https://archive.org/details/patellife00rajm https://www.ndtv.com/video/news/the-buck-stops-here/is-mahatma-gandhi-still-relevant-456100 https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/why-gandhi-still-matters-rajmohan-gandhi-tells-over-an-austere-meal/article18478186.ece https://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/gandhi-articles/why-gandhi-still-matters.php https://archive.org/details/gandhimanhispeop0000gand Dharma is a key component of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, and in one form or another the underpinning of all major Indian religious systems. The Hindu Dharma itself encompasses various schools of thought (Vedism, Sanatana / eternal Dharma, Samkhya, Vaiseshika, Mimamsa, Dvaita, Advaita, Visishtadvaita, Saivism, Bhakti Movement, Sakta, Vaishnavism) and is not monolithic. The very name, Hinduism, was given to the religion of the people of Hindustan by foreigners. Unfortunately, in North India, Sanatana / eternal Dharma (at its core consider priest caste sitting the apex of social order) is equated with Hinduism, while ignoring the various other schools that exist in other parts of India. Sanatana Hindu Dharma is certainly not Manusmriti which is riddled with socio- cultural discriminations. "What is Sanathani Hindu," authored by Mahatma Gandhi and originally published in Young India on October 6, 1921, and later included in "What is Hinduism" by Gandhi Ji. Gandhian dharma is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of Mohandas Gandhi, the architect of modern democratic India. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of non-violent resistance (Ahimsa), sometimes also called civil resistance (Satyagraha). The pillars of Gandhi's humanist dharma are self-determination, universal progress, truth and non-violence. Hinduism tells everyone to worship God according to his own dharma or religion or faith, and so it lives at peace with all. I have no desire to be called a Sanatani Hindu or any other if I am not such. It is therefore necessary for me once for all distinctly to give my meaning of Sanatana Hinduism. I call myself a Sanatani Hindu, because, 1. I believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and all that goes by the name of Hindu scriptures, and therefore in avatar as and rebirth. Every Hindu believes in God and his oneness, in rebirth and salvation. I have purposely refrained from using the word divine origin in reference to the Vedas or any other scriptures. For I do not believe in the exclusive divinity of the Vedas. I believe the Bible, the Quran, and the Zend Avesta to be as much divinely inspired as the Vedas. My belief in the Hindu scriptures does not require me to accept every word and every verse as divinely inspired. 2. I believe in the varnaskrama dharma in a sense, in my opinion, strictly Vedic but not in its present popular and crude sense. I believe that our present knowledge of these books is in a most chaotic state. I believe implicitly in the Hindu aphorism, that no one truly knows the shastras who have not attained perfection in Innocence (ahimsa), Truth (satya) and Self-control (brahmacharya) and who has not renounced all acquisition or possession of wealth. 3. I believe in the protection of the cow in its much larger sense than the popular. A religion that establishes the worship of the cow cannot possibly countenance or wan-ant a cruel and inhuman boycott of human beings. And I should be content to be torn to pieces rather than disown the suppressed classes. Hindus will certainly never deserve freedom, nor get it, if they allow their noble religion to be disgraced by the retention of the taint of untouchability. And as I love Hinduism dearer than the life itself, the taint has become for me an intolerable burden. Let us not deny God by denying to a fifth of our race the right of association on an equal footing. I have never been able to reconcile myself to untouchability. I have always regarded it as an excrescence. It is true that it has been handed down to us from generations, but so are many evil practices even to this day. I should be ashamed to think that dedication of girls to virtual prostitution was a part of Hinduism. Yet, it is practised by Hindus in many parts of India. 4. I do not disbelieve in idol-worship. I am a reformer through and through. But my zeal never takes me to the rejection of any of the essential things of Hinduism. I have said I do not disbelieve in idol-worship. An idol does not excite any feeling of veneration in me. But I think that idol-worship is part of human nature. We hanker after symbolism. Why should one be more composed in a church than elsewhere? Images are an aid to worship. No Hindu considers an image to be God. I do not consider idol-worship a sin. I know the vice that is going on today in all the great Hindu shrines, but I love them in spite of their unspeakable failings. There is an interest which I take in them and which I take in no other. There is an alternative idea of India by RSS (formed by K. B. Hedgewar "Doctorji" due to the Hindu-Muslim Malabar riots of 1921) ideologues, the so-called "real" hyper-nationalists Savarkar & Golwalkar that came as a reaction to Jinnah who promoted the awakening of Muslims in India for the creation of Pakistan. The foundation was not against the British rule but against the Muslims. Unlike many revolutionaries of that time or the Indian National Army, for many decades RSS 'cultural' organisation (which had a paramilitary wing has become the custodians Sanatan / eternal Dharma) was very careful to remain far away from politics and didn't participate in the 'Quit India' freedom movement. Ironically, gatekeepers of Sanatan / eternal Dharma resist/reject any reforms as they feel it would be an act of insult, yet accepts the evil of caste system (where the priest caste sits at the apex of social order). RSS rejected Gandhi's "muslim appeasement" to co-operate with the Muslims. China too considers Islamism “virus” a mental disease that can be cured. "We have found that ideas which were by no means acceptable when coming from your agents in Europe were accepted at once with the greatest delight when it was proved that they were latent in Islam." ~ Melkum Khan, an Armenian Iranian and the first Christian to adopt the title of 'Mirza' in Persian. Muhammad Ali Jinnah had assured all the atypical sects that Pakistan will be a non-sectarian modern Muslim nation. However, if you establish a country for Muslims, the question of who is a true Muslim emerges, because of long sectarian animosities, should not be surprising. In the 1950s, it was the Ahmadis who faced the charges of holding beliefs subversive of true Islam. They were finally declared non-Muslims by Pakistan’s National Assembly in 1974. The Shia-Sunni conflict emerged in the wake of Gen Zia ul-Haq (Sunni) capturing power in Pakistan, the Ayatollahs in Iran (Shia) and Saudi Arabia (Sunni) challenging the Iranian bid to capture the leadership of the Muslim world. What followed was sectarian radicalisation of Shias and Sunnis.
