The Banks of the Ganges at Varanasi



David Campion



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SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

SPRING 2025

Week I Jan 22-24The Origins of Modern India
Week II Jan 27-31Ideologies of Empire and their Consequences
Week III Feb 3-7Caste, Religion, and Power in Colonial Indian Society
Week IV Feb 10-14 Collaboration and Resistance
Week V Feb 17-21The Anglo-Indian Encounter
Week VI Feb 24-28The Great Game
Week VII Mar 3-7War and Reform
Week VIII Mar 10-14Mahatma Gandhi: The Man and the Image
Week IX Mar 17-21The End of Empire and the Transfer of Power
Week X Mar 31-Apr 4Postwar South Asia and the World
Week XI Apr 7-11The Dynamics of South Asian Politics
Week XII Apr 14-18The Lives of the Powerful and the Excluded
Week XIII Apr 21-25Religion and Politics in Contemporary South Asian Society
Week XIV Apr 28-30South Asia: Present and Future



Week I: The Origins of Modern India

Jan 22: Introduction: Indian society in the eighteenth century
Jan 24: The East India Company and the British conquest of Bengal

Reading:
Hay, 1-15
Metcalf, 1-55
"The Company that ruled the waves" in The Economist, Dec 2011

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 II: Ideologies of Empire and their Consequences

Jan 27: "Orientalists," "Anglicists," and the Bengal Renaissance
Jan 29: The Revolt of 1857: causes and consequences
Jan 31: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 15-34
Metcalf, 56-91
Bernard S. Cohn, "The Command of Language and the Language of Command" in Ranajit Guha, ed., Subaltern Studies IV

Documents:
William Bentinck, "On Ritual Murder in India" (1829)
T.B. Macaulay, "Minute on Education" (1835) and Resolution of Lord Bentinck (1835)
Mountstuart Elphinstone, "Indian Customs and Manners" (1840)
Earl of Dalhousie, Report on the Administration of India (1856)



Week III: Caste, Religion, and Power in Colonial Indian Society

Feb 3: Village India: caste, kinship, and land
Feb 5: Politics and religious identity: Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in colonial India
Feb 7: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 36-62, 72-82, 120-127, 180-195
Metcalf, 92-122
Gyan Pandey, "The Colonial Construction of Communalism" in Ranajit Guha, ed., Subaltern Studies VI

MAP EXERCISE DUE FEB 3



Week IV: Collaboration and Resistance

Feb 10: Indian society under the British Raj
Feb 12: The early years of Indian nationalism
Feb 14: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 84-120, 128-130, 140-159
Metcalf, 123-166
"100 years since Servitude" in The Economist, Sep 2017

Document:
Queen Victoria, "Proclamation to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India" (1858)

RESPONSE PAPER #1 DUE FEB 14



Week V: The Anglo-Indian Encounter

Feb 17: The "Jewel in the Crown": India and the British imperial identity
Feb 19: Rabindranath Tagore and his world: the development of modern South Asian literature
Feb 21: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 130-139, 277-288
Bernard S. Cohn, "Representing Authority in Victorian India" in Hobsbawm and Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition
R.J. Moore, "Imperial India, 1858-1914," in The Oxford History of the British Empire, Vol III (Ch. 19)

Document:
Rabindranath Tagore, "Once there was a King" (1916)

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



Week VI: The Great Game

Feb 24: Lord Curzon and British geo-strategy in Central Asia
Feb 26: The princely states and shape of British paramountcy
Feb 28: Discussion: The Home and the World


Reading:
Tagore, The Home and the World

Document:
Francis Younghusband, Convention between Great Britain and Tibet (1904)

Image: 360° panaromic view from the summit of Mount Everest

RESPONSE PAPER #2 DUE FEB 28



Week VII: War and Reform

Mar 3: First steps toward reform: Morley-Minto and the "Indianization" of government
Mar 5: India in the Great War, 1914-1918
Mar 7: MIDTERM EXAMINATION


Reading:
David Omissi, "Europe through Indian Eyes: Indian Soldiers encounter England and France" in English Historical Review (122:496) Apr 2007

Documents:
Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Speech to the House of Commons (1909)
G.K. Gokhale, Political Testament (1915)
Lucknow Pact (1916)
Edwin S. Montagu, Speech to the House of Commons (1917)
Government of India, Notification granting military commissions to Indians (1918)
King George V, Proclamation on the Government of India Act (1919)



