Unknown to most Indians, western anti-Semitism has informed much of the interpretation of our ancient history. Embarrassed by the emerging avalanche of archaeological data, modern scholars are beginning to accept that the political-cultural contexts of 18th to 20th century Europe, which included a strong anti-Semitic bias, led to a ‘tailoring’ of Indian history to suit […]Read More
The Christian community of Kerala are popularly known as Syrian Christians. There have been many recent speculations about their arrival. However, in reality, a group of Syrian Christians came to Kerala as refugees when Persians persecuted them in the 4th century and later when Arabs conquered the Levant. They were given refuge and even recognition […]Read More
In a historical period reverberating with the names of Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus, it stands to reason that successful voyages could be undertaken only with proper knowledge of the location of the sun, planets, and major constellations. Yet, Galileo’s observation that the sun is the centre of the solar system brought the wrath […]Read More
The rise of the Communist movement in Bengal after independence is one of the most fascinating events in Indian politics. Why Bengali Hindu refugees from East Bengal associated themselves with the Left movement instead of joining with so called Hindu Nationalist parties and various other such commonly raised queries about the politics of Bengal shall […]Read More
The question of caste remains ignored in the political and intellectual discourse of West Bengal. However this does not imply that caste did not play a steering role in mobilisation of political opinion in favour or against the Partition of Bengal in 1947. Two divergent and rival streams emerged within the Bengali Harijan community on […]Read More
Prelude Then out spoke brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate: “To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late; And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods, And for the tender mother who dandled him to rest, And […]Read More