Crispin Bates

Beyond Indenture brings together original essays by a mix of experienced and upcoming scholars. They reflect, as far as possible, the viewpoints and voices of indentured Indians who exercised agency, resisted and manipulated the colonial labour system to their advantage, and went on to build new lives for themselves overseas following the expiry of their contracts. Some remigrated to other colonies to earn a better wage and escape from debt and other burdens. Among those who chose to remain, women played a prominent role in the struggle for rights, freedom and opportunities, achieving them in ways which often defied or redefined South Asian customs and traditions. Alongside the migrant labourers, 'passenger Indians' made their way to the sugar, tea and rubber colonies, and became clerks, teachers and shopkeepers. After independence, the Indian communities overseas faced newer problems, not least of which were discrimination and marginalisation. Some were forced to return home. Others built upon the experience of struggles in the colonial era to collectively mobilise. Another theme explored is that of the broad alliances of diasporic Indians and Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants who have been recently enabled by the internet to connect with each other and to reconnect with the countries from which they originated.

Agency and Resistance in the Colonial South Asian Diaspora

Beyond Indenture

The volume explores how the British rule and colonial constructions of identity affected the Indians. It studies the impact of colonialism on Indian identity from the point of view that emphasizes disjunctures as much as continuities. It also steps beyond this paradigm by airing a cross section of new and original research that examines the agency of Indians themselves in the process of identity formation and dialogical nature of Indian cultures.

Colonial and Postcolonial Constructions of Indian Identity

Beyond Representation

The Mutiny at the Margins series takes a fresh look at the revolt of 1857 from a variety of original and unusual perspectives, focusing in particular on neglected socially marginal groups and geographic areas which have hitherto tended to be unrepresented in studies of this cataclysmic event in British imperial and Indian historiography. Perception, Narration and Reinvention: The Pedagogy and Historiography of the Indian Uprising (Volume 6) moves into the territory of hagiography and pedagogy. It covers intellectual and popular reactions to the revolt and the various ways in which historians and the wider public in India, Pakistan, and Britain have sought to understand, categorise and at times distort or exaggerate salient aspects and particular events.

Volume VI: Perception, Narration and Reinvention: The Pedagogy and Historiography of the Indian Uprising

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857

Subalterns and Raj presents a unique introductory history of India with an account that begins before the period of British rule, and pursues the continuities within that history up to the present day. Its coverage ranges from Mughal India to post-independence Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, with a focus on the ‘ordinary’ people of India and South Asia. Subalterns and Raj examines overlooked issues in Indian social history and highlights controversies between historians. Taking an iconoclastic approach to the elites of South Asia since independence, it is critical of the colonial regime that went before them. This book is a stimulating and controversial read and, with a detailed guide to further reading and end-of-chapter bibliographies, it is an excellent guide for all students of the Indian subcontinent.

South Asia since 1600

Subalterns and Raj

Alpa Shah

Papers presented at a conference held at London in June 2008.

Tribal Insurgency in India

Savage Attack

Marina Carter

The Mutiny at the Margins series takes a fresh look at the revolt of 1857 from original and unusual perspectives, focusing in particular on neglected socially marginal groups and geographic areas which have hitherto tended to be unrepresented in studies of this cataclysmic event in British imperial and Indian historiography. Documents of the Indian Uprising (Volume 7) is a source book that provides samples from rare documents unearthed in the course of extensive research conducted during the Mutiny at the Margins project. Both a research tool and a teaching resource, it employs images and texts to offer a unique range of primary sources relating to the 1857 uprising, its aftermath and legacies. Emphasising subaltern and marginal perspectives, it is designed to complement the previous six volumes of the series.

Documents of the Indian Uprising

In Savage Attack: Tribal Insurgency in India the authors ask whether there is anything particularly adivasi about the forms of resistance that have been labelled as adivasi movements. What does it mean to speak about adivasi as opposed to peasant resistance? Can one differentiate adivasi resistance from that of other lower castes such as the dalits? In this volume the authors move beyond stereotypes of tribal rebellion to argue that it is important to explore how and why particular forms of resistance are depicted as adivasi issues at particular points in time. Interpretations that have depicted adivasis as a united and highly politicised group of people have romanticised and demonized tribal society and history, thus denying the individuals and communities involved any real agency. Both the interpretations of the state and of left-wing supporters of tribal insurgencies have continued to ignore the complex realities of tribal life and the variety in the expressions of political activism that have resulted across the length and breadth of the Indian subcontinent.

The Mutiny at the Margins series takes a fresh look at the Revolt of 1857 from a variety of original and unusual perspectives, focusing in particular on neglected socially marginal groups and geographic areas which have hitherto tended to be unrepresented in studies of this cataclysmic event in British imperial and Indian historiography. Anticipations and Experiences in the Locality (Volume 1) centres on unrest and disorder in the long history of resistance to colonial rule (the belli Britannica) prior to 1857, and the impact of the revolt itself in diverse localities within India.

Volume I: Anticipations and Experiences in the Locality

Minoru Mio

Globalisation has long historical roots in South Asia, but economic liberalisation has led to uniquely rapid urban growth in South Asia during the past decade. This book brings together a multidisciplinary collection of chapters on contemporary and historical themes explaining this recent explosive growth and transformations on-going in the cities of this region. The essays in this volume attempt to shed light on the historical roots of these cities and the traditions that are increasingly placed under strain by modernity, as well as exploring the lived experience of a new generation of city dwellers and their indelible impact on those who live at the city’s margins. The book discusses that previously, cities such as Mumbai grew by accumulating a vast hinterland of slum-dwellers who depressed wages and supplied cheap labour to the city’s industrial economy. However, it goes on to show that the new growth of cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Madras in south India, or Delhi and Calcutta in the north of India, is more capital-intensive, export-driven, and oriented towards the information technology and service sectors. The book explains that these cities have attracted a new elite of young, educated workers, with money to spend and an outlook on life that is often a complex mix of modern ideas and conservative tradition. It goes on to cover topics such as the politics of town planning, consumer culture, and the struggles among multiple identities in the city. By tracing the genealogies of cities, it gives a useful insight into the historical conditioning that determines how cities negotiate new changes and influences. There will soon be more mega cities in South Asia than anywhere else in the world, and this book provides an in-depth analysis of this growth. It will be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian History, Politics and Anthropology, as well as those working in the fields of urbanisation and globalisation.

Cities in South Asia

South Asians in Diaspora is a collection of essays concerning the history, politics, and anthropology of migration in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, as well as in the numerous overseas locations, such as Fiji, Africa, the Caribbean and USA, where South Asians migrated in the colonial period and after. It addresses the connections between migration, problems of identity and ethnic conflict from a comparative perspective, and highlights the role of shared colonial experiences in providing 'communal' solidarities and discord.

South Asians in Diaspora

Community, Empire and Migration

Subho Basu

This book explores various aspects and processes of the twentieth-century Indian state, from the central, Union government down to grassroot-level in the provinces and villages.

Crispin Bates

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