X-Post...
johneeG wrote:Here my version of history:
{quote}Timeline 1:
0 CE: Buddhism spread all over. Buddhism is dominant all over. Hindhuism has the most following but Buddhism is trying to digest Hindhuism and replace it using its political power. Buddhism tries to enter Rome. Pandyan King sends a mission consisting of Hindhu, Buddhist and Jain religious men while Augustus was ruling Rome. Buddhist Shramana burns himself to death in Athens and it becomes a huge news. (This seems to be the real life inspiration for stories about persecution of X-ists by Rome. One needs to keep in mind that X-ism is a mutated form of Buddhism).
180 CE: Buddhism starts to mutate and Proto-X-ianity is born in North-africa(Egypt-Alexandria) and Middle-east(Syria). Buddhists create stories of Yashas(Jesus) from Mula-Sarva-Asthi-Vadha-Vinaya(Buddhist Book). Alexandria was under the grip of Buddhism. Buddhism was trying to enter Rome via Alexandria. (The Rome may be following some form of Greek + Hindhu religion. Worship of Mithra is a clear indication of Hindhu influence. Greek influence on Rome is quite established. Greeks themselves may have had influence of Buddhism on them. The roman calendar is clearly connected to Hindu calendar and Bhaarath).
200 CE: Rise of Arabians(Semi-African or Semi-Black) pirates. Till now, Buddhism controlled the sea-lanes. From now on, Buddhism slowly yielded to these Arabian pirates. Roman Empire was at the height of its glory. Roman Empire was a combination of African and Greeks. Germanics and other such tribes were seen as barbarians by the Romans.
250 CE: Goths and other ‘Barbarians’ attack Roman Empire. Roman Empire is severely distressed by them. But, Rome manages to push them back by some Soldier-Emperors. Notice that during this time, there are not many records about Asia(including north-africa and middle-east) because Buddhism stifles the information flow by control. The same was repeated later in dark-ages in Europe(because X-ism is mutilated-Buddhism).
325 CE: Nicean Creed by the Constantine. Rome becomes the seat of X-ianity. In short, Buddhism finally managed to enter Rome but it had to make compromise with the Constantine and agree to several doctrinal changes. Constantine’s rule sowed the seeds for the decline of Rome. Constantine reorganized the Roman Army and weakened it completely. This gave advantage to the Goths and other ‘barbarians’.
400 CE: Spread of Huns and Germanics at the expense of Roman Empire.
450 CE: Death of Attila(perhaps, assassination by Eastern Roman Empire) and decline of Huns. Huns were on the verge of defeating the eastern roman empire. Gokturks rise from Hunnic territories. Gokturks are originally Mongolians. The western roman empire was on total decline with Germanics occupying more and more territory.
500 CE: Re-rise of Hindhuism in Bhaarath and weakening of Buddhism. Re-orientation of Buddhism towards China and Japan. Buddhists transfer knowledge and technology from Bhaarath to China via Tibet. Technology of Gun powder and rockets seem to have been transferred to China and Japan via Tibet from Bhaarath during this period. Germanics defeated the Western Roman Empire. X-ianity made peace with Germanics. And dark ages began in Europe. {There is something very interesting here: Before 500 CE, the historical records of Bhaarath are very scant. After 500 CE, the historical records of Europe are very scant(until the X-ism is weakened during renaissance period). So, in both cases it was Buddhism which was curbing the flow of information. }
550 CE: Turks and Khazarians rise from Gokturks. Arabs become more powerful. Sea-lanes are completely controlled by Arabs. Arabs start conquering north-africa and middle-east. Silk Route becomes important. Buddhism weakens in Bhaarath. Hindhuism on rapid re-rise in Bhaarath. Buddhism consolidates in China and Japan.
600 CE: Arabs defeat Turks & Persians by the power of their navy. Birth of Islam: synthesis of Buddhism, Hindhuism, proto-X-ianity, and African creeds. Buddhism loses its dominance in Bhaarath.
650 CE: Persians revolt against Arabs. Birth of Shias. Persians retain Islam but modify it to suit their tastes. So far, Arabs were led by Mohammads(i.e. chieftains). After the successful revolt of the Persians, Mohammads lost power. And a new regime of Arab & Turks came to throne. Turks managed to gain more and more control. But that meant that the navy power decline. Arabs& Turks sent raids on Sindh and Gaandhara regions. They continue to send raids via land routes. Buddhists aid these invasions by Arabs & Turks.
