Land Between Two Rivers, Bandits and Soldiers

To trace footsteps of one's ancestors is always fascinating. Whenever i find time, i do that.

 

On 22nd September i was really fortunate to get an opportunity to visit my first homeland in Uttar Pradesh (as per the available records of my family from primary sources). This is my only third visit to this great place. I am still more inclined to call Naurejpur (District Jalaun) - the village of my grandmother as my village.

 

Shri Kesari Singh Ji migrated from our ancestral village Binega (District Karauli, Rajasthan) to Pura Baghraj village on the bank of Chambal in Bah region of Agra district. He was married to a lady from Bhadoria Rajput family. His son Shri Jawahar Singh Ji was my great grandfather. My grandfather Shri Kammod Singh Ji was born in 1938-39 in this village.I had never met my great grandfather but my grandfather is responsible for whatever i am today. He left me just before my UPSC CSE 2014 mains exam in Nov 2014. In 2019 i visited Binega (Karauli, Rajasthan) during Mundan ceremony of Rajyavardhan at Kaila Devi Temple.

                                             

 

The entire village came to the main Chauraha to receive me on 22nd Sept afternoon. There were DJs, bikes, flowers and garlands. I was so overwhelmed that i cant express in words. It was really a touchy moment for me. My brothers, uncles and entire village were so happy with tears welling in their eyes. It was a life time kind of a moment. After paying my regards to all of them and attending Shrimadbhagwat Katha ceremony organized by Lt Col (retd) Shri Gajendra Singh Ji i took the tour of the village and its surroundings.

 

 

I visited the place where Sunil Dutt and Wahida Rehman starred film 'Mujhe Jeeno Do (1963)' was shot. The shooting of this film was done in this region (Bah and Muraina) and it shows the lives of Bandits (also called Dacoit/Daku) of that era. I have heard so many stories of bandits since my childhood - Man Singh, Madho Singh, Lakhan, Roopa, Malkhan Singh, Pan Singh Tomar etc. Nirbhay Gurjar was the last bandit of this area and was neutralized in a Police encounter in 2005. Bollywood did dis service to this region by showing bandits with horses. There are no horses in Chambal ravines. Bollywood created image of Texas cowboys in Chambal. The only film that was close to reality was 'Pan Singh Tomar (2012)'. Chambal is couple of km from my village. It is full of crocodiles and my family relatives and my village people are closely associated with Operation Crocodile.

 

 

 

 

 

This entire region surrounding Chambal covering parts of Madhya Pradesh (Bhind and Muraina districts) and parts of Agra district is locally called Bhadawar land (i.e. land of Bhadoria Rajputs). Two great rivers Yamuna and Chambal flow through this region. This land is also known for giving great soldiers and officers to Indian Army as well as to Police. So many sons of this soil have sacrificed their everything in the service of Bharat Mata. The last great Officer being former Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadoria (2019-2021). Now the bandits are history and Indian Army/Police is present and future appears to be brighter.

 

 

Subedar (retd) Dal Singh made a huge contribution in changing the landscape of this region from the land of bandits to the land of soldiers. Shri Dal Singh served in Army and he fought in World War 2. He donated his entire land and helped in establishing a Junior High School with a big playground in Pura Baghraj. He died in 1954 but he left behind a great legacy. This ground gave hundreds of Soldiers/Officers. I inaugurated a Volley ball tournament in his memory during my visit.

Bateshwar Dham is a great religious place close to my village (about 15 km). It is a collection of 101 temples dedicated to Bhagwan Shiv. Yamuna Ji flows touching the steps of these temples. These were built about a 1000 years back and have played a great role in shaping the religious and cultural outlook of the people. I was so blessed to get a chance to pray in these ancient temples.

 

Its been my honour to be associated with this great land full of chivalry, rich cultural heritage and two mighty rivers.

Book Review [158] : Rama and Ayodhya

From my childhood i have heard and read a lot of stories about Bhagwan Ram and Krishna. Its indeed a painful experience to see one's holiest shrines topped by religious structures of another faith. Mahmud Ghazni destroyed many such great temples including Shri Krishna Temple at Mathura and Somnath Temple in Saurashtra. Since then and till the decline of Mughal empire it never stopped. Many many temples were destroyed and over those temples many Mosques were erected; Kashi, Mathura are two such prominent examples. Destruction of Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath temples are very well documented. 

Shri Ramjanmbhoomi - Babri Masjid dispute is one of the oldest running disputes over a religious place anywhere in the world. Its well known that Ayodhya is the birthplace of Bhagwan Ram but no body knows the exact location where Ramji was born. Babri Masjid was located at a place which was very sacred to Hindus and there were hardly any Muslim habitation there. Who would built such a Mosque there at a mound which is surrounded by sacred Hindu shrines. Meenakshi Jain's Rama Ayodhya answers many such questions.

