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The Felt Community: Commonality and Mentality Before the Emergence of Indian Nationalism
There are three substantive chapters in the book. One is on the location of the concepts Muslim, Hindu and Hindi in the books of history. In this chapter, Ray looks at the term ‘India’. When did it come into existence? What did various people in history report about its nature and its people? The question is not easy to answer and requires thought and not political drum-beating. Look at the contrasting stands of Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Babar. One is credited with setting in motion the wheel of modernisation in India. The other has to his credit the setting-up of the only all-India government in India before the English arrived. Ram Mohun Roy is known to talk of the various "nations" of India, suggesting that in his worldview India did not exist as a single nation. In contrast, Babar was known to talk of reaching Hindustan the moment he crossed the river Sindh. Similarly, Ibn Batuta, coming from Morocco on a visit to all the lands where Islam existed, talked of reaching Hindustan when he had only reached Sindh. Ray suggests that geographical entity apart, Hindustan was above all an idea and then goes on to trace the complex history of this idea through the ages until it finally became synonymous with the government that was run from Delhi. In the other two chapters, Ray examines the resistance put up by the erstwhile Mughal nobles to the initial occupation of Bengal and Awadh. The Mughal state and its officers, both Hindus and Muslims, did have a certain sense of oneness, he argues. The Mughal state, with all its weaknesses and problems was an Indian state. However, it had little sense of the changes to modernity, science and capitalism that were taking place in the west. What the Mughal nobility thought was court intrigue and would only result in a shift of power from one individual to another was something entirely different from the English point of view. Above all, the Mughal nobility failed to appreciate that the British were a new kind of conqueror who could not be simply brought off with gifts and bribes. They were part of a new system, that of capitalism, whose avarice could not be fulfilled by simply bribing its local officials. This system would not rest until it had established itself as paramount power, subordinating all others. The sepoys from the eponymous mutiny of 1857 had lived with the British for over a century now. Yet, they too failed to figure out ways of taking over power from the British. While the British, for all their foreign ways, were making efforts to win over the people whom they governed, the sepoys opposing the British believed that all that the ruler needed to do was to rule and take protection money from the people in the name of taxes. Little wonder that the people did not provide support to the mutineers and instead helped the British efforts to put down the mutiny. In the end, the sepoys and their leaders sacrificed themselves for nothing. As the reader can make out, I am quite taken in by this book. It has been over 20 years in the making. Professional historians have read much of it, in bits and pieces, in scholarly journals and books such as only historians read. The matter, however, was of much public importance. Therefore, it is a pleasure to discover that Professor Ray has put it all together in the form of a single book. |
The
best thing about this book is that it is very informative. It also has
an argument to give, for Ray is well-known for his political
interventions in the field of history. However, like a good historian,
he does not let his political leanings distort his ability to present
the facts of history. He does not molest his readers with his arguments;
instead, he takes them along, gradually, to his kind of conclusions
while still leaving space for the reader to disagree. Therefore, whether
you are a supporter of Ram Janmabhoomi or of the Babri Masjid, there is
something to learn from this book.