British Empire Research Articles

(Re)negotiating State Authority: How Hinterland Protests against Global Capital Impact the Mediating Role of Traditional Rulers in Postcolonial Sierra Leone

AbstractSesay draws from three hinterland protests against multinational corporations in the mining and agricultural sectors to examine how global capital influences central/local politics in postcolonial Sierra Leone. Focusing specifically on the mediating role of traditional rulers—a strong legacy of British colonial indirect rule—Sesay argues that hinterland protests not only enable the relative autonomy of rural citizens to (re)negotiate with the state outside existing political arrangements but also challenge the broker authority of these rulers in center/peripheral relations. While some protests form new alignment of interest with traditional rulers, others allow rural citizens to bypass their chiefs to summon the attention of central authorities. In either of these processes, the local constituents question the position of chiefs in the indirect governance system and shape the governing strategies adopted by the central government to rule over the hinterland.

“The monetary test of loyalty”: on the financing of visits by British princes to the Empire in the 60s and 70s of the XIX century

Importance. In the 60–70s of the XIX century, representatives of the royal family of Great Britain visited the possessions of the British Empire. The issue of financing was one of the fundamental issues in their implementation. Being closely connected with the sphere of political reputation management, it went beyond the boundaries of exclusively organizational practice. The purpose of the study is to explore the specifics of the financing mechanism for visits by members of the British ruling family to the empire’s possessions in the 60s and 70s of the 19th century and to determine the importance that it began to acquire in the process of building Britain’s relations with these territories.Materials and Methods. Historical-genetic and problem-chronological methods make it possible to analyze the process of monetary support for visits of British princes to the empire’s possessions and determine its role in the context of imperial construction of Great Britain.Results and Discussion. On the basis of sources – materials from the British and colonial press, journalistic publications, parliamentary documents – the features of the financing mechanism for official royal visits and official trips of British princes to the possessions of the Empire of various types are analyzed. The guidelines that conforms the organizers of royal trips and ceremonial receptions in carrying out the task of providing them are revealed.Conclusion. In the context of the royal visits’ implementation, the issue of their financing acquired conceptual importance. Through the sponsorship of the British princes’ trips by the colonial authorities and the public, as well as by the imperial government, ideas that were important for the development of interaction between the metropolis and its possessions were broadcast.

الإحتلال البريطاني للعراق دراسة في تطوره السياسي


 يتناول هذا البحث مرحلة مهمة من تاريخ العراق([i]) الحديث، ألا وهي مرحلة الاحتلال البريطاني للعراق منذ 1917م، عندما دخل البريطانيون بغداد بقيادة الجنرال ستانلي مود وأعلنوا احتلالهم للعراق. ويلاحظ ان تاريخ العراق المعاصر يتوافق مع هذا الحدث المؤثر. لذلك فأن فهم هذا الاحتلال ودوافعه وموقف الشعب العراقي منه مهم جداً لفهم التاريخ العراقي في مراحله اللاحقة. ويبين كذلك فهم الآخرين للعراق وشعبه وكيفية تعاملهم معه. وبعد مرور قرن من الزمن على هذا الحدث فأن اعادة دراسته له أهمية خاصة وبصورة عامة وان كان تحدي الاحتلال كبيراً بالنسبة للعراقيين فان الاستجابة لهذا التحدي كان عظيماً حيث أثبت بأنه لايمكن حكم العراقيين بصورة مباشرة. إن البحث الذي قمت بكتابته وبتوفيق من الله عز وجل يبدأ قبل فترة الاحتلال المباشر فقد تناولت في بدايته وقوع العراق في نفوذ الدولة العثمانية وأوضاعه تحت سيطرة العثمانيين وأهمية العراق الستراتيجية وكذلك المعاهدات التي جرت بين الحكومتين العراقية والبريطانية، وأثر ذلك على كردستان الحلم ويختتم البحث بدور المقاومة وإنهاء الاحتلال البريطاني في ثورة العشرين التي كان للكرد نصيب فيها ضمن حركة التحرر الكردية ولا أجزم بأن البحث قد نال مرحلة الكمال، لأن الكمال لله عز وجل وحده ولكن أدعوا أن يكون قد نال رضا الله ومن يقرأه، والله الموفق.
 
 ([i]) هناك آراء كثيرة حول اصل ومعنى العراق: ينظر: سالم الآلوسي، اسماء العراق وبغداد، بيروت، الوراق للنشر، 2013، ص ص9-174.

