Comments on: The Whitewashing of History, by Nithin Sridhar http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/ Hindu Magazine for Youth Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:24:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: abhijeet http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17479 abhijeet Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:34:18 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17479 Answer to their curiosity will be answered even small child in our country how a temple can go beneath the mosque that too by Muslims invaders. This how we are been taught in our school days in our social science subject. When Muslim country like Indonesia can have Hindu deities printed on their currency then why cant we preserve our identity? Answer to their curiosity will be answered even small child in our country how a temple can go beneath the mosque that too by Muslims invaders. This how we are been taught in our school days in our social science subject. When Muslim country like Indonesia can have Hindu deities printed on their currency then why cant we preserve our identity?

]]> By: abhijeet http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17478 abhijeet Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:33:08 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17478 A Muslim poet named Diwani-i-Salmanwho lived during the time of Muhammad Ghori wrote some poems of historical value. In one of his poems he said that during the time of mohammad ghori, the fortress of Agra was under the control of a Rajput King Jaipal. In the poem describing the Agra Fort he wrote: “The Agra fort is built among the lands like a hill and its battlements are like hillocks. No calamity had ever befallen its fortification, nor had deceitful time dealt treacherously with it”. A Muslim poet named Diwani-i-Salmanwho lived during the time of Muhammad Ghori wrote some poems of historical value. In one of his poems he said that during the time of mohammad ghori, the fortress of Agra was under the control of a Rajput King Jaipal. In the poem describing the Agra Fort he wrote: “The Agra fort is built among the lands like a hill and its battlements are like hillocks. No calamity had ever befallen its fortification, nor had deceitful time dealt treacherously with it”.

]]> By: abhijeet http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17477 abhijeet Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:32:33 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17477 Nationalist historians believe that the Muslim invaders did not build a single fort or a palace or any other mansion either in Delhi or in Agra and that all the existing forts and palaces, as we see them today were originally built by Hindu Kings well before the arrival of Muslim invaders. The Muslim aggressors occupied those forts and palaces by force and converted them into their own royal courts and palaces. Qutb-ud-din’s court chronicler Hasan Nizami in his court journal writes : “ when he (Mohamed Ghouri) arrived at Delhi, he saw a magnificent fortress which in height and strength has no equal nor second throughout the length and breadth of seven climes.” The question is which was thw fort Mohamed Ghouri saw? He must have seen the Red Fort. There was no other fort in Delhi that could match the description by Hasan Nazami. Nationalist historians believe that the Muslim invaders did not build a single fort or a palace or any other mansion either in Delhi or in Agra and that all the existing forts and palaces, as we see them today were originally built by Hindu Kings well before the arrival of Muslim invaders. The Muslim aggressors occupied those forts and palaces by force and converted them into their own royal courts and palaces. Qutb-ud-din’s court chronicler Hasan Nizami in his court journal writes : “ when he (Mohamed Ghouri) arrived at Delhi, he saw a magnificent fortress which in height and strength has no equal nor second throughout the length and breadth of seven climes.” The question is which was thw fort Mohamed Ghouri saw? He must have seen the Red Fort. There was no other fort in Delhi that could match the description by Hasan Nazami.

]]> By: abhijeet http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17476 abhijeet Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:31:39 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17476 According to some Indian historians, increasing pressure was felt on Nalanda from Brahmanical society over the course of the 10th century. According to historian Prakash Buddh, a Yajna a fire sacrifice performed by Hindus resulted in a great conflagration which consumed Ratnabodhi, the nine-storeyed library of Nalanda. In his Social history of India, the historian Sadasivan states, “the enormous manuscript library of the University was set of fire by Trithikas (all sects of Brahmins) with the support of Jainas due to the mounting jealousy they nurtured against the great center of learning.” In 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by the Islamic fanatic Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk; this event is seen by scholars as a late milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, in his chronicle the Tabaquat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam by the sword;] the burning of the library continued for several months and “smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.” The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal). In Tibet he started an ordination lineage of the Mulasarvastivadin lineage to complement the two existing ones. When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa (Chag Lo-tsa-ba, 1197–1264) visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90-year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about 70 students.[26][27] During Chag Lotsawa’s time there an incursion by Turkish soldiers caused the remaining students to flee. Despite all this, “remnants of the debilitated Buddhist community continued to struggle on under scare resources until c. 1400 CE when Chagalaraja was reportedly the last king to have patronized Nalanda. Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nalanda and northern India to be responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy. According to some Indian historians, increasing pressure was felt on Nalanda from Brahmanical society over the course of the 10th century. According to historian Prakash Buddh, a Yajna a fire sacrifice performed by Hindus resulted in a great conflagration which consumed Ratnabodhi, the nine-storeyed library of Nalanda. In his Social history of India, the historian Sadasivan states, “the enormous manuscript library of the University was set of fire by Trithikas (all sects of Brahmins) with the support of Jainas due to the mounting jealousy they nurtured against the great center of learning.” In 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by the Islamic fanatic Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk; this event is seen by scholars as a late milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, in his chronicle the Tabaquat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam by the sword;] the burning of the library continued for several months and “smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.” The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal). In Tibet he started an ordination lineage of the Mulasarvastivadin lineage to complement the two existing ones. When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa (Chag Lo-tsa-ba, 1197–1264) visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90-year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about 70 students.[26][27] During Chag Lotsawa’s time there an incursion by Turkish soldiers caused the remaining students to flee. Despite all this, “remnants of the debilitated Buddhist community continued to struggle on under scare resources until c. 1400 CE when Chagalaraja was reportedly the last king to have patronized Nalanda. Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nalanda and northern India to be responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.

