Explain nationalist historiography in India.

Answer: Nationalist historiography developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as a reaction to the colonial historians who described Indian history as backward.

• British historians like James Mill had written that Indian civilisation was backward and that British rule was good for India. Indian historians opposed these views.
• Nationalist historians highlighted the glorious past of India, its achievements in science, literature and administration, and the courage of Indian rulers, so as to create a sense of pride and nationalism among Indians.
• Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade collected original sources of Maratha history and published them as ‘Marathyanchya Itihasachi Sadhane’ in 22 volumes.
• Swatantryaveer Savarkar wrote ‘1857 che Swatantrya Samar’, describing the uprising of 1857 as the First War of Indian Independence.
• Historians such as R. G. Bhandarkar wrote about ancient Indian history on the basis of careful research.