Brahman wives and pedagogies of conscience in mid-nineteenth century British India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3636640 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Seth Koven (0000-0002-4264-9989, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 100-166 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Modern Asian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0026749x21000639 |
| OpenAlex | W4281623238 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
This article argues that fromcirca1845-1857, British colonial officials and administrators, abetted by Protestant missionaries and some so-called 'native Christians', attempted to replace Brahmanical regulation of everyday life with what I am calling 'governance by conscience' in British India. It uses the 1851 legal ruling inNarayen Ramchundur versus Luxmeebae, hailed by some for bringing 'liberty of conscience' and condemned by others as a wanton violation of Hindu personal law, to elucidate the connections between the Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850 (Act XXI) and education. My analysis highlights the centrality of Brahman wives and gender to debates about conscience, caste, property, and Christian conversion. During the violent summer of 1857, some condemned the Act and its use in deciding the case ofNarayen Ramchundur versus Luxmeebaeas provocation for the traumatic disorders then threatening to dismantle Britain's Indian empire
Brahman · Caste · Colonialism · Conscience · Hinduism · Political science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies
Caste, Conflict and Ideology
Christianity in India
Recovering Liberties
Spiritual Despots
Governing Islam
Liberty, equality, fraternity
Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830–1930
Contentious Traditions
Religion versus empire
Imperial Fault Lines
Anti-Christian Violence in India
Sex and the Family in Colonial India
Liberalism and Empire
Formations of the Secular
Essay and Reflection
Pedagogy for Religion
Family Secrets
James Fitzjames Stephen, John Stuart Mill, and the Victorian Theory of Toleration
The Government of Social Life in Colonial India
Disaffected Emotion, Sedition, and Colonial Law in the Anglosphere
Outside the Fold
Rage for Order
Society and economy in the Deccan, 1818-50
Changing Patterns of Occupation Among Chitpavan Brahmans
Hinduism, Christianity, and Liberal Religious Toleration
It's All In the Family
Beyond Caste
Muslim or Christian? Family Quarrels and Religious Diagnosis in a Colonial Court
The Religious Complex in Eighteenth-Century Poona
Religious change, social conflict and legal competition
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |