Lingayat: Shaivite sect in South India

Lingayat or Virashaivas was an important Shaivite sect, founded by Basava, a minister of King Bijala Kalchuri who usurped the throne of the Chalukyas of Kalyani in A. D. 1156. This sect is famous more for its cult and social doctrines than for its theology, which is a “qualified monism” with few striking features.

Basava opposed idolatry. In Lingayatism the only scared symbol is the linga of Shiva, a specimen of which is always carried on the person of the believer. Radical in his view, Basava completely rejected the Vedas and authority of the Brahmin class, and priesthood-the jangamas. Apart from opposing pilgrimage and sacrifice he instituted complete equality among his followers, even to the equality of women who were permitted to remarry on the death of their husbands. Among other Aryan practices which Basava condemned was cremation, and his followers are still buried. It is possible that he was influenced by what he had heard of Islam.

The Lingayats still retain their individuality, though they have compromised with orthodoxy in some respects, and they are an important sect in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Their sacred literature is mainly in Kannada and Telgu.

Mahabharata: Great Indian Epic

Earlier of the two great Sanskrit epics of India, the Mahabharata (other being the Ramayana) is written earlier than the other. Considered to be the longest single poem in the world literature, the epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa, though it incorporated many episodes in the later centuries. As the poem stands today, it contains about 90, 000 stanzas, most of them of thirty two syllables.

The central story of the Mahabharata concerns a great civil war fought among cousins and brothers for the succession of the throne of the Kuru Kingdom, in the region of the modern delhi, then known as Kurukshetra.

Mara: The Buddhist Satan

The supernatural Mara is a sort of Satan in Buddhist literature. He is best known for his temptation of the historical Buddha. Equipped with sinister motives, he is the Buddhist devil. When the historical Buddha was sitting under the pipal tree awaiting Enlightenment, Mara tried all means to seduce him. First he disguised as a messenger and told Siddhartha that his father Suddhodhana had been put into prison by the Buddha’s wicked cousin Devadatta. This didn’t deter Siddhartha.

Mara then called his armies of demon hosts to attack Gautama with earthquake and flood. Yet Siddhartha sat firm. When Mara challenged Siddhartha to produce evidence of his goodness, he touched the earth, and the earth itself spoke: "I am his witness.”

Lastly Mara brought his three beautiful daughters (Desire, Pleasure and Passion) to seduce Siddhartha. This means also came to naught.

Edwin Arnold: The Light of Asia

Edwin Arnold’s main fame to claim is his magnum opus The Light of Asia, a lengthy poem on the Buddha’s life. An English poet and journalist, Edwin Arnold used Lalitavistara, one of the earliest Mahayana texts, to write the above-mentioned work which became hugely popular in the 19th century.

Slavery in Vijayanagar Empire

Slavery existed in the 16th century Vijayanagar Empire. There are references to besabaga or the sale of human beings during the period. The Vijayanagar inscriptions and the accounts left by the foreign travellers to the kingdom make reference to both male and female slaves.

The condition of the salves was governed by humane regulations and they could not be ill-treated. Italian traveler Nicolo Conti visiting India in the early fifteenth century, says, “They have a vast number of salves, and the debator who is insolvent is everywhere adjudged to be the property of his creditor.” On the whole the masters treated them with kindness and consideration.

Francois Bernier: French Traveller to the Mughal Court

Francois Bernier was a French Traveller to the Mughal Empire in the reign of fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. He was a physician by profession. He was attached to the court of Shah Jahan and was witness to the fierce war of succession among the sons of Shah Jahan. His History of the Late Rebellion in the States of the Great Mughal, describing the war of succession, was published in 1670.

After the battle of Samugah that took place in 1658 between Dara Shikoh, the heir apparent, and Aurangzeb and Murād Bakhsh, other sons of Shah Jahan, Bernier successively joined the services of Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber, the Portuguese at Goa and Sutan Abul Hassan Qutb Shah of Golconda. He later moved to Madras where he died in 1717. His book, Travels in the Mughal Empire, is one of the most valuable sources of the Mughal Empire.

Bernier, a physician by profession, was an eye-witness to the scene in which Dara was paraded in a most undignified manner on the streets of Delhi on 29th August 1659 before being killed on the next day.

He translated French works into Persian for Danishmand Khan, a scholar in the courts of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.  Danishmand Khan had a fascination for European sciences and philosophy  which were taught to him by Bernier who explained him the medial discoveries of William Harvey (1578-1657) and Jean Pecquet (1622-74) as well as the philosophy of Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655) and Desartes (1596-1650),

His book, Travel in the Mughal Empire, is one of the most valuable sources of the history of the Mughal empire.

Hair styles in Harappan Civilization

Women, in Indus Valley Civilization also known as Harappan Civilization, wore far more elaborate hairstyles than their men folk. They used to take special care of their hair. Some of the women had a plait tied with a bow at the end. The discovery of the statue of dancing girl from Mohenjadaro attests to the pony tail, so common at the present day.

The men in the Harappan civilization were used to different styles of hair dressing. They used to part hair in the middle and tied it with a bullet. Sometimes the hair was gathered up in a bun or coiled in a ring on top of the head. The crawling child depicted on a clay figure from Mohenjadaro show that curly hair was also in vogue. Men used to trim their beards and shaved the upper lips. There are traces of completely shaven faces with a small beard on the chin. Short beards were preferable.