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Showing papers in "Studies in History in 2017"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider epistolary friendships in the fifteenth-century Bahmani Sultanate and focus on letters written by the Bahmanian Vizier, Mahmud Gavan, to distant friends in other parts of the world.
Abstract: This article considers epistolary friendships in the fifteenth-century Bahmani Sultanate. Focusing on letters written by the Bahmani Vizier, Mahmud Gavan, to distant friends in other parts of the P...

16 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors traces the transformation of liquor and industrial alcohol into a commercial product in twentieth-century colonial India and traces the evolution of the manufacturing process of such a product from a craft to a product.
Abstract: This article traces the transformation of liquor and industrial alcohol into a commercial product in twentieth-century colonial India. Liquor (alcoholic beverages for human consumption) remained pr...

5 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A series of conferences that sought to initiate a discussion among historians about the possibilities and strategies for writing the history of friendship in South Asia was held in this paper, where the authors argued that Indian historians and anthropologists have, until recently, been reticent to engage with the theme of friendship despite, as these articles argue, copious evidence suggesting its importance.
Abstract: The articles in this issue grew out of a series of conferences that sought to initiate a discussion among historians about the possibilities and strategies for writing the history of friendship in South Asia.3 The study of the history of human emotions, emotional affiliations and the structures of sociability though which they were articulated in South Asia—whether conceived of as the history of concepts, the history of manners and ethics, the history of affect or the history of ‘private’ or ‘everyday’ life—has been strikingly neglected in Indian historiography. Friendship, in particular, has over the last several decades gained a rich historiography in the fields of US, European and Middle Eastern history.4 Yet, Indian historians and anthropologists have, until recently, been reticent to engage with the theme of friendship despite, as these articles argue, copious evidence suggesting its importance.5 Why historians have been indifferent to the topic of friendship is complex. At a superficial level, it might be argued that such concerns have been considered

4 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article introduced the notion of caste as a category for discussing the history of Partition of India, which until now has focused almost exclusively on the Hindus, Sikhs and the Muslims.
Abstract: The essay introduces caste as a category for discussing the history of Partition of India, which until now has focused almost exclusively on the Hindus, Sikhs and the Muslims. The Dalit or the ‘unt...

4 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article argued that the languages of loyalty and affiliation that marked public and formal relations of service and hierarchy in medieval India, though traditionally understood as thinly veile, were not veiles.
Abstract: This article argues that the languages of loyalty and affiliation that marked public and formal relations of service and hierarchy in medieval India, though traditionally understood as thinly veile...

3 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the illustrative animal stories of the Sanskrit anthology Hitopadeśa (800-950 CE) are used as metaphors for individuals who must find a balance between their natural dispositions and cultivated aspirations.
Abstract: What did friendship mean in the shifty landscape of politics in medieval India? This article seeks to answer this question by looking at the illustrative animal stories of the Sanskrit anthology Hitopadeśa (800–950 CE). As a text belonging to the nīti genre, the Hitopadeśa emulates the Pancatantra (300 CE) and reiterates the following significant thought in Indian political wisdom: As an affective relationship, friendship provides a vital ground for the political and ethical progress of an individual. It also conveys that precisely because of its emotional content, friendship can also turn into a source of deception and treachery. We will see how the animals appearing in the Hitopadeśa act as perfect metaphors for individuals who must find a balance between their natural dispositions and cultivated aspirations as they navigate the terrain of friendship. We will also read about the diverse markers of friendship as well as the circumstances under which strangers become friends and friends become enemies. Ab...

2 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored whether the concept of "friendship" is a useful and basic category for the analysis of South Asian history, starting with a variety of characteristics of relationships that can be found in South Asian relationships.
Abstract: This article explores whether the concept of ‘friendship’ is a useful and basic category for the analysis of South Asian history. It begins with a variety of characteristics of relationships that s...

2 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Pallava statecraft in South India revolved largely around the practice of making land grants to brāhmaṇa beneficiaries between the fourth and sixth centuries ce as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Between the fourth and sixth centuries ce, Pallava statecraft in South India revolved largely around the practice of making land grants to brāhmaṇa beneficiaries. These activities were concentrated...

2 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Singh as discussed by the authors, The Idea of Ancient India: Essays on Religion, Politics and Archaeology, SAGE Publications, New Delhi, 2016, xlii + 436 pp.,₹1250.
Abstract: Upinder Singh, The Idea of Ancient India: Essays on Religion, Politics and Archaeology, SAGE Publications, New Delhi, 2016, xlii + 436 pp.,₹1250.

1 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the journey of the intimate companionship between a concubine and a Rajput ruler in the late eighteenth-century kingdom of Marwar in western India is described.
Abstract: This article maps the journey of the intimate companionship between a concubine and a Rajput ruler—Gulabrai and Vijay Singh, respectively—in the late eighteenth-century kingdom of Marwar in western...

1 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Ranjeeta Dutta, From Hagiographies to Biographies: Rāmānuja in Tradition and History, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2014, xii + 246 pp., ₹895.
Abstract: Ranjeeta Dutta, From Hagiographies to Biographies: Rāmānuja in Tradition and History, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2014, xii + 246 pp., ₹895.Bharati Jagannathan, Approaching the Divine: The Inte...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the various strands of intervention in the discourse regarding artisanal skill formation in colonial India, especially in the pre-First World War period, focusing on two im...
Abstract: This article discusses the various strands of intervention in the discourse regarding artisanal skill formation in colonial India, especially in the pre-First World War period. It focuses on two im...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A brief study of four female characters (a pair of daughters and a pair of mothers) who gave voice to the majority of the poems in the Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, an Old Tamil anthology of love poet is presented in this paper.
Abstract: This article is a brief study of four female characters—a pair of daughters and a pair of mothers—who give voice to the majority of the poems in the Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, an Old Tamil anthology of love poet...