P. V. Kane’s monumental work in five volumes, History of DharmaÊÇstra,
forms the background for any discussion of classical Hindu law (1968–77
[1930–1962]).
Contributions to Indian Sociologyhas been a major site for debates and new
perspectives on religion. It was in its pages that Dumont and Pocock (1957)
first set out their programmatic vision for the understanding of Indian civilization
in terms of the higher Sanskritic values and of caste, which gave rise to enormous
discussion among scholars in India and abroad. Over the years, the journal of
international repute has seen the publication of numerous articles on various
aspects of religion. The Indian Economic and Social History Reviewand the
Economic and Political Weeklyhave also offered their pages for discussion and
publication of original research on themes related to religious practice in a
contextual framework and in a historical perspective, religious movements, cults
and conflicts, fundamentalism, communal violence and the like.
As said earlier, most of the research on religion has emerged out of university
departments of sociology, anthropology and history. Many notable contri-
butions, several of which have been mentioned in the text at various places,
have been by scholars at the universities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta or
Lucknow among others, as well as at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia
Millia Islamia. Mention may also be made of the Indian Council for Social
Science Research (ICSSR) and the Indian Council for Historical Research
(ICHR), two institutions established by the Government of India in 1969 and
1972 to promote and fund research in the social sciences and history,
respectively.
While the ICSSR has had a relatively uneventful life and has brought out
periodically surveys of research in sociology and social anthropology, which
include surveys of religion, the ICHR has had a more controversial history. In
particular, during the recent rule of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and its
allies at the Centre, government interference in the work of the ICHR increased
manifold. This is probably due to the specific interest of right-wing parties in
constructing and disseminating a particular version of Indian history as ‘Hindu’
history, punctuated periodically by violence and destruction wrought by
‘Muslim’ invaders. Central to this construction is the stress on the idea of
Muslims and Christians as ‘outsiders’ to the nation.
While, during Congress rule, the ICHR tended to be dominated largely by
Marxist or liberal historians with some measure of proven scholarship among
their peers, the BJP’s tenure saw several mediocre historians, clearly espousing
right-wing ideas of Indian history, catapulted to the forefront of the organ-
ization. An exercise was also conducted to re-write school textbooks for
history under the National Council for Education Research and Training
(NCERT) with the same fundamental ideological imperatives. Such exercises
have currently begun to see revision under the new political dispensation.
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
2
3111
4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1
2
3
4
35
6
7
8
9
40111
42222
3
411
SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
131
