apostscript-proem i. - Forgotten Books

C O N TE N T S

A POSTSCRIPT-PROEM

I .-A BIRD

’

s-EYE VIEW

II .-Two S IDES TO THE RACIAL MEDAL

III .—THE UNITY OF INDIA

IV.—HINDU SP IRITUALITY

V.—CASTE AND ITS CONCOM ITANTS

VI .—MANNERS

VII.- T IIE INDIAN OPPOSITION

VIII .—ART AND CULTURE

IX .-EDUCATION

EP ILOGUE

INDEX

2005052

IL LU S TREAT I O N S

Some of t h e A Bathing Ghat F ronti spiece

T h e Khyber Pass Facing p . xxivBaluchi Types (S ibi) I

Gateway o f t h e Tem ple, Tr ichinopoly . (T rifala of

Vish nu over Doo r )A Tem ple Elephan t , Tri ch inopolyGat eways (Gopuras) in t h e Tem ple, MaduraTanjore : Small T empleAks deser ted Capital , Fat ehpur S ikriTh e Great Gat eway (Buland Darwaza) , Fatehpur S ikr iAscet ic Typ es : ( 1 ) A Sannyasi, BenaresAscet ic Typ es (2) A Sadhu

,Benares

BenaresT h e Yacht Club

, BombayA Typical Bungalow,

BankiporeSannyasi , BenaresA Barber ’ s Sh 0p ,

BenaresMem sahi bsRuined Mo sque, Ajm i rMarket Place, Quett aBrahui , Shepherd ClassT h e Jumma Musj id , D elhiAm ri t sar : T h e Golden Tem ple of t h e S ikhsA Policem anSentry at t h e Mahar aja’ s Palace,BangaloreO u t side t h e Tem ple

,Trichinopoly . (Boy with T ri fala

of Vishnu )An Ekka at Jaipur

ILLUSTRATIONS

Hindu Archi tecture : A Temple, Ajm ir F acing p .

Detai l of a H indu Tem ple,Ajmi r

Jain Tem ple, Mount AbuInterior , Dilwarra Tem ple (Jain ) , Moun t AbuTh e Taj MahalTh e Palace, Udaipur , RajputanaA Palace, BenaresPalace and Ghat, BenaresA Sacred Poo l of t h e Ganges HardwarNavigation on

.

t h e Ganges . (A Raf t of inflatedNilghau Ski ns)

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Two manuscripts of this book were placed in th e

hands of my friend and agent Mr . Curtis Brown onAugust 4th , 1 91 4 . On th e same day another hi stori cevent occurred : Great Britain declared war agai nstGermany . In view of that event , I begged Mr . Brownto send one copy to America, out of th e range of"eppelins ,and t o let th e other copy repose in his safe until t h e warwas over .We are now in May, 1 9 1 7 , and th e end has not yet come .

But however hard it may be t o divert attention from th e

shifting phases of t h e stupendous drama, we all feel thatit is time t o brace our energias and clear our minds forth e solving of th e problems whi ch awai t us in th e worldafter th e war . Of these th e problem of India is certainlyone of t h e greatest and most pressing ; so that a bookupon India and th e Future will not , I hope, be regardedas born out of d ue time.

When publication was resolved upon , th e questionnaturally arose : Should t h e book be brought up to date ?Should it be revised and t e-written in accordance withth e altered ci rcumstances ? After earnest consi deration ,I have decided that question in th e negative. Th e textremains exactly as it stood in 1 91 4 . Intervening events,far from having rendered any considerable revision necessary,have merely reinforced one branch of my argument, whi lethey have left th e other branch unaflected . They have

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strengthened India ’s claim t o ultimate self-government ,whi le they have not sensibly altered h er actual and presentcapacity or incapacity for it . There are,

no doubt , severalpassages (notably on pp . 1 67, 267 ) which I should haveexpressed di fferently had I been writing t o-day . Butit seemed best t o let them stand unaltered , so as t o keepth e whole text , as it were, on one plane of tim e, and not

to fli t back and forth between th e po int of View of 1 91 4

and that of 1 91 7 . There is nothi ng that is really invalidatedby th e intervention of th e war . Anyt hi ng that was truein 1 91 4 remains true in 1 91 7 . Anythi ng that was falsein 1 91 4 ,

no doubt remains false ; but as th e war has notopened my eyes t o my error, I cannot correct it .One prophecy, it may be said , has been conspicuously

falsified , namely, t h e remark (p . 1 7 ) that th e momentEngland gets into serious trouble elsewhere,

India, in h erpresent temper, would burst into a blaze of rebellion .

But th e plain fact is , paradoxical as it may seem , thatEngland has not been in any trouble which ,

i n relati on

to Ind i a, could be called seri ous . Her communicationshave not been cut . Th e Suez Canal has not been blockedfor a moment . Sh e has not been forced t o deplete t h e

European garrison in India t o a dangerous degree. On th econtrary, sh e has rai sed such gigantic armies, and producedsuch enormous quantities of war material , that th e mai ntenance of h er military establishment in Indi a involved no

considerable diminution of h er strength in Europe . Anyimportant rising in India, especially during th e first monthsof th e war, might have caused great embarrassment , andwould have meant a moral as well as a materi al advantaget o th e enemies of England . But it cannot be sai d thatth e war has offered any real opportunity t o Indi an disaffection . England has throughout remained as able asin time of peace t o put down any attem pt at insurrection ,

though th e effort t o d o so might doubtless have weakenedh er in Europe . Germany, in short , might have gainedby .

~ an Indian revolt , but t h e movement itself would haveX1 1

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had no chance of success . Indi an discontent was wiserthan Irish .

My prophecy ,then ,

can scarcely be said t o have beenfalsified ,

inasmuch as th e condi tion on which it dependedhas not ari sen . But if it be asked whether my surveyof th e Indian situation led m e t o anticipate anythi ng liketh e splendid outburst of loyal ty and devotion which th e

war actually begot , I must answer with a frank negative.

Loyalty is a word whi ch is liable t o grave abuse . Itoften implies , on th e one side, an unfounded claim ; on th eother side,

a superstitious self-suppression . There are

times when loyalty to th e actual means disloyalty to th e

ideal , and when a renunciation of allegiance is th e onlytrue virtue . But t h e loyalty of th e princes , th e army anda great part of th e people of India was , I think ,

a sentimentas reasonable as it was generous . It was

,in th e first

place ,loyalty t o th e King-Emperor wh o had shown h i s

personal trust in them, as well as his deep solicitude fortheir welfare . But it was much more than that . It wasan expression of confidence in t h e ideals of th e Brit ishEmpire , and in th e general will of t h e British people towardsjustice and humanity . It sprang in some cases , I am sure,from a reasoned and intelligent belief that , in th e greatworld-argument , Britain was in th e ri ght , Germany inth e wrong—Britain was fighting for safety and honour—Germany for self-aggrandisement . We shall have t o

fight h er some day , I heard a Mah araj a say in 1 9 1 2 ;

and though at t h e time I hoped otherwise,I could see that

h e was perfectly conversant with t h e European situation .

Well , th e great fact is that Indi a as a whole,instead of

trying t o make additional trouble for England, or even

looking on in sullen indi fference, has claimed for herselfth e right of active participation in t h e affairs of t h e Empire,whether for weal or woe , and h as gallantly shed h er bloodfor its mai ntenance. Sh e has bitterly disappointed th e

enemies of England , and afforded a splendid example,not t oo common in history ,

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th e hour of danger and trial . Sh e has given noble proofof gratitude in th e very teeth of those wh o tried to persuadeh er that sh e owed no gratitude to a horde of foreign d espoilers and tyrants . How

,then

,does this great and

impressive fact bear upon t h e arguments advanced in th efollowing pagesIn th e first place

,it has converted what was

,from

th e official point of view,a mere heresy

,into somethi ng

very like an orthodox and accepted principle. Somereaders may feel that I am beating at an open door ininsisting again and again that th e complete enfranchisement of a united India is th e only worthy

,and indeed

th e only rational, aim of Bri tish policy ; but they mustremember that four years ago th e door was very far frombeing officially open—when Lord Hardi nge set it aj ar

,th e

Marquis of Crewe made all haste t o slam it again (see p .

After th e events of 1 91 4- 1 7— after we have accepted

th e aid of India in fighting t h e battles of th e Empire—i tis absolutely unthi nkable that England should not recognizeand frankly acknowledge t h e duty of giving India

,as soon

as possible, an equal status in th e community of selfgoverning nations with wh ich sh e has so gallantly stoodshoulder to shoulder in th e hour of need . Th e principle

,

I take it , is now beyond th e sphere of argument ; cont roversy must an d will centre round t h e qualifying clause,as soon as possible.

”

I : Nor wi ll th e war in any way tend to assuage th e bitternessof th e controversy . Much rather, it will give a new ai r

of plausibility t o that impatience on th e part of th e halfEuropeanized Indian agitator which I regard as t h e gravestdanger India has to face. I have had some opportuni ty

,

during th e past three years, of making first hand acquai ntance with th e tone of thought among Indian students inEngland

,and my observations have been th e reverse of

encouraging . One must make every allowance,of course

,

for inexperience,for t h e heat generated by th e action of

mind upon mind, in a small circle of youths isolated, asfi

i t

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were, in th e midst of an alien and not too sympatheticenvironment

,and for th e imperfect command of language

which often leads t o a violence of expression largely nu

designed and but imperfectly reali zed . F or example,I

have heard a gentleman reply to a modest paper of my own

with a convulsive fury of rhetoric that suggested th e oratoryof th e Mountain during th e Reign of Terror—while at th esame time h e was

,for th e most part , repeating th e very

things I had been saying in somewhat less inflammatorylanguage. But

,making all possible deductions for rhetorical

extravagance, one cannot but real ize that these youngmen are confirmed by their English experiences in feelings ofunreasonable hostility t o England

,while they by no means

lose their faith in a mythi cal India of th e past which weare held to have destroyed

,and which would miraculously

revive if our tyranny were withdrawn . I share their faithin a greater India of th e future ; but it will not mean arevival of a past which never existed .

This problem of Indian education in England is anextremely di fficult one but there is all th e more reason whywe should vigorously apply ourselves t o its solution . Th e

present system,or lack of system

,is disastrous . I turned

eagerly t o t h e report of th e Public Services Commission

(1 91 7) in th e hope of finding some indication of a way out

of th e difficulty ; but it is not even squarely faced andadmitted . With all possible d ifli d ence

,then

,I venture t o

suggest what seems t o me th e most hopeful line of action .

Th e new Civil Service regulations proposed by th e

Commissioners reduce th e age at whi ch th e entrance ex

amination must be taken in England,and provide for th e

annual recruitment of nine Indians by means of examinationin India . Th e successful candidates , Indian and British,are then to undergo a three years ’ probationary coursein England . This

,no doubt

,is all to th e good ; but

here I part company wi th th e Commissioners . They con

sider th e idea of establishing a special college for th i sprobationary course

,and definitely reject it

,declari ng

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themselves opposed t o th e creation of any separateinstitution . But what if th e way t o safety lay justthrough such an institution ? I am inclined t o regard itas an urgent necessity

,for th e sake no less of th e British

than of t h e Indi an probationers . Before giving my own

reasons for this View,let m e say that it has behind it th e

high authority of Lord Sydenham of Combe,wh o writes

in th e N i neteenth Century (January, 1 91 7)

I am so old -fash i oned as to regret that Hai leybury was aboli shedas t h e tr aining—college o f t h e Indian Civi l Service . Th e advantagesof bringi ng toget her

.

th e young m en , Bri ti sh and Indian , wh o are

dest ined t o undertake th e heavy responsibili ties of guidin g t h e

progres s of Indi a t owards nat i onhood are, I believe, beyond all

quest i on ? Association at co llege creates espr i t d e corps, cem entsfriendshi ps , and im part s t h e m utual knowledge which is valuableto m en wh o will be scat t ered widely while perform in g analogousduti es . A common t rain ing rubs o ff social angles and enablesa real knowledge of t h e history, condit i ons and sent im ents of t h epeople of India t o be acqui red , while i t elim i nates t h e cramm er

wh o is t oo o ften indi spensable. Th e abo lition of Cooper ’s Hill as apreparation for t h e engineer ing service of India was decided uponagainst th e advice of th e Governm ent of Indi a, and was a greatm i stake.

What I have further t o say will be little more than anamplification of this excellent passage .

