india

"A climatic event cannot be blamed simplistically for [Harappan] collapse and de-urbanisation, but Quaternary science data make it clear that we cannot accept a view of climatic and environmental stability since the mid-Holocene in the region (as promoted by Possehl ...)"

"The Indus settlements spanned a diverse range of environmental and ecological zones; therefore, correlation of evidence for climate change and the decline of Indus urbanism requires a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between settlement and climate across a substantial area."

"If a person has attained the firm knowledge that he is not an object of perception, but is that pure consciousness which shines clearly in the states of waking, dream and deep sleep, and which, as the witness of the whole universe, dwells in all bodies from that of the Creator Brahma to that of the ant, then he is my Guru, irrespective of whether he is an outcaste or a Brahmana. This is my conviction."

"The priest is our chandala—he should be condemned, starved, and driven into every kind of desert."

"It makes the Jews look like a Chandala race which learns from its masters the principles of making a priestly caste the master which organizes a people."

"All innovators of the spirit bear for a time the pallid, fatalistic sign of the Chandala on their brow."

"What a yes-saying Aryan religion, born from the ruling classes, looks like: Manu’s law-book. What a yes-saying Semitic religion, born from the ruling classes, looks like: Mohammed’s law-book, the Old Testament in its older parts. What a no-saying Semitic religion, born from the oppressed classes, looks like: in Indian-Aryan concepts; the New Testament, a Chandala religion. What a no-saying Aryan religion looks like, grown among the dominant classes: Buddhism."

"The Chandala-s must have had the intelligence and even the more interesting side of things to themselves. They were the only ones who had access to the true source of knowledge, the empirical. Add to this the inbreeding of the castes."

"In a far-fetched departure from Manu’s use of the term, [Nietzsche] relates the concept of Chandala to the psycho-sociological origin of the Jewish national character..."

"Birth is not the cause, my friend; it is virtues, which are the cause of welfare. Even a Chandala (untouchable) observing the vow is considered a Brahmana by the gods."

"Christianity, which has sprung from Jewish roots and can only be understood as a plant that has come from this soil, represents the counter-movement to every morality of breeding, race or privilege: – it is the anti-Aryan religion par excellence: Christianity the revaluation of all Aryan values, the victory of Chandala values."

"More serious is Nietzsche’s uncritical reliance on the flawed translation of the text by Jacolliot, an amateur openly denounced by leading philologists like Friedrich Max Muller. Uncritical reading of this text led Nietzsche to quote mistranslations and later insertions in support of the claim concerning the Chandala (low caste) origins of the Semites, used to attack Christianity in TI and AC. Elst goes on to highlight what Nietzsche missed or omitted in his reading of the text, including not just the actual politics and institutions of the caste system, but also some striking affinities with his own views and teachings. Despite these philological blunders and misjudgements, however, Nietzsche seems to have landed on his feet after all; for in Elst’s view, he did succeed in grasping Manu’s view of man and society."

"I cannot oversee whether the Semites have not already in very ancient times been in the terrible service of the Hindus: as Chandalas, so that then already certain properties took root in them that belong to the subdued and despised type (like later in Egypt). Later they ennoble themselves, to the extent that they become warriors […] and conquer their own lands and own gods. The Semitic creation of gods coincides historically with their entry into history."

"Let us recall Adi Shankaracharya’s unequivocal rejection of social exclusions which he felt were not in line with Advaita’s tenets of inclusion and universalism. He says: “....I am that which pervades as a witness in the bodies of all living beings right from Brahma to the tiny ant. One who has the deep conviction that ‘I am That, not any of the objects of perception’, he is a Guru, whether a Chandala or a Brahmana...” (Venkataraman 2014:107)"

"In the Pañcatantra story of the greedy holy man Devasharma, who is cheated of his gold coins by a rogue who comes to win his trust in the garb of a disciple, the unsuspecting guru utters these words while initiating him as his disciple: “Whether he be a śūdra or any other, a caṇḍāla or a sannyāsī, once he is initiated with the Śiva-mantra, smeared with sacred ash, he becomes as auspicious as Śiva Himself.” (Kale 2012:29)"

