REFORMATION

 

The year 1500 AD was a round year to remember and that was the year in which Charles V was born. By then the feudal disorder of the Middle Ages was left behind and Europe was split into highly centralised kingdoms.

The most powerful of all kings during the coming time was Charles V, then a baby in the cradle. He was the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and Maximilian I, the Emperor of the Holy Roman or the Western Roman Empire. 

Charles V has fallen heir to the greater part of the European map, to all the lands of his parents, grandparents, uncles, cousins and aunts in Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Italy and Spain together with all their colonies in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Charles V was born at Ghent in Belgium and was raised as a Fleming.  

As his father was dead and his mother became unbalanced in mind, he was raised by his Aunt Margaret. Charles grew up to be a Catholic but he was against religious intolerance. He was lazy but he was condemned to rule a large part of the world when Europe was in a state of religious fervour. 

Charles aped between various states of Europe and despite being a peace loving man was forced to be at war always. At the age of 55 he turned his back on the human race in utter disgust at so much hate and stupidity. 3 years later in 1558 he died, a very disappointed man.  

At that time, the church was the 2^nd great power and landowner in Europe and has changed greatly. The church has grown too rich and the Pope lived in a palace and surrounded himself with artists, musicians and literary men. He divided his time unevenly between state and art with a leaning towards the latter. The affairs of the state take only 10% of his time.   

The Archbishops and Cardinals follow the example of the Pope. The Bishops imitate the Archbishops and only the village priests have remained faithful to their duties.

The common people are much better off than earlier. They are more prosperous, lived in better houses, their children went to better schools, their cities were more beautiful than before, and their firearms have made them equal to their enemies.  

The people of Northern Europe, the Germans, the Dutch, the Swedes, and the English and so on had an entirely different climate than Southern Europe and kept indoors most of the time while the Italians lived under the open sky and it was easier for them to laugh and sing. The Northerners were very conscious of religion.          

In contrast, the papacy and the College of Cardinals were almost entirely composed of Italians and they had turned the church into a pleasant club where people discussed art, music and literature but rarely about religion. 

Therefore the split between the serious North and more civilised but easy going South, was growing wider all the time and no one was aware of the danger that was threatening the church.

The rift between the South and North made reformation take place first in Germany. The endless quarrels between Pope and the Emperor have caused much mutual bitterness. 

In the other European countries where there was a strong king, the ruler had been able to protect his people from the priests. In Germany where a shadowy emperor ruled a crowd of turbulent princelings, the people were left at the mercy of the Church. 

The church henchmen were trying to collect large sums of the money from the people for the benefit of the enormous churches that were built. The Germans felt they were being milked and did not like it at all. Most important, Germany was where the Printing press was invented and that made books cheap and the Bible was no longer a mysterious manuscript which only the priests interpreted.

When they read the Holy Scriptures, the people realized that the priests were telling them many things which were not there in them. People started asking questions for which there are no answers and doubt entered into the peoples mind.

The attack began when the humanist of the North opened fire (not in the real sense of the term) on the monks. They of course still had too much respect to direct their attack on the Pope, but the corrupt monks were a good target to open the attack. 

Surprisingly, the leader in this attack was a very faithful son of the Church named Desiderius Erasmus (actual name Gerard Gerardzoon). He is from Rotterdam and become a priest in a monastery and lived there for some time. He resented what happened in the church at those times and later as a public pamphleteer mounted an attack on the church. He published a series of letters named the “Letters of Obscure Men”. In these letters the stupidity and arrogance of the then monks and that was exposed in a mixture of German-Latin. Erasmus gave the world the first reliable version of the New Testament.

In the year 1500 Erasmus wrote a short work called “Praise of Folly” in which he attacked the monks and their followers with humour. The booklet was a huge seller in the sixteenth century and was translated into all the European languages. The book and other works by Erasmus made people attentive to the workings of the church. Erasmus appealed to the people to help him to bring about a reform in the Christian faith.   

But nothing came about of his plans as he was gentle and too tolerant to please the enemies of the Church who wanted a radical reform. They found their man in Martin Luther. 

He came from a North German peasant family and had a brilliant brain. He did his Master of Arts from a University and then joined in a Dominican Monastery. He then became a college professor at the theological school of Wittenburg and began to explain the scriptures. In his studies of the Old and New Testament he found that there are great differences which existed between the words of Christ and those that were preached in the churches.

The gigantic church of Saint Peter which Pope Julius has thrust upon his successors, although only half complete, was already in need of repair. Pope Alexander VI has spent every penny of the papal treasury on it and Pope Leo X who came in 1513 was on the verge of bankruptcy. 

The Pope then went back to the old method of raising cash. He started selling indulgences which are a piece of parchment when purchased for a certain some, of money promised a sinner to reduce the time he would have to spend in purgatory.

The sale of indulgences in Saxony was overdone forcefully and this led to great resentment among the people. Martin Luther who was honest was very angry with the way things are happening from the side of the Church and on the 31st of October 1517, he went to the Church and pasted on its door a sheet of paper which contained 95 statements attacking the sale of indulgences. In less than 2 months all of Europe was discussing those 95 statements.  

The papal authorities were alarmed and summoned Luther to proceed to Rome to explain what he did. Luther did not like the idea and remembered John Huss, the Czech about 100 years before him who tried to criticise the indulgences and the other aspects of the Roman Catholic faith. He was summoned to Rome and was ultimately burnt at stake when he refused to recant what he said. Martin Luther  burnt the papal bull summoning him to Rome in front of admiring people and after that peace between him and the Pope became impossible.

