🎓 Akansha Singh (PhD scholar, Department of History, Ashoka University)

Voices from the Margins: Afghan Women Saints and the Narratives of Resistance

Throughout history, women have found only marginal mentions in most official records, courtly literature, and other forms of documentation. Men held most of the power and authority in most societies, which meant they controlled the way stories were told and histories were written. Because of this, the contributions, experiences, and perspectives of women were frequently ignored or dismissed in these writings. For example, we know very little about the contributions of women made to Islamic mysticism, or Sufism. One faces great challenges while trying to write a history of Sufi women in medieval and early-modern times because they are rarely mentioned in important historical sources. This neglect is also evident in the case of early modern Afghan women saints. The lives and contributions of these women Sufi figures remain largely ignored or underrepresented. This presentation aims to bring out this under-explored history of the marginalised yet important Afghan women Sufi saints. I will study their beliefs, thoughts, and spiritual practices, delving into how they navigated their social lives, interactions, and interpersonal relationships. I will do this by closely examining the understudied seventeenth century text Taʾrīkh-i Ḵẖān Jahānī wa Makhzan-i Afghānī (The History of Khan Jahan and the Treasury of the Afghans). This paper will look at how Afghan women approached, understood, and practiced Sufism. It will also look at how the spiritual practices and teachings of these women saints served as acts of resistance against the dominant religious and social norms of their time.

 🎓 Akhil AR (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Gifts, Diplomacy, and Power: European Treatises and Local Dynamics on he Coromandel Coast

The region of Coromandel coast and its adjacent areas, a vital hub of European trade during the 17th and 18th centuries, witnessed a lot of political transformations. Key political shifts such as the fall of Vijayanagar kingdom and the Bahmani sultanate, the emergence of polities such as Bijapur, Golconda, Thanjavur, Gingee, Madurai and Ramnadu. These transformations were reflected in the treaties made by the European companies of the period. The character of these treaties were unique. Some of them mirrored the local political cultures and customs, along with trade interests and cross-cultural connections which shaped the region’s dynamics. And some treaties portrayed the changes in the polity and its consequences and some reflected the economic situations and the privileges granted to various parties that were signatories of the treaties. For instance, the negotiations between the Dutch East India company (VOC) and the nayak of Gingi; Krishnappa describes the privileges enjoyed by the VOC with respect to commerce in the region ( Diplomaticum Corpus, I, 363). These negotiations were not limited to mere political and economic aspects but also reflected the diplomacy perceived and practiced by the VOC and EIC in the region. A major aspect of diplomacy was the practice of gifts between officials, administrators and mediators. For instance, how the Dutch presented a variety of gifts to the king of Golconda, Abdullah Hassan Qutb Shah in 1676, which led to the continuation of royal grants and privileges enjoyed by the VOC on the northern Coromandel coast (Corpus, III, 60). These firmans pointed out how powerful these local rulers were as they acted more than passive recipients of gifts.

This act of gift diplomacy persuaded by the VOC, generated a discussion among the English East India company (EIC) officials to persuade the local rulers and be in their good book, which had been recorded in the Fort St George consultations. Thus, a gift in the 17th and 18th century Coromandel meant more than an object and had different dimensions including that of diplomacy and a custom. The act of diplomacy too spanned beyond the official apparatus of the ruling elite to the local levels. This was reflected in the various items that were given as ‘presents’ and ‘tasheriffs’ in the region. Most of the ‘presents’ consisted of textiles and glasses, which were produced by craftsmen of different areas. Hence this paper is an attempt to understand how diplomatic practices like gift giving and treaty making in the 17th and 18th century Coromandel shaped political alliances and impacted local economies, with the help of VOC and EIC records. Through VOC and EIC records, it highlights the subtle yet lasting impacts of these practices on local craftsmanship, as well as the economic and social networks they forged.

 🎓 Anas Zaman (PhD scholar, Department of History, University of Delhi)

Chronicling ‘Ālamgīr’s Reign: The Narrative of Mughal Munshī Bhimsen

This paper explores the memoir Nuskha-i Dilkushā by Bhimsen, a Mughal Munshī during ‘Ālamgīr’s reign. Written during his retirement, the text offers a vivid and independent portrayal of Mughal governance, particularly in the Deccan. Bhimsen’s account stands apart from official court narratives, providing a critical perspective on statecraft and the lived experience of those within the empire. Far from being a passive observer, Bhimsen’s active role in administration positioned him as an agent of governance. Unlike prevailing historiography, which often reduces him to a Khānazād (hereditary servant), a soldier, or a Waqāʼiʻ-Nawīs (Imperial news-writer), this paper foregrounds his multifaceted identity as a Munshī. Bhimsen’s dual expertise as both a master of the pen (ṣāḥib-i qalam) and a master of the sword (ṣāḥib-i saif) underscores the integral role such figures played in the Mughal administrative system. In contrast to elite Munshīs like Chandrabhan Brahman, who operated from positions of power, Bhimsen’s narrative reflects the perspective of those in subordinate roles outside the imperial court. Nuskha-i Dilkushā also challenges simplistic narratives of ‘Ālamgīr’s reign, moving beyond dichotomies of secular versus religious or orthodox versus pietistic rule. It demarcates the pluralistic and cosmopolitan nature of the Mughal Empire, where governance was shaped by personal networks, loyalty and mobility. Bhimsen’s detailed observations emphasise the importance of patron-client relationships, the flow of information, and the interplay between personal and professional ties in maintaining political stability. By examining Bhimsen’s writings, this paper sheds light on the dynamic and interconnected nature of Mughal administration, revealing how networks of dependence and negotiation facilitated both individual advancement and the broader functioning of the state during ‘Ālamgīr’s reign.

 🎓 Ansil K.M (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Dreams and Spiritual Blessings: Legitimizing Power in Medieval Deccan

This paper examines how dreams, divine interventions, spiritual blessings and associations with Sufi saints were strategically employed to construct political authority and legitimacy in the post-Bahmani kingdoms. This study is based on the analysis of three important chronicles from medieval Deccan: Farishta's Tarikh-i Firishta, An anonymous account of Tarikh-i Sultan Muhammed Qutb Shah and Rafiuddin Shirazi's Tadkirat-ul Muluk. These chronicles provide insights into the ways in how spiritual enchantments were infused into political authority, focusing on rulers acting under divine guidance directed by sacred dreams and spiritual blessings. This paper will be divided into two parts. The first section will discuss the theoretical question of dreams and spiritual enchantments. The second part will examine the literary narrations and how these narrations connect these Sultans to the larger Persian cosmopolis.