The worship of Rama is not a recent phenomenon as the leftist intellectual tell us. More than 2000 years old Bhagwan Ram artifacts have been found. There are huge number of literary evidence about Bhagwan Ram. The excavation done by ASI at disputed structure revealed many artifacts and structures which can only be found in Hindu shrines/temples. The Ayodhya site had been in occupation for more than 2000 years and the last prominent temple was built by Gahadavala King. Why would Babur built a Mosque at a place which was not politically important! Delhi and Agra were more important. Ayodhya was religiously more important. Perhaps thats the answer.

A civilization that does not acknowledge the crimes committed by its vanquishers and instead  celebrates their acts is destined to enjoy infinite intellectual slavery, inferiority complex and defeatism. 

Highly Recommended book for those who want to wake up (10/10)

Book Review [157] : Amritsar - Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle

Amritsar - Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle by Mark Tully and Satish Jacob is a brilliant book on Operation Blue Star. 

Mark Tully was known to almost every news loving Indian specially in 1980s and 1990s. Operation Blue Star left a deep scar on India's soul and created a lot of bad blood between brothers - Sikhs and Hindus. How Mrs Gandhi appeased Bhinderwale and how he became a threat to her in less than a decade.  

The Golden Temple or Hari Mandir was built in the middle of Sarovar by fifth Guru Arjun Dev in 1589. Foundation stone was laid by Mian Mir from Lahore. His successor Guru Hargobind built the other shrine within Temple Complex - The Akal Takht. Ahmad Shah Abdali blew up the Golden Temple and filled the holy pool with the carcass of slaughtered cattle. Akal Takht was also razed to ground. The Temple was rebuilt later and it reached its zenith during Maharaja Ranjit Singh era. After Independence the identity politics nurtured the ground for the communal politics of Bhinderwale. The reign of terror was unleashed in Punjab and many hundred people were killed in that madness. Finally Indian Army stormed the Temple Complex on 5th June 1984 killing the extremists hiding in the Temple Complex. The Akal Takht and Golden Temple suffered damage. Indian Army suffered about 300 casualties. By 7th June the Temple Complex was sanitized. The Sikh soldiers mutinied but they were checked. The madness did not stop at this Operation. Madness caused the killing of Mrs. Gandhi. Finally Rajiv Gandhi was able to reconcile the Sikhs and the festering problem was put to an end. Its a must read book. It talks in detail about the root cause of Punjab Problem, How Mrs Gandhi failed to tackle it and in the end caused Operation Blue Star and lost her life. 

Highly Recommended (9/10).

Book Review [156] : The Last Girl - Nadia Murad

This Diwali the US President Donald Trump did a great favour to entire Human Civilization by vaporizing the most dreaded Terrorist and evil incarnate Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Ask any Yazidi you will understand the gravity of the crimes committed by this evil person. It was a strange coincident that i happened to finish 'The Last Girl' by Nadia Murad on that very day. Nadia Murad is a brave Yazidi girl. She like many thousand Yazidis was subjected to most horrific war crimes including gang-rape and sex slavery. Her family was gunned down and thrown in ditch like many thousand Yazidis in August of 2014. She was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. 'The Last Girl' is not only her story but story of all Yazidis.

Yazidis

Yazidis are 1 million strong endogamous community native of northern Iraq in Ninveh region. Yazidi religion is different from Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Yazidis consider Tauwsi Malek a Peacock Angel that connects them to the God. They also believe in reincarnation theory. Their holy shrines are located in Lalish valley. Their priestly caste is called Shaikhs. They call their holy shrines - Temple. They also believe that all Kurds were originally Yazidis but converted to Islam in last few centuries. Yazidis suffered Pogroms 73 times in their history.

The Last Girl

This is an account of Nadia Murad. She writes in detail how ISIS captured her village Kocho in northern Iraq. How all men and old women were gunned down and how young women were sexually abused and sold in slavery as Sabbiya as per the ISIS version of Islam. Yazidis were not considered people of the Book hence they deserved either conversion or total annihilation. Christians were given safe passage to safer places as they were people of the book. Nadia Murad family was massacred, she was sold in sex slavery. She was brave and she managed to escape with help from God. In this book she writes that its better to die than to live as sex slave. Many times she thought of committing suicide but she did not get that chance. 

The Jauhar of Padmavati echoed in my mind. I often wonder about our country's so called liberals and intellectuals. When Padmavati movie came many of them criticized action of Queen Padmavati in that movie they all said that it was better to go to Alauddin Khilji than committing Jauhar. No one is and no one can become a greater feminist than Nadia Murad and she preferred death over becoming sex slave. 

Its hard to believe that people can commit such horrific crimes in the name of religion. The Sunni Muslim neighbours did not help Yazidis and many turned Yazidis to ISIS. Though one Sunni family helped Nadia Murad but it was too late by then. About 5000 Yazidis were massacred about 10,000 were enslaved and others managed to escape. This was the brutality of ISIS supported by Sunni Muslims in the name of religion.

