The Indian Heritage

THE INDIAN HERITAGE INTRODUCTION 1. It may well be claimed that India is the only living civilisation that has its roots going far into the history (or pre-history). That is not to say that it has been some kind of static continuity but an amalgamation of various influences which while retaining its distinct flavour has enriched the tradition. This makes it all the more difficult to lay our hand on with certainty, the unique traits of this great civilisation. Some may even question (may be justifiably so) the greatness that is being alluded to considering the events of the recent history. But even in these despairing years the uniqueness of its people and its outlook is almost visible should we take care to investigate behind the appearances. We would endeavour to highlight the traits that have helped us to preserve our tradition and at the same time accommodated the differences, allowing them space to develop freely. In so doing we have successfully navigated through the storms of changes and upheaval. It is in this unique strength that there may be a hope for us as these are times of colossal changes in the world. 2. One of the challenges is to understand what we mean by an Indian Identity for in understanding of this that we can come across our unique strengths and our fallings which have shaped the present day India and in it may lie the panacea of the ills afflicting the modern times. One of the features of our times is the marked rise in fundamentalism and terrorism which has divided the world. Added to this is the poverty or lack of equitable distribution of wealth and the greed (enormous consumption of the rich society) which all agree, has resulted in environmental degradation and current economic meltdown. AIM 3.

The aim is to understand the Indian heritage and its unique strength. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

ANCIENT INDIA 4. Pre-history and Indus Valley. History is a record of community life based on facts and thus differs from legends. In the Indian context, it is well known that the various parts of the country were inhabited by people, five hundred thousand years ago, but the only traces they have left behind are the stones and cave paintings. Numbers of racial groups had immigrated to India in various periods of time and it would be reasonable to infer that the development would have been gradual, with each new group bringing along its knowledge skill and resources. Closer to our times, Indus valley civilisation which flourished about 3500 BC and lasted for almost 1500 years, marks an outstanding example of an advanced town planning. Much of the evidence is from the excavations in Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Alas the script unlike the Egyptian

2 has not yet been deciphered. What is known for sure is that these were pre Aryan and was a prosperous trading community. 5. The Aryans . Aryans a derivative of the sanskrit word for noble, seem to have come from north west. The oldest book – the Rigveda – gives a clue to their origin and early history. The famous historian RC Majumdar states that the generally accepted view is that the forefathers lived as a common stock with the Greeks and others known as Indo-Europeans. Rigvedas was supposed to be composed around 2000 BC and by 800 BC they had colonised the indo – gangetic planes and whole of north India and later spread over to Deccan. The Aryans seem to be fun loving, ate meat and drank soma. They also bequeathed Vedas the oldest and sublime literary work which has been looked upon by the Hindus as a sacred revealed world of God. One of the features is the participation of wife in religious worship who was held in high regard. Varna or the caste system also formed an essential part of there society. This would be dealt in greater detail later. 6. The Maurya Empire and Deccan. Chandragupta rose from a humble beginning (probably a lower caste) and because of his military genius and the help of Chanakya dove the Greeks from Punjab and Sindh and thereafter overthrew Nanda to ascend the throne of Magdha by about 322 BC. The Maurya Empire was the first all India kingdom. Ashoka the famous king who had a change of heart after the battle of Kalinga belongs to this dynasty. He was a patron of Buddhism as Chandragupta was of the Jains. Buddhism and its spread owe a lot to Ashoka. In all ten kings ruled till 184 BC. Pushyamitra the commander in chief of the last Mauryan king usurped the throne and founded Sunga dynasty which ruled for 112 years till 73 BC. Then came the two foreign tribes Saka and Kushans. The Kushan Empire came to an end in second century AD. Kanishka was a great emperor of this dynasty who converted to Buddhism. The political disintegration starting from 150 BC to 350 AD saw lot of foreign invasions. During this long period Satavahans from the Deccan rose to prominence. The far south was divided into few independent states the prominent amonst them being Cholas, Cheras and the Pandayas. 7. The Gupta age. India was once more politically united by the powerful dynasty known as Guptas. Chandragupta the third king shifted his capital to Pataliputra and his succession in 320 AD marked the new era. The greatness of the empire remained till 468 AD. It gradually disintegrated under the pressure of the barbarous tribe of Huns. Samudragupta and Vikramaditya are the prominent Kings and the famous poet Kalidas graced the court of the latter. The Gupta age was one of the most brilliant period. It witnessed a resurgence of intellectual activity manifested in various forms. Fa-hien, a Chinese, visited India during the reign of Vikramaditya and left interesting account of the country.

