How Dushera Changed Ashoka's life forever

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Dussehra or Vijayadashami marks the end of the nine-day long journey of Navratras. While the northern and southern parts of the country commemorates it as the day of Ram's victory over Ravana, the eastern part remembers the slaying of Mahisasura - the buffalo demon by Durga. Though, each state adds its own flavor to Dussehra, its symbolism remains the same - the triumph of good over evil.
In Sanskrit, the word 'Dus' means evil and 'Hara' stands for destruction and Dussehra essentially signifies restoration after chaos and destruction. It is symbolic of new beginnings and therefore marks the onset of preparations for the festival of lights - Diwali, which comes twenty days later. Enormous effigies of Ravana, who had abducted Sita, are burnt along with that of his brothers Meghanada and Kumbakaran in the northern and southern part of the country as part of Dussehra celebrations.

Ramlila performances, which involve people enacting the life and glory of Ram through short plays, also form an essential part of the festival. The eastern part adds its own flavor to the grandeur where it is celebrated as Vijayadashmi - the day of Durga's return to heaven after purifying the world of evil forces. One of the most popular features of this day is the Shindur Khela, where married women smear vermilion on each other after making offerings to the goddess, to keep the joys of their married lives intact. As Ravana is burnt, cries of joy fill up Ramlila maidaans.

At the same time, people prepare to bid tearful farewell to the Goddess as she prepares for her ride back to heaven in a different vaahan each year - this year her vaahan is a horse.

The day of Dussehra also holds a lot of importance for Buddhists in the country as it is on this very day, that the famed king of the Mauryan Empire Ashoka the Great pledged non-violence and converted to Buddhism. He throughout his regime never lifted sword. Irrespective of cultures or beliefs, the connotation of Dussehra remains the same - the onset of a new journey after the end of evil.

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Fatehpur Sikri World Heritage Site Agra

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FATEHPUR SIKRI was inscribed in the list of World Heritage Site. Made of red sandstone and adorned with stunning architectural grandeur, this wonderful tourist spot is regarded as the first planned city in Indo-Islamic style.

Fateh means Victory, Pur means city and Sikri is the word derived from a local tribe living around. Akbar initially did not have heir. While he was ruling from Agra Fort, he heard about a famous saint Sheikh Salim Chisti. And he heard that after seeking his blessings he would be blessed with a son. It is said that Akbar walked bare foot for 40 kilometers to meet the saint. The sufi saint blessed Akbar and said that he would be blessed with not just one but three sons.

On 30^th August 1569, Akbar was blessed with a son. In order to honor the saint, Akbar named his son as Salim. In order to commemorate the birth of the son, Akbar started the construction of Fatehpur Sikri in 1569 to 1573. The city is perched atop a rocky ridge and there are wonderful constructions of similar designs across the city. Most of the buildings have similarity in their architectural style. The city is guarded on three sides by high walls, towers and there are seven gates. The buildings in the compound are divided into three parts- Administrative, Residential and Religious buildings. Akbar being a liberal emperor inculcated architectural features of all the religions.  

The Administrative section consists of Diwan-i-Aam or Hall of public Audience. It was a place where the emperor used to meet the common people. The second structure in this category was Diwan-i-Khas or Hall of Private Audience. It has a beautiful monolithic carved pillar. On the top of the pillar is the blossom lotus flower where emperor used to sit. Another building was Treasure House.

The Residential building consists of Panch Mahal, a five storey structure reflecting Buddhist pagoda. In front of Panch Mahal was Pachisi board, or Ludo board. The girls were dressed in four colors and they used to dance while going from one box to another. Akbar had many wives due to the political alliance with different kingdoms. He used to play it with then sitting on the top of Panch Mahal.

One of the wives of Akbar was Turkish Sultana. In front of her palace was Anup Talao where the famous singer Tansen used to sing for Akbar. Behind it was Kitchen and Khuab Gaha, the bedroom of Akbar. The residential area also consists of the Palace of Mariam. She is considered to be the Christian wife. The most elaborately decorated palace was that of Jodha Bai. She was the chief queen of Akbar and was the princess from Amber now Jaipur. Her name is controversial as per the historians.

