History writing, particularly from the post-Independence period onwards, has been dominated by a set of historians who have successfully propelled fictitious narratives on the history of Bharat.
This group of historians sought to undermine the merit of credible works written by those historians who studied the history of Bharat from a more constructive point of view, focusing on the glorious Hindu civilization and the kingdoms that upheld the principles of Hindu dharma. The agenda-driven histories written from the 1950s onwards completely sabotaged the history of Bharat. Such histories were written from a Eurocentric point of view, by historians who were influenced by Western philosophies and ideologies, and hence, the sole purpose of such works was to highlight the "degenerate nature" of the Hindu civilization and highlight the "revolutionary" changes introduced by Islam in the Indian subcontinent. Focussing on the class-caste divide in Bharat, these historians applauded the Muslim Sultans for introducing what they termed "upward social mobility". Problematic as the term and its context may be, it gained wide currency and several historians used this theory for justifying Islamic rule in Bharat. These historians also highlighted the merit of Islamic rule by underlining the structural and administrative institutions introduced by the Islamic rulers who were not projected as outsiders in their works but as people who were ordained to rule over the Hindus-a meek and submissive populace who hardly challenged the Islamic invasions. This myth found a place in school textbooks, as it did in the books prescribed at the higher education level, with most of the works recommended by universities belonging to historians who conceptualized and propagated false notions about Hindu kingdoms and glorified the Islamic rulers.
A deeper analysis of the period between the early 8th and early 16th centuries, prior to the Mughal invasion, throws light on the political turmoil affected by the forcible capturing of power by Islamic invaders. Much to the chagrin of the agenda-driven historians, this period was anything but a period of peace and tranquillity, it was indeed a period marked by massacres, forced conversions, desecration of temples, construction of mosques on the site of temples, the humiliation of Hindu women and girls, imposition of unfair taxes (sanctioned by the Sharia) on the Hindus, among other ignoble deeds perpetrated by the Islamic invaders who wanted to convert Bharat into "Dar-ul-Islam" (House of Islam). An architectural work which speaks volumes about this motive is the Quwwat-ul-Islam (Sanctuary of Islam) mosque in Delhi-a mosque built on the ruins of 27 Hindu and Jain temples that were destroyed by the Islamic marauders. Another one is the Adhai Din ka Jhopra mosque in Ajmer, which was also built by using building materials from Hindu temples that were destroyed by the Ghurid forces. There are numerous other examples of temple desecration and the construction of mosques on the sites where lofty temples once existed.
The term "Bharat" is an ancient term used for what is now known as "India". Bharat the oldest word used to describe the geographical expanse of the region finds mention in the Rig Veda in the context of the Bharata tribe, an early Vedic tribe, first mentioned in the third mandala of the Rig Veda and later mentioned in the seventh mandala in connection with the Battle of Ten Kings, fought between a king of the Bharata tribe and a confederation of other tribes. The Mahabharata mentions Emperor Bharata as the ancestor of the Kurus and the kingdom he ruled over as Bharat. In the present context, the use of the phrase "India, that is Bharat" in Article 1 of the Constitution of India is also a recognition of the ancient origins and civilizational legacy of our nation.
Another term used for defining the geographical boundaries of Bharat is "Hindustan". This term was first used by the Persians who invaded Bharat in the ancient period. The Old Persian equivalent of Sindhu (Indus River in Sanskrit) is "Hindu", therefore, the "Sapta Sindhu" is mentioned as "Hapta Hindu" in the Zend Avesta-the Holy Book of the Zoroastrians. Later, the Arabs referred to this territory as "Al-Hind". Both these terms were derived from the Sindhu River-the perimeter dividing the land of the Hindus, who lived across the river Indus and followed a religion, Hinduism, different from that of those who wished to conquer it. The word "India", deriving its etymology from the Greek term "Indus" (used for the Sindhu), began to be used commonly in the English language in the 17th century in reference to the geographical region, which eventually came under British rule and remained so until 1947. The term "India" can, therefore, be understood as a colonial relic and Bharat essentially stands for the real nation. In this book, I refer to the term Bharat frequently, though the modern term "India" (particularly, while referring to the Indian mainland and Indian subcontinent) is also used in several places.
The political and religio-cultural history of Bharat is as unique as its name. Geographically, the Kingdom of Kapisa in Afghanistan, extending from the Hindu Kush in the north to Bamiyan in the south, Kandahar in the west, and modern-day Jalalabad in the cast, was the northern most frontier of Bharat. Gandhara, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas of ancient times, in present-day north-western Pakistan, extending over parts of north-eastern Afghanistan, was an important kingdom of the ancient period, with its core being the areas of modern-day Peshawar and the Swat Valley. Apart from these two frontier kingdoms in the north, Akhand Bharat or "Undivided India" comprised all territories of modern-day Pakistan, present-day Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka; Nepal and Bhutan; Myanmar, Maldives, and Tibet. An expansive geography, political unity, and cultural diversity were the key elements of the unified Bharat, which existed from ancient times. The peace and prosperity of this region were disrupted on numerous occasions during the ancient period, including the Persian invasions which took place between the 6th century BCE and 4th century BCE, with the first raid being conducted under King Cyrus the Great of Persia, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, who invaded the areas lying west of the Indus Valley. The Persian invasions continued under successive kings, and in 518 CE, King Darius crossed the Himalayas and annexed territories up to the Jhelum River in Punjab.
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