When Ab Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in an US raid, the prominent liberal newspaper The Washington Post published his obituary as:

I don't have any words to express. Perhaps the people of The Washington Post should have read about Yazidis. Calling Baghdadi an 'austere religious scholar' is like adding insult to the injuries suffered by Yazidis and other victims.

This is a great book and everyone should read it.  

Highly Recommended (10/10).

Book Review [151] : Al Beruni's India

Every student of Indian History must have heard the name of Persian Polymath Al Beruni (973 - 1048 AD), this person had done more serious work on India than perhaps any one else before the arrival of European orientalist. He was the scribe cum companion of Mahmud of Ghazni. He had written very serious works on India and Tarikh Al-Hind is his magnum opus. 

His work on India was translated by German orientalist Dr. Edward Sachau (1845-1930). In this book i.e. Al Beruni's India Dr. Sachau had covered almost all comments on India by Al Beruni. Al Beruni had written on almost every aspects on Indian civilization from religion to language, society to politics and from Maths to science. He had vicious hatred towards Hindus in general and at many places call them perverts, liars and cunning. At some places he did give credit to Indians and praises Hindu Shahi Kings of Kabul valley fully and regret their demise. Surprisingly he did not mention Buddhism much in his book though he writes that Buddhists and Hindus hate each other but they are one with respect to their attitude towards foreigners.

Insularity of Hindus

He writes that on the difference between Hinduism and Islam and general attitude of Hindus towards foreigners :

·   Hinduism is totally opposite to Islam. Among Hindus there is very little dispute about theological topics and even if the dispute arises they will utmost fight with words but they will never stake their soul or body or their property on religious controversy. Their entire fanaticism is directed against those who do not belong to them i.e. against all foreigners. They call them Mlechha or impure and forbid having any connection with them. They think any connection would impure them. Hindus consider as impure anything which touches the fire and water of a foreigner. Once polluted they don’t welcome the polluted again in their fold. They are not allowed to receive anybody who does not belong to them, even if he wished it, or was inclined to their religion. Aversion to foreigner is not only a trait of Hindus but it is common to all nations towards each other. 

     He furthers writes that:

    Hindus consider all knowledge come from them and all other people and nations are ignorant and barbarians.

   Lack of Scientific approach

   Al Beruni further writes that Indians lack methods of strict scientific deductions. The science of Hindus is in a state of utter confusion and devoid of any logical order and always appease to the sentiments of crowd and it has inherent religious dogmas in it. Hindus mathematical and astronomical literature is like a mixture of pearls and dung and both are equal in the eyes of Hindus since they cannot raise themselves to the methods of a strictly scientific deduction. In Greeks one can find philosophers like Socrates who refused to appease dogmatic people. He did not call the star gods and opposed Idolatry for which he was condemned to death.

History

Al Beruni says that the famous idol of Hindus at Multan was dedicated to sun and was made of wood and covered with red leather. Huen Tsang had also mentioned about this temple. It was called Aditya and was very much worshipped. Muhammad bin Qasim did not break this Idol as it was a flourishing trade center and wealth had been accumulated. In mockery he hung a piece of cow’s flesh on its neck. On the same place a mosque was built. When the Karamatians occupied Multan, Jalam Ibn Shaiban broke the idol in pieces and killed its priests.

The Idol of Thaneshwar was made of bronze and Al Beruni says it is lying in the hippodrome in Ghazni.

Hindu Kings of Turkish origins ruled Kabul. The first such King was Barahatakin. The last such Hindu Turkish King was succeeded by his Brahmin minister. Anandpal, Trilochanpal were the last of the rulers. Al Beruni praises Hindu Shahi Kings. They did what was good and right and were men of noble bearing and noble sentiment.

Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed the Shiva Linga of Somnath. The upper part was broken. Parts of Idol were installed before the door of the Mosque of Ghazni on which People rub their feet to clean them from dirt and wet.
These were the reasons why Hindus hate Muslims according to him.

 Hindu Customs

About the Hindu customs Al Beruni says that they differ from Muslims to such a degree that they appear to us monstrous. If any custom of Hindus resembles Muslim custom it has certainly just the opposite meaning. Hindus do not cut their hairs and Hindus do not eat Cow meat. In washing Hindus begin with their feets and then they reach their face. In all consultations Hindus take the advice of women. They do not ask permission to enter a house but when they leave it they ask permission to do so. He calls Hindus perverts and praises Islam for abolishing these habits in part of India where People had become Muslims. He further says that the greediness of the ignorant Hindu Princes for gold making does not know any limit. They can kill even the innocent children if the kill is required to make gold. The science of Alchemy should banish. Hindus have firm belief in charms and incantations. In general Hindus are liars.

