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{{short description|Indian historian (1920–2002)}}
'''K.S. Lal''' is an Indian ]. He wrote many historical books, mainly on medieval India. Many of his books, such as ''History of the Khaljis'' and ''Twilight of the Sultanate'', are regarded as standard works.<ref>Comment by Muhammad Habib on the jacket of the book "History of the Khaljis AD 1290-1320" by K.S. Lal. K.S. Lal: Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India</ref><ref>Times Literary Supplement, London, December 19, 1968. A.A. Powell, Review of The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 58, No.2, (1995), pp. 397-8. Peter Jackson in Journal of the ], Third Series, Vol. 4, Part 3, November 1994, pp. 421-23.</ref><ref>Meenkakshi Jain 2002 Medieval India</ref>
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = K. S. Lal
| image =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
⚫ | birth_name = Kishori Saran Lal
| birth_date = 1920
| birth_place =
| death_date = 2002
| death_place =
| nationality = ]
| other_names =
| alma_mater = ]
| occupation = Historian, Academic
| known_for = Authoring books about Indian history
}}
'''Kishori Saran Lal''' (1920–2002), better known as '''K. S. Lal''', was an Indian historian. He is the author of several works, mainly on the ].


==Career== ==Career==
He obtained his Master's degree in 1941 at the University of ]. In 1945 he obtained his D.Phil. with a dissertation on the history of the ]s. This dissertation formed the basis for his book ]. He obtained his master's degree in 1941 at the ]. In 1945 he obtained his D.Phil. with a ] on the history of the ]s. This dissertation formed the basis for his book ''History of the Khaljis''. He started his career as a Lecturer of History in the Allahabad University, though he served in this position only for a brief period.
From 1945 to 1963 he taught at Government Colleges in ]. After 1963, he was a professor at the ] in Medieval Indian history.


From 1945 to 1963 he was with ] Educational Service and taught at the Government Colleges at ], ], and ]. In 1963, he joined ] as a reader and taught ] in its History Department.
He was fluent in Persian, Old Persian, Urdu and other languages.


For the next ten years, starting 1973, he was the Professor and Head of the Department of History, first at the ] (1973–79), and then at the ] (1979–83).
]'s book ] contains several chapters written by K. S. Lal.


Besides his mother tongue ], he was also fluent in ], ] and ].
== Works ==


In 2001 he was appointed chairman of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) and also placed on the ] (NCERT) Committee to draft the model school syllabus on Indian history.<ref name="delhi1"/>
⚫ *]. New Delhi, Aditya Prakashan, 1992. (ISBN 81-85689-03-2)
⚫ *] (1950, 1967, 1980)
⚫ *Twilight of the Sultanate (1963, 1980)
⚫ *Studies in Asian History (edited - 1969)
⚫ *] (1973)
⚫ *Early Muslims in India (1984)
*] (1988) ISBN 81-85179-03-4
*] (1990) ISBN 81-85990-10-7
*] (1994) ISBN 81-85689-67-9
⚫ *Historical essays
⚫ *] (1999) ISBN 81-86471-72-3
⚫ *Growth of Scheduled Tribes and Castes in Medieval India (1995)
*Studies in Asian History: Proceedings of the Asian History Congress, 1961


