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: Gandhi and Popular Movements in India 1915-1950 (HIST10092)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits40 ECTS Credits20
SummaryA critical study of the role of elite leadership and popular movements in the struggle towards independence in India and Pakistan.
Course description This course enquires into the role played by the ideology and leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in India's struggle for independence. In addition the neglected but equally important part played by social, revolutionary and peasant-based movements in this period will be examined. The course will focus attention on an important period in modern Indian history and by its structure will highlight new perspectives in historical writing on India which have been a source of considerable debate of late. In particular the validity of 'official' accounts of recent Indian history - whether written from a nationalist or a colonialist perspective - has been contested in what is now developing into a voluminous re-interpretative literature. This course will therefore survey the conventional historiography concerning the influence of British constitutional initiatives, caste associations, political factions and prominent national leaders - particularly Mahatma Gandhi - in the independence movement. At the same time it will examine a range of new writing on Indian history which analyses the disparate, unorganised and sometimes violent, 'grassroots', and popular movements which played an equally important role in undermining colonial rule.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements A pass in 40 credits of third level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Administrator to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 504030).
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  0
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 400 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 44, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 348 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework:
2 x 4,500 word Essay (50% each)

Formative exercises:
Primary Source Exercise - Gobbet
Presentations
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 an understanding and critical perspective on the history of the Indian independence movement, relevant comparisons with nationalist movements elsewhere in the world, and a practical awareness of cultural differences;
  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
Talat Ahmed, Mohandas Gandhi: Experiments in Civil Disobedience, (London: Pluto Publishers, Chicago: University of Chicago, 2019)
Crispin Bates, Subalterns and Raj: South Asia since 1600 (London: Routledge, 2007)
B. Chandra et al, India's Struggle for Independence (New Delhi: Penguin, 1988, 1989)
Joseph Lelyveld, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India (New York: Knopf Publishing, 2011)
R. Dayal (ed.), We Fought Together for Freedom: chapters from the Indian National movement (New Delhi: OUP 1995) OUP 1995)
D. N. Dhanagare, Peasant Movements in India (New Delhi: OUP, 1983)
R. Guha (ed.), Selected Subaltern Studies 1986-1995 (New York: OUP, 1988)
Ramchandra Guha, Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1948, (London: Allen Lane, 2018)
J.M. Brown & A. Parel (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Gandhi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011)
David Arnold, Gandhi (Profiles in Power) (London: Longman, 2001)
David Hardiman, Gandhi in his Time and Ours: the global legacy of his ideas (London: Hurst & Co, 2003)
Claude Markovits, The UnGandhian Gandhi (London: Anthem Press, 2004)
Stanley Wolpert, Jinnah of Pakistan (New Delhi: OUP, 1988)
Leonard A. Gordon, Brothers Against the Raj (New York, Col. U.P., 1990)
Ben Zachariah, Nehru (London: Routledge, 2003)
Christophe Jaffrelot, Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability: Fighting the Indian Caste System (Columbia University, 2004)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsGandhi
Contacts
Course organiserDr Talat Ahmed
Tel: (0131 6)50 3775
Email: T.Ahmed@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Katherine Perry
Tel:
Email: kperry2@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