Before we demand the Kohinoor...
Before we demand the Kohinoor...
Kohinoor is the most magnificent diamonds in the world. Yes we need to get it back from the British. But there is something even more important we need to get back ASAP.
Indeed there is a lot of emotional attachment to the diamond. Originally at 186 carats and later cut to 105 carats, this diamond is something we should keep pressuring the British about. But there is something even more important than this diamond.
The knowledge treasures of India
The Indic knowledge was documented in various ways over more than 10,000 years.
The oral knowledge base is fairly available within India. However, documenting the oral knowledge base started out around the 12th-15th century or thereabouts. Many early translations and commentaries are in the hands of European colonisers.
The written knowledge base, on paper, leaves and other media, are all hidden in the museums outside India. Many of the original documents can only be traced to 300-600AD. The documents older than that are missing or were destroyed during the later Islamic invasions.
The other form of knowledge is encoded in sculptures and stone inscriptions. Many of these, too, are outside India. Again, many such inscriptions were destroyed. However, documents, copies of the inscriptions etc. are held outside India.
We need to get it back!
The effort to recreate our lost knowledge base will be incomplete if we cannot get these creations back to India. Vijay Kumar Sundaresan has been diligently following the leads to track idols and sculptures that are stolen from India. It is time we scale this effort to documents and other artefacts taken from India.