The first part deals with the critical question of whether dreams, divine blessings, and spiritual interventions can be considered authentic historical sources. If so, this study examines the complications of integrating these elements into historical practices. This section draws on the works of scholars like Azfar Moin, who argued that the Dreams and Spiritual blessings of Sufis are a literary device, and also part of the lost intellectual wisdom. Additionally, this section aims to understand why the Persian historical accounts mention these dreams and blessings so often. Mimi Hanaoka argued that dreams and blessings functioned as mechanisms to bypass traditional structures of Islamic authority, which are usually based on genealogies. Unlike that, these spiritual endorsements were much more fluid and accessible ways of legitimacy.

The second part of this paper analyses the narrations from medieval Deccan and how these literary narratives attempt to become part of a larger Persian cosmopolis and spiritual network. The repeated theme in these chronicles is the tormented childhood and hardship faced by the rulers, often characterized by exile and wandering through Central Asia plains and Persia lands before reaching the new abode of peace, the Deccan. However, interestingly, all these narratives assert the royal lineage of these rulers. Ultimately, their exile is complemented by their spiritual encounters with Sufis, which serve as turning points in their life. Farishta and Rafiuddin Shirazi, though they have different descriptions, constantly underline the role of spiritual interventions in their legitimacy for power and authority. For example, Yusuf Adil Shah was granted blessings from Sheikh Safi-ud-din and another dream visit from the prophet Khilr. In Sultan Quli's narrative, a blessing from one of the disciples of Shah Ni'matullah. Both of these are presented as divine affirmations of their right to rule and legitimize their authority in Deccan.

Interestingly, this paper shows that these chronicles focus on the connections of the rulers with Persian spiritual networks rather than local Indian Sufi traditions. This choice reflects an attempt to position themselves within a larger Persian cosmopolis, giving the prestige and spiritual endorsement rather than relying on mere local Sufi traditions. As Muzaffar Alam rightly pointed out, "the adoption of Persian went beyond mere linguistics, encompassing a set of narratives, aesthetics, and political thought that shaped the rulers' self-presentation and governance." In conclusion, I argue that these spiritual endorsements through dreams and blessings were not rhetorical tools but played a crucial role in constructing and legitimizing political power in the medieval Deccan.

 🎓 Arkadeb Bhattacharya (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Between Household and State: Narrativizing Mughal Empire in Eighteenth-Century Bengal

Bengal, in the eighteenth century, went through two consecutive political transitions. In the first half of the century, the province became gradually independent of Mughal control, followed by the formation of a colonial polity in the latter half. The virtually independent nizamat of Bengal, positioned in-between these two political regimes, contributed to a reshuffle of existing political and economic relations, empowering regional landholding and financial groups. Kshitīśavaṃśāvalīcaritam, a genealogy of the zamindar family of Nadia (southwestern Bengal), composed in Sanskrit in mid eighteenth century, is taken up for scrutiny in this paper. The changing fortune of the family from early seventeenth century onwards has been narrated here. Employed initially as a qānungo in the Mughal pargana of Satgaon, a seventeenth century predecessor of the family utilized his networks in Mughal administration to acquire a zamindari. In early eighteenth century, it was one of the four largest revenue paying zamindaris of the province.

This paper examines how the genealogy represented the Mughal state of the seventeenth century as a politico-cultural as well as moral entity, illuminating further on how political and historical memories were shaped in mid eighteenth century Bengal. While zamindars were employed into the Persianate imperial administration as a revenue paying official, they were also patrimonial lords of the local brahmanical societies. The confrontation between these two roles— understood through a binary trope of Persianate and Brahmanical cultures— remained one of the central components of this genealogy. Interestingly, Man Singh, a Hindu general who climbed through the ladder of Mughal administration, and was once posted in Bengal, served as a emulation worthy figure for the family. He was fictionalized and thus memorialized into a figure who mediated between the Persian empire and local brahmanical society, also empowering the family central to the genealogy.

However, this memorialization did not appear in a vacuum. Following the decline of a centralized Mughal administration, regional landholding and financial groups of Bengal consolidated their power within the nizamat state structure. Since 1740s, the failure of the provincial nazim against Maratha raids, and his increasing demand for revenues to feed the ongoing battle, created tensions between the provincial state and regional elites. As the state was significantly weakened, there emerged a cultural vacuum where Mughal state, long lost in terms of political control, could have been reimagined within local diacritics. Thus, this paper simultaneously traces a process political memorialization, and contextualize it historically.

 🎓 Bharat Yadav (PhD scholar, SOITS, IGNOU)

Politics in Epic Orality: Ideas of Political Processes and Identity Formations in Dhola-Maru ra duha 

Dhola Maru ra Duha is a romance set in Western India, and has a rich oral tradition spread over parts of Northern India, as well as a literary tradition limited largely to Rajasthan. The romance deals with the separation and later unification of Dhola, the prince of Narwar and Marwani, the princess of Pugal. The narrative follows Dhola’s journey through Puga to get his beloved back to Narwar. The article looks at the close relationship between literature, space and politics in the narrative of Dhola-Maru ra Duha. Looking at the literary culture of Dhola-Maru, the article first looks at how a regional space of Maru-desh is defined through discourses of regionality spread throughout the narrative through the characters and the interactions between them. The paper also explores the kinds of political actions that the text explores within the larger political space in which the story of Dhola-Maru is situated. The paper argues that the narrative promotes a sort of political pragmatism within the space of its narrative. One way in which it does so is through the idea of marriage alliances which was a popular form of political action in the region, but also through the idea of an avoidance of conflict as opposed to the more popular political idea defined by the Rajput martiality in the region.

 🎓Bhavyansh Mathur (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Construction of a Linguistic Cosmopolis in Medieval Western India

