Rigveda- The Earliest Scripture of Hinduism

Of the four Vedas (Veda means knowledge), the Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, the Rigveda is the oldest religious text in the world still looked on as sacred, and therefore, is also known as the first testament of mankind. Dating the Rigveda is a subject of conjecture.  the probable date for its composition may be around 1700 BC.

Vedas are written is Sanskrit. The first three Vedas are collectively known as Trayi or trio. Each Veda is further divided into Samhitas or collections. These were learnt by heart and then passed on from the teachers to the disciples.



© Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

The Rigveda is neither a historical nor a heroic poem but is mainly a collection of hymns of praise composed by many authors. It describes the religious life of the early Aryans in India. The hymns of Rig Veda were recited at the time of sacrificial rites and other rituals with utmost devotion. These hymns are still recited by the Hindus at different ceremonies that include weddings and funerals. In fact they are daily devotions of many Brahmins.

The Rigveda contains 1028 hymns (sukta) and is divided into ten “circles” (mandalas). The tenth mandala is said to have been added later as its language differs slightly from other mandalas, contains the famous Purushasukta which explains the four varnas (Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra) were born from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet of the creator.

Rigveda contains the famous Gayatri mantra, addressed to the old solar god Savitr, still considered to be the most sacred by the Hindus. The oldest exegetical work on Rig Veda is the Nirukta (Etymology) of Yashka dating back to 500 BC.

80000 year old Stone Tools & Weapons unearthed near Chennai

Archaeologists have unearthed a large number of stone tools and weapons dating back to more than 80,000 years ago from a dry lake bed in Singadivakkam, a remote village some 65 km south of Chennai, according to report published in Times of India.

The discovery was the result of an ongoing excavation work, in cooperation with the Archaeological Survey of India , by Professor S Rama Krishna Pisipaty and his student S Shanmugavelu of the department of Sanskrit and culture at Sri Chandrasekaharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya in Enathur, Kancheepuram.

According to Professor S Rama Krishna Pisipaty and his team, so far hand-axes, choppers, scrappers and borers as well as microlithic tools (small stone implements) and pointed tools of different sizes and shapes have been found. The tools could have been used for hunting and fishing.

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Ancient Greek girl brought back to life

Greek scientists and archaeologists achieved the wonderful feat when they gave an ancient Athenian girl from the 5th century BC a face by using her bones, found in an ancient mass grave near the ancient Athenian cemetery of Keramikos by archeologist Effie Valavani.

The girl named 'Myrtis' by the scientists, has been brought back to life through facial reconstruction from her intact skull and teeth.

Myrtis is now one of the prized possessions of the National Hellenic Archeological Museum of Athens.

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Architecture in Ancient India

In ancient India, life was dominated by religion to a large extent and so it is of no surprise that ancient Indian architecture includes mostly religious structures. Since the people of ancient India also had a political purpose there were many secular structures in ancient times.

The first organized art activity in India belongs to the Mauryan period. The description of the city of Patliputra (modern Patna in Bihar) and the royal palace in the city by Megasthenes, who came to India during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, suggests that the first Mauryan emperor built the buildings of the city. Other Mauryan architecture include the rock-cut Chaiya halls or cave dwellings in the Barabar and Nagarjuna Hills of Gaya in the sate of Bihar, the edict bearing and the non edict bearing Asokan pillars.

Stupas
Tradition has it that Stupas or tumuli were over the divided ashes of the Buddha. These stupas were built by Ashoka, the greatest Mauryan emperor, in honour of the Buddha in many parts of India and Nepal. The stupa in Nepal is in its original form. Chief among the stupas built by the great emperor are those at Bharhut and Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh.

Among the later stupas, those of Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh and Nalanda in Bihar are very famous. Sarnatha, near Varanasi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, was the place where the Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. Nalanda, in the state of Bihar, was modified for seventh consecutive times.

Cave temples
The cave dwellings of Barabar Hills and Nagarjuna Hills of Gaya were dedicated by Ashoka to the monks of Ajivikas sect. Under the Satavahans, the largest caves were excavated. The most famous examples of cave temples is that of Ajanta and Ellora in the state of Maharashtra. Kailashnath temple, hewn from solid rock, is the foremost example of rock cut temple architecture in ancient India.




