Indian History

                                 Sthulabhadra Jain temple in Patna/ Ghosh Ujjwal via Wikimedia Common On the death of great Jain saint Bhadrabahu, the First Jain Council was called by the Jaina monk Sthulabhadra at Patliputra. At this great council, the twelve Angas or sections, the sacred cantons of the Svetambaras, were compiled which replaced the fourteen former Jaina texts (Purvas).  The Second Jaina Council was held in Valabhi in Saurashtra (Gujarat) in the 5th century AD under the leadership of Devardhi Kshamasraman. At the council, the Oral Jain traditions of the Svetambaras were finally reduced to writing in the form of twelve Upangas or minor sections, and various lesser sections. 

Dholavira|Rahul Zota via Wikimedia Common The archeological site of Dholavira in the Bhachau taluka of Kutch district in Gujarat is one of the two largest  Harappan settlements in India. Rakhigarhi in Haryana is the other one.  Locally known as Kotada timba, meaning a large fort, Dholavira was first explored by ASI’s J P Joshi. However, it was excavated extensively by RS Bisht in the 1990s.  This Indus Valley Civilization site had three divisions – christened as ‘citadel’ or ‘acropolis’, “middle town” and “lower town” with elaborate gate complex on its fortifications.   Like other Harappan sites, the script written by the inhabitants of Dholavira remains indecipherable. The characters of the script found at Dholavira are huge.

Chief components of Mughal paintings were Indian, Persian and Chinese. The imported style introduced by the Mughals mingled with the contemporary Indian schools of painting flourishing in different parts of the country. Gujarat, Rajputana and Kashmir were important centres of Indian painting in the early Mughal period. Court life and natural life inspire most of the subjects of Mughal paintings. Portraits of the Mughal emperors are also one of the themes of the  Mughal   paintings.  Persian painter Abdus Samad was appointed tutor to the Prince Akbar by Humayun. Abdus Samad and Mir Sayyid Ali were invited to the Mughal court to prepare a lavishly illustrated manuscript of the Persian translation of the Hamzanama, the celebrated Arab epic about a legend Hamza. Hamzanama had 1004 illustrated pages in its twelve volumes. Development of fresco painting (Frescoes on the walls of Fatehpur Sikri) was an important contribution to the field painting during Akbar’s period which also witnessed th

                                      Tomb of Salabat Khan/ Wikipedia Commons The octagonal tomb of Salabat Khan is at the centre of an octagonal terrace on a picturesque hill site in Ahmadnagar in Maharashtra. Salabat Khan was a minister under Sultan Murtaza I (1565-88) of Ahmadnagar Sultanate, known more famously as the Nizam Shahi dynasty, one of the five independent states that arose on the debris of the Bahmani Sultanate.   Salabat Khan’s tomb is also known as Chand Bibi’s palace. Chand Bibi was the daughter of Husain Nizam Shah of Nizam Shahi dynasty and widow of Ali Adil Shah belonging to the Bijapur’s Adil Shahi dynasty. 

                        Anandabodhi tree in Jetavana monastery/Wikimedia Commons It was at Shravasti or Sravasti where the Buddha is said to have performed feats of levitation and other miracles due to challenge from his rivals, though he disapproved their performance by his monks and disciples. A major centre of Buddhist pilgrimage, Sravasti in Uttar Pradesh is known for being the place where the Buddha spent the major portion of his missionary life. In fact, he passed as many as 25 rainy seasons of life here. Needless to say, a large number of his sermons were delivered in Sravasti which served as the ancient capital of Kosala during the reign of king Presenajit. It ranked among the six main cities during the time of Buddha’s death. This can be ascertained form Buddha’s disciple Ananda’s disappointment t that his teacher should have chosen to die in Sravasti instead of a small place like Kusinagar.   Sravasti finds mention in the in the travelogues of Fa-hsien who came to India

Alai Darwaza (Gateway of Alauddin) was built in 1311 by Alauddin Khalji, the second ruler of the Khilji dynasty, the second in the line of five dynasties that comprised the Delhi Sultanate. It is the southern gateway to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in Delhi.  The material used in the construction of Alai Darwaza  is red sandstone and white marble, with inlays of black marble and blue schist.

10 km south east of Bihar Sharif (headquarters of the Nalanda district) in Bihar, Ghosrawan is a Buddhist site which was once a centre of Buddhism in ancient India. Several Buddhist structures including a life size statue of Khasarpana Avalokitesvara in a standing position have been discovered here.  Kapotaka Vihara, a large monastery referred to and visited by Hiuen Tsang in the seventh century, is believed to have been located at Ghosrawan. The masterpiece of the attractions at Ghosrawan is a 10 feet Buddha statue carved out of gleaming black stone. This huge image is placed beside a tank. Three km north of Ghosrawan is Tetrawan which is home to a large number of Buddhist relics including carved statues of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas.