'There are no two things in the world more different from each other than East-Indian and West Indian-slavery' (Robert Inglis; House of Commons Debate; 1833).In Slavery; Abolitionism and Empire in India; 1772-1843; Andrea Major asks why; at a time when East India Company expansion in India; British abolitionism and the missionary movement were all at their height; was the existence of slavery in India so often ignored; denied or excused? By exploring Britain's ambivalent relationship with both real and imagined slaveries in India; and the official; evangelical and popular discourses which surrounded them; she seeks to uncover the various political; economic and ideological agendas that allowed East Indian slavery to be represented as qualitatively different from it trans-Atlantic counterpart. In doing so; she uncovers tensions in the relationship between colonial policy and the so-called 'civilising mission'; elucidating the intricate interactions between humanitarian movements; colonial ideologies and imperial imperatives in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The work draws on a range of sources from Britain and India to provide a trans-national perspective on this little known facet of the story of slavery and abolition in the British Empire; uncovering the complex ways in which Indian slavery was encountered; discussed; utilised; rationalised; and reconciled with the economic; political and moral imperatives of an empire whose focus was shifting to the East.
#528795 in Books Berghahn Books 2014-04-30 2005-12-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .57 x 5.98l; .81 #File Name: 1845450930272 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An excellent view of post soviet Russia and the rise in ...By Joshua J BrunoAn excellent view of post soviet Russia and the rise in magic and folk lore to cope with the loss of identity those from pre-fall Russia feel. Well written; and definitely a great look into an otherwise overlooked aspect of a fascinating culture.
