Can Harappan Script be Deciphered?

The language of the Indus Civilization, also known as Harappan Civilization in popular parlance, is still unknown. This will remain so until the Indus Civilization script is deciphered. Broadly there are two schools of thoughts as to the nature of the language of the Harappan civilization. According to one, the language belongs to the Indo-European or even Indo-Aryan family. The other school is of the opinion that the language belonged to the Dravidian family. 

Notwithstanding of the close scrutiny of some more than 2500 Harappan inscriptions, the task of decipherment remains arduous. Added to this the shortness of the inscriptions nearly all on seals or amulets tablets, renders it difficult to interpret. 

It’s is due to these challenges the associated problems have attracted a whole lot of authorities, scholars and experts to attempt their solution. What’s your take on that?

Foreign sources of Mauryan history

As a result of Alexander’s invasion of India, a number of Greek travelers came to India. They were first to communicate to the outside world what they saw of India. Famous among them are Onesicritus of Astypalaea, Aristobulus of Cassandreia and Nearchus.

Onesicritus and Nearchus ware officers in Alexander’s army during his invasion of India. Aristobulus was the Greek historian who accompanied Alexander on his campaigns.

Subsequent to these writers came the ambassadors from the Hellenistic kingdoms to the Mauryan court. Their accounts of India were based on a wider and closer observance of the country. Among them the most famous was Megasthenes, who was sent as ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya by Seleucus Nikator, Alexander’s general and the Greek ruler of Persia and Babylon. Other Greek ambassadors or travelers who visited India were Deimachus, Patrocles, Dionysius and Timosthees. Deimachus came to Patliputra as ambassador to the court of Bindusara, son and successor of Chandragupta Maurya.

But none of these above mentioned writers seem to have added anything of real importance to what Megasthenes had written about India. His record of Mauryan India, compiled in Indika, has not survived to us. We learn about his record of Mauryan empire from the quotations of the later Greek writers among whom Strabo, Diodorous, Pliny the Elder, Arrian, Plutarch and Justin are notable.

Apart from the Greek sources mentioned above, the travel accounts of the famous Chinese travellers Fahien and Huen-tsang, who visited India in the 4th and 7th century AD respectively are also useful for the study of the Mauryan empire. While compiling their travelogues about India both these Chinese pilgrims referred to a number of Mauryan monuments.

Nasiruddin Mahmud: Puppet Ruler of Delhi Sultanate

A man of pious disposition, Nasiruddin Mahmud (rule 1246-66) was a grandson of Iltutmish. According to some experts, he was the youngest son of Iltutmish. He succeeded Alauddin Masud Shah to the throne of Slave Dynasty at the age of sixteen. 

Nasiruddin Mahmud was ill-qualified to rule. A puppet in the hands of his courtiers, he was married to the daughter of Ghiyasuddin Balban, one of the leading Turkish nobles. In reciprocation to this Balban was appointed to the post of regent (naib-i-mamlakat) and was conferred with the title of Ulugh Khan (premier Khan) by the Sultan. Except for a brief period (1253-55) when some nobles opposed to Balban instigated Nasiruddin to exile him, Balban was the de facto ruler of the Delhi Sultanate during the Sultan’s reign. Nasiruddin Mahmud died in 1266. Since he had no male heirs, he designated Balban to be the Sultan. 

The fourteenth century historian Isami as well as African traveller Ibn Batuta clearly mention that Nasiruddin was murdered by Balban. However, Yayiha bin Ahmad Sarhindi, author of Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, does not accuse Balban of regicide and according to him, Nasiruddin Mahmud died a natural death.

Iltutmish: the Real Founder of Delhi Sultanate

Shamsuddin Iltutmish, born in a tribal community of Ilbari in Turkestan, was the real founder of the Slave Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, though he was technically the third ruler of the dynasty. At the time of Qutab-ud-din’s death in 1210 AD, he was the governor of Badaun. After the death of Qutub-Ud-Din Aibak (founder of Slave Dynasty), the Chihalgani (Group of Forty) put Aram Shah as the next ruler. The relation of Aram to Qutub-Ud-Din is in the realm of debate. Aram Shah turned out to be an inept ruler. Iltutmish or (Altmash) was invited by the nobles of delhi to replace Aram who was defeated in the plain of Jud near Delhi. An intelligent and wise person Iltutmish made Delhi the capital of Delhi Sultanate.

The first ten years of Iltutmish’s reign was devoted to consolidating his position which was challenged by his rivals-particularly Tajuddin Yalduz (successor of Muhammad of Ghor in Ghazni) and Nasiruddin Qubacha (the Governor of Uch and Multan). Iltutmish defeated both of them in 1216-17, and thus made his position secure.

The reign of Iltutmish saw the coming of the Mongol fury in Central Asia under the leadership of Chengiz Khan, the Mongolian ruler, who had occupied Peking in 1215 and conquered Transoxiana in 1220. Iltutmish must be credited for his diplomatic skill. He saved the nascent kingdom of Slave Dynasty from the menace of the Mongol invasion. The fear of Chengiz khan was such that Iltutmish did not embark on any military expedition till the death the death of Chengiz khan in 1227.

