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Dwijendra Narayan Jha (1 July 19404 February 2021) was an Indian
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
who studied and wrote on
ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...
and
medieval India Medieval India was a long period of post-classical history in the Indian subcontinent between the ancient and modern periods. It is usually regarded as running approximately from the break-up of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century to the star ...
. He was a professor of history at
Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
and a member of the
Indian Council of Historical Research Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
. 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 Senior Secondary Schooling from Board of Secondary Certification, West Bengal with First Division. He did Intermediate Examination of Arts with first division and
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
(honours) in History at
University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
and then his MA in history at Patna University where he was a student of
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
R.S. Sharma, who was amongst the first of modern Indian historians to study history through socio-economic analyses.


Career

Jha was a professor at the history department of the
Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
specializing in ancient and medieval history. 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. In some of his early works he studied revenue systems and linkages between economy and society in ancient India. 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. In doing so, he was a group of historians who believed that post
independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
India's nation building efforts hinged on a professional attempt at writing history. Jha had repeatedly taken a position against Hindu nationalist ideology, arguing against what he claimed is communalism and
saffronisation Saffronisation is the right-wing policy approach in India that seeks to implement Hindu nationalist views to counter the mainstream discourse, for example onto school textbooks. Critics have used this political neologism. Etymology Saffron is ...
. 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. He was credited with identifying inconsistencies in Indian history and his efforts to bring a contemporary relevance to ancient history. He was an author of multiple history text books for India's
National Council of Educational Research and Training National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) () is an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Education, the Government of India. Established in 1961, it is a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Reg ...
, the organization which developed the textbooks and course curricula for Indian schools. He also served as the secretary of the Indian History Congress and a member of the
Indian Council of Historical Research Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
He was a member of visiting faculty at the Institute of Oriental Culture in the
University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
. In 1991, he wrote a paper, with other historians R.S. Sharma,
Suraj Bhan Suraj Bhan (1 October 1928 – 6 August 2006) was an Indian politician who was elected to the Lok Sabha for four terms from Ambala. He also served as the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha from July 1996 to December 1997. He served as governor o ...
, and Athar Ali, making a case that there was no evidence to prove that the
Babri Masjid The Babri Masjid (ISO: Bābarī Masjida; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque located in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was claimed that the mosque was built upon the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace ...
, a mosque in
Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...
, was built over a temple at the same site. The findings were documented in ''Ramjanmabhoomi-Baburi Masjid: A Historians’ Report to the Nation'' (1991) which he co-wrote with The mosque was
demolished Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...
a year later by right wing activists. The paper diverged in its findings from the
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...
's findings and was later dismissed by the
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...
in 2019 as an opinion. 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. 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. The book quoted
Charaka Samhita The ''Charaka Samhita'' () is a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine). Along with the '' Sushruta Samhita'', it is one of the two foundational texts of this field that have survived from ancient India. It is one of the three w ...
to say that it was used in soups for intermittent fevers,
emaciation Emaciation is defined as the state of extreme thinness from absence of body fat and muscle wasting usually resulting from malnutrition. It is often seen as the opposite of obesity. Characteristics Emaciation manifests physically as thin limbs, pr ...
, and
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, while the fat was used in the treatment of
rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...
. He used text from the
Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
and
Upanishads The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
to argue that cattle were routinely offered in sacrifice to various ancient deities. He then argued that the sacred status afforded to cows was a much more recent development. He also challenged the notion that the age of the
Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
(320 CE to 550 CE) was the "golden age" of Indian history. He argued that the notion of a gilded age before the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
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. Jha was accused by BJP politician, Arun Shourie of distorting the history of the destruction of
Nalanda University Nālandā University (informally NU; or ISO: Nālandā Vishwavidyalaya) is a central research university located in the ancient city of Rajgir in the state of Bihar, India. Designated as an Institute of National Importance (INI) and excelle ...
in 12th century AD. In an article in the ''
Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
'', 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." His last published book, ''Drink of Immortality'' (2020) studied alcohol distillation and consumption in ancient India. 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 The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
and
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
as well as the
Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
mentioning of alcohol consumption.


Works


''The Myth of the Holy Cow''

In his book ''The Myth of the Holy Cow'', he alleged that cow formed part of the diet in ancient India. Cattle, including cows, were neither inviolable nor as revered in ancient times as they were later. Quoting from the Vedas and the Upanishads, he alleged that cattle were offered in sacrifice to various deities and that hardly any prayer was complete without animal sacrifice. He pointed out that during Ram's exile, Sita asked her husband for meat. And Ram obliged by getting her deer meat. 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 upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
and Post-Vedic texts. Since Hindus consider the cow holy and deny the claims of beef consumption during Vedic period, the Hindu activist groups created controversy over his book. Jha discussed the events surrounding the publication in the introduction of the book ''The Myth of the Holy Cow''.
"Shortly afterwards, I began to get threats from unidentified callers asking me not to go ahead with the publication. Undeterred by all this Matrix Books, a new enterprising publishing house based in Delhi, mustered enough courage to publish the book promptly in the first week of August 2001. But some right-wing politicians and groups of religious fanatics, without reading a single page, termed it ‘blasphemous’, demanded my arrest and succeeded in obtaining a court order restraining the circulation of the book, and a self-appointed custodian of ‘Hinduism’ even sentenced me to death. The book was therefore published abroad by
Verso ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In double-sided printing, each leaf h ...
(London)."


Personal life

Jha had two brothers and one sister. Jha died on 4 February 2021 in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
, at age 80 (often misreported as 81); he had suffered a paralytic attack a few years earlier and had lost much of his hearing.


Publications

As author: *1980, ''Studies in early Indian economic history'', Anupama Publications, ASIN: B0006E16DA. *1993, ''Economy and Society in Early India: Issues and Paradigms'', . *1997, ''Society and Ideology in India'', . *1997, ''Ancient India: In Historical Outline'', . *2002, ; paperback (2004) *2004, ''Early India: A Concise History'', *2009, ''Myth of the Holy Cow'', *2009, ''Rethinking Hindu Identity'', Routledge, *2016, ''Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India'', *2018, ''Against The Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History'', *2020, ''Drink of Immortality: Essays on Distillation and Alcohol Use in Ancient India'', As editor: *1988, ''Feudal Social Formation in Early India'', *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'', ; a collection of critical essays by 20 specialists on medieval Indian society, politics, ideology and religion.


References


External links


Indian Council of Historical ResearchHistory Department, Delhi University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jha, D. N. 2021 deaths 20th-century Indian historians 21st-century Indian historians Historians of India Patna University alumni People from Bihar Place of death missing Presidency University, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni 1940 births