The temple of Jvālāmukhī in Kangra has a very rich tradition. It brings together a Śakta Tantric lore, mythical birth of a Rājpūt king, Iranian Magis who assimilated into Hindu caste system, Tibetan Bön and Buddhist taming of "demons" and relegating of rival Gods to subservience. One of the origin myths about the Jvālāmukhī temple and the birth of Bhumi Chand, the progenitor of Katoch Rājpūt line of Kangra, recounts the war between Durgā and demon Jālandhara, the king was born from the blood & sweat of the Goddess and Rudra that fell on the battefield.

The price you pay for a global empire. All great empires undergo the same fate, the conquerors either blend in or get replaced from positions of power by the very people they won over.

https://twitter.com/lporiginalg/status/1722238343365460440

The Greek and Macedonian soldiers of Alexander the Great realized it when they were forcefully married to Persian noblewomen at Susa. The Rome which despised the Germanic barbarians came to be revived by the very same men, who now styled themselves as the new Romans.

Nyamat Khan or better known as Jan Kavi in his Qayamkhani Rasa, describing the exploits of his father Alif Khan mentions the battle of Kangra. As per Kavi, so fierce was the battle that ash-smeared bhagavan Shiva with his trident, skull bowl came to the battlefield and danced. Yoginis were seen drinking blood & eating the flesh of the slain warriors on the battlefield; a common Rajput war motif.
The Khan, though styled as a ghazi, a mujahid, reaches Amarapura (land of Immortal) after his shahadat, before he goes to Vaikuntha (abode of bhagavan Vishnu).

In what can be earliest nationalist criticism of Muslims for possessing dual loyalties; Akkanna, one of the Brahmin brothers who rose to power in the Qutbshahi Sultanate, bashes the Afaqi & Dakhani nobility of Golkonda for always seeking lands they consider Holy or their home. Akkanna's accusation came during his interview with a Dutch East India official, after the brothers found about the sultan and the Persian envoy's plan to help the rebellious prince Akbar, instigated by the Marwari Rajputs, with money and transportation to Iran.

Among the many regional variants of the Rāmāyaṇa, the Khotanese version is very interesting.

Maheśvara bestows on a Brāhmaṇa a jewel and a cow for all necessities of life, who then takes a wife and settles down. Many years later, the king Daśaratha, called Sahasrabāhu "the thousand-armed" here, on a hunt, carries off the wish-granting cow. Reduced to misery, the Brāhmaṇa with his son goes around begging, until one day the son makes his way to the mountains and performs austerities.

"Lance in hand, with faces grim as Death, the Rathores rushed upon their foes; they had taken leave of life by making their last oblations to the Gods..." (Sir Jadunath Sarkar)

Prince Akbar's reply to Aurangzeb, praising the actions of Durgadas & his men in Delhi: After Akbar was instigated by Durgadas into rebelling, Aurangzeb wrote to the prince rebuking him for his disobedience and urging him to come back from the "prison of the Rajputs, demons in human forms," who can't be trusted, invoking the example of Maharaja Jaswant Singh.

Seventeenth century Delhi had a drunk Armenian Jew going around naked along with his Sindhi disciple while composing poems mocking Islam, Judaism, Brahmins and sadhus. Sa'id Sarmad Kashani was born in an Armenian Jewish family around 1590 CE. As a young man he arrived at Thatta, Sindh for trade but was so impressed that he decided to stay. He took in a boy named Abhai Chand, whom he saw singing gazals, as his disciple (and probably lover).

Mobed Shah met some Nuqtavi exiles in India, an Iranian messianic sect who regarded their founder Mahmud Pasikhani as Mahdi and believed that time was divided into an Arab and a Persian epoch.

https://twitter.com/Indrauta_/status/1559859857129365505

Most of them were driven out of Iran after Shah Tahmasb started a crackdown on "ghuluww," the same kind of beliefs and revolutionary zeal which had brought his father Isma'il to the throne, while instituting a more orthodox & mainstream Imami Shi'ism as state religion.

Because of the richness of the Ganga plains

https://twitter.com/canceIedbimbo/status/1554724583445757952

Iraq turned into a Shi'i majority state after the Nawabs of Awadh constructed (and then maintained) the Hindiyya canal, turning the barren shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala into an agricultural land, enticing Sunni Arab tribesmen into settling down as Shi'i farmers.

The Barmakid viziers at the Abbasid court facilitated the introduction of Indian science & literature to the broader Islamic world. Yahya ibn Khalid even made a trip to India & on his return wrote an account of it, parts of which are preserved in Ibn al-Nadim's Kitāb al-Fihrist.

https://twitter.com/Indrauta_/status/1456537800115953672

With the execution of Ja'far ibn Yahya, the Barmakid influence on the Caliphate came to an end along with the possiblity of—as the author argues—the development of Islam in Indian cultural milieu, instead it turned westwards, solely engaging with the Hellenic tradition.

"...It was he alone who performed the Agnihotra daily and successfully organized the Aśvamedha, adoring the almight by suppressing the sins...manifest to all as the rising Sun—the only source of light in the sky. Protected by Lord Viṣṇu...he ruled like King Bhoja of the old." – Sūryamalla Miśra of Bundi.

The comparison with Bhoja is quite accurate. Both men had very similar lives.
Polymath geniuses. Their activities in field of science, religion suggesting they were men of leisure but actually lived during the most turbulent time of the century.

Till now I believed it's only from the Greeks we know of Porus, but turns out I was wrong. The political drama Mudrārākṣasa along with Jaina and Buddhist traditions preserve the memory of a certain king named Parvataka. The kingdom of Parvataka corresponds with that of Porus. The first three kingdoms wanting to share Malayaketu's lands suggests that they were his immediate neighbours.

(Kulūta is Kullu and Malayanagara refers to the territory of the Malaya/Mālava tribe).

Dewastich, the Zoroastrian ruler of Sogdiana died fighting the Arabs and became a symbol of resistance. But, his descendants were captured & converted, and they went on to become one of the most prominent aristocratic family in the Islamic world, serving Seljuqs, Ghaznavids, etc. Muhammad ibn Suri, the Buddhist ruler of Ghor, overcome with shame after his capture by the Ghaznavids, consumed poison. His son was converted and placed on throne. Some times later, the Ghorids would hunt down the latter till Lahore while furthering IsIamic conquests in India.

@bhAratenduH Sarvesh ji, why do you think an ordinary Rajput handle needs to defend those figures when he has men from Bhoja to Zorawar to talk about ?
Because the history of a pan-Indian community is reduced to that political arrangement, of which he is constantly reminded of, mocked.../1 @bhAratenduH While ignoring all glorious episodes. No Brahmins tries to defend the Allopanishad, why ? Cause hardly anyone attacks it in order to malign his ancestors contributions.
Disagreement over snippets and every Rajput is turned into "biggest enemy of H unity" by prominent handles../2