{"title":"Romila Thapar","description":"Romila Thapar is Emeritus Professor in History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has served as visiting professor at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania and is currently the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at the Library of Congress. Among her previous books are Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, Indian Tales, and The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.","products":[{"product_id":"somanatha-the-many-voices-of-a-history-paperback","title":"Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1026, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni raided the Hindu temple of Somanatha (Somnath in textbooks of the colonial period). The story of the raid has reverberated in Indian history, but largely during the raj. It was first depicted as a trauma for the Hindu population not in India, but in the House of Commons. The triumphalist accounts of the event in Turko-Persian chronicles became the main source for most eighteenth-century historians. It suited everyone and helped the British to divide and rule a multi-millioned subcontinent. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn her new book, Romila Thapar, the doyenne of Indian historians, reconstructs what took place by studying other sources, including local Sanskrit inscriptions, biographies of kings and merchants of the period, court epics and popular narratives that have survived. The result is astounding and undermines the traditional version of what took place. These findings also contest the current Hindu religious nationalism that constantly utilises the conventional version of this history.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51367555694815,"sku":"9781784780654","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/K8EA6zmyVP9781784780654.webp?v=1789109807"},{"product_id":"speaking-of-history-conversations-about-indias-past-and-present-paperback","title":"Speaking of History: Conversations about India's Past and Present - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSpeaking of History\u003c\/i\u003e brings India's past into sharp, urgent focus. In these wide-ranging conversations, Romila Thapar, the distinguished historian, joins Namit Arora, incisive writer and social critic, to explore how history is written, remembered and fought over.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTogether, they pull back the curtain on the historian's craft: how evidence is weighed, how interpretations are made, and why the past has become a battleground of politics and identity. From caste and gender to religion, mythology and nationalism, they revisit much contested terrain and ask the vital questions-what can we really know about our past, and why does it matter so much today?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe result is both erudite and refreshingly accessible: a book that challenges distortion and mythmaking, while celebrating history as an act of curiosity, argument and critical inquiry. At a time when the discipline is under siege, \u003ci\u003eSpeaking of History\u003c\/i\u003e is both a defence of rigorous scholarship and a lively reminder that to engage with history in all its complexity is to undertake a profound journey-an inquiry not just into the past, but into ourselves. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e(Published in the Indian subcontinent by Penguin Random House India, elsewhere by Three Essays Collective.)\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51368730591455,"sku":"9789383968473","price":18.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/D8onxeq_em9789383968473.webp?v=1789132304"},{"product_id":"which-of-us-are-aryans-rethinking-the-concept-of-o-ur-origins-hardcover","title":"Which of Us Are Aryans?: Rethinking the Concept of O Ur Origins - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe question of which of us is Aryan is one of the most contentious in India today. In this eyeopening book, scholars and experts critically examine the Aryan issue by analysing history, genetics, early Vedic scriptures, archaeology and linguistics to test and challenge various hypotheses, myths, facts and theories that are currently in vogue. Romila Thapar tackles the definition of the 'Aryan' in her inimitable style by tracing the origins and progression of the 'Aryans' from old Iranian texts such as the Zend-Avesta, archaeological excavations and colonial interpretations made by Max Müeller. She also touches upon the following fields of enquiry: historiography, archaeology, linguistics, comparative mythology, social anthropology and, more recently, genetics. Michael Witzel investigates the origins of the early 'Aryans' within and outside India. Jaya Menon examines data from excavations of Harappan culture. Kai Friese lucidly explains the Rakhigarhi research which has been talked about a lot in the recent past and Razib Khan provides insights arising from research into genetics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51373998276831,"sku":"9789388292382","price":61.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/52QFbISBtS9789388292382.webp?v=1789168292"},{"product_id":"indian-cultures-as-heritage-hardcover","title":"Indian Cultures as Heritage - Hardcover","description":"","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51375400648927,"sku":"9789384067359","price":64.78,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/R8bYn0apPq9789384067359.webp?v=1789200220"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/romila-thapar.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}