The Indian Autobiography: Origins and Development

Zehara Jabeen

Abstract: In India autobiographies are written and read for the sake of the inexhaustible interest in the information they provide about the author and his times. They prove to be a valuable corrective to history which is centred on what is common to a people and a period, to general factors and a general outcome, and ignores much of what is specific in the individual. The amazing bulk of miscellaneous information they provide is notable but as historical records they have to be studied and checked with the most cynical skepticism. They do lend a contribution to the knowledge of human nature, but their most valuable asset is often the involuntary self-revelation of the author. They acquire distinction not simply because of what they tell us, but also because of their interest in the multitude of human experience, of personality and of circumstances they make available. They are also read and respected for the men whose lives are described in them.

Keywords: Autobiography, Western scholarship, Autobiographical element, Public personality, Private, Corrective to history