Beyond Frontiers: :‘Curzonic’ order, frontier expansion and the 1907 Romanes lecture

Matthew Tillotson; Hannah Fitzpatrick; Richard Schofield; Thomas Simpson

Beyond Frontiers: :‘Curzonic’ order, frontier expansion and the 1907 Romanes lecture

Matthew Tillotson, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Richard Schofield, Thomas Simpson

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Abstract

ABSTRACT
George Curzon’s 1907 Romanes lecture, delivered soon after his tenure as Viceroy of India, articulated a vision of geopolitical order at a moment of British imperial decline. Curzon, however, argued that he lived at a historical zenith of frontier competition characterised by British India’s land power and complex frontiers. He invoked ancient precedents to assert the inevitability of modern imperial expansion, obscuring the specific geopolitical and historical material conditions of India’s colonialised frontier spaces. Nonetheless, the lecture illustrates how India’s ‘walling’ proceeded through the projection of the Government of India’s border power and through imperialist ‘protection’, client rule and commerce.

Original language	English
Article number	RTEP 2396627
Journal	Territory, Politics, Governance
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 19 Aug 2024

Keywords

Borders. Curzon. empire. expansion. frontiers. India. Walling.

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BeyondFrontiersAcceptedTPG19Aug24.docLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Beyond Frontiers: :{\textquoteleft}Curzonic{\textquoteright} order, frontier expansion and the 1907 Romanes lecture",

abstract = "ABSTRACTGeorge Curzon{\textquoteright}s 1907 Romanes lecture, delivered soon after his tenure as Viceroy of India, articulated a vision of geopolitical order at a moment of British imperial decline. Curzon, however, argued that he lived at a historical zenith of frontier competition characterised by British India{\textquoteright}s land power and complex frontiers. He invoked ancient precedents to assert the inevitability of modern imperial expansion, obscuring the specific geopolitical and historical material conditions of India{\textquoteright}s colonialised frontier spaces. Nonetheless, the lecture illustrates how India{\textquoteright}s {\textquoteleft}walling{\textquoteright} proceeded through the projection of the Government of India{\textquoteright}s border power and through imperialist {\textquoteleft}protection{\textquoteright}, client rule and commerce.",

keywords = "Borders. Curzon. empire. expansion. frontiers. India. Walling.",

author = "Matthew Tillotson and Hannah Fitzpatrick and Richard Schofield and Thomas Simpson",

note = "This article is a product of a 2021 RGS-IBG Annual International Conference panel on {\textquoteleft}Curzonic geographies{\textquoteright} sponsored by the Political Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG. We thank Majed Akhter for chairing the panel and Paul Griffin, Shirin Hine and Alan Lester for comments on the paper in various guises. The advice of Territory, Politics, Governance{\textquoteright}s editors and its reviewers{\textquoteright} detailed engagement with our work have been invaluable.",

year = "2024",

month = aug,

day = "19",

language = "English",

journal = "Territory, Politics, Governance ",

issn = "2162-2671",

publisher = "Taylor & Francis",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Beyond Frontiers

T2 - :‘Curzonic’ order, frontier expansion and the 1907 Romanes lecture

AU - Tillotson, Matthew

AU - Fitzpatrick, Hannah

AU - Schofield, Richard

AU - Simpson, Thomas

N1 - This article is a product of a 2021 RGS-IBG Annual International Conference panel on ‘Curzonic geographies’ sponsored by the Political Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG. We thank Majed Akhter for chairing the panel and Paul Griffin, Shirin Hine and Alan Lester for comments on the paper in various guises. The advice of Territory, Politics, Governance’s editors and its reviewers’ detailed engagement with our work have been invaluable.

PY - 2024/8/19

Y1 - 2024/8/19

N2 - ABSTRACTGeorge Curzon’s 1907 Romanes lecture, delivered soon after his tenure as Viceroy of India, articulated a vision of geopolitical order at a moment of British imperial decline. Curzon, however, argued that he lived at a historical zenith of frontier competition characterised by British India’s land power and complex frontiers. He invoked ancient precedents to assert the inevitability of modern imperial expansion, obscuring the specific geopolitical and historical material conditions of India’s colonialised frontier spaces. Nonetheless, the lecture illustrates how India’s ‘walling’ proceeded through the projection of the Government of India’s border power and through imperialist ‘protection’, client rule and commerce.

AB - ABSTRACTGeorge Curzon’s 1907 Romanes lecture, delivered soon after his tenure as Viceroy of India, articulated a vision of geopolitical order at a moment of British imperial decline. Curzon, however, argued that he lived at a historical zenith of frontier competition characterised by British India’s land power and complex frontiers. He invoked ancient precedents to assert the inevitability of modern imperial expansion, obscuring the specific geopolitical and historical material conditions of India’s colonialised frontier spaces. Nonetheless, the lecture illustrates how India’s ‘walling’ proceeded through the projection of the Government of India’s border power and through imperialist ‘protection’, client rule and commerce.

KW - Borders. Curzon. empire. expansion. frontiers. India. Walling.

M3 - Article

SN - 2162-2671

JO - Territory, Politics, Governance

JF - Territory, Politics, Governance

M1 - RTEP 2396627

ER -

Beyond Frontiers: :‘Curzonic’ order, frontier expansion and the 1907 Romanes lecture

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Keywords

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