The conference 'Shades of Violence: Aggression and Domination in Indian Culture' comes as one of the results of a long-standing collaboration between a number of researchers, which has finally developed into a league of five Indological centres from the universities of Milan, Prague, Kraków, Warsaw and Cagliari. For years, we have been meeting to discuss topics that we consider relevant, also inviting colleagues from other centres from all over the world. These meetings have contributed to the formation of smaller teams with the aim to undertake specific research tasks and carry out their own projects resulting in many publications. Thanks to the Strategic Programme Excellence Initiative at Jagiellonian University (EI.JU) and to the fact of obtaining a grant in the heritage research area, it has been possible to set up a group that is now tackling the topic of violence in Indian culture. As declared in the project description, all the papers approach the complex issue of violence in Indian culture from different perspectives offered by their authors. Aggressivity, or violence in general, is a feature unavoidably connected to the royal power and to the broadly understood institution of kingship. The king articulated his rights to dominance also in his relationship with nature. Suffice to mention hunting here and its involvement in the ritualistic sphere. As far as rituals are concerned, the violent features became obfuscated with time, which eventually led to performing sacrifices without violence by finding substitutes. There is no doubt that Indian art recorded scenes of violence that were present in the ritual sphere and community life. Violence has always meant effectiveness in the preservation of a certain order, existing social divisions and the status quo desired by those in power. Consideration of the various shades of violence and phenomena recorded in the past of the Indian subcontinent are accompanied by the reflection on the contemporary Indian society as described in modern Indian literature.

Finally, in Indian cultural legacy the notion of non-violence stands side by side with attempts to legitimize the acts of violence. Violence and the principle of non-violence are in fact two sides of the same coin.

International research group Violence: Aggression and Domination in Indian Culture established under the program "Excellence Initiative - Research University" at the Jagiellonian University.

This event has been supported by a grant from the Priority Research Area (Heritage) under the Strategic Programme Excellence Initiative at Jagiellonian University.

Scientific Committee

Organising Committee

Lidia Sudyka, Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow

Anna Nitecka, Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow

Hermina Cielas, Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow

David Pierdominici Leão, Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow