Population explosion

Source : Google photo of population explosion in developing countries

Synopsis : The world population grows at an alarming rate in some parts putting great pressure on their governments to find housing, jobs and healthcare for all while in other parts where they have better means of population control show a high standard of living for their citizens, jobs and housing for almost everybody. The solution to the problem of unhindered population growth lies in better birth control measures , more awareness and education that can prepare the next generation with a brighter future.


Today according to census, the world population is more than 7 billion and increasing at a rate of 2 to 3 percent in some countries and more in others.By some estimates the world population is going to double by the year 2050. India and China are two most populous countries in the world but this label is somewhat misleading.

While it is true that these two countries have the distinction of having very large populations, they are also labeled as the most densely populated countries . This is evident to some people who see this density as soon as they get off their planes so they come to the conclusion that indeed India and China are over populated. In fact some countries in Europe are more densely populated if you count the number of people per square kilometers of land. This density therefore depends on the available productive land in any country where people can settle and make a living. There is a reason why deserts are so empty.

If you take the case of the Philippines that has over 7100 islands most of which are unlivable and has a population of over 100 million people growing at a rate of 3 to 4 % every year, it makes it a far more densely populated country  than India that has millions of hectares of productive agricultural and mostly irrigated land. So the increase in population in any country that has limited resources to feed them, house them and provide education and jobs for them can become a major issue for its government to tackle. So it is the density of population related to available resources that is more important than the total population of any country.

India and China are both vast countries where there is a stark difference between the city and the rural population , the city being more dense than the rural parts. This is true of most countries even if the countries are blessed with millions of hectares of rich agricultural lands , water and mild climate because there is a world wide tendency for the rural population to move to cities. The reason for this movement is related to the education and new skills rural children acquire that gets them jobs in cities or in areas where large factories are set up to employ them.

Farming is a back breaking job in most countries that still use manual labor to raise crops and live stocks depending usually on the bounty of the nature and adequate and timely rainfall . It is also a risky occupation because no one can guarantee the timely and adequate rainfall so the farmers may lose their crops or live stocks unless the country has ample source of water to irrigate their land. The governments of China and India spend billions of dollars to bring water to the needed areas of their countries through canals and lift irrigation.



Source : Google photo of Ganga Canal in Rajasthan , India

The Ganga canal in Rajasthan ( now called Indira Gandhi canal ) is such an example that has been under construction since the independence in 1947 and still the work goes on because it is slated to be a very long canal of over 1000 km in length and almost 50 feet wide and quite deep .They have completed nearly 649 km of it to bring water to the dry areas of Rajasthan for the first time. The farmers who lived in the desert like conditions are now growing many crops with assured water from the canal that has increased the food production and prosperity to the farmers. Similarly China has increased its irrigated farm land area by building canals at a great cost. If you fly from Pakistan to India, you will see the Ganga canal like a shining straight ribbon in Rajasthan. It is a massive undertaking.

If you travel by train in India, you will notice endless vista of endless farms and practically no people because fewer and fewer people want to live in rural areas to continue farming. Small plots that are a result of division of land generation after generation making them less productive and less efficient is giving rise to huge land consolidation to bring in mechanization in populated countries like India and China. It means less and less people engage in agriculture but produce more food for the country.

If the number of children born each year just replaces the number of people who die then there is zero population growth. If the number of children born does not replace the ones who die then there is negative population growth that is happening in many European countries and even in Japan and Russia and if there is 3 to 4 % annual growth of population in any large country, it creates tremendous pressure on the resources that country has or its government can provide to each citizen.

People say that the rice and fish diet of most people in Asia makes women very productive so they tend to have large number of children meaning more than 7 or 8 per family while in cold countries women tend to have fewer children that has a direct impact on the rate of growth there. We will see that the poor people produce more children than the rich due to many reasons that may be social, religious or lack of awareness of birth control measures. Illiteracy among them does not help either.

The rate of growth in population in any particular country has a direct relationship with their religious beliefs and the level of education. In strict Catholic countries like the Philippines, the Church does not support family planning on religious grounds so the lower stratum of the society that is mostly very poor and illiterate produces most number of children with or without marriage while the higher educated middle class people who have a higher income tend to have fewer children.

In India the middle class people usually have one or two kids per family because if the first child is a girl, they will not have a second child who may be a girl again because of the cost of raising them and the high dowry the parents must pay to get them married. If the first child is a boy then they may have a second child . So it is related not to any religious belief but the economics.

We have all heard about the one child policy in China that has had a drastic effect on the population there in a negative way so now they encourage people to have more than one child. The one child policy had led to severe shortage of girls so there are more boys than girls there that makes it difficult for any boy to get married.

What I found very shocking in Burundi and Rwanda is the explosion of the population in rural areas where mostly the Hutus live and do farming on hill sides . Both these countries are very poor, have very limited natural resources, have ethnic hatred between the Hutus and the Tutsis and can't provide education, jobs and housing for everyone so they are facing the serious issue of population growth at a rate they can't support.



Source : Google photo of children in rural Burundi

If you just stop by any village in Burundi and Rwanda, you will be surrounded by hundreds of curious children in dirty rags and you will begin to wonder what kind of future these children will have other than dirt farming just like their parents who are poor, illiterate and barely manage to survive yet they produce numerous children. I have seen the same thing in Mali , Senegal, Upper Volta ( now called Burkina Faso), Niger among others.

China suffered huge loss of population due to war, famine and natural calamities over the years . The colonial masters introduced opium to them and demanded to be  paid in silver thus depleting their reserves and creating opium addicts in such large numbers that alarmed the Chinese Royalty. This led to the Boxer rebellion between them and the British that is a part of the history. What interests me is how Mao Tse Tung brought the country out of its misery through strict laws, dictates of communism and a lot of sacrifice. We all know of the Cultural Revolution of that period that harmed the country more than we could ever imagine but Mao remained a person who  gave China a new direction to take its well deserved place as a future power in every sense.

