Irfan Habib Is One of the Great Marxist Historians
By creatively applying Marxist ideas to the history of India, Irfan Habib has made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of its past. Legal harassment from Narendra Modi’s supporters hasn’t stopped Habib from taking brave political stands.
Historian Irfan Habib during the discussion on “No Peace without Freedom: No Freedom without Peace” on the occasion of the one-hundred-twenty-fifth anniversary of the birth of Jawaharlal Nehru at Jawahar Bhawan on November 6, 2015, in New Delhi, India. (Vipin Kumar / Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
At the age of ninety-three, Irfan Habib’s status as one of India’s most important historians is assured. It is simply impossible to understand any aspect of the Indian economy, society, and history without engaging with the work of Habib.
Habib’s book The Agrarian System of Mughal India, first published in 1963, has become essential reading for students of medieval and early modern Indian history. His contribution to developing our knowledge of that period in Indian history is immense, and he is still a trailblazing figure in the field.
Apart from his areas of expertise, Habib is well known as an avowed Marxist and an ardent critic of the attempts at “saffronization” of Indian history by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindutva chauvinist agenda. Throughout his life, Habib has fought against communalism and religious fundamentalism.
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