3 8. Review and Retrospect. The Himalayas in the north and the seas makes India a well defined geographical unit. The spread of Aryan culture would have been aided by the great political unity forged by the Mauryan dynasty. But such integration was of short duration and soon became a thing of past, though theoretical conception of India as a geographical and cultural unit was never altogether absent, for we find it echoed in literary works. There was no sign of a popular impulse to political or national integration. The barriers of language, economic interests, social and cultural differences, have come in the way of national unity, though it is neither unexpected nor unnatural. India has every reason to feel proud as regards the developments in religion, philosophy, art, literature, social and political institutions, moral and spiritual life, material progress indicated by trade, industry and commerce leading to accumulation of wealth, a high standard of living without its accompanying evil, namely miserable condition of the masses, and above all, a spirit of toleration and assimilation which allowed all types of religion to flourish without hindrance and absorbed millions of foreign people from Europe and different parts of Asia into her society. 9. But this bright picture is marred by a few black spots and the one that stands out is the caste system. It was known by the name of varn ashram and seems to have been pervasive and found the sanction from scriptures. It may not have been as rigid in the beginning but we find Buddhism and Jainism standing up in revolt to the orthodoxy as early as 500 BC. There are notable exceptions and we have the evidence of a Vedic seer born out of wedlock and hence belonging to the lowest rung of the caste. So is the case of Nanda dynasty who were Sudra, the Mauryas and the Guptas who heralded the golden period of Indian history were Vashiyas. But on the whole it would be fair to say that it retarded progress and led to superstition and bigotry which was one of the contributing factors to the downfall. 10. The second is the gradual growth of narrow spirit of self- adulation which made Indians feel they were superior to the rest of the mankind and averse to gain knowledge of the outside world. It is no coincidence that while we have accounts of India written by Greeks, Romans, Arabic and Chinese travellers to India, we have no record about any foreign country written by an Indian. Hindus also showed a lamentable lack of interest in writing their own history. They had to pay dearly for this folly, for they were kept ignorant of their glorious past. The caste distinctions stood in the way of national or political solidarity. Ignorance of foreign countries made the Hindus an easy prey to foreign invasions as they were usually ignorant of the latest developments in the art of warfare. The brave Rajput Rana had to fight with spear and sword against Babur’s artillery. MEDIEVAL INDIA 11. Muslim Invasion and Turks. The Muslim conquest of India is an epoch making event and the most important episode in the history of India since the invasion of Aryans. It began with the incursions of Gazani & Ghouri but it was Qutd-ud-din who founded the Slave Dynasty in twelfth century AD. This was followed by khalji dynasty of whom Ala-ud-din Khalji was the most prominent ruler. His death in 1316 AD led to a period of anarchy which was a result of his ruthless rule. Ghayas-ud-din Tughluq ascended the throne in 1320 AD. His son Muhammad Tughluq was one of the most eccentric rulers. The invasion of Timur led dealt a death blow to Turkish rule and

4 founding of Lodhi dynasty in 1451 AD. Ibrahim Lodhi and his defeat in 1526 led to the Mughal rule in India. 12. The Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire founded by Babur in AD 1526 reached its zenith during the reign of King Akbar. He co-opted the Rajputs with the exception of Rana Pratap and established a great Empire founded on sound organisation and administration. He was a catholic ruler and had thirst for knowledge. The kingdom under him was as prosperous as Great Britan and achieved a high degree of excellance in fine arts. Archetecture during Mughal rule and especially in the reign of Shahjahan became proverbial. The decline of the Mughal rule started with death of Aurangzeb (1696) and came to an end in AD 1857 after the Sepoy Mutiny. This period also saw the rise of Marathas whose founder Shivaji is a well known figure and they contributed to the fall of Mughals. BRITISH COLONIAL RULE 13. European Trading Companies. The opening of the direct sea route by Vasco da Gama led to European trade with India. Though started by the Portuguese it was the French and the British who seized on the opportunity. But the foundation of later day colonial rule was probably laid by Dupleix, the French Governor of Pondicherry who discovered two Indian traits which were more important from the Indian point of view than the discovery of Vasco da Gama. He noticed the utter inefficiency of Indian armies and boldly conceived the idea that a handful of Indian soldiers, disciplined in the European fashion, would be more than a match for the vast undisciplined hordes of Indian rulers. He further observed the instability of political dynasties in India and constant struggles between Indian rulers. His theory was put to test after the French had captured Madras from the British and the Nawab of Carnatic sent an force of 10,000 strong to recapture Madras. Dupliex with 500 men completely routed them. He tested his second theory when the Nizam Asaf Jah of Hyderabad died. Dupleix helped the rival candidate in the struggle of succession who, appointed Dupleix the Governer of all the Mughal territories south of the Krishna river and ceded Masulipattanam and its dependencies to French. 14. British Supremacy. Robert Clive pursued the same policy and in support of rival claimant, defeated Chanda Sahib, the Nawab of Carnatic, with a small force. This raised the power and prestige of the British in Decan where the French had hitherto wielded great power. He pursued the same policy in Bengal and won the battle of Plassey with the help of the well known treachery of Mir Jaffar which was the starting point of the British Empire. This period of history is relatively well known and hence we can now explore the question of Indian Identity. IDENTITY AND PLURALISM 11. Pluralism and Indian Culture. Let us now dwell on the issue of Identity and Pluralism which may be India’s greatest strength and the key to an unbroken tradition to this day. This may also have significance as far as fundamentalism is concerned which we will explore later. Some naively argue that Indian identity is a Hindu identity as

