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| Ruins of Residency, Lucknow Photo: by Author |
"History is written by the victors."
-Winston Churchill
History is the chronology of past events which are curated to lead to a logical conclusion about the past happenings. The word has its root in the Greek word “Historia” meaning “to know”. The knowledge acquired about the past, after due enquiry and examination.“History is a narration of the events which have happened among mankind, including an account of the rise and fall of nations, as well as of other great changes which have affected the political and social condition of the human race”, says John Jacob Anderson. However, it is also full of tainted, exaggerated facts galvanized with fiction and present a lopsided account. In a sense, history, albeit an account of the past, may not be a faithful representation of facts. One has to dig deep to get to the correct situation.
In the recent past, controversy over the way history was been taught in India has become louder and harsher. History has been regarded as a mere subject and was being taught accordingly. India needed an honest account of its history post-independence, but writers were not unbiased. History was written as per the requirement and whims of leadership. The historians of free India are bisected into left and right-wing camps. It reflects in their arguments and the presentation of historical facts as well. While the left-wing historians treat the so-called "Saffronisation" of history with disdain, the right-wing section sternly objects to the leftist outlook alleging that the historical facts were distorted and shadowed. They put forth the argument that several freedom fighters like Savarkar, Bhagat Singh and Chandra Sekhar were deliberately doused besides showering undue praises to the invaders of the medieval period, who let all hell loose on the poor natives of the land.
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| Brick temple near Kanpur: Photo by Author |
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| Ruins and temple at Kushinagar: Photo by Author |
The analysis, when meticulously done with utmost accuracy, becomes scientific work that aims to present a perfect picture of the past by joining fragments of evidence and testing them with advanced techniques. Fossil excavations of plants and animals of aeon tell clearly about the then environment, nature of vegetations and life as a whole on the earth without the scope of speculation. It is a scientific study based on facts and undistorted facts. Arrangements of the scientific findings in a sequence reveal the story, unfolding intricacies about the origin of the earth, the phases it passed through and evolutionary processes in totality. It also helps in understanding various unexplained phenomena. Likewise, it becomes a topic of anthropological and social importance when discoveries and studies deal with human beings - their society and ways of living.
Prehistoric wall paintings of cave-dwelling humans, pot shreds, tools and plinths of their houses tell a lot about their way of life. By the same token, documents, letters, royal orders (“Farmaans”), paintings, ruins and edifices tell about the life and happenings of the comparatively recent era. These pieces of evidence are the bedrock of historical accounts.
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| Ruin of Residency, Lucknow: Photo by Author |
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| Cannon used in the war of 1857: Photo by Author |
Controversies are natural and usual. The fragmented pieces of evidence and materials give ample scope for the assumption. The Mughal period in India will be helpful in elaborating the point. Undeniably, Mughal were invaders. However, unlike other invaders, they settled in India and established their empires. Albeit, a section of historians, particularly those of left-wing ideology, portrays them as great, benevolent and secular the right-wing section portrays them as lunatic mass murderers. Such divergence in views is understandable. It is why history, for some, is a bundle of baffles and lies.
Mixing facts with fiction is yet another factor. Writings like Illiad and Odyssey by Homer are literary works that gave a notion of historical facts. These literary works of fiction made characters larger than life. Hector and Achilles became historical that amaze people. Trojan war appears reality. The story of Rajpoot queen Padmawati and her sacrifice, as per some, is a fiction created by the court poet of Akbar - Abul Fazal. The facts need to be examined without prejudices. That is why excavations of Sinauli (India) which have impactful effects need to be looked at in the light of the facts, not on fiction.
The historical facts are not imaginary. On Aryans, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru says in his book “Discovery of India”:
"The Aryan migrations are supposed to have taken place about a thousand years after the Indus valley period; and yet this is possible that there was no considerable gap and tribes and people came to India from the north-west from time to time, as they did in later ages and became absorbed in India. We might say that the first great cultural synthesis and fusion took place between the incoming Aryans and the Dravidians, who were probably the representatives of the Indus Valley civilization."
