Telangana history grabs spotlight

Hyderabad: Historians and scholars are evincing interest is showcasing their papers and research pertaining to Telangana history and heritage, after the state government started holding workshops for the purpose. 

There was no proper platform for the researchers to present their findings earlier. For instance, the two-day international seminar, “Telangana through the ages — Perspectives from early and medieval periods” that kicked-off in the city on Saturday saw more papers being offered than could be accommodated.

Government adviser B.V. Papa Rao and tourism secretary Burra Venkatesham said the seminar was aimed at promoting and showcasing historic research in the state. “We want to showcase the rich history and heritage of Telangana to the world. Our objective is to attract noted scholars from other states and abroad to do research in fields related to the state,” Mr Venkatesham said.

Researchers from the US, the UK, Italy and Greece among others travelled across the state as part of their study. These include Dr Rebecca Darley of University of London, Dr John Guy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Dr Robert Alan Simpkins, anthropology professor at Porterville College, USA, Dr Helen Philon of Greece, Dr Sara Mondini of the University of Venice, Italy and Dr Benjamin Cohen, history professor, Utah University, USA.

These researchers were given the opportunity to present their papers in the ongoing seminar. Dr Darley did her PhD in Byzantine Studies in University of Birmingham and Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, Washington DC. 

She told this newspaper that she had visited Telangana five times starting from 2009 as part of her research on Byzantine coins in South India.

“Byzantine coins date back to the 7th century and mostly originated from Turkey. As part of trade exchange, these coins weighing nearly 4.5 gm each, made their way to countries like India, China, Scandinavia and some European countries. 

Although Byzantine coins are made of gold, silver and copper, only gold coins were found in Telangana. People of that time did not use the coins again for buying goods, but preserved them,” she said.

Dr Guy presented a paper titled “Ubiquitous Trees and Serpents — Early Buddhist Imagery of Andhradesa”. He attempted to address the pervasive presence of tree and snake imagery in the early Buddhist stupa art.