Akbar made Lahore the capital of India due to unstable conditions in Kabul and Kashmir. The frontier tribes were also a source of great trouble and disorder prevailed in the Punjab. From Lahore, the emperor conducted military operation against Kashmir planned was with the north-east Afghanistan. He also undertook the conquest of Sind and Kandahar. He also conquered Kashmir and annexed it to his empire. During this period Akbar carried a number of social reforms. He condemned the inhuman practice of Sati. He issued a regulation that “a Hindu girl whose husband had died before the marriage was consummated should not be burnt. If a Hindu woman wished to burn herself with her husband, she should not be prevented but she should not be forced.” Akbar not only enacted this measure against the evil of sati but also made provision for the enforcement of this law. The Kotwals were directed to take adequate measures for stopping this evil. Akbar disapproved of polygamy and made some healthy rules with regard to marriage practices. He forbade marriage between near relations. Marriage before the age of puberty was disallowed. The inhuman practice of female infanticide was also common in those days. Akbar’s heart was deep touched by the killing of small children. By a regulation, he laid down severe punishments for those guilty of such offence. It was also during his stay at Lahore that scarcity of rainfall brought about a famine when many people died of starvation. The emperor opened free kitchen and made arrangements for relieving the distress of famine stricken people at the instance of Guru Arjun Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, re remitted a potion of the revenue of some territories to give relief to the people. He also introduced a number of judicial reforms by which the Brahmins were permitted to the cases of the Hindus. He forbade the hateful practice of treating prisoners of war slaves. Those who slaughtered cows and other animals on prohibited days were punished. So far as the state was concerned widow remarriage amongst the Hindus was made lawful. Circumcision on children before the age of twelve was prohibited. He disfavored marriages between near relations and high dowries. He allowed his non muslim subjects to enjoy perfect freedom of worship. He removed all the restrictions on buildings of the places of public worship by the Hindus and non Muslims It is [...]
Archive for February, 2009
Posted in 
TOP OF THE MIND
February 28th, 2009 
Aman A sweeping victory at the Oscars, Slumdog Millionaire has become the movie that everyone wants. This movie has all the masala that is required to get away from the Great depression. Yes a populist hero who overcomes all odds to get the girl and the money. There is a message of the movie to the west: just by seeing this movie you can see India without getting your hands dirty or offending your nose, and cheer it on. Cinderella didn’t walk through tenements and sectarian violence to reach her prince. But in this fairy tale, a concession must be made to modern realities. Dev Patel is symbolic of India here and now, fulfilling its wildest economic aspirations while being conscious of the darkest aspects of social decay and despair. If we follow the metaphor to its logical conclusion, India will get the money and the girl by rising above its slums. Perhaps that’s why Slumdog has created an uneasy reaction in Mumbai and the rest of India. Rising above isn’t the same as solving. Many Indians have always found west as best option than looking inward. They have learnt so well about the western countries that they can tell you more about the streets of London and New York than the teeming lanes of the ghettos of their own city. In fact this is true about rich elites everywhere in the South Asia. Watching Dev cross the social line is triumphant, but it reminds you that there is a line. (Obama crossed the racial line in triumph, also, but notice how much heat his Attorney General, Eric Holder, took when he suggested in less than polite terms that America needs to be more honest and courageous about the whole problem of race.). Slumdog a low budget movie managed to outgross number of big budget Hollywood films. Last week, it ranked fifth on the US box office while its nearest Oscar rival, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, was no longer in the top ten. Brad Pitt, being a megastar, has pulled his film to $122 million, compared to Slumdog’s $98 million, but is that really competitive? Ten movies on the scale of Slumdog can be made for the cost of one blockbuster that has yet to pay back its cost. The whole world and the entire movie industry are watching closely and the developing world is watching [...]
