Why and how did the Mughal emperors employ the figure of Jesus Christ in their self-fashioning of a messianic ruler?

A thread. [1/n] In his pathbreaking work ‘The Millennial Sovereign’ historian A. Azfar Moin talks about how the Mughals were “obsessed” with Jesus. They adorned their palaces with paintings of Christ, and even named their queens Mary. [2/n]

On Jawaharlal Nehru’s Birth Anniversary, here’s a thread of all that we have carried on & around him. ⬇️ [1/n] While Nehru’s ‘Tryst With Destiny’ speech is well known, his ‘Purna Swaraj’ speech delivered at the 1929 Lahore Congress session is as significant.

Demanding complete independence for the first time, Nehru spoke to the mood of the nation. [2/n]

indianhistorycollective.com/8-75-8-speeche…

“Palestine belongs to the Arabs, in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French.” — Mahatma Gandhi.

How did leaders of the Indian Freedom movement view the call for a Jewish homeland or state in Palestine before Indian Independence? A thread. [1/n] “My sympathies are with the Jews, who have been the untouchables of Christianity. German persecution of the Jews seems to have no parallel in history, but it is wrong and inhumane to impose the Jews on Arabs,” wrote Gandhi in the 1938 issue of the ‘Harijan’, for example. [2/n]

Did a morsel of paan bring down the Vijayanagara empire?

At the Battle of Talikota (1565), the five Muslim Sultans of the Deccan teamed up to annihilate Vijayanagara.

While it is easy to write a history of this battle along religious lines the reality is far more complicated.

The early modern Deccan was a place of constantly shifting alliances.

For example, in 1543, Rama Raya, the ruler of Vijayanagara along with the Ahmadnagar Sultan had invaded Bijapur to wrest Kalyana.

But in 1558, the alliances changed. [2/n]

What did the revolutionary and later philosopher, Aurobindo and the architect of India’s Constitution, BR Ambedkar have in common?

Sayajirao III of Baroda.

A thread. 🧵👇 [1/n] “I have come to become King,” is how Sayajirao had introduced himself to his adoptive mother, the powerful dowager, Jamnabai, prior to his adoption and accession.

One of the most well known rulers of princely India, Sayajirao’s reign was marked by reforms and controversies. 2/n

Why and how is a Bahmani Sultan revered as a Pir and also as an incarnation of Allama Prabhu, one of the most celebrated mystic poet-saints of the Lingayayt Movement?

A thread on Ahmad Shah Bahmani. [1/n] 👇 Ahmad Shah Bahmani was the sixth Bhamani Sultan, who ruled from 1422 to 1436 and is known for having shifted the Bahmani capital to Bidar. However, today in the Deccan, he is remembered almost as a saint, revered both by Muslims and non-Muslims. [2/n]

Who were the earliest Christians of the Indian subcontinent?

While it may come off as a surprise to most, the history of Christianity in the Indian subcontinent is much older than the subcontinent’s contact with the Portuguese and British merchants & missionaries. A 🧵 [1/n] In fact, Christianity in India, according to Leonardo Fernando & G. Gispert-Sauch is “likely to have been established much before it was established in many European countries.” The faith reached the subcontinent not long after Jesus of Nazareth's death. [2/n]

In 1928, Bhagat Singh wrote an article in the journal Kirti comparing the ideologies of two of his contemporaries - Jawaharlal #Nehru & Subhas Chandra #Bose.

Bose and Singh were revolutionaries, yet what Singh says of Bose in this article might surprise today's reader. A thread. Both Bose & Bhagat Singh were known for their extremist viewpoints in their anti-colonial stance. In sharp contrast with the philosophies of Nehru, whose idea of revolution was “non-violent”.

This article by Singh, however, gives us a glimpse into a different strand of thought.

#HappyTeachersDay2020 Today is marked to coincide with the birth anniversary of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former Vice President and President of India, born in 1888. But besides these facts, many don't know of what his greatest contribution was. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was one of India's most distinguished scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, holding various eminent positions in the universities of Mysore, Calcutta, Chicago and Oxford (he was the first Indian to hold a professorial chair in the last).

Today is the 145th birth anniversary of Edward James Corbett, known as Jim Corbett, popular in public memory as a hunter of man-eaters, and writer, but whose legacy has endured because of his concerns for conservation and the environment as much as his tales of adventure. Many of Corbett's books are available online:

amazon.in/Books-JIM-CORB…

But we recommend for you to read, today, this essay by Jesse Oak Taylor:

*Environmentalism and Imperial Manhood in Jim Corbett's 'The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag'*

jstor.org/stable/4403039…

Today is Field Marshall K. M. Cariappa's death anniversary. He was the first Commander in Chief of the Indian Army and is only one of the 2 army officers to have held the five star rank of Field Marshall (the other being Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw). Stories abound about his atrocious Hindi and the speeches he delivered in it.

In 1947 he has believed to have said -

"50 Para Brigade ke officeran, Sardaran, Jawanan. Is waqt mulk muft, ap muft, hum muft hain. Apka Brigade Commander Saheb bola kih ap age jana mangta. ++