Mahabodhi Temple at gaya

Temple architecture
Most remarkable of the temples of the Gupta period was the temple of Deogarh near Jhansi. Dating back to the Mahabodhi temple at Gaya in Bihar is a famous temple of ancient India. Temple architecture reached its apogee in south India during the reign of Chalukya and Pallava rulers in the 6th -8th centuries. The zenith of the Pallava style was reached in the shore temple at Mamallapuram.

Shah Jahan the Fifth Mughal Emperor

Accession to the Throne 

Shah Jahan (1628-58) was in Deccan when his father Jahangir died in the month of October in 1627. At Lahore, Nur Jahan, one of the wives of Jahangir, proclaimed her son-in-law Shahryar as the emperor, while Asaf Khan, father of Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan’s wife in whose memory Taj Mahal was built) put Dawar Baksh, son of Khusrav (brother of Shah Jahan), on the throne as a stop-gap emperor till the return of Shah Jahan to Agra from Deccan. When Shah Jahan arrived at Agra in February 1628, Dawar Baksh, the “sacrificial lamb’ was deposed and sent in exile to Persia. Asaf Khan defeated, captured and blinded Shahryar. Now decks were clear for Shah Jahan who ascended the Mughal throne at Agra in February 1628. However, Shah Jahan was paid back in his own coin when during his last days when two of his own sons were executed. 

Military Conquests of Shah Jahan 

The first three years of Shah Jahan’s reign were marked by the rebellions of the Bundela Chief Juhar Singh, son of Bir Singh Bundela and of Khan Jahan Lodi. After suppressing these rebellions, he ousted the Portuguese from Hugli and occupied it in 1632. The Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar was finally annexed to the Mughal empire. In 1636-37, Shah Jahan led from the front and himself arrived in the Deccan and compelled Bijapur and Golconda to accept the Mughal Suzerainty and pay annual tribute. Persia had captured Kandahar during the reign of Jahangir, but no attempt was made to recapture it till 1639. The opportunity came in 1639, when Ali Mardan Khan, the discontented Persian Governor of Kandahar, surrendered the fort to the Mughals without fighting. However, Shah Abbas II of Persia wrested Kandahar from the Mughals in 1649. Subsequently, Shah Jahan sent three expeditions to recover Kandahar, but all proved to be miserable failure. 

Last years of Shah Jahan 

The last years of Shah Jahan were spent in misery. In 1658, he was made prisoner by his son Aurangzeb who came out victorious in the terrible war of succession that took place among the sons of Shah Jahan. The war for succession continued till 1661 and in between 1658 and 1661 all the remaining sons were killed or executed. Shah Jahan passed the remaining years of his life in captivity. While in prison, he was badly treated by Aurangzeb. All his efforts for reconciliation ended in naught. At last he “bowed to the inevitable, and like a child that cries itself to sleep, ceased to complain”. Shah Jahan died at the age of seventy-four, on the 22nd January, 1966.

Estimate of Shah Jahan 

The reign of Shah Jahan has been described by many authorities as the ‘climax’ or ‘golden age’ of the Mughal empire. Mughal architecture under him reached its pinnacle. Several foreign tarvellers who visited India during his reign, have left a vivid account of his reign. Of these, two Frenchmen Bernier and Travenier and an Italian adventurer Manucci, the author of the Storio Dor Mogor, are worth mentioning.

Humayun : The Fugitive Mughal Emperor

Humayun's Tomb in Delhi

Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India in 1526, was succeeded by his eldest son Humayun who inherited “a monarchy which could be held together only by the continuance of war conditions which in times of peace was weak, structureless and invertebrate.” 

When Babur died in 1530, Humayun was 23 years old. Since father's conquests had not been consolidated in the short span of four years, the army lacked cohesiveness and the administration an effective machinery.

The name Humayun (meaning "the Fortunate”) is rather a misnomer. Though the second Mughal emperor, he had to spend his life as a wanderer almost all through his life. He lost the nascent Mughal kingdom and when he regained it, he did not live long enough to rule it.

Humayun was born in Kabul in 1508. He ascended the throne  on December 30, 1530 four days after death of Babur. 

The imperial treasury was almost bankrupt and beyond the frontiers powerful political forces, such as Gujarat, Malwa and Bengal, were up in arms against the Mughals. On top of it Humayun divided the empire inherited from his father among his three brothers, Kamran, Hindal and Askari. The Afghans, who had not yet been crushed, also raised their heads. Of them, Sher Khan, known as Sher Shah Suri, proved be the most formidable enemy of Humayun, and after defeating the latter at Chausa and Kanauj in 1540, completely shattered his prospects.

After his final defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri, the Mughal empire in India was temporarily out of picture and Humayun had to pass nearly fifteen years (1540-55) in exile. During his wanderings in the deserts of Sind, Humayun married Hamida Banu Begam, daughter of Shaikh Ali Ambar Jaini, who had been a preceptor to Humayun’s brother Hindal. While he was at Amarkot (now in Pakistan), where his son Akbar was born on 23rd November, 1542.

After the untimely death of Sher Shah from an accidental explosion at Kalinjar, the time was ripe for Humayun to restore the Mughal Empire and he succeeded in doing so. But shortly after regaining the empire Humayun died in accident on the 24th January, 1556.

Humayun founded a city at Delhi named the Dinpanah (World refuge). However no remains are available of this first Mughal city. He took great interest in astrology and mathematics. Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad, author of Tabaqat-i-Akbari, writes about his generosity,"All the wealth of Hindustan would not have sufficed to maintain his generosity." Humayun was highly addicted to opium.

Humayun's tomb in Delhi is an important Mughal monument which attracts visitors in large numbers. It was commissioned by his wife Bega Begum or Haji Begum.

Babur Not the real founder of Mughal Empire

Zahirudding Muhammad Babur, better known simply today as Babur, who defeated Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate at the first battle of Panipat on the 21st April, 1526, founded the Mughal empire in India. However, it seems that this Central Asian adventurer was not interested in setting up of an empire in India. 

According to eminent historian R. P. Tripathi, Babur’s conquest of Hindustan was “a result of chance thought”. As a matter of fact, he was invited to invade the Lodi ruler by some of the disgruntled nobles of the Delhi sultanate. According to some authorities, Rana of Mewar, Sangram Singh or Rana Sanga, had also entered into some kind of deal with Babur. 

Babur was a descendant of Timur on his father’s side and of Chengiz khan on the side of his mother. The Mughals loved to call Timurids because they were so proud of their connections with Timur. On the death of his father Umar Shaikh Mirza, Babur inherited the ancestral principality of Farghana (now in Uzbekistan) in 1494. 

The first battle of Panipat was just the beginning of the Mughal rule. The real foundation of Mughal rule was laid by the greatest Mughal ruler Akbar in 1556. When Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the political power in India was being shared by the Rajputs and the Afghans. 

But Babur’s conquest of India would have been incomplete till he defeated the Rana Sanga, who was the most powerful Rajput ruler of the period and certainly a more formidable adversary than Ibrahim Lodi. 

Consequently, a decisive battle took place on the 16th March, 1527 at Khanua, a village some 60 km west of Agra, between the forces of Babur and Rana Sanga. In this battle Rana Sanga, who was joined by the rulers of Marwar, Gwalior, Ajmer, Amber and Chanderi and Sultan Mahmud Lodi (brother of Ibrahim Lodi), was comprehensively defeated and Khanua cemented Babur’s victory at Panipat. In 1528, he captured Chanderi from a Rajput Chief Medini Rai despite the desperate opposition of the Rajputs. On 6th May 1929, Babur inflicted a crushing defeat on the Afghan chiefs under Mahmud Lodi at the battle of Ghagra in Bihar. These conquests made Babur the master of Northern India, but he was not able to enjoy the fruits of his conquests because shortly afterwards he died at Agra at the age of forty seven on December 26, 1530. 

Babur’s body was first buried at Arambagh in Agra. However, it was later carried to his favourite place Kabul where he was laid in one his favourite gardens. 

Apart from being a formidable conqueror, Babur was also an accomplished poet in Persian and his autobiography Tuzuk –i-Baburi, written in his mother tongue (Turky). Tuzuk –i-Baburi was translated into Persian by Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan in 1590, into English by Leyden and Erskine in 1826. The Memoirs were translated into French in 1871.