The Long Shadows of Hindu Kush

This is the irony of history taught.

The Khans defiled Islamic states/powers/religion/population in every manner possible. Yet, how proudly and eagerly they took the names of the invaders.

The natives who bore the brunt of the inasions and turned the tide are forgotten on purpose in history books.

One shouldn`t take the history at face value. History is written by victors and chamchas and is usually biased. With common sense, one can easily see thru.

JUST OFF THE CUFF


MR NHK Sahib..

I always find your articles interesting and very informative... and pretty decently balanced.... and in the Near future I might become a Fan of yours..

you seem to use wikipedia extensively ................. most of your referernces are from wikipeida`s site..
no doubt it a very good one...

But I have tried.. www.answers.com its another very good similiar site... of course with other fringe benefits like dictionary...etc.e.tc..etc....plus a downloadable search appelet which allows you to search the site from your desktop.. provided you are connected to the NET....


Just thought I might interest you....

Rahulmal said
``For instance, Rajputs mostly use Singh followed by their clan name like Tomar, Chahmana (or Chauhan), Solanki etc. while Khatris use Malhotra, Tandon, Kappor, Khanna etc. ``

Names like Rathod and Solanki - are from the kings of Karnataka
called the Rashtrakuta and the Chalukya. I do not know about Tomar, Chauhan etc..
but I would suspect it would be similiar.
Again,We should not mistake the present day state boundaries and languages with what
existed in ancient times.

India (indeed the whole subcontinent) has had an extremely fluid movement of ideas
and people over millenia. Over a period of time this gave rise to a composite culture -
that is why as an example, even today, you have people who go for piligrimages from
every nook of the country to the various shakti-peeth spread spread all over the
subcontinent.

Hmm....as usual the eminent Dost-mitter comes up with his `social theory` of low-caste
and high-caste etc, and everyone else follows...

In ancient times, there was very little concept of `high` or `low` jaati - whoever was
in higher number and held political power was a kshatriya. Until the peshwa period
- there were not many brahmin rulers. Everyone who became
ruler was considered kshatriya. This is how jaati-mobility was achieved. One jaati
which is weak in one part of the country can be strong in another - this is true even
today.
So whether Chandragupta Maurya was kshatriya or not - would not have mattered
either to Chandragupta or others.
One should not back project present day prejudices and perspectives onto ancient times.


Also -FYI- Khatri, khatti etc are all apabrahmsha form of the word Kshatriya.

I wish ``chowk` had a travel section, but i cannot but wish to share these magnificent panoramic views of south india.I feel like getting into my car and driving there myself.Even seeing these photos are soothing to the eyes.Mr.Gill., i`m sure you will understand!!!.


http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=209063


There`s so much beauty right in our own neck of the woods.Yet, we refuse to see it.Sad.

Very good comprehensive article indeed--nice peep into the history.
This all confusion about the caste of Chandragupta is a created one because the so called warrier castes dont feel comfortable in accepting the fact that the most powerful empires of south Asia were either established by low castes or mughals,thats why they try to prove that either he was illegitimate son of Nand or from a Kshattriya tribe.

If anyone has photos of the hindu kush range i would love to see.Meanwhile, feast your eyes on the Garhwal areas of the Himalayas.Garhwal is an indian town in Uttaranchal state.These photos are absolutely stunning and you will see why india is such a magnificent country.The diversity not only of peoples , but also flora and fauna.Enjoy!!...

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=208678

Rahulmal # 29

(Though, this is the first time I`ve heard that he was Khatri. I`m curious to know the source of this information.)

Chandra Gupta was a Kshtriya.
Refer to the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauryan_empire

nhk

Re: # 32

Nazar Saab,

This is what Wikipedia says:

``Chandragupta Maurya`s origins are shrouded in mystery. Having been raised by peacock tamers, he could have been of low-caste background. According to other sources, Chandragupta Maurya was the son of a Nanda prince and a dasi, Mura. It is also possible that Chandragupta was of the Maurya tribe of Kshatriyas, a clan of Hindu kings and warriors.``

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandragupta_Maurya

Like I said in my last post, his caste is still not established. Moreover, Kshatriya is different from Khatree or Khatri. The former are members of warrior caste who today are known as Rajputs. The latter are a merchant community in and around U.P., Punjab & Delhi. The surnames are also different. Foe instance, Rajputs mostly use Singh followed by their clan name like Tomar, Chahmana (or Chauhan), Solanki etc. while Khatris use Malhotra, Tandon, Kappor, Khanna etc.

