Alchemies of Violence: Myths of Identity and the Life of Trade in Western India

256 Pages·2004·1.824 MB·English

by  Lawrence A. Babb

ALCHEMIES OF VIOLENCE
ALCHEMIES OF VIOLENCE
Myths of Identity and the
Life of Trade in Western India
Lawrence A. Babb
SAGE Publications
New Delhi/Thousand Oaks/London
ALCHEMIES OF VIOLENCE
Myths of Identity and the
Life of Trade in Western India
Lawrence A. Babb
SAGE Publications
New Delhi/Thousand Oaks/London
Copyright ©Lawrence A. Babb, 2004 Contents
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission List of Figures 7
in writing from the publisher. A Note on Transliteration 9
Acknowledgements 10
First published in 2004 by
Chapter 1
Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd Introduction 13
B-42, Panchsheel Enclave
New Delhi 110 017
Chapter 2
Violence and the Ways of Trade 33
Sage Publications Inc Sage Publications Ltd
2455 Teller Road 1 Oliver(cid:146)s Yard
Chapter 3
Thousand Oaks 55 City Road
California 91320 London EC1Y 1SP Sages and Warriors 67
Published by Tejeshwar Singh for Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd, Phototypeset Chapter 4
in 10/12 SouthAsia Roman at C&M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai and printed at Melted Warriors 97
Chaman Enterprises, New Delhi.
Chapter 5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Warriors Exiled 141
Babb, Lawrence A.
Alchemies of violence: myths of identity and the life of trade in western
Chapter 6
India / Lawrence A. Babb.
Going Public 185
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Marwaris(cid:151)India(cid:151)Rajasthan(cid:151)Ethnic identity. 2. Marwaris(cid:151)India(cid:151) Chapter 7
Rajasthan(cid:151)Folklore. 3. Merchants(cid:151)India(cid:151)Rajasthan(cid:151)Social life and Traders Victorious 217
customs. 4. Violence(cid:151)India(cid:151)Rajasthan(cid:151)Folklore. I. Title.
DS432.M28B33 381′.092′2544(cid:151)dc22 2004 2004008548 Bibliography 235
Index 243
About the Author 255
ISBN: 0-7619-3223-2 (US-Hb) 81-7829-352-8 (India-Hb)
Sage Production Team: Geetanjali Minhas, Radha Dev Raj and Santosh Rawat
Copyright ©Lawrence A. Babb, 2004 Contents
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission List of Figures 7
in writing from the publisher. A Note on Transliteration 9
Acknowledgements 10
First published in 2004 by
Chapter 1
Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd Introduction 13
B-42, Panchsheel Enclave
New Delhi 110 017
Chapter 2
Violence and the Ways of Trade 33
Sage Publications Inc Sage Publications Ltd
2455 Teller Road 1 Oliver(cid:146)s Yard
Chapter 3
Thousand Oaks 55 City Road
California 91320 London EC1Y 1SP Sages and Warriors 67
Published by Tejeshwar Singh for Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd, Phototypeset Chapter 4
in 10/12 SouthAsia Roman at C&M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai and printed at Melted Warriors 97
Chaman Enterprises, New Delhi.
Chapter 5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Warriors Exiled 141
Babb, Lawrence A.
Alchemies of violence: myths of identity and the life of trade in western
Chapter 6
India / Lawrence A. Babb.
Going Public 185
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Marwaris(cid:151)India(cid:151)Rajasthan(cid:151)Ethnic identity. 2. Marwaris(cid:151)India(cid:151) Chapter 7
Rajasthan(cid:151)Folklore. 3. Merchants(cid:151)India(cid:151)Rajasthan(cid:151)Social life and Traders Victorious 217
customs. 4. Violence(cid:151)India(cid:151)Rajasthan(cid:151)Folklore. I. Title.
DS432.M28B33 381′.092′2544(cid:151)dc22 2004 2004008548 Bibliography 235
Index 243
About the Author 255
ISBN: 0-7619-3223-2 (US-Hb) 81-7829-352-8 (India-Hb)
Sage Production Team: Geetanjali Minhas, Radha Dev Raj and Santosh Rawat
List of Figures
Figure 1 Rajasthan with selected locations. 12
Figure 2.1 An eighteenth century depiction of a royal 60
buffalo sacrifice on navr(cid:229)tr(cid:238)at the Amb(cid:229) M(cid:229)t(cid:229)
temple, Udaipur.
Figure 3.1 The Dadhimat(cid:238) temple. 77
Figure 3.2 The ku¿(cid:240)at the Dadhimat(cid:238) temple. 80
