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Interview with Audrey Truschke, author of India: 5000 Years of History
Ever since she wrote Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth, scholars and lovers of history have looked forward to reading Audrey Truschke, the U.S.-based historian who often presents a fresh perspective on Indian history. Her latest book, India: 5000 Years of History on the Subcontinent, offers a panoramic view of subcontinental history, from early signs of life to the 21st century, documenting the most important political, social, religious, intellectual, and cultural events. Edited excerpts from an interview.
Who were the early inhabitants of India? Did our history start with the Indus Valley Civilisation?
The first human beings set foot on the Indian subcontinent around 120,000 years ago, and the first humans from whom any modern Indians are descended entered India roughly 65,000 years ago. We know precious little about these early Indians, except that they were migrants. The Indus Valley Civilisation marks the beginning of urban life in India, although only for a few. Even at the height of the Indus Civilisation, most of the subcontinent's inhabitants lived in rural areas.
Wasn't the Indus Valley Civilisation a precursor to modern-day Hinduism?
In a word: No. There are many ways of conceptualising the roots of Hinduism, and ultimately the religion has multiple origin points. But there is no compelling evidence that pitches the Indus Valley Civilisation as among the progenitor points for Hindu practices or beliefs. On the contrary, the earliest traces of anything we might call Hinduism today come with the Vedic migrants (also known as the 'Aryans,' although I shy away from this term in my book to avoid confusion). The Vedic migrants entered into the northwest of the subcontinent a few centuries after the Indus Civilisation declined, bringing with them a host of ideas about ritual and sacrifice as well as a language that developed into Sanskrit.
Women were forbidden from listening to the Vedas in ancient India. They were denied formal education. Did this discrimination cut across barriers of caste and religion?
Discrimination is rarely absolute, and we have many cases of women who gained an education, even fluency in Sanskrit, despite prohibitions articulated by upper-caste men. Also, those who revere the Vedas were not the only religious group that populated premodern India. For instance, I draw on women's voices to reconstruct the history of early Indian Buddhists, who did not participate in the gender restrictions of their Vedic counterparts.
You have written about Xuanzang studying at Nalanda in the 7th century. We have read conflicting accounts of the destruction of Nalanda in later years. What was the reality?
There is no clear evidence that Nalanda was targeted by the Delhi Sultanate raids, which definitely impacted other Buddhist monasteries in the region. If Nalanda was hit, it recovered. We have records of Buddhist monks residing and studying at Nalanda through the late 13th century.
Historians have not always evaluated the important role played by the Panchatantra stories as an export of Indian culture. What made you appreciate its contribution?
I have spent a significant portion of my adult life reading premodern Sanskrit texts, which has given me a robust appreciation for the tradition's literary and historical value. That includes the Panchatantra. Also, the Panchatantra stories proved notably popular, in various translations, in the premodern Persian-speaking world, which has come up in my prior research. Last, McComas Taylor's 2007 book, The Fall of the Indigo Jackal, on the Panchatantra is excellent, and I found it helpful for thinking about the story collection's cultural specificity.
The Cholas conquered parts of Sri Lanka and exerted influence in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. Why then are they denied their rightful place among the strongest rulers in the subcontinent's history?
In my view, the Cholas get their due in most South Asian history books and certainly in mine (in contrast, I give the Guptas less attention for reasons I explain in the book). Still, I would urge those interested in thinking about questioning standard narratives of South Asian history to ask: Why are we so concerned with kings? Whose stories do we miss when we focus on the few who exercised political power? In my chapter on the Cholas, for instance, I also detail the influence of Tamil traders and the accomplishments of artisans of the period.
Coming to medieval India, what is your reading of Shivaji?
In my book, I present Shivaji as a Shudra king who wanted to be Kshatriya to claim a certain kind of Indian kingship. [There's a school which believes he was indeed a Kshatriya.] Notably, Shivaji was not the only Shudra king of his era, and I also discuss the Nayaka rulers of southern India who did not try to become a different caste but instead pursued other ways of articulating power as Shudra rulers.
History, as you say, is full of sad stories. What were the silver linings you discovered about Indian history?
Indian history is full of human striving that created a wide range of social, political, cultural, intellectual, and religious possibilities. These days, many people do not take pride in the exquisite diversity within the Indian past, and that is a real shame. Indian history is, indeed, full of sad stories, but it is full of other kinds of stories as well. I strive to value and honour them all through an unvarnished telling of the incredible range of humanity and human experiences that comprise Indian history.
India: 5000 Years of History on the Subcontinent Audrey Truschke Princeton University Press ₹1,299