700 CE: Arabs & Turks jointly rule north-africa(including Spain) and middle-east. Arabs & Turks keep sending raids and succeed in conquering some territories in Gaandhara & Sindh region in Bhaarath. They continued their invasion into Rajputhana and even Ujjain. Many victories and defeats followed. But the decisive blow was given by Pulikeshin(Chalukya Ruler of South Gujarath). So, Arabs & Turks expansion in the south was stopped near Gujarath. In the north, they expanded into Punjab and went to Kashmir. In Kashmir, Lalithadithya-Mukthapida stopped them. After the whole campaign, Arabs& Turks held some territories in Sindh & Gaandhara regions. Sindh and Gaandhara were originally areas under Buddhist influence(at 500 CE). Now, these Buddhist areas became areas Turkic areas.
750 CE: Arabs & Turks are unable to expand in Bhaarath. Arabs are sidelined by Turks. Bhaarathiyas attempt to retake Sindh and Gaandhara. Turks manage to hold on to Gaandhara.
800 CE: Turks control the Arabic Empire. Turks & Persians concentrate on central Asia. Birth of color-based racism. Buddhism relegated to few Viharas in Bhaarath. Europe in Dark Ages due to X-ianity. Khazarians take control of Judaism. Turks take control of Islam and start creating bios, laws, stories, customs, …etc. Khazars do the same to Judaism. Rise of Vikings. Vikings occupy a part of Khazaria.(Later, they go on to establish Russian Empire). Khazarians are under attack from Turks. Khazars start to migrate to nearby areas.
850 CE: Central-Asian hordes are looking for loot and pillage. Turks sponsor them in return for conversions and tribute. To save themselves, Persians also sponsor the central-asian hordes. Central-Asian hordes attack Viharas as easy and rich prey. In the next phase, they attacked Temples.
900 CE: Central-Asian hordes start putting pressure on Bhaarath. Gaandhara becomes a hub of central-asian hordes. Central-Asian hordes attack Viharas as easy and rich prey. In the next phase, they attacked Temples.
950 CE: Central-Asians hordes launch raids into Bhaarath using Gaandhara as the opening. Many raids are repulsed by the Bhaarathiyas.
1000 CE: Raid of Mohammad of Ghazani succeeds on Somnaath Temple(in Gujarath/Saurasthra). Huge loot boggles the minds of the raiders all over the muslim world. All raiders become desperate to loot Bhaarath.
1050 CE: Waves of raids are repulsed by Bhaarathiyas. Bhaarathiyas form a federation of various kingdoms to deal with these raids. Islam acquires its final shape.
1100 CE: Raids continue in the hope of replicating the success of Ghazni’s somnaath raid. Khazaria kingdom is on the verge of losing to the Turks. Turks become powerful due to loots from Bhaarath. Khazarians sponsor the Europeans to start a crusade against the Turks. Khazarians provide money and weapons. Europe is supposed to bring the men(i.e. cannon fodder). This was first crusade. It was a great success. Turks seem to have been taken by surprise at this frenzied, poor and barbaric European x-ian horde. But, Turks soon recovered . But, the Europeans had tasted blood and were not going to give up so easily. Khazarian migration to nearby areas becomes immense. Khazarian kingdom becomes an empty shell.
1150 CE: Turks cleared up whatever Europeans had won in the first crusade in middle-east. Then, Turks & Persians poured money to fund central-asian hordes against Bhaarath. As Turks concentrate on Bhaarath, they lose territories in Spain to reconquista. Gaandhara is still under the control of the central-asians and it is used as doorway to raids on Bhaarath. After a gap of 50 yrs, Europeans launched another crusade against the Turks hoping to replicate the success of first crusade. This time, the success for Europeans was very less. The second crusade was largely a failure. Khazarian kingdom is done and dusted.
1200 CE: Central-asian hordes succeed. Mohammad Ghori goes on to raid and loot Dhilli and many other areas of Bhaarath and establish a kingdoms in Bhaarath. This is the beginning of Islamic kingdoms in mainland Bhaarath. So far, it was confined to Gaandhara region. Now, these Islamic kingdoms were in Multan, Dhilli, Bengal and Gaandhara. But, these were mainly in control of cities and the villages were mostly not ruled by the islamics. They used force to collect taxes and left. In short, it was as if the raiders had managed to occupy a city. It was not a full-scale governance or administration. After another 40 yrs gap, third crusade was launched by Europeans. Europeans gain no territories. But, there is loot and raid on the high seas and there is also transfer of tech through the benevolence of the Khazars. The migrating Khazars seem to have brought weapon tech and money to the Europeans. Khazars settled down as lenders. There is rise of another central-asian force: Mongols(Gengis Khan).
