statue of the Hindu deity Ganesh. A Muslim resident of Kuwait requested
historical research material that can help explain the connection between
Hindu civilisation and Arabia.
Was the Kaaba Originally a Hindu Temple?
By P.N. Oak (Historian)
Glancing through some research material recently, I was pleasantly
surprised
to come across a reference to a king Vikramaditya inscription found in the
Kaaba in Mecca proving beyond doubt that the Arabian Peninsula formed a
part
of his Indian Empire.
The text of the crucial Vikramaditya inscription, found inscribed on a
gold
dish hung inside the Kaaba shrine in Mecca, is found recorded on page 315
of
a volume known as Å'Sayar-ul-Okul‚ treasured in the Makhtab-e-Sultania
library in Istanbul, Turkey. Rendered in free English the inscription
says:
"Fortunate are those who were born (and lived) during king Vikram‚s
reign.
He was a noble, generous dutiful ruler, devoted to the welfare of his
subjects. But at that time we Arabs, oblivious of God, were lost in
sensual
pleasures. Plotting and torture were rampant. The darkness of ignorance
had
enveloped our country. Like the lamb struggling for her life in the cruel
paws of a wolf we Arabs were caught up in ignorance. The entire country
was
enveloped in a darkness so intense as on a new moon night. But the present
dawn and pleasant sunshine of education is the result of the favour of the
noble king Vikramaditya whose benevolent supervision did not lose sight of
us- foreigners as we were. He spread his sacred religion amongst us and
sent
scholars whose brilliance shone like that of the sun from his country to
ours. These scholars and preceptors through whose benevolence we were once
again made cognisant of the presence of God, introduced to His sacred
existence and put on the road of Truth, had come to our country to preach
their religion and impart education at king Vikramaditya‚s behest."
For those who would like to read the Arabic wording I reproduce it
hereunder
in Roman script:
"Itrashaphai Santu Ibikramatul Phahalameen Karimun Yartapheeha Wayosassaru
Bihillahaya Samaini Ela Motakabberen Sihillaha Yuhee Quid min howa
Yapakhara
phajjal asari nahone osirom bayjayhalem. Yundan blabin Kajan blnaya
khtoryaha sadunya kanateph netephi bejehalin Atadari bilamasa- rateen
phakef
tasabuhu kaunnieja majekaralhada walador. As hmiman burukankad toluho
watastaru hihila Yakajibaymana balay kulk amarena phaneya jaunabilamary
Bikramatum".
(Page 315 Sayar-ul-okul).
[Note: The title Å'Saya-ul-okul‚ signifies memorable words.]
A careful analysis of the above inscription enables us to draw the
following
conclusions:
1.
2. That the ancient Indian empires may have extended up to the eastern
boundaries of Arabia until Vikramaditya and that it was he who for the
first
time conquered Arabia. Because the inscription says that king Vikram who
dispelled the darkness of ignorance from Arabia.
3.
4. That, whatever their earlier faith, King Vikrama‚s preachers had
succeeded in spreading the Vedic (based on the Vedas, the Hindu sacred
scriptures)) way of life in Arabia.
5.
6. That the knowledge of Indian arts and sciences was imparted by Indians
to
the Arabs directly by founding schools, academies and cultural centres.
The
belief, therefore, that visiting Arabs conveyed that knowledge to their
own
lands through their own indefatigable efforts and scholarship is
unfounded.
An ancillary conclusion could be that the so-called Kutub Minar (in Delhi,
India) could well be king Vikramadiya‚s tower commemorating his conquest
of
Arabia. This conclusion is strengthened by two pointers. Firstly, the
inscription on the iron pillar near the so-called Kutub Minar refers to
the
marriage of the victorious king Vikramaditya to the princess of Balhika.
This Balhika is none other than the Balkh region in West Asia. It could be
that Arabia was wrestled by king Vikramaditya from the ruler of Balkh who
concluded a treaty by giving his daughter in marriage to the victor.
Secondly, the township adjoining the so called Kutub Minar is named
Mehrauli
after Mihira who was the renowned astronomer-mathematician of king
Vikram‚s
court. Mehrauli is the corrupt form of Sanskrit Å'Mihira-Awali‚
signifying a
row of houses raised for Mihira and his helpers and assistants working on
astronomical observations made from the tower.
Having seen the far reaching and history shaking implications of the
Arabic
inscription concerning king Vikrama, we shall now piece together the story
of its find. How it came to be recorded and hung in the Kaaba in Mecca.
What
are the other proofs reinforcing the belief that Arabs were once followers
of the Indian Vedic way of life and that tranquillity and education were
ushered into Arabia by king Vikramaditya‚s scholars, educationists from
an
uneasy period of "ignorance and turmoil" mentioned in the inscription.
In Istanbul, Turkey, there is a famous library called Makhatab-e-Sultania,
which is reputed to have the largest collection of ancient West Asian
literature. In the Arabic section of that library is an anthology of
ancient
Arabic poetry. That anthology was compiled from an earlier work in A.D.
1742
under the orders of the Turkish ruler Sultan Salim.
The pages of that volume are of Hareer ˆ a kind of silk used for writing
on.
Each page has a decorative gilded border. That anthology is known as
Sayar-ul-Okul. It is divided into three parts. The first part contains
biographic details and the poetic compositions of pre-Islamic Arabian
poets.
The second part embodies accounts and verses of poets of the period
beginning just after prophet Mohammad‚s times, up to the end of the
Banee-Um-Mayya dynasty. The third part deals with later poets up to the
end
of Khalif Harun-al-Rashid‚s times.
Abu Amir Asamai, an Arabian bard who was the poet Laureate of
Harun-al-Rashid‚s court, has compiled and edited the anthology.
The first modern edition of Å'Sayar-ul-Okul‚ was printed and published
in
Berlin in 1864. A subsequent edition is the one published in Beirut in
1932.
The collection is regarded as the most important and authoritative
anthology
of ancient Arabic poetry. It throws considerable light on the social life,
customs, manners and entertainment modes of ancient Arabia. The book also
contains an elaborate description of the ancient shrine of Mecca, the town
and the annual fair known as OKAJ which used to be held every year around
the Kaaba temple in Mecca. This should convince readers that the annual
haj
of the Muslims to the Kaaba is of earlier pre-Islamic congregation.
