‘The Indians: Histories of a Civilization’ book review: Point of origin

Express News Service

In 1989, Purushottam Nagesh Oak published his book, Taj Mahal: The True Story, in which he claimed that the marble monument was not built by Shahjahan as a mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, but was 
a Shiva temple called Tejo Mahalaya, built by the Chandela ruler, Raja Paramardi Dev in 1155 CE. Oak’s theory, while it had its adherents, was for many years treated with somewhat contemptuous amusement.

Not so any longer. Oak now appears to be only one of many out to rewrite India’s history. Wild theories are doing the rounds of social media; the Mughals are being swiftly written out of school textbooks, and there is an alarming tendency to cook up stories that suit the agendas of a select group: Hindu, upper caste, male. In 2020, the Government of India set up a committee to ostensibly conduct a ‘holistic study of origin and evolution of Indian culture’, and in 2022, it was revealed that a series of genomic verification exercises, funded by the government, were being carried out by the Anthropological Survey of India. The rewriting of history is on, in full swing.

The Indians: Histories of a Civilization sets out to counter this trend by offering a glimpse of what India’s past has actually been. It is a collection of some 100-odd essays. The range covered is staggering, touching on just about every aspect of the country’s history. The 90 authors, from India and abroad, are some of the most distinguished scholars in the fields of archaeology, linguistics, biology and anthropology, alongside historians specialising in many different eras, geographical spaces and fields.
The book is divided into seven parts, arranged in chronological order and beginning in pre-history, with the evolution of humans and how they lived.

The foundations of civilisation, the beginning of agriculture and the domestication of animals, are among the topics discussed in the second part. From there, The Indians moves on, through the centuries and across the country, looking at ancient languages and philosophies; the histories of the Deccan, Bengal, Odisha, Sikkim, Punjab, the Western Himalayas, and more. Colonialism, political and social movements, and India’s journey since Independence are also covered.

Given the scope of the book, it is not surprising to find a certain element of unevenness in the writing. Most of the essays are quite short, often not more than four or five pages, and the writers invariably admit that there is much research still to be done and much more to be written. For a reader, this can be disappointingly superficial.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are long and fairly detailed essays—the ones by Thomas Trautmann and Ravi Korisettar are cases in point—that delve deep into a subject. These (and even several of the shorter essays) are targeted towards a strictly academic audience, and in some instances, so replete with jargon that they become difficult for a lay person to grasp. A book that sets out to change perceptions about India’s history may have done better to be uniformly more accessible to a general reading public. The shortcoming is made up for, to some extent, by notes and a detailed bibliography for each essay, as well as pointers for where an interested reader may look for more information on 
a particular topic.

On the whole, the ambitious book does succeed in achieving its objective of providing a glimpse of India’s past. Instead of the usual suspects, so to say—the sprawling empires, the grand cities, the powerful dynasties and the famous battles (though they have their place here too, briefly)—there is plenty here that has hitherto gone ignored, suppressed or been simply brushed away as being unimportant. For instance, the histories of lands other than the northern plains and the Deccan peninsula, elements of life besides administrative power, and questions most citizens do not even think of asking, let alone being able to answer.

In that sense, The Indians amply reflects the “cultural, linguistic, social and religious heterogeneity that has been the hallmark of the Indic world” that Vinay Lal writes of in the afterword. Its subject matter is varied, and insights, more often than not, refreshingly different. It brings, again and again, the subaltern into the limelight (or at least makes sure that it is mentioned). It shows that the homogenous India of the self-appointed WhatsApp ‘historians’ is a falsity. 

<br /> In 1989, Purushottam Nagesh Oak published his book, Taj Mahal: The True Story, in which he claimed that the marble monument was not built by Shahjahan as a mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, but was <br /> a Shiva temple called Tejo Mahalaya, built by the Chandela ruler, Raja Paramardi Dev in 1155 CE. Oak’s theory, while it had its adherents, was for many years treated with somewhat contemptuous amusement.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.83 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.83 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Not so any longer. Oak now appears to be only one of many out to rewrite India’s history. Wild theories are doing the rounds of social media; the Mughals are being swiftly written out of school textbooks, and there is an alarming tendency to cook up stories that suit the agendas of a select group: Hindu, upper caste, male. In 2020, the Government of India set up a committee to ostensibly conduct a ‘holistic study of origin and evolution of Indian culture’, and in 2022, it was revealed that a series of genomic verification exercises, funded by the government, were being carried out by the Anthropological Survey of India. The rewriting of history is on, in full swing.</p> <p>The Indians: Histories of a Civilization sets out to counter this trend by offering a glimpse of what India’s past has actually been. It is a collection of some 100-odd essays. The range covered is staggering, touching on just about every aspect of the country’s history. The 90 authors, from India and abroad, are some of the most distinguished scholars in the fields of archaeology, linguistics, biology and anthropology, alongside historians specialising in many different eras, geographical spaces and fields.<br /> The book is divided into seven parts, arranged in chronological order and beginning in pre-history, with the evolution of humans and how they lived.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.83 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.83 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>The foundations of civilisation, the beginning of agriculture and the domestication of animals, are among the topics discussed in the second part. From there, The Indians moves on, through the centuries and across the country, looking at ancient languages and philosophies; the histories of the Deccan, Bengal, Odisha, Sikkim, Punjab, the Western Himalayas, and more. Colonialism, political and social movements, and India’s journey since Independence are also covered.</p> <p>Given the scope of the book, it is not surprising to find a certain element of unevenness in the writing. Most of the essays are quite short, often not more than four or five pages, and the writers invariably admit that there is much research still to be done and much more to be written. For a reader, this can be disappointingly superficial.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.83 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.83 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>At the other end of the spectrum, there are long and fairly detailed essays—the ones by Thomas Trautmann and Ravi Korisettar are cases in point—that delve deep into a subject. These (and even several of the shorter essays) are targeted towards a strictly academic audience, and in some instances, so replete with jargon that they become difficult for a lay person to grasp. A book that sets out to change perceptions about India’s history may have done better to be uniformly more accessible to a general reading public. The shortcoming is made up for, to some extent, by notes and a detailed bibliography for each essay, as well as pointers for where an interested reader may look for more information on <br /> a particular topic.</p> <p>On the whole, the ambitious book does succeed in achieving its objective of providing a glimpse of India’s past. Instead of the usual suspects, so to say—the sprawling empires, the grand cities, the powerful dynasties and the famous battles (though they have their place here too, briefly)—there is plenty here that has hitherto gone ignored, suppressed or been simply brushed away as being unimportant. For instance, the histories of lands other than the northern plains and the Deccan peninsula, elements of life besides administrative power, and questions most citizens do not even think of asking, let alone being able to answer.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.83 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.83 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>In that sense, The Indians amply reflects the “cultural, linguistic, social and religious heterogeneity that has been the hallmark of the Indic world” that Vinay Lal writes of in the afterword. Its subject matter is varied, and insights, more often than not, refreshingly different. It brings, again and again, the subaltern into the limelight (or at least makes sure that it is mentioned). It shows that the homogenous India of the self-appointed WhatsApp ‘historians’ is a falsity. <br />