A Tale of Two Mughal Sisters.
(A Thread)

Jahanara & Roshanara were daughters of #Shahjahan & sisters of #Aurangzeb & Dara Shikoh. Jahanara favored Dara, and Roshanara favored Aurangzeb.
If Jahanara was kind hearted, Roshanara was politically astute.

Cont.

During the bloody war of succession between Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, these two women engaged themselves in a bitter political battle within the walls of their palace that went on to dominate the larger part of their lives.

The Story of creation of the Stock Markets.
(A Thread)

The Dutch East India Company was The World's First Public Company and the company had many ships.

So, When East Indies was discovered, explorers rushed there in hopes of finding opportunities for trade & profits. The Voyage to those far Eastern places was dangerous filled with pirates and storms.
Majority of the ships never made it home.
Many of the businessmen and investors who financed these voyages lost a ton of dollars.

How Portuguese Colonized India?
(A Thread)

Today On 20th May 1498, Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut.

The ruler Zamorin, welcomed Vasco & his merchants, but was not prepared to concede to their demand to exclude the indian merchants from his port. The Portuguese basically had come not to compete but to create a monopoly over sea trade. So, after 5 yrs Vasco returned..

In 1503 Vasco da Gama returned with a large fleet to destroy 80 ships Zamorin had assembled to defend the freedom of the seas and was successful.

HOW WEST BENGAL WAS DESTROYED:
(A Thread)

West Bengal has been on a decline ever since 1963, when CM of the state Bidhan Chandra Roy passed away. He reinforced the foundations of the state after partition, got the many institutions & engineering hubs.

Cont.- Calcutta and Jadavpur used to be the prime universities in India those days. WB had the IIM, IIT, Indian Statistical Institute, the Operations Research School, Bengal Engineering College, Presidency College, SXC, Scottish Church and many other venerable institutes.

The Story of 1st Indian Ink Company from Kolkata.
(A Thread)

During the 1930s, when the Swadeshi movement was at its peak, its founder Mahatma Gandhi was ferociously looking for a locally-made ink to write letters and petitions.

Cont.- He shared this with Satish Chandra Das Gupta, a freedom fighter from WB. Credited with making Krishnadhara, India’s 1st Swadeshi ink, Gupta shared his formulation with the Maitra brothers, Nanigopal & Sankaracharya.

Newspaper clipping how Sulekha was started at Gandhi's request.

Kanyadaan
(A Thread)

When we say "the father gave her daughter's hand in marriage" do we think of an evil father casting away his child or do we think of a well dressed gentleman leading his child upto the groom in a church? Do we ever ask ourselves what right a father has to give his daughter's hand to someone else ?
We do not.
Because everything that is from the west and it's Judeo Christian cultural backdrop is sacrosanct.

The 'MOST' Horrible sacking of cities by the Invaders.
(A Thread)

1. Timur sacked Delhi in 1398, it is said he slaughtered a 100K people there.

(Pic :-Timur defeats the Sultan of Delhi, Nasir Al-Din Mahmud Tughlaq 1397–1398, painting dated 1595–1600.)

Cont.:- 2. Alla-ud-din Khilji killed around 8K of the Mongol army who were settled in today's Mongolpuri in Delhi.
Their heads were displayed at the Chor-Minar, Delhi (Pic 1)

3. In 1556, Akbar defeated Hemu at Panipat (Pic 2), slaughtered his army, and built a tower with the heads.

The Last known case of Sati in India.
(A Thread)

34 years ago Roop Kanwar’s Sati forced Rajasthan to rewrite laws. She sat on her husband’s funeral pyre & was burnt to death at Deorala village in Sikar district.

18-year-old Roop Kanwar remains India’s last known case of Sati. Sati was an ancient practice among Hindu communities in India, in which a recently widowed woman, either voluntarily or by force, immolated herself on her deceased husband's pyre.

The ill-effects of the MONOPOLY of Bollywood.
(A Thread)

Compare Bollywood with rich variety that traditionally existed in India -

Dance / नृत्य -(classical & folk dance forms including but not restricted to - Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri etc. Music / गायन, वादन - (classical and folk including Hindustani, Carnatic, लावणी, भांड, पांडववाणी, भावगीत, रसिया, टप्पा, जनपद गीती ... )

Theater / नाटक - (classical and folk like - संस्कृत नाटक, सट्टक, प्रकरण, संगीत नाटक ... जत्रा, नौटंकी, भावाई, तमाशा, यक्षगान, दशावतार ...)

What does a Hindu Temple means to all hindus ??
(A Thread)

It is a Abode of God / Goddess
A Shrine
A Teertha-Kshetra
A Spiritual Center
A Philosophical School
A Community Center
A Food Donation Center
A Free Shelter for Yatris
A Community School Teaching Ethics.

Cont. An Art, Music, Dance, Drama School
A Platform for Artists
A Marketplace
An Architectural Marvel
A Masterpiece of Craftsmanship
An Art Gallery
A Museum
A Historic Monument
A Place of Pride
An Employment Guarantee Scheme

Cont.

How Europeans treated Native Americans.
(A Thread)

When extermination of Native Americans failed, "civilizing" became the new US policy. This meant that the Indians would become "civilized" - read & deculturalized. U.S. and Canadian authorities took Native children from their homes and tried to school, and sometimes beat, the Indian out them. Now Native Americans are fighting the theft of language, of culture, and of childhood itself.

