The Mughal Era in India

[abhischekcc]

Given that secularism is anti-Hinduism, Aurangzeb WAS the greatest secularist on Earth.

[Chandragupta]

Bekaar Patel & his libtards colleagues should be declared traitors & jailed for life (if not worse, which I shall not post here for the fear of a breaper strike).

Not so long ago a libtard colleague of this sootiya had written a hit piece on Vivekananda & the 'hidden aggressive masculinity' he portrayed. But no such problems with secular king Akbar, his 'masculine' traits such as 'deflowering thousand virgins' most probably Hindu girls & princesses taken by force to his Harem is to be glorified & applauded. B&*##$@d AAKTHOO on his face.

[Hari Seldon]

The Mu-Ghoul era dhaga... quite interesting.

[Virendra]

Aakar Patel has his Chaddi's in a twist on Ekta Kappor's TV potrayal of Akbar.

....
....

Akbar was never a barbarian and he was always a freethinker. He wasn’t just secular, as our textbooks suggest. Think of him as a modern liberal, and I have always imagined him as a California-type faddist.

He was always a barbarian, in the cloak of a clever Diplomat though. He would use barbaric sword and subtle politics judicially; as and when suited to him. So no I would not think of him as Aakar Patel wants me to. I would think of him as the history tells me to.

He was vegetarian by choice, drank and doped moderately, dressed elegantly in colour-coordinated and event-appropriate fashion, and was always perfumed.

In the middle of an entire lineage of strange sexual behavior, drug addiction, tower-head raising barbarians and religious bigots running across centuries; suddenly a liberal messiah avatars with oh such soothing character and persona .. Ek Gup Aur Sunao Yar
Jalaluddin was so highly drunk once, that ihearing some bravery tales he tried a sword trick upon himself, God knows in what show-off/competition and almost killed himsef had Man Singh not stopped him.
Here's Abu Fazl narrating a party's incident:
"Akbar, to the horror of those present, prepared to hurl himself on the blade of his sword, which he had fixed to the wall. Man Singh kicked it anyway in the nick of time and in so doing cut the emperor's hand. Akbar in a rage knocked his rescuer down and only with difficulty was prevented (by Saiyad Muzaffar) from strangling him."
Vincent Smith comments "Akbar must have been shockingly drunk".
This is your "modertaly drinking" uber social Akbar the Great .. Mr. Aakar Patel.

His religious beliefs, remarkably modern for the 16th century, were so eclectic that they would be out of place even in our time.

Really ?? Oh I read something different.
From Fatehnama-i-Chittor by Jalaluddin Akbar, translated and annotated by Ishtiaq Ahmed Zilli as part of proceedings of Indian History Congress, New Delhi, 1972, pp. 350-61.

‘“Praise be to Allah who made good His promise, helped His servant, honoured His soldiers, defeated the confederates all alone, and after whom there is nothing.”
.......
“to help believers is incumbent upon us,
.......
Omnipotent one who enjoined the task of destroying the wicked infidels on the dutiful mujahids through the blows of their thunder-like scimitars laid down:
“Fight them! Allah will chastise them at your hands and He will lay them low and give you victory over them.”130“Glorified is He, and High Exalted from what they say,
“His sovereignty is not dependent on any friend and helper.”
.......
“This is of the grace of my Lord that He may try me whether I am grateful or ungrateful”
we spend our precious time to the best of our ability in war (ghiza) and Jihad and with the help of Eternal Allah, who is the supporter of our ever-increasing empire, we are busy in subjugating the localities, habitations, forts and towns which are under the possession of the infidels, may Allah forsake and annihilate all of them, and thus raising the standard of Islam everywhere and removing the darkness of polytheism and violent sins by the use of sword. We destroy the places of worship of idols in those places and other parts of India. “The praise be to Allah, who hath guided us to this, and we would not have found the way had it not been that Allah had guided us.”
.......
‘The armies of Islam. placing their reliance in (the revelation) “Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent protector”,138 fearlessly and boldly commenced the assault. Within (the fort) the vigilant bands of jew-like infidels set ablaze the fire of conflict and brawl by discharging fire-raining manjaniqs and cannon (top) one after the other.
.......

the whole victorious troop entered the fort. In accordance with the imperative Command “And kill the idolators all together,”.......

On his roof, a fire burnt night and day, because of his conviction that the Zoroastrian faith of the Parsis carried an eternal truth. The other faith he liked was Jainism.

He vigorously engaged with their monks, and thought highly of their spartan habits and godless religion. During the sacred week of the Jain paryushan, all slaughter was banned across north India, and this was a time before refrigeration, meaning everyone, Hindu and Muslim, had also to be vegetarian.

The man had to rule a diverse society and that could be possible only when he understood the same. It is necessity and not the nicety of him.

Akbar loved—there is no other word—the religious diversity of India. He was illiterate but he had texts read out to him, which he debated with the scholars he always kept around him.

Akbar was the first Mughal to introduce Hindus to court, giving rank to the Kachwaha Rajputs of Amber (today’s Jaipur). He took up Hindu cultural traditions, such as getting himself weighed on his birthday against precious objects and giving this wealth away in charity.

He was the first Mughal who knew how to rule majority of India with stability. He was the first Mughal who knew that he needed allies in India; that along with brutal force he needed subtleness of a seasoned politician; that he needed diplomacy.
That does not make him more human. It only makes him a smarter barbarian with an occasionally softer skin only to show whenever it suits him.

When the Jesuits of Goa hurried to visit him, hoping to convert him, Akbar kissed the Bible they offered and put it on his head in humility. He engaged with religion, but like the more enlightened of moderns, he had no time for dogma. He gave up going to the tomb of Salim Chishti, whom he credited with giving him his sons. In the teeth of opposition from the Sunni ulema (and even in the 21st century we are aware of how intransigent they are), Akbar restructured the Islamic faith.

