Rathore Rulers of Bikaner

Junagarh Fort in Bikaner / Incredibleindia.org

History of Bikaner in Rajasthan is the history of its Rathore rulers.  Bikaner is named after its founder Rao Bika, son of Jodhpur’s founder Rao Jodha. Rao Bika, a Rajput chieftain of the Rathore clan, founded the princely state of Bikaner in 1486. The area that constitutes the present day region of Bikaner was once a barren land known as “jungledesh”.

Another ruler Rao Lunakaran,  who ruled from 1505 to 1526, built Shri Laxminath Temple in Bikaner.  After his death in a battle with Nawab of Narnaul, the reins of the kingdom passed on to his son Rao Jait Singh  was born on 31 October 1489 and ruled from 1526 to 1542.

He faced the attack of the Mughal attack under Kamran, the second son of Babur, the first Mughal emperor. Kamran captured Bikaner’s fort, albeit for a day, which had otherwise remained unconquered in history. The Mughal army had to retreat due to the onslaught of the Bikaner forces. 

Jait Singh was killed in a battle with Rao Maldeo Rathore of Jodhpur. He was succeeded by his son Rao Kalyan Mal   (1542 –1571) who acknowledged the suzerainty of Emperor Akbar at Nagaur in November 1570. With the support of Sher Shah Suri, the founder of Sur dynasty, Kalyan Mal      defeated Maldeo in 1945 in the battle of Battle of Sammel. It was a phyyric victory for Sher Shah who suffered heavy loss due to the valiant efforts of commanders Jaita and Kumpa of Maldeo Rathore. He is said to have remarked after this ""for a handful of millet, I almost lost the Empire of Hindustan." 

Next in line was his son Rao Rai Singh who ruled from 1571 to 1611.  He is famous for commissioning the Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, built under the supervision of his minister Karan Chand. The Junagadh Fort was built between 1589 and 1594.

In the second half of the seventeenth century, Anup Singh , the ruler of Bikaner during 1669–1698, had led the Mughal army to capture the Golconda Sultanate under Abul Hasan Qutb Shah in 1687, for which Aurangzeb granted him the title Maharaja Aurangzeb also granted him the royal honour of Mahi Maratib. 

He collected several manuscripts and established the Anup Sanskrit Library in his capital city of Bikaner.

After the weakening of the Mughal Empire following the death of Aurangzeb, Bikaner and the princely state of Jodhpur indulged in battle. 

In 1818 the princely state of Bikaner entered the protection of the East India Company under subsidiary alliance system started by Lord Wellesley (Lord Wellesley (1798-1805). Under this system the Indian ruler, who entered into this alliance, was to surrender a part of his territories or give money for the maintenance of a subsidiary force of the British needed for the defence of the state. The subsidiary state had also to surrender its external relations to the Company and accept a British resident at the capital.

At the time of its integration with the state of Rajasthan in 1949, the princely state of Bikaner controlled an area of more than (60,000 square km).

Faraizi Movement: A Puritan Movement

Faraizi Movement is a nineteenth century religious reform movement which advocated the observance of the original teachings of Islam. The term Faraizi is derived from 'farz' meaning obligatory duties enjoined by Allah. 

Starting as a religious (communal) movement in Bengal, Faraizi Movement in course of time became a struggle against the landlords (who were mostly Hindus) who oppressed the common people and farmers and British colonists. 

Founded by a puritan and zealot, Haji Shariatullah, the movement began with a call to the Muslims to perform their obligatory duties (Fard) enjoined by Allah with a view to purging the religion of the un-Islamic rites which he considered were contrary to the teachings of the Qu’ran. To give his Muslim followers a separate identity,  a particular dress was introduced. Shariatullah advocated different styles of beards for his followers.

Haji Shariatullah was born in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh) in 1781. 

After Haji Shariatullah’s death in 1840, the mantle of leadership was passed on to his son Muhsinuddin Ahmed, more popularly known as Dudu Miyan. Under Dudu Miyan, the movement became agrarian in character. After his death in 1862, the movement began to lose steam and ultimately died down. 

Santhal Rebellion of 1855

Santhal Rebellion / Image Credit

Santhal Rebellion ( Santhal Hul ) against the British colonialists or to be precise British East India Company (BEIC), landlords and Zamindars occurred a couple of years before India’s First War of Independence in 1857. The rebellion spread a considerable area that comprise the ‘Santhal Pargana’ or ‘Damin-i-Koh’ which includes present-day districts of Dumka, Godda, Sahibganj,  Deoghar, Pakur, and parts of Jamtara, in modern -day Jharkhand. 

