Herodotus: Tareekh ka baap, jo khud safar kar ke sawal poochta tha

Dhai hazar saal pehle door daraz mulkon ke baare mein jo kuch maloom tha woh zyada tar mallahon aur tajiron ki suni sunai baatein thin. Aise zamane mein ek Yunani ne faisla kiya ke woh khud ja kar dekhega, poochega aur phir likhega. Is ka naam Herodotus (Herodotus) tha. Rumi khateeb Cicero (Cicero) ne ise "tareekh ka baap" kaha, aur is ke naqideen ne "jhoot ka baap". Is ki kitab "Tawarikh" (Histories) aadhi tehqeeq hai aur aadhi safar ki dastan.

Pas manzar: Halicarnassus ka beta

World History Encyclopedia ke mutabiq Herodotus taqriban 484 BC mein Halicarnassus (Halicarnassus) mein paida hua, jo aaj Turkey ka shehar Bodrum hai, aur is ka inteqal 425 aur 413 BC ke darmiyan hua. Zindagi ke ek hisse mein woh janubi Italy ki Yunani basti Thurii (Thurii) mein bhi raha.

Apni kitab ke pehle jumle mein woh khud batata hai ke yeh "Halicarnassus ke Herodotus ki tehqeeqat" hain, taake insanon ke bade karname waqt ke sath mit na jayein. Yunani lafz "Historia" ka matlab hi tehqeeq ya poochh gachh tha. Kitab ka asal mauzu Yunaniyon aur Iraniyon ki jangein hain, magar is tak pahunchne se pehle Herodotus qari ko Misr, Babylon, Scythia aur Hindustan ki sair karata hai.

Safar: Neel se Phoenicia tak

Herodotus ke safaron ka sab se mazboot saboot khud is ki tehreer hai, kyunke woh kai jagah saaf batata hai ke yeh cheez is ne apni aankhon se dekhi aur yeh kisi se suni. Misr ke baare mein woh likhta hai ke is ne Memphis mein devta Hephaestus ke pujariyon se guftagu ki, phir yeh janchne ke liye ke kya dusre shehron ke pujari bhi yehi baat kehte hain, Thebes aur Heliopolis bhi gaya. Is ka mashhoor jumla ke Misr "darya ka tohfa" hai, isi safar ki yaadgar hai.

Darya-e-Neel ke manba ki talash mein woh janub ki taraf barha. Woh likhta hai ke Elephantine (Elephantine) shehar tak woh khud chashm deed gawah ke taur par gaya, aur is se aage ka haal is ne sun kar likha.

Ek devta ki umar ka hisab janchne ke liye woh samundar paar Phoenicia ke shehar Tyre (Tyre) bhi gaya. Wahan is ne Hercules ka mandir dekha jis mein do sutoon the, ek khalis sone ka aur dusra sabz pathar ka jo raat ko chamakta tha. Pujariyon ne ise bataya ke un ka shehar teis sau baras purana hai.

Bahira-e-Aswad aur Babylon

Shimal mein Herodotus Bahira-e-Aswad ke paar Scythians (Scythians) ke ilaqe tak pahuncha. Woh likhta hai ke Scythians ki tadaad to woh maloom na kar saka, magar ek cheez is ne khud dekhi: darya Borysthenes aur Hypanis ke darmiyan Exampaeus nami jagah par kaansi ka ek deo haikal bartan rakha tha jis ki deewar chhe ungal moti thi. Maqami logon ne ise bataya ke un ke badshah ne apni qaum ki ginti ke liye har Scythian se ek teer ki ani mangwai, aur inhi aniyon ko pighla kar yeh bartan banaya gaya.

Babylon ka haal woh bohat tafseel se likhta hai: shehar ki chaukor faseel, is ke gird pani se bhari khandaq, aur faseel ke sau kaansi ke darwaze. Magar yahan muhaqqiqeen mohtat hain. World History Encyclopedia ke mutabiq asar-e-qadeema batate hain ke Babylon itna bada nahin tha aur is ke sau nahin balke aath darwaze the, is liye bohat se ulama ka khayal hai ke yeh bayan suni sunai baaton par mabni hai. Herodotus khud bhi ek jagah manta hai ke Babylon ke bade mandir ke ahate mein barah haath unche sone ke mujassame ko is ne nahin dekha, balke Chaldeans ka bayan naql kiya hai. Woh khud Babylon gaya tha ya nahin, yeh sawal aaj bhi muhaqqiqeen ke darmiyan khula hai.

