The one ideology that I have frequently noticed in my surrounding that there are many of us who are not overjoyed or gratified by our country’s historical past.
The notion of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ at present isn’t to show welcoming gesture to any guest(white foreigners), rather it’s merely a role play of our inferiority complex over our brown skin.
Why would the Britishers’ ‘Divide and Rule’ policy not work in country which is already divided on the grounds of religion, caste and class?
Perhaps our ancient rulers were way too busy to get over their personal grudges and fight the common intruder. Or they underestimated themselves. One probably have to time travel to understand the exact cause of such majestic wealth of India. Since it is yet to be invented, lets look at the following reports that reflects on the past richness of India.
1. Sir Osman Ali Khan: Richest Man In The World in 1937
He was declared the world’s richest man in 1937. He ruled over Hyderabad which then comprised of today’s Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra (roughly covering the area of United Kingdom). He was often called His Exalted Highness or in mocking style His Exhausted Highness. This was so because he had seven wives and 42 concubines, giving birth to a population of at least 149 children. He gifted No. 110 Squadron RAF’s complement of DH.9A aircraft to British Empire during world war one and each aircraft had an inscription of the Hyderabad Kingdom. The State Bank of Hyderabad belonged to him and handled the currency of Hyderabad. In 1947, a tiara and necklace made of diamonds were gifted to Princess Elizabeth by this last Nizam of Hyderabad on the occasion of Princess’ marriage. This gift is still adorned by the Queen. He was a firm believer of education, thus donated a huge sum of money for institutions in India and abroad. He is the man who bought 50 Rolls Royce and used them to dump his garbage just to show off the wealth Indians possessed when a British official who made fun of his capacity to buy one Royce!
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| Sir Osman Ali Khan |
2. Priceless Peacock Throne
This magnificent piece of ancient India’s artifact was made up of 1150kg of gold and 230kg of precious stones. In 1999 it was estimated that this throne would have cost $804million dollars or roughly Rs.4.5 billion. Its construction cost was twice as much as that of Taj Mahal. Its construction was initiated by Shah Jahan in early 17th century. The idea was to give a God-like image of emperor by building stairs which led to the throne giving an impression of ruler floating above ground and closer to heaven.
The throne was to be situated between two pillars each having two peacocks with a set of trees laden of rubies and diamond, emeralds and pearls. There were 10 jeweled recesses for cushions and in the middle a 185 carats kohinoor was to be the seat of Emperor. The back of the throne had a design of a peacock’s tail made up of sapphires, turquoises and pearls. The throne was taken away by Persian ruler, Nadir Shah in 1739 as a war trophy. Later a dummy version of the throne was built to take the unbeatable position of The Peacock Throne.
3. Kohinoor diamond
Kohinoor is 106 carats diamond and was once the largest diamond of the world. It is said that the diamond is 5000 years, called Syamantaka jewel. But the early reference of Kohinoor diamond is in 1526 when Babur conquered Gwalior. The Raja of Gwalior owned this diamond in 13th century. Kohinoor is 106 carats diamond and was once the largest diamond of the world. It got transferred at the hands of many Indian and Persian rulers. It was mounted on the Peacock Throne on the commands of Shah Jahan. Later Aurangazeb took it to Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. It got robbed by Nadir Shah who took it to Persia. The diamond returned by back to India in Punjab when Shuja Shah Durrani, a ruler of Afghanistan made a deal in exchange of aid in winning back the Afghan Throne. In 1851 Queen Victoria got her hands around this diamond, at that time 186 carats. The crown of Kohinoor is particularly worn by female rulers as it is claimed that there is a curse on the diamond which pose life threats to males who adorn it. The diamond is still in possession of British Government.
4. GDP
India’s economy flourished between 1 AD and 1000AD, making it the largest economy with GDP value as 33.8 million dollars ahead of that of China’s with 26.6 million dollars in 1000. In 1500 it contributed 24.5% of world share and became second largest after China. With coming up of Mughals, its momentum of growth continued. In 1600s India reached the peak with the income of £17.5 million even greater than Britain’s entire treasury worth £ 16 million in 1800. With advent of the rule of East India Company in 1700s, India’s total share in world’s GDP reduced to 3.8%.
The major reason why India was named ‘golden bird’ was because of its abundant raw materials and availability of precious stones. Mauryan ships sailed as far as Syria , Egypt and Greeks. On this ground the ancient India was a global trade hub.
Gold was first found in the lands of India. There are several references of trade of gold from India to other parts of the world. The pearls which Julius Caesar presented to Brutus’ mother and the famous earring of Queen Cleopatra were traded from India.
5. Ancient Business Practices
India was the first one to do away with traditional practices of barter system. It introduced various currencies. Early form of currency is said to be the silver coins. There existed a form of early constitution in the Mauryan period where Chanakya laid down principles of law, politics, defense and economy. This written texts are still relevant and widely read by people to attain knowledge of working of a particular sector of the country. There existed many form of business enterprises. One of the famous practices was ‘sreni’ which dated back to 800BC, although many claim it to be even older than that.
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