Surya Sen: Revolutionary and Martyr

Recently, a film named Chittagong, based on the revolutionary activities of Surya Sen, was released in theatres. Manoj Bajpai starred as Surya Sen in the film, directed by ex-NASA scientist Bedabrata Pain.

 

I take this opportunity to write about Surya Sen, a revolutionary leader from Bengal.

Born in 1894, Surya Sen founded the Chittagong Republic Army with a view to freeing Chittagong (now in Bangladesh) from the British rule. A teacher by profession, Surya Sen led an armed uprising and organized simultaneous attacks on the British strongholds.

On April 18, 1930, the Chittagong (or Indian) Republican Army, founded by  Surya Sen, raided two government armories. The telegraph, telephone and railway station were disrupted. As a result, Chittagong was completely cut of from the rest of India. After these daring raids and attacks, Surya Sen declared the formation of a free National Revolutionary Government.

But his venture did not last long. As a result successive defeats, he went for guerilla warfare and in the meantime extended his fight to the adjoining districts of Chittagong. After nearly three years of valiant struggle, he was captured in February 1933 due to the betrayal by one his followers. He was sentenced to death in 1934.

Bahadur Shah Zafar, The Tragic Mughal Monarch

                       Capture of Bahadur Shah Zafar and his sons/Wikimedia Commons

Today is the 150 death anniversary of Bahadur Shah II, more famously known as Bahadur Shah Zafar.  He was the last Mughal Emperor who was deported to Rangoon by the English on the charges of participating in the Great Revolt of 1857, often called the First War of Independence.

Bahadur Shah Zarfar, who ascended the Mughal throne in 1837, was the leader of the Revolt of 1857 in Delhi and was declared Shahenshah-i-Hind (the king emperor of Hindustan) by the sepoys of Meerut. He was then over eighty years of age.

He was a poet of considerable merit and a patron of poets and literary men including the famed Mirza Ghalib. Writing under the pen name ‘Zafar', he composed in both Hindi and Urdu. When in exile he was denied a pen and paper, he used a burnt stick to write his epitaph on the walls of the garage in which he breathed his last.

During the revolt, Bahadur Shah Zarfar became a leading light in maintaining religious harmony among his people belonging to different faiths. He ordered the banning of cow slaughter in Delhi. He encouraged his forces to fight the British till the end.

The Mughal emperor was arrested at the tomb of Humayun by Hudson who also killed his sons and grandson. Their decapitated heads were brought by Hudson before Bahadur Shah Zarfar. Malleson writes about the killing, “A more brutal or a more unnecessary outrage was never committed. It was a blunder as well as a crime.”

Bahadur Shah was tried on charge of treachery and was sent in exile in 1858 to Rangoon (Now Yangon) in Burma (present-day Burma) where he died in 1862 at the age eighty seven.  

His greatest remorse before death was “Kitnâ hai badnaseeb Zafar dafn ke liye; do gaz zameen bhi na mili ku-e-yar mein” (How unfortunate is Zafar that he could not secure even two yards of land for his burial in his beloved land”. His wish was to be buried at Zafar Mahal, a Mughal monument that is located in present-day Mehrauli containing the tombs of his predecessors. But it was not to be.

Vijayalaya Choleeshwaram: Exquisite Specimen of Early Chola Architecture

Vijayalaya Choleeshwaram- Credit The Hindu

Narthamalai, 25km from the city of Tiruchi, is home to one of the early Chola temples in South India. Once you are here you can soak in the natural beauty which enhances your ethereal experience.

Built by Vijayalaya, who is credited to have restored the lost glory of ancient Cholas sometime before in 850 AD, this beautiful rock-cut Chola temple, named Vijayalaya Choleeshwaram by an inscription, is a must-see monument for the lovers of history.  

Dedicated to Lord Shiva and facing west, the main shrine is surrounded by smaller ones along with a nandi bull.

A feudatory of the Pallava rulers, Vijayalaya captured Thanjavur, later the Chola capital, from the Mutharaiyar chieftains who held sway in these parts of Tamil Nadu until the rise of the Chola power in the mid 9^th century AD.

Prostitution in Ancient India

There are evidences of a culture of prostitution in ancient India.

In ancient India there was certainly a class of women to whom rules and restriction that need to be adhered to by the high-caste ladies did not apply. According to Vatsyayana’s Kama Sutra, a class of courtesans (vesya, ganika) was held in high social esteem because of their graces of form and cultural accomplishments.

Prostitutes were famous for their beauty and other cultural accomplishments, as well as their wealth and luxury. In fact, the honour bestowed on them is comparable to the Aspasias and Phrynes of classical Greece.  She was honoured by the king and praised by the learned. Ambapali, the famous hetaera in ancient India, was treated by the Buddha with consideration .

A typical prostitute was educated. The authors of erotics in ancient India suggest that she must study  “the sixty- four arts”. Among the arts in which the prostitute should be thoroughly trained included dancing, music, singing, acting, the composition of poetry, flower –arrangement and garland making and many more. However, studying all the sixty arts was not possible.

Royal patrons of Jainism

Samprati, grandson of Asoka, the great Mauryan Emperor, had embraced Jainism. His contribution to Jainism is similar to that of Asoka to Buddhism. In the latter half of the first century B.C. King Kharavela of Orissa professed Jainism and became its great patron. It is interesting to note that though Kharavela had embraced Jainism, which stresses on non-violence, he was an imperialist to the core and entered in sanguinary conflicts with his adversaries all over India. He is credited with setting up several images and his chief queen granted a rock-cut cave to the Jain monks.

From the fifth century AD onwards, famous rulers of royal dynasties of South India, such as the Eastern Chalukyas, the Western Gangas, the Kadambas and the Rashtrakutas were patrons of Jainism. Amma II of Eastern or Vengi Chalukyas  is known to have patronized the Jaina monks.  

Amoghavarsha of the Rashtrakuta dynasty became a Jain monk and patronized Jinasena, author of Adipuarana.

Annexation of Kabul by Akbar

In  1581, Akbar was faced with one of the most critical periods of his reign when Mirza Muhammad Hakim, the governor of Kabul, advanced to Lahore.  Muhammad Hakim, Akbar’s half brother, was an orthodox and ambitious ruler who was planning to seize the Mughal throne for himself.  He was supported in his bid by some discontented officers of the Mughal court such as Khwaja Mansur.

Thereupon Akbar proceeded to Kabul from his capital on 8^th February, 1581 with about 50, 000 cavalry, 500 elephants and great number of infantry.  He reached Kabul on 9^th August and defeated Mirza Muhammad Hakim and compelled him to submit. Hakim, however, was reinstated on vow of loyalty to the emperor. After the death of Muhammad Hakim in July 1586, the province of Kabul was formally annexed to the Mughal Empire.

According to Smith, Akbar’s victory of Kabul “may be regarded as the climax of his career”. 

Akbar's Mausoleum

Akbar’s tomb is at Sikandara, situated on the outskirts of the Agra City. Housing his mortal remains, the mausoleum was built by the emperor himself during his lifetime. The mausoleum was finished in 1613 during the reign of Jahangir.