Inventing village tradition: the late 19th century origins of the north Indian 'jajmani system.'
Article Abstract:
The Indian jajmani system was referred to in historical literature for the first time in 1930, indicating that its status as dating from antiquity might be fallacious. The possibility that its origins lie in the 19th century is supported by the social transformation in which public servants came to take on the roles of jajmen by performing services for the Brahmans. The belief in the antiquity of the jajmani system occurs because it is an invented folk tradition, which is a common anthropological phenomenon.
Publication Name: Modern Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0026-749X
Year: 1993
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Early Dalit literature and culture in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century western India
Article Abstract:
Dalit communities in western India tried in the late 19th century to reinvent themselves as an independent panthic community within Hiduism, by developing a syncretic form of bhakti Hindu culture. Thus, early Dalit culture was a cultural mixture, using the bhakti panth as a basis for demanding greater equality, representation, and social access. The activities of the Anarya Pariharak Mandal and the Antyaj Samaj/Loyal Mahar Sabah in particular are studied, as are the Mahar and Chambhar communities.
Publication Name: Modern Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0026-749X
Year: 1997
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About enslaved ex-slaves, uncaptured contract coolies and unfreed freemen: some notes about 'free' and 'unfree' labour in the context of plantation development in Southwest India, early sixteenth century - mid 1990s
Article Abstract:
The issue of "free" versus "unfree" labor in Asia is complex because most low-caste Indian laborers left conditions of depression or famine in their villages for work on plantations. To concentrate on the coercion and dishonest recruitment policies of the estates is to miss the fact that the introduction of plantations improved labor conditions in India and helped to end hereditary serfdom.
Publication Name: Modern Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0026-749X
Year: 1999
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