Look back through a new prism

“The West accuses ancient India of not having a sense of history” — this is the notion that art practitioner and academic Dr Deepak Kannal is intending to question in his upcoming lecture in the city titled Indian Historiography — A Fresh Postulate. Deepak, a practising sculptor and art historian will be taking us through his understanding of Indian historiography, which is supposedly a non-existent discipline in ancient Indian scholastic tradition.

“My argument is that India has a strong tradition of history, it’s just that it doesn’t fall under the Western definition of the term,” says Kannal. “And unlike the Western concept, for India, history is not merely documentation, it often deals with understanding and utilising,” he adds.

According to Kannal, Mahabharata is primarily history. “Mahabharata was originally called Jay and the first line mentions that it is the history called Jaya,” he says. “The text is essentially history and not an epic. But that doesn’t mean a lot of importance is needed to filtrate the facts.”

According to Kannal, Indian history is full of allegories and symbols, which can be found at several scriptures and engravings. “The metaphorical, symbolic or allegorical documentation of historical events may suggest that history was seen and understood differently in the Indian tradition as the purpose of the exercise too was different. The historical records that we come across through the scriptures and inscription may not subscribe to the Western notion of history and historiography.”

According to him, the concept of time plays a substantial role in shaping Indian history.

“In India, time is primordial, it is not linear — a concept which is not common in the West. That’s why for them ‘time flies’, but in our case, we travel through time — this concept changes a lot in out understanding of history,” he explains.

Through the lecture he will attempt to fathom the Indian sense of historiography citing a number of illustrations mainly from Indian sculpture and painting that lend themselves for political or historical interpretations.

Dr Kannal has taught in the Department of Art History and Aesthetics and also was the Head of the Department and the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara. Among several national awards, he had also received the Charles Wallace fellowship (for his post-doctoral project at Cambridge UK).

On January 23, 6 pm, At the Education Centre, at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum. RSVP by email at ccardoza@bdlmuseum.org