The Use and Misuse of History and Archaeology in the Ayodhya Dispute (original) (raw)
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This paper, the first draft of a work in progress, attempts till the close of the 19th century to collate in chronological order what several disciplines — archaeology, epigraphy and history in particular — have contributed to our knowledge of the ancient city of Ayodhya, allowing important stages and events to unfold before our eyes. It sets a proper background to the Ram Janmabhumi – Babri Masjid controversy.
Ayodhya’s sacred landscape: ritual memory, politics and archaeological “fact”‘ (2000)
Antiquity, 2000
Shaw, J. (2000). Ayodhya's sacred landscape: Ritual memory, politics and archaeological ‘fact’. Antiquity, 74(285), 693-700. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00060087 **More recent discussion, and OPEN ACCESS excerpts from original paper in UCL Material Religions (Exploring the Basis of Religious Traditions) Blog (2014) http://materialreligions.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/ayodhyas-sacred-landscape-ritual-memory.html ABSTRACT Great astonishment has been expressed at the recent vitality of the Hindu religion at Ajudhia [sic], and it was to test the extent of this chiefly that … this statement has been prepared. As the information it contains may be permanently useful, I have considered it well to give it a place here. This information is as correct as it can now be made and that is all that I can say CARNEGY(1870: appendix A) After the destruction of Ayodhya's Babri mosque in 1992 by supporters of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the statement above seems laden with premonition of the events to come (Rao 1994). More importantly, Carnegy’s comments highlight that the mosque’s destruction was not simply the result of 20th-century politics. The events surrounding and following the outbreak of violence in 1992 have resulted in more ‘spilt ink’ than Carnegy could ever have imagined. This literature can be divided into two main categories; firstly, the initial documentation submitted to the government by a group of VHP aligned historians, which presented the ‘archaeological proof’ that the Babri mosque had occupied the site of a Hindu temple dating to the 10th and 11th century AD (VHP1990; New Delhi Historical Forum 1992). This was believed to have marked the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama (hence the name Rama Janmabhumi — literally ‘birthplace of Rama’), and been demolished at the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur during the 16th century. As a response, a second group of ‘progressive’ Indian historians began a counter-argument, based on the same ‘archaeological proof’ that no such temple had ever existed (Gopal et al. 1992; Mandal 1993). The second category is a growing body of literature which has filled many pages of international publications (Rao 1994; Navlakha 1994). Especially following the World Archaeology Congress (WAC) in Delhi (1994), and subsequently in Brač, Croatia (1998), this has been preoccupied with finding an acceptable route through the battlefield which arises as a result of the problematic, but recurrent, marriage between archaeology, folklore and politics (Kitchen 1998; Hassan 1995).
An analysis of the painstaking restoration of the historical truth concerning the Rama Janmabhumi site and of the political determinants of its temporary distortion.
Ayodhya counted among one of the seven most scared and salvation-endowing cities of the India (i.e. Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya-Haridvar, Kashi, Kanchi, Avantika-Ujjain, Puri, Dvarka), is situated on the right bank of the river Sarayu (Ghaghara) at a distance of 7km east from Faizabad city (see Singh and Rana 2006: 277-285). Ayodhya (population: 55,890 in 2011 census) is the part of Faizabad Metropolitan city and both are known together as Ayodhya-Faizabad twin city (Urban Agglomeration/ Metropolitan City, population: 256,624 in 2011 census) extending between 26 0 47' North to 26 0 80' North Latitude and 82 0 12' East to 82 0 20' East Longitude. These two twin cities are divided by a pilgrimage route of Panchakroshi Yatra, and the entire sacred territory is demarcated by the Chaudahkroshi Yatra (see Fig. 1). The state's capital Lucknow lies at distance of 130km west and another holy city Varanasi at 221 km in southeast , Gorakhpur at 145km in east and Allahabad lies at distance of 167km in the south. Ayodhya-Faizabad Urban Agglomeration has a common Development Authority but separate Municipal Boards. According to Hindu mythology, Ayodhya was settled by King Manu (Hindu progenitor of mankind), and narrated as the birth place of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. Ayodhya was one of the famous cities and the first capital of the powerful Koshala among the sixteen Mahajanapadas of ancient India (Law 1944: 424, Chakrabarti 2000: 378 and 387). Ayodhya for a period of over two thousand years has borne witnessed to the presence of Jainism, Buddhism, Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Islam too, therefore Ayodhya consists of the sacred and religious places for Hindus together with Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs too (Shaw 2000: 698). In the 12th century under the sultanate rule at Delhi and Mughal rulers, Ayodhya was invaded and destroyed many times by the order of the Mughal invader Mir Baqi Tashkandi who demolished the famous Rama temple Ramajanmabhumi of Pratihara from the Gahadavala period at the birth place of Rama, and in the following period of fifteen months he built a Muslim monument (Babari mosque) using the debris of the temple. Since its inception this has been controversial and sensitive place for centuries and even today. Muslims have never performed prayer (namaz) there. As it has been centre of Hindu-Muslim riots, the main site was opened for devout Hindus till 23rd of February 1857 when the East India Company (Britain) made a separating wall and stop the entry of Hindus through the mosque since 5th of January 1950 under the law, and only restricted entry was permitted (Singh and Rana 2002: 301).
