Ancient Filipino Garuda Dagger

Chryse is often coupled with another island Argyre the "Island of Silver" and placed beyond the Ganges. Ptolemy locates both islands east of the Khruses Kersonenson the "Golden Peninsula" i.e. the Malaya Penisula. North of Chryse in the Periplus was Thin, which some consider the first European reference to China.
 Chryse (Glossary)

Chryse, the "Golden One," is the name given by ancient Greek writers to an island rich in gold to the east of India.

Pomponius Mela, Marinos of Tyre and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mention Chryse in the first century CE. It is basically the equivalent of the Indian Suvarnadvipa the "Island of Gold." Josephus calls it in Latin Aurea, and equates the island with biblical Ophir, from where the ships of Tyre and Solomon brought back gold and other trade items.

Chryse is often coupled with another island Argyre the "Island of Silver" and placed beyond the Ganges. Ptolemy locates both islands east of the Khruses Kersonenson the "Golden Peninsula" i.e. the Malaya Penisula. North of Chryse in the Periplus was Thin, which some consider the first European reference to China.

In addition to gold, Chryse was also famed for having the finest tortoise shell in the world according to the Periplus. Large ships brought trade goods back and forth between Chryse and the markets at the mouth of the Ganges.

Chin-lin

In ancient Chinese literature, a mysterious region beyond their southern border in Annam was known as Chin-lin "Golden Neighbor" and the Southeast Asian border was also called the "Golden Frontier."

When China invaded Annam (northern Vietnam) in the first century BCE, the kingdom of Champa fortified villages along the old caravan trail. This path became Route Colonial 9 during the French colonial period, and it was used by the Americans to build the McNamara Line of fortified bases during the Vietnam War.

With this fortified line, the rugged Central Highlands and a policy of constant piracy, the Champa kingdom held the Chinese at bay for a thousand years. After the fall of the Chin dynasty in the 5th century, Cham raids on Tongking became so frequent that the governor appealed to the emperor for assistance. A war of attrition between China and Champa began that lasted until the rise of the T'ang dynasty.

During this time though, China was well aware of the golden lands far to the south. The Buddhist pilgrim I-Tsing mentions Chin-Chou "Isle of Gold" in the archipelago south of China on his way back from India.

Zabag and Wakwak

In this blog, I have suggested that the kingdoms of Zabag and Wakwak, famed among the medieval Muslims as rich in gold, referred to the eastern islands of the Malay archipelago i.e. the Philippines and Eastern Indonesia.

Zabag was based in what would later become the kingdom of Lusung.

In this sense, the Philippines fits the bill as a gold-rich realm.

The country has consistently ranked second in the world behind only South Africa in gold deposits per land area. The Philippines has historically been the largest producer of gold in Asia despite its relatively small size and the fact that until 1980 most gold was obtained only through small alluvial deposits.

Although some ancient gold artifacts have been found in this region, they don't match the age suggested by linguistic reconstruction. Gold may have been mostly handed down from generation to generation rather than being used as a burial good item.

In about the second century CE, there arose a practice of using gold eye covers, and then, gold facial orifice covers to adorn the dead resulting in an increase of ancient gold finds. More than a millennium later, the popularity of dental gold to decorate the teeth significantly increased the amount of gold found at archaeological sites.

When the Spanish came they discovered an abundance of gold used among the people of the Philippine islands. Here are some relevant quotes:

Pieces of gold, the size of walnuts and eggs are found by sifting the earth in the island of that king who came to our ships. All the dishes of that king are of gold and also some portion of his house as we were told by that king himself...He had a covering of silk on his head, and wore two large golden earrings fastened in his ears...At his side hung a dagger, the haft of which was somewhat long and all of gold, and its scabbard of carved wood. He had three spots of gold on every tooth, and his teeth appeared as if bound with gold.

--- Pigafetta on Raja Siaui of Butuan during Magellan's voyage

For brass, iron and other weighty articles, they gave us gold in exchange...For 14 pounds of iron we received 10 pieces of gold, of the value of a ducat and a half. The Captain General forbade too great an anxiety for receiving gold, without which order every sailor would have parted with all he had to obtain this metal, which would have ruined our commerce forever.

--- Pigafetta on gold trade in Cebu

Sailing in this manner, for some time, in 16° of north latitude, they were obliged by continual contrary winds, to bear up again for the Philippine islands, and in their way back, had sight of six or seven additional islands, but did not anchor at any of them. They found also an archipelago, or numerous cluster of islands, in 15 or 16 degrees of north latitude, well inhabited by a white people, with beautiful well-proportioned women, and much better clothed than in any other of the islands of these parts; and they had many golden ornaments, which was a sure sign that there was some of that metal in their country.

--- Antonio Galvão in 1555 describing the journey of Bartholomew de la Torre in 1548


"...the ore is so rich that I will not write any more about it, as I might possibly come under a suspicion of exaggerating; but I swear by Christ that there is more gold on this island than there is iron in all Biscay."

--- Hernando Riquel et al., 1574




In this island, there are many gold mines, some of which have been inspected by the Spaniards, who say that the natives work them as is done in Nueva Espana with the mines of silver; and, as in these mines, the vein of ore here is continouus. Assays have been made, yielding so great wealth that I shall not endeavor to describe them, lest I be suspected of lying. Time will prove the truth.

--- Hernando Riquel et al. on island of Luzon, 1574

There are some chiefs in this island who have on their persons ten or twelve thousand ducats' worth of gold in jewels--to say nothing of the lands, slaves, and mines that they own. There are so many of these chiefs that they are innumerable. Likewise the individual subjects of these chiefs have a great quantity of the said jewels of gold, which they wear on their persons--bracelets, chains, and earrings of solid gold, daggers of gold, and other very rich trinkets. These are generally seen among them, and not only the chiefs and freemen have plenty of these jewels, but even slaves possess and wear golden trinkets upon their persons, openly and freely.

--- Guido de Lavezaris at al., 1574

About their necks they wear gold necklaces, wrought like spun wax, and with links in our fashion, some larger than others. On their arms they wear armlets of wrought gold, which they call calombigas, and which are very large and made in different patterns. Some wear strings of precious stones--cornelians and agates; and other blue and white stones, which they esteem highly. They wear around the legs some strings of these stones, and certain cords, covered with black pitch in many foldings, as garters.

-- Antonio de Morga, 1609

"... the natives proceed more slowly in this ,and content themselves with what they already possess in jewels and gold ingots handed down from antiquity and inherited from their ancestors. This is considerable, for he must be poor and wrethced who has no gold chains, calombigas, and earrings."

-- Antonio de Morga, 1609

The Portugese explorer Pedro Fidalgo in 1545 found gold so abundant on Luzon the inhabitants were willing to trade two pezoes of gold for one pezo of silver.

When the Portuguese first arrived, most of the gold traded into Brunei came from Luzon. That island was known as Lusung Dao or "Golden Luzon" to the Chinese who also traded for gold in this region.

References

Legeza, Laszlo. "Tantric Elements in pre-Hispanic Philippines Gold Art," Arts of Asia, July-Aug. 1988, pp.129-136. (Mentions gold jewelry of Philippine origin in first century CE Egypt)

Peralta, J.T. "Prehistoric gold ornaments from the Central Bank of the Philippines," Arts of Asia 1981, no.4, p.54.

Villegas, Ramon N. Ginto: History Wrought in Gold, Manila: Bangko Central ng Pilipinas, 2004.

Ancient Vedic Gold of the Philippines

Medieval Islamic texts used the word Mihraj or similar forms like Mihrjan to describe the king of the Zabag empire in the East Indies. Mihraj may be a corruption of the Indian Maharaja "Great King."

Writers of the time described the Mihraj's influence as extending over vast territories from the Indies to East Africa. Some of these claims are substantiated by physical evidence such as the written records of the kingdoms of Champa and Cambodia, and land grants in South and East India. According to the texts, Zabag and its southern neighbor Wakwak competed for the highly lucrative East African trade.

Both the districts and levels can be viewed as if looking down from the sky in the symbolic form known as the mandala.

