The Congress in Tamiland: Nationalist Politics in South India, Nineteen Nineteen to Nineteen Thirty-Seven

by David Arnold

Although primarily defined in cultural terms, as the land of the Tamil-speaking people, Tamilnad’s geographical location in the south-eastern corner of the Indian sub-continent has enabled it to develop and maintain a distinctive character. The story of the Congress in Tamilnad has two essential themes. One is the evolution of the Tamil Congress as a regional political party. The second is the changing relationship between a nationalist movement and a colonial regime. Examining in close detail these themes, this book, first published in 1977, presents the story of the Congress in Tamilnad as a case-study of how nationalist parties evolved during the later stages of colonialism.

252 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1977

About the author

David Arnold is professor emeritus of Asian and global history in the Department of History at the University of Warwick. Among his numerous works are Science, Technology and Medicine in Colonial India; Gandhi; and The Tropics and the Traveling Gaze: India, Landscape, and Science, 1800–1856.