Biography
My proposed research aims to study the process of ethnogenesis involving the emergence of an incipient Rajput identity in northern India, from the 15th century onwards, by means of investigating the litterateurs who narrativised such claims to aspirational status and identity. In this attempt of historicising ethnogenesis I aim to ask larger historical questions regarding processes that were at play in the early modern world, even as I stay firmly rooted in South Asia. One such aim is to understand the emergence of social identities rooted in the literary crucible of 'ethical conduct' at a historical juncture that predated the emergence of nationalism(s).
By attempting to historicise pre-colonial literary cultures and practices I aim to expand on the historical context that informed the early-colonial encounter. My project by looking into litterateurs, multilingual literary productions and the knowledge systems they produced to articulate a Rajput identity in northern India, aims to reconstruct the social and political processes that were disrupted by the interventions of the colonial state.
Workshops and Conferences
- Presented paper titled “Contextualizing Rajput identity in the ‘long fifteenth century’: Examining the rooting of an incipient community and political culture”, at the Graduate Students’ Conference, organized by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Delhi, 2019.
- Presented paper titled “Rājpūt identity and political culture in the ‘long fifteenth century’: A Textual analysis of some pre-modern Rājpūt narratives”, at the Research Scholar’s Conference, organized by the Department of History, University of Delhi, 2018.
- Presented paper titled “Imprints of the Sultanate in the Prithviraj Raso: An alternative perspective to a narrative of warrior kingship”, at the Research Scholar’s Conference, organized by the Department of History, University of Delhi, 2017.
Research Interests
Rajput identity, status, ethnogenesis, early-modern northern India, literary cultures and practices, knowledge production, multilingualism, materiality of the archive, multiple communities of reception and interpretation/literary communities, social history and textual analysis.
Education
MPhil, University of Delhi, 2018
MA, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, 2015
BA, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, 2013