THE CONCEPT OF BHARATAVARSHA AND OTHER ESSAYS By B.D. Chattopadhyaya, Permanent Black, Rs 795
Of late nationalism is having a field day in India, albeit for the wrong reasons and on questionable premises. The meaningless concept of cultural nationalism is being asserted by the powers that be with a sinister design to promote a majoritarian and homogenized perspective of Indian history with a palpable political agenda. Centrally important to this view is the hackneyed concept of unity in diversity, perceived as unique to India. That this phrase always emphasizes unity by obliterating diversities in Indian cultures exposes the utter vacuity and hypocrisy of this worn-out concept. In this remarkable book, B.D. Chattopadhyaya, one of the foremost authorities on ancient Indian history, interrogates and dissects the construction of unity in the days of the freedom struggle and the post-Independence epoch alike and places cultural plurality at the apex. Chattopadhyaya's anthology of eight essays turns the dominant/sarkari historiography upside down.
Of foundational importance are three essays (chapters 1, 2 and 8) on the historical geography of the subcontinent, ancient Bharatavarsha and Jambudvipa. Often uncritically equated with India to claim the fundamental unity of the country both territorially and culturally, neither Bharatavarsha nor Jambudvipa, as Chattopadhyaya cogently demonstrates, was coined in ancient sources to drive home the sense of a nation in antiquity. The colonial construct of India led to the erroneous equation of nationalism as a historical reality with the idea of 'India' as a space. Delving deep into Vedic, Buddhist, Tamil and Sanskrit texts, Chattopadhyaya discerns that Bharatavarsha belonged to the Epico-Puranic cosmography in which communities (jana), settlements and regions (janapada), and cardinal directions (dis, from which is derived desa or land) were crucial elements, highlighting multiplicity of spaces and peoples, rather than a homogenized land of Bharatavarsha. His treatment of the Tamil Sangam poems deserves special attention for illustrating the primacy of the five distinctive ecological zones (tinai) along with the blend-zones. The author could have also discussed how Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha, both originally denoting two routes, morphed to connote North India and the Deccan respectively. Erudition is writ large in his analyses of Bharata's Natyasastra (on dramaturgy) and Rajasekhara's Kavyamimamsa (discourse on poetry) which celebrate the profusion of languages with regional and ethnic specificities, presenting cacophony. This cacophony is completely lost by the "enthronement of Sanskrit at the expense of other languages". The author of the Malayalam (Manipravala) Lilatilakam (14th century) strikes us by warning against the filthy influences of Sanskrit infiltrating Malayalam.
Capturing the kaleidoscope during popular festivals like samaja-utsava (disliked in Buddhist and Brahmanical treatises and banned by Asoka), Vasantotsava (Ratnavali highlighting lasya during spring festival) and Durgotsava, Chattopadhyaya presents a delightful and compelling reading of how many non-Sanskritic traditions, representing the heterogeneous reservoir, were appropriated by the hegemonic Brahmanical tradition, which tends to treat festivals as rituals. Some Puranic traditions locate Savarotsava (festival of the Savaras) within Durgotsava; the frank and pubic imitation of sexual act (bhaga-linga kriya) in Savarotasava unravels its overt erotic elements, celebrating fertility. The author has wonderfully unravelled the myriad sexual practices and preferences in varying local contexts, bidding goodbye to the claim of a sanitized Indic tradition. Surprising, nonetheless, is his silence on the materiality of festivals. A case in point is Dipotsava (Diwali) which was strongly rooted to merchants, marked by dicing/gambling, and at least by early 10th century was observed as the beginning of a new financial/accounting year.
Demonstrating the salience of plurality, the author enlightens us on forests and forest-dwellers and the Narakasura legend in the Kalika Purana, associated with Kamarupa. Both were perceived as marginal to the mainstream. The forest from the point of view of the monarchical State was seen as the 'other' of Brahmanical culture which enjoins upon people the taming of the forest by encroaching on it. In spite of the fear and anxiety about foresters, the Arthasastra underlined its revenue-yielding potentials. The reviewer does not see the Atavikas simply as a forest-dwelling community, as the author argues. For the monarchy, the martial capabilities of the Atavikas made them both an irritant and something much sought after. This explains their remarkable resilience in spite of the onslaught of the formidable empires which could not eliminate forest chieftaincies (Atavika-rajyas). Ramapala of Bengal had to seek military help from, inter alia, Viraguna of Kotatavi (a forest tract with a fort) to recover Varendra from the rebel Kaivarttas.
The book exposes that, as per the Brahmanical norm, diversity would be an anathema, as admixture (samkara) is a nightmare to the varna-jati structure which is to be upheld by the monarchy as its ideology. That would justify and prompt Rama's killing of Valin and Sambuka and ordering Sita's fire ordeal. The exclusivism inherent in Brahmanical tradition turned peoples into mlechchhas and asprisyas; the resultant ostracization, contrary to the accommodation of diversities, is impossible to miss. Another expression of diversity is available in the contestations and rivalries among diverse Brahmanical and Sramanic sects, thus refuting the claim of a homogenous and non-violent Hinduism.
Chattopadhyaya's critical approaches to historiography and primary sources alike - his scholarly signatures - will immensely enrich the understanding of early Indian history, especially its social and cultural aspects which are at the forefront here. The reviewer is a bit puzzled, however, as Chattopadhyaya, a past master in economic history, preferred to virtually shut out material culture from these thought-provoking essays on early Indian society and culture.
