Re: Heroes from your own Land
The Vikramaditya you mentioned lived in 1BC in Ujjain and he was famous for the 9 gems or navaratna in his court..
1. Kalidas: Author of the great epic, ‘Shakuntala’, great poet, dramatist and the most prominent scholar of Sanskrit language.
2. Amarnath: Author of ‘Sanskrit Amarkosh’
3. Shapanak: Prominent Astrologist who had achieved mastery in Astrology.
4. Dhanvantri: A Doctor who had achieved mastery in the science of medicine; one who was an expert in diagnosis and one who could prescribe different treatments for a single disease.
5. Varruchi: Expert Linguist and an expert in Grammar
6. Varahmihir: Author of famous epic, ‘Bruhatsahita’ and mastery in Astrology.
7. Ghatakpar: Expert in sculpture and architecture.
8. Shanku: Expert in Geography (This name is even well known today in the field of geography in India)
9. Vetalbhadra : Expert in black magic & tantric sciences
I was talking about Vikramaditya II.
He was the ruler of the Chalukya Dynasty and is famous for stopping the Arabs from entering the Deccan. If not for him, South India would have gone the Sindh way.
In the early years of Vikramaditya's reign, Arab invaders who had established themselves in the Sindh made a push into the Deccan. Vikramaditya II's relative Avanijanashraya Pulakesisimhavarman was the governor of the Lata branch (Gujarat) fought and stopped them in 739 CE and was conferred the title of Avanijanasraya (refuge of the people of the earth).
The Rashtrakuta King Dandivarma or Dantidurga also fought along the Chalukyas against the Arabs.
He is also famous for his compassion inspite of his military prowess... atleast for the timeperiod he was born in.
When he conquered Kanchipuram and entered the city victorious, he ensured that the residents of the city were not harmed nor were the beautiful monuments destroyed (from inscription - Kanchim avinasya pravisya).
The bounties of war were also returned,Unlike many conquering kings, Vikramaditya behaved in a very honorable way and showed consideration towards both the inhabitants and the city.
Many donations were made to local Brahmins and gifts given to the weak and the forlorn citizens.
Bothe Kings were heros in their own right.
Re: Heroes from your own Land
Another one is Krishna Deva Raya of the Vijayanagar empire who reigned from 1509-1529.
He became the dominant ruler of the peninsula of India by defeating the Sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Raja of Odisha.
He was the most powerful of all the rulers of India during his time and had the most extensive empire in the subcontinent.
During his reign he kept a strict control over his ministers who were severely punished for any misdeeds.
He abolished some of the obnoxious taxes.To increase the revenue he brought new lands under cultivation.
A large-scale work to obtain water for irrigation around Vijayanagar was also undertaken by him.
He was tolerant of all religions and showed respect towards Islam and Christianity.
Foreign travelers such as Paes, Nunez and Barbosa who visited Vijayanagar speak highly of the efficiency of administration and prosperity of the people during his reign.
In spite of his preoccupations with the defense and reorganization of the territories conquered by him, he founded a new town called Nagalapur.
The Portuguese Chronicler Domingo Paes summarises the king's attitude to matters of law and order by the sentence, "The king maintains the law by killing." Offences against property (designed to maintain stability) and for murder ranged from cutting of a foot and hand for theft and beheading for murder (except for those occurring as a result of duel).
Paes could not estimate the size of Vijaynagar as his view was obscured by the hills but estimated the city to be at least as large as Rome.
Furthermore, he considered Vijaynagar to be "the best provided city in the world" with a population of not less than a half a million. The empire was divided into a number of provinces often under members of the royal family and into further subdivisions.
