INDIAN
INSTITUTE FOR TRUE HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Newsletter
No. 9 of
1. Mr Godbole (0234-57388)
Correspondence.
1.1 The
We provided some references for the case. The hearing took place on 5th
and 6th December 1982.
1.2 Letters were sent to the following -
|
John Keay |
- the writer of India Discovered
(see Newsletter No. 7) |
|
Barbara Bend |
- who delivered a lecture on Taj Mahal at the British Museum on 28 October 1982. |
|
Tirupati Devasthan. |
- commented on their scheme of extensive study of Ancient |
|
Dr Mate |
- Head of Archaeology Department;
|
|
Giraudon |
- Photographic Archive in footprints in Humayun's tomb.
This time the letter was written in French. But we
received no reply. |
Lonely Planet Publication,
- Their new tourist guide "
1.3 A reply was received from the Maharaja of Jaipur. He says "...at present it is not
possible to send copies of these documents as cataloguing and listing is being
done by the experts of the Research Institute.
Once the Institute has established the rules regarding the loan or
supply of copies of documents I would write to you further..."
Research Findings
1.4.1 What is the value of -the Traveller's accounts?
A very good. appraisal appears in - "Indian Travels of Thevenot and
Careri" edited by Surendranath Sen, Director of Archives,
Our historians have completely forgotten about Mr Sen's warning.
1.4.2 It is astonishing to note how much the European travellers were
prejudiced against the Hindoos. A French Archaeologist writes
"...Muslim Sources – A series of annals commissioned by the royal court
were written to record the Muslim conquests from about the 11th to the 18th
century is best documented. Others written by foreign travellers have
also furnished a great deal of authentic information, particularly about the
Muslim States, the Hindu Kingdoms which were still independent were not mentioned."
(Ref.- Encyclopaedia of Archaeology.
General Editor - Gilbert Charles Picard.
Translated from French by Anne Ward.
Published by the Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.
1.5 Tilak's opponents and Our
opponents
In the period 1893 to 1899 there were serious, British sponsored, Muslim
riots in
(Ref. Bal Gangadhar Tilak by T. V. Parvate, Havajivan Publishing House
of Ahmedabad, 1972 edition page 113).
Our opponents are no different.
As early as 1855 James Fergusson wrote on Taj Mahal "When used
as a Barrah Durrie or pleasure palace, it must always have teen the
coolest and the loveliest of garden retreats..."
(Ref. History of Architecture of all Countries, page 438).
This sentence has "been repeated by author after author. In 1888 H.
G. Keene dismisses this assumption but adds - "In all probability, however
the garden had been already enclosed and was a favourite retreat of the
deceased in her life time..."
(Ref. Handbook to Agra pp 22/23)
In 1896 Said Mohammad Latif a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of
London wrote "...The site selected for the mausoleum was originally a
(Ref. Agra historical and descreptive. page 105)
In 1973 a set of older fountains was found, while carrying out some
repairs. Hari Inder Singh wrote an article - Fountains under Taj pool. It was published in Times of India of 25 June
1973. In it he says - "...Babur in
his biography Babarnama is devoid of any mention of fountains. Akbar did not
construct a single fountain at his
But to accept that Taj Mahal is a Hindu Temple-Palace? Good heavens no. That amounts to accepting
that Mr Oak is right.
1.6 Tilak's Life - How facts are twisted.
Is it possible that events in Tilak's life could be twisted at a time
when many people who had seen and listened to him were still alive? The answer
is Yes.
One biographer writes - (Around August 1900) Tilak supported the rights
of the Brahmins who refused to perform worship with Vedic hymns at the palaces
of Maharaja of Baroda and the Maharaja of Kolhapur... he defended their action and asserted once
again his view that it was improper on the part of Marathas to insist on the
performance of their religious rites with Vedic hymns...It was unfortunate
that a first-rate leader of the people should come to propagate this narrow
view, but it was a fact...(Ref. Lakmanya Tilak by Dhananjaya-Keer, Popular
Prakashan, Bombay 1969 pp 174/175)
Another "biographer retorts". ..It was fashionable in certain
sections to dismiss Tilak as a reactionary and an orthodox Brahmin because it
was alleged against him that he opposed the performance of religious and social
ceremonies in the households of the Marathas according to Vedic rites. But even
this was downright misrepresentation of the true position. In the two articles
he wrote on this subject in Kesari (unfortunately dates of issues are not
given) he said unequivocally that Vedic rites could not "be denied to
any Hindu who wanted them He dismissed any opposition to this on the part of
orthodox Brahmans as childish and obscuranist. ..... All that he said was that
they (Marathas) could not force unwilling Brahman priesthood to officiate at
such functions or threaten them with confiscation of their "inams"
and "vatans" for refusing to do so, if the "inams" and
"vatans" had been conferred on them for quite different reasons and
services...
