Colonial Constructions of the ‘Tribe’ in India: The Case of Chotanagpur (original) (raw)

A closer look at the record reveals that we may be too hasty in dismissing colonial narra- tives in this summary fashion. Indeed I argue that earlier generations of ethnographers did actually very often understand the complexities of ethnic identity and cultural dynam - ics. In similar ways, colonial discourse did not just conjure up an imaginary landscape, but analysed real landscape differences. In fact, it can be said that the material and the imaginary landscape constituted one another in complex ways. Colonial administrators did participate and engage with the land and the people and were forced to contend with indigenous knowledge and ideas of place. The narratives of these travellers, surveyors and officials of the company raj were not merely a 'representation of place' that could be used to root colonial claims to possession, but a far more ambiguous relationship with the place and its native inhabitants1. The ambiguities, contradictions and often acute observations ...