From mountain trade to jungle politics: The transformation of kingship in Bashahr, 1815-19142

This article explores the interaction between a kingdom on the Himalayan frontier and colonial rule. Drawing on recent anthropological research regarding the local expression of political sovereignty through ‘government by deity’ (devta ka raj), it aims to reinterpret the actions taken by Bashahr's ruling class in relation to their colonial superiors. As British interests in modernisation and forestry challenged the rulers’ power base, the latter devised alternative methods in order to retain their authority. The increasing contestation of power in the latter half of the nineteenth century gradually polarised the kingdom's ruling strata between those advocating accommodation to British rule and those bent on retaining their independence. The culmination of this process saw a transformed kingship in early twentieth-century Bashahr.