The State of Indology
Thursday, 18. January 2007 - 11:44 AM
Recall my series on Indology? Dr. N.S. Rajaram throws more light on the pathetic state of this discipline, which is all but extinct in the Western academia.
WITHIN THE past year, the Sanskrit Department at Cambridge University and the Berlin Institute of Indology, two of the oldest and most prestigious Indology centres in the West, have shut their doors. The reason cited is lack of interest. At Cambridge, not a single student had enrolled this year for its Sanskrit or Hindi course. Other universities in Europe and America are facing similar problems.
Coming at a time when worldwide interest in India is the highest in memory, it points to structural problems in Indology and related fields such as Indo-European Studies. What is striking is the contrast between this gloomy academic scene and the outside world.
Anything built on weak foundations will eventually collapse. Indology is simply another name for racism or more accurately, White supremacy. Let’s not mourn its death.
19. January 2007 - 12:13 AM
True. I saw some mails in which the Indology “researchers” were looking for funding from wealthy NRIs. I should probably fund some of them, if they eat their words.
19. January 2007 - 10:00 AM
JK,
Absolutely, JK. These researchers are looking to maintain their status quo as “interpreters” and not for any noble purpose of finding out the truth. Ask them, if they will eat their words.
21. January 2007 - 4:37 AM
Though I love to study Indology as a hobby and mourn its demise in Western Academia, I beg to differ with your analysis.
Just calling it racism and white hegemony is stupidity. Tell me how many people in India study Sanskrit today?!? The Mysore maharaja’s sanskrit college is another victim. Is that also racism? If there is no one enrolling in their courses, obviously the departments will shut down. I recently met Prof. Sheldon Pollock of the University of Chicago(sanskrit dept) at a lecture. He said that the lowest form of interest regarding Sanskrit and Indology in the world was exhibited in India itself. In that lecture I attended, I was the lone Indian face in a crowd of about 80-100. Can you explain that?!?
22. January 2007 - 10:27 AM
Pratap,
Your points are valid and let me try to address them. The linked article provides info ONLY on the collapse of Indology in the West.
>>Just calling it racism and white hegemony is stupidity.
How or why is it stupidity despite tons of evidence that prove otherwise?
>>Tell me how many people in India study Sanskrit today?!? The Mysore maharaja’s sanskrit college is another victim.
I agree. But I’m sure you know that Sanskrit and in the larger sphere, Hinduism was itself actively discouraged starting right with Nehru. It was–and is still–considered a “dead” language on very flimsy bases. If the State actively discourages a field of study, why would people pursue it, especially if there was no means to earn their living by studying it? Even today, anybody wanting to learn Sanskrit would be branded as “elitist,” “casteist,” and other slur-words. But fundamentally, the reason people no longer learn Sanskrit is because it does not help them earn a living.
Does that explain it?
22. January 2007 - 3:10 PM
Pratap,
I think Indology is not Sanskrit. AFAIK, Indology deals with – Aryan theories, Indian customs (particularly the bad ones), indians living like savages, “peaceful” muslim invasions, secularism of mughals, the british raj, etc.
27. January 2007 - 7:31 AM
Sandeep ,
Whether one beleives in Hindutva or not, it is not too hard to understand why the present
school of indology is doomed to fail.
By clinging on tenaciously to outdated paradigms , many of these people (some of
these people have a policial axe to grind
back here in India) have actually increased
superstition and blind faith.
It works like this:
Nobody beleives school textbooks anymore. To satiate their hunger for knowledge, people
rely on alternative sources of information
Sujay Rao Mandavilli
28. February 2010 - 12:28 PM
Here is the complete , comprehensive solution to the so-called Aryan problem
Part one is a high level overview. Part two is much more interesting
This is one of the longest research papers published in a peer-reviewed journal since independance.
