Kabir: The Mystic Poet and Great Humanist

Kabir (1440-1510) was a medieval saint who was more modern than our moderns. He was the most radical disciple of Ramanand, the first great Bhakti saint of North India.  A product of Bhakti cult of eclecticism Kabir preached his messages in the 15th century.

Kabir was a great humanist. At the root of his humanism which we may call a form of radicalism can be seen in his love of God. He had the courage to repudiate all our scriptures as worthless.

Nothing can be said with certainty about Kabir’s birth. He grew up in a family of Muslim weavers.

A believer in simplicity, Kabir disparaged ritualism and priest-craft. He disparaged even Sanskrit, the language in which the externals of religion were described.

He writes, “O Kabir, Sanskrit is water of the well, the vernacular is a flowing stream.

Kabir discarded idol-worship, fasting, alms-giving and pilgrimage. He spoke against asceticism which according to him means nothing if it is not accompanied by bhajan (devotional worship). Even yog was to him a form of ritual. For Kabir devotion was the only way to God. Opposing the institution of Sati, which was so popular during Kabir’s times, he disapproved the veiling of women.

There is some element of Sufi influence on Kabir. This is natural because the foundation of his thought is Vednata.

All these things raised Kabir above all notions of community and sect. He contemplated a united India of Hindus and Muslims.

While leading a religious life, Kabir was married to a woman named Loi. His son was named Kamal who was also a great thinker.  

Where was Razia Buried?

Razia Sultan was the first Muslim woman ruler of India and has been praised for her rule by historians. If you are a history buff, chances are that you will have the temptation of visiting Razia Sultan's tomb. However, it is not so easy. There are different versions by the authorities on where the 13th century Sultanate empress's grave is located.  

According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Razia’s tomb is situated on Deli Turqman Gate. Haryana government on the other hand, believes that her tomb is at Siwan near Kaithal and has spent Rs.58 lakh on its restoration.

According to Syed Sadique Ali the tomb built at a height is that of Razia.

Recently, Dr Syed Sadique Ali, a lecturer from Tonk’s government PG College, has claimed that Razia was actually buried in Tonk in Rajasthan. The confusion, according to him, has arisen due to the incorrect translations of famous 13th century historian Minhaj-i-Siraj's book Tabaqat-i-Nasiri by Major H. G. Reverty and H. M. Elliot and John Dowson.

Rudrama Devi: Breaking the Male bastion

Rudrama Devi ranks herself among few female rulers in Indian history.  This ruler belonging to the Kakatiya dynasty of South India gave good account of herself as a wise ruler and even gave her male counterparts a run for their money. 

Known for her benevolence, Rudrama took the male name of Rudradevamaharaja. She ruled the Kakatiya kingdom for nearly 30 years from c. 1259 to 1288, and has been praised in glowing terms by the contemporary Venetian traveller Marco Polo.   

Anushka as Rudrama

A film based on her life is being made by renowned director Gunasekhar. Top south Indian actress Anushka will star as Rudrama Devi in the film. This much awaited film will go on floors in February 2013. Ilayaraaja is composing the music for the film.

Hampi: A Forgotten Empire

"Never perhaps in the history of world has such havoc been wrought and wrought so suddenly, on so splendid a city; teeming with a wealthy and industrious population in the full plenitude of prosperity one day and on the next day seized, pillaged and reduced to ruins amid scenes of savage massacre and horrors beggaring description."

Credit Wikipedia

The city mentioned in the above quote is Hampi, located in the Vijayanagara district of Karnataka. (Vijayanagara district was carved out of Bellary district in 2020). The city was the focal point of the golden age of the Vijayanagara Empire.

Though Hampi was mercilessly sacked by the marauding armies of the Muslim Sultanates of Deccan after their coalition defeated the de facto ruler of Vijayanagara, Ram Raja, in the famous battle of Talikota in 1556, the ruins of the city remain as a testimony to its past prosperity and the exceptional talent of the sculptors and artists.

The splendor and affluence of Hampi, capital of the powerful Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagara ("City of Victory") on the Tungabhadra River, has been described in the accounts of European travellers who visited India during the period. Prominent among them are the Italian Nicolo dei Conti (15th century AD) and the Portuguese travelers Paes and Nuniz who visited India in the 16th century. 

Read more.

Desalpur: A Harappan Site in Gujarat

Total number of Harappan sites in the western state of Gujarat is more than 190. Prominent among them are Lothal, Prabhas Patan, Rojdi, Desalpur and Surkotda.

Situated near Gunthali in Nakhatrana Taulka of Kutch district, the small Harappan site of Desalpur is famous for disproportionately large fortification. Excavation at the site was conducted by Archeological Survey of India during 1963-63.

During the Indus Valley Civilization, the township of Desalpur was fortified. The fortification wall was constructed of stones with mud filling inside. Many houses were constructed just against the inner face of the fortification wall. In the centre was found a structural complex having massive walls and the rooms with offsets. It seems that the building must have been some important structure during the times.  

    

There is an urgent need to take steps as this Harappan site, located on the banks of Bbhadar river, is facing erosion.

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.