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Revision as of 14:34, 14 July 2008 editDbachmann (talk | contribs)227,714 edits Aravamudan (2005)? Bryant (2001)? Brown (2004)? I am sorry, have you even *read* the article? Oak wouldn't even be *notable* if it wasn't for these references.← Previous edit Latest revision as of 03:50, 27 December 2024 edit undoPadgriffin (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, New page reviewers, Rollbackers17,328 editsm Reverted edit by Ibrahim Ali 19 (talk) to last version by DiscospinsterTag: Rollback 
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{{Short description|Hindu-centric historical negationist}}
'''Purushottam Nagesh Oak''' (March 2nd 1917 - December 4th 2007), commonly referred to as '''P. N. Oak''', was an ] notable for his ] ] ].
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = P. N. Oak
| image = File:Purushottam Nagesh Oak.png
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1917|03|02}}
| birth_place = ], Indore State, ]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2007|12|04|1917|03|02}}
| death_place = ], ], India
| other_names =
| known_for = Historical negationism
| occupation = Writer
}}
'''Purushottam Nagesh Oak''' (2 March 1917&nbsp;– 4 December 2007) was a historian from India.<ref name="guardfringe">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/30/hardline-hindu-nationalists-step-up-campaign-against-taj-mahal|title=Hardline Hindu nationalists campaign against Taj Mahal|work=]|date=30 October 2017|access-date=2020-02-17}}</ref>


Among his prominent claims were that Christianity and Islam are both derivatives of ]; that ], ], ] and the ] were once ]s dedicated to ]; and that the ] was originally a ] Priesthood. While all of these claims are demonstrably false and incompatible with historical and archaeological records, their reception in Indian popular culture has been noted by observers of contemporary Indian society. He ran an '''Institute for Rewriting Indian History''<nowiki/>' in the 1980s which published a quarterly periodical called ''Itihas Patrika'' dedicated to fringe causes; he had also written numerous books, some of which have even lead to court cases in a bid to alter the mainstream history narrative.<ref name=india1/><ref name=ht1/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2000/07/14/stories/0214000q.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214072255/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2000/07/14/stories/0214000q.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 December 2017|newspaper=]|title=Plea to rewrite Taj history dismissed|date=14 July 2000}}</ref>
==Biography==
According to the introduction of one of P. N. Oak's books, he was born in ], ]. During ] he joined the ], which fought with the Japanese against the British. He obtained M.A and L.L.B degrees from ] University. From 1947 to 1953 he was a reporter for the ] and ] newspapers. From 1953 to 1957, he worked in India's Central Radio and Public Ministry. From 1959 to 1974, he worked at the ] in ].<ref> on one of Oak's books, hosted at freeuk.net/tajmahal/.</ref>


==Life==
==Revisionist theories==
Oak was born in a Marathi ] Family<ref>{{Cite web|title=World Vedic Heritage - P.N.Oak (Book 2) {{!}} PDF|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/102721055/World-Vedic-Heritage-Book2|access-date=2021-12-30|website=Scribd|language=en}}</ref> in 1917 in ] in the erstwhile ], ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2018-01-25|title=P. N. Oak - Indian Authors – Biography & Books|url=https://theindianauthors.in/legends/p-n-oak/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201055649/https://theindianauthors.in/legends/p-n-oak/|archive-date=2021-02-01|access-date=2021-02-01|website=Indian Authors - Biography & Books|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Keralam">{{Cite web|last=Keralam|first=Haindava|date=2007-12-05|title=PN Oak, an obituary|url=https://haindavakeralam.com/pn-oak-hk15318|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201060221/https://haindavakeralam.com/pn-oak-hk15318|archive-date=2021-02-01|access-date=2021-02-01|website=Haindava Keralam|language=ml-IN}}</ref> According to his own account, he completed an M.A. (]) and a law degree (LL.B. ]), before being inducted as a Class I Gazetted officer in the ] wherein he wrote various journalistic pieces.<ref name="Oak1" /> Before joining the army, he also claims to have worked as an English tutor at ] in Pune.<ref name=Oak1/> During ] he enlisted in the ], which fought alongside the ] against the ].<ref name="Keralam" /> He served in the propaganda sections, but was never captured by the British ].<ref name="Roy" /> According to his own account he skillfully evaded capture as he journeyed from ] to ] between ] and ].<ref name="Roy" /> While in the Army, he wrote a play called ''Rani of Zanshi: A Play in Three Acts,'' it had been produced to commemorate the first anniversary of the founding of the ] (the Women's Regiment) of the INA in July 1943.<ref name="Roy">{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nL6Ct0RDg6wC&q=Indian%20Army%20in%20the%20Two%20World%20Wars%20edited%20by%20Kaushik%20Roy&pg=PA509 |title=The Indian Army in the Two World Wars |date=2011-10-14 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18550-0 |location=Leiden, Netherlands |pages=508–510 |language=en}}</ref>
Intent on rectifying what he believes to be "biased and distorted versions of India's history produced by the invaders and colonizers", Oak has written several books and articles on Indian history and founded an "Institute for Rewriting Indian History" in ].
According to Oak, modern secular and Marxist historians have fabricated "idealized versions" of India's past and drained it of its "Vedic context and content". Oak's work typically resorts to "deep punning" (Aravamudan 2005) associating Sanskrit sound-alikes with non-Sanskrit religious terms (such as '']''=''vatika'' "hermitage", '']''=''ishalayam''"temple of God" and similar). Based on this, Oak claims that both ] and ] originated as distortions of "Vedic" beliefs.
He thus alleges that the ] in ] was originally a shrine to ]<ref> (hinduism.co.za)</ref> and that the Papacy was "a Vedic priesthood" until ] killed the "Vedic Pope" and replaced him with the head of the hitherto unimportant Christian sect.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9906/ET04-4033.html|first=P.N.|last=Oak|title=Cities And Regions Since|publisher=Vaishnava News Network|date=]}}</ref>


