Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni

Bio:

“Abdul Qadir Badauni, the most controversial author of his time, belonged to a family having a

low rank in Mughal imperial establishment. Despite this, he got education from the learned and

spiritual men of his age. Regular attendance in the circle of Sufis and Islamic scholars created

great scholarly qualities in him. He had acquired deep knowledge of Quran, Hadis and Islamic

jurisprudence. Further he had acquired the knowledge of Islamic History, different schools of

thought and the different sects. Being well versed in all traditional services, he also acquired

proficiency in other forms of cultural and intellectual activities and also had deep knowledge on

science. He was a great scholar of Persian and Arabic poetry, mathematics, astronomy and

music. But at heart he remained orthodox having belief in traditional Islam. As a versatile and

accomplished scholar he wrote Muntakhab-ut Tawarikh, Najat-ur Rashid and few others original

works. He also translated a number of important works from Arabic, Sanskrit and Persian such

as Mahabharata and Ramayana etc.

The views of Jhon F. Richards a renowned historian of our time is ”Abdul Qadir Badauni's

Mimtakhab-ut Tawarikh is a standout amongst the most essential wellsprings of Akbar's rule.

However, his honest remarks on Akbar and his policies particularly on his religious approach

have been firmly reprimanded by various modem history specialists. As per Athar Abbas Rizvi

'he composed to laud the triviality of his vision and parsimony of soul, of most shroud bound of

conventional ulema'. Harbans Mukhia recommends that 'he composed with a retaliation'. For the

most part his perspectives are rejected, on the grounds that he is seen as a staunch devotee.

However without a nearby investigation of Badauni's works, no adjusted history of Akbar's rule

could be composed. In actuality Akbar's religious arrangement and its resultant turmoil and

social strain may have stayed covered under the blandishment of expert polished Abul Fazl.”

Contribution:

The literary commitments of Badauni were enormous which can't be ignored and had

extraordinarily advanced the way of life of Mughal period. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

in India saw the development of new groups with new religious methodologies such as Nuqtavis,

Mehdvis and Roushania. Nuqtavi group was established by an Iranian specifically Mahmud

Basakhawani. As indicated by him iota of dust (Nuqta-i Khaq) is the birthplace of human life.

Transmigration of soul was an imperative part of his philosophical thoughts. Niiqtavis

considered him as guaranteed Mehdi. They did not believe in hell and heaven , revival of human

bodies or the Day of Judgment and had no confidence in the Day of Judgment.

Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03428-0 - Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and

World History: Essays in Honour of John F. Richards 141, 143–46, 155

Their thinking was inverse to Islamic essentials. Because of abuse of Safavids, Naqtavis came

to India and got managerial post in Mughal organization. Abdul Qadir Badauni reprimanded

Niiqtavis for the deviation of Akbar's idea from his ancestors religion and utilized brutal dialect

for them.

' Badauni through his composition gives this feeling Niiqtavis were in charge of Akbar's longing

to achieve a preeminent position as a ruler as well as a religious head. They persuaded Akbar that

he was Sahib-i Zaman or renovator of new period. Further Abul Fazl portrays Akbar as Farr-i

Izdi (light from God). Abul Fazl who had ill will against universal Ulema because of his

sufferings in the high school, found a scholarly backing to instruct a lesson to the Ulema of the

court. As per Badauni Akbar affected by Nuqtavis connected reason and rationale in religion

which are not admissible to some degree in customary Islam. Badauni's contemporary Shaikh

Ahmad Sirhindi's compositions additionally bolster Badauni's discernment about Nuqtavis.

Abdul Qadir Badauni being a universal scholar was not prepared to acknowledge these religious

advancements. He utilizes differ brutal and oppressive dialect for Nuqtavis

Major works:

’The Muslim scholar cAbd al-Qadir Bada'uni (d. ca. 1615) provides us with extensive

information about the Kathdsaritsdgara. Today he is especially well known for his historical

work Muntakhab al-tawarikh (Selections from the Histories), a biting critique of the reign of

Akbar, whose service he entered in 1575. In this work, he informs the reader that the beginning

of the Ocean of Streams of Stories had already been translated by order of Sultan Zayn

al-'Abidin the padishah of Kashmir, and that it was called Bahr al-asmar (Sea of Tales).

