WEEK 1 - TRANSITION AND BEGINNINGS

Munis Faruqui, “At Empire’s End: The Nizam,

Hyderabad, and Eighteenth-Century India”,
SAMYAK- Three reading methods
● Evidence - close connection of Nizam and Aurangzeb.
● Historical continuity - continue relation with mughal
● Intervention of the author - each successor state different and different strategies
employed according to the context.

Main point - History of the nizam of hyderabad from his close links to Auranagzeb to gradually
setting up Hyderabad through flexible and situation specific policies.

Family Relations and Loyalty to Aurangzeb

● Nizam’s father, Ghazi-ud-din Khan was the eldest son of Abid Khan who was one of
Aurangzeb’s favorite noblemen. On his mother’s side, his maternal grandfather was the
prime minister of Shah Jahan.
● The nizam was granted his noble name - Mir-Qamar-ud-din by Aurangzeb himself.
Aurangzeb personally trained the nizam and got his first noble rank when was 6.
● Along with promoting the Nizam and his father into high positions, Aurangzeb was also
generous to other members of Nizam’s family like Muhammad Amin Khan who was the
uncle of Nizam.

Competitive Succession in Mughal Empire

● There was no systematic succession in Mughal empire. Each prince engaged in a highly
competitive system where there was conflict among the siblings and the emperor
himself. This was named as Ya Takhth, Ya tabut (either throne or tomb). Such conflict
though affected stability, it allowed the Mughal Empire to expand as the Muslim princes
were forced to make ties all around in regions like Bengal, Afghanistan, Konka and
Coromandel. Therefore, princes in order to garner support expanded the Mughal territory
and incorporated potential Mughal opponents into the Empire.
● However, Aurangzeb dissuaded such an exercise. He deprived his sons of opportunities
to create ties with other rulers. He would keep on transferring the princes, change their
military, transfer their loyalist and crushing any opponents of his rule.

Post Aurangzeb’s Death (1707) and Ambition to become Wazir

● Given the Nizam’s and his father’s extreme loyalty to Aurangzeb, they had bad relations
with the three sons of Aurangzeb. There was a possibility that they would lose all their
power and thus decided to maintain strict neutrality from the rival contenders and
 decided to sit out the war of succession. At the same time to protect themselves, the
father-son duo had started stockpiling weapons from the early 1700s.
● Between 1707 and 1720, the Mughal Emperor had very limited access to the Mughal
Court. However, the Nizam had the great ambition to become the Wazir. For that, he
helped his uncle Muhammad Amin Khan (as discussed earlier) for the downfall of the
Sayyid Brothers. He was successful in that but the new emperor - Muhammad Shah
made his uncle the wazir. He was then given the governorship of Deccan (1720-22).
● But as soon as his uncle died, in 1722 the nizam became the Wazir. However, his
policies for greater control imperial bureaucracy and to tame powerful factions of the
imperial court failed miserably and he was forced to return to Deccan in 1724. This is
the first time he starts thinking of establishing a semi-independent empire.

Challenges of Hyderabad
● Hyderabad was different from the other three successor states of Bengal (Murshid Quli
Khan), Punjab (Abdus Khan) and Awadh (Burhan Malik). In the other three states, the
rulers had been for a long duration started to establish their independence slowly. In
Hyderabad, the Nizam had to fight to establish his dominance.
● First threat - Marathas who had first defeated certain armies of Aurangzeb and had
established their right to tax the inhabitants of Deccan. Second threat - Afghans, Berads
and Telugus who were vying for power after Aurangzeb.
● The Mughal administrative structure in Deccan was fairly recent and not established.
There was limited institutionalization. This was not the case in other successor states.
● The chasm between the ruling Mughal elite and the locals. Mughals used Persian
whereas local languages were prevalent in south india.

Nizam’s Strategies (Master Recruiter)

● Strong military and bureaucratic set up along with a group of core loyalists who wanted
high positions post Aurangzeb. During his stint as governor of deccan he has
established local ties by providing his loyalists with high positions like mansabs and
jagirs. This was done not for getting independence then, but as leverage to become
wazir.
● Perception as a generous king during his governorship in deccan who was spiritually
blessed and the true successor of Aurangzeb.
● Relations with Marathas - The nizam knew that the marathas could destroy him. He
maintained friendly relations with them. This helped him in getting hostile marathas into
revenue officials in his kingdom. Brahmin Marathas were inducted who had scribal and
administrative skills. They also had strong economic backing. Most importantly, the
nizam got warrior groups of marathas (highly skilled) inducted in his army who were
given high positions.
● Against the Afghans, Telugus and Berads, the nizam initially launched military
campaigns but later tried to include them within hyderabad. Afghans were made faujdars
(military commanders) and qiladars (fort commandments). Telugus kingdoms were given
autonomy till they gave a limited revenue, troops and sent representatives occasionally.
 The Berads were tough to be subjugated. Some were destroyed and others were made
zamindars and inducted in the army.
● Flexibility from the Mughal Court - officials not transferred regularly, complex posts
concentrated in one, laxed revenue collection, some posts made hereditary.

Mughal Connection
● He never crowned himself king, coins issued in name of mughal emperor, did not use
the royal umbrella, dating also of mughal calendar.
● Reasons - Close to Aurangzeb. Second, Many administrators had connections in the
North and the connection to mughal kingdom was required. Mainly, it gave validation
and legitimacy. Moreover, more mughals immigrated to the south because of this
because other successor states also wanted them. Higher bargaining power with other
kingdoms.

Pluralism (Pragmatism) - FLEXIBILITY AND OPPORTUNISM

● Sufis given support, he himself was buried near the shrine of Shaikh Burhan. Political
legitimacy connected with spiritual legitimacy.
● Ulamas were given honor and financial security.
● However there was no interest in establishing an Islamic rule. The muslim elite was
restricted to the cities and prevented from interfering with local zamindars. Zamindars
could complain about any illicit attempt by religious muslim figure to take their land.
● Jizya was removed. (Tax on non-muslims)
● Hindus continued to be governed by their customs on civil and criminal matters.
● State patronage given to marathi-brahmins.
● Special food arrangements for hindus in family.
● Non-muslim boys personally tutored by nizam.

Travels of Dean Mahomet

Main Themes- Authorial Position of English Writing, Diary style of writing and intended audience
- English.
● Identity - The author uses our Indians and also our army.
● There is reverence for the culture of the British but at the same time there is resistance
through Indian religion and superstitions.
● Writing style is like a rags to riches story starting from a child with no father and then
later rising to ranks to become rich in ireland.
● Distinction between good indians with manners and bad indians like savages.
● Anglicized - Good Indian can emulate british qualities.
● Religion very important - Muslim circumcision celebrated and great detail about muslim
marriages. Why - 3 reasons possibly, First - To familiarize the british audience. Second -
Resistance to british and promoting indigenous. Third - Intention to entertain as Islam is
exotic for the British.
 ● About the conquest of the British but does not per se support conquest but has
appreciation of british culture.

The people of India - ‘Our People’

● Delightful country with varied geography. Great soil, fragrant flowers, clean air and
mines filled with gold and diamonds.
● People- Despite the great riches, ‘we’ are benevolent, good will devoid of any fraud or
cunning.
● Women though not accomplished as European women are still full of virtues.
● For the hounour of my country - Indian people are most attentive and respectful to
European Ladies.
● Expresses sadness that during famines and excessive heat, the natural riches of the
country are of no use as people could not even get minimum rice.

Curiosity (Our Army)

● The author was a military officer in the army who died when the author was 11. His elder
brother was given a post for his father's gallant services. The author also had entry into
the Raja’s palace because of his father’s reputation. The parties are marvelous with a
large canopy made of muslin having a beautiful carpet, dancing girls, fireworks, birds,
beasts and other animals.
● Had access to the military camps, mesmerized by the military life of training, living in
camps, carrying arms, and the uniform. Went to the tennis court behind Officer Baker
who had asked him if he would want to live with the Eurpoeans.
● Separate duties for people coming with the military contingent. Lascars - pith tents and
load and unload elephants and waggons. Cooleys - clear the roads for passage.
Charwalleys - Cleaning and Besties - supply men and cattle with water.

BAD V GOOD INDIANS

● Savages had attacked the camp, they took the author, took his clothes and money.
However he was spared and it was astonishing that savage had some humanity.
● Justified maltreatment of savages- flogged, ears and noses cut off. Pahareas caught
who were whipped publicly and hanged naked.

Praise the piety of water

● Wisdom of the providence which entrusted India with such great springs of water that
were covered with beautiful fruit bearing trees. The local tribes worshipped water and
prevented any kind of pollution.

