3 Review(s)

This Groundbreaking Collection Presents A Significantly Different Portrait Of The Medieval And Modern Indian Society, Literature, And The Nation-State. Reporting On Eighteen Studies In Five Distinct Sections Spanning Many Centuries Of Indian Social History It Has Brought Fresh Insights Into The Emergence Of Innumerable Sub-Castes Owing To Various Factors Such As Political, Economic, Inter-Religious And Intercultural. This Remarkable Set Of Reconstructions Presents The Reader With Familiar As Well As Unfamiliar Group And Areas Within The Subcontinent Offering Fresh Appraisals Of The Evidence And Of Modern Historical Writing. What Unites Them Here Is An Overarching Thesis On Social Formation And Transformation By Establishing Links Chronologically And Thematically. It Is Argued That Although Modernizing Forces Entered The Caste System With The Advent Of The European Missionaries And Trading Companies It Did Not Radically Alter The System But The Changes Brought About In The Indian Society Remained Complex. There Has Been Conflict In The Society Right From The Time Of Buddha Challenging The Vedic And Shastric Traditions. We Find Non-Brahmin Tradition As Part Of Broader Hinduism. In British India Various Reformers Launched Social Reform Movements To Challenge The Hegemony Of The Upper Castes And To Bring About Change And Transformation Towards The Egalitarian Order. The Books Into The Issues Of Identity, Power Conversion And Gender Inequality., S. Jeyaseela Stephen Is Professor Of Maritime History And Coordinator Of The Special Assistance Programme Of The Ugc At Visva-Bharati. He Joined The Academy Of Historians In 1994 At L'Ecole Francaise D' Extreme-Orient And Went To Pune To Become Senior Advisor To Tata Central Archives In 2000. He Became Head Of Department Of History In 2001 At Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. He Was The Editor Of Revue Hisorique : Societe De L' Histoire De Pondichery (1995-97). He Had Taught At The University Of Nebraska, Lincoln City, (1996) And Was Visiting Professor At The University Of Connecticut, Storrs, Usa In 2004. He Is A Member Of The Executive Committee In The Indian Historical Records Commission Nominated By The Government Of India (2002-07). Among His Many Publications Are: The Coromandel Cost And Its Hinterland: Economy, Society And Political System, 1500-1600 (1997), Portuguese In The Tamil Coast: Historical Explorations In Commerce And Culture, 1507-1749 (1998) , Rangappa Thiruvengaddam Pillai Naatkurippu, Vol, I (1760-1768) Vol. Ii, 1762-66 (2000), The Diary Of Rangappa Thiruvengadam Pillai, 1760-68: Translated From Original Tamil Notes (2001), Portuguese-Tamil Grammar: Modernisation And Democratisation Of Tamil (2001) And Letters Of The Portuguese Jesuits From Tamil Countryside, 1666-68, (2001). He Has Also Co-Edited (With K.S. Mathew) Indo-French Relations, (1999). And Edited Trade And Globalisation: Europeans, Americans And Indians On The Bay Of Bengal, 1511-1819 (2003). He Won The Best Book Prize For His Book : "Muthu Vijaya Thiruvengadam Pillai Naatkurippu, 1794-1796, In 1999 (In Tamil Which Deals With Diary Writing In Tamil During The Eighteenth Century)., Content:- Acknowledgements Contributors Introduction Part I : Opening A New Road : Indian Literature And Society Medieval Telugu Literature And The Untouchables In Society Cast System In North Indian Medieval Society : A Study Chiefly Based On Hindi Literature Widows And Fallen Women : Gleanings From The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Century Bengali Literature Emergence Of Seditious Literature And Its Social Impact In The French Colony Of Pondicherry (1908-1915) Part-Ii : From Europe To India: The Spread Of Ideas And Knowledge In Language, Linguistics And Literature Portuguese In Bengal : A Literary And Linguistic Interaction European Impact And Paradigm Shift In Tamil Development Advent Of The Europeans And Emergence Of New Literary Genres In Tamil Part-Iii : Construction, Dimension And Manifestation: Society In India Tamil Society And The Military In The Age Of The Medieval Cholas Civil Society Under The Sultanate-Mughal Rule: The Role Of The Sufis Caste And Dynamics Of Society In Andhra (1600-1750) The Social World Of The Weaver In The Northern Coromandel (1775-1817) Society And The Identity Of The Santals: The 'Other' Way Of Interpreting The Subalterns Part-Iv : European Encounter And Social Interactions In India Crime, Social Ramification And The Portuguese Diaspora On The Coromandel Coast (1538-1695) French Missionaries, Tamil Catholic And Social Changes In Pondicherry (1674-1793) Religious Conversion In Pondicherry And The French (1703-1878) Social Stratification And Change In Orissa Under The English East India Company And The Crown Part-V : Toward Society And Nation-State : Image And Perception The Inner Dynamism Of A Nation Sated: An Indian Paradigm Social And National Consciousness Of Rabindranath Tagore And The Indian National Movement (1905-1930) Socio-Cultural Reforms In Bengal And The Indian National Movement : A Case Study Of Prabartak Samgha In National Building (1915-1974) Index.