Shahid Amin
Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement"
Meaning
Shahid Amin is an Indian historian from the Subaltern Studies group. These historians study the past from the side of ordinary people, such as peasants, instead of leaders and officials. He is best known for his essay "Gandhi as Mahatma". In it he used rumours printed in local newspapers to show how peasants imagined Gandhi. His work shows that even rumours can be useful evidence of what people believed.
Example
Amin studied the Gorakhpur region of eastern Uttar Pradesh in 1921. Peasants there saw "Gandhi baba" as a saviour with miraculous powers who would free them from taxes and officials.
Don't confuse with
- Chandran Devanesan: the historian who called Gandhi's years in South Africa "the making of the Mahatma". Amin wrote about how peasants in India saw Gandhi in 1921.
Related concepts
- Gandhi as Mahatma
- Gandhi's dhoti and loincloth
- Charkha
- Khadi
- Linguistic Pradesh Congress Committees
- Praja Mandal
- All India States Peoples Conference
- Bijolia movement
- Abul Kalam Azad
- C. Rajagopalachari