D. N. Jha

Dwijendra Narayan Jha (1939/1940 – 4 February 2021) was an Indian historian and author who studied ancient and medieval India.[1] He was a professor of history at Delhi University and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Some of the books written by him include Ancient India: In Historical Outline (1997), The Myth of the Holy Cow (2001), and Early India: A Concise History (2004). Through his works he argued against the communal distortions of history including challenging popular beliefs including sanctity of the cow in Indian dietary traditions.

Dwijendra Narayan Jha
Prof. Jha in November 2012
Born1939/1940
Died (aged 81)
Alma materPresidency College, Calcutta, Patna University
OccupationHistorian
Notable work
The Myth of the Holy Cow (2001)

Education

Jha completed his Bachelor of Arts (honours) in History at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta and then his MA in History at Patna University where he was a student of Professor R.S. Sharma.[2]

Career

Jha was a professor at the history department of the Delhi University specializing in ancient and medieval history.[2] In a career of over three decades, he spoke against communal distortions of history. Jha had repeatedly taken a position against Hindu nationalist ideology, arguing against what he claimed is "communalism" and "saffronisation".[3] He was critical of the view that "tolerance is the very essence of 'Hinduism qua Hinduism', and has claimed presence of what he termed as Brahmanical intolerance since early India.[4][5] He was credited with calling out the inconsistencies in Indian history and his efforts to bring a contemporary relevance to ancient history.[2]

He was an author of multiple history text books for India's National Council of Educational Research and Training, the organization which developed the text books and course curriculums for Indian schools.[6] He also served as the secretary of the Indian History Congress and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research[2][7]

In 1991, he was one amongst three historians who wrote a paper making a case that there was no evidence to prove that the Babri Masjid, a mosque in Ayodhya, was built after a temple that existed at the same site.[8] The findings were documented in Ramjanmabhoomi-Baburi Masjid: A Historians’ Report to the Nation (1991) which he co-wrote with R.S. Sharma, Suraj Bhan, and Athar Ali.[8][9] The paper diverged in its findings from the Archaeological Survey of India's findings and was later dismissed by the Supreme Court of India in 2019 as an opinion.[3]

In his 2001 book, The Myth of the Holy Cow, he made a case that cow meat was part of the early Indian diet and was also used for medicinal purposes.[10] He quoted religious and non-religious texts from ancient periods to dispel the prevailing belief that cow was holy and its meat not a part of historical Indian consumption.[2] The book quoted Charaka Samhita to say that it was used in soups for intermittent fevers, emaciation, and tuberculosis, while the fat was used in the treatment of rheumatism.[10] He went on to argue that the sacred status afforded to cows was a much more recent development.[2]

He also challenged the prevailing notion that the age of the Gupta Empire (320 CE to 550 CE) was the "golden age" of Indian history.[2]

The Myth of the Holy Cow
Further information: Cattle in religion and mythology

Jha has received death threats over his book The Myth of the Holy Cow in which he outlines the practice of eating beef in ancient India as documented in Vedic and Post-Vedic texts. Since Hindus traditionally consider the cow holy and deny the claims of beef consumption during Vedic period, his book caused much controversy.[11][12][13]

Criticism by Arun Shourie

Jha was accused by Arun Shourie of deliberate distortion of the facts behind the destruction of Nalanda University by Islamic invaders in 12th Century AD. Shourie accused Jha of selective lifting of sources, obfuscation and intellectual compromise.[14] In an article in the Indian Express, Jha stated that Shourie was distorting what he had said, and that Shourie's allegations of plagiarism are baseless. Jha also criticized Shourie's book Eminent Historians, saying that it contains "slander" and "has nothing to do with history."[15][16]

Death

Jha died on 4 February 2021, at age 81.[6] He had suffered a paralytic attack a few years earlier and had lost much of his hearing.[17]

Publications

As author:

  • 1980, Studies in early Indian economic history, Anupama Publications, ASIN: B0006E16DA.
  • 1993, Economy and Society in Early India: Issues and Paradigms, ISBN 81-215-0552-6.
  • 1997, Society and Ideology in India, ISBN 81-215-0639-5.
  • 1997, Ancient India: In Historical Outline, ISBN 81-7304-285-3.
  • 2002, Holy Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Traditions; paperback (2004) ISBN 1-85984-424-3
  • 2004, Early India: A Concise History, ISBN 81-7304-587-9
  • 2009, Myth of the Holy Cow, ISBN 81-8905-916-5
  • 2009, Rethinking Hindu Identity, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-84553-459-2

As editor:

  • 1988, Feudal Social Formation in Early India, ISBN 81-7001-024-1
  • 1996, Society and Ideology in India: Essays in Honour of Professor R.S. Sharma (Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1996).
  • 2000, The Feudal Order: State, Society, and Ideology in Early Medieval India, ISBN 81-7304-473-2; a collection of critical essays by 20 specialists on medieval Indian society, politics, ideology and religion.

References
  1. Roychowdhury, Adrija. "Why the cow is worshipped in Hindutva politics". The Indian Express. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. "Prof D N Jha: Iconoclast scholar who made ancient history contemporary". The Indian Express. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  3. Jha, D. N. (September 1998). "Against Communalising History". Social Scientist. 26 (9/10): 52–62. doi:10.2307/3517941. JSTOR 3517941.
  4. Jha, D.N. (2016). "Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India". Social Scientist. 44 (5/6): 3–10. ISSN 0970-0293.
  5. Reddy, Sheela (17 September 2001). "A Brahmin's Cow Tales". Outlook. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. Mahaprashta, Ajoy Ashirwad (4 February 2021). "Eminent Historian D.N. Jha passes away at 81". The Wire. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  7. Salam, Ziya Us. "Prof D.N. Jha (1940-2021), a rare historian who wore his knowledge with ease". Frontline. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  8. Staff, Scroll. "Eminent ancient history scholar DN Jha dies at 81". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. Sharma, Ram Sharan (1991). Ramjanmabhumi-Baburi Masjid: A Historians' Report to the Nation. People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7007-138-9.
  10. "Cow Vigilantism: Politics of the Sacred and the Profane". Open The Magazine. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  11. Reddy, Sheela (17 September 2001). "A Brahmin's Cow Tales". Outlook. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  12. The Guardian (13 July 2002)
  13. The Hindu (15 August 2003)
  14. "How history was made up at Nalanda". The Indian Express. 28 June 2014.
  15. "Grist to the reactionary mill". Indian Express. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  16. "Votes do not guide intellectuals: D N Jha". Business Standard. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  17. "D.N. Jha, a Doyen Among Indian Historians, Passes Away at 81". The Wire. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
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