It was June 29, 1855, when two brothers Kanhu Murmu and Sidhu Murmu, belonging to the Santhal community, asked the Santhals to assemble in the valley of Burhyte, modern-day Barhait, in Jharkhand. On the next day more than thousands of Santhals assembled at the Bhognadih village in the Sahibganj district where a divine order was issued asking the Santhals to free themselves from the clutches of their oppressors and “take possessions of the country and set up a government of their own.” 

Thus began the Santhal rebellion, also known as the Santhal Hool, which was precipitated by economic reasons.  

Hul Diwas (30th June) is observed in memory of four brothers - Sidho, Kanho, Chand, and Bhairav Murmu - along with sisters Phulo and Jhano, who had led the campaign against exploitation by colonial administrators, money lenders, upper castes, and zamindars. Interest on loans, ranging from 50 to 500 per cent, was charged by the diku (outsider) from the tribals  many of whom who were also cheated of their lands. The non-payment of wages by the railways was also one of the reasons that drove the Santhals to rebellion. Added to this, the Santhal women were insulted by these authorities.  

As the uprising began to take shape, houses of money lenders, zamindars, white planters, railway engineers and British officers were attacked by the rebels. This continued till February 1856 when the authorities crushed the rebellion with severe casualties and devastation. More than 15,000 Santhals lost their lives.

Ajita Kesakambali, One of the Six Heretics

Six Heretical Teachers / Image Credit 

A contemporary of the Buddha in the 6th century BC, Ajita Kesakambalin (“Ajita of the Hair-blanket)  is one of the Six Heretical Teachers who were opposed to his teachings. The other five were Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Pakudha Kaccāyana, Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta). 

According to Buddhism, Ajita Kesakambalin was a heretic whose beliefs were challenged and refuted by the Buddha who is said to have performed feats of levitation and other miracles (known as the Twin Miracle) due to challenge from these rivals. 

Ajita Kesakambalin is the earliest known proponent of complete materialism. He taught that pleasure is the chief end of life. According to him, “When the body dies both fool and wise alike are cut-off and perish. They don’t survive after death.”

According to Buddhist sources, Ajita founded a sect of monks. He is depicted as an ascetic dressed in human hair. Hence the name 'Ajita Kesakambalin'

It is not possible to pinpoint the exact influence of the tenets of Charvaka or Lokayata, as the materialist schools were called. However, they have been condemned in no uncertain terms in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina literature of the period. 

Sometimes these references contain an undertone of fear. This goes to show that Ajita was certainly one of the chief rivals to these sects for the allegiance of the adherents of this period.

 

Pragbodhi: Site of Buddha’s Meditation

View of the Dhungeswara_Hills / Image Credit

After renouncing his home life the event known as “Great Going Forth” (Mahabhiniskramana) in the Buddhist phraseology, Siddhartha Gautama began to lead a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation. 

Approach Road To Dhungeswara Hills / Image Credit

Siddhartha learnt the technique of ecstatic mediation (samapatti) from a sage named Alara Kalama (first teacher of Gautama Buddha). 

During the period he practised most rigorous self-mortification. For six years, he tortured himself and his penances were so severe until he was nothing but a walking skeleton. 

One day, Siddhartha realized the futility of fasts and penances and began to beg food. Sujata, the daughter of a farmer, brought him a large bowl of rice boiled in milk.  After forty nine days, he became Enlightened- a Buddha at Bodh Gaya.  

12 Km from Bodh Gaya in the district of Gaya is located Pragbodhi hill where the Buddha had penanced in a cave for six years before he went to Bodh Gaya to gain Enlightenment. Pragbodhi, meaning ‘Prior to Enlightenment’, is now known as Dhungeswara hill. 

Emaciated Buddha Statue Dungeshwari Cave / Image Credit 

In the cave there is a gold covered image which portrays an emaciated look of Buddha due to fasts and penances. 

There are Buddhist stupas in the hills. The Chinese traveller and monk Chinese scholar and traveler Huen Tsang  who visited these stupas in the seventh century has referred to their  dedication by the Mauryan emperor Asoka to mark the footsteps of Siddhartha Gautama.  