==Criticism== == List of works ==
⚫ *''History of the Khaljis'' (1950, 1967, 1980)
⚫ *''Twilight of the Sultanate'' (1963, 1980)
⚫ *''Studies in Asian History'' (edited – 1969)
⚫ *'']' (1973)
⚫ * ''Early Muslims in India'' (1984)
* '']'' (1988) {{ISBN|81-85179-03-4}} is study on the history and nature of the ] of medieval India. K.S. Lal writes about many obscure topics like the role of the ] and drugs like ] in the Mughal Harem.
* ''Indian Muslims: Who are they'' (1990) <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bharatvani.org/books/imwat/ |title=Indian Muslims - Who Are They |publisher=Bharatvani.org |access-date=18 August 2014 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923184300/http://www.bharatvani.org/books/imwat/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> {{ISBN|81-85990-10-7}}
⚫ * ''The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India'' is a book published in 1993. (], {{ISBN|81-85689-03-2}}).
* ''Muslim Slave System in Medieval India'' (1994) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bharatvani.org/books/mssmi/ |title=Muslim Slave System in Medieval India |publisher=Bharatvani.org |access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref> {{ISBN|81-85689-67-9}}
⚫ * ''Historical essays''
⚫ * ''Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India'' (1999) {{ISBN|81-86471-72-3}}
⚫ * ''Growth of Scheduled Tribes and Castes in Medieval India'' (1995)


==Reception==
Lal's early books were not controversial, but some of his later works have earned him a lot of criticism by historians such as Peter Jackson and ] (despite the fact that Irfan Habib's father, the historian Muhammad Habib, wrote a foreword to "History of the Khaljis"). Lal noted: "As usual these have been reviewed in journals in India and abroad, bestowing both praise and blame as per the custom of the reviewers. However, during the last fifteen years or so, some of my books have received special attention of a certain brand of scholars for adverse criticism."<ref>Lal, K.S. Theory and Practice of Muslim State</ref> K.S. Lal wrote a rebuttal to many criticisms in his book "Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India". He explained:
Lal's early books were uncontroversial, and some of his books, such as ''History of the Khaljis'' and ''Twilight of the Sultanate'', have been called "standard works."<ref>Times Literary Supplement, London, 19 December 1968.</ref><ref>A.A. Powell, Review of ''The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India'', Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 58, No.2, (1995), pp. 397–8.</ref><ref>Peter Jackson in Journal of the ], Third Series, Vol. 4, Part 3, November 1994, pp. 421–23.</ref><ref>Meenkakshi Jain 2002 Medieval India</ref> Some of his later works were controversial, including allegation of being a spokesman for the ].<ref name="delhi1">Delhi Historian's Group, Section 2. Part 3</ref> Lal himself noted: "As usual have been reviewed in journals in India and abroad, bestowing both praise and blame as per the custom of the reviewers. However, during the last fifteen years or so, some of my books have received special attention of a certain brand of scholars for adverse criticism."<ref>Lal, K.S. Theory and Practice of Muslim State</ref> The controversy surrounding these events is reflected in the theme of the discourses of his books which allegedly describe Muslims as foreigners, destructive barbarians and immoral degenerates,<ref name="IRFR2005">India: International Religious Freedom Report 2005</ref> Lal himself disputes these allegations, citing, in turn, that the ICHR has always been dominated by historians with a 'strong leftist bias' and that the current controversy is "merely the outcome of an exaggerated sense of pique on the part of the excluded Left wing".<ref>,''Frontline'' (4 July 1998)</ref>


] praised Lal's works on Indian history in the 1950s and 60s, but concluded that by 1990s Lal's work represented "political agendas".<ref name=powell/>
:One does grow during the course of half a century if one continues with his studies and I have surely grown. And since I do no believe that "Muslim rule should not attract any criticism. Destruction of temples by Muslim invaders and rulers should not be mentioned and forcible conversions to Islam should be ignored and deleted, etc. etc.", my books are free from such restrictions. I now also apply the same yardstick to medieval Indian history as is done with respect to modem Indian history. ... We in India write the history of British rule not from the point of view of European imperialism but from that of the victims of colonization. I apply the same methodology to the history of Muslim rule. I write about it from the people's point of view rather than from the view of Islamic imperialists. We cannot apply different standards of approach and methodology to different periods of Indian history.


