Dinyar Patel
@dinyarpatel.bsky.social
Associate Professor (South Asian History) at SPJIMR, Mumbai. Author of Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism (Harvard University Press, 2020).
Our latest Past Imperfect podcast episode is with @svenbeckert.bsky.social, who speaks on Capitalism: A Global History -- scroll.in/article/1093...
Podcast: Why a historian of capitalism believes the neoliberal order is dying
Sven Beckert tells a world-spanning story with some very revisionist takes in this discussion with host Dinyar Patel.
scroll.in
In our latest Past Imperfect podcast episode, Pronoti Datta introduces us to the wonderful world of Bombay food, triggering serious hunger pangs: scroll.in/article/1092...
Podcast: Shrimp in banana cake, saravle, macroli and Bombay Duck everywhere – Mumbai’s world of food
Pronoti Datta uses food and restaurants as windows into Maximum City’s complex social and political landscape.
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Why was the East India Company so concerned about knowledge and scholarship? @drjehrlich.bsky.social joins Past Imperfect to explain, painting a historical canvas which stretches from Warren Hastings to the first rumblings for mass education in the early 19th century: scroll.in/article/1091...
Podcast: The East India Company and the politics of knowledge
In his recent book, Joshua Ehrlich presents a rich portrait of how scholars and scholarship played explicit political roles during the Company Raj.
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My interview with @dinyarpatel.bsky.social for the Past Imperfect podcast is now up: www.spjimr.org/podcast/past...
Our latest Past Imperfect podcast features @johncassidysays.bsky.social, author of "Capitalism and Its Critics," profiling over 30 thinkers, writers, and activists who have both critiqued capitalism and acknowledged its resilience: scroll.in/article/1090...
Podcast: Why the ‘end of capitalism’ is being debated yet again
Journalist and author John Cassidy offers a historical compass to contemporary debates.
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For those in Mumbai: I'm leading a curatorial walkthrough at CSMVS of the "Disobedient Subjects" exhibit, on Bombay and the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930-31. Register at: tinyurl.com/BLHS6Feb26
Our latest Past Imperfect podcast features Avrati Bhatnagar and Sumathi Ramaswamy of Duke University. They speak about the remarkable collection of Civil Disobedience Movement-era photos from Bombay which is now the subject of a book and two museum exhibits: scroll.in/article/1089...
Podcast: Women lead the charge in a mysterious photo album of the Civil Disobedience movement
Photography can reveal different histories of a well-documented event, say Avrati Bhatnagar and Sumathi Ramaswamy in conversation with Dinyar Patel.
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More on good books to read: my contributions to Harvard's Mittal South Asia Center winter reading recommendations: mittalsouthasiainstitute.harvard.edu/2025/12/wint...
Winter Reading Recommendations • The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute
As the days grow colder this winter season, it’s the perfect time to settle in with a great read. Explore our latest reading recommendations—there’s something here for every kind of reader. We hope th...
mittalsouthasiainstitute.harvard.edu
Sam Dalrymple discusses his remarkable new book, Shattered Lands, on South Asia's five partitions, in our latest episode of Past Imperfect: scroll.in/article/1089...
Podcast: South Asia’s five tectonic partitions
Sam Dalrymple on ‘Shattered Lands – Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia’.
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I write in @historytoday.com about three of my favorite books from 2025: www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
Books of the Year 2025: Part 2
historytoday.com
A recently discovered album of photographs from 1930-1 shine new light on the Civil Disobedience Movement, demonstrating the scale of female participation and leadership. My article in BBC: www.bbc.com/news/article...
India freedom struggle: The hidden heroines found in long-lost photographs
Newly found photos highlight women’s key role in Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement against British rule.
bbc.com
Gillian Tindall's "City of Gold" was one of the first Bombay history books I read--and I continue to refer to it for my own work. Tindall passed away last month: scroll.in/article/1088...
Gillian Tindall (1938-2025): A Bombay biographer who opened the city’s eyes to its own stories
More than 40 years after it was published, ‘City of Gold’ remains an important text for historians and researchers.
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Many congratulations to Aparajith Ramnath for winning this year's Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize! www.newindiafoundation.org/winner-nif-b...
New India Foundation
newindiafoundation.org
And cultural phenomena in India, as well! John Bright was so popular in Bombay that a cricket club was named in his honor in the late 19th century.
