Indian History Research Articles

Disability History in India: Conceptual Formations in Religion and Law

The conceptions on disability have been coursing through different forms. Disability history is recognised as an emerging and developing sub-discipline of the social history of medicine. The concept of disability has a vital position in the domains of religion and law. This paper attempts to examine the historical conceptualisation of disability in the domains of religion and law in India.. Though the experience of disability in India is historically distinct from that of western tradition, there may be similarities between the western and Indian high culture tradition of exclusion and stigmatisation of people with disabilities, particularly in the pre-modern period, these cultures are grounded in different concepts of social inclusion. Though the term disability is interpreted in various ways by the social context of religion and political context of law, presently it has been conceived as something to be synchronised with inclusion, equality and accessibility.

Contested Approaches to the Past and Its Significance in Twenty-First-Century India

The recent attempt to exclude large portions of India’s past, including figures like Akbar and Abul Kalam Azad from the History syllabus without following any due process of wide academic consultation is unacceptable. The historians they invoke, such as R.C. Majumdar, show by their own writing that they would have never countenanced such misrepresentation of Indian history. The omission of Akbar and his policy of tolerance (ṣulḥ-i kul) from the syllabus, deprives Indian students of learning about the position that India occupied in the world at the time.

Secularism as Theopolitics: Jalāl ud-Dīn Akbar and the Theological Underpinnings of the State in South Asia

Abstract Carl Schmitt’s well-known declaration that “all significant” modern political concepts are “secularized theological concepts” has sometimes been treated as hyperbole: a metaphorical axe aimed at the frozen sea of legal positivism, a provocation rather than a thesis. In this article, I demonstrate the fecundity of this thesis by applying it to secularism, a concept undeniably central to the Liberal state; crucially, however, I do so in the context of early modern South Asian history and ongoing debates over the secularism of premodern Mughal polity. As I argue, Jalāl ud-Dīn Akbar (1542–1605 CE) – a monarch of the Mughal dynasty often cast by South Asian secularists as a precocious emblem of the neutral state – was, in fact, an ideal type of Schmittian sovereign, who nonetheless stands equidistant from both Schmitt and his Liberal opponents in his stance toward religious pluralism. The theological correlate to Akbar’s “secularism” was an Islamicate theology of religions, which provided a contentful religious justification for religious pluralism, very different from contemporary “post-metaphysical” arguments. The final section of the article takes a critical turn, as I examine Akbar’s legendary reputation in the present, my intervention into his “secular” mythos, and the special difficulties involved in applying Schmittian concepts to an early modern, non-Western sacred king.

Mythology, Cosmogonies, and Indian Science Fiction

This paper examines the cultural significance of the intersection between Indian mythology, cosmogonies, and science fiction. India has a rich history of diverse religious traditions and corresponding world views, many of which have influenced each other. The Hindu pantheon has included the Sun from early times. With the planets also gaining in importance after the rise of astrology, the need to predict their paths saw the development of astronomical observations and spherical trigonometry. These serve as examples of how scientific and religious ideas have interacted throughout Indian history. Despite a strong tradition of fiction in India, there is a lack of science fiction that combines elements of mythology and astronomy except in superficial ways. This paper explores the potential reasons for this gap and argues that an examination of this genre can offer insight into the ways in which science and religion are perceived and valued in contemporary Indian society. The paper also offers a commentary on the current state of Indian science fiction that blends mythology and astronomy

The Forgotten History of Our Times: Revisiting Utpal Dutt's Titu Mir in Contemporary India

This paper is an exploration of the most recent revival of Utpal Dutt's play Titu Mir in 2019 by the ensemble group Theatre Formation Paribartak in India. Islamic religious reformer Titu Mir led a peasant rebellion from 1827 to 1831 in the Barasat region of Bengal and the play focuses on a narrative of revolutionary resistance to colonialism. Titu Mir becomes an articulation of political theatre against the Hindu right-wing agenda of expunging Muslim national heroes from Indian history. This essay seeks Titu Mir's relevance as a site and theory of materializing historical contradictions, and as part of a ‘gestic’ feminist criticism of theatre. The essay attempts to understand how critique of patriarchal ideology is enmeshed in critique of colonialism in Titu Mir, especially in those moments where the play addresses complexities of political violence, interracial romance, martyrdom, alienation in the colony and deep-rooted misogyny in the project of colonialism.

Is the Derivative Action Regime in India a Historical Relic?

