Rama Mantena

Rama Mantena

Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), specializing in modern South Asian history, anticolonial nationalism, and the intersections of language, politics, and historiography. Her work critically examines colonial and postcolonial frameworks, with a focus on South India and the British Empire. She holds a PhD and teaches courses on Modern India, colonialism, nationalism, and gender history.

Research Interests:

• Historiography of India and colonial knowledge production
• Political and linguistic nationalism in South India
• Democracy practices in colonial and postcolonial contexts
• Vernacular public spheres and print culture

Selected Works:

• Provincial Democracy (Cambridge, 2023): Explores political imaginaries in Hyderabad during decolonization.
• Origins of Modern Historiography in India (Palgrave, 2012): Challenges Eurocentric narratives in Indian intellectual history.
• Articles on Telugu literary history, princely state governance, and colonial legal frameworks.

Her scholarship bridges global and local histories, emphasizing the global dimensions of South Asian decolonization. Teaching focuses on critical engagement with colonial and postcolonial historiographies.