South Asia

For centuries, Africans were shipped to the Indian subcontinent and sold as slaves to regional rulers. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones tells the story of those who went to Lucknow to serve the Nawab of Oudh and who joined the Indian Mutiny when he was deposed by the British. For this allegiance their descendants, whom she has traced, still pay a price.

India’s rulers demonstrated what power they had by adopting the crafts of their conquerors – first the Mughals, then the British. Corinne Julius looks at the background to a new exhibition of dazzling artefacts

Edna Fernandes visits a madrassa in northern India founded in the wake of the Indian Mutiny. One of the first Islamic fundamentalist schools, its influence has spread into Pakistan and Afghanistan, among the Taliban and followers of Osama bin Laden.

The Indian Mutiny and Rebellion, which broke out 150 years ago this month, was the greatest revolt against British imperialism of its century. Joseph Coohill uncovers some Indian accounts of what happened and why.

The Theosophists Helena Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins and others went to India at the end of the 19th century to search for God and universal brotherhood in the Hindu tradition. They also ended up supporting women’s rights against contemporary Hindu practices. Mark Bevir explores the tensions between their fascination with traditional culture and the reforming zeal of their proto-feminism.

Anubha Charan describes the arguments surrounding one of the world’s most politically explosive excavations.

William Clarance explores the origins and complexities of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Mary Ann Steggles recalls the circumstances of the many monuments to Queen Victoria that were erected in India, and traces their fate.

Huw V. Bowen asks whether the East India Company was one of the ‘most powerful engines’ of state and empire in British history.

M. Naeem Qureshi on a remnant of empire which has moved beyond being a mere repository of the Raj.

John McLeod presents a study from the last days of the Raj of an Indian ruler who defied the stereotype of princely extravagance and self-indulgence.

Peter Heehs looks at the Indian army who threw in their lot against the Raj and with the Japanese in the Second World War.