Romila Thapar on the need of internalization of history

As a historian I am and have been deeply disturbed — and I’m not alone in this — by the reaction to such incidents. Indian identity at the popular level is increasingly being narrowed to the perceptions of what is called the majority community. This is ironic because among historians the perspective has widened out. This is in part due to the expansion of sources for constructing history. In archaeology for instance, various sciences are giving us dimensions of knowledge that are new, such as the data on environmental factors affecting history. Our attitudes to texts have changed. We now ask incisive questions about the author, and why the text is written the way it is and what is the intention of the patron? One looks beyond the statements for deeper historical understanding. This has led to new perspectives on the past in terms of both evidence and the manner in which it is analysed.

So while the historian is opening up the past, its popular representation is narrowing it down. The kinds of linkages that are made with the past in popular outlets tend to marginalise many communities and cultures that make up Indian society. These linkages frequently draw from political agendas. Inevitably one begins to ask whether or to what degree that which we’ve been writing, and speaking about in the past 30 to 40 years, have at all affected people’s perceptions — perceptions of our past, our identities, and the values that we hold as important in our lives? Possibly we have been too passive in our response to aggressive political actions. And we have failed to be sufficiently critical of the way the media plays with political agendas in representing what it calls “culture and history”. These are themes that need much more open discussion.

We have not internalised our history in the sense that for most people seeing the historical aspect of the world around us is still an experience of the extraneous. Historical analysis is really about an entire society with an accounting of different levels and the way in which they are inter-related, the way in which they disintegrate or integrate and how these relationships have changed over time. We assume a kind of static past, which is of course the behest of colonial scholarship. This is being questioned by historians who are trying to understand the dynamics of different periods and communities but somehow this questioning doesn’t seem to seep into popular agencies like the media. more

A J Appaswamy











Bishop's College Chapel

History of Bishop's College

The 150th anniversary of the foundation of Bishop's College evokes feelings of great gratitude to Almighty God for a wonderful record of theological teaching, corporate sacramental life and pastoral training which the College has enjoyed through the years. It is hard to exaggerate what the College has given to the Anglican Communion in India through the diffused influence of the men whom it has trained and sent out to serve Christianity in India in many ways. I remember with special happiness a visit which I was privileged to make to the College in 1961.

With the inauguration of Church union, the College has before it exciting prospects of change and new service. It will find itself increasingly serving the growing wider ecumenical scene. While it will be called upon to change, it will also be called upon to conserve, and what it conserves will be the strong emphasis on worship, prayer, sacramental life and personal discipline which belonged to it in its Anglican days. May God greatly bless the College in a deepening and widening service to Church and people both in India and beyond. Read it all here

Don't confuse faith for history: Romila Thapar

Don't confuse faith for history: Historian
Eminent historian Romila Thapar recently received the prestigious Kluge Prize 2008 of the United States Library of Congress, for lifetime achievement in the study of humanity. Well known for her contribution to creating a new pluralistic view of Indian civilization, she speaks to Shruba Mukherjee of Deccan Herald. Excerpts:

Does study of history have a future?

History as practised at the professional level has a good future. But what passes for history at the popular level often does not reflect the work of serious professional historians. This is partly because historians have distinctive methods of subjecting data to critical analyses. This helps explain what happened in the past and why in a more factual manner and the analyses can change with advances in knowledge. Popular notions of history seldom apply rigorous methods of examining data from the past.

Faith is based on belief which means anything can be believed without having to be proved correct. This is the opposite of history. So when people of faith want to impose their beliefs onto history, there is a conflict with historians. more