"“This incident is not just limited to the stifling of the freedom of the press, but it is an infringement of personal freedom and liberty granted to every citizen of the country. When the people who are meant to protect citizens become the very people that citizens need protection from, the collective might of democracy needs to enforce itself to demand fairness,” the country’s first nationalistic digital media association. “The police is well within its right to constitute action against any party it thinks has erred, however, the process of the law has to be followed. This incident only appears to be a zenith in the witch-hunt that was launched by the government against Republic TV over the past few weeks.” “We, as a group representing digital news orgs are especially dismayed that if such high-handedness can be displayed towards a legacy media, smaller digital outfits could simply be crushed by the might of the state to ensure that dissenting voices are muzzled. However, such attempts will be opposed and fought by IDMA, for the sake of the right of the media, its right to be free and fair, and for the citizen’s civil liberties,” the statement added."

"We are stronger than before, we are fiercer than before, and remember, the game has just begun. You can't stop Republic. Republic won't stop. Republic is unstoppable."

"These people formed cabals.. When I was fighting corruption you all went to the Information and Broadcasting minister... [he told me] in the meeting the biggest point of conversation is you because the minister is shouting at us why the media is putting pressure on us.. [he told] it is the boy in Mumbai who is doing all of this, shall we Mr Minister bring you his head on a plate? ... these are the spineless editors of Lutyens whose problem is now that more people are watching Republic. Well they will because all of you cheated and lied to the people of India for far too long!"

"Congress and its allies have shamed democracy once again. Blatant misuse of state power against Republic TV & Arnab Goswami is an attack on individual freedom and the 4th pillar of democracy. It reminds us of the Emergency. This attack on free press must be and WILL BE OPPOSED."

"Aurangzeb’s preposterous moves to rename Varanasi as Muhammadabad, as also Mathura as Islamabad, were as colossal a failure as his attempts to wipe off the faith of the Hindus. These new names ‘never found favour with the people, and only survived for a short period in official documents. It is also found in the coins of this and succeeding reigns, Benares having been a mint town from the days of Akbar’."

"Here it may be mentioned that Aurangzeb had the dubious distinction of renaming more towns and forts than perhaps any other Muslim ruler. It seems he wanted to erase the memory of the past history of these places and give them a new beginning, coinciding with the ‘revival’ of Islamic faith, practices and Shari‘at laws under him. He thus renamed Nasik as Gulshanabad, Karnal as Qamarnagar, Devgarh as Islamgarh, Toran as Fatuh-ul-Ghaib, Nagpur as Bhagpur, DhÁrur as Fatahabad, Vrindavan as Mominabad, Mathura as Islamabad, Rampura as Islampur, and sometime in the last decade of his reign, he renamed Banaras as Muhammadabad. More instances of renaming of towns by him can be cited."

"The truth is that when the Mughals ruled India, they crossed all limits of cruelty. They martyred Guru Arjan Dev Badshah Ji, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ji’s younger brother, and even the elder one was also martyred. So this is a very big story of cruelty. I believe that when the country got independence, even before that, during British rule, and later when the Congress party came to power, they showed a completely different face of the Mughals. They named all the roads and big educational institutions after them. It was a matter of shame for this country that the rulers who martyred our Gurus, who demolished temples and built mosques here, were given so much respect in history. So this truth should have come to the fore. The truth should be known to our youth and children about the atrocities committed by the Mughals here. So, if they make changes in the syllabus and try to bring out the truth, then I would definitely welcome it."

"The collection of honey is depicted in three paintings at Pachmarhi and one at Bhimbetka. A painting in the Jambudwip shelter at Pachmarhi shows a man driving out bees and a woman approaching the beehive with a pot. Both are standing on ladders. In a second Pachmarhi painting at Imlikhoh shelter a woman is driving away the bees. In a third painting at Sonbhadra shelter two men climbing a scaffold are surrounded by bees. The painting at Bhimbetka shows a man touching a beehive with a round-ended stick. The man holds a basket on his back and appears to be suspended by a rope. There are three men below him, including one standing on the shoulders of another man."

