Keeping Kashmir's history at the centre of debate, this article makes a brief survey of some of the popular history textbooks of modern India. Arguing that modern Indian historiography has been replete with various "silences" when it comes to writing Kashmir history, it tries to look for the reasons for such "silences." From distortions/silencing of facts to management of archives and sources of history writings, it then shows the way in which history writing is controlled in modern India. Looking for the reasons of such distortion/silences, the article argues that Indian historiography of the 19th and 20th centuries has remained confined to the twin pillars of Indian nationalism/national movement and anti-colonial struggle, and, thus, all other struggles that remain outside this dual framework are, more often than not, ignored. The article further states that the problem of history writing increases manifold when one is thinking and talking of writing history of various conflicts zones, like Kashmir, where nationalism slips into jingoism and history becomes the most important site for playing "national politics."
