Postgraduate Course: Entangled Histories: Europe and India from 1750 to 1947 (online) (PGHC11640)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Entangled Histories explores the momentous and often troubled relationship between Europe and India in the modern era (1750 to 1947). We incorporate and then go beyond nation-centred history to explore the transnational networks of people and ideas that shaped Europe's encounter with India, whose legacies still shape our world today. |
| Course description |
Entangled Histories traces the modern encounter of Europe and India, beginning in the 1750s with the spread of East India Company influence across the subcontinent. Alongside trading, taxing and fighting, the EIC oversaw an era - that of 'Company Raj' - marked by momentous cultural exchange, across fields including law, language, religion, philosophy and medicine. 'Nations' were undoubtedly involved in these exchanges, in the sense that national and regional politics, military power and corporate self-images all played a part. But on this course, we also take a 'global history' view: looking at how particular networks, such as those involving Indian and European translators and disseminators of Indian ideas in medicine and philosophy, emerged and had their impact within this larger political context.
In this way, and again when we move from Company Raj to 'Crown Raj' from the 1850s onwards, students will be encouraged to see the same period through differing, complementary lenses. Attending to networks does not mean that we emphasise co-operation while ignoring conflict and discrimination. India's encounter with Europe was marked both by collaboration and contest - before, during and after the Indian Uprising of 1857-8. One of the most important figures encountered on the course, M.K. Gandhi, was notable both for turning Europe's idealised self-image into a weapon against it and for reinforcing caste politics: a fascinating and important example of 'entanglement.' By the end of the course, students will have developed a nuanced appreciation of this critical phase in Indo-European relations.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Online Activities 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
80 %,
Practical Exam
20 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
4000-word essay (80%)
Non-Written Skills:
Discussion forum participation (20%) |
| Feedback |
Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Analyse European-Indian interactions as mutual and relational.
- Situate modern Indian history within global intellectual and imperial contexts.
- Critically engage with historiography on empire, nationalism, and global history.
- Analyse a diverse range of primary sources.
- Plan and execute a substantial written analysis.
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Reading List
Kris Manjapra, Age of Entanglement (2014)
Wilhelm Halbfass, India and Europe: An Essay in Understanding (1988)
Sugata Bose & Kris Manjapra (eds), Cosmopolitan Thought Zones (2010)
Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Connected Histories: Essays and Arguments (2022)
Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and Its Fragments (1993)
John Zavos, Religion and the Making of Modern India (2014) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The ability to accurately synthesise significant amounts of new information on unfamiliar topics.
The ability to evaluate historical sources in order to draw valid conclusions about the past.
The ability to participate in scholarly debates by identifying and assessing competing lines of argumentation in oral and written forms.
The ability to produce a sustained and effective analysis of a difficult research problem.
The ability to test, modify and strengthen one's own views through collaboration and debate. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Christopher Harding
Tel: (0131 6)50 9960
Email: Christopher.Harding@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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