62 SOCIAL SCIENTIST unpublished manuscript. 28. Irfan Habib, Caste and Money in Indian History (D.D. Kosambi Memorial Lectures, 1985), Bombay, 1987, pp. 14-16. 29. Substantial evidence may be adduced to show that even the higher echelons of Indian society accepted Islam. See, for example, S. Inayat Zaidi and Sunita Zaidi, "Conversion to Islam and Formation of Castes in Medieval Rajasthan", Art and Culture: Felicitation Volume in Honour of Professor S. Nurul Hasan, Jaipur, pp. 27-42. 30. E.g., K.Z. Ashrafyan, "The Historical Significance of the Turkish Conquest of Northern India", in Horst Kruger, ed., KunuarMohammadAshraf:An Indian Scholar and Revolutionary, Delhi, 1969, pp. 67-83. 31. Legend has it that he visited the court of Gondophernes, who was put in charge of building a royal palace but was imprisoned for spending the construction money on charitable purposes. Meanwhile, according to the story, Gad, the king* s brother, died and the angels took him to heaven and showed him the palace that Saint Thomas had built there by his good deeds. Gad was restored to life, and both he and Gondophernes were converted to Christianity. A.E. Meddlycott, India and the Apostle Thomas (1905); A.F.J. Kiln, The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, Commentary (1962) cited in Encyclopaedia Britannica CD, Standard Edition, 1998. 32. St. Valentine's day as a lovers' festival may go back to the fourteenth century. But we also hear of St. Valentine's Day-Massacre on 14 February 1929 in Chicago. 33. The communalisation of history and other disciplines is amply bprne out by even a cursory glance at the school level textbooks introduced by the Uttar Pradesh government. The report of the scrutiny of textbooks meant for both Hindi and Urdu medium students shows that these are replete with communal distortions and factual inaccuracies. See: Seminar 400, December 1992; Recommendations: Meeting of the National Steering Committee on Textbook Evaluation, 30-31 January 1993, NCERT Campus, New Delhi.