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SUMMARY:Family\, Historical Memory and Cultural Capital in Late Colonial I
 ndia - Polly O'Hanlon (University of Oxford)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260302T160000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260302T173000Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b7d19072-c796-4c13-b97f-b9a20ff26eb7/
DESCRIPTION:This paper explores the reconstitution of Brahmans as caste su
 bjects in the late colonial period\, with a particular focus on Maharashtr
 a. As is well known\, Brahman scribal elites achieved remarkable success w
 ithin the successor states of the eighteenth century. In many parts of Ind
 ia\, this professional heritage helped consolidate their dominance as Angl
 ophone professionals in colonial service\, as writers and publicists in th
 e sphere of vernacular print\, and as leading interlocutors in the meaning
 s of colonial modernity for Indian politics and society. Non-Brahman chall
 enges from south and western India\, as well as the rise of Gandhian polit
 ics prompted Brahman communities to look for new forms of social and polit
 ical leadership\, from Hindu nationalist politics to investments in new ge
 nres of vernacular literature and poetry. For Brahman communities in weste
 rn India\, the writing and publication of family histories also provided a
  means to project their accomplishments in service of the nation. These fa
 mily histories or kulavrttanta emerged out of precolonial genres of histor
 ical writing and caste categorisation\, reworked with family trees and pho
 tographs for the age of vernacular print. Kulavrttantas presented these tr
 ansformations as successful passages from tradition to modernity. In doing
  so\, they also contributed to what has been described as the “culturali
 zation” of caste\, its transmutation from structured social hierarchy to
  an aspect of family “culture” and private life.\n\nBio: Rosalind O’
 Hanlon is Professor Emeritus of Indian History and Culture in the Faculty 
 of Asian and Middle East Studies in Oxford\, and a fellow of Clare College
 \, Cambridge. She has written extensively on caste and gender in India fro
 m the early modern to the late colonial period. Her most recent publicatio
 n is Lineages of Brahman Power: Caste\, Family and the State in Western In
 dia\, 1600-1900 (SUNY and Permanent Black\, 2025).\n\nSpeakers:\nPolly O'H
 anlon (University of Oxford)
LOCATION:St Antony's College (Pavilion Room & Teams )\, 62 Woodstock Road 
 OX2 6JF
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b7d19072-c796-4c13-b97f-b9a20ff26eb7/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:Family\, Historical Memory and Cultural Capital in Late C
 olonial India - Polly O'Hanlon (University of Oxford)
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