There were Christians in Kerala several centuries before there were Christians in Europe. Unlike their northern counterparts, the Moplah Muslims of Malabar speak Malayalam, not Urdu—besides, no one can accuse them of an identification with invaders or interlopers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq4G-7v-_xI One of the oldest civilizations of the World is the Indus Valley or Harappan Civilization in 600 BCE by non-Vedic Proto-Dravidians. During the Bronze Age, the name of this land was coined as India, which was derived directly from the name of the western border river, Sindhu or (as the Persians called it) Indu. The people of this region were known as Meluhha. The Sindhu river origin is in the Himalayan glacier, (near Bokhar Chu & Lake Mapam) in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar. However, if you are from North India, then maybe it's easy to believe that the geographic boundaries of modern India is same (compared to the time when Puranas were composed) as the empire of Bharata (meaning, brother) Chakravarti of Chandra (lunar) dynasty. It is said that he was the ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Rigveda mentions a war known as the war of ten kings, which was fought between the ten powerful tribes to overthrow King Sudasa of the Bharata tribe on the banks of Ravi River in Punjab. Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu also use the term Bharata, but Shaiva in South India (& Advaitis) are anti Sanatana Dharma. "India was Bharata, the holy land of the Hindus, and it is not without significance that the great places of Hindu pilgrimage are situated in the four corners of India — the extreme South overlooking Ceylon, the extreme West washed by the Arabian Sea, the East facing the Bay of Bengal and the North in the Himalayas." I believe, 'India' is for people looking to the future, while 'Bharat' is for people stuck in the delusions of the past dogma. India is already called Bharat in the Constitution itself. The name 'Bharat' wasn't there in the first draft of India's Constitution, introduced by the chairman of the drafting committee, B. R. Ambedkar. However, some like HV Kamath preferred the name Bharat over India.
The region of Greater Magadha (modern Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh) had a culture and belief system of its own that predated Hinduism. The existence of Magadha is recorded in Vedic texts much earlier in time than 600 BC. The importance of Magadha's culture can be seen in that Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism adopted some of its features. Nanda Empire originated from Magadha in ancient India (during 4th century BC to 345-321 BC) and was mentioned in the two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. "Nanda-raja", the kingslayer, was "of unknown lineage" and a lover to one of the queens. A fish-god avatar helped King Manu (Shraddhadeva) of the Dravida Kingdom saved people and the 7 great Vedic sages from the great flood by getting them on ships to safety. Manu is considered the progenitor of humanity. Kashyapa sage is regarded as one of the progenitors of humanity. The Prajapati Daksha gave his thirteen daughters in marriage to Kashyapa Rishi (Rishi = Same), son of Marichi (who was one of the 10 sons of the Creator/Brahma/Universe). Thus, Kashyapa is the father of the Devas, Asuras and Nagas. Vedic 'Asura' (meaning, demon) linguistically corresponds to Avestan's (Old Persian) 'Ahura' (meaning, lord), as in the name of A[h]uramazdā, while Vedic 'Deva' (meaning, god) corresponds to daiva/Avestan's (Old Persian) 'daēuua' (meaning, demon). During pre-RigVeda period, India was ruled among the 10 Great Tribes of Manu (Shraddhadeva), out of which very little is known about 8 of these Great Tribes, which includes non-Aryan Yadu in the south-east and Turvasawere in the south-west of BharataPurus (both were almost always referred to as a pair). Further east and south of BharataPurus were the Austric and Dravidian language speaking people.
The first of the historical Shraddhadeva battles, even before the "Battle of the Ten Kings" (Dasharajna battle), was the Battle of Hariyupiya on the banks of Hariyupiya and Yavyavati sister tributaries. Shrikant G. Talageri identified the Drishadvati river with the Hariyupiya and Yavyavati sister tributaries. In the Mahabharata, Soma refers to the Moon so Soma dynasty = Lunar dynasty. In the Mahabharata, Magadha is the mightiest kingdom in the country, stronger even than the Kurus-Panchal (of whom the epic is all about). Buddhist, Jain, and Puranic traditions all state that there were 9 Nanda kings i.e. Mahapadma and his sons (eight brothers). They were hugely unpopular on account of high rates of taxation imposed on the populace despite their military might. One of the earliest references to Magadha is in the epic Mahabharata, where we see the entire Yadava clan abandoning their homeland on the Gangetic plains to migrate south-westwards towards the desert-ocean land to avoid constant battles with their eastern neighbour, Magadha. In 326 BCE, when Alexander the Great was camped at the river Hyphasis (modern Beas) on the westernmost part of India, his army mutinied; they refused to march further east when they heard about the great army of Magadha kingdom. After Alexander left for Greece, the departure created a power vaccuum in western India. Chandragupta Maurya stepped into this vaccuum, subjugated these kingdoms, and then entered Pataliputra and killed the Nanda king. The Empire later extended over most of South Asia under King Ashoka, who was at first known as 'Ashoka the Cruel' but later became a disciple of Buddhism and became known as 'Dharma Ashoka'. Mauryan empire (during 322 BC to 185 BC), one of the largest Iron Age empires of the world, rose during the disruptions and civil wars in the wake of the withdrawal westward by Alexander the Great ‘s Greek armies. The Seleucid Empire tried and failed to reconquer the northwestern part of the Maurya Empire during the Seleucid-Mauryan war, from 305-303 BCE. excerpts from The Theft of India by Roy Moxham The southern Hindus and the northern Muslims were often at war with each other. Horses were essential for the armies of the Indian rulers. Very few good horses, however, were bred in India and there was a large trade in Arab imports. Goa was one of the finest harbours in the world, protected from storms and easily defensible. Those who voluntarily brought horses to be sold at Goa and those who purchased horses there were given customs concessions on their other cargoes. The strongest resistance to the Portuguese came from Calicut. In 1506, many of these Arab traders, fearful of the Portuguese, sold up the long-established businesses they had in the Zamorin’s domain. The Portuguese were the dominant power in the Indian Ocean for a century. The Portuguese reserved certain monopolies, such as that on spices, to themselves. The only major challenge came in 1538 from a Turkish fleet, which the Portuguese defeated. Albuquerque’s policy of being helpful to the Vijayanagar kings proved extremely useful to the Portuguese. Vijayanagar forced Adil Shah out of much of the mainland adjacent to Goa and then encouraged the Portuguese to occupy it. The Portuguese were then able, by backing one of the contestants for the throne of the Adil Shahs, to obtain a formal treaty giving them the territories of Bardez and Salcete. These acquisitions more than quadrupled the area of Goa. Outside the city of Old Goa, 30 village communities continued to administer themselves much as before. 