amezing

Dara Shikoh, whose name means “the Glory of Darius”, was born to Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal in 1615. He was the heir apparent and his father’s favourite son. As he grew up, and began to display very special qualities of scholarship and a deep interest in mysticism, which he researched relentlessly, it became clear that he was no ordinary man. In 1640 he was introduced to Lahore’s famous Qadri Sufi saint, Hazrat Mian Mir who had urged both Jehangir and Shah Jahan to be kind to all their subjects.

In June 1659, for his work in translating Sanskrit texts, Aurangzeb(Dara's brother) had Dara declared a heretic who deserved to die. Dara had already been defeated in battle and was Aurangzeb’s prisoner. In the end when his killers came for him, Dara was cooking a meal for himself and his young son. The deposed prince fought like a king, using a kitchen knife against the swords of his assassins. Just as the translators of the Bible into German and English met with fatal opposition, so too did the first translator of the Upanishads. He was buried without ceremony, his headless body dumped in a hastily dug grave. [His head was sent to Shah Jahan who was in prison—house arrest.]

Darius I ( c. 550–486 bc), king of Persia 521–486 bc; known as Darius the Great. After a revolt by the Greek cities in Ionia (499–494 bc), he invaded Greece but was defeated at Marathon (490 bc).

The Mughals were Central Asian descendents of the great Mongol warriors Ghengis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane), whose hordes of cavalry swept across the Eurasian steppe in the 13th and 14th centuries, conquering everything between Beijing and Budapest. But by the turn of the 16th century, the great Mongol empire had splintered; the many royal descendents of Ghengis and Timur fought over the territorial scraps and did their best to hold on to their own minor sultanates. @ One of these sultans, Babur, was not satisfied with his small kingdom of Ferghana (now in modern-day Kyrgystan and eastern Uzbekistan), and he tried and tried again to permanently reconquer Timur's greatest prize, Samarkand. He never succeeded. So instead, Babur turned his attention south to the sultanate of Delhi in northern India, which had been ruled successively by five dynasties of muslim warriors from Afghanistan since the late 12th century.

The Islamic conquest of Persia marks the beginning of the new history of Persian language and literature. This period produced world class Persian language poets and the language served, for a long span of time, as the lingua franca of the eastern parts of Islamic world and of the Indian subcontinent. It was also the official and cultural language of many Islamic dynasties, including Samanids, Buyids, Tahirids, Ziyarids, the Mughal Empire, Timurids, Ghaznavid, Seljuq, Khwarezmids, Safavid, Afsharids, Zand, Qajar, Ottomans and also many Mughal successor states such as the Nizams etc. For example, Persian was the only oriental language known and used by Marco Polo at the Court of Kublai Khan and in his journeys through China. The heavy influence of Persian on other languages can still be witnessed across the Islamic world, especially, and it is still appreciated as a literary and prestigious language among the educated elite, especially in fields of music (for example Qawwali) and art (Persian literature)

While acknowledging Nisha's wide knowledge of history, I should make a couple of comments. First, Prince Dara Shikoh did indeed fight back with his executioners (sent by his younger 'brother' Aurangzeb) in the Salimgarh prison, he was overcome and immediately decapitated. His headless body was buried in the courtyard outside Humayun's tomb on orders by Aurangzeb, and there it remains even to this day. The grave is in the open but made of stone. His head was sent as a 'gift' to the royal prisoner Shah Jahan in Agra Fort, who fainted on looking at it. It was later buried in an unmarked spot next to his mother (Mumtaz Mahal) in the Taj Mahal. In my opinion, Aurangzeb personified evil in his lifetime and a greater evil after his death. Second, the Persians - even though they are mainly Muslims- frequently use ancient Zoroastrian (zar-tusht) names even today. Recall that Dara's mother (Arjumand Bano Begum - that is, Queen Mumtaz Mahal) was a Persian.

@Asad: So, you say something of old Zarathushtra survived albeit only in name, for, India you might know was home to the persecuted Zarathushtrians(Zorastrians or the Parsis of India)... True. Persian is a great language and I like that you accept Aurangazeb was evil and intolerance personified--- a blot on the Mughal Dynasty? What woul you think would have been the drift of Mughal Rule in India had Dara succeeded in vanquishing Aurangazeb?

Mahadeva, no matter what they would ultimately run into the British, we need to thank the British for uniting India, with a common language and and getting rid of the Mughals.