Th e Indian student in England is subj ected t o a quiteunnecessary and unreasonable test of character . It seemsto m e remarkable that h e so often com es through it withoutserious damage. He is cast loose upon an alien society

,

whi ch receives him in th e main good-h um oured ly enough,

but at th e best with a touch of condescension,and very

rar ely with any approach t o real interest or understanding .

Th e first thing h e realizes is th e ignorance and indifferenceof th e m ass of Englishmen with regard to hi s Motherland .

They are willing enough t o make it a subject of boastful

Report of the Commi ssioners (Ed . Vol. I . , p . I 74 .

I A special Indian College at Oxford or Cambridge would be t h e idealins titution. (Lord Sydenh am ’s no te. )

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declamation,but a subject of study—no"Ignorance is

naturally accompanied by a total absence of tact everysecond word addressed to him on th e subj ect of India

,

even by well-meaning Britons,is of a nature t o set his

teeth on edge . Measures are being taken,indeed

,t o

mitigate his social isolation,and t o bring him into contact

with intelligent and sympathetic English m en and womenbut it is doubtful whether th e social talent required t o

make these experiments successful is very general inEngland . What wonder if Indi an students com e togetherin cliques

,com pare notes on their personal grievances

,

and inflame each other ’ s sense of th e wrong done t o theirgreat country in being treated, not only by th e man int h e street

,but by Parliament and t h e press

,as a m ere

side issue among th e more pressing affairs of an alienEmpire ? When they d o happen t o meet with what theyregard as really sympathetic treatment

,it is t oo often

at th e hands of fanatical orientalizers,wh o share and con

firm their illusions as t o t h e past of their country and ast o th e inj ustices inflicted by England upon India .

Th e best , if not t h e only, way, it seems t o m e, of amending thi s undesirable state of affairs would be t o erect agreat educational institution devoted exclusively t o t h e

needs of India, and in which India should be t h e supremesubj ect of thought , study and interest . It should bringtogether, of course, not merely t h e probationers for t h eIndian Civil Service, but , as nearly as possible, all youngm en, of both races , wh o are destined for public employment in India . I f such a college were well-organized, andt h e right spirit maintained in it , th e advantage t o Englishm en would be no less than th e advantage t o Indians

,and th e

general gain would be enormous . Perhaps t h e chief stu

p idi ty of our present system lies in our failure t o make t h eaverage British cadet (if I may use that term for all youngmen whose career is to lie in India) realize t h e magnificenceand t h e absorbing interest of t h e adventure in which h e isabout t o engage . If one thing is more certain than another,

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i t is that from th e moment it is determined that a boy isgo ing to devote his life t o India, all hi s thoughts should beconcentrated on t h e scene of his mission . Th e materials fora liberal, as distinct from a specialized

,education may

j ust as easily be found in India as in Europe ancient ormodern . If, in t h e following pages , a good deal is said ast o what I venture t o thi nk t h e ido lization of Indian literatureand art, that does not imply any di sparagem ent of theirvalue as vehicles of culture . There is all t h e differencebetween a critical and an uncritical study of any subj ectwhatsoever . Th e classical languages of t h e East afford all

that can possibly be desired in t h e way of mental gymnastic . Indian history is profoundly interesting andsignificant . In Indian ethnology alone there is matter fora liberal education .

* It should be th e easiest thing in t h eworld to kindle in t h e mind of any intelligent young manan enthusiastic interest in India ; and th e fact that wemake no provision for doing so is, I repeat , perhaps ourmost conspicuous stupidity . I f a youth has so littleimagination that in none of its aspects does India makeany strong appeal to h im ,

then I am sure h e will never bea good admini strator, and I doubt whether h e will even bea satisfactory engineer, or forester, or policeman .

Th e late Mr . Gokhale founded at Poona a communityentitled Th e Servants of India . Why should not th e

College of t h e Servants of India take its place among th egreat institutions of Oxford or Cambridge ? There t h e

Indi an student , whether probationer or not , would find oneplace in England where h is country no longer ranked as anintrusive outsider in a close family circle, but stood firstin t h e thoughts, hopes and aspirations of all concerned .

There t h e tone of t h e institution would be set , in part , byteachers of hi s own race. Wh y should not t h e VicePrincipal be always an Indian ? There a tradi tion and acode of manners would grow up t o which h e would yield

On these points see th e excellent rem arks in th e Report of the Com

m i ssi oners , Vol. I . , p . I 75 (Annexure X . , pars. 28

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may seem to contradi ct certain passages in th e followingpages , but th e contradi ction is only apparent . If we imagineourselves for a moment standing in t h e same relation t o t h eJapanese or Chinese in which we stand t o th e Indi ans, weshall realize, I think, h ow much wider would be t h e sundering gulf

,h ow much more difficult th e problem of bridging it .

Th e fact is , no doubt , that India is leavened with Aryanism ,

and that even this remote cousinship tells in th e end . I haveattended more than one Indian debating society, t h e

members of whi ch talked something very like red -h ot

sedition,not only in t h e language of t h e ordinary under

graduate (a little more fluent) , but with a perfect observanceof all t h e conventional forms of debate, and—more notablestill—with a free use and appreciation of t h e little touchesof facetiousness which are apt to enliven th e proceedings oft h e British debating club . It would

, of course, be amistake t o lay t oo much stress on th i s quickness of superficial assim ilation yet , if j udiciously utilized, it could notbut greatly facilitate th e building up of a corporate tradition in an Indi an college such as we are discussing.In t h e Report of t h e Royal Commission (p . 1 75) it is very

justly remarked that

Th e problem s , legal , phi lo sophi cal, historical and social , wit hwhich an Indi an civil servant will have to deal in after life, involvingas they d o t h e who le quest ion of t h e int eracti on o f t h e east andt h e wast, are am ong t h e m ost com plex in t h e history of t h e world ,and t h e uni versities can play a great par t in t heir so lution by provi d ing t h e organi zat i on for their sym pathet ic i nvesti gati on andelucidation .

I venture t o believe, even in t h e face of such highauthority, that an invaluable part of that organizationwould be a college specially devoted t o t h e service of

Indi a . By scattering cadets of both races thr ough a scoreof colleges and many scores of non-collegiate rooms, wethrow India into hopeless competition with th e mult i tu

d inous interests of English and European life. Les absents

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ant touj ours tort . What i s wanted is a place where Indiashould always be present , predominant , enthroned . Th e

Commissioners themselves admit t h e importance of establi sh ing a link of sympathy between t h e civil servant andt h e people among whom h e works , and creating an enth u

siasm for India which t h e present probationary course is notsuited t o beget . They propose to create this enthusiasmby means of an o ptional subject to be taught intensively

-such as Persian poetry, Indi an religions , Indi anlaw, or t h e study of primitive institutions .

” I submit thatthere is one great subj ect whi ch must be intensively taughtt o everyone wh o has opted for an Indi an career— and thatsubj ect is Indi a .

Th e Repo rt of t h e Commission seems to m e, on t h e whole,a conservative rather than a radi cal document . Thiswas t o be expected, and is perhaps as it should be . P rac

t icali ty rather than ideali ty ought t o be t h e watchword of

such a report it should not look far into t h e future, butshould rather take all t h e factors in t h e ease into account,and consider what is possible in t h e present . But thisimplies that its recommendations should be regarded as anirreducible minim um ,

not as a maximum t o be beatendown . Not t h e least significant pages in t h e Blue Bookare those containing dissentient notes by Indian m embersof th e Comm ission and while they are not quite free fromthat tendency of Indi an thought whi ch I have elsewheredescribed as wil ling t h e end while rej ecting t h e means,they are, on t h e whole, moderate and reasonable. One hasonly t o read them t o understand that any haggli ng overt h e more liberal recomm endations of t h e Commission mustcause a bitterness of feeling whi ch it would be no less unwisethan ungenerous t o incur . I have signed th e report ,says Mr . M . B . Ch aubal, as I am in agreement with itslarge principles , and as I support its main recommendationsfor t h e sympathetic spirit in which, so far as they go ,

theyare conceived . If accepted in thei r enti rety "they"will eventually mean a fai r advance over t h e present state

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of things . But h e goes on to show that they are far fromsatisfying what h e believes t o be t h e reasonable aspirations of t h e Indian people.

Mr . Abdur Rahim, Judge of th e Madras High Court , doesnot sign t h e report , but presents a long Minute of his ownwhich is well worth readi ng . In t h e forefront of his reasonsfor di ssatisfaction with t h e existing state of affai rs

,and

even with th e recommendations of his fellow-commissioners, stands t h e fact—which, h e says

,appeared in

evidence—that an Indian career does not rank at all highin t h e estimation of English youths of more than averagecapacity and ambition . Such men, h e says ,

prefer one of t h e m any careers open to them in England .

I t h as al so been brought t o our noti ce that t h e increasing act ivi ti esof so cial li fe in manifo ld directi ons have, in England , so augm entedth e dem and for educat ed m en , that only a very limi ted num berof young m en of super ior calibre are avai lable for foreign em ploym ent , and t o t his sm all num ber , service in self-governing coloniesseem s to appeal m ore strongly t han service in India . There canbe no doubt t hat th e o ffers whi ch Indi an services ordinar ily get

proceed m o st ly from candidates of average attai nm ents and ratherl im ited outlook, m ore or less obliged by cir cum stances t o seek fora living in a land whi ch otherwi se does not evoke m uch enthusiasmin their breasts . I am not in clin ed t o depreciate th e many goodqualit ies of such m en , and have no doubt that they prove quiteequal t o t h e daily duti es of o ffi cial business . But we cannot lookwith confidence t o recruits of thi s type as a body t o supply t h eh i gher order of adm inistrati ve talen t which alone can enable a

foreigner t o understand t h e real forces at work in t h e very com

plex condi t ions of m odern Indi a, and to guide them wi t h sym pathy.

Whence Mr . Rahim deduces th e urgent need for allottingt o Indians a much larger share of responsible offices .If th e fact be as h e states, another and supplementary

deduction forces itself upon us—namely, that steps shouldbe taken to make t h e service of India attractive t o th e

best class of young Englishm en . I d o not mean that weshould bribe them by increased salaries and pensions, butt h at vwe should give Indi a a chance t o seek out h er elective

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affini ties,by bringing h er hi story, art and general condi tions

withi n th e ordinary ambit of a liberal education . It israther discreditable that thi s should not long ago have beendone. So long as India remains a closed book t o ninetynine per cent . even of educated Englishmen , what chancehas sh e to exercise h er incomparable fascination upon thosewh o are by nature accessible t o it If it be true (as I fearit is) that many young m en go t o Indi a as a last resource,

because they cannot find suitable employment elsewhere,t h e fact is a grave reproach t o us . Th e existence of a greatIndian College would probably d o much t o remedy thisstate of affai rs ; but more than that is required ; it isnecessary that India should come to h er rights as a subj ectof instruction in t h e higher forms of public schools . *

Furthermore, we should take steps t o correct t h e prevalentimpression— a survi val from long bygone ages— that thereis any special hardship in offi cial life in India . That anInd ian career is strenuous, and often full of disappointments

,cannot be denied but apart from quite exceptional

circumstances, t h e materi al conditions are pleasant enough ,

and not infrequently delightful . There is little or no

foundation for t h e idea that service in India demandssacrifices of health and comfort that ought t o be speciallypaid for . t This is especially true since t h e motor-car hasdone so much t o diminish di stances . In some ways , t h elife of an Indian station is more spacious and civili zed thanany that Europe has t o offer, except to t h e very wealthy .

Whether we can afford t o give our best brai ns t o t h e

service of Ind ia is,in theory, a very serious question but

in practice it does not arise at all, for t h e simple reason

There should be a good supply of Indian ficti on—no t m erely o f

Kipli ng—in every school library . Many alm ost forgo t ten novels of th eear ly par t o f las t century m ake excellent reading : P and urang Har i

The Confessi ons of a Th ug, and o ther books of Meadows Taylor ’s ; t h e

extraordinar ily able Ch ron i cles of Bud gepore, etc. , etc.

T In this connection , Sir Theodore Morison’s excellent Minute on

d ifler ent ial rates of pay for Englishmen and Indians ought to be studied .

See Report of the Comm i ssi oners, Vol. I . , p . 37 I .

