No end to history?
While liberal democracy may be the least imperfect system yet known to man, it is not very clear whether mankind will pursue this desirable destination without long and costly detours.… Continue reading "No end to history?"
Tag: history
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Towards a shared understanding
And why it is important? IN HIS introduction to The Shield of Achilles, Philip Bobbitt argues that history “is the distinctive element in the ceaseless, restless dynamic by means of… Continue reading "Towards a shared understanding"
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Where is the Indo-European homeland these days?
For each of the Indo-European homeland theories and their paths of dispersal, there are sufficient counter arguments that make each of them untenable. But Indian history is still firmly rooted in… Continue reading "Where is the Indo-European homeland these days?"
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Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code and the Uncovering of a Lost Civilisation by Margalit Fox
Margalit Fox reveals the life and struggles of the people behind the decipherment of Linear B, an unknown language in an unknown script, similar to Indus-Saraswati writing. One of the… Continue reading "Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code and the Uncovering of a Lost Civilisation by Margalit Fox"
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An earlier date for Indo-Europeans in Northwest India
Archaeological evidence suggests that Indo-European speakers may have been present in Northwest India two millennia earlier than previously thought. Between 4500 BCE and 2500 BCE, in the steppes north of Black… Continue reading "An earlier date for Indo-Europeans in Northwest India"
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How old is Proto-Dravidian?
A new paper claims that there existed a super linguistic ancestor, older than Proto-Indo-European, around 15,000 years back. According to linguists, there is a relation between the Sanskrit word satam,… Continue reading "How old is Proto-Dravidian?"
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Gopal’s narrative histories
A collection for all serious students of India’s post-independence history. Early this year, the Marxist historian and anthropologist Vivek Chibber published Postcolonial Theory and the Spectre of Capital, a complex and… Continue reading "Gopal’s narrative histories"
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A deadly line
William Dalrymple’s triangulation error. Earlier this week, Brookings published a slickly produced essay on Afghanistan by British author William Dalrymple on its website. The sophisticated aesthetic of the online publication… Continue reading "A deadly line"
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What is Indian secularism?
Secularism is more than laws, concessions, and special considerations. It is a state of mind, at best almost an instinctive feeling, such as India has known for many centuries. Dictionary… Continue reading "What is Indian secularism?"
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Pakistan: Myths and consequences
The Islamic and irrationally anti-Indian elements in the self-image of the Pakistani state have led it down a self-destructive path. Salman Rushdie famously said that Pakistan was “insufficiently imagined”. To say that a… Continue reading "Pakistan: Myths and consequences"