]]> By: abhijeet http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17475 abhijeet Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:31:03 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-17475 The world famous historian, Will Durant has written in his Story of Civilisation that “the Mohammedan conquest of India was probably the bloodiest story in history”. India before the advent of Islamic imperialism was not exactly a zone of peace. There were plenty of wars fought by Hindu princes. But in all their wars, the Hindus had observed some time-honoured conventions sanctioned by the Sastras. The Brahmins and the Bhikshus were never molested. The cows were never killed. The temples were never touched. The chastity of women was never violated. The non-combatants were never killed or captured. A human habitation was never attacked unless it was a fort. The civil population was never plundered. War booty was an unknown item in the calculations of conquerors. The martial classes who clashed, mostly in open spaces, had a code of honor. Sacrifice of honor for victory or material gain was deemed as worse than death. Islamic imperialism came with a different code–the Sunnah of the Prophet. It required its warriors to fall upon the helpless civil population after a decisive victory had been won on the battlefield. It required them to sack and burn down villages and towns after the defenders had died fighting or had fled. The cows, the Brahmins, and the Bhikshus invited their special attention in mass murders of non-combatants. The temples and monasteries were their special targets in an orgy of pillage and arson. Those whom they did not kill, they captured and sold as slaves. The magnitude of the booty looted even from the bodies of the dead, was a measure of the success of a military mission. And they did all this as mujahids (holy warriors) and ghazls (kafir-killers) in the service of Allah and his Last Prophet. Hindus found it very hard to understand the psychology of this new invader. For the first time in their history, Hindus were witnessing a scene which was described by Kanhadade Prabandha (1456 AD) in the following words: “The conquering army burnt villages, devastated the land, plundered people’s wealth, took Brahmins and children and women of all classes captive, flogged with thongs of raw hide, carried a moving prison with it, and converted the prisoners into obsequious Turks.” That was written in remembrance of Alauddin Khalji’s invasion of Gujarat in the year l298 AD. But the gruesome game had started three centuries earlier when Mahmud Ghaznavi had vowed to invade India every year in order to destroy idolatry, kill the kafirs, capture prisoners of war, and plunder vast wealth for which India was well-known. MAHMUD AND MASOOD GHAZNAVI In 1000 AD Mahmud defeated Raja Jaipal, a scion of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Kabul. This dynasty had been for long the doorkeeper of India in the Northwest. Mahmud collected 250,000 dinars as indemnity. That perhaps was normal business of an empire builder. But in 1004 AD he stormed Bhatiya and plundered the place. He stayed there for some time to convert the Hindus to Islam with the help of mullahs he had brought with him. In 1008 AD he captured Nagarkot (Kangra). The loot amounted to 70,000,000 dirhams in coins and 700,400 mans of gold and silver, besides plenty of precious stones and embroidered cloths. In 1011 AD he plundered Thanesar which was undefended, destroyed many temples, and broke a large number of idols. The chief idol, that of Chakraswamin, was taken to Ghazni and thrown into the public square for defilement under the feet of the faithful. According to Tarikh-i-Yamini of Utbi, Mahmud’s secretary, “The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously [at Thanesar] that the stream was discolored, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise he to Allah for the honor he bestows on Islam and Muslims.” In 1013 AD Mahmud advanced against Nandana where the Shahiya king, Anandapal, had established his new capital. The Hindus fought very hard but lost. Again, the temples were destroyed, and innocent citizens slaughtered. Utbi provides an account of the plunder and the prisoners of war: “The Sultan returned in the rear of immense booty, and slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap and men of respectability in their native land were degraded by becoming slaves of common shopkeepers. But this is the goodness of Allah, who bestows honor on his own religion and degrades infidelity.” The road was now clear for an assault on the heartland of Hindustan. In December 1018 AD Mahmud crossed the Yamuna, collected 1,000,000 dirhams from Baran (Bulandshahar), and marched to Mahaban in Mathura district. Utbi records: “The infidels…deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river…but many of them were slain, taken or drowned… Nearly fifty thousand men were killed.” Mathura was the next victim. Mahmud seized five gold idols weighing 89,300 missals and 200 silver idols. According to Utbi, “The Sultan gave orders that all the temples should be burnt with naptha and fire, and levelled with the ground.” The pillage of the city continued for 20 days. Mahmud now turned towards Kanauj which had been the seat of several Hindu dynasties. Utbi continues: “In Kanauj there were nearly ten thousand temples… Many of the inhabitants of the place fled in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultan gave his soldiers leave to plunder and take prisoners.” The Brahmins of Munj, which was attacked next, fought to the last man after throwing their wives and children into fire. The fate of Asi was sealed when its ruler took fright and fled. According to Utbi, “…. the Sultan ordered that his five forts should be demolished from their foundations, the inhabitants buried in their ruins, and the soldiers of the garrison plundered, slain and captured”. Shrawa, the next important place to be invaded, met the same fate. Utbi concludes: “The Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and worshipers of sun and fire. The friends of Allah searched the bodies of the slain for three days in order to obtain booty…The booty amounted in gold and silver, rubies and pearls nearly to three hundred thousand dirhams, and the number of prisoners may be conceived from the fact that each was sold for two to ten dirhams. These were afterwards taken to Ghazni and merchants came from distant cities to purchase them, so that the countries of Mawaraun-Nahr, Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them, and the fair and the dark, the rich and the poor, were commingled in one common slavery.” Mahmud’s sack of Somnath is too well-known to be retold here. What needs emphasizing is that the fragments of the famous Sivalinga were carried to Ghazni. Some of them were turned into steps of the Jama Masjid in that city. The rest were sent to Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad to be desecrated in the same manner. Mahmud’s son Masud tried to follow in the footsteps of his father. In 1037 AD he succeeded in sacking the fort of Hansi which was defended very bravely by the Hindus. The Tarikh-us-Subuktigin records: “The Brahmins and other high ranking men were slain, and their women and children were carried away captive, and all the treasure which was found was distributed among the army.” Masud could not repeat the performance due to his preoccupations elsewhere. MUHAMMAD GHORI AND HIS LEUTENANTS Invasion of India by Islamic imperialism was renewed by Muhmmad Ghori in the last quarter of the 12th century. After Prithiviraj Chauhan had been defeated in 1192 AD, Ghori took Ajmer by assault. According the Taj-ul-Ma’sir of Hasan Nizami, “While the Sultan remained at Ajmer, he destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples and built in their stead mosques and colleges and precepts of Islam, and the customs of the law were divulged and established.” Next year he defeated Jayachandra of Kanauj. A general massacre, rapine, and pillage followed. The Gahadvad treasuries at Asni and Varanasi were plundered. Hasan Nizami rejoices that “in Benares which is the centre of the country of Hind, they destroyed one thousand temples and raised mosques on their foundations”. According to Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir, “The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary.” The women and children were spared so that they could be enslaved and sold all over the Islamic world. It may be added that the Buddhist complex at Sarnath was sacked at this time, and the Bhikshus were slaughtered. Ghori’s lieutenant Qutbuddin Aibak was also busy meanwhile. Hasan Nizami writes that after the suppression of a Hindu revolt at Kol (modern day Aligarh) in 1193 AD, Aibak raised “three bastions as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became food for beasts of prey. The tract was freed from idols and idol worship and the foundations of infidelism were destroyed.” In 1194 AD Aibak destroyed 27 Hindu temples at Delhi and built the Quwwat-ul-lslam mosque with their debris. According to Nizami, Aibak “adorned it with the stones and gold obtained from the temples which had been demolished by elephants”. In 1195 AD the Mher tribe of Ajmer rose in revolt, and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat came to their assistance. Aibak had to invite reinforcements from Ghazni before he could meet the challenge. In 1196 AD he advanced against Anahilwar Patan, the capital of Gujarat. Nizami writes that after Raja Karan was defeated and forced to flee, “fifty thousand infidels were dispatched to hell by the sword” and “more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors”. The city was sacked, its temples demolished, and its palaces plundered. On his return to Ajmer, Aibak destroyed the Sanskrit College of Visaladeva, and laid the foundations of a mosque which came to be known as ‘Adhai Din ka Jhompada’. Conquest of Kalinjar in 1202 AD was Aibak’s crowning achievement. Nizami concludes: “The temples were converted into mosques… Fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus.” A free-lance adventurer, Muhammad Bakhtyar Khalji, was moving further east. In 1200 AD he sacked the undefended university town of Odantpuri in Bihar and massacred the Buddhist monks in the monasteries. In 1202 AD he took Nadiya by surprise. Badauni records in his Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh that “property and booty beyond computation fell into the hands of the Muslims and Muhammad Bakhtyar having destroyed the places of worship and idol temples of the infidels founded mosques and Khanqahs”. THE SLAVE (MAMLUK) SULTANS Shamsuddin Iltutmish who succeeded Aibak at Delhi invaded Malwa in 1234 AD. He destroyed an ancient temple at Vidisha. Badauni reports in his ‘Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh’: “Having destroyed the idol temple of Ujjain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was called Mahakal, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image of Rai Vikramajit from whom the Hindus reckon their era, and brought certain images of cast molten brass and placed them on the ground in front of the doors of mosques of old Delhi, and ordered the people of trample them under foot.” Muslim power in India suffered a serious setback after Iltutmish. Balkan had to battle against a revival of Hindu power. The Katehar Rajputs of what came to be known as Rohilkhand in later history, had so far refused to submit to Islamic imperialism. Balkan led an expedition across the Ganges in 1254 AD. According to Badauni, “In two days after leaving Delhi, he arrived in the midst of the territory of Katihar and put to death every male, even those of eight years of age, and bound the women.” But in spite of such wanton cruelty, Muslim power continued to decline till the Khaljis revived it after 1290 AD. THE KHALJIS Jalaluddin Khalji led an expedition to Ranthambhor in 1291 AD. On the way he destroyed Hindu temples at Chain. The broken idols were sent to Delhi to be spread before the gates of the Jama Masjid. His nephew Alauddin led an expedition to Vidisha in 1292 AD. According to Badauni in Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, Alauddin “brought much booty to the Sultan and the idol which was the object of worship of the Hindus, he caused to be cast in front of the Badaun gate to be trampled upon by the people. The services of Alauddin were highly appreciated, the jagir of Oudh (or Avadh – Central U.P.) also was added to his other estates.” Alauddin became Sultan in 1296 AD after murdering his uncle and father-in-law, Jalaluddin. In 1298 AD he equipped an expedition to Gujarat under his generals Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. The invaders plundered the ports of Surat and Cambay. The temple of Somnath, which had been rebuilt by the Hindus, was plundered and the idol taken to Delhi for being trodden upon by the Muslims. The whole region was subjected to fire and sword, and Hindus were slaughtered en masse. Kampala Devi, the queen of Gujarat, was captured along with the royal treasury, brought to Delhi and forced into Alauddin’s harem. The doings of the Malik Naib during his expedition to South India in 1310-1311 AD have already mentioned in earlier parts. THE TUGHLAQS Muslim power again suffered a setback after the death of Alauddin Khalji in 1316 AD. But it was soon revived by the Tughlaqs. By now most of the famous temples over the length and breadth of the Islamic occupation in India had been demolished, except in Orissa and Rajasthan which had retained their independence. By now most of the rich treasuries had been plundered and shared between the Islamic state and its swordsmen. Firuz Shah Tughlaq led an expedition to Orissa in 1360 AD. He destroyed the temple of Jagannath at Puri, and desecrated many other Hindu shrines. According to ‘Sirat-i-Firoz Shahi’ which he himself wrote or dictated, “Allah who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islam with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction he ordered the image of Jagannath to be perforated, and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jajnagar and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannath, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and the way of the ‘musallis’ (Muslim congregation for namaz) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images might be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims.” After the sack of the temples in Orissa, Firoz Shah Tughlaq attacked an island on the sea-coast where “nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations”. The swordsmen of Islam turned “the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers”. A worse fate overtook the Hindu women. Sirat-i-Firuz Shahs records: “Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier.” Still more horrible scenes were enacted by Firuz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot (Kangra) where he sacked the shrine of Jvalamukhi. Firishta records that the Sultan “broke the idols of Jvalamukhi, mixed their fragments with the flesh of cows and hung them in nose bags round the necks of Brahmins. He sent the principal idol as trophy to Medina.” THE PROVINCIAL MUSLIM SATRAPS In 1931 AD the Muslims of Gujarat complained to Nasiruddin Muhammad, the Tughlaq Sultan of Delhi, that the local governor, Kurhat-ul-Mulk, was practising tolerance towards the Hindus. The Sultan immediately appointed Muzzaffar Khan as the new Governor. He became independent after the death of the Delhi Sultan and assumed the title of Muzzaffar Shah in 1392 AD. Next year he led an expidition to Somnath and sacked the temple which the Hindus had built once again. He killed many Hindus to chastise them for this “impudence,” and raised a mosque on the site of the ancient temple. The Hindus, however, restarted restoring the temple soon after. In 1401 AD Muzaffar came back with a huge army. He again killed many Hindus, demolished the temple once more, and erected another mosque. Muzaffar was succeeded by his grandson, Ahmad Shah, in 1411 AD. Three years later Ahmad appointed a special darogah to destroy all temples throughout Gujarat. In 1415 AD Ahmad invaded Sidhpur where he destroyed the images in Rudramahalaya, and converted the grand temple into a mosque. Sidhpur was renamed Sayyadpur. Mahmud Begrha who became the Sultan of Gujarat in 1458 AD was the worst fanatic of this dynasty. One of his vassals was the Mandalika of Junagadh who had never withheld the regular tribute. Yet in 1469 AD Mahmud invaded Junagadh. In reply to the Mandalika’s protests, Mahmud said that he was not interested in money as much as in the spread of Islam. The Mandalika was forcibly converted to Islam and Junagadh was renamed Mustafabad. In 1472 AD Mahmud attacked Dwarka, destroyed the local temples, and plundered the city. Raja Jaya Singh, the ruler of Champaner, and his minister were murdered by Mahmud in cold blood for refusing to embrace Islam after they had been defeated and their country pillaged and plundered. Champaner was renamed Mahmudabad. Mahmud Khalji of Malwa (1436-69 AD) also destroyed Hindu temples and built mosques on their sites. He heaped many more insults on the Hindus. Ilyas Shah of Bengal (1339-1379 AD) invaded Nepal and destroyed the temple of Svayambhunath at Kathmandu. He also invaded Orissa, demolished many temples, and plundered many places. The Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga and Bidar considered it meritorious to kill a hundred thousand Hindu men, women, and children every year. They demolished and desecrated temples all over South India. AMlR TIMUR The climax came during the invasion of Timur in 1399 AD. He starts by quoting the Quran in his Tuzk-i-Timuri: “O Prophet, make war upon the infidels and unbelievers, and treat them severely.” He continues: “My great object in invading Hindustan had been to wage a religious war against the infidel Hindus…[so that] the army of Islam might gain something by plundering the wealth and valuables of the Hindus.” To start with he stormed the fort of Kator on the border of Kashmir. He ordered his soldiers “to kill all the men, to make prisoners of women and children, and to plunder and lay waste all their property”. Next, he “directed towers to be built on the mountain of the skulls of those obstinate unbelievers”. Soon after, he laid siege to Bhatnir defended by Rajputs. They surrendered after some fight, and were pardoned. But Islam did not bind Timur to keep his word given to the “unbelievers”. His Tuzk-i-Timuri records: “In a short space of time all the people in the fort were put to the sword, and in the course of one hour the heads of 10,000 infidels were cut off. The sword of Islam was washed in the blood of the infidels, and all the goods and effects, the treasure and the grain which for many a long year had been stored in the fort became the spoil of my soldiers. They set fire to the houses and reduced them to ashes, and they razed the buildings and the fort to the ground.” At Sarsuti, the next city to be sacked, “all these infidel Hindus were slain, their wives and children were made prisoners and their property and goods became the spoil of the victors”. Timur was now moving through (modern day) Haryana, the land of the Jats. He directed his soldiers to “plunder and destroy and kill every one whom they met”. And so the soldiers “plundered every village, killed the men, and carried a number of Hindu prisoners, both male and female”. Loni which was captured before he arrived at Delhi was predominantly a Hindu town. But some Muslim inhabitants were also taken prisoners. Timur ordered that “the Musulman prisoners should be separated and saved, but the infidels should all be dispatched to hell with the proselytizing sword”. By now Timur had captured 100,000 Hindus. As he prepared for battle against the Tughlaq army after crossing the Yamuna, his Amirs advised him “that on the great day of battle these 100,000 prisoners could not be left with the baggage, and that it would be entirely opposed to the rules of war to set these idolators and enemies of Islam at liberty”. Therefore, “no other course remained but that of making them all food for the sword”. Tuzk-i-Timuri continues: “I proclaimed throughout the camp that every man who had infidel prisoners should put them to death, and whoever neglected to do so should himself be executed and his property given to the informer. When this order became known to the ghazis of Islam, they drew their swords and put their prisoners to death. One hundred thousand infidels, impious idolators, were on that day slain. Maulana Nasiruddin Umar, a counselor and man of learning, who, in all his life, had never killed a sparrow, now, in execution of my order, slew with his sword fifteen idolatrous Hindus, who were his captives.” The Tughlaq army was defeated in the battle that ensued next day. Timur entered Delhi and learnt that a “great number of Hindus with their wives and children, and goods and valuables, had come into the city from all the country round”. He directed his soldiers to seize these Hindus and their property. Tuzk-i-Timuri concludes: “Many of them (Hindus) drew their swords and resisted…The flames of strife were thus lighted and spread through the whole city from Jahanpanah and Siri to Old Delhi, burning up all it reached. The Hindus set fire to their houses with their own hands, burned their wives and children in them and rushed into the fight and were killed…On that day, Thursday, and all the night of Friday, nearly 15,000 Turks were engaged in slaying, plundering and destroying. When morning broke on Friday, all my army …went off to the city and thought of nothing but killing, plundering and making prisoners….The following day, Saturday the 17th, all passed in the same way, and the spoil was so great.that each man secured from fifty to a hundred prisoners, men, women, and children. There was no man who took less than twenty. The other booty was immense in rubies, diamonds, garnets, pearls, and other gems and jewels; ashrafis, tankas of gold and silver of the celebrated Alai coinage: vessels of gold and silver; and brocades and silks of great value. Gold and silver ornaments of Hindu women were obtained in such quantities as to exceed all account. Excepting the quarter of