The bells from the churches were paraded, carried off on elephant backs as victory souvenirs. Number of bells in the fort are unknown but four bells are located. One such Bell was carried to and located at Naroshankar Temple on the banks of Godavari river in Nasik, Panchavati area.

The other church bell is located at Bhimashankar Temple is located in the village of Bhorgiri 50 km north west of Khed . Third bell is located at Meneshwar temple in Menavali near Panchgani . This bell weighs six hundred and fifty kilograms. The date on the bell shows the year 1707 and has five-alloy bell bears a bas-relief of Mary carrying the infant Jesus Christ cast into it. Fourth church bell is located at Durga Devi temple, Murud

This bell weighs six hundred and fifty kilograms. The date on the bell shows the year 1707 and has five-alloy bell bears a bas-relief of Mary carrying the infant Jesus Christ cast into it. Fourth church bell is located at Durga Devi temple, Murud

Church bell at Naroshankar temple and is called “Naroshankarachi Ghanta”

This church bell is located at Bhimashankar Temple is located in the village of Bhorgiri, near Khed.

(1906)

 Strong Afghani forces were stationed to prevent the collapse of his new found territory and the shattered remnants of the Mughals swore loyalty and a hefty tribute to him each year. Certainly the formidable and defiant Jat power of Bharatpur under Suraj Mal remained undefeated and the Rajput states untouched by Ahmed Shah but the canny Pathan leader was able to unite the disparate and fanatical hill men of his country into a formidable and ruthless force which left terror and destruction in its wake.

From the south however came his greatest rival – the Marathas – Under the inspirational leadership of the Brahmin warrior – Baji Rao (1720-1740) the Marathas shattered the shell of the Mughal Empire and under his son Baaji Baji Rao (1740- 1761) the Marathas secured the ‘Chauth’ of all of Hindustan and fulfilled the prophecy of their legendary king Shivaji the Great (1657 – 1680) that the Marathas would rule from the Himalayas to the southern tip of India- from ‘Attock to Cattock’

In 1757 a vast force under the leadership of the Peshwas brother Raghunath Rao and the warlords of the Holkar and Sindhia families poured their waves of relentless light cavalry into northern India. The Afghan garrison in Delhi was utterly defeated and converging lines of Marathas began the invasion of Punjab and chased the Afghans to where Timur Shah was enclosed in Lahore – After defeating the Afghans and destroying their base in Sarhind with the assistance of local bands they marched to Amritsar, where they assisted in the cleansing of the Sikh holy site of the Golden Temple after expelling the Pathans who had desecrated the shrine.

The frantic Timur Shah calling for help from his father attempted to defend the city of Lahore only to have it fall before the Marathas (it is said that the gates of Somnath stolen by Mamhud Ghazni 800 years before were recovered at this time by Mahadji Sindhia to once again adorn the entrance of a grand Hindu Temple)

The retreating Afghans were chased over the Indus River into the home territories of their Pathan brethren. The city of Peshawar fell before the Sindhia contingent of the Maratha Empire and finally after the elapsing of 700 years a Hindu army once again stood at the gates of India. A desperate stand was made by the retreating Afghans at the fort of Attock only to fall after a month long siege – the saffron flag – Bhagwa Jhanda flew over the proud Pathan landscape to the chagrin of the locals to find the pagan Hindus once again returning and proving their ability to endure and emerge over the most fanatical and relentless hatred.  The peak of the Maratha Empire was reached and reaches out today as an example of the eternal battle to preserve civilisation and culture in the face of implacable hatred.

(5319)

Hindus largely perceived as weak, not great soldiers, and yet they had been involved in fighting wars for other than themselves. Among the first foreign forces were Hindus to fight for British on Western front.[2]

While the plans for centenary commemorations of the First World War undergo this week, today’s generation know virtually nothing about the sacrifices of those who laid their lives in the war.

At the onset of the war itself it was abundantly clear to allies that additional troops from India were necessary to fight in North Africa, Europe and the Middle East.[3]

Indian soldiers in First World War.

It was the war India had supported British by all means – Political, military and economic. At a time when majority of Indians were suffering from abject poverty, they gifted 100 million pounds for war. The support was in expectation of British’s sensitive hearing towards plea for Indian independence, which post war British were in no hurry to fulfil.[4]

Indian soldiers in First World War.

Indian army comprised men of diverse faiths. The role of Hindus in the First World War is by and large expunged from the history books.  Merely a cursory gaze at the figures reveals startling fact – In total 1,338, 620 Hindus participated in the war. This number exceeds the total number of army personnel from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa by 178,000[5].

Hindu soldiers were involved in the lands as diverse as Palestine, France, Syria and Mesopotamia. A school of thought says it was the Hindu army which changed the course of the war by turning German soldiers at Marne.Thousands of Hindu soldiers lost their lives and no hero’s welcome awaited the survivors, such was their fate.

indian-infantry-digging-trenches-prepared-against-gas-attack

The war graves in France and Belgium are grim reminder of largely anonymous Hindu soldiers. One of them was Mir Dast, Victoria Cross holder, British highest award of gallantry. He was the officer of 57^th Rifles of the Indian Army, who came under vicious gas attack by Germans in April 1915. As he held his defence against the army, without a gas mask, he managed to save lives of eight officers.[6]

Lying in the hospital bed at Brighton, England, he wrote to his family that he was twice wounded, once in the hand and second from gas.

indian-infantry-digging-trenches

Traces of Hindu participation are fragmented by the fact that only a limited record of correspondence exist between Hindu soldiers and their families. The reason being most Hindu soldiers were illiterate. They would have one of the literate ones among them write the letter. The letter would then be read out to British officer as part of censorship procedure to restrict passing of militarily sensitive information to the enemy before being dispatched off to the recipient’s village.

These letters and diaries are the source of information on the anguish felt by the soldiers about the war. The soldiers talk about guns, poisonous gas, destruction, yearning of family. Hindu soldiers would often refer to great Hindu war epic Mahabharata and compare the war of good versus evil to the current one. One of the soldiers wrote that having witnessed the current war, end of the world seems near and all that was written in Mahabharata and Ramayana appears to be true to him.[7]

Extracts of these letters could be sourced from summaries prepared at the time of censoring of letters. The digital versions of the summaries are available at Europeana and British Library.

The war could also be remembered for the caste discrimination faced by Hindu soldiers. British insisted on maintaining the fault lines of caste system. Recruitment in the army was carried on the assumption that some races were martial races. Majority of army men were sourced from North and Northwest India.[8]

Indian soldier in the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England. 1914-18

The caste system was practiced by British even in the hospitals where Hindu soldiers were treated.  Royal Pavilion Hospital in Brighton, where the wounded soldiers were treated, ensured the hospital wards were segregated on caste lines. The so called ‘untouchables’ were employed as support staffs.[9]

According to Richard Smith, lecturer at Goldsmith College, University of London, and author of Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War, discrimination faced by the volunteers in the army worked as catalyst for them to join the movements for independence in their respective countries.[10]

Chatri (which means Umbrella in English), is the only memorial of significance to honour the contribution of Hindu and Sikh soldiers. The monument is on the Downs, near Patcham in Brighton.  It was unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 21^st February 1921. [11] It is a cremation site for fifty three Hindus and Sikhs soldiers.

In 2010, their names were inscribed in stones on the site. It is truly disappointing is that it has taken over a century after their deaths that Commonwealth War Graves Commission to inscribe the names of the martyrs. [12]

The Chattri

Hindus sepoys were one of the highest numbers of volunteers as combatants and non-combatants. This is an aspect of history that cannot be disregarded anymore. Without them the freedom Europe enjoyed would not have been possible. It’s high time they are bestowed the honour they deserve for gallantly sacrificing their lives.

Courtesy Kushagra Bhatnagar

[1] http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/india_and_world_war_one.htm

[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/special-report-the-centenary-of-wwi–tommies-and-tariqs-fought-side-by-side-8669758.html

[3] http://www.black-history.org.uk/pavilionindian.asp

[4] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/World-War-I-the-India-story-retold/articleshow/30081903.cms

[5] http://www.hinduwisdom.info/European_Imperialism18.htm

[6] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/special-report-the-centenary-of-wwi–tommies-and-tariqs-fought-side-by-side-8669758.html

[7] http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/21/found-translation-indias-first-world-war

[8] http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/21/found-translation-indias-first-world-war

[9] http://www.sikhmuseum.com/brighton/doctor/pavilion/caste.html

[10] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/special-report-the-centenary-of-wwi–tommies-and-tariqs-fought-side-by-side-8669758.html

[11] http://www.chattri.org/

[12] http://www.historytoday.com/rosie-llewellyn-jones/memory-india%E2%80%99s-fallen

(2853)

The aged Rajput warrior stood for ten hours against the endless waves of cavalry launched against him and his men – the undaunted Rana whose fame was spread across the Kathiawar region of Gujarat stood firm against the Turks resolved to give his life rather than tamely surrender the Somnath Temple to the hordes from Central Asia who had mercilessly destroyed countless churches, Zoroastrian fire temples and Buddhist monasteries.
 
The wily Ghaznavi, well aware that his lightning and unexpected raid to the Holy Shrine had caught the attention of his dreaded foe Raja Bhoja knew he had limited time before the Hindu forces racing towards Somnath would encircle and perhaps destroy him.

The veteran Rana stood as long as he had strength to defend the temple – Holding his battle axe the veteran of a thousand combats stood firm striking down his enemies until the ground to his left and right were littered with the bodies of his foe until eventually he fell under a wave of arrows.