5 majority religion is Hinduism. Hinduism is a way of life and a process and has never been, as Dr Radhakrishnan points out ‘a uniform, stationary, unalterable belief or practice’. Historically (around 500BC) two great religions namely Buddhism and Jainism arose in revolt to the authority of Vedas which was a core Aryan belief and considered as words of God. Even the Rig-Veda which is perhaps the oldest, states explicitly that there are many paths to God. The Charvaks and Lokayats were confirmed atheists and there is not much similarity between the other schools of philosophy. What could be common between those swearing by Kamsutra and others who emphasised a chaste approach to divine? Yet it is well known that a diversity of cultures and religions flourished alongside due to tolerance or more appropriately acceptance of others creed. This unique Indian strength helped Jews, Parsees and Christians to settle in this country. 12. During the medieval period the Bhakti movement sprang up as a voice of reason against orthodoxy and caste system. It held popular appeal and found favour with the masses. Sufi movement in Islam also found a suitable climate to flourish and was enriched by its contact with the other religious movements. All this goes to show that acceptance of others was a unique strength which helped to assimilate the various streams into the Indian mainstream. 13. Identity therefore, as Dr Amartya Sen points out, is a matter of choice. In fact the sages felt that they belonged to Humanity as a whole (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). It is the narrow view of identity that leads to conflict. Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet and Nobel Laureate, was opposed to exclusive notions of nationalism for this reason. While one could be proud of the Nation we should not be exclusive in not accepting new and progressive ideas in any field be it science and technology or social and cultural spheres. Fundamentalism may be a reaction to perceived threat to its identity. 14. Fundamentalism. There could be many causes to fundamentalism and some of it could be solely due to economic or political considerations. But what concerns us here is the rich Indian tradition of dialogue and scepticism (which promoted enquiry) as an antidote to this malady. But before we proceed further let us elaborate on how narrow views on identity could be the grounds for the rise of fundamentalism. 15. Identity and Fundamentalism. There has been a strong tendency to classify people according to religion. The clash of civilization divides the world into Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist & western civilisation giving little room for a wholesome view of the aspirations of the people. We have already seen how to view India a Hindu civilisation is not only factually incorrect, but also unjust to its rich cultural and traditional Heritage. It has a Muslim population which is higher than some of the Islamic countries and second only to Indonesia. The noted Economist Amartya Sen rightly states that “many conflicts and barbarities in the world are sustained through illusion of a unique and choice less identity.” He further states that “I can be, at the same time, an Asian, an Indian citizen, a Bengali with Bangladeshi ancestry, an American or British resident, an economist, a dabbler in philosophy, an author, a Sanskritist, a strong believer in secularism and democracy, a man, a feminist, a heterosexual, a defender of gay and lesbian rights, with a non believer lifestyle, from a Hindu background, a non Brahmin, and a non believer in afterlife. A person could decide on the relative importance that he

6 wants to give to the respective identities and the importance of one need not obliterate the others. Thus the two facets of Identity are its plurality and choice. 16. West and Islamic Fundamentalism. The champions of unique Western values have as little regard to the rightful interpretation of history. It may be argued that democracy & tolerance are western values. However, democracy and its roots could be traced to the Buddhist counsels where there was spirit of dialogue, well before the Greeks. Assertion of western values as superior and imposing them on other nations could result in rise of fundamentalism. The Islamic countries too, can boast of a rich tradition of science and technology which benefited the west during the period of Renaissance. Hence, the relations between the west and the rest should not be based on religious classification or clash of civilisation approach. 17. Pluralism and dialogue as Antidote to Fundamentalism. The roots of scepticism in India go back a long way. It is in this rich tradition of heterodoxy that we find the emperor Ashoka laying down the rules of conducting debates and disputations where opponents were to be ‘duly honoured in every way on all occasions’ as long back as third century B.C. In the book Argumentative Indian Dr. Sen speaks of the long tradition of dialogue in India. Speaking of its utility in present context he explains:“Discussions and arguments are critically important for democracy and public reasoning. They are central to the practice of secularism and for even handed treatment of adherence of different religious faiths. Going beyond these basic structural priorities, the argumentative tradition, if used with deliberations and commitment can also be extremely important in resisting social inequalities and in removing poverty and deprivation. Voice is a crucial component of the pursuit of social justice.” CONCLUSION 18. India has had a rich and diverse heritage and we have every reason to be proud of it. Our approach to it should be inclusive as has been the Indian tradition which has assimilated various influences the last of which were Mogul and British colonial rule. The spirit of acceptance of others creed and dialogue are our unique strength. Fundamentalism which is a challenge of our times can be countered if we understand the issue of identity and its plural aspects. Finally, India is uniquely placed with a long and unbroken history, a passion for advancement in science and hi tech and its aspirations to rightfully occupy the position of a superpower in our modern day world.