Temple Desecration & Historical Myths: What the Records Actually Say | Prof. Richard Eaton

What happens when a civilisation’s past is rewritten to serve the politics of the present? In this episode of the Nous Podcast, we’re joined by acclaimed historian Richard M. Eaton, whose scholarship has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of Islam’s presence in South Asia and the nature of medieval Indian history. Drawing from decades of research, Eaton challenges the reductive narratives that frame the spread of Islam as a story of conquest, forced conversion, or imperial imposition. Instead, he offers a deeply textured account of how Islam was woven into the fabric of South Asian society through agrarian change, Sufi networks, vernacular cultures, and the fluid identities of frontier zones like Bengal and the Deccan. We explore: Why the term “conversion” fails to capture the lived realities of religious change The Persianate cosmopolis and how it shaped India beyond religious binaries How Mughal rulers like Akbar and Aurangzeb governed not as religious ideologues, but as complex political actors within a plural society The historical record on temple desecration, what does it really say and how it’s being manipulated today In an age where India’s Muslim past is increasingly vilified, erased, or cast as foreign by rising Hindu nationalist discourse, Eaton's work becomes urgently relevant. His analysis reveals not only how the past is misunderstood, but also reminds us: “If historians do not write clear, evidence-based history in language accessible to ordinary people, the vacuum will be filled by demagogues and myth makers.” Subscribe Nous Network for more nuanced conversations on history, politics, culture and thought-provoking ideas. #SouthAsianHistory #HistoricalMyths #PersianateCulture #Mughals #DelhiSultanate #IslaminIndia #India #Iran #Temple #mosque 00:00 – Teaser 02:31 – Introduction of Guest 03:22 – Personal Journey to South Asian History 06:49 – Peace Corps, Iran & India 11:37 – Why Choose History Over Philosophy? 13:47 – Storytelling vs Problem-Solving in History 26:57 – How Islam Spread in Bengal 33:36 - Challenging Dominant theories of expansion of Islam 53:07 – Sufis as Social Actors, Not Just Mystics 58:28 – Beyond the Rhetoric of Invaders 01:02:27 – What Was the Persianate Age? 01:14:43 – How Persian Became Tied to Muslim Identity 01:22:20 – Hindutva & the Weaponisation of Muslim Rule 01:30:32 - Temple Desecration: History vs Hindutva Claims 01:48:20 - Temple Patronage & Muslim Rulers 01:50:07 - Akbar, Aurangzeb & the Politics of Mughal Rule 01:59:03 - Aurangzeb: Beyond Good vs Demonisation 02:07:12 - History as Weapon: The Historian’s Responsibility