In 1964, he founded an organisation called ''Institute for Rewriting Indian History''.<ref name="Oak1" /> He died on 4 December 2007, at 3.30 am at his Pune residence aged 90.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/767712/how-the-taj-mahal-became-part-of-the-campaign-to-erase-indias-muslim-past|title=How the Taj Mahal became part of the campaign to erase India's Muslim past|last=Paracha|first=Nadeem F.|website=Scroll.in|date=12 November 2015 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-08}}</ref>
Oak finds some mention in passing as an eccentric in academic literature on Hindu fundamentalism. Aravamudan (2005) calls him a "mythistorian" whose life's work may be summarized by the title of his work ''World Vedic Heritage: A History of Histories, Presenting a Unique Unified Field Theory of History that from the Beginning of Time the World Practised Vedic and Spoke Sanskrit''. ] writes that most academics would consider him a 'crackpot'.<ref>''The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate'', ], Oxford University Press (2001), p. 4.</ref> Art historian Rebecca Brown describes Oak's books as "revisionist history as subtle as Captain Russell's smirk" (referring to a character in the Hindi movie ]).<ref>Rebecca Brown, ''Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies'' 34.1 (2004) 78-80</ref>


==Historical Negationism==
Oak's theories continue to be publicized by some contemporary ] adherents.<ref>], editor of ] newspaper, calls him a "] historian" , '']'', April 29, 2001.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Taj Mahal|author=Akbar S. Ahmed|publisher=History Today, vol. 43|date=May 1993|quote=The Taj has recently entered a controversy which reflects the politics of modern India. Hindu fundamentalists, wishing to deny any positive role of Muslims in India, argue that it was not built by Shah Jahan. They claim Hindu rulers in the fourth century built it. Books with titles such as ''Taj Mahal Was a Rajput Palace'' (P.N. Oak, 1965; ) further argue this position. There is no merit in the argument, but it has acquired something of a popular following in India.}}</ref>
===Taj Mahal Theory===
] (2003) noted a revival of interest in Oak's revisionism with the ] campaign of pseudohistorical literature targeting ], particularly in North America (]), finding support among some Western anti-Islamic writers such as ] or ], and the ] in the context of ] under the ] government (1999-2004).
In 2000 India's Supreme Court dismissed Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king had built the Taj Mahal by saying he had a "bee in his bonnet" about the Taj.<ref name=Tribune1 /> As of 2017, several court cases about Taj Mahal being a Hindu temple have been inspired by Oak's theory.<ref name=india1>Siraj Qureshi, , ], 12 August 2017.</ref><ref name=ht1>, ], 10 August 2017.</ref> In August 2017, ] stated there was no evidence to suggest the monument ever housed a temple.<ref> ]</ref>


