Ratchkapur

One of the five observatories of India built by Sawai Jai Singh, the leading astronomer of his times and the founder of Jaipur, Jantar Mantar of Jaipur is one of the largest and the best preserved. The collection of giant masonry astronomical instruments continues to provide accurate information even today and is comparable with the most sophisticated instruments of today. The Brihat Samrat Yantra Sundia is said to be the most imposing of all instruments and is 27 m high. It helps in the calculation of local time as its shadow moves up to 4 m in an hour. It also helps in ascertaining the various attributes of the heavenly bodies and is definitely the highlight and center of attraction of the observatory. «Jantar-Mantar» in Sanskrit means, «Magical Device». It was built between 1728 and 1734 based on the blueprints drafted by Maharaja Jai Singh.
Though Jaipur is based on Shilpa Shastra, the only deviation was that the holy area reserved by the Indian architectural treatise for the temple, was used by Jai Singh to make Jantar Mantar, his observatory, which showcases both the scientific and religious aspects of the genius king. The stone observation devices built here are of enormous dimensions and are unique for their precision, size and architectural perfection. Jai Singh founded Jai Praksh Yantra, which is set in the ground. A masterpiece in itself, it is one marble hemisphere about 4 m in diameter. It helps to ascertain the exact position of the sun on the coordinate lines, and hence the time. It lies in the centre of Jantar Mantar. There are 14 gnomes or shadow indicators in Jantar Mantar that are actually sundials and each have different functions attributed to them based on similar principles.

Vedic Culture
Vedic civilization is the earliest civilization in Indian history of which we have written records that we understand. It is named after the Vedas, the early literature of the Hindu people. The Vedic Civilization flourished along the river Saraswati, in a region that now consists of the modern Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. The Vedic texts have astronomical dates, that some have claimed, go back to the 5–th millennium BC. The use of Vedic Sanskrit continued up to the 6th century BC. Vedic is synonymous with Aryans and Hinduism, which is another name for religious and spiritual thought that has evolved from the Vedas.
The early Aryans: Unfortunately, the origin of the Saraswati Valley civilization (Vedic culture) and its relation to the Indus Valley civilization remain hazy. The timeline of Vedic civilization is 4500 BC–1800 BC while that of Indus valley civilization is 3300 BC–1800 BC. The texts describe a geography that some believe to be north India. The greatest river of the Rigveda was Saraswati, now dry and identified with Ghaggar, a seasonal river. It is believed that this river ceased to reach the Arabian Sea by about 1900 BC. Now, a dry river bed, that seems to fit the description of the Saraswati River, has been detected by satellite imagery. It begins in the modern Indian state of Uttaranchal and passing through Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan, reaches the Arabian Sea in Gujarat. Our knowledge of the early Aryans comes from the Rigveda, the earliest of the Vedas.
Political organization: The grama (village), vis and jana were political units of the early Aryans. A vis was probably a subdivision of a jana and a grama was probably a smaller unit than the other two. The leader of a grama was called gramani and that of a vis was called vispati. Another unit was the gana whose head was a jyeshta (elder). The rashtra (state) was governed by a rajan (king). The king is often referred to as gopa (protector) and samrat (supreme ruler). He governed the people with their consent and approval. It is possible that he was sometimes elected. The sabha and samiti were popular councils. The main duty of the king was to protect the tribe. He was aided by two functionaries, the purohita (chaplain) and the senani (army chief; sena: army). The former not only gave advice to the ruler but also practiced spells and charms for success in war. Soldiers on foot (patti) and on chariots (rathins), armed with bow and arrow were common. The king employed spasa (spies) and dutas (messengers). He often got a ceremonial gift, bali, from the people.
Society and economy: Rig Vedic society was characterized by a nomadic lifestyle with cattle rearing being the chief occupation. The Aryans kept hordes of cattle and cows were held in high esteem. Milk was an important part of the diet. Agriculture was equally important and went hand in hand with cattle rearing. It grew more prominent with time as the community settled down. The cow was also the standard unit of barter; coins were not used in this period. Families were patrilineal, and people prayed for abundance of sons. Education of women was not neglected, and some even composed Rig Vedic hymns. Marriage for love as well as for money was known. The concept of caste and hereditary nature of profession was unknown to the early Aryans. The food of the early Aryans consisted of parched grain and cakes, milk and milk products, and fruits and vegetables. Consumption of meat was common. A passage in the Rig Veda describes how to apportion the meat of a sacrificed horse. It must be borne in mind that vegetarianism took firm root in India only after the rise of Buddhism in the sixth century BC.

Literature and Religion
Vedic or Hindu literature consists primarily of the Vedas; but also includes Shruti and various Smriti texts. The Vedic rites were meant to help the participant transform; this was primarily accomplished via sacrifices (such as the agnihotra).
Astronomical references in the Vedas help provide some broad approximations that help date the beginning of the tradition. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the seasons shift with relation to the fixed zodiac at a rate of about a month every two thousand years. Some Vedic notices mark the beginning of the year at the vernal equinox in Orion; this was the case around 4500 BC.
The rishis saw the universe as going through unceasing change in a cycle of birth and death, free and yet, paradoxically, governed by order. This order was reflected in the bandhu (connections) between the planets, the elements of the body, and the mind. At the deepest level, the whole universe was bound to, and reflected in, the individual consciousness.
The place of sacrifice represents the cosmos. The three fires used stand for the three divisions of space. The course of the sacrifice represents the year, and all such ritual forms part of continuing annual performances. The rite culminates in the ritual rebirth of the yajamana (sacrificer), which signifies the regeneration of his universe. It is sacred theatre, built upon paradoxes of reality, where symbolic deaths of animals and humans, including the yajamana himself, may be enacted.
The Vedic gods represent the cognitive centers of the self. Vedic science is the science of consciousness. These have evolved into the Hindu paths of Yoga and Vedanta, which is a religious path that is the 'essence' of the Vedas.
The Vedic pantheon is considered to consist of thirty–three different gods, which are placed, in groups of eleven, into one of the three different categories: atmospheric, terrestrial, or celestial, each of which has its own area of responsibility. But just because a god is in one category does not mean that it is completely different from a god from another category; for sometimes a god from one category will have some of the same qualities of a god from another category. This is because the Vedic system is recursive. It has developed into a broader group but it is also seen in Vedic philosophy that they are manifestations of one divine ground known as Brahman. This thought of unity is expressed severally in Vedic texts.
The categories of the gods are: 1) Agni, terrestrial; 2) Indra, atmospheric; and 3) Surya or Vishnu, celestial that mirrors the body, prana, and atman division of the individual. Since one aspires to reach the inner being through the prana (atmosphere), many Vedic hymns extol Indra.
The Vedic or Hindu religion presents a unitary view of the universe with God seen as immanent and transcendent in the forms of Ishvara and Brahman, respectively. Brahman is projected into various deities in the human mind. The main deities were Indra, Varuna, Surya (the Sun), Mitra, Vayu, Agni and Soma. Goddesses included Prithvi, Aditi, Ushas and Saraswati. Deities were not viewed as all–powerful. The relationship between the devotee and the deity was one of transaction. Each deity had a specific role; at any given point, a particular deity was considered superior to the others.
The mode of worship was performance of sacrifices and chanting of verses. The priests helped the common man in performing rituals. People prayed for abundance of children, cattle and wealth.
Later Vedic period: The transition from the early to the later Vedic period was marked by the emergence of agriculture as the dominant economic activity and a corresponding decline in the significance of cattle rearing. Several changes went hand in hand with this. For instance, several large kingdoms arose because of the increasing importance of land and its protection.
Kingdoms: Several small kingdoms merged to form a few large ones which were often at war with each other. 16 mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) are referred to in some of the literature. By this time the Aryan tribes had spread from their original home in the west to much of the east and the south. The power of the king greatly increased. Rulers gave themselves titles like ekarat (the one ruler), sarvabhumi (ruler of all the earth) and chakravartin (protector of land). Note that in early Vedic times he was called gopa, protector of cows. The kings performed sacrifices like rajasuya, (royal consecration) vajapeya (drink of strength) and ashvamedha (horse sacrifice). The coronation ceremony was a major social occasion. Several functionaries came into being in addition to the purohita and the senani of earlier times. The participation of the people in the activities of the government decreased.
Society: The concept of varna and the rules of marriage became rigid, but not yet watertight. The status of the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas increased greatly. To legitimize their position and the increase their power, the Brahmanas proliferated a large number of sacrifices, developed extreme specialization, and also restricted social mobility. The proper enunciation of verses was considered essential for prosperity and success in war. Kshatriyas amassed wealth, and commissioned the performance of sacrifices. Many rituals emerged to strengthen the alliance between these two groups. But the varna system in India has remained fluid.

