tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25189193834064949312024-03-13T15:52:28.974-07:002ndlookLook back. Look further.Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-21320035687431501962010-09-05T10:14:00.000-07:002010-09-06T00:51:28.717-07:00For Pete's Sake<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
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<br />
<a href="http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/51/2010/06/30/80235_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="233" ox="true" src="http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/51/2010/06/30/80235_600.jpg" width="337" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;">Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren, a Swedish model and the ex-wife<br />
of Tiger Woods encashed on her insecurity. (Cartoon By Mike<br />
Lester,The Rome News-Tribune - 6/30/2010 12.00:00 AM;<br />
©Copyright 2010 Mike Lester.). Click for larger image.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b><i><b>Iran in Stone Age</b></i></b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">On the Islamic side of the world, in Iran, courts <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10579121" target="_blank" title="Iran's grim history of death by stoning By Mike Wooldridge BBC News, World affairs correspondent | 9 July 2010 Last updated at 16.18 GMT">reopened a 2005 adultery case</a> of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. After the trial, it was decided that Sakineh would be stoned to death for her 'crime'.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This would have been just <i>another </i>case of Desert Bloc justice, till the French First Lady, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marina-nemat/in-support-of-carla-bruni_b_701301.html" target="_blank" title="In Support of Carla Bruni Sarkozy - By Marina Nemat Writer, Fmr. Iranian prisoner Posted - August 31, 2010 07.22 PM">Carla Bruni sprang to the 'defence'</a> of this 'victim'. The case become more high profile, after Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/01/iran-stoning-woman-brazil" target="_blank" title="Iran stoning woman offered asylum by Brazil's president | Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro, and Rory Carroll * guardian.co.uk, Sunday 1 August 2010 19.24 BST | (Lula Offer raises hopes Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, will be spared.).">offered asylum to Sakineh</a> - which Iran rejected.</div><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iran" target="_blank" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Iran">Iran</a> has reportedly sentenced <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani" target="_blank" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani">Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani</a> – the 43-year-old Iranian woman who faces execution after being convicted of adultery – to 99 lashes in prison for "spreading corruption and indecency" after allowing an unveiled picture of herself to be published in a British newspaper.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The claim, which could not be confirmed, comes from her family and a lawyer representing Mohammadi Ashtiani, based on reports from those who have recently left the prison in Tabriz where she has been held for the last four years. (via <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/04/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-lashes-photograph" target="_blank" title="Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to be lashed over newspaper photograph |By Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Peter Beaumont from guardian.co.uk, Saturday 4 September 2010 18.11 BST | (Iranian woman facing death for adultery to be whipped despite Times apologising for using picture of another person.).">Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to be lashed over newspaper photograph | World news | guardian.co.uk</a>).</div></blockquote><table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<br />
<a href="http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/77/2010/04/16/77262_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="195" ox="true" src="http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/77/2010/04/16/77262_600.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;">The "Free' Press had a gala time with a 'free' victim.<br />
Cartoon by Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette -<br />
4/16/2010 12.00.00 AM. Click for larger image."</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>On the other side</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">In the USA, over the last 12 months, we have a modern-day spectacle - The Hounding of Tiger Woods.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">His <b><a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/the-greatest-crime-wave-ever/" target="_blank" title="The Greatest Crime Wave … Ever? By 2ndlook">crime</a></b>?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tiger Woods had sex with willing women. With a lot of willing women. No pedophilia, no rape or forced sex, no violence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just simple sex.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">OK. May not be simple sex. Maybe in complicated '<i>kamasutra</i>' positions, in unusual locations, with varied partners. But does all this, change the issue. Make it any different.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guys, he just had sex.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nothing more than sex. How can consensual sex be a sin, immoral, crime, shameful, and all that baggage of guilt? If there is an injured party, I can only see Tiger. All those willing and able women quite 'enjoyed' both the kissing, and the telling. Not to forget the money they made for both the kissing and the telling!</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Mebbe ...</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Coming from the land of <i>kamasutra</i>, where <span style="font-size: 12pt;">काम </span><i>kaam</i> (desire, including sexual) is my right, probably I am under-developed. Maybe these advanced, monotheistic <a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/half-the-world/" target="_blank" title="Half The World … By 2ndlook"><b>Desert Bloc religions and societies</b></a> are more advanced than the primitive culture I am from! Maybe, the social system of <span style="font-size: 12pt;">भारत-तंत्र </span><i>Bharat-tantra </i>has 'corrupted' me<i>.</i></div><table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<br />
<a href="http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d417153ef0120a746a3b7970b-pi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="255" ox="true" src="http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d417153ef0120a746a3b7970b-pi" width="336" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What exactly is it that Tiger Woods did? Cartoon by Mike Smith<br />
from the Las Vegas Sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b></b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b><i><b>Who can object</b></i></b></i></h3>Not Elin Nordegren.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">She made US$400 million (or is it US$500 /600 /750 /1000). For her insecurity. That Tiger may abandon her and the children, while he is chasing all these women. A fear that is fair and legitimate. For a mother to two of Tiger's children.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not a bad deal. Or is there something more? Am I missing something?</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>What's the difference</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Now.<br />
I really don't see a difference between Iran's stoning of Sakineh and the American stoning of Tiger Woods.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Except that the stones are different. The US and world media has tried to kill Tiger with stones made of words, ill-will and smear, imputations, cans of tar and brushes. All of them, ganged up, against one man. One lonely man.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just because a married man had sex with a few women!</div><table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<br />
<a href="http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/18/2010/04/09/76943_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="306" ox="true" src="http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/18/2010/04/09/76943_600.jpg" width="401" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Did the world have to hound him for having sex? Cartoon<br />
by Christo Komarnitski, Bulgaria - 4/9/2010 12.00.00 AM</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Now <a href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/i-married-iranian-girls-before-their-execution-jerusalem-post/" target="_blank" title="I married Iranian girls before their execution By 2ndlook"><b>Iran is doing much the same thing</b></a>. The stones in Iran are different.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Western world has made Desert Bloc ideals of <i>shariat </i>into Liberal-Christian dogma. Although the West has become 'educated', 'advanced', 'developed', 'civilized', rich - they have not given up. Stoning people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">God knows, Jesus tried.</div><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em;">Related Articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iran-Stoning-Woman-Accused-Of-Adultery-Also-Faces-99-Lashes-For-Indecency-Over-Photo/Article/201009115714925%3Ff%3Drss&a=23852616&rid=0000001f-d837-000F-0000-000000001424&e=7df6f1390d54e2149716fbb16b34f733">Iran Stoning Woman 'Faces 99 Lashes'</a> (news.sky.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/04/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-lashes-photograph&a=23827881&rid=0000001f-d837-000F-0000-000000001424&e=a774240e48e692d4e86961f8f531a4f4">Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to be lashed over newspaper photograph</a> (guardian.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/31/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-mock-execution-stoning&a=23592463&rid=0000001f-d837-000F-0000-000000001424&e=efcc779f0048795b7881d513001d4fd9">Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani subjected to mock execution</a> (guardian.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/27/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-family-visit&a=23382859&rid=0000001f-d837-000F-0000-000000001424&e=1df9ec4a7fc9b25c90c7ea4945ecced1">Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's family turned away from prison visit</a> (guardian.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39015497/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/&a=23857050&rid=0000001f-d837-000F-0000-000000001424&e=bcbf052d9dc4e8abcacb516a4e58f006">Vatican says stoning in Iran adultery case 'brutal'</a> (msnbc.msn.com)</li>
</ul>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-86398834540769302062010-08-30T00:46:00.000-07:002010-08-30T00:49:07.111-07:00Gunpowder - The Indian Monopoly!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/v/viscacha-atacama-desert-738697-sw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/v/viscacha-atacama-desert-738697-sw.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A vizcacha, relative of the chinchilla, in Chile's Atacama<br />
Desert. These herbivores are among few who thrive <br />
in the Atacama. (Photo shot o assignment for<br />
"The Driest Placeon Earth," August 2003, National <br />
Geographic magazine) Photographby Joel Sartore</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Arid, Desolate Atacama</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">On Chile's northern border is the remote, arid Atacama desert. Desolate and dry, rain in Atacama happens once in 2-3 years. Some people living in the Atacama have never seen rainfall in all their lives. Yet, there is some sparse wildlife - a tribute to hardiness of living beings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Strangely, the Atacama is home to a few ghost-towns - once boom towns. For five years, from 1879-1884, Bolivia and Peru fought with Chile <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=q7p7AAAAMAAJ&q=War+of+the+Pacific&dq=War+of+the+Pacific&hl=en&ei=UnwbTJ7ANNS9rAfJpoGtDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ" target="_blank" title="Andean tragedy: fighting the war of the Pacific, 1879-1884 By William F. Sater">over this rainless, arid</a> and desolate terrain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Behind this curious importance of the Atacama desert was nitrates. It was Atacama's nitrates interestingly that broke an important British monopoly - based on India's saltpetre production.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Untold secrets</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">In 1809-1810, the British had to mount <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3668466/The-battle-for-the-Indian-Ocean.html" target="_blank" title="The battle for the Indian Ocean; Published - 12-01AM BST 11 Oct 2007 ( Edward Paice reviews Storm and Conquest: the Battle for the Indian Ocean, 1808-10 by Stephen Taylor.).">a serious campaign</a> in the Indian Ocean. The French, from their Indian Ocean naval bases at Île de France (Mauritius), Bourbon (Réunion) and Rodrigues, attacked East India Company ships carrying valuable saltpetre (also saltpeter, nitre, niter) - so essential for the Spanish War (1808-1809).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The British army, retreating across Spain, in harsh winter conditions, needed saltpetre. Under the onslaught of the French forces, ruthlessly pursued, the final escape of the British army, from Corunna was a miracle. The British General, John Moore's death, at Corunna, Spain, was turned into a heroic 'victory'. Charles Wolfe's poem, <i>The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna </i>became essential reading for every English schoolboy<i>.</i></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h61000/h61882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="17" ox="true" src="http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h61000/h61882.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;">Indian saltpetre for could not reach Confederate armies due to Union naval blockade!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In 1800, a son from a rich family of refugees from the French Revolution in America, <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7n6Cg9znFrUC&pg=PA232&dq=There+already+exist+in+the+United+States+two+or+three+mills+which+make+very+bad+powder+and+which+do+however+a+very+good+business&hl=en&ei=V4JZTJ3xGoWyrAfpo8iCDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=There%20already%20exist%20in%20the%20United%20States%20two%20or%20three%20mills%20which%20make%20very%20bad%20powder%20and%20which%20do%20however%20a%20very%20good%20business&f=false" target="_blank" title="Gunpowder, explosives and the state: a technological history By Brenda J. Buchanan">after a survey of business opportunities</a> in America, wrote</div><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">There already exist in the United States two or three mills which make very bad powder and which do however a very good business. They use saltpeter from India which is infinitely better than that which is produced in France but they refine it badly.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The son was Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, the family was the Du Pont family - and their firm is now known as EI du Pont de Nemours and Co. EU du Pont's expertise in manufacturing saltpeter came from his training with the French Agency for Powder and Saltpeter (Regie royale des poudres et Salpetres) - and under the tutelage of Antoine Lavoisier, the French chemist, he boasted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Behind the Dupont <a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/3112330" target="_blank" title="A Manufacturer in Wartime: Du Pont, 1860-1865 By Harold B. Hancock and Norman B. Wilkinson, The Business History Review, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Summer, 1966), pp. 213-236">fortune was Indian saltpetre</a>. Behind Lincoln's success in the American Civil War was saltpetre. Behind <a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/2350164" target="_blank" title="The Story of the Nitrogen Process in France - An Experiment in Post-War Planning - By H. E. Friedlaender, The Journal of Business of the University of Chicago, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Oct., 1943), pp. 247-252">Anglo-French confidence</a> against Germany in WW1 was the control of the saltpetre deposits from India. Germans were able to sink many of these British saltpetre shipments. In turn, Germans with the Haber-Bosch process, in BASF factories, continued the war - without Indian saltpetre or Chilean nitrate supplies.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flonnet.com/fl2524/images/20081205252406407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="243" ox="true" src="http://www.flonnet.com/fl2524/images/20081205252406407.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="justify"><td class="tr-caption">Was Nalanda behind the gunpowder expertise in Bihar and<br />
Bengal region. A section of the Nalanda Mahavihara. The<br />
qualities of Buddhahood were personified in the vibrant style<br />
of art that was created in the university's intellectual<br />
atmosphere. (Picture by BENOY K. BEHL, courtesy: The<br />
Frontline). Click for larger image.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Saltpetre - what's that?</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">What was saltpetre? Why was saltpetre important. Why did India play such an important role in saltpetre?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unusually important, the chemical name of saltpetre is potassium nitrate - an essential ingredient in gunpowder. Indians had perfected the method of preparing potassium nitrate (KNO3). The other two ingredients in gunpowder being charcoal and sulphur - easily and freely available and cheap.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">India's military technology is history's greatest 'hidden' secret. Official (and Western) portrayal of Indian military systems in the face of Islamic invaders, Mughal sultanate and the rise of British imperialism makes out India as a sitting duck with ill-trained and terrified soldiers, armed with bows and arrows, who were hopelessly outclassed by the enemy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Facts being otherwise, it raises questions about motives for this deliberate wrong portrayal.</div><h3><i><b>The story from Mongolia</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">In the last 1000 years, there are sketchy records of gunpowder in India, with Rai Hamir Deva of Ranathambore of the Malwa region, who supposedly used some Mongol deserters (1300 AD) to fight Khilji armies with gun powder. This may be misleading for two reasons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Modern history credits China with the invention of gunpowder. Firstly, this is largely based on the work of <b><a href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/piercing-the-wall/" target="_blank" title="Piercing the Wall By 2ndlook">a self-confessed Sinophile</a></b> - Needham. With a <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BZxSnd2Xyb0C&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=On+Gunpowder+history+in+India,+Oppert+%281%29+was+duly+exploded+by+Hopkins%282%29.&source=bl&ots=_JoHtoXwpV&sig=utjysLxUmfR38oIqxJsl70YefTQ&hl=en&ei=W6QXTJiDN8-9rAekmfnZCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Gunpowder epic, Volume 5, Page 7 By Joseph Needham">dismissive one sentence</a>, Needham opines, <i>"On Gunpowder history in India, Oppert (1) was duly exploded by Hopkins(2)." </i>And Indian history as the world's largest producer of gunpowder was swept under the carpet. Needham <a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/617268" target="_blank" title="Review: of Gunpowder Epic by Joseph Needham, Review by KN Chaudhari">conveniently ignores evidence</a> like how</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Jean Baptiste Tavernier recorded a local tradition in the 1660s that gunpowder and artillery were first invented in Assam from whence they spread to China and he mentioned that the Mughal general who conquered Assam brought back numerous old iron guns captured during the campaign.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Secondly, Mongol territories extended from Mongolia to the gates of Vienna and Russia - but not India. How is it that a few deserters-soldiers could establish the world's largest gunpowder production system, so rapidly in non-Mongolian India. But, could not do so in conquered territories of China, Central Asia, Middle East, West Asia, and Europe.</div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.marks-family.co.uk/Waterloo%207%20-%206-pounder%20gun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="194" ox="true" src="http://www.marks-family.co.uk/Waterloo%207%20-%206-pounder%20gun.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<br />
Saltpetre from India kept the British 6-pounders<br />
busy at Waterloo! Click for larger image.<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">A 100 years before Needham, India's pioneering status in saltpetre was common knowledge. English publications, <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=tGpCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA430&dq=Beckmann+concurs+in+opinion+with+those+who+believe+that+gunpowder+was+invented+in+India+and+brought+by+the+Saracens+from+Africa+to+the+Europeans%3B+who+improved+its+manufacture+and+made+it+available+for+warlike+purposes&hl=en&ei=ntwZTNKxCpO9cbyLkYYK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="A dictionary, practical, theoretical, and historical, of commerce ..., Volume 2 By John Ramsay McCulloch, Henry Vethake">for instance in 1852</a> and another <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=kygZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1673&dq=Beckmann+concurs+in+opinion+with+those+who+believe+that+gunpowder+was+invented+in+India+and+brought+by+the+Saracens+from+Africa+to+the+Europeans%3B+who+improved+its+manufacture+and+made+it+available+for+warlike+purposes&hl=en&ei=ntwZTNKxCpO9cbyLkYYK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Beckmann%20concurs%20in%20opinion%20with%20those%20who%20believe%20that%20gunpowder%20was%20invented%20in%20India%20and%20brought%20by%20the%20Saracens%20from%20Africa%20to%20the%20Europeans%3B%20who%20improved%20its%20manufacture%20and%20made%20it%20available%20for%20warlike%20purposes&f=false" target="_blank" title="A cyclopedia of commerce and commercial navigation By Isaac Smith Homans">in 1860 gave weightage</a> to the opinion of</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">those who believe that gunpowder was invented in India and brought by the Saracens from Africa to the Europeans; who improved its manufacture and made it available for warlike purposes.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Unlike China, with an odd textual reference or a drawing or a singular artefact, was the entire industry in India - which remained unrivalled in the history of the world. Compared to China's paltry production of gunpowder, India's widespread and organized gunpowder production system points towards indigenous development. There are <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=izGOfMdSm2IC&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=In+664+an+Indian+visitor+to+China+reportedly+demonstrated+the+peculiar+flamability+of+saltpeter+and+provided+instructions+on+how+to+locate+it+%28Pacey+1990,+16%29.&source=bl&ots=wSICflJzOf&sig=qLi51He6XqBvfQlr08kJIcNwTkM&hl=en&ei=s58XTJ35JY6-rAeYn92dCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Firearms: the life story of a technology By Roger Pauly">reports, that in</a> <i>"664 an Indian visitor to China reportedly demonstrated the peculiar flamability of saltpeter and provided instructions on how to locate it (Pacey 1990, 16)."</i></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Tall tales ... thin stories</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The deserter Mongol soldier source seems rather far-fetched considering that Mongol armies studiously avoided attacking India. India, <a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/india-the-worlds-richest-economy/" target="_blank" title="Indian Gold Reserves. Forgotten History! New Opportunity? By 2ndlook"><b>the richest economy of the world</b></a><b> </b>at that time, known and famous for its wealth, was spared by Genghis Khan! Just why would history’s foremost looter, invader, pillager spare India?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When Genghis Khan’s Mongol armies were running rampant, Islamic refugees found shelter in India, during the reign of Iltutmish. In 1221, <i></i>Khwarezm-Shah and other Persian refugees, sought refuge in India, across the Indus into the Punjab, India, from Genghis Khan's Mongol armies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285248/India/46899/The-early-Muslim-period" target="_blank" title="The early Muslim period - from Encyclopedia Britannica">Encyclopedia Britannica says</a> <i>‘<b>Fortunately</b>, the Mongols were content to send raiding parties no further than the Salt Range (in the northern Punjab region), which Iltutmish wisely ignored …” </i>(emphasis mine)<i>.</i> As Indian military reputation waned under foreign Islamic rule, the Mongols mounted a military expedition. The Mongols could succeed in India only under the foreign rule of the much-derided Islamic Tughlaks.</div><h3><i><b>India - the largest gunpowder source in the world</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Now, combine saltpetre production with the fact that the heart of the Indian saltpetre production was in Bihar, which was also the home of the Nalanda seminary /university.</div>By the <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ulQ9AAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA150&dq=Quintin+Craufurd+rockets+india&hl=en&ei=aXAXTLHsDYyyrAfKxIXMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Researches concerning the laws, theology, learning, commerce, etc ..., Volume 1 By Quintin Craufurd">16th-17th century</a>,<br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">In parts of India that never were frequented either by Mohammedans or Europeans, we have met with rockets, a weapon which the natives almost universally employ in war. The rocket consists of a tube of iron, about eight or ten inches long, and above an inch in diameter. It is filled in the same manner as an ordinary sky-rocket, and fastened towards the end of a piece of bamboo, scarcely as thick as an ordinary walking cane, and about five feet long, which is pointed with iron.</div></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>What about Europe</b></i><i><br />
</i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Saltpetre based gunpowder was in constant short-supply in Europe. Gold from the Americas, flowing into European trade channels, fuelled demand for gunpowder. Gunpowder became an essential ingredient for subjugation of natives, extraction of gold, capture of territories and slaves, piracy on the high seas - all the real reasons for ascent for European power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The European gunpowder situation was grim. This <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7n6Cg9znFrUC&pg=PA7&dq=A+letter+of+1605+from+the+King+of+Spain+to+the+Viceroy+of+Goa+%28the+Portuguese+trading+settlement+on+the+south-west+coast+of+India&hl=en&ei=qPoYTPCeLce6rAf0otmlCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=A%20letter%20of%201605%20from%20the%20King%20of%20Spain%20to%20the%20Viceroy%20of%20Goa%20%28the%20Portuguese%20trading%20settlement%20on%20the%20south-west%20coast%20of%20India&f=false" target="_blank" title="Gunpowder, explosives and the state: a technological history By Brenda J. Buchanan">can be gauged from </a><i>"a letter of 1605 from the King of Spain to the Viceroy of Goa (the Portuguese trading settlement on the south-west coast of India) for example ordering the annual dispatch of 10 or 12 caskets of saltpetre."</i> Remember in 1605, Spain was the prime power European power. Compare that to <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=H76-23A9GUYC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=When+Raja+Pratapaditya+of+Jessore+capitulated+to+Islam+Khan+in+1609,+he+areed+to+surrender+twenty+thousand+infantry,+five+hundred+war+boats,+and+a+thousand+%22maunds%22+%2841%29+of+gunpowder.&source=bl&ots=xpTYZlBnLJ&sig=5rZVBAZ9VqyYEZq-8C5T23s3VAg&hl=en&ei=s2obTO6jDcWzrAeQweisDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 By Richard Maxwell Eaton">the Indian situation</a>.</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">When Raja Pratapaditya of Jessore capitulated to Islam Khan in 1609, he agreed to surrender twenty thousand infantry, five hundred war boats, and a thousand "maunds" (41 tons) of gunpowder.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The outcome of Waterloo can be gauged from <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=LVptQixEDj4C&pg=PA283&lpg=PA283&dq=The+import+of+saltpetre+by+the+East+India+Company+into+England+was+146000+cwt.+in+1814,+but+in+1832+it+was+only&source=bl&ots=SFp1spWeHf&sig=aLxDatH5cLtrr8lwnaiekge-RH4&hl=en&ei=WtYZTP36AZC9cc6r5YkK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20import%20of%20saltpetre%20by%20the%20East%20India%20Company%20into%20England%20was%20146000%20cwt.%20in%201814%2C%20but%20in%201832%20it%20was%20only&f=false" target="_blank" title="The economic history of India under early British rule: from the rise of the ... By Romesh Chunder Dutt">a forgotten statistic</a> - "<i>In the year before the battle of Waterloo</i> (<i>1815) the East India Company exported 146000 cwt. of saltpetre to England</i>." 146,000 cwt is 7300 <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=PaUNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA366&dq=Saltpetre+is+yielded+by+the+Indian+soil+in+greater+abundance+than+in+any+other+country,+its+importation+into+England&hl=en&ei=CtkZTIqOIcvJcbHNhJ0K&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Saltpetre%20is%20yielded%20by%20the%20Indian%20soil%20in%20greater%20abundance%20than%20in%20any%20other%20country%2C%20its%20importation%20into%20England&f=false" target="_blank" title="Statistics of the colonies of the British empire ...: From the official ... By Robert Montgomery Martin">tons of saltpetre</a>. British Ordnance Board <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Ah4cfjAHMm0C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=Bearing+in+mind+Britain%27s+lead+in+other+fields+of+industrialization+it+is+not+surprisin+that+British+munitions+output&source=bl&ots=-hr05zGWhf&sig=UyUP_nFABwhPTqX4ia5mPwQO_kY&hl=en&ei=DdAZTLm0KciwccmjvPkJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Collision of empires - Britain in three world wars, 1793-1945 By Arnold D. Harvey">powder mills in 1809</a>,</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">produced 36,623¾ ninety pound barrels of powder and private contractors using government supplied saltpetre a further 24,433 ninety pound barrels. Some of British munitions output was supplied to allied governments: Portugal received in the years 1796-1801 ... 10,000 barrels of powder, 500 tons of saltpetre; the British Government put into execution the gigantic plan of being a depot, the manufactory, the place of arms, and the centre of the European war</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Spain and Sweden also received munitions for fighting on the British side against Napoleon. British victory at Waterloo, <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=nK0lOaN3h5sC&pg=PA21&dq=Similarly+%28thanks+to+the+use+of+Indian+saltpetre%29+British+gunpowder+was+widely+recognised+to+be+far+superior+to+the&hl=en&ei=yegZTL71AsXMcNjyhfUJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Similarly%20%28thanks%20to%20the%20use%20of%20Indian%20saltpetre%29%20British%20gunpowder%20was%20widely%20recognised%20to%20be%20far%20superior%20to%20the&f=false" target="_blank" title="Wellington's Army in the Peninsula 1809-14 By Stuart Reid">was in no small measure</a> "<i>thanks to the use of Indian saltpetre, </i><i>British gunpowder was widely recognised to be far superior to the charcoal-like French product." </i>British creditworthiness received a boost just before Waterloo. British debt, trading at 25% discount in 1813, was <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Ah4cfjAHMm0C&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=Three+years+later+British+credit+had+been+improved+by+a+string+of+victories+but+the+sheer+quantity&source=bl&ots=-hr05zP2ge&sig=_AfzAlBbus9_-Bum8Gi08i5RSa4&hl=en&ei=S_YZTPH9Is7Qcd6h6awK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Three%20years%20later%20British%20credit%20had%20been%20improved%20by%20a%20string%20of%20victories%20but%20the%20sheer%20quantity&f=false" target="_blank" title="Collision of empires: Britain in three world wars, 1793-1945 By Arnold D. Harvey">boosted by Indian gold</a>, in 1813, procured by Britain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Western historians <a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/3091714" target="_blank" title="The British Balance of Payments, 1772-1820 - India Transfers and War Finance By Javier Cuenca Esteban, from The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Feb., 2001), pp. 58-86">now reluctantly admit,</a> that without the <i>"accumulated credits from Indian transfers since 1757, Britain's financing of land warfare during the French wars could have been compromised."</i><i> </i>Napoleon and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/archaeology/excavations_techniques/napoleon_army_01.shtml" target="_blank" title="Napoleon's Lost Army - The Soldiers Who Fell By Paul Britten-Austin Last updated 2009-11-05">France could not</a> <i>"march their combined armies to India, and strangle the supplies of British gold that had been financing successive coalitions against France."</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Without the advantage of Indian saltpetre, with <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=s6f7wWskiSIC&pg=RA2-PA195&lpg=RA2-PA195&dq=in+1792+France+was+able+to+face+danger+on+all+sides,+it+was+because+Lavoisier,+Fourcroy,+Guyton+de+Morveau,+Chaptal,+Berthollet,+etc.,+discovered+new+means+of+extracting+saltpetre+and+manufacturing+gunpowder.&source=bl&ots=ZQUtt4sRyv&sig=MJpkbAEE1oCTggcHpkBPcI_CKMM&hl=en&ei=ZNIZTNnJO5LvcMa91Y8K&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=in%201792%20France%20was%20able%20to%20face%20danger%20on%20all%20sides%2C%20it%20was%20because%20Lavoisier%2C%20Fourcroy%2C%20Guyton%20de%20Morveau%2C%20Chaptal%2C%20Berthollet%2C%20etc.%2C%20discovered%20new%20means%20of%20extracting%20saltpetre%20and%20manufacturing%20gunpowder.&f=false" target="_blank" title="The Life of Pasteur By Rene Vallery-Radot">a threatening Britain </a></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">in 1792 France was able to face danger on all sides, it was because Lavoisier, Fourcroy, Guyton de Morveau, Chaptal, Berthollet, etc., discovered new means of extracting saltpetre and manufacturing gunpowder.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Some 6000 <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KwZ1gvewyO4C&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=In+all+France+there+were+between+seven+and+eight+hundred+saltpetremen+employing+twelve+to+fifteen+hundred+laborers&source=bl&ots=tl8prnidIs&sig=7soswKmTO2UehPk9CFe-5O1d2Eo&hl=en&ei=6_4dTOSAPMmfrAe3ivWtCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=In%20all%20France%20there%20were%20between%20seven%20and%20eight%20hundred%20saltpetremen%20employing%20twelve%20to%20fifteen%20hundred%20laborers&f=false" target="_blank" title="Science and polity in France: the end of the old regime By Charles Coulston Gillispie">factories manned by '<i>salpetriers</i>'</a> worked in France <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=fNZBSqd2cToC&pg=PA322&dq=In+1792+France+was+blockaded+and+the+external+suppliers+of+saltpetre+cut+off.+A+decree+of+the+year+II+of+the+Republic+%281793%29+invited+all+citizens&hl=en&ei=bEYaTM6OPIPBcZ6XufgJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="A history of Greek fire and gunpowder By James Riddick Partington">to overcome the naval</a> blockade.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Meanwhile in India</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Malwa's rulers recruited <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=aEVnwBWvOmkC&pg=PA541&lpg=PA541&dq=This+term+which+means+eastern+or+coming+from+the+east+is+used+in+Hoshangabad+and+other+districts&source=bl&ots=I4vWN0hK-S&sig=081YR6LnbnJkk9Ibowh9yuxmC94&hl=en&ei=G5AXTIXVLdKzrAfl64m2Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=This%20term%20which%20means%20eastern%20or%20coming%20from%20the%20east%20is%20used%20in%20Hoshangabad%20and%20other%20districts&f=false" target="_blank" title="The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 1 By Robert Vane Russell">Purbias</a> from Bengal and Bihar for their <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=B_wvm3W018wC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=As+the+process+of+disbanding+the+Sindhia+army+got+underway,+the+company%27s+officials+were+particularly+eager+to+get+rid+of+of+the+Purbias.&source=bl&ots=twgHCgxK1B&sig=iZ9zFz-Mn53hjWV6QqXJz8deHNk&hl=en&ei=EIsXTJ3QMNG2rAfJnIjDCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="India's princely states - people, princes and colonialism By Waltraud Ernst, Biswamoy Pati">expertise in gunpowder</a>. The British initially <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=fX2zMfWqIzMC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=The+high+caste+Bhumihar+and+Rajput+squireens+of+these+areas+%28known+as+purbias+or+%27easterners%27%29+had+been+recruited&source=bl&ots=WbA9fTDIcf&sig=blqU7Oz4peiqWaMBjnGbdd-tncs&hl=en&ei=l6gXTMbrBZDHrAeThtClCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20high%20caste%20Bhumihar%20and%20Rajput%20squireens%20of%20these%20areas%20%28known%20as%20purbias%20or%20%27easterners%27%29%20had%20been%20recruited&f=false" target="_blank" title="Indian society and the making of the British Empire, Volumes 1-2 By Christopher Alan Bayly, C. A. Bayly">valued and later (after 1857) feared</a> the Purbias for the same reason. The other reason was an established saltpetre production in the Malwa region till the 19th century. In Punjab, the <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zm8IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA79&dq=Saltpetre,+%22shora%22+is+a+nitrate+of+potash+which+is+found+naturally+in+the+soil+in+many+parts+of+the+Punjab&hl=en&ei=x5sXTMjEBpC5rAef6rWVCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Saltpetre%2C%20%22shora%22%20is%20a%20nitrate%20of%20potash%20which%20is%20found%20naturally%20in%20the%20soil%20in%20many%20parts%20of%20the%20Punjab&f=false" target="_blank" title="Hand-book of the economic products of the Punjab: with a combined index and ... By Baden Henry Baden-Powell">main centres were</a> Lahore, Hissar, Multan and Amritsar.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>India's gunpowder production system</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">India was the <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EKhgsGLJ29gC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=Pre-modern+gunpowder+or+more+properly+black+powder+in+India+as+elsewhere+was+a+mixture+of+roughly+75+per+cent+saltpetre+15+per+cent+charcoal+and+10+per+cent+sulphur&source=bl&ots=MDQ2wsnlI1&sig=hnTPTwIVcYIk8ZFYtAU5_lR_tYE&hl=en&ei=-y0RTPnfKoS1rAe6vu26BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Pre-modern%20gunpowder%20or%20more%20properly%20black%20powder%20in%20India%20as%20elsewhere%20was%20a%20mixture%20of%20roughly%2075%20per%20cent%20saltpetre%2015%20per%20cent%20charcoal%20and%2010%20per%20cent%20sulphur&f=false" target="_blank" title="Mughal warfare: Indian frontiers and highroads to empire, 1500-1700 By Jos J. L. Gommans">largest gunpowder production system</a> - in the history of the world, till the 20th century. Specifically Bengal and Bihar regions. Operated by a caste of <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v99/n2492/abs/099447a0.html" target="_blank" title="Indian Saltpetre nature 99, 447-448 (02 August 1917) | doi:10.1038/099447a0">peoples called the nuniah</a>, saltpetre beds supplied the most vital element in gunpowder - <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=XQcAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA153&dq=Palmer+contributed+an+interesting+narrative+entitled+Observations+on+Uie+Production+of+Nitre+in+India&hl=en&ei=AasTTNB1i8GsB97j-LYI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Palmer%20contributed%20an%20interesting%20narrative%20entitled%20Observations%20on%20Uie%20Production%20of%20Nitre%20in%20India&f=false" target="_blank" title="Chemical news and journal of physical science, Volume 3">saltpetre</a>. And India <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=a4DuGVwyN6cC&pg=PA229&lpg=PA229&dq=As+the+demand+for+saltpeter+increased,+large+saltpeter+processing+areas+caled+Saltpeter+plantations+developed&source=bl&ots=hncLxaiZXX&sig=KVj5hBdaX7gaQbJ1BT3hmeXm1aQ&hl=en&ei=Yr8XTK-DJsafrAfPi-HVCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="The 100 most important chemical compounds: a reference guide By Richard L. Myers">produced virtually all</a> of it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Especially, Bihar, Bengal, Agra and Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Karanataka regions (Anantapur, Coimbatore, Guntur, Kurnool). The Guntur Sircar <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=fX2zMfWqIzMC&pg=PA56&dq=purposes%3B+saltpetre+is+made+on+the+borders+of+...&hl=en&ei=vZcXTL_kFovGrAeNtKWpCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=purposes%3B%20saltpetre%20is%20made%20on%20the%20borders%20of%20...&f=false" target="_blank" title="Indian society and the making of the British Empire, Volumes 1-2 By Christopher Alan Bayly, C. A. Bayly">also manufactured saltpetre </a>on a commercial scale. A mid 17th century <i>Royal Society </i>paper documented <a href="http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/1/1-22/103.full.pdf" target="_blank" title="Of the Way, Used in the Mogol's Dominions, to Make Saltpetre The Royal Society">how saltpetre was made</a> in India. Most of the miniscule amounts of <a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/3106821" target="_blank">saltpetre produced in the rest of the world</a> was calcium nitrate, a hygroscopic salt, which spoilt easily by absorbing moisture from air.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Armenians, the ill-fated Omichund, a <i>"notorious Calcutta merchant who was later to engineer the Plassey Revolution" </i><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=9xt7Fgzq9e8C&pg=PA340&dq=the+notorious+Calcutta+merchant+who+was+later+to+engineer+the+Plassey+Revolution.%22&hl=en&ei=ySQSTKC5D46ErAfkko34BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=the%20notorious%20Calcutta%20merchant%20who%20was%20later%20to%20engineer%20the%20Plassey%20Revolution.%22&f=false" target="_blank" title="The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company: 1660-1760 By K. N. Chaudhuri">played an important part</a> in the Bengal/Bihar saltpetre trade. They were all significant players in the export of <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Pc8PAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA101&dq=by+its+not+becoming+liquid+on+exposure+to+air.+Nitre,+also+called+saltpetre+is+employed+in+making&hl=en&ei=i0ESTJD3LsyxrAegwunpBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Manual of mineralogy: including observations on mines, rocks, reduction of ... By James Dwight Dana">saltpetre (potassium nitrate)</a>. Also known as niter, saltpetre was a necessary ingredient for gunpowder.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Gunpowder becomes a British monopoly</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">After <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=pZ8IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA452&dq=Bengal+British+70+percent+world%27s+saltpeter+production&hl=en&ei=cywRTLLeFMu9rAfxtbT1BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="The Asiatic journal and monthly register for British India and its ..., Volume 7">the annexation of Bengal</a>,</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">"By seizing Bengal, the British exerted mastery over 70 percent of the world's saltpeter production during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Since powder stocks could not be prepared quickly or easily, demand was no less during peaceful interims than during times of war, for, in addition to normal sales for peaceful purposes, gunpowder was steadily purchased or produced to build up military powder reserves for emergency use.<br />
<br />
One reason why China developed fireworks, rockets, and other incendiaries rather than shot-firing artillery was China's reliance on artificial saltpeter for making gunpowder. The Chinese also often used a higher proportion of charcoal and sulfur, which resulted in more fire and less ballistic strength. (16) India, on the other hand, produced saltpeter of very high quality, enabling the development of gunpowder weapons, in particular heavy siege guns, in addition to rockets. In many ways, Indian gunpowder making was more advanced than that of China, particularly regarding the strength of the final product, in its commercial organization, and in its application to military purposes.<br />
<br />
As early as the 1460s, nearly forty years before the commencement of the East India trade, these Persian sources make it clear that the rulers of Jaunpur and Bengal already had organized saltpeter production as state monopolies managed by their chief merchants.<br />
<br />
India was roughly a century ahead of Western Europe in terms of developing the infrastructure for gunpowder technology. It is significant, though, that gunpowder was not shipped to India from Europe in any significant quantities. By 1617, the Portuguese king had joined the general European clamor for more saltpeter. The capitalization of the saltpeter trade at Rajapur was in the hands of Saraswat Brahmins, with investors participating from as far away as Goa and Diu. Shivaji (r. 1664-1680) and his successors made nitrate procurement into a state monopoly, thus forcing the Portuguese, their Indian agents, and Banjara peddlers to deal with the Maratha state.<br />
<br />
The Mughal Empire has been styled a "gunpowder empire," which is a debatable characterization. (34) It is clear from Mughal records that guns were important, if only as symbols and occasional instruments of imperial power. The victory of Babur (r. 1526-1530) over Ibrahim Lodi (r. 1517-1526) often is attributed to his use of artillery, however, Babur himself valued his own judgment at least as much as his Turkish guns. (35) After the Battle of Panipat (1526), the first Mughal ruler ordered executions by firing squad, which are some of the first such killings recorded. Contemporary descriptions of Babur's battles, however, emphasize the continuing dominance of cavalry, with guns present but not decisive. Nevertheless, warfare was changing in South Asia. Babur's eldest son and successor, Humayun (r. 1530-1539/1555-1556), was keen to bring Rumi Khan, the Turkish artillery expert employed by the Sultan of Gujarat, over to his side. (36) The widespread use of firearms by Sher Shah (r. 1540-1545) during the brief Sur interregnum is significant, as is the fact that Sher Shah himself was killed by a gunpowder explosion. (37) The early sixteenth century, for India, was a time of significant military change, a watershed between the age of the blade and the age of the gun.<br />
<br />
Sher Shah realized that a large army of peasant matchlockmen, recruited and paid by the state, could only exist in the context of a bureaucratic regime with enhanced revenue-collection capabilities and in a kingdom with strong commercial institutions. This lesson was not lost upon Akbar (r. 1556-1605), whose advisor, Abu al-Fazal, adopted many of Sher Shah's innovations. The rising importance of the saltpeter trade, as well as its lowly origins, may be gauged by the meteoric rise of the warlord Hemu, who had opposed Akbar's accession to the throne. Akbar's biographer-courtier, Abu al-Fazl, uncharitably informs us that Hemu was a member of "the Dhusar tribe, which is the lowest class of hucksters in India. At the back lanes he sold saltpetre (nimak-i-shor) with a thousand mortifications ... till at last he became a government huckster...." As Akbar's army set out to challenge Hemu, their spirits were roused by a giant image of the saltpeter merchant-turned-general, filled with gunpowder and set on fire. (38) Ironically, Hemu was killed by the Mughals not with a musket shot, but in the old-fashioned style, with an arrow in the eye, followed by a sword blow to the neck.<br />
<br />
Significantly, Sher Shah's infantry, carrying firearms, were recruited from the eastern Ganges Plain, the same region in which saltpeter production had already become an important component of the regional economy. Later, this area provided infantry for the Mughals and eventually for the British, too.<i> (from </i><a href="http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-209404380.html" target="_blank" title="The Indian saltpeter trade, the military revolution and the rise of Britain as a global superpower. Article from - The Historian Article date - September 22, 2009 Author - Frey, James W. ">The Indian saltpeter trade, the military revolution and the rise of Britain as a global superpower. from: The Historian, Article date: September 22, 2009, Author: Frey, James W</a>.)</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">After obtaining <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=fX2zMfWqIzMC&pg=PA84&dq=Yet+his+government+also+continued+monopolies+in+salt+and+saltpetre+and+forced+Indian+merchants+into+the+service+of+British+armies.&hl=en&ei=saYXTJvzLsq7rAegsvyvCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Yet%20his%20government%20also%20continued%20monopolies%20in%20salt%20and%20saltpetre%20and%20forced%20Indian%20merchants%20into%20the%20service%20of%20British%20armies.&f=false" target="_blank" title="Indian society and the making of the British Empire, Volumes 1-2 By Christopher Alan Bayly, C. A. Bayly">this vital monopoly</a>, Britain protected this. Saltpetre <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vk_BKeNonnMC&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=Consequently,+he+recommended+that+exports+of+potash+to+France+should+be+stopped+just+as+the+East+India+Company+had+been+required+to+cease+exporting+saltpetre.28+In+the+following+year+Banks+was+also+consulted+on+whether+exports+of+nitric&source=bl&ots=Bry9eU_9Mc&sig=xiJil7TiRMY04E9vMb9vb4J-s8E&hl=en&ei=vzYRTLsEhrKsB7Df8K8E&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Consequently%2C%20he%20recommended%20that%20exports%20of%20potash%20to%20France%20should%20be%20stopped%20just%20as%20the%20East%20India%20Company%20had%20been%20required%20to%20cease%20exporting%20saltpetre.28%20In%20the%20following%20year%20Banks%20was%20also%20consulted%20on%20whether%20exports%20of%20nitric&f=false" target="_blank" title="Science in the service of empire: Joseph Banks, the British state and the ... By John Gascoigne (Ph. D.), John Gascoigne">exports were banned</a>. Thus <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7n6Cg9znFrUC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=The+ordinary+components+of+gunpowder+are+saltpetre,+sulphur+and+charcoal+all+of+which+are+available+in+lenty+in+ancient+India,+thus+reinforcing+the+conjecture+that+gunpowder+was+indeed+known+in+ancient+India.&source=bl&ots=_EUYnxO91I&sig=D9zOzeihrLQhklfZmd8E9KrNnNk&hl=en&ei=jDcRTPToIZSwrAfL_cXpBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Gunpowder, explosives and the state: a technological history By Brenda J. Buchanan">an ancient Indian technology</a> was harnessed by the English to subjugate the Indian.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flonnet.com/fl2524/images/20081205252406405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="http://www.flonnet.com/fl2524/images/20081205252406405.jpg" width="343" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
