Indian History

Close on the heels of Telangana's 13th-century Ramappa Temple receiving the title of World Heritage Site during the ongoing 44th session of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Fuzhou in China, now the Harappan city of Dholavira in the Bhachau taluka of Kutch district in Gujarat has been inscribed on the list.   Dholavira is the  first Indus Valley Civilisation site in India  to be bestowed  the coveted title by UNESCO.  The archeological site of Dholavira is one of the two largest Harappan settlements in India. Rakhigarhi in Haryana is the other larger Indus Valley Civilization (also known as Harappan civilisation) site.  Locally known as Kotada timba, meaning a large fort, Dholavira was first explored by ASI’s J P Joshi in 1968. However, it was excavated extensively by RS Bisht in the 1990s.  Dholavira is one of the most well-preserved urban settlements from ca. 3000-1500 BCE. The site comprises a cemetery and  a fortified city .  Dholavira  had a  sophisticated water m

Telangana's 13th-century Rudreswara temple, more famously known as Ramappa Temple, has been bestowed the much-coveted title of World Heritage Site by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.  Ramappa Temple is a glowing specimen of the exquisite architecture patronized by Kakatiya kings who ruled over an area corresponding to the modern day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,  eastern Karnataka  and parts of southern Odisha from the late 12th to early 14th centuries AD.     Built in 1213 AD during the reign of the greatest Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva (ruled 1199–1262) by his general Recharla Rudra, the Ramappa Temple is located in a valley at the village of Palampet, approximately 77 km away from Warangal and 200km north-east of Hyderabad.  Mandapa inside Ramappa temple  /  Copyright:  © ASI Venetian traveller Marco Polo, who visited this Kakatiya temple during the reign of his successor Rudrama Devi, had described the temple as the "brightest star in the galaxy of medieval temples of

                                                         Bal Gangadhar Tilak / Image credit Today India is celebrating the 165th birth anniversary of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a leading light of Indian freedom struggle.  Of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Edwin Samuel Montagu, British Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922, said, "Tilak is at the moment probably the most powerful man in India". One of the famous triumvirate called “Lal-Bal-Pal”, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born on July 23, 1856 in Ratnagiri district in the Konkan region of Maharashtra.  Bal Gangadhar Tilak was educated in Poona where had co-founded Fergusson College, a landmark educational institution in Maharashtra. A scholar in mathematics, law and Sanskrit, Tilak was one of the founders of the Deccan Education Society in 1884, with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar,   Madhavrao Namjoshi  and  Vishnushastri Chipalunkar   being the other members.  During Home Rule movement which he started in 1914 Bal Gangadhar was given the ep

                             Buddha's disciple Mahākāśyapa meets an Ājīvika / Wikimedia Commons  Ajivikas were a religious sect founded in the 5th century BC by Goshala Maskariputra, a contemporary of the Buddha and Mahavir . The doctrines of the Ajivikas have come to us only from Buddhist and Jain texts which are highly critical of this sect. Naturally enough, they were the chief rivals of Buddhists and Jains. The cardinal point of the doctrines of the Ajivikas was a belief in the rule of the principle of order, Niyati or fate. Hence, there was no room for human volition. The Ajivika sect enjoyed its heydays during the Mauryan rule under Ashoka and his successor Dasharatha. Two of the Barabar caves in Gaya in Bihar were dedicated by Ashoka to the monks of Ajivika sect. Dasharatha is also credited with the dedication of three caves in the Nagarjuni Hills, near Barabar, to them.  This strictly deterministic sect survived until fourteenth century in South India where the  Ajivika mo

