Exodus in the Annals of History!

Exodus in the Annals of History!


Words are our tools used by us according to the given situation to accomplish our specific speaking and writing tasks. If we probe some of the words a little deeper, we can realize that these words trigger the time machine backwards, besides providing sparks to our imagination.

Recently, when the former US heavy weight boxing champion Mike Tyson was in the news in connection with a tiff involving a photographer, I also came to know about an unfortunate episode of his life. A few years ago, his four year old daughter namely ‘Exodus’ died in an accident in the most tragic circumstances.

The name ‘Exodus’ sounded very strange and peculiar to me.When I studied the word ‘Exodus’ a little deeper, it opened up a treasure trove of information that contained many an interesting historical episodes.

Exodus means ‘a situation in which many people leave a place at the same time.’ When we turn the annals of history, we come across a number of exoduses that change the course of history of many countries..

The exodus of the Aryans from the Central Asia into the Gangetic valley in the North India evolved into a separate culture and civilization known as the Vedic civilization. Even today, one cannot deny the predominant role and influence played by the Vedas in the culture of India.

The exodus of Prophet Mohammed along with his supporters from Mecca to Medina led to the establishment of Islam in strong footing that changed the destinies of many countries in the world.

In the history of US, the Westward movement caused the annihilation or the exodus of the native Red Indians further westward, besides causing the exodus of the new settlers towards the western side of the US to establish their own states.

In the Medieval India, on the instructions of the Delhi Sultan, Mohammed Bin Thuglak, during the shifting of the capital from Delhi to Dauladabad (Devagiri) and again from Dauladabad to Delhi, the exodus of the people from Delhi and Dauladabad with all its attendant evils and sufferings, took place.

During the partition of India, we witnessed the exodus of many Hindus from the newly created Pakistan into India and likewise the exodus of many Muslims from India into Pakistan.

During the Indo-Pakistan war that took place in the year 1971, we witnessed the exodus of large number of people from East Pakistan into India, that prompted India’s intervention into the internal affairs of Pakistan that later led to the creation of a new state called Bangladesh under their leader Sheik Mujibur Rahman.

In the modern world, the dismemberment of modern Yugoslavia in Europe into many ethnic states like Serbia, Herzegovina etc resulted into the exodus of a large number of Muslims into the neighbor countries like Switzerland. The growing influence of the Muslims in Switzerland recently prompted them to go for a referendum to slap a ban against them from building any further minarets in Switzerland.

Similarly in the 21 century, the dismemberment of USSR into a number of smaller states led to many exoduses of like minded people from one state into another.

When the Berlin wall was erected between the East and West Germany in Europe, we witnessed the exodus of many German people on either side. Similarly, when the Berlin wall was dismembered again it led to the exodus of many people into the unified Germany.

During the internal strife that took place between Sri Lanka and the Tigers, India being the main land and neighboring country, time and again witnessed the exodus of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees into India. Still thousands of Tamil refugees are in the relief camps provided by India and the rehabilitation work is in progress.

Thus on reading the word ‘Exodus’, a series of historical episodes will haunt your memory; there is no way of escaping from it.