Dirk Herbert Arnold Kolff | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Dutch |
Occupation(s) | Historian Indologist |
Board member of | The Netherlands–India Friendship Association (President) |
Academic background | |
Education | Doctor of Philosophy |
Alma mater | Leiden University (M.A. and Ph.D.) |
Thesis | An Armed Peasantry and Its Allies: Rajput Tradition and State Formation, 1450–1850 [2] (1983) |
Doctoral advisor | Jan C. Heesterman |
Academic work | |
Discipline | History Indology |
Institutions | Former Chair of Indian History,Leiden University |
Main interests | Armed peasants (North India) Dynamics of Mughal Empire Muslim rulers of India [3] |
Dirk Herbert Arnold Kolff (born 11 February 1938) is a Dutch historian and Indologist. Born at Rotterdam in the Netherlands,Kolff earned a doctorate degree from the Leiden University in 1983 with a doctoral thesis on the research subject of armed peasantry in northern India. He is a professor emeritus of modern South Asian history and the former Chair of Indian History at the Leiden University.
He is the co-founder of the European Association of South Asian Studies and the president of the Netherlands–India Friendship Association.
Kolff did M.A. in 1967 at the Leiden University. Later that year,he moved to London on scholarship from the British Council. From 1968 to 1970,he performed field research on agrarian history in India's Allahabad and Jhansi. From 1971 to 1991,he taught the history of South Asia as an associate professor at the Kern Institute of Leiden University in the Netherlands while also completing his Ph.D. at the University in 1983. He was at the University of Chicago as a visiting associate professor in 1989. From 1987 to 1993,he served as the co-editor of Itinerario. [1]
Kolff,from 1991 till his retirement in 2003,taught modern history of South Asia at the Leiden University,and from 1992 to 1997,was also the director of Research School of Asian,African,and Amerindian Studies (CNWS) of the university. [1] At the time of his retirement,he was serving as the 'Chair of Indian History' at the university. [3] From 1992 to 1998,he was a board member of the Indo–Dutch Programme for Alternatives in Development (IDPAD) and the J. Gonda Stichting of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Since 1992,he is a member of the editorial board of the Gonda Indological Studies series. He is one of the founders of the European Association of South Asian Studies (EASAS),and since 1995,he is the secretary of the EASAS. [1] From 1 September 1999 to 30 June 2000,he was a research fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. [4] He is the president of the Netherlands–India Friendship Association since 2012,and had also served as its president from 1996 to 2004. [1]
Kolff is a historian and Indologist. [5] Jan C. Heesterman noted that the research interests of Kolff included "India's muslim rulers" and "the working and enduring vitality" of the dynamics of Mughal Empire. Heesterman wrote,"focussing attention on India's 'armed peasantry' in its various guises of both sedentary 'ryots' and itinerant warriors,Kolff brings out the flexibility and dynamics of the Mughal world that was known to its European contemporaries as the 'flourishing Indies'." According to Heesterman,his research played a substantial role in the "fundamental change" in the historiographical approach towards the study of India's history during the Mughal era (1526–1857 CE),which has placed the "dynamics of Indian society" during that period at the forefront of research studies. Earlier,the period was seen in "the static terms of 'oriental society,' the perennial 'village community' and unchangeable rigidities of caste and community". [3]
Kolff's research threw light on a "fluid" and "pervasive" military labor market in India's northern region during the later years of Mughal Empire and the initial years of the British Raj as part of which,fighters who were mostly armed peasants,used to be at the disposal of the kings,mutineers,and military contractors in the region. He highlighted that during this time in the conflict-ridden north Indian society,the regional armed peasants had "considerable agency and independence" in the society. He has theorized that before the establishment of the British Raj in India,an enormous military labor market was widespread in the country. According to John F. Richards of the Duke University,his research is of assistance in underscoring "the magnitude of the changes wrought in Indian society by violent British conquest,pacification and disarmament in rural society—especially after the failed 1857 revolt". [6]
Kolff's Naukar,Rajput and Sepoy:The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market in Hindustan,1450–1850 (1990) was "an ethnohistory in a military setting",not "a military history with a focus of ethnicity",which according to Kolff was "undertaken at the confluence of anthropology,history and Indology". Kolff coined the term "military labour market",and in the book,introduced this concept on a wide scale in context of the northern region of India. According to University of Cambridge's Randolf G. S. Cooper,Kolff clarified the "understanding of the way in which military service had a life cycle or commodity exchange value that was integral to South Asian society and realpolitik". Cooper further stated that Kolff's work is of assistance in breaking the stereotypical image of the Rajputs as "the saffron robed warrior prince on horseback". Cooper,however,suggested that though Kolff attempted to provide a study of the subject matter from 1450 CE to 1850 CE,it was highly constricted to the 16th and 17th centuries "from the standpoint of functional strength". [7]
University of Akron's A. Martin Wainwright noted that,in the book,Kolff shed light on the "historical pervasiveness of caste in Indian society" and the genesis of Indian State. Wainwright further observed that Kolff presented "new insights" into the "formation of state structures" and "character of peasant society" in India's northern region from the mid-15th century till the Indian Rebellion of 1857,and challenged the "long-held assumptions about the nature of military power and peasant society in northern India before British ascendance". [8]
Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a Hindu practice of mass self-immolation by women, in the Indian subcontinent, to avoid capture, enslavement and rape by an invading army, when facing certain defeat during a war. Some reports of jauhar mention women committing self-immolation along with their children. This practice was historically observed in northwest regions of India, with most famous jauhars in recorded history occurring during wars between Hindu Rajput kingdoms in Rajasthan and the opposing Muslim armies. However jauhar is performed during war, usually when there was no chance of victory. The practice was accompanied by saka, or a last stand in battle.