In 1843, the Court of Chancery pronounced its landmark judgment in Foss v. Harbottle.((1843) 67 ER 189) The judgment sparked the evolution of a critical common law remedy, in the form of derivative actions, to protect a company’s interests. Soon courts in other countries, including India, adopted this approach, allowing interested parties to initiate suits on behalf of companies. Over time, most countries, including the United Kingdom, proceeded to codify derivative actions into a statutory remedy. India however continued with the common law route. Indian civil courts have been entertaining derivative actions, initiated by interested parties on a company’s behalf, for several years now. However, recently an interesting judicial trend has emerged wherein High Courts are restricting the jurisdiction to consider such actions solely to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCPL), a specialized forum established for adjudicating upon company law related matters. In this article, we discuss the reasons leading to this new trend, the position taken by the High Courts on derivative actions in three recent judgments, the shortcomings of this approach and its impact on the future of corrective actions which may be initiated by third parties on the company’s behalf in India. Big data, business secret, cybersecurity, data right, e-commerce platform, information processing, legal boundary, market competition, network platform, personal privacy

Need of Demonetization to wash away the Black Money of the Corrupt People and Market: A Review of the Lesson from India

This research paper presents corruption and demonetization with respect to some impacts on people, production and market. The research question to be answered is" Why was demonetization of Rs. 500 and 1000 notes in India and Nepal needed? The methodology is qualitative and related to interaction with people and document analysis. Demonetization is the process of stripping units of currency from their legal status. After demonetization, those units of currencies will not be used as before. It means their age will be passed away. The units of currencies will have no any existence. If someone circulates these units of currencies after demonetization, it will be a matter of fraud or doing illegal activity and the person will be the subject of deserving candidate for legal action and punishment for blackmailing government and people. Narendra Modi's midnight announcement of the legal proceeding of demonetization of the notes of Rs 500 and 1000 made the silently sleeping citizens wake up around the thunderstorm without cloud and amidst many sink holes without landslides. Millions of corrupted people counting their dreamful beautiful golden notes turned amongst heavy and scaring ghosts haunting around them. This situation was nearly compared to the philosophy of Nietzsche's "Death of God". It is because blackmailed money is the form of God for the blackmailers. The silent sound turned into the unending shape of murderer. It was one of the greatest decisions made by The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in the history of India and other territories in the proximity of India. In the overall situation, it was a feeling of patriotic ideology in controlling black money in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

The Emergence of Yoga-as-Property in American Law: The Haunting Presence of Commercial Logics from Swami Vivekananda to Bikram’s Hot Yoga

Abstract In 2003 the highly profitable transnational commercial yoga community was unsettled when the controversial Los Angeles-based yogi, Bikram Choudhury, launched a barrage of legal actions against fellow hot yoga teachers. At the heart of these disputes were Bikram’s copyright and trade mark claims to a popular yoga choreography performed in a heated room. These disputes quickly attracted attention from an array of stakeholders including Indian civil society, governmental figures, spiritual ascetics, and open source advocates who presumed that such proprietary claims were not only novel, but also preposterous and inherently at odds with yogic values. This article seeks to interrogate this presumption and, in doing so, trace a longer history through which transnational yogic flows have always-already been haunted by notions of spiritual and economic exchange. Moreover, while the Bikram disputes may have brought proprietary claims in yoga to public attention, this article will demonstrate two things. Firstly, that intellectual property claims of various kinds have been applied to expressions of the practice in the United States since at least 1895. Secondly, despite more than 15 years of active litigation involving Bikram’s claims, certain aspects of the intellectual property issues surrounding his hot yoga practice remain unsettled. In tracing the historical roots of yoga-as-property, the article illustrates how popular understandings and legal logics move in and out of sync with one another and that proprietary claims, once introduced, become virtually inescapable – a spectral presence that continues to trouble the practice as it moves forward into the future.

Book Review: The Third Eye and Other Works: Mahatma Phule’s Writings on Education by Rohini Mokashi-Punekar

