Bihar in Colonial India

This book points to the indispensability of the province in shaping and strengthening ideas of the nation in 20th century India. Focusing on the region of Bihar, it shows how its distinctively regional identity was not in opposition to colonial politics or nationalist sentiments, but was itself a product of colonial and national imaginings.

The separation of Bihar, hailed by some as the ‘royal province’ of India and the cradle of Indian cultural and civilization, realigned the region not as ‘backward’ and ‘provincial’ but as the core of an Indian national imagination. Yet it also sparked multiple, contrasting narratives and differences; from questions about territorial realignment, to tensions between Biharis and Bengalis, and the question of language. Transforming the province into a cohesive cultural space was only possible by invoking the nation and its associated historical and cultural imagination, by memorializing its archaeological past and documenting its history.

Challenging the assertion that regional differences undermine claims of united, nationalist ideas, and threaten to tear through the fabric of national identity, this book argues that the region-nation relationship is more symbiotic and demonstrates the crucial role that regional movements play in defining and validating the nationalist imagination.