India has been subject to various invasions over the past 2,500 years. Due to the
propaganda of these foreign aggressors, we have come to believe that the Hindus have been weak and folded easily at the different invasions in our history. The 6 Glorious Epoch of Indian History, by Veer Savarkar, shows that this conception is totally FALSE and from a Hindu & Sikh point of view, we should never forget the great figures who fought heroically to save our motherland from the onslaught of foreign aggression. Savarkar writes passionately about the history of his nation & blends poetry, emotion of pain, suffering & joy quite beautifully. He expresses his views quite bluntly, some of which I do not entirely agree with but his patrioism & quest of correcting facts of our history deserves nothing but admiration.
Most of you will have heard of Alexander the 'Great'. He led a massive army to India and conquered many states. However, the Hindus resisted so rigorously that he never managed to fully conquer India & was forced to retreat back to Greece, a fallen & broken man. Historians refer to him as 'great' but he never managed to conquer Bharat due to the bravery of the Indians. After his death, his successor attacked India once again. However, he was destroyed easily as the great Emperor Chandragupta had united the whole of Bharat & fought the Greeks as one nation. This ideology of unity was crucial to their success & is something that we must achieve again today. The defeat of the Greeks was the 1st Glorious Epoch of Indian History.
However, a century later, the Greeks attacked again. This time they succeeded in conquering many parts of India - the reason being a lack of unity between Hindus & the spread of Ahimsa, non-violence. This concept of non-violence is beautiful but one must remember that there is always a time & place for such virtues. The great epics of the Ramayana & Mahabharat have taught us that we must be humble & seek peace but if war is necessary to overcome evil & bring righteousness in the world then we must not shy away from war; a message that India at the time had forgotten. It took the valiant Emperor of Pataliputra, Pushyamitra to lead a revolution & defeat the Greeks once and for all. This was the 2nd Glorious Epoch of Indian History.
Around 150 BC India was surrounded by groups of barbaric tribes - the Sakas & Huns. After 100 years of war, the Sakas had gained much territory in the north of India. During this time the Pataliputra empire had been lost. It took the valour of Samudragupta, often referred to as the 'Indian Napoleon' to overthrow the Sakas & reestablish a Hindu state. After his death, his younger brother, Prince Chandragupta destroyed the Sakas for good & united the whole of India. He was given the great title, Vikramaditya. The vanquishing of the Sakas was the 3rd Glorious Epoch.
The 4th Glorious Epoch of Indian History was Yashodharma - the conqueror of the Huns. The Huns were even fiercer than the barbaric Sakas. They had occupied land & slaughtered many from China to Rome. Their first attacks on India were paralysed by Prince Skundgupta & they retreated before they attacked again 40 years later. At this time, Skundgupta was an aging Emperor but he continued to fight even though his brother was plotting to dethrone him back home. He died valiantly in battle with the ethos, 'an Emperor must die standing'. The Huns caused havoc in northern India & continued to do so until an adventurous youth, Yashodharma organised neighbouring states to unite & fight the Huns under his leadership. They did so & overthrew the Huns in 528. It is important to note at this point that the south of India was unconquered for 1300 years - only the north were subject to constant attacks; mainly Punjab & Gujarat. However, after the defeat of the Huns, India remained independent for over 500 years!
The first major Muslim attack on India came 50 years before Mohammed Bin Kasim but was put down easily. However, Kasim's invasion in 711 was successful & he initiated large scale massacres in Sindh. Most historians ignore the fact that despite this defeat, the Indian nation defended its independence for over 300 years. From the year 1000 the epic Hindu-Muslim wars began. In the early years, the Muslims won most the contests & converted, killed & destoryed many temples along their way. However, there were many heroic figures in our history who fought to protect their motherland. The likes of King Jaipal & his son Anangpal; Sambhaji; Guru Teg Bahadur & many other of our Sikh Gurus fought till their last breath. It is crucial to note that it was during these years of war, killings & mass conversions that created the present day caste system. The issue of conversion caused divide amongst Hindus & they were obsessed with 'purity'. Therefore, they did not integrate with other communities in order to stay 'pure' & this was the basis of the caste system. Thus, we must ALL remember that the caste system has NOTHING to do with Hinduism & was a social phenomena which led to the demise of the Hindu samaj.