] calls Oak's claims as a "desperate bid to assign a new meaning to the Taj" and "pseudo-scholarship". He states that Oak interprets the statements of '']'' about Shah Jahan's purchase of the land for the Taj from ] upon where a mansion built by an ancestor of the Raja earlier existed, to claim that Taj Mahal was a wonder of ancient Hinduism. Tillotson adds that no evidence is offered by Oak to redate it to thirteen centuries earlier. He adds that the technical know-how to construct structural buildings didn't exist in 4th-century India, Oak's original claim, the only surviving architecture being rock-cut or monolithic. Oak later dropped this claim and claimed it to be from the 12th century. He adds that Oak claims Mughals built nothing and only converted Hindu buildings. In relation to similarity with buildings of ], Oak also claims them all to be "products of Hindu architecture".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4zYd848UJkC&pg=PA115|author=Giles Tillotson|title=Taj Mahal|pages=112–114|publisher= ]|year=2008|author-link=Giles Tillotson|isbn=9780674031869}}</ref>
===The Taj Mahal===
In his book ''Taj Mahal: The True Story'', Oak claims that the ] was originally a ] temple or a ] palace seized by Shah Jahan and adopted as a tomb.


===Kaaba Theory: Vedic origins===
The Taj, Oak says, is a "typical illustration of how all historic buildings and townships from Kashmir to Cape Comorin though of Hindu origin have been ascribed to this or that Muslim ruler or courtier".<ref name="Tejo"></ref> He goes on to propose Hindu origins for the tombs of Humayun, ] and Itmiad-u-Dallah and "all historic buildings" in India as well as the ],<ref name="VNN"></ref> the ] and ].
{{See also|Kaaba#Pre-Islamic Era}}
In a 13-page pamphlet titled ''Was Kaaba a Hindu Temple?'', Oak derives a claim of a "Vedic past of Arabia" based on an inscription mentioning the legendary Indian king ] that Oak claims was found inside a dish inside the Kaaba. According to Oak, the text of the alleged inscription is taken from the page 315 of an anthology of poetry entitled ''Sayar-ul-Okul'' (''Se'-arul Oqul'' meaning the ''memorable words''),<ref name="Oak1966">Muslim Digest, July to Oct. 1986 pages 23–24; Purushottam Nagesh Oak, ''Indian Kshatriyas Once Ruled from Bali to Baltic & Korea to Kaba'' (1966)</ref> compiled in 1742 on the orders of a "Sultan Salim" (the actual Sultan at the time being ], sultan ] lived from 1761 to 1808) from the earlier work of prophet Muhammed's uncle ] (poetic name "Abu al-Ḥakam" (or ابوالحكم) or meaning the "Father of wisdom") who had refused to convert to Islam, and, first modern version published in 1864 in Berlin and a subsequent edition was published in Beirut in 1932.<ref name=vishva1>"Hindu Vishva", Volume 27, Issues 4-11, pp. 16.</ref> Oak goes on to state that the anthology is kept in the "Makhtab-e-Sultania Library" (Galatasaray Mekteb-i Sultanisi or Galatasaray Imperial School) in ], ] which has been now renamed as ] school.<ref>Rabbi Simon Altaf, 2011, , African-Israel International Union of Israelite Qahalim, {{ISBN|1599160528}}.</ref>


== Reception ==
Oak's denial of Islamic architecture in India has been described as one of the "more extreme manifestations of anti-Muslim sentiment" in ] popular culture.<ref>{{cite book|author=Carl W. Ernst, Annemarie Schimmel|title=Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center|publisher=State University of New York Press|date=1992|pages=36}}</ref> ] locates Oak's work in the ] attempt to foster a ] understanding of Indian history<ref>''OUTSIDER AS ENEMY: POLITICS OF REWRTING HISTORY IN INDIA'', address to the Stanford India Association. available on the Internet Archives</ref>. ] has referred to him as "a 'historian' much respected by the ]."<ref name=Raychaudhuri2000>{{cite journal
] notes Oak to be a 'mythistorian' whose work resorted to exploiting ] in the generation of delusional etymologies—associating Sanskrit sound-alikes with foreign terms such as ] to vatika (hermitage), Christianity to Krishna-niti (the way of Krishna), ] as an aberration of ] ''--'' to purvey an ] and ] agenda under the covers of ].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tusUlz2jb00C|title=Guru English: South Asian Religion in a Cosmopolitan Language|last=Aravamudan|first=Srinivas|date=2011-06-27|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400826858|pages=34|language=en}}</ref> ] in his work on Indo-Aryan theory describes Oak to be a self-styled historian whose works suffer from an ubiquitous and very poor standard of professionalism and critical methodology and who fit the definition of a ].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195137779.001.0001/acprof-9780195137774|title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture|last=Bryant|first=Edwin|date=2001-09-20|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195137774|chapter=Aryan Origins and Modern Nationalist Discourse|pages=267–297|doi=10.1093/0195137779.003.0014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195137779.001.0001/acprof-9780195137774|title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture|last=Bryant|first=Edwin|date=2001-09-20|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195137774|chapter=Introduction|pages=3–12|doi=10.1093/0195137779.003.0001}}</ref>
| author = Raychaudhuri, T.
| year = 2000
| title = Shadows of the Swastika: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of Hindu Communalism
| journal = Modern Asian Studies
| volume = 34
| issue = 02
| pages = 259–279
| doi = 10.1017/S0026749X00003310
}}</ref>


