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Traditional Knowledge Systems of India

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Course Type Course Code No. Of Credits
Discipline Core SHE2ED107 4

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course offers an in-depth examination of the traditional knowledge systems practiced and sustained by diverse communities in India. It integrates interdisciplinary perspectives and theoretical frameworks, providing a comprehensive understanding of the philosophical and epistemological foundations of ‘tradition’ and traditional knowledge systems (TKS). Aligned with the theories of ethnoecology, cognitive anthropology, and adaptation, the course emphasizes a holistic worldview focused on cultural preservation, identity, and continuity. It explores the sources of traditional knowledge and practices, and their transmission in different cultural and societal contexts. Key areas of study include traditional ecological knowledge, health and medicine, oral and performative traditions, material culture, traditional technology and techniques, and games and sports, providing multiple sites for reflective engagement. Each module is structured around a central concept(s) and includes corresponding research methods that are suitable to the specific context and/or for comparative study. Parallels and interconnectedness of knowledge systems across different cultures are explored through case studies and examples. Students are expected to gain an enhanced understanding of the significance of traditional knowledge systems for sustainable well-being.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • To understand critically the concepts of tradition, and folk/indigenous/local communities and their different sources
  • To appreciate the value and different applications of indigenous knowledge in contemporary community practices
  • To emphasize the need for documenting traditional knowledge systems (TKS) in order to preserve and promote cultural heritage on the one hand, and to foster community resilience on the other
  • To gain knowledge about various documentation tools and techniques, including oral, written, visual, and digital methods
  • To identify and analyze the challenges involved in traditional knowledge systems

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Gain a better understanding of the philosophical and epistemological foundations of TKS
  • Exhibit and apply a critical understanding and appreciation of the importance of respecting and valuing traditional knowledge systems
  • Appreciation and learn the importance of documenting traditional knowledge systems of communities and familiarity with the various tools and techniques of documentation
  • Read, explain, and apply theoretical frameworks of ethnoecology, cognitive anthropology, and adaptation to the study of communities across India

S. No.

Module
  1.  

Introduction to Traditional Knowledge Systems
  1.  

Sources of Traditional Knowledge Systems
  1.  

Practices of traditional Knowledge Systems
  1.  

