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Soul and Sword : The History of Political Hinduism
Publisher:
Penguin Random House
| Author:
Hindol Sengupta
| Language:
English
| Format:
Hardback
₹594
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352
Political Hinduism was once considered a sort of fringe ideology, shadowy and even misunderstood. Its ideas and narratives seemed, in popular discourse, to lack analytical rigour and were easily dismissed.
But history shows that political Hinduism as an intellectual idea was a pioneering theme in India’s nationhood. In fact, it precedes the Indian republic and has been one of the most resilient political theories of India, which survived many bans, boycotts and decades out of power to become, in the twenty-first century, the predominant political force of India. The adherents of political Hinduism are as determined as its detractors―one complains about facing relentless prejudice; the other throws accusations of promoting continuous religious strife. One believes that India cannot be saved without decimating political Hinduism; the other is sanguine that only political Hinduism can save the future of India.
Soul and Sword traces the journey of political Hinduism from events that are critical to its self-narration, that is, early Indian resistance to invasions, to intellectual definitions by nineteenth-century littérateurs and more contemporary electoral politics. It tries to understand the context and historical sources used to construct and promote political Hinduism’s world view.
From award-winning writer Hindol Sengupta, Soul and Sword is absolutely critical reading to understand India’s present and future.
1 review for Soul and Sword : The History of Political Hinduism
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Description
Political Hinduism was once considered a sort of fringe ideology, shadowy and even misunderstood. Its ideas and narratives seemed, in popular discourse, to lack analytical rigour and were easily dismissed.
But history shows that political Hinduism as an intellectual idea was a pioneering theme in India’s nationhood. In fact, it precedes the Indian republic and has been one of the most resilient political theories of India, which survived many bans, boycotts and decades out of power to become, in the twenty-first century, the predominant political force of India. The adherents of political Hinduism are as determined as its detractors―one complains about facing relentless prejudice; the other throws accusations of promoting continuous religious strife. One believes that India cannot be saved without decimating political Hinduism; the other is sanguine that only political Hinduism can save the future of India.
Soul and Sword traces the journey of political Hinduism from events that are critical to its self-narration, that is, early Indian resistance to invasions, to intellectual definitions by nineteenth-century littérateurs and more contemporary electoral politics. It tries to understand the context and historical sources used to construct and promote political Hinduism’s world view.
From award-winning writer Hindol Sengupta, Soul and Sword is absolutely critical reading to understand India’s present and future.
About Author
Hindol Sengupta is one of India’s most awarded and read historians. He is the winner of the Wilbur Award, the Valley of Words Award, the PSF Prize and the Kalinga Literary Award for his writing. He has been shortlisted for the Hayek Prize given by the Manhattan Institute in memory of the Nobel laureate economist F.A. Hayek. He is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and was trained in Indian history and international relations at the University of Oxford and the Geneva School of Diplomacy, and in business and finance at Columbia University. He is the author of ten previous books and lives in New Delhi.
1 review for Soul and Sword : The History of Political Hinduism
Clear filters-
In my opinion, Hindol Sengupta is the most under-rated author of our times. His books are great sources of knowledge for me. After reading the first chapter of his book “The Sacred Sword” (based on the life of Guru Govind Singh), I wept like a child. The first chapter was so traumatic that I could not continue reading that book. His book on Sardar Patel gave the feelings of hardcore nationalism in my mind. But it is very sad that his books don’t get much attention that these deserve.
Now let discuss about this book which is about the political Hindu dharma. In many of my previous book reviews, I have stated that Dharma is not religion but what beholds the Indian culture, civilization and righteousness. In this book, the four types of Dharma are discussed, which are Rashtra Dharma (duty for the nation or national responsibility), Samaj Dharma (duty to society), Kula Dharma (duty to ancestors) and Vyakti Dharma (personal faith). Religion is a part of the last i.e., the Vyakti Dharma.
At first, author traces the origin of Hindutva. Nowadays, regional separatists of Bengal say that Bengali culture is an antithesis of Hindutva. But the real fact is that, the origin of Hindutva has it’s deep roots in Bengal and its cultural life. We have lost the 1857 war against the British colonizers. But that defeat gave us a time for self-realization and national-consciousness to us. That led to the great Bengali renaissance. The term Hindutva was a product of this renaissance. The word was first used in Bankim Chandra’s Anandamath novel. Then many eminent Bengalis like Chandranath Basu popularized that term. When the Congress started appeasing radical Islamists, political Hinduism got its dynamic leader- Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Many Hindutva leaders then rose like Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and N.C. Chatterjee.
