WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/49756
Akbar Hussain,
I agree most of your comments.
I was told by Gujarati Muslim recently that before the coming of
Islam India had nothing. Example: Islam gave Tajmahal. I wonder, if
Laura dies tomorrow and Pres. Bush sundertake construction of a
similar memorial, Americans would sure eulogize Bush.
It was a brilliant Muslim contribution to India, when general
peasantry were miserable. Farmers were selling their wives, children
in slave markets to pay up the taxes. In other instances, tax-
collectors were taking away the children from unfortunate farmers to
sell them for exactling the tax-demand.
Bengal had becoming the leading supply-house of eunuchs for India's
slave-markets since 13th century noted by Marco Polo, while at Shah
Jahan's time it was probably most widespread in Bengal. Helpless
parents in Bengal had their young sons castrated and gave to Muslim
tax-collectors or sold in markets to generating life-sustaining
revenue.
Having said that without Tajmahal, Redford -- India will be as great
a country today. But without British created universities, secular
education, court, secular-democracy -- it would not.
However, I would think that these things could have come to India
without the British occupation, too. Persia, Turkey -- despite
having an staunchly anti-secular and anti-assimilative creed -- had
strongly secular rulers in early 20th century, even without
occupation.
India had its advantage that her civilization had always been very
assimilative. Alexander came, did not stay in India for long, but by
the time of Islam's birth -- Greek thoughts in science and
philosophy had influenced India so greatly that India at this was
the leading torch-bearer of these ancient Greek endeavours. If that
standard applied, India would have assimilated West's new
discoveries in polity and intellectual endeavors quite easily,
probably without an occupation -- at least faster than nations like
Turkey, Iran (as they were in the 1920-30s).
The fact that Hindu India embraced democracy and excellence in
science and intellectual endeavors while Muslim Bangladesh/Pakistan
ditched them, says it all too.
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