Culture, Polity and Economy
Contents: Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction/Varsha Joshi and Surjit Singh. I. History and Polity with Tod and Tessitori: 2. Multiple histories of Amber: Tod's annals versus local oral tradition/Elena Karachkova. 3. Mongols and Rajputs: a study of James Tod on the historical ethnicity of Martial races of Rajasthan and Central Asia/G.S.L. Devra. 4. James Tod's reflections on history and society of Rajasthan/V.K. Vashishtha. 5. James Tod and the 'Rajpoot Feudalism': the case of the Bhumiya Chiefs in Mewar/Marco Fattori. 6. Luigi Pio Tessitori: his historical research and the Rajasthan of his time/Enrico Fasana. 7. Law and administrative practices: institutionalizing sovereignty in 18 century Jaipur/Fatima Imam. 8. Forms of resistance in 18 century villages of Rajasthan/Madhu Sethia. II. Culture and tradition: 9. Six incarnations of Mirabai/Frances Taft. 10. Is the Dhola-Maru ra duha only a poetic composition?/Aleksandra Szyszko. 11. The music of Western Rajasthan: a wider regional context/Vijay Verma. 12. Changing profiles of crafts in Rajasthan/Varsha Joshi. III. Environment and institutions: 13. Protecting wolves from sheep: people and wildlife in the Rajasthani Aravalli/Paul Robbins and Anil K. Chhangani. 14. Murky waters: mediating local institutions for demand side solutions in Rajasthani irrigation systems/Trevor Birkenholtz. 15. The camel in Rajasthan: Agricultural biodiversity under threat/Ilse Kohler-Rollefson and Hanwant Singh Rathore. 16. Camel theft in 18 century Rajasthan: some observations/Nirmal Kumar. IV. Social and gender issues: 17. Gendered participatory approaches to drinking water supply: power and practice/Kathleen O'Reilly. 18. Female employment in unorganised sector in Rajasthan/Surjit Singh. 19. Crisis, food and nutrition security: some gender concerns/Varsha Joshi and Surjit Singh. 20. Two-child norm in Panchayati Raj: Evidence from Rajasthan/P.R. Sharma and G.S. Narwani.
"Rajasthan has rich past. People talk about Rajasthan's culture, history and polity. It has been an abode for diverse religions and the society of Rajasthan over the centuries has evolved into a well-knit fabric. The economy of Rajasthan has a feudal past and presently trying to come out of its shackles to become a modern economy.
This book is collection of select papers presented at the Fifth International Conference on Rajasthan with the theme "Multiple Histories, Ethnicity, Pluralism and Institutions". The contributors share their experiences about Rajasthan focusing on issues related to multiple histories, pluralism, multiculturalism, ethnicity and socio-cultural institutions.
Tod has interested many scholars and varied interpretations of his work have been provided. There are papers that delve on his work in Rajasthan's context. The fragile environment of Rajasthan and its animal wealth has also been scrutinized. The papers in this volume, thus, focus on Rajasthan's changing face. Each paper in this volume in its own way significantly adds to the study and understanding of a mosaic that Rajasthan is.
The volume no doubt would attract attention of newer scholars to study Rajasthan and reinvent it." (jacket)