The Death of Queen Elizabeth, the Death of the British Empire

The life of Elizabeth Windsor famously kmown by her title Queen Elizabeth the second, is one of mixed realites she is the longest reigning British Monarch in history having set on the throne for 70 years. The reign of Elizabeth was born from the greatest times of the British Empire with many colonies and a great reputation of the empire after the defeat of the Germans in World war 2. Queen Elizabeth has been credited in overseeing the end of colonisation from the British empire by many African states who were under British colonial rule. She facilitated for negotiations in some cases between liberation war movements and the colonial governments on peaceful ways of transfering power. Her Queen`s government even went on to sanction Ian Smith regime in Rhodesia when it declared independence from Britain, the sanctions were as a result that her majesty`s government would only accept independence if it was given to the majority black africans of Rhodesia. The British economy under her rule had prospered beyond unimaginable dought with the British pound being the most powerful currency, the attractiveness of the pound attracted great minds from across the globe which helped improve the British economy and advanced its technological base. The common wealth of nations an organisation the Queen championed has had success in cooperation between Britain its former colonies and other countries that were not British colonies have since joined the organisation because of its successes. This paper seeks to show how the British economy, social base and its political prowess has suffered from the days that the Queen became sick to her subsequent death and the aftermath. Policies like the Brexit that was carried out during her old age and its impact of Britain will be visited upon in this article, the Irish referendum, the removal of the British Mornach as heard of state by carribean nations that belonged to the British realm. The paper seeks to show how Elizabeth Windsor was the glue that bonded British modern society and the survival of the British monarch without her is under threat.In her life Queen Elizabeth worked with 15 British Prime Ministers from diverse parties sharing diferent ideologies this showed her to be a democratic monarch. This paper will expand on the front of the death of monarchs and empires in the modern era and Elizabeth Winsdor being the last great monarch.

‘The Beauty of Our Hills Is Being Sacrificed’: Afforestation, Forestry and Colonial Environmentalism in British Hong Kong

This article examines the afforestation and tree protection efforts in Hong Kong during its colonial period from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Initially, the afforestation department adopted objectives in the 1870s purely for hygienic and urban planning purposes. Yet, with the support of the British Empire’s botanical network, the department successfully transformed Hong Kong Island into a verdant city by the turn of the twentieth century despite facing challenges. However, protecting afforested areas posed difficulties for the department as the local Chinese continuously damaged the trees in exchange for firewood, which was vital to their everyday life. In addition to this, the article also analyses the disputes that arose due to differing views on the usage of trees among the European community and the government in 1904–1905. These challenges forced the latter to abandon its profit-driven tree felling policy and became Hong Kong’s first tree conservation campaign.

Geo-political vampirism: how and why has Western literary scholarship appropriated and then re-mythologised the socio-historical origins of the vampire?

The article considers the claims of Western academics like Frayling (1992) that the literary vampire began with Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819). Crawford (2016) identifies a German literary vampire tradition existing one hundred years before Polidori, yet that work has strengthened Eurocentric claims concerning the literary vampire by academics like Bloom (2018). The article reviews Anatol’s (2022) challenge to the dominant position of Dracula in vampire criticism, Anatol identifying a literary tradition pre-dating Stoker, that tradition seeing the documenting of Caribbean vampire folklore by British colonialists/slave owners, travel writers and journalists. In sympathy with Anatol’s non-Eurocentric consideration, the article re-examines/disputes Western academia’s ‘mythology’ concerning the Villa Diodati (1816), when Lord Byron’s reading from the German Fantasmagoriana apparently inspired Polidori and Mary Shelley to write their novels. The article identifies an Ottoman literary tradition that directly influenced Byron’s 1813 poem ‘The Giaour’, his unfinished story ‘A Fragment’ (1819), and Stoker’s Dracula. The article explores Ottoman vampire (‘obur’) literature, starting with Celebi’s Book of Travels of 1666, which refers back to the fifteenth century ‘vampire fatwas’ in the Balkans under Ottoman rule. The article traces how the dominant Turkic languages of the region informed the proto-Albanian language, the ‘vampire’ (as both term and demonised ‘other’) entering Albanian folklore. The Ottoman empire declining, the rising Austro-Hungarian and then British empires appropriated the vampire westward, exoticising and demonising non-central Europeans. Finally, the article provides a post-colonial reading of Southey’s 1801 orientalist poem Thalaba the Destroyer, reading the first true ‘vampire’ in English literature.

