Was the Kaaba Originally a Hindu Temple? By P.N. Oak (Historian)
Glancing through some research material recently, I was pleasantly
surprised to come across a reference to a king Vikramaditya inscription
found in the Kaaba in Mecca proving beyond doubt that the Arabian
Peninsula formed a part of his Indian Empire.The text of the crucial
Vikramaditya inscription, found inscribed on a gold dish hung inside
the Kaaba shrine in Mecca, is found recorded on page 315 of a volume
known as Sayar-ul-Okul treasured in the Makhtab-e-Sultania library in
Istanbul, Turkey. Rendered in free English the inscription says:
"Fortunate are those who were born (and lived) during king Vikrams
reign. He was a noble, generous dutiful ruler, devoted to the welfare
of his subjects. But at that time we Arabs, oblivious of God, were lost
in sensual pleasures. Plotting and torture were rampant. The darkness
of ignorance had enveloped our country. Like the lamb struggling for
her life in the cruel paws of a wolf we Arabs were caught up in
ignorance. The entire country was enveloped in a darkness so intense as
on a new moon night. But the present dawn and pleasant sunshine of
education is the result of the favour of the noble king Vikramaditya
whose benevolent supervision did not lose sight of us- foreigners as we
were. He spread his sacred religion amongst us and sent scholars whose
brilliance shone like that of the sun from his country to ours. These
scholars and preceptors through whose benevolence we were once again
made cognisant of the presence of God, introduced to His sacred
existence and put on the road of Truth, had come to our country to
preach their religion and impart education at king Vikramadityas
behest."
For those who would like to read the Arabic wording I reproduce it hereunder in Roman script:
"Itrashaphai Santu Ibikramatul Phahalameen Karimun Yartapheeha
Wayosassaru Bihillahaya Samaini Ela Motakabberen Sihillaha Yuhee Quid
min howa Yapakhara phajjal asari nahone osirom bayjayhalem. Yundan
blabin Kajan blnaya khtoryaha sadunya kanateph netephi bejehalin
Atadari bilamasa- rateen phakef tasabuhu kaunnieja majekaralhada
walador. As hmiman burukankad toluho watastaru hihila Yakajibaymana
balay kulk amarena phaneya jaunabilamary Bikramatum". (Page 315
Sayar-ul-okul). [Note: The title Saya-ul-okul signifies memorable
words.]
A careful analysis of the above inscription enables us to draw the following conclusions:
That the ancient Indian empires may have extended up to the eastern
boundaries of Arabia until Vikramaditya and that it was he who for the
first time conquered Arabia. Because the inscription says that king
Vikram who dispelled the darkness of ignorance from Arabia.
1. That, whatever their earlier faith, King Vikramas preachers had
succeeded in spreading the Vedic (based on the Vedas, the Hindu sacred
scriptures)) way of life in Arabia.
2. That the knowledge of Indian arts and sciences was imparted by
Indians to the Arabs directly by founding schools, academies and
cultural centres. The belief, therefore, that visiting Arabs conveyed
that knowledge to their own lands through their own indefatigable
efforts and scholarship is unfounded.
An ancillary conclusion could be that the so-called Kutub Minar (in
Delhi, India) could well be king Vikramadiyas tower commemorating his
conquest of Arabia. This conclusion is strengthened by two pointers.
Firstly, the inscription on the iron pillar near the so-called Kutub
Minar refers to the marriage of the victorious king Vikramaditya to the
princess of Balhika. This Balhika is none other than the Balkh region
in West Asia. It could be that Arabia was wrestled by king Vikramaditya
from the ruler of Balkh who concluded a treaty by giving his daughter
in marriage to the victor. Secondly, the township adjoining the so
called Kutub Minar is named Mehrauli after Mihira who was the renowned
astronomer-mathematician of king Vikrams court. Mehrauli is the
corrupt form of Sanskrit Mihira-Awali signifying a row of houses
raised for Mihira and his helpers and assistants working on
astronomical observations made from the tower.Having seen the far
reaching and history shaking implications of the Arabic inscription
concerning king Vikrama, we shall now piece together the story of its
find. How it came to be recorded and hung in the Kaaba in Mecca. What
are the other proofs reinforcing the belief that Arabs were once
followers of the Indian Vedic way of life and that tranquillity and
education were ushered into Arabia by king Vikramadityas scholars,
educationists from an uneasy period of "ignorance and turmoil"
mentioned in the inscription.
