Fwd: Hindu Kush means Hindu Slaughter

[Guest guest]

aryavart , " vajradhari " <vajradhari wrote:

 

All Standard reference books agree that the name 'Hindu Kush' of the

mountain range in Eastern Afganistan means 'Hindu Slaughter'

or 'Hindu Killer'. History also reveals that until 1000 A.D. the area

of Hindu Kush was a full part of Hindu cradle. More likely, the

mountain range was deliberately named as 'Hindu Slaughter' by the

Moslem conquerors, as a lesson to the future generations of Indians.

However Indians in general, and Hindus in particular are completely

oblivious to this tragic genocide. This article also looks into the

reasons behind this ignorance.

 

21 References - (Mainly Encyclopedia Britannica & other reference

books, National Geographic Magazines and standard history books).

 

 

 

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INTRODUCTION

 

The Hindu Kush is a mountain system nearly 1000 miles long and 200

miles wide, running northeast to southwest, and dividing the Amu

Darya River Valley and Indus River Valley. It stretches from the

Pamir Plateau near Gilgit, to Iran. The Hindu Kush ranges mainly run

thru Afganistan and Pakistan. It has over two dozen summits of more

than 23,000 ft in height. Below the snowy peaks the mountains of

Hindu Kush appear bare, stony and poor in vegetation. Historically,

the passes across the Hindu Kush have been of great military

significance, providing access to the northern plains of India. The

Khyber Pass constitutes an important strategic gateway and offers a

comparatively easy route to the plains of Punjab. Most foreign

invaders, starting from Alexander the Great in 327 BC, to Timur Lane

in 1398 AD, and from Mahmud of Ghazni, in 1001 AD, to Nader Shah in

1739 AD attacked Hindustan via the Khyber Pass and other passes in

the Hindu Kush (1,2,3). The Greek chroniclers of Alexander the Great

called Hindu Kush as Parapamisos or Paropanisos (4). The Hindu name

of the Hindu Kush mountains was 'Paariyaatra Parvat'(5).

 

 

 

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EARLY HISTORY OF HINDU KUSH REGION (UP TO 1000 AD)

 

History of Hindu Kush and Punjab shows that two major kingdoms of

Gandhaar & Vaahic Pradesh (Balkh of Bactria) had their borders

extending far beyond the Hindu Kush. Legend has it that the kingdom

of Gandhaar was established by Taksha, grandson of Bharat of Ayodhya

(6). Gandhaar's borders extended from Takshashila to Tashkent

(corruption of 'Taksha Khand') in the present day Uzbekistan. In the

later period, Mahabharat relates Gaandhaari as a princess of Gandhaar

and her brother, Shakuni as a prince and later as Gandhaar's ruler.

 

In the well documented history, Emperor Chandragupt Maurya took

charge of Vaahic Pradesh around 325 BC and then took over Magadh.

Emperor Ashok's stone tablets with inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic

are still found at Qandahar (corruption of Gandhaar?) and Laghman in

eastern Afganistan(3). One such stone tablet, is shown in the PBS TV

series 'Legacy with Mark Woods' in episode 3 titled 'India: The

Spiritual Empire'. After the fall of Mauryan empire, Gandhaar was

ruled by Greeks. However some of these Greek rulers had converted to

Buddhism, such as Menander, known to Indian historians as Milinda,

while some other Greeks became followers of Vishnav sects (Hinduism)

(7). Recent excavations in Bactria have revealed a golden hoard which

has among other things a figurine of a Greek goddess with a Hindu

mark on its forehead (Bindi) showing the confluence of Hindu-Greek

art (8). Later Shaka and KushaaN ruled Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh.

KushaaN emperor Kanishka's empire stretched from Mathura to the Aral

Sea (beyond the present day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Krygzystan)

(9).

