Tuesday 25 September 2018

THE FIERCE & PERSISTENT HINDU RESISTANCE to Islamic Jihad. 638-1857. Part 1.

The pre Islamic nature and idol-worshipping Arabs were the first people to be traumatized 1400 years back by by a cult, the only choice given to them was Islam or Death. There are no surviving nature and idol-worshipping non-Muslim Arabs today!

Whereas, inspite of Islamic tyranny from 715 up to 1761, unlike the complete Islamization of Arabia, Persia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Turkey, North Africa, more than 80 percent of India remained Hindu,  because Hindus never surrendered to the tyrants. Hindus relentlessly carried on their struggle of a Fierce and Persistent resistance to the Islamic Jihad.

In a letter Al Hajjaj bin Yousuf (661-714), governor of the Umayyad caliphate, instructed Bin Qasim, his seventeen year old nephew and son-in-law:
"When you encounter the unbeliever, strike off their heads...., make a great slaughter among them.., those who survive, bind them in bonds, pardon no one, spare none of them.."

The Baluchs 
The Baluchs put up a stiff resistance against the invading Arab Muslims for nearly a century, from the first attack on Makara in 638, up to 715 when the Muslims overran Baluchistan and invaded Sindh. The defeats that they suffered at Baluch hands, are documented by Arabs chroniclers as:


"The Hindus of Makaran (Makran) practice Voodoo and Black Magic and so bring Jinns and Shaitan to help them in war. Hence the Arabs cannot defeat them, the way the Arabs could easily defeat the Persians and the Byzantines."




The Hinglaj Mata Mandir/ Nani Mata Jo Mandir, the pilgrimage to which starts with a visit to Baba Chandrakup, a mud filled volcano that has been revered since Hindu times, the Bugti clan of Balouchs (has both Hindu and Muslim today), are the are surviving evidences of the long forgotten Hindu heritage of Makara of Baluchistan. 



The Muslim tyranny in India was as blood-thirsty as it was in all other parts of the world. The Hindus were not compulsive mass murderers of the Muslims as were the Crusaders, the Franks and the Mongols but after the initial setbacks, they grew wiser relatively faster and started paying back the Muslims in their own coin .


Hindus slaughtered the Muslims on the battlefield, but did not slaughter Muslim civilians giving them the choice of Hinduism or death, did not molest Muslim women en masse, did not destroy en masse, all Mosques, nor  built Temples over them after a victory, did not impose a penal tax like the jaziya on them, There is no record of the defeated Muslims saving their skins by either jumping in to the common fire as the Hindus did in Jauhar to avoid converting to Hinduism.

Whereas,
Although not Head Hunting cannibals, the Crusaders to put an end to the relentless barbarism of the Muslims,  overwhelmed them with even greater barbarism in their first rush itself. They not only slaughtered the Muslims, but went further to roast and eat them in a gruesome barbecue.  It was only this unexpected reversal of attitudes on their part of ravaging the ravagers with a force that was more barbarous that lead to the defeat of the Muslims.


Muslims invaded India only four years after they invaded Persia.

Muslims invaded Persia in 634 and Sindh in 638, while Persia succumbed by 651, i.e. in seventeen years, it took them seven hundred years to overrun India. They were repeatedly defeated by the Rajas of Makara/ Makran and Sindh for more than eighty years. 

Raja Dahir 

To prevent Qasim from crossing the Indus River, Raja Dahir moved his forces led by his son Jaisindh to the eastern banks at Jitor. 
Bin Qasim had heard that the strength of the Sindh army lay in the massive Hindu temple inside the fort of Debal (from Deval meaning Temple), an important trading city in Sindh. The temple was garrisoned by 4000 Rajputs and 3000 Brahmins and the Hindus could not be defeated as long as the Bhagwa flag fluttered atop the temple.

Using foul tactics, he kidnapped three children of the chief guardsman of the fort of Debal. Beheading one & threatening to behead the other two, they blackmailed their father into leaving a secret trap door open.  Despite a bold fight, the Hindus suffered a defeate and the seventeen year old Mohammed-ibn-Qasim on the orders of  Al-Hajjaj, captured Debal for the Ummaid Caliphate. 

