Coronation Durbar of George V, Emperor of India, Delhi, 1911 © Life



David Campion



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SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

SPRING 2023

Week I Jan 18Introduction
Week II Jan 23-25The Invention of India
Week III Jan 30-Feb 1Money, Empire, and the Company Raj
Week IV Feb 6-8History, Colonialism and Nation
Week V Feb 13-15Violence, Fear and Power in Colonial India
Week VI Feb 20-22Revolutionary India at Home
Week VII Feb 27-Mar 1Revolutionary India and the World
Week VIII Mar 6-8Famine and Historical Accountability
Week IX Mar 13-15India at War
Week X Mar 20-22Partition and independence
Week XI Apr 3-5Caste, Region, and Power in 20th-century India
Week XII Apr 10-12Postcolonial Literature
Week XIII Apr 17-19Democracy and Authoritarianism
Week XIV Apr 24-26The Modern Indian Metropolis | Conclusion



Week I: Introduction

Jan 18: Introduction to the course | lecture: The origins of Modern India



Week II: The Invention of India

Jan 23: Discussion
Jan 25: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
FRANCES
MIKA


Reading:
Manam Ahmed Asif, The Loss of Hindustan
Aatish Taseer, "In India, a name is rarely just a name" New York Times, 26 July 2017



Week III: Money, Empire, and the Company Raj

Jan 30: Discussion
Feb 1: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
JOSIE
KATIE


Reading:
William Dalrymple, The Anarchy
P. J. Marshall, "British Society in India under the East India Company," Modern Asian Studies (31:1) 1997 [JSTOR]

Documents:
Robert Clive, Letter to William Pitt regarding British policy in Bengal (1759)
East India Company Act of 1767
Robert Clive, Speech in the House of Commons on India (1772)
Warren Hastings, Letter to Court of Directors of the East India Company (1773)
Edmund Burke, Speech in the House of Commons on India (1783)



Week IV: History, Colonialism and Nation

Feb 6: Discussion
Feb 8: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
ETHAN
GAVIN


Partha Chatterjee, The Black Hole of Empire
C. A. Bayly, "The social and intellectual contexts of early Indian liberalism, c.1780-1840" in Recovering Liberties: Indian Thought in the Age of Liberalism and Empire (2011)

Documents:
William Bentinck, "On Ritual Murder in India" (1829)
T.B. Macaulay, "Minute on Education" (1835) and Resolution of Lord Bentinck (1835)
John Stuart Mill, "On Colonies and Colonization" (1848) and "On Liberty" (1859)

Video:
Coronation Durbar of King George V as Emperor of India (1911)



Week V: Violence, Fear and Power in Colonial India

Feb 13: Discussion
Feb 15: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
ABBY
JAMES


Reading:
Kim Wagner, Amritsar 1919
Derek Sayer, "British Reaction to the Amritsar Massacre 1919-1920," Past & Present (131) 1991 [JSTOR]

Video:
Jallianwala Bagh (1977), Gandhi (1982)
BBC Newsnight Interview (2019)



Week VI: Revolutionary India at Home

Feb 20: Discussion
Feb 22: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
GAVIN
MATEO


Reading:
Durba Ghosh, Gentlemanly Terrorists
Partha Chatterjee, "Gandhi and the Critique of Civil Society," Ranajit Guha, ed., Subaltern Studies III



Week VII: Revolutionary India and the World

Feb 27: Discussion
Mar 1: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
GAVIN
JOSIE


Reading:
Michele Louro, Comrades Against Imperialism
Michael Silvestri, "The 'Sinn Fein of India': Irish Nationalism and the Policing of Revolutionary Terrorism in Bengal," Journal of British Studies (39:4) 2000 [JSTOR]



Week VIII: Famine and Historical Accountability

Mar 6: Discussion
Mar 8: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
JAMES
KATIE


Reading:
Janam Mukherjee, Hungry Bengal
M. Mufakharul Islam, "The Great Bengal Famine and the Question of FAD Yet Again," Modern Asian Studies (41:2) 2007 [JSTOR]
Madhusree Mukerjee, "Bengal Famine of 1943: An Appraisal of the Famine Inquiry Commission," Economic & Political Weekly (49:11) 2014 [JSTOR]

Document:
Sydney Bailey, "Post-Mortem on the Bengal Famine," Far Eastern Survey (14:25) 1945 [JSTOR]



Week IX: India at War

Mar 13: Discussion
Mar 15: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
MATEO
MIKA


Reading:
Srinath Raghavan, India's War
Eric Pullin, "American Propaganda Strategy and Operation in India during World War II," Diplomatic History (34:2) 2010 [EBSCOhost]

Documents:
Subhas Chandra Bose, Plan for cooperation between the Axis powers and India (1941)
Joachim von Ribbentrop, Brief for the Führer on "British India" (1941)
US State Department, Orders to American Forces in India (1942)

Images:
Quartz India/National Army Museum, Japanese Anti-British propaganda (1942-1945)



Week X: Partition and Independence

Mar 20: Discussion
Mar 22: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
JAMES
JOSIE


Reading:
Urvashi Butalia, the Other Side of Silence
Ian Talbot, "A Tale of Two Cities: The Aftermath of Partition for Lahore and Amritsar," Modern Asian Studies (41:1) 2007 [JSTOR]

Documents:
Clement Attlee, "The end of British rule in India" (1947)
Winston Churchill, "Britain’s shameful flight from India" (1947)
Jawaharlal Nehru, "A tryst with destiny" (1947)

Images:
BBC Photo Archive, Photographs of the partition of India and Pakistan (1947)

Film:
Earth (1998)




Week XI: Caste, Region, and Power in 20th-century India

Apr 3: Discussion
Apr 5: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
ETHAN
KATIE


Reading:
Sujatha Gidla, Ants Among Elephants

Document:
B. R. Ambedkar, Selected Writings



Week XII: Postcolonial Literature

Apr 10: Discussion
Apr 12: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
ETHAN
FRANCES


Reading:
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie, "Imaginary Homelands" (1982), "'Errata' or Unreliable Narration in Midnight’s Children" (1983),"The Riddle of Midnight: India, August 1987" (1983)



Week XIII: Democracy and Authoritarianism

Apr 17: Discussion
Apr 19: Conclusion
Discussion Leaders
ABBY
MATEO


Reading:
Gyan Prakash, Emergency Chronicles
"Briefing: Democracy in India," The Economist (Nov 2020)



Week XIV: The Modern Indian Metropolis | Conclusion

Apr 24: Discussion
Apr 26: Conclusion
Discussion Leaders
ABBY
FRANCES


Reading:
Rashmi Sadana, The Moving City

BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY DUE THURSDAY, APR 27



The Banks of the Ganges at Varanasi

Created by campion@lclark.edu | Updated May 2023