The (Un)governable City The (Un)governable City

The (Un)governable City

Productive Failure in the Making of Colonial Delhi, 1858–1911

    • £26.99
    • £26.99

Publisher Description

Mirza Ghalib, the poet laureate of Delhi, had lamented the transformation of the city into a cantonment in the aftermath of the Great Rebellion of 1857. No longer the Mughal imperial capital, Delhi was stripped of its political status and incorporated within the province of Punjab as punishment by the colonial rulers.

The (Un)governable City, dedicated entirely to Delhi’s provincial history under colonial rule, explores this radical transformation of urban governance in Delhi between 1858 and 1911 as bureaucracy expanded and new modes of governance reshaped the city—spatially, politically and culturally.

Contesting the view that the aftermath of the rebellion was a period of political stability, the author creatively demonstrates how the tensions, contradictions and failures of colonial policies were responsible for the unintended development of state capacity and also provided opportunities for Delhi’s residents and social groups to assert their claims to city spaces. This volume brings to scrutiny Delhi’s cultural, economic and political transitions, and the relationships between local, regional and imperial governments during this period.

The book presents fresh material on Delhi’s urban property relations after 1857, the Delhi municipality’s policing of public spaces, colonial arboriculture plans to ‘improve’ suburban lands, processional activities, as well as railway, traffic management and commercial growth initiatives after the 1880s.

GENRE
Non-Fiction
RELEASED
2022
17 August
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
276
Pages
PUBLISHER
Orient BlackSwan
SIZE
4.9
MB
Dishonoured by History: 'Criminal Tribes' and British Colonial Policy Dishonoured by History: 'Criminal Tribes' and British Colonial Policy
2020
Bureaucracy, Belonging, and the City in North India Bureaucracy, Belonging, and the City in North India
2020
Nationalism and Imperialism in South and Southeast Asia Nationalism and Imperialism in South and Southeast Asia
2016
Property, Land, Revenue, and Policy Property, Land, Revenue, and Policy
2016
Pathways to Nationalism Pathways to Nationalism
2016
Exploring South Asian Urbanity Exploring South Asian Urbanity
2021