Mahabharat
History of Haryana - Mahabharat War, 900 BC approximately
Mahabharat, (or Mahabharata as it is known in English), is the longest poem in the world, made up of 220,000 lines divided into 18 sections. It was written in Sanskrit, the ancient sacred language of India and it tells the story of a great battle that occurred about 3000 years back. It was on the banks of river Saraswati that saint Ved Vyas wrote Mahabharat, approximately in 900 BC. Lord Krishna preached «Bhagvad Gita», the gospel of duty, to Arjun at the on set of the great battle of Mahabharat. Since then, this profound philosophy of the supremacy of duty has became the foundation of Hinduism, Indian culture and thought. The Mahabharat knows Haryana as «Bahudhhanyaka» – The land of plentiful grains, and «Bahudhana» – The land of immense riches.
Dhritarashter and Pandu were born to Bhisham's brothers. Dhritarashter was born blind and though the elder, he had to forfeit his claim to the throne due to this physical defect. Pandu became king. Of the two brothers Dhritarashter married Gandhari, whereas Pandu, the younger had two wives, Kunti and Madri. Gandhari was so devoted to her husband that she bandaged her eyes, not to enjoy anything that she could not share with her royal husband, and thus remained voluntarily blind for life. She became the mother of the Kouravs, 100 in total, whereas Kunti got three sons and Madri two.
One day while hunting, Pandu accidentally killed the wife of a sage, who got enraged and cursed Pandu that if ever he had intercourse with a woman, he would die instantly. Pandu renounced his crown to become a hermit and went to the jungle with his two wives, Kunti and Madri. But one day, Pandu couldn't resist himself and had intercourse with Madri and thus died. Madri immolated herself and walked into her husband's funeral fire leaving behind her two sons Nakul and Sahadev in custody of Kunti who already had three sons Yudhishthir, Bheem and Arjun. On Pandu's death Dhritarashter became the king and the five sons of Pandu, known as the Pandavs grew up in the guardianship of Kunti. The five Pandav princes were educated along with Kourav boys under the supervision of Bhisham and the patronage of Dhritarashter. Drone, though a Brahmin was a very skilful and efficient teacher, who taught them the art of archery and the various techniques of warfare.
Yudhishthir, the eldest of the Pandavs, was so righteous that he gained the name Dharamputr. Bheem was a giant in physical strength. Arjun was handsome and the most skilful archer. Dharamputr was the beloved of the people and being the eldest among the 105 princes, was naturally, and by his right too, the heir to the throne. Duryodhan, the eldest of the Kouravs, however was jealous of the Pandavs and tried every means to destroy them. When Yudhishthir was proclaimed king, Duryodhan could not sit quiet and watch. Dhritarashter loved all the 105 princes alike, and there was no partiality in his mind between his own sons and the nephews, the Pandavs. The great blind royal father, came under the bad influence of Duryodhan and, though directly not an evil–doer, was in sympathy with his son's disappointments and sorrows.
Duryodhan's plan to kill the Pandavs cunningly giving poison to Bheem, burning down the lac–house etc., failed miserably. Bheem was strong enough to digest the poison. The Pandavs were warned in time by their uncle Vidur and so in the darkness of the night the five brothers along with their mother escaped into the jungle from the burning lac–house. After their miraculous escape from the lac–house, they did not return to the palace. They roamed about in the guise of Brahmins with their mother. Every one including the Kouravs believed them to be dead.
During that time, they heard of the Swayamvara of Droupadi. The qualification to marry her lay in the extraordinary skill of archery in hitting a moving target. Arjun easily won. Everybody congratulated the winner, and discovered that it was Arjun. Thus the Pandavs were found out, He took his bride to their hut and called to his mother to come outside and see what he had brought. Instead of doing so, she answered back «My dear children, whatever it be, you share it among yourselves». Therefore, Droupadi became the common wife of all the five Pandavs. Krishna, who was also present, at the marriage ceremony became a great friend of the Pandavs from then onwards. On Bhisham's advice, the kingdom was divided into two parts. Naturally the better half was taken away by the Kouravs. Still, the others built a wonderful city in their own half and called it Indraprastha. Duryodhan watching the increasing prosperity of the Pandavs and could contain himself no longer. He openly challenged Dharamputr for a game of dice, Sakuni, deceit in human form, was the uncle of the Kouravs. He played for them. Inevitably Dharamputr lost everything - his kingdom, his brothers and also his wife.
Not satisfied with this gain, Duryodhan tried to insult Droupadi in public. By Lord Krishna's grace, nothing disastrous happened. Dhritarashter, fearing that this might bring unforeseen calamities begged Droupadi to take whatever she wanted. She asked for the freedom of her husbands. It was granted. Dhritarashter due to his excessive love for the eldest son was blind to what is right and what is wrong. So again Duryodhan invited Dharamputr for another game of dice, and the bet was that the losers would live in the forest for 13 years without any claim to the kingdom, the last year however to be spent incognito. But if in the thirteenth year, they were detected, again a round of 13 years' exile; and this would go on forever.
Dharamputr lost again. During the twelve years in the forests, the Pandavs visited many holy places. They had many interesting adventures at this time. One of them led to Hanuman's friendship and grace. Arjun is called Kapidhvaja as he keeps on his flag the emblem of Hanuman. Krishna visited them now and then. Arjun, at the advice of Vyasa, practiced penance, propitiated Siva and got from Him the mighty weapon, the Pasupatastra. He propitiated also the other gods lndra, Agni, Varuna and others and got from all of them very powerful weapons. Thus the twelve years were not wasted but spent in securing the divine weapons, which would become useful later on.
In the 13-th year, hiding all their weapons in the hollow of a tree in a burial ground, all the Pandavs with Droupadi went to the palace of the king of the Viratas and stayed there as servants. Duryodhan was making frantic efforts to discover them. When he heard about the strange murder of Kichaka the brother–in–law of the king, he concluded that the Pandavs must be in the Virata country. So the Kouravs attacked the Viratas, with apparent purpose of carrying away its cattle–wealth. Of course the Pandavs took part in the battle, but when they were recognized as Pandavs the time limit of thirteen years had already passed.
Dharamputr was fond of peace, and was ever against any quarrel, much less war. So he sent Krishna as a messenger to Hastinapura to claim his kingdom back from Duryodhan. But Duryodhan had by this time come to regard Indraprastha as his own. He not only refused to give their kingdom back, but refused to give even 5 houses for the five brothers to live! War had to be declared. This is the great war fought at Kurukshetra to decide the right of claim. The hundred Kouravs, Bhisham, Drone, Asvathama, etc., were on one side and the Pandavs, Krishna, Drupada, etc., were on the other. Krishna did not actually fight. He was the charioteer of Arjun and hence He is called Parthasarathy. Krishna was very impartial. He gave his army to the Kouravs and himself offered to serve the Pandavs. The Kourav and the Pandav armies arrayed themselves for the war. The Kouravs planned their attacks under the supervision of Bhisham, and under Bheem's management the Pandava army marched into formation. This is the point at which Arjun has second thoughts about fighting in the battle. Krishna gives Arjun good advise that brings back his war-spirit. This advice is known as: The Bhagvad–Gita.
All the Kourav princes died in this battle, and Yudhishthir became king. He continued to reign until he felt that he had completed his life's work. Then he renounced the throne and set out for heaven with the other Pandavs and their wife, Droupadi. With them also went a dog which represented Dharma, the god of duty and moral law. After more adventures, the Pandavs were finally united in heaven.
This story, which forms the main theme of the Mahabharat, makes up only about a quarter of the poem. The Mahabharat contains many other popular stories, including the tales of Nala and Damayanti, Savitri and Satyawan, Rama, and Shakuntala. The battle of Kurukshetra offers an opportunity to discuss military strategy, there is also a mention of a board game Chaturanga, from which the modern day Chess originated. But the underlying theme of the Mahabharat concerns moral duty and right conduct. The long and complex dispute that divides the royal family of Bharat affords an opportunity to explain the duties and conduct expected of a king. It also shows the ideals of behavior for subjects, soldiers, religious hermits, and people suffering misfortune.
Sage Ved Vyasa is traditionally regarded as the author of the Mahabharat, but he is more likely to have been its compiler. The epic seems to be a collection of writings by several authors who lived at various times. The oldest parts are probably about 3,000 years old, while others can be traced to as late as AD 500. The importance of Krishna as the main god of this epic developed in Hindu thought between 200 BC and AD 200. As a result, the Mahabharat can be used to trace the spread and development of Vaishnavite thought in Hinduism. The god Vishnu became a very personal deity for his worshippers through his appearance as Krishna, the adviser and friend of Prince Arjun in the Mahabharat. About 1,300 greatly varying manuscripts of the Mahabharat survive today. All of them show the poem in its later form because the earliest of them goes back only to the 1400's.
The most famous addition to the Mahabharat is the Bhagvad–Gita. It occurs in the sixth book and is now the most widely recognized of Hinduism's sacred texts. The Bhagavad Gita tells how Arjun, the third of the Pandav princes, has misgivings about whether he should be fighting his cousins, the Kouravs. Krishna, speaking with the authority of the god Vishnu, persuades him that his action is just, and then Arjun's military skill becomes a deciding factor in the ensuing Pandav victory. The teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita are fundamental to Hinduism.

Harshvardhan
History of Haryana – Harshvardhan (606–647 AD)
After the downfall of the Gupta Empire in the middle of the sixth century AD, North India was again split into several independent kingdoms. The Huns established their supremacy over the Punjab and certain other parts of Central India. The northern and western regions of India passed into the hands of a dozen or more feudatories. Gradually, one of them, Prabhakar Vardhana, the ruler of Thanesar, who belonged to the Pushabhukti family, extended his control over all other feudatories.
Prabhakar Vardhan was the first king of the Vardhan dynasty with his capital at Thanesar now a small town in the vicinity of Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana nearly 150 km. from Delhi. After his death in A.D. 606, his eldest son, RajyaVardhan, ascended the throne. He was killed in a battle which he won against Devagupta who had killed Grahavarman, the husband of his sister Rajyashri and usurped the throne of Kannauj.
Harsha ascended the throne at the age of 16. Though quite a young man, he proved himself a great conqueror and an able administrator. After his accession, Harsha first rescued his sister just as she was going to commit Sati. At the request of his sister, he united the two kingdoms of Thanesar (Kurukshetra) and Kannauj and transferred his capital from Thanesar to Kannauj. Harsha waged many wars. he defeated Sasank of Bengal. He also brought the five Indies i.e. Eastern Panjab (present day Haryana), Kannauj, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa under his control. He conquered Dhruvasena of Gujarat. He also conquered Ganjam, a part of the modern Orissa State.
His empire included territories of distant feudal kings too. Harsha governed his empire on the same lines a the Guptas. The kings he conquered paid him revenue and sent soldiers when he was fighting war. They accepted his sovereignty, but remained rulers over their own kingdoms. Harsha's ambition of extending his power to the Deccan and southern India were stopped by Pulakesin II, the Chalukya king of Vatapi in northern Mysore.
His reign is comparatively well–documented, thanks to his court poet Bana and Hieun Tsang. Bana composed an account of Harsha's rise to power in «Harshacharita». Hieun Tsang was a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who came to India during this time to collect Buddhist literature and to visit places connected with Buddhism. He wrote a full description of his journey in his book «SI–YU–KI». Harsha died in the year 647 AD. He ruled over India for 41 years. He was the last empire builder of ancient India. Harsha supported the development of philosophy and literature and wrote three well–known plays – Nagananda, Ratnavali and Priyadarsika.
After Harsha's death, apparently without any heirs, his empire died with him. The kingdom disintegrated rapidly into small states. The succeeding period is very obscure and badly documented, but it marks the culmination of a process which had begun with the invasion of the Hunas in the last years of the Gupta empire. Meanwhile, the kingdoms of the Deccan and the south became powerful.

«There is a region called Haryana which is like a heaven on earth» – Vikrami Samwat, 1385
Haryana became a state of India on November 1, 1966. The present day Haryana is the region where, along the banks of the River Saraswati, the Vedic Civilization began and matured. It was here that the Vedas were written, as the Aryans chanted their sacred Mantras. Replete with myths and legends, Haryana's 5000 year old history is steeped in glory. It was here that Lord Krishna preached Bhagvad–Gita at the start of the battle of Mahabharat. It was on this soil that saint Ved Vyas wrote Mahabharat in Sanskrit. Before the Mahabharat war, a battle of ten kings took place in the Kurukshetra region in the Saraswati valley. But it was the Mahabharat War, approximately in 900 BC, which gave to the region worldwide fame. Mahabharat knows Haryana as Bahudhhanyaka, land of plentiful grains and Bahudhana, the land of immense riches. The word Hariana, occurs in a 1328 AD Sanskrit inscription kept in the Delhi Museum, which refers to the Haryana region as The heaven on earth.
Excavations of various archeological sites in Haryana, like Naurangabad and Mittathal in Bhiwani, Kunal in Fatehbad, Agroha near Hissar, Rakhi Garhi (Rakhigarhi) in Jind, Sites in Rukhi (Rohtak) and Banawali in Sirsa have evidence of pre–Harappan and Harappan culture. Findings of pottery, sculpture and jewellery in sites at Pehowa, Kurukshetra, Tilpat and Panipat have proved the historicity of the Mahabharat war. These places are mentioned in the Mahabharat as Prithudaka (Pehowa), Tilprastha (Tilput), Panprastha (Panipat) and Sonprastha (Sonipat.
Haryana has been the scene of many wars because of it being «The Gateway of North India». As years rolled by, successive streams of Huns, Turks and the Afghans invaded India and decisive battles were fought on this land. After the downfall of the Gupta empire in the middle of 6th century AD north India was again split into several kingdoms. The Huns established their supremacy over the Punjab. It was after this period that one of the greatest King of ancient India, Harshvardhan began his rule. He became the King of Thanesar (Kurukshetra) in 606 AD, and later went on to rule the most of north India. In the 14-th century, the Tomar kings led an army through this region to Delhi.
Later the Mughal, Babur, defeated the Lodhis in the first battle of Panipat in the year 1526. Another decisive battle was fought in Panipat in 1556, establishing the reign of the Mughals for centuries to come. Taking advantage of Humayun's death, Hemu had marched to Agra and Delhi and occupied it without difficulty. In response, Bairam Khan (Akbar's guardian) marched towards Delhi. Both the armies clashed in the second battle of Panipat. Hemu was in a winning position when a stray arrow struck him in the eye. He fell unconscious causing panic among his troops. The tide of the battle turned and the Mughals won the battle. Towards the middle of the 18th century, the Marathas had control over Haryana. The intrusion of Ahmed Shah Durrani in India, culminated in the third battle of Panipat in 1761. Marathas' defeat in this battle marked the end of their ascendancy and the decline of the Mughal Empire, leading to the advent of the British rule.
In 1857, the people of Haryana joined the Indian leaders in the 1857 Revolt against the British Government. By the end of June, 1857, most of the present Haryana region was liberated from the British. But the British managed to put down the rebellion in November, 1857 by bringing in additional forces from outside the area.
Indian history is replete with tales of heroism of the highest order and in this context, the historic significance of the battles of Panipat and Kurukshetra in Haryana cannot be ignored by any means. The sacrifices of Haryana's brave soldiers have played a very important role in maintaining the territorial and sovereign integrity of our nation. The new state which emerged as a separate political entity of the Indian Union on November 1, 1966, is considered to be the cradle of rich Indian cultural heritage. In terms of economic development too, Haryana has come a long way during the few past years.

History of Haryana – First Battle of Panipat (1526 AD)

The first Battle of Panipat gave a death blow to the Lodhi empire and marked the end of the Delhi Sultanate's rule in India. It led to the establishment of the Mughal Empire in India. Mongol prince Zahir–ud–Din Muhammad, known as Babur, had promised to help Daulat Khan Lodhi, Governor of Lahore, to fight the Sultan of Delhi Ibrahim Lodhi in 1523 and made many raids into Punjab. Babur, after occupying the whole of Panjab by 1525 AD, marched towards Delhi. In November 1525 he set out to meet the Sultan of Delhi. Passage of Indus took place on 15th December. Babur had about 12,000 soldiers. Crossing Sutluj at Roper and reached Ambala without meeting any resistance. On April 1st Babur reached Panipat. It was barren wasteland dry and naked with few thorny bushes. Rumors came that Sultan was coming with an army of 100,000 and 1000 war elephants. The Afghan Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodhi advanced from Delhi to meet the invader. Babur had a strong artillery which was effectively pressed into service.
The battle started at six in the morning. Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi advanced rapidly . At about 400 yards Babur's Cannons opened fire, noise and smoke from the artillery terrified the Afghans and the attack lost momentum. Seizing the movement Babur sent out his flanking columns to envelop the Sultan's army. Here the Afghans met for the first time the real weapon of Mongols «Turko-Mongol Bow». Its superiority lay in the fact that it was the weapon of the nobles, of the finest warriors. Such a bow in the hands of a Mongol warrior would shoot three times as rapidly as musket and could kill at 200 yards.
Attacked from 3 sides the Afghans jammed into each other. Elephants hearing noise of cannon at close range ran wildly out of control. Ibrahim Lodhi and about 6000 of his troops were involved in actual fighting. Most of his army stretching behind up to a mile never saw action. Battle ended in about 3 hours with the death of Ibrahim Lodhi who was at forefront.
And in place where fighting had been the fiercest, among the heap of Mongols slain of his sword, lay the vain but courageous Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi. His head was cut off and taken to Babur. Ibrahim Lodhi's tomb is still present in Panipat. When afghans fled they left 20,000 dead and wounded. Losses to Babur's army were heavy 4000 of his troops were killed or wounded. Had Sultan Ibrahim survived another hour of fighting he would have won, as Babur had no reserves and his troops were rapidly tiring in Indian mid-day sun. Babur observes in his autobiography, «The mighty army of Delhi was laid in the dust in the course of half a day». In the words of Rushbrook Williams, «If there was one single material factor, which more than any other conduced to his ultimate triumph in Hindustan, it was his powerful artillery». The elephants trampled their own soldiers after being frightened away by the explosion of gunpowder.
Two weeks later the victorious Babur entered Agra where he was presented with the famous diamond «Koh–i–noor». Babur celebrated his victory in a lavish manner and occupied Delhi and Agra.

