Thread by @IndiaArtHistory

The Idea Of India As a Nation
(A Thread)

उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य: हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम्
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम: भारती यत्र संततिः ।।
- विष्णू पुराण २.३.१

To the North of the Ocean & to the South of the Himalayas, lies the Bharat-Varsh. There live the descendants of Bharat.

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill We indians have been tutored in schools to believe that the idea of nation state did not exist in India, before coming of the British. But that idea is not completely true. Although the subcontinent was divided into regional kingdoms, unifying ideas were always there.

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill People went to pilgrimages freely from one part of the nation to other. For the educated ones, there were common languages such as sanskrit to communicate. Basic cultural concepts were same, such as belief in vedas (or buddha), common gods, common places of worship etc.

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill But inspite of having all of that, we did lack one basic human feeling - the feeling of brotherhood. The basic feeling of humanity.

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill That it why when Muslim invaders poured in from the west to plunder India, we see none of the regional kings uniting in fight ! When Kashi , the oldest city on earth was being massacred, none of the strong kingdoms of east and south came forward.

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill When buddhist Gandhar kingdom (Afghanistan) was sacked, none of the kingdoms of gangetic delta came forward. When worlds oldest university Nalanda was burning and Pala kingdom was crumbling none of its southern or even Orissan neighbours came to help!

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill Even if one single king would have joined against the invaders, India would have been a different country today! North India would not have been stripped of its glorious past!

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill According to hindus, "Brahma hatya", killing of brahmins is the highest sin. and yet when the lanes of Kashi, Takshashila, Kashmir and Kanauj was being bloodied with the blood of brahmins (and commoners alike), none of the independent kingdoms came to help !

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill Mughal consolidation could not have happened had it not been for rajput support, uptill Aurangzeb, Rajputs held top positions in military echelons & Hindu Rajputs were sent as commanders in chief to quell non Mughal subjects.
It was like British using Indians to control India.

@Go_Movie_Mango @Redhotpedia @ImsomethingnU @DalrympleWill With such an accute lack of feeling of brotherhood and apathy to its own roots, it is a miracle that India its still existing as a distinct socio cultural race!

Thank you..😊