Then came a dynamic leader like Deng Hsiao Ping who really opened up China to world trade and helped lay the foundation of modern China that has now become the most industrially developed country of the world, has created millions of jobs for its poor people, developed the whole nation with modern infrastructure at a break neck speed and made its economy grow at an incredible rate. While it is true that China population has grown, it is also true that the Chinese have been lifted out of poverty in a very significant way by the government. It continues to provide better roads, transportation, electricity to all parts, education for everyone and jobs for those who have the education and training.

In case of India the growth and development of the infrastructure nationwide rapidly has made it uplift millions out of poverty that is swelling up the middle class but its growth has been less than China where a very centralized bureaucracy makes all the decisions and makes large projects possible. In India the democratic process by nature is not autocratic so slower in bringing about changes the country wants and needs. Still India has made remarkable progress in the last 6 years than the previous 60 years and has very big plans for the future.

Population growth and migration: 

The rural population migrates to cities all over the world crowding the cities and creating slums so you will find all major cities in the world with large number of people living in slums in the outskirts where they live precariously. All countries struggle to provide services to the slum dwellers who are ever growing in numbers. The slums of Manila, Mumbai and South Africa are well known.

In so called developed countries like the United States it is seen that the people are moving to cities for better opportunities leaving farming to less than 3 % of the population now that feeds the nation with extensive mechanization and a lot of farm subsidies  but this trend is also seen in Europe and Australia.  More young people are getting the education and skills they need to find jobs in cities so they migrate seeking better opportunities.

This is not so in poorer countries of Asia where rural people move to cities to live in slums because they are not educated and do not have the skills needed to move upward. In such countries the middle class remains small and grows slowly unlike in India and China. They find work as masons, carpenters, gardening jobs or open up small shops. Women take in washing and other odd jobs that allow them a small living but nothing more. They also produce large number of children who end up doing odd jobs to survive when adult. You will  see small children selling candies or cigarettes in the streets.

Poor people seek jobs in the construction projects in the Middle East and other countries while women seek jobs as maids and related services. This is the trend here in the Philippines and other South East countries where their governments struggle with the population growth among the poor.

What is the solution ? 

When Fidel castro made it his mission to provide  free education and healthcare to everyone in Cuba , he laid the foundation on which Cuba grew over the years although the country paid heavily to overcome difficulties created by sanctions, trade barriers and outright hostility from some countries that did not like its government.

Vietnam and China are also communist countries where they have made spectacular progress in development that is nothing short of wonderful so it is the effort of the government to uplift their poor people that counts and not what type of government they have.

In democratic but corrupt countries the poor people still suffer due to lack of government support so those who can , go to other countries to make a living. The only solution to over population is to reduce the population by bringing up the poor to the middle class but that means massive nationwide free education and healthcare , training to develop job skills and investment by the private sector in all sectors of production creating jobs for people. This means foreign direct investment in the country as well as local investment. Just in the past decade or so Bangladesh ,Vietnam and Cambodia have become major manufacturers of  clothes for export employing large number of poor people. The collateral free loans of small amount by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh has helped millions of poor women there to become self employed.

The family planning should be promoted by the government at every level and provide the poor people the education and contraceptives so that they learn the benefits of fewer children. All countries that have a good family planning service have reduced their population growth rate. Men as well as women must be educated to see the benefits of family planning. Forced vasectomy and female sterilization are too draconian and usually have negative impact.

Indira Gandhi was given award for reducing the population growth through forced sterilization of men and promoting widespread use of contraceptives for women but it was not popular. The easiest way is to provide free condoms to men but it also leads to an increase in promiscuity in women that has social consequences. Forcing people to do something usually backfires so economic pressure is more effective as we will see.



Source : Google photo of kangaroo males fighting over breeding rights.
If we study the reproductive behavior in the animals , we notice that they have a biological need to reproduce but they have a process by which only the strongest genes are passed on. That is why males always fight over the females who breed with the winner of a fight and produces healthy off springs.

Source : Google photo of boys fighting over girls

Among the humans, the need for procreation is just as strong as the animals so you will notice hostilities breaking out over a woman among men who are trying to establish their breeding rights so it is not so much different from the animals. It is our societies that control the sexual behavior of men and women through well established rules and punish the violators in some countries where sex without marriage is still a taboo but we now see more and more young people break those taboos. The society does not have the same influence on them as they previously had because of the spread of education and the mixing of both sexes freely in schools and later in work places.

The rise of violent sexual assault cases in many countries are found to be related to more males and less females but also related to tribal culture that favors boys over girls.

The issue here is not the sexual behavior of men and women but the consequence of it. If people can learn to control the growth of the population while keeping their sexual desires intact, it provides a way out so many countries have adopted policies of contraception and provide free condoms, sterilization, contraceptives and sex education.

But ultimately it is the economic pressure on couples that acts as a break so you will notice that the middle class educated and working families tend to have fewer children than the uneducated and poor families. This is a worldwide phenomenon. When the families realize that it is in their interest to limit their number of children so that they take care of them better and give them the opportunities they need to get a good education and jobs later, the population explosion will slow down and even reverse itself like what is happening in some European countries and Japan.

We can make this world a better place if we have fewer children so that the population grows at a slower rate perhaps just to maintain it at the current level but it requires a nationwide awareness of the seriousness of the issue and doing something about it. Blaming the government for the unemployment, shortage of housing and healthcare facilities is not the right thing to do. We can all play a role in it.


Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.
Mis blogs en espagnol
Blogs von Anil in Deutsch
Blogs in Japanese
My blogs at Wix site
tumblr posts    
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Anil’s biography in English.
Biographie d'Anil en français
La biografía de anil en español.
Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch
Anil’s biography in Japanese
Биография Анила по-русскиu

Nur Jahan

Source : Google painting of Nur Jahan

Synopsis : There have been many illustrious women in the history of India about whom we were taught when we were kids because they were extraordinary women who created history hundreds of years ago. But unfortunately their final resting places did not receive the same attention and care they deserved. The story of Nur Jahan is unique because she was the only queen in the history of the Mughal empire who was called Badshah Begum meaning someone as important as the Emperor himself.


I have just published a blog called Incredible Razia who was the one and only female ruler to sit on the throne of Delhi Sultanate in 1236 but her reign was short because she faced a host of enemies who in 1236 could not accept a woman to rule over them. Razia Sultan was way ahead of her time when the orthodox Muslims could not accept her because she was audacious, just and a very able ruler who called herself Sultan and not Sultana, who did not veil herself and who fought like men in the war.

Today I will bring to you the story of the most powerful Mughal Royal woman in the history of centuries of Mughal rule in India called Nur Jahan or the Light of the World. She was extraordinarily beautiful and talented woman who was well educated and became the power behind the throne of Jehangir. The world does not know much about the Mughals let alone Nur Jehan because all they know is Taj Mahal that was built by Emperor Shah Jehan for his wife Mumtajmahal in Agra but the Mughals ruled India for many centuries starting with Babur and ending with the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Jafar whom the British deposed after the first freedom struggle of 1857.

I will not get into the long story of Mughal rule in India here but focus on one extraordinary royal woman who made a place for herself in the history book by her sheer acumen, ability in political matters and her personality. Every Indian child knows about her place in the Indian history.

Biography of Nur Jahan :

Nur Jahan (born Mehr-un-Nissa, 31 May 1577 – 18 December 1645^[1]) was the twentieth (and last) wife of the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, the daughter of a Grand Vizier (Minister) who served under Akbar. Nur Jahan, meaning 'Light of the World', was married at age 17 to a Persian soldier Sher Afgan, governor of Bihar, an important Mughal province. She was a married woman when Prince Salim (the future Emperor Jahangir), Akbar's eldest son, fell in love with her. Two years after Akbar died and Salim became Emperor, Sher Afgan met his death. However, three more years were to pass before a grieving Nur Jahan consented to marrying the Emperor Jahangir.

Although Jahangir was deeply in love with Nur Jahan, their actual story bears no resemblance to the legend of Anarkali, a dancing girl who, according to popular folklore and film-lore, had a tragic and doomed love affair with Jahangir. Emperor Akbar could not allow a low born dancing girl to marry the prince even if she was very pretty so had her buried alive . I wrote a blog on her that you may read here called Price they paid for love . In fact, the relationship between Jahangir and Nur Jahan was even more interesting  in its time than the legend of Anarkali, for Nur Jahan was a teenager when the Emperor fell in love with her. Nur Jehan came from a very noble and illustrious family in Kandahar which is in Afghanistan .
A school of historians still believe, though without credible evidence, that Jahangir (then Salim) was already in love with Nur Jahan (then Mehr-un-Nissa) when she was initially married to Sher Afgan. Thwarted by Akbar in his attempts to marry her then, Jahangir plotted to get Sher Afgan killed on the pretext of treachery to finally marry Nur Jahan. However, this theory lacks sound evidences and seems far-fetched.

After her wedding to emperor Jahangir in May 1611, Nur Jahan's rise to power was swift. A strong, charismatic, and well-educated woman who enjoyed the absolute confidence of her husband, Nur Jahan was the most powerful and influential woman at court during a period when the Mughal Empire was at the peak of its power and glory. More decisive and proactive than her husband, she is considered by historians to have been the real power behind the throne for more than fifteen years. Nur Jahan was granted certain honours and privileges which were not enjoyed by any Mughal empress before or after.

She was the only Mughal empress to have coinage struck in her name.^[2] She was often present when the Emperor held court, and even held court independently when the Emperor was unwell. She was given charge of his imperial seal, implying that her perusal and consent were necessary before any document or order received legal validity. The Emperor sought her views on most matters before issuing orders. The only other Mughal empress to command such devotion from her husband was Nur Jahan's niece Mumtaz Mahal, for whom Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum. However, Mumtaz took no interest in affairs of state and Nur Jahan is therefore unique in the annals of the Mughal Empire for the political influence she wielded.

Source : Google painting of Nur Jahan holding a painting of Jehangir ,the emperor

Birth and early life (1577–1594)

Kandahar (Kandahar), Nur Jahan's place of birth, is now in southern Afghanistan.

Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa on 31 May 1577 in Kandahar, present-day Afghanistan, into a family of Persian nobility and was the second daughter and fourth child of the Persian aristocrat Mirza Ghiyas Beg and his wife Asmat Begum. Both of Nur Jahan's parents were descendants of illustrious families – Ghiyas Beg from Muhammad Sharif and Asmat Begum from the Aqa Mulla clan.^[3] Her paternal grandfather, Khwaja Muhammad Sharif, was first a wazir to Tatar Sultan the governor of Khurasan, and later was in the service of Shah Tahmasp, who made him the wazir of Ishfahan,^[1] in recognition of his excellent service.^[2]
For unknown reasons, Ghiyas Beg's family had suffered a reversal in fortunes in 1577 and soon found circumstances in their homeland intolerable. Hoping to improve his family's fortunes, Ghiyas Beg chose to relocate to India where the Emperor Akbar's court was said to be at the centre of the growing trade industry and cultural scene.^[4]

Halfway along their route the family was attacked by robbers who took from them their remaining meager possessions.^[5] Left with only two mules, Ghiyas Beg, his pregnant wife, and their two children (Muhammad Sharif, Asaf Khan) were forced to take turns riding on the backs of the animals for the remainder of their journey. When the family arrived in Kandahar, Asmat Begum gave birth to their first daughter.