Every ideology needs many heroes. Political Hinduism idolized the brave Hindu kings or warriors who fought (many times successfully) against cruel invaders like the Cholas and the two brothers Harihara and Bukka who established the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar. Then comes the most important name, the king who lives in everyone’s hearts till today and my ideal hero- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who needs no introduction. But, when the discussions of Raje come, there comes a staunch rebuttal from today’s Bengali regional separatists, the people who label him as an enemy of the Bengali race. But the same people worship Swami Vivekananda. Author explained an incident when Vivekananda was enraged by listening such claims against Shivaji Raje by a person known by him. Swamiji said that all of these false knowledge came from the fake historical accounts written by colonizers, who had no respect for us and our culture. He also praised Shivaji Raje. I think this topic is a very important part of this book. Not only Swamiji, but many eminent Bengalis like Sri Aurobindo and Bipin Chandra Pal ideolised Shivaji Raje. Tagore composed an entire poem in the praise of Shivaji Raje. These facts explain that how much the claims of todays Bengali separatists are baseless in nature.
If you want to know about Deendayal Upadhyay’s concept of “integral humanism” or Guru Golwalkar’s national perspective, this book will be a handy tool for you. If you want to know about the journey of Hindutva politics, then this book is a must read for you.
I disagree with the author in two points. First of these is the support for LGBTQ activists and the second thing is that author blamed the supporters of Hindutva for organizing boycott Bollywood movies trend. This trend was started by the common public after the mysterious death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, not by any single ideological people. But later many leaders of Hindutva politics interfered in this topic.
In the conclusion, the author shared a message for the future of Hindutva, which is explained by a quote of Swami Vivekananda, which is very important according to me. I am suggesting you to read this book by yourself to find out this message.
Akash Datta –
In my opinion, Hindol Sengupta is the most under-rated author of our times. His books are great sources of knowledge for me. After reading the first chapter of his book “The Sacred Sword” (based on the life of Guru Govind Singh), I wept like a child. The first chapter was so traumatic that I could not continue reading that book. His book on Sardar Patel gave the feelings of hardcore nationalism in my mind. But it is very sad that his books don’t get much attention that these deserve.
Now let discuss about this book which is about the political Hindu dharma. In many of my previous book reviews, I have stated that Dharma is not religion but what beholds the Indian culture, civilization and righteousness. In this book, the four types of Dharma are discussed, which are Rashtra Dharma (duty for the nation or national responsibility), Samaj Dharma (duty to society), Kula Dharma (duty to ancestors) and Vyakti Dharma (personal faith). Religion is a part of the last i.e., the Vyakti Dharma.
At first, author traces the origin of Hindutva. Nowadays, regional separatists of Bengal say that Bengali culture is an antithesis of Hindutva. But the real fact is that, the origin of Hindutva has it’s deep roots in Bengal and its cultural life. We have lost the 1857 war against the British colonizers. But that defeat gave us a time for self-realization and national-consciousness to us. That led to the great Bengali renaissance. The term Hindutva was a product of this renaissance. The word was first used in Bankim Chandra’s Anandamath novel. Then many eminent Bengalis like Chandranath Basu popularized that term. When the Congress started appeasing radical Islamists, political Hinduism got its dynamic leader- Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Many Hindutva leaders then rose like Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and N.C. Chatterjee.
Every ideology needs many heroes. Political Hinduism idolized the brave Hindu kings or warriors who fought (many times successfully) against cruel invaders like the Cholas and the two brothers Harihara and Bukka who established the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar. Then comes the most important name, the king who lives in everyone’s hearts till today and my ideal hero- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who needs no introduction. But, when the discussions of Raje come, there comes a staunch rebuttal from today’s Bengali regional separatists, the people who label him as an enemy of the Bengali race. But the same people worship Swami Vivekananda. Author explained an incident when Vivekananda was enraged by listening such claims against Shivaji Raje by a person known by him. Swamiji said that all of these false knowledge came from the fake historical accounts written by colonizers, who had no respect for us and our culture. He also praised Shivaji Raje. I think this topic is a very important part of this book. Not only Swamiji, but many eminent Bengalis like Sri Aurobindo and Bipin Chandra Pal ideolised Shivaji Raje. Tagore composed an entire poem in the praise of Shivaji Raje. These facts explain that how much the claims of todays Bengali separatists are baseless in nature.
If you want to know about Deendayal Upadhyay’s concept of “integral humanism” or Guru Golwalkar’s national perspective, this book will be a handy tool for you. If you want to know about the journey of Hindutva politics, then this book is a must read for you.
I disagree with the author in two points. First of these is the support for LGBTQ activists and the second thing is that author blamed the supporters of Hindutva for organizing boycott Bollywood movies trend. This trend was started by the common public after the mysterious death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, not by any single ideological people. But later many leaders of Hindutva politics interfered in this topic.
In the conclusion, the author shared a message for the future of Hindutva, which is explained by a quote of Swami Vivekananda, which is very important according to me. I am suggesting you to read this book by yourself to find out this message.