I agree with you that sometimes Stephen Knapp gets things wrong. You have to read his book 'Proof of Vedic Culture's Global Existence' like a swan, sieving fact from wishful thinking. PN Oak, too, I believe, is quite a nationalist, so one has to treat what he says too, with caution, and test it against one's own research.

However, from my own research, I do believe both the Taj Mahal story and the Ka'aba one, as there is a lot of other evidence other than what Knapp and Oak have picked up. It also makes sense from a global history point of view.

I believe that I'm right in saying that that the Moslems have completely wiped out Arab history preceding Mohammed's birth, so it's very difficult to find out exactly what went on, although not impossible.

This is a much better link than the one I gave previously on the Ka'aba. I was at work then, but now I'm at home I can find my own research and share it with you. See what you think. Here's the link: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET0001/ET25-5336.html

and here's an excerpt...:


"Thus we can see that Vedic religion and culture were present in Pre-Islamic Arabia as early as 1850 B.C., and definitely present at the time of Mohammed's birth.

"In his book Origines, Volumes 3 & 4", Sir W. Drummond adds "Tsabaism was the universal language of mankind when Abraham received his call, their doctrines were probably extended all over the civilized nations of Earth."

Tsabaism is merely the corruption of the word Shaivism which is Vedic religion. On page 439 of this book, Sir Drummond mentions some of gods of pre-Islamic Arabs, all of which were included in the 360 idols that were consecrated in the Kaba shrine before it was raided and destroyed by Muhammad and his followers. Here are some of the Vedic deities and their original Sanskrit names:

Arabic/Sanskrit/English:

Al-Dsaizan,Shani,Saturn/Al-Ozi or Ozza,Oorja,Divine energy/Al-Sharak,Shukra,Venus/Auds,Uddhav-Bag,Bhagwan,God/Bajar,Vajra,Indra's thunderbolt/Kabar,Kuber, God of wealth/Dar,Indra,King of gods/Dua Shara,Deveshwar, Lord of the gods,Habal,Bahubali,Lord of strength,Madan,Madan,God of love/Manaph, Manu,First Man/Manat, Somnath, Lord Shiv/Obodes,Bhoodev, Earth/Razeah,Rajesh,King of kings/Saad,Siddhi,God of Luck/Sair,Shree,Goddess of wealth/Sakiah,Shakrah,Indra/ Sawara,Shiva-Eshwar, God Shiva/Yauk, Yaksha, Divine being/Wad,Budh,Mercury/

"The Kaba temple which was misappropriated and captured by Muslims was originally an International Vedic Shrine. The ancient Vedic scripture Harihareswar Mahatmya mentions that Lord Vishnu's footprints are consecrated in Mecca. An important clue to this fact is that Muslims call this holy precint Haram which is a deviation of the Sanskrit term Hariyam, i.e. the precint of Lord Hari alias Lord Vishnu. The relevant stanza reads:
"Ekam Padam Gayayantu MAKKAYAANTU Dwitiyakam Tritiyam Sthapitam Divyam Muktyai Shuklasya Sannidhau" "

Hope this helps.