PROJECT SARASWTI : Problems of Indian Chronolog - Date of Mahabharata War

SOURCE:
http://ysudershanrao.blogspot.in/2007/10/problems-of-indian-chronology-date-of.html



                      PROJECT - SARASWATI

       Problems of Indian Chronology

           - Date of Mahabharata War

Human Empowerment Conference

(Sponsored by Sanantanadharma Foundation)

Dallas, Texas

12-14 Oct 2007

Indian Chronology – Problems and Perspectives

(A Note)

---Y. Sudershan Rao[*]

Prof of History (Rtd)

Kakatiya University,

Warangal,A.P.India

Modern genre of history which is two centuries old by now insists on two prerequisites, time-space coordinates, to situate any event or person in a historical context. 

The heuristics of any available evidence conforming to these coordinates will distinguish a historical fact. 

These determinants of authenticity of a historical record are borrowed from the principles governing the commercial and property transactions of the medieval and early modern Europe. The ‘instruments’ of commercial nature will directly and materially affect the concerned individuals and/or their succeeding one or two generations. Therefore, the genuineness of the document in question is subjected to scrutiny and if necessary corroborative evidence is also required in resolving the legal disputes arising out of such transactions. The application of these principles to the impersonal matters like historical inquiries without any discretion complicates the issues rather than solving them. One can not deny the existence of his forefathers preceding four or five generations because he does not know their names, the dates of their births and deaths or the locations where they lived. For the history of the recent past, these two coordinates may appear to be more relevant as the recent happenings have direct bearing on the present and near future. We get different types of source material for writing about a recent happening. A historian can make use of corroborative sources to attempt a historical narration. European history being relatively recent, the time-space determinants may hold validity to an extent.

When we are attempting to write the history of the civilizations and the peoples of remotest past whose antiquity can not be traced, a historian should use his discretion  applying  commonsense, reason and logic, as the basic tenets of scientific method of inquiry while examining the available historical source material to bring out the essence of the remote history for the benefit of mankind. 

Bharat Varsha, the Indian sub-continent or South Asia, is endowed with voluminous record – oral, literary and archaeological – of the history of not only its people and their culture but the history of entire Creation and its secrets. The rich oral tradition which has come down to us through infinite number of generations defy our estimation of its origin in every respect because it speaks of mind boggling reckoning of Time and infinite creations. Veda is believed to be eternal. It is a revealed knowledge. The revelations of great sages are handed down to us as oral tradition. 

The classification of this knowledge,

Veda, was attempted by Sage Veda Vyaasa whose times are connected with the great event, the Battle of Kurukshetra. 

Sage Vyaasa had much higher objectives for this classification than making it a chronological account. Most of the mantras included in the ‘Samhitas’ of the four books of Veda being common, the Sage has benefited the humanity with the Knowledge being presented in four different ways for varied purposes. The sage had given each version of the Veda to one of his able disciples for preservation and propogation. Modern historian assigns different periods for the origin of Rigveda and other Vedas citing certain changes in society to legitimize the Linear theory.

When the author of these four versions of Veda was one and the same, it is a matter of simple commonsense that these books (oral) are contemporaneous.

Sage Vyaasa also gave us the PuraaNa which speaks of the history of many creations and major events therein, both Cosmic and mundane. The genealogies of Rishis and major dynasties of rulers are given in the PuraaNa which Sage Vyaasa has recorded as handed down to him by his father, Sage Paraashar. Sage Paraashar got this knowledge of remote history as a revelation. Out of this one body of PuraaNa (Vishnu PuraaNa?), eighteen Maha PuraaNaas were composed during Mahabharata times. The major content and characteristics of these PuraaNaas being the same, each PuraaNa is endowed with some peculiarities of its own in its presentation and emphasis given to a major concept or phenomenon. Subsequently, many subsidiary puraaNaas, Saastras, Darshanas, Sutra and Kaavya literature were composed in different periods of time and published through oral transmission. The PuraaNic literature has been updated periodically. Though the origin of PuraaNic literature could be dated to Mahabharata and immediately after Mahabharata times, we can not fix up the exact time when the literature was made available in written form for the first time. Since the material used for writing is of perishable nature, even the earliest manuscript found by us turns out to be the latest written version of the original work. The modern scientific dating methods might at best help us estimating the approximate date of an artifact or manuscript (conditions apply!). A historian with unprejudiced sense of reasoning would only say that the dating of the available copy can hardly determine the date of the original work.

