Dipesh Chakrabarty
Dipesh Chakrabarty
Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the College
University of Chicago
Research Project
Entanglements of the Indian Past
Project Team:
2021 – 2026
Key Question
Can a close examination of the way scholars have studied the Indian past open new pathways for future scholarship?
Project Summary
| A series of interdisciplinary workshops focused on key themes and pivotal moments that shaped the course of Indian historiography will help chart a future course for the study of the Indian past. |
The Entanglements of the Indian Past project aims to make the study of the Indian past more self-conscious of the forces that have shaped it. A three-year series of interdisciplinary workshops will focus on three issues where serious engagement is critical: caste, materiality, and historicality. The project pairs each of these issues with a crossroad moment in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century that determined the course that the study of the Indian past would take: Rahul Sankrityayan’s quest for a past that mirrored his commitments to justice and equality in the present, Muni Jinavijaya’s efforts to free Indian thought from the limitations of manuscript textuality, and Georg Bühler’s vision of recovering the history of a country that, according to a commonplace, “has no history.” Each of these moments reveals the intensity of political commitment, and the depth of vision, involved in studying the Indian past. This project will attempt to answer where such scholarship might go in the future.
Research Team
John E. Cort
Whitney Cox
Lynna Dhanani
Charu Gupta
Doug Ober
Doug Ober
Sessional Lecturer, Department of History and Research Associate, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
University of British Columbia
Andrew Ollett
Andrew Ollett
Neubauer Family Assistant Professor, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations
University of Chicago
Sarah Pierce Taylor
Sarah Pierce Taylor
Assistant Professor of Religion, Literature, and Visual Culture
University of Chicago
Anand Venkatkrishnan
Project Narrative
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Opening the Archive: Scholars and Monks in a Moment of Change
Conference
Opening the Archive: Scholars and Monks in a Moment of Change
Scholars came together to discuss the emergence of Jainism as a crucial aspect of understanding the Indian past, particularly in the 19th century
One Text, Two Titles, Three Sects, Eleven Languages: Jain Cosmopolitanism and Multiple Language Use
Lecture
One Text, Two Titles, Three Sects, Eleven Languages: Jain Cosmopolitanism and Multiple Language Use
This talk followed the trail of one Jain textual tradition, that of the thirteenth-century Prakrit Ṣaṣṭi Śataka.
Teaching Caste: Prospects and Challenges
Discussion
Teaching Caste: Prospects and Challenges
Charu Gupta (University of Delhi) and Laura Brueck (Northwestern University) reflected on their experiences with teaching caste.
Researching Caste: The Unchartered World of Santram BA
Workshop
Researching Caste: The Unchartered World of Santram BA
In this workshop, Charu Gupta discussed the writings of Santram BA, a radical anti-caste social reformer from Punjab.
Dalit Studies and the Study of Caste: The State of the Field
Conference
Dalit Studies and the Study of Caste: The State of the Field
This conference brought together prominent researchers on caste to consider new directions for the field of caste studies.
Critical Caste Studies: Snapshots from Teaching and Research
Lecture
Critical Caste Studies: Snapshots from Teaching and Research
Charu Gupta reflected on the meanings of caste, Dalit and Bahujan identities, and the criticality of “critical caste studies.”
On the Path of Rahulji
Discussion
On the Path of Rahulji
Discussion with invited guests to consider the legacy of Rahul Sankrityayan.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Opening the Archive: Scholars and Monks in a Moment of Change
Conference
Opening the Archive: Scholars and Monks in a Moment of Change
Scholars came together to discuss the emergence of Jainism as a crucial aspect of understanding the Indian past, particularly in the 19th century
Dalit Studies and the Study of Caste: The State of the Field
Conference
Dalit Studies and the Study of Caste: The State of the Field
This conference brought together prominent researchers on caste to consider new directions for the field of caste studies.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
One Text, Two Titles, Three Sects, Eleven Languages: Jain Cosmopolitanism and Multiple Language Use
Lecture
One Text, Two Titles, Three Sects, Eleven Languages: Jain Cosmopolitanism and Multiple Language Use
This talk followed the trail of one Jain textual tradition, that of the thirteenth-century Prakrit Ṣaṣṭi Śataka.
Critical Caste Studies: Snapshots from Teaching and Research
Lecture
Critical Caste Studies: Snapshots from Teaching and Research
Charu Gupta reflected on the meanings of caste, Dalit and Bahujan identities, and the criticality of “critical caste studies.”
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Teaching Caste: Prospects and Challenges
Discussion
Teaching Caste: Prospects and Challenges
Charu Gupta (University of Delhi) and Laura Brueck (Northwestern University) reflected on their experiences with teaching caste.
On the Path of Rahulji
Discussion
On the Path of Rahulji
Discussion with invited guests to consider the legacy of Rahul Sankrityayan.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Researching Caste: The Unchartered World of Santram BA
Workshop
Researching Caste: The Unchartered World of Santram BA
In this workshop, Charu Gupta discussed the writings of Santram BA, a radical anti-caste social reformer from Punjab.
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