2007 Handbooks

This unit looks at the ways in which the cultures and innovations of India were exported across the globe to form intimately interconnected south Asian worlds. We take a broader historical view of the two-way nature of exchange and interaction where south Asian cultural forms were appropriated and re-fashioned by looking at the religious, economic and contemporary dimensions of this global process. Our spiritual journey will commence in the pre-modern era and follow the travels of Buddhism and Hinduism along pre-existing trade routes throughout southeast Asia to trace the important role of religious dialogue in the formation of cultural traditions in the region.

Next, we look at the role of Indian resources and indentured labour in the formation of the modern global economy from the eighteenth century, to examine how south Asians re-shaped those places where they were hostages to imperialism and capitalism. Finally, we chart the global migrations of south Asians from the nineteenth century to consider the role of music, language, food and film in the reconstruction of new diasporic identities in more recent times. From Buddhism to Bollywood, this unit explores the ways in which south Asia shaped the modern world.