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D. N. Jha

January 01, 1970

Dwijendra Narayan Jha (1940 – 4 February 2021) was an Indian historian who studied and wrote on ancient and medieval India.[2] He was a professor of history at Delhi University and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Some of his books 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 of the sanctity of cow and Indian beef eating tradition.

Dwijendra Narayan Jha
Jha in November 2012
Born1 July 1940[1]
Ganauli, Darbhanga district, British India
Died (aged 80)
Delhi, India
Alma mater
OccupationHistorian
Notable workThe Myth of the Holy Cow (2001)

Education edit

Jha completed his Senior Secondary Schooling from Board of Secondary Certification, West Bengal with First Division. He did Intermediate Examination of Arts with first division and Bachelor of Arts (honours) in History at University of Calcutta and then his MA in history at Patna University where he was a student of Professor R.S. Sharma, who was amongst the first of modern Indian historians to study history through socio-economic analyses.[3][4]

Personal life edit

Jha was born to Devswaroop Jha and Gauri Devi.[citation needed] He was born at his maternal village Ganauli (Darbhanga District) Now it is in Madhubani District, Bihar.[citation needed] His paternal village was Haitibali. He had two brothers and one sister. His eldest brother Devendra Narayan Jha was doctor and retired as assistant director, state Falaria control, Bihar health Services and died in 1990.[citation needed] His second brother died at very young age when he was in intermediate. His eldest sister Vimla Jha died in 2018. In 1975 he married RajRani Jha in Calcutta. Jha's eldest nephew Rajiv Jha works with CPI(M)'s central organ and is part of editotial team of Loklaher.[citation needed]

Career edit

Jha was a professor at the history department of the Delhi University specializing in ancient and medieval history.[3] In a career of over three decades, he spoke against communal distortions of history. Through his works, he studied the socio-economic structures of early India and used India's ancient texts to draw linkages between culture and technology and the resulting social and state setup.[4] In some of his early works he studied revenue systems and linkages between economy and society in ancient India.[2] His study was a breakaway from both imperialist historians who studied India from a colonial lens and nationalist historians who studied Indian history through folklore, wars, and royalties.[4] In doing so, he was a group of historians who believed that post independence India's nation building efforts hinged on a professional attempt at writing history.[4] Jha had repeatedly taken a position against Hindu nationalist ideology, arguing against what he claimed is communalism and saffronisation.[5] He was critical of the view that "tolerance is the very essence of 'Hinduism qua Hinduism'", and had claimed what he termed as Brahmanical intolerance since early India.[6][7] He was credited with identifying inconsistencies in Indian history and his efforts to bring a contemporary relevance to ancient history.[3]

He was an author of multiple history text books for India's National Council of Educational Research and Training, the organization which developed the textbooks and course curricula for Indian schools.[8] He also served as the secretary of the Indian History Congress and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research[3][9] He was a member of visiting faculty at the Institute of Oriental Culture in the University of Tokyo.[10]

In 1991, he wrote a paper, with other historians R.S. Sharma, Suraj Bhan, and Athar Ali, making a case that there was no evidence to prove that the Babri Masjid, a mosque in Ayodhya, was built over a temple at the same site.[11] The findings were documented in Ramjanmabhoomi-Baburi Masjid: A Historians’ Report to the Nation (1991) which he co-wrote with [11][12] The mosque was demolished a year later by right wing activists.[4] 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.[5]

In his 2001 book, The Myth of the Holy Cow, he made a case that beef was part of the early Indian diet and used also for medicinal purposes.[13] 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.[3] 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.[13] He used text from the Vedas and Upanishads to argue that cattle were routinely offered in sacrifice to various ancient deities.[14] He then argued that the sacred status afforded to cows was a much more recent development.[3]

He also challenged the notion that the age of the Gupta Empire (320 CE to 550 CE) was the "golden age" of Indian history.[3][15] He argued that the notion of a gilded age before the Mughal Empire was a creation of historians during the Indian freedom movement and provided an ideological support to participants of the movement, but, served no purpose after.[9]

