Andhra Pradesh and Telangana excise each other from school syllabi

As if the writing and study of history are not already splintered enough along ideologies, the newly-separated states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have added another dimension by going ahead with their intention to erase each other from their school syllabi. Clearly, they do not care about the bewilderment not only of the children who already know that the other exists — thanks to existing curricula — but also that of the ones who will find no mention of their Teluguspeaking neighbour in their books but everywhere else. The forcible insertion of a state-sized invisible elephant in the (class)room will do neither students nor teachers any good, especially when it comes to history and literature.

At the best of times, it is difficult to keep track of the many kingdoms and dynasties that rose and fell on the subcontinent, and the Andhra-Telangana region is no exception. Moreover, many held sway over regions for centuries, starting in one area, establishing capitals in another, and patronising poets and scholars from both. Besides the obvious challenges of disentangling their histories, there would be tugs of war even on classifying, say, the great Satavahanas and the Kakatiyas as exclusively one or the other. Hopefully, that will not result in both blacking out these crossover kingdoms and their cultural efflorescence!