Indian Take

D D Kosambi: An Introduction to the Study of Indian History

2012-01-24T11:35:00.004+05:30

D D Kosambi (1907–1966) did his BA at Harvard University. His "An Introduction to the Study of Indian History" (1957) was the first Marxist history of India. Sham Lal, then assistant editor of The Times of India, reviewed the book. Some excerpts from the review(1):Vishnu and Shiva"New god developed, better suited to the rustic mentality, and more paying to the Brahmins" he writes. "The most

Shibumi: Age of the Warrior Vs Age of the Merchant

2011-12-07T17:25:00.003+05:30

The contrast between the Age of the Warrior and the Age of the Merchant is one of the themes in Trevanian's 1979 thriller "Shibumi". Some quotes:General Kishikawa: "All wars are lost ultimately. By both sides, Nikko. The day of battles between professional warriors is gone. Now we have wars between opposing industrial capacities, opposing populations. The Russians, with their sea of faceless

Agricultural Vs Industrial Society: Martial Vs Commercial Society

2011-12-06T17:15:00.002+05:30

In the Agricultural Age, the primary production system was agriculture. The main input for agriculture is land. So whoever controlled land had power. The king controlled land, and hence had power.Now the king belonged to the warrior class (Kshatriyas). Each class has its own values. The values of the warriors were strength, courage, duty and loyalty. These constituted the warrior ethic.Since

The West/Europe Vs India, China and the World

2011-11-03T12:00:00.002+05:30

Q: How did Britain conquer India? Britain is as big as Karnataka (6 crore people). How did such a small country conquer such a large country as ours?A: Technology. Britain had superior military technology. It had cannons and muskets, with which it defeated Indian armies – who fought with swords and bows-arrows.Q: How did Britain get ahead of India in technology? After all, in the ancient age,

Democracy in India: Corrupt, Violent, Casteist

2011-04-16T07:00:00.003+05:30

1. India is an agricultural country.2. Democracy is an industrial political system.3. In 1947, our leaders made the disastrous mistake of imposing an industrial political system on an agricultural society.4. Whatever problems we see in Indian democracy today – corruption, violence, casteism – are the result of this anomaly.5. Our leaders opted for universal adult franchise in 1947. Instead they

Democracy: A Modern/Industrial Political System

2011-04-15T07:00:00.002+05:30

Q: What is democracy?A: Democracy is a political system in which the people choose their rulers.A person can choose who his/her ruler should be only if he/she has a certain minimum level of knowledge/awareness. That is, if he/she has a certain minimum level of education.In the Agricultural Age, education was only for the elite. The masses were uneducated (because they were farm labourers).The

Modernisation, Westernisation and India

2011-03-12T20:15:00.003+05:30

Ref: Modernity – The Modern/Industrial AgeQ: What is Westernisation?A: Westernisation is the adoption of Western culture by a society. (1)There are different civilisations* in the world. Each civilisation has its own culture. Westernisation happens when a society adopts the culture of the Western civilisation (=Europe+America).Q: What is modernisation?Early man was a hunter-gatherer. He lived a

Modern India: Society and Social Change

2011-03-07T16:10:00.001+05:30

I had once written a post about the "India vs Bharat" divide. In it I had talked about the "Agricultural Age mindset/worldview" and the "Industrial Age mindset/worldview". But what are these exactly?In the series of posts on the 19th century Western social thinkers, I have tried to answer this question. After the Industrial Revolution (1775–1800) the West industrialised/modernised in the 19th

Max Weber: Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism

2011-02-27T16:30:00.001+05:30

Ref: Sociology, Modern Society and Social ThinkersMax Weber (1864–1920) was German social thinker.In "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (1905) Weber tried to answer the question: Why did the Industrial Revolution take place in Europe? Why did it not take place in other civilisations like India and China – which were scientifically more advanced? According to Weber, the answer was

Emile Durkheim: Organic Solidarity and Mechanical Solidarity

2011-02-20T03:15:00.001+05:30

Ref: Sociology, Modern Society and Social ThinkersEmile Durkheim (1858–1917) was a French social thinker.In "Division of Labour in Society" (1892), Durkheim – like Tönnies – tried to analyse the differences between agricultural/rural/traditional society and industrial/urban/modern society. Durkheim said that agricultural society is characterised by "organic solidarity", and industrial society is

Ferdinand Tönnies: Community and Society (Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft)

2011-02-13T07:45:00.002+05:30

Ref: Sociology, Modern Society and Social ThinkersFerdinand Tönnies* (1855–1936) was German social thinker.In "Community and Society" (1887) Tönnies tried to analyse the differences between agricultural/rural/traditional society and industrial/urban/modern society. The first he called "community" (Gemeinschaft), and the second he called "society" (Gesellschaft).In agricultural society ("community

Karl Marx: The Industrial Revolution and "The Capital"

2011-02-06T12:10:00.003+05:30

Ref: Sociology, Modern Society and Social ThinkersKarl Marx (1818–1885) was a German social thinker.A R J Turgot, an 18th century French economist, had seen history as a series of economic stages (hunting-gathering, pastoral and agricultural). Marx extended this theory – he added one more stage to it: the industrial (ie, modern) stage.He realised that mankind had entered a new Age in its history:

Sociology, Modern Society and Social Thinkers

2011-02-01T10:55:00.002+05:30

Sociology is the study of society. It is a modern (ie, industrial) subject. It was born in the West after the Industrial Revolution (1775–1850). As Europe industrialised (ie, modernised) in the 19th century, its society started changing. Social thinkers started observing these changes and tried to analyse them. Their attempts to understand these changes – and the new society that was emerging –

Waves of Modernisation/Industrialisation

2011-01-26T10:40:00.006+05:30

Different parts of the world have modernised/industrialised at different times. These are the three major "waves" of industrialisation/modernisation:PeriodYearsRegionCountries1. 19th century1800–1900the WestEurope, America, Japan2. Post-World War 21950–1990East AsiaJapan*, Korea, Taiwan3. 21st centuryc1980–AsiaChina (1979–), India (1991–)*Japan had to industrialise a second time as it was bombed

Society in India and Indian Social System

2011-01-25T10:35:00.002+05:30

Here are a couple of good books on Indian society:A. Society in India – Prof Ram Ahuja (1999)Contents:1. History of Indian society2. Caste system3. Family and women4. Economic system5. Political system6. Education7. Religion8. Tribal society9. Rural society10. Urban society11. Population growth12. Social changeB. Indian Social System – Prof Ram Ahuja (1993)Contents:1. Caste system2. History of

The Most Important Battles in India's History

2011-01-17T09:00:00.005+05:30

Which were the most important battles in India's history?YearPlaceWinnerLoser.712RaorMuhammad bin QasimDahirResult: Arabs won Sindh.1001PeshawarMahmud of GhazniJayapalaResult: Turks won Punjab.1192TarainMuhammad of GhorPrithviraj ChauhanResult: Turks won north India.1527KhanuaBaburRana SangaResult: Mughals won north India.1556PanipatAkbarHemuResult: Mughals retook north India.1565TalikoteBahmani

The Best Books on India's History

2011-01-16T09:00:00.001+05:30

Which are the best books on India's history?1. India: A History – John Keay2. Ancient India – Ram Sharan Sharma3. Medieval India – Satish Chandra4. Modern India – Bipan Chandra5. Advanced History of India – Raychaudhuri, Datta & MajumdarPlease let me know about other good books on Indian history.

The Greatest Men/Leaders of the 20th Century

2011-01-04T16:30:00.000+05:30

Who were the greatest men/leaders of the 20th century? For better or worse, these were the men who shaped the world of the 20th century:1. Vladimir Lenin2. Adolf Hitler3. Winston Churchill4. Franklin Roosevelt5. Joseph Stalin6. Mohandas Gandhi7. Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru8. Mao Zedong9. Deng Xiaoping10. Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan1. Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924)- For creating a

Eric Hobsbawm: History of the Modern World

2011-01-03T16:30:00.000+05:30

British historian Eric Hobsbawm has written a two-part (four-volume) history of the modern world:A. 19th century1. Age of Revolution: 1789–18482. Age of Capital: 1848–18753. Age of Empire: 1875–1914B. 20th century4. Age of Extremes: 1914–1991Special thanks to Pub (Deepak B) for lending me these books.

Modern Technology, Economic, Political and Social Systems

2010-12-20T16:20:00.004+05:30

Reference: Modernity - The Modern or Industrial AgeSystemAgricultural AgeIndustrial AgeTechnology*AgricultureIndustryEconomic systemFeudalismCapitalismPolitical systemMonarchyDemocracySocial systemCasteClass*By technology I mean the production system.

The Techno-Economic Foundation of Society

2010-12-13T16:20:00.001+05:30

Reference: "Technology, Economy, Politics, Culture"1. Human society has, broadly speaking, five main aspects:a) Society itself (the social system)b) Technologyc) Economyd) Politicse) Culture2. The nature of the society is determined by the technology and the economy.3. Politics and culture are determined by the society, the economy and the technology.This can be illustrated as:Where:4. Politics

India, the Caste System, and the Urban Middle Class

2010-12-07T17:30:00.003+05:30

1. The caste system is bad/evil.2. The caste system is backward (medieval/feudal).These two statements sum up the views of (urban) middle class Indians about the caste system. Other adjectives like 'shocking', 'disgraceful' and 'shameful' can also be used.The central truth about India's urban middle class (especially its upper caste Hindus) vis-a-vis the caste system is the deep sense of shame

Society, Social System and Social Groups

2010-12-05T17:30:00.002+05:30

Q: What is society?A: Society is a group of people living together.(This is the simplest/crudest possible definition)How did society begin? What was society like in the beginning?Initially man was a hunter-gatherer. He lived in small groups and always kept moving around, looking for food. So initially there was only one task or role: hunting and gathering (or at most two: men hunters and women

Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) in India

2010-11-28T18:55:00.001+05:30

We have seen how agriculture and rural development are both essential for the industrialisation of India. In fact they are closely linked to each other. They are two sides of the same coin. Instead of talking about "agriculture" and "rural development" as two separate entities, it makes sense to talk about them as one entity: "agriculture and rural development" (ARD).

The Importance of Rural Development in India

2010-11-27T18:55:00.001+05:30

Development/industrialisation is accompanied by urbanisation. So we should focus on urban development, not rural development. Right? Wrong!1. Improving agriculture is a must for industrialisation. Agriculture is carried on in villages, so rural development is needed to improve agriculture.2. Industry needs a literate labour force. But most of the people live in villages (70% in India). So rural