History of Parliament@histparl.bsky.social · 9mo agoBorn #OTD 1811, John Bright. A Radical MP from 1843-89, Bright was a champion of parliamentary reform and co-founder of the Anti-Corn Law League. Dr Simon Morgan explored how Bright and other popular politicians in the age of reform became 'cultural phenomena':
Why did the Great Irish Famine occur, and what did it have in common with famines in other parts of the British Empire, including India? Listen to Padraic X. Scanlan discuss his book, "Rot: A History of the Irish Famine" in our latest Past Imperfect podcast: scroll.in/article/1088...
Podcast: Why Ireland’s Great Famine matters
Padraic X Scanlan discusses his new book, ‘Rot: A History of the Irish Famine’ with Dinyar Patel.
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Peacemaker: U Thant, the United Nations and the Untold Story of the 1960s by Thant Myint-U captures the optimism and ambition of Burma’s bridge between worlds. ✍️ John Sidel reviews the recent #historybook www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
‘Peacemaker’ by Thant Myint-U review
historytoday.com
Tracing the rise and decline of Chettiar businesses across Asia challenges the idea that caste-based capital can always deliver fortunes. CJ Kuncheria on Raman Mahadevan's 'Fortune Seekers' www.theindiaforum.in/book-reviews...
What the Chettiar Story Reveals about Caste and Business
Tracing the rise and decline of Chettiar businesses across Asia challenges the idea that caste-based capital can always deliver fortunes.
theindiaforum.in
Henry Fawcett was also a staunch supporter of Indians clamoring for more political rights, befriending many Indian political leaders resident in London.
Victorian Commons@victoriancommons.bsky.social · 9mo agoDied #OnThisDay 1884 Henry Fawcett, the first completely blind MP. He sat as a Liberal for Brighton 1865-74, & Hackney 1874-84. For more on him & the wife, the leading suffragist, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, see our earlier post: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2018/07/19/m...
This Sunday at Literature Live!, I'll be in conversation with Sam Dalrymple about his excellent new book, Shattered Lands: www.litlive.in/fest25/sched...
FRAGMENTNATIONS | The Mumbai LitFest
litlive.in
Murali Ranganathan writes on how photos in a long-forgotten album reveals the role of women in suburban Bombay during the Civil Disobedience Movement: scroll.in/article/1087...
From the photo-book: How Mumbai suburban women contributed to the freedom struggle
Women were at the forefront of the Civil Disobedience Movement – leading processions, picketing foreign cloth shops, breaking the salt laws.
scroll.in
In @thetls.bsky.social I write about Dadabhai Naoroji, Indian nationalism, and the power of print: www.the-tls.com/history/mode...
Truth teller of Empire
Under colonial rule, the written word was one of the few weapons available to Indian political leaders. They made remarkable use of it. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that Indians used b...
the-tls.com
My piece on the closure of Parsiana and how the career of its editor, Jehangir Patel, mirrored major social and political changes in India: scroll.in/article/1087...
As ‘Parsiana’ closes, Indian journalism loses a small but important voice
The magazine, started in 1964, chronicled the achievements and arguments of the Parsi community around the world – with an eye on the big picture.
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In this epic account, Bancroft Prize–winning historian Sven Beckert charts the rise of the modern global economic order. An unparalleled work of scholarship that is also a joy to read, this is a monumental achievement. @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social
Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert
In this epic account, Bancroft Prize–winning historian Beckert (Empire of Cotton) charts the rise of the modern global economic ...
buff.ly
Some photographs from the launch of "Disobedient Subjects" at CSMVS: an exhibit on photographs from the Civil Disobedience Movement in Bombay, 1930-31.
Taking place this Saturday! Murali Ranganathan, Sumathi Ramaswamy, and I will be in conversation about Bombay during the Civil Disobedience Movement -- specifically, an incredible volume of photography which we have written about. CSMVS, 11 Oct, 5:30pm.
I'll be giving a talk this Saturday on three Indians in the age of global liberalism: Rammohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore, and Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy. How did their global links help shape Indian critiques of colonialism? khakitours.com/experiences/...
Brougham was also a supporter of Indian reform, and a well-respected figure in India, associated with Indian liberals' hopes for changes in the fundamental structure of Company rule.
History of Parliament@histparl.bsky.social · 11mo agoBorn #OTD 1778, Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux. MP for various constituencies from 1810 to 1830, he rose to prominence with his support for the abolition of slavery and his opposition to George IV's attempts to divorce Queen Caroline. www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-...