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that there is , or ought to be, no choice in t h e matter . We

are once for all committed t o this great enterprise, and ,at whatever sacrifice, we are bound in honour t o carry itthrough . Th e more ability and energy we devote t o it int h e near future, th e shorter will be t h e term of our trusteeshi p

,and of t h e drain upon our intellectual resources .

Moreover, if a new spirit were infused into t h e service of

India, t h e Anglo-Indian, on his return,would be all t h e

better fitted for t h e service of England . Th e reactionupon home politics of a truly enlightened Government ofIndia could not but be beneficial .Since this book was written , India has lost one of h er

greatest servants . Th e name of Mr . G . K . Gokhale occurso ften in th e fo llowing pages , and generally in connectionwith some criticism of his views . But I am sure that

,

had Mr . Gokhale lived t o d o m e t h e honour of reading thesepassages, h e would have recognized in them t h e profoundrespect in which I held his character and talents . He willcertainly be long rem embered, not only by Indians , but byall lovers of India, as one of th e most authentic heroes ofhis race .

It only remains t o say that , while I have made no changein my text of 1 91 4 ,

I have added a few footnotes an smg outof recent events, and docum ents published since t h e out

break of t h e war . To these supplementary notes I havealways appended th e date

Lond on,M ay,

1 91 7 .

INDIA AND THE FUTURE

legends of this land are as colossal as everythi ng else withinits frontiers . Hideous savageries of cult and customprevailed in it till yesterday, and are not even now extinct .Its myt hs, its deities , its idols are each more monstrousthan t h e last ; and t h e worship of stocks and stones isinextricably commingled with t h e no less superstitiousworship of filmy and air-drawn metaphysical fantasies .

Such is th e country on th e th reshold whereof we stand,as

Alexander stood three-and-twenty centuries ago ; andworking itself out in thi s historic and prehistoric wonderland, we can now see t h e most romantic adventure ofmodern times, a huge, precarious , blundering, heroic ex

periment in organization , pacificat ion, civilization . Isthere any other region in th e world which makes such amultiform appeal to th e vision, t h e imagination and t h eintellectI , at any rate, know of no other . India is t h e Italy of

Asia ; and though t h e past of India cannot vie with thatof Italy in world-historic significance, its present is incom

parably more picturesque and fraught with vaster issues .

When I landed in India in th e summer of 1 91 2, nothingwas further from my thoughts than th e writing of such abook as this . But t h e country cast an instant spell on m e.

Its surface aspects enthralled m e, its problems became anobsession . Gradually t h e idea grew upon me that therewas but one possible solution for these problems, but onehonourable

,des irable and fortunate consummation t o t h e

great adventure . It Is that idea which informs th e

following pages .This is not a book of travel . Of th e sur face aspects

of India,fascinating as they are, I shal l have little t o say .

Th e work of th e picturesque tourist has been done to un

approachable perfection by th e late G . W . Steevens, whosebook, In Ind ia,

is a masterpiece of exact observation andvivid portrayal . Excellent , too,

is Mr. Sydney Low ’sVi si on of Ind i a and Mr . H . W . Nevinson

’

s New Spi ri t in

Ind ia contains many admirable pages both of description2

PROLOGUE

and comment . With these writers I attempt no rivalryand still less , of course, with t h e many able authorities onIndian affai rs whom t h e civi l and political services haveproduced .

* How, then, can I j ustify this addition to th emountainous mass of Anglo-Indi an literature Simply byt h e fact that I had something t o say which has not , t o myknowledge, been fully, explicitly and dispassionately sai dbefore.

Not that I pretend t o have made any great di scovery .

Many people, as I hope to show,have taken a similar view

of t h e case . But some of them have been restrained byofficial tradi tions from speaking out very clearly . Othershave spoken with a passionate partisanshi p, or with aquerulous pessimism, which has lessened th e weight of

their words . I see no reason for pessimism,I see no reason

for invective. What I see is an extraordinarily interestingand complicated situation, which wisdom may work out

t o a triumphant issue, or unwisdom may precipitate t o

disaster . And I feel so strong a conviction as t o t h e

course which wisdom dictates that I should regard it alm ostas a shi rking of duty t o refrain from stating my view, for

what it is worth .

There is also,of course, t h e possibility that t h e situation

may be inherently hopeless—one which no conceivableexercise of reason can turn t o good . I d o not th ink thatthis is so but if it is—i f th e experiment is foredoomed t ofailure—at least let us fail magnanimously, and notstupidly .

I shall not here anticipate t h e course of my argument .But it may be well to show unmistakably from t h e outsetthat t h e attitude of mind which I criticize and would fainsee altered

.

is,in fact , th e official attitude of mind .

On August 25th , 1 91 1 , t h e Governor-General in Councilsigned a momentous despatch t o th e Secretary of State for

With out d isparagem ent t o o thers , I may m ention S ir BampfyldeFuller ’s S tud i es i n Ind ian Li fe and S entiment as an extremely inter es tingand inform ing work.

IND IA AND THE FUTURE

India . It dealt mainly with th e question of t h e change of

capital but t h e passage which was most eagerly read andwelcomed in India ran as fo llows

I t is certain that , in t h e course o f tim e, t h e j ust dem ands o f

Indians for a larger share in t h e governm ent of t h e count ry willhave t o be sat isfied ,

and t h e ques t ion will be h ow t his devo lu t iono f power can be conceded wit hou t im pairing t h e suprem e aut horityo f t h e Governor-General in Council . Th e only possible so lu t iono f t h e difficul ty would appear t o be gradually t o give t h e Provincesa larger m easure of self-governm ent , unt i l at last India wouldconsist of a number of adm inist rat ions , au tonom ous in all provincialaffair s , wit h t h e Governm ent of India above them all, and po ssessingpower t o int erfere in cases o f m isgovernm ent , but ordinari ly re

stri ct ing its funct ions to m att ers o f Im perial concern .

Months passed ; th e King-Emperor paid his memorablevisit t o India, a finely-inspired act of true Kingship andit seem ed as though a new era were dawning in th e relationsof t h e two peoples . Then som eone in England called attention t o th e liberalism, cautious but expli cit , of t h e aboveparagraph from Lord Hard inge

’

s despatch ; and behold"t h e Liberal Secretary of State had nothi ng m ore pressingt o d o than t o disavow it . In t h e House of Lords, on

June 24t h , 1 91 2 , t h e Marquis of Crewe said

There was a cert ain sec t ion in Indi a whi ch looked forward t o

a m easure o f self-govem m en t approaching t o that whi ch had beengrant ed t o t h e Dom ini ons . He saw no fu t ure for India on t heselines . T h e experiment of a m easure of self-governm ent , pract ical lyfree from parliam entary cont ro l , t o a race whi ch was no t our own

,

even though t hat race enjoyed t h e advan tages of th e best servi cesof m en belonging t o our race, was o ne which could no t be t ri ed .

It was his duty as Secret ary o f S t ate t o repudi at e t h e idea that t h edespatch impli ed anything of t h e kind, as t h e hope o r goal of t h epo licy of t h e Governm en t.

In a later debate (July 29t h ) Lord Crewe was still moreemphatic, laying it down in so many words that

4

PROLOGUE

The maintenance and perpetual continuance of Bri ti sh

rule i s the best way of securing the happiness of the Ind ian

people.

*

Th e bomb thrown at t h e Viceroy on December 23rd , ash e entered th e new capital , may probably be construed as arejoinder t o this utterance. It was an imbecile retort ,condemned by all reasonable m en

,1' in India no less than in

England ; yet t h e fact rem ains that , by insisting on aninconceivable perpetuity of rule, we not only inflame Indianunreason, but alienate Indian reason . Terrorism I d o not

regard as an important factor in t h e case, however un

pleasant but if t h e British Government thi nks that event h e sanest and most law-abiding citizens of India sincerelyaccept t h e principle lai d down by Lord Crewe, I believe itt o be labouring under a disastrous illusion .

This is , in fact , my case and it is a case which I cannotexpect to commend itself, at first blush, t o British, or AngloIndi an

,Opinion . Neither can I hope, unfortunately, that

my argument will be read with approval in Indi a for I havemuch t o say that cannot be agreeable t o Indi an self-com

placency. Those Europeans seem t o m e very false friendsto India wh o gloze over, or even treat as advantages, t h ehistoric misfortunes under which sh e suffers . At all events ,it is an essential part of my case that India is as yet farfrom being prepared t o take an equal place am ong t h ecivilized nations of t h e world . A schoolboy of myacquaintance came home t h e other day m uch elated because,in th e singing class, h e had been promoted from t h e bestof those who sing badly to t h e worst of those wh o sing well .In th e eyes of his elders t h e di stinction did not seem veryimportant and

,similarly, I d o not think it important to

decide whether India is t h e most forward of barbarous , ort h e most backward of civilized, nations . One or other,t o my mind, sh e certainly is and this View confli cts very

NHansard repor t . Th e T im es repor t om its perpetual .1' Even th e wom en deplore i t, ” a leading Bengali j ournalis t said to

me on t h e m orrow of t h e ou trage .


d efini telyzwi th t h e opinion of a great many Indi ans, wh ohold h er to be little less than a divinity under a temporarycloud . I must face with what resolution I may t h e fate of

t h e impartial commentator wh o exasperates both parties .But if this book should fal l into t h e hands of any of th e

Indian gentlemen wh o treated me with ungrudging cor

d iali ty and kindness, I beg them t o believe thatwhat I learned from them was a firm faith in t h e

ability of their race t o retrieve its age-old misfortunes,

and shape for itself a real future as glorious as its mythicpast .I am well aware that if any one of these gentlemen chose

to apply a searching criticism t o English life,h e could,

with no extravagance of paradox , retort at many pointst h e reproach of barbarism which I am compelled t o levelagainst so many aspects of Indi an life

,both material and

spiritual . Th e incompleteness of Western civilization isonly t oo manifest , in churches redolent of myth andmagic, monarchies aureoled in superstition, rank-worshiponly less contemptible than wealth-worship, militarism ,

even in times of peace, sapping th e best energies of t h epeoples , and industrialism so iniquitously organized, or

unorganized, as t o engender t h e slum and t h e sweatingshop, and foster th e gin-palace and th e brothel . I f thi sbe Western civilization,

” an Indian critic may be temptedto say

,give m e Eastern barbarism" I suggest, h ow

ever, that h e will d o well to resist th e temptation . Europe,with all its crimes and irnbeci li t ies, is many centuries furtherfrom t h e Ur-Dummhei t than un-Europeanized India . It isstruggling out of t h e ages of faith into t h e age of knowledge. Some of t h e worst of its evils proceed from t h e

very rapidity of its movement whereas th e evils of Indiaare those of secular stagnation . I readily admit that t h ebarbarism of India has picturesque and even venerableaspects t o wh ich few of t h e barbarisms of Europe can layclaim ; but that does not make it either desirable or

permanently po ssible in th e modern world .

6

PROLOGUE

In th e spelling of Indi an names I have been guided byconvenience, and have not tried to adhere consistently t oany system . Th e accents on Sanskri t words I have entirelydi sregarded , as they convey no meaning except to Sanskritscholars . By Anglo-Indian I mean Anglo-Indian , not

Eurasian . Th e attempt t o divert t o a new and inappro

priat e use a word so thoroughly establi shed in t h e Englishlanguage can lead to nothi ng but confusion .

One of t h e following chapters—t h e sixth— has alreadyappeared in t h e F ortnightly Revi ew,

and is here reprinted bypermission of t h e Editor .


civilizations . British rule in Indi a does not radi ate froma centre,

but is projected over more than miles of seaand British civilization , though it is , t o some extent , influencing Indi a by sheer force of contact

,remains absolutely

ali en t o th e enormous mass of th e people . Th e Britoncomes to India t o govern , governs , and goes away again .

His relations with a few Indians may be more or less friendlybut h e no more enters into t h e national life of th e countrythan t h e plumber wh o puts in your water-pipes , or th e

electrician wh o wires your house, becomes a member ofyour family . It is in this complete and deliberately-cultivated ex tem ali ty that t h e wonder of British rule consists .

Th e huge pear—shaped region which we call India isenveloped from t h e Himalayas t o Cape Comorin ,

fromBaluchistan t o Burma, in t h e network o f th e British my.

