The journey of an anthropologist in Chhotanagpur

Abstract

This article analyses some of Sarat Chandra Roy's writings on the Oraons that were for mulated between 1915 and 1937 in order to point to the different shades of opinion that were reflected in his works as he sought to define, and redefine, his image of the Oraons and that of the 'tribe'. An anthropologist who had in the formative years internalised the precepts of British social anthropology and supported colonial intervention in Chhotanagpur, Roy became, towards the end of his career, one who deeply sympathised with the communities of Chhotanagpur as he advocated an 'Indian approach' to the study of anthropology. In a larger context, this article cautions one against an uncritical acceptance of anthropological representations, and suggests that an anthropologist and his writings need to be located within a historical context.