Gold waistcloth finial in "Mt. Meru" pattern from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. When viewed from above the ornament appears as a series of concentric circles. Finials of this type were illustrated in the 16th century Boxer Codex.(Source: pupuplatter.blogspot.com )

'Tantric' gold belt from pre-Hispanic gold collection of Philippine Central Bank. The triangles of the buckle represent the tiered mountain with six rows of dots/bindus decreasing by one as they ascend from the base of six dots. (Source: Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippine Gold Art," Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug 1988, p. 131)

Triangular gold pendant of the 'Sri Yantra' type also from the Central Bank, with dot-triangles arranged in three rows starting from a base of three triangles and decreasing by one with each ascending row. (Source: Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippine Gold Art," Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug 1988, p. 131)

Medieval Philippine gold sash finial with mandala design, from Butuan on the island of Mindanao. (Source: pupuplatter.blogspot.com)

Income from the mercantile trade made the Mihraj very wealthy at that time. In the One Thousand and One Nights and other Arabic literature the Mihraj along with the legendary Solomon are held as ideals of royal wealth. Sindbad visits the Mihraj on the "Isle of Mares" in one of most well-known of his voyages.

In the sea of Champa is the empire of Mihraj, the king of the islands, who rules over an empire without limit and has innumerable troops. Even the most rapid vessels could not complete in two years a tour round the isles which are under his possesssion. The territories of this king produce all sorts of spices and aromatics, and no other sovereign of the world gets as much wealth from the soil.

-- Mas'udi, AD 943

Despite the wealth of the Mihraj, his capital is described as a 'town' in Muslim literature. His palace is located on the water's edge in an estuatry, and from his patio he daily threw gold bars into the water to propitiate the sea. At low tide, the pile of gold was exposed for all to see, and when the king died the gold was distributed to all the people of the land. The greatness of the king was judged by the amount of gold so accumulated. In the capital, fisher folk living in their boats or homes over the water were exempted from taxes. The Mihraj was the model of the Fisher King, the "Lord of the Net."

The rural setting of his kingdom is detailed by Abu Zaid who states that "patches of settlement succeed each other without interruption" and further mention an "uninterrupted and regular succession of villages."

A very trustworthy man affirms that when the cocks crow at daybreak, as in our country, they call out to each other throughout the whole extent of a hundred parasangs [~500 kilometers]...In effect, there are no uninhabited places in this country and no ruins. He who comes into the country when he is on a journey, if he is mounted he may go wherever he pleases; if he is tired or if his mount has difficulty in carrying on, then he may stop wherever he wishes.

-- Abu Zaid, 10th century

Policy of Attraction
During the heyday of Zabag between about 800 CE to 1300 CE, the Mihraj maintained an "open door" policy, as mentioned above by Abu Zaid. Merchants were encouraged to enter and stay in the country. Idrisi states that in particular the merchants of China favored trading in the islands of Zabag:

It is said that when the states of affairs of China became troubled by rebellions and when tyranny and confusion became excessive in India, the inhabitants of China transferred their trade to Zabag and the other islands dependent on it, entered into relations with it, and familiarized themselves with its inhabitants bcause of their justice, the goodness of their conduct, the pleasantness fo their customs, and their facility in business. It is because of this that this island is so heavily populated and so often frequented by strangers.

-- Idrisi, 12th century

Later during the Ming dynasty, the kingdom of Lusung, Zabag's successor, continued this policy and when the Spanish arrived in Luzon there existed merchant communities from China and Japan on land granted by the Lusung king. The large Chinese trading community of the Manila Bay was known as the Parian.

Lusung is situated in the southern seas not far from Chang-chou (in Fukien)...In the past, thousands of Fukienese merchants lived there for a long period without returning home, because the land was near and rich. They even had children and grandchildren.

-- Ming-shi (Dynastic annals of the Ming Dynasty)

Not long after reaching the pinnacle of its power, Zabag was threatened by its powerful neighbor to the South. In the late 10th century, an attack by Wakwak prompted the Mihraj to send an embassy to the Sung dynasty requesting assistance. Such a policy of attraction appears to have been a necessary strategy for the Mihraj, whose trading empire was also under attack in the far West.

Indeed both Wakwak and Zabag faced problems with their ancient East African spice routes due to the expansion of Islam. Wakwak for its part decided on massive military action. An expedition in the 10th century of fleet of one thousand ships was sent to the African Zanj coast and to Qanbalu, which by this time was nearly completely in Muslim hands. Arab merchants from Oman were taking over the trade.


Ibn Lakis has imparted to me some extraordinary pieces of information concerning them. It is thus that in 334 AH (945-6 CE) they came upon Qanbalu in a thousand ships and fought them with the utmost vigor, without however achieving their end, as Qanbalu is surrounded by a strong defensive wall around which stretches the water-filled estuary of the sea, so that Qanbalu is at the center of this estuary, like a fortified citadel."

-- Kitab aja'ib al-Hind of Buzurg ibn Shahriyar (955 CE)

The vast Wakwak fleet traveled for one year to attack Qanbalu, Sofala and other Zanj settlements that were then dominated by Muslim traders. Such a costly expedition demonstrates the gravity of the situation to the Wakwak rulers. Certainly the Mihraj must have felt the same way.

However, our thesis is that the Mihraj practiced a policy of attraction. His military might at the time was spent in protecting his home kingdom from Wakwak. He sent ambassadors to India and Tibet, made grants for temples there and some Zabag (Suvarnadvipa) kings are even said to have personally traveled to South Asia.

Further west in Europe, the overtures of the Mihraj may be seen in the letters and ambassadors of "Prester John." There was nothing unusual in the Mihraj patronizing at the same time Buddhism, Christianity (Nestorianism), Hinduism, Jainism, animism, etc. This was not an uncommon practice among the medieval kings of the Indies.

Later, Lusung continued this policy of attraction when the Portuguese arrived on the scene. By this time the ancient eastern routes in Africa had been lost, but Lusung still managed to monopolize the restricted trade with China. And it was still an important source of gold.

King of the Mountain
Chinese texts describing the king of Zabag (Sanfotsi) state that each ruler had images of themselves made in gold (anitos?). These images were consecrated to a "Buddha" called the "Hill of Gold and Silver" after the death of the ruler.

The Southeast Asian concept of the "King of the Mountain" likely derives originally from the mountain custodians of indigenous customary law. The custodian/guardian/king was also often placed as priest of a sacred plot, terrace or temple on the mountain.

The territory divided by the rivers flowing from the mountain were formed into districts under the ultimate influence of the king who ruled the entire banua. In the cosmic version of this kingship, the mountain becomes the axis mundi and the king a type of universal ruler. The territories under the king now include all those 'beneath the sky.'

In the Pinatubo model, the districts around the mountain are eight in number divided by eight major rivers, which including Pinatubo itself gives a total of nine districts. Using the "Mt. Meru" concept, the cosmic mountain also consists of levels, which we can equate with mountain terraces, often given as seven in number -- the 'seven heavens.'

Both the districts and levels can be viewed as if looking down from the sky in the symbolic form known as the mandala.

Garuda of the Philippines

Ukkil: Visual Arts of the Sulu Archipelago is a treatise on cultural practices inextricably linked to the political, economic, and social history of the Sulu Archipelago. The author, Ligaya F. Amilbangsa, declares the need for ethnic art forms to be viewed as authentic reflections of social history. Having married into the family of the Sultan of Sulu and lived in southern Philippines for more than two decades, Amilbangsa names objects to record, as it were, the lives of the people with whom she lived. She does not engage in collection and exoticization of artefacts; she engages in recollection. The visual arts of the Sulu Archipelago recall the ancient, pre-Islamic, pre-Christian past of the Hindu-Malayan empire, a time when the Malays of Sulu were acknowledged for superior weaponry and watercraft. Pottery from Sangasanga dated 6060 BC exhibits artistic traditions enriched by the merging of the developed culture of immigrants with that of the indigenous population. A monetary economy, flourishing in the eighth century, made the Sulu Archipelago the wealthiest of settlements in the Philippines by the seventeenth century.