The family was so impoverished they feared they would be unable to take care of the newborn baby. Fortunately, the family was taken in by a caravan led by the merchant noble Malik Masud, who would later assist Ghiyas Beg in finding a position in the service of Emperor Akbar. Believing that the child had signaled a change in the family's fate, she was named Mehr-un-Nissa or ‘Sun among Women’.^[6] Her father Ghiyas Beg began his career in India, after being given a mansab of 300 in 1577. Thereafter he was appointed diwan (treasurer) for the province of Kabul.^[7] Due to his astute skills at conducting business, he quickly rose through the ranks of the high administrative officials. For his excellent work he was awarded the title of Itimad-ud-Daula or ‘Pillar of the State’ by the emperor.^[5]

As a result of his work and promotions, Ghiyas Beg was able to ensure that Mehr-un-Nissa (the future Nur Jahan) would have the best possible education. She became well-versed in Arabic and Persian languages, art, literature, music and dance.^[6] The poet and author Vidya Dhar Mahajan would later praise Nur Jahan as having a piercing intelligence, a volatile temper and sound common sense.^{[8] Wikipedia} 
After the death of Jehangir, Nur Jahan retired from active duty in the court and went to Lahore to live there the remainder of her life on a very generous income bestowed on her by the Emperor Aurangjeb .It was Aurangjeb who put his father Shah Jahan in prison and had the heir to the throne Dara Shikoh assasinated to become the king but he had great respect for Nur Jahan.

Later years and death (1628–1645)

Nur Jahan spent the remainder of her life confined in a comfortable mansion in Lahore with her daughter Ladli. She was granted an annual amount of 200000 Rupees by Shah Jahan. ( In today's terms it would amount to Millions of dollars equivalent ).During this period she oversaw the completion of her father's mausoleum in Agra, which she herself started in 1622 and is now known as Itmad- ud- daulah's tomb.It is one of the finest example of Mughal architecture and glows like a jewel inside. In sheer craftsmanship there is no equal to it anywhere. I have seen it myself.
.
Nur Jehan went with the king hunting and once saved his life when the king was attacked by a tiger. Nur Jehan who was an expert shooter , shot the tiger. The second time she saved her husband when a rebel general defeated them and put them in prison.She then sold her jewelries to raise an army that she commanded and defeated the rebel general to regain the throne.

Nur Jahan was known as a very compassionate lady who built wells for the poor and elaborate shelters where they could stay for free and she donated millions in charity.

Add caption

Source : Google photo of the mausoleum of Itmad ud Daula (father of Nur Jahan) in Agra , India that she built .



Source : Google photo of the grave of Nur Jehan's father called Itmad ud Daula in Agra
The tomb served as the inspiration for Taj Mahal, unarguably the zenith of Mughal architecture, the construction of which begun in 1632 and which Nur Jahan must have heard about before she died.



Source : Google photo of the tomb of Jehangir in Lahore, Pakistan



Source : Google photo of the grave of Emperor Jehangir in Lahore, Pakistan

Nur Jahan's desire of being close to her husband even in death is visible in the proximity of her tomb to that of her husband, Jahangir's. Her brother Asaf Khan's tomb is also located nearby. The tomb attracts many visitors, both Pakistani and foreign, who come to enjoy pleasant walks in its gardens.

You will notice the similarity between the tomb of Nur Jehan and of Jehangir except that the tomb of Nur Jehan has no minarets and is in a sad state of decay. It has now been designated as a world heritage site by the UNESCO so it is being slowly restored to its original glory after suffering centuries of neglect.



Source : Google photo of the mausoleum of Nur Jahan in Lahore, Pakistan

 

Source : Google photo of the grave of Nur Jahan in Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan

 

Her simple grave without much decoration was her wish. Her daughter Ladli is buried next to her. The most powerful royal lady of the Mughal empire is buried here in all its simplicity while the plasters fall off the walls and ceiling. Nur Jahan died on 17 December 1645 at age 68. She is buried at her tomb in Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, which she had built herself. Upon her tomb is inscribed the epitaph "On the grave of this poor stranger, let there be neither lamp nor rose. Let neither butterfly’s wing burn nor nightingale sing".^[37]

  

I have a second video on Nur Jehan narrated in Urdu but with subtitles so you can follow it. I have not found any video in English on her although there are many videos on her in Hindi or Urdu with no subtitles which is unfortunate. This is my modest effort to bring her story to the world. She deserved nothing less.

 

Link :

Source : U Tube video on Nur Jahan 

 

 Source : U Tube video on the tomb of Nur Jahan in Lahore

 

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.
Mes blogs en français.
Mis blogs en espagnol
Blogs von Anil in Deutsch
Blogs in Japanese
My blogs at Wix site
tumblr posts    
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Anil’s biography in English.
Biographie d'Anil en français
La biografía de anil en español.
Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch
Anil’s biography in Japanese
Биография Анила по-русскиu

 

From riches to rags

Source : Google photo of Begum Wilayat in her last abode.

Synopsis : The sad story of a royal family of Lucknow and their descent into abject poverty and ending their lives  in an abandoned villa in the middle of a forest is truly horrifying in modern India. Such neglect and total abandonment of such an illustrious family of royalty is incomprehensible and unforgivable.