Second Battle of Panipat (1556 AD)

On 24–th January 1556 AD Mughal ruler Humayun slipped while climbing down the steps of his library and fell to his death. His son Akbar was only thirteen years old when he ascended the throne. At the time of Akbar's accession to the throne, the Mughal rule was confined to Kabul, Kandhahar, and parts of Punjab and Delhi. Akbar was then campaigning in Punjab with his chief minister Bairam Khan. On February 14, 1556, in a garden at Kalanaur, Akbar was enthroned as emperor. Hemu (Hemchandra) was a military chief of the Afghan King Muhammad Adil Shah who had established himself at Chunar and was seeking to expel the Mughals from India. Taking advantage of Humayun's death, Hemu marched to Agra and Delhi in October and occupied it without difficulty, and became the ruler under the title 'Raja Vikramaditya'.
To counter this, Bairam Khan (Akbar's guardian) marched towards Delhi. On November 5 both the armies met at Panipat. Hemu with a large army including 1,500 war elephants had initial success. There was a pitched battle and Hemu was on a winning spree when a stray arrow struck him in the eye. He fell unconscious. As in many other battles, the loss of the leader caused panic among the troops and turned the tide of the battle. The Mughals won the battle. Shah Quli Khan captured the Hawai elephant with its prize occupant, and took it directly to Akbar. Hemu was brought unconscious before Bairam and Akbar. Bairam pleaded Akbar to perform the holy duty of slaying the infidel and earn the Islamic holy title of 'Ghazi'. Among much self–congratulation Akbar then severed the head of unconscious Hemu with his saber.
Some historians claim that Akbar did not kill Hemu himself, but just touched the infidel's head with his sword and his associates finished the gory «holy» work. After the battle Hemu's head was sent to Kabul as a sign of victory to the ladies of Humayun's harem, and Hemu's torso was sent to Delhi for exposure on a gibbet. Iskandar Khan chased the Hemu's fleeing army and captured 1500 elephants and a large contingent. Hemu's wife escaped from Delhi with the treasure and Pir Mohammad Khan's troops chased her caravan without success. There was a great slaughter of those who were captured and in keeping with the custom of his ancestors, Akbar had a victory pillar built with their heads. This battle, known as Second Battle of Panipat was an epoch–making event in the history of India as it resulted in re–establishment of the Mughal empire in India.

History of Haryana – Battle of Karnal 1739 AD

February 24, 1739, battle between the forces of Nadir Shah, an Iranian adventurer, and Muhammad Shah, the Mughal emperor, at Karnal, 125 km north of Delhi; the Mughals suffered a decisive defeat. Nadir led about 55,000 troops, and Muhammad 15,000, but both sides, especially the Indian, had large numbers of noncombatants. Nadir Shah had become the ruler of Persia by deposing the King in 1732.
Nadir began his invasion in 1738 AD by pursuing fugitives from Kandhahar to Mughal-held Kabul (both now in Afghanistan). The alleged violation of promises by Muhammad Shah, and the ill–treatment of his envoys by the Delhi court, served as the alleged cause for his invasion. Divided counsels prevented a Mughal stand until Nadir reached Karnal. Jealousy and rashness led to the Indian defeat, and the emperor was besieged in his entrenched camp. Nadir marched to Delhi and massacred its inhabitants on March 11. He left Delhi on May 5 with plunder, including the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan and the Koh–i–noor diamond. The Mughal Empire never recovered from this blow to its prestige.

History of Haryana – The third battle of Panipat (1761)

Towards the middle of the 18–th century, Marathas, under the leadership of the Peshwas had established their sway over Haryana and most of North India. The intrusion of the Afghan, Ahmed Shah Abdali into India, culminated in the third battle of Panipat on 14 January 1761. Ahmad Shah defeated the Marathas and this marked the end of the Maratha ascendancy. The defeat of the Marathas, rapid decline of the Mughal empire after Aurangzeb's death, leading ultimately to the advent of the British rule.
The main reason for the failure of Marathas were the lack of allies. Though their infantry was based on European style contingent, they failed to woo allies in North India. Their earlier behavior and their political ambitions which led them to loot and plunder, had antagonized all the powers. They had interfered in the internal affairs of the Rajputana states (present day Rajasthan) and levied heavy taxes and huge fines on them. They had also made huge territorial and monetary claims upon Awadh. Their raids in the Sikh territory had angered the Sikh chiefs. Similarly the Jat chiefs, on whom also they had imposed heavy fines, did not trust them. They had, therefore, to fight their enemies alone, except for the weak support of Imad–ul–Mulk. Moreover, the senior Maratha chiefs constantly bickered with one another. Each one of them had ambitions of carving out their independent states and had no interest in fighting against a common enemy.
Ahmad Shah (1722/?/-1773), first emir of Afghanistan, was the hereditary chief of the Abdali tribe of Afghans, whom he later renamed the Durrani. He led a contingent of his tribesmen in the service of Nadir Shah, king of Persia, who won control of most of Afghanistan and part of India. When Nadir died, Ahmad founded an independent Afghan kingdom. He invaded the Indian Punjab six times between 1748 and 1752, and he seized and sacked Delhi. Although he was a powerful military leader, Ahmad never succeeded in permanently ruling India; he subsequently withdrew into Afghanistan.

History of Haryana – History from 1803 to 1857

The year 1803 is an important year in the history of Haryana. In this year the area of what is now present day Haryana and Delhi came under the control of the East India Company of Great Britain. At that time Delhi was being ruled by the old and week Mughal ruler Shah Alam. But the real power lay in the hands of the Maratha leader Daulat Rao Sindhiya, who acted as his Regent. On 6–th September, 1803 the battle between General Lake's British forces and the Marathas took place near village Partapganj, 6 miles south of Delhi. Many people from Haryana fought along with the Marathas against the British. Among them were the Jats, led by Hari Singh, the king of Ballabhgarh, Ahirs, led by Rao Tej Singh of Rewari and 5000 Sikhs. The Marathas fought bravely but lost due to the cowardice of French officers who were assisting them. When the British entered Delhi on 14 September 1803, the Mughal ruler Shah Alam surrendered. On 30 September 1803, the Maratha leader Daulat Rao Sindhiya also decided to make peace with the British by signing a treaty with the East India Company. Under this treaty the areas of Haryana and Delhi came under the control of the British.
In 1805 the British divided this area into 2 parts for administrative and political reasons. A smaller part called the 'Assigned Territories' was kept directly under the control of the Company. The larger part was divided and handed over to various local ruler who were faithful and loyal to the British. The Assigned Territory consisted of the areas under Panipat, Sonipat, Samalkha, Ganaur, Palam, Palwal, Nuh, Nagina, Hathin, Ferozepur Jhirkha, Sohna and Rewari. This area was administered by East India Company officer called the 'Resident' and he reported directly to the Governor General. The other larger part was divided into various princely states and handed over to loyal local kings and nawabs. But these arrangements didn't go down too well with the people of Haryana, who are by nature independent minded and dont like outsiders meddling in their affairs. Therefore they, especially the Jats of Rohtak and Ahirs & Meos of Gurgaon, rose again and again in revolt against the rulers. But by 1809 the British had established full control over the territory of Haryana.
Year 1833 was another important landmark in Haryana's history. In this year the Bengal Presidency under the East India Company, was divided into two provinces of Bengal and North Western Province. Most areas of Haryana and Delhi together became one of the six divisions of the North Western Province called the Delhi division. The Delhi division was further sub–divided into seven princely states and five districts. The princely states were Bahadurgarh, Ballabhgarh, Dujana, Farukhnagar, Jhajjar, Loharu and Pataudi. The five districts were Delhi, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Panipat and Hissar. These districts were divided into Tehsils and Tehsils into «Zails». The officer heading the Delhi division was now called a Commissioner instead of the «Resident». At this time some areas of present day Haryana were outside the Delhi division and they were considered as part of the «upper region». These were the districts of Ambala and Thanesar and the princely states of Buria, Chhachhrauli and Jind. But the people of 'upper region' and Delhi division though administratively in different provinces, were closely bound by socio-cultural ties. This administrative system continued till the revolt of 1857.
The revolt of 1857 was sparked by the introduction of the Enfield rifle in the Indian Army. The cartridges of this new rifle were greased with an ingredient containing «cow's fat» and «hog's lard». This news spread like wild fire among the sepoys of the army. Both Hindus and the Muslims were shocked and outraged at the use of «cow's fat» and «hog's lard» respectively. They soon formed panchayats in all corps and decided to socially boycott any sepoy who used these cartridges. This feeling continued to grow until at last a spirit of mutiny spread throughout northern India and Bengal. The first military station in northern India where the mutiny started was Ambala on 10 May 1857. Except for the princely states of Jind, Kalsia, Buria and some small Jagirs in Ambala and Thanesar, whole of the Haryana region was severely affected by the revolt. An important aspect of the uprising in Haryana was complete communal cooperation and amity. By the start of June 1857 almost whole of Haryana had become independent of the British rule. It took almost six months for the British to take back the control of Haryana. This they managed by the use of superior firearms, artillery and the help of some loyal rulers of princely states. The rebels were ruthlessly crushed by the British and in doing so they burned down hundreds of villages and indulged in wanton killing.

History of Haryana – History from 1858 to 1885

After the 1857 revolt, the British in February 1858, removed Haryana from the North Western Province and merged it with Punjab. The region of Haryana was divided into two divisions that of Hissar and Delhi. Delhi division consisted of the districts of Delhi, Gurgaon and Panipat while the Hissar division consisted of the districts of Hissar, Sirsa and Rohtak. The districts were further divided into tehsils, tehsils into Zails and Zails into villages. The Panjab government in 1871 ordered setting up of district committees or «Zila Samiti». The 1883 Panjab District Board Act gave more power to these Zila Samitis.
The formation of Arya Samaj on 10 April 1875 was to play a very important role in the history of Haryana region. The founder of Aryan Samaj, Swami Dayanand (1824-1883) was a great Sanskrit and Vedic scholar. Swami Dayanand came to Haryana in 1880. He stayed in Rewari for some time to preach against superstition and illiteracy. He also established a branch of Arya Samaj in Rewari. Later another branch was established in Rohtak. Later still, Lala Lajpat Rai played an important part in popularizing Arya Samaj in Haryana villages. Arya Samaj played a great role in removing backwardness in the farming community of Haryana, especially the Jats.
The formation of Congress party in 1885 speeded up the political activities in the Haryana region.

History of Haryana – History from 1885 to 1947

After the formation of Congress in 1885, the political activities in Haryana accelerated. In 1905, the British partitioned Bengal and this directly challenged the Congress program, which responded by the «Swadeshi Andolan». Sh. Murlidhar from Ambala and Lala Lajpat Rai in Hissar actively participated in this agitation. In October, 1907 in Ambala, a state level conference was held by the Congress. A large number of people from every corner of Punjab and Haryana participated in this conference. Under the leadership of Lala Lajpat Rai, the conference decided to form branches in every district. Till this time the Congress's Swadeshi Andolan did not have much effect outside the urban middle class of the region. As a result of the Ambala conference decision, district level branches were formed in all the districts of Haryana and Punjab.
On 9 May 1907, the British exiled Lala Lajpat Rai to Burma causing a major setback to the activities of the Congress party. Due to increasing criticism, the British were forced to bring Lalaji back on 14 November 1907. But the bitter fight between the Garam Dal and Naram Dal factions of the Congress resulted in its activities coming to a standstill. Due to this and various other reasons the agitation for independence ran out of steam and it remained so till the end of the first world war.
After the start of the first world war, the congress held a conference in Madras where it passed a resolution to support the British in its war effort. Four annual conferences were held by the Congress during the period of the war, and in each of them, similar resolutions for helping the British were passed. As a result congress workers from Haryana also started helping the British in their war effort. The main reason was that the leadership was in the hands of middle class urban people and they thought that by doing this they would be able to get some personal benefit.
During the war a very large number of Haryanavi youth got themselves enlisted in the army. In Rohtak district alone more that 20,000 young men were recruited in the army by the British. Businessmen and other rich people donated large amounts of money to help the government. While the 'naram dal' faction of the congress was helping the British during the war, the 'garam dal' faction led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Ms Annie Besant started the 'Home Rule League' agitation. In Haryana, Pt. Neki Ram Sharma was at the forefront of this agitation. After the Calcutta Adhiveshan in 1917, Tilakji asked Pt. Neki Ram Sharma to lead the Home Rule agitation in the Haryana region.
Pt. Neki Ram Sharma concentrated his activities particularly in the Rohtak region. Perturbed by this the Government threatened him with imprisonment and also tried to buy him out with offers of land and money, but to no avail. Disturbed by the failure of the Home Rule agitation he decided to invite Tilakji to Haryana but the Government reacted by banning Tilakji from coming to Punjab and arrested Pt. Neki Ram Sharma.

