Tribals and Dalits in Orissa

This book examines diverse aspects of the social history of the marginalized sections of society in Orissa, focusing on the problems of colonialism and the way it impacted the lives of tribals, outcastes and dalits. It delineates how these socially excluded sections were terrorized and further impoverished by both the colonial government and the chiefs of the despotic princely states who worked in tandem with them. In course of six tightly argued chapters, Biswamoy Pati studies several key issues including ‘colonial knowledge’ systems which had a long afterlife, such as the stereotyping of tribals as violent and brutal and colonial constructions of the ‘criminal tribe’. In addition, he closely examines colonial agrarian settlements, adivasi strategies of resistance (including uprisings); indigenous systems of health and medicine, the colonial ‘medical gaze’; conversion (to Hinduism), fluidities of caste formations in the nineteenth century, the Hinduization and appropriation by princely rulers of adivasi deities and healing methods, rituals of legitimacy adopted by these rulers as well as the development of colonial capitalism and urbanization. Alongside, he explores the connections between the marginal social groups and the national movement, besides touching upon the manner in which the ruling classes after Independence have allowed a host of inherited problems to remain unresolved. Adopting an inter-disciplinary method and drawing upon archival and rare, untapped sources, this fascinating study would be of interest to students of history, social anthropology, political sociology, cultural studies, dalit studies and social exclusion. It would also attract non-governmental organisations and planners of public policy.