INDIA'S ANCIENT PAST - R S SHARMA
Originally
published in 2004, it is authored by Ram Sharan Sharma who was a historian from
India. He was a faculty of many University around the world like Pune
University, Toronto University etc. He passed away in 2011, however his works
are still discussed for its controversial approach to the Indian Mythology.
In
this book he explains why the present Indian society is biased on various
fields of life. The facts are backed by so many archaeological evidences which
leave no stones unturned. It also gives us the root of India’s rich culture,
art, ayurveda, and scientific contribution.
This
book is a very good guide of India’s shift in culture which was Dravidian
during the first civilization in the Indus Valley. It later was run over by the
Aryan culture whose origin is still debated all over the world. The Dravidians
were forced to move to the lower areas of Vindhya Mountains (the present South
India). And the Aryans occupied the North India where they ruled for centuries
under different flags.
This book creates
a cloud over the existence of many ancient cities mentioned in the Buddhist and
Jain text for its actual existence in terms of its year of existence. Similarly it also questions the credibility of Indian
epics-The Ramayana and The Mahabharata as archaeological evidences for the same
is yet to be discovered.
The book explains how important India was
to the world in the ancient time as India was very crucial to the West
(Egypt), East (Indonesia), and North (China). India gave the world new
religions- Buddhism and Jainism and it explains the reasons why Buddhism grew
in China and is almost non-existent in India.
The book gives you a detailed growth of
Brahmanism- its development, growth, decline and again the growth and finally
how it changed the Indian society. Caste is depicted as an invention by the
intelligent people to control the society and to maintain order. However it
only affected India adversely.
The author sometimes glorifies India like
during the invasion of Alexander the great while it degrades the Indian
practices like caste system. It gives credit to the Indians for their
contribution in the field of mathematics, astronomy, medicines, surgery, art of
war, sanitation, urban planning etc
Finally
reading this book tells us the point in our history when Indians and Romans
changed their once similar route of advancement in life, to an entirely
contrasting way of ruling by our kings. So to conclude, if one is looking for a
source to learn about the various practices in the Indian Subcontinent during
the BCE and early CE, the book is recommended but one should have a broad mind
to accept what is described.
By
Arjun Krishnan
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