Without any design on his part to be so, Luther had become a leader of a large multitude of Christians. German patriots rushed to his defence. The students of Wittenberg, Erfurt and Leipzig offered to defend him should the Church try to imprison him. The Elector of Saxony proclaimed that no harm would befall Luther as long as he remained in Saxony.

This happened in the year 1520 when entire Europe along with all the colonies of the European nations in Asia, Africa and the Americas was being ruled by Charles V. He was just 20 years old then and was forced to remain in the good books of the Pope.  

Charles V now summoned Luther to the Diet (a general assembly) of Worms (a city) on the Rhine to explain his stand. By now Martin Luther has become the national hero of Germans and he went. He refused to take back one word of whatever he said and went on to say that his conscience was controlled only by the word of God and he would live and die for his conscience.   

The Diet of Worms after deliberation declared Luther an outlaw and ordered all Germans not to give him any food or shelter or even read a single word from his books. But a great majority of the Germans rejected the edict. 

For safety Luther was hidden in a castle belonging to the Elector of Saxony. There he defied all papal authority by translating the entire Bible into German so that people can read the word of God for themselves.

By this time the Reformation ceased to be a religious or spiritual affair. Everyone jumped in and Church territories were attacked and looted and their territory grabbed. The half-starved peasants following their half-crazy agitators attacked the castles of their masters and plundered and murdered with the same zeal as the early Crusaders that did so before. 

There was a huge disorder in the Empire. Some Princes became Protestants (as the protesting adherents of Luther were called) and persecuted their Catholic subjects. Some remained Catholic and hanged their Protestant subjects. Now all Luther did was to try and purify Christianity from the distortions preached by the Church but that movement has deteriorated into intolerance and strife.

In 1526 the Diet of Speyer was called to settle the dispute and it concluded that all subjects of a King should have the same religion. This turned Germany into thousands of principalities and created a situation where normal growth is delayed for hundreds of years.

Luther died in the year 1546 and was buried in the same Church where he posted the famous 95 objections. So in less than 30 years the joking and laughing world of renaissance got transformed into the arguing and quarrelling and debating society of the Reformation. The spiritual empire of the Pose ended and Europe turned into a battlefield where Protestants and Catholics killed each other for the greater glory of a theological doctrine. It is amazing that just one man can be the fulcrum for this complete transition.

CONFUCIUS

 All of us know about Buddha our own great ethical teacher, but know nothing about Confucius of China who was a contemporary of Buddha other than that he was a philosopher.  

Despite Buddha being an ethical teacher than a philosopher, Vaishnavism elevated him to be the 9th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. What Buddha taught was very simple, yet Hinayana Buddhism has turned his sayings into a web of philosophy and viewed Buddha only through that. A similar thing happened to Confucius. 

Confucius was born in the year 550 BC which makes him a contemporary of Buddha (born in 567 BC). China was then without a strong central government and their citizens were looted by robber barons who pillaged the people and went from city to city. This turned China into a wilderness of starving people. 

Confucius loved his countrymen and tried to save them by giving them a philosophy of life. He was a peaceful man and knew that salvation would come only from a change of heart. He therefore set about on his mission of changing the hearts of the people. 

Confucius was a good student in his youth. He studied many subjects, including ceremonial practices, music, archery, driving a chariot, calligraphy, and arithmetic. He also had a good understanding of history and poetry.

While in his 30s Confucius began teaching. His goal was to improve the society. He believed that students should work on bettering their lives in addition to gaining knowledge. Confucius is considered to be the first teacher in China who wanted to make education available to all men.

Confucius was also into politics. He wanted an influential position in the government so that he would be able to reform society. He held government posts while in his 40s and 50s, but he never received a position of great influence. Confucius died in 479 bce.

Till his time, the Chinese were not much interested in religion and believed in spooks and devils. But they never had any prophets. Confucius never claimed any divine powers, nor did he claim that any divine voice spoke to him from above. That makes him unique among the men who originated the various religions of the world.  

Confucius asked for no recognition, neither did he expect that anyone should follow him or worship him. He is akin to the Greek philosophers known as the Stoics; they believed in right living and righteous thinking without a hope for any reward but simply for the peace of a soul. For this reason Confucius was very tolerant, and he also visited Lao Tse who founded the system called Taoism. 

Confucius bore no hatred to anyone and taught the virtue of supreme self-possession. He taught that whatever happens, happens for the best and should be free from anger and passion and bear whatever life brings forth. (This is perhaps something akin to our theory of Karma) 

Initially, he had very few students but their numbers went on increasing and by the time of his death in 479 BC, several Kings and Princes of China have become his disciples. By the time Jesus was born, Confucianism has become a way of life for many Chinese and continues to influence them even today. 

However, like all religions, with time Confucianism too got distorted. Confucius said that the mother and father should be honoured, but with time his followers became more obsessed with the memory of their departed parents than their children and grandchildren. They became too intent of the past and forgot about the present. Rather than disturbing a cemetery located on the fertile side of a mountain, they planted rice on the other barren and rocky side and preferred starvation to desecration of the ancestral grave. 

Time went on, and in the sixteenth century when then uncivilised Christians came up on the new world, they did not know what to make of the statues of Confucius. They came to the easy conclusion that he is a plain devil who represented something idolatrous and heretical and did not deserve any respect from them.  