Praise of local religion (spiritual)

● Famous building on the mountain where the tiger would come without hurting anyone
and would remove the dust from the tomb of pious person buried there. However, a
british officer considered this to be superstitious and ridiculed the veneration that the
local people had. He later died.
Calcutta
● Flourishing city. Spacious streets, public buildings, gardens, endless variety of goods
sold.
● In awe of fort william

WEEK 2 - THE COLONIAL MOMENT

Frederick Cooper, “Colonial Questions, Historical

Trajectories”
MAIN - Particularities and Context are important.
THEORY AND PARTICULARITY
● Colonialism is a concept. Looking at it like an event is fussy. It is not a single event and
spans a time period. What is important is particularising a concept. Therefore, do not
focus on colonialism as general but look at it as Colonialism in the Indian context that too
from multiple angles in India itself.
● Theory can work in two ways. First, an abstraction that may or may not derive from an
empirical study. Second, look at multiple problems and then come with generalised rules
that seem universal. Cooper is against both of them. For him theory is important but one
should not strictly cling to theory. There can be a generalised theory but there should be
dialogue between theory and a particular event. For example, general theory of colonial
conquest from the vantage point of Battle of Plassey where the local context is extremely
important.
● Similarly, the concept of nation, though considered universal, has a different
understanding when the context is changed. For example, independence in 1947 was
not the same for everyone. People in indigo plantations and people under zamindari
control had different conceptions of freedom and their idea of a nation will also change.
Thus, look at a concept from multiple perspectives.

PROBLEM IN EUROCENTRISM AND POST-COLONIAL STUDIES

● It is assumed that Eurpe owns certain concepts that came after enlightenment. Thus,
concepts like liberty and equality are considered to be originating from Europe and all
other histories have to be looked at from that perspective. The result is that post-colonial
studies tried to fit European concepts within India saying India is also modern. For
example, liberty is supposed to be equal to Inquilab.
● Cooper says that the presumption of Europe owning concepts is wrong. Each context
will have different meanings. So, liberty in europe different and meaning of Inquilab in
India different. No need to fit Inquilab in Liberty.
COLONIALISM IN TIMELINE
● Colonialism cannot be fitted within one timeline. Cooper rejects the assumption that
once decolonisation starts, colonisation ends. However, this misses out the lasting effect
of colonialism. For example, the concepts of survey, nation, separation of powers, notion
of modern etc stay back. Look at dialogue between colonial and particular.

DOUBLE OCCLUSION
● By not focussing on particularities, the history of Europe is smoothened out. Europe is
considered as a single entity with a single history. It misses out on the differences in the
regions of EuropeThe possibility that enlightenment acted in a different way in Germany
than in Italy is missed. (PROVINCIALIZE EUROPE)
● Secondly, the effect of colonies on the generalised concepts is missed. The broad
modern framework of Europe is tried to be implemented in colonies. The reverse effect
of experience in colonies on Europe is missed. Example, modernity lies in separating
religion and politics, but in India there is no stringent separation which shows how the
concept of modernity is changing. Another example - The idea that the Haitian
Revolution actually affected the meanings of citizenship and freedom in Europe and
America is absent. (EDWARD SAID’S IDEA THAT COLONIALISM IS NOT
SOMETHING OUT THERE. IT WITHIN EUROPE ITSELF. THE IDEA OF THE
COLONIAL EMPIRE IS BEING SHAPED BY THE COLONISED AS WELL.)

FOUR FALLACIES
● STORY PLUCKING - Colonialism given a broad meaning to exist certain characteristics.
So, it allows authors to pick text from Spanish colonialism and compare it with the 1857
revolt. In trying to look at similarities, the context is missed.
● LEAPFROGGING - A TO C without considering B. Example, colonial policy to allow
African chiefdoms to rule in 1930 connected to brittle politics of Authoritarianism in 1980
without talking about effective mobilisation across ethnicities in 1950.
● DOING HISTORY BACKWARD - Applying present concepts to the past and going in a
streamline fashion. For example, nationalism traced to the first 50s then 40s and then
30s to dandi march. Cooper wants nationalism to be understood specifically in these
periods specifically and exclusively and then draw correlation.
● EPOCHAL FALLACY - Stabilising all things in a time period. History looked as a
succession of epochs with coherence. Cooper is against coherence as according to him
there are multiple contexts in a single epoch and there are complex interactions which
are missed in search for coherence.

CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE (USE OF WORD EMPIRE)

● Currently used for extreme state power. When the Bush administration started war
against terrorism in the name of the world after 9/11 and inflicted brutalities. Earlier
understanding of empires are on the basis of geographical territory covered. There the
 talk is about bringing as many territories under your control. But for Bush, he does not
want Iraqis and Afghans as American citizens.

Partha Chatterjee, “The Pedagogy of Violence”

Main - How sovereignty affected british policies and how british circumvented questions of
sovereignty through justifications that states in India were oppressive and needed protection.

NORMATIVE VS AVERAGE
● The normative standard of life was the one established by the European nations against
which all other nations were to be measured. All other countries were considered
average and therefore, all such ‘deviant’ states needed to be brought to the normative
standard by imposing a state of exception until the normative standard was achieved.

WAYS OF ENSURING THE STANDARD

● Pedagogy of violence - Imperial force
● Pedagogy of culture - legal reform, social and economic reform and western education.

NATURAL LAW V POSITIVISM

● Natural law is based on morality which is not taught per se to the people and people are
supposed to automatically discover it because of divine passage to humans.
● Positive law is the law made by political institutions and enforced by the state - In the
19th and 20th century - positive law is the correct law.

INITIAL SOVEREIGNTY
● Initially, European powers and the Indian States were considered on an equal footing
with similar sovereignty. Therefore, most agreements under the initial stages of
colonialism were based on treaties between states. Example - Trade concessions given
to the British by kings. Even with annexation, de jure sovereignty still rests with local
rulers.

BENEFITS OF ANNEXATION
● In the 19th century, there was an industrial revolution. Asia is important as a source of
raw materials, land for commercial agriculture, and a market for cheap European
clothing.
● Increased revenue and commerce
● Opium trade with China
● Profit for English entrepreneurs.

CHANGING SOVEREIGNTY
● Legal positivism, rights and self-government was the new benchmark. It was believed
that the Indian States failed to meet that standard and therefore the true sovereigns
were only the European powers. The problem now was two folds. First - if the treaties
 entered with Indian States are between two sovereigns then Indian states should also be
true sovereigns. Second, if they are not true sovereigns, then what happens to the
treaties.
● The solution derived was the distinction between civilised and uncivilised states. It was
said that uncivilised states had no legal regimes, the rules were arbitrary, they were
shaped by religion and cultures which meant that they were not true sovereigns.
● A flexible idea of sovereignty was propounded where sovereignty would apply on a case
to case basis according to the needs of the imperial power. Thus in some cases there
would be paramountcy of British rule and inner sovereignty given to states when it was
not viable for the British to take complete control. In other states, a state was considered
sovereign if it could give territory to the British.
● Modern example - US hegemonism (Iraq and Afghanistan) goes against the principal
territorial sovereignty to restrain states from interfering in each other's territory but the
war on terrorism is justified in the name of war on humanity. DEMOCRACY AT HOME
DESPOTISM ABROAD.

THE APPLICATION IN INDIA

● The doctrine of lapse of Dalhousie is one such example where though the sovereignty of
Indian States is recognised, the annexation of states that have no male heir is justified
as such states may lapse without a king and it would be better if the state’s resources
and military is better utilised.n
● All such justifications are important given the public opinion in the British and British
Parliament. The actions of the company were being heavily scrutinised and thus each
act had to be justified. Unwanted annexations that produced revolts were to be avoided
and public opinion was that since the British had signed treaties which meant such
Indian states were sovereign, there should be non-interference to honour those treaties.

THE CASE OF AWADH

● In the 1840s, Awadh had a dual polity where the king was a mere de jure head with all
the powers being vested in the British Resident. It was said that the Awadh ruler had
stopped ruling and engaged himself in wine, women and poetry.
● Evangelicals wanted the spread of English education and christianity and their
justification for annexation of Awadh is that by not annexing, the British was ratifying an
oppressive Awadh king whose regime was inflicted with corruption.
● Dalhousie wanted annexation and for justification sent Sleeman who gave a report
saying - Wajid Ali Shah was an imbecile, he promoted homosexuality (his breast
nipple was exposed), wasted money, not manly enough to rule, interested in flora
and fauna. There was rampant crime, bribery, extortion, fraud, sati and unresponsive
government. However, Dalhousie was busy in Burma wars till 1854 and again set a
person named Outram. Outram merely reproduced Sleeman’s report.
● Dalhousie then passed a memorandum saying that Awadh is being mis-governed and it
should be annexed. However, the first choice is to get the consent of the king to keep
the sanctity of the treaty obligations. The report created public opinion that the ‘people
 need to be protected’ and if the annexation is delayed, the people suffer more. People
need to be liberated. (LIBERALISM)
● Wajid Ali Shah refused to consent and Awadh was annexed. However in reality, the
people of Awadh were utmost against it.

