A question which has long troubled me about Indian history is how such a great civilization could not resist against the Islamic invaders and surrendered meekly. The usual explanation I came across was that Hindu kings of the time lacked unity and thus were easy targets to be conquered. This explanation never quite sat well with me, and thanks to doyens like Sita Ram Goel and Dr.Ram Gopal Misra, whose book he reviews in this book, I have uncovered the layers of truth buried deep under Marxist and leftist perpetrated “history” which we learned in our history books and which continue to dominate our media and academic circles.

This book is short but packs a punch with every sentence. We are given a point by point overview of the history of Arabic and Turkish invasions in India right from the death of the Prophet and how they rapidly expanded their military might throughout the Middle East swiftly but failed repeatedly at the borders of India, which then extended all the way to Afghanistan. We are given accounts of many Hindu kings who both individually and as confederacy’s with other kingdoms (thus debunking the claim that they lacked unity) successfully thwarted the repeated attacks of the invaders and protected our territory.

Even the oft-touted invasions of Mahmud Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori were wrought with struggles and failures and loss of thousands of enemy soldiers. The very fact that the Islamic invaders converted every inch of the lands they conquered within a few short years but faced a prolonged resistance of around 600 years before they could establish a dynasty, and even then, India remains a majority Hindu country is a testament to the fighting spirit and the need to protect this civilizations strain of Sanatana Dharma, which was beyond any physical frontier they tried to protect as it encompassed an entire social, cultural and spiritual order.

How often have we heard of Ghazni, Ghori and Qutubuddin Aibak in comparison to Shahiyas, Chaulukyas, Chauhans, Chandelas, Maukharis, Gahadavads and so many other dynasties whose kings and soldiers put their lives at stake in order to protect our ethos?

The author signs off grimly by claiming that it is this rot in our civilizational awareness and self-confidence which has led to the severe dilution of India’s heritage and that a spirited renaissance in all fronts with an aggressive forward policy is required in order to face the threat which the enemy state continues to pose up to this day.

Originally published here.