chola

Can you face your great grandson’s grandson?

By h e m a n t h - September 09, 2010


Since its beginning circa 3300 BCE, the Indus valley civilization flourished with sophisticated urban planning, sanitation systems and writing system until its doom in 1300 BCE. What happened after that? What made people leave their celebrated cities and migrate towards the east, to the Indo-gangetic plain? There is a big gap in history between the Indus valley civilization and the migration into the gangetic plain. There are no historical records on this. Likewise, the golden age of the Tamil civilization, the Sangam age lasted thousands of years until 300 AD when legendary Tamil literatures like Thirukkural were produced and the mighty Chola, Pandya and Cheras ruled the peninsula. But what happened just after that? 300 to 600 AD is said to be the dark ages of the 'Kalabrahs' rule, of which there are no historical documents. Who were they? Why did no one write about them? These are forgotten history, lost in time, and non-revivable.

This has been the fate of the Indians, for thousands and thousands of years. 
A glance through the long timeline of Indian history, shows that no one has been evidently interested in history, and in recording history. This attitude runs until today- with today’s Indians. Though we have had the best of the literature, philosophy, architecture in their colossal amounts, we find no 'historical records' as such. There is no mention of the word ‘history’ in our epics. All we have are inscriptions and foreigners’ accounts of India that lead to some historical knowledge.    

Palm-leaf manuscripts
Most of the ancient literatures were palm-leaf manuscripts. Throwing them into the Kaveri river during the Tamil festival of 'Adi Perukku' had been a tradition! Some of the valuable works have been passed down over the years by word of mouth, within a close line of heirs and finally lost in time.  We are indebted for the ancient Indian history that we know of today, to the European colonialists and many other foreign archaeologists. The culture hasn’t changed yet. Historians and archaeologists aren’t of great professions; engineers and doctors seem to be the only respectable professions of today’s India. Neither are we interested in knowing about and preserving our own family history! Only a handful of people like the Maratha ruler Serfoji II of Thanjavur had been intrigued by history and made great attempts to preserve history. The memory of mankind is at stake. We are obligated to record the heritage of humanity for posterity, before its forgotten forever. 

I’ve been writing diary since my 5th standard. I would vouch that the most interesting book of all, in one’s lifetime can only be his own diary. Simply because it’s a trip to his own past. By writing your journal you create your own time machine! Because you can relive your magical past, ever as you wish!

Well, I’m writing my diaries and I’m also trying to record and preserve some of my ancestors’ history. I would leave a legacy of privilege to the successors to revisit an enchanting past. In 2170 AD, my great grandson’s grandson would question me about what history I have preserved for him. I will have an answer and I will be spared. Will you be?

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10 Comments

  1. CosmosSeptember 10, 2010 at 1:29 PM

    You enlighten the reading visitors, contemporaries and the posterity about the importance of recording events - making of History, through this post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. h e m a n t hSeptember 10, 2010 at 2:31 PM

    thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. JanamejayanSeptember 19, 2010 at 10:36 AM

    I came across this url and thought there are others sharing your viewpoint on the distortion of our history.

    http://satyameva-jayate.org/2009/07/14/defalsify-indian-history/

    Regards,
    Janamejayan

    ReplyDelete
  4. h e m a n t hSeptember 19, 2010 at 8:25 PM

    @Mr.Janameyan: Very interesting article. Aryan Migration/Invasion theory is one of the most debated. I've not taken a stand on it yet. But a 'distortion' or a 'misrepresentation' could have been prevented if our ancestors had recorded their history, several millennia ago!

    Hemanth

    ReplyDelete
  5. kalidasanSeptember 24, 2010 at 11:42 AM

    hey hemanth,

    then whats ur views on my posting.. what's ur mail id?

    ReplyDelete
  6. AND KRISHNAMOORTHYJuly 13, 2011 at 5:04 AM

    very nice and informative. I appreciate your intention. regards.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 11:24 PM

    But we will all cease to exist in 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  8. RajaJuly 27, 2014 at 10:30 AM

    Very nice article. Everyone should read this and need to know about our great Tamil ancestors. Thanks Hemanth for this fantastic article.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownJanuary 14, 2015 at 5:58 PM

    Hey, I love your diary! I wanna follow you in other websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or Instagram! Do you have any of these??

    ReplyDelete

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