On time : encounters between India and Europe in early Calcutta / Peter Robb.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Robb, Peter (Peter G.), Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Time--Social aspects--India--Kolkata--History.

Time.

Time--Systems and standards--India.

Time--Systems and standards--Great Britain.

East India Company.

Kolkata (India)--History.

Kolkata (India).

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

Great Britain.

India--Civilization--British influences.

India.

India--History--British occupation, 1765-1947.

Physical Description:

viii, 190 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2026.

Summary:

"This book explores the intersection of public and private temporal systems. Examining Calcutta between 1780-1830, it reveals how time functioned as both a regulatory mechanism of emerging colonial governance and a deeply personal construct that continued to reflect pre-colonial norms and practices. The author navigates the complex temporal landscape of early colonial Calcutta, where European clock-based standardization encountered and coexisted with indigenous temporal frameworks. The analysis illuminates how time manifested across diverse contexts-from distance perception and collective memory to religious festivals, scientific endeavours, financial transactions, and labour relations. It assesses extensions of law, imperfections of policy, and both European and Indian reactions. Drawing upon a rich tapestry of sources, including the collection of Richard Blechynden's diaries and papers, this study offers unprecedented insight into the daily temporal experiences of both Europeans and Indians in a period when (as is argued) they foreshadowed major changes to come. It will be a significant reading for scholars and researchers of colonialism, South Asian history, India-England relations, temporal studies and modern Indian history"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Times and places

Recording time : Blechynden, Ananda Ranga Pillai; diaries as sources

Marking time : celebration and ceremony

Making time : readings and measurement

Borrowing time : debts and contracts

Using time : workers and wages

Regulating time : laws and norms

Time in context

Responding to time.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version Robb, Peter (Peter G.) On time

ISBN:

9781041225973

1041225970

9781041225966

1041225962

OCLC:

1548248963

Publisher Number:

90104427796