But the OKAJ fair was far from a carnival. It provided a forum for the
elite
and the learned to discuss the social, religious, political, literary and
other aspects of the Vedic culture then pervading Arabia.
Å'Sayar-ul-Okul‚
asserts that the conclusion reached at those discussions were widely
respected throughout Arabia. Mecca, therefore, followed the Varanasi
tradition (of India) of providing a venue for important discussions among
the learned while the masses congregated there for spiritual bliss. The
principal shrines at both Varanasi in India and at Mecca in Arvasthan
(Arabia) were Siva temples. Even to this day ancient Mahadev (Siva)
emblems
can be seen. It is the Shankara (Siva) stone that Muslim pilgrims
reverently
touch and kiss in the Kaaba.
Arabic tradition has lost trace of the founding of the Kaaba temple. The
discovery of the Vikramaditya inscription affords a clue. King
Vikramaditya
is known for his great devotion to Lord Mahadev (Siva). At Ujjain (India),
the capital of Vikramaditya, exists the famous shrine of Mahankal, i.e.,
of
Lord Shankara (Siva) associated with Vikramaditya. Since according to the
Vikramaditya inscription he spread the Vedic religion, who else but he
could
have founded the Kaaba temple in Mecca?
A few miles away from Mecca is a big signboard which bars the entry of any
non-Muslim into the area. This is a reminder of the days when the Kaaba
was
stormed and captured solely for the newly established faith of Islam. The
object in barring entry of non-Muslims was obviously to prevent its
recapture.
As the pilgrim proceeds towards Mecca he is asked to shave his head and
beard and to don special sacred attire that consists of two seamless
sheets
of white cloth. One is to be worn round the waist and the other over the
shoulders. Both these rites are remnants of the old Vedic practice of
entering Hindu temples clean- and with holy seamless white sheets.
The main shrine in Mecca, which houses the Siva emblem, is known as the
Kaaba. It is clothed in a black shroud. That custom also originates from
the
days when it was thought necessary to discourage its recapture by
camouflaging it.
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Kaaba has 360 images.
Traditional accounts mention that one of the deities among the 360
destroyed
when the place was stormed, was that of Saturn; another was of the Moon
and
yet another was one called Allah. That shows that in the Kaaba the Arabs
worshipped the nine planets in pre-Islamic days. In India the practice of
Å'Navagraha‚ puja, that is worship of the nine planets, is still in
vogue.
Two of these nine are Saturn and Moon.
In India the crescent moon is always painted across the forehead of the
Siva
symbol. Since that symbol was associated with the Siva emblem in Kaaba it
came to be grafted on the flag of Islam.
Another Hindu tradition associated with the Kaaba is that of the sacred
stream Ganga (sacred waters of the Ganges river). According to the Hindu
tradition Ganga is also inseparable from the Shiva emblem as the crescent
moon. Wherever there is a Siva emblem, Ganga must co-exist. True to that
association a sacred fount exists near the Kaaba. Its water is held sacred
because it has been traditionally regarded as Ganga since pre-Islamic
times
(Zam-Zam water).
[Note: Even today, Muslim pilgrims who go to the Kaaba for Haj regard this
Zam-Zam water with reverence and take some bottled water with them as
sacred
water.]
Muslim pilgrims visiting the Kaaba temple go around it seven times. In no
other mosque does the circumambulation prevail. Hindus invariably
circumambulate around their deities. This is yet another proof that the
Kaaba shrine is a pre-Islamic Indian Shiva temple where the Hindu practice
of circumambulation is still meticulously observed.
The practice of taking seven steps- known as Saptapadi in Sanskrit- is
associated with Hindu marriage ceremony and fire worship. The culminating
rite in a Hindu marriage enjoins upon the bride and groom to go round the
sacred fire four times (but misunderstood by many as seven times). Since
"Makha" means fire, the seven circumambulations also prove that Mecca was
the seat of Indian fire-worship in the West Asia.
It might come as a stunning revelation to many that the word Å'ALLAH‚
itself
is Sanskrit. In Sanskrit language Allah, Akka and Amba are synonyms. They
signify a goddess or mother. The term Å'ALLAH‚ forms part of Sanskrit
chants
invoking goddess Durga, also known as Bhavani, Chandi and
Mahishasurmardini.
The Islamic word for God is., therefore, not an innovation but the ancient
Sanskrit appellation retained and continued by Islam. Allah means mother
or
goddess and mother goddess.
One Koranic verse is an exact translation of a stanza in the Yajurveda.
This
was pointed out by the great research scholar Pandit Satavlekar of Pardi
in
one of his articles.
[Note: Another scholar points out that the following teaching from the
Koran
is exactly similar to the teaching of the Kena Upanishad (1.7).
The Koran:
"Sight perceives Him not. But He perceives men's sights; for He is the
knower of secrets , the Aware."
Kena Upanishad:
"That which cannot be seen by the eye but through which the eye itself
sees,
know That to be Brahman (God) and not what people worship here (in the
manifested world)."
A simplified meaning of both the above verses reads:
God is one and that He is beyond man's sensory experience.]
The identity of Unani and Ayurvedic systems shows that Unani is just the
Arabic term for the Ayurvedic system of healing taught to them and
administered in Arabia when Arabia formed part of the Indian empire.
It will now be easy to comprehend the various Hindu customs still
prevailing
in West Asian countries even after the existence of Islam during the last
1300 years. Let us review some Hindu traditions which exist as the core of
Islamic practice.
The Hindus have a pantheon of 33 gods. People in Asia Minor too worshipped
33 gods before the spread of Islam. The lunar calendar was introduced in
West Asia during the Indian rule. The Muslim month Å'Safar‚ signifying
the
Å'extra‚ month (Adhik Maas) in the Hindu calendar. The Muslim month Rabi
is
the corrupt form of Ravi meaning the sun because Sanskrit Å'V‚ changes
into
Prakrit Å'B‚ (Prakrit being the popular version of Sanskrit language).
The
Muslim sanctity for Gyrahwi Sharif is nothing but the Hindu Ekadashi
(Gyrah
= elevan or Gyaarah). Both are identical in meaning.
