Manufacturing Categories, Embodied Histories

Before the first French soldier set foot in Morocco, before the British East India Company became the British Raj, there were cartographers, surveyors, and ethnographers. Before conquest, colonialism began with classification.

This chapter traces how European powers built large archives of knowledge about the peoples they intended to govern. In Morocco, as in India, the production of colonial knowledge was a deliberate strategy of control, rather than a neutral scientific endeavor.

The Ethnographic State: Morocco

In 1903, nine years before France established its Protectorateالحمايةal-ḤimāyaFrench "protection" of Morocco (1912–1956) — colonial rule disguised as guardianship. over Morocco, the Mission Scientifique du Marocالبعثة العلميةMission ScientifiqueFrench scientific mission (1904–1912) that mapped Morocco's tribes, customs, and territories before conquest. was founded in Tangier. This institution, composed by ethnographers, geographers, geologists, explorers and orientalists, had a single objective: to make Morocco legible to French administrators.

In 1904, the Mission published the journal Archives Marocaines, which provided exhaustive documentation on Moroccan tribes, religious practices, legal customs, and territorial boundaries. In 1912, when the Treaty of Fez formalized French protectorate, the colonial administration had at its disposal exceptional archives on a country it did not yet govern.

Major contributors to the French colonial archive on Morocco: Edmond Doutté (1867–1926), author of En Tribu (1914); Eugène Aubin, author of Le Maroc d'aujourd'hui (1904); and Alfred Le Chatelier, sociologist of Islam and founder of the Mission Scientifique.

Morocco: The Berber Dahir of 1930

On May 16, 1930, the French Residency in Morocco published a royal decree (a dahirظهيرẒahīrRoyal decree issued by the Moroccan Sultan — under the Protectorate, often drafted by French administrators.) which would trigger the first mass nationalist movement in Moroccan history.

The Berber Dahir (Dahir Berbère) placed Berber-speaking tribes under French customary law and the jurisdiction of French courts, thereby removing them from the jurisdiction of Shariaالشريعةal-SharīʿaIslamic law derived from the Quran and Hadith — the Berber Dahir aimed to sever Berbers from this shared legal tradition. law and the religious authority of the Sultan. On the surface, the decree claimed to respect Berber "traditional customs." In reality, it aimed to separate Berbers from the Arab-Islamic identity that united Morocco.

The policy reflected decades of French politique berbèreالسياسة البربريةPolitique Berbère"Berber policy" — French colonial strategy to separate Berbers from Arabs, portraying them as closer to Europeans and less Muslim., according to which Berbers were racially and culturally distinct from Arabs, closer to Europeans, less attached to Islam, and therefore more receptive to French civilization.

Education as Division

While the Dahir was the public face of division, the deeper work was done in secret. In an internal memo dated June 25, 1924, Marshal Lyautey stated the purpose of separate Berber schools was to "tame the indigène, and to maintain—discreetly, but as firmly as possible—the linguistic, religious, and social differences that exist between the Arabized bled makhzenبلاد المخزنbilād al-makhzanTerritories under direct control of the Sultan's government. and the Berber mountains, which, while religious, are pagan and ignorant of Arabic."

The model school was the Collège Berbère d'Azrou, founded in 1927. French and Berber (in Latin alphabet) were the languages of instruction, while Arabic was banned. By 1950, 250 of Morocco's 350 official caïds were graduates of the Collège d'Azrou..

But this strategy backfired on its authors. In February 1944, the students of Azrou went on strike in solidarity with the nationalist movement, directly rejecting the colonial logic that had led to the creation of their school. After independence, the school was renamed Lycée Tarik ibn Ziyad, after the Amazigh general who led the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula..

The Colonial Construction of "Arab" versus "Berber"

French ethnographers constructed a "Berber Myth" (le mythe berbère), a clear binary distinction "Arab" and "Berber" populations that was part of a moral hierarchy:

This binary concealed the reality. As early as 1901, Edmond Doutté described the distinction between Arabs and Berbers as "vain", pointing out that the communities intermarried, that many spoke both languages (Arabic and Amazigh), and that both groups included nomadic and sedentary populations. The distinction between Bled Makhzenبلاد المخزنBled al-MakhzenLands under central government authority. (lands under central authority) and Bled Sibaبلاد السيبةBled al-Siba"Land of dissidence" — areas outside central control, but not lawless. (lands outside central control) was also distorted, presented as an eternal racial division rather than a changing political relationship. Yet political opportunism won: by 1919, the myth had become an official policy that justified the Berber Dahir a decade later.

