Hindu History 3

SHIVAJI: 1627-80: Sivaji, valiant general and tolerant founder of Hindu Maratha Empire (1674-1818). Emancipated large areas confiscated by Muslims, returning them to Hindu control. First Indian ruler to build a major naval force. 2 MILLIONS DIED: 1630: Over the next two years, millions starve to death as Shah Jahan (1592-1666), fifth Mughal Emperor, empties the royal treasury to buy jewels for his "Peacock Throne." TAJMAHAL: 1647: Shah Jahan completed Taj Mahal in Agra beside Yamuna River. Its construction has taken 20,000 laborers 15 years, at a total cost equivalence of US$25 million. RED FORT: 1649: Red Fort is completed in Delhi by Shah Jahan. PRETEND TO CONVERT HINDUS: 1650: Robert de Nobili (1577-1656), Portuguese Jesuit missionary noted for fervor and intolerance, arrives in Madurai, declares himself a brahmin, dresses like a Hindu monk and composes Veda-like scripture extolling Jesus. AURANGZEB: 1658: Zealous Muslim Aurangzeb (1618-1707) becomes Mughal Emperor. His discriminatory policies toward Hindus, Marathas and the Deccan kingdoms contribute to the dissolution of the Mughal Empire by 1750. GURU TEG BAHADUR: 1675: Aurangzeb executes Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, beginning the Sikh-Muslim feud that continues to this day. TAX ON HINDUS: 1679: Aurangzeb levies Jizya tax on non- believers, Hindus. 60,000 HINDU TEMPLES DESTROYED: 1688: Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb demolished all temples in Mathura, said to number 1,000. During their reign, Muslim rulers destroy roughly 60,000 Hindu temples throughout India, constructing mosques on 3,000 sites. GURU GOVIND SINGH: 1708: Govind Singh, tenth and last Sikh Guru, is assassinated. His aim was to save Hindus. ASTRONOMY: 1708-37: Jai Singh II builds astronomical observatories in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Benares and Mathura. MONKS FIGHT: 1760: Saiva sannyasis fight Vaishnava vairagis in tragic battle at Hardwar Kumbha Mela; 18,000 monks are killed. 200,000 KILLED: 1761: Afghan army of Ahmad Shah Durrani routs Hindu Maratha forces at Panipat, ending Maratha hegemony in North India. As many as 200,000 Hindus are said to have died in the strategic eight-hour battle. NEPAL HINDU NATION: 1769: Prithivi Narayan Shah, ruler of Gorkha principality, conquers Nepal Valley; moves capital to Kathmandu, establishing present-day Hindu nation of Nepal. KUMBH MELA: 1796: Over two million worshipers compete for sacred Ganga bath at Kumbha Mela in Hardwar. Five thousand Saiva ascetics are killed in tragic clash with Sikh ascetics. DELHI CAPTURED: 1803: Second Anglo-Maratha war results in British Christian capture of Delhi and control of large parts of India. BHAGAVAD GITA: 1803-82: Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet helped to popularize Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads in US. NEPOLEON: 1812: Napoleon's army retreats from Moscow. Only 20,000 soldiers survive out of a 500,000-man invasion force. INDIANS IN AMERICA: 1820: First Indian immigrants arrive in the US. BIBLE.. VEDA: 1822-79: Life of Arumuga Navalar of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, renaissance activist who propounds Advaita Siddhanta, writes first Hindu catechism and translates Bible into Tamil so it can be compared faithfully to the Vedas and Agamas. SWAMI DAYANAND: 1824-83: Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, renaissance founder of Arya Samaj (1875), Hindu reformist movement stressing a return to the values and practices of the Vedas. Author of Satya Prakash, "Light on Truth." RAM MOHAN ROY: 1828: Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) founds Adi Brahmo Samaj in Calcutta, first movement to initiate religio- social reform. Influenced by Islam and Christianity, he denounces polytheism, idol worship; repudiates the Vedas, avataras, karma and reincarnation, caste and more. RANJEET SINGH: 1831: British Christians defeat Ranjit Singh's forces at Balakot, in Sikh attempt