The process of colonisation of India began in 1757 when Mughal emperor allowed the East India Company to establish a trading post in Calcutta. In the same year, the Company defeated the French in the battle of Plassey and took control of Bengal which made it a major power in the Bengal and the south. It began to gradually spread its tentacles over rest of Indian territories. Within less than one hundred years the wheel came full circle when the Company occupied Punjab, the last sovereign state, in 1849.

The question one must ask is simple; why did a vast country with rich resources and ancient civilisation quickly collapse like a sandcastle on a beach? What happened to Kshatriya, the ‘eternal defenders’ of motherland? What struck the Turks, the Romans of Islam? In which cave Pathans, the boastful warriors, took refuge? All the Indian swords when taken out proved to be rusted and their diplomacy a shoddy display of pageantry. All the ruling cliques lacked both the deadly arms, political strategy and power of intellect when confronted by white aliens from across the seas where journeying was a taboo for Indians.

Interestingly, the white men were comparatively a few in number. Their intellect and political strategy compensated for their poor number; they hired Indians to fight Indians. In Punjabi we would say; “tuhadi jutti, tuhaday sirr (your own shoes thrashing your head).” In simple words. the Company colonised India with Indian men and Indian resources.

Now all the nationalists, revivalists and leftists critique, expose and denounce colonialism for what it is, extractive, exploitative and oppressive. They love to juxtapose excesses of colonialism with achievements of their past which is in fact a distant past. In the face of West’s achievements, an outcome of reasoning, rational thinking and scientific methods, they love to flaunt their ancient scriptures, Raja Porus, Chanakya Kautilya, Panini, Takshashila University, Nalanda University, discovery of shuni (Zero), Alberuni, Mughal biryani, Shah Jahan, blah, blah, blah.

There is no doubt about the greatness of these things. But they were then. What we had when Europeans landed on our shores? A society divided along caste lines, fat bellies in silk robes, hundreds of women in harem waiting for the royal touch, courts full of overdressed sycophants, corrupt state officials, parasitic landlords, impoverished peasants and underpaid artisans with low social status in caste hierarchy.

India like other Asian and African countries lacked what would make a modern state and society. It had no respect for science as it relied on tradition instead of enquiry. Its rulers treated their territories as their personal fiefdom rather than a state with a social contract with its people. Instead it treated its people as subjects. There was no rule of law as the word of ruler was the law. Rule of law was something unheard of even as a concept. Equality of all before law was considered a grave sin because it violated the longstanding and deeply entrenched caste rules borne of metaphysical notion of inherent human inequality. Social and cultural landscapes were littered with Sati, infanticide and child marriage. Misery and wretchedness of overwhelming majority was defended and celebrated as nature’s gift. Life was rigidly compartmentalised and professions were strictly regulated. One’s caste predetermined their professions, not their personal merit. A son of cobbler would make shoes and that of a Brahmin would chant his mumbo jumbo till their last breath. Social mobility was minimum. Consequently the ideas of creating new resources, planning future development and improving quality of life for the people were something horribly alien and grievously sinful.

Critics rightly point out the dehumanising nature of colonialism and what it did to the colonised but they tend to underplay the role of factors that made a country like India succumb so easily to the European onslaught. In their analyses they often talk of people’s perspective but a few dare to go to the people to have their view of colonial rule and to listen to their stories.

The pre-Partition generation that lived under the yoke of colonial rule has almost disappeared but their verbalised experience of colonialism and their stories haven’t. They would have nothing but a paean of praise for the “Gora Raj (The Rule of the White)”. Some of the points they would never fail to make are worth recalling. 1, “Qanun da raj”: colonial rulers established the rule of law that regulated the society. Arbitrary laws were permanently abolished. 2, “Goray da insaaf” the justice system introduced by the white rulers was the most laudable because their law treated people equally regardless of caste and status. 3, “Aman amaan”; the laws were applied and violators were strictly dealt with. Crime was almost non-existent. 4, “Navan Zamana”; the white ruler ushered in a new age as they introduced new departments such as railways, telephone and telegraph, hospitals, modern education, pukka roads, dams and canal networks and above all taught the people the use of machine. All such measures gave a tremendous boost to the production of all kinds and made people’s life easier.

Marx was partly right when he wrote in 1853: “This loss of his old world, with no gain of a new one, imparts a particular kind of melancholy to the present misery of the Hindoo -- England has broken down the entire framework of Indian society, without any symptoms of reconstitution yet appearing.” No doubt the old world was lost but not entirely and a new world had emerged but not fully. Upper castes and privileged classes bemoaned the partial loss of the old world but common people, deprived and oppressed, welcomed the partial emergence of a new dawn that appeared to ameliorate their historical sufferings resulting from traditional hierarchies.

Colonialism in India does need to be looked at from the perspective of the people, the real people, not the ones ideologically constructed by nationalists, revivalists and leftists. The people are a grey area and intellectual integrity is needed to clear it which a few among us have. — soofi01@hotmail.com (Concluded)

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2023