Bada'uni himself was first instructed to render the last volume of the Kathdsaritsdgara, which

had not yet been translated, into Persian within five months. In the course of that period, Akbar

summoned him one night into his private sleeping quarters and had him read stories from the

book until morning. Obviously pleased with what he heard, Akbar consequently entrusted

Bada'uni with the task of transforming the first part of the Kathdsaritsdgara, which had already

been translated under Sultan Zayn al-Abidin, into contemporary Persian so that it might be

intelligible to everyone. Bada'uni informs us that he was initially told to trans late only the last

book. After he had finished that task, he was ordered by Akbar to go over the first part, which

had already been rendered into Persian under Zayn al-cAbidin. We do not know whether he ever

finished this revision or not, but presumably Akbar entrusted al-'Abbasi with this task because

Bada'uni could not go on with his work for some reason or other. In this case, al-Abbasi would

have received his orders sometime between 1595 and 1598.’

Franke, Heike. "AKBAR'S KATHASARITSAGARA: THE TRANSLATOR AND

ILLUSTRATIONS OF AN IMPERIAL MANUSCRIPT." MUQARNAS: AN ANNUAL ON THE

VISUAL CULTURES OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD, VOL 27 27 (2010): 313-356.

Another notable work of Bada'uni is Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh (Selection of Chronicles)

or Tarikh-i-Bada'uni (Bada'uni's History) composed in 1004 AH (1595). This work in three

volumes is a general History of the Muslims of India. The first volume contains an account

of Babur and Humayun. The second volume exclusively deals with Akbar's reign up to 1595.

This volume was kept concealed till Akbar's death and was published after Jahangir's accession.

This book is written from the point of view of an orthodox Sunni Muslim and gives a biased

view regarding the development of Akbar's views on religion and his religious policy. The third

volume describes the lives and works of Muslim religious figures, scholars, physicians and poets.

The first printed edition of the text of this work was published by the College Press, Calcutta in

1865 and later this work was translated into English by G.S.A. Other works by Bada'uni include

the Bahr-ul-Asmar, a work on Kitab al-Hadith "book of sayings [of Muhammad]", (lost), a

chapter in the Tarikh-i-Alfi (History of the Millennium), commissioned by Akbar to celebrate the

millenary of the Hijrah and the Najat-ur-Rashi (1581), a summary of the Jami al-Tawarikh the

"Universal History" of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani.He translated the Hindu works, the Ramayana

and the Mahabharata (Razmnama).

B. G. L. Swamy

Bio:

Bengaluru Gundappa Lakshminarayana Swamy (1918-1980) also known as B. G. L. Swamy,

was an eminent Indian botanist and Kannada writer; He served as professor and head of the

department of Botany and as Principal of Presidency College, Chennai. He was the son of D. V.

Gundappa one of the most respected Indian writers and philosophers. Dr. B.G.L. Swamy towed

his own line in writing. He topped the list among science writers in Kannada besides expressing

his multi talents in drawing, painting, music, research in languages and history. He figures

among top-botanists of the world and has about 300 articles in English to his credit. His mother-

tongue was Tamil and knew Telugu and Sanskrit very well. But he wrote in Kannada language,

the language nearest to his heart and enriched it in no small measure. Dr. Swamy was a prolific

writer. Humor in various forms was his forte. He crafted science or research article in a way that

was entertaining and educative at the same time. His works could be divided into four categories,

viz those pertaining to botany, other scientific works, historical, travel-stories and satires which

reflect social life of our times.