After the Mongol threat subsided, Iltutmish recaptured Multan and Bengal in 1227-28 and became successful in reasserting his authority in Bengal and Bihar in 1229, and captured Ranthambhor and Mandor in Rajasthan. In 1229, he received a deed of investiture from the Abassid Caliph of Baghdad, becoming the first Sultan of Delhi to secure this recognition. The event marked the formal recognition of Iltutmish's independent position as a Sultan as also of the Delhi Sultanate and as a member of the world fraternity of Islamic states. The Turkish rulers sought to secure recognition from the Caliph. The recognition from Calipah was instrumental in legalizing their rule among the orthodox and this also enhanced their prestige as Sultans.  

Iltutmish was the first Sultan of Delhi who issued regular currency and declared Delhi as the capital of his empire.

Iltutmish had a group of faithful slaves to protect him. This group which included 40 Turkish and non-Turkish nobles, was known as Chalisa  or Amir-i-Chahalgani (mentioned at the outset), or The Forty. This group was later liquidated by Balban.

Vasavadatta of Subandhu

Subandhu is one of the greatest writers of Sanskrit prose literature. There is a divergence of opinions among the experts about the exact dating of this great prose writer who is known for his ornate style. However, taking into account the different sources we can come to the conclusion that he probably flourished in the late 6th and early 7th century AD.

Subandhu is known by his only work, named after its heroine Vasavadatta. Vasavadatta tells of the vicissitudes of her love for the prince Kandarpaketu. The story of Vasavadatta, however, ends on a happy note. This masterpiece of Sanskrit prose literature is perhaps the first work in the language that has referred to Chess or similar game. Subanndhu is the master of the language.

Tripartite Struggle over Kanauj

                                                    Tripartite Struggle

Since the accession of Harshavadhana or Harsha in 606 AD, Kanyakubja (the modern Kanauj in the state of Uttar Pradesh) was to be one of the largest and most prosperous cities of North India till the coming of Muslims. Not much is known about the kingdom of Kanauj after Harsha’s death in 647 AD resulting in a great confusion due to the absence of his heirs. 

Kanyakubja came for a short period under the hands of an usurper, Arunasva who attacked Wang Xuance who had come to the court of Harsha as ambassador of the Chinese emperorTang Taizong. However, Wang Xuance, with the help of an army from Tibet and Nepal, succeeded in capturing Arunasva who was taken back to China to spend his days in attendance on the Tang Emperor. 

About AD 730 we find a famous king named Yasovarman establishing a kingdom at Kanauj. His invasion of Gauda (Bengal) formed the subject of the Prakrit poem Gaudvadha (Slaying of the king of Bengal), composed by Vakapatiraja in the eighth century AD. After Yasovarman, three kings, namely Vijrayudha, Indrayudha and Chakrayudha, ruled over Kanauj between close of the eight century till the second decade of the ninth century. Talking advantage of the weakness of these Ayudha rulers and attracted by the immense strategic and economic potentialities of the kingdom of Kanauj, the Gurjara-Pratiharas of Bhinmal (Rajasthan), the Palas of Bengal and Bihar and the Rashtrakutas of the Manyakheta (Maharashtra) fought against each other with a view to having control over the area.  

This tripartite struggle for Kanauj lingered for almost two centuries and ultimately ended in favour of the Gurjara-Pratihara ruler Nagabhata II who made the city the capital of the Gurjara-Pratihara kingdom, which ruled for nearly two centuries. Kanyakubja was plundered by Mahmud Ghazni who made seventeen raids on India between 1001 and 1027.

Shankaracharya: Greatest Hindu Theologian

Shankaracharya is one of the giants of Hindu philosophy, a thinker who had--and who still has--a profound influence on Indian thought.

image source: sringeri.net

Shankaracharya, or Adi Shankaracharya, was born at Kaladi, presently a village in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. One of the greatest Hindu philosophers and teachers of the post Gupta period, he travelled the length and breadth of India disputing with the Buddhists.

Shankaracharya is said to have lived from 788 – 820. During his short life span, he did much to popularize devotion of Shiva among the people of India. He composed extensive commentaries on the Brahma Sutras of Badarayans and the chief Upanishads, Bhagwat Gita and founded an order of Hindu monks to carry on his work.

For Shankara all the Vedic literature was sacrosanct and unquestionably true. He succeeded in harmonizing the paradoxes in the Vedic literature. Shankara maintained that the only reality was Brahman, the impersonal world soul of the Upanishads with which the individual soul is identical. In fact his Brahman is not really different from the void or the nirvana of the Mahayana Buddhism. Hence, he is also called a crypto Buddhist by his opponents.

The doctrine of Shankaracharya is often known as advaita (‘allowing no second’ i. e. pure monism) or kevaladvaita (strict monism).

Apart from being one of the greatest minds of the world, Shankaracharya was an able organizer. He established four famous monasteries at Sringeri (in Chikmagalur district Karnataka) Dwarka (in Jamnagar district of Gujarat), Puri in Orissa and Badrinath on the snowy heights of the Himalayas in the state of Uttrakhand.

Shankaracharya died at a comparatively early age at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand. His place in Hinduism can be compared to that of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Roman Catholic Church.