Influence of Marxist historiography on Indian history writing. Gilbert Lalthazuala Roll.no:558

Marxist or historical materialist historiography is a school of historiography influenced by Marxism. The chief tenets of Marxist historiography are the centrality of social class and economic constraints in determining historical outcomes.

Marxist historiography has made contributions to the history of the working class, oppressed nationalities, and the methodology of history from below.

Marxist historiography, that is, the writing of Marxist history in line with the given historiographical principles, is generally seen as a tool. Its aim is to bring those oppressed by history to self-consciousness, and to arm them with tactics and strategies from history: it is both a historical and a liberatory project.

Historians who use Marxist methodology, but disagree with the mainstream of Marxism, often describe themselves as marxist historians (with a lowercase M). Methods from Marxist historiography, such as class analysis, can be divorced from the liberatory intent of Marxist historiography; such practitioners often refer to their work as marxian or Marxian.

In the study of early India, there are several historians working with Marxian methods.

R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar, D.N. Jha, B.D. Chattopadhyay and Kumkum Roy are

some of them. Their researches have enriched our understanding of ancient India.

The Marxist historians have contributed enormously to Indian historiography. In all

field of Indian history, whether we divide it by periods or by topics, the Marxist historians

have made significant contributions. In several areas, their works have changed the

course of historiography. The Marxist historians do not form a monolithic bloc.

There are wide divergences of views among the Marxist historians. However, there are certain common elements among them.

The history of the dynasties was replaced by the history of the common people. More

emphasis was now given to the study of economy and society in preference to the

political history. The study of broad social and economic systems such as feudalism

and colonialism were undertaken and the social, economic and political changes were

considered not in the light of the actions of individual statesmen, but in terms of the

working out of economy and conflicts between classes.At the level of methodology,

Kosambi’s works introduced an interdisciplinary approach to history which

encompassed literature, archaeology, linguistics, anthropology, numismatics and statistics.

Moreover, the Marxist historiography has made interpretation and explanation more

important than narration or description.

TRANSLATION

Marxist historiography kan tih chu historiography emaw history ziah dan chi hrang hrang zing a pakhat,Karl Marx a zirtirna in a nghawng ani a.Marxist historiography thurin bulpui ber chu vantlang pawl leh economy a khuahkhirhna atanga history lam thil a rahchhuak awm apiang lo hriat chian tum hi ani.

Marxist historiography chuan hnam hnuaihnung zawk te leh mipui vantlang te history zirna leh ziahna ah a thawh hlawk hle a,heng mi te history thlir dan leh hmuh dan min hriattir bawk ani.

Marxist historiography in a tum ber chu history hmang a nekchep a awm te chawikan leh remhriatna a thuam hi ani,marxist historiography chu history lam thil a nih rualin in chhuah zalenna tura ruahmanna pawh ani thei ani.

Historian thenkhat Marx-a thlirna hmang tho si,mahse Marxism thurin nawlpui ring silo an awm a,heng ho hian marxist historians ('M' té an hmang) an inti kher ani.Marxist historiography hrang hrang a class analysis chauh an hmang a,an kuthnu emaw kutchhuak emaw te chu marxian tiin emaw Marxian an ti bawk thin.

India history zir zingah historian thenkhat Marxian method hmang an awm nual a chung te chu R.S.Sharma ,Romila Thapar,D.N.Jha,B.D.Chattopadhyay leh Kumkum Roy te an ni a,an thil zir tam tak te hian hmasang India chanchin chungchang kan hriatna nasa takin an tipung ani.

Marxist historian te hian Indian history ziahna ah an thawh hlawk em em a,Indian history hi a hunbi ang zawngin emaw a thupui ang zawng pawhin then hrang mah ila Marxist historian te thawh hlawk zia kan hmu tho tho a,hmun thenkhat ah phei chuan an hnathawh te avanga history ziah dan lo danglam ta te pawh hmuh tur a awm nawk.Marxist historian te hian rindan pakhat chauh kalpui lovin thlirna tlang hrang hrang atangin thil an thlir zawk a amaherawhchu hetih rual hian an hnathawhah thil inang tak tak a awm bawk.

Heng Marxist historian te zarah tunhmaa lal ram chanchin kan lo zir thin te chu mipui mimir chanchin in alo in thlak ta a,political history zirna chu economy leh society zirna in alo thlak ta bawk a.Kosami chuan interdisciplinary approach rawn ching chhuak in history chu literature,archaeology,linguistics,anthropology,numismatics leh statistics te nen a rawn in kungkaih tir a,tin Marxist historiography hian history chu thawnthu anga an sawi thin aiin a awmze diktak hrilhfiah a dah pawimawh zawk bawk ani.

References:

(i)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist_historiography

(ii)MHI-03 Historiography,IGNOU,MA Text Book