Encouraged by Prof. A.R. Krishnasastry, he started writing as early as 1939-1940 in "Prabuddha

Karnataka" which Prof. Shastry was editing. It was a highly claimed quarterly of Mysore

University. His hand-book to newly weds and biography of the unborn were unique. His

American travelogue. "Americadalli Nanu" (1963) became very popular due to depiction of

American Society through Indian eyes. He could give humorous tilt to any situation and though

exaggerated many a time, it could be informative and educative. Dr. Swamy was shy of publicity

and wanted quiet time with his pipe, plants, pen and palette. Once his relative and Kamat's

writer-friend, S. Diwakar took Kamat to Swamy's residence in Bangalore, where he had settled

temporarily. Kamat extensively photographed B.G.L. Swamy on that day in 1979, in many

informal moments. 

Swamy studied in Central College, Bangalore, and obtained his bachelor's degree in botany. He

obtained his PhD from the University of Mysore in 1947, and had a brief post-doctoral period at

Harvard University, under Dr Irving Bailey. From 1953, he served as professor of botany (and

later Principal) at Presidency College, Chennai.

http://www.bdu.ac.in/schools/life_sciences/plant_science/jlsbc/docs/about_bgls.pdf

http://www.kamat.com/jyotsna/blog/blog.php?BlogID=1055

Contribution:

Swamy's literary works encompass a large range of topics. A large number of them are related to

botany, and introduce botanical concepts to the layperson. A few of his books cover common

plants used in everyday life in a scientific manner - an example is Namma hotteyalli Dakshina

amerika (South America in our stomach). Other works by Swamy pertain to literature, and some

are partially autobiographical, dealing with his experiences as professor and principal.

Apart from being an acclaimed botanist, BGL Swamy was also widely respected in the history

and literary circles. He extensively studied and researched the histories and literatures of both

Kannada and Tamil languages.

His book Tamilu Talegala Naduve (Among Tamil heads), is devoted to examining theories

pertaining to languages' origins (especially the claims that were being made in those days by the

Dravidian parties) and mostly debunking them.[citation needed] In his book he has also

debunked some of the theories of Tamil historians like Iravatham Mahadevan, Nilkanta Shastri,

to name a few. He has raised several questions regarding gaping holes and contradictions in their

theories.

Major works

He widely concentrated on and investigated the histories and writings of the Kannada and Tami

dialects. His book Tamilu Talegala Naduve ("Among Tamil heads") is dedicated to analyzing

theories relating to dialect's starting points (inspecting the cases that were being made in those

days by the Dravidian parties) and generally exposing them. In this book he exposes a percentage

of the hypotheses set forward by Tamil etymologists and history specialists, for example,

Iravatham Mahadevan and Nilkanta Shastri. He brought up issues in regards to expanding gaps

and disagreements in their theories.

His works include:

Hasiru Honnu - the Green Gold

Colleju Ranga

Pradhyapakana Peethadalli

Tamilu Talegala Naduve

Diary of a Botanist

Namma hotteyalli Dakshina amerika

Panchakalasha Gopura

Americadalli naanu

Maisooru dairy

Dourgandhikapaharana

 

N. Ranganatha Sharma (1984). Preface to Marula Muniyana Kagga. Kavyalaya Publications,

Mysore Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs.

nanthesha nempu. "Tamilu talegala naduve". sampada. Retrieved 23 August

Bhaskar Anand Saletore

Bio:

Bhaskar Anand Saletore (pronounced saa-lae-tho-rae)  was born in 1902 and had his school and

college education at Mangalore. He did his B.T. from Madras and M.A. from St. Xavier's

college, Bombay. A brilliant student throughout he had double doctorate degrees, one from the

London University in History (1931) and a second one from the German University of Giessen

in Politics (1933). He knew several Indian languages, besides English and German. He had

illustrious teachers like Rev. H. Heras and Dr. L.D. Barnett who need little introduction. His

liking for details combined with painstaking research has found expression in a dozen of books

and nearly hundred articles on different aspects of Indian history, from ancient Indian trade

contacts to diplomatic relation from a textbook of civics to ancient Indian political thought, from

Riverside trade to trans-oceanic contacts. The wide range of his historical knowledge is

staggering. He died in 1963 when he was only 61, hardly after a year of his retirement leaving a

number of incomplete works, vast notes and a valuable library of rare books

Students of Vijayanagar history are far too familiar with his two volumes of "Social and Political

Life in the Vijayanagara Empire" which formed his doctoral thesis submitted to the University of

London. Theories regarding the origin of Vijayanagar empire and Sangama dynasty have been

hot favorite items of the scholars for nearly five decades now and it may continue for decades to

come, whenever a new epigraph or manuscript comes to light in support of or against the

Kannada origin. But what the scholars have done till now in this region is only to add and

confirm whatever Saletore could propound in early 1930s with fewer sources at his disposal.