Geography of India

He says that Kannauj is in ruins. He says the Kashmiri people are very insular. They hardly allow outsiders to enter their country though they allowed Jews to enter their territory.  The Gilgit region was ruled by the Turks. The king has the title Bhatta Shah. The capital of Kashmir suffers from the inroads of these Turks. He mentions Rameshwar as the southern tip. Setubandha is further south. Setubandha is the dike of God Rama that he builds to connect India to Lanka. His idea about Indian geography is very detailed and he mentions almost accurately all rivers, towns of India.

Religion/Astronomy and Cosmology

Very detailed take on Hindu religion, astronomy and cosmology. He quotes Brahmagupta in much detail.  He does not say about untouchability though he talked about caste system and the inherent hierarchy. The sudras were not allowed to hear Vedas. He mentions that there is a tree in Prayag from which Brahmans and Kshatriyas commit suicide by throwing them in the river from that tree.

This is a great work on India and its a shame that we did not write such books on our tormentors and never tried to learn their ways, their strengths and their weakness. For this insularity we paid the price in medieval period.
Highly Recommended (9/10)

Book Review [150] : Jai Somnath

6 months a very long break in a kind of unbroken sequence of 149 book reviews over a period of 10 years. Sorry for this break though i enjoyed this break and was engaged in some serious actions in field.

I read 'Jai Somanth' in first week of July 2017 and its been a painful read. Indians are the rare people who rejoice in their defeats and that perhaps explains the title of the this book by eminent freedom fighter and writer Shri K M Munshi. Before reading this book i had read 'Somnatha - The many voices of history' by Romila Thapar. In this book Ms Thapar debunks the claim that Mahmud Ghazni destroyed the temple of Somnath on grounds of religion and he attributes only economic reasons behind his raid. I completely disagree with Ms Thapar on this. If economic reasons were the only reasons then why the Idol was destroyed and why its pieces were placed below the stairs of Ghazni mosque. What were the reasons behind destruction of Mathura temple, Multan sun temple and many more temples. These facts are well documented by his scholar companion Al Beruni.

'Jai Somnath' is a painful story of the sack and destruction of Somnath Temple by the hoards of Mahmud of Ghazni. The King of Prabhas Pattan Bhimdev fought really bravely but he was outmatched by Mahmud in resources and in numbers. The Indians though fought valiantly were undone by the traitors who helped Mahmud to open a hidden tunnel giving access inside the temple 'fortress'. What followed was gory trail of genocide, destruction of Shiva Idol and temple, enslaving of civilians and loot which he carried on the backs of camels and horses back to Ghazni. 

Many Indians helped him in this daring raid. But there were Indians who fought even better than the likes of Leonidas at Thermopylae. A few hundred strong clan of Chauhan Rajput Ghogha Baba fought like titans against the more than 50,000 strong barbaric hoards of Mahmud.

In a way, Justice was done when this temple was restored after Independence. The force of destruction can never decimate the spirit of truth and creation. But the most important point to ponder is that why we allowed these invaders to defile our country time and again. Perhaps V. S. Naipaul was right when he says 'The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it'.

Highly Recommended (9/10)

Book Review [148] : Ancient Bundelkhand

I am a Bundelkhandi by heart and in deep love with its people, culture and history. In my childhood i read brave and chivalrous stories of Alha, Udal, Pithora (Prithvi Raj Chauhan), Sarandha, Champatrai and Chhatrashal and they still make a significant part of yours truly.
This book 'Ancient Bundelkhand' by K K Shah is a nice work on the religious and social history of Bundelkhand specially on a subject which has very few takers. Bundelkhand is a historic land in central India bounded by Yamuna in North, Chambal in West, Narmada in South (And like all definitions this is also disputed one). It consists of following districts - Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur and Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh; Datia, Tikamgarh, Panna, Chhatarpur, Sagar and Damoh in Madhya Pradesh. Its population density is about 350 which is less than half of the population density of Uttar Pradesh and perhaps because of this the Uttar Pradesh part of Bundelkhand is very much a neglected region.
Bundelkhand is named after Bundela clan of Rajputs who were ruling this region when Britishers came. According to bardic tradition the founder of Bundela clan sacrificed his blood to Vindhyavasini Devi. From one of his drops (Bund) a child came into being with the blessing of the Goddess. The Goddess asked him to found the Bundela Kingdom. This region is also known as Jejakabhukti and its Brahmans and Baniyas call themselves as Jujhotiyas.
Many Historians including writer K K Shah believe that this region was a heavily forested region ruled by tribals - Shabaras, Pulindas and Gonds during pre Mauryan period. The only Ashokan edict that is found in this region is located at Gujara near Jhansi. After Mauryas this region came under Guptas and they built some great temples at Eran, Deogarh etc.
Bundelkhand is unique in many aspects. The Varahaavtara of Vishnu is a unique gift of this region. So many temples have been found dedicated to Varahaavtar. The Gupta temple of
Deogarh is the earliest example of Panchayatana style of temple architecture. According to traditions Sage Ved Vyas was from Kalpi (Jalaun district) and he composed Mahabharat here only. Eran has many inscriptions dedicated to Satee worship. The trident, the most characteristic weaspon of Lord Shiva, finds depiction in the pre-historic rocks paintings of Bundelkhand. The cult of Kapalikas was also prevalent in the region as recorded in Prabodh Chandrodaya by Sri Krishna Mishra in Chandellas court.
Guptas were succeeded by Rashtrakutas and Gurjara Praiharas and by 9th century Chandellas came into power. Under the reign of Chandellas this region flourished in all aspects. The Chandellas were great fighters and temple builders. They also built big tanks to moderate the drought prone condition of this region. The great temples of Khajuraho were built by Chandellas. The Chandella power was weakened by invasions from north and it came under Delhi Sultanate in 14th century though this control was weak. But Mughal period saw Bundelkhand losing its independence rapidly. In late 17th century, Chhatrashal rebelled against the Mughal Emperor and Bundelkhand again became an Independent state after "serfdom" of past 300 years. People of Bundelkhand are gentle but freedom loving and are proud of its history and traditions.
Bundelkhand has been a drought prone region since earlier days. In recent times crops failed in 1867, 1869, 1872 etc. In 1893 it saw heavy flood. Population declined by 11% between 1891 to 1901.The situation is more or less the same and people prefer to work outside this region as agriculture is a gamble here.
Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [145] : Meditations