Th e meshes o f t h e net are wide, but they are woven withgreat regularity and they are extremely tough . A fierceattempt t o burst through them , in 1 857 ,

led only to afirmer re-weaving o f th e fabric . It is true that about athird part of th e whole territory, with a population of

remains under th e nominal , and in some casest h e more or less real , rule of Indian pri nces but t o eachcourt a British resident is attached whose word is lawin all essential matters ; and t h e proudest of th e princesrules only during good behaviour, with no power t oenter into foreign relations , or t o rai se an efficient army of

his own . In th e largest of th e states , Hyderabad and Mysore,

t h e great British cantonments of Secunderabad and Bangalore are a constant reminder that th e suzerain poweris no effete tradition . In British territory proper, withits million square miles and its people, th e

meshes of th e net are closer, and its foreignness , its ex

fem ality, is even more apparent . Is not a net by its

They were I m iles when t h e Br i tish rule took i ts r ise and t h evoyage, which now occupies som e three weeks , t hen took from six to

twelve m onths .I O

A‘

BIRD ’S-EYE VIEW

very nature a forei gn substance, in relation to th e objectswhi ch it encloses and holds togetherTh e great Presidency towns, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras ,

are European cities planted on Indian soil . All th e prominent buildings are European ,

though in some of t h e morerecent ones an endeavour has been m ade to adopt what isknown as th e Indo-Saracenic style of architecture.

F or th e rest, th e streets are called by English names ,generally th e names of bygone Viceroys and Governors ,or of th e soldiers wh o conquered th e land and quelledth e Mutiny— heroes whose effigies meet you at every turn .

Th e shops are English shops , where English or Eurasianassistants traffic in English goods .

tEnglish carriagesand motors bowl along th e macadam ized or tarred roadsof old England . On every h and . t h ere is evidence of th e

instinctive effort t o reproduce, as nearly as t h e climatewill permit , English conditions of life . In .Bombay,

indeed ,th e merchant princes are no longer Europeans , but H indusand Parsis . Theirs are th e most sumptuous palaces on

Malabar Hill ; theirs t h e most swagger motors on

t h e Queen’s Road and th e Apollo Bunder . In Calcutta

,

though commercial competition is less keen , t h e greatBengali landowner is a prom inent and important personage .

But alm ost th e whole life of t h e people of India is relegatedt o th e back streets

,not t o say th e slums— frankly called

in Madras t h e Black Town . There are a few pointsclubs and gymkhanas special ly established t o that end

—where English m en,and even women ,

m eet Indian m en ,

and even women , of th e wealthier classes , on a basis o f

social equality . But few indeed are th e points of contactbetween th e Asian town and th e European city whichhas been superimposed upon it . Th e missionary, t h e

Salvation Army outpost , perhaps th e curiosity-hunt ingtourist , may go forth into th e bazaars but th e Europeancommuni ty as a whole cares no more for th e swarmingbrown multi tudes around it than th e dwellers on an islandcare for th e fishes in the circumambient sea.

1 1


Leave th e Presidency towns and go t o th e provincialcapitals or t o th e smaller stations , and what d o you find ?Go t o Allahabad, t o Lucknow, t o Lahore, t o Poona, t oAgra, even t o Delhi itself— everywhere you are in a Bri tishtown ,

with British street names , British shops , Britishchurches , British statues , British red -pillar—letter-boxes ,British Standings for Hackney Carriages , British No

Thoroughfare and T respassers will be prosecuted ”

notice-board s,'

Bri t ish customs , conventions and traditionsrampant on every hand . Everywhere, no doubt , there isa native town , more or less adj oining th e British civi lstation and military cantonm ent . Sometimes , as at Delhiand Benares , this town is a show place whi ch everyonevisits but in other cases neither travellers nor th e ordinaryrun of residents give it so much as a passing thought .Externally t h e British station is extremely unlike a townin th e old country . Land was apparently of no value whenthese settlements were laid out ; so that each bungalowstands in a spacious compound , o ften acres in extent ,and t h e dwellings of a hundred Europeans , with theirservants, will often occupy an area that would accommodatemany thousands in th e adj acent bazaar, o r in a city of

Europe or Am erica . It 'must be owned that t h e AngloIndian leads a spacious life . His settlements realizedt h e ideal of th e garden city before that term was ihvented . Miles of roadway, from 70 t o 1 30 feet wide, aredensely overarched by those wonderful trees whi ch are

t h e incomparable glory of India . In m any places thereare three rows of trees , and a tan-covered ride skirts th emacadamized driving-way . Every house h as its own

embowering trees ; and there are often— as, for instance,

at Lahore and Amritsar— spacious public gardens as well .Th e result is , of course, that distances are enormous

,and

walking,even when th e temperature admits of it

,is im

possible. Everybody rides or drives, and of late yearst h e motor-cycle is much in evidence. Even th e shopsstand in their own compounds , and you approach your

1 2

A BIRD ’S-EYE VIEW

tailor ’s by a carriage drive that would d o credit to a duke's

town-house.

Th e life of these stations,though comfortable and pleasan t ,

is by no means extravagantly luxurious . But whateverelse it may be,

it is utterly, aggressively British . Th e

sahib generally ri ses early ,has his chota hazri

,

”

or morningcup of t ea

,and goes off for his still more indispensable mom

ing exercise.

” If t h e hounds d o not meet , h e and hismemsahi b are probably content with a canter along

t h e tan-track of th e Mall,round t h e race-course,

and backby Dalhousie Road , Lytton Avenue and Lansdowne Park— some six or eight mi les in all . Then h e has his bath ,

and runs through a few official files before breakfast . Afterbreakfast h e sets t o work in earnest t o govern th e country ,

as magistrate,as revenue assessor and collector, as con

science-keeper t o an Indian prince,as head of som e huge

district , or , it may be,as governor _ of a province more

populous than Great Bri tain . He leaves off governing fort i ffin at two ,

and . then governs again till t ea-tim e . Betweent ea and dinner h e goes t o t h e Club ,

meets th e other sahibsof th e station

,male and female,

civil,political and military ,

plays tennis,and (after dusk) Badm inton by lam plight ,

listens t o t h e regimental band discoursing melodies fromTh e Up

-to-Date Girl , and looks at th e English i llust rated and sporting papers . At eight h e goes home t o

dress for dinner at eight-thi rty . F or a dom estic mealh e puts on a short coat and a black t ie, and t h e sam e ifh e is dining out quite quietly . If that deprecatoryformula does not occur in th e invitation , h e arrays himselfin swallow-tai l and white choker, and expects t o drinkchampagne. Often , before h e goes t o bed , h e will againplunge into t h e files which are always awai ting him

,

and burn th e midnight oi l over reams of confli cting perj uries in some case that has come befo re him on appeal .F or it is no easy job this governing of India, nor does th eBritish o fficial take it easily . His innocent recreationsare not more than enough to keep him fit . Th e routine

1 3


above sketched is,in many cases

,varied by periodical

excursions into districts,when t h e ofli cial lives for

weeks in tents , moving from village t o village, and invest igat ing on th e spot questions of revenue, police, irri

gat ion , public works and what not . This,however, must

be regarded ,not as a hardship

,but as a pleasant variety

in his duties for th e Indian servant has mastered th e artof tent life, and can generally make his sahib extremelycomfortable, even under unpromising circumstances .

I am not , for th e moment , either praising or dispraisingth e government thus conducted . F or th e moment t h e

point t o be noted is its undisguised and systematic foreignness . India is administered from a network of foreigntownships , planted in h er midst , in close association withanother network of cantonments , or foreign m ilitary camps .

Of t h e heads of th e Governm ent not one is an Indi an .

A very few Indians hold moderately high appointm ents ,especially j udicial : but they are,

t o t h e m ass of t h e civiland political servi ces

,at th e outside, as one in twenty .

No Indian holds or can hold in th e military service a rankequal t o that of a British captai n .

* In subordinate civilfunctions— i h th e secretariats , in th e police,

th e postoffice, th e telegr aphs , t h e railways , and so forth— mi llionsof Indians are employed ,

but always under th e eye of

European superiors . A considerable number of Britishofficials d o their work not only conscientiously but en th u~

siast ically. They study th e people they are set t o ruleover, encourage and develop th e better sides of theircharacter,

'master their languages , even their dialects ,and govern ,

in a word,not only capably but sym path et i

cally . These,however, are necessar ily exceptions . Th e

average British official , though honest , hard-working and

efficient according t o his lights, does little t o mitigateth e crude fact of racial domination . He seldom dreams o fwearing a velvet glove on t h e iron hand. He sincerely

This is now about t o be al tered ( 1 9 I 7 ) .1 4

A BIRD ’S-EYE VIEW

believes that th e Oriental character understands and appreciates nothi ng but despotism ; and be consistently actsup t o that belief—for which , indeed , there is a great dealt o be sai d . I am not

,I repeat either prai sing or con

d emning him . I am simply tryi ng t o throw into relieft h e astounding fact that we have in Indi a three hundredmillion people whose political life consists in obeyi ngorders given in a foreign accent .And wh o are these people ? A brutish

,savage race ,

born to tutelage as th e sparks fly upwards ? Let us hearEdmund Burke on t h e point

Th is mult itude of m en does not consi st of an abject and barbarous population . "They are"a people for ages civi lized andcultivated cult ivated by all t h e arts of po li shed lif e whi le we wereyet in th e woods .

I shall have t o argue later that this is a violent andmischievous overstatement but t h e fact that it could bemade with any sort of plausibility by such a man as Burkeis sufficient for my present purpose. And one thi ng iscertain : namely, that every educated Hindu knows thispassage by heart , and has rubbed its flattering unctioninto t h e very pores of his nature . Nothing is more frequentin intercourse with Indians than t o have them courteouslychecking themselves on t h e brink of a reminder that theirancestors were monarchs and sages while ours were woadstained cave—m en or lake-dwellers .

* Whether t h e statement be true, and what , if true, should be deduced fromit

,need not here be considered . Th e point is that this

race, or rather these races, are far from having no prideof ancestry , far from being congeni tally predisposed t o

Mr . G. K. Gokhale, speaking at t h e National Liberal Club, London ,on November 1 5, 1 905,

said Th e people of Ind ia are an ancient racewh o had at tained a high degree of civilization long before t h e ancestorso f European nations under stood what civilization was . India has beent h e bir thplace of great religions . Sh e was also t h e cradle and long t h ehom ‘

e o f lit erature and phi losophy , o f science and ar ts .1 5


adm it t h e superiority of a Western people.

* It is truethat not even in their wildest moments of arrogance canthey claim t o have enj oyed, at any period of their past ,what we of t h e West call political freedom . But this doesnot render them less accessible t o democratic ideals anddreams

,less sensitive t o t h e d im inuti o capi ti s involved in

obeying a caste of foreign rulers . History,in short

, explainst h e origin

,and accounts for t h e possibility, of t h e British

dominion in India, but offers no adequate basis for t h e

theory that it is providentially adapted t o t h e unalterablepsychology of t h e Indian people. To any Indian with agleam of intelligence

,it can only appear t h e final outcom

and symbol of a series of historic disasters, stretchingback into t h e very dawn of recorded time .

To such an Indian,and indeed t o any m oderately un

biased and thinking person, t h e British rule m ay seemto lerable, and even indispensable, as a means t o an end .

But it is hard t o understand h ow any thi nking person ,

English or Ind ian , can regard it as an end in itself, a thi ngdesirable for its own sake. If England recognizes in timethis plain and simple distinction, many of h er hardestproblems in India will gradually solve themselves , and th ehistory of h er Indian Empire will always be t o h er a legi t i

As a sm al l illustration of this fact take t h e fo llowing passage fromTh e Heart of Hi ndu i sm by Sir Narayan Ch and avarkar , a Judge o f t h e

Bombay High Cour t From Hindus Engl ishm en have borrowed t h e

habit o f daily bathing . O ther nations in Europe ar e still backward ;but they, t oo , are slowly learning .

” A t no per iod o f history have Indiansbeen inclined t o adm i t or to real ize that they had anything t o learn fromt h e outside wor ld . I t is surpr ising t o observe h ow li ttle they profi tedby t h e Greek influences which cam e hom e t o them pret ty closely in t h ecentur ies after A lexander ’s invasion . They learned som ething in sculpture,

but that was all . T h e theory that their dram a shows Greek influencesI believe t o be m istaken .

“ Asoka, says M r . Vincent Sm i th, “ wasm uch m ore anxious t o comm unicate t h e blessings o f Buddhist teaching toAn t ioch os and P to lem y than t o borrow Greek no tions from them .

