Today we are going to talk about the history of our Indian relatives. When we go through the history of India, the aspects of this kinship become clear. Aryan tribes, some of which settled in the Iranian plateau and the other in the Indian subcontinent, have had a significant impact and role in the history of India. The cultural connection between the two nations has always been established from the beginning to the modern era, and no factor can cause the two nations to separate from each other.
India - the land of wonders (History of India)
From the beginning of October 2009, the people of India saw the preparation of the 140th birthday of the great soul of the Indian nation (Mahatma Gandhi) in the best possible way. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in a very traditional family in Porbanda (Gujarat) of Kathiawar state. The pen of destiny was marked on the history of India in such a way that at the age of 78, he was able to unite a nation made up of different religions and customs and different languages and bring the Indian subcontinent to independence.
Now that we are still in the month of October, for this reason, we are going through the history of the country where Gandhi was raised and in his awakening, he tried and played an effective role in the fight against colonialism, from the sharp eyes of the readers. The culture of peace and friendship of both nations is one of the commonalities of both nations.
India from the earliest times until the invasion of the Mongols in this land (History of India)
The Indian subcontinent has one of the most ancient civilizations and great cultures in the world. Between 2,500 and 2,000 years before Christ, the Aryans entered the Indian subcontinent through the Khyber strait, through present-day Afghanistan, i.e., the place known as Pakistan and India today. First, they lived in the "Eurasia" region (a region between Europe and Asia in the Aral region) with their fellow races, who are the ancestors of the current Iranians.
Before the arrival of the Aryans in the Indian subcontinent, important urban civilizations were discovered in the "Mohenjodaro" region, which is between the prehistoric and historical eras, which are almost close to each other compared to the "Messian" civilization in the Sumerian period. With their invasion, the Aryans pushed the wheat-bearing indigenous peoples of the northern region of the subcontinent known as "Dravidians" to the south. Unlike their Iranian cousins who worshiped Ahura Mazda, these Aryans became the creators of the Brahma religion.
"Brahma", one of the great gods of India, with "Vishnu", the god of command over creatures, and "Shiva", the god of destruction of creatures, represent the Hindu holy trinity. Their holy book is called "Veda", which means "knowledge" in Sanskrit, which contains the sacred writings of Hinduism. If we refer to the legends and myths of ancient Iran and India, we will see that in some stories, mythological heroes are closely similar.
European historians say that India became the cradle of all kinds of philosophical schools and the intellectual, philosophical and religious efforts of Hindus are available in the collection of writings known as "Upanishads". According to them, the Upanishad represents the intellectual efforts of man to discover the meaning of the universe. In the book of Veda and its various parts, the religious regulations of Hindus are written and in "Upanishad" the philosophical points of Hinduism are written.
With the domination of Aryans over India, especially North India, a group that was native to India at all was called "Paria" (impure). After that, a closed social system was created in India, which is known as "caste" in the term of sociologists today.
When Gandhi entered the political arena, he called the impure class "Harijan" (God's creatures) and a little higher meaning "God's children" in order to achieve unity between the sections of the Indian nation. If it were not for Gandhi's efforts, the unity of different Indian ethnic groups would not have been realized as a nation with strong religious, racial and linguistic differences. Southern ethnic groups such as Dravidians and non-Aryan Tamils, some of whom migrated to Ceylon, as a result of Gandhi's efforts during the independence period, created a feeling in them that they could actually fit into a nation.
The origin of "Buddha" and "Jayism" religions (History of India)
In the 6th century BC, in one of the autonomous regions of northern India called Nepal, on the foothills of the Himalayas, the son of the ruler there, who was from the Sakya dynasty and became famous in history as "Syed Arthagotama Sakyamuni", established a new religion called "Buddha". invented This Nepalese nobleman saw some sad scenes in his life and gave up glory and realized the futility of life and practiced austerity and under a tree called "Budhi" his heart was enlightened and he found the way to the health of living beings. He became known as "Buddha" due to the fact that his heart became enlightened under the "Budhi" tree. Buddha said that a person should be kind to all creatures, from humans to animals, and practice austerity in life so that his soul can be exalted.
