politics

The purpose of history is not to construct statements for contemporary political use: Prof. Romila Thapar

5 November 2026

Prof. Romila Thapar speaks during Second Sitaram Yechury Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on October 25, 2026.

Edited excerpts from a speech delivered by Professor Romila Thapar on ‘Historiography and Early Indian History’, during the second Sitaram Yechury Memorial Lecture

I would like to thank the Sitaram Yechury Foundation for the invitation to deliver a memorial lecture. The subject I have chosen to speak on is one on which I had a small conversation with Sitaram some time back, but we did not have the opportunity to discuss it at length. I am now speaking on it in remembrance.

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romila
thapar
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