History of Haryana – The people of Haryana agitate for a separate state

The region of present day Haryana was made a part of Punjab in 1858 by the British. Due to the active role of people of Haryana in the revolt of 1857, this region was punished and no significant development work took place. The people of Haryana region were treated as second–class citizens. Moreover there were many difference between the people of these two regions like language, clothing and other habits. The demand for a separate state got a boost with the demand of Master Tara Singh for a «Punjabi Suba» in 1948. Moreover there were problems between the Hindi-speaking and the Punjabi-speaking population.
To solve this problem the then Panjab Chief Minister, Sh. Bhimsen Sacchar introduced the «Sacchar Formula» on 1 October 1949. According to this formula, the state was sub-divided into two parts: 1. Panjabi Area 2. Hindi Area. The Hindi Area included the districts of Rohtak, Hissar, Gurgaon, Kangra, Karnal and the tehsils of Jagadhari and Naraingarh. It was decided that the official language of the Punjabi area would be «Panjabi» (Gurumukhi script) and the official language of the Hindi area would be Hindi (Devnagri script). The then state of PEPSU also decided to follow the same formula. But the «Sacchar Formula» could not succeed and it became especially unpopular in the Hindi area.
On 25 December 1953, the Indian government set up a commission under the chairmanship of Syed Fiazal Ali for suggesting the reorganization of states according to language and culture. The proponents of 'Panjabi Suba' and Haryana both appeared before the Commission to press their case. But the Commission in its wisdom did not approve of the division or reorganization of Panjab. This decision of the commission caused great despondency in the region.
Panjab government tried to find a solution to this increasingly difficult problem by suggesting the division of the state into Panjabi speaking and Hindi speaking areas. Accordingly, in April 1956 the Indian government declared Panjab to be a dual-language state and divided it into «Panjabi Area» and «Hindi Area». Both Hindi and Panjabi were declared its official language. The Hindi Area this time included the districts of Hissar, Rohtak, Karnal, Gurgaon, Mahendergarh, Shimla, Kangra, Kohistan and the tehsils of Ambala, Jagadhari, Naraingarh, Jind and Narwana. But in 1957, due to certain actions of Pratap Singh Kairon, the then Chief Minister of Panjab, this solution too failed.
The failure of this solution accelerated the demand for separate states in both the regions. In 1960 Master Tara Singh launched a «Morcha» to press for his demand of «Panjabi Suba». He was promptly arrested on the orders of Panjab CM, P. S. Kairon. On the arrest of Master Tara Singh, Sant Fateh Singh took over the leadership of the agitation. Because Sant Fateh Singh was a secular person and well connected with the masses, he became more popular. He went on a 'Fast unto death' to force the government to accept their demand for the «Panjabi Suba». More than 57,000 people went to jail in this «Satyagrah». Both the Indian and Panjab government were shaken by this agitation. The wily Panjab Chief Minister Kairon then played his trump card and released Master Tara Singh from jail. Master Tara Singh was greatly disturbed by the increasing popularity of Sant Fateh Singh. He took the leadership of the agitation back from Sant Fateh Singh and persuaded him to break his fast. The he himself decided to go on a «fast unto death», but broke the fast after 48 days. This caused Master Tara Singh to loose his popularity and Sant Fateh Singh became the leader of the Panjab people especially the Sikhs. Meanwhile discontent keep on simmering in the people of Haryana region for a separate state.
In 1965, Sant Fateh Singh again decided to go on a fast on 10 August 1965 to press for the demand of the «Panjabi Suba». He further threatened self-immolation if the demand was not accepted in 25 days. The Hindus of the Panjabi Area opposed the demand for the division of the state fearing that they would be in a minority in the new state. The local press, which was also controlled by the Hindus, too joined in and openly opposed the division. The people of Haryana region, except for RSS and Jan Sangh followers, supported the demand for the division of Panjab into Hindi speaking and Panjabi speaking states.
Finally bowing to the growing pressure from the people of both the regions, the Indian government announced the setting up of a parliamentary committee for reorganization of Panjab on 23 September 1965. This committee was headed by Sardar Hukam Singh. Meanwhile in October, all the legislatures belonging to the Haryana region got together an discussed the issue of the new state. On 17 October 1965, in a big meeting in Rohtak, three important resolutions were passed:
A new Hindi speaking state should be formed, which shall include in addition to the Hindi speaking areas of Punjab, some areas of Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
If the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are not agreeable, then the new state should be formed consisting of Hindi speaking areas of Panjab.
The people of Haryana region would not tolerate any division of the Hindi speaking area and whole of this area should constitute the state of Haryana.
Hukam Singh committee agreed to the division and reorganization of Panjab and recommended that a «Boundary Commission» may be set up to facilitate this division. On 23 April 1966, acting on the recommendation of the Hukam Singh Committee, the Indian government set up the Shah Commission under the chairmanship of Justice J. C. Shah, to divide and set up the boundaries of Punjab and Haryana.

History of Haryana - Haryana Day: A new state is born!

Haryana was carved out of the Indian state of Punjab on 1–st November 1966. This state was formed on the recommendation of the Sardar Hukam Singh Parliamentary Committee. The formation of this committee was announced in the Parliament on 23 September 1965. On 23 April, 1966, acting on the recommendation of the Hukam Singh Committee, the Indian government set up the Shah Commission under the chairmanship of Justice J. C. Shah, to divide and set up the boundaries of Panjab and Haryana.
The commission gave its report on 31 May 1966. According to this report the districts of Hissar, Mahendergarh, Gurgaon, Rohtak, and Karnal were to be a part of the new state of Haryana. Further the Tehsils of Jind (district Sangrur), Narwana (district Sangrur) Naraingarh, Ambala and Jagadhari were also included. The commission recommended that Tehsil Kharar (including Chandigarh) should also be a part of Haryana. After receiving the report of the Shah Commission, the Indian government passed Panjab reorganization bill, 1966 on 18 September 1966. According to this bill, the boundary of the Haryana was to be as follows:
The districts of Hissar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Karnal and Mahendergarh
The Jind and Narwana tehsils of Sangrur district
The Ambala, Jagadhari and Naraingarh tehsils of Ambala district
The Pinjore circle of Kharar tehsil (district Ambala)
Part of the Mani Majra circle of Kharar tehsil
It was also decided that the two states of Haryana and Punjab would have a common High Court called the «Panjab & Haryana High Court». The other parts of the bill dealt with issues like division of the Parliament seats in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Akbar was only 14 years of age in 1556 when he succeeded his father Humayun. That year, a formidable anti-Mughal coalition, consisting mainly of Afghanis, tried to recapture northern India but lost its battle against the Mughals at Panipat. Mughal control over northern India was finally established.
Akbar pursued a policy of vigorous expansion until his empire reached the greater part of the sub-continent north of the Godavari, writes Hambly. Akbar proved himself as sophisticated a commander and leader as any of his ancestors. Akbar's far–sighted policies also included the employment of talented Hindus in senior administrative positions in a regime that previously had been exclusively Muslim.
In 1566, an attempt was made on Akbar's life. An assassin, posted on the roof of Khair al-Manzel, a madrasah built by Maham Anka near the Purana Qala, shot an arrow at the emperor as he rode back into Delhi. The arrow wounded Akbar's shoulder. This incident changed Akbar's method of rule, notes Hambly. Akbar now took into his own hands the supervision of the entire administration of the empire.
Akbar was an ambitious and noble commander who built the largest army ever in the history of the Mughal empire. By the end of the 16–th century, a Mughal army in the field resembled a city on the move. Not all of Akbar's military expeditions were of an expansionist nature. Akbar also was compelled to quell formidable uprisings among his own subjects, especially the Uzbeks and the Afghans. The Afghans in India were the most turbulent and dangerous of the emperor's subjects, especially those who had been born in the time of the Lodi Sultans and still remembered the great era of Shir Shah Sur and his son Islam Shah.
Akbar annexed Malwa, Gondwana, and Bengal to the empire, and the Mughal troops made their first appearance in the Deccan. Khandesh, Berar and Ahmadnagar became Mughal subahs (provinces). According to Hambly, the annexation of the formerly independent Sultanate of Gujarat provided the empire with: enormous additional revenue from the area's rich commercial centers; access to the Gulf of Cambay, and hence, to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Arabian Peninsula; and opportunities for trade with the Portuguese and the Ottoman Empire.
Akbar was well aware of the structure and stratum of the society of his empire. His bold and imaginative approach to the problems of his heterogeneous empire may have reduced some of the long-standing, although generally passive, Hindu antagonism toward an administration which was entirely Muslim in spirit.
Akbar appointed the great Hindu Rajput chiefs to an active partnership in his government. Eventually, it became accepted practice for high-profile Hindus, like Amber or Jodhpur, to be governors of a major province or commander–in–chief of an army composed largely of Muslims. The Hindus were able to practice their own religion without disturbance.
Akbar's policy toward Hindus must be seen in its proper perspective. There was consistent contact between Hindus and Muslims in many areas of social life. Not only Muslim sovereigns but the entire Muslim ruling class recruited Hindus into their services, often in positions of great responsibility such as the case with Todar Mal and his staff. Hindus also served as craftsmen, artisans, entertainers, concubines, soldiers and servants. The two communities acknowledged and respected each other's rights in all aspects of social and religious life, notes Hambly.
Akbar, who was born at Amarkot in Sind in 1542, had spent most of his childhood as an Afghanistan. From his Persian mother, he inherited his princely manners, his love of literature and the arts, and a characteristically Persian delight in philosophical discussion. From his Turkish father, he inherited his fierce energy, his love of war and his ability to command. During the early part of his life, Akbar took the greatest joy in hunting, in elephant fights, and in intellectual games. Akbar reveled in all the varied pleasures of the chase, from facing charging tigers and leopards to pursuing the wild ass in the Rajasthan desert.
Akbar became unhappy with the increasing criticism of his relaxed attitude regarding non–Muslims in his government. Akbar's attitude was undoubtedly related to his vision of an empire with a diversity of faiths and cultures. Akbar's ire also reflected a hardening of his iron will and his fiercely individualistic personality, writes Hambly. The establishment of a new religion, Din–i llahi (Divine Faith), was a result of Akbar's consistent confrontations with his orthodox opponents.
The court of Akbar fostered a lively literary culture and encouraged translations of all kinds. Massive numbers of classics were rendered into Sanskrit and Hindi. Also, religious literature was translated into Persian from other languages like Chaghatai Turkish, Sanskrit and Arabic. Akbar's school of translation made a valuable contribution to the Indianization of the Mughal ruling class.
Hambly writes that Akbar's vigorous personal influence over the life of his court was paralleled in his patronage of painting. During Akbar's reign, early Safavid style – which had been introduced into India by Humayun – began to merge and blend with indigenous Indian elements, and a genuinely original Mughal style evolved. The new style brought a change of emphasis in subject matter. Traditional Persian painting had been concerned mainly with the illustration of literary classics such as the shahnameh, Nizami's Khamseh and Jami's Yusuf va Zulaykha. Mughal painters – many of whom were Hindus – shifted their focus from illustrating the great classics of Persian literature to new subjects such as the life of Akbar and his court, as well as the representation of nature, landscape and portraiture.
The most distinctive work in Akbar's ateliers was the series of illustrations commissioned for Abdul Fazl's Akbarnameh. This series demonstrates the unique and superb qualities of the nascent Mughal School and set it far apart from its Safavid or Timurid precursors. In this series, crowded and bustling scenes of men and animals are full of vigor and movement; the use of color is uninhibited; and detail is finely observed. The languid is rejected.
Unlike Babur or Humayun, Akbar had both the time and the resources to build on a monumental scale. Most of the monuments were constructed in or near Agra rather than in Delhi, Hambly writes. Akbar did not have great affection for Delhi, although most important Mughal structures had been built there. For Akbar, Delhi must have been a city of unhappy memories – the scene of his father's death and his own narrow escape from an assassination attempt. Moreover, the principal landmarks in Delhi – the Purana Qala, the city walls and gateways – commemorated the greatness of Shir Shah whom Akbar considered as the usurper of his father's kingdom. Since Delhi was the capital of both the Lodi Sultanate and the Shir Shah Sur dynasty, the city was always restless and hostile to the Mughals. In light of these circumstances, Akbar must have found Agra a more attractive residence.
Akbar initially ruled from Delhi, but two years later he moved to Agra. The city was renamed Akbarabad in his honor and became the greatest city in the empire. The main part of the city lay on the west bank of the Yamuna and was provided with a drainage system to control the flow of rainwater. A new city wall was erected, and the old mud-brick fortress used by the Lodis was built again in 1565 of sandstone. The building's red color, write Blair and Bloom, gives rise to its modern name, the Red Fort. Blair and Bloom note that the fort follows the irregular, semicircular plan of its predecessor. On the city side, it is enclosed by a moat and a double wall that is broken by the Delhi Gate on the west and the Amar Singh Gate on the south. The two massive gates are distinguished by rows of arched niches and stunning veneer in red and white marble with highlights in blue glazed tile.
According to the historian Abdul Fazl, construction of the fort was supervised by Muhammad Qasim Khan, who is credited with various feats of civilc engineering and who bore the dual titles, Master of the Land and Sea (mir–I barr wa bahr) and Master of Pyrotechnics (mir–Iatish).
Two palaces are located to the southeast of the Red Fort, the Akbar Mahal and the Jahangiri Mahal. Like the gates, the outer facade of the Jahangiri Mahal is articulated with an orderly series of blind niches and panels filled with geometric motifs. In contrast to the calm austerity of the exterior, many of the interior surfaces are extravagantly decorated in carved stone, painted and carved stucco, and tile. The geometric patterns on screens and flat panels in the Jahangiri Mahal derive from Timurid designs.
A similar synthesis of diverse architectural traditions could be seen on a larger scale at Fatehpur Sikri founded in 1571. The city was known as Fathabad (City of Victory), a Persian name which was soon supplanted in popular usage by the Indianized form, Fatehpur Sikri. Most of the major constructions at Fatehpur Sikri date to the 14 years when the city served as Akbar's principal residence.
The city contained imperial gardens, rest–houses, residences for the nobility, and an experimental school dedicated to the study of language acquisition in childhood. Within the city, the buildings are set in two distinct ways. The service buildings – such as the caravanseri, the mint or factory, and a long bazaar (chahar–suq) – are set perpendicular to the southwest/northeast axis of the ridge. The imperial section of the city, which includes one of the largest congregational mosques in India, as well as a residential and administrative area known as the palace (dawlatkhana), is set at an angle to the ridge and aligns with the qibla, write Blair and Bloom.
Akbar's tomb in Sikandara is set in a vast garden (about 760 square yards) enclosed by a high wall and divided by water channels. The red sandstone gateway on the south side, write Blair and Bloom, is crowned by four white marble minarets. It is boldly decorated in white, gray and black marble that is set in panels with geometric designs and large–scale floral arabesques which resemble the patterns on textiles. The numerous Persian verses in the frame around the arch, write Blair and Bloom, compare the tomb and its garden to paradise. They were designed by Abd al–Haqq Shirazi who was awarded the title Amanat Khan (Trustworthy Noble) and who was responsible for many of the inscriptions on the Taj Mahal.
The tomb is a pyramidal arrangement of three tiers of red sandstone pavilions with domed pavilions (chatris) at the corners. On top is an open court containing the emperor's marble cenotaph surrounded by pierced marble screens, write Blair and Bloom. The white color of the marble, continue Blair and Bloom, contrasts sharply with the red sandstone used elsewhere. The play of light and shadow over the increasingly delicate superstructure contrasts with the powerful massing of the basement.
With its receding stories of pillared galleries, write Blair and Bloom, Akbar's tomb belongs to the indigenous tradition of trabeate construction used for palaces, while the podium, with its vaulted bays, vestibule decorated with painted plaster, and high portals whose strong intarsia reproduced the effect of tile, maintains the Timurid tradition of vaulted masonry.
Because of his ideal of cultural synthesis and religious diversity, Akbar reserved a unique place for himself in Indian history.

