Demolishing Myths or Mosques and Temples? Readings on History and Temple Desecration in Medieval India

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History, it is said, cannot be studied without reflecting on the practice of historians who narrate it. The articles in this volume introduce readers to the writings of four scholars who study the subject of temple desecration in interesting and different ways. They focus on the ways in which historians study the political culture, events, historical narratives, material remains and aesthetic norms of a time very distant from us. Through their focus on the theme of temple desecration, a subject of considerable import in political rhetoric today, these essays also underline how easily history can be subverted to serve narrow, cynical ends. At a time when history has become so important in the making of the nation s identity, the articles in this book invite the readers to pause and reflect on the craft of history, the exciting and engaging conclusions to which it can lead and the worrying ends to which it can also be nudged. Contents: Introduction Sunil Kumar Indian Art Objects as Loot Richard H. Davis Soman tha: Narratives of a History Romila Thapar Temple Desecration in Pre-Modern India Richard Eaton Islam, Iconoclasm and the Early Indian Mosque Finbarr B. Flood Appendix: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee s Address to the Public Meeting at Somnath on October 31, 2001 Select Bibliography

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Sunil Kumar is professor of medieval history in the Department of History, Delhi University. His previous publications include The Present in Delhi s Pasts and The Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate . He has also participated in the current revision of the NCERT history textbooks and is the managing editor of the Indian Economic and Social History Review .