Product Description

In a penetrating account of the evolution of British intelligence gathering in India, C. A. Bayly shows how networks of Indian spies were recruited by the British to secure military, political and social information about their subjects. He also examines the social and intellectual origins of these ‘native informants’, and considers how the colonial authorities interpreted and often misinterpreted the information they supplied. It was such misunderstandings which ultimately contributed to the failure of the British to anticipate the rebellions of 1857. The author argues, however, that even before this, complex systems of debate and communication were challenging the political and intellectual dominance of the European rulers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #278011 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 428 pages

Review
‘… a work so rich in historical observation and so full of critical insight deserves to be read and reflected upon well beyond the community of South Asia scholars and imperial historians’. David Arnold, The Times Higher Education Supplement

‘Empire and Information is one of the most important books on Indian history to appear in the past fifty years.’ Clive Dewey, The Times Literary Supplement

‘Empire and Information secures its place not only as the best and most enjoyable, but also the most radical reflection on Anglo-Indian history that I encountered throughout the long and historiographically conservative summer of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the Raj.’ Historical Journal

‘This absorbing and persuasive study of a vital but neglected area of historical enquiry offers valuable insights into the complex interaction of East and West during the nineteenth century and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the shaping of modern India.’ Economic History Review

Customer Reviews

An enlightening perspective on power in colonial India
In this fascinating and meticulously researched book, Bayly studies the means by which the colonial regime sought to understand and control Indian politics and culture. This book could thus be said to be concerned with understanding the synapses rather than the sinews of imperial power, although one of its many virtues is how Bayly shows the interaction of information-gathering and the more obvious functions of the colonial state beloved of historians.

The overall arguement of the book is that the success of the British in extending and deepening control of the subcontinent during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries depended in no small measure upon developing complex intelligence systems to 'know' the country and its peoples. To this end, understanding and utilising indigenous forms and practices of knowledge was vital, yet carried the latent threat of over-reliance and hence possible subversion of colonial control. As the colonial state expanded its reach, it thus increasingly cut native informants and practices out of its intelligence networks (both intentionally and unintentionally) to obviate this threat, but in doing so cut itself off from valuable information sources that could possibly have given forewarning of the dissaffection that erupted in 1857. The new information regime of the post office, telegraph, press and railway also offered the emergent nationalist movement a weapon to be wielded against the imperial order in the longer term.

The greatest virtues of Bayly's book is not the bare thesis (which is interesting but not, to this reviewer at least, very surprising) but the huge range of evidence and case studies he deploys to support it. Alongside chapters addressing the Nepalese wars and 1857 are fascinating interlinking studies of the clashes of indigenous and colonial science, the mechanics of the residency system, and the management of native religion. As a research student moving into Indian history from a primarily British historical background, I found this book not only gave me a valuable understanding of the topic alluded to in its title, but also offered a window into a wide range of aspects of politics and society in colonial India. It certainly should be read by any serious student of the subcontinent, and deserves even wider attention.