HYDERABAD STATE & MIR OSMAN ALI KHAN THE LAST NIZAM.

 

Hyderabad state was the largest independent state in India when we attained independence. The Nizam’s territory consisted of all the districts of Telangana, 4 districts of Karnataka & 4 Marathi speaking districts of the Aurangabad region. Its land area was about 223,000 Sq. Km. and it had a population of 1.60 crores or 4.6% of India’s population of 35 crores at the time of independence. J&K too had an area of over 200,000 Sq.Km but only had a population of 40 lacs. In comparison, the composite AP state had an area of 274,000 Sq. Km.

In 1947 princely states covered 40% of the land area of India and 23% of India’s population. The state of Hyderabad was dissolved in 1956 when states were reorganised on linguistic basis.

At the time of Independence, the Hyderabad state was being ruled by the Asaf Jahi dynasty founded by the Moghul Subedar of the Deccan Chin Qilich Khan also known as Asaf Jah Nizam ul Mulk. Nizam Ul Mulk means means the Administrator of the Realm.

Nizam Ul Mulk had been a commander of Aurangzeb. He later became a Wazier of the Empire after Auranzeb’s death, a competent Bahadur Shah 1 came onto the throne but his reign was very short and he died 5 years later. Looking to the incompetent sovereigns coming on to the throne after Bahadur Shah and the  intrigues taking place at the Mughal court, Nizam Ul Mulk  left in disgust and founded his own state of Hyderabad independent of the Mughal Empire in 1724. Although this state already existed earlier and Asaf Jah ruled it, it was not independent of the Mughal Empire and was its province.   

In 1728 AD, the Nizam was defeated by the Maratha army at the battle of Palkhed in Maharashtra. With this the Nizam started paying both the Chauth and Sardesmukhi to the Marathas. As per Maratha policy, the kingdoms they defeated were not annexed to their empire but allowed to exist independently but they had to pay the Chauth (one fourth of the tax paid to the Mughal Empire) and Sardesmukhi (one tenth of the tax paid to the Mughal Empire). This is actually protection money that is extracted for stopping further Maratha raids on the Kingdom. In 1805, after the British victory over the Marathas in the 2^nd Anglo Mysore war, the Nizam came under the protection of the British.

During the 2^nd world war the Nizam raised 80,000 men known as the 19^th Hyderabad Regiment which served in Malaya, North Africa, Persia, Singapore and Burma.

The last Nizam of Hyderabad state Mir Osman Ali Khan crowned in 1911 was the richest man in the world at his time. He developed the railway, introduced electricity, developed roads, airways, irrigation and reservoirs in Hyderabad state.  All major public buildings of Hyderabad were built during his time. He supported education and established the Osmania University. The Nizam constructed large reservoirs like Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar.

When partition took place, the Nizam wanted Hyderabad to join neither to India nor to Pakistan and remain independent instead. The Razakars under Kasim Razvi wanted Hyderabad to accede to Pakistan. When that did not happen they committed atrocities against the Hindus in the state prompting the Indian Government to launch ‘Operation Polo”. The Nizam surrendered on 17^th September 1948 and Hyderabad became a state in the Indian Union. Mir Osman Ali Khan died in 1963.   

Mir Osman Ali Khan was known for his interfaith philanthropy. He donated Rs 83,000 to the temple at Yadagiri Gutta, Rs 30,000 to the temple at Bhadrachalam and also made an annual grant of Rs 8000 to Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati and Rs 50,000 for the reconstruction of Sitarambagh temple at Hyderabad. He also made grants of land to the tune of 2 lac acres to various Hindu temples. He made a donation of Rs 1 lac to Benares Hindu University. He also made financial and land grants to Churches and Gurudwaras as well.

During the last Nizam’s reign Hyderabad state became very wealthy because of the Golconda diamond mines which are the only diamond mines in the world outside South Africa. The Nizam was the only Prince in India to be given both the titles of “His Exalted Highness”   and “Faithful Ally of the British Government” by the British. In 1948 the Hyderabad state had annual revenue of 90 million pounds as per British estimates. The state had its own currency known as the Hyderabadi rupee till 1951.

According to the Forbes all time Wealthiest list of 2008, Mir Osman Ali khan was 5^th richest man in recorded history with a wealth of 211 billion USD at that time.

Despite being so rich, Osman Ali Khan was also known for his miserliness in personal habits. The tales of his miserliness and personal frugalness abound. He wore a simple dress, sometimes crumpled and patched and used the same fez cap for 35 years. Despite an immense collection of Gold and Silver utensils, he ate his meals from a tin plate sitting in his bedroom. His guests were offered just 1 cup of tea, 1 biscuit and cheap Charminar cigarettes. Despite owning a fleet of 50 rolls Royces, he travelled in a rickety old car. His bedroom was reportedly cleaned once in a year. He put a steel ring around his walking stick to stop it from breaking and did not opt to buy a new one.

This personal miserliness contrasted with his public generosity and donations. He was a major philanthropist and a visionary administrator and is known as the architect of modern Hyderabad. In 1965 during the Indo Pak war, the Nizam invested 425 Kg of gold in the National Defence Gold Scheme which was a significant financial contribution. He also provided pensions to 10,000 former employees and princelings.  

These frugal personal habits and generous public contribution of the last Nizam present a huge contrast. It is very surprising that a person does not enjoy what he has in abundance, and distributes it to the public. He however, as an exception did use the Jacob diamond as a paper weight. That diamond was than worth Rs 100 crores.     

