Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 198-200, June 2023.
Santosh Kumar Rai, Weaving Hierarchies: Handloom Weavers in Early Twentieth Century United Provinces (Delhi: Primus, 2021), xx + 515 pp., ₹1,595, ISBN: 9789390737758 (Hardback).
Shifting Narratives of Soil in Scientific Discourses of Colonial Assam Tea Plantations
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 129-145, June 2023.
With the establishment of tea plantations in Assam in the first half of the nineteenth century, colonial tea planters and scientists began to examine ways to profitably produce tea for a growing global market. Apart from the visible landscape alterations through mass deforestation, tea monocultures also surreptitiously effected considerable transformation on its immediate physical environment, particularly on the soil. This paper highlights how the question of soil came under the purview of the colonial tea scientists when over the years, consequently and inevitably, these plantations showed a decline in the quality and quantity of tea produced. As a result, the initial conviction in the fertility of Assam’s soil within the tea discourse began to be replaced with discussions that revealed how plantation cultivation of tea itself was at the root of these problems in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
With the establishment of tea plantations in Assam in the first half of the nineteenth century, colonial tea planters and scientists began to examine ways to profitably produce tea for a growing global market. Apart from the visible landscape alterations through mass deforestation, tea monocultures also surreptitiously effected considerable transformation on its immediate physical environment, particularly on the soil. This paper highlights how the question of soil came under the purview of the colonial tea scientists when over the years, consequently and inevitably, these plantations showed a decline in the quality and quantity of tea produced. As a result, the initial conviction in the fertility of Assam’s soil within the tea discourse began to be replaced with discussions that revealed how plantation cultivation of tea itself was at the root of these problems in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Temple Desecration in Pre-modern India and Indo-Muslim States: A Discussion Beyond Historiography
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 159-192, June 2023.
Recent articles on temple desecration in pre-modern India and Indo-Muslim states by Richard M. Eaton published in Frontlilne have contributed to the popular Western narratives about India and Indian history. There are many contested areas, misunderstandings and misinterpretations in Eaton’s deliberations on the problem arising out of the conventional historiographic method. Here, an attempt has been made to critically review some of the arguments of Eaton on temple desecration in pre-modern India in a wider methodological perspective, that is, beyond historiography. The historiographic evidence alone in interpreting Indian history may not be enough in view of the complexity of Indian situation, thus necessitating validation of historiography by careful application of contemporary ethnological evidence, circumstantial material evidence and specific Indian contextual situation.
Recent articles on temple desecration in pre-modern India and Indo-Muslim states by Richard M. Eaton published in Frontlilne have contributed to the popular Western narratives about India and Indian history. There are many contested areas, misunderstandings and misinterpretations in Eaton’s deliberations on the problem arising out of the conventional historiographic method. Here, an attempt has been made to critically review some of the arguments of Eaton on temple desecration in pre-modern India in a wider methodological perspective, that is, beyond historiography. The historiographic evidence alone in interpreting Indian history may not be enough in view of the complexity of Indian situation, thus necessitating validation of historiography by careful application of contemporary ethnological evidence, circumstantial material evidence and specific Indian contextual situation.
Book review: Jean-Francois Salles, Sources on the Gauda Period in Bengal: Essay in Archaeology
Indian Historical Review, Volume 50, Issue 1, Page 201-202, June 2023.
Jean-Francois Salles, Sources on the Gauda Period in Bengal: Essay in Archaeology (Delhi: Primus Book, 2020), xvi + 249 pp., ₹1,095, ISBN: 9789390022847 (Hardback).
Jean-Francois Salles, Sources on the Gauda Period in Bengal: Essay in Archaeology (Delhi: Primus Book, 2020), xvi + 249 pp., ₹1,095, ISBN: 9789390022847 (Hardback).
Editorial
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 2, Page 155-156, June 2023.
Soft Power in India’s Act East Policy: A Cambodian Perspective
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 2, Page 189-208, June 2023.
In the contemporary multipolar world order, great powers are on the rise. As they possess coercive hard power, they also tend to have persuasive soft power in international relations. Soft power has become one of the most important dimensions of the foreign policies of great powers. Over the past decades, the use of soft power in the Asian context has gained significant traction. As an emerging power, India has begun to realise the usefulness of its rich culture and ancient civilisation as an indispensable source of soft power in the practice of public diplomacy. Specifically, New Delhi has utilised soft power in its Act East Policy (AEP) towards Southeast Asia, where historical connections and cultural legacy are deep between the two regions. In this context, the article examines the concept of soft power and its implications in India’s AEP. It argues that rather than asserting influence on the recipient country, India’s soft power is instrumental in building its international image as a benign power in international politics. The article looks at Cambodia as a case study to see how India’s international image has been perceived in the Southeast Asian kingdom, given that both countries share strong cultural and civilisational links.
