BENGALURU: India’s civilisation was once driven by strong traditions of knowledge, debate and intellectual inquiry, but these systems were weakened over centuries due to invasions and political instability, said Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Secretary Shashi Ranjan Kumar on Saturday.
Speaking on his book, The Decline of the Hindu Civilization: Lessons from the Past at an academic interaction organised by Dr Manmohan Singh Bengaluru City University and the Karnataka State Journalists’ Association, Kumar said institutions such as Nalanda University represented India’s rich academic and intellectual heritage, where learning in philosophy, science, mathematics and other disciplines flourished and attracted scholars from across regions.
Kumar said India’s civilisational strength lay in its traditions of critical inquiry and open debate, but over time, these systems weakened. He said historical disruptions, including invasions and political fragmentation, contributed to the decline of educational and knowledge institutions that once formed the backbone of India’s intellectual ecosystem.
Kumar also pointed out that unlike Europe and Japan, India did not develop strong traditions of exploration, cartography or systematic study of foreign societies in later historical periods. According to him, this limited the outward engagement and understanding of global developments during key phases of history. He also said India’s past must be studied with balance and nuance, cautioning against both uncritical glorification and complete rejection of historical traditions. He said civilisational understanding requires acknowledging achievements and shortcomings.
Kumar said social issues such as caste, hierarchy and inequality are part of long historical processes that need to be examined critically in a modern democratic context.