COUNTER AGGRESSION THAT SAVED HINDU SOCIETY FROM EXTINCTION:2

Before they came to India, the Arabians forced millions of Christian, Jewish & Persians to accept Islam at the point of sword, from the northern coast of Africa up to Spain and the Asian lands up to the frontiers of India were totally converted to Islam. But in India alone their attempts were not successful.
 A potent reason is that there arose from time to time heroic men and women warriors who staunchly opposed the armed Muslim religious aggression. In the initial stages Bhim, Rana Pratap & other Rajput princes, next the Hindu kings of Vijaynagar, the Sikhs, lastly the Marathas rendered the Muslim power out of gear and crippled it. This political defeat of the Muslims made it impossible for them to bring all the Hindus under their green flag.

SOME INCIDENTS TO SHOW HOW THE HINDUS DID IT.

1. After Bin Qasim/Kasim conquered Sindh, Bappa Rawal of mewad attacked not only Sindh but Muslim strongholds beyond that land and annexed them to his territory. He married a Muslim princess who was captured, his offsprings from the converted princess were accepted as Hindus as royal born.

 The Hindus of that time did not always act with religiosity of the Marathas who refused to accept the son of Bajirao Peshwa from his Muslim wife Mastani and forced the child back into Muslim society. 

2. Raval Chechak of Jaisalmir married the daughter of Sultan Haibat Khan and named her Somaldevi, establishing her in his Yadav race. 

3.Kunwar Jagmal son of Rao Mallinath Rathod of Mewad defeated the Muslim Sultan of Gujrat and annexed his domain to his own, married his daughter publically and assimilated his offsprings amonst the Rajputs. 

4.The Hindus here and there foiled the terrible mass-conversions of the Hindus by bold counter-strokes. For instance, Raimal , the king of Marwad captured 600 Muslim women, converted and married them to several noblemen of his court. 

5.Kumbhrana of Mewad defeated the Muslims and took all Muslim women to his kingdom, converted them and married them to his noblemen.

 

6. Raja Jayasthiti of Nepal drove out from Nepal, Shamsuddin the Nawab of Bengal following Medhatithi’s policy, not only did he rebuild the ruined temples,also reconverted victims of Muslim aggression.

 

7. When Arundev Rai of ajmer ousted Muslims from his land, he performed a great ceremony to purify the land and buit a temple and a lake named ‘Anasagar’. Muslim converts bathed in this lake and reentered Hinduism.

8. Amarsing Maharaj of jaisalmir also performed a similar ceremony and built a lake called ‘Amarsagar’, in this lake, sanctified by a great ceremony, thousands of Hindus from Sindh who were converted to Islam, dipped and reconverted to Hinduism. 

9. Under the leadership of powerful Maharana Jaswant Singh and the brave Durgadas Rathod, not only the Masjids erected by Aurangzeb on the Hindu Temples, but all other Masjids too were razed to the ground and on their sites Temples were built. The Jodhpurian Rajpoots reconverted not only Muslimized Hindus but converted many Muslim women on an extensive scale, marrying, even simply kept as concubines, like the Hindu women were by Muslims.

 

Since to preserve the purity of Vedic religion, the Hindus enforced bans; Lotibandi, Roti bandi, Beti bandi, Sparsh bandi, shuddhi bandi; contaminating them by throwing beef or meat in their wells or thrusting a morsel/beef into their mouths, Muslims could contaminate them & they would have no place in the Hindu community…

 

If the Muslim armies went on throwing beef into the Hindu temples and wells, the Rathod armies threw pork in Masjid after Masjid and paid them back.   The whole of Muslim society in Rajputana was horror-struck to see this ferocious outburst of Hindu rage. Hindus were no longer ostracised! 

The celebrated historian of Rajasthan, Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod (20 March 1782 – 18 November 1835) has narrated many incidents.

The political histories, Rassos of Rajput royal families many instances of conversion of muslim women in to Hindu societyIn the muslim ‘Tarikhs’ (history) are found Muslim writers complaining that “at least opportunity, the Hindu kafirs converted the Muslim women and married them in the Hindu community”. 

Writer of Taikh-i-Sorath says, “Even at the troubled times of Mahmud Gazni’s expedition, the king of Anhilwad carried away several Turkish, Mughal and Afghan women who lingered behind, converted and married them”He has also given interesting information on purification of Muslim women performed by the Hindus.

Chu kar az hama heelt e dar guzshat,Halal ast burdan ba shamsheer dast.When all avenues have been explored, all means tried, raising of sword is just and pious!

Guru Gobind Singh transformed the mentality of demoralized Hindu society of that time into militant and challenging fervour,  is a landmark in our history…..in part 3.

COUNTER AGGRESSION THAT SAVED HINDU SOCIETY FROM EXTINCTION:

Ancient India was the richest country in the world and that attracted the greedy foreign invaders, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Portuguese, British…

The first failed attempt of Islamic invasion occurred under Caliph Umar to fulfil to fulfil their Prophet's wish of Gazwa e Hind, within four years of Muhammad's death in 636 C.E. 