Historian ] in his book ''Contesting History: Narratives of Public History'' (2014), referenced his book ''The Muslim Slave System in Medieval India'' as a "good modern work"; he also comments that K. S. Lal " is regarded as right-wing by Indian Muslim Marxist scholars".<ref name="Black2014">Jeremy Black. ''''. Bloomsbury Publishing; 13 March 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-4725-1953-5}}. p. 235.</ref>
He is accused by his critics (including ] historians such as ]) of being a spokesman{{Fact|date=February 2007}} for the ].<ref name="delhi1">Delhi Historian's Group, Section 2. Part 3</ref> In the midst of a ]-] antagonism he is allegedly oft-cited and patronized by various right-wing proponent groups of ].<ref name="delhi1"/> He was both placed by the RSS (as part of the ] 2005 government of India), and made the chairman of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) and also placed on the ] (NCERT) Committee to draft the model school syllabus on Indian History.<ref name="delhi1"/> The controversy surrounding these events is reflected in the theme of the discourses of his books which allegedly describe Muslims as foreigners, destructive barbarians and immoral degenerates,<ref name="delhi1"/> thereby placing him among a controversial group of authors charged by the left-leaning political parties with the "saffronized" (i.e., make lessons consonant with the Hindu world view)<ref name="IRFR2005">India: International Religious Freedom Report 2005</ref> re-writing of history,<ref name="delhi1"/> with a negative portrayal of Muslims and a pro-Hindu bent<ref name="IRFR2005"/>.

Lal himself disputes these allegations, citing, in turn, that the ICHR has always been dominated by historians with a strong leftist bias and that the current controversy is "merely the outcome of an exaggerated sense of pique on the part of the excluded Left wing".<ref>,''Hinduonnet''</ref>
] in a dispute over positions at ] remarks: "K.S. Lal may have written a worthwhile work of history in the distant past, but his more recent works - which have focussed almost exclusively on the supposed historical injuries suffered by Hindus - have been tendentious, communal and deeply objectionable."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Delhi|first=SUKUMAR MURALIDHARAN in New|title=The Hindutva takeover of ICHR|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/article30247820.ece|access-date=2020-12-24|website=Frontline|language=en}}</ref>
===''Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India''===
{{main|Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India}}
The 1973 book ''Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India'' estimated the demographics of India between 1000 CE and 1500 CE. Lal had clarified he "claim no finality" regarding the estimates he provided in the book. He added that "any study of the population of the pre-census times can be based only on estimates, and estimates by their very nature tend to be tentative".<ref>{{cite book | last=Lal | first=K.S. | title=Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India | publisher=Aditya Prakashan | year=1999 | isbn=978-81-86471-72-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HmBuAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2023-04-03 | page=143}}</ref>

The book gained mixed reviews. ] disputed Lal's study of the demographic situation in medieval India in a review in ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', Digby stated that estimate lacks accurate data in pre-] times.<ref name="Digby1975">{{cite journal |last=Digby |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Digby (oriental scholar) |year=1975 |title=Reviews: K. S. Lal: ''Growth of Muslim population in medieval India (A.D. 1000-1800)'' |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3802960&fulltextType=BR&fileId=S0041977X0004739X |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=176–177 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X0004739X |jstor=614231|s2cid=161748418 }}</ref><ref name="Digby1975b">] (1975). . University of London. (), pp. –.</ref> Indian historian ] criticized the book in 1978 in '']''. He described Lal's starting population figure as "a figment of the imagination of one scholar resting on nothing more tangible than the imagination of another", and faulted Lal for unexplained or faulty assumptions in his other population estimates.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Habib |first=Irfan |author-link=Irfan Habib |date=January 1978 |title=Economic History of the Delhi Sultanate - An Essay in Interpretation |journal=The Indian Historical Review |volume=IV |issue=2 |pages=287–303}}</ref> K. S. Lal wrote a reply to Irfan Habib's criticism in 1979 in his book ''Bias in Indian Historiography'' (1979) and ''Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India'' (1999).