Mahadeva: The Samugarh battle between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb was a decisive battle that changed the course of Indian history. Dara was a tolerant, liberal and broad-minded prince whom Shah Jahan had virtually named as his successor. Had he become the Emperor of India after Shah Jahan, there would have been no religious bigotry, no alienation of the Marathas, Rajputs, Sikhs, Jats, and no wars with the Shia kingdoms of the South. Aurangzeb played the religious card only to carry out his foul plans; he imprisoned his father, killed all three brothers, imprisoned his son - which religion teaches that? He cheated his brother Murad by first promising him the throne and then immediately imprisoning, and eventually killing him. This cheating occurred within a few weeks of the battle of Samugarh. All his actions were pre-meditated; he is a blot on the face of Islam. After killing Dara, he made overtures towards his pretty wives; one of them (Udaipuri Mahal, a Georgian) submitted to his evil desires and bore him a son, while the Hindu wife of Dara (Ra'na-dil) refused to give in, cut her hair and disfigured her face to make herself unattractive, and eventually withered away. Anyway, I should be writing about Prince Dara Shikoh. He was a man of the world who enjoyed the company of Sufi saints, scholars of other religions, foreigners, intellectuals, poets and musicians. That is how a Prince should be; it is not his business to impose a perverted (or even a correct) interpretation of his religion on others. He should look after justice, welfare, and prosperity for all his subjects regardless of their faith.(This should be a warning to all leaders.) Dara even wrote books on the Sufi version of Islam and I have one of these books. Yet Aurangzeb's main complaint against him was that Dara was a heretic; nothing could be farther from the truth.This was done to mislead the ordinary people against him. Dara fought all his battles like a man, not by secretly plotting with the nobles on the opposite side to commit treason. It is not commonly known that, after Dara's execution, there was resistance to Aurangzeb's rule by the common people. All of the people led by Jiwan Khan - the man who had captured Dara and handed him over to Aurangzeb - were assassinated close to Delhi (Sirhind) on their way back to Baluchistan. Dara was loved by the people; Aurangzeb was hated and feared. The people of India - all of them - would have remained together and lived harmoniously; there would have been no instability and fragmentation in India and no humiliation of British colonialism. Most Indian Rajas (Raja Jaswant Singh and even Sivaji) were favorably inclined towards him. Even a grandson of Aurangzeb was raised in his early years by Sivaji - at the request of his father Prince Akbar- who was on the run from his father. I present a description of Dara Shikoh by N. Manucci (around 1660) who knew him well: "The first-born of King Shahjahan was the prince Dara, a man of dignified manners, of a comely countenance, joyous, and polite in conversation, ready and gracious of speech, of most extraordinary liberality, kindly and compassionate, but over-confident in his opinion of himself, considering himself competent in all things and having no need of advisers..... He was very fond of music and dancing, and once fell in love with a public dancing girl named Ra'na-dil.....Shahjahan was obliged to accord permission for the marriage.....This Ra'na-dil displayed afterwards her love and fidelity to Dara."

I'm a bit surprised, I wldn't really give the british that credit -of uniting India, the partition of bengal, and later on of pakistan- they rejoiced at that. What united us was the presence of a common and strong foe in the form of the Company/Empire and the awakening of the nationalistic spirit owing to the leaders of that era.

i just love rare book society for giving such wonderfull informations n history awwwwwsoooome

@Asad: Thanks for writing about Dara. I know him as the scholar who translated the Upanishads into Persian. That was a great job. I also liked the fantasy trip you had taken for my sake: What if Dara had been victorious and had become the Emperor? We would have one more generation of good monarchs. Today we would remember, of the Mughals: Akbar, Jehangir and Shahjehan. We could've added Dara to that list. Is the Book on Sufism by Dara available in print today? Is it in Urdu or Persian? I would like to buy one. If it is in Urdu I would be able to understand it, maybe. But if it is in Persian, maybe like the rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam I may have to read it in translation. One of my colleagues had, some ten years back, asked me to transliterate a collection of rubaiyaat into Devanagari. Since the Nastaliq script is common to Urdu and Persian I could do that. I really enjoyed the job. Pleae give me references of Dara's works available in print, if any. Further I would also like to read Aurangazeb's autobiography where he has justified the murders he committed to usurp the throne.That must have been written in Persian/Urdu? The battle of Samugarh where Dara was taken prisoner, I learned that Dara's mahout was bribed into inaction, and if I remember well, even the elephant was drugged.Aurangazeb wrote his autobiography- for what purposes I do not know- may be to gloat over his successes or as a written repentence/confession? For one thing we learn that Aurangazeb was quite a devout follower of Islam, and that he lived a simple life. No doubt Dara Shikoh is a rare gem of the Mughal Dynasty!