'Meditations' written by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 AD) in Greek is generally considered a great work of western philosophy. Marcus Aurelius was much influenced by Stoic philosophy that was prevalent in Rome in that era. Though i am not much impressed by this book and read it only because it features among great books of all time. This book contains advises and directions to live a meaningful life.

I love this part from the book when Marcus says "Stop drifting. You are not going to re read your brief comments, your deeds of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the commonplace books you saved for your old age. Sprint for the finish. Write off your hopes and if your well being matters to you, be your own savior while you can".

Read if you are really interested (5/10)

Book Review [144] : Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind

'Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind' by Yuvan Noah Harari is one of the seminal books that has come out in last few years. In this book Harari explores the history of Humankind from the genesis of Genus Homo to the possible advent of Super Humans.
Humans first evolved in East Africa about 2.5 million years ago from genus of apes called Australopithecus. About 2 million years ago some of these Humans migrated to settle vast areas of Europe, Africa and Asia. Humans in Western Asia and Europe evolved into Homo Neanderthalensis, in East Asia they evolved into Homo Erectus, Homo Rudolfensis in East Africa among others. 

Homo Sapiens evolved from humans in East Africa about 200,000 years ago and by 70,000 years ago they spread out to rest of the world. By 30,000 Neanderthals of Western Europe became extinct and by 13,000 years ago Homo Floresiensis also became extinct and Homo Sapiens became only surviving Human species. Homo Sapiens played a 'stellar' role in destroying the pristine flora and fauna of the world and colonizing even the remotest places. They changed the ecosystem where ever they went. Red Indians, Maoris, Aborigines etc were perhaps the first colonizers of America, New Zealand and Australia. 

The Homo Sapiens ability to communicate and organize themselves in bigger groups made them distinct and powerful from the other Homo species and this enabled them to outsmart all other species. An average Homo Neanderthal can defeat an average Homo Sapiens on any given day but an Army of Homo Sapiens can never be defeated by an Army of Homo Neanderthals. No one knows for sure how Homo Sapiens got this unusual gift, was this random selection by Nature or was this a design by providence, no one knows. Harari has termed this as 'Cognitive Revolution' It happened about 70,000 years ago. This was followed by Agricultural Revolution about 12000 years ago and the current age of Industrial Revolution that started about 400 years ago. These three revolutions have made Homo Sapiens the master of this Planet and are daring to colonize other planets.

Harari also talks about various 'myths' like religions, companies, nations etc envisaged by Humans to create different kinds of organizations in order to keep Homo Sapiens organized and ensuring their lives full of meaning. He also mentions in details about the credit revolution that enabled the small peninsula to conquer the entire world. How Spain was able to destroy mighty Aztecs and Incas and how a small company was able to conquer India, he has tried to explain this. Its a very fluid and interesting read.

Highly Recommended (10/10)

Book Review [142] : Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (12 Feb 1809 - 15th April 1865) was without any doubt the greatest leader of America. Born in a very humble family and without any formal education he went on to become the greatest President of United States of America. 'Lincoln' is a biography of this great man written by Pulitzer awardee David Herbert Donald.

Lincoln started his career as a woodcutter/rail maker and also in transporting goods across rivers in Illinois. His tenacious attitude to learning new things and to achieve goodness made him a popular Whig leader in Illinois. He was admitted to bar and became a hugely successful lawyer in Springfield though he did not have any formal education. He was elected to the local legislature multiple times and was also elected to US house of Representatives from Illinois from 1847 to 1849.

