Rama Janamabhoomi: Professor B.R. Grover's Analysis of Revenue Records and Historical Facts

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Professor B.R. Grover, former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research, with an academic and administrative career spanning more than 55 years, has left an indelible mark as one of India's most eminent and dedicated historians. He has left behind a massive wealth of historical research based on original Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, Punjabi and English sources. Known for doing intensive research in the archives and libraries of India, several European countries and the United States of America, Professor Grover had carved out a distinct position for himself as a moving encyclopaedia of source material on the land revenue administration of the Mughals.

Upon his death on May 10, 2001, the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee paid him a rich tribute, stating: "He would always be remembered for his formidable legacy of excellence, erudition, and dedication to historical research and academic administration." Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, then Minister of Human Resources and Scientific Research, paid him a personal homage and called him a real "Karma Yogi". He said, "He lived like a Yogi and died like a Yogi." Former Vice President of India, Justice Hidayatullah, had also applauded him for his research. His colleagues described him as "a man of sterling qualities of head and heart"; and "a dynamic and objective head of country's premier historical Institute who has left a rich legacy of his outstanding achievements in the world of historical research," among other things.

Born on February 10, 1923, Professor Grover started his career in teaching in 1946 in Lahore and later taught at the University of Punjab and various universities in Delhi until 1974, including Delhi University, Jawahar Lal Nehru University and Jamia Milia Islamia, where he also served as head of the Department of Indian History and Culture. In 1974, he was called upon to join as Director cum Member-Secretary of the newly established Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), a premier historical research Institute, where he served from 1974 to 1985 as Director and was later appointed as Chairman in 1999. For his long association with ICHR, his colleague, Prof. A.R. Khan, wrote in his obituary: "On account of his long association with the Council and the services rendered by him to it, Professor Grover became an institution by himself and he and the Council became a synonymy, as the latter came to be identified, both in India and abroad, with Professor Grover, even when he was not holding any office in the Council."

Initially having received training at Paris under the auspices of UNSCO for the promotion of history as a means of international understanding, Professor Grover wrote and published books in British history. Later, because of his deep interest in the study of original sources and his proficiency in Persian language, his research interests shifted to the medieval period of Indian history. As an avid researcher, Professor Grover wrote and published copiously on various aspects of the Mughal Agrarian System, Patterns of Rural Trade, the Concept of Village Community and a host of other topics including the Ramjanambhoomi/" Baburi Masjid' controversy. To determine whether a temple or a mosque existed at the Ramjanambhoomi site, he made a critical scientific and historical analysis of extensive data. He examined original land revenue documents, maps of Ayodhya, judicial records, recorded eyewitnesses of travels to Ayodhya in the earlier period as well as Babur's Memoirs and other documents and manuscripts at various libraries in Persian Arabic, Chaghatay-Turkish, Urdu, Sanskrit, Punjabi and English to arrive at conclusions about the exact location of Janmasthan, the location of the ancient city of Ayodhya, and the ownership/occupation of the land, among other things. For example, he studied the abadi maps, hadbast maps and the revenue settlement maps of 1851, 1893 and 1936-37 A.D. to examine the Janamsthan site. He spent numerous months at the district office of Faizabad and various other locations to examine the earliest revenue documentary evidence that was traceable to the early 18th century as well as the revenue documents of the Nawabi period and the British phase (from 1856 onwards) during the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries that have a direct linkage with the Mughal pattern of revenue administration. Moreover, during the "Janmasthan versus 'Baburi Masjid"" controversy in the 1990s, Professor Grover's expert advice as a leading historian was sought by the Government of India. On behalf of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Professor Grover was officially invited to submit a detailed report on "Janmasthan versus 'Baburi Masjid"" to present to the then Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Chandra Shekhar and later to Hono'ble Prime Minister Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao. (Then from July 4th through July 18, 1992, Professor Grover camped at Ayodhya to examine the actual site and artifacts during the time when the ground acquired by UP Government at the Janmasthan site was being leveled and discovered large floor areas, in the pre-Islamic period, which was carefully paved with burnt bricks. Based on his findings, the Historians' Forum sent an investigative team of archaeologists to examine the site who concluded that "the archacological findings of burnt-brick pillar bases a few metres from the mosque indicated that a large building stood in alignment with the Babri Mosque since the 11th century.")

Because of his expertise in historical manuscripts/documents and objects, Professor Grover was nominated by the Government of India for several honorary positions such as member of the Indian Historical Records Commission, member of the Historical Documents Purchase Committee of the National Archives of India, member of the Committee on Preservation and Development of Cultural Heritage of Delhi, and an expert member of the Verification Committee of National Museum, India. Professor Grover was also a member of the Publication Committee of the "Comprehensive History of India". For the Indian History Congress, he served intermittently as a Joint Secretary, a Treasurer and Sectional President (Medieval India). Professor Grover also edited the well- known Time Capsule in 1978, and advised the Government to display it in the National Museum instead of inserting it again underground. He also served on the Editorial Board constituted by the Government of India for the production of documentaries on "Freedom Struggle for India's Independence, 1984-2001." Under this scheme, more than 75 documentaries were published by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Preface Ever since the demolition of the disputed structure ("Baburi Masjid') at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, a stormy controversy has raged over the presidential reference to Supreme Court on 14th January 1993 about whether a Hindu temple or any Hindu religious structure existed prior to the construction of the "Ramjanmabhoomi-Baburi Masjid' (including the premises of the inner and outer courtyards of such construction) in the area on which the structure stood. Moreover, controversies have also arisen about a number of other related issues, including the location of the ancient ciyt of Ayodhya; the tradition of the exact site of the birth- place of Lord Rama; whether the temple was replaced with a mosque by the orders of Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi of Jaunpur or under the orders of the first Mughal monarch, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, and whether a mosque was constructed on a vacant plot of land or after the demolition of temple, if any, on the site of the Janamsthan temple. In fact, BMAC contention before the court of law is that the 'mosque' was constructed on an absolutely plain and vacant piece of land. As a result of the Ayodhya controversy, numerous books and articles have been and continue to be written by several scholars. On this subject, in fact, we have been inundated with so much controversial literature by various scholars offering a variety of viewpoints that the entire issue has become politicized and communalised, resulting in polarisation of historians.

