overpowering the Muslim sovereignty, it was incessantly overwhelmed on the religious front, because of their own hateful bans on re-conversion and the like—fetters, which prevented the Hindus from opening any counter- offensive on the Muslim religion as such! But, this Hindu Emperor, Shree Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud-din), successfully launched a counter-attack upon the Muslims, both on political and military as well as on the religious fronts, using the same means and weapons. To counter-balance the forceful conversion of the Hindus by the Muslims, Shree Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud- din) brought about hundreds of Muslim reconversions to Hinduism and their republication ceremonies under the protection of his armed might. Just as the Muslim used to rush headlong to ravage and convert the Hindu women to Islam, in the same way, the Hindus broke into the harems of the Muslim Sultan and converted the willing Mohamedan women to Hinduism and married them to their Hindu followers. If the Muslims demolished the Hindu temples, Shree Dharmarakshak, in the excitement of this victory, turned the very Muslim Masjids into Hindu temples. It was this Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud-din) who, for the first time in Hindu history, showed so very successfully and on such a large scale, how the Muslim armed aggression upon Hinduism and the religious persecution that they perpetrated before and after, could be retaliated and how the Muslims could be routed completely on the religious front too. If from the beginning, the Muslims had to face such bold opposition and been forced to suffer such powerful counterstrokes on the religious front, they would never have dared to strike, in spite of all their military might at Hinduism. This first blow, which the Hindus delivered to Islam in Delhi, shook the Muslims so very severely! And this is the peculiar character of this Hinduistic revolution brought about by Shree Dharmarakshak (Khushrukhan Nasir-ud-din). 811. We have intentionally called this account of Khushrukhan's life and achievements as based on proofs! Although, as we have pointed out in Paragraph 744, nobody barring some honourable exception, has written any good word about you, O Khushrukhan, the very inconsistent and confused and oblique reference to you, tell a story which is all the more glorious for you! As such, although your life and career as painted by us too has so far not any ‘written’ or ‘oral’ ‘basis’ or any strong proofs, even then there is another equally strong and unimpeachable legal evidence, which, at times, sets aside even written or oral ones, in such historical and judicial matters of daily occurrence. That evidence is called circumstantial evidence!

The Authority of Circumstantial Evidence 812. In the science of logic the authority of circumstantial evidence is considered, at least in certain cases, to be the better mode of reasoning than inference, the word of the elders, or illustration. Especially, when the intentions and feelings or emotions of the engineers of deep-laid political conspiracies and plots are to be ascertained, circumstantial evidence is considered to be the only strong basis for it and it should be thought so, and rightly too! The written confession of the accused under their own signature can be refuted by the circumstantial evidence of bodily persecution and torture; so does written evidence! 813. Your life, O Dharmarakshak, therefore, has been based more on the strictly logical circumstantial evidence than on your own words or the writings of your contemporary and later day historians, hence it is based on solid proof. Even if your words are not available, your very act and deeds are in themselves far more telling. 814. The brother of this Shree Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud-din) was himself a very great warrior and an able administrator. The original Hindu name of this brother of Shree Dharmarakshak is also not known as yet, for in his very early childhood, he too was converted and made a slave. When this Hindu Emperor appointed him the Governor of Gujarat, he openly accepted Hinduism and canvassed for it. In order to overthrow the Muslim government in Gujarat, he raised a Hindu revolt and sent twenty to twentyfive thousand brave warriors of his parwar (community) to help his brother at Delhi. What ultimately became of them all is not known to history. He too deserves place of honour in Hindu history. 815. And on the same basis of this circumstantial evidence, does that former Hindu royal princess and the Yadav Queen, Devaldevi, who was equally responsible for bringing about the unprecedented Hindu revolution of Shree Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud-din) and who was his important accomplice in the secret plot, and who became, after the successful accomplishment of the said revolution, the Hindu Empress of Shree Dharmarakshak, deserves even a greater place of honour, like that of Devi Padmini of Chitod, for the unimaginable mental agonies that she had to suffer in the most adverse circumstances! She deserves the honour of a brave warrior Rajput Princess, burning herself on the pyre or in Johar! 816. Her end, too, is clouded in mystery! One of the writers of the time has said that she was provided for Ghyasuddin after he became the Sultan

of Delhi. Not a Fruitless Martyrdom! 817. Thus were the two valiant associates of the Hindu Emperor, Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud-din) forced to court martyrdom! But their martyrdom lent a wonderful strength to the morale of the Hindu Nation. For, the fact that in Delhi itself, was established a Hindu Empire, which could powerfully and effectively govern the Muslim States, Nawabs, and Muslim populace throughout India for nearly a year, helped the Hindu kings and the Hindu people to shake off the dominant influence of the Muslim political superiority, which had for centuries overawed the Hindu mind. The myth of this Muslim political superiority as at once exploded and a rare confidence was inspired amongst the Hindus that, were they but to run a little risk, they would also be able to crush the Muslim political hold on them. Shree Dharmarakshak courted martyrdom in 1321; it was soon followed by the risings in Hindu States in the north and south of India. The Muslim provinces round about Delhi, too, began fighting with the Muslim imperial power at Delhi in order to establish their own dynasties in their own provinces. In the end, hardly within fifteen to sixteen years of the martyrdom of Shree Dharmarakshak, the Muslim imperial authority at Delhi became extremely weak, and a powerful Hindu revolt culminated in the establishment of a completely independent Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar, the detailed account of which must necessarily be deferred to next chapter. ❑

