“Yesterday”:https://varnam.org/archives/000215.html we discussed the results of Ayodhya excavations. Here is the history on Ifran Habib, one of the “Eminent Historians” as recorded by Arun Shourie.
Irfan Habib was a member of ICHR (the same agency that is being accused of being saffronized). In 1992, a major project titled “Medieval Sources” was started by the ICHR. One of the people who took the money and did not complete the work was Ifran Habib. According to the list supplied to Shourie from ICHR, Ifran Habib was paid Rs. 27,000 of tax payers money to write Akhbarat-e-Aurangzeb and no output was produced.
Continue reading “Ayodhya – II” →

With the publication of the Archeological Survey of India report on the excavations in Ayodhya, Archeology and religion have shot up in ratings. Here is a roundup of various articles:
“Dilip K. Chakrabarti”:http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_354171,00120001.htm, a lecturer in Archaeology, Cambridge University writes in Hindustan Times
bq. To cast a slur on the findings of what is undoubtedly the best and most dependable professional archaeological organisation in the country is an act of pure political expediency. Whatever we can accuse the ASI of, conscious falsification of data cannot be one of them.
He also has written about the history of Ayodhya from ancient times till 1856. Really worth reading.For those of us who could not read the long ASI report, here is the “sumBook Review: Pakistanof the report”:http://www.hvk.org/articles/0803/231.html. What does it say about if there was a temple underneath ?
Continue reading “Ayodhya – I” →

Two centuries after “Aryabhata”:https://varnam.org/archives/000207.html, Chinese pilgrim Huien Tsang visited the University of Nalanda located in present day Bihar. People here studied the philosphy of Buddha, and a new form of Buddhism was born called Vajrayana Buddhism, and within a century, this form of Buddhism became the dominant one in India. “This article”:http://www.flonnet.com/fl2017/stories/20030829000206600.htm describes the monasteries of that period and the art found in them.

Few weeks back, we reported on the “excavations”:https://varnam.org/archives/000171.html happening along the path that Saraswati river flowed.The excavations were planned from Adi Badri in Haryana to Dhaulavira in Gujarat. Now in Adi Badri a site dating 300 AD has been found
bq. Extensive excavation in the last seven months at Adi Badri site, 40 km north of the Yamunanagar district in Haryana, has yielded a 300 AD Kushan site ? and speculation that this may be the spot where the river had originated. The finds at the 200-foot-high Intowali site (ABR-II) include a monastery, Buddha statue, pottery, pieces of carved slabs, a meditation hall, verandah, an entrance, and several artefacts.
bq. Archaeologists say now there is enough evidence to prove that this was one of the major areas of inhabitation on the banks of the Saraswati that once flourished, and then disappeared without a trace.
[Source: “Indian Express”:http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29530]

Some more information is out on the “Indian Government’s plan to dig up the path of the mythical Saraswati river”:http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEH20030725112452&Page=H&Title=Top+Stories&rLink=0
bq. “We are now planning to take up excavation along the entire (Saraswati) stretch from Adi Badri in Haryana to Dhaulavira in Gujarat,” he said.
bq. On the planned excavation along the dried up Saraswati, a tourism ministry official said it was expected to reveal abandoned towns and inhabitations from the Harappan civilisation dating well before 3000 BC. The desert region of Dhaulavira in Kutch, in close proximity to the sea, is believed to have been a major port city.
And in case you did not know, this is all part of the BJP agenda to “extend the antiquity”:https://varnam.org/archives/000042.html of Indian Civilization which according to “Eminent Historians”:http://sandeep.blog-city.com/readblog.cfm?BID=35296 started only when Aryans invaded India.
In another archeological excavation in Kutch region in Gujarat “more articles”:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=90546 were found giving more information on the trade we had with ancient Rome
bq. The digging has unearthed a treasure trove of archaeological artefacts?pottery, pieces of Roman period amphoras, an iron smelting foundry and evidence of human settlement dating back to about the 3rd century B.C., a contemporary of the Sunga-Kushana period.
bq. ?This is, no doubt, a very important find in Kutch, after the Harappan sites. It establishes the place as a major trade centre as well as its close contacts with the Roman world. The period when it flourished could be judged by distinct diagnostic traits like the brick size, structural remains and terracotta pottery with animal figurines,?? says head the archaeology department of M. University V.S. Sonawane.
3rd century BC was the time Alexander reached Punjab and Chanakya and Chandra Gupta Maurya established the first empire in India.