 

Kanishaka was a Buddhist and under KushaaN influence Buddhism

flourished in Gandhaar. Two giant sandstone Buddhas carved into the

cliffs of Bamian (west of Kabul) date from the Kushan period. The

larger Buddha (although defaced in later centuries by Moslem

invaders) is about 175 ft tall (10,11). The Kushan empire declined by

450 AD. The Chinese traveller Hsuan-Tsang (Xuan-zang) travelled thru

the region in 7 th century AD and visited many Buddhist religious

centers (3) including Hadda, Ghazni, Qonduz, Bamian (3,10,11),

Shotorak and Bagram. From the 5 th thru 9 th cenury AD Persian

Sasanians and Hepthalites ruled Gandhaar. During their rule Gandhaar

region was again influenced by Hinduism. The Hindu kings (Shahiya)

were concentrated in the Kabul and Ghazni areas. The last Hindu

Shahiya king of Kabul, Bhimapal was killed in 1026 AD. The heroic

efforts of the Hindu Shahiya Kings to defend the northwestern gates

of India against the invaders are described by even al-Biruni, the

court historian of Mahmud of Ghazni (12). Some excavated sites of the

period include a major Hindu Shahiya temple north of Kabul and a

chapel that contains both Buddhist and Hindu images, indicating that

there was a mingling of two religions (3).

 

Islamic invasions on Afganistan started in 642 AD, but over the next

several centuries their effect was marginal and lasted only a short

time after each raid. Cities surrendered only to rise in revolt and

the hastily converted returned to their old religion (Hinduism or

Buddhism) once the Moslem armies had passed (3).

 

THUS TILL THE YEAR 1000 AD AFGANISTAN WAS A FULL PART OF HINDU CRADLE.

 

 

 

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HINDU KUSH AND THE HINDU GENOCIDE

 

Now Afganistan is a Moslem country. Logically, this means either one

or more of the following must have happened:

 

a) original residents of Hindu Kush converted to Islam, or

b) they were slaughtered and the conquerors took over, or

c) they were driven out.

 

Encyclopedia Britannica (3) already informs us above about the

resistance to conversion and frequent revolt against to the Moslem

conqueror's rule from 8 th thru 11 th Century AD. The name 'Hindu

Kush' itself tells us about the fate of the original residents of

Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh during the later period of Moslem

conquests, because HINDU KUSH in Persian MEANS HINDU SLAUGHTER (13)

(as per Koenraad Elst in his book 'Ayodhya and After'). Let us look

into what other standard references say about Hindu Kush.

 

Persian-English dictionary (14) indicates that the word 'Kush' is

derived from the verb Kushtar - to slaughter or carnage. Kush is

probably also related to the verb Koshtan meaning to kill. In Urdu,

the word Khud-kushi means act of killing oneself (khud - self, Kushi-

act of killing). Encyclopedia Americana comments on the Hindu Kush as

follows: The name Hindu Kush means literally 'Kills the Hindu', a

reminder of the days when (Hindu) SLAVES from Indian subcontinent

died in harsh Afgan mountains while being transported to Moslem

courts of Central Asia (15). The National Geographic Article 'West of

Khyber Pass' informs that 'Generations of raiders brought captive

Hindus past these peaks of perpetual snow. Such bitter journeys gave

the range its name Hindu Kush - " Killer of Hindus " '(10). The World

Book Encyclopedia informs that the name Kush, .. means Death ..(16).

While Encyclopedia Britannica says 'The name Hindu Kush first appears

in 1333 AD in the writings of Ibn Battutah, the medieval Berber

traveller, who said the name meant 'Hindu Killer', a meaning still

given by Afgan mountain dwellers who are traditional enemies of

Indian plainsmen (i.e. Hindus)(2). However, later the Encyclopedia

Britannica gives a negationist twist by adding that 'more likely the

name is a corruption of Hindu-Koh meaning Hindu mountains'. This is

unlikely, since the term Koh is used in its proper, uncorrupted form

for the western portion of Hindu Kush, viz. Koh-i-Baba, for the

region Swat Kohistan, and in the names of the three peaks of this

range, viz. Koh-i-Langer, Koh-i-Bandakor, and Koh-i-Mondi. Thus to

say that corruption of term Koh to Kush occurred only in case of

Hindu Kush is merely an effort to fit in a deviant observation to a

theory already proposed. In science, a theory is rejected if it does

not agree with the observations, and not the other way around. Hence

the latter negationist statement in the Encyclopedia Britannica must

be rejected.