POST 1857 - MAINE’S IDEA AGAINST CIVILISING‘

● Indirect rule preferred. More decentralisation. Local customs and social regulation are
better. Indian society was communal, complex caste structures and social customs.
Thus local traditions were given supremacy but at the same time to protect tribal life,
they were connected to market and commerce.
● However, British society was still normatively superior. It was recommended Indian law
needs to be codified and instead of imposing liberal ideas, a balanced approach of
bringing reform and maintaining the local adopted.

WAJID ALI SHAH IN EXILE

● Partha Chatterjee wants Wajid Ali Shah to be looked at as a cultural visionary not a
imbecile ruler. At Matiya Burj, he promoted great engineering skills, created a zoo with
animals from across the world, recreated small Lucknow with fine shops, craftspeople
and houses of royal staff. He promoted poetry, music, and dance. He was a recognised
sitar player and did kathak. He also advocated Hindustani Classical. He established a
library and also a publishing house.

COOPER AND CHATTERJEE

● Focus on particularity. No standard definition of modern. The British portrayed Wajid Ali
as not a real king. Whereas if we focus his efforts in other activities he was a visionary.

George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”

MAIN - The impact of the colonised on the coloniser. The creation of the image of a ruler as a
Shaib means that the people expect a coloniser to behave like one. So the coloniser was forced
to act accordingly.

THE IMPERIAL GAZE - INFERIORITY OF EAST

● Squalid conditions of living
● Dingy markets with uncivilised living
● Naked children running
● Yellow and brown faces (race)
● West as powerful - shown through gun

FUTILITY OF WHITE MAN

● The main story is that there is a wild elephant on the loose who is destroying property
and killing people. The author is carrying a gun for protection but the people follow him
 everywhere in the anticipation that the author will kill the elephant even though the
author does not intend to do so.
● The author looks like the leading actor but actually becomes the puppet and has to
follow the will of the natives as he is supposed to look strong and live upto the image of
the coloniser as the all powerful.
● The author calls the whole episode a circus and he has to act in the way the audience
wants.

COOPER RELATION
● The general theory of colonialism is that the East is looked at in amazement as being
exotic. However, here due to change in the context, the natives are looking at the
coloniser in amazement due to the gun he holds.
● Moreover, the coloniser is supposed to regulate the colonised. Here, the coloniser has
the burden to maintain the circus - the circus of showing the powerful British empire.

WEEK 3 - LAW AS ORDER IN THE COLONY

Bernard Cohn, “Law and the Colonial State”

MAIN - Introduction into the initial possible methods of governing India.
INITIAL DAYS
● It was generally believed that India did have state institutions and administrative
structures of self-governance which were in disarray after the Mughal Rule. The
company at this stage could wage war, make peace, collect taxes and administer justice
much like a normal state. Question was, was it a sovereign?
● In 1785 it was decided that the company could administer its territories but under
regulations passed by the Parliament. The employees of the company owed allegiance
to the crown but not the natives. Since the company had obtained the dewani of Bengal
in 1765, it could raise revenues. The company's initial plans of working according to the
English system was a big blunder which led to many deaths in the famine.

HASTINGS PLAN (focus on indigenous tradition)

● Hastings appointed a ‘collector’ for each district who had both executive and judicial
functions and was supposed to know the natives. The basis of the plan was that under
Mughal rule India had an effective administrative structure and he believed that it was
necessary to grasp the knowledge in Hindu and Muslim textual scriptures.
● Ain-i-Akbari was translated which contained good qualities of a king, working of the court
and the regulations of judicial and executive departments. Younger servants were
encouraged to study Persian, Sanskrit and Arabic. The motive was to create a system
that was indigenous but also included the justice and British idea of discipline.
 ● The collector was to collect the tax and also sit in courts. The civil court was the court of
Dewani which would include Hindu law for Hindus and Muslim law for Muslim law. For
the criminal matters, the Faujdari court was set up where muslim law was supposed to
be administered.
● To interpret the texts, a pandit was appointed for hindu law and for muslim law a maulavi
was appointed. They were considered to be professional interpreters.

THE DESPOTIC MODEL

● This school believed that all property was with the ruler and there were no indigenous
laws. The ruler manifested arbitrary power in giving land grants or honours which were
not hereditary and thus escheated back to the throne when the emperor died. Moreover
the succession to throne was based on competition which meant there was no stability.
In sum, justice was not dependent on the rule of law but on the rule of men who could be
influenced by money, status and connection in the exercise of their office of judge.
● It was believed that since the Indians were accustomed to such a rule, it was best that
the Indian ruled with a strong hand who could administer justice in rough and ready
fashion unfettered by regulations. Court systems would be inefficient as people would
become prey to lawyers and lose their loyalty to a strong despot.

THEOCRATIC MODEL AND JONES (ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL IN 1784)

● Separate law for the hindus and the muslims which just needed translation. For sanskrit
texts, eleven of the most respectable pundits in Bengal who were to compile the shastric
texts. The translation was taken from sanskrit to bengali, then bengali to persian and
then from persian to english by a civil servant.
● William Jones felt that the translation was not adequate. Instead of being at the mercy of
the Indian lawyers who would do the translation, Jones learned Sanskrit, read the
original texts and then decided which interpretation was the best.
● He believed in the supremacy of British law but believed that even if a liberal law is
imposed, it would lead to tyranny. He wrote a letter to Cornwallis showing his mistrust of
the Indian interpreters who could mislead the judge and therefore the training of judges
in the local law was required.
● Thus Jones started the massive project of compiling the local laws by employing pandits,
maulvis and munshis. From 1788 to 1794 great efforts were made.He died in 1794 by
then the compilation in Sanskrit and Arabic was completed and the translation in English
was released in 1797 by H.T. Colebrooke and published as The Digest of Hindu Law on
Contracts and Successions.
● Though Jones believed that judicial precedents were necessary as they could change
according to the changing circumstances, he felt that the Indians were in a timeless
existence where the laws were supposed to be fixed for time immemorial. There could
be no changes.
● Criticism - Jones was influenced by Justinian law of the roman empire where law
was supposed to have one source. Therefore hindu law meant manusmriti which
removed from its domain all other texts.
COLEBROOKE
● He was a better sanskritist than jones. He said the ‘smriti’ was written law whereas ‘sruti’
was oral law. He said that Dharmasastras had less to do with substantive law and norms
and more with forensic law, evidence and pleadings in court. Shastras - theory. Dharma
shastras - conduct and Artha shastra - economy.
● There were multiple interpretations of Hindu law and Jones reconciled them by bringing
his english law knowledge to include rationality and natural law. Colebrooke was not
experienced in English law and said that different interpretations were due to diversity in
India and thus law changed with context. Therefore, separate schools were made for
Hindu and Muslim law:

● In the end however, though Hastings and Jones wanted to provide the ancient Indian
law to the Indians, later the interpreters were abolished and what became important
were precedents. Thus hindu law became english law of Indian based on precedents.

Julia Stephens, “Forging Secular Legal Governance”

in Governing Islam: Law, Empire, and Secularism in
South Asia
Main - The limitation of Muslim law to the personal sphere and more british civilising influence
by evangelicalism.

EARLY RULE
● Hastings came up with a plan where the muslim law was supposed to be followed in
cases of marriage, inheritance, caste and all religious usages (trying to limit). In
Dewani courts, though muslims were supposed to be governed by the muslim law and
the Hindus by hindu law, in the Mughal rule, Muslim law often accommodated Hindu
customs and Hindu matters were also dealt by Muslim law.
● The British tried to apply the law communally for certainty but used muslim law in all
criminal matters. The company also ordered the use of justice, equity and good
 conscience for resolving disputes but the role of a qazi was so embedded that the
boundaries of the domestic and economic sphere was not possible.
● Therefore, in initial company rule, more focus was on balancing the muslim law with the
interpretation of the English law. More reliance was started being placed on past cases
in a bid to streamline and anglicise the process. However, by the 1820s there were calls
for more sweeping codified law.
● In territories like Bombay, Muslim law was supposed to be applied in all matters whether
domestic or commercial. This included succession, inheritance, property, mortgage,
bonds, marriage and caste. Muslim law was the general point of reference.
● Muslim sources - Quran, Hadith (interpretation by saints of what prophet said, Sunna
and conventions. Sharia included
1. Philosophy
2. Literature
3. Conduct
4. Morality
5. Pilgrimage
6. Fasting etc.

