The making of a colonial mind, a quantitative study of the Bhadralok in Calcutta, 1857 1885.

Like many publications, this book first saw life as a doctoral thesis, though since that time it has undergone considerable change. Generally, it focusses upon the development of the bhadralok in Calcutta in the latter half of the nineteenth century. More specifically, it is concerned with the ways in which the ideological and political relationships that defined the bhadralok were moulded by formal and informal agencies of the state in both a broad and a particular sense. In this context, it is shaped by a Marxist notion of historical change and by an attempt to produce broadly based data through quantitative techniques.

During the course of this research, a number of problems arose, not the least of which was that of spelling Indian names. For convenience I have spelt place names, when mentioned, according to the Imperial Gazetteer of 1907 1909, and organisations as they were usually spelt during the period. In many cases I experienced some difficulty in establishing what this commonality was. Indeed, partly for this reason and partly because I have examined such a large number of individuals, I have standardised family names according to the most widely used spelling. As a result, in certain instances, like that of Surendra Nath Banerjea, I have taken the liberty of altering slightly the family name. Yet I have done so because of the complex problems of having to construct and having to process data sets of anything up to 470 names.

In carrying out this research, I have incurred a number of debts both to institutions and individuals. I am particularly grateful to the School of Oriental and African Studies for granting me postgraduate scholarships, to the Central Research Fund, University of London, for supporting research trips to Cambridge, Edinburgh, and India, to the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, and to the Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, for awarding me research fellowships, and to the Western Australian Institute of Technology for a staff development grant.