THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : History

Undergraduate Course: India 1700 - 1947: Raj, Rebellion and Ryot (HIST10039)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryAn introduction to the history of South Asia from the late seventeenth century up to Independence from a 'post-orientalist' and 'subaltern' perspective.
Course description This course will provide an introduction to the modern history of South Asia from a 'post-orientalist' and 'subaltern' perspective. The focus will be on the new revisionist interpretations of late Mughal India, and on the effects of subsequent developments on the lives of ordinary Indians, including the impact of the advent of colonial rule over two-thirds of the subcontinent. The second half of the course will engage with the religious, cultural and socio- economic changes of the late colonial period and emergence of Indian nationalism. It will conclude with an examination of the holocaust of India's Partition, which apart from its death doll of one million, saw the largest single mass migration in human history.

The Indian subcontinent is approximately the same size and equally, if not more, diverse than Europe and host to one of the world's oldest civilisations. It has also played a crucial role in premodern and modern history and today encompasses one fifth of humanity. The emphasis of this course will be on India culture and politics of the early modern and colonial period, integrating these where appropriate with the study of changes in the society and political economy. All of these elements will be examined with the emphasis on indigenous perspectives, illustrated wherever possible with documents, films and writing from within the subcontinent, and in the light of recent research. The course stands on its own but also provides a useful background for those intending to proceed to study the 4MA History course on Gandhi and Popular Movements in India or other senior honours courses addressing the history of the non-Western and non-European world.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Secretary to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 504030).
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students must have 3 History courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Enrolments for this course are managed by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department. All enquiries to enrol must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework:
2,500 word Essay (35%)
3,500 word Essay (65%)
Feedback Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
  2. Read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
  3. Understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
  4. Develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
  5. Demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
Reading List
Crispin Bates - Subalterns and Raj: a history of South Asia since 1600, (London: Routledge, 2007)

C.A. Bayly - Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire (New Cambridge History of India) (Cambridge: CUP, 1988).

Seema Alavi (ed.) - The Eighteenth Century in India (Debates in Indian History & Society), (New Delhi: OUP, 2002).

Lata Mani - Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India, 1780-1833, (Berkeley: University California Press, 1998)

Radhika Singha - A Despotism of Law: Crime and Justice in Early Colonial India (New Delhi: OUP, 2000)

Rudrangshu Mukherjee - '"Satan Let Loose upon Earth": the Kanpur Massacres in the revolt of 1857', Past & Present, 128 (1990)

Ranajit Guha - Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency (New Delhi, 1983)

Tirthankar Roy - The Economic History of India, 1857-1947, 3rd edition (New Delhi: OUP, 2011)

Bernard Cohn - 'Representing Authority in Victorian India' in T. Ranger and E. Hobsbawm (eds.), The Invention of Tradition, (Cambridge: CUP, 1983)

Gyan Pandey - The Construction of Communalism in Colonial North India, (Oxford: OUP, 1992)

Yasmin Khan - The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan, (New Haven: Yale, 2007).
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsIndia
Contacts
Course organiserDr Kate Boehme
Tel: (0131 6)50 4620
Email: Kate.Boehme@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Katy Robinson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3780
Email: krobins3@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information