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Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages Kindle Edition

by Peggy Mohan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 507 ratings
One of India's most incredible and enviable cultural aspects is that every Indian is bilingual, if not multilingual. Delving into the fascinating early history of South Asia, this original book reveals how migration, both external and internal, has shaped all Indians from ancient times. Through a first-of-its-kind and incisive study of languages, such as the story of early Sanskrit, the rise of Urdu, language formation in the North-east, it presents the astounding argument that all Indians are of mixed origins.It explores the surprising rise of English after Independence and how it may be endangering India's native languages.
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  1. Print length
    353 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Viking
  4. Publication date
    12 April 2021
  5. File size
    2.5 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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  1. Retroflexion is like a linguistic DNA tag that marks a language as either belonging to the subcontinent or not. So, in a very real sense, for a language to acquire retroflexion is for it to become South Asian.
    Highlighted by 121 Kindle readers
  2. Mixed languages are about power shifts, not about little people migrating as individuals.
    Highlighted by 101 Kindle readers
  3. A creole, according to this model, is simply a pidgin that has—due to the innate ability of young children—evolved into a native language and, in the process, fleshed out and become stable. Creole languages were like evolution happening before our eyes.
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Review

The lucidity and straightforwardness of Peggy Mohan's argument enables this story-telling in a gripping narrative, strengthened by the author's credentials as a researcher and teacher of linguistics in the United States and India. ― The Tribune

With a new book, Peggy Mohan has helped create a bridge between how we speak and who we are. ― India Today

Peggy Mohan's writing style combines her personal journey, full of rich anecdotes from travels and interactions with scholars, with historical-linguistic research, making this book a fascinating read for anyone interested in studying the history of languages in India. ― The Telegraph

Mohan's work is important not merely because it is an intellectual joyride through a fascinating past, but also because it informs the present. The issues it explores through the prism of language are inextricably linked to our daily lives - not just the ever-raging language wars and claims to supremacy and antiquity, but also how we teach our children and live our lives. ― Hindustan Times

Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages places language as a "faithful mirror" of history and change. Mohan takes us through the "bittersweet" migration stories of Sanskrit, Malayalam, Hindi/Urdu, Khasi, Nagamese, Assamese and Caribbean Creoles with a pleasant tadka of Trinidad Bhojpuri. ― Economic & Political Weekly

Shaped through migration and a change in environment, amongst a host of other factors, languages form in layers like tiramisu. And Mohan strips them layer by layer in her book, hypothesising the recipes of how they might have been formed. ― Scroll.in

About the Author

Peggy Mohan began life in Trinidad, West Indies, and earned a PhD in linguistics from the University of Michigan. She has taught linguistics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia, among other centres. She is the author of three novels, and has contributed to reputed publications, such as the Economic and Political Weekly and IIC Quarterly. She has developed educational television programmes for children, and learnt cartoon animation and opera singing. She now teaches music in Vasant Valley School, New Delhi.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B091CYW65Z
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking (12 April 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 353 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 507 ratings

About the author

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Peggy Mohan

Peggy Mohan

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I was born in Trinidad, West Indies. My father was an Indian from Trinidad, my mother was from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. I studied linguistics at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad, and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where I wrote my PhD dissertation on Trinidad Bhojpuri, the ancestral language of most Trinidad Indians, based on my recordings of the speech of old Indo-Trinidadians during the 1970s.

In 1979 I moved on to India, following my husband, first to teach linguistics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, then to teach Mass Communications, then to produce a television series in Hindi for pre-school children, after which I did cartoon animation, oil painting, served as an expert witness assessing confessions in terrorism trials, trained as a (soprano) opera singer, to end up spending my days teaching Western music in Vasant Valley School (voice and orchestra).

My first book, JAHAJIN, is the result of a story brewing in my head for 30 years, evolving and growing as I lived in India. My second book is complete, and has been accepted by HarperCollins-India, and my third is itching to get started on its journey.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
507 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and engaging, with one review highlighting how the author beautifully explains historical events. Moreover, the book receives positive feedback for its linguistic content, with one customer noting how it explains concepts like creoles. Additionally, customers appreciate its readability, describing it as a well-researched and enjoyable read.

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22 customers mention "Language knowledge"19 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the book's coverage of Indian languages and linguistics, with one customer highlighting its excellent explanation of concepts like creoles.

"A very well written book to understand how the present day Indian languages came into being...." Read more

"...In a sense a classic linguistic whodunit, Mohan vivifies a part of history about which we have little direct evidence and fleshes it out with the..." Read more

"It’s always a pleasure to read up on Indian history, if it’s researched and written by people other than Indian citizens...." Read more

"...may seem slow to understand but the author does a fabulous job at explaining concepts like creoles, pidgin, retroflexion, ergativity, diglossia,..." Read more

21 customers mention "Insight"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and fascinating, describing it as an eye-opener with an engaging and real story. One customer particularly appreciates how the author explains historical events beautifully.