India's widespread manufacture of saltpetre was<br />
private enterprise! Without state subsidy<br />
or support! (Picture by BENOY K. BEHL,<br />
courtesy: The Frontline). Click for larger image.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>From gold came saltpetre, which made getting gold easier</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Greater access of saltpetre to the British and with the shutting out of other European powers, saltpetre became essential for other European powers, because English had it. It became rare, as the English monopolised the trade.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In <a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/3102523" target="_blank" title="The French Crash Program for Saltpeter Production - 1776-1796 by Robert P. Multhauf; from Technology and Culture © 1971 Society for the History of Technology.">1775, the French scientific publication</a>, <i>Observations sur la physique</i> a proposal by <i>Academie Royale des Sciences </i>for increased saltpetre production within France. Finally, a prize was announced in 1783. Nicolas Leblanc <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=jxqdnKQrAmEC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=Next+to+money+perhaps+the+most+critical+commodity+in+warfare+saltpetre+or+potassium+nitrate+was+in+short+supply.&source=bl&ots=5MSNxmHTmG&sig=x3ng3EE3RT1tW-LUyrd5tMV1XuE&hl=en&ei=p7sYTPfgHtK5rAeT9_2wCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Next%20to%20money%20perhaps%20the%20most%20critical%20commodity%20in%20warfare%20saltpetre%20or%20potassium%20nitrate%20was%20in%20short%20supply.&f=false" target="_blank" title="The art of warfare in the age of Napoleon By Gunther Erich Rothenberg">set up a factory</a> at St.Denis, during 1791-194, near Paris for manufacture of saltpetre in France. The whole of <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mAsrwMrfaoQC&pg=PA107&dq=Directions+for+gathering+of+saltpeter+were+printed+and+sent+all+over+France.+The+prescribed+recipe+for+saltpeter,+charcoal,+and+sulphur+was+dispatched+to+the+flour+mills+and+the+powder+was+ground+according+to+simple+specifications.&hl=en&ei=N8sYTIHzDsKvrAeN992uCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Directions%20for%20gathering%20of%20saltpeter%20were%20printed%20and%20sent%20all%20over%20France.%20The%20prescribed%20recipe%20for%20saltpeter%2C%20charcoal%2C%20and%20sulphur%20was%20dispatched%20to%20the%20flour%20mills%20and%20the%20powder%20was%20ground%20according%20to%20simple%20specifications.&f=false" target="_blank" title="From crossbow to H-bomb By Bernard Brodie, Fawn McKay Brodie">France was mobilized</a> for this saltpetre collection and gunpowder production.</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Directions for gathering of saltpeter were printed and sent all over France. The prescribed recipe for saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur was dispatched to the flour mills and the powder was ground according to simple specifications. Each district was directed to send two citizens to Paris for a month's course in the casting of bronze and iron and in new methods for the manufacture of powder. (from From crossbow to H-bomb By Bernard Brodie, Fawn McKay Brodie.).</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">At the start of the American Civil War, against the Southern Confederates, The North <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=8BO2IV4gVyIC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=By+the+middle+of+the+nineteenth+century+the+world+was+getting+most+of+its+niter+from+India,+a+British+possession%3B+niter+had+therefore+become+a+potent+instrument+of+British+diplomacy.+For+years,+Lincoln%27s+friend+Joseph+Henry+had+seen+the+...&source=bl&ots=XeKLZLD6ZR&sig=qCPp1rXv1yq4_B-ZFjmB2gSzrew&hl=en&ei=SX8TTPGvGomyrAeC2MDGCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=By%20the%20middle%20of%20the%20nineteenth%20century%20the%20world%20was%20getting%20most%20of%20its%20niter%20from%20India%2C%20a%20British%20possession%3B%20niter%20had%20therefore%20become%20a%20potent%20instrument%20of%20British%20diplomacy.%20For%20years%2C%20Lincoln%27s%20friend%20Joseph%20Henry%20had%20seen%20the%20...&f=false" target="_blank" title="Lincoln and the Tools of War By Robert V. Bruce">started with the benefit</a> of a stockpile of some 3 million pounds of niter - i.e. saltpetre. The Confederates sent James Mason and John Slidell to obtain saltpetre from Britain - and <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=-uuEA7xIUHUC&pg=PA390&lpg=PA390&dq=This+novel+interpretation+of+international+law+was+never+tested+for+instead+of+capturing+Trent+as+a+prize+after+stopping+her&source=bl&ots=MP0dX6Bm49&sig=JrC0mqlpUoS3mpfX8o6ijXUW5uE&hl=en&ei=UJ4TTPOWNIqwrAf-1oC3CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=This%20novel%20interpretation%20of%20international%20law%20was%20never%20tested%20for%20instead%20of%20capturing%20Trent%20as%20a%20prize%20after%20stopping%20her&f=false" target="_blank" title="Battle cry of freedom: the Civil War era By James M. McPherson">not empty diplomatic recognition</a> from European powers. Mason and Slidell were captured by Unionist forces. Britain demanded release of Mason Slidell. Lincoln refused.</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">Queen Victoria issued a proclamation forbidding the export from all ports of the United Kingdom, of gunpowder, nitre, nitrate of soda, brimstone, lead, and fire-arms.—<a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=VWMPAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PR35&dq=December+4,+Queen+Victoria+proclamation+export+niter&hl=en&ei=ZpcTTOr8HMq8rAerz_mKCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="The Rebellion record: a diary of American events, with documents ..., Volume 3 By Frank Moore"><i>London Gazette, Dec. 4. </i></a></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Britain imposed a ban on exports of saltpetre. Known in history as <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=HbBbn3x7PZsC&pg=PA1003&dq=On+November+8+1861+seven+months+into+the+US+Civil+War+Captain+Charlkes+Wilkes+of+the+USS&hl=en&ei=eZYTTKyoIo-xrAeW8Ni7CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Britain and the Americas: culture, politics, and history By Will Kaufman, Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson, Jérôme Elie">the Trent Affair</a>, as Union saltpetre stocks went down, Lincoln backed down and agreed to release Mason and Slidell. Prices of <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=oSOmP4a-QB8C&pg=PA3&dq=The+second+source+for+gunpowder+in+the+south+at+the+beginning+of+the+war+was+powder+purchased&hl=en&ei=Hp0TTM3hG4SwrAf53b2QCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20second%20source%20for%20gunpowder%20in%20the%20south%20at%20the%20beginning%20of%20the%20war%20was%20powder%20purchased&f=false" target="_blank" title="Never for want of powder: the Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia By C. L. Bragg">saltpetre skyrocketed</a> from some US$0.20 to US$3.0 within one year after the war began. The <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=IwX6r9IylDQC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=The+Confederacy+was+unable+to+stockpile+enough+niter+from+British+India+before+the+blockade+became+stringent.+Since+insufficient+quantities+came+throu&source=bl&ots=XBlmCBcDS5&sig=tR9sdRseNrhTM6G88hf8SGeQ0kw&hl=en&ei=AK8TTLuINoKmrQextJyHCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Northern naval superiority and the economics of the American Civil War By David George Surdam">Confederates established</a> a Niter Corps to <a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/30148788" target="_blank" title="Confederate Nitre Bureau Operations in Florida by Marion O.Smith">manage this shortage</a>. British godowns overflowing with Indian and Egyptian cotton, did not really depend on Southern cotton, declared neutrality - and supplied both sides with Indian saltpetre.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well understood by the US Government, C.H.Davis, of the Bureau Of Ordnance, Navy Department, on November 22, 1862 <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iJsFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA709&dq=It+is+not+produced+naturally+in+this+country,+nor+by+any+other+but+India,+except+in+insignificant+quantities.&hl=en&ei=cKETTIPQAceprAfJ4cisCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=It%20is%20not%20produced%20naturally%20in%20this%20country%2C%20nor%20by%20any%20other%20but%20India%2C%20except%20in%20insignificant%20quantities.&f=false" target="_blank" title="House documents, otherwise publ. as Executive documents: 13th congress, 2d ... By United States. Congress. House">reported to the US Congress</a>,</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">I feel it, therefore, to be my first duty to urge that suitable provision of ordnance material be made for probable future necessities of the Navy. Most important among them is nitre, which enters so largely into the composition of gunpowder that it may be said to be gunpowder itself, with some slight additions of sulphur and charcoal under proper combination.<br />
<br />
It is not produced naturally in this country, nor by any other but India, except in insignificant quantities.<br />
<br />
Hindostan alone supplies the whole world, which being a British dependency, places us entirely at the mercy or caprice of that power for our stock of this essential article.</blockquote><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>End of the saltpetre era</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">With the <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=imMJJP5T5rsC&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=The+Chilean+nitrate+deposits+contain+a+number+of+borate+minerals:+colemanite&source=bl&ots=s2LBp0U4av&sig=e-XugpMcKOd2Z0yDygURLPFdK5Q&hl=en&ei=gnQYTIy_Dsi0rAeM08WrCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Chilean%20nitrate%20deposits%20contain%20a%20number%20of%20borate%20minerals%3A%20colemanite&f=false" target="_blank" title="Borates - handbook of deposits, processing, properties, and use By Donald E. Garrett">arrival of Chile's nitrate</a> (sodium nitrate - NaNO3) <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=spGIJdAVDecC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=Nitrate+minin+provided+an+illusion+of+wealth+that+was+periodically+shattered+by+international+crises&source=bl&ots=zTEk2Qxn7Y&sig=toZCA0ukzlTCofqxm3TbHEWyN84&hl=en&ei=HXYYTMGsGMyvrAeHj-W8Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="The history of Chile By John Lawrence Rector">deposits in Atacama desert</a>, the world was weaned away from Indian saltpetre. Chilean nitrates were used <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=N46DxR1xevYC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=Like+guano,+Chilean+nitrate+was+found+in+a+very+dry+part+of+South+America.+Very+large+deposits+of+sodium+nitrate&source=bl&ots=K9avpixWHD&sig=zyizg7nmBEi7w7cH2ZLTYmPdhIQ&hl=en&ei=lHsYTLbJMYqZrAfk2NXjAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Like%20guano%2C%20Chilean%20nitrate%20was%20found%20in%20a%20very%20dry%20part%20of%20South%20America.%20Very%20large%20deposits%20of%20sodium%20nitrate&f=false" target="_blank" title="Nitrate, agriculture and the environment By Tom M. Addiscott">to derive nitric acid</a>, a key intermediate for explosives manufacture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chilean <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=cWvr5vrfGkIC&pg=PA354&dq=Chile+nitrogen+These+figures+are+interesting+and+can+be+interpreted+in+their+relation+to+world+conditions+during+the+years+included&hl=en&ei=bXEYTInQEcTCrAfZgvDvAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFQQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Notes on Military Explosives By Weaver Erasmus Morgan">nitrate was sodium nitrate</a>, (NaNO3), which could be <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wnRgSiIEu0kC&pg=PA128&dq=Free+nitric+acid+does+not+occur+except+in+very+minute+amounts,+buts+its+compounds+are+found+in+very+large+quantities&hl=en&ei=EbIXTObFKouwrAfWt4CuCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Chemistry By A. V. Unsworth">used to derive nitric acid</a>. Nitric acid was used for manufacture of explosives. HAPAG, the Hamburg based shipping line, became the biggest in the world, <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0xh3Xz3FmlEC&pg=PA88&dq=Hamburg%27s+premier+shipping+line,+the+HAPAG+under+Albert+Ballin+became+the+largest+in+the+world&hl=en&ei=aFoaTJDmE4rRccGDuLEK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA" target="_blank" title="The regions of Germany - a reference guide to history and culture By Dieter K. Buse">carrying Chilean nitrates</a> to Germany. The end of Boer War (1899-1902) saw the emergence of Germany as a major producer of munitions - especially the smokeless gunpowder. Even Britain started buying from Germany.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">For a brief while, guano, a natural fertiliser composed of bird droppings, was also a source of nitrates for explosives. But, with the Haber-Bosch process, Germany could manufacture explosives - <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=JOtJKgWkPuQC&pg=PA347&lpg=PA347&dq=in+1913+Germany+imported+approximately+half+of+its+nitrogen+from+Chile,+a+source+which+becameunavailable+at+the+outbreak+of+WW1&source=bl&ots=vjsXCY0oWB&sig=-O7eBoIBqLwohipBGgoyXaRJE38&hl=en&ei=CbAXTIK5GNO9rAePq4iWCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Caveman Chemistry: 28 Projects, from the Creation of Fire to the Production ... By Kevin M. Dunn">without the Chilean nitrate</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the discovery of nitroglycerine and TNT and its widespread commercialization by Alfred Nobel (of Nobel Prize fame) from the 1860s onwards, this British saltpetre monopoly end. As the British monopoly over gunpowder started weakening, the British policy changed.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Pirate nation to super-power</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Till 1856, sea piracy was legal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The British <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=HrspsPfxnaEC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=English+privateering+apparently+began+in+the+1200s,+when+the+king+ordered+vessels&source=bl&ots=UFEgdfPt9-&sig=ucC4xjwLe17Gg0cRC90dYnETXGM&hl=en&ei=S03YS72rAcO_rAfpkYCfBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=English%20privateering%20apparently%20began%20in%20the%201200s%2C%20when%20the%20king%20ordered%20vessels&f=false" target="_blank" title="Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns: State-Building and Extraterritorial ... By Janice E. Thomson (English privateering apparently began in the 1200s, when the king ordered vessels ...).">crown gave permits</a> for pirates to operate on high seas – through, what were known as, letters of marque. With the sanction of the English State, high seas <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=bRgFqADzOLkC&pg=PA33&dq=piracy+privateers+england&as_brr=3&ei=tWeUSPjVApHcsgP3j-DwDA&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U1hYTov0pqE6_EP46pabo-yE1Ww7w#PPA33,M1" target="_blank" title="Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750 By Kris E. Lane">piracy became a national pastime</a> in Britain. Pirates like <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=r_LaPYlmNEEC&pg=PA249&dq=John+Hawkins+made+money+on+slave+trade+and+piracy&as_brr=3&ei=jbmGStDkG6fYkAT6_dT2CQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank" title="European Christianity and the Atlantic Slave Trade - A Black Hermeneutical Study By Robinson A. Milwood, Rev Dr Robinson a. Milwood Phd">Sir John Hawkins made money</a> on slave trade and piracy - targeting Spanish ships. Queen Elizabeth, apart from <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=hiFoxLhuNxkC&pg=PT67&dq=piracy+privateers+england&as_brr=3&ei=tWeUSPjVApHcsgP3j-DwDA&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2hhPyC7uwPZ7wtJphpldmlfiTnrw#PPT68,M1" target="_blank" title="The Everything Pirates Book By Barb Karg, Arjean Spaite">knighting him, also participated</a> in these criminal enterprises. The Spanish Armada was <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4ij9jqDXDD8C&pg=PA4&dq=Spain+at+last+resolved+to+put+an+end+to+English+piracy,+and+the+Armada+was+built.+The+English+did+not+succeed&hl=en&ei=KVDYS9KTHoy8rAeips3UBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Spain%20at%20last%20resolved%20to%20put%20an%20end%20to%20English%20piracy%2C%20and%20the%20Armada%20was%20built.%20The%20English%20did%20not%20succeed&f=false" target="_blank" title="The Vampire of the Continent By Ernst Reventlow (Spain at last resolved to put an end to English piracy, and the Armada was built. The English did not succeed).">assembled by Spain to end</a> British piracy. Further on, British propaganda made these pirates and privateers into heroes - and the Spanish Armada into an instrument of Catholic repression.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Piracy was outlawed by The Declaration of Paris, in 1856, ratified by various powers. Initially by Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia and Turkey – but not by Spain, Portugal and the USA. Soon after, Britain became a buyer of explosives, munitions. Challenges to British power started soon after this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In less than than a 100 years after invention of alternates to Indian saltpetre, Britain was a shadow of its former imperial self.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>The end of Indian saltpetre</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">To cover the cost of the Anglo-Indian War of 1857, the British <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=xYhHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA422&dq=Saltpetre+is+the+chief+article+of+this+sort,+and+on+this+Mr.+Wilson+has+considerably+increased+the+export+duty.+Tt+is+worth+mention+that+in+the+month+of+...&hl=en&ei=-lcXTIyqII65rAfOiOWvCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Saltpetre%20is%20the%20chief%20article%20of%20this%20sort%2C%20and%20on%20this%20Mr.%20Wilson%20has%20considerably%20increased%20the%20export%20duty.%20Tt%20is%20worth%20mention%20that%20in%20the%20month%20of%20...&f=false" target="_blank" title="Macmillan's magazine, Volume 2 edited by David Masson, Sir George Grove, John Morley, Mowbray Morris">Raj increased taxes</a> on saltpetre. British traders from India started clamoring for a reduction in export duty from 1860 onwards. From more 20,000 tons of <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=WBFgjNJWMGoC&pg=PA251&lpg=PA251&dq=The+saltpetre+trade+of+India+was+virtually+destroyed+in+the+early+1860s+on+account+of+the+heavy+duty+imposed+on+it&source=bl&ots=A30UuoZH8i&sig=A12oOMvBCNiK1r9suNrxYAKtU9o&hl=en&ei=ZqcTTLr8GMi_rAer7c2SCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20saltpetre%20trade%20of%20India%20was%20virtually%20destroyed%20in%20the%20early%201860s%20on%20account%20of%20the%20heavy%20duty%20imposed%20on%20it&f=false" target="_blank" title="The financial foundations of the British Raj: ideas and interests in the ... By Sabyasachi Bhattacharya">saltpetre exports</a> in 62-62, it fell to around 11000 tons by 1865, and continued declining there after.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">By which time, Britain was already the preeminent power in the world. On the back of Indian gunpowder factories.</div>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-29086376285507156862010-08-27T08:15:00.000-07:002010-08-29T02:21:59.887-07:00Indian Railways – The British Legacy<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wwwf.cbi-history.com/pictures/rr_story/rr_story12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="122" ox="true" src="http://www.cbi-history.com/pictures/rr_story/rr_story12.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephants were widely used instead of engines - due to <br />
engine shortage and easier manueverability of elephants</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><i>Romancing the Raj</i></i></h3>Modern Indians carry this rather ignorant impression that Indians railways was a departing gift by the British to independent India. This is especially true of post-Independence, 2nd and 3rd generation Indians, who never travelled or saw the colonial railway system trains.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This impression is aided and abetted by Western media too. Recently, Robert Kaplan writing in The Atlantic gushed how the "<i>British, by contrast, brought tangible development, ports and railways, that created the basis for a modern state</i>" of India.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As though, India could not have 'bought' or developed railway technology on its own - from or without the British. After all India has developed a significant air-transport system. Or the comprehensive road network - which is getting further expanded and upgraded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A further examination of facts exposes a completely different picture about the British claims about Indian Railways also.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i>Indian Railways</i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">After the boycott of the Simon Commission, from 1927, and the death of Lala Lajpat Rai (Nov 17, 1928), it was clear (especially to the British) that <b><a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/looking-back-at-indias-partition/" target="_blank" title="Looking back at India’s Partition By 2ndlook">their days were numbered</a></b>. Britain enacted The Government of India Act, first in 1919 and then in 1935. Facing <a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/1945-britain-imperial-ambitions-of-a-starving-nation/" target="_blank" title="1945 Britain – Imperial ambitions of a starving nation By 2ndlook"><b>problems at home and abroad</b></a>, the significant British interest in India was <b><a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/india-the-worlds-richest-economy/" target="_blank" title="Indian Gold Reserves. Forgotten History! New Opportunity? By 2ndlook">extraction of remaining wealth</a></b> in Indian hands.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indian Railway system too suffered from this approach. Especially after WWI, the Great Depression and the currency crisis, starved of investments and renewal, Indian railways suffered.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">During WW2, nearly 40% rolling stock from India was <a href="http://www.tcil.com/rail.asp" target="_blank" title="Overview From the TCI Website">diverted to the Middle East</a>. More than 50% of the track system was the outdated metre gauge and narrow gauge. Track systems were nearly a century old. 40% of the railway system went to Pakistan. 32 of the forty-two separate railway systems operating in India, were owned by the former Indian princely states. More than 8000 outdated steam engines were used as motive power – and less than 20 diesel locomotives were in use. Apart from elephants and people - called as 'hand-shunting' <a href="http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-jargon.html" target="_blank" title="Glossary of technical terms in English (A - L) - from IRFCA.org.">in Indian Railways lingo</a>.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/genealogy/dibblee/elephant.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="313" ox="true" src="http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/genealogy/dibblee/elephant.gif" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant shunting a train on the Bengal-Nagpur railway. <br />
Picture quality makes it probably from WWII period.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">So much for the British gift of railways to India.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Rampant extraction</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The railways run by the Indian princely states became party to the collusive price fixing systems. Like this extract (linked to the right) shows, all the business went to the British engineering yards. To this add the guaranteed returns systems, and <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=oi0e2go8sxoC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=The+guarantee+system+did+not+encourage+cost+control,+and,+at+an+averae+cost+of+18,000+per+mile,+the+Indian+railways+were+some+of+the+costliest+in+the+world.&source=bl&ots=o5ZW1JGfU9&sig=d7RpmJxGC1_X45wD7gREqVv9XN8&hl=en&ei=V_p0TI7SOoffcYLe8fkF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank" title="Another reason - science and the imagination of modern India By Gyan Prakash">what was achieved</a> was something else.</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">"The guarantee system did not encourage cost control, and, at an averae cost of BP18,000 per mile, the Indian railways were some of the costliest in the world. (from <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=oi0e2go8sxoC&pg=PA165&dq=Indian+railways+princely+states+british+managed&hl=en&ei=6PZ0TIqyCsuXcdusrZEG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Indian%20railways%20princely%20states%20british%20managed&f=false" target="_blank" title="Another reason: science and the imagination of modern India By Gyan Prakash, page 165">Another reason: science and the imagination of modern India By Gyan Prakash, page 165</a>).</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Indians <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ETIxCLujm30C&pg=PA90&dq=Indians+enthusiastically+took+to+train+travel+from+the+start.+This+confounded+the+arguments&hl=en&ei=k4B2TOOBC4Wfcdv02eQF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Indians%20enthusiastically%20took%20to%20train%20travel%20from%20the%20start.%20This%20confounded%20the%20arguments&f=false" target="_blank" title="Engines of change - the railroads that made India By Ian J. Kerr">took to railway travel</a> - quickly, easily and in large numbers.</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Indians enthusiastically took to train travel from the start. This confounded the arguments made by some who suggested that considerations of caste and religion would lead many South Asians to shun train travel because they would not agree to the close personal proximity sitting or standing in the coaches required. Women for reasons of modesty or demands of seclusion were expected to be particularly resistant to rail travel. Others argued that poverty would make travel by train impossible for all but the well-to-do. In the event many of all castes, classes and gender traveled by train. (from <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ETIxCLujm30C&pg=PA90&dq=Indians+enthusiastically+took+to+train+travel+from+the+start.+This+confounded+the+arguments&hl=en&ei=k4B2TOOBC4Wfcdv02eQF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Indians%20enthusiastically%20took%20to%20train%20travel%20from%20the%20start.%20This%20confounded%20the%20arguments&f=false" target="_blank" title="Engines of change - the railroads that made India By Ian J. Kerr">Engines of change: the railroads that made India By Ian J. Kerr</a>.).</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though the poor <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ETIxCLujm30C&pg=PA90&dq=Third-class+passengers+quickly+became+and+remained+the+most+numerous+passengers+and+the+railroads%27+largest+source+of+revenue+from+passenger+traffic.+High+volumes+-+87+percent+of&hl=en&ei=4Vt2TL-UKc-jcdrGoaQG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Third-class%20passengers%20quickly%20became%20and%20remained%20the%20most%20numerous%20passengers%20and%20the%20railroads%27%20largest%20source%20of%20revenue%20from%20passenger%20traffic.%20High%20volumes%20-%2087%20percent%20of&f=false" target="_blank" title="Engines of change: the railroads that made India By Ian J. Kerr (page 90 ... Third class passengers quickly becane and remained the most numerous passengers and the railroad's largest source of revenue from passenger traffic. High volumes,-87% of passeners carried in 1902 traveled in third-class-more than compensated for low fares.).">Indian passenger was more than 80%</a> of the traffic, he was always short-changed.</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Third-class passengers quickly became and remained the most numerous passengers and the railroads' largest source of revenue from passenger traffic. High volumes-87 percent of passengers carried in 1902 traveled in third-class-more than compensated for low fares. (from <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ETIxCLujm30C&pg=PA90&dq=Third-class+passengers+quickly+became+and+remained+the+most+numerous+passengers+and+the+railroads%27+largest+source+of+revenue+from+passenger+traffic.+High+volumes+-+87+percent+of&hl=en&ei=4Vt2TL-UKc-jcdrGoaQG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Third-class%20passengers%20quickly%20became%20and%20remained%20the%20most%20numerous%20passengers%20and%20the%20railroads%27%20largest%20source%20of%20revenue%20from%20passenger%20traffic.%20High%20volumes%20-%2087%20percent%20of&f=false" target="_blank" title="Engines of change: the railroads that made India By Ian J. Kerr (page 90 ... Third class passengers quickly becane and remained the most numerous passengers and the railroad's largest source of revenue from passenger traffic. High volumes,-87% of passeners carried in 1902 traveled in third-class-more than compensated for low fares.).">Engines of change: the railroads that made India By Ian J. Kerr</a>.).</div></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>Safety last</b></i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Starved of investments and maintenance, the railways infrastructure at the time of British departure was crumbling. Colonial British (subsequently, the Indian also) response was to affix the blame onto the employee at the lowest rung and move onto the next one accident.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2ndlook.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/indian-railways.jpg?" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="151" ox="true" src="http://2ndlook.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/indian-railways.jpg?" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extract from 'A history of modern India, 1480-1950' By Claude Markovits,<br />
page 433. Click on picture for larger text.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Post-independence India continued with this practice – till LB Shastri called a halt to this. In 1956, the Madras-Tuticorin express plunged into a river when when a bridge at Ariyalur (Tamil Nadu) was washed away in floods. <a href="http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-history4.html" target="_blank" title="Part - IV (1947 - 1970)">144 (some records suggest 156)</a> passengers died. He resigned from the Union Cabinet – claiming moral responsibility for the railway accident.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This resignation saw LB Shastri become a political legend. This (resignation) also changed the mindset of the Indian Railways. After fresh elections of 1957, one year later, he was re-inducted into the Union Cabinet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Steadily, over 30 years, Indian railways infrastructure was upgraded, accidents decreased.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i>What we see today</i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">In 1952, <a href="http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-history4.html" target="_blank" title="IR History: Part - IV (1947 - 1970) from IRFCA.org">it was decided</a> that IIIrd class passengers deserved fans and light - and it took another 7 years <a href="http://www.zeenews.com/budget09/story.aspx?aid=82407" target="_blank" title="Railways trivia - ZEENEWS.COM">to implement this decision</a>. Elephants <a href="http://www.irfca.org/gallery/Heritage/NGP-CWA+NG+trip+062.jpg.html" target="_blank" title="NGP-CWA NG trip 062 - from IRFCA.org">used for shunting wagons</a>, box-cars, finally got a respite after WDS-4B shunters were introduced by Chittranjan Locomotive Works in 1969. Safety bars in windows were introduced on night trains in a phased manner over the 1970s. Till then, most trains <a href="http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-stock.html" target="_blank" title="Rolling Stock - I; Passenger Coaches and Other Coaching Stock - See the answer to "Q. When were barred windows on coaches first introduced?"">had open windows</a> leading to passenger-safety issues. Earlier, <a href="http://www.irfca.org/articles/rlys-since-indep.html" target="_blank" title="Railways Since Independence by Shirish B. Paranjape">it meant</a> <i>"getting into a third-class general compartment — through the window, literally pushed in by someone on the platform. Well, now all the windows have a grill provided for the safety of the passengers".</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It took a non-Congress Government in 1977 to change the face of Indian Railways. Prof.Madhu Dandavate, the Railway Minister in the 1977 Janata Government started the railway renaissance in India. 3rd class railway travel was abolished. Wooden-slat seats were abolished. Cushioned 2nd class seating system was made minimum and standard. Train time tables were re-configured. Reservation systems improved. Railways started getting profitable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The de-colonization of Indian Railways began effectively in 1977 – 30 years after British departure. Symbolically, that was also the year that <a href="http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-history5.html" target="_blank" title="Part - V (1970 - 1995)">the Rail Museum was set up</a>. The progress after that has been remarkable. Without going into the merits of safety and comfort, today Indians can travel <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=f9l9wKCfyaAC&pg=PA195&dq=the+lowest+fares+being+on+the+Great+Indian+Peninsula+and+Madras+Railways&hl=en&ei=pIp2TMnGCIaxccObpZcG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=the%20lowest%20fares%20being%20on%20the%20Great%20Indian%20Peninsula%20and%20Madras%20Railways&f=false" target="_blank" title="Railway Policy in India By Horace Bell">at significantly lower cost</a>. For a US$5, <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=gKHQOoUIqloC&pg=PA46&img=1&pgis=1&dq=Madras+fare+1+pie&sig=ACfU3U16uJS68gPFRQsy-T-5FxByIB_UEw&edge=0" target="_blank" title="Light railways at home and abroad Front Cover By William Henry Cole">an Indian can travel</a> for 1000 km - <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=YrAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA80&dq=ON+19th+March,+1857,+the+Consulting+Engineer+requests+that+as+the+scale+of+Fares+on+the+Madras+Railway+is+experimental,+the+Manager+will+submit+his&hl=en&ei=GId2TOv9FsrMcOOUwP8F&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ON%2019th%20March%2C%201857%2C%20the%20Consulting%20Engineer%20requests%20that%20as%20the%20scale%20of%20Fares%20on%20the%20Madras%20Railway%20is%20experimental%2C%20the%20Manager%20will%20submit%20his&f=false" target="_blank" title="The annals of Indian administration, Volume 2 By Meredith Townsend">compared to</a> nearly US$100 <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=amsiHRRCarIC&pg=PA29&dq=Madras+fare+1+pie&hl=en&ei=mIZ2TLHLGYrRcarS2ZsG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Madras%20fare%201%20pie&f=false" target="_blank" title="Railways of Europe and America: Or, Government Ownership. with Notes from ... By Marion Marsh Todd">for 1000 km</a> (gold-adjusted dollars).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All this when only 25% of Indians travel by rail at least once a year.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2010/02/27/12/Img/Pc0121200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="248" ox="true" src="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2010/02/27/12/Img/Pc0121200.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OLD FAITHFUL: An 80-year-old elephant shunting a railway<br />
boxcar in 1945, Picture courtesy - The Times of India,<br />
Dated 27th February, 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><i>The benign British</i></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Should we complain so much, if we inherited a decrepit, run down, accident prone, investment starved railway system with outdated technology from the British – though <a href="http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=8311" target="_blank" title="Capital and Conquest - Feature Article by Chris Bambery, February 2003">financed by loot from India</a>?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though it took India 40 years, to <a href="http://www.tcil.com/rail.asp" target="_blank" title="Overview From the TCI Website">modernize the colonial railway system</a>, we should be thankful. Remember, they could have uprooted the rails, and taken away the wagons and engines. After all, <b><a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/colonial-cousins-drag-coefficient-on-india/" target="_blank" title="India’s Colonial Cousins - The Drag Coefficient By 2ndlook">Indian Railways was the biggest scrap iron collection</a></b> in the world at that time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Till Lal Bahadur Shastri’s resignation – the poor Indian railway-man was routinely blamed for railway accidents – by his British, and later the Indian bosses also.</div><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em;">Related Articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/17/forbes-india-will-our-trains-ever-be-safe.html">Will Indian Trains Ever Be Safe?</a> (forbes.com) </li>
</ul>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-18621263460072268832010-01-14T03:19:00.000-08:002010-01-14T03:27:18.521-08:00Tribute to Haiti - in their hour of tragedy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0ftc3Wr9eSfPz/610x.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 265px;" src="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0ftc3Wr9eSfPz/610x.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><em><strong><h3>What Haiti needs</h3></strong></em><p style="text-align: justify;">Haiti was stuck by <a title="Haiti earthquake survivors await global aid effort, Page last updated at 09.20 GMT, Thursday, 14 January 2010, BBC.CO.UK" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8458439.stm" target="_blank">an earthquake measuring</a> "<em>7.0-magnitude quake, Haiti's worst in two centuries, struck at 1653 local time (2153 GMT) on Tuesday, just 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince and close to the surface."</em> More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been affected. Haiti has been through worse - and the Haitians have always pulled through. What Haiti needs is non-interference.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Sordid reactions</strong></em></h3><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">During an earlier segment with a reporter for Robertson's CBN News, the televangelist had questioned whether the earthquake in Haiti was a "blessing in disguise."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"They need to have ... a great turning to God," he concluded, adding that the earthquake may have been a direct consequence of their "Satanic pact".</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," Robertson said during a broadcast of The 700 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Network. (via <a title="US televangelist claims Haiti earthquake 'a blessing in disguise' - From - The Daily Telegraph; January 14, 2010 01.21PM" href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/us-televangelist-claims-haiti-earthquake-a-blessing-in-disguise/story-e6freuy9-1225819201168" target="_blank">US televangelist claims Haiti earthquake 'a blessing in disguise' | The Daily Telegraph</a>).</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">What is it that Haiti did a 'long time ago' that made Pat Robertson, do <em>rah-rah </em>for this <em>'divine wrath'</em>!</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>I know what Haiti did</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Haiti was the <strong><a title="End Of Slavery In Europe & USA By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/end-of-slavery-in-europe-usa/" target="_blank">world's first republic, set up by slaves</a></strong> - after a war of freedom. Haiti's, support for Simon Bolivar ended the Spanish Empire in South America. Most importantly, it forced the West to free all African slaves across the Europe and Americas. The second major 'crime' that the Haitians committed was that they rejected a 'liberating' Christianity - and continued with their voudou religion.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">For all this, the West has not forgiven Haiti!</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Messianic Rev.Pat Robertson</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Pat Robertson, more than 40 years ago, founded the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), <a title="Does Pat Robertson Matter? August 25, 2005, 09.14 a.m. (Many conservatives would say no. But it’s not that simple)." href="http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200508250914.asp" target="_blank">which according to</a> <em>"Nielsen Media Research, </em><em>The 700 Club</em>, aired each weekday, has averaged 863,000 viewers in the last year" in the US alone. Some time earlier, Pat Robertson, had called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela - for which <a title="Robertson apologizes for Chavez comment - msnbc.com news services updated 06.08 p.m. ET Aug. 24, 2005 (Televangelist urged Venezuelan leader's assassination ‘out of frustration’)." href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9047102/" target="_blank">he later duly apologized</a>. I wonder if the West would forgive if any Iranian Ayatollah issued a <em>fatwa </em>against a Western leader, and later apologized! Even earlier, when the Israeli Prime Minister suffered a stroke, he <a title="Why Is Pat Robertson Blaming Haiti? By Dan Fletcher Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010" href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1953504,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0caECQtF9" target="_blank">pronounced that as 'punishment from God</a>!' Especially malevolent, Rev.Robertson's God is, I must say!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.paranormalknowledge.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/voodoo-dancing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 391px; height: 266px;" src="http://www.paranormalknowledge.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/voodoo-dancing.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;">In 1999, he <a title="Pat Robertson, E-banker (MONEY Magazine) By Pat Regnier May 1, 1999" href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/1999/05/01/259247/index.htm" target="_blank">signed a deal with Bank of Scotland</a>, part of the Lloyd's Banking Group, later the HBOS, for a Internet-telephone-banking venture. When <a title="The global crisis finds its way to Darling's doorstep By Nick Mathiason, The Observer, Sunday 22 February 2009 (The chancellor is battling the downturn from Westminster. But when he goes home to his Edinburgh constituency, he finds a city numbed by the collapse of RBS and HBOS)." href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/22/hbos-royal-bank-of-scotland" target="_blank">the deal was called off</a>, Pat Robertson launched a scathing attack. <em>"In Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are," </em>Mr Robertson <a title="Bank to drop evangelist - Friday, June 4, 1999 Published at 10.20 GMT 11.20 from BBC.CO.UK" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/359926.stm" target="_blank">said on his Virginia-based Christian Broadcasting Network</a> and his 700 Club television show. Pat Robertson, coming in at NO.2, defeated George Bush in the 1988 Republican Party's US Presidential nomination race, at the Iowa caucuses. Robertson's <em>'</em><a title="Dole on A Roll By Jacob V. Lamar;David Beckwith and Alessandra Stanley/Nashua Monday, Feb. 22, 1988 from http://www.time.com" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,966745,00.html#ixzz0cZYoRMGv" target="_blank"><em>message of moral regeneration</em></a><em>' </em>appealed to the Americans.<br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The <em>Magna Carta </em>sanctioned slavery. In various judgments, US Supreme Court, the ultimate arbiter of the US Constitution, upheld slavery. Vatican's, <a title="History as Mystery By Michael Parenti" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7bXtGrn1xT4C&pg=PA65&dq=Council+of+Gangra&ei=Q02hScDcFYyEkQSz9siNAg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Council of Gangra</a>, re-affirmed its <a title="Change in Official Catholic Moral Teaching By Charles E. Curran" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=gghti96kHscC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=340+Church+Council+Gangra+manichean+slavery&source=web&ots=ys8ZSvJG_1&sig=QHgLppsn9hrGiyIkD-1zJCF4uNo#PPA71,M1" target="_blank">faith in slavery</a>. The administrators of the teachings of the “Lord of lords, and King of kings.” (Revelation 17: 14)<strong><em> </em></strong>at the <a title="Change in official Catholic moral teaching - by Charles E. Curran" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=gghti96kHscC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=340+Church+Council+Gangra+manichean+slavery&source=web&ots=ys8ZSvJG_1&sig=QHgLppsn9hrGiyIkD-1zJCF4uNo#PPA65,M1" target="_blank">Council Of Gangra, 325 AD, issued edicts approving slavery</a> - as did many other Vatican edicts. Pat Robertson, is just one in a long line of such Christian leaders, to support slavery.</p><br />In a twisted way, Pat Robertson maybe right.<br /><p style="text-align: justify;">Talking of money, rich foreigners and expats, who are keeping Haiti in misery, have lost a lot more than Haitians have.</p><h3><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gromambo.com/imgs/mamboatconference.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 397px; height: 409px;" src="http://www.gromambo.com/imgs/mamboatconference.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><em><strong>Tell Haiti you care</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Send Haiti your best wishes, your moral support. If you live in a less exploitative society than before, or a more exploitative society, remember, it was Haiti that stuck the first blow. A blow that en-slaver's have not forgotten 200 years later. To Haiti, we owe whatever liberty, freedom we have - or aspire to.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I don't know how your money will help them. They may not need your money (I guess), but you should give them your moral support (I strongly suggest). Just send a <ding> to this post. Or ping it. Whatever you do, just make it loud enough that your voice can reach Haiti.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In their hour of tragedy.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-91897638998643178632009-11-14T03:19:00.000-08:002009-11-14T04:40:18.270-08:00The root of it all<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2kG4mpqg5AF_QQzBJFeZEvL5NWLMNtRc_FgkzeAl-mpge_KJAgbnnSQpoMJpGvaZ-ci8BGNxB8jDHHD0DJdWBCcS0sTw9rs4PtPMKCxCU9r7gRPeWc0wkeyTpGouS_3r3JN7wPu3Qyrl/s320/POSTERS+cartoon+USA+asleep.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2kG4mpqg5AF_QQzBJFeZEvL5NWLMNtRc_FgkzeAl-mpge_KJAgbnnSQpoMJpGvaZ-ci8BGNxB8jDHHD0DJdWBCcS0sTw9rs4PtPMKCxCU9r7gRPeWc0wkeyTpGouS_3r3JN7wPu3Qyrl/s320/POSTERS+cartoon+USA+asleep.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>The principle of <em>Cuius regio, eius religio </em>provided for internal religious unity within a state: The religion of the prince became the religion of the state and all its inhabitants. Those inhabitants who could not conform to the prince's religion were allowed to leave, an innovative idea in the 16th century. The phrase <em>cuius regio, eius religio </em>as applied to the outcome is attributed to the early seventeenth century (1612, by the jurist Joachim Stephani (1544-1623) of the University of Greifswald[9]). (via <a title="Cuius regio, eius religio - Information from Answers.com" href="http://www.answers.com/topic/cuius-regio-eius-religio" target="_blank">Cuius regio, eius religio: Information from Answers.com</a>).<br /></blockquote></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>After war ... peace</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">All immigrants who do not 'fit in' or who don't 'integrate' into the Danish 'community', it was decided recently, will get <strong><a title="Immigrants get 100,000 kroner Govt incentive to leave Denmark By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/immigrants-get-100000-kroner-govt-incentive-to-leave-denmark/" target="_blank">an incentive of 100,000 kroner.</a></strong> By the Danish Government, to go back to their home countries. The 'fitting in' and 'integrating' refers to Muslims in Denmark.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Danes are not alone. The French feel let down because <em>“immigrants were supposed to blend harmoniously into society and not exist in separate communities.”</em></p><p style="text-align: justify;">For centuries, the settled principle in the Desert Bloc was <em>'Cuius regio, eius religio' </em>(meaning whose land, his religion; CRER) - the ruler decided his people's religion.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">After the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204), <a title="Crisis in Byzantium - the Filioque controversy in the patriarchate of Gregory ... By Aristeides Papadakis; page 15-35" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=TUBllg0JpgUC&pg=PA15&dq=cuius+regio,+eius+religio&ei=ZSX9Spf2DZaGkASUj83XDg&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=cuius%20regio%2C%20eius%20religio&f=false" target="_blank">Vatican invoked the CRER principle (<em>'Cuius regio, eius religio')</em></a><em> </em>during its brief rule over the Byzantine Empire to reject religious objections by the Byzantine subjects. <a title="The Trio – Alexander, Sangala and Jan Zizka By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/the-trio-alexander-sangala-and-jan-zizka/" target="_blank"><strong>Post Hussite Wars and the 'Reformation'</strong></a>, establishing the CRER principle to settle Germany, <a title="The European Reformations By Carter Lindberg (Page 231)" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=GKoS6pB_3RQC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=%27ubi+unus+dominus,+ibi+una+sit+religio%27&source=bl&ots=XTY9E7vMgB&sig=YIKMjOzDuGcIYN4hpywqvdf1ymk&hl=en&ei=0zv9SpObDcGjkAWt8OCJDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%27ubi%20unus%20dominus%2C%20ibi%20una%20sit%20religio%27&f=false" target="_blank">giving rise to the logic of</a> <em>'ubi unus dominus, ibi una sit religio' (</em>One ruler, one religion). Just <a title="Traveling between worlds: German-American encounters By Thomas Adam, Ruth V. Gross (Pages 152-153)" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=yA98d-ydtCsC&pg=PA152&dq=ius+emigrandi&as_brr=3&ei=sjr9SojRJ5_4lATWzNiEDw&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=ius%20emigrandi&f=false" target="_blank">in case someone had religious disagreement</a>, the logic was <a title="A miracle mirrored - the Dutch Republic in European perspective By Karel Davids, Jan Lucassen - (Page 206)" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=j6xpj_gb894C&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=%27ubi+unus+dominus,+ibi+una+sit+religio%27&source=bl&ots=JxygXwVBGV&sig=EfO4kvl6zQOSh58tJTRulyldAJM&hl=en&ei=0zv9SpObDcGjkAWt8OCJDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCoQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%27ubi%20unus%20dominus%2C%20ibi%20una%20sit%20religio%27&f=false" target="_blank">they could well emigrate</a> - (<em>ius emigrandi</em>).