===''The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India''===
The 1993 book ''The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India'' attempted to assess the legacy of ] and describes its ]. The book was criticized by Peter Jackson in the ''Journal of the ]'', stating that book contains "a markedly selective and one-sided account of India's Muslim past".<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/pss/25182961 | jstor=25182961 | last1=Jackson | first1=Peter | title=Reviewed work: The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India, K. S. Lal | journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society | date=1994 | volume=4 | issue=3 | pages=421–423 | doi=10.1017/S1356186300006192 }}</ref> K. S. Lal wrote a rebuttal to Jackson's criticism in his book ''Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India''.<ref>, ''Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India'', ], 1999, Chapter 7.</ref>

] of ] said the book was "propaganda" that was especially dangerous as it was written by a historian as esteemed as Lal.<ref name=powell>{{Cite journal|last=Powell|first=A. A.|date=June 1995|title=K. S. Lal: The legacy of Muslim rule in India, vi, 406 pp. New Delhi, Aditya Prakashan, 1992.|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/k-s-lal-the-legacy-of-muslim-rule-in-india-vi-406-pp-new-delhi-aditya-prakashan-1992/FE8F799CDFCF2985FEECB50B7A30A57B|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|language=en|volume=58|issue=2|pages=397–398|doi=10.1017/S0041977X0001123X|s2cid=161966133 |issn=1474-0699}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
* ]
* ]


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
<div class="references-small">
<!--See ] for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
<references/>
</div>


==References== ==References==
* *
* *


{{Sangh Parivar|K. S. Lal=K. S. Lal}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lal, K.S.}}
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Latest revision as of 22:40, 10 October 2024

Indian historian (1920–2002)

K. S. Lal
BornKishori Saran Lal
1920
Died2002
NationalityIndian
Alma materUniversity of Allahabad
Occupation(s)Historian, Academic
Known forAuthoring books about Indian history

Kishori Saran Lal (1920–2002), better known as K. S. Lal, was an Indian historian. He is the author of several works, mainly on the medieval history of India.

Career

He obtained his master's degree in 1941 at the University of Allahabad. In 1945 he obtained his D.Phil. with a dissertation on the history of the Khaljis. This dissertation formed the basis for his book History of the Khaljis. He started his career as a Lecturer of History in the Allahabad University, though he served in this position only for a brief period.

From 1945 to 1963 he was with Madhya Pradesh Educational Service and taught at the Government Colleges at Nagpur, Jabalpur, and Bhopal. In 1963, he joined University of Delhi as a reader and taught Medieval Indian history in its History Department.

For the next ten years, starting 1973, he was the Professor and Head of the Department of History, first at the University of Jodhpur (1973–79), and then at the Central University of Hyderabad (1979–83).

Besides his mother tongue Hindi, he was also fluent in Persian, Old Persian and Urdu.

In 2001 he was appointed chairman of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) and also placed on the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Committee to draft the model school syllabus on Indian history.

List of works

Reception

Lal's early books were uncontroversial, and some of his books, such as History of the Khaljis and Twilight of the Sultanate, have been called "standard works." Some of his later works were controversial, including allegation of being a spokesman for the RSS. Lal himself noted: "As usual have been reviewed in journals in India and abroad, bestowing both praise and blame as per the custom of the reviewers. However, during the last fifteen years or so, some of my books have received special attention of a certain brand of scholars for adverse criticism." The controversy surrounding these events is reflected in the theme of the discourses of his books which allegedly describe Muslims as foreigners, destructive barbarians and immoral degenerates, Lal himself disputes these allegations, citing, in turn, that the ICHR has always been dominated by historians with a 'strong leftist bias' and that the current controversy is "merely the outcome of an exaggerated sense of pique on the part of the excluded Left wing".

Avril A. Powell praised Lal's works on Indian history in the 1950s and 60s, but concluded that by 1990s Lal's work represented "political agendas".

