Q. Throw light on Marxist approach to the study of Ancient Indian History. [UPPSC- 2021]
Ans:
The historiography of early India reveals significant changes over time. The various ‘schools’ of history writing with considerable variety within the schools. Major schools of historiography are orientalists, nationalist and marxist schools.
Marxism is a dominant presence in the field of Indian historiography in the post-independence period. A lot of historians either come directly within its fold or have been influenced by it in certain degrees. It has also influenced most of the trends of Indian historiography in some way or the other.
In the study of early India, there are several historians working with Marxian methods. R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar, D.N. Jha, B.D. Chattopadhyay and Kumkum Roy are some of them. Their researches have enriched our understanding of ancient India. ©crackingcivilservices.com
Marxist approach to the study of Ancient Indian History:
- the Marxist historians shifted the focus from an event-centred history dominated by political narrative to the delineation of social and economic structures and processes, especially those related to class stratification and agrarian relations. i.e. More emphasis was now given to the study of economy and society in preference to the political history.
- The study of broad social and economic systems such as feudalism were undertaken and the social, economic and political changes were considered not in the light of the actions of individual statesmen, but in terms of the working out of economy and conflicts between classes.
- Marxist historiography contributed to uncovering the history of non-elite groups, some of which had suffered subordination and marginalisation.
- While making these valuable interventions and contributions, Marxist writings often tended to work with unilinear historical models derived from Western historical and anthropological writings.
- D. D. Kosambi’s works introduced an interdisciplinary approach to history which encompassed literature, archaeology, linguistics, anthropology, numismatics and statistics. He is credited by many for effecting a ‘paradigm shift’ in Indian studies. ©crackingcivilservices.com
- D. D. Kosambi said that the slave mode of production was not to be found in India. He also rejected Marx’s own schema of the Asiatic Mode of Production as inapplicable to India. He, however, thought that there was the existence of feudalism in India, even though he conceived it differently.
- Kosambi’s work on feudalism was followed by R.S. Sharma who made a comprehensive study of feudalism in India. According to him, there were a decline in trade and increasing numbers of land grants to the state officials in lieu of salary and to the Brahmans as charity or ritual offering in the post-Gupta period.
- Romila Thapar’s works approached the ancient period from several angles and debunked several myths and stereotypes associated with it. Some of these myths related to Oriental Despotism, the Aryan race, and Ashoka’s non-violence
- The Marxist historiography has made interpretation and explanation more important than narration or description.
- Texts were sometimes read uncritically, with insufficient attention paid to their problematic chronology and peculiarities of genre.
- Archaeological data were included, but the basic framework of the historical narrative remained text-centric.
- Initially, the focus on class meant less attention to other bases of social stratification such as caste and gender.
- Religion and culture were sidelined, or mechanically presented as reflections of socio-economic structures.
The Marxist historians do not form a monolithic bloc. As we have seen in our discussion of several trends, there are wide divergences of views among the Marxist historians. However, there are certain common elements among them. And marxist historiography continues to be an influential force in early Indian historiography. Going forward there is a need for a more sophisticated approach towards textual study which should be accompanied by an incorporation of archaeological evidence. Also subordinated and marginalised people as well as remote regions away from the heartland of empires have to be brought into focus. ©crackingcivilservices.com
