THE INDIAN HERITAGE

INTRODUCTION

1. It may well be claimed that India is the only living civilisation that has its roots
going far into the history (or pre-history). That is not to say that it has been some kind of
static continuity but an amalgamation of various influences which while retaining its
distinct flavour has enriched the tradition. This makes it all the more difficult to lay our
hand on with certainty, the unique traits of this great civilisation. Some may even
question (may be justifiably so) the greatness that is being alluded to considering the
events of the recent history. But even in these despairing years the uniqueness of its
people and its outlook is almost visible should we take care to investigate behind the
appearances. We would endeavour to highlight the traits that have helped us to
preserve our tradition and at the same time accommodated the differences, allowing
them space to develop freely. In so doing we have successfully navigated through the
storms of changes and upheaval. It is in this unique strength that there may be a hope
for us as these are times of colossal changes in the world.

2. One of the challenges is to understand what we mean by an Indian Identity for in

understanding of this that we can come across our unique strengths and our fallings
which have shaped the present day India and in it may lie the panacea of the ills
afflicting the modern times. One of the features of our times is the marked rise in
fundamentalism and terrorism which has divided the world. Added to this is the poverty
or lack of equitable distribution of wealth and the greed (enormous consumption of the
rich society) which all agree, has resulted in environmental degradation and current
economic meltdown.

AIM

3. The aim is to understand the Indian heritage and its unique strength.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

ANCIENT INDIA

4. Pre-history and Indus Valley. History is a record of community life based

on facts and thus differs from legends. In the Indian context, it is well known that the
various parts of the country were inhabited by people, five hundred thousand years
ago, but the only traces they have left behind are the stones and cave paintings.
Numbers of racial groups had immigrated to India in various periods of time and it
would be reasonable to infer that the development would have been gradual, with each
new group bringing along its knowledge skill and resources. Closer to our times, Indus
valley civilisation which flourished about 3500 BC and lasted for almost 1500 years,
marks an outstanding example of an advanced town planning. Much of the evidence is
from the excavations in Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Alas the script unlike the Egyptian
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has not yet been deciphered. What is known for sure is that these were pre Aryan and
was a prosperous trading community.

5. The Aryans . Aryans a derivative of the sanskrit word for noble, seem to
have come from north west. The oldest book – the Rigveda – gives a clue to their origin
and early history. The famous historian RC Majumdar states that the generally
accepted view is that the forefathers lived as a common stock with the Greeks and
others known as Indo-Europeans. Rigvedas was supposed to be composed around
2000 BC and by 800 BC they had colonised the indo – gangetic planes and whole of
north India and later spread over to Deccan. The Aryans seem to be fun loving, ate
meat and drank soma. They also bequeathed Vedas the oldest and sublime literary
work which has been looked upon by the Hindus as a sacred revealed world of God.
One of the features is the participation of wife in religious worship who was held in high
regard. Varna or the caste system also formed an essential part of there society. This
would be dealt in greater detail later.

6. The Maurya Empire and Deccan. Chandragupta rose from a humble

beginning (probably a lower caste) and because of his military genius and the help of
Chanakya dove the Greeks from Punjab and Sindh and thereafter overthrew Nanda to
ascend the throne of Magdha by about 322 BC. The Maurya Empire was the first all
India kingdom. Ashoka the famous king who had a change of heart after the battle of
Kalinga belongs to this dynasty. He was a patron of Buddhism as Chandragupta was of
the Jains. Buddhism and its spread owe a lot to Ashoka. In all ten kings ruled till 184
BC. Pushyamitra the commander in chief of the last Mauryan king usurped the throne
and founded Sunga dynasty which ruled for 112 years till 73 BC. Then came the two
foreign tribes Saka and Kushans. The Kushan Empire came to an end in second
century AD. Kanishka was a great emperor of this dynasty who converted to Buddhism.
The political disintegration starting from 150 BC to 350 AD saw lot of foreign invasions.
During this long period Satavahans from the Deccan rose to prominence. The far south
was divided into few independent states the prominent amonst them being Cholas,
Cheras and the Pandayas.

