A fascinating and wholly original study of the beginnings of political thought in modern India that explores the way in which a piece of theatre served as a new kind of instruction for her princes. — Faisal Devji, University of Oxford
A remarkable and valuable piece of historical research. Rahul Sagar has rescued both Krishna Kumari and English Subba Rao from oblivion. — Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India
Rahul Sagar’s richly documented interdisciplinary edition of Subba Rao’s Krishna Kumari radically changes our understanding of the history of Indian-English literature. — Vinay Dharwadker, University of Wisconsin–Madison
An insightful reading of the first Indian drama written in English that taught South Indian princes to see beyond colonial subjugation. — Aya Ikegame, Kyoto University
This magnificent anthology is an indispensable resource for the ideas that shaped India’s modernity. It is a product of brilliant, painstaking and innovative scholarship, that opens us so many new intellectual vistas. These judiciously selected pieces will unsettle assumptions about how Indians thought of themselves.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Princeton University
What role can and should India play on the world stage? This is a question of great interest not only to Indians but to the international community as well. Explaining persuasively that a guide to the answer to this question can be found in 19th century writings by Indians themselves in the midst of colonial rule, noted scholar Rahul Sagar unearths a number of these writings and weaves them together skilfully into a coherent narrative with a masterly introductory essay. This is a fascinating journey into our intellectual past that continues to resonate.
Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament
Foreign observers are often puzzled and sometimes frustrated by what they see as India’s ambivalence about embracing the role of a classic great power. In this rich and original study, Rahul Sagar digs deep into the intellectual history of the nineteenth century to unearth the roots of contemporary debates on this issue. Essential reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of Indian foreign policy.
Aaron L. Friedberg, Princeton University
A superb addition to the growing literature on global IR, Indian international thought, Indian foreign policy ideas, and Indian identity and nationalism. Sagar’s anthology is masterfully curated from a trove of writings going back to the nineteenth century and features a pitch-perfect introduction.
Kanti Bajpai, National University of Singapore
A must read for scholars and practitioners alike.
T.V. Paul, McGill University
This book illustrates what historians do–masterful research identifying significant aspects of the past. Sagar’s admirable talents recount the life of India’s most successful political operator of the nineteenth century and reproduce his handbook on how to be a ruler. Machiavelli meets the British Empire! — Robin Jeffrey, National University of Singapore
A unique Indian contribution to the genre of Art of Government treatises, that skilfully fuses liberal constitutionalism with raj dharma. Sagar’s excellent introduction provides the context for this ambitious pedagogical experiment in producing an enlightened monarch proficient in statecraft. — Niraja Gopal Jayal, King’s College London
Sagar intervenes brilliantly in debates on good governance by bringing to light a hitherto unknown, but still immensely relevant, nineteenth-century treatise on statecraft. This beautifully written book would appeal to all those interested in the richness and plurality of Indian political thought. — Nandini Gooptu, University of Oxford
The Progressive Maharaja introduces us to Raja Sir Madhava Rao’s fascinating manifesto on statecraft, Hints on the Art and Science of Government. In rich detail, drawing on his extensive investigation of historical sources, Sagar delves into the story behind the man and the thoughtful text he produced, bringing us a fine, original and unjustly overlooked contribution to Indian political thought. — Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament
With a deep understanding of the operations of government and the press, and a rigorous and insightful analysis… Secrets and Leaks is a provocative, thoughtful, and important contribution to our understanding.
Geoffrey R. Stone, Political Science Quarterly
Were Snowden’s leaks justified? Rahul Sagar’s Secrets and Leaks sheds important light on the question. In carefully argued and lucid prose, Sagar, a professor of politics at Princeton, argues that secrets are inevitable, as are leaks–and that leaks have an important if precarious part in checking secrecy abuse.
David Cole, New York Review of Books
This is an excellent book that comes at an essential time. Snowden’s leaks, which took place after Sagar finished the book, have focused public debate on the secrecy/transparency paradox, and Sagar’s book is infinitely superior to the sloganeering that dominates the media.
Eric A. Posner, New Republic
Henry A. Kissinger, Former US Secretary of State
Lee Kuan Yew stands out as one of the leading statesmen of our time. His remarkable vision for Singapore, and his wisdom on global issues, have made him a mentor for leaders around the globe. The essays in this book, from people privileged to have had close contact with Lee Kuan Yew over the years, provide officials, academicians, historians, and others far beyond Singapore with the key elements of enlightened leadership.
