Sanskrit is known as the classical language of India, especially Hindu traditions. But over its 3000 year history, Sanskrit was widely used in other Indian religions, as well. And not only religions. Sanskrit was a lingua franca in Early India—a window onto cosmopolitain, literary, intellectual, and political cultures of the past. On this episode, Finnian talks with Audrey Truschke, a historian of South Asia at Rutgers University, who has made her name studying Sanskrit texts and Islamic power on the subcontinent. Her most recent book, “The Language of History: Sanskrit Narratives of Indo-Muslim Rule” (Columbia UP), presents a ”history of Sanskrit views of a Muslim Other.” For those on the far-right of identity politics in modern India, the very existence of such Sanskrit works about Muslims—not to mention Audrey Truschke’s scholarship—comes as an affront. Hindu nationalists are deeply invested in the idea of a never-ending conflict between Hindus and Muslims. And they’re not above distorting history or attacking historians to preserve their worldview. In this conversation, Audrey Truschke speaks about her work, her ideas about history, the importance of public scholarship—and why her research makes some folks on Twitter so angry.

Learn more about Audrey Truschke and her new book here: https://www.audreytruschke.com/

Highlights of this conversation are featured on the podcast Trending Globally, “Hindu Nationalism, Contested Histories, and Challenging the Fascism Blueprint.” Listen to this episode and subscribe to Trending Globally here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hindu-nationalism-contested-histories-challenging-fascism/id1173544870?i=1000530302801

Find out more about Sensing the Sacred and the Center for Contemporary South Asia here: https://watson.brown.edu/southasia/news/podcasts. We’re eager for your feedback and support: please subscribe and then rate the show on your favorite platforms so that others can find us. You can email us at southasia@brown.edu.