Discordant Colonialism: Museums and the Emergence of Indian Independence in the Former Territories of French and Portuguese India

Abstract

In this article, we analyse Indian museum practices that pertain to the representation of the nation’s liberation and independence from colonial occupation. We draw specifically on a comparative analysis of museums in the former Portuguese and French territories of India. These territories remained colonies for a number of years after the British were forced from India, raising questions of how contemporary museums represent these alternative narratives of independence. Such sites have previously been considered at the periphery of narratives of Indian decolonisation, but we argue that the territories reveal key aspects of current museological practice in India. In examining how museums in Velha Goa and Chandannagar represent colonial narratives, we demonstrate that the museums present a timeless and enduring Indian culture that has universal values, contrasted with the temporally limited European nature of imperialism. We subsequently argue that museum practices, which might appear to diverge from the central narrative of Indian independence, have instead been co-opted to support historical narratives of an essentialised Indian state and singular emergence as an independent nation.