The Great Bias in Indian History

Pradeep Chakravarthy, a distinguished product of JNU and LSE wears many hats, of which interpreting the past to understand the present is one. A prolific writer, corporate trainer, management consultant, travel and heritage immersion tour organizer, festival curator and historian, he has now written a wonderful ‘History of South India for Children: From Prehistory to Vijayanagara’, a treasure trove, not just for children, but also for adults who would like to share these stories and anecdotes with their children and grandchildren.

At the outset, I must confess that there is something quite wrong with the way we look at history in our country. While the history of the empires with capitals in Indraprastha, Hastinapur, Ujjain, Pataliputra and Parshupura is not called the history of North India, anything below the Vindhyas is dubbed South India. Whereas the fact of the matter is that the kingdoms of the south have been more ‘Indian’ and ‘authentic’, and the spread of culture from our coastline has all been from the south. Of the classical languages – Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telegu, Odiya and Sanskrit- all but Sanskrit- have their origins in the South. And yet, given the New Delhi centered narratives – from the times of Mahabharata have used the appellation of south to describe a major part of our history.

It is true that in terms of demographics, the South with about 20% of India’s population is numerically outnumbered, yet the five states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu- and if one may add the contiguous parts of Odisha and Maharashtra contribute nearly one third to the GDP of the country. If Himalayas have dominated the history of the North, the south boasts of an extensive coastline with extensive trade and cultural connections with the outside world over several centuries.

The book, replete with photographs, frescoes, illustrations, boxes, tables is spread over twelve chapters – each covering an important aspect of life in the South. It starts with ‘when there was no history’ – the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic ages. We learn of the domestication of animals – cows and sheep for milk and wool, horses for transportation, dogs for protections against wild animals, the rudiments of farming along with primitive shelters for protection against the elements.

History begins when territories are marked and the control of surplus gives rise to lineages – usually patriarchal, but with some exceptions. In The Cycle of Power, Pradeep describes the stages of kingship: ambition, might, fight, challenge, prosperity, patronage to arts, dilettantism, neglect of the army, defeat at the hands of a rival and the repeat of the cycle.

Like elsewhere in the world, the dynasties which controlled much of the geography of the south – Pallavas and Hosalayas were often engaged in conflict, but  Kerala escaped much of this on account of the Western ghats – with some peaks touching a height of 8000 feet, thereby making it difficult for horses, elephants and soldiers to ford the barrier. Its coastline connected it to the Arab, European and Chinese trade routes as well as their culture and religion. This was also the place where Bhaskar Ravi Verma offered refuge to the Jews when they were fleeing persecution in Palestine. We learn of the ancient port city of Muziris which saw its heydays from about 3000 BCE till the 14th century saw traders from Rome, Arabia and Egypt docking their ships to pick up the very valuable cargo of pepper and other spices. It was this love of spices which got the Portuguese, and then the Dutch, French, English and the Danes to establish trade, propagate Christianity, and fight with each other as well as the kings.

Kerala also escaped being part of the great Mauryan Empire – with the famous Chandragupta Maurya and his equally, if not more famous grandson Ashoka. The empire stretched from Afghanistan to Bengal. However eight of his edicts are to be seen in the territory which is now Karnataka, ruled by the Chalukyas – who regarded themselves as avatars of Vishnu and had boar, symbolic of the Varha avatar of Vishnu as their mascot. They gave way to the Rashtrakutas who made the magnificent Kailasa temple in Ellora. They were followed by the Hosalayas for another three centuries till they were defeated by Malik Kafur, a general of the Khilji Sultans of Delhi, thereby leading to the establishment of the Bahmani sultanate named after a mythical figure from Iran (Persia) who ruled from 1347 to 1527 CE. But this broke into five smaller kingdoms of Ahmednagar, Golconda (Hyderabad ), Bidar, Berar and Bijapur who kept their peace with the very powerful Krishnadevaraya who ruled from Vijayanagar l who had established Hampi as one of the greatest cities of the world.

Let’s move on to what is now called Tamil Nadu, This geography was first ruled by Kalabhras from Karnataka – strong believers in Jainism and Buddhism, but they gave way to Pallavas who controlled the Tirumala hills, the Cholas who controlled Kaveri and the Pandayas who held the lands around river Vaigai. By the seventeenth century, the English landed in Chennai (then Madras) and established Fort St George, and set up their Presidency, ousting the other European powers.

The Mahabharata describes the present day region of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as the Andhra Desa, and Megasthenes, the Greek historian, emissary and explorer writes in his book Indika (or Indica) about the forty fortified towns whose rulers maintained a hundred thousand foot soldiers, two thousand horsemen and a thousand elephants, While the areas around Godavari were epitomes of prosperity but the Rayalaseema region was mired in poverty for by this time the flow of  Tungbhadra and Krishna rivers  was just a trickle. The region was rules by the Satavahanas and the Kakatiyas who had developed an elaborate style for rulership with great emphasis on tax collection. Pradeep also makes it a point to highlight the role of the Rudramma Devi, a Kakatiya queen who provide exemplary leadership for nearly three decades in the thirteenth century (1262-1289 CE).

The famous Kohinoor – the world’s most precious diamond actually belonged to the Kakatiyas from where it moved to the Sultans of Delhi and thence to Ranjit Singh of Punjab before it became a part of the Imperial collection of Britain (which is no longer great!). What a profound lesson of history does Kohinoor teach us! The tale about the South can never be complete without he reference to Hyderabad’s Asaf jahi dynasty who trace their descent to the present day Uzbekistan. In its hey days, the Nizam was the richest person in the world, whose personal way exceeded that of the King of England to whom he swore his loyalty.