From Regional Histories to Histories of the Regions and Beyond

In spite of the damning indictment of India’s past in the colonial writings and the identification of communities with regions, resulting in the valorisation of some, while simultaneously trivialising others, much like concocting nationalities in the regions, to emphasise difference and divisiveness, the works of scholars like James Princep, J. Fergusson, A. Cunningham, E. Hultzch and Georg Buhler led to the development of archaeology, art and epigraphy in different parts of the country and laid the foundations for Nationalist historians to write regional histories.