Welcome to Eternal Path Musings, a weekly newsletter for the modern and curious Hindu, featuring highlights around: religious texts, practice, history, politics, people, and ways to better our engagement and personal progress.
This issue features: Short Reads, Afghan Hindu history, and an aesthetic
To read previous issues, click this link.
Forward widely and have your friends, family, and congregants sign up here!
Reading Highlights: Short Reads
Nityananda Misra corrects Audrey Truschke on Sanskrit - Anti-Hindu academic and political idedologue Audrey Truschke blocks him right after
Did Rama eat beef? - No, not only was Rama not a beef-eater, but neither was Ravana
Persianate Statue of Durga - Located/Dated to either the Sassanian Empire around 600 CE or Gandhara, Afghanistan around 500 CE.
History Highlight: Hindu Shahi Empire
The Hindu Shahi empire, also known as the Kabul Shahi empire was an empire ruled by Hindu Kings largely in modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northwest India from about 850-1026 CE. The areas ruled by their empire included: The Kabul Valley, Gandhara, Laghman, Peshawar, Sirhind and parts of Kashmir.
Their empire emerged on the heels of Arab conquest of the Turk Shahi empire of Kabul. Soon after, a Hindu Brahmin minister named Kallar or Lalliya seized the reins of power and began ruling from Kabul. They soon began developing alliances with Kashmiri and Rajput Kingdoms and minting coins (coin 1, coin 2). Hinduism flourished in this Kingdom and some of the earliest history surrounding the famous Asamai Mandir of Kabul stems from the times of the Hindu Shahis. The Afghan Hindu diaspora maintains a narrative of the empire’s origins and history here. The official language of the empire appears to be Sanskrit while evidence suggests the Kings were related to Punjabis.
They faced constant incursions from various Turkic, Persian, and Arab Muslim invaders, prompting later rulers to build gigantic walls around Kabul that are still visible today. However by the late 9th century, Kabul fell to a Sunni Persianate dynasty known as the Saffarids, and the capital was moved to Kapisa, a mountainous area South of the Pansjshir Valley, that later became a haven for bandits.
The most famous of Hindu Shahi rulers was Jayapaladeva, who unfortunately was the last of the great emperors. At this point in the early 11th century, the empire had grown weakened by repeated incursions. He lost to invaders once and was imprisoned but managed to buy his freedom. However in 1001 CE, Mahmud of Ghazni made another invasion, and with a daring surprise raid was able to wipe out Jayapaladeva’s army.
Dharma Dispatch has a fantastic three-part series on the Hindu Shahi’s: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Aesthetic: Bhojeshwar Temple, Madhya Pradesh