the Saiyids, the Ulama and the other Musulmans, the whole city was sacked.” Contributed by Rajiv Varma The world famous historian, Will Durant has written in his Story of Civilisation that “the Mohammedan conquest of India was probably the bloodiest story in history”. India before the advent of Islamic imperialism was not exactly a zone of peace. There were plenty of wars fought by Hindu princes. But in all their wars, the Hindus had observed some time-honoured conventions sanctioned by the Sastras. The Brahmins and the Bhikshus were never molested. The cows were never killed. The temples were never touched. The chastity of women was never violated. The non-combatants were never killed or captured. A human habitation was never attacked unless it was a fort. The civil population was never plundered. War booty was an unknown item in the calculations of conquerors. The martial classes who clashed, mostly in open spaces, had a code of honor. Sacrifice of honor for victory or material gain was deemed as worse than death. Islamic imperialism came with a different code–the Sunnah of the Prophet. It required its warriors to fall upon the helpless civil population after a decisive victory had been won on the battlefield. It required them to sack and burn down villages and towns after the defenders had died fighting or had fled. The cows, the Brahmins, and the Bhikshus invited their special attention in mass murders of non-combatants. The temples and monasteries were their special targets in an orgy of pillage and arson. Those whom they did not kill, they captured and sold as slaves. The magnitude of the booty looted even from the bodies of the dead, was a measure of the success of a military mission. And they did all this as mujahids (holy warriors) and ghazls (kafir-killers) in the service of Allah and his Last Prophet. Hindus found it very hard to understand the psychology of this new invader. For the first time in their history, Hindus were witnessing a scene which was described by Kanhadade Prabandha (1456 AD) in the following words: “The conquering army burnt villages, devastated the land, plundered people’s wealth, took Brahmins and children and women of all classes captive, flogged with thongs of raw hide, carried a moving prison with it, and converted the prisoners into obsequious Turks.” That was written in remembrance of Alauddin Khalji’s invasion of Gujarat in the year l298 AD. But the gruesome game had started three centuries earlier when Mahmud Ghaznavi had vowed to invade India every year in order to destroy idolatry, kill the kafirs, capture prisoners of war, and plunder vast wealth for which India was well-known. MAHMUD AND MASOOD GHAZNAVI In 1000 AD Mahmud defeated Raja Jaipal, a scion of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Kabul. This dynasty had been for long the doorkeeper of India in the Northwest. Mahmud collected 250,000 dinars as indemnity. That perhaps was normal business of an empire builder. But in 1004 AD he stormed Bhatiya and plundered the place. He stayed there for some time to convert the Hindus to Islam with the help of mullahs he had brought with him. In 1008 AD he captured Nagarkot (Kangra). The loot amounted to 70,000,000 dirhams in coins and 700,400 mans of gold and silver, besides plenty of precious stones and embroidered cloths. In 1011 AD he plundered Thanesar which was undefended, destroyed many temples, and broke a large number of idols. The chief idol, that of Chakraswamin, was taken to Ghazni and thrown into the public square for defilement under the feet of the faithful. According to Tarikh-i-Yamini of Utbi, Mahmud’s secretary, “The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously [at Thanesar] that the stream was discolored, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise he to Allah for the honor he bestows on Islam and Muslims.” In 1013 AD Mahmud advanced against Nandana where the Shahiya king, Anandapal, had established his new capital. The Hindus fought very hard but lost. Again, the temples were destroyed, and innocent citizens slaughtered. Utbi provides an account of the plunder and the prisoners of war: “The Sultan returned in the rear of immense booty, and slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap and men of respectability in their native land were degraded by becoming slaves of common shopkeepers. But this is the goodness of Allah, who bestows honor on his own religion and degrades infidelity.” The road was now clear for an assault on the heartland of Hindustan. In December 1018 AD Mahmud crossed the Yamuna, collected 1,000,000 dirhams from Baran (Bulandshahar), and marched to Mahaban in Mathura district. Utbi records: “The infidels…deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river…but many of them were slain, taken or drowned… Nearly fifty thousand men were killed.” Mathura was the next victim. Mahmud seized five gold idols weighing 89,300 missals and 200 silver idols. According to Utbi, “The Sultan gave orders that all the temples should be burnt with naptha and fire, and levelled with the ground.” The pillage of the city continued for 20 days. Mahmud now turned towards Kanauj which had been the seat of several Hindu dynasties. Utbi continues: “In Kanauj there were nearly ten thousand temples… Many of the inhabitants of the place fled in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultan gave his soldiers leave to plunder and take prisoners.” The Brahmins of Munj, which was attacked next, fought to the last man after throwing their wives and children into fire. The fate of Asi was sealed when its ruler took fright and fled. According to Utbi, “…. the Sultan ordered that his five forts should be demolished from their foundations, the inhabitants buried in their ruins, and the soldiers of the garrison plundered, slain and captured”. Shrawa, the next important place to be invaded, met the same fate. Utbi concludes: “The Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and worshipers of sun and fire. The friends of Allah searched the bodies of the slain for three days in order to obtain booty…The booty amounted in gold and silver, rubies and pearls nearly to three hundred thousand dirhams, and the number of prisoners may be conceived from the fact that each was sold for two to ten dirhams. These were afterwards taken to Ghazni and merchants came from distant cities to purchase them, so that the countries of Mawaraun-Nahr, Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them, and the fair and the dark, the rich and the poor, were commingled in one common slavery.” Mahmud’s sack of Somnath is too well-known to be retold here. What needs emphasizing is that the fragments of the famous Sivalinga were carried to Ghazni. Some of them were turned into steps of the Jama Masjid in that city. The rest were sent to Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad to be desecrated in the same manner. Mahmud’s son Masud tried to follow in the footsteps of his father. In 1037 AD he succeeded in sacking the fort of Hansi which was defended very bravely by the Hindus. The Tarikh-us-Subuktigin records: “The Brahmins and other high ranking men were slain, and their women and children were carried away captive, and all the treasure which was found was distributed among the army.” Masud could not repeat the performance due to his preoccupations elsewhere. MUHAMMAD GHORI AND HIS LEUTENANTS Invasion of India by Islamic imperialism was renewed by Muhmmad Ghori in the last quarter of the 12th century. After Prithiviraj Chauhan had been defeated in 1192 AD, Ghori took Ajmer by assault. According the Taj-ul-Ma’sir of Hasan Nizami, “While the Sultan remained at Ajmer, he destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples and built in their stead mosques and colleges and precepts of Islam, and the customs of the law were divulged and established.” Next year he defeated Jayachandra of Kanauj. A general massacre, rapine, and pillage followed. The Gahadvad treasuries at Asni and Varanasi were plundered. Hasan Nizami rejoices that “in Benares which is the centre of the country of Hind, they destroyed one thousand temples and raised mosques on their foundations”. According to Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir, “The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary.” The women and children were spared so that they could be enslaved and sold all over the Islamic world. It may be added that the Buddhist complex at Sarnath was sacked at this time, and the Bhikshus were slaughtered. Ghori’s lieutenant Qutbuddin Aibak was also busy meanwhile. Hasan Nizami writes that after the suppression of a Hindu revolt at Kol (modern day Aligarh) in 1193 AD, Aibak raised “three bastions as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became food for beasts of prey. The tract was freed from idols and idol worship and the foundations of infidelism were destroyed.” In 1194 AD Aibak destroyed 27 Hindu temples at Delhi and built the Quwwat-ul-lslam mosque with their debris. According to Nizami, Aibak “adorned it with the stones and gold obtained from the temples which had been demolished by elephants”. In 1195 AD the Mher tribe of Ajmer rose in revolt, and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat came to their assistance. Aibak had to invite reinforcements from Ghazni before he could meet the challenge. In 1196 AD he advanced against Anahilwar Patan, the capital of Gujarat. Nizami writes that after Raja Karan was defeated and forced to flee, “fifty thousand infidels were dispatched to hell by the sword” and “more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors”. The city was sacked, its temples demolished, and its palaces plundered. On his return to Ajmer, Aibak destroyed the Sanskrit College of Visaladeva, and laid the foundations of a mosque which came to be known as ‘Adhai Din ka Jhompada’. Conquest of Kalinjar in 1202 AD was Aibak’s crowning achievement. Nizami concludes: “The temples were converted into mosques… Fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus.” A free-lance adventurer, Muhammad Bakhtyar Khalji, was moving further east. In 1200 AD he sacked the undefended university town of Odantpuri in Bihar and massacred the Buddhist monks in the monasteries. In 1202 AD he took Nadiya by surprise. Badauni records in his Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh that “property and booty beyond computation fell into the hands of the Muslims and Muhammad Bakhtyar having destroyed the places of worship and idol temples of the infidels founded mosques and Khanqahs”. THE SLAVE (MAMLUK) SULTANS Shamsuddin Iltutmish who succeeded Aibak at Delhi invaded Malwa in 1234 AD. He destroyed an ancient temple at Vidisha. Badauni reports in his ‘Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh’: “Having destroyed the idol temple of Ujjain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was called Mahakal, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image of Rai Vikramajit from whom the Hindus reckon their era, and brought certain images of cast molten brass and placed them on the ground in front of the doors of mosques of old Delhi, and ordered the people of trample them under foot.” Muslim power in India suffered a serious setback after Iltutmish. Balkan had to battle against a revival of Hindu power. The Katehar Rajputs of what came to be known as Rohilkhand in later history, had so far refused to submit to Islamic imperialism. Balkan led an expedition across the Ganges in 1254 AD. According to Badauni, “In two days after leaving Delhi, he arrived in the midst of the territory of Katihar and put to death every male, even those of eight years of age, and bound the women.” But in spite of such wanton cruelty, Muslim power continued to decline till the Khaljis revived it after 1290 AD. THE KHALJIS Jalaluddin Khalji led an expedition to Ranthambhor in 1291 AD. On the way he destroyed Hindu temples at Chain. The broken idols were sent to Delhi to be spread before the gates of the Jama Masjid. His nephew Alauddin led an expedition to Vidisha in 1292 AD. According to Badauni in Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, Alauddin “brought much booty to the Sultan and the idol which was the object of worship of the Hindus, he caused to be cast in front of the Badaun gate to be trampled upon by the people. The services of Alauddin were highly appreciated, the jagir of Oudh (or Avadh – Central U.P.) also was added to his other estates.” Alauddin became Sultan in 1296 AD after murdering his uncle and father-in-law, Jalaluddin. In 1298 AD he equipped an expedition to Gujarat under his generals Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. The invaders plundered the ports of Surat and Cambay. The temple of Somnath, which had been rebuilt by the Hindus, was plundered and the idol taken to Delhi for being trodden upon by the Muslims. The whole region was subjected to fire and sword, and Hindus were slaughtered en masse. Kampala Devi, the queen of Gujarat, was captured along with the royal treasury, brought to Delhi and forced into Alauddin’s harem. The doings of the Malik Naib during his expedition to South India in 1310-1311 AD have already mentioned in earlier parts. THE TUGHLAQS Muslim power again suffered a setback after the death of Alauddin Khalji in 1316 AD. But it was soon revived by the Tughlaqs. By now most of the famous temples over the length and breadth of the Islamic occupation in India had been demolished, except in Orissa and Rajasthan which had retained their independence. By now most of the rich treasuries had been plundered and shared between the Islamic state and its swordsmen. Firuz Shah Tughlaq led an expedition to Orissa in 1360 AD. He destroyed the temple of Jagannath at Puri, and desecrated many other Hindu shrines. According to ‘Sirat-i-Firoz Shahi’ which he himself wrote or dictated, “Allah who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islam with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction he ordered the image of Jagannath to be perforated, and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jajnagar and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannath, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and the way of the ‘musallis’ (Muslim congregation for namaz) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images might be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims.” After the sack of the temples in Orissa, Firoz Shah Tughlaq attacked an island on the sea-coast where “nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations”. The swordsmen of Islam turned “the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers”. A worse fate overtook the Hindu women. Sirat-i-Firuz Shahs records: “Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier.” Still more horrible scenes were enacted by Firuz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot (Kangra) where he sacked the shrine of Jvalamukhi. Firishta records that the Sultan “broke the idols of Jvalamukhi, mixed their fragments with the flesh of cows and hung them in nose bags round the necks of Brahmins. He sent the principal idol as trophy to Medina.” THE PROVINCIAL MUSLIM SATRAPS In 1931 AD the Muslims of Gujarat complained to Nasiruddin Muhammad, the Tughlaq Sultan of Delhi, that the local governor, Kurhat-ul-Mulk, was practising tolerance towards the Hindus. The Sultan immediately appointed Muzzaffar Khan as the new Governor. He became independent after the death of the Delhi Sultan and assumed the title of Muzzaffar Shah in 1392 AD. Next year he led an expidition to Somnath and sacked the temple which the Hindus had built once again. He killed many Hindus to chastise them for this “impudence,” and raised a mosque on the site of the ancient temple. The Hindus, however, restarted restoring the temple soon after. In 1401 AD Muzaffar came back with a huge army. He again killed many Hindus, demolished the temple once more, and erected another mosque. Muzaffar was succeeded by his grandson, Ahmad Shah, in 1411 AD. Three years later Ahmad appointed a special darogah to destroy all temples throughout Gujarat. In 1415 AD Ahmad invaded Sidhpur where he destroyed the images in Rudramahalaya, and converted the grand temple into a mosque. Sidhpur was renamed Sayyadpur. Mahmud Begrha who became the Sultan of Gujarat in 1458 AD was the worst fanatic of this dynasty. One of his vassals was the Mandalika of Junagadh who had never withheld the regular tribute. Yet in 1469 AD Mahmud invaded Junagadh. In reply to the Mandalika’s protests, Mahmud said that he was not interested in money as much as in the spread of Islam. The Mandalika was forcibly converted to Islam and Junagadh was renamed Mustafabad. In 1472 AD Mahmud attacked Dwarka, destroyed the local temples, and plundered the city. Raja Jaya Singh, the ruler of Champaner, and his minister were murdered by Mahmud in cold blood for refusing to embrace Islam after they had been defeated and their country pillaged and plundered. Champaner was renamed Mahmudabad. Mahmud Khalji of Malwa (1436-69 AD) also destroyed Hindu temples and built mosques on their sites. He heaped many more insults on the Hindus. Ilyas Shah of Bengal (1339-1379 AD) invaded Nepal and destroyed the temple of Svayambhunath at Kathmandu. He also invaded Orissa, demolished many temples, and plundered many places. The Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga and Bidar considered it meritorious to kill a hundred thousand Hindu men, women, and children every year. They demolished and desecrated temples all over South India. AMlR TIMUR The climax came during the invasion of Timur in 1399 AD. He starts by quoting the Quran in his Tuzk-i-Timuri: “O Prophet, make war upon the infidels and unbelievers, and treat them severely.” He continues: “My great object in invading Hindustan had been to wage a religious war against the infidel Hindus…[so that] the army of Islam might gain something by plundering the wealth and valuables of the Hindus.” To start with he stormed the fort of Kator on the border of Kashmir. He ordered his soldiers “to kill all the men, to make prisoners of women and children, and to plunder and lay waste all their property”. Next, he “directed towers to be built on the mountain of the skulls of those obstinate unbelievers”. Soon after, he laid siege to Bhatnir defended by Rajputs. They surrendered after some fight, and were pardoned. But Islam did not bind Timur to keep his word given to the “unbelievers”. His Tuzk-i-Timuri records: “In a short space of time all the people in the fort were put to the sword, and in the course of one hour the heads of 10,000 infidels were cut off. The sword of Islam was washed in the blood of the infidels, and all the goods and effects, the treasure and the grain which for many a long year had been stored in the fort became the spoil of my soldiers. They set fire to the houses and reduced them to ashes, and they razed the buildings and the fort to the ground.” At Sarsuti, the next city to be sacked, “all these infidel Hindus were slain, their wives and children were made prisoners and their property and goods became the spoil of the victors”. Timur was now moving through (modern day) Haryana, the land of the Jats. He directed his soldiers to “plunder and destroy and kill every one whom they met”. And so the soldiers “plundered every village, killed the men, and carried a number of Hindu prisoners, both male and female”. Loni which was captured before he arrived at Delhi was predominantly a Hindu town. But some Muslim inhabitants were also taken prisoners. Timur ordered that “the Musulman prisoners should be separated and saved, but the infidels should all be dispatched to hell with the proselytizing sword”. By now Timur had captured 100,000 Hindus. As he prepared for battle against the Tughlaq army after crossing the Yamuna, his Amirs advised him “that on the great day of battle these 100,000 prisoners could not be left with the baggage, and that it would be entirely opposed to the rules of war to set these idolators and enemies of Islam at liberty”. Therefore, “no other course remained but that of making them all food for the sword”. Tuzk-i-Timuri continues: “I proclaimed throughout the camp that every man who had infidel prisoners should put them to death, and whoever neglected to do so should himself be executed and his property given to the informer. When this order became known to the ghazis of Islam, they drew their swords and put their prisoners to death. One hundred thousand infidels, impious idolators, were on that day slain. Maulana Nasiruddin Umar, a counselor and man of learning, who, in all his life, had never killed a sparrow, now, in execution of my order, slew with his sword fifteen idolatrous Hindus, who were his captives.” The Tughlaq army was defeated in the battle that ensued next day. Timur entered Delhi and learnt that a “great number of Hindus with their wives and children, and goods and valuables, had come into the city from all the country round”. He directed his soldiers to seize these Hindus and their property. Tuzk-i-Timuri concludes: “Many of them (Hindus) drew their swords and resisted…The flames of strife were thus lighted and spread through the whole city from Jahanpanah and Siri to Old Delhi, burning up all it reached. The Hindus set fire to their houses with their own hands, burned their wives and children in them and rushed into the fight and were killed…On that day, Thursday, and all the night of Friday, nearly 15,000 Turks were engaged in slaying, plundering and destroying. When morning broke on Friday, all my army …went off to the city and thought of nothing but killing, plundering and making prisoners….The following day, Saturday the 17th, all passed in the same way, and the spoil was so great.that each man secured from fifty to a hundred prisoners, men, women, and children. There was no man who took less than twenty. The other booty was immense in rubies, diamonds, garnets, pearls, and other gems and jewels; ashrafis, tankas of gold and silver of the celebrated Alai coinage: vessels of gold and silver; and brocades and silks of great value. Gold and silver ornaments of Hindu women were obtained in such quantities as to exceed all account. Excepting the quarter of the Saiyids, the Ulama and the other Musulmans, the whole city was sacked.” Contributed by Rajiv Varma

