FACTS againest MYTHS V0L-IV-3-1997
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- FACTS againest MYTHS V0L-IV-3-1997
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Inventing the Past:
Myths ofAncient Indian History — Part 2
•
^Comment
Standard Indian history is mostly focussed on the lives
of heroes and kings, their greatness or depravity,
depending on the biases of the historian. On the other
hand, the life pattern of majority of people and the
system of social relationship have been overlooked. In a
correctly defined role a historian instead of focussing
wholly on the glories of rulers and kings must
necessarily focuses on the emergence and evolution of
society in a historical perspective, including all aspects
of peoples’ lives.
History as a scientific discipline is constantly under
pressure of interpreting the past under the influence of
present realities. “Historical interpretation can therefore
become a two-way process where the needs of present
are read in to the past and where the image of past is
sought to be imposed on the present. To mention two
recent rather obvious examples, the theory of superior
Aryan race came in as being very useful to Hitler and
Fascists and that of Hindus and Muslims constituting
two separate nations’ was used to justify the creation of
Pakistan” (Romila Thapar, 1975).
While on one hand historiography is adopting more and
more rigorous methods in investigating the past — the
use of archeological evidence, more precise use of
sources e.g. carbon dating, and overcoming the
‘narration of events around the king’ — the
communalists have concocted a new angle of history
as such, and that is ‘faith’, as the determinant of history.
Simply this is a level where historians cannot intervene
except to maintain that belief cannot be considered as
“history” and to firmly restate the historical
interpretation. This is all the more crucial from a
political angle as it indicates that communal forces have
surpassed the limits imposed by logic and‘science and
"
by P.R. Ram
capitalise on the ‘faith’ element for their political
project. This is a marker of not only the ‘success’ of the
communalists in ‘winning over societal consciousness’
towards a communal path but an indication of their
‘success1 in the ‘communalisation of social space’.
This is again a marker of the time that the logical
historical understanding must be re-stated and all-out
efforts to expose the historical myth.
MYTH : Women during the ancient Rg Vedic (Hindu
Aryan) era enjoyed enormous social mobility and
social status and participated actively in Vedic rituals
FACT : This is not wholly correct. Vedic religion
no doubt provided tremendous importance to such
values as the need for complementarity between
husband and wife including the relevance of feminity.
This recognition however was demarcated firmly within
an institutional boundary that was clearly patriarchal. It
was only within this social parameter women were
provided space for themselves. For instance in Vedic
marriage the male (Brahman) must be mature with high
Vedic learning a necessary' prerequisite for occupation.
Women on the other hand were to possess beautiful
fertility, high domestic skills, service and devotion,
and the aesthetics of pleasure.The marriage also
included a prayer to Visvavasu, protector of virgins and
to ensure that the new bride would be a mother of sons;
she was to show no anger or hostility to her husband but
instead tenderness and to be devoted to the gods and be
a queen to her in-laws. While her role, as wife and
mother was esteemed, the husband’s role was dominant.
As the head of the household, he was host of the guests
and gods.
Again in the Rg Veda the daughter (duhita) and maiden
(kanya) were praised for their youth and beauty,
Na. 3, 1997
FACTS against MYTHS
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
Page 1
radiance, appealing adornment, sweet adours, ample
hips, and broad thighs. All this suggests interest in
female sensuality and her child-bearing capacity.
Again, it is true that in the Rg Veda there were women
seers. But the Rg Veda which consists of over a
thousand hymns — of which those related partly or
wholly to women seers are not more than 15 at the most
— that is, approximately one percent. The
representation of women seers is thus evidently
marginal. If this is supposed to prove that women had
access to the construction of prestigious, sacral
traditions, it is not particularly inspiring. Moreover,
post-Vedic tradition highly exaggerated the number of
female ‘rsts* by ascribing the status of rsika to female
figures merely mentioned by name in a hymn Equally
relevant, that while there were women philosophers like
Gargi, women rarely figure as students or teachers in
formal situations of transmitting knowledge.
Textual evidence also show the gulf that existed
between the sexes at the educational level had also
widened. With the increasing importance of a son —
considered the boat that carried his father to heaven —
rituals to prevent the birth of a girl increased and
discriminated against. And as the polarity (sauca) and
impure (asauca) became the norm as a religious
category, women came to be viewed increasingly as
impure during menstruation and pregnancy.
