Revenge and ReconciliationAn Original, Provocative And Compelling Reading Of The Subcontinent S History In This Remarkable Study, Well-Known Biographer Rajmohan Gandhi, Underscoring The Prominence In The Mahabharata Of The Revenge Impulse, Follows Its Trajectory In South Asian History. Side By Side, He Traces The Role Played By Reconcilers Up To Present Times, Beginning With The Buddha, Mahavira And Asoka. Encompassing Myth And Historical Fact, The Author Moves From The Circumstances Of Drona S Death And Parasurama S Slaying Of The Kshatriyas To The Burst Of Islam In India And Akbar S Success In Gaining Acceptance For It, The Executions Of Guru Arjan Dev And Guru Tegh Bahadur, And Shivaji S Achievement Of Self-Rule. His Explanation Of The 1947 Division Of India Identifies The Role Of The 1857 Rebellion In Shaping Gandhi S Thinking And Strategy, And Reflects On The Wounds Of Partition. The Survey Of Post-Independence India, Pakistan, Bangladesh And Sri Lanka Also Touches Upon The Tragic Bereavements Of Six Of Their Women Leaders. Incisive And Finely Argued, Revenge And Reconciliation Compels Us To Confront Historical And Contemporary Realities Of Intolerance, While Pointing To Possible Strategies Of Mutual Accommodation In India And The Rest Of South Asia At The Threshold Of The Twenty-First Century. |
Contents
The Mahabharata Legacy and the Gitas Intent | 1 |
A Dissenting Tradition or the Second Thread | 36 |
Rage Reflection and Coexistence | 68 |
Mughals Sikhs and Marathas | 93 |
Humiliation Dazzlement and Trust | 122 |
The Raj and the Sikhs | 144 |
The 1857 Trauma and its Meaning | 165 |
Freedom and Reconciliation? Gandhis Large Bid | 202 |
Why Partition Occurred and the Wounds of 1947 | 262 |
India 194767 | 278 |
South Asia After Independence | 305 |
Strategies for Reconciliation | 392 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ahmad Akbar Ambedkar Arjuna army Ashwatthama Asian asked Asoka attack Aurangzeb Avadh Awami League Ayub Bangladesh battle Bengal Bhakti Bhima Bhishma Bhutto Bihar Brahmin brothers Buddha Buddhist Calcutta called century chapter chief civil clash conflict Congress death defeated Delhi Desai Draupadi Drona East elections Empire epic Ershad ethnic father fight followed forces forgiveness Gandhi Gita Guru Gobind Singh Guru Tegh Bahadur Guru's Hasina Hibbert Hindu Hindu-Muslim Hinduism Ibid independence India Islam Jinnah Kashmir Kauravas Khaleda Khan killed king Krishna Kshatriya Kurukshetra Lahore later leader LTTE Lucknow Mahabharata Maratha Mughal Mujib Muslim Mutiny National Nehru nonviolence officers Pakistan Pandavas Panipat party Patel perhaps poets political President Prime Minister Punjab Quoted Rama Ranjit Singh Rebellion rebels reconciliation religion revenge rulers seemed sepoys Shah Shastri Shivaji Sikhs Sindh Sinhala Sinhalese soldiers South Asia Sri Lanka Tamil untouchables violence Vyasa West women Yudhishthira