The Beginning of the Final Overthrow of the Muslim Empire 818. Soon after slaying Shree Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud-din), Ghyasuddin Tughlak ascended the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in A.D. 1321 and issued a proclamation to that effect. This was the end of the Khilji dynasty and the beginning of the Tughlak rule. 819. Ghyasuddin too was old. Naturally, he treated the Muslims leniently. But although born of a Hindu jat mother, he strangely enough did not fall short of any type of religious persecution of the Hindus perpetrated by any or all of the former Muslim Sultans! 820. Ghyasuddin died in A.D. 1326 and was succeeded by his son Mohammed Tughlak, who has gone down in history as ‘crazy’. He once had a strange whim of shifting his capital from Delhi to Devgiri in the south. Immediately, he changed the name of Devgiri, according to the Muslim tradition, into Doulatabad, just as Warangal had been changed earlier by the Muslim into Sultanpur. But this change of capital from Delhi to Devgiri caused him and his subjects so much trouble, disrupted his already confusion-fraught revenue system so completely, and so many insurrections and political risings were brewing in the royal families and the people at large in the Deccan (as already pointed out in the previous chapter) that this ‘crazy’ Mohammed was ultimately forced to have another whim of shifting the capital once again back to Delhi. But this short interlude cost millions (crores) of rupees and thousands of lives. 820A. With a view to getting out of this financial trouble, he introduced the copper coins, which drained his treasury completely; but he blamed the farmers and the other gentry for it, saying that they did not pay the taxes. He, therefore, issued orders to his fighting forces to collect the revenue under compulsion, but while the Muslims were shown all leniency in the collection of taxes, the Hindus were most cruelly forced to pay them. Just as the beasts are surrounded on all sides in a hunting expedition and are held at bay and then massacred, similarly a number of Hindu towns and villages were besieged and the Hindu population therein was mercilessly put to the sword. (This sort of persecution devastated numerous Hindu towns and villages, while whole province like Kanouj were rendered desolate!)

821. Nevertheless, there darted from the bow of the Hindu nation a Ram- ban [an arrow of Ram—an (unerring) unmistakable shot!], which put a stop, even if temporarily, to the Ravan-like atrocities by the Muslims perpetrated under every Sultan over the Hindus for centuries together!
822. The diabolic Muslim ambition to spread the unitary Muslim empire to the ends of Hindusthan (Paragraphs 636-737) received a death blow in the very hour of its fruition. For (as it is shown in the previous chapter) with the first vigorous blow struck by the Hindu Emperor, Shree Dharmarakshak, the extensive Muslim Empire had already begun to dwindle, while the Hindu discontent, especially in the Deccan, culminated into a powerful insurrection, which shattered the already dwindling Muslim empire into small fragments. New Hindu State
823. For, in A.D. 1336, was established the new, independent, and powerful Hindu State of Vijaynagar, defying the Muslim might in the very lifetime of this ‘crazy’ Mohammad Tughlak, a detailed account of which will be given in the next chapter.
824. Immediately after this momentous event, the Deccanese Muslims under Hasan Bahamani rose in rebellion against the Delhi Sultanate following the age-old separatist tendency of the Muslims, which had been exhibited in their fratricidal wars ever since the times of Mohammad Paigambar. Hasan Bahamani was crowned with success in this attempt, and so he founded the Bahamani kingdom in A.D. 1347 and proclaimed himself to be an independent Sultan.
825. This act of Hasan Bahamani will explode the popular misconception of the millions of credulous gulls amongst the Hindus, that the Muslims always showed a united front in their political as well as religious wars, that they never fought amongst themselves and that they had no separatist tendencies—a baseless misconception, which is not only foolish in the extreme but which falsely extols the foreigners and undeservedly runs down our own Hindu community. A number of such instances have already been cited in this volume and many more will occur in the pages that follow. The history of the Muslim community all over world is replete with such instances. A Grievous fall and Breaking of the Dream of an Unbroken Muslim Empire

826. Just as perhaps some adventurous mountaineer should, in the excitement of his almost impracticable ambition to scale the highest peak of the Himalayas and to hoist his national flag there before anybody else does it, climb on and on, and after reaching some altogether different peak should victoriously cry out, ‘This is the very same highest peak!’ when all at once, the seemingly highest peak should give way under the heavy load of his ambition, being made as it really is, not of any solid rock, but of a frozen heap of snowflakes, and the ambitious climber should topple down and fall headlong from crag to crag into the deep ravine of destruction along with the bits and fragments of his signal victory—in the very same way, the Muslim ambition to establish the centralized paramount Muslim power over the whole of India was beguiled for a while, and ultimately came to naught. All the Asian Muslim States right from the Arabs to the Mongols invaded India one after another and carried on for seven or eight centuries continuously the bitterest, bloodiest and cruellest wars and at last, when in the regime of Allauddin, practically the whole of India passed under the Muslim sway round about the year A.D. 1310, the Muslim ambition seemed to be almost fulfilled! But, as it is already told, with a hard knock from the resurgent Hindu valour, the Muslim rule collapsed from the highest peak of success attained by Sultan Allauddin and was shattered to pieces within only seven or eight years, never to rise to that giddy height again! The Hindu might went on increasing like the crescent moon! Death of ‘Crazy’ Mohammad and after
827. This ‘crazy’ Sultan Mohammad died in A.D. 1351 and his tottering crown with the disintegrating Sultanate of Delhi passed on to his cousin ‘Pherozshah Tughlak’. This Pherozshah’s mother was the daughter of the Rajput King Malbhatti of Deepalpur. When Pherozshah’s father demanded her (that Rajput Princess) in marriage, King Malbhatti flatly refused to give her up, whereupon Pherozshah’s father marched on Malbhatti and began to persecute the Hindus most cruelly. The princess could not bear the inhuman sufferings of her father and her Hindu brethren in the kingdom. So, she volunteered to marry Pherozshah’s father. However praiseworthy the tenderness of her heart might be, it has permanently stained her father’s family. Had she swallowed fire like some Padmini of Chitod and followed the path of martyrdom for the sake of religion, her life and her family tradition would both have been for ever glorified! The Superstitious Muslims!

