The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Chatterjee, Partha, PUBLISHER: Princeton University Press, When Siraj, ong>theong> ruler ong>ofong> Bengal, overran ong>theong> British settlement ong>ofong> Calcutta in , he allegedly jailed 146 European prisoners overnight in a cramped prison. ong>Ofong> ong>theong> group, 123 died ong>ofong> suffocation. While this episode was never independently confirmed, ong>theong> story ong>ofong> "ong>theong> black hole ong>ofong> Calcutta" was widely circulated and seen by ong>theong> British public as an atrocity committed by savage colonial subjects. "ong>Theong> Black Hole ong>ofong> Empire" follows ong>theong> ever-changing representations ong>ofong> this historical event and founding myth ong>ofong> ong>theong> British Empire in India, from ong>theong> eighteenth century to ong>theong> present. Partha Chatterjee explores how a supposed tragedy paved ong>theong> ideological foundations ong>forong> ong>theong> civilizing ong>forong>ce ong>ofong> British imperial rule and territorial control in India. Chatterjee takes a close look at ong>theong> justifications ong>ofong> modern empire by liberal thinkers, international lawyers, and conservative traditionalists, and examines ong>theong> intellectual and political ong>responseong>s ong>ofong> ong>theong> colonized, including those ong>ofong> Bengali nationalists. ong>Theong> two sides ong>ofong> empire's entwined history are brought togeong>theong>r in ong>theong> story ong>ofong> ong>theong> Black Hole memorial: set up in Calcutta in , demolished in , restored by Lord Curzon in , and removed in to a neglected churchyard. Challenging conventional truisms ong>ofong> imperial history, nationalist scholarship, and liberal visions ong>ofong> globalization, Chatterjee argues that empire is a necessary and continuing part ong>ofong> ong>theong> history ong>ofong> ong>theong> modern state.