INTRODUCTION
There was a time when people believed that history is merely a string of dates. When they memorised those dates, it appeared to be very dull and boring to the readers. Historians wrote about the year when a king was crowned, the year he married, the year he had a child, the year he had fought a particular war, about the court intrigues and the year he died. For such events, dates were assigned by the historians.
IMPORTANCE OF DATES
Your year of birth is an important event for you and your parents. Similarly, many dates are important for the course of history, Precise dates are relevant only for some key events, such as the year of Independence of India, the year (1915) when Gandhiji returned to India from South Africa and took over the freedom struggle from Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Congress party leader. Once we go to more distant pasts, historians explain different events in terms of periods.
HOW DO WE PERIODISE?
When we write history, or story, we divide it into chapters, because each chapter gives coherence to our narration, events that help us to give shape to the story. In 1817, James Mill, a Scottish economist and political philosopher, published a massive three volume work- The History of British India. In this, he divided Indian history into three periods-Hindu, Muslim and British. This leads us to another question, that is, why we want to divide history into periods. We divide it into periods in order to know the main characteristics of the period, it reflects our ideas about the past and our understanding of the past.
Another classification that we have borrowed from the west, is the division of Indian history into ancient, medieval and modern. In the western countries, modern is synonymous with democracy, equality, liberty, science, reason, discoveries and economic growth. The word 'medieval' is used to describe a society where these features of modern society did not exist.
WHAT IS COLONIALISM?
British came to India as traders and established themselves as conquerors, subjugating local rajas and nawabs. They even monopolised the economy. They collected revenue, bought commodities at low prices and produced crops which gave them profit. British rule brought changes in political, cultural, social and economic fields. This period is called colonisation.
The period of British rule (1751 AD-1947 AD) is mainly described as the colonial period by most of the historians. This period saw the development of European colonies in many parts of the world. These colonies gave some European nations an unmatched power to hold economic and administrative control over the colonies. The study of the colonial period is important as it shows the autocracy and ruthlessness by which the colonies were ruled by the European countries.
The East India Company started as a trading company and slowly spread its wings to take control of all aspects of life in India.
SOURCES OF COLONIAL INFORMATION
What are the sources used by the historians to write the history of India, for the last 250 years?
The Records of Administration
One of the important sources is the official records of the British administration. They believed in giving written instructions, plans, policy decisions and agreements. These could be easily read, discussed and debated and could be preserved for the posterity.
All documents were properly catalogued and dated. Specialised institutions like archives and museums were started to preserve important records.
In the early years of the 19th century, the documents were copied out and written by calligraphists. Calligraphy is an art of producing decorative handwriting or lettering with a pen or brush and calligraphists are the professional who know this art. By the middle of the 19th century, printing became important and all documents were printed and many copies were made.
Importance of Surveys
Under colonial administration, surveying became important. By 19th century, surveys were done to map the entire country. Surveys were carried out to assess revenue, flora, fauna, topography, pattern of cropping, etc. in the country. From the end of 19th century, census was carried out. These helped to know detailed demographic structure of an area, province and the country. In addition, surveys were also done for botany, zoology, archaeology and forests.
What Official Records do not Tell?
The variety of records, all of which are official, help us to know several interesting things. But since they were official, they do not tell us what people did in the country at that time. For this we have to find other sources. These may include diaries of people, accounts of travellers, biographies of important persons and account of leaders and reformers. Novelists, poets and even newspapers also help us to learn about the life in the country at that time. However, all these accounts were only about literate people. They do not tell us about lives of tribals, peasants and poor people. It is difficult to known about these people.
USE OF ARCHIVE
An archive is a collection of historically valuable records, ranging from papers and documents to photographs, films, videotapes and sound recordings. The British government, after 1857, had set up the National Archives of India at New Delhi to keep records of the events that took place in India.
Did India have an Archive in Pre-colonial Rule?
During ancient time, the Hindu kings did not have the art of keeping written records. In ancient times, only the Brahmins were educated and only they knew how to read and write. Writing was difficult as there was no paper at that time. Few records of events have been discovered written on Tamrapatra (copper plate).
Most of the Indian history had been discovered from travellers such as Chinese travellers Hiuen-Tsang and Fa-hien, and Venetian traveller Marco Polo who travelled through India. These travellers kept an account of everything they saw. From their accounts, we got an idea of the administration, social and economic life of the contemporary people. Ashoka the Great kept records for public view on stone pillars which are still intact and can be seen in Delhi and other places in India.