The Seventeenth Century Chronicles of Mārvāṛa: A Study in the Evolution and Use of Oral Traditions in Western India

1976 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 127-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman P. Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Central India ◽  
Transitional Zone ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Western India ◽  
North Central ◽  
Gangetic Plains ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
The Rich

Having won the great battle, Rāo Tīido returned to Mahevā with great wealth in train. Upon arrival, he divided up the wealth and property. To the Cāraṇas and Bhāṭas he gave many cows, many female camels and buffalo. And there were noble songs [vaḍā gîta] and exalted poems [vaḍā kavita] recited of the glorious battle and the renowned victory.The poets are the chief, though not the sole, historians of Western India;… they speak in a peculiar tongue, which requires to be translated into the sober language of probability. To compensate for their magniloquence and obscurity, their pen is free: the despotism of the Rajpoot princes does not extend to the poet's lay, which flows unconfined except by the shackles of the chhund bhojunga, or “Serpentine stanza”…. On the other hand, there is a sort of compact or understanding between the bard and the prince, a barter of “solid pudding against empty praise,” whereby the fidelity of the poetic chronicle is somewhat impaired. The sale of “fame” as the bards term it, by the court-laureates and historiographers of Rajasthan, will continue until there shall arise in the community a class sufficiently enlightened and independent to look for no other recompense for literary labor than public distinction.Stretching across North-central India from Kāthiāvaṛa to Orissa lies a great geographical and cultural shatterbelt formed by the Vindhyan mountains and their associated tracts, an area traditionally characterized by high internal subdivision and political fragmentation. The northwestern extension of this belt comprises the frontier zone today known as Rājasthān (“the land of the Princes”). Strategically situated between the rich Gangetic plains of Hindustān to the northwest and the fertile regions of Mālvā and Gujarāt to the south and southwest, it forms an area of marginal agricultural importance whose historical significance lay primarily in its position as a key transitional zone between larger cultural centers, criss-crossed and intersected at a number of points by major caraven routes.

Loving Stones

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Haberman
Keyword(s):  
Central India ◽  
North Central ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Sacred Mountain ◽  
Interpretive Strategies ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
Textual Research ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

Loving Stones: Making the Impossible Possible in the Worship of Mount Govardhan is based on ethnographic and textual research with two major objectives. First, it is a study of the conceptions of and worshipful interactions with Mount Govardhan, a sacred mountain located in the Braj region of north-central India that has for centuries been considered an embodied form of Krishna. In this capacity it provides detailed information about the rich religious world associated with Mount Govardhan, much of which has not been available in previous scholarly literature. It is often said in that Mount Govardhan “makes the impossible possible” for devoted worshipers. This investigation includes an examination of the perplexing paradox of an infinite god embodied in finite form, wherein each particular form is non-different from the unlimited. Second, it aims to address the challenge of interpreting something as radically different as the worship of a mountain and its stones for a culture in which this practice is quite alien. This challenge involves exploration of interpretive strategies that aspire to make the incomprehensible understandable, and engages in theoretical considerations of incongruity, inconceivability, and like realms of the impossible. This aspect of the book includes critical consideration of the place and history of the pejorative concept of idolatry (and secondarily, its twin, anthropomorphism) in the comparative study of religions. Accordingly, the second aim aspires to use the worship of Mount Govardhan as a site to explore ways in which scholars engaged in the difficult work of representing other cultures struggle to “make the impossible possible.”

Clay Minerals in Soils as Evidence of Holocene Climatic Change, Central Indo-Gangetic Plains, North-Central India

1998 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pankaj Srivastava ◽  
Bramha Parkash ◽  
Dilip K. Pal
Keyword(s):  
Central India ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
North Central ◽  
Gangetic Plains ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Paleoclimatic Changes ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Potential Indicator

Clay mineral assemblages of a soil chrono-association comprising five fluvial surface members (QGH1 to QGH5) of the Indo-Gangetic Plains between the Ramganga and Rapti rivers, north-central India, demonstrate that pedogenic interstratified smectite–kaolin (Sm/K) can be considered as a potential indicator for paleoclimatic changes during the Holocene from arid to humid climates. On the basis of available radiocarbon dates, thermoluminescence dates, and historical evidence, tentative ages assigned to QGH1 to QGH5 are <500 yr B.P., >500 yr B.P., >2500 yr B.P., 8000 TL yr B.P., and 13,500 TL yr B.P., respectively. During pedogenesis two major regional climatic cycles are recorded: relatively arid climates between 10,000–6500 yr B.P. and 3800–? yr B.P. were punctuated by a warm and humid climate. Biotite weathered to trioctahedral vermiculite and smectite in the soils during arid conditions, and smectite was unstable and transformed to Sm/K during the warm and humid climatic phase (7400–4150 cal yr B.P.). When the humid climate terminated, vermiculite, smectite, and Sm/K were preserved to the present day. The study suggests that during the development of soils in the Holocene in alluvium of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, climatic fluctuations appear to be more important than realized hitherto. The soils older than 2500 yr B.P. are relict paleosols, but they are polygenetic because of their subsequent alterations.

