Serving Empire, Serving Nation: James Tod and the Rajputs of Rajasthan

摘要

The title of this book emphasises attention to service, but also the notion that serving the British empire most often coincided with serving the British nation, and the construction by James Tod (1782-1835), British Political Agent in Western Rajasthan from 1818 to 1822, of an image and a history of the Rajputs of Rajasthan. Here Rajputs are portrayed as a princely martial caste, reflecting Indian social processes and pre-colonial Rajput knowledge in a European narrative (complete with a coherent chronology and a rational linear progression).