The Islamic practice of Bakari Eed derives from the Go-Medh and Ashva-Medh
Yagnas or sacrifices of Vedic times. Eed in Sanskrit means worship. The
Islamic word Eed for festive days, signifying days of worship, is
therefore
a pure Sanskrit word. The word MESH in the Hindu zodiac signifies a lamb.
Since in ancient times the year used to begin with the entry of the sun in
Aries, the occasion was celebrated with mutton feasting. That is the
origin
of the Bakari Eed festival.
[Note: The word Bakari is an Indian language word for a goat.]
Since Eed means worship and Griha means Å'house‚, the Islamic word Idgah
signifies a Å'House of worship‚ which is the exact Sanskrit connotation
of
the term. Similarly the word Å'Namaz‚ derives from two Sanskrit roots
Å'Nama‚
and Å'Yajna‚ (NAMa yAJna) meaning bowing and worshipping.
Vedic descriptions about the moon, the different stellar constellations
and
the creation of the universe have been incorporated from the Vedas in
Koran
part 1 chapter 2, stanza 113, 114, 115, and 158, 189, chapter 9, stanza 37
and chapter 10, stanzas 4 to 7.
Recital of the Namaz five times a day owes its origin to the Vedic
injunction of Panchmahayagna (five daily worship- Panch-Maha-Yagna) which
is
part of the daily Vedic ritual prescribed for all individuals.
Muslims are enjoined cleanliness of five parts of the body before
commencing
prayers. This derives from the Vedic injuction Å'Shareer Shydhyartham
Panchanga Nyasah‚.
Four months of the year are regarded as very sacred in Islamic custom. The
devout are enjoined to abstain from plunder and other evil deeds during
that
period. This originates in the Chaturmasa i.e., the four-month period of
special vows and austerities in Hindu tradition. Shabibarat is the corrupt
form of Shiva Vrat and Shiva Ratra. Since the Kaaba has been an important
centre of Shiva (Siva) worship from times immemorial, the Shivaratri
festival used to be celebrated there with great gusto. It is that festival
which is signified by the Islamic word Shabibarat.
Encyclopaedias tell us that there are inscriptions on the side of the
Kaaba
walls. What they are, no body has been allowed to study, according to the
correspondence I had with an American scholar of Arabic. But according to
hearsay at least some of those inscriptions are in Sanskrit, and some of
them are stanzas from the Bhagavad Gita.
According to extant Islamic records, Indian merchants had settled in
Arabia,
particularly in Yemen, and their life and manners deeply influenced those
who came in touch with them. At Ubla there was a large number of Indian
settlements. This shows that Indians were in Arabia and Yemen in
sufficient
strength and commanding position to be able to influence the local people.
This could not be possible unless they belonged to the ruling class.
It is mentioned in the Abadis i.e., the authentic traditions of Prophet
Mohammad compiled by Imam Bukhari that the Indian tribe of Jats had
settled
in Arabia before Prophet Mohammad‚s times. Once when Hazrat Ayesha, wife
of
the Prophet, was taken ill, her nephew sent for a Jat physician for her
treatment. This proves that Indians enjoyed a high and esteemed status in
Arabia. Such a status could not be theirs unless they were the rulers.
Bukhari also tells us that an Indian Raja (king) sent a jar of ginger
pickles to the Prophet. This shows that the Indian Jat Raja ruled an
adjacent area so as to be in a position to send such an insignificant
present as ginger pickles. The Prophet is said to have so highly relished
it
as to have told his colleagues also to partake of it. These references
show
that even during Prophet Mohammad‚s times Indians retained their
influential
role in Arabia, which was a dwindling legacy from Vikramaditya‚s times.
The Islamic term Å'Eed-ul-Fitr‚ derives from the Å'Eed of Piters‚ that
is
worship of forefathers in Sanskrit tradition. In India, Hindus commemorate
their ancestors during the Pitr-Paksha that is the fortnight reserved for
their remembrance. The very same is the significance of Å'Eed-ul-Fitr‚
(worship of forefathers).
The Islamic practice of observing the moon rise before deciding on
celebrating the occasion derives from the Hindu custom of breaking fast on
Sankranti and Vinayaki Chaturthi only after sighting the moon.
Barah Vafat, the Muslim festival for commemorating those dead in battle or
by weapons, derives from a similar Sanskrit tradition because in Sanskrit
Å'Phiphaut‚ is Å'death‚. Hindus observe Chayal Chaturdashi in memory
of those
who have died in battle.
The word Arabia is itself the abbreviation of a Sanskrit word. The
original
word is Å'Arabasthan‚. Since Prakrit Å'B‚ is Sanskrit Å'V‚ the
original
Sanskrit name of the land is Å'Arvasthan‚. Å'Arva‚ in Sanskrit means a
horse.
Arvasthan signifies a land of horses., and as well all know, Arabia is
famous for its horses.
This discovery changes the entire complexion of the history of ancient
India. Firstly we may have to revise our concepts about the king who had
the
largest empire in history. It could be that the expanse of king
Vikramaditya‚s empire was greater than that of all others. Secondly, the
idea that the Indian empire spread only to the east and not in the west
beyond say, Afghanisthan may have to be abandoned. Thirdly the effeminate
and pathetic belief that India, unlike any other country in the world
could
by some age spread her benign and beatific cultural influence, language,
customs, manners and education over distant lands without militarily
conquering them is baseless. India did conquer all those countries
physically wherever traces of its culture and language are still extant
and
the region extended from Bali island in the south Pacific to the Baltic in
Northern Europe and from Korea to Kaaba. The only difference was that
while
Indian rulers identified themselves with the local population and
established welfare states, Moghuls and others who ruled conquered lands
perpetuated untold atrocities over the vanquished.
Å'Sayar-ul-Okul‚ tells us that a pan-Arabic poetic symposium used to be
held
in Mecca at the annual Okaj fair in pre-Islamic times. All leading poets
used to participate in it.
Poems considered best were awarded prizes. The best-engraved on gold plate
were hung inside the temple. Others etched on camel or goatskin were hung
outside. Thus for thousands of years the Kaaba was the treasure house of
the
best Arabian poetic thought inspired by the Indian Vedic tradition.
