Symbolism and the State Authority: Reflections from the Art on Indo-Islamic Coins (original) (raw)
Related papers
symbolism and the State Authority: Reflections from the Art on the Indo-Islamic Coins
Indian Historical Review, 40 (1), 2013, pp.17-40.
Symbols and rituals with regard to the legitimacy and manifestations of state authority have been the subject of debate in historical writings in recent decades. But most of the works on the subject discuss the legitimacy and authority in the context of visible symbols of power and rituals. So far as symbolism is concerned, it is both visible and invisible. Awrang, chatr, durbash, 'alam, etc., were the visible symbols of power. But there were some invisible symbols of power hidden in sophisticated Islamic art. Islamic art in various forms and features in the early modern world told something that was sometimes not easily recognised in visible symbols of power.
Vidyasagar University Journal of History Vol. 1 [1996-1997]
Dip-in-Chinese, is now a Reader in History, Vidyasagar University. His major areas of academic interest include Indian histori ography, India's relations with foreign countries like China, and early Indian Numis~ matics. His research work on early Indian historiography earned him the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Calcutta. He is now engaged in intensive research work. His forthcoming treatise is concerned with the ideas of history in ancient India.A research project conducted by him on the socioeconomic history of modern Lower Bengal has recently come to completion, leading to the award of Ph.D.degree of Vidyasagar University to one of his fellows.
KANPUR HISTORIOGRAPHERS VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2 ISSN 2348-3814 DEC 2019
NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND GENOLOGICAL SOCIETY INDIA, 2019
Issue two volume six of Kanpur Historiographers is here for common readers, researchers and a vast audience interested in South Asian history. From the first volume it has opted for the less traversed road of writing the history of marginalized, excluded and subjugated. Historiographer instead of taking the linear deterministic course tried to unearth the people, events and processes excluded from the dominant course of Eurocentric historiography. In the 1980’s a group of renowned Indian historians initiated subaltern studies. The group became a voice of the weak that resisted the dominant powers in far of places. The western view of history is a universal progressive phenomenon excluded the narrative of subaltern, indigenous, peasant and common populous. Papers in all the previous volumes of Kanpur Historiographers, as well as the current issue, is an increment in the same process of recording the forgotten history of people and places. The historiographers contributing in this issue has addressed the themes of historical geography, cultural history, civilization studies and literary history. The topics addressed are as vast as the maritime history of the Indian Ocean to cultural history reflected in popular film culture. However, the main focus of the present issue remains in the history of Malabar region. The first article ‘Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace’, traces the importance of Indian Ocean bases in the creation of British and US hegemony. It presents a picture of great power rivalry in the presence of all major powers in Indian Ocean and the consequences for Indian Ocean littoral states. The littoral states despite their repeated insistence on creating a zone of peace and collective security in the Indian Ocean can’t change the present scenario as international law and the concept of freedom of seas work for their disadvantage. The paper ‘Madras native association: a pioneer of political association of South India’ deals with genesis, growth and decline of Madras native association. The association much before the formation of Indian National Congress resisted Christian Missionary activities working under the patronage of East India Company. When Madras became a Presidency the society organised on non-cast lines, articulates the demands like a decrease in taxation, better provision of education and formation of local government. The article ‘Indo-Tibetan friendship Scenario of Uttarakhand province’ traverse through the Indian civilizational history to create a scenario of friendship and foresee future of Tibet as a peace zone. The author believes that monastic traditions Tibet have roots in Indian soil. ‘Writing local history: a journey Pothukal Panchayath, Malapurram District’ is a well written piece of cultural and economic history. It traces the process of culturl synthesis taking place as a result of internal and external migration. It tells the story of a land where parochial indigenous tribes were involved in hunting, gathering and tilting the land. How the natural resource of forest attracted the capitalist, who for the sake of raw material altered the natural habitat. The article is vast in scope as it presents the multiple phases of resistance between indigenous tribes and national bourgeois like Birla’s: land rights struggle between locals and migrant and state reformed to provide communal ownership of land. The paper ‘Music in Malabar: culture and aesthetics’ traces the cultural influence of migration and trade activities in port region of Malabar. The imprints of Muslim folklores, music and poetic traditions are deeply evident in popular film music of 1960’s and 1970’s. Musicians like K. Raghvan and M.S. Baburaj seems to be inspired by tunes of Ghazal, considered to be Muslim heritage. ‘The saga of service: A case of early leaders of SIS in Malabar’ is about the services of Servants of India Society created by Gokhle. The society was created as an aftermath of Malabar rebellion 1921-22. To redress the untold miseries of people of Malabar belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities, the leaders like A. V. Thakkar Bappa who devoted his life for the services and uplift of the Harijan community. ‘Contribution of Admiral Kunjali marakkar to Calicut Navy’ is the clear example of resistance struggle of forgotten heroes. The European history narrates the story of Portuguese hegemony on seas and oceans but it remains but it remains silent on history of resistance. Even Indian history tells the story of King Zamorin fighting with the help of his naval admiral Kunjali, a born Muslim, belonging