7. The Gupta age. India was once more politically united by the powerful
dynasty known as Guptas. Chandragupta the third king shifted his capital to Pataliputra
and his succession in 320 AD marked the new era. The greatness of the empire
remained till 468 AD. It gradually disintegrated under the pressure of the barbarous
tribe of Huns. Samudragupta and Vikramaditya are the prominent Kings and the
famous poet Kalidas graced the court of the latter. The Gupta age was one of the most
brilliant period. It witnessed a resurgence of intellectual activity manifested in various
forms. Fa-hien, a Chinese, visited India during the reign of Vikramaditya and left
interesting account of the country.
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8. Review and Retrospect. The Himalayas in the north and the seas
makes India a well defined geographical unit. The spread of Aryan culture would have
been aided by the great political unity forged by the Mauryan dynasty. But such
integration was of short duration and soon became a thing of past, though theoretical
conception of India as a geographical and cultural unit was never altogether absent, for
we find it echoed in literary works. There was no sign of a popular impulse to political or
national integration. The barriers of language, economic interests, social and cultural
differences, have come in the way of national unity, though it is neither unexpected nor
unnatural. India has every reason to feel proud as regards the developments in religion,
philosophy, art, literature, social and political institutions, moral and spiritual life,
material progress indicated by trade, industry and commerce leading to accumulation of
wealth, a high standard of living without its accompanying evil, namely miserable
condition of the masses, and above all, a spirit of toleration and assimilation which
allowed all types of religion to flourish without hindrance and absorbed millions of
foreign people from Europe and different parts of Asia into her society.

9. But this bright picture is marred by a few black spots and the one that stands out
is the caste system. It was known by the name of varn ashram and seems to have been
pervasive and found the sanction from scriptures. It may not have been as rigid in the
beginning but we find Buddhism and Jainism standing up in revolt to the orthodoxy as
early as 500 BC. There are notable exceptions and we have the evidence of a Vedic
seer born out of wedlock and hence belonging to the lowest rung of the caste. So is the
case of Nanda dynasty who were Sudra, the Mauryas and the Guptas who heralded the
golden period of Indian history were Vashiyas. But on the whole it would be fair to say
that it retarded progress and led to superstition and bigotry which was one of the
contributing factors to the downfall.

10. The second is the gradual growth of narrow spirit of self- adulation which made
Indians feel they were superior to the rest of the mankind and averse to gain knowledge
of the outside world. It is no coincidence that while we have accounts of India written by
Greeks, Romans, Arabic and Chinese travellers to India, we have no record about any
foreign country written by an Indian. Hindus also showed a lamentable lack of interest
in writing their own history. They had to pay dearly for this folly, for they were kept
ignorant of their glorious past. The caste distinctions stood in the way of national or
political solidarity. Ignorance of foreign countries made the Hindus an easy prey to
foreign invasions as they were usually ignorant of the latest developments in the art of
warfare. The brave Rajput Rana had to fight with spear and sword against Babur’s
artillery.

MEDIEVAL INDIA

11. Muslim Invasion and Turks. The Muslim conquest of India is an epoch
making event and the most important episode in the history of India since the invasion
of Aryans. It began with the incursions of Gazani & Ghouri but it was Qutd-ud-din who
founded the Slave Dynasty in twelfth century AD. This was followed by khalji dynasty of
whom Ala-ud-din Khalji was the most prominent ruler. His death in 1316 AD led to a
period of anarchy which was a result of his ruthless rule. Ghayas-ud-din Tughluq
ascended the throne in 1320 AD. His son Muhammad Tughluq was one of the most
eccentric rulers. The invasion of Timur led dealt a death blow to Turkish rule and
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founding of Lodhi dynasty in 1451 AD. Ibrahim Lodhi and his defeat in 1526 led to the
Mughal rule in India.

