Colonial Surveillance and the Educated Indian

FAIN: FA-53223-07

Janaki Bakhle
Columbia University (New York, NY 10027-7922)

In the19th century the colonial government in India encountered resistance in the form of peasant riots but in the early years of the 20th century the colonial government in India faced a new and unexpected source of dange--the educated native. The colonial state had rested on the civilizing mission as a central justification for maintaining control over India. But second generation Indians went to England, read English law, history, and philosophy and European radicals such as Mazzini. They returned to India to form revolutionary groups and use a new language of politics. The groups did not pose a huge danger but were extensively monitored. My project explores the links between colonial occupation, surveillance, and extremism.