Contesting Colonialism

The present volume encompasses the multi-faceted aspects of the anti-Partition and swadeshi upsurge resulting from Curzon’s decision to partition Bengal in 1905. The book has evolved out of a UGC-sponsored national seminar organised jointly by Victoria Memorial and Loreto College, Kolkata, held in the centenary year of this historic event. In the last one hundred years a vast mass of historical writings has been produced and the present thematically arranged book (divided into six sections) makes a significant addition to this existing historiography. Distinguished historians and scholars through their meticulously researched and deeply reflective articles raise crucial queries to identify the many hidden currents within the Swadeshi Movement. The unearthing of immense archival material, our contributors’ probing and perceptive analyses of the role of the bhadralok, the civil society, the many subaltern groups, as also the women who for the first time went beyond the socially legitimised area of womanly activities and for the first time participated in actual politics, will profoundly alter our perception of the swadeshi discourse.