]]> By: Taunya Nellums http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-15706 Taunya Nellums Wed, 19 May 2010 02:46:38 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-15706 Hi, I came to this site from Yahoo and found it quite informational and just wanted to say thanks for providing information. Hi, I came to this site from Yahoo and found it quite informational and just wanted to say thanks for providing information.

]]> By: Surendra Ullal http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-14965 Surendra Ullal Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:51:13 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-14965 It is my fondest wish that all these authors who wrote comments on the article, The Whitewashig of History by Nithin Sridhar, should continue with a more sacred objective of united Hindus atleast all those enlightened or educated Hindus who learned the real history. All those people and hundreds of thousand Hindhus in the West and India, who think alike and agree with these premise must get together and begin an information-revolution of teaching hitherto misguided Hindus. In one of most successful attemps to mislead and convert Hindus to Christianity, British took a royal road of education, and started teaching Indians English under duress better of employment and living opportunities and Hindus fell into this very easily. Ever since the Christianization is going on without hindrance. Even now vast majority of the Hndus do not understand these great twist of the history. Until recently all those so called english educated Hindus repeated the false history of India. The present socalled secular democracy headed by congress government which in turn is guided by equally dangerous Christian Party Chairman with the fully consent of the corrupt and traitor politicians whose only motive is to enrich themselves allied with fraud alien Gandhi dynasty and bloodhound-like Hindu politicians are systematically destroying Hindu culture, literature and values in the very presence of vast Hindu population who are playing blissfully ignorant. At this most critical juncture of Hindu existence, if at least those of us who realize the danger inherent in the present system of government, do not wake up and begin to assert ourselves to finally establish a government with Hindu ethos as its basis we may see further erosion of our religion and culture to finally get back to enslavement by this new class of frauds. Let us give a clarion call to those, even if they in a minority now, and take first step in reestablishing our social, cultural and religious way of life, which is intrinsically secular, democratic, at the same time reassert our values and stop all kinds of activities hurting Sanatana Hindu Dharma. We shall let those live in harmoy with us who let all of us live in mutual respect and abide by our laws to be proclaimed by our new way of life. I HOPE TO READ MORE FROM YOU ALL! It is my fondest wish that all these authors who wrote comments on the article, The Whitewashig of History by Nithin Sridhar, should continue with a more sacred objective of united Hindus atleast all those enlightened or educated Hindus who learned the real history. All those people and hundreds of thousand Hindhus in the West and India, who think alike and agree with these premise must get together and begin an information-revolution of teaching hitherto misguided Hindus. In one of most successful attemps to mislead and convert Hindus to Christianity, British took a royal road of education, and started teaching Indians English under duress better of employment and living opportunities and Hindus fell into this very easily. Ever since the Christianization is going on without hindrance. Even now vast majority of the Hndus do not understand these great twist of the history. Until recently all those so called english educated Hindus
repeated the false history of India. The present socalled secular democracy headed by congress government which in turn is guided by equally dangerous Christian Party Chairman with the fully consent of the corrupt and traitor politicians whose only motive is to enrich themselves allied with fraud alien Gandhi dynasty and bloodhound-like Hindu politicians are systematically destroying Hindu culture, literature and values in the very presence of vast Hindu population who are playing blissfully ignorant. At this most critical juncture of Hindu existence, if at least those of us who realize the danger inherent in the present system of government, do not wake up and begin to assert ourselves to finally establish a government with Hindu ethos as its basis we may see further erosion of our religion and culture to finally get back to enslavement by this new class of frauds.

Let us give a clarion call to those, even if they in a minority now, and take first step in reestablishing our social, cultural and religious way of life, which is intrinsically secular, democratic, at the same time reassert our values and stop all kinds of activities hurting Sanatana Hindu Dharma. We shall let those live in harmoy with us who let all of us live in mutual respect and abide by our laws to be proclaimed by our new way of life.

I HOPE TO READ MORE FROM YOU ALL!

]]> By: lok satta india http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-14783 lok satta india Fri, 29 May 2009 03:09:13 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-14783 I have read some of your posts and they are good. Your blog is so informative. keep up the good work! I have read some of your posts and they are good. Your blog is so informative. keep up the good work!

]]> By: rapidshare links http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-736 rapidshare links Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:21:51 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-736 <strong>greatings...</strong> disagree... greatings…

disagree…

]]> By: Dial V.Gidwani http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-383 Dial V.Gidwani Mon, 12 May 2008 21:14:28 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-383 American Institute of Sindhulogy (AIS) invites all educationist/ academics/scholars Indians/non Indians to read themes from RETURN OF THE ARYANS on web site www.sindhulogy.org and will be happy to publish /circulate their findings. AIS is non political/non religious/ non profit institute to promote awareness of Sindhu Saraswati Civilization in the USA and else where. AIS is anxious to reach out and encourage our 3/4 th generation in theireducation and knowledge about our ancient civilization. AIS will circulate Mr. Nithin Shridhar's article to its net work. Great educational article. American Institute of Sindhulogy (AIS) invites all educationist/ academics/scholars Indians/non Indians to read themes from RETURN OF THE ARYANS on web site http://www.sindhulogy.org and will be happy to publish /circulate their findings.

AIS is non political/non religious/ non profit institute to promote awareness of Sindhu Saraswati Civilization in the USA and else where. AIS is anxious to reach out and encourage our 3/4 th generation in theireducation and knowledge about our ancient civilization.

AIS will circulate Mr. Nithin Shridhar’s article to its net work. Great educational article.

]]> By: Uma, Pahari , Lalit, Samir and Kotwal http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-382 Uma, Pahari , Lalit, Samir and Kotwal Sun, 11 May 2008 22:48:10 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-382 Not many Indians are likely to buy an expensive, bulky book -Return of the Aryans - published by Penguin Books, India and its sale is largely confined to foreign countries, and therefore the best course is to view the Themes from that book which are shown at www.sindhulogy.org. (They appear in that website under "Projects".).These themes will give an idea of how the roots of Hinduism began in Bharat Varsha (Indian subcontinent) in 8,000 BCE and how the Aryans who originated in India in 5,000 BCE travelled to a large number of countries in Asia and Europe, including Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Russia, Finland, Lithuania, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Germany and their adventures and exploits there. These Themes will give an idea of how art and and development flourished in that period of pre-History in India Anyone reading the Themes on website will clearly come to the conclusion that the Aryan Invasion Theory of India is false and was designed as a propagandist hoax. We will of course look forward to articles from the learned and eminent personalities like Koenraad Elst , David Frawley and other great writers such as Gautier and we hope Tattav will not fail to invite all such celebrated thinkers to contribute so that such ugly propaganda does not rear its vicious head again Not many Indians are likely to buy an expensive, bulky book -Return of the Aryans - published by Penguin Books, India and its sale is largely confined to foreign countries, and therefore the best course is to view the Themes from that book which are shown at http://www.sindhulogy.org. (They appear in that website under “Projects”.).These themes will give an idea of how the roots of Hinduism began in Bharat Varsha (Indian subcontinent) in 8,000 BCE and how the Aryans who originated in India in 5,000 BCE travelled to a large number of countries in Asia and Europe, including Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Russia, Finland, Lithuania, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Germany and their adventures and exploits there. These Themes will give an idea of how art and and development flourished in that period of pre-History in India

Anyone reading the Themes on website will clearly come to the conclusion that the Aryan Invasion Theory of India is false and was designed as a propagandist hoax.

We will of course look forward to articles from the learned and eminent personalities like Koenraad Elst , David Frawley and other great writers such as Gautier and we hope Tattav will not fail to invite all such celebrated thinkers to contribute so that such ugly propaganda does not rear its vicious head again

]]> By: Nilima Ghosh http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-379 Nilima Ghosh Thu, 08 May 2008 21:41:08 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-379 So much has been said so elegantly in response to a very interesting and informative article by Nithin Sridhar that I recomend what others have urged, thai is, all these comments be immediatelysubmitted to Koenraad Elst , David Frawley and other well-known writers of Hidu ethos, to give us an objective view of the Aryan history and in particular of their origin in India and travel westwards. So much has been said so elegantly in response to a very interesting and informative article by Nithin Sridhar that I recomend what others have urged, thai is, all these comments be immediatelysubmitted to Koenraad Elst , David Frawley and other well-known writers of Hidu ethos, to give us an objective view of the Aryan history and in particular of their origin in India and travel westwards.