Amidst a deluge of blood and dead and dying Hindu and Muslims warriors The temple was destroyed and the holy murti was unceremoniously carted off to Ghazi as a symbol of the victory of the ‘faithful’ The famed silver gates taken as well to different parts of the Ghaznavid Empire..

The efforts and sacrifices made to save the temple were never forgotten. The energy and zeal of Raja Bhoja rebuilt the temple. A further invasion of India by the Salur Ghazanvi in 1033 CE was caught by Raja Bhoja and Raja Sukhdev and in the Battle of Bharaich the pride of the nascent Muslim Empire in South Asia was humbled as over 100,000 of the until then undefeated Ghaznavi warriors were slain and the tide of attack stemmed for a further 150 years.

The temple rose and fell and rose again through the turbulent middle ages of South Asia as the Muslims and Hindus fought each other and sometimes in unison to rule the subcontinent. Thousands of temples were destroyed in a land traditionally known for its tolerance. The once mighty edifice of Buddhism was wiped out from the land of its origin and other groups like the Jains were reduced to an insignificant minority.

The Hindus resisted however and by the late 17th Century a huge wave of revolts and risings convulsed the country which eventually utterly destroyed the Muslim kingdoms in India – a movement which was only stopped by the sudden and treacherous  encroachments of the rising British Empire.
 
By 1782 the Maratha warlord Mahadji Sindhia – the kingmaker of India had emerged as the most powerful force in Northern India. His unmatched military skill and determination had allowed him to stamp and defeat the last vestiges of Mughal and Afghan power in India. Four of his brothers were martyred in the struggle of the Marathas against the Afghans in a time of tumultuous change.

By 1782 one of the sons of the dreaded Afghan king Ahmed Shah Abdali known as Mahmud Shah was in control of the vast city of Lahore. Sindhia however after establishing his power at Delhi with the backing of the Maratha legions of cavalry attached towards the Afghans- After a bitter engagement the Afghans withdrew and leaving countless of their dead and wounded behind them fled towards their distant mountain homes.

In their terror the Afghans failed to take with them the prized symbols of their perceived victories. The remnants of the famed original Somnath Temple were scattered across South Asia- Some had been taken by the hordes of plunderers under Mahmud Ghaznavi and he himself had taken the famed gates as a memorial to his kingdom.

The pious Maratha warrior located and took the famous silver gates of Somnath taken seven centuries earlier. Sindhia reverentially removed the gates from the clutches of the Afghan plunderers and in a great procession to be returned to their rightful place within the holy precincts.

Some have alleged that the Hindus have no sense of history but to a critical observer and reader of this turbulent period of Indian history cannot but fail to see the unending efforts to preserve and fight to rectify the historical wrongs inflicted on the collective psyche of the Hindu peoples of the subcontinent.

The victories won over the until then undefeated Arabs in the eighth century were followed by the invasions of the Ghaznavaids and their subsequent defeat in the Battle of Bhariach in 1033.

The Somnath temple fell again only to rise again and again and was never forgotten. After the dawn of independence in 1947 the temple was once again reconstructed as a symbol of hope. Somnath has became a symbol of the undying spirit and energy of Dharma and the unrelenting spirit never to bow before the forces of fascist monotheism and hatred.The ongoing plight of the pagan Yazidis at the hands of the ISIS (Islamic State) jihadis in Iraq and Syria is a grim reminder of a thousand such attacks in the Indian subcontinent and that liberty and freedom have been bought at a terrible cost and sustained only through the ingrained truths contained within the fabric of Dharma.

(9949)

The prime cause of this decline was their great rivals the Marathas – a Hindu warrior clan from the western parts of India who under the leadership of Shivaji (d1680) first shook and then shattered the Mughal dominions. Arising when it seemed like the Islamic conquest of the subcontinent was close to a final success after six centuries of bloodshed Shivaji rose to became the foundation of the mightiest force in India for the next 150 years. In his wake great uprisings from Rajasthan to Assam and from the Himalayan mountains to the deep south as the Hindu revival rose.

The leader of the Turanis (Sunni Muslims)  Imad Ul Mulk wished to control the battered remnants of the empire under his own leadership with the support of the Marathas and Rajputs and was against the Iranis (Shia Muslims) under Safdar Jung with the Jats, Persians and Hindu Naga Sadhu battalions.

This plan involved a settlement between the factions under the leadership of the emperor Ahmed Shah and involved a joint challenge to the Marathas who were pouring every north year after year.

Ahmed Shah – the lineal descendant of Aurangzeb immediately settled the arrears of his troops and formed up the newly trained Mughal army and set to lead this new coalition against a large Maratha force led by the regional commander Malhar Rao Holkar who was believed to be at a distance of 100 miles from the capital with an army of 20,000

After leaving his palace on the 27th April 1754 the Mughals reached Sikandrabad on the 8th May of the same year when news reached him that Malhar Rao had left his siege of Kumher and marching towards Delhi with all speed to attack the Emperor. The cowardly Emperor lost his nerve and began to fall back on Delhi despite the Marathas being over 100 miles from his position.  After a few weeks of manoeuvres news reached the Mughals on the 26th May that the Marathas had been sighted within 24 miles of the camp. Ahmed Shah mustered his captains and troops and ordered the imperial war drum to be sounded to fall back to Shorajpur accompanied with his minister Roz Afrun Khan , his wife’s sister Dilafroz Begum, his mother Udham Bai his wife Inayetpuri Bai and his sons together with the other ladies, princesses and support staff of his harem

During this march around midday the alarm was sounded and the vast crowd of the Mughal camp was thrown into confusion at the sight of the Maratha horsemen fast approaching

The war experienced Maratha Commander Malhar Rao immediately dispersed his swift moving cavalry in a vast net around the Mughals – his mounted troops opened fire with their matchlocks and then ordered the charge over the uneven and broken ground. The Mughal lines was smashed in the first charge leading to indescribable confusion in the camp. The lines of caravans were broken as soldiers and civilians alike each fled for safety where they could find it only to find the net of their enemies closing in around them.

The Emperor fled on a fast paced mount with his mother and favourite wife and thus escaped but left behind him his family, his wives and daughters and those of the Mughal nobility to the mercy of their Hindu enemies.

A huge amount of gold and coins fell into the hands of the Marathas but the greatest loss was the loss of prestige for the empire- the hardy cavalry of the Maharashtra mountains had in their captivity the honour of the Imperial family, queens and princesses – as the author Sarkar states – never had such a calamity befallen on the house of Timur’

Scattered groups began to reach Delhi behind the fleeing Emperor who to his horror learned of the fate of his family. Many of the caravans and raths were overturned and those of the Mughal ladies were torn apart with their ornaments and clothes being seized and countless of them being dishonored and led into captivity by the Maratha soldiers.

Some fled towards Delhi – others like the kings mother were protected by Malhar Rao who had now arrived.  Imad arrived in Malhars camp in humiliation complaining that the Marathas would listen to no one and that he was their slave in this matter.

On the 30th May Malhar Rao sent his demands to the emperor as his troops began to attack the suburbs of the Mughal capital – The capital trembled in terror as the outlying suburbs were put to the sword and set on fire. The memories of the previous year’s sack of Old Delhi by the Jats under Suraj Mal was still fresh in the memory of the Mughal population.

The following day the Emperor agreed to all of the demands of the Marathas. Punjab, Sind and the frontier areas were all ceded to the Peshwa – in effect the Chauth (tribute) of all of South Asia was granted to the Marathas –

The mother of the Emperor was led back to Delhi in the deepest of humiliation and despair – the Mughal courtiers having seen their families and servants led into captivity or humiliated the following day rose against the Emperor and dragged from the prison cells a distance cousin and placed him on the now powerless throne of Delhi – the unfortunate Ahmed Shah was blinded and thrown into a prison cell with his mother dying of natural causes in 1775.

The Marathas continued on their path and even after their great setback at the Battle of Panipat remained the preeminent power in India marching into Delhi on numerous occasions in the next decades culminating in the rise of the great Maratha warlord Mahadji Sindhia who stamped out the very last vestiges of Mughal and Pathan armies in 1788

(3925)

Then out spoke brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate:

“To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late;
And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods,

And for the tender mother who dandled him to rest,
And for the wife who nurses his baby at her breast,
And for the holy maidens who feed the eternal flame,
To save them from false Sextus, that wrought the deed of shame?

Though one of our worst enemies, this poem of Thomas Babington Macaulay has never failed to move our heathen sensibilities and none exemplify the spirit more than the ancient and now forgotten Hindus of Armenia who died defending the temples of their Gods even though their cause was hopeless against the Christian fanatics.

According to the Syrian writer Zenob, a disciple of “St.” Gregory and a witness to this tale, the Hindus of Armenia descended from two Hindu princes named Gissaneh and Demeter of Kanauj who fled to Armenia around 149 BCE after they were caught conspiring against their king Dinakspall. They were supposed to have been welcomed along with their followers by King Valarsaces of Armenia and given the province of Taron (western Armenia, now Turkey) where they built a city called Veeshap. They then proceeded to install the Hindu Gods alongside the national Gods of the Armenians in the city of Ashtishat, famous for its temples.

We presume that the deities Gissaneh and his brother, Demeter must be the vr.s.n.i kula warriors Kr.s.n.a and Balabhadra. Demeter is the Greek Goddess for harvest and Balabhadra with His halAyudha very much qualifies for the title Demeter.

