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"Hindu Kush" means Hindu Slaughter
This is an article that is a must-read for every individual to realize
the extent to which Hindudom and Hindus were brutally tortured,
murdered and raped by alien invaders. It is a shame that the
truth of this genocide was kept veiled from the common masses and
Indian historians, along with their peers world wide, have kept
silent on this issue! Such mass slaughters perhaps have occured
nowehere in the history of the world and the Hindu holocaust must
to taught and told in every schools, Universities and academic
institutions!
HINDU KUSH MEANS HINDU SLAUGHTER
ABSTRACT
All Standard reference books agree that the name 'Hindu Kush'
of the mountain range in Eastern Afganistan means 'Hindu Slaughter'
or 'Hindu Killer'. History also reveals that until 1000 A.D. the
area of Hindu Kush was a full part of Hindu cradle. More likely, the
mountain range was deliberately named as 'Hindu Slaughter' by the
Moslem conquerors, as a lesson to the future generations of Indians.
However Indians in general, and Hindus in particular are completely
oblivious to this tragic genocide. This article also looks into the
reasons behind this ignorance.
21 References - (Mainly Encyclopedia Britannica & other reference books,
National Geographic Magazines and standard history books)
INTRODUCTION
The Hindu Kush is a mountain system nearly 1000 miles long and 200
miles wide, running northeast to southwest, and dividing the Amu Darya
River Valley and Indus River Valley. It stretches from the Pamir Plateau
near Gilgit, to Iran. The Hindu Kush ranges mainly run thru Afganistan
and Pakistan. It has over two dozen summits of more than 23,000 ft in
height. Below the snowy peaks the mountains of Hindu Kush appear bare,
stony and poor in vegetation. Historically, the passes across the
Hindu Kush have been of great military significance, providing access
to the northern plains of India. The Khyber Pass constitutes an
important strategic gateway and offers a comparatively easy route to
the plains of Punjab. Most foreign invaders, starting from Alexander the
Great in 327 BC, to Timur Lane in 1398 AD, and from Mahmud of Ghazni,
in 1001 AD, to Nader Shah in 1739 AD attacked Hindustan via the Khyber
Pass and other passes in the Hindu Kush (1,2,3). The Greek chroniclers of
Alexander the Great called Hindu Kush as Parapamisos or Paropanisos (4).
The Hindu name of the Hindu Kush mountains was 'Paariyaatra Parvat'(5).
EARLY HISTORY OF HINDU KUSH REGION (UP TO 1000 AD)
History of Hindu Kush and Punjab shows that two major kingdoms of
Gandhaar & Vaahic Pradesh (Balkh of Bactria) had their borders extending
far beyond the Hindu Kush. Legend has it that the kingdom of Gandhaar
was established by Taksha, grandson of Bharat of Ayodhya (6). Gandhaar's
borders extended from Takshashila to Tashkent (corruption of 'Taksha
Khand') in the present day Uzbekistan. In the later period, Mahabharat
relates Gaandhaari as a princess of Gandhaar and her brother, Shakuni
as a prince and later as Gandhaar's ruler.
In the well documented history, Emperor Chandragupt Maurya took
charge of Vaahic Pradesh around 325 BC and then took over Magadh.
Emperor Ashok's stone tablets with inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic
are still found at Qandahar (corruption of Gandhaar?) and Laghman in
eastern Afganistan(3). One such stone tablet, is shown in the PBS TV
series 'Legacy with Mark Woods' in episode 3 titled 'India: The
Spiritual Empire'. After the fall of Mauryan empire, Gandhaar was
ruled by Greeks. However some of these Greek rulers had converted to
Buddhism, such as Menander, known to Indian historians as Milinda,
while some other Greeks became followers of Vishnav sects (Hinduism)(7).
Recent excavations in Bactria have revealed a golden hoard which has
among other things a figurine of a Greek goddess with a Hindu mark on
its forehead (Bindi) showing the confluence of Hindu-Greek art (8).
Later Shaka and KushaaN ruled Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh. KushaaN
emperor Kanishka's empire stretched from Mathura to the Aral Sea
(beyond the present day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Krygzystan)(9).
