VOI message

[tim]

I'm not interested in responding to VOI but I would be interested in
a discussion on how to approach such questions in both philology and
history.  ARticles by Sheldon Pollock and Romila Thapar come to mind as
possible starting points.  Is it possible to be apolitical altogether?
What are the texts (or other sources) that deal with inter-community
differences--sectarian puranas, anti-Buddhist vedantic polemic,
Islamic histories, dynastic inscriptions, alternative Ramayanas?
Given the competing histories and archeologies of Ayodhya, where does the
concerned but independent scholar position him/herself?
Tim Bryson (bryson at harvarda.harvard.edu)