You've read "A Passage to India" and "The Jewel in the Crown." You've seen the movie "Gandhi" twice. You have Indian tapestries on your walls, and your roommates complain about the pervasive scent of incense. You love samosas, lamb curry, and tandoori chicken. And now, you've finally decided that you'd better take some courses on India.

Until recently, Harvard wouldn't have been much help.

While Harvard does offer courses in Indian languages, literature and religions, it has almost completely ignored South Asian history, politics and economics.

But for the next couple of years, fans of Indian history are in luck, as one of the foremost India scholars is visiting. David A. Washbrook, of the University of Warwick in England, is at Harvard this year, and may remain here for up to two more years.

In addition to teaching History 1810, "South Asia from 1700 to 1947," this semester, Washbrook will teach a Core Curriculum course on modern India in the spring. Historical Studies A-32, "The Making of Modern India," will count for both Foreign Cultures and Historical Studies A. Washbrook is also involved with a comparative seminar on China and India at the Fairbank Center.

"I think that as a major teaching and research university, Harvard does have a duty to cover all parts of the world," says the British professor. "India is quite large. It has a substantial population, and through its history, it has had a great many dealings with the west. It shouldn't be quite so neglected as it is."

"For Harvard not to cover one of the great continuing civilizations of the globe seems to me to be an enormous gap," says government professor Roderick MacFarquhar, a China expert who was instrumental in creating the comparative Fairbank seminar.

While MacFarquhar says he started the seminar in large part to offer Sinologists a new perspective, he also hoped the seminar would generate additional interest in South Asia. "One of the reasons for starting the seminar was to see whether or not there is substantial interest in Indian studies, and whether Harvard should do something about its failure to provide courses in the subject."

Government Professor James G. Manor from the University of Leicester in England is another India specialist visiting partly for the comparative Fairbank seminar. While Manor and Washbrook were appointed through their respective departments, their visits are being financed by grants through the Fairbank Center, MacFarquhar says.

"We very much hope that this will generate intellectual and fiscal enthusiasm in Indian studies," says History Professor Simon Schama. "I'm delighted with Washbrook. He's an extremely gifted, subtle, and powerful historian."

Washbrook, who received all his degrees from Trinity College in Cambridge, England, has spent about three years in India doing research.

The India specialist says his current interest is in the social history of Indian capitalism, especially the 18th century merchant trade economies. "I started out being interested in 20th century history, and I've been tracking back. Now I'm in the 18th," he says.

Beyond Imperialism

Scholarship on India today is beginning to look beyond the effects of British imperialism, Washbrook says. "There is increasingly a generation gap among Indian scholars. The older ones, both Indian and British, sees the issue as nationalism versus imperialism. The younger generation, of which I am a part, sees the questions more in terms of class, capitalism, and social change," says the 38-year-old scholar.

"It's a very good thing we have a person of his distinction here. Washbrook is a first-rate scholar," says John L. Clive, Kenan Professor of History and Literature.