Debrahmanising History: Dominance and Resistance in Indian Society

Egalitarianism is a counter-tradition that has been carried forward in modern India by marginalised people, including Jotiba Phule, Iyothee Thass, Narayana Guru, Periyar, and Ambedkar. It is found in the strands of shramanism, Buddhism, the movements of subaltern sant-poets, Sufism, and Sikhism, and offers an alternative to Tilak-Savarkarite, Gandhian, and Nehruvian visions. However, neo-brahmanism has reincarnated and nationalised itself into octopus-like Hinduism and Indian culture, despite their determined struggles.

Format: Hardback
Length: 446 pages
Publication date: 01 May 2024
Publisher: Manohar Publishers and Distributors

Egalitarianism is not a foreign concept to India or a gift from the West. Marginalized people worldwide have always yearned for a more inclusive world. This revised edition of Debrahmanising History highlights the beauty and resilience of a counter-tradition by exploring the major sites of resistance and creativity from below. This liberating tradition is found in the egalitarians of diverse inclinations, particularly in the strands of shramanism, Buddhism, the movements of subaltern sant-poets, Sufism, and Sikhism. In modern India, Jotiba Phule, Iyothee Thass, Narayana Guru, Periyar, and Ambedkar were the most prominent advocates of this counter-tradition. Recognizing the power of culture in the politics of transformation, they had emancipatory visions that embraced the entire Indian experience and stood as an alternative to Tilak-Savarkarite, Gandhian, and Nehruvian visions. However, their determined but diverse and resource-less struggles, fought in the teeth of opposition from the caste elites, could not arrest the neo-brahmanism that, under colonial complicity and the archaeology of knowledge derived from Orientalism, went on to reincarnate and nationalize itself into octopus-like Hinduism and Indian culture.

Weight: 612g
Dimension: 148 x 225 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789350981108