scholarly journals Water–food–energy nexus with changing agricultural scenarios in India during recent decades

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 3041-3060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beas Barik ◽  
Subimal Ghosh ◽  
A. Saheer Sahana ◽  
Amey Pathak ◽  
Muddu Sekhar
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Monsoon Rainfall ◽  
Central India ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Western India ◽  
Groundwater Storage ◽  
Ganga Basin ◽  
Strong Negative Correlation ◽  
Food Energy

Abstract. Meeting the growing water and food demands in a densely populated country like India is a major challenge. It requires an extensive investigation into the changing patterns of the checks and balances behind the maintenance of food security at the expense of depleting groundwater, along with high energy consumption. Here we present a comprehensive set of analyses which assess the present status of the water–food–energy nexus in India, along with its changing pattern, in the last few decades. We find that with the growth of population and consequent increase in the food demands, the food production has also increased, and this has been made possible with the intensification of irrigation. However, during the recent decade (after 1996), the increase in food production has not been sufficient to meet its growing demands, precipitating a decline in the per-capita food availability. We also find a statistically significant declining trend of groundwater storage in India during the last decade, as derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite datasets. Regional studies reveal contrasting trends between northern and western–central India. North-western India and the middle Ganga basin show a decrease in the groundwater storage as opposed to an increasing storage over western–central India. Comparison with well data reveals that the highest consistency of GRACE-derived storage data with available well measurements is in the middle Ganga basin. After analysing the data for the last 2 decades, we further showcase that, after a drought, the groundwater storage drops but is unable to recover to its original condition even after good monsoon years. The groundwater storage reveals a very strong negative correlation with the electricity consumption for agricultural usage, which may also be considered as a proxy for groundwater pumped for irrigation in a region. The electricity usage for agricultural purposes has an increasing trend and, interestingly, it does not have any correlation with the monsoon rainfall as computed with the original or de-trended variables. This reveals an important finding that the irrigation has been intensified irrespective of rainfall. This also resulted in a decreasing correlation between the food production and monsoon rainfall, revealing the increasing dependency of agricultural activities on irrigation. We conclude that irrigation has now become essential for agriculture to meet the food demand; however, it should be judiciously regulated and controlled, based on the water availability from monsoon rainfall, specifically after the drought years, as it is essential to recover from the deficits suffered previously.

scholarly journals ACTIVITIES OF SCHOLARS OF ISLAMIC LAW (FUQAHA) FROM SHASH OASIS IN SCIENTIFIC CENTERS OF THE REGION

2020 ◽  
pp. 4-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nematullo Mukhamedov
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Scientific Cooperation ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Science And Culture ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Muslim Culture

For centuries, Islamic traditions have contributed to the formation of unique Muslim culture in Central Asia, interwoven with the rich cultural heritage of the peoples of this region. In turn, this affected the spiritual life of society and left a significant mark on the development of various sciences. Uzbekistan and its cities Bukhara, Samarkand, Nasaf (Karshi), Termez, Khiva, Shash (Tashkent), and others, which became famous in the whole Muslim world as leading scientific and cultural centers, occupied a special place in these historical processes. IX-XII centuries in Central Asia is famous for the development of science and culture, especially the Islamic sciences. Consequently, such ancient cities as Bukhara, Samarkand, Nasaf (Karshi), Termez, Khiva, Shash (Tashkent) are known as centers of science and culture in the Islamic world. In particular, in the medieval sources, Tashkent is called as Shash, where many prominent scholars of Islamic sciences such as hadith and jurisprudence came from. IX century is known as the “Golden Age of Fiqh Science (Islamic law)” thanks to the works of the region’s faqih scholars. The article analyzes the activities of medieval (IX-XII) scholars of Shash in the scientific centers of the region. It also explores scientific cooperation between scholars of madrasahs in various scientific cities of the region, such as Samarkand, Bukhara, Nasaf, Termez, Merv, and Baghdad.

The integration of cultures: music of the people of Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-68
Author(s):  
Gulmira Mussagulova ◽  
Zulfiya Kassimova
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Cultural Integration ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Republic