@Arvind: Well, I too am not very critical of the British. Their gift of the English language gave us a window to the world. Well, I also believe that they were instrumental if not the "teachers" of the concept of a Nation- that might have helped in the idea of a United India being born! I am in agreement with you on this. If only our people could unite and fight the ritish before they drove their roots deep, then we would have been independent by 1857, taking advantage of the Sepoy Mutiny. We didn't we couldn't. Many acts of treachery by our own ilk had sold this country cheap. It is not new. Begin with Ambhik at the time of Chankya!?! A Chankya saved the country then. By by the time of Jayachand had we not become a decadent country of weak morals? Sir Thomas Roe came to Jehangir's court. But British rule in the guise of East India Company's machinations came much later. That was the time it took India to decay. The responsibility is squarely on Aurangazeb for weakening this country> He left no successors who were good enough to hold an empire together.

Mahadeva: The book written by Dara is entitled "Sakeenatul Auliya"; it is a translation into Urdu from the original Persian. It was presented to me by a gentleman from Pakistan as it was published in Lahore. Aurangzeb did not write anything (except making copies of the Holy Qur'an pretending to be austere), not even his autobiography. There are other authors who wrote about his realm. I was amused to read one such book written by a person with a Hindu name that was complimentary to Aurangzeb. I might say that even Raja Jai Singh supported Aurangzeb for quite some time after he had usurped the throne (probably out of respect for his forefathers). For example, Raja Jai Singh persuaded the Raja of Srinagar (in Garhwal) to hand over Dara's young son (Sulaiman Shikoh) who had taken refuge with him in the mountains. The elderly Raja of Srinagar refused, but the Raja's son was finally bribed to capture the Prince and hand over to Aurangzeb. When brought in chains before Aurangzeb, the young, handsome prince started crying since he knew what was in store for him: life imprisonment in Gwalior Fort with administration of opium water to slowly diminish mental faculties. Dara was neither taken prisoner in the battle of Samugarh, nor in the battle near Ajmer. It was a traitor (Khalilullah Khan) who was secretly working with Aurangzeb and proposed to Dara to get down from the elephant and that changed the outcome of the battle as Dara was winning. Khalilullah Khan was subsequently rewarded by Aurangzeb for this heinous act of treachery: he was appointed the Governor of Lahore.

@Asad: What is/are your source(s) of Mughal History? Mine is as of now only the memory of my schooltime reading...I used to be very interested and used to read from other than just my prescribed texts. In fact I wantto have a good reference work for Indian History either as a 3 Volume set covering Ancient India & Hindu Period, The Muslim Period and the History of British India. I am thinking of buying RC Majumdar. Do you have any recommendations preferably written by Indian Authors.

@Asad: Is it possible to get Sakennatul Auliya from Pakistan..I mean Is it available for sale even in this day? Or else may be I will have request you to upload PDF in RBSI?

Since this thread has become one of "skeletons tumbling out of the Mughal cupboard"---let me complete the family history and tree' Shah Jahan had several wives whose names were 1-Akbara badi Begum 2- Kandahari Begum 3-Mumtaz Mahal

4-Hasina Begum Sahiba 5-Muti Begum Sahiba 6-Qudsia Begum Sahiba 7-Fatehb Puri Mahal Sahiba 8-Sarhindi Begum Sahiba 9-Srimati Manbhavati Baiji Lal Sahiba Shahjahan sired a "menagerie " of children---Only the following survived to grow into adulthood(for sometime)--- 1--Jahanara Begum---daughter 2--Dara Shukoh-------son' 3--Shah Suja-----------son' 4-Roshanara Begum--daughter 5--Aurangzeb---------- son 6-Murad Baksh--------son' 7--Gauhar Begum------daughter '--killed by Aurangzeb Jahanara----sided with Dara Shukoh--and spent her life looking after her father in Agra Fort---There was a movie on her titled '"Jahanara---xing-- Mala Sinha and Bharat Bhushan---brilliant music by Madan Mohan--and two memorable songs by "Talat Mahmood"--it told the story of her romance with the court poet of that time--name unknown-- Roshanara---the younger sister was Auranzeb's favourite and sided with him ------little is known of the youngest sister--Gauhar Begum An interesting aside which I discovered in my travels to Gwalior-that Dara Shukoh was blinded and kept in chains in the lowermost dungeon of the Gwalior fort and tortured---an inscription in Persian above the Pillar where he was chained carries this information. There is no mention what followed--like the oft-repeated tale of his being "beheaded' and the "head 'sent to Shah Jahan as a "gift"!!!

Very famous for its "churis---bangles "too

@ Nisha ...dont think the Ottomans used Persian as their language. The were originally from central asia and spoke an Altaic language ( Turki).. Infact almost all central asian states use languges with an Altaic origin , except Tagikistan ( uses Farsi). Ofcourse both Farsi and turki have huge number of common words.... @ Paresh Terse....Talking about zorastrianism... even in today's Iran, there is a distinct Persian culture ( which they are very proud of) and is set quite apart from the islamic and Arab culture. There are festivals and celebrations like Navroze.. (advent of vernal equinox) which have existed from Zorastrian times and are celebrated by muslims and non muslims alike... Parsis in India celebrate that too. Even their names have a zorastrian flair to it( Parsi names In India are Persian/ Zorastrian) The names are very distinguishable from the regular Muslim names we are familiar with in India.

