India - an overview
For my 50th birthday, Teresa and I headed to India for 10 days of seeing the sites.
We were with an organised tour that started in Delhi, on by train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, then on a long and rough road trip to Ranthemore for a safari to see tigers. We then headed back north to Jaipur for the Holi festival, before finishing the trip in Amristar to see the Golden Temple.
There was a lot to see, and even more to learn about the places that we visited. So much so that before posting pictures and information from each of the places we visited, a little background may be helpful – after a few pictures.
My Version of India’s History
India has a very long history. However, many of the sites that we visited during our holiday date from either the Mughal Empire or the later period when India was essentially under English control.
The Mughals
The Mughal Empire essentially started in 1526 when Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat. Lodi was the last of the Muslim leaders of the Delhi Sultanate. Babur, who reigned for only four years, was a descendent of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongal Empire in Asia and Europe at the end of the 11th century. Babur was succeeded by his son, Humayun. His reign was in two parts, since Sher Shah Suri and his Sur Empire took over from 1540 to 1555. However, Humayan returned to rule in 1555. However, he only lived until the following year, when he died from a fall down the stairs. Humayan is buried in his tomb in Delhi, one of the sites that we visited.
Humayan was succeeded by his son, Akbar who ruled for the next 50 years. During this period, Akbar increased the stability of the empire, and expanded the empire.
Akbar’s son, Jahangir, took over on the death of his father in 1605, and ruled until 1627, when he was succeeded by his son, Shah Jahan. The Taj Mahal was one of Shah Jahan’s legacies, being built as a tomb for his wife who died during childbirth, together with the Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi..
Having seen the Taj Mahal, it did not come as a surprise to learn that Shah Jahan spent rather more than the empire was generating. Therefore, although Shah Jahan’s eldest son – Dara Shikoh - was initially regent during a period of illness of Shah Jahan, another son, Aurangzeb defeated and executed Dara Shikoh, and then imprisoned his father as he reigned from 1658 to 1707. Although Aurangzeb’s son, Bahadur Shah took over in 1707 until 1712, this was essentially the start of the end of the Mughal Empire.
The Brits Take Over
The East India Company traded with India, initially with the Mughal emperors. “The Company”, as it was commonly known, had an army of about quarter of a million people, and took increasing control in India through the second half of the 18th century. Following an unsuccessful rebellion in 1857, Britain assumed direct control in 1858 (the British Raj). Queen Victoria became the Empress of India in 1876, and the British remaining in control until 1947 when India gained its independence and split from Pakistan.
Independence
One of the people who contributed to Indian independence was Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian activist who used nonviolent civil disobedience to achieve his objective. Gandhi trained as a lawyer in London before moving to South Africa and then returning to India. Shortly after independence on 30 January 1948, Gandhi was assassinated.
Religion in India
Many of the sites that we visited in India were religious sites – which is not surprising since the region is considered to be the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
About 80% of the Indian population are Hindus- the vast majority of the world’s Hindus being Indian. It is not surprising that India is also known as Hindustan (a name that we heard chanted very loudly at the ceremony at the Pakistan-Indian border at Wagga near the end of our trip). Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion after Christianity and Islam.
One of the main Hindu festivals is Holi – a festival that we celebrated during our trip.
The second largest religion in India is Islam. Muslims follow a single god, Allah, and his prophet, Muhammad. During our holiday we visited Jama Masjid in Delhi - one of world’s largest mosques.
Although the next largest religion in India is Christianity, other than a short visit to a cathedral in Agra, we did not see a lot of evidence of this religion. However, we did spend some time at Harmandir Sahib (better known for good reason as the Golden Temple) in Amristar, the highest seat of the Sikh religion. The Sikh religion was founded by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak. There were a number of subsequent living Gurus, however after the last of the ten living gurus, Guru Gobind Singh, the next and eternal guru was the sacred text of Sihkism, the Guru Granth Sahib. Therefore, the book that is the Guru Granth Sahib is revered by Sihks. We attended a ceremony at the Golden Temple that is carried out every day when the Guru Granth Sahib was taken from the temple to its bed for the night. Part of the Sihk religion involves the Langar, a kitchen where anyone can help prepare meals that are then served to anyone, who sit together on the floor to eat the meal.
