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11 - The Indian Subcontinent: From Raj to Partition

from Part I - Imperial and Postcolonial Settings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2023

By
Swarupa Gupta
Edited by
Cathie Carmichael ,
Matthew D'Auria  and
Aviel Roshwald
Cathie Carmichael
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Matthew D'Auria
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Aviel Roshwald
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
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Summary

Gupta’s conviction indicates that Indian nationhood had earlier beginnings than has generally been supposed. The “Mutiny-Rebellion” of 1857, long regarded as a key transformative event, being hailed as the “first war of Indian independence” having “national” elements, was situated within a longer genealogy. This underscored the evolutionary process through which Indian nationhood developed. It also highlighted the multivalence of the revolt. It at once symbolized “power,” Indian agency, and collective identity: cutting across caste, class, and communal divisions. By connecting the revolt with the imperial glory of Mughal Delhi, Gupta mediated the many meanings of 1857, and linked it with a long patriotic past that evoked the idea of India despite endless fragmentation. His remarks hold the key to understanding how the many stories of Indian nationhood converged at complex levels.

Keywords

NationhoodMutiny-Rebellionsamaj [social collectivity]primordialismmodernitiesCongressExtremismNonviolencePartition
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism , pp. 233 - 256
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Further Reading

Brown, Judith M., Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy, 2nd edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandra, Bipan, Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1984).Google Scholar
Elgenius, Gabriela, Symbols of Nations and Nationalism: Celebrating Nationhood (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habib, S. Irfan (ed.), Indian Nationalism (New Delhi: Aleph Book Company, 2017).Google Scholar
Jaffrelot, Christophe, The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics (London: Hurst, 1996).Google Scholar
Skey, Michael, and Antonsich, Marco (eds.), Everyday Nationhood (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Anthony D., Nations and Nationalism in a Global Era (Oxford: Wiley, 1995).Google Scholar
Tønnesson, Stein, and Antlov, Hans (eds.), Asian Forms of the Nation (London: Routledge, 2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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