History of Hindu HeroismA QUICK CHRONICLE OF ALL THOSE HINDU BRAVEHEARTS WHO FOR OVER 550 YEARS FOUGHT ISLAMIZATION AND PAID WITH THEIR LIVES TO KEEP OUR RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY ALIVE

You Must KnowMohammad Ghori

Mohammad Ghazni

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq

Ala-ud-din Khilji

Babur

Akbar

Shah Jahan

Jahangir

Aurangzeb

Tipu Sultan

You must have… Nodded yes to all these names

Remembered your history books talking about them

Remembered some monuments named after them

Thought about all aesthetic beauty of Muslim architecture

Told yourself that India would be culturally void had these rulers not

brought poetry and aesthetics with them

Remembered that after initial war and arson, Muslim rulers ensured Hindus and Muslims lived in harmony

Remembered that Akbar even had a Hindu wife

….and so it goes

Do you know?

Prithviraj

Jayachandra

Pulakesin

Nagabhatta

Lalitaditya Muktapida

Jayapala

Lakshmadeva

Govindachandra

Arnoraja

Naikidevi

Mularaja

Hariraja

Bhimapala

Vidyadhara

Bhimadeva

Paramara Bhoja

Pulakesin may ring a bell

Prithviraj Chauhan may also sound familiar

The rest….?

A Clue:

Some of these names belong to these dynasties: Chalukya

Chauhan

Gahadavad

Rajput

Well…

A Journey of RediscoveryTime to rediscover the history of Bharata

To be aware of what our ancestors did to protect Bharata

The freedom that we enjoy today and the Sanatana (Eternal) heritage and culture that gives us this freedom came at a very heavy cost.

We know little or nothing about the names of those who paid that cost.

This is the story of those names of our brave past. An attempt to pay respects

to those brave Hindus who paid with their lives to keep Bharata and her culture

alive.

634 CE & Hindu resistance“This affair will be a source of great anxiety and so we must put it off…for every time an army goes, [vast] number of Mussalmans are killed. So think no more of such a design.”

The Caliph to Hajjaj, the Governor of Iraq in 708 in response to a request to send another expedition after the losses suffered between CE 634 to 708 when the Arab invasion began into Thana (Maharashtra) and Broach (Gujarat).

When the final conquest of Sindh happened, it was a minor affair

This was because no mass conversions took place

For idolaters, the choice was between Islam and death

Hindus chose the latter

This forced Arabs to relax their code and they hence were forced

to allow Hindus to rebuild temples

Can we emulate our proud Hindu ancestors today?

The Arabs were mighty, but… But they had to wait for 70 years till they made an effective breach on Indian borders near Sindh in CE 713.

At the time when Arabs were getting routed in India, the former were the mightiest power

Till then they had had rather easy conquests in Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Khorasan from CE 632 to 643

Byzantine, the province of Egypt had fallen to them in CE 641

By CE 650 inner Mongolia, Bukhara, Tashkand, Samarkand were annexed

These small Hindu principalities of Sindh gave such a tough resistance that the Islamized Turks had to take over from the Arabs to carry on Jihad against Sind

Can we imbibe this fighting spirit?

The Heroes… Chaulkya - Pulakesin AvaniJanasraya

This Chalukya ruler defeated the Arab army, which had run over the kingdoms of Sindhu, Kutch, Saurashtra, Cavoatak, Maurya and Gurjara.

At Navasari this brave king stopped them and beat them back. He got the title of Dakshinpatha – Sadhata (solid pillar of Dakshinpatha) and Anivattaka Nirvartayi (repellerof the unrepellable)

Nagabhatta I – Gurjara Pratihara King

This ruler of Avanti (Malwa) in CE 725 defeated the Mohammadean ruler who invaded his dominions.

Referring to one these kings, a Muslim historian wrote: “Among the princes of India there is no greater foe of the Mohammedan faith than he.”

The Pratihara kings waged constant war against the Arab prince of Multan

…The Heroes…

Lalitaditya Muktapida

Between 724-760 this king blocked those Arabs who made advances north of Sindh in Punjab and Kashmir

Jayapala – Shahiya dynasty

Hindus had lost Kabul in the closing decade of 10th century.

King Jayapala made a bold bid to recapture Kabul. The Rajas of Ajmer, Delhi, Kalinjar, Kanauj came together & contributed troops and their might reduced the Islamic warriors to despair.Snowstorm forced Jayapala to stop the war and pen a negotiation for peace saying thus: “You have heard and know the ableness of Indians –they fear not death or destruction…In the affairs of honour and renown we would place ourselves like roast meat and upon the dagger like the sunrays”

It is said by Bildhuri that this King ordered all the Turushkasto shave off their heads as a symbol of their submission

So they retired from various parts of India and left their positions only to seek refuge at last near Mahfuzah which the Arab Governor had built for them

…The Heroes…Anandpala

Jayapapala’s successor Anandpalawas equally valiant and refused passage to the Mahmud Ghazniarmy

This led to a long battle, which Anandpala lost. His son was taken captive, converted to Islam.

When Mahmud had to leave to take care of an attack, he left Indian possessions in hands of Sukhapala who returned to Hindu fold

Trilochanapala

He was the successor of Anandpala and had retired to hills of Kashmir. When Mahmud attacked, the battle lasted several days.