1250 CE: Rule of Islamics was quite bad for Bhaarath because they were not interested in governance. They were only interested in raids and loots. The people were getting impoverished due to taxes. It was also filled with palace intrigue and constant struggle for power within the rulers. Policy paralysis in governance. Rise of Southern Bhaarathiya Hindhu powers. The loot of third crusade inspired many more crusades in the next 50 yrs by the Europeans. There were 4 crusades in the next 50 yrs. Khazarians may also have been instrumental in funding these crusades to regain their Kingdom. Though there were no major territorial gains, the Europeans were principally interested in the loot and piracy rather than territory. By, the seventh crusade, the European X-ians were fighting among themselves. China came under the attack of Mongols. Control of China gave artillery to Mongols. After the Mongols won China, Mongols saw the importance of silk route and wanted to control it. Mongols marched onto Persia when Persia and Mongols quarreled for the control of Silk route. The central-asian hordes in silk-route were mongolized during this period. Persia quickly fell to the Mongol onslaught. The capital of Persia, Samarkhand was looted and ransacked. In the next 50 yrs, Mongols in the central-asia acquired Islam from Persia. Defeat of Persia also exposed Mongols to new war technologies. During this period, China was ruled by Mongol Kubalai Khan. During this period, Mongols may have wanted to take over Islam just as Turks had done before. But, Mongols could not finish that project. Yet, Mongols(central-asian hordes) had enormous influence on Islam. But, Turks were the ones who came up with most of the theology.
1300 CE: Khiljis replaced the Aibaks as the rulers of Dhilli in Bhaarath. Khilji launched raids on South Bhaarath. The southern Bhaarathiya kingdoms failed to be prepared and unite against the common enemy. Devastating defeat for the Hindhu kingdoms of south Bhaarath. Start of Islamic kingdoms in south Bhaarath. As the Islamics of Dhilli were launching raids into Southern Bhaarath, the central-asian Islamic hordes were launching raids into northern Bhaarath(i.e. the territory ruled by the Khiljis). After the defeat of the Persia, the central-asian hordes were pushing into Bhaarath. Mughals(Mongols) were raiding northern Bhaarath. Khiljis did not defend against Mughals. They were busy launching invasions and raids into South Bhaarath. Turks concentrated on consolidating their hold in the middle-east, deflecting the central-asian hordes. This was the start of Ottoman Empire(Turkish Empire controlling the entire middle-east except Persia). Persians were trying to spread their religion, language and culture to central-asians who were ruling them. It seems that the Persian elites made a deal with the Mongols, “Rule us, but convert”. Meanwhile, the Europeans concentrated to regaining the spain as Turkey was busy looking east. During the time of crusades Europeans learnt color-based racism, slave-trade, piracy, colonialism, …etc from the Turks. Persians also acquired these attitudes from Turks. Central-asian hordes acquired these attitudes from Turks and Persians. Europeans also got hold of war tech during the crusades and during regaining of Spain. Perhaps, the Khazars helped them. The tag ‘mongol’ seems to be a container for all the central-asian hordes which were united by the Genghis Khan. These central-asian hordes were devastating on the land against the settled population centres. But, they were completely useless in naval warfare. So, they could not succeed in the coastal areas, but they were very successful in land-locked areas. Persia seems to have managed to retain semi-independence from the Mongols because it was not land-locked. But, both Persia and China had very poor navy.
1350 CE: Raids of Central-asian Islamic hordes(Mughals) become more and more devastating on northern Bhaarath. Dhilli(Capital of Khiljis) is looted by Taimurlung. Tuqlaqs replace Khiljis on Dhilli throne. Hindhu rebellion in South Bhaarath against the Tuglaqs. Rise of Vijayanagara and Naiks and rise of Reddys in South Bhaarath. They all managed to revolt against the Tughlaqs. Tuqlaq tried to shift his capital to south to stay safe from the raids of central-asian hordes. But the capital shift did not happen smoothly. So, Dhilli remained the capital and remained vulnerable to raids from central-asian hordes. Bahmani kingdom also revolted against the Tuglaqs.
1400 CE: Vijayanagara ruled most of the south. Thelangana was the only southern region under Islamic rule. Tuqlaqs were replaced by another faction: Khiljis. Bahmani and Vijayanagara were locked in quarrel.