The article is devoted to the consideration and study of the creativity of the most prominent representatives of the musical art of national ethnic groups, the role of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, the identification of various criteria for the relationship of ethnic groups living in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the peculiarities of their life, way of life, spheres of life, their relationship and views on the modern State, created by the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Nursultan Nazarbayev. The core of the projects completed in the period from 2012 to 2017 includes not only historical facts and materials found from the State Archives, Central Scientific Library and the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan, but also an overview of active participation in many events related to the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, to the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, associated with the considered ethnocultural centers and representatives of certain ethnic groups. Through the media, participation in international scientific and practical conferences, previously unknown facts of the studied ethnic groups were highlighted, and their relationship with the main population of the republic, their contribution to the multinational culture of Kazakhstan, which in turn confirms the prudent, orderly, and wise policy of Elbasy (The Head of the State). The authors use the following methods in the study: historical-chronological, source study, analytical, comparative, and interviewing. Since 2012, in Kazakh musicology, the musical heritage of ethnic groups inhabiting Kazakhstan has been studied. A unique opportunity for a full-fledged study of their work is presented thanks to the activities of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and systematic state policy, under the leadership of the First President. In 2017, the second book, entitled "The Historical Significance of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan in Interethnic Cultural Integration", was published, which became a fruitful result of the research project in 2015–2017. This book is a kind of continuation of the series, which began in the previous collective monograph "The Musical Art of the People of Kazakhstan", which was published at the end of 2014 and has undergone extensive testing not only among professionals, but also among fans of the musical culture of multinational Kazakhstan. Such research projects, which were not previously carried out in the domestic humanitarian science, are significant and in demand, since before their appearance in domestic musicology there were only separate reports on the activities of cultural centers, articles in the media and on Internet sites, a brief analysis of the work of specific masters in publications devoted to the study of the history of musical art of numerous national cultures. They give only fragmentary ideas about the art of the ethnic groups in question. The relevance and insufficient elaboration of these problems served as the basis for the study "The historical significance of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan in interethnic cultural integration", carried out by the Department of Musicology of the M. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art of the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The implementation of such a complex and significant topic for the national musical art, coverage of the activities of large cultural centers of different ethnic groups, and much more makes it possible to determine the contribution of each of them to the history of Kazakhstan's development and outline ways to preserve the traditional folklore heritage and identity. In this regard, these projects are relevant and socially and politically significant at the state level.

The Gothic Body before and after Freud

2019 ◽  
pp. 91-107
Author(s):  
Steven Bruhm
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Rich

This chapter reads Freud's relatively overlooked essay, "A Seventeenth-Century Demonological Neurosis" (1923), to consider how psychoanalysis received the Gothic trope of demoniacal possession and made of it an intra-psychic, rather than a religiously spiritual affair. The resulting analysis traces Freud's construction of the demoniacal from the Medieval-metaphysical to the empiricist psychological and then into the metapsychological, to consider how the demoniacal that Freud wanted to tame always exceeded his disciplining of it. By considering the historical slippage between "possession" and "obsession," this essay charts the rich but uneasy relation between demonism as an attack on the soul versus demonism as an attack on the body. It concludes by considering demonology in William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist and Ray Russell's The Case Against Satan, to emphasize the ways the post-Freudian Gothic cannot escape its medieval roots in bodily humiliation.

Film Comedy in Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 211-242
Author(s):  
William V. Costanzo
Keyword(s):  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Political Humor ◽  
Ousmane Sembene ◽  
Black Africa ◽  
Pan Africanism ◽  
The World ◽  
Djibril Diop Mambety ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Sub Saharan

The rich oral traditions of storytelling in Black Africa have evolved into cinematic forms, adapting social satire and political humor to the realities of modern life. After a brief history of the region and its early encounters with the medium of motion pictures, this chapter introduces concepts like négritude, the griot storyteller, pan-Africanism, and Afropolitanism to explain how African beliefs and sub-Saharan cinema differ from others in the world and how African filmmakers like Ousmane Sembène and Djibril Diop Mambéty, Jean-Pierre Bekolo and Adama Drabo, Henri Duparc and Benoît Lamy, Flores Gomes and Fanta Régina Nacro have fashioned a cinema that reflects the way Africans see themselves and their place in the world.

scholarly journals Speaking Stones: Oral Tradition as Provenance for the Memorial Stelae in Gujarat

Heritage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1085-1096
Author(s):  
Durga Kale
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
The State ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Western India ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Museum Displays ◽  
Anthropological Fieldwork ◽  
Rich Material

Anthropological fieldwork in rural settlements on the west coast of India has unraveled the close connection between lived experiences, spaces and objects. These “inalienable possessions”, in the words of Annette Weiner, help reconstruct the past through the supplementation of oral traditions. Following this vein, the paper attempts to mesh together the material culture and oral histories to establish the provenance for the plethora of memorials in the state of Gujarat. A series of oral narratives collected in Western India since 2014 has highlighted the role of medieval memorial stelae that commemorate the deceased heroes of war and their wives and companions. This paper creates a niche for the Gujarati oral tradition as provenance for the continued veneration of these memorials. Field observations from 2014–2016 and notes from research in Gujarat from 1985 onwards enabled the study of patterns in the oral preservation of literature. A systematic documentation of the existing stelae and associated oral traditions has informed the views in this paper. The paper speaks to all levels of interaction and the making of an identity for the memorial stones that are unique to the state of Gujarat. A case for the inclusion of such rich material in museum displays is made in connection with this case study of the memorial stelae in Gujarat.

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