In 301 CE the bearer of the Christian plague “St.” Gregory converted the Armenian ruler Tiridates III and thereby inaugurated a reign of terror on the heathens of the land. Armenian pagans were converted by force. The temples of Gods were destroyed to make way for pretAlaya-s. The tiny Hindu minority were also targeted by Gregory. This made the world to witness the grand resistance offered by these few Hindus with the meager resources available. It was the first time that Hindus had to face the iconoclasm of Abrahamic traditions. Faced against great odds, the Hindu civilians fought battles against the well trained Armenian army in order to defend their dharma and their Gods. KavirAja bhUs.an.a said:

“himmata amAna mardAna hinduvAnahU ko” 

Hindus are known for their courage and manliness.

These words especially apply to those Armenian Hindu brethren who breathed courage such that they fought for their dharma against all odds and preferred death to ignominy. Those Hindus had indeed internalized the teaching of Kr.s.n.a – “svadharme nidhanam s’reyaH” (gItA – 3.35) – To die following one’s dharma is indeed most excellent and preferable – than giving up one’s dharma for something else.

War Breaks Out

Let us go to the vivid description, given by Zenob, of the resistance offered by the miniscule minority community of Hindus against the Armenian armies. Soon after the conversion of the king, the Hindus got wind of the Christian plans to demolish their temples of Gissaneh (Krishna) and Demeter as they did with the Armenian temples. The Hindus removed the temple treasures to a safe place at night and sent messages to the arcaka-s of nearby village, Ashtishat, to collect an army and join them to resist.

Zenob gives us the message sent as follows:

“Gather every man who is a warrior and hasten to reach us tomorrow for the great Gissaneh (Kr.s.n.a) will go into battle against the apostatizing princes.”

When the Armenian troops had ascended the hill where our brethren had stationed themselves, Arjun caused the battle horns to be sounded and came out with his men to attack the Armenians with full might. The Armenians responded as though the great archer Arjuna himself was blowing his conch devadatta and attacking them. The fear, which filled the hearts of the kaurava army when Arjuna was seen in virAt.a battle, came to occupy the hearts of the Armenians upon seeing the gleaming standards of the Hindus who had come to defend their Gods and dharma to death.

The princes sent the pretAcArin to safety with three riders and tried to hold back the Hindus. The Armenian forces who tried to stop the surging Hindus were put to death. Hindus of nearby village had also gathered along the way of Armenian retreat and began to chase the pretAcArin and his men. Gregory took refuge at the fort of Vogkhan. Hindus laid siege to it. The Armenians had to beg for help from a nearby prince who came with an army of 4000 men to beat the Hindus back with his superior numerical strength.

Arjun rallied his forces at the same hill where he had defeated the Armenians earlier and began to curse the Armenians for abandoning the Gods of their ancestors. Zenob reports the following conversation:

“Advance,” he said, “O you who are irreligious and who have forsaken your nation’s Gods; you who are the enemies of the glorious Gissaneh. Do you not know that the great Gisaneh has come out in battle against you and he will deliver you into our hands and will strike you with blindness and death.”

At this an Armenian prince rushed forward and said “Oh you braggart, if you are fighting for your gods, you are false, and if it is your for your country, you are altogether foolish for behold the prince of the house of Angegh and the prince of the house of Sunnies and the other nobles whom you know but to well.”

To which, Demeter, the son of Artzan replied thus.

“Listen unto us O you Armenian princes, it is now forty years since we are engaged in the service of the mighty gods and we are aware of their powers, for they fight themselves with the enemies of their servants. We are not, however, able to oppose you in battle for this is the house of the king of Armenia and you are his nobles, but let it be known to you all that although we cannot possibly conquer you, yet it is better for us to die a glorious death to-day in upholding the honor of our Gods rather than live and see their temples polluted by you. Death is, therefore, more welcome to us than life. But you, who are the prince of the house of Angegh come forward and let us fight singly.”

What better words could have come from the mouth of this son of Arjuna!! We are indeed reminded of Abhimanyu, who preferred fighting to death against insurmountable odds. Here, we have a son of another Arjuna from a later era. But we see the same flame for dharma burning brightly within him, filled with courage to the brim.

Such a sacrifice for dharma has never been alien to Hindu history. When Alexander invaded our lands, brAhman.a-s exhorted the local rulers to stand up to that barbarian. Alexander is said to have furiously targeted the brAhman.a community as they made the entire western AaryAvarta to rise in revolt against him. Greeks mention several small cities which stood up to Alexander and fought till the last man rather than submit to him. Where the Persians had submitted to Greeks meekly, Hindus of even small states gave a tough time to the Greek conqueror. Later, during the invasions of Muslims, we find jauhar and saka being performed by Hindus where the women immolated themselves to death and men fought to death against insurmountable odds. This was done to avoid the ignominy of being forced to change one’s svadharma. The same ideal is echoed in the words of this Abhimanyu from Armenia who roared that they will die a glorious death upholding the honor of Gods rather than live to see their temples being polluted by the pretAcArin’s men.

Sacrifice for Dharma – Death over apostasy

In a single combat between the old Arjun and an Armenian prince, Arjun managed to inflict wounds on the prince but the prince managed to cut Arjun to death. While the Armenian troops were rejoicing about this victory, Hindu civilians led by their arcaka-s came to that hill and began attacking the Armenians with great vengeance. When the Armenian troops tried to flee downhill, Hindu infantry threw rocks and weapons from atop causing damage to their cavalry while the villagers who gathered at the foothills began to attack the fleeing Armenians. The trained Armenian army was then rallied around by the princes who managed to get a foothold on one side of the hill and held it when the sun began to set – battle was called off at that juncture.

On the next day, as per Zenob, Hindus had managed to gather 6946 men while Armenians had gathered 7080 troops. There were other Armenian troops numbering a few thousands in the vicinity – who were indulging in looting and destruction of the Hindu villages. Where the Hindu army consisted of local Hindu civilians who had come to defend their temples and dharma, Armenian army consisted of trained warriors. The advantage of a well trained army began to show when Armenians began to gain upper hand over the Hindus. A sliver of hope came to Hindus when a vassal prince of Hashtyank, who was a Hindu, switched sides to join his Hindu brethren against the pretAcArin’s hordes. Armenian troops were clobbered under his leadership – he was well known to be a great warrior and leader. But the hope was shortlived as the other Armenian princes rallied their troops again and one of the princes managed to behead the prince of Hashtyank. Demeter, the son of Arjun, managed to kill the son of an Armenian prince. But this was not enough to stop the well trained Armenian troops.

The grim scenario of defeat, which was expected by the Hindus but welcomed to avoid a meek surrender, came clear later in the day when the leaders of their army, the temple arcaka-s fell in the battle one after another. Demeter, the son of Arjun and their last leader left, was also beheaded and his head was collected in a sack by an Armenian prince. 1038 Hindus were killed in this battle and the rest were captured alive & stripped naked.

The local Hindu priests buried their dead there and also proceeded to bury the dead Armenians. The place was marked with the following inscription as per Zenob in Syriac and Greek:

“This was the first battle of Artzan, the high priest and a great warrior. He is buried here and with him are 1038 men. And we fought this battle for the idols of Gissaneh and Demeter and for Christ.”

Gregory, the pretAcArin, was brought back and he ordered to destroy the murtis of Kr.s.n.a and Balabhadra. Six arcaka-s of the temple, who were alive at that time, fought the Armenians who had entered the temple. The arcaka-s had stated

“Let us die first and then let the great Gissaneh be destroyed!”

This reminds us of those rAjpUt warriors who defended the temples to their last breath. Kavi PadmanAbha records how the warriors died defending the temple of SomanAtha during the reign of Ala-uddin. The beginning of this tradition was made in Armenia by the small community of Hindus. Even as late as 18^th century, 3000 rAjpUt-s entrenched themselves in the temple of S’rI ran~gam to save the temple from the European AtatAyin-s. They vowed to defend the temple from intrusion of any non-Hindu until the last one of them was alive. This prevented the victorious British from indulging in any misadventure within that temple. The fire lit at Armenia was kept burning here by successive generations of Hindu warriors who preferred death to apostasy. This indifference towards death and firm resolve to defend dharma have been the main source for the Hindu resistance movements under the Muslim yoke.

Gregory destroyed the two temples  (of Kr.s.n.a & Balabhadra) and built a pretAlaya over the remains. An arcaka was caught alive and he was tortured to find out the location where the temple treasures were hidden. But the arcaka remained true to His dharma and did not utter anything – preferring to embrace death than lead the barbarians to the treasures.

Gregory then had the civilians of the Hindu villages converted to his preta cult. 5000 men and youth apart from women were baptized. After this, he collected the children of the arcaka-s and the attendants of the temples – numbering 438 in all. He offered to baptize them as well. The children replied

“Keep this in mind, as long as we live, we shall seek revenge upon you; even if we should die, the Gods will exact their revenge”

One Armenian prince ordered to shave their head (the Hindus had sported s’ikhA-s) and sent these brave children to prison. Nothing is heard about them after this. We can imagine what their fate would have been. These brave young souls faced their end with the grace of seasoned warriors – preferring a torture and death to the dishonor of abandoning their Gods.

Zenob also notes that while the Hindu civilians had been converted. They still had not given up their ancestral religion. Hindus continued to ensure that their children sported s’ikhA and the worship of their Gods was maintained in a clandestine manner. Zenob warns the pretAcArin-s to be attentive towards this tendency of Hindus, lest this practice spread in other lands. We hear nothing about Hindus in Armenia after a century or so. It seems that the Christian fanatics destroyed the remnants of these Hindu communities so thoroughly that nothing is left now.

