The Buddha and the Sahibs

The Buddha and the Sahibs by Charles Allen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am not a believer of a benevolent colonialism as per the likes of Niall Ferguson or John Keay. However I also do not believe in the pure evilness of the British colonial enterprises as well. Like everything I think there is a big grey area in between which defines this rule. There are positives and there are negatives.

Charles Allen has been a favorite author for telling the stories of the erstwhile Raj from the days of reading 'Ashoka'. He tries to walk this grey part of the history without being judgmental and that's what makes this book fascinating.

I've read the stories about James Prinsep, Alexander Cunningham, "Oriental" Jones and quite a few of the interesting individuals who came here to conquer and ended up uncovering a large portion of Indian history which was neglected and unknown for reasons which are not relevant here.

'Buddha and the Sahibs' tells the story of the re-discovery of Buddhism in India in the late 18th and 19th centuries and the people who did that. The book reads like a detective fiction and expertly puts together the pieces of the discovery.

The story of Buddhism is an inspiring one and above all, the story of the King 'Devanampiya Priyadasi' - the most humane of all kings ever ruled otherwise known as Ashoka is another that defies belief. And what is more amazing is the way the king was identified after the masterly deciphering of the Ashoka Brahmi script by James Prinsep. This is a story that can be read again and again.

More than my infatuation with Ashoka, the book introduces a host of characters who are unbelievable to start with and astoundingly curious and meticulous to the end. James Prinsep who started as the assay master in the Benaras Mint and ended up deciphering the Ashoka Brahmi and identifying the King Ashoka as the Devanampiya Priyadasi of the inscriptions and dying by his 40. Alexander Cunningham - in between his constant part in the frontier wars - manages to trace the entire travel route of Huan-Tsang and identify a host of lost cities and write a long series of books as well.

They may be the product of the imperial era and may have had their prejudices (which are common to that era) but like William Jones - who founded the Asiatic society and be a judge as well - are all driven by the scientific curiosity of the day and there is no just reason for not being thankful to them at all.

It is not just those who are named here, I actually went through a few volumes of the Journal of Asiatic Studies (JAS) published by the Asiatic society founded by Jones and most of those who wrote about the flora and fauna of the country or the ruins of some regions are all local tax collectors and soldiers with some regiments. It is a testament to their interest that they not only observed what was around them, they recorded them as well.

The discovery of Buddhism in the Indian main land by all these people and the discovery of the ruins and location of the holy sites makes for very interesting reading. Charles Allen goes through the steps and the way the entire story unfolded with exciting discoveries. The various events and the unlikely heroes (Hastings or Curzon, anyone?) and of course, M.K.Gandhi and Ambedkar make a cameo as well.

The one part that I find missing is the how Buddhism was obliterated in the country where it was born and how the holy sites were laid waste or taken over by the local Mahants (as in the case of the temple at Bodh Gaya). That is a story that gets mentioned in the passing - like the story of the discussion between the Lama and the Shankaracharya - but is not pursued. I thought that would've made the book more complete.

Overall, a very interesting book..

Ashoka: India's Lost Emperor

Ashoka: India's Lost Emperor by Charles Allen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Charles Allen's 'Ashoka;India's lost emperor' reads like a detective novel. And a damn good one at that too.

One of the reasons Charles Allen quotes for writing the book is to record the contributions of 'Orientalists' who are/were vilified mercilessly in the past decades. The reason for this primarily starts with Thomas Macaulay and those who followed in his foot steps. So, here Charles Allen sets out to set the record straight.

We know a little about the Indophile employees of Raj who were here like nabobs immersed in the culture and land that is India.It it to their credit that most of the monuments of India's history still exists. They wielded power with a immense curiosity to learn, identify and protect.

It is difficult to come out of the book without feeling a lot of respect for people like John Marshall, Princep, 'Hindoo' Stuart, Cunningham and a lot of others who for all their faults of being part of the evil East India Company (John Keay be damned!!), pursued their natural instinct to learn about the country they were destined to rule and the effort put forth by them in learning the archaic languages of India like Prakrit, Sanskrit, Brahmi and more.

While reading the book, I was drawing a mental map of the landscapes they were traversing in horses, elephants and in Palkis relentlessly in their quest to uncover the secrets of India's past. From Kolkatta to Kandahar they travel, collect, put in crates and send. There are misguided attempts to break into the inscriptions, use the bricks of the stupas for construction but for every misguided attempt there is always one which forcefully preserves another.

Ashoka probably is an under-appreciated ruler. Probably the only one of his kind to rule by moral force and put that in inscriptions across India, it is difficult to find a reason for not celebrating him as the icon of India. It might be something to do with the religion he was supporting as well. However, the story of Ashoka, even today invokes admiration and I was reminding myself of Einstein's quote about another human being which can equally apply to this great man as well.

The uncovering of the Ashoka's story reads fascinating and the sheer number of people involved who contributed to this is staggering. There is the cavalry captain who takes an eye-copy of Dhauli inscription, one who puts a shaft into the Sanchi stupa, the one who uncovers Taxila in the Hindu Kush and Cunningham who connects all the dots and strides the stage like the colossal figure he was.

That made me think, why there was no references to Ashoka in the 2000 years since he ruled in any of the Indian texts in between. May be along with Buddhism he was forgotten but oral tradition should've remained and it was a surprise that it did not. And for all our pride about being the most ancient, it also tells something about us, Indians. Non-curious and ignorant of our history, to this day (visit some of our old temples!), we tend to take pride and vandalize immediately without a thought. Hmm.

At least the last 2 chapters of the book, if we are sensitive about the 'good' British, should be kept as part of curriculum for middle school students at least so that in the future, may be a few of them can grow up to be curious.

A Must read.

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