Imperial connections : India in the Indian Ocean arena, 1860-1920 / Thomas R. Metcalf.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Metcalf, Thomas R., 1934-

Series:

California world history library ; 4.

The California world history library ; 4

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

India. Army--Colonial forces--Indian Ocean Region.

India.

East Indians--Colonization--Indian Ocean Region--History.

East Indians.

East Indians--Employment--Indian Ocean Region--History.

Indian Ocean Region--Colonization--History.

Indian Ocean Region.

Great Britain--Colonies--Africa--Administration.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Colonies--Asia--Administration.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (285 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

An innovative remapping of empire, Imperial Connections offers a broad-ranging view of the workings of the British Empire in the period when the India of the Raj stood at the center of a newly globalized system of trade, investment, and migration. Thomas R. Metcalf argues that India itself became a nexus of imperial power that made possible British conquest, control, and governance across a wide arc of territory stretching from Africa to eastern Asia. His book, offering a new perspective on how imperialism operates, emphasizes transcolonial interactions and webs of influence that advanced the interests of colonial India and Britain alike. Metcalf examines such topics as law codes and administrative forms as they were shaped by Indian precedents; the Indian Army's role in securing Malaya, Africa, and Mesopotamia for the empire; the employment of Indians, especially Sikhs, in colonial policing; and the transformation of East Africa into what was almost a province of India through the construction of the Uganda railway. He concludes with a look at the decline of this Indian Ocean system after 1920 and considers how far India's participation in it opened opportunities for Indians to be a colonizing as well as a colonized people.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Introduction: Empire Recentered

1. Governing Colonial Peoples

2. Constructing Identities

3. Projecting Power: The Indian Army Overseas

4. Recruiting Sikhs for Colonial Police and Military

5. "Hard Hands and Sound Healthy Bodies": Recruiting "Coolies" for Natal

6. India in East Africa

Conclusion

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612762239

9781282762237

1282762230

9780520933330

0520933338

9781433709692

1433709694

OCLC:

134947959