Indian liberal thought includes an overlooked strand opposing colonial executive authoritarianism

Evidence

The scholarly literature on popular mid-century liberalism has concentrated on domestic movements in Britain. Liberalism in India is most often associated with Utilitarian reform in the second quarter of the nineteenth century and initiatives instituted under later viceroys appointed by Liberal Party governments. Studies of liberal nationalism generally focus on the later decades of the nineteenth century after the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The use of liberal rhetoric in the 1860s and 1870s in response to the increasing authoritarianism of the colonial executive represents an additional, less-studied strand of liberal thought in India. — Julia Stephens, The Phantom Wahhabi, 130

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle on 1860s–70s colonial anti-statism as a forgotten current of Indian liberal politics.