The greatest moment of cultural transformation in medieval India was the emergence of various vernaculars or regional speeches for socio-political, cultural, and religious expressions. This phenomenon of vernacularisation was thus, so unique, that it led to the conceptualisation of various ‘vernacular polities’ that deliberately intended to mark a distinction with the cosmopolitan political and cultural edifices of the past. The creation of ‘vernacular’ regions or polities did not lead to the elimination of the possibility of a trans-regional linguistic cosmopolis. Western India, roughly constituting modern-day Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Western Madhya Pradesh (Mālwā) became a site for the emergence of a trans-regional linguistic cosmopolis in medieval India. The paper intends to discuss the various factors- political, social, economic, religious, and others, that elevated Rajasthani and its literary tradition to a trans-regional status in the region that I describe as, Western India (athāņādesā). Why Western India became a site for such trans-regional expressions and articulations will be taken up in the paper methodically through the following set of questions: one, the role of various dynasties in the conceptualization, construction, and participation in this linguistic cosmopolis; second, the role of various social communities- their migrations and institutions in literary production, reproduction, and circulation; third, how were the concepts of region- political, linguistic and cultural being conceptualized by various precolonial Rajasthani sources, and fourth, the use of this linguistic cosmopolis to effectively transmit the ethics of Rajput polity. The first section of the paper will briefly elucidate the processes of vernacularisation in Rajasthan, to help contextualize the intersection of linguistic, political, and social trajectories in medieval Rajasthan and Gujarat. The second section shall vividly discuss the phenomenon of Rajput polity in medieval Western India and how that might have contributed to the expansion of literary Rajasthani as first, a regional language and later as a cosmopolitan language. A distinct linguistic identity was constructed and asserted as certain sources such as Sagatrāsō and Chittor Udēpūr rō Pātnāmō indicate wherein the ruler is represented as a patron and an active participant in the expansion of the vernacular (desabhāshā). The conscious ‘othering’ of those who don’t speak the desabhāsa as yavana (hamtimkaritahyavana) is intriguing and reflects on the strong perception of the regional polity, as a ‘vernacular polity.’ This linguistic cosmopolis, as I shall argue in the second section, was not restricted to the use of the standard literary language, rather it was the expansion of literary styles, ‘normatives’ of writing, and genres, that made this ‘interaction’ significantly cosmopolitan. Various genres of the Rajasthani literary and historical tradition, such as khyāt, vāt, vigat, kundaliyā, rāsō, and chandā expanded and gained prominence from the coastal plains of Sorāth of Kāthiāwār to the wastelands of Jāngaļ in Northern Thar. ‘Textualization’ of various performative narrations, in the form of chandā and gīt/ gēū in the sixteenth and seventeenth century by communities that were traditionally, not considered to be part of the socio-textual edifice, also began actively engaging in the process of writing, thus implying its growing participants. The process of production, reproduction, and networks of circulation will highlight the nuances of this new linguistic market, that offered opportunities to articulate, not only to the authors but the audiences in this cosmopolis. The paper shall terminate with an inquiry into how this desābhāsā was seen as the language through which the ‘Rajput ethics’, a concept elaborated by John D Smith and Janet Kamphrost, could be transmitted. The Sanskritic and Persianate styles of producing normative texts had a significant influence on how the ideals of Rajput ethic were being articulated. Copying and circulation of texts such as Dhāndhlā ri khyāt, Hālā Jhālā rā kundaļiyā and Pābujiprakāsa along with certain sati and jhunhār stones in Western India indicate, the idea of kingship and social ethics that the rulers wanted to convey across their domains and the excessive usage of the desabhāshā in such efforts, will lead the inquiry into unfolding the socio-political, cultural and ideological idioms of the language, conceived by the ruling elites.

 🎓 Bidisha Sengupta (PhD scholar, Department of History, Ashoka University)

Political Norms and Practices: An Interpretation of Mirza Nathan’s Baharistan-i-Ghaybi

In this paper, I will study the norms and practices of Mughal mansabdars through a critical analysis of Mirza Nathan’s voice in the text Baharistan-i-Ghaybi. This text was written by Nathan and completed in 1632. Nathan was one of Jahangir’s khanazads and a high-ranking mansabdar posted in Bengal under the successive subadari of Islam Khan (1608-13), Qasim Khan (1613-17), and Ibrahim Khan (1617-24). Baharistan is the only contemporary and detailed account of the period it records. It highlights the political condition of seventeenth-century Bengal, Assam, and Kuch Bihar, and the struggles involved in the imperial conquest of a frontier region. My paper will specifically, look at Baharistan as a lens into the world of Nathan, Mughal mansabdars, and the empire. This will also serve as an entry point to analyze whether the political and cultural meaning of Mughal norms evolved or remained intact as the mansabdars navigated the crossroads of conflicting loyalties and imperial discipleship in a region that was politically in flux during this period under study. I will also examine the broader institution of the Mughal mansabdars and their roles entwined between norms and practices. I will do so from Nathan’s standpoint as a mansabdar and from his perspective on certain practices such as gestures and etiquette, compliance and deviations, etc. Lastly, I will study how Baharistan can be read to reconstruct the idea of the Mughal empire and its code of behaviour outside the core, that is, in the regional pockets such as Bengal. In sum, this paper will allow us to understand the meanings of imperial norms and practices through a text that can be read as an invaluable compendium of useful information about the ethos of the Mughal mansabdars who were at the center of the expansion and consolidation of Mughal imperial power in early modern Bengal.

🎓 Deeplakshmi Saikia (PhD scholar, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Power, Prestige and Entangled Destinies: Elephant-Monarch Relationship in the Hastīvidyārṇava Manuscript

The Hastīvidyārṇava is an illustrated manuscript based on elephantology dated 1734 CE from Assam. It was made under the patronage of the Āhom rulers- king Śiva Singha and queen Ambikā Devi, and at the hands of the scribe Sukumār Barkaith, and the artists, Dilbar and Dosāi. Beginning with a mythical origin attributed to both the animal and the treatise, the text goes on to talk about the anatomy and physiology of elephants, their psychology, diet, growth and development, diseases and treatment. However, although based primarily on elephant science and elephant lore, the manuscript also serves as a testimony to Āhom court culture in medieval Assam, the contemporaneous religious beliefs and mythology, and the relationship between kingship and the elephant. The proposed paper will attempt to look at this particular close relationship between the Āhom monarch and the elephant as can be gleaned from the Hastīvidyārṇava manuscript. Moreover, the manuscript does not only shed light upon this human-animal relationship at a particular time, but is also a reflection of the desire to have such a relationship, despite the demands that each placed on the other. It challenges the ideas of who does, to whom things are done, and whether such clear dichotomies can even be made. Primarily by examining the Hastīvidyārṇava, but also in consultation with the Āhom buranjīs, the proposed paper will show how the elephant and the Āhom monarch affected each other politically, socially, culturally, and ecologically in complex ways. The paper will highlight how humans and non-humans have historically interacted as fellow world-makers and shaped the conditions and possibilities of each other’s lives, even if consent was not mutual and the dynamics of their relationship were not symmetrical.