TERRITORIALITY AND HISTORICISM

● Territoriality believed that sovereign power was to be exercised within a territory without
any restraint. This meant that the company being the sovereign in India, the
preservationist ethos was being discarded. William Bentick believed this and abolished
sati in 1829, reduced use of Islamic officers in criminal trials and abolished the use of
separate religious oaths. The image of the mughal emperor on the rupee coin was also
removed.
● Historicism however believed that law only functioned when it was aligned with the local
customs. Minimal introduction of foreign sources and sanctioned local unwritten
customs.
● The effect - Territoriality was considered superior and local law as inferior but necessary.
India was considered to be in a stage of civilisation immaturity where there was need for
unified law but also recognition of ‘personal law’ to recognise diversity. Here personal
law is not restricted to the domestic sphere.

EVANGELICALISM
● It was a mix of belief in rationality and direct connection to god. It also believed in
uniformity in human nature and systemic design of the universe. Direct conversion was
dissuaded and what was believed was that first Indians should be exposed to rational
education before embracing christianity. This would allow the conscience of Indians to
awaken. TERMED AS SECULAR CONVERSION
● Similarly Macaulay believed that there should be no direct involvement of the state in
religion but since he felt that Indian were backward, there was a need to bring morality
and rationality through christianity. UNIFORMITY WHERE YOU CAN HAVE IT,
DIVERSITY WHERE YOU MUST HAVE IT, BUT IN ALL CASES CERTAINTY.
THE LEX LOCI DEBATE
● The debate between english law and muslim took place when a small group of Indian
converts to christianity brought the question that they should not be subjected to the
muslim law. The question was what was the lex loci law of India for those for whom there
was no specific law like that of muslims and hindus. Lex loci was supposed to be a
singular overriding law and muslim and hindu law was an aberration.
● Historically, the muslim law was supposed to be the territorial law of the country but it
was said that muslim law was immutable as it could not be changed by a sovereign as it
was sourced from god. English law could be changed by the parliament and was thus
the territorial law. It was based on rational political deliberations.
● Another justification was that English law was rational and Muslim law was
irrational.Thus an hierarchy was created between a secular law and a religious law.
Religious law was immutable and only applicable to that particular faith whereas
secular ;law was applicable to all. Muslim law could not incorporate change. This was
further substantiated by change in Britain where matters like marriage were also being
uniformize which showed how christianity could incorporate change. Muslim was thus
inferior.
● Such recommendation of the commission meant that the lex loci law could only be
applicable to a convert and not generally. It was contended by some authors that the
distinction between secular and religious could be more strict where more matters are
brought within the secular domain applicable to all and religious law is limited.
● The purpose of such a distinction was not preservation but to gradually eliminate the
personal law. Thus, there was a hint of an idea where the personal law started being
limited to domestic matters but the exact jurisdiction was not defined.

1857 REVOLT
● The age of reform was held liable for the revolt and thus there was a heightened
demand to separate the secular law and the religious law that balanced the interest of
growth and preservation. The law commission defined that the secular law was limited to
succession, inheritance, marriage and caste. New secular codes were drafted like IPC,
Contracts act, Negotiable instruments act and transfer of property act.
● Single system of HC.
● Interpreters abolished

PROBLEM
● The distinction of secular and domestic was not always clear. For example, the Indian
Majority Act said that the adult age was 18 however in muslim law, majority was defined
by age and sexual capacity. However, secular law prevailed.
● The problem was more stark in inheritance. The secular law was the Indian Succession
Act, and wills were defined in economic terms to remove it from religious law. However,
wills were inseparable from customs and religions. Now locals looked at the problem
saying religious preservation should be maintained. The British felt that such conflict
showed the irrational nature of religious laws. This lead to instability.
Elizabeth Kolsky, “White Peril: Law and
Lawlessness in Early Colonial India”
MAIN - Dealing with the problem of white criminal activities due to the inherent loopholes in the
system.

MAIN IDEAS
● The company's early legal system made a sharp distinction between company servants
and the natives where both were supposed to be governed by the English law as
territories under company were territories under British. However, there was no law for
Non-company Europeans. They were interlopers who challenged the monopoly of
the company to punish and do trade. (CHALLENGE STATE MONOPOLY OVER
FORCE AND TRADE)
● In the judicial structure, there were crown courts in the presidencies of Bombay, Madras
and Calcutta. They had jurisdiction over everyone. In interiors, there were Mofussils that
only had jurisdiction over Indians and Non-british europeans. Thus british europeans to
the presidency town. However, given the expense and inconvenience of bringing
witnesses and evidence to calcutta meant Britons in the interior part were largely
immune. The Briton could sue in mofussil court but an Indian could not sue a Briton. The
case had to be brought to the Supreme Court in Calcutta was very expensive.
● Irony - The British were supposed to bring law and order in an arbitrary pre colonial
landscape but the law itself was part of a structure of violence which allowed
certain European men to take the law in their hands. There was a challenge to
British sovereignty because if they could not control Britons in India, how could
they establish law and order. (CHALLENGE BRITISH CLAIM OF RULE OF LAW)
● Third face of colonialism - Colonialism was considered two faced because the state
made the law by placing itself above it and giving different treatment to natives and
company servants. However, there was a third face of colonialism where normal Britons
who were not servants of the company did criminal acts and had complete immunity.
● The problem was further aggravated as judges in mofussils hardly had any training.
● On the question of allowing Europeans in India, some believed that it was necessary to
allow people to gain profit, civilise India and make Europeans permanent settlers that
would lead to reforms. However, Bentick was completely against it as the misconduct of
Europeans was at an all time high and governing them was exceedingly difficult. Later
changes were made but such Britons could only be tried for certain offences in mofussils
and not others. The problem continued.
● A solution brought was giving licences to Europeans if they wanted to trade in interior
parts. But once a European reached Indian and went into the interiors, it was very
difficult to keep track.
● There was also a question of applicability of English law - could a non-company servant
be prosecuted under the company law or should he be prosecuted under the English law
given his allegiance is to the crown. What about non-british Europeans?
● Such European criminals also challenged the notion of British mannerism and
order where the men were supposed to act in a gentleman's fashion. They should
 be of good character, honesty and sobriety. However, criminal acts like these
went against the British image of a gentleman. (CHALLENGE BRITISH
SUPERIORITY)

WEEK 4 EDUCATION IN COLONIAL TIMES

Sabyasachi Bhattacharya (ed.), “Introduction” in The

Contested Terrain: Perspectives on Education in
India.
MAIN - Multiple ideas on what kind of education should have?

HIDDEN AGENDA OF EDUCATION - MAINTENANCE MECHANISM

● Capitalist - In a capitalist society there are two processes at play. One is the role of
education as a means of ‘reproduction of knowledge’ which essentially means of
reproducing or preserving the capitalist society - education for the masses. On the other
hand you have ‘production of knowledge’ which is the outcome of education of a higher
order.
● In an imperial system - The production of knowledge is a function attributed to the
metropolitan country ruling the Empire, while the reproduction of that knowledge, its
transmission and replication, is the function assigned to the education system for the
colonised people. It can be further argued that the colonial system of education can be
viewed as a means of the preservation and reproduction of colonial authority, not only
cognitive authority but also political authority, among the "natives" of the colonised
country. Therefore, in a colony, the natives could not engage in cognitive thinking to
produce knowledge and education was a method for ensuring that societal structure did
not change.

MIDDLE CLASS RELUCTANCE

● The British felt that it was not possible to impart education to such a large population.
Therefore, the method adopted was to create a class of persons who would act as
conduits between the British and the natives. Such a class would be Indian in blood and
colour but English in taste, opinions and words. They would then impart British
knowledge.
● Initial attempts by the middle class focussed on functional literacy and attempted to
evolve a limited kind of education which would function as "socialising mechanisms so
that the labourers were mentally oriented towards the type of work that they were
expected to do. It was essentially a strategy for building a better qualified labour force
and hence emphasis in the teaching programme on "deference and loyalty to superiors,
and individual enterprise and perseverance for self-advancement. The experiments
turned out to be instruments to facilitate the integration of labourers into the logic of the
 prevalent economic system and bring about conformity to it, instead of helping them to
deal critically with reality and alter the existing circumstances.
● In the 1920s, the efforts by the British to tax rural wealthy for funds for education were
heavily protested. The Indian elite did not put education for the masses very high on
their agenda; nor was this objective pursued with the same political will which was
displayed in the constitutional and political struggle. He concludes that the Indian middle
class "had firmly entrenched itself into the bureaucracy and the social system in general
and it could not compromise with any educational measure that it feared could
destabilise their established social position
● Therefore, to preserve such a system, schools run by missionaries were influenced by
middle class students so as to ensure that the lower strata of the society that had initially
been trained in local dialects were excluded and local pathshalas eliminated.

INDIGENOUS SCHOOLS
● Indian indigenous schools were however widespread in Bihar and were an essential part
of rural life. In such schools, practical skills were given primacy over enlarging the mind.
They were taught simply because they needed to learn how to address the landlord and
village elders, and how to protect themselves against dishonest reckoning of the
moneylenders, the shopkeepers, and the landlord's steward.
● In some cases, they served the practical needs of daily life and contributed in
perpetuating the hierarchical social structure and Brahminic hegemony over society.