” Andagain : T h e Indians were impressed by bo th Alexander and Menanderas m ighty captains , no t as m issionar ies o f cul ture , and no doubt regardedbo th these sovereigns as impur e barbar ians, t o be feared but no t im i tated .

Early Hi story of I nd i a, p . 225.

1 6


sufficient political entity . This sh e 1 3 far enough frombeing, all reasonable people admit but

,thanks t o British

rule, sh e is much nearer t o political cohesion and com

petence than sh e ever was before in th e whole course o f

h er history . It lies with us t o decide whether we shallrecognize and consciously forward this process of evolution,or stupidly attempt t o check it , in t h e interests of an un

imaginable permanence of things as they are. We havebefore us a great opportunity and a great danger ; ifwe neglect t h e one

, we shall infallibly rush headlong intot h e other .There is nothing paradoxical

,nothing even novel , in this

view of England ’s Opportunity in India . It has been heldand uttered, more or less explicitly

,by many English

and Anglo-Indian statesmen . It may even be said thatth e sempiternity of British domination is a recent pseudoideal , begotten of that thoughtless Imperialism which regardsnot only t h e Indian Em pire,

but t h e whole Empire of

Great Britain,as an end in itself, and not as a means t o a

higher end . I am no Little Englander ; on t h e contrary ,

I regard t h e British Empire as one of t h e greatest , andpossibly one of th e most beneficent , facts of history . Evenin India, I have not t h e slightest sympathy with thosewh o indiscriminately applaud everyt hing Indian, and havenothing but carping disparagement for t h e great workEngland h as done . I admire it whole-hearted ly ; butthat does not prevent m e from recognizing that it mustultimately go t o ruin if it is inspired by a false and i inpfact icable ideal .Th e time is ripe for t h e open recognition and promul

gat ion of a juster view of England ’s duty and opportunity .

Without making t oo much of t h e well-meant but ratherineffectual efforts at social approximation between t h e

East and t h e West, one m ay safely say that t h e brutally

contemptuous attitude of t h e West t o t h e East—never th eattitude of good or intelligent m en—has had its day, andsurvives only among t h e -dregs of th e European population .

1 8

- A BIRD ’S -EYE VIEW

Bad manners are no longer good form ,and it is being

generally real ized that racial superior ity, if it exists atall

,is no t t o be demonstrated by bluster and swagger .

And as outward manifestations cannot change without acorresponding change in inward feeling, it is certain thatt h e decline of swagger in manner is not unaccompaniedby a decline of swagger in thought . Respect for t h e humanrights of t h e Indian cannot be quite divorced from respectfor his political aspirations and even in t h e most unlikelyofficial quarters one does already find t h e germ s of suchrespect . Oddly enough , t h e outward

,if not t h e inward ,

change is'

probably t o be traced back t o t h e execratedViceroyalty of Lord Curzon ; but it has been greatlypromot ed under that statesman ’s successors . What isneeded now is an explicit recognit ion in t h e highest quartersof a change of attitude which, though hitherto unrecognized,is already in great m easure accomplished . There is no

need for definite pledges , or rash speculations as t o t h e

probable rapidity of progress . Th e essential point isthat British rule should be openly confessed and aut h or i tat ively proclaim ed t o be a means

,not an end . As soon

as this idea or ideal had percolated ,as it rapidly would ,

from t h e centre tox

the extremities of t h e governing body,a happy change in t h e relations of t h e two races would ,naturally and without effort , manifest itself . I d o not

mean a social approximation,which seems t o m e difficult

and unimportant . What I mean is that t h e Indian inofficial life would feel a new self-respect , and that thisfeeling would react upon t h e European attitude towardshim . Indian patriotism ,

in a word, would no longer haveto choose between querulous Opposition t o t h e Governmentat every possible point , and pessimistic acquiescence inforeign rule,

simply lest worse befall . There would stillbe plenty of friction , plenty of difference of opinion as t ot h e best means of attaining t h e common end ; but theywould be t h e differences of normal political life, not of

irrec'

oncilably conflicting purposes and ideals .I 9


This is,in '

outline, t h e view of England ’s opportunitywhich I propose t o develop in t h e following pages . I neednot

,at this point , further antic ipate t h e course of my

argument . But one question which will certainly be

asked I can answer quite briefl y and without delay . Britishrule, it may be said

,is

,according t o you,

a means t oan end ,

that end being a united and self-governing Indi a .

DO you propose that this self-governing state should bepart of t h e British Empire

,or independent of it ? My

answer is Sufficient for t h e day are t h e problems thereof . Many a long year will have t o pass before India isripe for self-government and wh o can tell what may bet h e state and constitution of t h e British Empire when thatdate is reached ? It may have broken up into its com

ponent parts ; it may be merged into a larger synthesis ;all we know is that it will be a very different thing fromt h e Empire of t o-day . It is sheer waste of time t o wrangleover t h e formula within or W ithout t h e Empire ”

,

So

much alone is certain : we are far m ore likely t o keepIndia within t h e Empire by fostering than by obstinatelythwarting h er natural aspirations . A nation of

cannot be held in permanent subjection,against its will

,

by a nation of and India,thanks t o our rule,

is rapidly becom ing a nation and developing a will of h erown .

20

TWO S IDES TO THE RACIAL MEDAL

HE first thing to be dOne if we would understand th eIndian problem aright is t o determine th e true

status of th e Indian peoples am ong th e races Of th e wor ld .

Th e instinct of th e European is to assume without furtherinquiry th e inferiority of everyone wh o wears

,like Othello

,

th e shadowed livery of t h e burnished sun . Even th e

o live complexion of an Italian or Spaniard is a littlesuspicious t o th e peoples of th e North . In Am erica t o -day

,

Dante and Cervantes would be contemptuously bracketedas dagos . But when t h e olive tint deepens into chocolate

,there is no longer any question ,

in some m inds,as t o

th e racial inferio rity it implies . When Mr . Dad abh ai

Naoroj i , a Bombay Parsr, stood for th e borough of CentralFinsbury

,Lord

'

Salisbury sneered at th e no tion that aBritish constituency should ever return a black m an ;

and it is likely enough that Mr . Naoroj i would not havebeen elected had his complexion in any way justified LordSalisbury ’s epithet . Th e tim e is no t so long gone by whenEnglishm en used to lump together th e peoples o f Indiaas niggers and though that stupidity has been stampedout ,

* th e inveterate hab it o f associating a dar k skin withcongenital infer iority still lies at th e root of a great dealof our thinking and feeling with regard t o India .

Mrs . Besant says that i t stil l survives ; and, as sh e would not speakwithout war rant , I presum e there m ust be isolated Rip Van Winkleswh o have no t yet awakened to i ts enorm i ty. They have no t even readt h eir

'Ki pli ng.

2 1


On th e o ther hand, as I have already said,many Indians

return th e compliment by looking down on Europeans as aninfer ior and upstart brood , mere parvenus in th e domai nof civilization . Hindustan Aryavarta

—is th e nurseryand hom e of all true religion

,philosophy and culture

and,when h er present period of eclipse is past

,India is t o

arise in h er glory for th e salvation of th e world . Such ist h e sentim ent expressed by that very cultivated woman andtrue poetess

,Sar oj ini Naidu , of Hyderabad, in h er Od e

TO INDIA

Oh , young through all t h y imm emorial years ,Rise, Mother , rise regenerate from thy gloom ,

And, like a bride high-m ated with th e spheres,Beget new glories from thy ageless womb .

Th e nat ions t hat in fettered darkness weepCrave thee t o lead t hem where great m ornings break .

Mo ther , oh Mot her , wherefore dost thou sleepArise and answer , for thy children ’s sake .

Th e Future cal ls thee with a m anifo ld soundTo crescent honors , splendors , vi ctor ies vastWaken , oh slumbering Mo ther , and be crowned ,W h o once wert empress o f t h e sovereign Past.

I t is only fair to assume that th e nations wh o are

represented as waiting to be liberated by India are nationswithin h er bounds

,sh e being conceived for th e nonce as an

ideal entity,distinct from th e geographical or racial divisions

o f which sh e is composed . But even if we thus lim it th em eaning of th e second stanza we can scarcely interpretin so lim ited a sense th e li ne Wh o once wert empress ofth e sovereign Past . Th e poetess does not m ean thatIndia was empress of h er own past , but o f th e past of t h eworld and

,as it is manifest that this was never true in a

po litical sense, we must interpret it spir itually, as an assertion o f bygone but recoverable supremacy in th e realm of

22


intellect and soul . And to thousan ds of Indians this is anar ticle of faith . Far from being conscious of any drawbackof race,

they hold themselves a chosen people, th e depositories from of old of all th e highest wisdom of t h e wor ld .

In this belief,moreover, they are encouraged and estab

lish ed by plenty of Western testim ony . F or instance, th eCentral Hindu Co llege at Benar es , founded by an Englishwoman and (until recently) contro lled by an Englishman ,

publishes An Elementary Text—Book of Hi nd u Religi on and

Eth ics, on th e second pag e of which th e novice is assuredthat

N o o ther Reli gion has produced so many great m en—greatteachers , great wr it ers , great sages , great saints , great kings , greatwarri ors , great statesm en , great benefactors , great patr iots .

I t would be easy t o quote scores of testimonials to alike effect , from Western as well as Eastern sources , Oftencombined with vague allusions t o a po litical Golden Age,

at som e undetermined point in th e misty regions of Indianan tiquity . One need scarcely add that these crude st imu

lants t o national self-esteem are greedily swallowed ,with

such effects as crude stim ulan ts are usually apt t o produce .

I f we clear our minds of unreasoning prej udice on th e one

hand and visionary sentim entality on th e o ther,we shall

arrive without too much difficulty at th e plain truth of th e

matter . Th e Indian races,take them all round , are no t

low,but very high races . They are not black m en as

th e negro is black , but sunburnt white m en .

* Colour is anaccident in India in Afr ica , and Afro -Am er ica, it marks aradical difference . In som e districts of India there is, no

doubt, a slight negroid infusion , but it is scarcely moreinfluential than th e negro id infusion in Europe . A largepart of t h e Indian people is adm ittedly of th e sam e stock asourselves but I am not claim ing any necessary superiority

Recent research is said to discountenance t h e idea that th e heat oft h e sun has anyt hi ng t o d o wi th dark pigm entation . Nature,

in thatcase, seem s to have taken some trouble to put us on a wrong scent .

23


for th e Aryan brother . It is pretty clear that m any of

t h e races whom th e Aryans found in possession of India,and with whom they intermingled, m ust have been near ly,if not quite, their equals in racial development . At anyrate

,it does not seem possible, at t h e present day

,t o

declar e t h e presum able Aryan a better man than th e presumable Dravidi an . There is no part of India which doesnot produce a considerable percentage of notably fine m en

fine in stature,in features

,in facial angle,

in physical development— and is there any country in Europe for which alarger claim can be advanced ? Th e m ilitary pagean ts o frecent years have m ade Londoners familiar with th e

magnificent specim ens of hum anity wh o abound in our

Sikh,Punj abi

, Raj put, Maratha,‘Pathan regim ents ; but

these might be assum ed t o be picked men . They were, nodoubt , exceptional in th e sense that they were well fed andathletically trained ; but th e raw material of such m en

abounds in every Indian village . As for th e women of

India,is not their grace proverbial ? In th e North (under

Muhammadan influence,I presume) they Often contrive

t o conceal it by wearing hideous trousers but in th e Southevery girl wh o dr apes herself in h er sar i , and goes forth t ot h e well with h er shining brass pitcher on h er head, is amodel for either sculptor or painter— perfect in contour

,

brilliant and yet harmonious in colouring . It is true thattheir grace is short-lived, and that they age before theirtime but it is also true that th e children whom they carryastride on their hips are Often divinely beautiful . Physically

,then—whenever their circum stances are such as t o

give them a fair chan ce of developm ent— th e peoples of

Indi a stand high among th e races of th e world . They standhigh in stature,

proportion , power, dignity, delicacy ; and— j udged by th e highest standards known t o us— theyo ften excel in beauty . Som e of t h e noblest types of manhood I have ever seen were—O r rather are— Indians .Even if all you say be true, th e reader may Obj ect

,

you refer only t o physique ; and th e place of a people24


nation , if such a nation is ever to exist in any true sense o f

t h e word . Look at th e life of th e villages, th e fields , t h e

bazaars study th e crowds at railway-stations,at bathing

ghats, at places of pilgrimage ; and you canno t but feelnearer t o barbarism than in any other country that makest h e slightest pretence to civilization . It is not wholly or

mainly a question of caste . Th e depressed castes ,”

indeed, are very depressed but t h e stranger does not withany certainty recognize caste distinctions . Many of th e

personages wh o strike one as most barbarous are,in fact

,

Brahm ins and from some of th e scenes in which barbar ismis rampant , pariahs and untouchables are fiercelyexcluded . I t may be an open question whether this senseo f m elancholy backwardness is j ustified ,

and whether it is ,as some maintain

,in great part an illusion d ue t o Western

prej udice . But even those wh o take up this position mustsurely have m oments of oppression and dism ay in viewingth e sheer multitudinousness of th e Indian populace . Theseswarming myr iads

,vegetating , and content t o vegetate,

under th e dominion of noxious traditions and grotesquesuperstitions— by what magical influence are they or theirchildren ’s children t o be rendered capable of self-conscious ,self-respecting national life ? By education ? Yes, thatis th e ‘sole resource . But in h ow many years or centuriescan education undo th e work of enervating, soul-sappingm illennium sThis

,then ,

is my reading of th e racial status of t h e Indianpeople . Fundam entally they are inferior t o none ; but along chain of prehistoric and historic circum stances , ultim ately traceable t o geographical conditions , has reducedth e m asses t o a condition of stagnant barbarism , and t h e

classes t o an even less desirable state of inveterately selfsat isfied pseudo-civilization

,which m ust be radically

am ended before India can reasonably aspire t o take h erplace on a footing of equality among t h e nations of th e world .