Ukkil enhances our understanding of early Philippine history, particularly early Sulu history. From Samal craft specialization in pottery making, boat building, metal forging, and stone carving, Amilbangsa deduces that Samalan-speaking Hindu-Malays were the earliest inhabitants of the Sulu Archipelago. In seven chapters devoted to each of the different visual arts (basketry, cloth weaving, embroidery, pottery, carving, blacksmithing and casting, goldsmithing), she links motifs and symbols to the rest of the Philippines and Asia. Motifs such as boat-coffins, which symbolize a swift and peaceful journey for the dead, are also found in Palawan, Batan Island, and Central Philippines. The bird as guide to the heavens hovers throughout Asia as the Sulu Galura, the Hindu Garuda, the Caliph’s Simurgh, and the Chinese feng. The fish represents Chinese yin-yang as well as early Christian faith and is abstracted in paisley by Muslims. The dragon, symbolizing protection from evil and misfortune, spans Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Javanese, Thai, Indonesian, and Chinese beliefs. Coralstone grave markers in Tawi-Tawi confirm the Samalans’ high culture and their spiritual kinship with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

http://kyotoreviewsea.org/sicat.htm

Who Discovered the Americas?

The Hindus were mighty navigators and pioneers of culture centuries before Columbus was born. They established their cultural empires in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, Cambodia, Champa, Annam and Siam and ruled there until after the 14th century.

 WHO DISCOVERED AMERICA?

As the seeds of herbs and trees are carried to distant places by wind and birds, so in ancient times mankind and culture spread over the world through the tides of great Indian and Pacific oceans. The Hindus were mighty navigators and pioneers of culture centuries before Columbus was born. They established their cultural empires in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, Cambodia, Champa, Annam and Siam and ruled there until after the 14th century. Evan today Cambodia's King bears the title of the great Varman rulers of India, and Bali has a Hindu Raja. Hindu migration to America was vigorous from the first to the twelfth century A.D.

Cambodia, the ancient Kamboja, was one of the earliest to receive the culture of India. The name of its river Me Kong was derived from Ma Ganga (mother Ganges). In the first century A.D. a Brahman called Kaundinya came to Kamboja from Kanchi, the capital of Pallava kings in South India, married the Kamboja Princess Soma and was elected king of the country. Champa, at present Vietnam, figures prominently in the story of India's cultural expansion. Vietnam was the footboard for the pilgrims to America. A prince of Kalinga (Orissa) founded the Hindu State of Java in the first century A. D. Java is the ancient Yava Dveepa mentioned in the Ramayana and other Sanskrit texts. Bali Dveepa is still a stronghold of Hinduism. Borneo is the ancient Suvarna Dveepa or Sri Vijaya. On the Indonesian national flag still flutters our Garuda. From Angkor Vat to America Hinduism and its gods and temples have left their imprint. Siam was the centre of Hindu culture for centuries and boasts of rulers with names such as Rama, Praja Deepak and Dharmaraja. The same pioneers of culture who ruled such large areas in the Pacific for fourteen centuries also went to far off Mexico and Peru and established cultural empires.
Ship-building

Indian ship-building had developed at least 2000 years ago and according to Dr. Ekholm, Director of the Museum of Natural History in New York, and Dr. Robert Heine Geldern, there appears to be little doubt that ship-building and navigation were sufficiently advanced in southern and eastern Asia at the period in question to have made trans-Pacific voyages possible. As early as the time of Ptolemy in the second century A. D., Indian ships sailed to the Malayan Peninsula and Indonesia not eastwise but across the Bay of Bengal. In the third century horses were exported from India to the Malayan Peninsula and Indo-China on indication that there must have been ship of of considerable size.When the Chinese Buddhist scholar Fattein return from India around A.D. 400 he embarked on a ships which carried more than 200 sailors and merchants and which therefore must have been larger than the ships of Columbus and early Spanish explorers.""Ships of that size able to cross the Indian Ocean and the China Sea with their dangerous cyclones could certainly cross the Pacific as well.""According to French and British historians the Hindus excelled in the art of constructing ships and for centuries the British and the French borrowed from the Hindus many improvements in the naval architecture.
Only two authorities will suffice:


""In ancient times the Indians excelled in the art of constructing vessels, and the present Hindus can, in this respect, still offer models to Europe, so much so that the English, attentive to everything which relates to naval architecture, have borrowed from the Hindus many improvements which they have adopted with success to their own shipping. The Indian vessels unite elegance and utility, and are models of patience and fine workmanship."" (Les Hindus- P. 181).


""Indian vessels are so admirably adapted to the purpose for which they are required that, notwithstanding their superior science, Europeans were unable, during an intercourse with India for two centuries , to suggest or to bring into successful practice one improvement."" (Sir John Malcolm, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 1)
Astec Calendar


The fact that the Hindus were capable of sailing to far off countries like Mexico and Peru is proved by the official historien of Mexico, who in his book published by the Mexican Foreign Office.


""Those who first arrived on the continent later to be known as America were groups of men driven by that mighty current that set out from India towards the east.""


The U. S. Ambassador Miles Poindexter states in his book The Ayar-Incas that primitive Aryan words and people came to America especially from Indo-Arya by the island chains of Polynesia. The very name of the boat in Mexico is a South Indian (Tamil) word: Catamaran.


After 17 years of research I can now claim to have proved my theory of Hindu colonisation of America. The stones in every corner of America speak of Hindu influences.


Let us begin with the Astec calendar known as the Astec Chakra of the Hindu Astronomers. It is the foundation stone of Hindu culture in America. The ancient Americans believe in the four Hindu ages (Yugas or cycles). This Astec calendar (of Hindu origin) depicts the Hindu ages of the world. Mackenzie, author of Myths of Pre-Columbian America, says, ""The doctrine of the world's ages (Hindu Yugas) was imported into pre-Columbian America. The Mexican sequence is identical with the Hindus. It would be ridiculous to assert that such a strange doctrine was of spontaneous origin in different parts of old and new worlds."" The very sculpture of the Sun in this calendar bears the imprint of India.

Game of Pachisi


Witness the complicated game of Pachisi as it is played in India and Mexico. Seventy years ago Edward Taylor pointed out that the ancient Mexican game of Patolli was similar in its details to the game of Pachisi played in India and the whole region of Southern Asia. ""It seems clear,"" he wrote, ""that the Mexican game must have come from Asia."" Subsequently Stewart Culin showed that even the cosmic meaning of the Mexican game, its relation to the four quarters of the world and to the calendars ascribed to them was essentially the same as in Pachisi. Dr. Kroeber, leading anthroplogist of California, observes that ""the mathematical probability of two games invented separately, agreeing by chance in so many specific features, is very low. The close correspondence between the rules of the two games indicates a real connection."" Dr. Kroeber however could not find more evidence to link India with America and decided to leave the issue unsolved expressing the hope that fuller and more accurate knowledge would some day solve the dilemma. Dr. Robert Heine Geldern, the famous anthropologist of Vienna, and Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm have now presented enough evidence to support the thesis that Americans had definite cultural links with the people of South-East Asia at least 2000 years ago.


The Lotus Motif


Their researches in the last three years support the theses. I presented 26 years ago in my book Hindu America. They begin with the lotus in India and Mexico. (Lotus is one of the most sacred symbols of India. Hinduism is essentially embodied in the lotus. One of the most frequent motifs of early Indian art is the lotus plant.) The same kind of lotus motif occurs in America at Chichen Itza (Mexico) as a border in the reliefs of the lower room of the Temple of the Tigers. ""It is certainly remarkable that in India as well as in Middle America, the rhizome, a part of the plant not normally visible because it is submerged and deeply buried in mud should have been the basic element of a whole motif and, moreover, be stylized in the same unrealistic manner as an undulating creeper."" The two learned anthroplogists are definitely of the view that "" such a combination of highly specific details cannot be accidental. It suggests the existence of some kind of relationship between Maya art and not only Buddhist art in general but the school of Amravati of the second century A. D. in particular.""


The most obtrusive factor in the customs and beliefs of the Maya civilization according to experts is unquestionably Indian. Maya architecture bears unmistakable seal of Hindu architecture as you can see from the picture of Maya palaces and temples.