Documentation of Traditional Knowledge Systems

COMPULSORY READING LIST

  • Agrawal, A. (1995). Dismantling the divide between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge. Development and Change, 26: 413-439.
  • Berkes, F. (2012): Context of traditional ecological knowledge. In Fikret Berkes, Sacred Ecology (pp. 1-20). Routledge.
  • D'Andrade, R. G. (1995). The historical development of cognitive anthropology. In The development of cognitive anthropology (pp. 1-22). Cambridge University Press.
  • Elliot Oring (2021). To Explain Tradition. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, 15(2): 1-18.
  • Folke, C., Carpenter, S. R., Walker, B., Scheffer, M., Chapin, T., & Rockström, J. (2010). Resilience thinking: Integrating resilience, adaptability, and transformability. Ecology and Society, 15(4).
  • Kimmerer, R.W. (2013): The Grammar of Animacy. In Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass (pp. 48-59). Milkweed Editions.
  • Peet, R., & Watts, M. (2004). Liberating political ecology. In R. Peet & M. Watts (Eds.), Liberation ecologies: Environment, development and social movements (2nd ed., pp. 3-47). Routledge.
  • Shils, E. (1981). The nature of tradition. In Tradition (pp. 1-24). University of Chicago Press.
  • Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed Books
  • Bruchac, M.M. (2014). Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge. In Smith, C. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer.
  • Chatterji, R. (2020). Words and Images: Storytelling in Gond Art. In Speaking with Pictures (pp. 107-174). Routledge.
  • Joshi, D. (2017). Oral Narrative Traditions of India and Language Philosophy. IJAPRR International Peer Reviewed Refereed Journal, IV (1), 17-21.
  • National Digital Library of India (2024). Resource Types. https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/ndl_ch
  • Ramanujan, A.K. (1990). Who Needs Folklore?: The relevance of oral traditions to South Asian studies (pp.1-31). The Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Hawaii. 
  • Samaddar, A. (2006). Traditional and Posttraditional: A Study of Agricultural Rituals in Relation to Technological Complexity among Rice Producers in Two Zones of West Bengal, India. Culture & Agriculture,28 (2),108–121.
  • Traditional Knowledge Digital Library Unit (TKDL), https://www.csir.res.in/documents/tkdl
  • World Intellectual Property Organization (2010). List and Brief Technical Explanation of Various Forms in which Traditional Knowledge May be Found. https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=147152.%20
  • Bhattacharya, S. (2015). Traditional Water Harvesting Structures and Sustainable Water Management in India. International Letters of Natural Sciences, 30, 30-3
  • Gokhale, Yogesh & Pala, Nazir & Negi, Ajeet & Bhat, Jahangeer & Todaria, Np. (2011). Sacred landscapes as repositories of biodiversity. A case study from the Hariyali Devi sacred landscape, Uttarakhand. International Journal of Conservation Science. 2.
  • Jeeva, S. R. D. N., Laloo, R. C., & Mishra, B. P. (2006). Traditional agricultural practices in Meghalaya, North East India. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 5(1), 7-18.
  • Jena, M. K. (2020). Mapping Traditional Games & Sports of Relevant Tribes of 3 Tribal Dominated States of India (Chapter 5). SC/ST Research & Training Institute, Odisha, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
  • Joshi, P. C. (2000). Relevance and Utility of Traditional Medical Systems (TMS) in the Context of a Himalayan Tribe. Psychology and Developing Societies, 12(1), 5-29
  • Kikon, D. (2015). Fermenting Modernity: Putting Akhuni on -the Nation's Table in India. South Asia: Journal of Social Asian Studies, 38 (2),320-335.
  • Rist, L., Shaanker, R. U., Milner-Gulland, E. J., & Ghazoul, J. (2010). The Use of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Forest Management: An example from India. Ecology and Society, 15(1).
  • Baumgartner, R., Karanth, G.K., Aurora, G.S., & Ramaswamy, V. (2019). In dialogue with Indigenous Knowledge: Sharing Research to promote empowerment of rural communities in India. In A. Bicker, P. Sillitoe, & J. Pottier (Eds.), Investing in Local Knowledge: New Directions, New Approaches (pp. 287-320). Routledge.
  • Chakrabarty, S. P., & Kaur, R. (2021). A Primer to Traditional Knowledge Protection in India: The Road Ahead. The Liverpool law review, 42(3), 401–427.
  • Posey, D. A. (2000). Ethnobiology and ethnoecology in the context of National laws and international agreements affecting indigenous and local knowledge, traditional resources, and intellectual property rights. In R. Ellen, P. Parkes, & A. Bicker (Eds.), Indigenous environmental knowledge and its transformations: Critical anthropological perspectives (pp. 35-54). Harwood Academic Publishers.
  • Taylor, P. C. (Ed.). (2017). Digital Technology and the Future of Ethnographic Research. Palgrave Macmillan
  • World Intellectual Property Organization (2017). Documenting Traditional Knowledge-A toolkit. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Documenting_Traditional_Knowledge_A_Tool/YQVDDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

ADDITIONAL READING LIST

  • Bisht, Yashpal and Ramesh C. Sharma.  (2010). Traditional resource management practices for biodiversity conservation and their significance in Nanda Devi Biosphere reserve, India. Taylor & Francis Online, 1(2), 2: 97-111.
  • Sundar, N. (2000). The construction and destruction of indigenous knowledge in India's forest management programme. In R. Ellen, P. Parkes, & A. Bicker (Eds.), Indigenous environmental knowledge and its transformations: Critical anthropological perspectives (pp. 79-100). Harwood Academic Publishers.
  • Ansaria, M. A., Sharmaa, S. K., Roya, S. S., Ramakrishnab, Y., Dattc, S., Ningombama, A., & Prakasha, N. (2021). Documenting the agriculture based indigenous traditional knowledge in Manipur State of North Eastern India. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 20(4), 1065-1074.
  • Das, A., Gujre, N., Devi, R. J., Rangan, L., & Mitra, S. (2023). Traditional ecological knowledge towards natural resource management: perspective and challenges in North East India. In Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment (pp. 275-294). Academic Press.
  • Gadgil, M., Vartak, V.D. The sacred groves of Western Ghats in India. Econ Bot 30, 152–160 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862961.
  • Harisha, R. P., Padmavathy, S., & Nagaraja, B. C. (2016). Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and its importance in south India: perspecive from local communities. Appl Ecol Environ Res, 14(1), 311-326.
  • Jacob, M., Nandini, B., & Sharma, N. (2023). Indigenous Sports in India: Connecting past to the present. Artha Journal of Social Sciences, 22(1), 1-23.
  • Nasim, M.A. (2021) Disappearance of Traditional games by the imitation of colonial culture through the historical parameters of cultural colonialism. International Journal of Sports Culture and Science, 9(2), 164-175.

ASSESSMENTS

Assessment

Weightage

Take Home

30%

Class Test

30%

End term paper

40%
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