Mr Kanu Chatterjee is definitely (100%) confusing between Prince Murad Bakhsh and Prince Dara Shikoh. Neither of them was blinded. Murad Bakhsh was sent as a prisoner to Gwalior, where he planned an escape. The night before the planned escape, he alerted his woman friend. She started crying loudly and the secret was revealed to the guards. Thus Murad was kept there and ultimately killed using a trumped up charge. He is buried at the shrine of the saint Hazrat Ghaus at the foot of the Gwalior Fort. Dara, on the other hand, was incarcerated in the Salimgarh Prison in Jumna next to Lal Qila, killed there, and his body was buried at Humayun's tomb. The contemporary sources for that period are Bernier and Manucci who witnessed all these events and sent detailed reports separately. It is much better to read history from contemporary writers rather than other authors centuries later.

Mr Kanu Chatterjee is also confusing between Shikohabad and Ferozabad. It is Ferozabad, not Shikohabad, that is very famous for its glass "churis---bangles".

Mahadeva, I agree on many of your points, but disagree on the fact the 1857 Sepoy mutiny was good for India. If it did succeed India would be under the Mughals again and another basket case like Pakistan.

Pakistan is indeed a basket case at the present time, but it is a temporary phase caused by an exceptionally corrupt and incompetent government ruling in the name of "democracy". It is probably incorrect to think that India too would have been a basket case.

@ Arvind.. how I agree with you... it could have been worse... we probably would have landed up like Yemen... There is a time and place for each of us along this "time line" of history... glad that the mighty mughals finally faced their end , else we would be another dark age -forgotten item in the historical attic..

Asad, If history and the present Islamic Republics are any indicators, India too would be under the Mughals with Sharia and Jazzyia tax for non Muslims. It would be run by the despots like Bahudar Shah or worse Aurangzeb who are no different then all the other military dictators in the Islamic nations. Including Turkey and Malaysia where the minority have no voice. Just try visiting and living as a non-muslim say in Afghanistan.

Asad, One other thing Pakistan and India had the same shared destiny but look where they are now, the minorities like Ahmeddiya's are not even considered Muslims and their ONE nobel prize winner Abdus Salam (a Ahmediyya muslim) is never mentioned. Please google and read Rizwan Salim "What the Invaders Did" and you decide for yourself.

Mahadeva: The best way to enjoy history is to read it from contemporary authors who describe things exactly as they were. Reading it second hand from authors several centuries later has the risk of biases and prejudices - unfortunately very common in India. My main sources of later Mughal history are Francois Bernier and Niccolo Manucci (~1660). Both these books are available from Manohar Book Depot in Daryaganj, Delhi. For Akbar, the best source is the Ain-e-Akbari of Abul Fazal. Both Babur and Jahangir wrote their own autobiographies. If you are interested in the early Sultanate, the most enjoyable book is Tabakat-i-Nasiri by Minhaj Siraj. This book (written by the chief Qazi i.e., Chief Justice) describes, in the present tense (~1260), the savage brutality of Mongol invasions and the successful defence by the Delhi Sultans.The book "Sakeenatul Auliya" is not great reading - not cerebral enough - and I don't recommend it. It was a good attempt for a Prince but has limited intellectual component. There must be better books on the Sufi movement. I like your postings. Regards.

Arvind: I agree with all your criticisms of Pakistan at present. It is a contemptible state run by a bunch of thieves. But this is only a transitional period between a military dictatorship and a 'democracy' in a country where the majority of the people do not know what democracy is. But to extrapolate it to Mughal India as a basket case is unfair. European writers travelling in Mughal India described Murshidabad, Delhi, and Agra as cities wealthier than Paris or London. While Aurangzeb did reimpose the Jaziya, we should also remember that Emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan outlawed it. Human rights are fundamental to any democracy, and most of the South East Asian democracies are flawed in this respect. It is true that, in Pakistan, the Ahmadiyyas are denied their rights; in Bangladesh, the Hindus have been denied their rights; in Sri Lanka, the Tamils are treated badly; in Malaysia, the Indians and Chinese are not treated fairly; and despite an enlightened government in India, the Muslims have no security, rights, or opportunities in the Sate of Gujarat. They have been treated as aliens since independence. No doubt that India has made impressive economic progress in recent times but it is restricted to a vey small fraction of the Indian society. Take a walk along the streets of central Calcutta and see for yourself what a basket case is, and where human rights are. This could not be due to the Mughal empire or the Sharia laws. It is the nature of our society that encourages (or tolerates) inequality and it will take long time before we become truly democratic and equal in the Jeffersonian sense. And India would probably be the first to reach that noble and cherished goal.