 

IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT ONE OF THE FEW PLACE NAMES ON EARTH THAT

REMINDS US NOT OF THE VICTORY OF THE WINNERS BUT RATHER THE SLAUGHTER

OF THE LOSERS, CONCERNS A GENOCIDE OF HINDUS BY THE MOSLEMS (13).

 

Unlike the Jewish holocaust, the exact toll of the Hindu genocide

suggested by the name Hindu Kush is not available. However the number

is easily likely to be in millions. Few known historical figures can

be used to justify this estimate. Encyclopedia Britannica informs

that in December 1398 AD, Timur Lane ordered the execution of at

least 50,000 captives before the battle for Delhi, .. and after the

battle those inhabitants (of Delhi) not killed were removed (as

slaves) (17), while other reference says that the number of captives

butchered by Timur Lane's army was about 100,000 (18). Later on

Encyclopedia Britannica mentions that the (secular?) Mughal emperor

Akbar 'ordered the massacre of about 30,000 (captured) Rajput Hindus

on February 24, 1568 AD, after the battle for Chitod' (19). Another

reference indicates that this massacre of 30,000 Hindu peasants at

Chitod is recorded by Abul Fazl, Akbar's court historian himself

(20). These two 'one day' massacres are sufficient to provide a

reference point for estimating the scale of Hindu genocide. The Afgan

historian Khondamir records that during one of the many repeated

invasions on the city of Herat in western Afganistan, 1,500,000

residents perished (11).

 

Since some of the Moslem conquerors took Indian plainsmen as slaves,

a question comes : whatever happened to this slave population? The

startling answer comes from New York Times (May-June 1993 issues).

The Gypsies are wandering peoples in Europe. They have been

persecuted in almost every country. Nazis killed 300,000 gypsies in

the gas chambers. These Gypsies have been wandering around Central

Asia and Europe since around the 12 th Century AD. Until now their

country of origin could not be identified. Also their Language has

had very little in common with the other European languages. Recent

studies however show that their language is similar to Punjabi and to

a lesser degree to Sanskrit. Thus the Gypsies most likely originated

from the greater Punjab. The time frame of Gypsy wanderings also

coincides early Islamic conquests hence most likely their ancestors

were driven out of their homes in Punjab and taken as slaves over the

Hindu Kush.

 

The theory of Gypsie origins in India was first proposed over two

centuries ago. It is only recently theta linguistic and other proofs

have been verified. Even the Gypsie leadership now accepts India as

the country of their origin.

 

Thus it is evident that the mountain range was named as Hindu Kush as

a reminder to the future Hindu generations of the slaughter and

slavery of Hindus during the Moslem conquests.

 

 

 

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DELIBERATE IGNORANCE ABOUT HINDU KUSH

 

If the name Hindu Kush relates such a horrible genocide of Hindus,

why are Hindus ignorant about it? and why the Government of India

does not teach them about Hindu Kush? The history and geography

curriculums in Indian Schools barely even mention Hindu Kush. The

horrors of the Jewish holocaust are taught not only in schools in

Israel and USA, but also in Germany. Because both Germany and Israel

consider the Jewish holocaust a 'dark chapter' in the history. The

Indian Government instead of giving details of this 'dark chapter' in

Indian history is busy in whitewash of Moslem atrocities and the

Hindu holocaust. In 1982, the National Council of Educational

Research and Training issued a directive for the rewriting of school

texts. Among other things it stipulated that: 'Characterization of

the medieval period as a time of conflict between Hindus and Moslems

is forbidden'. Thus denial of history or Negationism has become

India's official 'educational' policy (21).