"It is clear however that the products of India which entered long-distance trade were of a great, seemingly infinite, variety and that they were quite commonly expensive or precious."

"O Soma, from every side pour forth four seas filled with a thousand-fold riches."

"However, it is not unlikely that the Arabs, who received from the Indians the numeral figures (which the Greeks knew not), did from them also receive the use of them, and many profound speculations concerning them, which neither Latins nor Greeks know, till that now of late we have learned them from thence. From the Indians also they might learn their algebra, rather than from Diophantus."

"By comparison, the Sanskrit and Greek traditions were absorbed in a rather piecemeal fashion. In the one case there was a fragmentary rendering of Hindu literature and scientific works (channeled through Sind, until the Abbasids lost their grip on the province). Indian numerals, arithmetic, mathematics, philosophy and logic, mysticism, ethics, statecraft, military science, medicine, pharmacology, toxicology (works on snakes (sarpavidya) and poison (visavidya)), veterinary science, eroticism, astronomy, astrology and palmistry were transmit­ ted. Chess and chausar games were brought from India. We have a reference by an Arabic author from Andalusia to an Indian book on tunes and melodies. Indian fables and literary works are reflected in the Thousand and One Nights. Al-Biruni, before he came to India, had some Indian works in his library which were translated into Arabic under the early Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur (754-775) and the Barmakid vazirs of Harun ar-Rashid; amongst these were the Brahmasiddhanta or Sindhind and the Pahcatantra. When, in 1020, Al-Biruni began his study of Indian astronomy from the Sanskrit originals he was to find that the early works were still held in the same high esteem.13 To an ap­preciable extent, Sanskrit philosophy had already come to the attention of the Sasanid Persians and its influence in the Islamic world was sometimes mediated by Sasanid schools. ‘It was recognized among the Khusros (Akasira) of Persia that wisdom (hikma) originally came from al-Hind’.14 In Islam however Indian influences submerged under the tide of Greek and Hellenistic learning, falsafa and science, from the ninth century onwards."

"Nearly all the evidence of Harappan relations with the West has been brought to light in foreign territories (the Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, Iran) and not in the Indus territories."

"Much of the Hindu attitude and approach to mathematics was certainly conveyed to Western Europe through the Arabs. The algebraic methods formerly considered to have been invented by Al-Khowarizmi can now be seen to stem from Hindu sources."

"I have decided first to consider the majority of the authors who up to now have written about [algebra], so that I can fill in what they have missed out. They are very many, and among them Mohammed ibn Musa [Al-Khwarizmi], an Arab, is believed to be the first [...] I believe that the word “algebra” came from him, because some years ago, Brother Luca [Pacioli] of Borgo San Sepolcro of the Minorite order, having set himself the task of writing on this science, as much in Latin as in Italian, said that the word “algebra” was Arabic [...] and that the science came from the Arabs. Many who have written after him have believed and said likewise, but in recent years, a Greek work on this discipline has been discovered in the Library of our Lord in the Vatican, composed by a certain Diophantus of Alexandria, a Greek author [...] Antonio Maria Pazzi and I have translated five books (of the seven) [...] In this work we have found that he cites the Indian authors many times, and thus I have been made aware that this discipline belonged to the Indians before the Arabs."

"As in the rest of mathematical science, so in trigonometry, were the Arabs pupils of the Hindus […]"

"That he [Al-Khwarizmi] should have borrowed from Diophantus is not at all probable; … It is far more probable that the Arabs received their first knowledge of algebra from the Hindus, who furnished them with the decimal notation of numerals, and with various important points of mathematical and astronomical information."

"It is hardly necessary to say that August 15 was hailed with joy all over India, and no words can adequately describe the tumultuous scenes of wild rejoicings witnessed in every city and every village. Lord and Lady Mountbatten, driving in state, were greeted with resounding cheers by the enthusiastic crowds that lined the streets. This heralded a new era of goodwill between India and Britain. Stories of many hard and bitter struggles between India and Britain, and of animosities between the Indians and the British fill the pages of this work. Let it end with a note of goodwill, trust, and confidence which manifested itself on the streets of Delhi on 15 August, 1947."

