Caste, Marginalisation, and Resistance:The Politics of Identity of the Naths Yogis of Bengal and Assam (Studies in Critical Social Sciences / New Scholarship in Political Economy, 274/26)

by: Kunal Debnath (Author)

Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

Publication Date: 2023/11/15

Language: English

Print Length: 260 pages

ISBN-10: 9004689370

ISBN-13: 9789004689374

Book Description

The identity politics of the householder Naths (Yogis), on the one hand, is one of the oldest and most persistent identity assertions in Bengal and Assam. On the other, for an array of reasons, the identity assertion of the householder Naths of Bengal and Assam has failed to draw academic curiosity so far. Since the late nineteenth century, a segment of the Naths, largely educated and elite, has been crafting their identity as Brahman grounded on their "origin myth", negotiating with the British colonial administration through different census enumerations, as well as inteal social reforms. One of the primary reasons for their current lagging is that the Naths never politicised their identity and demands, and did not mobilise themselves in the democratic political arena.

About the Author

The identity politics of the householder Naths (Yogis), on the one hand, is one of the oldest and most persistent identity assertions in Bengal and Assam. On the other, for an array of reasons, the identity assertion of the householder Naths of Bengal and Assam has failed to draw academic curiosity so far. Since the late nineteenth century, a segment of the Naths, largely educated and elite, has been crafting their identity as Brahman grounded on their "origin myth", negotiating with the British colonial administration through different census enumerations, as well as inteal social reforms. One of the primary reasons for their current lagging is that the Naths never politicised their identity and demands, and did not mobilise themselves in the democratic political arena.