The Third Eye and Other Works: Mahatma Phule’s Writings on Education by Rohini Mokashi-Punekar begins with a forward, written by Bhalchandra Nemade, which claims that Phule was a rebel who fought against Brahminical hegemony and their self-made Hindu social order. This book is divided into seven sections, although there are no chapter numbers or an introduction or conclusion, as are typically found in academic texts. The book offers a critical examination of Phule’s original writings and social reform activism in order to comprehend the current educational system and social structure from India’s subaltern class perspective. Historically ingrained social and educational inequality is still persistent in India, which hinders the state’s educational growth of women and lower castes. This book gives a historical analysis of the dilemma of pervasive educational inequality and its effect on society. Punekar (2023) has been chosen as a case study amongst all historical figures in Indian history and discovered that due to his unconventional ideas, real-world actions, first-hand knowledge, and efforts to achieve comprehensive education for all, which makes him unique. The author has presented a critical analysis of the socio-political situation of ‘Shudratishudra’, women, and Muslims based on an analysis of Phule’s original writings. The analysis reveals Brahminical exploitation of these groups as well as how British Administrative policies enabled the Brahmin elites to maintain their hegemony. The book has shed light on the struggles and hardships endured in order to construct his ideal society, known as ‘Balistan’ (p.4-11), which is free from oppression and exploitation but founded on science, reason, equality, and freedom.

PAKISTAN'S DEFENCE IN THE CHANGED SOUTH ASIAN SCENARIO

The month of May 1998, opened a new chapter in the history of South Asia. The test conducted by India totally destabilized the region. Sanity was restored after Pakistan's display of nuclear prowess. However, the strategic outlook had been irrevocably altered in a manner, where-by, two nuclear weapon states are facing each other across contiguous borders. Probably the Indian aim of the Pokhran II initiative was to confirm the development of a bomb design suited for deployment atop the Agni missile. The immediate decision to go ahead could have been spurred by the successful Pakistani test of Ghauri Missile. Another reason was the belief of Hindu leadership, that "nuclear weapons are a symbol of international power and prestige". There is, however, no doubt that the main reason for the Indian initiative was to further her hegemonic designs by acquiring and flaunting the capability. (Vaughn, 2007, January). We must understand the multifarious changes associated with this development and carry out a reappraisal of Pakistan's security considerations. Today, we stand at a crossroads, the decisions taken now would shape our destiny. They would either secure the future of our generations or put them under the constant threat of a holocaust. The changed scenario has amplified existing national security issues such as internal strife in the form of regional and provincialdisputes, acts of terrorism manifested in the form of religious and ethnic divides, economic constraints and lastly, the need for an immediate up-gradation of our conventional military hardware. The defence of the country from internal threats is as important as defence against an external aggressor. While considering security matters, vital national compulsions like Pakistan's support for the Kashmir cause, need to be accorded priority. Pakistan has been able to internationalize the issue. The changed scenario is well suited to keep up the pressure

When the Powerpolis Paused: Representations of Political Trauma of Indian Emergency in Delhi Calm

ABSTRACT Indian emergency is a period that is often counted among the dark days of post-Independent Indian history. Apart from the repeal of fundamental rights, this period also witnessed an autocratic rule by state-aided machinery that mostly affected the underprivileged sections. While censorship prevented narratives of these twenty-one months, literature took up the task of producing counter-narratives of common man’s experiences like slum demolition, mass arrests, curfew and vasectomy. Political trauma related to the period is two-fold; the first one being the trauma of abandonment and second one being the trauma of revelation. The current study proposes to analyze how Vishwajyoti Ghosh’s graphic novel sketches the political trauma of Emergency in Delhi. Referring to Delhi as the Powerpolis and Indira Gandhi as Mother Moon, Ghosh has employed a number of techniques to narrate the tale of silence. With flex boards, newspapers, and slogans lining up the pages, this tale in sepia presents the reader with a rather disturbing version of emergency through the eyes of a group of young activists. The study focuses on Ghosh’s character selection, narrative techniques, caricatures to understand the dynamics of representation and how Ghosh’s choice of graphic medium aptly conveys the trauma of state-aided oppression during times of emergency. Jenny Edkins’ idea of the trauma of betrayal will also be employed to analyze how the autocratic regime destabilized the Indian ideal of a democratic nation.

Somnath Mandir in a play of mirrors: heritage, history, and the search for identity of the new nation (1842–1951)

