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What I am writing is matter of history, and my object is to present a faithful account of the manners of this people. Love adventures are not attended with the same danger in Europe as in Asia . In France they excite only merriment ; they create a laugh, and are forgotten : but in this part of the world, few are the instances in which they are not followed by some dreadful and tragical catastrophe.                                                                                                        -  François  Bernier    François  Bernier, who was a French traveller and doctor, visited the Mughal Empire during its heyday. By then, the Mughal harem's administration and protocols were firmly established, b...

French physician and adventurer Francois Bernier travelled to medieval India between the reigns of Mughal rulers Shahjahan (r. 1628-1658) and Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707). In the beginning, he was employed as a personal physician of Shah Jahan's eldest son and the heir apparent, Dara Shikoh and later, when Aurangzeb assumed power, Bernier served him as his doctor. He witnessed several important events such as the illness of Shah Jahan, the war of succession, the confinement of Shah Jahan, the execution of Dara Shikoh and had firsthand experience of what Mughal court society was like in matters of exchange of embassies, court protocols, power structure, etc. Therefore, his work Travels in the Mogul Empire AD 1656-1668 , as a primary source, is of immense significance since it is an account based on his direct personal observation or experience. This blog article details a foreign embassy that paid a visit to the Mughal court during the early days of Aurangzeb's reign. Bernier's...

The  stupa , as an object of veneration, is considered a physical embodiment of the enlightened mind of a Buddha, having originated historically from the chaitya (funerary mounds) and metaphorically from the ushnisha (crown of the Buddha's head). Stupa existed even before it became popular in Shramanic traditions such as Jainism and particularly in Buddhism and now, it is a distinctive style of Buddhist architecture. To begin with, stupa was created as a cosmic emblem in response to one of the major human conditions, death. Eventually, apart from being an important repository of sacred relics in Buddhism, it evolved with time and with the spread of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent and beyond. In Tibet and in places such as Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced,  stupa  is known as  chorten .  Saririka Stupa or Relic Stupa : It houses the body relics of the Buddha and his principal disciples, often enclosed in a casket. It can also h...

The Buddha was born   in Lumbin i (in modern-day Nepal) which was located in the Koshala  kingdom and the kingdom was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas . He was born into the Shakya  clan . The Shakya tribe was located in the Himalayan foothills and this small republic (ganarajya)  was one of the vassal states of Koshola  Mahajanapada. The Buddha was the son of a chief of the Shakyas.   It was primarily in such ganasanghas during the Age of the Mahajanapadas when there was the emergence of some prominent monarchical and non-monarchical political formations in the Indian subcontinent that we find the growth of various heterodox sects, including Buddhism.  Because the Buddha was born into the Shakya clan , h e is also known as Shakyamuni   as  he belonged to the Shakya tribe.  Also, the Buddha was born into the Suryavanshi (solar dynasty) of the Kshatriya varna or caste.  In Buddhist literature, he is also called Siddhartha Gautama ...