Zeitgeist: An Interdisciplinary Journal in Humanities and Social Sciences

Rethinking Indian Feudalism Through Assam: Historiographical Debates and Regional Divergences

Udayan Rajbongshi — 2025-12-25

This paper revisits the longstanding historiographical debate on the applicability of the term “feudalism” to early medieval India, with a specific focus on the region of ancient Assam. Drawing on the contrasting perspectives of R. S. Sharma and Harbans Mukhia, two major figures in Indian Marxist historiography; the essay examines the theoretical, economic, and social implications of labeling Indian society as “feudal”. Sharma’s model, rooted in the Pirenne thesis, emphasizes land grants, the decline of trade, and the rise of a dependent peasantry, while Mukhia challenges the universality and analytical value of the term itself. These contrasting frameworks are tested against inscriptional and archaeological evidence from ancient Assam, including the Nidhanpur copper plates and Nagajuri-Khanikargaon Fragmentary Stone Inscription. The study argues that while certain surface features in Assam such as land grants to Brahmanas and hierarchical social organization appear to parallel broader Indian patterns, the retgion’s ecological; political and cultural context reveals critical divergences from the Sharma model. Ultimately, this paper suggests that feudalism, as a concept, requires contextual recalibration rather than mechanical application in regional historiography.

Trend In Child Sex Ratio Among Misings: A Comparative Analysis in the Context of Assam

Astha Morang — 2025-12-25

Among the different demographic indicators, sex ratio is considered as one of the most important variables for understanding demographic features of a community. Sex ratio is also an important variable for determining the quality of life and the status of women in a society. Child sex ratio on the other hand, is an important indicator of a society’s progress as a whole. In this article, an attempt has been made to examine the nature of trend of child sex ratio among Misings and compare it with overall scheduled tribes of Assam and overall child sex ratio of Assam in the last three decades. There is a consistent and worrying decline in the child sex ratio among Misings, scheduled tribes of Assam and overall Assam between 1991 and 2011. The disproportionately steeper decline among the scheduled tribes and even more so, the Mising tribe, suggests that these groups are more susceptible to the social factors that negatively impact the birth and survival rates of female children. Addressing these root causes issues through comprehensive policy interventions and community-level awareness programs is crucial for reversing this detrimental trend and achieving gender equality in Assam.

Beyond the Divide: Women’s Experiences of Physical and Psychological Trauma and Resilience During Partition

Sugandhi Baruah — 2025-12-25

The twentieth century is an intense and twisted tapestry of historical events, marked by significant shifts in political power, collective human experiences and social construct. Central to this narrative are the major wars that shaped nations. The 1947 war of partition between India and Pakistan following the 1971 war of liberation were the major events of the century that was rooted in a crucial interplay of historical offence, religious sentiments, and nationalist aspirations. This analysis employs partition literature, gender distinction and alternative realities to examine how writers like Nighat M. Gandhi and Melody Razak depicted psychological struggle of the second gender as well as identity crisis, forced hatred and the tendency of revenge through Alternative Realities: Love in the Lives of Muslim Women (2013) and Moth (2021). It begins by providing a brief description of the 1947 partition and 1971 Bangladesh war of liberation, highlighting crucial changes in the lives of sufferers and struggles of accepting the reality.

The analysis investigates literary works to observe how authors engage with themes of exploitation, abduction, rape, identity crisis, love, resilience, acceptance and trauma and their psychological disturbance. Furthermore, the study investigates the way these authors bring forward the emotional atrocities and psychological status of women and how they fought with the society to establish their own identity, using Cathy Caruth’s Trauma Theory, Urvashi Butalia’s concept of silence and Radical Feminist Theory. Through a close examination of selected works, the analysis aims to illuminate the nuanced ways in which literature functioned as a mirror to alternative realities. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the crucial mental condition of women who became victims of two nations and the interplay between literature and history by shedding light on the complexities of survival and alternative realities.

Whispers to the Sky: Invoking the Rain God in the Hoodoom Puja of the Koch-Rajbangshis of Western Assam

Surajit Ray — 2025-12-25

The folk life of the Koch-Rajbangshi community of
Assam serves as an archive of their inherited values, traditions, and
spiritual worldviews. Deeply grounded in agrarian practices and
nature-worship, their folk life reflects a combination of Vedic
customs and indigenous beliefs. One of the most remarkable and
culturally important rituals performed by this community is the
Hoodoom Puja, a rain-invoking occasion primarily organised and
observed by women. Imbedded in their ecological consciousness,
this ritual showcases the community’s deep spiritual relationship
with nature, particularly in times of drought when the land is dried
up and rain becomes essential for farming and survival.
The Hoodoom Puja is typically performed from mid-April to
mid-September and is observed at midnight on Tuesdays or
Saturdays in isolated agricultural fields. A focal aspect of the ritual
is the planting of the hoodoom khuti, a banana trunk cut and placed
by a woman who has given birth to only one living child. The ritual
adheres to strict norms, including fasting, the collection of
symbolic items such as spider webs, soil from a prostitute’s
doorstep, water from seven households, and ritual tools like the
nangolor juwoli. No male participation is permissible, and the
priestess and participants remain naked, symbolizing nature’s
original, uncovered form. The rain is believed to cause due to the
communion between the masculine sky (Barun, the rain god) and
the feminine earth, evoked through singing, dancing, and
invocations.
The ritual is more than a prayer for rain; it is a sacred
performance of ecological harmony, femininity, and fertility. The
Hoodoom Puja thus represents an enduring cultural expression of
the Koch-Rajbangshis’ veneration for natural forces, gendered
symbolism, and collective memory. It stands as a testament to
indigenous belief systems where nature, divinity, and community
exist in seamless unity.

Determinants of rural occupational choice in the North-Eastern Region of India

Kashmiri Das — 2025-12-25

The rural non-farm sector (RNFS) has transitioned from a residual to a major employment generating sector which is pursued invariably by every rural household. Its growing significance can be seen in a country like India where majority of the population resides in rural regions which has high incidence of poverty. Although the RNFS was initially considered as a residual sector, its crucial role in generating in-situ employment opportunities and reducing inequality has been found in rural India. The North-Eastern region of India has also witnessed this transition where significance of industrial and tertiary sectors as a livelihood option has gained importance in recent years. Focusing on this geographical region is crucial as the significance of industrial and tertiary sectors as a livelihood option has gained importance in recent years. Also, 80 percent of this region is rural and increased mechanization in agriculture and issue of insurgency has led to fall in employment generation and discouraged private investment in the primary sector. Despite the growing importance of the RNFS North-East India, no studies have been extensively undertaken to understand the type of non-farm activities prevalent in this region and what factors encourage workers to join here. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to analyses the trend in the participation of workers in different non-farm activities and examine the different factors that influence rural workers to choose between farm and non-farm sector in North-East India. Applying a binary logistic regression model, we found that participation in non-farm employment is among females compared to males. However, this pattern changes for females who are educated above the higher secondary level. Similarly, their participation increases if they belong to high income class. Further participation is also high among Hindus and Muslims. Our findings demonstrate the favourable impact of education in enabling them to compete for jobs outside agriculture. From a policy perspective, emphasis should be place on the expansion of non-farm opportunities suitable for females. Also, educational facilities should be made more accessible which will encourage greater participation of individuals from NE India to work in high remunerative non-farm jobs.