Nehru's India

A History in Seven Myths

Taylor C. Sherman

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9780691227238
  9780691222585
• eBook ISBN:
  9780691227221
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

An iconoclastic history of the first two decades after independence in India

Nehru's India brings a provocative but nuanced set of new interpretations to the history of early independent India. Drawing from her extensive research over the past two decades, Taylor Sherman reevaluates the role of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, in shaping the nation. She argues that the notion of Nehru as the architect of independent India, as well as the ideas, policies, and institutions most strongly associated with his premiership—nonalignment, secularism, socialism, democracy, the strong state, and high modernism—have lost their explanatory power. They have become myths.

Sherman examines seminal projects from the time and also introduces readers to little-known personalities and fresh case studies, including India's continued engagement with overseas Indians, the importance of Buddhism in secular India, the transformations in industry and social life brought about by bicycles, a riotous and ultimately doomed attempt to prohibit the consumption of alcohol in Bombay, the early history of election campaign finance, and the first state-sponsored art exhibitions. The author also shines a light on underappreciated individuals, such as Apa Pant, the charismatic diplomat who influenced foreign policy from Kenya to Tibet, and Urmila Eulie Chowdhury, the rebellious architect who helped oversee the building of Chandigarh.

Tracing and critiquing developments in this formative period in Indian history, Nehru's India offers a fresh and definitive exploration of the nation's early postcolonial era.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Chapter 1: The Myth of Nehru the Architect of Independent India
• Chapter 2: The Myth of India’s Non-Aligned Foreign Policy
• Chapter 3: The Myth of Hegemonic Secularism
• Chapter 4: The Myth of Socialism
• Chapter 5: The Myth of the Strong State
• Chapter 6: The Myth of the Successful Democracy
• Chapter 7: The Myth of High Modernism in India
• Coda
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index