Jan 22nd, 2012
Many in Britan, like Niall Ferguson cannot face the truth that British Rule in India caused immeasurable harm. Before the advent of the British, India was the richest country in the world, and Britain was not. When the British left, they were rich, and India was horribly poor. The British ruled India with racist cruelty, even claiming that the Taj Mahal was designed by a European.
As it is generally agreed that the British period (1757-1947) is the Dark Ages of Indian History — as it saw the richest nation in the world become a basket case and its people illiterate, backward, undernourished and prone to heart diseases and diabetes — it is interesting to read opinions to the contrary.
We reproduce a letter written to the The Times (London), ‘In Defence of the British Raj’: “To most Indians the spat between Pankaj Mishra and Niall Ferguson over the benign influence of the British Raj would seem merely an exercise in futility. Mainstream Indian historians now widely acknowledge that the British empire was not as destructive and, in many ways, was a blessing in disguise—for it exposed India to the idea of parliamentary democracy, the rule of law and a modern socio-economic system.
To see what India would have been like had the British not arrived here in the 18th century, one only needs to look at the current state of affairs in Afghanistan, a country never ruled by any European nation, including the British. Would Afghanistan still be in such a pitiable state had the British managed to control it after the first Anglo-Afghan War in 1839? Moreover, repressive empires do not last for more than 250 years.” — Sd Simren Kaur, Jalandhar, Punjab.
The first reaction to this letter (from an Indian) is one of horror, disbelief and outrage. The 19th century saw the population of many countries register a 2-3 per cent growth over 1800. India’s remained at the level of a century earlier because of repeated famines and persistent malnutrition on a colossal scale.
French diplomat Gobineau’s theory of human races led to Nazi dominance and the holocaust, causing the death of millions of Jews. India was saved from genocide because of its vast population. There were just too many to kill.
How can any Indian forget that in the 190 years of actual British domination there were around one hundred famines and each cost three to five million lives. Before 1757, India had only localised famines as the rulers whether rajas or nawabs looked upon themselves as माई बाप (guardians) and rushed supplies from other areas and the nearby warehouses to alleviate suffering.
An example was the famine in the state of Awadh during the reign of Nawab Asafuddowlah. Public works were undertaken resulting in the great Lucknow Imambara being raised. Those who could labour worked from dawn to dusk, while the white collar middle class would come to collect their sustenance after dusk so as to escape recognition and embarrassment. The ruler was Nawab Wazir Asafuddowlah and the saying which gained currency and passed into idiom was जिसे न दे मौला उसे दे आसफ़ुद्दौला Jisey naa deiy Maulaa useiy bukhsheiy Asafuddowlah. (He who does not get bounty even from God has his needs fulfilled by Asafuddowlah!)
he last famine during British Raj took place in 1943, four years before freedom. It covered Bengal, Orissa and Andhra and took a toll of about 5 million lives. Besides those who died, each famine left many million subnormal children who were denied nutrition when they were growing and suffered physically and mentally throughout their miserable lives.
In averring British Raj’s civilising and development-oriented role, Niall Ferguson has brought a 19th century mind set to the 20th century and it has won him attention from apologists of imperialism and colonialism.
Intellectually, Ferguson is a follower of the 19th century French diplomat Gobineau. This philosopher propounded the thesis that when God started manufacturing the human being His inexperience caused the first lot to be over baked and the African or Negro was produced. In the second lot, God erred the other way and the lot was under baked, resulting in the pale hued Mongoloid races such as the Chinese, Japanese etc. As He got more experienced the brown-skinned Indians were produced. It was only after His hand was fully set that the best of all, the European or white Caucasian, came into being. Thus the superior race was destined to lord it over the rest. This conditioned reflex enabled white Europeans to annihilate the native populations of North America and Argentina in the New World and Australia. The plight of the African Americans until as late as 1965 is well known.
This theory led to Nazi dominance and the holocaust, causing the incarceration, torture and death of millions of Jews. India was saved from genocide because of its vast population. There were just too many to kill. Famines, indentured labour recruitment to help develop colonies and conversion to Christianity made some difference ‘in grasping the sorry state of things entire and remoulding it to the heart’s desire’.
The 1857 uprising started as a Sepoy Mutiny and soon involved princes, peasants, merchants and the whole population. Its failure saw all the sepoys (1,35,000) plus their camp followers (there were at least ten camp followers behind each soldier) killed or, if captured, executed. It is estimated that over 10 million were killed, including women, children and old men, in the villages, towns and cities that fell between Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province and Arrah in Bihar. The trees on highways and in village, town and city squares had dead bodies hanging from their branches. These remained until carrion birds and decay caused them to disappear. The sight and smell helped establish a fear of the white man which apparently still colours some visions.