New Delhi, Nov 05: Historians should not write history just for review by their peers or to push their own agenda, says noted travel writer and historian William Dalrymple.
"The quality of research and the language alone should matter while writing a history book. Facts are important, not the agenda," said Dalrymple talking to a news agency during the launch of his latest book, `The Last Mughal-The fall of a dynasty, Delhi, 1857.`
Dalrymple believes that mainstream history should be written in a way that everybody understands without resorting to jargon, and not furthering myths that are generally
associated with some historical personalities, he says.
"Historians do the greatest disservice when they further myths through their writings. It is because of bending before popular beliefs by historians that historical personalities
like Shivaji and others have gone beyond the realm of rationality," he says.
Dalrymple whose language of writing is said to be engaging and entertaining at the same time, does not accept the allegation that he himself indulges in writing and furthering
popular history. "When I write something, I do it with the conviction that I can bring to fore some new facets of a historical period and I base everything on research," he says.
Talking about his style of writing, Dalrymple says, "While writing fiction, clear prose and comprehensive narration are seen as two important factors, I think both these qualities are required while writing history too, only then can you reach an audience that will understand and appreciate."
The way history is written has changed a lot in the West, with people willing to write authentic history in an engaging manner and it is now accepted by fellow historians there, it`s time the same thing happened here, he says.
Dalrymple, a Scottish by birth, was just twenty-two when he published his highly acclaimed `in Xanadu`in 1987. He came to Delhi in 1989 and spent five years researching and writing his second book, `City of Djinns.` the love affair with the city continues.
His latest book on `The Last Mughal`bahadurshah Zafar II, is also based in Delhi. It captures the events of 1857 when the `sepoys` of the Indian Army revolted against their British masters.
Dalrymple came across the idea for writing his latest book while researching for his previous book, "The White Mughal." "I was amazed at the material I found at the National Archives. There is no time in history that there can be 20,000 documents and not a single one taken up for research by a single historian," he says.
For long, scholars in India have complained that there wasn`t enough material that presented the perspective of the mutineers, compelling them to write Indian history, largely based on the British sources. "Almost all these documents are in Persian and Urdu, that could be one of the reasons why these were neglected for such a long time," says Dalrymple.
Darlymple who idolises Sir Steven Runciman, a Western historian whose well-researched works on history were widely read and was famous for throwing new light on historical
events, says that some of the new facts that come to light in his book include-- the fighting qualities of Indian `sepoys,` brutality with which the British dealt with them soon after the mutiny was suppressed, and his beloved Delhi being the very epicentre of revolt.
"Dal Ram Pal", as he calls himself, just hopes that there would be more historical works in India which follow his style telling the past.
Bureau Report
