Did the British end their colonization of India because Gandhi almost starved himself to death? Does Hitler have anything to do with it? And if WWII had rendered the British empire bankrupt, wouldn't it have been more reasonable to stay given the colony's resources?

It is a common belief in Hindu nationalist circles that Hinduism and Hindu culture before the advent of Islam (through invasions and empires such has Mahmud of Ghazni and the Mughals, respectively) was far more progressive than it became or even is today, and only due to the influence of Islam did it gain regressive characteristics such as increased misogyny. The example typically given is the practice of "Sati", burning widows on their husband's funeral pyre, only existing because of Muslim soldiers' tendency to rape female captives.

Is there any truth to these claims?

Im just wandering if there is any possible way to find Himmler's diary

Hello. I'm trying to conduct research on German Foresters of the medieval period. It's for a story I have in mind, which will be set in Bavaria. The majority of the information I have found up to now seems focused on English foresters / yeomen.

I am beginning to realise how 'niche' my search is as pinning down this particular information seems few and far between. So, if anyone has any ideas on how I can acheive this goal, it would be very much appreciated, thank you.

we have to do a presentation for class about historical figures, and we have to do it in the voice of the person were presenting about. and im doing it about AL Capone. so i was wondering if there are any voice recordings of him, and if not, is there a description of his voice? Thanks in advance! :D

I know, it's technically not a question dealing with the STUDY of history. But, as a community of historians, surely this is as pressing of a matter as any. As the question says, I'm curious to hear this community's insight as to how we can ensure that history education remains as relevant as STEM--should we accept that STEM is simply "where the money is," or should we see the declining number of history majors in the U.S. as an alarming sign of a broader case of historical ignorance?

I am very interested in the History of Poland-Lithuania, and I was reading about Khmelnytsky Uprising and it prompted me to go back and Play the game Mount and Blade: With Fire and Sword, based on one of my favorite novels.

Well, in one part it mentioned naval campaigns and described them as "essentially pirate raids."

Are there any examples of this?

It seems so simple that someone should have realized it. Instead people did things like drink large amounts of beer or tea because water was generally unsafe to drink.

Also, was water from wells generally considered safe to drink?

It seems like that in every revolution, or even protest in the latter half of the 20th century, that every Frenchman's natural instinct is to erect a barricade. How come?

Both countries invaded Poland but war was only declared, to my knowledge, on Germany?

As a Scandinavian I know a fair bit about the Viking Age in general and I'd say I'm fairly well versed in the subject for a layman. However, I'm currently planning a long vacation in Britain (Scotland and England) and I'd really like to delve deeper into the history of the Norse conquest of the British Isles. I'm specifically interested in the Norwegian conquests. Any good introduction to the subject would be much appreciated, I don't shy away from more scholarly works.

As a follow-up I'd also appreciate a recommendation on a good introduction/overview to Anglo-Saxon Britain. I think it'd be interesting to get the other side of the story, the culture that interacted with the Vikings.

I got into an argument with a "friend" that was saying slavery wasn't all that bad. He said a lot of the slaves went back to their masters even after being emancipated.

I was appalled. Then I realized I only have mostly hearsay and vague knowledge from early school on how bad it was. Even if they were treated just fine, no one should own another human being, obviously. But I want to know if it's possible history has exaggerated the practices of slave masters.

What are some examples/sources proving the extreme behaviors of slave masters (i.e. whipping, beating, raping)? How common were these extreme practices? Did many slaves return to their masters? For what reason?

Please understand I am in no way defending slavery, I think it's a despicable blight on American history. I just want to be certain in my beliefs. Thank you.