Far from being th e m ost favoured region of th e earth , assentimental patriotism is fond of asserting, India has been ,

. 26


from th e very dawn o f histo ry ,among th e most unfortunate .

That is th e key t o h er past and h er present it is by realizingthat , and str iving t o repai r h er misfortunes , not by talkabout reviving a m ythical Golden Age,

* that h er sons andh er syrnpath izers can hasten th e coming of a united and

(so t o speak) an adult India . I f it be asked whether th eBritish rule is t o be placed to th e account of good or of evilfortune, th e answer must be paradoxical and yet (I think)obvious . It is—or at any rate we trust it will prove t o bean extraordinary piece o i good fortune ; but at th e sametime it is t h e outcome and final evidence of no less extraordinary ill-fortune . That country m ust be hapless indeedof which it can be said that t h e best thing that could possiblybefall it was a protracted period of foreign domination ;yet all reasonable Indians adm it that , whatever may bet h e shortcomings of th e Brit ish rule,

this is th e truth of th e

matter . I f India will but realize th e imm ense leeway sh e

has t o m ake up,and take patient , strenuous advantage

of th e opportunity for doing so afforded h er by t h e Britishrule; sh e may one day com e t o date th e dawn of h er regeneration from th e Battle of Plassey .

But I have strayed away from my immedi ate theme :t h e high racial potentialities of India , contrasted with itsactual state of degradation . By way of bringing t h e con

There have been two per iods, o f a lit tle over a century each , whent h e greater par t of India was at any rate nom inally united under Indianrulers, and when som e approach t o good governm ent seem s t o have beenat tained . T h e Maurya Em pire covered t h e thir d century B C. and t h eGupta Empire , r oughly speaking , t h e four th century A .D . T h e ear lierperiod ,

described by M egasth enes , produced a real ly gr eat m onarch int h e person o f Asoka , and is cer tainly t h e nearest approach t o an I ndianGo lden Age o f which we have any record . Much less is known o f th e

later period . Indeed , its greatest figure, Sarnud ragup ta, has left no tracei n wr it ten records, his history having to be pieced together from inscr iptionsand co ins . But even if we take t h e m ost rom antic view of t h e civilizationof these m isty em pires ,” i t is obvious that they lacked one impor tantelem ent of po litical well-being—nam ely, stability . They were transitorygleam s in a dark and stormy internal history, constantly diver sified byforeign invasion“

27

INDIA AND THE FUT URE

trast home to th e reader , let m e jot down two impressionsthat cam e t o me imm ediately before and immediately afterI first set foot on Indian soil .

Ceylon is not India , but may be called its vestibule or

outer court ; and Co lombo swarms with Indians o f m anytribes and castes , from Pathans of t h e north t o Tam ilspeaking people of th e south . Coming from Japan andChina

,I spent a few days in Colombo ,

and noted on t h e

one hand th e white people around m e at my hotel , on th e

o ther hand t h e brown types I encountered in th e streets .

And quite sincerely— without -th e slightest tinge o f pre

conceived theory or paradox— I found myself alm ost blushing for my race . These Orientals , with their noble carriage ,

their dignity and distinction , seemed incom parably t h e finerbreed of m en . I d o not mean th e Sinhalese, but m oreparticularly t h e Indian immigrants . One saw sinisterfaces

,one saw fanatical faces , one saw heavy and rather

stupid faces , but not one of t h e unfinished , shapeless ,potato-faces so common in a European .crowd —so comm onin t h e crowd at my hotel . I must confess that

,for som e

reason or other , that crowd was an exceptionally insignificant set o i people . As I looked round t h e dining-room of

an evening ,and saw t h e dapper little m en in their dinner

j acket uniform,and th e overdressed or underdressed women

,

chattering about t h e day ’s racing or t h e m orrow ’s hockey,

and complacently listening t o t h e imbecile j ingles groundout by t h e band— I could not but ask myself by whatpossible ri ght we posed as a superior race. Outside, inth e streets

,I had seen Shylock ,

I had seen Othello , I hadseen Sohrab and Rustum ,

I had seen a hundred stately andimpressive figures . I had even seen two or three m en

wh o m ight have sat t o a realistic painter as models forChri st—no t , o f course

,th e bland and lymphatic Saviour

of pictorial convention ,but th e Olive-browed , coal-eyed

Enthusiast of historic probability . Surely‘

i t was a strange28

TWO S IDES T O THE RACIAL MEDAL

topsy-turvyd om that reckoned th e races which had prod uced these figures essentially inferior t o t h e trivial m ob

around me— d evoid of dignity, devoid of originality,devoid

of earnestness , all cut t o one dull pattern,all living up t o

th e ideals of th e vulgarest sport ing papers , t h e only literature t o which they appeared addicted .

I d o not attribute any evidential value t o this somewhatsplenetic mood . I own that it never recurred with equalstrength in India itself, where,

take them all round ,th e

sahibs look like sahibs in whatever environm ent they maybe placed . They are o ften by no m eans such fine m en

as the Indians around them but they and their forefathersfor many generations have lived an intenser , a larger, asaner life,

and it has left its imprint on their features . Ispeak particularly of th e m en in t h e upper grades of th e

services,wh o are

,in a very real sense, picked m en while

my fellow-soj ourners at t h e Colombo hotel were (I knownot why) distinctly below t h e fair British average .

Perhaps , t oo ,my keen admiration for th e Indian types t o

be seen in Ceylon was partly t o be traced t o my recentrecollections of th e Japanese and Chinese, whose warm estadmirers wi ll scarcely claim for them great dignity of carriage or nobility of feature . I adm it , in short , that thisearly impression of positive physical superiority in th e

races o f India is subj ect t o a good deal of discount but Inote it for what it is worth . Oddly enough , th e one placewhere it definitely recurred t o m e was Calcutta . Th e

physical type of t h e average Bengali as you meet him int h e streets— tall , bare-headed ,

with his toga-like garm entlightly draped around h im— seemed t o m e remarkablydistinguished .

Now take another impression of only two days later.From Colombo t o Tuticorin you cross in a night and th eearly afternoon finds you in th e city of Madura

,fam ous for

its giant temple. Th e railway platform and all t h e purlieusof th e station are densely thronged with pilgrims

,a motley,

scantily-attired , clamorous throng . Each fam ily group


has its rope-tied bundle, its brass water—j ar and simplecooking utensils . Some are rushing aimlessly aboutothers squatting patiently to awai t a train which may not

be d ue, perhaps , till next day others , and these are many ,

have stretched themselves on th e ground , here, there andeverywhere, and are blissfully asleep , without even a pillowfor their heads . Th e first thing you learn in India, especiallyin Southern India , is that you must walk warily for fear of

treading upon a slumbering fellow-citizen . But what isit that gives th e crowd such a strange and savage aspect ?

Unless you are prepared for it (as I was no t ) you almostgasp as you realize that everyone has his or h er foreheaddaubed with some garish device, for all th e world like th ewar-paint of th e Indians of th e West . But this is not warpaint

,it is religi on-paint . One commonly sees these

devices alluded t o as caste-marks , but that they are no t ,at least as a general rule . They are sect-marks—m marks

of devotion t o one or other deity of th e swarming Hindupantheon . Many m en— perhaps most— have a

_huge

trident plastered on their foreheads one red prong betweentwo whi te . This is th e trifala,

th e mark of a Vaish navi te—a devotee of Vishnu . Th e devotees of Siva, at Maduraat any rate, wear a comparatively chaste and unobtrusivedevice— a large round spot of bright carmine. But t h edaubs and blotches are endless in their variety—I nevermastered th e significance of more than two or three of them .

Some people go about with three horizontal stripes of redor yellow across th e whole breadth of their foreheads .

Others wear two narrow vertical lines Of verm ilion with awhite spot between them . Some wear a lozenge, others -a

triangle, others a circle with a spot in its centre. Th e

sect-marks of th e women are generally less obtrusive thanthose of th e men , and t h e wearing of sect-marks at all seemst o be on th e decline in Northern India . But in th e Southit is practically universal, and it gives t o th e people a strangeair of savagery combined with fanaticism . No doubt thisdoes them some injustice ; for , fanatics though they be,

30

A T em ple Elephan t. T r i ch i no po ly .

"To lace p. 31 .


pended ,th e o ther half being in th e other ear . And som e

times t h e same woman will wear in h er nose either a goldring three or four inches in di ameter or a sort of aigretteo f pearls and rubies drooping over th e left side of h er upperlip and com ing well over t h e m outh . Not all women ,

o f

course,wear so much gold as this no t all bedeck both nose

and ears but it seemed t o m e in Madura that all wom en ,

down t o th e very hum blest , had either silver or gold pendantsor attachments , either in nose or ears

,and generally of

m onstrous size . I have seen little girls of t en or twelvewith clusters of silver hoops in thei r ears that must haveweighed nearly as much as their heads .

But stay"not all women are so decorated . You see inSouthern India not a few whose ear—lobes are monstrouslyexpanded , so as t o consist of a mere strip of cartilage rounda hole three or four inches long

,but wh o have nothing at

all t o fill th e holes , their hoops and bars and ingots havingall vanished away . I presume they are for t h e m ost partwidows

,whose finery has been confiscated by their deceased

husband ’s relatives but they m ay also be married womenwh o have gone bankrupt and been forced t o part with theirtreasures— t o live upon their capital . In any case, theyare pathetic spectacles .Th e south of India is more extravagant than t h e north in

th e variety and weight of its adornments ; but huge ear

hoops and more or less elaborate nose-jewels are commoneverywhere . Now I d o not forget t h e parable of t h e moteand th e beam , and ‘I grant that a traveller from India mightfind many relics of barbarism in European fashions o f

feminine adornment , for som e of which I have not a word t osay . But I submit that it is no mere local prej udice whichholds a nose-j ewel fit only for savages , and which sees allt h e difference in t h e world between a featherweight pendantat th e ear and a golden dumb-bell which drags t h e lobealmost down t o th e shoulder . Even t h e pendant seems t om e an undesirable survival , and I imagine that th e civilizedwoman of th e future will reject all such ornament . But

32


no array of arguments’

of t h e tu quoque type can altert h e fact that th e boast ed civilization of India has leftits women ,

in their use Of jewellery , at a very primitivestage of development . Their innate grace and nobility ofcarriage bear testimony t o splendi d racial potentialities ;but in this matter of personal adornment they have stoodstill for a thousand years . And th e nose-ring , it needscarcely be added , is not only an obtrusive fact , but asymbol of profound significance .

Discussing caste-m arks and nose-r ings , we have not yet

go t beyond t h e platform of t h e Madura station . If wefollow t h e stream of pilgrims

,five minutes ’ walk will

br ing us to a street at t h e further end of which towers oneof th e huge gopuras of t h e temple . Th e gopura is a gatewaysurmounted by a wedge-shaped tower, 1 50 feet high ;and

,as you approach it , you see that th e whole surface

o f th e tower is one mass of human or quasi-human figures,

ranged in hor izontal rows . They are mitred ,hawk-faced

figures,wasp-waisted , and posed in a sort of affected prane

ing attitude,so that they are not only grotesque,

butvaguely suggest some sort of sophistication or corruption .