THE CRUSADES.

 

Religious wars are nothing new for the world. One such episode in World history is the Crusades fought between the Christians in Muslims in the medieval ages. Now, development of the countries involved in it was lesser than that of India at that time and in the hard conditions religious fervour was much stronger.    

During the 3 centuries after the Islamic Empire, there had been peace between Muslims and Christians except in Spain and in the Eastern Roman Empire. The Muslims conquered Syria in the 7^th century AD and were in possession of the holy land. The Muslims considered Jesus Christ to be a great prophet (lesser than Mohammed though) and they allowed pilgrims to visit and pray at the church of Saint Helena built on the holy grave by Emperor Constantine’s mother which was built over the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial at Jerusalem.  

However, in the early 11^th century, the Seljuk Turks have got possession of the Muslim state and tolerance has come to an end. The Turks took the entire Asia Minor from the Eastern Roman Empire and ended all trade between the east and the west.  The Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire then was Alexis and he appealed for help from his Western neighbours citing the danger which threatened Europe if the Turks took Constantinople. Terrible overblown stories of Christian suffering were reported in the area seized by the Turks and entire Europe got excited.  

Europe itself was in a bad condition then and there was constant shortage of food. There was unemployment and hunger which led to discontent and riots. Western Asia at that time was prosperous and could easily feed many people and was a good area for immigration. But of course the Turks would never allow that.

So at the council of Clermont in France, in the year 1095 AD Pope Urban II, who himself was a Frenchman rose and gave a glowing description of the horrors the Turks have inflicted on the holy land of Palestine and stating that the land is flowing with milk and honey (food) exhorted the people of Europe to leave wife and child and deliver Palestine from the Turks.

A wave of religious hysteria swept all over Europe and all reason stopped. People left their professions and took the road east to go to Palestine and kill the Turks and take the holy land. That included children as well. 90% of them could not even set their sought on the holy land, let alone liberate it. They had no money and had to beg and steal on the way. They became a danger to the safety of the people living near the highways and the country people killed them in anger.

The First Crusade was a wild mob of honest Christians, defaulting bankrupts, penniless noblemen and fugitives from Justice led by the half crazy Peter the Hermit began their campaign against the infidels by murdering all the Jews whom they met on the way. They got as far as Hungary and were then all were killed.

The church now learnt that unorganised mobs cannot do anything and some organization is required. Then 200,000 men were trained for a year and were placed under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert, Duke of Normandy, Robert, Count of Flanders and many other noblemen experienced in the art of war.  

In the year 1096 AD, this 2^nd crusade started. They crossed into Asia, killed all the Muslims who fell into their hands, stormed Jerusalem, again killed all its Muslim population and marched to the Holy Sepulchre and worshipped it. But soon, the Turks got reinforcements and retook Jerusalem and killed all the Christians there.

During the next 2 centuries 7 other crusades took place taking the total number of crusades to 8. Gradually the crusaders learnt the techniques of the trip. The land voyage proved too tough and dangerous, so they preferred to cross the Alps and go to the Italian cities of Genoa or Venice where they took a ship to the East.

For the Italian cities this was a profitable business. They charged exorbitant rates and from the many who could not afford the trip, the Italian cities extracted a service, a period for which the guys had to fight for them. That way, Venice greatly increased its territory along the coast of the Adriatic and so also in Greece where Athens, Cyprus, Crete and Rhodes became Venetian colonies.

All the 8 crusades between the years 1095 to 1270 AD, however, totally failed to settle the question of the Holy Land. After initial enthusiasm of the crusaders wore off, a short crusading trip became an education of well-bred young men of Europe. The crusaders began with a hatred for the Muslims, but they ended up appreciating their generous and fair opponents and their civilization. That was because Europe was in a very bad and backward state then while before the arrival of the Turks the Muslim Empire became much more civilised. The crusades made the European hate the Greeks who cheated them and also the Armenians. The crusades instead civilised Europe.   

From a political and military point of view the crusades were a big flop. Jerusalem and a number of cities were taken and lost.  A dozen little kingdoms were established by the Crusaders in Syria, Palestine and Turkey, but they were re conquered by the Turks. And after the year 1244 AD, the position was as before in 1095 AD when the Crusades started.  

But, as already said earlier the Crusades changed Europe. The Europeans have seen the sunshine and the beauty of the East. They have adopted many things from the East on account of the Crusades. They now wanted a broader life which neither the church nor the state could provide to them. They found their saviours in their cities for a similar civilised life.   

 

 

 

SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE-BIOGRAPHY

 Subhash Chandra Bose was born in 1897 in Cuttack to Janakinath Bose and Prabhabati Debi. His father was an advocate. He was the 9th amongst the 14 children.

After schooling in Cuttack Bose topped the matriculation examination of the Calcutta province in 1911. He then joined the Presidency college at Calcutta for his BA but was later expelled as he attacked one professor Oaten for making some anti-India comments.

He then completed his BA in philosophy from the Scottish Church College , Calcutta. He enrolled in the Cambridge University in 1919 where he did his BA in Honors but with just average marks.

He got selected to the Indian Civil Service but resigned from the appointment as a protest against the British Government. When he came back to India, Chittaranjan Das became his mentor in the Congress.

In 1923 he was elected the President of the all India Youth Congress and also the secretary of the Bengal State Congress.

