‘Historians must find ways to document diverse populations’

Updated On: 20 February, 2024 07:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Fiona Fernandez

American scholar Dr Kenneth X Robbins’ public talk promises to offer a refreshing, revelatory perspective on the life and times of the rulers of India’s Princely States, with a focus on Gujarat. Edited excerpts from an interview

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(Left, above) The volumes contain a survey of palace and temple wall paintings in Gujarat. Images Courtesy/Dr Kenneth Robbins, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum

How did your research lead you to focus on the Princely States of Gujarat during colonialism?
Dr Kenneth X Robbins: The year 1947 witnessed great accomplishments in human history, the consolidation of hundreds of states along with cities including Ahmedabad into the new Republic of India. Whereas control of the Punjab, Bengal, and Kashmir was divided, Pakistani attempts to divide Gujarat were quickly thwarted. In Gujarat, these states ranged from a large progressive state, Baroda, with a population of 2,433,077 in 1931, to Bilbari in the Dangs with a population of 27. Somehow, the whole area has not garnered much interest. It still surprises many Westerners that most of the Rajput States were here, and not in Rajasthan.

Merchants functioned across Gujarat’s boundaries using hundis to transfer funds, pay debts, in exchange for goods, and as a traveller’s check