module
• 1 Importance of dates
• 2 record keeping
• 3 archives
How important are dates?
They help in finding out how things were in the
past and how things have changed.
Earlier, history was an account of battles and big
events such as the following:
The year a king was crowned
The year he was married and had a child
The year he fought a particular war or battle
The year he died
The year the next ruler succeeded to the throne
For such events, dates were important. However,
now the concept has changed. More emphasis is
given on why things happen and not on when things
happened.
Which dates?
The dates around which we write history become
important because we focus on a particular set of events
that are important. When the focus changes and we look
at a new set of events, a new set of dates become
significant.
In histories that revolve around the lives of the British
Governor Generals, the status and activities of Indians do
not fit in. For focusing on Indian activities, a new format
is required. As such, old sets of dates lose importance
and a new set of dates comes into focus.
James Mill (6 April 1773 – 23 June 1836) was
a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He
was a founder ofclassical economics, together with David Ricardo,[1] and
the father of influential philosopher of liberalism, John Stuart Mill.
Mill was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of Logie Pert, Angus,
Scotland, the son of James Mill, a shoemaker. His mother, Isabel Fenton,
of a family that had suffered from connection with the Stuart rising,
resolved that he should receive a first-rate education, and sent him first
to the parish school and then to the Montrose Academy, where he
remained until the unusual age of seventeen and a half. He then entered
the University of Edinburgh, where he distinguished himself as a Greek
scholar.
Warren Hastings, PC (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was the
first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously
accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in
1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.
Warren Hastings was born at Churchill, Oxfordshire in 1732 to a poor
father and a mother who died soon after he was born.[1] He
attendedWestminster School where he was a contemporary of the
future Prime Ministers Lord Shelburne and the Duke of Portland.[2] He
joined theBritish East India Company in 1750 as a clerk and sailed out
to India reaching Calcutta in August 1750.[3] Hastings built up a
reputation for hard work and diligence, and spent his free time
learning about India and mastering Urdu and Persian.[4] He was
rewarded for his work in 1752 when he was promoted and sent
to Kasimbazar, an important British trading post in Bengal where he
worked for William Watts. While there he received further lessons
about the nature of Indian politics.
James mill a Scottish economist and political philosopher.
He divided India history into – Hindu , Muslim and
British.
So the terms through which we periodise is demoarcate
the difference between periods become important . They
reflect our ideas about the past . The show how we see
the significance of the change from one period to the
next.
The modern period was associated with the forces of
modernity like reason, science, liberty, democracy and
equality.
The medieval period was associated with a society
where modernity did not exist.
It was in 1817 that James Mill in his book A
History of British India divided Indian history into
the following three parts:
The Hindu period
The Muslim period
The British period
However, Indian historians have usually
divided Indian history into the following:
Ancient history
Medieval history
Modern history
The British believed that the act of writing was
important. Every instruction plan policy
decision agreement investigation had to be
clearly written up.
The British also felt that all important
documents and letters also felt that all
important documents and letters need to be
carefully preserved. so they set up record
rooms attached to all administrative
institutions.
The British believed that a country had
to be properly known before it could
be effectively administrated.
Census operation were held every ten
years. These prepared detailed records
of the number of people in all the
provinces of India.
These records do not always help us understand what other
people in the country felt and what lay behind their action.
When we begin to search for these other sources we find
them plenty, though there are more difficult to get than
official records.
We will not be able to understand how history was
experienced and lived by the trebles and the peasants, the
workers in the mines or the poor on the streets.
Official records do not help us in knowing what other
people in the country felt and what lay behind their
actions.
For knowing that, unofficial records are read, which
of course were more difficult to find as compared to
the official records.
Some of the non-official records were as follows:
Personal diaries of people
Accounts of travellers and pilgrims
Autobiographies of important people
Popular booklets
Newspapers
Writings of reformers, poets and novelists
The British came to India, established their rule,
subjugated the local nawabs and rajas, collected
revenue to meet their expenses, bought goods they
wanted at low prices, etc.
The British rule brought about changes in Indian
values, tastes, customs and practices.
The process of subjugation of one country by another
that leads to political, economic, social and cultural
changes is called colonization.
What sources do historians use in
writing the Modern Indian history?
Administration produces records
The official records of the British administration are an important source. Every plan,
instruction, policy, decision, agreement and investigation was clearly written.
The British felt that all the important letters and documents were to be carefully preserved.
As such, they set up record rooms attached to administrative institutions.
Institutions such as archives and museums were also established for preserving records.
Surveys
Detailed surveys were carried out by the British to map the entire country. Revenue surveys
were conducted in villages in order to know the topography, the quality of soil, flora, fauna,
cropping pattern, etc.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, census operations were held every ten years,
which provided information about the distribution of population in different provinces, castes,
religions and occupations.
Other surveys such as botanical surveys, archaeological surveys, zoological surveys, forest
surveys and anthropological surveys were also carried out.
A custard apple plant of 1770s
Mapping and surveying draw by jams
prinsep 1832
The rebels of 1857
The national archives of India
advertisement help create
taste
Qn.What is the problem with the periodisation of the Indian history that
James Mill offers?
Ans. In his massive three-volume work, A History of British India, James Mill
divides Indian history into three periods − Hindu, Muslim and British.
According to his prejudiced version of Indian history, the British rule
represents all the forces of progress and civilisation, while the period before
British rule represents darkness, ignorance, despotism, religious intolerance,
caste taboos, superstitious practises, etc. However, the periodisation of Indian
History on the basis of religion is problematic for several reasons. A variety of
faiths, apart from Hinduism and Islam, existed in the periods categorised as
Hindu and Muslim by Mill. Also, it is not right to classify an age according to
the religion of the rulers of the time. To do so would suggest that the lives
and the practises of the others do not really matter. Another point to keep in
mind is that all rulers in ancient India did not share the same faith.
Qn. Why did the British preserve official documents?
Ans. For the British, the act of writing was important.
Every official document had to be clearly written up and
preserved. Once this was done, things could be properly
studied and debated. The preserved documents could be
used as a point of reference whenever required.
Qn. State whether true or false:
(a) James Mill divided Indian history into three periods −
Hindu, Muslim, Christian.
False
(b) Official documents help us understand what the people of
the country think.
False
(c) The British thought surveys were important for effective
administration.
True
Thank you