]]> By: Dina U. Mehta http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-370 Dina U. Mehta Tue, 06 May 2008 22:56:47 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-370 To me it is a matter of surprise that when motivated and hostile commentators in the garb of historians, propound a false and propagandist theory like the Aryan Invasion Theory of India, our religious and spiritual leaders, politicians as also our writers simply beat their breasts and try to say that there was no such invasion. Instead why not write about those times with research and honesty, and show the idiocy and ridiculousness of the Theory. The English Rulers were smart. They not only planted the Story in the garb of history in order to show that Indians are incapable of governing themselves and it is always the foreigners who came to their rescue and it was, as they put it, the foreign Aryan who displaced the dark and terrible misery of India and so it is that the Britsh and Muslims came again to civilize Indians and bring enlightenment to them. The British saw to it that Indian teachers, professors, writers, historians, commentators and others were well paid to subscribe to that theory with scholarships, promotions, Government-aid, official praise and publication of their works. Thus, with Government patronage, hundreds of voices rose to claim the 'truth' of the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. Did they offer any proof? It was not necessary. With so many hundreds of articles and books supporting the Aryan Invasion Theory of India , who could ask for Proof? - how could so many learned books and serious articles by countless British and Indian historians be wrong! True, Swami Vivekanand, Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and others, questioned the theory but their comments were ignored as they were staunch nationalists and no doubt had a nationalistic outlook. In any case, the problem always was and is: how do you disprove a theory without writing about those times? It can only be dismissed when you know the context and the period in which such an event is said to have occurred. Fortunately, very fortunately, one writer – but only one - has come forward to write about those pre-Vedic times in which this False theory was supposed to have come to life. The writer is Bhagwan S. Gidwani and his book is ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ published by Penguin Books in India. This book gives a mortal body-blow to the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. But the book has a much larger theme and canvas. Its 1,000 pages tell the fascinating story of the Birth and Beginnings of the roots of Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma) with a thrilling account of how, in 5,000 BC, the Aryans originated from India, and from nowhere else - and why they moved out of their home-land; their trials and triumphs overseas; and finally their return to India. Thus, Gidwani demolishes the theory of Aryan invasion of India. He traces the Hindu ancestry of Aryans from 8,000 BC, and shows that Aryans were born, grew up, and died as citizens of Bharat Varsha, anchored in the timeless foundation of Sanatan Dharma. With equal clarity, the Book also demolishes the theory of North/South Divide, and shows how the people of Ganga, Madhya, Sindhu, Bangla and other regions were together with the Dravidian regions, in a spirit of equality and mutual respect, as a part of Bharat Varsha (India). Clearly, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ explains how the racial differences, like the skin colour, between North Indians and South Indians arose, and how Sanskrit has some words with foreign origin unlike Tamil. The book also shows how Bharat Varsha of 5,000 BC was far more extensive than the present-day territory of India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, as it included additionally Avagana (Afghanistan), parts of Iran, beyond Lake Namaskar (now known as Namaksar), where many Hindu hermits resided; in North, Bharat Varsha territory went across soaring peaks of Himalayas to Tibet to reach Lake Mansarovar, Mount Kailash, upto the source of mighty Sindhu and Brahmaputra rivers, and beyond; Also, Bharat Varsha included Land of Brahma (Burma) and beyond; Kashmir; Lands of Sadhu Newar (Nepal); Bhoota (Bhutan); and Land of Vraon (Sri Lanka). Note also that RETURN of the ARYANS’ covers a vast panorama to reveal dramatic stories behind the origins of Om, Namaste, Swastika, Gayatri Mantra, and Soma Wines. It tells how Tamil and Sanskrit developed, and how they influenced world-languages; also it has tales of discovery and disappearance of Saraswati River, and founding of Ganga, Dravidian, and Sindhu civilizations; the battles and blood-shed that led to fall and rise of Benaras, Hardwar, and many cities. Besides, Gidwani sheds light on pre-history establishment of legal and constitutional systems; development of ships and harbours; gold-mining; chariots; Yoga; mathematics; astronomy; medicine; surgery; music, dance, drama, art and architecture; and material advancement of the pre-ancient India. The book speaks of ideals that took shape in those early times, to become the foundation of Sanatana Dharma - and among those ideals were: recognition of spiritual nature of man, wherever he is from; acceptance of every culture as an expression of eternal values; and man's obligation to respect and protect environment, and all creatures, tame and wild. Gidwani also explains how the country came to be known as Bharat Varsha. Unfortunately, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ has not been presented as a formal historical text as the author has chosen to present it in story-form with even dialogues to fully focus on the drama of those times and hence has, withintegrity and objectivity, marked it as fictional, though fully explaining the extent of the fiction in the Preface. This has given a handle to Hindu Organizations and others to dismiss the book and as some one has said these organizations suffer from some dogma while all other dogma-ridden faiths and religions fully use novels and dramatic presentations to advance their message. Even so, why do our organizations fail to advance to research our history thoroughly. Why should ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ be the one and only book to deal with our pre-Vedic times? This book shows a settled Society in our Pre-Vedic times. It shows that 1. Bharat Varsha is the most ancient civilization in the world - more ancient than China, Japan, Mesopotamia, Iran and Egypt. 2. Bharat Varsha, was there before Rome was built, and before Jerusalem, Carthage, Greece, Damascus and Istanbul were founded 3. It has tales of battles and romance, adventures and exploits, valor and sacrifice, art and culture, of Pre-Vedic India, well before the dawn of recorded history. 4. When Europeans lived in caves, our people had two-story houses of brick and stone, with drainage system, public parks, public baths, art-works, fountains and granaries. 5. Our ancestors founded the ancient order of Sanatanah, well before 8,000 BC, and again, along the banks of Sindhu, from this root of Sanatanah sprang Sanatana Dharma, the ageless religion of the Hindus There is much more I could add to bring out the glory and greatness of Bharat Varsha as told in ‘RETURN of the ARYANS. But let this suffice. I conclude with the hope that TATTAVA will be the foremost among the organizations to promote the idea of a thorough research of our pre-ancient civilization in Pre-Vedic times. Meanwhile my congratulations to Nithin Sridhar for his fine article and the articles by the eminent personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley, to whom others have referred. To me it is a matter of surprise that when motivated and hostile commentators in the garb of historians, propound a false and propagandist theory like the Aryan Invasion Theory of India, our religious and spiritual leaders, politicians as also our writers simply beat their breasts and try to say that there was no such invasion. Instead why not write about those times with research and honesty, and show the idiocy and ridiculousness of the Theory.

The English Rulers were smart. They not only planted the Story in the garb of history in order to show that Indians are incapable of governing themselves and it is always the foreigners who came to their rescue and it was, as they put it, the foreign Aryan who displaced the dark and terrible misery of India and so it is that the Britsh and Muslims came again to civilize Indians and bring enlightenment to them. The British saw to it that Indian teachers, professors, writers, historians, commentators and others were well paid to subscribe to that theory with scholarships, promotions, Government-aid, official praise and publication of their works. Thus, with Government patronage, hundreds of voices rose to claim the ‘truth’ of the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. Did they offer any proof? It was not necessary. With so many hundreds of articles and books supporting the Aryan Invasion Theory of India , who could ask for Proof? - how could so many learned books and serious articles by countless British and Indian historians be wrong!

True, Swami Vivekanand, Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and others, questioned the theory but their comments were ignored as they were staunch nationalists and no doubt had a nationalistic outlook.

In any case, the problem always was and is: how do you disprove a theory without writing about those times? It can only be dismissed when you know the context and the period in which such an event is said to have occurred.

Fortunately, very fortunately, one writer – but only one - has come forward to write about those pre-Vedic times in which this False theory was supposed to have come to life. The writer is Bhagwan S. Gidwani and his book is ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ published by Penguin Books in India. This book gives a mortal body-blow to the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. But the book has a much larger theme and canvas. Its 1,000 pages tell the fascinating story of the Birth and Beginnings of the roots of Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma) with a thrilling account of how, in 5,000 BC, the Aryans originated from India, and from nowhere else - and why they moved out of their home-land; their trials and triumphs overseas; and finally their return to India. Thus, Gidwani demolishes the theory of Aryan invasion of India. He traces the Hindu ancestry of Aryans from 8,000 BC, and shows that Aryans were born, grew up, and died as citizens of Bharat Varsha, anchored in the timeless foundation of Sanatan Dharma. With equal clarity, the Book also demolishes the theory of North/South Divide, and shows how the people of Ganga, Madhya, Sindhu, Bangla and other regions were together with the Dravidian regions, in a spirit of equality and mutual respect, as a part of Bharat Varsha (India).
Clearly, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ explains how the racial differences, like the skin colour, between North Indians and South Indians arose, and how Sanskrit has some words with foreign origin unlike Tamil. The book also shows how Bharat Varsha of 5,000 BC was far more extensive than the present-day territory of India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, as it included additionally Avagana (Afghanistan), parts of Iran, beyond Lake Namaskar (now known as Namaksar), where many Hindu hermits resided; in North, Bharat Varsha territory went across soaring peaks of Himalayas to Tibet to reach Lake Mansarovar, Mount Kailash, upto the source of mighty Sindhu and Brahmaputra rivers, and beyond; Also, Bharat Varsha included Land of Brahma (Burma) and beyond; Kashmir; Lands of Sadhu Newar (Nepal); Bhoota (Bhutan); and Land of Vraon (Sri Lanka).

Note also that RETURN of the ARYANS’ covers a vast panorama to reveal dramatic stories behind the origins of Om, Namaste, Swastika, Gayatri Mantra, and Soma Wines. It tells how Tamil and Sanskrit developed, and how they influenced world-languages; also it has tales of discovery and disappearance of Saraswati River, and founding of Ganga, Dravidian, and Sindhu civilizations; the battles and blood-shed that led to fall and rise of Benaras, Hardwar, and many cities. Besides, Gidwani sheds light on pre-history establishment of legal and constitutional systems; development of ships and harbours; gold-mining; chariots; Yoga; mathematics; astronomy; medicine; surgery; music, dance, drama, art and architecture; and material advancement of the pre-ancient India.

The book speaks of ideals that took shape in those early times, to become the foundation of Sanatana Dharma - and among those ideals were: recognition of spiritual nature of man, wherever he is from; acceptance of every culture as an expression of eternal values; and man’s obligation to respect and protect environment, and all creatures, tame and wild.

Gidwani also explains how the country came to be known as Bharat Varsha.

Unfortunately, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ has not been presented as a formal historical text as the author has chosen to present it in story-form with even dialogues to fully focus on the drama of those times and hence has, withintegrity and objectivity, marked it as fictional, though fully explaining the extent of the fiction in the Preface. This has given a handle to Hindu Organizations and others to dismiss the book and as some one has said these organizations suffer from some dogma while all other dogma-ridden faiths and religions fully use novels and dramatic presentations to advance their message.
Even so, why do our organizations fail to advance to research our history thoroughly. Why should ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ be the one and only book to deal with our pre-Vedic times? This book shows a settled Society in our Pre-Vedic times. It shows that
1. Bharat Varsha is the most ancient civilization in the world - more ancient than China, Japan, Mesopotamia, Iran and Egypt.
2. Bharat Varsha, was there before Rome was built, and before Jerusalem, Carthage, Greece, Damascus and Istanbul were founded
3. It has tales of battles and romance, adventures and exploits, valor and sacrifice, art and culture, of Pre-Vedic India, well before the dawn of recorded history.
4. When Europeans lived in caves, our people had two-story houses of brick and stone, with drainage system, public parks, public baths, art-works, fountains and granaries.
5. Our ancestors founded the ancient order of Sanatanah, well before 8,000 BC, and again, along the banks of Sindhu, from this root of Sanatanah sprang Sanatana Dharma, the ageless religion of the Hindus
There is much more I could add to bring out the glory and greatness of Bharat Varsha as told in ‘RETURN of the ARYANS. But let this suffice.
I conclude with the hope that TATTAVA will be the foremost among the organizations to promote the idea of a thorough research of our pre-ancient civilization in Pre-Vedic times. Meanwhile my congratulations to Nithin Sridhar for his fine article and the articles by the eminent personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley, to whom others have referred.