AbstractThe story of the Somnath temple, in the northwestern Saurashtra peninsula, has often been taken as an example of the contentious legacies of the penetration, settlement, and political establishment of Muslims in India. Its history testifies to the complex relationship between history, heritage, and the consolidation of collective memories of past events and processes.This article focuses on two key moments in the temple's recent history: the retrieval of the Somnath gates by Lord Ellenborough in 1842 and the reconstruction of the temple between 1947 and 1951. At these two moments—one during colonial times and the other at the creation of the independent state—Somnath became the battlefield for questioning how the state should be positioned with regard to religious places, histories, symbols, and practices.While the temple was apparently dealt with as a tangible place of heritage, both episodes show how the value endowed upon the temple had far more complex meanings. The analysis proposed in this article ends with the reconstruction of the temple. This shows the way in which architects of independent India addressed the country's history, directly or indirectly engaging with the construction of a heritage for the new state. Their efforts aimed to strengthen a shared memory of the past, which could in turn consolidate membership and a sense of belonging to the new nation. Advocates and promoters of the temple's reconstruction, among whom were Vallabhbhai Patel and K. M. Munshi, envisioned that the reconstruction would embody the long-awaited liberation of India from centuries of continuous domination by ‘foreign’ powers. In contrast, secular politicians, with Nehru at the helm, opposed the reconstruction, fearing that Somnath might become the symbol of a sectarian vision of the nation and, in the wake of partition, derail efforts to characterise independent India as an inclusive country. While the reconstruction did eventually take place, the entire episode invites us to question the relationship between the framing of Indian nationalism and the heritagisation of Indian history. Following a critical theoretical approach to Heritage studies, where heritage has less to do with the item that is preserved than with the value with which it is endowed, this article proposes to investigate the meanings that heritage preservation, conservation, and reconstruction acquired as part of the project of nation- and state-building.

Locating Kadu in Adivasi portrayals of protected forest areas in Southern India

Globally, Indigenous Peoples are the stewards of a large portion of the global land base, and their interactions and associations with the land have shaped and sustained it for centuries. Yet conservation studies and land management practices still struggle to understand or use Indigenous interpretations of the natural world. In many cases, this perpetuates a colonial sensibility across land use policies, which also dangerously misrepresents Indigenous relationships with that land. This paper focuses on Kattunayakans, a hunter-forager Adivasi (Indigenous) community living within the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, India. Our focus is how they characterize kadu (‘forest’ in Kattunayakan language), both what it is constituted of and what it means from an Adivasi point of view. Using open-ended interviews, transect walks, and spatial mapping we find that for Kattunayakans, the forest is seen as an entity with agency; and a body of discrete biocultural landscape units classified as: a convergence of good places and God people; and a realm of spaces populated by kinfolk with fluid human-and-nonhuman identities that do not follow any physical boundaries of protected areas. This understanding of what a protected area forest is and is comprised of is neither adequately represented and discussed in the history of India's protected areas nor addressed in forest and wildlife management policies and approaches. This is highly consequential for Adivasi communities such as Kattunayakans, who do not have written or material evidence of their productive and historical relationship to forest land. We argue, as well, that when engaged appropriately, Adivasi portrayals of the kadu can bolster equity in land management and strengthen collaborative governance that more broadly advances human rights alongside the goals of biodiversity conservation.

Socio-Political Concerns in the Poems of Faiz Ahmad Faiz: A Select Study

Faiz Ahmad Faiz is one of the most prolific writers in Pakistan, well-known for his poetry collections. He lived during the most crucial period in the history of India and Pakistan. His poems are notable for their aesthetic and artistic values. In the latter part of his literary career, he started incorporating revolutionary ideas in his poems. He is among the most prominent progressive writers who lived during that period. Literature can always be used to influence the common people’s mind. Literature and politics are always interwound with each other. This paper studies the writings of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and brings out how his poems are loaded with political metaphors and foresees how the poet has used radical ideas throughout his writings to kindle the minds of men of the working class and bring about a political change in their society.

GECEYARISI ÇOCUKLARI SALEEM, SHİVA VE PARVATİ'NİN HİNDU MİTOLOJİSİNDEKİ BENZERLİKLERİ

Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, published in 1981, is one of the profound works that sheds light on the history of India and Pakistan. Through the body and narration of the main character Saleem Sinai, the reader witnesses the events that took place in the history of India. Saleem Sinai and other midnight children, born on the night of India’s declaration of independence, correspond to the multicultural nature and polyphony of India. The polyphony which is frequently emphasized in the work, are presented to the reader with various narrative strategies such as magical realism and historical metafiction. In an extraordinary expression of truth, Midnight’s Children also touches upon the mythology of Hindu culture. The most significant names of the Midnight children, Saleem, Shiva, and Parvati are equivalent to the three most peculiar deities of Hindu mythology, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. The existence of these deities is interdependent. In the absence of one, the others cannot exist. Just like Saleem’s wisdom, Shiva’s warrior personality and Parvati’s magic talent complement each other. Within this framework, the study aims to examine the similarity of Saleem, Shiva, and Parvati with Hindu gods and goddesses Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Parvati.