Dischanted with failure of Whigs to stop the extension of Slavery in new states many Whig leaders along with him founded Republican Party of US in 1854. He fought a great battle for election to US Senate from Illinois against the popular democrat Stephen Douglas and he lost by a narrow margin in 1858. The seven debates that they had are still considered iconic in US history. These debates made him immensely popular in Republican and abolitionist circles. He believed in equality of races in terms of natural rights though he did not consider Blacks as equal to Whites in terms of intellect. 

He got Republican Party ticket for Presidential election in 1860 (defeating William Seward) and the division of Democratic Party helped him in winning the much heated US Presidential election of 1860. Before he was sworn in the southern states seceded from the Union and threatened Fort Sumter. He took office at the most perilous time and he fumbled and struggled a lot to assert his authority in the cabinet. He was the first US President born west of Appalachian mountains and was considered uncivilized by many Northners. He was considered kind of barbarian.
His cabinet was also a mix of seemingly opposite poles. His Secretary of State William Seward and Secretary of Treasury Salmon P Chase were arch rivals. His cabinet is generally considered a Team of rivals and Barrack Obama tried to repeat this by appointing Hillary Clinton his secretary of State. Lincoln was a great story teller and many a times he defused complex situations by cracking stories and anecdotes. This book is full of those.

The Civil War persisted for more than 4 years and resulted in death of more than 1 million people. His proclamation of emancipation of slaves in January 1863 and the Union victory over Confederacy at Gettysberg in July 1863 sealed the fate of Confederates though the war straggled on for another 18 months. He had to balance the conservative faction, ultra radicals like Stevens and soft on slavery factions and he handled all with great tact. After interfering unsuccessfully in military matters he left all decisions to General Grant and others and they did not let him down. Lincoln was immensely praised and loved by his people for his honesty, availability and humility though his opponents called him 'Abraham Africanus the First', Tyrant and Caesar but the remained focused on his goal and in the end we all know who is right.

Its a great book and a must read though in between it is full of political intrigues in between. 

Highly Recommended (9/10)

Book Review [141] : The Shade Of Swords

I am fascinated by history of Islam and perhaps i have read more books on Islam than on Hinduism and every book adds a different layer to my understanding of Islam. 

'The Shade of Swords' by M J Akbar is a high quality work on history of Islam and its impact on modern world. 

The book covers in great details the story of Prophet, his companions and story of the rise of Islam.

The revelation came to Prophet in Mt Hira through Gabriel in 611 AD. Khadija (wife of Prophet) was the first convert to Islam. She is called mother of believers. Ali was the second convert, he was 10 year old boy then. He is called Lion of Islam. Abu Bakr was third, he was praised by Prophet for his purity and who would be Prophet’s only companion during the emigration. The fourth was a free man, Zayd.

The Muslim calendar begins with the migration of Prophet from Mecca to Medina (Hijra, 622 AD) along with his devoted companion Abu Bakr who would later become his father in law when Prophet married his daughter Aisha.

The Quraysh tribe dominated the Mecca and they did not like the faith propagated by Muhammad So they sent an army of 900 to 1000 men to defeat Prophet. Prophet had 300 men and he prayed to Allah that if Muslims perished today that Allah wont be worshiped anymore. Muslims believed that miracle occurred and Angels in white turbans fought for Prophet and they defeated their enemy in the Battle of Badr (17^th day of Ramadan). It was a divine intervention. Battle of Badr (624 AD) became part of Islamic inspiration.

The spirit of Jihad entered Islam at Badr. It is a spirit that inspires among believers heroism beyond the bounds of reason. It is the holy war, the war of righteousness, the struggle against tyranny. There are two kinds of Jihad – Jihad al Akbar i.e. the greater jihad this is the war against the enemy within i.e. against one’s own weakness. The Jihad al Asghar is the lesser Jihad and it is fought on the battlefield.

Abu Sufyan became the main leader of Quraysh tribe after battle of Badr. His wife, Hind, had always hated Prophet and the loss of her father and two sons at Badr had increased her bitterness. Prophet made a pact with Jews and Pagans through a convenant. It assured equality and commitment of mutual assistance in the event of any community being attacked. Abu Sufyan established contact with one of the three Jewish tribes and won it over to his side.The Quraysh army headed for Medina with 3000 men and with Abu Sufyan and Hind. Hind had promised herself that she would eat the liver of Hamza, the great Muslim warrior and uncle of the Prophet. Jewish did not honour the convenant as they said they would not fight on Sabbath (i.e Saturday). Prophet had 1000 men and from these 300 men deserted him on the morning of the battle. These were called Munafiqeen or the hypocrites. Muslims were defeated in the battle and Muhammad was wounded but he was saved. The Quraysh won this battle but not the war. The Muslim bodies were mutilated. Hind tore out liver of Hamza and tasted it. The acts of mutilation blackened the prestige of Quraysh. The battle was fought on Saturday.

Prophet entered Mecca leading 10,000 fully armed Muhajirs and Ansars in 630. By then Abu Sufyan had become Muslim. Hind accepted Islam at last. Prophet went to Kaaba and circled it 7 times, found 360 idols and all idols were broken and burnt. All the pictures were erased except two – Jesus and Mary.