He was the editor of the Paper Dehbandhu founded by Chittaranjan Das. He also worked as the CEO of the municipal corporation of Calcutta when CR Das became the Mayor in 1924.

In a roundup of nationalists in 1925 Bose was arrested and sent to Mandalay prison in Burma. In 1927 on being released from prison he became the General Secretary of the Congress party.

Bose was again arrested and jailed for civil disobedience and when he was released he became the mayor of Calcutta in 1930. During this tenure he visited Europe and saw both communism and fascism in action.

In 1938 Bose contested as the Congress president and won. This despite the fact that Bose is ideologically opposed to Gandhi who opposed his candidature. The rift also divided Nehru and Bose.

Bose was re-elected as a President in 1939 over Pattabhi Seetaramayya who was favoured by Gandhi. Due to opposition from the followers of Gandhi Bose ultimately had to resign as the President of the Congress. He then organized the Forward Bloc whose influence is confined to Bengal alone.

Most of the Congress leaders of that time felt it would be better to wait till Britain was through with the 2nd world war and they would get independence. Bose was opposed to this and thought that the political instability in Britain during the war should be taken advantage of. He believed that Independent India needed at least 20 years of socialist authoritarianism.

His ideas were totally against what Gandhi believed. While Gandhi said one should show the other cheek if one is slapped on one cheek, Bose believed that if someone slapped you once then you should slap them twice.

There were two cases pending against him and he felt that the British would not let him leave the country. He then escaped to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.

He founded the Free India Center in Berlin and created the Indian legion consisting of 4500 Indian POW’s taken by the Axis powers during their fight with the British in North Africa. Its members swore allegiance to both Bose as well as Adolf Hitler. The following is the oath sworn by them:

"I swear by God this holy oath that I will obey the leader of the German race and state, Adolf Hitler, as the commander of the German armed forces in the fight for India, whose leader is Subhash Chandra Bose".

Bose was also prepared for an invasion of India by Nazi troops spearheaded by Azad Hind Fouz through Russia. Hitler did not show much interest for Indian independence and Bose decided to leave Germany in 1943.

The Indian National Army was founded by Capt. Mohan Singh in 1942 at Singapore with the Japanese POW’s of Indian origin. This was with the support of the Independence league headed by Rash Behari Bose. The first INA was disbanded when Mohan Singh felt that the Japanese were using the INA as a mere propaganda tool.

The idea of INA was again revived with the arrival of Bose in 1943 and Rash Behari Bose handed over the organization to Subhash Bose.

Bose was able to rekindle the idea and received a massive support from the people of Indian origin form South East Asia who not only enlisted in the army but also gave financial support. At its height it consisted of 85,000 troops including a separate women’s unit, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment headed by Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan.

At a rally of Indians in Burma 1944 Bose gave the famous call “Give me blood and I shall give you Freedom”. The Azad Hind Government was recognized by the Axis powers.

The INA helped the Japanese by creating diversionary tactics when the Japanese were advancing to Manipur, Imphal and Kohima.

When the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were taken by the Japanese forces, the provisional Government with INA was established there with Lt.Col. A.D.Loganathan appointed as Governor General. Despite this the Japanese Navy remained in control of the administration. Enraged with the lack of control Loganathan later relinquished his authority.

The Japanese along with the INA brigades were defeated in their effort to take the northeast. Bose expected that the Indian troops in British service would desert to INA during the battle. Nothing of the sort happened and on the contrary troops started deserting the INA . Japanese funding for the INA decreased and Bose was forced to raise taxes on the Indian populations of Malaysia and Singapore sometimes extracting money by force.

The INA was forced to pull back with the retreating Japanese army. With the fall of Rangoon the Bose’s government ceased to be a political entity. A large proportion of the INA troops surrendered when Rangoon fell. Japans surrender at the end of the war led to the total surrender of the INA.

Bose is alleged to have died in a plane crash in Taiwan, on 18 August 1945 while an route to Tokyo and possibly then the Soviet Union. The Japanese plane he was travelling on had engine trouble and when it crashed Bose was badly burned, dying in a local hospital four hours later. His body was then cremated. This version of events is supported by the testimonies of a Captain Yoshida Taneyoshi, and a British spy known as "Agent 1189.

The lack of a body has led to many theories have been put forward concerning his possible survival.

NORSEMEN-THE PIRATES WHO SHOOK EUROPE IN THE MEDIEVAL TIMES

 

The people of the 10^th century prayed God to protect them from the NORSEMEN. Who are they and where do they come from?

In the 3^rd & 4^th centuries AD, the Germanic tribes have broken through the defences of the weakened Roman Empire and plundered Roman territories.

With time the Germanic tribes like the Goths, Visigoths and Vandals (the word vandal and vandalism in the English language has been derived from this tribe as they looted the Roman Empire left & right) got assimilated into the Roman Empire. Surprisingly, these Germanic tribes originated in Asia and they were kindred people of the Aryans but they branched off into Europe and settled down there.

In the 8^th century AD, it was the turn of the Germanic tribes to be looted. The looters were the NORSEMEN who were their Northern neighbours and their cousins coming from the countries of Denmark, Sweden & Norway. Those were hardy sailors who later turned to pirate activities. They would suddenly descend on a village on the mouth of a river, kill all the men and steal their women. Then they would sail away in their fast sailing ships. By the time the Roman soldiers arrived, nothing was left of the village except the smouldering ruins.