Subjugated to Free Independent States of America, Boston Tea Party by Sons of Liberty and Declaration of Independence

This article explores how Native Americans and Africans have historically been treated by Europeans, with a particular emphasis on how both groups have been portrayed as barbaric and primitive in a variety of media, including literature, minstrel shows, newspapers, and advertisements. We'll talk about Native Americans' difficulties and how they gained their independence in this section. European colonization of North America resulted in the displacement of these tribes, who were then forced into reservations and subjected to assimilation strategies that were often violent and betrayed treaties. European assimilation efforts aimed to erase Native American culture, history, and identity through the establishment of boarding schools that forced Native American children to adopt European habits, attire, and language. The method was intended to "kill the Indian, save the man," as institutions such as the Carlisle Indian School illustrated. Despite the hardships and cultural loss inflicted on Native Americans, their experience in boarding schools was critical in developing future Native American leaders and building a sense of pan-Indian identity, thereby refuting the notion of them as a dying race. The article also delves into the influence of British colonial rule on Native Americans, as well as the imposition of taxes without representation, which sparked riots such as the Boston Tea Party. The Continental Congress and the following Declaration of Independence were watershed points in the American Revolution. Furthermore, the Coercive Acts meant to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, stoked colonial discontent and aided in the commencement of the American Revolutionary War. The article finishes by underlining the significance of these historical events in establishing the identity of the United States and the ongoing struggle for Native Americans' rights and acknowledgment. This in-depth examination of historical events and their interconnectivity sheds light on the complicated and often brutal interactions between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans, which ultimately influenced the establishment of the United States and its values (Volo, 2003).

Tiv entrepreneurs in road transport business: engaging the patterns and trends, 1960’s-2015

ABSTRACT The paper examines the evolution and development of the road transport business in Tivland from the 1960s to 2015. Tivland is located in Benue State, central-Nigeria. The contention is that the advent of British colonial rule led to the construction and expansion of footpaths into motorable roads in Tivland. Tiv entrepreneurs took this advantage by engaging in the transport business. Therefore, transport entrepreneurship was a watershed in the economic development of Tivland. The paper made use of both primary and secondary data, and its approach is descriptive, narrative, and analytic. The paper finds out that the road transport business has contributed to the socio-economic development of Tivland. However, the transport business among the Tiv was beleaguered with some daunting challenges: bad roads, lack of finance, lack of loan facility, mismanagement, stiff competition from outsiders, lack of insurance cover, and extortion of drivers by security personnel. As a way out of these challenges, the study suggests that roads should be repaired and new ones open up to reach areas of production in Tivland. There is also a need to make loan facilities available to aspiring Tiv entrepreneurs to support their businesses.

The British Occupation and the Making of Democracy in Italy and Germany, 1943–1949

AbstractOver the past two decades, historians have become increasingly fascinated by the question of what enabled the emergence of a stable model of democracy in post-war Western Europe, characterized by the persistence of pre-war elites and top-down forms of decision-making. This article reveals the importance of the British occupations during and after the Second World War in fostering this model of democracy. It does so by comparing and weaving together British occupation strategies in Germany and Italy between 1943 and 1949. Based on a novel examination of archival sources, it demonstrates that British ruling strategies influenced the form of democracy that emerged in these two states. As such, the article reveals the centrality of ‘indirect rule’ practices and their multifaceted impact. Building on imperial precedents, the occupations were primarily run through pre-existing local elites who commanded authority and influence amongst the population. The article argues that this choice explains why the British produced, first, functioning occupation regimes and, subsequently, contributed to the emergence of remarkably stable democracies. At the same time, however, this ruling strategy aided the creation of political regimes that were elite-led and that strongly limited popular participation, leaving many democratic aspirations unfulfilled.