]]> By: Dina U. Mehta http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-369 Dina U. Mehta Tue, 06 May 2008 22:48:28 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-369 To me it is a matter of surprise that when motivated and hostile commentators in the garb of historians, propound a false and propagandist theory like the Aryan Invasion Theory of India, our religious and spiritual leaders, politicians as also our writers, simply beat their breasts and try to say that there was no such invasion. Instead why not write about those times with research and honesty, and show the idiocy and ridiculousness of the Theory. Can you in such a case, separate an alleged event from the context of those times? The English Rulers were smart. They not only planted the Story in the garb of history in order to show that Indians are incapable of governing themselves and it is always the foreigners who came to their rescue and it was, as they put it, the foreign Aryan who displaced the dark and terrible misery of India and so it is that the Britsh and Muslims came again to civilize Indians and to bring enlightenment to them. The British saw to it that Indian teachers, professors, writers, historians, commentators and others were well paid to subscribe to that theory with scholarships, promotions, Government-aid, official praise and publication of their works. Thus, with Government patronage, hundreds of voices rose to claim the 'truth' of the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. Did they offer any proof? It was not necessary. With so many hundreds of articles and books supporting the Aryan Invasion Theory of India , who could ask for Proof? - how could so many learned books and serious articles by countless British and Indian historians be wrong! True, Swami Vivekanand, Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and others, questioned the theory but their comments were ignored as they were staunch nationalists and no doubt had a nationalistic outlook. In any case, the problem always was and is: how do you disprove a theory without writing about those times? It can only be dismissed when you know the context and the period in which such an event is said to have occurred. Fortunately, very fortunately, one writer – but only one - has come forward to write about those pre-Vedic times in which this False theory was supposed to have come to life. The writer is Bhagwan S. Gidwani and his book is ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ published by Penguin Books in India. This book gives a mortal body-blow to the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. But the book has a much larger theme and canvas. Its 1,000 pages tell the fascinating story of the Birth and Beginnings of the roots of Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma) with a thrilling account of how, in 5,000 BC, the Aryans originated from India, and from nowhere else - and why they moved out of their home-land; their trials and triumphs overseas; and finally their return to India. Thus, Gidwani demolishes the theory of Aryan invasion of India. He traces the Hindu ancestry of Aryans from 8,000 BC, and shows that Aryans were born, grew up, and died as citizens of Bharat Varsha, anchored in the timeless foundation of Sanatan Dharma. With equal clarity, the Book also demolishes the theory of North/South Divide, and shows how the people of Ganga, Madhya, Sindhu, Bangla and other regions were together with the Dravidian regions, in a spirit of equality and mutual respect, as a part of Bharat Varsha (India). Clearly, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ explains how the racial differences, like the skin colour, between North Indians and South Indians arose, and how Sanskrit has some words with foreign origin unlike Tamil. The book also shows how Bharat Varsha of 5,000 BC was far more extensive than the present-day territory of India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, as it included additionally Avagana (Afghanistan), parts of Iran, beyond Lake Namaskar (now known as Namaksar), where many Hindu hermits resided; in North, Bharat Varsha territory went across soaring peaks of Himalayas to Tibet to reach Lake Mansarovar, Mount Kailash, upto the source of mighty Sindhu and Brahmaputra rivers, and beyond; Also, Bharat Varsha included Land of Brahma (Burma) and beyond; Kashmir; Lands of Sadhu Newar (Nepal); Bhoota (Bhutan); and Land of Vraon (Sri Lanka). Note also that RETURN of the ARYANS’ covers a vast panorama to reveal dramatic stories behind the origins of Om, Namaste, Swastika, Gayatri Mantra, and Soma Wines. It tells how Tamil and Sanskrit developed, and how they influenced world-languages; also it has tales of discovery and disappearance of Saraswati River, and founding of Ganga, Dravidian, and Sindhu civilizations; the battles and blood-shed that led to fall and rise of Benaras, Hardwar, and many cities. Besides, Gidwani sheds light on pre-history establishment of legal and constitutional systems; development of ships and harbours; gold-mining; chariots; Yoga; mathematics; astronomy; medicine; surgery; music, dance, drama, art and architecture; and material advancement of the pre-ancient India. The book speaks of ideals that took shape in those early times, to become the foundation of Sanatana Dharma - and among those ideals were: recognition of spiritual nature of man, wherever he is from; acceptance of every culture as an expression of eternal values; and man's obligation to respect and protect environment, and all creatures, tame and wild. Gidwani also explains how the country came to be known as Bharat Varsha. Unfortunately, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ has not been presented as a formal historical text as the author has chosen to present it in story-form with even dialogues to fully focus on the drama of those times and hence has, withintegrity and objectivity, marked it as fictional, though fully explaining the extent of the fiction in the Preface. This has given a handle to Hindu Organizations and others to dismiss the book; and as some one has said these organizations suffer from some dogma while all other dogma-ridden faiths and religions fully use novels and dramatic presentations to advance their message. Even so, why do our organizations fail to advance to research our history thoroughly. Why should ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ be the one and only book to deal with our pre-Vedic times? This book shows a settled Society in our Pre-Vedic times. It shows that 1. Bharat Varsha is the most ancient civilization in the world - more ancient than China, Japan, Mesopotamia, Iran and Egypt. 2. Bharat Varsha, was there before Rome was built, and before Jerusalem, Carthage, Greece, Damascus and Istanbul were founded 3. It has tales of battles and romance, adventures and exploits, valor and sacrifice, art and culture, of Pre-Vedic India, well before the dawn of recorded history. 4. When Europeans lived in caves, our people had two-story houses of brick and stone, with drainage system, public parks, public baths, art-works, fountains and granaries. 5. Our ancestors founded the ancient order of Sanatanah, well before 8,000 BC, and again, from this root of Sanatanah sprang Sanatana Dharma, the ageless religion of the Hindus There is much more I could add to bring out the glory and greatness of Bharat Varsha as told in ‘RETURN of the ARYANS. But let this suffice. I conclude with the hope that TATTAVA will be the foremost among the organizations to promote the idea of a thorough research of our pre-ancient civilization in Pre-Vedic times. Meanwhile my congratulations to Nithin Sridhar for his excellent article and Bhagwat Shah for his great contribution. I too shall await articles from the emient personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley to whom others have referred. To me it is a matter of surprise that when motivated and hostile commentators in the garb of historians, propound a false and propagandist theory like the Aryan Invasion Theory of India, our religious and spiritual leaders, politicians as also our writers, simply beat their breasts and try to say that there was no such invasion. Instead why not write about those times with research and
honesty, and show the idiocy and ridiculousness of the Theory. Can you in such a case, separate an alleged event from the context of those times?

The English Rulers were smart. They not only planted the Story in the garb of history in order to show that Indians are incapable of governing themselves and it is always the foreigners who came to their rescue and it was, as they put it, the foreign Aryan who displaced the dark and terrible misery of India and so it is that the Britsh and Muslims came again to civilize Indians and to bring enlightenment to them. The British saw to it that Indian teachers, professors, writers, historians, commentators and others were well paid to subscribe to that theory with scholarships, promotions, Government-aid, official praise and publication of their works. Thus, with Government patronage, hundreds of voices rose to claim the ‘truth’ of the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. Did they offer any proof? It was not necessary. With so many hundreds of articles and books supporting the Aryan Invasion Theory of India , who could ask for Proof? - how could so many learned books and serious articles by countless British and Indian historians be wrong!

True, Swami Vivekanand, Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and others, questioned the theory but their comments were ignored as they were staunch nationalists and no doubt had a nationalistic outlook.

In any case, the problem always was and is: how do you disprove a theory without writing about those times? It can only be dismissed when you know the context and the period in which such an event is said to have occurred.

Fortunately, very fortunately, one writer – but only one - has come forward to write about those pre-Vedic times in which this False theory was supposed to have come to life. The writer is Bhagwan S. Gidwani and his book is ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ published by Penguin Books in India. This book gives a mortal body-blow to the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. But the book has a much larger theme and canvas. Its 1,000 pages tell the fascinating story of the Birth and Beginnings of the roots of Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma) with a thrilling account of how, in 5,000 BC, the Aryans originated from India, and from nowhere else - and why they moved out of their home-land; their trials and triumphs overseas; and finally their return to India. Thus, Gidwani demolishes the theory of Aryan invasion of India. He traces the Hindu ancestry of Aryans from 8,000 BC, and shows that Aryans were born, grew up, and died as citizens of Bharat Varsha, anchored in the timeless foundation of Sanatan Dharma. With equal clarity, the Book also demolishes the theory of North/South Divide, and shows how the people of Ganga, Madhya, Sindhu, Bangla and other regions were together with the Dravidian regions, in a spirit of equality and mutual respect, as a part of Bharat Varsha (India).
Clearly, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ explains how the racial differences, like the skin colour, between North Indians and South Indians arose, and how Sanskrit has some words with foreign origin unlike Tamil. The book also shows how Bharat Varsha of 5,000 BC was far more extensive than the present-day territory of India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, as it included additionally Avagana (Afghanistan), parts of Iran, beyond Lake Namaskar (now known as Namaksar), where many Hindu hermits resided; in North, Bharat Varsha territory went across soaring peaks of Himalayas to Tibet to reach Lake Mansarovar, Mount Kailash, upto the source of mighty Sindhu and Brahmaputra rivers, and beyond; Also, Bharat Varsha included Land of Brahma (Burma) and beyond; Kashmir; Lands of Sadhu Newar (Nepal); Bhoota (Bhutan); and Land of Vraon (Sri Lanka).

Note also that RETURN of the ARYANS’ covers a vast panorama to reveal dramatic stories behind the origins of Om, Namaste, Swastika, Gayatri Mantra, and Soma Wines. It tells how Tamil and Sanskrit developed, and how they influenced world-languages; also it has tales of discovery and disappearance of Saraswati River, and founding of Ganga, Dravidian, and Sindhu civilizations; the battles and blood-shed that led to fall and rise of Benaras, Hardwar, and many cities. Besides, Gidwani sheds light on pre-history establishment of legal and constitutional systems; development of ships and harbours; gold-mining; chariots; Yoga; mathematics; astronomy; medicine; surgery; music, dance, drama, art and architecture; and material advancement of the pre-ancient India.

The book speaks of ideals that took shape in those early times, to become the foundation of Sanatana Dharma - and among those ideals were: recognition of spiritual nature of man, wherever he is from; acceptance of every culture as an expression of eternal values; and man’s obligation to respect and protect environment, and all creatures, tame and wild.

Gidwani also explains how the country came to be known as Bharat Varsha.

Unfortunately, ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ has not been presented as a formal historical text as the author has chosen to present it in story-form with even dialogues to fully focus on the drama of those times and hence has, withintegrity and objectivity, marked it as fictional, though fully explaining the extent of the fiction in the Preface. This has given a handle to Hindu Organizations and others to dismiss the book; and as some one has said these organizations suffer from some dogma while all other dogma-ridden faiths and religions fully use novels and dramatic presentations to advance their message.
Even so, why do our organizations fail to advance to research our history thoroughly. Why should ‘RETURN of the ARYANS’ be the one and only book to deal with our pre-Vedic times? This book shows a settled Society in our Pre-Vedic times. It shows that
1. Bharat Varsha is the most ancient civilization in the world - more ancient than China, Japan, Mesopotamia, Iran and Egypt.
2. Bharat Varsha, was there before Rome was built, and before Jerusalem, Carthage, Greece, Damascus and Istanbul were founded
3. It has tales of battles and romance, adventures and exploits, valor and sacrifice, art and culture, of Pre-Vedic India, well before the dawn of recorded history.
4. When Europeans lived in caves, our people had two-story houses of brick and stone, with drainage system, public parks, public baths, art-works, fountains and granaries.
5. Our ancestors founded the ancient order of Sanatanah, well before 8,000 BC, and again, from this root of Sanatanah sprang Sanatana Dharma, the ageless religion of the Hindus

There is much more I could add to bring out the glory and greatness of Bharat Varsha as told in ‘RETURN of the ARYANS. But let this suffice.

I conclude with the hope that TATTAVA will be the foremost among the organizations to promote the idea of a thorough research of our pre-ancient civilization in Pre-Vedic times. Meanwhile my congratulations to Nithin Sridhar for his excellent article and Bhagwat Shah for his great contribution. I too shall await articles from the emient personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley to whom others have referred.

