Science and the British Empire

This book studies the linkages between science, technology and institution building in Colonial and Modern India. It discusses the advent and growth of modern science in India in terms of a nested three-stage model comprising the colonial-tool stage, the peripheral-native stage and the Indian response stage, each leading to and coexisting with the next. The book gives an account of developments in various fields of science and education in the latter half of the 19th century and the beginning of contributions made by Indian individuals, continuing into the 20th century. It traces the process of colonization and how it led to studies in astronomy, meteorology, natural history, geography and medicine in India.

Rich in archival resources, this book will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of history of education, history of science, colonial education, science and technology studies, South Asian history, Indian history and history in general.

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction

2 English Surgeons and Company Trade Concessions

3 Geography

4 Astronomy, Meteorology and Earth’s Magnetism

5 Natural History: Portuguese and Dutch India, 16–17th Century

6 Natural History: Missionary and Colonial India, 18–19th Century

7 Horses, Cattle and Agriculture

8 Education under Colonial Auspices

9 Cultivation of Science in 19th-Century Bengal

10 Science under Indian Auspices

11 Science after Independence

12 Discussion

References

Index

Rajesh Kochhar was a former Professor of Astrophysics and former Director, National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies, New Delhi, India. An astrophysicist turned historian, he published original research with a special focus on the history of science and education in British India. He was a former President of International Astronomical Union Commission on History of Astronomy, a Fulbright Visiting Lecturer, Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow and British Council Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge, UK. He is the recipient of the Indian National Science Academy’s 2014 Indira Gandhi Prize for Popularization of Science. He published original research in a number of fields and lectured extensively in India and abroad including Harvard, Cornell, University of Texas at Austin, Belfast, Brighton, Royal Dublin Society, Tubingen, Copenhagen University and National Museum Copenhagen. He is the author of The Vedic People: Their History and Geography (2000), English Education in India, 1715-1835: Half-caste, Missionary, and Secular Stages (2020) and Sanskrit and the British Empire (2022).