NIGEL CROOK (IMPORTANT)

● The conceptual distinction is made between M (= information, 'knowledge of facts'). and
K (= cognitive competence) divisible into K, (cognitive strategies) and K2 (intellectual
skills to process information). Crook submits that the rich have all the variables and they
devise an educational system where M is dissipated without K so that there is no threat
to the established ruling class.
● The author’s criticism - First is that even if K is excluded, knowledge keeps on getting
collected in M and by application of prior knowledge as M1 to new knowledge collected
as M2 will lead to knowledge similar to K. For example, an artisan will make
technological advancement by the knowledge he keeps on gathering from practice.
Thus, knowledge of facts accumulated in practice will itself lead to development.
● Second, is the feedback mechanism between M and K. They are not watertight. In
reality, K grows out of M. That is not to say that: M, + M, + M3 ... M" = K. But the
interaction within M leads to K. Only the K type judgement or cognitive competence can
recognize and accumulate M or data, and accumulation of data enables K type
judgements to be made. Thus there is constant back and forth. Example - In writing
history there is a pretty common example of this in our effort to judge the "factness " of
facts, to apply judgement to data,

NATIONALIST EDUCATION
● Education was a means of resistance against the colonial empire. Thus there was
support for revitalising indigenous forms of education. This was important to gain self-
 identity, however, there was a need to be able to inculcate the scientific knowledge that
the British brought. A balance had to be made.
● This was further true after the failure of the Non-cooperation movement to garner
students. Mahatma Gandhi's calls for boycott of schools and colleges did not bring about
a "spectacular decline in the number of students" from 1919 to 1922. This was because
the alternative nationalist schools setup could not keep up with the current market
requirements. Thus students returning to British schools were basically survival instincts
to meet their economic needs.
● Tomlinson finds that science and technology was valued "as a badge of modernity" by
the Indian intellectuals and educators but there was a stress on "high culture over
artisanal skills", a higher value attributed to "the theoretical over the practical", and
hence an impediment to the internalization of technology. It was considered that
gentlemen should not engage in manual work.

WOMEN EDUCATION
● Women education did expand but it was under a male centred mindset. It was done to
improve their homekeeping skills, fit as mothers and wives. Some felt that an educated
man could not share things with an illiterate wife and education was important to ensure
that the husband would actually live with the wife. Make better marriage partners.

TAGORE AND GANDHI

● Tagore pointed to the assimilation of many cultures in Indian civilization through the
ages, and to the need to view Western civilization-in particular its gift of science and
technology-as a part of an universal human heritage, and thus to redefine India's cultural
personality. According to Tagore, the emphasis should be on self-study in childhood
rather than the rigid and limited discipline of the school education system. In his view,
creative education can be encouraged only in the natural environment.
● Mahatma Gandhi's approach in Hind Swaraj (1909): "I believe that the civilization India
has evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our
ancestors. India remains immovable and that is her glory. Gandhi seems to have
evolved a different intellectual stance by 1921 in the course of his debates with Tagore.
He said - I do not want my house to be walled on all sides and my windows to be stuffed.
I want the culture of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I
refuse to be blown off my feet.
● Mahatma Gandhi believed that colonial education developed a sense of inferiority in the
minds of Indians. Due to this they started considering western culture as superior and
they lost their sense of pride in their culture. As a result educated Indians started
praising the British rule. Western education, in his view, focused on reading and writing
(i.e. theoretical knowledge) rather than on actual experiences and practical knowledge,
and therefore lacked skill development
● Both aimed at higher goals yet were different in their aims. Gandhi laid emphasis on the
complete development of the child and eradicating casteism while Tagore was emphatic
about self-realisation through education. Gandhi stood for educating a common man and
making him worthy of the society whereas Tagore wanted to produce saints. Regarding
 the national agenda for education, Gandhi’s educational approach was more for
promoting Indian culture and civilization.
● Tagore adopted Plato’s method of creating curiosity as a means of education, but
Mahatma Gandhi believed in ‘learning by activity’ through his concept of “Nai Talim”.

Krishna Kumar, “Quest for Self-Identity: Cultural

Consciousness and Education in the Hindi Region,
1880-1950”
MAHAVIR PRASAD DWIVEDI
● Initially started as correcting grammar and vocabulary, after joining Saraswati in 1903,
covered a wide range of responsibilities towards the development of Hindi prose.
● He was helped by the increase in print as elementary education was slow and far more
vital education, as a process of reconstructing worthwhile knowledge and disseminating
it, was taking place under the auspices of magazines and literature.
● He brought Hindi closer to Sanskrit even though historically, Hindi was a very broad
term. Example - Mughal court had great influence on Hindi. Akbar only knew Hindi and
not persian. Change Pyaar to prem not ishq. Only sanskrit texts were focussed as a
source of Hindi and all other texts significantly - Mughal were ignored.

PROSE AND POETRY

● The historic role of Saraswati under Dwivedi's editorship was in the development of Hindi
prose. The heritage of Hindi had plenty of great poetry, but poetry was never seen in its
capacity to read and write in its audience. The great poets of medieval times had
become popular on the strength of the symbols and the forms they had used, not on the
strength of the capacity to read in its audience. Now with the advancement of printing
technology and the expansion of literacy- related employment in offices and schools, for
example, poetry was looked at as a way to spread and preserve Hindi culture.
● The circulation was also helped by the postal system created by the British for
communication.
● The print and the postal development paved the way for journalism. It performed the role
of pulling together into a sense of community a heterogeneous town-based society.
Meaning, a sense of belongingness among people. It consisted of salaried professionals
and office clerks, merchant groups, property owners in towns, and rural landowners with
urban links

HINDI V URDU BATTLE

 ● Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi wrote on this topic, taking a sober position on the question of
acceptance of Urdu literature as part of the Hindi tradition. Not really popular among
people.
● Language had become, both among the Muslim and the Hindu upper castes, the means
as well as the symbol of community creation. But while both Hindi and Urdu were
being used for this purpose, Hindi was also perceived as the symbolic instrument
for fighting colonialism and English, whereas Urdu was perceived essentially as
the instrument for preservation of Muslim self-identity,
● Why did Hindi pick up and not urdu - The decision made by the English
administration to use Urdu as the court language had tainted it rendering it
unsuitable for anti-colonial struggle.
● URDU CHODO - URDU IS PAKISTANI.

ARYA SAMAJ (DAYANANDA SARASWATI) AND BRAHMO SAMAJ (RAJA RAM MOHUN
ROY)
● Hindi as a quest for self-identity for the upper-castes in the United Provinces. Important
here was the script. This is why the institution which led the battle for Hindi to be
installed in court and government offices called itself Nagri Pracharini Sabha, literally the
'Conference for the Propagation of Devnagri Script'. Why - Persian script of Urdu was a
concrete reminder to the literate upper castes, particularly the Brahmins and Kayasthas
of the United Provinces of their subservient status vis-a-vis the Muslim aristocracy.
● Hindi soon acquired the title of Aryabhasha in Arya Samaj parlance, and its Sanskritised
form became a part and parcel of the movement's vision of a reformed Hindu society in
which Vedic ideals would be practised. Arya Samaj leaders took active part in the
campaign for the popularisation of the Devnagri script and its acceptance for official use.
● They also started schools providing education in Hindi and the Devnagri script. So far,
literacy in this region had been confined to the reading and writing of Persian and Urdu,
and English since the middle of the nineteenth century. Urdu was not altogether dropped
until much later, but it developed the image of being a 'foreign' language.
● Here women were an important tool for differentiating Hindi and Urdu. The Arya
Samaj started schools for girls only in Hindi whereas there were both Urdu and
Hindi schools for men. Women were seen as being the bulwark of the purity of
Hindu society.

BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY (1916)

● Important for creating the self-image of the Hindi public. The location of the only 'Hindu'
university of the country in the heart of the Hindi region had its obvious symbolic
significance
● To have been educated at Benares became symbolic of a new status, that of a 'modern'
Indian with a cultural consciousness which no other university could supposedly give.
The name of BHU was supposed to wash away the associations of Macaulay and his
legacy from one's education. Macaulay was a staunch believer that the intellectual level
of the natives had to be improved for better governance. For him shastras were not
 scientific as it was not something verifiable and applicable. He said-One shelf of British
literature is enough for the whole literature of Indian and Arabia.
● It is largely at BHU that codification of worthwhile knowledge of Hindi literature and
language in the shape of syllabi, textbooks, and teacher education took place.'

HINDI CURRICULUM AND ACHARYA RAMCHANDRA SHUKLA

● Shukla shaped not only the format that the syllabi of Hindi in colleges continue to follow
to a great extent to this day; he also defined the heritage of Hindi language and literature
in a manner that few have dared to quarrel with.
● At that time, the basic Hindi readers were com- posed in Hindustani, which was the
mixed code of Hindi and Urdu. He was a strong believer against the use of a mixed
Hindi-Urdu tradition and made textbooks for primary grades as a vernacular reading in
the United Provinces.

