Sami Ullah Malik

One of the major strategies used by the British imperialism over prolonged colonization and subjugation of India was to distort the history of the Muslim rulers. Not accidental but a deliberate policy towards malicious trend-making of the enriched Islamic principles of civility and fair governance to all.  To challenge the mediocrity of the British historical deception, Romila Thaper (History of India, 1966), a Civil Service Officer offers a unique insight to truth digging on some of the contending issues of known history. Ramila Thaper is no stranger to Indian history record but a credible scholar with MA and Doctorate from University of London. She got the distinction by refusing to accept the 2005 ‘Pudman Boshan Award’ to maintain her integrity as a scholar without undermining her academic freedom and honor. Undoubtedly, she earned the distinction for contributing another marvelous historic contribution:  Somantha: The Many Voices of History. Ramila Thaper asserts how the British constructed follies to discord history of Mahmoud Ghaznavi at Somanath by destroying the Hindu Temple and looting the treasure of religious relics from India onward to Ghazani.  The historic treachery was manufactured by the British Parliament in 1843 and called “The Proclamation of Gates” The then Governor Lord Ellen Brough alleged that Mahmoud Ghaznavi had stolen precious sandal doors from the temple which he destroyed and should be returned to India. What made this conspicuous folly expose the truth when the British attacked Afghanistan and brought the so called stolen Sandal doors back to India, they had original Arabic inscription of Al-Quran written on them and nothing would correspond to the allegation of the British conspirators. The doors could still be seen at the Agra Fort. 

M. Munshi of Gujrat State’s Extreme Hinduism wanted to rewrite the mishap to incite religious hatred against the Muslims and making of the history. It was alleged that Mehmood Gaznawit Mahmoud Ghaznavi was “Bhut Shaken’- anti- Hindu philosophy and must be challenged by the Hindu group to reassert the overwhelmingly Hindu supremacy over history-making. The fault lines were clearly a deliberate evolution of the British Raj in India.  Ramila Thaper has in-depth vision of the study of  Jain-Sinskart and when she uncovered the non-existence of a Hindu Temple at Somanath, she could not resist to question the validity of historic judgment that Mahmoud Ghanazvi had attacked the Temple and destroyed it which was not true at all. There were Hindus and Muslim merchants residing at Somantah and many Muslims had contributed to protect the religious places of worships at Somanath. There is no mention in Jain or Sinskart that Hindu Temple was dismantled by Ghanzavi. 

History is recorded by those who live in that age and time. Yet, British authors orchestrated what was clearly unknown to them. In 1872, two English writer HM Elliot and John Dawson (History of India as Told by its own Historians) perpetuated the sectarian discord amongst Hindus and Muslims as they knew that Indian people are emotional and often react to religiously-over toned issues with emotional outbursts leading to communal rioting and bloodbaths. Such a situation could favor the British colonial polices and practices to manage the social and political affairs of India in more comfortable outcomes. Like the self- geared episode of Somanath, British claimed the 2nd Caliph Omar of Islam had destroyed the Library at Alexandria- Egypt. None of this was true historic statements.  These planned historic paradoxes were the limelight of British political maneuverability and concealed deceptions to divide and rule the people of the East and to continue to strengthen the foundation of British imperialism on moving sand.