Thus ended the first struggle between the Hindus and the Abrahamic fanatics. Where the Armenian heathens were cowed down by the might of the army, Hindus put up a brave struggle – setting stage for the centuries of struggle that followed in order to protect their religion and traditions. While we have lost half of our lands and people due to numerous mistakes on our part, we cannot deny that our survival has also been due to the single biggest strength of dharma – it inspires its followers to face even insurmountable odds than submit meekly. It gives us courage to face our enemies.

By Vajrin

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A defeat so calamitous had never been before thought of by the proud Yamini kings and their armies, also known as the Ghaznavids. Under their inspirational leadership of Mahmud of Ghazni the Central Asian Turk tribes had conquered from the borders of modern day Iraq to the doors of South Asia. There meeting determined opposition from the Hindu Shahi kings who sacrificed three generations of their kings to defend the entry to India the Ghaznavids broke through utilising their unmatched cavalry tactics which had defeated the Persians and Byzantines and were shortly to face down the Crusaders of Western Europe

The damage to the subcontinent was significant and the destruction of the ancient Hindu and Buddhist heritage of India was incalculable. The loss of population was significant due to war and pestilence and displacement of peoples.

The impact on the Indian psyche was enormous – the ancient seats of learning from Taxila to Nalanda were torn down – the seats of Buddhist learning once stretching into Central Asia in a vast circuit of Buddhist kingdoms collapsed like a house of cards. The once mighty Sassanid Empire of Persia who had defeated and humbled the Roman Empire and dragged the Emperor Valerian in chains to Ctesiphon , the custodians of Zoroastrianism were humbled and disappeared from the pages of history under the Arab Muslim onslaught. Their remnants fled to India for protection and others to the Chinese empire.

The waves of monotheism attack however did not subside. The organised and disciplined custodians of Buddha and Zoroaster were wiped from the pages of history in Persia, Central Asia and Afghanistan. It was at this juncture that the valiant Hindu Rajput clans united under the leadership of Bappa Rawal and the guidance of Guru Gorakhnath and in a vast clash of arms with the armies of the Arab Caliphate delivered to them their first great defeat at the Battle of Rajasthan in 745 CE and stopped forever the further Arab expansion into South Asia.

For 300 years this tenuous peace remained until the conversion of the Turk tribes to Islam in the last period of the first millennia Common Era which led to the infamous invasions of the subcontinent by Mahmud Ghazni. He was succeeded by his nephew Masud Salur who seeking to emulate Mahmud led a vast invasion of the Ghaznived forces into the subcontinent. Despite the success of his invasions Mahmud could not create an empire in India and Masud now sought to rectify this by leading the Ghaznavid veteran army into the north Indian plains. The proud soldiers who had marched from India to the Middle East under the banner of Islam entered India with an army of more than 100,000 men with 50,000 horses accompanied by two generals Meer Hussain Arab and Ameer Vazid Jafar in May 1031 AD

The march was joined by his uncle Salar Saifuddin, Meer Wakhtiar, Meer Sayyad Ajijuddin and Malik Bahruddin and their armies. After raiding through what is modern UP leaving a trail of plunder and rapine in their wake.

The invasion was stiffly opposed. His general, Syad Aziz-ud-din was killed by Hindus near Hardoi together with his relatives Jalaluddin Bukhari and Syed Ibrahim Bara Hazari whose graves can be found in Haryana today.

The famous Raja Bhoja who had faced down Mahmud Ghazni decades earlier and rebuilt the historic Somnath Temple after its desecration by the Muslims collected a coalition of Hindu warriors. Warriors from the disparate clans gathered under Raja Bhoja and on open plain near modern day Bharaich the coalition of Hindu clans faced up against their Islamic adversaries each side confident of victory.

The young Sultan Masur’s fame was already spread across the Ghaznivid Empire as an able soldier and general. In his ranks he boasted the famous light cavalry of the Central Asian Turkic tribes who were inspired with the zeal of their newly founded Muslim faith and eager to win victory and to finally establish their rule over Hindu dominated India or attain martyrdom and paradise as per the tenents of their faith.

The Hindu coalition was led by the Rajput Clans who emerged from the furnace of the decline of the Gupta Empire and the defeat of the Hun invasions which had devastated Europe to the early sixth century. From this crucible of endless conflict and religious turmoil rose the clans of the Rajput’s. Many traced their origin to the legendary Saint Gorakhnath and under his influence were able to repel and humiliate the Arab Caliphate in 745 AD. Their codes of conduct and bravery ushered in a new age of chivalry and honour of which the world has scarce seen.

Theses codes however were unable to cope with a new ruthless foe, Turmoil again engulfed the clans with the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni and the northern plains were lacerated with violence and bloodshed. The terminal decline of Buddhism and Zoarasterism are also dated from this time. The swift footed cavalry and speed of movement was alien to the proud Rajput Hindu warriors and their concept of honour and valour. However it was only through their reckless bravery and raw courage that the Hindu warriors were able to hold the enemy at bay.

On this occasion under the skilful leadership of Raja Bhoja the Hindu army by swift movements were able to cut of the supplies of the Ghaznavids and pen them into a closely contested siege. Very soon the vast multitude of Muslim soldiers were running short on supplies and reinforcements. The close investment led Sultan Masur that he was left with only one choice –  to force a decision on the battlefield.

Therefore on the blazing midsummer Indian plains that vast horde of the Ghaznavi army marched out to meet its Hindu enemy. the battalions of Turks, many of them veterans from the campaigns of Mahmud Ghanavi and brimming with the firmly held conviction that they marched in jihad against the enemies of their faith faced off against the aged Raja and his Rajput’s.

A desperate struggle ensued. The sweeping charges of the Turks were brought to bay by the Hindus. Trained from birth to excel in arms the Rajput warriors eagerly closed with their hated foe – before the gates of ancient Ayodhya they fought for ‘the ashes of their fathers and the temples of their Gods’ . The battle contended through the morning into the afternoon, charge after counter charge with brief moments of retreat and consolidation with neither side wiling to break. The battle cries of Allah how Akbar contended with the ancient cry of Har Har Mahadev as the soldiers closed in and grappled with their weapons and bare hands as thousands of their colleagues fell dead or dying amongst them.

The fighting continued unabated into the night with temperoay paused and the cool night air was rent with the shrieks of the dead and dying. The ground piled high in gore became slippery and unstable and the close fighting in the dark lent to the horror of enemies pouring out of the unknown at any time.

The high spirits of the Turk soldiers motivated by dreams of jihad and paradise were matched against the raw courage and matchless skill of the individual Hindu warriors with their flowing hair kept under check under steel caps and helmets fought whilst adopting the dread form of the God of Destruction, Shiva himself. Their utter contempt for their own lives and desire for freedom and dharma in the ancient land of the Rishis steadily began to wear down their enemies.

As the day wore on and the Muslims becoming increasingly enclosed in an ever tightening circle of steel the Sultan led a final desperate charge for victory. Here on the open plain he was brought to bay by the Rajput warriors and slain – the enraged Hindus cut of his head and displayed it on a pike to their enemies. This was the final straw for the Muslim army and it broke and fled. But there was nowhere to flee – hundreds of miles from their bases and surrounded by hostile foes the rout turned into a massacre and history tells us that not a single Muslim soldier returned to his home.

Raja Bhoja passed into legend. The terrible, slaughter of the Ghaznavids kept further attacks at bay and the Ghazanvaids never dared to attack India again.

POSTCRIPT:

Further attacks and counter attacks from Muslim kingdoms were defeated with great slaughter eventually passing into legend and merging with the later tragic tale of Prithviraj Chauhan. The defeat of Mohamad Ghouri in the first Battle of Tarain in which with great chivalry he released the captive Sultan was followed the next year by the second Battle of Tarain in which Prthivraj was defeated has entered into folklore. The tale has been magnified to indicate that Prithviraj defeated the Sultan no less than 17 times which is clearly a falsehood. In historical terms this is a garbled reference to the numerous attacks by the Arabs and Turk Muslims on India which were defeated by a succession of Hindu warrior kings from Bappa Rawal in the Battle of Rajasthan, to the wars from the Ghaznavi period onwards:

In 1072 CE Prince Mahmud was defeated and driven away by Lakshmadeva, the Paramara ruler of Ujjain. Mahmud also tried to take Kalanjar. But the Chandellas again proved more than a match for the army of Islam. Muslim historians record only his safe return from Hindustan.

Ibrahim’s successor, Masud III (AD 1099-1115), fared no better. The armies of Islam were defeated repeatedly by Govindachandra, the Gahadavad ruler of Kanauj. Inscriptions of Hindu princes around this period speak again and again of the rout of Turushka armies. These may refer either to the failure of feeble attempts which might have still been made by the Yamini (Ghaznavid) kings to extend their dominions in India or to the extermination of isolated pockets of Muslim domination beyond the Punjab.

One of the worst defeats suffered by the Muslims was at the hands of Arnoraja, the Chauhan ruler of Ajmer (AD 1133-1151). The Muslim commander fled before the Chauhans. Muslim soldiers died of exhaustion and an equal number perished from thirst. Their bodies lay along the path of retreat and were burnt by the villagers. A Chauhan prasasti of Ajmer Museum, line 15, states: The land of Ajmer, soaked with the blood of the Turushkas, looked as if it had dressed itself in a dress of deep red colour to celebrate the victory of her lord’

[box_dark]In an added irony of history the defeated Sultan Masurs body was flung into a pit by the enraged Hindus with the corpses of his soldiers and generals. Hundreds of years later the murderous Sultan Firuz Tughlaq raised a monument to the first ‘martyr of Islam’ in India.