19 years later (December 1919) Mr R. P. Paranjpye, Principal of
Fergusson College, Pune repeated the same accusation in Bombay Chronicle. Tilak
replied in the same newspaper (unfortunately the date of issue is not given).
He said - Mr Paranjpye has utterly misunderstood the question. The question was
whether an orthodox Brahman priest should be coerced and compelled against his
wish, on pain of forefeiture of "inarms" granted to him under the old
system, to perform Vedic rites in all non-Brahman families. The very principle of personal liberty on
which Mr Paranjpye lays so much stress would be violated if we answer the question
in the affirmative. I know that every community can freely resort to Vedokta
rites if it chooses; but no one can justify the forefeiture of ancient "inams"
granted by old rulers and under different understanding..." (Ref. Bal Gangadhar
Tilak by T. V. Parvate, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad 1972 pages 45 and 473)
Suppose Mr Parvate's books were destroyed and only Mr Keer's books were available,
say 100 years later, would the readers get the true picture?
1.7 Last Years of Gandhi's Life - The Untold Facts
1.7.1 On 16th August 1946 Jirmah's direct action led to bloodbath in
(Ref - Wavell The Viceroy's Journal, edited by Penderel Noon,
Nathuram Godse shot and. killed Gandhi on 30 January 1948. While
defending himself Godse said "...Gandhiji then undertook, ostensibly alone, a tour of Noakhali District. It is well-known that Suhrawardy (the Muslim
Chief Minister of
Sardar Patel, the Iron man and the Deputy Prime Minister immediately
banned the publication of Godse's testimony. No disciple of Gandhi ever
protested against this ban. It was lifted only recently. It is published in a
booklet entitled "May it PLEASE YOUR HONOUR" by Nathuram Godse,
Vitasta Prakashan Pune,
1.7.2 In another book we find -
16 September 1947 - Gandhi called on Lord Mountbatten, said "If
17 September 1947 - Lord and Lady Mountbatten called in; Gandhi
visited Kishangari labour locality. Reiterated previous days warning.
26 September 1947 - Gandhi said "I am opposed to war, but if it
is impossible to have justice from
(Ref - Gandhi:1915-1948 A Detailed Chronology by G. B. Dalal, Gandhi
Peace
Foundation
Thus the apostle of non-violence and propagator of constant capitulation
to Muslim demands, had openly admitted utter failure of his principles and
policies But once again, as if there was a conspiracy of silence, this
information is not found in any books on Gandhi or relating to events of those
days.
Allen Cambell Johnson personal secretary to Lord Mountbatten in 1947
makes no mention in his book "A Mission with Mountbatten (1972)'.'
Mountbatten did not say any-thing about this in his TV interviews.
Michael Edwardes was a soldier in
Robert Payne in his biography of Gandhi wants to depict Savarkar as only
a murderer but keeps quiet about Gandhi*s utterances.
Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre in their book "Freedom at
Midnight" say Savarkar had homosexual relationship with Godse, but make no
mention of above.
Frank Moares makes no mention in his "Witness to an Era".
WHY? WHY?? WHY???
Taya Zenkin, wife of an ICS officer was at
But my life would not be safe there.'
'Gandhi would not have bothered about his life.'
Yes, "but Gandhi would have asked
'Gandhi would never have gone to war, he would have gone to East
Bengal as he did in 1946, he was never afraid for his own safety.'