2,000 Portuguese a year came out to India (however, few Portuguese women came to India.) Many did not even survive the journey out and mortality in India was dreadful. At the end of the sixteenth century, the population of Old Goa was about 75,000. The men took concubines – some of whom they married – and women slaves. Goa relied on a huge population of slaves. A relatively low-ranking Portuguese might have had twenty slaves. It was a favourite destination for the illegitimate sons of the aristocracy. Those who survived often did make their fortunes, for Goa was the hub of the Portuguese empire and accumulating money was easy. The Catholic Church did all it could to aid the Portuguese conquest. Great difficulties were encountered in finding enough men to crew the ships and man the army. Convicts were allowed to work out their sentences in the Colonial Army. They also received free indulgences from the church so that, if they were to die, their passage to heaven would be all the swifter. In 1540, proselytisation began in earnest with the destruction of all Hindu temples. The following year the Church expropriated all temple land. The lake temple and its idols were demolished. In 1542, the first Jesuit arrived at Goa. In one month the charismatic Francis Xavier was said to have converted over 10,000 villagers in southern Malabar. Francis Xavier died off the coast of China in 1552. Before Francis Xavier died, he asked the Pope to establish the Inquisition in Goa. The Inquisition investigated 16,172 cases before it was abolished for the first time in 1774. It was revived in a modified, less draconian form, in 1778 before being finally abolished in 1812. Most of its records were destroyed – probably deliberately. There were also converted Muslims and Jews. Many Hindus had converted to Christianity and mass baptisms on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul became a feature of life in Goa. Some Hindus, particularly from the oppressed lower castes, converted voluntarily. Some Hindus, since land could only be inherited by those who could prove they were the offspring of a Christian marriage, encouraged some of their family to convert. Many of these converts to Christianity kept some of their old customs and beliefs. It is not possible to calculate either how many ‘heretics’ were burnt at the stake or the much greater number that died in the dungeons. After the Vijayanagar Empire was overrun by the Muslims in 1565, the Muslim rulers united to attack the Portuguese forts. This culminated in a ten-month siege of Goa in 1570. The Portuguese survived and continued to control much of the Indian Ocean and much of the spice trade. During the 16th century, the Portuguese built an extraordinary number of factories and forts in India. These forts were there to protect the factories and enforce a monopoly on the purchase of spices and other designated goods. Many were huge and had large garrisons. Working in coordination with the Portuguese navy, these forts were able to monitor virtually all shipping arriving and departing from India’s ports. They enforced the rule that all ships on the Indian Ocean must carry a Portuguese permit, a cartaz. Finding men for its ships, was not easy for a country such as Portugal, which had a population of only 1 million. Portuguese were ploughing many of their resources into the development of Brazil. Despite its control of the high seas, the Portuguese failed to achieve total control over the spice trade from Venice. All this was set to change with the arrival of the Dutch and the British. The strongest resistance to the Portuguese came from Calicut. After early efforts to effect a truce with the Portuguese, the Zamorins of Calicut became their greatest adversaries. In this, they were helped by a dynasty of able naval commanders, the Kunjali Marakkars. The Kunjali Marakkars were Moplas, local Muslims, who had become rich merchants. Unlike the foreign Muslims, they were keen to resist the Portuguese. They offered their services to the Hindu Zamorin, became the admirals of his fleet and began to harass Portuguese shipping. The old Zamorin died. His successor was more sympathetic to the Portuguese, thinking he could come to an arrangement with them. He concluded a treaty with Albuquerque and allowed the Portuguese to build a fort at Calicut. All went well until the death of Albuquerque. The Portuguese then began to violate the terms of their treaty. They used force to obtain preference for their spice exports and they also seized some Indian vessels. In 1522, this Zamorin who was friendly to the Portuguese died. The new Zamorin instructed his navy to attack the Portuguese. The Kunjali Marakkars and in particular one of their captains, Kutti Ali, did this to great effect. Realising that they could not compete on equal terms with the Portuguese warships, the Zamorin’s commanders built large numbers of small boats, rowed by thirty or forty men, to make guerrilla attacks. Bags of cotton were hung over the sides of the boats to give some protection from small arms fire. The heavy cannon of the Portuguese were designed to attack ships similar to their own and they found it difficult to pinpoint the smaller vessels. Even a successful hit only disabled one boat in a swarm. The Indians hid hundreds of these little boats along the Malabar Coast. They posted lookouts on vantage points to spot Portuguese shipping that came close to the shore. An elaborate signalling system was established to link these points with each other and with the flotillas of boats below. The Portuguese were particularly vulnerable when the winds dropped. The Indian boats would be rowed out at speed to the becalmed warships. They would send fire arrows into the enemy’s sails, then board on all sides. The Portuguese would usually be heavily outnumbered and cut to pieces by the Indian swordsmen. Sometimes the Indians were victorious in battle; sometimes the Portuguese. The battles between the Portuguese and the Zamorin’s admirals, the Marakkars, went on until the late 16th century. Towards the close of that century, however, relations between the Zamorins and the Marakkars deteriorated. Mohammed Kunjali Marakkar then overreached himself. He began to operate independently of the Zamorin and finally declared himself Raja of Kotta. The Portuguese saw their opportunity and began negotiations with the Zamorin to launch a joint attack on Kotta. By combining with the Portuguese to defeat Marakkar, the Zamorin secured his own eclipse. The last great power to oppose the Portuguese on the coast of Malabar no longer had an effective navy. Note: Christians of Kerela Churches Syrian-Malabar Nazarani (or Saint Thomas) Christians of the East have a Hebrew or Israelite (Jewish) heritage but their past is hazy, making it difficult to ascertain their exact origins. Most of the Nasranis might be mixed of