INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR TRUE HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Newsletter No.8 of 16th October 1982

1 Mr.Godbole (0234-57388)

Correspondence

1.1 Mr. Anandrao Bhende of Bombay suggested the names of 8 persons who would be interested in our work. Letters were sent to them all, but only Mr.M.L.Gupta of Canada replied. He is likely to become our member in a few months time.

1.2 Dr.M.S.Mate, Head of the Archaeology Dept., Deccan College, Pune has replied. Though he has avoided to answer our questions, he has given some information which would be useful to us.

1.3 A detailed chronology of major political events leading to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948, was compiled and sent to Mr.Gopal Godse (see newsletter No.7).

1.4 A copy of Taj Analysis was sent to Mr.Latif of Soma Books, 38 Kennington Lane London S.E.11 (Tel No. 01-735 2101).

1.5 A coloured slide of frontal view of the Sphinx was sent to Mr.Oak.

1.6 "The Un-retouched Women" by Eve Arnold, shows pictures of nuns marrying

Christ. (Jonathan Cape of London. 1976). We wrote to the Mother Superior

of Ladywell Convent, Godalming, Surrey and asked her why nuns marry Christ? and how did the tradition arise? It was surprising to find that she did not know anything about the ceremonies going on in her own convent. Lord Krishna released many virgins from Jarasandha's prison. No one would marry them due to the stigma of imprisonment. Krishna therefore married them. That tradition continues today.

1.7 Mr.Jeevan Kulkarni of Bombay asked information on various subjects - e.g.

Vellore Mutiny of 1806, Col. Ferris's diary, Suttee Act and Lord Gosford etc. We helped as far as we could.

1.8 Research Findings.

1.8.1. Hinduism in Korea

In the British Museum, London, as we come down from the Map Library we see two paintings on opposite sides of the landing. They are about 6 1/2 ft high and 4 1/2 ft

wide. The captions at the bottom read -

TO WEN (Vaisravana) Guardian of the North One of the four lokpalas Korean - probably 1536 A.D.

TSENG CHAUG (Virudhaka) Guardian of the South One of the four lokpalas Korean - probably 1536 A.D.

Both the paintings were purchased in 1920. There is however one mistake. The: are 8 lokpalas (guardians of directions) not 4.

1.8.2 Hindu. Music in Iran

"….. Bahrain V (421-438 A.D.) did not stop there but also imported musicians from India. Therefore it is not surprising to find certain similarities between Indian and Persian music ..." (Ref. Fodor's Guide to Iran - Edited by Richard Moore. publishers Hodder and Stoughton of London. 1979 page 52)

Just goes to show how little of the true history we know.

1.8.3 Tridents on Iranian Mosques

Mr.Vijay Parulekar visited Iran and wrote a series of articles about his experiences there. These were published in Sept / Oct 1980 in the Marathi weekly MANOOS of Pune. Curiously enough the Mosque in the sketch accompanying the series clearly shows a trident pinnacle. If you have any friends in Iran, please ask them to send photographs of such mosques. The trident clearly shows that the Mosques are converged temples.

1.8.4 Sorti Somnath Shiva Linga in Iran?

Mr.Parulekar claims to have seen the Sorti Somnath Shiva Linga which was taken away by Mahmud of Gazani. This was in a village called Ahmedabad near Isphahan. This information is also contained in a book

"...It is still said that Mohammad Seljung placed a stone brought by Mahmud Gaznavi from a Hindu temple in Sumanat in India, in a prominent position under the threshold of Khaji Nezam-Ul-Molk School. And today there is still an unusual carved stone, three metres long, on the threshold of Emarnzadeh Ahmmad one of Isfahan's ancient buildings. On it are chased the following words in Arabic script - "Amen, 0 God of the two worlds" and a date which shows that the stone dates from 1167-8

A.D. The stone still bears the marks of a chain, where it was specially bound by the Iranians to show their contempt for the Hindu Idol it used to be."

Historical Monuments of Isafan. By L. Honarfar, Director of History –

Teheran University. 7th Edition.

1.8.5 Kaba Shivalinga

Surprisingly enough there is a similar story about Kaba - the sacred stone at Mecca. Edinburgh University Library has a painting. The caption reads - "The Black Stone of Mecca was blessed by Muhammad and carried by four tribal chieftains (at the four corners of the carpet) into the Ka’aba, the holy sanctuary, in order to integrate it into the Islamic religion. Before that time it had been an object of worship by the pagan

tribes that Muhammad, eventually overcame when he captured, the city in A.D. 630."

(Ref - Mysteries of the Gods -by Stuart Holroyd, published by Aldus Books Ltd of London 1979 page 180).

