Talking History

Abstract

Talking History records a series of conversations that centre on the writing of history, and especially early Indian history, as evident in the works of Romila Thapar. She has focused on the study of early India but is also interested in the link between the past and the present. Whereas she recognizes the importance of analysing texts of ancient India for information on early history, which she does in her various studies of the past, she is also concerned with explaining what happened in the past and why. Assessing the data and its reliability is the first step followed by explaining its historical context and how it contributes to the construction of history. Her emphasis on reliable evidence and logical explanation has led her to oppose the fantasy reconstructions of the past by supporters of religious nationalism. In her more recent work she has challenged the widely held idea that Indian society lacked a sense of history. In this book Thapar shares her insights on history with Ramin Jahanbegloo, an Iranian philosopher, and Neeladri Bhattacharya, a historian of modern India at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Given the link between aspects of the past and the present, the book begins with recalling Thapar’s early life before becoming a historian and continues with reflections on topics ranging from religion in history to theories of explanation as, for example, Marxism. She discusses objectivity in history, the rational retelling of events, oral history, historicity, and various concepts used in the study of history.