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INDIAN HISTORY IS NOTHING BUT STRUGGLE BETWEEN BUDDHISM AND BRAHMINISM
While staying at Madras, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar got several invitations from various Institutions for delivering speeches. Among the invitees was Madras Rational Society which arranged his speech on “Rationalism in India” on Sunday the 24th September 1944 in Prabhat Talkies, Broadway, Madras, under the Chairmanship of Ex-Minister Ramanathan. On this occasion Sau. M. M. Muthu greeted Dr. Ambedkar. [1]
Dr. Ambedkar said,
“The subject of rationalism in India is undoubtedly of great interest to Indians and one of profound influence. So as the Hindu society and a social life are concerned, the subject has been completely neglected. There has been very many false notions about India’s history which have been given currency to buy persons who have very great authority in the field of literature. It has been said by very profound writers of Indian History that India has had no politics at all and that all ancient Indian writers concerned themselves with writing about philosophy; religion, metaphysics and that they have not bothered about politics. It has been alleged that the ancient Indian people were not historical or a political race. That has been the opinion to this day. It has also been stated that India has no history at all and that though Indian life and society have been moving in a stereotyped steel frame which once fixed has remained as it has been, and consequently the historian of India has nothing else to do but to describe what the steelframe is. It has also been said that countries can be said to have some special and political revolutions undertaken with the object of changing the frame-work of political revolution before.
I have been only a politician and I can lay no claim for any profundity either as a student of literature or of history or philosophy. But I have elevated some part of my time to the study of an ancient history, and I have come to the opposite conclusions to these profounded by many scholars. My study has shown to me that the ancient Indians have political race that history has known. No country in the ancient past has had such
1 : Khairmode, Vol. 9, P. 376.