Energy in South Asian history

Abstract

AbstractEnergy history is a burgeoning sub‐field focused on the role of a wide variety of prime movers—from solar energy, to animal labor, to water power, and diesel‐fueled engines—in shaping human societies. Although some energy historians consider “energy” a relatively constant feature of societies across time and culture, others have highlighted the specificity of the modern era as a unique period of energy history due to the globalization of fossil fuel dependency during the 20th century. This article puts forward South Asia as a critical site for understanding the past and future of the fossil fuel energy system. I argue that fossil fuels were central to the formation of colonial political economy beginning in the late‐19th century, and that in the context of decolonization, fossil fuels came to serve as a site of social and political contestation within South Asia's emergent developmental states. The second part of the article in particular focuses on the enduring role of fossil fuels in structuring relations between South Asian polities and global networks of both capital and neocolonial power. In the absence of an existing field of South Asian energy history, my article presents possible periodizations, conjunctures, and key issues that will animate future scholarly debate on fossil fuel energy transitions in South Asia and the wider postcolonial world.