] describes Oak's work on Taj Mahal as a "startling piece of pseudo-scholarship",<ref name="Parker2008" /> which was plainly a work of polemical fantasy intended to denigrate Islam and did not merit any serious scholarly attention.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YHEHNSTNnRQC|title=Taj Mahal|last=Giles|first=Tillotson|date=2012-11-12|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674063655|pages=112–115, 163|language=en}}</ref> Art historian Rebecca Brown described Oak's books as "revisionist history as subtle as Captain Russell's smirk" (referring to a character in the Hindi movie '']'').<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brown|first=Rebecca M.|date=2004-07-08|title=Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (review)|journal=Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies|language=en|volume=34|issue=1|pages=78–80|doi=10.1353/flm.2004.0008|issn=1548-9922|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Oak claims that Hindu ornaments and symbols were effaced from the Taj, whose sealed chambers hold the remnants, including a ], of the original temple and that ] was not buried at her cenotaph.


Oak's theories have been noted to have found a popular following among ] in a bid to wage politico-religious battles.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YHEHNSTNnRQC|title=Taj Mahal|last=Tillotson|first=Giles|date=2012-11-12|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674063655|pages=163|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ahmed|first=Akbar|date=May 1993|title=The Taj Mahal|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/taj-mahal|journal=History Today|volume=43|issue=5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/hrd-ministry-its-masters-voice/article27931013.ece|title=HRD Ministry - its master's voice|date=2001-04-29|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-10-08|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> ] has referred to him as "a 'historian' much respected by the ]."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raychaudhuri|first=Tapan|date=April 2000|title=Shadows of the Swastika: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of Hindu Communalism|journal=Modern Asian Studies|language=en|volume=34|issue=2|pages=259–279|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00003310|s2cid=145067932|issn=1469-8099}}</ref>
In support of these claims, Oak presents ] results of the wood from the riverside doorway of the Taj, quotes from European travellers' accounts and the Taj's Hindu architectural features. Oak further alleges that eyewitness accounts of the Taj Mahal's construction as well as Shah Jahan's construction orders and voluminous financial records are elaborate frauds meant to hide its Hindu origin.


