भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

and Korea. Kublai Khan made the age-long Chinese capital of Peking his own. 697. One after-effect of this Mongol-Turkish struggle was that they had a mixed progeny, which was called Moghal or Mughal. These Moghals frequently tried to rush into India and finally reached Delhi. Some of them took to Islam, but the old Muslims did not treat them equally; they considered them to be low-born. These Moghals founded in Delhi, a separate colony of theirs, named ‘Moghalpura’. Some others of them went to the Rajputs for shelter because the old Muslims scoffed at them. Especially, some two thousand of them sought employment in the army of the valiant Hindu king of Ratanbhor. 698. Sultan Bulban of the Slave Dynasty was, in a sense, the most powerful and able; he called himself the true representative of Allah. But as regards his hatred towards the Hindus, he surpassed everybody from the emperor to the meanest of servants. He imposed various heavy taxes on the Hindus, forbade their pilgrimages to the holy places while their forcible conversions and massacres went on unceasingly from village to village. 699. Bulban died in old age in A.D. 1286. There being no able person from the Slave Dynasty to succeed him, within four years, a nobleman from the Khilji family, Jalaluddin, slew the sons and grandsons of Bulban and proclaimed himself the Sultan of Delhi, putting a stop to the Slave Dynasty for ever, and starting his own. Khilji Dynasty 700. This Khilji dynasty of Jalalluddin called itself Pathans (Afghans), if at all it was of Turkish extraction. Jalalluddin himself was, as the other Sultans and Muslims were, fired with the devilish ambition to destory the Hindu political, as well as religious power, root and branch. He was just, as regards other departments of administration, but was partial to the Muslims. Seeing the tremendous loss of Muslim lives in the siege of Ratanbhor, he raised the siege and decamped saying, “I value a single hair of a Muslim more than a hundred such forts.” But this wisdom of his was so belated, that the cause for this action of his has to be sought in the unbeaten valour of the Rajputs. After this failure, he never again troubled the Rajputs. 701. The old Jalalluddin really wanted to enthrone his one ambitious, brave and staunch Muslim nephew, Allauddin after his own death. So he had sent him with a large army to face the Rajputs. But not content with this assignment, which seemed too meagre for his daring Hindu-hatred, he

marched straight off without the Sultan's permission to conquer the southern Hindu states and rob them of their reported fabulous wealth, of which he had lately grown covetous beyond every limit. The first Hindu state to fall a victim to this unexpected attack of Allauddin was that of the Yadava of Devgiri. 702. There is one special point to be noted as regards this southern conquest of Allauddin. The Hindu society of the south had, for more or less two thousand years, from the early beginnings of the modern history, i.e. from 500 or 600 B.C. to the 13th century A.D., been enjoying complete political, religious and social independence and had been economically highly prosperous. It had never been successfully invaded throughout these two thousand years. Whoever of the foreign invaders dared to do so, was ruthlessly crushed on the borders themselves. So, this invasion of Allauddin was the first of its kind and was bound to be successful with far-reaching harmful effects. Because of this special revolutionary and harmful character of this invasion of Allauddin, it has to be dealt with in a fresh chapter. ❑

Muslim Invasions on South India upto the Beginnings of the 14th Century 703. Right from the beginnings of known history, i.e. from about 500 to 600 B.C. to the beginning of the 14th century, South India never knew any great foreign invasion either by land or sea. The Hindu states there enjoyed their political liberty and power almost unhampered and unimpeded. On the contrary, millions of Hindu people and armies of the Kalings, Pandyas, Chers, Chols, Andhras, Rashtrakuts, Chalukyas, Yadavas and others up to Dwarka had victoriously spread their political and commercial supremacy, their theological and scientific knowledge, their art and sculpture up to Mexico on the one side and to central Africa on the other. 704-705. But this glorious achievement of the Hindu states of the South of maintaining their independence for over two thousand years has never been so specifically and forcibly stated anywhere in history! We, however, challenge if any country or state of such magnitude as that of the continent like South Indian peninsula can be found on the face of this earth, which has valiantly maintained its independence, power and empire and kept foreign invaders either by land or sea, off its territories for such a long period! 706. And such a country like India, more than half of whose territory enjoyed such a glorious past, is derided by some half-crazy jealous historians, foreign as well as Indian, or by some Hindu-haters like Dr. Ambedkar or by some quite ignorant writers, so as to say, “Indian history from the beginning is a history of a slavish people sunk deep into foreign bondage and constantly trampled under foreign heels. “The word ‘slavery’ sums up the whole history of the Hindus who have been dragging on the poor existence for tens and scores of centuries!” 707. At least, from now onwards, every Indian or non-Indian historian must, for the love of truth, mention specifically this glorious peculiarity of South India! Then alone, their writings would deservedly be called history!! The Credit due to the Hindus of the North 708. Of course, while speaking of this glorious achievement of the South of India—of maintaining its independence and vast empire over such a long period—due credit must be given to the Hindu warriors, who

