https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.047
Textual Representation, Marginality and Making of the “Morias”: Social Stratification and Muslim Identity in South Asia
ZUBEEN SULTANA
Doctoral Research Scholar
Department of History, Gauhati University
ORCID ID: 0009-0005-8098-9377
Abstract: The Morias, the earliest Muslim settler group in Assam, have been marginalized historically. With a medieval root of origin and distinct socio-cultural developments, the Morias have achieved a community standard over time. Through the process of assimilation and acculturation, they have been integrated into the Assamese identity. Yet, their marginalisation is continued through the centuries. With the colonial intervention into Assam, the Morias came into the colonial epistemology of caste, tribe and community. This paper argues the colonial knowledge system and the textual representation of the Morias recast their marginalised identity. The colonial records, Assamese literature and orature reflect how Morias were understood with complex interplay of caste, category and distinctness. With this historical framework, the present paper is an attempt to study the making of Moria identity in the 19th and the 20th century Assam as a process rooted in colonial and textual engagements.
Keywords: South Asian Muslim Community, Colonial Ethnography, Muslims of Assam, Moria, Social Stratification, Ethnic Identity
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