Sewe remarks that Krishna Deva Raya was not only a monarch de jure, but he was also a de facto sovereign with extensive powers and strong personal influence. With the active cooperation of Prime Minister Timmarusu he administered the Kingdom well, maintained peace in the land and increased the prosperity of the people
Krishnadevaraya was the opinion that the King should always rule with an eye towards Dharma. His concern for the welfare of the people is amply proved by his extensive annual tours all over the empire, during which he studied everything personally and tried to redress the grievances of the people and to punish the evil doers. With regard to the promotion of the economic progress of his people, Krishnadevaraya says:" The extent of the kingdom is the means for the acquisition of wealth.Therefore even if the land is limited in extent, excavate tanks and canals and increase the prosperity of the poor by leasing him the land for low ari and koru, so that you may obtain wealth as well as religious merit."
Paes praises Krishna Deva Raya as, “the most feared and perfect King… a great ruler and a man of much justice”. Though a follower of Vaishnavism he showed respect to all sects, and petty religious prejudices never influenced him, either in granting gifts or in his choice of companions and officers. According to Barbosa, “The King allows such freedom that every man may come and go, live according to his own creed, without suffering any annoyance”.
The Indian mathematician Nilakantha Somayaji also lived in the Empire of Krishnadevaraya.He was parton of Science and literature and has written litarary works to his name as well.
Re: Heroes from your own Land
Sikh General Hari Singh Nalwa, I also like his rival and pathan commander Akhbar khan sadozai and his fahter Dost Mohammad Khan :)
I remember reading about him in Amar Chitra Katha's as a kid and later in highschool history. Him and Ranjit Singh. They were some of my favourite heroes. I also remember reading that he had peshwa lineage though one of his grandmothers who was in the area during the battle of Panipat but not sure how true those claims are. Isin't Haripur named after Nalwa?
Re: Heroes from your own Land
Heroes, who are they, villains for opponents!!! My hero may be villain or looter for somebody else and vice versa!!! so who would determine who would stand as hero and who as a looser, historian stood with the winners and rightly so!!! if the looser had enough brain and tactics, he wouldn't be a looser, how can one can be called hero if he cannot defend its homeland successfully from a foreign invader who is out of his home ground and have (relatively) limited access to the resources he may need to conquer???
Tipu Sultan comes to mind, his father successfully founded the Sultanate and guarded it from all the enemies, Haider Ali, didn't only defended it but increased the size of his sultanate and have managed to keep his enemy forming alliance against him, his Successor, Tipu Sultan, however miserably failed to do so, and under his nose, all his Generals began to believe that he may not be able to win it and joined his enemies... and defeated Tipu... stupid the Tipu was, before the final battle of Maisur, he knew about the generals and was told to leave the ground to fight another day... like any looser and egoistic person, he fought with the same SOLD-OUT Generals and lost...
there is reason historians stood with the invaders, not all invasions are successful e.g. Hajaj bin Yousaf sent two campaigns before Mohammad Bin Qassim invaded Sindh, the 1st two were defeats by the locals and are lost in history, doesn't matter how bravely the invaders fought.. they lost it hence lost in the history...
Re: Heroes from your own Land
Who are heros? Any 2 bit king ,tyrant, militant can plunder,loot and destroy either their own land or somebody elses. While military success and prowess and expanding the empire is admirable,it is how they treat the conquered and the opressed in their lands and others that should be noted. Even more than conquerers, it is those who successfully defend, maintain and bring peace and prosperity to their dominions who are the true heros either today or in the days gone by. Everybody and anybody can break but not everybody can build.
Re: Heroes from your own Land
Umra khan , chief of jandool (bajaur) who was called "napolean of pathans" by british (perhaps mockingly). He first conquered entire bajaur, parts of kunar and then captured dir. In 1895 he crossed lowari pass with his lashkar to capture chitral. In response british sent a large force to save chitral in their famous expedition of chitral 1895. He also came into conflict with afghanistan by capturing kunar valley.
Hero in the sense that he wanted to create a pashtun state and expel british, he was critic of swat for being crony of british raj.
Re: Heroes from your own Land
Haji sahib of Turangzai, a pashtun freedom fighter and social reformer (1855-1837). Fought in 1897 revolt against british. Worked togather with bacha khan and founded 120 "azad" schools. Inagurated islamia college. Till his death, he established his base in mohmand, where he launched numerous attacks on british forces
One of the founding members of the P.P.P