tenaciously fought for more than six or seven hundred years the bloody and disastrous wars with the Arabs, the Pathans, the Turks, the Moghals, millions of pillaging aggressors of numerous nations and communities of almost the whole of Asia and halted their all-sweeping advance there in the North for such a long period; and to those millions of Hindu martyrs who gave away their lives for defending their religion by leaping into the hungry flames, into the bounding waves of the Hooded rivers or in the wholesale man-slaughter carried on by the enemy, but never forsook their religion as per their various beliefs! The Hindus, history can never forget— must never forget—these immeasurable obligations of those generations of Hindus of the North over the whole of the Hindu nation-obligations which can have no requital whatsoever! 709. However, world history itself tells us that even the greatest of nations, too, fall victims some time or the other, even if after a very long lapse of time, to some foreign domination. Similarly, towards the very end of the 13th century (in A.D. 1294), this sub-continent of South India was overcome with this calamity of the foreign Muslim aggression. 710. But it must be remembered here that the only nation in the then known world, which could be fairly compared with India as regards its extent and greatness—the Chinese nation—was overrun from end-to-end, and subjugated by Chengeezkhan nearly a hundred years prior to the 14th century; and simultaneouly with the first invasion of South India by Allauddin—of which we are going to write very shortly—it had already become the footstool of the foreign throne of the Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan! But can any profane, abusive writer make bold to say that the Chinese nation has all along been rotting in foreign bondage? Modern History of South India 711. The relevant and sufficient portion of the ancient history of South India has already been referred to in an early part of this book. We can safely assume that with the downfall of the Shalivahan dynasty in A.D. 236 or thereabout, began the modern history of South India. Thereafter, the gallant Chalukya Emperor, Pulakeshi shone like a lighthouse tower, counting the passage of time, in the history of the South. He too has been mentioned in the earlier chapters. To his court had come the famous Chinese traveller, Huen-tsang (or Yuan Chwan), who has first used the word Maharashtra to describe Pulakeshi's kingdom. That is the first important recorded use of the word in history. Emperor Pulakeshi fell fighting with the

Pullav King, Nursinh Varma, of the South in A.D. 642 and his kingdom was conquered by the Pallavas. But very shortly afterwards, it was reconquered by his son, Vikramaditya I, after defeating the Pallavas in a furious battle. 712. To this very Chalukya dynasty, belonged Vikramaditya II, who later on in the 8th century A.D., sent a huge army to Navasari and defeated the Arab invaders there! 713. Various such Hindu conquests over the Muslims are not even mentioned in modern histories. History, of late, has become too partial and vulgar. The various such incidents of Hindu supremacy and superior craft, that have been mentioned heretofore, can very rarely be found in the contemporary histories written by Muslim writers. Hereafter, at least Hindu writers should describe such glorious acts of valour of the Hindu kings and warriors after careful research. 714. The above-mentioned royal dynasty of the Pallavas was one of the valorous and prosperous ones of the South. They had their capital at Kanchi (Kanjivaram) for some time. At the end of the ninth century A.D., a Chol king of South India itself, named Aditya, overpowered Aparajit Pallav and subdued his kingdom for ever. The Rashtrakuts 715. After the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakuts had established a prominent and very powerful kingdom, bringing practically the whole of the South and even the southern part of Gujarat under their sway. For some time, they had their capital at Malkhed. By far, the most important achievement of theirs is getting the famous Kailas cave carved at Verul (Ellora). 716. After the 10th century A.D., there were only two prominent kingdoms in the South: those of the Cholas of Tanjawar (Tanjore) and the Pandyas of Madura. Fortunately, we have the eyewitness account of the political independence of the South, their prosperous state, and their gallantry, by a third party, namely Marco Polo, the celebrated, discerning, learned European (Italian) traveller and writer, who had spent many years of his life in the court of Kublai Khan in China and who on his way back, had at this very time, stayed for some days at Madura, the Pandya capital. His testimony as to the Hindu mastery of the three seas and their overseas empires, which we can find in his book of travels, is the most important. For when he came from China to India, he came via Indo-China and visited the Hindu states in Sumatra and other islands. At the time of his sojourn in Sumatra, the island was ruled by one Hindu King, Shree Vijay, who gave