That tradition being of immemorial antiquity many poetic compositions were
engraved and hung inside and outside on the walls of the Kaaba. But most
of
the poems got lost and destroyed during the storming of the Kaaba by
Prophet
Mohammad‚s troops. The Prophet‚s court poet, Hassan-bin-Sawik, who was
among
the invaders, captured some of the treasured poems and dumped the gold
plate
on which they were inscribed in his own home. Sawik‚s grandson, hoping
to
earn a reward carried those gold plates to Khalif‚s court where he met
the
well-known Arab scholar Abu Amir Asamai. The latter received from the
bearer
five gold plates and 16 leather sheets with the prize-winning poems
engraved
on them. The bearer was sent away happy bestowed with a good reward.
On the five gold plates were inscribed verses by ancient Arab poets like
Labi Baynay, Akhatab-bin-Turfa and Jarrham Bintoi. That discovery made
Harun-al-Rashid order Abu Amir to compile a collection of all earlier
compositions. One of the compositions in the collection is a tribute in
verse paid by Jarrham Bintoi, a renowned Arab poet, to king Vikramaditya.
Bintoi who lived 165 years before Prophet Mohammad had received the
highest
award for the best poetic compositions for three years in succession in
the
pan-Arabic symposiums held in Mecca every year. All those three poems of
Bintoi adjudged best were hung inside the Kaaba temple, inscribed on gold
plates. One of these constituted an unreserved tribute to King
Vikramaditya
for his paternal and filial rule over Arabia. That has already been quoted
above.
Pre-Islamic Arabian poet Bintoi‚s tribute to king Vikramaditya is a
decisive
evidence that it was king Vikramaditya who first conquered the Arabian
Peninsula and made it a part of the Indian Empire. This explains why
starting from India towards the west we have all Sanskrit names like
Afghanisthan (now Afghanistan), Baluchisthan, Kurdisthan, Tajikiathan,
Uzbekisthan, Iran, Sivisthan, Iraq, Arvasthan, Turkesthan (Turkmenisthan)
etc.
Historians have blundered in not giving due weight to the evidence
provided
by Sanskrit names pervading over the entire west Asian region. Let us take
a
contemporary instance. Why did a part of India get named Nagaland even
after
the end of British rule over India? After all historical traces are wiped
out of human memory, will a future age historian be wrong if he concludes
from the name Nagaland that the British or some English speaking power
must
have ruled over India? Why is Portuguese spoken in Goa (part of India),
and
French in Pondichery (part of India), and both French and English in
Canada?
Is it not because those people ruled over the territories where their
languages are spoken? Can we not then justly conclude that wherever traces
of Sanskrit names and traditions exist Indians once held sway? It is
unfortunate that this important piece of decisive evidence has been
ignored
all these centuries.
Another question which should have presented itself to historians for
consideration is how could it be that Indian empires could extend in the
east as far as Korea and Japan, while not being able to make headway
beyond
Afghanisthan? In fact land campaigns are much easier to conduct than by
sea.
It was the Indians who ruled the entire West Asian region from Karachi to
Hedjaz and who gave Sanskrit names to those lands and the towns therein,
introduce their pantheon of the fire-worship, imparted education and
established law and order.
It may be that Arabia itself was not part of the Indian empire until king
Vikrama , since Bintoi says that it was king Vikrama who for the first
time
brought about a radical change in the social, cultural and political life
of
Arabia. It may be that the whole of West Asia except Arabia was under
Indian
rule before Vikrama. The latter added Arabia too to the Indian Empire. Or
as
a remote possibility it could be that king Vikramaditya himself conducted
a
series of brilliant campaigns annexing to his empire the vast region
between
Afghanisthan and Hedjaz.
Incidentally this also explains why king Vikramaditya is so famous in
history. Apart from the nobility and truthfulness of heart and his
impartial
filial affection for all his subjects, whether Indian or Arab, as
testified
by Bintoi, king Vikramaditya has been permanently enshrined in the pages
of
history because he was the world‚s greatest ruler having the largest
empire.
It should be remembered that only a monarch with a vast empire gets famous
in world history. Vikram Samvat (calendar still widely in use in India
today) which he initiated over 2000 years ago may well mark his victory
over
Arabia, and the so called Kutub Minar (Kutub Tower in Delhi), a pillar
commemorating that victory and the consequential marriage with the Vaihika
(Balkh) princess as testified by the nearby iron pillar inscription.
A great many puzzles of ancient world history get automatically solved by
a
proper understanding of these great conquests of king Vikramaditya. As
recorded by the Arab poet Bintoi, Indian scholars, preachers and social
workers spread the fire-worship ceremony, preached the Vedic way of life,
manned schools, set up Ayurvedic (healing) centres, trained the local
people
in irrigation and agriculture and established in those regions a
democratic,
orderly, peaceful, enlightened and religious way of life. That was of
course, a Vedic Hindu way of life.
It is from such ancient times that Indian Kshtriya royal families, like
the
Pahalvis and Barmaks, have held sway over Iran and Iraq. It is those
conquests, which made the Parsees Agnihotris i.e., fire-worshippers. It is
therefore that we find the Kurds of Kurdisthan speaking a Sanskritised
dialect, fire temples existing thousands of miles away from India, and
scores of sites of ancient Indian cultural centres like Navbahar in West
Asia and the numerous viharas in Soviet Russia spread throughout the
world.
Ever since so many viharas are often dug up in Soviet Russia, ancient
Indian
sculptures are also found in excavations in Central Asia. The same goes
for
West Asia.
[Note: Ancient Indian sculptures include metal statues of the Hindu deity
Ganesh (the elephant headed god); the most recent find being in Kuwait].
Unfortunately these chapters of world history have been almost obliterated
from public memory. They need to be carefully deciphered and rewritten.
When
these chapters are rewritten they might change the entire concept and
orientation of ancient history.
In view of the overwhelming evidence led above, historians, scholars,
students of history and lay men alike should take note that they had
better
revise their text books of ancient world history. The existence of Hindu
customs, shrines, Sanskrit names of whole regions, countries and towns and
the Vikramaditya inscriptions reproduced at the beginning are a thumping
proof that Indian Kshatriyas once ruled over the vast region from Bali to
Baltic and Korea to Kaaba in Mecca, Arabia at the very least.
