Nomadic Narratives
Nomadic Narratives

Author: Tanuja Kothiyal

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-03-14

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1316673898

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The Thar Desert, which is today divided by an international boundary, has historically been a frontier region connecting Punjab, Multan, Sindh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. This book looks at the Desert as an historical region shaped through the mobility of its inhabitants - warriors, pastoralists, traders, ascetics and bards, often in overlapping capacities. It challenges the frames of Mughal-Rajput relationships generally employed to explore the histories of the Thar, arguing that Rajputana remains an inadequate category to explore polities located in this frontier region, where along with Rajputs, a range of groups, such as Charans, Bhils, Meenas, Soomras and Pathans controlled circulation, and with whom the Rajput states had to constantly negotiate. Sifting through a wide range of Rajasthani written and oral narratives, travelogues of British administrators, and vernacular as well as English records, the book explores long-term relationships between mobility, martiality, memory and identity in the desert expanses of the Thar.

Raj To Swaraj
Raj To Swaraj

Author: Ram Chandra Pradhan

Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan

Published: 2021-01-19

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9352664310

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The saga of the Indian National Movement; with its unique leadership and ideological foundation; continues to engage those interested in the history of India. Raj to Swaraj: A Textbook on Colonialism and Nationalism in India takes its readers through the panorama of modern Indian history; with all its trials and tribulations; and keeps it intellectually stimulating all through the narrative. This textbook for students attempts to present its case; free from ideological biases. The result of a lifelong engagement with teaching and research; this book incorporates the sharp classroom debates and analysis of bright and committed students; thus enriching its formulations and interpretations. It provides a fresh look at the national struggle for independence and attempts to provoke; promote and unleash; critical and creative thinking among the student community. In the process; it seeks to relieve them from the drudgery of working as intellectual foot soldiers to the authorities in our academia. This book marks a departure from the earlier studies in terms of its new and updated sources as well as in its freedom from the great ideological divides that continue to bedevil our academic life. As such; it avoids both the extremes of woolly sentimentalism and ideology-based debunking. Essentially eclectic and synthesising in its approach; and written in a lucid style; the book covers different phases and facets of our national struggle. To that end; it adopts a thematic; rather than a chronological narrative. The book will prove invaluable for students of political science and modern Indian history; as well as general readers.

Patchwork States
Patchwork States

Author: Adnan Naseemullah

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-06-23

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 1009178032

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Patchwork States argues that the subnational politics of conflict and competition in South Asian countries have roots in the history of uneven state formation under colonial rule. Colonial India contained a complex landscape of different governance arrangements and state-society relations. After independence, postcolonial governments revised colonial governance institutions, but only with partial success. The book argues that contemporary India and Pakistan can be usefully understood as patchwork states, with enduring differences in state capacity and state-society relations within their national territories. The complex nature of territorial governance in these countries shapes patterns of political violence, including riots and rebellions, as well as variations in electoral competition and development across the political geography of the Indian subcontinent. By bridging past and present, this book can transform our understanding of both the legacies of colonial rule and the historical roots of violent politics, in South Asia and beyond.

Sovereignty, Power, Control
Sovereignty, Power, Control

Author: John Edmond McLeod

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-07-31

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 9004644792

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This thorough study offers the opportunity to gain a clear understanding of the mechanics of political interaction in princely India (in the period 1916-1947) between the British colonial power, the princely rulers, and nationalist politicians. The first major scholarly contribution to an until now largely ignored field of interest.

British Policy Towards the Indian States 1905–1939
British Policy Towards the Indian States 1905–1939

Author: S.R. Ashton

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-05-03

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1000855775

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British Policy Towards the Indian States (1982) examines the concept of indirect rule in terms of both its application and consequences in the princely states of India during the first four decades of the twentieth century. The author first deals with the political geography and diversity of the princely states and the legacy of the Mughal emperors, and then proceeds to discuss the nature and consequences of the alliances established between the paramount power of the British Raj and the princes at the beginning of the twentieth century. The impact of the non-interference policy is assessed and a full consideration is given to the failure of that policy.