This Injustice with History!!

By Prof. B. N. Pandey,

Former Governor and Historian

Published by Madhur Sandesh Sangam, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi - 25

Foreword

It is an irony of Indian history that it has never been viewed from a purely historical perspective in the context of reality. To maintain their dominance over the conquered nation, the British distorted history due to their policy of 'Divide and Rule', leaving behind a group that not only echoes their tune but further expanded and developed their scheme. Even after independence, some of our political and educational thinkers found their own interests served in following the British policy. Motivated by the malicious selfish interests of nationalism, the task of misguiding the new generation was initiated in schools and colleges through this distorted history. They used history as the seed of hatred to break society, so that no organized power remains in the society to unite and fight the core problems. This plan was executed so smoothly that today the poison of hatred and malice has spread in every city and village. Therefore, today's situation is not the result of a sudden accident, but rather the favourable fruit of a poisonous tree nurtured by years of well-planned efforts. Without this, the protection of the selfish interests of those 'stalwarts' is not possible.

The reality is that the work done to misdirect medieval Indian literature and history has many levels and many directions. This effort by Dr. B.N. Pandey throws light on a small part of it. In this direction, the work of some other scholars is also commendable, who reflect reality by becoming a lamp of truth in this dense darkness of falsehood. The systematic compilation of India's history was first done by two British scholars named Elliot and Dowson. Picking out events selectively from all the source materials to give it a desired direction and interpreting the events was their originality. But they named the book- 'The history of India as told by its own historians'. Other scholars carried forward that work in the direction set by them. Among Indian scholars, the likes of Sir Jadunath Sarkar and Pt. Harprasad Shastri added stars to it. These people were not just followers of the British but also their devotees. Such people had turned their schools into military barracks to support the British army against the Indians in the first war of independence (1857).

The British, on the strength of their powerful allies, pushed history in the wrong direction. With the passage of time, the gulf between two communities living together for centuries with mutual cooperation and brotherhood widened so much that, along with the bloodshed of millions of people and the partition of the country, the brave British were given a salute and bid farewell, but the 'deity' of malice is still enshrined today. To please this 'deity', human sacrifices are still being offered today, hundreds of villages and cities are being immolated, and chariot processions are being organized. The country's constitution and the entire system, wearing masks, are bowing to 'that deity' directly or indirectly. Will humanity kneel before that deity? Absolutely not. This is not possible because the strong current of time does not let a rock with a weak foundation stand before it for long.

It is hoped that the young generation will get new light from the facts discovered by respected Pandey ji. The new construction of a beautiful India is possible by their strong hands. It is a prayer to God that this hope is fulfilled with the publication of this booklet.

- Publisher

This Injustice with History!!

Former Governor of Orissa, Member of Rajya Sabha, and historian Prof. Bishambhar Nath Pandey has highlighted those historical facts and narratives in his speeches and writings, which clearly show that history has been arbitrarily twisted and distorted. He stated:

"Now I present some examples which will make it clear how historical facts are distorted. When I was doing research regarding Tipu Sultan in Allahabad in 1928, some office-bearers of the student union of Anglo-Bengali College came to me and invited me to inaugurate their 'History Association'. These people came straight to me from the college. They had their course books in their hands, and coincidentally my eyes fell on their history book. When I opened the chapter related to Tipu Sultan, the sentence that put me in extreme shock was this:

'Three thousand Brahmins committed suicide because Tipu wanted to forcibly make them Muslims.'

The author of this textbook was Mahamahopadhyay Dr. Harprasad Shastri, who was the Head of the Sanskrit Department at Calcutta University. I immediately wrote to Dr. Shastri asking on what basis and reference he had written the above sentence regarding Tipu Sultan. After writing several letters, his reply came that he had quoted this incident from the 'Mysore Gazetteer'. The Mysore Gazetteer could not be found in Allahabad nor in the Imperial Library, Calcutta. Then I wrote to Sir Brajendra Nath Seal, the then Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University, to provide information about what Dr. Shastri had claimed. He forwarded my letter to Professor Srikantaiah, who was preparing the new edition of the Mysore Gazetteer at that time.

