Enigmas Of The World : The Nine Unknown Men
As I was deciding upon which society to talk about next, I thought why not come closer to the base?
You must have heard of many secret societies: Illuminati, Freemasonry, but have you ever heard of The Nine Unknown Men? Of course you haven’t! So I’m here to tell you about the second secret society whose name you heard for the first time here.
As name indicates, this society consists of 9 unknown men(duh!). They are dedicated to pursuit of knowledge. The only downside is they don’t share what they know. Before starting off with the interesting part, let me give you a brief dose of history.
History and Origin
Ashoka was the one who started this society. You may know him as a peace-loving, philanthropic Buddhist king but let us look at his dark side. He was a very cruel king. He was a sadist before and even, after he turned into a Buddhist. He killed 500 of his ministers because he didn’t think they were loyal enough. He had a harem of 500 wives. Well, you would say at that point, harems were common. It isn’t about the harems. He killed them if they failed to please him.
He became a king after killing all his step brothers. He had a chamber of torture and he took pleasure in torturing people who passed near by the chamber by luring them in and driving iron stakes through their hands, pouring boiling copper down their throat and so on.
But then came the Battle for Kalinga. When the battle was over, he stood on the battlefield looking at 100,000 dead soldiers, countless civilians. It is said that, Daya river flowing close to the Battlefield, turned red because of the bloodshed. This was an eye opener for Ashoka and he realised the error of his ways. He converted to Buddhism and apparently turned into a peace loving person (more discussion on that later)
Around this time (226 BC-ish), the society was formed. Ashoka sought to prevent his fellow men from putting their intelligence towards committing evil, particular the evil involved with warfare. The task of collecting, preserving, and containing all knowledge was too great for one emperor to do alone, not the least because of the other duties required by ruling an empire. So Ashoka summoned nine of the most brilliant minds in India at the time. For security purposes, the identity of these men was never made public. Together, these geniuses formed a secret society that came to be known as the Nine Unknown Men.
Purpose And Goal
Each of the nine was charged with a specific book that he was to update, revise, and ultimately perfect the knowledge therein. When one of the nine could no longer complete the task – whether from the wish to retire, fading health, or death - the obligation was passed to a chosen successor. The number of members in the society was always to be nine.
Thus the society of the Nine Unknown Men has allegedly lived on for over 2000 years.
So now let us talk about the 9 books. The most generally accepted list was given by an English Writer named Talbot Mundy in his book in 1923. The books are as follows:
Propaganda
In a sci-fi genre you must’ve seen someone control another person’s mind.The first book dealt with techniques of propaganda and psychological warfare. “The most dangerous of all sciences is that of molding mass opinion, because it would enable anyone to govern the whole world,” according to Mundy. If you mold mass opinion, there would be no reason for conflict and anyone would have their way without as much as moving a finger.
2.Physiology
The second book discussed physiology and explains how to kill a person simply by touching him or her, known as the “the touch of death,” simply by the reversal of a nerve impulse. It is said that the martial art of Judo is a result of “leakages” from the second book.
3. Microbiology
The third volume focused on microbiology and biotechnology.
4. Alchemy
The fourth dealt with alchemy and transmutation of metals. According to another legend, in times of severe drought, temples and religious relief organizations received large quantities of gold from “a secret source.” SO someone who possesses this book may be able to turn any metal to gold or make his own radioactive element out of it.
5. Communication
For all the believers of extra-terrestrial life, this book is a gold mine.The fifth book contained a study of all means of communication, terrestrial and extra-terrestrial. Alluding then that the Nine Unknown Men were aware of alien presence.
6.Gravity
The sixth book focused on the secrets of gravitation and actual instructions on how to make the ancient Vedic Vimana(aeroplane). This would give detailed information on aerospace and making that space ship that you dreamed of making as a child.
7. Cosmogony
The seventh contained cosmogony and matters of the universe. We could know the beginning of universe and all about singularities, the big bang and even about black holes through this.
8.Light
The eighth dealt with light including the speed and how to use it as a weapon. This book just might make lightsabers a reality.
9.Sociology
he ninth and final book discussed sociology. It included rules for the evolution of societies and the means of foretelling their decline.”
Real or Myth?
All of this seems interesting doesn’t it? But this society is very disappointing. Mainly because no real, concrete evidence is found out about this yet. The only source is Talbot Mundy’s book. Have the Nine Unknown Men been so covert and discrete that no one noticed their presence in the last 2000 years? There have been a lot of speculations about their existence and crazy theories about their links to Albert Einstein and all other leading scientists.
Personally, after research, I do not believe in existence of such a society as I came across a fact about Ashoka, lesser known by us. Ashoka never turned peaceful. Once he embraced Buddhism, he was intolerant of all other religions and started killing believers of other religions and forced Buddhism upon them. The reason for him joining Buddhism was not the bloodshed but was that he was banished from Hinduism for his crimes or fratricide. But this is all a tale from 2000 years ago, so facts can be inaccurate.
Believers may still believe because that is what keeps the humanity going on.
Author's Note: I would love to have some feedback and if you want me to write an article about a society of your choice, drop me a mail.