equal protection to the Buddhists also. Marco Polo, thereafter, went back to Venice, his place of birth, about the year A.D. 1295. Two or three other foreign travellers had come and stayed in India at that time, and have left behind them some account of their travels, which, along with that of Marco Polo, bear important and independent witness to the fact of the complete political freedom of the Southern Hindu states, of their political, commercial and religious supremacy over many other nations around them, of their overlordship of the Eastern, Western and Southern Seas, of their powerful navies and merchant marine, which traversed the tides of the three seas unopposed, and of the unrivalled title of ‘Trisamudreshwar’, which these Southern Hindu kings proudly took lor themselves. 717. ‘Trisamudreshwar’ emperor Rajendra Chola died in A.D. 1042 and after one or two powerful kings after him, the Chowl dynasty and the Chowl empire perished at the end of the 13th century. Religious Preachers like Shankaracharya and others 718. During these years, South India saw not only the rise of royal heroes like Rajendra Chowl, but also the glorious heights reached by religious heroes, the foremost among them being Shreemat Shankaracharya, defeating the various so-called heretical views that were being advocated throughout India against the Vedic religion. At Kalindi in Karal, was born this great personality of Shankaracharya in a Nambudri Brahmin family. Being well- versed in the Vedic lore and having taken the vow of Sannyas (having renounced the worldly life) even before the tender age of sixteen, he began to preach and conquer the heretics in all quarters. Kumarilbhatta, the well- known exponent of the Karma theory, who successfully refuted the Buddhist religious opinions, was also preaching throughout the four corners of India round about this time. Another preacher Diggaja (दिग्गज)—(the elephant defending the directions)—Mandanmishra, was also the contemporary of this young Shankaracharya. In order to establish his theory of अद्वैत (the non- existence of duality between—the unison [unity] of—Jeevatma and Paramatma) and to hoist the victorious banner of Vedic religion throughout the whole of India, Shankaracharya went on searching out and completely defeating in religious debate not only the followers of the absolute theory of karma, but also the other non-Vedic beliefs and even the renowned leaders of the Buddhist religion. Finally he paraded the victorious Vedic banner througout India and established authoritative religious institutions of his

order at four places in the four directions of India: at Shringeri in the south, at Dwarka to the west, Jagannathpuri in the eastern quarter and at Kashmir to the farthest north. These religious seats (institutions) received full Government support so long as Hindu states existed in those various places. Having accomplished this wonderful work of religious propaganda and having written the (unparalleled) unrivalled book, ‘Shankarbhashya’, he entered the cave-took a living samadhi—(ended his life by restraining his breath). The Political Activities of the Shaivite sects like the Pashupatas 719. Even before this period was resuscitated, the Shaivite Sect of the Pashupatas, which being militant like the Shaktas, extremely hated the meek अहिंसा—‘non-violence’—and renunciation of the worldly life of the Buddhists and Jains. It fomented and fanned to red heat’, at least indirectly, among the Hindus, the tendency to oppose the non-Hindu religious aggressors and a love for war. Shree Lakulesh was their apostle, who was born in Gujarat and whose great work and Influence made the Hindus take him for the very incarnation of Lord Har (Shiv), and whom even Shankaracharya mentions proudly. Bengal during these years 720. Till 700 to 800 A.D., Bengal was ruled by the Pal kings, the first of whom was king Gopal. He was a Buddhist. He had from his queen Deddadevi, a son, named Dharampal, who ruled from 800 to 825 A.D. He too was a Buddhist and had been married to Ranadevi, the daughter of the Rashtrakut king Govind, who was most famous in the South. By about A.D. 1095, the Sen dynasty destroyed the Pal kings and founded their own kingdom. These Sen kings were the Kshatriyas from karnatak in the South, who had their silent access to the royal circle perhaps through the retinue of the above-mentioned Rashtrakut princess, Ranadevi. Whatever that is, as these Sen kings were the staunch followers of the Vedic religion, they suppressed Buddhism in Bengal and vigorously revived the caste-system, rendered chaotic by intermingling of different castes during the Buddhist period as also the Vedic lore and other Vedic religious institutions. The book on Sanskrit grammar, Mugdhabodh, written by Bopdev was very popular in Bengal at this time. The contemporary history of Gujarat 721. The famous King Karnaraj, who built the extensive lake of Krishnasagar, ruled Gujrath from A.D. 1063 to 1093. The original capital of