to establish a homeland in N.W. India. ENGLISH: 1835: Macaulay's Minute furthers Western education in India. English is made official government and court language. MAURITIUS: 1835: Mauritius receives 19,000 immigrant indentured laborers from India. Last ship carrying workers arrives in 1922. PARAMHANSA: 1836-86: Shri Ramakrishna, God-intoxicated Bengali Shakta saint, guru of Swami Vivekananda. He exemplifies the bhakti dimension of Shakta Universalism. GUINEA: 1838: British Guinea receives its first 250 Indian laborers. RANADE: 1842-1901: Eknath Ranade, founder of Prarthana Samaj. His social-reform thinking inspires Gokhale and Gandhi. TRINIDAD: 1845: Trinidad receives its first 197 Indian immigrant laborers. KASMIR SOLD: 1846: British forcibly separate Kashmir from the Sikhs and sell it to the Maharaja of Jammu for pounds1,000,000. AMRITSAR: 1849: Sikh army is defeated by the British at Amritsar. DARWIN: 1859: Charles Darwin, released controversial book, The Origin of Species, propounding his "natural selection" theory of evolution, laying the foundations of modern biology. U.S. CIVIL WAR: 1861: American Civil War begins in Charleston, S. Carolina. TAIGOR: 1861-1941: Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote beautiful poems Geetanjali. GANDHI: 1869-1948: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Indian nationalist and Hindu political activist who develops the strategy of nonviolent disobedience that forces Christian Great Britain to grant independence to India (1947). SWAMI RAM TIRTH: 1873-1906: Swami Rama Tirtha, who lectures throughout Japan and America spreading "practical Vedanta." FIJI: 1879: The "Leonidas," first emigrant ship to Fiji, adds 498 Indian indentured laborers to the nearly 340,000 already working in other British Empire colonies. SADHU VASWANI: 1879-1966: Sadhu T.L. Vaswani, altruistic Sindhi poet and servant of God, founds several Hindu missions in India and seven Mira Educational Institutions. RAMANA MAHARSHI: 1879-1950: Lifetime of Shri Ramana Maharshi, Hindu Advaita renunciate renaissance saint of Tiruvannamalai, South India. RADHAKRISHNAN: 1888-1975: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, renowned Tamil panentheist, renaissance philosopher, eminent writer; free India's first vice- president and second president. VIVEKANANDA: 1897: Swami Vivekananda founds Ramakrishna Mission. MUSLIM LEAGUE IN INDIA: 1906: Muslim League political party is formed in India. BALI: 1906: Dutch Christians overtake Bali after Puputan massacres in which Hindu Balinese royal families are murdered. DADA LEKHRAJ: 1909-69: Dada Lekhraj (1909-1969), Hindu renaissance founder of Brahma Kumaris, Saivite social reform movement stressing meditation and world peace. FIJI AND TRINIDAD: 1917: Last Hindu Indian indentured laborers are brought to British Christian colonies of Fiji and Trinidad. WORLD WAR: 1918: World War I ends. Death toll is estimated at ten million. SATYAGRAHA: 1920: Gandhi formulates the satyagraha, "firmness in truth," strategy of noncooperation and nonviolence against India's Christian British rulers. Later resolves to wear only dothi to preserve homespun cotton and simplicity. TAIGORE: 1922: Tagore's school at Shantineketan (founded 1901) is made into Vishva Bharati Univ. Becomes national Univ., 1951. DEVADASIS: 1927: Maharashtra bars tradition of dedicating girls to temples as Devadasis, ritual dancers. BHARATIYA VISHYA BHAVAN: 1938: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is founded in Bombay by K.M. Munshi to conserve, develop and diffuse Indian culture. HITLER: 1939: Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), manifesto of Nazism, published 1925, sells 5 million copies in 11 languages. It reveals his racist Aryan, anti-Semitic ideology, strategy of revenge and Socialist rise to power. 1939: World War II begins September 3, as France and Britain declare war on Germany after Germany invades Poland. JINNAH: 1939: Mohammed Ali Jinnah calls for a separate Muslim state.