An excerpt from my book,” A Never-Ending Conflict”: After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Islamic Empire in India went into terminal decline. Peeved by the demeaning status of Muslims who ruled India for five centuries, Syed Ahmed tried to rejuvenate Islam in India in the 1880s. In the late 1910s,Continue Reading

Here is an interesting background story to the origins of Vande Mataram Was it a brawl on the cricket field that led Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay to compose Vande Mataram? About 145 years ago a tiff erupted at the Barrack Square (now Square Field) in Berhampore playground that led Bankim ChandraContinue Reading

Since ancient times, India was the diamond capital of India till South Africa emerged on the scene in the 18th century. Indian diamonds were most sought after due to their beauty and exceptional qualities. Hindus ascribed even magical and divine powers to them, with   Kohinoor being considered as Surya’sContinue Reading

The recent Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation rekindled the demand for renaming Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath in his speech asked when Faizabad can be renamed Ayodhya and Allahabad can be renamed Prayagraj, why cannot Hyderabad too be renamed Bhagyanagar. Following this, the Islamist party AIMIMContinue Reading

The historians quietly forgot about the van-upvan of Vrindavan where Krishna played with gopis. Many of the gardens, natural as well as man-made, were used for celebrating numerous festivals like Holi, vasantotsava, Deepawali etc. The four styles of ancient Hindu gardens were udyan, paramadodvana, vrikshavatika, and nandanavana. Continue Reading

Abdul Mejid II, a Caliph, was made to sit in an ordinary train by Kamal Ataturk unceremoniously. First time in the Muslim world, Caliph was being treated so shabbily. Once upon a time, on his orders, lakhs of men used to be killed and women raped. He finally settled inContinue Reading