A
cursory glance at Modern India will reveal a deepening line of historical
misinterpretation in some fringe segments of our society which tends to place
inordinate emphasis on the myth of Free Rule after 800 or 1000 years of slavery
or foreign rule; the same fringe tends to place a huge emphasis on the mythical
relatively heavier persecution during the Muslim Dynasties that ruled various
parts of India from around 1150-1200 AD onwards till around 1675-1700 AD. These people make
the first and most glaring error when they claim Muslim Rule was till 1850AD or
thereabouts, which is a sad comment on the state of our history education,
which needs revamping in totality in my opinion.
The
record shows that throughout the 18th century, from around 1700 AD
or a few years before that, the pre-eminent rising power in India was the
Maratha Empire, which by the mid-18th century was the most powerful
ruler in India, and continued in that status till the Anglo-Maratha wars and
their ultimate vanquishment, but that is another story to be told later. The
same record also shows the rise of the Sikh power to the North of India, and
their rising pre-eminence and importance in the equation. There may have been
other powers of which I am not aware. Thus, one part of the narrative is
demonstrably false; high time we examined this narrative in a little more
detail to get a better perspective.
A slightly
more detailed examination throws up many more spanners in the theory of 800 or 1000
years of alien domination, without even touching upon the fact that the invaders
from outside made India their home, and all the wealth of India remained inside
India. This examination will reveal the might of the Rajputs and their valiant
defiance and indomitable spirit; it will reveal the story of Hukka and Bukka
who formed the resplendent Vijaynagar Empire in the Deccan, and its
unbelievable power. It will reveal the
co-habitation and increasing cooperation between Sanataanis {the actual term
for Hindus} and Musliims, and the political alliances that were struck; it will
also expose how rise to the uppermost echelons of power in the medieval nation
was not dependent on religion, and that many a Muslim ruler had scores of
Sanaatani Generals and Nobles, and vice-versa
But
beyond all of this, and far more serious and worrying is the rhetoric,
currently in the fringes and completely unimportant, is the myth that
Sanaatanis were persecuted most heavily during Muslim rule, or should I say so-called
Muslim Rule. Firstly, it is a fact that Muslim Rule was dependent in large part
and was supported and set up by the unwavering loyalty and support of powerful feudal
and noble leaders of all religious persuasions, as well as deep and highly successful
political alliances with non-Muslim rulers in Medieval India.
While
the above may be argued, and quite
convincingly at that, that there were vast differences between dynasties in
this matter, the attendant rising rhetoric of the heaviest persecution of
Sanaatan Dharm followers is pure nonsense, and has no basis in fact. While
there were undoubtedly persecution examples that occurred in that era, the fact
remains that this wasn’t even a patch on what all of India went through under
British rule, which makes Muslim rule a Golden Period in comparison – which it
was in many, many ways, while also being indirectly responsible for our fall
from grace. But, are the Muslim Rulers
alone to blame for that? That is the topic of the next article; let us leave
this line of thought here for the time being.
Even if
we accept that some persecution happened in some periods of Muslim rule { Which
we have to, given that some persecution undoubtedly did happen}, how is it a
smart or even an acceptable retelling to exclusively focus on these sins that
happened against Sanaatan Dharm followers, completely omitting the far more
serious attacks on our culture, religion and way of life that happened between
1757 and 1947? Why this completely one-sided narrative? That itself is enough
to raise deep questions, and convincing ones, on the accuracy of the rhetorical
narrative that is gaining currency. A fair retelling would also acknowledge the
extensive damage of the more recent period!
But the
rhetoric focuses on only the damage
during one specific period of our history, without an attendant acknowledgement
of the many documented benefits that accrued from the same period, or the
continuous growth of the economic engine, or the continued performance of our
many trade routes with Central Asia; or indeed the fact that the money remained
within India, and was not bled away, or the performance of agriculture and the
growth of the Merchants and Industrialists. Neither does this rhetoric
acknowledge the control of Non-Muslims over vast swathes of India, or that
Non-Muslims were an essential cog in the ruling Muslim rulers administrative as
well as Armed Forces machinery! No attempt is made to examine the lives of the
common folk even.