Art & Monuments Before The Mughals
February 27th, 2009 Aman The art of painting did not receive the attention and encouragement which the other arts did at the hands of the Delhi Sultans. On account of religious reasons the Sultans had no love for paintings. We, however, come across some references to ornamental designs painted on the walls of the palace. No specimen of this art has survived. A peciment onf painting of the time of Muhammad bin Tughlaq is considered as specimen of art of this period. The Sultans of Delhi, though not so magnificent builders like the Great Mughals rulers, took keen interest in this art. The sultans like the Rajput rulers of the earlier peiod spent lavishly on architecture. The Delhi Sultans founded new cities, built forts, palaces, resthouses, bridges, mosques and tombs. Ala-ud- Din Khilji built the city of Siri, Ghyas-ud-Din built the city of Tughalqabad and Feroze Shah built the city of Ferozabad. Some cities were surrounded bywalls. Special atentionwas given to beautify the gates of the cities. Many provincial governors were also patrons of art and developed their distinctive style of architecture. Bengal, Jaunpur, malwas, gujarat have fine specimens of architecture of those times. The famous Adina Masjid at Pandua built by Sikandar Shah was one of the largest mosques in the Muslimworld. The Delhi Darwaza at Gaurhis a “superb example ofwhat can be achieved in brick and terracota”. In Gujarat architecture reached its highest development in the reign of Mahmud Baghera. The Jama Masjid at Ahmedabad built by Ahmedshah and Mahmud Bograh’s mosque at Champanir are beautiful and lofty structures. The buildings built by the Sharqi Sultans at the Jaunpur present a synthesis of Hindu and Muslim architectural ideas. The Aal Devi Masji which was completed in 1403 A.D. is one of the brilliant specimens of this style. The Quwaat-ul-Islam mosque at Delhi constructed by Qutub-ud-Din aibak is a fine example fo Indo-Muslim style of architecture. Like the Dhai Din Ki Jhonpraha mosques at Ajmer its foundation was laid during the early Sultanate period. These mosques were founded by Qutab-du-Din Aibak but were enlarged by iltutmish and Ala-ud-Din Khilji. The Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque would have seemed to be more impressive if it had not been constructed in the courtyard where qutab Minar stands. The Qutab Minar was originally intended to be place for the Muazzin to call the faithfuls to prayer but later on it became a tower of victory. The construction of [...]
Do we have our Coastline Secured?
February 27th, 2009 Aman Indian navy chief admiral Sureesh Mehta pointed out that terrorists may exploit weak security that we have at our ports. He anticipated that the terrorists might attempt to import and bring down a nuclear weapon. He said that the threat is there for the past many years however now that the terrorist activities are on its high after Mumbai attacks. In actual as well the ports that we have are very unsafe. There is no monitoring of what is coming to the country and what is going out. Earlier there was only one agency run by the government of India to monitor this but now there are some government authorized private agencies. This statement of the naval chief has come right with the program of the US under the Container Security Initiative and Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism programmers. It found that there are gaps in the defense structure which can be cause by the insufficient container security. It is been three months after Mumbai attacks that the people responsible for the security of the country have realized this aspect. It has been observed that there is some movement on the overall security of the ports. The coast guard, navy and marine police have scrambled to implement the long-ignored maritime security blueprint. There is a boost in the security design. CISF has been deployed on the ports along with the bomb squads. Speedboats have to be provided for patrolling the waters. Now the question arises what were they been waiting for. But as has happened in the past there are reactive measures rather than part of a comprehensive policy. Different ministries like that of shipping, road transport and highways are planning effectively. It should be kept in mind that we need to make safeguard against the new threat as soon as possible. It simply means that we should not wait for any other Mumbai like attack to happen before we act. And since the terrorist this time explored a new way of entering our country we need to find ways how to protect that point as well. After inspecting it deeply we have realized that there are lot of things to be done. While planning for this we need to make sure that we always remember that the time that we have to implement all this is very less. We do not know when theses terrorists are planning their next move [...]
How Effective Is Our Cyber Law?
February 26th, 2009 Aman With a passing of the IT Amendment Bill which Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passed in the end of the year 2008 aims to make changes in the existing cyber laws. And you would be surprised to hear that though it is a matter of great concern looking at the situation that we have in the country when everyone is using one or the other IT application, this bill was passed by the legislators in such a hurry like no other bill. There was no discussion on this bill. It was not that they needed this bill immidiatly. I think all the politicians were of the opinion that there is no need but just for the heck of it, to show the common man lets pass the bill. Yes I give the credit to the government for removing the loop holes in the IT bill of 2000, however we need to do a careful analysis and you would find that the new amendments are also sufficient to meet the needs of today. Issues relatd to confidential information and data of corporations, the protection of this data, all this seems not to be addressed. It just has a few sections on data protection which would not serve the law. It appears we have not learnt any lessons from what happened in America or Europe. Our politicians feel that the terrorists are old and non efficient like them. Political leadership must keep this in mind that crime is always a step ahead of law. But the kind of law that we have it seems that the crimes is miles away from it. There is no rebuttabel presumptions of confidentiality of trade secrets and information. We know that people and of course the companies save their data online in electronic form. It is found that there are employees who take away data from the databases of the companies. The law must address this as well. Another major failure of the proposed amendments is hta tthey have not address the issue of spam in a comprehesive nammer. The word spanin not even mentioned anywhere in the IT amendment bill. You may not that the nations like US have shown their interest to fight spam by putitng in place a dedicated law for anti spam. We know today people and organisations are increasingly relying upon electronic evidnece and electronic media as a means of communicating [...]
