Origins And History Of Indian Society And Culture

Colonialism

India is one of the most countries during the British imperialism of colonial states. European conquest were driven by conquest and trade through foreign lands in search of wealth and prosperity for the motherland. Trading rivalries among European powers have concluded upon the dominance of Britain in the late 18th century. With the British defeating the French in ruling India, Britain showed dominance over the Indian subcontinent.

By the middle of the 19th century Britain had gained control over almost all of India by direct/indirect rule and gained the fame of India as “the jewel in the British crown”. Due to the impact of British rule over India, many aspects of modern India today has an influence from the colonial rule of the British regime. The aim of this paper is the analyze the extent of which European(British) colonization had an impact on many aspects of Indian culture such as caste, language, religion and history of India.

It is likely to follow the idea that Hinduism and caste is a part of a “European invention”. It is important to look at the fact that the term “Hindu” existed before the colonial era of the British regime. The term Hindu originally came from the civilizations that were settling around the Indus valley civilization, though it might have not existed as a religious form back in the past. The reason for analyzing origins of Hindu is because the existence of the religious group did not come together and was not a unitary, cohesive group of which we know today. It is reasonable to state that the existence of Hindu is largely an output of British colonization.

Before British colonization, the Hindu group was not identified as a collective unified group of religious ideologies. It is a group in its definitive form that is apart from the other religious group known as Islam, Christianity and Judaism. One factor that actually was able to tie together the Hindu group into one was the use of a common language known as Sanskrit. Sanskrit was an ancient language of which was used within many religious groups and was later standardized by the British colonialists to define what they see as Hinduism. Though it was certain for the fact that using the language of Sanskrit did not define every individual as a Hindu. “Although he was an acute observer, Megasthenes was handicapped by his ignorance of the native languages, Like many Europeans since his time, he was unable to penetrate deeply into the thought, literature and history of the country simply by looking and listening, or by using interpreters”(Cohn 138). Creation of Hinduism as a religion had factors that were influenced by orientalists who generalized the religion of India due to its huge diversity to keep in tract.

The first form of Hinduism was created by orientalists through their attempts to categorize and understand the basis of the religion. Due to the fact that a religion was to be founded by the construction of foreign powers, religion in India can be considered as misconstructed as many traditions and religions were in mass generalization by Western powers and a lot of India’s tribes and cultures were to be categorized under the “big” definition of Hinduism. It is also a key importance to understand the basis of British history in religion as well, as the British empire was built upon the Christianity and their sovereign rule over India came to a religious clash with Hinduism itself. As Christianity is to believe in one god in unity while India’s Hinduism was on a basis of many tribal and religious groups of which were massively generalized by the British. “He recognized that there are internal divisions within the four varnas, but follows Brahmanic theory in attributing these divisions to the mixture of the original varnas through intermarriage”(Cohn 139).

The Caste system is a major category in understanding Hinduism itself. It is true that we can consider caste is a separate system that the British did not “invent”. It is clear to state that the existence of the caste system was a product created even before the British rule of India. However as the caste system is based on a long history of India before the British, it was a reasonable step for the British to generalize the system as they did with Hinduism as well. As the British have their religious basis upon Christianity, they favor a homogeneity among the people, and the heterogeneous mixture of Indian culture was not an acceptable ideal.

It is true that the caste system is not of British invention, however it clearly evident to state that the modern caste system is a product of the events during the British colonization. In a sense it is not a British invention, but more of what people would consider to be “adjusted” by the British regime. Unlike the common notion of distinct levels in society which are defined by political and economic factors, the caste system was not abiding by these definitions. The caste system did not show one’s occupation and the social level in society and did not have any resemblance to the class system. Similar to that of Hinduism, it was not an easy task for the British to control and categorize the multiple levels of nobility in Indian society, in reaction to this problem they have also simplified the categories of the caste into four distinct groups with the census.

Language is a key role in communication and the identification of the society. One important influence is the British adoption of English in India and the resulting disappearance of many vernacular languages in India’s history. British colonization in India had an impact on the language system of India, India was known to have many different cultures and traditions of which had their unique languages and accents. The orientalists view of the British regime lead to the East India Company to experience and learn the language of the region in order to understand the vast culturally and linguistically diverse continent of India, the main purpose of their exploration through the diversity was ultimately to gain control of the local powers.

The orientalists views of the East India Company lead to setting english as one of the more dominant languages above other languages in India. In conclusion the English language is one of the most dominant languages spoken in India and has been a huge component of India’s education system. “The orientalists tended to be better educated and from the upper classes of Great Britain: Some as Sir William Jones, were trained as scholars before their arrival in India and they wanted to treat Sanskrit and Persian learning with the same methods and respect as one would treat European learning.”(Cohn 147).

India’s pre-colonial history is based upon many different traditional groups and tribes that had their own religious and linguistic histories. Their diversity was later to be dissolved into the British colonial era where the diversity of the population was later generalized by the British census and orientalist approach to generalize the society into a more simplified version of which the British had a basis upon from their Christian religious background. Post colonial era and India’s history has had an impact from the British colonial history and has shaped the modern notion of Hinduism and India’s image that people understand today.

