Image above: detail from portrait in oil of 'Ranjit Singh, Emperor of Punjab', by Manu Kaur Saluja..
History
A Pakistani's Plea: Why Our Textbooks Should Include Ranjit Singh
by FARHAN AHMED SHAH
Senator Raza Rabbani’s recent assertion that teaching students about Ranjit Singh or Bhagat Singh would not harm Pakistan should be warmly welcomed.
Altering a country’s history to serve its interests is a common practice in the world. But in our case, we have taken it to a whole new level. Our history books, which are meant to shape the worldview and mindset of future generations, are currently only a tool to indoctrinate the impressionable minds of the younger generation.
The history of Pakistan, as told in these textbooks, is nothing more than a history of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent.
The books exalt Muslim rulers of the subcontinent, depicting them to be the epitome of righteousness with the sole agenda to spread Islam, even though all of them were invaders with an expansionist agenda. The books vilify all local non-Muslim rulers as having an inherent hatred towards Islam, even though they might have been simply fighting an oppressor or invader. The names of the non-Muslim rulers are never mentioned. That’s why the books are replete with the names of the Ghaznavis, Tughlaqs and Mughals, even though they were invaders, but the likes of Ranjit Singh fail to earn a mention, even though they were sons of the soil.
May I ask our writers of history that if Mehmud Ghaznavi was such a great preacher of religion, as most textbooks portray him to be, why did he go on killing and destructive sprees against, for example, the Muslim rulers of Multan? And what should one make of the fact that he killed his own brother to capture the throne? Or that why did he have to attack the subcontinent 17 times? What was the motive for him invading places like Mathura, Kannauj and Kalinjar, known primarily for the treasures found in their Hindu temples? Was it not to ransack them and take away their riches?
The Ghaznavids were succeeded by Shahabuddin Ghauri. Ghauri is famous for challenging the Hindu king Prithvi Raj Chauhan, at the start of the Battle of Tarain in 1192, to either convert to Islam or be crushed. If spreading Islam was his agenda, one wonders what about the war he waged against the last Ghaznavid king, Malik Khusro? Why are our history books silent on this?
Such textbooks have contributed to a skewed and prejudiced understanding of history, and created a sense of fear in many of us here in Pakistan of all that is non-Islamic. This fear then creates a mindset of the average Pakistan, steeped in paranoia and a sharply anti-West worldview. This also creates a superiority complex among many of us, in that we consider ourselves and our faith the best, and denigrate that of others.
We forget that our land has given birth to and helped nurture major world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, so it’s about time we embrace our history in its entirety and learn from it. Maybe that will help induce much required tolerance in us.
In the end, I would narrate a story that I have grown up hearing as a member of Lahore’s historical Fakir family.
The rulers of Afghanistan never reconciled with the fact that Peshawar had slipped out of their hands and went to Ranjit Singh.
When Dost Mohammed Khan attacked Peshawar in 1834 to regain it, Ranjit Singh sent Fakir Azizuddin, his prime minister, for negotiations. When the Fakir reached his camp and talks started, the courtiers gave it a religious bend and he was taunted severely for his allegiance to a non-Muslim.
Shrewd that the Fakir was, he asked all present that, being a good Muslim, wasn’t it his moral duty to loyally serve his king? The aggressors who were in no mood to let go, cleverly started alluding to the massive bloodshed of Muslims on both sides if the war ensued. The Fakir took a pause and asked Dost Khan that if he convinced Ranjit Singh to give Peshawar back to him, would he return peacefully? The answer was a resounding ‘yes’. The Fakir quickly retorted: “Then don’t brand your campaign Islamic, it’s a fight for a piece of land.”
The author works on a USAID-funded economic project called FIRMS and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Warwick, U.K.
[Courtesy: The Express Tribune]
October 19, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), October 19, 2011, 12:03 PM.
This article is brilliantly honest and comes in the wake of many historians and Sikhs who are shocked that the great Emperor Ranjit Singh could achieve so much that no other nation or power could or did ... and he remains relatively unknown outside Sikhdom, but especially in the land of his birth!
2: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), October 19, 2011, 1:53 PM.
This indeed is how we need to look at our icons, scholars and leaders as well. Much as we may continue to love them, and we should, few exist without warts and biases. We need always to look at things with a clear eye. There are virtues in friends and enemies both, as well as shortcomings. Great read.
3: Gurjender Singh (Maryland, U.S.A.), October 19, 2011, 2:25 PM.
It is a shame on the part of historians, including those in India, they have also ignored Ranjit Singh in history books. As a student I have never see any history books providing details about him and his extraordinary reign. It is very surprising that most of the Indian history books mention Muslim kings, but there is no mention about their torture of Sikhs and the Sikhs Gurus. Even our S.G.P.C. or other 'leaders' do not talk about this omission.
4: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom ), October 19, 2011, 5:26 PM.
At the Royal Armouries in Leeds, United Kingdom, there are on display several pieces of body armour belonging to him. We should take time out of our professional lives and apply our various skills to ensuring that our stories are properly made part of general history.
5: Plate (U.S.A.), October 19, 2011, 7:02 PM.
We should not wait for non-Sikh scholars to write about Ranjit Singh. As this article proves, it has not been done so far. Scholars from within the community must write about the Maharajah so the world knows about the secular principles that this great leader of Punjab espoused and practiced. To date, no good feature films or documentaries have been made on this subject.
6: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), October 19, 2011, 7:48 PM.
Years ago I happened to be traveling in a train in Canada. Opposite to me sat a newly married Pakistani Punjabi couple. I always thirst to hear the beloved Punjabi dialect that we had to abandon in Lyallpur, Pakistan, in 1947. I started: "Beta, where are you from?" He started to speak a mixture of Urdu and Punjabi and in the brief interlude drifted into extolling the greatness of the Muslim rulers that he had obviously read about in his school history books. Said he: "Look at the greatness of Raja Iskander who had nearly conquered the whole world." Bemused, I said: "Beta, Iskander was not a Muslim but a Macedonian and was the one who had conquered the Persian Empire." He decided that it was time to whisper some sweet nothings to his new bride. The most reliable eye witness testimony of Ranjit Singh's times comes from the Fakir family. Fakir Azizuddin was the most trusted Minister in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's court. The book "The Real Ranjit SinghÃ" by his direct descendant, Syed Waheeduddin, remains an ignored lone voice in the present skewed and doctored history books in Pakistan. India too is a member of the same league, bent upon distorting and re-writing history.