In the contemporary multipolar world order, great powers are on the rise. As they possess coercive hard power, they also tend to have persuasive soft power in international relations. Soft power has become one of the most important dimensions of the foreign policies of great powers. Over the past decades, the use of soft power in the Asian context has gained significant traction. As an emerging power, India has begun to realise the usefulness of its rich culture and ancient civilisation as an indispensable source of soft power in the practice of public diplomacy. Specifically, New Delhi has utilised soft power in its Act East Policy (AEP) towards Southeast Asia, where historical connections and cultural legacy are deep between the two regions. In this context, the article examines the concept of soft power and its implications in India’s AEP. It argues that rather than asserting influence on the recipient country, India’s soft power is instrumental in building its international image as a benign power in international politics. The article looks at Cambodia as a case study to see how India’s international image has been perceived in the Southeast Asian kingdom, given that both countries share strong cultural and civilisational links.
Book review: Nutan Kapoor Mahawar and Pragya Pandey (eds.), Roads, Winds, Spices in the Western Indian Ocean: The Memory and Geopolitics of Maritime Heritage
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 2, Page 275-279, June 2023.
Nutan Kapoor Mahawar and Pragya Pandey (eds.), Roads, Winds, Spices in the Western Indian Ocean: The Memory and Geopolitics of Maritime Heritage. Macmillan Publishers India Pvt Ltd and the Indian Council of World Affairs, 2022, pp. 262, ₹1895, ISBN-10: 9354552730, ISBN-13: 978-9354552731.
Nutan Kapoor Mahawar and Pragya Pandey (eds.), Roads, Winds, Spices in the Western Indian Ocean: The Memory and Geopolitics of Maritime Heritage. Macmillan Publishers India Pvt Ltd and the Indian Council of World Affairs, 2022, pp. 262, ₹1895, ISBN-10: 9354552730, ISBN-13: 978-9354552731.
Border Region Railway Development in Sino- Indian Geopolitical Competition
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 2, Page 209-222, June 2023.
India and China share about 3,488 km long International Boundary, which has three sectors: Western, Middle and Eastern. The Eastern sector comprises two Northeastern states, that is, Arunachal Pradesh measuring 1,124 kms and Sikkim measuring 219 kms, respectively. Due to recent changes in the geopolitical relationship with China, border management and transport infrastructure development have occupied centre stage. In recent years, the Government of India has taken initiatives to develop railway infrastructure in Northeast India. The study will focus on the role of railway transportation in Sino-Indian geopolitical competition. The study is based on secondary data collected from the office of General Manager, Northeast Frontier Railway, the Census of India and reports of Memorandums of Understanding between India and China. The study reveals that railway infrastructure along the border creates geo-psychological pressures on both countries, influencing the divergent geopolitical relationship between India and China. Railway diplomacy is a tool kit of critical geopolitics which reveals the contours of geopolitical competition in borderlands.
India and China share about 3,488 km long International Boundary, which has three sectors: Western, Middle and Eastern. The Eastern sector comprises two Northeastern states, that is, Arunachal Pradesh measuring 1,124 kms and Sikkim measuring 219 kms, respectively. Due to recent changes in the geopolitical relationship with China, border management and transport infrastructure development have occupied centre stage. In recent years, the Government of India has taken initiatives to develop railway infrastructure in Northeast India. The study will focus on the role of railway transportation in Sino-Indian geopolitical competition. The study is based on secondary data collected from the office of General Manager, Northeast Frontier Railway, the Census of India and reports of Memorandums of Understanding between India and China. The study reveals that railway infrastructure along the border creates geo-psychological pressures on both countries, influencing the divergent geopolitical relationship between India and China. Railway diplomacy is a tool kit of critical geopolitics which reveals the contours of geopolitical competition in borderlands.
Book review: Colin Beck, Mlada Bukovansky, Erica Chenoweth, George Lawson, Sharon Nepstad and Daniel Ritter, On Revolutions: Unruly Politics in the Contemporary World
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 2, Page 267-271, June 2023.
Colin Beck, Mlada Bukovansky, Erica Chenoweth, George Lawson, Sharon Nepstad and Daniel Ritter, On Revolutions: Unruly Politics in the Contemporary World. Oxford University Press, 2022, pp. 246, ₹2106. ISBN 978-0-19-763836-1 (paperback).
Colin Beck, Mlada Bukovansky, Erica Chenoweth, George Lawson, Sharon Nepstad and Daniel Ritter, On Revolutions: Unruly Politics in the Contemporary World. Oxford University Press, 2022, pp. 246, ₹2106. ISBN 978-0-19-763836-1 (paperback).
Book review: Sanjeev Kumar (ed.), China’s BRI in Different Regions of the World: Cooperation, Contradictions and Concerns
India Quarterly, Volume 79, Issue 2, Page 271-273, June 2023.
Sanjeev Kumar (ed.), China’s BRI in Different Regions of the World: Cooperation, Contradictions and Concerns. Indian Council of World Affairs and KW Publishers, 2022, pp. 398, ₹1299, ISBN: 978-93-83445-64-6.
Sanjeev Kumar (ed.), China’s BRI in Different Regions of the World: Cooperation, Contradictions and Concerns. Indian Council of World Affairs and KW Publishers, 2022, pp. 398, ₹1299, ISBN: 978-93-83445-64-6.