Marxist historiography
Also called: Marxist school of history · Topic: Studying Indian History: Sources, Dating and Historiography · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Marxist historiography is a way of writing history based on the ideas of Karl Marx. It explains the past mainly through economic structures, meaning how people produced food and goods, and through class relations, meaning who owned land and wealth and who worked for them. It asks how changes in farming, trade and ownership changed society, politics and even religion. In India it became strong in the mid-20th century. Historians then moved away from simply listing kings and began studying economic change and the rise of new social groups. Its best-known Indian names are D.D. Kosambi and R.S. Sharma, and Romila Thapar is often linked with this approach.
Example
In An Introduction to the Study of Indian History (1956), D.D. Kosambi described ancient India through its tools, farming methods and social classes rather than through the deeds of dynasties. In Indian Feudalism (1965), R.S. Sharma argued that land grants in early medieval India created a class of landlords who stood between the king and the peasants.
Don't confuse with
- Subaltern Studies: This school began in the 1980s. It writes "history from below", focusing on the voices and actions of peasants, tribals and other marginalised groups. Marxist historiography looks mainly at large economic structures and class.
- Nationalist historiography: This school focused on India's past glory and its struggle against colonial rule, not on class and economic forces.