The Indian Revolutionary Problem in British Diplomacy, 1914-1919.

by Don Dignan; The

Russian Revolution (1917) and Indian Nationalism: Studies of Lajpat Rai, Subhas Chandra Bose,
and Rammanohar Lohia. by Karuna Kaushik
Review by: Emily C. Brown
The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Feb., 1986), pp. 421-422
Published by: Association for Asian Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2055882 .
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BOOK REVIEWS-SOUTH ASIA 421

buttresshis point that Indian cultureis "ethnometonymic" ratherthan "ethnome-

taphoric"(fullerof "icons" and "indexes"thanof "symbols"and "metaphors");as a
metaphorfortheIndianpilgrims'sprogressfrommanynessto oneness(from"Third-
ness" through"Secondness"to "Firstness"in Peirceanjargon);and to validatehis
conceptof "culture"as an open, dialogicconstructbetweenanthropologist and in-
formants.All these interesting pointsDaniel makesequally well in alternatenon-
Peirceanlanguage,however,and the pure Peirceexegesisnecessaryto set up these
argumentsconsumesalmostfifty pages of text.
Daniel himselfseemsto sensethetangentiality of Peirceat times:"Let me hasten
to assurea readerwho is unfamiliarwith Peirceansemeotics.. . thathe or she is in
no wayrequiredto recalltheterminology developedhere,"he apologizesneartheend
of the firstlump of it (p. 38). I keptwonderingeitherwhat Peircewas doing there
at all-or else whyhe wasn'tin the subtitle.
MICHAEL MOFFATT
Rutgers
University

The Indian RevolutionaryProblem in BritishDiplomacy, 1914-1919. By DON

DIGNAN. New Delhi: Allied Publishers,1983. xvi, 256 pp. Notes, Bibli-
ography,Index. $16. (Distributedby SouthAsia Books, Columbia,Mo.)

The Russian Revolution(1917)and Indian Nationalism: Studies of Lajpat Rai,

Subhas Chandra Bose, and Rammanohar Lohia. By KARUNA KAUSHIK.
Delhi: ChanayakaPublications,1984. xiv,275 pp. SelectBibliography,
Index.
N.p. (Distributedby SouthAsia Books, Columbia,Mo.)
Don Dignan, a seniorlecturerat the University of Queenslandin Australia,in
his thoroughresearchof now-availableBritishForeignOfficerecords,embassyand
legationfiles,War and Admiraltyrecords,cabinetpapers,and India Officerecords
not to mentionprivatepapersand correspondence-hasgivenus an insightful view
intothe alarmsand concernsthatdirectedBritishforeignpolicyin Asia duringthe
WorldWarI yearsand slightlybeyonditsconclusion,thussettingthestageforattitudes
thatwereto becomeapparentat Versailles.
The studyfocuseson theabortiverevolutionary attempt(Ghadr)in the Punjab in
February1915,and the connectionbetweenthe conspirators and the Germansas re-
flectedin theexistenceofpods ofdisaffected Indiansin theUnitedStates(wherethere
was the largestnumber),Canada, Mexico,China, Japan,Indonesia,Singapore,and
Thailand-all in contactwith Britain'senemy.Dignan makes the point that the
Germaneffort to supplyarmsand ammunition (as wellas a trainedcadreofEuropeans
and Indians)to assisttherevolutionaries came too late. The movementhad earlybeen
betrayedby informers, and the leadershad eitherbeen roundedup or had escaped.
The escapeeswerethe most troublesome,notablyRash BehariBose and Taraknath
Das, who weresequesteredin Japan. Britainwas unableto securetheirrepatriation
and this becamea majorpolicyconcern.
Althoughit becameincreasingly evidentthattheGermanscould in no wayfoment
a revolutionin India, theBritishcontinuedon theirparanoicpath,attempting to force
neutralnationsto oust both Germansand suspectedIndian revolutionaries, all the
whilesuspiciousofJapan'span-Asianismand itspostwarintentions in regardto India.
Dignan's firstchapteris tellinglyentitled"BritishIndia in theDecline ofBritain's
WorldPower,"a declinethatthe Britishneverrecognized.He goes on to detail the

