The frayed margins of empire

Early nineteenth century Panjab and the hill states

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8961007
AutoresMahesh Sharma (0000-0003-2589-033X, Panjab University, Chandigarh, autor correspondente)
Ano2017
Volume54
Fascículo4
Páginas505-533
Data de publicação2017-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Indian Economic & Social History Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0019-4646 • E-ISSN: 0973-0893
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0019464617728220
OpenAlexW2769279923
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas13

The historiography of the nineteenth century Panjab privileges the core constituency of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s ‘empire’, whereby the margins are represented only as conquered territories. This article shifts the perspective by highlighting the context of ‘Zomian’ margins in the making of an ‘empire’. Based on coeval travellers’ accounts, news from Lahore Durbar and British Indian governmental sources, the focus is on the impact of economic and political contingencies on the policies of Sikh Sardars, the Maharaja of Lahore and, ultimately, the British Indian government in the Western Himalayan region. We shall, however, limit ourselves to economic interaction between the hegemonic empire and Kangra hill states to bring out the dynamics of dominance and subversion. The underlying assumption of dominance and eventual integration into the ‘empire’ was rather economic: in services, materials and money. It was, however, not a relationship of political dominance only. While the subjugation of hill states alienated revenue to the ‘empire’, it also opened new markets to the hill products and services that had cultural and economic implications. The new markets were welcomed; the alienation of revenue was not. The alliance, therefore, had an uneasy aspect, nuanced by a subtle protest, that of the weak against the strong: an indirect, meek and symbolic resistance. Consequently, when the strength of ‘empire’ dwindled, such protests acquired accentuated dimensions. The process of such protests is vital in understanding the decline of Lahore ‘empire’, barely a decade after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Alienation · Ancient history · Archaeology · British Empire · Context (archaeology · Dominance (genetics · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Empire · Hegemony · Historiography · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Conflicts