Francis Buchanan's Journey

Read the article published in the Times of India, Bengaluru.

During his Journey, not far from Bangalore, Francis Buchanan comes across a forest dwelling community called ‘Cad Chensu’ who also went by the name of ‘Cad Eralliga’ (Iruliga in contemporary records). He writes, “In this hilly tract, there is a race of men called by the other natives Cad Eriligaru; but who call themselves Cad Chensu. Here they live in little huts near the villages, and have a small piece of blanket, or cotton cloth, to cover their nakedness”, adding that they “have either no religion or some simple one with which those here are unacquainted” and “live upon game wild roots herbs and fruits and a little grain which they purchase from the farmers by collecting some drugs honey and wax”.

Two hundred years later, three generations of a Iruliga family reflect on their lives and livelihoods as they find themselves wedged between the ever expanding megacity of Bangalore and the shrinking forest.

This ethnographical film (16 mins.) directed by Lingaraj Jayaprakash for our project retracing Buchanan’s Journey builds upon previous ethnographic research and long engagement with the Iruliga community and intends to depict a slice of Iruliga life.

From landscapes to a thousand year-old lake, from dilapidated structures to medieval history, Buchanan’s Journey has opened our eyes to prosaic remains of the past. And there is so much to discover, even on the rather unadventurous Bangalore-Mysore road; farming instruments and practices, cattle breeds and plant species, the making of steel wire, limestone and jaggery, the customs of different castes and communities …

Read about our search for mundane history …

After reading our recent article on the Journey in which we mentioned Gattipura, an iron smelting site on Buchanan’s route near Magadi, we received a message from Chandrasekhar Math, a geologist, asking whether we would like to visit a similar place, Halaguru … It was an offer we couldn’t refuse …

Read the full story in the Deccan Herald …

Francis Buchanan describes the problem he faced from the multiplicity of coins that he found in Srirangapatna – this was a spark that triggered me to study the history of the rupee. Ultimately, after several years of research Sashi Sivramkrishna published his book, “In Search of Stability: Economics of Money, History of the Rupee” (Manohar 2015 & Routledge 2017).

This article, an episode on the rupee, was published in the Times of India …