A review of the book 'An Indian I Am' written by K. K. Muhammed.
This is the autobiography of Shri K. K. Muhammed, an Indian Archaeologist who had the courage to speak the truth. He, under the guidance of Prof B. B. Lal made yeomen contributions in the excavations that proved the existence of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya.
It reads like a book of Positive thinking and creative ideas. By the time you finish the book, it may change your thoughts and outlook.
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Coming up: A review of the book 'An Indian I Am' written by K. K. Muhammed.
Namaste Friends. My name is 'Shinil Subramanian Payamal' and you are listening to the Historylogy podcast.
Before I proceed, a full disclosure: This book was bought with my own money and not been provided to me by the author or publisher.
Little bit about the author:
K. K. Muhammed who retired from the Archaeological Survey of India as Regional Director (North) is a public archaeologist who believes in taking heritage to the general public. He had his field training in Archaeology at Ayodhya, under Prof. B. B. Lal.
An original thinker, Mr. Muhammed set up a Replica Museum in the National capital where Replicas of the Masterpieces of Indian Art are exhibited.
Shri Muhammed is a recipient of three International Awards, five National Awards, one State Award and a number of other public Awards. In 2019, he was conferred the prestigious Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Let me read a brief description of the book:
QUOTE
This is the autobiography of Shri K. K. Muhammed, an Indian Archaeologist who had the courage to speak the truth. He, under the guidance of Prof B. B. Lal made yeomen contributions in the excavations that proved the existence of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya. He believes in public Archaeology and takes archaeology to the common man through the print and visual media and also floating innovative student programmes such as ‘Adopt A Heritage’ and ‘Grey Revolution’.
His human engineering with dacoits of Chambal valley and Naxals of Jagdalpur enabled him to penetrate into the forbidden land and conserve many monuments. The Replica Museum set up by him in Delhi, behind the Siri Fort auditorium, swimming against the current popular ideological slogans, demonstrated his unflinching faith in Indian culture and civilisation. He not only freed many monuments from encroachments by fighting against the powerful religious groups and land mafia but also added around forty acres of land to the immovable property of the Archaeological Survey of India in Delhi.
In a refreshing departure from the construction and conservation work sites where workers toil and sweat, he introduced a human element by running children’s schools, adult schools, and free food. This book also has a thought-provoking chapter on marketing Indian Heritage and a business diversification model. Above all, it reads like a book of Positive thinking and creative ideas. By the time you finish the book, it may change your thoughts and outlook.”
UNQUOTE
Some of the things I found interesting in this book:
1st ─ There is quite a bit written by Shri Muhammed about his confrontation and run in with Irfan Habib while being at the Aligarh Muslim University. He describes in detail about the problems he faced at the AMU due to this.
2nd ─ The discovery of the Ibadat Khana at the Fatehpur Sikri has been described very well.
3rd ─ There is a whole chapter dedicated to the excavations at Ayodhya.
4th ─ On page 107, the author has written about an understanding between Ali Mia, the then Chief of the Muslim Personal Board and the Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom Nadva and Rajiv Gandhi that Rajiv Gandhi would reverse the judgement on the well-known Shah Bano case in return for a tacit understanding for the unlocking of the Ayodhya temple and the consequent foundation-laying ceremony for a new temple.
5th ─ There is a separate chapter dedicated to the tragic story of Queen Ketevan of Georgia which makes very interesting reading.
6th ─ Shri Muhammed talks about how many Muslims like him suffer silently from the guilty feeling due to their ancestors wantonly destroying a number of Hindu temples and Buddhist viharas. This remorse and repentance were an all-consuming motivating force behind the extraordinary work of some conservation work at Nalanda, Vikramshila, Sanchi, Amarkantak, Bateshwar, Bhojpur and many other sites.
7th ─ The author has very well countered the strange argument of the Marxist historians who say that it was not only the Muslim invaders who had destroyed temples, even the Hindu kings indulged in the destruction of temples of the enemy kings. They quote Raj Tarangini of Kalhana, in which King Harsha (1089-1111) of Kashmir is said to have destroyed temples. Without questioning the authenticity of the information, he asks them, how far is it justifiable to use this isolated example to counter the series of wanton destruction of temples over centuries, the mutilation of idols or throwing them under the pavement of Jami mosques so that believers could tread over them?
Shri Muhammed has sprinkled this wonderful book with many such revealing snippets which makes this book, which is just over 300 pages a very enjoyable read. I give this book a rating of 4.5/5.
The printed price of the book is Rs. 400/- but is available for around Rs. 225/- on Amazon India and for Rs. 272/- on Flipkart. And it is available for $20.64 USD on Amazon USA. The book is also available in Kindle format but not in Audible format. I have given the respective buy links in the show notes. Please check them out for the latest prices.
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