]]> By: M.R. Chowdhri http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-368 M.R. Chowdhri Tue, 06 May 2008 18:23:38 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-368 Nithin Sridhar in his excellent article on The Whitewashing of History, writes: "The history of India has been whitewashed and distorted, first by European rulers, and after independence by eminent historians of India and their supporters the Leftists, Seculars and self-claimed Progressives of India to meet their own ends. They have painted the pre-Islamic invasion period as a Dark Age and have glorified the Islamic period to be very peaceful and prosperous.. . " The above statement is undoubtedly correct. BUT THE QUESTION ONE MUST ASK IS: Who do we blame? If enemies are throwing stones at us, should not our own people do something to put a stop to it? Or is it some strange form of AHIMSA we have got in our brains that we should not put a stop to stones being flung at us by our enemies but instead we should shed tears and loudly cry out to public that stones are being flung at us by enemies. The fault, I submit, is ours. Enemies will do what enemies are supposed to do. But if we have self-respect and legitimate pride, we should retaliate or at least expose their lies, fabrications and propaganda. If we cannot do that, then there is something fundamentally wrong with us. I am glad that David Frawley, Koenraad Elstand many others who originally belonged to foreign cultures but have taken to heart the Hindu cause and faith, are doing so much against 'Enemy' propaganda. What about the rest of us. What about the rest of us? What is our function? - to cry out and seek public sympathy for propaganda against Hinduism. PLEASE WAKE UP. The public goes by, uncaring, or in contempt or simply laughing. I like and admire the counter-punch in Bhagwan Gidwani's "Return of the Aryans". Those of us who see only falsehood in a novel know nothing of history, literature or dramatic presentation Nithin Sridhar in his excellent article on The Whitewashing of History, writes:

“The history of India has been whitewashed and distorted, first by European rulers, and after independence by eminent historians of India and their supporters the Leftists, Seculars and self-claimed Progressives of India to meet their own ends. They have painted the pre-Islamic invasion period as a Dark Age and have glorified the Islamic period to be very peaceful and prosperous.. . ”

The above statement is undoubtedly correct. BUT THE QUESTION ONE MUST ASK IS: Who do we blame? If enemies are throwing stones at us, should not our own people do something to put a stop to it? Or is it some strange form of AHIMSA we have got in our brains that we should not put a stop to stones being flung at us by our enemies but instead we should shed tears and loudly cry out to public that stones are being flung at us by enemies.

The fault, I submit, is ours. Enemies will do what enemies are supposed to do. But if we have self-respect and legitimate pride, we should retaliate or at least expose their lies, fabrications and propaganda. If we cannot do that, then there is something fundamentally wrong with us.

I am glad that David Frawley, Koenraad Elstand many others who originally belonged to foreign cultures but have taken to heart the Hindu cause and faith, are doing so much against ‘Enemy’ propaganda. What about the rest of us. What about the rest of us? What is our function? - to cry out and seek public sympathy for propaganda against Hinduism. PLEASE WAKE UP. The public goes by, uncaring, or in contempt or simply laughing.

I like and admire the counter-punch in Bhagwan Gidwani’s “Return of the Aryans”. Those of us who see only falsehood in a novel know nothing of history, literature or dramatic presentation

]]> By: Rita P Mohina http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-362 Rita P Mohina Mon, 05 May 2008 18:18:20 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-362 Bhagwat Shah is right. Religious leaders and writers have certainly let down India, Hinduism and its cultural awakening. The Internet has given birth to so many Hindu organizations to place their ever-growing website on it. But what is the value of those websites? They write in an idiom and style which cannot appeal to the modern day youth or the masses. In short they write for themselves or for those who are already fully and wholly committed to the Hindu cause. There is nothing in them to reach out and have a popular appeal. Nothing fresh except the Sanskritized rehash of old literature made even more obscure by difficult phrases and complex language with the object of showing how learned and educated they themselves personally are. Their object seems to be to draw attention to their own personal learning rather that to meet the needs of others for enlightenment. Hinduism is a great religion. But when Religious leaders in their websites take it out of the popular field, they do grave harm to it. What we have to have is popular appeal – TV, Films, Dramas and Novels. For instance, the TV on Ramayana and Mahabharta has done more for the popular understanding of Hinduism than all the Hindu websites put together. Similarly, the novel Return of the Aryans by Gidwani has done more to popularize Hinduism throughout the world. Anyone who reads the Hindu websites , with all their ponderous language, will not know if the Aryan Invasion Theory is true or not. But anyone reading the Return of the Aryans will clearly know that the Theory is false and foolish and nothing but propaganda. I note the suggestion made by Bhowmick Narayan that the emient personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley to write articles for Tattava so that the theory of Aryan Invasion of India is laid to rest as false and propagadistic Bhagwat Shah is right. Religious leaders and writers have certainly let down India, Hinduism and its cultural awakening. The Internet has given birth to so many Hindu organizations to place their ever-growing website on it. But what is the value of those websites? They write in an idiom and style which cannot appeal to the modern day youth or the masses. In short they write for themselves or for those who are already fully and wholly committed to the Hindu cause. There is nothing in them to reach out and have a popular appeal. Nothing fresh except the Sanskritized rehash of old literature made even more obscure by difficult phrases and complex language with the object of showing how learned and educated they themselves personally are. Their object seems to be to draw attention to their own personal learning rather that to meet the needs of others for enlightenment.

Hinduism is a great religion. But when Religious leaders in their websites take it out of the popular field, they do grave harm to it. What we have to have is popular appeal – TV, Films, Dramas and Novels. For instance, the TV on Ramayana and Mahabharta has done more for the popular understanding of Hinduism than all the Hindu websites put together. Similarly, the novel Return of the Aryans by Gidwani has done more to popularize Hinduism throughout the world.
Anyone who reads the Hindu websites , with all their ponderous language, will not know if the Aryan Invasion Theory is true or not. But anyone reading the Return of the Aryans will clearly know that the Theory is false and foolish and nothing but propaganda.
I note the suggestion made by Bhowmick Narayan that

the emient personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley to write articles for Tattava so that the theory of Aryan Invasion of India is laid to rest as false and propagadistic

]]> By: Putli, Arjun, Dad and Lani http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-357 Putli, Arjun, Dad and Lani Mon, 05 May 2008 02:16:07 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-357 We fully subscribe to the view that Gidwani's Return of the Aryans gives a well-deserved body blow to the Aryan Invasion Theory of India and clearly shows how ridiculous and false that Theory is.The Return of Aryans goes ahead to show that the people of Bharat Varsha were the original Aryans ad they traveled to far countries in Asia and Europe. For the rest, one has to agree with fine article by Nithin Sridhar and very sensible response by Bhagwat Shah. We fully subscribe to the view that Gidwani’s Return of the Aryans gives a well-deserved body blow to the Aryan Invasion Theory of India and clearly shows how ridiculous and false that Theory is.The Return of Aryans goes ahead to show that the people of Bharat Varsha were the original Aryans ad they traveled to far countries in Asia and Europe.
For the rest, one has to agree with fine article by Nithin Sridhar and very sensible response by Bhagwat Shah.

]]> By: Govind Shahan http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-342 Govind Shahan Fri, 02 May 2008 20:08:16 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-342 I appreciate what Bhagwat Shah says. His views deserve respect, consideration and action. We are sadly neglecting the cultural enlightement of our youngsters and of the common man in India.. I hope Tattava will kindly give consideration to the views of Bhagwat Shah and take action to the extent it can. Tattava, as I see it, has eminent and highly educated editorial team which can do much to encourage all, including Education authorities to disseminate correct information about India and its cultural past. Bhagwat Shah is correct that our religious leaders, politiciansand educationists are unconcerned. But I do not blame the masses so much. They have simply been let down by their leaders - religious and political. I also agree to some extent with Mirchand, in the comments as above, when he says that "our people sometimes become dogmatic, coming under the influence of foreign dogma, and they try to tell us that what is NOT written in a certain Religious book or books CANNOT be true and therefore they close their minds to all other evidence". I recall one instance where a foremost Hindu Magazine refused to publish information about "Return of the Aryans" on the ground that the book is marked 'fiction' and the information there is not in Vedic literature. But as corrctly pointed out by others, the book is about an era much prior to Vedas and the author clearly has researched his material though to present it in story form with invented dialogues for a film or TV Sscript, he has been honest enough to mark the book as 'Fiction'. People of dogma - Christian, Muslims, Jews, and others - happily quote from novel and other literature to glorify the cultural heritage of their own people, but our Hindu preachers act with dogma and put on a 'holier than thou' attitude to remain aloof from such great literature. I, for one, whenever anyone talks of Aryan Invasion Theory of India thrust on to them the thesis in "Return of the Aryans" that Aryans originated in India and civilized to an extent many regions and countries in their extensive travels abroad. Be that as it may, I repeat that the comments of Bhagwat Shah should be considered by all and in particular by the TATTAVA editorial team and there should be focus on bringing matters of cultural awareness to all. I appreciate what Bhagwat Shah says. His views deserve respect, consideration and action. We are sadly neglecting the cultural enlightement of our youngsters and of the common man in India.. I hope Tattava will kindly give consideration to the views of Bhagwat Shah and take action to the extent it can. Tattava, as I see it, has eminent and highly educated editorial team which can do much to encourage all, including Education authorities to disseminate correct information about India and its cultural past.

Bhagwat Shah is correct that our religious leaders, politiciansand educationists are unconcerned. But I do not blame the masses so much. They have simply been let down by their leaders - religious and political.

I also agree to some extent with Mirchand, in the comments as above, when he says that “our people sometimes become dogmatic, coming under the influence of foreign dogma, and they try to tell us that what is NOT written in a certain Religious book or books CANNOT be true and therefore they close their minds to all other evidence”. I recall one instance where a foremost Hindu Magazine refused to publish information about “Return of the Aryans” on the ground that the book is marked ‘fiction’ and the information there is not in Vedic literature. But as corrctly pointed out by others, the book is about an era much prior to Vedas and the author clearly has researched his material though to present it in story form with invented dialogues for a film or TV Sscript, he has been honest enough to mark the book as ‘Fiction’. People of dogma - Christian, Muslims, Jews, and others - happily quote from novel and other literature to glorify the cultural heritage of their own people, but our Hindu preachers act with dogma and put on a ‘holier than thou’ attitude to remain aloof from such great literature. I, for one, whenever anyone talks of Aryan Invasion Theory of India thrust on to them the thesis in “Return of the Aryans” that Aryans originated in India and civilized to an extent many regions and countries in their extensive travels abroad.

Be that as it may, I repeat that the comments of Bhagwat Shah should be considered by all and in particular by the TATTAVA editorial team and there should be focus on bringing matters of cultural awareness to all.

]]> By: Bhagwat Shah http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-334 Bhagwat Shah Fri, 02 May 2008 08:56:47 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-334 Great info - but - how are we making sure this gets passed onto our children or to the common man in India ? Scholarly treaties, novels or articles are not read by the masses and we need to make sure this info gets to the masses. What is the proposal for that ? Are we going to make sure the education system in India and abroad takes note of these findings and research ? If so, how ? We continue to shout in the cyber space, but, in the schools and universities around the world - including India, none of this matters. They are still sticking to the old books. What are the plans to change them ? Sadly, our religious leaders are not concerned with this research or spreading this info. Our politicians are definitely not interested as there are no votes in this (Hindus vote bank does not exist for them !!!!). Our educationalists are not interested as they don't want to have to re-read and re-educate themselves, besides, they are brought up on old prejudices and are unwilling to change it. Saddest of all, our masses are not interested. They do not care about anything beyond the next bollywood release and cricket score. To them our ruined temples and ruined histories are of no consequence at all. Until we start to educate the new generation and do so on a wide scale, this info will be limited to the elite and will not help us lift our country, culture or religion out of the mire its in at present. We have to do this in India and outside India. Don't wait for the gov or religious bodies to do this, I propose we do this ourselves. We are happy to send our children to tennis and piano lessons, we should also send them to Indian culture lessons. If need be, we have to start these lessons ourselves and use the research on-line to educate our children. Having tried different institutions, I eventually started my own classes in London to teach children of my own friends and family. We can't wait for others. We have to do this for ourselves. Great info - but - how are we making sure this gets passed onto our children or to the common man in India ? Scholarly treaties, novels or articles are not read by the masses and we need to make sure this info gets to the masses. What is the proposal for that ? Are we going to make sure the education system in India and abroad takes note of these findings and research ? If so, how ?

We continue to shout in the cyber space, but, in the schools and universities around the world - including India, none of this matters. They are still sticking to the old books. What are the plans to change them ?

Sadly, our religious leaders are not concerned with this research or spreading this info. Our politicians are definitely not interested as there are no votes in this (Hindus vote bank does not exist for them !!!!). Our educationalists are not interested as they don’t want to have to re-read and re-educate themselves, besides, they are brought up on old prejudices and are unwilling to change it. Saddest of all, our masses are not interested. They do not care about anything beyond the next bollywood release and cricket score. To them our ruined temples and ruined histories are of no consequence at all.

Until we start to educate the new generation and do so on a wide scale, this info will be limited to the elite and will not help us lift our country, culture or religion out of the mire its in at present. We have to do this in India and outside India. Don’t wait for the gov or religious bodies to do this, I propose we do this ourselves. We are happy to send our children to tennis and piano lessons, we should also send them to Indian culture lessons.

If need be, we have to start these lessons ourselves and use the research on-line to educate our children. Having tried different institutions, I eventually started my own classes in London to teach children of my own friends and family. We can’t wait for others. We have to do this for ourselves.