India's overwhelming problem is overpopulation, so what you see as the poor is a reflection of a system overtaxed not the freedom of speech and religion. But I'm also talking of personal freedom for all religions, which is far more important to a Hindu then not being able to eat 3 meals a day, that is the fundamental tenet of Hindu Dharma. That is what is missing in all the Islamic republics and under the Mughals and other Muslim kings, women and minorities have no rights. My point being the Islamic laws under the Mughals denied the fundamental freedom to the majority for over 600 years of their Islamic rule. Pick any of the Islamic countries they have systematically wiped out the minority Jews, Hindus and Buddhist from their midst. Now take Kashmir, once the Muslims got the majority they perpetrated ethnic genocide by the countless and threw the Hindus/Sikhs out. You don't see that in Hindu majority Gujarath or Kerala do you? In fact most of the Muslims (of all denominations) have more rights in India and other democracies then Saudi Arabia, Pakistan etc, which have declared themselves as Islamic Republics with rights reserved only for Muslims (Sunni, Shia etc). Islam and democracy are incompatible and never shall they thrive togther and coming back to Mughals we would never have progressed and had a flourishing democracy but a throw back Islamic aristocracy. By the way the Zenith of India was not during the Mughals as portrayed by the media showing the grandeur of Taj Mahal but during the reign of the Hindu Kings and Asoka going all the way into Afghanistan (Ghandhara civilization) and down into present day Thailand, Malaysia. The latter comment was made by none other than the most revered Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda. Hope you got to read the article by Rizwan Salim.

While I have always disliked insertion of the word "Islamic" to the name of any State (like the "Islamic Republic of Iran or Pakistan"), your comments are based on preformed notions - not Socratic dailectic. You use Aurangzeb as an example of Moghul rule but forget about Akbar who was also a Moghul. You forget that Muslims lived in perfect accord with the Jews in Spain for many centuries; they did not throw out anybody as others did in the same country. You oversimplify the complex problem in Kashmir which is primarily political, not religious - even the Government of India is beginning to realize it now, though belatedly. Since the discussion is becoming absurd, I will close. Thank you.

If you like it or not, just the name Islamic for a state is one thing but implementing it as a state religion and denying the rights to others is what is happening in all these countries. You may want to call Kashmir political issue but not to thousands of Kashmiri pandits who lost their lives, loved ones and their property stolen. I cannot recall a Hindu temple (the likes of Ajanta/Ellora) built during the Mogul rule, they destroyed them. Aurangzeb alone a devout Muslim destroyed over a 1000 temples and was proud of his accomplishments.

Yes, Aurangzeb did destroy many temples but he was cruel to everyone who came in his way. A "devout Muslim" or even an ordinary Muslim does not go killing his brothers and imprisoning his father and sons. But to say that "I cannot recall a ...Hindu temple (the likes of Ajanta/Ellora) built during the Mogul rule" is uninformed and incorrect. Jahangir had a huge temple rebuilt in Mathura (Kesava Deo Temple?) together with his friend Bir Singh Deo, the Raja of Orchha. The land for Harminder Sahib (the famous Golden Temple) in Amritsar was granted by Emperor Akbar. I reproduce below an excerpt from Wikipedia: "The third of the six grand Mughals, Emperor Akbar, who visited the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das, at the neighbouring town of Goindval was so impressed by the way of life in the town that he gave a jagir (the land and the revenues of several villages in the vicinity) to the Guru's daughter Bhani as a gift on her marriage to Bhai Jetha, who later became the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das." And "during the leadership of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev (1581-1606), the full-fledged Temple was built. In December 1588 the great Muslim Sufi saint of Lahore, Hazrat Mian Mir, who was a close friend of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, initiated the construction of the temple by laying the first foundation stone (December 1588 AD)." May I remind you that both Emperor Akbar and Emperor Jahangir were also Mughals.

