BECOMING CITIZENS

Description

This book examines the complex socio-political, cultural, and laborious historical processes through which people in Keralam acquired citizenship status during the period of British colonialism, spanning from the late eighteenth century to the early decades of the twentieth century. The study explores the origins of British administration following the Treaty of Srirangapattana in 1792 and investigates how colonial interventions transformed traditional state modalities and contributed to the collapse of the existing jati structure. It covers the resistance from privileged jatis, the challenges mounted by lower-caste intellectuals and movements against Brahminical ideological and political domination, and the concurrent emergence of individualization and new concepts of rights. Specifically, the book addresses the pre-British relationship between the State and the jati, the policies and structural changes introduced by the British, the reactions of dominant traditional power elements, the formation of a new informed state structure, and the efforts of native administrators, socio-religious reformers, and political intelligentsia who challenged the traditional, jati-legitimized state systems.