In Istanbul, Turkey, there is a famous library called
Makhatab-e-Sultania, which is reputed to have the largest collection of
ancient West Asian literature. In the Arabic section of that library is
an anthology of ancient Arabic poetry. That anthology was compiled from
an earlier work in A.D. 1742 under the orders of the Turkish ruler
Sultan Salim.
The pages of that volume are of Hareer a kind of silk used for
writing on. Each page has a decorative gilded border. That anthology is
known as Sayar-ul-Okul. It is divided into three parts. The first part
contains biographic details and the poetic compositions of pre-Islamic
Arabian poets. The second part embodies accounts and verses of poets of
the period beginning just after prophet Mohammads times, up to the end
of the Banee-Um-Mayya dynasty. The third part deals with later poets up
to the end of Khalif Harun-al-Rashids times.
Abu Amir Asamai, an Arabian bard who was the poet Laureate of Harun-al-Rashids court, has compiled and edited the anthology.
The first modern edition of Sayar-ul-Okul was printed and published
in Berlin in 1864. A subsequent edition is the one published in Beirut
in 1932.
The collection is regarded as the most important and authoritative
anthology of ancient Arabic poetry. It throws considerable light on the
social life, customs, manners and entertainment modes of ancient
Arabia. The
book
also contains an elaborate description of the ancient shrine of Mecca,
the town and the annual fair known as OKAJ which used to be held every
year around the Kaaba temple in Mecca. This should convince readers
that the annual haj of the Muslims to the Kaaba is of earlier
pre-Islamic congregation.
But the OKAJ fair was far from a carnival. It provided a forum for the
elite and the learned to discuss the social, religious, political,
literary and other aspects of the Vedic culture then pervading Arabia.
Sayar-ul-Okul asserts that the conclusion reached at those
discussions were widely respected throughout Arabia. Mecca, therefore,
followed the Varanasi tradition (of India) of providing a venue for
important discussions among the learned while the masses congregated
there for spiritual bliss. The principal shrines at both Varanasi in
India and at Mecca in Arvasthan (Arabia) were Siva temples. Even to
this day ancient Mahadev (Siva) emblems can be seen. It is the Shankara
(Siva) stone that Muslim pilgrims reverently touch and kiss in the
Kaaba.
Arabic tradition has lost trace of the founding of the Kaaba temple.
The discovery of the Vikramaditya inscription affords a clue. King
Vikramaditya is known for his great devotion to Lord Mahadev (Siva). At
Ujjain (India), the capital of Vikramaditya, exists the famous shrine
of Mahankal, i.e., of Lord Shankara (Siva) associated with
Vikramaditya. Since according to the Vikramaditya inscription he spread
the Vedic religion, who else but he could have founded the Kaaba temple
in Mecca?
A few miles away from Mecca is a big signboard which bars the entry of
any non-Muslim into the area. This is a reminder of the days when the
Kaaba was stormed and captured solely for the newly established faith
of Islam. The object in barring entry of non-Muslims was obviously to
prevent its recapture.
As the pilgrim proceeds towards Mecca he is asked to shave his head and
beard and to don special sacred attire that consists of two seamless
sheets of white cloth. One is to be worn round the waist and the other
over the shoulders. Both these rites are remnants of the old Vedic
practice of entering Hindu temples clean- and with holy seamless white
sheets.
The main shrine in Mecca, which houses the Siva emblem, is known as the
Kaaba. It is clothed in a black shroud. That custom also originates
from the days when it was thought necessary to discourage its recapture
by camouflaging it.
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Kaaba has 360 images.
