Why do countries go to war over disputed lands? Why do they fight even when the territories in question are economically and strategically worthless? Drawing on critical approaches to international relations, political geography, international law, and social history, and based on a close examination of the Indian experience during the twentieth century, Itty Abraham addresses these important questions and offers a new conceptualization of foreign policy as a state territorializing practice. Identifying the contested process of decolonization as the root of contemporary Asian inter-state territorial conflicts, he explores the political implications of establishing a fixed territorial homeland as a necessary starting point for both international recognition and national identity—concluding that disputed lands are important because of their intimate identification with the legitimacy of the postcolonial nation-state, rather than because of their potential for economic gains or their place in historic grievances. By treating Indian diaspora policy and geopolitical practice as exemplars of foreign policy behavior, Abraham demonstrates how their intersection offers an entirely new way of understanding India's vexed relations with Pakistan and China. This approach offers a new and productive way of thinking about foreign policy and inter-state conflicts over territory in Asia—one that is non-U.S. and non-European focused—that has a number of implications for regional security and for foreign policy practices in the contemporary postcolonial world.

Designed for undergraduate and graduate courses on Indian civilization and history, this text provides a sweeping look at the long and varied history of India and how this complex legacy has shaped, and is shaping, the nation's modern polity. It offers unique political-historical coverage of India from pre-history into the 21st century.

By tracing the path of the Congress Party's development since independence, the author demonstrates the reasons for its success. A postscript deals with the 1967 elections, regarded as a turning point in post-independence Indian politics. Originally published in 1968. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Presents legislature of the Central Provinces and Berar and its interaction with the national movement from 1921 to 1937. During the period three groups were active: Moderates, the Swarajists and a Motley group which believed in responsive cooperation with the government. Apart from political ideology, many of them were imbued with local loyalties; quite often personal ambitions and interests affected the views and legislative behaviour of many a member.

The book is a biography of Mushirul Hasan.

This book deals with the Khilafat movement (1918-1924) in British India, which aimed at mobilizing pan-Islam for saving Ottoman Turkey from dismemberment and securing political reforms for India. It also examines the gradual transition of Muslim politics from pan-Islam to territorial nationalism.

The story of the transformation of the old British Empire into the modern Commonwealth had often been told from the point of view of Great Britain and the ‘white dominions’. No attempt had so far been made to describe the decisive role of India in the shaping of the multi-racial Commonwealth of today. Originally published in 1965, the main theme of this work by an Indian author is the growth of the idea of Commonwealth in India from 1885, the year in which the Indian National Congress was organized, to 1929, when Congress declared ‘complete independence’ to be its goal. What did the British Empire mean to early Indian nationalists? How did the ideal of self-government of India on the Dominion model grow? What was India’s continued association with the Commonwealth valued in India and in Britain? Answers to these and similar questions are attempted in this book. Despite its great importance, the role of India in the Commonwealth in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had received little attention from scholars. Dr Mehrotra’s clear, incisive, informed and balanced study was therefore the more welcome, not only for its source, but because it lent a new dimension to our understanding of India’s part in defining and enlarging the idea of Commonwealth. It is an important contribution to Commonwealth and to modern Indian history.