History in Capsule Form

Book Review

The Shortest History of India by John Zubrzycki cannot be made any shorter. In 260 pages, the author manages to condense the history of a vast period from the Harappan civilisation to the present. There are ten chapters, each of which focuses on a particular period. In fact, the book starts with the earliest people of India who existed some 1.5 million years ago. “The discovery of Palaeolithic tools in South India pushes back the timeline … to 1.5 million years ago, making them one of the earliest populations outside Africa,” says the book in one of its initial pages. But the book does not go into the details of that ancient period.

India witnessed many invasions. The earliest must have been those by the Aryans. The book says, “What caused the decline of the Harappan civilisation in the lead-up to its demise in 1300 BCE is still open to interpretation. Later religious texts suggest that invading war-like pastoralists who had mastered horse-drawn chariots laid waste to the civilisation’s cities. Sir Mortimer Wheeler, director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1944 to 1948, was a proponent of this theory, declaring famously: ‘On circumstantial evidence, Indra stands accused!’ – a reference to the Aryan god of war.”

Whether the Aryans brought it or not, Hinduism was an oppressive religion with its caste system. The second chapter of this book is titled ‘Religious Revolutionaries’ and it looks at Buddhism and Jainism as reactions against “the strict orthodoxy of Vedic Brahmanism.” The author also hints at one of the Himalayan ironies of Jainism which originally was a severely ascetic religion but eventually created “one of India’s richest communities, playing leading roles in banking and the jewellery trade.”

Buddhism and Jainism flourished in India in their initial days and the states where they were first established also flourished. But the royal dynasties that practised these religions of great compassion were not quite compassionate. The Nanda dynasty has a brutal history of patricide, for instance. “Ajatasatru came to the throne after murdering his father, Bimbisara (r.544-492), an enlightened leader and a fervent admirer of the Buddha.” A few lines down the book goes on to say that most of Ajatasatru’s successors ascended their thrones by murdering their fathers.

Great religions originated in India but did not make India any better a place. That is why we find a classic like the Arthasastra endorsing violence and crookedness in governing the country. Morality is not part of statecraft, according to the Arthasastra. This book under review says that the German sociologist Max Weber found Machiavelli’s The Prince ‘harmless’ in comparison with the Arthasastra.

By the time we come to Kanishka (r.127-150 CE), the Buddhist “Monasteries became large economic enterprises engaged in everything from trade to brewing and distilling alcohol…”

The third chapter discusses the Hindu Renaissance which did not last long because invaders came in the form of the Hunas. This chapter also takes a fairly detailed look at the history of South India’s great rulers, namely the Pandyas, Cheras, Pallavas and Cholas.

The Muslim invaders arrive in chapter 4. Mahmud of Ghazni launched more than a dozen raids into India. The author lists various reasons why Indian rulers were not prepared to defend themselves against these raids: local chieftains preoccupied with their own internal squabbles; perception of their Muslim foes as raiders rather than potential conquerors; and a fragmented political landscape of dozens of kingdoms more interested in waging self-destructive wars against one another than forging a national consciousness. The caste system had also stultified the society. Mahmud of Ghazni was followed by many other raiders and conquerors most of whom were ruthless marauders.

The fifth chapter discusses the Mughals some of whom were not as bad as they are portrayed to be today. The author underscores Akbar’s religious pluralism which was “something all the more remarkable given that religious intolerance was growing in other parts of the world, including Europe, where the Inquisition was underway.” Akbar was a great ruler in comparison with his contemporaries. Akbar emerges as greater than some of the present-day rulers of India.

Chapters 6, 7 and 8 are about the British atrocities in India. [It appears that human history is little more than a series of atrocities perpetrated by the rulers of each period.] The author of this book summarises the 1857 war of Independence as “Part military rebellion, part peasant revolt, part holy war” which lacked unity and purpose from the very beginning. We also meet the eminent freedom fighters in these chapters.

The preeminent beauty of this book is that the author conveys the essence of each person or period in a few words. For example, see how he presents Gandhi. “For Gandhi, satyagraha was the quality of the soul that enabled individuals to endure suffering for what they believed was morally right. More than a weapon for resisting oppression, it was a vehicle for converting his opponents to his beliefs.” Jinnah is presented through Mountbatten’s description: an evil genius, a lunatic and a psychopathic case. Too precise, maybe.

The penultimate chapter is about the independent India and the multifarious problems it faced – from economy to infant mortality to corruption to Emergency to violent murders to the rise of the Hindutva. Titled A ‘New India’?, the last chapter looks at India at 75. The country has come a long way but it still grapples with a lot of problems. Gandhi’s concept of swaraj has nothing to do with the self-reliance promoted by the present ruler of the country. Self-reliance is a weapon today more than anything else, wielded by a majoritarian world vision. Secularism seems to have been lost irrecoverably.

The author concludes saying that “Ultimately, India’s present and its future lie not in the hands of its politicians or its priests, but in those of its people: the rural poor who are prepared to save every rupee they can to invest in their children’s education; the restless youth who aspire to a better quality of life; the vibrant middle class that is increasingly demanding accountability from elected officials; the dynamic diaspora that is showcasing India’s talent to the world.”

The book concludes with the hope that “Visionary leaders and thinker will emerge who can unite their country’s diverse communities and ensure that the benefits of social and economic progress are spread equitably and sustainably.”

John Zubrzycki 

The author of this book is an Australian scholar who has been studying Indian history for more than 40 years. He has worked in India as a diplomat and foreign correspondent. He has written many books on India.

Those who want to have history in a nutshell will enjoy reading this book. This is a kind of revision for those who are already familiar with Indian history, a reminder of sorts. If you want details look for another book.