A huge booty and a large number of women fell into the hands of the Arabs. On refusing to embracing Islam, thousands of Hindus including Brahmins were mercilessly butchered. The massacre continued for three days.

Qasim marched towards Nirun, ruled by Raja Dahir’s Son Jai Sindh followed by Sehwan, inhabitaed by merchants under Dahir's cousin Bajhra and Sisam, the capital of the Jats of Budhiya, ruled by Kakaa.  It is said that Nirun fell because of the treachery of its Buddhist citizens, Bajhra took shelter in Sisam after his defeat, Kaka was defeated and Bajhra and his followers were killed.

Raja Dahir

The powerful king of Sindh, Raja Dahir, with a huge army of 50,000 sword men, horsemen and elephantry fought Qasim at Rawar on 20th June, 712 AD. Stuck with a burning arrow, Dahir’s ‘howdah’ was set  flame and the frightened elephant ran towards the river Sindhu, hit by an arrow, injured Dahir fell off  his elephant. Dahir resumed fighting riding on a horse back. He was killed after two days of a bloody battle, his head was cut off and sent to Hajjaj. 
Refusing to surrender the fort of Rawar, his widow Queen Ranibai fought the invader and performed johar in the end.


It took Qasim about eight months to take control of Shind as he had to face tough resistance by the people of many  towns including Alor and Brahmanabad. Killing many, he enslaved thousands of men, women in Debal, Rawar and Brahmanabad, all under the age of 30 were put in chains, all capable of bearing arms were beheaded.

Qasim marched towards Multan, the city was strongly fortified, people were in full revolt. Qasim cut-off the source of water supply to the city, Multan fell into the hands of the invader in 713 A.D. The Arabs massacred and plundered the city. Women and children were made captives and a large quantity of gold was collected by the Arabs. He obtained so much gold that they named the city as the ‘city of gold’.

In this treacherous attack on Sindh, Qasim kidnapped two princesses Suriya and Preemal of Raja Dahirsen Debal and sent them as a gift with a message that they were royal virgins, meant to be ravished by his holiness - the Caliph himself. 


As described by Historian Mir Massum in his “Tarik Sind', "these princesses outsmarted the Caliph and conveyed to him that their modesty had been violated by Qasim. Chained and  locked in a barrel with nails on the inside of it, he was rolled down a hill". 

The Chach Nama also attributes the death of Qasim to these brave girls. 

The Caliph is recorded to have been filled with remorse on discovering the truth and ordered the sisters to buried alive in walls. 


After occuping Sindh, the Arab Muslims attacked Punjab, but were repulsed, attacked Rajputana, but were repulsed by Kings like Raja Bhoj, and when they attacked Gujarat, they were defeated by the Chalukya -Solankis of Anahilwada at the battle of Mount Arbuda / Abu.
When Arabs failed to conquer India, Turks and Mongols (Mughals) took up the Jihad against India. Sabuktagin’s spies had told him that the Hindus did not fight from sunset till sunrise. Foul tactics were used by the Muslims, they muffled the sounds of their horses by covering their hooves with felt and cloth to ensure the secrecy of their advance. 

The plundering and destroying Hindu shrines at Purushapura/ Peshawar, Luvkushpura/ Lahore, Mulasthana/ Multan, Somnath at Prabhash Patan in Gujarat, Palitana, Staneshwara/ Thanesar, Mathura, Kannauj, Khajuraho regularly every year with the aim of collecting a large booty and take Hindus to be sold into slave bazaars of Baghdad and other Muslim cities is seared in Hindu memory till today.

Unable to make any headway into India from their occupation of Sindh in 715 up to 980, instead of attacking Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat from Sindh, using another gateway they attacked the Shahiya kingdom in Upaganastan/ Afghanistan. The first Turko-Persian Muslim chieftain to attack the Hindu domains was Sabuktagin.

Hindu-Shahis & the battle for Kubha/ Kabul. 980 - 1001 C.E. 