828. An anecdote of this time of the Tughlaks, which is recorded in history, may be related here so that the reader might have some idea of the extent the superstitious nature of the Muslims could go to, and of the influence the religious credulity and fanaticism of the Arabs invariably had over the Muslims of later days, ever since the inception of Muslim religion. 828A. In order to atone for the crazy religious acts and the harassment of the subjects by the ‘mad’ Mohammad (setting aside the religious persecution of Hindus, which was deemed harmonious with the tenets of the Muslim religion), Sultan Pherozshah interned with the bones of the late ‘mad’ Mohammad, the original papers regarding the reimbursement of the unjust land revenue collected by him, refund of fines and compensation for the other unjust acts of his, or their governmental acknowledgments along with other original papers signed by Mohammed himself. This action of Pherozshah was perhaps prompted by his credulous belief, that on the strength of this written record of the compensation for all his crimes, the great Allah would forgive Mohammad on the last day of the judgment! And, be it remembered that Pherozshah was well-educated, according to the standards of the time! What to say, then, of the common people!
829. Although in the beginning, Pherozshah proclaimed himself as the Sultan of Hindusthan, everywhere in India, with the only exception of Delhi and a small region around it, the Hindus and the Muslims began one after another to repudiate his imperial authority. In the South, the celebrated kingdom of Vijaynagar had openly asserted its freedom. Under these circumstances, Pherozshah Tughlakh decided finally to acknowledge the independence of the recalcitrant people under him in order to assuage their political bitterness, and to consolidate whatever little he could retain rather than lose all. He, therefore, gave an official recognition to the independence of the Bahamani Kingdom in the south and to that of the valiant Hindu Kingdom of Vijaynagar, which was founded by the great Hindu leaders, who were fired with the bitterest hatred for the Muslim domination and were bent on driving it away right out of India.
830. Thus was the Muslim imperial power, which had reached its zenith round about the years A.D. 1310-12 in Allauddin’s times as a result of the incessant Hindu-Muslim wars for about six or seven centuries, and which had spread over almost the whole of India, dissolved by the very descendant of the same illustrious Sultan, for he could not help yielding to the powerful Hindu resistance. The Muslim empire over the whole of India was

completely shattered in the hour of its fruition, never to be rebuilt on such a vast scale. Now the Hindu resurgent independent power had begun its inroads on the Muslim might, which were never to cease again! 831. In fact, the moment Pherozshah Tughlak recognized the political independence of the South, the Muslim imperial power came to an end! He, as it were, rang the death knell of the Muslim ambition of an imperial power! The Direct Evidence 832. This explicit recognition of the political independence of the Deccan, including that of the newly established Hindu state of Vijaynagar by the Sultan of Delhi, Pherozshah Tughlak himself, conclusively proves the statement that we have made in paragraphs 807 to 817 and that has so far escaped the notice of the writers of Hindu history. It is the two-fold politico-religious aggression of the Hindu Emperor, Shree Dharmarakshak, (Nasir-ud-din) in Delhi itself on the Muslim power, and especially his frightful revenge of the religious persecution of the Hindus over the Muslims in much the same horrid way, and the terror it struck in the minds of the Muslims, which inspired this political rising of Vijaynagar, which in its turn dashed to pieces the Muslim ambition of an all-India empire! 833. Although Sultan Pherozshah helplessly surrendered his overlordship over the Deccan, he still mercilessly continued to persecute the Hindus in the big cities like Delhi under his direct control. The Hindus, too, persisted in their staunch resistance in the defence of their religion, even at the risk of martyrdom. Numerous instances of the varied kinds of this Hindu reaction to the Muslim atrocities are recorded, one of which might be given here on the authority of the Muslim writers themselves. 833A. Sultan Pherozshah hated the Brahmins far more bitterly than the other Hindus. He said, “Brahmins are the veritable keys to the strong fortress of the Hindu religion.” It is the Brahmins who organised a resistance movement against the Jizia tax, freshly imposed on the Hindus by Sultan Pherozshah. They organized collective hunger strike before the royal palace and announced their determination to swallow fire and court martyrdom. But the Sultan heeded it not. So, many Brahmins, no longer able to bear the humiliation, died in that horrible manner. In the end, the Hindus of other castes paid up the tax for such staunch defenders of their religion that still survived and saved their lives!

