History 1910/Asian 1191/CAPS 1910

Fall 2013

Introduction to Modern Asian History

D. Ghosh E. Tagliacozzo
dg256@cornell.edu et54@cornell.edu
321 McGraw/254-5092 346 McGraw/254-6564
Office hours: Tu 1:00-3:00 Office hours: M 4:30-6

Lectures: T/Th 11:15 to 12:05 Discussion sections:

McGraw Hall, Rm. 165 Sec. 1: F 10:10-11:00
Sec. 2: F 11:15-12:05
Sec. 3: F 12:20-1:10
Sec. 2: F 11:15-12:05

This course is intended to introduce students to Asian history in modern times and to Asia as
a region, not just as a collection of disparate nation-states. For this purpose we plan to draw
a distinction between inland and maritime Asia through four overlapping chronological
phases: under “Pre-modern Asian Internationalisms” between the seventeenth and
nineteenth centuries; under “Western Imperialism” in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries; under “Wartime Asia” in the first half of the twentieth century; and under
American influence during the second half of the twentieth century. Each week we shall
concentrate on maritime and inland Asia within this historical framework, examining what
changes took place and how people reacted to those changes. The Tuesday and Thursday
lectures will address these questions broadly, while the section meetings on Fridays will
provide opportunities for students to respond.

Each student is required to write three papers (each about five double-spaced, typewritten
pages), one on each of three first historical periods. The first paper is due on September 23;
the second on October 21; and the third on November 25. Papers are to be written in
response to the discussion questions listed in the syllabus and should be based primarily
upon the texts which are required reading each week. The texts in paperback (marked “pb”)
can be found in books on stock at the Campus Store and on reserve in Uris Library; and the
ones marked “bb” can be found on Blackboard. You may consult other texts (and we will be
happy to suggest relevant items), but you are not required to read any more than the
assignments in preparing for discussions or in writing papers.

Grades will be based on the three papers and participation in the discussion sections (20%
each) and an examination during the finals period (20%). You are welcome to consult us
about paper topics and other matters during the semester. Visit during office hours, which
will be announced, or speak to us after class to arrange an appointment.

History 1910/Asian 119/CAPS 1910 Syllabus/2013 1

Th 29 Aug Introduction (DG + ET)

No discussion section this week, since there are no assigned readings

I. Pre-modern Asian Internationalisms

Week 2 (Sept. 3-6 ): “India” Before Europe (DG)
Tu 3 Sept 1. India at a crossroads: spiritual traditions and Sanskritization
Th 5 Sept 2. India and Islam
Fri 6 Sept Questions for Discussion and Essays: How might one define “India” in
the premodern period? How did the subcontinent relate to other parts of
the world?
Assigned Readings:
Metcalf and Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India, ch. 1
John F. Richards, “Early Modern History and World History,” Journal of World
History 8.2 (1997) 197-209.bb
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20068593
Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, “The Making of a Munshi,” in Forms
of knowledge in early modern Asia: explorations in the intellectual history of
India and Tibet, 1500-1800, edited by Sheldon Pollock (Durham: Duke
University Press, 2011), pp. 185-209.
[available as a networked book]

Week 3 (Sept 10-13): Maritime Asia: Views from the Periphery (ET)
Tu 10 Sept 3. 18th-Century Southeast Asia: Political Culture
Th 12 Sept 4. Intra-regional, Inter-regional, and Global Connections
Fri 13 Sept. Question for Discussion and Essays: In 18th and early 19th century
Southeast Asia, were Chinese identified as Southeast Asian, as outsiders,
or otherwise?
Assigned Readings:
In Search of Southeast Asia, ed. David J. Steinberg (1987), pp. 1-6, 9-20, 26-82.pb
Dhiravat na Pombejra, “Ayutthaya at the End of the Seventeenth Century,” in Reid,
ed., Southeast Asia in the Early Modern Era (1993), 250-272. bb
Wang Gungwu, “Merchants Without Empires: The Hokkien Sojourning
Communities” in his China and the Chinese Overseas (1991), 79-102..bb
Lynn Pan, “East Meets West,” Sons of the Yellow Emperor (1990), pp. 23-42.bb

Week 4 (Sept 17-20): India and Europe (DG)

Tu 17 Sept 5. Political decline and economic opportunity
Th 19 Sept 6. The establishment of British dominance
Fri 20 Sept. Question for Discussion and Essays: What does the novel by
Senapati reflect about the transition from Mughal to British rule?
What changes do the characters in the novel experience, particularly
in terms of their everyday lives?
Assigned Readings:
Metcalf and Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India, chs. 2-3
History 1910/Asian 119/CAPS 1910 Syllabus/2013 2
 Six Acres and a Third, Fakir Mohan Senapati, translated and with an introduction
by Satya Mohanty, pp. 35-217. pb

