Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, FBA, FRSL (18 May 1945 – 18 April 2015) was a British historian specialising in

British Imperial The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and global history. From 1992 to 2013, he was

Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History The Vere Harmsworth Professorship of Imperial and Naval History is one of the senior professorships in history at the University of Cambridge. After the Beit Professorship of Colonial History at Oxford (founded in 1905) and the Rhodes Professors ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

Early life

Bayly was from

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he attended The Skinners School. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) degree. He then remained at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and undertook post-graduate study at St Antony's College, Oxford. He completed his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(DPhil) degree in 1970 with a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

titled ''The development of political organisation in the Allahabad locality, 1880–1925'' under

John Andrew Gallagher John Andrew Gallagher (1 April 1919 – 5 March 1980), known as Jack Gallagher, was an historian of the British Empire who between 1963 and 1970 held the Beit Professorship of Commonwealth History at the University of Oxford and from 1971 until ...

Academic career

Bayly was the

at the

from 1992 to 2013. He was also a trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. In 2007, he succeeded Sir John Baker as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Bayly also became the Director of Cambridge's Centre of South Asian Studies. He was co-editor of ''

The New Cambridge History of India ''The New Cambridge History of India'' is a major multi-volume work of historical scholarship published by Cambridge University Press. It replaced '' The Cambridge History of India'' published between 1922 and 1937. The new history is being publi ...

'' and sat on the editorial board of various academic journals. He also served on the inaugural Social Sciences jury for the

Infosys Prize The Infosys Prize is an annual award given to scientists, researchers, engineers and social scientists of Indian origin (not necessarily born in India) by the Infosys Science Foundation and ranks among the highest monetary awards in India to r ...

in 2009.

Death

Bayly died in

Hyde Park, Chicago Hyde Park is the 41st of the 77 community areas of Chicago. It is located on the South Side, near the shore of Lake Michigan south of the Loop. Hyde Park's official boundaries are 51st Street/Hyde Park Boulevard on the north, the Midway Pl ...

, on 18 April 2015, a month before his 70th birthday. He was in his second and last year as the Vivekananda Visiting Professor when he died.

Honours

In 1990, Bayly was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). In 2004 he was awarded the Wolfson History Oeuvre Prize for his many contributions to the discipline. In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, it was announced that he had been appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

'for services to History'. Upon being informed of the knighthood, he stated: "I regard this not only as a great personal honour but, as an historian of India, as recognition of the growing importance of the history of the non-western world." In 2016, Bayly became the first person to be posthumously awarded the

Toynbee Prize Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's Colleg ...

for global history.

Selected bibliography

*''The Local Roots of Indian Politics: Allahabad, 1880–1920'' (1975) *''Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870'' (1983) *''Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire'' (1988) *''Imperial Meridian: The British Empire and the World, 1780–1830'' (1989) *''Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering and Social Communication in India, 1780–1870'' (1996) *''Origins of Nationality in South Asia: Patriotism and Ethical Government in the Making of Modern India'' (1997) *''The Birth of the Modern World: Global Connections and Comparisons, 1780–1914'' (2004) * * * *''Remaking the Modern World, 1900-2015: Global Connections and Comparisons'' (2018)

References

External links

Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 24 July 2014 (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayly, Christopher Alan 1945 births 2015 deaths People from Royal Tunbridge Wells Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Historians of South Asia Knights Bachelor People educated at The Skinners' School Trustees of the British Museum Historians of India Institute directors 20th-century British writers 20th-century British historians 21st-century British writers 21st-century British historians 20th-century British male writers Vere Harmsworth Professors of Imperial and Naval History World historians