Marginalizing histories, historicizing marginalization. Representations of Adivasi Pasts in Jharkhand

The paper analyses the fluidity of the categories of the centre and the margins with the help of Adivasi histories of Jharkhand. Since colonial times, marginality – not simply political and economic, but also as the culturally backward other – has been imposed upon the different Adivasi communities of the region. This idea of marginality was borrowed and perpetuated by Indian nationalists, even as they sought to represent themselves as the spokesmen of Adivasi exploitation, as well as in the post-colonial state which as the provider/redeemer enunciated various schemes of tribal ‘uplift’ and ‘development’. In contrast, however, the Adivasi relationship with the pre-colonial power structures was a more complex and nuanced phenomenon, with experiences of both expropriation as well as collaboration and partnership with regional polities. Through an analysis of a range of historical memories encapsulated in oral literature, political tracts, constitutional debates, memoirs, contemporary local and popular histories and social media discussions, this chapter illustrates how this historical complexity was reduced to a simplistic representation where marginality became the centre-focus around which domination and exploitation were placed to construct the new idea of the Adivasi as a victim. As Adivasis appropriated the notion of the margin, and actively selected their lived experience of marginality, their indigeneity and rootedness to their land was emphasized in their confrontation with dominant discourses in the political domain.