Professor Srikantaiah wrote to me that the incident of the suicide of three thousand Brahmins is nowhere in the 'Mysore Gazetteer' and as a student of the history of Mysore, he is absolutely certain that no such incident ever took place. He informed me that Tipu Sultan's Prime Minister was a Brahmin named Purnaiya, and his military commander was also a Brahmin, Krishna Rao. He also sent me a list of 156 temples to which Tipu Sultan used to give annual grants. He also sent photocopies of thirty letters of Tipu Sultan which he had written to Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Math, with whom the Sultan had very close friendly relations. According to the tradition of the Kings of Mysore, Tipu Sultan used to visit the Ranganath ji temple, which was in the fort of Srirangapatna, every day before having breakfast.

In Professor Srikantaiah's opinion, Dr. Shastri must have taken this incident from Colonel Miles' book 'History of Mysore'. Its author claimed that he translated his book 'History of Tipu Sultan' from an ancient Persian manuscript that was in Queen Victoria's personal library. Investigations revealed that there was no such manuscript in the Queen's library and many things in Colonel Miles' book are completely false and fabricated. Dr. Shastri's book was approved for the curriculum in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. I wrote to the then Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, Sir Ashutosh Chowdhury, and sent copies of all my correspondence in this regard, requesting that appropriate action be taken against the false and misleading sentences related to Tipu Sultan in this history textbook. Sir Ashutosh Chowdhury's reply soon arrived stating that Dr. Shastri's said book had been removed from the syllabus. But I was surprised to see that the same incident of suicide was present in the same way in the history syllabus books of Junior High School classes in Uttar Pradesh even in 1972.

In this context, the comment made by Mahatma Gandhi in his newspaper 'Young India' on page 31 of the January 23, 1930 issue is also worth reading. He wrote:

'Fateh Ali (Tipu Sultan) of Mysore has been presented by foreign historians as if he was a victim of religious bigotry. These historians have written that he oppressed his Hindu subjects and forced them to become Muslims, whereas the reality was exactly the opposite. He had very good relations with the Hindu subjects... The Archaeology Department of Mysore State (now Karnataka) has thirty such letters that Tipu Sultan wrote to Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Sringeri Math in 1793. In one of these letters, acknowledging the receipt of Shankaracharya's letter, Tipu Sultan requested him to perform penance and pray for the welfare, well-being, and prosperity of himself and the whole world. Finally, he also requested Shankaracharya to return to Mysore, because the presence of good people in a country brings rain, good crops, and prosperity.'

This letter deserves to be written in golden letters in the history of India. It is further stated in 'Young India'-

'Tipu Sultan gave valuable gifts in the form of lands and other items to Hindu temples, especially the Sri Venkataramana, Srinivas, and Sriranganath temples. Some temples were within the premises of his palaces; this is a living proof of his open-mindedness, generosity, and tolerance. This reveals the reality that Tipu was a great martyr. Anyone who is truly considered a martyr on the path of freedom from any perspective, did not feel any disturbance in his prayers from the sound of the bells of Hindu temples. Tipu died fighting for freedom and completely rejected the proposal to surrender before the enemy. When Tipu's corpse was found among the corpses of those unknown soldiers, it was seen that even after death he had a sword in his hand—the sword that was the means to achieve freedom. His historic words are worth remembering even today: "A lion's life of one day is better than a jackal's life of a hundred years."'

The lines of a poem recited in his glory are also worth remembering, which say that 'Oh God, to die under the blood-raining clouds of war is better than living a life of shame and infamy.'

Similarly, when I was the Chairman of the Allahabad Municipality (from 1948 to 1953), a mutation (transfer of property) case was brought before me. This case was about the property related to the Someshwar Nath Mahadev Temple. After the death of the Mahant of the temple, two claimants to that property had stood up. One claimant filed some documents that had been passed down in his family for a long time. Among these documents were the farmans (royal decrees) of Emperor Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb had given jagir (land grants) and cash grants to this temple. I thought these farmans must be fake. I was surprised how it was possible that Aurangzeb, who is famous for destroying temples, could give a jagir to a temple saying that this jagir is being given for worship and offerings (bhog). After all, how could Aurangzeb associate himself with idolatry?

