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



David Campion



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SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

SPRING 2026

Week I Jan 21Introduction
Week II Jan 26-28Money, Empire, and the Company Raj
Week III Feb 2-4History, Colonialism, and Nation
Week IV Feb 9-11India at War
Week V Feb 16-18Violence, Fear, and Power in Colonial India
Week VI Feb 23-25Revolution and Nationalism
Week VII mar 2-4Religion and Nationalism
Week VIII Mar 9-11Famine, War, and Historical Accountability
Week IX Mar 16-18Partition and Independence
Week X Mar 30-Apr 1Nehru and the Early Republic
Week XI Apr 6-8Caste, Region, and Power in 20th-century India
Week XII Apr 13-15Democracy and Authoritarianism, part I
Week XIII Apr 20-22Postcolonial Literature
Week XIV Apr 27-29Democracy and Authoritarianism, part II | Conclusion



Week I: Introduction

Jan 21: Introduction to the course | lecture: The origins of Modern India



Week II: Money, Empire, and the Company Raj

Jan 26: Discussion
Jan 28: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
CLARA
LILLY


Reading:
Titas Chakraborty, Empire of Labor: How the East India Company Colonized Hired Work
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 III: History, Colonialism, and Nation

Feb 2: Discussion
Feb 4: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
MARIN
SEVE


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 IV: India at War

Feb 9: Discussion
Feb 11: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
PORSHA
JAYDEN


Reading:
Santanu Das, India, Empire, and First World War Culture
Philippa Levine, "Battle Colors: Race, Sex, and Colonial Soldiery in World War I," Journal of Women's History, 9:4 (1998) [Project Muse]



Week V: Violence, Fear, and Power in Colonial India

Feb 16: Discussion
Feb 18: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
AUDREY
AVA


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: Revolution and Nationalism

Feb 23: Discussion
Feb 25: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
DECLAN
SARA


Reading:
Durba Ghosh, Gentlemanly Terrorists
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 VII: Religion and Nationalism

Mar 2: Discussion
Mar 4: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
SARA
IZZY


Reading:
Janaki Bakhle, Savarkar and the Making of Hindutva

Document:
V.D. Savarkar, Selected Writings



Week VIII: Famine, War, and Historical Accountability

Mar 9: Discussion
Mar 11: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
AUDREY
LANA


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 X: Partition and Independence

Mar 20: Discussion
Mar 22: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
DECLAN
IZZY


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 X: Nehru and the Early Republic

Mar 30: Discussion
Apr 1: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
PORSHA
JAYDEN


Reading:
Taylor Sherman, Nehru's India: A History in Seven Myths

Documents:
Jawaharlal Nehru, "Marxism, Capitalism and India's Future" (1941), Speech to the Bandung Conference Political Committee (1955), and "Economic Development and Nonalignment" (1956)



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

Apr 6: Discussion
Apr 8: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
CLARA
LILLY


Reading:
Sujatha Gidla, Ants Among Elephants

Documents:
Sarojini Naidu, Speeches and Writings (1918)
B. R. Ambedkar, Selected Writings



Week XII: Democracy and Authoritarianism, part I

Apr 10: Discussion
Apr 12: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
LILLY
AVA


Reading:
Srinath Raghavan, Indira Gandhi and the Years that Transformed India
"Briefing: Democracy in India," The Economist (Nov 2020)



Week XIII: Postcolonial Literature

Apr 20: Discussion
Apr 22: Discussion
Discussion Leaders
MARIN
SEVE


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 XIV: Democracy and Authoritarianism, part II

Apr 27: Discussion
Apr 29: Conclusion
Discussion Leaders
DECLAN
LILLY


Reading:
Christophe Jaffrelot, Modi's India

Documents:
www.bjp.org, "Hindutva: The Great Nationalist Ideology" (2009)
"Saffron Nation" in The Economist (May 2022)

BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY DUE THURSDAY, APR 30



The Banks of the Ganges at Varanasi

Created by campion@lclark.edu | Updated February 2026