In Religion lies the vitality of India, and as long as the Hindu race do not forget the great inheritance of their fore­fathers, there is no power on earth to destroy them.

Nowadays everybody blames those who constantly look back to their past. It is said that so much looking back to the past is the cause of all India’s woes. To me, on the contrary, it seems that the opposite is true. So long as they forgot the past, the Hindu nation remained in a state of stupor, and as soon as they have begun to look back into their past, there is on every side a fresh manifestation of life. It is [out] of this past that the future has to [be] moulded; this past will become the future.

The more, therefore, the Hindus will study the past, the more glorious will be the future, and whosoever tries to bring the past to the door of everyone, is a great benefactor to his nation.

The degeneration in India came not because the laws and customs of the ancients were bad, but because they were not allowed to be carried to their logical conclusions.

Every critical student knows that the social laws in India have always undergone great periodic changes. At their inception, these laws were the embodiment of a gigantic plan, which was to unfold itself slowly through time. The great seers of Ancient India saw so far ahead of their time, that the world has to wait centuries yet to appreciate their wisdom—and it is the very inability to appreciate the full scope of their wonderful social plan by their own descendants [which] is the one and only cause of [the] degeneration of India.

Ancient India had for centuries been the battlefield for the ambitious projects of two of her foremost classes—the Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas.

On the one hand, the priesthood stood between the lawless social tyranny of the princes and the masses, whom the “Kshatras” declared to be their legal “food.” On the other hand, the “Kshatra” power was the one potent force, which struggled with any success against the spiritual tyranny of the priests and the ever-increasing chain of ceremonials, which they were forging to bind the people down.

The Brahmana was par excellence the “Karmi”; the “Kshatra,” the teacher of “Jnanam.”

The tug of war began in the earliest periods of the history of our race—and throughout the Shrutis, [it] can be distinctly traced. A momentary lull came when Sri Krishna, leading the faction of “Kshatra” power and of “Jnana,” showed the way of reconciliation. The result was the teachings of the Gita—the essence of philosophy, of religion and of liberality. Yet the causes were there, and the effect must come.

The ambition of the two classes to be the masters of the poor and ignorant was there, and the strife became once more fierce. The meagre literature that has come down to us of that period brings to us but faint echoes of that mighty strife, but at last it broke out as a victory for the “Kshatras,” a victory for Jnana, for liberality—and ceremonial had to go down, much of it—never to come back to the surface.

This upheaval is what is known as the Buddhistic reformation. On the religious side, it represented freedom from cere­monials; on the political side, overthrowal of the priesthood by the “Kshatras.”

It is a significant fact that the two greatest men Ancient India produced were both “Kshatras”—Krishna and Buddha—and still more is significant the fact that both of these Gods threw open the door of knowledge to everyone, irrespective of sex or birth.

But, in spite of its wonderful moral strength, Buddhism was extremely iconoclastic—and much of its force being spent in negative attempts—it had to die out in the land of its birth—and what remained of it was full of superstitions and ceremo­nials, a hundred times cruder than that it intended to suppress. Though it partially succeeded in suppressing the animal sacrifices of the Vedas, it filled the land with temples and images, symbols and bones of saints.

And above all, in the medley of Aryans, Mongols, and abori­gines, which it created, it unconsciously led the way to some of the hideous “Vamacharas” —and this was especially the reason why this travesty of the teachings of the great Master [Buddha] had to be driven out of India by Sri Shankara and his band of Sannyasins.

Thus, even the current of life set in motion by the greatest soul that ever wore a human form, the Bhagavan Buddha himself, became a miasmatic pool, and India had to wait for centuries till Shankara arose, followed in quick succession by Ramanuja and Madhva.

But an entirely new chapter had opened by this time in the history of India. The ancient “Kshatras” and Brahmanas had disappeared. The land between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas, the home of the Aryas, the land which gave birth to Krishna and Buddha, the cradle of great Rajarshis and Brahmarshis, had become silent, and from the very farther end of the Indian Peninsula, from races alien in speech and form, races never regarded by the old Aryans as capable of any great achievement—from families claiming descent from the ancient Brahmanas came the reaction against corrupted Buddhism.