🎓 Dickson Mangsatabam (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Between Accommodation and Authority: Negotiating Pangal Identity and Agency under Meitei Kingship, 1606-1798

This research examines the diverse conduits through which a body of Muslim settlers, known locally as Pangals, from pre-colonial Bengal and mainland India, forged a distinct Muslim identity and effected inter-spatial exchanges in seventeenth-eighteenth-century Manipur. While these interactions may have reflected the aspirations of the Pangals, the processes unfolded within a spatiotemporal framework shaped by Meitei monarchs. Against this backdrop, this research explores the complex dynamics between accommodation and authority toward the Pangals under Meitei kingship in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Multiple episodes of Pangals negotiating and exercising agency within a pervasive culture of state-sponsored labour exploitation have been examined by contextualising them within the constantly evolving Meitei kingship. These episodes raise questions about whether the Meitei crown sought to cultivate a cadre of battle-seasoned Pangal loyalists within the predominantly Meitei military. Within the larger multi-pronged process of forging Pangal identity and negotiating agency, individual redefinitions of the family and group identity of the Pangals manifested in unique ways, shaped by their navigation of the constantly evolving Meitei kingship. This paper explores the potential naming politics involved in this process, wherein Meitei monarchs devised the local Meitei naming convention to locate the Pangals within the local socio-cultural context.

🎓 Fathima Rajila KV (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Cooks, Servants and Leftover Eaters: Food, Gender and Domesticity in Pre-Modern Kerala

The present paper explores the intricate intersections of food, gender, and domesticity in Pre-modern Kerala, revealing how culinary practices reinforced patriarchal norms and gender hierarchies. This paper investigates the gender norms associated with food preparation, and consumption, highlighting the complex link between societal expectations of ideal womanhood and domestic responsibilities like cooking and household chores. Additionally it examines the social stigmatization of women who transgressed domestic boundaries and came to the public sphere. Furthermore, it explores the distinction between domestic and professional public cooking, examining how labour was perceived differently based on gender. The study also addresses the paradox of women’s exclusion from feasts and public commensal events despite their central role in domestic food preparation. Drawing from a diverse range of historical sources-including Maṇipravāḷam literature, early Malayāḷam literature, oral and folk traditions and foreign accounts this study examines the gendered dimensions of food and domesticity in Pre-modern Kerala, from the 12 th to the 18 th century C.E.

🎓 Gayathri Devi S (PhD scholar, Department of History, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala)

Between Kingdoms: The role of elephants in princely Travancore's diplomatic landscape 

In early-modern diplomacy, the exchange of animals, particularly exotic and majestic species, often symbolized power and prestige. Their rarity and unique qualities elevated the status of the giver in diplomatic exchanges, serving as political and economic tools. The princely state of Travancore in southern India was no exception to this global phenomenon. Like much of the world before the late nineteenth century, diplomatic relationships in Travancore were often cemented through gifts, with elephants playing a central role in these interactions. Gifting live elephants and elephant-derived commodities helped solidify alliances, foster political relationships, and secure strategic support, especially during times of vulnerability. By focusing on Travancore's elephant diplomacy, this paper highlights the broader significance of animals in constructing power and identity in pre-modern and early modern South Asia. The exchange of elephants was not just a practical or economic activity but one deeply entwined with notions of kingship, divine authority, and political strategy. This exploration of Travancore's elephant diplomacy provides insights into the entanglement of human and non-human actors in statecraft, showing how animals served as essential instruments in shaping diplomatic and cultural landscapes. Through this lens, the study underscores the profound connections between animal symbolism and statecraft, illustrating how the elephant became vital instruments in the diplomatic toolkit of the Travancore rulers, intricately linking the realms of nature and politics in princely India. The central research questions guiding this study include: How did the gifting of elephants facilitate diplomatic relationships between Travancore and its contemporary powers? What were the cultural and political implications of using elephants in this capacity? How did the role of elephants in diplomacy evolve in response to changing political landscapes? Finally, what were the ritualistic and ceremonial dimensions of elephant gifting, and how did they reinforce political and cultural identity in Travancore? The study draws on primary sources, such as Travancore government department files, Gazettes, Manuals and Devaswom archives, and secondary historical analyses to answer these questions.

🎓 Govardhan N (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Hunting, Martial Culture and Ritual- Traditions : A reading of the text Nayattuvidhi

The present paper deals with a Malayalam palm leaf-text named Nayattuvidhi or the manual of hunting. The study attempts to locate the text within the martial culture and political ideologies of the pre-colonial Kerala as well as the broader South Asian context. Nayattuvidhi is a unique primary source that throws light on various normative and ritualistic aspects of hunting as it was in vogue among the warrior groups of the 18th century Kerala, especially Northern Malabar were the text was composed. The study examines the text in detail and gleans out the shreds of historical information embedded within. It points out that the warrior-hunter ritual described in the text is a vernacular form of Mrigayotsava, a hunting-ritual prescribed in Sanskrit normative texts and performed as a symbol of kingship and warriorhood, especially during the heydays of the Vijayanagara Empire. The vernacularization of Sanskrit warrior-hunter rituals through textual traditions and production of manuals like Nayattuvidhi represent the juncture were the Nairs, the major warrior class in Kerala began modelling their self-identity in lines of the Sanskritic normative traditions. Thus, Nayattuvidhi is an important source that speaks self identity from the perspective of martial classes of pre-colonial Kerala, similar to the more famous text Keralolpatti. Apart from rituals, the study also points out the influence of hunting on all aspects of warfare in Kerala; the mode of fighting, the notions of ideal warriorhood as well as the social memory of warrior groups.

🎓 Heena Goswami (PhD scholar, Department of History, University of Delhi)

Eighteenth Century Regional Political Formations and the Shifts in the Norms of Civility: Courtly Conduct and Etiquette in Rai Mansa Ram's Zawabit-i-Asaf Jah

In this proposed paper, I would be interested in examining the shifts in the norms of civility and deportment following the decline of the Mughal empire and its replacement with regional political alignments. Focusing on the state of Hyderabad, I would look at the court culture in the regional kingdom, and the extent of its distinctiveness and distance from the imperial court culture under the Mughals. Since these regional states had emerged in the eighteenth century in the context of the emergence of new social classes, it is instructive to see how their political resilience reflected in the shifts in, and prompted the development of new norms, values and etiquette. ‘Revisionist’ historians on 18th century India point out the dependance of the regional kingdoms on the support of merchants and service gentry; their studies indicate the political participation of merchant communities, seeking to transform their material resources into shares in sovereignty and political authority. How did these socio-political changes impinge on the norms of civility, and facilitated the development of new norms and values in the 18th century? The primary text that I propose to study for this paper is Zawabit-i-Asaf Jah, a manual on court etiquette, embodying norms of courtly dress and behavior during the regime of Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah. The manual authored by Rai Mansa Ram in Persian was completed in 1175 AH (1761-62 AD) and provides us a glimpse into the norms of civility and ethics in the newly established kingdom and provides interesting details on the nature of sovereignty and its relationship with nobility.

