Gå ubegrenset med Magzter GOLD

Gå ubegrenset med Magzter GOLD

Få ubegrenset tilgang til over 9000 magasiner, aviser og premiumhistorier for bare

$149.99
 
$74.99/År

Prøve GULL - Gratis

Fault Lines of British-Era Boundaries

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

|

August 11, 2025

The colonial approach to administration may have suited the convenience of the British, but they have also left behind festering boundary problems for most postcolonial states. India is no exception

- PRADIP PHANJOUBAM

In 1907, two years after his retirement as India's viceroy, George Nathaniel Curzon gave the prestigious Romanes Lecture, and he chose the title Frontier. Among others, in the rather long lecture script, he elaborated on how the idea of the demarcated, delineated, and closely guarded national borders was unknown to the world outside of Europe before colonialism arrived.

The boundaries of non-European principalities were amorphous, and they waxed and waned depending on the power of their rulers. Administrative presence also fades out progressively towards the borders until the domain of neighboring principalities begins.

That all of India's modern boundaries are inherited from the British colonial days should serve as a testimony to Curzon's assertions. These include the Radcliffe Line, 1947, the contested McMahon Line, 1914, and even the Durand Line, 1893, the pre-Partition border with Afghanistan. There are more.

The earliest of the British-drawn boundaries is between India and Nepal, drawn by the Treaty of Sugauli, 1816, and after it, the Pemberton-Johnstone-Maxwell Line, 1834, demarcating Manipur's boundary with the Ava Kingdom (Burma), for it to become India's boundary after Manipur's merger in 1949. Even Sikkim, which merged with India as late as 1975, had its boundary with Tibet drawn by the Anglo-Chinese Convention, 1890 (or the Convention of Calcutta), recognizing Sikkim as a British protectorate.

Curzon also explains the idea of natural and artificial boundaries. Nearly all political boundaries are artificial, drawn by agreements between neighboring states or by the conquest of one by the other. Natural boundaries are those determined by natural phenomena such as seas, rivers, and deserts. In the modern era, with contests over the jurisdiction of even seas, the idea of the natural boundary is set to become extinct.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

Tata Trusts reappoints Venu Srinivasan for life

TATA Trusts, which owns and controls the $180-billion Tata empire, has ‘unanimously’ reappointed Venu Srinivasan, chairman emeritus of the TVS Group, as a trustee for life.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

ROBUST LAW AND ORDER IS ESSENTIAL TO WIN INVESTORS' CONFIDENCE: CM

CHIEF Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday emphasised that a robust law and order environment has instilled confidence in global IT giants like Google to invest in Andhra Pradesh.

time to read

1 mins

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

Adding caution to traffic lights

GARRETT MORGAN

time to read

1 mins

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

MP uses chopper-driven technique to protect crops from blackbucks

THE Madhya Pradesh forest department has initiated a helicopter-driven boma technique to capture herds of blackbucks and neelgais and shift them to wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves of the state.

time to read

1 mins

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

WASTE LAND: A NATION OF LANDFILLS

SOME years ago, I was editing a newspaper in Mumbai and we ran a report on the city’s eternal garbage problem.

time to read

3 mins

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

EC: Print ads a day before or poll date need pre-certification

AHEAD of assembly polls in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued an order saying to ensure a fair campaign environment, no party, candidate, organisation or person shall publish any advertisement in print media on poll day and one day prior to the poll day, unless the contents are pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

At least 30 rebels give NDA, Oppn a headache

REBEL and independent candidates may spin the poll arithmetic for both the ruling NDA and the Opposition Mahagathbandhan in the Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled in two phases on November 6 and 11.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

Paraglider from Canada found dead, Australian rescued in HP

A 27-year-old Canadian paraglider, Megan Elizabeth, was found dead after going missing from the high mountains of the Dhauladhar range, while a 47year-old Australian paraglider, Jacob, was rescued in the last 48 hours.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

TTD receives staggering ₹918.6 cr donations this year

THE Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the governing body of the revered Sri Venkateswara temple, has recorded an unprecedented surge in donations for the year 2025, marking a significant recovery in its financial landscape post-Covid-19.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

The New Indian Express Tadepalligudem

FIR against former Punjab DGP, ex-minister wife over son’s death

FORMER Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafa, his wife and former minister Razia Sultana, along with their daughter and daughter-in-law, have been booked for murder and criminal conspiracy by Haryana Police in connection with the death of their 35-year-old son, Agil Akhter.

time to read

1 mins

October 22, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size