"...I really enjoyed reading it. The final conclusion is really pragmatic and really a call for us to look back and change our predatory attitude..." Read more

"...spares one of the gory details, while still keeping the story engaging and real...." Read more

"...narration as well as how the author finally comes to the conclusion are simply brilliant." Read more

"Very good approach and coverage of a complicated topic." Read more

20 customers mention "Readability"20 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and well-researched, with one customer noting it's a must-read for linguistics students.

"An excellent book written in a splendid way. I really enjoyed reading it...." Read more

"...Good read for anyone without much prior knowledge of linguistics, except for a few jargons here and there." Read more

"...All in all, a good read...." Read more

"...Yet I could enjoy every page of the book. Peggy Mohan tells the story of human migration to the great Indian subcontinent from a linguist's POV...." Read more

Indian history through a linguist's lens
4 out of 5 stars
Indian history through a linguist's lens
Peggy Mohan, reconstructs Indian history through a linguist's lens. For a person like me: with no formal introduction to linguistics, the initial chapters may seem slow to understand but the author does a fabulous job at explaining concepts like creoles, pidgin, retroflexion, ergativity, diglossia, bilingualism and other such things. She uses Indian languages as evidence to highlight facts about waves of human migrations from West and East of the Subcontinent, including the migration of Vedic people. This is backed up by evidence based genetic studies. More importantly, she highlights stories of political power over 'little people' and the mechanism of language evolution emphasizing the same. Found it to be an intriguing read. Recommend reading this book if you are interested in learning about the evolution of languages in India and happen to know at least two languages.
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Top reviews from India

  • V Thiruvalluvan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book written in a splendid way
    Reviewed in India on 25 October 2022
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    An excellent book written in a splendid way. I really enjoyed reading it.
    The final conclusion is really pragmatic and really a call for us to look back and change our predatory attitude and the cost of it which will finally lead to the extintion of our species.

    It is a loss to us (Tamil speaking people) that the author is not knowing Tamil. I feel if the author had consulted the following resources and had knowledge in Tamil some of her conclusions may be more authentic and some might have been different (since these were not listed in Bibliography, I assumed that the author had not consulted). Let me also say that I am not an expert in Linguistics.
    1 Books written by Ragul Sankrityayan
    2 The comparative grammar of the family of Dravidian languages by Robert Cald well
    3 Tholkappiyam
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Abhishek Chakravarty
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book to understand India’s languages
    Reviewed in India on 28 July 2021
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    A very well written book to understand how the present day Indian languages came into being. The book also ventures into racial admixtures which resulted in development of new languages. It illustrates - how creoles and pidgin languages are born - and questions if something similar happened in India too when the Vedic people migrated to the country. Focuses on languages from all corners of the country - from North to South to extreme Northeast. Good read for anyone without much prior knowledge of linguistics, except for a few jargons here and there.
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  • Ananda
    4.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing book about language contacts and influences in South Asia
    Reviewed in India on 21 June 2021
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    This is a well-written book that explores the history of Indian languages - primarily Sanskrit - from the angle of language contacts and mixtures.

    The author Peggy Mohan is a long time educator in India, and an accomplished linguist. Her field of research and interest is the mixture of languages and the resultant hybridization produced - as creoles, pidgins or other bridge-languages.

    The thrust of the book is on the mystery of a certain feature in Sanskrit, called retroflexion, which denotes the sounds like 'ṭ'- (ट) etc which, it is claimed, were not present in an earlier form of Sanskrit. They seem to have entered the language at a later stage of its journey in the Indian subcontinent, assuming it (Sanskrit) came into India with certain immigrants from India's northwest (the Aryans).

    It is Mohan's skills as a story-teller that she tries to build the narrative, as simply as possible, of Sanskrit coming in contact with an existing language in the Indian subcontinent rich in retroflex sounds, coexisting for a while, and gradually incorporating the retroflex sounds from the indigenous language.

    In a sense a classic linguistic whodunit, Mohan vivifies a part of history about which we have little direct evidence and fleshes it out with the scenario of early contact, co-habitation and a co-evolution of languages. She then attempts to test her hypothesis with a more recent case study, that of Malayalam, and its evolution with the arrival of Brahmins from north and north-western India.

    The rest of the book contains briefer case studies of some more instances of language contact and the creation of bridge languages, like Nagamese for instance, with their own grammar and logic.

    Mohan's flair for simple prose to explain complex concepts is a big bonus. Linguistics can be a highly technical field and Mohan mostly spares one of the gory details, while still keeping the story engaging and real.

    One might have wished for a little more focus on languages like Tamil. For what is the "story of India through its languages" (the subtitle of the book) without some background of mighty langauges like Tamil, Telugu and maybe some of the older tribal languages like Munda, Santhali etc?

    Mohan plays to her strengths and interests, in the area of language-contacts, and thus the stories she tells are illustrations of such contact, like Sanskrit, modern Malayalam, Urdu and Nagamese.