Jha was accused by BJP politician, Arun Shourie of distorting the history of the destruction of Nalanda University in 12th century AD.[16] In an article in the Indian Express, Jha responded 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."[17][18]

His last published book, Drink of Immortality (2020) studied alcohol distillation and consumption in ancient India.[19][1] He argued that there were more than 50 varieties of alcohol that were available and consumed by men and women of ancient India. He further quoted religious texts including the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as the Vedas mentioning of alcohol consumption.[20]

Jha died on 4 February 2021 in Delhi, at age 81.[8] He had suffered a paralytic attack a few years earlier and had lost much of his hearing.[4]

Works edit

The Myth of the Holy Cow edit

Further information: Cattle in religion and mythology

In his book The Myth of the Holy Cow, he alleged that cow formed part of the diet in ancient India. Cattle, including cows, were neither inviolable nor as revered in ancient times as they were later. Quoting from the Vedas and the Upanishads, he alleged that cattle were offered in sacrifice to various deities and that hardly any prayer was complete without animal sacrifice.[21] He pointed out that during Ram's exile, Sita asked her husband for meat. And Ram obliged by getting her deer meat.[22][23]

Jha has received death threats over his book The Myth of the Holy Cow in which he outlined the practice of eating beef in ancient India as documented in Vedic and Post-Vedic texts. Since Hindus consider the cow holy and deny the claims of beef consumption during Vedic period, the Hindu activist groups created controversy over his book.[24][25][26][27]

Jha discussed the events surrounding the publication in the introduction of the book The Myth of the Holy Cow.[28]

"Shortly afterwards, I began to get threats from unidentified callers asking me not to go ahead with the publication. Undeterred by all this Matrix Books, a new enterprising publishing house based in Delhi, mustered enough courage to publish the book promptly in the first week of August 2001. But some right-wing politicians and groups of religious fanatics, without reading a single page, termed it ‘blasphemous’, demanded my arrest and succeeded in obtaining a court order restraining the circulation of the book, and a self-appointed custodian of ‘Hinduism’ even sentenced me to death. The book was therefore published abroad by Verso (London)."

Publications edit

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. Matrix Books. 2002. OCLC 988874461.; 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
  • 2016, Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India, ISSN 0970-0293[29]
  • 2018, Against The Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History, ISBN 978-9350981689
  • 2020, Drink of Immortality: Essays on Distillation and Alcohol Use in Ancient India, ISBN 978-9390035212

