Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 109-128, June 2023.
Exploring the cordial relationship and mutual respect between Gandhiji and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), this article critically examines the political rhetoric against the RSS and its implications. As a nationalist cultural organisation, the RSS had been well aligned with most of the social and cultural programmes initiated by Gandhiji. When critics of the RSS like Jawaharlal Nehru were keen on crushing the RSS, the truth-seeking political philosopher Gandhiji applauded its discipline, annihilation of untouchability and the rigorous simplicity. This article demonstrates how the serious charges against the RSS that were brought to the notice of Gandhiji by a section of Congress leaders further cemented the cultural grounding of social representations between the two, instead of making Gandhiji be the stranger of the RSS.
Category Archives: Indian Historical Review
Second Urbanisation and the Facets of Socio-economic Change in the Gangetic Valley
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 146-158, June 2023.
The second urbanisation in Indian history coincides with the processes of state formation, expansion of agriculture, spread of iron technology and wet rice cultivation. Needless to say, these together with many other topographical factors accounted for the growth and sustenance of a large number of primary producers who were capable of sustaining another sizeable number of secondary producers, thus acting as a catalyst to the urban social formations after a gap of several centuries since the decline of the urban centres of the mature Harappan phase. This essay is a survey of the historiographic and cultural developments associated with this phase of Indian history.
The second urbanisation in Indian history coincides with the processes of state formation, expansion of agriculture, spread of iron technology and wet rice cultivation. Needless to say, these together with many other topographical factors accounted for the growth and sustenance of a large number of primary producers who were capable of sustaining another sizeable number of secondary producers, thus acting as a catalyst to the urban social formations after a gap of several centuries since the decline of the urban centres of the mature Harappan phase. This essay is a survey of the historiographic and cultural developments associated with this phase of Indian history.
Declaring Dharma Yudhdham: Conservative Reaction Against the Child Marriage Restraint Act in Colonial Andhra, 1928–1938
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 90-108, June 2023.
Hindu women’s marriage reform remained a contentious issue in colonial Andhra. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, popularly known as the Sarda Act, originally fixed the minimum age of marriage of girls and boys at 14 and 18 years, respectively, and thus restrained child marriages. Conservative sections of Andhra society bitterly opposed the Sarda Act. They declared a dharma yudhdham (holy war defending the Hindu religion) on the social reformers, the Congress nationalists and the British government for trying to intrude into the sacred domain of the Hindu family. As they could not stop the Act from being made, they defeated it by making use of the various loopholes present in it. Conservative men mobilised a section of women who took part in the anti-Sarda campaign and agitation. This article is based on a variety of primary sources, especially the woefully neglected conservative journals such as Abhinava Saraswati and Swadharma Prakashini, which undertook a rigorous campaign against the Sarda Act. Pro-reform women’s monthlies such as the Grihalakshmi and newspapers like the Andhra Patrika and Golakonda Patrika, and progressive women’s writings published in contemporary women’s journals are also used.
Hindu women’s marriage reform remained a contentious issue in colonial Andhra. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, popularly known as the Sarda Act, originally fixed the minimum age of marriage of girls and boys at 14 and 18 years, respectively, and thus restrained child marriages. Conservative sections of Andhra society bitterly opposed the Sarda Act. They declared a dharma yudhdham (holy war defending the Hindu religion) on the social reformers, the Congress nationalists and the British government for trying to intrude into the sacred domain of the Hindu family. As they could not stop the Act from being made, they defeated it by making use of the various loopholes present in it. Conservative men mobilised a section of women who took part in the anti-Sarda campaign and agitation. This article is based on a variety of primary sources, especially the woefully neglected conservative journals such as Abhinava Saraswati and Swadharma Prakashini, which undertook a rigorous campaign against the Sarda Act. Pro-reform women’s monthlies such as the Grihalakshmi and newspapers like the Andhra Patrika and Golakonda Patrika, and progressive women’s writings published in contemporary women’s journals are also used.
Imagining the Nation: Rabindranath Tagore and His Quest for Creating a Past
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 7-24, June 2023.
The spread of Western education in Bengal in the wake of British conquest of the province made the province’s literati painfully aware of the contempt with which the new rulers treated them. British portrayal of India as a subjugated country passing from its Muslim conquerors to the British hurt their pride. Their ancient religion came under attack from Christian missionaries for its bigotries and social superstitions. This produced a strong reaction among its leading intellects such as Raja Rammohun Roy, Debendranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, who tried to resuscitate the glory of ancient Indian civilisation by blending them with European ideas of Enlightenment and rationality. Rabindranath Tagore gave a fillip to it by arguing that Indian civilisation did not deserve to be judged by Western yardsticks as it had fixed its ideals in the assimilation of all conflicting influences from outside. India might have been invaded from the outside, but thereafter the invaders always merged with the local people and became India’s own. Therein lay the greatness of Indian civilisation.
The spread of Western education in Bengal in the wake of British conquest of the province made the province’s literati painfully aware of the contempt with which the new rulers treated them. British portrayal of India as a subjugated country passing from its Muslim conquerors to the British hurt their pride. Their ancient religion came under attack from Christian missionaries for its bigotries and social superstitions. This produced a strong reaction among its leading intellects such as Raja Rammohun Roy, Debendranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, who tried to resuscitate the glory of ancient Indian civilisation by blending them with European ideas of Enlightenment and rationality. Rabindranath Tagore gave a fillip to it by arguing that Indian civilisation did not deserve to be judged by Western yardsticks as it had fixed its ideals in the assimilation of all conflicting influences from outside. India might have been invaded from the outside, but thereafter the invaders always merged with the local people and became India’s own. Therein lay the greatness of Indian civilisation.