Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198077442
- eISBN:
- 9780199082155
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077442.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
This book emphasizes the significance of various ways of resource use in India. This book is divided into three parts. The first part examines the several forms of restraint on resource use reported ...
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This book emphasizes the significance of various ways of resource use in India. This book is divided into three parts. The first part examines the several forms of restraint on resource use reported from human societies. In the second part, a new interpretation of how the cultural and ecological mosaic of Indian society came together is discussed. The last part presents a socio-ecological analysis of the new modes of resource use which were introduced by the British, and which have continued to operate, with modifications, after Independence in 1947. It also indicates that the British colonial rule established a crucial watershed in the ecological history of India. Generally, this book reports new data along with new interpretations of old data, and, most importantly, it shows a new and alternative framework for understanding Indian society and history.Less
This book emphasizes the significance of various ways of resource use in India. This book is divided into three parts. The first part examines the several forms of restraint on resource use reported from human societies. In the second part, a new interpretation of how the cultural and ecological mosaic of Indian society came together is discussed. The last part presents a socio-ecological analysis of the new modes of resource use which were introduced by the British, and which have continued to operate, with modifications, after Independence in 1947. It also indicates that the British colonial rule established a crucial watershed in the ecological history of India. Generally, this book reports new data along with new interpretations of old data, and, most importantly, it shows a new and alternative framework for understanding Indian society and history.
Justin Willis
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203209
- eISBN:
- 9780191675782
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203209.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This is a history of the Kenyan city of Mombasa and its surrounding settlements from the mid-19th century to the height of colonial rule in the 1930s. The book places the island and town of Mombasa ...
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This is a history of the Kenyan city of Mombasa and its surrounding settlements from the mid-19th century to the height of colonial rule in the 1930s. The book places the island and town of Mombasa in its African context, incorporating the findings of historical and anthropological research. It examines the institutions and social networks that simultaneously united and divided the people of the region before the colonial period, demonstrating both their interdependence and the creation of distinct population categories. The book traces the development of these institutions under British rule, when the demands of the colonial economy caused officials to attempt far-reaching changes to the social structure and to physically remake the town of Mombasa. This is a re-interpretation of the history of Mombasa and its hinterland, based on archival research. It offers insights into the nature of ethnic identity.Less
This is a history of the Kenyan city of Mombasa and its surrounding settlements from the mid-19th century to the height of colonial rule in the 1930s. The book places the island and town of Mombasa in its African context, incorporating the findings of historical and anthropological research. It examines the institutions and social networks that simultaneously united and divided the people of the region before the colonial period, demonstrating both their interdependence and the creation of distinct population categories. The book traces the development of these institutions under British rule, when the demands of the colonial economy caused officials to attempt far-reaching changes to the social structure and to physically remake the town of Mombasa. This is a re-interpretation of the history of Mombasa and its hinterland, based on archival research. It offers insights into the nature of ethnic identity.
Christopher Saunders and Iain R. Smith
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205654
- eISBN:
- 9780191676734
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205654.003.0026
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
During the course of the nineteenth century, the growing British presence profoundly shaped South Africa. At the beginning of the century, there was no certainty that British rule would continue; by ...
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During the course of the nineteenth century, the growing British presence profoundly shaped South Africa. At the beginning of the century, there was no certainty that British rule would continue; by 1900 all of modern South Africa had come under British rule, and British influence had spread far beyond the borders of what, in 1910, became the Union of South Africa. However, the extension of British power and influence in the region, although pervasive, was not straightforward. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Dutch-Afrikaner population in the Cape Colony still outnumbered the British by about three to two. A discussion on the expansion of European settlement, diamonds and the failed attempt at confederation, the Transvaal War (1880–81) and the German challenge, the impact of gold-mining, Rhodes, Rhodesia, the raid, the road to war, the South African War during 1899–1902, and reconstruction and unification is provided as well.Less
During the course of the nineteenth century, the growing British presence profoundly shaped South Africa. At the beginning of the century, there was no certainty that British rule would continue; by 1900 all of modern South Africa had come under British rule, and British influence had spread far beyond the borders of what, in 1910, became the Union of South Africa. However, the extension of British power and influence in the region, although pervasive, was not straightforward. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Dutch-Afrikaner population in the Cape Colony still outnumbered the British by about three to two. A discussion on the expansion of European settlement, diamonds and the failed attempt at confederation, the Transvaal War (1880–81) and the German challenge, the impact of gold-mining, Rhodes, Rhodesia, the raid, the road to war, the South African War during 1899–1902, and reconstruction and unification is provided as well.
