Seeking Begumpura Paperback

Gail Omvedt's "Seeking Begumpura: The Social Vision of Anticaste Intellectuals" is a profound exploration of utopian thought within India's anti-caste movements, spanning five centuries. The book takes its title from the 15th-century Bhakti poet Ravidas's vision of "Begumpura," a sorrowless, casteless, classless, and tax-free city. Omvedt meticulously traces how this dream of an egalitarian society evolved through the ideas of various subaltern thinkers—from Bhakti saints like Kabir and Tukaram to modern figures like Phule, Iyothee Thass, Pandita Ramabai, Periyar, and Ambedkar. By contrasting these radical visions with mainstream nationalist and Brahmanical concepts of India, Omvedt highlights a suppressed history of alternative societal blueprints, demonstrating how "reason and ecstasy," or dnyan and bhakti, have paved the way for a truly just and equitable India.