Today is Jayanti of Ahilyabai Holkar

She was a widow who became Malwa's greatest queen. Defended our country & personally led armies into battle.Never plundered anyone. Developed Malwa into a prosperous kingdom. Rebuilt temples destroyed by Mughals. Built Dharmashalas at Tirthas

Unfortunately, her memory has been blemished by inaccurate representations in modern popular media.

The serial "Punyashlok Ahilyabai" depicts her as ultra secularist feminazi icon who questions Hindu rituals & Pandits while patronising Sufis.

This is far from historical truth!

Ahilyabai was born on May 31 1725 to Patil Mankoji Shinde.

She was from Dhangar clan(classified as OBC today). While Dhangars were traditionally into herding, they took up arms & held several military /civil roles in various eras of history(especially during Maratha resurgence)

In 1737, when she was 12, Ahilyabai Holkar was married to Khanderao , son of Subedar Malhar Rao Holkar.

By the time she was married, fortunes of Holkar family had already waxed.

Malhar Rao was a Subedar of territory comprising 30 Parganas yielding a revenue of at least 7 Lakh

In 1741, when Ahilyabai was newly married, her father -in-law Malhar Rao Built Indore palace & ordered the kanungo to populate the settlement with a promise of protection to traders.

This began rise of Indore from its background as modest trading town Indrapuri to a great city

Hinduism is a minority religion in Punjab.

During the Khalistan movement, the minority Hindus and Jains were subjected to several attacks. Hindu and Jain temples were frequently vandalized and desecrated. This thread documents a few instances.

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Durgiana Mandir is one of the oldest temples of Amritsar. According to the regional Hindu tradition, the temple was built on the spot where Lava and Kusha bound Hanuman. The temple annually attracts millions of Hindus from all over the country.

Amristsar has a very ancient Hindu history.

According to the regional Hindu tradition recorded in the "Survey of Amritsar", Amritsar got its name from Amrit immersed by Lava and Kusha in a pond.

Durgiana Mandir was rebuilt in 1921.

It was used to house the Murtis of Vishnu and Durga which were thrown out from the Parikrama of Harmandir Sahib in 1905.

Because of its presence in Amritsar, it became a frequent target of radicals during the Khalistan movement.

In 1982, in what was a completely unprovoked attack, the Dal Khalsa "activists" threw a severed cow head inside Durgiana temple.

Thread.

Recently, Harsimrat Kaur @HarsimratBadal_ claimed in parliament that Guru Tegh Bahadur protected the religion of Hindus despite of being a Non-Hindu. And Hindus owe a huge favor to others.

In this thread, I will show that Guru Tegh Bahadur was every inch a Hindu!

Let us begin with some contemporary sources.

Guru Tegh Bahadur visited the holy Triveni at Prayaga in 1662 CE.

This visit is documented in contemporary Bhat Vahi records.

Unlike those unpublished "bhat vahis", this one was published by Sikh historian Madanjit Kaur (1978)

This Bhat Vahi was signed by Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The content of the letter is particularly striking.

Guru Tegh Bahadur calls himself a devotee of Naina Devi.

Note. A devotee of Naina Devi. He does not mention Akal Purakh or Waheguru.

In the record, Guru Tegh Bahadur identifies himself as Sodhi Khatri by Varna and Kaushish by gotra.

This is exactly how the followers of orthodox Hinduism identify themselves to this date!

Further, Guru Tegh Bahadur appoints a brahmin purohit named Bhoj Raj.

He orders Sodhis of his line and all his Sikh followers to obey the aforementioned Brahmin Purohit.

This practice of appointing purohits is just what is referred to by some people as "Brahmanical Hinduism"

How Saif Ali Khan's great grandfather tried to merge Bhopal in Pakistan: [Thread]

Saif's great grandfather was the Nawab of Bhopal.

He was a staunch supporter of Pakistan & Jinnah. He governed Bhopal by Sharia.

He wrote a letter inviting King of Afghanistan to invade India.

August 2 1947: Saif Ali Khan's great grandfather, Nawab of Bhopal wrote a letter to Jinnah.

He clearly states

"I am a staunch supporter of Pakistan. I want to merge Bhopal in Pakistan. Hindus are untrustworthy.

But Bhopal is 80% Hindu and surrounded by India. I am cut off"

He further says

"Hindus are intimidating me to join India. I know Pakistan has no means of helping me. But I want to know how much Pakistan can help me.

I would never sign and join India, come what might . I will continue to serve Pakistan and Islam!"

In other words, Saif Ali Khan's family tried everything in their power to merge Bhopal in Pakistan. But as Bhopal was in the center of India, neither Jinnah nor Nawab had military means to resist India. Had Bhopal been a frontier kingdom, it would have been a part of Pakistan!

Source of the snippets: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah Papers. From Jinnah's letter collection in Lucknow AIML office. Digitized and published in 1994-95 by Government of Pakistan and recommended for inclusion in Memory of World Register

Taliban has hoisted its flag on Hazrat Ali mosque of Mazar I Sharif.