> http://www.scribd.com/doc/27103044/Sujay-NPAP-Part-One
> http://www.scribd.com/doc/27105677/Sujay-Npap-Part-Two
> Mirror:
> http://www.docstoc.com/docs/25880426/Sujay-NPAP-Part-One
> http://www.docstoc.com/docs/25865304/SUJAY-NPAP-Part-Two
Links to the journal
Part one http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1324506
Part Two http://ssrn.com/abstract=1541822
SUJAY RAO MANDAVILLI
30. April 2010 - 6:59 PM
Even if a small linguistic component is added – rebus principle or punning (Witzel Kyoto, 2009 or Sproat in his presentations) or acriphony is added, it qualifies for full literacy. I assume some ’sound coding’ would have been useful to them atleast on some occasions.. the longest seal is 17 characters non-analomous and 26 characters analomous. I have never said that what Farmer is saying is necessarily fully wrong, but even Parpola has been reading them mostly as logograms with a linguistic component. So how much of what Farmer is saying is new apart from the fact that he popularized the idea? These men have been saying almost the same thing and fighting with each other?Till 2900 BC Egypt and Mesopotamia were considered proto-literate even if their texts are shorter(not non-literate!!!!)- even if there is small difference between the 2 maybe the Indus system was more expressive than Egyptian proto-literate- because conditional entropy, order of signs, combinations probably did play a major role in meaning in the Indus script (Korvink). ????Terminologies pertaining to literacy cannot be changed unless all scholars agree – and any demands to change terminology must be met with suspicion, naturally. Only a very small portion of the IVC has been excavated, you know, 5% maybe! Even Farmer agrees “Judging from modern examples and research in the linguistic history of South Asia, the Indus Valley was probably intensely multi linguistic throughout its history. This may have provided the Indus emblem system with an advantage over ordinary writing as a means of providing the civilization with social cohesion. The fact that the majority of inscriptions rely on a surprisingly small core of symbols suggests that the meaning of Indus signs could have potentially been known by almost or all (ALL!!) of the population, resulting in a pervasive quasiliteracy far beyond that achieved in Mesopotamia or Egypt.” No other civlization mass produced writing or (”writing”!!). Where else did they have public signboards then apart from the Indus?
I can instead cite Farmer and declare it the most literate civilization on erth. And he and I could be saying the same thing. I say such terms must be avoided. if they had learned how to use the rebus principle , they would have used it whenever the need arose. Seal writing is always short . Sproat’s smoking gun cannot be used to test the stability or the complexity of the system. It has weaknesses. It cannot also be used to prove that the Indus script didn’t have a linguistic component.
Making fun of ancient people is absolutely disgraceful.
Sujay Rao Mandavilli
6. May 2010 - 2:41 PM
The Harappans had the oldest “signboard” in the world, apparently. They mass produced writing (or “writing”) . According to Parpola, 1/10th of
Mohendodaro (100 square metres) has yielded 2100 seals (with 9000 characters?). Or more than one character per person. I declare the Indus the most literate civilization on earth asevery body could ‘read and write’ Farmer…
This makes the debate so shallow it is nearly ridiculous. After all what then is the difference beteween the Indus and civilizations which did not yield any trace of writing.? History is a subject after all and is taught everywhere in the world. Don’t mislead people deliberately and try to deceive them! We hate those who misrepresent history.
please find the article below. My comment is at the end.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/war-of-words-in-the-cradle-of-south-asian-civilisation-1927005.html
7. May 2010 - 11:57 AM
Hindutva tactics:
I am posting this because I am convinced we are all truth seekers. Otherwise,
I wouldn’t have wasted my time.
(a) Most people who beleive in ‘Hindutva’ (within inverted commas) theories are innocent.
The Colonial- Marxist school of Indology is primarily responsible for the mess, they haven’t changed with the times or connected with the people.
(b) Even those who propound ‘Hindutva’ (within inverted commas) theories are innocent. The colonial- marxist school of Indology is primarily responsible, they haven’t changed with the times or connected with the people. The ICHR is now synonymous with senility (like anything else to do with Marxism always is). However, all other government departments have turned a new leaf since 1991.