The very fact that this object of pagan (i.e. Hindu) worship did not offend Muhammad but became an object of reverence to Muslims shows that Muhammad was a Hindu.

1.8.6 Temple to Mosque to Church?

The Jama Masjid of Delhi is a Hindu temple converted into a Mosque. After the Great Revolt of 1857-59 the British took control of it and wanted to convert it into a Church. For some unknown reason that plan was not carried out and following the British policy of encouraging Muslim separatism, it was handed back to Muslims in 1897.

(Ref - The Taj by David Carroll. Readers Digest publication 1972 page 132)

We must therefore be extremely careful before crediting any buildings to Muslims (and Christians).

1.8.7 Temples to Churches?

We have reason to believe that Hindu Temples have been converted into Churches too. Let us refer to Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri. Edited by S. Sen, Director of Archives, New Delhi, 1949.

Page 342 ....I visited the Monastery of the Dominicans with the famous Dormitory. The church was large and had but three Altars; as we said was used in India .

(The place is Bassein near Bombay).

Footnote 48 says - Careri is wrong in stating that the church had three altars. Actually it has seven altars.

Our Comment - Why should a church need even 3 Altars? How many churches have you seen with more than 1 Altar?

Page 172..I went to the village of Monoposser a mile distant to see a church underground formerly a pagoda (i.e. temple) cut in the rook, on which stands the college and monastery of the Franciscans.

Footnote 13 - Mandapeshwar in Salsette called Montpezier or Monpacer by the Portuguese in the neighbourhood of Borivli (a suburb of Bombay). The cave temple mentioned both by Gracia da Orta and Diogo do Cauto was originally dedicated to Shiva. The sculptured figures were either defaced or plastered over by the Portuguese but in a small room behind the main hall where an image of the Virgin has been installed a bas-relief of Nataraja attended by other gods can now be seen.

Our comment - So the vandalism of the Portuguese was exactly like that of Muslims. This throws a new light on Church Architecture.

1.8.8 Temple to Idgah

A Laxmi temple in Karad, Maharashtra was converted into Idgah, in mediaeval times. The statue of Laxmi was thrown in a nearby lake. It was recovered by Hindus later and reinstated in the Mahalaxmi temple in Bahiroba's lane.

(Ref. KARAD by Yashawant Rajaram Gupte. 2nd edition 1929 In Marathi.)

1.8.9 Temple to Mosque

In Muradabad (Uttar Pradesh) there is a small mosque, at a corner of the Idgah, near the main road. It is called "Ek Ratwali Mosque" because it is said to have been built in one night. (SOBAT weekly of Pune, 21 Sept 1980)

Our comment - Common sense should now tell us that this is simply just another example of conversion of temple into a mosque. Even a poor man's hut is not erected in a night.

1.8.10 Bogus Tombs - Bogus Histories

(A) Historian Setu Madhaurav Pagdi writes "..Bibi-Ka Makabara in Aurangabad is the tomb of Auranzeb's wife Dilrasbanu..."(Diwali 1977 issue of SOBAT).

Sir Yadunath Sarkar says the same in his "History of Aurangzeb" published in 1923.

Prof.R.F.Rushbrook Williams says "...By some writers the lady is said to have been a daughter of the Emperor, which is a mistake. The gravestone is nameless." (Murray's Handbook to India 1975, edited by Prof.R.F.Rushbrook Williams page 152. Footnote No. l)

We have just few simple questions - How did the scholars decide that the tomb itself is true? and how did they decide that it belonged to Dilras Banu? Did their degrees give them a special vision?

(B) In the article mentioned above Mr. Pagdi tells us - 24 miles South of Sholapur (Maharashtra) is a place called Brahmapuri. Aurangzeb stayed here (1695-99). In the town is a dargah called 'Begum's Kabar'. I asked the Muslim attendant - who was the Begum? "Aurangzeb’s daughter was his reply.

"But that is impossible", I said "Aurangzeb had five daughters. Badrunnisa, Zebunnisa, Jeenatunnisa, Miharunnisa and Abdatunnisa. They all died in Delhi."

The tomb really belongs to step grandmother of first Nizam i.e. Khijarunnisa. She died. in December 1701. Her death is recorded in bulletin of Aurangzeb's court - dated 3-hh December 1701.

Our comment - There is one simple detail missing. Where is the record of the building of the tomb, in Aurangzeb's court papers? The fact that this lady's death is recorded is no proof of the construction of her tomb. Historians have fooled and cheated us long enough.