In later times the monument became a shrine under the tutelage of Sufi preachers and in modern times incredulous and unwitting Hindus pay their respects to the shrine of a deceased ‘baba’ not knowing the history and background of the monument. That Sultan Masur came to India to murder and butcher the population or convert them to Islam was lost on the later generations of accommodating Hindu population.

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The long and bloody history and struggle for survival of Hinduism has led to a growing awareness and confidence in our history and the facts of the great victories of Raja Bhoja are another reminder of the countless sacrifices made in the long and steady awakening and flowering of Hinduism under the challenge of relentless hatred and genocidal attack.

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In the mid-1300s the legend goes that their Raja Ajayapala performed a vigorous mantra-sadhana of various bhairava mantra-s into which he had been initiated by a natha-yogin. Consequently, he came to dominate the whole Uttarakhand, and his clan became its paramount rulers.

In this period they used to have a lineage of kali kula (kali Tradition) sadhaka-s from the city of karnavati in the lata(regional) country visit them and perform rituals for martial glory. Their power was further consolidated during the reign of mahIpati shaha, when the Tibetans accepted their suzerainty, at least in the western provinces. After the death of this king, his queen, karnavati, took over the rule of the kingdom.

She is said to have been an accomplished sadhaki of the Kali Kula who gave a village grant to brahmins from the lata country. These brahmins are supposed to have held for centuries an idol of MahaKali which was originally housed in a temple in karnavati, Gujarat that was vandalized by the monstrous Mohammedan Ahmed Shah. They installed the idol in a temple of kali near the town of karttikeyapura, which was an ancient kaumara kShetra and the capital of the pre-paramara(clan) rulers of the land.

Shortly there after, in 1640 CE the Mughal tyrant Shah Jahan ( of the Taj Mahal fame) dispatched Ghazi Najabat Khan with the orders to extirpate the Kafirs of the Uttarakhand. The warrior queen karnavati is said to have prepared for the invasion by leading the troops herself. She drew the Mughals to an ambush in steep mountain slopes north of Dehradun and fallen upon them with the advantage of height. The Mughal army suffered a major defeat. She is said to have prevented their retreat by blocking their rear in the narrow valley and captured several Jihadis.

She is then supposed to have sacrificed some as narabalis (human sacrifice) for kali and had rest mutilated with their noses and ears lopped off. Thus, they were sent to back to Delhi as a strong message to Shah Jahan. Stung by the defeat Shah Jahan wanted revenge and assembled another force under ghazi Kalilullah, this time to march eastwards on the capital of the paramAra-s at shrInagara, Uttarakhand. The rani, however, withdrew with a part of her troops from the capital to her preferred stations at Newada on the southeastern dun of Dehra and Kaulagarh the fort on the northwestern dun. The Mughals moved in pleased with the lack of resistance only to find themselves trapped by the Rajputs.

Then karnavati resorted to psychological warfare by sending a message to the Mughal court that she is could chop of their noses, she could also chop of their heads. The Mughals panicked and tried to force their way back, but were encircled and massacred. Thus, the Mughal advance into the mountain passes was restrained by the fierce karnavatii. She is said to have orchestrated number of hydraulic constructions, the most noted of which was an irrigation system that prevented the water from sinking underground as it exited the hill into the gravels leading to the valleys. This, allowed agricultural development that allowed an efflorescence of several towns in the region.This consequently fed a local Hindu revival which was mainly seen in the form of various production of certain tantrika, legal, and medical texts under the patronage of this dynasty.

By mAnasa-taraMgiNI
For (full version)

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”Shivaji was the greatest Hindu king that India had produced within the last thousand years; one who was the very incarnation of lord Siva, about whom prophecies were given out long before he was born; and his advent was eagerly expected by all the great souls and saints of Maharashtra as the deliverer of the Hindus from the hands of the Mlecchas, and as one who succeeded in the reestablishment of Dharma which had been trampled underfoot by the depredations of the devastating hordes of the Moghals”   – Swami Vivekananda

Schoolchildren in India learn a very specific blend of Indian history. This school version of history is stripped of all the vigor and pride. The story of Indian civilization spans thousands of years. However for the most part the schoolbook version dwells on the freedom struggle against British and important role played in there by the Indian National Congress. We learn each and every movement of Gandhi and Nehru, but not even a passing reference is made to hundreds of other important people and events.

My objection is not to the persons Gandhi or Nehru. They were great men. However the attention they get and the exposure their political views and ideology gets is rather disproportionate.

And thus it comes no surprise to me that rarely we talk about an epic war that significantly altered the face of Indian subcontinent. The war that can be described the mother of all wars in India. Considering the average life expectancy that time was around 30 years, this war of 27 years lasted almost the lifespan of an entire generation. The total number of battles fought was in hundreds. It occurred over vast geographical expanse spanning four biggest states of modern India- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. For time, expanse and human and material cost, this  war has no match in Indian history.

Intro

It started in 1681 with the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s invasion of Maratha empire. It ended in 1707 with Aurangzeb’s death. Aurangzeb threw everything he had in this war. He lost it all.

It’s tempting to jump into the stories of heroics, but what makes the study of war more interesting is the understanding of politics behind it. Every war is driven by politics. Rather war is just one of the means to do politics. This war was not an exception.

Shivaji’s tireless work for most of his life had shown fruits by the last quarter of seventeenth century. He had firmly established Marathas as power in Deccan. He built hundreds of forts in Konkan and Sahyadris and thus created a defense backbone. He also established strong naval presence and controlled most of the Western ports barring few on end of Indian peninsula. Thus tightening the grip on trade routes of Deccan sultanates, he strangled their  weapons import from Europe and horses import from Arabian traders.  These Sultanates launched several campaigns against Shivaji, but failed to stop him.

On the Northern front, several Rajput kings had accepted to be the vassals of Mughals. Aurangzeb had succeeded to the throne after brutal killing of his brothers and imprisonment of his father. With Rajput resistance mostly subsided and the southern sultanates weakened, it was only matter of time before Marathas were in his cross-hair.

[quote]‘The death of Shivaji was the mere beginning of Maratha history. He founded a Hindu principality-it had yet to grow into a Hindu Empire. This was all done after the death of Shivaji. The real epic opens as soon as Shivaji, after calling into being the great forces that had to act it up, disappears from the scene. ‘ ...Vināyak Dāmodar Sāvarkar[/quote]

Shivaji’s death

At the time of Shivaji’s death in 1680, Maratha empire spanned an area far more than the current state of Maharashtra and had taken firm roots. But it was surrounded by enemies from all sides.  Portuguese on northern Coast and Goa, British in Mumbai, Siddies in Konkan and remaining Deccan sultanates in Karnataka posed limited challenge each, but none of them was capable of taking down the Marathas alone. Mughal empire with Aurangzeb at its helm was the most formidable foe.

For the most part, Aurangzeb was a religious fanatic. He had distanced Sikhs and Rajputs because of his intolerant policies against Hindus. After his succession to the throne, he had made life living hell for Hindus in his kingdom. Taxes like Jizya tax were imposed on Hindus. No Hindu could ride in Palanquin. Hindu temples were destroyed and abundant forcible conversions took place. Aurangzeb unsuccessfully tried to impose Sharia, the Islamic law. This disillusioned Rajputs and Sikhs resulting in their giving cold shoulder to Aurangzeb in his Deccan campaign.

Thus in September of  1681, after settling his dispute with the royal house of Mewar, Aurangzeb began his journey to Deccan to kill the Maratha confederacy that was not even 50 years old. On his side, the Mughal king had enormous army numbering half a million soldiers, a number more than three times that of the Maratha army. He had plentiful support of artillery, horses, elephants. He also brought huge wealth in royal treasuries. Teaming up with Portuguese, British ,Siddis, Golkonda and Bijapur Sultanates he planned to encapsulate Marathas from all sides and to form a deadly death trap. To an outsider, it would seem no-brainer to predict the outcome of such vastly one sided war. It seemed like the perfect storm headed towards Maratha confederacy.

Enormous death and destruction followed in Deccan for what seemed like eternity. But what happened at the end would defy all imaginations and prove every logic wrong. Despite lagging in resources on all fronts, it would be the Marathas who triumphed. And at the expense of all his treasure, army, power and life, it would be the invading emperor who learned a very costly lesson, that the will of people to fight for their freedom should never be underestimated.

Timeline – Marathas under King Sambhaji (1680 to 1689):

After the death of Shivaji in 1680, a brief power struggle ensued in the royal family. Finally Sambhaji became the king. By this time Aurangzeb had finished his North missions and was pondering a final push in Deccan to conquer all of the India.

In 1681 sambhaji attacked Janjira, but his first attempt failed. In the same time one of the Aurangzeb’s generals, Hussein Ali Khan , attacked Northern Konkan. Sambhaji left janjira and attacked Hussein Ali Khan and pushed him back to Ahmednagar. By this time monsoon of 1682 had started. Both sides halted their major military operations. But Aurangzeb was not sitting idle. He tried to sign a deal with Portuguese to allow mughal ships to harbor in Goa. This would have allowed him to open another supply route to Deccan via sea. The news reached sambhaji. He attacked Portuguese territories and pushed deep inside Goa. But Voiceroy Alvor was able to defend Portuguese headquarters.

