Tamil Buddhism and brahminism in Modern India

Deep Resistance against Caste

de

Éditeur :

OUP Oxford


Paru le : 2025-11-15



eBook Téléchargement , DRM LCP 🛈 DRM Adobe 🛈
Lecture en ligne (streaming)
99,32

Téléchargement immédiat
Dès validation de votre commande
Ajouter à ma liste d'envies
Image Louise Reader présentation

Louise Reader

Lisez ce titre sur l'application Louise Reader.

Description
This book explores Tamil Buddhism in modern India, focusing on its emergence as a response to caste-based oppression during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Central to this movement was Pandit Iyothee Thass (1845–1914), a pioneering intellectual who reinterpreted India’s Buddhist past to challenge brahminical dominance. Thass reasoned that it was because many Indians followed Buddhist cultural and material traditions in ancient times, they were oppressed as untouchables and lower castes by self-privileging-caste groups, such as brahmins. Thus, Thass challenged brahminism/casteism in India by reconstructing and mobilizing a reading public about the casteless Buddhist history of Indians who were prone to caste oppression. His writings, petitions, and archives reveal the castelessness of Tamil Buddhists and their commitment for a radical political transformation in modern India. Key aspects of the Tamil Buddhist movement include public mobilization for caste-free societies, self-representation of oppressed communities, economic redistribution through affirmative action, and a feminist critique of caste and patriarchy. Through interdisciplinary methods from Critical Caste Studies, this monograph uncovers the intellectual history of Tamil Buddhism and its radical call for vernacular emancipation. It highlights how Indigenous, Tamil/Indian communities used Buddhist foundations to resist caste and envision a modern, casteless future.
Pages
384 pages
Collection
n.c
Parution
2025-11-15
Marque
OUP Oxford
EAN papier
9780198952404
EAN PDF
9780198952404

Informations sur l'ebook
Nombre pages copiables
0
Nombre pages imprimables
0
Taille du fichier
11745 Ko
Prix
99,32 €

Gajendran Ayyathurai is an anthropologist and a historian from Göttingen, Germany. Before Göttingen University, Gajendran taught at Columbia University, City University of New York, and William Paterson University, USA. He has published on the culture, memory, and history of the casteless Tamils–Indians in Tamil, English, and German. He has also initiated a unique subject area, Critical Caste Studies, with scholars from India, Europe, and North America.

Suggestions personnalisées