To Raise a Fallen People : The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Indian Views on International Politics

To Raise a Fallen People brings to light pioneering writing on international politics from nineteenth-century India. Drawing on extensive archival research, it unearths essays, speeches, and pamphlets that address fundamental questions about India’s place in the world. In these texts, prominent public figures urge their compatriots to learn English and travel abroad to study, debate whether to boycott foreign goods, differ over British imperialism in Afghanistan and China, demand that foreign policy toward the Middle East and South Africa account for religious and ethnic bonds, and query whether to adopt Western values or champion their own civilizational ethos. Rahul Sagar’s detailed introduction contextualizes these documents and shows how they fostered competing visions of the role that India ought to play on the world stage. This landmark book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the sources of Indian conduct in international politics. "To Raise a Fallen People explores the historical roots of India's strategy of pragmatism in international affairs that persists even today as the nation grows in global prominence. Drawing on extensive archival research, this book uses essays, letters, and pamphlets by prominent Indian intellectuals to show the early formative debates over India's place in the world in the nineteenth century. Topics range from the necessity of English-language education and international trade to the actions of great powers and what India could teach the West. These primary sources are contexualized by essays by author Rahul Sagar, who provides insight into how a clearer sense of this history will help observers better grasp the sources of India's international conduct. To Raise a Fallen People is a unique work in international relations history and theory that showcases non-Western perspectives on the modern international system in its founding days"-- Provided by publisher Table of Contents Preface Editorial Note Introduction Part I: Regaining Greatness 1. English Education 2. Sea Voyages Part II: Critiques 3. The Great Game 4. The Eastern Question 5. Free Trade 6. Racism 7. The Opium Trade Part III: The Great Debate 8. To Learn from the West 9. To Teach the West Further Reading Index