Reviewed by Brian Tanguay What factors contribute to the rise and fall of empires, and what characteristics distinguish an empire from a world order? In To Govern the Globe, American historian Alfred W. McCoy seeks to answer these questions by surveying seven hundred years of human history, from 1347 when the Black Death reached Europe and… Read More Alfred McCoy: To Govern the Globe – World Orders and Catastrophic Change
By Katherine Bullock “The clash of civilizations,” wrote the late American political scientist Samuel Huntington in a famous 1993 article, “will dominate global politics.” He predicted: “The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” Picked apart by critics for conceptual and empirical errors, the tragedy of 9/11 breathed new life… Read More Ukraine war shows it’s time to do away with the racist ‘Clash of Civilizations’ theory
A standard narrative exists about the role of Muslims during the Partition in India, which talks about how the Muslim community, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his Muslim League, stood for the two-nation theory and demanded the Partition of India. Historical documents, however, suggest that a majority of the Muslims opposed the Partition and… Read More Adrija Roychowdhuri: Why a majority of Muslims opposed Partition and stayed on in India
NB: Today we learn the sad news of Janab Akhtar Balouch’s passing. I have not been able to find an obituary and am posting some of his writings as a tribute. This is the first article of his that I posted: Daya Ram Gidumal of Sindh. Here are some more, including a fascinating account of Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan’s assassination in… Read More Akhtar Balouch: Why did Qurratulain Hyder leave Pakistan for India?
Pakistan and National Unity is an important position paper of the Communist Party of India, and a far-reaching text in the history of the Indian communist movement. The resolution dated September 19, 1942 contains an outline of the CPI’s support for what it called the ‘just essence of the Pakistan demand’; and the Report by Gangadhar… Read More Communist Party of India’s resolution on Pakistan and National Unity, September 1942
First posted July 5, 2015 These documents are part of a publicly accessible archive on the history of India and Pakistan. (Other papers are available under the label Archive of historical documents CPI homage to Gandhi (File CPI/117, PC Joshi Archive, JNU)https://tinyurl.com/qc9yqz5 The first document is a pamphlet entitled On his 79th birthday: Our Homage and Our Pledge.… Read More Communist Party of India’s Homage to Gandhiji October 2, 1947 / CPI’s Appeal to the People of Pakistan August 15, 1947
(First posted November 29, 2019) NB: This is a magnificient contribution to Indian historiography. Rahul Sagar and his collaborators deserve the thanks of the Indian public and indeed of all those interested in an honest exploration of the past. DS Starting in the early nineteenth century, ambitious Indians began flocking to newly-founded schools and colleges offering instruction… Read More Ideas of India Archive
(First posted March 1, 2020) New light will be shed on one of the most controversial periods of Vatican history on Monday when the archives on Pope Pius XII, accused by critics of being a Nazi sympathiser are unsealed. A year after Pope Francis announced the move, saying “the church isn’t afraid of history”, the documents from Pius XII’s… Read More Harriet Sherwood: Unsealing of Vatican archives will finally reveal truth about ‘Hitler’s pope’
(NB: First posted March 13, 2020) A little over two years into the Spanish civil war, one of Spain’s greatest poets wrote to a Chilean friend to tell him how desperately he and a couple of their mutual acquaintances longed to escape the conflict and travel to South America. “We’ll come to your sad and beautiful… Read More Unique Pablo Neruda archive – and slice of history up for auction
NB: Hari Vasudevan passed away on May 10, 2020, aged 68. A great scholar and wonderful man, he was widely respected and loved. He will be mourned and missed by friends and students. RIP, Hari Hari Vasudevan and the Soviet Archives : A Personal RemembranceIt was May, 1995, exactly 25 years ago. Hari Vasudevan (Calcutta University), Purabi… Read More Hari Vasudevan and the Soviet Archives : A Personal Remembrance. By Sobhanlal Datta Gupta