GOVERNMENTAL POLICY
● The spread of Hindi Culture was supported by the ignorance of the British as well.
Schools were a low-status institu- tion of the colonial administration, and vernacular
schools in particular mattered little as far as the content of their curriculum was
concerned. In any case, the role of language teaching as a means of spreading religio-
cultural consciousness was far too subtle a process to be acknowledged by the
bureaucracy of the education department as a contradiction in its 'secular' policy.
● During the last years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth,
primary education in the United Provinces remained a subject of decline unlike in other
areas of British India where it registered consistent progress in terms of the number of
children attending school. Therefore, schools in Hindi picked up.
● The British took active part in underlining every possible basis of differentiation in the
Indian population. There was a tendency to 'purify' Urdu, by dropping the vocabulary of
Sanskrit-Prakrit lineage and incorporating a new Persian diction to identify with Islam.
The reaction to this identifica- tion took the only available form of associating Hindi and
the Nagri script with Hinduism, and of its 'purification' by the removal of words of the
Arabic-Persian lineage
● Sanskritization of Hindi received very substantial impetus from state policies followed
after independence. The Constitution gave Hindi written in the Devanagari script the
status of the official language of the central government. The Constitution also granted a
fifteen-year interim period for the displace- ment of English from the status of the
'associate official language

PRINT
● The Indian Press emerged as a near- monopoly house of textbooks in Hindi. As the
publisher of Saraswati, the Indian Press had access to a vast resource of literary writings
suitable for textbooks. The dominance which this publishing house had over both the
literary and the educational markets undoubtedly strengthened the linkages between the
writings appropriate for the two markets.
OLD HINDI V NEW HINDI
● Hindustani was referred to as a language of the bazaar which could hardly fulfil the
requirements of a national language. The two powerful insti- tutions working for the
promotion of Hindi, namely, the Nagri Pracharini Sabha of Banares and Hindi Sahitya
Sammelan, of Allahabad vigorously opposed Hindustani. Gandhi tried to support the use
of Hindustani but was opposed be reasons saying that Hindustani, as a spoken idiom of
the common man, is inadequate for serious discourse, as in education and parliament;
and two, that it cannot promote national integration as Sanskritised Hindi can, for traces
of Sanskrit are found in all Indian languages.
● They saw its Urdu legacy as a 'foreign' element. This form of Hindi not only denied the
Urdu heritage its share, but also closed itself vis-a-vis the powerful spoken varieties of
the region including Awadhi, Bundeli, Bhojpuri, and the several tribal languages of
central India. The 'new' Hindi became the symbolic property of the college educated,
and especially of those who had studied Hindi literature.
● Old Hindi however found a new home - movies. This was the medium of film, which after
the production of Alam Ara, the first Hindi talkie, in 1931, grew at a rapid pace. Why did it
survive - (1) This new medium had an audience far wider than that of the Hindi region
alone, and in any case (2) Bombay, where the film industry was centred, was not in the
Hindi region. (3) Moreover, this medium did not depend on literacy, hence the educated
section of the population was not its main audience.
● The brahmanical traditions kept a strict difference between a language for education and
a language for the masses. The continuation of this tradition implied that a popular
language could not become the medium of education. The language of popular
communication was appropriated by film, and the new Hindi from which a major part of
this heritage had been jettisoned became the medium of education

Gail Minault, “Schools for Wives” in Secluded

Scholars: Women’s Education and Muslim Social
Reform in Colonial India
MAIN FRAMEWORK
● Movement for muslim women education to create better wives, better mothers and better
muslims. Better managers of households, mothers who could raise disciplined children
and knew tenets of their faith in the scriptures.
● Zenana education could guarantee continuing of purdah through closed transport, high
walls at school, boarding school so that girls would be at school full time and would not
have to go out. It was important that women be frugal in middle class homes.
● Curriculum - Mainly religious instruction and practical household skills.
● Though women were restricted, a society where the written word was restricted to the
few, the spread of education in the middle class with an eightfold increase in female
literacy in 50 years is significant.
 ● Moreover, some women did go forward and did BA and MA. Also, the British thought
women pursuing higher education could not manage family values. But Indian women
managed both higher education and maintaining their domestic duties. Women
themselves chartered ways to balance the aim of education with everyday life duties.

SAYYID KARAMAT HUSSAIN GIRLS COLLEGE - LUCKNOW

● Sayyid Karamat was part of the upper echelons of the muslim population who studied
law in England, married in high class families through connections, was a judge in the
Allahabad HC and even taught in universities.
● Views - Good was something that made lives easier and anything that gave pain or
made lives difficult was evil. There was a division of labour between men and women.
The Indian women had to maintain household accounts, keep the house clean, prepare
nutritious food, care for clothing and look after the health of household members. Proper
manner, education and religious and ethical upbringing of children. Keeping the
superstitions that sending girls to school will be disrespectful is wrong and daughters
needed to be taught precepts of the religion.
● Funding - Prominent Muslims from local population and Begum of Bengal.
● Focus - Quran, physical exercise through badminton, sewing and embroidery and
kitchen and gardening. Separate teaching for Shia and Sunni.

SHAIKH ABDULLAH - ALIGARH

● Married to a woman who was educated and believed in furthering women education.
Moreover, he was influenced by Sayyid Karamat while being a student of law in Aligarh
University. Believed that education should not be an imitation of the west but required for
preservation of Muslim heritage. The Prophet himself said men and women should be
similarly educated.
● Urdu reading, writing, basic arithmetic, needlework and Quran. Closed palanquins to
carry girls which covered from all sides.
● Challenges - Opponents would remove the purdah in the palanquins and hail insults.
Stories were fabricated that girls were being taught to dance and carouse. Some parents
did not want their daughters to be educated after attaining puberty and become
marriageable. Most importantly, getting qualified teachers was a big issue and Shaikh
Abdullah’s wife, Wahid Jahan Begum and her sisters had to take that task.
● Solution - Boarding schools for strict purdah, observance of prayers (5 times) and rituals,
playing fields for health, proper supervision by the Begum and her sisters with no male
interference. Cooking and embroidery. English and Arabic. Shaikh had handwriting
samples of the relatives of the girls to ensure that there was no infiltration. Even the mail
was guarded.
● Funding from the government for promoting education of women though at certain
conditions like - statement of income and expenditures, proper usage of grants and a
European Women stationed to ensure discipline though she would not interfere in
religious matters.
● Shaikh was called - Papa Mian and Begum was called - Ala Bi.
 ● Important to note is that the main clientele was the Sharifs (rich Muslims) who wanted
strict adherence of women to the Muslim norms. It was a cultural choice to maintain the
status quo instead of allowing women to break the barriers like getting professionally
employed.
● However, the positive side was that there was a whole new literature for educated
women through journal publications that discussed ways of promoting education and
interpreting Islamic law for greater freedom of women.

ABDUL HAQ ABBAS AND THE MADRASAT UL-BANAT - JALANDHAR

● Did not take funds from the government to ensure that he could set the curriculum. He
charged no fees and wanted to provide education to the poor. Other features are the
same.

ROKEYA SAKHAVAT HUSAIN AND SEKHAVAT MEMORIALS GIRLS SCHOOL - CALCUTTA

● Rokeya’s father was learned in Arabic, Persian and Urdu did not promote her to be
educated though the sons were supported. Rokeya’s husband however promoted her to
read and write views in the written form. Even though she observed purdah, she was a
critic of its extreme forms. She ridiculed customs that kept women from travelling except
as luggage or prevented women from crying in fire and being incinerated rather than
rescued by strange men. She also criticised bulky clothing that blocked women’s vision.
● She composed the Sultana’s Dream where there was a Ladyland in which women rule
and men are kept in mardanas because of their unreliability and quarrelsomeness.
There are flower gardens and cooking is done by solar heat. Transport is by flying
machine, agriculture through electricity and religion is truth and love. Women walk
without veils.
● Curriculum - Persian, Urdu, Bengali and English, Mathematics and needle work.
Nursing, Handicrafts and physical education.

