Tolerance and Counter Narratives in Medieval India: A social phenomenon of Bengal Sultanate

The last mighty Tughlaq monarch Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq was preoccupied with various rebellions which ultimately led to the broke away of Bengal from the centric dominance of Delhi in 1338AD. Ilyas Khan, one of the noble of Delhi sultanate had ascended the throne of Bengal by capturing Lakhnauti and Sonargaon. In this period of study, we have two most remarkable phenomena – firstly, Bengal region secured its distinctiveness from the sway of Delhi Sultanate despite numerous inroads and skirmishes; secondly, the emergence of a divergent socio-cultural atmosphere. In fact, with the advent of this regime Bengal had been transformed into a new composite facet which had become a dynamic force towards the formation of Bengali heritage. However, one formulated narrative does not play the prime key role to impartially evaluate any theme of history, so that we must need proper appropriation. In this paper, therefore, I shall try to project my topic in both common and counter narrative about the socio-cultural repercussions of this age.

Migration and Integration: A Study of Immigrants in Spain

This paper traces the history of the Moroccan, Romanian, Ecuadorian and Chinese immigrants in Spain. It focuses on two dimensions of integration: access to the labour market and the level of discrimination faced by immigrants. By analysing the socio-economic and political changes taking place in these sending countries it seeks to understand the diverse factors that propelled migration. Migration to Spain is predominantly economic. In order to understand the integration of immigrants in Spain it is essential to analyse the labour market mobility in conjunction with the protection against discrimination as this reflects equality of opportunity coupled with a positive attitude towards inclusion in society. The 20th century led to economic growth and an increased demand for low skilled labourers prompting migration towards Spain. Lack of employment opportunities and political instability in the home countries, larger changes in the world such as the Oil Crisis, creation of Israel, discontinuation of labor recruitment by North-western European Countries were major push factors. Immigrants face discrimination in their access to the labour market. Unequal treatment is experienced by most immigrants except the Chinese who are respected for their hard work but mocked for their appearance.

To investigate the relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Subjective Wellbeing among Rural and Urban, Scheduled Caste and Non-Scheduled Caste School Students

It has been drawn from extensive literature and community-based studies that in developing nations Socioeconomic status (SES) is a strong predictor of mental health and wellbeing. Therefore, Socioeconomic status can affect the subjective wellbeing of school students in different ways. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between Socioeconomic status and subjective wellbeing (SWB) in a sample (n = 480) of senior secondary school students age ranged from 15-18 years, almost equal number of male and female participants belonging to urban and rural areas of Himachal Pradesh, India. The subjects were administered with measures of SES and SWB. The findings of the study revealed a negative correlation between SES and SWB, where SC and NSC, school students differ in SWB according to the low and high SES and this difference was noticeable among urban and rural students as well. The research implications recommend government and non-government organizations should come forward and look at the policy formulation and law enforcement in a strict manner for the upliftment of socio-economically deprived students in urban and rural backgrounds of Himachal Pradesh.

Identities of Composite literary tradition during the Sultanate of Delhi: A study of Amir Khusrau and Kabir in the making of Indian heritage

The history of Medieval India had long been interpreted on two grounds basically, - the age of destruction of Indian civilization by the central Asian invaders; and the growth of composite culture. But the above terms reflect contradictory sense because if the advent of foreigners fully eliminated India’s glorious past then how could there be an amelioration of cultural assimilation during our period of study. In this regard, communalist modern scholars of this period can be held responsible, who sought to disseminate unscientific viewpoints on both Hindu and Muslim superiority, or at best with a so-called notion of “community crisis”. In fact, it is not even so hard to identify the biasness of Marxist scholars who set up a dominance in medieval Indian history writing by excluding many impartial treatments. However, as a chief offshoot of this composite tradition the mystic literary practice had thrived out of Bhakti and Sufi movement, which imparted the idea of love and devotion for God, simultaneously emphasized the harmonious social relationship through the spiritual promulgation of human relationship with extra-mundane world. This paper has attempted to describe the literary aspects of Delhi Sultanate period, by which the composite cultural scenario can be discernible in the making of Indian heritage, and tried to evaluate several subsided corners of this subject. As a part of my discussion, therefore, I have decided to provide a critical analysis about the two most prominent mystic authors of this age- Amir Khusrau and Kabir.

Discovering the City and its Environs Ramji Das and his Tareekh-o Aasar-e Dehli

In 1854, Ramji Das, a retired officer from the Collectorate of Delhi penned a small, wonderful work, at the behest of Colonel Hamilton, called Tareekh-o Aasar-e Dehli, introducing to us several typologies of structures focussed partially on the city and the rest in its environs, including villages. He used the structures to highlight three to four important issues. The names of the builders, the purpose of the structures, their present state and the colloquialisms, anecdotes and popular cultures associated with them. The underlying theme of all structures was that they were for the benefit of large numbers of people. The author of this book apprised the readers of the newly created administrative divisions in the geographical region of Delhi. Ramji Das’s work was contemporaneous with Saiyid Ahmad Khan’s second edited version of Asar-us Sanadid, yet it has a relevance, importance and uniqueness of its own. Only one manuscript copy has been located recently, that too after nearly 165 years and it is now a published text in Urdu.

Emerging Female Voices and Child Marriage Reforms in Early Twentieth Century

Age long custom of Child Marriage could not be challenged in nineteenth century because neither reformer did have shastric evidences nor organized female voice opposed it, except sporadic cases. The main argument of this paper is that the first half of Twentieth century witnessed active participation of organized women of India, which raised their questions themselves and determined the enactment of the Child Marriage Restraint Act in 1929. Simultaneously, this paper also aims to contradict an idea that towards the end of Nineteenth century women’s question was disappeared from agenda of public debates. I have used Government of India official papers, journals, contemporary books both in Hindi and English.

Environment, diseases and Indian History

One can state that in studying environmental change, it is true that most human activities have environmental consequences, and that change in the natural systems, whether induced by humans or by nature itself, almost inevitably affects human beings. Environmental history is a multidisciplinary subject that draws widely on both the human influences and nature. There are many components of it, i.e., physical impact of human on earth, human and their exploitation of the nature, settlements and colonial expansion etc. Many of these components of environmental history examine the circumstances that produce the environmental problems. Apart from it there is separate line of study which is more cantered around historical perspectives and is specific toward environment and its impact on historical change.

A Question of Dignity-A Comparative and Historical Study of Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' and Kalyan Rao's 'Untouchable Spring'

Chinua Achebe and Kalyan Rao, the Nigerian and the Telugu Dalit writers, authors of two groundbreaking novels, Things Fall Apart and Untouchable Spring, belong to two different socio-cultural traditions and historical contexts. Both are the products and chroniclers of societies that faced oppression and exploitation as well as literary misrepresentation. The individual identity, humanity and dignity of their people was negated through stereotypical and superficial portrayals in popular imagination and dominant discourses. Both writers seek to restore the dignity and self-respect of their communities through the two novels that interrogate negative and inauthentic representations and provide challenging, alternative perspectives. They are simultaneous narratives of protest and assertion and choose similar narrative thrust points to achieve their objectives.