| History II

This course takes off from our discussions in History I which provided an introduction to the development of historical processes over a few millennia of human existence in South Asia. It also helped us understand what historical inquiry is. History II builds upon these preliminary concepts and offers a more detailed survey of the impact of colonialism on Indian society in a period spanning between the mid-eighteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.

Colonial rule was founded upon the notion that Indian society was backward, primitive, and superstitious. The ‘civilizing’ mission of colonialism thus revolved around one central aspect – the reformation of Indian society into a “modern” colony. It must be remembered that for colonial rule to be successful, it had to be officially administered via strict rules and regulations. Indeed, the introduction of colonial law was intimately tied to the idea of “good governance”. Using this overarching framework as context, we will be analysing the nature of colonial rule in the period under review. Did colonialism truly bring positive changes in Indian society? How did colonial policies affect different population groups? Did the new legal regime manage to abolish existing customs and practices? What was the nature of anti-colonial nationalist resistance? Historians of modern India have written extensively on the topic; the object of this course is to discuss different historiographies with a view to understand the multiform tactics employed by the colonial government to organise, manage, and govern the colonial population. It will also attend to the nature of “native resistance” that such systems of rule routinely generated. The lectures have been designed thematically but it loosely follows a chronological order as well.

Students will read critical texts across colonial and nationalist historiographies. They will learn to use primary texts as tools to forge structured arguments. The course is intended to illustrate the ways in which legacies of colonialism survive and routinely inform our everyday lives in postcolonial India.