Last part is the religious section also called Sheikh Salim Chisti Dargha. After the death of the sufi saint, his body was laid to rest at this place. It has beautiful marble screen work added by Emperor Shah Jahan.   It also has Buland Darwaza, highest gate in the country. It was built to commemorate the Akbar’s victory on Gujarat.

Akbar built the city at the end of the 16th century and shifted the capital of the Mughal Empire from Agra to Fatehpur Sikri. The city was later inhabited by the Mughal rulers only for around 14 years and was left secluded due to scarcity of water.

Nur Jahan, Powerful Mughal Empress

Nur Jahan, her original name was Mehr-un-Nissa born on the 31st May 1577 was Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 25 May 1611 to 28 October 1627 as the eighteenth and last wife of the fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir.

EARLY LIFE

She was the daughter of Mirza Giyaz Beg and Asmat Begam. She was the second daughter among the four children. Mirza Giyaz Beg was a businessman in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, he had a huge loss in business due to which the family decided to shift to India. Mirza Giyaz Beg and Asmat Begam(pregnant) and two children left for India and when they were half way, they were attacked by robbers. The family was left with no food. They arrived at Khandhar, during this hardship Mehr-un-Nissa was born.  

The family was so impoverished that the parents decided to abundant the newly born girl child in the middle of the Thar Desert. There was a group of rich merchant noble Malik Mahmud, who saw the child in the desert. And the strange thing was that she was protected by a cobra snake. This rich merchant decided to rescue the child and carried her with himself. May be due to the good fortune of the child, the noble and parents camped at the same place. There was hue and cry about the girl child. The parents immediately claimed her to be their daughter and named her as Mehr-un-Nissa, which means Sun among women.

The noble assisted Mirza Giyaz Beg to find job at Akbar court at Fatehpur Sikri. He was appointed as the tax collector. Her parents provided her with best of education. Being intelligent she was well versed in Arabic and Persian languages, horse riding, dance, art, literature and took keen interest in administration. Akbar’s son Salim later Jahangir and Mirza Giyaz Beg’s daughter Mehr-un-Nissa fell in love with each other. Akbar was against this relationship.

MARRIAGE WITH SHER AFGHAN

In 1594, when Mehr-un-Nissa was seventeen years old she was married to Ali Quli Istajlu or Sher Afgan. He was an adventurous Persian who had been forced to flee his home in Persia after the demise of his first master Shah Ismail II. He later joined the Mughal army and served under the Emperors Akbar and Jahangir. As a reward for his loyal service, Akbar arranged his marriage with Mehr-un-Nissa. They were blessed with a daughter Ladli Begam in 1605.

UNITED AGAIN WITH JAHANGIR

In 1605, Akbar passed away and next to the succession was his eldest son Salim. He became the forth Mughal emperor and took the title of Jahangir. In 1607, Sher Afgan was killed or some historian says that he was murdered by Jahangir, due to his fondness for Mehr-un-Nissa. Mehr-un-Nissa was summoned by Jahangir as lady in waiting for his mother Ruqaiya Sultan Begum (widow of Akbar). Ruqaiya Sultan Begum was so fond of Mehr-un-Nissa that she paved way for her to unite with Jahangir.

MARRIAGE WITH JAHANGIR

In 1611, while shopping with her patroness, Empress Ruqaiya, Nur Jahan met again with the Emperor Jahangir at the palace meena bazaar during the spring festival of Navroz which celebrated the coming of the New Year. Jahangir proposed immediately and they were married on 25 May of the same year. She was thirty four years old at the time of her second marriage and she would be Jahangir’s eighteenth and last legal wife.

A POWERFUL EMPRESS

At the time of her marriage she was conferred the title of Nur Jahan it means Light of the World and new gold coins were issued in her name. After this wedding her father was promoted to the post of Treasurer of the Mughals with the title of Itimad ud Daulah. Her brother who was too in the Mughal services was appointed as the commander of the Army. Nur Jahan became the chief queen as she assisted Jahangir in all the legal matters. Jahangir was so fond of opium and liquor that he left all the administration in the hands of Nur Jahan.  His royal insignia rested with her and she became one of the most powerful lady in the Mughal court. She appointed her relative and trustworthy people on high post.

