Irfan Habib

"In one of his theses Marx said: 'Philosophers have so far interpreted the world. The point is to change it.' Marxism sees an innate unity between perception of the past and present practice. This unit…"

"While medieval Islamic literature referred to Hindus as 'infidels' and denounced polytheism and image worship, there was no criticism of the caste system, the theory of pollution and oppression of unt…"

"It is inherent in the unity of past and present that Marxist historiography must continuously turn to fresh aspects to explore and re-explore and fresh questions to answer... This examination must cov…"

"Without undue modesty, we can say we know more about India’s past than Marx did."

"To begin with, the new conquerors and rulers…were of a different faith from that of their predecessors… their principal achievements lay in a great systematization of agrarian exploitation and an imme…"

"The evidence for such enslavement is there for all to see. So economically important was it that the success of military campaigns was often judged by the number of captives obtained for enslavement. …"

"“…the population during the Mughal period did not remain stable though the compound rate of growth, 0.14% per annum, was hardly spectacular and was much lower than the rate attained during the ninetee…"

"The publication of Dr. Tasneem Ahmad’s translation is a notable contribution to the National celebration of the 450th Anniversary of Akbar’s birth. I feel confident that it would reinforce the interes…"