You often come to know of a terrible injustice done to some people in the name of indifference, lack of compassion, negligence of epic proportions and stupidity that resulted in the death and misery. But no one takes the responsibility or is brought to account for theirs acts so the injustice continues. I bring to your their sad stories when they were crying out for help but did not get it.

The following story is of a queen and her two children who were mistreated by the government of India that led to their death in an abandoned hunting lodge in the middle of a dense forest just in the outskirts of Delhi. This story would have never come out in the open if it was a story of common poor people of India who die of poverty everyday but it came out because the victims were no less than the royalty of Lucknow who had fallen on hard times after they lost their kingdom and  all their properties so they became destitute all of a sudden.

Please watch these four videos below to learn what really happened to them.

                                              https://youtu.be/6WuKEmJpVrg

1. Source : U tube video of Begum Wilayat Mahal

                                                    https://youtu.be/Ren88CSFjOw

2. Source :  U tube video of the royals in Malcha Mahal

                                             
                                                https://youtu.be/Ren88CSFjOw

3.Source : U tube video of Malcha Mahal that is haunted

                                                https://youtu.be/bPhLS7aF8uo

4.Source : U tube video of the last prince of Awadh .

This is a heart rending story of a royal family of Lucknow that went down on its knees and died in despair in an abandoned villa in the middle of a forest in the heart of Delhi where no one visited them and no one was allowed in.

The sad story of a royal family starts in Lucknow that was the seat of power and the capital of the Nawabs of Awadh  for centuries who lived in opulent palaces and had vaste estates and resources that they used to maintain a huge army to protect themselves and their kingdom. The Nawab of Awadh ( later it became a part of Uttar Pradesh in independent India ) joined the forces of Indian freedom fighters to oust the British from India in the battle of 1857 but this first attempt in the struggle for freedom failed because the British and their well equipped army over powered them and crushed the attempt.

The Nawabs of Awadh were semi-autonomous rulers within the fragmented polities of Mughal India after the death of Aurangzeb. They fought wars with the Peshwa, the Battle of Bhopal against the Maratha Confederacy which was opposed to the Mughal Empire, and the Battle of Karnal as courtiers of the "Great Moghul".

The Nawab of Awadh, along with many other Nawab were regarded as members of the nobility of the greater Mughal Empire. They joined Ahmad Shah Durrani during the Third Battle of Panipat and restored the imperial throne Shah Alam II. The Nawab of Awadh also fought the Battle of Buxar in the aftermath of the Battle of Plassey, preserving the interests of the Moghul. Oudh State eventually declared itself independent from the rule of the "Great Moghul" in 1818.

The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh /ˈaʊd/ was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapur, Iran.^[1][2][3] In 1724, Nawab Sa'adat Khan established the Oudh State with their capital in Faizabad and Lucknow.  ( source : Wikipedia)



Source : Google photo of some royal china the queen brought with her that the vandals later smashed to bits in anger because they did not find anything worth stealing.

The descendant of this royal line of rulers in Awadh was Begum Wilayat Mahal and her two children Princess Saquina  and Prince Reza Ali  who after the independence of India in 1947 asked the government to provide them with a place to stay and a pension to sustain themselves. They had lost all their properties and titles in the new Republic where all the kings and queens of yesteryears had lost all their kingdoms but were given pensions to live on modestly. Begum Wilayat and her two children were given a villa in Kashmir but  a fire gutted their villa there so she came to Delhi to demand the government to provide her with a place suitable for her and means of support.

The government neglected her so she began a sit in protest at the railway station of Delhi where she stayed in the waiting room for 9 long years until one day Mrs. Indira Gandhi came to visit her and offered her a flat with electricity and water and a very modest pension of Rupees 500 a month but the queen said that she was of royal and very illustrious lineage and her forefathers had fought valiantly to free India in the battle of 1857 . 

She will not accept anything less than a decent palace so Indira Gandhi offered her an abandoned villa in the middle of a forest that was 700 years old and in total ruins.  This palace was called Malcha Mahal that was built by a Sultan of Delhi 700 years ago as a hunting lodge where the Sultan rested during his hunting trips. It was massive but not designed as a palace for the royals with amenities. It was in total ruin and had no electricity, water and no caretaker because it was considered as an abandoned place.

Begum Wilayat Mahal then moved into her new abode with her children, a retinue of her servants and more than 10 vicious dogs that kept outsiders away. No one was allowed by the Begum to visit them. But their nightmare continued and their living conditions deteriorated rapidly so all their servants left them, their dogs died one by one so there was no one to help them clean or prepare their food if they had any. The prince collected firewood in the forest and prepared their food somehow but they were queens and princes who were not used to this degree of hardship that is beyond anyone's imagination or comprehension.

The Begum and her two children lived there in absolute poverty and despair because they had little money so they lived like paupers or worse than paupers. Whatever silverware and fine china they had brought with them was looted by thieves. No one came to visit them and no one brought them anything they needed so people forgot about them.

Then one day the queen committed suicide because she could not take it any longer but her daughter who was very fond of her mother would not let her be buried so she cried for 10 days over her decomposing body until her brother took the corpse away and buried her in the forest. But the thieves dug out her body to see if she had any jewelry on her and desecrated her shallow grave so the prince cremated her and put her ashes in a crystal jar.
The princess was soon to follow her mother the same way leaving only her brother behind. The prince lived alone in the villa for a few more years until he too died in 2017 thus ending their misery and pitiful life.

Now the villa or the ruins of an abandoned hunting lodge is full of bats and totally decrepit where the floors are littered with garbage and broken furniture. The thieves looted the place in search of royal treasures they believed hidden there but found nothing so they smashed everything in site and totally trashed the place. It is now considered a haunted place where the tormented souls of the royals still linger so people are terribly afraid of the place. The spiteful reporters and journalists who failed to get access to the family called them fake royals and spread disinformation about them.

