ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a first overview of the emerging historiographical subfield of research on South Asian humanitarianism, with a focus on humanitarian responses to conflicts and wars. To begin with, it sketches out the long and multifarious traditions of philanthropy and charity in colonial India. Subsequently, the chapter discusses three different varieties of Indian humanitarianism (imperial, nationalist, and communal) to emphasise the plurality of motivations and practices of aid from the 1870s until 1947. In doing so, it also examines the complex relationship between non-state humanitarian organisations and actors and the colonial state.