I was convinced that these documents were forged, but before taking any decision, I thought it appropriate to take the opinion of Dr. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. He was well-versed in Arabic and Persian. When I presented the documents before him and sought his opinion, after studying the documents he said that these farmans of Aurangzeb are original and authentic. After this, he asked his clerk to bring the file of the Jangambari Shiva temple of Banaras. This case had been pending in the Allahabad High Court for 15 years. The Mahant of the Jangambari temple also had several farmans of Aurangzeb, in which jagirs were given to the temple. These documents presented a new picture of Aurangzeb before me, which left me in surprise.

On Dr. Sapru's advice, I sent letters to the Mahants of various prominent temples in India, requesting them that if they have any farmans of Aurangzeb in which jagirs were given to those temples, they should kindly send me their photostat copies. Now another matter of surprise came before me. I received copies of Aurangzeb's farmans for jagirs related to the Mahakaleshwar temple of Ujjain, Balaji temple of Chitrakoot, Umananda temple of Guwahati, Jain temple of Shatrunjaya, and other prominent temples and Gurdwaras spread across North India. These farmans were issued between 1065 AH and 1091 AH, that is, between 1659 and 1685 AD. Although these are just a few examples of Aurangzeb's generous attitude towards Hindus and their temples, they prove that whatever historians have written about him is based on bias, and only one side of his picture has been brought forward by this. India is a vast country, where thousands of temples are spread all around. If proper research is done, I believe many more such examples will be found which will reveal Aurangzeb's generous behavior towards non-Muslims.

In connection with investigating Aurangzeb's farmans, I came in contact with Mr. Gyan Chandra and the former curator of Patna Museum, Dr. P.L. Gupta. These gentlemen were also doing very important historical research on Aurangzeb. I was glad that some other researchers are also busy searching for the truth and are contributing to clearing the image of the highly defamed Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb, whom biased historians have deemed the symbol of Muslim rule in India. Regarding what they think about him, even a history-researching poet like Shibli had to say:

'All that you remember in the whole story.

Is that Aurangzeb was a Hindu-killer, a tyrant, an oppressor.'

Regarding the accusation of anti-Hindu hostility against Aurangzeb, the farman which has been tossed around the most is known as the 'Farman-e-Banaras'. This farman relates to a Brahmin family of Mohalla Gauri in Banaras. In 1905, it was presented before the City Magistrate by Mangal Pandey, the grandson of Gopi Upadhyay. It was first published by the Journal of the 'Asiatic Society' of Bengal in 1911. As a result, it caught the attention of researchers. Since then, historians have frequently cited it, and on its basis, they accuse Aurangzeb of having banned the construction of Hindu temples, while the real significance of this farman remains hidden from their eyes.

This written farman was sent by Aurangzeb on 15 Jumada al-Awwal 1065 AH (10 March 1659 AD) in the name of the local officer of Banaras, which was issued in connection with a complaint by a Brahmin. That Brahmin was the Mahant of a temple and some people were harassing him. The farman says:

"Abul Hasan, while remaining convinced of our royal generosity, should know that in accordance with our natural kindness and natural justice, the aim of all our tireless struggle and just intentions is to promote public welfare and to improve the conditions of every upper and lower class. According to our sacred law, we have decided that ancient temples should not be destroyed and ruined, however, new temples should not be built.

During our justice-based era, information has reached our prestigious and holy court that some people are harassing the Hindu citizens of the city of Banaras and its surroundings and the Brahmin-priests of the temples, and are interfering in their affairs, while these ancient temples are under their care. Moreover, they want to remove these Brahmins from their old posts. This interference is a cause of trouble for this community. Therefore, this is our farman that as soon as our royal order reaches, you should issue instructions that no person should illegally interfere or harass the Brahmins and other Hindu citizens of those places. So that their possession remains intact as before and they continue to pray wholeheartedly for our God-given empire. This order should be implemented immediately."

