The Yeoman Jats of Punjab: Time, Expertise and the Colonial Construction of Jat Sikh Identity

Authors

  • Nicola Mooney University of the Fraser Valley

Keywords:

Jat Sikhs, identity, caste, pot-colonialism, India, colonial ethnography

Abstract

This article explores the social life of colonial exper
tise regarding the Jat Sikh community and its intersections
with contemporary Jat experiences. While there has been
much scholarly attention to Jats as a martial race, here I focus
on British iterations of the Jat as yeoman farmer and noble
peasant. I argue that British expertise positioned Jats hetero
chronically in anterior modern time, even as it contributed
to their comparative development, regional dominance and
the constructed primordialisms of Jat identity. In closing,
I suggest that this particular and privileged position is post
colonially discrepant and today mitigates against Jats occupy
ing their colonially valorized identities.

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Published

2013-11-30

How to Cite

Mooney, N. (2013). The Yeoman Jats of Punjab: Time, Expertise and the Colonial Construction of Jat Sikh Identity. Anthropologica, 55(2), 277–290. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/688

Issue

Vol. 55 No. 2 (2013): Time and the Expert: Temporalities and the Social Life of Expertise

Section

Thematic Section:

License

Copyright (c) 2013 Nicola Mooney

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