After the death of Charlemagne the king of Franks in 814 AD, the first holy Roman Emperor who united most of Western Europe, the Norsemen heightened their activity. Their fleets made raids on every country and established small independent kingdoms along the coasts of Holland, France, England and Germany. They even penetrated into Italy.  

The Norsemen were intelligent and soon learned the languages and gave up the uncivilised ways of early Vikings ( Sea Kings) who were very unwashed and terribly cruel.

Early in the 10^th century AD, a Viking by the name of Rollo repeatedly attacked the coast of France. The King was too weak to protect himself and offered him the province of Normandy so that he would stop that attacks. Rollo then became the Duke of Normandy.

But from there, Rollo’s descendants could see the cliffs of England and they just could not resist the temptation of taking it. At that time, the Saxon (another Germanic tribe) Edward the Confessor was on the throne of England. In 1066 Edward died, immediately William of Normandy crossed the channel, killed the King of England, Harold of Wessex at the battle of Hastings and took the English crown. So, then a Norse pirate has become the King of England.  

Here reality seems stranger than fiction. It made a Norse pirate the King of mighty England. And whoever would believe that those savages would now become the most sophisticated nations of Europe in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. What a transition that was.

 

 

 

RAO BALASARASWATI DEVI-GREAT SINGER WHOSE CAREER WAS CUT SHORT.

 

She was born in the year 1928 at Madras into a Telugu Brahmin family. Her grandfather was an advocate and used to practice at the Madras High Court.

Actress Vijayanirmala is her maternal uncles daughter (mena mamas daughter), and actress Jayasudha is another maternal uncles granddaughter.

She did not study up to any higher class but was taught by an Anglo Indian tutor at home. They had a movie theatre named Ratnamahal at Guntur and therefore they migrated there in the year 1934 when she was just 6 years old.

Due to the influence of her family, she learnt music at a very young age. Her father was proficient in Carnatic music and used to sing while playing on the harmonium. He taught her music from the age of 6 years but she started singing at the age of 4 even before that.

Her education had been in music. For some time she learnt Carnatic music and then her father took her to Bombay and made her a disciple of Vasant Desai for learning Hindustani music. By 1940 when she was just 12 years old, she became proficient in music.

In 1936, their family converted the movie theatre into theatre for plays. They displayed many plays there. Whenever there was an opportunity for a song in any of the plays, Balasaraswati was rendering the songs. When she was just 4 years old, Balasaraswati gave her first performance on stage while someone carried her. At one such occasion HMV company representatives listened to her song and were impressed. They then they signed an agreement with her father and she sung 2 songs for them which gave her a good name in music.

After listening to her singing C.Pullayya gave her an opportunity to act and sing in his film Sati Anasuya in 1935. She was then only 7 years old. For the film she received a remuneration of Rs 200 then. The film also brought her an appreciation for her acting and music. She was the first ever Telugu movie playback singer.

Then in the year 1937 she played the lead role in the Tamil Film “Balayogini”. The film was released in the year 1937 when she was just 9 years old and brought her further appreciation. Her original name was Saraswati Devi and with this film the prefix Bala was added to her name and was made Bala Saraswati. She received a remuneration of Rs 1500 for the film.

Then she acted in the film named “Illalu” produced by Goodavalli Ramabrahmam. In the film she acted as a pair to S.Rajeswarrao who later became a famous music director. They both sang their songs in that film.

In 1941-42 the film Bhakta Tukaram was made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil where she acted as the daughter of Tukaram. She sang in the movie in both the languages. She was just 14 years old then.

The Tamil movie “dancing Girl” with MG Ramachandran in the lead was made between 1940-43. She sang all the songs in the film whose music director was S Rajeswrarao.

In 1944 her family relocated to Madras possibly because she was acting in films. In that year once she went to the Guindy Race course along with her uncle and aunt to watch horse racing. She was then 15 years old. The 4^th son of the Raja of Venkatagiri Rao Pradyumna Krishna Suryarao adopted by the Rani of Kolanka, also came to the races on that day. Some of his horses were also running in the race.

Rao Pradyumna Krishna Suryarao saw her there and came to know about her singing and film acting and his family visited Balasaraswati’s home and said that they came to listen to her singing. After hearing to her, the Raja asked her father for her hand in marriage. He was then 34 years of age and was already married once while she was just 15 years old, but they just could not refuse the proposal and agreed to it.

They got married 1944. Before the marriage the Raja promised her that her singing would go on as before. However, when an article came out in the papers along with her photo praising her singing and acting, he felt insulted and forbade her to sing anymore. However, she went on singing without his knowledge and sang some 2000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Sinhala. She sand many songs pairing with S Rajeswrarao between the years 1940 and 1950. She completely stopped singing from the year 1958.

Both All India Radio Madras in 1944 and All India radio Vijayawada in 1948 have first started with her singing.

Instituted by Raja Rao Pradyumna Krishna Suryarao , the Kolanka Cup is the pride of Madras and also Polo. Made of silver and marvellously carved it stands 6 feet tall and is the tallest sports trophy in the world as per the Guinness Book of World Records. He was adopted by the Rani of Kolanka. He presented the Madras Polo & Riders Club with the Kolanka cup. The last match for the Kolanka cup was played in 1998 and since then, the Kolanka cup was stored.

EXOPLANETS

 

What is an Exoplanet? It is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun.

