डॉ. बी. आर. अम्बेडकर विश्‍वविद्यालय दिल्ली
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi
Established by The Government of NCT of Delhi

Coordinator: Dr. Rachna Mehra

The course is offered as an elective to third semester BA-SU students in the School of Global Affairs. It will be useful to students pursuing BA in Urban Studies, Global Studies, SSH, Law and Politics as the colonial urban processes and policies encompass legal, political, social and economic aspects of the region where the imperial rule was established.

Overall structure: 

This course is organized around six units.

	Topic	Duration
1.	Colonial Urbanism(s)	2 weeks
2.	Ports, Forts and  Presidencies	2 weeks
3.	Survey and Surveillance	2 week
4.	Civic Governance	2 weeks
5.	Imperial Vision in Architectural Monuments	2 weeks
6.	Work, Leisure and Pleasure	2 week

Contents

 

1. Colonial Urbanism(s) 

 

The opening module will introduce students to the concept of Colonial Urbanism(s) and its association/co-relation with the idea of Modernity. This will be explored through a comparison of French/Dutch/Portuguese/British colonial legacies within India and discussion of the different kinds of colonial encounters across the African and Asian continents.

• King, Anthony D. “Towards a theory of colonial urban development.” Colonial Urban Development: Culture, Social Power and Environment. London: Routledge, 2012. 36–51.
• Home, Robert. “‘Planting is My Trade’: The Shapers of Colonial Urban Landscapes.” Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities. London: E & FN Spon, 1997. 41–70. 
• Home, Robert and Anthony D. King. “Urbanism and Master Planning: Configuring the Colonial City.” Architecture and Urbanism in the British Empire. Ed. G.A. Bremner. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 51–85.

2. Ports, Forts and Presidencies

European commercial companies set up base in different parts of India: the Portuguese in Panaji in 1510, the Dutch in Masulipatnam in 1605, the British in Madras in 1639, and the French in Pondicherry (present-day Puducherry) in 1673. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the supremacy of English East India Company was established and colonial port cities such as Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay emerged as the new economic and administrative capitals even as many older Indian cities lost their power and prestige.

• Chattopadhyay, Swati. “Blurring Boundaries: The Limits of ‘White Town’ in Colonial Calcutta.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 59 (2): Jun 2000. 154–179.
• Farooqui, Amar. “Urban Development in a Colonial Situation: Early Nineteenth Century Bombay.” Economic and Political Weekly 31 (40): 5 Oct 1996. 2746–2759.
• Haynes, Douglas. “The Urban Economy.” Rhetoric and Ritual in Colonial India: The shaping of Public Culture in Surat, 1852-1948. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. 33–51.

3. Survey and Surveillance

Colonial rulers relied heavily on mapping/cartographic practices to understand their dominions. The use of such scientific tools enabled them to penetrate and gain control over not just landscapes but also peoples. The revolt of 1857 brought paradigmatic changes in governance at both urban and regional levels, normalizing new forms of surveillance and censorship.

• Kalpagam, U. “Cartography in Colonial India.” Economic and Political Weekly 30 (30): 29 Jul 1995. PE87–PE98.
• Bayly, C.A. “Epilogue: Information, Surveillance and the Public Arena after the Rebellion.” Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering and Social Communication in India, 1780–1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 338–364.
• Choudhury, Deep Kanta Lahiri. “Swadeshi and Information Panic: Functions and Malfunctions of the Information Order, c. 1900–12.” Telegraphic Imperialism: Crisis and Panic in the Indian Empire, c. 1830–1920. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. 179–210.

4. Civic Governance

Even though British imperial policy was firmly rooted in resource extraction, lobbying by elite loyalist Indians and anxieties over sanitation and hygiene forced the British to begin devolving power by the late nineteenth century. Simultaneously, though, many municipalities and urban improvement trusts went under-funded and uninterested in issues of local, public interest. This module will explore these contradictions underlying civic governance in colonial India.

• Gupta, Narayani. “Confrontations: Citizens and Government (1883–1908).” Delhi between the Two Empires 1803-1931, Society, Government and Urban Growth. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997. 124–153.
• Lewandowski, Susan J. “Urban Growth and Municipal Development in the Colonial City of Madras, 1860–1900.” The Journal of Asian Studies 34 (2): 1975. 341–360.
• Ganguly, Indrani. “Of Rajas and Prajas: Leadership in a Colonial Town.” The City in Indian History: Urban Demography, Society, and Politics. Ed. Indu Banga. Delhi: Manohar, 1994. 247–264.

5. Imperial Vision in Architectural Monuments

Built environment and architecture were visible symbols of British colonial power, signifying domination and compliance to the larger vision of imperial hegemony. This module will familiarize students to various strategies and techniques employed to create an indelible mark through colonial public architecture as well as through re-appropriations of Indian cities’ pre-existing monuments and built heritage.

• Kavuri-Bauer, Santhi. “From Cunningham to Curzon: Producing the Mughal Monument in the Era of High Imperialism.” Monumental Matters: The Power, Subjectivity, and Space of India’s Mughal Architecture. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011. 49–75.
• Sharma, Satish. “Imperial Delhi: imagined, imaged, iconicized.” India International Centre Quarterly 33 (2): Autumn 2006. 27–37.
• Nair, Janaki. “Past Perfect: Architecture and Public Life in Bangalore.” The Journal of Asian Studies 61 (4): 2002. 1205–1236.

 

6. Work, Leisure and Pleasure

Leisure and recreation were taken as seriously as work by British imperial functionaries. A number of towns were developed in hills all over South Asia as exclusive enclaves reflecting the cultural ethos of the British countryside. At the same time, British homes were also subject to strict regimes of control and supervision to reflect the values of Victorian bourgeois society. The advent of cinema, however, opened up radical new modes of public engagement in colonial cities.

• Kennedy, Dane. “The Hill Stations of British India.” The Magic Mountains: Hill Stations and the British Raj. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. 1–18.
• Crane, Ralph and Anna Johnston. “Administering Domestic Space: Flora Annie Steel’s The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook.” Empire Calling: Administering Colonial Australasia and India. Ed. Ralph Crane, Anna Johnston, and C. Vijayasree. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd., 2013. 120–132.
• Dass, Manishita. “A School for Scandal: Cinema and Lessons in Modernity.” Outside the Lettered City: Cinema, Modernity, & The Public Sphere in Late Colonial India. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. 106–148.

Assessment structure (modes and frequency of assessments)

The course will have three types of assessment situations:

• Essay of 2000 words (40%) Students will be assessed on the basis of their engagement with the educational resources.
• The second assessment will involve field-based visit and a written essay (30%).
• The third assessment will consist of a final examination (30%).