The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen : Heroic Pasts in India, C. 1500-1900

Sreenivasan Explores How Early Modern Regional Elites, Caste Groups And Mythical, And Monastic Communities Shaped Their Distinctive Versions Of The Past Through The Repeated Refashioning Of The Legend Of Padmini. Note On Transliteration And Usage Ix -- 2 Sufi Tale Of Rajputs In Sixteenth-century Avadh 22 -- 3 Rajput Kings And Their Pasts In The Mughal Period 65 -- 4 Tales Of Past Glory Under Early Colonial Indirect Rule (c. 1750-1850) 117 -- 5 Exemplary Patriotism In The Late Nineteenth Century 157 -- 7 Appendix 1: Summaries Of Selected Versions Of The Legend 207 -- 8 Appendix 2: List Of Known Versions/manuscripts/editions Of The Padmini Legend 228. Ramya Sreenivasan. Based On The Author's Thesis (ph. D.--jawaharlal Nehru University). Includes Bibliographical References (p. [235]-267) And Index.

Winner of the 2009 Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize, sponsored by the Association for Asian Studies

The medieval Rajput queen Padmini - believed to have been pursued by Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi - has been the focus of numerous South Asian narratives, ranging from a Sufi mystical romance in the sixteenth century to nationalist histories in the late nineteenth century. The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen explores how early modern regional elites, caste groups, and mystical and monastic communities shaped their distinctive versions of the past through the repeated refashioning of the legend of Padmini.

Ramya Sreenivasan investigates these legends and traces their subsequent appropriation by colonial administrators and nationalist intellectuals, for varying different political ends. Using Padmini as a means of illustrating the power of gender norms in constructing heroic memory, she shows how such narratives about virtuous women changed as they circulated across particular communities in South Asia between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This book will interest historians of memory, gender, community, culture, and historywriting in South Asia. Illustrating how enduring legends emerged out of particular precolonial repositories of "tradition," the book also addresses the nature of colonial transitions and precolonial historical consciousness.

Winner of the 2009 Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize, sponsored by the Association for Asian Studies The medieval Rajput queen Padmini - believed to have been pursued by Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi - has been the focus of numerous South Asian narratives, ranging from a Sufi mystical romance in the sixteenth century to nationalist histories in the late nineteenth century. The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen explores how early modern regional elites, caste groups, and mystical and monastic communities shaped their distinctive versions of the past through the repeated refashioning of the legend of Padmini. Ramya Sreenivasan investigates these legends and traces their subsequent appropriation by colonial administrators and nationalist intellectuals, for varying different political ends. Using Padmini as a means of illustrating the power of gender norms in constructing heroic memory, she shows how such narratives about virtuous women changed as they circulated across particular communities in South Asia between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book will interest historians of memory, gender, community, culture, and historywriting in South Asia. Illustrating how enduring legends emerged out of particular precolonial repositories of "tradition," the book also addresses the nature of colonial transitions and precolonial historical consciousness. Winner of the 2009 Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize, sponsored by the Association for Asian StudiesThe medieval Rajput queen Padmini - believed to have been pursued by Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi - has been the focus of numerous South Asian narratives, ranging from a Sufi mystical romance in the sixteenth century to nationalist histories in the late nineteenth century. __The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen__ explores how early modern regional elites, caste groups, and mystical and monastic communities shaped their distinctive versions of the past through the repeated refashioning of the legend of Padmini.Ramya Sreenivasan investigates these legends and traces their subsequent appropriation by colonial administrators and nationalist intellectuals, for varying different political ends. Using Padmini as a means of illustrating the power of gender norms in constructing heroic memory, she shows how such narratives about virtuous women changed as they circulated across particular communities in South Asia between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries.This book will interest historians of memory, gender, community, culture, and historywriting in South Asia. Illustrating how enduring legends emerged out of particular precolonial repositories of "tradition," the book also addresses the nature of colonial transitions and precolonial historical consciousness. Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Transliteration and Usage -- List of Maps -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Sufi Tale of Rajputs in Sixteenth-century Avadh -- 3 Rajput Kings and their Pasts in the Mughal Period -- 4 Tales of Past Glory under Early Colonial Indirect Rule (c. 1750-1850) -- 5 Exemplary Patriotism in the Late Nineteenth Century -- 6 Conclusion -- 7 Appendix 1: Summaries of Selected Versions of the Legend -- 8 Appendix 2: List of Known Versions/Manuscripts/Editions of the Padmini Legend -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z The medieval Rajput queen Padmini - believed to have been pursued by Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi - has been the focus of numerous South Asian narratives. This book investigates these legends and traces their subsequent appropriation by colonial administrators and nationalist intellectuals, for varying different political ends.