Between 1700 and 1885 the British became the paramount power on the Indian subcontinent, their authority extending from Sri Lankain the south to the Himalayasin the north. It was a massive empire, inspiring both pride and anxiety amongst the British, and forcing change upon and disrupting the lives of its Indian subjects. Yet it is not simply a history of conquest and subjugation, or dominance and defeat: interaction and interdependency powerfully shaped the histories of all involved. The end result was a hybrid empire. India may have become by 1885 the jewel in the British crown, but by that same year a series of changes had occurred within Indian society that would set the foundations for the modern states of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This book provides a concise introduction to these dramatic changes.

This volume looks at how India was first acquired by the British and takes the story through to the origins of the Indian National Congress. It deals with the Indian Mutiny and its consequences, and aims to explore how far race and gender influenced the colonial relationship.

For the first century-and-a-half of its nearly 275 year existence, the English East India Company remained ostensibly a mercantile enterprise, satisfied to simply trade and to compete with other European traders. In the middle of the eighteenth century, as a response to French expansion in India, the East India Company redefined itself, becoming an active participant in India's 'game of thrones'. This book charts that transition. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

This book examines the economic gains and social costs of agrarian transformation in India. The author looks at three phases of agrarian transformation: colonial, post- colonial, and neoliberal. This work combines macro and micro economic data, economic and noneconomic phenomena, and quantitative and qualitative aspects while exploring the context of historical and contemporary changes with special reference to Maharashtra in western India. It discusses regional disparities in agricultural development, issues of modernisation and social inequality, land owning among scheduled castes and tribes, women in agriculture, pattern of labour migration and farmer’s suicides, and documents the experiences and conditions of the rural poor and socially weaker sections to provide a comprehensive understanding of the significant changes in agrarian rural economy of western India. It also discusses contemporary development policy and practices and their consequences. Lucid and topical, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of agrarian studies, rural sociology, social history, agricultural economics, development studies, political economy, political studies, and public policy, as well as planning and policy experts.

The First British Empire is an authoritative, highly readable and substantial account of the origins, growth and transformation of the British Empire from its European beginnings until the aftermath of the American Revolution.

Communication and the Globalization of Culture: Beyond Tradition and Borders, by Shaheed Nick Mohammed, examines the modern and historical evolution of conceptualizations of culture as well as the concept of culture itself. The book suggests that modern corporate globalized me...

"The US has the power to shape the geopolitical future of this century. We must stop obsessing about China alone and actively encourage India's enormous potential to balance China's power. India, China, and the US will be the twenty-first century's dynamic triumvirate. The axial shift of world power from the United States and Europe to China and India is unrelenting. By 2030, intelligence agencies estimate that Asia will surpass the combined power of North America and Europe in economic might, population size, and military spending. From a front row seat Anja Manuel argues and demonstrates that India has the assets and structure to grow democratically to full strength and balance the Chinese hegemony and aggression while it takes its proper place in leadership with India and the US. In This Brave New World, Manuel takes the reader along on her business trips as she meets leaders and counts the assets and deficiencies of the two giant countries. India has a youthful, English-speaking population and democratic traditions, but it is inefficient, misogynist, and often corrupt. China has an aging population, no tradition of citizen rule, an ideological central government, and is ruthlessly expansionist. India's democratic system slows it down; China's centralized authority races it erratically. Balancing these giants is the key to a prosperous and open global system and America's opportunity to maintain its world power. In the present and near future the US's aim should be to embrace the inevitable rise of India and China and with them continue to lead the global governance. We must stop our handwringing about China's rise and focus instead, warns Manuel, on forging harmonious relationships with both giants, to create this brave new world"--

This book explores the deep roots of modern democracy, focusing on geography and long-term patterns of global diffusion. Its geographic argument centers on access to the sea, afforded by natural harbors which enhance the mobility of people, goods, capital, and ideas. The extraordinary connectivity of harbor regions thereby affected economic development, the structure of the military, statebuilding, and openness to the world – and, through these pathways, the development of representative democracy. The authors' second argument focuses on the global diffusion of representative democracy. Beginning around 1500, Europeans started to populate distant places abroad. Where Europeans were numerous they established some form of representative democracy, often with restrictions limiting suffrage to those of European heritage. Where they were in the minority, Europeans were more reticent about popular rule and often actively resisted democratization. Where Europeans were entirely absent, the concept of representative democracy was unfamiliar and its practice undeveloped.

This book explores the life and times of the pioneering Indian sociologist Benoy Kumar Sarkar. It locates him simultaneously in the intellectual history of India and the political history of the world in the twentieth century. It focuses on the development and implications of Sarkar’s thinking on race, gender, governance and nationhood in a changing context. A penetrating portrait of Sarkar and his age, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of modern Indian history, sociology, and politics.

This thoughtful and engaging book offers the first extended analysis of coups, a central factor shaping world history and politics. Ivan Perkins introduces a new theory to explain why a military coup or revolution is such an unthinkable prospect in advanced democracies. Focusing especially on the first three coup-free states—the Venetian Republic, Great Britain, and the United States—the book traces the evolutionary origins of political violence and the historical rise of republican government. Perkins concludes with a new explanation for the “democratic peace” and shows why coup-free states form enduring alliances.