his royal family was at Pattan, which he shifted later on to a new place and named it Karnavati, and it remained the capital of Gujarat even afterwards. 722. But later on, when Gujarat was overcome by the Muslims, Sultan Ahmedshah, who persecuted the Hindus most cruelly, changed the historical Hindu name of Karnavati to Ahmedabad in A.D.1412, befitting the traditional Muslim malignity towards the Hindus, and added to it, a newly built suburb. And the meek and submissive attitude of the Hindus of those times has been fondling that name ever since as their own. The first Invasion of the South by the Foreigners and Non-Hindus 723. Sultan Jalalluddin's nephew, Allauddin crossed the Vindhyas with a huge army without any permission from his uncle and attacked the south of India, to loot the fabulous wealth, of which he had so long been receiving tempting reports. This invasion was so unexpected and the negligence, conceit and narrow-mindedness of the South Indian Hindu Kings of that time were so profound and criminal, that perhaps it is after his kingdom was actually attacked that the king of Devgiri, Maharaja Ramdevrao Yadav, came to know of it, and being thoroughly unprepared to face it, was utterly confused. 723A. Is it not really strange that even while the Muslim states were being founded everywhere in the north of India, while they had been so very cruelly ravaging the Hindu religion and Hindu states for two or three centuries, while thousands of Hindu temples were being continuously and insultingly demolished, while Kashi was almost turned into Mecca, while Dnyandev, Namdev and other saints and their followers and millions of travelling Hindu pilgrims were going right up to the Punjab to visit the holy places and were returning aggrieved at the sad plight of Hindu religion there, while the Muslims were openly swearing and voicing their ambition to invade the South and convert it to Islam, the Hindu kings of the South should be so very careless and negligent, that instead of collecting their armies and sending them to the north to help the Rajputs face the Muslim aggression, Ramdevrao's forces under some of his chieftains, should have gone far to the South, and Ramdevrao himself should have been wandering most frivolously with his small army, hunting wild animals away from his capital? But... 724. Let alone Ramdevrao's state of Devgiri, but didn't even a single spy from the secret intelligence service of the four or five prominent Hindu states in the south go to the north and observe and inform his king or kings

much ability and skill, as Allauddin himself. The ageing Allauddin began to call the slave Maliq-Kafur. Later still, he began to run the whole administration of the empire with the latter’s advice. The second Muslim campaign on Ratanbhor 730. It has already been told that Jalalludin was defeated by the Hindus of Ratanbhor. In order to avenge that defeat, Allauddin marched again for the second time on the fort of Ratanbhor in A.D. 1301. Even the then Rana Hameer of Ratanbhor fought to the last, and laid down his life along with thousands of his soldiers in that furious battle, and on seeing the fall of the Rajput warriors, hundreds of Rajput ladies including Hameer’s queen standing on the ramparts of the fort, leapt into the blazing fire according to a pre-settled plan and burned themselves to death. How often have the Hindu warriors and their brave wives done such magnificent deeds of valour and sacrificed their lives! That is the only reason why the Hindu nation could still remain alive! Invasions of Chitod Subsequent to the fall of Ratanbhor 731. The most beautiful daughter of the Rajput king of Ceylon, named Padmini, was married to Rana Bheemsingh of Chitod. According to the shameless but proud vaunt of the Muslims in general that to kidnap the non- Muslim beautiful women openly was a Muslim’s religious duty, Allauddin openly demanded from Rana Bheemsingh his charming queen, and as the Rajputs spurned it, Allauddin marched on Chitod round about A.D. 1302. While describing the battles at that time, the Rajput history tells a story how in order to deceive Allauddin, the Rajputs promised to send Padmini to him but actually sent armed gallant fighters disguised as women in several palanquins and successfully executed a daring plan of rescuing the captured Bheemsingh, but the paucity of space prevents us from narrating it in any detail. Finding it impossible to crush the mighty Rajput valour even in that furious battle, Allauddin had to return to Delhi. This incident clearly shows that Rajputs, too, could resort to cunning. 732. In order to avenge the defeat inflicted by the Rajputs in this battle and for the sake of Padmini, Allauddin once again invaded Chitod in A.D. 1303, when once again the brave Rajputs donned the ‘ Kesaria’ (saffron garments) and fought till the end, slaying hundreds of Muslims, and died to a man. Seeing the victory smile upon the Muslims and fortune darken upon the Rajputs, about ten thousand Rajput women, including Rani Padmini, leapt into the blazing fire with their children at their breasts. Allauddin conquered

