Module manager: Professor Andrea Major
Email: A.Major@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as a discovery module
The late 18th and early 19th century saw a rapid expansion of British involvement in India, as the East India Company (EIC) extended its political control across the subcontinent. The increased movement of people, goods, and ideas between Britain and India catalysed profound changes in British society and culture, while also raising persistent questions about how Britain’s empire should be governed. On this module you will explore how India was represented, debated, and understood in Britain during the period of EIC rule (1757-1857). Drawing on a wide range of textual and visual sources including speeches, pamphlets, newspaper reports, plays and poems, paintings, and satirical cartoons you will explore a range of perspectives; from ‘old India hands’, EIC directors, and politicians, to missionaries, anti-slavery activists, social reformers, and consumers. By looking the varied ways in which information about India reached the British public, you will explore how empire functioned at home in Britain, how India shaped British imperial identities, and its lasting legacies today. Content note: this module deals with 18th and 19th century ideas of race, gender, and colonial violence that some may find difficult. These include racist language and ideas, slavery, gendered and sexual violence, colonial violence, and mortality. This content will be flagged to you as the module progresses, and the tutor can provide more information if required. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The objectives of this module are:
- To explore through reading and class discussion how people in Britain understood India and its place within the British empire during the period 1757-1857 and the various contexts in which they encountered empire at home.
- To examine how changing ideas about race, religion, gender, slavery and freedom, consumption, and colonial exploitation have been handled by historians of the period, and how these have intersected with debates about India, Indians, and the nature of East India Company rule.
- By analysing a range of textual and visual primary sources using appropriate methodological/theoretical approaches to consider how ideas and debates about, goods from, and interactions with India helped shape British politics, society, and culture at the time and since.
- To enable students to formulate sophisticated and nuanced arguments in relation to these issues, in written and verbal form.
The above to be supported via in-depth seminar discussions, wider reading, and analysis of primary source materials.
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Analyse the various contexts in which people in Britain encountered ideas about and goods from India and how this influenced the representation of the subcontinent in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Britain.
2. Critically examine key primary sources relating to these issues using appropriate methodological and theoretical approaches.
3. Evaluate the relevant historiography, including the most recent developments in the field and make reasoned and evidenced choices between arguments and interpretations.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
1. Construct nuanced historical arguments supported by an appropriate range of evidence.
2. Conduct targeted, self-directed secondary research into a historical issue or case study.
3. Present historical analysis in engaging, audience appropriate ways via a range of written and verbal formats, considering the opportunities and challenges of the presentational medium.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Supervision | 2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Seminar | 20 | 2 | 40 |
| Private study hours | 355.6 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 44.4 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 400 | ||
Students will have the opportunity to receive formative feedback on elements of the portfolio as the module progresses (e.g. they will deliver an unassessed presentation in class and can submit a blog post for formative feedback). There will be opportunities for one-to-one feedback meetings on essay plans and portfolio plans.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Essay | 50 |
| Coursework | Portfolio | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 22/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team