Kalhana writes in glowing terms in the Rajatarangini : “Even after he (Mahmud) had obtained victory, the Hammira did not breathe freely, thinking of the superhuman prowess of the illustrious Trilochanapala”

…The Heroes…Bhimapala (Nidar Bhima)He was the king of Lohara, on the border of Kashmir and he was the reason Mahumd suffered great disaster against India and with great difficulty, managed to return to Ghazni

Contemporary Muslim historians do not mention this expedition. The Shahiyas fought with valourfor 50 years and ultimately collapsed – but not before three Shahi kings had sacrificed themselves on the battlefield.

Prithviraja IIThe Hansi stone inscription describes the Hammira as a dagger pointed at the whole world

The flag that fluttered at the gateway of this fort we are told defied the Hammira

Prithviraja II was compared to Sri Rama and Kilhana (who was in charge of Hansi) to Hanumana

…The Heroes…Lakshmadeva

After the death of Bhoja Paramara in CE 1055 and Raja Karna Kalachuri CE 1072 , Mahmud attacked

again but was defeated again by Lakshmadeva the Paramara ruler of Ujjain

Govinda Chandra of the Gahadavad Dynasty

Kanauj was protected by this ruler and many inscriptions around this period speak again and again of

the rout of Turushka armies

Arnoraja, Chauhan Dynasty Vigraharaja

Worst defeat of Muslims was at the hands of Arnoraja, the Chuahan ruler of Ajmer (CE 1133-1151) and the Muslim commander had to flee before the might of the Chauhans

Vigraharaja conquered Delhi and Hansi from the Tomaras

Raja Vidyadhara – Chandela Dynasty

When Mahmud asked him to surrender & become Muslim, he replied saying that he had nothing to say except on

the battlefield.

…The Heroes and a Heroine…

Queen Naikidevi and MulrajaWhen Gujarat was attacked in CE 1178, Queen Naikidevi taking her son in her lap led the Chalukya army against the Turushkas and defeated them at the foot of Mount Abu

Mularaja was described as conqueror of Garjanakas (dwellers of Ghazni).

One inscription states that during the reign of Mularaja even a woman could defeat the Hammira

Prithviraj IIIWhile Mahmud reached Lahore he was met with Prithviraj III.

Prithviraja-Vijaya accounts say that the Chauhan ruler was aware of the rise of a “beef eating Mlechha named Ghuri who had captured Garjani.”

Hammira Mahakavya states that Prithviraja-defeated Ghuri 7 times while PrabandhaChintamani and Prithivirajaraso put his victories at 21!

…The Heroes…Bhimadeva II

Aibak had turned to Gujarat in 1197 where the Chalukyan army again faced the Muslims at the foot of Mt Abu where Ghuri had been defeated in 1178

In the cover of night they caught the Chalukyan army unawares and Hindus were defeated

However, Bhimadeva II recovered the whole of kingdom and was back in Anhilwara in 1201

Inscriptions at Dabhoi and Verawal refer to heroic struggles of two generals of Chalukya King Lavanaprasad and Sridhara

Thanks to him, Gujarat remained independent for the whole of the next century.

No other dynasty put up a more sustained struggle against Muslim invaders

…The HeroesLakshmana Sena and the King of Kamrupa

East Bengal was protected by successors of Lakshman Sena

Madanapara and Edipur inscriptions of Visvaraupa Sena and Keshava Sena, successors of Lakshmana Sena speak of victories won by them over yavanas

Epigraphic evidence states the they ruled for three generations at Vikramapur near Dacca

In Assam, the King of Kamrupa destroyed Bakhtiyar Khilji and repeated invasions on the Brahmaputra were warded off

Jayachandra, Gahadavadruler of Kanauj

Encountered Ghuri in fierce battle in 1194, but was defeated

Jayachandra’s son Harishchandrarecovered Kanauj, Jaunpur & Mirzapur in 1197

Kanauj stayed independent till Iltutmish conquered it

Defence of Somanath “50,000 infidels were killed round about the temple.”

The battle in CE 1026 raged with fury and victory was long doubtful

Though the sacred image of Somanatha was destroyed, Mahmud Ghazni was frightened by the rallying of Hindu forces and beat a retreat

However, Mahmud could not take the road he took to attack Somnath – as the Chalukya King Bhimadeva I (Gujarat) or Paramara Bhoja of Malwa stood in his way (Gardizi refers to a Param Dev, Badshah of Hindus which could mean either of these kings).

Mahmud finally beat a retreat via Multan and Mansurah

Concluding Notes The first Arab invasion was in 636 near Thana Mumbai

Muslim rule was successfully established in Bharata in 1206

The Muslim rule over northern India (from 1206 to 1707) till Aurangzeb’s death was 500 years

Hindu resistance lasted over 570 years

Countless Hindu kings and common Hindus continuously fought for their ancient dharma and to keep Islamic rule at bay

Hindus never took advantage of their enemy’s weakness, which magnanimity proved costly

We did have Muslim rule, but nowhere else in the world did Islam encounter such fierce challenge except at the hands of Hindus. Nowhere else in the world has any civilization except the Hindu survived to tell the tale.

Our Hindu past is a thing to be proud of, and so is our fighting spirit.

CreditsInformation for this entire presentation is derived from the book “Heroic Hindu Resistance to Muslim Invaders” by Sita Ram Goel and Dr Ram Gopal Mishra.

Presented by Manini on behalf of IndiaFacts Research Centre

It’s an IndiaFacts Presentation