Indian History Research Articles

A Study of Khadi as an Identity of India and Creating a Khadi Community

Mahatma Gandhi always comes to mind when we hear the name Khadi. Though the fabric known as khadi has long been associated with Indian history, it was Mahatma Gandhi who bestowed the name on it.There are numerous instances of hand-spun and hand-woven textiles made of natural fibers throughout Indian history. Ghandi revived Khadi as a means of obtaining freedom prior to India's independence from the British through the Swadeshi movement, which rejected foreign goods and promoted the idea of an independent, self-sustaining India. Ghandi revived Khadi as a means of obtaining freedom prior to India's independence from the British through the Swadeshi movement, which rejected foreign goods and promoted the idea of an independent, self-sustaining India. Even with government measures to support this industry, Khadi's popularity fell following Independence. Designers first began utilising Khadi in the 1990s, and ever since then, a lot of designers have updated, used, and pushed Khadi. This essay aims to determine the level of khadi consciousness among learners in college. Students who wear khadi clothes were requested to participate in a quick survey in the college, and their thoughts on the style, quality, cost, and even the garment's status symbol were noted. Mumbai was chosen as the location for data collection. To ascertain the level of awareness regarding Khadi products and brand, interviews with youth and senior members of the industry have been conducted.

Identity Crisis in Raja Rao’s Kanthapura

This article explores the theme of post colonialism in Raja Rao’s novel Kanthapura. By analysing the text, we examine how religion affects the Indian village of Kanthapura, its culture and its people. The narrative explores the community’s struggle to resist and adapt to the emphasizing themes of identity, struggle and cultural change. Raja Rao’s “Kanthapura” is an important work of Indian literature, depicting the impact of colonialism on a rural village in South India. The novel explores the transformation of a village in its struggle for independence through the lens of the main character, Moorthy. This summary provides insight into the rich tapestry of “Kanthapura” and invites readers to explore identity, community, and freedom at this pivotal moment in Indian history.“Kanthapura” by Raja Rao is a story set in a rural Indian village during the struggle for independence. Through the protagonist Moorthy, the novel explores the complexities of colonialism, resistance and colonialism. Lao’s lyrics describe the importance of village life, emphasizing themes of leadership, change and unity against oppression. This summary encapsulates the essence of “Kanthapura,” inviting the reader to explore the transformation of relationships and the renewal of the human spirit.

“RAMAYANA THEMES DEPICTED IN THE TEMPLE ART OF ANDHRADESA” – A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO RAYALASEEMA

The worship of Sri Rama is as ancient as temple worship in this land. The great Itihasa Ramayana by saint Valmiki itself has the sanctity of scripture to the Hindus. In India, there are thousands of temples dedicated to Lord Sri Rama, from Ayodhya, his birthplace in Uttar Pradesh, down to Rameswaram at the southernmost tip of the country. Temples of the Andhra Pradesh are treasure houses of sculptures and art forms representations of gods and goddesses and episodes from their mythologies. The Ramayana cult images found in the different dynasty’s temples in the Andhradesa may be divided into Sculpture, Idol of Sri Rama and Sita, Sculpture and Paintings in Ramayana themes. Andhra Pradesh has a unique place not only in Indian History, but geographically located midway in subcontinent to receive the cultural impacts from the north and pass them on to Southern India. It has many ancient centers of art and culture. Some of them are indigenous in character. In this research paper discussed the cult of Sri Rama iconographic features of sculptures and images of Ramayana themes in important Vaishnava temples in Andhra Pradesh a special reference to Rayalaseema region.

Unveiling the Untold: A Retelling of Sita in Modern Literature with a Special Focus on Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Feminist Rendition in The Forest of Enchantments

Within the context of the world's mythical heritage, Indian history is a priceless find, with a rich legacy marked by the potent influence of revered goddesses and mythological women. Indian tradition has elevated its women in classical and sacred history more than any other civilization, thus enhancing the appreciation of Indian culture across the world. Indian mythology's outstanding female figures have made a lasting impression by standing for courage, tenacity, and profound understanding. These extraordinary women have stood the test of time and become symbols of female empowerment, and future generations are motivated by their incredible tales. Their traditional pursuits, which are deeply rooted in a sense of obligation, morality, and altruism, show a rich cultural tapestry of generosity. The most highly venerated character in Hindu mythology, Sita is the main character in the epic Ramayana. Her remarkable degree of dedication is demonstrated by her everlasting devotion to Lord Rama during the exile, as well as by her remarkable resilience and diligent work throughout her days in Ashok Vatika. From Sita's perspective, the story of The Forest of Enchantments is told. She communicates her happiness and sadness as a human. Nature plays an important role in Sita's journey. Both the natural environment and herself are healable. The work presents a harmonious portrayal of the symbiotic interaction between nature and the obstacles encountered by women. The story depicts Sita's life in Mithila, her love for Ram, their marriage, her life in the Ayodhya palace, her days in exile, her feelings and yearning for motherhood, her agony during her days in captivity, and, in the end, her sadness.