<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDVIk6msyqRQlvyffi4eVpG945WLRULAL_Y3J7WSDirhRa79L4V6lrP30BEHZM9AUwQjtWBTiWu351OlucR2S81RLQWgzeNg09A9RPzRL0oJX3oy50y01RHApaEOU9DaIBjaHUUT_L1M/s400/2-5-Denmark-cartoons.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDVIk6msyqRQlvyffi4eVpG945WLRULAL_Y3J7WSDirhRa79L4V6lrP30BEHZM9AUwQjtWBTiWu351OlucR2S81RLQWgzeNg09A9RPzRL0oJX3oy50y01RHApaEOU9DaIBjaHUUT_L1M/s400/2-5-Denmark-cartoons.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Haiti - and after</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The CRER policy guideline was finally abandoned in post-bellum America and Europe <a title="End Of Slavery In Europe & USA by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/end-of-slavery-in-europe-usa/" target="_blank"><strong>after The Haiti Fright</strong></a>. With Haiti breaking loose, when slaves defeated all the major Euro-colonial powers, in battle after battle, slavery was doomed. More than 200 slave rebellions, revolts and conspiracies made slavery in the West impractical. <a title="Cuba in a Time Warp – The Atlantic By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/cuba-in-a-time-warp-the-atlantic/" target="_blank"><strong>Cuban slaves were the last</strong></a> to win their freedom - which sounded the slavery's death knell.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Western <strong><a title="Elephants In The Room By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/elephants-in-the-room/" target="_blank">propaganda has made slavery, an invisible factor</a></strong> in their ‘success.’ And they are on the half way mark, on the erasure in popular memory, about the use of colonies for Western enrichment.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Western political constructs</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">With an acute labour shortage, looming over the West, slavery made way for indentured labour - and America made way for immigrants from all parts of Europe, Japan, China and Philippines.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As immigrants of various colours and beliefs made their way across the world, the CRER principle was relegated into the background.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Added to this was <a title="1857 – Some History … Some Propaganda By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/29/1857-some-history-some-propaganda/" target="_blank"><strong>the 1857 War in India</strong></a><strong>, </strong>against Christian proselytism, which too had to take a back seat. Victoria Regina's <a title="The History of the Indian Revolt and of the Expeditions to Persia, China, And Japan By George Dodd" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=A10LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA612&dq=would+not+interfere+with+the+religion+of+the+native,+or+countenance+any+favouritism+in+matters+of+faith&ei=Reh5SNmaMIWGtgOZrp3iBw" target="_blank">Colonial India Government printed leaflets in tens and thousands</a> to proclaim that the British Crown had no intentions to dictate faith to its Indian 'subjects'. The <strong><a title="How 1857 changed world history … By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/how-1857-changed-world-history/" target="_blank">1857 War also forced Euro-centric historians</a></strong> to change the entire drift of world history.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Faced with a reality of 'warm-bodies-shortage', <strong><a title="Western Political Concepts – End Of The Road By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/western-political-concepts-end-of-the-road/" target="_blank">'liberalism', 'secular' Governments, Marxism, Socialism <em>et al </em>were invented in the 19th century</a>. </strong>It is this principle which accounts for the low levels of diversity in the West - and which also accounts for the shrillness with which the West proclaims it 'liberalism' - facts being otherwise.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g232/HokieMelissa/inter_marriage_cartoon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 403px; height: 307px;" src="http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g232/HokieMelissa/inter_marriage_cartoon.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><em><strong>Melting pot vs Mosaic patterns </strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The need for 'integration', the concerns over the slow 'assimilation' of the Mexicans in the American melting pot, the Islamo-phobia, the Compulsive Jihadic Syndrome, are all sides of the same cube. The <a title="No relief for Kandhamal churches on disputed land By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/no-relief-for-kandhamal-churches-on-disputed-land/" target="_blank"><strong>schizophrenic Christian aggression in India</strong></a> combined with <strong><a title="The Real Kandhamal Story ... By 2ndlook" href="http://kwiktake.blogspot.com/2008/11/real-kandhamal-story.html" target="_blank">hysterical protests against any backlash</a></strong> are symptoms of the same ideological thread.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">While the West talks about the respect for the individual, reality is different.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Members of the Catholic Church note with anxiety (and so does the its replacement, The State) that <em>“the continued insistence that <a title="Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. By Timothy Matovina " href="http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc0203/article_148.shtml" target="_blank">Hispanics will soon pass through the assimilationist melting pot </a>and be American like us is not only false, but also harmful for our Hispanic sisters and brothers, and thus for the church”.</em></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Another <a title="Mexican Immigrants Do Not Assimilate Quickly in US, Study Finds By Pete Winn" href="http://bsimmons.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/mexican-immigrants-do-not-assimilate-quickly-in-us-study-finds/" target="_blank">study to measure ‘assimilation</a>’ notes <em>“Mexican immigrants are assimilating more slowly than Italian immigrants did at the turn of the last century”</em>. Similarly, expatriate populations in the Middle East have to live with disrespect and intolerance of non-Islamic religions.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em>Lowest diversity vs. Biggest talk</em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The West today has the lowest levels of ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity – and <strong><a title="Italian police crack down on Roma Gypsies By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/11/04/italian-police-crack-down-on-roma-gypsies/" target="_blank">persecutes whatever little is left</a></strong>, like the Roma Gypsies for example. Would critics like to mention any other country, where such <a title="Forging a voice in ‘France’s high-rise hell’ By Daniel Strieff, MSNBC" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12812186//" target="_blank">a large minority Muslim</a> population, has greater <a title="The Muslim population of Russia, and the future By Hugh Fitzgerald" href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/022251.php" target="_blank">freedom and opportunity, than in India</a>? Would you like to <a title="Our Man In Paris - France will never be a Muslim state By John Lichfield, Tuesday, 3 February 2004" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/our-man-in-paris-france-will-never-be-a-muslim-state-568594.html" target="_blank">suggest France instead</a>?</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/images/2007/06/03/tomato.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 181px;" src="http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/images/2007/06/03/tomato.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><em><strong>The language conundrum</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">India, has 15 official languages.</p>No other countries even had the courage to think of that. Various US state governments outlawed all languages – except English. It was only in 1923, was this finally set aside after the matter reached the US Supreme Court (<a title="Meyer v. State of Nebraska, MCREYNOLDS, J., Opinion of the Court" href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0262_0390_ZO.html" target="_blank">read Meyer vs Nebraska</a>). The USA gathered some courage to start timidly with more than English only after seeing India’s success with 15 languages. Switzerland has only four. Sri Lanka’s Sinhalas do not want to accept Sri Lankan Tamils as full and equal citizens – hence the 20 year old civil war.<em><br /><br />In the thrall of One</em><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/12/article-0-02739A1E000005DC-33_468x324.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 131px;" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/12/article-0-02739A1E000005DC-33_468x324.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The Western concept of nation building <a title="Half the world By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/half-the-world/" target="_blank"><strong>requires the cornerstones of Desert Bloc</strong></a> – One God, One Book, One Holy Day, One Prophet (Messiah), One Race, One People, One Country, One Authority, One Law, One Currency, One Set of Festivals. This tyranny of the ‘One’ is the root of most problems in the world. From this ‘Oneness’, we get the ‘One’ Currency, ‘One’ Language logic – a fallacious syllogism. Once you accept ‘One’, you will accept all others.</p>For more than 20 years, EU had rules in place to allow vegetables of specified shapes and sizes to come onto shop shelves. After more than 20 years, the <strong><a title="EU scraps ban on ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables – The Times of India By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/eu-scraps-ban-on-ugly-fruits-and-vegetables-the-times-of-india/" target="_blank">EU decided that it is easier to change laws</a></strong> than to make tomatoes, cucumbers and bananas follow EU rules.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/images/2008111457081701.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 143px; height: 176px;" src="http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/images/2008111457081701.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>The Indic model</strong></em></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Unlike the <strong><a title="Half The World … By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/half-the-world/" target="_blank">Indian social system, where differences are respected</a></strong> and encouraged, the position of the French Government, paraphrases the thinking of the ‘desert bloc’. Indians believe that all are वासुदेवाय कुटुम्बकम ‘<em>vasudevaih kutumbakam</em>’ and ईसा वास्यो मिदं सर्वं ‘<em>isa vaasyo midam sarvam</em>’ (meaning <em>we are all God’s family </em>and <em>God is in everyone and everywhere </em>respectively).</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-31377193161804151152009-08-30T08:17:00.000-07:002009-08-30T09:13:34.293-07:00Looking back at India's Partition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/record-image/standard/ILW1053"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 285px;" src="http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/record-image/standard/ILW1053" alt="" border="0" /></a><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><h3><strong><strong>Hard landing for Pakistan</strong></strong></h3>From its very inception, Pakistan fancied itself as an equal to India. An illusion that India did little to change. And many in India implicitly believed in, till about two decades ago. While the Indian ship has changed course, the Pakistani behaviour remains rooted in the past - back to its very formation. Back to events, immediately after <a title="Empires of the Indus Extract from Empires of the Indus by Alice Albinia, published by John Murray, from guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 August 2008 00.05 BST" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/aug/28/guardianfirstbookaward.awardsandprizes1" target="_blank">the formation of India and Pakistan</a>.</div><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">when India was divided, it might have been logical for the new Muslim state in the Indus valley to take the name 'India' (or even 'Industan', as the valley was called by an eighteenth-century English sailor). But Muhammad Ali Jinnah rejected the colonial appellation and chose the pious neologism Pakistan, 'Land of the Pure', instead. He assumed that his coevals in Delhi would do the same, calling their country by the ancient Sanskrit title, 'Bharat'. When they did not, Jinnah was reported to be furious. He felt that by continuing to use the British name, India had appropriated the past; Pakistan, by contrast, looked as if it had been sliced off and 'thrown out'.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Sixty years after Jinnah, the Pakistani response remains the same. Obama administration's recent Af-Pak Strategy has left Pakistan shell shocked. The de-hyphenation of India and Pakistan in the Af-Pak strategy has dealt a body blow to their illusions. Pervez Musharraf in this interview reveals,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">I don’t agree with this Af-Pak solution at all because we are being bracketed with Afghanistan. Afghanistan hardly has any governance, it is out of control. And also, there is extremism within India among the Muslim youth and it is developing linkages with others — the Kashmir issue too. Therefore, if we want to finally deal with terrorism and extremism and solve it in its short-term and long-term perspective, we have to look at events in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. I am totally against this Af-Pak strategy. (via <a title="'Kashmir solution can reduce extremism in Pak society' From Q&A - Pervez Musharraf, Business Standard / New Delhi July 18, 2009, 0025 IST" href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/%5Ckashmir-solution-can-reduce-extremism-in-pak-society%5C/364277/" target="_blank">‘Kashmir solution can reduce extremism in Pak society’</a>).</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Obviously, this change is something that has dawned on Pakistan as a ‘hard print’ rather than a ‘soft copy’. Fancying themselves as an equal till a few decades ago, Pakistan had to endure a hard landing. And this hard landing is Musharraf’s real problem.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>India's growing up</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">In India, the India-Pakistan <em>calculus </em>changed. A few decades earlier, <strong><a title="Indo Pak Sports Are Not What They Used To Be … By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/indo-pak-sports-are-not-what-they-used-to-be/" target="_blank">India-Pakistan sporting encounters</a> </strong>were most awaited by sports enthusiasts in India and Pakistan. India-Pakistan cricket now comes lower down in India at least – and the position has been taken up <strong><a title="Scrap The Sydney Test By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/03/04/scrap-the-sydney-test/" target="_blank">India-Australia cricket series</a></strong>. Now Pakistan is <a title="Pak eye series against India in England next year From The Hindu, Friday, August 14, 2009, 1515 hrs" href="http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/007200908141511.htm" target="_blank">asking David Morgan, from the ICC </a>to ‘intervene’ and<em>“to convince the BCCI to play a series in England” </em>against Pakistan.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the 60s-80s, Indian business publications, Indian bureaucracy indexed themselves with Pakistan. Sensex, the Indian stock index was then compared with the Karachi index. But the comparison is now with global markets and the US.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Then and now </strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The Indian economy is now <a title="Why India's economy lags behind China's By Ramtanu Maitra, from Asia Times Online, Jun 27, 2003" href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EF27Df04.html" target="_blank">compared with the Chinese economy</a>, ASEAN, EU and the US economies. The Indian film industry, compares itself with Hollywood – unfortunately, in terms of becoming a Hollywood clone.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In this new global matrix, India must now work to <strong><a title="For More Than 60 Years … By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/08/30/for-more-than-60-years/" target="_blank">jettison some colonial detritus</a></strong>, its diplomacy must get over <strong><a title="India’s Pakistan Fixation By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/09/13/indias-pakistan-fixation/" target="_blank">its Pakistan Fixation</a></strong> – and manage <strong><a title="Indo Pak Relations – What Will It Take By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/08/17/indo-pak-relations-what-will-it-take/" target="_blank">the Chinese relationship.</a></strong></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Understanding India of today</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">There are three aspects of this ‘development’ that has not fully dawned on Indians, which needs greater introspection in India. One is the ‘Western clone’ status – which, for instance, is what some <a title="Indian cinema has lost the plot, By Muzaffar Ali22 March 2009, 0255am IST" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Sunday-TOI/All-That-Matters/Indian-cinema-has-lost-the-plot/articleshow/4298404.cms" target="_blank">‘leading lights’ of the Indian film industry</a> want to be. The second is danger of becoming an <em>‘<a title="Babylon - Italian English dictionary" href="http://www.babylon.com/definition/arrivista/English" target="_blank">arrivista</a></em>’<em> – </em>the danger of hubris<em>.</em></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The third aspect is the continuing debate, pain and anger about India-Pakistan Partition.<em> </em>The Congress response has been <strong><a title="Cong plans defend-Nehru movement By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/cong-plans-defend-nehru-movement/" target="_blank">the demonization of Pakistan</a></strong>. The BJP offers a dream of <em>'akhand Bharat'</em>. The (increasingly irrelevant) Marxist response is, of course, dictated by their admiration for the Chinese model.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">A British born journalist, Sarfraz Manzoor, writing for The Guardian, from <a title="In Jinnah's footsteps By Sarfraz Manzoor from guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 August 2007 08.30 BST" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/aug/14/injinnahsfootsteps" target="_blank">a significantly Western prespective</a> feels</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Sixty years on and today's India is sexy, forward-looking and economically powerful; Pakistan, on the other hand, remains trapped by the contradictions which led to its creation and in the grip of the mullahs and the military. India has thousands of years of history its citizens can cite; Pakistan sits on an ancient land but as a nation it is younger than my mother.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In his novel Shame, Salman Rushdie described Pakistan as a "place insufficiently imagined"; when one considers its troubled history, perhaps it is not heretical to confess some sadness that it was ever imagined at all.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Whether Pervez Musharaff's escapist unwillingness to acknowledge reality or Sarfraz Manzoor's emotional view from a Western perspective, they both miss (like many Indians and Pakistanis) the realities of the post WW2 world and the India.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Within the realms of possibility</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">To understand the choices, outcomes, responses and alternatives, this post examines the three scenarios that could have resulted from the British retreat from India.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1192"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 211px;" src="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1192" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">As Britain progressively <strong><a title="1857 – Some History … Some Propaganda by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2007/12/29/1857-some-history-some-propaganda/" target="_blank">impoverished India during 200 years of colonial rule</a></strong>, India became a drag on Britain. Between 1857-1947, more and more Indians rejected British rule, violently and peacefully. Soon after WW2, the colonial Indian Army, some 2 million strong, revolted against British rule. Colonial history calls it <strong><a title="Robert D. Kaplan gives gyaan on India By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/op-ed-contributor-trouble-in-the-other-middle-east-nytimescom/" target="_blank">the Naval Ratings Mutiny</a></strong> - on February 18th 1946. Within 1 week, Britain decided to evacuate from India.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Post war Britain was tired of rationing, shortages – and subsidising a starving, bankrupted India.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Colonial Office was reporting deficits. Gold transfers from India had reduced to a trickle. After WW2, Churchill promised that he will not “<a title="The Decline, Revival and Fall of the British Empire: The Ford Lectures and ... By John Gallagher, Anil Seal" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=I-s3asOABBEC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=preside+over+the+liquidation+of+her+majesty%27s+empire&source=web&ots=aoSHcAol4L&sig=aCpRFMSkJawa4Y7vxt7olWnMnWI" target="_blank">preside over the liquidation of Her Majesty’s empire </a>…” Clement Atlee promised the British voter a quick exit from India. Clement Atlee won. Mountbatten was sent to India.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Broadly, India(ns) was given three choices.<span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1. A Federal India with regional autonomy</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">India could have accepted <a title="Cabinet Mission Plan [1946] from storyofpakistan.com" href="http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A048&Pg=3" target="_blank">the British Cabinet Mission Plan(1946) </a>of a 'federal' India - which was designed by the British, for rejection by the Congress. Nehru and Patel saw this as a British attempt at 'Balkanizing' India.</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">The Cabinet Mission Plan is now of academic interest since it was overtaken by Partition, but it is true that on June 25, 1946 Congress accepted it in the hope of establishing a “united democratic Indian Federation with a Central authority, which would command respect from the nations of the world, maximum provincial autonomy and equal rights for all men and women in the country”. And on July 10, Nehru, newly elected Congress President, rejected “Grouping”, one of the key (if still opaque) aspects of the Plan. Azad described this, politely, as one of those “unfortunate events which changed the course of history”. (from <a title="Jaswant's Jinnah - Dividing India To Save It By M J Akbar, 26 August 2009, 0217am IST from The Sunday Times Of India" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4934861,flstry-1.cms" target="_blank">Jaswant's Jinnah: Dividing India to save it By M J Akbar</a>).</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">What was this 'grouping' which according to MJ Akbar was <em>'a key aspect but opaque'</em> ?</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>the British and Jinnah's insistence that Congress accept those provisions of the Cabinet Mission Plan which specified the compulsory grouping of provinces into separate sections and those which specified that the proposed Indian Union have not one but two or more separate Constitution making bodies for all subjects except only three Union subjects defence, foreign affairs and communications. (from </span><span id="sites-page-title" dir="ltr"><a title="India's Constitutional Question - The Cabinet Mission Plan 1946" href="http://sites.google.com/site/cabinetmissionplan/" target="_blank">India's Constitutional Question - The Cabinet Mission Plan 1946</a>).</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">A successful execution of this option (though difficult), meant that Sikkim, Tibet would have surely joined India - with options of Afghanistan, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka joining India in a loose federation and a common market.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/record-image/standard/ILW1053">x</a>This would have meant modern Federal India would have had a population of nearly 200 crores, nearly 35,000 <strong><a title="Indian Gold Reserves. Forgotten History! New Opportunity? By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/india-the-worlds-richest-economy/" target="_blank">tonnes of private gold</a></strong>, the 2nd largest economy of the world (PPP basis), a raw material and agricultural powerhouse. By 2050 the GDP (PPP basis) would be equal to the EU and the US put together. With such a large market, India would have also become an intellectual powerhouse, becoming the world's largest education market and producer, with unmatched R&D spend.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">With close cultural and eco0nomic ties with China, the combination of Ch-India would become the economic, intellectual capital of of the world.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1135"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 335px; height: 406px;" src="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1135" alt="" border="0" /></a>The major issue could possibly be the management of a large Islamic population. 40% of this India would have been Muslims - numbering about 50 crores. This would have given India the world's largest Muslim population.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The British <em>calculus</em></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">How could Britain and <strong><a title="British Empire & The Anglo Saxon Bloc By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/the-rise-of-the-british-empire/" target="_blank">the dominant Anglo Saxon Bloc allow this</a></strong>? If an India of this shape emerged, what would happen to <strong><a title="Bretton Woods – What they wont teach or tell you … By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/bretton-woods-what-they-wont-teach-or-tell-you/" target="_blank">the Bretton Woods architecture</a></strong>? Britain obviously did not wish to midwife a country of these dimensions - especially, since there were apparent desires from Tibet, Sikkim to join the Indian Union. With such countries joining in, India would have become a country with 200 crore people (2000 million).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This Greater Federal India could have been a possibility between 1940 and 1950, while the cement was not yet set. While Britain was at war. While the ferment was on. And the two people who could have made this happen, were alive.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">SC Bose and the <a title="Subhas Chandra Bose - a biography By Marshall J. Getz" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=HdldV4Icum4C&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=Bose+IIL&source=bl&ots=mIhlocPtrs&sig=jFq-AH-xHuaSVE8NC7WtwGMN9WE&hl=en&ei=5u2XSq_kH8qJkQXepbXEBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=Bose%20IIL&f=false" target="_blank">IIL had significant presence across most of SE Asia</a>. After all, how could arrangements for Netaji's escape from India and travel via Afghanistan, Russia to Germany happen! With the passing away of <a title="Southeast Asia - a historical encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East ..., Volume 1 By Keat Gin Ooi" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA641&lpg=PA641&dq=Bose+IIL&source=bl&ots=3VtSJf3bW_&sig=l5Wq9voDI7EaqLjRsKTrHU713F8&hl=en&ei=ke2XSv2iF8GGkAWO4PG2BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=Bose%20IIL&f=false" target="_blank">SC Bose, and the IIL</a>, India's international agenda had little chance of success.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">That left us with only one man who could have made this happen - Gandhiji. The only way to stop this from happening, was the death of Gandhiji.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It happened.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2. Partition of India - or the Two Nation Theory</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The other option that the Colonial Raj 'offered' was TNT - Two Nation Theory. This was something that Britain had worked upon for long. In fact from 1822. Starting with the knighthood in 1888 and encouragement to 'Sir' Syed Ahmad Khan. More seriously from 1906. After subduing the native population with unprecedented levels of <strong><a title="How 1857 changed world history … By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/how-1857-changed-world-history/" target="_blank">brutality during the 1857 War</a></strong> and subsequent revolts and rebellions.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1181"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 241px;" src="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1181" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="Genesis of communal violence in India" href="http://www.panjab.org.uk/english/genesis.html" target="_blank">Commandent of Moradabad, Lt. Col. Coke, </a>wrote in 1822:</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">“Our endeavour should be to uphold in full force the (for us fortunate) separation which exists between the different religions and races, not to endeavor to amalgamate them. Divide et Impera should be the principle of Indian government.”</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">The <a title="Morley-Minto Reforms (1909) - Banglapedia" href="http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/M_0322.htm" target="_blank">Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909</a> paved the way for <a title="Gujarat–Ahmedabad - A quagmire of recurring conflict By Shahid Sadruddin Nanavati " href="http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Urban-Studies-and-Planning/11-949Cities-in-Conflict--Theory-and-PracticeFall2003/C9C35F82-FEEC-4FF5-AD3F-43F5F5A1A17E/0/shaids_paper.pdf" target="_blank">communalization of India.</a> From 1910-1940, the British vigorously implemented the <em>‘divide and rule’</em> policy. Initially, <a title="Jaswant's Jinnah - Dividing India To Save It By M J Akbar, 26 August 2009, 0217am IST from The Sunday Times Of India" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4934861,flstry-1.cms" target="_blank">in fact Jinnah</a>,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">"scoffed at Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s two-nation theory, and wrote an angry letter to The Times of India challenging the legitimacy of the famous Muslim delegation to Lord Minto on October 1, 1906, which built the separatist Muslim platform. He ignored the convention in Dhaka on December 30, 1906 where the Muslim League was born."</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Under this proposal, India and Pakistan would become two countries. The immediate chances of a large federation and a common market became that much more difficult. Which suited British interests fine.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">India with a population of 35 crores and a ‘ship-to-mouth' economy, (in KM Munshi's words, then Union Minister for Agriculture and Food, on a trip to the US to obtain food-aid), seemed unlikely to succeed.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In this scenario, instead of 2050, India would possibly (if at all) attain a significant leadership position only by 2070. In Western minds, the continued existence of India itself was a question mark. The sneering and the patronizing view of the British establishment is best illustrated by the cartoons linked to this post.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1087"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 294px;" src="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW1087" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">What could have stopped India from becoming stable and successful nation? Communal bloodletting, war, famine, and death of its leaders. All this and much more, happened.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Communal bloodletting</span></em> - At the time of 1947 partition, <a title="Duty does not permit repentance --The butchers of Calcutta by Andrew Whitehead" href="http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970701/18250453.html">organized gangs</a> started communal riots. Kolkatta (then Calcutta) was in flames. An unprepared India and a leaderless Pakistan were handed over governance.<span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Many theories apart, it showed another extension of the “scorched earth policy” and a callous disregard for 10 lakh brown lives that were lost to Hindu-Muslim-Sikh riots. </span>The British Raj was a mute bystander. In contrast, areas ruled by the ‘decadent’ and ‘feudal’ Indian maharajahs, did not see such a magnitude of communal riots in their territories.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">War</span></em> - India have Pakistan have fought four wars neither could afford. Over boundaries and legacy issues.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><strong>The Mechanics of Partition</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">The very division of India was based on broadly three rules -</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">1. Hindu majority - India; Muslim majority - Pakistan</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">2. The wish of the local ruler - as quite a few local rulers were independent of the British Raj.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">3. Wish of the people</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">In most of the Indian subcontinent these principles worked well - except in three places. Hyderabad and Junagadh, where a Muslim ruler, ruling over a Hindu majority wished to become part of Pakistan. And Kashmir, where a Hindu king with a Muslim majority, wished to remain independent.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">In Hyderabad and Junagadh, the Indian Government resorted to 'police action' - where the respective kings were deposed and their kingdoms became a part of India.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">In Kashmir, the king wanted to remain independent. Since, it had a Muslim majority, Pakistan wanted Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan. There was only one glitch. The popular leader of Kashmir, <strong><a title="Kashmir and the forgotten Sheikh By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/kashmir-and-the-forgotten-sheikh/" target="_blank">Sheikh Abdullah refused to even meet up with Pakistani leaders</a></strong>. He wished for an autonomous Kashmir as a part of India. Pakistan, of course, disputes, if the Sheikh Abdullah represented the popular leadership of Kashmir.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">So, while all these discussions were going on, the Pakistani Government and Army, which still had a significant British component, decided to invade Kashmir. The Indian Government and Army, headed by Earl Mountbatten, at the invitation of Nehru, messed up this situation.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;">Pakistan occupied half of Kashmir. India rushed to the UN - a mistake. UN asked both armies to freeze - which they did. And there they remain - frozen from 1948. All in all, the Kashmir issue is colonial detritus - which both India and Pakistan have not been able to jettison.</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Famine</span></em> - Indian agriculture system was in a comatose state. India had not yet <strong><a title="India’s Money Lenders – The Colonial Stereotypes By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/indias-money-lenders-the-colonial-stereotypes/" target="_blank">recovered from the Great Bengal Famine</a> </strong>when another crisis developed. Within a year of the Indian Republic, the food situation in India became alarming. KM Munshi was despatched to the US for obtaining food aid. In his famous interview with <em>The New York Times</em>, he described the Indian situation as ‘ship-to-mouth.'</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Leadership</span></em> - Gandhiji was assassinated in 1948. Sardar Patel was no more by the end of 1950. Ambedkar in 1956 and in 1958, Maulana Azad passed away. Thus apart from Nehru, the entire leadership of India was no more, 10 years after Mountbatten's departure.</p><h3><strong>3. India becomes 8-12 countries</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">This was the worst of all options. Nizam State becomes a country. Kashmir becomes another country. India and Pakistan of course were already on the table. No other significant land bloc, of course, raised such a possibility at that time. But if Nizam of Hyderabad and the Maharaja of Kashmir, were to become successful, a Baroda-Gaikwad, or a Scindhia-Holkar or a Raja of Travancore raising such a demand could have materialized.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Looking at the contours of the situation, ground realities and realpolitik of the era, the Partition scenario seemed manageable. Having gone down that road, where are we today? What direction do we take?</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Permutations and combinations</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Of the three outcomes, that were possible, outcome One and Three would have made India too small or too large. The important points are that: –</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">1. The West could NOT let the larger ‘Federal’ India come into being. What could have stopped either the British or the IML to up the ante, the moment the Congress agreed to anything. The larger India would have left us an India that would be unwieldy, i.e. open to ‘unrest’, ‘independence movements’, etc .</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">2. The Indian polity (principally the Congress + the other political parties) would NOT accept a lesser India – i.e. with an Nizam of Hyderabad or a Nawab of Junagadh wanting to be a part of Pakistan.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Looking at the contours of the situation, ground realities and realpolitik of the era, the Partition scenario seemed manageable. Having gone down that road, where are we today? What direction do we take?</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The most unproductive exercize is to blame any of the individual players – including the IML and Jinnah. If for a minute, if we are to assume, that Jinnah was intractable to British overtures, was it too difficult for the British to prop up some one else. After all, some of the legitimacy that the Congress was derived from the fact that the British preferred to talk only to the Congress.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>After 60 years</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">India, China and Pakistan are nuclear powers, all. </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">History shows that when our people live in peace, there is peace in the world. When there is war, in our countries, the whole world is at war. Peace in our countries will usher peace in the world.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Our three countries are blessed with adequate, natural resources – and between us three, we hardly need anyone else in the world. The rest of the world cannot say that about itself – or for us. Remember, the world still ‘orients’ itself.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Between our three countries, we have foreign exchange currency reserves of more than US$2.5 trillion – equal to the one third the global forex reserves. Each year, we subsidize the West to the tune of US$250 billion in currency depreciation. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">It is this subsidy that enables the West to continue exploiting us. Between our three countries, we have one third of the world’s gold reserves.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The subsidy by the three of us to the West increases, when we use the PPP matrix. Based on PPP, Western currencies are overvalued by 30%-50%. Combine the fact, that the current system allows the West to maintain no foreign exchange reserves and to use their own over valued currencies for trade, means that they pay us a lot less – and we pay them a lot more. </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">As various colonial powers were forced out of various colonies, left behind was <strong><a title="Country Business Model Of The West by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/08/30/2008/02/07/country-business-model-of-the-west/" target="_blank">the garbage of colonialism</a></strong>. This post-colonial debris has become the ballast, that is dragging down many newly de-colonized countries. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW4493"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 337px;" src="http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/image/standard/ILW4493" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">60 years on, there is nothing to show for these border disputes. Dutifully, the Indians, Pakistanis and the Chinese glare at each other – over colonial border issues. These border issues are less than peripheral to our nations. We have allowed the past to hold our future as a hostage. </span></p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The past is extracting a ransom that we cannot afford to pay. Let us recognize our past for what it is – empty ballast that is dragging us down. Having achieved nothing on this front for the last 60 years, why do we wish to continue down that path? </span><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Sixty years earlier, 80% of the world’s poorest lived in our countries . For many decades now, peoples in our country have been patient in their suffering. There has been progress. These poorest of the world, living in our countries, deserve a better deal. A much better deal.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Between our three countries, lives half of humanity. The poorest half of humanity. At one time the richest half of humanity. </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">They deserve peace, security, progress. We have 5000 years of history to show that we can do it. We have done it many times before. We can do it again. That is all our poorest ask and need.</span></p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-17047555894864164872009-08-13T10:57:00.001-07:002009-08-13T11:03:57.919-07:00How 1857 changed world history …<div class="main"><div class="snap_preview"><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">A war of a different kind</span></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">During the <strong><a title="1857 – Some History … Some Propaganda By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/29/1857-some-history-some-propaganda/" target="_blank">1857 War against the colonial rule of Britain</a></strong> in India, unable to gain military advantage, British armed forces started using Indian human populations as human shield. For each military success of the Indian armies, <strong><a title="One More Chapter In Anglo Saxon Bloodshed By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/one-more-chapter-in-anglo-saxon-bloodshed/" target="_blank">the British armies exacted retribution</a></strong> on the local non-combatant populations. </span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">This </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">reign of terror and brutality on home populations </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">disarmed Indian armies and ended the war. </span>A impressive work on this period is by Amaresh Misra – a film critic and journalist, who was moved sufficiently to <a title="An Indian perspective By ZIYA US SALAM, from The Hindu, Sunday, Feb 03, 2008" href="http://www.thehindu.com/lr/2008/02/03/stories/2008020350210600.htm" target="_blank">research for a few years</a>, because, <em>“Since 1957, no Indian has written a comprehensive account of the Revolt. Indian historians have done a limited work”. </em>Another step in this direction is Parag Tope’s forth coming book, <em>Operation Red Lotus</em>, on the life and wars of Tatiya Tope.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">And Britain started a more insidious war – a propaganda war. History started getting twisted, perverted, mutilated – and over the next 100 years, Indian and world history was changed beyond recognition. </span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Let the games begin</span></strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">After 1857, <a title="Cultural Dacoity by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/cultural-dacoity/" target="_blank">racist propaganda and cultural baggage</a> came covertly – to gain better traction at home and in the colonies. For instance, Priya Joshi, a researcher shows that after 1857, <a title="Abstract Models for a Literary History By Franco Moretti" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=YL2kvMIF8hEC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=The+only+exception+I+know+to+this+pattern+is+the+import+of+British+books+into+India+charted+by+Priya+Joshi+%28figure+6%29,+which+rises+sharply+after+the+1857+...&source=web&ots=wmaB259_Ld&sig=IDtyioBEDSfbQCdU7m8F0R3D9-U&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">book shipments from Britain to India increased by a factor of three</a>.</span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The death of Semiramis </strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://72.5.117.144/fif=fpx/sc1/SC193215.fpx&obj=iip,1.0&wid=400&cvt=jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="http://72.5.117.144/fif=fpx/sc1/SC193215.fpx&obj=iip,1.0&wid=400&cvt=jpeg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In this propaganda campaign, the most interesting bit is the cold-blooded murder of the historical Semiramis. Readers will find that Semiramis as an Assyrian Queen till the 1850-60 period Western histories.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Edward Degas and Guercine made Semiramis the subject of their paintings. Calderon used her character in his plays. Mozart died before he could complete his <a title="The Cambridge Mozart encyclopedia By Cliff Eisen, Simon P. Keefe" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=8o6mVjlSzM4C&pg=PA190&lpg=PA190&dq=Semiramis+Mozart&source=bl&ots=iYseCPzTcg&sig=x_Dr0GudeH8XT50rZHfZejVzpUM&hl=en&ei=wGJ9StmBMYyPkQWey6iPAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#v=onepage&q=Semiramis%20Mozart&f=false" target="_blank">melodrama based on Semiramis</a>. A 16th century painter, <span>Philip</span><span> Galle used Semiramis and Babylon as the subjects of his paintings.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Mired in <a title="War Elephants By John M. Kistler, Richard Lair" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y0sqI1fxfnMC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=One+source+claimed+that+doves+raised+the+infant&source=bl&ots=zw7uGVIpwV&sig=uk5HEIAbN0wTeBFoJFIVNbNiMrU&hl=en&ei=Q2ClSfqSA9KukAXe6a3ABQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA16,M1" target="_blank">legend and prejudice, Semiramis is discredited</a> in modern Western history – especially starting from 1853-1857. Her very <a title="Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated 0By Gerald Verbrugghe, John Moore Wickersham" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=2kAED-kQCJkC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=Veysel+Donbaz+A+newly+discovered+and+published+inscription,+a+boundary+stone,&source=bl&ots=FfmDDe7vWU&sig=ZGP__i_7OAaDv9Z-OYp3vphhpzs&hl=en&ei=ewqoSc-vNpLnkAWK5O3XDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">existence denied, accused of incest,</a> Semiramis has been <a title="The two Babylons; or, The papal worship proved to be the worship of Nimrod ... By Alexander Hislop" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=GooEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA100&dq=As+the+licentious+and+dissolute+life+of+Semiramis+gave+her+many+children&ei=QqeuSdXLApDMlQTZ0d3pCQ&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">tarred and condemned</a> to the rubbish heap of modern history – and the Bible. <span>Semiramis established <a title="Nineveh and Its Remains By Austen Henry Layard" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=npOJALLLKc8C&pg=PA362&dq=Semiramis+Worship&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=3qeuSZyaB5KIkASA4bCXBQ&client=firefox-a#PPA362,M1" target="_blank">an empire that lasted</a>, practically till WW1. Some 300 years, after the reign of Semiramis, the Assyrian Empire passed into Persian hands. From the Persians, into Alexander’s lap.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Suddenly, from 1860 onwards, Western history started treating Semiramis as a wanton, decadent, probably mythical, a perverted sluttish character.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.lunaimaging.com/images/AMICA/Size2/FASF/fasf.4414.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 307px;" src="http://images.lunaimaging.com/images/AMICA/Size2/FASF/fasf.4414.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span>The reason. Semiramis biggest defeat was at the hands of Indians. And soon after her defeat was the defeat of Cyrus the Great at the hands of Indians again. And before that were the Battles of Meggido and Kadesh, in which Indic armies confronted the Slave Empire of the Egypt. In colonial periods such an Indian history would have been very inconvenient for the Raj.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Alexander <em>mythos</em></strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Alexander’s raid of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, finally turned out to be a overthrow of the Achaemenid dynasty, usurpers of the Assyrian Empire. Unable to make headway into India, as the <a title="Alexander and the East By A. B. Bosworth" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=jYLuvdSxUmQC&pg=PA94&dq=Alexander+City+of+Brahmans+massacre&ei=-QLKSbH2NpTCkATPz7CADg&client=firefox-a#PPA95,M1" target="_blank">Indian Brahmins had helped and influenced Indian princes</a> to organize and support <a title="Ancient siege warfare By Paul Bentley Kern" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=FBTesdgIbcsC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=Alexander+City+of+Brahmans+massacre&source=bl&ots=YT4PlhDmw7&sig=vcYNJEiO9losbHwXBVpOzE-Iy5g&hl=en&ei=OQDKSZKxKpLnkAWZxfSKAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA230,M1" target="_blank">the Indian war against Alexander</a>. Greek sources cite, after this realization, at ‘The City of Brahmans’, Alexander massacred an estimated 8000-10,000 of these non-combatant Brahmans.