Chitod, only to collect the ashes of Padmini! When the Hindu warriors and Hindu women fought, they fought thus! 733. It must be told here that before the old Allauddin breathed his last, this defeat of the Hindus was avenged under the very nose of Allauddin in A.D. 1313 by the famous Rajput, Hameer, who conquered Chitod, after inflicting a crushing defeat upon the Muslims. He even captured a son of Allauddin alive —but he was not converted to Hinduism. He should have been, at least, to pay the enemy in its own coin! This is the very same suicidal generosity of the Hindus. 734. In A.D. 1307, this Maliq Kafur, Allauddin’s famed general, was sent by the Sultan to invade the South. Ramdevrao was once again defeated, but he made peace by paying off the accumulated ransom. But during this turmoil, the runaway Princess Devaldevi of Gujarat, who was married to Ramdevrao’s son Shankardev, was captured and sent to Delhi by Maliq Kafur. Soon after in A.D. 1308, he invaded the Deccan for the third time and defeated in a bloody action Raja Pratapdev of Varangal, the heroic king who had once vanquished the Muslims. Raja Pratapdev had to swear allegiance to the Sultanate at Delhi. 735. Flushed at this success, Maliq Kafur marched on the third Hindu State in the Deccan and defeated the Hoysal king there likewise. Kafur’s victorious sword then subdued the remaining Hindu kingdom of Madura. 736. Thus, for the first time, during the past two thousand years, practically the whole of the Deccan passed into foreign and non-Hindu enemy hands! The independence and prosperity of the Deccan came to an end in this year! At the Southern-most end of the Deccan, Maliq Kafur built a fine Masjid as if to commemorate this Muslim conquest of South India. But the Hindu reaction to it was to precipitate the successful Hindu conspiracies against Muslim bondage. 737. Ramdevrao’s son, Shankardev, succeeded him to the throne of Devgiri, and soon repudiated the oath of allegiance to Sultan Allauddin, whereupon Maliq Kafur swooped down on the Deccan once again. Shankardev did not surrender till the last and fought furiously till he was killed. 738. As Allauddin and Maliq Kafur stamped out the Hindu political power from the Deccan during their frequent invasions, they likewise crumbled to dust the huge and magnificent Hindu temples of the South, cut up their golden pinnacles and in majority of the cases, built palatial masjids

on their sites, forced thousands of Hindus to be converted. These innumerable converted Hindus made big farming and feudal estates in this Deccan itself. But Hindus, however, did not massacre these Muslims nor did they destroy them outright as and when they subdued the Muslim power later on. This is what we call the perversion of the concept of virtues! Most often the Hindus used the same War strategy of the Muslims, according to the Military Science of the time 739. On the religious front, the Hindus were, thus, being vanquished mostly because of their own foolish religious concepts and traditions, but on the political front, they were fighting with the Muslims as they ought to have done! Even after being completely overcome, they rose again and again and defeated the Muslims! Craftiness and cunning were generally matched with the same strategic moves by the Hindus! 740. Allauddin surpassed every other Sultan before him in cruelty in the persecution of the Hindus. He would have reached greater heights in cruelty in respect of his treatment of the Hindus, had he not been forced to fight on the other front with the Mongols, who unceasingly hurled their armed might against the western borders of India and caused a great turmoil throughout Mongolia and Cenral Asia. A few of them took to Islam and formed a new Muslim colony in Delhi itself. At last, the enraged Allauddin cut off the whole of this new Muslim colony to a man! Death of Allauddin 741. Allauddin was the first and the last Muslim Sultan to rule over practically the whole of India with the exception of some Hindu states like those of Chitod and others. Neither Akbar nor even Aurangzeb can take that place, as their territories never equalled those of Allauddin. 742. But in his old age, Allauddin was surely afflicted by his bodily diseases, which were the outcome of his physical vices. Naturally, he became a tool in the hands of Maliq Kafur, and in that miserable state, this valorous but Hindu-hater Sultan died of dropsy in A.D. 1316 or as it is said, Maliq Kafur killed him or had him killed. His ‘Allah’ could not bless him with a happy death because of his virtue of Hindu-hatred! In a few days Maliq Kafur, a one-time slave of Allauddin, usurped the whole power of Allauddin, but in the political chaos that ensued after Allauddin, he was soon killed. In the turbulent days that followed, a certain Khushrukhan of exceptional abilities, who had been shining in the diplomatic circles at

Delhi, rose to the highest seat of power. From the point of view of the Hindu nation, his story deserves a separate chapter in the history of India. ❑