The issue of Vedic education for women became
especially significant in later ages in view of the fact
that knowledge of the Samhita and the ‘vedangcis’ (the
auxiliary branches of learning, such as pronunciation,
meter, grammer, ethymology, astronomy, and
ceremony) defined the status of the Brahmans, who
claimed to be gods on earth (bhudevata) and the highest
caste (varna) in the social order. Along with elaborate
ritualisms, knowledge (jnana) became the religious
idiom of the Brahmans and, by extension, of others
who were dependent for religious leadership on the
expertise of Brahman men as priests and exegetes.
Although the Brahman caste prided itself- on learning,
yet Brahman women were by and large without
extensive learning in the post Brahmana age. Moreover,
anyone without at least some Sanskrit learning was
viewed as ‘asamskrta’, that is, as positively uncultured.
The extreme of being uncultured was represented by
Shudras who were thought to be ‘avaidika’ (without
knowledge of Veda and vedanga). As such Shudras
were denied access to Vedic ritual. If Brahman women
were not learned (pandita), were they not like the
Shudras?
Since chastity and purity became a substitute for
knowledge and this in turn led to a view that women
were ignorant and incapable, even if chaste and
honoured. On one hand this led to the belief that yeomen
FACTS against MYTHS
are, especially during menstruation and childbirth, a
source of pollution as great as that associated with
untouchables, and hence of comparable social worth; on
the other hand, it has led to their veneration as pure
being whose condition reflects on the honour and
status of their menfolk. These two beliefs, though
apparently resulting in quite contrary evaluation of
women, share in common the social concomitant of
male control. Whereas the impure woman is believed to
be dangerous, with a destructive yet potentially creative.
capability, the pure woman is believed to be herself in
danger and hence in need of protection (male control).
Again,according to the ‘Manusmrirtis’ women were
denied access to ‘upanayana’ or initiation. However, an
attempt to systematize the situation substitutes were
suggested: for women, marriage was considered as
equivalent to the initiation of the male, serving the
husband was equated with the period of studentship, and
the performance of household duties was identified with
the worship of the sacred fire. This means that any non-j
domestic activity was viewed as unwomanly or
un wifely.
They were to be under control of the father, husband or
son depending on the stage of their life, and even in her
own house she was not supposed to do anything
independently. She was regarded as the ‘property’ of
her protectors, and irrespective of the qualities of her
husband was supposed to worship him, while the man
was free to abandon her if she was diseased or on some
such pretext.
The scriptural text, the Manusmriti. equated the womb
to the field in which men sow seed and so the ‘produce’
is his, as the ‘field is owned by the man'. “What
emerges then is that both in Vedic traditions and in
Manusmriti, the relationship between men and women
was structured in terms of inequality!” (Kumkum
Roy). Women’s participation in the religious rituals was
sanctioned, buf again as subordinate being. It was the
man Yajaman (the host), who commissioned the priest
for rituals, and logically the word Yajaman has no
feminine equivalent. Though his wife was required to
participate in the rituals, there were provisions for
continuing these even in her absence, and also for
obtaining another wife. Roy further observes that their
participation in these rituals was meant.to give them a
message that “women were instrumental but not in
control of procreation, that they were ideally
possessions rather than owners and-that their
subordination was divinely ordained”. This notion of
‘ideal subservient wife’ was thus systematically
developed in Manusmriti(MS). The wife was expected
to the thrifty (MS, V 149) to obey her husband in life
and death even if he was devoid of qualities (MS V 151,
154), and to observe Celibacy after his death (MS V
,>160), wives were to be protected (by domesticating
Na. 3,1997
Page 2
them) and were imbued with the belief that this was in
their own good (M S IX 6-12), disobedient women were
threatened with dire consequences in both present and
subsequent births (MSV 164), and husband had a
unquestioning right to beat his wife (MS VIII. 371).
Sanskrit that he was accepted as a Hindu, inspite of the
Shastric injunction.They sent him the ‘janeau’ and
Gangajal saying that he was not only a Hindu but a
Brahmin. He reciprocated by adopting the Sanscritic
name Moksha Mula.
“The only category of women who had a large measure
of what were regarded by law books as ‘normal’
activities of a woman, and became either Buddhist nuns
or joined the theatrical profession or became courtesans
and prostitutes” (Thapar. History, page 152).
Moreover, these European scholars viewed Indian
thought as an historical discipline frozen in time,
divided up into so many distinct and compartmentalised
“schools” (Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya. Vaisesika,
Mimansa, Vedanta, etc) each with their own inner logic
and epistemological and ontological systems, but all
attempting, in their own way, to obscure the materiality
of life.
