In my opinion, any version of history is selective; and, understandably so. History has always been a slave of the government. Governance has a set of values quite different from that of the ordinary citizen. And, his public world is always seen by the government as an element to be influenced. The government domain, however, is a guarded world. Perhaps that’s why common sense and offered history are always at a conflict!
990 AD
“Paranoia is the rational state of mind,” thought Rajaraja. His
critics may call him paranoid, but he knew he was only being rational.
His intuition had succeeded once again. “The Pandyan foe has been getting help from the Lankan King – the creep,” he said to himself. “The bastards won’t dare try rising an army again. Not so soon, anyway. But, they would continue to hatch plans to kill my friends, my family and me.” For now, though, the threat was still far away. And, of course, the Chola spies were working overtime. His governance was becoming increasingly dependent on spies, and he knew that.
“But for them, the lowborn could have easily made a big dent to the improving trade in the seas,” he thought. Now that all the important ports of Lanka have been captured and secured, any major war can wait for some more time. His mind was bothered with things of greater importance - the news from traders and spies from the upper lands spelt trouble of a higher order.
The spread of a new religion encouraging violence and forceful conversions; much worse, another group of people, claiming to be non-violent, usurping power by conversion of the royalty!
Rajaraja thought of another great king who set the stage for the lower land’s superiority almost four hundred years ago. Narasimhavarma Pallava. “He had to convert to Saivam (Saivism, the popular religion of the day) from Samanam (Jainism), when he knew of the impending invasions from the mighty Chalukyas. Because the Chitrakkara Puli knew he was no match for the real puli (tiger), Pulikesi,” Rajaraja smiled at the thought. But, a more serious thought followed.
“Will a day come when I too will have to convert to a new religion to save my kingdom? Will my valiant son have to give up the worship of our Great Lord, just to save his throne?” The very idea whipped his soul.
The only go now, he thought, was to follow his sister Kundavi’s advice. Her words still echoed in his mind. “Revive Saivam! History will remember you!” The female mind never failed to impress him with its simplicity and straightness. How plainly she put it! Revive Saivam!
“How will I do that - by sending a new batch of saivakkuravar (preachers) all over the land? No. That will not suffice. If the spy Aandai’s reports from Arabia are to be believed, the new religion of the pirates is not only violent; it also seems to have other interesting aspects like treating every man as brother. If that is true, the brutal religion will easily find quite a few takers from the working classes like the fishermen and pearl divers, who are still suffering suppression. Even under my rule!” It pained him.
“But, class divisions cannot be resolved in my lifetime. The immediate strategy should be to safeguard against these religions making any further inroads.” He resolved.
According to spy Amudan’s reports from Chera Nadu, people from both the religions had already established a few settlements there. So, the strategy had to be two-pronged. Stop them on the seas and spread Saivam in the land.
“Yes. That’s the simple solution. I’ll build my navy to stop the pirates, and build huge temples like the Buddhist sites in the Lankan capital Anuradhapuram to revitalize Saivam. After that, it’s up to Emperuman! (Our Lord - Siva)”
~*~
1025 AD
“Paranoia is the rational state of mind,” father always used to
say, thought Rajendra. “How right he was!” Thanks to his foresight,
the Chola kingdom and Saivam were still intact.
But, the upper lands had already started to feel the brunt of the conquests. Hundreds of temples have already been plundered and a handful of kingdoms vanquished! “Conquerors! Hmm… Bloody looters!”
“But, the foolish bastards have nobody to blame but themselves. Couldn’t they have stayed together and built a few forts on the Bholan and Khyber passes? If the Chinese could build such an impregnable wall of such length and so long ago, couldn’t these cretins have built something similar here – after all, these little passages are nothing compared to the Great Wall, and could have been secured easily,” Rajendra thought.
In fact, he had seen the Great Wall himself, ten years ago, when he visited China in the disguise of a trader. Of course, that too was on the insistence of his father.
"If only it were my kingdom, I would have done it, first thing! But, what’s the use of thinking about what might have been? There are matters of immediate and larger concern. The pirates on the Arabian Sea still had to be kept away. If they have brains the size of a peanut, they would not dare think of holding up the Chola ships. Thanks to our navy. But who would have imagined this Sri Vijayan king becoming a thorn in the flesh,” he thought, controlling his anger.
Thirty trade vessels sent to China had not reached. And, the Sri Vijayan said they never reached his ports. But his spy in China, Seyndan, confirmed that the ships had been diverted to the Pala kingdom. Rajendra reckoned that no nation could be run without spies.
Mahipala may have failed to capture the Chinese market – that was because his goods were flawed and his merchants amazingly stupid. However, the king himself was a smart man. But, he would be wrong if he thought Rajendra, the son of the Great Rajaraja would rest when his ships were being stolen.
“I know what I will do! I’ll teach them both a lesson. Yes, I’ll do what father would have done. I’ll take them on! I’ll take all of the upper lands. I’ll make sure history remembers it!”
~*~
2002 AD
Professor Pramila Kapoor was shouting with such rage that half of the ancient
building where here office was stationed almost came down. “Tell me,
why else would anyone think of building such huge temples? Amazing! The amount
of granite moved for during Rajaraja’s reign will definitely be more
than the amount of granite moved during the entire Roman empire,” she
shouted. “And imagine, his son’s navy was 2000-strong; 2000 big
vessels that could carry 800 to 1000 men or a score of war elephants. And
what does he do with them? He conquers all of the Southeast, and also Bengal,
to protect his trade interests in China. Look at the size of his kingdom!
Bloody brilliant! He had almost a quarter of all known land during his times.
And, all the important trade ports in the southern hemisphere! I say! It is
just brilliant!” she exclaimed, her face as red as always when she was
excited. “How can you even think of doing it?”
“Professor, go slow”, said the NCERT chief, when she stopped to breathe. “I’m not denying whatever you’re saying. But, as I told you, our Human Resources Minister is quite insistent. He wants all your new references to the father-son duo from the textbook removed. He’s sure they’re not in the national interest”.
Mrs. Kapoor still couldn’t believe that. “But, why the hell does that paranoid, pigtailed nitwit think like that?” she squeaked.
Always in his elements, the cool chief said, “Because, the clown believes that paranoia is only the rational state of mind!”