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 edit

  1. ^ a b "D N Jha was fearless in his evocation of pluralism, dissent and rationality". The Indian Express. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b Roychowdhury, Adrija. "Why the cow is worshipped in Hindutva politics". The Indian Express. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Prof D N Jha: Iconoclast scholar who made ancient history contemporary". The Indian Express. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "D.N. Jha, a Doyen Among Indian Historians, Passes Away at 81". The Wire. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b Jha, D. N. (September 1998). "Against Communalising History". Social Scientist. 26 (9/10): 52–62. doi:10.2307/3517941. JSTOR 3517941.
  6. ^ Jha, D.N. (2016). "Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India". Social Scientist. 44 (5/6): 3–10. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 24890281.
  7. ^ Reddy, Sheela (17 September 2001). "A Brahmin's Cow Tales". Outlook. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  8. ^ a b Mahaprashta, Ajoy Ashirwad (4 February 2021). "Eminent Historian D.N. Jha passes away at 81". The Wire. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  9. ^ a b Salam, Ziya Us (5 February 2021). "Prof D.N. Jha (1940-2021), a rare historian who wore his knowledge with ease". Frontline. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  10. ^ Jha, Dwijendra Narayan (2004). The Myth of the Holy Cow. Verso. pp. preface:xi. ISBN 978-1-85984-424-3.
  11. ^ a b Scroll Staff. "Eminent ancient history scholar DN Jha dies at 81". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  12. ^ Sharma, Ram Sharan (1991). Ramjanmabhumi-Baburi Masjid: A Historians' Report to the Nation. People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7007-138-9.
  13. ^ a b "Cow Vigilantism: Politics of the Sacred and the Profane". Open The Magazine. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  14. ^ MAHAPRASHASTA, AJOY ASHIRWAD (14 October 2015). "'The cow was neither unslayable nor sacred in the Vedic period'". Frontline. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  15. ^ SALAM, ZIYA US (23 May 2018). "'India never had a golden age'". Frontline. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  16. ^ Shourie, Arun (28 June 2014). "How history was made up at Nalanda". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  17. ^ "Grist to the reactionary mill". Indian Express. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  18. ^ Sreedathan, G. (9 November 2014). "Votes do not guide intellectuals: D N Jha". Business Standard. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  19. ^ edited by D.N. Jha (2020). Drink of immortality : essays on distillation and alcohol use in ancient India. New Delhi. ISBN 978-93-90035-21-2. OCLC 1224158962. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  20. ^ "What the gods drank". The Indian Express. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  21. ^ Jha, Dwijendra Narayan. The Myth of the Holy Cow. London/New York: Verso 2002
  22. ^ "Prof D.N. Jha (1940-2021), a rare historian who wore his knowledge with ease". 5 February 2021.
  23. ^ Eakin, Emily (17 August 2002). "Holy Cow a Myth? An Indian Finds The Kick Is Real". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  24. ^ Sacred status of cows in Hinduism
  25. ^ Reddy, Sheela (17 September 2001). . Outlook. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  26. ^ The Guardian (13 July 2002)
  27. ^ (15 August 2003)
  28. ^ "Tribute: Professor DN Jha". Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  29. ^ Jha, D.N. (2016). "Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India". Social Scientist. 44 (5/6): 3–10. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 24890281.

External links edit

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to D. N. Jha.
  • Indian Council of Historical Research
  • History Department, Delhi University