Sabuktagin, a slave who ruled Ghazni since he married the daughter of his master Alptigin who seized Ghazni, made many expeditions into Hindusthan. Forcing his way up to the domains of Hindu-Shahis, Jayapal Shahiya, the Hindu Raja of Kubha/ Kabul challenged him to an open warfare. True to his word Raja Jaypal, (964-1001), son of Asatapala Deva, descendant of the Pandavas, reached the appointed place one day earlier to the day of war, the two adversaries exchanged ambassadors and decided that the hostilities would commence at sunrise the next day. 

After the Hindus had retired for the night, taking cover of the dark stormy night, dressed in black, covering the hooves of their horses with felt and cloth, the Muslim Arabs attacked the sleeping Hindu army at 2 am. Caught unaware, half awake, struggling to prepare themselves for war, the Hindus put up a stiff fight against their beastly adversaries but were overpowered past dawn. They retreated back to Kabul with the Muslims in hot pursuit.  



After killing 15,000 fighting men, 5,00,000 beautiful men and women were enslaved, Raja Jaipal, his children, grand children, nephews, relatives, chief men of his tribe were taken prisoners, bound by ropes, their hands tied behind their backs, some were seized by the cheeks, some driven by blows on their neck. 


Thursday, the eighth day of Muharram, November 27, 1001 A.D, Raja Jaipal was publicly paraded at a slave auction at Khurasan,  so that his sons and chieftains could see him in a shameful state of disgrace and sthat the fear of Islam might fly abroad through the country of the non believers. A necklace of large pearls, gems and rubies set in gold was taken off from Jaipal’s neck, the value of which was two hundred thousand dinars. Twice that value was obtained from the necks of those of his relatives who were taken prisoners or slain. The amount of booty was beyond all calculation. 

After demanding fifty elephants, Qasim entered into conditions of peace sending Jaipal back to his country, keeping his son and grandson as hostages till he could fulfil the terms imposed upon him, 
Jaypal could not bear the humiliation and immolated himself in a funeral pyre. 


Kusak Fort of Shahiya Dynasty

The Muslims poisoned the elephants of the Hindus at the Battle of Lahore to snatch victory once again using subterfuge.

Anand Pal Shahiya 

Anand Pal Shahiya, Jaipal's son, shifted his capital to Udabandapura, (modern day Und in NWF Province), Paktoonisthan, the province of the Pakhta tribe mentioned in the Mahabharat, and finally to Luvkushpura/ Lahore.


Anand Pal gathered all allies he could from  assembled a larger army of 100,000 horses and an innumerable host foot and allied with forces from the kingdoms of Delhi, Ajmer, Kalinjar, and Kannauj and opposed the invading Muslims, led by Sabuktagin’s son Mahmud of Ghazni. The armies met on the banks of the Ravi near Lahore. The Muslims were worsted by the Hindus determined to liberate their motherland. They led the attacks using armor-clad elephants,  pushing the Muslims up to the foothills of the Paariyatra Parvat/ Hindu Kush mountains.

The Paariyatra/  PāriyatraParvat is shamelessly called 'Hindu Kush', meaning, 'the Killer of Hindus', a name given by the Muslim to the Western Himalayas !  (Persian Kush means, to kill).



The Muslims sent an envoy to Anand Pal, suing for peace, that they be allowed safe passage out of the country and as a gesture of goodwill they wanting to come  to the Hindu camp for a common meal with them and seal the peace treaty. Against the advice of his allies, an unsuspecting Anandpal agreed to meet the treacherous Muslim marauders.

The Muslims came for the luncheon arranged at the banks of the Ravi river where the Hindu army had encamped. While intermingling with the soldiers, they moved about towards the stables of the Hindu camp expressing surprise at the Hindus feeding their mighty elephants. Unsuspecting, Hindus with the belief of ‘Athithi Devoh Bhava’,  showed them around the elephant stables, the Muslims secretly fed the elephants poppy seeds (opium) mixed with fruits.

