This refers to the editorial "Empty think tanks" (November 24). India does not have a practice of leaving behind historical records and treatises like other societies. Historical events are often turned into enduring myths in which facts and fantasy are merged. Our historical source records are what others have left behind such as the various Mughal-Namas, travelogues, British publications on history, and after independence and the Marxist interpretations of India' history. Several histories have been written on India but the best of them have been the one's written by foreigners such as A L Basham, Arnold Toynbee, Will Durant, Stella Kramrisch and Wendy Doniger. Such eminent historians have a sympathetic and unbiased approach, and do extensive investigation.Our "historians" are subjective and often display a political slant to the events of the day or, for that matter, even our ancient history.
H N Ramakrishna Bangalore
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