Page 87 - Swatantrata to Atmanirbharta : Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy

Lokmanya tiLak’S

deccan education

Society

Dr. Sharad Kunte

Consistent Attacks and Their Changing Nature

Historians say that India’s history of one thousand years is
the history of slavery. But I think that this is a thousand years’
history of the successful struggle of Indians against adversities.
Indians changed the direction of the resistance and defeated
one aggressor after another by adapting in accordance with the
attack which took place. Aggressors like Saka, Hun, Kushan,
Tartar were only robbers. They did not possess the will or ability
to rule this country for long. They intended to return to their
homeland with as much wealth as they could get from here.
These invaders destroyed, plundered, and massacred the country
on a large scale. But several warriors arose in this country who
resisted those invaders competently and defeated them. Today,
there are no traces of these invaders.

Islamic aggression took a dual form— political and religious.
The political aggression was repulsed by Raja Dahir, Prithviraj
Chavan, Rana Sang, Rana Pratap, Shivaji Maharaj and many
other mighty heroes up to the Vijayanagar Empire, and finally,
the Peshwas who ended the political challenge of Islamic
aggression by raising saffron flags across the country. But there
85 Swatantrata to Atmanirbharata