Bharat has no parallel in the world in respect of the quality, quantity, antiquity and continuity of its knowledge store. Vedic and PuraaNic literature give us very valuable data for tracing the history from the remotest past to the recent times. It may not be possible to assign a fixed date for every event or episode of the remote past which of course serves no purpose. But on that score the episode can not be dismissed as fictitious. The episodes in the Vedic and PuraaNic literature should not be blindly taken in its literal sense. They are encoded narratives. The solution for a riddle posed in one episode cited in one PuraaNa could be found elsewhere in the same work or in some other PuraaNa. It needs a mega view of the whole literature to understand and interpret an episode. So micro-studies should be attempted with only macro-understanding. 

Every ancient work, though specializes in any Sastra (science), or Dharma (conduct), or Art (music, dance or fine arts), or Itihasa (history) is encyclopedic in its nature and gives the benefit of a bird’s eye view of the universal knowledge and the Sanatana Dharma. Thus, every ancient work, irrespective of its special focus on an area, is capable of giving universal consciousness to a sincere seeker. In ancient Indian knowledge system, a specialty did not mean ignorance of the rest as we understand the specializations today. Holistic view was the order of the day. Therefore the problem should not be studied in isolation.

Further, every ancient work was aiming at raising the conscious level of its clientele from the mundane to the Ultimate through the known to the Beyond. The Dharma as a Sutra (thread) runs through all the ancient literary forms. The essence of Vedic thought is given in PuraaNas and Itihaasas for mass consumption as educative entertainment. Sanatana Dharma, the basis of the Vedic thought and PuraaNic knowledge, is explained through the Epics as live narratives. In view of the mega time scale, the ancients have divided the eternal Time in Yugas, Mahayugas, Manvantaras and Kalpas. With the help of PuraaNic genealogies and the astronomical data available from the Mahabharata, many scholars have attempted to fix the date of Mahabharata War with negligible variations. These studies would confirm that the Great Event took place around 3000 BC. Now, it is not difficult to arrive at a reasonable time-frame for the Mahabharata which draws a line between the remote and recent past. Modern historian, free from prejudices, can fairly reconstruct Indian Chronology taking the date of the Great War as the sheet anchor. Since the chronology is the spine of the body of history, the gaps or missing links may be covered withlogical interpretation of the valuable data from the ancient literature.

Heuristics and hermeneutics employed in the modern Historical Method for studying ancient societies of remote past, when associated with common sense, reasoning and logic would help resolve many misunderstandings and misconceptions entrenched in the present historical writings. What is basically required of a modern historian is a positive approach to knowing truth.

---

[*] He owes his understanding of the subject to Sathguru Sivananda Murty ji, Bheemunipatnam, A.P. India.

                 ____________________

Revisiting the Date of Mahabharata war:                   astronomical methods using

                    planetarium software

                             B. N. Narahari

                Achar University of Memphis

                               Delhi 2014

GOOGLE TO READ

http://serveveda.org/2_BNNA.pdf

Outline of the talk

 The date of the Mahabharata war

 • Initial attempts using Planetarium software

 • determined as a unique date, 3067 BCE • based on the astronomical data within the epic

 • independent of any other source 

Consistency of 3067 BCE with traditional reckoning of Kaliyuga 

“The Bharata War is the central landmark in Indian traditional history and fixing the date of that event will give us a starting point in settling dates of events occurring before and after that.” _A.D.Pusalker

CLICK/GOOGLE TO OPEN

http://serveveda.org/2_BNNA.pdf

SOURCE:



UNDERSTANDING  RAMCHANDRA GUHA



          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Pun7pB4Gk

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eas3ow0SoNU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL8tTs2ODRo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL8tTs2ODRo

PROCUREMENT : Indian Army Launches Global Hunt for Advanced Sniper Rifle Night Sights (R)

SOURCE:
https://sputniknews.com/military/201710311058695818-india-army-night-sights/

Indian Army Launches Global Hunt for Advanced Sniper Rifle Night Sights

Indian Army Launches Global Hunt

                     for 

Advanced Sniper Rifle Night Sights

In order to minimize casualties during

 cross-border firings, the Indian Army, of 

late, has been equipping its weapons' 

systems with long-range sight vision that 

can detect targets at a distance of at least 

1,300 meters.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — In a bid to enhance the night capability of its infantry deployed along the border, the Indian Army has floated a requirement for 5,500 long-range night sights for sniper rifles which can detect enemy from a minimum distance of 1,300 meter,. Since most modern rifles and tanks now have night fighting capability, swift movement of mechanized forces is now possible during the night as well.

READ MORE: 

India's Medium Lift Combat Helicopters to Get Advanced Weapons Upgrade

The sight should have suitable reticle pattern that enables aiming up to 1,200 meters in order to facilitate the night firing of 8.6mm (0.338 inches) sniper. This is very critical in the backdrop of persistent cross-border violation along the western border which takes a heavy toll of the Indian troops.

