Ghazni is a province in Afghanistan but when someone talks about Ghazni in India, bitter memories of Mahmud Ghazni of the Ghaznavid Empire attacking the Somnath Temple and looting it, his anti-religious acts of breaking the pious Shiv Linga and massacre would resurface. No doubt, Ghazni’s inhuman anti- hindu acts must be condemned but the history of Ghazni and her association with Lord Krishna would definitely make an interesting study. The Ghaznavid Empire, centered in Ghazni and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and parts of present day Pakistan, was established by a Hindu - Turkish slave, Sabuktigin, Shanta Pande, who taught history at Delhi University for 35 years, states that the language of Ghazni Durbar was Sanskrit and Mahmud got the bilingual Arabic and Sanskrit coins minted in Lahore in 1028. He ascended to the throne in 998 AD and died in 1030 AD.
Not only Ghazni, Ghaznavi or Ghazana as a town established even before the birth of Islam on the earth but Mahmud Ghazni, the villain for most of the religious Hindus on the Glob, had definite roots and linage with not only the Hindus but also with Lord Krishna too. One should not be surprised to find that one of the four Princes of the King Devendra, a descendent of Lord Krishna at 82 nd generation, Gajpat established Ghazni in 652 AD! Devendra ruled over the present-day Egypt. He had four sons i.e. Aspat (Ashvapati), Narpat (Narpati), Gajpat (Gajpati) and Bhupat (Bhupati). The eldest of them, Aspat, who succeeded Devendra as the King of Misr(Egypt), embraced Islam and the Mughal Emperors in India were his descendents, according to the history written by non-Marxist historians, Mavdanjee Ratnu(“Yaduvansh Prakash”) and Shambhuprasad Harprasad Deshai (“Prabhas ane Somnath”). The other three Princes arrived in Afghanistan via Syria and Iran. The rulling blue-blood Rajputs in Gujarat and Sind, Jadejas, Chudasama and Bhattis are the descendents of Narpat, Gajpat and Bhupat respectively.
“Religious differences hardly mattered and the polity was important in earlier centuries for the matrimonial alliances,” asserts Kanaksinh Jadeja(Vadharava-Malia), a former Advisor to the Government of Gujarat, who devotes most of his time studying history of the Rajput Rulers after his retirement. He notes: “Following defeat of King Devendra of Syria against the Caliph, his elder son Aspat was imprisoned, the Caliph got his daughter married to Aspat and returned his kingship. His descendents were Mughals. The Mughals followed Rajput royal traditions which are called Hindu traditions in family affairs. Gurudwara Shri Dera Baba Nanak Sahib is a major Sikh pilgrim centre in Gurdaspur District, Punjab. I have visited the place. It is only 500 meters away from Pak border. There is a Shiv Ling of about 6 to 7 feet. Emperor Akbar prayed and performed puja of Lord Shiva here before his coronation as successor to Humayun. A coronation seat -- Sinhasan -- of stone is there on a 3 feet high platform of 100 x 100 feet.”
And even Sultan Mahmud Ghazni(2 October 971- 30 April 1030) too was son of a Hindu slave, Sabuktigin, who got converted to Islam, records the historian, Deshai, who retired from the Indian Administration Service(IAS). Deshai, who hailed from the administrative Naagar clan of Junagadh, describes the history of Sabuktigin in his book “Prabhas ane Somnath”, published by Shree Somnath Trust in 1965. The then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Balawantrai Mehta, had written the preface of the book and appreciated Deshai’s “scientific temperament in analyzing the historical facts” and his knowledge of Persian language too. Mahmud, the eldest son of Sabuktigin, the slave turned ruler(Amir) of Ghazni, had to fight for two years to gain control over Ghazni since his father had nominated his younger step-brother, Ismail, as his
successor. Before any invasion, Mahmud used to collect information about the enemies through spies. It was in 1017 AD, at the behest of Sultan Mahmud, Alberuni aka Al-Biruni, travelled to India to learn about the Hindus. He remained in India for thirteen years, learnt Sanskrit and other languages and came out with his scholarly work “Tarikh Al-Hind”(Alberuni’s India).
Mahmud was keen to be declared Ghazi, one of the greatest champions of Islam, by the Caliph. He was ruthless in not only looting India but also razing the temples to the ground and breaking the idols converting the temples to mosques. Caliph Al Kadir Bi-Ilah honoured him with a standard and the title of Kahfu-d daulat wau-I Islam (Guardian of the State and of Islam. Vinod Kumar contributes a well- researched article titled “ Rewriting History and Mahmud Ghazanvi” in ‘Kashmir Herald’ where he quotes from some fourteen authentic histories, Utbi’s (Secretary of Mahmud) to Tarikh-I- Badauni, pertaining to Mahmud’s invasions.
In “Somanath: The Many Voices of a History”, the celebrated Marxist historian, Romila Thapar prefers to quote the medieval Jain literature, making it a most controversial book since it states “contemporary Hindu sources are silent about Mahmud’s attack on Somanath because the looting of a temple (was) not such an extraordinary event, given that some Hindu rulers also attacked the temple of those they had conquered, or in order to confiscate the wealth of the temple.” Meenakshi Jain, the right-wing historian and a Member of the newly constituted Council of Indian Council of Historical Research(ICHR), is highly critical of Romila Thapar’s book. She writes: “Strangely for a historian, Thapar takes no cognizance of the Prophet smashing 360 idols at Kaba and Quranic injunction : ‘Fight them until idolatry is no more and God’s religion is supreme.’ Artificially insisting that political and economic motivations superseded iconoclastic compulsions, she never explains why all Muslim (and not just Turk) attacks on temples always resulted in the desecration of idols. Indeed, Arab literature on Sind and Hind is obsessed with idolatry. The Arab rulers of Sind even sent cartloads of idols to Bagdad in lieu of revenue.”
Like a Marxist historian, Romila Thapar, even a non-Marxist historian, Deshai, does present the facts that the Chief of Mahmud’s army was a Hindu, Tilak, and his army had lot many Jat Hindus, when Ghazni attacked Somnath in 1026 AD. This was his sixteenth eastward invasion. Jain says, “Equally awkward is Thapar’s claim that substantial numbers of mercenaries in the Ghaznavid armies ‘were Indians, and, presumably Hindu.’ Surely she does not suggest that the Turkish conquest of India was a Hindu-Turk joint venture?” One must not forget two things : First, Ghazni under Mahmud had Hindus as subjects in his State. Second, when Mahmud came to loot and attack Somnath, the cowardly King of Gujarat, Bhimdeva I, escaped from his capital city, Anahilwad Patan, leaving his subjects at the mercy of the invader Ghazni !
Next Column: Diwali Celebrations in Mughal Courts
( The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail : [email protected] )