"Tipu also issued a new system of coinage, fashioned again by his fixation with Islam. He engraved the following words on the obverse of these coins: “the faith of Ahmad (Muhammad) is proclaimed to the world by the victories of Haidar struck in Pattan [Srirangapattana] in the year Jalu or 1199 Hijri.” On the reverse were engraved, “He [it is unclear whether it refers to God or Tipu] is the only Sultan, the just one the third of Bahari in the year Jalu, and third of the reign.”.. He gave the names of Muslim saints to coins minted in gold and silver. To copper coins, he gave Arabic and Farsi names, and named them after stars. Pagoda was the name of a coin that was in common circulation during that period. Tipu renamed Pagoda to Ahamadi because it was one of the names of the Prophet. Further, he gave the name Sadiq to a coin whose value was two Pagodas. Tipu’s reasoning? Sadiq was the name of the First Caliph. According to this new numismatic nomenclature, the one-paisa coin was called Zehra,the two-paise, Outmaani, and so on. In several instances, he gave new names for coins that he himself had renamed earlier: Farooqi, Jaffar, and Imami, for instance. There was also a Rupee named Hyder."

"Fabri added a comparison of Indus signs with symbols on the punch-marked coins, bringing out striking parallels between the two.... Overall, Fabri’s conclusion was: We are able to recognize a large number of Indus script pictograms among the punch-marks published by previous writers—too large a number, indeed, to ascribe it to mere coincidence."

"That the legislature discriminates against Hindus is not news—I have provided enough examples. Plenty more exist of minority appeasement at the cost of the majority, but what is to be done when the judiciary singles out the Hindus? What is the recourse then? What is the recourse when you find that the fine lady who stands atop our temples of justice belligerent, when you find her sword that is pointing to the skies blunted and her blindfold perforated, when you find her scales rusted? What is the recourse? There is none. Because while the Supreme Court decides to remove discrimination from Islam, it is stopped from doing so by the Parliament. When it decides to remove perceived discrimination from Hinduism, it is encouraged to do so by the Parliament."

"…There are no digests or codes of laws existing in Indostan: the Tartars who conquered this country could scarcely read or write and when they found it impossible to convert them to Mahomedanism, left the Gentoos at liberty to follow their own religion…"

"Imitation has conveyed the unhappy system of oppression which prevails in the government of Indostan throughout all ranks of the people, from the highest even to the lowest subject of the empire. Every head of a village calls his habitation the Durbar, and plunders of their meal and roots the wretches of his precinct: from him the Zemindar extorts the small pittance of silver, which his penurious tyranny has scraped together; the Phousdar seizes upon the greatest share of the Zemindar’s collections, and then secures the favour of his Nabob by voluntary contributions, which leave him not possessed of the half of his rapines and exactions: the Nabob fixes his rapacious eye on every portion of wealth which appears in his province, and never fails to carry off part of it: by large deductions from these acquisitions, he purchases security from his superiors, or maintains it against them at the expense of a war. Subject to such oppressions, property in Indostan is seldom seen to descend to the third generation."

"Kalaripayat, literally "the way of the battlefield, still survives in Kerala, where it is often dedicated to Mahakali. The Kalari grounds are usually situated near a temple, and the pupils, after having touched the feet of the master, saluted the ancestors and bowed down to the Goddess, begin the lesson. Kalari trainings have been codified for over 3000 years and nothing much has changed. The warming-up is essential and demands great suppleness. Each movement is repeated several times, facing north, east, south and west, till perfect loosening is achieved. The young pupils pass on to the handling of weapons, starting with the "Silambam", a short stick made of extremely hard wood, which in the olden times could effectively deal with swords. The blows are hard and the parade must be fast and precise, to avoid being hit on the fingers! They continue with the swords, heavy and dangerous, even though they are not sharpened any more, as they are used . without guard or any kind of body protection; they whirl, jump and parry, in an impressive ballet. Young, fearless girls fight with enormous knives, bigger than their arms and the clash of irons is echoed in the ground. The session ends with the big canes, favourite weapons of the Buddhist traveller monks, which they used during their long journey towards China to scare away attackers."

