Facts on the Madurai impalement which the frescoes of Meenakshi temple show. The legend is that Shaiva saint Sambandar impaled 8000 Jains in 7th century . The Pandya king was a Jain and his wife was a Shaivite. The queen and the minister invite Sambandar to Madurai 1/8
The queen wanted Sambandar to drive the Jain monks from the Madurai hills. The monks burn Sambandar's hut, but he transfers the fire as fever to the king. Jains' mantras fail to cure the king, but the saint applies sacred ash to the king and cures him. 2/8
A series of contests happen. In contest by fire, Sambandar's hymn to Shiva was unburnt but Jain doctrines got burned. In contest by water, Jain manuscript is carried by water, but Shaiva hymn is brought to shore. Then Sambandar cures the hunch of the king to a handsome man
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The Jains kill themselves by impaling. This version is from Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam. In this version, the Jains have chosen the impalement as their punishment if they lose the debate. Now what do historians make of this? Is this a legend or history? 4/8
The first mention of this record comes almost 400 years later in Nambiyandar Nambi's writing Thirukadaikkapu, first 3 volumes of Tirumurai. The more prominent version comes from Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam written in 12th century. 5/8
Pandya copper prasastis from 9th-10 centuries don't mention these. No contemporary Jain document mentioned these. So some historic scholars doubt the event. However, Shaiva-Jain conflict in South India was a bitter truth. In Periya Puran, Jains are described as sin-breeding 6/8
Even today, a festival is held at Madurai to remember the event with theme as "camanaraik kauverrutal" or impalement of the samanas/Jains. This comes from a long history of Shaiva-Jain friction.
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Even Periya Puranam describes 63 Shaiva Nayanars/saints, imitating the 63 Jain mahapurusa/saints described in Trisastilaksanamahapurana, a 10th century Jain text in Kannada. Legend or not, Shaiva-Jain friction and persecution has a long history in medieval Tamil world
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[THREAD]
Kayasthas are a notable caste in Indian society. Famous people from this caste are Swami Vivekananda, Rajendra Prasad, Subhas Chandra Bose, and many others. The Kayasthas claim origin from Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Shudras. This thread will cover all these. 1/n
In historical documents, Kayasthas were typically known for record-writing and bureaucratic positions. Bilhana and Kalhana mention different positions with Kayastha suffix in their writings of Vikramankadevacharita and Rajatarangini.
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But what Varna does Kayastha belong to? There exist historical inscriptions wherein Kayasthas claim origin from 3 different varnas of Brahmin, Kshatriya and Shudra. This will further highlight the fact that varna and caste are dissimilar constructs.
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[THREAD]
India had a long trade and travel relation with Ptolemaic Egypt, a Greek kingdom in Egypt founded around 300 BCE. Inscriptions in temple ruins still carry Indian/Hindu names there. Image shows an estimate of Ptolemaic kingdom. 1/n
This inscription is found in the temple of Seti I at Khanais that falls on the road between the cities of Edfu and Mersa Alam. See map for exact location of the temple ruins. Google maps don't record the exact location 2/n
This temple has lots of inscriptions in both Greek and Hieroglyphics. See the entrance to the temple and some of the inscriptions in the rock cut caves. 3/n
[THREAD]
This thread is how Christian saints crushed and destroyed Hindu idols in Armenia in 304 CE and converted the people to Christianity.
This is the work of Gregory the Illuminator, who served as the first head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. 1/n
Where is Armenia? It's located near the Caspian Sea, but is landlocked by Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran. See map for the exact location of Armenia.
How did Hindu religion and culture reach Armenia and when? 2/n
The existence of an ancient Indian colony in Armenia is well-known to Armenian scholars, but not known in India. This information comes from a Syrian person named Zenob, who was the companion of St. Gregory, the Illuminator on an idol-smashing tour through Armenia in 304 CE.
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This guy's name was Vasco da Gama, who was the 1st European to reach India. Historical texts told us how great an explorer he was. Yet, many don't know how much brutalities and atrocities he committed on reaching India. 1/n
Vasco da Gama was the captain-major of the Portuguese fleet in 1504. This was the 2nd trip of Gama to India, the 1st being in 1497. He claimed the king of Portugal to be the lord of seas and destroyed vessels with Indian people off the coast of India.
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Then on Oct 29th, at Calicut, he massacred native fishermen of the city. Sewell writes, "seizing the inoffensive native fishermen in the port, eight hundred of whom he massacred in cold blood under circumstances of brutal atrocity."
Source: A forgotten empire Sewell p. 117 3/n
How the British enforced the rigidity of the caste and often manufactured occupational castes during Census is evident from British census officers' writings. Here's Middleton, in the Punjab Census of 1921, "these castes have been largely manufactured and
almost entirely preserved as separate castes by the British Government..we pigeon-holed everyone by caste and if we could not find a true caste for them labelled them with the name of an hereditary occupation."
He further went on to add
"We deplore the caste system and its effect on social and economic problems, but we are largely responsible for the system which we deplore". Caste in earlier days was only rigid among the higher castes, but after the British, it crystallized among all sections of society.