Mischievously, he ordered that coins be struck with the words “Allah Akbar” on them—meaning either God is great or Akbar is God. His secret biographer Abdul Qadir Badauni, an orthodox Muslim, has recorded for us Akbar’s battles with the Muslim clergy, who fought, and lost, the battle to keep the ruler a practising Muslim. Badauni’s book should be compulsory reading in our schools, but it is a forgotten classic and is today not even in print.

He was not the first King to have thought of himsef as larger than life. Din-e-Ilahi is the cumination of that thinking.

We, the English-medium inheritors of Jawaharlal Nehru’s thinking and B.R. Ambedkar’s Constitution, find it easy to be open-minded about religion. Akbar was his own man in an era where faith and background defined you entirely. He was secular out of personal choice and intellectual curiosity.

Yeah just like he was graciously feeding Badauni by choice, who told him that he wanted to drink the blood of Hindus.

Like all warriors he had his moments of cruelty. The big one in Akbar’s life came at the end of the long and tough siege of Chittor when he was 25. He slaughtered the garrison and the non-combatants

25k-30k people to be precise. That is a big number even by the population standards of 21st century.

but this was not out of religious bigotry or savagery

No he was only the doctor trying to save 25,000 to 30,000 people on the operation table. No he was not getting weighed in the piled up Janeu(sacred Hindu thread) of the fallen soldiers.
BS Mr. Aakar Patel. Get educated and read Fatehnama-i-Chittor that he himself wrote after the Chittor episode and that I've quoted above already.

Alexander the Great massacred thousands of Punjabi mercenaries after declaring a truce with them, but he wasn’t accused of being bigoted so much as pragmatic.

BS again. The event is well recorded and he has been duly criticized by the Greek chroniclers. It is instead a selective breed here in India that is in the business of negating, destroying, concealing history. Be it Akbar or Alexander.

There was no woman called Jodhabai married to him (we don’t know the name of the Amber princess he married because she maintained the Rajput tradition of purdah). Jahangir was married to a woman called Jodhbai.

The only correct lines in the entire article.

Whatever her name was, could “Jodha” have civilized Akbar? Actually, as a Rajput princess she would have been illiterate.

There you go wrong again. Rajput girls/women were always trained vividly and in varied arts - ranging from martial skills to writing and drawing etc. The richer the family, more the education. We're talking about a princess here, not the daughter of a Rajput soldier/farmer.
In fact Rajput rulers and specially the Kachwaha house is known for setting up multiple Institutions of Education for women.
Many clanswomen (like 'Bhatiyani' the Bhati rajput women) are famous and respected among all Rajputs for their wisdom even today. So Mr. Patel you not only proved your own illteracy of history but also have no idea about Rajput women, let alone talk about a princess.

She would have spent her youth in purdah and known almost nothing about the world. It is likely that it would have actually been Akbar who would have civilized her.

Rajput value their women and hold them dear. Watch all the depictions of our women since the ancient ages .. there was no Purdah/Ghoonghat in Rajputs or even elsewhere in India before the Islamic invasions began. No prizes for guessing what threat led our women to adopting a practice of veiling one's face.
When Akbar the son of a looting nomad could start having vegetarian food after his marriage with the princess of an antiquated agrarian society, I would see the wife civilizing the husband and not the other way round.
Even today, it is the woman who brings finnesse, style, stabilitiy and softening influences in our rabid bachelor lives
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Guys my trash bin is full now. Can't take anymore of Aakar Patel. One of the curses of Internet is that anyone can throw his garbage output over here.
Distorting garbage has to be countered and it also cannot be given more publicity. That a catch 22.
I don't know if I should ask us all to avoid sharing such trash here in future, or should I request someone to throw this in the face of the likes of Aakar Patel.
Your call.

Regards,
Virendra

[ramana]

Aurangazeb had five daughters. Wiki has pages on each of them.

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeb-un-Nisa

Zēb-un-Nisā (Persian: زیب النساء مخفی‎)*[1] (15 February 1638 – 26 May 1702)[2] was an Imperial Princess of the Mughal Empire as the eldest child of Emperor Aurangzeb and Empress Dilras Banu Begum. She was also a poet, who wrote under the pen name “Makhfi” (مخفی, “Hidden One”). Imprisoned by her father in the last 20 years of her life at Salimgarh Fort, Delhi, Princess Zeb-un-Nissa is remembered as a poet, and her writings were collected posthumously as Diwan-i-Makhfi.[3]

2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinat-un-Nissa

Zinat-un-Nissa ("Jewel among Women") was born probably born at Aurangabad to Dilras Banu Begum, her father's first wife and chief consort. Her mother was a member of the Safavid dynasty, the then ruling dynasty of Iran. Her maternal grandfather was Mirza Badi-uz-Zaman Safavi,[3] while her paternal grandfather being Emperor Shah Jahan during whose reign she was born.

Zinat-un-Nisa had in-depth knowledge of the doctrines of Islam, just like her elder sister, Princess Zeb-un-Nisa and her younger sister, Princess Zubdat-un-Nissa.[4] She was educated by private tutors and scholars, and refused to marry, choosing to remain single her entire life.

She was a partisan of her step-brother, Kam Baksh, for whom she gained pardon from her father on several occasions.[5] Though her real brother, Azam, had a strong disliking for him.

Zinat was her father's sole companion during the later part of his reign, along with his concubine Udaipuri Mahal, a low animal type of partner. She was the superintendent of her father's household in the Deccan for a quarter of a century till his death in 1707. She survived him many years, enjoying the respect of his successors as the living memorial of a great age.[2]

3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zubdat-un-Nissa

She married her first cousin, Prince Sipihr Shikoh on 30 January, 1673, he was the third son of her paternal uncle, Crown Prince Dara Shikoh and her aunt Nadira Banu Begum.[1] In 1676, Zubdat gave birth to a son, Shahzada Ali Tabar, who died within six months of his birth.[2]

4) Children of other wives

a) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badr-un-Nissa

Shahzadi Badr un-Nissa Begum Sahiba (27 November 1647 – 9 April 1670[1]) was a daughter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and Nawab Bai.

b) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehr-un-Nissa

Shahzadi Mehr un-Nissa Begum (28 September 1661 – 2 April 1706[1]) was a daughter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and Aurangabadi Mahal

Something odd about the two elder daughters.