But the Hindus didn’t pay them back in the same coin. The Muslim women never feared retribution or punishment at the hands of any Hindus who only took Muslim men as prisoners, not the women. Neither the victor Hindu Chiefs, nor any common solider, not even any civilian would ever touch their hair.

Under the illusion of preserving the purity of Vedic religion, the Hindus in the Islamic era began to enforce bans; Lotibandi-prohibition of drinking water, Roti bandi-prohibition of food, Beti bandi-prevention of intercaste marriges, Sparsh bandi-untouchibility, shuddhi bandi- ban on reconversion.

The Hindus of the pre-Islamic era never interpreted chivalry to women in this way. Had it not been for some prophetic religious and social reformers, men of action who towered, from time to time to guide and remind their community of magnificent tradition of fighting down the ‘rakshasas’, the Hindu society would have never escaped total extinction.

When Tratika marched on Shree Ram chandra, he killed her without a moment’s thought. When Shroopnakha charged at Sita, Laxman deprived her of her nose & ears.

When Narkasur carried away thousands of Aryan women to his kingdom-Assyria

(named after its original capital, the ancient city of Assur which dates to c.2600 B.C. (part of today’s Nothern Iraq, Southern Turkey, Northwestern Iran & northeastern Syria) Shree Krishna marched upon the demon & killed him in the war, defeating him not only militarily but took a social revenge by bringing back all 16000 imprisoned Aryan women. He rehabilitated them taking the responsibility of feeding and protecting them.

This very act of Shree Krishnaas the Bhoopati was beautifully constructed by writers of Purans as to describe him as the Husband of 16000 women.

In the post Puranic period too, our valiant & victorious princes invariably married the the enemy princesses of Greek, Sakas Huns.

We saw how Brahmins exerted their powerful influences on the governments of Indian republics at the time of Greek invasion 326 B.C. 

Maharshi Deval (A.D.800-900) in Sindh, organized a section of Brahmin Kshatriyas and others to recuperate the stupendous losses suffered at the hands of the Muslims. He was in favour of re-conversion of Hindus, pregnant Hindu women too were freed from Muslim bondage & were considered pure. By reconverting the Hindus and absorbing them in their midst, Hindus defeated Muslims completely, both on political and religious front in Sindh within 30 years of kasim’s invasion and maintained their grip for 200years afterwards.

Unfortunately, Deval Smriti which favoured reconversion of Hindu women with a view of stopping numerical losses of Hindu community, gave away the children born out these women to some Muslim families that lived beyond the boundries of Hindu Rashtra. The Muslims gladly accepted as those children increased their numbers.  Simple Hindus never understood that their own numbers decreased to that extent.

Around A.D.850-950,  was born another upholder of Hindu revival, Acharya Medhatithi, who sought to overcome Muslim religious aggression with still more disastrous counter-aggression. His aim was to animate with the inspiration to repulse the enemy with the magnificent tradition of the Aryan empire in fighting down the aggressive ‘rakshasas, establish not only the old empire of Aryavarta, but to conquer and annex Muslim states beyond the limits of Aryavarta & establish Hinduism there, if necessary, with force.

The slogan “Krunvanto Vishvam Aryam” (we will make the whole world Aryan) resounded throughout incessantly. Chandragupta literally crossed the boundries of Aryavarta and waged successful wars againsts the Muslim powers.

Shree Vidyaranya swami accepted leadership of  Shakracharya at Shringeri and like Maharshi Deval and Medhatithi, inspired Hindus to retaliate. He himself publically reconverted once forcibly converted Harihar and Bukka, and crowned the reconverted Harihar as a Hindu emperor  when the two brothers defeated Muslims and established the Hindu state of Vijayanagar in A.D1336.

After the overthrow of Muslim power in Gomantak, Vidyaranya Madhavacharya  built a lake named madhavteerth and effected mass reconversions.

Shree Ramanujacharya, his disciples Shree Ramananda and Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also purified hundreds of Muslimized Hindus.

Shivaji avenged all the wrongs done to the Hindus by establishing a Hindu independent state, he himself reconverted bajaji Nimbalkar and Netaji Palkar.

Find in part 2, how the heroic men and women warriors who staunchly opposed the armed Muslim religious aggression with ‘counter-aggression & why the Muslim invaders failed to destroy the Hindus completely!

REPUBLICS WHO STRUCK ALEXANDER’S ARMY WITH TERROR: 2

Foreign writers have so much perverted the Indian history with malicious intentions, that a common reader or a young pupil thinks that the Hindus offered practically no resistance & that the Indian history is an unbroken chain of defeat of the Hindus, accepting it without affront, remonstrance, even a protest!

We shall be aiming at briefly discussing the achievements of leaders, warriors & war-like generations who vanquished the aggressors from time to time.

