Description
This paper makes an attempt to challenge the Westphalian understanding of the historical space that dominates the study of the discipline in many of the universities in the non-western world. Such an approach to looking at history silences the diverse historical experiences that led to formation of modern states in these parts of the west leading to a ‘borrowed’ understanding of the discipline. In present day South-Asia the Westphalian history is of secondary relevance as compared to the history/histories of imperial consolidations, adaptations, amalgamations and the transcultural understandings they created before entering the colonial experience and later the sanitised territorially bounded understanding of the nation-state of their western counterparts. Adopting a historiographical approach, the paper argues that the key to understanding power, interests, conflicts and external relations lies in this diverse historical experience and study of IR must be situated within this context rather than peace of Westphalia as part of syllabi. The paper will explore the possibility of understanding of international relations in South Asia through the lens of an alternative historiography investing in it, more meaningful and relatable content to the discipline. Further, the paper would attempt to contribute to research on alternative historiographies as an approach to understanding IR as a pluriversal reality and International Studies as a discipline that gauges complex issues and concerns in ways more sensitive to diverse experiences.
Keywords: Silent Histories, Alternative Historiography, South Asia, Pluriverse