[Prem]

Indians are making big mistake by keeping the Mo-ghul era monumnets , traditions and institutions intact. They provide psychologicaal boost to no good Non Indian players to influence the process of our civilziational march. Sooner these black spots are removed from the Indian face, better for our next generation. Might as well frmolish and dig them up and sell all this centuries old accumulated filth for cheap with revenue to be spend on the educational and other human welfare insitiutions.

[KJo]

It's shameful that India's symbol to the world is the Taj Mahal, which should be a sign of our slavery.

[ramana]

W have to understand the Moghuls were a path for India to enter the modern age. Just as the brutal Normans, Plantagenets ruled England for four centuries and their end ushered in the Tudors and then on to the modern age, the Moguls were like the Tudors while the Sultans were like the Normans and Plantagenets.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Normandy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Plantagenet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty

So wee need to identify the repugnant rulers and forget them.

[Prem]

Taj can sold to the current Aulad of Jawant Singh or made nice Hospital as symbol of medical tourism . If cant destroy them then lets change the use . I am willing to go as far as to rename all modified structures after Nehru Kahandan for the next 50 years.

[Vikas]

^ Jhujar Bhai, If only GoI could leave it to us Injuns, we would convert it to "Shauchalya" in few weeks. What better homage to the emperor who got over 20,000 workers maimed once Taj was constructed.

[brihaspati]

Akbar doped moderately?!!!!He was a daily smoker of opium as well as opium eater [the granule form] apart from a mixture of other stuff. All of the Mughals were heavy drinkers.

[KJo]

Akbar doped moderately?!!!!He was a daily smoker of opium as well as opium eater [the granule form] apart from a mixture of other stuff. All of the Mughals were heavy drinkers.

They were drinkers??? Isn't drinking haraaaaaam according to Islaaaaam?

What about Aurangzeb? He is supposed to be so pious that he would sew caps and only eat from his earnings.

[Pranav]

W have to understand the Moghuls were a path for India to enter the modern age. Just as the brutal Normans, Plantagenets ruled England for four centuries and their end ushered in the Tudors and then on to the modern age, the Moguls were like the Tudors while the Sultans were like the Normans and Plantagenets.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Normandy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Plantagenet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty

So wee need to identify the repugnant rulers and forget them.

Saar, it should be viewed as a military failure and nothing more. Indic rulers were generally more enlightened in many respects. Kautilya was more modern than any of the Mughals.

[panduranghari]

Taj can sold to the current Aulad of Jawant Singh or made nice Hospital as symbol of medical tourism . If cant destroy them then lets change the use . I am willing to go as far as to rename all modified structures after Nehru Kahandan for the next 50 years.

Turn it into a temple as it is supposed to be as claimed by Shri PN Oak.

[Murugan]

Cheers, Jahangir was official drinker, he celebrated that habit by minting gold muhars

http://www.extravaganzi.com/wp-content/ ... ohur-1.jpg


Also

http://thaiprivatehand.com/MUGH-11.JPG

***

Amber Rajpur ke sagge the to opium to khayenge/piyenge bhi

***



—”Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan with their Ministers,” from the Minto album. (circa 1630-31)
Royal entourages, often shown in outdoor settings, are a Minto theme. In one spectacular example depicting an Islamic garden in Western-style perspective, a colorfully attired prince and his courtiers drink wine from Venetian goblets.
Photo: The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin—click image for source…

Royal entourages, often shown in outdoor settings, are a Minto theme. In one spectacular example depicting an Islamic garden in Western-style perspective, a colorfully attired prince and his courtiers drink wine from Venetian goblets.

[Vikas]

Wasn't one of the Mughal King known as Muhammad Shah Rangeela known for drinking and other salacious habits.

[Murugan]

They were drinkers??? Isn't drinking haraaaaaam according to Islaaaaam?

It is halaal if you are a gaazi!

[Murugan]

hah, Jahangir was greater mughal, he used to take alchohol and opium together, as an unislamic favour allowed his second wife nur jahan to run the regime

and...

produced a pervert called prince khurram aka shah jahan, who did everything that is prohibited in islam...

who constructed a makabara for his one of 5000 concubine but forgot his daughters

"Although a grandson of the Muslim apostate Akbar the Great he was a firmly orthodox Muslim who initiated forty-eight military campaigns against non-Muslims in less than thirty years. Following the Ottoman practice, on coming to the throne in 1628 he killed all his male relatives except one who escaped to Persia. "

"In Benares during his reign 76 Hindu temples were destroyed, as well as Christian churches at Agra and Lahore. At the end of the three month siege of the Portuguese enclave of Hugh, he had ten thousand inhabitants massacred and four thousand were later killed after refusing to convert to Islam. "

"Shah Jahan had 5,000 concubines and also conducted affairs with his daughters Chamani and Jahanara."

At the end of the siege of Hugh, a Portuguese enclave near Calcutta, that lasted three months, he had ten thousand inhabitants "blown up with powder, drowned in water or burnt by fire." Four thousand were taken captive to Agra where they were offered Islam or death. Most refused and were killed, except for the younger women, who went into harems.

He was the greatest mughal.

In short

Akbar was a Great Mughal - Only drank wine and only one massacre recorded in his name,onlee 30000 (only thirty thousand civilian rajputs/rajputanis were killed). First secular

Jahangir was Greater Mughal - Drank wine and opium together and allowed a female to run state affairs. He was the second secular

ShahJahan was Greatest Mughal - Drank wine, took opium, killed his brothers (except one), destroyed temples and had passionately loved at least two of his daughters. Great traditions he revived.

These are the icons/bhagvans of our country's seculars.

The Great Mughals (my *** (three stars))

Jai ho onlee.

