Historical documentaries multimedia thread.

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arshyam
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Historical documentaries multimedia thread.

Post by arshyam » Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:06 pm

This thread is meant to be a repository of good multimedia resources (audio/video) pertaining to Indian history. Preferably from professionals involved in the field like archaeologists, historians, etc. But given the controversial nature of our historical narratives (read AIT, etc.), and uncertain moderation load at this point, let's not to have any discussions here. Let it be a sharing repository like the good posts thread. Forum members are anyway free to start their own threads targeted at one or more topic. Thanks for understanding.
Last edited by arshyam on Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

arshyam
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Re: Multimedia thread: Indian history (no discussions)

Post by arshyam » Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:09 pm

Let me start off by posting one of my favourite series of lectures given at IIT Kanpur by Prof. Danino:

Exploring Indian Civilization - Michel Danino @ IIT K

Muns
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Re: Historical documentaries multimedia thread.

Post by Muns » Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:35 am

It's been a couple of years and have decided to change the title of the thread as well as add some new thought towards this thread as well. I think it is important that we document historical documentaries that may have relation to Indian political or historical context. Some discussion I feel will be allowed however if if it does become extensive(which is what to some extent we are hoping for), then it may deserve its own thread.

Watching a documentary today really on what I remember of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Didn’t truly understand too much although I knew it is an ethical war. I will post the link of the YouTube video below but I will try to summarize some of the salient facts and how I feel it relates to an Indian context historically.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is mainly Sunni Muslim almost 251%. The other Serbs constitute 37% of the population and are mainly Serbian orthodoxy. From what I understand an offshoot of some of the first Greek orthodox missionaries that made their way to convert the Slavs. Bosnians, are mainly Muslim in view of the historical Ottoman Empire which ruled the region for a few centuries.
The documentary below shows the lead to the srebinica massacre. It quickly shows how, things can go astray. Bosnian Muslims although in majority were quite wary about their significant chunk of Serbian Orthodox Christians. The Serbs had their help across the border from Serbia and is president of the time Slobodan Milosovic.

In essence this minority of Serbs having better training as well as better armament to a large extent, they ransacked most of the Muslim areas of Bosnia resulting in genocide and death of thousands of Bosnian Muslims. This included the trial of Serbian Ratko Mladic known as the butcher of Bosnia.
In the end it seems after the massacre at Srebinica. The UN intervened bombing the Serbian Army and pushing them for terms via the Dayton agreement.

Through my head, I wonder if the Bosnians had military supremacy, what would’ve been the damage. On a historical timeline, we can name innumerable wars in which Islamic armies have completely decimated populations and cities. All of these have been well recorded by writers in Islamic armies. If the Bosnians were better armed, I’m afraid to say that I believe that a reverse genocide might’ve taken place among the Serbs.
Islamic law states that if you cannot win a fight, then negotiate for peace until a time where you are in ascendancy and supremacy before again initiating the military option. Do what you can to delay time until such unequal footing is based. I’m surprised that Bosnians having known the risks agreed to not have a partition

how does all of this affect India? Will try to post some of my thoughts on that later.


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Re: Historical documentaries multimedia thread.

Post by Muns » Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:09 am

Just to say that I watched the fascinating documentary on Amazon prime called Kashmir. Looks like you got released in 2018 by the times now group. At first, I thought this is going to be another one-sided disinformation with regard to showing Kashmiris of the Valley as poor disenfranchised Muslims with no hope but to turn to terrorism.

However, what I found was a fairly accurate historical summary especially over the last seven decades, but even going further back to show all of the influences that have historically woven its web, to lead to the present situation today.
Overall, I would definitely recommend it for further watching in your spare time as it holds many nuggets with regard to using positive points in discussion should you ever meet one of those confused sons of the soil parroting India Pukistan bhai bhai.

Will separate some of the points that are seen into strategic blunders and some strategic gains. Will try to update the list below: over the next few days.

Strategic blunders

A) India not aware of the collusion between Britain and Pakistan to take over Gilgit.
B) Nehru waited on Hari Singh while Pakistan Sent the Pashtun militia to occupy now AJK(POK)
C) Hari Singh, signed the instrument of the ascension and all Kashmir to India. India launches the Army into Kashmir.
D) Indian Army beat the Pashtun Militia to close of today’s cease-fire line. They held the ground and waited for further orders to take the battle to reclaim Skardu and Baltistan. Nehru never gave them the order to advance.
E) Nehru, listened to young dynamic leader of Sheikh Abdullah, that his influence only extended to the Kashmir people and not the Baltis. Hence, he merely ordered the Indian Army to stop at the border.
F) As the Chinese invaded Sinkiang and Tibet. Nehru merely gave up Indian consulate territories in these nations to pacify China. There was never any mention of these territories. Never any mention during Panchsheel 1954.
G) Soon after that, Chinese invaded and hold onto Aksai Chin.
H) 1965 war with Pakistan and no change to the cease-fire line despite India’s advantages.
I) India agrees to the Indus water treaty and has never utilized the 20% of the three rivers that run through Kashmir.
J) 1971 although the cease-fire line was changed in North to accommodate strategic towns including Turtuk, Chang and Kargil, we could have gotten much more. 90,000 prisoners of war were handed over without any significant return.
K) Sheikh Abdullah unfair land reforms against the Kashmiri pandits, were completed while Delhi just watched.
L) 1980s radicalization in Kashmir, did not really ring any alarm bells in Delhi govt at the time. Over 2500 villages were renamed to Islamic villages by Sheikh Abdullah.
M) GOI had no response to the Kashmiri pandits fleeing the valley during the early 1990s.

WIll continue to update the above and list some of the gains below.

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Re: Historical documentaries multimedia thread.

Post by Muns » Wed Jun 09, 2021 5:33 am

Strategic advances:

1) Change of the 1947 cease-fire line to present-day line of control post 1971 war to include retaking of some villages and heights to peer down into Pakistani occupied Kashmir being Baltistan and Gigit. This included the villages of Kargil, Turtuk, Tyakshi, Thang and Chalunka.
2) Operation Meghdoot 13 April 1984 where the Indian Army preemptively took control of the Siachen glacier and control of the Saltoro ridge including the heights and passes of Sia La, Bilafond La and Gyong La.
3) Operation Shakti in May 1998. India now a nuclear state.
4) Decisively beating Pakistan again in the Kargil war of 1999
5) Surgical strikes carried out in 2016
6) Balakot surgical strike in 2019
7) Revocation of Article 370 in 2019 and creation of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh union territory.
8) India continues to have all of the head rivers of the Indus that originate in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir union territory. Discussions of maximizing the 20% that we have been allocated as per the in this water treaty effectively making Pakistan into a dustbowl.
Pakistan continues to have huge water stress and will continue to show huge scarcity in the next decade.

link to documentary below :


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