Due to her power and position, she was able to construct Itimad-Ud_Daulah, a tomb in the memory of her parents at Agra. It is the first monument in India made up of pure white marble and adorned with precious and semi precious stones. Later, she also constructed the tomb of Jahangir at Lahore. She is also credited to have started the fashion of embroidery on clothes, lace work and invented rose perfume by distillation process. She also started embroidery schools for girls, so that they can support their families.

Nur Jahan, set up an excellent example for the society for nor just being a Good Daughter, intelligent wife, a capable administrator, and a social worker.  https://www.thetajtours.com/nur-jahan-powerful-mughal-empress/

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Important lessons NASA scientists learned from Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the eldest son of Sultan Haidar Ali of Mysore. Being illiterate, Hyder was very particular in giving his eldest son good education and also an early exposure to military and political affairs. From the age of 17 Tipu was given independent charge of important diplomatic and military missions. He was his father's right arm in the wars due to which Hyder emerged as the most powerful ruler of southern India.

At age 15 years, he accompanied his father against the British in the First Mysore War in 1766. He commanded a corps of cavalry in the invasion of Carnatic in 1767 at age 16. He also distinguished himself in the First Anglo-Maratha War to Forth Anglo Maratha War. His early education and military training gave an insight into the Rocket Science.  It was before experimented by Hyder Ali, when he commanded a rocket platoon of 50 in the army of the Nawab of Arcot, before coming to Mysore and seizing power from the Wodeyars dynasty.

Roddam a famous historian analyzed Tipu and Hyder Ali's major contributions to rocketry. He noted that they used metal casing for the rockets, instead of the then prevalent bamboo and paper casings. Such metal rockets could travel up to 2 Kilometers, a huge increase in its range and had also greater carrying capacity.

Later, Tipu, allowed them to use sword blades tied to the rockets, and to stabilize their flight, much in the same way we use a long stick in our Diwali rockets. Such swords also served as dangerous weapons, when they landed among the enemy soldiers. Such rockets were particularly useful against massed cavalry and infantry charges. Tipu had built a huge number of rockets and used massed rocket attacks in his battles against the British. In Tipu's 1780 battle in Pollilur (Second Anglo Mysore War), such rocket attacks played a key role in the defeating British.

For the British too this Rocket science was new and Tipu Sultan thus became the sore enemy of the British. On the other hand Tipu strengthen his relations with the French. In order to support French’s national movement, he joined Jacobian club and planted a tree of liberty at his capital Seringapatam.

After Tipu's defeat in the 4th Anglo Mysore War, the British carried away a large number of unused rockets to England, where William Congreve subjected them to a scientific study. Congreve then headed the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich Arsenal (the original home of the Arsenal Football Club). He found that the Mysore rockets had much greater range than any found in Europe. It was Congreve's research – reverse engineering as we would call it today -- and further development that lead to the use of rockets by the British against the French in the Napoleonic wars, and later against the Americans. Two such rockets that were carried back by the British from Seringapatam, are on display in the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich.

Later, the scientists from NASA too did a lot of research on Rocket science of Tipu. With the help of advance science and technology, they were able to master this science. Even today in the painting of Tipu’s army using rockets is at the Wallops Flights Facility at Wallops Island in East coast, Virginia. This place was the base for NASA's sounding rocket program.

Dr APJ Abul Kalam once said after visiting NASA that “Here I saw a painting prominently displayed in the reception lobby. It depicted a battle scene with a few rockets flying in the background. A painting with this theme should be the most common place thing at a flight facility, but the painting caught my eye, because the soldiers on the side launching the rockets were not white but were dark skinned, with racial features found in South Asia. It turned out to be Tipu Sultans army fighting the British. The painting depicted a fact forgotten in Tipu's own country but commemorated here on the other side of the planet”.

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