While extolling foreign invaders, our history books surreptitiously pass on a silent message that the rulers of Bharat were feeble failures, not heroes. They create a permanent impression of fatalism in the fledgling fresh minds. This message negatively impacts young students, shaping them as sullen and forlorn future citizens. They become utterly unsuited to lead a positive personal life and incapable of contributing anything constructive to the country’s progress.
But does that nefarious narration resonate with the actual events in Bharat’s history? We have enough resources to help us delve deeper into our history. If we do so, we can find many dynamic and daring emperors we can boast of. These heroes of Bharat are either wholly absent or, at best, lackadaisically mentioned in some remote corner.
Most of these heroes had gallantly fought several battles in Bharat and had remained unconquered during their entire regime. In a few stray cases, if the emperor lost, it was invariably due to a traitor’s betrayal, not the opponent’s intrinsic dominance. Should we not, therefore, focus more on such portions in our history? Shouldn’t we present positive historical facts to the impressionable schoolchild, portraying the prowess of such powerful monarchs?
The victors write history. As the African proverb goes, “Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.” Also, the invaders and our pseudo-historians have perfidiously either suppressed or twisted many events of the native victory. We now have only a few remnants that have managed to escape their erasers.
Valourous Heroes of Bharat
For the sake of brevity, we furnish a few examples of heroes of Bharat below.
Chandragupta Maurya:
The Founder and first emperor of Mauryan dynasty Samrat Chandragupta Maurya fought Selucus Nicator, one time General of Alexander in 305 BC. and he defeated Seculus and married his daughter Helena as part of his treaty with the loser. In fact, that lucky Alexander narrowly escaped facing the might of Chandragupta since he fled away earlier from the scene fearing for his life and then died. He left India in 325 BCE whereas Chandragupta ascended only in 321 BCE.
Bappa Rawal:
Bappa Rawal’s power, prowess and penchant for combats are beyond the ken of our imagination. Not content with just defending and defeating the invading foes he chased them well beyond and triumphantly entered the Arab nations upto to banks of Euphrates in Central Asia! For an amazing details of the exploits of Bappa Rawal, readers are requested to refer to the following article in The Commune: ‘Bappa Rawal: The Indomitable Hindu King Who Invaded And Defeated The Arabs.’
Maharaja Chhatrasal:
He fought as many as 52 major battles and won all of them. His resilience and strategic brilliance are unmatched, earning him the title ‘Bundela Kesari’ (The Lion of Bundelkhand).
Rana Kumbha:
Rana Kumbha 1433-1468 A.D, ruler of Mewar belonging to Sisodia clan fought as many as 56 battles and won all of them. He crushed Turk sultanates and expanded his regime. He built as many as 32 fortresses for defending Mewar and the Kumbhalgarh fort was the highest.
Maharana Pratap:
Maharana Pratap, a symbol of Rajput pride, was one of the strongest warriors in the country, with a height of 7 feet 5 inches. He carried 360 kg of weight, including a spear weighing around 80 kg, two swords weighing 208 kg and armour of nearly 72 kg. His own weight was over 110 kg. He had defeated Mughal emperor Akbar thrice 1577, 1578 and 1579.
He led his army on his own whereas Akbar did not participate in the battles. They were lead by commanders like Maan Singh, again a Rajput! And our history books brazenly boast that impuissant, imbecile Akbar, as ‘Akbar, the Great!’
Lachit Borphukan:
We read extensively about the Moghul dynasty. But how much do we know about the mighty Ahom dynasty in Assam, which lasted for as long as six centuries? They defeated the Moghuls 17 times. Their famous general, Lachit Borphukan, was a haunting nightmare for Aurangzeb. Lachit’s exploits can be categorised under ‘Believe it or not’ legends.
There are some greats that, if we start describing their glory, each will require volumes like Harshavardana, Bhoja, Rajendra Chola, Bimbisara, Chatrapati Sivaji etc. How much do we know about them?
Bharat’s Women Were Warriors, Not Backward
A false narrative was perpetuated by pseudo-historians who painted Indian women as backward, uneducated, and defenceless. However, this is far from the truth.
Bharat has a rich history of warrior women who fearlessly fought alongside men, battling invaders from the Mughals to the British and Portuguese. Some of these remarkable women remained unconquered throughout their lives.
Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar.
Maharani Tarabai Bhonsle.
Rani Raj Kaur of Sick empire
Rajmata Jijabai Bhonsle.
Rani Avantibai of Ramgarh
Rani Abbakka Chowta
Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmibai.
Rani Keladi Chennamma.
Rani Kittur Chennamma.
Gondwana Rani Durgavati.
Veeramangai Rani Velu Nachiar
History Education In Other Countries
Now, let us observe how history is taught in other countries. The Romans invaded Britain several times starting with the mighty Julius Caesar in Kent in 55BC. In AD 43 the Romans once again attacked under the emperor Claudius. The history books in the schools in Britain display a deafening silence on all those events. Barbarous Mongol bandit Chinggis Khan demoniacally decimated China. We can’t a single mention about him in Chinese history books. The chinese chronicler carefully concealed those disconcerting details while recording history saying that such facts will generate defeatist disposition in their future generation.
Their historians meticulously ensured that their future generation was kept insulated from such gloomy defeatist details. They justified this selective transmission by saying it would interfere with their policy of planting in them a positive spirit of patriotism, pride, chutzpah, and courage.
Our own vicious pseudo counterparts have scrupulously screened out all successful heroic conquests of our gallant warriors. Instead of correcting them, at least now, we continue to feed our future generations with the same nonsense.
If we delve deep into history, we can identify hundreds of such brave heroes and heroines in each region of Bharat. Let us stop glorifying the villainous invaders and start proudly singing paeans on our own paladins.
Parasuram Sharma is a retired bank officer and an octogenarian whose interests include Sanathana Dharmam, Samskritam, history and politics.
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