Over the past years there have been controversies regarding the existence of the history of India. There are arguments stating that there is no record of the history of India that was documented in regard to its cultures and other activities engage by this society. However, Romila Thapar explains that just like other societies have historical backgrounds India has its own regardless of whether it was documented or not. The author explains that the history of a society is built or made based on three aspects which include; having consciousness of the past and present, organizing the events or activities in a chronological order and then recording them as evidence for future use. In this regard Thapar explains that India has a history because it has come through the three steps just like other societies. The paper will therefore argue of the presence of historical context of India on the basis of their traditions, religion, culture, moral code, among other beliefs and practices.
The search for the historical background of India began with the European scholars. They looked for details and evidence of the Sanskrit beliefs and practices but they could barely enough the Sanskrit culture came to be known as the Hindu traditions. It is indicated that there is no Hindu tribe among the several fragmented that have left history except for the Cashmerian. The European explorers and colonialist however are said to have unveiled the Sanskrit culture through following up on the old and abandoned pictures in order for them to know about the governments and way of life of the people. The information obtained was compared with the rest that had been written or established by different scholars. Most of the literature was dismissed with claims that they were not authentic. The only information that was accepted and viewed as authentic was that of Rajatarangini of Kalhana which is traced back to the twelfth century in what was believed to the history of Kashmir. One thing that is worth noting is that most of the literature referred the historical information as myths a term that was never defined. In reality a myth is more of incarnations and deities something that is only part of the traditions which is in religion and divinity. Myths are only characterized with allegories and riddles and should only be given a small portion of historical context of the Indian past. Some scholars argued that there was no India history because they never made one. It is not only wrong but without proof because as long as people existed they engaged in different activities and believed in certain things and this is enough to make their history. In this regard India had its own history that they did not document to be evidence to the coming generations and interest groups such as scholars.
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The early Indians had religious practices which include; Puranic, Sramanic and Islamic beliefs that guided their faith in a supreme being. It was during the classical age and a time when Buddha existed. It is the genesis through which Hinduism began. They had Dharma in place and this was meant law, duty and truth among the people. It became the center of Hinduism and a reference point through which morality was upheld. The religious practices were expressed genre texts of Dharma Sutras and Shatras. Dharma based it beliefs on three principles namely; revelation, tradition and good custom. They also followed the laws of Manu which stated that people should do what pleases oneself. There was also the period of Vedic fire when sacrifices were made to the establishment of committed worship known as puja and the deity images in the temple. The Vedic period was characterized by the Aryan migration from the Indus Valley. The Aryans called themselves the noble ones and when they migrated to the main land they the dominant culture. Another feature was that of the cultural transformation. The knowledge that gives proof of the existence of this ancient culture of the Hindu people was the language and archeological evidence. The language during the time was that of Vedic Sanskrit and it is connected to other languages in the Indo-European group. In this period in Indian culture one can recognize several similarities with the modern day Hinduism for instance Bhakti and the temple where the ancient people worshipped. The Europeans brought Christianity but it was never popular in most parts as Hinduism had taken roots in the region. The Brahmanas was the major source Indian literature and it correlated Indian data with biblical doctrines.
Another feature that characterized early Indian traditions was their advancement in architecture known as Taj Mahal. It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan to honor his third wife. It was a combination of Persian, Islamic , Turkish and Ottoman. Another important feature was that of art it was well known for music and dance which can be traced to over two thousand years ago. The most practised classical dance was Bharata Natyam, kuchipudi,Manipuri and oddissi among others. One of the archeological evidence for proof of musical instruments is the Indian horns which resemble those found in Ireland an indication that they exchanged some values. The author states “This research may suggest that the two countries may have exchanged ideas and techniques in making musical instruments during the Bronze Age. "Some horns are frankly shockingly similar, to the point where it is like witnessing time travel,"(Zimmermann 2017). It is a proof that India had a rich tradition and the information of lack of it is invalid. mathematics was also another feature which led to the invention of zero. It was also characterized by the invention of medicine.
In a look at the language spoken it is important to note that since time immemorial India has never had an official language as it has several tribes speaking different languages. Although in the modern society Hindi has been considered the national language after several controversies. Some of the other language that exist include Bengali, Tamil and Telugu among others. Sanskrit is also considered as an Indo-European language it is believed to share some words in English, French, Russia and Fasri. Zimmermann explains about some scholars view by writing "People have been debating the arrival of the Indo-European languages in India for hundreds of years," said study co-author Martin Richards, an archaeogeneticist at the University of Huddersfield in England. "(Zimmermann 2017). It is an indication that there have been controversies regarding the Indian traditions and way of life.
The most staple food among the early Indian people was the now known as Indian cuisine. It is made up of assorted dishes with lots of spices and herbs which are believed to carry certain nutritional and medicinal values. Although cooking styles vary from one regions to another they have a rich food tradition. The most common and staple food since the early times is wheat, rice and pulses mixed with Chana. The widely used spices include; turmeric. Coriander, cardamon, ginger and dried hot pepper among others. Although most of the Indian people are vegeterian those that are not enjoy lamb and chicken. There clothing is characterized by silk saris worn by women and the men wear the Dhotis. The men also wear the Kurta a loose shirt reaching the knee length.
References
Knutson, J. R. (2015). Romila Thapar: The Past Before Us: Historical Traditions of Early North India. xvii, 758 pp. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2013.€ 49.50. ISBN 978 06747 2523 2. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , 78 (1), 207-208.
Talbot, C. (2014). Romila Thapar. The Past before Us: Historical Traditions of Early North India.
Zimmermann K.A. (2017) Indian Culture: Traditions and Customs of India
https://www.livescience.com/28634-indian-culture.html