FRANCIS ROBINSON
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205647
- eISBN:
- 9780191676727
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205647.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter concentrates on the British Empire and Islam. By the 1920s, the British Empire embraced substantially more than half the Muslim peoples of the world. For much of the 20th century, ...
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This chapter concentrates on the British Empire and Islam. By the 1920s, the British Empire embraced substantially more than half the Muslim peoples of the world. For much of the 20th century, Britain was the greatest influence over their development. The British Empire was the context in which many Muslims experienced the transition to modernity. British policies in the Muslim dependencies shaped their political development. Muslim attitudes to the British varied according to their particular Islamic understandings and to their particular experience of British rule. Overall strategies of the British Empire helped to shape much of the state system of the modern Muslim world, and left key issues to bedevil subsequent development, among them the problem of Palestine, the relationship of the Gulf states to their larger neighbours, and the role of Islam in the identity of modern states from West Africa to Malaya.Less
This chapter concentrates on the British Empire and Islam. By the 1920s, the British Empire embraced substantially more than half the Muslim peoples of the world. For much of the 20th century, Britain was the greatest influence over their development. The British Empire was the context in which many Muslims experienced the transition to modernity. British policies in the Muslim dependencies shaped their political development. Muslim attitudes to the British varied according to their particular Islamic understandings and to their particular experience of British rule. Overall strategies of the British Empire helped to shape much of the state system of the modern Muslim world, and left key issues to bedevil subsequent development, among them the problem of Palestine, the relationship of the Gulf states to their larger neighbours, and the role of Islam in the identity of modern states from West Africa to Malaya.
Deepak Lal
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199275793
- eISBN:
- 9780191706097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275793.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter addresses the question of whether the British succeeded in altering the living conditions of the mass of the Indian people, and whether this latest foreign assault on the Hindu ...
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This chapter addresses the question of whether the British succeeded in altering the living conditions of the mass of the Indian people, and whether this latest foreign assault on the Hindu equilibrium established at the beginning of the Christian era was any more successful in altering the basic parameters of India's polity, society, and economy than its predecessor. The British conquest of India was virtually completed by 1818. Acquired by a band of foreign merchants, Britain's Indian empire at that date ran along the coast from Bengal to Gujarat except for the territorial pockets of Portuguese Goa and French Pondicherry, which were in the hands of the other two European powers who had established footholds in India's coastal economies.Less
This chapter addresses the question of whether the British succeeded in altering the living conditions of the mass of the Indian people, and whether this latest foreign assault on the Hindu equilibrium established at the beginning of the Christian era was any more successful in altering the basic parameters of India's polity, society, and economy than its predecessor. The British conquest of India was virtually completed by 1818. Acquired by a band of foreign merchants, Britain's Indian empire at that date ran along the coast from Bengal to Gujarat except for the territorial pockets of Portuguese Goa and French Pondicherry, which were in the hands of the other two European powers who had established footholds in India's coastal economies.
Deepak Lal
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199275793
- eISBN:
- 9780191706097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275793.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter discusses rural development under the century of British rule. Topics covered include the Boserup process; the role of the “leading inputs” required to transform traditional agriculture ...
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This chapter discusses rural development under the century of British rule. Topics covered include the Boserup process; the role of the “leading inputs” required to transform traditional agriculture — irrigation and the complex of complementary inputs represented by fertilizers, new seeds, and pesticides; irrigation, and the commercialization of agriculture.Less
This chapter discusses rural development under the century of British rule. Topics covered include the Boserup process; the role of the “leading inputs” required to transform traditional agriculture — irrigation and the complex of complementary inputs represented by fertilizers, new seeds, and pesticides; irrigation, and the commercialization of agriculture.
