This is THEFT!

Indians had Algebra BEFORE Mμslim prophet & religion was even born.

Here is Bakhshali Manuscript dating back to 3rd century CE. It is an Algebraic treatise. Have you anything like this from the Arabian desert? No, you simply plagiarized Algebra from Indians! https://t.co/cWXRNYMgDt

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.

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
-
"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"

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

So I have a funny story about Governor General Jules Leger. I was working in the gardens on the grounds as a summer student in 1972 (might have been 1973, I can't quite remember, but it was the first year that women were hired as labourers by the NCC).1/

One of the things that we had to do was rake The pebble gravel on the paths and that was my task this particular day. I was out raking when I saw a Columbo type man dressed in a fedora and a crumpled raincoat approach me.2/

At that time the grounds were open to the public so it wasn't particularly surprising to have someone wander up and we chatted. I realized that he had recently had a stroke and that his English, while fluent, was a little slow. 3/

Anyway, we had a very nice chat and the next time I saw him in the garden, I showed him some baby rabbits that had a nest in the front rotundra. He thought they were pretty adorable.4/

I was able to pick one up for him to hold, but it was difficult for him because one of his hands was quite paralyzed. Anyway, he thought this was very lovely and our regular chats continued.4/

1/ The “I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most extraordinary speeches in American history. You should read it again. First, a few thoughts about the common American heritage Dr. King relied upon in calling Americans to rededicate themselves to the unfinished work of freedom.

2/ Dr. King delivered his speech in what he called the “hallowed spot” of the Lincoln memorial. More than a picturesque backdrop, King relied on America’s reverence for Lincoln and the common celebration of Lincoln’s words and acts, especially the Emancipation Proclamation.

3/ “Five score years ago…” King echoes the words of the Gettysburg Address. Like Lincoln, King invokes the Declaration of Independence and the fundamental principles of American freedom, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Every person in that crowd knew these words.

4/ The Declaration, Constitution and Emancipation Proclamation declared and established the fundamental American principles of freedom that all Americans knew and believed in. But these principles and promises remained unfulfilled for black Americans.

5/ Lincoln’s audience knew the history of slavery and many had suffered personal loss in the ongoing war. Dr. King’s audience knew the history of violent racism, segregation, and unequal economic opportunity. The Proclamation freed the slaves, “but the Negro still is not free.”

So. I loved #TheDig. Despite being set in the 30's it evoked a lot of my early fieldwork experience in the 80's and some of the things archaeologists were gushing about are still pay of the experience today. And it also evoked the fantasy that I became an archaeologist to chase>

If you just want to enjoy it, and bask in the glow of archaeologists being happy for once, stop reading here >

Because, being aware of that fantasy, I'm also aware of corrosive elements, things that structure how archaeology works, both practically & in the collective imagination which work against that other fantasy, that my work can 'make a difference' contribute to progressive change>

The primary driver of the story is class & it's connection to skill & to land. EP has the right to the land, the choice to dig, the ownership of the artefacts because she is the landowner. We are meant to cheer along when the coroner decides in her favour>

BB is a man of the land, he literally knows the soil of Suffolk by feel. His skill & sense are central to the story. And they are credited with the discovery, which is the most important part of the process, not the analysis, care or interpretation>

Why and how did the ancient Egyptians build pyramids?

Pyramids were built for religious purposes. The Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to believe in an afterlife. Most were built as tombs for the pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.

Most accepted construction hypotheses are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place. There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid.

All the pyramids were built by Egyptian workers and Imhotep was the architect of the first pyramid and the Saqqara step pyramid. He also built the pyramid of Djoser’s successor, Sekhemkhet. He was later deified as the god of medicine throughout Egypt in the Late Period.

It is not known who designed the Great Pyramid, but the man responsible for supervising its complex construction was Hemiunu, Khufu’s nephew, a senior civil servant who acted as the pharaoh’s vizier.

Despite the mystery surrounding Giza, Hemiunu himself was a flesh-and-blood man, as shown by his decidedly lifelike—and fleshy—statue, found in his tomb in Giza’s west cemetery.

On this day in 1878, Pamela Colman Smith was born. Although you may not have heard this artist's name, you will have almost definitely seen her work: among many other achievements, Smith illustrated the famous Waite-Smith tarot deck.

Smith's most famous illustrations in the tarot deck appear everywhere, and are synonymous with tarot. But there was much more to this artist, illustrator, writer and occultist than her tarot deck.

Early in her career, Smith illustrated works of WB Yeats, and travelled with the Lyceum theatre group. She also wrote and illustrated her own books, including books about Jamaican folklore.

While juggling all this, Smith also found the time to hold open houses for artists, and be active in the Suffrage Atelier, a collective of illustrators contributing work to further the cause of women's suffrage - this is an illustration she made for the cause.

In 1907, Smith became the first painter to exhibit at Alfred Stieglitz's Gallery 291, becoming the first painter to show at a gallery which had previously been devoted to photography. Her show was successful, and she showed twice more.