Dr Ghosh retorted 'You are quite wrong - Gandhi would have gone to
war. Indeed, he is on record to that effect. You must have forgotten his public
statement in 1947 not long before he was murdered. ....He even told Nehru
that provided the Government of India continued to protect every Muslim to the
last hair on his head in
"I don't believe it; I would have heard such a statement.” But when I went to Delhi a few weeks later I
went specially to see Pyarelel, the last of Gandhi's secretaries, and asked him
whether Gandhi had in fact advocated war if Pakistan did not protect its
minorities. He confirmed what P.C.Ghosh had said.
(Ref - Reporting
pages 56 and 57)
We must never forget that this same great man, in his heydays had
publicly denounced Rana Pratap, Shivaji and Guru Govind Singh for fighting
their Muslim
enemies with sword instead of practising Ahimsa (Non-violence)1!l
1.8 The Swastika and the Gross
Tilak, while serving his six year prison sentence in
In the Appendix we find Part VIII - The Gita and The Christian Bible.
On page 826 (1971 edition) Tilak writes - "...the symbol of the cross which has
become sacred to Christians on account of the fact that Christ was crucified on
a cross, had also become a holy symbol in the Vedic and Buddhistic religions
in the shape of a Swastika' hundreds of years before Christ and modem scholars
have proved that not only in Egypt and other countries in the ancient
continents of the earth, but even in Peru and Mexico in America, the
"Swastika" was looked upon as an auspicious sign many centuries
before Columbus..."
Ref - The secret of the Pacific by G.Reginald Enoch 1912 pp 248-252.
(Publishers of Tilak's book are Tilak Brothers 568 Narayan Peth, Pune 411030,
1.9 Misleading References
It is amazing how even some well known authors have given quite
misleading references. Here are some
examples -
1.9.1 Thomas HERBERT, son of the Baron of Cardiff visited
And yet Mr OATEN tells us - "...Sir Thomas HERBERT went in 1627 to
1.9.2 William Crooke tells us - "The mausoleum (Bibi-Ka-Mukbara)
resembles the Taj at
(Travels in
But in the same book and on the same page we find that Sarkar says
nothing of the sort. On page 6l he
simply says that DiIras Banu died at
1.9.3 Now let us refer to Cambridge History of India. Volume 5 deals with the period
1858-1918. A chronology appears on pp 635-638. On page 637 we find 1889
- second visit of Prince of Wales.
But this is totally false. Edward the VII was the Prince of Wales until
1901. He did visit
We must therefore check our references to the original source as far as possible. If our references are found to be wrong we
must say so openly.
1.10 Secrets kept by Archaeological Survey of
Mr Carlleyle says -
"...The Jumma or Jami Masjid of
(Archaeological Survey of India Report for the year 1871-72. Volume II page 78)
Carlleyle says the same about Taj Mahal on page 67.
Our comment - Where is this information?
Why was this never published? How much more information is kept
secret? And why the secrecy?
1.11 Recognition at last
1. Mediaeval Remains, Nagar, District
Shri J.P.Srivastava of the
(Ref - Page 80 of Indian Archaeology 1976-77. This is an annual
published by Archaeological Survey of India, summarising the work of the whole department)
Few years ago the wording would have been - temples were destroyed and mosques
built on top of them. All the credit goes to Mr Oak.
2. Dr Bedekar (
20 members of our Thane branch visited
Last year we saw a sharp increase in the number of new life members. This
was largely due to the efforts of Dr Bedekar and his friends. They deserve all
the praise!
Dr Bedekar explained his difficulties and the conditions prevalent in
It will be quite some time before they can be summarised, scrutinised,
sorted out and studied. Dr Bedekar has made notes of guidance for conducting
such functions in future. No more seminars are planned, in the near future
We in turn told our difficulties.
Namely
(1) Our members in
(2) When replies are received after sending couple of reminders they do
not contain specific answers to specific questions. This is most irritating.
When a doctor asks for blood pressure, he does not mean heart beat or urine
test or even a cardiograph, hut blood pressure.
(3) We desperately need a set of good quality slides of Taj Mahal
(Slides can now be reproduced, at BOOTS the chemist, cost 36 pence per slide,
delivery 2 weeks)
We discussed their quarterly magazine "Itihas Patrika".
(1) Four issues have been published, so far.
(2) Mr Godbole's Taj Mahal analysis was published in issue number 2. It was
gratifying to know that this was very well received in
(3) Dr Bedekar promised, to give full publicity to our research and
efforts. Our members in
co- operation is thus essential and. has been promised on both sides.
