Romanticism's Child (An Intellectual History of James Tod's Influence on Indian Histroy and Historiography)

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This book explores the intellectual influences that shaped James Tod's world view and challenges the long-held impression that Tod's works primarily pertain only to Rajastha's history. On the contrary, he inspired nationalist and vernacular imaginations of the past in the whole of South Asia - an aspect that renders his work very relevant even today for those interested in the intellectual origin of historical practice inthe subcontinent.

One of the earliest colonial ethnographers, wtith the cultural practices, communities, and histories of the people of Rajasthan led to a meticulous compilation of information about the region and its people, whom he deeply admired. His two-volume masterwork, Annals and antiquities of Rajasthan, published in London in 1929 and 1932, inspired generations of popular renderings of the past, including nationalist and vernacular imaginations in all of south Asia. Tod’s narrative style reflects the influence of Romanticism, medieval feudalism, and civilization progress starkly at variance with official colonial view of the pre-British past of India. What was the source of this’ romanticism, of colonel Tode?

Susanne and Lloyd Rudolph contextualize the formation of tod’s ideas and their reception through documents written by or to Tod, which help in situating his lifework. Interestingly, the second part of the book collects the exchange between tod and James Mill in the British Parliament over the administration of British territories in India with Rajputana as a case study. This book thus significantly contributes to the exploration of knowledge-formation in colonial India and its contemporary influence.

Llovd I. Rudolph (1927-2016) was Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Chicago, USA.

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph (1930,-2015) was William Benton Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago, USA. In 2014 the Rudolphs were awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, for literature and education, and the University of Chicago's Norman Maclean Faculty Award.

Across the broad New England lawn punctuated by high maple trees, the lovely white clapboard house stood comfortably in the mid-july sunshine. My wife and I had driven up from Philadelphia to the village of Barnard, Vermont, as we had every year for so many summers. We were once again visiting my sister, Susanne, and Lloyd, her husband of 63 years. They had both been in declining health for a long time and it seemed likely that this would be our last visit to the residence to which they retired to write and relax in the warm months each year since 1960. We passed under the dark green leaves of the Dutchman's pipe vine shading the front door and entered the large living room. The big fireplace of river boulders that hosted a roaring fire in winter was now cool and quiet. The far side of the living room opened onto the sunlit porch that stretched along the far side of the house. The porch was the center of summer life in the house, with generous windows looking onto the green hillside that sloped down to the gentle waters of Silver Lake. Susanne and Lloyd sat close together at the wooden table facing the lawn and the lake. The table was littered with typescripts, pens and pencils, books, newspapers, slips of paper with handwritten notes, and two laptop computers side by side-a mix of things that reflected intense work and the Rudolphs' complex creative process. They interrupted their conversation and with bright smiles welcomed us once again into their home and workplace, just as they had welcomed countless other friends, relatives, colleagues, and students over the course of their lives together. The papers on the table in that lovely spot were the working materials for the book you are holding. No matter how unwell they became, Susanne and Lloyd were enlivened and invigorated by their joint work-work through which they brought to the world the lectures, articles, and books they wrote together in their unique lifetime partnership. We were sad to see them in poor health, but were moved by the fact that their work continued to drive them cheerfully forward to the very end.

Susanne and Lloyd's health continued to decline in the weeks after we visited them in Vermont, and six months later they were gone. Susanne died on December 23, 2015, and Lloyd just 23 days later, on January 16, 2016. One of their last wishes was to see this book in print. Lloyd Irving Rudolph was born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 1, 1927. After graduating from high school, he was appointed a cadet at West Point in 1945, but resigned his appointment after a semester to attend Harvard University, from where he graduated magna cum laude in 1948. From Harvard he also earned a master of public administration degree in 1950 and a PhD in political science in 1956.

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph was born in Mannheim, Germany, on April 3, 1930. She was the daughter of educated Social Democratic activists who fled Hitler's Germany just before World War II; Susanne was nine when she came to the United States. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and earned her Harvard PhD in 1955.

Susanne and Llovd's marriage in 1952 launched an exceptional personal and professional partnership that endured for more than six decades. Because they wrote and published together and often taught and lectured together, they were mostly referred to in a single collective noun: "The Rudolphs." Aside from their academic work, the Rudolphs were revered for their hospitality, which epitomized their thoughtful, caring approach to their students, colleagues, research subjects, and friends. They regularly hosted interesting guests over generous meals that ranged from a quiet, elegant French dinner for four at their large, old Chicago house to parties for more than a hundred featuring fine Indian food or a traditional New England country supper on the lawn of their Vermont summer home. Even more, the Rudolphs were open to conversations with students and colleagues about everything they were doing. They howed endless interest in the research, writing, and analysis that others were carrying out. At any visit to their home, one was likely to encounter not just academics but also journalists, politicians, and other public figures from India and other countries as well as Americans. A remarkable characteristic of the many tributes published after the Rudolphs died was the number of individuals who felt they had a "special" relationship with the Rudolphs that no one else shared. Prominent individuals in academia and politics from around the world remarked on how the Rudolphs had opened new worlds of study and ideas to them. They were admired for how they lived as well as for how they thought, wrote, and taught. They were seen not only as brilliant and scintillating but also as engaged, warm, and compassionate. Between them, they supervised some 300 doctoral dissertation.

The Rudolphs joined the Harvard faculty upon their return from their first trip to India in 1957. They remained there until 1964, when they were appointed to the University of Chicago political science faculty. It was even more unusual then than it would be today for both a husband and wife to be appointed to tenure track positions at the same university, in the same department, and at the same time. At the University of Chicago, Lloyd served as Chair of the Committee on International Relations and the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences and as Chair of concentrations in political science, public policy, international studies, and South Asian studies in the College. In 1999, Lloyd Rudolph received the University's Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching.

Susanne became the William Benton Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University. She was elected president of the 13,000-member American Political Science Association and the Association for Asian Studies, and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In recognition of her dedication to her students, she was awarded the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrill Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

The Rudolphs were active in the "Perestroika" movement within the political science field, a loose-knit grassroots effort in the early 2000s that sought to open political science to greater methodological pluralism. The Rudolphs received the 2009 Blade of Grass Award, given by the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods Conference Group of the American Political Science Association, in honor of their contributions to interpretive studies of the political world.