1450 CE: Bahmani breaks into 5 deccan states: Bidar, Berar, Bijapur, Ahmednagar and Golconda(Hyd). These states ally with each other and continue enmity with Vijayanagara. Dhilli sultanate is busy with raids from the central-asian hordes. This gives chance for Vijayanagara to expand. Vijayanagara becomes very powerful. Chinese build great wall to defend against the central-asian hordes. The wall does protect the China from Mongols. Bammera Pothanna was born in Warangal(Thelangana, South Bhaarath). He went on to write Thelugu translation of Bhagavatham. Annamayya was writing poems in Thirupathi on Lord Venkateshwara.
1492 CE: Columbus lands in America. He wanted to find a route to Bhaarath via America. But, he seems to have underestimated the size of America.
1515 CE: Raajpuths under Rana Sanga start revolt against Dhilli. Lodhi(ruler of Dhilli Sultanate) tried to curb them but it weakened the Dhilli Sultanate.
1520 CE: Central-Asian hordes succeed against Dhilli Sultanate. Babur defeats Lodhi. The Dhilli sultanate were so vulnerable because they did not have the support of the populace. Dhilli sultanate was also weakened due to its war against Raajpuths. If Babur had not appeared, then Lodhi would have lost to Rana Sanga. Babur established his kingdom in Dhilli and Agra. Soon, Babur died(perhaps due to injuries in battle). Humayun succeeded him to throne. There was revolt led by Sher Shah Suri against the Mughals. Rajpuths supported Sher Shah’s revolt against Humayun. Humayun ran away to Sindh and further to Gaandhara. But, he didn’t receive help there. So, he sought refuge in Persia. Persia gave support to Humayun. Humayun’s wife was pregnant at the time. Akbar was born in Sindh and seems to have spent his childhood in Persia. So, Akbar was influenced by the Persian culture in his childhood. Meanwhile, Vijayanagara was at its zenith under the rule of Shree Krushna Dheva Raya. The Gajapathi Kingdom of Odisa was conquered by the Vijayanagaras. The entire Hindhu kingdoms of South were now under the Vijayanagara. The 5 deccan states are standing between Vijayanagara and the northern Bhaarath. Purandhara Dhasa wrote poems on Lord Vishnu in Vijayanagara Empire. His influence on Carnatic and Hindhusthani music is immense.
1542 CE: Krishna Deva Raya’s son-in-law Aliya Rama Raya becomes the defacto ruler of Vijayanagara Empire. He uses one deccan state against the other true intrigues and stops them from uniting against Vijayanagara. The real king on throne was teenager.
1550 CE: Sher Shah died in battlefield. Humayun regained Dhilli and Agra with the help of Persia. But, their control was precarious. Humayun died and Akbar was declared the Successor. Hemachandra took the throne of Dhilli and won Agra. Mughals ran away to Gaandhara. After a long time, a Hindhu was again ruling Dhilli. But, it was short-lived.
1556 CE: Battle of Panipath. Mughals with the help of Persians managed to defeat Hemachandra. Mughals established their rule in Dhilli and Agra. Mughals and Rajpuths continued the war.
1557 CE: Mughals took conquered Punjab and consolidated their hold on Dhilli.
1558 CE: Ajmer(ruled by the Muslim ruler) was defeated by Mughals. This opened up entire Rajputhana to Mughal attacks.
1565 CE: Battle of Tallikota weakened Vijayanagara empire. The capital of Vijanagara was looted. It took them about 6 months to loot the great city. Then, they put it to fire. After the defeat of Hemachandra, Rajpuths came under the attack of Mughals. Akbar’s campaign against the Rajpuths was bloody and the resistance of Rajpuths was extra-ordinary. Akbar sealed alliance with some Rajputh factions by marital relationships. This alliance was decisive in giving security and edge to Akbar against internal and external threats to his throne. Akbar won the central-Bhaarath and consolidated his hold on Dhilli throne. Akbar managed to defeat Gujarath and Bengal. He then made Dhilli safe by conquering Gaandhara. Lack of hold on Gaandhara was the main reason for the successive weakness of many kingdoms. Akbar managed to plug this hole by taking control of Gaandhara. Akbar seems to have been influenced by the Persian culture. He adopted Persian culture and tradition. Persian was already quite popular among Mughal elites but Akbar seems have been more besotted with it. Originally, mother tongue of Mughals was Turkic Chagatai. Akbar wanted to conquer South Bhaarath. It remained his fond dream and he sent many invasions which were repulsed.