to the Mappila community of seaman was chief admiral of King Zamorin. Kunjali was successful in establishing a naval base between Kochin and Calicut, hindering the trade as well as military ambitions of European naval powers. Kunjali was a military strategist who initiated Guerilla warfare against heavy slow-moving Portuguese ships with fast moving small boats. With the help of rowing boats, he reached to Europe through Cape of Good Hope. The article is an ode to Kunjali dynasty who dominated trade through Cape of Good Hope and China. ‘Literay Historiography under the eastern and western eyes: a comparative study of Oriental and Occidental Historiography models’ draws a parallel between traditions of literary history in the west and non-west. The author traces the indigenous modes of literature, especially Prakartis where folklores, myth and oral history combine to narrate the story of a hero and many heroes. The writer also contrasts the linear manner of western history with a cyclical notion of history as a repetition. He also believes that western and Indian attitudes towards language and literature are not only exclusive but contradictory. When west treats language as a body or corpus having an origin, process and demise; the Indian concept of language is as ever-present energy. West treats readers as advisors and commentators, while in India reader is an audience. The author is if the view that western literary history is exclusionary because it creats a binary between independent marga (dominant) and indigenous marginalized. Western literary historiography is the strategy to colonize. The last article entitled ‘The idea of Pakistan at 1940’ is an effort to analyze the Indian politics in colonial India. The present collection of Historiographers is not only the “history from below” the hierarchical division of power, but also an alternative conception of future as well, articulated in suggestion of peace, collective security, communal bonding, Environmental preservation and service of marginalized. The untiring efforts of Prof. Dr. Purushottam Singh, the Chief Editor has made Kanpur Historiographers a successful story.
NAME-SHUVAJIT SARKAR DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY
The Course is quite a fascinating one while understanding Medieval Indian History. It gives a clear idea of the economic, social structure operating in the society of that time period. In this Particular Assignment (Paper) I have tried to focus on the very idea of Jagirdari System which is one of the cardinal features of the Mughal Economy and in a way gives a properly structural understanding of the state. The system of Jagirdari later resulted or to accurate churned in the Agrarian Crisis, Peasant Uprisings-all of them have been discussed here in a brief manner for a better understanding of the Readers. The Paper also provides us a message that medieval age in not something which is trivial , but it also had important things which helped in the process of social evolution of mankind. Mansabdari system of Akbar, Iqta System during the Sultanate rule all these were prelude systems to the system of Jagirdari which played a cardinal role in studying the socioeconomic as well as political understanding of the Mughal times. Mostly I have tried to portray the era of Aurungzeb who is always victimized for the downfall of the great Mughal Empire. A layman would simply blame the very idea that Aurungzeb's conservativeness towards religion lead to 1 the critical condition of the Empire, but when we are studying and analysing things as an Historian we are not here to write literature or romanticize the background. Our job is to find things, perceive them from various sides/angles of the prism and even before giving statements try to percolate down the matter and available sources.
A meaningful understanding of the pre-modern pasts of India stems from the recognition and explanation of identifiable changes in its socio-political situations, material cultures and religious experiences. Such changes need to be situated beyond dynastic shifts, although socioeconomic and cultural developments were, of course, interlocked with the then politics and polities. Such an approach naturally negates the perceptions of the immutable social, economic and cultural (especially religious) institutions and practices over millennia in the subcontinent. The image of the unchanging East, typified by 'traditional India', which is perceived to have thrived on sanatana dharma, is largely constructed by preferring to represent pre-modern India through normative treatises (sastras), mostly written in Sanskrit and from a predominantly Brahmanical perspective and ideology. That the narrative literature may often present images of society, economy, political and cultural activities distinct from and contrary to the ideals upheld by normative treatises has of late gained considerable historiographical visibility. What needs to be underlined here is that the pre-modern pasts of India can hardly be grasped by the Sruti–Smriti literary traditions which leave a strong impression of memorialised orality, the practice of written words and documents, therefore, being reduced to marginality. The present review article precisely proposes to highlight the significance of written documents in the form of inscriptions for generating data and impressions of the pasts of India with certain distinctiveness which is hardly available in other categories of evidence, especially in the normative texts. This is not to claim that inscriptions are stand-alone sources for the study of pre-modern India. Inscribed texts, as
Book Review-The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 51, 4 (2014): 549–560,
National Archives of India, Imperial Records Department, Calendar of Persian Correspondence: Being Letters, referring mainly to Affairs in Bengal, which passed between some of the Company’s Servants and Indian Rulers and Notables, Vols. 1-V, 1759–1780, Five recently reprinted volumes of the Calendar of Persian Correspondence show that both British and local rulers believed that the British were the legitimate successors to the Mughals. The volumes included for review here, especially the first three, show the first phase of indirect rule by the British. But the last two volumes show an increasingly aggressive British intervention in the later part of the eighteenth century, with no aversion to violent methods.
