Sumit Guha and University of Washington Press

Sumit Guha (UT-Austin) has a new book out from University of Washington Press: Ecologies of Empire in South Asia, 1400–1900 (July 2023). I'm intrigued by the strength of UW's South Asia catalogue. Their Global South Asia series (edited by Padma Kaimal, K. Sivaramakrishnan, and Anand A. Yang) just grows more impressive, and it's been fun seeing how the various titles intersect. I can't quite keep up with it, but I've leaned a lot on Sugata Ray's Climate Change and the Art of Devotion since it came out.

I always thought my book manuscript was destined to be sent to Duke or UChicago. Then the reality turned out to be that I'd always be one chapter away from finishing it and would send it nowhere. But every time I look at the UW Press website, I wonder if there's a way through that last chapter because that's the cohort I would want to join.

Anyway, back to Sumit Guha: a review of his previous book, History and Collective Memory in South Asia, 1200–2000, also from UW Press, appeared on H-Net reviews his month, courtesy of Ramya Sreenivasan. My one real thought about this is that my own scholarship sags when it comes to Marathi-language sources, and I feel this most acutely when I'm writing/thinking about Sawai Jai Singh when he is outside the bounds of Amber/Jaipur, let's say the Malwa sojourns. This isn't what's keeping me from finishing my book, obviously, but I do sometimes wonder how different this last chapter would look if I'd spent as much time in Maharashtra as I had Rajasthan back in the day.

From Malabar to Coromandel — The Future of Deccan Heritage, Art and Culture

 

The pandemic has been brutal, nowhere more than India, but one small benefit has been the number of online meetings that have been available for wider participation. I'm still sad that Madison had to be cancelled, and truly disappointed that the SAH annual conference in Seattle was cancelled in March. But I've been able to listen to a lot of lectures and presentations I would have otherwise missed if all meetings had been held in person.

This is just to say: this webinar series from the Deccan Heritage Foundation looks amazing.

From Malabar to Coromandel — The Future of Deccan Heritage, Art and Culture

Seminars and lectures co-organized by the Deccan Heritage Foundation, the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, and the HH Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Foundation, Mysore, presenting the pioneering work of scholars in various cultural fields from both the Northern and Southern Deccan regions of India.

Schedule

NOVEMBER 2020
November 13th at 13.00 GMT
Pushkar Sohoni (IISER Pune), The Architecture of a Deccan Sultanate: Courtly Practice and Royal Authority in Late Medieval India. Discussants: Marika Sardar (Aga Khan Museum) and Vivek Gupta (University of Cambridge) (Book Discussion)

• November 27th at 13.00 GMT
George Michell (Architectural Historian, DHF) "Art and Architecture of the Badami Chalukyas"

DECEMBER 2020
• December 11th at 16.00 GMT
Richard M. Eaton (University of Arizona) India in the Persianate Age: 1000—1765
Discussants: Alka Patel (UC Irvine) and Roy Fischel (SOAS, University of London) (Book Discussion)   

• December 18th at 13.00 GMT
Annapurna Garimella (Art, Resources and Teaching Trust) "The Square and the Rectangle: Design Transformations and Architectural Renovation between the 14th-16th Centuries in Vijayanagara"

JANUARY 2021
• January 8th at 13.00 GMT
Emma Flatt (UNC Chapel Hill) The Courts of the Deccan Sultanates: Living Well in the Persian Cosmopolis
Discussants: Evrim Binbaş (University of Bonn) and Subah Dayal (NYU Gallatin) (Book Discussion)

• January 22nd at 16.00 GMT
Anna Lise Seastrand (University of Minnesota)"Image and Imagination: Wall Paintings in Early Modern Southern India"

MARCH 2021
• March 5th at 13.00 GMT
Evrim Binbaş (University of Bonn) "The Idea of Sacral Kingship between Islamic and Turco-Mongol Concepts of Politics"

To learn more, visit the Deccan Heritage Foundation website (https://www.deccanheritagefoundation.uk/events/webinars/about) or write to deccanheritagefoundationindia@gmail.com.

 

South Indian Paintings

This is well outside my field of expertise, but this new resource for South Indian paintings seems like a nifty and necessary effort. Created by Anna L. Dallapiccola, John and Fausta Eskenazi, and Mr. C. Ganesan, this project documents South Indian murals (primarily in Tamil Nadu) that are threatened by vandalism and decay.

From the authors' description:

"We would like to share this collection of splendid murals with as many fellow enthusiasts, students, scholars, and travellers, as possible. The aim of this documentation is not only to provide a tool for further research on South Indian painting, but mainly to make the art world aware of this endangered cultural heritage and to encourage not only scholarship, but also restoration and conservation works."

See more at South Indian Paintings (https://southindianpaintings.art/)

 

Partha Chatterjee: A Relativist View of the Indian Nation

 

Professor Partha Chatterjee will be speaking as part of the Rutgers AMESALL Distinguished Lecture Series, on Friday, October 09, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. EDT.