It is hard to imagine that a royal family of illustrious descent was so reduced to poverty and neglect that the queen in total despair committed suicide , the princess died of grief and utter neglect and the prince followed a few years later ending their pitiful existence. Why the government paid them no attention and failed to give them a decent place and means of sustenance when the ministers spend millions of tax payer's money on them so lavishly? What was behind this utter neglect of a family that deserved better? What was in the mind of Indira Gandhi who gave them a decrepit hunting lodge in the middle of a forest and then forgot about them? We will never know the answer.


Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.
Mis blogs en espagnol
Blogs von Anil in Deutsch
Blogs in Japanese
My blogs at Wix site
tumblr posts    
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Anil’s biography in English.
Biographie d'Anil en français
La biografía de anil en español.
Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch
Anil’s biography in Japanese
Биография Анила по-русскиu

Empty nest

Source : Google photo

Synopsis : We all face the empty nest syndrome in our life  when the children grow up and leave to make a new life for themselves somewhere. We learn to cope with the empty nest as best as we can because it is inevitable that children leave one day. The sentimentality attached to homes that color our memories fade with time until it becomes irrelevant in the modern world because after all it is fleeting.

I just watched a video on the life and struggle of Naushad who came from Lucknow and at a very young age left home for Bombay ( now called Mumbai ) to try his luck in music and the film industry. He loved music more than anything else in life so his father gave him the ultimatum. Stay home and learn a trade to earn a living or leave home. He chose to leave such was his love for music , wandered alone in a friendless and cruel city called Bombay where he slept on the side walk and often went without food for several days but he struggled on.

Slowly the movie industry learned of his extraordinary talent in composing music and gave him employment but never had they imagined to what height he would soar in the music world. All this young and starving boy needed was a sympathetic ear that recognized his latent and opened a door for him. He stood on the balcony of a house when he was rich and famous and silently cried. When someone asked him why, he said that it took him 16 years from that sidewalk in front to this balcony. The rest is history.

His music became the reason many movies went on to become successful along with its stars who became his lifelong friends and who stood by him when he was old and sick. I used to remember a few lines of his most popular songs when I was a  child some 70 years ago. But slowly and inevitably his music faded and the most popular movie stars became just a twinkle in the sky like Naushad himself leaving behind his faded memories , his numerous trophies and awards.

His love for Lucknow and his grandparents and parents never diminished and he often cried remembering his childhood there when he was happy.
Today I want to write about the struggle of life that every generation has to go through to establish himself or herself somewhere often very far from home like Naushad that may be traumatic for some like him who gathered the courage to go to a strange city like Bombay. There he knew no one and slept on the sidewalk with empty stomach where he dreamed of one day becoming a successful music director in the movie world.

We are the fortunate ones who would not wish our children to go through what Naushad had to go through in his life so we save some money and try to give our children better opportunities in life than what we got ourselves. We watch our children grow up day by day , month by month and one day suddenly realize that they are no longer little babies needing our attention but growing teenagers  with their own dreams and aspirations that may be very different from yours.

While in high school we hire tutors for them for some subjects and encourage them to participate in science or other competitions and are thrilled to see them bring home trophies and medals that we mount in frames to display in our home. We take photos of them to fill our albums and keep their toys and books lovingly to remind us that once they were a part of the family but now they have left the nest like most children with aspirations do leaving only memories behind like Naushad.

In the animal kingdom we see the tigress or lioness fiercely protecting their young ones, feeding them and teaching them how to hunt and fend for themselves but one day the tigress stops feeding them because they are now grown up so she growls if they still behave like cubs and makes it very clear that they should leave and be on their own just like she was weaned off by her mother. This is the law of nature although it seems harsh to push young ones away at a certain age.

I would not even think of pushing away our children the way Naushad was and would worry how they will survive without food and money in a strange place where they have no one to take care of them so we are not like animals or harsh parents . Most parents are not that way and care for their children to the extent that it may lead to over sheltering that can have its own consequences. (Read blog The curse of sheltering here) The animals are smarter than us because there is no scope for over sheltering their cubs so they follow the law of nature that takes its course.

The instinct for survival is strong in birds and animals so you will see the young eagle chicks push out of the nest the weaker chicks so that they have more food for themselves. This is very harsh and cruel but the eagle chick thinks only of its own survival and will push out other siblings to get most of the food.

But we  are not like the animals because we teach our children to care for each other and learn to share their toys, their time and their attention so that a bond is created between them that may be enduring because it is the caring, sharing and loving that creates the bonds. Parents who have one or two kids can afford more resources for them than the parents who have a large family and meager income to raise them on. Often the poverty makes parents harsh on their kids so they push them out of their nest so to speak the way Naushad was given ultimatum. I do not know if his father worried about how he was doing in Bombay alone, friendless and without food and money but I am sure his mother shed tears for him secretly.

Mother’s love for her children never wanes. She would rather go hungry herself but will feed her children first. She will sit whole night nursing and fanning her sick child with high fever. She will not hesitate to make whatever sacrifice needed of her for her children because she is the mother who takes her role seriously.

So one day comes when the daughters grow up and get married to leave the nest and the sons seek opportunities in the real world on their own but until then they require the support of the parents. The parents who fail their children due to their own poverty can only blame themselves because they make more children than they can afford to feed and give them education. This is the sad story of the very poor but reckless people who live from day to day yet do not think of the future for their children.

The parents try to make a good home for their children and keep an eye on all their needs but often the kids fail to remember what the parents did for them so neglect them when the parents are old. ( Read my blog Getting old here.)

