It has been over sixty years since the withdrawal of colonialism from India. In the pre-independence days nationalism dominated the political scenario and was responsible for attaining freedom from British imperialism. Studies in colonialism and nationalism have been recurrent themes in the curricula of social sciences for undergraduate and post-graduate courses across the universities. In our experience as scholars and teachers of history, this particular theme has always managed to evoke academic interest among the students. However, there are constraints such as lack of coherent reading material available to them all at one place. Much has been written on colonialism and nationalism in India but it has been sporadic and often out of reach of the students from lesser privileged background.

This book is the result of our continuous deliberation on this problem faced by the students and is therefore our humble attempt to present a study of various approaches to the significant themes of different disciplines of social sciences. The book presents a historiographical analysis of colonialism and nationalism in India along with a discussion of studies in orientalism in colonial India. As an explanation to the rise of nationalism, the book also brings into focus the emergence of nationalist elites and the causes leading to the same. The rise of nationalism itself is dealt with separately in a chapter which discusses the factors leading up to the foundations of the nationalist political organisations in India. Another aspect of colonialism, and one which has not been dealt with extensively elsewhere, is migration of indentured labour and various historiographical approaches to the study of the same.

We hope that this book will prove to be a valuable source for both students and teachers of the above said stream.