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Twilightdance
20 January 2013, 12:45 PM
http://www.hinduhistory.info/gokul-1757-war-of-the-nagas-shivas-sacred-warriors/

Gokul was/is center of medieval vaishnavism though.

Sometime I wonder how Hindus managed to still regain numbers in many parts of India after they were overrun and destroyed by Jihadis. Why not the north India also became Pakistan? Because of examples of valor like this during crucial points in history?



Amongst the sacred points of pilgrimages of Hinduism one of the most popular regions centre around the fabled birthplace and playground of Sri Krishna known as the Braj Matsya region. This area centred around the south of Delhi is annually visiting today as in the past by thousands of the faithful often humbly treading the paths between Mathura, Vrindavan and Gokul.
However in 1757 the sacred soil of Gokul was streaming with blood. The invasion of the Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Abdali sent hordes of his soldiers pouring into the holy places. After a desperate resistance by the Hindu Jats under their prince Jawahar Singh and the death of 10,000 of his solders the city o Mathura was sacked and brutalised.
Amidst the wholesale destruction of temples and holy places thousands of women flung themselves into the Yamuna River to escape rape and slavery. Vrindavan faced a similar horror. He had detached Jahan Khan and Najib with 20,000 men, telling them,
“Move into the boundaries of the accursed Jat, and in every town and district held by him slay and plunder. The city of Mathura is a holy place of the Hindus ;… let it be put entirely to the edge of the sword. Up to Agra leave not a single place standing”

Vrindavan, seven miles north of Mathura, could not escape, as its wealth was indicated by its many temples. Here another general massacre was practiced upon the inoffensive monks of the most pacific order of Vishnu’s worshippers, (c. 6 March.) As the same Muhammadan diarist records after a visit to Vrindavan,
“Wherever you gazed you beheld heaps of slain ; you could only pick your way with difficulty, owing to the quantity of bodies lying about and the amount of blood spilt. At one place that we reached we saw about 200 dead children lying in a heap. Not one of the dead bodies had a head . . . The stench and effluvium in the air were such that it was painful to open your mouth or even to draw breath.”

The prime general of the Afghans, Sardar Khan ; launched an attack on Gokul. Here however stirred by the atrocities of the Afghans thousands of ash smeared warrior monks barred the way. The grim Naga sadhus armed with swords, matchlocks and cannons had called together their wandering bands to rise in defence of dharma.
In the mid seventeenth century the bands of sadhus and assorted holy men coalesced into larger groups often numbering more than 10,000 strong – they provided protection to the temples, the travel routes and even towns and rival armies. For many centuries the monks and disciples began to take up arms amidst the upheavals of northern India and during the fall of the Mughal Empire they emerged as a serious force to reckon with.
One of their notable leaders Rajendra Giri Gosain held such a reputation of bravery that his band of Nagas would contend with over ten times their numbers of enemies with utter abandon and fury. Later times saw some of the larger bands under Himmat Bahadur and Anupgir Gosain lead vast armies across the northern Indian plains
The famed Afghan cavalry launched itself against the Nagas to be met with a wild and reckless counter charge by the Nagas. The utter disregard for their own lives displayed by the Hindu holy men sent the initial Afghan attackers retreating in confusion and defeat. Reinforced some time later the Afghans returned to the attack and a bitter struggle ensued.
Both parties believed they fought for a higher power but the similarities ended there. The Afghans fought for loot, plunder and rape whilst the Naga Sadhus had already given up their worldly and material attachments and in a long tradition of warfare fought solely for dharma and faith. The Afghans fought with the reckless valour for which they were much wonted and the Nagas fought with a determination that spoke of their contempt of death.
The battle cry of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Ya Ali’ rose above the groans and shrieks of the wounded and dying. The battle raged as dusk fell and the protagonists continued their fight stepping on the bodies of the slain until the writer observes grappling in a deathly embrace whilst slipping on the mounds of gore and blood flowing on the hallowed grounds. Still the Nagas did not give ground.
Enraged the Abdali threw further troops into the battle. His as yet undefeated soldiers who had marched victoriously from the borders of India to Central Asia were met with renewed charges and attacks from the Naga Sanyasis. They fought so desperately that the Afghans began to lose hope of victory and as their losses rapidly mounted in the failing light their leader Sardar Jahan Khan called a retreat and the Afghans fell back in defeat and humiliation leaving many thousands of their brethren dead and wounded on the battlefield. The holy town of Gokul was saved but at an appalling cost in lives.
The Naga Sadhus saved the shrines of their faith and the thousands of refugees behind them. They exemplified the age old tradition of valour mixed with dharma – the concept of rising in arms each time they were required. They went on to fight bitter decade’s long struggles with the British expansion in India to be so famously celebrated in the late nineteenth century novel Ananda Math. Their exploits became the inspiration for the freedom fighters of the 20th Century and the living image of the warrior saints can be found in India today

Viraja
20 January 2013, 01:17 PM
“Wherever you gazed you beheld heaps of slain ; you could only pick your way with difficulty, owing to the quantity of bodies lying about and the amount of blood spilt. At one place that we reached we saw about 200 dead children lying in a heap. Not one of the dead bodies had a head . . . The stench and effluvium in the air were such that it was painful to open your mouth or even to draw breath.”