"Ji Nizam" religion is another religion that was created at the same time by a person named "Mahavira". Buddhism and Jai Nizam developed in parallel. While Buddha was alive, he preached his religion in Magadha (South Bihar) and Varanasi, and after his death, Emperor Ashoka made Buddhism the official religion of India. Jai Nizam is very similar to Buddhist beliefs.
Mahavira was against the sacrifice of any living being. American historian Ralph Linton says in his famous book "Sir Tadaman" that in the 6th century BC "Buddha" and "Mahavira" even though they were from the elite class, both became followers of ascetics. The most important principles common to Buddhism and Jai Nizam, in addition to physical austerity, is Ahimsa (non-harm). It can be said that Mahatma Gandhi was strongly influenced by the religion of "Jay Nizam" in terms of accepting the thesis of non-harm to every living being.
The rise of great emperors in India (History of India)
In the 5th century BC, the Achaemenids dominated the north of India, while in other parts of India, there were tribal governments. Alexander the Great took north-west India in 326 BC, but soon left the land of India and left no trace of himself. After the return of Alexander, one of the Indian generals named "Jandra Gupta", whom the Greeks called "Sandrakotos", formed the "Murya" dynasty.
His grandson "Ashoka" two centuries after Buddha's death, made Buddhism official in India, but at the same time established religious freedom in India. Although he practiced austerity by following Buddhism for a long time, he did not disturb the followers of Hinduism. During his time, Buddhism spread to Ceylon. After Ashoka's death, the Mauryan dynasty declined as the remaining Greeks in Bactria (Balkh) occupied northern India and soon conquered the Kushan Empire from Kabul to the Punjab.
Kushan kings were able to erect Buddha statues in Afghanistan and India. In 320 AD, the Indian national empire named "Gupta" was established in the region of Magadha (South Bihar). During this dynasty, the "caste" system was revived, according to the "Veda" book, people were divided into four classes as follows; 1- Brahmins (clerics and scholars), 2- Kshatriyas (warriors), 3- Waisiya (farmers), 4- Sudras (workers).
Since one of these emperors named "Samudra Gupta" (385-335 AD) belonged to the "Kshatriya" class, he became the defender of the caste system in India and for this reason the Brahmins of the Hindu religion supported him. Due to the calendar of the caste system, the elite minority of India called "Rajas" got privileges. At the same time, under the shadow of religious freedom, Buddhists were also able to achieve success in propagating their religion.
The famous Gupta kings were "Chandra Gupta II" (414-385 AD) and finally "Gomara Gupta". During the rule of this dynasty over India, great attention was paid to science, arts and literature. One of the philosophers of the Gupta period named "Vij Nanavada" said "there is nothing but thought". For this reason, it can be claimed that he can be called "Indian Descartes" because "Descartes" presented his philosophical opinion 12 centuries later in the form of "I think therefore I am".
Also, during the reign of this dynasty, which was the same as the Sassanid period, "Barzowieh Hakim" traveled to India and brought the book "Kalileh and Demeneh" and also the game of chess to Iran. In addition, during the Gupta dynasty, the "Spice Route" connected India to Asia Minor and the Red Sea by land and sea. It was from those two points that India's commercial connection with Europe was established. The Gupta dynasty was destroyed in 500 AD by the Heptalians, who were Mongolian desert tribes.
From the kingdom of Harsha to the influence of the Mongols on India (History of India)
After the decline of the Gupta Empire in North India, a tribal monarchy was established, and one of these monarchs named "Harsha" (647-606 AD), according to the contemporary English historian Arnold Twain B, was a sun worshiper and also followed Buddhism. was doing Although the Buddha had sent followers of his method to East Asia during his lifetime, they did not fully succeed in spreading Buddhism until during the Harsha Empire, a Chinese named "He Yu An-Tang" through " Turfan" and Samarkand came to India to visit Buddhist temples in 630 AD.
"Rene Grosse" writes in the history of Asia; "He Yuan" was warmly welcomed by "Harsha" and after traveling all over India, he returned to China by the same original route. It seems that at this time, Buddhism spread to China and East Asia and then to Japan. After the death of Harsha, Buddhism gradually disappeared from India or became a minority, and the Brahma religion and two branches of Vaishnavism and Shivaism took its place, so that in the 16th century, some religious Hindu ascetics converted from Vishnu religion. They added the name Sikh to the Hindu religions and a big temple was built for them in the city of Amritsar.
