Knowledge and Governance: Political Socialization of the Indian Child Within Colonial Schooling and Nationalist Contestations in India (1870-1925)
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KNOWLEDGE AND GOVERNANCE: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION OF THE INDIAN CHILD WITHIN COLONIAL SCHOOLING AND NATIONALIST CONTESTATIONS IN INDIA (1870-1925) by Sudipa Topdar A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the University of Michigan 2010 Doctoral Committee: Professor Thomas R. Trautmann, Co-Chair Professor Sumathi Ramaswamy, Duke University, Co-Chair Professor Mrinalini Sinha Assistant Professor Manishita Dass © Sudipa Topdar 2010 I dedicate this dissertation to Ma and Baba ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writing and completion of this dissertation would have been difficult without the generous encouragement and support of many individuals and institutions. First and foremost I would like to thank my co-chairs Tom Trautmann and Sumathi Ramaswamy for their support all through graduate school and sharing their vast wealth of knowledge of South Asian history with me. Tom Trautmann has been an advisor and a teacher that any student would covet to be associated with. He has given me his intellectual support, constant encouragement, generous care, and above all, steadfast belief without which it would have been hard for me to succeed in overcoming the various challenges of graduate school life. As an advisor, scholar and human being he is exemplary and to me a point of reference on how an academic should be. Sumathi Ramaswamy boosted me to engage with new avenues and possibilities for this dissertation. The constant rigor she put me through helped me polish my conceptual approach and become a better writer. I thank both Tom and her for reading every word of the numerous drafts of this dissertation that I sent them with patience and meticulous attention to detail. My dissertation has also been enriched by the discussions I had with the other members of my committee-- Mrinalini Sinha and Manishita Dass. Minnie has the exceptional quality of a gifted teacher who can ignite a student’s mind. My iii discussions with her encouraged me to approach some of my research questions from newer angles, ones that I had not conceived of before. Her passion for History is infectious and has energized me to approach my research with fresh vigor. Manishita has always been very supportive, warm and friendly. The long hours we spent together over cups of coffee thrashing out my ideas in the formative chapter drafts helped me sharpen my analysis and write a cohesive narrative. To my all my committee members I express my profound gratitude. The strengths of my dissertation stem from their heartfelt efforts and dedicated engagement in this project. The genesis of this dissertation lies in my M.Phil thesis at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. I owe special thanks to my teachers Majid Siddiqi, Neeladri Bhattacharya, Muzaffar Alam and Sabyasachi Bhattacharya for shaping my intellectual trajectory at various points of this research. They have always been generous with their time, sharing their knowledge and offering constructive criticism. Their classes have built my foundations of History and modeled my love for the discipline. At the University of Michigan, I wish to thank Kathleen Canning and Michele Mitchell for offering the extraordinary graduate seminar History 615 in Fall 2003. I was introduced to the fascinating world of “the body” as a theme of historical analysis for the first time in their class. This is one lesson that I will spend exploring for many years to come in my academic scholarship. I also thoroughly enjoyed and felt intellectually enriched by participating in the graduate seminar on gender offered by Nancy Hunt and Helmut Puff in Winter 2005. Barbara Metcalf iv provided meticulous critiques on the initial chapter drafts of this project. I thank Farina Mir for being extremely supportive and accommodating of my schedule as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for her classes when I was finishing my dissertation. From her I have learnt several invaluable lessons of pedagogical methodology that I will use in my own classroom in future. I owe a huge debt to my teachers both in JNU and Michigan and offer them my tribute for intellectually grooming me. My project has benefitted from the research guidance that several scholars have provided over the years of its gestation period. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Dipesh Chakrabarty and Gautam Bhadra for providing valuable leads to locate several archival resources that helped me shape this dissertation in its early stages. Swapna Banerjee has shown a great deal of interest in my research right from our first meeting and has always eagerly shared her immense knowledge on Bengali children’s literature. I have discussed this project with Pratik Chakrabarti since its very inception as an M.Phil thesis. He has always enthusiastically provided intellectual fodder towards molding its contours over the years. Aparna Vaidik has patiently read several chapter drafts with a pair of critical eyes and helped me polish my arguments. She has provided me with a sense of belonging to a scholarly community which has helped me thrive intellectually. Institutional support for my project has come from various sources. The research and writing for this dissertation was made possible with the financial support of the Department of History Dissertation Fellowship (2010); Barbour Fellowship (2008-09); Rackham International Research Award (Fall 2007); John H. D. Arms v Graduate Student Award (2007); Rackham Humanities Research Fellowship (2006- 07); International Institute Pre-dissertation Research Awards (2004); Michigan Fellowship in History (2004); N. R. Michigan Fellowship in History (2003- 2004) and the Mamata Bhattacharyya Graduate Fellowship in History (2003). These fellowships helped me conduct research in various libraries and archives in India and Britain. The assistance of library and staff at the Oriental and India Office Collections, School of Oriental and African Studies, the Institute of Education at the University of London in London, the Nehru Memorial and Museum Library, National Archives of India, Central Secretariat Library in New Delhi and the West Bengal State Archives, the National Library (especially Ashim Mukhopadhyay), Center for Studies in Social Sciences and Sahitya Parishat in Calcutta was valuable. The librarians at the Hatcher Graduate Library and the Interlibrary Loan service at the University of Michigan are simply excellent and the most cooperative in their profession. I thank my friends in Ann Arbor, New Delhi, Varanasi and London who not only helped me surmount the various unexpected challenges during my research but also brought cheer and maintained a sense of balance in my life. Hemant Kannan exemplifies the spirit of a great friend, ever generous with his time, company, humor and cooking the best biryani in Ann Arbor. I cannot imagine a life in Ann Arbor without his friendship. Clapperton Mavhunga, Uthara Suvrathan, Howard Tsai, Phanindra Somraj, Pranothi Jalakam, Nagesh Belludi, Sridevi Nair, Navaneetha Mokkil-Maruthur, Swapna Kollu, Areeta Bridgemohan, Blake Charlebois, Huzefa Khalil and Simon Walsh have made life in graduate school enjoyable and lively. vi Vaidyanatha Gundlupet became a close confidant and lent a patient ear during the trying times of this dissertation. The cozy get-togethers Aswin Punathambekar and Mandira Banerjee hosted helped me to unwind from the rigors of dissertation writing and relax over delicious food. Lynn Noellert provided the care of a mother and the supportive hand of a friend. In London Abhishek Amar Singh, Shweta Sachdeva Jha, Shalendra Yadav and Ruchi Khurana provided the best company I could have ever asked for. Bhawna and Gaurav Rohela were the most gracious hosts who opened their home and hearts to me. Without these friends living in London would have hardly had the charm that it did. Diwakar and Chandrahas Singh stood by me at every step of the way during my research in India. During my research trip to Kolkata, Ranjita Dawn was an immense help in locating several archival education records while with Maroona Murmu I shared unforgettable moments of laughter and frolic. I am extremely lucky to have Mondira Bhattacharya as my friend for almost two decades now. Right from our schooldays where our friendship began until the present she has believed in me and all my pursuits by providing a strong undercurrent of strength even when vast geographical distances separate us. I wish to thank my parents Topesh and Purabi Topdar and my brother Akash Topdar for their unconditional love, encouragement and personal investment in my education. My parents have taught me to value knowledge from a very young age. All through my life I have seen them give up their own share of comforts and live through hardships without a second thought just to ensure that my brother and I received the best education. This dissertation is a humble attempt at honoring their vii efforts and explaining the long absence away from home. As I finish this dissertation I miss the presence of my grandfather Bireshwar Chakrabarty, a Professor of History at the Calcutta University, who would have celebrated every moment of this achievement if he was in our midst today. He introduced me to the world of books and sparked my fascination for History through his captivating narrations. During the research trips to Kolkata my extended family, the Topdars and the Chakrabartys, provided support in every diverse form possible. I cannot even begin to describe their kindness. They provided generosity and warmth despite the little time I could solely spend with them. Finally, I want to thank Hemanth Kadambi for encouraging me to take the first steps to apply to graduate school at Michigan. He has provided intellectual and emotional sustenance and uncomplainingly lived through the socially isolated life I spent while writing this dissertation. The loving support and joy he brings has made graduate school and life in Ann Arbor worth every minute.