Atlantean figures appear in India in the second century B. C. They played an important role in Indian art and are found even on very recent Siamese temple. In America they can be seen at Thula in Central Mexico and Chichen Itza. Gods and ceremonial figures standing on crouched human figures are found in India from the second century B. C. onwards. In Central America they occurred in many Maya sculptures, especially at Palenque. From Sanchi to Central America the pattern is similar.


Those anthropologists who until yesterday completely denied any contact between ancient America and Asia are much perturbed today to find that their so-called 'cross' of Palenque (Mexico) is no longer a cross but an exact copy of the Hindu Tree of Life on Mount Meru (Sumeru), the mythological centre of the world. A representation of the Hindu Tree of Life is presented in a shadow play from Java. This depicts the Hindu celestial tree on Mount Meru. This Javanese specimen and the so-called Mexican cross have the same demonic figure in the centre and branches of the tree are clearly visible even to a layman. Javanese specimens are of course recent but the fact that the motif appears in an already highly conventionalised among the reliefs of Angkor Vat in Cambodia about the middle of the 12th century indicates that it must be of considerable antiquity. We find stairways flanked by serpent-balustrades in South-East Asia and Middle America. The use of half columns flanking the doors and of groups of small columns set in panels in characteristic of Cambodian architecture. Highly similar combinations appear in certain Maya buildings.

Common Ceremonial



Most of you in India are familiar with the Charak Puja ceremonial observed in Bengal and several States in South India. This Hindu Ceremonial also observed in Mexico historian call it the mexicon and peru. The Spanish Valador ritual. A relief of Bayon central temple of Angkor Thom in Cambodia represents a rite similar to the Mexico Valador. The use of parasol (Chhatra) is an age-old sign of royalty and rank in India, Burma, China and Japan. The Maya Astec and the Incas also used it as a sign of royalty. Frescoes of Chak Multum in Yucatan show two types of parasols both of which correspond to types still in use in South-East Asia.


In reading descriptions of the palace and court of the Astec emperors of Mexico, any one familiar with South-East Asia cannot fail to be reminded of the courts of Burma, Siam and Cambodia. The same applied to the form of government. Thus the institution of four chief officials in Mexico and Peru corresponds to the four ministers of state and Governors of the four quarters of the Kingdom in Hindu Buddist empires of South-East Asia. In both cases this institution is based on cosmological principles. This indicates similar pictorial story of the Hindu Buddist origins in the field of art, religious architecture, government, kingship, cosmology and mythology proves close cultural contacts between ancient India and countries of South-East Asia with the countries of Central and South America. Dr. Robert Gelern and Dr. Ekholm have come to the following conclusion:


""The large number of highly specific correspondences in so many fields precludes any reponsibility of mere accidental coincidence nor would it help us to take refuge in any kind of explanation based on some alleged psychological laws. There is no psychologial law which could have caused the peoples on both sides of the Pacific to stylize the lotus plant in the same manner and to make it surge from the mouth of a jawless demon's head, to invent the parasol and use it as a sign of rank and to invent the same complicated game (Pachisi). There is no explanation other than the assumption of cultural relationship. We must bow to the evidence of facts even tough this may mean a completely new start in our appraisal of the origin and development of the American Indian higher civilizations.""

The Ayar Rulers

The use of throne, the litre and of fans mounted standard like on long poles as insignia of rank and royalty in the countries of Central and South America bears the strong imprint of India. It may be observed here that the last Ayar ruler of Peru was carried in his palanquin on the day the Spaniards invaded Peru. His turban with the plume and his Mudra of the hand are unmistakable proofs of his Hindu origin. His four Ranis performed Sati after he was murdered by the Spaniards. A hundred Ayar rulers ruled Peru.


The Mexican national throne preserved in the National Museum of Mexico bears the typical Hindu Buddist disc of the Sun. The Mexicans also had the Hindu Simhasan (Lion throne). A scene of Buddha-Sangh as preserved in a relief temple in Java has its parallel in the famous pyramid temple in Piedras Negras, Guatemala. This is the finest piece of Maya sculpture in America. Is has no real incidence in Maya Arts history but it does have a remarkable similarity to a number of ""Life of Buddha reliefs"" of the Boro Budur in Java. There is no way of knowing what the subject matter of the American relief might be but the composition with the placing of the figures on several levels is very similar to the one in Java.
Images of Gods


India has the reputation to be the land of gods but Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia and Honduras had more gods and richer temples than we had in India at any time. Shiva, Ganesha, Indra, the Sun, Hanuman, Vishnu and his tortoise incarnation (Kurma Avatar) were some of the Hindu gods worshipped in central and South America. I present to you the galaxy of our Gods preserved in the museums of America. Here you can see Shiva, Ganesha and even his rat from the Inca mythology in Peru, Ganesha from the temple of Diego Riviera in Mexico City, various images of Hanuman and Shiva from the Guatemala Museum, Shiva Linga from Vera Cruz in Mexico City. The Mexican Vishnu in spite of his Mexican features can be easily recognised from the mace (Gada) and Chakra that he holds in his two hands. The image of Vishnu's tortoise incarnation preserved by the United Fruit Line in the museum at Quiragua, Guatemala, is the greatest puzzle for anthropologists. They have named this image as the Turtle Stone although any one familiar with Hindu mythology can see that it is Vishnu's Kurma Avatar (Tortoise incarnation). Indra is preserved in the Mexican National Museum as well as Vaman Avatar called the Diving God. There are two images of this Hindu God, one from Bali and the other from Mexico.

Hindu Rituals


The largest temple in Mexico City was the temple of Lord Shiva, the War God of the Mexican whom the Spanish invaders found entwined by golden snakes. This temple was built in the 15th century and had 3000 Deva-Dasis to perform religious ceremonials. The Mexican temple had the Gopuram style. Here you see a reconstruction of the same after it was destroyed by the Spaniards. The temples at Tikal in Mexico also bore the imprint of our famous temple at Madura. No wonder E. G. Squire in his American archaeological researches in 1851 wrote:


""It is believed a proper examination of these monuments would disclose the fact that in their interior structure as well as in their exterior form and obvious purposes these buildings correspond with great exactness to those of Hindustan and the Indian Archipelago.


""Sir Stamford Raflles wrote, ""The great temple of Borobudur might readily be mistaken for a Central American Temple.


""From child-birth to cremation and Sati the Astecs observed almost all Hindu rituals including the Gurukula system of education followed in India. The Incas of Peru with Ayar Brahman ancestry observed the sacred thread ceremony, the ear-piercing ceremony all other Hindu rituals and rigidly observed the caste systems of India. It is not without reason that the Spanish author Lopez says in his book Le Races Aryans de Peru : ""Every page of peruvian poetry bears the imprint of Ramayana and Mahabharata.""


Sanskrit was the sacred language of the rulers and quichua the language of Peruvians. The Aryo-Quichua vocabulary prepared by Lopez proves it.

Peru's Ancient Vedic Culture

VEDIC PERU

In the Western Hemisphere too there is evidence of Hinduism having once flourished there. In Mexico a festival is celebrated at the same time as our Navaratri; it is called “Rama-Sita”. Wherever the earth is dug up images of Ganapati are discovered here. The Aztecs had inhabited Mexico before the Spaniards conquered that land. “Aztecs “ must be a distorted form of “Astikas”. In Peru, during the time of the holy equinox [vernal?] worship was conducted in the sun temple. The people of this land were called Incas: “Ina” is one of the Sanskrit names of the sun god. Don’t we call Rama “Inakula Tilaka ?”, (Ornament of the solar dynasty.)

The Hindus were mighty navigators and pioneers of culture centuries before Columbus was born. They established their cultural empires in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, Cambodia, Champa, Annam and Siam and ruled there until after the 14^th century.

The fact that the Hindus were capable of sailing to far off countries like Mexico and Peru is proved by the official historien of Mexico, who in his book published by the Mexican Foreign Office.

“Those who first arrived on the continent later to be known as America were groups of men driven by that mighty current that set out from India towards the east.”

The U. S. Ambassador Miles Poindexter states in his book The Ayar-Incas that primitive Aryan words and people came to America especially from Indo-Arya by the island chains of Polynesia. The very name of the boat in Mexico is a South Indian (Tamil) word: Catamaran.

