Mrinalini Rajagopalan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226283470
- eISBN:
- 9780226331898
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226331898.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In 1947, at the moment of Indian independence and the partitioning of the subcontinent, the Purana Qila became a refugee camp to tens of thousands of stateless persons. This chapter positions the ...
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In 1947, at the moment of Indian independence and the partitioning of the subcontinent, the Purana Qila became a refugee camp to tens of thousands of stateless persons. This chapter positions the Purana Qila at the intersection of two origin stories of Delhi—the first as the capital of a nation-state born in the shadow of Partition’s violence and the second as the modern manifestation of the mythical Hindu city of Indraprastha. The modern life of the Purana Qila has been colored by the spectacular traumas of dispossession as well as the determined search for Delhi’s mythical Hindu past.Less
In 1947, at the moment of Indian independence and the partitioning of the subcontinent, the Purana Qila became a refugee camp to tens of thousands of stateless persons. This chapter positions the Purana Qila at the intersection of two origin stories of Delhi—the first as the capital of a nation-state born in the shadow of Partition’s violence and the second as the modern manifestation of the mythical Hindu city of Indraprastha. The modern life of the Purana Qila has been colored by the spectacular traumas of dispossession as well as the determined search for Delhi’s mythical Hindu past.
Mrinalini Rajagopalan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226283470
- eISBN:
- 9780226331898
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226331898.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Building Histories traces the lives of five monuments in Delhi—Red Fort; Rasul Numa Dargah; Jama Masjid; Purana Qila; and the Qutb Complex—from the mid-nineteenth century to the twentieth century. ...
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Building Histories traces the lives of five monuments in Delhi—Red Fort; Rasul Numa Dargah; Jama Masjid; Purana Qila; and the Qutb Complex—from the mid-nineteenth century to the twentieth century. Each monument is explored in an individual chapter, which considers the various appropriations of its history, function, and symbolism by state (colonial and postcolonial) and non-state actors. The starting point for this discussion is the mid-nineteenth century when institutionalized preservation cemented the histories, uses, symbolism, and stewardship of monuments within a rigid archive policed by colonial and later national bureaucracies. Yet this archive was and continues to be constantly interrupted and challenged by affect—the emotive economy generated around the monument at various points in time. It is at this intersection of archival “truths” and affective “passions” that the book charts the changing lives of these five monuments. In doing so it reveals the profoundly mutable histories of these monuments—histories that transformed non-linearly over time; histories generated by unexpected co-optations and urgent inhabitations; and histories authored by various actors often with competing agendas. Building Histories is a book about the histories of buildings; it is also a meditation on the building of histories through these monuments.Less
Building Histories traces the lives of five monuments in Delhi—Red Fort; Rasul Numa Dargah; Jama Masjid; Purana Qila; and the Qutb Complex—from the mid-nineteenth century to the twentieth century. Each monument is explored in an individual chapter, which considers the various appropriations of its history, function, and symbolism by state (colonial and postcolonial) and non-state actors. The starting point for this discussion is the mid-nineteenth century when institutionalized preservation cemented the histories, uses, symbolism, and stewardship of monuments within a rigid archive policed by colonial and later national bureaucracies. Yet this archive was and continues to be constantly interrupted and challenged by affect—the emotive economy generated around the monument at various points in time. It is at this intersection of archival “truths” and affective “passions” that the book charts the changing lives of these five monuments. In doing so it reveals the profoundly mutable histories of these monuments—histories that transformed non-linearly over time; histories generated by unexpected co-optations and urgent inhabitations; and histories authored by various actors often with competing agendas. Building Histories is a book about the histories of buildings; it is also a meditation on the building of histories through these monuments.