Till the 1990’s all the planets we knew were in orbit around the Sun. Since the year 1992, astronomers have discovered many Exoplanets. Based on the data at our disposal there could be hundreds of billions of Exoplanets in the Milkyway alone.

The first discovered Exo planets were much bigger than Jupiter and were detected by their gravity tugging the star they orbit. Some were found by light difference in the star when the Exo planet passes between earth and the star they orbit. Most Exo planets we know of are rocky planets much larger than the earth known as super earths or mini Neptunes which are made up of compressed gases. These type of planets do not occur in our solar system, so researchers do not know how different they are from the worlds we know. As of today there are 6022 confirmed Exoplanets in 4490 planetary systems.

About 1 in 5 stars have an earth like planet in the habitable zone. The Milkyway has about 200 billion stars. Based on that there would potentially be 11 billion such planets in our Galaxy.

The nearest Exoplanets discovered are orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun at a distance on 4.2 light years.

Many Exo planet systems are tightly packed with their innermost planet orbiting the star much closer than Mercury does. As of now we do not know why such solar systems are more common in our galaxy and why they are not like ours.

Astronomers have found many Exoplanets in their stars habitable zones; ie those zones where liquid water is likely to exist coupled with proper kind of atmosphere. So far the planets discovered are much larger than earth or the star is much smaller and redder than our Sun which would emanate much less heat. With the methods we are adopting to find Exoplanets, it is much more difficult to find Exoplanets of Earth’s size. Upcoming observations are designed to find Exoplanets with greater sensitivity which would let us see more earth sized worlds allowing us to compare them with our Solar system.

However, more than their size, far more essential is the chemical composition of their atmosphere before we can know if it can support life. So far we could not study the surfaces of Exoplanets. Whatever information we got is when the time the Exoplanet transits its star. Then, the gases of the planet absorbed or emitted by its atmospheric gases astronomers can identify some molecules like water, Oxygen or Methane. But it is a very difficult process because the planets are too small and too far away for allowing us to make any precise observations.

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), is an Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and is a ground based telescope currently under construction at Chile’s Las Campanas Observatory in the Atacama desert. It has an altitude of 2516 Meters. The construction of this telescope would be completed by the year 2030. It is a reflecting telescope and the diameter of the mirror of the telescope would be 1000 inches (25.4 Mtrs) whereas the largest optical telescope ever built till now only has a mirror with a diameter of 406 inches.  This is for observation in optical and mid infrared wavelengths. The GMT would contain 7 of the world’s largest mirrors and its resolving power is 10 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope and 4 times that of the James Webb Space Telescope. However, it would not have the observing power of the Space Telescopes in the infrared region. The GMT would be used to observe a wide range of phenomena including the search for signs of life on Exoplanets and study of the cosmic origin of chemical elements.

Las Campanas has exceptional astronomic seeing conditions and clear weather through much of the year. The area is also very sparsely populated combined with favourable geographical conditions ensures minimal atmospheric and light pollution.

We still have a long way to go in discovering Exoplanets and those among them that are habitable, and it may yet take a long time, but we are on the job.

 

EAST GODAVARI DISTRICT HISTORY PART-I

The Rajahmundry district was created in 1802 which included the current East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur Districts and was a part of the Madras Presidency. From this, the Godavari District was established in 1859 with Kakinada as its headquarters.

This Godavari district was formed by reorganising the Collectorates of Rajahmundry, Masulipatam and Guntur into Godavari and Krishna districts.

East Godavari district is the residuary district of Godavari district when the West Godavari district was separated from it in the year 1925.

Chandragupta Maurya the founder of the Mauryan dynasty, got control of the Empire which included large parts of the Deccan plateau. He was succeeded by his son Bindusara ( 297-272 BC) who conquered the Andhra country lying south of Kalinga. This is corroborated by the works of the poets of the Sangam age. 

Bindusra’s son and successor Ashoka claimed the Andhra’s are one of those who subjected to his authority. The district passed on to the Satavahanas after the fall of the Mauryan dynasty. 

Hala of the Satavahana dynasty led an expedition against Draksharama in 6-7 AD. The rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni (62-86 AD) and Vasishtiputra Pulomavi ( 86-114 AD) & Yajnasri Satakarni ( 128-157 AD) over this district is known through their coins.

Thereafter nothing is known about what happened in the district till the invasion of Samudragupta in 350 AD. At this period the eastern Deccan was cut into a number of minor kingdoms of which 2 belonged to this district; with Pishtapura & Avamukta as capitals. Samudragupta fought with both Mahendra of Pishtapura and Nilaraja of Avamukta. Samudragupta defeated Nilaraja of Avamukta in many battles.

Mahendra of Pishtapura traced his descent from the Magadha dynasty of Mahapadmananda. Avamukta is identified as the upper Godavari region of the district and Pishtapura with the present Pithapuram. 

The continued existence of Pishtapura even after this period is proved by the inscriptions of the subsequent period. 7 Kings of the Mathara Kula whose names ending with Varman and bearing the title Kalingadhipati are known from their inscriptions and their rule went on from 375 AD to 500 AD. The earliest known ruler of this dynasty was Maharaja Saktivarman. He was succeeded by Ananta Saktivarman. Later these kings had a fight with the Simhapura (Srikakulam) kingdom, conquered it and moved over to the North.

In the 1^st Quarter of the 5^th century AD the kingdom fell into the hands of Vishnukundins under Vikramendavarma I. Their dominion extended over Visakhapatnam, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and East Godavari districts. The greatest of the 9 Vishnukundin kings was Madhavavarma I. 