 
Most of you in India are familiar with the Charak Puja ceremonial observed in Bengal and several States in South India. This Hindu Ceremonial also observed in Mexico historian call it the mexicon and peru. The Spanish Valador ritual. A relief of Bayon central temple of Angkor Thom in Cambodia represents a rite similar to the Mexico Valador. The use of parasol (Chhatra) is an age-old sign of royalty and rank in India, Burma, China and Japan. The Maya Astec and the Incas also used it as a sign of royalty. Frescoes of Chak Multum in Yucatan show two types of parasols both of which correspond to types still in use in South-East Asia.

In reading descriptions of the palace and court of the Astec emperors of Mexico, any one familiar with South-East Asia cannot fail to be reminded of the courts of Burma, Siam and Cambodia. The same applied to the form of government. Thus the institution of four chief officials in Mexico and Peru corresponds to the four ministers of state and Governors of the four quarters of the Kingdom in Hindu Buddist empires of South-East Asia. In both cases this institution is based on cosmological principles. This indicates similar pictorial story of the Hindu Buddist origins in the field of art, religious architecture, government, kingship, cosmology and mythology proves close cultural contacts between ancient India and countries of South-East Asia with the countries of Central and South America. Dr. Robert Gelern and Dr. Ekholm have come to the following conclusion:

“The large number of highly specific correspondences in so many fields precludes any reponsibility of mere accidental coincidence nor would it help us to take refuge in any kind of explanation based on some alleged psychological laws. There is no psychologial law which could have caused the peoples on both sides of the Pacific to stylize the lotus plant in the same manner and to make it surge from the mouth of a jawless demon’s head, to invent the parasol and use it as a sign of rank and to invent the same complicated game (Pachisi). There is no explanation other than the assumption of cultural relationship. We must bow to the evidence of facts even tough this may mean a completely new start in our appraisal of the origin and development of the American Indian higher civilizations.”

The Ayar Rulers

The use of throne, the litre and of fans mounted standard like on long poles as insignia of rank and royalty in the countries of Central and South America bears the strong imprint of India. It may be observed here that the last Ayar ruler of Peru was carried in his palanquin on the day the Spaniards invaded Peru. His turban with the plume and his Mudra of the hand are unmistakable proofs of his Hindu origin. His four Ranis performed Sati after he was murdered by the Spaniards. A hundred Ayar rulers ruled Peru.

The Mexican national throne preserved in the National Museum of Mexico bears the typical Hindu Buddist disc of the Sun. The Mexicans also had the Hindu Simhasan (Lion throne). A scene of Buddha-Sangh as preserved in a relief temple in Java has its parallel in the famous pyramid temple in Piedras Negras, Guatemala. This is the finest piece of Maya sculpture in America. Is has no real incidence in Maya Arts history but it does have a remarkable similarity to a number of “”Life of Buddha reliefs”” of the Boro Budur in Java. There is no way of knowing what the subject matter of the American relief might be but the composition with the placing of the figures on several levels is very similar to the one in Java.

 Images of Gods

 India has the reputation to be the land of gods but Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia and Honduras had more gods and richer temples than we had in India at any time. Shiva, Ganesha, Indra, the Sun, Hanuman, Vishnu and his tortoise incarnation (Kurma Avatar) were some of the Hindu gods worshipped in central and South America. I present to you the galaxy of our Gods preserved in the museums of America. Here you can see Shiva, Ganesha and even his rat from the Inca mythology in Peru, Ganesha from the temple of Diego Riviera in Mexico City, various images of Hanuman and Shiva from the Guatemala Museum, Shiva Linga from Vera Cruz in Mexico City. The Mexican Vishnu in spite of his Mexican features can be easily recognised from the mace (Gada) and Chakra that he holds in his two hands. The image of Vishnu’s tortoise incarnation preserved by the United Fruit Line in the museum at Quiragua, Guatemala, is the greatest puzzle for anthropologists. They have named this image as the Turtle Stone although any one familiar with Hindu mythology can see that it is Vishnu’s Kurma Avatar (Tortoise incarnation). Indra is preserved in the Mexican National Museum as well as Vaman Avatar called the Diving God. There are two images of this Hindu God, one from Bali and the other from Mexico.

Hindu Rituals

The largest temple in Mexico City was the temple of Lord Shiva, the War God of the Mexican whom the Spanish invaders found entwined by golden snakes. This temple was built in the 15^th century and had 3000 Deva-Dasis to perform religious ceremonials. The Mexican temple had the Gopuram style. Here you see a reconstruction of the same after it was destroyed by the Spaniards. The temples at Tikal in Mexico also bore the imprint of our famous temple at Madura. No wonder E. G. Squire in his American archaeological researches in 1851 wrote:

“It is believed a proper examination of these monuments would disclose the fact that in their interior structure as well as in their exterior form and obvious purposes these buildings correspond with great exactness to those of Hindustan and the Indian Archipelago.


“Sir Stamford Raflles wrote, “”The great temple of Borobudur might readily be mistaken for a Central American Temple.

 “From child-birth to cremation and Sati the Astecs observed almost all Hindu rituals including the Gurukula system of education followed in India. The Incas of Peru with Ayar Brahman ancestry observed the sacred thread ceremony, the ear-piercing ceremony all other Hindu rituals and rigidly observed the caste systems of India. It is not without reason that the Spanish author Lopez says in his book Le Races Aryans de Peru : “”Every page of peruvian poetry bears the imprint of Ramayana and Mahabharata.”

Sanskrit was the sacred language of the rulers and quichua the language of Peruvians. The Aryo-Quichua vocabulary prepared by Lopez proves it.
SOURCE:http://www.jansamachar.net/display.php3?id=&num=49&lang=English

Bloodiest Story In History

The world famous historian, Will Durant has written in his Story of Civilisation that "the Mohammedan conquest of India was probably the bloodiest story in history".
India before the advent of Islamic imperialism was not exactly a zone of peace. There were plenty of wars fought by Hindu princes. But in all their wars, the Hindus had observed some time-honoured conventions sanctioned by the Sastras. The Brahmins and the Bhikshus were never molested. The cows were never killed. The temples were never touched. The chastity of women was never violated. The non-combatants were never killed or captured. A human habitation was never attacked unless it was a fort. The civil population was never plundered. War booty was an unknown item in the calculations of conquerors. The martial classes who clashed, mostly in open spaces, had a code of honor. Sacrifice of honor for victory or material gain was deemed as worse than death.
Islamic imperialism came with a different code--the Sunnah of the Prophet. It required its warriors to fall upon the helpless civil population after a decisive victory had been won on the battlefield. It required them to sack and burn down villages and towns after the defenders had died fighting or had fled. The cows, the Brahmins, and the Bhikshus invited their special attention in mass murders of non-combatants. The temples and monasteries were their special targets in an orgy of pillage and arson. Those whom they did not kill, they captured and sold as slaves. The magnitude of the booty looted even from the bodies of the dead, was a measure of the success of a military mission. And they did all this as mujahids (holy warriors) and ghazls (kafir-killers) in the service of Allah and his Last Prophet.
Hindus found it very hard to understand the psychology of this new invader. For the first time in their history, Hindus were witnessing a scene which was described by Kanhadade Prabandha (1456 AD) in the following words:
"The conquering army burnt villages, devastated the land, plundered people's wealth, took Brahmins and children and women of all classes captive, flogged with thongs of raw hide, carried a moving prison with it, and converted the prisoners into obsequious Turks."
That was written in remembrance of Alauddin Khalji's invasion of Gujarat in the year l298 AD. But the gruesome game had started three centuries earlier when Mahmud Ghaznavi had vowed to invade India every year in order to destroy idolatry, kill the kafirs, capture prisoners of war, and plunder vast wealth for which India was well-known


