11-03-2005, 03:30 AM
[quote=PC Guleria,Nov 2 2005, 05:26 PM]
Well from the Jat history thread this has turned into the 20 questions thread!
Airavat Singh, writes what in the trade is called a âhistorical novel.â A few references thrown in as footnotes, on occasion, to give it a scholarly look.
His work if one may call it that, has a slant, a slant towards an audience which already has a predisposition to accepting his opinions, for that is all they really are.
The work does raise some concerns!
As one example , let us examine an extract from his work, posed by Mr Guleria.
quote=PC Guleria,Oct 30 2005, 05:24 PM]
Jat History
AS>Fresh bodies of Jat cultivators began moving into the Agra province in the 16th and 17th centuries and the Jat population soon outnumbered the original landholders.
RC> One is led to wonder where does Mr. Singh gets his information, that the Jats started to FIRST move into the Braj ( Mathura/Agra/south of Delhi) area in the 16th/17th centuries.
The Haga Jats, in the Tilpat , area, just the place where this alleged first rebellion occurred, trace their clan history back to the time of the Kushan clan of Jats, The Kushans held power in the Mathura area, circa 0 BCE.
Kaniska, whose name some may recognize, was a leader of the Kushans. His statue can be seen in the Matura Museum today. There is a photo on the Jathistory site
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/
Irfan Habib, takes a stance similar to Airavat Singh. He claims the Jats moved into the Punjab area in the 10/11th century, and then moved on into todayâs Haryana, UP, and Agra/Mathura region with the Muslim Moghuls, along with the âPersian Wheelâ, so called by the Europeans, and known as the Arhat to Indians.
To Indians and to this day in North India, it is known as the âArhatâ, an ancient word from Sanskrit.
Habib wrote an article on the Jats,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/message/1603
I wrote a response to part of it, in three parts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/message/1607
Going simply by what Indian historians , Majumdar, even Habib etc write-
The Jats are found in the Bolan pass/ Khyber pass region in the 7th â 10th century.( Majumdar) see my post above
They are found in the Sindh in the 7th century. ( Chachnama)
They are found in todayâs Madhya Pradesh in Mandsor in the 4th /5th century( Yashodharman Virk).
The Jat King Salindraâs inscription, found in Kotah, Rajastan, referred to by Todd, is 5th century.
They are found in what is now Haryana and Western UP in the sixth century
Perhaps he could tell us where he claims they moved from. If they just moved in, how did numbers grow so quickly, so as to outnumber the â originalâ inhabitants?
In other words, why then is Airavat Singh trying to portray them in a depreciating tone, and as some kind of late comers?
This is one example of a look at just " one" of the opening lines of his work.
How much of it the rest do readers really wish to accept, uncritically?.
more to come!
Well from the Jat history thread this has turned into the 20 questions thread!
Airavat Singh, writes what in the trade is called a âhistorical novel.â A few references thrown in as footnotes, on occasion, to give it a scholarly look.
His work if one may call it that, has a slant, a slant towards an audience which already has a predisposition to accepting his opinions, for that is all they really are.
The work does raise some concerns!
As one example , let us examine an extract from his work, posed by Mr Guleria.
quote=PC Guleria,Oct 30 2005, 05:24 PM]
Jat History
AS>Fresh bodies of Jat cultivators began moving into the Agra province in the 16th and 17th centuries and the Jat population soon outnumbered the original landholders.
RC> One is led to wonder where does Mr. Singh gets his information, that the Jats started to FIRST move into the Braj ( Mathura/Agra/south of Delhi) area in the 16th/17th centuries.
The Haga Jats, in the Tilpat , area, just the place where this alleged first rebellion occurred, trace their clan history back to the time of the Kushan clan of Jats, The Kushans held power in the Mathura area, circa 0 BCE.
Kaniska, whose name some may recognize, was a leader of the Kushans. His statue can be seen in the Matura Museum today. There is a photo on the Jathistory site
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/
Irfan Habib, takes a stance similar to Airavat Singh. He claims the Jats moved into the Punjab area in the 10/11th century, and then moved on into todayâs Haryana, UP, and Agra/Mathura region with the Muslim Moghuls, along with the âPersian Wheelâ, so called by the Europeans, and known as the Arhat to Indians.
To Indians and to this day in North India, it is known as the âArhatâ, an ancient word from Sanskrit.
Habib wrote an article on the Jats,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/message/1603
I wrote a response to part of it, in three parts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/message/1607
Going simply by what Indian historians , Majumdar, even Habib etc write-
The Jats are found in the Bolan pass/ Khyber pass region in the 7th â 10th century.( Majumdar) see my post above
They are found in the Sindh in the 7th century. ( Chachnama)
They are found in todayâs Madhya Pradesh in Mandsor in the 4th /5th century( Yashodharman Virk).
The Jat King Salindraâs inscription, found in Kotah, Rajastan, referred to by Todd, is 5th century.
They are found in what is now Haryana and Western UP in the sixth century
Perhaps he could tell us where he claims they moved from. If they just moved in, how did numbers grow so quickly, so as to outnumber the â originalâ inhabitants?
In other words, why then is Airavat Singh trying to portray them in a depreciating tone, and as some kind of late comers?
This is one example of a look at just " one" of the opening lines of his work.
How much of it the rest do readers really wish to accept, uncritically?.
more to come!