Overview

This book points to the indispensability of the province in shaping and strengthening ideas of the nation in 20th century India. Focusing on the region of Bihar, it shows how its distinctively regional identity was not in opposition to colonial politics or nationalist sentiments, but was itself a product of colonial and national imaginings. The separation of Bihar, hailed by some as the ‘royal province’ of India and the cradle of Indian cultural and civilization, realigned the region not as ‘backward’ and ‘provincial’ but as the core of an Indian national imagination. Yet it also sparked multiple, contrasting narratives and differences; from questions about territorial realignment, to tensions between Biharis and Bengalis, and the question of language. Transforming the province into a cohesive cultural space was only possible by invoking the nation and its associated historical and cultural imagination, by memorializing its archaeological past and documenting its history. Challenging the assertion that regional differences undermine claims of united, nationalist ideas, and threaten to tear through the fabric of national identity, this book argues that the region-nation relationship is more symbiotic and demonstrates the crucial role that regional movements play in defining and validating the nationalist imagination.

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9781350467316

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Reviews

A unique cultural history of late colonial Bihar, this book explores a range of materials from the rise of the Patna Museum and the Didarganj Yakshi to various debates about the ancient past that showcase the complex interplay between regional and national identity in the land where the Mauryan Empire was born. * Neilesh Bose, University of Victoria, Canada * Bihar in Colonial India is a major contribution to the field of South Asian Studies. The author draws from a wide range of interdisciplinary scholarship on the historical, social, cultural, religious, political, linguistic, and archeological aspects of Bihar to explain the symbiosis of Bihari and Indian national identity. * Leah Reynolds, Texas State University, USA *

Author Information

Aryendra Chakravartty is Associate Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University, USA. He has published several peer reviewed essays in journals such as Modern Asian Studies, Indian Historical Review and Indian Economic and Social History Review. He is currently President of Society for Advancing the History of South Asia (SAHSA), an affiliate of the American Historical Association (AHA).

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