Talk abstract: Research in the last three decades on the print literatures in the various Indian languages has revealed that the consciousness of the people as constituting a nation was deeply grounded in the emergence in the 19th and 20th centuries of the regional vernaculars as standardized print languages. But the identity of the people-nation in each region had constituent features that were not the same everywhere. At the same time, the identity of a linguistic community as a people was located within a larger identity of belonging to the Indian nation. This paper argues that while there is a real construct of the Indian nation, it looks different when viewed from the perspective of each regional language. There is no language-neutral perspective available. Hence, one must accept a relativist view of the Indian nation.

For more information, see https://www.amesall.rutgers.edu/news-and-events/events/icalrepeat.detail/2020/10/09/79/-/amesall-distinguished-lecture or contact Prof. Preetha Mani (preetha.mani@rutgers.edu).

Affected by Landslides: PhD Research in Kalimpong District

Hills of Kalimpong.

Image credit: Anuj Kumar Pradhan

According to an article in the July 22nd issue of India Today, 27 people have lost their lives in landslides in Darjeeling and Kalimpong Districts. Searching for more information took me to Peter McGowran's discussion of his PhD research on the topic. This is an area about which I know little, so I enjoyed reading it (as much as one can enjoy reading about preventable deaths).

Read Peter McGowran's blog at: A Reflection on My PhD Fieldwork Experience Kalimpong District, India.

AIIS Digital Scholarshipt Grants

Reposted from the American Institute of Indian Studies:

The American Institute of Indian Studies is pleased to announce the launch of its Digital India Learning (DIL) initiative and invites proposals that demonstrate a sustained use of digital methodology and resources in the exploration of a research topic focused on India. AIIS welcomes projects at all stages of development, including pilots at a preliminary stage of conception, that foster the digital production and dissemination of knowledge about India; that promote the creation and use of digital resources and media for the study of India; and that promote digital collaboration across disciplines including, and especially, between the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields. Award funds can be used to supplement current projects supported by other grants, but the budget should clearly explain what portion of the project will be supported by the AIIS award.  Award funds may not be used exclusively for hosting a conference or workshop, but convenings that are necessary to help advance a project are allowed if the purpose is explained in the narrative. Anticipated outcomes may include but are not limited to digital material and publications, reports, teaching resources, online exhibits, digital infrastructure, and software.

AIIS is offering two grants, each for $12,500. A proposal for a project can be submitted by one principal investigator applicant or a team of two or more principal investigators in collaboration. Projects do not need to involve travel to India. Eligible applicants include faculty, as well as non-faculty professionals at institutions of higher education in the United States. Applicants from community colleges, Minority Serving Institutions, and institutions which do not have established South Asian studies programs are especially encouraged to apply.

Applicants should submit their application in the form of a single pdf, by email to aiis@uchicago.edu The application deadline is September 15, 2020.

When COVID-19 Impacts your PhD Fieldwork

Ru-Yin Lu was conducing Ph.D. research in Arunachal Pradesh when the pandemic made itself known. When do you decide to leave a research site? How do you decide to leave?

A brief aside: I was studying Russian at Leningrad (St. Petersburg) State University when the the U.S. shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf. It was an anxiety-ridden time for me--it was difficult to get news or hear any commentary that wasn't drenched in Cold War rhetoric. There was no easy way to contact family or friends in the U.S. I imagine those Soviet days = Stage 1 of what this scholar experienced. No easy thing.

Read more: Ru-Yin Lu, When COVID-19 Impacts your PhD Fieldwork.

The Making of Modern Physics in Colonial India

Here is an exciting new book! Why this book excites me: while these scientists aren't unknown to other physicists, they are not very often the focus of English-medium (Eurocentric) text books, despite the cosmopolitan, transnational practice of science. Having typed that sentence, perhaps we can say that Bose is the exception, though it is more because of the pairing of his name with Einstein's. (How many Americans know who Raman is, despite the Nobel Prize?) I suspect fans of early quantum physics, but I'm more interested in the sustenance of "Indian science" under a colonial government.

The Making of Modern Physics in Colonial India

Somaditya Banerjee

ISBN 9781472465535

Routledge, May 26, 2020

Hardcover, 202 pages

From the publisher:

"This monograph offers a cultural history of the development of physics in India during the first half of the twentieth century, focusing on Indian physicists Satyendranath Bose (1894-1974), Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970) and Meghnad Saha (1893-1956). The analytical category "bhadralok physics" is introduced to explore how it became possible for a highly successful brand of modern science to develop in a country that was still under colonial domination. The term Bhadralok refers to the then emerging group of native intelligentsia, who were identified by academic pursuits and manners. Exploring the forms of life of this social group allows a better understanding of the specific character of Indian modernity that, as exemplified by the work of bhadralok physicists, combined modern science with indigenous knowledge in an original program of scientific research.

