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INTERPRETING the past has always been an interesting aspect of life, which gives us a rare insight into the growth of human civilisation and shaping of various institutions that set the pace and direction of growth of society. To peep into the windows of the past, we take help of various sources as these illuminate the dark streets of yesteryears.
Judith M. Brown works on this thought-provoking strategy in his book while tracing the history of South Asia. Instead of tracing the history of institutions, she has focused on the lives moulded by these institutions. Similarly, while talking about people, her focus is not on their lives or biographies, but she attempts to use individual life histories to investigate broad historical themes. The author explores multiple themes in the history of colonial and independent India, ranging from the graduates of Balliol College, Oxford, who formed "dynasties" within an imperial administration, to how iconic Indian leaders, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, confronted public and private challenges while creating an Indian nation. Brown begins with the life history of Balliol College and tracks the interrelationship between Britain and India through the lives of the British and Indian men who were educated there. From 1853, when entry to the Indian Civil Service (ICS) was opened through a competitive examination, to 1947, she studies the close connection between Balliol and the ICS and provides and an objective and detailed analysis of the numbers contributed by Balliol to the ICS. She also discusses the reverse flow and talks about Indians who went to Oxford for studies. Brown then demonstrates the significance of family life history, showing that by observing patterns of family life over several generations, it is possible to gain insight into the experiences of groups of people who rarely left historical documents about themselves, particularly South Asian women. She takes note of photography which came to India in the mid-19th century and many individuals and families used this new form of visual communication for their distinctive ends. Finally, she uses the life history of two prominent individuals, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, to examine questions about the nature of Indian nationalism and the emergent Indian state. She tries to understand their inner and outer worlds rather than providing life narrative. Brown has analysed a wide range of college records, old photographs and private papers to knit the late 19th- and early 20th-century facets of the interlocking histories of Britain and South Asia. Her fascinating narrative of family histories stimulates both professional historians and popular audiences to reconsider how family histories can illuminate broader topics such as imperial dominance, nation building and globalisation. In this argumentative and thought-provoking book, Brown makes us understand how "life histories" can be a useful source and genre of history writing.
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All institutions and
communities have a past and we trace their growth and development by
going through various sources, be it material, literary or epigraphic.
In the course of their development, these institutions and communities
indulge in institutional socialisation and often produce specific kinds
of people with common skills and assumptions.