D. N. Jha

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Dwijendra Narayan Jha
Jha dn.jpg
Prof. Jha in November 2012
Born1940[1]
Died (aged 81)
Delhi, India
Alma materPresidency College, Calcutta, Patna University
OccupationHistorian
Notable work
The Myth of the Holy Cow (2001)

Dwijendra Narayan Jha (1940 – 4 February 2021) was an Indian historian who studied and wrote on ancient and medieval India[2] following the methodology of Marxist historiography. He was a professor of history at Delhi University and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Some of his books include Ancient India: In Historical Outline (1997), The Myth of the Holy Cow (2001), and Early India: A Concise History (2004). Through his works he argued against the communal distortions of history including challenging popular beliefs of the sanctity of cow and Indian beef eating tradition.

Education[]

Jha completed his Bachelor of Arts (honours) in History at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta and then his MA in History at Patna University where he was a student of Professor R.S. Sharma, who was amongst the first of modern Indian historians to study history through socio-economic analyses.[3][4]

Career[]

Jha was a professor at the history department of the Delhi University specializing in ancient and medieval history.[3] In a career of over three decades, he spoke against communal distortions of history. Through his works, he studied the socio-economic structures of early India and used India's ancient texts to draw linkages between culture and technology and the resulting social and state setup.[4] In some of his early works he studied revenue systems and linkages between economy and society in ancient India.[2] His study was a breakaway from both imperialist historians who studied India from a colonial lens and nationalist historians who studied Indian history through folklore, wars, and royalties.[4] In doing so, he was a group of historians who believed that post independence India's nation building efforts hinged on a professional attempt at writing history.[4] Jha had repeatedly taken a position against Hindu nationalist ideology, arguing against what he claimed is communalism and saffronisation.[5] He was critical of the view that "tolerance is the very essence of 'Hinduism qua Hinduism'", and had claimed what he termed as Brahmanical intolerance since early India.[6][7] He was credited with calling out the inconsistencies in Indian history and his efforts to bring a contemporary relevance to ancient history.[3]

He was an author of multiple history text books for India's National Council of Educational Research and Training, the organization which developed the textbooks and course curricula for Indian schools.[8] He also served as the secretary of the Indian History Congress and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research[3][9] He was a member of visiting faculty at the Institute of Oriental Culture in the University of Tokyo.[10]

In 1991, he wrote a paper, with other historians R.S. Sharma, Suraj Bhan, and Athar Ali, making a case that there was no evidence to prove that the Babri Masjid, a mosque in Ayodhya, was built over a temple at the same site.[11] The findings were documented in Ramjanmabhoomi-Baburi Masjid: A Historians’ Report to the Nation (1991) which he co-wrote with [11][12] The mosque was demolished a year later by right wing activists.[4] The paper diverged in its findings from the Archaeological Survey of India's findings and was later dismissed by the Supreme Court of India in 2019 as an opinion.[5]

In his 2001 book, The Myth of the Holy Cow, he made a case that beef was part of the early Indian diet and used also for medicinal purposes.[13] He quoted religious and non-religious texts from ancient periods to dispel the prevailing belief that cow was holy and its meat not a part of historical Indian consumption.[3] The book quoted Charaka Samhita to say that it was used in soups for intermittent fevers, emaciation, and tuberculosis, while the fat was used in the treatment of rheumatism.[13] He used text from the Vedas and Upanishads to argue that cattle were routinely offered in sacrifice to various ancient deities.[14] He went on to argue that the sacred status afforded to cows was a much more recent development.[3]

He also challenged the notion that the age of the Gupta Empire (320 CE to 550 CE) was the "golden age" of Indian history.[3][15] He argued that the notion of a gilded age before the Mughal Empire was a creation of historians during the Indian freedom movement and provided an ideological support to participants of the movement, but, served no purpose after.[9]

His last published book, Drink of Immortality (2020) studied alcohol distillation and consumption in ancient India.[16][1] He argued that there were more than 50 varieties of alcohol that were available and consumed by men and women of ancient India. He further quoted religious texts including the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as the Vedas mentioning of alcohol consumption.[17]

Controversies[]

The Myth of the Holy Cow[]

Further information: Cattle in religion and mythology

Jha has received death threats over his book The Myth of the Holy Cow in which he outlined the practice of eating beef in ancient India as documented in Vedic and Post-Vedic texts. Since Hindus traditionally consider the cow holy and deny the claims of beef consumption during Vedic period, his book caused much controversy.[18][19][20]