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Alexander’s massacres in India, a <a title="Elements of general history By Alexander Fraser Tytler" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vVQBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA56&dq=epithet+than+that+assigned+him+by+the+Brahmins+of+India,+The+Mighty+Murderer&as_brr=3&ei=4vdhSuK5JZHWlAS3prTGDg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">colonial historian informs us</a> (without naming a source), <a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&source=bl&ots=pqRRdLvWQe&sig=p-_QLMNK4WIysb6_Gj1lv0W7R_4&hl=en&ei=eXN4SuynONiGkAWAo_m6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">earned him an </a><em><a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&source=bl&ots=pqRRdLvWQe&sig=p-_QLMNK4WIysb6_Gj1lv0W7R_4&hl=en&ei=eXN4SuynONiGkAWAo_m6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">“epithet </a>… assigned </em>(to)<em> him by the <span>Brahmins </span>of India, </em><em>The Mighty Murderer</em>.” This Indian Brahmanic <a title="De Bow's southern and western review By James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=f5wRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA410&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&as_brr=3&ei=pHd4SuftCZ2UkAS1_7H_CQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=Alexander%20India%20Brahmins%20Mighty%20Murderer&f=false" target="_blank">characterization of Alexander</a>, commonly taught to English <a title="The preceptor's assistant, or, Miscellaneous questions in general history ... By David Williams" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BmMFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA38&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=Dnl4SpaXD4askATw-LH5BA&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">schoolchildren and present in English college texts</a>, as <em>The Mighty Murderer</em>, curiously disappeared from Western-English texts soon after 1860 – and <a title="The shape of ancient thought By Thomas McEvilley (page 355)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vTfm8KHn900C&pg=PA355&lpg=PA355&dq=a+positive+rose-tinted+aura+surrounds+Alexander+...&source=bl&ots=I95QqTFtOt&sig=dk1rNdY8uL_togNO8istLpNrDlA&hl=en&ei=pmR5SuWZNJOCkQXf09CqBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">instead now</a> <em>“a positive rose-tinted aura surrounds Alexander”</em> … !</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/138079/1/Semiramis-Building-Babylon,-1861.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 335px; height: 199px;" src="http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/138079/1/Semiramis-Building-Babylon,-1861.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Since Indian texts were completely silent about the very existence of Alexander, colonial Western historians had a free run. Using hagiographic Greek texts as the base, Alexander became the conqueror of the world.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Max Mueller – Son of Hegel</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Behind this propaganda was possibly a man who is much <strong><a title="Comment by Parag Tope on India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/#comment-381" target="_blank">admired </a><a title="Comment by Parag Tope on India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/#comment-381" target="_blank">(wrongly) </a><a title="Comment by Parag Tope on India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/#comment-381" target="_blank">in India today – Max Mueller</a></strong>. For instance in Max Muller’s colonial propagandist history, when it comes to Indian triumphs over Semiramis, she becomes half legendary. Yet in another book, <a title="Chips from a German Workshop Part One By F. Max Muller" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wjVHFvnJD8YC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=Semiramis+Max+Muller&source=bl&ots=ar0igO2ZlF&sig=dTxIeFTNcJ39cxKXi_xu9VpTMtc&hl=en&ei=efmoSceOLI2g6wPO5MHbDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA64,M1" target="_blank">the same Semiramis becomes one</a> of <em>‘the great conquerors of antiquity.’ </em>In a matter of a few pages, he <strong><a title="India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank">dismisses Indian history</a></strong> completely, in a half-Hegelian manner.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Aiding Max Mueller, English poets were press ganged into this propaganda war. Matthew Arnold wrote how, <strong><a title="India’s enduring image By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank">India, a ‘</a><a title="India’s enduring image By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank">nation of </a></strong><a title="India’s enduring image By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank"><strong>philosophers</strong>‘</a>, from</p> <p style="text-align: left; padding-left: 180px;">“The East bowed low before the blast<br />In patient, deep disdain,<br />She let the legions thunder past,<br />And plunged in thought again.” </p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Matthew Arnold’s influence in Indian education can be gauged by the fact that <a title="Critical essays on post-colonial literature By Bijay Kumar Das" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=99K6R4hL0pIC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=Indian+poetry+is+no+longer+%22Matthew+Arnold+in+a+Saree%22+or+%22a+dog&source=bl&ots=aD-ngqLrZP&sig=bRByl1GcqNr89ul53XFNkytI-W0&hl=en&ei=Mi99Su_bJsWfkQXrkrX_Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Indian-English language poetry was for long called</a> derisively as <em>“</em><em>Matthew Arnold in a Saree”. </em>Just before 1857 War, the works of another ‘influential’ poet, John Keats, became popular. In his <a title="Poetical works of Coleridge and Keats By John Keats" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iJoNAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA127&dq=inauthor:%22John+Keats%22+The+kings+of+Ind+their+jewel-sceptres+vail,&lr=&ei=Fz19StreEZCwkATarvisCg&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">hubristic haze, Keats wrote how</a>,</p> <p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 180px;">The kings of Ind their jewel-sceptres <a title="The Free Dictionary" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/" target="_blank">vail</a>,<br />And from their treasures scatter pearled hail;<br />Great Brahma from his mystic heaven groans,<br />And all his priesthood moans,<br />Before young Bacchus’ eye-wink turning pale. </p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Much of modern history’s debates and questions were born during this time – verily created to wage a propaganda war against India – and the world. India’s cultural stature in the pantheon of world’s societies was reduced to a minimal role – and <strong><a title="The Genesis Of The Greek Miracle By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/the-genesis-of-the-greek-miracle/" target="_blank">the Greek Miracle was born</a></strong>.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>In the dying days of the Raj</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">This propaganda war continued well for another 100 years. In the middle of WW2, Britain pulled out a general from the Italian theatre of war and sent him to India – to head colonial India archaeological operations.</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">One evening in early August 1943, Brigadier General Mortimer Wheeler was resting in his tent after a long day of poring over maps, drawing up plans for invasion of Siciliy. Mortimer Wheeler was invited to become the director general of archaeology by the India Office of the British government in its last years of rule in South Asia … Summoning a general from the battlefields of Europe was an extraordinary measure, an admission both of the desperate condition of Indian archaeology and an acknowledgment of its vital importance. (from <a title="The Strides of Vishnu By Ariel Glucklich" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=One+evening+in+early+August+1943,+Brigadier+General+Mortimer+Wheeler+was+resting+in+his+tent+after+a+long+day+of+poring+over+maps,+drawing+up+plans+for+invasion+of+Siciliy.+Mortimer+Wheeler+was+invited+to+become+the+director+general+of+archaeology+by+the+India+Office+of+the+British+government+in+its+last+years+of+rule+in+South+Asia+...Summoning+a+general+from+the+battlefields+of+Europe+was+an+extraordinary+measure,+an+admission+both+of+the+desperate+condition+of+Indian+archaeology+and+an+acknoledgement+of+its+vital+importance.&source=bl&ots=jPE2z34YqY&sig=ifJZxZYodbyO_FNILzsLpk9pFo8&hl=en&ei=fGl4SoCKEMGLkAWBsPG2Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture … – Google Books).</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Amazing!</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Why would the glorious British Empire, on which the sun never set, struggling for its very existence, in the middle of WW2, suddenly pull a general back from the battlefield – and put him into archaeology! That too, Indian archaeology. Not Egyptian, not Greek! Especially, when it was clear, that they would be departing from India – sooner rather than later.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Considering what theories came from Mortimer Wheeler’s rather fertile ‘imagination’ and his rigourous archaeological process, in hindsight, from a Western perspective, this was sound decision. There may be the facile answer that the British were, after all<em> ‘searching for history and truth’.</em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">And it led <a title="The shape of ancient thought By Thomas McEvilley (page 362-363)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Vpqr1vNWQhUC&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=Hellenize+almost+instantly+vast+tracts+of+Asia+populated+previously+by+nomads+or+semi-nomads+and+villagers&source=bl&ots=Xe6dlByNXp&sig=TNrozDq0FcusR5F2lBoMxWVDjcM&hl=en&ei=j8R5Ss_sDpPY7AO99YCXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Mortimer Wheeler to remark</a>,</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">“They demonstrate with astonishing clarity the extent to which the brief transit of Alexander did in fact Hellenize almost instantly vast tracts of Asia populated previously by nomads or semi-nomads and villagers”</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">It is this one incident which possibly contains answers to many unanswered questions like: -</p> <ol><li>The amount of energy expended by the West in defending the Aryan Invasion /Migration Theory,</li><li>The lack of access to Indian scholars of the archaeological sites in Pakistan</li><li>The many myths in Indian history</li><li>The clues to the partition of India</li><li>The dating problems</li></ol> <p><em>et al</em>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Just why did the world’s foremost imperial power, struggling for its very existence, suddenly pull a general from the battle field, in the middle of WW2 – and put him onto the job of digging dirt.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Only one explanation fits – it had to be a struggle for its own existence at a higher level!</p> </div> </div>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-73769143309766150482009-08-13T10:41:00.001-07:002009-08-13T10:50:40.180-07:00Linguistics of the Jewish diaspora<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote> Our knowledge of Jewish life in the second century B.C.E. comes mainly from Flavius Josephus (37/38-95/100 C.E.), the great Jewish-Roman historian who wrote in Greek, the scholarly language of his time. The hellenization of the Jews had been thorough.The King of Judea and the High Priest of Yahweh had Greek names. (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA240&lpg=PA240&dq=Our+knowledge+of+Jewish+life+in+the+second+century+BCE+comes+mainly+from+Flavius+Josephus+%2837/38-95/100+CE%29,+the+great+Jewish-Roman+historian+who+wrote+in+Greek,+the+scholarly+language+of+his+time.+The+hellenization+of+the+Jews+had+been+thorough.The+King+of+Judea+and+the+High+Priest+of+Yahweh+had+Greek+names.&source=bl&ots=ahuyXm9XNV&sig=PV9mQx0k9z7xrrIwtfkFWfpr_6k&hl=en&ei=dG6CSoOrJtiCkQX30IDhCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 240</a>).</blockquote></div><blockquote> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">During the third century B.C.E., the Tobiads were the principal advocates of hellenization among the Jews (Grayzel 1969:49). The Jewish family called the Tobiads (the sons of Tobias) traced their ancestry to Tobias the Ammonite, governor of the Persian province of Ammon (now Jordan), east of Jordan River, during the tenure of Nehemiah in Judea in the fifth century B.C.E. One of them, Joseph ben Tobias, became very prominent during the second half of that century. (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA219&dq=During+the+third+century+BCE,+the+Tobiads+were+the+principal+advocates+of+hellenization+among+the+Jews+%28Grayzel+1969:49%29.+The+Jewish+family+called+the+Tobiads+%28the+sons+of+Tobias%29+traced+their+ancestry+to+Tobias+the+Ammonite,+governor+of+the+Persian+province+of+Ammon+%28now+Jordan%29,+east+of+Jordan+River,+during+the+tenure+of++Nehemiah+in+Judea+in+the+fifth+century+BCE.+One+of+them,+Joseph+ben+Tobias,+became+very+prominent+during+the+second+half+of+that+century.&ei=8m6CStHuB6W6lASloLxA#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 219</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">By the beginning of the third century B.C.E. the Jews were being hellenized rapidly. They no longer spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, but Greek. Their religious services were conducted in Greek. Their personal Hebrew names were hellenized: Honio became Onias, Ezra became Esdras, Yeshua became Iesous (Jesus), and Joshua became Jason. Some Jews had Greek names only, such as Antigonus, Hyrkanos, Aristobolus, or Philon (Philo).The choice of such names by Jews for their children indicated the degree of their hellenization. (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA219&dq=During+the+third+century+BCE,+the+Tobiads+were+the+principal+advocates+of+hellenization+among+the+Jews+%28Grayzel+1969:49%29.+The+Jewish+family+called+the+Tobiads+%28the+sons+of+Tobias%29+traced+their+ancestry+to+Tobias+the+Ammonite,+governor+of+the+Persian+province+of+Ammon+%28now+Jordan%29,+east+of+Jordan+River,+during+the+tenure+of++Nehemiah+in+Judea+in+the+fifth+century+BCE.+One+of+them,+Joseph+ben+Tobias,+became+very+prominent+during+the+second+half+of+that+century.&ei=8m6CStHuB6W6lASloLxA#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 219</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">During the reign of Ptolemaios Philadelphos (Ptolemy II, 308-246 B.C.E.), the Torah and other Jewish holy scriptures were translated into Greek by a synod of scholars. <a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA215&dq=During+the+reign+of+Ptolemaios+Philadelphos+%28Ptolemy+II,+308-246+B.C.E.%29,+the+Torah+and+other+Jewish+holy+scriptures+were+translated+into+Greek+by+a+synod+of+scholars.&ei=oG-CSqC_CpeSkATKl8ihCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">(page 215)</a>.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">During the years that he was the High Priest and ethnarch (175-171 B.C.E.) Jason promoted Greek sports at the expense of Temple worship. Jason did not last long in the office of High Priest. He was unseated in 171 B.C.E. by Menelaos, a member of the noble Jewish Tobiads and a more extreme Hellenizer than Jason himself.(<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA224&dq=During+the+years+that+he+was+the+High+Priest+and+ethnarch+%28175-171+B.C.E.%29+Jason+promoted+Greek+sports+at+the+expense+of+Temple+worship.+Jason+did+not+last+long+in+the+office+of+High+Priest.+He+was+unseated+in+171+BCE+by+Menelaos,+a+member+of+the+noble+Jewish+Tobiads+and+a+more+extreme+Hellenizer+than+Jason+himself.&ei=unCCSr7YNYSmkASO_sCyCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 224-225</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">By the first century, Greek had become the language of the Jews in the”diaspora”. The Jews of the Hellenic world spoke Greek the way present-day American Jews speak English. During the Greco-Roman and the Byzantine periods, from the late fourth century B.C.E., to the early seventh century C.E. most Jews were thoroughly Hellenized.(<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA454&dq=By+the+first+century,+Greek+had+become+the+language+of+the+Jews+in+the%22diaspora%22.+The+Jews+of+the+Hellenic+world+spoke+Greek+the+way+present-day+American+Jews+speak+English.+During+the+Greco-Roman+and+the+Byzantine+periods,+from+the+late+fourth+century+BCE,+to+the+early+seventh+century+CE+most+Jews+were+thoroughly+Hellenized.&ei=9nCCSuafL5qIlQT6xsyeCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 454</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">By the third century B.C.E the Jews of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt had become thoroughly hellenized. They worshipped Zeus, Hera, and the rest of the Greek pantheon. There were images of Greek sun god Helios, the wine god Dionysos, and the demigod Heracles on Jewish synagogue floor mosaics at Sepphori an other Gallilean cities as late as the sixth century C.E. But the Orthodox Jews violently resisted Hellenism. The conflict between Helenism and Judaism, or rather between hellenized and Orthodox Jews, was to lead to major trouble in the second century BCE, after Palestine was captured from Egypt by the Seleucid Greeks of Syria. (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA215&dq=By+the+third+century+B.C.E+the+Jews+of+Syria,+Palestine,+and+Egypt+had+become+thoroughly+hellenized.+They+worshipped+Zeus,+Hera,+and+the+rest+of+the+Greek+pantheon.+There+were+images+of+Greek+sun+god+Helios,+the+wine+god+Dionysos,+and+the+demigod+Heracles+on+Jewish+synagogue+floor+mosaics+at+Sepphori+an+other+Gallilean+cities+as+late+as+the+sixth+century+CE.+But+the+Orthodox+Jews+violently+resisted+Hellenism.+The+conflict+between+Helenism+and+Judaism,+or+rather+between+hellenized+and+Orthodox+Jews,+was+to+lead+to+major+trouble+in+the+second+century+BCE,+after+Palestine+was+captured+from+Egypt+by+the+Seleucid+Greeks+of+Syria.&ei=YXGCSuXWOZeSkATKl8ihCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 215</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Just as in modern America most Jews use English rather than Hebrew in their religious services and rituals, so Greek was used by the Jews of Egypt, including Judea, in their religion (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA215&dq=By+the+third+century+B.C.E+the+Jews+of+Syria,+Palestine,+and+Egypt+had+become+thoroughly+hellenized.+They+worshipped+Zeus,+Hera,+and+the+rest+of+the+Greek+pantheon.+There+were+images+of+Greek+sun+god+Helios,+the+wine+god+Dionysos,+and+the+demigod+Heracles+on+Jewish+synagogue+floor+mosaics+at+Sepphori+an+other+Gallilean+cities+as+late+as+the+sixth+century+CE.+But+the+Orthodox+Jews+violently+resisted+Hellenism.+The+conflict+between+Helenism+and+Judaism,+or+rather+between+hellenized+and+Orthodox+Jews,+was+to+lead+to+major+trouble+in+the+second+century+BCE,+after+Palestine+was+captured+from+Egypt+by+the+Seleucid+Greeks+of+Syria.&ei=YXGCSuXWOZeSkATKl8ihCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 215</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Hellenic culture was much more attractive to the young Jews of Judea than the rigid strictures of their own religion. The Greek myths and deities, projections of the deepest infantile conflicts and family relations, etched into the unconscious mind of every person, deeply appealed to the people, just as the Canaanites myths had to their ancestors. The Tobiads led the wave of hellenization among the Jews. (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA220&dq=The+Tobiads+led+the+wave+of+hellenization+among+the+Jews&ei=C3aCSt72LouWlQTQp4CHBg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 220</a>)</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Jews always spoke the language of the land which was their home. When expulsions and persecutions eventually brought about a wider separation between the Jews and the non-Jews, the result was a growing dissimilarity between the intimate languages spoken by each group.(<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA458&dq=Jews+always+spoke+the+language+of+the+land+which+was+their+home.+When+expulsions+and+and+persecutions+eventually+brought+about+a+wider+separation+between+the+Jews+and+the+non-Jews,+the+result+was+a+growing+dissimilarity+between+the+intimate+languages+spoken+by+each+group&ei=cnaCSo32FISmkASO_sCyCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Grayzel quoted on page 458</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">in the early fourth century, the Jews were divided into three main groupings. Those living in the Western Roman Empire of Italy, which comprised much of Western Europe, spoke mainly Latin, the lingua franca of the West, and the native European languages of the ethnic groups amongst whom they lived. The Jews of the Eastern Roman Empire of Byzantium, with its capital at Constantinople spoke mainly Greek, the language of the East. The Jews living in Sassanian Neo-Persian empire east of the Euphrates spoke mainly Aramaic. Hebrew continued to be spoken by Jewish scholars and by the people in their prayers. (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA337&dq=in+the+early+fourth+century,+the+Jews+were+divided+into+three+main+groupings.+Those+living+in+the+Western+Roman+Empire+of+Italy,+which+comprised+much+of+Western+Europe,+spoke+mainly+Latin,+the+lingua+franca+of+the+West,+and+the+native+European+languages+of+the+ethnic+groups+amongst+whom+they+lived.+The+Jews+of+the+Eastern+Roman+Empire+of+Byzantium,+with+its+capital+at+Constantinople+spoke+mainly+Greek,+the+language+of+the+East.+The+Jews+living+in+Sassanian+Neo-Persian+empire+east+of+the+Euphrates+spoke+mainly+Aramaic.+Hebrew+continued+to+be+spoken+by+Jewish+scholars+and+by+the+people+in+their+prayers.&ei=M3eCStjSGKrakQSSiMCvCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 337</a>).</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">During the seventh and eighth centuries the lands inhabited by Jew in the Middle East and North Africa were conquered by the Muslim Arabs. Arabic became the language of the these Jews. (<a title="A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA454&dq=During+the+seventh+and+eighth+centuries+the+lands+inhabited+by+Jew+in+the+Middle+East+and+North+Africa+were+conquered+by+the+Muslim+Arabs.+Arabic+became+the+language+of+the+these+Jews.&ei=rHeCSunXLIzMkATY8vypCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">page 454</a>).</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Text extracts from <em>A psychoanalytic history of the Jews </em><span><em>By Avner Falk</em>.</span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span>Judaism – an existential challenge</span></strong><br /></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jewishnews.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kronicles-jan-6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 323px; height: 375px;" src="http://jewishnews.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kronicles-jan-6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The Jewish population, followers of one of the oldest religions in the world, across countries and in <strong><a title="Israel As A Country Model For India By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/israel-as-a-country-model-for-india/" target="_blank">Israel, today faces an existential challenge</a></strong>. With 0.25% of world population, i.e. less than 1.5 crore Jews left, in a world of more than 600 crore people, they have made enemies of their neighbours around their country.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span>The Jewish state, dependent on US <em>largesse</em>, hangs by a thin thread. Without Hitler, the world population of Jews would possibly have been </span><span>not much better</span><span>. Maybe 2.5 crores instead of 1.5 crores (at the risk of sounding insensitive). Maybe 0.5% of world population, instead of 0.25%. </span><span>Also, must be remembered that Jewish studies in the modern context are <a title="Churches and the Holocaust By Mordecai Paldiel" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=psleDQml1WsC&pg=PA17&dq=must+be+allowed+to+survive,+but+never+to+thrive&ei=k7SDSp_vFJiSlQTnuqikCg&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">affected by the ‘Jews as the eternal victims’ syndrome</a>. </span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Genetic analysis of the Jewish populations</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span>So, what is the reason for this fragile position of the Jewish population? One <a title="Past Religious Diversity And Intolerance Have Profound Impact On Genetics Of Iberian People - Adapted from materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS." href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081204133357.htm" target="_blank">recent study states</a> that </span></p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Admixture analysis based on binary and Y-STR haplotypes indicates a high mean proportion of ancestry from North African (10.6%) and Sephardic Jewish (19.8%) sources. Despite alternative possible sources for lineages ascribed a Sephardic Jewish origin, these proportions attest to a high level of religious conversion (whether voluntary or enforced), driven by historical episodes of social and religious intolerance, that ultimately led to the integration of descendants.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">(<em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">from</span> </em>The Genetic Legacy of Religious Diversity and Intolerance: Paternal Lineages of Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula by Susan M. Adams,Elena Bosch,Patricia L. Balaresque,Stéphane J. Ballereau,Andrew C. Lee,Eduardo Arroyo,Ana M. López-Parra,Mercedes Aler,Marina S. Gisbert Grifo,Maria Brion,Angel Carracedo,João Lavinha,Begoña Martínez-Jarreta,Lluis Quintana-Murci,Antònia Picornell,Misericordia Ramon,Karl Skorecki,Doron M. Behar,Francesc Calafell andMark A. Jobling, Copyright <img src="http://www.cell.com/images/glyphs/u00a9.gif" alt="" border="0" /> 2008 The American Society of Human Genetics, The American Journal of Human Genetics, <a href="http://www.cell.com/AJHG/issue?pii=S0002-9297%2808%29X0013-8"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Volume 83, Issue 6</span></a>, 725-736, 04 December 2008).</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Another study concludes that the Jewish population shares a high level of common paternal similarities.</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that Diaspora Jews from Europe, Northwest Africa, and the Near East resemble each other more closely than they resemble their non-Jewish neighbors. The only exception was the Ethiopian Jews, who were affiliated more closely with non-Jewish Ethiopians and other North Africans.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Second, despite their high degree of geographic dispersion, Jewish populations from Europe, North Africa, and the Near East were less diverged genetically from each other than any other group of populations in this study. At the most basic level, the genetic distances observed among Jewish and non-Jewish populations can be interpreted as reflecting common ancestry, genetic drift, and gene flow. The latter two processes will tend to increase genetic distances among Jewish populations, whereas admixture will also have the effect of decreasing genetic distances between Jewish and non-Jewish populations.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Our results suggest that common ancestry is the major determinant of the genetic distances observed among Jewish communities, with admixture playing a secondary role. (from <a title="Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations share a common pool of Y-chromosome biallelic haplotypes By M. F. Hammer, A. J. Redd, E. T. Wood, M. R. Bonner, H. Jarjanazi, T. Karafet*, S. Santachiara-Benerecetti, A. Oppenheim, M. A. Jobling, T. Jenkins, H. Ostrer, and B. Bonné-Tamir" href="http://www.pnas.org/content/97/12/6769.full" target="_blank">Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations share a common pool of Y-chromosome biallelic haplotypes By M. F. Hammer, A. J. Redd, E. T. Wood, M. R. Bonner, H. Jarjanazi, T. Karafet*, S. Santachiara-Benerecetti, A. Oppenheim, M. A. Jobling, T. Jenkins, H. Ostrer, and B. Bonné-Tamir</a>)</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span>Of course, it begs the question, was the Jewish population ever a significant part of global population? One writer who has addressed this question is</span> <span class="addmd">James Carroll, in his book, </span><em>Constantine’s sword</em><span class="addmd">. He estimates,</span></p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">Jews accounted for 10 percent of the total population of the Roman Empire. By that ratio, if other factors had not intervened, there would be 200 million Jews in the world today, instead of something like 13 million. (</span><span class="addmd">He goes onto recount that the) potential demographic crisis facing the Jewish people is defined by the loss of the murdered millions, not only in the twentieth century, but in all others. </span><span class="addmd">(from </span><a title="Constantine's sword By James Carroll" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=FewzTELynqUC&dq=James+Caroll+Constantine%27s+Sword&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=1rKDSsjsFtLIkAWplbTABw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=population&f=false" target="_blank">Constantine’s sword </a><span class="addmd"><a title="Constantine's sword By James Carroll" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=FewzTELynqUC&dq=James+Caroll+Constantine%27s+Sword&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=1rKDSsjsFtLIkAWplbTABw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=population&f=false" target="_blank">By James Carroll, page 26-27</a>, texts in brackets, mine). </span></p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drybonesproject.com/blog/D07B11_2.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 467px;" src="http://www.drybonesproject.com/blog/D07B11_2.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span class="addmd">Population growth and changes (of not just the Jews) are subject to interplay of complex demographic factors – like assimilation, disease, migration, reproduction rates and proselytization. Since these factors affect all human populations, further analysis of these factors may just reinforce current red herring theories.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Jews – the eternal victims?</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Of course, <strong><a title="Demonize, Genocide – and Apologize By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/02/07/demonize-genocide-and-apologize/" target="_blank">Jews have not been the only population group</a></strong> in the world who have had to face the problems of epidemics, migration, assimilation, and conversion. What could have been a significant reason for the decline in the Jewish population over the centuries?</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">A 2ndlook at history points out (extracts above) that the Jewish populations gave up their language and culture <em>ab initio</em>. Within a few centuries of its foundation, they were giving up on their culture.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span>Interestingly, and apparently, language plays an important and crucial role in the expansion and growth of populations – as the Jewish case seems to suggest.<br /></span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Those who don’t learn from history …</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">The Jewish history has invaluable lessons for Indians. For one, all those who <strong><a title="After The Death Of English Language … By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/after-the-death-of-english/" target="_blank">think that English is God’s special gift to India</a> </strong>(and mankind), should look at <strong><a title="The Genesis Of The Greek Miracle By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/the-genesis-of-the-greek-miracle/" target="_blank">the eclipse of the Greek</a> </strong>language. I am yet to discover the logic which shows that <strong><a title="The Future of English Language in India - By 2ndlook" href="http://kwiktake.blogspot.com/2009/05/future-of-english-language-in-india-et.html" target="_blank">English will fare better than Greek, Spanish, Persian or Urdu</a></strong>.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Reducing the role of the Indian State</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">The <strong><a title="Bankrupt ideas on Restructuring Indian education system – The Economic Times By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/bankrupt-ideas-on-restructuring-indian-education-system-the-economic-times/" target="_blank">massive subsidy given by the Indian state</a></strong> towards English language education needs to be phased out. Indian languages (all of them) should <strong><a title="India starts investing in Indian languages? – The Economic Times By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/is-classical-language-status-meaningless-et-debate-opinion-the-economic-times/" target="_blank">start getting back on their feet.</a></strong> The people of India, <strong><a title="‘Without our mother tongue we lose a lot’ by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/without-our-mother-tongue-we-lose-a-lot/" target="_blank">each individual will choose their language</a></strong>. No bureaucrat, politician, ‘intellectual’ will decide that. Finito. Completo. Terminato. Endlich. Eindig. ändlig.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The Indian language basket also calls for diversification. India needs to learn more foreign languages. The great ’software success story is actually two countries – <strong><a title="Recession-hit Japan turns to Indian IT cos – The Economic Times by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/recession-hit-japan-turns-to-indian-it-cos-the-economic-times/" target="_blank">US and UK who give between 70%-80% of Indian software business</a></strong>? This is <strong><a title="Why India’s education system is losing out… by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/why-indias-education-system-is-losing-out/" target="_blank">coolie labour</a></strong>! We are <strong><a title="Cracking the Japanese software outsourcing market by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/cracking-the-japanese-software-outsourcing-market/" target="_blank">missing out on the massive Japanese</a></strong>, French and the Spanish markets because <strong><a title="Indian lack of Japanese language skills comes in the way ? Businessworld by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/indian-lack-of-japanese-language-skills-comes-in-the-way-businessworld/" target="_blank">we have not invested in those foreign languages</a></strong>. And we have missed out on computing in Indian languages, because we have not invested there either.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-7918510383885887172009-08-08T07:29:00.000-07:002009-08-22T09:11:40.148-07:00A war of a different kind<div style="text-align: justify;"><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">A war of a different kind</span></strong></span></strong></h3><span style="font-family:Georgia;">During the <strong><a title="1857 – Some History … Some Propaganda By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/29/1857-some-history-some-propaganda/" target="_blank">1857 War against the colonial rule of Britain</a></strong> in India, unable to gain military advantage, British armed forces started using Indian human populations as human shield. For each military success of the Indian armies, the British armies exacted retribution on the local non-combatant populations. This </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">reign of terror and brutality on home populations </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">disarmed Indian armies and ended the war </span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">And Britain started a more insidious war - a propaganda war. History started getting twisted, perverted, mutilated - and over the next 100 years, Indian and world history was changed beyond recognition. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">In fact, after 1857, <a title="Cultural Dacoity by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/cultural-dacoity/" target="_blank">racist propaganda and cultural baggage</a> came covertly - to gain better traction at home and in the colonies. For instance, Priya Joshi, a researcher shows that after 1857, <a title="Abstract Models for a Literary History By Franco Moretti" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=YL2kvMIF8hEC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=The+only+exception+I+know+to+this+pattern+is+the+import+of+British+books+into+India+charted+by+Priya+Joshi+%28figure+6%29,+which+rises+sharply+after+the+1857+...&source=web&ots=wmaB259_Ld&sig=IDtyioBEDSfbQCdU7m8F0R3D9-U&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">book shipments from Britain to India increased by a factor of three</a>.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://72.5.117.144/fif=fpx/sc1/SC193215.fpx&obj=iip,1.0&wid=400&cvt=jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="http://72.5.117.144/fif=fpx/sc1/SC193215.fpx&obj=iip,1.0&wid=400&cvt=jpeg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The death of Semiramis </strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">In this propaganda campaign, the most interesting bit is the cold-blooded murder of the historical Semiramis. Readers will find that Semiramis as an Assyrian Queen till the 1850-60 period Western histories.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Suddenly, from 1860 onwards, Western history started treating Semiramis as a wanton, decadent, probably mythical, a perverted sluttish character.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Edward Degas and Guercine made Semiramis the subject of their paintings. Calderon used her character in his plays. Mozart died before he could complete his <a title="The Cambridge Mozart encyclopedia By Cliff Eisen, Simon P. Keefe" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=8o6mVjlSzM4C&pg=PA190&lpg=PA190&dq=Semiramis+Mozart&source=bl&ots=iYseCPzTcg&sig=x_Dr0GudeH8XT50rZHfZejVzpUM&hl=en&ei=wGJ9StmBMYyPkQWey6iPAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#v=onepage&q=Semiramis%20Mozart&f=false" target="_blank">melodrama based on Semiramis</a>. A 16th century painter, <span>Philip</span><span> Galle used Semiramis and Babylon as the subjects of his paintings.</span><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.lunaimaging.com/images/AMICA/Size2/FASF/fasf.4414.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 307px;" src="http://images.lunaimaging.com/images/AMICA/Size2/FASF/fasf.4414.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Mired in <a title="War Elephants By John M. Kistler, Richard Lair" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y0sqI1fxfnMC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=One+source+claimed+that+doves+raised+the+infant&source=bl&ots=zw7uGVIpwV&sig=uk5HEIAbN0wTeBFoJFIVNbNiMrU&hl=en&ei=Q2ClSfqSA9KukAXe6a3ABQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA16,M1" target="_blank">legend and prejudice, Semiramis is discredited</a> in modern Western history – especially starting from 1853-1857. Her very <a title="Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated 0By Gerald Verbrugghe, John Moore Wickersham" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=2kAED-kQCJkC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=Veysel+Donbaz+A+newly+discovered+and+published+inscription,+a+boundary+stone,&source=bl&ots=FfmDDe7vWU&sig=ZGP__i_7OAaDv9Z-OYp3vphhpzs&hl=en&ei=ewqoSc-vNpLnkAWK5O3XDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">existence denied, accused of incest,</a> Semiramis has been <a title="The two Babylons; or, The papal worship proved to be the worship of Nimrod ... By Alexander Hislop" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=GooEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA100&dq=As+the+licentious+and+dissolute+life+of+Semiramis+gave+her+many+children&ei=QqeuSdXLApDMlQTZ0d3pCQ&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">tarred and condemned</a> to the rubbish heap of modern history – and the Bible. <span>Semiramis established <a title="Nineveh and Its Remains By Austen Henry Layard" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=npOJALLLKc8C&pg=PA362&dq=Semiramis+Worship&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=3qeuSZyaB5KIkASA4bCXBQ&client=firefox-a#PPA362,M1" target="_blank">an empire that lasted</a>, practically till WW1. Some 300 years, after the reign of Semiramis, the Assyrian Empire passed into Persian hands. From the Persians, into Alexander’s lap.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>The reason. Semiramis biggest defeat was at the hands of Indians. And soon after her defeat was the defeat of Cyrus the Great at the hands of Indians again. And before that were the Battles of Meggido and Kadesh, in which Indic armies confronted the Slave Empire of the Egypt. In colonial periods such an Indian history would have been very inconvenient for the Raj.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Alexander <em>mythos</em></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Alexander’s raid of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, finally turned out to be a overthrow of the Achaemenid dynasty, usurpers of the Assyrian Empire. Unable to make headway into India, as the <a title="Alexander and the East By A. B. Bosworth" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=jYLuvdSxUmQC&pg=PA94&dq=Alexander+City+of+Brahmans+massacre&ei=-QLKSbH2NpTCkATPz7CADg&client=firefox-a#PPA95,M1" target="_blank">Indian Brahmins had helped and influenced Indian princes</a> to organize and support <a title="Ancient siege warfare By Paul Bentley Kern" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=FBTesdgIbcsC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=Alexander+City+of+Brahmans+massacre&source=bl&ots=YT4PlhDmw7&sig=vcYNJEiO9losbHwXBVpOzE-Iy5g&hl=en&ei=OQDKSZKxKpLnkAWZxfSKAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA230,M1" target="_blank">the Indian war against Alexander</a>. Greek sources cite, after this realization, at ‘The City of Brahmans’, Alexander massacred an estimated 8000-10,000 of these non-combatant Brahmans.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/138079/1/Semiramis-Building-Babylon,-1861.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 402px; height: 239px;" src="http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/138079/1/Semiramis-Building-Babylon,-1861.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Alexander’s massacres in India, a <a title="Elements of general history By Alexander Fraser Tytler" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vVQBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA56&dq=epithet+than+that+assigned+him+by+the+Brahmins+of+India,+The+Mighty+Murderer&as_brr=3&ei=4vdhSuK5JZHWlAS3prTGDg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">colonial historian informs us</a> (without naming a source), <a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&source=bl&ots=pqRRdLvWQe&sig=p-_QLMNK4WIysb6_Gj1lv0W7R_4&hl=en&ei=eXN4SuynONiGkAWAo_m6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">earned him an </a><em><a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&source=bl&ots=pqRRdLvWQe&sig=p-_QLMNK4WIysb6_Gj1lv0W7R_4&hl=en&ei=eXN4SuynONiGkAWAo_m6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">“epithet </a>… assigned </em>(to)<em> him by the <span>Brahmins </span>of India, </em><em>The Mighty Murderer</em>.” This Indian Brahmanic <a title="De Bow's southern and western review By James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=f5wRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA410&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&as_brr=3&ei=pHd4SuftCZ2UkAS1_7H_CQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=Alexander%20India%20Brahmins%20Mighty%20Murderer&f=false" target="_blank">characterization of Alexander</a>, commonly taught to English <a title="The preceptor's assistant, or, Miscellaneous questions in general history ... By David Williams" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BmMFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA38&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=Dnl4SpaXD4askATw-LH5BA&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">schoolchildren and present in English college texts</a>, as <em>The Mighty Murderer</em>, curiously disappeared from Western-English texts soon after 1860 – and <a title="The shape of ancient thought By Thomas McEvilley (page 355)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vTfm8KHn900C&pg=PA355&lpg=PA355&dq=a+positive+rose-tinted+aura+surrounds+Alexander+...&source=bl&ots=I95QqTFtOt&sig=dk1rNdY8uL_togNO8istLpNrDlA&hl=en&ei=pmR5SuWZNJOCkQXf09CqBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">instead now</a> <em>“a positive rose-tinted aura surrounds Alexander”</em> … !</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Since Indian texts were completely silent about the very existence of Alexander, colonial Western historians had a free run. Using hagiographic Greek texts as the base, Alexander became the conqueror of the world.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Max Mueller - Son of Hegel</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Behind this propaganda was possibly a man who is much <a title="Comment by Parag Tope on India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/#comment-381" target="_blank">admired </a><a title="Comment by Parag Tope on India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/#comment-381" target="_blank">(wrongly) </a><a title="Comment by Parag Tope on India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/#comment-381" target="_blank">in India today - Max Mueller</a>. For instance in Max Muller’s colonial propagandist history, when it comes to Indian triumphs over Semiramis, she becomes half legendary. Yet in another book, <a title="Chips from a German Workshop Part One By F. Max Muller" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wjVHFvnJD8YC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=Semiramis+Max+Muller&source=bl&ots=ar0igO2ZlF&sig=dTxIeFTNcJ39cxKXi_xu9VpTMtc&hl=en&ei=efmoSceOLI2g6wPO5MHbDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA64,M1" target="_blank">the same Semiramis becomes one</a> of <em>‘the great conquerors of antiquity.’ </em>In a matter of a few pages, he <a title="India’s enduring image by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank">dismisses Indian history</a> completely, in a half-Hegelian manner.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Aiding Max Mueller, English poets were press ganged into this propaganda war. Matthew Arnold wrote how, <a title="India’s enduring image By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank">India, a '</a><a title="India’s enduring image By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank">nation of </a><a title="India’s enduring image By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/indias-enduring-image/" target="_blank">philosophers'</a>, from</p><p style="text-align: left; padding-left: 180px;">“The East bowed low before the blast<br />In patient, deep disdain,<br />She let the legions thunder past,<br />And plunged in thought again.”<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Matthew Arnold's influence in Indian education can be gauged by the fact that <a title="Critical essays on post-colonial literature By Bijay Kumar Das" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=99K6R4hL0pIC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=Indian+poetry+is+no+longer+%22Matthew+Arnold+in+a+Saree%22+or+%22a+dog&source=bl&ots=aD-ngqLrZP&sig=bRByl1GcqNr89ul53XFNkytI-W0&hl=en&ei=Mi99Su_bJsWfkQXrkrX_Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Indian-English language poetry was for long called</a> derisively as <em>"</em><em>Matthew Arnold in a Saree". </em>Just before 1857 War, another 'influential' poet, John Keats, in his <a title="Poetical works of Coleridge and Keats By John Keats" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iJoNAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA127&dq=inauthor:%22John+Keats%22+The+kings+of+Ind+their+jewel-sceptres+vail,&lr=&ei=Fz19StreEZCwkATarvisCg&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">hubristic haze wrote how</a>,</p><p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 180px;">The kings of Ind their jewel-sceptres <a title="The Free Dictionary" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/" target="_blank">vail</a>,<br />And from their treasures scatter pearled hail;<br />Great Brahma from his mystic heaven groans,<br />And all his priesthood moans,<br />Before young Bacchus' eye-wink turning pale.<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Much of modern history's debates and questions were born during this time - verily created to wage a propaganda war against India - and the world. India's cultural stature in the pantheon of world's societies was reduced to a minimal role - and <strong><a title="The Genesis Of The Greek Miracle By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/the-genesis-of-the-greek-miracle/" target="_blank">the Greek Miracle was born</a></strong>.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>In the dying days of the Raj</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">This propaganda war continued well for another 100 years. In the middle of WW2, Britain pulled out a general from the Italian theatre of war and sent him to India - to head colonial India archaeological operations.</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">One evening in early August 1943, Brigadier General Mortimer Wheeler was resting in his tent after a long day of poring over maps, drawing up plans for invasion of Siciliy. Mortimer Wheeler was invited to become the director general of archaeology by the India Office of the British government in its last years of rule in South Asia ... Summoning a general from the battlefields of Europe was an extraordinary measure, an admission both of the desperate condition of Indian archaeology and an acknowledgment of its vital importance. (from <a title="The Strides of Vishnu By Ariel Glucklich" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=One+evening+in+early+August+1943,+Brigadier+General+Mortimer+Wheeler+was+resting+in+his+tent+after+a+long+day+of+poring+over+maps,+drawing+up+plans+for+invasion+of+Siciliy.+Mortimer+Wheeler+was+invited+to+become+the+director+general+of+archaeology+by+the+India+Office+of+the+British+government+in+its+last+years+of+rule+in+South+Asia+...Summoning+a+general+from+the+battlefields+of+Europe+was+an+extraordinary+measure,+an+admission+both+of+the+desperate+condition+of+Indian+archaeology+and+an+acknoledgement+of+its+vital+importance.&source=bl&ots=jPE2z34YqY&sig=ifJZxZYodbyO_FNILzsLpk9pFo8&hl=en&ei=fGl4SoCKEMGLkAWBsPG2Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture ... - Google Books).