Historians must tell only the truth - good or bad

Our history books tell us little about our knowledge of science, mathematics, philosophy and governance in ancient times while they have depicted the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharat as mere religious texts.

There is little exaggeration in what Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey says on historiography in India. Addressing a conference organised by the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana at the Gopal Narayan Singh University, Jamuhar in Bihar's Sasaram, the other day, Pandey said, "Most of the historians did not do justice to India or India's culture and civilization. A distorted version of history has been taught by a particular group of historians." How true!

One finds there is a growing consensus across the reasonably informed Indian public spectrum that the history that has been presented to us in the post-Independence landscape has been biased against our civilization. A highly distorted version of history is being taught in our schools and colleges. This ignores South India and the whole of Northeast.

Our history and culture draws a lot from the Vedic times. But the school history of ancient India has largely been based on the English translations of the Vedas by certain Christian missionaries, not their correct interpretations by our Sanskrit scholars. In this version of history, there is no concrete evidence of the Aryan-Dravidian theory. This version suggests that Hinduism, like Islam and Christianity, is a foreign import. It suggests Buddhism is superior to Hinduism.

Our history books tell us little about our knowledge of science, mathematics, philosophy and governance in ancient times. They tell us little about Lichhavi of Vaishali, a confederation of more than 25 republics. They have depicted our Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharat as mere religious texts; in contrast, they have projected Christianity and Islam as facts of history.

The most shocking aspect of our history-writing has been that it has sought to whitewash the cruelties of the foreign invaders in medieval times. According to authentic accounts, before India came under Islamic rule, there were about 600 million Hindus in the country. By 1500 AD, just about 200 million Hindus were left. Mogul ruler Babur's butchers killed over 14 million Hindus, 10 percent of the then world population!

Between 1389 and 1413, during the rule of Shah Mir in Kashmir, the official order was to persecute and massacre Kashimiri Pandits unless they embraced Islam. In the process, an estimated 37,000 Kashmiri Hindus were converted, numerous of them killed, many Hindu temples destroyed and their sacred books thrown into the Dal Lake.

Between 1506 and 1585, the Chaks of the Shia sect adopted the policy of coercion, plunder and butchering against the Kashmiri Pandits. Between 1585 and 1753, Mughal rulers Jehangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb imposed 'jizya' on Kashmiri Hindus. In 1753, Kashmir's de facto ruler Fazal Kanth got several Kashmiri Pandits killed and plundered.

But our medieval history books have ignored all such accounts. They have chosen to portray autocratic rulers, such as Alauddin Khilji, Babur, Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan, as benevolent. They have undermined the role the heroes, such as Lachit Borphukan (1622-1672), Chhatrapati Shivaji (1630-1680) and Guru Govind Singh (1666-1708), played during the period.

Historians of modern India have also undermined the role of leaders, such as Swami Dayanand Saraswati, V.D. Savarkar, Lala Lajpat Rai, Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh. Pertinently, Clement Atlee happened to be British Prime Minister at the time of India's Independence in 1947. He admitted that the role played by Bose and his Indian National Army and the Royal Indian Navy mutiny (1946) had weakened the British empire to its foundation and forced them to quit India.

It is high time our historians wrote in a scientific and objective manner. Independent India needs to have a holistic version of its history. Academic imperialism that began with Western education must end. There is no point hiding whatever happened in the past. The past must be told so that we learn the right lessons from it and take steps to create a better society.

Our historians could learn a lot from their Jewish counterparts in this regard. The Jews suffered enormously on account of their faiths for long. They were thrown out of their own Biblical Holy Land. They suffered for many centuries. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler alone killed six million of them. Since they won back their own land of Israel, the Jews have been telling the truths about their history to the new generations. This has gone a long way in grooming citizens who have been dedicated to fostering the security and prosperity of the Jewish State.

Needless to say, India today can learn a lot from an objective history of our past. The legendary statesman Kautilya of ancient India suggested us to avoid inexperienced rulers. Kautilya said, "An energetic ruler will keep his people equally energetic... The ruler should always be alert. In a public chamber or audience hall, the ruler must not keep any petitioner waiting at the door."

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.