BOOK REVIEW OF

SOMANATHA – THE MANY VOICES OF A

HISTORY
BY – ROMILLA THAPAR

Eminent historian Romilla Thapar in her book Somanatha - The

Many Voices of a History explain about the Hindu temple of
Somanatha which was raided by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in
1206 CE. The book was published in 2004 by Penguin Books India. It
consists of 216 pages.
The temple of Somanath which was raided by Sultan Mahmud of
ghazni in 1206 caught Romilla Thapar’s attention.
In chapter 1 ‘The Context’ , of her monograph , she pointed out that
the opinion that was built back then was that the event crystallised
the attitude of both the plundered and the plunderers and they
remain antagonistic to each other from that moment on. She decided
to explore the aftermath of this event to track what crystallised if it
did, how the event was recorded, and whether the perception of the
event changed. She analysed various perspectives on Somanath after
the raid of Mahmud that include narratives and chronicles in persian
and a few in Arabic; the inscriptions from the Somnath and its vicinity
written mainly in Sanskrit; Jain biographies and chronicles and the
epics from Rajput courts, the perception of mahmud at the popular
level in a largely oral tradition ; the British intervention via debate in
the House of Commons in the 19th century and the Indian nationalist
reconstruction of the event.
She juxtaposed various sources and treated the information they
provide in a comparative manner. However there is no uncertainty
about the event having happened.
Chapter 2, “The Setting” provides the reader with the historical
background of the region , the commercial and political conditions in
which the event unfolded. Thapar offers us a chronological history of
the coastal area of Gujarat, in Western India where Somanatha is
situated. She goes on to narrating the myth linking the deity of
somanatha and prabhasa narrated in Mahabharat and puran. In
Mahabharat prabhasa is believed to be the place where Krishna died.
The Mauryas invested in agricultural and commercial development of
this area and even provided an irrigation system. Large number of
Buddhist centres arose in this area attracting prosperity through
trade. But after the mid-first millennium AD, Buddhism had begun to
be replaced by Vaishnava, Jaina, Shaiva and Shakta sects. Sanskrit
inscriptions mention Arabs as tajiks functioning as administrative
officers and even governors appointed by rashtrakuta court. From
the tenth to the thirteenth century Gujarat was ruled by
the Chaulukya dynasty, under whom the first temple at Somanatha
was erected. Thapar notes that in spite of Al-Biruni’s claim
that Sultan Mahmud’s raids devastated and wrecked the local
economy , there is no apparent evidence to support this allegation.
Diverse Muslim communities, such as the Khojas, Bohras and Isma’ilis
continued to settle in Gujarat and amicably coexisted with the local

Jains and Hindus.

In Chapter 3, “The Turko-Persian Narratives” ,Thapar reviews

contemporary accounts and court chronicles as well as later Muslim
writings which continued to embellish Mahmud’s exploits and
eulogies his achievements. Al-Biruni states that the upper part of the
icon was broken at the orders of Mahmud and parts of it were taken
back as loot to Ghazni and placed so that people would walk on it.
Though , Somanatha bounced back to a vibrant economy in a short
while. According to her , iconoclasm , besides others , provided the
supreme motivation to conduct the raid. Iranian and central Asian
towns were equally targeted by Mahmud.
Movement of people and changing boundaries of Empires was a
constant feature along the northwestern, Indo-Iranian border areas,
and in that tradition the Muslim-Turkish excursions were nothing
new. The armies too tended to be multi-ethnic at all times
and included mercenaries irrespective of their religious affiliations.
The Sultan was essentially a pragmatic ruler, eager for wealth,
whether through loot and plunder or through commerce and trade.
This could be achieved through the acknowledgement of his role as a
“defender of the faithful” by the Caliph in Baghdad. Furthermore, the
story continued to change over the next few centuries, the temple
became larger and wealthier and more fantastic, the number
of people killed increased and the actual events took on a fanciful
dimension.
Thapar succeeds in providing a thorough examination of the Turko-
Persian sources so favoured by the British colonial historians.
In Chapter 4,
“Sanskrit Inscriptions from Somanatha and its Vicinity”, Thapar
notes the scarcity of Jaina, Sanskrit sources regarding these
devastating raids which contradict the Muslim narratives of
splenderous conquests. As ascertained earlier, Sanskrit and Jaina
texts and inscriptions had been totally ignored in establishing the
course of events. Jaina records indicate that the temple at
Somanatha was periodically repaired but that was due to neglect and
disregard for its upkeep and not due to ravages at the hands
of Muslim raiders. On the other hand, Thapar affirms that
relationships between the local communities and Muslim Arab
traders continued to flourish. Relationships with the Turks or
Turushkas , were originally more ambivalent. In the final analysis,
Thapar’s review of these sources reveals that from the Indian point of
view, the concept of a monolithic, hostile Muslim identity did not
exist at that time.