Zoltan Barany
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691137681
- eISBN:
- 9781400845491
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691137681.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter looks at two pivotal states of South Asia: India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947. India succeeded in placing its armed forces under firm and virtually ...
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This chapter looks at two pivotal states of South Asia: India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947. India succeeded in placing its armed forces under firm and virtually unchallenged state control right from the beginning of independence. However, civil–military relations in Pakistan have been far more “eventful.” The chapter makes three arguments. First and most important, by the end of the first postcolonial decade, the patterns for the drastically different military politics of India and Pakistan were already set. Second, of the numerous reasons for the evolution of different civil–military relations in the two countries, several lie in the circumstances of the 1947 Partition and in the immediate post-Partition period. Third, the British colonial period left behind profound legacies, most of which have positively influenced military affairs in the Subcontinent. The chapter also addresses Bangladesh—from its independence in 1971 to the military take-over in 2007—and what sets its military politics apart from Pakistan's.Less
This chapter looks at two pivotal states of South Asia: India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947. India succeeded in placing its armed forces under firm and virtually unchallenged state control right from the beginning of independence. However, civil–military relations in Pakistan have been far more “eventful.” The chapter makes three arguments. First and most important, by the end of the first postcolonial decade, the patterns for the drastically different military politics of India and Pakistan were already set. Second, of the numerous reasons for the evolution of different civil–military relations in the two countries, several lie in the circumstances of the 1947 Partition and in the immediate post-Partition period. Third, the British colonial period left behind profound legacies, most of which have positively influenced military affairs in the Subcontinent. The chapter also addresses Bangladesh—from its independence in 1971 to the military take-over in 2007—and what sets its military politics apart from Pakistan's.
C. A. Bayly
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077466
- eISBN:
- 9780199081110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077466.003.0019
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
This chapter discusses some of the dynamic changes of the pre-colonial political order and the early period of British rule. It suggests that the developments in local agrarian and mercantile society ...
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This chapter discusses some of the dynamic changes of the pre-colonial political order and the early period of British rule. It suggests that the developments in local agrarian and mercantile society persisted under the fragile surface of early British rule and that growth of trade and the expansion of the cultivated area in the first thirty years of the nineteenth century signalled the transformation of society by the force of modern government and new export trades. It also highlights the continuity in dominant rural groups or in methods of administration over the boundary between pre-colonial and colonial north India during this period.Less
This chapter discusses some of the dynamic changes of the pre-colonial political order and the early period of British rule. It suggests that the developments in local agrarian and mercantile society persisted under the fragile surface of early British rule and that growth of trade and the expansion of the cultivated area in the first thirty years of the nineteenth century signalled the transformation of society by the force of modern government and new export trades. It also highlights the continuity in dominant rural groups or in methods of administration over the boundary between pre-colonial and colonial north India during this period.
JOHN W. CELL
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205647
- eISBN:
- 9780191676727
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205647.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter explores the British rule in India and Africa. It specifically addresses the colonial rule and its underlying philosophy as summed up in the words ‘Indirect Rule’ a phrase indelibly ...
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This chapter explores the British rule in India and Africa. It specifically addresses the colonial rule and its underlying philosophy as summed up in the words ‘Indirect Rule’ a phrase indelibly associated with Sir Frederick Lugard, the founder of British Nigeria. The definition of the indirect method seems simple enough — ‘systematic use of the customary institutions of the people as agencies of local rule’ — but variations were considerable. A discussion on the variations of indirect rule is provided. An explanation on service ideologies is given as well.Less
This chapter explores the British rule in India and Africa. It specifically addresses the colonial rule and its underlying philosophy as summed up in the words ‘Indirect Rule’ a phrase indelibly associated with Sir Frederick Lugard, the founder of British Nigeria. The definition of the indirect method seems simple enough — ‘systematic use of the customary institutions of the people as agencies of local rule’ — but variations were considerable. A discussion on the variations of indirect rule is provided. An explanation on service ideologies is given as well.
Deepak Lal
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199275793
- eISBN:
- 9780191706097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275793.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter begins with an examination of why the commercialization of agriculture and the integration of the Indian economy into the world economy did not lead to a greater spurt in the development ...
