The emergence of modern India II: British India, 1858-1947
Ian Copland
8 points * 2 lectures and 1 tutorial per week * Second semester * Clayton
Following the Great Revolt of 1857, the English East India Company was wound up and India passed under the rule of the British crown. 1858, then, marked the true beginning of the British raj, and the latter 19th century was in many ways the heyday of British colonialism in the subcontinent. What effect did British paramountcy have on the society and economy of the region? To what extent were peoples' lives changed, for better or worse, by the arrival of modern technology and the introduction of Western values and institutions? The subject begins with an analysis of the structure, policies and impact of the British raj. It goes on to investigate the rise of Indian nationalism in the latter nineteenth century, and concludes with a discussion of the drawn-out political battle between the Congress and the Muslim League which climaxed in the bloody and traumatic partition of 1947.
Assessment
Written (5000 words): 70% * Examination (1 hour): 20% * Class participation/attendance: 10%
Prescribed texts
Brown J M Modern India: The origins of an Asian democracy OUP
Sarkar S Modern India 1885-1947 Macmillan India