Alexander’s attack in 326 B.C. on India, is the first known foreign invasion in the ancient period of our history. When he marched with his vast army to Takshsashila, King Pourva,  340 – c. 315 BC, a descendant of the Puru Tribe (Rig Ved) challenged Alexander. The battle took place on the east bank of the river Vitasta (Jhelum, a tributary of Sindhu/ Indus river) (Greek Hydaspes) what is now Punjab Province of Pakistan. 

King Pourav depended on his war chariots & elephants, whereas Alexander relied upon his cavalry brigade. Before the 2 armies joined battle, torrential rains overflowing the river with high floods began to assail them all around. Alexander, in a few days found a place where the river was fordable. He crossed with his cavalry & dashed upon King Pourav’s forces disturbing his whole plan.

Pourva, atop his elephant, instead of the usual double-horse chariot fighting a fierce battle, received a serious wound on his right shoulder, his elephant was slain and he was captured. Alexander was in awe of the bravery, war skills and princely attitude of King Pourva. 

Wounded in his shoulder, standing at over 7 feet tall, he was asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated.

                 "Treat me as a king would treat another king" Pourav responded.

Arch diplomat, Alexander returned to King Pourav his kingdom & appointed him Satrap (governor), King Pourav too gave his assent simply to wait for his right time.

Alexander came to know that the Indian Brahmin ascetics were protesting against the Greek aggression, their sharp tongues were like the Kshatriya swords that exerted powerful influences upon the governments of Indian republics, thereupon he began hanging them.

The brave Ganas/ Ganarajyas (republics), offered the toughest of resistance and forced retreat homeward, the mighty Greek army of a hundred thousand soldiers & their captain-general Alexander, who had vowed to conquer the crown of Magahad.

REPUBLICS OF SAUBHOOTIS & KATHAS

While electing their leaders, sufficient weightage was given to the build & physical strength of the candidate by these Ganas.

With the view of promoting healthy & strong progeny, the procreation of human species was controlled by the state. Being fond of physical beauty, marriages were arranged with consideration of mutual physical fitness beauty & health to bring forth sturdy children.

REPUBLICS IN PANCHANAD & along banks of Indus, right up to its leap into the sea, were said to be living on weapons, the men & women had to undergo military training so that at the time of war, all could be drafted for military action.

REPUBLICS OF YOUDHEYAS

Spread far & wide to the south of river Vyas in Panchanad (Punjab), was the most prominent Ganarajya. They kept their male & females between 18-21yrs of age, trained & well equipped with arms. They were looked upon with awe & respect, for the youth always fought for their independence regardless of their lives.

On seeing Alexander march down the Vitasa (Jhelum) & the Chandrabhaga

(Chenab) the gallant Youdheyas got ready to face him relying on their own strength. Alexander’s army dared not cross the Vyas on realizing that beyond the river the brave Youdheyas & mightier Indian states were preparing for war.

The Greek army started wending its way homeward but all along the bank of the Indus they had to fight fresh battles.

REPUBLICS OF MALVA & THE SHUDRAKAS

Decided to amalgamate their fighting forces under a unified control correcting the mistakes of several Indian democracies, which fought singly, a vastly superior enemy. While the unified armies of Malva-Shudrak was fighting tooth & nail with the Greeks, Alexander laid siege on one of their important cities. Alexander jumped into the enemy stronghold, the shaft of an Indian warrior pierced his heart & he rolled down in a pool of blood. He was confined to bed & it took several days for the wound to heal.

MASAGA TRIBE

Alexander captured a small-armed community of seven thousand, threatened them to join his army or be ready to be slaughtered or get carried as slaves. Unwilling to aid the foreigner, they decided to give him a slip but Alexander came to know of their intent & fell upon them with his huge army while they were sleeping.

Within a short time they drew their swords, made a circular formation gathering women & children inside it, faced the Greek attack heroically, many women too fought, till all of them got killed they kept fighting for the freedom of their nation.

AGRASHRENIS

This little Indian republic, instead of surrendering fought to the last with the vast Greek navy as it was making its way to sea through the course of Indus. They fought every inch of their ground tenaciously, when they could no further resist, they set their houses on fire, their wives & children threw themselves into the flames. This tradition was followed by Indian warriors right from ancient days. This self-sacrifice was resorted by the Hindus as the last unfailing weapon to save their religion, self-respect & to avoid captivity, slavery & conversion.

 JANAPAD REPUBLIC OF BRAHMANAKAS

When Alexander’s naval force reached the mouth of the Sindhusagar, the Brahmanak republic made up its mind to cross swords with him. Alexander, in Panchanad had wrecked his rancorous revenge against the clan of Brahmans, when he learnt that it was the same clan this small village belonged too, he decided to whack his malicious stroke upon it with all his might. That little Janapad too fought to the last for the sake of national honour & independence.

Alexander was a conqueror, but CONQUEROR OF INDIA HE NEVER WAS!!

Two exceptionally gifted personalities had not yet attracted public attention & were closely watching the movements of Alexander’s forces. Acharya Chanakya was secretly planning a transfer of the crown to his young disciple Chandragupta’s head by means of a Coup d’état.

If at all they are to be compared, Chandragupta was a super Alexander!