Here is a classic story that I read somewhere long ago but remember well.
There was a stern father and a loving mother who had three kids. They lived in a big house in comfort because their father was a manager of a firm while the mother was a doting housewife who took excellent care of her kids. She celebrated their birth days and showered them with gifts. She took numerous photos and 8 mm movies of their birthdays and other occasions so she was an ideal mother.

Soon the kids grew up and left home. One joined the army and was stationed in Germany while the second son went away to California but did not keep in touch with anybody. The third was the daughter who was sent to an elite school for girls in the East but she dropped out and became a hippy smoking pot and giving away free sex . None of them kept in touch with their mother who was now alone and lived in a hospital because her husband had died. To pass her endless time , she read every volume of encyclopedia but she was lonely as no one ever came to see her.

One day her hippy daughter showed up and asked her what she planned to do with her house and property because she was to die soon. The old woman replied that she had given away her house and everything to charity that made her hippy daughter very angry because she had expected to reap a windfall. This is how she repaid all the loving and caring she had received when growing up.

This sort of story is repeated in all societies. The neglect of parents and the indifference some people show toward their ageing parents is a social phenomenon and a product of the competitive and fast living world where parents do not matter any longer. Many who can afford move to pricey Old Age Homes but others suffer in silence who remain poor and neglected by their children. ( Read Old age deserves respect here ) 
.
The nest the parents built with love and care to raise their off springs one day becomes empty. The mother lovingly cleans their empty room and even changes the sheets of their beds regularly. Their toys and books are kept in glass cabinets, their medals and awards are kept in glass frames that hang on the walls and their numerous photos are lovingly preserved in  albums that no one looks at. Now the house once filled with their laughter and pranks has fallen silent and has simply become a moot witness to what it once was. The parents lovingly wait but they too one day die.

One day the house is locked up and the last resident moves away to a distant place so the clean and shiny floors now collect dust and imprints of mouse and shrews. The spiders take courage and make huge webs in the ceiling hoping to catch their dinner. The house once vibrant and cheerful becomes dark and silent . Only the walls now remember but they remain silent too. The garden now fills up with weeds and other plants wither because there is no one to care for them.

Finally one day the house is sold. The new occupants do not know anything about who lived and made the house a home and they do not care. They now start to make the house a home again so the cycle continues generation after generation until one day the house is abandoned and razed to the ground to make a new house or a shop or a parking lot . This is the fate of millions of homes that revert to house and then to a parking lot. Then the memories start to fade until people do not remember anymore or care.
How fleeting is life and how fleeting is the time we spend together as family !


Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.
Mis blogs en espagnol
Blogs von Anil in Deutsch
Blogs in Japanese
My blogs at Wix site
tumblr posts    
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Anil’s biography in English.
Biographie d’Anil en français
La biografía de anil en español.
Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch
Anil’s biography in Japanese
Биография Анила по-русскиu

Mughal architecture

Source : Google photo of the tomb of Akbar in Sikandra

Synopsis : The Mughals were prolific builders of grand mausoleums for themselves and left a unique mark on the landscape of India that underscored their architecture and style to be admired forever. Most of them are now marked as the world heritage sites by the UNESCO and are a major tourist attractions like Taj Mahal . 

                                                 https://youtu.be/WrDJUC8_jUw
Source : U tube video

The Mughal dynasty that was set up by Babur in 1526 after he defeated  the Sultan of Delhi Lodi in the battle of Panipat  lasted until the last of the Mughals  Emperor Bahadur Shaf Jafar was dethroned by the British in 1857 and sent to exile in Rangoon, Myanmar.
While the Mughals ruled the Indian subcontinent for over 300 years , they were known for their fierce nature and cruelty toward the Hindu population that was the majority who suffered , were forcibly converted to Islam and their temples were destroyed in large numbers to be replaced by mosques. They were massacred wholesale in Delhi and in many other places while their beautiful women were taken away as slaves and some were kept in large harems that the rulers kept.

They attacked any king who did not acknowledge subservience to the Mughals so there were constant battles  in many parts of India  resulting in great loss of lives of Rajputs Marathas, Gurjars and other warriors who gave a  good account of themselves but were eventually overcome by the Mughal army . The brave women facing the choice of slavery and mistreatment in the hands of victors  or death committed mass suicide called Jauhar in Rajasthan . My blog called Legend called Padmini can be read here in this context.
Their cruelty had no limits when it came to the struggle for power so they killed their own half brothers , jailed their father like Shahjehan and forced their sisters to celibacy fearing their off springs would challenge the throne in the future. 

Shah Jehan killed at least 18 of his relatives in order to consolidate his rule but in the end he died in prison because his son overthrew him to become the king. So their entire history was written in blood because they were so cruel and their lust for power had no limit but by the 1857, their empire had shrunk within the walls of Red Fort in Delhi because they had become hollow from inside. The battle of 1857 was the first attempt by the Indians to become independent so they appealed to the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Jafar to lead but he was weak and had no revenue to organize a large army to fight the British . The rest is history that does not need repeating here.

I would today focus on what the Mughals brought to India in terms of unique architecture and its enduring legacy that continues even today. The Mughals came from dry lands of  Uzbekistan and the central Asia so they were very fond of greenery and lush gardens they established throughout their vast empire. They enjoyed these gardens filled with scented flowers, exotic birds like peacocks and water fountains that made them feel as if they were in paradise. The green garden sprayed with cool water of the fountains made them escape the heat of India in summer so they built acres of gardens around their palaces and brought water to it through ingenious system of canals and lift irrigation for which they hired the best hydraulic engineers available.