Kanishaka was a Buddhist and under KushaaN influence Buddhism flourished
in Gandhaar. Two giant sandstone Buddhas carved into the cliffs of
Bamian (west of Kabul) date from the Kushan period. The larger Buddha
(although defaced in later centuries by Moslem invaders) is about 175 ft
tall (10,11). The Kushan empire declined by 450 AD. The Chinese traveller
Hsuan-Tsang (Xuan-zang) travelled thru the region in 7 th century AD
and visited many Buddhist religious centers (3) including Hadda, Ghazni,
Qonduz, Bamian (3,10,11), Shotorak and Bagram. From the 5 th thru 9 th
cenury AD Persian Sasanians and Hepthalites ruled Gandhaar. During their
rule Gandhaar region was again influenced by Hinduism. The Hindu kings
(Shahiya) were concentrated in the Kabul and Ghazni areas. The last
Hindu Shahiya king of Kabul, Bhimapal was killed in 1026 AD. The heroic
efforts of the Hindu Shahiya Kings to defend the northwestern gates
of India against the invaders are described by even al-Biruni, the court
historian of Mahmud of Ghazni (12). Some excavated sites of the period
include a major Hindu Shahiya temple north of Kabul and a chapel that
contains both Buddhist and Hindu images, indicating that there was a
mingling of two religions (3).
Islamic invasions on Afganistan started in 642 AD, but over the
next several centuries their effect was marginal and lasted only a
short time after each raid. Cities surrendered only to rise in revolt
and the hastily converted returned to their old religion (Hinduism or
Buddhism) once the Moslem armies had passed (3).
THUS TILL THE YEAR 1000 AD AFGANISTAN WAS A FULL PART OF HINDU CRADLE.
HINDU KUSH AND THE HINDU GENOCIDE
Now Afganistan is a Moslem country. Logically, this means either
one or more of the following must have happened:
a) original residents of Hindu Kush converted to Islam, or
b) they were slaughtered and the conquerors took over, or
c) they were driven out.
Encyclopedia Britannica (3) already informs us above about the
resistance to conversion and frequent revolt against to the Moslem
conqueror's rule from 8 th thru 11 th Century AD. The name 'Hindu Kush'
itself tells us about the fate of the original residents of Gandhaar
and Vaahic Pradesh during the later period of Moslem conquests, because
HINDU KUSH in Persian MEANS HINDU SLAUGHTER (13) (as per Koenraad Elst
in his book 'Ayodhya and After'). Let us look into what other standard
references say about Hindu Kush.
Persian-English dictionary (14) indicates that the word 'Kush'
is derived from the verb Kushtar - to slaughter or carnage. Kush is
probably also related to the verb Koshtan meaning to kill. In Urdu, the
word Khud-kushi means act of killing oneself (khud - self, Kushi- act
of killing). Encyclopedia Americana comments on the Hindu Kush as
follows: The name Hindu Kush means literally 'Kills the Hindu', a
reminder of the days when (Hindu) SLAVES from Indian subcontinent died
in harsh Afgan mountains while being transported to Moslem courts of
Central Asia (15). The National Geographic Article 'West of Khyber Pass'
informs that 'Generations of raiders brought captive Hindus past these
peaks of perpetual snow. Such bitter journeys gave the range its name
Hindu Kush - "Killer of Hindus"'(10). The World Book Encyclopedia informs
that the name Kush, .. means Death ..(16). While Encyclopedia Britannica
says 'The name Hindu Kush first appears in 1333 AD in the writings of
Ibn Battutah, the medieval Berber traveller, who said the name meant
'Hindu Killer', a meaning still given by Afgan mountain dwellers who
are traditional enemies of Indian plainsmen (i.e. Hindus)(2). However,
later the Encyclopedia Britannica gives a negationist twist by adding
that 'more likely the name is a corruption of Hindu-Koh meaning Hindu
mountains'. This is unlikely, since the term Koh is used in its proper,
uncorrupted form for the western portion of Hindu Kush, viz. Koh-i-Baba,
for the region Swat Kohistan, and in the names of the three peaks of
this range, viz. Koh-i-Langer, Koh-i-Bandakor, and Koh-i-Mondi. Thus
to say that corruption of term Koh to Kush occurred only in case of
Hindu Kush is merely an effort to fit in a deviant observation to a
theory already proposed. In science, a theory is rejected if it does
not agree with the observations, and not the other way around. Hence
the latter negationist statement in the Encyclopedia Britannica must
be rejected.
IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT ONE OF THE FEW PLACE NAMES ON EARTH THAT
REMINDS US NOT OF THE VICTORY OF THE WINNERS BUT RATHER THE SLAUGHTER
OF THE LOSERS, CONCERNS A GENOCIDE OF HINDUS BY THE MOSLEMS (13).
Unlike the Jewish holocaust, the exact toll of the Hindu genocide
suggested by the name Hindu Kush is not available. However the number
is easily likely to be in millions. Few known historical figures can
be used to justify this estimate. Encyclopedia Britannica informs that
in December 1398 AD, Timur Lane ordered the execution of at least
50,000 captives before the battle for Delhi, .. and after the battle
those inhabitants (of Delhi) not killed were removed (as slaves) (17),
while other reference says that the number of captives butchered by
Timur Lane's army was about 100,000 (18). Later on Encyclopedia
Britannica mentions that the (secular?) Mughal emperor Akbar 'ordered
the massacre of about 30,000 (captured) Rajput Hindus on February 24,
1568 AD, after the battle for Chitod' (19). Another reference indicates
that this massacre of 30,000 Hindu peasants at Chitod is recorded by
Abul Fazl, Akbar's court historian himself (20). These two 'one day'
massacres are sufficient to provide a reference point for estimating
the scale of Hindu genocide. The Afgan historian Khondamir records that
during one of the many repeated invasions on the city of Herat in
western Afganistan, 1,500,000 residents perished (11).
Since some of the Moslem conquerors took Indian plainsmen as
slaves, a question comes : whatever happened to this slave population?
The startling answer comes from New York Times (May-June 1993 issues).
The Gypsies are wandering peoples in Europe. They have been persecuted
in almost every country. Nazis killed 300,000 gypsies in the gas
chambers. These Gypsies have been wandering around Central Asia and
Europe since around the 12 th Century AD. Until now their country of
origin could not be identified. Also their Language has had very little
in common with the other European languages. Recent studies however
show that their language is similar to Punjabi and to a lesser degree
to Sanskrit. Thus the Gypsies most likely originated from the greater
Punjab. The time frame of Gypsy wanderings also coincides early Islamic
conquests hence most likely their ancestors were driven out of their
homes in Punjab and taken as slaves over the Hindu Kush.
The theory of Gypsie origins in India was first proposed over
two centuries ago. It is only recently theta linguistic and other
proofs have been verified. Even the Gypsie leadership now accepts
India as the country of their origin.
Thus it is evident that the mountain range was named as Hindu
Kush as a reminder to the future Hindu generations of the slaughter
and slavery of Hindus during the Moslem conquests.
DELIBERATE IGNORANCE ABOUT HINDU KUSH
If the name Hindu Kush relates such a horrible genocide of Hindus,
why are Hindus ignorant about it? and why the Government of India does
not teach them about Hindu Kush? The history and geography curriculums
in Indian Schools barely even mention Hindu Kush. The horrors of
the Jewish holocaust are taught not only in schools in Israel and USA,
but also in Germany. Because both Germany and Israel consider the
Jewish holocaust a 'dark chapter' in the history. The Indian Government
instead of giving details of this 'dark chapter' in Indian history
is busy in whitewash of Moslem atrocities and the Hindu holocaust. In
1982, the National Council of Educational Research and Training issued
a directive for the rewriting of school texts. Among other things
it stipulated that: 'Characterization of the medieval period as a time
of conflict between Hindus and Moslems is forbidden'. Thus denial of
history or Negationism has become India's official 'educational'
policy (21).
Often the official governmental historians brush aside questions
such as those that Hindu Kush raises. They argue that the British
version is the product of their 'divide and rule' policy' hence their
version is not necessarily true. However it must be remembered that
the earliest reference of the name Hindu Kush and its literal meaning
'Hindu Killer' comes from Ibn Battutah in 1333 AD, and at that time
British were nowhere on the Indian scene. Secondly, if the name indeed
was a misnomer then the Afgans should have protested against such a
barbaric name and the last 660 plus years should have been adequate
for a change of name to a more 'civil' name. There has been no effort
for such a change of name by the Afgans. On the contrary, when the
Islamic fundamentalist regime of the Mujahadeens came to power in 1992,
tens of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs from Kabul, became refugees,
and had to pay steep ransom to enter into Pakistan without a visa.