(4) Mr Godbole's thesis entitled "The Great British
Conspiracy" would, be published in six sections. The conclusions at the
end of each should, be obvious enough but, considering the conditions in
(5) Certain very important changes have to be made so that the quarterly
would be presentable to the scholars and researchers throughout the world. Our comments
on issue numbers 2 and 4 were sent and we would continue to do so in future.
(6) Now I am going to prove-approach. We asked Dr Bedekar - suppose you have. a
trainee doctor. Would, you start your diagnosis by saying "Now I am going
to prove that this patient needs such and such an operation?" or would you proceed to collect the
necessary data like blood pressure, heart beat, weight and past medical
history and analyse it before concluding that a particular treatment
would be required?
He got the point.
(7) We have sent him a copy of the monthly "History Today"
published, in
Dr Bedekar visited Mr Godbole's home in the evening of 2nd October for attending
a musical programme. There he met our members M/s Kulkarni, Rakhe, Mukesh Patel
and Dr Shiralkar. He also got an idea of the extent of Mr Godbole's work.
While in London Dr Bedekar also met some more members- Bhupendra Patel, Arvind
Pradhan and Dr Lalvani.
The visit was thus very useful and cleared up lot of misunderstanding.
3. Mr B. Gadre (RSS Chief of
He was in
Friends of India Society (
4 Mr Hemant Gokhale (
He sent us extracts from various Muslim chronicles, which point to Hindu
origins of various (so called) Muslim monuments. We asked him to give details of
the chronicles (e.g. who wrote them and when). We have sent copies of these
extracts to Dr Bedekar & Mr Jeevan Kulkarni.
5 Mr Jeevan Kulkarni (
He has supplied us the following information -
(1) A Ground Plan of Taj Mahal (Central Edifice) appears in the book -
Wandering of Pilgrimage in
Volume I p.357 (Reprint Oxford University Press, Pakistan 1975)
Kulkarni thinks that the plan looks like a Tantrik Chakra - in
particular the chakra in - Yantra The Tantric symbol of unity by Mudhu Khanna, Thames
and
(2) Late Prof H. Goetz of
In the book
"The Legacy of Persia"
edited Toy A.T.Arbery,
Taj Mahal is a work of finest Sufavid taste....
(3) Weekly Prajwalantof Nagpur and monthly Ranjan of 26/406 Kannamwar Nagar
1,
(4) We do have a Tourist Guide at Fatchpur Sikri. His name is Kalicharan
Dubey, and he is found in the Roadways Canteen.
(5) A Kalyan Raman's "ARYATARANGINI" says in Vol I, page 164
"Kalhana says in his RAJATRAI'TGINI that in the 6th century A.D a king of
Kashmir made a special pilgrimage to
Supplementary Volume to the Works of William Jones (1801) on the
"Hindoo origin of
(6) As time permits a booklet would be published on the Hindoo origin of
(7) He has agreed to see Miss Geeta Bhide (
(8)"Shree" the Marathi weekly from
(9) He would write an article in English on Nana Phadanavis for
publication in Itihas Patrika of Thane Branch.
6. Dr K. T. Lalwani (01 - 453 3889)
Mr Gary Welch of
7. Mr Mande (0494 - 31246)
Dr Garry Adler teaches Indian History (18th and 19th century) at
He also informed us of some lectures arranged in
8 Mr B. Patel (01 - 203 4408)
Hindukul or Hindu Cultural Society of London have now agreed to publish an
article on Taj by Mr Godbole. Thanks to the efforts of Mr B. Patel. He has also
got our Taj Analysis translated and typed in Gujrati.
9. Prof Shrivastava (Mew
He is writing a book on Veer Savarkar's stay in
10. Dr R. Y. Soni (
This Professor of Civil Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology,
1) Contact the son of Professor Gupchup who made private report on
Repairs to Taj Mahal in 1943. Mr Godbole has a copy of the report but the plan of
Taj Mahal is missing.
2) Obtain a copy of "Final Report of the Advisory Committee on the Restoration
and Conservation of the Taj Mahal of Agra" (
3) Prince of Wales Museum,
4) Prepare and. send to Mr Oak slides of salient features of St Pauls,
5) When in
6) Donate to our Institute the collection of historical books made by
his late brother.