Moving on, let us look at British rule and lay
the facts of the persecution, and how it was much more severe than anything
during the previous era. British rule
destroyed the core and the bedrock of every single aspect of our wonderful
society: each-and-every-single-facet. Arts, culture, religion, society, caste,
everything, Documented fact. There was a plan to make India 100% Christian :
fact. There was a plan to Europeanise India {specific words : they will remain
burned into my conscience for as long as I live : raise a European Element in
the population}. {{USA / Australia / South Africa Anyone?}}
Arts
were destroyed - repeat, destroyed. Or attempted to. Fact. Casteism hardened :
fact. Religious equiilibrium destroyed : Fact. A land where corruption was not
known, became corrupt as there was no other way to survive. Fact. Indianism
denigrated at every level : fact. Education taken apart {oh yes, medieval India
had Excellent schooling} : fact. Manufacturing base destroyed : fact.
Agriculture productivity, earlier among the finest anywhere : destroyed : fact.
:Landless labour created from nothing : fact. Crafts wrecked : fact.
No such
dire poverty over so large an area was ever before known on the planet." :
A report from a European on India, 1907. ". Making every possible
allowance, it is clearly established that, comparing the Indian Exports and the
Indian Imports, the overplus of Exports for which there is no commercial return
now amounts to more than £35,000,000 a year, or considerably in excess of fifty
per cent more than the total Land Revenue obtained from all British India[2]
This drain has been going on in an increasing ratio, and necessarily with
deepening effect, ever since the British occupation. It means that India,
naturally a country with the greatest possibilities for wealth-production in
every department, is being steadily bled to death" {Ruin of India by
British Rule - Hyndman, Stuttgart, 1907. I have read reports from as far back
as 1757 as well that provide corroboration – Durant, 1930; RC Dutt, 1906; as
well as several contemporary books, which give detailed numbers with original
period evidence as proof of the loot that happened yearwise}
That is
nearly 4 Billion Dollars per years surplus in today's money, or 25,266 Crores
in Rupees. That is for JUST ONE YEAR. This had happened for 190 years. One
hundred and ninety years! By the way. and by the by, that calculation above was
an internet finance site that takes into consideration inflation rates only,
which is neither here nor there. If we consider that the surplus went into
building factories, amenities, funding research and development.... IMHO we can
compound at an assumed arbitrary rate of 8%. That makes 11.4 BILLION Dollars
for one year alone. Or 72464Crores rupees for ONE YEAR. This wealth stayed within
India during the so-called bad Muslim Rule! Modern India’s current external
debt interest payments are in the region of 9-10 Billion yearly. That puts the
matter in the right perspective!
Neither
is the contention of deaths maintainable in the light of documented facts; the
famine record of British India alone would put the entire 9000-year history to
shame shadow in the mortality rate. The number of deaths is thought to be in
the region of 50-68 Million deaths attributable to the British policies – and this
is just due to the famines. There was a massive famine in Bengal within a few
years of British Rule that is known to have wiped out large parts of the entire
population, accounting for well over 10 Million Deaths. The Famine of 1942-44, proven
to be due to British rule, also was as bad, accounting for more than 5 Million
deaths. Such things were not known in Muslim Rule.
The
genocide of 1857, carried out against civilians, is well studied and
documented, with an untold number of civilian deaths, with some records putting
the toll at 10 Million! This genocide was carried out against an entire people,
across large parts of India in a targeted strategy. The brutal suppression of
revolt after revolt, and numerous freedom attempts is also a matter of record. Not
one word of this reaches the fringe rhetoric, that is also a fact. But far more
than these is the targeted destruction of the entire way of life that we used
to live, our crafts, arts, religion, as well as our pride in our way of life. That is what I take up in detail in
the next part of this 5-part mini-series…
High
time we Indians recognized that this is just a colonial hangover, and a direct
gift of British Rule, and has no basis in reality. In order that India moves
forward and stakes a claim at its rightful place at the top of the world, we need
to overcome these insecurities as a people, recognize the rhetoric for what it
is, and move on in time-honoured Indian style and tradition. High
time we started to apportion the blame to the place they actually belong : the
brutal colonial rape, and recognize and accept that the only slavery we had was
from 1757-1947, and that we never were slaves for 800 or 1000 years…
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