A exposure organized by the Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi in early 2023, titled ‘Glory of Medieval India: Manifestation of Unexplored Indian Dynasties, 8th-18th Centuries’, was proof of a much-feared pudding. That the current regime is aggressively saffronizing history is no secret, but the blatant omission of all Muslim kingdoms and dynasties from the exhibit confirmed what many of us have known for some time.
Through the corridors of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), along the renaming and frenzied overhaul of Mughal-era heritage structures and towns, via the handling of National Council of Research textbooks and Educational Training (NCERT), and making the Archaeological Commission of India (ASI) toothless, the BJP-led government is erasing Muslim contributions to Indian history and culture. Their reason was explained by IACHR member secretary Umesh Ashok Kadam, who said that he did not consider Muslim dynasties as Indian dynasties. “These people (Muslims) came from the Middle East and had no direct connection with Indian culture.”
The IACHR was charge by the state to write a revised, multi-volume history of India – no, Bharat – and one can reasonably guess at the nature of its contents. While their stated intention to include neglected or forgotten stories deserves praise, their intentional omissions reek of bigotry.
Challenge the juggernaut
It is this behemoth which The Indians: stories of a civilization tries to contest. A comprehensive volume, edited by renowned linguist and cultural theorist Ganesh N Devy, journalist and author Tony Joseph, and history and archeology professor Ravi Korisettar, it brings together a vast range of essays on the history of India, with themes ranging from archaeology, anthropology and linguistics, to religion, culture and the arts.
The book is divided into seven parts: The evolution of humans and their living conditions; Foundations, emergence and decline of civilization; Linguistic mixing and philosophies in ancient India; Cultures, sub-nationalities and region; Colonialism; Towards federalism – Social and political movements; and India since independence. These sections comprise a whopping 101 essays, bookended by an introductory note by Devy and a detailed afterword by renowned historian Vinay Lal.
This breathtaking breadth of topics is necessary to fulfill the intention of the book, that is, to map the “stories” of a civilization. Note that the title is deliberately plural because the history of India is the history of each of us; stories told in multiples, and sometimes even in contradictions. Editor GN Devy, however, warns in the introduction: “The unlimited openness of history as a field of inquiry allows majoritarian politics and autocratic regimes to replace the narrative of history with assertions irrational and untenable. » In recent years, these demands have tended towards an undesirable homogenization.
This book stands in stark contrast to the stubborn emphasis on “unity” with campaigns promoting one nation, one election, one language, one religion, etc. Those who insist on “unity” forget the important reservation about diversity that gives India its unique heritage of pluralism. The book aims to defend the “scientific view of history” while opposing “ideologically charged attempts to distort South Asian history” with “fantasy, hallucinations and wishful thinking.”
As many Indies as Indians
Standing up against the state’s massive resources was no easy feat, especially for Devy, who produced this work “under extreme financial difficulties.” And yet, the pages of Indians offering unparalleled richness to students of history and researchers of pluralist perspectives.
The first part of the book traces the evolution of the Indian subcontinent since ancient times, painting a portrait of the region using data from paleoclimatology and population genetics. Tony Joseph’s essay on migration recalls his groundbreaking book First Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Come From, which almost entirely changed the story of our ancestors. In this essay, Joseph uses the metaphor of an “Indian demographic pizza” which I found equally charming and memorable.
That pizza, he says, includes a base of migrants from outside Africa who make up about 50 to 65 percent of the population. This base is covered in a Harappan sauce of North and South Indians, who form the “cultural glue” of beliefs and practices found throughout the country. And finally, there are the more recent migrants who are the cheese and toppings on this pizza. Joseph’s theory is firmly supported by genetic evidence and is an excellent reminder for all who enjoy claiming primacy on earth.
Approaches based on population genetics are supported by essays on archeology and anthropology, when dealing with protohistories. With historical essays also, one finds multiple perspectives such as those of history, anthropology, geology, philosophy, politics, economics, astrophysics, linguistics, Sanskrit and Pali literature, and even Vedic studies. Contributors to this volume include renowned scholars from Indian and foreign universities, and some of the names I recognize and admire include K Paddayya, Rajesh Kocchar, Mugdha Gadgil, Rajmohan Gandhi, Rochelle Pinto, Richard Eaton and Urvashi Butaliya to name a few. name just a few. .
Old as new and new as old
The perspectives presented in many of these essays challenge existing narratives. For example, in her essay on “Buddhism in Early India”, Naina Dayal notes how recent revisions favor the date of the 4th century BCE to place the life of Buddha, as opposed to the more popular date of the 6th century BC. Similarly, in her essay titled “Contact with Indo-European/Indo-Iranian Languages,” Meera Visvanathan refutes the popular notion that Sanskrit is the mother language of other ancient European languages like Greek and Latin. She points out that global studies accepts a now-extinct language called “Proto-Indo-European” as the mother tongue from which Greek, Latin, and even Sanskrit originated. As with Joseph’s demographic pizza, these findings challenge us to adapt to new timelines and truths.
The “new” offerings in this book are not limited to revisions, however. Many subjects that are rarely part of traditional texts also find their place there. For example, many students would not have access to the history of pre-Shivaji Maharashtra, Pali and Prakrit literature, the culture of the pre-modern Deccan, the heterogeneity of Telangana, the histories of the Northern States -East, to the multilingualism of pre-modern Bengal or to the Adivasi movements until they specialized.
We can question the necessity of these niche themes, but it is only through this broad representation that we can break away from our habit of assimilating the history of the Ganges plain to the history of India. . It is precisely by remembering histories that are very different and far removed from our own that we will truly be able to see and believe that there are as many Indias as there are Indians.
A great feature of this volume is that most of the essays are short, averaging about two to three pages. In these pages, the authors share an overview of the topic’s most important touchpoints, notes on the most recent research on the topic, research questions for the missing pieces, and more. A reader can jump straight into their topic of choice to find excellent starting points for further research, or quickly leave with the essentials.
Each essay is written with scholarly objectivity and attempts neither to glorify achievements nor gloss over failures. As a people accustomed to the exaltations of our national narrative, to the mad attempt to become the “Vishwa Guru” in all things, this is a gentle reminder of our humanity and our mistakes. Between its hard bonds is the gentle lesson that greatness does not lie in being first, nor fastest, nor oldest, nor greatest. It is by seeing, accepting and loving everything that makes us a unique people called “Indians”.
The Indians: stories of a civilizationedited by GN Devy, Tony Joseph and Ravi Korisettar, Aleph Book Company.