Rajput is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Rajput covers various patrilineal clans historically associated with warriorhood: several clans claim Rajput status, although not all claims are universally accepted. According to modern scholars, almost all Rajput clans originated from peasant or pastoral communities.
Sher Shah Suri (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin to the weight of 178 grams and named the currency as rupee based on the ancient Sanskrit term for silver. An ethnic Afghan ruler, Sher Shah took control of the Mughal Empire in 1540 CE. After his accidental death in 1545 CE, his son Islam Shah became his successor.
Panipat is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761 took place near the city. The city is famous in India as the "City of Weavers" and "Textile City". It is also known as the "cast-off capital" due to being "the global centre for recycling textiles". Panipat is included in the list of Critically Polluted Industrial area in India. The Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) of the city is 71.91 as against 88.50 of Ankaleshwar (Gujarat). The fatal field of Panipat is the site of three battles that changed the course of India's history, resulting in the creation and confirmation of the Mughal Empire, as well as the decisive defeat of the Maratha Confederacy in North India.
Tomar is a clan, some members of which ruled parts of North India at different times. People belonging to the Tomara clan are found among the Rajputs of Northern India.
Raja Shiladitya, also called Silhadi Tomar, was a Ror chieftain of northeast Malwa in the early decades of 16th century India. He recruited Sanga of Mewar as an ally and Sanga helped him and Medini Rai in various battles and in conquering Malwa from Sultans. He joined the Rajput Confederacy with garrison of 30,000 Rajputs at the Battle of Khanwa which was fought for supremacy of Northern India between Rajputs and Mughals.
Muslim Rajputs are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, retaining Hindu surnames such as Rana and Chauhan. Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found in present-day Northern India and Pakistan. They are further divided into different clans.
Kayamkhani or Kaimkhani is a Muslim community of India who were notable for ruling the Fatehpur-Jhunjhunu region in Rajasthan from the 1300s to the 1700s.
The Bhojpuri region or Bhojpur is an area encompassing parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and the Madhesh, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces of Nepal, where the Bhojpuri language is spoken as a mother tongue.
The Ujjainiya Parmār are a Rajput clan that inhabits the state of Bihar.
Nawab Sayyid Hassan Ali Khan Barha, also known as Qutub-ul-Mulk, Nawab Sayyid Mian II, Abdullah Khan II, was one of the Sayyid Brothers, and a key figure in the Mughal Empire under Farrukhsiyar.
Rajput resistance to Muslim conquests or Rajput opposition to Islamic invasions was a series of military resistance by several ruling Rajput houses of northern and western India against the Arab Caliphate invasions from Middle East and Islamic invaders of Central Asia in Medieval India. Before the Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent, much of northern and western India was being ruled by Rajput dynasties, who were a collection of martial Hindu families. The Rajput kingdoms contended with the rising and expansionist empires of the Muslim world, be they Arabs, Persians, Sayyids, Turks, Pashtuns, or Mughals. The Rajputs held out against the Caliphates and Central Asian empires for several centuries.
Purbiya was a common term used in medieval India for Rajput led mercenaries and soldiers from the eastern Gangetic Plain - areas corresponding to present-day western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Purbiyas played a significant role in the militaries of various principalities in Western India including the Marwar army.
Hemu's Smadhi Sthal, is a memorial to the Hindu king Hemu at Shodapur village on Jind road near Panipat city in Panipat district of Haryana state in India. It stands at the location where he was executed.
Shodapur is a village in Panipat district of the Haryana state in India. The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556 between the forces of Akbar and Hemu, a Hindu king of Delhi. In the battle, a wounded Hemu was captured by Shah Quli Khan and carried to the Mughal camp at Shodapur on Jind Road at Panipat where he was beheaded.
Nawab Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan Barha, officially Ihtisham-ul-Mulk, was a kingmaker of the later Mughal Period. Best known for ordering the death of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar largely in attempt to halt the numerous assaination attempts that the latter had ordered against him and his brother Abdullah Khan Barha. Hussain Ali Khan rose as a kingmaker in early 18th century India, when he was also the de jure ruler of Aurangabad, ruler of Ajmer by proxy and Subedar of the Deccan
The Jaunpur-Bhojpur war, refers to the conflict between the Jaunpur Sultanate and the Ujjainiya Rajput chiefs of the Bhojpur region of Bihar.
Modern historians agree that Rajputs consisted of a mix of various different social groups and different varnas. Rajputisation explains the process by which such diverse communities coalesced into the Rajput community.
Raja Puran Mal was a Rajput ruler of Chanderi and Raisen, now in Madhya Pradesh, India, during the Mughal period and the Suri dynasty. He was the son of Raja Silhadi and princess of Mewar, Rani Durgavati.
With respect to «fictional» aspects of clan formation, see D.H.A. Kolff, An Armed Peasantry and its Allies: Rajput Tradition and State Formation in Hindustan, 1450–1850, 1983 (Doctoral thesis presented to the University of Leiden).
The earlier volume, Circumambulations in South Asian History, stands as a festschrift to the distinguished Dutch historian and Indologist Dirk H.A. Kolff, offered by many of his students and friends.