Later, the ‘fact’ that Aryans were invaders was turned out to be a fallacy. 'Convinced' scholars claimed that Aryans were indigenous to India; they did not migrate from outside. The theory and counter-theory appear more imaginary than facts. Western historians tried to establish that Aryans were 'progenitors of European civilization'.
Ancient India was rich in culture, literature, art and temple construction. Invaders came and tried to impose their faith, but failed. People and culture stood up again to flourish. The gradual growth of maturity of Indian society was shadowed while describing history. In overenthusiasm of creating hype on ‘secularism’, words like “temple”, “worship” and “Hindu” et cetera were meticulously omitted while writing history. It appeared to be a systemic assault on facts. The Mughal period was given a glamorous seat in the annals of medieval India. The material of Mughal chronology and history are based primarily on the autobiography/biography of monarchs and/or the account of court poets. The autobiographies might be honest accounts but the facts might have been contaminated as well because of their vitiated source. Finding the centuries-old original writings/records is often difficult, if not impossible. The distorted or inappropriate translation of the text, pirated copies of the text add misleading concepts about the main character, furnishing sufficient material for future conjecture. It is also a fact that the court poets were highly lopsided and used to write exaggerated poems about their monarchs to please them and acquire facilities and wealth. Such work of fiction cannot be the basis to arrive at a definite conclusion.
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| A mausoleum: Photo by Author |
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| Aasafi Mosque in Imambara precinct: Photo by Author |
The archaeological evidence should be viewed in the light of other related facts. There is minimal or no scope for prediction when the evidence speaks loudly about the instances. Excavation of a plinth of Hindu temples and other fragments of archaeological importance at the site of the erstwhile mosque in Ayodhya and the other temple sites in northern India are glaring examples of their bigot autocracy. Mughals used their power to desecrate the holy places and demolished them. They did not do it to earn glory but they did it because of their religious intolerance. They proselytized the native population and felt elevated as 'Ghazi' after beheading the vanquished army generals, soldiers and the people; making a heap of their heads and bodies to terrify the masses and show their strength. It cannot be justified by the figment of the imagination of a select few historians who present a concocted fact to paint them, heroes.
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| Frog temple: Photo by Author |
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| Roomi gate: Photo by Author |
There were Rajpoots in Akbar's army, they argue to establish his benevolence. Akbar married Rajpoot women, not because of his liberal views but for political compulsions and to strengthen his empire. He has had about 40 queens (Begham) and innumerable numbers of concubines. To establish their superiority, they used the religious bases to buttress and justify their gory act. Their whimsical acts categorize them as autocratic and brutal monarchs. Ridiculously, a section of Indian ‘intellectuals’ sings ode in praise of Mughals painting them compassionate and generous. Such narratives are a sinistral move to establish false agenda.
The concocted facts cannot be history. In free India, an attempt was made to write the facts as per the whims of the then ruler. Late Mrs Indira Gandhi tried to bury a ‘Time Capsule’ - Kalpatra - within the premises of red-fort ostensibly for the future generations to know about her glory. It gave rise to a severe controversy. Historians like T Badrinath openly refuted the contents saying that it was the misrepresentation of historical facts.
India, the land of composite cultures with a kaleidoscope of vibrant customs and beliefs has a long and illustrious history. It was trampled several times but they could not rout its spirit. Invaders and the British who enslaved India tried to demean it by their false propaganda. For long India was being treated as the country of ignorant snake charmers, exorcists and sadhus. The rich culture, philosophy, medicine, astronomy and mathematics are but few branches of knowledge, India was blessed with. Unfortunately, the actual history was deliberately suppressed. Even after independence, India was devoid of its due and the governments did nothing substantial to refurbish its image. They rather contributed their share of the parochial agenda. Under the cloak of ‘secularism’, they promoted appeasement. Historians have a mammoth task. The Indian history needs to be rewritten impartially so that the coming generation feel proud of their beautiful nation.
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| A cupola in the vicinity of Tajmahal: Photo by Author |
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