Transnational Echoes of Spenceanism: A Text-Mining Exploration in English-Language Newspapers (1790–1850)

AbstractBy tracing mentions of the English radical thinker Thomas Spence (1750–1814), his revolutionary “Plan”, and his disciples (the “Spencean Philanthropists”) in digitized collections of English-language Irish, Caribbean, Indian, Australian, Canadian, and US-American newspapers in the 1790s–1840s, this article explores the dissemination of the ideas and militancy inspired by Spence (“Spenceanism”) across the British Empire and the United States. By applying Digital Humanities methods to investigate British radical history from a transnational perspective, the global reception of Spenceanism is reconstructed by examining and comparing a corpus of 275 newspaper articles through text-mining methods such as keyword analysis, co-occurrences, and sentiment analysis. These methods enable the identification of key themes in references to Spenceanism and advance hypotheses concerning both their geographical and chronological distribution: not only when and where Spence and the Spenceans were alluded to and commented upon, but also how a newspaper's geographical location may have impacted its rhetoric in a specific year and historical context. By combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, this article contributes new insights regarding the global circulation of radical ideas across the nineteenth-century English-reading world.

What happened to the workshop of West Africa? Resilience and decline of handicraft textiles in colonial northern Nigeria, 1911–52

AbstractThe Sokoto Caliphate of northern Nigeria was the workshop of West Africa in the pre‐colonial nineteenth century, producing famous blue‐black cloth that reached many markets south of the Sahara as well as across it. Under British colonial rule this large handicraft textile industry was faced with the winds of foreign competition. We rely on a newly digitized set of colonial district reports to measure the impact of trade on northern Nigerian textile manufacturing and find that (contrary to British expectations) areas closer to railway stations were less likely to experience industrial decline. We argue that the resilience of local textiles relied on the low opportunity cost of dry‐season labour. Analysing a piece of tax microdata, we show that a low opportunity cost of labour outside of the rainy season was associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in textile by‐employment. Seasonal changes in relative factor prices were a trap as well as a refuge. Part‐time employment limited specialization and technological innovation, and can help to explain why northern Nigerian textiles eventually declined. Thus, beyond our particular case study, these results contribute to our understanding of the role of seasonality in determining the structure and pace of development of tropical economies.

Murder in a quarry: violent encounters and distant intimacy on a Cape convict station

AbstractThis article uses a micro-historical approach to examine an escape and murder among convict labourers between Cape Town and Stellenbosch in Southern Africa in the 1840s. It does so to demonstrate how imperial mobilities and legal conceptions of property crime were interconnected within settler colonial capital and the intimacies of colonial social worlds. Reforms in penal practice in the British Empire – in this instance, adopted in the Cape Colony from Tasmanian experiments in convict labour and moral improvement – formed part of post-abolition shifts in labour control and the management of the itinerant poor, increasingly guided by anxieties over race. Michael O’Brien, the murderer, was a suspected escaped convict from Australia, who claimed to have survived violent encounters in the Pacific as a missionary. His narrative contrasts with the predominantly regional mobilities and crimes of the other Cape convicts – notably stock theft and petty robbery – that occurred in the contested spaces of law, colonialism and property. This article discusses convict narratives around crime and redemption across a maritime empire, and the affective relations of coercion and care between convicts, overseers, constables and superintendents on the smaller scale of a convict station. It further contends that changes in criminal justice and governance in Southern Africa were thus contingent on the intimacies of scale and affect, on connections between the local, the global and the biographical.

Bastard Sugar: Hortense Spillers and Paradoxes of Value in New World Thought

Abstract In the British Empire, bastard is a derogatory term for children born outside of the covenant of marriage, ineligible to inherit either status or property. This essay begins with a scene of research into this figure, and it then turns to investigate an unexpected, puzzling term: bastard sugar, the “impure” sugar left after many boilings. Its brief role in the age of emancipation, and the crisis that emancipation posed for West Indian sugar, raise questions about the relationship between racialization, value, and legitimacy in the New World. Guided by the thought of Hortense Spillers and her interlocutors, the essay concludes that “bastard sugar” showcases the paradoxes of value in financial markets, and as such is the condition of New World thought.

The Kerguelen Archipelago and Australian Security Anxieties

The Kerguelen archipelago in the Southern Indian Ocean was never militarised and never posed a realistic naval threat to Australia or the British Empire during the twentieth century. However, there were two episodes, once in the Federation Era and during the Second World War, when there was debate within Australia as to whether this outlying French possession posed a threat to Australian security. By examining these periods of Australian anxiety surrounding the Kerguelen archipelago, it becomes possible to see that these concerns were more reflective of Australian strategic angst than any tangible threat posed by a remote, unpopulated, nominal French possession. This episode is an example of a broader Australian angst in the early and mid‐twentieth century that remote colonial possessions could be weaponised to isolate Australia and threaten it. The Kerguelens represent one of the most peculiar examples of the manifestations of Australian strategic insecurity.

