HVK Archives: Linking history to a specific territory restricts its scope
Linking history to a specific territory restricts its scope - The Times of India
Shabnam Minwalla
()
February 2, 1999
Title: Linking history to a specific territory restricts its scope
Author: Shabnam Minwalla
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 2, 1999
The sins of the colonisers, Leslie Gunawardana maintains, are
being visited upon their former subjects. The sometimes
careless, sometimes calculated Western interpretations of the
history of the sub- continent have left behind deep schisms - of
which the Sri Lankan conflict is just one tragic example.
But do Sri Lankan legends and stories really reflect a centuries-
old animosity between the Sinhala "Aryans" and Tamil
"Dravidians"? Mr Gunawardana, whose background as a mediaeval
historian has granted him .familiarity with old texts and
records, disputes this commonly accepted view. He contends that
the racial divide is a creature of the 19th century - a direct
outcome of the works of the Orientalists.
In this interview, the vice-chancellor of the University of
Peradeniya, who was in town to attend a workshop for South Asian
historians, discusses our unfortunate colonial inheritance and
the need for a larger history of the sub-continent.
What does this workshop of South Asian historians hope to
achieve?
The widening of spatial context. When we think of history, we
usually limit it to a specific territory and rarely look beyond.
This is a very artificial context, however. When you speak of
Pakistan, for example, how far back can you go with that
particular container? Or even when you think of Sri Lanka -
ignoring the Indian influence on political history, trade and
philosophy - the scope is very restrictive.
A larger South Asian history project will help us look beyond
false boundaries. It may even give us a chance to uproot some
ideas planted in both India and Sri Lanka by the British.
What kind of ideas?
The practice of conducting the census in religious terms, for
example. For the British it was obviously a way to understand
the people they were ruling. But the arbitrary classifications
have had long-term implications. Similarly, the categorisation
of languages has had serious ramifications in Sri Lanka. In the
19th century, scholars like Max Mueller and Caldwell analysed
various languages and classified them as Aryan or Dravidian.
The danger crept in when this was extended from the field of
linguistics to human beings.
Simplistic conclusions were drawn - if you speak Sinbala, you
speak an Aryan language and so you are an Aryan. Likewise, if
you speak Tamil you are a Dravidian. These 19th century ideas
have had an unfortunate impact on modern Sri Lanka. Ironically,
they have also coloured mediaeval and ancient Sri Lankan
history.
Even today, people define themselves in terms of race - a fact
that extremist political outfits exploit.
How did these divisions creep in?
The British documents of the 17th century do not reflect the
belief that Sri Lankans were at all inferior. In fact, there
were numerous instances of British officers "going native". The
Aryan theory was perhaps propagated in order to sharply
demarcate the ruler and the ruled. Ironically, it also, in some
distant way, linked the ruler with some of the ruled.
Perhaps this was flattering for those who were suddenly granted
the "Aryan" tag. At any rate, there was no resistance and the
labels stuck. Over time, thanks largely to Nazi literature, the
"superior race" belief was strengthened.
Which area of history do you specialise in?
As a mediaeval historian, I started out by studying the Buddhist
monasteries of Sri Lanka as land-owning institutions - somewhat
comparable to the Church in Europe. Buddhist monks are supposed
to cut off links with the materialist world and survive by
begging. Between the ninth and 13th century, however, the
monasteries began to accrue large properties. In a strange
reversal of roles, instead of monks depending on the laity for
food, the laity began to depend on monks.
The monks gave up the wandering lifestyle and participated in
education, medicine and literature. On the other hand, they
ceased to play the religious role they were supposed to.
This subject lead me to the study of agricultural practices.
And, as an outcome, I began to investigate irrigation techniques
prevalent in Sri Lanka and South India.
Do you believe that Sri Lanka shares much with South India?
I do - but certainly not all my countrymen would agree. It was,
in fact, the mediaeval texts which lead me into questioning the
accepted equations between sections of Sri Lankan society. At a
time when tensions were mounting in Sri Lanka, I was struck by
accounts of Buddhist monks who, when harassed by local kings,
invariably escaped to South India. Their portrayal was of a
kind and friendly people who allowed them to work in peace.
Relationships between the Sinhala and Tamil communities seemed
very, very cordial. In the Kandyan period, there is even an
instance of Sinhala nobility choosing a South Indian dynasty -
the Nayakkars - to govern them.
In today's context, what do you believe is the role of the
historian?
Our task is to probe the nature of identity, to re-examine
meaningless categorisations and, perhaps, write a new history.
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