Course Overview

Explore the storied era of British‑ruled India, the dissolution of Britain’s empire, and the forging of independent India and Pakistan. This 24‑lecture course traces the English East India Company’s rise, the decline of the Mughal order, the mechanics and ideology of the Raj, the growth of Indian nationalism, Gandhi’s politics, Partition, and the fraught transition to independence—illuminating political, social, economic, and cultural transformations that shaped South Asia and the modern world.

Course Details

• Course No.: 8431

• Format: 24 recorded lectures (approx. 29–33 minutes each)

• Focus: East India Company origins and expansion, Mughal decline, colonial administration and economy, reform movements, 1857 Uprising, caste and communal identities, nationalist movements (Congress, Muslim League), Gandhi and civil disobedience, World War II and Quit India, Partition and postcolonial legacies

Video Lectures (organized)

01: Introduction to India — 33 min

Core cultural and social background: Hindu concepts (dharma, karma, samsara), caste, family patterns, and how these shaped politics and society.

02: The Mughal Empire in 18th‑Century India — 33 min

Mughal political structures, administration, religious policy, and the centrifugal forces that opened the way for European expansion.

03: Indian and British Economic Interests — 32 min

Economic forces, regionalization of Mughal authority, India’s role in the global economy, and the rise of local banking families influencing colonial outcomes.

04: British Expansion in India (1757–1820) — 29 min

How the East India Company evolved from a trading enterprise to a territorial power—military victories in Bengal and adoption of Mughal revenue systems.

05: Knowing the Country: British Orientalism — 31 min

British knowledge production about India, orientalism, and how cultural misunderstanding and romanticizing affected colonial governance.

06: Race, Gender, and Culture (1750–1850) — 31 min

Colonial discourses of race and masculinity; how racialized ideas justified imperial authority and shaped British self‑identity in India.

07: The Age of Reform (1830–1850) — 30 min

Utilitarian and evangelical influences on colonial policy, educational and social reforms, and the economic changes that contributed to unrest.

08: The Great Uprising (1857–1858) — 28 min

Causes and course of the 1857 rebellion, its brutal suppression, and how the Uprising transformed British rule into the formal Raj.

09: Economics and Society under the Raj — 30 min

Colonial fiscal and economic policies, impact on artisans and peasants, infrastructure, and the extraction model of imperial economy.

10: Caste and Tribal Identity under Colonialism — 29 min

How British administration codified and altered caste and tribal identities, making social divisions more rigid and administratively salient.

11: The Nationalization of Hinduism (1870–1900) — 32 min

Religious reform movements, Hindu revivalism, and ways in which Hindu identity was mobilized into emerging national discourse.

12: Indian Muslim Identity and Colonial Rule — 31 min

Muslim social and legal reorganizations under colonial rule, the Deobandi movement, and evolving Muslim communal consciousness.

13: The Late‑19th‑Century British Raj — 30 min

Administrative structures, the Indian Civil Service, modernization projects, and late‑Victorian racial attitudes shaping governance.

14: Princely States and Royalist Relationships — 30 min

The role of princely states in sustaining British authority, indirect rule, and the contradiction of modernizing policy alongside feudal patronage.

15: Indian Nationalism and the Freedom Struggle — 32 min

Rise of the Indian National Congress, moderate to radical shifts, early nationalist leaders, and the politics of constitutional reform.

16: The Great War and Its Impact on India — 30 min

India’s wartime mobilization, economic strains, political expectations after WWI, and conditions that propelled Gandhi’s emergence.

17: Gandhi’s Moral‑Political Philosophy — 30 min

Gandhi’s life, development of satyagraha and ahimsa, and the intellectual and moral foundations of his nationalist leadership.

18: The Noncooperation Movement — 32 min

Mass politics under Gandhi: boycotts, mobilization, colonial responses, and the movement’s achievements and limits.

19: Indian Muslim Politics between the Wars — 30 min

Muslim political responses to nationalism, the Khilafat episode, and developments that fed the idea of Pakistan.

20: The Civil Disobedience Campaign — 33 min

Salt March and nationwide noncooperation; colonial countermeasures and the movement’s role in radicalizing politics.

21: Britain and Its Empire in the 1940s — 31 min

Wartime strains on the Raj, the Quit India movement, economic hardship, and the erosion of imperial legitimacy after WWII.

22: The Raj on Its Knees (1945–1947) — 30 min

Postwar unrest, naval mutinies, communal tensions, the rise of the Muslim League, and the collapse of British authority.

23: A Split India: Negotiating Independence — 31 min

Negotiations between Congress, the Muslim League, and Britain; the logic and mechanics of Partition and the political choices leading to division.

24: Reflections on Postcolonial India — 31 min

Immediate consequences of Partition—mass displacement and violence—plus the enduring legacies of colonial rule for India, Pakistan, and Britain.