Gratis Mind

So we are here celebrating 60 years of freedom from British Raj. There were in India to loot and they did that incredibly well. This very thought made me to find when was it that India was first invaded. I thought, We might have been under invasion for the last 4-5 centuries. To get an approximate, I searched for the start of British Raj. This wiki entry shows

On 31 December 1600 Queen Elizabeth I of England granted a royal charter to the British East India Company to carry out trade with the East. Ships first arrived in India in 1608, docking at Surat in modern-day Gujarat. Four years later, British traders defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Swally, gaining the favour of the Mughal emperor Jahangir in the process. In 1615, King James I sent Sir Thomas Roe as his ambassador to Jahangir’s court, and a commercial treaty was concluded in which the Mughals allowed the Company to build trading posts in India in return for goods from Europe. The Company traded in such commodities as cotton, silk, saltpetre, indigo, and tea.

By the mid-1600s, the Company had established trading posts or “factories” in major Indian cities, such as Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras in addition to their first factory at Surat (built in 1612). In 1670 King Charles II granted the company the right to acquire territory, raise an army, mint its own money, and exercise legal jurisdiction in areas under its control.

By the last decade of the 17th century, the Company was arguably its own “nation” on the Indian subcontinent, possessing considerable military might and ruling three presidencies.

So, British Raj started from the early 17th century. Now, I started searching for the start of Muslim rule that preceded the British Raj which should be 2 centuries before British Raj as per my estimate.

Corresponding wiki says

The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into the region, beginning during the period of the ascendancy of the Rajput Kingdoms in North India, from the 7th century onwards.

I love the wording in this particular sentence that says “Like other sedentary societies in history, the Indian sub-continent has been attacked by nomadic tribes throughout its long history.” However, the religious intolerance and oppression really might have started from the 10th century.

In that sense, the Muslim invasions of the 10th century onwards were not dissimilar to those of the earlier invasions in the History of Central Asia during the 1st through to the 6th century. What does however, make the Muslim invasions different is that unlike the preceding invaders who assimilated into the prevalent social system, the Muslim conquerors retained their Islamic identity and created new legal and administrative systems that challenged and usually superseded the existing systems of social conduct and ethics. They also introduced new cultural mores that in some ways were very different from the existing cultural codes. While this was often a source of friction and conflict, it should also be noted that there were also Muslim rulers, notably Akbar, who in much of their secular practice absorbed or accommodated local traditions.

You might have understood my pathetic knowledge of our History. But, its a start to gain more knowledge about our glorious past.

Today, I am really proud to be an Indian and I have really really great reasons to be. Its incredible that India is what it is today because of its own might in spite of going through so many rough ordeals. Every Indian should be really proud of our incredibly rich heritage and civilization which withstood numerous invasions, oppressions and to add it all, appalling religious intolerance.

These links also give some very good perspective of our history and its rulers

All of this modest knowledge of our history gives me respite from the fact that the current pseudo-secular-politicians or leftists may not be able to destroy my faith, traditions and culture as we are still here with most of our traditions, culture in tact after all these numerous years, err centuries, of intolerance towards our religion. I also hope that the social fabric that has sustained so many years will still succeed the test of time and won’t succumb to religious fanaticism.

Jai Hind!

PS: Excuse my use of too many superlatives but I don’t regret as thats my state of mind for the slight enlightenment of our rich heritage I got when I made a modest start about going through our turbulent history. Everything doesn’t have to start with a plunge but with baby steps I also thank Venkat for little  guidance in history

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