History

From Volga to Ganga by Rahul Sankrityayan translated by V G Kiernan and Kanwal Dhaliwal and edited by Kanwal Dhaliwal and Maya Joshi, Delhi: Leftword, 2021; pp 380, `595.

The relationship between the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and the Portuguese state has not drawn much scholarly attention. This paper examines the transformation of the numerically marginal, yet most highly placed GSBs in the Portuguese Goa. It focuses on the amicable and conflictive strategies of the community with the Portuguese imperial agents, the colonisers of Portuguese origin and the Goan Catholics. It studies internal contradictions, the caste networks and institutions in the context of competitive conditions in the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. These processes, the paper suggests, are critical in understanding the cultural and political prospects of the scribal communities; they help trace a complex history of language practices, the kind of influence their position and skills enabled, and the formation of a Hindu polity.

The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East by Sudeep Chakravarti, Simon and Schuster India, 2022; pp 399, `899.

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Sociology and Social Anthropology in South Asia: Histories and Practices edited by Ravi Kumar, Dev Nath Pathak and Sasanka Perera, New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, 2018; pp 336, `1,075.