Shadow States : India, China and the Himalayas, 1910–1962

350 Pages·2017·10.689 MB·English

by  Bérénice Guyot-Réchard

Since the mid-twentieth century China and India have entertained a G
u
difficult relationship, erupting into open war in 1962. Shadow States is the y
o
first book to unpack Sino-Indian tensions from the angle of competitive t
-
R
state-building – through a study of their simultaneous attempts to win
é
c
the approval and support of the Himalayan people. When China and
h
India tried to expand into the Himalayas in the twentieth century, their a
r
lack of strong ties to the region and the absence of an easily enforceable d Shadow States
border made their proximity threatening: observing China and India’s
state-making efforts, local inhabitants were in a position to compare and S
h
potentially choose between them. Using rich and original archival research, India, China and the
a
Berenice Guyot-Rechard shows how India and China became each other’s d
o Himalayas, 1910–1962
“shadow states”. Understanding these recent, competing processes of state
w
formation in the Himalayas is fundamental to understanding the roots of

S
tensions in Sino-Indian relations. t Bérénice Guyot-Réchard
a
t
Bérénice Guyot-Réchard teaches International and South Asian History at e
s
King’s College London. She was previously Research Fellow at Emmanuel
College, Cambridge. Her research explores the effects of social, political,
and environmental processes on South Asia’s contemporary international
relations. She has recently published in Contemporary South Asia and
Modern Asian Studies.
Printed in the United Kingdom Cover image: © Kiran 2013

Shadow States
Since the mid-twentieth century, China and India have entertained a
difficultrelationship,eruptingintoopenwarin1962.ShadowStatesis
thefirstbooktounpackSino-Indiantensionsfromtheangleofcompe-
titivestate-making–throughastudyoftheirsimultaneousattemptsto
winthe approval and supportof Himalayan people.When China and
IndiatriedtoexpandintotheHimalayasinthetwentiethcentury,their
lackofstrongtiestotheregionandtheabsenceofaneasilyenforceable
bordermadetheirproximitythreatening:observingChina’sandIndia’s
state-makingefforts,localinhabitantswereinapositiontocompareand
potentially choose between them. Using rich and original archival
research,BéréniceGuyot-RéchardshowshowIndiaandChinabecame
each other’s ‘shadow states’. Understanding these recent, competing
processesofstateformationintheHimalayasisfundamentaltounder-
standingtherootsoftensionsinSino-Indianrelations.
BéréniceGuyot-RéchardteachesinternationalandSouthAsianhistory
at King’s College London. She was previously Research Fellow at
Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Her research explores the effects of
social,political,andenvironmentalprocessesonSouthAsia’scontem-
porary international relations. She has recently published in
ContemporarySouthAsiaandModernAsianStudies.

Shadow States
India, China and the Himalayas, 1910–1962
Bérénice Guyot-Réchard
King’sCollegeLondon
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia
4843/24,2ndFloor,AnsariRoad,Daryaganj,Delhi–110002,India
79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107176799
©BéréniceGuyot-Réchard2017
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2017
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN978-1-107-17679-9Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
To Max

Contents
ListofFigures pageix
ListofMaps x
Acknowledgements xi
TranscriptionandTerminology xiv
Chronology xvi
AcronymsandAbbreviations xviii
Glossary xix
Characters xxi
Introduction 1
PartI 1910–1950 29
1 FalseStarts:TheFirstRushtowardstheEastern
Himalayas 31
2 TheReturnoftheFair-WeatherState:TheSecondWorld
WarandtheHimalayas 59
PartII 1950–1959 93
3 Exploration,Expansion,Consolidation?StatePowerand
itsLimitations 95
4 TheArtofPersuasion:DevelopmentinaBorderSpace 127
PartIII 1959–1962 163
5 AVoidScreamingtoBeFilled:MilitarisationandState–
SocietyRelations 165
6 SaltTastestheSameinIndiaandChina:ADifferentKind
ofSecurityDilemma 201
vii
viii Contents
7 OpenWar:State-Making’sDressRehearsal 232
Conclusion 265
Maps 273
SelectBibliography 280
Index 310