Traditional accounts mention that one of the deities among the 360
destroyed when the place was stormed, was that of Saturn; another was
of the Moon and yet another was one called Allah. That shows that in
the Kaaba the Arabs worshipped the nine planets in pre-Islamic days. In
India the practice of Navagraha puja, that is worship of the nine
planets, is still in vogue. Two of these nine are Saturn and Moon.
In India the crescent moon is always painted across the forehead of the
Siva symbol. Since that symbol was associated with the Siva emblem in
Kaaba it came to be grafted on the flag of Islam.
Another Hindu tradition associated with the Kaaba is that of the sacred
stream Ganga (sacred waters of the Ganges river). According to the
Hindu tradition Ganga is also inseparable from the Shiva emblem as the
crescent moon. Wherever there is a Siva emblem, Ganga must co-exist.
True to that association a sacred fount exists near the Kaaba. Its
water is held sacred because it has been traditionally regarded as
Ganga since pre-Islamic times (Zam-Zam water).
[Note: Even today, Muslim pilgrims who go to the Kaaba for Haj regard
this Zam-Zam water with reverence and take some bottled water with them
as sacred water.]
Muslim pilgrims visiting the Kaaba temple go around it seven times. In
no other mosque does the circumambulation prevail. Hindus invariably
circumambulate around their deities. This is yet another proof that the
Kaaba shrine is a pre-Islamic Indian Shiva temple where the Hindu
practice of circumambulation is still meticulously observed.
The practice of taking seven steps- known as Saptapadi in Sanskrit- is
associated with Hindu marriage ceremony and fire worship. The
culminating rite in a Hindu marriage enjoins upon the bride and groom
to go round the sacred fire four times (but misunderstood by many as
seven times). Since "Makha" means fire, the seven circumambulations
also prove that Mecca was the seat of Indian fire-worship in the West
Asia.
It might come as a stunning revelation to many that the word ALLAH
itself is Sanskrit. In Sanskrit language Allah, Akka and Amba are
synonyms. They signify a goddess or mother. The term ALLAH forms part
of Sanskrit chants invoking goddess Durga, also known as Bhavani,
Chandi and Mahishasurmardini. The Islamic word for God is., therefore,
not an innovation but the ancient Sanskrit appellation retained and
continued by Islam. Allah means mother or goddess and mother goddess.
One Koranic verse is an exact translation of a stanza in the Yajurveda.
This was pointed out by the great research scholar Pandit Satavlekar of
Pardi in one of his articles.
[Note: Another scholar points out that the following teaching from the
Koran is exactly similar to the teaching of the Kena Upanishad (1.7).
The Koran:"Sight perceives Him not. But He perceives men's sights; for He is the knower of secrets , the Aware."
Kena Upanishad:"That which cannot be seen by the eye but through which
the eye itself sees, know That to be Brahman (God) and not what people
worship here (in the manifested world)."
A simplified meaning of both the above verses reads:
God is one and that He is beyond man's sensory experience.]
The identity of Unani and Ayurvedic systems shows that Unani is just
the Arabic term for the Ayurvedic system of healing taught to them and
administered in Arabia when Arabia formed part of the Indian empire.It
will now be easy to comprehend the various Hindu customs still
prevailing in West Asian countries even after the existence of Islam
during the last 1300 years. Let us review some Hindu traditions which
exist as the core of Islamic practice.
The Hindus have a pantheon of 33 gods. People in Asia Minor too
worshipped 33 gods before the spread of Islam. The lunar calendar was
introduced in West Asia during the Indian rule. The Muslim month
Safar signifying the extra month (Adhik Maas) in the Hindu
calendar. The Muslim month Rabi is the corrupt form of Ravi meaning the
sun because Sanskrit V changes into Prakrit B (Prakrit being the
popular version of Sanskrit language). The Muslim sanctity for Gyrahwi
Sharif is nothing but the Hindu Ekadashi (Gyrah = elevan or Gyaarah).
