4 ms·

> having read more and more content from independent authors (not funded by an institution, publicly) Could you please list these books, papers etc? I too am i

> having read more and more content from independent authors (not funded by an institution, publicly) Could you please list these books, papers etc? I too am in hunt of more neutral, unbiased work.

newyankee 9y ago
there is no such thing as unbiased in the case of India. The history is rife with many different issues. The current history of India was rewritten by leftist who control Indian universities like JNU. You will never find anything truly objective till you visit the country and explore its complex interwoven history by yourself and listen to many different perspectives. Even after that nothing can be compressed into a simple narrative. The only difference is India is still a democracy unlike China so you routinely get exaggerated articles like these popping up.
msravi 9y ago
I really suggest that you dig into original references. 1. Read translations of original Buddhist/Jain literature and the Puranas to get an idea of the founding of the Nandas, Pataliputra, Chanakya, Chandragupta Maurya, and Ashoka. 2. Read translations of Megasthenes, Hiuen Tsang, and Fa-hein. 3. Read translations of Harshacharita by Banabhatta to get a feel of Harshavardhana's empire. Read how Banabhatta tears into the practice of Sati - in 600AD. No modern history book will tell you about this. 4. Read "History of India by it's Own Historians" - Elliot to get an idea of the Muslim invasions and the Mughals. These are translations of biographies and works of Muslim historians spanning Ghazni to the Mughals.
- vixen99 9y ago
  It's probably "History of India by its Own Historians".
  - cholantesh 9y ago
    And it's worth noting that it was written specifically to advance the view that British colonialism was okay because, apparently, the Mughals and the Central Asian Sultans were worse.
    - msravi 9y ago
      It's a translation of various Muslim historians. So you can go read the original text. You can completely ignore the "British commentary" if you so wish.
      - cholantesh 9y ago
        Even if you don't read his commentaries, you have to contend with his selection of source material - texts and translations. They don't exist in a vacuum, they have purpose and context.
calvinbhai 9y ago
cant cite here, but I usually look for twitter people who challenge the current narrative, or even my own understanding. Most often, these are articles and long form blogposts that show up on my time line. Basically anything that tends to create a false dichotomy, is a red flag. And I'm not a big fan of books necessarily, because there's a financial incentive for the author to pander to certain ideology (irrespective of the ideology being something I believe in or not).

> having read more and more content from independent authors (not funded by an institution, publicly) Could you please list these books, papers etc? I too am in hunt of more neutral, unbiased work.

newyankee 9y ago

there is no such thing as unbiased in the case of India. The history is rife with many different issues. The current history of India was rewritten by leftist who control Indian universities like JNU. You will never find anything truly objective till you visit the country and explore its complex interwoven history by yourself and listen to many different perspectives. Even after that nothing can be compressed into a simple narrative. The only difference is India is still a democracy unlike China so you routinely get exaggerated articles like these popping up.

msravi 9y ago

I really suggest that you dig into original references. 1. Read translations of original Buddhist/Jain literature and the Puranas to get an idea of the founding of the Nandas, Pataliputra, Chanakya, Chandragupta Maurya, and Ashoka. 2. Read translations of Megasthenes, Hiuen Tsang, and Fa-hein. 3. Read translations of Harshacharita by Banabhatta to get a feel of Harshavardhana's empire. Read how Banabhatta tears into the practice of Sati - in 600AD. No modern history book will tell you about this. 4. Read "History of India by it's Own Historians" - Elliot to get an idea of the Muslim invasions and the Mughals. These are translations of biographies and works of Muslim historians spanning Ghazni to the Mughals.

vixen99 9y ago
It's probably "History of India by its Own Historians".
- cholantesh 9y ago
  And it's worth noting that it was written specifically to advance the view that British colonialism was okay because, apparently, the Mughals and the Central Asian Sultans were worse.
  - msravi 9y ago
    It's a translation of various Muslim historians. So you can go read the original text. You can completely ignore the "British commentary" if you so wish.
    - cholantesh 9y ago
      Even if you don't read his commentaries, you have to contend with his selection of source material - texts and translations. They don't exist in a vacuum, they have purpose and context.

calvinbhai 9y ago

cant cite here, but I usually look for twitter people who challenge the current narrative, or even my own understanding. Most often, these are articles and long form blogposts that show up on my time line. Basically anything that tends to create a false dichotomy, is a red flag. And I'm not a big fan of books necessarily, because there's a financial incentive for the author to pander to certain ideology (irrespective of the ideology being something I believe in or not).