|
|
Article 404
Harmony in Indian History
By Ram Puniyani
[Ram Puniyani is a professor in biomedical engg. at the Indian Institute
of Technology, Powai, Mumbai. Apart from his teaching and research
activities, he vigorously pursues a parallel track concerned with issues
related to social problems, particularly the one’s relating to
preservation of democratic and secular ethos.
The author of this article can be contacted by E-Mail, at
ram.puniyani@gmail.com]
The rise of communal problem in India has been
accompanied by a great deal of misinterpretation of history, especially
the medieval history. It has been propagated that the invasion of Muslim
Kings has brought about the slavery of Hindus; it has brought in the
spread of Islam on the strength of the sword; it has resulted in great
suffering to the Hindu masses etc. This selective projection of history
itself is not only wrong but feeds into the communal prejudices.
This type of mythification of history has served as a potent tool in the
hands of communal forces who in turn, then demonize the whole community
leading to intensification of hatred in the society. What is the real
truth ? Is the history of medieval times, all about invasions of Muslim
kings to destroy temples and convert the people to Islam ? Is this
period of history the dark period of our social life ? Far from it. The
diversity of Indian society has been a rich source of strength and
resilience of the community. Though it is true that kings fought amongst
each other for larger control of territories and the clergy (Ulemas and
Brahmins) looked down upon others' mode of worship. The average people,
the toilers, the downtrodden of both the religions celebrated the
interaction with each other. While the kings had bigger preoccupations
with expansion or preservation of their kingdoms for their material
benefit, the large chunk of society derived the pleasure from their
social and community life. While different sectors of nobility were more
interested in consolidating their social powers and humiliating the
other, different creative layers of society: poets, laureates,
architects, performing artists, folk artists and painters integrated the
other streams into their art ,enriching the art itself in the process.
RELIGION: Biggest synthetic trends are discernible in the popular
religions, Bhakti from Hindu side and Sufi from the side of Islam are
the major religious trends to have come up in this period. Kabir, Nanak
and Tulsidas reflected the synthetic trends and the influence of both
religions in their lives and works. Kabir, rejected Sanskrit, the
language of elite Brahmins and communicated with people in simple Hindi
and reflected the building of bridges between the two communities. In
one of his Sabda he goes on to say that just as ornaments are different
manifestation of some basic product, gold, so Allah, Ram, Rahim , and
Hari were all different names of the same god. Puja offered by Hindus
and Namaz offered by Muslims are just different methods of adoration of
the same God. Kabir was a harsh critic of institutionalized religions
and the religious traditions which divided people.
He was a critic of the mullahs and pundits in equal measures, and the
social evils which had infested the society in the name of religion like
caste system and untouchability :his teachings spread amongst vast
followers of major religious trends to have come up in this period.
Tulsidas another poet sage of this time in an autobiographical couplet
shows how the religious synthesis was operating at this time:
A slave of Ram is Tulsi,
Whatever they say let them say.
On alms I live, the mosque is my refuge,
my give and take with the world is done.
(Tulsidas: from Kavitavali)
One of the greatest Ram bhakts of the time was living in a mosque, from
where most of his devotional works for Lord Ram emanated. Guru Nanak was
for peace in the society, he was influenced by the ideas of Kabir and
was a strong proponent of syncretism. He tried to unite Hinduism and
Islam by adopting beliefs from both these religions. Borrowing from
Islam, it believes in one God and prohibits image worship. From Hinduism
it adopted the theory of reincarnation and karma according to which a
persons actions determine his fate in future incarnations. It was
against the caste system. Their holy book, Adi Granth, quotes
exclusively from Kabir and Sufi saints like Baba Farid. Also one of the
Sufi saints Mir Miyan was requested to lay the foundation stone of the
Golden Temple.
Sufis attracted a large following among the lower classes and castes. It
was their unorthodox and simple lifestyle which attracted large number
of low castes to convert to Islam. Their mazaars (holy places) were open
to all irrespective of their religious following. Sufis were basically
upholding the spiritual side of Islam, and it can be said that it was a
revolt against the rigidities of Islam, propagated mainly by the Ulema.
One of the great Sufi saints Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi founded the doctrine of
Wahahdat-al-wujud i.e. Unity of being, which promoted spiritual
universalism, in turn demolishing the barriers of caste and creed. This
doctrine states that the real being is One and we are all its
manifestations, this brought in harmony amongst followers of different
religions.
