In 1908, an Indian revolutionary from Madras arrived in Marseille, France, and later travelled to Paris, London, Lisbon, New York, Berlin, and Russia with two main objectives: to unveil the brutality of British colonialism and to reject the idea of the universalisation of the nation-state. He made significant contributions to our understanding of resistance to oppression in all its forms, as embodied by the nation-state. He was one of India’s most prominent anarchist activists and theoreticians, M.P.T. Acharya. To explain his life trajectory and the various themes that have shaped it, we are in conversation with historian Ole Birk Laursen.

References:

1. Ole Birk Laursen: Website, LinkedIn
2. Anarchy Or Chaos: M.P.T. Acharya and the Indian Struggle for Freedom by Ole Birk Laursen
3. We Are Anarchists: Essays on Anarchism, Pacifism, and the Indian Independence Movement 1923 - 1953 by M.P.T. Acharya, edited by Ole Birk Laursen
4. ‘I have only One Country, it is the World’: Madame Cama, Anticolonialism, and Indian-Russian Revolutionary Networks in Paris, 1907–17 by Ole Birk Laursen
5. John Steinbeck, Charles Dickens, Samuel Selvon, V.S. Naipaul, George Lamming
6. Spies, Lies and Allies: The Extraordinary Lives of Chatto and Roy by Kavitha Rao (Episode 12 of Navigating India)
7. Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple (Episode 15 of Navigating India)
8. Magda Nachman: An Artist in Exile by Lina Bernstein
9. The Ghadar Movement: A Forgotten Struggle by Rana Preet Gill

As recently as 1928, a vast region spanning twelve of today’s Asian countries—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait—were bound together as a single entity known as the Indian Empire, or simply the Raj. In less than 50 years after 1928, this Indian empire was shattered by five partitions, which created new nations, redrew maps, led to mass migrations, and left behind a legacy of conflict that still haunts the region. What led to these partitions and the creation of new nations? And why is studying these partitions important today in a globalised world? In this episode, Sam Dalrymple joins us to answer these questions.

References:

1. Sam Dalrymple: Website, X, Instagram, Substack
2. Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple
3. Project Dastaan
4. Aanchal Malhotra, Kavita Puri, Anirudh Kanisetti
5. Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon from the movie Patanga, sung by Shamshad Begum and C. Ramachandra
6. Quote from Jinnah’s Speech, 11 August 1947:
7. Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924–1977 by Abhishek Choudhary
8. Believer’s Dilemma: Vajpayee and the Hindu Right's Path to Power, 1977–2018 by Abhishek Choudhary
9. Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India by Dhirendra K. Jha