</a></p></blockquote>Amazing!<br /><p style="text-align: justify;">Why would the glorious British Empire, on which the sun never set, struggling for its very existence, in the middle of WW2, suddenly pull a general back from the battlefield - and put him into archaeology! That too, Indian archaeology. Not Egyptian, not Greek! Especially, when it was clear, that they would be departing from India - sooner rather than later.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Considering what theories came from Mortimer Wheeler's rather fertile 'imagination' and his rigourous archaeological process, in hindsight, from a Western perspective, this was sound decision. There may be the facile answer that the British were, after all <em>'searching for history and truth'.</em></p><p style="text-align: justify;">And it led <a title="The shape of ancient thought By Thomas McEvilley (page 362-363)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Vpqr1vNWQhUC&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=Hellenize+almost+instantly+vast+tracts+of+Asia+populated+previously+by+nomads+or+semi-nomads+and+villagers&source=bl&ots=Xe6dlByNXp&sig=TNrozDq0FcusR5F2lBoMxWVDjcM&hl=en&ei=j8R5Ss_sDpPY7AO99YCXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Mortimer Wheeler to remark</a>,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">"They demonstrate with astonishing clarity the extent to which the brief transit of Alexander did in fact Hellenize almost instantly vast tracts of Asia populated previously by nomads or semi-nomads and villagers"</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">It is this one incident which possibly contains answers to many unanswered questions like: -</p><ol><li> The amount of energy expended by the West in defending the Aryan Invasion /Migration Theory,</li><br /><li>The lack of access to Indian scholars of the archaeological sites in Pakistan</li><br /><li>The many myths in Indian history</li><br /><li>The clues to the partition of India</li><br /><li>The dating problems</li></ol><em>et al</em>.<br /><p style="text-align: justify;">Just why did the world's foremost imperial power, struggling for its very existence, suddenly pull a general from the battle field, in the middle of WW2 - and put him onto the job of digging dirt.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Only one explanation fits - it had to be a struggle for its own existence at a higher level!</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-13118925243317189022009-08-05T09:03:00.000-07:002009-08-05T09:30:26.637-07:00Destruction of Takshashila – a defining moment<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.heritage.gov.pk/Gandhara/Gandhara_Archi-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 205px;" src="http://www.heritage.gov.pk/Gandhara/Gandhara_Archi-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><h3><strong><strong>The importance of Takshashila</strong></strong></h3>As the oldest university in the world, Takshashila has a special place in the history of the world. More so, in Indian history. It's destruction (purportedly) at the hands of the <em>Hunas</em>, as proposed by Western historians (and their followers) has been rather facile - to say the least.</div><p style="text-align: justify;">There is evidence that the truth may be otherwise. This post lays out an alternative scenario, but before let us refresh ourselves with the history of Takshashila.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Takshashila in classical texts, history, geography</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Vayu Purana traces the start of Takshashila, to <a title="Sun and the Serpent By C. F. Oldham" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mkxlzSVvVF4C&pg=PA57&dq=Taksha,+son+of+Bharata,+Takshashila&as_brr=3&ei=r2d0SqiiF4SmkAT5m-GoAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Taksha, son of Bharata (brother of Raghu Ram Chandra)</a>. Takshashila also finds a mention in Mahabharata - citing <a title="Ancient Indian Education By Radhakumud Mookerji" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mjFfqpq7HhkC&pg=PA332&dq=Mahabharata+Dhaumya+Takshashila&as_brr=3&ei=Qmt0SrLwBYiWkgTZ1Mh1&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Dhaumya, as the <em>acharya </em>of Takshashila</a>. It was at Takshashila, that Vaishampayana made the first recorded narration of the <em>Mahabharata </em>to Janmajeya.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dollsofindia.com/dollsofindiaimages/paintings3/mahabharata_QI64_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 320px;" src="http://www.dollsofindia.com/dollsofindiaimages/paintings3/mahabharata_QI64_l.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>It finds <a title="Ancient Indian Education By Radhakumud Mookerji" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mjFfqpq7HhkC&pg=PA478&lpg=PA478&dq=as+a+seat+of+learning+was+of+course+due+to+that+of+its+teachers.+They+were+always+spoken+of+as+being+%22world+renowned%22&source=bl&ots=khuNBhbLr8&sig=l3-mUBjXBVkHXEIapG1WGBHAhsA&hl=en&ei=nxR3Sua0DJSI6wOPn4CYCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">continued mentions in numerous Jatakas,</a> too. For centuries, across many cultures, <a title="Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World By André Wink" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=According+to+a+story+contained+in+the+Mujma&source=bl&ots=QZ4UIlLVqc&sig=DqF_6mO0Wxq3zqTSv6Oz1yqPKck&hl=en&ei=9xp3SrT_L4SBkQX5qrWFDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">stories of Takshashila (and its environs) swirled, </a>like even later,</p><blockquote>According to a story contained in the <em>Mujma-t-Tawarikh </em>a twelfth-century Persian translation from the Arabic version of a lost Sanskrit work, thirty thousand Brahmans with their families and retinue had in ancient times been collected from all over India and had been setttled in Sindh (from <a title="Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World By André Wink" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=According+to+a+story+contained+in+the+Mujma&source=bl&ots=QZ4UIlLVqc&sig=DqF_6mO0Wxq3zqTSv6Oz1yqPKck&hl=en&ei=9xp3SrT_L4SBkQX5qrWFDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World </a><span class="addmd"><a title="Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World By André Wink" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=According+to+a+story+contained+in+the+Mujma&source=bl&ots=QZ4UIlLVqc&sig=DqF_6mO0Wxq3zqTSv6Oz1yqPKck&hl=en&ei=9xp3SrT_L4SBkQX5qrWFDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">By André Wink</a>).</span><br /></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">The <a title="A dictionary of Buddhism By Damien Keown" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KE56vyhOHGsC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=Buddhist+story,+Avadana+mentions&source=bl&ots=k1LcKCmb4z&sig=Rms3KH95B41Y926HSQ7QnBihqrY&hl=en&ei=_lJ4So_ZDMiZkQXy3vy2Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Buddhist anthology of stories</a>, <em>Avadana-shataka</em> <a title="Advanced history of ancient India By Shiri Ram Bakshi (page 122)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=kI50XMjycqcC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=The+metrical+Avadana+is+still+more+extravagant+than+the+prose+form+of+the+tale,+and+alleges+that+3.510+millions+of+stupas+were+erected+at+the+request+of+the+people+of+Taxila&source=bl&ots=Z4Pa9rOf4R&sig=r89I8-qlfJhdoLluPkqg4Ka__GY&hl=en&ei=-1N4SoeWDteAkQXY0oGtBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">mentions that</a> <em>"3.510 millions of stupas were erected at the request of the people of Taxila". </em></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><em> </em>Students paid <a title="Books on fire By Lucien X. Polastron, Jon Graham" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4s-Kb9kv36oC&pg=PA107&dq=each+of+whom+had+to+pay+one+thousand+coins+in+advance+for+his+long+education&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">1000 coins in advance</a> to receive education at Takshashila - and there were thousands of such students. Students came from all over the world – and paid large <a title="Tibetan civilization By Rolf Alfred Stein, J. E. Driver" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=U7j758TsI8IC&pg=PA149&dq=Turks+gold+India&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=A7L0Sej-CZL4lQTk1vyqCg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">sums of money to Indian teachers for education</a>! Kings, brahmans, commoners - all came to study at Takshashila. Its alumni included all the stars of the Indian firmament - Atreya, Pasenadi, Mahali, Patanajali, Jivaka, Panini, Kautilaya, Prasenjita.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Its development and importance lay in the fact that,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Takshashila and Purushpura on either side of the Sindhu river were connected with the Indian trade routes on the Indian side and Central Asian trade routes on the other. Strategically located, Takshashila, the capital of Gandhar, was the terminus of several inland routes and the starting points of the great trade routes connecting India and Central Asia. (<em>from </em><a title="India and Central Asia By J. N. Roy, Braja Bihārī Kumāra, Astha Bharati (Organization)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=-lJI9avHstYC&pg=PA9&dq=takshashila&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">India and Central Asia</a><span> By J. N. Roy, Braja Bihārī Kumāra, Astha Bharati (Organization)).</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>Based on subsequent excavation and diggings, it is <a title="The Strides of Vishnu By Ariel Glucklich" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC&pg=RA1-PA17&lpg=RA1-PA17&dq=it+was+already+the+oldest+city+in+South+Asia.+Under+its+vibrant&source=bl&ots=jPE2z30YzW&sig=mCHvnlKL5dC6IHfRcv9V7Bn4PL4&hl=en&ei=NFp4SrxayYCRBePMifYD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">thought that Takshashila was the oldest city </a>in South Asia - when Alexander landed there. So Takshashila's historic and cultural importance is too high to become a victim of slip shod colonial propaganda - posing as history.</span><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Chinese travellers to India</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mysorepost.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/faxian.jpg?w=248&h=332"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 332px;" src="http://mysorepost.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/faxian.jpg?w=248&h=332" alt="" border="0" /></a>An important source for 'modern' history, much used by Western historians are <a title="The pilgrimage of Fa Hian By Faxian, Abel Rémusat, Julius von Klaproth, C. Landresse" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=NE8PFY4mq8QC&pg=PA73&dq=Fa+Hian+Takshashila&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=8QN3Spb8IJbKlAS5sbBi&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">the travels of Chinese travellers (like Fa Hian/ Faxain, Huien Tsang /XuanZang)</a>. Supposedly 1000 years after death of Gautama Buddha, overlooking some gaping holes in Fa Hian's travelogue.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">How could <a title="Chinese Religion Through Hindu Eyes By Benoy Kumar Sarkar" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EHDlOTbUUiwC&pg=PA188&dq=Fa+Hien&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=7nZ0SvyqGImMkATl4ZiHAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=Fa%20Hien&f=false" target="_blank">Fa Hien miss meeting /mentioning Kalidasa</a> - supposedly a contemporary of Fa Hien? In fact, Kalidasa is not mentioned at all in Fa Hian's account, which supports the hypotheses that Kalidasa preceded Fa Hian. It may be pointed out that since, Kalidasa's works are artistic rather than religious or philosophical, the lack of Fa Hain's interest in his works is obvious. But to ignore a man of Kalidasa's stature and learning?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Then Fa Hian misses <a title="Rise and fall of the imperial Guptas By Ashvini Agrawal" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA39&dq=Fa+Hien&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=7nZ0SvyqGImMkATl4ZiHAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=Fa%20Hien&f=false" target="_blank">the name of the supposed ruling 'Gupta' king</a> - a dynasty which ruled over most of South Asia! And it is Fa Hian who is supposedly a significant authority on the Gupta period. Western history labelled the Gupta period as the 'golden age' of Indian history - which Fa Hian seems to have completely missed. Similarly when <a title="The evolution of ideals of womenhood in Indian society By Candrabalī Tripāṭhī, Chandra Mauli Mani" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4mesap8d0M4C&pg=PA90&dq=Fa+Hien,+the+Chinese+traveller+in+the+5th+Cen.+A.D.+found+nothing+worth+mentioning&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Fa-Hien visited Takshashila</a> in 5th century AD (travelled in India during 399-414 AD), <a title="The Gupta Empire By Radhakumud Mookerji" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=o-6kXR9JqMwC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=Fa+Hien,+the+Chinese+traveller&source=bl&ots=eq90AOdEyo&sig=TmF_BquHoQ69Rj1oCz6SkKV3k3A&hl=en&ei=9XN0SpbEOtKJkQX0rJ2WDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">he found nothing</a>. His travelogue makes some <a title="The Gupta Empire By Radhakumud Mookerji" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=o-6kXR9JqMwC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=The+next+stage+reached+was+Gandhara+followed+by+Takshashila+and+Peshawar&source=bl&ots=eq90CL9Fxk&sig=zIFloz7E9SCdYwvWngmk8ANC_s0&hl=en&ei=vPx2Sqm4HJiOkQWkytGhDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">cursory mentions of Takshashila</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that leaves Indian history with some rather big 'dating' holes! Is it that <a title="Si-yu-ki - Buddhist Records of the Western World by Hiuen Tsiang, Translation and notes by Samuel Beal" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=X27HtHUsLSkC&pg=PA136&dq=Hien+Takshashila&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Fa hian visited India</a> much after Kalidasa, the Gupta dynasty, the death of Buddha? Maybe a few centuries later, relative to the period in Indian history. Fa Hian's date is well indexed. So that possibly cannot move much. It is the the corresponding Indic dates which come into question!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Another Chinese traveller, Sung Yun, who had a rather exalted view of his country and its ruler, is largely <a title="Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist pilgrims from China to India (400 ... By Samuel Beal" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=tqLO_JzecKUC&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=Sung-Yun+India&source=bl&ots=UOrc5rAIzo&sig=Yp7med_1d5rc8erOrlakJEh54MY&hl=en&ei=V9x2SqrDLIOUkAW686mfDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">responsible for overly negative image</a> of the <em>Hunas </em>in 'modern' history. Sung-Yun's peeve - the <em>Huna</em> king did not read the letter from the Wei Tartar king standing, but in a seated position. A modern historian writing on the spread of Buddhism and Buddhist traveller's tales thinks that,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Like most things India it (Buddhism) suffered somewhat from the invasions of the Huns, who dominated many parts of the northwest from 480 to 530; but the immediate effect of their depredations does not seem to have been very striking. At any rate, the Chinese pilgrim Sung Yun, who travelled through this region in 518-21, gives us a picture in which Buddhism is quite as thriving as it was in Fa-Hien's time. (from <a title="The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage By James Bissett Pratt" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=cLXwU9e6D4sC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=Sung-Yun+India&source=bl&ots=A62REBDKDP&sig=mcBK4wLLdFO2aG6EZbqMUKx3GBQ&hl=en&ei=qdh2SuJsqNrqA_KenaUL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10#v=onepage&q=Ta-cha-shi-lo&f=false" target="_blank">The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage </a><span class="addmd"><a title="The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage By James Bissett Pratt" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=cLXwU9e6D4sC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=Sung-Yun+India&source=bl&ots=A62REBDKDP&sig=mcBK4wLLdFO2aG6EZbqMUKx3GBQ&hl=en&ei=qdh2SuJsqNrqA_KenaUL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10#v=onepage&q=Ta-cha-shi-lo&f=false" target="_blank">By James Bissett Pratt, page 111</a>).</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Subsequent Chinese travellers to India like I Ching (I Ching or Yi Jing, Yìjìng, Yiqing, <em>I-Tsing</em> or YiChing), were more about Buddhism the <strong><a title="Half The World … By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/half-the-world/" target="_blank">religion that it had become,</a></strong> instead of a school of learning and thought. I Ching also recorded <a title="A history of Sanskrit literature By Arthur Berriedale Keith" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=GNALtBMVbd0C&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176&dq=I+Tsing&source=bl&ots=f-Ig3qp0oj&sig=YXE52qjczL940IKVh07MMcpo39c&hl=en&ei=eQ53SqeIJJz27AP1jeibCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">details of the works and life of Bhartrhari</a>, the (probably) 5th century grammarian and poet. His take away <a title="Ancient Indian Education By Radhakumud Mookerji" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mjFfqpq7HhkC&pg=PA574&lpg=PA574&dq=I+Tsing&source=bl&ots=khuNBh9Lsa&sig=CSJpE1TJqY5XIAlsNQPwWIktcDU&hl=en&ei=2wx3SsWuBJOBkQXy7NiUDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=14#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">from India, from Nalanda</a> <em>"in ten years (A.D. 675-685), during which he collected there some 400 Sanskrit texts amounting to 500,000 slokas."</em><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The 'end' of Takshashila</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.southtravels.com/asia/pakistan/gifs/travelpics/taxila.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 230px;" src="http://www.southtravels.com/asia/pakistan/gifs/travelpics/taxila.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The colonial narrative of <a title="History of civilizations of Central Asia" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&pg=PA172&dq=destruction+of+Taxila&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=Tkh4SszcNYHClQSE3OGrDw#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">traces the destruction of Takshashila</a> in 499 AD, by the <em>Hunas </em>(Western history calls them White Huns, <a title="Origins And History Of Jats And Other Allied Nomadic Tribes Of India By B.S. Nijjar" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=xQM9voN21ekC&pg=PA255&lpg=PA255&dq=The%20Ephthalite&source=web&ots=tD1O72uoPg&sig=IkgjyEcu1z_za3_3s_JINnaWDp4&hl=en&ei=lJKeSZbID4_VkAXPpOTOCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA258,M1" target="_blank">Romans called them Ephtalites</a>; Arabs called them the Haytal; The Chinese Ye Tha). Western 'historians' have ascribed the demise of Taxila to the <a title="Who are White Huns - By Moda Sattva, From the Controversies in History Blog" href="http://controversialhistory.blogspot.com/2008/03/myth-of-huns-invasion-of-india.html" target="_blank">White Huns, a Central Asian, nomadic tribe</a>, roaming between Tibet to Tashkent, <a title="Origins and History of Jats and Other Allied Nomadic Tribes of India By B.S. Nijjar" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=xQM9voN21ekC&pg=PA255&lpg=PA255&dq=The+Ephthalite&source=web&ots=tD1O72uoPg&sig=IkgjyEcu1z_za3_3s_JINnaWDp4&hl=en&ei=lJKeSZbID4_VkAXPpOTOCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA258,M1" target="_blank">practicing polyandry</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Takshashila lying at the cross roads of the <em>Uttarapatha </em>(West calls it The Silk Route) – from Tibet, China, Central Asia, Iran – and India, fell to this mindless savagery, goes the 'modern' narrative. But specifically, there is no mention in Chinese, Persian, Indian texts (that I could find) of the <em>Hunas </em>who destroyed Takshashila. So, how and where did this story spring from?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Kanishka, a major Buddhist king, was a Yue Chi, known as Tusharas in India, related to the White Huns. Why would his tribal cousins destroy Takshashila?</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>History as propaganda</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://people.virginia.edu/%7Efn9r/abbw/wheeler.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 250px;" src="http://people.virginia.edu/%7Efn9r/abbw/wheeler.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We have the 'imaginative genius' of <span class="addmd">Sir John Marshall to thank for this - <a title="Encyclopedic dictionary of archaeology By Barbara Ann Kipfer" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=XneTstDbcC0C&pg=PA336&dq=destruction+TAXILA++JOHN+MARSHALL&as_brr=3&ei=dh94SoeYI5DQkwS6jeyXAQ#v=onepage&q=destruction%20TAXILA%20%20JOHN%20MARSHALL&f=false" target="_blank">a man who was</a> <em>"interested in Alexander's campaign and in Graeco Buddhist monuments at Sanchi and Taxila." </em></span>Sir John, who was <em>"filled with enthusiasm for anything Greek" </em><a title="Taxila - an illustrated account of archaeological excavations By Sir John Marshall" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=v9s8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR15&dq=that+Alexander+the+Great+halted+and+refreshed+his+army+before+advancing+to+do+battle+with+Porus&ei=tC94Soz1KZDQkwS6jeyXAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">was also aware that it was</a> at <em>"Taxila that Alexander the Great halted and refreshed his army before advancing to do battle with Porus."</em> Not one to stoop below self-aggrandisement, he is among the <em>"few archaeologists now living who have devoted as many years to the excavation of a single site as I have devoted to Taxila."</em> He lays out the ground for the 'destroyer White Huns' theory, describing how</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">the hordes of Ephthalites or White Huns which swept over Gandhara and the Panjab in the third quarter of the fifth century, carrying ruin and desolation wherever they went. (from <a title="taxila an illustrated account of archaeological excavations By Sir John Marshall" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=v9s8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA76&dq=Ephthalites+or+White+Huns+...+swept+over+Gandhara+and+Panjab+in+the+third+quarter+of+the+fifth+century,+carrying+ruin+and+desolation+wherever+they+went.%22&as_brr=3&ei=Lyl4Spe_BYjMlQTK35Ry&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Taxila - an illustrated account of archaeological excavations By Sir John Marshall</a> page 76).</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">And his evidence for this destruction is,</span><br /></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Thirty two coins, all of them silver, leave no room for doubt it was it was the White Huns who were responsible for the wholesale destruction of the Buddhist <em>sangharamas </em>of Taxila ... several skeletons of those who fell in the fight, including one of White Hun, were lying. (<em>ellipsis mine</em>; from <a title="TAXILA By SIR JOHN MARSHALL" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0NA3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA791&lpg=PA791&dq=Thirty+two+coins,+all+of+them+silver,+leave+no+room+for+doubt+it+was+it+was+the+White+Huns+who+were+responsible+for+the+wholesale+destruction+of+the+Buddhist&source=bl&ots=1Ucjzh7UQI&sig=KsKybCcW4H1KI0fsh6cmxOK5NXQ&hl=en&ei=rQZ4SsPgMZuWkQWB2em0Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Taxila by <span class="addmd">Sir John Marshall</span></a> page 791).</p></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Join the gang!</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">A chorus of historians joined in Sir John's smear campaign (published between 1940-1951) against the White Huns who were 'guilty' of 'destruction of Takshashila'. Sir John lays the burden of guilt at the doorstep of the <em>Hunas </em>(Western history calls them White Huns, Romans called them Ephtalites; Arabs called them the Haytal; The Chinese Ye Tha). Based on traveller's tall tales, we have 'modern' historians who have depicted, without any evidence, that the</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">the White Huns, or Hephtalites, felt a kind of hatred toward Buddhism and strove to destroy all its physical as well as mental manifestations during the fifth century. This is how Taxila brutally vanished. (from <a title="Books on fire By Lucien X. Polastron, Jon Graham" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4s-Kb9kv36oC&pg=PA107&dq=the+White+Huns,+or+Hephtalites,+felt+a+kind+of+hatred+toward+Buddhism&ei=eCN4Sp3IOYuMkASw0oGmCg&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Books on fire<span dir="ltr">: the destruction of libraries throughout history</span> </a><span class="addmd"><a title="Books on fire By Lucien X. Polastron, Jon Graham" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4s-Kb9kv36oC&pg=PA107&dq=the+White+Huns,+or+Hephtalites,+felt+a+kind+of+hatred+toward+Buddhism&ei=eCN4Sp3IOYuMkASw0oGmCg&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">By Lucien X. Polastron, Jon Graham</a> page 107-108).</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">And this is from a book which claims to be a <em>"historical survey of the destruction of knowledge from ancient Babylon and China to modern times".</em> Another book seeking to capture Central Asian history writes that these <em>Hunas</em>,<em> </em>who came,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">sacking monasteries and works of art, and ruining the fine Greco-Buddhic civilization which by then was five centuries old. Persian and Chinese texts agree in their descriptions of the tyranny and vandalism of this horde.” (from <a title="The Empire of the Steppes By Rene Grousset, Naomi Walford" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=CHzGvqRbV_IC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=sacking+monasteries+and+works+of+art,+and+ruining+the+fine+Greco-Buddhic+civilization+which+by+then+was+five+centuries+old.+Persian+and+Chinese+texts+agree+in+their+descriptions+of+the+tyranny+and+vandalism+of+this+horde.&source=web&ots=xkMwsz7M9Z&sig=rh22jm9nENHE9Cv1V9o1VgSdgtQ&hl=en&ei=VpeeSbuTD5WukAWspbndCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA70,M1" target="_blank"><em>The Empire of the Steppes </em></a><span class="addmd">By Rene Grousset, Naomi Walford).</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">It has been pointed out that </span></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">Although the exact relationship between the Buddhist communities of the Peshawar basin and the new Hun dynasty is not entirely clear, there is considerable evidence to suggest that Buddhism continued under Hun rule ... (there is) textual evidence to show that Chinese Buddhist pilgrims continued to visit Gandharan sites in the Peshawarn Basin into the early sixth century C.E.; The Bhamala main stupa can be compared to the 7th to 8th century cruciform stupas in Kashmir, Afghanistan, and other parts of Central Asia. (from </span><a title="The Buddhist architecture of Gandhāra By Kurt A. Behrendt (pages 207-209)" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=C9_vbgkzUSkC&pg=PA207&dq=destruction+of+Taxila&lr=&ei=wiZ4SqK6FqaSkQTzkZWCAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank"><em>The Buddhist architecture of Gandhāra </em></a><span class="addmd"><a title="The Buddhist architecture of Gandhāra By Kurt A. Behrendt (pages 207-209)" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=C9_vbgkzUSkC&pg=PA207&dq=destruction+of+Taxila&lr=&ei=wiZ4SqK6FqaSkQTzkZWCAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank"><em>By Kurt A. Behrendt</em></a> pages 207-209).</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">Technically, it was also pointed out that Sir John did not stratify his digs, which creates a dating and sequencing problem. Going with self-aggrandizing nature, Sir John also focussed on 'glamourous digs' - without focussing on the connectivity issues.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Alexander in colonial historical narrative</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.astro.rug.nl/%7Eweygaert/tim1publicpic/alexandermosaic/alexander_mosaic.web.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 361px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.astro.rug.nl/%7Eweygaert/tim1publicpic/alexandermosaic/alexander_mosaic.web.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>For more on the decline of Takshashila, it is Alexander that we must turn to.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Alexander has long been a vital cog in Western colonial narrative of history. Alexander’s halo gave bragging rights – first to the Greco-Romans and then to the Euro-colonialists.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The American Department of Defense, in its <a title="Legacy Resource Management Program" href="http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/legacy-afghenl.html" target="_blank">Legacy Program</a>, has <a title="Alexander The Great - Cultural Heritage Training - Legacy Program, Department of Defense, US Government" href="http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/afgh02-04enl.html" target="_blank">a section on Cultural Heritage Training</a>. The use of Alexander’s <em>mythos </em>there is self evident. Between the Greco-Roman historians and the Euro-Colonialists, has sprung an entire industry, to create <a title="Kings and Colonists By Richard A. Billows" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BOzcFqoMZlMC&pg=PA37&dq=P.+M.+Fraser+Ptolemy+Philip+Alexander&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=jJV9SemYC5TckwTcmty8Bg&client=firefox-a#PPA40,M1" target="_blank">a <em>mythos </em>surrounding Alexander</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Amongst <a title="Alexander's campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan and the siege of the Brahmin ... By Pierre Herman Leonard Eggermont" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=nG0_xoDS3hUC&pg=PA91&dq=independent+city+Brahmins+Alexander&ei=2rlhSo3GFZ7kkQT-lc27Dg" target="_blank">Alexander’s first actions in India</a> were his attempts to cobble up alliances. His most famous one was with Ambhi – the ruler of Taxila. In India, <a title="Alexander’s Conquest of India - A 2ndlook By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2009/02/28/2009/01/23/alexanders-conquest-of-india/" target="_blank">Alexander had to pay</a> the King of Taxiles, Omphis, (Ambi) <a title="Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great By Waldemar Heckel" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=JJ4K1wFZkrsC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=Alexander+Omphis+1000+talents&source=bl&ots=JyccRDmf_s&sig=I4zCQWbXtdhgF_Y66yQ4OMJyAcs&hl=en&ei=5-uzSb2oO5LnkAW31eXhBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result" target="_blank">1000 talents of gold (more than 25 tons of gold) – to secure an alliance</a>. To cement this alliance, <a title="Alexander the Great By Nigel Cawthorne" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=oxyz0v9T74sC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=Alexander+Ambhi+1000+talents+of+gold&source=bl&ots=XXIYhxenW8&sig=uxuUKEyXUA18iFjvY8EO2CNAYpE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">Alexander ‘gifted’ Ambhi</a> with <em>‘a wardrobe of Persian robes, gold and silver ornaments, and 30 horses, 1000 talents in cash’. </em>1000 talents is anywhere between 25,000-60,000 kg of gold! Does this look like Ambhi accepted Alexander as the conqueror of the world – or Alexander ‘persuading’ Ambhi to seal an alliance?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The <a title="The History of Alexander By Quintus Curtius Rufus, John Yardley, Waldemar Heckel" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=arSAnU0ADIAC&pg=PA204&dq=Meleager+Alexander+Omphis+envy&ei=H2t5SaCTLZ-4lATm05nsBg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">payment of 1000 talents in gold to Ambhi</a> aroused much envy and outrage in Alexander’s camp. It prompted <a title="Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great By Waldemar Heckel" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=JJ4K1wFZkrsC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=Meleager+Alexander+Omphis+Ambhi+envy&source=bl&ots=Jyc8SKhi2t&sig=IysPBD-pNH5SPCyTxJS2rUjv99I&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">Meleager, to sarcastically congratulate Alexander</a> for<em> ‘having at least found in India a man worth 1000 talents.’</em> What seals this incident is Alexander’s retort to Meleager, “that envious men only torment themselves.” (C 8.12.17 & 18).</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Black and blue</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Instead of the complete capitulation and collaboration that Alexander got from the defeated Achaemenid ruling family of Sisygambis, Stateira, <a title="Ancient Library > Bookshelf > Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology > v. 3, page 74" href="http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2408.html" target="_blank">Oxathres (brother of Darius III</a>; also written as <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">oxoathres </span>and <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">oxyathres) </span><em>et al</em>, the foursome of Bessos, Spitamenes, Datafernes and the Scythians made Alexander’s life miserable. At Gaugamela, it was <a title="Major Battles of Alexander's Asian Campaign By Arrian" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=dQyPIZ6kVmQC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=But+the+Scythian+cavalry+and+the+Bactrians,+who+had+been+drawn+up+with+them,+sallied+forth+against+them,+and+being+much+more+numerous+they+put+the+small+body+of+Greeks+to+rout.&source=bl&ots=VR7FlIa_i5&sig=RaOVp4UevqFJyBKqhMFWtw1Sldc&hl=en&ei=zqOzSeDPKI2g6wO0w5XmBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result" target="_blank">Bessos and his Indian cavalry, which broke Alexander’s formations</a>. As a 19th century historian reports,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">During the three years anterior to the passage of the Indus, Balk (Bactria) was usually Alexander's headquarters. It was in these countries that he experienced his only serious reverses in the field. (<em>from </em><a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans, (page 48)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&dq=During+the+three+years+anterior+to+the+passage+of+the+Indus,+Balk+%28Bactria%29+was+usually+Alexander%27s+headquarters.+It+was+in+these+countries+that+he+experienced+his+only+serious+reverses+in+the+field.&ei=V4F4SproIJqGkgTRrpScAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">On the practicability of an invasion of British India</a><span class="addmd"><a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans, (page 48)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&dq=During+the+three+years+anterior+to+the+passage+of+the+Indus,+Balk+%28Bactria%29+was+usually+Alexander%27s+headquarters.+It+was+in+these+countries+that+he+experienced+his+only+serious+reverses+in+the+field.&ei=V4F4SproIJqGkgTRrpScAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank"> By Sir George De Lacy Evans</a>).</span></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">The tribes and <a title="Encyclopaedia of Indian Tribes By Shyam Singh Shashi" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vlTgSNdJTxkC&pg=PA86&dq=India+alliances+kingdoms+Northwest+Indian&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=RUexSaX2OaOMkQTmv5mABg&client=firefox-a#PPA81,M1" target="_blank"><em>kshatrapas </em>(satraps)<em> </em>of Indian North West swath</a>, delayed Alexander for nearly three years – before he could step into India. In India, <a title="Alexander’s Conquest of India - A 2ndlook By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2009/01/23/alexanders-conquest-of-india/" target="_blank">Alexander had to pay</a> the King of Taxiles, Omphis, (Ambi) <a title="Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great By Waldemar Heckel" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=JJ4K1wFZkrsC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=Alexander+Omphis+1000+talents&source=bl&ots=JyccRDmf_s&sig=I4zCQWbXtdhgF_Y66yQ4OMJyAcs&hl=en&ei=5-uzSb2oO5LnkAW31eXhBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result" target="_blank">1000 talents of gold (more than 25 tons of gold) – to secure an alliance</a>. He had to return the kingdom of Punjab to Porus – purportedly, after winning the battle. His loot and pickings from India were negligible.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">To these lean pickings, <a title="Ancient siege warfare By Paul Bentley Kern" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=FBTesdgIbcsC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=the+Macedonians+frequently+massacred+the+defenders+of+the+city,+especially+in+India.&source=bl&ots=YT4PlhEvq3&sig=ZGOsRbRxi4m3sbX93wUM1oujxMQ&hl=en&ei=ZQfKSZ-xDI2g6wOh-dmMAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">Alexander’s reaction</a> – <em>“the Macedonians frequently massacred the defenders of the city, especially in India.” </em>What was <a title="Ancient Greece By Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=INUT5sZku1UC&pg=RA1-PA419&lpg=RA1-PA419&dq=Semiramis+Alexander+India&source=web&ots=gDVhiWUKNO&sig=lInivpXXZi87pXIGDrgZgzMMJWQ&hl=en&ei=hxeMSYz-DYm9kAXb7-ynDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result" target="_blank">Alexander's response</a> to a ‘<em>sub-continent occupied by a complex network of peoples and states, who viewed Alexander as a new piece to be played in their complex political chess game.'</em> Another modern historian, an expert on Greek history writes that <em>'the tale of slaughter told in the ancient sources is unparalleled elsewhere in the campaign.' </em>( <em>from </em><a title="Ancient Greece By Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=INUT5sZku1UC&pg=RA1-PA422&lpg=RA1-PA422&dq=The+tale+of+slaughter+told+in+the+ancient+sources+is+unparalleled+elsewhere+in+the+campaign.&source=bl&ots=gDWliVWDPR&sig=icW6y-rZ9vnTCRTqgEu66PDBmPQ&hl=en&ei=IpVhSv6KMMOPkQWIgO3xDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1" target="_blank">Ancient Greece</a><span><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=INUT5sZku1UC&pg=RA1-PA422&lpg=RA1-PA422&dq=The+tale+of+slaughter+told+in+the+ancient+sources+is+unparalleled+elsewhere+in+the+campaign.&source=bl&ots=gDWliVWDPR&sig=icW6y-rZ9vnTCRTqgEu66PDBmPQ&hl=en&ei=IpVhSv6KMMOPkQWIgO3xDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1" target="_blank"> By Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan</a>). </span></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span> </span>The Indian reaction</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Alexander's massacres in India, a <a title="Elements of general history By Alexander Fraser Tytler" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vVQBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA56&dq=epithet+than+that+assigned+him+by+the+Brahmins+of+India,+The+Mighty+Murderer&as_brr=3&ei=4vdhSuK5JZHWlAS3prTGDg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">colonial historian informs us</a> (without naming a source), <a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&source=bl&ots=pqRRdLvWQe&sig=p-_QLMNK4WIysb6_Gj1lv0W7R_4&hl=en&ei=eXN4SuynONiGkAWAo_m6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">earned him an </a><em><a title="On the practicability of an invasion of British India By Sir George De Lacy Evans" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EkYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&source=bl&ots=pqRRdLvWQe&sig=p-_QLMNK4WIysb6_Gj1lv0W7R_4&hl=en&ei=eXN4SuynONiGkAWAo_m6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">"epithet </a>... assigned </em>(to)<em> him by the <span>Brahmins </span>of India, </em><em>The Mighty Murderer</em>." This Indian Brahmanic <a title="De Bow's southern and western review By James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=f5wRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA410&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&as_brr=3&ei=pHd4SuftCZ2UkAS1_7H_CQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=Alexander%20India%20Brahmins%20Mighty%20Murderer&f=false" target="_blank">characterization of Alexander</a>, commonly taught to English <a title="The preceptor's assistant, or, Miscellaneous questions in general history ... By David Williams" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BmMFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA38&dq=Alexander+India+Brahmins+Mighty+Murderer&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=Dnl4SpaXD4askATw-LH5BA&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">schoolchildren and present in Eglish college texts</a>, as <em>The Mighty Murderer</em>, curiously disappeared from Western-English texts soon after 1860 - and <a title="The shape of ancient thought By Thomas McEvilley (page 355)" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vTfm8KHn900C&pg=PA355&lpg=PA355&dq=a+positive+rose-tinted+aura+surrounds+Alexander+...&source=bl&ots=I95QqTFtOt&sig=dk1rNdY8uL_togNO8istLpNrDlA&hl=en&ei=pmR5SuWZNJOCkQXf09CqBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">instead now</a> <em>"a positive rose-tinted aura surrounds Alexander"</em> ... !</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Greek writers report, that Alexander finally realized that <a title="Alexander and the East By A. B. Bosworth" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=jYLuvdSxUmQC&pg=PA94&dq=Alexander+City+of+Brahmans+massacre&ei=-QLKSbH2NpTCkATPz7CADg&client=firefox-a#PPA95,M1" target="_blank">it was the Indian Brahmins who had influenced Indian princes </a>to organize and support <a title="Ancient siege warfare By Paul Bentley Kern" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=FBTesdgIbcsC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=Alexander+City+of+Brahmans+massacre&source=bl&ots=YT4PlhDmw7&sig=vcYNJEiO9losbHwXBVpOzE-Iy5g&hl=en&ei=OQDKSZKxKpLnkAWZxfSKAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA230,M1" target="_blank">the Indian war against Alexander</a>. Greek sources cite, after this realization, at ‘The City of Brahmans’, Alexander massacred an estimated 8000-10,000 of these non-combatant Brahmans. His question-answer <a title="Greek history from Themistocles to Alexander, in a ser. of lives from ... By Plutarchus" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=kIUCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA465&dq=In+this+voyage,+he+took+ten+of+the+Indian+philosophers+prisoners,+who+had+been+most+active&as_brr=3&ei=TXV4SvXtBpiCkQS9xcSjAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">sessions with the 10 Indian-prisoners-Brahmans</a> (called Gymnosophists by the Greeks), related by Plutarch, shows Alexander at sea, completely lost.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And arising from this frustration, came Alexander's wanton massacres at Takshashila - which thereafter limped along for the next 1000 years, but never to fully recover.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span>More questions on the destruction of Takshashila</span></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>At the time of Takshashila's decline in the 5th century, a significant Gupta king was Purugupta - successor of Skandagupta. Written records from Purugupta's reign are few and far in between, he has been </span><span>variously <a title="Rise and fall of the imperial Guptas By Ashvini Agrawal" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA224&dq=Pura+Gupta+Vasubandhu&as_brr=3&ei=M_tiSpjKGYbYlATYz927Dg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">named as Vikramaditya, Prakashaditya and of course as Puru</a> /Pura Gupta.</span><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>The most authentic link to his reign is <a title="Rise and fall of the imperial Guptas By Ashvini Agrawal" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Bhitari+seal+inscription&source=bl&ots=nasYLAaCph&sig=QdYkTJEjxffcOuCBM0T8dzve1IA&hl=en&ei=BtxiSq-rCsOPkQWIgO3xDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4" target="_blank">the Bhitari seal inscription</a>, (near Ghazipur, in modern UP). The Bhitari seal provided proof of an elongated Gupta reign - than the Skandagupta-was-the-end-of-Gupta dynasty dating. Currently dated between 467 AD, Purugupta's reign saw many border wars. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>Purugupta's reign saw <a title="A history of Indian logic By Satis Chandra Vidyabhusana" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0lG85RD9YZoC&pg=PA267&dq=Pura+Gupta+Vasubandhu&ei=IPJiSuXpBorgkwSv8Om9Dg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Vasubandhu, a known teacher of logic and debate</a>, become famous and <a title="History of Chinese Philosophy, Volume 2 By Youlan Feng, Derk Bodde" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g9BaYTXCIiYC&pg=PA299&lpg=PA299&dq=Tsang+Vasubandhu&source=bl&ots=0fQhQjzvho&sig=c8daeYJc2ypDAQEWgxcgCElFI3A&hl=en&ei=NG10StnZO8qBkQWNzZWpDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=Tsang%20Vasubandhu&f=false" target="_blank">Huien Tsang reported</a> on the <a title="Reflections on reality By Jeffrey Hopkins" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ks86-jE1XBQC&pg=PA520&lpg=PA520&dq=Tsang+Vasubandhu&source=bl&ots=Vy3XFA9Vn9&sig=TSsn_3DbgiWjnAgRY3TuYG9K1zg&hl=en&ei=pmx0SqC1L46dkAX6pq2lDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&q=Tsang%20Vasubandhu&f=false" target="_blank">debates based on Vasubandhu's texts</a>. Today <a title="Vasubandhu's Karmasiddhiprakarana and the Problem of the Highest Meditations, by Stefan Anacker © 1972 University of Hawai'i Press." href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/1397674" target="_blank">Vasubandhu's texts exist in Chinese</a> and Tibetan languages - the original Sanskrit volumes remain untraceable. Purugupta also restored the gold grammage in the </span><span>‘</span><span>suvarna' coins, probably debased in Skandagupta's time, possibly due to <a title="The early history of India By Vincent A. Smith" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=8XXGhAL1WKcC&pg=PA311&lpg=PA311&dq=Puragupta&source=bl&ots=Pfbb9Obj3d&sig=pRu4ILIU6Tiu4yw1xPQSO2sXPxM&hl=en&ei=vu9iSpG7OYb6kAXL9Ww&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1" target="_blank">the cost of the fighting the Hunas</a>. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>Is it that the Porus identified by the Greeks, Purugupta? Were the marauding soldiers, mentioned in Chinese texts, mercenary soldiers hired by Alexander to replace the 'deserting Greek' soldiers, on the eve of his Indian 'campaign'? The dating of the Gupta dynasty to end of the 5th century AD, is probably off by about 800 years.</span><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Indian defence system</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Taksashila's destruction raises an obvious question! And also important. What did Indian polity do to defend centres of excellence like Takshashila?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">To protect such a vibrant and important centre of leaning, the Indian polity had evolved a complex structure across the entire North Western swath. Thus while, within the Indic area, borders and crowns kept changing and shifting, invaders were kept at bay. A system of <a title="Alexander’s Conquest of India - A 2ndlook By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2009/01/23/alexanders-conquest-of-india/" target="_blank">alliances supporting frontline kingdoms in the entire North West Indian swath</a> was formulated.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">For instance, against the Assyrian invasion, led by Semiramis, a minor Indian king, Stabrobates, was supported to beat back the Assyrian invasion. Against Cyrus the Great, Tomyris, a Scythian Queen was supported to massacre Persian invaders. <a title="What happened to Alexander’s loot from India …? By 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2009/02/17/what-happened-to-alexanders-loot-from-india/" target="_blank">Alexander’s nightmare began immediately</a>, as soon as he crossed from the Persian area into the area governed by the Medes - an Indic area.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>A symbol of these alliances, for instance, was the House of <a title="The Cambridge history of Iran By W. B. Fisher, Ilya Gershevitch, Ehsan Yarshater, R. N. Frye, J A Boyle, Peter Jackson, Laurence Lockhart, Peter Avery, Gavin Hambly, Charles Melville, Cambridge University Press" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=y7IHmyKcPtYC&pg=PA704&dq=Suren+crown+Iran+kings&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=sU3eSfXdF5-OkATemPm2CA&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Suren’s traditional rights to install the crown</a> of Persian rulers. </span><span>Some ancient <a title="Concise Encyclopeida of World History By Carlos Ramirez-faria" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Ef4pUwjA_FkC&pg=PT260&dq=Suren+Iran&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=51neSeelEYjINbLz0cAO&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">maps show the Gandhara-Takshashila region as Suren</a>. </span>And it was at the hands of these very Surens that Crassus met his nemessis. At the hands of the Indo-Parthian armies - led by a Suren general.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The <a title="International Dictionary of Historic Places By Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=2aOpeBnbxvsC&pg=PA192&dq=Sassanians+Rome+elephants&ei=Q9a0SYaGFJ-OkATOlem0Dg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Sassanian dynasty was able to wrest back</a> and defend <a title="Rome and Her Enemies By Jane Penrose" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=99haLasvV3gC&pg=PA255&dq=Sassanian+War+elephants&ei=9kquScyFNpOmkQSGh9TqBA&client=firefox-a#PPA256,M1" target="_blank">Persian dominions from the Greco-Romans</a>, after setting up an elephants corps in their army – evidenced, for instance, by the <a title="Sassanians" href="http://www.farhangsara.com/history_sassanians.htm" target="_blank">carvings at Taq-i-Bustan</a>. At one time, the Sassanian rulers had <a title="THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD BY GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A.," href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16167/16167-h/raw7b.htm#2HCH0015" target="_blank">increased its elephant corps to 12,000 elephants</a>.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>End of Crassus</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.uoregon.edu/%7Eklio/im/rr/laterep/crassus-death.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 417px; height: 315px;" src="http://www.uoregon.edu/%7Eklio/im/rr/laterep/crassus-death.