It is interesting to note that the Sufi saints writings were very close
to the people. Baba Farid wrote poetry in Punjabi and his writings are a
part of Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs. Baba Farid's most
distinguished follower was Nizamuddin Auliya, who proudly used to say
that there were as many ways of worshipping God as there are particles
of sand. He was very fond of listening to bhajans, being touched equally
by bhajans and qawallis. His respect for local traditions was
tremendous. One small story will illustrate as to how he was away from
Islamic orthodoxy and had great respect for local traditions. "One day
he was passing through the bank of Jamuna in Delhi, along with his
disciple, the famous poet Khusrau, and saw some Hindu women bathing in
the Jamuna and offering prayers to the sun. To this Hazrat Nizamuddin
said, O Khusrau , these women are also praying to Allah; they have their
own way of prayer; and then he recited a verse from Quran: " And every
one has a direction to which one turns, so vie with one another in good
works" (from A.A Engineer, Sufism and Inter-faith Harmony: Institute of
Islamic Studies ,March 4, 95)
It is interesting to note here that "Ulema often denounced all those who
followed religions other than Islam as Kafirs, where as Sufis respected
similar spiritual practices in all other religions and showed utmost
respect for them " (A.A Engineer, above paper). Similarly Mazhar
Jan-I-Janan was a Sufi theologian of repute who was again a great
upholder of respect for others traditions. Dara Shikoah, the heir of
Jahangir's throne, who was murdered by his own brother for the sake of
power was a great Sanskrit scholar who had studied the Hindu scriptures
at depth and had written a book called as Majmaul Baharayn (The meeting
of the two great oceans, Hinduism and Islam). In this book he compared
the Islamic and Sufi Phraseology and that of Hinduism and shows that
there is much in common between the two.
The interaction of the practise of these two religions has been very
well summarized by well known scholar Dr.B.N Pandey, "Islam and Hinduism
which appeared at the start so anti-thetical , at last intermingled ,
each one stirred the profoundest depth of the other and from their
synthesis grew the religion of Bhakti and Tasawwuf, the religion of love
and devotion, which swept the hearts of millions following different
religions and sects in India. The current of Islamic Sufism and Hindu
Bhakti combined into a mighty stream which fertilized old desolate
tracts and changed the face of the country. It was this spirit of India
which achieved apparently an impossible task of reconciling the
puritanical severity and awe inspiring transcendence of Islam into
luxuriant fullness and abundance of form and the intuitive perception of
their immanent unity with Hinduism, and created those monuments of art,
literature, painting, music and poetry and love inspired religion which
are the heritage of Indian History, during the middle ages".
CULTURE: Due to the interaction of the Muslim kings, Islam and
local culture there developed a whole stream of synthetic culture in all
walks of life, in music khayal, ghazal and thumri are outstanding
contributions of these interaction. North Indian classical music as
known today, is a thorough blend of Hindu and Muslim elements achieved
over 500 years. Ibrahim second Adishahi of Bijapur (1580-1626) had 300
Hindu singers in his court. To popularize this music among Muslims he
himself composed Kitab-e-Naurang in Urdu (a book containing 59 poems)
and of those the first one is an invocation of goddess Saraswati).
Chaitanya Maha prabhu and most of the Vaishnav saint poets influenced
many Muslims to write in their idiom. Rahim and Raskhan are among the
very popular Hindi poets who have written in Brij-bhasha in praise of
Lord Krishna. Syed Wazid Shah wrote Hir and Ranja the greatest classic
of medieval times. Sheikh Mohammed has greatly contributed to Marathi
literature and Shivaji's guru (saint teacher) Ramdas had special words
of praise for him. Mixture of Persian dialect with Western Hindi spoken
in and around Delhi produced a new language which later on came to be
called as Urdu. There were great Hindu scholars who took to Urdu not
only as administrative language but also wrote and contributed to Urdu
literature. Hindu architecture was masked by profusion of intricate
sculptured detail, while Islamic architecture was notable for elegance
and lightness. The fusion of the two manifested in different
architectural marvels which came up during this phase. This fusion is
seen in Jodhabai's palace in Agra fort, in Fatehpur Sikri, and in arches
of Kuwat-ul-Islam mosque. The influence of this mixture is discernible
far and wide in the haveli's of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the
Indo-Saracenic architecture of Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Similarly
fusion of Persian techniques and brilliant Hindu colors resulted in the
type of miniature painting marked by beauty and lyricism.
One of the most valuable relics of the harmony of mediaeval society
which has survived the onslaughts of different communal forces is Sufi
dargah (shrine). These dargahs are scattered in many a cities, managed
by Hindu or Muslim families and visited by people of all religions,
unmindful of the communal venom being poured by practitioners of
communal politics. Right near Mumbai, Haji Malang shrine is a very good
_expression of syncretic ethos of medieval times. The hereditary trustee
of the shrine is the Kailashnath Gopal Ketkar (a Brahmin). The offerings
given at the shrine are a mixture of Hindu and Muslim traditions.
Devotees offer chaddars, coconuts, flower and sheets of flower.
Such examples are numerous and scattered all over. Today there is a
conscious attempt to downplay such a valuable tradition and to harp upon
the differences of the elite and the rulers. There is a need to look at
the truth as a whole. There is a need to observe the richness of these
syncretic traditions, which are a rich tribute to our communities love,
respect and tolerance for each other. These syncretic traditions which
are a rich tribute to our communities love, respect and tolerance for
each other.
Courtesy:
The Milli Gazette (online edition);
September 25, 2005
|