7) Arrange our programmes in the I.I.T Campus, whenever possible.
11. New Members
Dr Shiralkar (General Practitioner), Dr Bhole (Ph.D in Metallergu) and Mr
Pradhan (Architect) have now become our life members. They all have known about Mr Godbole’s work
for last few years. Their addresses are
-
|
Dr Vinod Shiralkar (Tel No. 051 - 653 8966) |
Dr Sanjeevan Bhole (Tel No. 306 - 5848 348) |
|
Mr Arvind Pradhan 15 Westmorland. Road. N. Harrow Middx. Home Tel No. 01 -
863 5738 |
|
Change of Address
Mr Pathak and Mr M. Patel have changed houses. Their new addresses are
|
Mr R. N. Pathak 3 Southall Middx (Tel No. 01 - 574 6606) |
Mr Mukesh Patel Bedfordshire U.K (Tel No. 0582 - 22760) |
12. Our Members - A Breakdown
Our Life Members are spread out as follows -
|
Himachal Pradesh Harayana Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Gujrat Pune 15 Thane 70 Bhivandi 13 Elsewhere 28 ----------------------- Total 212 Note - Orissa Andhra Pradesh Karnatak Tamilnadu Kerala ---------------------------------------------------- Members in Outside U.K U.S.A ----------------------------------------------- Members outside Grand Total of all members |
1 1 1 2 1 16 7 1 0 1 3 2 212 0 7 10 3 1 1 ---------------270 24 8 4 1 1 10 1 1 ---------------50 320 |
13. We need. your help.
13.1 Mr K.Kapoor is writing three books namely -
(A) Origin of Aryans.
(B) Muslim Conquest of the
Indian Sub-Continent.
(C) Sankrit - the Mother
of all Languages.
If you can help by suggesting and. providing references or in any other
way please contact him. His address is -
Portswood
13.2.1 Encyclopaedia Brittanica contains a list of contributors in the
alphabetical order. We need to prepare a list according to subjects relevant to
us, e.g. Etymology, Ancient India, Islam, Architecture etc.
13.2.2 We need a list of important historical societies and historians
throughout the world.
13.2.3 Race Relations Board prepared a list of ethnic minority
societies. But that was in 1976. The list is now hopelessly out of date. We
need a list of Hindu Societies in
If you can help please contact Mr Godbole.
14 Acknowledgement
14.1 Postage for Air Mail letters has now 'become very costly. Following
persons took our envelopes and. posted them in
Mr G.K.Bhide, Lt. Commander Chidgupkar, & Mrs Parakhi of Poona, Mr
Nawathe (Bedford), Miss Malati Kamat, Mr and Mrs Dighe of Bombay and our member
Mr Rakhe.
14.2 Mr Mukesh Patel paid for the cost of distribution of Newsletter
No.8 and the Annual Report 1982. Mrs B Kulkarni
(Farnham,
14.3 Dr Lalwani and. Mr B. Patel continue to help us financially.
We are grateful to them all.
15 News and Current Affairs.
15.1 Why Bamber Gascoigne matters
We mentioned his bigotry in Newsletter No.6. Our correspondence was published in Itihas
Patrika of Thane branch. Many people ask
- does he really matter? The answer is
yes he does matter: During Festival of India (April - September 1982) the
Mr David Carroll's book "The Taj Mahal" was published by
Readers Digest Association in 1972. Once again Mr Gascoigne’s book appears in
the selected bibliography.
We circulated copy of the review of John Keay's "India
Discovered" (1981) along with Newsletter No.7. Mr Gascoigne's book does
appear in the selected bibliography.
We would expose the many stupidities in Mr Gascoigne*s book as space allows.
15.2
Daily Telegraph 5 April 1982.
Reports on the front page - After the invasion the Argentines renamed
Port Stanley to Puerto Rivera – Falkland Island was renamed Isla Malvinas (Note
- This is precisely what Muslims did in
India). On page 26 we find - "Mr Rex Hunt the British Chief Administrator
refused to shake hands with Admiral Carlos Busser the head of the invading
marines." (Naughty! Naughty!! Did not the Argentines come to enrich the
islander's cultural life? Should, they not have offered their daughters in
marriage to the invaders?).
