David Fejeran - Honors Thesis

"A Tragedy of Tea, Trading, and Turmoil: A Social History of India Under the East India Company"

First Reader: Timothy Lehman, Professor of History
Second Reader: Jenifer Parks, Assistant Professor of History

Abstract

Until recently, there has been a great gap between the subject of power and influence exhibited by imperial powers and the people they subjugated. Specifically, many schools of history embellish the accomplishments of the East India Company, while overlooking the people that operated under its rule. Throughout southern Asia, including China and particularly India, the social dynamics of India were greatly influenced by British power. The English should not be painted as conquerors abused by the very people they conquered, nor should the Indians be painted as helpless local victims of the birth of globalism. The relationship that Company officials shared with the ruling Indian elite and those who served under their native rule, often profiting at the expense of the lower classes and castes, was complex socially, politically, and economically. Interpreting these complex relationships through a social historical lens demonstrates how British presence influenced local labor, racial, and class dynamics, religious pervasiveness, and prevailing gender norms.

Citation

Fejeran, David. "A Tragedy of Tea, Trading, and Turmoil: A Social History of India Under the East India Company" 
Honors Senior Thesis, Rocky Mountain College, 2016.

Full Text