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.