Nile Green's Islam and the Army in Colonial India is one of those rare works that inspires both admiration and envy. It is a study that cannot fail to impress its readers with its erudition and innovation, especially when reconciling seemingly incompatible official accounts preserved in the colonial archive with subaltern memories preserved in oral…

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Jessica Namakkal, author of the book, "Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India" In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Jessica Namakkal, author of the book, "Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India" Dr Jessica Namakkal is an assistant professor of the practice …

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Sana Haroon, author of the book, "The Mosques of Colonial South Asia: A Social and Legal History of Muslim Worship" Dr Sana Haroon is Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is a social historian with a particular interest in Muslim religious organi…

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Arvind Sharma, author of the book, "The Ruler's Gaze: A Study of British Rule Over India from a Saidian Perspective" Dr Arvind Sharma, longstanding professor of comparative religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, now takes up the Palestinian academic's groundbreaking ideas - originally put for…

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Himanshu Jha, author of the book, "Capturing Institutional Change: the Case of the Right to Information Act in India". Dr Himanshu Jha is a faculty in the Department of Political Science at the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany. His major interests could be located in the areas of poli…

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Ghee Bowman, author of the book, "The Indian Contingent: The Forgotten Muslim Soldiers of Dunkirk". Dr Ghee Bowman is a historian, teacher and storyteller based in Exeter, England. He has also worked in the theatre, for NGOs and in education in the UK and around the world. This book, his very first, spra…

Riaz Dean is an Engineer by profession and an independent scholar. He is also a member of the NZ Society of Authors and the NZ Cartographical Society. As the title suggests, the book is about the extraordinary explorers, spies and mapmakers who explored the vast region’s of Asia against the backdrop of imperial ambitions of powerful players like Ru…

Dr Raghav Kishore is a historian of Modern South Asia and his research has primarily focused on the transformation of urban governance under colonial rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The (Un)governable City: Productive Failure in the Making of Colonial Delhi, 1857-1911, examines the production of urban space and its relation to colon…

With his initial plans for an independent India in tatters, the desperate viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, turned to his senior-most Indian civil servant, Vappala Pangunni Menon—or VP—giving him a single night to devise an alternative, coherent and workable plan for independence. Menon met his stringent deadline, presenting the Menon Plan, which would ch…

Hello and Welcome everyone to India Colonised A Podcast dedicated to Sout Asia’s Colonial history. I am your host Omer Haq and today on our next episode of guftagu we have with us Dr Kate Imy. Kate Imy is a historian of culture and war in British colonial Asia. Her first book, Faithful Fighters: Identity and Power in the British Indian Army, examin…

In His groundbreaking study, SherAli Tareen presents the most comprehensive and theoretically engaged work to date on what is arguably the most long-running, complex, and contentious dispute in modern Islam: the Barelvī-Deobandī polemic. The Barelvī and Deobandī groups are two normative orientations/reform movements with beginnings in colonial Sout…

Playssey by Sudeep Chakravarti is an absolutely engaging and entertaining book, written with details of the intrigues vanity and unriddling the playing of economics and politics of the time, He has wonderfully delineated the cast of characters from the prejudiced and perceived conceptions. and dusted the layered narratives over centuries that have …

Today in our second Guftagu we have with us Dr Rohit De Discussing with us his book the People's Constituion- Law and Everyday Life in the Indian Republic (Princeton University Press) Rohit De is a lawyer and historian of modern South Asia and focuses on the legal history of the Indian subcontinent and the common law world. As a legal historian he …

Our special and first guest to our series of interviews- Guftagu Dr Diniyar Patel, is an Assistant Professor of History at the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai. Previously, he taught in the Department of History at the University of South Carolina. He teaches courses on modern South Asia, the Indian nationalist movement, and…

Imperialist ideology seems to threaten the world more than ever today. Particularly the nations of Asia, Africa, Latin America and especially the middle east. Even India in its colonial past has been severely affected by British imperialism --- whose aftermaths are visible to date. One of the revolutionary leaders who represented the fight against …

Anglo-Muhammadan Law is a mixture of English and Islamic laws, concepts, institutions, and jurisprudence that developed in British colonial India between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries. Although not an official designation, “Anglo-Muhammadan law” came to be used as a term of convenience to distinguish this legal system from both the Eng…

The extreme face of communalism started taking a definite shape after 1937. While there were instances from the past that paved the way for communalism to take such a fascist form, regardless of nationalist leaders trying their best to unite Hindus and Muslims of the country. In this episode, we attempt to bring out the explanations of what drove c…

This episode continues to dive into the history of communalism in India and how it shaped the nation's social character. In the struggle of bringing Hindus and Muslims together, nationalist leaders gave way to communalism to spread its roots. Thus failing to bring the communal political ideology in accommodation with the secular political ideology.…

India was not always a land of such constant communal clashes; the polarised hatred present in our world today finds its origins in our time under our British rulers. British’s communal policies, demands of minorities, and the reaction of the majority all give rise to communalism in India. Join us as we try to explore the origins of communal uprisi…

The partition of 1947, to this day, stands as the major point of conflict for both India and Pakistan. Today we are going to take you to the colonial roots of India where the idea of the reorganisation of the Indian subcontinent was first seeded. Allama Muhammad Iqbal is referred to as the spiritual father of Pakistan whose basis of philosophy and …