Chapter 5: “Biographies, Chronicles and Epics”,

delves further into the Jaina sources to establish a historiography of

the times in Gujarat through an analysis of the contemporary

literature, including epic Rajput poetry of the time. She questions

the dismissal of these sources by modern historians who have
rejected these sources as mere legends while readily accepting the
Turko -Persian narratives as irrevocably factual. As for the epics and
mythologies which eulogise their patron kings, she acknowledges
that“ Epics are not taken as historical accounts, but they do
provide information on the assumptions of the author, the audience,
and the society to which they relate.” Thapar’s review is lengthy and
detailed but she reiterates, the voices are many and it’s the
historian’s job to listen to as many as possible; to sift through the
mythologies for relevant information, since they offer a variety of
perspectives, often contradictory since the impact of an incident is
felt and remembered differently.
Chapter 6, “The Perception of Yet Others”,re-examines sources such
as popular legends , folklore and oral narratives which depict
and invoke Sultan Mahmud and the Ghaznavid hero Salar Masud
who is often referred to as the Sultan’s nephew, and around whom a
Sufic cult following developed.
Thapar contends that these narratives were ignored by historians in
the past since they dealt with the lower sections of society. Thapar
demonstrates how actual religion practised by the masses
differs from the formal, orthodox religion patronised by the elite
and as she asserts, leads one to “...question the validity of seeing
religions in India as monolithic, uniform and self-sufficient island of
belief and worship.”
Chapter 7, “Colonial Interpretations and Nationalist Reactions”,
brings us to the nineteenth-century colonial creation of India. As
Thapar points out, there was an inherent disregard for accuracy on
the part nineteenth century British historiographers who never
sought to question the motivation and intent of the Turko-Persian
court chroniclers and other medieval Muslim writers. As she
reiterates, beings members of the same religion does not in
itself imply an amicable relationship, and in reality group
relationships are far too complex to be based solely on a common
belief system. She questions the origin of this simplistic theory of
communal hostility that has since the nineteenth century created
such animosity between Hindus and Muslims since it has no
discernable historical source. During this period K.M. Munshi
emerged as the most prominent and vocal champions of Hindu
culture ,which (echoing Lord Ellenborough’s sentiments) had been
stymied by the Muslims. A prolific novelist and writer, Munshi
persistently promulgated his nationalist ideology and his desire to
restore India to its Aryan pre-Muslim glory. The impact of the colonial
rewriting of India’s past, Thapar concludes, continues to reverberate
in the Hindvata politics of our times; it manifested itself in the 1992
destruction of the Babri Masjid, the Gujarat massacres of 2002,
and continues to lend an acrimonies tenor to Hindu-Muslim
discourse.
In Chapter 8, “Constructing Memory, Writing Histories”, Thapar
concludes her assessment of the multiple narratives that have
given form to the now traditionally accepted story of Sultan
Mahmud and the destruction of the temple at Somanatha . She
reflects upon the deliberate selection and rejection of crucial
narratives for ideological and political motives. She further examines
accounts and records of temple destructions prior to the advent of
Muslims in the subcontinent and the significance and implication of
just acts within the local milieu. British consistently ignored the
actuality of inter-communal hostilities as well as the reality of
multiple identities. Recent studies by social scientists have shown
how social memories are formulated and mutate ,and how they
serve in establishing group identity and political agendas. Social
memories are not just based on the claims of remembering certain,
selective past events but equally on forgetting or ignoring others that
might not suit a purpose or agenda. This explains the social amnesia
displayed by modern Indian historians regarding temple looting and
destructions by Hindu rulers prior to Sultan Mahmud.
The Many Voices of a History
articulates how this has happened with Sultan Mahmud and the
temple at Somanatha . Thapar is just one of a growing number
of historical revisionist who have undertaken the task of re-examining
historical discourses and questioning the methodology used
by imperialist ,colonial British historians whose ethnocentric writing
on India continue to be widely accepted as factual.
As Thapar informs us in her introduction, this book has grown out of
a number of discussions essays, seminars over the years; the creation
of historical memories and identities and the revaluation and
consequent reinterpretation of diverse and often disparate
historiographies have been topics that have consistently engaged her
intellectual interest and formed the core of her academic discourses.

CONCLUSION
Somanatha : The Many Voices of a History is arguably, Thapar’s most
assiduous and exhaustive work as she diligently explores
and scrutinises multiple sources that have previously been
considered irrelevant to historical debate, in this, her methods
are radical and groundbreaking.

BY – VANSHIKA AGARWAL

2022BHS1026