"As regards the laws, they are scarcely observed at all, for the administration is absolutely autocratic, but there are books of law, which are in charge of their lawyers, the Kazis. Their laws contain such provisions as hand for hand, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; but who will excommunicate the Pope? And who would dare to ask a Governor “Why do you rule us this way or that way? Our Law orders thus.” The facts are very different, although in every city there is a kachhahri, or royal court of justice, where the Governor, the Diwan, the Bakhshi, the Kotwal, the Kazi, and other officers sit together daily, or four days in the week. Here all disputes are disposed of, but not until avarice has had its share. All capital cases, such as thefts, murders, or crimes are finally disposed of by the Governor, if the criminals are poor and unable to pay, and the sweepers drag them out to execution with very little ceremony. In the case of other offences the criminals are seldom or never executed; their property is merely confiscated for the Governor and Kotwal. Ordinary questions of divorce, quarrels, fights, threats, and the like, are in the hands of the Kotwal and the Kazi. One must indeed be sorry for the man who has to come to judgment before these godless ‘unjudges’; their eyes are bleared with greed, their mouths gape like wolves for covetousness, and their bellies hunger for the bread of the poor; everyone stands with hands open to receive, for no mercy or compassion can be had except on payment of cash. This fault should not be attributed to judges or officers alone, for the evil is a universal plague; from the least to the greatest, right up to the King himself, everyone is infected with insatiable greed, so that if one has any business to transact with Governors or in palaces, he must not set about it without “the vision of angels’, for without presents he need expect very little answer to his petitions. Our honourable employers need not deign to be surprised at this, for it is the custom of the country."

"Although the notion of absolute power admits of nothing which can be sanctified from its grasp, whence the king, as in other despotic States, may, if he pleases, become heir to any man in his kingdom: yet custom has not established this right to him in Indostan; and these perhaps are the reasons why neither the Moors or Gentoos have been subjected to it. 1. All the political institutions of the Gentoos are so blended with the idea of religion, that this is generally effected where these are concerned. The softness of manners which these people receive from the climate, has fixed all their attention to the solaces of a domestic life. There are not more tender parents, or better masters, in the world: such a people will make wills in favour of their offspring: and the prince finds himself restrained by policy from establishing a right so utterly shocking to the nature and disposition of the subject. He is likewise restrained by religion: the name of God invoked in the testament of a Gentoo, gives it as sacred an authority as with those who have better notions of a deity; and the Brachman is too much interested, as father of a family, to sanctify a practice which would affect his own property. Thus the Gentoo princes were never seen to assert this right, excepting when avarice had got so far the ascendant, as not only to confound all their notions of policy, but even to make them look on religion as the prejudice of education. 2. The Moors, in the first outrages of conquest, doubtless possessed themselves of all kinds of property: but when the Gentoos would not be converted, and were left to the observance of their own rites, the right of testaments was continued, and still subsists amongst them. The Gentoos, by their subtilty and application, find many means of gaining wealth under the Moors; and this wealth they devolve by will to their male children. The obstacles which these may meet with in taking possession, will be explained hereafter. 3. The idea of being fellow-conquerors; the complacency arising from perpetual victories; the immense wealth which these conquests afforded; might have been the causes which prevented the first Mahomedan princes of Indostan, from establishing amongst those of their own religion, this utmost effort of absolute power. They were contended with knowing that they had at all times the power to seize, without declaring that they intended to inherit every man’s property. 6. …The different methods of inheritance amongst the Gentoos, are settled by their religion, according to the different casts by which they are distinguished. In general, the females are recommended to the care of the brothers; and these are commonly ordered to divide equally: sometimes first cousins, especially if born under the same roof, share equally with the brothers: sometimes the first wife of the deceased is intrusted with the management of the whole estate during life – a custom attended with no consequences prejudicial to the children, as she cannot enter into a second marriage. It is always recommended by the parent, that the house, if in a way of trade, be not divided; and as surely it happens, that divisions ensure amongst the heirs."

