Akhila Yechury

I am a historian of modern India.

I graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, with a BA (Hons) and MA in History before going on to do an M.Phil in Modern Indian History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. I received my PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2012. 

I joined St. Andrews in 2014 as a Lecturer in Modern History, having previously been a Lecturer in Asian History at the University of Edinburgh and a Research Officer at LSE IDEAS. 

Much of my research has focused on the history and practise of French colonialism in India during the 19th and 20th centuries. I highlight how French India was central to the global history of international relations, inter-imperial rivalry, colonial trade networks, and emerging systems of international law. My published work stands at the intersection of international law, imperial history, post-colonial studies, and political history. Using these theoretical tools, I show how French India became a laboratory for ideas of imperial sovereignty and international diplomacy.

My forthcoming monograph will provide an original account of the history of French India from 1815 to 1954. In particular, it will explore the formation of regional and national identities, as well as histories of labour and citizenship.

More broadly, my research interests include decolonisation; the social, political and cultural histories of South Asia; the comparative studies of empires; and global and trans-national histories. I am currently developing a comparative project on “marginal” spaces within imperial and post-imperial settings. 

I teach 19th and 20th century South Asian and global history, including the history of South Asian migrants, the history of social movements in India, and comparative histories of decolonisation.

I will be happy to hear from students who would like to pursue any of these themes for their undergraduate or postgraduate studies.