India in the 16-th century presented a fragmented picture of rulers, both Muslim and Hindu, who lacked concern for their subjects and who failed to create a common body of laws or institutions. Outside developments also played a role in shaping events. The circumnavigation of Africa by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 allowed Europeans to challenge Arab control of the trading routes between Europe and Asia. In Central Asia and Afghanistan, shifts in power pushed Babur of Ferghana (in present–day Uzbekistan) southward, first to Kabul and then to India. The dynasty he founded endured for more than three centuries.
Claiming descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur, Babur combined strength and courage with a love of beauty,and military ability with cultivation. Babur concentrated on gaining control of northwestern India. He did so in 1526 by defeating the last Lodhi sultan at the First battle of Panipat, a town north of Delhi. Babur then turned to the tasks of persuading his Central Asian followers to stay on in India and of overcoming other contenders for power, mainly the Rajputs and the Afghans. He succeeded in both tasks but died shortly thereafter in 1530. The Mughal Empire was one of the largest centralized states in premodern history and was the precursor to the British Indian Empire.

The Taj Mahal – the most famous structure in India built during Mughal Era
The perennial question of who was the greatest of the six "Great Mughals" receives varying answers in present–day Pakistan and India. Some favour Babur the pioneer and others his great-grandson, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658), builder of the Taj Mahal and other magnificent buildings. The other two towering figures of the era by general consensus were Akbar (r. 1556–1605) and Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707). Both rulers expanded the empire greatly and were able administrators. However, Akbar was known for his religious tolerance and administrative genius, whereas Aurangzeb was a zealous ruler and fierce proselytizer of orthodox Islam across the heterodox Indian landscape.
Babur’s favorite son Humayun took the reins of the empire after his father succumbed to disease at the young age of forty–seven. However, he lacked his father’s craftiness and athleticism. Though he could be a formidable warrior when he chose to be, he was more laid back and indolent. He also was addicted to opium and depended on it for solace much more than a king with insecure borders should indulge in. He also made the mistake of trusting his three brothers, which served as a lesson to future Mughal rulers, who would not repeat this folly. Humayun made his brother Prince Kamran the regent in Kabul, who quickly added Panjab under his control. Humayun, appearing to be weak, did not object and this emboldened his two other brothers, Askari and Hindal to seek more independence.
Humayun’s first campaign was to confront a Sher Khan Sur, an Afghan, who was quietly expanding his territory in the east. Half way through the counter offensive Humayun had to abandon it and concentrate on Gujarat, where a threat from Ahmed Shah had to be squelched. In this he succeeded and annexed Gujarat and Malwa. Champaner and the great fort of Mandu followed next. Following this great triumph, Humayun made another tactical error in installing his brother Prince Askari in Ahmadabad instead of the defeated Ahmed Shah as a feudatory. To savor his victory, Humayun celebrated in Mandu fort for many months, binging on opium and spending too much time in the company of his favourites. When he finally headed home to Agra, he found his brother Askari at his doorstep making a serious bid for the throne. Though his older brother thwarted this effort, Askari was pardoned, which only exhibited royal weakness to his loyal subjects.
Humayun again fell into one of his many periods of laziness and lassitude and resorted to his pipe and playmates. All this time he also neglected to confront Sher Khan Sur, who was gathering land and feudatories in the east. As an administrator Sher Khan was far superior to Humayun. In 1539, Humayun and Sher Khan met in battle in Chausa, between Varanasi and Patna. Humayun barely escaped with his own life and in the next year, in 1540, his army of 40,000 lost to the Afghan army of 15,000 of Sher Khan. Humayun’s brothers refused to help him and he found himself a fugitive in Rajastan and Sindh.
Finally, the Shah of Iran, Shah Tamasp, gave him refuge in Persia. Of course, Humayun put his famous diamond to full diplomatic use because Shah Tamasp was a lover of diamonds. Koh-I-Noor, would serve as the bribe that the Shah Tamasp needed to support Humayun with a large Persian military offensive on Sher Khan Sur in 1544. Humayun found fraternal opposition again in Kandahar, where he was stalled for eight years but eventually won back Afghanistan.
Sher Khan had now become the monarch in Delhi under the name Sher Shah Sur and ruled from 1540 to 1545. He consolidated his kingdom form Panjab to Bengal (first one to enter Bengal after Ala-ud-din Khilji did more than two centuries earlier). But Sher Shah tragically died in an accidental explosion of gunpowder during an offensive in Kalinjar. A superb administrator, he was credited to have organized the government and military in such a way that future Mughal kings used it as their own models. He also added to the fort in Delhi (supposed site of Indraprastha), first started by Humayun, and now called the Purana Qila or the old fort. He built the mosque Qila-I-Kuhna there that was a masterpiece of the period, though only parts of it have survived.
The charred remains of Sher Shah were taken to a tomb in Sahasaram, midway between Varanasi and Gaya. Although rarely visited, it is another glorious triumph in architecture that the future great Mughal builders like Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan tried to emulate. Massive in scale, three stories and fifty meters high, it appears as much a palace as a mausoleum. Sher Shah’s son Islam Shah held on to power until 1553 and following his death the Sur dynasty lost most of its clout due factious strife and severe famine.
In 1554, Humayun attacked the confused and divided state of Sur rulers and in 1555 claimed Delhi again. But in 1556 tragedy struck the Mughals when Humayun tripped and fell to his death while descending the steps after gazing at the stars (he was a keen astronomer) from the rooftop of Sher Shah’s Delhi palace. Thus Humayun ruled in India barley for ten years and died at the age of forty–eight, leaving behind a thirteen–year–old boy, Akbar as his heir. As a tribute to his father, Akbar later built the Humayun’s tomb in Delhi (completed in 1571), from red sandstone, of majestic outline that would become the precursor of future Mughal architecture. Akbar’s mother and Humayun’s wife Hamida Begum personally supervised the building of the tomb.
Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun (r. 1530–1540 and 1555–1556), whose rule was interrupted by the Afghan Sur Dynasty, which rebelled against him. It was only just before his death that Humayun was able to regain the empire and leave it to his son. In restoring and expanding Mughal rule, Akbar based his authority on the ability and loyalty of his followers, irrespective of their religion. In 1564 the jizya on non–Muslims was abolished, and bans on temple building and Hindu pilgrimages were lifted.
Akbar's methods of administration reinforced his power against two possible sources of challenge–the Afghan–Turkish aristocracy and the traditional interpreters of Islamic law, the ulama. He created a ranked imperial service based on ability rather than birth, whose members were obliged to serve wherever required. They were remunerated with cash rather than land and were kept away from their inherited estates, thus centralizing the imperial power base and assuring its supremacy. The military and political functions of the imperial service were separate from those of revenue collection, which was supervised by the imperial treasury. This system of administration, known as the mansabdari, was based on loyal service and cash payments and was the backbone of the Mughal Empire; its effectiveness depended on personal loyalty to the emperor and his ability and willingness to choose, remunerate, and supervise.
Akbar declared himself the final arbiter in all disputes of law derived from the Qur'an and the sharia. He backed his religious authority primarily with his authority in the state. In 1580 he also initiated a syncretic court religion called the Din–i–Ilahi (Divine Faith). In theory, the new faith was compatible with any other, provided that the devotee was loyal to the emperor. In practice, however, its ritual and content profoundly offended orthodox Muslims. The ulama found their influence undermined. The concept of Islam as a superior religion with a historic mission in the world appeared to be compromised. The syncretism of the court and its tolerance of both Hindus and unorthodox Shia sects among Muslims triggered a reaction among Sunni Muslims. In the fratricidal war of succession that closed the reign of Akbar's grandson Shah Jahan in 1658.
Prince Salim (b. 1569 of Hindu Rajput princess from Amber), who would later be known as Emperor Jahangir showed signs of restlessness at the end of a long reign by his father Akbar. During the absence of his father from Agra he pronounced himself as the king and turned rebellious. Akbar was able to wrestle the throne back but the prince was showing no signs of remorse. There was also an unconfirmed story of strained relationship between father and son due to Salim’s amorous advances to an ordinary dancing girl. Deeply in love and enchanted by the dancing girl, Anarkali, who was of common birth, Salim was ready to make her his queen. This union, surprisingly, was said to have been unacceptable to Akbar and the girl was abducted and executed. Though the historians do not mention the existence of such a girl called Anarkali, the folklore certainly has survived. This also might have exacerbated the strain between the monarch and the prince.
Salim did not have to worry about his sibling’s aspirations to the throne. His two brothers, Murad and Daniyal, had both died early from alcoholism. Ironically a similar fate would await Salim at the end of his reign when he also succumbed to the ill effects of excessive drinking. But his challenge came from a surprising member of his family. His son Khusrau was favoured by the nobles and made an attempt to unseat Salim, who by 1602 had proclaimed himself as the emperor and renamed himself Jahangir (World Conqueror). Khusrau laid siege to Lahore but was captured by Jahangir and blinded. The cruelty of the previous Sultans of Delhi had now pervaded into the Mughal emperors. Hitherto unknown fraternal and filial murder and torture at the time of succession was to become the norm and almost expected in the kingdom. Jahangir explained that a king should consider no man his relation and sovereignty did not regard the relation between father and son. Treacherous perfidy during succession would not shock any future Mughal heirs.
Jahangir began his era as a Mughal emperor after the death of Akbar in the year 1605. He considered his third son Prince Khurram (future Shah Jahan–born 1592 of Hindu Rajput princess Manmati), his favourite. Rana of Mewar and Prince Khurram had a standoff that resulted in a treaty acceptable to both parties. Khurram was kept busy with several campaigns in Bengal and Kashmir. Jahangir claimed the victories of Khurram – Shah Jahan as his own. However, Kandahar, which had been won by Akbar, was lost to Persia’s Shah Abbas. Further defeats were handed in Northern Afghanistan. Some success was at hand in the Deccan when an African slave, Malik Ambar, brought from Baghdad, serving under the sultante of Ahmadnagar, helped Khurram-Shah Jahan.
The monarch meanwhile was basking in the glory of his son’s victories. He also had unlimited sources of revenue largely due to a systematic organization of the administration by his father, Akbar. The opulence of the Mughals had reached its pinnacle during Jahangir and Shah Jahan’s rule, thanks to Akbar’s foresight. Jahangir built his famous gardens in Kashmir and spent much time relaxing and delegating his work to others. One such person was Jahangir’s wife, Nur Jahan, whom he married in 1611. She was the thirty–year–old widow of one of his Afghan nobles. Her father, Persian born Itimad-ud-Daula became a minister and closest advisor to the emperor. Very able Nur Jahan along with her father and brother Asaf Khan, who was a successful general, ran the kingdom. Jahangir was the monarch in absentia. Addicted to alcohol, he was content to let his wife govern.
After the fiasco in Kandahar, the relationship between Khurram and Jahangir soured. Khurram suspected that Nur Jahan favoured her son-in-law Prince Shariyar (son of Jahangir from a slave), who was married to her daughter Ladli Begum, from her first marriage. Khurram was in rebellion with his father and in this the African slave Malik Ambar and Nur Jahan’s brother Asaf Khan aided him. Khurram- Shah Jahan was married to Asaf Khan’s daughter Mumtaz Mahal. Prince Shariyar was murdered and Nur Jahan spent her last years building a tomb for her father Itimad–ud–Daula in Agra. She could have little influence over the willful Shah Jahan or her niece Mumtaz Mahal.
Jahangir had kept a diary that can pass marginally as memoirs. He describes inane and insignificant details of his garden and daily happenings around the palace. It only serves to give a glimpse of the emperor’s life in a superficial way. Though not a soldier, Jahangir was an ardent patron of Mughal art and an avid builder. He built Akbar’s five-tiered tomb in Sikandra. The emperor kept busy building in Lahore, Allahabad and Agra. While the de facto emperor, Nur Jahan was attending to administrative details, Jahangir found solace in loitering in his gardens and appreciating art and nature.