Source : Google photo of the tomb of Akbar in Sikandra  that uses red sand stone with marble embellishment that would be used in other monuments later.



Source : Google photo of Buland Darwaja in Fatehpur Sikri built by Akbar is really grand.

They air conditioned their palaces with double walls through which flowed cold water in channels that cooled the wind entering the palaces. You can still see these channels in their palaces today and wonder at their clever ideas.

They would do anything for their queens so they built Sheesh Mahals ( Palace of mirrors) for them so that one single candle lit could be reflected in millions of tiny mirrors in the ceiling and walls giving the impression of a star studded sky. They spent money lavishly on monuments like Taj Mahal where the queen MumtajMahal is buried and numerous mausoleums as their final resting place amid acres of lush gardens.

They built thrones for themselves of solid gold studded with diamonds and rubies, sapphires and lapis lazuli . One such throne called Takht e Taus or peacock throne of Shahjehan was taken out of India by other looters later so a rich country called India was impoverished by the invaders for centuries who were attracted by its wealth, Mughals being one of them. But while the others came to loot, kill , destroy and leave, the Mughals came to stay and rule for over 300 years.

While they ruled they built massive forts in Delhi, Agra and numerous other places that served them as the seat of power that are so imposing and huge, they will certainly impress any one because there is nothing like it anywhere. India was ruled by numerous kings so there were many kingdoms that were independent and almost always at war with their neighboring kings so they built massive forts from where they ruled. There are hundreds of such forts all over India some of which are in ruins and others maintained by the Archaeological Society of India.

The forts of Jaigarh, Amer, RanThambhore, Jaisalmer, Alwar, Jodhpur , Chittor ,Jodhpur, etc. are just some of them in Rajasthan alone . To see all of them and all other palaces and monuments you will need more than a year of your time but they still stand majestic  each with valiant stories of sacrifice and heroism during their long history  but I will concentrate on the Mughals today who were Muslims who came from outside India to set up their dynasty that lasted until the British ended it in 1857.

The video above shows some of the great forts and the palaces inside them that are richly decorated with carvings on red sand stone, embedded with white marble designs that became a hallmark of their style and grandeur. The Red Fort in Delhi , the Agra Fort , the Allahabad fort, the city of Fatehpur Sikri, the Taaj Mahal in Agra, the mausoleum of Itmad ud Daula in Agra, the Jama Masjid in Delhi, The shahi masjid in Lahore, the Mausoleum of Akbar in Sikandra, the mausoleum of Humayun in Delhi, the mausoleum of Bibi ka Makbara in Aurangabad, the mausoleum of Khusro in Allahabad, the mausoleum of Jahanara and Jehangir in Lahore, the mausoleum of Anar Kali in Lahore, the mausoleum of Babur in Lahore are just some of the numerous majestic monuments erected during the Mughal rule that stand as a testament to their love for massive, majestic and ornate monuments that still dazzle the visitors today.

The most cruel of them was perhaps Aurangjeb who ruled from 1658-1707 but he died of old age and regrets of being so intolerant of Hindus. He is buried near Aurangabad in a simple grave under the sky and no monument to his name because he was a fundamentalist and pious Muslim who wanted to be buried like a pauper and saved the money he earned making Muslim caps to be used for his burial.



Source : Google photo of Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad

His queen is buried in a huge mausoleum called Bibi ka Makbara in Aurangabad built by his son that looks somewhat similar to Taj Mahal but very plain and simple in design.



Source : Humayun's tomb in Delhi was perhaps the motivation for Taj Mahal later

The Mughal architecture is not only impressive in its grandeur and elaborate structures that will impress anyone visiting India because nothing like them have ever been built since the end of their empire  so each monument is unique in it's design and beauty.

The Koranic verses on the facade of their monuments are inlays of black stone on white marble like in Taj Mahal that increase in size as it reaches the top so that it looks of the same size by the viewer at the ground level. This was a very ingenious and clever way that the visitors may not even be aware of unless told. 

Their blood thirst for power, their repressive rule, their greed for territory and constant wars to increase their revenue base , their palace intrigues, their mass slaughter of people who opposed them, their forts where they kept their relatives in prison or tortured them in dungeons, their harems full of captured beautiful women kept as sex slaves, their intolerance toward Hindus and the destruction of Hindu temples all over India are just some of their sins.



Source : Google photo of Taj Mahal in Agra

But looking at their masterpieces like Taj Mahal today, you will only notice the shiny marbles inlaid with precious stones that still glow after hundreds of years and not hear the pain and anguish of those the Mughals ruled so ruthlessly. If the walls of their forts and palaces could talk, they would tell you the stories the historians never wrote about. They would tell you the pain and suffering of those who died in their prisons, the women who were kept in their harem as prisoners and sexually abused , the thousands of poor people who built their palaces and forts but remained poor and died anonymously.

In Lahore you will see the mausoleum of Anarkali  who was buried alive for falling in love with the crown prince Salim. If you put your ear on her cold marble grave there, you may still hear her faint shriek of agony as she was being buried alive. Such is the legacy of these grand monuments that endure today. ( Read my blog The price they paid for love here )

                                               https://youtu.be/SwMgAZbLvs0

Source : U Tube video of the Agra fort

This video is on the Agra Fort where ShahJejan was kept as a prisoner by his son Aurangjeb . The video shows the fort , its palaces and its architecture in great detail and remains a masterpiece of Mughal architecture.


Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.
Mis blogs en espagnol
Blogs von Anil in Deutsch
Blogs in Japanese
My blogs at Wix site
tumblr posts    
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Anil’s biography in English.
Biographie d'Anil en français
La biografía de anil en español.
Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch
Anil’s biography in Japanese
Биография Анила по-русскиu