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Friday, February 14, 2025 | 08:48 PM ISTEN Hindi

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Interpreting colonialism in pre-partition Punjab through agrarian history

British rule in 19th-century Punjab was governed by the ideology of 'masculine paternalism', which 'celebrated restless energy on horseback'

farmers, farming, agriculture
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The unemployment rate is not the best measure of labour market conditions in India

Ramchandra Guha | The Wire
In recent years, our understanding of what the British did (or did not do) in this country has been shaped by ideologues rather than scholars. Born-again patriots produce the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Bengal famine as final and conclusive proof that colonialism damaged and deeply degraded India. Latter-day nostalgists answer by holding up the railways as Exhibit A, and the universities as Exhibit B, of how the ruler from afar elevated and educated India. Both sides assemble their arguments mostly from scraps of evidence available online; neither seeks to nuance or complicate their black or white picture with any

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