[Yogi_G]

IIRC a Moslem group recently protested the movie "Aurangzeb", per them he was a great Sufi and the insinuation of the movie of him being a wily, cruel and cunning man was incorrect, they dint want his name sullied. The nerve. Who has greater reason to hate Aurangzeb? Hindus or Sikhs (not saying Sikhs arent Hindus)....

[Murugan]

Aurungzeb was a great sufi, it is proved, blinded his father, killed his brothers, jailed Shivaji Maharaj but he sew his own cap and lived a very frugal life. These are all approved sufi traits.

Sufi's Wars in Afghanistan

https://sites.google.com/site/airavat/a ... safghanwar

Sufi emperor wanted to make india and Islamic state

http://horsesandswords.blogspot.in/2010 ... jputs.html


Eventually this sufi-emperor's life was in turmoil because one dharmic maratha did not accept mansabdari and ultimately brought this secular rules since 1556 to an end.

[panduranghari]

IIRC a Moslem group recently protested the movie "Aurangzeb", per them he was a great Sufi and the insinuation of the movie of him being a wily, cruel and cunning man was incorrect, they dint want his name sullied. The nerve. Who has greater reason to hate Aurangzeb? Hindus or Sikhs (not saying Sikhs arent Hindus)....

http://www.aurangzeb.info/

That should shut them,the likes of Javed Akhtar, up.

[Vikas]

What is this crap that is being distributed these days about "Sufi" and their oh! so wonderful ways. They always were the first wave of Islamic stormtroopers who would land on the kaffir shores and the rest of the horde would follow.
Almost each one of them was in this business of converting Kaffirs and not one ever raised his voice against the mass killing of Hindus.
So what is so special about this title of Sufi King or Sufi Saint and Sufi culture that we should be enamored with and forget the ******** who looted and plundered this land and its people.

[Prem]

"Sufi" or "Sufism" is the old Hat on the head of old , shriveled, worn out ,stinking NAKED dead body of the once upon a time famous imported prostitute in Delhi. Some people still inssist she look young and beautiful by covering her private part to gide the shame as well keep the flies away. Unfortunately, the stench give away the truth from time to time whenever the covering is blown away with little wind.

[Prem]

What is this crap that is being distributed these days about "Sufi" and their oh! so wonderful ways. They always were the first wave of Islamic stormtroopers who would land on the kaffir shores and the rest of the horde would follow.Almost each one of them was in this business of converting Kaffirs and not one ever raised his voice against the mass killing of Hindus.
So what is so special about this title of Sufi King or Sufi Saint and Sufi culture that we should be enamored with and forget the ******** who looted and plundered this land and its people.

There is lot of money lying around in Sufi shrines ,utterly wasted for no good cause. Its better to demolish these shrines and build secular public service places for good cause. Nothing to do with religion , secular cause only as we are in the middle of war against terrorism and treasury require any monetary help provided by suffi shrines.

[ramana]

X-post....

While in high school Banda Bahdur was one of my heroes!

Ascetic who became a Warrior

I thought he was a modern Drona type warrior saint.

Ascetic who became a warrior
Sunday, 28 July 2013 | Pioneer

Harish Dhillon has done a good job in depicting the life of Banda Bahadur, who was an ascetic to begin with, then turned into an apt administrator and is now being celebrated as a great general, says Sanjoy Bagchi

First Raj of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Banda Singh Bahadur

Author: Harish Dhillon


Publisher: Hay House, Rs 499

The year 1707 was a turning point in the history of India. The last of the great Mughals, Aurangzeb, died campaigning for the conquest of the peninsular India. The Mughal obsession with the south had cost the empire dear. It had frittered away its resources; the treasury had been emptied; the crown lands had been gifted away to mansabdars for raising more men for the depleting army. The signs of the decline and disintegration were becoming more and more apparent.

The era also saw Punjab in the heartland of the Empire seething with discontent. Akbar and his successors had moulded a multi-religious society which began to disintegrate under the diabolic Islamic onslaught of Aurangzeb. Muslims began a merciless campaign against what they called infidels and their property. It was in this background that the last Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, had created the Khalsa to fight back.

The Guru baptised five of his leading acolytes to represent the Khalsa, the Panth and the Guru himself. They were designated as Panj Pyarey, the top counsellors who were to guide the fight against the Mughals. At the same time he selected Banda Singh Bahadur as the leader and invested him with five arrows from his own quiver. He also gave him a nagada (drum) to call the faithfuls to join in the sacred mission, and a pennant as a symbol of his authority and as a point for rallying around in battles.

Soon after Banda Bahadur received the news of the Guru’s death. He embarked on a “deliberate confidence building campaign amongst all the poor and oppressed people, irrespective of their caste or religion. This was essential as years of living under tyranny had broken and crushed the spirit of the people”.

Banda Bahadur’s first encounter was with an unexpected adversary. Near Bangar in Hissar, the countryside was desolate and devastated by the depredations of a band of robbers. He laid an ambush in a deserted village and killed the entire gang when it sauntered in. After the defeat of the main gang, he systematically eliminated many other bands of robbers. This cleansing of the area earned him many more followers. It emboldened him to capture the government treasuries in Bhiwani and Sonepat as well as a revenue train from Kaithal. With this accumulation of wealth, he was now able to strengthen his force.

Banda Bahadur laid an intensive network of intelligence. His intention was to avoid pitched battles; he was going to rely on elements of surprise and speed; he wanted to strike at the weakest point of the enemy inflicting a crushing damage and then disappear before the enemy’s reinforcements could arrive.

Within two years of Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, Sikhs in Punjab had become a force to be reckoned with. It began with the battle of Samana, which was particularly important for Sikhs since its fauzdar had personally supervised the brutal execution of the ninth Guru. The city could not resist the onslaught. It fell and its inhabitants were killed and its riches were gathered for the war chest of Sikhs.