India: Caste as Colonial Category

In India, the British did not invent the caste system, but they transformed it. What had previously been a fluid, regional, and contextual system of social organization became, under colonial rule, a rigid, numbered hierarchy applicable to all of India.

The decennial census, which began in 1871, required colonial administrators to classify every Indian according to caste. This act of numbering had profound consequences:

Fixation of fluid categories: Local jatisசாதிJātiBirth group — occupational/kinship communities, often local and fluid. (occupational/kinship groups) were forced to conform to standardized varnaவர்ணம்VarnaThe four-fold textual classification — a Brahmanical ideal, not lived reality. categories accross India.

Creation of hierarchy: the 1901 census conducted by Herbert Hope Risley classified castes according to their "social precedence," creating official hierarchies where ambiguity had existed.

Mobilization: Once caste became an official category, groups organized to improve their ranking in the census, making caste more politically important than ever.

Herbert Hope Risley (1851–1911) was the most influential architect of the colonial caste classification system. As Census Commissioner in 1901, he established a system that ranked castes according to the “respect” accorded to them by higher castes, thereby codifying social prejudices as scientific facts. His work also incorporated anthropometric theories, using measurements such as the “nasal index” to assert that caste distinctions reflected racial differences between "Aryan" and “Dravidian” populations.

The "Martial Races" Theory

Beyond the caste system, British administrators developed the theory of martial racesபோர் இனங்கள்Martial RacesBritish theory that some Indian communities (Sikhs, Gurkhas, Pathans) were "naturally" warlike — a political fiction created after 1857. according to which certain Indian communities were naturally warlike and loyal, while others were effeminate and untrustworthy.

After the 1857 Revolt1857 புரட்சிSepoy Mutiny / First War of IndependenceMajor uprising against British rule — called "Mutiny" by the British, "First War of Independence" by Indians., in which Bengali sepoys played a major role, the British restructured the Indian Army to favor Sikhs, Gurkhas, Pathans, and Punjabi Muslims, groups considered "martial", while excluding Bengalis, Marathas, and South Indians. The theory had no scientific basis. It was a political response to the 1857 revolt, designed to recruit from communities deemed loyal and exclude those considered dangerous.

Parallel Strategies, Parallel Consequences

The French in Morocco and the British in India pursued remarkably similar divide-and-rule strategies:

In both cases, colonial administrators took fluid, contextual identities and fixed them into rigid categories. These categories were presented as ancient and natural, obscuring their recent political origins. They had real consequences (legal, economic, social) that made them self-fulfilling.

Colonial rule classified territories and populations. It also classified bodies. In Morocco and India, European administrators encountered communities that threatened colonial control, as well as female artists whose art blended the sacred and the sensual. Both became targets.

This chapter traces two forms of colonial intervention and their unintended consequences. First, strategies of division that often had the opposite effect to that intended: by attempting to separate communities from their common identities, the colonial powers involuntarily created the conditions for mass mobilization. Second, colonial moral campaigns targeted bodies, particularly those of women, that defied European categories of respectability. In Morocco, the Shikhate who sang songs of resistance were imprisoned, tortured, and silenced. In India, the Devadasis who danced in devotion were abolished by law.

Morocco: The Ya Latif Protests (1930)

The Berber Dahir sparked the first mass nationalist movement in Moroccan history. Within weeks, demonstrations broke out across the country, with the collective recitation of the Latif Prayer in mosques. Ya Latifيا لطيفYā Laṭīf"O Gentle One" — one of the 99 names of God in Islam, invoked in the 1930 protests., "O Gentle One," is traditionally invoked in times of calamity.

By representing the resistance as a religious duty, Moroccan nationalists united Arab and Berber Muslims, made repression difficult, and mobilized women and uneducated people through mosque networks. In 1934, France was forced to revoke the most controversial provisions of the Dahir.

Key Figures in Moroccan Nationalism

Allal al-Fassiعلال الفاسيʿAllāl al-Fāsī(1910–1974) Founder of Moroccan nationalism, later leader of the Istiqlal (Independence) Party. (1910–1974): One of the founders of Moroccan nationalism, later leader of the Istiqlalالاستقلالal-Istiqlāl"Independence" — Moroccan nationalist party founded in 1944, emerged from the 1930 protests. (Independence) Party. Al-Fassi was arrested multiple times for his role in organizing resistance.

Mohammed Hassan al-Ouazzani (1910–1978): Journalist and nationalist leader who helped publicize the Dahir crisis internationally.

Ahmed Balafrej (1908–1990): Co-founder of the nationalist movement who helped organize the Paris-based protests.

