Historian Manu Pillai interview on hot history debates & colourful stories| Shoma Chaudhury@IGNITION

When the present is fraught with divides, how to rethink the past?
Manu Pillai - historian, author, and razor sharp scholar detective - prise opens new characters & perspectives on history. From the grand Cholas of Tamil Nadu to the rainbow sultans of the Deccan. Patriots of the East. To contested figures like Veer Savarkar & Tipu Sultan. This is intellectual forensics at its best.
Watch Manu Pillai in conversation with SHOMA CHAUDHURY @IGNITION I Presented by SHIV NADAR FOUNDATION
IGNITION is a new exciting, roving, pop-up platform, that will provide keys to different worlds, celebrate the power of people, and map fascinating canvases of courage, creativity, and challenge.
#manupillai #deccansultans #veersavarkar #tipusultan #falseallies #historydebate #shomachaudhury #shivnadarfoundation #ignition

[@punchmukhi]

Manu is a brilliant young historian. Wish Shoma had used some amount of restraint and restricted her interjections/interventions to short questions. Instead she went into long monologues about what she had read etc which kinda felt that she was showing off her supposed understanding and reading of history. Anyways, kudos to Manu for maintaining a calm demeanour throughout despite repeated comparisons with another authors who writes on history.

[@sarahp1383]

Yes , some interviewers have this insatiable desire to hog the lime light. Shoma belongs to this breed.

[@pranav3699]

Average leftist historian 💩🧠

[@Perumanian]

Great interview. Some of the comments show why people need to come out of their own cages.

[@yj9032]

Exactly

[@nfn8y]

I have a feeling she should have instead interviewed Vikram Sampath 😂 Goodness! This lady really likes him 😄

[@ytskt]

Difficult times need difficult measures.

[@aniljain2572]

Its very sad that anchor has compared the killings of Hindus and Christian and conversion to resurrection of temple.

[@Spymedia.]

Shoma is my favourite anchor. I like her introductions and it’s simply beautifull. Her comments and interferences make this event special and move on the right track. Love you Shoma ❤

[@ArpanHotaJU]

Hi Shoma, it would have made sense to include someone from the other side like Vikram Sampath. Otherwise, there is nobody to counter the points raised in this 'debate'.

[@RaihanShaheed]

He was invited. He didn't come

[@kasturiswami784]

Manu just brushed off Amit shaws idea of history!

[@yj9032]

He destroyed it with facts and logic

[@shafkat111]

A thought and a knowledgeable interview.

[@shashijain5084]

Am a huge enthusiast of Shomaji 's work !!!! 🌎🇮🇳🌟⭐✨💯🥇🔝🏆

[@exerjiexerji289]

14:13 Plundering temples as in ransack of its wealth Vs defiling statues due to maxims of a religious doctrine - are they alike?

[@iaanish]

Shoma has done grave injustice in putting Manu and Vikram in the same sentence. Manu is a historian, Vikram is a propagandists who uses history in his books.

[@ivy772]

Everyone is a propagandist no one is free from their biases introspect

[@TheTravelmad]

@@ivy772Vikram has not even studied history

[@Anantham09]

Manu..choose the right and logical path, because I believe all are smart..😢😢

[@parimivenkatramaiah5912]

A good perspective on history. Unfortunately nowadays people writing on history or evaluating isues become advocates rather than academicians

[@Spymedia.]

Amazing delivery Manu

[@damodarbhat7797]

Have some shame Shoma Ji. You shouldn't have spoken so much about Vikram Sampath when he was not on stage. It is ok when we speak about done and dusted historians as they are not available to explain but referring to contemporary historian in round about critical way when is absent, is utterly being dishonest. Just trying to propogate your world view

[@Tyoutubeputtar]

He is definitely good at trivialising anything controversial, whitewashing with...oh but look they also did something good/something useful was also done. The end result is the dilution of crimes by pushing false equivalence and bringing up irrelevant complexity where not much exists.