By this time massive Mughal army had started gathering on the borders of Deccan. It was clear that southern India was headed for one big conflict.Sambhaji had to leave Portuguese expedition and turn around. In late 1683, Aurangzeb moved to Ahmednagar. He divided his forces in two and put his two princes, Shah Alam and Azam Shah, in charge of each division. Shah alam was to attack South Konkan via Karnataka border while Azam Shah would attack Khandesh and northern Maratha territory. Using pincer strategy, these two divisions planned to circle Marathas from South and North and isolate them.

The beginning went quite well. Shah Alam crossed Krishna river and entered Belgaum. From there he entered Goa and started marching north via Konkan. As he pushed further,he was continuously harassed by Marathas. They ransacked his supply chains and reduced his forces to starvation. Finally Aurangzeb sent Ruhulla Khan for his rescue and brought him back to Ahmednagar. The first pincer attempt failed.

After 1684 monsoon, Aurangzeb’s another general Sahabuddin Khan directly attacked the Maratha capital, fort Raygad. Maratha commanders successfully defended Raygad. Aurangzeb sent Khan Jehan for help, but Hambeerrao Mohite, Commander-in-Chief of Maratha army, defeated him in a fierce battle at Patadi. Second division of Maratha army attacked Sahabuddin Khan at Pachad, inflicting heavy losses on Mughal army.

In early 1685, Shah Alam attacked South again via Gokak- Dharwar route. But Sambhaji’s forces harassed him continuously on the way and finally he had to give up and thus failed to close the loop second time.

In april 1685 Aurangzeb rehashed his strategy. He planned to consolidate his power in the South by taking expeditions to Goalkonda and Bijapur. Both were Shia muslim rulers and Aurangzeb was no fond of them. He broke his treaties with both empires and attacked them. Taking this opportunity Marathas launched offensive on North coast and attacked Bharuch. They were able to evade the mughal army sent their way and came back with minimum damage.

On Aurangzeb’s new Southern front, things were proceeding rather smoothly. Bijapur fell in September 1686. King Sikandar Shah was captured and imprisoned. Goalkonda agreed to pay huge ransom. But after receiving the money, Aurangzeb attacked them in blatant treachery. Soon Goalkonda fell as well. King Abu Hussein of Goalkonda was captured and met the same fate as Sikandar Shah.

Marathas had tried to win mysore through diplomacy. Kesopant Pingle, (Moropant Pingle’s brother) was running negotiations, but the fall of Bijapur to mughals turned the tides and Mysore was reluctant to join Marathas. Still Sambhaji successfully courted several Bijapur sardars to join Maratha army.

After fall of Bijapur and Goalkonda, Aurangzeb turned his attention again to his main target – Marathas. First few attempts proved unsuccessful to make a major dent. But in Dec 1688 he had his biggest jackpot. Sambhaji was captured due to treachery at Sangmeshwar. Aurangzeb gave him option of converting to Islam, which he refused. Upon refusal, Aurangzeb, blinded by his victories, gave Sambhaji the worst treatment he could ever give to anyone.Sambhaji was paraded on donkey. His tongue was cut, eyes were gorged out. His body was cut into pieces and fed to dogs.

There were many people who did not like Sambhaji and thus were sympathetic to Mughals. But this barbaric treatment made everyone angry. Maratha generals gathered on Raygad. The decision was unanimous. All peace offers were to be withdrawn. Mughals would be repelled at all costs. Rajaram succeeded as the next king. He began his reign by a valiant speech on Raygad. All Maratha generals and councilmen united under the flag of new king, and thus began the second phase of the epic war.

“Whenever Mughal horses used to refuse to go to the water to drink water, it was feared they had seen Santaji and Dhanaji” – Kafi Khan  Mughal court historian

27 Years War TimeLine – Marathas under King Rajaram (1689 to 1700)

To Aurangzeb, the Marathas seemed all but dead by end of 1689. But this would prove to be almost a fatal blunder. In March 1690, the Maratha commanders, under the leadership of Santaji Ghorpade launched the single most daring attack on mughal army. They not only attacked the army, but sacked the tent where the Aurangzeb himself slept. Luckily Aurangzeb was elsewhere but his private force and many of his bodyguards were killed.

This positive development was followed by a negative one for Marathas. Raigad fell to treachery of Suryaji Pisal. Sambhaji’s queen, Yesubai and their son, Shahu, were captured.

Mughal forces, led by Zulfikar Khan, continued this offensive further South. They attacked fort Panhala. The Maratha killedar of Panhala gallantly defended the fort and inflicted heavy losses on Mughal army. Finally Aurangzeb himself had to come. Panhala surrendered.

Maratha ministers had foreseen the next Mughal move on Vishalgad. They made Rajaram leave Vishalgad for Jinji, which would be his home for next seven years. Rajaram  travelled South under escort of Khando Ballal and his men. The queen of Bidnur,  gave them supplies and free passage.  Harji Mahadik’s division met them near Jinji and guarded them to the fort. Rajaram’s queen was escorted out of Maharashtra by Tungare brothers.  She was taken to Jinji by different route. Ballal and Mahadik tirelessly worked to gather the scattered diplomats and soldiers. Jinji became new capital of Marathas. This breathed new life in Maratha army.

Aurangzeb was frustrated with Rajaram’s successful escape. His next move was to keep most of his force in Maharashtra and dispatch a small force to keep Rajaram in check. But the two Maratha generals, Santaji ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav would prove more than match to him.

They first attacked and destroyed the force sent by Aurangzeb to keep check on Rajaram, thus relieving the immediate danger. Then they joined Ramchandra Bavadekar in Deccan. Bavdekar, Vithoji Bhosale and Raghuji Chavan had reorganized most of the Maratha army after defeats at Panhala and Vishalgad.

In late 1691, Bavdekar, Pralhad Niraji , Santaji ,Dhanaji and several Maratha sardars met in Maval region and reformed the strategy. Aurangzeb had taken four major forts in Sahyadrais and was sending Zulfikar khan to subdue the fort Jinji. So according to new Maratha plan, Santaji and Dhanaji would launch offensives in the East to keep rest of the Mughal forces scattered. Others would focus in Maharashtra and would attack a series of forts around Southern Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka to divide Mughal won territories in two, thereby posing significant challenge to enemy supply chains. Thanks to Shivaji’s vision of building a navy, Marathas could now extend this divide into the sea, checking any supply routes from Surat to South.

The execution began. In early 1692 Shankar Narayan and Parshuram Trimbak recaptured Rajgad and Panhala. In early 1693 Shankar Narayan and Bhosale captured Rohida. Sidhoji Gujar took Vijaydurg. Soon Parshuram Trimbak took Vishalgad. Kanhoji Angre, a young Maratha Naval officer that time, took fort Kolaba.

While this was in work, Santaji and Dhanaji were launching swift raids on Mughal armies on East front. This came as a bit of surprise to Aurangzeb. In spite of losing one King and having second king driven away, Marathas were undaunted and actually were on offensive. From Khandesh, Ahmednagar to Bijapur to Konkan and Southern Karnataka, Santaji and Dhanaji wrecked havoc. Encouraged by the success, Santaji and Dhanaji hatched new action plan to attack Mughal forces near Jinji. Dhanaji Jadhav attacked Ismail Khan and defeated him near Kokar. Santaji Ghorpade attacked Ali Mardan Khan at the base of Jinji and captured him. With flanks cleared, both joined hands and laid a second siege around the Mughal siege at Jinji.

Julfikar khan, who was orchestrating Jinji siege, left the siege on Aurangzeb’s orders and marched back. Santaji followed him to North, but was defeated by Julfikar Khan. Santaji then diverted his forces to Bijapur. Aurangzeb sent another general Kasim Khan to tackle Santaji. But Santaji attacked him with a brilliant military maneuver near Chitaldurg and forced him take refuge in Dunderi fort. The fort was quickly sieged by Santaji and the siege only ended when most of the Mughal soldiers starved and Kasim Khan committed suicide. Aurangzeb sent Himmat Khan to reinforce Kasim Khan. Himmat khan carried heavy artillery. So Santaji lured him in a trap in the forest near Dunderi. A sudden, ambush style attack on Mughals was followed by a fierce battle. The battle ended when when Himmat Khan was shot in head and died. All his forces routed and Santaji confiscated a big cache of weapons and ammunition.

By now, Aurangzeb had the grim realization that the war he began was much more serious than he thought. He consolidated his forces and rethought his strategy. He sent an ultimatum to Zulfikar khan to finish Jinji business or be stripped of the titles. Julfikar khan tightened the Siege. But Rajaram fled and was safely escorted to Deccan by Dhanaji Jadhav and  Shirke brothers. Haraji Mahadik’s son took the charge of Jinji and bravely defended Jinji against Julfikar khan and Daud khan till January of 1698. This gave Rajaram ample of time to reach Vishalgad.

Jinji fell, but it did a big damage to the Mughal empire. The losses incurred in taking Jinji far outweighed the gains. The fort had done its work. For seven years the three hills of Jinji had kept a large contigent of mughal forces occupied. It had eaten a deep hole into Mughal resources. Not only at Jinji, but the royal treasury was bleeding everywhere and was already under strain.

Marathas would soon witness an unpleasant development, all of their own making. Dhanaji Jadhav and Santaji Ghorpade had a simmering rivalry, which was kept in check by the councilman Pralhad Niraji. But after Niraji’s death, Dhanaji grew bold and attacked Santaji. Nagoji Mane, one of Dhanaji’s men, killed Santaji. The news of Santaji’s death greatly encouraged Aurangzeb and Mughal army.