===================================
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Here's an article readers may find interesting.
Note: A recent archeological find in Kuwait unearthed a gold-plated
statue of the Hindu deity Ganesh. A Muslim resident of Kuwait requested
historical research material that can help explain the connection between
Hindu civilisation and Arabia.
Was the Kaaba Originally a Hindu Temple?
By P.N. Oak (Historian)
Glancing through some research material recently, I was pleasantly
surprised to come across a reference to a king Vikramaditya inscription
found in the Kaaba in Mecca proving beyond doubt that the Arabian
Peninsula formed a part of his Indian Empire.
The text of the crucial Vikramaditya inscription, found inscribed on a
gold dish hung inside the Kaaba shrine in Mecca, is found recorded on
page 315 of a volume known as ŒSayar-ul-Okul‚ treasured in the
Makhtab-e-Sultania library in Istanbul, Turkey. Rendered in free English
the inscription says:
"Fortunate are those who were born (and lived) during king Vikram‚s reign.
He was a noble, generous dutiful ruler, devoted to the welfare of his
subjects. But at that time we Arabs, oblivious of God, were lost in
sensual pleasures. Plotting and torture were rampant. The darkness of
ignorance had enveloped our country. Like the lamb struggling for her
life in the cruel paws of a wolf we Arabs were caught up in ignorance.
The entire country was enveloped in a darkness so intense as on a new
moon night. But the present dawn and pleasant sunshine of education is
the result of the favour of the noble king Vikramaditya whose benevolent
supervision did not lose sight of us- foreigners as we were. He spread
his sacred religion amongst us and sent scholars whose brilliance shone
like that of the sun from his country to ours. These scholars and
preceptors through whose benevolence we were once again made cognisant of
the presence of God, introduced to His sacred existence and put on
the road of Truth, had come to our country to preach their religion and
impart education at king Vikramaditya‚s behest."
For those who would like to read the Arabic wording I reproduce it
hereunder in Roman script:
"Itrashaphai Santu Ibikramatul Phahalameen Karimun Yartapheeha Wayosassaru
Bihillahaya Samaini Ela Motakabberen Sihillaha Yuhee Quid min howa
Yapakhara phajjal asari nahone osirom bayjayhalem. Yundan blabin Kajan
blnaya khtoryaha sadunya kanateph netephi bejehalin Atadari bilamasa-
rateen phakef tasabuhu kaunnieja majekaralhada walador. As hmiman
burukankad toluho watastaru hihila Yakajibaymana balay kulk amarena
phaneya jaunabilamary Bikramatum".
(Page 315 Sayar-ul-okul).
[Note: The title ŒSaya-ul-okul‚ signifies memorable words.]
A careful analysis of the above inscription enables us to draw the
following conclusions:
That the ancient Indian empires may have extended up to the eastern
boundaries of Arabia until Vikramaditya and that it was he who for the
first time conquered Arabia. Because the inscription says that king
Vikram who dispelled the darkness of ignorance from Arabia.
That, whatever their earlier faith, King Vikrama‚s preachers had
succeeded in spreading the Vedic (based on the Vedas, the Hindu sacred
scriptures)) way of life in Arabia.
That the knowledge of Indian arts and sciences was imparted by Indians
to the Arabs directly by founding schools, academies and cultural
centres. The belief, therefore, that visiting Arabs conveyed that
knowledge to their own lands through their own indefatigable efforts and
scholarship is unfounded.
An ancillary conclusion could be that the so-called Kutub Minar (in Delhi,
India) could well be king Vikramadiya‚s tower commemorating his conquest
of Arabia. This conclusion is strengthened by two pointers. Firstly, the
inscription on the iron pillar near the so-called Kutub Minar refers to
the marriage of the victorious king Vikramaditya to the princess of
Balhika. This Balhika is none other than the Balkh region in West Asia.
It could be that Arabia was wrestled by king Vikramaditya from the ruler
of Balkh who concluded a treaty by giving his daughter in marriage to the
victor. Secondly, the township adjoining the so called Kutub Minar is
named Mehrauli after Mihira who was the renowned astronomer-mathematician
of king Vikram‚s court. Mehrauli is the corrupt form of Sanskrit
ŒMihira-Awali‚ signifying a row of houses raised for Mihira and his
helpers and assistants working on astronomical observations made from the
tower.
Having seen the far reaching and history shaking implications of the
Arabic inscription concerning king Vikrama, we shall now piece together
the story of its find. How it came to be recorded and hung in the Kaaba
in Mecca. What are the other proofs reinforcing the belief that Arabs
were once followers of the Indian Vedic way of life and that tranquillity
and education were ushered into Arabia by king Vikramaditya‚s scholars,
educationists from an uneasy period of "ignorance and turmoil" mentioned
in the inscription.
In Istanbul, Turkey, there is a famous library called Makhatab-e-Sultania,
which is reputed to have the largest collection of ancient West Asian
literature. In the Arabic section of that library is an anthology of
ancient Arabic poetry. That anthology was compiled from an earlier work
in A.D. 1742 under the orders of the Turkish ruler Sultan Salim.
The pages of that volume are of Hareer ˆ a kind of silk used for writing
on. Each page has a decorative gilded border. That anthology is known as
Sayar-ul-Okul. It is divided into three parts. The first part contains
biographic details and the poetic compositions of pre-Islamic Arabian
poets. The second part embodies accounts and verses of poets of the
period beginning just after prophet Mohammad‚s times, up to the end of
the Banee-Um-Mayya dynasty. The third part deals with later poets up to
the end of Khalif Harun-al-Rashid‚s times.
Abu Amir Asamai, an Arabian bard who was the poet Laureate of
Harun-al-Rashid‚s court, has compiled and edited the anthology.
The first modern edition of ŒSayar-ul-Okul‚ was printed and published in
Berlin in 1864. A subsequent edition is the one published in Beirut in
1932.
The collection is regarded as the most important and authoritative
anthology of ancient Arabic poetry. It throws considerable light on the
social life, customs, manners and entertainment modes of ancient Arabia.