This book, however, is not just another book on the topic of Ramjanambhoomi. It is a part of India's contemporary history written in the form of memoirs, rejoinders, articles, legal notes, reviews of published documents, etc. by one who actively participated in the deliberations initiated by the Government of India. It is also an authentic eyewitness account of the happenings before and after the demolition of the disputed structure, popularly called 'Baburi Masjid'.

After the issue was raised at The Indian History Congress session at Gorakhpur, Professor Grover's curiosity for research was raised and he went straight from Gorakhpur to Faizabad and Ayodhya to examine to original records pertaining to the subject. He spent several months making an intensive study of the original land revenue records at Faizabad district offices and also visited the disputed site.

The material presented in this book is also based on critical historical analysis and scientific study of the land right of Janmasthan versus 'Baburi Masjid' and dispels several earlier fallacious theories on the said subject. He was of the view that "for matters relating to land rights during the medieval or modern periods, the importance of the original revenue documents, for whatsoever region, available in series or in fragments, cannot be underestimated. They command primacy over the literary sources or archaeological theories". Therefore, in tracing the history of the Muslim and Hindu Kingdoms in North India during the 11th and 12th centuries and establishing the position of Ayodhya/Awadh vis-a-vis Manhaich/ Jaunpur in the administrative territorial set-up from the mid-12th century to 16th century, Professor Grover not only critically analysed the history of the time prior to the building of the Janmasthan temple in Ayodhya by a local ruler named Nayachandra around mid-12th century, he also relied upon his examination of original land revenue documents, maps of Ayodhya, recorded eyewitness accounts of travelers to Ayodhya as well as Babur's Memoirs and other original documents and manuscripts in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Chaghatai- Turkish, Urdu, Punjabi and English available in various libraries all over India.

Introduction The "Ayodhya controversy" revolves not only around the issue of whether any Hindu temple existed prior to the construction of the so-called Ramjanmabhoomi- Baburi-Masjid' in the area on which the structure stood but also revolves around the issues of the validity of the geographical location of Ayodhya as well as the tradition of birth of Lord Rama there. In view of these issues, a brief documented history is provided in the Introduction of the said subject to dispel some of the fallacious assumption in this regard.

The Wikipedia Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica refer to Ayodhya as one of the very ancient cities most sacred to Hinduism. According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, "Ayodhya was the capital of the kingdom of Kosala (7th century B.C.). Long associated with the Hindu legend of Rama and his father Dashratha, the town is a center of pilgrimage and is one of the seven sites sacred to Hindus". The Encyclopedia Britannica descrbes Ayodhya as "Lying on the banks of the Ghaghara River just east of Faizabad, of which it is now a suburb, Ayodhya in ancient times was one of India's greatest cities, today, it is one of the seven holy cities of Hinduism".

Ayodhya, in fact, has always been a very sacred city and a leading centre of religious pilgrimage for not only the Hindus but also Buddhists and Jains as their literature also maintain the same. Ancient Indian Sanskrit texts like the Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, etc. as well as the Buddhist and Jaina sacred literature shed a flood of light on Ayodhya's origin, development and historical authenticity. The earliest reference to Ayodhya is believed to be in the Atharvaveda where the word is used as an epithet of the city (pur) of the gods, as prosperous as the paradise itself: "Aacakra navadvará devánám devanām púrayodhya" (Atharvaveda, 10.2.31), although various other interpretations have also been offered on this verse. In the Puranas, which constitute the most comprehensive foundation of our knowledge for the geography of ancient and medieval India, Ayodhya is listed as first among seven cities of ancient India that are considered sacred and lead to salvation: Ayodhya Mathura Maya Kasi Kanci Avantika Puri Dvaravati caiva saptaita moks adayikah.

The word 'Ayodhya' has been also used in the Taittiriyaranyaka and the Skanda Purana has explained the term in a mythological manner, stating that "it represents the combined form of Brahma, Vişņu and Siva-'A' for Brahmä, 'Ya' for Visnu and 'Dha' for Rudra: "Akaro brahma ca proktam yakaro vişnurucyate, dhakaro rudarûpasca ayodhya nama rajate" (Skanda Purána, Vaisnava, Ayodhya, 60). Further explanation given in the Skanda Purana is thus: " this great city was situated on the wheel of Visnu named Sudarsana...(Ibid.). In the Mahabharata, the city of Ayodhya is given the epithet of 'punyalakshana'i.e, endowed with auspicious signs. Hence, Ayodhya has existed as a splendid city since at least the later Vedic period.

Ayodhya is recognized as an ancient sacred place according to the traditions of Jainism and Buddhism as well. According to the Jainism accounts, Ayodhya was the birth-place of the first and fourth pathfinders of Jainism and five Tirthankaras out of the twenty- four hailed from Ayodhya. Also, it is believed that Lord Adinath attained enlightenment on the Astavata mountain near Ayodhya. According to the Buddhist tradition, Lord Buddha is said to have visited Ayodhya several times and he lived on the banks of the Sarayu river.

**Contents and Sample Pages**