History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s1.26

v7.c96.s1.26

It makes one sad to find that not a single Hindu scholar resembling Alberuni came forward to inquire into the causes of the successful invasions of India by Mahmud of Gazni and later hordes. Intellectuals were mostly engaged at least from the 11th century onwards in composing works of thousands of pages on such topics as Vrata, Dāna, Śrāddha (as the very learned minister Hemādri did) or in mental gymnastics about logic, Vedānta, Poetics and similar subjects and appear to have bestowed little thought on finding means of meeting the onslaught of foreigners or the remedies for removing their own weaknesses and defects. There were also other causes of the downfall of Hindus. Our intellectuals did not or could not pursue and make their own discoveries of science and technology made in the world from the 15th century A. D. Shahaji purchased firearms from foreigners. Neither he, nor his great son Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire, started factories for the manufacture of up-to-date firearms and cannon. Similarly, our people did not properly appreciate the role of a powerful navy. If the Hindus or their rulers had possessed a powerful navy they would have been able to nip in the bud the ambitions of the Portuguese, the French and the English.