Preserve the Gandhara Civilization

An astonishingly beautiful place, the Swat valley in Pakistan, the ancient seat of Gandhara civilization, is no longer the popular tourist destination as it used to be before the Taliban seized the valley in 2006 and effective power in 2006. Since then, area has become synonymous with violence.

It all started with the defacing of a 23-foot high statue of the Buddha by Fazlullah’s militants on October 8, 2007 on the pretext that Islam permits no graven images. This 7th century seated Buddha is carved in a rock in the lap of a mountain in Jehandabad village in the region.

During the rule of great Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism became a force to reckon with in the Swat valley. The region is full of Budhist stupas, monasteries, pottery and coins. The world famed Gandhara art flourished under the Buddhist Kushan dynasty. Today Batkara Stupa in the Swat Valley is in a state of disarray due to the neglect of the authorities concerned. Beautifully situated in the serene ambience of Jambil Valley the Batkara Stupa is one of the most famous and oldest seats of Buddhist learning in Swat Valley.

It is high time the people at the helm of affairs in Pakistan should come forward to preseve this great civilization that is an asset not only to Pakistan but also to the world.

Faqir Uprising of Bengal

The Sepoy munity of 1857, also known as First War of Indian Independence, was not the first movement of various classes of people to overthrow the British rule. Anti-British sentiments emerged shortly after the annexation of the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa by Warren Hastings in 1772. One such revolt that was of a great significance was the Faqir Uprising of Bengal that took place in 1776-77 and had the potential of shaking the very foundation of the nascent British rule in India.

Soon after the annexation of Bengal, in 1776-77 a group of wandering Muslim religious mendicants known as faqirs, started against the British authority an agitation which came to be known as Faqir Uprising of Bengal. Manjum Shah was the pioneer of this revolt, these faqirs under his leader began to levy tax on the zamindars and peasants. This was in defiance of the British authority. After Manjum Shah’s death, Chirag Ali Shah became the leader of the group and under his leadership the uprising spread to the northern districts of Bengal. The uprising was supported by the Pathans, Rajputs and disbanded Indian soldiers.

The Hindus also actively participated in the faqirs uprising. Bhawani Pathak and Devi Chaudhurani were among the prominent Hindu leaders who lent their support to this movement. The faqirs, led by Chirah Ali Shah, gained considerable strength and attacked the English factories and succeeding in seizing their goods, cash and ammunition. The faqirs and the company’s troops entered into a number of skirmishes. The faqirs uprising was finally crushed at the beginning of the 19th century.

Mir Taqi Mir, Great Urdu Poet

The comparison of Mir Taqi Mir with Mirza Ghalib reminds me of the debate on Christopher Marlowe vs Shakespeare. As a matter of fact, Mirza Ghalib himself says that Mir Taqi Mir is really great. He wrote a couplet about this:

Reekhta kay tumhi ustaad nahi ho Ghalib
Kehte hain agle zamane me koi Mir bhi tha

You are not the only master of poetry, Ghalib
They say there used to be a Mir in the past

Known as Khuda-e-Sukhan'(God of poetry), Mir Taqi Mir was born in Agra in 1723 and died in 1810 in Lucknow. This year marked the 200th death anniversary of Mir. He moved to Delhi at the age of 11 after his father's death.

When the prestige of the Mughal Empire began to wane and chaos began to reign supreme due to the constant invasions from the foreign powers including Ahmad Shah Abdali, Mir moved to the court of Asaf-ud-Daula Nawab of Oudh in Lucknow.

In 1782 Mir came to Lucknow, where he breathed his last on September 21, 1810.

One of Mir’s ghazals, `Dikhaai diye yun ke bekhud kiya, hamen aap se bhi juda kar chale’ has been rendered to music by Khayyam, one of the leading lights of Bollywood music in the movie Bazaar. Enjoy the song.

Ashokan Inscriptions

The importance of Ashokan inscriptions is immense. This can be gauged from the fact that till the decipherment of the languages of the his inscriptions by James Prinsep, the world had been cracking their brains as to historicity of this great king, referred to as ‘Piyadassi’ in the Sri Lankan chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa. 

