{"title":"Romila Thapar","description":"\u003cp\u003eRomila Thapar’s works offer a profound exploration of Indian history and culture, blending rigorous scholarship with accessible narrative. Her books challenge conventional perspectives, inviting readers to reconsider the fabric of India’s past and its impact on the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough titles like \u003cem\u003eWhose History?\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Present Colonizes the Past\u003c\/em\u003e, Thapar engages with themes of memory, identity, and heritage, making her essential reading for those interested in history, biography, and the complexities of cultural inheritance.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"gazing-eastwards-by-romila-thapar-9780857428165","title":"Gazing Eastwards","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1957, renowned Indian historian Romila Thapar visited China, where, together with Sri Lankan art historian Anil de Silva, she worked at two cave sites that were the locations of Buddhist monasteries and shrines from the first millennium CE. The first site was the then lesser known Maijishan in north China, and the second was the famous site of Dunhuang on the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow, decades later, she is supplementing the academic work that emerged from that trip with a captivating travelogue. \u003cem\u003eGazing Eastwards\u003c\/em\u003e takes readers back to midcentury China, through the observations that Thapar made in her diary during her time at the two archaeological sites and her trips there and to other sites. Traveling by train or truck, Thapar met people from throughout the country and all stations in society, from peasants on a cooperative farm to Chairman Mao himself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn enchanting document of a long-lost era, \u003cem\u003eGazing Eastwards\u003c\/em\u003e is a marvel, a richly observed work of travel writing that brings a time and a place fully to life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855776796908,"sku":"9780857428165","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/0e3fcc1410ee83dca84cb34254287ad0.jpg?v=1759277774"},{"product_id":"indian-cultures-as-heritage-by-romila-thapar-9780857428875","title":"Indian Cultures as Heritage","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eOne of India’s preeminent historians examines the role of history in contemporary society.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery society has its cultures: patterns of how people live and express themselves and how they value objects and thoughts. Recently, there has been considerable debate about what constitutes Indian culture and heritage and about how much diversity those categories ought to contain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRomila Thapar begins by explaining how definitions of culture have changed over the past three centuries. She suggests that cultures can be defined as a shared understanding of selected objects and thoughts from the past, but this understanding is often stripped of its historical context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThapar touches on a few of these illuminating contexts, such as social discrimination, the role of women, and attitudes toward science and knowledge. This thought-provoking book is sure to spark productive debate about some current shibboleths in India’s culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndian Cultures as Heritage\u003c\/i\u003e invites readers to re-evaluate their perception of India's diverse cultures and to engage with the complexities involved in defining what should be preserved as cultural heritage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000645501164,"sku":"9780857428875","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/7214283482493.jpg?v=1763293221"},{"product_id":"our-history-their-history-whose-history-by-romila-thapar-9781803093543","title":"Our History, Their History, Whose History?","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn overview of nationalism and its impact on the study of history from one of India's most prominent historians.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this timely book, historian Romila Thapar delves into the complex world of nationalism and its impact on the interpretations of the past and on the discipline of history itself. History, she expounds, is no mere collection of information and chronology, and its purpose extends well beyond storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRecognizing nationalism as a powerful force that gives rise to various narratives that provide ancestry to communities and shape the direction of societies, Thapar explores how, in India, two conflicting notions of nationalism have evolved and shaped the idea of the nation. Today, one such nationalistic theory claims the victimization of one religious community by another through centuries of \"misrule.\" Such a claim willfully ignores ample evidence to the contrary to suit a particular political and ideological purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThapar counters such attempts at misrepresentation by citing several historical instances of the nuanced interface and intermingling of cultures, as well as by showing how today's conflicts have their roots in the British colonial construction of India's history. She also addresses the recent controversy surrounding the deletions of sections of Indian history textbooks published by NCERT, the Indian educational council, and suggests that the intention is more likely to be the promotion of a particular reading of history that conforms to the ideology of those in power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEngaging and thought-provoking, \u003cem\u003eOur History, Their History, Whose History?\u003c\/em\u003e invites readers to question the authenticity of historical narratives touted by one group of nationalists, and it explores the clash between professional historians who study the past to understand our inherited present and fabricators who wield history for political gain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000697012460,"sku":"9781803093543","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/27035523482829.jpg?v=1763298338"},{"product_id":"the-idea-of-india-by-romila-thapar-9781803093840","title":"The Idea of India","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA lively discussion between two eminent Indian academics that examines what it means to be an Indian.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough a stimulating dialogue, two old friends trace the history of the idea of India through digressions, anecdotes, and observations. Historian Romila Thapar and theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak reflect on the challenges posed by essentialism and exclusion whenever cultures attempt to define and assert themselves. They also emphasize the role of education in fostering a more inclusive and accurate understanding of the nation's complex history. Their conversation revolves around the narratives that have shaped Indian identity—from Vedic times to the present—and those whose voices and visions for this land remain unheard and unseen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRanging from nationalism to religion and beyond, \u003cem\u003eThe Idea of India\u003c\/em\u003e discusses an urgent question: What does it mean to be an Indian in contemporary society?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000787321068,"sku":"9781803093840","price":22.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/27038493482829.jpg?v=1763304858"},{"product_id":"the-present-colonizes-the-past-by-romila-thapar-9781803096612","title":"The Present Colonizes the Past","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShort, rigorous intervention on history-writing in public life.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow does the present reshape what a society chooses to remember as its past? Recent interpretations of India's history have replaced careful inquiry with narratives that mirror contemporary anxieties and ambitions, sidelining the evidence, debate, and plurality that once characterized India's long intellectual tradition. At stake is a shift from understanding history as a method to treating it as a tool of identity and authority.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Present Colonizes the Past\u003c\/em\u003e, Romila Thapar asks: How have cultural and religious identities evolved through interaction rather than isolation? How have dissent and accommodation shaped social change? How have education and public discourse influenced what is accepted as knowledge? And, most urgently, how might weakened institutions and selective pasts redefine our heritage and citizenship?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48038564528364,"sku":"9781803096612","price":28.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781803096612-the-present-colonizes-the-past.jpg?v=1785393770"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/romila-thapar.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}