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Mughals preferred to call themselves ‘Gurkhani’.
Mughals real name
Take for instance the dogged resistance to the Turks by the Rajput-ruled kingdom of Mewar in southern Rajasthan. The rulers of Mewar did not see themselves merely as kings but explicitly as the custodians of Hindu civilization embodied in the temple of Eklingji, a manifestation of Shiva. The deity was considered the real king of Mewar and this is why its rulers did not use the title of Maharaja (which means Great King) but that of Rana
Why Rajputs of Mewar called Rana and not Maharajas
In order to comprehend this state of mind, one must visit the shrine of Eklingji, less than an hour’s drive from Udaipur. It is a thousand-year-old temple complex wedged into a hillside.
mewar rajputs ruling diety temple
Babur’s diary expresses his disdain for the people of India in barely a couple of paragraphs but he was more impressed by the flora and fauna of the country and spent several pages describing them. Babur tells us about peacocks, elephants and river dolphins. He was particularly intrigued by the rhinoceros that he encountered in forests near Peshawar. It is interesting that rhinos were found so far to the west in the sixteenth century.
Rhinoceros in Pakistan
One of my favourite tales is about how the Marathas captured Sinhagadh by using a trained monitor lizard named Yeshwanti to scale the walls. The guerrillas tied a rope around the lizard, which climbed up a rock-face that was so steep that it had been left unguarded. A boy then climbed up the rope and secured it for the rest. The fort of Sinhagad is just outside Pune and can be easily visited.
Shinhagadh fort Pune - Tale of Lizard Yeshwanti
On the highway between Orchha and Khajuraho, there is a small but picturesque palace built on a lake by Chhatrasaal for Mastani during her younger days. Not many people know about it and visitors are likely to have it all to themselves. The surrounding hills are heavily fortified, a reminder of the turbulent times in which Mastani lived.
Palace of Mastani
Nonetheless, it was not at the hands of the Marathas or the Bundelas that the Mughals suffered their first decisive defeat. This happened in the middle of the Brahmaputra in faraway Assam at the hands of the Ahom general Lachit Borphukan.
First big defeat of Mughals was by Ahoms of Assam
Lambton worked on the survey till he died of tuberculosis, in the field, in 1823. His crumbling grave was recently rediscovered by the writer John Keay in the village of Hinganghat, fifty miles south of Nagpur. His theodolite is in better condition and is now housed in the Survey of India headquarters in Dehradun.
Lambton- mapping of India - Nagpur - Dehradun
Fortunately, he was succeeded by the equally dedicated George Everest. By the time Everest retired and returned to England in 1843, the Great Arc had been extended well into the Himalayas. He built a bungalow for himself at Hathipaon, near the hill-station of Mussourie. Its ruins still stand on a ridge commanding magnificent views of snow-capped peaks
George Everest - Mapping of India - Bungalow in Mussourie
Now came the issue of naming Peak XV. The Tibetans already called it Chomolungma (Mother Goddess of the World). Unusually for the colonial period, the Survey of India tended to retain the local names where possible but in this case the temptation proved too great. It was named after George Everest. Like many people today, I used to wonder why the British would name the highest mountain in the world after the Surveyor General of India
Tibetan name of Mt. Everest
It is not usually remembered that after his great victory at Plassey, Robert Clive did not offer thanksgiving at a church but at a Durga Puja organized by Nabakrishna Deb in Kolkata. One cannot picture Pedro Alvarez Cabral doing this.
Robert Clive - battle of Plassey - thanks giving at Durga Pooja
The column commemorating the Queen’s Proclamation is a short walk from Saraswati Ghat and stands neglected in an overgrown park. None of the locals seemed to know the significance of the place.
Varanasi's Queen Victoria Proclamation column