II. Western Imperialism in Asia

Week 5 (Sept 24-27): Maritime Asia and Western Imperialism (ET)
23 September: Paper # 1 due
Tu 24 Sept 7. Western Imperialism in Maritime Asia
Th 26 Sept 8. Imperial Ideologies
Fri 27 Sept. Question for Discussion and Essays: What is the relationship between
imperialism and nationalism? How was race used to further
nationalistic goals?
Assigned Readings:
In Search of Southeast Asia, ed. Steinberg, pp. 111-122, 139-159.pb
Chris Dixon, “Western Penetration: From Trade to Colonial Annexation”, Chapter 3
of his Southeast Asia and the World-Economy (1993), pp. 57-84.bb
Mr McCarthy’s Letter to Mr. Palgrave, March 29, 1883, in Ian Nish, British
Documents on Foreign Affairs (1995), pp. 37-46. bb

Week 6 (Oct. 1-4): Improving “tradition” (DG)

Tu 1 Oct 9. Liberalism and empire
Th 3 Oct 10. “White men are saving brown women from brown men”
Fri 4 Oct. Question for Discussion and Essays: how does the logic of improvement
justify imperial expansion? Why do women and their bodies need special intervention
from colonizers and nationalists?
Assigned Readings:
Debates on sati:
Petition of Orthodox Hindus against the ordinance to abolish sati (1830):
http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson5/lesson5.php?menu=1&s=7
Rammohun Roy, “A debate on sati: an advocate and an opponent” (1818)
http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson5/lesson5.php?menu=1&s=4
Governor-general Bentinck’s position (1829)
http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson5/lesson5.php?menu=1&s=6
Lata Mani, Contentious Traditions: the debate on sati in colonial India, (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1998), pp. 25-32, 72-80.
“Small feet of the Chinese females: remarks on the origin of the custom of
compressing the feet; the extent and effects of the practice; with an anatomical
description of a small foot.” Chinese Repository 3 (1835): 537-539.
http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/p/61.html
Lay, G. Tradescant. “Remarks on Chinese Character and Customs.” Chinese
Repository 12 (1843): 139-142.
http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/p/58.html
“The Rules and Regulations of Marriage from the anti-footbinding society of
Hunan”
http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/sources/footbinding.html
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 Dorothy Ko, Cinderella's sisters: a revisionist history of footbinding (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2005), pp. 14-37.

Week 7 (Oct 8-11): Colonial States and Resistance (ET)

Tu 8 Oct 11. Modern Colonial States
Th 10 Oct 12. Race, Rule, and Resistance
Fri 11 Oct. Question for Discussion and Essays: Can peasant rebellions ever be
nationalistic or are they always localized and traditional in their goals?
Assigned Readings:
In Search of Southeast Asia, ed. Steinberg, 173-176; 180-199; 203-214; 247-268.pb
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (1991), ch. 10, pp. 163-185.bb
[available as a networked book]
Ann Stoler, Capitalism and Confrontation on Sumatra’s Plantation Belt, 1870-
1979 (1985), pp. 1-13.bb
Donald Nonini, British Colonial Rule and the Resistance of the Malay Peasantry
(1992), pp. 37-61.bb
Thongchai Winichakul, Siam Mapped: A History of the Geobody of a Nation (1994),
Chapter 3, pp. 62-80.bb
[available as a networked book]

Week 8 (Oct. 15-18): Colonialism and Nationalism: the case of India (DG)
Tu 15 Oct 13. fall break
Th 17 Oct 14. The collision of colonialism and nationalism
Fri 18 Oct. Question for Discussion and Essays: How did Gandhi view modern
technologies such as medicine, law, and the railways? Did Indians buy
into Gandhi’s views?
Assigned Readings:
Metcalf and Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India, ch. 4-5
Mohandas K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings, edited by Anthony Parel
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, second edition 2009), pp.
1-123.

Film: Passage to India

III. Wartime Asia

Week 9 (Oct. 22-25): Postwar Political Identity (ET)
21 October: paper #2 due
Tu 22 Oct 15. Southeast Asian Identity Formation
Th 24 Oct 16. Pan-Asianism, Japan, and WWII
Fri 25 Oct. Question for Discussion and Essays: Was the Japanese occupation a
watershed for modern political development in Southeast Asia?
Assigned Readings:
In Search of Southeast Asia, ed. Steinberg, pp. 292-311, 324-331, 349-355.pb
Benda and Larkin, “Japanese Blueprint for Southeast Asia,” The World of Southeast
Asia (1967), pp. 219-223.bb

History 1910/Asian 119/CAPS 1910 Syllabus/2013 4

 Alfred McCoy, “Introduction,” in McCoy, ed., Southeast Asia Under Japanese
Occupation (1985), 1-13.bb
Benedict Anderson, “Japan: The Light of Asia.” in Josef Silverstein, ed.,
Southeast Asia in World War II (1966), pp. 13-50.bb

Week 10 (Oct 29-Nov. 1): The world wars in Asia (DG)

Tu 29 Oct 17. The turn of the century, the first world war, 1919: Japan, India, China
Th 31 Oct 18. After the second world war: India and Pakistan’s independence
Fri 1 Nov Question for Discussion and Essays: what is the connection between a
“nation,” identity, and territory? How were Pakistan and India
differently imagined as nations?