The Khilafat Movement - a campaign that rose out of the provocation of Indian Muslims to pressure the Raj into protecting the authority of the Caliphate in its true form. In the eighteenth episode, we delve into the making of this movement, the pioneers behind it, and the events that unfolded and shaped the history of politics for Muslims in the su…

The Legal system that we inherit today from our colonial masters, roots from the perceptions they brought while trying hard to understand the complexities of the Indian Society. This is a story about one such man, his life and his work that make him a central figure to India’s judiciary. William Jones was not only a man of law, ut of letters as wel…

Hello and welcome to the sixteenth episode of India Colonised, a podcast where we unravel our colonial roots through stories and legends. Our podcast explores untraversed fields of our past that constantly shape our world. I am your host Omer Haq and today we will be continuing to talk about the railways during the Raj and how it affected the local…

Hello and welcome to the fifteenth episode of India Colonised, a podcast where we unravel our colonial roots through stories and legends. Our podcast explores untraversed fields of our past that constantly shape our world. I am your host Omer Haq and today we will be talking about the railways, one of the most embodied facets of English colonialism…

Hello and Welcome to the Fourteenth Episode of our podcast, India Colonised, a podcast where we explore the stories and legends of our Colonial past. In this episode, we will be narrating to you a story from the account of an eyewitness of the Vellore Mutiny of 1806, a mutiny of British Indian sepoys that lesser-known than its successor the Sepoy M…

Welcome to the 13th Episode of our weekly podcast India Colonised. Where we discuss the stories and legends of our colonial past. I am your host Omer Haq and today we are talking about the revival of public spirit post rebellion of 1857 through what has now become a colourful and vibrant festival of Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav (Public Celebrations of Ga…

Today we are talking about the forgotten pioneer of Indian cinemas, Harila Sen. A man who fought for his passions and pure love for filmography, only to meet his tragic end. Unfortunately, nothing from his work survives today, so we explore him with whatever we have left of him Listen more to find out about his life and works.…

Today we are going to talk about the Pauper's Pilgrimage, the scenes of hajj ( a scared annual Pilgrimage of Muslims to the city of Mecca in Arabia), during the British Raj in India, and talk about the insecurities of Government of India had when it came to any regulation with regards to the religious obligations of Indians. To read the article ple…

Hello and welcome everyone to the Tenth episode of our weekly podcast, India Colonised. Where we bring you stories and legends from the colonial past of our nation. In today’s episode, we are talking about the mysterious enigma of chapatis that had the Britishers puzzled and the Indians perplexed. What significance can chapatis traveling the subcon…

Hello and welcome everyone to the 9th episode of our weekly podcast, India Colonised, where we bring you stories and legends from the colonial past of our nation.I am your host, Omer Haq .Today will be talking about Reginald Heber, the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta, who visited the Mughal capital of Delhi during his tour of Northern India where he wa…

Hello and welcome everyone to the Eighth episode of our weekly podcast, India Colonised. Where we bring you stories and legends from the colonial past of our nation. In today’s episode, we are talking about the Koh I noor, the most infamous diamond of all times. Today as it sits in the british crown, prized as one of the crown jewels of the land, t…

Hello and welcome everyone to the Seventh episode of our weekly podcast, India Colonised. Where we bring you stories and legends from the colonial past of our nation. In today’s episode, we are talking about A charismatic and authoritarian figure, John Nicholson, who’s life and controversial exploits have created a polarized legacy with contemporar…

Hello and welcome everyone to the Sisxth episode of our weekly podcast, India Colonised. Where we bring you stories and legends from the colonial past of our nation. In today’s episode, we are talking about The Ganj-i-Sawai was an armed Ghanjah dhow belonging to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb which, along with her escort Fateh Muhammed, was captured …

Hello and welcome everyone to the Fifth episode of our weekly podcast, India Colonised. Where we bring you stories and legends from the colonial past of our nation. In today’s episode we are talking about the conquest of Goa by the Portuguese forces commanded by charismatic Governor-General Afonso de Albuquerque and supported by Timoji (Timmiyah) w…

In the fourth episode of our weekly Podcast India Colonised, hosted by Omer Haq, we are discussing the unacknowledged war that had almost ridden India of the English. The Child's war fought between Mughul Emperor Aurangzeb and the English East India company had almost ended in the English being throw out of India for eternity. Listen to this episod…

In today’s episode, we are talking about the first royal ambassador of the English court’s who came to Mughul dominions hoping to secure trade treaties. And his self-perceived importance and intimate relationship he boastfully claimed to have had with Emperor Jahangir. Although not much was achieved of this task, however his accounts of his stay in…

In our second episode of India Colonised we are recounting the story of Joseph Francois Dupliex the most popular among the governors-general of French colonies in India. We discuss his life and his rise amid the French East India Company and some of his remarkable achievements, including his role in developing and flourishing French Trade in India.…

In our first episode, we talk about the battle that changed the course of Indian history, giving way for the rise of EIC's political power in India, starting with the richest provinces- Bengal. Here is the story of how the fight between the new Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Duala and the ever-ambitious Robert Clive went down as one of the greatest miles…