MAHMUD AND MASOOD GHAZNAVI


In 1000 AD Mahmud defeated Raja Jaipal, a scion of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Kabul. This dynasty had been for long the doorkeeper of India in the Northwest. Mahmud collected 250,000 dinars as indemnity. That perhaps was normal business of an empire builder. But in 1004 AD he stormed Bhatiya and plundered the place. He stayed there for some time to convert the Hindus to Islam with the help of mullahs he had brought with him.
In 1008 AD he captured Nagarkot (Kangra). The loot amounted to 70,000,000 dirhams in coins and 700,400 mans of gold and silver, besides plenty of precious stones and embroidered cloths. In 1011 AD he plundered Thanesar which was undefended, destroyed many temples, and broke a large number of idols. The chief idol, that of Chakraswamin, was taken to Ghazni and thrown into the public square for defilement under the feet of the faithful. According to Tarikh-i-Yamini of Utbi, Mahmud's secretary,
"The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously [at Thanesar] that the stream was discolored, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise he to Allah for the honor he bestows on Islam and Muslims."
In 1013 AD Mahmud advanced against Nandana where the Shahiya king, Anandapal, had established his new capital. The Hindus fought very hard but lost. Again, the temples were destroyed, and innocent citizens slaughtered. Utbi provides an account of the plunder and the prisoners of war:
"The Sultan returned in the rear of immense booty, and slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap and men of respectability in their native land were degraded by becoming slaves of common shopkeepers. But this is the goodness of Allah, who bestows honor on his own religion and degrades infidelity."
The road was now clear for an assault on the heartland of Hindustan. In December 1018 AD Mahmud crossed the Yamuna, collected 1,000,000 dirhams from Baran (Bulandshahar), and marched to Mahaban in Mathura district. Utbi records:
"The infidels...deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river...but many of them were slain, taken or drowned... Nearly fifty thousand men were killed."
Mathura was the next victim. Mahmud seized five gold idols weighing 89,300 missals and 200 silver idols. According to Utbi, "The Sultan gave orders that all the temples should be burnt with naptha and fire, and levelled with the ground." The pillage of the city continued for 20 days. Mahmud now turned towards Kanauj which had been the seat of several Hindu dynasties. Utbi continues: "In Kanauj there were nearly ten thousand temples... Many of the inhabitants of the place fled in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultan gave his soldiers leave to plunder and take prisoners."
The Brahmins of Munj, which was attacked next, fought to the last man after throwing their wives and children into fire. The fate of Asi was sealed when its ruler took fright and fled. According to Utbi, ".... the Sultan ordered that his five forts should be demolished from their foundations, the inhabitants buried in their ruins, and the soldiers of the garrison plundered, slain and captured".
Shrawa, the next important place to be invaded, met the same fate. Utbi concludes:
"The Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and worshipers of sun and fire. The friends of Allah searched the bodies of the slain for three days in order to obtain booty...The booty amounted in gold and silver, rubies and pearls nearly to three hundred thousand dirhams, and the number of prisoners may be conceived from the fact that each was sold for two to ten dirhams. These were afterwards taken to Ghazni and merchants came from distant cities to purchase them, so that the countries of Mawaraun-Nahr, Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them, and the fair and the dark, the rich and the poor, were commingled in one common slavery."
Mahmud's sack of Somnath is too well-known to be retold here. What needs emphasizing is that the fragments of the famous Sivalinga were carried to Ghazni. Some of them were turned into steps of the Jama Masjid in that city. The rest were sent to Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad to be desecrated in the same manner.

Masud could not repeat the performance due to his preoccupationMahmud's son Masud tried to follow in the footsteps of his father. In 1037 AD he succeeded in sacking the fort of Hansi which was defended very bravely by the Hindus. The Tarikh-us-Subuktigin records: "The Brahmins and other high ranking men were slain, and their women and children were carried away captive, and all the treasure which was found was distributed among the army." s elsewhere.


MUHAMMAD GHORI AND HIS LEUTENANTS

 Invasion of India by Islamic imperialism was renewed by Muhmmad Ghori in the last quarter of the 12th century. After Prithiviraj Chauhan had been defeated in 1192 AD, Ghori took Ajmer by assault.
According the Taj-ul-Ma'sir of Hasan Nizami, "While the Sultan remained at Ajmer, he destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples and built in their stead mosques and colleges and precepts of Islam, and the customs of the law were divulged and established."
Next year he defeated Jayachandra of Kanauj. A general massacre, rapine, and pillage followed. The Gahadvad treasuries at Asni and Varanasi were plundered. Hasan Nizami rejoices that "in Benares which is the centre of the country of Hind, they destroyed one thousand temples and raised mosques on their foundations".
According to Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir, "The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary."
The women and children were spared so that they could be enslaved and sold all over the Islamic world. It may be added that the Buddhist complex at Sarnath was sacked at this time, and the Bhikshus were slaughtered.
Ghori's lieutenant Qutbuddin Aibak was also busy meanwhile. Hasan Nizami writes that after the suppression of a Hindu revolt at Kol (modern day Aligarh) in 1193 AD, Aibak raised "three bastions as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became food for beasts of prey. The tract was freed from idols and idol worship and the foundations of infidelism were destroyed."
In 1194 AD Aibak destroyed 27 Hindu temples at Delhi and built the Quwwat-ul-lslam mosque with their debris. According to Nizami, Aibak "adorned it with the stones and gold obtained from the temples which had been demolished by elephants".
In 1195 AD the Mher tribe of Ajmer rose in revolt, and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat came to their assistance. Aibak had to invite reinforcements from Ghazni before he could meet the challenge. In 1196 AD he advanced against Anahilwar Patan, the capital of Gujarat. Nizami writes that after Raja Karan was defeated and forced to flee, "fifty thousand infidels were dispatched to hell by the sword" and "more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors".
The city was sacked, its temples demolished, and its palaces plundered. On his return to Ajmer, Aibak destroyed the Sanskrit College of Visaladeva, and laid the foundations of a mosque which came to be known as 'Adhai Din ka Jhompada'.
Conquest of Kalinjar in 1202 AD was Aibak's crowning achievement. Nizami concludes: "The temples were converted into mosques... Fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus."
A free-lance adventurer, Muhammad Bakhtyar Khalji, was moving further east. In 1200 AD he sacked the undefended university town of Odantpuri in Bihar and massacred the Buddhist monks in the monasteries. In 1202 AD he took Nadiya by surprise. Badauni records in his Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh that "property and booty beyond computation fell into the hands of the Muslims and Muhammad Bakhtyar having destroyed the places of worship and idol temples of the infidels founded mosques and Khanqahs".


THE SLAVE (MAMLUK) SULTANS

Shamsuddin Iltutmish who succeeded Aibak at Delhi invaded Malwa in 1234 AD. He destroyed an ancient temple at Vidisha. Badauni reports in his 'Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh':
"Having destroyed the idol temple of Ujjain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was called Mahakal, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image of Rai Vikramajit from whom the Hindus reckon their era, and brought certain images of cast molten brass and placed them on the ground in front of the doors of mosques of old Delhi, and ordered the people of trample them under foot."
Muslim power in India suffered a serious setback after Iltutmish. Balkan had to battle against a revival of Hindu power. The Katehar Rajputs of what came to be known as Rohilkhand in later history, had so far refused to submit to Islamic imperialism. Balkan led an expedition across the Ganges in 1254 AD. According to Badauni,
"In two days after leaving Delhi, he arrived in the midst of the territory of Katihar and put to death every male, even those of eight years of age, and bound the women."
But in spite of such wanton cruelty, Muslim power continued to decline till the Khaljis revived it after 1290 AD.

THE KHALJIS

Jalaluddin Khalji led an expedition to Ranthambhor in 1291 AD. On the way he destroyed Hindu temples at Chain. The broken idols were sent to Delhi to be spread before the gates of the Jama Masjid. His nephew Alauddin led an expedition to Vidisha in 1292 AD. According to Badauni in Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, Alauddin "brought much booty to the Sultan and the idol which was the object of worship of the Hindus, he caused to be cast in front of the Badaun gate to be trampled upon by the people. The services of Alauddin were highly appreciated, the jagir of Oudh (or Avadh - Central U.P.) also was added to his other estates."
Alauddin became Sultan in 1296 AD after murdering his uncle and father-in-law, Jalaluddin. In 1298 AD he equipped an expedition to Gujarat under his generals Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. The invaders plundered the ports of Surat and Cambay. The temple of Somnath, which had been rebuilt by the Hindus, was plundered and the idol taken to Delhi for being trodden upon by the Muslims. The whole region was subjected to fire and sword, and Hindus were slaughtered en masse. Kampala Devi, the queen of Gujarat, was captured along with the royal treasury, brought to Delhi and forced into Alauddin's harem. The doings of the Malik Naib during his expedition to South India in 1310-1311 AD have already mentioned in earlier parts.

