Dr. A. K. Merchant*
Followers of the Bahá’i Faith, the most accurately documented world religion, known as Bahá’is, have a unique perspective of the history of humankind. At a time when new narratives are being composed and the old narratives being critiqued rather adversely, in a number of countries, India is no exception. For Bahá’is, humanity is one people and this planet, our common homeland. The past must be understood as a process of human evolution in the light of how the means of communication and travel have fused the destiny of all humans living in different parts of the world. For thousands of years, the vast majority of human beings had very limited understanding of themselves and the world they inhabited. But as the speed of communication increased along with faster means of travel, the civilizational evolution brought about far-reaching changes everywhere.
Bahá’is believe that the history of humankind needs to be re-written in the context of the two systems of knowledge—religion and science. The former provides a conceptual framework of progressive revelation whereby history moves forward through successive religious dispensations. In this view, the Almighty Creator periodically sends divine Educators—such as Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Mahavira, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad [pbuh], Nanak, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh—to advance human capacity. On the other hand, viewed from the lens of science, knowledge became increasingly accessible for ordinary people. Education was no longer the monopoly of the elite class or a select minority of individuals; it became quite obvious that there is no such thing as “absolute history”. Hence, there are two aspects to the “truth” of history.
The modern Western historical tradition has been to record as accurately and authentically as possible the facts of what occurred and then to look behind these facts for their causes and motivating factors. While the tradition for writing history in the East, particularly religious history, does not focus itself with the “truth” of the actuality of what happened but rather with the “truth” of the spiritual significance of events. Most religious history is written in this style. For example, the story of Jesus Christ, if viewed as the actuality of what occurred, could be considered as the life of a failed Jewish reformer who affected the least important part of the Roman Empire to a very inconsiderable extent. The writers of the Gospel narratives shared what they perceived as spiritual “truth” behind what would otherwise be a rather insignificant event. The issue is further complicated when one learns that whatever narratives available were composed several decades or even centuries after the occurrence of the reported events. Each newly discovered piece of information such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, first discovered in 1947, has shed a new light on the roots of early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.
With respect to dharma or religions in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, the task is even more complex because of oral narratives going back several thousands of years that are intertwined with mythology, legends and folklore. Sikhism that emerged less than six hundred years ago is better recorded. It is only during the colonial times and with the spread of industrial revolution, much of the ancient past began to get documented. At the same time science and technology also began to impact societies urging for re-evaluation of all past knowledge, historical inter alia.
Bahá’is view historical conflicts arising out of prejudices of ethnic divide (race and caste), nationalism, religious intolerance, and tribalism as temporary aberrations that humanity is now destined to outgrow. Humanity evolves much like an individual moving from infancy through childhood to adolescence; the present era represents humanity’s long-awaited “coming of age”. Major world religions are not competing truths, but sequential chapters and renewed expressions of one continuous, evolving divine plan. Social structures naturally expand from family units to tribes, city-states, and nations, with the current historical imperative being the political and spiritual unification of the entire planet.
In recent years India has witnessed a lot of fresh debates and even heated arguments over past historical narratives and the new ones sanctioned by the ruling government. The task of history is to uncover the “truth” of an event. But just as it is impossible for finite minds to discover the absolute truth and also one is limited to relative aspects of the truth, so the reality of history is that there is not one account of history that is an adequate representation of an event or series of events. Depending on the complexity and importance of an event, there may be many different accounts, each being one aspect of the “truth” of the episode. The “truth” is relative to the observer. Each observer can only relate the truth as he or she sees it, a truth that is inevitably “coloured” by his or her cultural and religious background, prejudices, academic competence, etc. As India celebrates the 80th year of its independence and 150th year of the national song Vande Mataram let us view the multiple narratives of what transpired during the years of independence struggle in a positive manner.
Historical writing must be viewed as relative and provisional. As with everything that relates to the world of human beings, whether it be with the history of different societies, or the scientific progress, it is a relative and evolving phenomenon. Bahá’is believe that as new knowledge is generated those who have some expertise in a particular subject or subjects including history should be humble enough and open to revise their perspectives. The aim of the Bahá’is everywhere is to sensitize researchers and historians to focus on the betterment of the world rather than fueling existing controversies and causing divisions. Injustice done during the colonial times with respect to historical narratives of the territories they ruled must be corrected in a dispassionate manner. New materials and evidence will continue to be discovered, fresh approaches may be made from new points of view. Past narratives would give way to new concepts and correct distortions based on mutual consensus.
Viewed through Bahá’u’lláh’s eyes, the history of tribes, peoples, and nations has effectively reached its conclusion. What the world is experiencing is the beginning of the history of humankind, the history of a human race conscious of its own oneness. To this turning point in the course of civilization, Bahá’u’lláh’s writings bring a redefinition of the nature and processes of civilization and a reordering of its priorities. However dangerous and severe the manifold crises, the period into which humanity is moving will open to every individual, every institution, and every community on earth, unprecedented opportunities to participate in the re-writing of the planet’s history transcending the materialistic and distorted conceptions of the past. “The earth is but one country, and humankind its citizens.”
__________________________________
*The writer is a social worker, independent researcher, & member of the Bahá’i Community of India.
