The New Cambridge History of India, Volume 3, Part 4: Ideologies of the Raj

New Cambridge History of India #3.4

by Thomas R. Metcalf

Thomas Metcalf's fascinating study examines the ways the British sought to legitimate their rule over India. He demonstrates that the principles the British devised incorporated contradictory visions of India, yet together they made the authority of the Raj lawful. Students of modern India and the British Empire will find this book relevant and accessible.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Theory

260 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 1995

About the author

Thomas R. Metcalf is the Emeritus Sarah Kailath Professor of India Studies and Professor of History at the University of California.

Reviews

[John Harvard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas R. Metcalf's The New Cambridge History of India, Volume 3, Part 4: Ideologies of the Raj is an interesting hypothesis of the British ideology which helped them legitimize the colonization of India despite the British people having a history of democratic ideals for their own society and people. The author has done painstaking research and extensively researched the literature available on the subject, thereby producing an imminently readable book on a complex topic. The book is part of a multi-volume series on Indian history and sociology that has been recently updated by the Cambridge University Press

The author asserts that there were two conflicting ideologies that the British struggled with reconciling as they justified their colonization of India. The first ideology was the broader British ideal of democracy and their desire for representation of all people in government that they cherished in their own country. They liked to believe they could introduce this into the Indian sub-continent and allow an ancient country to be restored to its glory. This ideology however conflicted with their desire to control the country and to exploit its colony, and hence another ideology was developed over time. It was an ideology of "the enduring differences and oriental despotism of the people in warmer climates." This allowed the British to categorize the Indian population as inherently indolent due to the hot, humid weather; explain its different customs and traditions; its subjugation under foreign rulers for centuries and; most importantly, justify the continued need for oversight by the British to bring order and chaos to the people of the sub-continent. Some of the sociologists went on to further categorize the various Indian communities based on theories of physical characteristics, local geographic conditions, etc. to suit their perceptions of the various communities within India.

The book does an excellent job of showing how these ideologies impacted the day-to-day administration and life of the British who lived in colonial India giving examples based on actual historical events and the British lifestyle in colonial India. There is also a very interesting epilogue in the end that talks about how this ideology towards the people from the Indian sub-continent continued to persist even after the sub-continent gained independence from the British. It is witnessed towards the people from the Indian sub-continent who emigrated to the United Kingdom. These immigrants even today have not fully assimilated and continue to be viewed by many Britishers as people who are inherently different from them.

Overall, this book is an excellent analysis of a complex topic that has been written in a matter-of-fact, easy-to-read, and extremely engrossing manner. It is a must read for anyone who is interested in understanding the mindset of the British towards colonial India.

[Chandani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright y'all. Imma be real. This book is dense as all hell. But I have to say, as long as it took me to get through this, and as vaguely as I understand the trajectory of Britain's governance of India, I was able to understand like 97% of what was being posited by Metcalf. He's truly a gifted writer, and has none of the condescension I associate with older historical literature. I would venture to say I have a much better understanding of South Asia as a result of reading this.

[bookcasewalls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Metcalf writes very nicely and with a wide range of knowledge about the British in colonial India. This book is a useful introduction to its topic, but it might have been desirable for there to be more critical discussion of the concept of 'ideologies' and of the role of ideas in history.

[Milpool · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

“Was the ideology that sustained the Raj meant to link India as an equal with Britain’s other colonial territories, including those of British settlement, or to reaffirm its ‘difference’” (215)? This question, which appears in the book’s epilogue, holds together Metcalfe’s excellent analysis of how Raj ideology changed with the needs of empire from 1765 to the early twentieth century. The book provides incisive commentary and context for the dominant zeitgeists over several eras of this period – the robber-baron free-for-all of Clive and his henchmen that coincided with an essentially conservative reiteration of Mughal governance by Company agents in Bengal; the tension between evangelism and utility that marked the “improvement” era—exemplified by Thomas Munro (Governor of Madras 1819-1827) and William Bentinck (1828-1835), to be further carried on by Macaulay; the pretenses of medieval “chivalry,” complete with ostentatious ceremony after the 1857 Uprising; and the consequences of reform in the twentieth century amidst elite Indian movements for independence. Through it all, Metcalfe threads the English anxiety about staying apart and different from the natives even as the ideals of liberalism force the empire to acknowledge how it has essentially duplicated itself through the Indians. A further issue to consider is that of how conservative imperialists, in particular, sought to justify a ruling hierarchy that the Indians could not infiltrate through ideologies of racial superiority.

[Dorrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthwhile introduction to the history of Raj and the colonialism and imperialism of the British in India. This work provides a useful overview and provides an insight into the attitudes and context of the period.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what it is (a short survey), I can't imagine you could do much better. Plenty of food for thought and a lot to follow up for more serious reading.

[Benemint]

Susan says this is a good book to read for the sake of comparison to Japanese logic of colonialism.