834. But the account of one of those Brahmins is the most remarkable for his martyrdom. In the city of Delhi itself, this old Brahmin openly worshipped an idol. Now the diabolic religion of Sultan Pherozshah Tughlak had absolutely banned any such idol-worship throughout his kingdom. But in order to protest against this ban, that Brahmin collected all the Hindus in the courtyard of his house and worshipped the idol with such great pomp that many Muslim men, women and children, too, became the devotees of that idol. The rumour quickly spread far and wide that this Brahmin’s God always came to the rescue of his devotee. The news that this Brahmin openly worshipped idols painted on a wooden plank reached the ears of the Sultan, who immediately had him brought as a captive, along with his idol, before him. Thereupon, he called all the ulemas (the Muslim religious priests) and asked them: “What punishment should be inflicted on this Brahmin?” They replied: “This Brahmin should either be a Muslim or be burnt alive to death.” The Brahmin, thereupon, chose to die that horrible death by burning. In Delhi, just before the king’s court, a big pile of wood was made and the Brahmin was placed on it, bound hand and foot, with the idol painted on the wooden plank. The Muslim demons set fire to that pile of wood from all sides. Still, the Brahmin would not consent to be converted to Islam. In a few cruel moments, the fire blazed very hot on all sides. But without even a faint sigh of pain or grief, the Brahmin remained bowing down to the idol. Within a moment, the hungry flames swallowed up the devoted Brahmin!
835. This arch-enemy of the Hindus, Sultan Pherozshah Tughlak, died in A.D. 1388, followed by an utter chaos in the meagre remains of his kingdom, whereas on one occasion, two of his grandsons fell out and at the two ends of the city of Delhi, there ruled two Sultans at one and the same time, Mohammadshah and Nasratshah, the two grandsons of Pheroz. Half the city of Delhi became the capital of the one, while the other half, that of the other!! Invasion by Taimurlang
836. Under these chaotic conditions, Delhi fell a prey to the inhuman ravages of the notorious Taimurlang, the Sultan of the far off Samarkand.
837. Taimur was a Turk, and not originally a Muslim. After conquering the city of Baghdad, he burned to ashes the whole library of literature and at many places, he even burned Masjids! In A.D. 1369, he became the King of Samarkand. Following the lead of Chengeezkhan before him, he had

conquered not less than twenty-seven crowns from Russia in the West to Afghanistan in the South-East! Because he had lost a leg in one of the battles, he received the nickname ‘lang’ (lame). Thereafter, he happened to cast his eyes on India, not simply because of any allurement of political power or the lust for victory, but because he had formed a bitter hatred towards India. For, he had in the meantime become a Muslim. His original destructive tendencies now received this new ghastly impetus! Says he in his autobiography: “My intention in marching upon India is to massacre the Kafir Hindus there, destroy the idols of their Gods, convert them all to Islam and thus win the title of a ‘Gazi’ in the court of the Allah.” 838. So, immediately in A.D. 1397, he invaded India. He had under him a gigantic force of ninety thousand strong. He marched straight up to Punjab. Still nobody came forward to oppose him. He, therefore, swooped down straight on Delhi, where a small force came to oppose him in the name of the Sultan of Delhi, but it was soon put to rout. An interesting point to note is that this veteran army of Taimurlang, which had trampled over half the world, was scared to death for a time by the mere sight of elephants in this ludicrous army of the Sultan of Delhi, for they had seen such huge beasts for the first time in their lives. Yet it got over the fear very soon and as soon as the Sultan’s forces were completely routed, it dashed violently into the city of Delhi, letting loose the orgy of wholesale massacre, plunder and arson. Millions of lives were lost this day. After having thus quenched his thirst for Hindu blood to some extent, Taimur turned further to Meerut and Haridwar, smashing to pieces Hindu idols at many places on his way. At Haridwar, he reached the pinnacle of his cruelty in the Hindu bloodbath. How many instances is one to quote of the harrowing atrocities which the Hindu community had to suffer simply because of their dire determination and holy resolve not to forsake their religion! From Haridwar, this fiendlike Taimur went further to the north, raining Hindu blood on the Shivalik hills, Nagarcote, Jammu and demolishing Hindu temples on the way. On his way, he got the news of his native capital of Samarkand being threatened by the rebels. So, mad with fury and mental anguish, he hurried straight off to Samarkand with the whole of his army. 839. In this Taimurlangian deluge was washed off the little that was left of the Tughlak Sultanate. In the chaotic conditions that then prevailed in north India, the Sayyads usurped the nominal Sultanate of the Tughlaks.