The darkest incident of his rule perhaps was the disposition of a peaceful leader of newly formed religion called Sikhism. Akbar had watched the blossoming of the new religion founded by Guru Nanak, with fascination. Jahangir, in a controversy with its leader, was responsible for the death of Sikh Guru Arjan Singh (who died in Mughal prison) and this would have lasting consequences for future Mughal emperors. The peaceful religion of Sikhism would turn militant later when Jahangir’s grandson Aurangzeb murdered the ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur. Jahangir, the laid back emperor died in 1627 from alcohol abuse and Prince Khurram–Shah Jahan’s reign as the emperor began.
Prince Khurram, who would later be known as Emperor Shah Jahan, ascended to the throne after a tumultuous succession battle worthy of a Mughal Prince. His own father,Jahangir, had already handicapped Khusrau, when the son aspired to unseat the father. Younger brother Prince Khurram promptly had him killed, as fraternal ambitions were not to be encouraged, even though the wretched Prince Khusrau was blind. Prince Shariyar, Nur Jahan’s son–in–law had lost his bid to the throne and murdered by Khurram’s father-in-law, Asaf Khan (also Nur Jahan’s brother). Another brother Parwiz was of no consequence.
With the wealth created by Akbar, the Mughal kingdom was probably the richest in the world. Prince Khurram gave himself the title of Shah Jahan, the ‘King of the World’ and this was the name that was immortalized by history. With his imagination and aspiration, Shah Jahan gained a reputation as an aesthete par excellence. He built the black marble pavilion at the Shalimar Gardens in Srinagar and a white marble palace in Ajmer. He also built a tomb for his father, Jahangir in Lahore and built a massive city Shahajanabad in Delhi but his imagination surpassed all Mughal glory in his most famous building Taj Mahal. It was in Shahajanabad that his daughter Roshanara built the marketplace called Chandni Chowk. His beloved wife Arjuman Banu (daughter of Asaf Khan and niece of Nur Jahan) passed away while delivering their fourteenth child in the year 1631. The distraught emperor started building a memorial for her the following year. The Taj Mahal, named for Arjuman Banu, who was called Mumtaz Mahal, became one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The beauty of the white marble structure is unsurpassed. Almost four hundred years later it still is the awe inspiring place where lovers hold hands and swoon over each other. The thrill one feels at the first sight of Taj Mahal through its main archway is beyond description.
The great Juma Masjid built by him was the largest in India at the time. Shah Jahan also built or renovated forts in Delhi and in Agra. White marble chambers that served as living quarters and other halls for public audiences are examples of classic Mughal architecture. Here in Agra fort, Shah Jahan would spend eight of his last years as a prisoner of his son, Aurangzeb shuffling between the hallways of the palace, squinting at the distant silhouette of his famous Taj Mahal on the banks of River Jamuna.
Shah Jahan’s earlier years were spent in doing his father’s bidding in various campaigns and territorial expansion. However, the territories gained were significant only in a symbolic way. In fact, land and prestige was lost in Kandahar and Northern Afghanistan. The dream of Babur to extend the empire into and beyond Afghanistan into the homeland of the Timurs in Samarkhand was permanently shelved by his progeny, after the humiliating defeats in Kandahar in the hands of Persian king. Never again would a Mughal venture into the northwest. In Deccan, Shah Jahan had initial failures in the hands of an African habshi (Negro) slave from Baghdad, a Malik Ambar, who was under the Bijapur sultan. Later, however, he joined Shah Jahan and helped him quell the threat from his brothers who had aspirations to conquer the throne. Golconda (Hyderabad) and Bijapur (Karnataka), two powerful states of the south were forced to become vassal states but were left alone to govern as they pleased. At least on paper Shah Jahan’s empire had extended deep into the south in Deccan and beyond. The cover of Mughal suzerainty only helped the southern sultanates to extend their borders well into Chola heartland of Tamil Nadu and Mysore. Muslim rule, now effectively extended to the mouth of Kaveri River.
Though Khurram was the favoured son of Jahangir in his earlier days, the influence of Nur Jahan on the emperor had a deleterious effect on his relationship with his father. She was trying to prop up her own son-in-law, a brother of Shah Jahan as the legal heir. This alarmed Shah Jahan and with the help of his father-in-law and Malik Ambar he was able to muscle his way into Delhi and pronounce himself the emperor. In September of 1657, Shah Jahan, in his waning years, suffered from acute constipation and rumours of his imminent death spread rapidly through the land. The potential successors to the throne, four brothers, were alarmed and moved with haste to claim the throne. His third son Aurangzeb eventually claimed the empire, in the year 1658. Shah Jahan would recover from his illness only to spend his last days as an old and decrepit man, imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb, in the fort in Agra. There he was to remain in house arrest for eight years watching the magnificent monument he had built for his beloved wife Mumtaz. Shah Jahan died in the year 1666, at age seventy-four, eight years after losing his throne to his son. He was interned in the Taj Mahal, next to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.The aristocracy supported the austere military commander Aurangzeb against his learned and eclectic brother Dara Shikoh, whom Aurangzeb defeated in battle and later had decapitated in 1662.
Aurangzeb's reign ushered in the decline of the Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb, who in the latter half of his long rule assumed the title «Alamgir» or «world–seizer», was known for aggressively expanding the empire's frontiers and for his militant enforcement of orthodox Sunni Islam. He hated non-believers and destroyed many Hindu and Buddhist temples throughout India. During his reign, the Mughal empire reached its greatest extent, although it is likely that his policies also led to its dissolution. Still, there is some belief that his policies may have slowed the decline of the Empire rather than precipitated it. Although he was an outstanding general and a rigorous administrator, Mughal fiscal and military standards declined as security and luxury increased. Land rather than cash became the usual means of remunerating high-ranking officials, and divisive tendencies in his large empire further undermined central authority.
Extent of Mughal empire in the late 1600s: the Mughals ruled all but the southern tip of the subcontinent.
In 1679 Aurangzeb reimposed the hated jizyah on Hindus. Coming after a series of other taxes and also discriminatory measures favouring Sunni Muslims this action by the emperor, incited rebellion among Hindus and others in many parts of the empire–Jat, Sikh, and Rajput forces in the north and Maratha forces in the Deccan. The emperor managed to crush the rebellions in the north, but at a high cost to agricultural productivity and to the legitimacy of Mughal rule. Aurangzeb was compelled to move his headquarters to Daulatabad in the Deccan to mount a costly campaign against Maratha guerrilla fighters led by Shivaji, which lasted twenty-six-years until he died in 1707 at the age of ninety. Aurangzeb, oppressed by a sense of failure, isolation, and impending doom, lamented that in life he «came alone» and would «go as a stranger».
In the century – and one–half that followed, effective control by Aurangzeb's successors weakened. Succession to imperial and even provincial power, which had often become hereditary, was subject to intrigue and force. The mansabdari system gave way to the zamindari system, in which high–ranking officials took on the appearance of hereditary landed aristocracy with powers of collecting rents. As Delhi's control waned, other contenders for power emerged and clashed, thus preparing the way for the eventual British takeover.

Later Mughals[/COLOR][/ALIGN]
When Aurangzeb died close to the age of ninety, there were seventeen legitimate claimants to the throne that included not only his sons but also his grandsons and great grandsons. After the death of the emperor two brothers fought near Agra (in the same battle site that Aurangzeb had fought his brother Dara Shikoh. Prince Muazzam prevailed and killed his brother Prince Azam Shah and assumed the title Bahadur Shah I (or Shah Alam I). Another brother entered the fight a year later and was killed. Bahadur Shah was well in his sixties when he took control of the empire and soon died in 1712. During those five years he was busy fighting the insurgents in Rajastan and Panjab. Then in 1708 the last Sikh guru, Gobind Singh disappred by his spiritul power . Sikhs under Guru Gobind Singh had already transformed into a radical group after the execution of Guru Teg Bahadur by Aurangzeb. A year later a Banda Bahadur relentlessly stormed Muslim towns and became a thorn on the Mughal emperor’s side.
Bahadur Shah’s son Jahandar Shah succeeded after his death. However, during his tenure he gained a reputation as a womanizing drunk whose outrageous mistress Lal Kunwar took full advantage of the emperor’s condition and enriched herself as well as her brood. Jahandar Shah was killed in 1713 and then Bahadur’s grandson Farrukhsiyar acceded to the throne. With the help of two brothers called Saiyids, Farrukhsiyar restored some sanity to the Mughal rule. Later the Saiyids became intolerable to the emperor and one of them was sent away from Delhi to Deccan and the other was kept in constant watch in Delhi. In Deccan Saiyid Husain Ali Khan colluded with the Marathas and attacked Delhi and using trickery and intrigue seized Farrukhsiyar in the Red Fort. The emperor was blinded and caged and later poisoned as well as stabbed to death. However, prior to his death, Farrukhsiyar had the dubious distinction of aiding the British to have a firm foothold in India, by signing the much-coveted farman (an imperial directive) that would seal the future of British takeover of India.
A wretched youth, Shah Jahan II was made to occupy the throne after the murder of Farrukhsiyar but his rule lasted only three months. The Saiyids enthroned another pawn, Muhammad Shah as the Mughal emperor. He had an unexpected reign of close to thirty years. The Saiyids were disposed off but the emperor had little penchant for ruling. It was during his rule the notorious raids of Delhi by Nadir shah of Persia and the Afghan Ahmad Shah Abdali took place.
Marathas were now constantly attacking Delhi. Of more consequence and humiliating was the plunder of Delhi by Nadir Shah. A Timur descendent, Nadir Shah usurped the throne in Persia and seized Kandahar and Kabul. He marched through Panjab and was invited by Muhammad Shah as a guest to Delhi (only because he had neither the will nor the resources to fight him). Within forty–eight hours, using a lame excuse, Nadir Shah ordered a general massacre of Delhi citizens and looted every bit of wealth they could extort out of the royalty as well as Delhi’s citizenry. Nadir Shah remained in Delhi for forty eighty days and departed with millions worth of gold, jewelry and coins. Even the emperor’s throne, the bejeweled peacock throne of Shah Jahan was packed on elephants and carried away to Persia. Another prize, the Koh–I–nur diamond (Humayun’s diamond now passed back into Persian hands). To add insult to injury, the Shah humiliated the emperor by re–crowning him as the Mughal emperor in an ignoble celebration. Later an Afghani, Ahmad Shah Abdali started his incursions into Delhi just for the purpose of looting the capital. In a series of attacks starting in 1748 until 1761, Abdali would not only pillage and loot Delhi, he also cleaned out Mathura, Kashmir and cities in Panjab. From the east the British defeated the Nawab of Bengal and occupied the state of Bengal. The vast Mughal Empire was coming undone at its seams. The fortunes of the British in India were intertwined with the misfortunes of the Mughals.
The raids by Nadir Shah and repeated incursions of Abdali resulted in quick disposal of the next two emperors Ahmad Shah and Alamgir II until in 1759 Shah Alam II ascended the throne. His reign would last several decades. However, he would preside over more loss of territory to the British. When the Nawab of Bengal lost to Robert Clive, Shah Alam II was forced to recognize Clive as a diwan (chancellor) and Bengal slipped to the British hands permanently. Shah Alam II ruled well until his eighties and died as sightless wretch dressed in rags when an army from Bengal led by General Gerald Lake stormed Delhi and Agra. The Marathas like Scindias, Holkars and the Nagpur Bhonsles also had to relinquish power to the British and the British would now boast that they were complete masters of the whole of India.
In 1806 Shah Alam’s son Akbar Shah II acceded to the much diminished empire of the Mughals and ruled until 1837. His son Bahadur Shah Zafar II would be the last emperor of Mughals before the British deposed him in 1858 and the Mughal dynasty would officially come to a dishonourable end. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Bahadur Shah II was forced to take the side of the mutineers though he had no power to affect the outcome of the events. The mutineers had outwitted his British sponsors and now the emperor neither had the troops nor the competence. He had no choice but to join the winning side. However, the success of the mutineers was soon reversed and the octogenarian (he was eighty–two years old) was relieved of his empire and deposed in 1858. The British also unleashed a flurry of revenge attacks on Delhi as well as luckless Bahadur Shah. Two of his sons and a grandson were shot while in custody. The emperor was then exiled to Rangoon in Burma where he died in obscurity in 1862.
The glory of the Mughal kingdom established in 1526 by the tiger from Kabul, Babur would end in 1858 and India’s fate was in the hands another expansionist foreign force, the imperial British.

