PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Department of History
Spring 2012

His 317
The Making of Modern India and Pakistan

 
 
Prof.  Gyan  Prakash  
217  Dickinson  Hall,  8-­‐5695  
prakash@princeton.edu  
 
This  is  an  introductory  course  in  modern  history  of  India  and  Pakistan.    Its  main  purpose  is  to  
explore,  in  the  context  of  South  Asian  history,  certain  broad  issues  relating  to  modernity  –  the  
emergence  of  modern  forms  of  politics,  the  construction  of  identities,  forms  of  cultural  
practices,  and  the  nature  and  effects  of  globalization,  etc.    Overall,  the  aim  of  the  course  is  to  
explore  the  historical  construction  of  modern  forms  of  life  and  thought  in  South  Asia.  With  
this  in  view,  the  course  traces  the  impact  of  colonial  and  postcolonial  transformations.  We  
situate  these  transformations  in  the  reformulation  of  cultural  traditions,  collective  identities,  
and  society;  in  the  growth  of  "communal"  conflicts  between  Hindus  and  Muslims;  in  the  rise  of  
nationalism  and  the  establishment  of  nation-­‐states  on  the  subcontinent,  and  in  their  
postcolonial  politics,  economics,  and  culture.  
 
Requirements:  Mid-­‐term,  Final,  and  a  paper.  
 
READINGS:  
   
Books:  
M.K.  Gandhi,  Hind  Swaraj    
Mohammed  Hanif,  The  Case  of  Exploding  Mangoes  
Rokeya  Sakhawat  Hossain,  Sultana's  Dream  
Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  A  Concise  History  of  India  
Basharat  Peer,  Curfewed  Nights  
Gyan  Prakash,  Mumbai  Fables  
 
 
*  Readings  posted  on  Blackboard    
 
Schedule  
 
FEB  6:  Introduction:  South  Asia  in  Historical  Perspective  
FEB  8:  From  Mughal  India  to  Company  Conquest  
Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Chs.1  &  2;  *"The  Muslim  Ruler  in  India”;  *Bernard  Cohn,  “Law  and  
the  Colonial  State  in  India.”  
  
FEB  13:  Company  Rule  
FEB  15:  Liberal  Imperialism  &  Hindu  “Renaissance”    
Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Ch.  3;  *Governor  Lord  William  Bentinck’s  Minute  on  Sati;  
*Macaulay’s  Minute  on  Education;  *A  Petition  of  Hindus  from  Calcutta  against  the  
Abolition  of  Sati;  *Ram  Mohun  Roy  –  On  Europeans,  The  Brahmunical  Magazine,  
Conference,  Abstract;  *Lata  Mani,  “Contentious  Traditions.”  
 
FEB  20:  Subaltern  Insurgencies    
FEB  22:  Colonial  Economy  and  Society  
Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Ch.  4;  *Azamgarh  Declaration;  *  Gautam  Bhadra,  “Four  Rebels  of  
Eighteen  Fifty-­‐Seven”;  Mumbai  Fables,  Ch.2.  
 
FEB  27:  Languages  of  Politics    
FEB  29:    The  Cultural  Politics  of  Modernity  
  Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Ch.  5;  Sultana's  Dream;  *Barbara  Metcalf,  “Reading  and  Writing  
About  Muslim  Women  in  British  India”;  *Chatterjee,  “The  Nation  and  its  Women.”  
 
MARCH  5:  Gandhi:  South  Africa  to  India      
MARCH  7:  Gandhian  Nationalism  
Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Ch.  6;  Hind  Swaraj;  *Nehru,  The  Discovery  of  India  (Selections)    
 
MARCH  12:  The  Nation  and  its  Fragments:  Caste  and  Class  
*Ambedkar,  What  Congress  and  Gandhi  have  done  to  the  Untouchables;  *Amin,  
“Gandhi  as  Mahatma.”  
 
MARCH  14:  Mid-­‐term  
 
 
SPRING  BREAK  
 
 
MARCH  26:    Hindus  and  Muslims  
MARCH  28:  Independence  and  Partition    
Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Ch.  7;  *Political  Awakening  in  India;  *Jinnah;  *Manto,  Mottled  
Dawn;  Mumbai  Fables,  Ch.  4.  
 
APRIL  2:  Democracy  and  Development  in  India    
APRIL  4:  Nationalism  and  Dictatorship  in  Pakistan  
  Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Ch.  8;  *Nehru;  *Manto,“Letters  to  Uncle  Sam;”  *Jaffrelot,  
“Nationalism  without  a  Nation”;  *Jaffrelot,  “India  and  Pakistan”  
 
APRIL  9:  Populism  &  Authoritarianism  on  the  Subcontinent  
APRIL  11:  Pakistan:  From  Islamic  Republic  to  Islamic  State  
   Mumbai  Fables,  Chs.  5  &  6;  *Haqqani;  *Jalal  
 
APRIL  16:  Caste  and  Democracy    
APRIL  18:  Hindu  Nationalism  and  the  challenge  to  the  secular  nation-­‐state  
Metcalf  &  Metcalf,  Ch.  9;  *Nandy;  *Naim;  *Joshi;  *Pandian;  *Illiah;  *Jaffrelot,  “The  2002  
Pogrom”  
 
APRIL  23:  Globalization:  Development  and  Dispossession    
APRIL  25:  Globalization:  The  New  Economy  of  Desire    
  Mumbai  Fables,  Chs.  8,9;  *Arundhati  Roy;  *Mazzarella;  *Mazumdar;    
 
APRIL  30:    Society,  Politics,  and  the  State  on  the  Subcontinent    
MAY  2:    Summing  up  
  *Zia  Mian;  *Hoodbhoy  &  Mian;  Basharat  Peer,  Curfewed  Nights.  
 
FINAL  ASSIGNMENT  REQUIREMENT  AND  OPTIONS  
 
There  is  a  final  assignment  requirement,  which  can  be  fulfilled  by  any  of  the  following  options:  
 
1. Write  a  paper  (8-­‐10  pages)  based  on  Mohammed  Hanif’s  The  Case  of  Exploding  
Mangoes.  This  is  not  to  be  a  book  review,  but  a  paper  that  describes  and  analyzes  the  
novel  as  a  historical  representation  of  Pakistan  under  General  Zia.  The  idea  is  not  to  
determine  whether  or  not  the  novel  reflects  actual  history,  but  how  it  portrays  
Pakistan  under  General  Zia,  how  the  narrative  and  the  characters  history  offer  a  
particular  interpretation  of  Pakistan’s  history.    
 
2. Write  a  paper  (8-­‐10  pages)  on  one  of  the  themes  of  the  course.