How horrible... I am not well-versed into the history of how Muslims (and the later English) could in the first place gain such a strong-hold in India.. Why has it been possible for others to rule India whereas never Indians/Hindus ruled any outside country?

devotee
20 January 2013, 10:16 PM
Namaste,

The NAgA Sadus and many others in other Akharas are indoctrinated to save Hindu Dharma from onslaught of AdhArmic forces. These AkhArAs were established by Adi Guru Shankaracharya when he started having doubts that without a strong army type organisation, it was nearly impossible to save Hindu Dharma.

OM

Twilightdance
21 January 2013, 12:14 AM
Why has it been possible for others to rule India whereas never Indians/Hindus ruled any outside country?

That's not completely true as there were hindu kingdoms specially shaiva kingdoms beyond the usually understood boundaries of bharata. The ruins of hindu civilization in the far east comes to mind immediately.

India has always seen incoming and outgoing settlements, but prior to Islam things were never so long lasting [Islamic violence against India continues to this very day] and so much brutal. British and all western known genocides pale in comparison to total the amount of Hindu lives lost to Jehadi swords in last thousand years.

Viraja
21 January 2013, 06:39 AM
That's not completely true as there were hindu kingdoms specially shaiva kingdoms beyond the usually understood boundaries of bharata. The ruins of hindu civilization in the far east comes to mind immediately.

India has always seen incoming and outgoing settlements, but prior to Islam things were never so long lasting [Islamic violence against India continues to this very day] and so much brutal. British and all western known genocides pale in comparison to total the amount of Hindu lives lost to Jehadi swords in last thousand years.

I feel very sorry for the state of Hindus trapped under Muslim tyranny, in very Indian soil.

Twilightdance
21 January 2013, 07:19 AM
I feel very sorry for the state of Hindus trapped under Muslim tyranny, in very Indian soil.

And to top this, the honorable home minister of India publicly blames RSS, BJP and essentially Hindus for terror activities without any basis in highly inflammatory and irresponsible manner, just a few days after Pakistan soldiers invade and beheads Indian soldiers.

No wonder the first praise he gets are from LeT chief across the border. You begin wondering for whom Congress and Gandhis actually work for.



New Delhi: Parliament attack convict Hafiz Saeed on Monday praised Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for his remark that the principal Opposition party, the BJP and its ally, the RSS, were promoting Hindu terrorism through their training camps. Praising the minister, Saeed said, "Shinde has spoken truth finally. We consider this a help from Allah for Pakistan which is always (accused) by India for terrorism." Terrorist group, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa too tweeted, saying, "We appreciate Media, rightly judging the enormity of Indian ministers confessional statement".....
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/let-chief-hafiz-saeed-praises-shindes-terror-remark/316933-37.html

Jogesh
21 January 2013, 08:18 AM
Thank you Twilightdance....

:)

Equinox
21 January 2013, 10:38 AM
Vannakkam Twilightdance,

I agree completely, especially with your second post. I don't understand why the Hindus of India are still so lenient with Muslims. If they are trying to portray a "model living" of religious harmony and tolerance, it will fail eventually, since Muslims are well-known for their converting tactics and hijacking of entire cultures the moment they spot a chance. So why still tolerate them so much in your own land? Middle Eastern Muslims are never going to allow Hindu temples in their countries, so why must the Hindus of India give in?

They should act fast right now before it's too late. And when it's too late they can't complain because it was their own fault to begin with for showing so much tolerance. All of us are well aware that the Muslims are never going to give in to our ways and will stop at nothing until they've converted the entire world. ;)



Aum Namah Shivaya

Jogesh
21 January 2013, 01:40 PM
Vannakkam Twilightdance,

I agree completely, especially with your second post. I don't understand why the Hindus of India are still so lenient with Muslims. If they are trying to portray a "model living" of religious harmony and tolerance, it will fail eventually, since Muslims are well-known for their converting tactics and hijacking of entire cultures the moment they spot a chance. So why still tolerate them so much in your own land? Middle Eastern Muslims are never going to allow Hindu temples in their countries, so why must the Hindus of India give in?

They should act fast right now before it's too late. And when it's too late they can't complain because it was their own fault to begin with for showing so much tolerance. All of us are well aware that the Muslims are never going to give in to our ways and will stop at nothing until they've converted the entire world. ;)



Aum Namah Shivaya

^^^THIS^^^

:Cool:

Girisha
23 July 2013, 08:47 AM
The problem is the nature of wider Western Abrahamic thought claiming exclusive access to truth.

From the Hindu perspective Islam is one more path to God and thus a form of Hinduism. But from the exclusivist side the only thing that matters is Islam or Christianity and the reliance on dogma and control- rather than universal spirituality anchored in the individual person.

If Islam could be made to respect other paths it could be just fine in India. As it is however, even Gandhi's tolerance and humanity was surely a disaster for India- the break up of the country, hundreds of thousands dead and ongoing problems both domestically and geopolitically.

Should he have been assassinated earlier?

I wonder if the Indian government has any kind of open invitation to Pakistan and Bangladesh for reunification, under the Hindu perspective...?

Nirvaasit
13 February 2014, 06:13 AM
TwilightDance, Viraja, Jogesh, Girisha, Equinox and Devotee, there are a lot of good facts that you guys here have discussed. I agree with all of you. I had no idea though that Naga Sadhus are Warrior Monks, I thought they were just normal Yogis.

And I do believe I know why it is that the pious Hindu is still a second grade citizen in her/his own homeland.

And TwilightDance, wonderful website. I really liked it. There are a lot of other pieces of information available on this website.