1572 CE: Birbal starts to rise in Akbar’s court.
1575 CE: Akbar starts to take interest in religion. Akbar’s age is 33 yrs. Islam fails to satisfy his philosophical needs. He learns about Hindhuism & is impressed by it. He softens his attitude towards Hindhus. He is still unable to reject Islam completely. He starts to learn what it means to be a good king. So far, he was just another barbarian raider. Now, he tries to become a good king. But, he is unable to eschew his previous behavior. Birbal could be the main person who influenced Akbar immensely during this period.
1582 CE: Akbar creates a new religion named Din-e-ilahi. Akbar’s age is 40 yrs. Birbal is one of the few people to become the follower of Din-e-ilahi. This religion is a mix of Hindhuism and Islam. Akbar’s idea was to go back to native polytheistic middle-east religion. Islamic clerics and sufis panic and declare it as blasphemy.
1586 CE: Birbal died in Afghanistan trying to quell a revolt against the Akbar. Perhaps, palace intrigue played its role in his death. Many Muslim courtiers of Akbar hated Birbal for the influence that he held on Akbar. Akbar was very depressed at the death of Birbal. Its also interesting that Birbal died within a few years of Akbar founding his new religion. This shows that Birbal was the main force behind Akbar’s religious views. And therefore, he seems to have been targeted. Akbar remained a tolerant king even after the death of Birbal. During later period of Akbar’s rule many religions which were a mix of Islam and Hindhuism flourished. Mainly this was a method to reconvert the muslims to Hindhuism. Hindhus who had been forcefully converted into Muslims were not accepted back into Hindhuism as it is. Those muslims were also reluctant to go back to Hindhuism. So, as a first cleaning step, they converted to a creeds which were a combination of Hindhuism and Islam. Then, the next step was to go back to traditional Hindhuism.
1605 CE: Akbar died. His son Jehangir succeeded him to throne. Akbar could not conquer South Bhaarath. Akbar was not able to place a good successor on throne. From now on, its just a story of Mughal rulers being indulgent in drugs, abuse and harem frolics paying little attention to administration. Rajputh allies created by Akbar were instrumental in the survival of Mughals. During Jehangir’s time, conquest of Rajpuths was completed. But, he lost Gaandhara to Persians. This would keep the Dhilli vulnerable to attacks from central-asia and Persia. Jehangir’s wife Nur Jehan played the key-role during Jehangir’s rule. (BTW, the stories about Shah Jahan’s love for Mumtaj seem to be inspired from the stories of Jehangir’s love for Nur Jahan). In his later years, Akbar followed a policy of tolerance towards various religions which was not liked by the Islamic fanatics. After Akbar, the Islamic fanatics supported Jehangir on the condition that he would support their agenda. Jehangir yielded to their demands to keep control on throne. This policy showed its full impact on Punjab area. Guru Arjan who was the Sikh Guru was tortured to death by Jehangir. In reaction to this, Guru Hargobind started the policy of arming the Sikhs. Jehangir imprisoned the Guru and kept him as a ransom against the threat of revolution.
1627 CE: Jehangir died. And his son Shah Jahan ascended the throne after killing many of his kins. Shah Jahan was a totally useless idiot lost in the revelries. His only qualifications seem to be ruthlessness and knowing whom to suck up to. He was able to remain on throne by giving free reign to the Islamic fanatics who had been reined by Akbar. Fanaticism of worst kind was born during his rule.(His son Aurangzeb seems to have acquired Islamism from this period). There were many revolts and rebellions in Shah Jahan’s period. The empire was constantly under one problem or the other. People were becoming more and more impoverished. In Shah Jahan’s period, confrontation between Sikhs and Mughals continued. Restriction on all non-muslims increased. They increased in Jehangir’s period. And they continued to increase in Shah Jehan’s period. Shah Jehan tried to captured Gaandhara from Persia, but could not hold on to it. In short, there were no major victories in Shah Jehan’s and Jehangir’s period. It was only increasing Islamism which culminated in the rule of Aurangzeb. The empire was rotting from within. And revolutions brewing all over.
1636 CE: Aurangzeb was sent to invade Deccan states. Aurangzeb managed to annex Ahmednagar. And he made Bijapur and Golconda accept Mughal suzerainty. After that Bijapur and Golconda were used to go defeat Vijayanagara.
1642 CE: Vijayanagara lost to Bijapur and Golconda. Vijayanagara was looted. Larger feudatories of the Vijayanagara declared independence.
