Resources

Member Projects

Projects led by network members relating to the languages, literatures, histories, and cultures of Mithila.

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Scholarly Bibliography

A curated bibliography of key scholarship on the languages, literatures, religions, histories, and cultures of Mithila, maintained by the network. Items are added on an ongoing basis.

No items found for this category yet.

1. Prakash, P., Diamond, C. L., & Davis, C. V. (2026). Guest Editors’ Introduction: Defining and Contextualizing Mithila Studies. Asian Ethnology, 85(1). https://asianethnology.org/article/164479-guest-editors-introduction-defining-and-contextualizing-mithila-studies

   BIB Abstract

   @article{prakashGuestEditorsIntroduction2026,
     title = {Guest {Editors}’ {Introduction}: {Defining} and {Contextualizing} {Mithila} {Studies}},
     volume = {85},
     shorttitle = {Guest {Editors}’ {Introduction}},
     url = {https://asianethnology.org/article/164479-guest-editors-introduction-defining-and-contextualizing-mithila-studies},
     language = {en},
     number = {1},
     urldate = {2026-08-25},
     journal = {Asian Ethnology},
     publisher = {Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University},
     author = {Prakash, Pranav and Diamond, Christopher L. and Davis, Coralynn V.},
     month = aug,
     year = {2026},
     keywords = {Mithila Studies}
   }
   

   Our introduction establishes “Mithila Studies” as a new field of academic inquiry focused on the cultures, communities, and histories of Maithili-speaking peoples worldwide. We critique the limitations of previous “Maithili Studies” approaches, which have privileged upper-caste Hindu male perspectives, and which are mired in the problems of colonialist historiography, Orientalist philology and postcolonial communalism. We envision an inclusive, ethical, and critical field of inquiry that empowers marginalized voices and experiences, especially those of women, lower castes, and religious minorities; challenges colonial and nationalist construction of regional identities; explores Mithila’s liminal status in global cultures and academies; and posits Mithila subjects as viable bases of multifaceted research projects. By engaging diverse disciplinary approaches, archives, and communities, we seek to develop Mithila Studies as a field that resists parochialism, promotes comparative analysis and collaborative research, and provides new perspectives on key issues in the humanities and social sciences.

2. Diamond, C. L. (2026). The “Indescribable Country”: Locating Mithila between Bengal and the Hindi Heartland in Raghunandana Das’s Mithilānāṭaka. Asian Ethnology, 85(1). https://asianethnology.org/article/164481-the-indescribable-country-locating-mithila-between-bengal-and-the-hindi-heartland-in-raghunandana-das-s-_mithilana-aka_

   BIB Abstract

   @article{diamondIndescribableCountryLocating2026,
     title = {The “{Indescribable} {Country}”: {Locating} {Mithila} between {Bengal} and the {Hindi} {Heartland} in {Raghunandana} {Das}’s {Mithilānāṭaka}},
     volume = {85},
     shorttitle = {The “{Indescribable} {Country}”},
     url = {https://asianethnology.org/article/164481-the-indescribable-country-locating-mithila-between-bengal-and-the-hindi-heartland-in-raghunandana-das-s-_mithilana-aka_},
     language = {en},
     number = {1},
     urldate = {2026-08-25},
     journal = {Asian Ethnology},
     publisher = {Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University},
     author = {Diamond, Christopher L.},
     month = aug,
     year = {2026},
     keywords = {Area \& Regional Studies, History \& Society, Language \& Literature, Music \& Performance}
   }
   

   This article examines the way multilingualism was employed by Raghunandana Das in his 1923 play, the “Drama of Mithila” (_mithilānāṭaka_), to shift Mithila (the region) and Maithili (the language) from its historically marginal position in the social geography of the newly emerging Indian nation. Since the late nineteenth century up to the present, Maithil authors and elites engaged in promoting their language and cultural region on a national stage found themselves disadvantaged and caught between the hegemony of the Hindi heartland and the political and cultural powerhouse of Bengal. In this context, Raghunandana Das’s moralistic drama written in Maithili, Hindi, Bengali, and Sanskrit renegotiates Maithili/Mithila’s marginal status by emphasizing its engagement with multiple elite cultural milieux—the national, the Sanskritic/traditional, and the modern. For Das, this renegotiation works to leverage the region’s credentials as an independent cultural sphere from which others might take influence.

3. Diamond, C. L. (2025). Maithili, Langue et Littérature. In Dictionnaire Encylopédique des Littératures de l’Inde. Classiques Garnier.