Did you mean kshatriya when you used Khatree in the article? Is there something I`ve overlooked?

Re:NHK#28

You wrote, ``Keeping a track of over 22 invaders, one tends to get confused.``

It is amazing that the Afghans and Pashtuns have been able to endure so many invasions all through their history. Sometimes we Indians tend to think that we are the only victims of history :-), but our experiences are dwarfted by the experiences of the people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

One thing that has always amazed me is that the Hindukush mountains could never provide an adequate defence to South Asia. On the North and North-east, the Himalayas provided a strong buffer against China. However, in the North-west, the invading armies would always be able to exploit the mountain passes like the Khyber pass to invade South Asia. Also, one would think that after a few invasions, people in South Asia would sit up and notice their vulnerability to these Passes and do somthing to protect themselves such as put up barriers, walls etc like the Chinese. However, I have never heard of any South Asian ruler providing any kind of defence to these passes. Even invaders who came via these passes forgot about their own arrival, until the next wave of invaders came in to subjugate them!! Just shows that the Chinese are any day smarter than us desis :-).

Rahulmal # 17

I agree there are some editing mistakes. There are other mistakes like extra `ands`, one `not` missing and some sentences which could be further simplified and made more direct.

Condensing 3000 years & handling over 22 characters, even I got fed up in the end; and let it go.

nhk

``His nemeses was Chandra Gupta, a khatree from Taxila, who unified South Asia and captured the Hindu Kush introducing Buddhism. ``

There have been three ChandraGuptas in Indian History. CG Maurya, CG-I of Gupta dynasty and CG-II (CG-I`s grandson also known as Vikramaditya). The famous Vikram and Betaal stories are woven aroind CG-II`s person, who was considered a very wise ruler.

CG Maurya captured Magadha under the tutelage of Chanakya, his Brahmin advisor. Legend has it that Chanakya was riled up by the discourtesy shown to him by Nanda ruler of Magadha. So, he vowed to not tie his `Shikha` till he had seen the last of Nandas. It is improbable that his protege would convert to Buddhism while Chanakya was prime-minister. And Chanakya it was, as is attested by contemporary Greek documents about `Sandrokottus`. Please read the interesting story of how William Jones solved the riddle of first pan-Indian ruler of India!

There are many views about his caste ranging from Brahmin to so-called lower caste. The question of CG-I`s caste has not yet been resolved. Though, this is the first time I`ve heard that he was Khatri. I`m curious to know the source of this information.

There is a school of thought that believes CG Maurya converted to Jainism and ended his life in Karantaka by starving himself to death. If I get it, I`ll post a link during the weekend.

Amit # 26

I should have mentioned Hindushahi Dynasty of Jaipal. A very valid observation. I had jotted it down but just missed out. I feel this is a major miss - the influence of Hinduism in the Hindu Kush.

Keeping a track of over 22 invaders, one tends to get confused.

About the Sikhs recovering the Somnath doors from Ghazni is another interesting detail that I did not know.

nhk

Nazar Saab,

As usual, a good read!

Trivia:

``the average the average`` in first para needs editing

``doze`` in fifth para should be dose

My request is to work out an arrangement with Chowk staff so that your articles are published only during the weekend. Otherwise, the temptation of interacting gets the better of the sense of duty :-)

NHK,

Excellent Article!! You missed out a few things though. You did not mention the Hindushahi dynasty that ruled Kabul and Peshawar at the time of Ghaznavi. The king of Kabul was Raja Jaipal, who was defeated by Ghaznavi. His son Ananadpal setup his kingdom from Peshawar. Anandpal organized a large Rajput confederacy all over modern day Pakistan, to fight against Ghaznavi but lost yet again. Earlier to the Hindushahis, the Gupta dynasty also had an influence in this region.

In more recent times, the Sikhs controlled Peshawar and even Kabul for a while. In fact, the Sikhs even captured Ghazni town. The door of the Somnath temple that were hauled away by Ghaznavi, were recovered back by the Sikhs from Ghazni and taken back to India.

It is so heartening to read anything that acknowledges certain merits of the Vedic civilization.

It just amazes me that a vast subcontinent that India is and that which has been repeatedly assailed, still managed to produce excellence in atleast three aspects: cuisine, music, and abstraction. In fact, this gets more and more evident as one goes south. People there enjoy indulging in those three and are so immune and also passive to the harsh conditions of life. But I would also ascribe this as a reason to the slow material progress we have managed to make so far. I wonder what the people living in say, Balochistan, would think of South Indians had they been part of India still.