ABSTRACT
This case study analyzes the unintentional aspects of British rule that turned out to contribute to nation and state building in India. It discusses the bureaucratic “steel frame” holding India together, the imposition of a legal system amalgamating British and Hindu legal traditions, the introduction of a new universe of discourse with the spread of British education, and the alternating current of national agitation and British constitutional reforms. At independence, the Indian personnel of Britain’s Indian Civil Service became the nucleus of the Indian Administrative Service, which provided administrative continuity during the change of governments. The independence movement contributed to nation building, as Indian nationalists tried to create a shared identity capable of unifying India after the British departure. Finally, the chapter deals with the traumatic experience of territoriality caused by the partition of India and the emergence of an independent democratic republic under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, a passionate parliamentarian.