Khushrukhan and Devaldevi 743. If the millions of students who are learning history in all the states in the Indian Union today are asked what they know of Khushrukhan, a unique unforgettable character, who was acclaimed as the Sultan of Sultans in the Muslim Sultanate at Delhi, and who was worthy of high praise from the point of view of the Hindus, it is more likely than not, that at least 93 per cent of these millions of students will reply with evident surprise, “Khushrukhan? No, we haven’t come across any major reference to such a man as you describe!” Let alone the students, but even if you were to ask the same question to the teachers in general, to the whole editorial staff of the newspapers in India or even to any educated man or woman, at least 75 per cent of them will very probably reply in the same manner; ‘who is this Khushrukhan? We have never heard even of his name!’ 744. It is for this very reason that we are attempting to give a brief sketch of his life and work, as far as we can do so with the available evidence. For, although he is a unique character in the modern Indian history, his name has been obliterated, as it were, by the Muslim historians and their blind foreign and Indian, Hindu followers, from the textbooks of history used in schools, for his sole offence of putting the Muslim Sultanate to shame in order to avenge the wrongs and insults hurled by them at the Hindu nation. Wherever he has been mentioned, he has been given the most insulting and abusive attributes like, ‘low-bred’, ‘depraved’, ‘a knave’, ‘a hell-hound’ by the Muslim writers. The early history of Khushrukhan 745. When in the reign of Allauddin, Gujarat had to face the first onslaught of the Muslims in A.D. 1298 and the governing authority of the Hindus was much shaken down, in the chaotic conditions then prevailing, a very tender, attractive but very brilliant Hindu youth had been captured and made a slave by the Muslim noblemen and was offered into the service of Allauddin, much the same way and for the same reason as Maliq Kafur was made a slave. This youth was originally a Hindu, belonging to the untouchable caste of Paria of Parwar (sweepers) in Gujarat. One or two Muslim writers deny that he was a Paria (sweeper), but emphatically assert that he was a Rajput. Alter having been captured and converted to Islam, he was first called ‘Hasan’. When he was taken in the service of Allauddin at

Delhi, in keeping with the social vice of the Muslims (viz., sodomy; paragraph 729), the greatest noblemen and generals of the court had unnatural sexual relations with him, and so they were extremely solicitous about serving his whims! When after Allauddin’s death in A.D. 1316, Maliq Kafur became the chief administrator, he also came to have great regard for his abilities. Very soon, Hasan was given the title of Khushrukhan. For, even in the days of Allauddin, he was being sent independently on some small military expeditions in charge of small troops. That Hasan should become Khushrukhan and then a general in the army so rapidly, bespeaks of his exceptional qualities. But more than these qualities of his limitless love that Mubarik, the son of Allauddin, bore towards this charming young man, was responsible for such a spectacular rise. So after both Allauddin and Maliq Kafur died or were dispatched as the case may be, Mubarik got the Sultanate of Delhi mainly with Khushrukhan’s assistance and quite naturally, all the reins of the government passed easily into the hands of Khushrukhan, the dearest, ablest and the most trustworthy young nobleman of Mubarik’s court, and young Khushrukhan, too, proved wholly efficient in the discharge of his responsible job. Mubarik was vicious and pleasure- seeking by nature. Therefore, he considered it a godsend gift to have such an efficient assistant in the person of Khushrukhan to run the whole administration, and especially, a loyal executive to manage his private affairs in the harem. Devaldevi 746. When in the court of Delhi, the attractive Maliq Kafur, who was born a Hindu but converted by Allauddin to Islam, became later on the commander-in-chief and an astute politician, practically at the same time, rose in status another young, handsome, Hindu convert, Khushrukhan, who after the death of Maliq Kafur, wielded all authority at the court of Delhi. In a similar way and simultaneously enough, rose a third figure in the political circles at Delhi, who was equally important, able, and who managed the affairs of the state only with the twitch of her eyebrows, and her sidelong glances—I mean the former Hindu princess of Gujarat and the sometime wife of Shankardev Yadav of Devgiri, namely Devaldevi. 747. Of these three Hindu converts, Maliq Kafur seems later on to have wholly turned a Muslim even mentally, completely forgetting his Hindu origin, the Hindu blood running through his veins, his Hindu parentage, let alone his love for all these! But Khushrukhan and this royal princess of

Gujarat, Devaldevi, seem to have borne in their mind not only the memory, but a love, a fascination for their Hindu origin, their Hindu blood, and their essential Hindu make-up—there seems to be rankling in their hearts, intermittently or continuously, the atrocities inflicted on them by the Muslims. It seemed to burst out through their actions. At last, it is because of their irrespressible yearning to avenge the wrongs done to their ‘Hindutwa’ that in Delhi itself, broke out that great conflagration which like the wild fire of Khandav forest of Mahabharat, reduced to ashes the Muslim Sultanate which had under its sway practically the whole of India, if only for a short while! 748. In the very first expedition of Allauddin against Gujarat, after the Gujarat ruler’s defeat, his crowned queen Kamaldevi fell into the hands of Allauddin while she was fleeing for safety. But the ruler, however, could effect his escape along with his princely daughter, Devaldevi, a mere child then. Used to all sorts of royal comforts and pleasures till the very previous day as she was, how hard and unbearable might this tender and beautiful royal princess have found it to undergo all the calamities and privations and exertions of wandering for days together through forest-after-forest, and trying to evade the ever present possibility of capture by the pursuing Muslims, might easily be imagined. In that tender age, hatred for the Muslims must have been engraved deeply on her bosom, because of other people’s and her own actual experience. Her very mother, Rani Kamaldevi, had become the beloved queen of Sultan Allauddin at Delhi, and that very mother of hers was now out to seize her and make her a Muslim! How painful must this news have been to her tender heart! In order to evade this terrible fate, she was married, even a little against her father’s wishes, to Ramdevrao’s son, Shankardev, the staunch follower of Hinduism. But her evil star did not leave her alone there. In one of the invasions of Maliq Kafur against the Hindus, she was caught and carried away to Delhi as a captive. She must have been smarting with pain and humiliation a hundred thousand times in that moment of despair! At last, on reaching Delhi, she was forced to marry Khijrakhan, the eldest son of Allauddin. Some writers vouch that Devaldevi and Khijrakhan greatly loved each other. But this seems to be the flattering way of the courtly writers. Her subsequent course of action makes it abundantly clear! But that shrewd Hindu princess seems to have affected her love for Islam and for her husband till she got the desired opportunity.

