Dinyar Patel
@dinyarpatel.bsky.social
Associate Professor (South Asian History) at SPJIMR, Mumbai. Author of Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism (Harvard University Press, 2020).
A recently discovered album of photographs from 1930-1 shine new light on the Civil Disobedience Movement, demonstrating the scale of female participation and leadership. My article in BBC: www.bbc.com/news/article...
India freedom struggle: The hidden heroines found in long-lost photographs
Newly found photos highlight women’s key role in Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement against British rule.
www.bbc.com
November 30, 2025 at 6:20 AM
A recently discovered album of photographs from 1930-1 shine new light on the Civil Disobedience Movement, demonstrating the scale of female participation and leadership. My article in BBC: www.bbc.com/news/article...
Gillian Tindall's "City of Gold" was one of the first Bombay history books I read--and I continue to refer to it for my own work. Tindall passed away last month: scroll.in/article/1088...
Gillian Tindall (1938-2025): A Bombay biographer who opened the city’s eyes to its own stories
More than 40 years after it was published, ‘City of Gold’ remains an important text for historians and researchers.
scroll.in
November 24, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Gillian Tindall's "City of Gold" was one of the first Bombay history books I read--and I continue to refer to it for my own work. Tindall passed away last month: scroll.in/article/1088...
Many congratulations to Aparajith Ramnath for winning this year's Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize! www.newindiafoundation.org/winner-nif-b...
New India Foundation
www.newindiafoundation.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Many congratulations to Aparajith Ramnath for winning this year's Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize! www.newindiafoundation.org/winner-nif-b...
And cultural phenomena in India, as well! John Bright was so popular in Bombay that a cricket club was named in his honor in the late 19th century.
Born #OTD 1811, John Bright.
A Radical MP from 1843-89, Bright was a champion of parliamentary reform and co-founder of the Anti-Corn Law League.
Dr Simon Morgan explored how Bright and other popular politicians in the age of reform became 'cultural phenomena':
A Radical MP from 1843-89, Bright was a champion of parliamentary reform and co-founder of the Anti-Corn Law League.
Dr Simon Morgan explored how Bright and other popular politicians in the age of reform became 'cultural phenomena':
From ‘People’s Champions’ to ‘Tribunes of the People’: popular politicians in Parliament, c. 1810 to 1867 - The History of Parliament
To find out more, Simon’s full-length paper ‘From ‘People’s Champions’ to ‘Tribunes of the People’: popular politicians in Parliament, c. 1810 to 1867’ is
historyofparliament.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM
And cultural phenomena in India, as well! John Bright was so popular in Bombay that a cricket club was named in his honor in the late 19th century.
Why did the Great Irish Famine occur, and what did it have in common with famines in other parts of the British Empire, including India? Listen to Padraic X. Scanlan discuss his book, "Rot: A History of the Irish Famine" in our latest Past Imperfect podcast: scroll.in/article/1088...
Podcast: Why Ireland’s Great Famine matters
Padraic X Scanlan discusses his new book, ‘Rot: A History of the Irish Famine’ with Dinyar Patel.
scroll.in
November 13, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Why did the Great Irish Famine occur, and what did it have in common with famines in other parts of the British Empire, including India? Listen to Padraic X. Scanlan discuss his book, "Rot: A History of the Irish Famine" in our latest Past Imperfect podcast: scroll.in/article/1088...
Reposted by Dinyar Patel
Peacemaker: U Thant, the United Nations and the Untold Story of the 1960s by Thant Myint-U captures the optimism and ambition of Burma’s bridge between worlds.
✍️ John Sidel reviews the recent #historybook
www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
✍️ John Sidel reviews the recent #historybook
www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
‘Peacemaker’ by Thant Myint-U review
www.historytoday.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Peacemaker: U Thant, the United Nations and the Untold Story of the 1960s by Thant Myint-U captures the optimism and ambition of Burma’s bridge between worlds.
✍️ John Sidel reviews the recent #historybook
www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
✍️ John Sidel reviews the recent #historybook
www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
Reposted by Dinyar Patel
Tracing the rise and decline of Chettiar businesses across Asia challenges the idea that caste-based capital can always deliver fortunes. CJ Kuncheria on Raman Mahadevan's 'Fortune Seekers'
www.theindiaforum.in/book-reviews...
www.theindiaforum.in/book-reviews...