Democracy in India is at Stake: Image of the Last Decade

Indian democracy is going to step its 75 years of journey. Indian democracy is still singing even after happening many ups and downs in the country and in the world. Ours is a world largest democracy. We are really, proud of it. Democracy has a long tradition and rich history in India. That means the idea that democratic ethos and principles are not new to the Indian subcontinent. Our rich democratic heritage, sets a precedent a for promoting civic culture, political participation, and a well understanding of democratic principles among its citizens. In recent, India's G20 presidency reflects its commitment to democratic values and international cooperation. The country sets an example to promote global democratic principles. The Parliament 20 (P20) Summit in New Delhi put forwards India's rich democratic heritage and core values to the world. The inclusivity, equality, and harmony are central to Indian democracy. But the scholars and theorists of Indian democracy come to realize that, the picture of our democracy of the last one decade is not so satisfactory. Democracy-watching organizations categorize democracies differently. They all classify India today as a “hybrid regime”—that is, neither a full democracy nor a full autocracy. And this is new one. In 2021, in view of Freedom House, India’s freedom rating is Partly Free (the only remaining category is Not Free). That same year, the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project India as “electoral autocracy” on its scale of closed autocracy, electoral autocracy, electoral democracy, or liberal democracy. And the Economist Intelligence Unit stated India to be “flawed democracy” on its scale of full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime, and authoritarian regime. Keeping all these things in mind, in this paper, I have tried to critically examine the Indian democracy of the last one decade on the basis of a small ground level study.

The Sino-Indian war and the evolution of wireless monitoring capabilities in the Indian Intelligence Bureau (1959–1968)

ABSTRACT This article is the first academic work exploring the evolution of wireless monitoring capabilities (COMINT) in India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) between 1959 and 1968. Until 1968, the IB was India’s foreign intelligence agency and experienced its biggest failure in providing estimates for the 1962 Sino-Indian war. B.N. Mullik, the then IB chief, argued that the availability of foreign exchange was directly responsible for determining the COMINT capabilities prior to, and after the war. Consulting recently declassified governmental documents, this article contests this claim and highlights that bureaucratic politics played an impactful role. It reveals that pre-war weaknesses were a result of bureaucratic lethargy among some individuals and factionalism within the IB. In the post-war period, even though foreign exchange became available, bureaucratic battles continued and compelled the IB to explore domestic and in-house alternatives to imports. Therefore, the article offers fresh insights into the history of India’s intelligence by exploring a hitherto unexplored domain.

A British Military Engineer, the Ganga and the Spectre of Control in Colonial Northern India (1839–1854)

Much has been written about environmental and agrarian history in South Asia. These documented histories provide a fascinating overview of structural changes brought about through infrastructural development and modes of colonial governance. However, specific and advanced forms of intervention were introduced in the nineteenth century, which was defined by the accelerated scale of exploitation of the environment. This article offers an account of the Ganga Canal, constructed in mid-nineteenth century colonial India, under British engineer Proby Cautley, by drawing water from the river Ganga. The paper revisits his motivations and challenges and the scope of his plan to make two arguments. First, it argues that the engineering model of Cautley reflects his deeper entanglement with the ideals of colonial modernity, such as controlling the natural world. Second, the colossal scale of hydrological experimentation through the processes of canal construction, in turn, transformed the imagination of the river into an object.

Scholarly worlds and popular texts: The Bhagavad Gðtå’s vernacular communities in early modern India

The Bhagavad Gītā is often thought of as the popular religious text par excellence in modern Hinduism. A substantial amount of scholarship has argued that its modern status as the central text of Hinduism is grounded in its 19th-century colonial and nationalist receptions. However, recent work on late premodern Indian philosophy has raised the possibility of constructing alternative genealogies for modern religious textual practices, though the methodologies that may allow the characterisation of premodern texts as ‘popular’ canonical works remain uncertain. This article asks how we may further interrogate the idea of the Gītā’s status as a classic or canonical text by looking at the ways in which this status was historically constructed, maintained and mediated in 18th-century North India. In order to reflect on the conditions that historicise the idea of the Gītā as scholarly, public or popular text in premodern and modern India, this article engages with two different approaches to the question of the Gītā’s social worlds during that period. One, it analyses histories of production and circulation, and two, it examines the genres of some Gītā adaptations. It does so by drawing from manuscripts containing translations and adaptations of the Bhagavad Gītā from Sanskrit into Hindi that were copied and composed between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Revisiting Punjab’s Transformative Journey: 1947 to 1966

