Abstract:

Is primitivism a consequence of the natural evaluation of some human societies? Or is it a conscious choice by such societies to evade state power? In this talk I set out to answer these questions by taking as my focal point the case of the Gond dynasty of the erstwhile Chanda region of Deccan India. I examine the evolution of Gond society over an extensive period, demonstrating how the British colonial government created an administrative divide between the plains and the hills, thus stereotyping hill and forest communities as isolated, primitive , barbaric and uncivilized in order to deny them self-rule. The talk is based on my recent book, The Roots of the Periphery.

Bio Data:

Dr. Bhangya Bhukya teaches history at University of Hyderabad. He studied at University of Warwick, UK, for his Ph.D, and was Postdoctoral Fellow at SOAS, University of London. His most influential works on adivasi society includes Subjugated Nomads; The Lambadas under the Rule of the Nizams (Orient Blackswan, 2010) and The Roots of the Periphery; A History of the Gonds of Deccan India (Oxford University Press, 2017). He is also a public intellectual involved in adivasi and dalit-bahujan movements.