"The Indian Army seeks uncooled thermal imaging night sight with the latest technology parameters in order to help the soldier to fire the 8.6mm sniper rifle accurately. The sight should be able to fit on MIL STD 1913 compliant Picatinny rail," an Indian Army official told Sputnik.

The tender for purchase of approximately 5,500-night sights is expected to be issued in June 2018. In the past, India had imported Thermal Imaging (TI) sights for T 72 tanks from Poland. These are also available in some other countries like France, Israel, Russia, Ukraine and the USA.

READ MORE: 

India Set to Become Next Battleground for Global Aeronautics Manufacturers

Apart from equipping the sniper rifles with long range night sights, sources told Sputnik that the Army is going to issue a tender to purchase 15,000 uncooled thermal imaging sights for its 84 mm Carl Gustaf rocket launcher which is the standard anti-tank weapon sanctioned to each Infantry platoon. The long-range night sights will be able to detect rival tanks and other enemy assets from a minimum distance of 1,200 meter,. The Indian Army will use this to destroy the enemy's armored vehicles, concrete bunkers, landing craft, and aircraft. Presently, the Carl Gustaf cannot fire in the dark if the target area is not illuminated.

CASTEISM OR KHICHRI OF RIFLES & AMN SYSTEM WITHIN INFANTRY : Infantry to get Foreign Rifles, others to get ‘Made in India’

SOURCE:

Infantry to get Foreign Rifles, others to get ‘Made in India’

                    Ajai Shukla

             Business Standard. 

5th Nov 17

The army’s highest levels have arrived at a vital decision that could open the doors to buying new rifles for the entire army, while remaining within a strained procurement budget.

The decision is to equip infantry soldiers with a world-class assault rifle, while non-infantry soldiers would get a cheaper, less effective, indigenous rifle.

Earlier, the army had planned to procure some 800,000 state-of-the-art assault rifles from the global market, each costing about Rs 200,000. That would have cost about Rs 16,000 crore – significantly more than what the army can afford.

Now, army chief General Bipin Rawat has decided to buy only 250,000 assault rifles from the international market, and issue them only to combat infantrymen – the frontline foot soldiers who are directly in contact with the enemy.

The remaining 550,000 army soldiers who are authorised rifles but serve mainly in non-infantry arms and services will get a new indigenous rifle. The army will choose between the INSAS-1C, designed by the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO); and the Ghatak, designed by Ordnance Factory, Kirkee. These are less lethal than the infantry’s assault rifles, but also significantly cheaper, at about Rs 50,000 apiece.

“My thinking is: Since a state-of-the-art assault rifle will cost about Rs 200,000 each in the global market, let us issue these only to frontline infantry soldiers who confront the enemy armed only with their rifles,” Rawat told Business Standard. “Let us provide a cheaper indigenous option to other soldiers, for whom the rifle is not a primary weapon,” he added.

The chief explains the army has evaluated two different weapons philosophies. The assault rifle it has chosen for the infantry is a weapon optimised for conventional war, with a longer range and a larger bullet that kills or completely incapacitates the enemy soldiers that it strikes. It is also equipped with a night vision sight. The second type of weapon, which will arm non-infantry units, is optimised for counter-insurgency operations, being lighter and with a smaller bullet that a soldier can carry in larger numbers

* * * *

A variation of this debate played out in the Indian Army in the 1970s, when it was looking to replace its old 7.62 millimetre self-loading rifles (SLRs). At that time, it was argued that the army should get a 5.56 mm rifle, since that would not just be lighter, but it would also injure, rather than kill, an enemy soldier. That would take out of battle not just the enemy who was shot, but additional enemy soldiers who would be tied up in evacuating the casualty.

This resulted in the army equipping itself with the 5.56 mm INSAS-1B1, manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). However, the army was unhappy with the INSAS-1B1, complaining that it was prone to stoppages, and that jihadi militants (and Pakistani soldiers in the Kargil conflict) who were shot by its lighter bullet did not always get incapacitated.

“We would shoot a militant with the INSAS and he would just keep coming at us. That is why we have always preferred to use the 7.62 mm AK-47 in Kashmir, rather than the INSAS,” says Lieutenant General VP Singh, a recently retired officer who has served multiple tenures in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

Notwithstanding this, only the infantry is going back to 7.62 mm calibre rifles. The bulk of the army will get 5.56 mm rifles, which means that the stock of older AK-47 rifles, which equip specialist Rashtriya Rifles counter-insurgency units, would have to remain the mainstay of operations in J&K and the Northeast.