One Ranadurjaya was allowed to rule the Pishtapura kingdom as a vassal by these kings. Ranadurjaya was succeeded by his son Vikramendra (whom he named after his benefactor) who was followed by his son Pruthvimaharaja.

Later the area of Pishtapura was conquered by Raja Anantavarman of Vasishta kula. This was resisted by the Vishnukundin king Indrabhattaraka who defeated them and restored back the kingdom.

The early Gangas of Kalinga who were just then becoming stronger enlisted the help of all the kings defeated earlier by Indrabhattaraka  and he was not only routed in this battle, he also lost his life. With this defeat, the Vishnukundin power was extinguished in Visakhapatnam and Godavari districts. His successor Vishnukundin kings tried to regain the lost territory of Kalinga but to no avail.

In the meantime the Durjayas pushed out the Vishnukundins from Vengivishaya ( Eluru). However, their rule was rather brief as Pulakesin II of the Western Chalukyas of Badami attacked Pishtapura and reduced it to submission. In a token of appreciation of his contribution of his brother Kubjavishnu, Pulakesin II granted him the newly conquered territories of the East including Pishtapura. The Eastern Chalukyan dynasty founded by Kubjavishnu ruled from Pishtapura and not from Vengi. This was later shifted to Vengi and then to Rajahmundry by the Eastern Chalukyas.   

The kingdom of Vengi at its greatest extent comprised the area between the Mahendra mountains (Eastern Ghats) in Kalinga to Manneru river in Nellore. Its western boundary ran along the foot of the Eastern Ghats.

Nothing is known about the early Chalukyas till we come to Bhima I (892-921 AD) who has built the Shiva Temple at Draksharama.  

After that there was a civil war for power in the Eastern Chalukya kingdom and Amma I was victorious in the war and ruled the kingdom for 7 years. There were continuous attacks by the Rashtrakutas on Vengi (near Eluru) and therefore Amma I laid the foundation stone of Rajahmundry on the other side of the Godavari. However, this foundation does not have any historical evidence and it might have taken place during the time of the Chalukya Kings Vijayaditya and Rajaraja who succeeded Amma I. One thing is certain; any of these 3 kings laid the foundation stone for Rajahmundry. Tradition points to Rajaraja and therefore we can accept that.

Amma I was succeeded by his son Vijayaditya V who was deposed just 15 days after accession. He took refuge at Pithapuram where he founded a dynasty.

In 973 AD the Eastern Chalukyan ruler Danarnava was killed and Vengi was occupied by Jata Choda Bheema of Pedakallu in Kurnool district. He ruled from 973 AD to 1000 AD. 

The 2 sons of Danarnava Saktivarman I and Vimaladitya fled and took refuge with Rajaraja Chola I who was waiting for an opportunity extend his influence over the coastal area. He gave his daughter Kundavai in marriage to the younger Vimaladitya and invaded Vengi during the year 999-1000 with the idea of restoring Saktivarman I to the throne of Vengi. In the war Jatachoda Bheema was killed and the Kingdom of Vengi became a vassal of Rajaraja I.

However, this Ascenscion of the Cholas at Vengi in this fashion was not liked by Satyasraya the ruler of the Western Chalukyas at Kalyani and for the next 135 years there were intermittent wars between the Western Chalukyas and Cholas. In the process, the Eastern Chalukyas themselves seem to have receded into the background. During the rein of Rajadhiraja I, the Cholas seem to have lost Vengi and also a portion of Kalinga to the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani.

During the rule of Vijayaditya VII, the last king of the Eastern Chalukyas, the Vengi kingdom was invaded by Chedi King of Dahala, Yasahkarnadeva in 1073 AD.  He bestowed gifts to the temple at Draksharama. With the death of Vijayaditya VII in the war in 1075AD, the Eastern Chalukyan dynasty ended and Vengi became a part of the Chola Empire.                 

NEW INTERSTELLAR OBJECT-ATLAS/31

A new Comet known as 31/ATLAS ( Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System) is approaching the solar system.....this was spotted by Astronomers on 1st of July....

So many comets appear and disappear but the thing that is special about this comet is that it does not belong to our solar system and is coming into it from interstellar space....which means it is from another star.....till now our telescopes had an opportunity to view only 2 such objects from close quarters and they are the Comet "Oumuamua" in the year 2017 and 21/Borisov discovered in the year 2019.....that makes it only the 3rd interstellar object entering our solar system...

This would give our Astronomers a good opportunity to study an object from another star and not the sun ....

The comet is travelling in a hyperbolic orbit which would carry it away from our solar system and it is therefore once in a lifetime event....it is travelling at a speed of 58 Km/Sec relative to the Sun...it only has a diameter of about 1Km...its closest approach to the Sun would be on 29th October at which time it would be at a distance of over 20 crore Km from the Sun...

We say relative to the Sun because the entire Universe is in motion and only the relative speeds of such an interstellar object can be measured.....

Our earth revolves around the Sun and so does the entire solar system.....in turn the Solar system revolves around the centre of our Galaxy the Milky Way at a speed of 230 Km/Sec....

The Milky Way Galaxy in turn is in turn moving at a speed of about 580 Km/Sec.....also it is continuously expanding....

So in the Universe everything is in relative motion and the speed of any object can be measured only by reference to a particular point....we take that relative point as the Sun because that is valid for us to perceive....