India: The Devadasis

The word DevadasiதேவதாசிTēvatāci"Servant of god" — women dedicated to temples, custodians of classical dance. means "servant of god." For centuries, Devadasis were women ritually consecrated to Hindu temples, where they performed sacred dances, maintained the temple grounds, and served as guardians of the classical arts.

Devadasis occupied a complex social position. Ritually married to the deity, they were nityasumangaliநித்யசுமங்கலிNityasumaṅgalī"Ever-auspicious woman" — a Devadasi could never be widowed, as her divine husband was immortal., "ever-auspicious" women who could never be widowed. Their dance, the Sadhirசதிர்SadirOriginal temple dance tradition, later renamed Bharatanatyam., incorporated Shringaraசிருங்காரம்ŚṛṅgāraThe erotic sentiment — in temple context, devotion expressed through divine love., erotic feeling, as an essential aesthetic component. In Hindu temple theology, erotic devotion to the deity was sacred.

The Anti-Nautch Movement

British missionaries and colonial administrators viewed Devadasi traditions through the prism of Victorian sexual morality. What they saw scandalized them: women dancing in temples in front of men, women outside of marriage, women whose art celebrated eroticism.

The Anti-Nautch Movement emerged in the 1890s, led by an alliance of British missionaries and Indian social reformers. Nautchநாட்ச்NautchFrom Hindi "nāch" (dance) — term of disapproval applied to Indian dance traditions by the Anti-Nautch movement. (from Hindi nāch, meaning dance) became a pejorative term applied to all Indian dance traditions.

This movement portrayed Devadasis as prostitutes, thereby erasing the distinction between sacred ritual and sex work. Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi (1886–1968), the first woman legislator in British India, led the campaign to abolish this practice. Her Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Dedication) Act passed in 1947, criminalized temple dedication and effectively abolished the institution.

Morocco: The Shikhate

Shikhateالشيخاتal-ShīkhātProfessional female singer-dancers of Morocco, practitioners of Aïta poetry. Custodians of oral tradition, stigmatized under colonial and reformist morality. (singular: Shikha) are Moroccan poetesses, singers, and dancers who practice Aïtaالعيطةal-ʿAyṭa"The cry" — Moroccan oral poetry tradition performed at festivals. Themes include love, loss, social commentary, and resistance. or “cry,” a genre of oral poetry.

Aïta originated in rural folk poetry performed at festivals, weddings, and community gatherings. Its themes include love, loss, social commentary, and resistance. During the colonial period, the Shikhate performed songs encoding anti-colonialist sentiments and transmitted important news throughout the countryside in the songs they passed on with their troupes from village to village. This made them dangerous to the colonial project.

The French recognized the mobilizing power of the Aïta, so their reaction was to strategically degrade the Shikhate.

This was indeed a policy, not passive stigmatization: containing tradition by corrupting its context, transforming poets into entertainers for soldiers, severing the link between artists and their community. Pasha Thami al-Glaouiالتهامي الكلاويal-Thāmī al-Glāwī(1879–1956) Pasha of Marrakech and French collaborator. Helped orchestrate Mohammed V's exile in 1953. did this explicitly by administratively grouping shikhate and prostitutes in the same neighborhood (ماخور عرصة الحوتة) purposefully blurring the lines between the two professions.

Voices of Resistance: The Shikhate Who Fought Back

Yet the Shikhate resisted and their names deserve to be remembered:

The Colonial Gaze

French musicologist Alexis Chottin exemplifies the colonial attitude toward Shikhate's performances in 1928:

This passage illustrates the dual colonial dilemma: a mixture of fascination and condemnation. Shikhate are described as “libertine and pleasure-seeking.” Makeup, kohl, and jewelry are considered to conceal “a poor and petite figure.” The rhythm is both “enchanting” and “vampiric.” Chottin cannot look away, but he expresses it as a moral warning. This same musicologist would later classify Aïta as a rather vulgar art and Andalusian music as “refined,” thus colonial hierarchy took the form of scholarly language.

Parallel Patterns

Despite vast differences in religious context, the Devadasi and Shikhate faced strikingly similar fates:

The Sacred and the Sensual

These two traditions challenge a distinction that colonial morality took for granted: the separation between the sacred and the sensual. In Hindu temple theology, erotic devotion (bhakti infused with shringara) was a legitimate path to the divine. The poet-saint Andalஆண்டாள்Āṇṭāḷ8th-century Tamil poet-saint who wrote passionate love poetry addressed to Vishnu. Her works are still recited in temples today. (8th century) wrote passionate love poems to Vishnu, which are still recited today in temples. In the Moroccan Sufi tradition, ecstatic practices, particularly music and dance, were pathways to divine experience.