He started his career as professor of History at Sir Parshurambhau College in Pune in 1938, and

later worked at University of Ahmedabad. He worked with the Bombay Educational Service he

became the Director of National Archives of India, retiring in 1960. Thereafter, he started his

tenure as professor, later Head of Post Graduate Department of History, and finally Director at

Kannada Research institute at Karnataka University, Dharwad.

Contribution

He was the first scholar to utilize epigraphical sources for the study of social history which he

invariably tried to corroborate with the observations of the foreign travelers, an approach being

followed by other young scholars. Though the work was completed in London it is a wonder that

he has not left Kannada sources unexplored. Some of the Sanskrit manuscripts. he referred in

India Office, London are yet to be studied in detail.

It is surprising that in many works on Vijayanagar history that followed, the pattern of study and

division of chapters on social and economic conditions, as social legislations, institutions,

corporate life etc., several scholars owe him a lot whether they acknowledge it or not. He was

indeed a pioneer to throw light on various aspects of socio-economic polity of Karnataka whose

scope has enriched with countless epigraphs and other sources in later years. Whatever has been

written anew, only supplements Saletore.

The book is studied from five points of view a) Legendary, b) domestic, c) foreign relations of

Alupa rulers, mainly, based on epigraphs, (d) folk and traditional sources, and finally (e) literary

sources. He introduced Grama Paddhati, a work on Tuluva tradition for the first time. The book

is a compendium on life and times in Tuluva depicting village organization, duties of local

officials, system of land distribution, modes of punishment, judicial administration, and

historicity of some families like Hollas, Mayyas, Ballalas and Karanths. The chapter on everyday

life brings out many industries like ship-building, toddy-tapping, manufacture of cloth, hats and

umbrellas, dress, and ornaments, amusements, means of communication, food etc., and life in the

Budu or manorial house of Tuluva chieftains. A large number of epigraphs discovered in that

region after Saletore wrote this book may not confirm what he tried to establish earlier. But

tapping of sources like legends, mythology, folklore and tradition for the study of History was

again a novel method.

Medieval Jainism with special reference to Vijayanagar Empire came out in 1938. It deals with

early migration of Jainism to Karnataka in 297 BC and traces its history for twelve centuries.

Jainism was a live force in Kannada polity and the contribution of Jain Gurus to prosody,

grammar, science are mentioned. The patronage extended by the Ganga, Kadamba,

Rashtrakoota, Chalukya and the Hoysala dynasties as also a number of princely families like the

Chellaketana, Kongalvas, Chengalvas and the Shilaharas, Rattas and nobles like those of Nagara

Khanda are dealt with.

Religion unrelated to political power does not leave permanent effect on society. Jain sages, the

great exponents of ahimsa have encouraged great generals. This land teams with the Bhawyas,

who were great devotees and preceptors who attained salvation through sallekhana. Generals

like Chavundaraya, Shantinatha, Boppa, Punisha and others are depicted in the light of their

conquests and benevolence.

He further analyzes three sinews of political expansion, energy, enterprise, and wealth which

became part of Kannada heritage and resulted in an age-long contact of the region with more

vigorous and ancient peoples. These included Babylonia, Assyria, Java and Indonesia. According

to Saletore, following traits which form cultural life of Karnataka are borrowed from Babylonia:

a) The cult of Mother Goddess; b) Symbols of boar, bull and elephant; c) Linga worship; d)

Gandabherunda: the legend of double headed Eagle, and finally e) the legend: of a prince killing

a lion-resulting in the symbol of Hoysalas. According to him legends lose a good deal of their

exterior from but retain their kernel when transmitted from age to age and from land to land. He

further derives the descendance of Hoysalas from Shatavahanas or Shalivahanas. With more and

more evidence being discovered of India's ancient contacts with West Asia, since Saletore's

observations, he may again shine as a pioneer of this theory.

Major works

Salatore was a polyglot. His works spanning several books and hundreds of articles cover a wide

range of subjects including ancient Indian history. During his early years he was guided by world

famous historians like H. Heras and L.D. Barnett. In the 1930s, he wrote a well-known

book Social and Political Life in the vijayanagara empire, a book that includes the much debated

topic of the origin of the Sangama brothers and the origin of the empire itself. This book was his

PhD. thesis while at the University of London. The work contains a bibliography of 55 pages,

running to thousand and odd books and articles.

Origin of Vijayanagar Empire Saletore was the first among scholars from Karnataka to

emphatically prove the Kannada origin of the empire. He resoundingly argued against a Telugu

origin propounded by N. Venkataramanayya with literary and numismatic evidence. While the

hour of need during the time of the empire was to ward off Muslim invasion into south India and

the people and the administrators of the empire were generally bilingual, Saletore beyond doubt

proved that the empire had its origins in Kannada country only. Study on political and social

history was divided into

Revenue administration

Administration of central government

Administration of local government

Law and Justice

Foreign relations

Army.

Study on cultural history divided into

Social institutions

Position of women

Social legislation

Public service

Habitation, food and dress

Corporate life

Festivals, games and amusements.

In appreciation of his work, historian S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar sums up Saletore's efforts in a

nutshell. "The very extent of the subject and the vastness of details available, would baffle in this

direction ordinarily. But Dr. Saletore has succeeded in producing a creditable work bearing on

the vast subject. The work gives a correct and complete view of the life of the people under the

empire, during the three centuries of its fight to preserve Hindu institutions and Hindu

civilization".

He is said to be the first historian to use epigraphical sources for the study of social history which

is what current days students of history do. He is said to be a pioneer in throwing light on socio-

economic policy of Karnataka over the ages. His last book, Ancient Indian Political Thought and

Institutions, written just before his death, is said to be a masterpiece. The book is said to be a

comparative study of great Indian political minds of ancient times including kautilya.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/

270363090_Ancient_Indian_Political_Thought_and_Institutions_By_B_A_Saletore_pp_xiv_695

_Asia_Publishing_House_Bombay_1963

Bipin Chandra

Bio:

Bipan Chandra (27 May 1928 – 30 August 2014) was an Indian historian, who mainly focused

in economic and political history of modern India. He was a Professor in modern history at

Jawaharlal Nehru University, he specialized on the Indian independence movement and is

considered to be one of India’s topmost scholars on Mahatma Gandhi. He wrote several books,

including The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism. Chandra was born in Kangra

in Punjab, British India (now in Himachal Pradesh). He was educated at Forman Christian

College, Lahore, Stanford University USA and the University of Delhi, where he completed his

Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Bishweshwar Prasad

Chandra, a Padma Bhushan awardee, had played many roles including that of chairperson of the

Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Member of the University Grants

Commission (UGC) and the Chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT). As NBT chairman,

Chandra successfully revived the Nehru-era organization.

Contribution:

The story of the forging of India, the world’s largest democracy, is an exemplary and inspiring

work. This volume, a sequel to the best-selling India’s Struggle for Independence, studies the

challenges India has faced and the successes it has achieved, in the light of its colonial legacy

and century-long struggle for freedom. The book tells us how the Constitution was framed, as

also how the Nehruvian political and economic agenda and basics of foreign policy were evolved

and developed.

It dwells on the consolidation of the nation, examining contentious issues like party politics in

the Centre and the states, the Punjab problem, and anti-caste politics and untouchability. This

revised edition offers a scathing analysis of the growth of communalism in India and the use of

state power in furthering its cause. It also documents the fall of the National Democratic Alliance

in the 2004 General Elections, the United Progressive Alliance’s subsequent rise to power and

the Indo-US Nuclear Deal that served to unravel the political consensus at the centre.

