EntertainmentPosted at: Dec 9 2025 7:47PM


For the British, their history was history but ours was myth: Amish Tripathi

Kolkata, Dec 9 (UNI) British scholars long dismissed India's civilisational narratives as "myth" while treating their own stories as historical fact, says celebrated author Amish Tripathi, hitting out at the double standard built into colonial scholarship.
Delivering a thought-provoking critique of colonial historiography at the curtain raiser of the 17th Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Tripathi explained that while the English term "myth" traces its roots to the Greek word mythos, meaning "a story that hides the philosophical truth", its usage in India has been shaped by the British Raj's hierarchical worldview.
But in the Indian language, he said, myth has often been confused with 'mithya' or falsehood, a confusion deepened during colonial rule.
What troubles him, he added, is not storytelling itself but the double standard built into colonial scholarship.
"Herodotus could write about elephants flying with their ears and he's still called the father of history," he quipped. "But if an ancient Indian writer did the same, the entire text would be thrown out."
Argued Tripathi: "Our ancient texts weren't interpreted for us by the British. You adapt these stories effortlessly in your fiction. How do you blend those old philosophies with the demands of modern storytelling?"
The author emphasised that India's ancient literature, including works often labelled "religious", contains strands of verifiable history.
Pointing to the mention of Mahapadma Nanda and Dhanananda in the Puranas, which map out rulers and cosmology side by side, he said, "Our texts hold much more historical value than they are often credited with," he stated.
Tripathi believes India's epics, whether the Ramayana, Mahabharata or Puranic tales, carry fragments of real history, embellishments and reinterpretations done over time. He argued that the point isn't whether imagination plays a role in such accounts, but why Indian creative interpretation is routinely untrustworthy.
Shifting to his craft, Tripathi described his writing as part of a much older Indian practice, retelling familiar stories to suit new times.
He pointed out that the epics themselves exist in multiple versions. "I have read many of the versions of the Ramayan, but the version of the Ramayan that is in most of our minds is actually based on a television series. The television series was largely drawn from the Ramcharitmanas, right, which actually has quite a few differences from the original Valmiki Ramayan.
"So, we have this tradition before that we keep the best in the old and add something of the new, localised it like Kritivashniya, Kamban Ramayanam, among the earliest of the devotional dramas. It differs considerably from Valmiki's original and even the Lakshman Rekha isn't there in the earliest version," said Tripathi. UNI NST SSP
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