 |
| Discovering History by Dr. Mubarak Ali |
ISBN: 978-969-496-352-5
Tahreek ki Daryaaft (Discovering History) is a collection of several essays written by Dr. Mubarak Ali. The book is divided into two parts.
The first part discusses
different methods of interpreting history in the twentieth century.
It also discusses the concept of hero worship; how heroes are created, and once
they are used up, how they are metamorphosed or put down by the
state. It also discussed the significance of historiography in Urdu language.
It discusses about different translations done in this language, and how Urdu
historians have interpreted history in different eras in the
sub-continent.
The second part covers a
broader subject area. It discusses about different aspects of Mughal rule, the
relationship between Ottomans and Mughals, robes in Mughal court, White
Mughal of Delhi, Akbar the Great. Besides, it also discusses history
of basic goods like coal and coffee. The author also presents a short essay on The
History of Smile. There are essays on imperialism and its affects, the role
of clergy, tragedy of Indian Muslims, Indus civilization to more Sindh, and
also an essay on the French Revolution.
The primary purpose of the
book is to present new perspectives on history. Hence, Dr. Ali reviews more
than three dozen books and some research papers. The purpose is to bring
history to the commoners. It tries to explain how diverse the subject of
history has become in our modern age. Today history doesn't mean only memoirs,
diaries, scared literature, and King's speech. The subject of history
also incorporates sociology, psychology, paleontology,
and empiricism. Historians today also interpret history as a class
struggle. Some deliberately view it with a prejudice, for example, European
historians rectify Indian colonization because they thought the only civilized
race is the European race, it is the duty of the Europeans to teach civility to
the world. This is the interpretation of history from a European
point of view. Likewise, in India, we see different religious prejudice in
writing history. There are different interpretations available on Mughal
rule in India, based on who is writing it down.
The writing style is
informative and lucid. The author has consciously kept the language as
easy as possible; otherwise there is a tendency in Pakistan intellectuals to make
thinks look more difficult than they really are. Furthermore, as the book is a
collection of essays, it is readable for academia and students alike.
It's not like an ordinary history book that goes on for infinite, making the
subject of history boring and a waste of time. Each essay an average is four to
five pages long, but very comprehensible.
Meanwhile, the book neither
has a bibliography nor an end Index. This makes referencing to a specific
topic difficult. As the book is mainly a collection of criticism and
appreciation of different historical work, a bibliography was a
necessary requirement.
No comments:
Post a Comment