Reclaiming Bharatavarsha

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Reclaiming Bharatavarsha is a collection of topical and exploratory essays organized around three broad themes. The first explores various facets of classical Bharatavarsha, which is defined as India before the advent of alien Islamic invaders and British colonisation. The second delves into the condition of an India under successive alien regimes. The impact of these regimes on our culture and society is contrasted with the conditions prevailing in the preceding classical era. The third studies the imprint of these bouts of foreign rule on contemporary national life. The three themes taken separately are complementary, and together they offer a scope for comparative analyses of the politics, culture, society, customs, and literature of different eras in the life of this ancient land.

From selected episodes drawn from the Puranas and the Mahabharata to the sacred history of the banana, from the 17th-century Bengali arrack to woke cinema, from the 1962 war with China to hair dyes, the book offers an eclectic mix of atypical essays, the narratives of which are filled with rare anecdotes and vivid details, all of which are backed by scholarly research.

The book also has a contemporary context the unprecedented transformation of India over the last decade. A major outcome of this transformation is the surge in interest for recovering India's national and civilizational past. This collective resurgence is an expression of cultural self-confidence, which had fallen by the wayside for centuries. Reclaiming Bharatavarsha is a humble addition to this national endeavour.

Sandeep Balakrishna is a veteran write, author, editor, public speaker, and independent researcher. He has been writing on Indian history, culture, and literature for about 20 years, authored over 900 articles, essays, critiques, and academic papers, and delivered lectures related to these themes at institutions such as the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, IIM Bangalore, Sri Aurobindo Society, Shree Somananth Sanskrit University, Bangalore University, and Amrita University, to name a few. He writes in both English and Kannada.

Sandeep is the author of the bestselling books Tipu Sultan: The Tyrant of Mysore, Madurai Sultanate: A Concise History, 70 Years of Secularism: Unpopular Essays on the Unofficial Political Religion of India, and Stories from Inscriptions. He has translated the legendary Kannada novelist Dr S.L. Bhyrappa's critically acclaimed work Aavarana into English as Aavarana: The Veil, which is now in its 20th reprint.

Sandeep is the founder and editor of The Dharma Dispatch, an online journal dedicated to Indian civilization, culture, and history, and serves on the advisory board of Prekshaa.

This book is a collection of topical and exploratory essays This organized around three broad themes. The first explores the various facets and nuances of classical Bharatavarsha, which is defined as India before the advent of alien Islamic invaders and British colonization. The second delves into the condition of an India under successive alien regimes. It opens a window to the impact that these regimes have had on our culture and society and offers a contrast with the preceding (classical) era. The third theme explores the imprint that these bouts of foreign rule have left on our contemporary national life. All three themes, taken together or separately, offer both a complementary and an informed contrast in the realms of politics, culture, society, customs, literature, and cinema.

Other important considerations, too, have instructed the selection of essays in Reclaiming Bharatavarsha. At the risk of sounding immodest, the topics chosen for this work have rarely appeared in mainstream discourse dating back to the previous half century or more. This, in a way, only underscores their importance. The focus is on variety and breadth rather than depth. From selected episodes drawn from the Puranas to the sacred history of the banana to 17th-century Bengali arrack, from the Mahabharata to woke cinema, from hair dyes to the 1962 war with China, this book contains an eclectic selection of atypical essays.