What had become of the Aryan Brahmanas and “Kshatras” of Aryavarta? They had entirely disappeared, except a few mongrel clans claiming to be Brahmanas and Kshatras here and there, and in spite of their inflated self-laudatory assertions—that the whole world ought to learn from, “Etaddesha prasu­tanam sakashat agrajanmanam,” they had to sit before the [people of] South in sack-cloth and ashes, in all humility, to learn.

The result was the bringing back [of] the Vedas to India— a revival of the Vedanta which India never saw before, and even the householders began to study the Aranyakas.

The Kshatras were the real leaders in the Buddhistic movement, and whole masses of them became Buddhists. And, in the zeal of reform and conversion, the popular dialects were almost exclusively cultivated to the neglect of Sanskrit, and the greatest portion of the Kshatriyas had become disjoined from the Vedic literature and Sanskrit learning.

Thus this wave of reform, which came from the South, benefited to a certain extent the priesthood and the priests only. For the rest of Indian humanity, it forged more chains than they [had] ever known before.

The “Kshatra” has always been, O prince, the backbone of India; they had been the supporters of science and liberty; their voice was ringing again and again to clear the land from superstitions, and they formed throughout the history of India the invulnerable barrier to aggressive priestly tyranny.

When the greater part of them sank into ignorance, and another portion mixed their blood with savages from Central Asia and lent their swords to establish the rule of priests in India, the cup became full to the brim, and down sank the land of Bharata, never to rise again, until the “Kshatra” rouses himself, and making himself free, strikes the chains from the feet of the rest. Priestcraft is the bane of India. Can anyone degrade his brother and himself escape degradation?

Know, Rajaji, the greatest of all truths discovered by your ancestors, that the universe is One. Can one injure any without injuring himself? The mass of Brahma [Brahmin] and Kshatra [Kshatriya] tyranny has recoiled upon their own heads with compound interest—and a thousand years of slavery and degradation is what the inexorable law of Karma visiting them with.

This is what one of your ancestors [Sri Krishna] said—“Even in this life, they have gained heaven whose mind is fixed in sameness” (167)—he is believed to be God-incarnate. We all do. Are his words vain then and without meaning? If not, and we know they are not, any attempt against this perfect equality of all creation, irrespective of sex, or birth, or even qualification, is a terrible mistake, and no one can be saved until he has attained to this idea [of sameness].

Follow, noble Prince, therefore, the teachings of the Vedanta, not as explained by this or that commentator but what the Lord within you understands. Follow, above all, this great doctrine of sameness through all beings seeing the same God in all. This is the way to freedom; inequality, the way to bondage. No man, nor a nation can attain to physical freedom without physical equality, nor mental freedom without mental equality.

Ignorance, inequality, and desire are the three causes of human misery, and each follows the other in inevitable union. Why should a man think himself above any other man or [an] animal even? It is the same throughout, त्वं स्त्री त्वं पुमानसि त्वं कुमार उत वा कुमारी । (168) “Thou art the man, Thou the woman, Thou art the young man, Thou the young woman.”

Many will say, “That is all right for the Sannyasins, but we are householders.” No doubt, a householder having many other duties to perform, can not as fully attain to this sameness; yet this should also be their ideal, for it is the ideal of all societies, all mankind, all animals, and all nature to attain to this sameness. But alas! they think that inequality is the way to attain equality as if they will come to right by doing wrong!

This is the bane of human nature, the curse upon mankind, the root of all misery—this inequality. This is the source of all bondage, of all misery—physical, mental, and spiritual.

समं पश्यन् हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम् । न हिनस्त्यात्मनात्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥ “Seeing the equally-present-to-all-Lord, same everywhere, he does not hurt self by self, and thus goes to the highest goal.”—this one line contains the universal way to salvation in a few words.

Letter 242 to Raja Ajit Singh by Swami Vivekananda in the book "Letters of Swami Vivekananda" source: https://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_4/writings_prose/reply_to_the_maharaja_of_khetri.htm

The Dakshin Digvijay—Shivaji Maharaj’s grand campaign into South India between 1677 and 1678—was perhaps his most far-sighted move. Looking at the geopolitical map of the late 17th century, he clearly saw what was coming: Aurangzeb would eventually bring the full weight of the Mughal war machine down upon the Deccan.