James Prinsep, an official of the Calcutta Mint and secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, was able to read the inscriptions in 1837. In fact, the inscriptions of Asoka are the oldest surviving written documents of any historical significance. These inscriptions comprise a series of edicts engraved on rocks and pillars throughout different places in his empire which stretched from the valley of Oxus to Kaveri delta in south India. The Asokan edicts are in the nature of official pronouncement of policy, and instructions to his officers and subjects. 

The inscriptions of Ashoka are written in two scripts known as Brahmi and Kharosthi. Like the European scripts, Brahmi is written from left to right, the Kharosthi is a cursive script read from right to left. Kharosthi script has been used in the inscriptions found at Shahbazgarhi (in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan) and Manshera (in Pakistan).

Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka

Written in Pali language in the fifth century AD, the Sri Lankan Chronicle Mahavamsa is mainly a history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Composed by Mahanama Thera, the Buddhist Chronicle also gives reliable information on political history of India.

Mahavamsa has also great literary merit. It contains several passages of immense beauty. The passage describing the capture of Vijitanagara, the capital of the Tamil invader Elara, by the Sinhalese national hero, King Dutthagamani (161-137 BC) with aid of his favourite elephant, Kandula. is indeed one of the jewels in the crown.

Mahavamsatika or Vamsatthapakasini, a commentary on Mahavamsa, was composed in the 10th century AD.

Images of The Buddha

Before the introduction of the Buddha’s images, wheel, an empty throne, footprints, pipal trees, stupas were the symbols used for his remembrance. Why the Buddha was symbolized in such a way even many centuries after his death is not known. One reason may be that he was so venerated that it was blasphemous to depict the Buddha. However, there is no evidence to confirm this.

Hence, there are no image of the Buddha at the Buddhist sites of Bharhut, Sanchi and Gaya that are dated between c 150 BC and the end of the 1st century AD.
The earliest images of the Buddha in human form belong to the Gandhara School. However, some experts are of the view that Mathura school produced the first images of the Buddha. Both the schools flourished under the Kushana dynasty.
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The most beautiful images of the Buddha were carved out in the Gupta School of art. Nalanda in Bihar was the richest source of the well-known smooth images of the Buddha in black salt and an extensive series of Buddhist bronzes.

Did Muhammad bin Tughluq kill Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq?

Did Muhammad bin Tughluq launch his career as a ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty by arranging the murder of his own father, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, the founder of the dynasty?

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, died in 1325 AD from the collapse of a wooden pavilion which his son Jauna, better known as Muhammad bin Tughluq, had got built by the royal architect (Mir ‘Imard) Ahmad, son of Ayaz. The wooden structure was built at Afghanpur to welcome Sultan after his successful military campaign in Bengal. Afghanpur was located some six miles from Tughluqabad (located on Mehrauli Badarapur Road in Delhi), the fortress-city founded by Ghiyas-ud-din.



Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq's Tomb

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq was buried in the tomb which he had built for himself at Tughlaqabad. There are two schools of thought about the Sulltan’s death. While one has accused Muhammad bin Tughlaq of patricide, other has attributed the death to divine intervention. While African traveler Ibn Batutah holds Jauna responsible for pre-planning the accident to kill the Sultan, Ziauddin Barni attributes the crash of the pavilion to lightning striking it. According to Yayiha bin Ahmad Sarhindi, author of Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, ‘divine preordination’ was responsible for the collapse of the structure.

However, the account of Ibn Batutah seems to be right. His informant, Shaikh Rukn-ud-din, was in the pavilion when it crashed. There is no reason to believe Batutah’s intentional denigration of Muhammad bin Tughlaq because the African traveler was well received by the latter during whose rule he came to India in 1333 AD. Later historians like Abul Fazl, Nizam –ud din Ahmad and Badauni also concur with the views of Ibn Batutah.

Barni’s account seems to be biased. This is obvious because he authored his work 'Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi' during the reign of Firuz Tughlaq who had a great regard for his predecessor Muhammad bin Tughlaq and as such Barni didn't want to displease Firuz.