India and China in the Colonial World

Relations between the great neighbouring civilizations of India and China date back to ancient times, but the nature of their relations was greatly transformed as both came under colonial and imperial domination in the modern era. This is the first book of its kind-it brings into focus the Sino-Indian relationship in its entirety during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, without viewing it merely as a part of Sino-British studies. India and China in the Colonial World brings together thirteen essays byeminent Indian and Chinese scholars as well as young researchers who look at the multi-dimensional interaction which took place between the two countries during this period. T his interaction was a complex one. It was of many kinds and took place at various levels, and therefore cannot be reduced to any simple understanding either of widespread anti-colonial solidarity or political hostility or indifference. It is possible to see in these interactions seeds of future misunderstanding as well as a basis for common aspirations founded on sense of shared anti-imperialism and the rediscovery of each other’s cultures. This volume looks as some of the problems that have confronted the relations between India and China as new states and in doing so, challenges stereotyped images of this relationship. The major areas of the India-China relationship covered in this book relate to trade, migratory communities, cultural interaction, and links between the political struggles in the two countries. It also includes some aspects of the situation during an dafter World War II. Some papers, such as those on the other importance of Shanghai in Sino-Indian trade; the presence of the Chinese community in India and Indians in China; Indian fighters in the Taiping Rebellion; Gandhi and the Chinese in South Africa; and ties between south-west China and north-east Indian during the Second World War present the findings of new research. others such as those pertaining to the opium trade; the controversial visit of Rabindranath Tagore to China; and the complexity of Subbash Chandra Bose’s position with relations to both China and Japan, have been put in a new light. Together, they fill many gaps in the prevailing scholarship on India-China relations. The essays in this book are particularly relevant, as they help to understand the growing relationship between India and China in the context of a long historical perspective.