Includes bibliographical references and index.

A Global Hierarchy of Peoples: The Rise of Developmentalism in the Nineteenth Century -- The Birth of the People: Liberalism and the Origins of the Anticolonial Democratic Project in India -- The Colonial Paradox of Peoplehood: Swaraj and the Gandhian Moment -- Between the Many and the One: Anticolonial Federalism and Popular Sovereignty -- To "Carry" the People through History: Postcolonial Founding and the Idea of Independence -- The Two Times of the People: The Boundary Problem, or the Burden of Unity.

"Nazmul Sultan explores Indian contributions to democratic theory, as anticolonial thinkers developed principles of peoplehood and self-rule. Indians contested British claims that the "backwardness" of the Indian people offered a democratic justification for imperial domination."-- Provided by publisher.