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This chapter begins with an examination of why the commercialization of agriculture and the integration of the Indian economy into the world economy did not lead to a greater spurt in the development of cash crop agriculture and exports in India as compared with other colonial tropical countries. It then considers the record of Indian industry under the Raj. It discusses the damage done by the policy of protection — from the 1920s onwards — to the prospects of growth of Indian manufactured exports, and the exchange rate policy followed by the Raj.Less
This chapter begins with an examination of why the commercialization of agriculture and the integration of the Indian economy into the world economy did not lead to a greater spurt in the development of cash crop agriculture and exports in India as compared with other colonial tropical countries. It then considers the record of Indian industry under the Raj. It discusses the damage done by the policy of protection — from the 1920s onwards — to the prospects of growth of Indian manufactured exports, and the exchange rate policy followed by the Raj.
Deepak Lal
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199275793
- eISBN:
- 9780191706097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275793.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
British rule left legacies which have profoundly molded the perceptions and actions of the Indian political and bureaucratic elite concerning Indian economic problems. This chapter summarizes ...
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British rule left legacies which have profoundly molded the perceptions and actions of the Indian political and bureaucratic elite concerning Indian economic problems. This chapter summarizes conclusions on these aspects. It then assesses the impact of the Raj on Indian society and politics.Less
British rule left legacies which have profoundly molded the perceptions and actions of the Indian political and bureaucratic elite concerning Indian economic problems. This chapter summarizes conclusions on these aspects. It then assesses the impact of the Raj on Indian society and politics.
Robert E. Frykenberg
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205661
- eISBN:
- 9780191676741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
Most of the work which focused on events in India before 1858 gradually became more localized, occasional, mundane, or antiquarian in character. In the 20th century, new histories about India before ...
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Most of the work which focused on events in India before 1858 gradually became more localized, occasional, mundane, or antiquarian in character. In the 20th century, new histories about India before 1858, and about Indian history as a whole, did not increase in number until the third decade. As late as the 1960s, understandings of events in India before 1858 tended to be pursued mainly from the ‘top down’, concentrating narrowly upon concerns of government, and relating contexts and consequences of decision-making and public policy to Imperial development. The central question of how India could ever have fallen under British rule continues to engage almost obsessive attention. The twin capstones upon the edifices of new Indian historiography, combining bottom-up and top-down perspectives of British control in North India and South India, were put in place by C. A. Bayly and Burton Stein. The categories of new historiography are explained in this chapter. In general, the argument of this chapter is that historical understandings of India, never wholly one or the other, always were and still are products of a dialectical process in which both Indians and Westerners have contributed to an evolving synthesis.Less
Most of the work which focused on events in India before 1858 gradually became more localized, occasional, mundane, or antiquarian in character. In the 20th century, new histories about India before 1858, and about Indian history as a whole, did not increase in number until the third decade. As late as the 1960s, understandings of events in India before 1858 tended to be pursued mainly from the ‘top down’, concentrating narrowly upon concerns of government, and relating contexts and consequences of decision-making and public policy to Imperial development. The central question of how India could ever have fallen under British rule continues to engage almost obsessive attention. The twin capstones upon the edifices of new Indian historiography, combining bottom-up and top-down perspectives of British control in North India and South India, were put in place by C. A. Bayly and Burton Stein. The categories of new historiography are explained in this chapter. In general, the argument of this chapter is that historical understandings of India, never wholly one or the other, always were and still are products of a dialectical process in which both Indians and Westerners have contributed to an evolving synthesis.
A. D. Roberts
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205661
- eISBN:
- 9780191676741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.003.0030
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
It was only in the 1890s, when the Scramble was in its last stages, that a literature on the British past in tropical Africa began to emerge. For most of the 19th century, British tropical Africa ...