Daily Telegraph 6 April reports on page 4 - English will be permitted,
to be used. by the Falkland Islanders for the time being, but they would be expected
to learn Spanish as the reforms were implemented.
Unfortunately the British forces recaptured the islands, if not there would
been British-Argentine civilisation on the islands and historians would have
told us -
15.3 Falsify the History - by order of the Government of
It is a well known fact that Prophet Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina in
622 A.D. Muslims never object to that fact being taught. But in secular
Prophet went from
15.4 Newsletter No.8 - A correction.
In 1.6 we said Lord Krishna released many virgins from Jarasandha's prison.
We were slightly wrong.
15.5. Hindu Motifs on so called Muslim Mosques and Tombs.
A detailed description appears in India Weekly of 25 May 1978. Copy attached
for your information.
Marvels of Moghul
Architecture
by K. L. Sharma
Moghul art was essentially secular in character. A. K. Coomaraswamy once
wrote: "The one great distinction of Moghul from Hindu art is not so much
racial as social; the former is an art of court and connoisseurs owing much to
individual patronage, the latter belongs as much to the folk as to the
kings."
The Moghuls were attracted to Hindu temples and statues representing the
art tradition of the country. Akbar, the great Moghul emperor, invited
master-craftsmen from Gujarat to construct buildings and palaces at
SECULAR CHARACTER .
The Moghuls accepted in their buildings motifs like Chakra (Wheel) Padma,
(Lotus) Srivatsa (a four petal flower),
purna-kalash, (pitcher) svastika and gavaksa (Arch or small window). The Kalasha was given a new
dimension as depicted in the pot - and foliage symbol, a motif of ornamentation,
embellishing Jodhabai's palace at Fatehpur Sikri. the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah
and the Khas Mahal at
The lotus motif was adopted by the Moghuls widely in the buildings of
the period to denote ‘life floating on the surface of the creative waters'.
This was used with telling effect in the Sultana's palace, the Panch Mahal the
tomb of the Sufi saint Salim Chisti and other monumental buildings constructed
by Akbar at Fetehpur Sikri. Akbar's own tomb at Sikandara, near
Another Hindu form called gavaksa was used in the Jami Masjid of Fatehpur
Sikri, in a variety of carved forms, with different flows and themes, mainly
occupying the base of the columns. Birbal's palace has this motif on the bases
of pilasters. The kirtimukha or the
face of glory crowning the apex of the gavaksa appeared in the buildings at
Fatehpur Sikri and in Agra Fort.
Another motif was the Svastika a solar symbol indicating “the path of the
sun across the heaven". It served as the key motif in Salim Chisti's tomb.
There were other symbols like Srivasta
which is represented "by a flower of four petals arranged in the form of a
rhombus or by a simple equilateral triangle". The chain-and- bell motif,
an ornament of Hindu temples, was used in the buildings in Fatehpur Sikri.
Satkona (heptagon) was a
symbolic motif used, with a dot in the centre or a lotus inside it. It was used
first at the Humayun's tomb in
FUSION
The glory of the Moghul architecture reached its pinnacle with the
construction of the Tai Mahal at
Islamic art has been distinguished for the unity it derived from
calligraphic art and the arabesque.
The arabesque normally consists of shoots either spilt or bifurcated
leaves on inorganic tendrils. It was used on the Maqsura screen of the
Quwwat'ul Islam Mosque in
Geometrical designs were used extensively in Humayun’s tomb at
During the reign of Shah Jehan naturalistic forms were developed. These
were mostly plants with leaves and flowers in remarkable inlaid designs. The
floral compositions were graceful and unique as m the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah.
Depiction of animal motifs started with Akbar. His buildings often had brackets
with elephant heads or carved elephants, and parrots, ducks and peacocks. This
flourished during the time of Jehangir but petered out during the reign of Shah
Jehan.
The Moghul art also used curved motifs resembling scrolls, spirals or waves.
The wave was a fundamental principle of Chinese art which was adopted in
The development of the decorative art in architecture reached heights of
accomplishment. during the reign of Jehangir. The animal and plant studies by
Mansur, Murad and Manohar and miniature paintings as well as calligraphic works
of great distinction are the hallmarks of this period.