IT is interesting to learn of the large number of slave rulers we have had in Lahore.Slavery as a way of life is ancient, and in a way continues even today, though we remain blind to it. The way we treat our low-paid employees is proof enough of our deep caste thinking.

In a way we are no less than our caste-ridden eastern neighbours.

But then it is a bit of a surprise that the slave rulers of the sub-continent have been Turkish in origin. Come to think of it even the early Aryan movement eastwards from the west were, primarily, of Turkish or Turkish influenced Central Asian origin. As they swept eastwards they came across the Dravidianorigin people, who were darker in skin-colour.

This racist difference and given the military strength of the TurkoPersian Aryans with the word Arya meaning `rich and noble`gave rise to the caste system.

In Hinduism, the word `arya` is one of the names of the deity Durga.

For that matter the Rig Vedic god `Aryaman` means a partner, or the wife of Shiva. Thus we see the reli-gious conversion of the `darkskinned` into lower caste people.

That racism still exists in our country and mind.

Before we dwell on slave rulers of Lahore, it would be interesting to note that the very first human specimen to inhabit Wales in Britain were the Neanderthals, whose origin is more central Asian than European. Over 7,000 years ago the first Turkish slaves landed there.

Even today the Welsh have dark hair and their DNA is clearly over 13 per cent Turkish. I mention this because the element of slavery in Turkish rulers was overwhelming.

Even the word Urdu, which the Turks call `Ordu`, means an `Army Camp` consult Encyclopaedia Britannica lith Edition s.v. Ordu as a language that evolved from Punjabi, Hindi, Persian and Turkish in the military camps around Delhi.

It was a creation of our past slave rulers. But no insult to the beautiful Urdu language of Ghalib and Iqbal and Faiz.

For that matter even the first Muslim conqueror coming to our lands was the raider and looter Mahmud based in Ghazni, who clearly was of Turkish origin. These tribals all had slaves, which was arare commodity. When Mahmud ransacked Lahore, he removed over 200,000 women, children and young men, all of whom he sold as slaves in faraway markets. For that matter his male lover Ayaz was a `beautiful` Georgian slave purchased in the Istanbul slave market.

Over 165 years after Mahmud ransacked the sub-continent 17 times between 1,000 AD to 1,027 AD, it is estimated that he took away, beside tonnes of gold and silver, over 1.7 million slaves over 27 years. By the time Shahabuddin Ghori conquered Ghazni in 1150 AD it took him another 37 years before he captured Lahore after defeating the Ghakkars.

It was in November 1205 that Muhammad Ghori and his slave military commander Qutabuddin Aibak came to Lahore and quelled the Ghakkars. Ghori left and encamped at Damyak probably Rohtak where while he was praying three Ghakkar soldiers swam across the river and murdered him.

This led to the first Slave ruler of India coming to power.

After defeating Tajuddin Yildiz, Aibak in 1206 established himself at Lahore as the very first slave ruler of India and Lahore. The veryfirst development work was to set up a massive graveyard at Mozang. The very word `Mozang` in Turkish means a graveyard. The graveyard was in the middle between Lahore and Ichhra next to a small village of five or six houses. Called Miani Sahib, the name of the graveyard, according to Kanhaiya Lal Kapoor in his famous book `Tarikh-e-Lahore` says the name has been taken from Khawaja Hazrat SheikhMuhammad Tahir Bandagi, a teacher and Sufi of the Mujadid Alif Sani tradition. The word Miani is common use in Punjab for village teachers.

One often wonders just why slaves were made rulers. This calls for a look at the sociological history of Turkish society at that stage in history. We have read in considerable detail about how the Mughal and earlier Turkish rulers faced battles for powers from their own brothers.

From the Mughals Humayun to Aurangzeb, even later, we see deadly battles for power between brothers.

The Turkish rulers recruited smart and strong-looking slaves from the places they conquered.

Let us have a look at the first slave ruler of Lahore. Qutabuddin Aibak belonged to Turkestan and was sold into slavery as a child. TheQazi of Nishapur purchased him and after training him in horse-riding and archery sold him for a good price to Muhammad Ghori at Ghazni. He rose to become an officer of the royal stables.

In the Ghurid Wars, he was captured by Sultan Shah, and as a favour to Ghori was released. In 1192, he was made incharge of Ghori`s Indian northern territories.

After Ghori was killed while praying Aibak fought a battle with another slave general Tajuddin Yildiz, advanced to Ghazni but then headed to Lahore to become the very first slave ruler of Lahore.

Just for the record the word `Aibak`, pronounced as `Aybek` in Turkish means `moon-faced`. The detailed history of the life of Aibak makes very interesting reading of a man who fought against all odds to become the ruler. He competed with other slave generals like Bahauddin Tugril. Before becoming the ruler of Lahore and India, he had defeated the Khokhars.

The list of slave rulers that followed Aibak include Aram Shah, Iltutmish, Rukhnuddin Feroze, the Empress Razia Sultana, Ghaisuddin Balban, etc. You name the great rulers of Lahore, and a deep-rootedslave connection emerges. It is sad that our historians completely ignore this fact of our history.

This bring me to the beginning of a relatively recent ruler, that being Z.A. Bhutto. Among his first orders was to rebuild the grave of Aibak.

As a PT Reporter I met him at the Lahore Airport and asked him about this order. He said: `Aibak was one of the greatest rulers, and because he was of a slave-origin, we ignore him.

Over the years he often took up the topic of slave-minded people.

When he introduced his `awami` dress, it was a step to make the clothes of slaves a common factor.

Sadly, when he was sentenced to death by the Lahore High Court, I happened to be the only journalist present as he emerged. He smiled, nodded his head and moved towards a waiting police van. The slave-loving ruler kissed the gallows. As like now the establishment always wins.

All these facts about our slave rulers and our embedded caste behaviour needs to be studied in great depth. We hide behind our amazing religion, yet in life we practice the opposite. We remain a people who would best see the end of slave-lovers. The tragedy continues.