Leadership and Individuality in South Asia: The Case of the South Indian Big-man

1990 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattison Mines ◽  
Vijayalakshmi Gourishankar
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South India ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
The South ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Indian History ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Perceptions Of Leadership ◽  
The Individual

Although there has been great interest in how properly to conceptualize the person in Indian culture, few have explored Indian perceptions of leadership, achievement, and agency as valued features of individuality (Singer 1972; Mines 1988; Fox 1989). Indeed, since Dumont (1970a,b) forcefully argued that the values of equality and liberty that support the Western notion of the individual were absent from Indian society, the important roles that personal uniqueness, volition, and achievement play in Indian history have been largely overlooked or understated. This paper reconsiders an Indian sense of these roles by examining the south Indian concept of the “big-man” (periyar, periyavar), a notion of individuality and instrumentality that is central to the politics of south India and crucial to an understanding of the dynamic relationship that exists between action and organization in Indian society (cf., Fox 1989).

scholarly journals A Study on Jainism History, Philosophy and Traditions in Tamilnadu

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 75-79
Author(s):  
M Rajeshwari ◽  
A Amirthavalli
Keyword(s):  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
South India ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
Indian History ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Way

In Tamil Nadu Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism is one of the three oldest Indian strict conventions still in presence and a necessary piece of South indian strict conviction and practice. While frequently utilizing ideas imparted to Hinduism and Buddhism, the consequence of a typical social and phonetic foundation, the Jain convention should be viewed as a free marvel as opposed to as a Hindu order or a Buddhist blasphemy, as some previous Western researchers accepted. In South India, Jainism is minimal in overflow of a name. Indeed, even genuine understudies of religion in India gave little consideration to it. In a populace of almost 60 crores of individuals, Jainas may establish almost nearly 3 million individuals. Jainism is the religion of the Jains who follow the way, lectured and rehearsed by the Jinas. It is a fully evolved and grounded religion and social framework that rose up out of 6 century BC .The trademark highlight of this religion is its case to all inclusiveness which it holds essentially contrary to Brahmanism. It very well may be said that throughout the previous 2500 years the Jains have contributed such a huge amount to each circle of life of Indian individuals both as a religion and a way of thinking. They contributed a lot to the regions of culture, language, exchange and agribusiness, or all in all the Jains opened up another period of human thoughts and musings. In Indian History, endeavors were made to contemplate Jainism as a religion and its commitments yet focus on the Jain movement into Tamil Nadu and its effects are restricted. An endeavor is made in this examination to investigate the recorded geology of the Jain focuses in Tamil Nadu.

Epilogue

2020 ◽  
pp. 321-324
Author(s):  
Federico De Romanis
Keyword(s):  
Red Sea ◽  
South India ◽  
Second Century ◽  
The South ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Import And Export ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
Precious Stones

The epilogue summarizes what the two texts of the Muziris papyrus tell us about the pepper and ivory production of the ancient Cēra kingdom, South Indian commercial connections with the Ganges Valley, the logistics of the Red Sea–Alexandria transports, the complex relationships between the South India traders and the contractors of the Red Sea tax, and the assessment and payment of the import and export customs duties. It also looks at what the two texts do not mention—the part of pearls and precious stones in the South India trade of the mid-second century ad. Furthermore, a speculative estimate of the commercial venture final balance is attempted.

The South Indian Tradition of the Apostle Thomas

1924 ◽  
Vol 56 (S1) ◽  
pp. 213-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Thoma
Keyword(s):  
South India ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
Indian Tradition ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Christian Origins ◽  
Final Settlement

Although a great deal has been written concerning St. Thomas's connexion with India, it has so far resulted only in barren controversies and inchoate theories. The finding of the “Gondophares.” coins in the Cabul region raised great hopes of a final settlement of the problem; but apart from the (itself doubtful) identification of a single name in the Ada Thomae, it has shed little light on the mysteries of Christian origins in India. Nay, it has had positively injurious results, inasmuch as it diverted the attention of scholars into fields far remote from the familiar haunts of the Thomistic tradition. South India is the quarter from which we should expect fresh evidence: the north has no known claims to any connexion with the Apostle. In the south live the Christians of St. Thomas—the so-called “Syrians” who for more than a thousand years have upheld their descent from the Apostle's disciples. There also we have what has been believed from immemorial antiquity to be the tomb of St. Thomas, with various lithic remains of pre-Portuguese Christianity around Madras. South India has a remarkably ancient tradition of St. Thomas; and it is a living tradition, not a dead legend. It can be traced back at least to the sixth century a.d., and it still lives in popular memories, not only of Christians, but of others not recognizing the claims of Christianity. The existence of this tradition is known and recognized; but no organized attempt has yet been made to explore it.

The Economic Function of a Medieval South Indian Temple

1960 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burton Stein
Keyword(s):  
South India ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Indian History ◽  
Agrarian Economy ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Hindu Temples ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Economic Function

The economic importance of Hindu temples in medieval South India has been commented upon by most students of South Indian history. Without exception, the temple is seen to have had a central place in the dominantly agrarian economy of South India prior to the extension of British control in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, beyond recognition of the significant economic functions of medieval South Indian temples, little attention has been given to the matter.

scholarly journals South Indian Ritual Dispels Negative Karma in the Birth Chart

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1 and 2) ◽  
pp. 251-271
Author(s):  
Lilan Laishley
Keyword(s):  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
South India ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Specific Site ◽  
South Indian ◽  
The Individual

This paper examines the practice of celestial magic in contemporary South India as it relates to the individual birth chart. Specific celestially oriented rituals are understood to minimize the unpleasant effects of the birth chart and positively influence the planetary deities. The rituals incorporate various magical objects and actions including puja, mantras, prayers, yantras, ceremonial offerings, icons, gemstones, and shrines. This paper is based on participant observation during a research trip to Tamil Nadu, South India, where an astrologer suggested a ritual was needed to clear the negative karma he saw in my birth chart. This led to a multifaceted ritual at a 9th century snake temple that I documented with photos and interviews. This specific site was chosen because the celestial snake Rahu /Ketu in the Indian astrological system was identified as the cause of the difficult karma and would need to be approached for help in clearing it. I will share the stages of this ritual, including the symbolic meaning of the objects used and actions taken. I conclude with my proposal that ritual is both a container and vehicle for celestial magic.

