Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T00:04:47.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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
Get access

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

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

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×