Empire and information : intelligence gathering and social communication in India, 1780-1870 / / C.A. Bayly [[electronic resource]]

• Record Nr.: UNISA996248225603316
• Autore: Bayly C. A (Christopher Alan)
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 1997
• ISBN: 0-511-58328-1; 0-511-00203-3
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xiv, 412 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Collana: Cambridge studies in Indian history and society ; ; 1
• Disciplina: 327.124/054/09034
• Soggetti: Intelligence service - India - History; Communication - Social aspects - India - History; India Politics and government 1765-1947
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-400) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: 1. Prologue: surveillance and communication in early modern India -- ; 2. Political intelligence and indigenous informants during the conquest of India, c. 1785-1815 -- ; 3. Misinformation and failure on the fringes of empire -- ; 4. Between human intelligence and colonial knowledge -- ; 5. Indian ecumene: an indigenous public sphere -- ; 6. Useful knowledge and godly society, c. 1830-50 -- ; 7. Colonial controversies: astronomers and physicians -- ; 8. Colonial controversies: language and land -- ; 9. information order, the Rebellion of 1857-9 and pacification -- ; 10. Epilogue: information, surveillance and the public arena after the Rebellion -- Conclusion: 'Knowing the country'.
• Sommario/riassunto: In a penetrating account of the evolution of British intelligence gathering in India, C. A. Bayly shows how networks of Indian spies were recruited by the British to secure military, political and social information about their subjects. He also examines the social and intellectual origins of these 'native informants', and considers how the colonial authorities interpreted and often misinterpreted the information they supplied. It was such misunderstandings which ultimately contributed to the failure of the British to anticipate the ; rebellions of 1857. The author argues, however, that even before this, complex systems of debate and communication were challenging the political and intellectual dominance of the European rulers.