For a New Periodization of Indian History: The History of India as Part of the History of the World

Abstract

The model of periodization that is nowadays hegemonic in Indian history, squarely based on the colonial model first articulated by James Mill, is both heuristically unsatisfactory and politically dangerous. From a heuristic viewpoint, it refers only to the ‘religious’ composition of the ‘ruling class’ (and, by the way, not even the whole of the ruling class). From a political viewpoint, it stresses the divisive elements present in the Indian historical tradition, by implicitly equating ‘Hindu’ with ‘Indian’ and ‘Muslim’ with ‘invader/foreigner’. The present article aims at sketching out a scientifically more inclusive and politically less dangerous new model by building on the assumption that Indian history is part of world history and, consequently, that the main socio-economic developments in the Indian subcontinent are part and parcel of the most relevant socio-economic developments world-wide. The resulting model de-emphasizes the divisive elements of the Indian experience, represented by the separate religious strands historically present within the Indian society, and, by focusing on socio-economic evolution, makes obvious both the fundamental unity of Indian history and its relationship with the history of the remainder of the world.