Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to share our call for submissions to the panel "State Law, Religious Identity, and Cultural Transformation: Hinduisation and Sanskritisation in the Himalayas" at this year’s European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS).
The conference will take place in Heidelberg in October 2025, and the deadline for submissions is January 30th. For the details regarding the panel, paper submission and registration, please follow this link:
Please feel free to circulate this with your colleagues and students who are engaged in research related to these topics.
Best regards,
Rajan Khatiwoda, also on behalf of Manik Bajracharya and Nirajan Kafle
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This panel examines the processes of Hinduisation and Sanskritisation in the Himalayan region, with a focus on Nepal’s distinct legal and cultural history in contrast to (British) India. It explores the intricate relationship between Brahmanical norms and local customs (deśācāra), particularly through the integration of Hindu legal scriptures (dharmaśāstra). The Himalayan region presents a unique context, where the application of these laws has sparked ongoing scholarly debate about the balance between Dharmaśāstra and indigenous practices. A key focus is the Mulukī Ain (MA) of 1854 CE, Nepal’s first codified legal code introduced by Prime Minister Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā. This legal reform sought to enforce Brahmanical norms across Nepal’s diverse communities, including Buddhist and non-Brahmanical groups. It was not only a legal initiative but also a political strategy to solidify Nepal’s identity as a Hindu kingdom and resist external threats, especially from colonial forces. The process of Sanskritisation and Hinduisation served to bring together Nepal’s various cultural groups under a common legal framework while preserving its Hindu ethos. The panel will explore the interaction between state-imposed laws and local traditions, analyzing how these frameworks shaped religious practices, social norms, and community identities in Nepal and the broader Himalayan region, including Tibet. Comparative studies of Nepal, India, and Tibet’s legal histories are encouraged, offering insights into how states with different colonial experiences addressed similar challenges. Scholars are invited to use archival and anthropological methods to investigate these transformations, shedding light on the dynamic relationship between state law and local customs in shaping the legal and cultural landscapes of the Himalayas.