January 01, 1970
dwijendra, narayan, 1940, february, 2021, indian, historian, studied, wrote, ancient, medieval, india, professor, history, delhi, university, member, indian, council, historical, research, some, books, include, ancient, india, historical, outline, 1997, myth, . Dwijendra Narayan Jha 1940 4 February 2021 was an Indian historian who studied and wrote on ancient and medieval India 2 He was a professor of history at Delhi University and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research Some of his books 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 of the sanctity of cow and Indian beef eating tradition Dwijendra Narayan JhaJha in November 2012Born1 July 1940 1 Ganauli Darbhanga district British IndiaDied4 February 2021 aged 80 Delhi IndiaAlma materPresidency College CalcuttaPatna UniversityOccupationHistorianNotable workThe Myth of the Holy Cow 2001 Contents 1 Education 2 Personal life 3 Career 4 Works 4 1 The Myth of the Holy Cow 5 Publications 6 References 7 External linksEducation editJha completed his Senior Secondary Schooling from Board of Secondary Certification West Bengal with First Division He did Intermediate Examination of Arts with first division and Bachelor of Arts honours in History at University of Calcutta and then his MA in history at Patna University where he was a student of Professor R S Sharma who was amongst the first of modern Indian historians to study history through socio economic analyses 3 4 Personal life editJha was born to Devswaroop Jha and Gauri Devi citation needed He was born at his maternal village Ganauli Darbhanga District Now it is in Madhubani District Bihar citation needed His paternal village was Haitibali He had two brothers and one sister His eldest brother Devendra Narayan Jha was doctor and retired as assistant director state Falaria control Bihar health Services and died in 1990 citation needed His second brother died at very young age when he was in intermediate His eldest sister Vimla Jha died in 2018 In 1975 he married RajRani Jha in Calcutta Jha s eldest nephew Rajiv Jha works with CPI M s central organ and is part of editotial team of Loklaher citation needed Career editJha was a professor at the history department of the Delhi University specializing in ancient and medieval history 3 In a career of over three decades he spoke against communal distortions of history Through his works he studied the socio economic structures of early India and used India s ancient texts to draw linkages between culture and technology and the resulting social and state setup 4 In some of his early works he studied revenue systems and linkages between economy and society in ancient India 2 His study was a breakaway from both imperialist historians who studied India from a colonial lens and nationalist historians who studied Indian history through folklore wars and royalties 4 In doing so he was a group of historians who believed that post independence India s nation building efforts hinged on a professional attempt at writing history 4 Jha had repeatedly taken a position against Hindu nationalist ideology arguing against what he claimed is communalism and saffronisation 5 He was critical of the view that tolerance is the very essence of Hinduism qua Hinduism and had claimed what he termed as Brahmanical intolerance since early India 6 7 He was credited with identifying inconsistencies in Indian history and his efforts to bring a contemporary relevance to ancient history 3 He was an author of multiple history text books for India s National Council of Educational Research and Training the organization which developed the textbooks and course curricula for Indian schools 8 He also served as the secretary of the Indian History Congress and a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research 3 9 He was a member of visiting faculty at the Institute of Oriental Culture in the University of Tokyo 10 In 1991 he wrote a paper with other historians R S Sharma Suraj Bhan and Athar Ali making a case that there was no evidence to prove that the Babri Masjid a mosque in Ayodhya was built over a temple at the same site 11 The findings were documented in Ramjanmabhoomi Baburi Masjid A Historians Report to the Nation 1991 which he co wrote with 11 12 The mosque was demolished a year later by right wing activists 4 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 5 In his 2001 book The Myth of the Holy Cow he made a case that beef was part of the early Indian diet and used also for medicinal purposes 13 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 3 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 13 He used text from the Vedas and Upanishads to argue that cattle were routinely offered in sacrifice to various ancient deities 14 He then argued that the sacred status afforded to cows was a much more recent development 3 He also challenged the notion that the age of the Gupta Empire 320 CE to 550 CE was the golden age of Indian history 3 15 He argued that the notion of a gilded age before the Mughal Empire was a creation of historians during the Indian freedom movement and provided an ideological support to participants of the movement but served no purpose after 9 Jha was accused by BJP politician Arun Shourie of distorting the history of the destruction of Nalanda University in 12th century AD 16 In an article in the Indian Express Jha responded 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 17 18 His last published book Drink of Immortality 2020 studied alcohol distillation and consumption in ancient India 19 1 He argued that there were more than 50 varieties of alcohol that were available and consumed by men and women of ancient India He further quoted religious texts including the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as