What the Chettiar Story Reveals about Caste and Business
Tracing the rise and decline of Chettiar businesses across Asia challenges the idea that caste-based capital can always deliver fortunes.
www.theindiaforum.in
November 10, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Tracing the rise and decline of Chettiar businesses across Asia challenges the idea that caste-based capital can always deliver fortunes. CJ Kuncheria on Raman Mahadevan's 'Fortune Seekers'
www.theindiaforum.in/book-reviews...
www.theindiaforum.in/book-reviews...
Taking place tomorrow!
November 8, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Taking place tomorrow!
Henry Fawcett was also a staunch supporter of Indians clamoring for more political rights, befriending many Indian political leaders resident in London.
Died #OnThisDay 1884 Henry Fawcett, the first completely blind MP. He sat as a Liberal for Brighton 1865-74, & Hackney 1874-84. For more on him & the wife, the leading suffragist, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, see our earlier post: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2018/07/19/m...
MP of the Month: Henry Fawcett (1833-84)
Continuing our recent focus on the personalities and campaigns associated with ‘votes for women’, our MP of the Month highlights the remarkable career of Henry Fawcett, husband of the leading suffr…
victoriancommons.wordpress.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Henry Fawcett was also a staunch supporter of Indians clamoring for more political rights, befriending many Indian political leaders resident in London.
This Sunday at Literature Live!, I'll be in conversation with Sam Dalrymple about his excellent new book, Shattered Lands: www.litlive.in/fest25/sched...
FRAGMENTNATIONS | The Mumbai LitFest
www.litlive.in
November 3, 2025 at 10:54 AM
This Sunday at Literature Live!, I'll be in conversation with Sam Dalrymple about his excellent new book, Shattered Lands: www.litlive.in/fest25/sched...
Murali Ranganathan writes on how photos in a long-forgotten album reveals the role of women in suburban Bombay during the Civil Disobedience Movement: scroll.in/article/1087...
From the photo-book: How Mumbai suburban women contributed to the freedom struggle
Women were at the forefront of the Civil Disobedience Movement – leading processions, picketing foreign cloth shops, breaking the salt laws.
scroll.in
October 27, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Murali Ranganathan writes on how photos in a long-forgotten album reveals the role of women in suburban Bombay during the Civil Disobedience Movement: scroll.in/article/1087...
In @thetls.bsky.social I write about Dadabhai Naoroji, Indian nationalism, and the power of print: www.the-tls.com/history/mode...
Truth teller of Empire
Under colonial rule, the written word was one of the few weapons available to Indian political leaders. They made remarkable use of it. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that Indians used b...
www.the-tls.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:06 AM
In @thetls.bsky.social I write about Dadabhai Naoroji, Indian nationalism, and the power of print: www.the-tls.com/history/mode...
My piece on the closure of Parsiana and how the career of its editor, Jehangir Patel, mirrored major social and political changes in India: scroll.in/article/1087...
As ‘Parsiana’ closes, Indian journalism loses a small but important voice
The magazine, started in 1964, chronicled the achievements and arguments of the Parsi community around the world – with an eye on the big picture.
scroll.in
October 15, 2025 at 5:25 PM
My piece on the closure of Parsiana and how the career of its editor, Jehangir Patel, mirrored major social and political changes in India: scroll.in/article/1087...
Reposted by Dinyar Patel
In this epic account, Bancroft Prize–winning historian Sven Beckert charts the rise of the modern global economic order. An unparalleled work of scholarship that is also a joy to read, this is a monumental achievement. @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social
Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert
In this epic account, Bancroft Prize–winning historian Beckert (Empire of Cotton) charts the rise of the modern global economic ...
buff.ly
September 4, 2025 at 3:02 PM
In this epic account, Bancroft Prize–winning historian Sven Beckert charts the rise of the modern global economic order. An unparalleled work of scholarship that is also a joy to read, this is a monumental achievement. @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social
Some photographs from the launch of "Disobedient Subjects" at CSMVS: an exhibit on photographs from the Civil Disobedience Movement in Bombay, 1930-31.
October 13, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Some photographs from the launch of "Disobedient Subjects" at CSMVS: an exhibit on photographs from the Civil Disobedience Movement in Bombay, 1930-31.
Taking place this Saturday! Murali Ranganathan, Sumathi Ramaswamy, and I will be in conversation about Bombay during the Civil Disobedience Movement -- specifically, an incredible volume of photography which we have written about. CSMVS, 11 Oct, 5:30pm.