2. Prof.Enrico Fasana (Milan University, Italy)

Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cauver and Victor Emanuel are four heroes who freed Italy from the yoke of Austria in i860. Their biographies were written by Indians. Prof. Fasana is going to read a paper on biographies written in Marathi. He came to London and asked for Mr. Godbole's assistance. He promised to obtain a catalogue of Etruscan Museum, Rome, so that we can give some useful information to Mr. Oak.

3.Mr.Gore (Kanpur)

He came to England for some business and met Mr. Godbole in London. As Mr. Gokhale had repeatedly asked for returning Taj Mahal negatives, these were given to Mr. Gore.

4 Dr.K.T.Lalwani (01-453 3889)

During his recent visit to India Dr. Lalwani met Dr. Bedekar in Bombay and had a

long discussion.

He is a friend of Maharaja of Jaipur, Col. Bhavanisingh; and talked to him when in London, about Taj Mahal. As suggested by him Mr. Godbole wrote a letter to the Maharaja, requesting copies of documents R176, R177 Maharaja replied that he would do so on returning to Jaipur.

Guru Nanak has described Babur's atrocities in Eminabad. This is included in the Granthasaheb. There is no other historical record of these atrocities Dr Lalwani promised to obtain the information from Granthasaheb.

5. Bhupendra Patel (01-203 4408)

Mr Jeevan Kulkarni works unpaid, full time, for our institute's work. Mr Patel has kindly paid Mr Kulkarni's life membership subscription.

During the recent one day strike of London Transport, Mr Patel and Mr Godbole visited St. Paul's Cathedral and Regents Park Mosque; several photos were taken and copies sent to Mr. Oak.

Mr Patel typed our newsletters 2, 3,4,5,7 and 8 and would continue to do so in future.

6. Arvind Pradhan ( 01 863 5738 )

Two lectures on (SO CALLED) Islamic Architecture in India were arranged by Victoria and Albert Museum, London in May / June. First one was by Eileen Graham. At the end of it M/S Pradhan and Godbole realised that there was no " Question and answer time". During the second lecture by Dr. Yelonde Crowe several embarrassing questions were put to her. At the end of it even some English ladies became angry with Dr. Crowe.

Mr. Pradhan wrote a strong letter of protest to the director of Festival of India who sponsored these lectures.

7. New Members

Mr. Rakhe and Mrs. Mande have joined us. Both have known Mr. Godbole for a long

time. Their addresses are:

Mr. Manohar V. Rakhe 1 Brownlow Court Brownlow Road., London N.11, 2BH.	Telephone - Home. 01 889 0604 Office. 01 994 3641 Xn 183.
Mrs. Pratima R.Mande, 35 Mayhew Crescent, High Wycombe Bucks. HP13 6BX.	Telephone -. Home 0494 31246.

We now have 22 members in the U.K. and. 1 member in Italy.

8. Tourist Guide to Taj Mahal

As Mr. Ashok Athavale of Kanpur was unable to complete this work, Mr. Godbole has written a Tourist Guide to Taj Mahal. It will be an extremely useful booklet for all our members.

9. Acknowledgement;

We gratefully acknowledge following donations:

Mr. Kulkarni £5

Mr. M. Patel £5

Mr. Satyanarayana £10

10. Looking back

While going through some old. papers we came across Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Newsletter dated 30 August 1977 on page 5 we find:

MY HISTORICAL DISCOVERIES: PROF. P.N.OAK.

Research work on ancient culture of the great Indian Sub-Continent has taken Prof. P.N.Oak on many a trek. He is keen on seeking out how far the influence of Ancient India prevailed, and in doing so, has come up with some very remarkable results. Some of his work may be controversial, and it is left to those interested to form their own opinion. His works are listed at the end of this article. One aspect that emerges on listening to Prof. Oak is that the onlooker is taken through a new journey on old and familiar landscape and buildings. His slides on Taj Mahal, for example, show some remarkable aspects of the structure in its foundations. Prof. Oak has a very educative collection of slides from various countries - taken on location in the Middle East, Italy, and South America and North America. His talk on 5th August not only went far beyond the scheduled hour by public consent, but also had to be extended to the following Friday. The editor regrets that the talk is not reproduced here due to the limitations of this Newsletter. The books referred to is hoped to provide more information.

Tajmahal is Temple place (1975),

Fatepur Sikri is Hindu City (1969),

Agra Red fort is a Hindu Building (1970),

Rationale of Astrology (l973)

Great Britain was a Hindu Land and others are written by Prof.P.N. Oak.

And yet what do we find in our annual report of 1978? Absolutely nothing! If we do not give publicity to our own work who would?

11. Why Rewrite Indian History?

We feel that the necessity of our work needs to be clarified. Copy of Mr. Godbole's article is enclosed. Your comments would be very much appreciated.