Gottlob M. (Ed.) Historical Thinking in South Asia: A Handbook of Sources from Colonial Times to the Present

Oxford University Press, 2003. — 334 p. — ISBN 978-0195662177.This is a sourcebook of historical culture in Modern South Asia, an extremely relevant work in the context of the ongoing debate on history writing. It informs about the many ways of dealing with the past as expressed in the works of prominent figures from different regional, religious, and social backgrounds and with divergent political orientation and ideological outlook. This comprehensive volume provides a selection of sources which best exemplify the varying approaches found in historiography and historical research, historical fiction and the arts, the use of history in political discourse, and its representation in the media.Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
SOURCES
India and Europe: Form of Approaching and Distancing in the Historicized World
Western Indologyand the Construction of the Ahistorical Orient: Orientalism, Utilitarianism, Comparative History of Culture
William Jones: On the Hindus (1786)
James Mill: The History of British India
F. Max Muller: India-What Can It Teach Us? (1883)
The Self-Assurance of Indian Traditions: Reform, Renaissance, Revial
Rammohun Roy: To the Believers of the Only True God (1816)
Rammohun Roy: Suttee as a Religious Rite (1830)
Dayanand Sarasvati: Light of Truth (1884)
Swami Vivekananda: Modern India (1899)
Sayyid Ahmad Khan: Principles of Exegesis (1880-95)
The Agenda of a Modern Indian Historiogaphy
History as an Object of Research
R. G. Bhandarkar: the Critical, Comparative, and Historical Method of Inquiry (1888)
Shibli Nu'mani: the Element of History (1898)
In Quest of a Perspective: Patriotism, Communalism
Bankimchandra Chatterjee: A Few Words about the History of Bengal (1882-3)
Bankimchandra Chatterjee: Anandamath (1882)
B. G. Tilak: Karma Yoga and Swaraj (c.1917)
V. D. Savarkar: The Indian War of Independence (1909)
V. D. Savarkar: Hindutva (1923)
K. P. Jayaswal: Hindu Polity (1924)
R. C. Majumdar: Ancient Indian Colonization in the Far East (1940)
M. Iqbal: Pakistan Speech (1930)
B. R. Ambedkar: Aren't the Untouchables a Separate Element? (1945)
Conceptualization of temporal change: Kaliyuga, progress, revolution
Harishchandra of Benares: How can India be Reformed? (1884)
D. Naoroji: Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901)
M. G. Ranade: Revival and Reform (1897)
R. C. Dutt: The Economic History of India (1902-4)
M. N. Roy: India in Transition (1922)
J. Nehru: India's Growth Arrested (1944)
R. Palme Dutt: The Awakening of India (1940)
Resistant Traditions, Alternative Histories, Idiosyncrasies
R. Tagore: Nationalism in India (1917)
Aurobindo Ghose: The Advent and Progress of the Spiritual Age (1918-49)
A. K. Coomaraswamy: What has India Contributed to Human Welfare? (1915)
After Colonialism: Historical Thinking in Contemporary South Asia
Objectivity, Prejudice and the Call for Indian Frameworks of Interpretation
R. Thapar: The Past and Prejudice (1975)
D. Devahuti: Problems of Indian Historiograpy (1979)
Unity and Diversity, Particularity and Universality
World History, National History, Regional History
M. M. Panikkar: Asia and Western Dominance (1953)
M. A. Nilakanta Sastri: A History of South India (1947)
Communalism and Secularism
S. Gopal et al.: The Political Abuse of History (1989)
Vishva Hindu Parishad: Summary of the Ram Janmabhoomi Evidence (1991)
Muslim History in India and Pakistan
A. H. Ali Nadwi: India during Muslim Rule (1977)
I. H. Qureshi: Lost Opportunities (1979)
Tradition and Modernity, Continuity and Change
Planning Commission: the Problem of Development (1953)
M. N. Srinivas: A Note on Sanskritization and Westernization (1956)
D. D. Kosambi: The difficulties Facing the Historian (1964)
R. S. Sharma: Problem of Transition from Ancient to Medieval in Indian History (1974)
Critique of the Western Concept of History and Development: The Dignity of Non-Modern People
N. Verma: the Past: A Self-Contemplation (1976)
A. Nandy: Towards a third World Utopia (1978-87)
Subalternity and Agency, Fragmentation and Globalization
R. Guha: On Some Aspects of the Historiography of Colonial India (1982)
U. Chakravarti: Towards a New Understanding of Gender Relations in early Indian History (1988)
M. Gadgil and R. Guha: Cultures in Conflict (1993)
Glossary
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index