Shashi Tharoor has a “review”:http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:7K321lEyndIJ:www.hinduonnet.com/mag/stories/2003072000120300.htm+The+things+Indians+knew+first&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 of the book “Lost Discoveries”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684837188/jksobservat-20 by Dick Teresi, which studies the ancient non-Western foundations of modern science. In this article Tharoor writes about the sciences in which our ancestors excelled. These include planetary astronomy, chemistry, physics, steel making, printing and paper making, and ship building.
[Ref: “The Hindu”:http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:7K321lEyndIJ:www.hinduonnet.com/mag/stories/2003072000120300.htm+The+things+Indians+knew+first&hl=en&ie=UTF-8]

The relics of Buddha are now in Chile on display. Here is an interesting look at the story behind the relics.
bq. “The mystery behind relic-worship:”:http://www.dailynews.lk/2003/07/09/fea06.html What remained after the Buddha’s body was burnt “were only the bones” which are explained as “the indestructible substance that remains unburnt in the ashes of Buddhas and Arahants.” Accordingly, in addition to the seven great relics that remained unburnt, which were the four canine teeth, the two collarbones and the frontal bone, the other unburnable dhatus that remained scattered around the burnt up pyre were of the size of mustard seeds (Digha Commentary II, 604).
Read also: “Buddha’s Bones”:https://varnam.org/archives/000099.html
[from “Indian Archeology”:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaArchaeology/ mailing list]

Last October, there was an announcement of the discovery of a light brown limestone box of the type commonly used for burials in first-century A.D. in Jerusalem. This box supposedly contained the bones of James, the brother of Jesus. Another important discovery was that of the Jehoash Inscription, a 2,800-year-old account of repairs made to the Temple in Jerusalem. But finally,
“Gold Dust And James Bond”:http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=online/features/ossuary/index
bq. Based on these results and a combination of epigraphic and historical considerations, the commission concluded that both inscriptions are modern fakes, engraved on authentic artifacts and covered with a carefully prepared mixture to imitate patina and to make them look centuries old.

The cash strapped Archeological Survey of India is still doing excavations, this time in Chattisgarh state. The items discovered include
* a Buddha statue dating back to the 6th century
* various scriptures
* monasteries and nunneries
* a six foot statue of a lady with a missing hand and Greek like features
* the only depiction of bison fights
* a unique hollowed out cylinder with ?jali? work carved out of a single stone
“Antique trove unearthed at Sirpur”:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=46997117
bq. The discoveries have been mentioned in the writings of Huen Tsang, who had visited Sirpur in the 7th century. The writings also reveal that there is a Bodh Stupa made by King Ashoka, 100 Bodh Vihars and 150 temples in Sirpur. These when excavated could reveal a city that could be four times biggert han Nalanda.
Huen Tsang, is a person we all have learned in our history books. He was the person running the Lonely Planet channel in the 7th century AD.
(Source “Indian Archeology Mailing List”:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaArchaeology/ on Yahoo)

The Jains recognized five kinds of infinities. They had various rules regarding combinations and permutations. They concieved of large amounts of time. The founder of Jainism is said to have been a mathematician (the first time I am hearing this). Another prominent person is Bhadrabahu.
“Ancient Jaina Mathematics: an Introduction”:http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_es/t_es_agraw_jaina_frameset.htm
bq. As mentioned before, the Jainas recognized five different kinds of infinity: infinity in one direction; infinity in two directions; infinity in area; infinity everywhere; and infinity perpetually. This is quite a revolutionary concept, as the Jainas were the first to discard the idea that all infinities were same or equal, an idea prevalent in Europe till the late 19th Century.