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It was only in the 1890s, when the Scramble was in its last stages, that a literature on the British past in tropical Africa began to emerge. For most of the 19th century, British tropical Africa seemed a small subject, and attracted little retrospective consideration. An outgrowth of two related trends in historiography around 1900 is shown in this chapter. By the Second World War, a beginning had been made in the academic study of British expansion in 19th-century tropical Africa. Two seasoned historians had turned their attention to the recent economic history of tropical Africa. After the war, various factors combined to stimulate research into the history of tropical Africa. The history of British tropical Africa was no longer the preserve of a few eccentrics; it was a fast-expanding field of debate and diversification. In the course of the 1960s, the institutional underpinnings of African studies continued to be strengthened. In 1967, the normal closed period for British public records was reduced from fifty to thirty years; it thus became possible to study metropolitan files for the inter-war period during which British rule in Africa seemed most entrenched.Less
It was only in the 1890s, when the Scramble was in its last stages, that a literature on the British past in tropical Africa began to emerge. For most of the 19th century, British tropical Africa seemed a small subject, and attracted little retrospective consideration. An outgrowth of two related trends in historiography around 1900 is shown in this chapter. By the Second World War, a beginning had been made in the academic study of British expansion in 19th-century tropical Africa. Two seasoned historians had turned their attention to the recent economic history of tropical Africa. After the war, various factors combined to stimulate research into the history of tropical Africa. The history of British tropical Africa was no longer the preserve of a few eccentrics; it was a fast-expanding field of debate and diversification. In the course of the 1960s, the institutional underpinnings of African studies continued to be strengthened. In 1967, the normal closed period for British public records was reduced from fifty to thirty years; it thus became possible to study metropolitan files for the inter-war period during which British rule in Africa seemed most entrenched.
William H. Worger
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205661
- eISBN:
- 9780191676741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.003.0033
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
Between the 1860s and the First World War, all the indigenous inhabitants of southern and central Africa were brought under British rule. Historical writing on southern Africa, including what later ...
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Between the 1860s and the First World War, all the indigenous inhabitants of southern and central Africa were brought under British rule. Historical writing on southern Africa, including what later became British Central Africa, began at the same time. Most English-speaking historians writing in South Africa after the First World War were certain that colonial expansion and white settlement were necessary for the economic uplift and civilizing of Africans, but highly critical of the racial policies being espoused by Afrikaner nationalists. With the British Empire virtually coming to an end in the 1950s and 1960s, and the transition to a multiracial majority-ruled Commonwealth receiving its greatest challenge in apartheid South Africa and federating Central Africa, Thompson’s contemporaries focused on the historical roles of white settlers and Imperial officials in bringing about division when there should have been unity. The writing of history has not flourished on campuses in the independent states, and the bulk of work done has been pursued in the universities of Europe and North America. In such circumstances, debate about the legacy of Empire will be as intense in the future as it has been in the past.Less
Between the 1860s and the First World War, all the indigenous inhabitants of southern and central Africa were brought under British rule. Historical writing on southern Africa, including what later became British Central Africa, began at the same time. Most English-speaking historians writing in South Africa after the First World War were certain that colonial expansion and white settlement were necessary for the economic uplift and civilizing of Africans, but highly critical of the racial policies being espoused by Afrikaner nationalists. With the British Empire virtually coming to an end in the 1950s and 1960s, and the transition to a multiracial majority-ruled Commonwealth receiving its greatest challenge in apartheid South Africa and federating Central Africa, Thompson’s contemporaries focused on the historical roles of white settlers and Imperial officials in bringing about division when there should have been unity. The writing of history has not flourished on campuses in the independent states, and the bulk of work done has been pursued in the universities of Europe and North America. In such circumstances, debate about the legacy of Empire will be as intense in the future as it has been in the past.
D. A. Washbrook
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205654
- eISBN:
- 9780191676734
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205654.003.0018
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
India was subjected to a battery of changes aimed at drawing it more closely under the authority of Britain and converting its culture and institutions to Western and Anglicist norms and forms. Its ...