WEEK 5 - INTERROGATING GENDER

Lata Mani, “Contentious Traditions: The

Debate on Sati in Colonial India” in Cultural
Critique
Main - The meaning of tradition is changed in the colonial order during the debates on sati and
women become grounds for discussion on tradition but they are neither the subject nor the
object. The outlawing of sati in 1829 was not because of its barbarity. The main focus was
whether it was authorised by the ‘scriptures’.
WALTER EWER - OFFICIAL PERSPECTIVE (Superintendent of police who was an
abolitionists)
● Ewer proposed that the practice of sati bore little resemblance to its scriptural model,
which he defined as a voluntary act of devotion carried out for the spiritual benefit of the
widow and the deceased. In reality, he argued, widows were coerced, and sati was
performed for the material gain of surviving relatives. Ewer suggested that relatives
might thereby spare themselves both the expense of maintaining the widow and the
irritation of her legal right over the family estate. She is not a free agent.
● Manu does not even mention sati and promotes ascetic widowhood. The colonial
officials differentiated between good and bad sati based on will which according to them
formed the basic part of the brahmanic scriptures to which the natives passively submit.
● The official discourse focus is not on barbarity but is on the conformity to religious
scripture. The intention is not to reform or intervene for progress. Official conception felt
that the majority was ignorant of their religion. Assumption - religion = brahmanic
scriptures and other texts excluded.
● Even though the colonial officials claimed to giving back religion to the natives, women
were always shown as victims whether they willingly did sati or not. Women who resisted
attempts were called victims of coercion whereas even those who willingly did it were
called as heroic victims who did it unconsciously. Women were never associted with
agency.
● Official discourse on sati rested on three interlocking assumptions: the hegemony of
religious texts, a total indigenous submission to their dictates, and the religious.The
interpretation of texts was done by pundits who would make their own ‘vyawasthas’.
Certain vyawasthas showed that there were customary differences in regions and
though the company acknowledged that, they were only considered ‘peripheral’ to the
main texts.

MORE ABOUT VYAWASTHAS

● The question posed to the pundit was whether sati was enjoined by the scriptural
texts.Official insistence on clarity was crucial to enabling the constitution of "legal" and
"illegal" satis.
● The vyawasthas were based on interpretation by pundits on multiple texts. In general,
the older the text the greater its stature was assumed to be. Thus vyawasthas citing
Srutis or Smritis were treated more seriously than those that referred to more recent
texts.
● However, the final say despite the involvement of the pundits was of the colonial
officials. The aim of official policy was to ensure adherence to a colonial conception.
Thus any vyawasthas that did not meet their conception could be characterised as
peripheral and sidelined. This shows that though pundits were important for
interpretation, the fact of being native simultaneously privileged and devalued them as
reliable sources.

INDIGENOUS SATI - RAJA RAMMOHUN ROY

 ● Rammohun also focuses on the texts as the officials. As he puts it “the first point to be
ascertained is, whether or not the practice of burning widows alive on the pile and with
the corpse of their husbands, is imperatively enjoined by the Hindu religion. Rammohun
then considers the Smritis which he designates as "next in authority to the Vedas." The
Smritis are seen to be ordered hierarchically, with Manu heading the list as the text
"whose authority supersedes that of other lawgivers. He said Manu celebrates ascetic
widowhood and not sati.
● The petition offers further evidence that sati is not legitimized by scripture. Rammohun
and the petitioners argue that sati originated in the jealousy of certain Hindu princes
who, to ensure the faithfulness of their widows, "availed themselves of their arbitrary
power, and under the cloak of religion, introduced the practice of burning widows alive.
Also sati a way to get property.
● Ambivalence - Sati functions both as the act confirming the stoicism of women and as
the practice that epitomizes their weakness. At one place he shows that there can be
voluntary sati that show heroism and women’s strong character. But at the same time
Rammohun cites the example of sati to make the opposite claim-the vulnerability of
women.

THE CONSERVATIVE IDEA

● The burden of the orthodox argument was to demonstrate that the East India Company's
criminalizing of sati was based on an erroneous reading of the scriptures. The orthodox
argument did, however, differ in one respect from that of Rammohun and most colonial
officials: it assigned a relatively greater weight to custom.
● In response to the suggestion that ascetic widowhood is more highly recommended than
sati, the petition quotes Manu as cited in the Nirnaya Sindhu: "On the death of her
husband, if, by chance, a woman is unable to perform concremation, nevertheless she
should preserve the virtue of widows." Here, the petitioners claim, "the order of mean-
ing has preference over that of reading; in other words, ascetic widowhood is a
secondary option and one intended for women unable to perform sati.
● In any case, the petition continues, the absence of sati in Manu cannot be construed as
an argument against it. Printing Mistake by some authors showing sati not allowed.

A COMMON DISCOURSE
● Scriptural evidence was consistently treated as superior to evidence based on custom or
usage. These were ranked as follows: Srutis, Smritis (or Dharmashastras), and
commentaries. The Srutis, including the Vedas and the Upanishads, were placed at the
apex since they were believed to have been transcriptions of the revealed word of god.
● Now manu is part of smritis, but colonial officials gave it supremacy. Another interpretive
principle that marks the reading of scripture is the greater value assigned to passages
that were explicit in their references to sati. The more literal a passage, the more
authoritative its value as evidence.
● This privileging of the more ancient texts was tied to another discursive feature: the
belief that Hindu society had fallen from a prior Golden Age.
CONCLUSIONS
 ● How the meaning of tradition changed - Tradition now means literal scriptures.
Even in the conservative petition, the petition is attached with a paper of
authorities - scriptures as legal documents. Scripture=Law. Focus not on
individual rights that we see as modernity now. But the author contends that this
is a new modernity - I suggest, in other words, that what we have there is not a
discourse in which pre-existing traditions are challenged by an emergent modern
consciousness, but one in which both "tradition" and "modernity" as we know
them are contemporaneously produced. Tradition meaning religion and culture
with women becoming embodiments of it.
● Women in these discourses - We can concede then, that women are not subjects
in this discourse. Not only is precious little heard from them, but as I have
suggested above, they are denied any agency. This does not, however, imply that
women are the objects of this discourse, that this discourse is about them. On the
contrary, I would argue that women are neither subjects nor objects, but rather the
ground of the discourse on sati.
● For the British, rescuing women became part of the civilizing mission. For the
indigenous elite, protec- tion of their status or its reform becomes an urgent
necessity, in terms of the honour of the collective-religious or national.
● Tradition was thus not the ground on which the status of women was being
contested. Rather the reverse was true: women in fact became the site on which
tradition was debated and reformulated. What was at stake was not women but
tradition. Thus it is no wonder that, even reading against the grain of a discourse
ostensibly about women, one learns so little about them. To repeat an earlier
formulation: neither subject, nor object, but ground-such is the status of women
in the discourse on sati.

CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE
On April 23, 1985, the Supreme Court of India in the Mohammed Ahmed Khan vs. Shahbano
Begum case gave divorced Muslim women the right to lifelong maintenance. Mohammed Khan,
Shahbano's ex-husband, had contested her claims for mainte- nance insisting that he had,
according to Muslim personal law, sup- ported her for three months after their divorce. The
Supreme Court stressed that there was no conflict between its verdict and the provi- sions of
Muslim personal law which, in its view, also entitled women to alimony if they were unable to
maintain themselves.

Colonial similarity - On the one hand, we need to counter the arguments of Muslim
fundamentalists who claim that "an attack on Muslim personal law is an attack on the Muslim
community as such." (One can see in this claim, the equation between law, scripture, and the
integrity of religious identity that underwrote the colonial ideology of so-called non- interference,
an equation that was later key to the arguments of the in- digenous orthodoxy in favour of sati.)
Simultaneously, we need to challenge disingenuous Hindu fundamentalists and others who,
carrying on the civilising mission, are lamenting the fate of Muslim women and demanding that
they be brought "into the twentieth century." (The echoes of colonial rhetoric here are too
obvious of labour)
Jessica Hinchy, “The Eunuch Archive: Colonial
Records of Non-normative Gender and
Sexuality in India” in Culture, Theory, and
Critique
Main - The different narratives about eunuchs in India between the upper echelons who wanted
data on eunuchs to be collected and the police on the ground who were actually collating the
information.

Arondekar says that colonial archives thus rendered non-normative sexuality ‘intelligible through
a composite everywhere/nowhere model of colonial governance’ in which perversity was
evidenced through its archival ‘absence.’ Higher officials think there is a prevalent eunuch
problem but the different conceptions of the problem by the local officials showed a discrepancy
between the two opinions. The current author says that beyond that, there were different
conceptions about sexuality itself.