Week VIII: Mahatma Gandhi: The Man and the Image

Mar 10: The life, philosophy, and politics of Mohandas Gandhi
Mar 12: Mass nationalism, non-cooperation and civil disobedience
Mar 14: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 243-274
Metcalf, 167-202
Partha Chatterjee, "Gandhi and the Critique of Civil Society" in Ranajit Guha, ed., Subaltern Studies III

Documents:
Mohandas Gandhi, "Indian Home Rule" (1909) and "Quit India" Resolution [original draft] (1942)

Video:
British Pathé, Mahatma Gandhi Arrives in Britain (1931)
Fox Movietone, Interview with Mahatma Gandhi (1931)

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE MAR 14



Week IX: The End of Empire and the Transfer of Power

Mar 17: India's war at home and abroad, 1939-1945
Mar 18: Film: Earth, 7-9 pm, Miller 102
Mar 19: A bloody birth: Independence and Partition
Mar 20: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 195-242, 304-315
Jalal, 1-9
Metcalf, 203-230
Ian Talbot, "A Tale of Two Cities: The Aftermath of Partition for Lahore and Amritsar" in Modern Asian Studies (41:1) 2007

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)
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) [Audio: BBC Radio Archive]

Images:
Quartz India/National Army Museum, Japanese Anti-British propaganda (1942-1945)
BBC Photo Archive, Photographs of the partition of India and Pakistan (1947)

Video:
BBC Film Archive, Lord Mountbatten reads address by King George VI on Indian independence (1947)

RESPONSE PAPER #3 DUE MAR 21



Week X: Postwar South Asia and the World

Mar 31: The Indian Republic comes of age: The Nehruvian state and the planned economy
Apr 2: On the world stage: Indian and Pakistani foreign policy in the Cold War
Apr 4: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 315-352
Jalal, 10-60
Metcalf, 231-264
Robert J. McMahon, "United States Cold War strategy in South Asia" in Journal of American History, 75 (1988)

Documents:
Maharaja Hari Singh, Instrument of Accession, Jammu and Kashmir State (1947)
Jawaharlal Nehru, "Marxism, Capitalism and India's Future" (1941), Speech to the Bandung Conference Political Committee (1955), and "Economic Development and Nonalignment" (1956)

Video:
BBC Film Archive, Prime Minister Nehru's first television interview (1953)



Week XI: The Dynamics of South Asian Politics

Apr 7: The Congress Party, separatist movements, Indira Gandhi, and the "Emergency"
Apr 9: Pakistan and Bangladesh: Islam and the nation state
Apr 11: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 379-411
Jalal, 61-176

Video:
Thames TV, Interview with Morarji Desai (1977)
Eye TV, Interview with Indira Gandhi (1978)

RESPONSE PAPER #4 DUE APR 7



Week XII: The Lives of the Powerful and the Excluded

Apr 14: The ties that divide: caste, religion, and language in Modern India and Sri Lanka
Apr 16: From purdah to prime minister: women in contemporary South Asian society
Apr 18: Discussion: Ants Among Elephants


Reading:
Gidla, Ants Among Elephants

Document:
Sarojini Naidu, Speeches and Writings (1918)

Video:
BBC Radio Archive, Interview with Dr. Ambedkar (1955)

RESPONSE PAPER #5 DUE APR 18



Week XIII: Religion and Politics in Contemporary South Asian Society

Apr 21: Hindu nationalism, secularism, and the struggle for power in India
Apr 23: Islamic fundamentalism, Kashmir, and governance in Pakistan
Apr 25: Discussion


Reading:
Hay, 289-296, 359-365
Jalal, 177-307

Documents:
Declaration of India and Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir (1966)
Simla Agreement on Kashmir (1972)
www.bjp.org “Hindutva: The Great Nationalist Ideology” (2009)
Websites of South Asian political parties



Week XIV: South Asia: Present and Future

Apr 28: Trauma and transformation: Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar since independence
Apr 30: Conclusion: The past and future of South Asia


Reading:
Jalal, 308-396
Metcalf, 265-304
"Saffron Nation" in The Economist,May 2022

RESEARCH ESSAY DUE APR 30

FINAL EXAMINATION: THURSDAY 8 MAY, 8:30-11:30 am



The Banks of the Ganges at Varanasi

Created by campion@lclark.edu | Updated December 2024