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India was subjected to a battery of changes aimed at drawing it more closely under the authority of Britain and converting its culture and institutions to Western and Anglicist norms and forms. Its social economy became increasingly agrarian and peasant-based. It addresses the following question: why and how did British rule itself affect the imperatives towards the reconstruction of a traditional India? The received historiography has been guilty of too eclectic an approach to the discourse(s) of colonialism, and also of overemphasizing the significance of discourse (and texts) at the expense of analyses of both institutional practice and politico-economic context. The economics of backwardness is elaborated. Next, it deals with the traditionalization of Indian society. The contradictions continued after the Mutiny, although taking on different forms. Technological transformation increased in intensity. These developments enabled Indian primary products to finally find outlets on world markets. After the Mutiny, the Westernizing and Orientalizing propensities of colonial rule still remained in tension, although as the century advanced a new element also began to enter their relationship.Less
India was subjected to a battery of changes aimed at drawing it more closely under the authority of Britain and converting its culture and institutions to Western and Anglicist norms and forms. Its social economy became increasingly agrarian and peasant-based. It addresses the following question: why and how did British rule itself affect the imperatives towards the reconstruction of a traditional India? The received historiography has been guilty of too eclectic an approach to the discourse(s) of colonialism, and also of overemphasizing the significance of discourse (and texts) at the expense of analyses of both institutional practice and politico-economic context. The economics of backwardness is elaborated. Next, it deals with the traditionalization of Indian society. The contradictions continued after the Mutiny, although taking on different forms. Technological transformation increased in intensity. These developments enabled Indian primary products to finally find outlets on world markets. After the Mutiny, the Westernizing and Orientalizing propensities of colonial rule still remained in tension, although as the century advanced a new element also began to enter their relationship.
TOYIN FALOLA and A. D. ROBERTS
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205647
- eISBN:
- 9780191676727
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205647.003.0022
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
At the end of the 19th century, British rule in West Africa expanded far inland, from a few coastal outposts that were by-products of the Atlantic slave trade and its abolition. The Imperial history ...
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At the end of the 19th century, British rule in West Africa expanded far inland, from a few coastal outposts that were by-products of the Atlantic slave trade and its abolition. The Imperial history of British West Africa can be read in terms of the tension and conflict arising from this enlargement of perspective, and the priorities which it entailed. The experiences of West Africa during 1900–30 and the 1930s–1960s are shown in this chapter. In the greater part of British West Africa, colonial rule lasted scarcely sixty years. It ended calmly: the transfer of power was effected by the same constitutional process of white settlement as in the Dominions. Throughout former British West Africa, representative government was in general retreat by the 1960s.Less
At the end of the 19th century, British rule in West Africa expanded far inland, from a few coastal outposts that were by-products of the Atlantic slave trade and its abolition. The Imperial history of British West Africa can be read in terms of the tension and conflict arising from this enlargement of perspective, and the priorities which it entailed. The experiences of West Africa during 1900–30 and the 1930s–1960s are shown in this chapter. In the greater part of British West Africa, colonial rule lasted scarcely sixty years. It ended calmly: the transfer of power was effected by the same constitutional process of white settlement as in the Dominions. Throughout former British West Africa, representative government was in general retreat by the 1960s.
Charles Ambler
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205661
- eISBN:
- 9780191676741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.003.0032
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
The historiography of British East Africa began, in the last years of the 19th century, in the attempts of participants and observers to describe, explain, justify, or condemn the actions of British ...
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The historiography of British East Africa began, in the last years of the 19th century, in the attempts of participants and observers to describe, explain, justify, or condemn the actions of British intruders. Across East Africa, communities struggled to develop their own histories of British expansion. Historians variously responded to the challenge of underdevelopment theory. Whether radical in perspective or local in orientation, the new discipline of African history almost entirely ignored women, despite women social scientists having pioneered the academic study of British rule in East Africa. There are also signs of decline of the Imperial historiography of East Africa.Less
The historiography of British East Africa began, in the last years of the 19th century, in the attempts of participants and observers to describe, explain, justify, or condemn the actions of British intruders. Across East Africa, communities struggled to develop their own histories of British expansion. Historians variously responded to the challenge of underdevelopment theory. Whether radical in perspective or local in orientation, the new discipline of African history almost entirely ignored women, despite women social scientists having pioneered the academic study of British rule in East Africa. There are also signs of decline of the Imperial historiography of East Africa.
Richard Cockett
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300204513
- eISBN:
- 9780300215984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300204513.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter begins the account of modern Burma in Rangoon, the capital of the British colony of Burma. It was once a thriving mercantile capital comparable to Kolkata, Singapore, Penang, and ...
