In this thread I respond to a thread questioning the authenticity of Emperor #Aurangzeb’s (RA) farman relating to Benaras that I tweeted about earlier.
I also seek to explain how pamphleteers - with the aid of garden variety trolls - try and discredit anyone not of their own ilk. https://twitter.com/bendir28/status/1350878098460274688

While Hindutva required scant evidence for the Emperor Babur having razed a temple to build the Babri Masjid, its adherents label any historical evidence that is remotely critical of their world view as “a forgery”, “unreliable”, “questionable” etc.
So be it; here’s the evidence.

1. What is known as the “Benaras Farman” has been cited by no less a historian than Sir Jadunath Sarkar - whom many latter day “Nationalists” admire glowingly - as authentic. Apart from that, historians from DC Phillott to Richard Eaton have affirmed its authenticity.
#History

2. The only “expert” who casts doubt over (but hardly “trashes”) the authenticity of this Farman is a retired IAS officer Mr. Kishore Kunal. This after historians such as Rajani Ranjan Sen and Sir Jadunath Sarkar with access to the Farman, accepted it as genuine.
#History #Mughal

3. Kishore Kunal, the only “expert” to question the Benaras Farman, in fact accepts in his book “Ayodhya Revisited” that owing to the ineligibility of the date written on the document, the date could be - as Sarkar surmised - 1659.
Mr. Kunal is also known for his maverick views.

4. In fact, @Bendir28’s entire thread seems to be borderline plagiarism of pages 548-550 of Mr. Kunal’s own book, Ayodhya Revisited, wherein he examines the Benaras Farman in order to prove his own thesis of Aurangzeb demolishing the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya!
Nothing original here.

5. And yet Hindutva pamphleteers get so giddy with excitement whenever they think they’ve found a voice against any counter to their own, puerile versions of history!
But history relies on evidence, something keyboarders like @sangamtalks & @Bendir28 should try and understand.

6. Finally, to all my friends and followers, a request once more to not be overwhelmed by the weight of trolls, clever plagiarism, selective quotations and bullying (even threatening) comments. There is nothing to it. Remember, your intelligence irks them.

#MadarsahEducation