Traditional Wisdom
History as a Teacher | Ranjeeta Dutta
LA 60 |
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Book- If History Has Taught Us Anything
Author Farhat Nasreen
Published by Rupa Publications, 2019
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One of the travesties of history is that its characters often speak
through modern narratives and are dependent on the subjectivities
of these narratives. Since history is undoubtedly crucial
and relevant for our present moorings, the responsibility of the modern
writings to deliver a cogent dialogue between the past and present with
historical characters articulating their times is crucial. If History Has
Taught Us Anything is one such modern work that has presented history
and its actors in their contextual worldviews. Without embarking on a
derivative discourse that characterizes many works, Nasreen has successfully
offered us a narrative that delves into classical works sch as the
Singhasana Battisi, Firdausi’s Shahnama, Sadi’s Bustan, Barani’s Tarikhi-
Ferozshahi, Badaoni’s Muntakhab-ut Tawarikh presenting an array of
historical characters ranging from the famous to the lesser known ones.
Irfan Habib, in the Foreword to this book, rightly points out: ‘Professor
Nasreen wisely takes her information from various sources by largely letting
them speak for themselves, and leaves us to draw lessons ourselves’
[p.vii]. Written in a lucid style, the main message is delivered loud and
clear: everybody is responsible for their actions and will have to bear the
consequences of them. This may sound philosophical and abstract but
the facts of history as shown with care and elegance in the book clearly
reflect that more than being guided by the divine hand, it is actually
human interventions that decide the historical course of action.
Divided into six chapters, each with a separate introduction and conclusion,
the book delves into an articulation of the past that, undoubtedly, has lessons
for the present and future. However, the author does not judge the
past through the prism of the twenty-first century worldview and neither
does she attempts to burden the historical texts with modern questions. Titled
respectively as ‘Swearing by the Passage of Time’ and ‘Looking Back and
the Omnipresent Past’, both the Introduction and Conclusion if read together
highlight crucial methodological issues that are in tandem with each other.
Divided into six chapters, each with a separate introduction and conclusion,
the book delves into an articulation of the past that, undoubtedly, has lessons
for the present and future. However, the author does not judge the
past through the prism of the twenty-first century worldview and neither
does she attempts to burden the historical texts with modern questions. Titled
respectively as ‘Swearing by the Passage of Time’ and ‘Looking Back and
the Omnipresent Past’, both the Introduction and Conclusion if read together
highlight crucial methodological issues that are in tandem with each other.
The significance of contemporary historical texts for a cogent and near authentic
narrative, the complex relation between cause and effect, relations between time,
events and history telling, the ambiguity and ambivalence of the past and most
importantly the role of a historian are some such issues. Setting the tone for the
historian’s craft, Nasreen rightly points out that... ‘using current standards to judge,
criticize or mythologize them would be unfair. Likewise, deconstructing time frames
and labelling them as good or bad can be tricky’[p.xi].
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