(c) There are however some dangerous people using this chaos and confusion to create havoc
the 19th century school of Indology cannot last beyond a decade – most optimistic estimate.
But what will take its place? That’s what scares me to death. Will this be like a collapse of
the USSR, a much smaller verion perhaps? It will have large implications though, but most won’t
even ‘understand’ what is ‘happening’!
Hindutva tactics
1.Shouting out against a myth, an obsolete or a half-imaginary theory
i.e The Aryan Invasion theory (which should have been abandoned before it actually was-or at least the fact that it was abandoned should have been communicated properly)
2. The obsession with whether the “Aryans” came from inside out outside India –
this is irrelavant to history because identities keep on changing every 30 years or so.
Such people are not interested in history but in politics. The “Aryans” migrated
to Iran and other parts of the world as well, nobody creates a hue and cry there.
Current research supports the idea that they came in small numbers and the transfer
of power from the Harappans to the “Aryans” happened due to a series of
Acculturations and internal movements
3. Not interested in history: The history of the Gangetic plains was and is being researched by
Non-Hindutvavaadis, Pargiter, Smith, Rau, Witzel and now myself. Hindutvaavadis
will not be interested in history because it will conflict with their ideology.
4. Not interested in what is “theirs”,(whatever that means) Everything which is not “theirs” should
be “theirs”
5. Introducing a crude “is “mine” older” or “is “theirs” older” competition
.i.e Vedic is pre-IVC theory.
6. Using the services of foreigners who cannot understand the complexity
of Indian culture to promote Hindutva.
7. Equating a sect of Hinduism with the whole of Hinduism and equating
it again with the whole of India.
8. Using the perceived weaknesses and irrationlity of Marxist ideology
as an excuse for promoting the Hinduvta movement
9. Using Dravidian nationalism as an excuse to
promote Hindutva (‘They misused history and so can I’)
10. Using the fact that current approaches to Indology are considered to
be hopelessly obsolete to their full advantage
11. Taking full advantage of the fact that the man in the street
cannot understand or will not be interested in understanding the complexity of
the Aryan problem and using his historical naivety to their advantage.
But ultimately Hindtva (misuse) of history is more dangerous in the long-term than the Babri
Masjid demolition or the Godhra massacre. The fact that a majority
of people don’t understand what the Aryan problem is doesn’t make it less dangerous!
Therefore only a few people who can understand what they are upto must expose them
12. Indian Hindutva agents posing as Europeans
13. Indian Hindutva agents posing as Pakistani Muslims
Their strategy has been so successful that many Americans, Europeans (some of them older) and even Pakistani muslims now implicitly beleive them!!
14. Not interested in the ‘Indus script’ – strictly outside their purview (Exception: (pseudo)-decipherment(s))
I will still say
(a) Very few people are interested in History
(b) Even fewer would opt for history as a career, much less in a developing country like India where people are
driven by economic compulsions
(c) But issues such as this have far-reaching implications not just for India but for the rest of the world.
There are fundamental differences between Egypt , Mesopotamia and India . Egypt , Mesopotamia are Islamic countries
which don’t even encourage their pre-ISLAMIC past (!!!!) . In India , religion which comprises of Mythology or mythologized history is intertwined and inseparable with daily life. IF Indians don’t get what they want from mainstream sources, they are in the control of people like Rajaram.That is it! That is what has happened .. and is threatens not just India but the rest of humanity, in
a way. Most people who believe in Hindutva are innocent. But that is what makes it all the more dangerous. (!) Almost everybody in India today thinks Rajaram et all are correct. WHY?
Is there something seriously wrong with the education system here .. YES .. there is !!
What could be the reason?
(a) There are many unresolved issues in Indian history
(b) Marxist Historians did not make an attempt to understand underlying problems / invest in research
(c) Western Indologists did not make an attempt to connect with Indians
Wait for the impending catastrophe. We fear for India and its future. The world may well sink with it.
Sujay Rao Mandavilli