History Writing & Nationalism, Prabuddha Bharata

[Guest guest]

Namaskar Mitra,

 

History Writing and Nationalism by Editorial Prabuddha Bharata.- the article

looks to into the reasons for the manner in which history was written in India,

both during the British rule and by the Marxists post independence. It gives

Swami Vivekanand's and Kulapati K M Munshi's views on the subject of history

writing.

http://esamskriti.com/html/inside.asp?cat=742&subcat=741&cname=history_writing_and_nationalism

 

Excerpts: "While at Alwar during his parivrajaka days, Swami Vivekananda

happened to speak to a group of young men on the importance of the study and

writing of history. He exhorted:

 

“Study Sanskrit, but along with it study Western science as well. Learn

accuracy, my boys. Study and labour, so that the time will come when you can

put our history on a scientific basis. Now, Indian history is disorganized. It

has no chorological accuracy. The histories of our country written by English

writers cannot but be weakening to our minds, for they tell only of our

downfall. How can foreigner, who understand very little of our manners and

customs, or our religion and philosophy, write faithful, unbiased histories of

India. Naturally, many false nations and wrong inferences have found their way

into them. Nevertheless the Europeans have shown us how to proceed in making

research into our ancient history. Now it is for us to strike out an

independent path of historical research for ourselves; to study the Vedas and

the Puranas and ancient annals of India; and from this to make it our life work

and discipline to write accurate, sympathetic and soul-inspiring histories of

the land. It is for Indians to write Indian history. Therefore set yourselves

to the task of rescuing our lost and hidden treasures from oblivion. Even as

one whose child has been lost does not rest until he has found it, so do you

never cease to labour until you have revived the glorious past of India in the

consciousness of the people. That will be true national education, and with its

advancement a true national spirit will be awakened.”1

 

In his foreword to the volumes, Munshi summarized the problems with the then

available Indian histories:

“The treatment of the British period in most of our histories … read

like an unofficial report of the British conquest and of the benefits derived by

India from it. It does not give us the real India; nor does it present a picture

of what we saw, felt and suffered, of how we reacted to foreign influences, or

of the values and organization we created out of the impact of the West.

 

Generation after generation … were told about the successive foreign

invasion of the country, but little about how we resisted them and less about

our victories. They were taught to decry the Hindu social system; but they were

not told … how its vitality enabled the national culture to adjust its

central ideas to new conditions.

 

Readers were regaled with Alexander’s short-lived and unfructuous invasion

of India; they were left in ignorance of the magnificent empire and still more

enduring culture which Gangetic Valley had built up at the time. Lurid details

of intrigues in the palaces of the Sultans of Delhi – often a camp of

bloodthirsty invaders-are given, but little light is thrown on the exploits of

the race of heroes and heroines who for centuries resisted the Central Asiatic

barbarians when they flung themselves on this land in successive waves.

Gruesome stories of Muslim atrocities are narrated, but the harmony which was

evolved in social and economic life between the two communities remains

unnoticed. …

 

EOM.

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sanjeev