Indian Culture and society

[Azaad]

too costly for now, hopefully it gets cheaper later.
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Handbook of Indian History​

Dr. Lavanya Vemsani

Handbook of Indian History

This comprehensive volume presents an Innovative and interdisciplinary history of India by focusing on unifying themes of history.

link.springer.com

Handbook of Indian History

books.google.co.in

This book has been cancelled by white professors who are upset at Hindus telling history from their vantage point & not that of the Muslims

**

White Professors of ‘Islamic studies’ attack Hindu academic for not re-telling Indian history from Muslim perspective​

'Handbook of Indian History', edited by Professor Lavanya Vemsani, contains 21 chapters and includes new groundbreaking research on Indian history

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I've a different take on it . A lot of academia dedicated to Hindu causes believe Islam its effects & the following it commands in the sub continent are to be ignored.

A large part of it I suspect is in reaction to the Left Liberal view of it , past & contemporary , within & without India , who've painted it in glowing terms glossing over its many excesses & the real damage it has done to the body politic of not just the land & its people but the many Indic religions it has borne .

In my view this is an extremely myopic view . Instead these historians can quote verse & chapter from the chronicles of the many famous Islamic court historians from that era from within & outside India on the many depredations it subjected India too .

A lot of these very same Marxist historians like Irfan Habib has done some pioneering work on the economy & social conditions prevailing hete during the Mughals. It's a damning indictment of the condition of the ordinary people especially the native Hindus who were valuable to the emperor only in so far as they were productive .

Any lapses in paying taxes could & would be threatened with imprisonment , exile even death but that was the known story . This is the defence the Marxist historians make as this would be true of absolute monarchies everywhere around the world then , before &
even later in the mediaeval period.

However this is where the negationism in their whole world view & work is exposed. These same workers & peasants also had to contend with slavery & sexual slavery of the women folk & children not only in principal centers of the Mughal Empire but in the Islamic world of Central Asia & Persia . And the numbers here on a per year basis runs into the hundreds of thousands .

All these have been fairly well documented by the court historians then as well as in the extensive communication between various actors & in the records that have survived This aspect of the Mughal Empire & its predecessor has been completely suppressed .

All we need to do is expose this hypocrisy using extant works. I won't even get into Bibek Debroy's lament of millions of old manuscripts lying around neglected , untranslated & uncurated. That's a lament for another time

 

[ezsasa]

I've a different take on it . A lot of academia dedicated to Hindu causes believe Islam its effects & the following it commands in the sub continent are to be ignored.

A large part of it I suspect is in reaction to the Left Liberal view of it , past & contemporary , within & without India , who've painted it in glowing terms glossing over its many excesses & the real damage it has done to the body politic of not just the land & its people but the many Indic religions it has borne .

In my view this is an extremely myopic view . Instead these historians can quote verse & chapter from the chronicles of the many famous Islamic court historians from that era from within & outside India on the many depredations it subjected India too .

A lot of these very same Marxist historians like Irfan Habib has done some pioneering work on the economy & social conditions prevailing hete during the Mughals. It's a damning indictment of the condition of the ordinary people especially the native Hindus who were valuable to the emperor only in so far as they were productive .

Any lapses in paying taxes could & would be threatened with imprisonment , exile even death but that was the known story . This is the defence the Marxist historians make as this would be true of absolute monarchies everywhere around the world then , before &
even later in the mediaeval period.

However this is where the negationism in their whole world view & work is exposed. These same workers & peasants also had to contend with slavery & sexual slavery of the women folk & children not only in principal centers of the Mughal Empire but in the Islamic world of Central Asia & Persia . And the numbers here on a per year basis runs into the hundreds of thousands .

All these have been fairly well documented by the court historians then as well as in the extensive communication between various actors & in the records that have survived This aspect of the Mughal Empire & its predecessor has been completely suppressed .

