Ch. 1 Perceptions of the Past

1. Colonial reconstructions: Orientalist, Utilitarian2. History and Nationalism

3. Marxist History4. Cultural Histories of a different kind

• http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/India.pdf

I. Colonial Constructions1.1. Orientalist readings

• Wealth, magic, wisdom• Began with Colonial rule• Europeans searched for histories but

could not find.• Sources in Sanskrit texts highlighting

Hindu influences- so this is seen as the major factor in Indian History.

• India described as ‘ahistorical’- no sense of history

• Administrators- learnt Sanskrit, Persian and studied the texts

• Regarded India with disdain• Encouraged b’cause-‘Knowledge about the colony

would enable a greater control over it’- this is considered as the ‘necessary furniture of the empire’.

• Baffled by the religion- no founder, no texts, nor head of religion-

• Eg: William Jones, Henry Colebrook, Nathaniel Hallhead, Charles Wilkins, Horace Hayman Wilson, F. Max Muller.

European Romanticism

• An attempt to formulate Indian culture as uniform

• Unchanging society• Metaphysics and little concern for material

life• German Romanticism further endorsed

this idea and presented India as ‘mystic land’.

1.2. Utilitarian critique

• Historians based in British- ideas current in Britain- India evaluated from this perspective and criticized India as backward.

• Eg. James Mill, Thomas Macaulay• Division of history into Hindu, Muslim and British phases• Indian civilization is said to lack the qualities that Europe

admired: rational thought and individualism.• Local rulers: dismissed as despotic- Oriental despotism• From understanding of Greek and Persian histories.• Concluded ultimately that everything was derived from

Greek• Two national histories after India and Pakistan emerged

from the former India.

Notions of Race and influence on History

• Aryan invasion theory• Indo-European language• Aryan Home land- Nobody could identify it until now.

A number of theories exist.• F. Max Mueller- Never visited India but father of this

theory- Thomas Trautman proved the Aryan theory as spurious and not based on facts.

• Aryan- Dravidian divide- North and South as different races based on their language

• Led to many disputes and social movements during the 18-19 centuries

• Aryasamaj, Theosophical society, Brahmasamaj• Dravida Kazhagam

Land and Caste

• Lack of attention to Institutions that controlled and took care of local affairs.

• Questions on ownership of land• Caste – Caste did not really work the same way

as it is described in the Law Books (Dharmasastras)

• Institutions-not studies• These two issues occupied early historians• As a way to develop administrative structure for

India• Different sources ‘discovered’- Numismatics-

Inscriptions (Brahmi) various Buddhist canonical texts from Srilanka etc.

2. History and Nationalism

• Dynastic histories• Ancient, medieval and modern ages in Indian

History.• Dialogue between colonizer and colonized.• Legitimate nationalist interpretation• Ex: R.G. Bhandarkar, R.C. Dutt, R.K.

Mookherjee, H.C. Raychaudhuri, K.A. Neelakantha Sastry, R. C. Majumdar.

• “golden age”: Ancient India• Cultural achievement – less attention to social

realities• Glorious past : Ancient period

Nationalism• As nationalism is seen linked to community and

religion- Glorious past was the Time before Muslim and British rule

• New histories looking at the glorious past of the communities emerged

• Regional histories: Modern linguistic states- claim to glory

• Formation of two states Pakistan- India- new national histories

• Hindu, Muslim periodization was accepted by both these groups.

India and Britain as emerged from these understandings

India

• Spiritual• No individuality• No sense of history• Magic

West- Britain

• Material• Individuality• Historical• Practical

3. Marxist Histories and Debates

• Marx’- Asiatic mode of Production- not applicable to India- However, Marxism influenced historical interpretations

• D.D. Kosambi

• Questions on Feudalism: Feudalistic state, Segmentary state- no clear formulation of Indian facts but application of European theories

4. History as a Social and Human Science

• Oriental studies

• Socio linguistics

• Archaeology

• Cultural Anthropology

• Sociology

• Marginalized groups began to emerge and began writing their own histories: women, Scheduled Castes and tribes.

1. Indus Valley Civilization- Harappan Culture2. Aryan settlements- Painted Grey Ware-

small agricultural- pastoral societies.3. Deccan- Central India- Microlithic Culture4. South- Megalithic Culture5. Racial mixture, but controversial.6. Population- during early historical period-

about 100 million- end of 18 c 253 million.

IV.   The Indus Valley Civilization

      A. Natural Environment         1. The Indus River

        2. Cultivation          3. Several adjacent regions shared cultural attributes with the core

area      B. Material Culture1. Identity, origin, and fate of the people of Indus society are indispute   2. Indus was a very urban society         3. Technology and trade4. We know little about the political, social, economic, and religious

          structureshttp://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/index.html

  

Bronze statue from Indus ValleyThis small bronze statue from the Indus Valley was found in a house in Mohenjo-daro. It represents a young woman whose only apparel is a necklace and an armful of bracelets. Appearing relaxed and confident, she has been identified by some scholars as a dancer. (National Museum, New Delhi)

Harappan jeweleryAmong the small objects found in the Indus Valley are these pieces of jewelry--made of gold and precious stones--which give some insight into the daily life of the time. (J.M. Kenoyer/Courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan)

Figurine from Mohenjo-daroThis small stone figure from Mohenjo-daro is thought to depict a priest-king. The man's beard is carefully trimmed and his upper lip shaved. The headband and armband have circular ornaments, probably once filled with colored paste. His robe with its trefoil designs was probably also filled with colors to suggest the fabric more vividly. (National Museum, Karachi)

Harappan sealThe Bronze Age urban culture of the Indus Valley is known today, alternatively, as the Harappan civilization, from the modern name of a major city. Archaeologists have discovered some three hundred Harappan cities in both Pakistan and India. It was a literate civilization, but no one has been able to decipher the more than four hundred symbols inscribed on stone seals and copper tablets. The Indus civilization extended over nearly 500,000 square miles in the Indus Valley, making it more than twice as large as the territories of the ancient Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations. This molded tablet, discovered among the many small objects at Harappan sites, depicts a female deity battling two tigers. It provides a glimpse of early Indian religious imagination and daily life. (J.M. Kenoyer/Courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan)

City

Mohenjo DaroMohenjo-daro, in southern Pakistan, was one of the best-known cities of the Harappan--or Indus--civilization. It was a planned city, built of fired mud bricks. Its streets were straight, and covered drainpipes were installed to carry away waste. From sites like this we know that the early Indian political elite had the power and technical expertise to organize large, coordinated building projects. (Josephine Powell)

Thapar: Periodization and Cultural History

• Reconsidering periodization: In the place of Ancient, Medieval and Modern periods of Indian history, she proposes 12 fold division based on economy and regional shifts of power.

• Use of literary and archaeological data together

• Art, religion and society as facets of civilization

Painted Grey ware (Iron age in North India- The Gangetic

Basin)

Microlithic Culture of Central India

Stonehenge- Salisbury England

History and Nationalism

Marxist Histories

Thapar: Periodization,Cultural History

Colonial Constructions

Orientalist Readings: European RomanticismA Utilitarian Critique: stagnant, absence of individualism and rational thought.

Questions of economic and social relations.Feudalism2.Segmentary state

12 fold periodization based on economy and power shifts.History with multiple disciplinary knowledge not singular focus.

1.Theories of RaceGlorification of PastNational historyCommunal historyRegional history

IINiNDIAN