ABSTRACT
Tagore’s travel to Japan in 1919 and Persia in 1932 are two key points on the locus of his complex thinking on nationalism and imperialism. This chapter intends to provide a close reading of Tagore’s travelogues to Japan and Persia and see them in their contexts, while connecting them to the larger corpus of Tagore’s writings on nationalism. The essence of Tagore’s nationalism could be found in his emphasis on social reconstruction programmes directed towards a common kalyana – it could be undertaken by the state, as in the USSR, and in the case of a British colony like India, by the nationalists. Self-empowerment, accompanied by an Upanishadic self-realisation, cannot be achieved by Indians, by shouting Bande-Mataram: it draws shadow lines, separating mankind.
