Provincial Metropolis
eBook - PDF

Provincial Metropolis

Intellectuals and the Hinterland in Colonial India

  1. 338 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Provincial Metropolis

Intellectuals and the Hinterland in Colonial India

About this book

This book tells the story of Patna, in the north Indian region of Bihar, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A century and more earlier, Patna had been an important and populous city, but it came to be seen by many-and is still seen today-as merely part of the mofussil, the provincial hinterland. Despite Patna's real decline, it continued to nurture a vibrant intellectual culture that linked it with cities and towns across northern India and beyond. Urdu literary gatherings and other Islamicate traditions inherited from Mughal times helped animate the networks sustaining institutions like scholarly libraries and satirical newspapers. Meanwhile, English-educated lawyers sought to bring new prominence to their city and region by making Patna the capital of a new province. They succeeded, but as Patna's political influence grew, its distinctive character was diminished. Ultimately, Provincial Metropolis shows, Patna's intellectual and cultural life thrived not despite its provinciality but because of it.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Provincial Metropolis by David Boyk in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Histoire & Histoire de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Advance Praise
  3. Provincial Metropolis
  4. Title
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Contents
  8. List of Figures and Maps
  9. Acknowledgments
  10. List of Abbreviations
  11. Note on Transliteration and Translation
  12. Introduction: Provinciality in Colonial India
  13. 1 A Length without Breadth
  14. 2 As Though in a Shrine
  15. 3 Collaborative Wit
  16. 4 A Sturdy Loyal People
  17. 5 Patna Capitalized
  18. Epilogue
  19. Glossary
  20. Bibliography
  21. Index