A series of quick victories followed. Ghuram, Thaskar, Thanesar, Shahbad and Mustafabad were captured in quick succession. The objective was the fortified town of Sirhind which was well defended. A weak spot in its wall was detected and the Sikhs poured into the citadel. After the capture of Sirhind, Banda Bahadur moved to subjugate Ghudani, Malerkotla and Raikot in quick succession. Then there was a lull in military activities and some actions were conducted mostly in the nature of mopping-up operations. Banda Bahadur took this opportunity to consolidate his hold on the conquered territories between the Jhelum and the Jamuna.

Apart from abolishing the jizya system of discriminatory taxation, Banda Bahadur took three important steps to herald the birth of a new Sikh state. He established a mint at Lohgarh and first of the Sikh coinage bearing Guru Nanak’s inscription was issued. The second was to adopt an official seal that depicted the two most powerful sources of Sikh power: The degh or the cauldron and the tegh or the sword. The cauldron was used for cooking food in the gurdwaras which was eaten by everyone irrespective of caste or creed. It was the symbol of charity and equality. The sword symbolised the might of Khalsa that protected the oppressed from tyranny. The third measure was the adoption of a calendar of the Sikh era beginning with the victory over Sirhind.

At long last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah, who succeeded Aurangzeb, moved north. On the way he stopped to deal with the recalcitrant chiefs of Rajputana. Then he reached the Punjab with the object of eliminating Banda Bahadur. He laid siege of Lohgarh. In view of the overwhelming strength of the Mughal army, the Sikh leaders decided to escape from Lohgarh and carry on the struggle from elsewhere. The Sikhs had decided to abandon the plains and return to the comparative safety of the eastern hills.

In the meantime, Bahadur Shah died and his death was followed by the usual internecine conflicts until a powerful successor emerged. Banda Bahadur took advantage of the confusion in the Mughal court to recapture Sadhaura and Lohgarh. But the new Emperor Farukhsiyar resumed the fight against Sikhs. Banda Bahadur’s forces were encircled in the Batala fort. The siege was so tight that those remaining in the fort were deprived of all food and were forced to surrender. Banda and his young son were tortured and literally butchered in 1716.

Author Harish Dhillon has done a good job in depicting the life of Banda Bahadur, who began his life as an ascetic, then turned himself into an able administrator and is now being celebrated as a great warrior. The book deserves to be widely read.

The reviewer is a Fellow of Royal Asiatic Society, London

This is truly the begining of the end of the Mughals.

[Yayavar]

Just a comment - Earlier I never heard of Banda 'Singh' Bahadur. Only of Banda Bahadur. In recent articles and references he has become 'Singh' Bahadur.

[Atri]

Just a comment - Earlier I never heard of Banda 'Singh' Bahadur. Only of Banda Bahadur. In recent articles and references he has become 'Singh' Bahadur.

Bandi Bir - बंदी वीर (An imprisoned warrior) - Ballad of Sri Banda Bairagi by Rabindranath Tagore

पंच नदीर तीरे,
वेणी पकैया शिरे
देखिते देखिते गुरुर मन्त्रे
जागिया उठिछे सिख
निर्मम निर्भीक..


हजार कंठे गुरुजीर जय
ध्वनिया तुलिछे दिक्
नूतन जागिया शिख
नूतन उषार सुर्येर पाने
चाहिलो निर्निमिख...


अलख निरंजन
महारब उठे, बंधन टूटे
करे भयभंजन
वक्षेर पाशे घनउल्हासे
असी बाजे झनझन
पंजाब आजी गरजी उठिला
अलख निरंजन...


एसेचे से एक दिन
लक्ष पराने शंका न जाने
न राखे कहारों ऋण
जीवन मृत्यु पाएर भृत्त
चित्त भावनाहीन
पंच नदीर घिरी दशतीर
एसेचे से एक दिन


दिल्ली प्रासाद कुटे
होथा बार बार बादशाहजादार
तंद्रा जेथेचे छूटे
कादेर कंठे गगन मंथे
निबिड निशीथ टूटे
कादेर मशाले आकाशेर भाले
आगुन उठेचे फूटे


पंच नदीर तीरे
भक्त देहेरे रक्त लहरी
मुक्त होइलो की रे...
लक्ष्य वक्ष चीरे
झांके झांके प्राणपक्षी समान
छूटे जेनो निज नीरे
वीर गण जननी रे..
रक्त तिलक ललाटे परले
पंच नदीर तीरे


मोगल शिखेर रणे
मरण आलिंगने
कंठ पकड़ी धरिलो आंकरी
दुई जन दुई जने
दंग्शन खटो श्येन विहंगो
जूझे भुजंगा सने
से दिन कठिन रणे
जय गुरुजीर हांके शिख वीर
सुगभिर निश्वासे
मोटो मोगल रक्त पागल
दीन दीन गर्जने..


गुरुदासपुर गढे
बन्दा जखन बंदी होइलो
तूरानी सेनार करे
सिंहेर मत शृंखल गत
बंधी लए गेलो धरे
बन्दा समरे बंदी होइलो
गुरुदासपुर गढे


सम्मुखे चले मोगल सैन्य
उड़े इ पथेर धूलि
छिन्न शिखेर मूँद लोइया
वर्षा फलके तुली


शिख सात शत चले पश्चाते
बाजे शृंखलगुली
राजपथ पढ़े परे लोक नाही धरे
वातायन जाए खुली
शिख गरजे गुरुजीर जय
प्राणेर भय भूली
मोगल ओ सिख उड़ालो आजिके
दिल्ली पथेर धूलि..


पड़ी गेलो कडा काडी
आगे केव प्राण करिबेक दान
तारी लागी तरातरी
दीन गेले परे घाटकेर हाते
बंदीरा सारी सारी
जय गुरुजीर कही शत वीर
शत शिर दे दारी..


सप्ताह काले सात शत प्राण
नि:शेष होए गले
बंदार कोले क़ाजी दिलो तुली
बंदार एक छेले


कहिलो इहारे वधिते होइबे
निज हाते अवहेले
दिल तार कोले फेले
किशोर कुमार बंदा बाहुतार
बंदार एक छेले..


