Volume-XI, Issue-III, May 2025 |
Secrets and Surveillance: British Intelligence in Colonial India (1904–1924) Soumen Paul, Research Scholar, Vidyasagar University, West Midnapore, West Bengal, India |
Received: 30.04.2025 | Accepted: 18.05.2025 | Published Online: 31.05.2025 | Page No: 531-537 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.11.issue.03W.049 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
This review critically examines Richard Popplewell’s seminal work, Intelligence and Imperial Defence, which offers the first comprehensive analysis of British intelligence operations in colonial India between 1904 and 1924. Popplewell explores how the British transformed their intelligence framework in response to increasing Indian nationalist resistance and global geopolitical tensions. Divided into thirteen detailed chapters, the book traces the evolution of surveillance from the rudimentary Thuggee and Dakati Department to the formal establishment of the Department of Criminal Intelligence (DCI), and later its coordination with MI5 and MI6. The narrative spans major anti-colonial movements, such as the Swadeshi agitation, the activities of the Ghadar Party, the Indo-German Conspiracy, and the infiltration of revolutionary networks across Europe, North America, and East Asia. Popplewell highlights the challenges faced by colonial intelligence agencies in containing revolutionaries like Rash Behari Bose and Lala Hardayal, while also detailing how the British leveraged global alliances to suppress anti-imperialist propaganda and arms smuggling. Although the book is praised for connecting bureaucratic intelligence structures with broader imperial ambitions, it overlooks critical technical aspects such as the role of Room 40, the Cipher School, and GCHQ—issues later addressed by scholars like Nigel West and Ben Macintyre. Despite these omissions, Popplewell’s work remains a foundational contribution to understanding how secrecy, surveillance, and imperial strategy were deeply intertwined. This review reaffirms the book’s relevance to the fields of intelligence history, South Asian studies, and colonial governance. Key Words: British Intelligence, Colonial India, Revolutionary Nationalism, Surveillance and Espionage, Imperial Defence |