Indian, Jewish west-Asian Semitic ancestry through proven historic and genetic evidence. Cranganore (coastline of Mangalapuram to Kodungallur) became one of the earliest settlements of the Jewish diaspora from the later Old Testament period. They continued trade with the Mediterranean world, thus establishing a strong link between the southern coast of the Indian peninsula and the Judeo-Roman world. The legend is that the apostol- Saint Thomas, the disciple of Jesus Christ, landed in A.D. 52 at Maliankara near Cranganore and preached the gospel. It is believed that he visited different parts of Kerala and converted a good number of local inhabitants, including many from the literate upper-caste Nambudiri Brahmans. An added fillip to the growth of the Church took place when a group of about 400 people migrated from Syria in 345 AD and joined the then existing Kerala Church. The leader of this group was Thomas of Kana. The descendants of this group even today maintain their separate identity,and are known as Kananites. Syrian Christians remained as an independent group, and they got their bishops from Eastern Orthodox Church in Antioch in Syria. Much of their Jewish tradition has been forgotten, especially after the Portuguese invasion of Kerala in the early 1500s. The Judeo-Nasrani tradition of the Syro-Malabar Nasranis was wiped out when the Portuguese invaded Kerala, and denounced the Nasrani account of Christian faith as false. They imposed their European or rather Roman Catholic rituals and liturgy and obliterated the Jewish legacy from the Nasrani tradition. since the Indians were suspected of being heretics by the Portuguese missionaries the Syrian Chaldean patriarch was removed from jurisdiction in India and replaced by a Portuguese bishop & the Syrian liturgy of Addai and Mari was “purified from error”. The climax of this was what is known as "Synod of Udayamperur". Most of all, the Portuguese burned the Nasrani Aramaic Peshitta Bible known today as the Lost Aramaic Bible that was based on the Jewish Targum and included the Gospel of the Nazoraeans. In 1653 there was a re-affirmation of allegiance to the Syrian Orthodox tradition in front of an improvised cross at Mattanchery. This event is popularly known as' Coonan Kurisu Satyam' (Oath taken on a bent cross). There are Roman Catholics converted by European missionaries known as Latin Roman Catholics. There is also Roman Catholic group called "Reethu" (Malankara Roman Rite) or the Malankara Syrian Rite.The Roman Catholic Church went through it's own evolutionary struggles after the Portuguese power declined in India. In 1662 the Dutch took over Cochin from the Portuguese. The CSI Church in Kerala had its beginnings mostly from Anglican missionaries who had converted the local population. However later on they united with the Basil Mission, Presbyterians and Baptists and formed the group called Church of South India. Travancore-Cochin Anglican church is a break away faction from CSI going back to 1966.Brotherans, a break away faction from the Baptists have their headquarters in Kumbanadu near Thiruvalla. Salvation Army originated in London England in 1878. DeivaSabha was started by a methodist priest from the U.S.A in 1884. A Kerala branch was established in 1910. Russel church , otherwise called 'Jehovaha's witnesses was started by C.T.Russel in U.S.A. The Kerala branch was established in Mallappalli in 1925. Lutheran mission run by followers of reformist Martin Luther established themselves in Perurkkada near Trivandrum in 1911.They operate in some 70 centers in sothern Travancore. Kerala Mar Thoma Church formed when a fraction of Syrian Christian Church of Kerala move to the Protestant side as you can see there are lots of reunion, shifting alliances and breakaways. all struggling for power and dominance throughout history (The Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Jacobites are referred together as Syrian Christians today.) note: the names Malabar Coast and Kerela here are synonymous) note: The long-standing Arab and Jewish contact with the coastal areas of India has left its permanent mark in the form of several communities. These communities came into existence through the marriage of local women to Arab sailors (The Muslim Mappilas) and traders and conversion of early Jews to Christianity (Nasrani Christians). Malabar and Kochi were the most important states on the western coast of India where the Arabs and Jews found a fertile soil for their trade activities. The Muslim community, which arose in Malabar as a result of the contact are refered to as Mappilas. There is also an argument that Mappila was shortened form of Margapilla (Margam means 'the way') in Tamil/Malayalam referred to the Nasranis or early Christians of Kerala. The Arab, Greek and Jewish contact with Malabar existed from at least the 10th century BC. This contact became predominant in the post-Roman period. Therefore the history of the Mappilas goes back to the Pre-Islamic period. In the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Khan Bahadur Fazlullah Faridi, mentions the settlement of pre-Islamic Arabs in Chaul, Kalyan Supara and Malabar Coast and Arab merchants passing along the Coromandel Coast on their way to China. When Islam spread among the Arabs, the Arab traders brought it to Malabar during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Most Mappila Muslims follow the Shafi'i school of Muslim Jurisprudence (in contrast to the Hanafi school followed by most South Asian Muslims). The partition Movement to form Pakistan (which drew its strongest support from Muslims in northern India) received a lukewarm reception amongst Muslims in Kerala though relatively few Mappilas migrated to Pakistan following partition. by the way: Within the Sunni Muslim tradition, Hanafi is one of four “schools of law” and considered the oldest and most liberal school of law. The Hanafi school also has the most followers among the four major Sunni schools. The other three schools of thought are Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali. The Shaf'i school is considered the easiest school and the Hanbali is considered the hardest in terms of social and personal rules. The Hanafi madhhab is named after its founder, Imam Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit, it is the major school of Iraqi Sunni Arabs. It makes considerable use of reason or opinion in legal decisions. Sunni Hanafi creed is essentially non-hierarchial and decentralized, which has made it difficult for 20th century rulers to incorporate its religious leaders into strong centralized state systems. Abu Hanifa's interpretation of Muslim law was extremely tolerant of differences within Muslim communities and he also separated belief from practice. In his lifetime Abu Hanifa was disgraced, called ignorant, inventor of new beliefs, hypocrite and kafir. He was imprisoned and poisoned. Most of the Hanafi school follows al-Maturidi in doctrine, which is also followed by the Taliban The Shafi'iyyah school of Islamic law was named after Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (767-819). The school of Imam Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Shafii of the Quraysh tribe of the Prophet, brought up in Mecca. Imam Shafi`i was called devil and imprisoned.) Note: Nair caste in Kerala traditionally practiced inheritance through the female line