[@nowwhat6716]

Are U perhaps going into it from perspective of hate. No rulers were saints. Are U saying the plunging and looting was fine as long as he was Hindu or something.

[@devdattam]

@@nowwhat6716 No…but Manu certainly doesn’t have to courage to call a bigot a bigot…just to put the facts on table - there is absolutely no evidence of forceful conversions by Hindu kings…but each and every Muslim King did….Isn’t this enough to call them bigoted barbarians?

[@BertRussie]

that's not trivialising. That's contextualising. Understanding that most people in history are thoroughly grey and not black and white. And demonizing or worshipping people from the past by picking and choosing isn't mature or productive

[@Dodlo32888]

​@@devdattam Couse most Indian historys written by historians till 9-10th century are gone. Most of the history written by the kings himself. Just like we know about the cruelty about Ashoka, sasanka, harsa, Pushyamitra against other religions. Which is normal in kingship. But we don't know how they did all those kinds of cruelty because of lack of information (which didn't survived) And I had a suggestion for you, never sew history from one prospective . It really dangerous.😊

[@AnirimaGhosh]

Crimes which took place 500 years ago .. are they crime anymore?. A temple which was looted say 1200 AD whom do you hold responsible today? They are all dead .. the kings, the invaders.. they are all gone. Whom are you hating today who has nothing to do with the past.

[@kasturiswami784]

Adil Shaw loved kathakali? Getting confused there?

[@zaphbrox8239]

Probably meant kathak. Even I was stunned for a moment. 😅

[@DonnaBrooks]

Argments? You might get more views if you didn't have a TYPO in your THUMBNAIL!!

[@DonnaBrooks]

​@Football-Pundit Never heard of her. There are people I think are brilliant of whom you have never heard either. I didn't watch the video b/c of the typo in the thumbnail. It matters b/c people are busy & some of us who don't know a speaker are going to be put off b/c the people who made the video did not "proofread" their work. It just seems careless & detracts a bit from the authoritativeness of the channel. I once made a video with some Spanish phrases appearing onscreen, and I asked a Spanish speaker to check my translation and my spelling. I would expect a PROFESSIONAL YT channel addressing educational topics or intellectual issues to be at least as careful as a YTer who makes occasional videos for her own entertainment.

[@exerjiexerji289]

Shoma, please could you call Shiv Nadar as शिव नाडार (it's not नादार or नादर).

[@gertrudejose8735]

Manu said that Nehru and Gandhi made Jail as a fashion ,yes really it was an inspiration too and Savarkar's metamorphosis from a secular to a Hindu preacher also have to have a rethink why so? May be during that period Jail might be torturing that much even the character be changed even the person himself!

[@ytskt]

Well.... one set of of people writing books in 'jail' another set of people given 3rd degree torture, made to extract oil like animals, given rotten food etc... And Manu thinks these are comparable... Also, Savarkar witnessed forced and induced conversion of many in the Jail. Look up Vikram Sampath's interviews.

[@mrsb.kgrover5574]

... interesting...!!!

[@GeeKay17994]

Manu: dont look for hyper masculinity in history Also Manu: why do you glorify hyper masculine like Johar, glorify who stood against people like Janabai.. And this in his mind is not hyper masculinity 😂

[@travel2texturet2t75]

Y Vikram escaped ...

[@nayanThaker]

Manu Pillai, ... you ask the question, why is it that where stories about women are concerned, we only value stories of valour. That is a question that you should have answered and helped us understand why we are that way..

[@yj9032]

The fact that people consider a talented patriotic young historian like Manu Pillai who praised Shivaji in the very beginning as a propagandist, tells how much brainwashed they are by the Hindu taliban.

[@ytskt]

He compared cellular jail with nehru and mk gandis 'jail times' that tells a lot.

