ABSTRACT

Drawing on the newest historical research and scholarship in the field, Modern South Asia provides challenging insights into the history of this fascinating region over the past three centuries. Jointly authored by two leading Indian and Pakistani historians, it offers a rare depth of historical understanding of the politics, cultures, and economies that have shaped the lives of more than a fifth of humanity.

In this comprehensive study, the authors interpret and debate key developments in modern South Asian history and historical writing, covering the diverse spectrum of the region’s social, economic and political past. This fourth edition brings the debate up to the present day, discussing recent events and exploring new themes such as the capture of state power in India by the forces of religious majoritarianism, economic development in the context of the 'rise' of Asia, and strategic shifts occasioned by the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Providing new insights into the structure and ideology of the British raj, the meaning of subaltern resistance, the refashioning of social relations along the lines of caste, class, community and gender, the different strands of anti-colonial nationalism and the dynamics of decolonization, this is an essential resource for all students of the modern history of South Asia.

chapter 1|8 pages

South Asian history

An introduction

chapter 2|11 pages

Modernity and antiquity

Interpretations of ancient India

chapter 3|11 pages

Pre-modern accommodations of difference

The making of Indo-Islamic cultures

chapter 4|11 pages

The Mughal empire

State, economy and society

chapter 5|8 pages

India between empires

Decline or decentralization?

chapter 6|8 pages

The transition to colonialism

Resistance and collaboration

chapter 7|8 pages

The first century of British rule, 1757 to 1857

State and economy

chapter 8|11 pages

Company raj and Indian society, 1757 to 1857

Re-invention and reform of tradition

chapter 9|8 pages

1857

Rebellion, collaboration and the transition to crown raj

chapter 10|10 pages

High noon of colonialism, 1858 to 1914

State and political economy

chapter 11|17 pages

A nation in making?

‘Rational’ reform, ‘religious’ revival and swadeshi nationalism, 1858 to 1914

chapter 12|7 pages

Colonialism under siege

State and political economy after World War I

chapter 14|9 pages

The Depression decade

Society, economics and politics

chapter 15|7 pages

Nationalism and colonialism during World War II and its aftermath

Economic crisis and political confrontation

chapter 17|10 pages

1947

Memories and meanings

chapter 18|15 pages

Post-colonial South Asia

State and economy, society and politics, 1947 to 1971

chapter 19|25 pages

Post-colonial South Asia

State and economy, society and politics, 1971 to 2017

chapter 20|7 pages

Decolonizing South Asian history

A 70th anniversary perspective