Hindu Ruins In 648, Tang Taizong sent him to India in response to (Buddist converted) Harshavardhana sending an ambassador to China. However once in India he discovered Harshavardhana had died and the new (Hindu) king attacked Wang and his 30 mounted subordinates since under Harsha the Brahmin class's power were being undermined. Wang Xuance escaping to Tibet and then mounting a joint of over 7,000 Nepalese mounted infantry and 1,200 Tibetan infantry and attack on the Indian state on June 16. Hampi: The name is derived from Pampa, which is the old name of the Tungabhadra River on whose banks the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire is built. Over the years, it has also been referred to as Vijayanagara and Virupakshapura (from Virupaksha, the patron deity of the Vijayanagara rulers and meaning the City of Victory). Hampi is identified with the historical Kishkindha, the Vanara (monkey) kingdom which finds mention in the Ramayana. The first historical settlements in Hampi date back to 1 CE. It is in a strategic location, bounded by the torrential Tungabhadra River on one side and surrounded by defensible hills on the other three sides. The fascination of Vijayanagar continues with its secular architecture. It is a mix of Hindu and Islamic features, as if the rulers were sufficiently impressed to import craftsmen and master-builders from neighbouring Islamic states. This city has been the subject of many an impassioned travelogue by foreigners - Portuguese and Persians. The city is now in ruins due to invading Islamic aggressions who treat idol worship as blasphemy. Virupaksha Temple complex, also known as the Pampapathi temple, is situated in the Hampi Bazaar. It predates the founding of the Vijayanagar Empire. Mohenjo Daro (Mound of the Dead): It is located in the Sindh province on a Pleistocene ridge in the middle of the flood plain of the Indus River. This large planned city in the Indus Valley was built on a grid system about 4,500 years ago (built around 2600 BC and abandoned around 1900 BC). It had houses, some with indoor plumbing, a granary, baths, an assembly hall and towers all made out of standard size bricks. The streets were about eight to ten feet wide on average, and were built with well-engineered drainage channels. Gharapuri: Elephanta Island (also called Gharapuri Island or place of caves) is one of a number of islands in Mumbai Harbour, east of Mumbai, India. Gharapuri was given the name Elephanta by 17th century Portuguese explorers, after seeing a monolithic basalt sculpture of an elephant found here near the entrance. When the Portuguese discovered the caves, these temples suffered in the hands of religious zealots as attempts were made to convert them into Christian churches. They decided to take it home but ended up dropping it into the sea because their chains were not strong enough. Later, this sculpture was moved to the Victoria and Albert Museum (now Dr Bhau Daji lad Museum) in Mumbai, by the British. Maheshmurti is a powerful, compelling image of the three faces represents Shiva in his different manifestations. The central face with its towering, elaborate crown depicts Shiva the Preserver, sublimely serene and introspective. The one facing west represents Shiva the Creator, gentle, solicitous and graceful. The head facing east, with its cruel mouth, fiercely hooked nose and serpents adorning the hair shows Shiva the Destroyer. On either side of the statue are other superb sculptures. The one on the east shows Shiva as Ardhanarishvara - the Lord who is both Male and Female, and thus symbolizes the Divine Unity in which all opposites are resolved. Nalanda: This is where ruins of the great ancient university have been excavated, is situated at a distance of 90 km in the south east of Patna by road. There are many versions of what the term Nalanda means. One is that Nalam means Lotus and Da means to give. Both combined together, Nalanda means Giver of Lotus. Since Lotus is supposed to represent knowledge, Nalanda means Giver of Knowledge. Nalanda was the largest residential centre of learning that the world had ever known. The library was located in a nine storied building. Since the time of Buddha, the bhikkus were always encouraged to study the various arts and sciences. Learning was greatly encouraged as served dual proposes: knowledge and practice. The monks therefore took to learning so that they might practice it and realise Dhamma perfectly and thereby enrich the masses. The International Scholastic Centre at Nalanda described by later Scholars as an International University was founded much earlier than the 5th century A.D. Nalanda eventually developed into the greatest ancient centre of Buddhist learning. Students from China and Korea, Sri Lanka and Indonesia and from all the regions of India came to Nalanda to study. Nalanda during its days was a flourishing residential university with over 10, 000 students and 1500 teachers. The university was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim spent three years at Nalanda. He has left a detailed note about the university, its curriculum, activities and other accounts. The Tibetan pilgrim Dharmasvamin was here in 1234 and has left a gripping account of the monastery's destruction by the Muslims. Bodh Gaya or Bodhgaya is a city in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place of Gautama Buddha's attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment). Historically, it was known as the Bodhimanda (ground around the Bodhi-tree), Uruvela, Sambodhi, Vajrasana and Mahabodhi. The name Bodh Gaya did not come into use until the 18th century. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main monastery of Bodhgaya used to be called the Bodhimanda-vihāra (Pali). Now it is called the Mahabodhi Temple. According to Buddhist traditions, circa 500 BC Prince Gautama Siddhartha, wandering as an ascetic, reached the sylvan banks of Falgu River, near the city of Gaya. There he sat in meditation under a bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa). After three days and three nights of meditation, Siddharta attained enlightenment and insight, and the answers that he had sought. He then spent seven weeks at seven different spots in the vicinity meditating and considering his experience. After seven weeks, he travelled to Sarnath, where he began teaching Buddhism. It is believed that 250 years after the Enlightenment of the Buddha, Emperor Asoka visited Bodh Gaya. He is considered to be the founder of the original Mahabodhi temple. Some historians believe that the temple was constructed or renovated in the 1st century during the Kushan period. With the decline of Buddhism in India, the temple was abandoned and forgotten, buried under layers of soil and sand. The temple was later restored by Sir Alexander Cunningham as part of his work for the British Archaeological Society in the late 19th century. In 1883, Cunningham along with J. D. Beglar