This book is a historical study of modern Gujarat, India, addressing crucial questions of language, identity, and power.
It examines the debates over language among the elite of this region dur- ing a period of significant social and political change in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Language debates closely reflect power rela- tions among different sections of society, such as those delineated by nation, ethnicity, region, religion, caste, class, and gender. They are intimately linked with the process in which individuals and groups of people try to define and project themselves in response to changing political, economic, and social environments. Based on rich historical sources, including official records, periodicals, literary texts, memoirs, and private papers, this book vividly shows the impact that colonialism, nationalism, and the process of nation-building had on the ideas of language among different groups, as well as how various ideas of language competed and negotiated with each other.