The Rajas demanded salutary action, and 'Aurangzeb ordered that as the sacred precincts have been despoiled, Lord Vishwanath may be moved to some other place, the temple be razed to the ground and the Mahant [head priest] be arrested and punished'.
(B N Pande, Islam and Indian Culture, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, 1987)
Dr Pande believed in the innate goodness of human nature. Despite all that senseless hate and periodical outbreak of anti-Muslim violence after independence, he remained an optimist. When one of the worst riots took place in 1979 in Ahmadabad, in which more than 2,000 Muslims were killed and 6,000 houses burnt, Dr Pande travelled there to see whether there was 'any humanity still alive'.
One of the greatest charges against Aurangzeb is of the demolition of Vishwanath temple in Banaras (Varanasi). That was a fact, but Dr Pande unravelled the reason for it. 'While Aurangzeb was passing near Varanasi on his way to Bengal, the Hindu Rajas in his retinue requested that if the halt was made for a day, their Ranis may go to Varanasi, have a dip in the Ganges and pay their homage to Lord Vishwanath. Aurangzeb readily agreed.
'Army pickets were posted on the five mile route to Varanasi. The Ranis made journey on the palkis [palanquins]. They took their dip in the Ganges and went to the Vishwanath temple to pay their homage. After offering puja [worship] all the Ranis returned except one, the Maharani of Kutch. A thorough search was made of the temple precincts but the Rani was to be found nowhere.
'When Aurangzeb came to know of this, he was very much enraged. He sent his senior officers to search for the Rani. Ultimately they found that statue of Ganesh [the elephant-headed god which was fixed in the wall was a moveable one. When the statue was moved, they saw a flight of stairs that led to the basement. To their horror they found the missing Rani dishonoured and crying deprived of all her ornaments. The basement was just beneath Lord Vishwanath's seat.'
For Dr Pande this was a 'new image of Aurangzeb'; so he wrote to the chief priests of the various important temples, all over the country, requesting photocopies of any farman issued by Aurangzeb that they may have in their possession.
The response was overwhelming; he got farmans from several principal Hindu and jain temples, even from Sikh Gurudwaras in northern India. These farmans, issued between 1659 and 1685, related to grant of jagir (large parcel of agricultural lands) to support regular maintenance of these places of worship.
Dr Pande's research showed that Aurangzeb was as solicitous of the rights and welfare of his non-Muslim subjects as he was of his Muslim subjects. Hindu plaintiffs received full justice against their Muslims respondents and, if guilty, Muslims were given punishment as necessary
A wonderful article. One wonders if things would have been different if Aurangzeb's brother (who was a lot more tolerant) may have come to power. His interest in Hinduism and the threat he posed to Aurangzeb meant death was inevitable. Let truth prevail and let's stop hiding behind pseudo-secularism.
Islam followers always boast of truth and power. if this so then wait for another 10 years picture will be clear. if they are proud to be martial race it will emerge out in next 10 years.
The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (born 1618, reigned 1658-1707) is the most reviled of all Muslim rulers in India. He was supposed to be a great destroyer of temples and oppressor of Hindus, and a 'fundamentalist' too! As chairman of the Allahabad Municipality (1948-53), Dr Pande had to deal with a land dispute between two temple priests.
One of them had filed in evidence some farmans (royal orders) to prove that Aurangzeb had, besides cash, gifted the land in question for the maintenance of his temple. Might they not be fake, Dr Pande thought, in view of Aurangzeb's fanatically anti-Hindu image? He showed them to his friend, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, a distinguished lawyer as well a great scholar of Arabic and Persian. He was also a Brahmin. Sapru examined the documents and declared they were genuine farmans issued by Aurangzeb.
RE:THE GREAT EMPEROR - SHAHENSHAH AURANGZEB
by JATIN HALDANKAR on Mar 21, 2007 07:02 PM Permalink
mike ...you have already posted this one week back ..all of your messages are wonderfully answered then ...why are you spaming the board with same message?? no matter how much you
shout with your lies they wont be considered as truth...
RE:RE:THE GREAT EMPEROR - SHAHENSHAH AURANGZEB
by Mike Gandhi on Mar 21, 2007 08:13 PM Permalink
I WANT TO LIBERATE THE PEOPLE THOSE ARE SICKED BY RSS POINSON. SO REPEATED THERAPY IS MUST.
RE:THE GREAT EMPEROR - SHAHENSHAH AURANGZEB
by JATIN HALDANKAR on Mar 21, 2007 07:02 PM Permalink
mike ...you have already posted this one week back ..all of your messages are wonderfully answered then ...why are you spaming the board with same message?? no matter how much you
shout with your lies they wont be considered as truth...
RE:THE GREAT EMPEROR - SHAHENSHAH AURANGZEB
by JATIN HALDANKAR on Mar 21, 2007 07:02 PM Permalink
mike ...you have already posted this one week back ..all of your messages are wonderfully answered then ...why are you spaming the board with same message?? no matter how much you
shout with your lies they wont be considered as truth...