12. The Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire founded by Babur in AD 1526
reached its zenith during the reign of King Akbar. He co-opted the Rajputs with the
exception of Rana Pratap and established a great Empire founded on sound
organisation and administration. He was a catholic ruler and had thirst for knowledge.
The kingdom under him was as prosperous as Great Britan and achieved a high
degree of excellance in fine arts. Archetecture during Mughal rule and especially in the
reign of Shahjahan became proverbial. The decline of the Mughal rule started with
death of Aurangzeb (1696) and came to an end in AD 1857 after the Sepoy Mutiny. This
period also saw the rise of Marathas whose founder Shivaji is a well known figure and
they contributed to the fall of Mughals.

BRITISH COLONIAL RULE

13. European Trading Companies. The opening of the direct sea route by
Vasco da Gama led to European trade with India. Though started by the Portuguese it
was the French and the British who seized on the opportunity. But the foundation of
later day colonial rule was probably laid by Dupleix, the French Governor of
Pondicherry who discovered two Indian traits which were more important from the
Indian point of view than the discovery of Vasco da Gama. He noticed the utter
inefficiency of Indian armies and boldly conceived the idea that a handful of Indian
soldiers, disciplined in the European fashion, would be more than a match for the vast
undisciplined hordes of Indian rulers. He further observed the instability of political
dynasties in India and constant struggles between Indian rulers. His theory was put to
test after the French had captured Madras from the British and the Nawab of Carnatic
sent an force of 10,000 strong to recapture Madras. Dupliex with 500 men completely
routed them. He tested his second theory when the Nizam Asaf Jah of Hyderabad
died. Dupleix helped the rival candidate in the struggle of succession who, appointed
Dupleix the Governer of all the Mughal territories south of the Krishna river and ceded
Masulipattanam and its dependencies to French.

14. British Supremacy. Robert Clive pursued the same policy and in support
of rival claimant, defeated Chanda Sahib, the Nawab of Carnatic, with a small force.
This raised the power and prestige of the British in Decan where the French had
hitherto wielded great power. He pursued the same policy in Bengal and won the battle
of Plassey with the help of the well known treachery of Mir Jaffar which was the starting
point of the British Empire. This period of history is relatively well known and hence we
can now explore the question of Indian Identity.

IDENTITY AND PLURALISM

11. Pluralism and Indian Culture. Let us now dwell on the issue of Identity and
Pluralism which may be India’s greatest strength and the key to an unbroken tradition to
this day. This may also have significance as far as fundamentalism is concerned which
we will explore later. Some naively argue that Indian identity is a Hindu identity as
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majority religion is Hinduism. Hinduism is a way of life and a process and has never
been, as Dr Radhakrishnan points out ‘a uniform, stationary, unalterable belief or
practice’. Historically (around 500BC) two great religions namely Buddhism and Jainism
arose in revolt to the authority of Vedas which was a core Aryan belief and considered
as words of God. Even the Rig-Veda which is perhaps the oldest, states explicitly that
there are many paths to God. The Charvaks and Lokayats were confirmed atheists and
there is not much similarity between the other schools of philosophy. What could be
common between those swearing by Kamsutra and others who emphasised a chaste
approach to divine? Yet it is well known that a diversity of cultures and religions
flourished alongside due to tolerance or more appropriately acceptance of others creed.
This unique Indian strength helped Jews, Parsees and Christians to settle in this
country.

12. During the medieval period the Bhakti movement sprang up as a voice of reason
against orthodoxy and caste system. It held popular appeal and found favour with the
masses. Sufi movement in Islam also found a suitable climate to flourish and was
enriched by its contact with the other religious movements. All this goes to show that
acceptance of others was a unique strength which helped to assimilate the various
streams into the Indian mainstream.