 

Often the official governmental historians brush aside questions such

as those that Hindu Kush raises. They argue that the British version

is the product of their 'divide and rule' policy' hence their version

is not necessarily true. However it must be remembered that the

earliest reference of the name Hindu Kush and its literal

meaning 'Hindu Killer' comes from Ibn Battutah in 1333 AD, and at

that time British were nowhere on the Indian scene. Secondly, if the

name indeed was a misnomer then the Afgans should have protested

against such a barbaric name and the last 660 plus years should have

been adequate for a change of name to a more 'civil' name. There has

been no effort for such a change of name by the Afgans. On the

contrary, when the Islamic fundamentalist regime of the Mujahadeens

came to power in 1992, tens of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs from

Kabul, became refugees, and had to pay steep ransom to enter into

Pakistan without a visa.

 

In the last 46 years the Indian Government also has not even once

demanded that the Afgan Government change such an insulting and

barbaric name. But in July 1993, the Government of India asked the

visiting Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra to change its name because the

word Jerusalem in its name is offensive to Moslem Fundamentalists.

 

 

 

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CONCLUSION

 

It is evident that Hindus from ancient India's (Hindustan's) border

states such as Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh were massacred or taken as

slaves by the Moslem invaders who named the region as Hindu Kush (or

Hindu Slaughter,or Hindu Killer) to teach a lesson to the future

Hindu generations of India. Unfortunately Hindus are not aware of

this tragic history. The Indian government does not want the true

history of Hindu Moslem conflicts during the medieval ages to be

taught in schools. This policy of negationism is the cause behind the

ignorance of Hindus about the Hindu Kush and the Hindu genocide.

 

 

 

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COMMENTS & FUTURE WORK

 

Although in this article Hindu Kush has been referred to as Hindu

slaughter, it is quite possible that it was really a Hindu and

Buddhist slaughter. Since prior to Moslem invasions influence of

Buddhism in Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh was considerable. Also as the

huge 175 ft stone Buddhas of Bamian show, Buddhists were idol

worshipers par excellence. Hence for Moslem invaders the Buddhists

idol worshipers were equally deserving of punishment. It is also

likely that Buddhism was considered an integral part of the Hindu

pantheon and hence was not identified separately.

 

This article barely scratches the surface of the Hindu genocide, the

true depth of which is as yet unknown. Readers are encouraged to find

out the truth for themselves . Only when many readers search for the

truth, the real magnitude of the Hindu genocide will be discovered.

 

 

 

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REFERENCES

 

Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.5, p.935, 1987

 

Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.14, pp.238-240, 1987

 

Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.13, pp.35-36, 1987

 

The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great (as described by Arrian,

Q.Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch & Justin), By J.W.McCrindle, Methuen &

Co., London, p.38, 1969

 

Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, by Veer Savarkar, Savarkar

Prakashan, Bombay, 2nd Ed, p.206, 1985

 

Chanakya - a TV series by Doordarshan, India

 

Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, pp.36-41, 1987

 

V.Sarianidi, National Geographic Magazine, Vol.177, No.3, p.57, March

1990

 

Hammond Historical Atlas of the World, pp. H4 & H10, 1993

 

W.O.Douglas, National Geographic Magazine, vol.114, No.1, pp.13-23,

July 1958

 

T.J.Abercrombie, National Geographic Magazine, Vol.134, No.3, pp.318-

325, Sept.1968

 

An Advanced History of India, by R.C.Majumdar, H.C.Raychaudhuri,

K.Datta, 2nd Ed., MacMillan and Co, London, pp.182-83, 1965

 

Ayodhya and After, By Koenraad Elst, Voice of India Publication,

p.278, 1991

 

A Practical Dictionary of the Persian Language, by J.A.Boyle, Luzac &

Co., p.129, 1949

 

Encyclopedia Americana, Vol.14, p.206, 1993

 

The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol.19, p.237, 1990

 

Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, pp. 54-55, 1987

 

An Advanced History of India, by R.C.Majumdar, H.C.Raychaudhuri,

K.Datta, 2nd Ed., MacMillan and Co, London, pp.336-37, 1965

 

Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, p.65, 1987

 

The Cambridge History of India, Vol.IV - The Mughul Period, by W.Haig

& R.Burn, S.Chand & Co., New Delhi, pp. 98-99, 1963

 

Negationism in India, by Koenraad Elst, Voice of India Publ, 2nd Ed,

pp.57-58, 1993

 

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