HIST 259

HIST 259: The Indian Nation
Spring 2002
Professor Vijay Pinch

India is the largest democracy in the world, with a vivid past, a challenging present, and a promising future. This introductory survey course examines the evolution of Indian nationalism and the Indian nation-state, beginning with the rise of British imperial dominance in southern Asia in the eighteenth century and concluding with the economic, political, and social pressures on the subcontinent -- regional and national as well as international -- after independence and partition in 1947.

Readings will include diaries, memoirs, speeches, contemporary fiction, polemic, and historical analysis. We will also try to view a variety of documentary and feature film (in video and dvd format). The grade will be based on three papers, attendance and discussion, and a mid-term and final examination.

Readings will be drawn from the following (* = available at Atticus):

Hasan Shah, The Dancing Girl*
S. Bose and A. Jalal, Modern South Asia*
R. Kipling, Kim [*soon]
R. Tagore, Gora*
M. K. Gandhi, Autobiography [*in February]
T. Shinde, R. O'Hanlon, A Comparison Between Women and Men [*in February]
Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India*
V. S. Naipaul, India: A Million Mutinies Now [*maybe; used copies should be plentiful online]

In addition, one or two items will be made available in photocopy, including:

Sita Ram Pandey, From Sepoy to Subedar

And the following text can be consulted in the reference area Olin Library:

Historical Atlas of South Asia (ed. J. Schwartzberg) [HASA, 2 editions in reference area atlas cases]

Grade Calculation:

Two Exams: 40% (20% each), 21 February and 15 May
Three Papers: 50%

1 page, describe a commonplace event from the perspective of an invented character in early 19th-century north Indian military culture (5%), based on Shah and Pandey, due 5 March
4 pages, imperial identity (20%), based on Kipling, Tagore, and Gandhi, due 16 April
5 pages, memory, gender, and history (25%), based on Shinde/O'Hanlon, Butalia, and Naipaul, due 8 May

Attendance/Discussion: 10%
Map Exercise: 0%, but must be completed satisfactorily for course credit. Due 19 February

Office Hours: [PAC 323, x2399, wpinch@wesleyan.edu]

Wednesday 2:30 - 3:30, or by appointment

Date	Reading	Lecture/Discussion Topic
24 January	First session	Prolegomena
PART ONE	Bose and Jalal, Modern South Asia	Historical Narrative
29 January	Bose and Jalal, 1-56	Mughal India
31 January	Bose and Jalal, 57-75	Company Raj
5 February	Bose and Jalal, 76-125	Imperialism and Nationalism
7 February	Bose and Jalal, 126-145	Gandhi and his Detractors
12 February	Bose and Jalal, 146-200	The Road to Partition
14 February	Bose and Jalal, 201-244	India Unbound
19 February	Map Exercise Due	Review
21 February	Mid-term Examination, in class
PART TWO	Autobiography and Fiction	Problems of Identity
26 February	Shah, Nashtar
28 February	Pandey, From Sepoy to Subedar
5 March	Pandey, From Sepoy to Subedar
5 March	Part Two Paper #1 Due, in class	Autobiohistorical Fiction
7 March
25 March	Kipling, Kim
27 March
2 April	Tagore, Gora
4 April
9 April	Gandhi, Autobiography
11 April
16 April	Part Two Paper #2 Due, 9 a.m., History Alcove	*What did it mean to be Indian* in 1900? What did it mean to be British?**
PART THREE	Memoir	History and Memory
18 April	Shinde, A Comparison Between Women and Men
23 April
25 April	Butalia, Other Side of Silence
30 April
2 May	Naipaul, India: Million Mutinies Now
7 May
8 May	Part Three Paper Due, 9 a.m., History Alcove	How does memory inform history? Does gender matter? How does religion influence one's perception of the past?
15 May	FINAL EXAM according to Registrar's Schedule	2-5 p.m.