Aryan Invasion of India

Aryan Invasion of India

The ancient history of India is the theory of the Aryan invasion. India was invaded and conquered by nomadic light-skinned Indo-European tribes from Central Asia around 1500-100 BC, who overthrew an earlier and more advanced dark-skinned Dravidian civilization from which they took most of what later became Hindu This so-called pre-Aryan civilization is said to be evidenced by the large urban ruins of what has been called the Indus valley culture . The war between the powers of light and darkness, a prevalent idea in ancient Aryan Vedic scripture. The Indus valley culture was pronounced pre-Aryans for several reasons that were largely part of the cultural milieu of nineteenth century European thinking as scholars following Max Muller had decided that the Aryans came into India around 1500 BC, since the Indus valley culture was earlier than this, they concluded that it had to be pre Aryan. This placed the beginning of the world at 400 BC and the flood around 2500 BC it became difficult to get the Aryans in India before 1500 BC the present population of Gujarat is composed of more or less the same ethnic groups as are noticed at Lethal in 2000 BC. Similarly, the present population of the Punjab is said to be ethnically the same as the population of Harappa and Rupert 4000 years ago. There are many points in fact that prove the Vedic nature of the Indus Valley culture. Further excavation has shown that the great majority of the sites of the Indus Valley culture were east, not west of Indus in fact, the largest concentration of sites appears in an area of Punjab and Rajasthan near the dry banks of ancient Sara Swati and Drishadvati rivers. The Vedic culture was said to have been founded by the sage Manu between the banks of Sara Swati and Drishadvati rivers. Vedic and late Vedic texts also contain interesting astronomical lore. The Vedic calendar was based upon astronomical sightings of the equinoxes and solstices. Such texts as ' Vedanta Jotas ' speak of a time when the vernal equinox was in the middle of the Nastran Alisha or about 23 degrees 20 minutes Cancer. This gives a date of 1300 BC. The Your Veda and Atbara Veda' speak of the vernal equinox in the Kittitas Pleiades early Taurus and the summer solstice Anaya in Magma early Leo Such references were merely ignored or pronounced unintelligible by Western scholars because they yielded too early a date for the Vedas than what they presumed not because such references did not exist. Hence a pattern of ignoring literary evidence or misinterpreting them to suit the Aryan invasion idea became prevalent even to the point of changing the meaning of Vedic words to suit this theory. They prove that the Vedic culture existed at these periods and already had a sophisticated system of astronomy. Such references were merely ignored or pronounced unintelligible by Western scholars because they yielded too early a date for the 'Vedas' than what they presumed, not because such references did not exist. It was assumed by these scholars many of whom were also Christian missionaries unsympathetic to the Vedas that the Vedic culture was that of primitive nomads from Central Asia. Hence they could not have founded any urban culture like that of the Indus valley. The only basis for this was a rather questionable interpretation of the ' Rig Veda ' that they made, ignoring the sophisticated nature of the culture presented within it. Meanwhile, it was also pointed out that in the middle of the second millennium BC, a number of Indo-European invasions apparently occurred in the Middle East, wherein Indo-European peoples the Hittites, Mit tan and Kisses conquered and ruled Mesopotamia for some centuries. An Aryan invasion of India would have been another version of this same movement of Indo European peoples. On top of this, excavators of the Indus valley culture, like Wheeler, thought they found evidence of destruction of the culture by an outside invasion confirming this. There are many points in fact that prove the Vedic nature of the Indus Valley culture. Further excavation has shown that the great majority of the sites of the Indus Valley culture were east not west of Indus. In fact, the largest concentration of sites appears in an area of Punjab and Rajasthan near the dry banks of ancient Sara Swati and Drishadvati rivers. The Vedic culture was said to have been founded by the sage Manu between the banks of Sara Swati and Drishadvati rivers. The Sara Swati is lauded as the main river naditama in the 'Rig Veda' & is the most frequently mentioned in the text. The Vedic culture was said to have been founded by the sage Manu between the banks of Sara Swati and Drishadvati rivers. The Vedic culture was said to have been founded by the sage Manu between the banks of Sara Swati and Drishadvati rivers. Hence the Vedic people were well acquainted with this river and regarded it as their immemorial homeland.

