Traces the changing views of historians on the basic realities of Indian history. From the late 18th century to the start of the 20th century, India’s history was viewed (especially by James Mill) as that of an unchanging, static society dominated by despotic rulers. This British view was replaced around 1900 by a nationalistic school of native Indian historians. These historians continued in the basic framework of their predecessors but used the material to glorify everything Hindu. Today’s Indologists share the belief that India’s history needs to be analyzed and explained by methods and theories common to the entire historical guild. This means that the view of India as an unchanging, static society dominated by despotic rulers is doubly false – Indian society did change and Indian society cannot be explained by any theory of Oriental despotism.
