Book Reviews
| Published date | 01 January 2014 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120140119 |
| Author | Harihar Bhattacharyya |
| Date | 01 January 2014 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
186
I
INDIAN
JOURNAL
OF
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
VOL LX,
NO.
l, JANUARY-MARCH 2014
last chapter contains the conclusion
of
the study.
The production part
of
the book is in consonance with the reputation
of
the publishers.
-JAYTILAK
GURA
Roy
Fragments of a Discontinuous Past (Review
of
Administration, Politics
and
Society in Medieval India 12-06-1705 A. D
RANJAN
KUMAR
RAY
(Department
of
Political Science and Islamic History
and
Culture,
Moulana
Azad
College, Kolkata, pp. 1-216,
price
not
mentioned)
Students
of
modern European history, politics and society quite
legitimately
refer
to
their
medieval
past,
the
Renaissance,
the
Enlightenment, Reformation and so on because without that, understanding
Europe's route to modernity remains incomplete. Therefore, there is reason
to argue that Europe's 'medieval past' is an indispensable part
of
reading
its present. Historical continuities in Europe have provided for relatively
easier understanding
of
its present and past. However, the same will be
difficult to argue in the case
of
India whose route to colonial and 'post-
colonial
modernity'
has
been
ensconced
in
discontinuities
of
high
magnitude. Students
of
state formation in India are acutely aware
of
the
problem: grappling with many pasts
of
many hues, most often clashing
with each other. The most fascinating part
of
India's
existence as a
civilisational existence is its survival in the midst
of
discontinuities over
the millennia. The question then remains: where have traits
of
its different
pasts been stored,
if
at all? This question is raised because each political
challenge following an invasion has been so overwhelming that a new
concept
of
politics and administration acquired the centre-stage. The special
genius
of
Indian society and culture has been that it has learnt to synthesize
various social and cultural traits in its societal body; the state's marginality
to society in India has meant that a societal autonomy found differential
spaces for storing the new artefacts
of
life. Sometimes an appreciative
remark is made
of
Akbar's (the great) construction
of
Din-ilhai at a time
when Europe was engaged in the ferocious Inquisition. But then post-1950's
Indian terms
of
debate on secularism has remained delinked from medieval
India's thought on the subject because
of
the epistemic differences. But
then
if
the state discourses have remained delinked, the cultural and political
resources
of
the pre-colonial past have percolated down to society where
Akbar remains 'great'.
The
book
under
review
is
the
result
of
an
inter-departmental
collaborative UGC funded national seminar
of
the Moulana Azad College,
To continue reading
Request your trial