Colonial morality had difficulty accepting these practices. The dancing body was either sacred OR sensual, not both at the same time. By imposing this binary vision, colonialism completely altered the relationship of local populations to art, spirituality, and the body.

Colonialism transformed what it could not completely destroy. Traditional artistic practices were subjected to “sanitization”: the removal of elements deemed immoral by colonial and nationalist elites. Artists themselves were erased from the traditions they had created and preserved.

This chapter traces what happened next: how indigenous arts were remade for respectable consumption, how colonial categories survived colonial rule, and how the wounds inflicted on names, “Thevadiya” in Tamil and “Shikha” in Darija, continue to hurt in the digital age.

From Sadhir to Bharatanatyam

In the 1930s, as the Anti-Nautch movement stigmatized Devadasi traditions, a counter-movement emerged that sought to "save" Indian dance by separating it from the women who performed it.

Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904–1986), a Brahmin woman, founded Kalakshetraகலாக்ஷேத்ராKalākṣetra"Temple of art" — institution founded in 1936 that became the center of "classical" Bharatanatyam, teaching upper-caste women the dance forms learned from Devadasi masters. in 1936, transforming temple dance into a concert performance. The new name, Bharatanatyamபரதநாட்டியம்Bharatanāṭyam"Classical" dance created from Sadhir in the 1930s–40s. The Sanskrit name (Bharata + Natyam) erased Tamil Devadasi origins, claiming instead a pan-Indian classical lineage., claimed a Sanskrit lineage: Bharata (the sage who authored the Natyashastra) + Natyam (dance). The Tamil temple context was erased.

Upper-caste women learned from Devadasi masters, then presented the dance as a recovered "classical" tradition belonging to Hindu civilization broadly. The teachers were acknowledged in private; in public, they disappeared. T. Balasaraswati (1918–1984), a Devadasi-lineage dancer, maintained the centrality of shringara and resisted the spiritualization of erotic content. But it was Rukmini Devi's sanitized version that became dominant.

Morocco: The Hierarchy of Sound

Alexis Chottin's colonial taxonomy, which classified Andalusian music as “classical” and Aïta as “folk,” was adopted by the postcolonial state. After independence (1956), conservatories were created to preserve al-Ālaالآلةal-ĀlaAndalusian classical music, associated with Muslim refugees from Spain after 1492. Elevated as Morocco's "refined" tradition by colonial and postcolonial authorities., the Andalusian tradition. These conservatories still rely on Chottin's work for their teaching today.

Meanwhile, Aïta remained at the bottom of the hierarchy: excluded from conservatory programs and underdocumented while "refined" forms were the focus of attention. The Shikhate who preserved this tradition continued to face social stigma.

The Wounded Name

Hassan Najmi, poet and scholar of Aïta, borrows Abdelkebir Khatibi's phrase to describe the shikhate's condition: الاسم المغربي الجريحالاسم المغربي الجريحal-Ism al-Maghribī al-Jarīḥ"The Wounded Moroccan Name" — Hassan Najmi's phrase (borrowing from Khatibi) describing how shikhate were given degrading nicknames by those in power, names that became their identity., "the wounded Moroccan name."

The shikhate were given degrading nicknames by those in power: caïds, sheikhs, notables. Names that mocked their physical disabilities, names intended to humiliate them. These names stuck to them, and often became the only names by which these artists were known, even on recordings.

The same wound exists in Tamil. “Devadasi,” servant of God, has become “Thevadiya,” one of the most common insults in that language. Most speakers are unaware of its etymology and may not realize that they are perpetuating colonial moral judgments every time they use it.

Digital Echoes

Colonial categories persist and in the digital age, they proliferate. Slurs derived from colonial-era stigmatization spread across platforms, amplified by algorithms designed to maximize engagement.

Platforms profit from engagement and content that provokes shame drives engagement. Colonial categories, with their capacity to cause harm, are profitable even if they harm users. Content moderation systems, primarily trained in English, do not detect insults in Tamil, Darija, and other languages. The algorithm cannot read history.

Reclaiming Space

However, these same platforms allow counter-narratives to be heard. Academics share accurate historical accounts. Diaspora communities connect despite the distance. Musicians celebrate traditions that were once stigmatized.

Reappropriationالاستردادமீட்புThe work of recovering traditions, histories, and dignity from colonial distortion. Not returning to a pure past, but building new futures. is not a return to a pure pastbut rather the work of building new futures from wounded histories. It means knowing the etymology of the insult and refusing to give it power. It means naming the shikhate who resisted, the Devadasis who preserved sacred art, the women whose names were stolen and replaced with wounds.

It means calling them by their real names.