Merchants of virtue : Hindus, Muslims, and untouchables in eighteenth-century South Asia / Divya Cherian.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cherian, Divya, 1983- author.

Series:

South Asia across the disciplines

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Caste--South Asia--18th century.

Caste.

Merchants--South Asia--18th century.

Merchants.

Dalits--South Asia--18th century.

Dalits.

Muslims--South Asia--18th century.

Muslims.

Hindus--South Asia--18th century.

Hindus.

South Asia.

Physical Description:

x, 255 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 23 cm.

Other Title:

Hindus, Muslims, and untouchables in 18th-century South Asia

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Merchants of Virtue explores the question of what it meant to be Hindu in pre-colonial South Asia. Turning to the kingdom of Marwar in eighteenth-century western India, Divya Cherian, through a fine-grained study of everyday life and local politics, uncovers how Marwari merchants enforced their caste ideals of vegetarianism and bodily austerity as universal markers of Hindu identity. Using legal strategies and alliances with elites, these merchants successfully remade the category of "Hindu'" setting it up in contrast to "Untouchable" in a process that also reconfigured Muslims in caste terms. In a history pertinent to understanding India today, Cherian establishes the centrality of caste to the early-modern Hindu self and to its imagination of inadmissible others. The book relies on an analysis of hundreds of orders issued by the Rathor court to its provincial offices. These orders intervene in localized disputes, including those involving individuals from such occupational groups as cobblers, tailors, birdcatchers, and bangle makers"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Power

Purity

Hierarchy

Discipline

Nonharm

Austerity

Chastity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons [CC BY-NC-ND] license. To view a copy of the license, visit. https://creativecommons.org/licenses.

Other Format:

Online version: Cherian, Divya, 1983- Merchants of virtue.

ISBN:

9780520390058

0520390059

OCLC:

1320820962