Reversing the Gaze

by Susanne Hoeber Rudolph (Ed.) and Lloyd I. Rudolph (Ed.) and Mohan Singh Kanota

Amar Singh, a Rajput nobleman and Edwardian officer, records in this book his sense of discovery and surprise at diverse sites: the Jodhpur court, the women's quarters of the Jaipur Haveli, Lord Curzon's Imperial Cadet Corps, the British Expeditionary Force in China etc. He reverses the gaze. A Colonial subject contemplates an imperial other. He begins writing at twenty, producing what may well be one of the world's longest continuous diaries extending over forty-four years. Amar Singh's reflexive narrative offers an open ended, constructivist explanation of history and self.

About the Author:

SUSANNE HOEBER RUDOLPH and LLOYD I. RUDOLPH are Professors in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Their books, The Modernity of Tradition; Gandhi; and In Pursuit of Lakshmi are essential reading for students and researchers of Indian politics.MOHAN SINGH KANOTA, Amar Singh's nephew and heir, is the author of The History of the Champawats and Kachhwahas of Hamir Dev (both in Hindi).