Kanpur Historiographers ISSN 2348-3814 Volume-6 Issue-2 December 2019
New Archaeological & Genological Society Kanpur India, 2019
Issue two volume six of Kanpur Historiographers is here for common readers, researchers and a vast audience interested in South Asian history. From the first volume it has opted for the less traversed road of writing the history of marginalized, excluded and subjugated. Historiographer instead of taking the linear deterministic course tried to unearth the people, events and processes excluded from the dominant course of Eurocentric historiography. In the 1980’s a group of renowned Indian historians initiated subaltern studies. The group became a voice of the weak that resisted the dominant powers in far of places. The western view of history is a universal progressive phenomenon excluded the narrative of subaltern, indigenous, peasant and common populous. Papers in all the previous volumes of Kanpur Historiographers, as well as the current issue, is an increment in the same process of recording the forgotten history of people and places. The historiographers contributing in this issue has addressed the themes of historical geography, cultural history, civilization studies and literary history. The topics addressed are as vast as the maritime history of the Indian Ocean to cultural history reflected in popular film culture. However, the main focus of the present issue remains in the history of Malabar region. The first article ‘Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace’, traces the importance of Indian Ocean bases in the creation of British and US hegemony. It presents a picture of great power rivalry in the presence of all major powers in Indian Ocean and the consequences for Indian Ocean littoral states. The littoral states despite their repeated insistence on creating a zone of peace and collective security in the Indian Ocean can’t change the present scenario as international law and the concept of freedom of seas work for their disadvantage. The paper ‘Madras native association: a pioneer of political association of South India’ deals with genesis, growth and decline of Madras native association. The association much before the formation of Indian National Congress resisted Christian Missionary activities working under the patronage of East India Company. When Madras became a Presidency the society organised on non-cast lines, articulates the demands like a decrease in taxation, better provision of education and formation of local government. The article ‘Indo-Tibetan friendship Scenario of Uttarakhand province’ traverse through the Indian civilizational history to create a scenario of friendship and foresee future of Tibet as a peace zone. The author believes that monastic traditions Tibet have roots in Indian soil. ‘Writing local history: a journey Pothukal Panchayath, Malapurram District’ is a well written piece of cultural and economic history. It traces the process of culturl synthesis taking place as a result of internal and external migration. It tells the story of a land where parochial indigenous tribes were involved in hunting, gathering and tilting the land. How the natural resource of forest attracted the capitalist, who for the sake of raw material altered the natural habitat. The article is vast in scope as it presents the multiple phases of resistance between indigenous tribes and national bourgeois like Birla’s: land rights struggle between locals and migrant and state reformed to provide communal ownership of land. The paper ‘Music in Malabar: culture and aesthetics’ traces the cultural influence of migration and trade activities in port region of Malabar. The imprints of Muslim folklores, music and poetic traditions are deeply evident in popular film music of 1960’s and 1970’s. Musicians like K. Raghvan and M.S. Baburaj seems to be inspired by tunes of Ghazal, considered to be Muslim heritage. ‘The saga of service: A case of early leaders of SIS in Malabar’ is about the services of Servants of India Society created by Gokhle. The society was created as an aftermath of Malabar rebellion 1921-22. To redress the untold miseries of people of Malabar belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities, the leaders like A. V. Thakkar Bappa who devoted his life for the services and uplift of the Harijan community. ‘Contribution of Admiral Kunjali marakkar to Calicut Navy’ is the clear example of resistance struggle of forgotten heroes. The European history narrates the story of Portuguese hegemony on seas and oceans but it remains but it remains silent on history of resistance. Even Indian history tells the story of King Zamorin fighting with the help of his naval admiral Kunjali, a born Muslim, belonging to the Mappila community of seaman was chief admiral of King Zamorin. Kunjali was successful in establishing a naval base between Kochin and Calicut, hindering the trade as well as military ambitions of European naval powers. Kunjali was a military strategist who initiated Guerilla warfare against heavy slow-moving Portuguese ships with fast moving small boats. With the help of rowing boats, he reached to Europe through Cape of Good Hope. The article is an ode to Kunjali dynasty who dominated trade through Cape of Good Hope and China. ‘Literay Historiography under the eastern and western eyes: a comparative study of Oriental and Occidental Historiography models’ draws a parallel between traditions of literary history in the west and non-west. The author traces the indigenous modes of literature, especially Prakartis where folklores, myth and oral history combine to narrate the story of a hero and many heroes. The writer also contrasts the linear manner of western history with a cyclical notion of history as a repetition. He also believes that western and Indian attitudes towards language and literature are not only exclusive but contradictory. When west treats language as a body or corpus having an origin, process and demise; the Indian concept of language is as ever-present energy. West treats readers as advisors and commentators, while in India reader is an audience. The author is if the view that western literary history is exclusionary because it creats a binary between independent marga (dominant) and indigenous marginalized. Western literary historiography is the strategy to colonize. The last article entitled ‘The idea of Pakistan at 1940’ is an effort to analyze the Indian politics in colonial India. The present collection of Historiographers is not only the “history from below” the hierarchical division of power, but also an alternative conception of future as well, articulated in suggestion of peace, collective security, communal bonding, Environmental preservation and service of marginalized. The untiring efforts of Prof. Dr. Purushottam Singh, the Chief Editor has made Kanpur Historiographers a successful story.