किछु न काहिलो बानी
बन्दा सुधीरे छोटो छेलेतीरे
लोइलो वक्षे तानी
क्षण काल भोरे मथार उपरे..
राखी दक्षिण पानी
सुधु एक बार चुम्बिल:
रंगा उशनीश खानी..


तार पर धीरे कोटि बास होते
छुरिका खासाए आणि
बालकेर मुच चाहि
गुरुजीर जय, कनेकनेर कही
रे पुत्र भय नाही
नविन बदन अभय किरण
ज्वाली उठी उत्साही
किशोर कंठे कांपे सभातल
बालक उठिल गाही
गुरुजीर जय किछु नाही भय
बंदार मुच चाहि..


बन्दा तखन वाम बाहू पाश
जरैलो तार गले
दक्षिण करे छेलेर वक्षे
छुरी वसैलो बले
गुरुजीर जय कहिया बालक
लुटाइलो धरा तले.
सभा होलो निस्तब्ध
बंदार देहो छिंरिलो घातक
संराशी करिया दग्ध
स्थिर होए वीर मरिल, ना करी
एकटी कातर शब्द
दर्शन जन मुदिल नयन
सभा होलो निस्तब्ध


English translation of the Poem:


On the banks of the five rivers,
Up rise the Sikhs spontaneous;
With hair coiled above their head
Inspired by the Mantra their Guru spread
Fearless and unyielding.....
"Glory to Guruji" - thousands of them
Resound the horizon;
At the rising sun of the dawn
The Sikhs stare with deep emotion
With new awakening.


"Alakha Niranjan!" (means 'Holy Spotless'= God)
The war cry of the rebellion;
Let loose their chilvalry;
On their ribs clank swords luminary;
In wild joy was Punjab's insurrection
"Alakha Niranjan!"

There came a day,
Thousands of hearts were on their way
Without any binding or fear,
Life and death at their feet slaves mere;
There on the banks of those rivers
The tale of that day still shivers.

At the tower of the Delhi palace,
Where the Sikhs are apace -
The Badshajada's drowsy spell

Time and again they quell;
Whose voices there, the dark sky tear?
Whose torches set the horizon afire?

On the banks of the rivers five,
For supreme sacrifice was their dive,
Unleashed there was the flood
Of the devotee's blood.
From thousands of hearts torn apart
For destination divine in their lark -
The heroes putting their sacred blood mark
On the forehead of their motherland
There around the five rivers so dear and grand.

In the Mughol and Sikh battle
Their embrace to each other throttle
Like the fight between the eagle and snake,
Deep bruise one to the other did make.

In the fierce fight of that day -
In blood craze "Din Din" the Mughols bay,
"Glory to Guruji" - was the Sikh's commotion
In their divine devotion.

At Gurudaspur castle
When Banda was captured amidst all bustle
In the hands of the Turani troop,
As if a lion fettered with his group;
To capital Delhi they were taken,
Alas, at Gurudaspur Banda was beaten!

The Mughol soldiers march ahead,
Kicking up the road dust in sneer,
Hoisting the Sikh's chopped head
At the blade of their spear.
Follow them Sikhs seven hundred,
Tinkles their chain,
Throng people on the road widespread,
Windows open - a glimpse they fain,
"Glory to Guruji", the Sikhs roar,
For fear of life none is sore,
Sikhs with the Mughols to-day,
Stormed the Delhi road all in gay.

Started the scurry,
For lead in the carnage was their hurry;
They line up at the dawn
Defiant till their execution.
"Glory to Guruji" was their slogan
Until they were done.

Thus over a week,
The arena turned bleak;

With seven hundred lives gone -
Upon the martyrs' immortalization.
On the last round of cruelty
Banda was ordered by the Kazi
To kill his own son,
At ease to be done.

In mere teen was the boy,
With hands tied thrown as a toy
Into the lap of Banda and without a word
He drew him close to his heart.
For a while he put his hand on his head,
Just once kissed his turban red.
He then draws his dagger,
Whispers in the child's ear -
"Glory be to Guruji - fear not my son"
A virile in the boy's face did burn -
In his juvenile voice the court did ring
"Glory to Guruji" as he did sing.
With his left hand Banda held the boy,
With right struck the dagger in his ploy,
"Glory be to Guruji", was all he did implore
As he took to the floor.

Silence fell in the court,
Guruji's inspiration still not abort.
Then with tong red hot
Banda's body was pieced apart;
A word of moan he uttered not
And all in calm did he depart.
As stopped his heart throb
Witnesses closed eyes - silence choked pin drop.

[Yayavar]

Atri-ji -- probably best to move this to some other thread -- but ... have read the poem before. Banda Bahadur, or Guru Arjan Dev - it is amazing how they could fearlessly take what the Mughals meted out. It is inspiring but one falters to even think of having to face such tortures. What I object is the modern authors (primarily Sikh) adding 'Singh' to their names. It seems almost like grabbing them for ones own - for a certain branch of Sikhism and not what they were; leaders of the Sikhs yes, but also leaders beyond.

[Prem]

In mere teen was the boy,
With hands tied thrown as a toy
Into the lap of Banda and without a word
He drew him close to his heart.
For a while he put his hand on his head,
Just once kissed his turban red.
He then draws his dagger,
Whispers in the child's ear -
"Glory be to Guruji - fear not my son"
A virile in the boy's face did burn -
In his juvenile voice the court did ring
"Glory to Guruji" as he did sing.
With his left hand Banda held the boy,
With right struck the dagger in his ploy,
"Glory be to Guruji", was all he did implore
As he took to the floor.

Silence fell in the court,
Guruji's inspiration still not abort.
Then with tong red hot
Banda's body was pieced apart;
A word of moan he uttered not
And all in calm did he depart.
As stopped his heart throb
Witnesses closed eyes - silence choked pin drop.

Now we have a Mian Maun Sitting in Delhi trying to realize the Mughal Dream .

