If I ask you, ‘what were you doing on the morning of July 15, 2009?’ you will hopelessly shake your head and facetiously point out the obvious stupidity in the question. But history teachers never let such things as foolishness to bother them. They keep popping questions like what was Gandhi up to on August 8,1942. Naturally, most of us reply, I quote, ‘huh’.
But you cannot ignore history, knowing fully well that it is a boring subject, and if you don’t know it, you will be forced to learn from even more boring persons, namely historians. You cannot also brook any delay in studying history, because with every passing minute you accumulate more history to learn.
So without wasting anymore time, let’s plunge into the history of the invaders of India, the whole point being that only during Independence Day Celebrations that this nation wakes up to realise that it has a history.
Aryans
According to classical textbooks, Aryans are ‘members of the prehistoric people who spoke Proto-Indo European’. This definition is self-explanatory, as it abundantly makes it clear that nobody is clear as to who these Aryans were.
Anyway, there is a consensus among historians who wear thick glasses, that Aryans were the hordes that ‘occupied’ India during the prehistoric time when India had not even geographically taken shape. Historians, with primed logic, point out that the Aryan invasion was very cruel and unfair especially considering the fact that indigenous Indians were not ready, as they were not born as Indian itself was not born then.
Allow me to dwell further on this historical watershed: Aryans, after arriving here and creating India, gave birth only to Aryans and not any indigenous group. This is patently unjust, and all those who would otherwise have been born as indigenous people naturally feel that this ancient wrong needs to be constantly undone. Out of this reasonableness emerged the government’s Reservation Policy, which today has ensured a calibrated social equity in which every community or tribe rightfully and equally feels that the other is getting more.
Contributions
The mode of communication of Aryans was Sanskrit, a language that is very helpful to modern students, who have to generally learn languages and are also forced to remember them long after they are through with schools and colleges. But with Sanskrit it is different and very practical: They need not remember it at all, as it has no earthly use other than coming handy for them to pass the examinations with high marks.
The Aryan occupation also forms an important chapter in the timeless annals of this land because it underlines the most fundamental truth of history, which is there need not be any fundamental truth in history.
Mughals
Several millennia after the Aryans’ intrusion, galloped in through the Khyber Pass the Mughals, the doughty warriors from Persia. It was another turning point in the nation’s never-ending narrative. The marauding Mughals delivered such a body blow that it would take the country several centuries to recover and eventually set up the Border Security Force. But India seems to have learnt the lessons of the past very well, as it is now utterly impossible to invade the country on horsebacks even with mighty swords and pointed axes.
The Mughals, as you would imagine, were inclined towards peace. But realising the historical need to provide some chapters for future school children to study, the Mughals went ahead and fought the first Battle of Panipet. But this battle business was apparently addictive. And by the time they were through and finished, the Mughals had participated in countless battles and wars running into countless pages on history tomes. But for the Mughals and their killings, our students would be ignorant and lazy with very little to learn.
Contributions
The Mughal badshahs were not a decadent talent as is sought to be portrayed by those who have read history. They created mighty monuments, some of which stand even today making the onlookers marvel as to why they were built in the first place. Quitab Minar is a good example of this. The Mughal emperor who conceived it did not busy himself with simple questions like what practical purpose can a dark iron pillar on a nowhere land serve. He went ahead and got it up, and naturally it attracts hundreds and hundred of visitors every day.
Another important aspect of Mughal architecture and building style was that none of their palaces and mahals is intact today, but most of their tombs and cemeteries are in fine fettle. Evidently Mughals loved living it up when dead.
The Mughal emperors, even when letting loose a blood bath, had the sensitivity and panache to usher in new styles in culture and music. Ghazals, for instance, transcending the vagaries of time and traditions, survives beautifully even today because it is the only musical form in which drunkard’s words and slur can be passed off as singing.
Britishers
Today we have a full-fledged governmental machinery and a sturdy bureaucratic apparatus, and whenever there is a crisis confronting the nation, we know whom to turn to and point accusing fingers at. But remember it’s all a legacy of the industrious Britishers, who not only painstakingly set up the brick and mortar of modern India, but also had the basic courtesy to involve the locals by blaming whenever something went wrong.
The Brits came to India as a small ragtag group of traders and merchants, but by the time they backed out they left a rich treasure, especially for a succession of Indian moviemakers to caricature the Colonial men and women who spoke Hindi in the most funny accent possible. Britishers, by the dint of their efficiency and innate intelligence, also murdered by many of the native names and terms. It is a compliment that we Indians are trying to pay them back by an even more innovative use of English in which grammar and rules have little space.
Contributions
The Britishers, who introduced modern civilisation like football hooliganism to the rest of the world, also showed that the capital of any country was chosen based on fanciful whims. They chose to rule from Shimla for some time, as it was the only place in India where wearing coats and sweaters would not look stupid. By the time Indians took over, they moved to New Delhi as because it is where most dhabas are located.
The Brits’ history in India was eventually short-lived as modern history in the form of editorial space crunch caught up with them, and the nation had to be granted freedom and I have to wish you happy Independence Day.
(This is my weekly column for the publication)
