Kishori Saran Lal ( किशोरी शरण लाल ) (1920 – 2002) was an Indian
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
. 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.
He obtained his
Master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1941 at the University of Allahabad. In 1945 he obtained his D.Phil. with a dissertation on the history of the Khaljis.
Kishori Saran Lal ( किशोरी शरण लाल ) (1920 – 2002) was an Indian
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
. 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.
Career
He obtained his
Master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
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 KhaljisHistory of the Khaljis - AD 1290-1320 is a book written by K.S. Lal which was published in 1950. A second revised edition was published in 1967....
.
From 1945 to 1963 he taught at Government Colleges in
Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh was originally the largest state in India until November 1, 2000 when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out...
. After 1963, he was a professor at the
University of DelhiThe University of Delhi ' is a central university situated in Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level...
in
Medieval Indian historyThe Middle Ages in the Indian subcontinent:*Early Middle Ages: Middle kingdoms of India*Hoysala Empire*Kakatiya dynasty*Late Middle Ages: Islamic empires in India...
.
He was fluent in
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
, Old Persian,
UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
and other languages.
Andrew Bostom's book
The Legacy of JihadThe Legacy of Jihad is a book by Andrew Bostom. The foreword was written by self-proclaimed ex-Muslim author and polemicist, "Ibn Warraq"....
contains several chapters written by K. S. Lal.
Works
- The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India. New Delhi, Aditya Prakashan, 1992. http://www.bharatvani.org/books/tlmr/ (ISBN 81-85689-03-2)
- History of the Khaljis
History of the Khaljis - AD 1290-1320 is a book written by K.S. Lal which was published in 1950. A second revised edition was published in 1967....
(1950, 1967, 1980)
- Twilight of the Sultanate (1963, 1980)
- Studies in Asian History (edited - 1969)
- Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India
Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India is a book by K.S. Lal published in 1973.The book asseses the demographics of India between 1000 CE and 1500 CE. On the basis of the available historical evidence, K.S. Lal concluded that the population of India in 1000 CE was about 200 million and in...
(1973)
- Early Muslims in India (1984)
- The Mughal Harem
The Mughal Harem is a book by historian K.S. Lal published in 1988. It is an important study on the history and nature of the Mughal Harem. The book is a study on the Mughal Harem of medieval India. K.S...
(1988) ISBN 81-85179-03-4
- Indian Muslims: Who are they
Indian Muslims: Who are they is a book by K.S. Lal published in 1990.The book studies the growth of the Muslim population during the time of Mahmud of Ghazni, during the Delhi Sultanate and during the Mughal Empire.- Conversion :...
(1990) http://www.bharatvani.org/books/imwat/ ISBN 81-85990-10-7
- Muslim Slave System in Medieval India (1994) http://www.bharatvani.org/books/mssmi/ ISBN 81-85689-67-9
- Historical essays
- Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India
Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India is a book by historian K.S. Lal published in 1999. It is a study on Muslim administration in India....
(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
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
Irfan HabibIrfan Habib is an Indian historian, a former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Padma Bhushan awardee. He is a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University.. He has served in the Indian History Congress for many years. Irfan Habib and R.S...
(despite the fact that Irfan Habib's father, the historian Muhammad Habib, wrote a foreword to "History of the Khaljis"). The criticism included allegations of being a spokesman for the
RSSThe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh , also known as the Sangh or the RSS, is world's largest volunteer organization in India. It was founded by Dr. K. B...
.. Lal noted: "As usual these [my books] 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."
In the midst of a
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
-
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
antagonism he is allegedly oft-cited and patronized by various right-wing proponent groups of
HindutvaHindutva is the term used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism....
. He was both placed by the BJP (as part of the
NDAThe National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. It is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had 13 constituent parties at the time of its formation in 1998. The convenor of NDA is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary Chairman is former Prime minister Atal...
2005 government of India), and made the chairman of the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) and also placed on the
National Council of Educational Research and TrainingThe National Council of Educational Research and Training is an apex resource organisation set up by the Government of India, with headquarters at New Delhi, to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on academic matters related to school education.-Objective:The objective of NCERT is...
(NCERT) Committee to draft the model school syllabus on Indian History. 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, 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) re-writing of history, with a negative portrayal of Muslims and a pro-Hindu bent.
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".