But by this time Mughals were no longer the army they were feared before. Aurangzeb, against advise of several of his experienced generals, kept the war on. It was much like Alexander on the borders of Taxila.

The Marathas again consolidated and the new Maratha counter offensive began. Rajaram made Dhanaji the next commander in chief. Maratha army was divided in three divisions. Dhanaji would himself lead the first division. Parshuram Timbak lead the second and Shankar Narayan lead the third. Dhanaji Jadhav defeated a large mughal force near Pandharpur. Shankar Narayan defeated Sarja Khan in Pune. Khanderao Dabhade, who lead a division under Dhanaji, took Baglan and Nashik. Nemaji Shinde, another commander with Shankar Narayan, scored a major victory at Nandurbar.

Enraged at this defeats, Aurangzeb himself took charge and launched another counter offensive. He laid siege to Panhala and attacked the fort of Satara. The seasoned commander, Prayagji Prabhu defended Satara for a good six months, but surrendered in April of 1700, just before onset of Monsoon. This foiled Aurangzeb’s strategy to clear as many forts before monsoon as possible.

In March of 1700, another bad news followed Marathas. Rajaram took his last breath. His queen Tarabai, who was also daughter of the gallant Maratha Commander-in-Chief Hambeerrao Mohite, took charge of Maratha army. Daughter of a braveheart, Tarabai proved her true mettle for the next seven years. She carried the struggle on with equal valor. Thus began the phase 3, the last phase of the prolonged war, with Marathas under the leadership of Tarabai.

The signs of strains were showing in Mughal camp in late 1701. Asad Khan, Julfikar Khan’s father, counselled Aurangzeb to end the war and turn around. This expedition had already taken a giant toll, much larger than originally planned, on Mughal empire. And serious signs were emerging that the 200 years old Mughal empire was crumbling and was in the middle of a war that was not winnable.

Mughals were bleeding heavily from treasuries. But  Aurangzeb kept pressing the war on.  When Tarabai took charge, Aurangzeb had laid siege to the fort of Parli (Sajjangad). Parshuram Trimbak defended the fort until monsoon and retreated quietly at the break of monsoon.The mughal army was dealt heavy loss by flash floods in the rivers around. These same tactics were followed by Marathas at the next stop of Aurangzeb, Panhala. Similar tactic was followed even for Vishalgad.

By 1704, Aurangzeb had Torana and Rajgad. He had won only a handful forts in this offensive, but he had spent several precious years. It was slowly dawning to him that after 24 years of constant war, he was no closer to defeating Marathas than he was the day he began.

The final Maratha counter offensive gathered momentum in North. Tarabai proved to be a valiant leader once again. One after another Mughal provinces fell in north. They were not in position to defend as the royal treasuries had been sucked dry and no armies were left in tow. In 1705, two Maratha army factions crossed Narmada. One under leadership of Nemaji Shinde hit as deep North as Bhopal. Second under the leadership of Dabhade struck Bharoch and West. Dabhade with his eight thousand men,attacked and defeated Mahomed khan’s forces numbering almost fourteen thousand. This left entire Gujarat coast wide open for Marathas. They immediately tightened their grip on Mughal supply chains.

In Maharashtra, Aurangzeb grew despondent. He started negotiations with Marathas, but cut abruptly and marched on a small kingdom called Wakinara. Naiks at Wakinara traced their lineage to royal family of Vijaynagar empire. They were never fond of Mughals and had sided with Marathas. Dhanaji marched into Sahyadris and won almost all the major forts back in short time. Satara and Parali forts were taken by Parshuram Timbak. Shankar Narayan took Sinhgad. Dhanaji then turned around and took his forces to Wakinara. He helped the Naiks at Wakinara sustain the fight. Naiks fought very bravely. Finally Wakinara fell, but the royal family of Naiks successfully escaped with least damage.

Aurangzeb had now given up all hopes and was now planning retreat to Burhanpur. Dhanaji Jadhav again fell on him and in swift and ferocious attack and dismantled the rear guard of his imperial army. Zulfikar Khan rescued the emperor and they successfully reached Burhanpur.

Aurangzeb witnessed bitter fights among his sons in his last days. Alone, lost, depressed, bankrupt, far away from home, he died sad death on 3rd March 1707. “I hope god will forgive me one day for my disastrous sins”, were his last words.

Thus ended a prolonged and grueling period in history of India. The Mughal kingdom fragmented and disintegrated soon after. And Deccan saw rise of a new sun, the Maratha empire.

[quote]” What some call the Muslim period in Indian history, was in reality a continuous war of occupiers against resisters, in which the Muslim rulers were finally defeated in the 18th century”  Dr Koenraad Elst[/quote]

Reflection: Strategical Analysis:

In this war, Aurangzeb’s army totaled more than 500,000 in number (compared to total Maratha army in the ballpark of 150,000). With him he carried huge artillery, cavalry, muskettes, ammunition and giant wealth from royal treasuries to support this quest. This war by no means a fair game when numbers are considered.

The main features of Aurangzeb’s strategy were :-

Use of overwhelming force to demoralize the enemy –

This tactic had proved successful in Aurangzeb’s other missions. Thus he used this even in Maharashtra. On several occasions giant Mughal contigents were used to lay siege to a fort or capture a town.

Meticulously planned sieges to the forts –

Aurangzeb knew that the forts in Sahyadri formed backbone of Maratha defense. His calculation was to simply lay tight siege to the fort, demoralizing and starving the people inside and finally making them surrender the fort.

Fork or pincer movements using large columns of infantry and cavalry –

With large number of infantry and cavalry, pincer could have proved effective and almost fatal against Marathas

Marathas had one advantage on their side, geography. They milked this advantage to the last bit. Their military activities were planned considering the terrain and the weather.

The main features of Maratha strategy were :-

Combined offensive-defensive strategy –

Throughout the war, Marathas never stopped their offensive. This served two purposes. The facts that Maratha army was carrying out offensive attacks in Mughal land suddenly made them psychologically equals to Mughals launching attack in Maratha land, even though Mughals were a much bigger force. This took negative toll on Mughal morale and boosted morale of their own men. Secondly, these offensive attacks in terms of quick raids often heavily damaged enemy supply chains taking toll on Mughal army. The forts formed backbone of Maratha defense. Thanks to Shivaji, the every fort had provision of fresh water. The total forts numbered almost 300 and this large number proved major headache to Aurangzeb.

Strategic fort defense –

Marathas had one big advantage on their side. They were the expert in fort warfare. The game of defense using forts had two components.

First component was the right play of the strategic forts . In modern warfare, you have some strategic assets like aircraft carrier, presence of which needs a substantial change of plans on your enemy side.  And then there are tactical assets, like tanks and large guns, which matter from battle to battle, but can be effectively countered by your enemy without making big plan changes. Similarly there are strategic forts, like Raigad, Janjira, Panhala and Jinji. Then there are number of tactical forts like Vishalgad, Sinhgad, Rajgad, etc.

Raigad, by its very nature, is large daunting fort. Built in 11th century by decedents of Mauryan Empire, it served as anchor to various kingdoms. Its cliffs sore high more than 1200 feet from base. It has abundant fresh water supply. Raigad, like Jinji could be defended for years at a stretch. No one could claim Sahyadri and Konkan as theirs without winning Raigad.

Aurangzeb knew difficulties in winning Raigad by war. So he managed to win it by using insider traitor, Suryaji Pisal. Had Marathas kept Raigad, Aurangzeb’s task would have been much tougher. Marathas lost Raigad early and could not win in back till much later. But they played the remaining two forts, Panhala and Jinji very well. Panhala is strategic because of its location on the confluence of multiple supply chains.  Thus Marathas defended Panhala as long as they could and tried to win it back the earliest when they didn’t have it.

The second component of defensive fort warfare was matching the movements with weather.  Forts are an asset in rest of the year, but are a liability in monsoon as it costs a lot to carry food and supplies up. Also the monsoon in coasts and ghats is severe in nature and no major military movement is possible. Thus Marathas often fought till Monsoon and surrendered the fort just before Monsoon. Before surrendering they burned all the food inside. Thus making it a proposition of loss in every way. Often times Marathas surrendered the fort empty, but later soon won it back filled with food and water. These events demoralized the enemy.

Offensive attacks in terms of evasive raids –

Marathas mostly launched offensive attacks in the region when Mughal army was away. They rarely engaged Mughal army in open fields till later part of the war. If situation seemed dire, they would retreat and disperse and thus conserve most of their men and arms for another day. The rivers Bhima, Krishna , Godavari and the mountains of Sahyadri, divide entire Maharashtra region is in several North- South corridors. When Mughal army traveled South through one corridor, Marathas would travel North through another and launch attacks there. This went on changing gradually and in the end, Maratha forces started engaging Mughals head on.

A noted historian Jadunath Sarkar makes an interesting observation. In his own words, “Aurangzeb won battle after battles, but in the end he lost the war. As the war prolonged, it transformed from war of weapons to war of spirits, and Aurangzeb was never able to break Maratha spirit.”

What Marathas did was an classic example of asymmetric defensive warfare. The statement above by Mr. Sarkar hides one interesting fact about this asymmetric defense. Is it really possible to lose most of the battles and still win the war?