                         Badami Caves / Wikimedia Commons Photo: Sanyam Bahga The Chalukyas dynasty of Badami was an ancient Indian power which rose in prominence in an area comprising modern day Karnataka and much of Andhra Pradesh in the middle of the 6th century AD. The dynasty was founded in 543 by Pulkesin I who had chosen Vatapi (modern Badami in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka)  as his capital. He is known to have performed Ashvamedha yajna (horse sacrifice) to mark his accession to power.  Pulkesin I was succeeded by his son Kirtivarman I who extended the territories of the kingdom at the cost of his adversaries including Kadambas of Banavasi and Nalas of Bastar. Goa, then known as Revatidwipa, was annexed to the empire. Since Pulkesin II, son of Kirtivarman, was too young to ascend the throne at the time of latter’s death in 597-98, Mangalesa, brother of Kirtivarman, became the regent of the empire. However, when Pulkesin II came of age, Mangalesa refused to surrender the

                                                  Jagannatha temple of Puri  Eastern Ganga dynasty was a kingdom in India, ruling over an area corresponding to present day Odisha, the coastal plain between the Ganga and the Godavari. Eastern Gangas, who had been ruling since the close of the 5th century, were great temple builders. The temples built by them survive to be awe-inspiring spectacles for the people who throng to them. Chief among them are Jagannatha temple of Puri and the Sun Temple (also known as Black Pagoda) at Konark. The dynasty is called Eastern Gangas to differentiate them from Western Gangas, a separate dynasty, ruling in Mysore.  Nothing much can be said with certainty about the early history of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. One of the rulers of the dynasty was Vajrahasta III whose coronation took place in AD 1038. He adopted the titles of Trikalingadhipati and Anantavarman. He was succeeded by his son Rajaraja I who entered into a conflict with the Cholas. Peace was

Kanva dynasty was an ancient Indian dynasty which ruled from 72 BC to 28 BC in parts of eastern and central India. The founder of the dynasty was Vasudeva who brought an end to the Shunga (also spelt Sunga) kingdom by ordering the killing of its last ruler Devabhuti or Devabhumi of whom the former was a minister. This has been attested by 7th-century Sanskrit author Bana, who describes how Devabhuti fell prey to an assassination plot by Vasudeva and was eventually killed by a slave girl dressed in the guise of a queen. According to the Puranas, Vasudeva ruled for 9 years and was succeeded by his son named Bhumimitra who ruled for 14 years. Next in the line of the Kanvas was Bumimitra’s son Narayana who ruled for 12 years. The fourth and last ruler of the dynasty was Narayana’s son Susarman who reigned for 10 years. Susarman was killed by the Satavahana (Andhra) ruler  and with this the Kanva dynasty came to an end. Kanva dynasty is also known as Kanvayanas.  Like the Shungs, the Kanva

Zia Nakhshabi (d.1350) was a famous Sufi saint and scholar during the reign of Tughlaq Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq . He is credited with translating Chintamani Bhatta’s Sanskrit work Suka-saptati (Parrot’s Seventy) into Persian. The text translated by him is known as Tutinama (Stories from a Parrot) which was in time translated into Turkish and other European languages. Zia Nakhshabi had also translated Koka-shastra (also known as Rati-rahasyam: Mysteries of Passion), a popular early medieval Sanskrit work on erotica written by Kukkoka (Kokapandita).  

Accession of Jalaluddin Firoz Khalji to the throne of Delhi Sultanate in AD 1290 resulted in the foundation of Khilji Dynasty which ruled till 1320. He became the first Khilji Sultan after murdering Slave Sultan Kaiqubad (grandson of Slave Sultan Balban) and deposing latter’s infant son Kayumars. With the rise of the Khiljis, the Turkish nobility began to lose their influence.  His coronation was held in Kilokhari (Kilughari), a suburb of Delhi, not in the city, for the dominant Turkish population of Delhi considered him to be an Afghan usurper and consequently resented his accession to the throne.   Jalaluddin Khilji was in his seventies at the time of his ascension.  Lenient in his treatment of his opponents and fellow Muslims, Jalaluddin Khilji was averse to punishing even those who sought to overthrow him. When Balban’s nephew Malik Chajju, governor of Kara, unfurled the banner of revolt in the second year of Jalaluddin Khaljis reign, the sultan entertained him with wine and releas