The book also contains an elaborate description of the ancient shrine of
Mecca, the town and the annual fair known as OKAJ which used to be held
every year around the Kaaba temple in Mecca. This should convince readers
that the annual haj of the Muslims to the Kaaba is of earlier pre-Islamic
congregation.
But the OKAJ fair was far from a carnival. It provided a forum for the
elite and the learned to discuss the social, religious, political,
literary and other aspects of the Vedic culture then pervading Arabia.
ŒSayar-ul-Okul‚ asserts that the conclusion reached at those discussions
were widely respected throughout Arabia. Mecca, therefore, followed the
Varanasi tradition (of India) of providing a venue for important
discussions among the learned while the masses congregated there for
spiritual bliss. The principal shrines at both Varanasi in India and at
Mecca in Arvasthan (Arabia) were Siva temples. Even to this day ancient
Mahadev (Siva) emblems can be seen. It is the Shankara (Siva) stone that
Muslim pilgrims reverently touch and kiss in the Kaaba.
Arabic tradition has lost trace of the founding of the Kaaba temple. The
discovery of the Vikramaditya inscription affords a clue. King
Vikramaditya is known for his great devotion to Lord Mahadev (Siva). At
Ujjain (India), the capital of Vikramaditya, exists the famous shrine of
Mahankal, i.e., of Lord Shankara (Siva) associated with Vikramaditya.
Since according to the Vikramaditya inscription he spread the Vedic
religion, who else but he could have founded the Kaaba temple in Mecca?
A few miles away from Mecca is a big signboard which bars the entry of any
non-Muslim into the area. This is a reminder of the days when the Kaaba
was stormed and captured solely for the newly established faith of Islam.
The object in barring entry of non-Muslims was obviously to prevent its
recapture.
As the pilgrim proceeds towards Mecca he is asked to shave his head and
beard and to don special sacred attire that consists of two seamless
sheets of white cloth. One is to be worn round the waist and the other
over the shoulders. Both these rites are remnants of the old Vedic
practice of entering Hindu temples clean- and with holy seamless white
sheets.
The main shrine in Mecca, which houses the Siva emblem, is known as the
Kaaba. It is clothed in a black shroud. That custom also originates from
the days when it was thought necessary to discourage its recapture by
camouflaging it.
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Kaaba has 360 images.
Traditional accounts mention that one of the deities among the 360
destroyed when the place was stormed, was that of Saturn; another was of
the Moon and yet another was one called Allah. That shows that in the
Kaaba the Arabs worshipped the nine planets in pre-Islamic days. In India
the practice of ŒNavagraha‚ puja, that is worship of the nine planets, is
still in vogue. Two of these nine are Saturn and Moon.
In India the crescent moon is always painted across the forehead of the
Siva symbol. Since that symbol was associated with the Siva emblem in
Kaaba it came to be grafted on the flag of Islam.
Another Hindu tradition associated with the Kaaba is that of the sacred
stream Ganga (sacred waters of the Ganges river). According to the Hindu
tradition Ganga is also inseparable from the Shiva emblem as the crescent
moon. Wherever there is a Siva emblem, Ganga must co-exist. True to that
association a sacred fount exists near the Kaaba. Its water is held
sacred because it has been traditionally regarded as Ganga since
pre-Islamic times (Zam-Zam water).
[Note: Even today, Muslim pilgrims who go to the Kaaba for Haj regard this
Zam-Zam water with reverence and take some bottled water with them as
sacred water.]
Muslim pilgrims visiting the Kaaba temple go around it seven times. In no
other mosque does the circumambulation prevail. Hindus invariably
circumambulate around their deities. This is yet another proof that the
Kaaba shrine is a pre-Islamic Indian Shiva temple where the Hindu
practice of circumambulation is still meticulously observed.
The practice of taking seven steps- known as Saptapadi in Sanskrit- is
associated with Hindu marriage ceremony and fire worship. The culminating
rite in a Hindu marriage enjoins upon the bride and groom to go round the
sacred fire four times (but misunderstood by many as seven times). Since
"Makha" means fire, the seven circumambulations also prove that Mecca was
the seat of Indian fire-worship in the West Asia.
It might come as a stunning revelation to many that the word ŒALLAH‚
itself is Sanskrit. In Sanskrit language Allah, Akka and Amba are
synonyms. They signify a goddess or mother. The term ŒALLAH‚ forms part
of Sanskrit chants invoking goddess Durga, also known as Bhavani, Chandi
and Mahishasurmardini. The Islamic word for God is., therefore, not an
innovation but the ancient Sanskrit appellation retained and continued by
Islam. Allah means mother or goddess and mother goddess.
One Koranic verse is an exact translation of a stanza in the Yajurveda.
This was pointed out by the great research scholar Pandit Satavlekar of
Pardi in one of his articles.
[Note: Another scholar points out that the following teaching from the
Koran is exactly similar to the teaching of the Kena Upanishad (1.7).
The Koran:
"Sight perceives Him not. But He perceives men's sights; for He is the
knower of secrets , the Aware."
Kena Upanishad:
"That which cannot be seen by the eye but through which the eye itself
sees, know That to be Brahman (God) and not what people worship here (in
the manifested world)."
A simplified meaning of both the above verses reads:
God is one and that He is beyond man's sensory experience.]
The identity of Unani and Ayurvedic systems shows that Unani is just the
Arabic term for the Ayurvedic system of healing taught to them and
administered in Arabia when Arabia formed part of the Indian empire.
It will now be easy to comprehend the various Hindu customs still
prevailing in West Asian countries even after the existence of Islam
during the last 1300 years. Let us review some Hindu traditions which
exist as the core of Islamic practice.
The Hindus have a pantheon of 33 gods. People in Asia Minor too worshipped
33 gods before the spread of Islam. The lunar calendar was introduced in
West Asia during the Indian rule. The Muslim month ŒSafar‚ signifying the
Œextra‚ month (Adhik Maas) in the Hindu calendar. The Muslim month Rabi is
the corrupt form of Ravi meaning the sun because Sanskrit ŒV‚ changes into
Prakrit ŒB‚ (Prakrit being the popular version of Sanskrit language). The
Muslim sanctity for Gyrahwi Sharif is nothing but the Hindu Ekadashi
(Gyrah = elevan or Gyaarah). Both are identical in meaning.
The Islamic practice of Bakari Eed derives from the Go-Medh and Ashva-Medh
Yagnas or sacrifices of Vedic times. Eed in Sanskrit means worship. The
Islamic word Eed for festive days, signifying days of worship, is
therefore a pure Sanskrit word. The word MESH in the Hindu zodiac
signifies a lamb. Since in ancient times the year used to begin with the
entry of the sun in Aries, the occasion was celebrated with mutton
feasting. That is the origin of the Bakari Eed festival.
[Note: The word Bakari is an Indian language word for a goat.]
Since Eed means worship and Griha means Œhouse‚, the Islamic word Idgah
signifies a ŒHouse of worship‚ which is the exact Sanskrit connotation of
the term. Similarly the word ŒNamaz‚ derives from two Sanskrit roots
ŒNama‚ and ŒYajna‚ (NAMa yAJna) meaning bowing and worshipping.
Vedic descriptions about the moon, the different stellar constellations
and the creation of the universe have been incorporated from the Vedas in
Koran part 1 chapter 2, stanza 113, 114, 115, and 158, 189, chapter 9,
stanza 37 and chapter 10, stanzas 4 to 7.
Recital of the Namaz five times a day owes its origin to the Vedic
injunction of Panchmahayagna (five daily worship- Panch-Maha-Yagna) which
is part of the daily Vedic ritual prescribed for all individuals.
Muslims are enjoined cleanliness of five parts of the body before
commencing prayers. This derives from the Vedic injuction ŒShareer
Shydhyartham Panchanga Nyasah‚.
Four months of the year are regarded as very sacred in Islamic custom. The
devout are enjoined to abstain from plunder and other evil deeds during
that period. This originates in the Chaturmasa i.e., the four-month
period of special vows and austerities in Hindu tradition. Shabibarat is
the corrupt form of Shiva Vrat and Shiva Ratra. Since the Kaaba has been
an important centre of Shiva (Siva) worship from times immemorial, the
Shivaratri festival used to be celebrated there with great gusto. It is
that festival which is signified by the Islamic word Shabibarat.
Encyclopaedias tell us that there are inscriptions on the side of the
Kaaba walls. What they are, no body has been allowed to study, according
to the correspondence I had with an American scholar of Arabic. But
according to hearsay at least some of those inscriptions are in Sanskrit,
and some of them are stanzas from the Bhagavad Gita.
According to extant Islamic records, Indian merchants had settled in
Arabia, particularly in Yemen, and their life and manners deeply
influenced those who came in touch with them. At Ubla there was a large
number of Indian settlements. This shows that Indians were in Arabia and
Yemen in sufficient strength and commanding position to be able to
influence the local people. This could not be possible unless they
belonged to the ruling class.
It is mentioned in the Abadis i.e., the authentic traditions of Prophet
Mohammad compiled by Imam Bukhari that the Indian tribe of Jats had
settled in Arabia before Prophet Mohammad‚s times. Once when Hazrat
Ayesha, wife of the Prophet, was taken ill, her nephew sent for a Jat
physician for her treatment. This proves that Indians enjoyed a high and
esteemed status in Arabia. Such a status could not be theirs unless they
were the rulers. Bukhari also tells us that an Indian Raja (king) sent a
jar of ginger pickles to the Prophet. This shows that the Indian Jat Raja
ruled an adjacent area so as to be in a position to send such an
insignificant present as ginger pickles. The Prophet is said to have so
highly relished it as to have told his colleagues also to partake of it.
These references show that even during Prophet Mohammad‚s times Indians
retained their influential role in Arabia, which was a dwindling legacy
from Vikramaditya‚s times.
The Islamic term ŒEed-ul-Fitr‚ derives from the ŒEed of Piters‚ that is
worship of forefathers in Sanskrit tradition. In India, Hindus
commemorate their ancestors during the Pitr-Paksha that is the fortnight
reserved for their remembrance. The very same is the significance of
ŒEed-ul-Fitr‚ (worship of forefathers).
The Islamic practice of observing the moon rise before deciding on
celebrating the occasion derives from the Hindu custom of breaking fast
on Sankranti and Vinayaki Chaturthi only after sighting the moon.
Barah Vafat, the Muslim festival for commemorating those dead in battle or
by weapons, derives from a similar Sanskrit tradition because in Sanskrit
ŒPhiphaut‚ is Œdeath‚. Hindus observe Chayal Chaturdashi in memory of
those who have died in battle.
The word Arabia is itself the abbreviation of a Sanskrit word. The
original word is ŒArabasthan‚. Since Prakrit ŒB‚ is Sanskrit ŒV‚ the
original Sanskrit name of the land is ŒArvasthan‚. ŒArva‚ in Sanskrit
means a horse. Arvasthan signifies a land of horses., and as well all
know, Arabia is famous for its horses.
This discovery changes the entire complexion of the history of ancient
India. Firstly we may have to revise our concepts about the king who had
the largest empire in history. It could be that the expanse of king
Vikramaditya‚s empire was greater than that of all others. Secondly, the
idea that the Indian empire spread only to the east and not in the west
beyond say, Afghanisthan may have to be abandoned. Thirdly the effeminate
and pathetic belief that India, unlike any other country in the world
could by some age spread her benign and beatific cultural influence,
language, customs, manners and education over distant lands without
militarily conquering them is baseless. India did conquer all those
countries physically wherever traces of its culture and language are
still extant and the region extended from Bali island in the south
Pacific to the Baltic in Northern Europe and from Korea to Kaaba. The
only difference was that while Indian rulers identified themselves with
the
local population and established welfare states, Moghuls and others who
ruled conquered lands perpetuated untold atrocities over the vanquished.
ŒSayar-ul-Okul‚ tells us that a pan-Arabic poetic symposium used to be
held in Mecca at the annual Okaj fair in pre-Islamic times. All leading
poets used to participate in it.
Poems considered best were awarded prizes. The best-engraved on gold plate
were hung inside the temple. Others etched on camel or goatskin were hung
outside. Thus for thousands of years the Kaaba was the treasure house of
the best Arabian poetic thought inspired by the Indian Vedic tradition.
