Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas: Notes - Part 1
- modernglitch
- Jun 3, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 7, 2021
Here are the notes for the book Modern South Asia: Politics, States and Diasporas by Ian Talbot. The book is an overall comprehensive look into the history and developments in South Asia from the time of British rule till the present day. These notes would also come in handy if you need a quick refresher on the main historical events in South Asia in the 20th and early 21st century (2000-2010s).
Due to the ambitious scope of the book, I thought it would be easier to divide the notes up into 3 parts. Part 1, presented below, focuses on borders and boundaries, colonial and postcolonial migration and diasporas (albeit briefly), the transition from Company to British rule under the Raj and ends with the relationship between Indians and the Raj.
Note: Chapter 2 on Land, Society and Environment is excluded from these notes. Though important, many aspects (bar the part on Indian Society, though a basic understanding of the notion of caste is assumed here) are unrelated to the political developments later on.
Enjoy reading and email me at modernglitch99@gmail.com for any comments. Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3!
Chapter 1: Borders and Boundaries
Zero Point: Punjab Border: Indo-Pakistani Border
equidistant from the historic cities of Lahore and Amritsar
new migrants who moved from the Bengal border were eligible for relief only if they moved outside the Indian state of West Bengal.
the border crossing at Wagah has been viewed as a transition for western travellers but a transgression for South Asians: they have to endure a 2-mile railway journey from Attari to Wagah instead
Sindh-Rajasthan Border
longest Indo-Pakistani land boundary
since 1965 Indo-Pakistani war, border has become increasingly militarised.
Opium smuggled from western Rajasthan to Sindh till 1960.
marriage ties among the Sodha Rajputs of Sindh and Western Rajasthan.
By 2005: border fence.
2006: Khokhrapar -Munabao border railway link opened but the bureaucratic process continues to hinder family reunions.
Sindh-Gujarat Border: Rann of Kutch and Sir Creek
sparsely populated.
1965 War: Pakistani army launched Operation Arrow there.
an international tribunal in 1968 upheld India’s claim to the Rann.
Sir Creek: not addressed by the tribunal. contentious area:
“exemplifies South Asian border anxieties, doleful legacies of colonial cartography, the lack of trust that undermines cooperation and the disruptive effect of militarization on the lives of border dwellers: fishermen routinely arrested.
International Boundary Disputes
China insists that the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh be included in the Tibet autonomous region of PRC.
Aksai Chin Ladakh, Tibet, Xinjiang
In the 50s, China built a road linking Xinjiang and Tibet + India granting asylum to the Dalai Lama in 1959: led to the 1962 SIno-Indian war.
Effect: China retained Aksai Chin and India pressured to increase military efforts (Nehru blamed for failing to anticipate Chinese attack)
Afghanistan-Pakistan: successive regimes in Afghanistan refused to acknowledge the Durand line
North-West Frontier Province: dispute between Pakistan and Afghanistan
Kashmir: Line of Control that represents a military border not recognised in international law
separated India and Pakistan administered area of Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Note: Line of Control replaced the cease-fire line in the Kashmir region after the Shimla agreement of 1972
Siachen Glacier: fighting on the world’s highest battlefield. more soldiers have died due to weather conditions than sporadic fighting
Indian military launched Operation Meghdoot in 1984 to prevent Pakistan from establishing a base. secured 900 sq miles claimed by Pakistan. : now within the Line of Control.
Post-2005 Earthquake: routes opened at border allowing barter trade.
Operation Gibraltar: Islamic militants supported by Pakistani forces infiltrated the Line of Control. further infiltration during the 1989 intifada
in 2004, border fence setup which reduced infiltration by 80%.
Indo-Bangladeshi Border
initially disputed region between India and East Pakistan: affected fishermen.
Bagge Tribunal resolved the boundary dispute.
issues continued with the emergence of Bangladesh.
Northeast and Chittagong Hill Tracts
Bangladesh meets Myanmar in the South + India meets Bangladesh and Myanmar in the North.
