South Asian History
Blue Mutiny
In the fall of 1859, two years after the violent uprisings in Northern Indian known as the Indian Mutiny or Sepoy Rebellion,* thousands of peasant-farmers (ryots) in the Indian province of Bengal refused to accept cash advances to plant indigo crops in the spring–an act of resistance that became known as the Blue Mutiny. Property…
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A Spy in the Spice Trade
You know the beginning of this story. In the fifteenth century, Portugal under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navigator * began maritime exploration along the coast of Africa. More or less a hundred years later, a Portuguese fleet commanded by Vasco da Gama reached India. After a certain amount of bumbling around, Portugal transformed…
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Poor Tipu
Several weeks ago, I realized that I had never written a post about Tipu Sultan here on the Margins and I promised to rectify that shortly. This is me keeping that promise. Tipu Sultan, the self-proclaimed “Tiger of Mysore”, played an important role in my development as a historian. When I first heard his story…
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