Athanasius Nikitin: First Russian to Visit India in 1469

Three decades before renowned Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut in India, Afanasy Nikitin or Athanasius Nikitin journeyed to India in 1469, becoming the first Russian traveller to do so. He came to India for trade. 

A monument to Afanasy Nikitin has been erected in Chaul (now called Revdanda) near Alibagh in Maharashtra to commemorate his extraordinary journey from Russia. Nikitin had reached Chaul from Persia. Then from Chaul he travelled to the Bahmani Kingdom which was then ruled by Muhammad Shah III. Afanasy Nikitin spent four years in Bidar from 1470 to 74 and his minute observations include details of courtly life, army, trade activities, the customs and condition of the general populace under the Bahmani rule. 

Nikitin has referred to the sanguinary wars that took place between the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijayanagar Empire at regular intervals. 

A film, titled Pardeshi in Hindi, based on his life was made in 1956.  

Born in 1433 in Tver in Russia, Athanasius Nikitin has described his voyage in a narrative known as  Journey Beyond Three Seas.

Nikitin's writings offer insights into the political conditions, trade activities, social customs, and religious practices prevalent in parts of India during the 15th century. 

Today in Indian History (27th December)

The famous Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib during the Mughal period was born in Agra on 27 December 1797. Today is Ghalib's 227th birth anniversary.

Today in Indian History (26th December): Udham Singh Was Born

Today is 125th birth anniversary of  Udham Singh, an Indian freedom fighter with association with Ghadar Party, a political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. 

Born on 26th December in Sunam Village in Sangrur district of the north-western Indian state of Punjab, Udham Singh is known for avenging the infamous Jalianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar by murdering Michael O’Dwyer after 21 years.

Michael O’Dwyer , who was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in 1919 when Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar, had ordered the firing on the innocent people who have gathered here to protest the arrest of Congress leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal under Rowlatt Act.

1919 soldiers of the British Army in India had opened fire on the crowd in a walled public garden and killed over 1,000 of them. This became known variously as the Amritsar Massacre or the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The bloodbath was endorsed by Michael O’Dwyer who had called it “correct action”.

On 13 March 1940, Udham Singh shot O’Dwyer at London's Caxton Hall where he was attending a meeting of the East India Association and the Royal Central Asian Society. O’Dwyer was killed instantly 

He was tried  and sentenced to death by hanging. V K  Krishna Menon who was India's defence minister during the Indo Sino War in 1962,  was part of Udham Singh's defence team. He was executed on 31 July at Pentonville Prison, where he was also buried. In 1974, his body was repatriated to India and cremated in his home village of Sunam in the Sangrur district of Punjab. He was born on December 26th, 1899. 

Cosmas Indicopleustes

World map by Cosmas Indicopleustes / Image Credit: upload.wikimedia.org

Cosmas Indicopleustes (literally: "who sailed to India") was a 6th-century merchant and geographer who sailed to India and traded as far as Sri Lanka. His work Topographia Christiana or Christian Topography provides an invaluable description of the India and Sri Lanka in the sixth century.

This geographer from Alexandria in Egypt had visited the Kingdom of AxumOffsite Link in modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, India and Sri Lanka. 

The author Topographia Christiana provides a description of India and Sri LankaOffsite Link during of the 6th century. According to Cosmas Indikopliustes, the world was flat as opposed to Ptolemy and pre-Christian geographer who believed that the earth is spherical.  

 

Today in Indian History (23rd December): Death Anniversary of Swami Shraddhanand

December 23 is the death anniversary of Swami Shraddhanand, a pioneer of Indian culture and nationalism. Born on February 22, 1856 at Talwan village in Jalandhar district in Punjab province, Shraddhanand has left an indelible mark on India’s culture which will continue to inspire future generations.

Shraddhanand was a courageous social reformer who opposed illiteracy, the prevailing caste system, untouchability, and advocated widow remarriage, national unity and integrity. On 4th April, 1919, he delivered a speech on the Hindu Muslim unity from the pulpit of Jama Masjid in Delhi. 

 To B R Ambedkar, Shraddhanand was ‘the greatest and most sincere champion of the Untouchables”.

In 1923, Swami Shraddhanand founded the Bharatiya Hindu Shuddhi Mahasabha (Indian Hindu Purification Council) with a view to converting the Muslims in the western United Provinces, particularly the Malkana Rajputs. 

In Haridwar, Shraddhanand laid the foundation of Gurukul Kangri University which spreads the message of the Arya Samajist Dayanand Sarswati to the whole world.

He also formed ‘Dalit Uddhar Sabha’ to work for Dalit liberation. Ailing Swami was assassinated by a Muslim fanatic named Abdul Rashid on 23rd December 1926. 

Jean Baptiste Tavernier

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) was a French traveller and a merchant in gems who made six voyages to India between 1630 and 1668 during the reign of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Being a dealer of diamonds made him well equipped to elaborately discuss about diamonds and diamond mines of India. 

His travel account, entitled Travel in India, first appeared in 1676. His another book Le Six Voyages de J. B. Tavernier- The Six Voyages of J. B. Tavernier was also published in 1676, and translated into English by Dr. C. V. Ball in 1889. 

The gem-studded Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taoos), commissioned by Shah Jahan and housed in the Diwan-i-Khas in the Red Fort of Delhi, was described by Tavernier as “the richest and most superb throne which has ever been seen in the world.” The Peacock Throne was taken to Persia by Nadir Shah who invaded India during the reign of Raushan Akhtar who ascended the Mughal throne under the title of Muhammad Shah in 1719. 

Tavernier died in Moscow in 1689, at the age of eighty-four. 

Bughra Khan

Bughra Khan was the second son of Balban of the Slave dynasty of the Delhi Sultunate. During his father's reign, Bughra Khan was placed in charge of the territories of Samana and Sunam. He and his elder brother Muhammad Khan were successfully to keep the Mongols at bay but in A.D. 1285 Muhammad was killed during his fight against the Mongols. 

When Balban proceeded towards Bengal in 1281 to crush the rebellion of Tughral Tughan Khan (Governor of Bengal) he took Bughra Khan with him. The rebellion was suppressed and Tughril Khan was killed. Bughra Khan was appointed governor of the Bengal province.

When Balban died in 1287 pleasure loving Bughra Khan declined to be the Delhi Sultan and instead became an independent ruler of Bengal. So Balban was succeeded by Bughra Khan's son Kaiqubad on the throne of Delhi Sultanate. 

Written in verse in 1289, Qiran-us-sadin (the first historical masnavi of Amir Khusrau, the mediaeval Sufi mystic and poet) describes the much talked about meeting between Bughra Khan and Kaiqubad (Kaiqubad) when both of them tried to confront each other. 

After Bughra Khan, his son Ruknuddin Kaikaus  became the independent ruler of Bengal who ruled from 1291 to 1300 AD.