==Books by P.N. Oak==
*The Taj Mahal was a Rajput Palace, 1965.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/14772180|title=Taj Mahal was a Rajput palace &#124; WorldCat.org|oclc=14772180 |accessdate=29 January 2024}}</ref>
Oak petitioned demanding that the Taj be declared a Hindu monument and that ]s and sealed apartments be opened to determine whether Shivalingam or other temple remains were hidden in them.<ref name="Tejo"/> According to Oak, the ]'s refusal to allow him unfettered access amounts to a ] against Hinduism.
*Indian Kshatriyas once ruled from Bali to Baltic & Korea to Kaba, 1966.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16632739|title=Indian Kshatriyas once ruled from Bali to Baltic & Korea to Kaba &#124; WorldCat.org|oclc=16632739 |accessdate=29 January 2024}}</ref>
*The rationale of astrology, 1967.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76691|title=The rationale of astrology &#124; WorldCat.org|oclc=76691 |accessdate=29 January 2024}}</ref>
*Who says Akbar was great, 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/583241571|title=Who says Akbar was great! &#124; WorldCat.org|website=www.worldcat.org}}</ref>
*Bhārata meṃ Muslim Sultān, 1968.<ref name="home.rajasthan.gov.in">rajasthan.gov.in {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025065921/https://home.rajasthan.gov.in/content/dam/homeportal/RajasthanPoliceAcademy/PDF/library%20books%20Authorwise.pdf |date=25 October 2021 }}</ref>
*Some Missing Chapters of World History, 1973.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/814963|title=Some missing chapters of world history &#124; WorldCat.org|oclc=814963 |accessdate=29 January 2024}}</ref>
*Lucknow's imambaras are Hindu palaces, 1976.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3609787|title=Lucknow's imambaras are Hindu palaces &#124; WorldCat.org|oclc=3609787 |accessdate=29 January 2024}}</ref>
*Delhi's Red Fort is Hindu Lalkot, 1976.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4593899|title=Delhi's Red Fort is Hindu Lalkot &#124; WorldCat.org|oclc=4593899 |accessdate=29 January 2024}}</ref>
*Christianity is Chrisn-nity, 1979.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/812119421|title=Christianity is Chrisn-nity : is Bible the story of a chrisn temple dispute? Is Christianity an off shoot? &#124; WorldCat.org|oclc=812119421 |accessdate=29 January 2024}}</ref>
*World Vedic heritage: a history of histories : presenting a unique unified field theory of history that from the beginning of time the world practiced Vedic culture and spoke Sanskrit, 1984.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://philpapers.org/rec/OAKWVH|title=World Vedic Heritage: A History of Histories: Presenting a Unique Unified Field Theory of History That from the Beginning of Time the World Practised Vedic Culture and Spoke Sanskrit|year=1984|publisher=P.N. Oak}}</ref>
*Fatehpur Sikri ek Hindu Nagri, 2008.<ref name="home.rajasthan.gov.in"/>


He wrote in English, Hindi and Marathi. Most of his books were published by Bharati Sahitya Sadan or Hindi Sahitya Sadan, Delhi.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}
In 2000 India's Supreme Court dismissed Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king had built the Taj Mahal and reprimanded him for bringing the action, saying he had a "bee in his bonnet" about the Taj.{{fact}} In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who says that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.{{fact}}


===The Kaaba=== ==See also==
*]

*]
In a 13 page pamphlet headed 'WAS KAABA A HINDU TEMPLE? IS ALLAH A HINDU GOD?', Oak derives a claim of a "Vedic past of Arabia" based on an alleged inscription mentioning king ] found at the ]. The text of the inscription Oak quotes from takes from a manuscript he identifies as ''Sayar-ul-Okul'',<ref>Muslim Digest, July to Oct. 1986 pages 23-24; Purushottam Nagesh Oak, ''Indian Kshatriyas Once Ruled from Bali to Baltic & Korea to Kaba'' (1966)</ref>, allegedly a manuscript anthology of ] kept in the ] in ], Turkey.
*]
Oak claims the anthology was compiled in ] on the orders of a "Sultan ]" (the actual Sultan at the time being ]), and alleges it was first edited in 1864 in Berlin. The ''Sayar ul-Okul'' has since appeared in various other Hindutva publications, always crediting Oak,<ref>Stephen Knapp, ''Proof of Vedic Culture's Global Existence'' (2001), ISBN 0961741066, p. 123f.</ref> but is unknown to the pertinent Arabist reference works.
*]

===Institute for Rewriting Indian History===
Oak's "Institute for Rewriting Indian History" issued a quarterly periodical called ''Itihas Patrika'' in the 1980s.

== Bibliography ==
* ''Christianity is Chrisn-nity'', <!-- ISBN 00000000000 -->
* ''Islamic Havoc in India'' (A. Ghosh Publisher, 5740 W. Little York, Houston, Texas, 77091)
* ''The Taj Mahal Is a Temple Place'' (Alternate title, ''The Taj Mahal is a Hindu Palace''), Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi (online version: )
* ''Who Says Akbar Was Great?'' (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi)
* ''Agra Red Fort is a Hindu Building'' (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi)
* ''Some Blunders of Indian Historical Research'' (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi)
* ''Some Missing Chapters of World History'' (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi)
* ''World Vedic Heritage -- A History of Histories'' (Hindi Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi)
* ''Taj Mahal — The True Story'' (ISBN 0-9611614-4-2)