Both are identical in meaning.The Islamic practice of Bakari Eed
derives from the Go-Medh and Ashva-Medh Yagnas or sacrifices of Vedic
times. Eed in Sanskrit means worship. The Islamic word Eed for festive
days, signifying days of worship, is therefore a pure Sanskrit word.
The word MESH in the Hindu zodiac signifies a lamb. Since in ancient
times the year used to begin with the entry of the sun in Aries, the
occasion was celebrated with mutton feasting. That is the origin of the
Bakari Eed festival.
[Note: The word Bakari is an Indian language word for a goat.]
Since Eed means worship and Griha means house, the Islamic word Idgah
signifies a House of worship which is the exact Sanskrit connotation
of the term. Similarly the word Namaz derives from two Sanskrit roots
Nama and Yajna (NAMa yAJna) meaning bowing and worshipping.Vedic
descriptions about the moon, the different stellar constellations and
the creation of the universe have been incorporated from the Vedas in
Koran part 1 chapter 2, stanza 113, 114, 115, and 158, 189, chapter 9,
stanza 37 and chapter 10, stanzas 4 to 7.
Recital of the Namaz five times a day owes its origin to the Vedic
injunction of Panchmahayagna (five daily worship- Panch-Maha-Yagna)
which is part of the daily Vedic ritual prescribed for all
individuals.Muslims are enjoined cleanliness of five parts of the body
before commencing prayers. This derives from the Vedic injuction
Shareer Shydhyartham Panchanga Nyasah.Four months of the year are
regarded as very sacred in Islamic custom. The devout are enjoined to
abstain from plunder and other evil deeds during that period. This
originates in the Chaturmasa i.e., the four-month period of special
vows and austerities in Hindu tradition. Shabibarat is the corrupt form
of Shiva Vrat and Shiva Ratra. Since the Kaaba has been an important
centre of Shiva (Siva) worship from times immemorial, the Shivaratri
festival used to be celebrated there with great gusto. It is that
festival which is signified by the Islamic word
Shabibarat.Encyclopaedias tell us that there are inscriptions on the
side of the Kaaba walls. What they are, no body has been allowed to
study, according to the correspondence I had with an American scholar
of Arabic. But according to hearsay at least some of those inscriptions
are in Sanskrit, and some of them are stanzas from the Bhagavad Gita.
According to extant Islamic records, Indian merchants had settled in
Arabia, particularly in Yemen, and their life and manners deeply
influenced those who came in touch with them. At Ubla there was a large
number of Indian settlements. This shows that Indians were in Arabia
and Yemen in sufficient strength and commanding position to be able to
influence the local people. This could not be possible unless they
belonged to the ruling class.It is mentioned in the Abadis i.e., the
authentic traditions of Prophet Mohammad compiled by Imam Bukhari that
the Indian tribe of Jats had settled in Arabia before Prophet
Mohammads times. Once when Hazrat Ayesha, wife of the Prophet, was
taken ill, her nephew sent for a Jat physician for her treatment. This
proves that Indians enjoyed a high and esteemed status in Arabia. Such
a status could not be theirs unless they were the rulers. Bukhari also
tells us that an Indian Raja (king) sent a jar of ginger pickles to the
Prophet. This shows that the Indian Jat Raja ruled an adjacent area so
as to be in a position to send such an insignificant present as ginger
pickles. The Prophet is said to have so highly relished it as to have
told his colleagues also to partake of it. These references show that
even during Prophet Mohammads times Indians retained their influential
role in Arabia, which was a dwindling legacy from Vikramadityas times.
The Islamic term Eed-ul-Fitr derives from the Eed of Piters that is
worship of forefathers in Sanskrit tradition. In India, Hindus
commemorate their ancestors during the Pitr-Paksha that is the
fortnight reserved for their remembrance. The very same is the
significance of Eed-ul-Fitr (worship of forefathers).The Islamic
practice of observing the moon rise before deciding on celebrating the
occasion derives from the Hindu custom of breaking fast on Sankranti
and Vinayaki Chaturthi only after sighting the moon.Barah Vafat, the
Muslim festival for commemorating those dead in battle or by weapons,
derives from a similar Sanskrit tradition because in Sanskrit
Phiphaut is death. Hindus observe Chayal Chaturdashi in memory of
those who have died in battle.