The Centenary of the Leprosy Relief Association (Lepra)-a moment for celebration and reflection†.

The year 2024 is the Centenary of the foundation of the Leprosy Relief Association (Lepra), formerly the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association (BELRA). The name of the organization changed to the LEProsy Relief Association (LEPRA) in 1976 but has been known as Lepra since 2008. Over the years it has worked closely with members and office holders of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Its work has encompassed activities from the earliest initiatives to ensure appropriate living conditions for those with the disease to the development of leprosy chemotherapy. However, this has now evolved into a strong partnership between the UK- and India-based Lepra hubs, which are carrying out research and public health initiatives ranging from elimination of prejudice against those with leprosy to adopting the recently launched WHO programme for skin NTDs to facilitate integrated control and management regimens. The fight against leprosy has always been a partnership between a wide variety of disease-specific NGOs, health-care workers and international health agencies. The story of Lepra illustrates the central role of these partnerships and national as well as international collaboration.

Socio -Cultural Elements in the Songs of Bishnu Prasad Rabha: A Retrospective

Bishnu Prasad Rabha has been an accomplished musician, creative writer, acclaimed master of fine arts, social activist and politician. His contribution to Assamese social and cultural life is great. When we talk about modern Assamese music, we need to mention the name of the musician par excellence Bishnu Prasad Rabha. His contribution to modern Assamese lyrical literature is great. Bishnu Prasad Rabha was a profound composer and musician of his times. He has numerous songs to his credit which speak of the aspirations of the Assamese community at large. Whether be it a romantic song or a patriotic song yet unique quality of the composer Bishnu Prasad Rabha was always there. He was born to Sardar Bahadur Gopal Chandra Rabha, an efficient officer under the Governor of Bengal. He was honoured with Order of Merit of the British empire. Bishnu Prasad’s mother was Gethi Rabha. He was born as the eighth child on 31st January, 1909 at Dhaka. Gopal Chandra Rabha was a great lover of music. Music sessions were held at his residence where the little Bishnu Prasad got acquainted with all the stalwarts of music in Bengal. Unfortunately, his father Gopal Chandra met an untimely death and the family fell into adversity. His widow Gethi along with her children took shelter at their own house in Tezpur. Bishnu Prasad resumed his studies in Tezpur He continued with his other co-curricular activities as well. It is no easy task to assess the worth of the multi -talented personality of Bishnu Prasad Rabha. In his lifetime he was a live legend. Music, fine arts, theatre performance, creative writing, politics, creating social awareness- he explored in all these diverse fields and won accolades for his exceptional contribution. His physical contribution towards the greater Assamese society came to a stop on 20th June, 1969 due to throat cancer. But the grand legacy of his craftsmanship lives on. In this Paper an attempt has been made to assess the socio-cultural elements present in his songs.

In Pursuit of Freedom: Oaths, Slave Agency, and the Abolition of Slavery in Western Tanzania, 1905–1930

AbstractThis article examines ways in which slaves and missionaries used public declarations before witnesses to carve out a distinctive space of legal proceedings in pursuit of emancipation in western Tanzania. This way of pursuing emancipation shows slaves deploying their intellectual creativity and cultural knowledge to shape the German and British colonial legal systems. Interviews provide evidence that these public declarations drew on long-standing practices of oathing in western Tanzanian societies, while administrative sources indicate that oaths had been used in Islamic legal practice. Both mission and administrative sources show that these public declarations became a fairly routine means to facilitate slave emancipation between about 1907 and the 1920s. They were seen as legitimate by both (ex)owners and (ex)slaves, and were welcomed by officials as they mitigated tensions between owners and slaves, and between slave owners and missions. This legal practice was not codified in either the gradualist German-era laws on slavery or the more proactive abolitionist laws enacted by the British. It was a bottom-up innovation, developed in a context in which effective emancipation depended on drawn-out struggles and negotiations over personal autonomy and malleable social norms.