A counter offensive began with great religious reformers & intellects such as Maharishi Deval & Acharya Madhatith. They taught the Hindus new religious thoughts, new weapons & reminded them of the bravery that lies in each in and every one of us, the soul. Maharishi Deval lived between 800-900 & abolished the ban on reconverting Muslims who were originally Hindus. He also criticised the caste system & empowered the women of the time. He was largely followed & thousands reconverted back to Hinduism - he led a political & religious triumph which was crucial to reducing the power of the foreign aggressors. Acharya Medhatith continued to spread Deval's teachings & taught of the glorious days when Bharat was united. He proposed a treaty whereby if one Hindu state was attacked, another must come to its aid. So while the north of India was under constant attack, the south was still independent & Hindu philosophy had spread in countries like Burma, Thailand & Maldiva.
In 1320, an event took place which gave much confidence to the Hindus to overthrow the Muslim empire. A young Hindu child was taken slave under Emperor Alludin & as was given the name, Kushrukhan. As he grew up he became a great warrior & political leader & eventually ran the administration. However, he did not forget his Hindu roots & along with the Sultanate of Delhi, Devaldevi, also a Hindu, they plotted the downfall of the Muslim empire & on 15th April 1320, he was declared Emperor of India & declared it a Hindu state. Although he was defeated a few years later, his exploits were not futile as he raised Hindu morale. Taking inspiration from him, a Hindu state in Vijaynagar was established in 1336 & led to great figures in our histroy such as Emperor Harihar (Maharajadhiraj), Bukka, Hemoo, Queen Durgawati & Rana Pratap Singh.
The rise of the Sikhs also added to India's conquest of national independence. It was Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru that militarised the Sikhs into a powerful force. To do this he wanted fearless warriors & introduced the 5 kakkas - kesh, kangha, kaccha, kara & kripan. He began to reclaim many Muslim states until a large Moghul army led to his army's retreat where both his young children were caught & cruelly buried alive - they were offered the chance to convert to Islam to spare their lives but they refused. That was the pride & love that they had of their religion; a love that was so strong that they gave up their lives for it. After his defeat, Guru Gobind Singh settled in Maharashtra where he composed lots of poetry & was later compiled as part of the Dasham Granth. Despite not liberating India from foreign rule, Guru Gobind Singh was key to forming a powerful force that India could use to oust the Moghuls from Punjab.
The 5th Glorious Epoch of Indian History was the fall of the Moghul empire & it arose largely due to the great Marathas. 4 great Heroes were born in Maharashtra & they were aglow with the fire of war & arose a whole generation of brave warriors. Shivaji was born in 1627 & during his lifetime the tide of the epic Hindu-Muslim war changed; from the 17th century onwards whenever they met in battle, the Hindus were always victorious. The great Marathas liberated India from Punjab to Kanya Kumari. The principle of their strategy was aggression & guerilla warfare tactics. Every time they conquered territory, they moved on to a different state & liberated them too. The brave Marathas fought valiantly for the freedom of Bharat & should never be forgotten.
Along with the Muslim invasion, there were also many European attacks on India including those by the Dutch, French, Portugese & British. The latter two being the most severe & brutal. After toppling the Muslim power, the Marathas ruled & fought bravely from 1818-1850 to try & hold back the British. A decade had not yet passed after the British victory when King Ranjit Singh of Punjab led a joint Hindu-Muslim revolt against them in 1857. Both sides suffered great losses but the British prevailed & Queen Victoria was proclamed Empress of India. They promised to treat all Indians equally & so offered them jobs & educated many in British schools. However, these British schools taught a perverted version of Indian history & Hinduism to 3 generations of Indians. Hence, the many misconceptions that Indians have of their own history & faith even today! Due to the British appeasing the Indian public, the period between 1860-1900 was rather stable with many believing India would only prosper under British rule. However, 1900 saw the beginning of the Lokmanya Tilak movement & millions followed the Hindutwa organisation - a movement for the solidarity of Hindus to fight an armed revolution against the British. The British realised that they were losing the support of the public who were are ready to rebel at any moment. In addition, a 50,000 army led by Subhas Chandra Bose was ready to attack & the Indian Army, which was under British command were beginning to show signs of mutiny. The British had no choice but to give back India & on 15th August 1947, India was declared an independent state.
Despite the numerous problems in India today, we must all remember that after 2,500 years of attack by foreigners, Bharat still stands strong. Which other country has had this much resilience? Taking inspiration from the great heroes in our culture will help India strengthen & realise its potential as a global super power.