Literature in 11th Century
February 26th, 2009 Aman The Turkish invaders of India in the early medieval age were primarily soldiers, but they were devoted to Persian language and literature and were patrons of scholars and poets. Among the many poets and writers who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his expeditions was the great savant Abu Rayhan Mohammad Al-Baruni who left a scholarly account of the condition of India in the early years of the 11the century including Hindu religion, philosophy, history, mathematics and other sciences. He studied Sanskrit and established a close contact with Indian scholars of the age. No Muslim scholar ever rivaled Al-Baruni n the depth and accuracy of his knowledge about India. Mahmud of Ghur continued the tradition of extending patronage to scholars and poets. Persian language and literature consequently flourished under him. Taj-ud-din-Hassan, Rukn-ud-din-Hamza, Shahab-ud-din, Mohammad Rashid and Nazuki of Mahagha were some of the famous poets who adorned his court. The Sultans of Delhi were also lovers of literature. Qutab-ud-din Aibak was so liberal to the scholars and poets that he earned the title of Lakh-baksh (the giver of Lakhs). Iltutmish was no less generous to poets and scholars. He had a number of eminent poets and writers of Persian at his court. Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shafi (1246-65) wrote his famous chronicle Tabaqat Nasiri, a general history from the earliest times of 1260. Gias-ud-din Balban’s courts were adorned by great scholars. The Mongols had ravaged Central Asiatic countries and compelled Muslim scholars and poets from these countries to flee for refuge to Balban’s court at Delhi. Balban’s son Mahmud was a great patron of eminent poets and it was under his patronage that two of the greatest Indian poets of Persian named Amir Khusru and Mur Hassan Dehlwi had begun their poetic careers. Mir Khusru wrote a large number of works of poetry, fiction, Masnavi and history. Amir Khusru was probable the first Indian Muslim writer to make use of Hindi words and write on Indian themes. In his couplets and riddles he uses a language which is predominantly a mixture of Persian and Hindi word. In his famous Masnavi entitles Nuh Siphr he refers to India’s climate, its flowers, animals and birds, the religious beliefs and the language of the people? He compares India to the garden of Edin and praises the fertility of its soil and the Indian peacocks. He was also a lover of music and is said [...]
Babur’s Invasions- II
February 25th, 2009 Aman Expelled from his territory in the Punjab, Alam Khan fled straight to Kabul and approached Babur for help for the recovery of the Punjab from his rival Daulat Khan. A secret treaty was signed between Babur and Alam Khan by which it was agreed that Babur would help Alam Khan to install him on the throne of Delhi and in return, he would allow Babur to retain the whole of the Punjab, Babur directed the Mughal chiefs of Punjab to help Alam Khan in conquering Delhi. But before Alam Khan could make any attempt in this direction, he was seduced by Daulat Khan who made him break off his alliance with Babur. The combined forces of Daulat Khan and Alam Khan soon marched against t Ibrahim Lodhi, who, however, inflicted a defeat upon them. With the defeat of Alam Khan and the Mughal chiefs, Daulat Khan felt encouraged and drove out the Mughals from the Punjab. When Babur came to know of these happenings, he decided to undertake his fifth and final invasion of India. In November 1525, Babur left Kabul at the head of a large army of 12000 soldiers. He was also joined by his son Humayun and Khawaja Khan. On his way to Lahore he subjugated the turbulent tribes of Gakhars, Jats and Gujjars who had recovered their independence from the rule of Mughal chiefs. When Babur reached Kalanaur, he learnt that Daulat Khan and his son Haji Khan had left Lahore and taken shelter in Malot. He, therefore, marched towards them and besieged the fort. Daulat khan was this time determined to offer tough resistance to Babur. But to his ill luck, his brother Alam Khan deserted him and his army melted away at Babur’s approach. Consequently, Daulat Khan sent a message to the Mughal invader that he was ready to submit and begged to forgive him. The magnanimous Padhshah not only forgave him but also restored to him some Jagirs. Daulat Khan was sent to Bhera where he died after a shot while. Having occupied the territories of Punjab, Babur now marched towards Delhi. In two marches Babur reached the town of Panipat. Ibrahim Lodhi also advanced to meet the Mughal invader on the historic field of Panipat in 1526. Although Babur’s army was much smaller in number, it had the advantage of fine artillery. Ibrahim Lodhi along with 15 thousand soldiers died in the [...]