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Less than 300 years after Alexander, Romans came close to Indian border. They were <a title="History of Julius Caesar By Napoleon" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Bq8UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA488&dq=Crassus+India&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=NDzeSfKBEpeSkASrm5naDQ&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">led by Marcus Licinius Crassus</a> – estimated (or allegedly) <a title="Classical antiquities By Johann Joachim Eschenburg" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=c_cPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA267&dq=Crassus+200,000,000+sestertii&ei=XzreSdzlH4HCkATAvonoDg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">worth 200,000,000 sestertii</a>. A writer of classical journals estimated that to be worth about 7.6 million in 1860. Inflation adjusted, about 7.6 billions. Source of <a title="From polis to empire, the ancient world, c. 800 B.C.-A.D. 500 By Andrew G. Traver" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=JEvN6XwWTk8C&pg=PA111&dq=Crassus+gold+throat&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=-TjeSejWBYWqlQSwr4zADg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Crassus’ wealth</a> – slavery, corruption, <a title="The Student's Handbook of Ancient History By John Stoddart" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=A2YNAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA3-IA48&dq=Crassus+India&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=KGHeSc7WOYSkkASq5ujyDg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">pillage</a>, bribery <em>et al.</em> Crassus is more famous in history for three things – <strong>One, </strong>for his wealth, <strong>Two</strong> – for having crucified thousands of rebellious slaves on the Via Appia, after <a title="The history of the progress and termination of the Roman republic By Adam Ferguson" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=rAYMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA155&dq=Crassus+India&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=ol_eSemmJpWWkASvwcHiDg&client=firefox-a#PPA154,M1" target="_blank">defeating Spartacus’ Slave Army</a> and <strong>Three, </strong>as the man who funded the rise of Julius Caesar.<span> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>It is <a title="Cavalry from Hoof to Track By Roman Jarymowycz, Roman Johann Jarymowycz, Donn A. (FRW) Starry" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=nQDBUgwGae4C&pg=PA21&dq=Crassus+gold+throat&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=6jjeSa6bCIrClQS6z-zXBQ&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">his death, that is usually glossed</a> over. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Roman forces retreated, when confronted by Indo-Sassanian armies with Indian elephants.<span> </span><span>For the next nearly 400 years, Romans were wary of any large <a title="Persia By Brigadier- Sir Percy Sykes" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iwVHuc4cNaoC&pg=PA27&dq=Crassus+India&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=nV3eSeuaH4LAMrWkpeIO&client=firefox-a#PPA28,M1" target="_blank">expeditions into Indo-Persian territories</a>. </span>500 years later (nearly), with the <a title="Rome and Her Enemies By Jane Penrose" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=99haLasvV3gC&pg=PA255&sig=63OoE5HIGbaQBjKENdY8v9pICk8" target="_blank">help of the Indian elephant corps, the Sassanians stopped the Romans</a> at Persian borders in 363 AD. <span>But it is interesting that the enemies of the <em>daiwas</em> (enemy of devas are the <em>asuras, </em>in Indian scriptures), the Zoroastrians (followers of Ahura Mazda, speculatively Mahishasura) allied themselves with a Suren. </span>A 1000 years later, the Sassanian army, had forgotten their lessons – and could not <a title="War Elephants By Konstantin Nossov" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7j1nZ-9Rdl4C&pg=PA38&dq=Sassanians+Rome+elephants&ei=Q9a0SYaGFJ-OkATOlem0Dg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">use their few elephants to full effect</a>, against the Islamic Arabs.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The rise of religion in India</span></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Without access to the 'Indian thought factory', a</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">fter the fall of <em>Takshashila, </em></span>in 499 AD – by the <em>Huna </em>(dating as per Western history which calls them White Huns, Romans called them Ephtalites; Arabs called them the Haytal; The Chinese Ye Tha) Buddhism soon became a religion. <span style="font-family:Georgia;">Buddha in India, was another, in a long line of teachers. </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">But in the rest of world, <strong><a title="India Imports Hazardous Waste By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/india-imports-hazardous-waste/" target="_blank">Buddhism soon became a religion</a></strong>. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span>The destruction of Takshashila (Taxila) meant that students and scholars would need to travel for an extra 60 days to reach the other Indian Universities of the time. This was a traumatic event in the status of the Indian ethos - even the Asiatic ethos.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The decline of Taksashila marked the destruction, persecution and decline in Indian education, thought and structure. <span style="font-family:Georgia;"><em> </em>Fewer believers in Indian faith systems made the trip to India. </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">‘Consumers’ of ideological products from the ‘Indian Thought Factory’, were left with Desert Bloc alternative products. Buddhism soon became a religion outside India. A few centuries after decline of </span>Takshashila, Nalanda, etc. were also destroyed by Desert Bloc invaders.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div id="_mcePaste" style="overflow: hidden; position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 693px; width: 1px; height: 1px;"><br /><div id="titlebar" style="white-space: nowrap;"><br /><h1 class="title">Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist pilgrims from China to India (400 ...</h1><br /><span class="addmd">By Samuel Beal</span></div><br /></div>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-22846326621255456962009-08-04T09:15:00.000-07:002009-08-22T09:06:46.675-07:00As the sun set on the Raj ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://people.virginia.edu/%7Efn9r/abbw/wheeler.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 250px;" src="http://people.virginia.edu/%7Efn9r/abbw/wheeler.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">One evening in early August 1943, Brigadier General Mortimer Wheeler was resting in his tent after a long day of poring over maps, drawing up plans for invasion of Siciliy. Mortimer Wheeler was invited to become the director general of archaeology by the India Office of the British government in its last years of rule in South Asia ...Summoning a general from the battlefields of Europe was an extraordinary measure, an admission both of the desperate condition of Indian archaeology and an acknowledgment of its vital importance. (from <a title="The Strides of Vishnu By Ariel Glucklich" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=One+evening+in+early+August+1943,+Brigadier+General+Mortimer+Wheeler+was+resting+in+his+tent+after+a+long+day+of+poring+over+maps,+drawing+up+plans+for+invasion+of+Siciliy.+Mortimer+Wheeler+was+invited+to+become+the+director+general+of+archaeology+by+the+India+Office+of+the+British+government+in+its+last+years+of+rule+in+South+Asia+...Summoning+a+general+from+the+battlefields+of+Europe+was+an+extraordinary+measure,+an+admission+both+of+the+desperate+condition+of+Indian+archaeology+and+an+acknoledgement+of+its+vital+importance.&source=bl&ots=jPE2z34YqY&sig=ifJZxZYodbyO_FNILzsLpk9pFo8&hl=en&ei=fGl4SoCKEMGLkAWBsPG2Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture ... - Google Books).</a><br /></div></blockquote><h3><strong>Amazing!</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">This is one question that has long puzzled me!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Why would the glorious British Empire, on which the sun never set, struggling for its very existence, in the middle of WW2, suddenly pull a general back from the battlefield - and put him into archaeology! Especially, when it was clear that they would be departing from India - sooner rather than later.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Just why</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Considering what theories came from Mortimer Wheeler's rather fertile 'imagination' and his rigourous archaeological process, raises even more questions. There may be the facile answer that the British were after all 'searching for history and truth'.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2ndlook.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/rule_britannia_india_cartoon.jpg?w=308&h=355&h=355"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 355px;" src="http://www.hinduwisdom.info/images/rule_britannia_india_cartoon.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>It is this one incident which possibly contains answers to many unanswered questions like: -</p><ol><li> The amount of energy expended by the West in defending the Aryan Invasion /Migration Theory,</li><br /><li>The lack of access to Indian scholars of the archaeological sites in Pakistan,</li><br /><li>The many myths in Indian history,</li><br /><li>The clues to the partition of India</li><br /><li>The dating problems</li></ol><em>et al</em>.<br /><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Again ... just why?</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Just why would an imperial power, struggling for its very existence, suddenly pull a general from the battle field, in the middle of WW2 - and put him onto the job of digging dirt.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Only one explanation fits - it had to be a struggle for a existence at a higher level!</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-85674738204709678102009-07-30T11:15:00.000-07:002009-07-30T11:41:24.149-07:00Indic Justice – The need to rediscover or reinvent?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.topnews.in/files/Amartya-Sen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 263px;" src="http://www.topnews.in/files/Amartya-Sen.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><strong>Indic Justice ... </strong></strong></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">The on-going saga of the Ambani brothers' dispute, brings home how deeply and completely Indic norms of justice and fair play have been lost. The Ambani brothers have <a title="PM upset over Anil Ambani’s allegations against Oil Min (Published on Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 0959 , Updated at Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 1714 Source - CNBC-TV18)" href="http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/pm-upset-over-anil-ambani39s-allegations-against-oil-ministry/408553" target="_blank">approached the Prime Minister</a> and are pressing their <a title="SC rejects Anil Ambani plea for final hearing of gas dispute on Sept 1 from The Times of India, Report from PTI 30 July 2009, 1145am IST" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/SC-rejects-Anil-Ambani-plea-for-final-hearing-of-gas-dispute-on-Sept-1-/articleshow/4836861.cms" target="_blank">cases in the Supreme Court for justice</a>. Such a form of dispute redressal is alien and remote to Indic thought.</div><p style="text-align: justify;">The other apparently unrealted 'event' is the <a title="Instant Justice at LSE - students snap up Amartya Sen book in 15 minutes By AMIT ROY, From The Telegraph" href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090729/jsp/nation/story_11295517.jsp" target="_blank">much promoted and publicised book, <em>The Idea of Justice</em></a><em> </em> by Amartya Sen, has no clue about justice (at least on Indic thoughts on justice). Apart from <a title="The relevance of Amartya Sen Posted in The Mint, Thu, Jul 30 2009. 0115 AM IST" href="http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/29211904/The-relevance-of-Amartya-Sen.html?h=B" target="_blank">a few token mentions about Ashoka Maurya and Akbar Moghul</a>, he has very <a title="Amartya Sen on his idea of justice out of london By Hasan Suroor From The Hindu, Thursday, Jul 16, 2009" href="http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/16/stories/2009071655950900.htm" target="_blank">little to say about Indic thought</a> on justice. But he <a title="Amartya Sen's story of justice By Rashmee Roshan Lall, TNN 26 July 2009, 1014am IST" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Sunday-TOI/Special-Report/Amartya-Sens-story-of-justice/articleshow/4820909.cms" target="_blank">speaks very volubly on Western thinkers</a> and thought on justice.</p><div class="mceTemp" style="text-align: justify;"><dl class="wp-caption alignright"></dl></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The wise king delivers justice<br /></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">To bring out the contrast, one has only to read the <a title="The Judgment of Solomon" href="http://www.kingsolomonlegend.com/the-judgment-of-solomon.html" target="_blank">Biblical story of King Solomon's justice</a> (where two prostitutes claimed the surviving baby as theirs). The point worth noting is that this paradigm of justice centralizes solutions and concentrates power in the hands of some central authorities.</p><div class="mceTemp" style="text-align: justify;"><dl class="wp-caption alignright"></dl></div><p style="text-align: justify;">So, whether it King Solomon or Caliph Haroun Al Rashid (the King in disguise), or <a title="Oriental panorama By Reinhold Schiffer" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=fhcYwZIGd94C&pg=PA70&dq=Biography+Capanoglu&as_brr=3&ei=C75xSvqnL4rgkwTkzcHpDg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">the Turkish Çapano<em>g</em>lu Ahmet Pasha</a> (of the <a title="The Rest of the Story about... AltIndan çapanoglu çIkmak - The Story Behind Turkish Idioms" href="http://www.geocities.com/researchtriangle/facility/3484/idiom-stories-a.html" target="_blank">justice bell fame which even a donkey</a> could ring to <a title="Altından çapanoğlu çıkmak - The Rest of the Story ..." href="http://www.learningpracticalturkish.com/turkish-idiom-stories--altindan-capanoglu.html" target="_blank">summon the king for justice</a>) - the model was the all-knowing King.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://beetlebabee.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/solomon1.jpg?w=316&h=250"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 250px;" src="http://beetlebabee.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/solomon1.jpg?w=316&h=250" alt="" border="0" /></a>Going back earlier, the <a title="Ancient Egyptian myths and legends By Lewis Spence" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=xJoc5om0fp0C&pg=PA222&dq=Tehuti-nekht+sekhti+Meruitensa&ei=7cNxSrzhF4TSlQTA6tT1Dg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Desert Bloc model of seeking justice</a> was captured in <a title="The Salt Trader's Justice By Timothy Bush, Ancient Egypt Legend" href="http://amedja.tripod.com/the_salt_33.html" target="_blank">the story of Tehuti-nekht</a> (the oppressive overseer); a<em> 'sekhti'</em> (the poor salt-trader) the 'clever' Meruitensa (The Grand Vizier /Supreme Judge) and The Wise Pharoah Nebkanra.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>All quiet on the Indian front ...</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">In more than 1000 Indic books, claiming to record more than 10,000 years of history, there is no instance of any dispute reaching the King. The longest ancient epic in the world, <em>The Mahabharata </em>has no incident where a private dispute reached Yudhisthir (though a <a title="The Book of Yudhisthir By Buddhadeva Bose, Sujit Mukherjee" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vL4DhBWJbGIC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=Yudhisthir+Golden+Mongoose&source=bl&ots=kwd3EeEDcv&sig=xyZU3KC329NO8M_2nHjaxTpRfaU&hl=en&ei=0FhxSqzJNdKBkQWOr7yNDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1" target="_blank">mongoose could lecture the King about sacrifices and yagnas</a>). There was never any case of private dispute, recorded in the Ramayana, that reached Ramachandra (though a <a title="Postmodern Indian English literature By Bijay Kumar Das" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Ky0Z2abPx5EC&pg=PA71&dq=Ramayan+Dhobi&as_brr=3&ei=0sZxSqSWHJiCkQTV6fwu&client=firefox-a" target="_blank"><em>dhobi </em>could 'inform' the king</a> about bazaar talk regarding the Queen Sita). Even a poor Brahman, <a title="Kautsa's Gurudakshina By Panditji" href="http://www.panditjiusa.com/Dasara_Info.htm#Kautsas%20Gurudakshina" target="_blank">Kautsa, could reach King Raghu</a> for help in the disbursal of <span style="font-style: italic;">guru-dakshina</span> गुरु दक्षिणा।<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Is it that Indians were ‘saints' and did not have private disputes? Were they so civilized that they could solve all disputes by talking to each other? Is it that Indian kings were not bothered about delivery of justice!</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>It gets worse! No prisons ...</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="The World Economy By Angus Maddison" href="http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=DF-N_lXjlL8C&dq=angus+maddison&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=Ia5EIKpiTz&sig=bTEIosLplgdznydmRaLLfplbPCY#PPA21,M1" target="_blank">Modern econometric modelling</a> has an interesting perspective on Indian economy where research shows that for much of the last 1000 years, India has been a significant economic power till the 1900.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="Angus Maddisson on China" href="http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/" target="_blank">China and India</a>, this analysis estimates, for the last 1000 years, accounted for 50% of the world economy. Statistical analyses <a title="Angus Maddison" href="http://www.academicfoundation.com/n_detail/worldeco.asp" target="_blank">showed India</a> with a world trade share of 25% for much of the 500 years during 1400-1900. With this prosperity, the most interesting (historical) aspect of the criminal management story is the absence of any surviving mass jails in India prior to colonial India.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Without prisons, just how did pre-colonial India, one of the largest (and most prosperous) populations of the world, deal with crime and criminals?</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>But then crime rate in India must be really high ...</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">And have the lowest prison population in the world? How can India have such <strong><a title="The Story Of Crime & Prisons by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/06/14/the-story-of-crime-prisons/" target="_blank">a low prison population</a></strong>, with a <strong><a title="India’s Colonial Cousins - The Drag Coefficient by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/04/15/colonial-cousins-drag-coefficient-on-india/" target="_blank">poor police-to-population ratio</a></strong> and a crime rate which is not above the average – in spite of a large civilian gun population.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">All the 5 indices (below) create a bias for a lawless Indian society and rampant crime. With these five indices, namely: -</p><ol><li>Police to population ratio (’increase police force’).</li><br /> <li>Prison population (’put more criminals behind bars’)</li><br /> <li><a title=" CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: A FADING PRACTICE From TIME magazine, Monday, Mar. 21, 1960" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894775,00.html" target="_blank">Capital punishment</a> (’kill enough criminals to instill fear’)</li><br /> <li>Poverty (’it is poverty which the root of all crime’)</li><br /> <li>Gun ownership (’more guns means more crime’)</li></ol><p style="text-align: justify;">against a stable social system, how does India manage low-to-average crime rates. More than <a title="Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian By E. A. Schwanbeck" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=MU_yqbCUMdEC&pg=PA69&dq=Theft+is+of+very+rare+occurrence.+Megasthenes+says+that+those+who+were+in+the+camp+of+Sandrakottos,+wherein+lay+400,000+men,+found+that+the+thefts+reported+on+any+one+day+did+not+exceed+the+value+of+two+hundred+drachmae,+and+this+among+a+people+who+have+no+written+laws,+but+are+ignorant+of+writing,+and+must+therefore+in+all+the+business+of+life+trust+to+memory&as_brr=3&ei=ijhrSbz1HpmUMdqb2JQF&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">2000 years ago, Megasthenes a Greek traveller to India</a> wrote,</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Theft is of very rare occurrence. Megasthenes says that those who were in the camp of Sandrakottos, wherein lay 400,000 men, found that the thefts reported on any one day did not exceed the value of two hundred drachmae, and this among a people who have no written laws</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">Historically, trade in India is governed by शुभ लाभ' shubh labh’ – and hence <a title="The World's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives by Nathan Vardi" href="http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/25/crime-binladen-guzman-biz-cz_nv_0425mostwanted.html" target="_blank">Indians have not been major players in drugs proliferation</a> (unlike Japan, the West in which traded Opium in Korea and China) or in slave trade</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In modern times, though <strong><a title="Indian Software Success - How Come? by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/page/2007/12/15/indian-software-success-how-come/" target="_blank">India is a power in computing industry</a></strong>, India is <a title="India figures in top 10 spammers' list - From Economic Times" href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Internet_/India_figures_in_top_10_spammers_list/articleshow/3382623.cms" target="_blank">not a big player in </a><span style="font-size:small;"><a title="India figures in top 10 spammers' list - From Economic Times" href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Internet_/India_figures_in_top_10_spammers_list/articleshow/3382623.cms" target="_blank">spamming</a> </span><span style="font-size:small;"> or in </span><span style="font-size:small;">software virus</span><span style="font-size:small;">. In August 2008, there was <strong><a title="Indian ‘Hacker’ Shakes Crimeworld by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/page/2008/08/27/indian-hacker-shakes-crimeworld/" target="_blank">hoax story, which alleged that an Indian hacker</a></strong>, had broken into a credit card database – and sold to the European underworld – and some ‘experts’ feared that this would spark of a crime wave across Europe.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Indic model of justice, crime and law</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Evidence of a different Indic system goes far back in history - to Lipit Ishtar, Hittite laws, Hammurabi <em>et al. </em>As far back as <strong><a title="4000 Years - Hittites & Gandhiji by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/01/13/4000-years-hittites-gandhiji/" target="_blank">4000 years back in history</a></strong>. Indian kings did not deliver justice. It was done at the local level by panchayats पंचायत. Indian justice systems did not rely on imprisonment or executions or the police to control crime!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The answer - the world's most stable marriage system and the extended family-social structures took care of the wayward.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-44632821153313879142009-06-07T23:23:00.000-07:002009-06-08T00:27:33.357-07:00Babylonian Astronomy – The Indo-Assyrian Roots<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Indian themes in Assyrian history</strong></h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Some <a title="Exploring ancient skies By David H. Kelley, E. F. Milone, A. F. Aveni" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zNkgyyPr7kwC&pg=PA225&dq=Ammisaduqa&ei=WJLGSdzuFJuskATXofjtCg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">175-146 years after Hammurabi</a>, the Assyrian throne passed onto his <a title="Subversive scriptures By Leif E. Vaage" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=eV8ufSZJMQcC&pg=PA56&dq=Ammisaduqa&ei=WJLGSdzuFJuskATXofjtCg&client=firefox-a#PPA57,M1" target="_blank">grandson, who ascended the throne of Babylon</a> - and took a very Buddhist name. This is apparently a 1000 years before Gautama Buddha - as per Western dating fix! Known <a title="Vedic Astrology By Ronnie Gale Dreyer" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=SwnPdKhjEFkC&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5&dq=amisaduqua&source=bl&ots=ML0aGQpkqH&sig=i3R5LPhjJ2MumTbL5uGLJkE2JUw&hl=en&ei=rnorSvL1M8-fkQX_msiJCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPA8,M1" target="_blank">in history as Ammisaduqua</a> /Ammisaduqa (1646-1626) - <span style="font-size:100%;"><span>अमिष</span></span>, <em>amish </em>in Sanskrit <a title="Digital Dictionaries of South Asia" href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=dasahindi&query=%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7&matchtype=exact&display=utf8" target="_blank">means truth and honesty</a> + <em>duqa</em> = suffering, pain. Was Ammisaduqua one of the earliest Bodhisattvas, or one of the earliest followers of Buddha.</div><p style="text-align: justify;">Western dating gone completely awry?</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>In the heavens ...<br /></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Apart from <a title="Handbuch der Orientalistik By Hermann Hunger, David Edwin Pingree, Bertold Spuler, Hartwig Altenmüller" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7hnTZ8tdOS0C&pg=PA32&dq=Ammisaduqa&ei=WJLGSdzuFJuskATXofjtCg&client=firefox-a#PPA32,M1" target="_blank">commissioning an authoritative study</a> on planet Venus (<a title="Astrology and the seventeenth century mind By Ann Geneva" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=rR-8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA75&dq=Ammisaduqua&client=firefox-a#PPA75,M1" target="_blank"><em>'probably the earliest example' </em></a>of astronomy), <a title="Women, Crime, and Punishment in Ancient Law and Society: The ancient Near East By Elisabeth Meier Tetlow" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ONkJ_Rj1SS8C&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=memory+of+tribal+customs+was+still+operative.+King+Hammurabi+himself+was+a+product+of+both+the+assimilation+and+the+memory.+THE+EDICT+OF+KING+AMMISADUQA&source=bl&ots=ZbY-HIMGQy&sig=Zw1P_wq7JTDuQmxuOxn6J5YFMRo&hl=en&ei=CJPGSZbRJ5LnkAXosMWmAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">Ammisaduqua /Ammisaduqa /Ammizaduga is known for cancelling debts</a>. Was he named Ammisaduqua /Ammisaduqa because he understood the 'true suffering' of the people.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The discovery of <a title="Astral sciences in Mesopotamia By Hermann Hunger, David Edwin Pingree" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=7hnTZ8tdOS0C&pg=PA32&dq=Ammisaduqa+astronomy&ei=ZrMrSrSJA4_-lQSw8rGZBw&client=firefox-a#PPA37,M1" target="_blank">clay tablets at the Kuyunjik mound</a> in mid 19th century, at Sippar, in modern Iraq, (ancient Niniveh), in the palace of Ashurbanipal (668-635 BC), in the 19th century, was the most complete <a title="Early Man and the Cosmos By Evan Hadingham" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=NYPYd5zY6ooC&pg=PA12&dq=Ammisaduqa+Nineveh+ashurbanipal+astronomy&ei=2oUrSrCwB4bgkQSu9-z4Bg&client=firefox-a#PPA12,M1" target="_blank">set of tablets recovered</a>, of the <a title="The history and practice of ancient astronomy By James Evans" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=nS51_7qbEWsC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=ammisaduqa&source=bl&ots=c1ehMmkBk7&sig=2jyENQWXhFPoAwdny-zhBXGGUcQ&hl=en&ei=WYIrSoi4HoTG6AOjrNCLCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPA15,M1" target="_blank">study first commissioned by Ammisaduqua</a>. The name of <a title="Myths from Mesopotamia By Stephanie Dalley" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=7ERp_y_w1nIC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=Ammisaduqa+Ku-Aya&source=bl&ots=FxFYRjBlJP&sig=Icg5hpk47jBkerSACYziSnhXEwE&hl=en&ei=MYYrSrPeLtiSkAWE5JX5Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4" target="_blank">the scribe of these tablets</a> has been variously deciphered as Ku-Aya, Nur-Aya, Ipiq-Aya - and most interestingly as Kasap-Aya, the same as the famous Indian rishi Kashyapa, <span style="font-size:115;"><span style="font-size:100%;">ऋषि </span><span><span style="font-size:100%;">कश्यप.</span></span></span> Enuma Anu Enlil, the <a title="Star Maps By Nick Kanas" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=fXNrb_v9q7MC&pg=PA27&dq=Enuma+Anu+enlil+clay+tablets+astronomy&ei=KsDsSbmfOpuOkATtydmuAQ&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">70 clay tablet series</a>, <span dir="ltr">by astronomer-astrologers in Mesopotamia, </span>recovered from <a title="Star Maps By Nick Kanas" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=fXNrb_v9q7MC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=70+clay+tablet+excavated+from+the+ruins+of+Ashurbanipal%27s+Library+at+Niniveh.&source=bl&ots=NRXEqFWzxM&sig=pzTFfdsMuDK44MltycS1FVvZI60" target="_blank">the ruins of Ashurbanipal's Library,</a> at Niniveh, <span dir="ltr">contains<em> '<a title="Star Maps By Nick Kanas" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=fXNrb_v9q7MC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=70+clay+tablet+excavated+from+the+ruins+of+Ashurbanipal%27s+Library+at+Niniveh.&source=bl&ots=NRXEqFWzxM&sig=pzTFfdsMuDK44MltycS1FVvZI60" target="_blank">careful records of celestial events for centuries</a></em></span><em>'</em> - with an <a title="Ancient astronomy By Clive L. N. Ruggles" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Q9YYqiXm-lkC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=Enuma+Anu+enlil+clay+tablets+astronomy&source=bl&ots=aCmz5OOkZk&sig=3-z7Sr0RnOnilYcXdKiNW8EqWCI" target="_blank">inventory of 7000 omens</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.astrologer.com/aanet/pub/transit/jan2007/images/enuma.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 330px; height: 208px;" src="http://www.astrologer.com/aanet/pub/transit/jan2007/images/enuma.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Enuma-Anu, could also be spelt as Anumaanu. And </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a title="The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary. By Apte, Vaman Shivaram. Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's Poona - Prasad Prakashan, 1957-1959. 3v." href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:1993.apte3" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span title="Click to correct">अनुमान</span></span></span> <em>anumana, </em>which in Sanskrit</a></span> is, <em>estimate, infer, deduce, close (not exact) calculation.</em> Enlil is the Assyrian God of Winds and Skies. Anil <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">अनिल</span> </span>is also the modern Sanskrit word for air, wind.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What <em>Enuma Anu Enlil, </em>then means is <em>Calculation of the Winds and Skies </em>- which is what it is. It has been noticed that <a title="Ancient astronomy and celestial divination By Noel M. Swerdlow" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=VLKgsGbYIrkC&pg=PA14&dq=evidence+that+the+earliest+layers+of+this+vast+collection+go+back+to+lunar+eclipse+omens+from+the+Dynasty+of+Akkad+and+Ur+III+late+in+the+third+millenium.&ei=0MbYSdKwE4jQkASY07ntAg" target="_blank">there </a><em><a title="Ancient astronomy and celestial divination By Noel M. Swerdlow" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=VLKgsGbYIrkC&pg=PA14&dq=evidence+that+the+earliest+layers+of+this+vast+collection+go+back+to+lunar+eclipse+omens+from+the+Dynasty+of+Akkad+and+Ur+III+late+in+the+third+millenium.&ei=0MbYSdKwE4jQkASY07ntAg" target="_blank">is "evidence that the earliest layers</a> of this vast collection go back to lunar eclipse omens from the Dynasty of Akkad and Ur III late in the third millennium." </em><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps181501_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 225px;" src="http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps181501_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>To the seas ...</strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">The earliest <a title="Orientalizing revolution By Walter Burkert, Margaret E. Pinder" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=cIiUL7dWqNIC&pg=PA88&dq=atrahasis&as_brr=3&ei=a6krSoCwDIuwkAS7t5CbBw&client=firefox-a#PPA89,M1" target="_blank">extant account we get of the Flood</a>, (pralaya प्रलय in Indian texts) <a title="The evolution of the Gilgamesh epic By Jeffrey H. Tigay" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=cxjuHTH6I2sC&pg=PA215&dq=atrahasis&as_brr=3&ei=a6krSoCwDIuwkAS7t5CbBw&client=firefox-a#PPA216,M1" target="_blank">Atra-hasis is also ascribed</a> to the Ammisaduqua reign - which can be gauged by the scribal colophon marks. The <a title="Atrahasis By Albert T. Clay, Paul Tice" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=K1QhcIrHB68C&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=atrahasis&source=bl&ots=WqAtCoDWcr&sig=YZD7P5b9QbsWVxr0VsIlx-PHMHE&hl=en&ei=WJorSoeKMYrg6gP6hKTkCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#PPA70,M1" target="_blank">Atra-hasis is the world's first account</a> of the Flood (as per Western history) - which is recounted also in the Bible. This account of the Flood, <span><a title="ATRA-HASIS: A SURVEY By JAMES R. BATTENFIELD" href="http://gts.grace.edu/documents/Battenfield-Atra-Hasis-GTJ.pdf" target="_blank">the Atra-hasis, written by Atra</a>, possibly by a scribe named after Rishi Atri, </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span>ऋषि अत्रि</span></span>, one of the writers of the Rig Veda. The scribe writes, "at-ra-am-ha-si", which in Sanskrit will read as <span style="font-size:115;"><span><span title="Click to correct" style="font-size:100%;">अत्री अहम्सी</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> "Atri am I". </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Since (deciphered) Akkadian language, in which these tablets were composed, works on presumptive vowels, (deciphered) vowels are a matter of guesswork, opinion and such. To give the benefit of doubt, most Assyriologists have little or poor knowledge of Indian texts and Sanskrit, which comes in the way of making some of these connections.</p><h3><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://salempress.com/store/images/editorial/ashurbanipal.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 307px;" src="https://salempress.com/store/images/editorial/ashurbanipal.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><strong>Eye in the sky ...</strong></h3><strong> </strong><p style="text-align: justify;">But wonder turns to puzzlement, when one comes to a Babylonian king called Kandalanu (647-627 BC) - or alternatively, <em>Kundalin(i)</em>. <em>Kundali </em><a title="The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary. By Apte, Vaman Shivaram. Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's Poona - Prasad Prakashan, 1957-1959. 3v." href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?p.2:53.apte3" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span title="Click to correct">कुण्डली</span></span></span> in Sanskrit</a> means circle - of seasons, life, fortune, etc - and <em>janam kundali </em>is made. The <a title="Ancient astronomy and celestial divination By Noel M. Swerdlow" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=VLKgsGbYIrkC&pg=PA61&dq=Babylon+mus-suh&ei=ku_YSdaDBISmkATU2rDiAg&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">measurements of Saturn during Kandalanu's reign</a> of 20-odd years are important to understanding Mesopotamian astronomy. Saturn in Indian astronomy is <em>Shani</em><span style="font-size:115;"><span> <span style="font-size:100%;">शनि</span></span></span>. In Indian astrology, <em>Shani </em>casts a dark and baleful shadow on which ever zodiac sign it moves into.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is speculated that the <a title="Myths of Babylonia and Assyria By Donald Alexander Mackenzie" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=sHdj5K6BN5gC&pg=PA388&dq=Babylonian+KIng+Kandalanu&as_brr=3&ei=3bsrSrDrKo7UlQT9pIWMBw&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Kandalanu was the throne name for Ashur-bani-pal</a> - at whose library the above clay tablets were found. Historians have <a title="A history of the ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC By Marc Van de Mieroop" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=oknsEhcALLEC&pg=PA238&dq=Babylonian+KIng+Kandalanu&as_brr=3&ei=3bsrSrDrKo7UlQT9pIWMBw&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">have mixed opinions</a> about Kandalanu and <a title="The Babylonians By Gwendolyn Leick" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=nO8cg_cyzPQC&pg=PA158&dq=Babylonian+governor+alongside+alongside+Kandalanu+makes+this+unlikely&ei=h8ErSoyFO4HCkASAudiPBw&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Ashurbanipal being the same</a> person.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Its gotta be the Greeks ...<br /></strong></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Oh no! Not again!!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Babylonian astronomy (encompassing Assyrian, Mesopotamian, Sumerian, Akkadian) is closely allied with Indian developments in direction, purpose and history. This challenges <span>modern history, caught between the 'Greek Miracle' as history school, which has stuck to the Egypt->Greece->Rome->Europe–>West-Is-The-Greatest Axis. For long, the West has systematically suppressed Indian achievements in various spheres - largely for reasons of colonial propaganda.</span><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Western historians trace Indian own significant achievements in astronomy to 'import' from Babylon - via Greece! David Brown, an 'expert', on Mesopotamian astronomy and astrology, goes further and asserts that <span dir="ltr">the <em>"evidence for transmission to Greece and thence to India in the Hellenistic period was overwhelming." (from </em></span><a title="Learned antiquity By Alasdair A. MacDonald, Michael W. Twomey, G. J. Reinink" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=5UL8_CdkX_8C&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=...+with+particular+parameters+and+mathematical+techniques,+that+the+evidence+for+transmission+to+Greece+and+thence+to+India+in+the+Hellenistic+period+was+...&source=bl&ots=YWMMKLYYtC&sig=4--RP2-MRhP7rxzfo7HOIO8kS6o" target="_blank">Learned antiquity </a><span><a title="Learned antiquity By Alasdair A. MacDonald, Michael W. Twomey, G. J. Reinink" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=5UL8_CdkX_8C&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=...+with+particular+parameters+and+mathematical+techniques,+that+the+evidence+for+transmission+to+Greece+and+thence+to+India+in+the+Hellenistic+period+was+...&source=bl&ots=YWMMKLYYtC&sig=4--RP2-MRhP7rxzfo7HOIO8kS6o" target="_blank">By Alasdair A. MacDonald, Michael W. Twomey, G. J. Reinink</a>). </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>What is this 'overwhelming' evidence that he presents? Nothing, but the usual dating mix ups. </span>Considering <em>"it unlikely that it was the work of one person' </em>, analysts are surprised, <em>'considering its internal consistency". </em></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Worried, Mr.Brown? There is more, where this from, Mr.Brown.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Surely, if Indians needed to learn, would it not have been easier and simpler, Mr.Brown, for Indians to have learnt this directly, from the Babylonians - instead of getting of it second hand from the Greeks.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-3623055587201174602009-06-06T23:50:00.000-07:002009-06-07T00:12:03.391-07:00Namaskarah World ...<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3493980962_dc6d814337.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 156px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3493980962_dc6d814337.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a>Behind how people greet each other is the story of how cultures and people view each other. The two most common <a title="Hinduism By Axel Michaels, Barbara Harshav" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=jID3TuoiOMQC&pg=PA176&dq=Indian+greeting+forms&as_brr=3&ei=43sqSujLDJqGkATh-JSOBw&client=firefox-a#PPA178,M1" mce_href="http://books.google.com/books?id=jID3TuoiOMQC&pg=PA176&dq=Indian+greeting+forms&as_brr=3&ei=43sqSujLDJqGkATh-JSOBw&client=firefox-a#PPA178,M1" target="_blank">forms of greeting people in India</a> are <i>namaskaar </i><span mce_="" style="font-size:100%;"><span>नमस्कार</span></span> and touching feet, <span mce_="" style="font-size:100%;"><span>दंडवत</span></span>, <i>dandavat</i>. </div><p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><i>Namaskaar </i>is done from a distance, by joining both hands and a slight inclination of the head. Touching feet, <span mce_="" style="font-size:100%;"><span>दंडवत</span></span>, <i>dandavat, </i>is the other greeting, reserved for elders and seniors, by juniors. This form of greeting is done by bending down from the waist and touching the feet of the opposite person. Sometimes as a mark of greater respect, the bending is done at the knees also, with the knees touching the ground. An extreme form of this greeting is lying on the ground, chest down and touching the feet.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.whitehousehistory.org/04/subs_pph/images/uploads/42/1625.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 176px;" src="http://www.whitehousehistory.org/04/subs_pph/images/uploads/42/1625.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">These greeting styles are common all over Asia - East of India. Joining hands at chest level is also prevalent in the West as a form of prayer - but not as greeting. Both these Indian styles are unique in the culture of the world - for two reasons. But before that let us examine the other two forms of greetings that are popular and prevalent in the world.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>From the Desert Bloc - <i>shalom</i>, <i>salaam</i> and the handshake</b></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Done at close quarters, within touching distance, one hand is always kept free and disengaged. What if the 'enemy' attacks?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maratha.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/07/waghchilk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 179px; height: 285px;" src="http://maratha.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/07/waghchilk.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The other form of greeting is the common Islamic form of greeting - touching one's own forehead with the fingertips of the right hand. This greeting is also done from distance.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b><b>Hidden hands ... hidden intentions</b></b></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">These greeting forms underline the mode of social interaction. The 'hidden' hand in the shalom /salaam /handshake signify the 'preparedness' for 'treachery', 'betrayal' or 'perfidy'. '<i>Namaskaar</i>' and <i>'dandavat' </i>signify clean and empty hands - signifying openness and trust.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>Empty hands vs. 'hidden' hands</b></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">This difference in values requires a drastic re-interpretation of 'negotiation' and 'transaction' methodology - in business, diplomacy and at an international levels.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://balkansnet.org/m06.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 323px; height: 222px;" src="http://balkansnet.org/m06.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">At one end of the spectrum, the response is best illustrated by Shivaji in his <a title="Mughal rule in India By Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Herbert Leonard Offley Garrett" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4aqU9Zu7mFoC&pg=PA132&dq=shivaji+and+afzal+khan&ei=2nMqSsu_LJTCkAT3gfGVBw&client=firefox-a#PPA133,M1" mce_href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4aqU9Zu7mFoC&pg=PA132&dq=shivaji+and+afzal+khan&ei=2nMqSsu_LJTCkAT3gfGVBw&client=firefox-a#PPA133,M1" target="_blank">'negotiation' with Afzal Khan</a>. Using a concealed weapon, he used the meeting to kill Afzal Khan.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">In more modern and relevant context, are the WTO and trade 'negotiations' and 'disputes', where at stage after stage, the West has <b><a title="US Euro Clubs hobble Third Wold By 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/us-euro-clubs-hobble-third-wold/" mce_href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/us-euro-clubs-hobble-third-wold/" target="_blank">come with 'hidden' agendas and weapons</a></b>.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-54084186694748205942009-04-22T07:48:00.000-07:002009-04-22T08:38:50.306-07:00Where would India be without the British Raj<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"> The British, by contrast, brought tangible development, ports and railways, that created the basis for a modern state. More important, they brought the framework for parliamentary democracy that Indians, who already possessed indigenous traditions of heterodoxy and pluralism, were able to fit to their own needs. Indeed, the very Hindu pantheon, with its many gods rather than one, works toward the realization that competing truths are what enable freedom. Thus, the British, despite all their flaws, advanced an ideal of Indian greatness. (via <a title="India’s New Face By Robert D. Kaplan, from the Atlantic" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200904/india-modi/4" target="_blank">India’s New Face - The Atlantic (April 2009)</a>.</div></blockquote><div class="main"><div class="snap_preview"><blockquote> </blockquote> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>After the guns fell silent</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">At the end of WW2, Britain was a superpower, intact with its huge colonial Empire - apart from the massive debt that it owed the US. With Germany defeated and Hitler dead, Italy in shambles and Mussolini hanged, Britain sat <strong><a title="Manmohan At ‘The High Table In The Comity Of Nations’ By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/08/03/manmohan-at-the-high-table-in-the-comity-of-nations/" target="_blank">at the head of ‘high tables’</a></strong> in the post-WW2 world deciding <strong><a title="The Carving Of The Middle East By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/the-carving-of-the-middle-east/" target="_blank">the fate of the nations</a></strong> - with its partner in crime, the US <em>of </em>A.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Trouble from unexpected quarters</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">On February 18th, <a title="The Indian Naval Revolt of 1946 By Percy S. Gourgey" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zRR-p_ZeIecC&pg=PT27&lpg=PT27&dq=1946+naval+ratings+revolt+India&source=bl&ots=37ZMSpLdE7&sig=rvZgHmRIKjv_iguMhWG8zk0jUJk&hl=en&ei=TtrqSd-7JZGgkQXPusCoCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6" target="_blank">the lowly Naval Ratings</a> from the Royal Indian Navy rained on the British parade - by <a title="From Plassey to partition By Śekhara Bandyopādhyāẏa" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0oVra0ulQ3QC&pg=PA430&lpg=PA430&dq=1946+naval+ratings+revolt+India&source=bl&ots=uWq5YJenAG&sig=A_BehEBDjCUsL2FFUsMiK4KPbEI&hl=en&ei=TtrqSd-7JZGgkQXPusCoCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10" target="_blank">raising the flag of Indian Independence</a>. Britain did not have <a title="Raj, Secrets, Revolution By Mihir Bose" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4Rh7DAdsK0gC&pg=PA288&lpg=PA288&dq=1946+naval+ratings+revolt+India&source=bl&ots=zs8z2tArVM&sig=ztR2n5HZaMWZ7tf947ML_ybKysc&hl=en&ei=leDqSanoB9GIkQWjsKWmCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4" target="_blank">the stomach to take on the Indian Colonial Army</a>, battle hardened and exposed to warfare in all the global theatres of WW2. They acquiesced and 18 months later the British were out. From then, to …</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.geocities.com/for_blog/IndoChina.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 411px; height: 329px;" src="http://www.geocities.com/for_blog/IndoChina.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a></h3> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Flamed out</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Britain today, a shell of its former self - with its manufacturing hollowed out, its agriculture in shambles, its economy on the verge of being relegated to the Third World is a huge descent. Much like <strong><a title="Haiti Must Succeed By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/why-haiti-must-succeed/" target="_blank">Spain after Haiti</a></strong>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">In a 100 years after Haiti, Spain flamed out. By 1930, it was in the throes of a Civil War. And in Spain today, <strong><a title="Spain Targets Sex Traffickers With Aid to Prostitutes By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/2008/12/22/spain-targets-sex-traffickers-with-aid-to-prostitutes/" target="_blank">prostitution is national industry</a></strong>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">India, in the meantime, led by men of straw, has moved from being a <a title="Grain Drain By Chidanand Rajghatta, 27 Apr 2008, 0327 hrs IST" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Chidanand_Rajghatta/INDIASPORA/Grain_Drain/articleshow/2986829.cms" target="_blank"> ‘<em>ship-to-mouth’ basket-case</em></a>, to a significant economic and political success. Yet, the British colonial administrators needed to prove that only they could rule over India. <a title="The Shade of the Big Banyan - TIME; Monday, Dec. 14, 1959" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894328-5,00.html" target="_blank">Indians were after </a><span class="ver12blkht"><a title="The Shade of the Big Banyan - TIME; Monday, Dec. 14, 1959" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894328-5,00.html" target="_blank">all</a> <em>‘men of straw … of whom no trace will be found after a few years’</em>. And <a title="documents of hate" href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060102/asp/nation/story_5670718.asp" target="_blank">they were led by</a> ‘<em>half naked fakir</em>‘. </span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="ver12blkht">If Britain was indeed so good at its job, why can’t they do anything to save themselves from this terminal decline.</span><br /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"> </p> <p style="text-align: justify;">For all this, we owe a debt of gratitude to the British, Mr.Kaplan? Can you make up a better story please, next time!</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>A blog reader responds</strong></h3> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">The whole of black Africa has become a basket case. The people are ripped off by their rulers, in a far worse way than they ever were under white rule. Many of their citizens long for the return of white rule and the stability that would bring. It’s just a shame they are never going to get it.