The three scientists achieved the most significant scientific successes in the new revolutionary field of quantum physics, with such internationally recognized accomplishments as the Saha ionization equation (1921), the famous Bose-Einstein statistics (1924), and the Raman Effect (1928), the latter discovery having led to the first ever Nobel Prize awarded to a scientist from Asia. This book analyzes the responses by Indian scientists to the radical concept of the light quantum, and their further development of this approach outside the purview of European authorities. The outlook of bhadralok physicists is characterized here as "cosmopolitan nationalism," which allows us to analyze how the group pursued modern science in conjunction with, and as an instrument of Indian national liberation."

The China-India Rivalry

H-net book review for:

T. V. Paul, ed. The China-India Rivalry in the Globalization Era. Georgetown: Georgetown University Press, 2018.

Deaf Multiliteracies Project

A brief but interesting write-up of Eilidh Rose McEwan's fieldwork in Odisha and Indore with the International Institute for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies Deaf Multiliteracies Project. Intrigued by the Happy Hands School for the Deaf in Odisha, and I would be interested to know how many similar institutions there are in India and how those number compare to vision support programs.

Read more at: Eilidh Rose McEwan: PhD Fieldwork in India.

Resource: National Archives, Kew

For those of you working on military records: find here a research guide to Indian Army personnel during British rule. The guide covers records held by the British Library, the National Archives at Kew, and partner sites. War diaries! It seems that there are fees involved.

More intriguing — a research guide to Indian indentured labourers. That such a thing even exists should undermine all lingering pro-Empire arguments. Not surprisingly, many more of the military records are available online than the ones about indentured/enslaved Indians. Still, it's a good place to start.

The Imperial Army Project

H-net book review for:

Douglas E. Delaney. The Imperial Army Project: Britain and the Land Forces of the Dominions and India, 1902-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Negotiating Languages

H-net book review for:

Walter N. Hakala. Negotiating Languages: Urdu, Hindi, and the Definition of Modern South Asia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.

Resource: Abhilekh Patal

Guess what? The NAI really did implement a "digitize on-demand" function.

This is just a little update on my National Archives of India post. Judging from e-mails I receive from researchers working in Delhi, a lot of my advice re: accessing NAI collections in person is still true. But the prep stage for research at the NAI has changed a lot in the past few years, as the NAI's digital game has really improved. I added a link to the NAI's online interface to my original post awhile back. Since then, I've discovered the Abhilekh Patal portal, the newest entry point into NAI collections.

The first place to start with the Abhilekh Patal portal is the "5 Step User Guide," as it tells you how to sign up for access and structure searches (you need an account to see the digitized material). Once you're signed up, click the tab for "Digitized Collections".

As you can see, they started with the big guns — Gandi, Kassturbhai Lalbhai, S. C. Dixit. The Cartographic Records section is growing. Delhi maps outnumber maps of other cities/regions, but there are a lot of Punjab and Tinnevelly maps as well. Lucknow, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Hoshiarpur ...

The biggest digitized collection falls under the heading Public Records. Some data entry errors make it seem like they date back to 1551 AD, but those records are really from either 1851 or 1951, depending on the document. We're mostly talking late 19th-century into the 20th (i.e., colonial era) material here.

The tab for "Online Reference Media" seems to be an catalogue for all digitized material.

Anyway, this should give you a good idea of some of the holdings of the NAI — useful for writing your research proposal/grant application.

Indus Basin Waters + Sanskrit at the Mughal Courts

H-Net book reviews for:

Audrey Truschke. Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. (exciting!)

Daniel Haines. Rivers Divided: Indus Basin Waters in the Making of India and Pakistan. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

National Archives of India — Digital?

If nothing else comes of this initiative (described in Economic Times, August 15, 2017), I hope it is the "on-demand" button. That way I wouldn't have to try and convince the person in front of me that, yes, I really do need this photocopy.

Modern India in German Archives

Here's something interesting. I came across a funding extension notice and it led me to the DFG Long Term Project "Modern India in German Archives, 1706-1989." The website has an English and a German portal (though I still found my German to be useful). The focus of the work being done at present really does seem modern — late 19th century to 20th century.

Most useful was the list of German archives with "significant holdings" related to Modern India. Material related to missions, intellectual history, political history, and social/economic history are included. This may be a new source for me Jai Singh material.

National Archives of India

Food for thought. I'm not sure I really care deeply about the marginalia and stamps, but I do care about the overall preservation of the documents. And I do care about user access (the hours I wasted trying to get one.single.photocopy). Some of this rings true, but let me know what you think.

How the National Archives of India is Actually Destroying History.

Tata Central Archives

I admit it. I didn't even know this was a thing. But wow, the Tata Central Business Archives seem like an awesome source for researching the Tata role in urban planning and modern architecture. I wish I'd known about this when I was in Bangalore, it would have been a fantastic follow-up to my time spent at IISc.

I hope the research experience is as nice is person as it is on the web.

National Archives of India

An update to my 2009 post by Willy Logan, based on his March 2015 experience.

I was pleased to see during my last visit to Delhi how much easier and less stressful travel was by metro. Research is so much more pleasant when you arrive at the archive relaxed after an easy journey.

Other archives discussed by Logan:

• Resources in Assam
• National Library of India
• Nehru Museum and Library (Teen Murti)