Arrival of the Europeans
Vasco da Gama led the first documented European expedition to India, sailing into Calicut on the southwest coast in 1498. In 1510 the Portuguese captured Goa, which became the seat of their activity. Under Admiral Alfonso de Albuquerque, Portugal successfully challenged Arab power in the Indian Ocean and dominated the sea routes for a century. Jesuits came to convert, to converse, and to record observations of India. The Protestant countries of the Netherlands and England, upset by the Portuguese monopoly, formed private trading companies at the turn of the seventeenth century to challenge the Portuguese.
Mughal officials permitted the new carriers of India's considerable export trade to establish trading posts (factories) in India. The Dutch East India Company concentrated mainly on the spice trade from present-day Indonesia. Britain's East India Company carried on trade with India. The French East India Company also set up factories.
An engraving titled «Sepoy Indian troops dividing the spoils after their mutiny against British rule» gives a contemporary view of events from the British perspective.
During the wars of the 18-th century, the factories served not only as collection and transshipment points for trade but also increasingly as fortified centres of refuge for both foreigners and Indians. British factories gradually began to apply British law to disputes arising within their jurisdiction. The posts also began to grow in area and population. Armed company servants were effective protectors of trade. As rival contenders for power called for armed assistance and as individual European adventurers found permanent homes in India, British and French companies found themselves more and more involved in local politics in the south and in Bengal. Plots and counterplots climaxed when British East India Company forces, led by Robert Clive, decisively defeated the larger but divided forces of Nawab Sira–jud–Dawlah at Plassey (Pilasi) in Bengal in 1757.
The tale of the Marathas' rise to power and their eventual fall contains all the elements of a thriller: adventure, intrigue, and romanticism. Maratha chieftains were originally in the service of Bijapur sultans in the western Deccan, which was under siege by the Mughals.

Shivaji Bhonsle (1627–1680) a tenacious and fierce fighter recognized as the «father of the Maratha nation», took advantage of this conflict and carved out his own principality near Pune, which later became the Maratha capital. Adopting guerrilla tactics, he waylaid caravans in order to sustain and expand his army, which soon had money, arms, and horses. Shivaji led a series of successful assaults in the 1660s against Mughal strongholds, including the major port of Surat. In 1674 he assumed the title of «Lord of the Universe» at his elaborate coronation, which signaled his determination to challenge the Mughal forces as well as to reestablish a Hindu kingdom in Maharashtra, the land of his origin. Shivaji's battle cries were swaraj (translated variously as freedom, self–rule, independence), swadharma (religious freedom), and goraksha (cow protection). Aurangzeb relentlessly pursued Shivaji's successors between 1681 and 1705 but eventually retreated to the north as his treasury became depleted and as thousands of lives had been lost either on the battlefield or to natural calamities. In 1717 a Mughal emissary signed a treaty with the Marathas confirming their claims to rule in the Deccan in return for acknowledging the fictional Mughal suzerainty and remission of annual taxes. Yet the Marathas soon captured Malwa from Mughal control and later moved east into Orissa and Bengal; southern India also came under their domain. Recognition of their political power finally came when the Mughal emperor invited them to act as auxiliaries in the internal affairs of the empire and still later to help the emperor in driving the Afghans out of Punjab.
The Marathas, despite their military prowess and leadership, were not equipped to administer the state or to undertake socioeconomic reform. Pursuing a policy characterized by plunder and indiscriminate raids, they antagonized the peasants. They were primarily suited for stirring the Maharashtrian regional pride rather than for attracting loyalty to an all–India confederacy. They were left virtually alone and without supplies before the invading Afghan forces, headed by Ahmad Shah Abdali (later called Ahmad Shah Durrani), who routed them on the blood-drenched battlefield at Third Battle of Panipat|Panipat in 1761. The shock of defeat hastened the break-up of their loosely knit confederacy into five independent states and extinguished the hope of Maratha dominance in India.

The Nizams of Hyderabad
Maratha raids into Berar, Kandesh, Gujarat and Malwa resumed after the death of Aurangzeb, and loosened Mughal control in the Deccan. In 1724 Asaf Jah, the Mughal Nizam ul Mulk, or viceroy, of the Deccan, defeated several contenders for control of the Mughal southern provinces, and established himself of ruler of an independent state with its capital at Hyderabad. He and his successors ruled as hereditary Nizams, and their state, known as Hyderabad after the capital, outlasted the Mughal empire, persisting until it was incorporated into newly –independent India in 1948.The state of Hyderabad was formed by Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jahi in 1724.He was a strong ruler & established an orderly system of administration.He also attempted to reform the revenue system.The dynasty founded by him came to be known as the Asaf Jahi dynasty.His successors were known as Nizams…

The Afghan defeat of the Maratha armies accelerated the breakaway of Punjab from Delhi and helped the founding of Sikh overlordship in the northwest. Rooted in the bhakti movements that developed in the second century B.C. but swept across North India during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the teachings of the Sikh gurus appealed to the hard-working peasants. Facing extended persecution from the Mughals, the Sikhs, under Guru Gobind Singh formed the Khalsa (Army of Pure). The khalsa rose up against the economic and political repressions in Punjab toward the end of Aurangzeb's rule. Guerrilla fighters took advantage of the political instability created by the Persian and Afghan onslaught against Delhi, enriching themselves and expanding territorial control. By the 1770s, Sikh hegemony extended from the Indus in the west to the Yamuna in the east, from Multan in the south to Jammu in the north. But the Sikhs, like the Marathas, were a loose, disunited, and quarrelsome conglomerate of twelve kin-groups. It took Ranjit Singh (1780–1839),an individual with modernizing vision and leadership, to achieve supremacy over the other kin-groups and establish his kingdom in which Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims lived together in comparative equality and increasing prosperity. Ranjit Singh employed European officers and introduced strict military discipline into his army before expanding into Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Ladakh.

An Indian depiction of a 17-th century Dutch ship off the Coromandel Coast
The quest for wealth and power brought Europeans to Indian shores in 1498 when Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese voyager, arrived in Calicut (modern Kozhikode, Kerala) on the west coast. In their search for spices and Christian converts, the Portuguese challenged Arab supremacy in the Indian Ocean, and, with their galleons fitted with powerful cannons, set up a network of strategic trading posts along the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. In 1510 the Portuguese took over the enclave of Goa, which became the center of their commercial and political power in India and which they controlled for nearly four and a half centuries.

Economic competition among the European nations led to the founding of commercial companies in England (the East India Company, founded in 1600) and in the Netherlands (Verenigde Oost–Indische Compagnie – the United East India Company, founded in 1602), whose primary aim was to capture the spice trade by breaking the Portuguese monopoly in Asia. Although the Dutch, with a large supply of capital and support from their government, preempted and ultimately excluded the British from the heartland of spices in the East Indies (modern–day Indonesia), both companies managed to establish trading «factories» (actually warehouses) along the Indian coast. The Dutch, for example, used various ports on the Coromandel Coast in South India, especially Pulicat (about twenty kilometers north of Madras), as major sources for slaves for their plantations in the East Indies and for cotton cloth as early as 1609. (The English, however, established their first factory at what today is known as Madras only in 1639.) Indian rulers enthusiastically accommodated the newcomers in hopes of pitting them against the Portuguese. In 1619 Jahangir granted them permission to trade in his territories at Surat (in Gujarat) on the west coast and Hughli (in West Bengal) in the east. These and other locations on the peninsula became centers of international trade in spices, cotton, sugar, raw silk, saltpeter, calico, and indigo.
English company agents became familiar with Indian customs and languages, including Persian, the unifying official language under the Mughals. In many ways, the English agents of that period lived like Indians, intermarried willingly, and a large number of them never returned to their home country. The knowledge of India thus acquired and the mutual ties forged with Indian trading groups gave the English a competitive edge over other Europeans. The French commercial interest--Compagnie des Indes Orientales (East India Company, founded in 1664) – came late, but the French also established themselves in India, emulating the precedents set by their competitors as they founded their enclave at Pondicherry (Puduchcheri) on the Coromandel Coast.
In 1717 the Mughal emperor, Farrukhsiyar (r. 1713–1719), gave the British – who by then had already established themselves in the south and the west--a grant of thirty–eight villages near Calcutta, acknowledging their importance to the continuity of international trade in the Bengal economy. As did the Dutch and the French, the British brought silver bullion and copper to pay for transactions, helping the smooth functioning of the Mughal revenue system and increasing the benefits to local artisans and traders.
The fortified warehouses of the British brought extraterritorial status, which enabled them to administer their own civil and criminal laws and offered numerous employment opportunities as well as asylum to foreigners and Indians. The British factories successfully competed with their rivals as their size and population grew. The original clusters of fishing villages (Madras and Calcutta) or series of islands (Bombay) became headquarters of the British administrative zones, or presidencies as they generally came to be known. The factories and their immediate environs, known as the White-town, represented the actual and symbolic preeminence of the British – in terms of their political power – as well as their cultural values and social practices; meanwhile, their Indian collaborators lived in the Black-town, separated from the factories by several kilometres.
The British company employed sepoys – European-trained and European–led Indian soldiers – to protect its trade, but local rulers sought their services to settle scores in regional power struggles. South India witnessed the first open confrontation between the British and the French, whose forces were led by Robert Clive and François Dupleix, respectively. Both companies desired to place their own candidate as the nawab, or ruler, of Arcot, the area around Madras. At the end of a protracted struggle between 1744 and 1763, when the Peace of Paris was signed, the British gained an upper hand over the French and installed their man in power, supporting him further with arms and lending large sums as well. The French and the British also backed different factions in the succession struggle for Mughal viceroyalty in Bengal, but Clive intervened successfully and defeated Nawab Siraj–ud–daula in the Battle of Plassey (Palashi, about 150 kilometres north of Calcutta) in 1757. Clive found help from a combination of vested interests that opposed the existing nawab: disgruntled soldiers, landholders, and influential merchants whose commercial profits were closely linked to British fortunes.
Later, Clive defeated the Mughal forces at Buxar (Baksar, west of Patna in Bihar) in 1765, and the Mughal emperor (Shah Alam, r. 1759–1806) conferred on the company administrative rights over Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, a region of roughly 25 million people with an annual revenue of 40 million rupees (for current value of the rupee). The imperial grant virtually established the company as a sovereign power, and Clive became the first British governor of Bengal.
Besides the presence of the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and French, there were two lesser but noteworthy colonial groups. Danish entrepreneurs established themselves at several ports on the Malabar coast and the Coromandel coast notably Tranquebar, in the vicinity of Calcutta, and inland at Patna between 1695 and 1740. Austrian enterprises were set up in the 1720s on the vicinity of Surat in modern–day southeastern Gujarat. As with the other non-British enterprises, the Danish and Austrian enclaves were taken over by the British between 1765 and 1815.