The word Arabia is itself the abbreviation of a Sanskrit word. The
original word is Arabasthan. Since Prakrit B is Sanskrit V the
original Sanskrit name of the land is Arvasthan. Arva in Sanskrit
means a horse. Arvasthan signifies a land of horses., and as well all
know, Arabia is famous for its horses.
This discovery changes the entire complexion of the history of ancient
India. Firstly we may have to revise our concepts about the king who
had the largest empire in history. It could be that the expanse of king
Vikramadityas empire was greater than that of all others. Secondly,
the idea that the Indian empire spread only to the east and not in the
west beyond say, Afghanisthan may have to be abandoned. Thirdly the
effeminate and pathetic belief that India, unlike any other country in
the world could by some age spread her benign and beatific cultural
influence, language, customs, manners and education over distant lands
without militarily conquering them is baseless. India did conquer all
those countries physically wherever traces of its culture and language
are still extant and the region extended from Bali island in the south
Pacific to the Baltic in Northern Europe and from Korea to Kaaba. The
only difference was that while Indian rulers identified themselves with
the local population and established welfare states, Moghuls and others
who ruled conquered lands perpetuated untold atrocities over the
vanquished.
Sayar-ul-Okul tells us that a pan-Arabic poetic symposium used to be
held in Mecca at the annual Okaj fair in pre-Islamic times. All leading
poets used to participate in it.
Poems considered best were awarded prizes. The best-engraved on gold
plate were hung inside the temple. Others etched on camel or goatskin
were hung outside. Thus for thousands of years the Kaaba was the
treasure house of the best Arabian poetic thought inspired by the
Indian Vedic tradition.
That tradition being of immemorial antiquity many poetic compositions
were engraved and hung inside and outside on the walls of the Kaaba.
But most of the poems got lost and destroyed during the storming of the
Kaaba by Prophet Mohammads troops. The Prophets court poet,
Hassan-bin-Sawik, who was among the invaders, captured some of the
treasured poems and dumped the gold plate on which they were inscribed
in his own home. Sawiks grandson, hoping to earn a reward carried
those gold plates to Khalifs court where he met the well-known Arab
scholar Abu Amir Asamai. The latter received from the bearer five gold
plates and 16 leather sheets with the prize-winning poems engraved on
them. The bearer was sent away happy bestowed with a good reward.On the
five gold plates were inscribed verses by ancient Arab poets like Labi
Baynay, Akhatab-bin-Turfa and Jarrham Bintoi. That discovery made
Harun-al-Rashid order Abu Amir to compile a collection of all earlier
compositions. One of the compositions in the collection is a tribute in
verse paid by Jarrham Bintoi, a renowned Arab poet, to king
Vikramaditya. Bintoi who lived 165 years before Prophet Mohammad had
received the highest award for the best poetic compositions for three
years in succession in the pan-Arabic symposiums held in Mecca every
year. All those three poems of Bintoi adjudged best were hung inside
the Kaaba temple, inscribed on gold plates. One of these constituted an
unreserved tribute to King Vikramaditya for his paternal and filial
rule over Arabia. That has already been quoted above.
Pre-Islamic Arabian poet Bintois tribute to king Vikramaditya is a
decisive evidence that it was king Vikramaditya who first conquered the
Arabian Peninsula and made it a part of the Indian Empire. This
explains why starting from India towards the west we have all Sanskrit
names like Afghanisthan (now Afghanistan), Baluchisthan, Kurdisthan,
Tajikiathan, Uzbekisthan, Iran, Sivisthan, Iraq, Arvasthan, Turkesthan
(Turkmenisthan) etc.
Historians have blundered in not giving due weight to the evidence
provided by Sanskrit names pervading over the entire west Asian region.