1645 CE: As soon as Vijayanagara empire was destroyed. The Hindhus of entire South-Bhaarath faced a grim future. Immediately another Hindhu force rose on horizon: Shivaji . Shivaji took control of a fort of Bijapur. Shivaji’s father used to be a mercenary noble in Bijapur.
1648 CE: Shivaji’s father was imprisoned by Bijapur to control Shivaji. Later, he was released conditionally. Shivaji laid low for sometime after this preparing his forces.
1655 CE: Shivaji’s father died. Shivaji re-launched his efforts.
1656 CE: Shivaji took control of a marata chieftain’s kingdom named Javali.
1657 CE: Shivaji offered his help to Mughals in defeating the Bijapur. In return, Mughals would recognize Shivaji. But, this offer did not materialize.
1658 CE: Shah Jehan became ill. And immediately it sparked wars of succession among his sons. His eldest son Dara Shikoh was murdered by his brother Aurangzeb by declaring him as an apostate of Islam. Aurangzeb seized power in Dhilli and imprisoned Shah Jehan for next 8 yrs. Islamists again agreed to support Aurangzeb provided his rule was more islamist than the previous ones. Aurangzeb made the pact with devil to get power. Aurangzeb’s rule destroyed whatever remained of Akbar’s system. Therefore, it is no wonder that the mughal empire crumbled immediately after Aurangzeb.
1658 CE: Bijapur and Golconda revolted against Mughals.
1659 CE: Adil Shah of Bijapur sent Afzal Khan to neutralize Shivaji. Afzal Khan was killed by Shivaji and the forces of Bijapur were defeated. This weakened the Bijapur.
1660 CE: Bijapur and Golconda had defeated Vijayanagara due to help from Mughals. So, Bijapur tried to repeat the formula. So, Bijapur again sought the help of Mughals. Shivaji was going attacked from two sides by Bijapur and Mughals. Shivaji suffered losses and retreated. Aurangzeb sent Shaista Khan to defeat Shivaji.
1663 CE: Shaista Khan and his huge army were taken apart by Shivaji and his forces.
1665 CE: Aurangzeb regained the control of Vangal. Then, Rajputh Raja Jai Singh was sent to control Shivaji. Raja Jai Singh was very successful. He captured many forts and managed to sign a treaty with Shivaji. Under the terms of treaty, Shivaji would serve the Mughal court.
1666 CE: Aurangzeb invited Shivaji to Agra. Shivaji was humiliated and house-arrested. Shivaji escaped house arrest with the help of Raja Jai Singh. After this, Shivaji lied low for sometime preparing his forces.
1670 CE: Shivaji re-launched his campaign against mughals and quickly regained a lot of territory.
1672 CE: The existence of Vijayanagara was the key to tolerant nature of Qutb Shahis of Golconda. One finds the stories of imprisonment of Bhaktha Ramdhas by Tana Shah of Golconda after the destruction of Vijayanagara.
1674 CE: Shivaji is coronated as the King: Chathrapathi. This was supposed to be Vijayanagara 2.0. Immediately, Shivaji launched a campaign to regain the South-Bhaarath area. Shivaji managed to keep the Qutb Shahis neutral by asking him to ally against the Mughals.
1677 CE: Shivaji’s territories extended upto Tamilnadu. He was enroute to recreating Vijayanagara.
1678 CE: Shivaji died. His sudden death, sparked succession quarrels.
1680 CE: Eldest son of Shivaji, Sambhaji became the successor. Second son of Aurangzeb revolted against Aungranzeb and took refuge with Sambhaji.
1685 CE: Aurangzeb sent invasion party against Bijapur and Golconda along with Sambhaji. Bijapur and Golconda were seen as allying with Sambhaji.
1689 CE: Sambhaji was captured, tortured and killed by Mughals. Sambhaji’s son Shahu was taken prisoner by Aurangzeb as ransom against the revolt of Maraatas.
1690 CE: Tana Shah of Golconda and Adil Shah of Bijapur were defeated, humiliated and imprisoned. Aurangzeb got huge loot from Golconda which had mines nearby.
1707 CE: Aurangzeb died. A succession war was sparked(as is the common tradition of the Mughals). Shahuji was released during this time perhaps because he pledged his alliance to one of the factions against the other.