🎓 Kajri Raymahasay (PhD scholar, Department of History, University of Delhi)

A Literary-Historical Exploration of Rural Rarh

The Shibsankirtankavya is a mangalkavya that is also part of a larger corpus of popular ‘loukik’ (folk) poems composed about the deity Shiva. The kavya doesn’t include an account of any politically relevant contemporary event, which is the primary reason why it has been neglected by historians to a great extent as a source of Bengal’s history. However, it is replete with an in-depth understanding of the contemporary social and economic conditions of the region of Rarh or western Bengal in the early eighteenth century. The descriptions of an intoxicated and beggarly Shiva’s transition into the role of an agrarian householder; the skirmishes within the God’s household, between the spouses (Shiva and Parvati), reflect a very crude description of early modern rural life. Such humanised depictions of the deities highlight the interdependence of the agrarian and fishing economies within the region. Set in the rural backdrop of 18 th century Rarh (western) Bengal, the primary theme recognized in this paper is that of agrarian expansion, an ongoing process that was initiated centuries before the composition of the Shibsankirtan. Apart from official records, contemporary anthropological surveys too serve as a useful source for understanding both the nature and purpose of the verse narrative. The patron of the text, a zamindar, utilises the didactic nature of the performative mangalkavyas to communicate with his subjects, his source of revenue, in prioritising the aim of maximising revenue-extraction and the setting up of a social and moral order that is conducive for the expansion and effective fruition of the agrarian process.

🎓 Karil Soral (PhD scholar, Department of History, Ashoka University)

Wrestling with Norms of Political and Spiritual Authority in Peshwa Territories:  Mallari and the Mallāri-Māhātmya, c. 1768

This paper explores the nature and understandings of history and social change in eighteenth-century Western India through the theme of wrestling. In doing so, it focuses on studying the narrative of the Mallāri-Māhātmya compiled near Pune in c. 1768. Belonging to the Sanskritic genre of ‘glorification narratives’, this work eulogizes Mallari (also known as Khandoba), a localized avatar of Shiva and his war and eventual victory over the wrestler-king Malla, and his brother Mani. The paper studies the narrative of this text to illustrate how it was used to articulate temporal shifts in the concept of wrestling and especially the idea of a wrestler as unethical and immoral being. These shifts were derived from the historical processes taking place within the territories of the increasingly brahmanical Maratha Peshwas and their patronage of the brahmana-wrestlers, the Jyesthimallas, during the 1760s. This period witnessed the defeat of the Maratha Peshwas in Panipat in 1761 and increasing political and territorial challenges mounted on them in Pune, as the centre of Maratha polity shifted northwards. This paper seeks to historicize and contextualize the shifts pertaining to the theme of wrestler and to engage with these historical processes. In doing so, the paper shows how the victory of an inherently anti-brahmanical warrior god-king Mallari represented a victory of the warring ‘Marathas’ over the unethical, corrupt, and immoral wrestlers the Jyesthimallas and the brahmanical Peshwa body-politic. In other words, through the figure of Mallari, the narrative of the Mallāri-Māhātmya, sought to rework the notions of political and spiritual authority vis-à-vis the Peshwas.

🎓 Nandita Goswami (PhD scholar, Department of History, Ashoka University)

Horses in a Normative Treatise in Early Modern Assam

The roles of elephants and horses have garnered considerable scholarly attention in the formation and expansion of medieval and early modern polities in South Asia. In the context of Assam, elephants are particularly prominent. They were abundant in the dense forests of Assam. Horses are seldom associated with this region despite their presence in elite textual and non-textual records. Modern historiography of medieval and early modern South Asia focuses on the import of horses that arrived in the Indian subcontinent via overland and maritime trade routes from Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, respectively. It overlooks the presence, role, supply, and availability of horses in eastern and northeastern regions of India. This paper argues that horses were present and important between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries in Assam. The paper utilises an anonymously written didactic horse treatise titled Ghora Nidan, written in old Assamese, to explore the interdependence between horses and humans in Assam in the early modern period. The paper foregrounds how the author constructs expertise on horses and for whose consumption. It also uses some Assamese court chronicles to complement the normative horse treatise. In doing so, it discusses the various material and symbolic roles horses performed in the lives of Tai-Ahom courtly elites. This paper brings Assam into the fold of equine practices, despite its traditional association with elephants. It contributes to our comprehension of the region's historical context and broader equestrian practices in medieval and early modern South Asia.

🎓 Nataliya Singh (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

The Politics of Patronage: The evolving relationship of the Western Himalayan Kingdoms of Chamba and Basohli with the Mughal Empire, 17th -18th Centuries CE

In the sixteenth century, not unlike most Western Himalayan hill kingdoms, there were no ‘wild’ or ‘virgin’ lands for the hill kingdoms of Chamba and Basohli to annex to their territories. Any attempt to extend the frontiers necessarily meant expanding into the neighbouring kingdom. These rulers with expansionary designs competed with each other, not just in the physical realm of land and boundaries, but also in their ideals of kingship, both attempting to present themselves as being favoured by the imperial Mughals through visual depictions in paintings as well as in vernacular narratives. This paper attempts to understand the complex relationships shared between the hill kingdoms, amongst themselves, as well as with the imperial Mughals and to look for causes for conflict and conciliation amongst these kingdoms, as well as their engagement with and perception of the imperial Mughals. By placing together vernacular narratives, paintings and documentary evidence, this paper attempts to give an insight into the politics of diplomacy and patronage, of medieval Western Himalayan kingdoms. The paper focuses on the relationship these kingdoms shared with the imperial Mughals and looks into whether the empire was aggressively making in- roads into these kingdoms or was it the kingdoms that were bringing the empire into intra-regional politics.

🎓 Nitika Sharma (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Interactions and Intersections: Tracing the Human-Faunal Relations in Early Modern Awadh

The interactions of the Mughal rulers and the ruling elite with their natural surroundings were multi-layered, often tied together by their stately concerns of knowing, controlling and harnessing the natural elements for their advantage. As these interactions were multifaceted, it is only pertinent to narrow the focus of the paper to understanding some aspects of this relationship. To undertake this task, the paper explores the interactions of the Mughal ruling elite with different kinds of animals in their domain and how their knowledge of certain animal qualities, usage and management of their power and energy and the reinforcement of their symbolic importance added to the power and grandeur of the Mughal state.

The seminal works of Simon Digby, Thomas Trautmann, Divyabhanusinh, Jane Buckingham, Simon Digby, Yashasvini Chandra, Jos Gommans, Pratyay Nath, Monica Meadows and others have shed light on the ‘royal’ animals, i.e. the ones in close association with the ruling elite such as cheetahs, horses and elephants and their physical, symbolic, material and cultural value to the Mughal state. This paper will build on the foundations laid by these works and also locate animals in the practice of gift exchanges, the sport of hunting and in the Mughal ideology of divine kingship.