Socailising with Network
February 25th, 2009 Aman Most business professionals feel that a prerequisite that one must have to be a successful professional is good networking and socializing. An informal meeting or chat goes a long way in developing potential business partners or clients. But there are many amongst us who are afraid to go out and network with people outside their offices and home. These soft skills can be cultivated with proper practice and can be learn and polished. Small talk or socializing as it is popularly known as, helps to establish connections and to determine commonalities, and integral part of doing business in some cultures. Therefore, follow the below mentioned tips to overcome your fear of meeting people. It is important to understand the basic nuances of starting and facilitation introductions that help to generate conversation. The basic rule is to talk about other people’s interest rather than your own and this can be done by asking the right questions. These questions should be framed in such a way that they further discussion in a meaningful way. The second rule is to be prepared. It si important that you know some background about the other person and thus it helps to be prepared for such meetings in advance especially if you are a newcomer and are struggling to establish yourself in the field. Know how to work the room so you meet the people you came to see, which is a proficiency that will serve you well in all areas of your professional and personal life? A good conversationalist can always get more from the interaction and can effectively turn the conversation towards his interest. It is a good idea to keep yourself abreast with current happenings in and around the world or the news and events concerning your area of business. That gives you something to talk about as you start the conversation. Once the ice is broken, you can gradually move on to topics that are upper most in your mind. Spontaneity and sincerity should reflect in your manners and conversation. Though it is good to be prepared in advance, faking an interest cannot really take you anywhere. You need to be genuinely interested in the other people and their interest. Only then, will they take you seriously. This is especially important as everyone meets many new people in such event and it is difficult for them t remember all of them. So [...]
Babur’s Invasions- I
February 24th, 2009 Aman Zahir_ud_din Muhammad Babur laid the foundation of Mughal Empire in India. He was the first great emperor of India. Babur was born in February 14, 1483 in the small kingdom of Farghana of which his father Umar Sheikh was the ruler. Babur was only eleven years of age when his father died and he became the king of Farghana. His early life was full of hardships but he was ambitious and daring. Babur’s greatest ambition was to conquer Samarkand. He twice captured Samarkand but lost it each time. In 1504, he left his native land, crossed the Hindukush and conquered Kabul. From Kabul he made one more attempt to occupy Samarkand and entered the city of his dreams in the midst of great pomp and splendor. But Babur was not destined to enjoy the fruit of his victory for long. He was driven out of Samarkand next year. Babur now abandoned all hope of rescinding the throne of Samarkand which he and won and lost no less than three times. Babur made up his mind to conquer the rich plains of Hindustan. Babur led as many as four expeditions to India. In 1519 Babur led his first expedition to India. He occupied Bhera on the Jhelum without much resistance. Next he occupied Khushab. After this victory, Babur took his second expedition to India. This time he advanced as far as Peshawar. He wanted to fortify Peshawar to make it the base for further conquests into the interiors of Hindustan. His mission failed because he had to return to Kabul to suppress some disturbance in Badakhsan. He undertook his third expedition in 1520. He recovered Bijour and Bhera from where his general Hindu Beg had been expelled. Babur advanced to Sialkot which he easily occupied. Babur met with a tough resistance at Sayyidpur (Eminabad) but ultimately occupied it. In 1524, Babur again determined to invade India. This time Daulat Khan Lodhi, the Afghan governor of Lahore invited Babur to invade India. He sent his son Dilawar Khan to Kabul to assure Babur of his help against Ibrahim Lodhi. Babur was already in Possession of a part of the Punjab. He welcomed his support and left Kabul with his army to conquer the Punjab and Delhi. He captured Lahore, Jalandhar Doab and Dipalpur without meeting with much resistance But his rapid progressed alarmed the Afghans of the Punjab. Some of them even [...]
Slumdog Millionaire
February 24th, 2009 Aman We all Indians are very proud of Slumdog Millionaire for what it has achieved. This was first time that an Oscar has come to India and we are so ga ga about it. In fact this was the first time that Oscar has been awarded from mainstream cinema. I do not feel bad about anything for this time Oscars. I only wanted to retrospect if the movie really showed the actual face of India. It is showing the truth which a normal Indian ignores. There were some groups in India who infact wanted this word slumdog to be removed from the dictionary itself because they felt it is racist. I do not see that movie was an effort to show the poverty of India. Many people have criticized that this movie is showing only the bad part of the nation. They feel that India is only those swanky buildings and glittering malls. I do not know how they can ignore the every day sight on traffice signals and road side scenes. Yes, irrespective of which city you live in. Slumdog is a story of 2 brothers and a girl from the slums of india. The story takes them to different directions. The big brother of two turns into a gangster where as the yougner of two who infact is the hero of the movie is tea server in a call center. See call center. The true image of India in the west now a days. Oh, yes the girl ends up as a show girl with the gangsters. The film shows that the youger boy reaches the hot seat of a game show. Yes the most famous game show in India- “ kaun banega karorpati”. There is an interesting host of the show which infact was unlike the real hosts of the show- Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. The real hosts of the show wanted the contestants to win however the reel life host did not want the hero to win the game show. This was one of the crucial aspect of the movie which made it interesting. The host calls the police to get the hero arreseted on the charges of fraud at the end of the first day of the show. The police at the police station tortures him by giving him electric shocks just to know how a tea server slumdweller know all the correct answeres. [...]