Th e m ai n figures are,I fancy

,something over life—size ;

and there are numberless subsidiary figures around them .

Whether they ar e in high relief or absolutely in th e round,

I canno t say but th e relief,if relief there be, is certainly

very high . Th e m aterial , I take it , is some sort of terracotta ; t h e general colouring a reddish yellow . I tried t ocount th e figures on a sm all section of t h e tower

,but found

it quite im possible ; at a rough guess , I should say thaton one gopura alone there m ust be well over a thousand .

In th e distance, its m ere m ass is impressive close at handit is no longer im pressive, but oppressive in th e highestdegree . This senseless reduplication to infinity of one

m incing , prancing figure produces an indescr ibably nightm are-like effect ‘and what can be said for it

,from th e po int

of View either of ar t or-of religion , I , for my part , cannotconceive . Wh o th e figures represent I am not sure ;

33


they may be guardians of th e temple,they m ay be Gand

harvas, they m ay be Siva himself . I forgot t o mentionthat

,t o th e best of my belief, they have either four or six

arms apiece at least , if these particular figures have not ,

they strangely depart from t h e usual type . It may seemod d that my m em ory should be uncertain on such a pointbut where all is monstrous , a few extra arms or heads arem ere details that easily escape attention . And here

,

assuredly,all was monstrous

,from th e general conception

of th e gateway t o th e smallest subsidiary figure . I hadseen fragments of such monstrosity before, in museumssuch as that of Mexico City, where are preserved t h e relicsof extinct barbarism s . But t o com e face to face withit on so enorm ous a scale—not fragmentary

,not under

a glass case, but towering under t h e open sky,an adj unct

t o a living cult , a going concern —this was an exper iencewhich positively took my breath away .

* Does it showgross ignorance on my part that I should have come uponit unprepared ? Was t h e reader, by chance, better inform ed There are thousands of Europeans in India itselfwh o know nothing of th e wonder and th e horror of thesegreat temples of th e South .

Yes, t h e horror— that is th e only word for it . I d onot m ean that nowadays any particular horrors are per

pet rated in th e grim recesses of these giant fanes . I d ono t know that at any tim e they were t h e scenes of greatcruelty or other abom inations , though certainly they presentth e completest m i se—en-sce

‘

ne for such excesses j' What I

Pierre Lo ti calls these gopuras pyram ids o f gods, and says : L ’inconcevable abus d u d etai l inquiete au tant que l’exces d e la m asses Tou tce qu'on croyait savoir , tout cc que d es féeries , d es spectacles, avaientcru reproduire, est é tonnamm ent surpassé .

1” Sir Alfred Lyall wr ites in his Asi at ic S tud i es, Vol. I . ( 1 882 ) T h e

m ore cruel and indecent r ites of Brahm anism have hither to owed theirreform ation pr incipally t o ordinances o f t h e English police, wh o havesuppressed suicide,

self-m utilation, and o ther unsightly or imm odes tspectacles . Our po lice drag people ffom under Jagannath’s car ,

and fine th e whole township if a man kills or m utilates him self. Human34

F rom S tereo Copyr i gh t by" "Underwood (5 Underwood.Ga teways (G o puras ) i n th e T em ple. Madura .

"To face p. 34

TWO S IDES T O THE RACIAL MEDAL

d o know is that,from t h e corner-stone t o t h e coping Of

t h e highest gopura, they are t h e product of gloom y, perverted,m orbidly overwrought im aginations

,revelling in th e m ost

extravagant features of th e m ost m onstrous of all mythologies . This temple of Madura is by no means t h e Oldes to f its kind it dates

,for th e m ost part

,from th e sixteenth

and seventeenth centuries . It is not th e largest,though to

m ake its circuit you have t o walk a good m ile . But iteas ily surpasses th e others I have seen—T r ichinopoly andTanj ore— in its labyrinthine gloom . As you pass alongits lofty corridors , between m ono lith granite pillars carvedinto all sorts Of fantastic shapes

, you can readily im agineyourself in N ineveh or Babylon three thousand year s ago .

And on every hand,in its swarming courts and alcoves

,

you see th e lowest fetichism intent on its grovelling rites .

Here is a huge elephant-headed ido l—Ganesh,t h e God

of Luck—shining as though freshly black- leaded,because

his devotees keep h im constantly anointed with gh ee

(clarified butter) and o ther unguents . Yonder is a bando f wom en decking with flowers t h e lingarn,

an emblem of

procreation , known ,indeed , t o m ost prim itive cults

,but

surviving unabashed (so far as I am aware) in India alone .

In th e sacred water of a great green tank,surrounded with

co lonnades (th e one feature of t h e tem ple whi ch can byany stretch of language be called beautiful) m en an d womenare washing away their sins : but where is t h e fire-hosethat ought t o be turned on them t o wash away t h e filtho f t h e sacred tank ? In t h e neighbourhood of t h e

Ho ly o f Ho lies , a half—naked group o f shaven-headedBrah mins are squatting on t h e ground ,

twining t h e thread

sacrifices are sti ll perpetrated under t h e cloaks o f m yster ious , unaccoun table m ur der s . Here t h e wr i ter is probably thi nking o f sacr ifices to

Obscur e deit i es of t h e village or t h e j ungle. I have heard no thi ng t o

connect t h e great temples of Sou thern Indi a with any such practices .But one canno t but wonder h ow m uch t h e po lice knows of what goeson in t h e dark pene tral ia o f these labyr inths of stone, jealously guardedagains t intrusion on t h e par t of low-cas te or cas teless persons , whetherIndian or European .

35


that m arks their twice-born caste,and discussing

(let us hope) som e of those m etaphysical m ysteries thatare believed .t o under lie th e allegories of Hinduism .

Not far off, a long wall is covered with m iniature frescoes ,old and new

,childish in drawing, crude in co lour , illustrating

various grotesque and horrible, but doubtless edifying,

legends . Th e only one I remember depicted th e impalingo f certain Jain heretics . I did not know before whatimpaling m eant , and t h e reader will d o wisely not t o

inquire . That there were any actual Obscenities in t h e

frescoes I cannot aver ; but th e carving of several of t h epillars represented unspeakable aberrations of sensualim agery, which th e guide pointed out with modest satisfaction .

* Th e atmosphere of t h e whole vast buildingwas heavy with t h e em anations of cows

,t h e scent of

camphor,and t h e sickly sm ell of decaying m ar igo lds and

o ther flowers . F or it is th e dom inant characteristic OfHinduism

,not in th e South alone,

that whatever it touchesit soils . Flowers enter largely into its r itual

,but I have

never seen them used with t h e sm al lest sense o f beauty .

Gen erally, as here at Madura, they are left rotting around,

bedraggled and faded,like torn bouquets on an ash-h eap j

These carvings were, no doubt , som e three centur ies old ; but inano ther tem ple of t h e South I saw a quite new Jagannath Car , stil l undert h e hands o f t h e ar tis t , one panel at leas t of which represented a revo l tingobscenity .

T Lest i t be thought that I have achieved t h e impossible and ex

aggerat ed th e hugeness and t h e squalor o f th e temple at Madura, I appenda page from Pierre Lo ti’s m aster ly descr iption o f i t 1 1 fau t renoncera comprendre par quels chem ins les pretres m e menent dans le dédaled es vofites . A m esure que nous avancons , tout m e sem ble plus écrasante t plus surhum ain tout es t bati a coup d e blocs d e plus en plus énorm es .Les dieux a vingt bras , les dieux au geste co lossal e t m u ltiple , pullulentdans l ’ombre ; je m ar che comm e en reve dans le pays d es géantse t d es épouvantes . Toujour s d e plus prodigieuses sculptures , touj our splus d e m agnificence , e t en m em e tem ps plus d ’

incur i e barbare, plusd

’

imm ond ices. Vo ici une galerie consacrée a Ganesa , le dieu a t ét e

d’

éléph ant , dont la m onstrueuse personne s’

éclaire par en dessous a lalueur d e quelques lum ignons fum eux brfilan t a ses pieds, sous sa trom pe .

Voi ci dans un recoin farouche, en pleine nuit une fam ille paresseuse36


eight hours before ,o f th e racial superio rity o f th e Oriental .

My present feeling was very like that of th e hero of LocksleyHall

F or I hold t h e grey barbar ian lower than th e Chr ist ian child .

Barbarian , barbarism , barbarous— I am sorry t o harpso m uch on these words . But they express th e essence of

t h e situation . Th e potentially noble peoples of Indiahave, by an age

-old concatenation of inauspicious circumstances , been baulked of adequate opportunity of development , and arrested in a condition o f barbarism . There are

,

of course, m any thousands of individual s wh o have risenand are r ising above it ; but th e plain truth concerningt h e m ass of t h e population —and not th e poorer classesalone— is that they are not civi li zed people. Th e tokens ofbarbarism in m anners and religion on which I have beendwelling are, indeed ,

superficial . They m ight conceivablycover

,if not a highly developed ,

at least a healthy andprogressive social state . But it need scarcely be said thatthis is not t h e case even th e strange Europeans wh o are

attracted by Hinduism as a religion are but half—heartedin their defence of t h e social institutions associated with it .

Th e m ore we look into it , t h e m ore clear ly d o we realizethat these institutions have spelt disaster for th e peoplesof India .

No intelligent Hindu would contest this statem ent,

though many,if not all

,would contend for a soul of goodness

in Hinduism . Perhaps they are r ight . _ At all eventsthey are probably wise in attempting t o base their effortsat reform on t h e conservation of whatever elem ents o f

good they can find in th e national traditions . Thesereform ing m ovem ents are in m any ways adm irable anddeserving of all sym pathy ; but th e task before them isdishearteningly huge . It seem s t o m e m anifest beyond allargum ent that India m ust at least be well advanced towardssocial salvation before sh e can dream of attaining a stablepolitical organization

,unbuttressed from without . I f

38


circumstances enabled h er to throw off British rule beforet h e leaven of social reform had thoroughly permeatedh er system , sh e would simply add a crowning calam ityt o th e long series of which h er history consists . Anotherrecent observer, not t o be suspected of British bias ,* h asnoted in th e following term s th e contrast between racialpotentialities and actual development , which I have beentrying t o illustrate in th e present chapter

Som e o f t hese dark people ,

"h e wri tes , “ have t h e faces and t h e

por t and carriage of power ; but i t is hollow ,t h e shadow of an

inher i tance,no t t h e real substance . I t is as t hough t h e m asks o f

warr iors and sages were walking about unt enant ed . T h e characterand power have becom e exhausted

,leaving t h e husk o f a great

civilizat ion gone t o seed .

’ 2

This is a picturesque image,but

,in my view ,

scarcelya j ust one. There never was a great civilization inIndia but there must have been ,

i n t h e epic ages , a splendidbarbarism . In t h e course of hapless centuries , it sank intot h e Hinduism we see t o-day but t h e survival in so large a

m easure of th e noble physical characteristics of t h e racewarrants t h e hope that t h e development , arrested so manyages ago , may be successfully resumed ,

and,once fairly

under way , may proceed with great rapid ity . That is anoptim istic View but there are moments when one can holdt o it without t oo much effort .

Pryce Co llier Th e West i n the East, from an Amer ican poi nt of view,

p . 332 .

39

THE UNITY OF IND IA

IT is t h e fashion t o preface all accounts o f India withth e statement that it is no t one country but a sub

continent,and t o enlarge upon th e diversities of race and

language contained within its boundaries . We are told ,for

instance,that t h e people of India speak one hundred and

forty-seven idioms,reducible t o fifty clearly different lan

guages , which ,again

,belong t o twelve families or types . Th e

Abbé Dubois , though his travels did not extend beyond t h esouthern third of t h e country ,

tells us that A carefulobserver would see less resemblance between a Tamil and aCanarese,

between a Telugu and a Maratha , than between aFrenchm an and an Englishm an

,an Italian and a German .

It would indeed be a very careless observer wh o should failt o note th e difference betw een t h e Bengali and th e Baluchof Sind

,t h e Madrasi and t h e Rajput .

