Umesh Ashok Kadam
Professor Umesh Ashok Kadam is as Professor of Medieval Indian History and Early Modern History at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Former Member Secretary, Council of Historical Research, New Delhi and Member of many apex governing bodies. He specializes in History of Deccan and Western India. Since last two decades he has been visiting universities in Netherlands, France, Portugal and United Kingdoms to promote advanced research on History of Deccan. His major publications include (i) History of Marathas: French- Maratha Relations ,1668-1818 (in English & Marathi), (ii) Fragments of History- Some Aspects of Maratha History, (iii) Medieval Deccan: An Era of Transition-Maratha State and the Age of Conflicts, Challenges and Collaboration, (iv) French on the Coromandel Coast-French in India Series-Vol-1, (v) French on the Konkan Coast-French in India Series Vol-ll, (vi) French on the Malabar Coast-French in India Series-Vol-Ill, (vii) Political Negotiations between the English, the French Nizam & Tipu-French in India Series-Vol-IV, (viii) Claims of the French, Dutch and Danes-French in India Series-Vol-V, (ix) Claims of the French, Dutch and Danes-French In India Series-Vol-VI (Vol I -VI published in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German and Russian. He is editor of peer reviewed journals (i) Indian Historical Review, Journal of Indian Council of Historical Research (ii) Studies in History, Journal of Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. His recent publications are (i) Deccan in Transition, 1600 to 1800: European Dominance and Maratha Sovereignty by Routledge (ii) India: The Mother of Democracy (Edited) (iii) Sri Aurobindo: Life and legacy (Edited) (iv) Challenges of Understanding History (Edited) (v) Dismantling Casteism: Lessons from Savarkar’s Essentials of Hindutva (Edited) (vi) Glory of Medieval India: Manifestation of the Unexplored- Indian Dynasties, 8th -18th Centuries (Edited) and (vii) The Indian Memoir: Subhas Chandra Bose (Edited)
Address: Centre for Historical Studies
School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi 110067
Address: Centre for Historical Studies
School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi 110067
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The dubious distinction between the ‘religious’ and the ‘secular’ spheres of human life and activity which the logos of modernity and modern subjects draw did not apply as neatly to the Medieval mind and conditions as is done today. Over the decades, an attempt has been made, overlooking this fact of human history the world over, to surreptitiously erase from the picture the religious element within the invasions and conquests that took place in Medieval India. One ought to question such sanitised portrayal of Medieval Indian history, which obscures from the picture the use and abuse of religion to meet particular ends, and the destruction of India’s material and non-material culture that it left in its wake.
The question of a ‘stagnant’ Medieval Indian epoch, a truism that prevailed virtually unchallenged through much of the colonial historiography, as well as the genre of history-writing that it has inspired, is invariably tied-up with the supposed ‘immobility’ of the Indians, especially the much-publicized injunctions against crossing the seas. The supposed ‘insularity’ of the Indian civilization from the currents of material and non-material cultural influences and communion with the rest of the world is made much of. Looking at such exaggerated representation, one wonders how so opposed a picture to the evidence at hand could have survived over these decades. Far removed from the prevalent clichés and suppositions, we may see that the contemporary cache of sources richly documents the presence and activity of the Indian diaspora in nearby regions, but areas as far flung as Russia, Central Asia and South-East Asia in the Medieval period.