My elders are natives of the cities of Multan and Kasoor from pre-1947 British India, which today forms a part of the Islamic State of Pakistan. Multan, where the origins of my father's side lie, hosts the Prahalad Puri temple. The city was conquered nearly within a century of the advent of Islam. Mr. A. I. Kolesnikov states in UNESCO's 'History of Civilisations of Central Asia' in relation to treatment of conquered subjects like them (Iskender-Mochiri & Kolesnikov, 1996, Pg. 462):
- "People of ‘other religions’ who signed a treaty with the Muslims became dhimmmīs (ahl al-dhimma), or people who enjoyed the protection of the Muslim community. Although Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews were not always accorded the same treatment, the conditions of the treaties did not vary greatly according to the religion of the subjugated group."
My faith is Sanatana Dharma, the oldest practiced faith in the world. To understand it, requires training. The crude iconoclast invading hordes operating with fanatic zeal, seeking to enslave and usurp property and land, had little intention to understand the sophisticated places of worship holding multiple dieties from a non-Abrahamic faith. Hence, 'Kāfir' is the term my community got, and hence the terms of peace were "unimaginable" in today's context. My ancestors would have hence resisted. As per Kolesnikov, this led to ethnic cleansing:
- "If an area was subjugated ‘by force of arms’, part of the population was put to death or enslaved; those who escaped such a fate were constrained to pay heavy taxes, or were forced to emigrate, or had to conclude an agreement with the victors at great disadvantage to themselves (Iskender-Mochiri & Kolesnikov, 1997, Pg. 462)."
Here is an image of the loot from the initial raid of my native city 'Multan' and Sindh by the Caliphate about 1300 years ago- Kafir Princess Surya Devi for sale in the Arab slave market (The younger sister was Parimal Devi, and suffered the same fate):
Item 1: Medieval Suffering
Item 2: Ancestral temple
When the British arrived towards the beginning of the age of Industrial Revolution, it was one of the handful original hindu temples to have survived in Punjab after the onslought of centuries of 'at times' grotesque Jihad. Over millenia, the onslought led to our language Sanskrit dissappearing and we spoke a language that is written in Arabic, while we corrupted the practice of our faith in public such as we began eating meat, in order to blend in with the Caliphate Jihadist overlords. The women learnt to kill themselves if their husbands died in battle or practically any reason, also known as the practice of Sati, inorder to avoid fate similar to Princesses above. This is the practice the 'Colonising Christians of Europe' used as a basis for declaring my faith inferior to theirs, and thus justifying second class citizen treatment for us in our own native home.
In the mean time, all the corruption got engrained (MatchlessGifts, 2021, Jul, 2, 53:00- 56:30) and then we ouselves starting converting to other faiths to escape this decadance (Matchless Gifts, 2021, July, 2, 1:47:30-1:50:50). Maybe it was survival too for the converts, who knows now. However, being descendants of defenders and especially His Grace Śri Vaiṣṇava Mahārāj Devotee Prahlad, we are allowed to die in battle but we cannot leave our parental blessings nor take refuge of untruth.
Returning to story of my paternal roots, during the Independance of India in 1947, this last dignified association with Multan was also taken away, as our homes were invaded and at the risk of being butchered alive or worse (Okoth-Obbo, 2020, August, 2), my great grandfather Chief Engineer at Royal Multan Electricity Board 'Late Moolchand Sarna, son of Pyare Lal Sarna' by God's immense grace and due to childhood muslim friend's last minute tip, barely escaped with his life at the last minute across the border to "Modern India". It is the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam text's Cantoh seven on five year old His [Her/Their] Holiness Devotee Prince Prahalad (Prabhupāda, 1970s), which is now our last archiological proof and connection to our revered tangata/people whenua/land. Happy Mother's Day to My Late Parental Grandmother, the last surviving member of my whanau/family born in Multan, who passed away in 2024.
This bold saintly nun, starting from the tender age of 10 in 1947, single handedly soldiered on drinking all the poisons of my family's past, present and future, taking the secrets of her silent sacrifices to the grave, so generations of our family live happily ever after blissfully unaware of what she put through. There is much to be said, but for holy saints like her, the only way to describe aptly what she did on earth is what Lord Ardhnareshwar (Lord Shankar and Parvati) did for humanity in the source of our oath book, Mahābhārata's Ādi Parva's Āstick parva Chapter 18 verses 42 and 43 (वेद-व्यास, २०२४, पृष्ठ ११० ):
त्रैलोक्यं मोहितं यस्य गन्धमाप्राय तद् विषम् |
प्राग्रसललोकरक्षार्थ ब्रह्मणो वचनाच्छिव: || ४२ ।।
उस विषकी गन्ध सूँघते ही त्रिलोकीके प्राणी मूर्च्छिंत हो गये। तब ब्रह्माजीके प्रार्थना करनेपर भगवान् श्रीशंकरने त्रिलोकीकी रक्षाके लिये उस महान् विषको पी लिया ।। ४२ ।।
दधार भगवान् कण्ठे मन्त्रमूर्तिमिहेश्वरः ।
तदाप्रभृति देवस्तु नीलकण्ठ इति श्रुति: | ४३ ।।
मन्त्रमूर्ति भगवान् महेश्वरने विषपान करके उसे अपने कण्ठमें धारण कर लिया। तभीसे महादेवजी नीलकण्ठके नामसे विख्यात हुए, ऐसी जनश्रुति है || ४३ ।।
Item 3: Epitome of Sacrifice (Sanatan Yogmaya, 2026, February, 17).
YOUR IDEALS WILL LIVE IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER.