Gokul 1757 : A piece of Naga History

Makar Sankranti is about to come. In the auspicious tithi of Makarsankranti Gangasagar becomes very important Tirtha. After Kumbha Mela, Gangasagar Mela is the most important and auspicious Mela. It happens every year during the Makar Sankranti.

Naga Sadhu

In the Mela of Gangasagar, Naga Sadhus have their own importance. I'm not going to describe the Naga Parampara here, for that I will write a separate blog, because of its complexity. But for those who don't know what is Naga; to them, I just want to say that Naga is a Parampara. In this Parampara whoever takes Diksha (Initiation) we called them Naga Sadhu who is at the same time a warrior also. In simple words, They are Warrior Sadhus. Both males and females can become Naga Sadhus.

A Female Naga Sadhu

Today I will discuss a piece of history associated with these Naga Sadhus. A piece of history that is unfortunately not part of the New age Education system of this country. I will use the Katha Gayan Paddhati (Storytelling Method) to describe this piece of History. So, let's begin...

This piece of history belongs to the twilight era of the medieval and modern history of Bharat. Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (b. 1722 – 16 October 1772 d.) also known as Ahmad Shah Abdālī, or Ahmad Khān Abdālī was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern State of Afghanistan. During that time frame, it was used to be a dream of every king outside Sindhu Pradesh to conquer Bharat and establish their Empire here. This same dream was dreamt by him also. At that time, Mughals were already an established and powerful monocratic system in this Land of Rishis. And on the other hand, The British had arrived and established their British East India Company which was started generating profits for them. The newly King for Afghanistan and a mere dacoit for Bharat was crowned as a king in July 1747, by a Loya Jirga(A special kind of Legal Assembly) in Kandhar, where he set up his capital. He attacked Bharat four times and in his fourth attempt he succeeded which was happened in January in the year 1757 (as per Georgian Calander). He first attacked Delhi and kidnapped then Mughal Empire Alamgir II whom historians consider as a weak Mughal emperor. He understood one thing in his repeated attacks on Bharat that it was very tough to establish an empire here; so the best outcome would be if he initiates a loot and hurt the culture and people and their belief systems. Considering this a good plan he started manifesting that. When he reached Delhi he got aware of the auspicious region associated with Sanatana Dharma The Brija. He was also informed by his informers that Gokul is a place that is very dear to Sanatana Dharma followers; because this place associates with Shree Krisna and the entire Brija is also related to RadhaKrisna who is worshipped by Sanatana Dharma followers as their Supreme Authority. So, he decided to attack Gokul and Vrindavan and he did so.

Ahmad Shah Abdālī

He entered Gokul via Mathura, after spreading enough brutality in Mathura. The Afghan invader comes dacoit Ahmed Shah Abdali sent hordes of his soldiers pouring into the holy places. After a desperate resistance by the Hindu Jats under their prince, Jawahar Singh, and the death of 10,000 of his soldiers, the city of Mathura was sacked and brutalized. He initiated the wholesale destruction of temples and kidnapped many women whom he sold in the Afghan market as slaves and raped many women on that spot. Because of such brutality and demonic behavior many women flung themselves into the Yamuna River to escape rape and slavery. Vrindavan faced a similar horror. He had detached Jahan Khan (Chief Commander) and Najib (Assistant Chief Commander) with 20,000 men, telling them,

“Move into the boundaries of the accursed Jat, and in every town and district held by him slay and plunder. The city of Mathura is a holy place of the Hindus;… let it be put entirely to the edge of the sword. Up to Agra leave not a single place standing”

In Vrindavan, seven miles north of Mathura, could not escape, as its wealth was indicated by its many temples. Here another general massacre was practiced upon the inoffensive monks of the most pacific order of Sanatan Dharma, the RadhaKrisna worshippers. The prime general of the Afghans, Sardar Khan; planned an attack on Gokul.

Meanwhile, these invader dacoits were initiating such a massacre in this region of Bharat; this news had reached the Akharas of the Naga Sadhus also and they started gathering under the leadership of Rajendra Giri Goswami or Rajendra Giri Gosain who himself a Naga Sadhu. Rajendra Giri Gosain had managed to gather more than 10,000 Naga Sadhus under his guidance who were already prepared with swords, matchlocks, and cannons to stand against these hellish creatures, and they rushed towards Gokul via Mathura. When these Naga Sadhus landed in Mathura they witnessed the destruction fabricated by Abdali and his troops. Few records say Naga Sadhus witnessed heaps of slain here and there; it made their way difficult because of the number of bodies lying on the road and the amount of blood spilled. At one place Sadhus witnessed about 200 dead children lying in a heap. Not one of the dead bodies had its head. The stench and effluvium in the air were such that it was painful to open your mouth or even to draw breath.

As per their plan, Sardar Khan had launched an attack on Gokul. But at that moment they saw thousands of ash-smeared warrior monks barred the way; they had swords, matchlocks, and cannons and introduced them as the warriors of Dharma. Afghans understood that they are less in numbers in front of Naga Sadhu. Afghan leader stimulated his troops psychologically in the name of Jihad and Bot-Parasti (Idol Worshipper) and Bot-Shikan (One who destroy religious Idols). Thus both parties believed they fought for a higher power. On one side the Afghan troops fought for loot, plunder, and rape whilst the Naga Sadhus had already given up their worldly and material attachments and in a long tradition of warfare fought solely for dharma and faith. The Afghans fought with the reckless valor for which they were much wonted and the Nagas fought with a determination that spoke of their contempt of death.

The battle cries of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Ya Ali’ rose above the groans and shrieks of the wounded and dying. The battle raged as dusk fell and the protagonists (Afghan invaders) continued their fight stepping on the bodies of the slain until they observed grappling in a deathly embrace whilst slipping on the mounds of gore and blood flowing on the hallowed grounds. Still, the Nagas did not give ground.

Enraged the Abdali threw further troops into the battle. His as-yet undefeated soldiers who had marched victoriously from the borders of Bharat to Central Asia were met with renewed charges and attacks from the Naga Sanyasis. They fought so desperately that the Afghans began to lose hope of victory and as their losses rapidly mounted in the failing light their leader Sardar Jahan Khan called a retreat and the Afghans fell back in defeat and humiliation leaving many thousands of their brethren dead and wounded on the battlefield. Thus our holy place of Gokul was saved but at an appalling cost in lives. If Naga Sadhus had not stopped Afghans that day then perhaps Gokul would have been destroyed by them.