Music in Colonial Punjab

This book offers the first social history of music in undivided Punjab (1800-1947), unearthing new evidence to argue for the power of female performers and the primacy of classical music for a region conventionally understood as a centre of folk music alone.

Radha Kapuria is Assistant Professor in South Asian History at Durham University. This book draws on her PhD work at King's College London, which was nominated for the 2019 Bayly Prize. Her work straddles history, cultural studies, ethnomusicology, and gender studies. As well as interest in the Partition, she is currently also a co-editor and collaborator on projects exploring the intersections of regional, sonic, and environmental histories of South Asia.

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Note on Translation and Transliteration
Prologue
Introduction
1: Of Musicians, Dancers, and the Maharaja: Gender, Power, and Affect in Ranjit Singh's Lahore
2: Mirasis, Missionaries, and Memsahibs: Folklore and Music in Colonial Punjab
3: Gender, Reform, and Punjab's Musical Publics: Colonial Lahore, Amritsar, and Jalandhar, 1870s-1930s
4: Princely Patronage and Musicians: Modernity and Circulation in Colonial Patiala and Kapurthala
Conclusion
Bibliography