Prophet Mohammad died in 632 AD.  After the death of Prophet, many Muslims deserted Islam. At his deathbed Prophet said that no two religions should be left on the Arabian Peninsula. In Islam an Apostate is worse than an infidel.

Three factions emerged almost immediately after the death of Prophet. One consisted of the original Medinaites, called the Ansar. The second were the Mujahir, from the original 72 who had emigrated with Prophet from Mecca. The third group believed that succession should only go to the Prophet’s family represented by Fatima and Ali. The fourth group, the aristocracy led by Abu Sufyan held its peace for the moment. The consensus emerged for Abu Bakr. He adopted the title of the Caliph of the Prophet of Allah. There were only two Caliphs of Allah – Adam and David. The Rashiduns were Caliphs of the Prophet of Allah. Abu Bakr was succeeded by Umar and Usman. Both were assassinated. 

The elders chose Ali as caliph after Usman. But he was challenged by Usman’s kin, the Ummayads. The governor of Syria, Muawiya, Hind’s son, charged Ali with instigating the murder of Usman. Ali shifted his capital from Medina to Kufa in Iraq to meet this threat. He also had to face a Muslim army led by Aisha. Ali defeated Aisha’s army in the famous battle of Camel at Basra in 656 AD, this is called first Fitna or first civil war. He faced Muawiya in Syria in 657. The fight ended in a compromise. The followers of Ali were not happy with the compromise and one of the followers (Kharijites) killed him during Ramadan prayers on Friday in 661. Ali was buried in Najaf. Hasan succeeded his father Ali as Caliph but was challenged by Muawiya. He abdicated his Caliphate in favour of Muawiya for the sake of Ummah. Hasan signed the Hasan–Muawiya treaty with Muawiyah. The treaty said that Muawiyah would name no successor during his reign but let the Islamic world choose their successor afterward. Muawiya broke this treaty by appointing his son Yazid as his successor. Hasan was poisoned in 670, he was succeeded by his brother Husayn.

Yazid was brutal and greedy. Husayn did not give his allegiance to Yazid and was going to Kufa from Media on the way he was ambushed at Karbala. In the heat of the month of Muharram in 680 AD his 3000 strong forces surrounded and massacred Husayn, his family and his small band of companions at Karbala. Husayn was with his family and had just 72 armed followers.  Yazid’s general Ubaydallah brought him the severe head of Husayn. This made the schism between Shia and Sunni unbridgeable. A Shiite named Mukhtar took revenge when he defeated and decapitated Ubaydallah at the same place where Husayn had fallen.

 

In June 750 Abul Abbas, a descendant of Prophet and general of Ummayads invited 80 Ummayads nobles to his home for dinner and slaughtered them all except Abdur Rahman. Abdur Rahman escaped and established Ummayad dynasty at Cordoba in Spain. The capital moved from Damascus to Baghdad whose construction was completed in 766 AD. There were significant achievements in the fields of scholarship. There were over a hundred bookshops in Baghdad at the end of 9^th century at a time when there were none in London or Paris. The Abbasids have the dubious distinction of harassing the four great Islamic jurists -  Abu Hanifa (d 767), Malik ibn Anas (d 795), Muhammad as Shafi (d 826) and Ahmed ibn Hanbal (d 855). All four were prisoned. Mongol Hulagu Khan came to Baghdad in 1258 and taunted Caliph Al Mustasim with verses from Quran where Allah warns Muslims of the price of pride – humiliation and calamity. Baghdad was destroyed and Caliph was killed.

Crusades

Crusades began officially on 25^th Nov 1095 when Pope Urban I addressing knights, laymen, clergymen granted remission of all sins to anyone who joined the holy war against Muslims. The Crusaders defeated the Seljuk Turks who were threatening Byzantine and created two principalities, Edessa and Antioch. They reached at the walls of Jerusalem in 1099. The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in the holy month of Ramazan in 1099 and massacred Muslims and Jews, male and female for three days. 10,000 Muslims who were in Al Aqsa mosque were slaughtered. Jews attained the same fate.

 In 1187 Saladdin (Kurdish ruler of Syria and Egypt) gave the call for Jihad. He defeated the King Guy of Jerusalem in a hard fought battle in 1187 close to Galilee. The True cross was seized by Saladdin. The assault on Jerusalem began on 26^th Sept 1187. The siege lasted for 7 days. The defenders had one trump card – the holy places. The threat to destroy the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa softened Saladdin. In 1098 Muslims in Jerusalem debated a similar option but chose not to touch the churches before the Crusaders came and slaughtered them. A deal was made the Christians would pay ransom of 10 gold pieces for each man, 5 for a woman and 1 for a child and leave. On 2^nd Oct 1187 Saladdin entered Jerusalem. Not a single Christian was killed. He invited Jews back to the city. He allowed Eastern Christians to live in the city.