My response to your comment "you may want to call Kashmir political issue but not to thousands of Kashmiri pandits who lost their lives, loved ones and their property stolen", is as follows: I have always maintained that all Kashmiri citizens - regardless of their religions - should be provided full security and equal rights and opportunities by the state of Kashmir. Those who have left should be invited back to their homes and businesses with full honor and dignity. At the same time, it is incumbent on the Government to listen to the genuine grievances of the Kashmiri people. In an age when people are becoming increasingly aware of their rights, they refuse to be governed by laws that appear to be extreme.The unlimited powers of the security forces to enter and search homes without warrants, arrest, detain, and shoot any citizen (frequently in false encounters) without trial are fuelling the insurrection and should be controlled. Much of the turmoil in Kashmir today cannot be attributed to "Pakistani infiltration" (as was happening in the past); it is almost entirely home-grown. That the Kashmiri pundits had to leave was a tragedy - and my heart goes out to them, but the reason may have been that they were perceived as siding with the security forces. Let us not forget that some 40,000 - 80,000 Kashmiris (by different estimates) have also lost their lives in the past few years - the people have reason to be dissatisfied. Compare this figure with the numbers of martyrs (few hundred) in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in our own struggle for freedom. The only ray of hope I see there is that today we have capable, western-educated leaders in India like Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Mr Man Mohan Singh, Mr P. Chidambram, Mr Kapil Sibal etc and they should be able to come up with a sensible solution to cure this bleeding wound for India. This problem would never be solved by military or rhetorical means; it requires a political or diplomatic solution that takes into account the rights and wishes of all Kashmiri people.

gentlemen although my language skills arent upto speed, i shall try to get my views across as best as i can manage. prof irfan habib a 3rd rate so-called historian is nothing but a self-styled leftist who in collusion with congress party and his cohorts in JNU and other marxist historians tried to show medieval indian history in favor of the barbaric muslim invaders who have destroyed thousands of temples, built victory mosques over them, taken men slaves, killed innocent children and made women sex slaves aka dancers in their courts in the name of 'promoting art' (funny!). they have either converted millions of hindus and buddhists in those times or made them dhimmis who had to pay jaziya tax - 2.5% of the income who didnt accept islam and who had been spared the sword because they were paying for the expenses of the islamic caliphate. So says the Quran - ""Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold forbidden that which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." - Quran 9.29." those mughal barbarians who have written their autobiography, we well know how true it could be when it comes to 'human rights' and other matters of human virtues which deal with death and destruction, looting and murderers rapes and genocide. for those barbaric islamic conquerers whose biographies have been written by someone else, we cant be fooled to believe they would have kept a watchful eye and would have made sure the book was bound and stored BEFORE the death of the ruler concerned. so its a no brainer to us that what was written by so-called contemporaries is as close to the truth as earth to the sun. tipu sultan is glorified in our history books and a bollywood director even came out with his concocted view of tipu's 'nationalism' a few yrs ago and made a tv serial on him. so what happened in north kerala? namboodri brahmins vanished into thin air over a period of time and today among the ruins of hindu temples live muslims in majority. a few of his letters - 1. Letter dated March 22, 1788, to Abdul Kadir: "Over 12,000 Hindus were honoured with Islam. There were many Namboodri Brahmins among them. This achievement should be widely publicised among the Hindus. Then the local Hindus should be brought before you and converted to Islam. No Namboodri Brahmin should be spared. " 2. Letter dated December 14, 1988, to his army chief in Calicut: " I am sending two of my followers with Mir Hussain Ali. With their assistance, you should capture and kill all Hindus. Those below 20 may be kept in prison and 5000 from the rest should be killed from the tree-tops. These are my orders." 3. Letter dated January 18, 1790, to Syed Abdul Dulai: " ...almost all Hindus in Calicut are converted to Islam. I consider this as Jehad." The idea that Aurangzeb built the Dhera Kesu Rai temple in mathura is laughable at best. in fact he was the most notoriously intolerant mughal ruler and was well known for his fanatic zeal. precisely in 1669 under orders from aurangzeb his governor razed the temple to the ground and in its place built a mega mosque using the temple's material which still stands today.the diety was taken to agra and broken into pieces and buried under the steps of nawab begum sahib's mosque so that the faithful could walk upon it and 'prove' their faith. Jahangir allowed Deo to construct the temple because he needed his support in bundelkhand. pakistan isnt run by a bunch of 'thieves' which is very mildly put perhaps because of religious compulsions. pakistan has always been run by a bunch of bigots and fanatical muslims who think they have a duty to bring india under the islamic caliphate as purported by the prophet Mohammad (pbuh) himself - its called Ghazwa-e-hind. such delusional ideas is what is driving the pakistani army the ISI and its sidekick the LeT, Huji and what have you. this idea has now taken roots in kerala and kashmir and time isnt far when the entire country's muslim populace will be devoured by this cancer. Thanks to the hindu apologists and leftist people we have in our midst who are hellbent upon undermining this country and its very existence. my relatives and (muslim) friends say the ayodhya verdict was based on faith and not facts. its wrong, its unjust bla bla bla. i have just one simple poser for them. in infamous shah bano case in 1986 when the judgement of none other than the SUPREME COURT was overturned by the psuedo-secular govt of congress by an act in order to be compliant with sharia (faith) then where were these great ulemas and jamats who are ranting and raving today?? theyre cursing the great indian democracy today what happened then? they made the country bend to their FAITH and threw the FACTS out the window. we as muslims must understand that Ayodhya is to hindus what Mecca is to muslims. th

"Jews in Spain...." cordoba comes to mind in a flash....how about the ground zero mosque by the people of the same name? - cordoba house!! besides spain, there are many more cultural annihilations, human genocide, brutal massacres which lie in the wake of perpetually marching islamic armies, that can be attributed to hegemonistic, islamic invaders who were hellbent on conquering the whole world and turn it into dar-al-islam! they want to revert today to the same old ideas of the middle ages and undo what the world has achieved!