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history of Islam

The early history of Islam after the death of Muhammad is one of glorious wars and victories on the one hand, and hatred, dissension, jealousy, intrigue and deceit on the other.

It begins with the so-called 'Ridda' of a number of Arab tribes after the death of Muhammad. Several 'prophets' contested the leadership of Muhammad and his subsequent successor Abu Bakr, who was chosen after his death to lead the Muslim believers.
The first Khalif Abu Bakr 10-12 AH 632-634 AD died after only two years of reign, and was followed by Khalif Umar 12-22 AH 634-644 AD Umar was, like Abu Bakr, a father-in-law of Muhammad. He was assassinated by an Iraqian slave while at prayer in the mosque. Under him - probably the most gifted and respected of the Khalifs, the Arab Empire grew vastly. He was succeeded by the third Khalif Uthman 22-34 AH 644-656 AD By trying to unify the Empire,

largely comprising independence-loving Arabs, he fell into disfavour, particularly for his revision of the Qur'an (see this chapter). He was assassinated in a gruesome way and was not allowed to be buried in the Muslim cemetery. His wife, with some of his friends, buried him by night without the ritual washings, listening to the curses of the Arabs, who also pelted stones at them. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery. Khalif Ali was the last of the 'four rightly guided' Khalifs.
Two well exposed leaders, Talha and al-Zubair, with the support of Aysha, rebelled against Ali. The resulting Battle of the Camel saw 10 000 Muslims slaughtered. Ali and his troops won, but soon faced another contender, Mu'awiya, the Governor of Syria, who accused him as did Aysha, of complicity in the assassination of Uthman. Another battle resulted with tremendous loss of life but without a decisive victory. Mu'awiya and Ali agreed to appoint arbiters and to abide by their solution. This strongly undermined the authority of Ali, who eventually was assassinated by one of his disillusioned followers.
The heir and expected successor of Ali, al-Hassan, renounced his khalifship in favour of Mu'awiya, who from then on ruled not only Syria and Egypt, but the whole Islamic empire.
Al-Hussein, Ali's other son, together with most of his family, was slain under the reign of Mu'awayia's son, the Khalifah Yazid I. at the battle of Kerbela, which actually was rather an assassination than a battle.
This triggered off a split in Islam. Those who sided with Ali and his sons, whom they declared the only true Khalifs, because they were relatives of Muhammad, are now known as the Shiáh followers Muslims. The much bigger part  today about 80% are known as Sunni one of the path Muslims.

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Muthana ibn Haritha

Muthana ibn Haritha, a new convert to Islam after the Prophet(s)'s death, from the north eastern Arab tribe called Bakr was sent on a campaign in Iraq with Khalid ibn al-Walid and later took over the command. After the victory in the so called Battle of the River of Blood at Ullais near modern Samawah in Iraq the two Muslim generals gave the enemy no respite and Hira was captured in May with only a small and in part  locally recruited force. Hira was a Persian outpost but largely inhabited by Arabsand an important city in Iraq. It was also the first acquisition of the Muslims outside the Arabian Peninsula. Hira was spared military occupation and its Arab inhabitants were allowed to remain Nestorian Christains this sect was bitterly hostile to the Monophysite form of Christainity prevailing among the Egyptians Syrians, and Abyssinians on the payment of a large sum of . Next year Khalid was suddenly ordered to go and take over the command of the Muslim armies in Syria who needed help and Muthana was left behind in charge of the campaign on the Persian front.
While the campaign in Iraq against the Sasnids was going on, at home major apostasy was stamped out by the revolting tribes being brought under control. Abu Bakr now turned his attention to the conquest of Syrian and Palestine on the Byzantine frontier which he regarded as more important. Through their commercial activities, the Arabs were more familiar with, and interested in, this region than Persia, which was largely unknown to them. E