Emergence of Communalism in Modern India: A Critical Analysis (1905-1992)

Throughout its history, India has been the target of a multitude of external aggressions, which have frequently resulted in initial confrontations between domestic forces and foreign aggressors. In India, the coexistence principle has played a significant role in the development of a multicultural and multiethnic society. However, the memory avenue remains scarred by the enduring effects of the violent conflict. Local communities, places of worship, and valuables were destroyed during the incessant conflict between regional regimes that opposed the expanding Mughal Empire prior to British colonization. Throughout this period, devout Hindus who harbored this resentment held in high regard monarchs who vehemently opposed the Islamic invaders. Following the British removal of Muslim authorities, the Muslim population, in conjunction with non-Muslim segments, extended a helping hand to the indigent and swore to defend India's independence. The sociological study of group dynamics exerted a significant impact on the political terrain of the Indian independence movement by fostering solidarity among individuals of various religious and racial affiliations who opposed the colonialists. Nevertheless, the British possessed knowledge of the religious and linguistic dichotomies that existed among the various communities in India, in addition to their extensive chronicle of internal turmoil and discord. Consequently, they devised the "divide and rule" strategy by specifically exploiting communal elements. At the behest of the authorities, the communal infection extensively permeated the Indian political system during the British colonial period. The Indian National Congress was established in 1885 in opposition to the British approach of fostering animosity between the Muslim and Hindu communities. In an effort to operate as a nationalist entity, the recently established organization solicited contributions from all sectors of Indian society and exerted diplomatic pressure on the government. Notwithstanding the Congress comprising leaders from both communities, a considerable number of Muslim leaders retained apprehensions concerning the impact of Hindu leaders. They held the view that the Congress, which was under the control of a westernized Hindu oligarchy, would be incapable of effectively representing Muslim interests and could potentially be detrimental to them. Measures were taken to enhance Muslim support on a national level in order to protect the interests and well-being of the Muslim community. Many interpreted the Viceroy of Bengal, Lord Curzon,'s 1905 decision to partition the province into communal territories as an effort to further segregate the Hindu and Muslim communities.

Pawns of Empire: Unraveling the Role of Dashnaktsutyun in British Geopolitical Strategy (1890-1922)

This paper examines the instrumental role of Dashnaktsutyun, also known as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, in the geopolitical strategies of the British Empire during the early 20th century. Initially emerging as a nationalist movement within the Ottoman Empire, Dashnaktsutyun was co-opted by external powers, particularly Britain, to serve broader imperial interests in the Eurasian region. The study delves into the organization’s activities in the Ottoman, Russian, and Iranian territories, highlighting how its operations, under the guise of Armenian nationalism, were significantly influenced by British geopolitical objectives. The paper also explores the complex interplay between nationalist movements and international power politics, particularly in the context of the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires. A critical analysis of Dashnaktsutyun’s role during key historical events, such as the Soviet invasion of Armenia in 1920, reveals a prioritization of foreign directives over national resistance, impacting the trajectory of Armenian history and reflecting the broader dynamics of early 20th-century imperialism. This study serves as a cautionary tale of how nationalist movements can be redirected by external influences, often at the expense of their foundational principles and the welfare of their people. Keywords: Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian Revolutionary Federation, British Geopolitical Strategy, Armenian Nationalism, Imperialism, Soviet Invasion of Armenia, Great Game, Pan-Islamism, Pan-Turanism

Empires, Languages, and Scripts in the Perso-Indian World

AbstractSociolinguists study the valorization of specific languages as a ‘language ideology’. Contemporary nation-states frequently identify with and promote specific languages. Such linguistic nationalism is a language ideology, but not the only one. This article examines earlier millennia to uncover the dynamics by which imperial systems managed linguistic diversity and how and why they favored and disfavored particular languages and scripts. I analyze states and empires as coalitions of interest groups. I invoke the scribal masters of imperial chanceries and archives as one such group. I develop a heuristic framework (or “model”) to understand the interactions of language and power that unfolded across West and South Asia. I begin with a great empire, the Persian, that did not employ its founders’ ethnic speech but instead refined an older state language in governance. That choice entrenched an interest group that endured through a thousand years till displaced by Arab conquest after 660 CE. But a simpler ‘New Persian’ revived in the eastern Iranian lands. Turkish and Mongol conquest elites emerging from Inner Asia carried this language and its scribes into their growing domains in the Indian subcontinent. I then explain why the non-Persian Mughals in the 1550s selected Persian as their state language and rejected the constant pressure to use Urdu creole. Mughal rule left behind a tenacious Persian-writing elite that the early British empire employed. Finally, I explain the state processes behind the colonial-era decline of Persianate administration and the emergence of a new linguistic politics in colonial India.