Dirk Herbert Arnold Kolff (born 11 February 1938) is a Dutch historian and
Indologist
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies.
The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...
. Born at
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
in the Netherlands, Kolff earned a doctorate degree from the
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
in 1983 with a doctoral thesis on the research subject of armed peasantry in northern India. He is a professor emeritus of modern South Asian history and the former Chair of Indian History at the Leiden University.
He is the co-founder of the European Association of South Asian Studies and the president of the Netherlands–India Friendship Association.
Education and career
Kolff did M.A. in 1967 at the Leiden University. Later that year, he moved to London on scholarship from the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
. From 1968 to 1970, he performed field research on agrarian history in India's
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
and
Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative hea ...
. From 1971 to 1991, he taught the history of South Asia as an associate professor at the Kern Institute of Leiden University in the Netherlands while also completing his Ph.D. at the University in 1983. He was at the University of Chicago as a visiting associate professor in 1989. From 1987 to 1993, he served as the co-editor of
Itinerario
''Itinerario'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of history published three times a year by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Leiden Institute for History (Leiden University). It covers research on the expansion of Europe in the conte ...
.
Kolff, from 1991 till his retirement in 2003, taught modern history of South Asia at the Leiden University, and from 1992 to 1997, was also the director of Research School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS) of the university.
[ At the time of his retirement, he was serving as the 'Chair of Indian History' at the university.] From 1992 to 1998, he was a board member of the Indo–Dutch Programme for Alternatives in Development (IDPAD) and the J. Gonda Stichting of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...
(KNAW). Since 1992, he is a member of the editorial board of the Gonda Indological Studies series. He is one of the founders of the European Association of South Asian Studies (EASAS), and since 1995, he is the secretary of the EASAS.[ From 1 September 1999 to 30 June 2000, he was a research fellow at the ]Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is an independent research institute in the field of the humanities and social and behavioural sciences founded in 1970. The instit ...
. He is the president of the Netherlands–India Friendship Association since 2012, and had also served as its president from 1996 to 2004.[
]
Research
Kolff is a historian and Indologist. noted that the research interests of Kolff included "India's muslim rulers" and "the working and enduring vitality" of the dynamics of Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
. Heesterman wrote, "focussing attention on India's 'armed peasantry' in its various guises of both sedentary 'ryot
Ryot (alternatives: raiyat, rait or ravat) was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant cultivators but with variations in different provinces. While zamindars were landlords, raiyats were tenants and cultivators, and served as hi ...
s' and itinerant warriors, Kolff brings out the flexibility and dynamics of the Mughal world that was known to its European contemporaries as the 'flourishing Indies'." According to Heesterman, his research played a substantial role in the "fundamental change" in the historiographical approach towards the study of India's history during the Mughal era (1526–1857 CE), which has placed the "dynamics of Indian society" during that period at the forefront of research studies. Earlier, the period was seen in "the static terms of 'oriental society,' the perennial 'village community' and unchangeable rigidities of caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
and community".
Kolff's research threw light on a "fluid" and "pervasive" military labor market in India's northern region during the later years of Mughal Empire and the initial years of the British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
as part of which, fighters who were mostly armed peasants, used to be at the disposal of the kings, mutineers, and military contractors in the region. He highlighted that during this time in the conflict-ridden north Indian society, the regional armed peasants had "considerable agency and independence" in the society. He has theorized that before the establishment of the British Raj in India, an enormous military labor market was widespread in the country. According to John F. Richards of the Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
, his research is of assistance in underscoring "the magnitude of the changes wrought in Indian society by violent British conquest, pacification and disarmament in rural society—especially after the failed 1857 revolt
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
".
Written work
Kolff's ''Naukar, Rajput and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market in Hindustan, 1450–1850 (1990)'' was "an ethnohistory
Ethnohistory is the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may n ...
in a military setting", not "a military history with a focus of ethnicity", which according to Kolff was "undertaken at the confluence of anthropology, history and Indology". Kolff coined the term "military labour market", and in the book, introduced this concept on a wide scale in context of the northern region of India. According to University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
's Randolf G. S. Cooper, Kolff clarified the "understanding of the way in which military service had a life cycle or commodity exchange value that was integral to South Asian society and realpolitik
''Realpolitik'' (; ) refers to enacting or engaging in diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly binding itself to explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical ...
". Cooper further stated that Kolff's work is of assistance in breaking the stereotypical image of the Rajputs
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
as "the saffron robed warrior prince on horseback". Cooper, however, suggested that though Kolff attempted to provide a study of the subject matter from 1450 CE to 1850 CE, it was highly constricted to the 16th and 17th centuries "from the standpoint of functional strength".
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...
's A. Martin Wainwright noted that, in the book, Kolff shed light on the "historical pervasiveness of caste in Indian society" and the genesis of Indian State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
. Wainwright further observed that Kolff presented "new insights" into the "formation of state structures" and "character of peasant society" in India's northern region from the mid-15th century till the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and challenged the "long-held assumptions about the nature of military power and peasant society in northern India before British ascendance".
Works
Books authored
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Books edited
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Selected papers
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See also
*Harald Tambs-Lyche
Harald Tambs-Lyche (born 1946) is a Norwegian ethnologist and social anthropologist.
Tambs-Lyche earned a doctorate degree from the University of Bergen in 1992 with a doctoral thesis on the research subject of 'religion and society' in the Saur ...
*Vidya Dhar Mahajan
Vidya Dhar Mahajan (1913 — 10 July 1990) was an Indian historian, political scientist, and advocate.
Biography
Mahajan was born in 1913 in Punjab, British India. He did M.A. twice – in History at the D.A.V. College, Lahore and in Political ...
*Ram Pande
Ram Pande (September 1945 – 17 September 2019) was an Indian historian and civil servant.
Biography
Pande was born at Bhusawar in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district in September 1945. He did his master's degree from the University of Cambridge ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolff, Dirk H. A.
1938 births
Writers from Rotterdam
Leiden University alumni
Academic staff of Leiden University
21st-century Dutch historians
Dutch Indologists
Dutch military historians
Living people