and Dr Rajendralal Miitra painstakingly excavated the site. There is an interesting story about money (well, it’s a little off topic but I think I have crossed that line quite frequently: In the old days in Mesopotamia and the African region near it, Ar qur / “silver” was valued way above nub / “gold”. (Nub is the ancient Nilotic word from which we have derived the term Nubian and Nubia — the area around the Nile’s Great Bend — was the “Ophir” where King Solomon later obtained his copious gold). There is an interesting story about money. Hathor of the Nilotes — the Roman Cow Goddess was believed to provide “silver milk” to all her children throughout the universe. Moneta, where Rome minted its money. The word mynet is related to the Latin moneta through an old Indo-European word which is now lost to us. The word mint was developed from the Old English mynet which meant “coin”. A mint is the place where an authorised government office coins a given nation’s money. To mint is to make coins by stamping metals. It is from this that we get the idiom to “mint money”, meaning to engage in a lucrative business. French derived its moneie and monnaie from the Latin moneta, which referred to a mint. (For “money”, in general, the French now use the word argent, which is related to the Old Testament and among “the arc words” that Robert Temple (in his book The Sirius Mystery) traces to Ar qur, the ancient Nilo-Coptic word for silver.) Moneie still exists in French as monnaie. But this now refers only to “loose money” or “change”. English adopted it from the Old French moneie, probably from William the Conqueror’s activities after his famous defeat of King Harold at Hastings in 1066. The moneta (mint) is what has given us the adjective monetary, which relates to money or the currency. To monetise is to give a legal value to a coin, to establish it as the legal tender. Usage e.g. International Monetary Fund (IMF) https://theprint.in/opinion/how-indias-coastal-muslims-helped-it-become-wealthy-successful-economy-in-medieval-era/924484/ Ancient India’s influence in other nations Why couldn't China with its rich literary and philosophical tradition have given rise to Ch’an or Zen or Thien or Son Buddhism? Bodhidharma's teachings evoked hostility in China is evident from the fact that after his death, his disciple felt it necessary to hide for a period. The great monk-historian Dao Xuan wrote of Bodhidharma that “everywhere he traveled people were enlightened.” Bodhidharma did not like emperors perhaps which is why he didn't appear in any official imperial records that were created while he lived. However, there are local records and stone monuments. A famous story of Bodhidharma is his meeting and rejecting “Emperor Wu” of the Liang Dynasty. The unique feature of India's contacts and relationship with other countries and peoples of the world is that the cultural expansion was never confused with colonial domination and commercial dynamism far less economic exploitation. Cambodia: It was about 2000 years ago that the first navigators, Indian merchants and Brahmins brought to our ancestors their gods, their techniques, their organization. In Cambodia lies there is an important group of ancient structures, Angkor Wat which was built as the king's state temple and capital city. The design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113 – c. 1150) and it was dedicated to Lord Vishnu. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as Vrah Vishnulok after the presiding deity. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The Bayon is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th century or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. As with his other constructions, the Bayon is a Mahayana Buddhist temple; its primary deity is Avalokitshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. temple is known also for two impressive sets of bas-reliefs, which present an unusual combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes. In various ways the relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism is seen here. The exact meaning of the faces is still under debate by scholars. One explanation is that the primary deity of the temple is Avalokiteshvara, also known as Lokesvara, or the "lord who gazes down on the world" or "he who hears the cries of people who need help". It is "the most striking expression of the baroque style" of Khmer architecture, as contrasted with the classical style of Angkor Wat Champa: The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom of Malayo-Polynesian origin and controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832. It has the oldest known written Malay language from the 4th century AD, predating Sumatran texts by 300 years. The people of Champa belong to the Austronesian family and were descended from Malayo-Polynesian settlers who appear to have reached the Southeast Asian mainland from Borneo about the time of the Sa Huynh culture in the 1st and 2nd centuries B.C. The Asamai temple is at the foothills of the central hill Koh-i-Asamai of the Afghan capital. The hill is named Asamai after Asha, the goddess of hope said to be present on the hilltop since ancient times. The Akhand Jyoti (continuous fire) there has been burning uninterrupted for many centuries. The temple and the Jyoti have survived numerous conflicts in Kabul and are haunting reminders of Afghanistan under the Hindu Shahi kings. Champa also had close trade and cultural relations with Cambodia, the powerful maritime empire of Srivijaya and later Majapahit of the Malay Archipelago. Philippines: The Hindu element in the ancient Philippine religious beliefs, and in the names of old Philippine gods, and of legendary heroes is quite apparent. The Empire of Sri Vijaya of Malacca (or Melaka) Malaysian archipelago was the largest kingdom in the pacific. By the 12th century ad the powerful Sumatra-based Malay kingdom of Sri Vijaya had extended its considerable influence to the Philippines. A placing a sampaguita flower garland around the neck of a visitor upon his arrival and departure as a symbol of hospitality and friendship. Another Indian influence is seen in the decorative art and metal work of the early Filipinos, and in their use of brass, bronze, copper, and tin. The boat-lute, a musical instrument in southern Philippines, is of Indian origin. The Maranao epic Darangan is Indian in plot and characterization. The Agusan legend of a man named Manubo Ango, who was turned into stone, resembles the story of Ahalya in the Hindu epic Ramayana. The tale of the Ifugao legendary hero, Balituk, who obtained water from the rock with his arrow, is similar to Arjuna's adventure in Mahabharata, another Hindu epic. Candi Prambanan & Borobudur in Central Java in Indonesia: Two thousand years ago people from India came to Jawadvipa and Suvarnadvipa. They gave the initiative to found powerful kingdoms such as those of Sri Vijaya, Mataram and Majapahit. Kalinga Srisailam established the Sri Vijaya empire in Palambangu (Sumatra island). The first large empire to make Sumatra its home was Sri Vijaya in the 7th century, also the first Hindu kingdom of