It is completely clear from this farman that Aurangzeb did not issue any new order against the construction of new temples, rather he merely cited the pre-existing tradition and emphasized the adherence to that tradition. He strictly opposed the demolition of already existing temples. From this farman, it also becomes clear that he was desirous of giving his Hindu subjects the opportunity to live a life of peace and happiness. This is not the only farman of its kind. In Banaras itself, another farman is found, which makes it clear that Aurangzeb genuinely wanted the Hindus to be able to live their lives in peace and happiness. This farman is as follows:

"Maharajadhiraja Raja Ram Singh of Ramnagar (Banaras) has submitted a petition in our court that his father had built a house on the banks of the river Ganges for the residence of his religious guru Bhagwat Gosain. Now some people are harassing Gosain. Therefore, this royal farman is issued that upon the arrival of this farman, all current and future officers must take full care that no person is able to harass and threaten Gosain, nor interfere in his matters, so that he continues to pray wholeheartedly for the stability of our God-given empire. This farman should be implemented immediately." (Date - 17 Rabi us-Sani 1091 AH).

Some farmans present with the Mahant of the Jangambari Math reveal that Aurangzeb never tolerated that the rights of his subjects be snatched in any way, whether they were Hindus or Muslims. He dealt strictly with criminals. Among these farmans, one is regarding a complaint from the Jangam people (people of a sect of the Shaiva tradition) against a Muslim citizen, Nazir Beg. This matter was brought to Aurangzeb's court, upon which a royal order was given that the officers of Banaras, Suba Allahabad, are informed that the citizens of Pargana Banaras, Arjunmal and the Jangamis, have complained that a citizen of Banaras, Nazir Beg, has occupied their five havelis in the town of Banaras. They are ordered that if the complaint is found to be true and the right of ownership of the property is proved, then Nazir Beg should not be allowed to enter those havelis, so that the Jangamis do not have to come to our court in the future to get their complaint resolved. This farman bears the date 11 Shaban, 13th Regnal Year (1672 AD).

Another farman present with this very Math, which bears the date 1st Rabi ul-Awwal 1078 AH, mentions that the possession of land was given to the Jangamis. The farman states-

"All current and future Jagirdars and Karoris of Pargana Haveli Banaras are informed that by the order of the Emperor, 178 Bighas of land was given to the Jangamis. The old officers had confirmed this and along with the seal of the owner of the Pargana of that time, this proof has been presented that the right over the land is theirs. Hence, as an offering (sadqa) for the Emperor's life, this land was given to them. From the beginning of the Kharif crop, their possession of the land should be restored and no interference of any kind should be allowed again, so that the Jangami people can maintain themselves from its income."

From this farman, it not only becomes known that Aurangzeb was by nature just, but it also clearly appears that he did not practice any discrimination against Hindu religious servants in the distribution of such properties. The 178 Bighas of land to the Jangamis was likely granted by Aurangzeb himself, because in another farman (dated 5 Ramzan, 1071 AH) it has been clarified that this land is free from land revenue (maalguzari).

Through another farman (1098 AH), Aurangzeb also granted a jagir to another Hindu religious institution. The farman states:

"There are two plots vacant at Beni-Madho Ghat on the banks of the river Ganges in Banaras, one beside the central mosque in front of Ramjivan Gosain's house and the other before it. These plots are the property of the Bait-ul-Maal. We granted these plots to Ramjivan Gosain and his son as a 'reward' (Inaam), so that after building residential houses for Brahmins and fakirs on the said plots, they engage in the worship of God and pray for the stability of our God-given empire.

It is mandatory for our sons, viziers, amirs, high officials, darogas, and current and future kotwals to ensure compliance with this order and let the said plots remain in the possession of the above-mentioned person and his heirs, and neither any land revenue or tax should be taken from them nor should a new sanad be demanded from them every year."