Punjab, the “Land of five rivers”, has played a major role in the history of India and had left a deep imprint on the course of Indian History. This imprint on Indian History is due to the people of Punjab, who through their courage and patriotism have carved out an important place for themselves. To understand the nature and dynamics of Punjab history in its true perspective, it is important to study the people of Punjab; their historical, cultural and religious background and their political heritage. In 1947, India got Independence from the British rule and at the same time it was partitioned on the on the basis of two nation theory. In this partition Punjab had to pay a heavy price both in term of human and territorial loss. The joy and achievement of independence for Punjab was marred by the holocaust of partition. After partition Punjab presented a very gloomy and downright dismal picture. Migration of refugees significantly altered the communal composition of Indian Punjab. It also shook the administrative, economic and political machinery of the province to its foundation and brought in its wake a host complicated problems. The division of Punjab on communal lines spread a sense of indignation and frustration among the Sikhs because the hopes of creating a Sikh State in Independent India rose by the Sikh leaders and supported by the congress and Hindu leaders had not been fulfilled. The Sikhs felt that they had been given a raw deal in the distribution of territory between the Hindus and the Muslims giving the expression to this feeling hence the demand for a Punjabi Suba was made and in its struggle for the achievement of Punjabi Suba, the Akali Dal employed a variety of strategies, due to which on 21st March 1966 reorganization of the Punjab took place and Punjab was further trifurcated.

AI Meets AI: ChatGPT as a Pedagogical Tool to Teach American Indian History

AI Meets AI: ChatGPT as a Pedagogical Tool to Teach American Indian History

Guha, Indian history, and me

Guha, Indian history, and me

Investigating the role of Kavitha Rao’s “Lady Doctors…” in Historiography of Women Emancipation in India

Kavitha Rao’s recently published work titled “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine”, published in 2021, is a compilation of the stories of six women from 19-20 centuries who became the first practicing doctors in India. The aim of this research is to analyze this book in the context of women’s emancipation history in India. To achieve this goal, a historical criticism approach is utilized to interpret Kavitha Rao’s work, identifying its role in the historiography of Indian women’s emancipation in the medical sphere. The results show that Kavitha Rao’s work provides informative and reliable storytelling about Indian women emancipation in the 19-20 century for common readers; however, the investigated book cannot be considered a source for academic research in social studies. The theoretical significance of this paper lies in mixing the scope of Western medical history and women’s emancipation in history in India. Practical novelty comprises a cultural-historical analysis of the “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine” book, which can be used by future researchers of Kavith Rao’s works. Future researchers can extend their material background by including other books about women’s emancipation in India during 19-20 centuries in order to provide a more comprehensive investigation.

Is Indian History Being Falsified? Public Interest Trends of Historical Figures, 2004-2023

Since the ascent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concerns have been raised regarding the appropriation or undermining of the legacies of India’s prominent leaders and the promotion of specific figures to reshape historical narratives by promoting right-wing Hindutva ideology. The study investigates these claims by examining changes in public perception of three significant historical personalities, Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Vallabhbhai Patel. Information seeking behavior is used as the theoretical basis to explain any change in public interest, measured using Google search volumes from 2004 to 2023. The data is split into two 10-year subsets centered around 2014 corresponding to BJP’s rise to power. Welch’s t-test is applied to the data to measure if there is any change in search volumes after 2014.Results show an increased interest in Sardar Patel during the period 2014 to 2023 and possible reasons are analyzed. However, no statistically significant changes were observed for Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. There is no evidence to suggest that the legacies of these personalities are being suppressed or appropriated to align with a Hindutva narrative, or that such actions, if any, have had any statistically significant impact on public interest.

Analysing Mahabharata through the Lens of Theory of Just War

Of the world filled with the recorded history of western wars, Mahabharata is one of the prominent just war fought in the Indian history. It satisfies the principles of the theory of just war, namely, jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Jus ad bellum applies to the episodes of Mahabharata prior to the 18 days’ war- Kurukshetra. Notably, Kurukshetra known as the “dharma yuddha-the battle for just,” satisfies the principles of jus in bellus. However, the modern relevance of the theory is analysed with the case of Kosovo war. The intentions behind NATO’s intervention resembles the principles of jus ad bellum. While the element of jus in bello is witnessed amidst the Operation Allied Force. Apparently, this paper examines the above cases through the factor of just and not based on the stands of parties involved. It attempts to compare and assess the convergences Kurukshetra of Mahabharata and Kosovo war through the lens of principles of theory of just war.