The Indo-Roman Pepper Trade and the Muziris Papyrus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico De Romanis
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
South India ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
South Indian ◽  
History Of ◽  
European Trade ◽  
Early Modern Times ◽  
Commercial Relationships

This book offers an interpretation of the two fragmentary texts of the P. Vindobonensis G 40822, now widely referred to as the Muziris papyrus. Without these two texts, there would be no knowledge of the Indo-Roman trade practices. The book also compares and contrasts the texts of the Muziris papyrus with other documents pertinent to Indo-Mediterranean (or Indo-European) trade in ancient, medieval, and early modern times. These other documents reveal the commercial and political geography of ancient South India; the sailing schedule and the size of the ships plying the South India sea route; the commodities exchanged in the South Indian emporia; and the taxes imposed on the Indian commodities en route from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. When viewed against the twin backdrops of ancient sources on South Indian trade and of medieval and early modern documents on pepper commerce, the two texts become foundational resources for the history of commercial relationships between South India and the West.

Individuality and Achievement in South Indian Social History

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattison Mines
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
South Indian ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Social Importance

One of the unresolved issues of Indian anthorpology is how to characterize and weigh the social importance of individuality and achievement in Indian social history. Of course, the individual as ‘empirical agent’ exists in India as everywhere (Dumont 1970a:9), yet because Hindu culture stresses collective identities over those of the individual, individual achievement, which is a measure of individuality, has been overlooked and sometimes outrightly rejected as a cause of history and social order (Dumont 1970a:107; 1970b; cf. Silverberg 1968). In consequence, the motivations underlying achievement that might explain historic action have also been ignored. This undervaluing of individuality and achievement has given rise to a long debate among South Asianists about the role of the individual in Indian society (e.g., Marriott 1968, 1969; Tambiah 1972:835; Beteille 1986, 1987), a debate that raises questions in wider arenas about the nature of society and culture in relation to individuals (e.g. Brown 1988; Mines 1988).

KNOWING THE DANCER: EAST MEETS WEST

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Spear ◽  
Avanthi Meduri
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Julia Kristeva ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
The South ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
The West ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Shifting Boundaries

The clean and the proper (in the sense of incorporated and incorporable) becomes filthy, the sought-after turns into the banished, fascination into shame.—Julia Kristeva,The Powers of HorrorTHE HISTORY WE ARE SKETCHINGis one of boundaries double crossed between India and the West and between periods of the South Asian past. On one level our story is about an historical irony, how late nineteenth-century Orientalism resuscitated the romantic mystique of the eastern dancer in the West just as South Indian dancers were being repressed in their homeland by Indian reformers influenced by western mores. Within that history there is another dynamic that is less about crossing than about shifting boundaries, boundaries between the sacred and the profane and their expression in colonial law. We will be looking at these movements and transformations within the context of current scholarship that is historicizing even those elements of Indian culture conventionally understood to be most ancient and unchanging.

scholarly journals From labour contractors to worker-agents: Transformations in the recruitment of migrant labourers in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayaseelan Raj ◽  
Richard Axelby
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
The South ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Migrant Labour ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Indian State

This article examines the circumstances in which the tasks performed by professional labour contractors may be passed on to worker-agents. It does so by critically engaging with the experience of migrant workers from the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand as they travel to work in the Peermade tea belt in the South Indian state of Kerala. Specifically, we identify shifts in economic and political contexts that have permitted these functions to pass from labour contractors to workers-agents and from a Sardari (top-down) to a Ristedari (kinship based) system. Outlining the functions of the labour contractor—as bridge, broker and buffer—the article details the complex processes and the series of negotiations that occur during the transition from labour contractor to worker-agent-led recruitment and the implications of this shift for labour relations in the production setting. We conclude by calling for further consideration of the ‘worker-agent’ as a key emerging figure in understanding the contemporary transformations in the reproduction of footloose migrant labour, which may have larger ramifications for other contexts in South Asia and beyond.

scholarly journals The Economies of Love: Love marriage, kin support, and aspiration in a South Indian garment city

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1220-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEERT DE NEVE
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
South India ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Linear Transformations ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Kin Support ◽  
Love Marriage ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThe article considers narratives and experiences of love marriage in the garment city of Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, South India. As a booming centre of garment production, Tiruppur attracts a diverse migrant workforce of young men and women who have plenty of opportunity to fall in love and enter marriages of their own making. Based on long-term ethnographic research, the article explores what love marriages mean to those involved, how they are experienced and talked about, and how they shape postmarital lives. Case studies reveal that a discourse of loss of postmarital kin support is central to evaluations of love marriages by members of Tiruppur's labouring classes. Such marriages not only flout parental authority and often cross caste and religious boundaries, but they also jeopardize the much-needed kin support youngsters require to fulfil aspirations of mobility, entrepreneurship, and success in a post-liberalization environment. It is argued that critical evaluations of love marriages not only disrupt modernist assumptions of linear transformations in marital practices, but they also constitute a broader critique of the neoliberal celebration of the ‘individual’ while reaffirming the continued importance of caste endogamy, parental involvement, and kin support to success in India's post-reform economy.

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