Thus even in Vedic times subordinate position of
women was a norm. By the time of Manusmritis it got
codified and worsened, much before the so-called
‘foreign invaders’ forced the ‘Hindu males’ to keep
them chained in the presincts of the four walls. Though
there were ‘few’ woinen ‘seers’ also who contributed td
ancient scriptures, their number is insignificant. Thus,
^overall, the situation of women was abysmelly very
Row; al best subsidiary. “A widow had to perform a
symbolic self-immolation at the death of her husband. It
may have beep the origin of sati when in later centuries
a widow actually burnt herself on her husband’s funeral
pyre” (Thapar - 65).
MYTH : Indian culture is inherently spiritual. Ancient
Indian society was a glorious civilisation, ruled by noble
kings, and people lived in perfect harmony.
FACT : This is a figmentation of the British colonialists
including Indology a field of study that had emerged
during this period equating Indian philosophy, through
design and ignorance, with religion, mysticism and
spirituality. It viewed Indian philosophy to be
synonymous with abstract wisdom devoid of its
historical context and social relevance; that it had
'nothing to with the materiality of life as it exists —
that materiality should neither be the object of study for
philosophy nor can it in any way be affected by it. That
is, an interpretation which held that Indians had always
been in contemplation over the problems of
metaphysics and philosophical speculation and were
least bothered with trivial and mundane matters like the
travails of daily life, etc. This merely helped in diverting
the attention from the burning issues of the time r— the
concerns for industrialisation, technological progress
and, above all, the struggle for freedom. This was how
Indologists and Orientalists like William Jones,
Colebrooke, Max Muller, Monier-Williams and others
had characterised Indian philosophy. Ill at ease with the
changes wrought by rapid industrialisation they found a
utopia in India and looked for their own identity in it.
Muller who had never visited India spoke glowingly of
the unchanging Indian village communities. Brahmin
pundits were so enamoured by his prowess over
Paradoxically, however, this outlook was lapped up
uncritically by even the Indian ruling elite and in
exactly the same spirit.
Progressive Indian thinkers.however, like Prof. D.
Krishna, Prof. B.K.Matilal and above all .Prof.
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya fought hard to debunk this
thesis of “spirituality”, etc.
There were also Hindu nationalists who harked back to
“our ancient glorious past” presenting rosy theories
(supposedly founded on Indian traditional thought and
religious beliefs) which they then sought to implant on
Indian reality. To this section such a spurious outlook
serves as a convenient ideological tool to reinforce their
own belief of being the repository of this spirituality, to
reincarnate the theme of Satyug (Age of Truth) in the
past and present Kaliyug (Dark Age). It held that in
Satyug this great land had existed in peaceful harmony.
its people led a innocent, simple virtuous life and the
land produced wealth in abundance.
The nationalist movement also witnessed the emergence
of a section of the intelligentsia who were deeply
concerned with man's relations with man. Indeed,
leading personalities of the time like Mohammad Iqbal.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vivekananda and Aurobindo
Ghosh had speculated on philosophical questions in the
context of the anti-colonial struggles, but had, to
varying degrees, similar conceptions about the need for
the people to be led by leaders who were more
competent by virtue of having attained a higher degree
of self-realisation and self-control. This was but a
spiritual version of Edmund Burke’s (or Thomas
Jefferson’s) Theory of Trusteeship, in which those who
were economically priveleged had a natural advantage
in governance over those who were not.
Contrary to this claim ‘there was no original Golden
Age of mankind outside the imagination of later poets
and priests’ (Kosambi, 1992). Basing himself on new
archaeological evidence and historical sources
Kosaihbi stated that ‘nowhere is any evidence found of
FACTS against MYTHS -^>^7 v..■
Ma. 3,1977
Page 3
writings of the poet and dramatist, Kalidasa, the
composition of some of the Puranas, and in the coins
and inscriptions which indicate that the Gupta kings
patronised the two Brahmanical sects, Vaishnavism and
Shaivism. However, the works of Kalidasa merely
imply a further development of the literary forms arid
styles which were evolving in the earlier period. The
Puranas,for instance, had existed much before the time
of the Guptas in the.form of bardic literature. In the
However, “the evidence of Vedic literature in itself Gupta period they were finally collated, compiled and
points to a community concerned with mundane things given their present form. Still further, these
of everyday life. Perhaps the most authentic comment developments were reaching great heights., even in the
on Indian spirituality comes from Hindu tradition itself earlier Kushan empire (first to fourth centuries). The
viz., the four aims of man — dharma, artha, ka’ma, archaeological evidence is certainly much stronger for
moksha (duty, money, passion and spiritual liberation) the Kushan cities. It is also during the Kushan period
that we have well-struck uniform gold coins coming
(Thapar, 1994).
into currency, and these have been found to reach as far
•as Rome, indicating a much more extensive trade.
