HYDERABAD, May 25: Noted historian Dr Mubarak Ali has emphasised the need for including in syllabi books on the Sub-continent’ history authored by independent historians to let people get accurate knowledge about the history.

He, however, said ‘ideological’ states avoided including such history books in syllabi as they intended to project nationalism and portray warriors and invaders as heroes.

Mubarak Ali was speaking at a ceremony to launch his three books on Indo-Pakistan sub-continent's history at the press club here on Friday. The books are titled Qadeem Hindustan, Bartanvi Hindustan and Ehd-i-Wusta ka Hindustan and deal with India of ancient times, middle ages and colonial period, respectively.

He said unless such books were included in syllabi, people, especially students, would not have a clear picture of the history of the Subcontinent. He urged students to go for extensive study of history to separate the chaff from the grain and said that history must include all relevant incidents and happenings with proper interpretation of facts.

He said that he had tried to highlight every ideology, specifically the religious tolerance that was hallmark of the society of the subcontinent. He spoke of Ashoka the Great who disapproved war after he witnessed huge loss of innocent lives in a war.

The scholar said that he failed to understand why only warriors who emerged victorious were portrayed as heroes instead of scholars, artistes and those who excelled in other fields.

He disagreed with the term "golden era" which is often used with reference to past, saying that such golden era could only be attributed to rulers and the rich and elite class. As far as masses were concerned, he said, they did not see any golden era.

He said that his books encouraged readers to acquire more knowledge and paid tribute to Ghulam Abbas for skilfully illustrating his latest books. Professor Ejaz Qureshi said Mubarak Ali had changed the pattern of history writing in Pakistan which had remained static before him. He said that the three books contained valuable material not only for students but for teachers as well.

Mr Qureshi said that new research on history was yielding positive results and gave the example of latest research on Ranikot. Earlier, he said, people believed that the fort had been built by the Talpurs but now a different claim regarding its construction was being raised.

He said that history written from anthropological point of view helped researchers verify facts.

Mirza Saleem Beg, Professor Hassan Samdani and Zafar Rajput also spoke on the occasion.