    All in all, a good read. There is something about an expert like Mohan explicating difficult, scholarly research endeavors and distilling them for the common reader.
    31 people found this helpful
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  • Arun Joseph Paul
    5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Brilliant
    Reviewed in India on 17 January 2024
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    First of all, I'm not a linguist. My knowledge about the history of languages is near to zero. Yet I could enjoy every page of the book. Peggy Mohan tells the story of human migration to the great Indian subcontinent from a linguist's POV. The narration as well as how the author finally comes to the conclusion are simply brilliant.
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    Arun Joseph Paul
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Simply Brilliant

    Reviewed in India on 17 January 2024
    First of all, I'm not a linguist. My knowledge about the history of languages is near to zero. Yet I could enjoy every page of the book. Peggy Mohan tells the story of human migration to the great Indian subcontinent from a linguist's POV. The narration as well as how the author finally comes to the conclusion are simply brilliant.
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    2 people found this helpful
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  • Arun Patil
    5.0 out of 5 stars History through languages.
    Reviewed in India on 30 October 2022
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    There may be a very few books like this which try to unravel the history of Indian sub continent and the region surrounding it.
    Though a person not trained in linguistics may have to refer to the web every now and then for the meaning of some words it is worth doing that.
    After reading the book one may get a different perspective of this region's history.
    The author may consider writing more such books on Indian languages.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • New User India
    5.0 out of 5 stars Linguistics and History
    Reviewed in India on 3 June 2024
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    Very good approach and coverage of a complicated topic.
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  • Samuel Premkumar
    4.0 out of 5 stars Read about Arysn and Dravidian language
    Reviewed in India on 20 December 2023
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    It’s always a pleasure to read up on Indian history, if it’s researched and written by people other than Indian citizens. They are not constrained by personal ideological views and are not forced to be politically correct. This linguistic research on Indian languages is a real eye opener. Coupled with genetic research data, this book brings out the past history of India through the tongues. A must read for those interested in the deep history of India.
    The book is an interesting read but not a fast read as it is written in academic style. A well researched book covering all language families of India including Persian, Urdu, Hindi and North_Eastern languages.

    A good book for those interested in ancient India and migration studies through linguistics and DNA tracking.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Isaac Vivian Alexander
    3.0 out of 5 stars Quite Boring. Not easy to read.
    Reviewed in India on 16 December 2021
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    Quite Boring. Not easy to read.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Ed Battistella
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating history of the languages of India.
    Reviewed in the United States on 22 April 2023
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    Peggy Mohan’s Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India develops two key, intersecting themes: one is the idea that existing local language form a forming a substratum, which shapes the development of new invading languages and forms the basis of slow creolization. The other is the gendered nature of the invasion of one language area by another: the invaders tend be males at first and as intermarriage and settlement occurs the invading language becomes the language of prestige and the invaded language the language of the home. In time the language of the home adopts words and other features of the prestige language but retains its grammatical features, yielding a slow-cooked creole.

    We learn, for example, how early on Sanskrit and Dravidian languages intermingled with the former adopting retroflection, how the Namboodiri Brahmins of Kerala region in southwest India incorporated Sanskrit nouns into the Malayalam they adopted, how Uzbek developed into Urdu. We also learn about the mysterious Harrapan language of the early Indus Valley, the emergence of Nagamese as a new offshoot of the Māgadhan languages in far northeastern India, and the Sanskritization of Hindi in the 1800s. And we learn about the role of English in India under the raj and in post-colonial India.

    The book plays in challenging the folk ideas of the history of Indian languages such as the status of Sanskrit as the mother tongue of all Indian language, wishful thinking the globalization of English, and harmful notions about the purity of languages.

    Mohan’s writing is clear, crisp, and not overbearingly academic. For a reader, there are two potential challenges to the book: I did not have enough background in the language history of India to fully appreciate nuances of the historical exposition. And I imagine non-linguist readers who are versed in the history of India might find ergativity, creolization, and other technical terms to be stumbling blocks. But the book would work splendidly for a course on the history of Indian language taught by which an instructor who could guide folks along and fill in the parts they need. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants definitely piqued my curiosity to learn more.
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  • Akash Jairath
    5.0 out of 5 stars Little people evolve language
    Reviewed in the United States on 15 April 2023
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    Absolutely fascinating history of India through is languages. Peggy Mohan (of part Indian-Caribbean decent) is all over the place and often linguistically technical, but she explores our language with forensic genius that is just delicious!

    Her comparison of language Creolozation across the world just highlights how every modern language had its birth as a mixture, how that mixture tells us about the interaction between cultures. Clues describe gender bias in migration patterns, power dynamics, and the socio-economic climate of its time.

    The most cathartic point probably being that evolution of language is brought about by, what she calls, "little people", and not the powerfule elite. The powerful transport languages, but it is the larger masses that refuse to let their identity die out and blend the new with the existing to create an evolved identity.

    She highlights the layers of stratum in our languages which maps to the layers of interactions, and really defines what it means to be Indian.
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  • Saurabh
    5.0 out of 5 stars suprising history of Indian languages
    Reviewed in the United States on 26 October 2022
    Verified Purchase
    well worth the read to understand how Indian languages have evolved
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