Introduction
This is a continuation of the review of the Book Volga se Ganga. Check part 1 for context. The author splits the book into Part 1 and Part 2, each part consists of 10 stories of the Indo-Aryan Tribe’s migration from the Volga river basin into India that spanned over several millennia. In Part 1, the story starts in 6000 BC and ends in 4th century BC on the shores of the Indus Valley. Each story is self contained and fictional with the intent to give us a peek into the life and times of that period. It was a good read. As one might have guessed, Part 2 was closely tied to the political history of the Northern South Asian subcontient.
Image source: https://www.brownpundits.com/2019/12/20/why-aryan-migration-theory-amt-is-probably-true-but-it-might-not-matter/ enhanced by Google Gemini 3
The Stories and their themes
Prabha (50 BCE) The Kushan Empire and the merging of cultures
In the first Century BC, the Indus region was a melting pot of cultures. There were Persians, Greeks, Aryans, and local tribes. The story follows a Greek tribe who settled in India. The caste system was taking hold and Greeks were put in the upper caste category. They were patrons of art. The land was ruled by the Kushans. Kushans weren’t racially Indian-as-we-know-them. They followed Buddhism and Hinduism. They controlled the silk route. The story is a heart-breaking tale of love and sacrifice.
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| Kushan Dynasty's rule. They controlled the silk route between China and Rome. | Statue from private collection in Seoul, believed to be of Kanishka |
Suparna (420 CE) The “Golden Age” of the Gupta Empire
The story is set in Ujjayani (Ujjain), the captial of the Guptas. The Gupta rule was perhaps the largest empire by a Hindu king in the Indian subcontient. The story follows a wealthy noble disillusioned by the caste system, untouchability, and how the King was made Godlike by the priest-class for personal benefits. It is less of a story and more of a monologue on the mind of the author and how he expected a morally right indvidual would have behaved in those times.
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Durmukh (630 CE) Harshavardhan’s reign and the decline of Buddhism
Probably the weakest story in the series. It continues the mood of the previous story where Brahmins are selfish, corrupt captialists. This story emphasizes the decline of Buddhism and the rise of feudalism and fedual lords who control all aspects of people’s lives. The story happens in Kannauj, the capital of king Harsha Vardhana’s empire of the Pushyabhuti dynasty in the 7th century CE.
Chakrapani (1200 CE) The arrival of Turkic invaders and social upheaval.
700 plus years of Hindu kings since the decline the Gupta empire and their Golden age. The rulers are shown as complacent, lecherous, and gluttonous. The moral corruption has reached its zenith. India is rich but there weren’t enough disciplined warriors to protect the land. The Islamic conquest has reached India. It starts with the Turkic invasions of Muhammad Ghori followed by the Afghan Mahmud of Ghazni. Neither of them care enough to form a sustained empire. They don’t consider the land as their home. The gangetic plains are hot and humid. They aren’t used to such weather, coming from the Turkic, Afghan & the central asian region. In this story, the last of the Hindu kings are seen to escape to Varanasi.
Baba Nur-ud-Din (1300 CE) The influence of Sufism and cultural synthesis
There is a revolving door situation with the Islamic rulers. Five different dynasties of different racial backgrounds rule over the Indian gangetic plains. Collectively these 5 dynasties (Malmuk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi) are called the Delhi Sultanate. Amongst these, Tughlaqs are credited with the introduction of Sufism in India. They establish Khanqah (Sufi Lodge), a spiritual place to pray, mediate, and live (think Ashrams). For the first time, it feels like the new Islam rulers want to take care of the land and its people. At this point, there are no stories, its just the author giving us historical nuggets through a monologue.
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Suraiya (1550 CE) The height of the Mughal Empire (Akbar’s era)
Mughals were Turco-Mongols from central Asia. They took over the Delhi Sultanate rule at the Battle of Panipat. They ruled the land for over 300 years. They build the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. The Islam assimilation is complete. Hindus and Muslims live in near harmony. The “Hindustani” identity takes hold. While Persian is still the official language of the court, we see Urdu/Hindustani(Hindi) becoming the language of the masses. The economy is prosperous once more. India till this period, is the envy of the western world for its riches, spices, and craftsmanship.
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Rekha Bhagat (1800 CE) The early days of British colonial exploitation.
The protagonist is a farmer who sees the establishment of the Zamindari system by the British colonists. The peasant lands becomes a commodity and the Zamindars are ruthless and cruel in collecting taxes from the poor. If you haven’t guessed, the backdrop is the establishment of the rule of the British East India Company, which started off as a trading company, that grew richer with higher ambitions. In a short period of time, they became the richest entity in the world commanding a large private army to protect their interests in India. Unlike Kushans or Mughals, the British did not become “Indian”. They were racially insensitive captialists who only wanted to protect their bottomline. Any form of industrialization, rule of law, unification of the country by the British was only to protect their interests in the country.
Mangal Singh (1857 CE) The First War of Indian Independence (The Mutiny)
This story contains the most popular character known to Indians post-Independence: Mangal Pandey. It talks about the planning behind the Mutiny and the eventual outcome. This one event sets the course for the formation of modern India and the world I live in today.
Safdar (1922 CE) The Non-Cooperation movement and rising socialism
This is the story of an Oxford educated wealthy Indian, leaving everything behind to participate in Indian Independence. The book was written pre-independence and the author has his reservations on Gandhi’s efforts. I believe that, at the time of writing, this would have been the contemporary thought of most educated Indians. This chapter is the most original work of the book. The author is also pro-partition. He supports the formation of Pakistan. The interesting part about that was his assumption that Kashmir will be with Pakistan.
Sumer (1942 CE) The Quit India Movement and hopes for a future society
Final chapter, brings the 8000-year journey to its conclusion. This is World War II. Indian soldiers are part of the British army fighting Japanese invasion in South-East Asia. The story was written in 1942 and the biggest political movement in India at the time was “Quit India movement”. There are conversations about Swarajya (Home Rule) and hopes about what the future holds.
Conclusion
The second part of the book reads more like “key periods in the history of modern India”. It does not however, cover the South Indian kingdoms and their history. To be fair to the author, the Aryan migration did not reach South India to the extent it did Northern India. The book is worth its read for its take on history and a peek into the mind of the author. Rahul Sankrityayan is a Brahmin turned Buddist, Communist, Freedom Fighter, and a well traveled Philospher. For a more comprehensive “Indian history written in jail” themed books, Nehru’s “The Discovery of India” is the most comprehensive book of all.