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|refs=
*Srinivas Aravamudan, ''Guru English: South Asian Religion in a Cosmopolitan Language'' Princeton University Press (2005), ISBN 0691118280, p. 36.
<ref name=Parker2008>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3560444/Review-Taj-Mahal-by-Giles-Tillotson.html|title=Review: Taj Mahal by Giles Tillotson|author=Peter Parker|date=13 September 2008|work=]}}</ref>
*] "Aryan Origins and Modern Nationalist Discourse", chapter 13 in ''The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate'', Oxford University Press (2001).
<ref name=Oak1>{{cite web|author=P. N. Oak |url=http://home.freeuk.net/tajmahal/19Author.htm |title=About The Author Prof P.N.Oak 19/20 |date= November 2017|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119172504/http://home.freeuk.net/tajmahal/19Author.htm |archive-date=19 January 2007 }}</ref>
* Carl W. Ernst, ''Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center'' (1992), ISBN 0791408833, p. 36.
<ref name=Tribune1>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000714/nation.htm|work=]|title=Plea on Taj history dismissed|author=PTI|date=14 July 2000}}</ref>
* Suvir Kaul, ''The Partitions of Memory: The Afterlife of the Division of India'' (2002), ISBN 0253215668, p. 205.
}}
* ], "Indocentrism: autochthonous visions of ancient India", in: Patton and Bryant (eds.), ''The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History'', Routledge (2004), ISBN 0700714634.


==See also== ==Further reading==
*{{cite book|author=Ganga Ram Garg|title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjDcd0cTFxQC|year=1992|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-375-7}}
*]
*{{cite book|author=Ram Gopal|title=Islam, Hindutva, and Congress quest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEtuAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Reliance Pub. House|isbn=978-81-7510-072-5}}
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]

== External links ==
* (stephen-knapp.com)
* (home.freeuk.net/tajmahal/)
* (archive link)
* by ] (2003, iviews.com)


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Latest revision as of 03:50, 27 December 2024

Hindu-centric historical negationist

P. N. Oak
Born(1917-03-02)2 March 1917
Indore, Indore State, British India
Died4 December 2007(2007-12-04) (aged 90)
Pune, Maharashtra, India
OccupationWriter
Known forHistorical negationism

Purushottam Nagesh Oak (2 March 1917 – 4 December 2007) was a historian from India.

Among his prominent claims were that Christianity and Islam are both derivatives of Hinduism; that Vatican City, Kaaba, Westminster Abbey and the Taj Mahal were once Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva; and that the Papacy was originally a Vedic Priesthood. While all of these claims are demonstrably false and incompatible with historical and archaeological records, their reception in Indian popular culture has been noted by observers of contemporary Indian society. He ran an 'Institute for Rewriting Indian History' in the 1980s which published a quarterly periodical called Itihas Patrika dedicated to fringe causes; he had also written numerous books, some of which have even lead to court cases in a bid to alter the mainstream history narrative.

Life

Oak was born in a Marathi Brahmin Family in 1917 in Indore in the erstwhile Princely State of Indore, British India. According to his own account, he completed an M.A. (Agra) and a law degree (LL.B. Mumbai), before being inducted as a Class I Gazetted officer in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting wherein he wrote various journalistic pieces. Before joining the army, he also claims to have worked as an English tutor at Fergusson College in Pune. During World War II he enlisted in the Indian National Army, which fought alongside the Japanese against the British. He served in the propaganda sections, but was never captured by the British after the end of hostilities. According to his own account he skillfully evaded capture as he journeyed from Singapore to Calcutta between 1945 and 1946. While in the Army, he wrote a play called Rani of Zanshi: A Play in Three Acts, it had been produced to commemorate the first anniversary of the founding of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (the Women's Regiment) of the INA in July 1943.

In 1964, he founded an organisation called Institute for Rewriting Indian History. He died on 4 December 2007, at 3.30 am at his Pune residence aged 90.

Historical Negationism

Taj Mahal Theory

In 2000 India's Supreme Court dismissed Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king had built the Taj Mahal by saying he had a "bee in his bonnet" about the Taj. As of 2017, several court cases about Taj Mahal being a Hindu temple have been inspired by Oak's theory. In August 2017, Archaeological Survey of India stated there was no evidence to suggest the monument ever housed a temple.

