VIII - History - Chapter -1 How, when and where

 

VIII  - History - Chapter -1

How, when and where

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Colonization of India

 

v *Colonization is a process of gaining control and influence by a country over a dependent country or people.

v *It means a process of settling and establish control over indigenous people by a foreign country

v *Control and subjugation of one country by another leads political, economic, social and cultural changes, we refer this  process as colonisation.

v *Exploitation , inequality, Poverty are the common features of colonization.

*The British colonized India in the following ways:

v 1.They Conquered local nawabs and rajas.

v 2.They established control over the economy and society collected revenue to meet all their expenses, bought goods they wanted at lower prices and produced crops they needed for export.

v 3.They brought changes in rulers and tastes, customs and practices.

v 4.Thus, they molded everything in their favour and subjugated the country very soon.

Why do we periodise ?

v *We divide history into periods to capture the importance of that time and to understand the historical events easily.

v *The periods reflect the ideas about the past and the changes from one period to another.

v *We divide it to understand the central features of a time period. In context of those common features different social, economic and political systems of that period can be understood easily.

*This division helps in organizing the history.

James Mill & His division of Indian History

v He was a Scottish economist and political philosopher and is known for his book A History of British India.

v This book series was published in three-volume in 1817

v James mill in his book a history of British India divided Indian history into three periods

v Hindu, Muslim and British.

v In 19th century this periodisation came to be widely accepted.

Problems

v *Mill’s  division was based on the idea that religion of the ruler is the only important historical change and there was no historical change in the economy society and culture.

v *During the ancient period all the rulers did not follow the same religion

v *This division also ignored the rich diversity of India.

James mill opinion about India

v *Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilisation than Europe.

v *According to mill the period before the British rule  in India was the period of darkness.

v  *before the British came to India, Hindu and Muslim despots ruled the country.

v * Religious intolerance, caste taboos and superstitious practices dominated social life.

Idea of mill About British Rule

v *Mill felt that British rule represented all the forces of progress and civilisation.

v  *British rule, could civilise India. To do this it was necessary to introduce European manners, arts, institutions and laws in India.

v *Mill, in fact, suggested that the British should conquer all the territories in India to ensure the enlightenment and happiness of the Indian people.

v *Indians was not capable of progress without British help.

v *He said that British should conquer India to ensure the progress and happiness of Indian people .

Common division of History

v Historians usually divide the Indian history into three periods

Ancient, medieval and modern.

Modern period

v *This division too has its problems.

v *It is a periodisation that is borrowed from the West where the modern period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity – science, reason, democracy, liberty and equality.

v Medieval was a term used to describe a society where these features of modern society did not exist.

v We Cannot accept this classifications  because

v *under British rule people did not have equality, freedom or liberty.

v *Nor was the period one of economic growth and progress.

v *Many historians therefore refer to this period as ‘colonial’

Sources  of modern period

v Sources are the historical clues and evidences to write the history

v  Historians use the following sources to write the modern history

v * Primary sources include archaeological sources, newspapers, British government records like surveys and census. They provide original information about British India.

v *Secondary sources are available in the form of reviews , books ,biographies and autobiographies  and diaries of the people.

v *They provide important information about the modern Indian society and polity.

Production and Preservation of British records

v *The British believed that the act of writing was important.

v *So every instruction, plan, policy decision, agreement, investigation, etc were written.

v *They thought that once this was done, things could be properly studied and debated.

v *This conviction produced an administrative culture of memos, notes and reports.

Preservation-

v *The British were very interested in preserving all important documents and letters.

v *The British believed that by preserving official documents, it would be easier for them or any other persons to know about the decisions taken in the past.

v *One can study the notes and reports that were prepared in the past.

v *Their copies may be prepared and used in present time if needed so

v For this, they established record rooms attached to all administrative institutions such as the village tahsildar’s office, the collectorate, law courts etc.

v *They also set up archives and museums to preserve important records.
*Letters and memos that moved from one branch of the administration to smother in the early years of the 19th century can still be read in the archives.

*Letters and memos that moved from one branch of the administration to smother in the early years of the 19th century can still be read in the archives.

v (* Historians can also take help from the notes and reports that district officials prepared or the instructions and directives that were sent by officials at the top to the provincial administrators.)

Surveys

v The British gave much importance to the practice of surveying because they believed that a country had to be properly known before it could be effectively administered. Therefore, they carried out detailed surveys to demark areas under their control and to fix revenue

v British conducted detailed survey for following reasons:

v To map out India

v To know the soil quality , cropping pattern  and to check the suitability for different crops

v To know the flora and fauna

v To know the local histories

v *The British also carried on several other surveys such as botanical surveys, zoological surveys, archeological surveys, forest surveys, etc. In this way, they gathered all the facts that were essential for administering a country.

v *They also introduced census operations, held at the interval of every ten years from the end of the 19th century. They prepared detailed records of the number of people in all the provinces of India, noting information on castes, religions and occupation separately.

Unreliability of British records

v Most of the British official records are unreliable because

v They give the view point of the British officials they tell us  about the British thought.

v They do not give us the true picture of Indian society .

v In order to know what the common people of the nation felt we need to look for other sources such as:

·       Diaries of people

·       Autobiographies

·       Account of pilgrims and travelers

·       Popular booklets

·       Newspapers

·       Ideas of leaders, poets and social reformers.

 

v All these serve as a good source to write the history because they describe about the real happenings of that time. These sources do not describe the viewpoint of British.

 

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