The research questions addressed in the paper are as follows: Which animals were most often exchanged as gifts and rewards in the court? What made those animals suitable for gifting: their material or symbolic significance or both? How can the sport of hunting be studied in terms of human-animal interaction? Lastly, where and how were animals imagined or placed in the Mughal imperial ideology? In order to address these questions, this paper adopts an approach of reading textual sources of early modern India that have shaped our understanding of different aspects of polity, society, culture and economy of the period.

🎓 Paro Tomar (PhD scholar, Department of History, Shiv Nadar University)

The Thar Desert: Problems of Perception, c. 14th -19th Centuries C.E.

The Thar Desert today straddles the border between India and Pakistan. While a large part of the desert lies in modern day India in the state of Rajasthan, it also extends into the province of Sindh in modern day Pakistan. A part of the desert also stretches into modern day Gujarat into what is known as the salt marsh of the Rann of Kutch. The Thar evoked an imagery of being ‘barren’, ‘hostile’, ‘empty’ and ‘full of savages’. This paper argues that the idea of the desert as ‘barren’, ‘hostile’, ‘empty’ found in literature as well as historiography is a constructed one. There is a requirement to unpack these notions of the desert and historicise them. The paper attempts to explore the variety of ways in which the Thar Desert has been represented in various textual sources from the pre-colonial as well as the colonial period. These sources include travellers accounts – both Persian and European, indigenous literature as well as British colonial accounts and gazetteers. This enables us to understand the ways in which certain images and understandings of the desert evolved in popular imaginations, became widely entrenched and connected to each other. The paper also argues that the perception of the desert as a barren, empty, hostile space had been in circulation in pre-colonial accounts – both European and non-European. These perceptions connected to each other in the Age of Discoveries from the 1400-1800 C.E. However, colonial accounts of the nineteenth century drew back to these perceptions and re-iterated them and ultimately, institutionalised them through several British policies in the region. These policies included mapping, surveys, border-making, trade monopolies etc. The perception of the desert as a hostile space also made the itinerant inhabitants of the desert ‘savage’ in the British eyes, which finally led to them being branded as ‘criminals’ with the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. Colonial practices – especially mapping out borders – led to the formation of the administrative unit of ‘Rajputana’ and later, the modern day state of Rajasthan. The paper traces the historiography of the desert and finds that it carries the dominant perception of the desert - a hostile, barren space full of savages - which was institutionalised in colonial policies and has limited studies of the Thar to studies of western Rajasthan. If one seeks to transcend borders and examine the Thar as a whole, there is a requirement to rework the category of ‘space’ and its application in the desert. Can the Thar be characterised as a ‘region’? A ‘frontier’? A ‘borderland’? The Thar has historically been home to a number of communities ranging from a variety of pastoral nomadic communities to landed castes, peripatetic peoples, traders and merchant groups. The fact that the Thar is not only ecologically but also socially diverse raises questions over the methods to be employed in studying the Thar as an entity in itself. The paper, on the basis of aforementioned pre-colonial and colonial accounts, critically looks at historiography and suggests possibilities of alternate understandings of the desert - in terms of nature, mobility and connected histories of these various groups inhabiting and circulating within and across the Thar.

🎓 PM Mohammed Jubair (PhD scholar, Department of History, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala)

Sultan Serving Padmanabha: Dress, Titles and Persianisation of Travancore

This study examines the Persianisation of political culture in the South Indian state of Travancore during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, offering a fresh perspective on its historiography. While the mid-18th century is often considered the decline of the ‘Persianate world,’ this research argues for its sustained influence, particularly in Travancore’s politics. The analysis begins with Travancore’s shifting alliances with the Nawabs of Arcot and the English East India Company, which shaped the region’s political challenges. Due to military setbacks, economic pressures, and territorial vulnerabilities, Travancore relied on diplomacy, treaties, and exchanges of valuable gifts to maintain strategic control. These challenges necessitated acknowledging the suzerainty of the Nawabs of Arcot, including paying regular tributes and adopting Persianate elements to assert legitimacy. Travancore’s rulers adopted Persian titles such as Sultan, Sher Jung, and Bahadur alongside traditional titles like Padmanabha Dasa. Additionally, rulers such as Karthikathirunal Rama Raja (r. 1757–1798) adopted Persianate courtly attire, including Jama and Sash. This study draws on previously unused sources, including Persian correspondences and contemporary paintings, to uncover how Travancore integrated Persianate culture into its governance. This research challenges conventional royalist narratives by examining these developments, offering a multifaceted understanding of Travancore’s history. It highlights the region’s strategic adaptation of Persianate culture to navigate political complexities, contributing to broader discourses in South Indian history, Persianate studies, and 18th-century historiography.

🎓 Priyanka Sarma (PhD scholar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)

The Coming of Prose: Exploring Textual Cultures in Early Assamese (1500-1700 CE)

This paper looks at the transitions in literary practices within the institutional environs of satras (Vaisnavite monasteries) in Assam. It explores the conditions under which the literary milieu created an ‘imagined audience’ of literary writings in vernacular and as consumers of epic narratives and puranic stories. The essay focuses on a literary style, viz., prose, to understand how this seemingly new style was employed and practised by different literary, religious, sectarian and scholarly groups of early modern Assam. The genesis of prose is considered relatively younger than verse. In most scholarly works on literary histories of South Asia, it is identified with the ‘absence of verse’ as its formal characteristics. In vernacular literary timelines, prose is placed as practice of writing that stylistically resembles a spoken form of a language. However, in contrast, such literatures were far from being quotidian or in wider circulation. In the 16th century Brahmaputra valley, most early prose writings suggest that it was a vehicle for chronicling courtly documents as well as religious and philosophical discourses. However the latter required sastric affiliation and institutional support to be considered as authentic form of the textual composition. The essay explores the rise of prose in the 16th century Brahmaputra and argues that prose aided social communication of literary writings, however was mediated through the oral-performative forms.

