Indian Archaeology and the Issue of National Security: How a Negative Image of Ancient Indian Past Has Been Built Up since the 18th Century

Contents: Preface. 1. Introductory. 2. India in the Eyes of the West, c. 1750-c. 1800: From Voltaire to William Jones, Thomas Maurice, William Robertson and William Tennant. 3. India in the Eyes of the West, c. 1800-c. 1850: Contempt for the Hindus and Their Civilization from Charles Grant to James Mill and Thomas Macaulay, and Two Rare Essays in Support of the Hindus by Charles Stuart. 4. The Continuity of the Negative Ideas Regarding Indian Civilization: From the 18th Century to the Present. 5. The Vulnerabilities of a Nation: The Issue of National Security. References. Index.

This book demonstrates with unimpeachable documentary evidence how the sense of the ancient past of India has been devalued and denigrated since the middle of the 18th century, the point of beginning of ancient Indian historical and archaeological studies, and how the situation still continues on the professional level despite the changes that have been happening since the 1970s. We must also note that this process of devaluation and denigration has not been challenged in its basic framework on the professional level, either within the Indian government or within the Indian university system. The reason why this is taking too long to happen, even after 75 years of Independence, is partly due to our still servile attitude to Western scholarship and partly to our ingrained hesitation to academically challenge received wisdom.

Indian archaeology plays an important role in shaping the nation's sense of its own past, and any attack on this sense in overt and covert forms should become an issue of national security. A thoroughly documented study, this book directs our attention in this regard.