Asad and Zeba, What surprised me the most was the Sufis rallying for ground zero mosque in US. I always revered the Sufi poets and their philosophy. Now I have my doubts, it just takes a few of them to silence the others with do not agree with their views. The radicals are quick to point out the Jews in Spain and Muslim protection. However for every one act of kindness there are a 100 atrocities all over the Arab Muslim world, none of the Jews are left in their traditional homes in Morocco, Iraq etc. Many of the latter fled to India and from Persia the Zoroastrians and Syrian Christians from Syria. All of them found religious tolerance by the Hindus in India. I cannot recall a single mosque destroyed by a Hindu king but can point out thousands of Hindu temples destroyed by Mughals and their slave dynasties in India. Regarding Kashmir, POK is now longer Kashmiri, it is flooded by others from Pakistan. The Muslim-Kashmiri people have to come to their senses and accept their brethren (Kashmiri pandits) and put aside their radical views forced down their throats by the Pakistanis across the border. I tell my friends if you ever want to see what it would have been under the Mughals just go to present day Pakistan and Afghanistan and there you have it, the "New Mughalistan" is in the making. Everyone who desires to live under the grander of the Mughal past should be given a one way ticket to that paradise.

Zeba, I just finished reading you response, you should be commended for you forthright true to the heart views on historical injustices and inequalities. History is repeating right before our eyes, there are amongst us the glorifiers of the Mughuls and deniers of equal rights to women and minorities in the name of religion. The recent case in Afghanistan of stoning to death of a young girl just because she refused to marry a older male is an example of barbaric nature of these so called religious men and remember once they were all Buddhist and Hindus, until the barbaric Arab horde finally pushed through and converted en mass to Islam. The Mughals were from the same Northern barbaric Turkic tribes. We are reminded of Akbar the noble king, yet he was the one who took on many Rajput princesses into his harem and kept the peace with the Rajputs, history as glorified for these barbaric Mughals needs to be rewritten. I'm glad generation like yours is speaking up and accepting responsibility for the actions and not making excuses and exceptions for these throwbacks. I see some glimmer of hope with people like you who speak up against religious bigotry.

Arvind: I have added nothing to this thread after my last submission. Please do not lump my views with anyone else's. Thank you.

@Janab Asad Ahmed sb and Ms.Nisha Sachdev......it was a pleasure reading you both.In fact Asad Ahmed sb it is ALWAYS a pleasure reading your erudite posts. @Arvind Mallaya: Have you ever thought that how could GOD have created a religion which is evil ?Do you believe in God at all ? Do you know that the last Mughal emperor could recite and produce poetry in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi and Brij Bhasha..............what else could he distinguish himself in.....rest was all confiscated by the British John Company already.At least 17 people of the royal house-hold had published diwans to their credit. Pakistan and Bangladesh are certainly not 'Mughalistans' i find this term farcical and derogatory. To call all Mughals barbarians is really un-fortunate.The Mughal age is a period of great cultural renaissance and synthesis in India.It attracted the world's best available talent to Delhi just as the U.S. does today. If the Mughal dynasty had survived....the emperor may have been a constitutional monarch today....he too would have been an enlightened head of state ............to assume otherwise is as far fetched as pronoucing that the descendants of King Henry Vlll could never be enlightened monarchs because he was a bigot himself. We are only as wise as the wisdom of our times.At least two Mughals were wiser and much far ahead than their times......Akbar the great and Dara Shikoh.

Digvijay, My faith and spirituality (Dharma) are really personal and so is my relationship with the divine. However since you asked, here is a quote from the Mahakalasamhita " As the one sun reflected in different pools of water appears as so many different suns so do you O Lord through delusions as a many. But still thou art one without second know as Brahman Supreme" Anyway this particular philosophy was not shared by the invading Mughals and their slave dynasties in India, leading to destruction of many Hindu places of worship and that has continued even today in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir. Now to your point, Bahadur Shah the romantic poet, the last Mughal was a pot/heroin addict and lived his life in the harem, not much good came from him. The dynasty over the years survived on loot, plunder and taxation (Jazziya tax for non Muslims) and so did the other Mongol hordes which went into Europe. Thanks to the British they removed this dynasty and unified India once again, certainly not in the best interest of it population but for their own colonial supremacy, but in the end it was good for India. The term Mughalistan was not my coinage but many in Pakistan and Afghanistan (and their military dictators used this term) do dream of the return of the Mughal rule over the Indian subcontinent.

