Sanjhi Virasat

like this Hindi term better than "shared heritage", but that is what this means.

Someone sent me a link, on which was this list of facts, many of which we are not aware of:

1. That Lord Ram blessed Prince Dara Shikoh in a dream (eldest son of Emperor Shahjahan and to-be King of India) to translate the Bhagavad Gita into Persian? (This Geeta reached the west and India’s Vedic history was rediscovered. Prince Dara was a great Sanskrit scholar and loved by the pundits of Kashi, the Sikh Gurus and the Sufis alike. He was murdered by his youngest brother Aurangzeb, for the throne)

2. That Goswami Tulsidas, the great devotee of Lord Ram, wrote the Ramayana under protection of the Mughal governor of Banaras, his best friend, Abdul Rahim Khankhana, (the great Krishna bhakt, famous for Rahim ke dohe)? Goswami Tulsidas was harassed by the powerful Brahmin priests, who did not want him to compose the Ramayana in the jan-bani, but Sanskrit.

3. Baba Bulleh Shah, the great Punjabi Sufi poet’s Guru was Madhavlal Hussain, neither a Hindu nor a Muslim? He said: Masjid dha de, mandir dha, dha de jo kucch dainda, Par kisi da Dil na dhain, Rab dilan which rehnda.. Break the temple, Break the mosque, Break what else besides, But break not a Human heart, Because that’s where God resides.

4. That the Suhagan Sufis of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, dressed like Hindu brides, with red sindoor and called themselves the dulhans of God/ Allah? Lal sindoor and chooris are offered at their dargahs.

5. That the slogan ‘Jai Hind’ was coined by Capt. Abid Hasan of the Subhash Chandra Bose’s INA in 1942? (The official greeting of the Netaji’s Azad Hind Fauj and a mantra for all Indians)

6. That Frontier Gandhi, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan organized the largest, 2 lakh non-violent army of sataygrahis for India’s freedom? (Under the British attacks, Frontier Gandhi said that: ‘My religion and my devotion to Bapu and India are one..’)

7. That Shivaji, the great Maratha leader, had both Hindus and Muslims as his generals and was equal to people of all faiths in his army. He ordered his followers to never attack women, children and holy books like the Quran.

8. That in the Great War of independence in 1857, Rani Lakhsmi Bai of Jhansi was protected by her Muslim Pathan generals, Ghulam Ghaus Khan and Khudaad Khan? (They guarded her Jhansi fort till they died, Their last words: For our queen we shall lay down our life, hack the firangis)

9. That Guru Gobind Singh’s best friend was a Sufi called Baba Badruddin, who sacrificed his life, all his sons, his brothers and 700 disciples in the Guru's battle against Aurangzeb? He called this the true path of Islam against injustice and was so loved by the Guru, that he offered his khalsa comb and sword to him, still at his dargah, Kange Shah, near Ambala.

10. That the Nawabs of Awadh, spent 13 days in celebrating Holi? Wajid Ali Shah’s court played Raslila, for Lord Krishna. The most famous Hindu dharmic play, Indra Sabha was composed in his court by a Muslim writer.

11. That the foundation of the Sikh’s Golden temple, was laid by a Muslim Sufi, Hazrat Mian Mir, the best friend of Guru Arjun Dev? (He was also the teacher of Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh, whose life the Sikh Guru, had saved as a child due to his great love for him)

12. That Guru Nanak’s lifelong companion was Mian Mardana, a Muslim rabab player? (He is the first singer of Sikh gurbani- and traveled with Guru Nanak from Hardwar to Mecca. Mian Mardana’s descendants played the rabab in the Golden temple for 500 years till 1947.

13. That the Sufis of India celebrate Basant panchmi by singing Saraswti vandanas since 800 years? (They revived Basant, by bringing sarson flowers and saffron chadars to the dargahs. The great poet, Amir Khusro has written hundreds of Holi geets to his Guru, whom
he compares to Krishna: Mohe suhagan, rang basanti rang de Khwajaji/ Aao, Sufiion sang Hori khelo)

14. That Ras Khan was one of the many Muslim Krishna bhakts? (like Bhikan, Ras Khan and Malik Mohhammed Jayasi of Padmavat). He renounced everything to live in Vrindavan, upon seeing a baniya’s son, whom he worshipped as Krishna. Hundreds of Krishna bhajans have been written by Muslims like Amir Khusro, Rahim, Hazrat Sarmad, Dadu, Baba Farid, many of which are part of the Guru Granth sahib.

15. That Baz bahadur and Roopmati, the King and Queen of Mandu were a Rajput’s daughter and the son of Khilji. When Baz Bahadur was defeated by the Mughals
in battle of Mandu, Rupmati poisoned herself than be separated.

16. That in Bengal, the women sing a devi bhajan that only when the Hindus and Muslims brothers live together in peace, will Ma Laxmi stay in their land? (Ma Laxmi came back when Akbar the Nyayi was King, but when the English made the two brothers fight, she will
leave.. like now )

There are hundreds of other examples like Kabir Das, Mast Qalandar Sachal Sarmast, Ghalib, Ram Mohan Roy who lived according to our Sanjhi Virasat.