Giles Tillotson calls Oak's claims as a "desperate bid to assign a new meaning to the Taj" and "pseudo-scholarship". He states that Oak interprets the statements of Padshahnama about Shah Jahan's purchase of the land for the Taj from Jai Singh I upon where a mansion built by an ancestor of the Raja earlier existed, to claim that Taj Mahal was a wonder of ancient Hinduism. Tillotson adds that no evidence is offered by Oak to redate it to thirteen centuries earlier. He adds that the technical know-how to construct structural buildings didn't exist in 4th-century India, Oak's original claim, the only surviving architecture being rock-cut or monolithic. Oak later dropped this claim and claimed it to be from the 12th century. He adds that Oak claims Mughals built nothing and only converted Hindu buildings. In relation to similarity with buildings of West Asia, Oak also claims them all to be "products of Hindu architecture".

Kaaba Theory: Vedic origins

See also: Kaaba § Pre-Islamic Era

In a 13-page pamphlet titled Was Kaaba a Hindu Temple?, Oak derives a claim of a "Vedic past of Arabia" based on an inscription mentioning the legendary Indian king Vikramāditya that Oak claims was found inside a dish inside the Kaaba. According to Oak, the text of the alleged inscription is taken from the page 315 of an anthology of poetry entitled Sayar-ul-Okul (Se'-arul Oqul meaning the memorable words), compiled in 1742 on the orders of a "Sultan Salim" (the actual Sultan at the time being Mahmud I, sultan Selim III lived from 1761 to 1808) from the earlier work of prophet Muhammed's uncle Amr ibn Hishām (poetic name "Abu al-Ḥakam" (or ابوالحكم) or meaning the "Father of wisdom") who had refused to convert to Islam, and, first modern version published in 1864 in Berlin and a subsequent edition was published in Beirut in 1932. Oak goes on to state that the anthology is kept in the "Makhtab-e-Sultania Library" (Galatasaray Mekteb-i Sultanisi or Galatasaray Imperial School) in Istanbul, Turkey which has been now renamed as Galatasaray Lisesi school.

Reception

Srinivas Aravamudan notes Oak to be a 'mythistorian' whose work resorted to exploiting comparative philology in the generation of delusional etymologies—associating Sanskrit sound-alikes with foreign terms such as Vatican to vatika (hermitage), Christianity to Krishna-niti (the way of Krishna), Abraham as an aberration of Brahma -- to purvey an Islamophobic and anti-Christian agenda under the covers of Hindutva. Edwin Bryant in his work on Indo-Aryan theory describes Oak to be a self-styled historian whose works suffer from an ubiquitous and very poor standard of professionalism and critical methodology and who fit the definition of a crack-pot.

Giles Tillotson describes Oak's work on Taj Mahal as a "startling piece of pseudo-scholarship", which was plainly a work of polemical fantasy intended to denigrate Islam and did not merit any serious scholarly attention. Art historian Rebecca Brown described Oak's books as "revisionist history as subtle as Captain Russell's smirk" (referring to a character in the Hindi movie Lagaan).

Oak's theories have been noted to have found a popular following among right-wing Hindu factions in a bid to wage politico-religious battles. Tapan Raychaudhuri has referred to him as "a 'historian' much respected by the Sangh Parivar."

Books by P.N. Oak

  • The Taj Mahal was a Rajput Palace, 1965.
  • Indian Kshatriyas once ruled from Bali to Baltic & Korea to Kaba, 1966.
  • The rationale of astrology, 1967.
  • Who says Akbar was great, 1968.
  • Bhārata meṃ Muslim Sultān, 1968.
  • Some Missing Chapters of World History, 1973.
  • Lucknow's imambaras are Hindu palaces, 1976.
  • Delhi's Red Fort is Hindu Lalkot, 1976.
  • Christianity is Chrisn-nity, 1979.
  • World Vedic heritage: a history of histories : presenting a unique unified field theory of history that from the beginning of time the world practiced Vedic culture and spoke Sanskrit, 1984.
  • Fatehpur Sikri ek Hindu Nagri, 2008.

He wrote in English, Hindi and Marathi. Most of his books were published by Bharati Sahitya Sadan or Hindi Sahitya Sadan, Delhi.

