Hindustan Times’ Incomplete Report on the RSS
On 22 September 2014, this report from Hindustan Times speaks of the RSS’s new found agenda of absorbing Dalits into the larger Hindu fold by rewriting history. The report goes on to mention how following the More...
State of intellectuals in Contemporary India
Who is an intellectual? The renowned economist Fredrick Hayek defined intellectuals as persons who transmit the ideas of specialized scientists to the general population.This definition included “journalists, More...
Bipan Chandra: When Party Line becomes History
It is wise and polite to follow the adage De mortuis nil nisi bonum meaning, “of the dead speak only good.” I believe that is the reason fulsome praises were heaped upon historian Bipan Chandra who passed away More...
Mainstream scholarship in Hinduism: Challenges and solutions
I accept the following: 1. There has been, and continues to be, a deep antipathy against Hinduism amongst the academics, and those who occupy the intellectual space. This exists particularly in the departments More...
Hindu law and jurisprudence: a Primer
This piece is intended to demonstrate that Hindu or Brahmanic law is rooted in popular convention and practice. While it is a high textual tradition, it incorporates divergent folk tradition. Hindu law was never More...
Decline & Fall of the Hindu Civilization in Cambodia
Cambodian history illustrates the interplay of economics and ideology in defining the fate of a nation. A vibrant South East Asian empire that selectively adopted Indian civilizational norms and institutions expanded More...
Collapse of dynasties–a Congress case study
This writer has recently been studying the subject of how empires, regimes and dynasties have collapsed in different parts of the world and in different ages. This is truly a Herculean task and has attracted the More...
Interview with Koenraad Elst on Ayodhya
We step into the 22nd year of the Babri Masjid demolition, an event that changed the course of Indian politics definitively. Yet, for an event of this magnitude, still so fresh in recent memory, we still notice More...
A Short History of Indian Mercantilism
The history of South India is one of a vibrant and dynamic mercantilism. I would highlight just one example out of several i.e. the international trade carried out by south Indian merchants from 650 to 1250 CE. More...
Tracing India’s Constitutional History: Part 2
In the last part, we understood that Dharma was the supreme authority and even the king was subservient to the dictates of Dharma. However, in most circumstances, the king did not have any legislative powers and More...