THE TUGHLAQS

Muslim power again suffered a setback after the death of Alauddin Khalji in 1316 AD. But it was soon revived by the Tughlaqs. By now most of the famous temples over the length and breadth of the Islamic occupation in India had been demolished, except in Orissa and Rajasthan which had retained their independence. By now most of the rich treasuries had been plundered and shared between the Islamic state and its swordsmen. Firuz Shah Tughlaq led an expedition to Orissa in 1360 AD. He destroyed the temple of Jagannath at Puri, and desecrated many other Hindu shrines. According to 'Sirat-i-Firoz Shahi' which he himself wrote or dictated,
"Allah who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islam with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction he ordered the image of Jagannath to be perforated, and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jajnagar and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannath, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and the way of the 'musallis' (Muslim congregation for namaz) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images might be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims."
After the sack of the temples in Orissa, Firoz Shah Tughlaq attacked an island on the sea-coast where "nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations". The swordsmen of Islam turned "the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers".
A worse fate overtook the Hindu women. Sirat-i-Firuz Shahs records: "Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier."
Still more horrible scenes were enacted by Firuz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot (Kangra) where he sacked the shrine of Jvalamukhi. Firishta records that the Sultan "broke the idols of Jvalamukhi, mixed their fragments with the flesh of cows and hung them in nose bags round the necks of Brahmins. He sent the principal idol as trophy to Medina."


THE PROVINCIAL MUSLIM SATRAPS

In 1931 AD the Muslims of Gujarat complained to Nasiruddin Muhammad, the Tughlaq Sultan of Delhi, that the local governor, Kurhat-ul-Mulk, was practising tolerance towards the Hindus. The Sultan immediately appointed Muzzaffar Khan as the new Governor. He became independent after the death of the Delhi Sultan and assumed the title of Muzzaffar Shah in 1392 AD. Next year he led an expidition to Somnath and sacked the temple which the Hindus had built once again. He killed many Hindus to chastise them for this "impudence," and raised a mosque on the site of the ancient temple. The Hindus, however, restarted restoring the temple soon after. In 1401 AD Muzaffar came back with a huge army. He again killed many Hindus, demolished the temple once more, and erected another mosque.
Muzaffar was succeeded by his grandson, Ahmad Shah, in 1411 AD. Three years later Ahmad appointed a special darogah to destroy all temples throughout Gujarat. In 1415 AD Ahmad invaded Sidhpur where he destroyed the images in Rudramahalaya, and converted the grand temple into a mosque. Sidhpur was renamed Sayyadpur.
Mahmud Begrha who became the Sultan of Gujarat in 1458 AD was the worst fanatic of this dynasty. One of his vassals was the Mandalika of Junagadh who had never withheld the regular tribute. Yet in 1469 AD Mahmud invaded Junagadh. In reply to the Mandalika's protests, Mahmud said that he was not interested in money as much as in the spread of Islam. The Mandalika was forcibly converted to Islam and Junagadh was renamed Mustafabad. In 1472 AD Mahmud attacked Dwarka, destroyed the local temples, and plundered the city. Raja Jaya Singh, the ruler of Champaner, and his minister were murdered by Mahmud in cold blood for refusing to embrace Islam after they had been defeated and their country pillaged and plundered. Champaner was renamed Mahmudabad.
Mahmud Khalji of Malwa (1436-69 AD) also destroyed Hindu temples and built mosques on their sites. He heaped many more insults on the Hindus. Ilyas Shah of Bengal (1339-1379 AD) invaded Nepal and destroyed the temple of Svayambhunath at Kathmandu. He also invaded Orissa, demolished many temples, and plundered many places. The Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga and Bidar considered it meritorious to kill a hundred thousand Hindu men, women, and children every year. They demolished and desecrated temples all over South India.

AMlR TIMUR

The climax came during the invasion of Timur in 1399 AD. He starts by quoting the Quran in his Tuzk-i-Timuri: "O Prophet, make war upon the infidels and unbelievers, and treat them severely."
He continues: "My great object in invading Hindustan had been to wage a religious war against the infidel Hindus...[so that] the army of Islam might gain something by plundering the wealth and valuables of the Hindus." To start with he stormed the fort of Kator on the border of Kashmir. He ordered his soldiers "to kill all the men, to make prisoners of women and children, and to plunder and lay waste all their property". Next, he "directed towers to be built on the mountain of the skulls of those obstinate unbelievers". Soon after, he laid siege to Bhatnir defended by Rajputs. They surrendered after some fight, and were pardoned. But Islam did not bind Timur to keep his word given to the "unbelievers". His Tuzk-i-Timuri records:
"In a short space of time all the people in the fort were put to the sword, and in the course of one hour the heads of 10,000 infidels were cut off. The sword of Islam was washed in the blood of the infidels, and all the goods and effects, the treasure and the grain which for many a long year had been stored in the fort became the spoil of my soldiers. They set fire to the houses and reduced them to ashes, and they razed the buildings and the fort to the ground."
At Sarsuti, the next city to be sacked, "all these infidel Hindus were slain, their wives and children were made prisoners and their property and goods became the spoil of the victors". Timur was now moving through (modern day) Haryana, the land of the Jats. He directed his soldiers to "plunder and destroy and kill every one whom they met". And so the soldiers "plundered every village, killed the men, and carried a number of Hindu prisoners, both male and female".
Loni which was captured before he arrived at Delhi was predominantly a Hindu town. But some Muslim inhabitants were also taken prisoners. Timur ordered that "the Musulman prisoners should be separated and saved, but the infidels should all be dispatched to hell with the proselytizing sword".
By now Timur had captured 100,000 Hindus. As he prepared for battle against the Tughlaq army after crossing the Yamuna, his Amirs advised him "that on the great day of battle these 100,000 prisoners could not be left with the baggage, and that it would be entirely opposed to the rules of war to set these idolators and enemies of Islam at liberty". Therefore, "no other course remained but that of making them all food for the sword".
Tuzk-i-Timuri continues:
"I proclaimed throughout the camp that every man who had infidel prisoners should put them to death, and whoever neglected to do so should himself be executed and his property given to the informer. When this order became known to the ghazis of Islam, they drew their swords and put their prisoners to death. One hundred thousand infidels, impious idolators, were on that day slain. Maulana Nasiruddin Umar, a counselor and man of learning, who, in all his life, had never killed a sparrow, now, in execution of my order, slew with his sword fifteen idolatrous Hindus, who were his captives."
The Tughlaq army was defeated in the battle that ensued next day. Timur entered Delhi and learnt that a "great number of Hindus with their wives and children, and goods and valuables, had come into the city from all the country round".
He directed his soldiers to seize these Hindus and their property. Tuzk-i-Timuri concludes:
"Many of them (Hindus) drew their swords and resisted...The flames of strife were thus lighted and spread through the whole city from Jahanpanah and Siri to Old Delhi, burning up all it reached. The Hindus set fire to their houses with their own hands, burned their wives and children in them and rushed into the fight and were killed...On that day, Thursday, and all the night of Friday, nearly 15,000 Turks were engaged in slaying, plundering and destroying. When morning broke on Friday, all my army ...went off to the city and thought of nothing but killing, plundering and making prisoners....The following day, Saturday the 17th, all passed in the same way, and the spoil was so great.that each man secured from fifty to a hundred prisoners, men, women, and children. There was no man who took less than twenty. The other booty was immense in rubies, diamonds, garnets, pearls, and other gems and jewels; ashrafis, tankas of gold and silver of the celebrated Alai coinage: vessels of gold and silver; and brocades and silks of great value. Gold and silver ornaments of Hindu women were obtained in such quantities as to exceed all account. Excepting the quarter of the Saiyids, the Ulama and the other Musulmans, the whole city was sacked."