The answer is yes, and explanation is a statistical phenomena called “Simpson’s paradox.”. According to Simpsons paradox, several micro-trends can lead to one conclusion, however a mega-trend combining all the micro-trends can lead to an exact opposite conclusion. Explanation is as follows.

Say two forces go on war, force A with 100 soldiers and force B with 40 soldiers. Now say in every battle between A and B, the following happens.

If A loses, they lose 80% of the soldiers fighting.
If B loses, they only lose 10% of the soldiers fighting.
If A wins, they lose 50% of the solders fighting.
If B wins, they lose only 10% of the soldiers fighting.

In the case above, the ratio of (resource drain of A / resource drain of B ) is higher than (initial number of A soldiers / initial number of B soldiers). So even if A wins battle more than 50% of the time, they will lose their resources faster and, in the end, will lose the war. All B has to do is keep the morale and keep the consistency.

One of the most famous warrior in ancient Indian history seems to agree with the conclusion above. In “Bhishma- perva” of Mahabharata, pitamah Bhishma begins the war-advice to king Yudhisthira with a famous quote –

“The strength of an army is not in its numbers’

For centuries , the mountains and valleys, towns and villages of Deccan had gotten used to being a pawn in the game of power. They changed hands as kingdoms warred with each other. They paid taxes whoever was in a position to extract them. For the most part they remained in a sleepy slumber, just turning and twisting in their bed.
Once in a while they sent their sons to fight in battles without ever asking why exactly the war is being launched. Other times they fought amongst themselves. They were divided, confused and did not have high hopes about their future.
This was the condition of Deccan when Shivaji launched his first expedition of fort Torana in 1645. By the time of his death mere 35 years later, he had transformed Deccan from a sleepy terrain to a thundering volcano.

Finally, here was a man whose vision of future  was shared by a large general audience. An unmistakable characteristic of a modern concept of “nation-state”. Perhaps the most important factor that distinguishes Shivaji’s vision  is that it was “unifying”. His vision went beyond building an army of proud warriors from warrior castes. It included people from all rungs of society sharing a common political idea and ready to defend it at any cost.+++

His vision  went far beyond creating an empire for himself in Maharashtra. It included a building confederacy of states against what he thought were foreign invaders. He was trying to build an Alliance of Hindu kingdoms. He went out of his way to convince Mirza-Raje Jaisingh to leave Aurangzeb. He established relations with the dethroned royal family of Vijaynagar for whom he had tremendous respect. He attempted to unify the sparring Hindu power centers.

And  they responded. Rajputs in Rajasthan,  Nayaks in Karnataka, rulers of Mysore, the royal family of Vijaynagar were of valuable help to Shivaji and later to Marathas. It was certainly a step towards a nation getting its soul back.

While he was creating a political voice for Hindus, Muslims never faced persecution in his rule. Several Muslims served at high posts in his court and army. His personal body guard on his Agra visit was Muslim. His Naval officer, Siddi Hilal was Muslim. Thus Shivaji’s rule was not meant to challenge Islam as a personal religion, but it was a response to Political Islam.

Last but not the least, we must give due respect to one more thing. The seeds of every political revolution can be traced back to a spiritual one and this was no exception. The “Bhakti” movement in Maharashtra that began with 12th Century saint Dnyaneshwar and spearheaded by saint Tukaram (who was contemporary of Shivaji), played a role of social catalyst of immense effect. It created a forum, a pool in society where everyone was welcome.

It’s tempting for a Maharashtrian to claim the root of success of Marathas solely be in Maharashtra. But at the height of it’s peak, only 20% of Shivaji’s kingdom was part of Maharashtra. When Marathas launched northern campaigns in 18th century, it was even more less.

Soldiers in Maratha army came from diverse social and geographical backgrounds including from areas as far away as Kandahar to West and Bengal to East. Shivaji received a lot of support from various rulers and common people from all over India.

Thus limiting Marathas to Maharashtra is mostly a conclusion of a politician.  It must be noted that the roots of Maharashtra culture can be traced to both ancient Karnataka and Northern India. Shivaji himself traced his lineage to Shisodia family of Rajputs. Maharashtrians should not be ashamed to admit that their roots lie elsewhere. In fact they should feel proud that land of Maharashtra is truly a melting pot where Southern and Northern Indian cultures melted to give birth to a new vision of a nation. Shivaji was far more an Indian king than a Maratha king.

Dear readers, here ends the story of an epic war. I hope this saga gives you a sense of realistic hope and a sense of humble pride. All you might be doing today is sitting in a cubicle for the day ,typing on keyboard. But remember that the same blood runs in our fingers that long long time ago displayed unparalleled courage and bravery, the same spirit resides within us that can once soured sky high upon the call of freedom.

by Kedar Soman

References:

“History of Mahrattas” by James Duff –   http://www.archive.org/details/ahistorymahratt05duffgoog

“Shivaji and His Times” by Jadunath Sarkar – http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024056750

“A History Of Maratha People” by Charles Kincaid – http://www.archive.org/details/historyofmaratha02kincuoft

“Background of Maratha Renaissance” by N. K. Behere – http://www.archive.org/details/backgroundofmara035242mbp

“Rise of The Maratha Power” by Mahadev Govind Ranade – http://www.archive.org/details/RiseOfTheMarathapower

“Maratha History” by S R Sharma – http://www.archive.org/details/marathahistory035360mbp

(visit the links to download the full books in PDF form free)

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A thunderous hail of arrow and projectiles darken the sky. Waves of fast moving horse mounted warriors in compact bands of up to 4000 release their arrows before wheeling away to allow the next band to attack. In such a manner an unrelenting hail of projectiles would be hurled at the enemy. Modern historians have estimated that a mounted warrior of the early Common Era from Central Asia would be able to shoot at a speed reaching 40 kph. That speed combined with the range of the recurved composite bow when dealt with in massed attacks were an unmatched weapon until the introduction of the machine guns in the First World War. This was the Huns (also known as the Hunas )

Armed with this force the Huns swept across Asia bursting into the splendour of the Roman Empire destroy all before them. The hardy tribes of the Eastern Europe and the Balkans and around the Black Sea fell under a deluge of violence and havoc that the world has seldom seen. The mighty legions of Rome found their strongest armour and formations unable to withstand the legions of the Huns. The name of their leader, Attila has become a byword for terror and destruction which was scarcely held off in the depth of Western Europe at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields.

However many centuries later the Huns had defeated and taken prisoner Feroz, the Persian Emperor and made them a subject peoples.Onwards the waves of destruction marched into South Asia only to meet with the might of the Gupta Empire in the noontide of their power. The vast dominions of the Guptas had been conquered by a succession of warrior emperors and was now led by Skanda Gupta. Marshalling his forces he marched to meet the as yet undefeated Huns under their leader Khingila and in a ferocious conflict near the borders of modern India

The warriors of Skanda Gupta braved the waves of arrows and barbaric onslaughts of the Huns to engage them in a deadly hand to hand combat. The military skill of Skanda Gupta enabled him to marshal his reserves and thwart each probing attack of the Huns and cut their supply lines to eventually inflict an unprecedented defeat –. The slaughter was so great that only a few wandering bands of the Huns returned to their cantons with a rumour of the wrath and terror of the Gupta Emperor.The Bhitari pillar inscription speaks of the great victory over the Huns and the court bards went on to say:

‘By whose two arms the earth was shaken when he joined in close conflict with the Huns’

Thus a great catastrophe was averted and whilst much of Europe was laid to waste India breathed a sigh of relief.The subsequent breakup of the Empire of the Gutpas after the death of Skanda Gupta however gave a new fillip to the Huns.

Their war leader Toramana united the Hunnic tribes and seeing the divisions amongst the kings of South Asia launched his mobile warriors into a renewed attack. This time the merciless hordes managed to break through the borders and establish a foothold. The land of Punjab was laid waste and left to the tender mercies of the Huns. The ancient university and seat of learning at Taxishila near modern Sialkot in Pakistan was utterly destroyed.  

Toramana launched further expeditions into the hinterland of India casing great devastation and horror. His and much of the Huns gradual absorption and acceptance of Indic and Vedic concepts did little to lessen the cruel and barbaric basis of Hunnic society

His son Mihirkula outdid his father in every concept. An early adept of Buddhism he later turned against the institution of the monks and despite becoming a votary of Vedic deity Shiva launched into a tirade of destruction against the Buddhist monasteries and the monks.

His overall cruel and despotic nature caused waves of revulsion across the land. The Yaudheyes raised a banner of rebellion in Punjab and from the land of Malwa the warrior king Yashodarman together with the last Gupta king Narasimnagupta in 528 CE gave battle to their ruthless enemies. Led by repeated charges by Yashodorman the Huns gave way and found their banners trampled into the ground by the Hindu kings the proud warriors who had carried death and destruction across the face of the known world were beaten into submission. Mihirkula was dragged in chains before the Hindu monarch and in an unbelievable act of chivalry was released unharmed to return to his dominions beaten and humiliated.  Temples were raised in honour of the Vedic Gods and of the sublime Lord Buddha to celebrate the victories over the Huns and their violations of the eternal laws of Dharma

Mihirkula returned chastised to his dominions and the Hunnic Empire collapsed into oblivion. The wheels of Dharma turned on as from the beginning of time – the Huns passed on into the annals of history but the people did not. The various cantons and mandalas of the Hunas merged into a revitalised Hindu society to stand at the forefront of Hindu society in the centuries to come together with the clans of the Rajput’s, Gujars, Jats, Nayars and others in a new spirit of honour and  chivalry that has seldom been seen in the world,

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