i never wrote a review. doniger’s book is not a history really in a narrative sense. commentary on aspects of hinduism through the freudian interpretative lens.

some of the facts were interesting.

That’s why i said take even the translations with a pinch of salt & the best way to get the best translation is to get the top few translations of a particular period {For e.g. If one is to look at translations of various Indic texts from colonial period they have been further expanded & improved on the basis of linguistic & other improvements since their first translations.} of well respected authors.

Thus comparing translations shows the improvements of translated texts & helps one to asses the best possible translation of original text.

For e.g.
Most early commentators used to put both ‘Varna’ & ‘Jati’ together but the modern scholarship clearly mandates to maintain the difference of both concepts in perspective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jāti
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India

Similarly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrasuchi_Upanishad
Note – Patrick Olivelle in his 2005 book, states that a close examination of the surviving version of the Buddhist Vajrasuci supports Johnston’s serious doubts, and it cannot be dated “even close to the 2nd-century CE”, about the time when Asvaghosa lived.[38] The false ascription of the text to the Buddhist Asvaghosa, adds Olivelle, continues to be currently perpetuated in India.

The real problem is that people have now become so divided & ideological that they only see from perspectives which support their own ideas.

I forgot to mention – Ludo Rocher, Donald R. Davis & Timothy Lubin

These scholars uses archaeological evidences to trace the history of legal tradition according to Hinduism. You will find in their works is a clear division of what is in religious text & what was happening on the ground in view of archaeological evidences as well the ways community practices converge & diverge with religious texts.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/211697.Ludo_Rocher

Do check these books –
Studies in Hindu Law and Dharmaśāstra
Hinduism and Law: An Introduction
The Spirit of Hindu Law

Check Timothy Lubin’s academia page & read his papers there is lots of interesting info regarding Ancient India.
https://wlu.academia.edu/TimothyLubin

+1 re. translations. Even primary material varies based on publishers. Such is life…

Thanks!

Violet, haven’t read Arthasastra for a long time. There are many different translations. Not sure which are best. If you read it you will note stunning similarities in rule of law with ancient Persia, ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

Note it was for one kingdom and one time only. And doesn’t apply to even the same kingdom a few generations later. Flexibility matters. I don’t think large parts of Arthashastra applies to the present day.

Violet
You can download from archive.org ‘Arthasastra of Kautilya’ tran by Shamasastry 1915 .

Then translation by R.P.Kangle (Bombay 1960) is also a good one.

Arthashastra – Science of Wealth -by Thomas Trautmann also gives an excellent review of arthasastra placing it in a historical context

Check “Patrick Olivelle’s” work. It will help in understanding the religious texts.
Then check works by “Ludo Rocher, Donald R. Davis & Timothy Lubin”.

Also check work of “Sheldon Pollock” & although he also has some Oriental bias too but he is much more balanced because he do tries to shed the Orientalism away as well. {Note the differences in earlier & later works}
http://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/im-a-target-because-im-an-outsider-sanskrit-scholar-sheldon-pollock-5191995/
http://www.infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/news/india-is-the-great-linguistic-bazaar-of-the-world-sheldon-pollock/

It will help you get the grasp about religion, it’s political & social role & how laws used to get formed by mixing regional practices with religious belief.

Check Sanjeev Sanyal’s work about India’s sea routes & his other works too.
The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History
Shiv Viswanathan’s review of book – http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/At-sea-level/article14580409.ece

Also check India’s maritime history, Trade routes, Ancient Ports –
https://www.mintageworld.com/blog/coins-with-ships-and-boats/

Keep tab of – manuscripts & archaeological evidences since the authors tend to add their own interpretations to these texts so instead of following their trail try to imagine the period from your own understanding of all the info you read.

Also check academia.edu pages of researchers because i find the most interesting work of various scholars as research papers & not essentially in any book.

Note – The best way to read India’s history in unbiased manner is to learn what the authors do i.e. “They present the narrative from their own perspective”. So the best every reader can do us to learn about various perspectives that may have shaped the claims the author is making.

For e.g. –

Orientalism –
Catholic Orientalism: Portuguese Empire, Indian Knowledge (16th – 18th Centuries) (Oxford Theology and Religion M)
https://cindyanguyen.com/2016/03/26/orientalism_caste/

Nationalist & Right wing bias. {While reading right wing leaning authors because they too bring important points to the debate.}

Left Wing Bias – Most difficult to find since they use various modern techniques for confusing the narrative using Contexts, critical theory, Deconstructionism {Modern Marxists mostly apply it} & so on.

How one can keep tab on authors & learn about biases –
http://www.thenewsnow.co.in/newsdet.aspx?q=47938 – Romila Thapar “I write what i feel is right & give evidences… take it or leave it”
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/168431

Audrey Truschke –
Criticism from Left-Wing {Note dates} –
https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/pushpesh-pant-on-audrey-truschke-tweet-ramayana-aurangzeb
https://www.newslaundry.com/2018/04/30/the-unscholarly-dishonesty-of-audrey-truschke
Criticism from Right-Wing {Note-Dates} –
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/the-scholar-whom-audrey-truschke-cites-finds-her-tweet-shocking
https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/lost-and-failed-in-translation-audrey-truschke

And the view which is close to my own perspective in this matter –
https://scroll.in/article/824732/from-macaulay-to-frawley-from-doniger-to-elst-why-do-many-indians-need-white-saviours

What i do is i take a single topic, subject or issue & try to gather the best possible material about it from as many sources as possible & then i read them. For e.g. many people provide early texts about India as a proof of Casteism but they don’t read the source material or it’s translations because the “Source material” can be seen in various ways & provides a varied picture & thus the instances cited from it are ‘half truths’ which support the author’s narrative.

The best way to remove bias is move beyond author’s interpretations & read the direct translations of source material & even translations can have problems so it is necessary to take even them with a pinch of salt.

Since you’ve actually read Doniger, what are your thoughts? Is there a review you have written somewhere?

Glad we agree. Books should not be banned. If there is one exception, it is “Mein Kampf” but that is sold openly at Indian railway stations (I hear). Some people think it’s a “leadership text”. Even such a horrible piece of propaganda is of historical interest and academics can produce annotated editions.

The Indian Government has problems. Not just regarding books but with censorship in general. The whole row about “Padmavaati” or “Padmavaat” or whatever we are calling this movie now amply demonstrated that.