Decolonizing South Asia through Heritage-and Nation-Building

This essay builds upon the premise that heritage and decolonization share histories of obsessive emphases upon exclusive, unique and fiercely acquisitive identities. Considering that the scholarship of decolonization increasingly fixes attention upon the displays of the colonial in the realms of the former imperial powers, the aims here are to shift attention to the curation of the national within the post-colony. The essay explores histories of archaeological collections, collecting practices, museums, and exhibitions within India to illustrate the imbrication of the practices of heritage making and politics of decolonization. It highlights the pedagogic value of biographies of collections and exhibitions for analyzing the shared histories, and engages with the Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) of nation-making for interrogating the practices of naturalizing cultural heritage.