This mosque is especially venerated by Shia Hazaras of Afghanistan.

This development is of extreme significance in the light of history and has implications on the very definition of Afghanistan

Thread.

The Afghanistan we see on the map today was created by Afghan King Emir Abdur Rahman in 1900.

Before 1880, the entire central region of Afghanistan constituted a different country that was known by the name Hazaristan or Hazarajat

It was NOT considered a part of Afghanistan

That Afghanistan is nation of Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, etc is just a modern notion created 50 years ago.

Consider this Afghan idiom of the famous Pashtun poet Khushal Khattak(c. 1613 -1689 CE)

"An Afghan is a Pashtun and a Pashtun is an Afghan. Bεhead him who says otherwise"

Who are Hazaras?

Hazaras are considered by historians to be descendants of Genghis Khan's army.

This is supported by their Asiatic features.

Although a majority of Hazaras adopted Persian with their own Hazaragi dialect, some still speak a Turkic language known as "Moghul"

An overwhelming majority of Hazaras are Shia by faith, in contrast to their Sunni Pashtun neighbors.

Hazaras are distinct from other Afghans linguistically, culturally and ethnically.

Traditionally, they inhabited the entire central region of Afghanistan from Ghazni to Herat

Dipavali & firecrackers

In this thread, I will debunk the MYTH that bursting firecrackers is a new innovation that was recently introduced into dīpāvali festivities.

It will be shown that bursting firecrackers has always been intergral and central part of dīpāvali .

[Thread]

At the very core of this entire MYTH is the presumption that Gunpowder (cf. fireworks) was invented in China in 9th century and brought to India by Muslim rulers.

This THREAD debunks this widespread MYTH and throws light on the unknown/hidden history of dīpāvali & gunpowder.

Indeed, so widespread is this myth that gunpowder is popularly known as one of “ the "Four Great Inventions" of China”.

However, this myth starts falling apart when we examine Chinese sources themselves for the origin of Gunpowder.

According to Chinese sources themselves, an Indian Buddhist monk who brought gunpowder technology to China

In 664 CE, he discovered soils in China containing Saltpetre (primary constituent of gunpowder).

Chinese studies of Chemistry of saltpetre show evidence of Indian origin.

Of course, this is not to say that Chinese have no contribution to Gunpowder technology. They improvised it & made innovations.

However, the initial knowledge of Gunpowder came to China from India.

Even Scholar Roger Pauly, a hardcore Sinophile, admits "Indian inspiration"

The origins of Mizoram and the conflict in North East India:

Recently, 6 soldiers of Assam police were martyred defending territorial boundaries of Assam from Mizoram encroachers backed by Mizoram police.

This is a thread about Mizoram and the origin of this conflict

[Thread]

To be sure, Assam is not the only state Mizoram is at loggerheads with.

Mizoram also has conflicts with other states on its border.

Last year, Mizoram targeted a village on Tripura border because Hindus of the village planned to construct Shiva

For Mizoram, which does not celebrate "International Yoga Day" because Church considers Yoga "anti Christian", building a Hindu temple was too much.

Mizoram Government imposed section 144 because "a Hindu temple would disturb peace and

Here is a question:

Mizoram was earlier a district in Assam by name "Mizo hills"

When it started agitation for statehood, its population was 1.96 lakh.

Even today, Mizoram population is 10.91 lakhs.

How could a small district bully the nation to accept its separatist demand?

To attempt an answer, we delve into history. And history is shocking.

This region was ruled by Ahoms & then British.

But there is not a SINGLE mention of "Mizos" or "Mizoram" until 19th & early 20th century.

In-fact, it was officially known as "Lushai Hills" until 1952

On women's day, remember our queen Ahilyabai Holkar.

A widow who became Malwa's queen. Defended our country & personally led armies into battle.Never plundered anyone. Developed Malwa into a prosperous kingdom. Rebuilt temples destroyed by Mughals. Built Dharmashalas at Tirthas

This map shows temples built by Ahilyabai Holkar.

Excepting territories ruled by Afghans, Nawabs & British, she built temples everywhere. Without her, almost ALL Tirthas would have been in ruins & there wouldn't be any standing temple. Built numerous tanks for people's welfare

Ahilyabai who built temples, orphanages, residences and irrigation tanks all over India led a modest personal life. She used to live in this small residence in Maheshwar. Never built anything for herself. The Saint Queen used to sleep on floor. Her lips always uttered "Shiva"

Ahilyabai never issued capital punishment. Took personal oath from prisoners & released them. Many adopted honest life. She Introduced 7/12 scheme. Farmers prospered. No trader tax beyond custom. Her subjects weren't afraid to display wealth. She rebuilt Kashi Vishvanath!

Ahilyabai built temples from inherited property and not state fund. She used State funds to provide capital to traders & artisans. She believed she had no right over wealth earned by her subjects. Thanks to her, Indore became one of world's most prosperous cities in 18th century

Rudra and Apollo [A thread]

In Vedic literature, one of the most frequent names of Rudra is शर्व ("archer").