]]> By: Kan Kripalani http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-331 Kan Kripalani Fri, 02 May 2008 02:47:17 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-331 Very nice article by Nithin Sridhar with nice quotations from many writers to show how faulty is the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. But the writer who totally demolishes the Aryan Invasion Theory of India is Bhagwan S. Gidwani - see his book 'Return of the Aryans. With Gidwani's theory that Aryans were actually Indians and they are the ones who traveled all over the then known world, in search of th Land of the Pure, makes the Aryan Invasion Theory of India, absolutely ridiculous. Is Gidwani's theory of foreign travel by Aryans of India, correct? I don't know for certain but his book makes a fine- even beautiful - reading and the case he makes for Aryans traveling out of India quite convincing. Also what it proves to the hilt is that the Aryan Invasion Theory of India is utterly and hopelessly wrong and ridiculous. Very nice article by Nithin Sridhar with nice quotations from many writers to show how faulty is the Aryan Invasion Theory of India. But the writer who totally demolishes the Aryan Invasion Theory of India is Bhagwan S. Gidwani - see his book ‘Return of the Aryans. With Gidwani’s theory that Aryans were actually Indians and they are the ones who traveled all over the then known world, in search of th Land of the Pure, makes the Aryan Invasion Theory of India, absolutely ridiculous. Is Gidwani’s theory of foreign travel by Aryans of India, correct? I don’t know for certain but his book makes a fine- even beautiful - reading and the case he makes for Aryans traveling out of India quite convincing. Also what it proves to the hilt is that the Aryan Invasion Theory of India is utterly and hopelessly wrong and ridiculous.

]]> By: Pran Nath Jaidev http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-329 Pran Nath Jaidev Thu, 01 May 2008 22:38:27 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-329 Nithin Sridhar’s article-The Whitewashing of History- is impressive. Equally, I find the comments by Jagjit Mirchand and Bhowmick Narayan very useful. I would wholeheartedly agree with the suggestion that Koenraad Elst and David Frawley may be requested for updated articles for Tattava so that the theory of Aryan Invasion of India is understood and analysed. As far as Bhagwan Gidwani's book Return of the Aryans is concerned, the author called it a novel because he said in his preface that he invented the dialogues in order to tell the story of the drama of the roots of our civilization otherwse, as I see it, the story is well-researched has the air of plausibility apart from being a very enjoyable book to read - which is successful in India and even more abroad and is being translated in French. But frankly, the jury is still out in my mind about the Aryans having originated in India only or was it a mass migration and movement from many parts of the world at about the same time? Tattava can do much to have all these matters brought to light. They are most important matters as they relate to roots of our society, religion and civilization. Nithin Sridhar’s article-The Whitewashing of History- is impressive. Equally, I find the comments by Jagjit Mirchand and Bhowmick Narayan very useful.
I would wholeheartedly agree with the suggestion that Koenraad Elst and David Frawley may be requested for updated articles for Tattava so that the theory of Aryan Invasion of India is understood and analysed.

As far as Bhagwan Gidwani’s book Return of the Aryans is concerned, the author called it a novel because he said in his preface that he invented the dialogues in order to tell the story of the drama of the roots of our civilization otherwse, as I see it, the story is well-researched has the air of plausibility apart from being a very enjoyable book to read - which is successful in India and even more abroad and is being translated in French. But frankly, the jury is still out in my mind about the Aryans having originated in India only or was it a mass migration and movement from many parts of the world at about the same time?

Tattava can do much to have all these matters brought to light. They are most important matters as they relate to roots of our society, religion and civilization.

]]> By: Bhowmick Narayan http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-325 Bhowmick Narayan Thu, 01 May 2008 21:32:06 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-325 Nithin Sridhar's article-The Whitewashing of History- is honest and objective. I fully agree that the Aryan Invasion Theory is a hoax and I am grateful to Tattava for bringing such matters out in the open so that the falsehoods and distortions in our history are clearly named as such. I fully agree with Nithin Sridhar's observation that "It is time that the self interests are kept aside and the facts of history made known to the masses". The conclusion drawn by David Frawley is absolutely correct that "In short, the compelling reasons for the Aryan invasion theory were neither literary nor archeological but political and religious, that is to say, not scholarship but prejudice.” It is necessary also to read and learn from the very iluminating writing of Koenraad Elst who conclusively shows that there is no Evidence for the so-called Aryan Invasion of India” . It is necessary also to refer to Bhagwan S. Gidwani's book , Return of the Aryans which clearly demonstrates with thousands of clues and evidence that the Aryans of Sanatan Dharma (the root of Hinduism) emanated from India and traveled from India to foreign lands not only of West Asia and Europe in 5,000 but even to other countries to the East such as Mingolia, China, Indonesia etc. It is true that a large number of foreigners who joined the Aryans locally came with them when Aryans finally returned to India but is that an not 'invasion'? No, they came with goodwill and friendship. The book, Return of the Aryans, is written in the form of a story to dramatise the birth and beginnings of the roots of Hinduism at the dawn of civilization in 8,000 BCE, and the origin of the Aryans in India in 5,000 BCE and is described as a 'novel'. YET it is based on solid research. I have come across even many Hindus even who have said that since the book is not based on Vedas or historical Hindu epics or literature, it cannot be taken seriously BUT they forget the fact that Vedas were written in or after 4,000 BCE and all Hindu epics and iterature came thereafter while Return of the Aryans deals with period of 8,000 BCE to 5,000 BCE, which may be described as a pre-Vedic age which itself must be regarded as a somewhat settled society to have given birth to the Vedic Age in which the Hindu & Aryan literature blossomed. Remember, thre was no witten language in the period of 8,000 BCE to 5,000 BCE and the book, Return of the Aryans, bases itself on oral traditions and memory songs that possibly survive and therefore the author of the book, with due honesty, himself gives it the lable of Fiction, choosing to write it in story form or a novel. Unfortunatly, there exists no book other than the Return of the Aryans which writes about the PreVedic times of India - neither by an Indian author nor by even a foreign author. Oral traditions are themselves regarded as a foundation of history everywhere but our people sometimes become dogmatic, coming under the influence of foreign dogma, and they try to tell us that what is NOT written in a certain Religious book or books CANNOT be true and therefore they close their minds to all other evidence. In closing, i again refer to Nithin Sridhar's observation that the facts of history must be made known to all and therefore I request Editor Tattava to kindly consider inviting and requesting the emient personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley to write articles for Tattava so that the theory of Aryan Invasion of India is laid to rest as false and propagadistic .These are writers from whom many draw inspiration and their contribution will be truly worthwhile. Nithin Sridhar’s article-The Whitewashing of History- is honest and objective. I fully agree that the Aryan Invasion Theory is a hoax and I am grateful to Tattava for bringing such matters out in the open so that the falsehoods and distortions in our history are clearly named as such. I fully agree with Nithin Sridhar’s observation that “It is time that the self interests are kept aside and the facts of history made known to the masses”. The conclusion drawn by David Frawley is absolutely correct that “In short, the compelling reasons for the Aryan invasion theory were neither literary nor archeological but political and religious, that is to say, not scholarship but prejudice.”
It is necessary also to read and learn from the very iluminating writing of Koenraad Elst who conclusively shows that there is no Evidence for the so-called Aryan Invasion of India” .

It is necessary also to refer to Bhagwan S. Gidwani’s book , Return of the Aryans which clearly demonstrates with thousands of clues and evidence that the Aryans of Sanatan Dharma (the root of Hinduism) emanated from India and traveled from India to foreign lands not only of West Asia and Europe in 5,000 but even to other countries to the East such as Mingolia, China, Indonesia etc. It is true that a large number of foreigners who joined the Aryans locally came with them when Aryans finally returned to India but is that an not ‘invasion’? No, they came with goodwill and friendship.

The book, Return of the Aryans, is written in the form of a story to dramatise the birth and beginnings of the roots of Hinduism at the dawn of civilization in 8,000 BCE, and the origin of the Aryans in India in 5,000 BCE and is described as a ‘novel’. YET it is based on solid research. I have come across even many Hindus even who have said that since the book is not based on Vedas or historical Hindu epics or literature, it cannot be taken seriously BUT they forget the fact that Vedas were written in or after 4,000 BCE and all Hindu epics and iterature came thereafter while Return of the Aryans deals with period of 8,000 BCE to 5,000 BCE, which may be described as a pre-Vedic age which itself must be regarded as a somewhat settled society to have given birth to the Vedic Age in which the Hindu & Aryan literature blossomed. Remember, thre was no witten language in the period of 8,000 BCE to 5,000 BCE and the book, Return of the Aryans, bases itself on oral traditions and memory songs that possibly survive and therefore the author of the book, with due honesty, himself gives it the lable of Fiction, choosing to write it in story form or a novel. Unfortunatly, there exists no book other than the Return of the Aryans which writes about the PreVedic times of India - neither by an Indian author nor by even a foreign author. Oral traditions are themselves regarded as a foundation of history everywhere but our people sometimes become dogmatic, coming under the influence of foreign dogma, and they try to tell us that what is NOT written in a certain Religious book or books CANNOT be true and therefore they close their minds to all other evidence.

In closing, i again refer to Nithin Sridhar’s observation that the facts of history must be made known to all and therefore I request Editor Tattava to kindly consider inviting and requesting the emient personalities like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley to write articles for Tattava so that the theory of Aryan Invasion of India is laid to rest as false and propagadistic .These are writers from whom many draw inspiration and their contribution will be truly worthwhile.

]]> By: Prof. Jagjit Mirchand http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-324 Prof. Jagjit Mirchand Thu, 01 May 2008 18:51:05 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-324 In my response to the excelent article “The Whitewashing of History", by Nithin Sridhar, i had also said, as follows: "See also the website which summarises under ‘Projects’ some of the Themes in “RETURN OF THE ARYANS”. I am sorry I had not given the identification of the wsbsite which gives some of the Themes in “RETURN OF THE ARYANS”. Kindly note, the website is . Please click on the 'Projects' and a list of Themes from “RETURN OF THE ARYANS” will appear. You can then click the Theme that you wish to see. Once again, my congratulations on the excellence of the Article, “The Whitewashing of History", by Nithin Sridhar In my response to the excelent article “The Whitewashing of History”, by Nithin Sridhar, i had also said, as follows:

“See also the website which summarises under ‘Projects’ some of the Themes in “RETURN OF THE ARYANS”.

I am sorry I had not given the identification of the wsbsite which gives some of the Themes in “RETURN OF THE ARYANS”. Kindly note, the website is . Please click on the ‘Projects’ and a list of Themes from “RETURN OF THE ARYANS” will appear. You can then click the Theme that you wish to see.

Once again, my congratulations on the excellence of the Article, “The Whitewashing of History”, by Nithin Sridhar

]]> By: Prof. Jagjit Mirchand http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-318 Prof. Jagjit Mirchand Thu, 01 May 2008 18:22:36 +0000 http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/05/the-whitewashing-of-history-by-nithin-sridhar/#comment-318 I congratulat Nithin Sridhar on the rxcellence of his article and in particular, for his clear explanation that the Aryan Invasion Theory is false and was fabricated by the British for propagandisic reasons. I wish howver that Sridhar had mentioned a masterly book - "RETURN OF THE ARYANS" by Bhagwan Gidwani, published by Penguin Books India, which clearly shows that Aryans originated from India - and no where else - and how these Aryans travelled to countries in West Asia and Europe, including, Iran, Turkey, Lithuania, Finland, Russia, Swede, Nirway, Denmark, Greece, Italy and Germany, and how after long periods of stay there, many of these Aryans retuned to their hoetown abd hertage of BHARAT VARSHA (INDIAN SUBCONTINENT) This book is written the form of a novel but is based on extensive research. See also the website which summarises under 'Projects' some of the Themes in "RETURN OF THE ARYANS". Clearly, the book shows the motivation of these Aryans of BHARAT VARSHA and their adventures, exploits and successes in those distant countries I congratulat Nithin Sridhar on the rxcellence of his article and in particular, for his clear explanation that the Aryan Invasion Theory is false and was fabricated by the British for propagandisic reasons. I wish howver that Sridhar had mentioned a masterly book - “RETURN OF THE ARYANS” by Bhagwan Gidwani, published by Penguin Books India, which clearly shows that Aryans originated from India - and no where else - and how these Aryans travelled to countries in West Asia and Europe, including, Iran, Turkey, Lithuania, Finland, Russia, Swede, Nirway, Denmark, Greece, Italy and Germany, and how after long periods of stay there, many of these Aryans retuned to their hoetown abd hertage of BHARAT VARSHA (INDIAN SUBCONTINENT) This book is written the form of a novel but is based on extensive research. See also the website which summarises under ‘Projects’ some of the Themes in “RETURN OF THE ARYANS”. Clearly, the book shows the motivation of these Aryans of BHARAT VARSHA and their adventures, exploits and successes in those distant countries

]]>