'The Birth of Indian Liberalism: Mama Parmanand’s Letters to an Indian Raja'
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- Venue
- Brunei Gallery
- Room
- B306
- Event type
- Launch
About this event
Join us for a book launch by Professor Rahul Sagar (NYU Abu Dhabi) The Birth of Indian Liberalism: Mama Parmanand’s Letters to an Indian Raja (Manchester University Press, 2026) and discussant, Dr. Ulas Ince (SOAS University of London).
The first work of political theory published in modern India, Letters to an Indian Raja (1891) counseled Maharajas to foster liberal values and adopt constitutional government. Such reform would, it argued, make Indians freer and happier than they were under colonial rule, and thus allow the Native States to genuinely challenge the British.
Accompanied by an extensive introductory essay by Rahul Sagar, a leading scholar of nineteenth century India, this carefully restored edition challenges the notion that Indian liberals merely borrowed their ideas from Britain and were eager to collaborate with the British Raj. On the contrary, it shows that India’s pioneering liberals sought to make the Native States less vulnerable to both domineering Britons and despotic Maharajas.
About the speaker
Rahul Sagar is Global Network Associate Professor at NYU Abu Dhabi. His most recent books include The Progressive Maharaja: Sir Madhava Rao’s Hints on the Art and Science of Government (Oxford University Press, 2022) and To Raise A Fallen People: The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Indian Views on International Politics (Columbia University Press, 2022). He received his BA from Oxford and his PhD from Harvard and has previously served on the faculty at Princeton and NUS.
