" What have Brahmins done other than beg for alms?"- asks this political stooge.

I have noticed that people like him, who slander me everyday and spread lies about me, have a deep seated hatred for Brahmins.

This is a common factor driving them all.

Taliban has hoisted its flag on Hazrat Ali mosque of Mazar I Sharif.

This mosque is especially venerated by Shia Hazaras of Afghanistan.

This development is of extreme significance in the light of history and has implications on the very definition of Afghanistan

Thread.

The Afghanistan we see on the map today was created by Afghan King Emir Abdur Rahman in 1900.

Before 1880, the entire central region of Afghanistan constituted a different country that was known by the name Hazaristan or Hazarajat

It was NOT considered a part of Afghanistan

That Afghanistan is nation of Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, etc is just a modern notion created 50 years ago.

Consider this Afghan idiom of the famous Pashtun poet Khushal Khattak(c. 1613 -1689 CE)

"An Afghan is a Pashtun and a Pashtun is an Afghan. Bεhead him who says otherwise"

Who are Hazaras?

Hazaras are considered by historians to be descendants of Genghis Khan's army.

This is supported by their Asiatic features.

Although a majority of Hazaras adopted Persian with their own Hazaragi dialect, some still speak a Turkic language known as "Moghul"

An overwhelming majority of Hazaras are Shia by faith, in contrast to their Sunni Pashtun neighbors.

Hazaras are distinct from other Afghans linguistically, culturally and ethnically.

Traditionally, they inhabited the entire central region of Afghanistan from Ghazni to Herat

Did you know?

The Bamiyan Buddhas are famous throughout the world.

Did you know that the Bamiyan Buddhas had a gold covering until 9th century? They were adorned with precious gems.

Did you know that the Bamiyan Buddhas were built by a HINDU king?

[Thread]

Who built Bamiyan Buddha?

There lies a painting of the king who sponsored the construction of Bamiyan Buddhas inside Bamiyan caves.

The name of the king who built Bamiyan Buddhas was Narendraditya Khingila(6th-7th century CE).

He was the same king who worshiped Gardez Ganesha

Khingila consecrated a temple for Ganesha in Gardez, Afghanistan.

The temple has not survived.

However, the Ganesha image has been moved out of Gardez and is now at Pir Rattan temple, Kabul (the same temple whose priest is Pandit Rajesh Kumar, the last Hindu of Afghanistan)

When Xuanzang visited Bamiyan (c. 629 CE) , the Buddhas were standing in full glory.

Xuanzang describes the larger standing Buddha as follows
-
"It is 140-150 meters high. It is of a dazzling gold color. It is resplendent with ornamentations of precious substances"

During this period, the clothes of Buddha were very brightly colored. The larger buddha was clothed in red and the smaller Buddha in white.

And this coloring survived until recently.

This is why Muslims named larger Buddha as "Surkh But"(red idol) and the smaller as "Khing But"

Dipavali & firecrackers

In this thread, I will debunk the MYTH that bursting firecrackers is a new innovation that was recently introduced into dīpāvali festivities.

It will be shown that bursting firecrackers has always been intergral and central part of dīpāvali .

[Thread]

At the very core of this entire MYTH is the presumption that Gunpowder (cf. fireworks) was invented in China in 9th century and brought to India by Muslim rulers.

This THREAD debunks this widespread MYTH and throws light on the unknown/hidden history of dīpāvali & gunpowder.

Indeed, so widespread is this myth that gunpowder is popularly known as one of “ the "Four Great Inventions" of China”.

However, this myth starts falling apart when we examine Chinese sources themselves for the origin of Gunpowder.

According to Chinese sources themselves, an Indian Buddhist monk who brought gunpowder technology to China

In 664 CE, he discovered soils in China containing Saltpetre (primary constituent of gunpowder).

Chinese studies of Chemistry of saltpetre show evidence of Indian origin.

Of course, this is not to say that Chinese have no contribution to Gunpowder technology. They improvised it & made innovations.

However, the initial knowledge of Gunpowder came to China from India.

Even Scholar Roger Pauly, a hardcore Sinophile, admits "Indian inspiration"