</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">By this logic, the way Britain is being run, it will need to be governed by guess who - Indians. Looking at where India was after the end of the Raj - and now, it is clear who is better at governing.</p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/88.4/images/kramer_f5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 355px; height: 421px;" src="http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/88.4/images/kramer_f5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Looking at the ‘decline’ of Britain (what will happen after the secession of Scotland and Wales?) and Spain, after the end of Black Moslem rule, and you know who should be ruling over Britain and Spain at least.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Whatcha say …</p><h3>The Detritus</h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">As Britain (and the West) was forced out of various colonies, left behind was <strong><a title="Country Business Model Of The West by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/country-business-model-of-the-west/" target="_blank">the garbage of colonialism</a></strong>. This post-colonial debris has become the ballast, that is dragging down many newly de-colonized countries. The Cyprus problem between Turkey, Greece and the Cypriots has been simmering for nearly 100 years. The <strong><a title="British Empire & The Anglo Saxon Bloc by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/the-rise-of-the-british-empire/" target="_blank">role of the Anglo Saxon Bloc</a></strong>, in Indonesia, the overthrow of Sukarno, installation of Suharto and finally the secession of East Timor is another excellent example. The <strong><a title="The Carving Of The Middle East by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/the-carving-of-the-middle-east/" target="_blank">many issues in the West Asia</a></strong> and Africa are living testimony to the British gift to the modern world. The entire <strong><a title="India’s Biggest Success - Gandhiji by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/gandhiji-irrelevant-today/" target="_blank">Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict</a></strong> is a creation of the Anglo-French-American axis.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="1953, a lesson in Krisis management by MJ Akbar" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/1953_a_lesson_in_Krisis_management/articleshow/3371857.cms" target="_blank">Closer home is the Kashmir problem.</a> After 60 years of negotiations, <a title="For peace with Pak, India has to be strong by M J Akbar, 24 Aug 2008, 0148 hrs IST" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Special_Report/For_peace_with_Pak_India_has_to_be_strong/articleshow/3397816.cms" target="_blank">India-Pakistan relations</a> have remained <a title="Kashmir in game theory by T C A Srinivasa-raghavan" href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=331548" target="_blank">hostage to the Kashmir issue</a>.</p> </div> </div>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-83758824016005338522009-04-21T11:41:00.000-07:002009-04-21T12:01:06.768-07:00Dravidian history no one talks about …<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">Indian history as a negotiation </span></h3><div style="text-align: justify;"> The Aryan Invasion Theory now has no legs to stand on. Bowing before the inevitable, Western historians, posing as <a title="India Lowers Guard By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/india-lowers-guard/" target="_blank">‘friends’ of India, have sneaked in something equally obnoxious</a>. It is “<em><a title="In search of the cradle of civilization By Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak, David Frawley" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Ermk_FmwcS4C&pg=PA141&lpg=PA141&dq=Dravidian+Invasion+Theory&source=bl&ots=jK9CYPz4EP&sig=0wgmHjlJOXGSgz4Cgd3e_W2gNVA#PPA139,M1" target="_blank">The Dravidian Invasion Theory.</a>” </em>We have a new situation now. The ‘deal’ seems to be -<em> “We will agree to Aryan as Indians - but you have to agree that the Dravidians were the ‘actual’ invaders.” It was a</em>n alert 2ndlook reader who pointed my nose to the Wikipedia entry under the <a title="Out of India theory - Wikipedia (accessed on 28/3/2008)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_India_theory" target="_blank">heading of <em>Out of India Theory</em></a>. </div><div class="main"><div class="snap_preview"><blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">If Dravidian migrated from Africa to India through the Middle East, it could have left traces in Egypt and countries under Egyptian influence as well, explaining the data which led earlier researchers to the thesis of a Dravidian ‘Indo-Mediterranean’ culture. (105) Sergent links Indian forms of phallus worship with Sahel-African, Ethiopian, Egyptian and Mediterranean varieties of the same. The Egyptian uraeus (’cobra’), the snake symbol on the pharaonic regalia, has been linked in detail with Dravidian forms of snake worship, including a priest’s possession by the snake’s spirit. Dravidian cremation rituals for dead snakes recall the ceremonial burial of snakes in parts of Africa. (106) Others have added the similarity between the Dravidian naga-kal (Tamil: ’snake-stone’, a rectangular stone featuring two snakes facing one another, their bodies intertwined) and the intertwined snakes in the caduceus, the Greek symbol of science and medicine. It has consequently been suggested that some Dravidian words may also have penetrated into the European languages. Thus, Dravidian kal, ’stone’, resembles Latin calculus, ‘pebble’, and Dravidian malai, ‘mountain’, resembles an Albanian and Rumanian word mal, ‘rock, rocky riverside’. (107) But this hypothesis is a long shot and we need not pursue it here. Far more substantial is the Dravidian impact on another language family far removed from the recent Dravidian speech area, viz. Uralic. The influence pertains to a very sizable vocabulary, including core terms for hand, fire, house (Finnish kota, Tamil kudi), talk, cold, bathe, die, water, pure, see, knock, be mistaken, exit, fear, bright, behind, turn, sick, dirty, ant, strong, little, seed, cut, wait, tongue, laugh, moist, break, chest, tree; some pronouns, several numerals and dozens of terms for body parts. (108) But it goes deeper than that. Thus, both language families exclude voiced and aspirated consonants and all consonant clusters at the beginning of words. They have in common several suffixes, expressions and the phonological principle of vocalic harmony. As the Dravidian influence, like that of IE, is more pronounced in the Finno-Ugric than in the Samoyedic branch, we may surmise that the contact took place after the separation of the Samoyedic branch. But the main question here is how Dravidian could have influenced Uralic given their actual distance. (via <a href="http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/downloads/books/aid.htm#Chapter5Section4SubSection2">Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate by Koenraad Elst</a>).</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Why can’t Western historians get a simple idea in their head? Aryans are from the land of <em>Bharata-ah</em>. <a title="Asuras and Slavery - The Indic Disconnect By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/asuras-and-slavery-the-indic-disconnect/" target="_blank">Aryan culture is based on values</a> - and not race and language. The single <a title="Cultural Extinctions - Death Of Slave Societies by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/death-of-slave-societies/" target="_blank">biggest differentiators, between Aryans and other cultures, is slavery</a>. Under <em>Aryadhwaja (the Aryan flag), </em>rulers were expected (as spelt out in <em>Arthashastra</em>) to follow Aryan norms and practices - specially with regard to slavery. And there is no mention of an Aryan race or Aryan language! The Aryan Race is a piece of <a title="Cultural Dacoity By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/cultural-dacoity/" target="_blank">Western fiction - called history</a>. There were and are, only Aryan values.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">History would be a lot simpler - if simplicity is allowed to prevail. Massive invasions and migrations even today, are fraught with risk. Why would people do that 5,000-10,000 years ago. Dravidians are equally and fully Aryan, Mr.Elst. These games of Aryan /Dravidian are neither honest nor entertaining. What is your motivation?</p> <h3><strong>Hittite Kings - with Tamil names</strong></h3> <p align="justify">Can’t see beyond your nose, Mr.Elst?</p> <p align="justify">Look at the interesting case of the (at least) three Hittite kings whose name is Mursili. <a title="Muršili I (~1620~1590), Grandson of Ḫattušili I" href="http://www.hittites.info/history.aspx?text=history%2fEarly+Empire.htm#Mursili1" target="_blank">Mursili I (~1620-~1590; also spelled Mursilis)</a>. There is no Sanskritic meaning of this name - and most Hittite kings had Sanskritic names.</p> <p align="justify">Based on presumptive vowels, the correct name would be <em>Murasoli</em>, which in modern Tamil means <em>“giver of right and moral advice.” <a title="Digital Dictionary of South Asia" href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:2433.burrow" target="_blank">Murai </a></em><a title="Digital Dictionary of South Asia" href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:2433.burrow" target="_blank">means ‘approved code of conduct’</a> and <a title="Digital Dictionary of South Asia" href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:268.burrow.204419" target="_blank"><em>soli </em>is to ‘peel’</a>; in Marathi <em>’solna’</em> is peeling onions. An extant Tamil magazine calls itself, मुरासोली <em>Murasoli </em>- as also a politician who is known as Murasoli Maran. Mursili-I, (wife’s name <em>Kali</em>), the grandson and successor of the Hittite founder king Hattusili-I, also seemed to be the conscience keeper of the kingdom. <a title="Old Hittite Sentence Structure By Silvia Luraghi" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=bpg9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA162&dq=You+are+about+to+go+to+the+land,+and+the+blood+of+the+poor+man+you+are+not+seeking&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=bhfNSfnOBpTCkASLhsGzAQ&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Murslili I warned his administrators, </a></p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">“‘You are about to go to the land, and the blood of the poor man you are not seeking!’</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">“His porters you do not question. You perform (the wish) of the rich man. You go to his house - you eat, you drink, and he rewards it to you. You take the poor man’s šiēt, (but) you do not investigate his case! Is it thusly that you hold the command of my father?” (KBo 22.1 rev. 34′-31′)</p> </blockquote> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd"> </span></h3> <p align="justify">Similarly, the names of some other Hittite kings, like Hantilli and Muwatalli, have not been deciphered till now. These name-meanings will get cleared, if the Tamil meaning of <em>thalli /talli </em>as ‘mother-goddess’ is used. Muwatalli was possibly named after the patron goddess of horse breeding (in Tamil, <em>mawu </em>means horse and <em>talli </em>is mother-goddess). Hantilli is possibly named after the Goddess Annapoorna (<em>han </em>= rice and <em>talli </em>is mother).</p> <p align="justify"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But much before that, is another interesting piece of history!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2ndlook.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/hippodamia.jpg?w=432&h=213"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 364px; height: 179px;" src="http://2ndlook.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/hippodamia.jpg?w=432&h=213" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Clay tablets talk of how Sargon captured <a title="Warfare in the ancient Near East to 1600 BC By William James Hamblin" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=en9tzr1-VM4C&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=Khishibrasini,+King+of+Elam%22+and+his+son+Lukh%27ish%27an.&source=bl&ots=yE76RXLph5&sig=5TRiNDhjzG4NsaKf09MIZ5HdI4Y&hl=en&ei=s_O_Sff_IpLnkAX_sdHdBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">Khishibrasini, King of Elam” and his son Lukh’ish’an. </a>(Shibirasini /Shivarasini and Lakshman?). Elam was a Dravidian culture and King Shibi is among the legendary kings in the lineage claimed by <span class="mw-redirect">Chola</span> kings, (suryavanshi clan), and the Tamil name for Shibi Chakravarthi is <em>Sembiyan</em> and the Chola kings took this as one of their titles. Between 2000 BC to 1000 BC, about three kings were known as Ebharat. And before that the regents were known as Sukalmah (Sukarma?).</p> <h3><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.classics.uga.edu/courses/clas1020/images/thebes/slide20.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 338px; height: 548px;" src="http://www.classics.uga.edu/courses/clas1020/images/thebes/slide20.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Wars and wagers</p></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Which brings another interesting aspect of chariots in Greece.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The <a title="The Pyramid Age By Emmet John Sweeney, Inc NetLibrary" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=cPMPUUK17dgC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=nur+Daggal+Sargon+merchants+Purushkhanda&source=bl&ots=E40ugbDpAF&sig=0W9Xpg7ugr6VN55_EUKYh7bIrOk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA137,M1" target="_blank">chariot was brought to Greece </a>by Pelops (Pallava?) from Anatolia. Pelops had come from Paphlagonia - Pallava + gonia (gonia as <a title="The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary. By Apte, Vaman Shivaram. Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's Poona - Prasad Prakashan, 1957-1959. 3v." href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:2815.apte3" target="_blank">a derivative of </a><span class="head"><span class="hi"><a title="The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary. By Apte, Vaman Shivaram. Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's Poona - Prasad Prakashan, 1957-1959. 3v." href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:2815.apte3" target="_blank">गृह्या</a>, or </span></span>gaanv, in modern Hindi).</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">He established himself - without a war, with a wager. He agreed to race against the the ruler of Elis, Oenamaus, - who fancied his chances in a chariot. The reason for his confidence - a Hittite charioteer, Myrtilus (derived from <a title="The Origins of Greek Thought By Jean-Pierre Vernant" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KktoPGN4JaoC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=Myrtilus.+%28similar+to+Hittite+name+of+Mursilis&source=bl&ots=7U1hCiIyJV&sig=GRV0v0l1cLML5j6odb61FgdB03w" target="_blank">Hittite name of Mursilis</a>).</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;">Olympics Games & Pallavas?</h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">Pelops won the chariot race - and Hippodamia, the king’s daughter.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">A painting of Hippodamia, excavated in Pompei seems to showing her wearing a <em>saree </em>- and another line drawing seems to be showing her using a <em>‘pallu’ </em>- use of the <em>saree </em>as a head-dress. It is after Pelops that the Pelopinissean plains are named. And Pelops went on to institute the first Olympic games!</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Ophir</strong></h3> <p align="justify">This was a famous city from which ancient Egypt, Babylon, Sumeria and other Middle East countries imported gold, sandalwood, ivory, gems, (wild animals and birds(peacocks, monkeys). This now seems to be a <a title="Locating Ophir - The Search for El Dorado by K.T.Rajasingham" href="http://k.t.rajasingam.tripod.com/doro.htm" target="_blank">corruption of the Tamil kingdom of Oviyar</a>.</p> <p align="justify">Oviyar were one of the <a title="The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago By V. Kanakasabhai" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=VuvshP5_hg8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r#PPA44,M1" target="_blank">ruling tribes of South India and Sri Lanka</a>. Ophir (as the Greeks called it and the West knows it) was a <a title="Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian By Thomas McEvilley" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Vpqr1vNWQhUC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=ophir+port+mesopotamia&source=web&ots=Xe27muAMZp&sig=aDrNQuA3KRZMDFTx6DqCSmCuAEo" target="_blank">kingdom in South India and Lanka </a>- a legend in its own time. Ships sailed from Sopara (modern Nallasoppara) and Lothal.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Elam - and world history<br /></strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">The <a title="Elam between Assyriology and Iranian Studies by Basello Gian Pietro" href="http://digilander.libero.it/elam/elam/second_column_speech_pf.htm">people of Elam</a> (yes in Tamil, Eelam means homeland), were the <a title="Ancient Writing In Middle Africa By Clyde Winters" href="http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/7051/anwrite.htm">first to civilise the Iranian Peninsula</a> in the 2700 BC period. They were <a title="François Vallat" href="http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/History/Elamite/elam_history.htm">contemporaries of the Egyptians, the Mittanis and the Hittites</a>. The <a title="Elamite Empire by Cyrus Shahmiri" href="http://www.iranchamber.com/history/elamite/elamite.php" target="_blank">Elamites were a significant people </a>till the 800 BC in Persia (modern day Iran). The Elam diety, Inshishunak, probably related to Sheshnag, is shown <a title="Iran; Musée du Louvre" href="http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226441&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226441&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500803&baseIndex=4&bmLocale=en" target="_blank">seated on a throne made up of coiled serpent</a>. And if that was not enough, there are at least <a title="A political history of post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158-722 B.C. By John Anthony Brinkman" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iykVSxTD7usC&pg=PA256&dq=Shuqamuna&ei=4kPLScqXJ5GIkASA3Pj-DQ&client=firefox-a#PPA256,M1" target="_blank">four kings named Shuqamuna</a> - the last being <a title="Who's who in the Ancient Near East By Gwendolyn Leick" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=73Lv7DdWscsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gwendolyn+Leick&ei=Kc7HSZ26N4jAlQSPsqX_DQ#PPA152,M1" target="_blank">King Shuqamuna in 986 BC</a>. Accounting for presumptive vowels, spell it as Shaqamuni - or the more familiar name of Gautama Buddha, <em>Shakyamuni</em>. The Kassites also worshipped <em>Shakyamuni</em>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:small;">Compared to the retributive and vengeful Hammurabi’s code, the Indic rulers of Middle East (the Hittites, Mittanis and Elamites) already had a <a title="4000 Years - Hittites & Gandhiji by 2ndlook" rel="nofollow" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/4000-years-hittites-gandhiji/">more liberal and humane legal system. </a></span>The <a title="Elamite Empire by Cyrus Shahmiri" href="http://www.iranchamber.com/history/elamite/elamite.php">Elamites were a significant people </a>till the 800BC in Persia (modern day Iran). The Achaemenid Dynasty succeeded the Elamites (Dravidian Indians) in Iran - and the took over the Assyrian Empire. With the change in regime, came a change in the linguistic policy. Elamite-Dravidian language was replaced by Sanskritic-Old Persian.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nagapattinam.tn.nic.in/images/p16.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 457px; height: 314px;" src="http://www.nagapattinam.tn.nic.in/images/p16.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The Persian linguistic makeover from the Dravidian-Elamite language to Sanskritic-Old Persian however did not change everything. The Elamite element in Zoroastrian <a title="Two Tamil folktales By Kamil Zvelebil" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=v5aU82lCwccC&pg=PR41&dq=Tamil+Nadu+worship+Ravana&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=lC_KSar3KYjMkASjtKT_DQ&client=firefox-a#PPR41,M1" target="_blank">revolt against the <em>daiwas</em> (devas), continues today in Elamite-Dravidian-Tamil Nadu</a>, where <a title="Ravana has his temples, too By Vinaya Kumar" href="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071021/spectrum/society1.htm" target="_blank">asura kings like Ravana</a> and Neduncheziyan are respected.<br /></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><p>Silappadhikaaram - Nebuchadnezzar and justice</p></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">One of the most prominent rulers of Babylon was Nebuchadnezzar (as spelt in English). Replace ‘b’ with ‘d’ and you are very close the Tamil name of Neduncheziyan (Nedunchedianuru) - a current and modern Tamil name.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Interestingly, Neduncheziyan is more famous as the fabled erring Pandyan King in <a title="Silappadhikaaram - Narration in English" href="http://annamalayaan.blogspot.com/2007/09/silappadhikaaram-narration-in-english.html">the Tamil classic - Silappadhikaaram</a>. The earliest legend on justice in India is Silappathikaram (Tamil: <span lang="ta">சிலப்பதிகாரம்</span>). Written by Ilango Adigal /Elangovadigal, supposed brother of Cheran Senguttavan. In the famous play, <a title="Silappadhikaaram - Narration in English" href="http://annamalayaan.blogspot.com/2007/09/silappadhikaaram-narration-in-english.html" target="_blank">Silappadhikaaram</a>, (also Silappatikaram) was about <a title="Nebuchadnezzar By G. R. Tabouis, Gabriel Hanotaux" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=VBJVVv60TT0C&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=A+frightful+shrieking+suddenly+arose+to+remind+him+of+the+dramas+which+went+on+in+that+passionate,+unruly+little+world&source=bl&ots=V4TUOjuIE_&sig=s1RZSJ31GTV1SDEqodT3US64-Cc&hl=en&ei=rvufSaCXJ42g6wPM5MHbDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">miscarriage of justice</a>. The protagonist in the play is King Neduncheziyan.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"> </p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Neduncheziyan’s mistaken justice, brings him grief and finally death. Neduncheziyan is overshadowed by the other King - Cheran Senguttuvan. It is believed this Tamil classic, written by Jain Saint, Ilangovadigal /Elangovadigal, was Cheran Senguttavan’s brother. And Kannagi, the heroine of Silappadhikaaram, is a popular Japanese <em>anime </em>character - along with Muthu.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i39.tinypic.com/1ffdyb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 438px; height: 328px;" src="http://i39.tinypic.com/1ffdyb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Nebuchadnezzar and Dravidians</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">There are <a title="Who's Who in the Ancient Near East By Gwendolyn Leick" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=xwuOsvSVA3YC&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=In+Babylonia+he+restored+sanctuaries+throughout+the+land.+It+has+heen+suggested+that+the+elevation+of+Marduk+to+the+position+of+supreme+Nebuchadnezzar&source=bl&ots=Dx9LBx2L9b&sig=74MPR66a8sv98tBnix1xo1xpRrw&hl=en&ei=ePafSbCgIo2g6wPM5MHbDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA119,M1">at least four</a> Nebuchadnezzars - but we are interested in two of them. The first was <a title="The Babylonians By Gwendolyn Leick (page 54)." href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BNC9CJ914OAC&pg=PA54&dq=Hammurabi%27s+son+successor+Nebuchadnezzar&ei=tfKfSfOAOozukgSf9rmNAg&client=firefox-a">Nebuchadnezzar I (ca1126-ca1105) who invaded Elam</a> (the Dravidian rulers of modern Iran). But it was Nebuchadnezzar II, who commissioned one of the <a title="The Hanging Gardens of Babylon By Lee Krystek" href="http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm">wonders of the ancient world - The Hanging Gardens of Babylon</a> - for Amytis, his homesick Elamite princess. Amytis, the daughter of the <a title="THE HISTORY OF ELAM By François Vallat" href="http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/History/Elamite/elam_history.htm">Median King, (a neo Elamite King)</a>, longed for the greenery of her homeland. A prominent ruler of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar-II, 605-562 BC, (as spelt in English) not only married an Elamite princess, but also took on an Elamite name (related to the Dravidian languages).<a title=" Nidintu-Bêl / Nebuchadnezzar III By Jona Lendering" href="http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nidintu-bel/nidintubel.htm">Nebuchadnezzar III (Niditu-bel)</a>, who rebelled against Darius I of Persia in 522 BC and <a title=" Arakha (Nebuchadnezzar IV) By Jona Lendering" href="http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/arakha/arakha.html">Nebuchadnezzar IV</a> (Arakha), who rebelled against Darius I of Persia in 521 BC are the other two.</p> <h3><strong>From India To Babylon and Russia</strong></h3> <p align="justify">Post colonial historical revision is proposing new theories. New <a title="New Theory Write Up" href="http://www.stephen-knapp.com/death_of_the_aryan_invasion_theory.htm" target="_blank">archaelogical evidence supports history that shows Aryans moved from India</a> to the Anatolian plains and established the Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Babylonian cultures of Elam, <a title="Overview Of Mitannite History" href="http://www.livius.org/mi-mn/mitanni/mitanni.html" target="_blank">Mitannites</a>, Kassites along modern Syria to Turkey. The Elamites, Mittanis, Hittites competed and traded with the <a title="Abraham - From India to Egypt??" href="http://www.hermetics.org/Abraham2.html" target="_blank">Egyptians</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Usually, we look for Indian history in India. But there is a Indian history outside India, which show India to be completely different that what we have always thought it to be - <a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/02/16/india-the-second-history/">especially Dravidian history</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Colonial historians first split Indian history into Aryan and Dravidian history. Then dismissed Dravidian history as subordinate and lesser than Aryan on the basis of the Aryan Invasion Theory. Now that the <a title="3 That Changed History - The Amarna Letters by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/23/3-that-changed-history/" target="_blank">Aryan Invasion /Migration Theory does not have a leg to stand on,</a> the contribution by the Dravidians along the <span>दक्षिणपथ </span><em>dakshinapatha </em>becomes more important to the West.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">And it is this part of Indian (Dravidian) history, which the West is trying to usurp - having been forced to give up the Aryan Invasion /Migration Theory.</p> <h3>Along the Dakshinapatha दक्षिणपथ</h3> <p align="justify">The other part to Indian history - which today <a title="Half The World ... by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/half-the-world/" target="_blank">influences and touches half the world</a>. This history is full of wealth, military successes and a spread which taken India deeper than any other civilisation in the world. While the previous <a title="3 That Changed The World - Boghazkoi Clay Tablets by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/25/3-that-changed-the-world-boghazkoi-clay-tablets/" target="_blank">history was along the उत्तरपथ <em>uttarapath</em></a>, this story lies along the <span>दक्षिणपथ </span><em>dakshinapatha</em>.</p> <p align="justify">Its starts at Kerala, a highway across Nagpur Jhansi, Gwalior, Delhi ,Kashmir and ends in modern Iran. This <a title="Rat Migration - And History Looks Different by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/02/02/rat-migration-and-history-looks-different/" target="_blank">history and geography</a> is loosely dominated by the Dravidian segment of India.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">There is (at least) 3000 year old history that Tamil language has, which makes it one the oldest, living language. Of course, the division between Aryan and Dravidian history is a Western creation. Arya was never around race, religion or language. It was about values. Noble values.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Languages related <a title="Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India By R.V. Russell, R.B.H. Lai" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=yhV2DkrdNFkC&pg=PA505&lpg=PA505&dq=brahui+tribe+language&source=web&ots=La1QrzWbJv&sig=qNYE0m7ONnrCotPYot_o2niq5fQ">to Tamil and Dravidian linguistics are in use even today</a> in Pakistan, where <a title="Brahui" href="http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Norway-to-Russia/Brahui.html">the Brahui tribe speaks</a> a related <a title="Applications in Human Population Genetics By Surinder Singh" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=UUiuFvYath0C&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=brahui+tribe+language&source=web&ots=fsJmqL3sEq&sig=lEZEZ5dS5Fvio3atKaGRUKpUtgI">version of the Tamil </a>language. <a title="A Manual of Ethnology By Charles Loring Brace" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=zUADAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=brahui+tribe+language&source=web&ots=vxX4UcziBF&sig=ikSSJediMwCzetNpmQQqQ1Bt4CA#PPA139,M1">The Brahuis </a>have marriage <a title="The Brahui of Afghanistan" href="http://www.global12project.com/2004/profiles/p_code2/7.html">preferences which are similar to South</a> Indians (cousins preferred in marriage) - rather than North Indians.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span class="addmd">The Dating Imbroglio</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">Historical dating till the 1960’s was based on a matrix of archaeology, books, records, events, cross-indexing, astronomy. In most cases, all these factors were NOT present, resulting in a significant element of guess - work - and a major element of vested interests. </span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">The two point agenda was </span><a title="The Genesis Of The Greek Miracle By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/the-genesis-of-the-greek-miracle/" target="_blank"><span class="addmd">the maintenance of the </span></a><span class="addmd"><a title="The Genesis Of The Greek Miracle By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/the-genesis-of-the-greek-miracle/" target="_blank">Greek Miracle</a> - motivated by desire to use history as a colonial and exploitative tool. And the other item on the agenda was the proving of the ‘correctness’ of Biblical events - which was motivated by a racial agenda to prove Western racial superiority.<br /></span> </p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">Modern history, is now caught between the Greek Miracle History School, which has stuck to the Sumer->Turkey->Egypt->Greece->Rome->Europe–>West-Is-The-Greatest Axis and <a title="Moses in the Hieroglyphs By Berkley, Grant, 1932-, Grant Berkley" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=N7mj2NhCGNYC&pg=PA9&dq=carbon+dating+contamination+calibration+Egyptian+history&as_brr=3&ei=oqDPSbrtBZL4lQSXs6StAQ&client=firefox-a#PPA10,M1" target="_blank">the Velikovsky School which is stuck to proving</a> that the Bible is indeed the Last & Only Word.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="addmd">In 1960s, came new tools to assist <a title="Archaeology By Kevin Greene" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7pEGVrPjaNkC&pg=PA167&dq=carbon+dating+contamination+calibration+Egyptian+history&as_brr=3&ei=oqDPSbrtBZL4lQSXs6StAQ&client=firefox-a#PPA174,M1" target="_blank">archaeological dating system</a> - the </span><span class="addmd">the Carbon-14 </span><span class="addmd">and the Bristlecone Pine tree-ring system - as well as others. Even this has been been distorted <a title="Moses in the Hieroglyphs By Berkley, Grant, 1932-, Grant Berkley" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=N7mj2NhCGNYC&pg=PA9&dq=carbon+dating+contamination+calibration+Egyptian+history&as_brr=3&ei=oqDPSbrtBZL4lQSXs6StAQ&client=firefox-a#PPA10,M1" target="_blank">by calibrations, aberrant data and acceptable readings</a> - all the time <a title="The prehistory of Egypt from the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs By Béatrix Midant-Reynes, Ian Shaw" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=UfcXJcXnZ9YC&pg=PA261&dq=carbon+dating+contamination+calibration+Egyptian+history&as_brr=3&ei=oqDPSbrtBZL4lQSXs6StAQ&client=firefox-a#PPA261,M1" target="_blank">maintaining a veneer of secular and objective history</a>. Traditional Western historians from both the schools dont want to change - as whole libraries of <a title="Environmental archaeology By Dena Ferran Dincauze" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yS_t_4SHbpcC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=on+links+with+Egypt+is+now+strongly+challenged.+If+LMIA+is+earlier+than+15oo+BC,+the+entire+archaeological+scenario+for+the+Bronze+Age+must+be&source=bl&ots=zxdblCvxzm&sig=a3jXCjJBGnUGSLGpH9Jdcb4DTW0&hl=en&ei=tq3PSb3zMpSBkQWr7_3dCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank">history based on </a></span><a title="Environmental archaeology By Dena Ferran Dincauze" href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yS_t_4SHbpcC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=on+links+with+Egypt+is+now+strongly+challenged.+If+LMIA+is+earlier+than+15oo+BC,+the+entire+archaeological+scenario+for+the+Bronze+Age+must+be&source=bl&ots=zxdblCvxzm&sig=a3jXCjJBGnUGSLGpH9Jdcb4DTW0&hl=en&ei=tq3PSb3zMpSBkQWr7_3dCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result" target="_blank"><span class="addmd">theories of Western superiority</span></a><span class="addmd"> will become redundant.</span></p> </div> </div>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-11463353485550365362009-02-16T06:03:00.001-08:002009-02-16T06:10:44.163-08:00Indian Muslims Take Global lead - 'Jihad and terrorism poles apart'<blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">A group of ulema (religious scholars) came out heavily against terrorism on Saturday. Besides reiterating the Deoband fatwa against</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">terrorism-first issued at the seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in February last year- and repeated at many mammoth anti-terrorism rallies in the country since then, the clerics also declared suicide bombings as anti-Islam. (via <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Jihad_and_terrorism_poles_apart/articleshow/4129933.cms" mce_href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Jihad_and_terrorism_poles_apart/articleshow/4129933.cms">'Jihad and terrorism poles apart'-The Times of India</a>).</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>The first step</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">On February 22nd, 2008, the Deoband Seminary, the most respected Islamic seminary in South and South East Asia, issued a anti-terrorism declaration at a huge public meeting attended by hundreds and thousands of people. This set up a new direction in Islamic social dialogue - where a non-establishment, Islamic theological group came out against terrorism. Subsequently, some other <a title="When Pg 3 met the Ulema by Mohammed Wajihuddin" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_Specials/Review/When_Pg_3_met_the_Ulema/articleshow/3201866.cms" mce_href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_Specials/Review/When_Pg_3_met_the_Ulema/articleshow/3201866.cms" target="_blank">‘liberals’ jumped onto this bandwagon.</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>And then …</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Pakistan was sent <a title="Cold Turkey For Pakistan ...? by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/10/28/2047257-cold-turkey-for-pakistan-" mce_href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/10/28/2047257-cold-turkey-for-pakistan-" target="_blank">on a cold turkey … by Saudi Arabia, China and the US</a>. Pakistan has been forced to go to IMF which is prescribing a heavy cut back in defence spending.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>But most interestingly …</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Suddenly <a title="'Pashtunistan' issue back to haunt Pakistan By Syed Saleem Shahzad " href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EJ25Df01.html" mce_href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EJ25Df01.html" target="_blank">the world has been reminded</a> about Khan Abdul Khan Ghaffar Khan. The <a title="Abdul Ghaffar Khan is 'The Frontier Gandhi' by By Allan M. Jalon" href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-pakidoc19-2008oct19,0,2665208.story" mce_href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-pakidoc19-2008oct19,0,2665208.story" target="_blank">LA Times recently ran an column </a>on him.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">As the 2ndlook post <a title="Behind The Web Of Terror by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/17/behind-the-web-of-terror/" mce_href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/17/behind-the-web-of-terror/" target="_blank">‘Behind The Web of terror’, on December 17th, 2007</a>, pointed out, <a title=" The Peacemaker of the Pashtun Past By KARL E. MEYER" href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E2D6123CF934A35751C1A9679C8B63" mce_href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E2D6123CF934A35751C1A9679C8B63" target="_blank">the answer to the Pakistani problems</a> in the North West tribal areas was Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. On October 3rd, 2008, the Frontier Gandhi’s grandson was <a title=" Charsadda blast by The News (from Pakistan)" href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=139034" mce_href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=139034" target="_blank">the target of suicide bomber</a>. The terrorists are obviously worried that Khan Abdul Khan Ghaffar Khan’s sensibility may make a comeback.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Hopefully, this a new beginning for Pakistan …</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>History of Hindu Muslim Feud …?<br /></b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">For starters, you must consider the Hindu Muslim fight for the overthrow of British colonialism from 1857 War to 1947. The Deoband Seminary, Sheikh Abdullah were all popular Muslim leaders - who did not wish for or support the formation of Pakistan. Allama Iqbal (now the iconic figure in Pakistan) converted to the a very nascent two-nation theory after his stint in England - circa 1909. Poets like Sahir Ludhianvi moved from Pakistan to India. MJ Akbar’s family was another that moved from Bangladesh (then part of Pakistan) to India.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The two nation theory was a British creation - and remains a colonial legacy.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>After 150 years, the dreams still lives - From 1857-2008</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">This is Mahmud Madani - head of Deoband Islamic seminary. Deoband seminary was set up after the 1857 War, as a religious institution to ‘escape’ British repression. A 75 years later, the Deoband school became famous during Independence due to its strong anti-Jinnah, anti-Partition stand. 60 years later, Mahmud Madani still talks about ‘our’ India.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">His interview here lays out the land very clearly - without the pussyfooting around the issues. For all those in India, who are onto the Islamic demonization route, this should make them re-think.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>In the West …</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Sometime back, <a title="PM faces EU ire over ‘massacre’ of Christians - by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/pm-faces-eu-ire-over-massacre-of-christians-europe-world-the-times-of-india/" mce_href="../2008/09/30/pm-faces-eu-ire-over-massacre-of-christians-europe-world-the-times-of-india/" target="_blank">Nicholas Sarkozy reminded Manmohan Singh</a> to take care of Christians in Kandhamal. Soon after that, the <a title="Vatican links religion and politics; Pope Says Catholics In Politics Must Follow Faith - by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/vatican-links-religion-and-politics-pope-says-catholics-in-politics-must-follow-faith-cbs-news/" mce_href="../2008/11/16/vatican-links-religion-and-politics-pope-says-catholics-in-politics-must-follow-faith-cbs-news/" target="_blank">Pope came out and advised Christians that their faith came first</a> - and their country and society later. What would happen in Ayatollah Ali Khameini told that to Mulsims in Britain, France and USA? Pope Benedict has confirmed the true intentions of the missionaries. Let us understand this for what this is - <a title="The Real Kandhamal Story ... by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/01/2062250-the-real-kandhamal-story-" mce_href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/01/2062250-the-real-kandhamal-story-" target="_blank">backdoor attempts to subvert Indian cultural fabric</a>. Nothing less.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">When Acharya Rajneesh ‘converted’ a few thousand Christians to his brand of beliefs (in Oregon, USA), he was picked up, packed out and sent back to India - on charges of ‘chemical warfare.’</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">India has 2.5 crore Christians - out of 110 crores. I would like to see how the EU would react if Indian missionaries went about converting 12.5 million Christians to Hinduism - or 7.5 million Christians to Hindus in the US! Russia has long persecuted the Hare Krishna devotees (spontaneous White Hindus converting White Christians).</p> <p>For a beginning let them <a title=" Italian police crack down on immigrants" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/20/italy.immigration/index.html" mce_href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/20/italy.immigration/index.html" target="_blank">stop targetting Roma Gypsies for persecution</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>Lowest levels of religious, ethnic, linguistic diversity, </b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The sight of the West, strutting as a protector of freedom on the global stage is a hoax. How can the West have a problem with Native American tribes (aka Red Indians) and the Aborigines - if there are none left. The <a title="The Story Of Crime & Prisons by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/the-story-of-crime-prisons/" mce_href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/the-story-of-crime-prisons/" target="_blank">West which has the highest levels of prison populations</a> in the world - raucously reminds the world of lessons in freedom.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>Western pre-occupation </b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">With One God, One Book, One Holy Day, One Prophet (Messiah), One Race, One People, One Country, One Authority, One Law, One Currency, One Set of Festival are the root of most problems in the world.</p> <p><b>And this ain't the lowest …</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">A free <a title="Online game sparks outrage among Muslims - Monday, November 3, 2008 14-31 IST" href="http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1202954" mce_href="http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1202954" target="_blank">online game has sparked outrage among Muslims</a>, in Australia. A player has to kill as many Muslims as possible has sparked an uproar in Australia, with members of the community accusing the government and police of double standards in their efforts to stop the game.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Things will get worse - and I am not sure when they will get better.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The West can speak from both sides of the mouth - <a title="PM faces EU ire over ‘massacre’ of Christians by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/09/30/1933337-pm-faces-eu-ire-over-massacre-of-christians-europe-world-the-times-of-india" mce_href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/09/30/1933337-pm-faces-eu-ire-over-massacre-of-christians-europe-world-the-times-of-india" target="_blank">tell Indians to respect foreign missionaries </a>who want to convert Indians to their religion - and the West can continue with this demonization of Islam.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">This is freedom - from both sides. For the West.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>Wishful thinking or ignorance<br /></b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Actually neither. It is propaganda.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The West has the lowest levels of religious diversity - and the way they have dealt with it is simple - genocide. Native Americans in Canada, USA, Native Aborigines in Australia are excellent examples.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">India however, is exactly - and unfortunately, the only country of its kind. No country offers the freedom of religion that Muslims have in India - including Muslim countries. Christians cannot proselytize with as much freedom (and arrogance) in any other country as in India.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">That is inconvenient truth (for the West) Mr.Kaplan.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>Modern day demonization</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The Western campaign aimed at the <a title="The Carving Of The Middle East by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndrelook.blogspot.com/2008/02/carving-of-middle-east.html" mce_href="http://2ndrelook.blogspot.com/2008/02/carving-of-middle-east.html" target="_blank">demonisation of Islam has replaced the Jewish demonisation</a> (Shakespeare joined in with his anti-Semitic <i>Merchant Of Venice</i>). Without taking responsibility for the destabilisation of the Islamic World by the liquidation of the Ottoman Empire after WW1 - perpetrated by Anglo Saxon countries and the French.</p> <p><b>Cover up</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The problems in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Middle East have their <a title="Behind The Web Of Terror by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/10/30/2055397-behind-the-web-of-terror" mce_href="http://2ndlook.newsvine.com/_news/2008/10/30/2055397-behind-the-web-of-terror" target="_blank">genesis in the cynical intervention by the West</a> - in the last 150 years. These interventions have imbalanced traditional structures - and magnified problems. The US has turned Peshawar into a military arms bazaar. CIA created these Afghan Frankensteins - in pursuit of it own imperial competition with USSR.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">What was earlier localized tribal infighting in the Pashtun areas, which could possibly have been controlled by a leader like the Frontier Gandhi, has now been internationalized. The resultant terrorist load on India is the highest.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The demonization of Islam is real threat to the peace and stability of this world. And it is an attempt to deflect Western culpability and responsibility for the present day ills.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>Bush helped us forget …</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Bill Clinton, arguably, would have become the US President for the 3rd time - but for bar by the US Constitution. And he is the one who <a title="Clinton made 1995 Ethnic Cleansing in Krajina Possible by Mary Mostert" href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=795" mce_href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=795" target="_blank">facilitated the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia</a> - and the Islamic demonization, which George Bush so successfully carried forward<b>. </b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">After the Iraq War and the Afghanistan quagmire, George Bush has become a favorite whipping boy - and people have forgotten Bill Clinton’s legacy - Monica Lewinsky apart. And Bill Clinton’s point man was Emanuel ‘Rahmbo’.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">And who is Obama’s? The same ‘Rahmbo’. The more things change, the more they remain the same. I wonder how much, fiction inspires reality is based on fiction - which feeds on real life …</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;"><b>Look at Israel</b></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">You only have to look at <a title="Israel As A Country Model For India by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/israel-as-a-country-model-for-india/" mce_href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/israel-as-a-country-model-for-india/" target="_blank">a failed state like Israel</a>, to understand where ‘false’ persecutions can take you. Where would Israel be - without US ICU support. It has been on ICU support for the last 60 years.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-15061476675639925282009-02-13T06:54:00.000-08:002009-02-13T07:00:37.517-08:00US prison population just got larger … this time it is kids<blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><img title="Put em in ..." src="http://filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/appeal_capital_punishment.jpg?w=433&h=345" alt="Put em in ..." width="284" height="226" /><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">In one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record, two Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Prosecutors say Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC. The judges were charged on January 26 and removed from the bench by the Pennsylvania supreme court.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">No company officials have been charged, but the investigation is still going on. (via <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/New-low-US-judges-jailed-kids-for-cash/articleshow/4120878.cms">New low: US judges jailed kids for cash-US-World-The Times of India</a>).</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Just a short step away ...</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">USA, with a population of 30 crores (300 million), has a<a title="U.S. Prison Population Sets Record - Associated Press, December 1, 2006" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/30/AR2006113000912.html" target="_blank"> criminal population of 70 lakhs (7 million)</a> - behind bars, on probation or on parole. US Government <a title="Prison Statistics - US Govt" href="http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm" target="_blank">estimates a figure of 20 lakhs (2 million)</a> people serving prison sentences.