After the death of "Harsha" North India was divided into the hands of "Rajputs" (King's sons). These princes, who are called "Rajputs" in Hindi, were migrant tribes from Central Asia who were mixed with Hindus. The rule of the Rajputs in North India lasted until 1000 AD. After the conquest of Iran by the Muslims in 704 AD, the Islamic general Muhammad bin Qasim was able to enter the Indus Valley through Baluchistan and millions of people converted to Islam.
After the attack of Sabtakkin in 986 and then Mahmud of Ghaznavi and the conquest of Somnath temple, the Rajputs also became extinct and the Indian peninsula fell into the hands of Muslims. India was ruled by Muslim monarchs until "Babur" (1530-1483), a descendant of Timur who was proud of being a Mongol, was able to conquer the city of Kabul in 1504 and then Lahore in 1524 and "Ibrahim Shah" Lodi won and occupied Delhi and Agra and founded a dynasty called the Great Mongols (Indian Timurids).
The reign of the Mongols (Timurians of India) and the invasion of European colonists (History of India)
Before the Mongols conquered India, the Portuguese used to attack the coasts of India by sea. The Portuguese navigator Vascodogama, after rounding the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, reached the shores of "Malabar" in South-West India (1498) and was captured there. Then Francisco Almeida captured the coastal region of Goa in India in 1510, 14 years before the conquest of Delhi by Babu. It was in such a situation that the great Mongols took over India. This dynasty ruled for 328 years, that is, from 1530 from the reign of Babur until the fall of Bahadur Shah II and his exile by the British to Rangoon, the capital of Burma in 1858, which ended the life of this dynasty.
The most famous kings of this dynasty who were able to reign over India were 1- Babur (1526-1530) 2- Humayun (1530-1556) 3- Akbar Shah (1556-1605) 4- Jahangir (1605-1627) 5- Shah Jahan 1628-1658) 6- Aurangzeb (1659-1777) 7- Bahadur I (1707-1712) 8- Jahandar (1712) 9- Farrokh (1712-1719) and finally Bahadur II who was the last of them. Gurkans of India (Mongols of India) due to staying away from the nomadic life and getting used to the magnificent palaces and luxurious harems, lost the courage and warrior that was characteristic of the Mongols and Timurids and gave any privilege to the foreign colonizers to stay on the throne.
During the time of Babur's son Humayun Shah, the Portuguese were able to capture the commercial areas of the Malabar coast. Because Humayun did not have the power to rule, his brother rebelled against him, and on the other hand, Shershah Afghani weakened him by attacking India. Therefore, he sought refuge in the Safavid Shah Tahmasab's court and defeated his brother Kamran with the help of Iran and reached his throne.
Akbar Shah came to the throne after him. Akbar only took care of the affairs of the court. During this king's time, in 1559, Queen Elizabeth I, the King of England, established the English East India Company and sent representatives to Akbar Shah and received many business privileges from him. During Akbar Shah's time, an Afghan general named Hamu captured Delhi, but Biram Khan, one of his generals, killed the Afghan aggressor and liberated Delhi.
In 1562, Akbar Shah married a Rajput princess named Anbar, who later became Jahangir's mother, and abolished the Islamic jizya tax from non-Muslims in 1564. During the time of Akbar Shah, the court was turned into a place for discussion among followers of Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. In 1604, at the same time as the last year of Akbar Shah's reign, King Henry IV of France established the French East India Company to compete with the British government in India.
The French East India Company sent representatives to Jahangir, King of Gurkani, to Delhi, but could not get many concessions, but his rival, England, during the reign of James I in 1611, took many concessions from the Indians, and "Sertomas Roe" after obtaining concessions for England, drove the Portuguese from " Surat" fired. Jahangir, who was a contemporary of Shah Abbas I, sold the land of Madras in South India to England to finance his court expenses.