840. Availing themselves of this miserable condition of the Muslim power at Delhi, the veteran defenders of the Hindu religion, the independent Rajput kings, went on setting free the territories formerly conquered by the Muslims. For that matter, the holy places of the Hindus like Kashi, Prayag and others hand, even before this time, been reconquered from the Muslims. But!—Although the political power there was defeated and uprooted, their colonies and their religious centres like their Masjids and mosques were not destroyed—as did the Muslims, whenever they conquered the Hindu territories, slaughtering the Hindus irrespective of their age or sex and pulling down the Hindu holy places of worship, so as to make mere existence impossible for them. But because the Hindus did not emulate the Muslims in this respect, these local Muslims, who were left alive and unmolested, turned traitors, like serpents fed and fostered as pets, and invited again and again the Muslim aggressors for help and made life miserable for the Hindus in those holy places and cities. But the Rajput malady of the suicidal generosity even now persisted without any moderation. (The reader is referred to the detailed discussion in this regard in Paragraphs 421 to 426). Rana Kumbha
841. Most notable among the Rajput heroes of the time was Rana Kumbha, who excelled not only the great leaders of Chitod but even those of Hindusthan in respect of valour and success. He went to war with a powerful neigbhouring Muslim Sultan, Mohammad Khilji of Malwa, who had become independent by renouncing the overlordship (paramountcy) of the Sultan of Delhi, and in a battle near Sultanpur, vanquished the latter completely. Sultan Mohammad Khilji of Malwa was at last caught alive by Rana Kumbha. But grossly affected as he was by the age-old malady of the perverted sense of virtues, as the other Hindu heroes before him were, he allowed the Sultan to go free, considering it a noble act on his own part. Had but Rana Kumbha been taken captive by the Muslim Sultan, Mohammad Khilji, he would very likely have been deprived of his eyesight, as Prithviraj was, and brutally murdered according to the diabolic war- ethics of the Muslims. In fact, this diabolic war-ethics is the only one that is beneficial to a nation in such fiendish wars and hence is highly pious and thoroughly sound!

842. This battle was considered so unique and unparalleled in the Hindu history of those days that in order to celebrate it, Rana Kumbha erected a colossal and artistic pillar of victory at Chitod, which still stands to the admiration of all visitors! In a like manner, did Rana Kumbha beat down Sultan Kutbuddin of Gujarat when the latter attacked Kumbhalgad, and Kutbuddin had ultimately to sue for peace and save his life.
843. Even after Rana Kumbha, Rajputana claims so many brave and capable leaders of men that whole volumes ought really to be devoted to the generations that produced each of them. But, our recent histories are so much haunted by those of the Muslim and European nations, that they fight shy of recording the glorious acts of the Hindus—it is, in fact, a clear proof of the absence of any independent research made by them and of their glaring ignorance! Fortunately, the contemporary Rasos, written honestly and with a rare literary flavour, and inspired by the exceptional valour of the Hindus of the times, are available here and there. Prithviraj Raso, Hameer Raso, Chhatrasal Raso and many others—beautiful heroic ballads and narrative poems of varied lengths—are to be had even today. But God knows if these historians know them even by name! Again, modern historical research has discovered many rock inscriptions not only in Rajputana, but in the caves at various other places. They also are likely to help a lot in re-writing the history of these Hindu heroes. But the present doesn’t seem to be the proper time to undertake that work on a major institutional basis! Till such a propitious time comes, smaller institutions or individual scholars can start, if not the actual research work, at least, the work of collection of this vast deal of source material. Such a fond hope can safely be entertained, if we remember the celebrated name of Rajwade alone! Lodi Dynasty
844. After the end of the Sayyad Dynasty in A.D. 1450, some Lodis of Afghan extraction ruled as Sultans at Delhi for some time. Of them all Shikandar Lodi tried to consolidate his power during A.D. 1485 to 1517. This Shikandar Lodi again was born of a Hindu mother, but like every other Muslim ruler, he always had a stern eye upon the Hindus. He again enforced the ban on the Hindu pilgrimages, which the Hindus had begun to make in the meanwhile. He even forbade collective baths in holy rivers on Parvani days. Nevertheless, as elsewhere, the Hindus resisted stubbornly

even at the cost of their lives. The following account of a great martyr should suffice to illustrate the foregoing remarks. 845. At a certain town near Lakhnau (Lucknow) lived a Brahmin, named Buddha, who preached that whatever just and virtuous religious code one followed, so long as one followed it sincerely, was equally acceptable to God. In spite of all the harassment caused to him by the Muslims on this account, he propagated his views so very vigorously that even the Kazi of Lakhnau had to give way. In the end, the authorities committed this complaint to the Sultan, Shikandarkhan, thereupon, had a full-dress debate between this Brahmin and nine other learned moulavis. But the Brahmin, loyal as he was to his own religion and to truth, would not give in. So the Sultan himself threatened him: “Be a Muslim or you will be put to instant death.” And as the said Brahmin spurned his threat, he was killed forthwith. Rana Sang 846. After the death of Shikandar Lodi in A.D. 1517 his son Ibrahim Lodi ascended the tottering throne of the Sultan of Delhi. For the disintegrating Muslim power at Delhi experienced excruciating death pangs at the hands of the Rajputs of the time, who had in Rana Sang a very great, valiant leader. Even the smaller Muslim rulers took great offence at the brave deeds of Rana Sang. The ruler of Idar expressed his malice against Rana Sang by naming a dog at his door Sangrana. In order to chastise this monkeying of the Muslims, Rana Sang marched with a large army against Idar, and vanquishing them completely at every place, he avenged in full the wrongs done to the Hindus. This battle caused no harm to the Hindus round about. On the contrary, they looked upon him with evident pride and pleasure as their Godsend saviour and protector. Registering his conquests over the Muslim foes at every place with triumphal marches amidst popular applause, the loud beats of his war-drums and the gay fluttering of his victorious flag, he returned to Chitod in A.D. 1519. He had, by this time, liberated Ratanbhor, Gagrone, Walpi (Kalpi?), Bhilsa and Chanderi from the Muslim domination and annexed them to his own kingdom. Defeat of Sultan Ibrahim lodi by Rana Sang in the battle of Khanoli 846A. In order to improve the decaying condition of the Muslim power, constantly harmed by the Rajputs, Sultan Ibrahim Lodi gathered all his strength and invaded Rana Sang. The two parties joined battle at Khanoli, where in a bloody action, Rana Sang put to rout the Sultan’s army and sent him back to Delhi downcast and crestfallen.