This paper explores existing literature evidence regarding the presence or absence of a temple at the controversial Babri Mosque site in Ayodhya, India.
The Ayodhya dispute: The absent mosque, state of emergency and the jural deity
The Ayodhya dispute is located neither solely within the institutions of the nation state, nor within networks of religious associations, but at the crossroads of secular and religious culture in India. At its heart lies the place of the Hindu god Rama, constituted in law as a jural person. How do we understand the emergence of this jural deity in the dispute? Focusing on appellate judgments that addressed the demolition of the Babri Mosque on 6 December 1992, the article argues that the legal evaluation of specific claims rested on a contest over asymmetric temporalities. Prior to the demolition, judicial accounts referred to the site as a 'disputed area' or the 'Ayodhya dispute'. After the demolition, this literature named the disputed area as the Babri Masjid. It was as if the Hindu deity, Rama, would fill in the space of the absent mosque. The author shows how the presence of the deity rested on an understanding of the sublime that was simultaneously political and religious. Situated in the district of Faizabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in north India, the temple town of Ayodhya is a place of pilgrimage for Vaishnavite Hindus, who believe that Ayodhya is the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama. A temple marks the birthplace, called janmasthan. Until December 1992 the birthplace was also the site of a mosque, known since the 1940s as the Babri Masjid. 1 From at least the middle of the 19th century, Ayodhya has witnessed longstanding and bitter violence between Hindus and Muslims regarding the exact status of this spot. This is because Hindus hold that the Babri Masjid,
438a.15. Ayodhya notes- Rana GdBk 2002, updated 27 Sept. 2017.doc.pdf
Lying ca 210km northwest of Varanasi, and 168km northeast of Allahabad, Ayodhya is on the main railroad to Lucknow (135km), and connected by the NH 28. Presently the township is a part of Faizabad City, which is 7km west of Ayodhya. The railway station, tourist bungalow and some of the major sights are located within walking distance of the bus station. The name Ayodhya means " that which cannot be subdued by war ". Situated on the bank of the Sarayu (Ghaghara) River, Ayodhya is one of the 7 sacred abodes (puris) and places of pilgrimage that give liberation from transmigration. Considered to be the birthplace of Lord Rama, it is also connected with many events in the Ramayana. According to Puranic tales, Manu, the first traditional king of India, founded this city in ca 3100 BCE. Ikshvaku was the eldest of Manu's nine sons, by whose name the race and clan is known. In the early period of development in and around Ayodhya (ca 500 BCE-CE 500), Buddhism and Brahmanism alternatively dominated the landscape and culture. By the turn of the 2 nd century CE, the city of Ayodhya was well established and known as a pilgrimage centre, and by the turn of Gupta period (4 th-6 th centuries) many temples and ghats along the Sarayu River were made. With its general decline all over India from the 6 th century onwards, Buddhism lost its position in Ayodhya too, and appears to be virtually extinct there after CE 1000. It is evident through literary and archaeological evidence that in the 12 th century there were five important Vishnu temples located one each at Guptar Ghat, Chakratirtha Ghat and Janmabhumi, and the western and eastern sides of Svargadvara Ghat. Three of these temples were demolished and replaced by mosques and one was swept away by the Sarayu River. Many other sources and recent works are highlighted.