : T h e P r e a c h i n g o f Islam (1896)]. C a l i p h a t e [ S i r T . W . A r n o l d : T h e C a l i p h a t e ( O x f o r d 1924.) A r r i a n Anabasis [Anabasis of A l e x a n d e r and I n d i c a : E n g T r . b y E . J . C h i n n o c k , L o n d o n , 1893]. Assam D i s t r i c t Gazetteer : 8 Vols. A w f i , M u h a m m a d : L u b a b a l albab : ed. b y E . G . B r o w n e L e y d e n . 1903. A y y a n g a r , R . S. : S t u d i e s i n S o u t h I n d i a n J a i n i s m . A z i z A h m e d : S I C I E . [Studies i n Islamic Culture i n t h e I n d i a n E n v i r o n m e n t 1964]. Badauni, Abdul Qadir : Muntakhab-al-Tawarikh ; Tr. b y G.S. A . R a n k i n g ( V o l . I). W . H . L o w e (Vol. II) & T . W . H a i g ( V o l . I l l ) B . I . C a l c u t t a 1884-1925. B a j w a , P a u j a S i n g h : K u k a M o v e m e n t (1965). A l - B a l a d h u r i (or B i l a d h u r i ) K P B : K i t a b F u t u h - u l - B a l dan : ch. I. T r . i n E n q . by P . C Murgotten : Origins o f t h e I s l a m i c S t a t e . N . Y . 1924. T r . i n H I E D V o l . I . B a l l , Charles : The H i s t o r y of the I n d i a n M u t i n y . B a n e r j i : A I G . [Prof. R . D . B a n e r j i : T h e A g e o f the I m p e r i a l G u p t a s : 1933.] Barani : T S P : : Ziya-ud-Din B a r a n i : Tarikh-i-Firuz Sbahi; E x t . T r . i n t o E n g . i n H I E D V o l . I l l P p . 53-68. Barbosa, Duarte : The B o o k of Duarte Barbosa : E n g . T r . b y L o n g w o r t h D a m e s , L o n d o n , 1918-21. Barnet : A n t i . I. : L . D . Barnet : Antiquities of India, L o n d o n , 1913.

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23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. •31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

B a s u : B . C . P . I . : [Major B . D . B a s u : R i s e of the C h r i s ­ tian Power in India : 6 Vols.] Beal, S : Life of H i u e n Tsang. B e a l R e c o r d s : B u d d h i s t R e c o r d s o f the W e s t e r n W o r l d (Si-yu-ki> b y S. B e a l . Behere, N . K : P B P . or N K B - P B P : P a h i l e B a j i r a o P e s h w e ( M a r a t h i ) b y P r o f . N . K . B e h e r e . 1930. Belle : H i s t o r y of Gujrat. Bernouf : Buddhist India 2 Vols. E . G . : B o m b a y Gazetteer. D . R . B h a n d a r k a r : ' A s o k a ' , 1925. R . G . B h a n d a r k a r : V a i s n a v i s m , S a i v i s m , etc. B h a r g a v a , V . S . : M a r w a r a n d t h e M u g h a l E m p e r o r s (1966.) Bibliothica Historica. Bowring : H A T S : L . B . Bowring : H a i d a r A l i and Tipu S u l t a n : R u l e r s o f I n d i a S e r i e s , 1893. B r Ind. Ass. : British India Association, Calcutta. B r o d r i c k , J a m e s : S t F r a n c i s X a v i e r (1952.) D r . B u c h a n a n : C h r i s t i a n R e s e a r c h e s i n A s i a 1814. Chachnama : E n g T r . in H I E D : V o l .I. T r . b y Mfrza K o l i c h b e g F r e d u n B e g . K a r a c h i , 1900. C h a n d B a r d a ' i • P r i t h v i r a j R a s o . ed & t r . b y A . F . R . H o e r n l e , C a l c u t t a 1886. E d . in H i n d i by Shyam Sunder Das, Banaras. Chattopadhyaya : E H N I : [ E a r l y H i s t o r y of N o r t h e r n I n d i a b y S u d l i a k a r C h a t t o p a d h y a y a , C a l c u t t a , 1958. S i r V a l e n t i n e C h i r o l : (a) I n d i a n U n r e s t , L o n d o n 1910. (B) I n d i a N e w a n d O l d . Choksey : A H i s t o r y of B r i t i s h D i p l o m a c y at the Court o f the Peshwas. H . J . Coleridge : The Life and Letters of S t . F r a n c i s X a v i e r : 2 V o l s . 1927. Cooper, H e n r y : H i s t o r y of the Conquest of S p a i n b y t h e A r a b M o o r s ; 2 V o l s . B o s t o n . 1881. C o u p l a n d , R . : T h e I n d i a n P r o b l e m : O x f o r d : 1942-43. Greasy, E d w a r d : The F i f t e e n D e c i s i v e B a t t l e s of the W o r l d : N . Y . 1913. D a s , P r o f . R . C . : C r i t i c a l N o t e s o;! I n d i a n H i s t o r y . D a s , S h i v a p r a s a d : G l o r i e s o f A n c i e n t O r i s s a : 1964. D a y , F r a n c i s : T h e L a n d o f T h e P t r u m a l s . 1863. D e o d h a r , Y . N . : N a n a P h a d n i s (1962). : If^T^ijf^ : i f i j f e H ^ ^ : «ft?f?Tsrii^s!imf^ : ^^it^ V P . D i g h e : P e s h w a B a j i r a o I . (1944). D i k s h i t a r , V . R . R . : T h e M a u r y a n P o l i t y . M a d r a s , 1932. E . I. or E p i . I n d : E p i g r a p h i a Indica. E I M t E p i g r a p h i c a l n d o - M o s I e m i c a 1931-32Josef H o r o v i t z . E l l i o t : H & B . Sir Charles E l l i o t ; H i n d u i s m and B u d d h i s m . Elphinsfcone : H i s t o r y o f I n d i a . F e r g u s o n : Illustrations to A n c i e n t A r c h i t e c t u r e of Hindustan. F i n d l a y : Greek Revolution : 2 Vols. Firishta, Muhammed Qasim : Gulshan-i-Ibrahim or

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66.

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