"Shared History, Shared Culture : Kutch, Sind and the river Indus" a talk by Prof. Mariam Dossal at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 25th November 2013
Time : 3:00 pm
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi - 110011
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Description : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to a Public Lecture (in the ‘Rethinking History’ series) on ‘Shared History, Shared Culture : Kutch, Sind and the river Indus’ by Prof. Mariam Dossal, Formerly at University of Mumbai, Mumbai.
Abstract : The Partition of India in 1947 ruptured Kutch’s close ties with Sind and its age-old dependence on the waters of the river Indus. It also separated Kutch from its wider zone of cultural affinity, its linkages with that great swath of land which extends from Kutch through Sind, Baluchistan, Punjab, Afghanistan and into Central Asia. Pastoral communities in Kutch, notably the Jaths, Rabaris, Muttwas and Sodhas, as well as craftspersons such as the Lohar –Vadhas (carpenter-blacksmiths) among others, trace their ancestry to waves of migrants who entered north-west India through the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush. While some settled in the Punjab, others moved south into Sind and eastwards settling in the Banni or grassland region of central Kutch. Each year, they travelled long distances in search of water to the banks of the river Indus. Their annual migration from the interior of Kutch to the Indus river in Sind constituted an important strategy of survival. The extent of dislocation and trauma caused to these communities by Partition is inestimable. The material culture of Kutch shares much with that of Sind, north-western India and Central Asia. These similarities are evident in textile design, embroidery, architecture, wood-carving and leather work. Sufi Islam, the worship of pirs and sants, poetry, myths, legends, food and language contribute to an important shared heritage. In independent India, Kutch is being reoriented eastwards. Today, it forms the largest district in the state of Gujarat. Efforts are apace in political circles to divide the erstwhile kingdom into two. This is said to be for administrative reasons, but as many Kutchis fear, will result in a loss of Kutchi identity and distance the people further from their rich multi-ethnic and multi-religious inheritances.
Speaker : Prof. Mariam Dossal was Professor of History at the University of Mumbai, until her retirement in 2011. She is an urban and maritime historian of modern India, specializing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Professor Dossal has published extensively in national and international journals and edited volumes. She has been the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships, including the prestigious membership to the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, USA. She is the author of Imperial Designs and Indian Realities The Planning of Bombay City, c. 1845-1875 , 1991 ) and Theatre of Conflict, City of Hope, Mumbai 1661- to Present Times, 2010). She is currently researching for a book on 'Craft, Entrepreneurship and the Culture of Kutch, c. 1750 to 2000'.
Related Events : Talks | History | Environment
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi - 110011
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Description : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to a Public Lecture (in the ‘Rethinking History’ series) on ‘Shared History, Shared Culture : Kutch, Sind and the river Indus’ by Prof. Mariam Dossal, Formerly at University of Mumbai, Mumbai.
Abstract : The Partition of India in 1947 ruptured Kutch’s close ties with Sind and its age-old dependence on the waters of the river Indus. It also separated Kutch from its wider zone of cultural affinity, its linkages with that great swath of land which extends from Kutch through Sind, Baluchistan, Punjab, Afghanistan and into Central Asia. Pastoral communities in Kutch, notably the Jaths, Rabaris, Muttwas and Sodhas, as well as craftspersons such as the Lohar –Vadhas (carpenter-blacksmiths) among others, trace their ancestry to waves of migrants who entered north-west India through the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush. While some settled in the Punjab, others moved south into Sind and eastwards settling in the Banni or grassland region of central Kutch. Each year, they travelled long distances in search of water to the banks of the river Indus. Their annual migration from the interior of Kutch to the Indus river in Sind constituted an important strategy of survival. The extent of dislocation and trauma caused to these communities by Partition is inestimable. The material culture of Kutch shares much with that of Sind, north-western India and Central Asia. These similarities are evident in textile design, embroidery, architecture, wood-carving and leather work. Sufi Islam, the worship of pirs and sants, poetry, myths, legends, food and language contribute to an important shared heritage. In independent India, Kutch is being reoriented eastwards. Today, it forms the largest district in the state of Gujarat. Efforts are apace in political circles to divide the erstwhile kingdom into two. This is said to be for administrative reasons, but as many Kutchis fear, will result in a loss of Kutchi identity and distance the people further from their rich multi-ethnic and multi-religious inheritances.
Speaker : Prof. Mariam Dossal was Professor of History at the University of Mumbai, until her retirement in 2011. She is an urban and maritime historian of modern India, specializing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Professor Dossal has published extensively in national and international journals and edited volumes. She has been the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships, including the prestigious membership to the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, USA. She is the author of Imperial Designs and Indian Realities The Planning of Bombay City, c. 1845-1875 , 1991 ) and Theatre of Conflict, City of Hope, Mumbai 1661- to Present Times, 2010). She is currently researching for a book on 'Craft, Entrepreneurship and the Culture of Kutch, c. 1750 to 2000'.
Related Events : Talks | History | Environment
"Shared History, Shared Culture : Kutch, Sind and the river Indus" a talk by Prof. Mariam Dossal at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 25th November 2013
!["Shared History, Shared Culture : Kutch, Sind and the river Indus" a talk by Prof. Mariam Dossal at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 25th November 2013]()
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Monday, November 25, 2013
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