Hill tracts are ideal for guerilla training. many indigenours groups collectively known as Jumma included east Pakistan and these groups were repressed. india then supported the Jumma guerilla army in its actions against the Bangladeshi force
In Assam, Tripura and Nagaland, rebel tribal groups fought for secession from India.
Post-Bangladeshi independence:
Chittagong Hill tracts closed to Indian tribal insurgents.
Naga groups received training from China and arms via Bhutan. However, Bhutan then launched an operation against them and killed many militiants due to Indian pressure. (Operation All Clear)
Maritime boundaries
Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait: narrow sea passage between India and Sri Lanka. Buddhism brought to Sri Lanka previously via land bridge in 6th century BCE.
significant Tamil labor migration to work in tea plantations in Sri Lanka in the1870s
Sri Lanka is near major Indian sea lanes + pro-West Sri Lankan Leaders: this threatened the security interests of India
Chapter 3: South Asian Diasporas
imperial economy’s demand for labour on tea, sugar, rubber plantations:
coolie labour in Ceylon, Burma, Malaysia
contract labour and indentured servitude in Caribbean and Indian Oceans to replace former African slaves after slavery was banned in 1833.
Gujarati Patels mainly in Zanzibar and Chettiar moneylenders in Burma.
Saya San rebellion due to Burmese resentment against swindling Chettiars.
Postcolonial patterns of migration
Decolonisation
ethnic conflict in Kenya and expelling of Indians in Uganda led to twice migrants: exodus to Britain.
ethnic conflict in postcolonial Sri Lanka
2 million Tamils fleeing abroad. poorer refugees returned to tamil nadu and the wealthy went to Canada and the UK.
note: Colombo claimed that the growing number of overseas Tamils were economic migrants who had opportunistically passed themselves off as asylum seekers.
rise of oil-rich Arab countries
capital rich but labour scarce. migrant workers from subcontinent and Indonesia and Sri Lanka employed.
the role of debt in recruitment and spartan conditions of the workers carry echoes of the indentured labour system.
recruitment of skilled graduates by developed countries.
Chapter 4: British Rule
1765: Administration of Bengal was granted to the East India Company by the Mughal ruler Shah Alam.: Robert Clive was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency
French and British East India Companies supported different claims to the succession of a number of post-Mughal states setting the scene for Clive’s triumphs at Arcot.
Post Bengal: Company continued to terminate French and Dutch influence.
The collision between an expanding Company and expansive Burmese Monarchy led to the first two Anglo Burmese wars: 1824-26 and 1852.
By the end, Assam, Nagaland and Arakan were Company territories.
period ended with the 1857 revolt.
Company’s rise to power
Mughal decline brought on by succession struggles: 1712-1720.
decentralisation of Mughal power led to pre Company mercantile trading and commercial interests by Hindu banking clans.
Note: parallel decline of Ottoman and Safavid empires have similar political orders of being unsettled by rise of regional mercantile classes in Egypt.: dispels notioni of EIC’s rise to power in the context of political decline.
These mercantiles were in fact allies in the transition to colonialism. David Washbrook claims then that colonialism was a natural consequence of South Asia’s own capitalistic development.
however, this narrative plays down the violence accompanied by EIC’s rise. eg. Mysore struggle was due to EIC’s might over French rivals.
Company rule
only paid lip service to the ritual notion of Mughal overlordship, in reality acting on the principle of absolute rather than devolved sovereignty.
utilitarianism and evangelical protests; intervened in the practice of sati. opposition from traditionalist but support from Roy.
+ aimed to eradicate Thuggee who preyed on travellers: symbol of pax Britannica and surveillance powers.
Thugee was actually a response to socio-economic transformations arising from EIC.
Hoped for education to weaken religious traditions and social hierarchies.
rather than having a liberal effect, English medium higher education reinforced regional, social and gender inequalities.
1857 revolt
Koli uprising in 1831-32 and Santhal uprising in 1855-56
the civilian revolt that accompanied the 1857 revolt reflected an urge to restore the past: final attempt by transitional India to halt the modernizing impact of colonial rule. rebels’ allegiance to Mughal emperor Shah Bahadur. However western educated elites were loyal to the company due to material interests.
EIC ultimately triumphed as they called upon Sikhs and Muslim Rajputs in recently annexed Punjab.
It took the remainder of 1857 and the better part of 1858 for the rebellion to be suppressed in Jhansi, Lucknow, and especially the Awadh countryside.
Chap 5: High Noon of Empire
Post Mutiny: 1858 Government of India Act formalized transition from Company to British rule. Governor General or Viceroy answerable to Parliament.
Education was starved of funds to maintain the army due to the fear of another mutiny.
Elites became progressively alienated from a state that limited their opportunities.
railway development: Khyber Pass railway to allow easier movement of troops.
railways also contributed to famines of the second half of the 19th century, both by encouraging the growth of cash crops rather than food crops and by increasing the numbers of landless poor, who starved to death when food became scarce. Contributed to environmental deterioration too.
Census operation: lumped Untouchables from different regions and communities into a single social category.
codification and elevation of Brahminical practices over local custom and practice made Indian society more knowable and hence more controllable from the British perspective. This provided Brahmins with an opportunity to consolidate their position in the social hierarchy.
Social conditions:
Brits lived in large plots of land and had separate servants' quarters to separate themselves from chaotic and disease-ridden India.
Indian Universities Act of 1904: legislation reduced the autonomy of universities by instituting greater government control over their senate and their territorial jurisdiction.
Curzon decided to partition Bengal and denied that this was an attempt at divide and rule (Hindu majority west Bengal and Muslim majority east Bengal and Assam)
led to the Swadeshi movement (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swadeshi_movement) and reinforcement of nationalist attitudes which were Hinducentric and alienated Muslims.
Chapter Six: Indians and the Raj
Indian capitalist communities that exerted influence on the political economy of independence
Steel and Tata company + cheap labour in Jamshedpur: laid the foundation for Indian iron and steel industry. indicator of Bangalore’s leading role as well as Parsi influence on capitalist development of india
Wadia group
Marwari enterprise: from western rajasthan: challenged parsis’ long established hold in textile manufacture.
Future developments:
GD Birla: close relationship with Gandhi. funded Congress and Hindustan times. strengthened conservative elements in congress which made Nehru water down his radical leftist stance.
Later: big business’ support for state-led capitalist development + trauma of partition completed the process of “narrowing down Indian nationalism from its earlier transnational “imagining” to a territorialized conception that was strongly influenced by a legal-juridical approach to citizenship.
both Birla and JD Tata exercised an important influence on the political economy of Partition: a strong central government that would manage phased industrialisation.
Cultural and Community Associations
the emergence of Indian National Congress roots lay in associations in the presidencies of Madras, Bombay and Bengal. Associations represented the interests of western-educated elites. Initially regional and later national.
Impetus: civil service entrance exams age limit to 19: only possible if one spent their entire academic life in England.
the final push came with resistance from English residents to the attempt by liberal Ripon viceroyalty to enable Indian judges to preside over cases involving Europeans.
The government saw the need for Indian representation. Founding members of INC mostly western educated. Muslims were underrepresented and this set a pattern for Muslim underrepresentation and contributed to the creation of a separate Muslim political organisation.
The INC ultimately sought a larger role for Indians within the government but not a complete break with Britain.
Adopted primarily Hinducentric nationalist views
Formation of All India Muslim League
rooted in north Indian Muslim response to loss of political power and in the resurgence of Hindu nationalism.
UP (United Provinces) region had 15% Muslim population and was the site of political mobilisation of Hindus in the Hindi-Urdu language controversy and 1892 anti-cow killing riots.
against the backdrop of Hindu centric INC, Agha Khan met Viceroy Lord Minto in 1906 and pressed for Muslim political representation
That's it for today. Stay tuned for part 2 where we will discover anticolonial struggles, Partition and its aftermath.
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