The Last Years Of British India

A study of how and why Britain's Indian empire subsided into history, August 14, 1947. Places the event and issues in their proper historical context.

British India generated the largest imperial archive in the world. From the stacks of administrative reports, minutes, instruction manuals, memoirs, letters, reports, cook-books and travelogues the British left behind,

This book traces the growth of Indian National movements and British policy. In the context of their origins in earlier centuries, Dr. Pandey provides a lucid analysis of the economic and social developments that took place during the last forty years of the British Raj. The first three chapters investigate the structure of the British Raj, its administration, its relations with the British government, and its policies. They trace the emergence of both Indian nationalism and Muslim separatism and examine the causes of the latter's rapid growth. The following chapters objectively interpret the story of the triangular struggle between colonialism, communalism, and nationalism from 1910 to 1947. In this part of the book, the author explains how the independence as well as the partition of India became inevitable, and shows a clear perception of the character of the few men in whose hands lay the fate of milliions- Gandhi, the Nehrus, Patel, Jinnah, Linlithgow, Wavell, and the last Viceroy Mountbatten -- Provided by publisher.

The British in this book lived in India from shortly a er the reign of Elizabeth I until well into the reign of Elizabeth II. Who were they? What drove these men and women to risk their lives on long voyages down the Atlantic and across the Indian Ocean or later via the Suez Canal? And when they got to India, what did they do and how did they live? This book explores the lives of the many different sorts of Briton who went to India: viceroys and offcials, soldiers and missionaries, planters and foresters, merchants, engineers, teachers and doctors. It evokes the three and a half centuries of their ambitions and experiences, together with the lives of their families, recording the diversity of their work and their leisure, and the complexity of their relationships with the peoples of India. It also describes the lives of many who did not t in with the usual image of the Raj: the tramps and rascals, the men who 'went native', the women who scorned the role of the traditional memsahib. David Gilmour has spent decades researching in archives, studying the papers of many people who have never been written about before, to create a magni cent tapestry of British life in India. is exceptional work of scholarly recovery portrays individuals with understanding and humour, and makes an original and engaging contribution to a long and important period of British and Indian history.

This is the brilliantly told story of one of the wonders of the modern world - how in less than a hundred years the British made themselves masters of India. They ruled it for another hundred, departing in 1947, leaving behind the independent states of India and Pakistan. British rule taught Indians to see themselves as Indians and its benefits included railways, hospitals, law and a universal language. But the Raj, outwardly so monolithic and magnificent, was always precarious. Its masters knew that it rested ultimately on the goodwill of Indians. This is a new look at a subject rich in incident and character; the India of the Raj was that of Clive, Kipling, Curzon and Gandhi and a host of lesser known others. RAJ will provoke debate, for it sheds new light on Mountbatten and the events of 1946-47 which ended an exercise in benign autocracy and an experiment in altruism.

Ranging from the fall of Singapore in 1942 to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, this text provides a vivid behind-the-scenes look at Britain's decision to divest itself from the crown jewel of its empire. Wolpert, a leading authority on Indian history, paints memorable portraits of all the key participants.

Inglorious Empire' tells the real story of the British in India from the arrival of the East India Company to the end of the Raj, revealing how Britain's rise was built upon its plunder of India. In the eighteenth century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism, and caused millions to die from starvation. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial "gift" - from the railways to the rule of law -was designed in Britain's interests alone. He goes on to show how Britain's Industrial Revolution was founded on India's deindustrialisation, and the destruction of its textile industry.

With over 5,000 entries, this book provides information on the men and women who played a significant role in British India from 1583 to 1947. In addition to military and governmental leaders, the book includes entries on leaders in business, the church and missions, art and literature, and science and medicine. An effort has also been made to include the women who played an important role in India. The only other reference work on the subject, Buckland's Dictionary of Indian Biography, was published in 1906. This book updates that work, covering the last 40 years of the British Raj, and provides more balanced coverage of types of leaders.