   @misc{diamondMaithiliLangueLitterature2025,
     address = {Paris},
     title = {Maithili, {Langue} et {Littérature}},
     copyright = {All rights reserved},
     journal = {Dictionnaire Encylopédique des Littératures de l'Inde},
     publisher = {Classiques Garnier},
     author = {Diamond, Christopher L.},
     year = {2025},
     keywords = {Language \& Literature}
   }
   

4. Diamond, C. L. (2025). Vidyapati (Vidyāpati Ṭhākura), Mileu du XIVe - Milieu du XVe Siècle, Maith. In Dictionnaire Encylopédique des Littératures de l’Inde (pp. 965–966). Classiques Garnier.

   @misc{diamondVidyapatiVidyapatiThakura2025,
     address = {Paris},
     title = {Vidyapati ({Vidyāpati} Ṭhākura), {Mileu} du {XIVe} - {Milieu} du {XVe} {Siècle}, {Maith}.},
     copyright = {All rights reserved},
     shorttitle = {Vidyapati},
     journal = {Dictionnaire Encylopédique des Littératures de l'Inde},
     publisher = {Classiques Garnier},
     author = {Diamond, Christopher L.},
     year = {2025},
     keywords = {Language \& Literature},
     pages = {965--966}
   }
   

5. Diamond, C. (2020). The Strange Afterlife of Vidyāpati Thākura (ca. 1350–1450 CE): Anthological Manuscripts, Linguistic Confusion, and Religious Appropriation. Manuscript Studies, 4(1). https://repository.upenn.edu/mss_sims/vol4/iss1/4

   BIB

   @article{diamondStrangeAfterlifeVidyapati2020,
     title = {The {Strange} {Afterlife} of {Vidyāpati} {Thākura} (ca. 1350–1450 {CE}): {Anthological} {Manuscripts}, {Linguistic} {Confusion}, and {Religious} {Appropriation}},
     volume = {4},
     copyright = {All rights reserved},
     issn = {2381-5329},
     shorttitle = {The {Strange} {Afterlife} of {Vidyāpati} {Thākura} (ca. 1350–1450 {CE})},
     url = {https://repository.upenn.edu/mss_sims/vol4/iss1/4},
     number = {1},
     journal = {Manuscript Studies},
     author = {Diamond, Christopher},
     month = apr,
     year = {2020},
     keywords = {Language \& Literature}
   }
   

6. Yadava, Y. P., Bond, O., Nikolaeva, I., & Ritchie, S. (2019). The syntax of possessor prominence in Maithili. In Prominent Internal Possessors (pp. 1–41). Oxford University Press.

   @incollection{yadavaSyntaxPossessorProminence2019,
     address = {Oxford},
     series = {Oxford linguistics},
     title = {The syntax of possessor prominence in {Maithili}},
     booktitle = {Prominent {Internal} {Possessors}},
     publisher = {Oxford University Press},
     author = {Yadava, Yogendra P. and Bond, Oliver and Nikolaeva, Irina and Ritchie, Sandy},
     year = {2019},
     keywords = {Language \& Literature},
     pages = {1--41}
   }
   

7. Davis, C. V. (2014). Maithil Women’s Tales. University of Illinois Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt7zw688

   Abstract

   @book{davisMaithilWomensTales2014,
     title = {Maithil {Women}'s {Tales}},
     isbn = {978-0-252-03842-6},
     url = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt7zw688},
     urldate = {2021-02-25},
     publisher = {University of Illinois Press},
     author = {Davis, Coralynn V.},
     year = {2014},
     keywords = {Anthropology \& Ethnography, Area \& Regional Studies, History and criticism, India, Maithili fiction, Nepal, Social aspects, Storytelling, Women storytellers, 🔥}
   }
   

   The Maithil women of the Himalayan region have long explored their individual and collective life experiences by sharing stories with one-another. Sometimes fantastical, sometimes including a kind of magical realism, these tales have helped women create community through a deeply personal and always evolving storytelling form. In Maithil Women’s Tales, Coralynn V. Davis investigates how female storytellers weave together their own life experiences–the hardships and the pleasures–with age-old themes. In so doing, Davis demonstrates, they harness folk traditions to grapple with social values, behavioral mores, relationships, and cosmological questions The Maithil womens storytelling tradition flourishes against a backdrop of cultural conventions that suppress women’s speech and mobility. Not surprisingly, many tales express the pain of contending with patrilineal household formations, the seclusions of purdah, and an honor system that values modesty and servility in women. Each chapter includes stories and excerpts that reveal Maithil women’s gift for rich language, layered plots, and stunning allegory. In addition, Davis provides ethnographic and personal information to reveal the complexity of women’s own lives, and includes works painted by Maithil storytellers to illustrate their tales. The result is a fascinating study of being and becoming that will resonate for readers in women’s and Hindu studies, folklore, and anthropology.