In news: The Union government has recently formed a committee to popularize the legacy of 11th-century Tomar king, Anangpal II
A brief note on the Maharaja Anangpal II Memorial Committee
- The government has formed this committee to popularise the legacy of 11th-century Tomar king, Anangpal II.
- The committee’s head: BJP MP from UP’s Gonda, Brij Bhushan Singh,
- National Monument Authority(NMA): Crediting him with giving Delhi its present name and also repopulating it, the NMA which functions under the Ministry of Culture has embarked on a mission to present “correct history” to the people through the works of historians, academics and archaeologists.
Its mandate
- This committee’s aim is to establish Anangpal II as the founder of Delhi
- Its proposals seminar include building a statue of Anangpal II at the Delhi airport and building a museum dedicated to his legacy in Delhi.
- An exhibition, comprising coins, inscriptions and literature held on the sidelines of the seminar will be taken abroad through the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) so that the narrative takes roots outside India as well.
- There is also a proposal to make Lal Kot an ASI-protected monument so that vertical excavation could be carried out to establish more links between Tomars and Delhi
About Anangpal Tomar II
- He belonged to the Tomar dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Delhi and Haryana between the 8th and 12th centuries.
- During his time only that the capital city of Tomar dynasty was changed from Anangpur (near Faridabad) capital during the reign of Anangpal I to Dhillikapuri (Delhi)
- He was succeeded by his grandson Prithviraj Chauhan, who was defeated by the Ghurid forces in the Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) after which the Delhi Sultanate was established in 1192.
Anangpal Tomar II connection with the Delhi
Following are the historical evidences regarding his connections with the city of Delhi:
- He is is credited to have established and populated Delhi during his reign in the 11th century
- According to former joint director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), who lead excavations between 1992 and 1995 at Lal Kot and Anang Tal (in south Delhi), Anangpal II was instrumental in populating Indraprastha and giving it its present name, Delhi.
- The former joint director of ASI also adds that the region was in ruins when he ascended the throne in the 11th century, it was he who built Lal Kot fort and Anangtal Baoli
- Even the chairman of NMA stated “we discovered that Anangpal II was the founder of Dhillika Puri, which eventually became Delhi.”
- Popular medieval historian Professor KA Nizami’s Urdu book, Ehd-e-Wusta ki Dilli, translated in English as Delhi in Historical Perspectives, looks at Delhi across six centuries (from 1300 to 1800). Tracing the antecedents of Delhi, Nizami refers to Persian annals that describe it as “Inderpat”.
- According to KA Nizami’s Urdu book, Delhi formally emerged as a city only in the 11th century when Tomar Rajputs took over the mountainous Aravalli region
About Tomar Dynasty
- Founder: Anangpal I in 8th Century
- It is one of the minor early medieval ruling houses of northern India.
- Puranic evidence (writings of the Puranas) gives its early location in the Himalayan region. According to bardic tradition, the dynasty was one of the 36 Rajput tribes.
- They were displaced by the Chahamanas of Shakambhari in the 12th century, colloquially known as the Chauhans of Sambhar, were a dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Rajasthan and its neighbouring areas in India, between 6th and 12th centuries.
- Rule over Delhi- Haryana region: The Tomar rule over the region is attested by multiple inscriptions and coins, and their ancestry can be traced to the Pandavas (of the Mahabharata)
- A 13th century inscription states that the Tomaras ruled the Hariyanaka (Haryana) country before the Chahamanas and the Shakas (Muslims in this context).
Source: Indian Express