The following is an article by The Indian express after the death of bipan Chandra

“It is a measure of Bipan Chandra’s achievement as a historian that he defined the mainstream

establishment’s self understanding of Modern India for a very long time. Other historians have

been more scholarly or more conceptually innovative. But few historians weaved together a

narrative of Modern India in a way that had the power of becoming a default political common

sense. Our understanding of Modern India has to, even when we disagree, come to terms with

the framework he laid out. Most historians are remembered because they were gifted in some

way. Chandra’s achievement was more elusive: he became inescapable.

Chandra also managed to tie the project of political secularism to a historiography of secularism.

It rested on a claim that the way we represent the past will bear on the way we think of the

future: if the past turns to be the site of communalism, so will the future.

It has less space for Hedley Bull’s thought that history might turn out to be subversive of all

kinds of claims, good and bad. It had the consequence of making all history, political and all

politics coterminous with a historical narrative. At one level it raised the stakes in historical

inquiry; at another level it made genuine historical inquiry difficult. This is the legacy we are still

coming to terms with. The second assumption is that history as a moral drama is more black-

white than 50 shades of grey. This was clearly on display in what was perhaps his most

controversial book, In the Name of Democracy: J P Movement and the Emergency, a book that

was a sophisticated apologia for Indira Gandhi’s authoritarian politics.

To simplify somewhat, in Chandra’s major works, modern Indian history is broadly on the

trajectory of an inclusive passive revolution. But it is subverted by woolly headed political

mobilisers like JP, especially when they give space for the RSS. In a sense, strangely for

Marxists, history, rather than emerging as a product of a complicated economic, social and even

cultural churn, ends up being a drama where forces of disorder need to be curbed in the name of

something called a secular order. In some ways, Chandra’s world view captured that of the

historical protagonist he subtly defended — Indira Gandhi: secular, economic nationalist but

unable to fathom complex process as anything other than a conspiracy. The strange Congress-

Left elective affinity was forged less by a fear of the RSS than by the fact that the Congress,

during the ’70s, gave up its own complex historical sensibility and substituted it with the Left.

Chandra was the key protagonist in that significant historical transformation and therefore

dominated like few historians have. His greatest triumph was to make this view of history so

inescapable that even his opponents were forced to practice it. Animating this deep conflation of

history and politics was perhaps an admirable ethical impulse: it was the fear that if the past did

not tell a comforting story, the future will not as well. Even as we struggle to escape from the

limitations of that framework, the questions Chandra asked about the relationship between

politics and history will haunt us for a long time.”

Major works:

The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi, Orient Blackswan, 2012

History of Modern India, Orient Blackswan, 2009

Communalism: A Primer, (New Delhi, 2004)

In the Name of Democracy: The JP Movement and the Emergency, (New Delhi, 2003)

Essays on Colonialism, (New Delhi, 1999)

India Since Independence, (jointly with Mridula Mukherjee and Aditya Mukherjee), (New

Delhi, 1999)[15]

Ideology and Politics in Modern India, (New Delhi, 1994)

Essays on Indian Nationalism, (New Delhi, 1993)

Essays on Contemporary India, (New Delhi, 1993)

The Epic Struggle, (New Delhi, 1992)

India's Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, (New Delhi, 1989)

Indian National Movement: The Long Term Dynamics, (New Delhi, 1988)

Communalism in Modern India, (New Delhi, 1984)

The Indian Left: Critical Appraisal, (New Delhi, 1983)

Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India, (New Delhi, 1979)

Freedom Struggle, (jointly with Amalesh Tripathi and Barun De), (New Delhi, 1972))

The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India: Economic Policies of Indian

National Leadership, 1880-1905, (New Delhi, 1966)”

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/bipan-chandra-the-man-whose-view-

of-modern-india-is-inescapable/#sthash.0J6EwKFO.dpuf