The criminal tribe in India before the British
01 Apr 2015-Comparative Studies in Society and History (Cambridge University Press)-Vol. 57, Iss: 2, pp 323-354
TL;DR: This paper showed that the idea of castes of congenital robbers was not a British import, but instead a label of much older vintage on the subcontinent, drawing on a selection of precolonial descriptions of robber castes, including Jain, Buddhist and Brahmanic narratives; Mughal sources; and Early Modern European travel accounts.
Abstract: This paper challenges the broad consensus in current historiography that holds the Indian stereotype of criminal tribe to be a myth of colonial making. Drawing on a selection of precolonial descriptions of robber castes—ancient legal texts and folktales; Jain, Buddhist and Brahmanic narratives; Mughal sources; and Early Modern European travel accounts—I show that the idea of castes of congenital robbers was not a British import, but instead a label of much older vintage on the subcontinent. Enjoying pride of place in the postcolonial critics' pageant of “colonial stereotypes,” the case of criminal tribes is representative and it bears on broader questions about colonial knowledge and its relation to power. The study contributes to the literature that challenges the still widespread tendency to view colonial social categories, and indeed the bulk of colonial knowledge, as the imaginative residue of imperial politics. I argue that while colonial uses of the idea of a criminal tribe comprises a lurid history of violence against communities branded as born criminals in British law, the stereotype itself has indigenous roots. The case is representative and it bears on larger problems of method and analysis in “post-Orientalist” historiography.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a research has been done on the essay "Can the Subaltern Speak" by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, which has been explained into much simpler language about what the author conveys for better understanding and further references.
Abstract: In the present paper a research has been done on the essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak’ by’ Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’. It has been explained into much simpler language about what the author conveys for better understanding and further references. Also the criticism has been done by various critiques from various sources which is helpful from examination point of view. The paper has been divided into various contexts with an introduction and the conclusions. Also the references has been written that depicts the sources of criticism.
2,638 citations
01 Jan 2012
643 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe surveillance and communication in early modern India, and the information order, the Rebellion of 1857-9 and pacification of India, c. 1785-1815.
Abstract: List of maps Preface Glossary List of abbreviations Introduction 1. Prologue: surveillance and communication in early modern India 2. Political intelligence and indigenous informants during the conquest of India, c. 1785-1815 3. Misinformation and failure on the fringes of empire 4. Between human intelligence and colonial knowledge 5. The Indian ecumene: an indigenous public sphere 6. Useful knowledge and godly society, c. 1830-50 7. Colonial controversies: astronomers and physicians 8. Colonial controversies: language and land 9. The information order, the Rebellion of 1857-9 and pacification 10. Epilogue: information, surveillance and the public arena after the Rebellion Conclusion: 'knowing the country' Bibliography Index.
401 citations
TL;DR: The Masks of conquest: Literary study and British rule in India as mentioned in this paper, is an example of such a study, with a focus on Indian literature and history of European ideas.
327 citations
TL;DR: Greenblatt as discussed by the authors described the Wonder of the New World as a "magical possession" of the people of the world, and illustrated it with illustrations from the book "Marvelous Possessions".
Abstract: Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. Stephen Greenblatt. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991. xiii + 202 pp. plates, illustrations, notes, index. $24.95 (cloth).ISBN 0–226–30651–8.
124 citations
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Book•
01 Jan 1980
TL;DR: The Eye of Power: A Discussion with Maoists as mentioned in this paper discusses the politics of health in the Eighteenth Century, the history of sexuality, and the Confession of the Flesh.
Abstract: * On Popular Justice: A Discussion with Maoists * Prison Talk * Body/ Power * Questions on Georgraphy * Two Lectures * Truth and Power * Power and Strategies * The Eye of Power * The Politics of Health in the Eighteenth Century * The history of Sexuality * The Confession of the Flesh
15,638 citations
TL;DR: The Pure Products Go Crazy: Discourses 1. On Ethnographic Authority 2. Power and Dialogue in Ethnography: Marcel Griaule's Initiation 3. Displacements 4. On Surrealism 5. A Poetics of Displacement: Victor Segalen 6. Tell about Your Trip: Michel Leiris 7. A Politics of Neologism: Aime Cesaire 8. Histories of the Tribal and the Modern 10. On Collecting Art and Culture Part Four: Histories 11. Identity in Mashpee References Sources Index
Abstract: Introduction: The Pure Products Go Crazy Part One: Discourses 1. On Ethnographic Authority 2. Power and Dialogue in Ethnography: Marcel Griaule's Initiation 3. On Ethnographic Self-Fashioning: Conrad and Malinowski Part Two: Displacements 4. On Ethnographic Surrealism 5. A Poetics of Displacement: Victor Segalen 6. Tell about Your Trip: Michel Leiris 7. A Politics of Neologism: Aime Cesaire 8. The Jardin des Plantes: Postcards Part Three: Collections 9. Histories of the Tribal and the Modern 10. On Collecting Art and Culture Part Four: Histories 11. On Orientalism 12. Identity in Mashpee References Sources Index
4,538 citations
"The criminal tribe in India before ..." refers background in this paper
...3 Salient early critiques include Clifford 1988; O’Hanlon and Washbrook 1992; Thomas 1994; San Juan Jr. 1998; and Young 2002....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, a research has been done on the essay "Can the Subaltern Speak" by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, which has been explained into much simpler language about what the author conveys for better understanding and further references.
Abstract: In the present paper a research has been done on the essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak’ by’ Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’. It has been explained into much simpler language about what the author conveys for better understanding and further references. Also the criticism has been done by various critiques from various sources which is helpful from examination point of view. The paper has been divided into various contexts with an introduction and the conclusions. Also the references has been written that depicts the sources of criticism.
2,638 citations
Book•
11 May 2021
TL;DR: A collection of his essays in the last fifteen years discusses areas in which the colonial impact has generally been overlooked as discussed by the authors, and the essays form an exploration of the ways in which British discovery, collection, and codification of information about Indian project of control and command.
Abstract: This collection of his writings in the last fifteen years discusses areas in which the colonial impact has generally been overlooked. The essays form an exploration of the ways in which the British discovery, collection, and codification of information about Indian project of control and command. He also asserts that an arena of colonial power that seemed most benign and most susceptible to indigenous influences - mostly law - in fact became responsible for the institutional reactivation of peculiarly British notions about how to regulate a colonial society made up of "others". he shows how the very orientalist imagination that led to brilliant antiquarian collections, archaeological finds, and photographic forays were in fact forms of constructing an India that could be better packaged, inferiorized, and ruled. A final essay on cloth suggests how clothes have been part of the history of both colonialism and anticolonialism.
1,124 citations
Additional excerpts
...1 On India, see Cohn 1985; 1996; Inden 1986; 1990; Dirks 1987; 1992a; 1992b; 2001; Prakash 1990; Viswanathan 1990; Metcalf 1994; Teltscher 1995; and Chatterjee 1998....
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