'The Rani of Sirmur' Revisited

What is it about?

The question of women's agency in British India, that is, the capacity of Indian women to affect change and shape their worlds, has been the subject of heated debates in the past decades. Addressing an historical episode in which a regent queen from the West Himalayan kingdom of Sirmaur threatened to become sati (commit ritual suicide) in 1815, this article explores the forms and methods through which Indian women of the royal milieu could and did assert power under British rule. In taking issue with postcolonial discourse theory and its misreading of the event, it provides a timely critique of earlier interpretations of the historical episode, the rite, and the demonstrated agency of South Asian elites under the constraints of imperial rule.

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Why is it important?

The article contextualizes theoretical claims regarding women's roles in South Asian history through empirical case studies, thereby clarifying key concepts in debates relating to Subaltern Studies and Postcolonial Discourse Theory.