Nationalism in the Study of Ancient Indian History

It has long been alleged that the pioneer Indian scholars of ancient Indian history were ‘nationalists’, ‘Hindu revivalists’ and unhappy with the fact that the Muslims invaded and took possession of India. ‘Pernicious’ is also an adjective thrown at them. The present volume examines the evolving research scenario and concludes that these pioneer historians never wilfully distorted any historical evidence and thus their nationalism did not stand in the way of objective historical investigations. The allegations levelled against them by communists roughly since the 1960s were nothing but propaganda ploys to draw attention to themselves as ‘progressives’ and thus capture with governmental support the country-wide institutions in the field of history . The volume shows that the period of communist dominance in this arena is about the darkest period in the history of ancient Indian historical research in the country since the late nineteenth century when Indian scholars began to research ancient India in increasing numbers. Further, the author argues that no commitment to a particular ideology with its obsession with the Aryans and the Sarasvati can be a substitute for rigorous professional research on ancient India with clear assessment of the sources and their chronology. The volume also contains a detailed discussion on Rabindranath Tagore's and Sister Nivedita's ideas of Indian history.