{"title":"Women’s Education: Curriculum and Content in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries India","authors":"Sangeeta Kumari","doi":"10.1177/22308075241273724","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241273724","url":null,"abstract":"The initiation and expansion of women’s formal instruction in India in the pre-Independence time is the legacy of both colonialism and the nineteenth-century reform movement among Indians. The latter, to an extent, was a response to the Westernisation embedded in the colonial processes. In pre-colonial India, institutional and formal education was a rarity for womenfolk, and until the mid-nineteenth century, zenana education or instruction imparted at home was the accepted norm. Several scholars have noted that the nineteenth century saw an intense debate on women’s schooling, especially in relation to the wisdom of educating women, the form it should take, and the purpose it should serve. Historically, women’s education was viewed by most communities as meaningless. Large sections of the population of both Hindu and Muslim communities were content with extending conventional approaches of learning to women and were vehemently opposed to changing it in favour of a modern education either in government schools or missionary schools. At home, women were taught to read religious scriptures and to read and write the vernacular language, although the focus was on learning home crafts and subjects of domestic and practical utility.","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining the Impact of Forest Policies on Sacred Groves in India: A Historical Review","authors":"Garima Rawat, Harshit Sosan Lakra","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274076","url":null,"abstract":"Owing to their ecological, cultural and spiritual value in traditional civilisations, Sacred Groves have been vital to forest and biodiversity protection since ancient times. With their long-standing rituals, rites and customs, these places represent a balanced relationship between humans and the environment and act as essential linkages between communities of the past and present. However, as a result of the continuing repercussions of European colonialism, extraction of resources was given priority over the rights of Indigenous people to their forests under India’s forest rules. This led to serious environmental damage and the marginalisation of traditional forest management techniques. Utilising a qualitative, historical research approach and drawing conclusions from a range of secondary sources, this study critically investigates how Indian forest regulations have impacted traditional management methods, with a particular emphasis on Sacred Groves.","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Core Health and Living Stress Among Older People","authors":"Neha Garg, Ajit Singh","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274081","url":null,"abstract":"Maintaining core health and managing living stress among older individuals are crucial for their overall well-being. As people age, various factors impact their physical and mental health, making it essential to address these concerns comprehensively. In this discussion, we will explore the significance of core health, the challenges older people face and strategies to alleviate living stress, covering various aspects such as physical activity, nutrition, social connections and mental health support.","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"184 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142224219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Building Construction In Princely State Bikaner: Form, Style And Architecture","authors":"Rajender Kumar","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274088","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the significance of building construction in the evolution of human civilisation, tracing its origins from mountain caves to sophisticated structures in the Indus Valley Civilisation. It highlights the advancements in materials and techniques, noting the grandeur and artistic merit of ancient and medieval buildings. Focusing on the princely state of Bikaner, it details the use of local resources like red sandstone from Dulmera and Khari. The Khari quarry stone was a key construction material in Bikaner from the era of Rao Bika Ji to the nineteenth century. In Besides Khari, stones from Dulmera and other villages such as Hansera and Aalsar were used. The involvement of various professional castes and artisans such as gajdhar, karigar, chejara, usta, Sika, Suthar, Luhar and labourers in construction could be seen. The raw material for building construction was available locally. Brick-making was another important activity in building construction, which was done by potters mixing yellow clay with straw. Other important materials were lime, kankar, and murad, which were managed by the Kumhar and Chungar communities. Fuel for lime kilns came from local sources such as dry khejri wood. Colouring materials such as lime-based kalli were obtained locally. Water for construction was supplied from wells, which were managed by malis and sikas. Iron, obtained locally from outside states, played an important role, with blacksmiths making the necessary tools. Various professional castes were involved in the construction process, reflecting a mix of local resources and skilled labour, leading to distinct architectural features in Bikaner buildings. This article emphasises the durability of pre-modern buildings due to natural materials and examines archival documents like Kamthana Bahis for insights into the eighteenth–nineteenth-century Bikaner’s construction practices. These documents provide comprehensive information on building methods, materials and the socio-economic aspects of construction, illustrating the structural and aesthetic differences between government and non-government buildings. The study underscores the cultural heritage and architectural legacy of Bikaner, offering a detailed analysis of its historical building techniques and materials.","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142224217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Kunal Debnath, Caste, Marginalisation, and Resistance: The Politics of Identity of the Naths (Yogis) of Bengal and Assam. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2024, xx + 240 pp. €131, ISBN: 9789004689374 (Hardback)","authors":"Mainak Putatunda","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274086","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142224216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Regal Coincraft: Maharaja Ranbir Singh’s Currency Transformation in Jammu and Kashmir","authors":"Nazim Hussain Al-Jafri, Hilal Ahmad Tantray","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274074","url":null,"abstract":"This research article examines the historical context and significance of the unique currency produced by the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir during the reign of Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1877. At the time, the state displayed significant autonomy and separate governance by printing its own money in denominations ranging from ₹1 to ₹1,000. The currency release occurred during the month of Vaishakh on the Vikram Samvat 1934 calendar, highlighting the incorporation of regional traditional activities into administrative functions. These notes were primarily used for the payment of land revenue and other governmental dues, thus playing a crucial role in the state’s financial management. Featuring signatures from several competent authorities, including prominent figures like Diwan Kirpa Ram, the notes bore significant symbolic and administrative value. Additionally, specific notes highlighted cultural elements, such as the name of Mahesh Chander Vishvas in Nagari script, reflecting the state’s rich cultural identity and administrative sophistication. This initiative by the Princely State underlines its organised administrative structure and cultural integration within its financial practices.","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Non-Marathi Hindutva Pop Culture and the Imagery of Shivaji: A Digital Ethnographic Exploration of YouTube Contents and Communities","authors":"Mihir Keshari","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274080","url":null,"abstract":"The presence of cultural materials across Internet platforms should not be solely seen as diffused and disconnected propaganda materials directed towards a passive target audience. Instead, they should be seen as elements representing a community and as having the potential to form a dynamic and active community of their own through their presence in certain digital spaces through certain channels. Hence, a study of such online communities and their constituent cultural materials, together with their interrelation with the physical community, can help us to understand the actual social phenomenon marking such cultural production.In this background, the aim of this article is to understand the ways through which the image of Shivaji is employed in Hindutva cultural discourses, along with the reasons which account for the large-scale emotional appeal of the figure of Shivaji, particularly in the non-Marathi cultural landscape. This is done through an analysis of certain popular YouTube channels, their contents and the communities they appear to form. For this purpose, the article is divided into two parts: While part one surveys a few selected YouTube channels, their communities and contents, the second part analyses and contextualises the data thus gathered within the larger historiographical debates concerning Shivaji, to argue that the reason behind the popular emotional appeal and acceptability of the figure of Shivaji in Hindutva cultural discourse emanates from the sociocultural and historical ambivalence associated with his character, where he represents a fresh new revolutionary force against external onslaught as well as against internal orthodoxy. It is argued that it is this ambivalence which has made the figure of Shivaji emotionally appealing and hence acceptable to a wide section of the Hindu populace, allowing each of them to interpret, appropriate and relate with the figure of Shivaji in its own way.","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"63 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142227709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public Sphere and Deliberations for Frontier Nagaland: Reflections on Recognition and Identity","authors":"Khiamniungan. T. Longkoi, Babu C.T. Sunil","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274089","url":null,"abstract":"To achieve a separate state named ‘Frontier Nagaland’, the civil society of Eastern Nagaland protested against taking part in the Hornbill Festival in 2022, the state festival of the Government of Nagaland, India. Initially, the civil society also decided to boycott the Nagaland Legislative Elections in 2023. Civil society organisations have refrained from participating in the festival after deliberating on the matter through different media platforms. Abstention from the festival, a cultural means of protest, brought the question of identity by highlighting not only the unequal development in the region but also their recognition as a ‘significant other’. This study argues that the protest and deliberation in the public sphere communicated well with the public, state and union government, creating a conducive atmosphere for deliberative democracy.","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Swadesh Singh, Modian Consensus: The Rediscovery of Bharat. India: BluOne Ink, 2023, 304 pp., ₹410. ISBN 9392209789 (Paperback)","authors":"Alisha Dhingra","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274085","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142224218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biswamoy Pati, Tribals and Dalits in Orissa: Towards a Social History of Exclusion, (c. 1800–1950). New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2019, xiv + 221 pp., ₹945, ISBN 978-0-19-948940-4 (Hardcover)","authors":"Ghanashyam Giri","doi":"10.1177/22308075241274082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274082","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41287,"journal":{"name":"History and Sociology of South Asia","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142224220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}