13. Identity therefore, as Dr Amartya Sen points out, is a matter of choice. In fact the
sages felt that they belonged to Humanity as a whole (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). It is
the narrow view of identity that leads to conflict. Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet
and Nobel Laureate, was opposed to exclusive notions of nationalism for this reason.
While one could be proud of the Nation we should not be exclusive in not accepting
new and progressive ideas in any field be it science and technology or social and
cultural spheres. Fundamentalism may be a reaction to perceived threat to its identity.

14. Fundamentalism. There could be many causes to fundamentalism and

some of it could be solely due to economic or political considerations. But what
concerns us here is the rich Indian tradition of dialogue and scepticism (which
promoted enquiry) as an antidote to this malady. But before we proceed further let us
elaborate on how narrow views on identity could be the grounds for the rise of
fundamentalism.

15. Identity and Fundamentalism. There has been a strong tendency to classify
people according to religion. The clash of civilization divides the world into Islamic,
Hindu, Buddhist & western civilisation giving little room for a wholesome view of the
aspirations of the people. We have already seen how to view India a Hindu civilisation
is not only factually incorrect, but also unjust to its rich cultural and traditional Heritage.
It has a Muslim population which is higher than some of the Islamic countries and
second only to Indonesia. The noted Economist Amartya Sen rightly states that “many
conflicts and barbarities in the world are sustained through illusion of a unique and
choice less identity.” He further states that “I can be, at the same time, an Asian, an
Indian citizen, a Bengali with Bangladeshi ancestry, an American or British resident, an
economist, a dabbler in philosophy, an author, a Sanskritist, a strong believer in
secularism and democracy, a man, a feminist, a heterosexual, a defender of gay and
lesbian rights, with a non believer lifestyle, from a Hindu background, a non Brahmin,
and a non believer in afterlife. A person could decide on the relative importance that he
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wants to give to the respective identities and the importance of one need not obliterate
the others. Thus the two facets of Identity are its plurality and choice.

16. West and Islamic Fundamentalism. The champions of unique Western values
have as little regard to the rightful interpretation of history. It may be argued that
democracy & tolerance are western values. However, democracy and its roots could
be traced to the Buddhist counsels where there was spirit of dialogue, well before the
Greeks. Assertion of western values as superior and imposing them on other nations
could result in rise of fundamentalism. The Islamic countries too, can boast of a rich
tradition of science and technology which benefited the west during the period of
Renaissance. Hence, the relations between the west and the rest should not be based
on religious classification or clash of civilisation approach.

17. Pluralism and dialogue as Antidote to Fundamentalism. The roots of

scepticism in India go back a long way. It is in this rich tradition of heterodoxy that we
find the emperor Ashoka laying down the rules of conducting debates and disputations
where opponents were to be ‘duly honoured in every way on all occasions’ as long back
as third century B.C. In the book Argumentative Indian Dr. Sen speaks of the long
tradition of dialogue in India. Speaking of its utility in present context he explains:-

“Discussions and arguments are critically important for democracy and public
reasoning. They are central to the practice of secularism and for even handed
treatment of adherence of different religious faiths. Going beyond these basic structural
priorities, the argumentative tradition, if used with deliberations and commitment can
also be extremely important in resisting social inequalities and in removing poverty and
deprivation. Voice is a crucial component of the pursuit of social justice.”

CONCLUSION

18. India has had a rich and diverse heritage and we have every reason to be
proud of it. Our approach to it should be inclusive as has been the Indian tradition
which has assimilated various influences the last of which were Mogul and British
colonial rule. The spirit of acceptance of others creed and dialogue are our unique
strength. Fundamentalism which is a challenge of our times can be countered if we
understand the issue of identity and its plural aspects. Finally, India is uniquely placed
with a long and unbroken history, a passion for advancement in science and hi tech and
its aspirations to rightfully occupy the position of a superpower in our modern day world.