NOTEWORTHY FACTS; PART 3


SLAVERY


* Practice of slavery is thousands of years old. Today it is abolished in most parts of the world.


*Among the slaves brought from Africa during the period of 1450 to 1870 a d, four million came to Brazil and West Indies each, two and half million to Spanish colonies in American continent, half a million in U.S.A. and Canada, and two hundred thousand in Europe.


*At one time some of the Slavic people in Europe were marketed as slaves. This is the origin of the word ‘slavery’ 


RELIGION

* Indian scriptures of 'Ramayana' and 'Mahabharata' were put in written form over the period from 400 b c to 400 a d and underwent several revisions.

* Stone artifacts resembling 'Shiva' (one of the prime Gods of Hindu religion) and 'Shivalinga' (representing worship of Shiva's penis) were found among the remains of the ancient civilization that developed in the Indus valley region of North India. This civilization preceded arrival of Aryans in India, so it indicates that the concept of God 'Shiva' was borrowed by Aryans from the so called Anaryan people who lived in India prior to their arrival.

* Jesus Christ preached some reforms within the Jewish religion but had not forsaken Jewish faith. His sermons were rooted in Jewish scriptures. Christianity was started and propagated as a religion several years after Jesus Christ's death, by his followers.    

* In several places, both in Bible and Koran, there are statements which sound contradictory to each other. Sometimes tolerance is preached toward those who are of different faith while some statements preach aggressive attitude to those who believe in a different God.

* The Islamic practice of 'Jihad' (forcible conversion of those who do not believe in Allah as their God) started after the death of Mahommed, (the founder of Islam), not during his life. 

* The word 'Islam' means surrender.

* Koran was collectively written as a religious scripture after Mahommed's death, based on his preaching.

* At one place in Koran Mahommed is quoted as telling his followers that their God is the same as the God of the Jews and that both peoples are children of the same God. 

* After the invention of printing in the 15th century, Bible was the first book published. 




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