Those who forget history.

[sandesh]

by B. Shantanu

 

        Those who forget history…
29 August 2011
…are condemned to repeat it…Several weeks ago, I chanced upon the NCERT website with links to “History” text-books for middle school students in India. Curiousity led me to download some of the chapters from the text book for students of Class VII. I was angry and sad at what I discovered.

 

The tales of Rajput valour and their determined resistance against the Mughals find no mention in this History text for students of Class VII (Age 12-14). There is no mention of the three Jauhars of Chittor (or of the more than 30,000 that were massacred following the fall of Chittor). The story of the one who refused to bow down appears to have been erased from the “official” version of history. The exploits of MahaRana Pratap will remain alien to these students…

 

What they will learn about instead are the kind and gentle-hearted Mughals and their buildings and architecture – written in a style that induces awe and suggests admiration. As an example, read this bit about the Qutub Minar:

 

Notice that the surface of the minar is curved and angular. Placing an inscription on sucha surface required great precision. Only the mostskilled craftsperson could perform this task.Remember that very few buildings were made of stoneor brick 800 years ago. What would have been theimpact of a building like the Qutb Minar on observersin the thirteenth century? (Pg60, Chapter 5)

 

What the text book delicately avoids mentioning is the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque that was built from parts taken by destroying  27 Hindu and Jain temples that stood in the complex (pl see image below).

 

 

 

But the negationism does not end there. Under a section titled, “Why were Temples Destroyed?“, the text-book has several paragraphs devoted to why temples were attacked by kings and rulers (emphasis added):

 

Because kings built temples to demonstrate their devotion to God and their power and wealth, it is not surprising that when they attacked one another’s kingdoms, they often targeted these buildings.

 

In the early ninth century when the Pandyan king Shrimara Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka..the Buddhist monk andchronicler Dhammakitti noted: “he removed all thevaluables … The statue of the Buddha made entirelyof gold in the Jewel Palace … and the golden images in the various monasteries – all these he seized.”

 

The blow to the pride of the Sinhalese ruler had to be avengedand the next Sinhalese ruler, Sena II, ordered his general to invade Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.The Buddhist chronicler noted that the expedition made a special effort to find and restore the gold statue of the Buddha.

 

Similarly in the early eleventh century, when the Chola king Rajendra I built a Shiva temple in his capital he filled it with prized statues seized from defeated rulers.

 

And then slyly,

 

Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a contemporary of Rajendra I. During his campaigns in the subcontinent he also attacked the temples of defeated kings and looted their wealth and idols. Sultan Mahmud was not a very important ruler at that time. But by destroying temples – especially the one at Somnath – he tried to win credit as a great hero of Islam. In the political culture of the Middle Ages most rulers displayed their political might and military success by attacking and looting the places of worship of defeated rulers.

 

As expected no evidence is cited, nor is any record mentioned of a single temple razed & destroyed by Hindu kings of that age (or of any previous age). But there appears to be almost complete amnesia about the thousands of temples that were systematically razed to ground and/or converted into mosques by invading armies and the then Islamic rulers of India (as an aside, a good reference for this is “Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them?“).

 

Is it because of the demons from the past? Or is there something else?

 

In Part II: Of great Mughals and a Maratha chieftain

 

Of great Mughals and a Maratha chieftain
2 September 2011

 

In Part I, we read how the history taught to young minds has been deliberately twisted and distorted -presumably in the interest of maintaining peace and harmony. Continuing in the same vein, today a look at the Mughals – “descendants of two great lineages of rulers” and a “chieftain“ who established an empire that effectively de-throned the Mughals and rivaled the Mughals at its peak.

 

The “chieftain” is a reference to Chhatrapati Shivaji MahaRaj. My simple dictionary tells me that a “chieftain” is usually a leader of a group, clan or tribe. Anyone who has studied the history of that age will readily agree that Chhatrapati Shivaji MahaRaj was more – a lot more – than merely a leader of a clan or a tribe. Having dismissed Chhatrapati Shivaji as a “Maratha Chieftain”, the text devotes an entire chapter (Ch 4) to the Mughal empire. No mention of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s exploits – or any description of the Maratha Empire.  No mention of  war that lasted 27 years – and was probably the longest war ever fought in the history of India. No mention of the fact that at its height, the Maratha empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 m km² (compared to 3.2m km² under the Mughal Empire at its peak).