[@govindkrishna3444]

​@@ytsktHe hasn't made any comparison. Try to understand what he is explaining properly. If you watch everything with a fixed biased mindset, you start constructing your own wrong descriptions of what people tell.

[@ytskt]

@@govindkrishna3444 one set of of people writing books in jail another set of people given 3rd degree torture, made to extract oil like animals, given rotten food etc... how are they considered similar sacrifices?! Care to elaborate?

[@govindkrishna3444]

@@ytskt I said, he is not making any type of comparison! Where did he tell that both are alike?

[@govindkrishna3444]

​​@@ytsktWho told they are similar sacrifices? I didn't tell that. I didn't see him telling that in any part of this video. Instead he is trying to speak a point against the people who dishonour savarkar in the name of 'mercy petitions' Your problem that you are not trying to understand what people actually mean. You are just making your own assumptions and conclusions. That's because you have a biased mindset.

[@sinivlogzz]

Ullitheyal... frendship only

[@telugupadyalu...6927]

After seeing manu s pillai i am coming to conclusion that he is some how trying to tell that muslim are good hearted people ..he may be true at some level may be ..but cherry picking muslim in his books is very doubtful 😊

[@sibeshbhattacharya9431]

A smart intelligent person. But not overloaded with modesty. The way he referred to JN Sircar generation’s lack of feminine perspective . Was there much scope of adopting a feminine perspective in the kind of history Sircar was writing? On many issues he has a tendency to generalize too quickly. For example, about the sacred geographic and consciousness of a civilizational unity. For a common Keralte Kashi was just a concept. The Pandas (the traditional priestly families catering to the ritual needs of pilgrims) maintained meticulous records of visiting pilgrims. There is record of considerable pilgrims from Kerala visiting Kashi. Any pilgrim returning to the village would narrate his experience to scores of other eager villagers. Kashi to them wouldn’t be just an idea, but something real; flesh and blood reality. In Moplah Ramayana Surpanakha’s evocation of Shariat is as important as their adoption of Ramayana. It’s a neither here nor there kind of evidence. Sanskrit and Brahmanas is another issue not adequately probed. Sanskrit or Sanskritic knowledge tradition was no monopoly of Brahmanas. This popular perception is not borne out by facts and needs to be abandoned. And, then, there’s is the question of folk vs written. Folk just by virtue of being folk doesn’t become more authentic. Truth evaluation doesn’t always conform to democratic norm. The fact of the matter is that most of the historians, particularly the present ones in our country, have political agenda to promote.

[@gopalaraodasari7743]

I/ We agree with what he says which is appropriate for the time. However politicians especially right or left wing politicians often use their own interpretation of history be it the social milieu, the cultural past or alliances in war and peacetime as stance of the day Morever history itself is often narrative of interpretation of right or wrong or good versus evil, irrespective of situation.

[@shanojkasim3401]

Manu pilai❤🌹

[@wilsonvarkey56]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@GeeKay17994]

Hehe.. Clearly shows how much Romila brigade is triggered due to the scholarship by the likes of Vikram 😄 Most of the points by Manu are just vague statements and conclusions without discussing much on any particular topic...

[@jithinmathew]

I found the anchor, Shima quite irritating . Like she was feeling a little powerless and constantly wanted to make irrelevant or at times redundant injunctions, (just my opinion). Reminds me of the psuedo intellectuals I had to endure... save that, it was a great one hour , worth every minute.

[@sinivlogzz]

Neutrality.....atchdto.......prsn😮

[@satishchand8700]

Last of the pseudo seculars .....

[@sinivlogzz]

Three religions.....😮

[@dr.sujannaik8774]

Ashok Pandey(The credible history) has written book in Hindi,Niranjan takle(journalist) has researched in western world,can talk to them,if u care to read this.,'Masculine assertion is an ego defence born out of low self esteem., as for khilafat ,Ali brothers went to Gandhiji asking for support for unseating their caliphate after destroying Ottoman empire, political issue not areligious one(Prof. Ishtiaq ahmed,stockholm),got support of Muslims at large for effort in swaraj,he was critical of violence,religious conversion,seems ploy of an envious man seeking to displace Gandhi,the other sat in the lap of the British to partition INDIA I.E. BHARAT😅,those on that side r talking about him in open .

