Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the relationship between processes of state-making and the shifting claims of identity among the Kudmi-Mahatos, a middle peasant group in eastern India.

Paper long abstract:

The colonial classification of tribes and castes produced rival claims from groups which were slotted into these categories. The Kudmi-Mahatos, a community of cultivators in the forest estates of central and eastern India, were identifies as 'tribals'. However, the community elites participated in movements to seek the status of Kshatriyas or warrior castes within the Hindu fold. In the 1931 census, the Mahatos were removed from the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST). However, in the postcolonial period, Mahatos in West Bengal began to demand ST status. In the present, this demand is routed through a display of animistic practices, distancing themselves from Hindu rituals, reviving their language Kudmali, and by publishing newsletters addressing the community. In this paper, I explore this politics of Mahato assertion of an Adivasi identity based on my fieldwork in the Jungle Mahals of West Bengal. I argue that this shift from asserting a higher ritual caste to identifying as Adivasis has much to do with the manner in which processes of state-making have unfolded in the region's politics. On an all India level, this politics of seeking to become Adivasi through appeals to the state can be compared with groups like Gujars and Gaddis in north India.