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This chapter begins the account of modern Burma in Rangoon, the capital of the British colony of Burma. It was once a thriving mercantile capital comparable to Kolkata, Singapore, Penang, and Shanghai, and was one of the most modern, cosmopolitan, and exciting cities in the East, described by the poet Pablo Neruda as “a city of blood, dreams and gold.” The chapter recounts the historical forces that have shaped Burma for a more modern, globalized world today, by looking at its history in terms of British colonial rule and marginalisation. In addition, this chapter offers perspectives on Rangoon as a “plural society” bustling with commerce and racial diversity.Less
This chapter begins the account of modern Burma in Rangoon, the capital of the British colony of Burma. It was once a thriving mercantile capital comparable to Kolkata, Singapore, Penang, and Shanghai, and was one of the most modern, cosmopolitan, and exciting cities in the East, described by the poet Pablo Neruda as “a city of blood, dreams and gold.” The chapter recounts the historical forces that have shaped Burma for a more modern, globalized world today, by looking at its history in terms of British colonial rule and marginalisation. In addition, this chapter offers perspectives on Rangoon as a “plural society” bustling with commerce and racial diversity.
Susan Bayly
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205654
- eISBN:
- 9780191676734
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205654.003.0020
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter explores the phenomenon of ‘invisible empire’, that is, the many different encounters of the intellect and imagination which brought Asians and Britons together, often violently and ...
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This chapter explores the phenomenon of ‘invisible empire’, that is, the many different encounters of the intellect and imagination which brought Asians and Britons together, often violently and contentiously, during the ‘long’ nineteenth century. It specifically asks what cultural differences British rule made to the complex societies of colonial Asia. It also concentrates on three main aspects of ‘invisible empire’. The first of these is setting and context, that is, the basic facts of urbanization, literacy, and other forces shaping local cultural encounters. The second is religion, since it was in the arena of worship that the peoples of East and West had many of their most far-reaching confrontations. The third is the intersection of culture and politics, with the political defined to include public debates on the status of women as well as other ‘modern’ issues touching on the definition of collective and individual rights and moral standards.Less
This chapter explores the phenomenon of ‘invisible empire’, that is, the many different encounters of the intellect and imagination which brought Asians and Britons together, often violently and contentiously, during the ‘long’ nineteenth century. It specifically asks what cultural differences British rule made to the complex societies of colonial Asia. It also concentrates on three main aspects of ‘invisible empire’. The first of these is setting and context, that is, the basic facts of urbanization, literacy, and other forces shaping local cultural encounters. The second is religion, since it was in the arena of worship that the peoples of East and West had many of their most far-reaching confrontations. The third is the intersection of culture and politics, with the political defined to include public debates on the status of women as well as other ‘modern’ issues touching on the definition of collective and individual rights and moral standards.
Alexander Tsesis
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195379693
- eISBN:
- 9780199949847
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379693.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Political History
The American colonies began cooperating politically against British rule even before they adopted the Declaration of Independence. In 1774, delegates from twelve of thirteen colonies gathered in ...
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The American colonies began cooperating politically against British rule even before they adopted the Declaration of Independence. In 1774, delegates from twelve of thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress to decide how to respond to coercive British laws. Passions ran high against acts permitting British officers to requisition private property for billeting soldiers and cutting off seaborne trade to Boston. Initially, most delegates hoped to mend relations with England, while only a small faction favored independence. At that point, British leaders probably could have negotiated mutually favorable terms to resolve colonial grievances; instead, a power struggle ensued that resulted in the American Revolution.Less
The American colonies began cooperating politically against British rule even before they adopted the Declaration of Independence. In 1774, delegates from twelve of thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress to decide how to respond to coercive British laws. Passions ran high against acts permitting British officers to requisition private property for billeting soldiers and cutting off seaborne trade to Boston. Initially, most delegates hoped to mend relations with England, while only a small faction favored independence. At that point, British leaders probably could have negotiated mutually favorable terms to resolve colonial grievances; instead, a power struggle ensued that resulted in the American Revolution.