Historian Jeremy Black in his book Contesting History: Narratives of Public History (2014), referenced his book The Muslim Slave System in Medieval India as a "good modern work"; he also comments that K. S. Lal " is regarded as right-wing by Indian Muslim Marxist scholars".

Irfan Habib in a dispute over positions at Indian Council of Historical Research remarks: "K.S. Lal may have written a worthwhile work of history in the distant past, but his more recent works - which have focussed almost exclusively on the supposed historical injuries suffered by Hindus - have been tendentious, communal and deeply objectionable."

Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India

Main article: Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India

The 1973 book Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India estimated the demographics of India between 1000 CE and 1500 CE. Lal had clarified he "claim no finality" regarding the estimates he provided in the book. He added that "any study of the population of the pre-census times can be based only on estimates, and estimates by their very nature tend to be tentative".

The book gained mixed reviews. Simon Digby disputed Lal's study of the demographic situation in medieval India in a review in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Digby stated that estimate lacks accurate data in pre-census times. Indian historian Irfan Habib criticized the book in 1978 in The Indian Historical Review. He described Lal's starting population figure as "a figment of the imagination of one scholar resting on nothing more tangible than the imagination of another", and faulted Lal for unexplained or faulty assumptions in his other population estimates. K. S. Lal wrote a reply to Irfan Habib's criticism in 1979 in his book Bias in Indian Historiography (1979) and Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India (1999).

The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India

The 1993 book The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India attempted to assess the legacy of Muslim rule in India and describes its history. The book was criticized by Peter Jackson in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, stating that book contains "a markedly selective and one-sided account of India's Muslim past". K. S. Lal wrote a rebuttal to Jackson's criticism in his book Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India.

Avril A. Powell of University of London said the book was "propaganda" that was especially dangerous as it was written by a historian as esteemed as Lal.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Delhi Historian's Group, Section 2. Part 3
  2. "Indian Muslims - Who Are They". Bharatvani.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  3. "Muslim Slave System in Medieval India". Bharatvani.org. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  4. Times Literary Supplement, London, 19 December 1968.
  5. A.A. Powell, Review of The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 58, No.2, (1995), pp. 397–8.
  6. Peter Jackson in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, Third Series, Vol. 4, Part 3, November 1994, pp. 421–23.
  7. Meenkakshi Jain 2002 Medieval India
  8. Lal, K.S. Theory and Practice of Muslim State
  9. India: International Religious Freedom Report 2005
  10. The Hindutva takeover of ICHR,Frontline (4 July 1998)
  11. ^ Powell, A. A. (June 1995). "K. S. Lal: The legacy of Muslim rule in India, vi, 406 pp. New Delhi, Aditya Prakashan, 1992". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 58 (2): 397–398. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0001123X. ISSN 1474-0699. S2CID 161966133.
  12. Jeremy Black. Contesting History: Narratives of Public History. Bloomsbury Publishing; 13 March 2014. ISBN 978-1-4725-1953-5. p. 235.
  13. Delhi, SUKUMAR MURALIDHARAN in New. "The Hindutva takeover of ICHR". Frontline. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  14. Lal, K.S. (1999). Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India. Aditya Prakashan. p. 143. ISBN 978-81-86471-72-2. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  15. Digby, Simon (1975). "Reviews: K. S. Lal: Growth of Muslim population in medieval India (A.D. 1000-1800)". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 38 (1): 176–177. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0004739X. JSTOR 614231. S2CID 161748418.
  16. Digby, Simon (1975). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. University of London. (1975), pp. 176–177.
  17. Habib, Irfan (January 1978). "Economic History of the Delhi Sultanate - An Essay in Interpretation". The Indian Historical Review. IV (2): 287–303.
  18. Jackson, Peter (1994). "Reviewed work: The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India, K. S. Lal". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 4 (3): 421–423. doi:10.1017/S1356186300006192. JSTOR 25182961.
  19. K. S. Lal's riposte to the reviews, Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India, Aditya Prakashan, 1999, Chapter 7.

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