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!