ID | 186230 |
Title Proper | Nationalism in the study of ancient Indian history |
Language | ENG |
Author | Chakrabarti, Dilip K |
Summary / Abstract (Note) | The historiography of ancient India has been an ideological battleground since the very beginning. The histories of ancient India written during the colonial period by Europeans were heterogenous in nature. On the one hand, there were works with clear imperialist imprint such as the ones by E J Rapson, and on the other hand, we have the pioneering works of Vincent Smith, which are not as imperialist as they are made out to be. The works of nationalist historians such as R K Mukherji, R C Majumdar, U N Ghoshal and others were mainly in response to works like those of Rapson. These pioneering historians of the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century have been characterized as “Hindu revivalists” by a section of later Indian historians who mostly belong to the Communist fold. The purpose of the present paper is to put this accusation in the context of the history of research on ancient Indian history and archaeology and judge if this is at all true or merely a communist propaganda and ploy to build up a ‘progressive’ versus ‘obscurantist’ divide among the historians of ancient India. The paper will also examine how certain currents of thought in modern Indian archaeology pose a danger to Indian security. |
`In' analytical Note | National Security Vol. 4, No.1; Jan 2021: p.29-50 |
Journal Source | National Security 2021-03 4, 1 |
Key Words | Nationalism ; Historiography ; Modern India ; Ancient Indian History ; Archaeological Survey of India |