Hindutva

In December 1992, a mughal era mosque Babri Masjid was destroyed by a movement of promoters who were a part of Hindutva. Their reason for the destruction of the temple was for the recovery of the birthplace of the god Rama. With the destruction of the Babri Masjid mosque, it lead to widespread riots across northern India lead to the death of three thousand lives within the period of two months. The sole reason for the violent actions during this time was on the basis of Hindu nationalism movement.

Hindutva ideology follows the path of Hindu nationalism which supports the idea that uses religion as a justification for a cultural, political force in present day India. Hindutva has been using religion as a justification for their inequalities and discrimination against other minorities and religions such as Muslims, Christians and Dalits. “India should identify itself more closely with the cultural and religious values of Hindus. By privileging the values of on putative group(which is considered to be a unified entity),(Davis 109)”. These Hindu fascists believe the social and cultural superiority of Hindus and believe that they are the ones who are oppressed. However their power in the Indian government suggests otherwise, as they have used their cultural and political powers in order to oppress minorities. Though Hindutva ideologies revolve around maintaining the Hindu nationalism, history of India has been shaped by various foreign influences from the time of the Indus valley civilization and to the British colonization of India, Richard Davis’ quote “History or more precisely a vision of the Indian past, is central to Hindutva” does not align with Hindutva ideology.

Hindutva is more commonly understood as Hindu fascist movement is a political ideology that uses religion as a justification for their religious superiority against other races and religions. “In this schematic articulation of a Hindu nation grounded in land, blood and culture, issues of inclusion and exclusion are crucial”(Davis 115). At this point one comes to question the definition of what it means to be a Hindu as the land of India is vast and the range of which it includes and excludes one is important to identify from Hindutva ideology. “A Hindu means a person who regards this land of Bharatvarsha, from the Indus to the Seas, as his father as well as his Holy-Land that is the cradle land of his religion.”(Davis 115). However one comes to consider is Hindutva ideology actually have a historical basis of which supports its ideologies and claims? V. D. Savarkar’s writing in 1920’s defined “an Indian as a person who can claim that the land of his ancestors and of his religion lies within the territorial boundaries of British India. Since Islam and Christianity originated outside India, Muslims and Christians automatically become foreigners.”(Thapar 197).

The Indus valley civilization was found to be one of the oldest river valley civilizations to be discovered, with a sophisticated sewage system and street. The two major cities that were formed were Harappa and Mohenjo Daro around the year 2500 BCE and was known to be destroyed around 1500 BCE. However though their sophisticated street planning and sewage system allowed them to prosper over the centuries, it is unclear of what had lead to their demise, and deciphering the Harappan language has no routes to understand their destruction or the vacancy of the city itself. Another possible theory that scholars provided was the invasion of the Aryans from the northwestAs Hindutva relies upon their ancestral religious origins, it was reasonable for them to follow along their ideology of being the descendants of the ancient Indus valley civilizations. However there has been other claims to have been made to their origins of this ancient civilizations and the theories of Aryan invasions.

Recent excavations of the ancient civilizations of Harappa has found to lead to the idea that the original Harappan civilization are not the original source of the Sanskritic language and the culture of Vedic Hinduism. As a matter of fact its genetic makeup explains the fact that the current population of India has a lineage from other sources outside of the Hindutva ideology and their notion of an inclusive Hindu group. Leading the readers to revisit the quote “A Hindu means a person who regards this land of Bharatvarsha, from the Indus to the Seas, as his father as well as his Holy-Land that is the cradle land of his religion.”(Richard 115). This is a controversial topic that is not easily presented to the public as there might be Hindutva conflicts with the actual discovery itself. Those who have their ideologies being torn down that they have believed was the sole purpose of their political movement and those who have found scientific/genetic evidence of which cannot be easily presented to the public.

Alongside the discovery of an alternative explanation toward the origins of the Indus river valley civilization, there are other controversies of more recent history itself. The British colonization of India was also one of the greatest stepping points in the history of India, where the British regime’s collective census has paved a way for a generalization of the Indian citizens. Even though the Indian civilization is known to be one of the most diverse nations in the pre-colonial era. For the British to understand the nation or more precisely ‘the conquered’, they wanted to create a method of which would be able to classify the immensely diverse Indian culture and categorize in the method of which they can understand as their basis in religion(Christianity) revolved around the devotion toward one god. Alongside the census was also the classification of the Hindu caste system. Similar to the case with the diversity in the culture, there were many classes and subclasses of which were hard to tract, for this reason the British government has also influenced the caste system to be categorized into the four main categories that is known today. “He recognized that there are internal divisions within the four varnas, but follows Brahmanic theory in attributing these divisions to the mixture of the original varnas through intermarriage”(Cohn 139). For Hindutva nationalism which emphasizes its ideals on the originality of the religion of Hindu, history tells otherwise.

