Indian History

Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi is the only historical account on the reign of Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri. It was written by Abbas Khan Sarwani and commissioned by third Mughal ruler Akbar whose father Humayun was defeated by Sher Shah Suri at the battles of Chausa and Kanauj in 1540. 

                                               Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath|Wikimedia Commons Located 10km north of Varanasi, the famous site of Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh is a Buddhist site not to be missed. It was at Sarnath where in Deer Park the Buddha delivered his first sermon after the attainment of enlightenment under the tree of wisdom at Bodh Gaya. The event of his deliverance of first sermon at Sarnath is known in the Buddhist tradition as the turning of the wheel of Sacred Law or “ Dharmachakra Privartan ”.  Painting of the Buddha's first discourse, turning the Dharmacakra; Circa 700-1100 CE; Sanskrit Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript written in the Ranjana script; Nalanda, Bihar, India. Image source:  Wikimedia Commons The Buddha journeyed to Sarnath to preach his first sermon to those five ascetics who were his disciples but had left him in disgust when they found that the Buddha became convinced that rigorous self mortification is not the way to obtain final bl

Dinabandhu Mitra is known for his novel Nil Darpan (The Mirror of Indigo) which describes the oppression of the indigo cultivators at the hands of indigo planters, leading to the Indigo Revolt in Bengal in  1859.   Indigo Revolt has been described as "the first Revolution in Bengal after the advent of the English."   Since Dinabandhu Mitra was in government service, he published Nil Darpan in the name of anonymous.

Affectionately called “the Grandfather of Indian Nationalism” Rajnarayan Basu was founder of the Society for Promotion of National feeling (Jatiyo Gaurab Sampadani Sabha),

Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848-1909) was a famous historian, economic thinker and political leader. In 1899, he presided over the annual conference of the Indian National Congress held in Lucknow.   According to revolutionary and mystic Aurobindo Ghose, Romesh Chunder Dutt “prepared the public mind for the boycott movement” and “not only wrote history but created it.”    His famous work is the Economic History of India (1902). Apart from translating the Ramayana and Mahabharata in English, he also translated the Rig Veda in Bengali. 

                                                 Amaravati Stupa |Wikimedia Commons Located in the lower Krishna   valley in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Amravati is famous for its ruined stupa which in its final form was completed c A.D. 200. The stupa was once larger than that of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh and was adorned with carved relief panels depicting scenes of the Buddha’s life. These relief medallions are among the wonderful works of India art. The Stupa was surrounded with free standing Buddha figures.

Barabar Caves/Wikipedia Commons Apart from the stupas, caves are the main architectural remains of the period preceding the Gupta dynasty which was founded in the first half of the fourth century AD. The earliest and most prominent among these artificial caves, excavated for religious purposes, are the Buddhist caves of Barabar, in the Jehanabad district of Bihar.  Carved out from solid rocks, Barabar caves ( located 25 km north of Gaya )  were excavated by the greatest Mauryan emperor Ashoka for use by Buddhist monks in the 3rd century BC.  However, two of the Barabar caves were also dedicated by him to the monks of Ajivika sect who were among the chief rivals of Buddhists. This goes on to show that the Ajivika sect enjoyed patronage of Ashoka and his successor Dasharatha who is also credited with the dedication of two caves in the Nagarjuni Hills, near Barabar, to the Ajivikas.  The inner walls of the Barabar caves are finely polished. The workmen of these caves belonged to the scho