🎓 Rasha Aljomaa (PhD scholar, Department of Translation Studies, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad)

From “Medieval” to “Modern”: The Transformation of Al-Beruni's Tahqiq ma l-il-Hind through Translation

Al-Beruni’s Tahqiq ma l-il-Hind, occupies a central place in intellectual history and is a prominent text from the “medieval” period. Written in 1030 A.D., the text exemplifies the immense scholarship and diverse knowledge production of its time, transcending linguistic and national boundaries. His account represents one of the earliest comprehensive studies of a foreign culture, contributing significantly to cross-cultural understanding in the “medieval” world. His methodology, which combines empirical observation with a comparative framework, stands out as a precursor to “modern” anthropology and comparative cultural studies. This paper argues that the construction and reception of Tahqiq ma l-il-Hind as a “medieval” text occurs through a “modern” lens, primarily via the English translation of the original Arabic text by German Orientalist scholar Eduard Sachau, first published in 1888 and titled Al-Beruni’s India. The starting point of this analysis is the Barthesian notion that “texts” are dynamic entities that continuously acquire new layers of meaning across time, space, language, and medium. Accordingly, the text becomes an example of the intersection of Islamic, Persian, Indian and European discourses. This paper traces the journey of Tahqiq ma l-il-Hind from its original composition to its translation and subsequent reception, particularly in the post-nineteenth century in the Indian context. The discussion focuses on the pivotal role of the English translation in shaping the perception of Tahqiq ma l-il-Hind as a “medieval” text within “modern” intellectual discourse. It also examines how linguistic and intellectual frameworks influenced the translation of key aspects of the text. Furthermore, the paper explores Al-Beruni’s India’s role as the foundation for both scholarly and popular engagement with TMH, with reference to the edited and abridged version published in 1983 by the National Book Trust titled India by Al-Biruni as an example of the evolving reception of the text.

🎓 Ravi (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Historicising Gaudīya Literature: Production and Circulation of Textual Narratives in the 16th and 17th Centuries

This article attempts to examine the production and circulation of Gaudiya Vaishnava literature during the 16th to 17th centuries, a period that thrived with a diverse literary tradition filled with linguistic variety and expressions of devotion. Within this context, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Bengal-based Gaudiya Vaishnavism emerged as a significant force and produced a sizable body of texts that profoundly influenced devotional practises and theological discussions. Many religious saints, particularly six goswami, were responsible for institutionalising his teaching and making Vrindavan a devotional and literary centre. They played a very crucial role in formalising Gaudiya theology and organising the sect’s religious practices. Eventually, they produced systematic works that articulated the theological bases of the movement and provided devotees with an elaborative spiritual framework for understanding the Gaudiya Bhakti. In a later period, these goswamis’ cumulative efforts laid the intellectual and institutional foundation for the Gaudiya sect, and their writings became core texts of the tradition. These texts were kept in temple libraries, ensuring their survival and transmission through generations. The distribution of these texts depended on hand-copied manuscripts and the establishment of major centres of learning and devotion in Vrindavan, Nabadwip, and Puri, which facilitated the movement’s regional and trans-regional dissemination. This study aims to investigate the processes of literary creation, preservation, and distribution within the Gaudiya sect. It examines how devotional practices and theological considerations influence the form and substance of these writings. It delves deeper into the socio-political and religious forces that shaped Gaudiya literature's dissemination within the wider literary and intellectual environment of 16 th and 17 th century India. How did the theological imperatives of the Gaudiya sect interact with the manuscript culture of the period? How did the establishment of various regional Vrindavan, Puri, and Nabadwip centres of devotion function as crucial nodes in the broader network of early modern literary culture? By situating Gaudiya literature within the larger historical and intellectual trends of the period, this article highlights the sect’s significant contribution to the devotional and literary heritage of early modern India, offering new perspectives on the intersection of literature, religion, and cultural continuity.

🎓 Saanika Patnaik (PhD scholar, Department of History, Ashoka University)

A New Sovereign in Contested Territory: Anglo-Maratha Encounters on the Eighteenth Century South Konkan Coast

My paper studies the acquisition of the English East India Company’s control over Bankot in the eighteenth century, and the ways in which it engaged with the Marathas to sustain its sovereignty over this coastal settlement. For much of the eighteenth century, the fort at Bankot had been under the Angre (Angria) family who had given it the name of Himmatgad fort. In 1755, the Marathas and the English launched a joint naval expedition to oust the Angres. In exchange for this help, the Marathas had promised to hand over the fort along with the settlement of Bankot, and some other villages around it to the English. Consequently, in 1756, the East India Company established a Residency at Bankot and renamed the fort as Fort Victoria. Given the nature of this transfer, however, the English obviously knew that while they had acquired Bankot, they were not necessarily the undisputed authority there. The Bankot Factory records, currently situated in the Maharashtra State Archives, give some insight into the steps taken by the Company to establish a semblance of sovereignty at Bankot. My paper looks at the Diary and Consultations of Fort Victoria for the years between 1756 and 1772 to understand the East India Company’s political practice and the ways in which it interacted with various other practices, particularly of the Marathas, at Bankot. It aims to understand the nature of English sovereignty on this part of the Konkan coast and the various factors that shaped and influenced it over time. In the process, it attempts to complicate the idea of Company sovereignty and determine how and where all it interacted with, and was contingent on, alternate political practices and processes in the region. It tries to show how the nature of the Company’s sovereignty was contingent on the kinds of relations it shared with opposing power structures, and more importantly the threats that it was eager to undermine. Consequently, my paper argues against the existence of a single kind of Company sovereignty that was uniformly exercised across the subcontinent as each location yielded very particular sets of oppositions and threats.

🎓 Shakir Ul Hassan (PhD scholar, Department of History, University of Delhi)

Translating the Rājataraṅgiṇīs and Birth of the Literary Tradition of Tārīḵẖ-i-Kashmīr

The imperial Mughals pioneered multiple translations of Sanskrit Rājataraṅgiṇīs, dynastic histories of Kashmīr, yet to receive profound scholarly consideration. In a wider context, this study attends to problems tied to social logic and theoretical apparatus of translation adopted vis-à-vis Rājataraṅgiṇī’s by juxtaposing translation apparatus of Shāḥābādi’s Raj-trangini and Ḥusayn Ḳāriʾs Intiḵẖāb-i-tārīḵẖ-i-Kashmīr. Apart from limits of translatability, it problematizes the literary framework employed by these Persian translators to convert the alien Sanskritic cultural world of Rājataraṅgiṇīs- political discourses, toponyms, concepts and chronologies- into the Persianate Tārīḵẖs. These translations created a discursive space, foundational to the evolution of historiographical tradition called Tārīḵẖ-i-Kashmīr.

🎓 Shivendra Srivastava (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Valour, Kingship, and Fortune: Fish symbolism in Early Modern Awadh

The present paper endeavours to study fish symbolism in the context of the early modern Awadh region. This research explains the adoption and changing of the leitmotif of fish image on the insignia, coins, emblem and spandrels of the gateways by the rulers of Awadh. In the riverine land of Awadh, fish was associated with fortune as it was an important component of the diet and considered a good omen. The notion of valour, chivalry, power, and local belief in fortune were associated with nawab kingship and symbolized by the fish motif. The Nawabi idea of kingship was an amalgamation of three narratives; the Nawabs derived the fish symbol from the Mughal standard, continued to depict it on the gateways, making their residence a seat of power like the Sheikhzadas and made an emblem to incorporate the local belief of good omen. Thus, the royal fish symbolised Mughal valour, pre-nawab Awadh prowess and the regional concept of fortune. Additionally, this paper adds to the knowledge of the human-piscine relationship by studying the local belief in animals with the ideals of kingship.

