About the lecture

In this module, Christopher discusses the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi, looking at his life as a lawyer in India and later in South Africa, and his involvement in protests about the treatment of Indians there. Christopher goes on to discuss the concepts of Satyragraha and Hind Swaraj, two key concepts in Gandhi's political activism. The British opposition to growing Indian unrest (both non-violent and violent) could be brutal, and on 13 April 1919 British troops opened fire on a gathering of Indians in Jallianwala Bagh Square, killing four hundred and wounding many more. The Amritsar Massacre as the incident came to be known was to be a turning-point in Anglo-Indian relations.

About the lecturer

Christopher grew up in London before heading ‘up north’, as it seemed at the time, to Oxford University. Following an undergraduate degree in History, he was the co-founder of a company producing music for the computer games industry, before being lured back into academia via an MSt in Historical Research and then a DPhil in South Asian history, both at St Antony’s College, Oxford.

In 2004 he had the opportunity to go to Japan for a couple of years on a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholarship, studying the language intensively, working on some comparative South Asia – Japan research, and training and working as a journalist with Tokyo’s Asahi Shimbun.

He returned to the UK at the start of 2007 to take up a post at Edinburgh University, where he now researches and teaches on both South Asia and Japan.

In April 2012 he was privileged to be the recipient of the EUSA Teaching Award for Best Course (Pioneers of Cultural Communication 4MA) and to receive the Runner Up award for Innovative Teaching.

He is one of AHRC/BBC's ten New Generation Thinkers for 2013, with contributions to Radio 3's Nightwaves beginning in June 2013.

Chris can be found on X (formerly Twitter) at @drchrisharding, while he also writes an Asian history newsletter (IlluminAsia.org).