Toward a history of devotional Vaishnavism in the West Himalayas

Kullu and the Ramanandis, c. 1500–1800

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8961586
AutoresArik Moran (0000-0002-3451-2050, University of Haifa, autor correspondente)
Ano2013
Volume50
Fascículo1
Páginas1-25
Data de publicação2013-01-01
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)
DOI10.1177/0019464612474165
OpenAlexW2043609944
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas16

The unlikely emergence of the remote Himalayan valley of Kullu as a centre of devotional ( bhakti) Vaishnavism c. 1650 has customarily been explained as the residual outcome of regional integration into the Mughal Empire. However, recent research on the role of ascetic movements in the history of early modern India suggests the bairagi sadhus behind this shift in religious orientation played a far greater role in the mountain kingdom’s development than the mere ‘conversion’ of its raja that is reported in local tradition. This article traces the development of bairagi involvement in Kullu to revise the customary account of state formation in the region. It shows that Vaishnava ascetics directly contributed to Kullu’s development at various historical junctures and links these processes with parallel phases of the Ramanandi sampraday’s evolution in north India. In investigating a pan-Indian phenomenon in a limited area, this article highlights the importance of integrating regional histories within the broader framework of the history of the subcontinent

Ancient history · Archaeology · Asceticism · Empire · Epistemology · Geography · Indian subcontinent · Phenomenon · State (computer science · Diverse Philosophical and Cultural Studies · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Indian History and Philosophy · Philosophy