Post 133: <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Well the sadhus did defend Hindus but some of them were also traitors (example: the ones who served as mercenaries for Muslim rulers or the ones who fought for Abdali against the Marathas).<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->From the summary of the book 'Warrior Ascetics and Indian Empires' pasted in post 131, the indication is that the treatment is one-sided: "these warriors occupy a prominent place in modern Indian imaginations, ironically as romantic defenders of a Hindu India against foreign invasion".
If you had written a book on the matter, it would deal with the facts which would inevitably need to document both the treachery of certain Sadhus and the heroism of others. It would therefore be a reliable book.
But, going by the book summary in #131, Pinch knows to tell only of that aspect of history that is expected of him (that's what he's paid to do). The summary at least seems to imply that that's all there is to the matter: any defenders of Hindu India amongst the Sadhus is relegated to 'modern Indian imagination'.
If you had written a book on the matter, it would deal with the facts which would inevitably need to document both the treachery of certain Sadhus and the heroism of others. It would therefore be a reliable book.
But, going by the book summary in #131, Pinch knows to tell only of that aspect of history that is expected of him (that's what he's paid to do). The summary at least seems to imply that that's all there is to the matter: any defenders of Hindu India amongst the Sadhus is relegated to 'modern Indian imagination'.