October 9, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Taking place this Saturday! Murali Ranganathan, Sumathi Ramaswamy, and I will be in conversation about Bombay during the Civil Disobedience Movement -- specifically, an incredible volume of photography which we have written about. CSMVS, 11 Oct, 5:30pm.
I'll be giving a talk this Saturday on three Indians in the age of global liberalism: Rammohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore, and Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy. How did their global links help shape Indian critiques of colonialism? khakitours.com/experiences/...
October 2, 2025 at 5:53 AM
I'll be giving a talk this Saturday on three Indians in the age of global liberalism: Rammohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore, and Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy. How did their global links help shape Indian critiques of colonialism? khakitours.com/experiences/...
Job alert: IIHS University in Bangalore is hiring! www.iihs.ac.in/careers/
www.iihs.ac.in
September 30, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Job alert: IIHS University in Bangalore is hiring! www.iihs.ac.in/careers/
Reposted by Dinyar Patel
Happening this evening!
Upcoming lecture on Thursday, 25 Sept on the #Zoroastrian communities in India and Iran and Britain's role in their relationships in the early 20th century. Come and join us! Details: tinyurl.com/ras-20250925
September 25, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Happening this evening!
Brougham was also a supporter of Indian reform, and a well-respected figure in India, associated with Indian liberals' hopes for changes in the fundamental structure of Company rule.
Born #OTD 1778, Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux. MP for various constituencies from 1810 to 1830, he rose to prominence with his support for the abolition of slavery and his opposition to George IV's attempts to divorce Queen Caroline. www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-...
September 19, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Brougham was also a supporter of Indian reform, and a well-respected figure in India, associated with Indian liberals' hopes for changes in the fundamental structure of Company rule.
Today is Dadabhai Naoroji's 200th birth annniversary. I write in @scroll.in about the divergence between, on the one hand, the early Indian nationalist vision for mass education and, on the other hand, independent India's woeful record on mass education. scroll.in/article/1086...
Dadabhai Naoroji’s 200th birth anniversary: How early nationalists thought about mass education
There is a yawning gap between their visions and independent India’s woeful track record in educating its citizens.
scroll.in
September 4, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Today is Dadabhai Naoroji's 200th birth annniversary. I write in @scroll.in about the divergence between, on the one hand, the early Indian nationalist vision for mass education and, on the other hand, independent India's woeful record on mass education. scroll.in/article/1086...
Our latest Past Imperfect podcast, with Srinath Raghavan, looks at Indira Gandhi's rule: was she populist, authoritarian, socialist -- or perhaps Caesarist? scroll.in/article/1085...
Podcast: Indira Gandhi’s disastrous legacy that defined Indian democracy
Was India’s only female prime minister a populist, an authoritarian, or something else? Author Srinath Raghavan discusses why her regime could be ‘Caesarist’.
scroll.in
August 21, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Our latest Past Imperfect podcast, with Srinath Raghavan, looks at Indira Gandhi's rule: was she populist, authoritarian, socialist -- or perhaps Caesarist? scroll.in/article/1085...
I'll be delivering a talk this Thursday on "Dadabhai Naoroji at 200," marking the two-hundredth birth anniversary of one of the world's pioneering anticolonial figures. 14 August, 6pm, CSMVS Museum, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. See images for details.
August 11, 2025 at 6:19 AM
I'll be delivering a talk this Thursday on "Dadabhai Naoroji at 200," marking the two-hundredth birth anniversary of one of the world's pioneering anticolonial figures. 14 August, 6pm, CSMVS Museum, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. See images for details.
How did Bombay experience the Uprising or Mutiny of 1857? Find out in my latest piece in @scroll.in, where I describe how fear and panic shaped the British response in the city: scroll.in/article/1084...
Panic and fear: How Bombay experienced the Great Uprising of 1857
The alarm and fright in the city revealed the brittle, ultimately ephemeral nature of the British empire – the most powerful empire in world history.
scroll.in
July 27, 2025 at 2:23 PM
How did Bombay experience the Uprising or Mutiny of 1857? Find out in my latest piece in @scroll.in, where I describe how fear and panic shaped the British response in the city: scroll.in/article/1084...
My review of Manu S. Pillai's Gods, Guns, and Missionaries is now out in @historytoday.com: www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
‘Gods, Guns and Missionaries’ by Manu S. Pillai review
www.historytoday.com
July 25, 2025 at 3:36 PM
My review of Manu S. Pillai's Gods, Guns, and Missionaries is now out in @historytoday.com: www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...