MYTH : The Gupta Empire was the Golden Age of
Indian History and Hindu renaissance which reached its
zenith during the reign of the nationalist, Emperor This myth permeates most standard works on Indian
history. The crowning glory of the Gupta sculpture for
Samudragupta the Great.
instance are the Buddhist images from Sarnat; the best
contemporary paintings from Ajantha have Buddhist
FACT : Not so! This period (350-500 AD) indeed themes. These were all Buddhist creations! Progress in
witnessed dynamic changes in scientific achievements astronomical knowledge as represented in the writings
which were partly indigenous and partly cosmopolitan of Aryabhata and Varahamihira owed, only in part, to
— as represented in the earlier tradition of Charvaka indigenous tradition. One of the five astronomical
and Sushruta, of Aryabhatta and the later tradition of systems dealt with by Varahamihira was the
Varahmihira. However, D.N. Jha (1995) reveals that the Roniakasidhanla, which evidently referred to the
most important evidence for this myth is’ based on the Roman system;another the Paulishusidhanta is
a lost Golden Age. an age of pristine glory. Man did
not progress uniformly or steadily ; but he did progress
on the whole, from a fairly inefficient animal to a tool
making and tool-using creature who dominated the
whole planet far from being healthier (earlier man,
added) suffered even more than we do from parasites
and crippling illness that shortened his life”. (Kosambi,
1992).
The prosperity of the Kushan period is symbolised by the woman bedecked in jewellery as she sips her wine, and the pot-bellied god of wealth, Kuber.
Both testify also to the sculptor’s art in Kushan times
Courtesy: Commet Project, Media.
FACTS against MYTHS.
No. 3,1997
Page 4
explained as a recollection of the name of the
classical astronomer Paul of Alexandria.2"
The Gupta rulers, with the exception of the ‘ignoble’
Ramagupta, are also credited with a revival of
‘nationalism presumably because they fought against
the Shakas and the Huns. According to Prof. Kesavan
Vcluthat of Mangalore University the only positive
evidence of any direct engagement which the Guptas
had with the Hunas comes from the fragmentary play,
Devichand'raguptam, where Ramgupta is shown to have
been defeated by them and also nearly surrendered his
queen Dhruvadevi to them! No extant court drama or
Sanskrit poetical work directly refers to any Gupta ruler.
The only contemporary reference to them is found in the
Puranas. which contemptuously associate them with
petty kings described as barbarous (mlechchhapraya),
impious, dishonest (or liars), ...”. The inordinate praise’
showered on the Guptas is found in their own
inscriptions! Samudragupta’s eulogy being the
£>ngest.
Following the decline of their empire the Guptas were
forgotten. Their memory was however revived in the
19th century when their records were deciphered. The
documents were seized upon by nationalist Indian
scholars who used them, justifiably, to counter the racist
commentaries of the British imperialists. For instance,
that “India has no history, except conquest by a
continuous succession of foreign invaders”.. This
reaction was of course in contrast to some nationalists
who lapped up the European Orientalist writings which
projected the Aryan Vedic heritage of the Indian people
as the pinnacle of human civilisation.
Some Indian historians have been so inordinately
enamoured by the Guptas that they parrot incessantly
that the Gupta era represented a “Golden Age” of Indian
history. However, it was during their rein that in certain
Aarts of the country serfdom appeared leading
eventually to the .economic bondage .of the peasantry.
Women became an item of property, and came to live in
constant tutelage of man, notwithstanding their
idealisation iq art and literature. Caste distinctions and
caste rigidity sharpened ever before; law and justice
showed a definite bias in favour of the higher caste. The
Chinese Buddhist pilgrim-scholar, Fa-hsien, who visited
India during the reign of Chandragupta II recorded that
the upper classes were happy and prosperous, and lived
in comfort in total contrast to the lower orders e.g. the
Chandalas.
