Amit Shah asks historians to concentrate on Pandyas, Mauryas, Cholas, not just Mughals

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday stated that historians have always given more importance to Mughals when recording the history of India while they have completely ignored the rules of empires like Pandyas, Cholas, Mauryas, Guptas and Ahoms. Shah made these remarks during the launch of the book, 'Maharana: Sahastra Varsha Ka Dharma Yuddha' in New Delhi.

Further speaking on the workings of Indian historians he added, "I want to tell something to the historians. We have many empires but historians have concentrated only on the Mughals and wrote mostly about them. The Pandya empire ruled for 800 years. The Ahom empire ruled Assam for 650 years. They (Ahoms) had even defeated Bakhtiyar Khalji, Aurangzeb and kept Assam sovereign. The Pallava Empire ruled for 600 years. The Cholas ruled for 600 years."

"The Mauryas ruled the whole country -- from Afghanistan to Lanka for 550 years. The Satvahanas ruled for 500 years. The Guptas ruled for 400 years and (Gupta emperor) Samudragupta had for the first time visioned a united India and established an empire with the whole country. But there is no reference book on them," he said.  The home minister said reference books should be written on these empires and if they are written, "the history which we believe wrong will gradually fade away and the truth will emerge".

For this, he said, there is a need to start work by many people. "By keeping aside comments, our glorious history should be kept in front of the public. When we make big efforts, then automatically the attempt of falsehood becomes small. So, we should pay more attention to make our efforts bigger," he said.

Shah said history is not written on the basis of victory or defeat but on the basis of the outcome of any event. History is not made on the basis of the government and books, truth is made on the basis of events, he said. "No one can stop us from writing the truth. We are now independent. We can write our own history," he said. The home minister said it is a fact that some people have written history in such a way that it generates disappointment. "But India is such a country where disappointment can't survive".

"It may be decades, 50 years, or a hundred years but in the end, it is the truth which will emerge victorious," he said. Shah said some historians have written some books on a small scale but no one has done any comprehensive work on the history of the whole country and there are limited reference books. He said the government is also taking initiatives but when the government takes the initiative for writing history, many difficulties come up. "When independent historians write history, only truth comes up and that is why our people should write books with facts and without making any comments," he said. 

(With PTI Inputs)

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