#Dharampal #Centenary #IndicCivilization #Education

This is a thread of gratitude to the great Dharampal.

He opened our eyes to a different Bharateeya Civilization in the pre British era than what was taught to us at school, college and thereafter by the modern historians.

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Thanks to Rashtrotthana Parishad for publishing his works again. Even more important to thank Claude Alvarez for publishing Dharampal through his Other India Book House, Goa - when nobody cared for Dharampal. @Rashtrotthana_P https://twitter.com/rashtrotthana_p/status/1358630949357903873

I read Dharampal some 15 years back. His work was freely available on the net for download. After a couple of essays I decided buy them and ordered copies from the publisher which was delivered over post.

Ever since I have recommended and forced many to buy & read Dharampal.

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His life time works consists of 5 volumes

1. Science and Technology in Ancient India
2. Civil Disobedience movement in the British era
3. The Education System in India in the PreBritish era
4. The Panchayat System of India
5. Assorted Essays

Each makes fundamental points.

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The First 4 are a result of data painfully collected from the British archives in London. These were the result of reports filed by the British Administrators to their Superiors in the early 19th Century after the fall of Mysore as they were beginning to understand India.

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Hence, these are not figments of imagination. These were reports filed by a hostile administration.

The last book is a collection of his essays presenting what is essentially different in the Bharateeya Civilization. His exposition of the Purushartha is unforgettable.

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What the British administrators have recorded there paints a different picture of India.

1. India had a thriving Science & Technology of its own.
2. India Communities offered a sophisticated civil disobedience to the British. Non-violent protests were not started by Gandhi.

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3. India had an extraordinary Education System open to all Castes and Communities. In Bengal, Bihar every village had one school at least.
4. The Constituent Assembly failed to raise to the expectations of Panchayat system. Our Village Communities managed a thriving Panchayat.

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Each of these is fundamentally important.

1. Smashes the Caste narrative of Modernists.
2. Alters the description of our Communities by later colonialists
3. It establishes that the British were responsible for our Science and Tech to be subdued.

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4. More importantly, the Socio-Political structure of ancient India was more decentralised and sophisticated. The relationship between the King, State and the People was mediated through a sophisticated Community life that had greater independence and freedom.

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5. Most importantly, all of this is the result of a different perspective of life. Purushartha - Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha are not simple isolated conceptual terms. They represent a unique conceptual-schema and philosophy that creates a different approach to life.

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In this moment, it is important to remember Claude Alvarez who first published Dharampal when nobody was willing to even look into his work. Dharampal painstakingly led his life propagating his work and thought and known only within the core Bharateeya circles.

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15 years back it was hard for me to convince people that Dharampal is a real person. From there we have come a long way. The Nation knows Dharampal much better now.

Rashtrotthana is mainstreaming his work. People are talking about going beyond Dharampal.

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Today if we are talking confidently about a continuous Bharateeya Civilization - people like Shri. Dharampal are responsible for it. In his lifetime, he received no recognition. The treacherous left academics have deliberately ignored him. His work alters their narrative.

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Honourable PM Shri. Narendra Modi @narendramodi today spoke about Shri. Dharampal. That is a significant statement. We are owning up one of the masters of our civilization, a pioneer who fought against the wind.

Most of his work came in the era of IG - coming to think of it.

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His volumes have an introduction by none other than Shri. Jayaprakash Narayan. Yet the country had ignored him for long. Those who knew him simply didn’t talk about him - they knew how his work was outside of what the state considered as acceptable.

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I will end this thread by drawing attention to the introduction written by Claude Alvarez to his first Volume. Dharampal narrates a story of a Pilgrimage troupe. He thought of him as belonging to the same Jati as they were sharing food. But it was a mixed group.

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A stunned Dharampal asked them how they were sharing food. They responded saying Yatra was one of those exceptions for the Jati rules.

At that moment, Dharampal says, he realised we do not understand the real India.

End of the Thread.