The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c6.s3.4

c6.s3.4

Indians as a whole today exhibit keen interest in history. This interest has not sprung all of a sudden. It has always been there. To the uneducated common man it has come down in legends, stories, mythologies and anecdotes. There is no dearth of professional historians. The works produced by Jadunath Sarkar, G.S. Sardesai, G.H. Ojha, Tara Chand, Mohammad Habib and R.C. Majumdar apart, the sustained assiduity shown by hundreds of other writers of history in modern times is proof enough of the fact that the Indian mind is not devoid but indeed keenly concerned with its history and culture. If it did not produce historical works in medieval times to the extent expected, the reasons are obvious; it is not necessary to repeat what has been said above. But a few words from Jadunath Sarkar may be reproduced. He says that when a class of men is publicly depressed and harassed (as under Muslim rule) it merely contents itself with dragging on an animal existence. The Hindus could not be expected to produce the utmost of what they were capable Amidst such social conditions, the human hand and the human mind cannot achieve their best; the human soul cannot soar to its highest pitch.²³ The barrenness of the Hindu intellect is just one more bestowal of inheritance of Muslim rule in India.