Indocentrism
is any
ethnocentric
[1]
perspective that regards
India
to be central or unique relative to other countries and holds that the "host" culture i.e. of India, is superior to others.
[1]
Viewpoint
[
edit
]
According to Indologist
Michael Witzel
, there is a recent tendency of indigenously minded
historical revisionism
and rewriting of India's history and archaeology in scholarly publications, media, the Internet and government publications. This Indocentric rewriting includes claims that the first
human civilization
in the world formed in India in c. 10,000 BC, that there is an uninterrupted continuity of the Indian civilization from 7500 BC to present, and that
Indo-European
speaking
Europe
was populated by the immigrant people from the
Indo-Gangetic Plain
.
[2]
According to Science Historian
Meera Nanda
Indocentrism is a concept in Indian historiography of science, akin to
Eurocentrism
, that asserts India as the originator of significant scientific contributions. It often assumes that if an idea appears in
India
and elsewhere concurrently, it must have originated in India. This approach has hindered recognition of potential influences from other regions, such as the
South-East Asian
transmission of
Chinese numerals
, challenging the conventional narrative of India as the exclusive source of mathematical innovations.
[3]
Numerous indocentric assertions regarding the
Fibonacci sequence
and the "golden ratio" in mathematics oversimplify the subject's historical context. Nowadays, there is a proliferation of articles and social media posts connecting the Fibonacci series and the
golden ratio
to Indian culture. Such indocentric claims tend to exaggerate their assertions, often neglecting to acknowledge the original innovators who deserve due credit in the field of mathematics.
[4]
According to Bengali Anthropologist, Sayeed Ferdous Partition Studies have made progress in exploring the multifaceted impact of the 1947 Indian subcontinent Partition on people's lives and collective consciousness. However, the field exhibits a tendency towards indocentrism, where Indian experiences dominate the narrative, overshadowing other perspectives.
[5]
The nationalization of nostalgia post-Partition reshaped identities within nationalist contexts, making India a regional superpower. An "indocentric" approach dominated Partition studies, often overlooking perspectives outside of India. To gain a more comprehensive understanding, it's crucial to consider the broader regional impact and relationships between India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
[6]
Responses of other countries
[
edit
]
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.
(
January 2020
)
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Sri Lanka
[
edit
]
Much of
Sri Lanka
's early history has been described as having an Indocentric bias.
[7]
This Indocentric bias in understanding Sri Lankan history led to a trend of Sri Lankan historians breaking away from the Indocentric bias in Sri Lankan history and instead focusing on Sri Lanka's historical and cultural links with
Southeast Asia
, which the country had close ties to.
[7]
One of the most famous historians to break the Indocentric view of Sri Lankan history was
Senarath Paranavithana
who focused on Sri Lanka's connection with the
Malay Peninsula
and the rest of the
Malay Archipelago
.
[7]
[8]
He established the "Malaya theory", claiming Sri Lanka's history with Kalinga was with the
Kalingga Kingdom
of
Central Java
,
Indonesia
and not with the
Kalinga
kingdom of
eastern India
.
[7]
[8]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Persram, Nalini (2007).
Postcolonialism and political theory
. Lexington Books. p. 201.
ISBN
978-0-7391-1667-8
. Retrieved
January 17,
2010
.
- ^
Fagan, Garrett G. (2006).
"Rama's realm: Indocentric rewritings of early South Asian archaeology and history"
.
Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public
. Routledge. p. 203.
ISBN
978-0-415-30592-1
.
- ^
"Hindutva's science envy"
.
Frontline
. 2016-08-31
. Retrieved
2023-10-23
.
- ^
Sooraj (2021-12-14).
"What Fibonacci, and Ancient Indian Scholars, Didn't Know About the Golden Ratio ? The Wire Science"
. Retrieved
2023-10-23
.
- ^
Rob, Ramisa (2023-10-23).
"Is there a prospect of peace under Netanyahu's extremist government?"
.
The Daily Star
. Retrieved
2023-10-23
.
- ^
Huq, Maliha (2022-08-25).
"
'The danger in telling a single Partition story is that it completely erases the individual'
"
.
The Daily Star
. Retrieved
2023-10-23
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Mendis, V.L.B (1985).
Foreign Relations of Sri Lanka: Earliest Times to 1965
. Tisara Prakasakayo. pp. 113?14.
- ^
a
b
Sirisena, W. M. (January 1978).
Sri Lanka and South-East Asia: Political, Religious and Cultural Relations from A.D. C. 1000 to C. 1500
. pp. 4?6.
ISBN
9004056602
.
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Regional variants
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Related phenomena
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