Indonesia. They controlled not only this empire but also most part of the Indonesia and Malay Peninsula. The empire of Sri Vijaya of Malacca (or Melaka) Malaysian archipelago was the largest kingdom in the Pacific. Later, Indonesia turned to Islam: but that religion too was brought by people coming from both sides of India. Candi Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Central Java in Indonesia and a is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sambu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty.Prambanan was badly damaged in the 2006 earthquake. Candi Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana 'tantric' Buddhist monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. It is the largest ancient monument in the southern hemisphere, the largest Buddhist monument in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following the fourteenth century decline of Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam.There is no written record of who built Borobudur or of its intended purpose. Borobudur was likely founded around 800 AD. This corresponds to the period between 760–830 AD, the peak of the Sailendra dynasty in central Java, when it was under the influence of the Srivijayan Empire. The construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years and been completed during the reign of Samaratungga in 825. note: in Indonesia candi means ancient temple The kingdom of Ayutthaya was a Siam kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767 until it was overtaken by Sukhotai the current Thai kingdom. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese (Annam), Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the city walls. the king ultimately came to be recognized as the earthly incarnation of Shiva and,or Vishnu, and became the sacred object of a politico-religious cult officiated over by a corps of royal Brahmans who were part of the Buddhist court retinue.By the end of the fourteenth century, Ayutthaya was regarded as the strongest power in Indochina, but it lacked the manpower to dominate the region. In the last year of his reign, Ramathibodi had seized Angkor during what was to be the first of many successful Thai assaults on the Khmer capital. In the sixteenth century, it was described by foreign traders as one of the biggest and wealthiest cities in the East. Asamai: The Asamai temple is at the foothills of the central hill Koh-i-Asamai of the Afghan capital. The hill is named Asamai after Asha, the goddess of hope said to be present on the hilltop since ancient times. The Akhand Jyoti (continuous fire) there has been burning uninterrupted for many centuries. The temple and the Jyoti have survived numerous conflicts in Kabul and are haunting reminders of Afghanistan under the Hindu Shahi kings. Tajikistan: Most of modern Tajikistan had formed parts of ancient Kamboja and Parama Kamboja kingdoms, which find references in the ancient Indian epics like the Mahabharata. Linguistic evidence, combined with ancient literary and inscriptional evidence has led many eminent Indologists to conclude that ancient Kambojas (an Avestan speaking Iranain tribe) originally belonged to the Ghalcha-speaking area of Central Asia. Bactria was located in northern Afghanistan (present-day Afghan Turkestan) between the mountain range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus) River and some areas of current south Tajikistan. During different periods, Bactria was a center of various Kingdoms or Empires, and is probably where Zoroastrianism originated. The "Avesta"—the holy book of Zoroastrianism—was written in the old-Bactrian dialect; it is also thought that Zoroaster was most likely born in Bactria. Khorezm was a powerful Kingdom during some periods of its history, and is located south-east of the Aral Sea in what archeological discoveries indicated used to be a very fertile area. In the IV century BC, the army of Alexander the Great defeated Achaemenid Empire. Alexander started his military campaign towards Central Asia after killing the achaemenian king Darius III in 329 BC in Persia. His army moved from Northern India through the glaciers in the Hindikush and further via the Amudarya River, he started to invade Central Asian provinces. He tried to consolidate his power over the occupied territory by building new cities, reviving the old cities, inhabiting them with mixed Greco Bactrian population. After his death in 323 BC, the established empire by Alexander was taken by one of his army leaders, Seleucid, who founded the Seleucids empire. In 250 BC Greco Bactrian kingdom broke away from the Seleucids Empire and became an independent state founded by a Seleucid satrap Diodoth in Bactria. This period is characterized as being a golden age for the Hellenistic culture, as well as progress of crafts, field crop cultivation, gardening and wine-growing. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (also Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom) was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BCE. (Note: The Hephthalites are considered to be another Scythian-related tribe although there is controversy about their name (which means 'White Hun') which normally refers to Mongolian-Turkish invaders. As later archeologists discovered, there are many factors that proved that Hephthalites were a bunch of many tribes with different origins. That means they were Turks, Mongols and some lesser scythian tribes that were turkizised). The expansion of the Greco-Bactrians into northern India from 180 BCE established the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which was to last until around 10 CE. The Indian emperor Chandragupta, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, had re-conquered northwestern India upon the death of Alexander the Great around 322 BCE. However, contacts were kept with his Greek neighbours in the Seleucid Empire, a dynastic alliance or the recognition of intermarriage between Greeks and Indians were established (described as an agreement on Epigamia in Ancient sources), and several Greeks, such as the historian Megasthenes, resided at the Mauryan court. Subsequently, each Mauryan emperor had a Greek ambassador at his court. Chandragupta's grandson Asoka converted to the Buddhist faith and became a great proselytizer in the line of the traditional Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism, directing his efforts towards the Indian and the Hellenistic worlds from around 250 BCE. According to the Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, some of them written in Greek, he sent Buddhist emissaries to the Greek lands in Asia and as far as the Mediterranean. Some of the Greek populations that had remained in northwestern India apparently converted to Buddhism. Demetrius may have been as far as the imperial capital Pataliputra in eastern India (today Patna). However, these campaigns are typically attributed to Menander. The invasion was completed by 175 BCE. This established in northern India what is called the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which lasted for almost two centuries until around 10 CE. The Buddhist faith flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, foremost among them Menander I. It was also a period of great cultural syncretism, exemplified by the development of Greco-Buddhism. Back in Bactria, Eucratides, either a general of Demetrius or an ally of the Seleucids, managed to overthrow the Euthydemid dynasty and establish his own rule around 170 BCE, probably dethroning Antimachus I and Antimachus II. The Indian branch of the Euthydemids tried to strike back. An Indian king called Demetrius (very likely Demetrius II) is said to have returned to Bactria with 60,000 men to oust the usurper, but he apparently was defeated and killed in the encounter. In a rather confused account, Justin explains that Eucratides was killed on the field by "his son and joint king", who would be his own son, either Eucratides II or Heliocles I (although there are speculations that it could be his enemy's son Demetrius II). The son drove over Eucratides' bloodied body with his chariot and left him dismembered without a sepulture. Concurrently, and possibly during or after his Indian campaigns, Eucratides' Bactria was attacked and defeated by the weakest enemy of amongst all, Parthian king Mithridates I, possibly in alliance with partisans of the Euthydemids. later: Greek people & China: For another 400 years, until AD 410, the Kushan Empire was a major power in the region along with the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire and the Han Empire (China). Kanishka was a king of the Kushan Empire in South Asia, ruling an empire extending from Northern India to Central Asia in the 2nd century of the common era, famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. His capital was at the location of the modern city of Peshawar in Pakistan, with a second capital at Mathura in India. Kanishka's coins show Hindu, Buddhist, Greek, Persian and even Sumerian-Elamite images of gods. They are demonstrative of religious syncretism in his beliefs. Kanishka's coins at the beginning of his reign were written in the Greek language, with the Greek script, and depicted Greek divinities. Later in his reign, Kanishka ordered that the Bactrian language be used (the Iranian language the Kushans apparently spoke), and Greek divinities were replaced by corresponding Iranian ones). Kanishka's reputation in Buddhist tradition is based mainly on the Buddhist tradition that he convened the 4th Buddhist Council in Kashmir. (5th century BC) The first Buddhist council was held soon after the death of the Buddha under the patronage of king Ajatasatru, and presided by a monk named Mahakasyapa, at Rajagaha (todays Rajgir). Kashmir (or Cashmere) Kushan provided encouragement to both the Gandhara school of Greco-Buddhist Art and the Mathura school of Hindu art (An inescapable religious syncretism pervades Kushana rule). Kanishka personally seems to have embraced both Buddhism and the Persian cult of Mithra. Gandhara is the name of an ancient Indian Mahajanapada, currently in northern Pakistan (the North-West Frontier Province and parts of northern Punjab and Kashmir) and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE. Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century. Mithra is an important deity or divine concept (so called Yazata) in Zoroastrianism and later Persian mythology and culture. His greatest contribution to Buddhist architecture was the Kanishka stupa at Peshawar. Archaeologists rediscovered the base of it in 1908-1909 ascertained that this stupa had a diameter of 286 feet. Reports of Chinese pilgrims such as Xuan Zang indicate that its height was roughly 591-689 ft and was covered with jewels. Certainly this immense multi-storied building ranks among the wonders of the ancient world. Remnants of the Kanishka Stupa in Shah-Ji-Ki-Dheri, ehich literally means City on the Frontier in Persian and is known as Pakhawar in Pashto. Xuanzang, Dunhuang cave, 9th century). Buddhist monks from the region of Gandhara played a key role in the development and the transmission of Buddhist ideas in the direction of northern Asia from the middle of the second century CE. The Kushan monk, Lokaksema (c. 178 CE), became the first translators of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into Chinese and established a translation bureau at the Chinese capital Loyang.) China: Prajnaparamita-Hridayam (hridaya means heart) -- the most condensed recension of the Sutra -- was rendered into Chinese in the year 400 AD by the famous Indian scholar and Buddhist missionary, the Venerable Kumarajiva, and even today is used as a protective spell or charm by all Buddhists of Tibet, China, and Japan, monks and laymen alike. The complete text of the Large Sutra of Prajnaparamita was ruthlessly destroyed by Muslim incendiaries in the conflagration of the Buddhist University of Nalanda. Millions of Buddhist and Hindu manuscripts were burnt in this great fire along with the monks and artifacts. Because the original Prajnaparamita is reputed to have consisted of a hundred thousand stanzas it was called Satasahasrika Prajna-paramita. It is primarily intended for memorizing, and is believed to protect the aspirant who knows it by heart. Rome: Alexandria remained the entry port for Eastern goods coming by sea route. Antioch in Syria was a place for the goods arriving over the land routes from India and China. In Italy the chief port for the oriental wares was Puteoli (puzzuoli) near Naples. Emperor Domitian in A.D. 92 constructed warehouses in Rome for storing the precious spices and silks, and later improved and shortened the highway from Rome to Puteoli. Very few material remains still exist to testify to the magnitude of Rome’s commercial and political relations with India. Since most of the purchases were consumed or perishable, such a deficiency is understandable. Even so, at Pompeii an ivory statue of the Indian Goddess of fortune, Lakshmi, which was evidently bought to Rome before A.D. 79 was unearthed in 1939. Depicted in the Barberini Ivory is the procession of submissive tribute-bearers which includes an elephant and a tiger accompanied by two Indians who wear patterned garments which extend from waist to ankle, and distinctive turbans of similar material with two hornlike projections at the front which may be feathers. These projections appear in an even more pronounced form on the headdress worn by the personification of India on a silver dish from Lampsacus of the 4th - early 5th century, and are echoed in the headgear of the two animal-handlers depicted below her; the artist seems to have been familiar with the conventional representation of Indian dress but did not understand it. In the 1st two Christian centuries, Romans imported from the East a wide variety of commodities, from Indian female slaves to asbestos. A white elephant, perhaps from Siam, provided a special attraction in the times of Augustus. Wool from Kashmir provided shawls for the Roman matron, who also used musk from India as scent. Ivory, pearls, and tortoise shell were also bought for decoration and personal adornment. Nearly all of the best precious stones came from India.
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