@Arvind Mallya the sufis as we know them were brought by the muslim invaders themselves. they actually realised it later that conversion of the local populace was easier through sustained efforts (re:brainwashing) than killing them by the sword. this would also have the added benefit of increasing the muslim population. The sufis had their origins in turkey and they came with the later invasions to present the soft islam and throuh 'taqqiya' (deception) converted many hindus,buddhists and sikhs to islam. this is a lesser known fact of the sufi saints and which most apologists choose to ignore. so its no surprise that cordoba house have employed their services yet again and theyre pandering their views of peace, assimilation, brotherhood and what have you, all around which is indeed a lame attempt as we all can see through the smoke screen. comparing the insane and fanatic kashmiri terrorists aka stone pelters acting at the behest of the future self-styled 'caliph' - syed ali shah geelani, with the selfless freedom fighters of jalianwala bagh is preposterous, disdainful and in utterly bad taste! this shows how much sympathy kashmiri muslims have in india from their fellow muslims for furthering their seperatist agenda and incessant undermining of the indian state. all i can say is such people are smitten with subnormality!! POK has almost been sold off to the chinese. they dont have any rights and even the PM is 'appointed' by the pakistani govt. they cant work in mainland pakistan and have no voting rights. during the devastating earthquakes in that region according to a UN report the pakistani army was found to be showing bias between kashmiri and non kashmiri citizens. theyre only used as cannon fodder against india. its not so well known but india was the country where jews have migrated in large numbers for fear of prosecution. earlier it was due to greeks and later because of the resurgent islamism in arab countries. israel would never have been created if they were not persecuted by hitler and the arab countries where they had flourishing businesses and lived in harmony with the muslims for many years. there have been innumerable stonings in iran and saudi arabia which go unnoticed by world media. these are ordered by local religious leaders and a gag order is in place with serious reprisals if anyone is found to be falling out of line. you may consider watching 'the stoning of suraya m.' its a heart rendering tale of a women being stoned in iran for adultery which she never committed. thanks to the carnal lust of another woman that his husband harbors and wishes to marry subsequent to her death that his plans bear fruit. akbar did what he did in order to get the rajputs under his umbrella. he got numerous people trampled under elephant feet but then who are we to question this bigotry and ruthlessness? he was 'great' and thats all we should know. i am left wondering of the 'worlds best talents having arrived in delhi...i only get to see the murderers, fanatics, rapists,looters arriving....the renaissance our secularly-enlightened historians try to make us see in barbaric islamic invasions is an after thought and a way to correct the wrongs of the past for reasons beyond human comprehension. kudos to our celebrated historians like irfan habib and romila thapar the leftist leaning historians who have whitewashed major parts of our dark medieval history.thanks to them our kids wouldnt ever know their REAL history. in pakistani schools their history begins with 1947!! some will argue 'whats wrong with that?' indeed their future is as short lived i would add. imbecile poster-painters turned artists like m.f. hussain go about their business of bigotry in this country and we muslims instead of deriding them, treat them as our heroes and complain of minority rights and blame the country for hounding us. while on the other hand we condemn the likes of salman rushdie and kurt westergaard to death! how levelling. persian civilisation was very evolved even before the arabs invaded it. an example is arab cavalary after the period of 650AD is an exact replica of sassanid knights or cataphracts. the arab word 'jond' meaning army has its origin in the pahalvi word 'jond' meaning a larger division of the army! persecuted Zoroastrians known as parsis migrated to india and in recent years to the US. most fire temples were destroyed and converted to victory mosques as happened to other religious places of worship wherever islamic armies ventured and won.

"Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS.”- Mahatma Gandhi. So did the Mughals and watch out for the new Mughal sympathizers, because history has a way of repeating, if you don't know it then you are doomed to repeat it....

I have my reservations about Mr Gandhi's 'mahatma' status. He and Nehru teamed up to do to India what nobody in the East India Company could manage for 2 centuries. Split it! MAJ was just a scapegoat and was blamed for the partition.

Zeba, I did not like Gandhi's political views and his radical-Muslim appeasement postures and the resulting break up of India. However he was a good Hindu, I have read some of his books and do admire him for his views on women, religion, education, peace democracy etc. He no doubt was a learned man. Now regarding Mahatma it is just a title we are all great souls, just need to work on it :-)

This picture looks like one of Daniel's paintings but it obviously is'nt......