Prologue continues.....

The last powerful Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was an antithesis of Akbar. He was fanatic and cruel. He imprisoned his own father, Shahjahan, in the Agra fort where he died a prisoner. His fanaticism led him to resort to all kinds of repressive measures against the Hindus. Pandit Nehru writes in The Discovery of India:

“A bigot and an austere puritan, he was no lover of art or literature. He infuriated the great majority of his subjects by poll tax on Hindus and destroying many of their temples.”

After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal empire virtually collapsed. The invasion of Nadir Shah from Persia in 1739 completed that process. Nadir Shah, too, went on a killing spree. He plundered and carried away an enormous amount of treasure including the fabled Peacock

Throne. Nadir Shah was perhaps the last Asian conqueror who had a large

amount of the blood of innocent Indians on his hands.

This prolonged nightmare of bloody invasions led to the enslavement

of the country for centuries. The invaders inflicted unspeakable cruelties

on the people. They slaughtered them and plundered their wealth. Their savagery perhaps had no parallel in history. They razed to the ground all visible symbols of civilization. Great centres of learning like Nalanda and Takshasila universities, which attracted scholars from across the world, were burnt down. Historians say that the libraries of these universities kept burning for months. The scale of destruction was horrendous. Delhi often witnessed rivers of blood flowing in its streets. It is a strange paradox that a country fabled as an ancient civilization and one that had enlightened mankind with great philosophical thoughts and insights and also had a professional warrior class could easily be defeated by foreign invaders, many of whom came with small armies. Indian civilization was facing its moment of truth.

To be continued....