Relocating Gender in Sikh History Transforming, Meaning and Identity

by Jakobsh, Doris R.

• ISBN13: 9780195663150
• ISBN10: 0195663152
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This unique book attempts to study Sikh history and culture --lauded for its militaristic, hyper-masculine character by India's colonial rulers--from a feminist perspective, an approach that is unprecedented. Beginning with early Sikh history, the author explores 'male'/'female' constructs and demonstrates in her analysis of the Sikh Sabha movement that gender politics (as based on the Victorian notions of gender) were pivotal to this endavour.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	x
Introduction	1	(6)
The Construction of Women in Sikh History and Religion---Attitudes and Assumptions An Overview of Secondary Sources	7	(15)
The Principle of Silence	8	(2)
The Principle of Negation	10	(2)
The Principle of Accommodation	12	(4)
The Principle of Idealization	16	(2)
Conclusion: Moving Beyond Description	18	(4)
The Development of the Early Sikh Tradition A Gender Perspective	22	(28)
The Milieu	22	(1)
The Early Guru Period	23	(4)
The Janam-sakhis	27	(8)
The Later Guru Period	35	(2)
Gender and the Theology of Difference	37	(7)
`The Wiles of Women'	44	(2)
The Chaupa Singh Rahit-nama	46	(1)
Conclusion	47	(3)
Of Colony and Gender The Politics of Difference and Similarity	50	(35)
Colonization and the Politics of Difference	53	(5)
Manliness, Morality and the Politics of Similarity	58	(11)
Constructions of Womanhood: The British in India	69	(11)
The Politics of Similarity and its Discontents	80	(5)
Contextualizing Reform in Nineteenth Century Punjab: Continuity and Change	85	(42)
Dissension and Control: The Punjab Administration and Kuka Reform	86	(3)
The Genesis of the Punjab Intelligentsia	89	(10)
Indian Reform, the Missionary Undertaking and the `Women's Question'	99	(6)
Positioning Punjab's Womanhood: Indigenous Politics and Principles in the Colonial Milieu	105	(5)
Dissenting Visions of Gender Reform: Guru Ram Singh and the Namdhari Sikhs	110	(6)
Contextualizing Women's Reform in the Nineteenth Century: Contrasting Perspectives	116	(3)
Dayananda's Arya Samaj Movement and Singh Sabha Reforms: Contesting Claims and Rhetoric	119	(8)
Education, Gender Codes and Politics	127	(52)
The Sikhs and Female Education: The Missionary Endeavour, Sikh Orthodox Tradition and Reform Initiatives: An Overview	129	(3)
The Tat Khalsa and its Educational Ideals	132	(2)
The Politics of Gender: The Home and the World	134	(10)
The Sikh Kanya Mahavidyala	144	(4)
The Politics of Language: A Gendered Perspective	148	(2)
The Sikh Educational Conference: Enlarging Female Space	150	(3)
Sikh Role Models and the Tat Khalsa: Crisis of Authority	153	(7)
Bhai Vir Singh and the Invention of Tradition	160	(8)
The Political Milieu: Agitation and Allegiance	168	(4)
The Rhetoric of Reform, Education, and the Politics of Patriotism	172	(7)
Extending Male Control: The Gentrified Imagination and Popular Female Traditions	179	(31)
The Anand Marriage Bill: Gender Politics, Rhetoric, and Reason	179	(15)
Extending Male Control: The `New Patriarchy'	194	(9)
Popular Female Traditions and the Gentrified Imagination	203	(7)
Redefining the Ritual Drama: The Feminization of Ritual	210	(28)
Creation and Revision---The Feminization of Ritual	210	(9)
What's in a Name? Circumscribing Sikh Female Nomenclature	219	(9)
Re-defining the Sikh Code of Conduct in the Twentieth Century	228	(4)
Contemporary Scholars and the Rewriting of History	232	(6)
Conclusions	238	(13)
Overview	238	(2)
Women in the Singh Sabha Movement---Agents of Change or Casualties of Reform?	240	(4)
Circumventing Hegemony: Alignment and Resistance	244	(3)
Women's Reform---Laying the Foundation for a New Era	247	(4)
Appendix	251	(4)
References and Selected Bibliography	255	(28)
Index	283