Traditional Intellectuals and Colonial Modernity: Life and Worldview of An Intellectual from Telugu Region

Traditional intellectuals, both Hindu and Muslim, suffered and declined under the impact of the colonial rule in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries in India. Western ideas, as well as the new conditions of economy and society had a crushing impact on them. They lamented the decline of the old regime, and came up with interesting and sometimes thoughtful responses to the changing conditions of the world they inhabited. It is the life and reflections of one such individual from the Telugu-speaking region, namely Adibhatta Narayanadasu (1864-1945), a legendary hari-katha performer in his lifetime that I analyze in detail in this article, by making extensive use of his Telugu autobiography.