749. It becomes crystal clear from the latter part of her life that after all the atrocities and persecutions, she was constantly worshipping the Hindu god.
750. Even after being forced to marry Allauddin’s eldest son, the mental agonies of Devaldevi did not cease. For, immediately after Allauddin’s death, there was a revolution, in which Allauddin’s second son, Mubarik, attacked and blinded his brother along with his followers and then put them to death. Installing himself as the Sultan, he seized his brother’s wife, Devaldevi, and forced her to marry him.
751. This alone seems to be the civilized and polite tradition of the Muslim Sultans and Emperors to marry again the fairest of queens and wives of the late Sultans or Emperors, dead or put to death!
752. This way did the former Hindu princess, Devaldevi rise to the highest status of a Sultana! However, she abhorred Mubarik most bitterly, yet she had, per force, to keep marital relations with him. Although her precious body was thus continually defiled, she had the most favourite opportunity of her life owing to this marriage of hers with Mubarik.
753. In gaining the Sultanate of Delhi, Mubarik had mainly to depend on the former Hindu slave, who later on was forced to become a Muslim, and who now had become the commander-in-chief of the whole Sultanate of Delhi—namely Khushrukhan! Mubarik himself had willingly entrusted the whole administration to Khushrukhan, for he had no time to mind other things except every sort of depravity and vice. For instance, he was extremely fond of dressing like a woman, going to the greatest noblemen of the court with the whole band of dancing girls, and there dancing himself, or having dancing and musical concerts there. So, while this licentious Mubarik was fully engrossed with his various vices, his chief minister of state, Khushrukhan, who had the burning memory of his former Hindu wife, and his present wife but the former Hindu princess, Devaldevi, who had similar thoughts and tendencies and similar mishaps in life as the former—both being Gujarati Hindus originally—had the greatest opportunity of coming into closest contact, of developing the strongest love-ties and the greatest confidence in each other. They could carry on the day-to-day political intrigues and plans authoritatively and with impunity, even to the solitude of the innermost secret chambers of the Sultan’s private palace.

754. It has to be taken for granted from the latter course of events, that it is there, that they must have hatched some important conspiracy for the benefit of Hinduism.
755. The first proof that contributes to this assertion is that Khushrukhan appointed his former Hindu Paria or Parwar brother to the governorship of Gujarat, his native province.
756. The second very important pointer: Khushrukhan appointed openly in Delhi itself, for his own protection, thousands of his former Hindu warrior compatriots—at least twenty to thirty thousand strong—in the Muslim army.
757. The Third Pointer: These manoeuvres of his were highly resented to by many of the Muslim grandees. But the innormost intention behind them all was kept so very secret that, it is doubtful, whether, it had by that time, become so crystal clear to Devaldevi or even to Khushrukhan himself, let alone the others! Faintly and slowly, yet surely enough, was that intention taking shape in their minds.
758. The Fourth Pointer: Khushrukhan incited the most incapable Sultan like Mubarik to lead an expedition to the South to put down in good time, the rebellions of the conquered Hindus in the Deccan, and he himself accompanied him second-in-command. The Hindus were worsted a lot. Their immeasurable wealth, taken as spoils of war, filled the Sultan’s treasury. Most probably, it was during this expedition, that after the death of Shankardev of Devgiri, his relative, King Harpaldev, rebelled and founded the kingdom of Devgiri once again, for which he was defeated and ordered by the Sultan to be skinned alive and then put to death! And for the defence of his religion, the royal Hindu warrior bore it bravely.
759. Thereafter, Mubarik returned with his army to Delhi. Because of these deeds of valour of his for the sake of a Muslim Sultan and the Muslim state, and because of his devastation of the Hindus, his rival Muslim grandees, too, could not breathe a single word against his unshakable faith in the Islamic religion. They could at the most, only whisper that there was danger of his overthrowing Sultan Mubarik and become the Sultan himself in his stead. But that, he would be a Muslim Sultan and none else, there was not the least doubt.
760. But if at this very time that future conspiracy of a Hinduistic revolution, which was very strange and unheard of before, had germinated