INTRODUCTION
● Criminal Tribes Act passed in the North Western Provinces - This law represented
perhaps the most concerted, ongoing effort of British colonial officials in India to police
practices of ‘sodomy’ and ‘cross-dressing.
● Official records classified hijras as an Indian type of ‘eunuch,’ as a group of ‘habitual
criminals,’ and, moreover, as a form of ‘sexuality. Colonial commentators – and
increasingly, middle class Indians – understood hijra-hood not as a knowledge tradition
but as a form of ‘sexuality,’ and more specifically, as a perverse or immoral form of
sexuality

KNOWING EUNUCH
● While colonial officials often used the terms ‘hijra’ and ‘eunuch’ interchangeably, the
equation of these two terms obscured the internal diversities and ambiguities of the
eunuch category. The CTA required the registration of only those eunuchs who were
‘reasonably suspected’ of sodomy, kidnapping and castration.
● The CTA defined a ‘eunuch’ as an ‘impotent man’ so that zenanas could be brought
under the law (Government of India 1871). In some cases, male performers who
performed female roles (including bhands) and religious devotees who cross-dressed as
a form of worship (like sakhis) were also classified as ‘eunuchs’ due to their gender-
crossing behaviours
● The dominant colonial view of hijras/‘eunuchs’ was succinctly summed up in 1870 by the
official who drafted the CTA, James Fitzjames Stephen: eunuchs ‘carried on a system of
unnatural prostitution’ and ‘solicited employment by public exhibitions of singing and
 dancing often dressed as women.’ Eunuchs’ households were reproduced through
‘kidnapping and castrating boys’ whom eunuchs ‘used for the purposes of their trade’ –
that is, prostitution – resulting in the sexual and moral corruption of these boys
● Several broader issues that were of concern to India’s colonisers after the 1857 rebellion
were at stake in this image of the ‘eunuch problem’ including: the physical and moral
cleanliness of urban space and threats from ‘social diseases,’ like prostitution and public
obscenity; paternalist projects to ‘rescue’ and ‘reform’ marginalised children, such as
orphans and juvenile prisoners; and the perceived habitual criminality of ‘wandering’
people, such as the so-called ‘criminal tribes.

THE DIFFERENCE IN THE COLONIAL CONCEPTION AND THE THE CONCEPTION OF

POLICE ON THE GROUND
● The district registers of eunuchs recorded the eunuch’s name, their age, their place of
residence, the districts they ‘frequented’, the place and date of their emasculation, by
whom they were emasculated, and, from 1871, their father’s name and ‘ostensible
means of livelihood.’
● For instance, there were two primary descriptions of eunuch embodiment on the
surviving district registers: first, as ‘emasculated’, and second, as a ‘Eunuch by Birth,’
‘Born a Eunuch’ or ‘Born Eunuch. The colonial notion was that emasculated eunuchs are
dominant but in Muzaffarnagar - claiming as eunuch from birth was a way of professing
identity to the locals.
● Varied opinions among British colonial officials resulted in widely differing policies
towards eunuchs at the local level in the 1870s. Some colonial officials registered all the
eunuchs in their district, arguing eunuchs were inherently sexually deviant and criminal.
● Other districts, for instance Benares and Mirzapur, argued that only a few eunuchs
required surveillance – either those eunuchs who were thought to be ‘habitual
sodomites,’ or eunuchs who reportedly performed the emasculation operation
● Meanwhile, some district officials refused to register any eunuchs at all, arguing that the
local eunuchs were not ‘suspect’
● For instance, in 1865 in Bulandshahr district, the Magistrate included brief summaries of
eunuchs’ own statements about themselves in the remarks column, highlighting that
hijras and other groups classified as eunuchs were important informants.
● Although a few colonial ethnologists mentioned kinship relations among hijras who
reportedly called each other mother, daughter, aunt and niece, colonial notion was that
senior eunuchs are the exploiters of children, and did not countenance the possibility of
affective relationships in the hijra household. The register further subverted colonial
assumptions by including the statement of Begum, who appeared to represent her/is
initiation into a household of eunuchs as a teenager as a matter of choice
● Although it is difficult to determine from the available records how eunuchs viewed the
boundaries of childhood, the stories of Ameer Bux and Pearee, who both came to live
with ‘eunuchs’ in their mid-late teens or early twenties, suggest that the colonial
stereotype of hijra initiation through kidnapping and forcible castration of young children
oversimplified more diverse circumstances of initiation.
 ● In 1875, by which time the Muzaffarnagar authorities had still not registered a single
eunuch, because they felt that they were not suspicious, the NWP Inspector-General of
Police, R.T. Hobart, censured Muzaffarnagar, along with several other districts. He wrote
that the Muzaffarnagar authorities ‘seemed to be labouring under a misapprehension’
that there were no criminal eunuchs in the district, but ‘[t]here can be no reasonable
doubt [that] there are such creatures in all these districts.’ Moreover, the authorities had
not followed ‘the correct procedure’ for compiling registers
● Confused use of genders - While the English-language Muzaffarnagar register drew on
local knowledge, multiple tensions emerged out of the interaction between the English-
language category ‘eunuch’ and Hindi/Urdu terms. For one, whoever translated the
register called into question the gender of eunuchs. Although the English register
generally records eunuchs’ gender in the masculine, the register described Kureemun
through both the male and female English pronouns

CONCLUSION
In the 1860s and 1870s, the NWP government established certain conventions through which
so-called eunuchs’ lives should be recorded. The compilation of district-level records was
intended to make eunuchs legible to the colonial state, but was characterised by failures to
follow rubrics of categorisation, evidence and relevant information. Often, failures to adhere to
the NWP government’s record keeping practices were related to differences of opinion among
British officials about local eunuchs, which could fracture dominant colonial narratives. But
such a difference in conception is important to better understand eunuch lives.

WEEK 6 - CASTE

Nicholas Dirks, Castes of Mind, Introduction: The

Modernity of Caste
Main - Though caste was present in India before colonialism, it took centre stage in colonialism
and has persisted till now.

DEVELOPMENT OF CASTE IN COLONIALISM

● Beyond military strength, arms, wealth - colonialism was made possible by cultural
technologies - it was a cultural project. Colonialism determined what is traditional. India
was redefined by the British to be a place of rulers and vast complex codes were
reduced to a significant few. Once such constructions were created, everything was to
be fitted within this. Orient being Orientalized. The coloniser held out modernity as a
promise that was never to be fulfilled. The colonised were seduced by a siren of
modernity but never could reach there as the colonised was still in a traditional world.
● The British maintained that the Indian political system was commanded by quarrelling
kings who exploited their subjects and were not concerned with stable administration.
 Britain conquered India because of the vacuum created for the sake of the subjects and
not for their own gain. To further justify conquering, it was shown that Indians had no
historical consciousness of history and had a lack of history of which caste was a sign.
● The British limited caste to the spiritual sphere and brought the concept of civil society
that was for free individuals and progressive beyond traditional methods of social
organisation. Civil society was institutionalised through the church, education and the
state which represented autonomy. Caste was looked at as disjunct from the political
intrusion and a kind of civil society that mediated only the private domain.
● By establishing superiority, the focus of the British on tradition and its backwardness
affected discussion of the nationalists who in an attempt to resist the superiority of
british, would go deeper into the so called tradition to show its positive aspects and bring
back the great India. This further allowed caste to persist. The author contends that
instead of recuperation of tradition, there needs to be questioning of what constitutes
tradition.
● The author counters the British construction by saying that caste was always shaped by
political processes and was not limited to the social domain. Moreover, caste did not
cover the entirety of Indian social norms. Temple communities, territorial groups, family
units, warriors, agriculturalists were also important units of identification which were far
more important than caste.
● The British however made Indian political institutions look devoid of any social units and
caste was picked as the only social unit that subsumed all others. Using manu and
dharmashastras, the British further limited caste to the religious sphere and the varna
system where all could be classified within 4 groups allowed all social identities to
vanish.
● The further entrenchment of caste as the significant factor was also due to economic
factors (industrialisation in Britain, railways) and direct rule of the crown in 1857. Better
classification mechanisms were introduced with caste surveys taking centre stage.
Caste became the primary object of social stratification.

THE CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF CASTE

● The way caste rose to centre stage in colonialism affected subsequent notions.
Currently, caste is considered omnipresent in India and is the core of tradition and is
seen as a threat to modernity.
● For Dumont - Caste was commitment to social values that the modern world had lost.
Caste as a sign of India’s fundamental religiosity, a marker of India’s essential difference
from the West.
● Author - Caste is not some core part of ancient Indian tradition. It is a modern
phenomenon which under the British became a single term capable of organising India’s
diverse social identity and community. Colonialism made caste what it is today.
● After implementation of the Mandal report, the discussion on caste became central to
India. Caste is also seen as central to Hinduism but Hindu Nationalist have tried to
portray Hinduism as an all encompassing identity to show it as modern against caste as
traditional.
● However, anti-brahmin movements in Tamil Nadu and the political mobilisation of dalits
under Ambedkar shows that even if caste is not linked with modernity, it is still a primary
form of local identity. (Author says all this is happening because the meaning given to
caste under British)
● Caste continues to haunt the body politic of postcolonial India. Abolition of caste
discrimination or reservation shows entrenchment of caste. All claims about community
are claims about privilege. The valorisation of Brahmanic ideals and the subservience of
women in caste has preserved rules of patriarchy and allowed continued oppression of
women. Thus even though it was thought that caste would disappear as we approached
so called modernity - caste has persisted. It is still considered part of Indian tradition
which is not modern (said by the British) and is supposed to be erased (nehru) but
persists.