See also

References

  1. "Hardline Hindu nationalists campaign against Taj Mahal". The Guardian. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  2. ^ Siraj Qureshi, "Another court petition challenges Taj Mahal's story as a symbol of love", India Today, 12 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Is Taj Mahal a mausoleum or a Shiva temple? CIC asks govt to clarify", Hindustan Times, 10 August 2017.
  4. "Plea to rewrite Taj history dismissed". The Hindu. 14 July 2000. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017.
  5. "World Vedic Heritage - P.N.Oak (Book 2) | PDF". Scribd. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. "P. N. Oak - Indian Authors – Biography & Books". Indian Authors - Biography & Books. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  7. ^ Keralam, Haindava (5 December 2007). "PN Oak, an obituary". Haindava Keralam (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  8. ^ P. N. Oak (November 2017). "About The Author Prof P.N.Oak 19/20". Archived from the original on 19 January 2007.
  9. ^ Roy, Kaushik (14 October 2011). The Indian Army in the Two World Wars. Leiden, Netherlands: BRILL. pp. 508–510. ISBN 978-90-04-18550-0.
  10. Paracha, Nadeem F. (12 November 2015). "How the Taj Mahal became part of the campaign to erase India's Muslim past". Scroll.in. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  11. PTI (14 July 2000). "Plea on Taj history dismissed". The Tribune.
  12. BJP's Vinay Katiyar now calls Taj Mahal a Hindu temple - a 'bee in bonnet' theory that Supreme Court once rejected India Today
  13. Giles Tillotson (2008). Taj Mahal. Harvard University Press. pp. 112–114. ISBN 9780674031869.
  14. Muslim Digest, July to Oct. 1986 pages 23–24; Purushottam Nagesh Oak, Indian Kshatriyas Once Ruled from Bali to Baltic & Korea to Kaba (1966)
  15. "Hindu Vishva", Volume 27, Issues 4-11, pp. 16.
  16. Rabbi Simon Altaf, 2011, World War III - Unmasking the End-Times Beast: Unmasking End Time Beast, African-Israel International Union of Israelite Qahalim, ISBN 1599160528.
  17. Aravamudan, Srinivas (27 June 2011). Guru English: South Asian Religion in a Cosmopolitan Language. Princeton University Press. p. 34. ISBN 9781400826858.
  18. Bryant, Edwin (20 September 2001). "Aryan Origins and Modern Nationalist Discourse". The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Oxford University Press. pp. 267–297. doi:10.1093/0195137779.003.0014. ISBN 9780195137774.
  19. Bryant, Edwin (20 September 2001). "Introduction". The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Oxford University Press. pp. 3–12. doi:10.1093/0195137779.003.0001. ISBN 9780195137774.
  20. Peter Parker (13 September 2008). "Review: Taj Mahal by Giles Tillotson". The Daily Telegraph.
  21. Giles, Tillotson (12 November 2012). Taj Mahal. Harvard University Press. pp. 112–115, 163. ISBN 9780674063655.
  22. Brown, Rebecca M. (8 July 2004). "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (review)". Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies. 34 (1): 78–80. doi:10.1353/flm.2004.0008. ISSN 1548-9922.
  23. Tillotson, Giles (12 November 2012). Taj Mahal. Harvard University Press. p. 163. ISBN 9780674063655.
  24. Ahmed, Akbar (May 1993). "The Taj Mahal". History Today. 43 (5).
  25. "HRD Ministry - its master's voice". The Hindu. 29 April 2001. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  26. Raychaudhuri, Tapan (April 2000). "Shadows of the Swastika: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of Hindu Communalism". Modern Asian Studies. 34 (2): 259–279. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00003310. ISSN 1469-8099. S2CID 145067932.
  27. Taj Mahal was a Rajput palace | WorldCat.org. OCLC 14772180. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  28. Indian Kshatriyas once ruled from Bali to Baltic & Korea to Kaba | WorldCat.org. OCLC 16632739. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  29. The rationale of astrology | WorldCat.org. OCLC 76691. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  30. "Who says Akbar was great! | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org.
  31. ^ Booksrajasthan.gov.in Archived 25 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  32. Some missing chapters of world history | WorldCat.org. OCLC 814963. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  33. Lucknow's imambaras are Hindu palaces | WorldCat.org. OCLC 3609787. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  34. Delhi's Red Fort is Hindu Lalkot | WorldCat.org. OCLC 4593899. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  35. Christianity is Chrisn-nity : is Bible the story of a chrisn temple dispute? Is Christianity an off shoot? | WorldCat.org. OCLC 812119421. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  36. World Vedic Heritage: A History of Histories: Presenting a Unique Unified Field Theory of History That from the Beginning of Time the World Practised Vedic Culture and Spoke Sanskrit. P.N. Oak. 1984.

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