Ancient India was not a Golden age as portrayed by some
Ancient India was not a Golden age as portrayed by some
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Mr DN Jha’s , a noted historian in his book ‘Against the Grain : Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History" challenges the Hindutva depiction of Indian history.
The book challenges the depiction of the “ancient period of Indian history as a golden age marked by social harmony devoid of any religious violence”.
There is no doubt that religious sects in ancient India were accommodative of each other. But it is just as true that Brahminical sects “bore huge animosity towards the two heterodox religions, Buddhism and Jainism”, Jha writes. This rancour occasionally erupted into attacks and appropriation of Buddhist and Jain sacred places.
A history of religious violence
Jha details examples to show the enormous scale of religious violence in ancient India. For example, in the 7th century, King Shashanka cut the down Bodhi tree, under which Buddha gained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, and replaced the Buddha’s statue with that of Shiva in a local temple.
In 185 BC, Pushyamitra Shunga overthrew the Buddhist Mauryan dynasty, destroyed the Ashokan pillared hall and the Kukutarama monastery in Pataliputra. He is also said to have vandalised the famous Sanchi Stupa, burnt down the Ghositaram monastery in Kaushambi, and killed Buddhist monks wantonly. Buddhist Sanskrit work, Divyavadana, describes him as the “great persecutor” of Buddhists.
Kalhana’s Rajatarangini mentions Jalauka, a Shaivite king, destroying Buddhist monasteries even when the Mauryan emperor Ashoka was likely alive. Kalhana refers to king Nara burning thousands of monasteries in retaliation against a monk who had seduced his wife. The 10th-century ruler Kshemagupta destroyed a Buddhist monastery to build the Kshemagaurishvara temple.
There were bitter ideological battles. For instance, Sanskrit grammarian Patanjali, in Mahabhashya, likens the relationship between “Shramanas [Buddhists and Jains] and Brahmanas” to that between the snake and the mongoose. The 12th century Jain scholar Hemachandra denounced the ancient code of law Manusmriti on the grounds that it supported ritual violence. Vaishnava poet-saint Tirumankai stole a large golden image of Buddha from a stupa in Nagapattinam and melted it for reuse in a temple Vishnu had commissioned him to build. The hagiographies of the Lingayat saint Basava speak of the slaughter of Jains and the appropriation of their temples by his followers.
DN Jha’s book makes it clear that ancient India witnessed a level of religious violence & hence it cannot be called a golden age in true sense
Source : DN Jha : Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History ; Ajaz Ashraf Scroll
Dwijendra Narayan Jha is an Indian historian, specialising in ancient and medieval India. He was a professor of history at Delhi Universityand a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research.
Mr DN Jha’s , a noted historian in his book ‘Against the Grain : Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History" challenges the Hindutva depiction of Indian history.
The book challenges the depiction of the “ancient period of Indian history as a golden age marked by social harmony devoid of any religious violence”.
There is no doubt that religious sects in ancient India were accommodative of each other. But it is just as true that Brahminical sects “bore huge animosity towards the two heterodox religions, Buddhism and Jainism”, Jha writes. This rancour occasionally erupted into attacks and appropriation of Buddhist and Jain sacred places.
A history of religious violence
Jha details examples to show the enormous scale of religious violence in ancient India. For example, in the 7th century, King Shashanka cut the down Bodhi tree, under which Buddha gained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, and replaced the Buddha’s statue with that of Shiva in a local temple.
In 185 BC, Pushyamitra Shunga overthrew the Buddhist Mauryan dynasty, destroyed the Ashokan pillared hall and the Kukutarama monastery in Pataliputra. He is also said to have vandalised the famous Sanchi Stupa, burnt down the Ghositaram monastery in Kaushambi, and killed Buddhist monks wantonly. Buddhist Sanskrit work, Divyavadana, describes him as the “great persecutor” of Buddhists.
Kalhana’s Rajatarangini mentions Jalauka, a Shaivite king, destroying Buddhist monasteries even when the Mauryan emperor Ashoka was likely alive. Kalhana refers to king Nara burning thousands of monasteries in retaliation against a monk who had seduced his wife. The 10th-century ruler Kshemagupta destroyed a Buddhist monastery to build the Kshemagaurishvara temple.
There were bitter ideological battles. For instance, Sanskrit grammarian Patanjali, in Mahabhashya, likens the relationship between “Shramanas [Buddhists and Jains] and Brahmanas” to that between the snake and the mongoose. The 12th century Jain scholar Hemachandra denounced the ancient code of law Manusmriti on the grounds that it supported ritual violence. Vaishnava poet-saint Tirumankai stole a large golden image of Buddha from a stupa in Nagapattinam and melted it for reuse in a temple Vishnu had commissioned him to build. The hagiographies of the Lingayat saint Basava speak of the slaughter of Jains and the appropriation of their temples by his followers.
DN Jha’s book makes it clear that ancient India witnessed a level of religious violence & hence it cannot be called a golden age in true sense
Source : DN Jha : Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History ; Ajaz Ashraf Scroll
Dwijendra Narayan Jha is an Indian historian, specialising in ancient and medieval India. He was a professor of history at Delhi Universityand a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research.
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