| Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History Revised Edition Contributor(s): Thapar, Romila (Author) |
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ISBN: 1844670201 ISBN-13: 9781844670208 Publisher: Verso OUR PRICE: $22.50 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2005 Annotation: In 1026, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni raided the Hindu temple of Somanatha (Somnath in textbooks of the colonial period). The story of the raid has reverberated in Indian history, but largely during the raj. It was first depicted as a trauma for the Hindu population not in India, but in the House of Commons. The triumphalist accounts of the event in Turko-Persian chronicles became the main source for most eighteenth-century historians. It suited everyone and helped the British to divide and rule a multi-millioned subcontinent. In her new book, Romila Thapar, the doyenne of Indian historians, reconstructs what took place by studying other sources, including local Sanskrit inscriptions, biographies of kings and merchants of the period, court epics and popular narratives that have survived. The result is astounding and undermines the traditional version of what took place. What makes her findings explosive is the fact that the current Hindu nationalist regime in India constantly utilizes a particular version of history to further its aims. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Asia - India & South Asia - History | Europe - Medieval |
| Dewey: 954 |
| LCCN: 2004020254 |
| Physical Information: 1.1" H x 5.58" W x 8.78" (1.04 lbs) 265 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Medieval (500-1453) - Cultural Region - Indian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In 1026, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni raided the Hindu temple of Somanatha (Somnath in textbooks of the colonial period). The story of the raid has reverberated in Indian history, but largely during the raj. It was first depicted as a trauma for the Hindu population not in India, but in the House of Commons. The triumphalist accounts of the event in Turko-Persian chronicles became the main source for most eighteenth-century historians. It suited everyone and helped the British to divide and rule a multi-millioned subcontinent. In her new book, Romila Thapar, the doyenne of Indian historians, reconstructs what took place by studying other sources, including local Sanskrit inscriptions, biographies of kings and merchants of the period, court epics and popular narratives that have survived. The result is astounding and undermines the traditional version of what took place. These findings also contest the current Hindu religious nationalism that constantly utilises the conventional version of this history. |