Babar’s Invasion 847. Beset with such calamities, Subedar Daulatkhan Lodi of Lahore became, along with other Muslim chieftains, quite pessimistic about their own safe existence. As a last resort, they invited Babar, the then powerful ruler of Afghanistan, to help them put down Rana Sang. Babar, too had been waiting for such an opportunity, for as a descendant of Taimurlang, he claimed a direct right to the sovereignty of India. So Babar hastened to help Daulatkhan Lodi in A.D. 1526. 848. Seeing this allied Muslim army come menacingly, the scared Sultan Ibrahim Lodi sought the help of the valiant Hindu King of Chitod, Rana Sang, in spite of the fact that the latter had very recently inflicted a crushing defeat on him. But the Muslims were never ashamed of eating the humble pie before the Hindus on such occasions. Again, it has been already shown and will, hereafter, be shown, how foolish and baseless are our popular notions that the Muslims never fought amongst themselves, or that they never sought help from the Hindus to fight with their fellow Muslims, should such an eventuality arise! Sultan Ibrahim’s is a glaring instance in point. With the help of Rana Sang, Sultan Ibrahim fought with the invading Babar at Panipat in A.D. 1526. But as Ibrahim himself was killed on the battlefield and his army took to flight, Rana Sang too had to retreat. While wandering through forest-after-forest, organising a strong army to meet Babar again on the battlefield, this high-minded Maharana Sang succumbed to incurable diseases in A.D. 1530, and the Hindus lost a precious diadem. Moghul Dynasty founded at Delhi 849. After this signal victory, Babar grasped the Sultanate of Delhi for himself in A.D. 1526, setting aside the original aspirant to that place, Subedar Daulatkhan Lodi of Punjab. This was the beginning of the Moghul Empire of Delhi. Notable Events in the Remaining Provinces of North India at the Time 850. SINDH: The reconquest of Sindh from the Arab hands by the Hindus has already been noted (cf. Paragraphs 655 to 656). Those Sumer Rajputs retained Sindh in their hands till A.D. 1336. In A.D. 1336, a Rajput King named Jam Afra, was ruling there as an independent potentate. There were constant wars between this Hindu monarchy and the Sultans of Delhi. From A.D. 1367 to 1380, a Hindu monarch was succeeded to the throne by

another Rajput Prince, who, however, because of many maladies, lost his balance of mind and voluntarily became a Muslim. 851. BENGAL: When ultimately in A.D. 1192, Mohammad Ghori subjugated the Sultanate of Delhi for ever, he sent many valorous chieftains under him to subdue the Hindu states round about. One of them, Bakhtyar Khilji, overcame the Hindu rule in Bihar and Bengal in A.D. 1195 and founded the Muslim rule there for the first time. Of his persecution of the Hindus and especially of the Buddhists and their wholesale conversion to Islam, we have already said enough in Paragraph Nos. 342 to 356. On this very occasion, this wild fiendish commander of the Muslim forces razed to the ground the world famous University of Nalanda, which had a glorious tradition of over five centuries to its credit. The Muslims set fire to the vast and invaluable collection of innumerable books, which had kept burning, it is said, for six months. But the Muslims never allowed anybody to put the fire down before it quenched of itself, and every written record was reduced to ashes! Want of armed might renders the power of Science as also the power of Religion Miserably Helpless—one more illustration! 852. In that vast burning library, there were innumerable valuable books of the Vedic, Buddha, Jain and other religions. But to protect them from fire came neither the Vedic Gods, nor Lord Buddha, no, not even Lord Jain! The actual armed might of the devotees is the only armed strength the Gods seem to have! 853. In the end, Bakhtyar Khilji conquered the last of the Sen Kings and after annexing Bengal, started his campaign of the wholesale conversion of the Hindus to Islam. 854. The Muslim Subedars themselves rebelled from time-to-time against the paramount power of Delhi and calling themselves the Sultans of Bengal, ruled the province independently. Fakruddin was the first of them to announce his independent sway over Bengal in A.D. 1347. Since then, these Afghan Sultans had ruled the province till A.D. 1576. Once in the meantime in A.D. 1386, a Hindu Jamindar named Kans overthrew this Afghan rule and established Hindu power in Bengal. When this King Kans died in A.D. 1392, his son Jitmalla came to the throne of Bengal. But to the greater discredit of the Hindus there, this Hindu King Jitmalla once had the wanton caprice to court Islam, and he changed his name to Jalaluddin! And to the greater shame of the Hindus, be it said that not a single Hindu throughout