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a) These legends about 'single arrow killing the enemy' seem like muslim inventions fit to be ignored.
b) Similarly, the whole idea that muslims won because of superior weapons or artillery also seem too much. Mongols won against the chinese before they had the artillery. Mongols gained knowledge of artillery after they won against the chinese.
c) Hindhus depending on Muslims and Muslims depending on Hindhus in middle-ages was common. Infact, its common even today. If Hindhus could not defeat the Muslims completely because they depended on Muslims, the same holds true for Muslims also i.e. Muslims could not defeat Hindhus completely because they depended on Hindhus.
d) Treachery by Muslims(specially supporters) is often cited as a reason for the defeat of Hindhu kingdoms or generals. It may be true that the muslims were treacherous. But, the same would be true about Hindhus supporting muslims. I think treachery is quite common in such situations. And people involved in those situations would take many precautions and alternative plans to handle such situations. So, it seems to me that treachery of muslims should not be seen as the main reason for the defeat of the Hindhu kingdoms.
So, what is the reason for the defeat of the Hindhu kingdoms?
This is really a very limited question which ignores the larger forces that are operating. What is happening is that the nomadic tribes are overwhelming the settled populations. This started around 200 CE. It became intense in 500 CE and continued upto 1500 CE. After 1500 CE, it seems to have eased out.
Mongols won against the chinese before they had the artillery. Mongols gained knowledge of artillery after they won against the chinese. Germanics and Huns were winning against the romans. Mongols(Mughals) won against the Dhilli Sultanate. So, the point is that the nomadic hordes were winning against the settled kingdoms. Why? Because,
- their entire society was organized as a sort of army.
- Most of these nomadic societies were turning towards piracy. Their continuous raids weaken the kingdoms and finally they conquer them.
- They are desperate and have nothing to lose.
- They are not bothered about ruling their own people. They only are interested in raiding the other the party and looting as much as they can. Settled kingdoms have to rule and protect their own populations. If they don't do that, then the kingdom will quickly decline.
There are two ways of handling raids from nomadic tribes:
a) Build a wall(fence). China built a wall. This is a short-term solution. (In a way, Bhaarath also has built a wall between Bakiland and Bhaarath at the border)
b) Go and conquer the areas of nomadic tribes and bring civilization to them i.e. reconquer. This is a long-term solution. This is a more long-term solution. But, this is a more difficult solution that requires commitment. Hindhus have been losing because they are shy of reconquering in the last 1000 yrs.
For example, suppose there is lot of dirt in your house, there are 2 solutions:
a) close the doors of your room, so that the bad odor will not reach your room. This is the short-term solution. It will work for some time, but eventually the dirt will reach your room also if you don't clean it.
b) clean the house. This is the long-term proper solution. But, it requires one to get dirty in the dirt. No one wants to get dirty. Thats why successive generations find it easy to postpone the reconquering on some excuse or the other.
Reconquering and civilizing the nomads is not an easy task and many empires find it much more easy to simply build walls.(Rome also built a wall in its northern border to stop the brits). However, the walls are only useful as short-term solution because the nomads are desperate and find it easy to simply raid the empire. They will keep on trying until they succeed unless they are subjugated and civilized.
In a way, Bakis are doing the same. They keep on sending infiltrators. This is a classic kabila tactic of raiding the enemy lands. And Bhaarath has built a wall(i.e. fence to stop the infiltrators). Again, this is the classic strategy used by the settled kingdoms against the nomadic raids. The problem is that this is not a complete solution specially because the Bakis are not even outside the borders. They bakiland was carved out of Bhaarath. That mean, they are already inside the borders.
From Bhaarath's perspective, Bhaarath needs to control Gaandhara because Gaandhara and eastern Persia are used as spring-boards into Bhaarath. If Gaandhara is not under Bhaarath's control, then Bhaarath will not be safe.
Look at China, china has learnt the lesson and is busy trying to build a buffer between its core areas.
The rest of the china is just a buffer to protect its mainland. On the other hand, Bhaarath has lost all its buffer zones and the nomads are threatening the mainland itself.
johneeG wrote:I think the Chinese try to fight in their periphery or in others' field. The one greatest deterrent for them is to take the war/battle into their heartland(where even if they win, they lose because of the various factors). They fight in India or Tibet, so that war/battle will not come to the heart of mainland China.
I view china's claim on Tawang in similar fashion. Not just Tawang, but also other territorial claims made by China which has annoyed many countries(including India). The logic, as far as I understand, is that the new claims are meant to hide the already vast territorial aggressions made by china. For example, by keeping Tawang in focus, Tibet is protected. As long as, India is kept occupied by Tawang, India will not think about Tibet. The ploy is to keep others in defensive mode, so that they so not think of going on offensive on China. The bluster and aggressive posture is meant to stop others from making any moves on China because the others are too busy in defending their own space. But, this doctrine required that the opponents must not be pushed to the wall lest they become desperate. And chinese follow this. They never push the opponents to the wall. They take what they get and declare victory, even while keeping the threat of future action/claims alive. As far as they are concerned, any gain is a bonus. The real aim is to protect the mainland(the aim is to stop anyone from even thinking of chinese mainland by keeping them embroiled in the periphery, preferably in the opponents territory). Both their diplomatic and geo-political moves can be explained by this theory, IMHO.