The Lotus of Bahapur
Since its inauguration to public worship in December 1986, the Baha'i House of Worship in New Delhi, India has drawn to its portals more than 50 million visitors, making it the most visited edifice in the world, its numbers surpassing those of the visitors to the Eiffel Tower and even the Taj Mahal. The maximum number of visitors the Temple has received in a single day has been 150 000. They have come regardless of the scorching summer heat of Delhi which rises above 40?C during the months of June to September, and have braced the chill and cold rains that Delhi experiences during winter. These visitors have admired the beautiful lotus form of the Temple, and have been fascinated by the teachings of the Baha'i Faith impressed by its tenets of the oneness of God, oneness of religions and oneness of mankind.
This «House of Worship of the Indian subcontinent» joins six other Baha'i temples around the world. Each of these Houses of Worship, while sharing some basic design concepts, has its own distinct cultural identity embodying the principle of unity in diversity. The lotus, the national flower of India, is a recurring symbol in the religious architecture of the Indian subcontinent. This ancient symbol has been given a modern and contemporary form in the structure of the Baha'i House of Worship drawing into its sanctum sanctorum people from all races, religious backgrounds and culture from around the globe.
To the people of India the lotus flower signifies purity and peace, a representation of the Manifestation of God. Rising pure and unsullied above stagnant, muddy waters, the Indians have seen this flower as worthy of emulation, teaching them to be detached from material preoccupations. It is because this flower is so revered in Indian mythology and cultures that its translation into the design of a temple has caught the attention of the people at large.
The structure of the House of Worship is composed of three ranks of nine petals; each springing from a podium which elevates the building above the surrounding plain. The first two ranks curve inward, embracing the inner dome; the third layer curves outward to form canopies over the nine entrances. The petals, constructed of reinforced white concrete cast in place, are clad in white marble panels, performed to surface profiles and patterns related to the geometry. The double layered interior dome, modelled on the innermost portion of the lotus, is comprised of 54 ribs with concrete shells between. The central hall is ringed by nine arches that provide the main support for the superstructure. Nine reflecting pools surround the building on the outside, their form suggesting the green leaves of the lotus flower.
In the raising of the House of Worship in New Delhi traditional Indian means of construction were employed coupled with the most modern Western engineering design. Fariborz Sahba, Canadian architect of Iranian origin, spent 10 years in designing and project management, and with the help of a team of about 800 engineers, technicians, artisans and workers brought to realisation one of the most complicated constructions in the world. The conversion of the lotus into structural designs and working drawings alone took the architect and his structural consultant Messrs. Flint and Neil Partnership nearly 18 months of work.
Translating the geometry of the design, in which there are virtually no straight lines, into the actual structure presented particular challenges in designing and erecting the framework. Not only was it difficult to align, so as to produce accurately the complex double-curved surfaces and their intersections, but the closeness of the petals severely restricted work space. Nevertheless the task was carried out entirely by the local labourers. Before assembling the temporary works for the roof, a number of full-scale mock-ups were constructed to check the feasibility of the proposed methods of construction, geometric form, practicality of fixing the complex reinforcement, entrance and inner leaves, and interior dome elements. Forms and their supports for all the petals were designed to withstand pressures from continuous concreting. To avoid construction joints, petals were concreted in a continuous operation for approximately 48 hours. Concrete was carried up the staging by women bearing 50-pound loads in baskets balanced on their heads. All the steel reinforcing for the shells of the lotus petals was galvanised to avoid rust stains on the white concrete in the prevailing humid conditions, and guarantee the life of the delicate shell structure of 6 to 18 cm thick shells of the petals.
Ventilation and cooling are based on techniques traditional to the Indian subcontinent. Fresh air, cooled as it passes over the fountains and pools, is drawn in through openings in the basement, up into the central hall, and expelled through a vent at the top of the interior dome. During the humid season a set of exhaust fans in the basement recycles air from the main hall into the cool basement and back.
India is well endowed with human resources. This resource was amply utilised and most of the work was carried out by a work force of almost 700 people, including 400 carpenters at a time, using the most traditional techniques and equipment to achieve the highest quality and sophisticated construction. People have marvelled that such a modern and complex design could be built in India. The architect in fact believes that this design could not have been executed anywhere else because it is rare to find the combination of traditional craftsmanship, pride in one's work, empathy for spiritual undertaking, perseverance under all odds and ample patience, as can be found in the people of India. As commented by progressive Architecture of USA in their article on the Baha'i Temple «It goes to prove that high-tech concepts do not always demand high-tech solutions».
When the temple was first opened to the general public on January 1, 1987 they flocked to the «Lotus Temple», as they fondly call it, from sheer curiosity. The vast lawns, the massive white structure, the high ceiling Prayer Hall, and a temple without idols standing so close to an ancient Hindu temple aroused the interest of all and sundry. The Indian visitors, from the most sophisticated to the most simple, expressed perplexity at the absence of any idols. It has been a hard task since explaining to them that the all-pervasive Almighty cannot be put in any limited form. Often the visitors ask the guides where the object of adoration is. In their simplicity some have placed flowers before the lectern used during regular prayer services.
Over the years the visitors from India have begun to understand that the purpose of the Baha'i House of Worship is to unite the hearts of the people and bring them closer to their Creator. Many a visitor has penned his impressions in the Visitor's Book maintained in the Library of the Temple. Some of these are reproduced to convey the impression the Temple and the Baha'i teachings are making on the visitors.
«Few temples radiate the atmosphere of sublimity, peace and calm so necessary to elevate a devotee spiritually as the Baha'i House of Worship.»
«My visit has aroused great interest in the teachings of Baha'u'llah. That harmony is the primary purpose of religion is the teaching that has impressed most.»
«I am deeply impressed by the humanism and universalism of the Baha'i religion.»
«Every time I come here I feel totally at peace. I like the philosophy of the Baha'i Faith and the devotion of all the volunteers…»
Not only have there been millions of visitors from India, but also large numbers from most countries of the world have also paid a visit to the House of Worship, and continue to visit. Besides the hundreds of thousands of visitors from all walks of life, a great number of dignitaries – Heads of State, Government Ministers, Ambassadors, Heads of foreign missions, diplomats, leaders of religion, scholars, academicians, artists and other prominent people have been received at the House of Worship. And many have commented that one has not seen India if one has not visited the Baha'i Temple in New Delhi.
The Temple also continues to be a source of great interest to the media, both the print and the audio-visual media. It has been featured in television programmes not only in India, but also countries like Russia and China. The Baha'i World Centre Library has archived more than 500 publications which have carried information on the Indian Temple in the form of articles, interviews with the Architect and write-ups extolling the structure as a marvel of 20-th century architecture.
The House of Worship has won praise in numerous architectural and engineering journals for its innovative design. Twentieth Century Architecture, an anthology of the most outstanding structures of the twentieth century lists the Lotus Temple as one of the three major architectural achievements of the year 1987. The 1994 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, in its «Architecture» section gives recognition to the Temple as an outstanding achievement of the time…
The dedication of the Baha'i House of Worship of the Indian sub-continent has indeed been a momentous event. Millions have crossed its threshold. Some have come as tourists, others to spend some time at a beautiful spot, many more have come with reverence in their hearts, touching the steps leading into the Prayer Hall in the traditional Indian manner. Many have been perplexed by the absence of deities inside the central auditorium, still others have appreciated the fact that it symbolises the unity of all religions. Whatever impression these millions have gathered, one thing is certain – the House of Worship has touched a spiritual chord in the hearts of the people of India in particular, and people around the world in general. Many visitors have called it a symbol of integration, where differences submerge and dissolve to create a wonderful calm. Its purpose has beautifully been summed up by Mr. Hooshmand Fatheazam, one of the members of the highest administrative body of the Baha'i Faith, during his visit in October 1987. He wrote in the Visitor's Book: «Here is love and devotion crystallised in stone. This magnificent edifice is a befitting tribute to the peoples of India whose never-ending quest for spiritual advancement has inspired so many generations. May the fragrance of love and unity emanating from this heavenly «Lotus of Bahapur» perfume the hearts and souls of diverse people and bind them together in praise of their Creator.»

Lotus Temple
Baha`i Temple is known as one of the most beautiful architectural temples in India. Popularly called Lotus Temple as it is built in the shape of a Lotus flower and reaches a height of more than 40m. It was completed in 1986 and one can enjoy its exquisite beauty even from a kilometre distance, at night.

An Architectural Grandeur
This grand temple is termed by many as the Taj of modern India. It belongs to the Baha`i sect and is now a significant landmark of Delhi. The structure is made of pure white marble in the shape of a half-opened lotus and is surrounded by delicately manicured lawns.
This architectural wonder is made of a combination of marble, cement, sand and dolomite. One can see 27 giant white petals of marble in a lotus shape, springing from nine pools and walkways indicative of the nine unifying spiritual paths of the Baha'i faith. People of any faith can enter this temple to offer their prayers.

The Uniqueness Of Baha`i Faith
The Baha'i House of Worship is dedicated to the oneness of all religions and mankind. Its doors are open to people of all faiths, races and cultural backgrounds. Subsidiary buildings that afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the traveller, solace to the deprived and education to the ignorant will abound around the House of Worship.
There are no clergymen in the Baha'i Faith and its service consists of prayers and readings of selections from Baha'i scriptures.The Baha`i religion is an independent one and not a sect of any other religion's manifestion.
The Baha`is lay great emphasis on prayer and meditation. These, they believe are important instruments for the progress of the human soul, both in this world and the next. The Baha'i`is pray to one God, the Creator of the Universe.
The act of praying is described as «Conversation with God» and meditation is perceived as the 'Key for opening the doors of mysteries'. In that state, man withdraws himself from all outside objects and immerses himself in the ocean of spiritual life.
In the Baha`i Holy Writings, there are prayers for all occasions and can be offered individually or collectively. A great importance is given to prayers as it is revealed in all the Scriptures. But the Baha`i Writings specify that the mere act of praying is not sufficient. The inspiration drawn from one's prayers must be translated into action that promotes the well-being of humanity.
The temple represents the Baha`i faith, which is broad in its outlook, scientific in the influence it exerts on the hearts and minds of men. It signifies the purity and the universality of the lord and equality of all religions. Visited by over four million people, annually, this gleaming lotus-like marble structure is located on Bahapur Hills and it is the seventh and most recent Baha'i houses of worship in the world.

Lotus Temple
Kalkaji in South Delhi, close to Kalkaji Temple
A Pilgrimage Centre, where people from all the faith come for meditation and obtaining peace.
Shaped like a Lotus, the Lotus Temple is located in Kalkaji in the south of Delhi. Made of marble, cement, dolomite and sand, the temple is the modern architectural wonder of India. An ideal place for meditation and obtaining peace and tranquility, the temple is visited by people from all walks of life. The Lotus Temple is a very recent architectural marvel of the Bahai faith. The Bahai Faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions. Its founder, Bahadullah (1817–1892), is regarded by Bahais as the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad.
The history of the Bahai Faith in India started with the inception of the Faith in Iran when the Báb (literally, the Gate) inaugurated a new era in the history of the human race. The Bab Himself had appointed one of the Indian believers as the «Letter of Living» in 1844–1845, the first year of His Ministry. Since then, India is spiritually connected with the Bahai Faith.
The Architecture Fariborz Sahba, Canadian architect of Iranian origin, spent 10 years in designing and project management, and with the help of a team of about 800 engineers, technicians, artisans and workers brought to realization one of the most complicated constructions in the world. The structure of the House is composed of three ranks of nine petals; each springing from a podium elevating the building above the surrounding plain. The first two ranks curve inward, embracing the inner dome; the third layer curves outward to form canopies over the nine entrances. The petals, constructed of reinforced white concrete cast in place, are clad in white marble panels, performed to surface profiles and patterns related to the geometry. Nine arches that provide the main support for the superstructure ring the central hall. Nine reflecting pools surround the building on the outside, their form suggesting the green leaves of the lotus flower. Translating the geometry of the design, in which there are virtually no straight lines, into the actual structure presented particular challenges in designing and erecting the framework.
The delicate and sleek architecture is built in two layers. The first layer consists of nine white marble-covered petals pointing towards heaven, while the second layer of nine petals serves to conceal the portals. When seen from a short distance, it looks like a fabulous example of origami work. The interior, especially, the Hall of Worship, conforms to that of all Bahai temples and is so silent that even a low whisper echoes loudly in the structure. No religious icons are housed here except the copies of the Holy Scriptures and wooden pews. The construction of the temple was completed in 1986.