ven the Prophet(s) in his lifetime showed interest in it and sent an expedition under his adopted son Zayd ibn Haritha, to the Syrian broder in 629. But the vastly superior Byzantine army had no difficulty in crushing the raw soldiers of early Islam. Zayd died fighting, and the expedition ended in diaster.
In 633 Abu Bakr organized three armies of 3.000 soldiers eachg and put them under the command of Yezid ibn Abi Sufyan his father, Abu Sufyan, the Makkan leader in battles against the Muslims, was then governor of Najran and Hijaz Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Amr ibn al As who was later to become famous for his conquest of Egypt in 640.2 and three times its governor The first two columns entered Jordan while Amr led his troops to south-eastern Palestine, and near Gaza he annihilated in February a small army under

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Global Religion

Islam is a religion for all people from whatever race or background they might be. That is why Islamic civilization is based on a unity which stands completely against any racial or ethnic discrimination. Such major racial and ethnic groups as the Arabs  Persians, Turks, Africans, Indians, Chinese and Malays in addition to numerous smaller units embraced Islam and contributed to the building of Islamic civilization. Moreover, Islam was not opposed to learning from the earlier civilizations and incorporating their science, learning, and culture into its own world view, as long as they did not oppose the principles of Islam. Each ethnic and racial group which embraced Islam made its contribution to the one Islamic civilization to which everyone belonged. The sense of brotherhood and sisterhood was so much emphasized that it overcame all local attachments to a particular tribe  race  or language--all of which became subservient to the universal brotherhood and sisterhood of Islam.The global civilization thus created by Islam permitted people of diverse ethnic backgrounds to work together in cultivating various arts and sciences. Although the civilization was profoundly Islamic, even non-Muslim "people of the book" participated in the intellectual activity whose fruits belonged to everyone. The scientific climate was reminiscent of the present situation in America where scientists and men and of learning from all over the world are active in the advancement of knowledge which belongs to everyone.The global civilization created by Islam also succeeded in activating the mind and thought of the people who entered its fold. As a result of Islam, the nomadic Arabs became torch-bearers of science and learning. The Persians who had created a great civilization before the rise of Islam nevertheless produced much more science and learning in the Islamic period than before. The same can be said of the Turks and other peoples who embraced Islam. The religion of Islam was itself responsible not only for the creation of a world civilization in which people of many different ethnic backgrounds participated, but it played a central role in developing intellectual and cultural life on a scale not seen before. For some eight hundred years Arabic remained the major intellectual and scientific language of the world. During the centuries following the rise of Islam, Muslim dynasties ruling in various parts of the Islamic world bore witness to the flowering of Islamic culture and thought. In fact this tradition of intellectual activity was eclipsed only at the beginning of modern times as a result of the weakening of faith among Muslims combined with external domination. And today this activity has begun anew in many parts of the Islamic world now that the Muslims have regained their political independence.

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The Spread of Islam

The Spread of Islam

From the oasis cities of Makkah and Madinah in the Arabian desert, the message of Islam went forth with electrifying speed. Within half a century of the Prophet's death, Islam had spread to three continents. Islam is not, as some imagine in the West, a religion of the sword nor did it spread primarily by means of war. It was only within Arabia, where a crude form of idolatry was rampant, that Islam was propagated by warring against those tribes which did not accept the message of God--whereas Christians and Jews were not forced to convert. Outside of Arabia also the vast lands conquered by the Arab armies in a short period became Muslim not by force of the sword but by the appeal of the new religion. It was faith in One God and emphasis upon His Mercy that brought vast numbers of people into the fold of Islam. The new religion did not coerce people to convert. Many continued to remain Jews and Christians and to this day important communities of the followers of these faiths are found in Muslim lands. Moreover, the spread of Islam was not limited to its miraculous early expansion outside of Arabia. During later centuries the Turks embraced Islam peacefully as did a large number of the people of the Indian subcontinent and the Malay-speaking world. In Africa also, Islam has spread during the past two centuries even under the mighty power of European colonial rulers. Today Islam continues to grow not only in Africa but also in Europe and America where Muslims now comprise a notable minority.

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