Caliph Umar also took the city Jerusalem in 637 AD and no blood was shed after its surrender. He refused to offer Namaz in the Church of Holy Sepulchre as he thought Muslims would then convert it into a Mosque. He passed an order that no Muslim should ever pray at this Church or ever build a Mosque here.

The third Crusade was launched when Richard the Lionheart landed in 1191. Saladdin sent a summon for Jihad against this crusade. Richard fought with Saladdin for 18 months. When Richard lost his horse in one such battle against Saladdin, Saladdin arranged a horse for him as a King as great as him should not fight on foot. Richard retreated in July 1192 after his abortive crusade. Saladdin died in March 1193. Money was borrowed to pay for his funeral for he had no wealth of his own. Europe was expelled from the Levant in 1291, when the last outpost of the Franks, the fortress of Acre, fell to the Egyptians.

Christians completed Reconquista of Spain by capturing Granada in 1492. It took 700 years. It removed all Muslims and Jews from Spain. Those who stayed were converted. Spain’s Jews found shelter in Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople on 29^th May 1453. He rode on a white horse towards Cathedral of Hagha Sophia, mother of all churches, built in 6^th century. The cathedral was converted into a Mosque. He was only 20 years old. He transformed slaves and created the ‘Janissaries’. The young boys were captured and converted to Islam and trained. A chosen few would become Janissaries. This was the elite palace guard. Jews found refuge in Ottoman empire. In 1914, 22% of Constantinople was Orthodox Christians, 25% Armenians and 4% Jewish. Selim I (1512-20) conquered Egypt by defeating Mamluks in 1517. The Sheriff of Mecca handed over him the keys of Kaaba. With this the holy cities of Islam came under his control. He was succeeded by his son Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66). He took Belgrade in 1521 and Rhodes in 1522. Vienna was within his sight.

The Janissaries revolted against the reforms of Mahmud II who began to Europeanize the army in 1826. The revolt of Janissaries was crushed. 6000 were executed and 5000 exiled. The 19^th century was a decline for Ottomans. Serbia became free by 1830, Greece by 1833. Kemal Ataturk abolished the Caliphate in March 1924. This ended the last great Muslim Empire.

Prophet had once said “Search for Knowledge from the cradle to the grave". This book is a great treasure and an awesome read. I could not leave this book even for an hour and started reading on Dussehra and finished on Muharram. 

Highly Recommended (9/10)

Book Review [140] : Colonialism and the call to Jihad in British India

'Colonialism and the call to Jihad in British India' by Tariq Hasan provides a different take on the role of Ulemas in the freedom movement of India. Generally it is believed that the partition of India was caused by conservative elements on both sides of the society i.e. Hindus and Muslims. This book tries to dispel the notion at least in case of Muslim Ulemas.

The book starts with the teachings and revivalism of Shah Waliullah, Shah Abdul Aziz and Syed Ahmad Barelvi, the role their disciples played in the formation of Sunni seminary at Deoband. How Shah Abdul Aziz issued a Fatwa declaring British rule as Dar-al-Harb considering the fact that no state ruled by a Hindu ruler was ever declared Dar-al-Harb by the Ulemas. 

It covers in great detail the role of Raja Mahendra Pratap, Maulana Barkatullah Khan, Maulana Mahmud-ul Hasan, Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani and others in Silk Conspiracy (1915-1916). Silk Conspiracy as the Britishers called it was a grand plan envisaged by the Indians to take on British rule with the help of Germany, Ottoman Empire and Afghanistan. Raja Mahendra Pratap met German Kaiser William II and the Sultan of Ottoman empire and both promised assistance but the ruler of Afghanistan did not support the plan and sided with British. The letters addressed to key actors of this plan were written on Silk handkerchief hence this plan is known as Reshmi Rumaal Tehreek or Silk Conspiracy. Maulana Mahmud-ul Hasan and Madani tried to take the support of Ottoman governor in Saudi Arabia but the revolt of Sheriff of Mecca against the Ottomans foiled their attempt. Both were arrested by Britishers and jailed for 4 years in Malta.

Both returned to India in 1920 and supported the Khilafat movement. After the death of Maulana Mahmud-ul Hasan, Maulana Madani became the chief of Daurl Uloom Deoband and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. He worked all out to support the cause of united India and was staunchly against partition. He was also pan Islamist to the core. The writer says that the Congress leaders faltered and accepted partition despite of the fact that a large number of prominent clerics were against partition.

This book takes very simplistic arguments, sweeping generalizations and perhaps exaggerates improbable probablities to fanciful possibilities. This book also tends to justify the 'extreme' Islamist ideologies of Shah Waliullah, Syed Barelvi and others. Both tried by all means to get rid of all 'alien innovations' that had crept in Islam in India. Shah Waliullah invited Abdali to decimate Maratha power and Syed Barelvi raised the cry of Jihad against the Sikh empire.

Recommended (7/10)