To survive, the Maratha state needed depth, resources, and a backup plan. Starting from Raigad, Shivaji Maharaj first rode to Golconda, where he used clever diplomacy to secure a treaty and financial backing from Abul Hasan Qutb Shah. From there, his army moved deep into the Tamil country. He took key fortresses like Vellore and Gingee, but he didn't just conquer—he set up civil administration, lowered taxes for local peasants, and took time off for personal devotion at Srisailam. He also met his half-brother Vyankoji to sort out the family’s ancestral holdings around Tanjore.

The real payoff came long after Shivaji Maharaj was gone. When Aurangzeb invaded the Deccan a decade later and pushed the Marathas to the brink, it was Gingee Fort—thousands of miles south—that held out as the Maratha capital during an eight-year siege. By carving out a southern empire, Shivaji didn't just expand his domain; he built the safety net that saved Swarajya from extinction.

The following places were visited by Chh Shivaji Maharaj during his South India campaign:

[1] Raigad (Departure): Formally set out in January 1677 after organizing a massive army of approximately 50,000 cavalry and foot soldiers to secure southern territories and establish strategic dominance.

[2] Hyderabad (Golconda): Entered in March 1677 to finalize a mutual defense alliance with Qutb Shah (Abul Hasan Qutb Shah). He negotiated military subsidies, shared plunder agreements, and received a lavish welcome and financial backing for the expedition.

[3] Srisailam: Spent nine days performing religious rites, praying at the Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, meditating on the banks of the Krishna River, and constructing a rest house (chhatra) and steps leading to the river ghat.

[4] Gingee Fort: Took possession of the fortress following secret negotiations with its commander, Nasir Muhammad Khan. Shivaji immediately began massive fortification upgrades, turning Gingee into a fortified southern stronghold.

[5] Vellore Fort: Laid siege to the heavily fortified citadel garrisoned by Bijapuri forces. Leaving a detachment under his generals to maintain the prolonged siege (which eventually surrendered in 1678), he proceeded further south.

[6] Bhuvanagiri: Set up camp while expanding Maratha authority across the surrounding districts and collecting tribute from local poligars (chieftains). Shivaji Maharaj also stopped the European slave trade occuring from the Coromandel coast.

[7] Thirumazhapadi & [8] Thiruppattur: Made tactical stops along the Kollidam (Coleroon) river region to direct civil administration, set up revenue assessment systems, and mobilize troops across the newly acquired Tamil territories.

[9] Vriddhachalam: Used the location as a strategic base to encamp his main forces, resolve regional administrative disputes, and negotiate terms with European trading settlements along the coast.

[10] Vaniyambadi: Held crucial negotiations with his half-brother Vyankoji (Ekoji I of Tanjore) to settle the division of their father Shahaji’s legacy, lands, and personal estate.

[11] Bangalore: Re-asserted Maratha authority over his ancestral jagir territory, establishing military control over the region following his negotiations with Vyankoji.

[12] Bellary: Besieged and captured the fort of Belvadi/Bellary after resisting forces under Savitri Bai (Deshmukhin of Belvadi) yielded to the Maratha advance.

[13] Dharwar: Consolidated his military conquests across the Western Karnatak belt, garrisoning strategic forts along the return corridor to ensure secure lines of communication.

[14] Panhala: Halted to rest his army, inspect local defensive positions, and review the overall spoils and political gains of the campaign before returning to the capital.

[15] Raigad (Return): Successfully concluded the campaign in March 1678, integrating vast new territories into the Maratha Empire (Swarajya) and securing a safe retreat zone that would prove vital in later Maratha history.

Source: Book by J Sarkar: "Shivaji and his times" Page no 330-348.

https://archive.org/details/shivajihistimes00sarkrich/page/329/mode/1up

I’ve come across claims connecting this boulder to the Treaty of Betrawati (1792), which followed the long-drawn Sino-Nepalese War. The conflict arose in the context of disputes over the circulation of debased Nepalese coins in Tibet and subsequent Gorkha incursions into Tibetan territory. After the Gorkha forces raided Tibet, Tibet, under Qing suzerainty, sought Chinese military intervention, prompting the Qing campaign against the Gorkhas. The conflict eventually ended with the Treaty of Betrawati in 1792.

Is there any reliable evidence confirming that this stone was actually present when the Treaty of Betrawati was concluded, and that it is indeed the stone on which the treaty was signed during the Sino-Nepalese War?

In the 1960s, getting an engineering degree from IIT Bombay required passing one mandatory subject: Russian

After Soviet leaders visited India in 1955, Jawaharlal Nehru brokered a deal for USSR technical aid in setting up an IIT campus.

