Indian Critique of Imperialism
Document 1
In reality there are two Indias—the one prosperous, the other poverty-stricken. The prosperous
India is the India of the British and other foreigners. They exploit India as officials, non-officials,
capitalists, in a variety of ways, and carry away enormous wealth to their own country . . . The
second India is the India of the Indians—the poverty stricken India. This India, “bled” and
exploited in every way of their wealth, of their services, of their land, labour and of all resources
by the foreigners, helpless and voiceless—this India of the Indians becomes the poorest nation in
the world.
Dadabhai Naoroji (1901)
Document 2
Let us consider what state of things is described by the word “civilisation.” Its true test lies in the
fact that people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life . . . Formerly, men were made
slaves under physical compulsion, now they are enslaved by temptation of money of the luxuries
that money can buy. . . This civilisation takes note neither of morality nor of religion . . .
Civilisation seeks to increase bodily comforts, and it fails miserably even in doing so . . .
Napoleon is said to have described the English as a nation of shopkeepers. It is a fitting
description. They hold whatever dominions they have for the sake of their commerce . . . Many
problems can be solved by remembering that money is their God . . . They wish to convert the
world into a vast market for their goods.
[B]ut for the railways, the English could not have such a hold on India as they have. The
railways, too, have spread the bubonic plague. Without them, masses could not move from place
to place. They are the carriers of plague germs. Formerly we had natural segregation. Railways
have also increased the frequency of famines, because, owing to facility of means of locomotion,
people sell out their grain, and it is sent to the dearest markets. People become careless, and so
the pressure of famine increases . . .
It is machinery that has impoverished India . . . It is due to Manchester that Indian handicraft has
all but disappeared . . . Machinery is the chief symbol of modern civilisation; it represents a great
sin. The workers in the mills of Bombay have become slaves . . . If the machinery craze grows in
our country, it will become an unhappy land . . . it were better for us to send money to
Manchester and to use flimsy Manchester cloth, than to multiply mills in India. By using
Manchester cloth, we would only waste our money, but by reproducing Manchester cloth in
India, we shall keep our money at the price of our blood, because our very moral being will be
sapped . . . And those who have amassed wealth out of the factories are not likely to be better
than other rich men. It would be folly to assume that an Indian Rockefeller would be better than
the American Rockefeller . . . I fear we will have to admit that moneyed men support British
rule; their interest is bound up with its stability. Money renders a man helpless.
Mohandas Gandhi (1910)
Document 3
It is quite easy for an Englishman to hit an Indian—and that, not merely because he is physically
strong . . . This is because, in this case, I am merely and individual, while he, and Englishman,
stands for the power of the state. In a court of law, I shall be judged as an ordinary mortal and he
as an Englishman, the judge would consider it as an attack on the authority of the state, as
undermining English prestige. As a result, I cannot be tried for anything as simple as common
assault.
Rabindranath Tagore (1893-1903)
Definitions
capitalists
compulsion
dominions
facility of means of locomotion
impoverished
sapped
prestige
Background
exploited in every way
Naoroji
But for the railroads
natural segregation
Those who invest money in businesses or
property in hopes of making a profit.
Capitalists have money left after meeting life’s
basic needs that they can use to expand their
wealth.
the act of intimidating or forcing someone to
act
territories under one’s control
the introduction of trains allowed Indians to
transport people and products more easily
around the country.
to be made poor or weak
weakened gradually
reputation or influence
Under British rule, India exported its raw
materials at cheap prices and began to buy
more expensive finished goods from Britain.
Dadabhai Naoroji became the first non-British
professor of mathematics and philosophy at a
British university in Bombay, India. He later
became the first nonwhite member of the
British Parliament where he attempted to
represent India’s interests. Naoroji returned to
India where he helped found the Indian
National Congress that would fight against
British imperial control.
Naoroji, D. (1901). Poverty and un-British rule
in India. London,: S. Sonnenschein, p. 338.
Beginning in the 1850s, the British built
thousands of miles of railway tracks that
connected the rural crop-growing areas in the
interior of India to the seaports. Railroads not
only allowed crops to get to market, but
allowed troops to be rapidly transported to
trouble spots to enforce British policies and
laws.
Before railroads made travel easier, it was hard
for the people of India to travel far from their
Manchester
American Rockefeller
Gandhi
Tagore
local areas. They were naturally separated from
Indians in other areas because of the difficulty
of travel.
An English town that became the center of the
British cotton manufacturing industry during
the Industrial Revolution.
John D. Rockefeller was an American
industrialist of the 19th century who built
Standard Oil into the most profitable company
in the world. In today’s dollars, Rockefeller’s
wealth would be greater than that of Bill Gates.
Rockefeller was often accused of using
unethical business tactics to drive his
competitors out of business.
Indian nationalist and spiritual leader who
developed the practice of nonviolent
disobedience that forced Great Britain to grant
independence to India in 1947.
Source: Gandhi, M., & Parel, A. (1997). Hind
swaraj and other writings. Cambridge; New
York: Cambridge University Press.
An Indian poet, philosopher, writer, composer
and artist who was the first Asian to win the
Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore recruited
scholars and money for schools that would
provide Indians with the knowledge they
needed to overcome British domination. He
was a critic of the strict caste system of India.
Source: Guha, R. (1997). Dominance without
hegemony: history and power in colonial
India. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, p. 69.
Questions
make bodily welfare the object of life
Money renders a man helpless
I shall be judged as an ordinary mortal and he
After reading this paragraph, what do you
think Gandhi means by making “bodily
welfare the object of life?” Why does he think
seeking this goal is not always a good thing?
Most people think that money gives people
more control over their lives. Why would
Gandhi argue that money makes a man
helpless? What problems does he think money
and the pursuit of money have caused for
India?
All humans are “mortals” because we will all
as an Englishman
die. What does Tagore mean when he says that
Englishmen in India are not judged as
“ordinary mortals?” Why would an attack by
an Indian on an Englishman be treated as an
attack on the “authority of the state (the
government)” but an attack by an Englishman
on an Indian is treated as an assault by one
person on another one?