Typically, when looking at Indian history, the general tendency is to see ancient India, as the glorious, golden period, while medieval India, is the dark period, which we would really not like to remember. For reference, medieval India can generally be taken as the period between the establishment of the Muslim rule in India to the British slowly taking over India. It was one painful phase, with many old Hindu kingdoms being destroyed, temples demolished, large-scale massacres, and atrocities against Hindus by the Muslim rulers.

But think about it, was it really a dark age?

Sure, we had the most glorious phase, ever before the Muslim invasions, with advances in sciences, and technology. We had our own navy that conquered most of South East Asia. And after the Islamic rule began in India, we lost our capabilities in those areas.

But was it really a fall as is being made out often?

While we had to suffer the brutalities and atrocities of the Muslim invasions, the fact remains we put up the toughest resistance ever and survived. Just for a moment see what happened in Rome, Greece, Egypt, the Middle East and Latin America. All the great pagan civilizations there- Roman, Greek, Babylonian, Persian, Pharaohs, Incas, Aztecs, Mayas were brutally extinguished by the Abrahamic religions, and could never recover from the blow. Those civilizations currently remain only in the museums, memorials and Hollywood period epics.

On the other hand, our Sanatana Dharma not just survived, but still continues to remain a thriving force in a world dominated by Islam and Christianity. While there are many reasons for its survival, the resistance of our ancestors, in this era, was one of the main factors. From the Vijayanagara Empire down South to the Gangas, Gajapatis in Odisha to the Rajputs, Jats in the North to the Marathas in the Deccan, to the Bundelas, Gonds in Central India and the Ahoms in the North East, they fought back at every stage to protect our Dharma.

Our ancestors shed blood, made sacrifices, to keep our Dharma alive. The sacrifice of a Sambhaji who endured torture and execution rather than convert to Islam. The sacrifice of a Rana Pratap, who lived a life of hardship in the Aravalli jungles to surrender to Akbar. The sacrifice of a Rani Durgavati who stabbed herself to death and refused to surrender to the Mughals.

And it was not just the sacrifices, they fought back fiercely, from a Rana Kumbha who routed the Sultanates of Malwa, Gujarat to Harihara, Bukka Raya who founded the great Vijayanagara Empire that would act as a barrier against the Muslim invasions, which had devastated the North. From Lachit Borphukan who led the Ahoms to victory over the mighty Mughal army at Saraighat to Veer Chattrasal who carved out an independent kingdom of Bundelkhand. From the great Baji Rao who expanded the Maratha empire to the North to the mighty Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj. And the great emperor Sri Krishna Deva Raya at whose name the Turks quivered. We fought.

We had our tragedies at Panipat, Haldighati, Tallikota, Khanwa but those tragedies did not make us surrender. Every tragedy made our ancestors rise after the fall, and fight back even more intensely. And above all our ancestors never converted to Islam, they preferred to face torture or death, but never gave up their faith. Even those Hindu rulers who sided with the Muslim invaders never converted to Islam and preserved the Sanatana Dharma in their own kingdoms. In sharp contrast to what happened in places like the Philipines or Africa, where the conquered pagan kings converted to Islam or Christianity.

And it was not just the rulers, we had the Bhakti movement in this era, where saints like Ramanuja, the Sants of Maharashtra, Purandara Dasa, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, spread the glory of Sanatana Dharma among the masses, and ensured they did not convert to Islam.

Dark age in Indian history? Think again.

In fact, to me, it is one of the glorious eras to be remembered. Yes, a tragic, brutal era but also an era in which our ancestors waged a resistance, and ensured that Sanatana Dharma continues to thrive in this great land of ours.

When you often dismiss this era as a dark age and judge our ancestors as failures, just remember one thing, today if you are still a practicing Hindu, it is because of their sacrifices. Else our Sanatana Dharma by now would have ended up in some museum or memorial for tourists to gape over.

Move away from the biased history textbooks and Bollywood movies, that show our ancestors as failures, and the Sultanate, Mughal rulers in a positive light. Read and learn about the sacrifices made by our ancestors, share them with as many. With information available all over the Net at just a click away, there is really no excuse for being ignorant anymore. Remember our heroes, do not judge them and let their stories be known to each and every one.

Image source: ClearIAS