The Bronze Sword Of Thengphakhri Tehsildar

The Bronze Sword of Thengphakhri Tehsildar

Indira Goswami’s last work of fiction, The Bronze Sword of Thengphakhri Tehsildar is the heroic tale of a Bodo freedom fighter who was, arguably, the first woman revenue collector, a tehsildar, in British India. Set in late 19th-century Assam, the novel generated a great deal of interest when it was published. Thengphakhri is a fascinating character that the author recreated from folklore and songs and stories that she’d heard in her childhood. The image of the protagonist, galloping across the plains of Bijni kingdom in lower Assam to collect taxes for the British, is a compelling one and one that inspires awe and admiration. At a time when educated Indians, social reformers and the British government were trying to fight misogynist practices such as sati, child marriage and the purdah system, here was a woman working with the British officers, shoulder to shoulder, as a tax collector who rode a horse, wore a hat and had knee-length black hair. Indira Goswami has woven a complex tale wherein the foundations of the colonial rulers were shaken by insurgents seeking freedom across Assam just before the rise of the Indian National Congress. Published by Zubaan.

The Bronze Sword of Thengphakhri Tehsildar

Female Narratives of Protest

This book explores the complex assemblage of biopolitics, citizenship, ethics and human rights concerns in South Asia focusing specifically on women poets, writers and artists and their explorations on marginalisation, violence and protest. The book traces the origins, varied historiographies and socio-political consequences of women’s protests and feminist discourses. Bringing together narratives of the Landais from Afghanistan, voices from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Miya women poets writing from Assam, and stories of Dalit and queer women across the region, it analyses the diverse modes of women’s protests and their ethical and humanitarian cartographies. The volume highlights the reconfiguration of female voices of protest in contemporary literature and popular culture in South Asia and the formation of closely-knit female communities of solidarity, cooperation and collective political action. The book will be of interest to students and researchers of gender studies, literature, cultural studies, sociology, minority and indigenous studies, and South Asian studies.