Hindus self-satisfied that the war was over and the peace sealed, began dismantling  their camp but  in the next few hour were surrounded and attacked by the Muslim cavalry with cries of Allahuakbar. Realizing that they had been double crossed, the Hindus mounted their elephants and charged. They were in for a shock when their elephants refused to obey their mahout's (the opium showed its effects) orders and started running helter-skelter. 
Anandpal’s  elephant run a considerable distance away from the battle. Muslims spread the word that Anandpal was retreating.  Isolated from his main army, he was pursued by the Muslims, surrounding him they cut down the leather belts that held his howdah on the elephant & as it fell, they decapitated & beheaded him, stuck his head on a spike and paraded it before the confused Hindu army. A grisly sight never seen in battles before, unnerved Anand Pal's army. Their retreat turned into a rout, with many of them massacred on the battlefield.

Betrayal of the innate faith the Hindus placed even in an unscrupulous treacherous enemy, turned a Hindu victory into a Muslim one (with the use of subterfuge).


Using the patented Muslim mechanism of trickery,  Trilochanpal was kidnapped and murdered by Muslims dressed as Hindu Sanyasis.

Tirlochanpal Shahiya

The seventeen year old grandson of Jayapal Shaiya, Tirlochanpal Shahiya took the reins of the death struggle against the Muslims in to his hands. He shifted his capital from Lahore to Kangra where he tried to reorganize the defence of his reduced Shahiya empire that had once stretched from the rivers Yamuna to Kabul. 
The shrunk domains of Shahiya empire which stretched from Herat to Hardwar,  pushed about a thousand miles east at Kalka in the Shivalik Hills, now did not occupy a position to block the further advance of the Muslims into the Gangetc plains but following the valiant example of his father and grandfather he allied himself with the kings of Kashyapmeru/ Kashmir  and Tibet, to throw out the Muslims from Punjab and Afghanistan.

Mahmud Ghazni, sent a group of his soldiers dressed up as Hindu mendicants to meet Tirlochanpal. Pretending to have come from Kubha/ Kabul with a message for their king, they gained entry into Tirlochanpala’s headquarters at the fortress of Kangra. The  unsuspecting young prince was surrounded  and beheaded. The barbarians made off with his severed head, leaving a note beside his headless body:
"Islam will finally overcome anyone who decided to block the path of Allah’s soldiers."
A few days later, in 1020 C.E, the fort of Kangra, was sacked off its opulent riches by Muslim army. 

Bheempal

Son of Tirlochanpal, succeeded his father in AD 1021 C.E. and was the last emperor of the famed Shahiya Dynasty. His kingdom was now at its lowest point, he personally commanded the battle of Nandana and wounded the Ghaznavid army commander, Muhammad bin Ibrahim at-Tāī. Bheempal was killed in 1026. Abd al-Jabbar ʻUtbi in Kitabi-i-Yamini, refers to Bheempal as, ‘Bhīm, the Fearless’ . 

“Thus after 23 years we find the Muslim governors, left in India, east of the Indus.”- Briggs, the translator of Ferishta.

Bhimpal's widow and with minor sons took shelter in Kashmir. 
The leaderless surviving  remnants of the once formidable Shahiya army migrated deep into the Himalayas and settled down as goat-herds known today as Gaddis. They still come down to the Shivalik foothills and the plains of Punjab in the winter to graze their cattle. 

Thus ended, with Bhimpala, the last scion of the Hindu dynasty that ruled Afghanistan. The memory of a dynasty that had held guard at the North West frontier of India since the days of the Kushans in the 3rd century C.E. disappeared into the sands of time leaving only the gold and silver coins artfully minted by them as reminders.



A man from Gaddi Tribe.
The defeat of the Shahiyas opened the Indian heartland to the marauder invaders enabling Mahmud of Ghazni to repeatedly attack India. 
Millions of Hindu captives were transported on foot across the Western ranges of the Himalayas, many died on the way due to the merciless treatment of their cruel captors!




To be Cont….


History of India. Edited by A. V. Williams Jackson, Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages in Columbia University, Volume 5-The Mohammedan Period as Described by its Own Historians
The Sword of the Prophet: History, Theology, Impact on the World. by Srdja TrifkovicThe False Prophet. by Ellis H. SkolfieldPerfect Soldiers : The Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It by Terry McDermott
































4 comments:

  1. You are very objective, knowledgeable & put your views precisely. I love to read you whether it's Tweet thread or this piece.

    ReplyDelete
  2. absolutely great fact full piece of writing and very well interpreted .Keep sharing

    ReplyDelete