The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of Power

by Partha Chatterjee

Overview

When Siraj, the ruler of Bengal, overran the British settlement of Calcutta in 1756, he allegedly jailed 146 European prisoners overnight in a cramped prison. Of the group, 123 died of suffocation. While this episode was never independently confirmed, the story of "the black hole of Calcutta" was widely circulated and seen by the British public as an atrocity committed by savage colonial subjects. The Black Hole of Empire follows the ever-changing representations of this historical event and founding myth of the British Empire in India, from the eighteenth century to the present. Partha Chatterjee explores how a supposed tragedy paved the ideological foundations for the "civilizing" force of British imperial rule and territorial control in India.


Chatterjee takes a close look at the justifications of modern empire by liberal thinkers, international lawyers, and conservative traditionalists, and examines the intellectual and political responses of the colonized, including those of Bengali nationalists. The two sides of empire's entwined history are brought together in the story of the Black Hole memorial: set up in Calcutta in 1760, demolished in 1821, restored by Lord Curzon in 1902, and removed in 1940 to a neglected churchyard. Challenging conventional truisms of imperial history, nationalist scholarship, and liberal visions of globalization, Chatterjee argues that empire is a necessary and continuing part of the history of the modern state.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691152011
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/08/2012
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Partha Chatterjee is professor of anthropology and of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University; and honorary professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. His books include The Politics of the Governed.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Chapter One: Outrage in Calcutta 1
Chapter Two: A Secret Veil 33
Chapter Three: Tipu’s Tiger 67
Chapter Four: Liberty of the Subject 104
Chapter Five: Equality of Subjects 134
Chapter Six: For the Happiness of Mankind 159
Chapter Seven: The Pedagogy of Violence 185
Chapter Eight: The Pedagogy of Culture 222
Chapter Nine: Bombs, Sovereignty, and Football 264
Chapter Ten: The Death and Everlasting Life of Empire 311
Afterword
Notes 347
References 387
Index 409

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a powerfully argued account of the origins and subsequent justification of British rule in India, and an exploration of the response by Bengali elites to colonialism. A work of classic history, this book carries an intellectual power and brilliance of insight that will excite much interest and comment."—Thomas Metcalf, professor emeritus of history, University of California, Berkeley

"Moving skillfully between gripping narrative and thoughtful interpretation, The Black Hole of Empire is a deeply researched, brilliantly crafted, and exquisitely written work on the British empire in India. Ambitious and complex, it richly resonates with contemporary political and ethical concerns. A masterly work by one of the finest intellectuals of our times."—Sugata Bose, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

"Chock-full of mini topics and discursive asides, and illustrated with a number of photographs and illustrations, this book is required reading for the genre."

Choice

The Black Hole of Empire is his most ambitious book yet. Challenging existing understandings, reinterpreting the meaning of well-known events, and displaying an authoritative knowledge of an astonishing range of scholarly literature, we encounter a historian at the top of his game.

3QuarksDaily - Gyan Prakash

[H]ighly insightful, at times quite brilliant . . .

Times Literary Supplement - David Washbrook

The Black Hole of Empire is his most ambitious book yet. Challenging existing understandings, reinterpreting the meaning of well-known events, and displaying an authoritative knowledge of an astonishing range of scholarly literature, we encounter a historian at the top of his game.
— Gyan Prakash

3QuarksDaily

[H]ighly insightful, at times quite brilliant . . .
— David Washbrook

Times Literary Supplement

One of HistoryToday’s Books of the Year 2013, chosen by Chandak Sengoopta

From the Publisher