Assigned Readings:
Metcalf and Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India, chs. 6-7
Manto, “Toba Tek Singh”
http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/toba-tek-singh
Jawarharlal Nehru, “Tryst with Destiny”
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Speeches and Statements, 1947-48 (Karachi: Oxford
University Press, 2000), pp. 33-36.

Film: Earth

IV. America's Asia and Beyond

Week 11 (Nov. 5-Nov. 8): America's Asia (ET)

Tu 5 Nov 19. Decolonization and the Onset of the Cold War

Th 7 Nov 20. Cold War Manifestations in Indochina
Fri 8 Nov Question for Discussion and Essays: Was Southeast Asian political
activity during the Cold War formed around a common national
community, was it formed against a former colonizer, or was it formed
against an ideology (such as communism or capitalism)?
Assigned Readings:
In Search of Southeast Asia, ed. Steinberg, pp. 356-382, 387-393, 418-430.pb
Nayan Chanda, “Silkworms and Mice,” in Brother Enemy (1986), 46-73, 418-421.bb
“Planning the Past: The Forced Confessions of Hu Nim,” in Chandler, et. al, Pol Pot
Plans the Future (1988), 227-232, 276-317, 332-3, 340-346.bb

Week 12 (Nov. 12-15) Postcolonial South Asia (DG)

Tu 12 Nov. 21. The development of nations: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

Th 14 Nov. 22. India and its neighbors: Sri Lanka, Burma, China
Fri 15 Nov. Question for Discussion and Essays: How different was postcolonial
South Asia from colonial South Asia? How did the nations on the Indian
subcontinent position themselves in the context of cold war politics?
Assigned Readings:
Metcalf and Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India, ch. 8
Sunil Khilnani, The Idea of India, pp. 153-79.

History 1910/Asian 119/CAPS 1910 Syllabus/2013 5

 Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper, Forgotten Wars: freedom and revolution in
southeast Asia (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007), pp. 60-75, 301-32,
372-401.
Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi, “The Experience of Defeat,” pp. 306-41.

Week 13 (Nov 19-22): Fear and Loathing in Contemporary SE Asia (ET)

Tu 19 Nov 23. The 1965 Coup and Killings in Indonesia
Th 21 Nov 24. Illegal Economies of Southeast Asia
Fri 22 Nov. Question for Discussion and Essays: Is violence an integral part of
Modern SE Asia’s History?
Assigned Readings:
Geoffrey Robinson, The Dark Side of Paradise: Political Violence in Bali
(Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1995): 1-18. bb
Anonymous, “Additional Data on Counter-Revolutionary Cruelty in Indonesia,
Especially East Java,” in Robert Cribb, ed., The Indonesian Killings of 1965-1966
(Clayton: Monash Papers on Southeast Asia #21): 169-176. bb
Nancy Lee Peluso, “Teak and Temptation on the Extreme Periphery: Cultural
Perspectives on Forest Crime,” Chapter 7 of her Rich Forests, Poor People:
Resource Control and Resistance in Java (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1992): 201-232. bb
Bertil Lintner, Land of Jade: A Journey Through Insurgent Burma (Kiskadale,
White Lotus, 1990): 137-158. bb

Film: A Year of Living Dangerously

V. Reflections
Week 14 (Nov 26): South Asia Now (DG)
25 November: paper #3 due
Tu 26 Nov 25. New nationalisms, security, and territory

Reading for this session, which we will discuss in class

Metcalf and Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India, ch. 9

Srirupa Roy, Beyond Belief, ch. 2, “Marching in Time: Republic Day Parades,”
pp. 66-94.
[electronic resource]
Iftikhar Dadi, “Nuclearization and Popular Politics in Pakistan,” in Itty Abraham,
ed., South Asian Cultures of the Bomb: atomic publics and the state in India and Pakistan

Th 27 Nov Thanksgiving break

No discussion sections this week due to Thanksgiving break.

Week 15 (Dec. 3-6): Inland and Maritime Asia

Tu 3 Dec 26. Globalization: is this Asia’s big moment? (DG)
Th 5 Dec 27. Variations on a Theme: review session
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No discussion sections this week due to the last week of classes.

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