In essence, the chinese are trying to create buffer zone between their mainland and others through aggressive occupation and claims. So, Tibet is a buffer zone between India and China. Tawang and Nepal are buffer zones between India and Tibet. If India concedes Tawang, then a newer buffer zone between Tawang and India will have to be found... When India acknowledged Tibet as part of China, then China had to create a newer 'dispute' in Tawang so that India can be kept on defensive. The doctrine is to keep the others on defensive, so that they don't become offensive. To keep others on defensive, china has to be on offensive... When others concede to China(hoping that China will not be on offensive anymore), then they force China to become more offensive(because China has to create a newer dispute to keep others on offensive).
The strategy to handle such a doctrine is to try to dismantle/weaken the mainland. Because, when the mainland collapses, the peripheries automatically collapse(from the grip of china). The general wisdom is to first win the periphery and then go to mainland. China is trying to use this 'general wisdom' in its favor by pushing the periphery deep into others territory and by keeping periphery as large as possible to protect the mainland. So, the opponents neutralize this concept by stop trying to gain full control/victory in periphery and instead any marginal control/victory in the periphery must be used to mount attack on the mainland. The opponent will have to use China's doctrine on china by keeping china on defensive through aggressive action(diplomatically, geo-politically and militarily).
This doctrine also indicated that the chinese will give up their periphery when the mainland is threatened. So, there is ample chance for Tibet to be taken out of China's grip. China will be ready to take huge loses in periphery rather than tiny loses in thew mainland.
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One of the main teachings of Sun Tzu is to win the war without fighting(or as little fighting as possible). Because prolonged war will weaken the state. And this seems to be followed by the chinese very dutifully. They avoid fighting in their own territory. They will fight using proxies like Bakis or koreans. They will fight in the peripheries. They will fight in enemies areas. They will never fight in their core-areas. If their core areas are attacked, they will quickly surrender to save those areas.
Another aspect is that the chinese concentrate on overwhelming the enemy with numbers.
Saars,
I was thinking about something(I fancy that I have got an insight, so I gonna propose a theory):
Generally, people think of tackling geopolitics or even military campaigns as chess moves. However, in chin's case, they may be influenced by the game 'go' or wéiqí.
Wiki
Link:
wiki wrote:The two players alternately place black and white playing pieces, called "stones", on the vacant intersections (called "points") of a grid of 19×19 lines (beginners often play on smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards).[2] The object of the game is to use one's stones to surround a larger total area of the board than the opponent.[3] Once placed on the board, stones may not be moved, but stones are removed from the board if captured; this is done by surrounding an opposing stone or group of stones by occupying all orthogonally-adjacent points.[4] Players continue in this fashion until neither player wishes to make another move; the game has no set ending conditions. When a game concludes, the controlled points (territory) are counted along with captured stones to determine who has more points.[5] Games may also be won by resignation.
wiki wrote:
Go is played on a grid of black lines (usually 19×19). Game pieces, called stones, are played on the line intersections.
This game is popular in China, Japan and Korea. The main objective in the game is to capture territory by surrounding the opponent's piece by your own pieces. The two things that are immediately noticable is:
a) One with largest territory occupation is the winner.
b) To occupy territory you put up your own pieces to sorround that territory and overwhelm the opponent with numbers.
It seems that the chin's policies(both geopolitical and military) follow the same principles as this game. So, maybe this game influences their thinking. While, Bhaarathiya thinking(and rest of the world's thinking) is influenced by chess. In chess, the main objective is not occupation of the territory. Infact, ceding the territory or giving up pieces to be able to give decisive blow to the opponent forms a crucial part of the chess strategy. Defeating the state(i.e. Govt or sarkaar or the king) is the main objective of the chess. Once the king falls, all the rest of the pieces are considered to be defeated(or surrendered) in chess. In chess, there are different types of pieces. Where as in 'go', there are only one type of pieces and the only way to win is by sheer numbers. The one with numberical advantage(in a give location) wins.
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This is the buffer that is required for Bhaarath:
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