[@yv2971]

Mappila, formerly anglicised as Moplah/Mopla, the same Mopla that massacred people 22:41.

[@anoopmondal8327]

Sickular licking up each other 😂

[@narutoff08]

shomaji is enjoying ego massage by calling useless historians and writers like this one.. good luck .. continue bashing and ignoring the real history

[@jadabeswarbhattacharjee3537]

He is talking strangely and doesn't have any idea of Islam. Even to begin with prophet of Islam, it has been an imperialistic cult. In Islam, religion and politics / imperialism are two sides of same coin that divide humans into Momin and Kafir.

[@kishandubey7882]

Nothing more than a Sickular propagandist !

[@nowwhat6716]

Such a bad way of looking at things. Present what they said is wrong not saying some random stuff in air.

[@yj9032]

Nazi spotted opinion rejected

[@nirvanabliss73]

how?

[@Dodlo32888]

Don't give any argument, just rejecte. Such a classic stupid

[@anahita-bn6cy]

​@@nowwhat6716yes muslim good hindu bad ... Whitewash titumir, moplah massacre, khalifat ... don't read books of neutral historians like rc Majumdar or jadunath sarkar .... Read all the leftist historians ...This is History

[@sinivlogzz]

5%clear ppl janum bt avarkku nalla life kanilla... Track marathavar kuravanu

[@silentvlognatureandphotogr2257]

Sreejith ips😁

[@sinivlogzz]

Tht dout arsd ....my ...20s....an entrly dfrnt ntr.odd one.a lonely.😮.....

[@sinivlogzz]

Mm

[@ranjanmanas834]

Pseudo secularism

[@sinivlogzz]

Repetition

[@nowwhat6716]

Muslim bad Hindu good is such a bad way of looking at history. But sadly that is what Is famous because they don't have to think much. Well junk food is what is famous among the masses I guess.

[@samy6833]

Hindu bad Muslim good have been perpetuated all these years and now people are talking about the complete history and the junk food fans arent digesting that.

[@sinivlogzz]

Duo trait ..👎

[@thephilosophicalnerd]

0:49 Thank you... thank you.... thank so much Manu. My sentiments exactly though I am student of Philosophy and not a historian but I have relied on works or R.S. Sharma and Romila Thapar to study concepts of justice and well being in ancient India

[@sinivlogzz]

Dsntmtr😮

[@sajusidharthan3995]

His surname is pillai itself shows the caste system of the past, and he is sponsored by the travancore royal family

[@claustrophobic0015]

He have already given reply to caste name arguement. And sponsored by travancore😂. Lol u know nothing

[@claustrophobic0015]

He have already given reply to caste name arguement. And sponsored by travancore😂. Lol u know nothing

[@thephilosophicalnerd]

45:08 wow... absolutely correct.... we have a huge history of indologists who have studied many native kings and kingdoms... their stories have always been in the mainstream indology.

[@naiyayika]

Propagandists working overtime after Indians have woken up due to people like Sai Deepak and Vikram Sampath.

[@nowwhat6716]

Woken up or mislead. Hindu good Muslim bad is all they talk about or at least why they are famous for. It's such a naive way of looking at the past. There were bad Hindu kings and good one. There were bad Muslim king and bad one as well. No one is saint.

[@yj9032]

Keep crying

[@nirvanabliss73]

how. can you pls provide datapoints

[@samy6833]

@@yj9032 Modi 2024

[@MusicLife-pb2es]

Indians woken up are leaving India 😂

[@thephilosophicalnerd]

37:27 PRECISELY.... AGENCY... NATIVE RESISTANCE

[@sinivlogzz]

Mm