To respect India's Cold War non-alignment policy, the funds weren't direct. They were funneled through UNESCO.

When IIT Bombay’s foundation stone was laid in 1958, Soviet aid was shipped directly to the Powai campus: heavy machinery, instruments, hardware, and the institute’s very first mainframe computer, the Minsk-2.

The catch? Every blueprint, circuit diagram, and manual arrived written strictly in Cyrillic, the script used for Russian

To run their labs and code, students spent painful hours translating technical specs alongside Soviet faculty.

And the funniest anecdote: a Soviet Minsk II computer was delivered in 1965 at the IIT Bombay campus and sat in its crate for two years, while the USSR and UNESCO argued over who would pay the technicians' airfare to install it

brand was built on the shoulders of early students holding Russian instruments in one hand and a Russian dictionary in the other

Can you guys imagine the if we get to see the 18th century political india in a grand show like got or shogun.

Declining mughals provide a perfect red herring of the political vaccum with powers like Marathas, British, French, etc. fighting for it.

The characters being the likes of

Peshwa Baji Rao

Raghunath Rao

Hayder Ali

Tipu Sultan

Dupleix

Clive.

It could cover events like Plassey, Buxar, Carnatic wars, the Maratha confederacy, Anglo Mysore wars, Rise of Ranjit Singh

It would be insane.

Peace was declared. The Portuguese lost their entire northern possessions except Diu and Daman. The fall of Vasai and the peace treaty saved Goa, where the Portuguese were able to rule for another two hundred and twenty-two years. Chaul Revdanda came into Maratha possession in 1740. With the acquisition of Habshan earlier, and Firangan in this war, the island of Bombay was sandwiched between two long coastal stretches ruled by the Marathas. It was not surprising that they were extremely anxious about what lay in store for them in the days to come.

https://ndhistories.wordpress.com/2023/12/22/treaty-and-aftermath/

Marathi Riyasat, G S Sardesai ISBN-10-8171856403, ISBN-13-‎978-8171856404.

The Era of Bajirao

Uday S Kulkarni

ISBN-10-8192108031

ISBN-13-978-8192108032.

I recently started looking into the history of Madgole/Madugula and the surrounding region of northern Andhra Pradesh, and I came across something that I did not expect.

Older historical sources describe the Matsyas of Oddadi/Vaddadi as an important medieval ruling family of South Kalinga. Their territory was associated with the area around present-day Madgole, and their emblem was the fish.

But the story seems to continue much later.

A historical account of the Madgole Zamindars records that they claimed descent from the Matsyas of Oddadi and described themselves as lords/chiefs of Oddadi. The same account records traditions involving a fish-shaped throne at Paderu, fish on their banners, and the use of a fish figure as their signature.

There are also references scattered through older historical works to Oddadi/Vaddadi, Madgole, Paderu, Veeravilli, Jagannadhapuram, Chodavaram and Jeypore.

This raises a much bigger question:

What actually happened to the Matsyas of Oddadi?

Was there a historical continuity between the medieval Matsya rulers and the later Madgole estate?

Or did the later Madgole rulers simply adopt the Matsya/Oddadi tradition to establish their political identity?

And where exactly was Oddadi/Vaddadi in relation to the later Madgole/Madugula territory?

I am trying to trace this backwards from the later records to the earliest independently verifiable evidence.

I'm particularly interested in finding:

inscriptions and copper-plate grants
archaeological remains and forts
old maps and survey records
Madgole/Madugula estate records
British Collector and revenue proceedings
Munsif, District Court, High Court and Privy Council cases
temple and Devasthanam records
old photographs
family papers and genealogies
local traditions and folklore

I am not starting with a conclusion. I am trying to find out what the records actually establish.

If anyone here has studied Madgole/Madugula, Oddadi/Vaddadi, the Matsyas, Paderu, Veeravilli or this part of the old Vizagapatam region, what is the one primary source, inscription, record or site you think should be investigated first?

Bengal Province( Bangladesh+Bihar+West Bengal) which accounted for 12% of the World GDP was the richest province in the entire world and generated 50% of the total revenue of both the Mughal Empire and British East India company .Aurangzeb even called it ' Paradise of Nations ' because of its immense wealth. If we ignore Kolkata this whole region has almost none historical monuments form that era what could be the reason behind this