That tradition being of immemorial antiquity many poetic compositions were
engraved and hung inside and outside on the walls of the Kaaba. But most
of the poems got lost and destroyed during the storming of the Kaaba by
Prophet Mohammad‚s troops. The Prophet‚s court poet, Hassan-bin-Sawik,
who was among the invaders, captured some of the treasured poems and
dumped the gold plate on which they were inscribed in his own home.
Sawik‚s grandson, hoping to earn a reward carried those gold plates to
Khalif‚s court where he met the well-known Arab scholar Abu Amir Asamai.
The latter received from the bearer five gold plates and 16 leather
sheets with the prize-winning poems engraved on them. The bearer was sent
away happy bestowed with a good reward.
On the five gold plates were inscribed verses by ancient Arab poets like
Labi Baynay, Akhatab-bin-Turfa and Jarrham Bintoi. That discovery made
Harun-al-Rashid order Abu Amir to compile a collection of all earlier
compositions. One of the compositions in the collection is a tribute in
verse paid by Jarrham Bintoi, a renowned Arab poet, to king Vikramaditya.
Bintoi who lived 165 years before Prophet Mohammad had received the
highest award for the best poetic compositions for three years in
succession in the pan-Arabic symposiums held in Mecca every year. All
those three poems of Bintoi adjudged best were hung inside the Kaaba
temple, inscribed on gold plates. One of these constituted an unreserved
tribute to King Vikramaditya for his paternal and filial rule over
Arabia. That has already been quoted above.
Pre-Islamic Arabian poet Bintoi‚s tribute to king Vikramaditya is a
decisive evidence that it was king Vikramaditya who first conquered the
Arabian Peninsula and made it a part of the Indian Empire. This explains
why starting from India towards the west we have all Sanskrit names like
Afghanisthan (now Afghanistan), Baluchisthan, Kurdisthan, Tajikiathan,
Uzbekisthan, Iran, Sivisthan, Iraq, Arvasthan, Turkesthan
(Turkmenisthan) etc.
Historians have blundered in not giving due weight to the evidence
provided by Sanskrit names pervading over the entire west Asian region.
Let us take a contemporary instance. Why did a part of India get named
Nagaland even after the end of British rule over India? After all
historical traces are wiped out of human memory, will a future age
historian be wrong if he concludes from the name Nagaland that the
British or some English speaking power must have ruled over India? Why is
Portuguese spoken in Goa (part of India), and French in Pondichery (part
of India), and both French and English in Canada? Is it not because those
people ruled over the territories where their languages are spoken? Can we
not then justly conclude that wherever traces of Sanskrit names and
traditions exist Indians once held sway? It is unfortunate that this
important piece of decisive evidence has been ignored all these
centuries.
Another question which should have presented itself to historians for
consideration is how could it be that Indian empires could extend in the
east as far as Korea and Japan, while not being able to make headway
beyond Afghanisthan? In fact land campaigns are much easier to conduct
than by sea. It was the Indians who ruled the entire West Asian region
from Karachi to Hedjaz and who gave Sanskrit names to those lands and the
towns therein, introduce their pantheon of the fire-worship, imparted
education and established law and order.
It may be that Arabia itself was not part of the Indian empire until king
Vikrama , since Bintoi says that it was king Vikrama who for the first
time brought about a radical change in the social, cultural and political
life of Arabia. It may be that the whole of West Asia except Arabia was
under Indian rule before Vikrama. The latter added Arabia too to the
Indian Empire. Or as a remote possibility it could be that king
Vikramaditya himself conducted a series of brilliant campaigns annexing
to his empire the vast region between Afghanisthan and Hedjaz.
Incidentally this also explains why king Vikramaditya is so famous in
history. Apart from the nobility and truthfulness of heart and his
impartial filial affection for all his subjects, whether Indian or Arab,
as testified by Bintoi, king Vikramaditya has been permanently enshrined
in the pages of history because he was the world‚s greatest ruler having
the largest empire. It should be remembered that only a monarch with a
vast empire gets famous in world history. Vikram Samvat (calendar still
widely in use in India today) which he initiated over 2000 years ago may
well mark his victory over Arabia, and the so called Kutub Minar (Kutub
Tower in Delhi), a pillar commemorating that victory and the
consequential marriage with the Vaihika (Balkh) princess as testified by
the nearby iron pillar inscription.
A great many puzzles of ancient world history get automatically solved by
a proper understanding of these great conquests of king Vikramaditya. As
recorded by the Arab poet Bintoi, Indian scholars, preachers and social
workers spread the fire-worship ceremony, preached the Vedic way of life,
manned schools, set up Ayurvedic (healing) centres, trained the local
people in irrigation and agriculture and established in those regions a
democratic, orderly, peaceful, enlightened and religious way of life.
That was of course, a Vedic Hindu way of life.
It is from such ancient times that Indian Kshtriya royal families, like
the Pahalvis and Barmaks, have held sway over Iran and Iraq. It is those
conquests, which made the Parsees Agnihotris i.e., fire-worshippers. It
is therefore that we find the Kurds of Kurdisthan speaking a Sanskritised
dialect, fire temples existing thousands of miles away from India, and
scores of sites of ancient Indian cultural centres like Navbahar in West
Asia and the numerous viharas in Soviet Russia spread throughout the
world. Ever since so many viharas are often dug up in Soviet Russia,
ancient Indian sculptures are also found in excavations in Central Asia.
The same goes for West Asia.
[Note: Ancient Indian sculptures include metal statues of the Hindu deity
Ganesh (the elephant headed god); the most recent find being in Kuwait].
Unfortunately these chapters of world history have been almost obliterated
from public memory. They need to be carefully deciphered and rewritten.
When these chapters are rewritten they might change the entire concept
and orientation of ancient history.
In view of the overwhelming evidence led above, historians, scholars,
students of history and lay men alike should take note that they had
better revise their text books of ancient world history. The existence of
Hindu customs, shrines, Sanskrit names of whole regions, countries and
towns and the Vikramaditya inscriptions reproduced at the beginning are a
thumping proof that Indian Kshatriyas once ruled over the vast region from
Bali to Baltic and Korea to Kaaba in Mecca, Arabia at the very least.
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