Criticism by Arun Shourie[]

Jha was accused by Arun Shourie of deliberate distortion of the history of the destruction of Nalanda University in 12th century AD. Shourie accused Jha of selective lifting of sources, obfuscation and intellectual compromise.[21] In an article in the Indian Express, Jha responded that Shourie was distorting what he had said, and that Shourie's allegations of plagiarism are baseless. Jha also criticized Shourie's book Eminent Historians, saying that it contains "slander" and "has nothing to do with history."[22][23]

Death[]

Jha died on 4 February 2021 in Delhi, at age 81.[8] He had suffered a paralytic attack a few years earlier and had lost much of his hearing.[4]

Publications[]

As author:

  • 1980, Studies in early Indian economic history, Anupama Publications, ASIN: B0006E16DA.
  • 1993, Economy and Society in Early India: Issues and Paradigms, ISBN 81-215-0552-6.
  • 1997, Society and Ideology in India, ISBN 81-215-0639-5.
  • 1997, Ancient India: In Historical Outline, ISBN 81-7304-285-3.
  • 2002, Holy Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Traditions; paperback (2004) ISBN 1-85984-424-3
  • 2004, Early India: A Concise History, ISBN 81-7304-587-9
  • 2009, Myth of the Holy Cow, ISBN 81-8905-916-5
  • 2009, Rethinking Hindu Identity, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-84553-459-2
  • 2020, Drink of Immortality: Essays on Distillation and Alcohol Use in Ancient India, ISBN 978-9390035212

As editor:

  • 1988, Feudal Social Formation in Early India, ISBN 81-7001-024-1
  • 1996, Society and Ideology in India: Essays in Honour of Professor R.S. Sharma (Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1996).
  • 2000, The Feudal Order: State, Society, and Ideology in Early Medieval India, ISBN 81-7304-473-2; a collection of critical essays by 20 specialists on medieval Indian society, politics, ideology and religion.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "D N Jha was fearless in his evocation of pluralism, dissent and rationality". The Indian Express. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Roychowdhury, Adrija. "Why the cow is worshipped in Hindutva politics". The Indian Express. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Prof D N Jha: Iconoclast scholar who made ancient history contemporary". The Indian Express. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "D.N. Jha, a Doyen Among Indian Historians, Passes Away at 81". The Wire. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Jha, D. N. (September 1998). "Against Communalising History". Social Scientist. 26 (9/10): 52–62. doi:10.2307/3517941. JSTOR 3517941.
  6. ^ Jha, D.N. (2016). "Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India". Social Scientist. 44 (5/6): 3–10. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 24890281.
  7. ^ Reddy, Sheela (17 September 2001). "A Brahmin's Cow Tales". Outlook. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Mahaprashta, Ajoy Ashirwad (4 February 2021). "Eminent Historian D.N. Jha passes away at 81". The Wire. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Salam, Ziya Us. "Prof D.N. Jha (1940-2021), a rare historian who wore his knowledge with ease". Frontline. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  10. ^ Jha, Dwijendra Narayan (2004). The Myth of the Holy Cow. Verso. pp. preface:xi. ISBN 978-1-85984-424-3.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Scroll Staff. "Eminent ancient history scholar DN Jha dies at 81". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  12. ^ Sharma, Ram Sharan (1991). Ramjanmabhumi-Baburi Masjid: A Historians' Report to the Nation. People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7007-138-9.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Cow Vigilantism: Politics of the Sacred and the Profane". Open The Magazine. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  14. ^ MAHAPRASHASTA, AJOY ASHIRWAD. "'The cow was neither unslayable nor sacred in the Vedic period'". Frontline. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  15. ^ SALAM, ZIYA US. "'India never had a golden age'". Frontline. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  16. ^ edited by D.N. Jha (2020). Drink of immortality : essays on distillation and alcohol use in ancient India. New Delhi. ISBN 978-93-90035-21-2. OCLC 1224158962.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "What the gods drank". The Indian Express. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  18. ^ Reddy, Sheela (17 September 2001). "A Brahmin's Cow Tales". Outlook. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  19. ^ The Guardian (13 July 2002)
  20. ^ The Hindu (15 August 2003)
  21. ^ "How history was made up at Nalanda". The Indian Express. 28 June 2014.
  22. ^ "Grist to the reactionary mill". Indian Express. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  23. ^ "Votes do not guide intellectuals: D N Jha". Business Standard. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2015.

External links[]

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