Brent Scowcroft, Former US National Security Advisor
Lee Kuan Yew’s contributions to Singapore are well-known but his innermost thoughts and convictions have rarely been addressed by those who know him well. Would-be nation-builders, scholars and students alike will find much in this volume to spur further thought. The essays here represent a valuable start in understanding the ideas that have shaped Singapore.
Wang Gungwu, National University of Singapore
Rahul Sagar
I am a Global Network Associate Professor of Political Science at NYU Abu Dhabi. Prior to this I was Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale NUS College and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University.
My books include Krishna Kumari: The Tragedy of India (Bloomsbury), To Raise a Fallen People: The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Indian Views of the World (Columbia University Press and Juggernaut), The Progressive Maharaja: Sir Madhava Rao’s Hints on the Art and Science of Government (Hurst, Oxford University Press, and HarperCollins), and Secrets and Leaks: The Dilemma of State Secrecy (Princeton University Press).
My research has appeared in journals including the Journal of Political Philosophy, The Journal of Politics, Ethics and International Affairs, and International Affairs, and in numerous edited volumes including The Oxford Handbook on the Indian Constitution and The Oxford Handbook on Indian Foreign Policy. My work has also been featured on media outlets around the world including CNN, BBC, Foreign Affairs, The New York Review of Books, The Washington Post, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and The National.
I received my PhD in Government from Harvard University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from Balliol College at the University of Oxford.
Research
I am interested in a very old question in politics: what makes leaders and officials behave well? The prevailing view is that good behavior is likeliest under a liberal democratic regime. But this confidence ought to be shaken when we consider how easily wily politicians and experienced bureaucrats can dodge democratic oversight and public accountability. So, the question persists: what makes leaders and officials behave well?
My first book, Secrets and Leaks, examined this question in the American context. It shed light on the norms and practices that shape what leaders and officials can do when they act in secret. Praised as “a shining deed in a naughty world”, Secrets and Leaks received the National Academy of Public Administration’s 2014 Louis Brownlow Award, the Society for the Policy Sciences’ 2015 Myres S. McDougal Prize, and was designated a 2014 CHOICE Outstanding Title.
Subsequently, I began investigating norms about executive power in the “Asian” context, focusing on India and Singapore. Noticing the paucity of primary sources on India, in 2015 I began building a searchable database, Ideas of India, which indexes every English-language periodical published in India between 1800-1947. Praised as “an astonishing act of public service”, this pioneering database, which now receives upwards of 2,000 visitors a month, features more than 340,000 entries from 450 periodicals.
In the course of building Ideas of India, I was able to track down the first English-language treatise on government written in modern India. This treatise, which was prepared by Madhava Rao, the most celebrated statesman in 19th century India, has been published as The Progressive Maharaja. It has been lauded as “a riveting act of retrieval”.
As I became adept at mining the archives, I gradually unearthed an array of long-lost essays by India’s metropolitan elite articulating competing visions of India’s place in the world. Since these worldviews continue to influence Indian decision-makers, these essays have now been published as To Raise a Fallen People, which has been praised as “a must read for scholars and practitioners”.
More recently, I uncovered the first English-language play written in modern India. Penned by English Subba Rao, one of the first Indians to be schooled in English, Krishna Kumari dramatizes the tragic events that led to the subjugation of the Rajputs. Published by Bloomsbury, it has been praised as a “fascinating and wholly original study of the beginnings of political thought in modern India”.
At present, I am about halfway through The Dewan, a biography of Madhava Rao. Drawing on hundreds of never-before-seen archival sources, The Dewan is a sweeping intellectual history of 19th century India that challenges prevailing conceptions about the ideas and personalities that shaped modern India.
Once The Dewan is complete, I will be focusing on two works-in-progress, The Last Great Man, an intellectual biography of Lee Kuan Yew, and Leaving the West, a travelogue and memoir that examines the historical significance and importance of “Asian” challenges to “Western” ideals about good governance.
For more including CV, papers, and syllabi please visit:
https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/academics/divisions/social-science/faculty/rahul-sagar.html
