Representations of Women in Colonial India, 1886-1936

This volume presents a curated collection of articles from the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay (1886-1936), offering a fascinating window into feminine representations in colonial India. From witches and female ascetics to powerful goddesses, from housewives and mothers to liminal figures such as daughters appointed as sons and devadasis who could never become widows, these essays reveal the multidimensional nature of the feminine and diverse social spaces women occupied during this transformative period.

Beyond documenting women's lives, the volume illuminates the politics of knowledge production in colonial India. The articles reflect who held the privilege to write and who remained subjects of study – British scholars and English-educated Indian men dominated academic discourse. In contrast, women were studied but denied their own voices. The collection reveals not only colonial domination but also complex negotiations of power between British and Indian men over representing Indian women, making it a valuable document of both gender and colonial hierarchies.

This book is essential for scholars and students of women's studies, gender studies, colonial history, anthropology, sociology, and political science - particularly those examining feminist and postcolonial perspectives, power dynamics, and knowledge production in colonial India.