Figure 3.3 The image of Dadh(cid:238)ci at the Dadhimat(cid:238) temple. 82
Figure 4.1 The S(cid:253)rya Ku¿(cid:240) at Lohargal. 106
Figure 4.2 The creation of the M(cid:229)he„var(cid:238) caste as depicted 109
by a temple wall-painting in Bikaner.
Figure 4.3 A genealogist who serves members of the 119
Kha¿(cid:240)elv(cid:229)l Vai„ya caste.
Figure 4.4 A traditional genealogist(cid:146)s book with wrapper. 119
Figure 5.1 The revival of Upaldev(cid:146)s son-in-law. 168
Figure 5.2 Having chiselled off the Mah(cid:229)v(cid:238)r image(cid:146)s flaws, 170
the artisan is killed by the flow of blood.
Figure 5.3 The view from Lu¿(cid:229)dr(cid:238) Hill. 174
Figure 6.1 The temple-center at Agroha. 187
Figure 6.2 The ruins at Agroha with Agrav(cid:229)l tourists. 187
(from Udaipur and Mumbai).
Figure 6.3 King Agrasen and attendant in truck-borne tableau. 189
List of Figures
Figure 1 Rajasthan with selected locations. 12
Figure 2.1 An eighteenth century depiction of a royal 60
buffalo sacrifice on navr(cid:229)tr(cid:238)at the Amb(cid:229) M(cid:229)t(cid:229)
temple, Udaipur.
Figure 3.1 The Dadhimat(cid:238) temple. 77
Figure 3.2 The ku¿(cid:240)at the Dadhimat(cid:238) temple. 80
Figure 3.3 The image of Dadh(cid:238)ci at the Dadhimat(cid:238) temple. 82
Figure 4.1 The S(cid:253)rya Ku¿(cid:240) at Lohargal. 106
Figure 4.2 The creation of the M(cid:229)he„var(cid:238) caste as depicted 109
by a temple wall-painting in Bikaner.
Figure 4.3 A genealogist who serves members of the 119
Kha¿(cid:240)elv(cid:229)l Vai„ya caste.
Figure 4.4 A traditional genealogist(cid:146)s book with wrapper. 119
Figure 5.1 The revival of Upaldev(cid:146)s son-in-law. 168
Figure 5.2 Having chiselled off the Mah(cid:229)v(cid:238)r image(cid:146)s flaws, 170
the artisan is killed by the flow of blood.
Figure 5.3 The view from Lu¿(cid:229)dr(cid:238) Hill. 174
Figure 6.1 The temple-center at Agroha. 187
Figure 6.2 The ruins at Agroha with Agrav(cid:229)l tourists. 187
(from Udaipur and Mumbai).
Figure 6.3 King Agrasen and attendant in truck-borne tableau. 189
A Note on Transliteration
I have given most Indic terms in italics with standard diacritical marks.
I have not italicised proper names and titles. I have provided diacritical
marks for the names of authors of Hindi materials and names appearing
in Hindi writings or discourse. I have not used diacritics on place names
appearing in standard English-language maps and have used standard
English spellings for these. I have, however, given the names of more
obscure locations with diacritics. With some exceptions, the criterion on
which I have based this judgement is whether or not a given term appears
in The Rajasthan Road Atlas (Arya and Arya 1997). In keeping with the
vernacular character of this study(cid:146)s subject, I have privileged the Hindi
as opposed to Sanskrit versions of most terms where there is a choice to
be made (thus, Tirtha‰kar as opposed to Tirtha‰kara and d(cid:229)nas opposed
to d(cid:229)na), but have kept the Sanskrit ending in the case of terms most
familiar in that form (such as 'aiva or karma).
A Note on Transliteration
I have given most Indic terms in italics with standard diacritical marks.
I have not italicised proper names and titles. I have provided diacritical
marks for the names of authors of Hindi materials and names appearing
in Hindi writings or discourse. I have not used diacritics on place names
appearing in standard English-language maps and have used standard
English spellings for these. I have, however, given the names of more
obscure locations with diacritics. With some exceptions, the criterion on
which I have based this judgement is whether or not a given term appears
in The Rajasthan Road Atlas (Arya and Arya 1997). In keeping with the
vernacular character of this study(cid:146)s subject, I have privileged the Hindi
as opposed to Sanskrit versions of most terms where there is a choice to
be made (thus, Tirtha‰kar as opposed to Tirtha‰kara and d(cid:229)nas opposed
to d(cid:229)na), but have kept the Sanskrit ending in the case of terms most
familiar in that form (such as 'aiva or karma).