Kya dekha: Hindustan aur Irani subay

Hamare khitte ke qari ke liye "Tawarikh" ka sab se dilchasp hissa teesri kitab hai, jahan Herodotus Irani badshah Darius (Darius) ki saltanat ke bees subon aur un ke salana kharaj ki fehrist deta hai. Satwen subay mein Sattagydai, Gandarai, Dadicae aur Aparytai qaumein shamil thin jo mil kar ek sau sattar talent chandi deti thin. Chaudhwen subay mein Sagartian, Sarangai aur "Mykoi" logon ke sath "Erythraean samundar" yani janubi samundar ke jazeeron ke bashinde shamil the.

Beeswan suba Hindustaniyon ka tha. Herodotus likhta hai ke Hindustani in tamam qaumon se zyada tadaad mein hain jin ka ise ilm hai, aur un ka kharaj bhi sab se zyada tha: teen sau saath talent sone ka burada.

Woh yeh bhi batata hai ke Darius ne darya-e-Sindh ka rasta maloom karne ke liye Caryanda ke Scylax (Scylax) ko bheja, jo Caspatyrus shehar se darya ke sath samundar tak gaya aur phir maghrib ki taraf safar karte hue teeswen mahine mein is jagah pahuncha jahan se Misri badshah ne Phoenician mallahon ko Libya (Africa) ke gird chakkar lagane bheja tha. Is safar ka haal is silsile ki chauthi qist mein aa chuka hai.

Hindustan ke baare mein Herodotus ki sab se mashhoor kahani "sona khodne wali cheentiyon" ki hai, jo is ke baqol lomri se badi aur kutte se chhoti thin aur ret khodte hue sona upar le aati thin. Sadiyon tak ise gap samjha gaya, go ab is ki ek mumkina tauzeeh samne aayi hai. World History Encyclopedia ke mutabiq 1984 mein Fransisi sayyah Michel Peissel (Michel Peissel) ne bataya ke Himalaya ke ek ilaqe mein lomri ke barabar marmot waqai bil khodte hue sone ke zarraat bahar nikalte hain, aur Farsi mein "pahari cheenti" aur "marmot" ke alfaz milte julte hain.

Ahmiyat: Sach aur kahani ke darmiyan

Herodotus par yeh ilzam purana hai ke woh kahani ko haqeeqat par tarjeeh deta hai. Magar World History Encyclopedia mein naql kiye gaye muhaqqiq Robin Waterfield (Robin Waterfield) ke baqol Herodotus khud qari se yeh tawaqqo nahin rakhta ke woh har baat par yaqeen kar le; woh baar baar batata hai ke kaun si baat is ne dekhi aur kaun si suni. Woh apni kitab ko devtaon ka ilham nahin kehta balke apni tehqeeq qarar deta hai.

Siyahat ki tareekh mein is ki ahmiyat yeh hai ke is ne pehli baar ek badi duniya ko ek kitab mein samaitne ki koshish ki: Misr ke pujari, Tyre ke mandir, Scythians ke rasm o riwaj aur darya-e-Sindh ke kinare basne wale log. Irani saltanat ke harkaron ke baare mein is ka yeh bayan bohat mashhoor hua ke duniya mein koi insani zariya un se tez safar nahin karta, aur barf, barish, garmi ya raat ka andhera unhein apni manzil tak pahunchne se nahin rokta.

Yaadgar

World History Encyclopedia ke mutabiq Athens aur Thurii samet kai shehar is ki tadfeen ki jagah hone ke dawedar the. Aaj bhi jo sayyah kisi nayi jagah ja kar logon se un ki kahani poochta hai aur phir ise dekhi aur suni baat mein bant kar likhta hai, woh isi raste par chal raha hai jo Halicarnassus ke is sayyah ne khola tha.