Growing up as a kid, I hated Social Studies and specially history. Looking back I blame it on the teachers who refused get us fired up about history. Thanks to my dear friends for getting me hooked up with podcasts and I am becoming a history buff. Granted I still can’t remember the exact dates of events and I am now listening for fun instead of an exam.
One should study history and not just once own country’s history but world history or at the least the major events that shaped the world we live in. I have been listening to this podcast on crusades back in the Middle Ages (1100-1300 ad) and I think it has added a new dimension to my view of the world.
Before the crusades podcast, my interest in history had been either Indian history or the biggest event of modern times the world war II and to some extent world war I. While listening to the podcasts on ww II I was mind boggled by the scale at which the war took place and finally got to appreciate the fact that our (Indian) then leaders like Gandhi and Nehru supported the British against the axis forces, that's a separate blog post in itself. It made me believe human consciousness evolves to an extent in parallel across the globe irrespective of the distance.
Now back to crusades podcast, after listening to almost 90 odd episodes each 25 minute long spanning from 1st crusade to king Louis crusade I have learnt the following things
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Back in those days the whole world believed in pillaging and looting of conquered territories
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Back in those days mass killing of captured population was part of common culture
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No empire or kingdom lasts for ever, Rome got destroyed by the barbarians from Europe and Byzantine empire got destroyed by crusaders, the Muslim empire got destroyed by the Mongols and so on
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Intolerance towards practice of other religion was truly up to the whims and fancies of the kings/rulers and their needs.
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If I think Hinduism has too many castes/sects, Christianity and Islam have their own with each one claiming superiority over other
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Infighting and Traitors aren't patented to India alone they exist all over the world
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Destruction of property or materials that are sacred to other religion or conversion of their place of worship to your own was also a common practice
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Feudal system and practice is not a patent of India alone, it existed all over the world
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Money and trade always and mostly trumped religion
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Catholic church in the middle ages was corrupt beyond my imagination, I never truly comprehended this till I started hearing the podcasts
In short, I have been blaming the Islamic invasion of India for destruction of property and looting and killing of innocents and I have to an extent come to terms that the world was like that back in those days and I do feel we have come a long way since then.