🎓 Sneh Kumar Jha (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

City in Literature: Vidyapati and Literary Construction of Urbanity in the 15th Century

This paper examines the depiction of Jaunpur in Kīrttilatā composed in Avahaṭṭha by Vidyapati in the fifteenth century, with a focus on the qualities and values the poet associates with urban space. It argues that Vidyapati’s portrayal of Jaunpur is not merely descriptive but reflects his broader conceptualization of urbanity. To further elucidate this vision, the paper also analyzes Puruṣapārikṣā, a Sanskrit work by the same author, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how urban life is represented across his compositions. The study explores the constituent elements of the spatial imaginary constructed by Vidyapati and the literary and discursive strategies he employs in its articulation. Additionally, it situates Kīrttilatā within its intertextual and intellectual lineage by examining depictions of urban space in fourteenth-century works such as Rājanītiratnākara, composed by Candeśvara, as well as Varṇaratnākara and Dhurta Samāgama, composed by Jyotirīśvara. To highlight the distinctive features and innovations within Kīrttilatā, the paper further compares its representation of urban life with those found in Sandēśarāsaka, composed by Abdul Rahman in the fourteenth century, and Kanhadade Prabandha, authored by Padmanābha in the fifteenth century. Given their linguistic proximity and shared thematic engagement with urbanity, these texts provide a broader comparative framework for assessing Vidyapati’s literary construction of the urban experience.

🎓 Vandan Gor (PhD scholar, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara)

On the Trail of Nilkanth: Ascetical Interactions in Political and Liminal Spaces of 18th century South Asia, c. 1792-99 C.E.

The paper analyses a kaleidoscopic range of ascetical interactions in 18th century South Asia. The political and cultural fluidity of the period enabled significant cross-cultural and trans-regional movements. The wandering monks became one of the central motifs of historiography on 18th century India. Historians and sociologists, while vividly describing their political, military, and mercantile profiles, have argued that the practice of aggression and violence by these monks were primarily attributable to their unsettled, itinerant character and power and profit oriented worldviews. The paper reinvokes the subject by drawing upon underexplored vernacular and Sanskrit sources. While complicating the existing paradigms anchored in colonial sources, these sources narrate the intricacies of 18 th century asceticism by tracing the travels of a north Indian, itinerant, teenaged yogi named Nilkanth – who later became known as Sahajanand Swami – that lasted from 1792 to 1799 C.E. By engaging the colonial sources with the trans-colonial perspective emerging from these sources, the paper qualifies the existing portrayal of violence as the meta-narrative of 18 th century Indian asceticism. The paper argues that while monastic violence climaxed in the 18th century, it was not a ubiquitous phenomenon as the colonial sources and existing historiography would have us believe. It observes that the political space was central to the pervasion of violence and, conversely, violence was largely absent from the practices of itinerant ascetics (and non-ascetics) functioning in the liminal spaces. This, however, did not mean that monastic violence was an inevitable concurrence of every geopolitical context. The travels of Nilkanth suggest that violence – even in a political space – could be truncated, and the practice of non-violence as an internally powerful and self-fulfilling act could transform political spaces. Thus, the paper attempts to historicize the violent practices in political spaces along with the non-violent practices in political and liminal spaces.

🎓 Yari Nayam (PhD scholar, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

 Negotiating Power and Identity: The Ahom Adaptation and Integration into the Brahmaputra Valley as Reflected in Kachari Buranjis (15th to 17th Century)

The Ahom-Kachari relationship has predominantly been studied through the lenses of traditional political history. This article attempts to go beyond the conventional focus on military alliances and conflicts to explore their politico-cultural relationship in all its complexities and dynamism through issues of power and identity. The paper largely aims to illustrate the continuous adaptations and adjustments involved in the integration and emergence of Ahoms as a powerful group in the Brahmaputra Valley. How did the Ahoms maintain elements of their heritage while also adopting local customs to consolidate their rule and legitimacy in a multi-ethnic milieu populated by Moran, Borahis, Koches Kacharis, and other tribes?

Along with this, the issue of Kachari identity and its later division into Dimasa, Mech, and Bodo, this paper reflects upon the evolving and fluid nature of premodern identities. Furthermore, through a bottom-up approach, the objective is to shift the focus from the ruling elites of both these groups to tracing the marginal socio-cultural voices in shaping the contours of the relationship. The paper, therefore, discusses the amalgamation of Tai ancestry with local traditions in the emergence of a distinct Ahom politico-cultural identity.  The article is based on the study of Kachari Buranji but brings insights from other Buranjis to consolidate a deeper understanding of the region and its socio-political processes.

🎓 Zirnuntluanga (PhD scholar, Department of History and Ethnography, Mizoram University)

The Sacred Meat: Animal and Identity Formation in Lusei Society

The formation of Lusei identity is deeply intertwined with the role of animals in their religious, social, and cultural practices. This article examines how animal rituals and sacrificial traditions have played a crucial role in consolidating Lusei identity, distinguishing them from other Mizo groups. The concept of sakhua, the spiritual belief system of the Lusei, is central to their identity, incorporating both communal (Khawtlang Sakhua) and individual (Mimal Sakhua) rites. These practices involve the ritual sacrifice of domesticated and wild animals, reinforcing social hierarchy and religious belonging. The article traces the origins of these customs to Seipui village in the Chin Hills of Myanmar, where the Lusei ancestors performed sacrificial offerings to the Muchhip spirit. Over time, these traditions became central to their self-identification, as reflected in their exclusive participation in rituals such as Muchhip Biak, which defined their membership within the Lusei community. The Saphun ceremony, which required the sacrifice of a mature boar and rooster, served as a base in their rite of passage, and integrating individuals into the Lusei clan. Furthermore, the Thangchhuah status, achieved through hunting specific wild animals or hosting grand feasts with sacrificial offerings, symbolized the highest social honor within Lusei society. Through extensive oral traditions and historical accounts, the study highlights the significance of animals as more than just economic resources; they were sacred entities that structured Lusei social order, religious devotion, and identity formation. The exclusivity of their sacrificial practices reinforced group boundaries and ensured the continuity of their unique cultural heritage. Ultimately, this article underscores how the ritual use of animals served as a foundation for the construction of Lusei identity, shaping their historical evolution and communal cohesion.