Reordering Adivasi Worlds

Description

Recounting the story of the Oraons and Tana Bhagats of Chhotanagpur in the present-day state of Jharkhand, this book questions postcolonial understandings of the category of 'tribe' and unravels the threads of a hierarchical adivasi world. It unpacks colonial ethnography, missionary narratives, and anthropological writings; explores issues of adivasi identity and resistance; and demonstrates how contemporary adivasi protest draws upon memories
of the past. Dasgupta argues that nineteenth and early twentieth-century ideas of 'tribe' were not abstract imaginaries but structured colonial interventions. These affected the shaping of customary rights; the understanding of the rural world; and the perception of customs and practices. She analyses the ways in which Tana Bhagats questioned hierarchies among the Oraons; opposed landlords, moneylenders, and the colonial state; and engaged
with Gandhi and the Congress. Dasgupta delineates how Tanas allude to their diverse experiences and distinctive memories to negotiate with the sarkar even today.
Using colonial archives, oral narratives, and contemporary pamphlets, this book examines the contending 'truths' produced around adivasi protest, and the complex interplay between the past and the present, the oral and the written.

About the author

Dr. Sangeeta Dasgupta, Associate Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Lal Nehru University, New Delhi

Sangeeta Dasgupta is Associate Professor-Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Lal Nehru University, New Delhi

Table of contents

Contents
List of Images
Notes on the Text
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Reordering Adivasi Worlds
I. AUTHENTICATING VOICES, CONTENDING TRADITIONS
1. Description to Definition: Oraons in Colonial Ethnography
2. Heathen Aboriginals, Animistic Races: Missionary Narratives
3. A Journey with the Oraons: Sarat Chandra Roy's Anthropology
II. THE MANY NARRATIVES OF TANA PASTS
4. Pagan Tanas, Dangerous Aboriginals, Sensitive Prophets: Tales from the Archive
5. Between Forests and Fields: Mapping Tana Identities
6. Gandhi, Charkha, Swaraj: Congress Symbols and Tana Meanings
7. Stories, Pamphlets, Petitions: Tana Readings of Their Past
Select Bibliography
About the Author
Name Index
Subject Index