 

 

 

And while we are at it, no mention of the forgotten empire that lasted almost as long as the Mughals - the Vijayanagar Empire in south India. No mention of the state that defeated seventeen successive attempts by the Delhi Sultans and Mughals to bring it under their rule..No mention of the Battle of Saraighat and the heroic story of Lachit Barphukan.  No mention of the Battle of Bahraich..

 

You see – such stories interrupt the smooth narrative of “harmony and peace” and could disrupt the “secular fabric of the nation“. Why create unnecessary trouble? Why bother with demons from the past?

 

No wonder entire generations of Indians grow up having little sense of history – or self-worth and self-esteem. The way the text book is written you would be forgiven for thinking that ”India” did not exist before the Mughals came – and it only became “India” after the British. The rest of “Indian History” would merely appear as stories about the Vijayanagar kings, about the Rajputs, about the Marathas, about the Sikhs – but nothing about the “Indians”. And a child would be forgiven for wondering who were these “Indians”? No wonder that most Indians are clueless about why this land is called by a foreign name – instead of being called “Bharat”.

 

But beware..as George Santayana wrote:

 

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to fulfill it.

[seema]

really a true article. while helping my children in studies, i too
notice such things .v cunningly these history books contain only
illogical n boring topics that a child loses his interest in
history .but one thing is sure that truth cant be hidden for a long
time .like when i listened rajiv dixitji .my ideology was changed , so
our present generation will also come to know the truth one day.
we cant expect anything good from this present congress govt.
children are given project works on ancient india .when they try to
find some information on google ,then there are many sites by
wikepedia which are full of fake informations about india. NO HOPE.

On Sep 7, 2:06 pm, "sandesh" <sandeshnaray...@gmail.com> wrote:
> by B. Shantanu
>

>         Those who forget history.
> 29 August 2011
> .are condemned to repeat it.Several weeks ago, I chanced upon the NCERT website with links to "History" text-books for middle school students in India. Curiousity led me to download some of the chapters from the text book for students of Class VII. I was angry and sad at what I discovered.
>
> The tales of Rajput valour and their determined resistance against the Mughals find no mention in this History text for students of Class VII (Age 12-14). There is no mention of the three Jauhars of Chittor (or of the more than 30,000 that were massacred following the fall of Chittor). The story of the one who refused to bow down appears to have been erased from the "official" version of history. The exploits of MahaRana Pratap will remain alien to these students.
>
> What they will learn about instead are the kind and gentle-hearted Mughals and their buildings and architecture - written in a style that induces awe and suggests admiration. As an example, read this bit about the Qutub Minar:

>
> Notice that the surface of the minar is curved and angular. Placing an inscription on sucha surface required great precision. Only the mostskilled craftsperson could perform this task.Remember that very few buildings were made of stoneor brick 800 years ago. What would have been theimpact of a building like the Qutb Minar on observersin the thirteenth century? (Pg60, Chapter 5)
>
> What the text book delicately avoids mentioning is the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque that was built from parts taken by destroying  27 Hindu and Jain temples that stood in the complex (pl see image below).
>
> But the negationism does not end there. Under a section titled, "Why were Temples Destroyed?", the text-book has several paragraphs devoted to why temples were attacked by kings and rulers (emphasis added):
>
> Because kings built temples to demonstrate their devotion to God and their power and wealth, it is not surprising that when they attacked one another's kingdoms, they often targeted these buildings.
>

> In the early ninth century when the Pandyan king Shrimara Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka..the Buddhist monk andchronicler Dhammakitti noted: "he removed all thevaluables . The statue of the Buddha made entirelyof gold in the Jewel Palace . and the golden images in the various monasteries - all these he seized."

>
> The blow to the pride of the Sinhalese ruler had to be avengedand the next Sinhalese ruler, Sena II, ordered his general to invade Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.The Buddhist chronicler noted that the expedition made a special effort to find and restore the gold statue of the Buddha.
>
> Similarly in the early eleventh century, when the Chola king Rajendra I built a Shiva temple in his capital he filled it with prized statues seized from defeated rulers.
>
> And then slyly,
>

> Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a contemporary of Rajendra I. During his campaigns in the subcontinent he also attacked the temples of defeated kings and looted their wealth and idols. Sultan Mahmud was not a very important ruler at that time. But by destroying temples - especially the one at Somnath - he tried to win credit as a great hero of Islam. In the political culture of the Middle Ages most rulers displayed their political might and military success by attacking and looting the places of worship of defeated rulers.