the whole of Bengal came forward to chastise Jalaluddin for this national crime. They acquiesced in the Muslim domination without a murmur! 855. One more capable Hindu Jamindar, who was a proud adherent of Hinduism, had nearly managed to do as much. But his efforts too ended in disaster. Of the few brave Hindu warriors who rose in rebellion against the Muslims and fought tooth and nail, the only one who can be ranked along with Rana Pratap and Baba Banda was Maharaja Pratapaditya of Jashodhar. Although his sphere of activity was not very large and although for want of active and potent support from the Hindu community, he was in the end defeated, his name will ever be remembered in the history of Hindu independence movement! 856. KASHMIR: For want of space, it is enough to say here that while the Muslims were wantonly subjugating Gujarat, Malwa and other provinces of north India, Kashmir was completely immune from the Muslim influence till the fourteenth century of the Christian era, being governed by the Hindu Kings, sometimes vigorously and potently enough, at others mildly but always independently! The last of its Hindu Kings was Sendev. The history of Kashmir is written by Pandit Kalhan under the name ‘Rajtarangini’. This Sendev had appointed one Muslim, named Shahmir or Mirza, to be some official of the state and later on raised him from post-to-post, until he was made the Chief Minister of the State. What happened elsewhere in the history of many Hindu States also happened here, and after the death of Sendev, this very Muslim Minister treacherously destroyed this Hindu State on the strength of a very cleverly preconceived plan, and usurped the throne of Kashmir under the title ‘Shamsuddin’. 857. Of course, just as the Hindus ultimately liberated the whole of India from the Muslim hands, similarly our Hindu Sikhs and Dogras not only freed Kashmir from the Muslim bondage, but they also marched victoriously to Laddakh, on one side, and to Gilgit, on the other, and proudly planted the Hindu standard there—but after fighting many grim battles and in course of time—some centuries afterwards! ❑

19.

The Establishment of the Glorious new

Hindu Empire of Vijaynagar

858. For the better convenience of the reader, it is advisable to recall at the very outset, the chronology of certain events. The first foreign—especially non-Hindu—large-scale aggression on the Deccan was the one by Allauddin on Devgiri in A.D. 1294. It was followed with precipitate haste by three or four such tremendous military expeditions up to A.D. 1318 under the intrepid yet cruel Muslim commanders like Maliq Kafur and Khushrukhan, who ruthlessly forced conversion upon thousands of Hindus. During these twenty-five years or so, the Muslims overran practically the whole of the Deccan and wiped out of existence, five or six ancient, famous and strong Hindu Kingdoms from Devgiri to Malabar. 858A. Howsoever shameful and stigmatic this historical fact might be to the prestige and self-respect of the Hindu Nation, the Deccanese Hindu heroes, too, swallowed up, as it were, in one draught, as their ancient ancestor, Agasti Rishi, did of yore, the doomsday flood of the Muslim warriors and hardly within a decade or so, shattered the Sultanate of Delhi to pieces! They raised in its place, at least in the Deccan, a grand victorious Hindu Empire of Vijaynagar. The lightning-like speed, with which they achieved all this, is also so creditable to the Hindu Nation, that we should for ever, be proud of them and grateful to them.
859. For, even before the whole of the Deccan was subjugated in A.D. 1318, some of the indefatigable Hindu leaders, highly ambitious of re- establishing Hindu sway over the Deccan without delay, had already begun establishing secret contacts with Khushrukhan himself. The Khan cherished in his mind daring plans of dispatching Sultan Mubarik after reaching Delhi and crowning himself as Sultan in his stead. But he knew full well that in this courageous bid for power, even the bitterest of the Muslim enemies of the ruling Sultan would not have helped him in the least. But he could expect passive, even active, support from the Hindu chiefs or sirdars. For, Khushrukhan himself had become most impatient to tear off his tawdry guise of Mohammadanism, which was forced upon him, very much against his will, and to appear in his original Hindu form. Naturally, secret reports and slanderous complaints constantly reached the court of Sultan Mubarik

at Delhi, that Khushrukhan was in collusion with the recently overpowered Hindu chiefs and leaders of Hindu Society, and that some deep-laid mysterious plan was afoot. The reader should refer to a connected and plausible account of this whole affair, so far as it can he deduced from these various scattered bits of information, that are so far available to us (Paragraphs 754 to 782). 860. The founders of the Empire of Vijaynagar, Harihar and Bukka, were the two sons of Sangam of the ancient Yadav family. They were employed at the court of Anagondi. During the turbulent times following the Muslim conquests of Devgiri and Warangal in the reign of Allauddin, the Kingdom of Anagondi, too, was overpowered by the Muslims. Anagondi itself or some place nearby was the former city of Kishkindha of Wali, as the folklore goes. After the downfall of Anagondi, Harihar and Bukka were taken as captives to Delhi in A.D. 1327 and were converted there to Islam. Later on, being pleased with their behaviour and exceptional ability, the Sultan sent them both with a new expedition to fight with the Hindus in A.D. 1331, with higher authority and responsible posts. But as soon as they came to the Deccan— Most probably as per a pre-conceived plan 861. They paid a visit to the then chief preceptor of Sankeshwar Math, Shree Shankaracharya Vidyaranyaswami, who was a skilled politician too. Immediately, the Shankaracharya himself re-converted these two converted Hindus who promptly raised a Hindu army and defeated the Muslim host, which they themselves had led a short time ago. Soon in consultation with Shankaracharya, Vidyaranyaswami and many other brave Hindu leaders, it was decided to found an independent sovereign state on the banks of the river Tungbhadra. The Capital was established at the newly-founded city of Vijyanagar, which bespoke of Hindu victory. The reins of this kingdom were placed in the hands of Shree Harihar in A.D. 1336, while Shri Vidyaranya himself became his chief minister. 862. At this very stage, it is advisable to explain one enigmatic episode, which is not yet so explained by historians. The event in question is the transfer of the capital from Delhi to Devgiri by Mohammad Tughlak, who is considered ‘crazy’, but who was, in fact, a learned fool, without any practical sense. His decision to shift the Capital of his Empire from Delhi to Devgiri is considered to be his wayward caprice. But it was not a pure whim of his. It was to consolidate his victories in the Deccan that were

