2 Comments

1. 

   Rama Nanjappa

    /  February 17, 2019

   Maharaja Ranjit Singh [1780-1839] was one of the last great rulers of noble Hindustan. By his time the British had surrounded the Punjab and the rulers of the Punjab were fighting the British colonial power. Foreign writers like C.H. Payne wrote rather condescendingly that the Punjabis did not think about the morrow, but fought the British; if they had adjusted with the British they could have saved their kingdoms! This is from the colonial point of view, of course. He would ask us to hug the bear to be saved from it!

   Now, sadly, not many Indians read our history. And what goes in the name of Indian history is downgrading Hindu achievements and praising the invader, conqueror and plunderers. Our writers depict our Maharajas as dull and decrepit, given mainly to vices and life of ease. Linguistic states and the consequent chauvinism and jingoism do not give due credit to heroes from other linguistic areas. But we have had really good native Indian rulers. Prof.Sripad Rama Sharma of the Fergusson College Poona wrote a charming little book on “The Soul Of Indian History” [ Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Bombay, (1967). He has given a short but beautiful account of Ranjit Singh in the book. I quote a portion:

   “The inspirer ( or rather the reviver) of this spirit among the Sikhs , during the nineteenth century, was the Lion of the Punjab, Ranjit Singh. That spirit reached back to Guru Nanak and his virile successors, down to Guru Gobind Singh and Banda. Ranjit inherited their martial as well as spiritual character. HIs noble and liberal outlook reminds us of Akbar and Shivaji. Like both of them he has the reputation of being “illiterate”….Ranjit’s personal secretary was a Muslim ( Fakir Aziz-ud-din); his finance minister was a non-Sikh Hindu (Raja Dina Nath); among his generals were Europeans like Allard, Ventura, and Avitabile. A contemporary Frenchman, Victor Jaquemot, described Ranjit Singh as ” an extraordinary man – a Bonaparte in miniature.” Yet unlike Bonaparte he was no Anglophobe! So long a he was alive, the Punjab was safe, and the Anglo-Sikh relations were cordial and peaceful. Only a decade after Ranjit Singh’s death, Dalhousie “permanently” annexed the Punjab to the British dominions.” (Page 201)
   British empire would have risen in India as the British rulers were bent upon it and deployed various schemes to achieve it. Somehow the Indian genius failed to assess and measure up to it. But so long as leaders like Ranjit Singh were available, the inevitable was postponed! That is no mean achievement. Heroes like Ranjit Singh deserve a permanent place in our memory.

2. 

   Santhanam Nagarajan

    /  February 18, 2019

   thanks for your valuable input. the last line is very very important. they deserve a permanent place in our (which means each and every child of India) memory. it is our duty to bring forth the truth and place it before the children. Heroes are forgotten. we have to rewrite the whole history.
   pl write more (as usual with) your authentic sources which will pave the way to write our real history. nagarajan