>
> As expected no evidence is cited, nor is any record mentioned of a single temple razed & destroyed by Hindu kings of that age (or of any previous age). But there appears to be almost complete amnesia about the thousands of temples that were systematically razed to ground and/or converted into mosques by invading armies and the then Islamic rulers of India (as an aside, a good reference for this is "Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them?").
>
> Is it because of the demons from the past? Or is there something else?
>
> In Part II: Of great Mughals and a Maratha chieftain
>
> Of great Mughals and a Maratha chieftain
> 2 September 2011
>

> In Part I, we read how the history taught to young minds has been deliberately twisted and distorted -presumably in the interest of maintaining peace and harmony. Continuing in the same vein, today a look at the Mughals - "descendants of two great lineages of rulers" and a "chieftain" who established an empire that effectively de-throned the Mughals and rivaled the Mughals at its peak.
>
> The "chieftain" is a reference to Chhatrapati Shivaji MahaRaj. My simple dictionary tells me that a "chieftain" is usually a leader of a group, clan or tribe. Anyone who has studied the history of that age will readily agree that Chhatrapati Shivaji MahaRaj was more - a lot more - than merely a leader of a clan or a tribe. Having dismissed Chhatrapati Shivaji as a "Maratha Chieftain", the text devotes an entire chapter (Ch 4) to the Mughal empire. No mention of Chhatrapati Shivaji's exploits - or any description of the Maratha Empire.  No mention of  war that lasted 27 years - and was probably the longest war ever fought in the history of India. No mention of the fact that at its height, the Maratha empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 m km² (compared to 3.2m km² under the Mughal Empire at its peak).

>
> And while we are at it, no mention of the forgotten empire that lasted almost as long as the Mughals - the Vijayanagar Empire in south India. No mention of the state that defeated seventeen successive attempts by the Delhi Sultans and Mughals to bring it under their rule..No mention of the Battle of Saraighat and the heroic story of Lachit Barphukan.  No mention of the Battle of Bahraich..
>

> You see - such stories interrupt the smooth narrative of "harmony and peace" and could disrupt the "secular fabric of the nation". Why create unnecessary trouble? Why bother with demons from the past?
>
> No wonder entire generations of Indians grow up having little sense of history - or self-worth and self-esteem. The way the text book is written you would be forgiven for thinking that "India" did not exist before the Mughals came - and it only became "India" after the British. The rest of "Indian History" would merely appear as stories about the Vijayanagar kings, about the Rajputs, about the Marathas, about the Sikhs - but nothing about the "Indians". And a child would be forgiven for wondering who were these "Indians"? No wonder that most Indians are clueless about why this land is called by a foreign name - instead of being called "Bharat".

[sandesh]

exactly.
but still, i would say that it's our responsibility now to make known the
real history to our younger generations.
Jay Hind

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[rakesh kuksal]

बड़ी करंसी के नोट (१०००, ५००, और १००)  छापना बंद कर दीजिये, आतंकवाद व बम फटनें  बंद हो जायेंगे. इन्हीं बड़े नोटों में आतंकवादियों को धन दिया जाता है

लेकिन हमारी सरकार नहीं चाहती की आतंकवाद ख़तम हो इसी के सहारे इनको अपनीं राजनीती चमकानिं होती है .

 

[विक्की हिन्दुस्तानी]

ॐ,

मै इस मामले में अपने आपको खुशकिस्मत मानता हूँ कि मैंने अपनी प्रारंभिक शिक्षा "सरस्वती विद्या मंदिर" से की जहाँ इतिहास को विकृत रूप से नहीं पढाया जाता बल्कि रास्ट्रवादी, स्वर्णिम अतीत एवं हमारे महान नायकों के प्रति गर्व की सोच विकसित की जाती है.

 

I consider myself fortunate in this matter that I have studied in Saraswati Vidya Mandir where history is not molded to suit pseudo secular social structure rather real history is taught glorifying our great golden history & our great historical personalities.