Pragbodhi Buddha Cave / Image Credit

Centuries of neglect, these stūpas are in a deplorable condition and need protection and conservation.

Griddhakuta Hill, Vulture's Peak

 

Prayer at Griddhakuta Hills

The well-known Buddhist site of Griddhakuta Hill is deservedly an attraction in Rajgir not to be missed. During the rainy season the Buddha used to climb up to his mountain retreat atop the Griddhakuta Hill and deliver sermons to his disciples. 

The great Chinese traveler and Buddhist monk, Hiuen-Tsang, also known as Xuanzang, who visited the place in the 7th Century AD, had seen a stupa at Vulture's Peak where Buddha delivered the sermons. It was at Griddhakuta Hill where Magadhan emperor Bimbisar belonging to the Haryanka dynasty was converted to Buddhism by Buddha.  

Though you can reach the hill by following a bridle path, it would be an experience of a lifetime to use the aerial single-person chairlift. A ride on the chairlift commands a panoramic view of the hills of Rajgir and some Jain temples dotting the landscape.

The brilliant shine of the Shanti Stupa (Peace Pagoda), built on the top of the Griddhakuta Hill by the Buddha Sangha of Japan in 1965, is a feast for the eyes. 

Sanskisa: Staircase To Heaven

Sankissa / Image Credit 

Sankassiya (Sankisa Basantpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad district) is the place where Gautam Buddha had descended from the Sineru mountain to earth after preaching  his mother Mayadevi and other divinities in the Trayastrimsa (Heaven).  

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently addressed a ceremony in celebration of International Abhidhamma Divas (IAD) and recognition of Pali as a classical language.   

Abhidhamma Divas (IAD) commemorates the descent of Lord Buddha from the celestial realm of the thirty-three divinities (Tāvatiṃsa-devaloka) to Sankassiya, one of the ‘Eight Great Places’ (Ashtamahasthan) of the Buddhist pilgrimage. 

Sankassiya or Sankissa occupies a place of prominence in the history of Buddhism and is associated with several legends and myths related to the Buddha. Tradition has it that after preaching Abhidhamma to his mother Mayadevi and other divinities in the Trayastrimsa (Heaven) the Buddha descended from the Sineru mountain to earth at Sankisa.

Sankisaa finds mention in the travelogues of Fa-hsien and Hiuen Tsang who had visited the place in the fifth and seventh centuries AD respectively. Sanskisa was known to Huen Tsang as Kapittha.

Sanskisa's main attraction is the Buddha Temple located on the exact spot where the Buddha returned to the earth after his descent from the Trayastrimsa (Heaven). Enshrined in the Buddha temple is an image of the Buddha. Maya Devi Temple sculpted with mythological scenes from Buddhism is another attraction. 

A trip to Sanskisa is incomplete without having a glimpse of the ruins of Ashokan Pillar. What sets this Ashokan pillar from others is the presence of elephants on the top of the pillar in place of lions which are placed with other Ashokan pillars.

Abhidhamma Pitaka: Third Section of the Pali Canon 

The Abhidhamma Pitaka is the last of three Pitakas that constitute to Pali Canon, one of the most popular scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.  

Abhidhamma And Pali 

Popular in ancient India, Pali was recently accorded Classical Language status by the Indian government. Pali is still the religious language of the Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and South-east Asia.

The story of the Abhidhamma and its profound teachings is deeply intertwined with the ancient Pali language, a sacred medium that has preserved the essence of Buddhist wisdom for centuries. 

Pali highlights its literary significance within Buddhism and Jainism. It is believed that this ancient language, shaped from various dialects, served as the vehicle for delivering Lord Buddha's teachings around 500 B.C., ensuring that his insights could resonate through time.

The entire body of Buddhist canonical literature is written in Pali, with the Tipitaka or "Threefold Basket" being its most notable collection. This includes the Vinaya Pitaka (rules of the order), which outlines ethical monastic rules, the Sutta Pitaka, a rich compilation of the Buddha's sermons on matters of doctrines and ethics, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka, which delves into metaphysics, psychology, and the intricate analysis of mind and reality. 

A rich commentarial tradition has developed around these texts, with works such as the Aṭṭhasālinī and Sammohavinodanī being crucial for understanding the nuanced teachings of the Abhidhamma, all composed in Pali.