4 Vedas

The Vedic literature is composed of many books. The oldest texts are the Rig-veda, Yajur-veda, Sama-veda, and the Atharva-veda..
"Anantah vai Vedah", the Vedas are unending. The seers have, however, revealed to us only a small part of them but it is sufficient for our welfare in this world and next. We are not going to create many universes like Brahma that we should know all the Vedas. We need to know only as many as are necessary to ensure our good in this world.
In each of the four Vedas there are different "pathas" and "pathabhedas" or "pathantaras". Each pathantra or each version is called a sakha or recension. The various sakhas are branches of the Vedic tree, indeed a great tree like the Adyar banyan [in Madras]. The branches big and small belong to one or another of the four Vedas, Rg, Yajur, Saman and Atharvan.
In the Rgveda itself the Yajurveda and the Samaveda are mentioned in a number of passages. In Purusasuktha occuring in the Rgveda (tenth mandala, 90th suktha) there is a reference to the other Vedas. We learn from this, don't we, that one Veda does not belong to a period prior to, or later than another?
I stated that each recension consisted of the Samhita, the Brahmana and the Aranyaka. When we speak of "Veda-adhyayana" (the study or chanting of the Vedas) we normally have in mind the Samhita part only. When we bring out a book consisting of the Samhita alone of the Rgveda we still call it the "Rgveda". The Samhita is indeed the very basis of asakha, its life-breath. The word means "systematised and collected together".
The Rgveda Samhita as all in the form of poetry. What came to be saled "sloka" in later times is the"rk" of the Vedas. "Rk" means a "stotra", a hymn. The Rgveda Samhita is made up entirely of hymns in praise of various deities. Each rk is a mantra and a number of rks in praise of a deity constitute a sukta.
The Rgveda, that is its Samhita, has 10, 170 rks and 1, 028 suktas. It is divided into ten mandalas or eight astakas. It begins with a sukta to Agni and concludes with as ukta to the same deity. The concluding sukta of the Rgveda contains a hymn "May mankind be of one mind, " it goes. "May it have a common goal. May all hearts be united in love. And with the mind and the goal being one may all of us live in happiness. "

 Yajur Veda

"Yajus" is derived from the word "yaj" meaning "to worship". "Yajna" (as we have already noted) is also from the same root. Just as "rk" means a hymn, "yajus" means the worship associated with sacrifices. The chief purpose of the Yajurveda is the practical application of the Rgvedic hymns in the religious work called yajna or sacrifice. The Yajurveda describes in prose the actual conduct of the rites. If the Rgveda serves the purpose of adoring deities verbally the Yajurveda serves the same purpose through rites.
The Yajurveda is different from the other Vedas in that it may be said to be divided into two Vedas which are considerably different from one another: the Sukla-Yajurveda and the Krsna-Yajurveda. "Sukla" means white, while "Krsna" means black. The Samhita of the Sukls-Yajurveda is also called "Vajasaneyi Samhita". "Vajasaneyi" is one of the names of the sun god. It was the sun god who taught this Samhita to the sage Yajnavalkya. In the Krsna-Yajurveda, the Samhita and the abrahmanas do not form entirely different parts. The Brahmanas are appended here and there to the mantras of the Samhita.
The glory of the Rgveda is that it is replete with hymns to all deities. Scholars are of the opinion, besides, it contains teachings for our life. The wedding rites are based on tht part of this Veda which pertains to the marriage of the daughter of the sun god. There are also passages of a dramatic character like the dialogue between Pururavas and Urvasi. In later times Kalidasa based one of his dramatic works on this [the Vikramorvasiyam]. The hymn to Usas, the goddess of dawn, and similiar mantras are considered to be of high poetic beauty by men of aesthetic discernment.
Since the Rgveda is placed first among the four Vedas it must naturally have an exalted position. It is the matrix of the works (karma) of the Yajurveda and the songs of the Samaveda.
The importance of the Yajurveda is that it systematises the karmayoga, the path of works. The Tattitiriya Samhita of the Krsna-Yajurveda deals with sacrifices like darsa-purnamasa, somayaga, vajapeya, rajasuya, asvamedha. Besides it has a number of hymnic mantras of a high order not found in the Rgveda. For example, the popular Sri Rudra mantras are from the Yajurveda. The Rgveda does contain five suktas known as "Pancarudra", but when we mention Sri Rudra we at once think of the mantras to this deity in the Yajurveda. That is why a supreme Saiva like Appayya Diksita laments that he was not born a Yajurvedin - he was a Samavedin.

Sama Veda

"Sama" denotes that which brings equipoise or tranquillity to the mind. There are four well-known ways of dealing with an opponent or rival: sama, dana, bheda and danda. The first method is that of conciliation, making an enemy a friend through affection. THe Samaveda enables us to befriend the divine forces, even the Paramatman. How do we make a person happy? By praising him. If the panegyricis set to music and sung he would be doubly pleased. Many of the mantras of the Rgveda are intoned with a cadence in the Samaveda; thus we have Samagana. While the rks are chanted with the tonal differences of udatta, anudatta and svarita, the samans are intoned musically according to certain rules. Our music, based on the seven notes (saptasvara), has its origin in Samaveda. All deities are pleased with Samagana. We become recipients of their grace not only through the offerings made in the sacrificial fire but through the intoning of the samans by the udgata. Samagana is particularly important to soma sacrifices in which the essence of the soma plant is offered as oblation.
Though the samans are indeed Rgvedic mantras, they are specially capable of pleasing the deities and creating Atmic uplift because they are intoned musically. This is what gives distinction to the Samaveda. Sri Krsna Paramatman says in the Gita : "Vedanam Samavedosmi"(Of Vedas Iam samaveda). The Lord is everything, including good as well as bad. Even so, as he speaks to Arjuna about the things in which his divine quality specially shines forth, he mentions the Samaveda among them. In the Lalitha-Sahasranama (The One Thousand Names of the Goddess Lalitha), Amba has the name of "Samagana-priya (one who delights in Samagana); she is not called "Rgveda-priya" or "Yajurveda-priya". Syamasastri refers to the Goddess Minaksi as "Samagana-vinodhini" in one of his compositions. In the Siva-astottaram ["Siva astottara-satam, the 108 names of Siva], Siva is worshipped thus:"Samapriyaya namah" And all three have a special relationship with Samaveda.


Atharvana Veda


"Atharvan" means a purohita, a priest. There was a sage with this name. That which was revealed by the seer Athrvan is the Atharvaveda. It contains mantras with which one wards off misfortunes and disasters and brings about the destruction of one's enemies. The Atharvaveda is a mixture of prose and poetry. The mantras of other Vedas also serve the same purpose as those of the Atharvaveda. But what is special about the latter is that it has references to deities not mentioned in the others and has mantras addressed to fierce spirits. What has come to be known as "mantrikam" (magical rites) has its source in this Veda.
But it is to be noted that the Atharvaveda also contains mantras that speak of lofty truths. It has the Prithvi-sukta, the hymn to earth, which glorifies this planet with all its creatures.
The Atharvaveda is noteworthy for the fact that the brahma, the supervisor of sacrifices, is its representative .But we must remember that of the ten important Upanishads three belong to this Veda - Prasna, Mundaka and Mandukya. It is believed that those who seek liberation need nothing to realise their goal other than Madukya Upanishad.
Gayatri is the mantra of mantras and it is believed to be the essence of the three Vedas - which means that the Atharvaveda is excluded here. According to one view, before he starts learning the Atharvaveda, a brahmacharin must go through a second upanayana ceremony. Generaly, the Gayatri imparted to a child at Brahmopadesa ceremony is called "Tripada- Gayatri" - it is so called because it has three padas or three feet. Each foot encompasses the essential spirit of one Veda, The Atharvaveda has a seperate Gayatri and if people belonging to other Vedas want to learn this Veda they have to go through a second upanayana to receive instruction in it. For the followers of the first three Vedas, however there is only one Gayatri and those belonging to any one of them can learn the other two Vedas without another upanayana.