But we reach a different conclusion if we take into consideration two glaring instances from our history, one of them being the first large scale and systematic invasion of Hindustan attempted by the so called world conqueror, Alexander. The Greek warlord tried to invade Hindustan with his powerful army. He reached as far as the western bank of Sindhu with a view to plunder this land of gold. But Porus, a small Hindu King on the frontiers of Hindustan, barred the way of the invaders and successfully threw back the hordes of invading Greeks. There is an incontrovertible evidence to prove that Pours inflicted a major defeat upon Alexander. But the truth has been hidden from us by foreign writers and historians. They were not prepared to accept that Alexander’s expedition petered out. How could the European historians admit that a king of their own white race was defeated and put to flight by a coloured Hindu chief? On the other hand, they came out with a version that the Greek forces defeated Porus and were about to move across the River Sindhu. But it never happened. After the first encounter with Porus, Alexander had to give up his grandiose plan of invasion and make straight for Greece via Iran. But the foreign authors were ready with their interpretations. According to them, hands of Alexander were forced by the sudden mutiny among his army, which wanted to return to Greece immediately. But this too never happened. Alexander or his army never returned to Greece. Instead they decided to settle down into the green and beautiful meadows of Iran, while Alexander found his grave on Iranian soil.

 

It is difficult to reconcile oneself to the distorted and fabricated version of the invasion as given by foreign writers. We only learn by heart what we are taught in school textbooks. But we must be able to judge facts and weigh them for ourselves and arrive at proper conclusions. Soon after the death of Alexander, an invasion of Hindustan was again attempted by one of his lieutenants, Selucus Nikator, but he was so very badly mauled by Emperor Chandragupta that, taking a lesson of his lifetime from his crushing defeat, Selucus med peace with Chandragupta and offered his own daughter to him in marriage.

 

Selucus had to bow before the mighty Hindu Emperor because it was impossible for the invading forces to take a stand against the powerful Hindu armies of Chandragupta. But then how could it happen that, after sometime in the History of Hindustan, a new and dark chapter was opened by the Muslim aggression, which succeeded in pushing back the same powerful Hindus and obtaining a firm foothold on the soil? Muslims were in fact, less powerful and ill equipped in comparison with their predecessors, the Greeks. Why then the Hindus crumbled before the Muslim onslaught and lost their freedom? You will find the answer to the above question in another historical incident of peculiar significance - that is, the dramatic episode of Maharaj Prithviraj.

 

Prithviraj, as we all know, was the last Hindu Emperor of Hindustan, who had a great and heroic army and a glorious empire. Mohammed Ghouri tried for more than a dozen times in succession to invade the Hindu Empire, and every time the Muslim invader was completely beaten back and put to flight. Several times Ghouri was personally captured by Prithviraj, but let go on account of Prithviraj’s generosity. But the end of Prithviraj’s brilliant career was full of drama and pathos. This powerful Hindu Emperor fell victim to a petty family feud between himself and Jaichand Rathod, his father-in-law, who did not relish the procedure by which Prithviraj took away his daughter, Samyukta, and married her. Individual or family feuds are, as a rule, a common feature of human society everywhere, even outside this country. But they were not allowed to assume a proportion that might prove detrimental to the interest of their community. These feuds and bickering are easily forgotten and people again unite as one man to face a common danger if and when it comes. People forget their quarrels, close their ranks and make it common cause to invade the peoples of another race for the glory of their own race. How is that we Hindus alone carry these feuds to such extent that the result is utterly disastrous for our own national well-being? Why do our petty feuds assume such a fatal fall? What is the wrong with our body politic? Let alone a man in the street, even a responsible man of kingly status like Jaichand has no national or racial consciousness that compels a man to place individual interests or personal honour in the background, giving priority to national interest and honour. And hence, he was prepared to avenge his daughter’s marriage without scruples. Jaichand could not imagine that by inviting a foreign power to help him against Prithviraj, he was not harming Prithviraj but the very Hindu Nation itself. Whatever his differences with Prithviraj, Jaichand should not have stooped down so low as to invite the enemy of the Hindu Empire and culture to avenge the marriage of his daughter, a purely family affair. He ought not have afforded an opportunity to a foreigner to intervene in the matters that could have been settled or avenged in other ways that he could resort to. He could have dethroned Prithviraj with the help of other Hindu Kings and replaced some other emperor, which would not have ruined the Hindu empire. But he fell a victim to the intense passions of hatred and vengeance and forged himself into a treacherous weapon into the hands of Ghouri and was rightly served.