Evolution of Indian Cinema and Its Impact on Indian Culture

Indian cinema has greatly contributed to the globalisation of Indian culture, the world of cinema has seen many changes, this paper will shed some light on the societal impact of Indian cinema. Owing to the enhancement of technology and creativity, cinema has been a major influence on people's world views and perspectives. By examining major Bollywood and Tollywood films, this paper will analyse how Indian cinema has affected the course of Indian history. Moreover, the paper presents what changes have occurred in the opinions of the masses as a result of cinema's impact on Indian culture and society.

Educational Perspective in the Literature of Rashtrasanth Tukdoji Maharaj: A Comprehensive Study

Rashtrasanth Tukdoji Maharaj (1909-1968), a revered figure in Indian history, was not only a spiritual leader but also a prolific writer. His literature, rich in spiritual and social themes, has been a source of inspiration for many. This paper delves into the educational perspective in his literature, highlighting its significance in shaping the educational philosophy in India. His educational perspective, as reflected in his literature, is remarkably relevant in contemporary education. His emphasis on holistic, value-based education aligns with the current educational discourse advocating for a more comprehensive approach to education. His focus on social consciousness and lifelong learning resonates with the 21st-century skills of global citizenship and lifelong learning. Moreover, his advocacy for empowerment through education echoes the global commitment to inclusive and equitable quality education.

Entertaining the Royalty. A forgotten tradition of the Vidushaka in Ancient Indian History

This paper provides an overview of the importance of dwarf figures/jesters in Ancient Indian history and society. There are numerous dwarf-like figures depicted in ancient Indian temples. These little figurines would have not only filled the area and add decorative value but also, they have a small but significant place in iconography. A dwarf-like figure, the Vidushaka, who was a brahmin with a tuft on his head and a staff in his hand, was found on the walls of Ajanta and in the Natyashastra text. His occupation is to light the stressful environment by making the court laughing. It goes without saying how valuable the Vidushaka is as a kind of entertainment in ancient India. The objective of this research is to look at how the Vidushaka (jester) had been contributing to the ‘entertainment industry’ of ancient India and how they have been portrayed through out the history (from ancient to medieval times). This would also allow us to discover that jesters were not only adept at entertaining others with amusing jokes, but also able to express himself on the oddities of human life.

Jawaharlal Nehru’s Vision for Citizen-centric Administration

After Independence from the British rule, India adopted a new Constitution in 1950 framed by the Constituent Assembly. Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister, India followed the path of ‘democratic socialism’ to establish the ‘socialistic pattern of society’. Though Nehru started with a new vision and vigour, yet he was left with a traditional administrative machinery inherited from the colonial era. Nehru wanted to overhaul the Indian Civil Service (ICS) machinery to suit the objectives of new India by making it more citizen-centric and more participatory, and constituted the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in its place. This article tries to outline the vision of Nehru for a citizen-centric public administration. The article analyses the role of the Preamble to the Constitution and Nehru’s Objectives Resolution in defining popular moorings and sanctions for public administration. Delineating major colonial inheritances in the administrative machinery, the article in its later part, analyses Nehru’s thoughts on citizen-centric administration, especially focusing on a human touch in Indian public administration.

Good Queen, Bad Queen: Gender, Devotion, and Mythmaking in Women’s Histories

How do we remember and write about powerful women and the impacts they have had on history? Who tells their stories, and to whose advantage are those narratives constructed? And what happens if we look carefully and acknowledge that when they enter historical narratives, many of these “women” are not adults, but actually relatively young girls? Rani Rasmani Dasi (1793–1861) and Bar-rajā Phuleshwari Kunwari (also known as Phulmati and Pramateshwari) (d. 1731) are each remembered as powerful women influencers of popular religion in South Asia, though in very different ways. These two “queens” were each remarkable women who variously defied, upended, and upheld common assumptions and narratives about caste, gender, power, and religion in Hindu society in early modern India. This study critically investigates the work of Rasmani and Phuleshwari’s many chroniclers, biographers, and hagiographers, questioning received narratives and attempting to construct a glimpse of them as living girls and women. What do we actually know about them, about their activities and motivations? And what can we know, when so much of the evidence is unreliable? Thrust into unfamiliar social, political, and religious environments as young girls, they grew into deeply religious women who used their considerable influence and resources to promote their own visions of divine power. They also became full participants in and beneficiaries of problematic power structures of domination and exploitation. But with closer investigation, it appears that much of what we think we know about these women is incomplete or, in the case of Phuleshwari, completely unreliable.