gained by his generals and to rule that region effectively, that he thought of having his capital in its very midst. Again, his precipitate decision to shift his Capital back to Delhi, which resulted in untold sufferings for the people was also not his pure caprice. In fact, it was for the last ten years or so that the Muslim rule seemed to have stabilized itself in the Deccan, but it was most humiliating and so most hateful and unbearable to the Hindus. So, all the Hindu kings, all the Hindu religious preachers and lawgivers and Hindu people at large, were preparing feverishly though secretly to overthrow that alien rule, and the Muslim army had also grown panicky about such an armed rising. The Sultan realized the grave danger of his being involved in the meshes of this Hindu revolt and the possibility of his being destroyed completely. That is why he hurriedly shifted his Capital back to Delhi, far to the north—not simply because his caprice dictated it! As a matter of fact, it was the panic about this growing armed strength of the Hindus that caused all these crazy and contradictory moves of his! 863. One more important event of this time has equally baffled the historians, but it is far too strange to be set aside. It is this Sangam, whose young sons, Harihar and Bukka, were taken captives by the Muslims, was in fact, closely related to the Kings of Anagondi and Warangal. Naturally, these two sons were also fairly well connected with these royal families. It was for this particular reason that Mohammad Tughlak took them to Delhi and converted them to Islam. On many Hindu kings and princes had fallen this calamity of being forcibly converted to Islam, but even if they escaped afterwards from such a calamity, they had, unfortunately, no hope of being absorbed in the Hindu Society. The stumbling block was that of the ban on reconversion to Hinduism (Paras 379 to 403). How then and from what source, did this inspiration arise, which actuated the two young warriors, Harihar and Bukka, to seek reconversion to Hinduism, which again emboldened Shankaracharya Vidyaranyaswami to preside over and effect this reconversion, totally disregarding the staunch public opposition and all the rules and regulations laid down in the interpolated chapter on Kalivarjya Prakarna, and which finally made many other Hindu men of action to follow up this new movement? 864. The answer to this riddling question is to be found in the unprecedented politico-religious revolution brought about some ten or twelve years ago by the Hindu Samrat Dharmarakshak (Nasir-ud-din) at Delhi. For, Sultan Nasir-ud-din himself was originally a Hindu, who was

forcibly converted to Islam. But because of the fondness and infatuation of Alauddin and his son, he was given the title of Khushrukhan and was gradually raised to be the commander of a huge Muslim army to invade the South. Till the moment he became sufficiently powerful, Khushrukhan outwardly maintained his Muslim garb; but as soon as he returned from his southern campaign, he cut off the Muslim Sultan, Mubarik, and crowned himself as Hindu Emperor, proudly proclaiming that he was originally a Hindu and that he was re-embracing that religion once again. Not content with this, he reconverted hundreds of such unhappy converts to Hinduism, and changed the Muslim masjids into Hindu temples! The exciting news of this unheard of but successful attack of Hindutwa (हिंदुत्व) upon the Muslim empire and Muslim religion had already reached the farthest corners of India. Naturally, when Harihar and Bukka were stationed at Delhi as captive Muslim converts at the orders of the Muslim Sultan, they must have heard the excited discussions about this very recent happening, which must have egged them on to attempt some such seemingly impossible feat of escaping to the Deccan with a large army. So, they must have simulated to Mohammed Tughlak that they were staunch Muslims and as such deserved his fullest confidence, and that is why Mohammed Tughlak appointed Harihar and Bukka at the head of Muslim army in that region. When Mohammed Tughlak shifted his capital from Devgiri to Delhi, he could not keep sufficient army in the South to protect the imperial territory in the Deccan. So, when the news of the probable rising of the Hindus came to his ears, he decided to send these two warriors to strengthen the imperial position in the south, because in the first place, they were closely connected with the royal Hindu families of the Deccan and secondly, because they were now trustworthy Muslims. Harihar and Bukka, too, got the wishes for opportunity and showed all the eagerness to execute the tasks set to them. It was an established practice of the Sultans of Delhi to send the converted Hindus to extend the imperial boundaries and such attempts bore rich fruit, as can be seen in the case of Maliq Kafur and others. With the apparent determination to destroy the Hindu revolts in the Deccan, Harihar and Bukka took leave of the Sultan and with the Muslim army, went straight to their own States of Anagondi and Warangal. 865. In all probability, they must have passed on to Shree Swami Vidyaranya and the rest of the Hindu kings in unmistakable terms, the information as to their secret plans and their real intention, long before they