Is Abraham Brahma? Or Is Brahma Abraham?
(A Thread)

Have you ever noticed that Abraham and his wife Sarah of the monotheistic Judeo-Christian and Moslem religions are nearly identical in name to Brahma and his wife Saraswati of the Hindu religion? The similarities between the names of Abraham and Brahma have not gone unnoticed. Abraham is said to be the father of the Jews, and Brahma, as the first created being, is often seen as the father of mankind.

A Beautiful Short Story. Pls do read. ❤️👌

- पुरूष -

"तुम्हारा नियुक्ति पत्र आया है कुसुम! तुम्हारा प्राइमरी स्कूल में चयन हो गया है"
मैं स्तब्ध थी मगर इन्हें विश्वास था। अपने चश्मे के पीछे अपनी खुशियों और संघर्ष को छुपाते हुए इन्होंने नियुक्ति पत्र मेरे हाथों में रख दिया। मेरी आंखों में भी दो बूंद खुशी के आ गए।
मैं कोई पढ़ी लिखी महिला नहीं थी। बल्कि गाँव की आठवीं फेल अनपढ़ लड़की थी, जिसकी शादी मेरे ताऊ जी ने एक शिक्षित परिवार में धोखे से कर दी थी। ये भी पढ़े लिखे और नौकरी में थे। मेरे ताऊ जी का ये धोखा मुझे रोज ही इस घर में ज़लील करता।

Cont.

A Beautiful Story. Pls do read. ❤️👌

----- चिट्ठी -----

"वो चिट्ठियों का जमाना था। मैं ठहरी अनपढ़... लेकिन बड़ी इच्छा थी कि तेरे दादाजी मुझे चिट्ठी लिखें, अक्सर उनसे कहती जब वो गाँव आते...फिर आखिर एक दिन उन्होंने चिट्ठी भेज ही दी" कहते हुए दादी कहीं खो सी गईंं।

Cont. "फिर...फिर क्या हुआ?दादी,आपने वो चिट्ठी पढ़ी कैसे?" पोती की उत्सुकता कम नहीं हो रही थी।

"अरे! तब घर से बाहर निकलने की इजाजत न थी हमें...और घर में सास, ससुर, देवर थे.... किसी से कहती तो बेशरम कहलाती। किससे पढ़वाती...बस रोज उलट पलट कर देखती और छुपा कर रख लेती...

Cont.

काली लड़कियां - (A -- Thread)

काली लड़कियों को किताबों में साँवली लिखा जाता ताकि वे कम काली महसूस हों, साँवली लड़कियों को गोरा बना दिया जाएगा, इस छलावे ने बाज़ार और रिश्तों में उन्हें ख़ूब ठगा ! साँवली लड़कियों को गोरा बना दिया जाएगा, इस छलावे ने बाज़ार और रिश्तों में उन्हें ख़ूब ठगा !

काली लड़कियाँ रिश्तेदारों की आँख में किर’किरी की तरह चुभतीं, उनके रंग का ताना कभी उनकी माँ सुनती, कभी सीधे ख़ुद पर उन्हें उसे झेलना होता।

Significance of Yajna (यज्ञ)
(A Thread)

Yajna (यज्ञ) is the holy offering to pray and please various deities which uses fire as the medium. Fire is one of the elements our body is composed of, so Yagya acts as a link between humans and God. Yagya/Havan should be performed by a qualified priest having good knowledge of Vedas. All the concerning Gods are first appeased with prayers and flowers and then a fire is lit in a Havan pot/Kund. After that continuous chanting of the verse or mantras is done by the Priest.

Who was Anarkali ?? - (A Thread)

For most of us, Anarkali was like Madhubala, as depicted in the epic film, Mughal-e-Azam.

In fact, Anarkali was first mentioned by an English traveller, William Finch, who visited India in 1608 – 11, during Jahangir’s reign. Another British traveller, Edward Terry, corroborated this story. However, she finds no mention in Abu Fazal’s Akbarnama or Jahangir's autobiography, Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri (Jahangirnama).

#Ramayana - (A Thread)

The story of Ramayana has been close to my heart since childhood, but watching it in childhood was quite different from seeing it again today. Then only the story could be remembered but the hidden meaning in the story could not be understood. This time we paid more attention to many events like Ma Sita to take every decision by herself independently, whether she goes with Sri Ram in exile or not to come back from Lanka with Hanuman, and then leaving Ayodhya for Sri Ram with her own will and consent.

A BEAUTIFUL Story.
Pls Do Read.

When he was 40, the renowned Bohemian writer FRANZ KAFKA (1883–1924), who never married & had no children, was strolling through Steglitz Park in Berlin, when he saw a young girl crying her eyes out because she had lost her favorite doll.

Cont. She and Kafka looked for the doll without success. Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would look again.

The next day, when they still had not found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter.

The Brooke Swan Car, 1910, Calcutta.
(A Thread)

The Swan Car was a work of art that was the creation of the wealthy Robert Nicholl Matthewson, who lived in Calcutta. It was built by JW Brooke & Co. in Lowestoft, England, to resemble a swan gliding through the water. Brooke made both cars and boats, so the Swan car combined both in one vehicle. Along with the swan head the artisans put lights in the eyes, a swan beak that opens wide to allow the driver to spray steam and clear the street ahead, and a valve in the back that releases whitewash.

The Story of India's First Metallic Postage Stamp
(A Thread)

It was in Jan 1774 India's 1st Gov. Gen., Warren Hastings began to make arrangements for the establishment of India's first Post Office Department. A Post Master General was appointed who took forward the plan ahead. During the administration of Warren Hastings (1774 - 1785) in India, the post office was placed on a better footing than before and steps were taken to make the post available to a limited extent of private communications as well.