In the last 46 years the Indian Government also has not even
once demanded that the Afgan Government change such an insulting and
barbaric name. But in July 1993, the Government of India asked the
visiting Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra to change its name because the
word Jerusalem in its name is offensive to Moslem Fundamentalists.
CONCLUSION
It is evident that Hindus from ancient India's (Hindustan's)
border states such as Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh were massacred or
taken as slaves by the Moslem invaders who named the region as Hindu
Kush (or Hindu Slaughter,or Hindu Killer) to teach a lesson to the
future Hindu generations of India. Unfortunately Hindus are not aware
of this tragic history. The Indian government does not want the true
history of Hindu Moslem conflicts during the medieval ages to be taught
in schools. This policy of negationism is the cause behind the
ignorance of Hindus about the Hindu Kush and the Hindu genocide.
COMMENTS & FUTURE WORK
Although in this article Hindu Kush has been referred to as
Hindu slaughter, it is quite possible that it was really a Hindu and
Buddhist slaughter. Since prior to Moslem invasions influence of
Buddhism in Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh was considerable. Also as the
huge 175 ft stone Buddhas of Bamian show, Buddhists were idol
worshipers par excellence. Hence for Moslem invaders the Buddhists
idol worshipers were equally deserving of punishment. It is also
likely that Buddhism was considered an integral part of the Hindu
pantheon and hence was not identified separately.
This article barely scratches the surface of the Hindu genocide,
the true depth of which is as yet unknown. Readers are encouraged to
find out the truth for themselves . Only when many readers search for
the truth, the real magnitude of the Hindu genocide will be discovered.
REFREENCES
1. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.5, p.935, 1987
2. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.14, pp.238-240, 1987
3. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.13, pp.35-36, 1987
4. The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great (as described by
Arrian, Q.Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch & Justin), By J.W.McCrindle,
Methuen & Co., London, p.38, 1969
5. Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, by Veer Savarkar, Savarkar
Prakashan, Bombay, 2nd Ed, p.206, 1985
6. Chanakya - a TV series by Doordarshan, India
7. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, pp.36-41, 1987
8. V.Sarianidi, National Geographic Magazine, Vol.177, No.3, p.57,
March 1990
9. Hammond Historical Atlas of the World, pp. H4 & H10, 1993
10. W.O.Douglas, National Geographic Magazine, vol.114, No.1,
pp.13-23, July 1958
11. T.J.Abercrombie, National Geographic Magazine, Vol.134, No.3,
pp.318-325, Sept.1968
12. An Advanced History of India, by R.C.Majumdar, H.C.Raychaudhuri,
K.Datta, 2nd Ed., MacMillan and Co, London, pp.182-83, 1965
13. Ayodhya and After, By Koenraad Elst, Voice of India Publication,
p.278, 1991
14. A Practical Dictionary of the Persian Language, by J.A.Boyle,
Luzac & Co., p.129, 1949
15. Encyclopedia Americana, Vol.14, p.206, 1993
16. The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol.19, p.237, 1990
17. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, pp. 54-55, 1987
18. An Advanced History of India, by R.C.Majumdar, H.C.Raychaudhuri,
K.Datta, 2nd Ed., MacMillan and Co, London, pp.336-37, 1965
19. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, p.65, 1987
20. The Cambridge History of India, Vol.IV - The Mughul Period,
by W.Haig & R.Burn, S.Chand & Co., New Delhi, pp. 98-99, 1963
21. Negationism in India, by Koenraad Elst, Voice of India Publ,
2nd Ed, pp.57-58, 1993
______________________________________________________________________
--
"Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth and if today it has become mori-
bund, inactive, irresponsive to growth, it is because we are fatigued. As soon
as the fatigue is over, Hinduism will burst forth upon the world with a bril-
liance perhaps never known before."-Mahatma Gandhi in "Young India", 24-4-1924
