THE LOSS OF HINDUSTAN
The Invention of India
by Manan Ahmed Asif
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
336 pages
In pre-colonial Persian works of different genres, India was often referred to as Hindustan, but the word Hindustan almost always existed as a compound phrase: Hindustan Jannat Nishan, or “Hindustan the sign of heaven on earth”. This Hindustan Jannat Nishan was celebrated in chronicles, histories, poetic compilations in Persian and other vernacular languages. These works extolled its climate, produce, diversity and culture. However, this Hindustan, the beloved of pre-colonial histories, has disappeared from modern Indian history writing and been replaced by the idea of India, and, more commonly in the popular imagination, as “a thousand years of Muslim tyranny and destruction”. How did this come about? In investigating this problematic idea, Manan Ahmed Asif has written a book, not just about those chronicles but also a genealogy of how history has come to be written in modern India.
This story is from the November 30, 2020 edition of India Today.
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This story is from the November 30, 2020 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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