““Hindutva” literally means “Hindu-ness” and has become, since Savarkar’s coinage, widely accepted shorthand for referring to various groups and projects that aim at redefining India as a “Hindu Rashtra” or Hindu nation.”(Davis 109). Hindutva movement is for the search of the originality of the religion of Hindu, the purpose of the movement is clear as a separate group has tried to find their originality tracing back to history to justify their position. However their attempt to unify their history with modernity is a hard task. “The attempt to mix ‘tradition’ with ‘modernity’ in a reinvention of Indian ‘culture’ can have quite bizarre results.

Frequently the attack, which may be physical as well as verbal, is an attempt to demonstrate power, although it is justified by the claim that it is in defence of the Hindu-Indian tradition. Little effort is made to define such a tradition but it is resorted to as and when expediencies of various kinds require it.”(Thapar 197). Without having scientific and a ‘clear’ historical basis of the originality of Hinduism, the task to justification of their movement is hindered easily and is sometimes responded by their violence. Hindutva ideologies revolve around maintaining the Hindu nationalism, history of India has been shaped by various foreign influences from the time of the Indus valley civilization and to the British colonization of India, “History or more precisely a vision of the Indian past, is central to Hindutva” does not align with Hindutva ideology.

Story of Partition

Language is one of the most important elements in a community which allows one another to communicate with each other. Indian partition was one of the most climatic moments of the 20th century. The division between British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 created one of the largest migrations. The division of India was poorly planned and the brutality of the attacks lead to the death of millions within a short period of time. Northern side of India where a predominant majority of the population were Muslim later became what we now know as Pakistan. The rest of the country where a majority of the population consisted of Hindu, with a large minority of other religions, became what we know as India.

India’s partition was an abrupt event that laid many disadvantaged, homeless and impoverished. There are no specific monuments, memorials to dedicate or remember the event that happened nearly 70 years ago. Even in the state of which the event was abrupt and the information that dealt with partition was lacking, many writers have written short stories of which deal with the partition of 1947. These short stories do not give the readers general information of the partition itself, however it serves a guide to which readers can get a grasp of the state of India during the time of partition. Short stories allow readers to gain an understanding of history and state of India itself as fiction delve into the individual’s life and event allowing the reader to share a common viewpoint and a first person understanding of history and events.

Partition was not only one of the most impactful events in India’s history, but also was one of the most brutal incidents in India’s history. It is important to understand that partition was an event that also divided religious nations apart and solidified India as a Hindu nationalist state as well. “These thousand years of our join life moulded us into a common nationality… Whether we like it or not, we have become an Indian nation, united and indivisible- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Congress presidential address, 1940”(Guha 41). The start of partition can actually be traced back to the British regime in India as stated it caused animosity between the Muslims and the Hindus. “Most British officials were predisposed to favor Muslims, for, as compared to Hindus, their form of worship and ways of life were not entirely alien.”(Guha 43). Guha’s introduction details the account of the pre-division of the Indian state and social unrest between the Muslims and Hindus.

Guha’s “Logic of Division” gives the readers an introduction and general state of India’s unrest with the withdrawal of the British from India. However it does not account for the individual citizens who have been taken into the conflict of the partition. One way readers are able to understand the state of partition from an individual's point of view is by reading stories written by short story writers who give account of daily events of the set of partition itself. Salil Choudhary’s short story “The Dressing Table” accounts for events that happened during the partition and the violent state of nature that the writer of the letter Rahim was in. The short story by Salil accounts for four different letters written by a Rahim, traveling to avoid the conflict and terror that was rising and the atrocities that were swarming the cities.

The first letter accounts for an incident where Rahim was traveling on a train when he met a family who mistook him for a Bengali while he was drawing a picture of the family sitting in front of him. However as his identity was found later on as the father of the family asked for his name, the attitude suddenly turned negative. “Come and see the injustice! I have been very unjustly treated!” But I restrained myself and no one heard my complaint. I sat quietly. The entire day had been ruined for me.”(Choudhary 40).

Personal accounts of events that takes place show readers of the actual state of the attitude of the people during the partition, and for Rahim he has experienced something that he would never forget which also reflects the the views of the generalized population of the citizens during the state of partition and their views on one another. “I have heard that he is in Pakistan, but that Amina didi may not be alive. One day at midnight, the house was locked from outside and set on fire. We tried hard to put out the flames and rescue the refugees, but in vain. There was a lot of firing, bullets were flying all around and it was impossible to step outside.”(Choudhary 48). If events of these violence were to be published on the news or any general article, it wouldn’t detail the accounts for the ones who were sacrificed in the national movement or even account from a viewpoint of the people in the state.

Short stories are some of the best literary work of which helps readers understand the historical events from a first person perspective of the incident. As mentioned earlier, India’s partition into separate nations of India and Pakistan are events of which there are no historical memorials or monuments that keeps as a reminder of the past. Short stories give readers a different perspective on this approach. Unlike news articles which gives generalized summaries of events that happened, the authors directly dive into responding towards the incidents in the perspective of a few individuals that lived in that moment in history. In a sense it is a primary source in an account of an individual.