[brihaspati]

Babur after his first marriage to his first cousin, daughter of his paternal uncle.

'...during this time there was a boy from the camp market named Baburi. Even his name was amazingly appropriate. I developed a strange inclination for him - rather I made myself miserable over him. Before this experience I had never felt a desire for anyone, nor did I listen to talk of love and affection or speak of such things. At that time I used to compose single lines and couples in Persian. I composed the following lines there.'

May no one be so distraught and devastated by love as I;
May no beloved be so pitiless and careless as you.
[...]
I am embarrassed every time I see my beloved.
My companions are looking at me, but my gaze is elsewhere
[...]
'I wander bareheaded and bare foot around the lanes and streets through the gardens and orchards paying no attention to acquaintances or strangers, oblivious to self and others.'
[...]
When I fell in love I became mad and crazed. I knew not this to be part of loving beauties.
[...]
'Sometimes I went out alone like a madman to the hills and wilderness sometimes I roamed through the orchards and lanes of town, neither walking nor sitting within my own volition, restless in going and staying.'

I have no strength to go, no power to stay. You have snared us in this sate my heart"

There you go - the second secularists of India - the Mughals did it too.

[Virendra]

B ji,

My Rajput friend was laughing when I told him that Jaichand was not a Rathore but a Gadhavala and that Babur was gay.
It didn't pinch me that he didn't know. Sad part was how he took it and that he perhaps didn't even believe me.
My bad after all; I (wrongly) assumed that being a Rajput he had better disposition towards history.
Anyway, this happened few months back and the very next day of our meeting, I sent him on FB the same quotes as above and many others from Baburnama.
He didn't reply Nobody cares to know the truth I guess

Maun Mohan, Oil-Natwar and the dimple dienasty had even done sajda at this guy's grave. Shame to shame I think ..

Regards,
Virendra

[Singha]

in avarice, depravity and incompetence, the current regime in delhi is no different than the mass of later mughals after the great ghazi aurangzeb. in cruelty both the early and later mughals were all the same.

[habal]

I was extremely surprised when I noted that the mughal attitude towards Sikhs and then the subsequent Sikh vengeance extracted on Mughal Delhi by participating in British retaliation of 1847 was etched so deep into mughal psyche. So much so that the Congress (we can almost call it crypto-Mughal) regime of Nehru's and Firoz's had copied and improved on Mughal tactics against Sikhs during the 80s and 84 massacre/genocide. Beginning from Indira onwards, kangrezis were hellbent on punishing the Sikhs for their 1847 actions in Delhi. Indira had obviously come to know sometime during the discovery of her heritage of her roots and thus the animosity.

One of the last men she had relations with was Mohammad Younus, one who was always found hanging around the Race Course road for whatever reasons. Now this guy also happens to be a 100% mughal descendent. Also according to some, also happened to be Sanjay's father. For he cried the most during Sanjay's death. Feroz had left Indira and they lived almost estranged, seperate lives a few years after Rajiv's birth. Check out his true roots.

Independence and partition of India brought massive transfer of populations. Movements of refuges were on predictable, communal lines. There were just a few cases where the communal movements were in the ‘wrong’ direction. To that microscopic group of mavericks belonged Mohammed Yunus who, forsaking wealth and family prestige, left his ‘native Pakistan’ for India and turned out to be of much help to the Indian Muslims.

Yunus is so intimately identified with the erstwhile North West Frontier Province or the NWFP - now Khyber Pakhtun Khwa that it may come as a surprise to many that he was not a Pathan! Born in 1916 in Abbobtabad, his father Haji Ghulam Samdani was an extremely wealthy man owning rights over vast tracts of forest and agricultural lands in Punjab, Kashmir and NWFP. One of the biggest government contractors of his time, he owned most of the legendary ‘Qissakhwani Bazar’, the nerve center of Peshawar. Samdani was a Mughal whose great-grandfather had migrated and settled down in Baramula, Kashmir in the latter half of the eighteenth century. One of the first from among Muslims of the region to have received western education, Samdani settled in Peshawar as a military contractor in the 1880s and never looked back. He was personally contacted by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to bail out the MAO College after the institution was in the financial doldrums following a huge defalcation by Shyam Bihari Lal, a confidante of the founder. Apart from emerging as the wealthiest man of the NWFP, Samdani struck roots in the Pashtun area through his philanthropy and marriages including in the famous Charsadda family of the ‘frontier Gandhi’ Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Indeed Yunus was the son of that mother and thus a ‘maternal Pathan. Some space has been devoted to the family details as this has a bearing on what Yunus made of his future life.

http://aligarhmovement.com/Aligarians/Mohammed_Yunus

Many Sikhs misunderstood this animosity of Indira towards them as retaliation by 'Lalas, banias & bahmans' irked by Sikh incentive & chutzpah. It was infact totally something else at work here. Also makes sense thus, why a muslim SP in Punjab by name of Izhar Alam was given so much leeway. He went on to create a group of vigilantes called Alam Sena or 'Black cats' whose closest approximation can be Assad's Shabiha who did extra-judicial killings in Punjab in 80s. A criminal busy body called Santokh Kala was leader of this group.

One secret group of criminals is stationed in Amritsar area to kill those who demand an independent state. According to the members of this group they are fully supported by the police. Some of the members equipped with weapons have been seen walking in the police stations and talking to some of the high government officials. The leader of this group is known as Santokh Kala. Kala revealed to us that he has helped the police in capturing many of the famous Khalistanis. In his own words he told us “We are a group of about 25. We wonder around in the streets in our government issued cars and wherever we see a Khalistani we kill him on the spot. We are ordered to capture them alive otherwise kill them. I have so far killed about 50 Sikh fighters.” He also showed us a card which he called a permit. On the permit it was written “This permit belongs to Santokh Kala. He is working for 25th Battalion of C.R.P. in Amritsar.” On the permit the stamp of 25th Battalion was visible in purple color.

