Black Hole of Empire, The

About the Book: The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of Power When Siraj, the ruler of Bengal, overran the British settlementof Calcutta in 1756, he allegedly jailed 146 European prisonersovernight in a cramped prison. Of the group, 123 died ofsuffocation. While this episode was never independently confirmed,the story of the black hole of Calcutta was w About the Book: The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of Power When Siraj, the ruler of Bengal, overran the British settlementof Calcutta in 1756, he allegedly jailed 146 European prisonersovernight in a cramped prison. Of the group, 123 died ofsuffocation. While this episode was never independently confirmed,the story of the black hole of Calcutta was widely circulated andseen by the British public as an atrocity committed by savagecolonial subjects. The Black Hole of Empire follows the everchangingrepresentations of this historical event and founding myth of theBritish Empire in India, from the eighteenth century to thepresent. Partha Chatterjee explores how a supposed tragedy pavedthe ideological foundations for the civilizing force of Britishimperial rule and territorial control in India. Chatterjee takes a close look at the justifications of modernempire by liberal thinkers, international lawyers, and conservativetraditionalists, and examines the intellectual and politicalresponses of the colonized, including those of Bengalinationalists. The two sides of empires entwined history are broughttogether in the story of the Black Hole memorial: setup in Calcuttain 1760, demolished in 1821, restored by Lord Curzon in 1902, andremoved in 1940 to a neglected churchyard. Challenging conventional truisms of imperial history,nationalist scholarship, and liberal visions of globalization,Chatterjee argues that empire is a necessary and continuing part ofthe history of the modern state. About the Author: Partha Chatterjee Partha Chatterjee is professor of anthropology and of MiddleEastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University;and honorary professor at the Centre for Studies in SocialSciences, Calcutta. His books include The Politics of the Governedand Lineages of Political Society. Reviews This is a powerfully argued account of the origins andsubsequent justification of British rule in India, and anexploration of the response by B About the Book: The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of Power When Siraj, the ruler of Bengal, overran the British settlementof Calcutta in 1756, he allegedly jailed 146 European prisonersovernight in a cramped prison. Of the group, 123 died ofsuffocation. While this episode was never independently confirmed,the story of the black hole of Calcutta was w About the Book: The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of Power When Siraj, the ruler of Bengal, overran the British settlementof Calcutta in 1756, he allegedly jailed 146 European prisonersovernight in a cramped prison. Of the... Read More

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