The claim of religious renaissance during this period is
also incorrect. The incredible popularity of Vaishnavism
and Shavism referred to in this myth is not due to any
form of a religious resurgence. Their basic tenets go
back, again, to earlier times but in the context of the
rising feudal conditions they could attract a greater
FACTS against MYTHS
following.
The use of the term “Hindu” is equally mis-placed.
Inhabitants of Ancient India never referred to
themselves as “Hindus”. The terms has its own history
(see below for further elaboration). The much bandied
about claim of a “Hindu renaissance” was in reality not
a renaissance much less a Hindu one.
Finally, “In spite of emphasis on non-violence as
essential to the best Hindu traditions, the glorification of
Samudragupta is largely based on his prowess as a
military conqueror” (Thapar, 1992).
MYTH : Period from 3-4 millennium B.C. to 1200
A.D. is the Hindu period ofIndian History.
Why is the Gupta Period singled out
as a Golden Age?
For any period to be marked out in this way
from its historical context, there has to be a
reason. The speculation is that the Kushans
were left out because they were pagans., later
converts to Buddhism.
Though their empire extended right upto Kashi
and they had been here for centuries, the
Kushans were still considered mlechhas,
unclean foreigners because of their origins
beyond the Northwestern mountain passes
(others with a similar address, the so-called
Aryans, did not, of course, have to suffer this
disability). The Guptas, by contrast were selfproclaimed protectors of brahmins and cows
and worshippers of Shiva and Vishnu.
The awarding of such titles thus has little to do
with history and more to do with the prejudices
of the present. There are other such examples
- Renaissance Europe, seeing its origins in
ancient Greece, labelled it a Golden Age.
FACT : This periodisation of Indian History is based on
the work of the British historian, J.S. Mill (1777-1836),
a Utilitarian, in his 3-Volume ‘History of British India’
meant for British officers posted in India. Mill divided
Indian History into three civilisational periods — (a)
Hindu civilisation (b) Muslim civilisation and (c)
British civilisation. The roots of communal bias in
Indian historiography were thus implanted. The
periodisation encouraged the reading of the Medieval
’ Muslim’ period as either the confrontation between, or
Na. 3, 1997
Page 5
the adjustment of, these two major communities. There
was a tendency to project each as a monolith with clearcut identities and demarcations.
Brainha Dharma,etc.
In the second periodisation. if Muslim rule marks the
beginning of medievalism several contemporary West
Asian countries as well as Pakistan and Indonesia will
have to be bracketed in the medieval age.
Furthermore, while the first two periods have religion as
their basis the third period is based on a geographical
entity not on its religion,Christianity. Nor is it
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wP
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Penguin, Delhi. 1965,
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unified religion”. (Thapar 1*992) In the earlier periods
the terms used were Vedic Dharma. Shroutaciharma,'
SACjTSagainst MYTHS
Page 6
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1. Neither Mohenjo-daro nor Harappa is located on the now-dry Sarasvati, nor
Lothal, Dholavir, Surkotada or Chanhu-daro, Many Harappan sites are known in
Kutch and in Sind, with a few in Kathiawad. True, the largest number of known
sites clusters on the lowest reaches of the Sarasvati system, in Pakistan. But it is
a matter of common sense that mounds of ancient sites have a much .higher
chance of survival, of not being washed away or ploughed over, if they locate on
a river system that has been defunct for centuries, rather than on the banks of a
swift river like the Indus. So the Harappan is not entirely a civilisation of the
Sarasvati system. Apropos the drying of the river system, it needs to be said that
the upper reaches of the tributaries, in Haryana, carry water to this day. Only
guide books and crammers would attribute the demise of the complex socialeconomic system that constitutes the Harappan civilisation to the drying of a
river, the latter wrongly understood as an event.
FACTS against MYTHS
Na. 3, 1997 Page 7
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Acknowledgement: We are most greatfi'l to P.R. Ram for preparing this issue.
FACTS Agonist MYTHS is a monthly
bulletin of factual information on a number
of development myths and fallacies, etc.
including information against alien
development models, paradigms and false
concepts on caste, creed and gender.
Pnidut'cd und Published by:
e
VIKAS ADHYAYAN KENDRA (VAK)
D* I, Shivdham. 62, Link Road.
Mal;ul (W). Mumbai * 400 064.
Tel.: 882 2850 and 889 8662
Fax: 91-22-889 8941
e-mail: admin&'VAK.ilbom.emei.in
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O A&M PVT. LTD.
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