South India 1770–1840: The Colonial Transition

Readers in the historiography of colonial south India have every reason to feel puzzled by the answers available to even the most straightforward of questions. Was the colonial conquest achieved through the imposition of ‘superior’ European arms, technology and ideology or was it more in the nature...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Modern Asian studies 2004-07, Vol.38 (3), p.479-516
Main Author: WASHBROOK, DAVID
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asian studies
British Empire
Business structures
Colonial history
Colonialism
Colonies & territories
Elites
Hindus
Historical anthropology
Historicism
Historiography
History
Imperialism
India
Indian culture
Mercantilism
Peasant class
Political discourse
Regional studies
Revenue
Social Relations
Social structure
South Asia
Theoretical Problems
United Kingdom
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Summary:Readers in the historiography of colonial south India have every reason to feel puzzled by the answers available to even the most straightforward of questions. Was the colonial conquest achieved through the imposition of ‘superior’ European arms, technology and ideology or was it more in the nature of an internal subversion of the pre-existing Indian state system? Did British rule fundamentally alter the structures of South Indian society or did it rest lightly on top of pre-existing structures and serve to sustain established elites? Did it undermine the hold of ‘indigenous’ cultures on society or did it merely scratch their surface or even did it promote their revival?
ISSN:0026-749X
1469-8099
DOI:10.1017/S0026749X03001197