Sher Shah Suri

re

``Some 450 years later, an incompetent ruler of Modern Pakistan also fancied going down in History as Sher Shah Suri. The result, a road though one of the best in the world but a white elephant for the Pakistani Nation.``

I sure hope you are not talking about the Karakorom highway(the modern Silk Route) and the Mard-e-Momin, Defender of the Faithful, Pride of Muslims, Scholar of the Scholars, the uncrowned Khalifa of the Land of the Pure Hazrat Mohammad Ziaul Haque Marhoom.

Good job on SSS, Yasser. I am somewhat of a fan of the fellow himself though I could do without his personalization of politics and administration at every level Certainly a better one than Humayun.

Sigalph,

I was referring to Ameerulmomineen Hazrat Nawaz Sharif Rahmatullah illay and the Motorway, his great gift to humanity.

I think the Taliban should pay close attention to this great Afghan who benevolently over a diverse empire, restoring law and order and creating a harmonious empire, which accounted for, in no small way for the stability that Akbar`s empire showed.

-Yasser Hamdani

YLH,

In this modern day when pakistan has become a nuclear power, all are talking of information super high way, what an appropriate topic to write about, the grant trunk road, and its creator sher sa suri, a more recent and relevant achievement of one Abdus Salam would not be halal.

This article should be very inspiring to the young of pakistan, laying out a road to follow, literally to link up with the lost province. pathetic.

regards

jay.

Yasser, spare us your lectures about India`s heritage and look after your own historical buildings in Pakistan which are falling apart at the seams. Is that due to the perfidious Hindu`s as well?

Yeah thats right we are going to burn down the Taj Mahal.

What`s it to you? Get a life you dispossessed Mughal. Look after your own bloody country first.

Yasser:

This is awesome...you are the man!!!

Aisha

[Sher Shah Suri lies today in an impressive octagonal Mausoleum, in Sassaram, Bihar from where this ambitious and Brilliant Afghan had started out to create his destiny. His mausoleum, a part of India`s historical heritage, which has the second largest dome in that country, today is threatened by extremists, who want to perform ``Karseva`` by encroaching on to the premises of this great Emperor`s last resting place by completing the ``Sarveshar Mahadev`` temple. The most vocal supporter of this is local BJP leader Jawahir Prasad of the ruling party in the center. One wonders if there is no end to this. What`s next? Taj Mahal? At this rate slowly but surely all monuments of Muslim origin will one day vanish from India.]

This is rich, coming barely 2 months after the Bamiyan Buddhas.

How many tears did YOU shed for the Buddha statues?

Hang down your head in shame.

That is, if you feel any shame at all for writing the last paragraph.

Sher Shah Suri was a war mongering beast, an invader and a ruthless warlord.

What is the bloody matter with Pakis? praising Yazids!

I am tired of this typical male/muslim/paki/wahabi mentality!!!

Isn`t there any minimum sane requirement on Chowk for publication???

harimau, siraj,

Though your arguing about 1. Bamiyan and 2. Pakistan`s pathetic record of protecting its own monuments (forgetting for the moment pre-Islamic ones barring the Indus valley group) can not be faulted, this article is (supposedly) about Sher Shah, which ylh being ever true to himself has stretched to include India`s current fad of historical revisionism.

Whatever be the integrity of the article (I for one take issue with the article`s byline of `first true social reformer in the history of Indo-Pakistan` which given ylh`s ardent advocacy of historical and terminological accuracy in the case of Jinnah is quite inexplicable) one has to read it as it stands and as it has been authored to be standing for.

Even if ylh is using an amateur eulogy of Sher Shah to comment on VHP/BJP`s absurd ideas about our national treasures and in this case invaluable records of history (leave alone it`s architectural significance), I would still give him a long rope because me being an Indian(and all it stands for, Secularism and now as it has become a fashion for our Chowkies to hum blah blah blah...) and an architect I am very concerned and utterly worried about it.

http://www.frontlineonline.com/fl1725/17250440.htm

http://www.the-week.com/20dec03/events11.htm

ylh,

A good choice of a historical figure. SSS figured prominently in my school history books, and occupied a real pride of place in the pantheon of Indian heroes. So much so that if you wanted to do well in exams, you had better learn all about SSS. There would always be a question on his administrative contributions at least every other year, if not every year!! I wonder if he receives similar key attention in Pakistani history books. If he does, we have one more native person we can all admire! Whatever SSS might have done to the Rohtas fort, it was probably just a military trick, and had little to do with the fort belonging to Hindus. SSS was a brilliant warrior, and did what he had to do to win the fort.