"The first consequence of the murder was immediate: Nathuram Godse’s own community, the Chitpavan Brahmins, was targeted for mass murder. The comparison with the mass killing of Sikhs by Congress secularists after Indira Gandhi’s murder is fairly exact, except that the 1984 massacre is well-known (even eclipsing the memory of the larger number of Panjabi Hindus murdered by Sikh separatists in the preceding years), whereas this one has been hushed up. The New York Times first drew attention to it, reporting 15 killings for the first day and only for the city of Mumbai (then Bombay). In fact, the killing went on for a week and all over Maharashtra, with VD Savarkar’s younger brother as best-known victim. Arti Agarwal, who leads the research in “Hindu genocide”, estimates the death toll at about 8,000. On mass murders, estimates are often overdramatised, but here we must count with a countervailing factor: The government’s active suppression of these data, as they would throw a negative light on Gandhism. But research on this painful episode has now started in earnest, and those presently trying to get at the real figures include Savarkar biographer Vikram Sampath."

"This line of anti-Brahmin rhetoric on the model of anti-Semitism comes full circle with the following allegation, originally made in 1971 by K.K. Gangadharan, a Leftist sociologist from Maharashtra working in Christ College in Kanpur, and since then adopted by the likes of V.T. Rajshekar: the Chitpavan Brahmins, ... which took a leadership role in the struggle against the Moghuls, the British Raj and Congress secularism, are so “arrogant” and “fanatical” because, unbeknownst to other Indians, they actually have Jewish ancestors!"

"By and large, in Nagpur, the 1948 disturbances were caused by a mix of anti-Hindu Sabha, anti-R.S.S. and anti-Samyukta Maharashtra feelings, but the common thread was anti-Maharashtrian Brahman [sic] hatred. While not all Brahmans [sic] were Chitpavan, a large number were, and the victims who were of other Brahman [sic] jatis were treated as though they were Chitpavans."

"This government does not try to hide anything. Adequate instructions have been given to prevent custodial deaths in future. Henceforth, I assure you that no custodial death will happen in Tamil Nadu."

"With great power comes greater responsibility."

"Police Officers alone, and none else, can give evidence as regards the circumstances in which a person in their custody comes to receive injuries while in their custody. Bound by ties of a kind of brotherhood, they often prefer to remain silent in such situations and when they choose to speak, they put their own gloss upon facts and pervert the truth. The result is that persons, on whom atrocities are perpetrated by the police in the sanctum sanctorum of the police station, are left without any evidence to prove who the offenders are."

"The true history of the agrarian agitation in Chhota-Nagpur has yet to be written. The task has so far been attempted by partisans only. Munda children of the German Mission are even now sedulously taught the gospel of hate in the class-room of their schools. One of the school text-books entitled ‘Nelem Odo Senem’-Look and Walk-Which was published by the Munda Sabha of the G. E. L. Mission, Chhota-Nagpur, in 1909, tells how the ancestors of the Munda reclaimed the jungles and converted the country, by their labour, into a smiling garden. It tells the Munda boy how his forefathers successfully drove away all wild animals from the country and also how enemies who were worse than the wild enemies came in as inter-loppers and robbed them of the fruit of their toil. In further states that in spite of various laws framed by the English to restrain these foreigners, as are still being despoiled by Hindus and Mussalmans. The schools in which these doctrines are inculcated are largely subsidised by our Government.”"

"There is no doubt that the great success of the Christian missions in obtaining converts is due largely to the secular benefits which the Mundas, thus, obtained."

"People from the Munda community inhabit central and northeastern states. The freedom fighter, Birsa Munda, who fought against British rule belonged to this community. He was influenced by a Brahmin whom he regarded as his guru. He learnt the Hindu epics and was inspired by their legendary heroes. He became a vegetarian when he met a Vaishnava saint who taught him Bhakti. Birsa Munda also raised his voice against Christian missionaries and the oppression of landlords and British administrators. Many Vanavasi communities claim Kshatriya ancestry."