BABAR'S SEPULCHERE IN KABUL- VISIT BY INDIRA GANDHI

I have not been a History student  but after my retirement from Government service, my inquisitiveness to know more about our history forced me look for all available material on the subject .I got this opportunity when my second daughter,Dr. Rashmi Singh, after passing her   graduation in history & Masters in International Relations, left  for London to join LSC for her PhD in 2002. After departure of my all the three kids abroad for study/job I started taking stock of  all the books littered in the house. 

Since all the three children were voracious readers, there were good number of books in the house needing proper storage and accountability. This provided me  an opportunity to go through a large number of History books  left by Rashmi.

While reading History books ,I was surprised to learn that almost all the Indian historians had called the RAJPUT period as DARK period. While enough meitrial was available on RAJPUTS,  their kingdoms, valor and so on, hardly much space was provided by any historian.

There could be many reasons for it which need to be explored. The recent book of Mr. Natawar Singh, a former deplomat and a Minister in congress ruled government, does give some food for thought in this direction.

OUT LOOK dated 11 Aug.2014, an Indian periodical, published an article  titled " A Friend And A Gentleman" on Natwar Singh, by  Mani Shankar Aiyar ( another diplomat & a Minister in Congress Govt.). Aiyar narreted an incident, the gist of which is as under:-

" In the immediate wake of Mrs Indira Gandhi becoming  Prime Minister, her one early trip abroad was to Kabul, On her visit she  insisted  to visit .Babar's Tomb which Natawar Singh arranged. Babar was not an Afghan hero. Hence ,the tomb, located on a hill top, was grossly  neglected. Both Indira & Natwar had to toil up the climb on foot.to reach the grave.

 She ( Mrs Gandhi)  seemed overwhelmed by the occasion and stood silently before the humble sepulchre for several minutes. Then she heaved a sigh  and murmured " Natwar,I've had my moment with history"..

While there is nothing unusual for the Indian Prime Minister to visit Babar's tomb, one wonders if she had similar sentiments for the brave Rana Sangram Singh (Popularly known as Rana Sanga) of Mewar who bravely fought Babar. And if she ever took time to visit the SAMADHI of Rana Sanga at  Chittorgarh?

The answer to many questions as to why our historians refer to Rajput history as Dark period, lies in such neglects by our own leaders.

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