Through the India-China Border: Kalimpong in the Himalayas(Metamorphoses of the Political: Multidisciplinary Approaches)

Through the India-China Border mobilizes rarely used documentary material from British, Chinese and Indian archives to shed new light on our understanding of the 'Tibet Question' in China-India relations. Focused on the Himalayan border town of Kalimpong from the 1920s to 1962, it unearths a history of espionage and political intrigue that challenges the way that remote peripheries are seen from the 'centres' of nations. The innovative use of postcolonial and transcultural theory demonstrates how a multidisciplinary framework augments our reading of imperial histories, postwar politics, decolonisation and frontier cultures. Kalimpong emerges from this analysis as a key node in Himalayan history and in the mid-century fashioning of India-China relations.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Acknowledgments; Glossary; 1. Introduction: Kalimpong as Interface – Post/colonial and Transcultural; 2. Kalimpong as Metonym: India–China Correlation; 3. Chinese (and Tibetan) Certification in Himalayan India: Foreigner Registration Files 1940s–1960s; 4. Espionage, Intrigues and Politics: Kalimpong Chung Hwa School as International Playhouse; 5. Shangri-la (Gyalthang) to Kalimpong: The Road of Trade, Transculture and Conflict; 6. Inconclusion: Not The Last Word; Bibliography; Index.

Review :
This book is a model of international scholarship, instructive and a delight to read. Variously a booming border town, a strategic asset, a listening post, a 'nest of spies', an ideological flashpoint and a cosmopolitan retreat, topsy-turvy Kalimpong amply merits the story told here. Through the India–China Border will be of absorbing interest to Himalayanists and to anyone concerned with the interplay of external expectations and internal realities within a contested border region. John Keay, Author of Himalaya: Exploring the Roof of the World (2022) 'A rare, original and inimitable academic performance in Sino-Indian Studies. Stylish, engaging and seminal in its historical and theoretical reach.' Xi Lin, Professor and Dean of the Fudan Institute for Advanced Study in Social Sciences, Fudan University 'Poddar and Zhang, in this engaging and erudite volume, bring a slice of colonial and postcolonial history to life through colourful and fascinating stories of events and characters shaping, and shaped by, the play of political and economic forces. Kalimpong emerges in this narrative as a protagonist in its own right, unique in its identity, yet emblematic of wider clashes and negotiations of empires, nations, peoples, authorities and individuals.' Chris Sinha, Distinguished Professor, University of East Anglia 'The newest must-read on the perennial topic of Sino-Indian geopolitics, Through the India–China Border lucidly and vividly recounts how Kalimpong, a British colonial hill station in the early twentieth century, emerged as an interface between China and India. The book illuminates how the colonial legacy cartographically sets the tone for relations between the two most populous nations on earth and their respective claims on territorial sovereignties in the Himalayas.' Dan Smyer Yü, Kuige Professor of Ethnology, Yunnan University, Kunming