I am not sure about the last paragraph, though. It appeared hyperbolic and contrived, and did not sit well with the rest of the article. I am sure you will get well-deserved grief from many Indians on that one! LOL

Harimau,

As a matter of fact, myself and a lot of like minded Pakistanis protested not very mildly the destruction of the statues. If you dont know someone dont assume, but I forget, Indians are apt at doing this.

Maliani,

Kindly follow up your stupendous accusations with some evidence. Sher Shah Suri is remembered as a benevolent Monarch, by all HISTORY books.

Jay,

Abdul Salaam is my hero, and a highly revered figure in Pakistan, and like myself he was a true patriot.

Siraj,

Before you go on into the diatribe, try to understand, that I was speaking as a student of History and not as Pakistani.

Sarwari,

Thankyou, and you my dear are the WOMAN!

Conclusion:

The self delusional ``Brahmin`` mentality will never allow Indians to look beyond their own noses. Example Maliani, Harimau, Siraj, and Jay.

Pakistan Zindabad

-Yasser Latif Hamdani

PS I am not a wahaabi, a great number of my family are either shias or ahmadis.

Dear Yasser,

Great article. The last paragraph was terrific!!

[``One wonders if there is no end to this. ``]

The end will come when Indian minorities, like Kashmiris, start talking to Hondoo dhoti-clads in the language they understand best. Till that time comes these majority thugs can tear down and burn mosques, chruches and mausoleums with abandon.

maliani,

I am no historian but I have read mostly positive things about Sher Shah Suri. Wasn`t making war quite the common pursuit of rulers in those days?

Why would you condemn him in such strong words?

Hmm nicely written ..mostly known facts though ..nothing out of the ordinary .By the way I had been thinking of writing an article on very much the same person was stuck up with exams though(as I am now ) .Anyway I am very fond of Sher Shah Suri..the fact that he is a pashtun hero adds to it , as is a standard irony with Pashtuns he exercised the least control over his own people .

Anyway he was not an overcentraliser either ..he delegated well and ensured his followers were people as energetic and as passionate in what he believed in.EVen the monuments he did erect ..were not as extravagantly ( almost vulgar) designed as the Mughals ..his simplicity stood out .

Just recently there was a programme on PTV in which the Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider was giving hundreds of justifications for why the Army govt. was not delivering as far as performance was concerned .His excuses ranged from we need more time , these things take time ..we inherited a country in a mess .Till finally the compere knocked him for a 6 by saying ..Minister saab ..Sher Shah SUri brought peace to much of the sub continent in less then 5 years .What is most fitting was how he lacked a successor equal to him ..but thats how really great people are ..they leave nothing except their ideals ..and no dynasties to tarnish the good they have done ....

Yasser:

Would have prefered an opinion piece on the subject, rather than the almost dry school-text version. Especially since you admire the aubject.

Besides, the last paragraph seems to be an after-thought,as though you just had to make that mandatory comment. Does not fit in.

If you want to know about the Taj Mahal, let me assure you no one will bring it down. It is our tourist attraction and rakes in lots of money. Why, even Yanni performed there. I think it would be great if the RSS started practising their drills on the lawns there. They would keep it cleaner than the Agra inhabitants who make it the venue for their family picnics.

As for Sher Shah Suri`s mausoleum being targeted by karsevaks, don`t worry. They will get tired one day. I feel really sorry that they have to discover new ghosts to haunt them only to justify their own lives.

Somewhat relevant to the general subject area of the article, the following links mention archaeological findings in Pakistan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/11/living/11WINE.html

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/science/science-dentists-dc.html