the Vedas mentioning of alcohol consumption 20 Jha died on 4 February 2021 in Delhi at age 81 8 He had suffered a paralytic attack a few years earlier and had lost much of his hearing 4 Works editThe Myth of the Holy Cow edit Further information Cattle in religion and mythology In his book The Myth of the Holy Cow he alleged that cow formed part of the diet in ancient India Cattle including cows were neither inviolable nor as revered in ancient times as they were later Quoting from the Vedas and the Upanishads he alleged that cattle were offered in sacrifice to various deities and that hardly any prayer was complete without animal sacrifice 21 He pointed out that during Ram s exile Sita asked her husband for meat And Ram obliged by getting her deer meat 22 23 Jha has received death threats over his book The Myth of the Holy Cow in which he outlined the practice of eating beef in ancient India as documented in Vedic and Post Vedic texts Since Hindus consider the cow holy and deny the claims of beef consumption during Vedic period the Hindu activist groups created controversy over his book 24 25 26 27 Jha discussed the events surrounding the publication in the introduction of the book The Myth of the Holy Cow 28 Shortly afterwards I began to get threats from unidentified callers asking me not to go ahead with the publication Undeterred by all this Matrix Books a new enterprising publishing house based in Delhi mustered enough courage to publish the book promptly in the first week of August 2001 But some right wing politicians and groups of religious fanatics without reading a single page termed it blasphemous demanded my arrest and succeeded in obtaining a court order restraining the circulation of the book and a self appointed custodian of Hinduism even sentenced me to death The book was therefore published abroad by Verso London Publications editAs 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 Matrix Books 2002 OCLC 988874461 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 2016 Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India ISSN 0970 0293 29 2018 Against The Grain Notes on Identity Intolerance and History ISBN 978 9350981689 2020 Drink of Immortality Essays on Distillation and Alcohol Use in Ancient India ISBN 978 9390035212 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 edit a b D N Jha was fearless in his evocation of pluralism dissent and rationality The Indian Express 6 February 2021 Retrieved 6 February 2021 a b Roychowdhury Adrija Why the cow is worshipped in Hindutva politics The Indian Express Retrieved 6 February 2021 a b c d e f g Prof D N Jha Iconoclast scholar who made ancient history contemporary The Indian Express 5 February 2021 Retrieved 6 February 2021 a b c d e f D N Jha a Doyen Among Indian Historians Passes Away at 81 The Wire Retrieved 6 February 2021 a b Jha D N September 1998 Against Communalising History Social Scientist 26 9 10 52 62 doi 10 2307 3517941 JSTOR 3517941 Jha D N 2016 Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India Social Scientist 44 5 6 3 10 ISSN 0970 0293 JSTOR 24890281 Reddy Sheela 17 September 2001 A Brahmin s Cow Tales Outlook Retrieved 6 February 2021 a b Mahaprashta Ajoy Ashirwad 4 February 2021 Eminent Historian D N Jha passes away at 81 The Wire Retrieved 4 February 2021 a b Salam Ziya Us 5 February 2021 Prof D N Jha 1940 2021 a rare historian who wore his knowledge with ease Frontline Retrieved 6 February 2021 Jha Dwijendra Narayan 2004 The Myth of the Holy Cow Verso pp preface xi ISBN 978 1 85984 424 3 a b Scroll Staff Eminent ancient history scholar DN Jha dies at 81 Scroll in Retrieved 6 February 2021 Sharma Ram Sharan 1991 Ramjanmabhumi Baburi Masjid A Historians Report to the Nation People s Publishing House ISBN 978 81 7007 138 9 a b Cow Vigilantism Politics of the Sacred and the Profane Open The Magazine 13 April 2017 Retrieved 6 February 2021 MAHAPRASHASTA AJOY ASHIRWAD 14 October 2015 The cow was neither unslayable nor sacred in the Vedic period Frontline Retrieved 6 February 2021 SALAM ZIYA US 23 May 2018 India never had a golden age Frontline Retrieved 6 February 2021 Shourie Arun 28 June 2014 How history was made up at Nalanda The Indian Express Retrieved 11 April 2022 Grist to the reactionary mill Indian Express 9 July 2014 Retrieved 9 July 2015 Sreedathan G 9 November 2014 Votes do not guide intellectuals D N Jha Business Standard Retrieved 9 July 2015 edited by D N Jha 2020 Drink of immortality essays on distillation and alcohol use in ancient India New Delhi ISBN 978 93 90035 21 2 OCLC 1224158962 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a last has generic name help CS1 maint location missing publisher link What the gods drank The Indian Express 29 July 2017 Retrieved 6 February 2021 Jha Dwijendra Narayan The Myth of the Holy Cow London New York Verso 2002 Prof D N Jha 1940 2021 a rare historian who wore his knowledge with ease 5 February 2021 Eakin Emily 17 August 2002 Holy Cow a Myth An Indian Finds The Kick Is Real The New York Times Retrieved 11 April 2022 Sacred status of cows in Hinduism Reddy Sheela 17 September 2001 A Brahmin s Cow Tales Outlook Archived from the original on 18 July 2014 Retrieved 18 October 2014 The Guardian 13 July 2002 The Hindu 15 August 2003 Tribute Professor DN Jha Retrieved 11 April 2022 Jha D N 2016 Brahmanical Intolerance in Early India Social Scientist 44 5 6 3 10 ISSN 0970 0293 JSTOR 24890281 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to D N Jha Indian Council of Historical Research History Department Delhi University Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title D N Jha amp oldid 1221510661, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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