It seems Aurangzeb was very mindful of respecting the religious sentiments of his subjects. We have a farman of Aurangzeb (2 Safar, 9th Regnal Year) addressed to Sudaman Brahmin, the priest of the Umananda Temple in the city of Guwahati, Assam. On behalf of the Hindu Kings of Assam, a piece of land and the income of some forests was given as a jagir to this temple and its priest, so that the expenses of the offerings (bhog) could be met and the priest's livelihood could run. When this province came under Aurangzeb's jurisdiction, he immediately issued an order via a farman to keep this jagir as it is.

Another proof of Aurangzeb's tolerance and generosity towards Hindus and their religion comes from the priests of the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain. This is one of the prominent temples of Lord Shiva, where a lamp remains continuously lit day and night. For a long time, four seers of ghee was provided daily for this from the government there, and the priests say that this practice continued during the Mughal period as well. Aurangzeb also respected this tradition. Unfortunately, the priests do not have any farman regarding this, but they certainly have a copy of an order which was issued by Prince Murad Bakhsh during Aurangzeb's time. This order (5 Shawwal 1061 AH) was issued by the Prince on behalf of the Emperor upon an application by the temple priest Dev Narayan. After verifying the reality, it was stated in this order that the Tehsildar of the Chabutra Kotwal should make available four seers (Akbari) of ghee daily for the temple's lamp. A copy of this was reissued by Muhammad Saadullah 93 years after the issuance of the original order (in 1153 Hijri).

Generally, historians heavily mention that the Chintamani temple built by Nagar Seth in Ahmedabad was demolished, but they cover up the fact that the same Aurangzeb granted considerably large jagirs to the Shatrunjaya and Abu temples built by the same Nagar Seth.

Undoubtedly, history proves that Aurangzeb had ordered the demolition of the Vishwanath temple in Banaras and the Jama Masjid in Golconda, but the reason for this was something else entirely. Regarding the Vishwanath temple, the sequence of events is stated that when Aurangzeb was passing near Banaras on his way to Bengal, the Hindu Rajas included in his convoy requested the Emperor that if the convoy halted there for a day, their queens would go to Banaras, bathe in the river Ganges, and also offer their reverent flowers at the temple of Lord Vishwanath. Aurangzeb immediately accepted this request and deployed military guards on the five-mile route from the convoy's camp to Banaras. The queens went riding in palanquins and returned after bathing and worship, but when one queen (the Maharani of Kutch) did not return, a massive search was conducted for her, but she could not be found.

When Aurangzeb came to know, he became very angry and sent top officers of his army for the search. Finally, those officers noticed that the idol of Ganesh embedded in the wall was shaking. When they had the idol removed and looked, they found the stairs to a basement, and the missing queen was lying there crying. Her honor had also been violated and her jewelry had also been snatched. This basement was exactly below the idol of Lord Vishwanath. The Rajas expressed their anger and protested against this act. Since this was a very heinous crime, they demanded the strictest action to be taken. On their demand, Aurangzeb ordered that since the holy place has been desecrated. Therefore, the idol of Lord Vishwanath should be taken and established somewhere else, the temple should be torn down and leveled to the ground, and the Mahant should be arrested. Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya has authenticated this incident on the basis of documents in his famous book 'The Feathers and The Stones'. The former curator of Patna Museum, Dr. P.L. Gupta, has also confirmed this incident.

The incident of the Jama Masjid of Golconda is that the King there, who was famous by the name of Tana Shah, after collecting the state's land revenue (maalguzari), would not send Delhi's share. In just a few years, this amount ran into crores. Tana Shah buried this treasure in a place underground and built a mosque over it. When Aurangzeb found out about this, he ordered that this mosque be torn down. Thus, the buried treasure was extracted and spent on public welfare works. These two examples are enough to prove that in matters of justice, Aurangzeb did not consider there to be any difference between a temple and a mosque.

"Unfortunately, the events and characters of medieval and modern Indian history have been distorted and presented in a fabricated manner to such an extent that lies began to be accepted like the truth of a divine decree, and those who differentiate between facts and fabricated tales began to be blamed. Even today, communal and selfish elements are engaged in twisting history and giving it a wrong color."