Yajurveda 4.5 (Taittiriya Samhita) is popularly known as Shri Rudram or Śatarudrīya

Its fifth Anuvaka starts with

नमोभवाय च रुद्राय च नमः शर्वाय च पशुपतयेच

Infact, the Śatarudrīya starts with:

नमस्तेरुद्रमन्यव उतोत इषवेनमः ।
नमस्ते अस्तुधन्वनेबाहुभ्यामुततेनमः ॥

"Veneration to your wrath, O Rudra. Veneration to your arrow as well; Veneration to your bow and veneration to your arms" (Yajurveda 4.5.1.1).

The bow of Rudra was पिनाक

In fact, in the entire Vedic literature, triśūla is not mentioned anywhere as the weapon of Rudra-Śiva. This is only mentioned in Post Vedic literature(Epic and Puranic)

Likewise, God Apollo is renowned in Ancient Greek literature as "The Archer".

In Illiad (c. 800 BC), The most frequent phrase used by Homer to describe Apollo is "Apollo who shoots from afar"

Today is the founding day of Gita Press.

This thread tells the story of Gita Press. Their mission, their founding members and their unrelenting resistance against left-liberal & Congress Govt censorship of their organization.

Gita Press was established in 1923 by JD Goyanka.

Hanuman Prasad Poddar was the founding editor of Gita Press.

Its first journal Kalyan was published in 1927. While most journals of this period are confined to libraries and archives, Gita Press and Kalyan still exist with millions of copies

Unlike other publications, Gita Press publishes its books at a very reasonable price.

For example, a Bhagavad Gita can be procured at Rs.30. A copy of Hanuman Chalisa costs just Rs. 2 (50 lakh copies printed every year). Yet, the printing, cover and content quality is FANTASTIC

But why? Why does Gita Press publish excellent books at such a minimum token price which inevitably equals or exceeds the creation cost?

The answer to this question is that Gita Press was not founded to be a profit making enterprise.

Its goals were something very different

Gita Press was founded at a time when Christian Missionaries were making rapid progress in converting Hindus.

They were making all out attacks on Hinduism.

Missionaries distributed copies of Bible to anyone who showed slightest inclination to accept it. Bibles were flowing in

Did you know?

The Bamiyan Buddhas are famous throughout the world.

Did you know that the Bamiyan Buddhas had a gold covering until 9th century? They were adorned with precious gems.

Did you know that the Bamiyan Buddhas were built by a HINDU king?

[Thread]

Who built Bamiyan Buddha?

There lies a painting of the king who sponsored the construction of Bamiyan Buddhas inside Bamiyan caves.

The name of the king who built Bamiyan Buddhas was Narendraditya Khingila(6th-7th century CE).

He was the same king who worshiped Gardez Ganesha

Khingila consecrated a temple for Ganesha in Gardez, Afghanistan.

The temple has not survived.

However, the Ganesha image has been moved out of Gardez and is now at Pir Rattan temple, Kabul (the same temple whose priest is Pandit Rajesh Kumar, the last Hindu of Afghanistan)

When Xuanzang visited Bamiyan (c. 629 CE) , the Buddhas were standing in full glory.

Xuanzang describes the larger standing Buddha as follows
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"It is 140-150 meters high. It is of a dazzling gold color. It is resplendent with ornamentations of precious substances"

During this period, the clothes of Buddha were very brightly colored. The larger buddha was clothed in red and the smaller Buddha in white.

And this coloring survived until recently.

This is why Muslims named larger Buddha as "Surkh But"(red idol) and the smaller as "Khing But"

A pernicious attempt to connect Hinduism with Nazism.

Audrey (@audreyTruschke) claims Indic philosophy inspired Nazism & Nazism inspired Hindu revivalism.

She comes from a long line of protestant Indologists making such connections

But is it really so?

[Myth breaking THREAD]

Audrey insists Nazi "Hakenkreuz" is nothing but "German translation" of Swastika.

She even goes on to say the Nazi translation did not erase "the basic meaning and history" of swastika.

Is this really so?

This thread EXPOSES closely guarded academic secrets about this topic

As I have mentioned elsewhere, Hitler never used the word Swastika himself. He used the word Hakenkreuz.

This claim is FALSE.

Germans did not use "Hakenkreuz" for Swastika. They used it for Christian hooked cross.

Hakenkreuz is literal German translation of "hooked cross"

But what is Hakenkreuz/ Hooked cross? What did Nazis understand by it?

What were they so enamored by this symbol? Did they see the symbol as mere translation of Indic symbol Swastika?

Did they see the Hakenkreuz as an ancient Indian symbol? Did they borrow this Indian symbol?

Only the contemporary Nazi literature can tell us what the Nazis actually thought about Swastika.

I begin by considering the views of Erich Koch. Koch was a top officer of Nazi Germany. He organised Nazi concentration camps. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after the war.