Jahangir's successor, Shah Jahan, built a tomb named Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtazmahal for 20 years. He built a palace called "Khas Mahal" during his wife's lifetime. The architects of these buildings are mostly Iranian, but Indian, Venetian and other countries masters were also used. After him, it was "Aurangzeb's" turn to reign. (1659) He needed money due to civil wars, and for this reason, he increased the privileges of the East India Company, and because of this, he suffered a rebellion by a patriotic person like "Sivaji", who was the leader of the "Marath" clan. He ruled the Deccan region.
In this rebellion, the Bijapur region fell to Sivaji and Aurangzeb had to give him the title of "Raja". (Rajah is an aristocratic title in India). The power of the British East India Company increased when the representative of the company was given the title of Governor General of Bengal and India. This decline in the Indian government continued until after the defeat of the Gorkani king in the Battle of Plassey and Buxar (1757), the Gorkani king became completely subservient to the British East India Company. As a result of these defeats, the vast province of Bengal came under British rule.
During the time of Mohammad Shah Gurkani, who was an unworthy king, Nader attacked India in 1739 and occupied Delhi for a while and returned to Iran with booty. The defeat of Mohammad Shah caused the Gurkanians to be defeated in the Battles of Plasi and Buksar. In 1746, Duplex, the representative of the French East India Company, was able to take over the port of Madras, which had already been captured by the British. For this reason, the representative of the East India Company (Robert Clive) was assigned to get concessions from the Gorkani king. Therefore, the vast province of Bengal became the property of the King of England.
Finally, according to the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763, two countries, France and England, agreed that France would withdraw its foot from India for the benefit of England, but increase its influence in Africa. After that, the British government warned the company to give itself the title of court and government. Even though Bahadur Shah Gurkani was exiled from the country in 1782, the complete domination of British colonialism over India was not possible until Tipu Sultan (Tipusaheb), the Maharaja of Mysore, removed the son of Hyder Ali Khan Bahadur, who had ascended to the throne of Mysore after the death of Hyder Ali.
England had to sign a peace treaty with Tipu Sultan in 1784. Tipu Saheb was a staunch enemy of the British and had a secret relationship with the French residing in Pondicherry. In 1788, with the attack of the British forces on "Srinagapatam", the capital of Tipu Sultan, and then his murder, it dominated the whole of India. From then on, India became a British viceroyalty.
From the Sepoy uprising to the formation of the Indian National Congress (History of India)
After the complete domination of the British over India, on May 10, 1857, in the "Meerut" region in the north of India, the uprising of the Sepahians began. "Sipoi" was the word used by the Indians to refer to the soldiers. Therefore, it is said that the British East India Company had hired troops of Indian and Muslim mercenaries for military purposes, so that with their help they could maintain the security of the areas under the influence of the company as well as the viceroyalty of India.
But the spread of the news that the British used cow fat or pig fat to polish their guns on the one hand angered the Hindus who considered the cow sacred and on the other hand the Muslims who considered the pig impure. On the other hand, the Hindus, thinking that the British want to prevent traditional Hindu ceremonies and possibly force the people to accept Christianity, started an uprising and after killing four thousand British soldiers, captured the city of Delhi and led Bahadur II Gurkani as their leader. they chose.
The British, who were looking for an excuse to destroy the Gorkani dynasty and completely occupy India, arrested Bahadur Shah II and exiled him to Rangoon, and later the last centers of national resistance that kept the supporters of Tipu Sahib still active captured and severely suppressed their supporters and in In 1877, British Prime Minister Desiraeli presented the title of Indian Empire to Queen Victoria. From that date onwards, India officially became a British colony. It goes without saying that before that, the East India Company and its leaders, who were elected from London, assumed governmental and administrative duties for themselves in the Indian subcontinent.
Among these leaders, there were also people who helped the development and development of India. One of them was "Dalhousie" who held government powers between 1848-1856 and is well remembered in the history of India for his construction activities in India.
This man made great efforts in the settlement and development of India and by building telegraph lines and railway lines and creating new ports and roads, he introduced the non-destructive works of Western civilization in this country and he always said that the greatness of Great Britain is in the prosperity of India. Of course, other elements also made efforts to build India, both during the colonial period and after independence. They were Persians and Zoroastrians, immigrants and Persians, who contributed the most to the establishment of steel factories and metal smelters in India.