Rifle Economics

The army currently fields 382 regular infantry battalions, 28 mechanised infantry battalions, 23 Guards battalions and nine Vikas and Scouts battalions, adding up to 442 battalions of infantry and its equivalent.

Even within an infantry battalion, not every one of its 800-odd soldiers will be issued a 7.62 mm assault rifle. These will go only to soldiers who can expect to be in direct contact with the enemy: its four rifle companies and the commando platoon (called Ghataks), totalling up to about 565 persons per battalion. The remaining personnel would be issued other weapons such as 5.56 mm carbines and rifles. At 565 rifles for each of these infantry units, the total adds up to 250,000 rifles.

At Rs 200,000 for each foreign assault rifle, equipping these 250,000 infantrymen will cost Rs 5,000 crore. For the remaining 550,000 non-infantry soldiers, their indigenous rifles – INSAS-1C or the Ghatak rifle, whichever is chosen – would be priced more cheaply at Rs 50,000 each, totalling up to Rs 2,750 crore. This foreign and indigenous mix of 800,000 rifles adds up to Rs 7,750 crore – saving Rs 8,250 crore, or more than half the Rs 16,000 crore cost of buying foreign assault rifles for the entire army.

The Ghatak and INSAS 1C both remain works in progress, with the army chief confirming to Business Standard there were minor problems during trial firing in summer, including stoppages that exceeded permissible limits. “However, there are significant improvements in those indigenous rifles too, and we expect the OFB and DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) to improve them quickly to meet our expectations,” Rawat said.

“We will not delay any further on the procurement process. I have passed orders for the RFP (Request for Proposals, as the tender is called) to be issued by the end of this year,” Rawat added.

The Rs 2 lakh cost of a state-of-the-art 7.62 mm assault rifle includes the cost of “reflex sights” and “night sights” that make it easier to aim and shoot with a high degree of accuracy, including at night. Without these add-ons, an assault rifle is fired with the help of its in-built sights – the soldier aligns a “rear sight” and “fore sight” on the rifles barrel with the target before squeezing the trigger. This requires a degree of skill and is tiring to the eye. With a reflex sight, which is fitted onto a small rail on the rifle (called a Picatinny Rail), the soldier only has to look towards the target through a small telescope, and align a red dot in the sight with the target before firing.

A modern reflex/night sight today costs as much as the rifle on which it is fitted – up to Rs 100,000.

F-INSAS

For years, the Indian Army approached the acquisition of personal weapons, such as rifles and carbines, as part of the expansively named “Future Infantry Soldier as a System” (F-INSAS) programme. This aspired to integrate a soldier, along with his personal weapons and communications equipment, into a digitally networked battlefield management system. With this proving too ambitious, the army has now split the F-INSAS initiative into two distinct parts – the acquisition of personal weapons and, separately, a digitisation project termed the “Battlefield Management System” that is being pursued as a “Make” project in India.

* * * *

Infantry weapons and equipment have seldom received the attention that is lavished on more glamorous and expensive weaponry like aircraft, warships, submarines or tanks. However, with the infantry constantly engaged in live operations on the Line of Control with Pakistan, the Line of Actual Control with China and in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and the Northeast, there is a growing recognition of the need to upgrade the infantry soldier, particularly his personal weapon, says Lt Gen Singh.

The need for infantry modernisation is especially urgent in India’s operational milieu, where rugged mountain and jungle terrain limits the applicability and effectiveness of support weapons and air power, making the infantryman the final arbiter of battle.

The role of India’s infantry has remained largely unchanged since independence: to close in with and destroy the enemy. In defensive operations, the infantry physically holds ground against all forms of enemy attack. The infantry is trained and tasked to fight to the end, firing rifles and machine guns and, when ammunition runs out, fighting hand to hand with bayonets – a long knife attached to the rifle.

In an attack, while tanks often lead and the artillery provides fire support, eventually it is the infantryman – no women are allowed yet into this most physical of combat arms – who must physically occupy the enemy’s positions, charging at them in the face of their firing. All he can rely on with certainty is his personal weapon – the rifle or the LMG.

The basic simplicity of the infantry’s role and the tenacity needed to discharge it eminently suits the Indian soldier. In active service around the world, including through two World Wars, the Indian infantryman has earned a formidable reputation for tenacity and courage.

“The defence ministry can spend Rs 58,000 crore on just 36 Rafale fighters. But it finds it difficult to spend Rs 16,000 crore on giving modern assault rifles to 800,000 soldiers. Sitting on our border posts at 15,000 feet, we marvel at these priorities,” says the commanding officer of an infantry battalion, talking over the phone.