readers who have read howard zinn's "people's history of usa" would have realized that history looks very different from below. here is a glimpse of history in india from below.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20070629006501100.htm History from below IRFAN HABIB some readers might also have been aware that william dalrymple's "the last mughal" asserts that the 1857 ghaddar was a religious uprising. but in habib's article one finds evidence that though the uprising were triggered by narrow personal incidences, they soon found their places in a larger context. one particularly interesting factoid was the monotheistic argument put forth by the rebels. they claimed that both hinduism and islam were monotheistic religions, (allah and adipurush), whereas the english christians believed in the trinity. in just 90 years the division sharpened and continues to get sharper today. from the delhi urdu akhbar, june 14, 1857: O my countrymen, Looking at the strategy and devious cleverness of the English and their overflowing treasuries you may feel disheartened and doubt that such a people could ever be overcome. But those who are my Muslim brothers by faith, let them consider if they are anxious and concerned out of worldly considerations to look at their religious books, such as the Quran, the Tafsir and Hadis, and those who belong to the Hindu dharm , let them, by the light of their gyan (wisdom) and dharm (faith), illumine their hearts and first see that except the Adipurush, the primaeval Deity, nothing is permanent. x ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/ _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
