Introduction: Administering Colonial Spaces in Australasia and India

‘To Lay Down the Frontier of an Empire’: Circumscribing Identity in Northeast India

“…7 Works by Scott and Chatterjee, amongst others, have also crucially anchored distinct and novel 4 http://www.northeasttoday.in/rijiju-inaugurates-anti-racism-campaign-eyeamindian; http://www. change.org/p/narendra-modi-make-april-17-india-s-anti-racism-day#petition-letter (accessed 30 approaches to frontier scholarship at regional Indian and, more broadly, South Asian scales. 8 Debates about colonialism's role in fixing tradition are far from arcane.…”

“…30 Few studies have rounded on the figure of the Political Agent to study the political and personal dimensions of colonial rule. Those that have adopt anecdotal approaches, 31 while an analysis of the northwest agency stems from a narrow defence studies perspective.…”

“…Recent work has recommended that the careers of British administrators who sustained unequal yet cross-cultural relationships with their subjects be brought into sharper focus. 30 Few studies have rounded on the figure of the Political Agent to study the political and personal dimensions of colonial rule. Those that have adopt anecdotal approaches, 31 while an analysis of the northwest agency stems from a narrow defence studies perspective.…”