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The <a title="WORLD FACTBOOK OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS - India By R.K. Raghavan, IPS" href="http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/wfbcjind.txt" target="_blank">current status of Indian criminal system </a>is a study in contrast. India, with a population of 110 crores (1100 million) has a prison population of 2 lakhs (0.2 million). The Indian National Human Rights Commission <a title="National Human Rights Commission - Prison Population Statistics" href="http://nhrc.nic.in/PrisonPopulation.xls" target="_blank">gives a figure of 3.5 lakhs</a> as the prison population - including convicts and those who are undergoing trial. The UK Home Office <a title="World Prison Population - UK Home Office" href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/r188.pdf" target="_blank">survey of World Prison Population </a>estimates Indian prison population at 2.5 lakhs.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">With less than 25 people per 100,000 in prson India has the world’s lowest imprisonment rate. Cynics may snigger at India’s ‘inefficient’ police or the <a title=" In India, the Wheels of Justice Hardly Move By BARRY BEARAK" href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E7DA123CF932A35755C0A9669C8B63" target="_blank">slow court procedures</a> as the cause for this low prison population. That can only mean criminals are at large and India must, therefore have the highest crime rate - which is not true. <a title="India tops world murder count - 2 Jun 2008, 0050 hrs IST, TNN" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_tops_world_murder_count/rssarticleshow/3091319.cms" target="_blank">India has low or average crime rates</a> - based on category.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The root causes of high crime levels …</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">At different times, high crime levels are blamed on the following five elements. The theory in crime management is control these five and you are in control: -<br /> </p><ol><li>Police to population ratio (increase police force).</li><br /> <li>Prison population (put more criminals behind bars)</li><br /> <li>Capital punishment (kill enough criminals to instil fear)</li><br /> <li>Poverty (it is povery which the root of all crime)</li><br /> <li>Gun ownership (more guns means more crime)</li></ol><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Indian conundrum …</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">India has the low scores on the first three indices - low number of policemen, low prison population and low capital punishment number - and <a title="Crime, gun ownership - and India by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/crime-gun-ownership-and-india/" target="_blank">high on gun ownership</a> and poverty.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yet the <a title="The Story Of Crime & Prisons by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/the-story-of-crime-prisons/" target="_blank">crime rate in India is in the low</a>-to-average range. How come?</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Is it difficult to imprison people?</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Increased imprisonment of suspected criminals can be easily enabled by lowering burden of proof and creating legislation which will allow for incarceration.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">For instance, the various laws under which disproportionately <a title="Two Elephants In The Room by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/elephants-in-the-room/" target="_blank">large number of African-Americans were disenfranchised and /or imprisoned in the US</a>. Or the large <a title="The wonder that is the Anglo Saxon legal system … by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/12/22/the-wonder-that-is-the-anglo-saxon-legal-system/" target="_blank">number of Muslims have been imprisoned in the UK</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that brings us back to the central question …</p><p style="text-align: justify;">How is it that India has the lowest prison population, the lowest police-to-population ratio and an average crime rate?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Behind the paradox is <a title="4000 Years - Hittites & Gandhiji by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/4000-years-hittites-gandhiji/" target="_blank">4000 years in history</a> …</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-25329632269434711792009-02-11T07:36:00.000-08:002009-02-11T07:40:51.804-08:00Why India’s top cities matter … or do they really?<blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">India’s top 20 cities account for just 10 per cent of the country’s population, but this population earns more than 30 per cent of the country’s income, spends 21 per cent and, so, accounts for just under 60 per cent of the surplus income. The next lot of cities account for 20 per cent of population, 13 per cent of income and under eight per cent of surplus income or savings. Rural areas account for 70 per cent of population, 64 per cent of expenditure and just a third of the country’s surplus income. It’s obvious then that India’s savings can grow only as the country’s urbanisation rises. Given this, the promise of creating more urban centres would be a more effective tool in getting votes from rural India. (via <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/rajesh-shuklaindias-top-cities-matter/14/48/348528/">Rajesh Shukla: Why India’s top cities matter</a>).</p> </blockquote> <h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Twisted data</strong></h1> <p style="text-align: justify;">How about also pointing out, Mr.Shukla, that <a title="The Urbanisation Experience - The World & India by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/the-urbanisation-experience-the-world-india/" target="_blank">urban India</a> hogs all the infrastructure investments? Or that <a title="India’s Money Lenders - The Colonial Stereotypes by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/indias-money-lenders-the-colonial-stereotypes/" target="_blank">traditional banking (in the form of money lenders) has been done to death</a> in the rural areas - and ‘modern’ urban banks do not go the countryside. Or that the traditional health infrastructure has been demolished in rural areas - and urban areas are getting all the investments. Or that credit growth in the rural areas has been choked for nearly 80 years now - and the <a title="Rothschilds to use Indian farmers to supply EU with fruits and vegetables - Portfolio.com by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/rothschilds-to-use-indian-farmers-to-supply-eu-with-fruits-and-vegetables-executives-column-lloyd-grove-portfoliocom/" target="_blank">Indian farmer competes with the US farmer, without the US$7.5 billion dollar subsidy</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Are you looking at the fact that rural India which is largely a user of Indian languages is excluded from <a title="RK Laxman’s 50 year old cartoon - relevant even today by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/rk-laxmans-50-year-old-cartoon-relevant-even-today/" target="_blank">higher education, which is transmitted in English</a>? Has it occurred to you that this <a title="After The Death Of English Language … By 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/after-the-death-of-english/" target="_blank">exclusion of India’s rural population from higher education </a>could be the reason for the stagnation in rural areas?</p> <h1 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Farmers - in India and USA</span></strong></h1> <p style="text-align: justify;">The Indian farmer working without subsidies, with low technology, lower productivity has a cost edge over his European an American counterparts.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Giant food corporations, killed buying competition with high prices (to farmers), direct buying from farmers (at higher prices), monoclonal seeds that destroy bio-diversity. And the US consumers are not getting the lower food prices that are being promised in India.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">And paid hacks of these Western corporations are trying to tell Indian consumers and policy makers that these giant corporations will reduce the costs of food In India.</span></p> <h1 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Corporate farming … anyone?</span></strong></h1> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Today, an ‘efficient’ and ‘hi-tech’ agricultural farm sector in the </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">US</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> needs more than US$ 7.5 billion (conservative estimates, assuredly) of subsidies to survive. The US-EPA says, <em>“By 1997, a mere 46,000 of the two million farms in this country <strong>(America)</strong>, accounted for 50% of sales </em></span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><em><a title="Demographics - By the USEPA" href="http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/demographics.html" target="_blank">of agricultural products (USDA, 1997 Census of Agriculture data)</a>” </em>- and gobble up most of this huge subsidy that lowers Third World agricultural prices. These lower agricultural prices devastate agriculture in Third World countries, creating man-made famines. These man-made famines, of course, gives the West a false sense of superiority. (bold letters mine).<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">These giant corporations are aiming for entry into </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">India</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> - promising ‘efficiencies’ in buying (which will give consumers a better price), and higher prices for farmers (which will increase farm incomes). Of course, this will last as long as there is competition. Once, these giant corporations, fueled by huge amounts of debt and equity, drive out competition, they will lower the boom on the consumers and the farmer - like in the </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">USA</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><a title="Why Some Countries Feast and Others Famine By KRISTA MAHR" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1665976,00.html" target="_blank">Raj Patel, in his book, <em>Stuffed and Starved</em></a>, demonstrates how <a title="Chain reaction - Raj Patel talks to Naresh Fernandes" href="http://timeoutmumbai.net/books/book_preview_details.asp?code=69" target="_blank">global food corporations are behind global food habits</a>, imbalance traditional diets, creating disease epidemics (like diabetes) - and how India needs to be careful before crafting industrial policies that encourage these global corporations to destroy Indian agriculture. A <a title="The lite choice, baby by Sandip Roy" href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/08/29002326/The-lite-choice-baby.html" target="_blank">book review extracts some key points</a> as follows,</span></p> <blockquote> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">What we think are our choices, says Patel, are really the choices of giant food production companies. Millions of farmers grow food, six billion people consume it. But in between them are a handful of corporations creating what Patel calls “an hourglass” model of food distribution. One Unilever controls more than 90% of the tea market. Six companies control 70% of the wheat trade. Meanwhile, farmers across the world are pitted against each other, trying to sell these gatekeeper companies their produce. And if you think the consumer comes out on top because of all this competition, think again.</span></p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Selective data, is usually called propaganda Mr.Shukla. I wonder, who your minders are?</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-17363928684253696722009-02-08T09:21:00.000-08:002009-02-08T09:23:00.401-08:00Fitch cuts Russian debt rating, sparks memories of '98 crash- International Business-News-The Economic Times<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Emerging markets are being battered by the global financial crisis as investors shun assets seen as being riskier. Russia, the world’s largest energy supplier, has spent $210 billion, or more than a third of its currency reserves, supporting the ruble since August, Fitch said.<br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">“The country made a mistake trying to defend the ruble when it was indefensible,” said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who forecast a US recession two years ago, in an interview in Moscow. (via <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/International_Business/Fitch_cuts_Russian_debt_rating/articleshow/4078074.cms">Fitch cuts Russian debt rating, sparks memories of '98 crash- International Business-News-The Economic Times</a>).</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;">G7 and OECD countries have created a club for themselves, by giving each other unlimited line of credit - while the developing world gets credit based on fast-depreciating dollar/euro foreign exchange reserves. Maybe this needs an inversion.<br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The OECD and G7 should be asked to pay their purchases. In a new global reserve currency. And the BRICS need to start working on that.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-55916385190006441002009-02-08T04:53:00.000-08:002009-02-08T04:57:53.931-08:00Right and wrong-The Times of India<blockquote>Those who support the change on the ground that the amendment merely puts in the statute what is already a requirement of arrest and part of police practice ignore the fact that the amendment alters the emphasis significantly, and mandatorily provides that the accused "shall not be arrested in respect of the offence referred to in the notice unless, for reasons to be recorded, the police is of the opinion that he ought to be arrested". The sad truth is that India has a surplus of legislations but a poor record in enforcement.<br /><p style="text-align: justify;">By contrast, due to a combination of emotional reactions coupled with some jingoistic formulations, the lawyers have clearly got it wrong in their criticism of the LLP Act. The Act seeks to provide for the creation and regulation of LLPs essentially as hybrid entities which retain the partnership model but are closer to corporations in design and function. (via <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Subverse/Right_and_wrong/rssarticleshow/4077039.cms">Right and wrong-The Times of India</a>, By Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Minister in GOI).</p></blockquote><a title=" DR. ABHISHEK MANU SINGHVI" href="http://164.100.47.5:8080/members/website/Mainweb.asp?mpcode=2029" target="_blank">Abhishek Manu Singhvi</a> is a Minister in the the current UPA run Government. He is a legal eagle - and the sophisticated face and spokesman for the Congress Party.<br /><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Wrong is right, Mr.Sanghvi ...</strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">When you are worried about abuse of power by the police, your concerns are quite misplaced Mr.Sanghvi.The <a title="The Story Of Crime & Prisons by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/the-story-of-crime-prisons/" target="_blank">Indian Police is doing a good job</a> - and they can do without your cynicism. So you are quite wrong when you are worried about the police abuse of power - with this amendment in law.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">All the 4 indices (below) of crime management create a bias for a lawless Indian society and rampant crime. With these four indices, namely: -<br /> </p><ol><li>High gun ownership</li><br /> <li>Low police-to-population ration</li><br /> <li>Low prison population</li><br /> <li>Highest number of poor people in the world</li></ol>against a stable social system, how does India manage low-to-average crime rates.<br /><p style="text-align: justify;">With less than 25 people per 100,000 in prison, India has the world’s lowest imprisonment rate. Cynics may snigger at India’s ‘inefficient’ police or the <a title=" In India, the Wheels of Justice Hardly Move By BARRY BEARAK" href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E7DA123CF932A35755C0A9669C8B63" target="_blank">slow court procedures</a> as the cause for this low prison population.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">That can only mean criminals are at large and India must, therefore have the highest crime rate - which is not true. <a title="India tops world murder count - 2 Jun 2008, 0050 hrs IST, TNN" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_tops_world_murder_count/rssarticleshow/3091319.cms" target="_blank">India has low or average crime rates</a> - based on category. How can India have such a low prison population, with a <a title="India’s Colonial Cousins - The Drag Coefficient by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/2008/04/15/colonial-cousins-drag-coefficient-on-india/" target="_blank">poor police-to-population ratio</a> and a crime rate which is not above the average - in spite of a large civilian gun population.</p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>And what you think is a right move ...</strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, limited liability companies have created a huge debt mountains. What about <a title="The Birth Of Corporations by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/the-birth-of-corporations/" target="_blank">expanding liability, instead of limited liability</a>. While LLCs can have limited outward liability, they can create unlimited inward liabilities - in the way of debt, bonds, debentures, notes, paper, <em>et al</em>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">These two elements, </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">limited liability and a separate legal entity, </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> have made these Frankensteins different from any previous association of businessmen. The legal structure of corporations allow actual owners to hide behind a legal facade, without liability.</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">These corporations have access to large amounts of fiat currency. Old debts are repaid by taking new debts. Competition is killed by raising entry barriers - which is again done by accessing huge amounts of debt. Some of this borrowings are irredeemable - and called equity. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Limited liability of the shareholders has meant that various stakeholders usually have little or no recourse - when things don’t pan out. Some stakeholders (usually shareholders and management) have access only to an upside, other stake holders, actually, finally take the risk. Such companies resist any attempt at accountability. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">It is this ability to evade ethical practices and issues that differentiates these corporations from other business enterprises. From the massacre of millions of Indians during the 1857 War (by the East India Company), the many regime changes that corporations have pushed, the record of these organizations has been far from average.</span></p><h1><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><strong>Concentration Of Power</strong></span></h1><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Newer methods to measure this concentration are devised. Today the most popular methods are the Fortune 500 listing and the Forbes listing. These listings finally demonstrate that half the world’s economic output is controlled by about 25,000 individuals. Add another 25,000 politicians and bureaucrats. We have about 50,000 people managing the lives of 5 billion people. Read this with the faceless entity aspect, it becomes more worrisome.</span></p><h1><span style="font-family:Georgia;">What Is Happening In </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">India</span></h1><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Out of the 30 current Sensex stocks, which make up the Indian Benchmark Index, 15 started off as SME (small and medium enterprises) 20-30 years ago. These organizations today are lobbying (successfully) to ensure that other SMEs do not challenge and compete with these large corporations. Indian policy makers, apparently, cannot learn from successes.</span></p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Abhishek Manu Singhvi is so mixed up ...</span></strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Just like his Government and party is ...</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The LLCs and LLPs are legal monsters that are the creations of the West to concentrate power and exploit their power. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">SinghviSaheb - Get up and give up ... your notions. They are mixed up.</span><br /></p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-11626571814573598142008-12-18T01:07:00.000-08:002008-12-18T01:12:43.127-08:00Oil at four-year lows near $40 despite OPEC cut<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de-facto leader, said today the group will slash a record 2 million barrels from its daily production as of January 1, while Russia and other countries said they would remove hundreds of thousands of additional barrels from the market.<br /><p style="text-align: justify;">An official decision to cut 2 million barrels from output all at once would be a first for the organization. OPEC had cut that amount from its output four years ago, but that was done in two stages.</p>Also significant would be formal support from Russia, Azerbaijan and other non-OPEC producers. Mexico, Norway and Russia slashed production in the late 1990s, at a time oil was selling for about $10 a barrel. (via <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/opec-to-cut-oil-output-by-2-mn-barrelsday/12/46/51400/on">OPEC to cut oil output by 2 mn barrels a day</a>).<br /></blockquote></div><p style="text-align: justify;">These price cuts may be difficult to sustain for a simple reason that Oil revenues are a significant part of Government revenues in these countries. While oil revenues are on a down ward drift - Government expenses are trending upwards. Combine this the recessionary global outlook, and pump priming will increase Government's expense bills.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The US-OPEC nexus of increasing oil prices leading to greater dollar liquidity onto higher lending resulting in global overcapacity boosting asset prices in booming stock markets is now broken.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">To recreate that cycle will take a decade - at least, if at all.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-13390922556950730292008-12-17T05:51:00.000-08:002008-12-17T06:21:22.368-08:00RK Laxman's 50 year old cartoon - relevant even today<img title="Cartoon published in Times Of India on 14th December 1958 - Fifty years earlier" src="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2008/11/02/16/Img/Ar0160602.png" alt="Cartoon published in Times Of India on 14th December 1958 - Fifty years earlier" width="626" height="493" /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Fifty years earlier, RK Laxman’s cartoon made us smile. Today, the status remains as bad as 50 years ago. Today, it is no longer a smiling matter - </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">it is tragic.</span></p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>80% of India’s population </strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">The Indian education excludes a vast majority of Indian from higher education as Indian higher system is predominantly in English. This puts a premium on English - and discounts Indian languages in the educational sweepstakes. The disadvantaged students who have studied in Indian languages ensure that their children get the 'advantage' of English education.</p>The negative effect this on Indian self esteem is not even a point of discussion here.<br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong></strong>The principle of exclusion (a colonial idea), is a dominant marker of the entire Indian education system - rather than inclusion. British (and before that, Islamic rulers’) colonial-imperial practices supported foreign languages on the backs of the Indian taxpayers’ contribution - and actively worked on destruction of local cultures.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong></strong><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b133/wakhrikudi/cartoon_37.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 504px; height: 154px;" src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b133/wakhrikudi/cartoon_37.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></h1> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">For instance, in the erstwhile State Of Hyderabad (equal to about 10%-12% of modern India), ruled by the Nizam, a large non-British kingdom, 2000 year old local languages like Telugu and Marathi were considered uncouth and barbaric languages - compared to a 700 year old language like Urdu, which was supported by the State. Paeans in praise Urdu can be heard even today - much like the 'emergence of Hinglish' is being celebrated in contemporary India.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">Thus anyone without the knowledge of Urdu was excluded from the system of governance, administration and interaction with public services and utilities. So it is now in India, with English.</p></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Colonial </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">India</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">’s English push was understandable. But, after <a title="Republican Democracy - The Mirage!? by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/01/22/republican-democracy-the-mirage/" target="_blank">60 years of </a></span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><a title="Republican Democracy - The Mirage!? by 2ndlook" href="http://www.blogger.com/2008/01/22/republican-democracy-the-mirage/" target="_blank">Independence</a></span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">, state patronage by the Indian Republic of English language is unwarranted - and illegitimate.</span><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Access Control and opportunity loss</span></strong></h1><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong></strong>This restricts 80% of India's population from contribution and access to opportunity. Without looking at it from ethical or social equity viewpoints, but purely as an economic question means, we should look at the cost of this policy.<br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong></strong>How does this hinder India. India loses every year about 200,000 highly educated people to the West. These 200,000 people have been educated at subsidized Indian Universities at a considerable cost to the poor Indian taxpayer. What return does the tax payer get from this? Negative returns.</p><div style="text-align: justify;">The make up of these 200,000 people that India loses. 100,000 are students who leave India, mostly never to return. Another 100,00o are 'captured' by the Western organizations and systems. The other aspect of this loss is that this loss of people, directly and disproportionately, supports Western dominance of economic and academic systems - by India.<br /></div><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Something's gotta give</strong></h1><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong></strong>What happens when English stops being an important language in the global sphere? What use will India’s investment in English be at that time? And this will happen sooner than we imagine - at a greater cost than we believe.<br /></div><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The combined <a title="Language profiles" href="http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/index.html" target="_blank">GDP of the English speaking world</a> is 14.1 trillion (2003 figures) - of which the US contributions is more than 71%. By a <a title="Angus Maddison - Historical_Statistics; Horizontal-File_03-2007.xls" href="http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/Historical_Statistics/horizontal-file_03-2007.xls" target="_blank">similar comparison</a>, the next largest bloc of multi-nation, same-language speakers is the Spanish whose combined GDP is US$ 3.20 trillion. The French speaking bloc comes a poor third at US$2.</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">20 trillion. The English speaking bloc, in spite of their temporary dominance, is still <a title="France’s Mediterranean experiment sure to fail by Michael R Sesit" href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/08/01230305/France8217s-Mediterranean-e.html?d=1" target="_blank">worried about the French attempts to keep its Francophone flock </a>safe. It is but a matter of time that the US contribution will decrease - and hence, trade denominated importance of English will decrease.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Will we become a nation that loses control over its future? The danger of becoming a South American clone is all too real. After, Spanish decolonization, the South American countries persisted with Spanish practices - and Spanish language. We all know how South American countries tracked the descent of Spain into dictatorships and instability.</span><br /></div><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The decline of the (Greco-Roman) Byzantine Empire, was similar. After the split of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Western, over the next 200-400 years, Greek language became the official language of the Byzantine Empire. Eastern Europe followed the lead of the Byzantine Empire and used Greek extensively - at a cost to their own language. </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;">After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Europe lagged Western Europe.</span></p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong></strong><strong>The cost of switching from English</strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">Assuming that a 100,000 essential books need to translated into local languages, at a cost of say Rs.100,000 per book, it still amounts to Rs.1000 crores. Is that a large sum of money for modern India. Hardly.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What is the loss to India? How much does this reduce India’s growth rate by? Hard numbers to quantify - but definitely big numbers.</p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Why persist?</strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong></strong>So, why does contemporary India persist with this policy.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Because all the high and mighty, finally want their children to ‘escape to the West’, with a good education from India - at the cost of India’s poor. This vested interest makes this policy go around.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="After The Death Of English Language … by 2ndlook" href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/after-the-death-of-english/" target="_blank">And a lot of propaganda.</a></p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-15864450569250842052008-12-05T06:23:00.000-08:002008-12-05T23:40:21.207-08:00Indifference in Pakistan?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:medium;">हंस के लिए हैं पाकिस्तान, लड़ के लेंगे हिंदुस्तान</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size:medium;">With a contemptuous smile, we robbed them off Pakistan; </span></em></p><p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size:medium;">Now we will battle, to conquer Hindustan</span></em><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Synthesis of Pakistan</strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">For many years, the above slogan (popular in pre-partition India amongst Muslims) summed up the idea of Pakistan. The State of Pakistan was an artificial creation - and popular leaders like <a title="11 IST" href="http://www.businessstandard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=339490" target="_blank">Sheikh Abdullah refused to even meet up with Jinnah </a>- and who was deemed irrelevant.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Deoband seminary issued a call to Muslims, against the idea of Pakistan. Deoband seminary was set up after the 1857 War, as a religious institution to ‘escape’ British repression. 75 years after its establishment, the Deoband school became famous during Independence, due to its strong anti-Jinnah, anti-Partition stand. And 60 years after Indian independence, <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/10/20000056/We-cannot-divide-our-India-but.html?pg=2">the Deoband seminary is again, leading an anti-terror campaign in India.</a><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Colonial Legacy</strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">Yet, the British colonial administrators needed to prove that only they could rule over India. <a title="The Shade of the Big Banyan - TIME; Monday, Dec. 14, 1959" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894328-5,00.html" target="_blank">Indians were after </a><span class="ver12blkht"><a title="The Shade of the Big Banyan - TIME; Monday, Dec. 14, 1959" href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894328-5,00.html" target="_blank">all</a> <em>'men of straw ... of whom no trace will be found after a few years'</em>. And <a title="documents of hate" href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060102/asp/nation/story_5670718.asp" target="_blank">they were led by </a>'<em>half naked fakir</em>'. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="ver12blkht">The colonial administrators created false divides - between Hindus and Muslims, between Hindus and Hindus. In some they succeeded - and in some they didn't. Kashmir, was after all an issue that was created by British commanders of Indian and Pakistani armies - in 1948. Mountbatten was the also the Governor General of India at that time.</span></p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Modern Pakistan </strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">The Pakistan nation is actually 5 parts - The army, the ISI, the politicians, the 22 families and then there are the rest. Some may want to add the fundamentalist clergy as the sixth element. And now there are fringe terrorist groups - like LeT also on this list. <a title="Our Man In Pakistan by 2ndlook" href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/our-man-in-pakistan/" target="_blank">Mahbub ul Haq's “22 families” speech in Karachi in 1968 highlighted</a> the power and wealth of a few families in Pakistan.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">No one in Pakistan talks to anyone. Each has contempt for the other four. And all five have separate agenda.</p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn ...<br /></strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">And what partition era Indians remember most about the slogan above, was the indifference, to the fate of Pakistan by the soon-to-be Pakistanis - and their total India-centric focus. It is their reading, that the Pakistanis may not mourn away the passing away of Pakistan much - which is something that most Indians do not factor. Having got Pakistan for a song, they may soon be found snickering at its break up.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Is it this indifference which has allowed Pakistan to become a client state of the West?</p><h1 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Resident Non Indians</strong></h1><p style="text-align: justify;">Some part of the Indian bureaucracy and English speaking media is possibly made up of RNIs (Resident Non-Indians), whose children and future, they have 'secured' in the West - much like the indifferent Pakistanis.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And this may be the one quality, that possibly is the one thing, that the RNIs and Pakistanis share - indifference to the fate of the country.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2518919383406494931.post-19068978400670837702008-12-03T07:29:00.000-08:002008-12-03T07:30:27.985-08:00What should India's counter terrorism plan look like ...<h1 style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The Blood letting</h1> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The Indian media (especially English) and the India's Westernized elite has been hounding for blood ever since the terrorist attacks on Mumbai's upper class business centres for the first time. After the 26/11 attack on Mumbai prime centres, they have been able to force <a title="Patil quits over Mumbai terror, Chidambaram gets home ministry - India Today" href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21385&sectionid=4&issueid=82&Itemid=1" mce_href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21385&sectionid=4&issueid=82&Itemid=1" target="_blank">the resignation of Shivraj Patil, India's Home Minister</a>. Maharashtra's Home Minister, RR Patil has also resigned. <a title="Shinde meets Sonia as Cong looks for Deshmukh's successor - India Today" href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21451&sectionid=4&issueid=82&Itemid=1" mce_href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21451&sectionid=4&issueid=82&Itemid=1" target="_blank">Maharshtra's Cheif Minister is expected to be replaced</a> also - soon.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Rafiq Zakaria, a Westernized Indian, now a US citizen, said <a title="FAREED ZAKARIA GPS; Interview With Ratan Tata and Henry Kissinger" href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/30/fzgps.01.html" mce_href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/30/fzgps.01.html" target="_blank">on CNN, at the Global Public Square program</a>.</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">This crisis has highlighted one of the peculiarities about India. Its society, economy, private sector are amazingly dynamic. The same cannot be said of the Indian state. Government in India is too often weak, divided, incompetent.</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The <a title="How much more can we take?" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Times_View_How_much_can_we_take/articleshow/3775104.cms" mce_href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Times_View_How_much_can_we_take/articleshow/3775104.cms" target="_blank">Times Of India, desperately sombrely, thinks</a>, "<i>it is time to ask our politicians: Are you going to go back to playing politics with our lives? Or are you going to do something worthwhile with yours?" </i>The normally incisive, <a title="Toothless leaders turn tough nation into soft state by MJ Akbar" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_TOI/Toothless_leaders_turn_tough_nation_into_soft_state/articleshow/3774145.cms" mce_href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_TOI/Toothless_leaders_turn_tough_nation_into_soft_state/articleshow/3774145.cms" target="_blank">MJ Akbar, falls into the trap of blaming politicians</a>, latching onto politico bashing, by saying, <i>"We have been defeated by incompetent governance, both in Mumbai and </i><i>Delhi</i><i> ... ineffectual leadership (is) turning a tough nation into a soft state. We should have been world leaders in the war against terrorists, for no nation has more experience Instead we are wallowing in the complacent despair of a continual victim." </i></p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The normally vacuous <a title="The fire this time by Lord Baron Meghnad Desai; Indian Express" href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-fire-this-time/391665/2" mce_href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-fire-this-time/391665/2" target="_blank">Lord Baron Meghnad Desai,writing in the Indian Express</a>, continued with his inanities, <i>"It is a test of leadership. Can </i><i>India</i><i>'s political parties, tested for 60 years in the crucible of democracy, rise to this occasion and save our country?" </i>Hindustan Times joins in with its own two bits. <a title="Fight terror? Whatever by Inderjit Hazra, HT" href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=ace476ba-ac96-4017-92ea-2fed2e737722&MatchID1=4858&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=5&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1224&MatchID2=4863&TeamID3=9&TeamID4=8&MatchType2=2&SeriesID2=1225&PrimaryID=4858&Headline=Fight+terror%3f+Whatever" mce_href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=ace476ba-ac96-4017-92ea-2fed2e737722&MatchID1=4858&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=5&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1224&MatchID2=4863&TeamID3=9&TeamID4=8&MatchType2=2&SeriesID2=1225&PrimaryID=4858&Headline=Fight+terror%3f+Whatever" target="_blank">Inderji Hazra, in a very superior fashion writes</a>, but does not see the contradiction when he talks about <i>'Frankly, the 'lack of form' shown by our political class isn't a big deal for me ... The two things: political meddling and the law of averages." </i></p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">How can politicians become effective without 'meddling', and if they don't 'meddle', we will then blame them for 'inaction'.</p> <h1 style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Apportioning blame</h1> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Blaming politicians, who are temporary office bearers, is escapist and is a well tuned strategy by the entrenched Westernized bureaucracy, which bears the full responsibility for this - the success of this operation and the lack of efforts to kill this problem at its root.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The Indian Government (Central and State together) have an employee base of about 55 lakhs. The number of elected representatives total around 5,500. The Indian population totals 110 crores (1100 million). It makes no sense to make scapegoats of 5500 politicians.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Blaming 5500 politicians is the knee jerk reactions by the intellectually devoid. Taking down Shivraj Patil is small consolation.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The greater responsibility (for not taking actions) and the credit for the brilliant commando operation is with the bureaucracy. The rewards should go to the various people for handling this operation so well, starting with the Mumbai police - and the culpability of those who have twiddled for years, starting with the Indian diplomatic community, the IFS and the Finance Ministry bureaucrats, who have not earmarked enough attention to these areas, is more important.</p> <h1 style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Who gets killed determines actions</h1> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><a title="A harvest of terror by Prabhu Chawla" href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=81&id=21193&Itemid=1&sectionid=19" mce_href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=81&id=21193&Itemid=1&sectionid=19" target="_blank">India Today reports, </a></p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">'1,202 have been killed in 23 terrorist strikes in the country since the attack on Parliament. Five of them took place between December 2001 and May 2004 when the NDA was in power and the rest during the last four-and-a-half years of the UPA Government.'</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Millions were affected in Bihar, when the<a title="Bihar flood situation improves - Outlook; PATNA, SEP 23 (PTI)" href="http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=611058&gid=65" mce_href="http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=611058&gid=65" target="_blank"> Kosi river changed course and flooded Bihar</a>.</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">As the overall flood situation in Bihar registered significant improvement with the water level all major rivers flowing below the danger mark, Bihar government today launched distribution of money for relief and succor on a war footing.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;" mce_style="text-align:justify;">The water level of Kosi, Ganga, Burhi Gandak, Gandak, Mahananda and Bagmati were maintaining receding trend and was flowing below the danger mark along their course in Bihar, Central Water Commission sources said. The death toll in the current spell of floods stood at 217 in 18 districts, official sources said.</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">How come no one resigned till now? Not after the train blasts in 2006. Not after the bomb blasts in 1993. What is the difference this time around? The difference is that the rich and famous have been affected this time around.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">We cannot afford the rich and famous to get affected, can we? But that is another discussion and another place.</p> <h1 style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><b>Round up the usual suspects</b></h1> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">One idea that has now been floating around is <a title="New terror strategy by Malini Bhupta with Aditi Pai" href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21191&Itemid=1&issueid=81&sectionid=19&limit=1&limitstart=2" mce_href="http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21191&Itemid=1&issueid=81&sectionid=19&limit=1&limitstart=2" target="_blank">the creation of a central agency for coordinating intelligence and anti-terrorist activities</a> - much like the FBI and the CIA. The many failures of the FBI and the CIA is usually overlooked - against its few successes. While there may be a case for such an agency, this cant be the winning idea between 1993 to 2008.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The other idea is of course war with Pakistan! A direct war with quasi-nuclear power is something that India cannot afford, is unprepared for and raises more questions than it answers. Post war scenarios are of course much worse. India will neither be able hold onto Pakistan or let go of a truncated Pakistan. It may well turn out to be another Bangladesh - where the HuJI is emerging as another terrorist force threatening the East and North East India.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Then there is perennial loser idea of international and UN intervention. These are defensive ideas whose value is limited. India now needs to become more aggressive.</p> <h1 style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><b>What can India do!</b></h1> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">India must follow a three point agenda.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><b>One </b>- Close down the <a title="Pakistan's flourishing arms bazaar By Aamer Ahmed Khan, BBC" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/5066860.stm" mce_href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/5066860.stm" target="_blank">Peshawar arms bazaar</a>. This one-time small arms bazaar has became the sourcing centre for terrorists all over the world. Initially, stocked up with arms from the CIA funded jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, <a title="Weapons And Warriors By Melinda Liu" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3067458" mce_href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3067458" target="_blank">Peshawar, has become a problem </a>that never ends. If required, there should be a UN mandate to send in a multinational force to surround, capture and destroy this centre for arms and armaments.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if !mso]>--><b>Two </b>- Pakistan precarious financial position does not allow it the luxury of an arms race with India. The world must withdraw all technology from Pakistan for all arms and ammunition. No RDX, no tanks, no F-16s, no APCs. Pakistan must be put on strict diet of military technology blockade by the world. No less.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if !mso]>-->Pakistan's suspected role in <a href="http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/terrorists-and-counterfeit-indian-currency/" mce_href="../2008/09/10/terrorists-and-counterfeit-indian-currency/">counterfeit currency operations</a> must also be put under the scanner. Controlling Government's of the 12 companies that dominate the currency printing business must be made to choose. Between India and Pakistan. If the <a href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/german-blockade-works/" mce_href="http://quicktake.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/german-blockade-works/">German Government can arm twist their companies to suspend currency supply to Zimbabwe</a>, there is no excuse for them to not to lean on dealings with Pakistan.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Pakistan’s (valid) security concerns should be met with a tripartite agreement between China, India and Pakistan which will guarantee Pakistan’s current borders. No disputes, no claims from Pakistan have any legitimacy any more. Let Pakistan take care of its current territory and people. POK will remain with Pakistan - and current LOC will remain unchanged. So, Pakistan will not lose.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><b>Three </b>- Pakistan is at the crossroads of a jihadi, terrorist, criminal elements who have joined together and created an incendiary mash-up. Fueled by a drugs trade worth billions, arms trade worth millions and respectability, as they are ‘carrying out a religious jihad’.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">The leadership of these gangs has to be de-fanged. <a title="Pak drags feet on terrorist extradition" href="http://www.deccanchronicle.com/Nation/NationalNews.asp#Pak%20drags%20feet%20on%20terrorist%20extradition" mce_href="http://www.deccanchronicle.com/Nation/NationalNews.asp#Pak%20drags%20feet%20on%20terrorist%20extradition" target="_blank">LK Advani, as the earlier Home Minister, forwarded a list of ‘Most Wanted 20′</a> to Pakistan nearly 7 years ago. Not one has come to India. The <a title="Advani" href="http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=555381" mce_href="http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=555381" target="_blank">US has not co-operated </a>on this <a title="Advani" href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-didnt-show-interest-in-dawoods-deportation-advani/286983/" mce_href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-didnt-show-interest-in-dawoods-deportation-advani/286983/" target="_blank">one important Indian requirement</a>.</p> <h1 style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;"><b>How can India make this happen</b></h1> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">It has to be realpolitik. India can no longer give away benefits without <i>quid pro quo.</i> Make P&G, ABB, Alsthom, Renault, Unilever, Siemens, Pepsi and Coke earn their living. The Indian operations of these companies pack a mean heft. They must join in to secure the markets they wish to exploit. The US has to deliver. Peshawar markets must close down. The Pakistan defence production cannot be used against India. Pakistan has to deliver the criminal elements - dead or alive.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">Indian co-operation with the West on the new world financial system will be based on co-operation by the West. India should move to create systems which allow political and social stabilization a rule - and not an exception.</p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia,serif;" mce_style="text-align:justify;font-family:georgia,serif;">These strategic elements of using Indian advantages to gain our ends is the way to forge ahead.</p>Anuraag Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15557446434332551267noreply@blogger.com0