जय भारत

On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 2:32 PM, sandesh <sandesh...@gmail.com> wrote:

exactly.
but still, i would say that it's our responsibility now to make known the real history to our younger generations.
Jay Hind
----- Original Message ----- From: "seema" <sonan...@yahoo.in>

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विषिस्ट सदस्य , भारत स्वाभिमान    

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[ANIL GAIKWAD (WWW.SAYBHARATNOW.HPAGE.COM)]

ॐ
जय भारत
प्रिय राकेश जी मै आपसे १०००% सहमत हूँ लेकिन प्रश्न ये है की वर्तमान सरकार किसी भी कीमत पर छापना बंद नहीं करेगी इसका एक ही उपाय है जो मुझे समझ आता है ....आपकी प्रतिक्रिया चाहूँगा.. जय भारत
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=265120860182065

जब तक "भारत स्वाभिमान सेना" के लोग संसद में नहीं बैठेगे तब तक व्यवस्था परिवर्तन असंभव है.

JAI BHARAT

1. इतिहास गवाह है बिना राजनीती और कूटनीति के दुष्टों का अंत असंभव है. भगवान श्री कृष्ण की निति के बिना दुर्योधन का अंत असंभव था. मात्र ५ पांड्वो की सहायता से १०० कौरवो का अंत किया था, कैसे ?? प्रभु श्रीराम ने भी राजनीती से बाली का वध किया था. श्री हनुमानजी और विभीषण के बिना रावण का वध असंभव था अत: दुष्टों का अंत करने और वर्तमान व्यवस्था परिवर्तन हेतु देशभक्तों का राजनीती करना कोई गुनाह नहीं है. (भारत स्वाभिमान सेना..... )

 

2. कानून सड़क पर नहीं संसद में बनते है मेरे लेख को समझिये मै बाबा को चुनाव लड़ने के लिए नहीं कह रहा हूँ लेकिन बाबा को एक चन्द्रगुप्त खोजना होगा एक दल बनाना होगा जिसका नाम होना चाहिए "भारत स्वाभिमान सेना " क्या बीजेपी बाबा के सपनो को पूरा करेगी ? आज बाबा का राजनैतिक दल होता तो क्या बाबा को कोई हाथ लगा सकता था ? क्या सीबीआई उनके पीछे पड़ी होती ? कभी नहीं .... जब तक "भारत स्वाभिमान सेना" के लोग संसद में नहीं बैठेगे तब तक व्यवस्था परिवर्तन असंभव है....BSS

 3.बिना राजनीती के व्यवस्था परिवर्तन असंभव है, क्या बिना चाणक्य के क्या चंदगुप्त राजा बन पाता ?, क्या बिना राजनीती के क्या मायावती रानी बन पाती ?, रामलीला मैदान में यदि बाबा को कुछ हो जाता तो हम क्या कर लेते ? यदि भारत स्वाभिमान के सदस्य संसद में बैठेगे तभी हम नए कानून बना सकते है सड़क पर चिल्ला कर हमने देख लिया नतीजा आपके सामने है. अच्छे लोग राजनीती में इसलिए नहीं आते क्योकि कोई अच्छा दल नहीं है जब हम एक विदेशी महिला का हुक्म मानते है तब हमारे बाबा रामदेवजी का मार्गदर्शन क्यों नहीं मान सकते... दुष्टों से याचना करना व्यर्थ है ......

 4. बीजेपी भी बाबा को तभी साथ देगी जब बाबा के पास चुनाव आयोग से "भारत स्वाभिमान सेना" का पंजीकृत प्रमाण पत्र होगा जैसे महाराष्ट्र में शिव सेना के साथ गठबंधन है

 5. परमपूज्य आदरणीय श्री रामदेव बाबा जी से विनम्र निवेदन की अब समय आ गया की आपके मार्गदर्शन में एक राजनैतिक दल का उदय होना चाहिए जिसका नाम हो (भारत स्वाभिमान सेना ) तभी हम वर्तमान व्यवस्था बदल सकते है, अन्यथा कभी नहीं...... क्या मै सही हूँ ..... http://saybharatnow.hpage.com/

 saybharatnow.hpage.com

अब भारत बोलो SAY BHARAT NOW

2011/9/8 rakesh kuksal <rku...@yahoo.com>

बड़ी करंसी के नोट (१०००, ५००, और १००)  छापना बंद कर दीजिये, आतंकवाद व बम फटनें  बंद हो जायेंगे. इन्हीं बड़े नोटों में आतंकवादियों को धन दिया जाता है

लेकिन हमारी सरकार नहीं चाहती की आतंकवाद ख़तम हो इसी के सहारे इनको अपनीं राजनीती चमकानिं होती है .

 

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