All we need to do is expose this hypocrisy using extant works. I won't even get into Bibek Debroy's lament of millions of old manuscripts lying around neglected , untranslated & uncurated. That's a lament for another time

as far as this book(handbook) goes, it says in the introduction chapter that this was conceptualised to showcase less researched aspects of Indian history. and there are many aspects of Indian history, where islamic rule is not a central theme. check the table of contents, in the google link in my post.

anecdotally, some 15-20 years ago i had come across info that someone was doing Phd on rangoli. at that time, i had low opinion on it since i was thinking only in terms of hard power. but now i appreciate soft power aspects of history and culture.

both hard power and soft power are required to arrive at a complete picture of our history and culture.

as far as correcting the marxist "facts" of Indian history is concerned, someone else can take it up,like vikram sampath's recent book. every history project need not chase the same goal.

 

[haldilal]

 

[why so serious?]

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/LsxL-9-1QYk?si=xu__TphpnFrrKdGk


Desh chunotiyo se nahi , in jaise chutiyo se pareshan hai...

 

[shauryaman65]

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/LsxL-9-1QYk?si=xu__TphpnFrrKdGk


Desh chunotiyo se nahi , in jaise chutiyo se pareshan hai...

Ofcourse its a THARRR owner

 

[Hari Sud]

Street Hawkers of Shimla

When I reminisce about my boyhood days in Shimla in the 1950s, a vivid memory comes to mind—the street hawkers. They were the purveyors of the tastiest treats a boy could imagine. Sweet, salty, and tangy—every flavor that could delight a young boy’s taste buds was on offer. Of course, there were others selling everyday general merchandise, but at twelve years old, I had no interest in those. The hawkers usually gathered near the school entrance, moving around during the day and returning after the school’s closing bell. Their business was brisk in the morning when eager schoolchildren spent their daily pocket allowance. Afternoons, however, were quieter, despite their spirited efforts with songs and rhymes to draw in customers.

My pocket allowance was just one “Anna” until I reached grade eight, after which it doubled to two Annas —a small fortune in those days. Though I was expected to spend it during recess, the money often burned a hole in my pocket, compelling me to spend it sooner rather than later.

Near the school entrance stood a middle-aged man with a familiar rhyme:

“Channa Chor Garam, Babu, Mai Laya Channa Chor Garam!”

He sold salty, spiced chickpeas, neatly packed in paper cones for one Anna. This was one of my favorite treats, a much-needed contrast to the not-so-exciting glass of milk and plain parantha I had for breakfast. I always tried to finish this treat before the school bell rang. If I couldn’t, the cone would be tucked into my satchel, already bursting with books.

My other favorite treat was the sweet and sour (or rather tangy) churan. For just half an anna, the vendor would scoop a small amount into a newspaper wrapper. Its taste was nothing short of extraordinary. He used a large metal plate, about three feet in diameter, where he displayed three different flavors in small heaps. You could choose sweet, sour, or something in between. My favorite was the midway flavor, while girls, his other customers, often opted for the sour one.

Another favorite among us boys was a gel-like sweet treat sold by a man with a unique setup. He had a “Y”-shaped stand, about six feet high, from which he displayed a large block of the sugary gel. To draw customers, he mimicked the sounds of various birds—parrots, sparrows, hummingbirds, and more. These sounds were his trademark, and we were always fascinated, trying to figure out how he made them.

For one anna, he would cut off a small piece of the gel block and ask his customer, “What should I make for you?” Whether it was a sparrow, a hookah, or a figurine of a man, he would twist and shape the gel into the requested form in under a minute. It was mesmerizing to watch. After proudly showing off the creation, we would finally eat it—it was as fun to admire as it was to savor.

In 2010, I visited Shimla and was delighted to see someone still selling the same treat. It wasn’t the same man, but his grandson, carrying on the tradition with the same bird calls and an equally eager crowd of customers.

There are many more delights I could recount from my school days, but the ones above remain the most vivid in my memory.