Subaltern Studies
Topic: Studying Indian History: Sources, Dating and Historiography · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"; Class 12, Ch 3 "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement"
Meaning
Subaltern Studies is a series of volumes on Indian history that began in 1982 under the historian Ranajit Guha. "Subaltern" means people of lower rank, such as peasants, tribal people and workers. These historians wrote "history from below", telling the past from the side of ordinary people and not only leaders and elites. They re-read old sources, such as colonial records, to bring out the views and actions of these groups. This is part of a wider shift in historiography, the way history is written, towards marginalised groups.
Example
In "Gandhi as Mahatma", Shahid Amin studied peasants in Gorakhpur (in present-day Uttar Pradesh) around 1921. He showed how they spread rumours about Gandhi's miraculous powers and saw him in their own way. Gautam Bhadra's "Four Rebels of Eighteen-Fifty-Seven" similarly follows local rebels of the 1857 revolt.
Don't confuse with
- Elite or nationalist historiography: this tells the story of the national movement mainly through its leaders, organisations and ideas. Subaltern Studies looks at how ordinary people thought and acted, often in ways leaders did not plan or control.