(Washington Times, 5 April 1988)

and from another source

Kala told us, “Whenever we break the law we inform the police officers so they don’t file any case against us. According to him one police officer told Kala and his goons, “We are in the middle of a war. Sometimes you will have to make decisions that are not moral or according to the law but without such decisions terrorism cannot be eliminated.” Kala also told us that the Indian government and the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were fully aware of the situation and activities of Black Cats.

these very same methods were used by various countries around the world to curb domestic rebellion. Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Syria, Pakistan (in baluch case) and various other countries use versions of these same tactic to curb rebels.

[Singha]

the wiki entry for feroze gandhi contains a mysterious line that he was not the son of his purported father but the son of his aunt with a famous advocate. she was a highly qualified senior surgeon..a rarity for women of that era.
It was established that Feroze was not the biological son of Jehangir Gandhy, but was the son of his sister Shirin Gandhy with a famous advocate named Raj Bahadur Prasad Kakkar.[11]

more here:
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=3bt5 ... er&f=false

[habal]

So no one know who his father is except for the mother.

[Vikas]

In the end like later Mughals, Everyone in Delhi/Allahbad/Lucknow was screwing each other both physically and metaphorically..

[Singha]

the more refined, isolated and debauched the elites become...more the seething resentment in the streets.
throwing Rs1 rice/wheat/ragi and generous doses of religious/caste perks to packs of hungry supplicants (funded by the scared middle class) while the elites eat pasta and cake seems the model of governance.

[SBajwa]

Just a comment - Earlier I never heard of Banda 'Singh' Bahadur. Only of Banda Bahadur. In recent articles and references he has become 'Singh' Bahadur.

Bahadur is an epithet given to Banda Singh after his exploits against Mughals.
Banda Bairagi became Banda Singh after Guru Gobind Singh ji made him Khalsa. Banda Bairagi was born a Rajput named originally as Lachman Das., but the basic tenets of Khalsa require to "forget your last name or your caste" and thus Banda Singh! who was equal to any low/upper caste Khalsa.

Earlier the Sixth Guru Guru Hargobind ji renamed his son "Tyag Mal" as "Tegh Bahadur" after he fought bravely against a pitched battle with Mughals close to Jalandhar. Later Tegh Bahadur became the ninth Guru as "Guru Tegh Bahadur" and attained martyrdom at Delhi.

Banda Singh avenged the murder of Guru Tegh Bahadur by murdering the executioner Jalan-ul-Din of Samana.

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/wa ... banda.html

Samana:

Samana, 50 kms farther North was the native place of Jalal-ud-did Jallad, the professional executioner, who had beheaded Guru Tegh Bahadur, while his son had beheaded two younger sons of Guru Gobind singh. Ali Hussain who by false promises had lured Guru Gobind singh to evacuate Anandpur also belonged to Samana. It was an accursed place in the eyes of Sikhs. The entire peasantry of the neighborhood was now up in arms, and Banda's following had risen to several thousands. Banda fell upon the town on November 26, 1709. The inhabitants were massacred in cold blood and town thoroughly squeezed. Samana was the district town and had nine Parganahs attached to it. It was placed under the charge of Fateh Singh. Samana was the first territorial conquest and the first administrative unit of Banda.

[Yayavar]

SBajwa: yes, Banda Bahadur is well known and I've read of him, and was told of him, when I was very young. It was one of my Amar Chitra Katha as well. He was a Singh (Lion) but 'Singh' in his name is a modern addition it seems. I dont recall ever reading his name as Banda Singh. So was wondering if it is a modern, possibly political, assertion. Anyway..that is my observation.

[SBajwa]

He was a Singh (Lion) but 'Singh' in his name is a modern addition it seems.

True! Actually right when Khalsa was besieged at Gurdas Nangal. Bhai Binod Singh (direct descendant of 2nd Guru and who came with Banda from Nanded on the orders of Guru Gobind singh) and Banda Bahadur had a rift. Bhai Binod Singh wanted to go for an all out assault on Mughal Forces while Banda did not. So the two groups got created. 780 decided to stay behind with Banda while rest decided to go on an all out assault to break the siege of Mughal Farukhsiyar.

Bhai Binod Singh and some of his group were able to break free and live while Banda Singh was captured and all 780 of his group were murdered at Mehrauli, Delhi.

The charisma of Banda was so much that all over the area between Indus and Yamuna Khalsa was divided among two bands

1. One band started calling themselves as "Bandai Khalsa" and their war cry was Fateh Darshan.
2. The second band started calling themselves as "Tatva Khalsa" i.e "Original Khalsa" and their cry was Sat Sri Akal/Waheguru ji ka Khalsa

Around this time Banda Singh was renamed as "Banda Bahadur" as Tatva Khalsa did not liked Banda's name with Singh.

Bhai Kapur Singh in 1720s was the militant leader of the Khalsa (Jathedar Akal Takht) while Bhai Mani Singh was the spiritual leader (Head Granthi of Golden Temple).

At annual Sarbatt Khalsa samagams (functions) These leaders noticed the animosity between these two factions and declared that they must amend and come together to face the enemy of Mughals, Persians and Afghans (Just before the attack of Persian Nadir Shah).

so on Vaisakhi day at Golden Temple a fair was organized where lots of competition were held (wrestling, shooting, running, etc) with goal being whichever group wins will throw their lot with the other group.

Both the Group Bandai Khalsa and Tatva (Tatva from the letter T for Tarka) Khalsa were equally strong.
With sports failing they turned to the Spiritual head Bhai Mani Singh who wrote down

Fateh Darshan for Bandai Khalsa on one piece of paper and Waheguru ki ka Khalsa on another piece of paper with both pieces in his hand he dipped into the sarovar and let the papers go. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa arise to the surface faster than the Fateh Darshan. Thus after this visakhi all Khalsa came together. They harassed Nadir Shah and then later harassed Abdali (durrani) together. Somehow the name Banda Bahadur remained attached to him. I think it is an insult to such a hero to not call him Singh. We should call him Banda Singh Bahadur.