Itihasa made itihasya...

I have been reading and rereading this wonderful article by Sam Wineburg of Stanford University and Richard Paxton titled 'Expertise and the teaching of history'. (Click here for a website titled historicalthinkingmatters.org maintained by Prof Wineberg). They argue, rightly, that the best way for engendering historical thinking is giving first hand, children different primary sources related to a common event or episode. Since each source carries with it biases, motives and problems, children need to be helped to sift through them and identify the problems and finally arrive at a more "objective" understanding of the past or an event. I have no disputes here. One needs to be sensitized to the fact that knowledge about the past comes from a careful and systematic study of primary sources.

Helping students to arrive at historical outlooks through concrete evidences Over the last four weeks, there were occasions for me, where I encountered history in action so to speak or more specifically reaffirmed my belief that past is not what our commonsense would have us believe. Second, many of our practices, customs, "values" including language we use and the way we use it are again historically conditioned. Common sense tell us that India has mostly been a Hindu society (if not a nation) before the advent of Muslim political rule. But if we say that ancient India was largely Hindu we need to make a qualification and a very big one at that. Hinduism, as it is practised today and as the way people see it, was never the kind of dominant force and religion in India till about 400 AD, that it is today. It was Buddhism which formed and shaped the world view and sensibilities of the majority of its people in India till well about 1000 AD (most certainly till the beginnings

Continuing with my series and critique of the ncert history textbooks I'm including a podcast of Prof Neeladri Bhattacharya's presentation on history textbooks at a seminar titled: History Textbooks and the Profession: Comparing National Controversies in a Globalizing Age, which was held in the University of Chicago in May 2007. Prof Neeladri Bhattacharya, currently professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi has been responsible for the new ncert history textbooks which were written under his supervision by a team of academics. It is a very engaging presentation where Prof Bhattacharya raises several issues related to history texts in India and leads us to the circumstances which brought him and his team to write the current crop of textbooks. He also acknowledges criticisms, criticism not just by the Hindutva forces but even the left, which echoed some of my own reservations against this book.

The much maligned, misunderstood and maltreated subject of history can finally be seen as being given some respectability, credence and relevance thanks to the new history textbooks brought out by NCERT. I personally see some hope for history with these new text books which seeks to present history not so much as past information but as a mode of inquiry. History in these books comes out as more contextual, multi-dimensional and much more than mere political narratives. For example the class IX and X books are a sheer delight as for the first time, students are sought to be given some exposure to issues connected to cricket and nationalism!!! Howazzat!!! By including chapters on pastoral society and the effect of colonial forest policy, contemporary environmental issues have also been sought to be historicised. The chapter on clothing emphasizes the political and economic implication of Gandhi's use of Khadi. Then there are chapters which give insights into literature and art

Often wondered what history and history teaching is all about...?? Is history a mere study of the past? Does accumulation of information about the past tantamount to mastery of history?? I have always maintained that if history is seen through such a prism, it becomes a task to labour on history's 'merits' or 'relevance. What purpose does it serve to know history merely in such terms? Yeah...one can win few quizzes or at best it can be one of the optional papers for the IAS exams...and then?? And then nothing....

Well, I'm back after a long long time....been dwelling on some issues connected both to history and history teaching and i ultimately figured that current trends in historiography would actually help children more than anything else in recognising history's worth as a subject beyond chronology of events. Read on....

The Jodhpur fort Forts as defensive measures existed in ancient India. The two towns of Mohenjo-daro and Harrapa on the Indus river were themselves fortified particularly the granary in the former which was specifically fortified located at a height of 50 feet. Archaeologically, very few remains have been found of forts belong to the early vedic and later vedic periods, though the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharatha, give extensive references of forts. Ayodhya’s was a fortified town which according to the epic had “walls that extended upto twelve measured leagues from end to end. High are her ramparts strong and vast…” The Shanthi Parva stresses that the king should reside in city defended by a citadel, of having abundant stock of grain and weapons, protected by impenetrable trenches…” (And hey…wasn’t Indira also referred to as Punrandar…destroyer of forts???) From about the Mauryan period, we have further archaeological evidence of forts in the ancient period in India. Further

Ms Srivastava is a committed history teacher. She is very passionate about history, in particular Indian history. She tries to make the subject as hands on as possible by giving lot of activities to the students that includes modeling, art work, creative writing, charts and she even takes students to field visits where ever possible. Her conception of Indian history goes something like this: India has a very rich past and heritage, 5000 years of history. India had some of the finest monarchs like Asoka, Kanishka, Chandragupta Vikramaditya, Harsha. India also was extremely plural in its ethos with so many religions, ethnicities, mores absorbed into its socio-cultural matrices. India also had tremendous contribution to make in the domains of science. Plastic surgery was discovered in India. The concept of zero was discovered in India. And Indian art?? What could ever surpass the beauty and colour of the murals at Ajanta or the elegant craftsmanship of Khajuraho temples or the amazing s

The need to study temples (Pardon formatting errors...) (My response to my earlier blog on temples... .) One of the major problems with teaching of Indian history for children is that they find no physical bearing of the past in their lives. Hence for many children history, which is largely taught in the four walls of the classroom, is a big bore. While past remains with us in so many aspects, material and non-material, for children it is important that they see, hold, and feel the past manifest in coins, artifacts, sculpture and temples. Hence visits to medieval temples and forts becomes an important entry point for taking the children into the past. The word entry point is to be noted since study of temples should not become an end in itself. It is important that, as many middle school textbooks do, not to burden the children with details of temple planning, execution, temple sculpture etc.

Well...snaps of temples in Badami and Aihole picked from different websites.Leading my students from TVS School, Tumkur in 1999 (where my romance with history and history teaching really began) into this grand rift in the sandstone hillock of Badami, with the (slimy looking as you can see in the second picture, run in by a temple ) Agastayar lake providing a visually appealing setting, my interest in temples were aroused (no, I did not come across any erotic sculpture) which continues to ignite my passions... These stately temples, spread across Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal, are all distinguished by different shapes, sizes, designs, and in my opinion defied canonical traditions of temple building. The Chalukyas were no doubt experimenting with form here before evolving their distinctne style as evidenced in the temples in Pattadakkal. Want to say something more on how temples can be taught meaningfully in classrooms. Comments invited... The first snap on the top is one of the four cav

This in response to my earlier blog 'what is good history teaching' all about... Ms Srivastava’s intention and passion is indeed laudable. It’s just that she is not up-to-date with recent researches in history which helps to make history more inclusive, broadbased, helps in answering questions which are central to the present. Modern historiography has helped us to see the changes and continuities which otherwise escapes our attention. Without such an understanding, to say we learn from the past, or that history repeats itself, is a meaningless or an empty statement. We need to understand the past in all its complexities. Otherwise it’s just information delivery on kings, administration, art etc. Historical knowledge today is equated with the amount of information we have about the past (which is again political). Information in itself does not become knowledge. Knowledge has to fathomed through a dialogic process in which these different aspects of the past (i.e. the informati