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422 JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES

attitudesthatwerestruck,based on, as he says,the "establishedphobiaon potential

threatsto BritishIndia" (p.142).
No mentionis made of MahendraPratapand the provisionalIndian government
he set up in Afghanistan.Apparentlythis did not alarm the Britishunduly,and
therefore the subjectfelloutsidethe author'spurview.
Anyoneinterested in Ghadrmovement or theformulation ofBritishpolicyin Asia
will findthis book a valuablecontribution to both subjects.
In The RussianRevolution and IndianNationalism, Karuna Kaushik, a lecturerin
historyat LakshmibaiCollegeofDelhi University, has sharedtheresultsofherstudies
of the impactof the 1917 RussianRevolutionon Indian nationalism,as reflected in
the writings,speeches,and attitudesof Lala Lajpat Rai, Subhas ChandraBose, and
RammanoharLohia. She selectedtheseindividuals,she explains,because theycame
fromdifferent regionsin India (the Punjab, Bengal, and UttarPradesh,respectively)
and becauseall threehad largegroupsoffollowers who acceptedtheirinterpretations
of internationalevents.Finally,theywerechosenbecausetheywerenot avowedBol-
sheviksor Communists(exceptin the eyesof Britishintelligenceagents).The bio-
graphicalsketchesof the threenationalistsare sketchy. Theircareersare not satisfac-
torilyintegrated intothe largernationalistpicture.Mentionis made, forexample,of
the factthatLala Lajpat Rai was one of the earlytriumvirate, "Lal, Bal, and Pal,"
but "Bal" and "Pal" are notidentified,noris therea clearindicationofwhythe three
werebracketed.
None of the selectednationalistswas sufficiently impressedby the Russian Rev-
olutionto adoptcommunism,and thethemestheydevelopedwerepredictable:Soviet
Russiawas to be applaudedwhenit denouncedimperialismand called forself-deter-
mination;Sovietmethodswerenot necessarily to be approvedof; nordid the Soviet
providea modelforan independent Indiato follow.Russiawasseenmostlyas a potential
ally againstthe British.Bose, however, was to be disillusionedon thatscore.
In the finalsentence(p. 256), Kaushikconcludesthatinternational communism
did not founder"on the unassailablerockof India's resurgent nationalistideals"
usingthewordsofJ. Bandyopadhyaya-nordid it become"thepanaceaofthe rising
new forces"-Kaushik's words.She does not elucidateanypositiverepercussions.
The bookis meticulously annotated(sometimesthenotesaremoreinteresting than
the text),and it includesa usefulbibliography of Indian (English-language and ver-
nacular)and Russiansourcematerials.
EMILY C. BROWN
ofArizona
University

Where Kings and Gods Meet: The Royal Centre at Vijayanagara, India. By
JOHN M. FRITZ, GEORGE MITCHELL, and M. S. NAGARAJARAO. Prefaceby
BURTON STEIN. Tucson: Universityof ArizonaPress, 1985. 158 pp. Bib-
Maps, Plans, ElevationDrawings. N.p.
liography,
Althoughabandonedin 1565, thesiteofVijayanagara,thecapitalofthelastSouth
Indian Hindu empire,has been a sourceof foreigninterestsince sixteenth-century
visitedthe city.Scholarlyworkon the site datesfromthe 1830s, but the
chroniclers
greateststridestowardunderstanding Vijayanagarahave come in the last fewyears.
Progress
M. S. Nagaraja Rao's, Vijayanagara:. ofResearch,1979-1983 (Mysore:Direc-
torateofMuseumsand Archaeology, 1983), a reporton recentexcavations,
restorations,

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