Let us take a contemporary instance. Why did a part of India get named
Nagaland even after the end of British rule over India? After all
historical traces are wiped out of human memory, will a future age
historian be wrong if he concludes from the name Nagaland that the
British or some English speaking power must have ruled over India? Why
is Portuguese spoken in Goa (part of India), and French in Pondichery
(part of India), and both French and English in Canada? Is it not
because those people ruled over the territories where their languages
are spoken? Can we not then justly conclude that wherever traces of
Sanskrit names and traditions exist Indians once held sway? It is
unfortunate that this important piece of decisive evidence has been
ignored all these centuries.
Another question which should have presented itself to historians for
consideration is how could it be that Indian empires could extend in
the east as far as Korea and Japan, while not being able to make
headway beyond Afghanisthan? In fact land campaigns are much easier to
conduct than by sea. It was the Indians who ruled the entire West Asian
region from Karachi to Hedjaz and who gave Sanskrit names to those
lands and the towns therein, introduce their pantheon of the
fire-worship, imparted education and established law and order.
It may be that Arabia itself was not part of the Indian empire until
king Vikrama , since Bintoi says that it was king Vikrama who for the
first time brought about a radical change in the social, cultural and
political life of Arabia. It may be that the whole of West Asia except
Arabia was under Indian rule before Vikrama. The latter added Arabia
too to the Indian Empire. Or as a remote possibility it could be that
king Vikramaditya himself conducted a series of brilliant campaigns
annexing to his empire the vast region between Afghanisthan and Hedjaz.
Incidentally this also explains why king Vikramaditya is so famous in
history. Apart from the nobility and truthfulness of heart and his
impartial filial affection for all his subjects, whether Indian or
Arab, as testified by Bintoi, king Vikramaditya has been permanently
enshrined in the pages of history because he was the worlds greatest
ruler having the largest empire. It should be remembered that only a
monarch with a vast empire gets famous in world history. Vikram Samvat
(calendar still widely in use in India today) which he initiated over
2000 years ago may well mark his victory over Arabia, and the so called
Kutub Minar (Kutub Tower in Delhi), a pillar commemorating that victory
and the consequential marriage with the Vaihika (Balkh) princess as
testified by the nearby iron pillar inscription.
A great many puzzles of ancient world history get automatically solved
by a proper understanding of these great conquests of king
Vikramaditya. As recorded by the Arab poet Bintoi, Indian scholars,
preachers and social workers spread the fire-worship ceremony, preached
the Vedic way of life, manned schools, set up Ayurvedic (healing)
centres, trained the local people in irrigation and agriculture and
established in those regions a democratic, orderly, peaceful,
enlightened and religious way of life. That was of course, a Vedic
Hindu way of life.
It is from such ancient times that Indian Kshtriya royal families, like
the Pahalvis and Barmaks, have held sway over Iran and Iraq. It is
those conquests, which made the Parsees Agnihotris i.e.,
fire-worshippers. It is therefore that we find the Kurds of Kurdisthan
speaking a Sanskritised dialect, fire temples existing thousands of
miles away from India, and scores of sites of ancient Indian cultural
centres like Navbahar in West Asia and the numerous viharas in Soviet
Russia spread throughout the world. Ever since so many viharas are
often dug up in Soviet Russia, ancient Indian sculptures are also found
in excavations in Central Asia. The same goes for West Asia.
[Note: Ancient Indian sculptures include metal statues of the Hindu
deity Ganesh (the elephant headed god); the most recent find being in
Kuwait].
Unfortunately these chapters of world history have been almost
obliterated from public memory. They need to be carefully deciphered
and rewritten. When these chapters are rewritten they might change the
entire concept and orientation of ancient history.
In view of the overwhelming evidence led above, historians, scholars,
students of history and lay men alike should take note that they had
better revise their text books of ancient world history. The existence
of Hindu customs, shrines, Sanskrit names of whole regions, countries
and towns and the Vikramaditya inscriptions reproduced at the beginning
are a thumping proof that Indian Kshatriyas once ruled over the vast
region from Bali to Baltic and Korea to Kaaba in Mecca, Arabia at the
very least.