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14 May, 6 tweets, 2 min read
Sulaiman al-Tajir, the Persian merchant who traveled to both India & China sometime in the year 850 CE made some interesting observations on both countries.

He starts by saying India is twice the size of China, but not as densely populated. (1)
He says the chinese had no religious science of their own. Each of their philosophies was borrowed from India. The chinese held Indians as their teachers. (2)
On differences between how houses were built. Chinese mostly used wood. Indians built houses made of stones, plaster & bricks. (3)
Regarding personal hygiene.

Indians paid high importance to bathing everyday, sometimes several times in a day & also oral hygiene. Indians wouldn't eat without cleaning mouth.

Also the Chinese were NOT known to clean up after doing the 💩 (4)
On dietary & praying habits.

1) Rice was the staple diet of both countries.

2) Sulaiman found chinese praying style closer to his own religion

3) Indians grew long facial hair. (5)
Note: All these were recorded when India was being ruled by 3 great empires. Pratihara, Pala & Rashtrakuta.

Source : Foreign notices of South India by Nilakantha Sastri

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More from @_ugra_

13 May
Marco Polo, who traveled through the Pandyan kingdom in the 1290's describes people's hygiene habits.

1) Bath twice a day.
2) Always eat with right hand.
3) Never drink from other people's vessels.
4) Never allowed lips to make contact with vessel while drinking.
People of Pandya kingdom worshipped the Ox & would not harm it on any account.
People of Pandya kingdom majorly abstained from consuming alcohol. And those who did drink didn't enjoy high regards of the society.
Read 6 tweets
4 May
True. An example of this is Hoysala king Veera Ballala. When his capital Dwarasamudra was besieged by barbarian malik kafur, he was willing to trade anything in return for the safety of his people. Everything except his Yajnopavita. He chose to remain a Hindu & fight another day
Veera Ballala who chose to fight another day spent much of his later years uniting the Hindu forces of Southern Bharat to expel turushkas. He'd reorganize his forces at Tiruvannamalai in TN. His sacrifices laid the foundation of the Vijayanagara empire. Ferishta's account.
Ballala's main objective was to rid Madurai of its cruel turushka ruler ghis-ud-din. Ballala fought a very brave war. He had successfully managed to push them further south before a cruel twist of fate that would see him being captured & murdered in the most ghastly manner.
Read 7 tweets
3 May
Duties of a ruler laid down by one of the greatest rulers of of Bharat, Shri Krishnadevaraya. All this is recorded in the Amuktamalyada.
A king ceases to be one the day he loses command over his people.
There is a reason why Shri Krishnadevaraya NEVER lost a single battle that he fought & commanded the immense respect of his own people. It is because he surrounded himself with some of the wisest men like Timmarasu Ayyamarasu & Kondamarasu, who were his ministers. Not sycophants.
Read 5 tweets
30 Apr
People living in skyscraper flats must take additional care. Avoid elevators, use stairs. Avoid touching railings. Don't go to the common area unnecessarily. Always double mask up. Use a face shield. Keep pocket sanitizers. Always wash your face on returning, bathe if possible.
Make a mental note of each & every action you are performing while you are out. Am afraid given the situation, this is the only way to avoid getting infected. Yet there is no guarantee. But that shouldn't deter you from taking extreme caution. This is especially true for flats.
Avoid ATMs if possible. If inevitable carry sanitizer spray. Spray the buttons before use. Sanitize the card after use. Spend as little time as possible inside the kiosk. Keep the ATM door open.Heard too many getting infected at ATMs. Double mask + face shield to be on safer side
Read 4 tweets
28 Apr
We have to not only go back to the drawing board, but also back in time to learn how cities were planned & constructed in ancient Bharat. Literature on Hindu architecture is so vast.

For example the Manasara Shilpashastra describes 8 different kinds of village layout plans alone Image
The Manasara describes 8 different layout plans for villages.

1)Dandaka
2)Sarvatobhadra
3)Nandyavarta
4)Padmaka
5)Swastika
6)Prastara
7)Karmuka
8)Chaturmuka(seen above)

Each plan caters to a particular purpose. Much emphasis is laid on broad streets, open spaces & water tanks.
The Manasara doesn't make much of a distinction between a village, town, fort or a city in terms of the layout itself. A town is an extension of a village. And the fort in many cases is nothing more than a fortified town. The extent of a village, town or city is well defined. Image
Read 7 tweets
27 Apr
Kashmiri Brahmins & Karnataka go a long way. A large number of Kashmiri Brahmanas settled down in Vijayanagara. They were accorded a high position. In an inscription dated to 1368 CE during the reign of Bukka Raya, they are praised as virtuous & devoted to worship of Shiva.
Kashmiri Brahmanas were always highly regarded in entire Bharat. Wherever they went, they commanded much respect in the courts of the maharajas. One such example is Sarangadeva, the author of Sangeeta ratnakara, whose patron was Singhana of the Devagiri.
Coincidentally there is a Vijayanagara connection to Sarangadeva & Sangeeta ratnakara. This important text was lost during the turushka invasion of Devagiri. More than a 100 yrs later,the text was found in Vijayanagara & commentaries were written on it at the orders of the king
Read 4 tweets

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