Hey guys! Welcome to the first article in the series of Xtrascoop’s Mystery Diaries. Each week I will mine the depths of internet and bring to you unbelievable, bizarre and crazy conspiracy theories, unexplained phenomenon and more. For the first article today, I have the chilling story of India’s Illuminati that dates back centuries. I assure you, your mind will be blown!

Introduction –

The Illuminati or Enlightened Ones is rumored to be a secret society of world’s highly influential people. Operating at micro level, they have been shaping the modern world, pulling multiple strings at a time. Nobody knows for certain whether Illuminati exist or not. But their popularity as an ‘all seeing entity’ has influenced writers from generations. Their rampant use as plot device in one form or other has made it associated exclusively with western world. But did you know, the first mention of such secret society comes from our very own backyard? That’s right! India has its own Illuminati!

Formation of The Nine Unknown Men –

Dubbed as The Nine Unknown Men, they are said to be the most powerful secret society in the world created by Emperor Ashoka of Mauryan dynasty. Now, we are all aware of the might of Ashoka the great. He was the one king who united whole of India and beyond. Accounts of early Greek scholars in his court attributes his success to technological advancement of his kingdom. Some even believe that the Mauryan dynasty was in possession of knowledge from the ancient Rama Empire, the equivalent of Atlantis to say the least. It was this knowledge that helped Chanakya overthrow Nanda dynasty and establish Maurya empire.

In his early days, Ashoka was fierce, cruel and merciless ruler. He killed 500 of his ministers over a loyalty oath, had a harem of 500 women some of whom he burned to death when they displeased him, built himself an intricate torture chamber for his own amusement, and was generally regarded as a brilliant military strategist, although leaning heavily towards the bloodthirsty side.

But all of that changed in the fateful Battle of Kalinga. In this particular battle, Emperor Ashoka was in the midst of trying to conquer the region of Kalinga. The task was expected to be an easy defeat but it resulted in the brutal slaughter of over 100,000 men. The sight of the horrors of war and the ruthless mass killing of so many men took its toll on Ashoka.

Emperor Ashoka decided to renounce the idea of trying to violently subjugate others, rather opting for a system of winning over the people through the observance of the laws of duty and piety; to integrate rather than destroy. He converted to Buddhism, and went about spreading this system of beliefs throughout the land. He vowed to create a way in which all manner of technological secrets and discoveries of mankind would be kept protected from the gaze of those who would use them for the purposes of annihilation and death.

It was then that he formed a secret order of nine men. Each of these nine men were given a book to guard. Each of the books contained supreme knowledge of a particular field which could help mankind into evolving but if in wrong hands, the knowledge could destroy humanity. The owner of each book was responsible for adding, revising and perfecting new discoveries and inventions pertaining to that field. And this duty would be passed down from select chosen throughout history.

Structure of The Nine Unknown Men –

There were always to be nine of them, no more, no less. They were to remain hidden from the world at large and refrain from dealing with politics or mainstream science. To conceal their communications, they were said to speak in self-designed language. The nine books covered a range of disciplines and knowledge, many of which are unheard of even today.

Propaganda and Psychological Warfare – The first book has the secrets of molding mass opinions and carving out societies based on it. If you pause and think about it, this is the most dangerous science of all.

Physiology – The second book deals with physiology of human body. This book is said to contain the formula of dangerous toxins and ways to manipulate pressure points to kill with a mere touch.

Microbiology – The knowledge in the third book has the potential to create and manipulate microbes that could save or wipeout mankind, as well as more beneficial microbes for medicinal purposes or purification.

Alchemy – Explanations to secret gold vaults in temples can be made with the knowledge of transmutation of metals which is present in the fourth book.

Communication – The fifth book delves into the subject of communication. It is said to incorporate methods for communicating with extraterrestrials, which would have been a fairly high concept notion in those times at the least, and would suggest they knew of alien intelligence.

Gravitation – Appearances of Vimanas in several religious texts like Ramayana and Mahabharat suggest people of those time knew all about gravitation well before the apple incident. This is what is supposedly in the sixth book.

Cosmology – In the seventh book there is said to be a vast, exhaustive amount of information on cosmology and the workings of the universe. It also includes the secrets of faster than light travel, how to bend space and time, travel between dimensions, and by some accounts even time travel.

Light – The eighth book is said to be about the nature of light, including increasing or decreasing its speed, bending it to one’s will, and using it to create weapons such as lasers.

Sociology – The ninth book is about sociology. It is said to contain rules of the rise and fall of civilizations, as well as the secrets of how to predict the decline of society, and how to stop it or hasten it.

Contacts with outside world –

Although, the knowledge in the books have been kept secret, there has been instances of leaks in them. These leaks have been responsible for a number of innovations throughout the history. Secret of Aeronautics, Radiation for sterilization, are some of the examples rumored to be obtained from the books. Conspiracy theorists have even argued that these men may have knowingly released these information anonymously for mankind’s development. One such story of such contact comes from during the time of great plague in Mumbai, 1896.

In October 1896, an epidemic of bubonic plague stuck Mumbai. The government asked Waldemar Haffkine, creator of cholera vaccine, to help. He embarked upon the development of a vaccine in a makeshift laboratory in a corridor of Grant Medical College. The task was tough and the pressure from above kept on increasing. One of his assistants experienced a nervous breakdown and two others quit. His tests continued to fail until the substitute of his assistant unknowingly added a stabilizing compound in wrong amount. The vaccine worked. During the inoculation at Byculla Jail, when he asked authorities about the substitute, they denied having knowledge of anyone matching the description!

Yet another but prominent case of knowledge seeping out from the book is that of Pope Sylvester II. He spent some time in Spain before taking an impromptu trip to India for unknown reasons. Upon his return, he was a changed man. He was said to have brought with him a variety of knowledge well ahead of its time and which puzzled those around him. One such display of advanced knowledge can be found in the story of Bronze Head constructed by him. The statue had the ability to answer yes or no questions asked of it on a wide range of subjects. Anyone who saw the machine work would go in frenzy.

Sylvester II claimed that it was merely a simple mechanical automaton similar to primitive robot. But those who saw it in operation didn’t believe him. This was just one of many gadgets that he went on to create over years. It has often been speculated that he gained his knowledge in India from the Nine Unknown Men. Unfortunately, we will never know how these gadgets worked or whether they ever existed at all. They were disassembled and destroyed when Sylvester II died.

Sylvester II and Waldemar Haffkine aren’t the only ones said to be influenced by the Nine Unknown Men. Throughout the history there may have been many more aided by the Nine Unknown Men. Some of the theorized names associated with gaining this secret knowledge are one of the most important figures in India’s space program, Vikram Sarabhai, as well as Jagdish Chandra Bose, who is considered to be one of the pioneering forces behind the rise of science in India.

The Nine Unknown Men – Truth or Fiction?

So, are the Nine Unknown Men real? Or simply myth with some historical references. Is it complete fiction or complete truth or somewhere in between? Questions are many, but answers none. Perhaps in future some of these will be answered, but till then the existence of Nine Unknown Men will depend on our belief. Comment below, let us know your thoughts on ‘India’s Illuminati’. This will be all from this week’s Xtrascoop’s Mystery Diaries. I will be back next week with another exciting, jaw-dropping and gut-wrenching story. Till then mate, have a good day ahead!

Note : Read the next article Here.