Spices in Indian history: A multifaceted exploration of trade, medicine and religious practices

Spices in Indian history: A multifaceted exploration of trade, medicine and religious practices

Book review: Samuel Wright, A Time of Novelty: Logic, Emotion, and Intellectual Life in Early Modern India 1500–1700 CE

Samuel Wright, A Time of Novelty: Logic, Emotion, and Intellectual Life in Early Modern India 1500–1700 CE (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021), 278 pp.

Indian Nationalism: How Contemporary Nationalism is Enrooted in Rich South Asian History?

Indian Nationalism: How Contemporary Nationalism is Enrooted in Rich South Asian History?

British Pillage of India: A Postcolonial Analysis of Shashi Tharoor’s “An Era of Darkness” and Naipaul's “India: A Million Mutinies Now”

Shashi Tharoor and V. S. Naipaul attempted to discuss the innumerable mistreatments perpetrated by the British Raj in their nonfiction works "An Era of Darkness" and "India: A Million Mutinies Now," respectively. The title plainly indicates that the British governed India for two centuries during which time there was darkness, mutiny, and exploitation. Because of them, Indians were subjected to terrible humiliation and misery, and they were pulled into poverty. The aftermath of such sad events is still present. Due to situations such as Britishers feeling smug, Indians were prohibited from public servant selections, prompting Jawaharlal Nehru to declare, "The Indian civil service was neither Indian, civil, nor a service" (Shashi Tharoor, 60). Both of them utilized a variety of strategies to split India in all areas, allowing exploitation to continue unabated. They devised the concept of a census. They did everything for personal gain. Whether that was the initiation of railways, the interruption of community schools, or the inability to give aid during the Bengal famine, there were many reasons for this. Tharoor does not want compensation for the British's wrongdoing; Rather, he intends them to recognize and apologize. Naipaul investigates the changes in society that occurred in India during British occupation. He captures the varied voices and viewpoints of the people living in India, delving into the country's intricacies via a series of tales and personal interviews. The title symbolizes the concept that India is undergoing numerous transitions, as represented by a million separate rebellions or mutinies. This study reveals a clear and comparable representation of Indian sorrow and British misdeeds via the words of the two authors described above.

Contested Statues: The Clive Memorial Fund, Imperial Heroes, and the Reimaginings of Indian History

AbstractThis article considers the Clive Memorial Fund and the campaigns surrounding proposed statues to Robert Clive in London and Calcutta between 1907 and 1912. The author argues that this campaign was an attempt to glorify Clive's actions, focused on the battle of Plassey and its aftermath, as foundation stones for the Indian Empire. The statues were an anxious attempt to situate Britain as a natural part of Indian history, but the campaign instead provoked a developing Indian counternarrative around resistance to colonial rule, particularly from newspapers in Bengal. Although the fund garnered support in Britain, it was greeted in India with official irritation and widespread Indian opposition, highlighting the importance of considering imperial statues in their imperial frame. This reaction, demonizing Clive's treachery and praising his opponent, Siraj-ud-Daula, the nawab of Bengal, was indicative of the place of history in both Bengali nationalism and imperial self-identity. Using newspapers in Britain and Bengal and the correspondence of the Clive Memorial Committee, the author examines the competing narratives of history that emerged in the campaigns around the fund.

Ancient Taxila University: Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions

The bell of the world's first university in Taxila has been ringing incessantly. However, concrete evidence and historical impacts are yet to be found. Nevertheless, references to a prestigious educational institution in Taxila are frequently encountered in texts. The Buddhist storytellers of South India have selected distant Taxila as the "University Town" to fulfill the demands of the story. After the decline of Taxila and other Buddhist cities at the hands of Mehrkula in the sixth century A.D., the organization and structuring of Hindu literature began to be carried out with great zeal and enthusiasm. Taxila was presented as an ancient Vedic city through the mythical events of Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Vayu Purana. During the British era, archaeological excavations were carried out in Taxila, but no traces of a Buddhist university or Vedic era were found. When English historians expressed their reservations about Indian history, nationalist Hindu historians became active in glorifying the greatness of ancient India. The mythical Buddhist University was presented as an ancient Vedic university. Characters such as Panini and Chanakya were introduced as teachers. With the resurgence of Hindutva in India, Taxila's Vedic university has also been given a new life. Indian history is being rewritten once again to establish the historical reality of Deva Mala. This article will not only dispel misconceptions about Taxila University but also reveal the fact that the tradition of formulating Vedic doctrine, which began after Christ, continued until the 20th century, and the ancient Taxila University was an important part of this continuum.