CHENNAI: In a series of talks by the Tamil Heritage Trust, the fifth preparatory talk for the Dravida Utkala Jatra 2017 was held by R Gopu, on rediscovering India’s history, the Brahmi Script and Samrat Asoka. We always ask how the European colonialism affected India, but ever wondered how it affected England? The talk touched on several topics, including how several scholars and officials from East India Company set about trying to understand Indian history, after Sir William Jones set up the Asiatic Societyin Bengal.
These officials did not know how to read the Brahmi script, had no knowledge about Gautama Buddha or Ashoka, (or the Chola and Pallava Kings) which led to the process of India being rediscovered. The talk focused on how the rediscovery began.
The speech was about the numerous misunderstandings and events in India, before it became what it is today. Gopu also focused on linguistics and how it moulded people to see things differently today. “Sir William Jones identified Sandrocottus as Chandra Gupta Maurya and Boodh as Sacya Simha.
He guessed that this was the Egyptian Sesostiris, and assumed Indians were migrated Egyptians,” Gopu laughed. The information-laden talk was delivered with the aid of a power-point presentation, and the visual dimension kept the people engaged. The event brought together history enthusiasts and members of the Tamil Heritage Trust. The next talk in the series will be held on Sunday, on The Puri Jagannath Temple, in Orissa, by Siddharth Chandrasekar.