The activity of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty in Modern Indian English-language Historiography (from 1991 to the present)

Abstract

The article analyzes Indian English-language publications devoted to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, written and published after 1991, which became a turning point in the history of independent India, this is the subject of this study. The purpose of this work is to determine the nature of scientific assessments of the role of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in the political history of India in the second half of the XX century in English-language publications of Indian authors after 1991. The main method used in the work was cultural-anthropological, as it involves the study of the positions of the authors of scientific publications in the formulation of the problem and the selection of arguments in defense of their point of view; the attitude of Indian scientists to the object of research, as well as the identification of political preferences of researchers, the features of scientific schools and trends in historical science that they represent. The relevance of the work is explained by the fact that the Nehru-Gandhi family and currently actively participates in the political life of the Republic of India, still have a significant political influence, holding leadership positions in the Indian National Congress Party. In addition, their political activities in 1947-1991 continue to be the subject of discussion in the scientific and intellectual community of India. The novelty of the work is explained by the insufficient study of Indian historiography devoted to the history of the country after independence in 1947. The main conclusion is that due to the large-scale political changes in India that began after the death of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, more and more criticism of the political dynasty can be found in the works of Indian specialists, but at the same time there is no consensus in Indian science about the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty at the present time, pluralism of opinions has very wide and polar range. This can be considered the main feature of Indian historiography.