Last Days of Chandragupta Maurya

                                        Chandragiri Hills, Karnataka

If Jaina tradition is to believed, Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the large Mauryan empire, in his old age, abdicated the throne and became a Jaina monk. 

He retired to Shravanabelagola (presently in the Hasan district of Karnataka), with his teacher the Jaina Saint, Bhadrabahu. In accordance with the beliefs of Jainism, he fasted to death there and today the place is a famous religious destination for the Jain pilgrims. 

The hill where Chandragupta spent his last days is still known as Chandragiri.

Farrukhsiyar

It does not seem improbable that the Mughal Empire, which was at its most expansive during the reign of Aurangzeb, was soon to be disintegrated after his death. The reason for this is the accession of the weak rulers after his death in 1707. One such ruler was Farrukhsiyar who was feeble and fickle minded.

Farrukhsiyar was the son of Azim-ush-shan and grandson of Bahadur Shah I, son and successor of Aurangzeb.  He succeeded to the Mughal throne in 1713 with the help of powerful Saiyid Brothers.

Historian Khafi khan writes about him. He “had no will of his own. He was young, inexperienced and inattentive to the business of the state”.

Farrukhsiyar was a weak ruler and suffered from a sense of insecurity. He ordered the murder of Zulfiqr Khan, who became the most powerful noble during the reign of Bahadur Shah I and Jahandar Shah, the successor of Bahadur Shah I. In order to thwart any plans by Saiyid Brothers to displace him, prominent members of the imperial family, who were kept in prisons, were blinded on the emperor’s orders. Another important event of his rule was the execution of the Sikh leader Banda Bahadur who was tortured to death by the Mughals in 1716.

However, Farrukhsiyar was no able to check the growing power of the Saiyid Brothers who, with the help of Ajay Singh of Marwar, who had married his daughter to the emperor, deposed and murdered him in 1719.

Alberuni, the celebrated traveller to India and a Great Scholar

One of the most famous Arab travellers to India, Alberuni (Al-Biruni) visited India when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Somnath, the famous shrine in Gujarat dedicated to Lord Shiva. Between 1001 and 1027 Mahmud made seventeen raids on India. One of the main objects of his raids was to acquire the wealth of India. Naturally so, the temples and towns were his main targets because they were repositories of immense wealth. As a result of his campaigns, many temples were looted and desecrated. Enormous caravan of booty and slaves were taken to Ghazni. Mathura and Kanyakubja, the great cites of India at that time, were plundered.

Also called Abu Raithan, Alberuni spent his years in India in the study of astronomy, medicine, chemistry, etc,. His book Tahkik-i-Hind (reality of Hindustan or Enquiry into India), a voluminous work divided into 80 chapters, is a mirror of the eleventh century India. The magnum opus gives a good graphic description of India as the great scholar saw the country. In fact, the book is “a magic island of quite impartial research in the midst of a world of clashing swords, burning towns and plundered temples.”   

Alberuni writes about Indians. He says, “They are haughty, foolish, vain, self-conceited, stolid. They are by nature niggardly in communicating that which they known…According to their belief, no other created beings besides them have any knowledge of science whatsoever.”

Banabhatta, the unorthodox Brahmin author in 7th century India

Banabhatta, also known as Bana, was the court-poet of Harsha, a great and famous ruler in ancient India who ascended the throne in 606 AD at the age of sixteen. Some of Harsha’s fame is due to the fact that his reign is well documented compared to other ancient Indian rulers. And credit goes to Bana who has left a detailed and florid account of the events leading up to Harsha’s rise to power in his magnum opus Harshacharita (The Deeds of Harsha). Harshacharita, a historical work of top order, is written in ornate poetic prose.  Kadambari is another work attributed to Bana.

Since Bana was patronized by Harsha, he has been accused of being biased towards the king. However, this court-poet has the temerity to "reject the whole rigmarole of royal divinity as the works of sycophants.” Bana also condemned the custom of Sati.

Seleucus Nicator's Invasion of India, c.306 BC

Alexander’s general Seleucus Nicator waged a war against Chadragupta Maurya , the founder of the Mauryan empire, in C 305 BC. He was at the receiving end in the battle and suffered the worst of engagements. Not only he was unable to recover Alexander’s Indian provinces, but also was to compelled to yield parts of what is now Afghanistan to the Mauryan emperor, receiving in exchange only 500 elephants. The peace between   Seleucus Nicator ad Chandragupta was concluded by a matrimonial  alliance. The exact nature the alliance is still in the realm of debate among the historians. But it can be said with a great deal of certainty that successors of Chandragupta had Greek blood in their veins.

The importance of Seleucus Nicator in Indian history is great. He sent Megathenes to the court of Chandragupta.  Megathenes’s description of ancient India is of great value to us.

Arikamedu Famous Port of Ancient India

Located on the southeast coast of India about 3 km south of Pondicherry, Arikamedu was an Indo-Roman coastal trading station and an important centre of trade and commerce with the Western world during the early centuries of the Christian era. This port was known to the author of Periplus Man’s Erthreae as Padouke. After the second century AD it ceased to be an active commercial centre. Numerous Italian, Greek pottery pieces and glassware and Roman coins have been found here.

Bagh Paintings

Painting was a highly developed art in ancient India. The cave paintings of Ajanta testify this. The paintings on the walls of the verandah of a cave at Bag are other instances where you can find painting at its greatest. The Bagh Caves are situated in the Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh .

Among the many masterpieces of Bagh paintings, we must mention the depiction of a procession of elephants. In fact according to some exerts, the painting is more impressive than those at Ajanta.