in the minds of Khushrukhan and Devaldevi, it must have been kept highly secret with utmost caution. 761. Very soon, Mubarik sent Khushrukhan to the Deccan for an extensive conquest but he himself did not go with him. So complete was his faith in Khushrukhan! In this expedition, Khushrukhan subdued the King of Malabar too, and exacted therefrom immeasurable plunder in the name of Sultan Mubarik! But 762. But in this very campaign of South India, various open or secret Hindu conspiracies against the Muslim empire began to brew up from various quarters of the South Indian peninsula. The royal Hindu families of Varangal and Gujrath, the valiant Rana Hameer, the redeemer of Chitod, and other Hindu Chiefs, the religious leaders and propagandists in the various religious institutions and monasteries like those of the Shankaracharya and even the common people were becoming restless and agitated with a common antagonism to the Muslim domination. And anonymous complaints by Khushrukhan’s enemies had reached the ears of the Sultan of Delhi to the effect that Khushrukhan was in some mysterious way and most secretly connected with this universal discontent! 763. So, scanty and self-contradictory bits of information are available in the writings of the contemporary Muslim writers about this Khushrukhan, the conqueror of Malabar, and the whole of the Muslim empire, that we have to correlate them into some sort of consistent account, only as far as it is possible from the later happenings! Once in the open court of the Sultan at Delhi there was a rumour, which apprehended that instead of coming back to Delhi amongst the ring of his adversaries, Khushrukhan was about to escape to some neighbouring foreign island by sea with the immense wealth he had amassed in the South. One Muslim writer has gone to the length of saying that Khushrukhan was brought back to Delhi in fetters! 764. With an exceptional daring and ability to cut off the strings of the net of inimical conspiracies with one stroke, Khushrukhan at once declared his intention to go back to Delhi in the grand manner of the conqueror of the South with all his army. For, his secret accomplice, the former Hindu princess but now the Muslim empress, Devaldevi, must have been keeping him posted with every detail of the daily happenings at Delhi! 765. From the few English translations of the Muslim books of the time that are now available, even those who do not know either Persian or

Arabic can have some information. Most of the Muslim writers mention Khushrukhan with utmost scorn and finish him within four or five lines only. The reason is plain enough. The Muslim historians can never bear with equanimity Khushrukhan’s taking the conceit out of the Muslim rule at Delhi. Even these Muslim historians have found it at places improper to distort and garble up the truth about Khushrukhan or to suppress it altogether. Their manuscripts, especially the recently published ones, prove very useful in this respect. Even the account by the recent Hindu historians, who based their conclusions on the above mentioned old Muslim books, is to that extent useless. The Hindu writers have done nothing more than merely repeating the obloquies like ‘mean-minded’, ‘shameless’, ‘dastardly’, hurled at him by the Muslim writers. But there are two honourable exceptions to this general tendency: one is that of the veteran historian Riasatkar Sardesai and the other of Shree Munshi. These two historians, however, have given a comparative account of Khushrukhan and Devaldevi, too, and have attempted to appraise, though very faintly and cursorily, the great revolution they had finally effected to etablish a Hindu empire. But theirs is a half-hearted attempt, which fears its own conclusions, and which could never fully grasp nor could explain the real implications and nature of that unprecedented revolution. A contemporary Hindu writer, who could elucidate the Hindu side of this great event is, obviously enough, not to be found! For, no Hindu of the time could have been dared to express his own independent opinions or judgement. 766. Under these circumstances, it is only possible to give in the form of a connected narrative, the obvious conclusion that can be drawn from what little consistency can be found in the disconnected reports in the above- mentioned original Muslim writings, and the actual undisputed acts of the leading personalities like Khushrukhan, Devaldevi and others. 767. As already told above, Khushrukhan went to Delhi with his victorious army and the immense spoils he had gathered in the Deccan, But why did he go there? Not only in Delhi but even in the Deccan a political rumour was secretly disseminated amongst the Hindu political circles that the Hindu leaders, who were organizing Hindu revolts in the south against the Muslims, were in collusion with Khushrukhan about some deep-laid conspiracy to disrupt the Muslim empire. In Gujarat, Khushrukhan’s brother himself was the de facto ruler, while all the Rajputs were inspired by Rana Hameer to overthrow the India-wide unitary Muslim empire, the first of its