South Asia's Modern History: Thematic Perspectives

437 Pages·2014·4.93 MB·English

by  Michael Mann

’
South Asia s Modern History
This comprehensive history of modern South Asia explores the historical
developmentofthesubcontinentfromthebeginningoftheeighteenthcenturyto
the present day from local and regional, as opposed to European, perspectives.
Michael Mann charts the role of emerging states within the Mughal Empire,
thegradualBritishcolonialexpansioninthepoliticalsettingofthesubcontinent
and shows how the modern state formation usually associated with Western
Europe can be seen in some regions of India, linking Europe and South Asia
together as part of a shared world history. This book looks beyond the sub-
continent’s post-colonial history to consider the political, economic, social
and cultural development of Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as Sri Lanka
and Nepal, and to examine how these developments impacted the region’s
citizens.
South Asia’s Modern History begins with a general introduction which pro-
vides a geographical, environmental and historiographical overview. This is
followed by thematic chapters which discuss state formation and empire build-
ing; patriotisms and nationalisms in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries;
agriculture and agro-economy; silviculture and scientific forestry; migration,
circulation and diaspora; urbanisation and industrialisation; and knowledge,
science, technology and power, demonstrating common themes across the
decades and centuries.
This book will be perfect for all students of South Asian history.
Michael Mann is the head of South Asia Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu
Berlin. His previous publications include British Rule on Indian Soil: North
India in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century (1999, second edition 2002);
togetherwithCareyA.Watt(eds):CivilizingMissioninColonialandPostcolonial
South Asia: From Improvement to Development (2011) and Sahibs, Sklaven und
Soldaten:GeschichtedesMenschenhandelsrundumdenIndischenOzean(2012).
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South Asia s Modern History
Thematic Perspectives
Michael Mann
Firstpublished2015
byRoutledge
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Mann,Michael,1959-
SouthAsia’smodernhistory:thematicperspectives/MichaelMann.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.SouthAsia--History.2.SouthAsia--Politicsandgovernment.3.South
Asia--Economicconditions.I.Title.
DS340.M352014
954--dc23
2014012842
ISBN:978-0-415-62865-5(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-62866-2(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-75455-0(ebk)
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byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of illustrations viii
Foreword x
South Asia: a geographical, environmental and
historiographical introduction 1
Geographical and political South Asia 1
Historiography of modern South Asia since the 1980s 8
The concept of this book 15
Notes 19
1 State formation and empire building in South Asia
c. 1660–1800 20
Forms and models 20
State formation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 28
Notes 51
2 Patriotisms and nationalisms in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries 54
The Great Rebellion (1857–9) 55
National movements (1860–1947) 63
Notes 85
3 State formation and empire building in South Asia (1858–1998) 89
The British Raj in India (1858–1947) 90
Indian monarchies and principalities 97
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh 105
Gorkha-Nepal and Ceylon-Sri Lanka 120
Notes 133
4 Agriculture and agro-economy 137
Themes and subjects 137
South Asia’s agriculture in the eighteenth century 138
vi Contents
Continuities, changes and breaks under colonial rule 142
Characteristics and consequences of colonial
agrarian policy 172
The Green Revolution and the Gene Revolution
(1960–2010) 174
Notes 180
5 Silviculture and scientific forestry 184
Nature, culture and time 184
Forest management in South Asia until 1860 187
The impact of scientific forestry (1860–1920) 192
Increasing exploitation and growing resistance 1920–90 197
The new millennium 207
Notes 209
6 Migration, circulation and diaspora 212
Theories and thoughts 212
Early South Asian migration and diaspora communities 216
South Asians on the new subcontinental and global
labour markets 219
Recruitment of indentured labourers 225
Migration and settlement 231
South Asian communities overseas 234
Migrants, twice migrants, guest workers 246
A global Indian diaspora? 257
Notes 259
7 Urbanisation and industrialisation 264
General observations on urban history and urban development 264
Overall trends in crafts and industries 268
Industrialisation and de-industrialisation 272
Indian-owned industries 276
The labour market and labourers’ organisations 283
Urbanisation 290
Municipality and urban planning 295
Urban development after 1947: metropolises, megacities,
middle towns 304
Notes 310
8 Knowledge, science, technology and power 315
Themes, theories and subjects 315
Education: schools, colleges, universities 316
History and historiography 320
Natural sciences: botany, geography and geology 325
From medical knowledge to scientific medicine 332
Contents vii
Irrigation systems and hydraulic constructions 338
Railway construction and railway networks 346
Telecommunication systems and networks 352
Notes 359
Afterthought and prospect 364
Notes 366
Bibliography 367
Index 420
List of illustrations
Tables
7.1 Development of the cotton industry in India, 1875–6 to
1918–19 275
7.2 Development of the jute industry in India, 1854–5 to 1938–9 275
Figures
1.1 Undivided, hierarchical-pyramidal organisation and divided,
multi-lateral sharedsovereigntyofthe“little kings” inSouth Asia
from the 1720s 27
1.2 Portrait of Tipu Sultan 41
1.3 Safdar Jang’s Tomb in Delhi 50
1.4 Chota Imambara in Lakhnau 50
3.1 “Imperial Darbar” in Delhi, 1911–12 91
3.2 The Bangladeshi National Flag, 1971 119
Maps
0.1 A map showing the overlapping definitions of the term
“South Asia” 2
0.2 A map showing the topography and natural borders of the
South Asian region 3
0.3 Monsoon and precipitation in South Asia 6
0.4 The historical regions 9
1.1 Provinces (subas) of the Mughal Empire c. 1700 21
1.2 Zones of rule and resistance in Bengal 36
1.3 Territorial expansion of Awadh between 1720 and 1775 48
2.1 The expansion of the Great Rebellion in British India 1857–9 60
2.2 Partition of British India 82
3.1 Land rights and revenues of the nizam and his nobility 101
3.2 Ceylon in the mid-eighteenth century 125
4.1 Resistance and rebellion in Bengal 1780–3 148
List of illustrations ix
4.2 Forests and agricultural infrastructure of the Central Doab
(Ganga-Yamuna) c. 1800 154
4.3 Forests and agricultural infrastructure of the Central Doab
(Ganga-Yamuna) c.1850 155
4.4 Spatial reorganisation of economic and migration routes under
the colonial rule 175
5.1 Forest coverage in South Asia c. 1650 188
5.2 The Tarai 191
5.3 Forest cover in British India, c. 1900 200
5.4 Forest cover in the Republic of India, c. 2010 201
6.1 Trading zones of the Indian Ocean in the mid-eighteenth century 218
6.2 Spaces of circulation 222
7.1 South Asia’s fertile crescent 266
7.2 New Delhi–Old Delhi: English landscape gardening in India 300
7.3 Industrial and Business Parkof Bangalore, c. 2005 308
8.1 Sub-continental canal system as envisaged by Sir Arthur Cotton 340
8.2 Indian River Inter-Link Project 346
8.3 Telephone network 1923–24 and 1932–33 357