Th e implied and often explicit deduction from thesefacts is that India is incapable of unity unless it be imposedon h er from without . But this is a dogm a which demandscareful scrutiny .

To t h e naked eye, so t o speak , examining t h e map o f

t h e world , India seems rather conspicuously ageographicalunit . Sh e holds in Asia a position curiously analogous t othat of Italy in Europe sh e is t h e midm ost of three southward-stretching peninsulas sh e has a great island attachedt o h er t oe and h er northern river-plains are bastioned bya gigantic mountain range, th e highest in t h e continent .

40

THE UN ITY OF IND IA

We now hold Italy beyond all question a natural unit butlittle more than half a century ago ,

theorists were declaringthat sh e could never be one that h er people were a hotchpotch of invading races ; that th e Neapolitan could no t

understand t h e Venetian , th e Calabrian th e Piedmontese ;and that local j ealousi es would always frustrate th e purelyfactitious aspiration towards unity . Events have shownthat th e centripetal forces were immensely stronger thanth e centrifugal , and that geographi cal uni ty meant muchmore than t h e theorists were willing t o allow . May it notprove so in India as wellEncircled as sh e is by seas and mountains , writes

Mr . Vincent A . Smith, India is indisputably a geographicalunit , and as such , is rightly designated by one name. Her

type of c1vilizat ion , too , has many features which different iate it from that o f all other regions o f th e world ,

whilethey are common t o th e whole country , or rather continent ,in a degree sufficient to j ustify its treatment as a unit inth e history of t h e social , religious and intellectual development of mankind .

Sir Alfred Lyall writes to th e same effect : Althoughth e Ind ians are broken up into diversities of race and language, they are as a whole not less distinctly marked off

from th e rest of Asia by certain materi al and moral characterist ics, than their country is by th e mountains and th esea. Th e component parts of that great country hangtogether, physically an d politically there is no more roomfor two irreconcilable systems of government than in Persia,China or Asiatic Turkey . Sir Alfred is here accountingfor t h e failure of England’s perfectly sincere and repeatedefforts to check th e spread of h er dominion over th e wholegeographi cal area— t o lay down for h er proconsuls a thusfar and no further . But from th e fact that India couldnever be atp eace save under one rule, it does not necessarilyfollow that that rule must forever be a foreign one.

I am disposed t o think— though on this point th e historians give us no very clear guidance—that India’s chi ef

41 3


m isfortune may be found to have lain in th e very factof h er indisputable unity, coupled with h er huge andunwieldy size . Every potentate, native or foreign

, wh o

achieved a certain measure of strength within h er borders ,was irresistibly tempted t o extend his sway over th e wholearea . Owing t o th e lack o f strong natural frontiers , h emight find no great diffi culty in nom inally subduing a vastextent of country ; but effective occupation was adifferent matter and still more impossible was permanentorganization under one central control . Thus empires roseand fell t o pieces again like waves in a tumbling sea. Therewas no political rest or stability and m en ,

unable t o attainany national cohesion or organization ,

fell back upon thatcaste cohesion which has proved so disastrous t o healthydevelopment .It m ight have been a great deal better for India if h er

geographical unity had not been so incontestable—i f sh e

had been broken up into clearly-marked states of manageable size,

within whose natural frontiers nations mightgradually have differentiated , while they defended withpatriotic spirit their own territory and institutions . Asit is

,this region ,

as large as all Europe minus Russia hasno predestinate and easily defensible internal partiti ons .Rivers are nowhere a good frontier and least of all in India,where so m any of them dwindle i n th e dry season into am ere trickle from pool t o pool . Th e Vindhya mountains

,

though they clearly mark off th e Indo-Gangetic plain fromth e southern table-land

, are not comparable,as a strategic

frontier, t o th e Alps or t h e Pyrenees ; and t h e hills o f

Raj putana, t h e fantastic outcrops of th e Deccan , rarely

encompass what may be called definite and convenien tkingdoms . They make fine fortresses , but poor barriers .

Th e strips o f coast country east and west of th e Ghats aret oo narrow t o form strong poli tical units . We see, as amatter of fact

,that th e districts into which India was

divided before th e British rule,were always vague and

fluctuating . Many of th e names were purely regional,42

THE UN ITY OF INDIA

with no distinct political sign ificance— such as th e Malabarcoast , t h e Coromandel coast , t h e Deccan , even th e Punj ab .

Raj putana was parcelled out among clans whose frontierswere,

for th e most part,arbitrary and unsettled . Many

of th e existing provinces and native states were adm inis

t rat ive di visions of th e Moghul Empire,with about as much

geographical individuality as may be claimed for Norfolk ,Suffolk and Essex . It is true that when Lord Curzon ,

presuming upon th e fluctuating quality of India’s internalfrontiers , decreed th e partition of Bengal, h e rai sed a h ornets ’ nest about his ears but that was th e outcome of anew spirit with which h e declined t o reckon ,

begotten of

British rule. As Sir Thomas Hold em ess observes : AnIndian province is not what we mean by a nation ,

thoughit tends t o create a provincial spirit which is not far removedfrom national life .

It is a little difficult t o see why , with this absence of

natural frontiers and feeble development of national life,

there should be such great di versity of language in India .

That th e Aryan languages should fail t o oust t h e Dravidianand other aboriginal tongues is comprehensible enough ;but why did th e Aryan speech itself break up into so manywidely different idioms ? Why is there one language inRussia , one language (even though its dialects differ widely)in China , and more than two score distinct languages inIndia I d o not know that this striking difference has everbeen explained .

But th e tragic paradox of India’s fate is this : sh e isunified by that which at th e same time divides and en

feebles h er . Over all h er kindreds , peoples , tribes andtongues , except a few lingering savages in h er mountainsand a few emancipated fo lk in h er modern cities , th e greatinstitution of Caste holds sway, and has done so from tim e

alm ost (though not quite) immemorial . Even t h e

Muhammadans,whose religion is theoretically equalitarian

,

have caught from H induism th e contagion of caste as th eHindus

,whose religion does not require th e seclusion o f

43 3”

INDIA AND THE,

FUTURE

women ,have been confirm ed by Islam in th e purdah habit .

Hapless, indeed , is th e country which instinctively fastensupon whatever is worst in its contending religions , andmakes it a rule of life .

Thi s is not t h e place t o discuss th e merits an d demeritsof caste . I merely point out that an institution whi chnowhere else in th e world exists in anything like th e sameform ,

has ruled for somethi ng like three thousand yearsthroughout t h e length and breadth of India . It sprang ,perhaps , as above suggested , from t h e absence of nationallife and , once established , it effectually barred t h e development of national life. Not country, but caste, was , and ingreat measure still is, th e object of loyalty . Under th edominance of caste , every community is di vided againstitself . Th e very idea of a common-weal is excluded whereone social stratum would di sdain t o have anything , whetherweal or woe, in common with another . Therefore,

as apatriotic Indi an writer* points out t h e vernaculars of Indiapossess no single simple word t o express th e idea o f

patriotism . One result of contact with t h e Occident hasbeen th e development of this feeling ,

”

so that th e dialectsnow possess specially coined terms for it . Caste,

then , goesfar t o explain India’ s lack of political cohesion and powerof resistance t o foreign conquest . Nevertheless , even acommon vice forms , in its way, a bond of union . Caste is avice whi ch affects India , all India and— in its extremedevelopment— nothing but Indi a . Its tyranny will have t obe broken before Indi a can become a nation among othermodern nations but th e very struggle against it

,affecting

as it does all regions and all classes , is th e mark of a real ,indefeasible unity . Wh en caste is nothi ng but a memory

,

it will be a memory common t o all India , in which th e restof th e world will have no share.

So , t oo , with religion, of whi ch , indeed , caste is littlemore than an offshoot . It is true that there are two religions in India , and that their antagonism is supposed to

Saint Nihal S ingh in th e Hi ndustan Revi ew. Decem ber , 1 9 1 2 .

44


He takes pride in it as th e literature of India : j ust asth e educated Hindu reckons t h e Taj and Fatehpur Sikriamong th e glories

,no t of Muslim , but of Indian archi

tecture. In short , t h e fact that India has in Hinduisman indigenous and extremely ancient religion, absolutelypeculiar t o herself, is in no way cancelled by th e fact thatabout a quarter of th e population have, in comparativelyrecent centuries

,become di ssenters from it . Hinduism is ,

and will remain,a mighty bond of union . There is nothing

local or parochial in its spirit . To th e Hindu o f allprovinces

,his Motherland is th e seat of holiness , t h e chosen

home of righteousness , th e land of t h e seven sacred rivers,

th e place t o which sooner or later,must come all souls

in quest of God .

After my account of th e temple at Madura and of th e

sacrifice t o Kali,I shall scarcely be suspected of an ex

aggerated esteem for Hindu ritual . In another chapter,I

shall have t o go further and confess t o t h e gravest doubtsas t o th e supreme value of H indu philosophy, and, ingeneral

,as t o th e spiritual genius which Hindus are fond

of claim ing for themselves,and which we Westerners , I

cannot help thinking,t oo lightly adm it . Sti ll more bereti

cally, perhaps , I shall h ave t o inquire whether t h e greatepics

, th e Mahabharata and th e Ram ayana, are, in fact ,wholesome mental sustenance for a people which aspirest o play an independent part in t h e drama of th e future,upon th e stage of th e real world . But whatever may beour private doubts as t o th e value of Indian literature,especially in relation to th e problem s of th e com ing age,

there is no t t h e least question that India does possess aliterature of imm ense historic interest, t o which m anygreat scholars

,and some great critics , have assigned a

Very high rank am ong th e literatures of th e wor ld . We

are assured, t oo ,

that th e influence of this literature hasfiltered down through th e whole mass of th e people —thatt h e m ost illiterate

,fetish-worshipping peasant is conver

sant with lofty spiritual ideas,and (more credibly) that

46

S tereograph by"Th e G rea t Ga teway (Buland Darwaza". Fa teh pur S ikr i .

"To face 17. 47.

THE UN ITY OF IND IA

h e is familiar with th e doughty deeds of th e Pan d us , andwith th e romantic fortunes of Rama and Sita . As t o th edepth of his metaphysics I remai n unconvinced ; butthere is no doubt that all Indians are conscious of havingbehind them a great religious and legendary—o r , as theythink

,historic—literature . To th e Brahm ins has been

confided th e care of t h e spiritual treasures left behindby their forefathers

,While t h e loves and exploits of t h e

national heroes have, in one form or another , becomecomm on property . Th e unifying influence of this livingliterary tradition must be apparent ; and it cannot besuppo sed that even low-class Muhamm adans remain quiteoutside it . Many of those wh o ,

in th e Moh urrum , rendth e air with their frenzied shouts of Ya Hasan"YaHosein" are perhaps , in reality ,

m ore intimate withArj una and Krishna than with th e saints of their own

religion .

We see,as a matter of hi storic fact , that no outside

influence is needed t o m ake th e two religions pull fair lywell together . Th e horrors of Muslim conquest and th e

persecutions o f Aurungzebe are things of th e remote past .Before we established ourselves in India, Muham madanprinces ruled over H indu subj ects , and Hindu pr inces overMuhammadan subjects

,with very tolerable im partiality

o f rule or m isrule . And th e same is true in th e nativestates of t o-day

,not merely as a result of British over lord

ship . At no tim e since th e days of Aurungzeb has eitherreligion seriously tried t o overpower and cast out t h e

other . Th e attempt,supposing it possible, would have

been t oo manifestly ruinous and suicidal . That thereshould be friction and occasional rioting between Hinduand Muhammadan is only natural . We have seen ignorantfanaticism lead t o religious faction-figh t s nearer hom e.

Nor is there anything surprising in th e bitter squabblesof th e two creeds over th e loaves and fishes of governmentemploy . Th e greater suppleness an d (as a rule) th e bettereducation of t h e Hindu

,t o say nothing of his num erical

‘

47


superiority, give him an advantage which is naturallygalling t o th e Muhammadan ; while in every preferenceshown t o t h e Muhammadan , th e Hindu is apt t o find con

firm at ion of his belief that th e great maxim of British statecraft is divide and rule . That this maxim has anyconscious weight in our councils I d o not believe . Th e

di ffi culty of holding t h e balance between t h e two per

suasions is no fault of ours , and I believe we try t o holdit true without any ulterior motive . But when Britishoffi cials

,undreaming of any other ideal than th e perpetuity

of th e raj , assure us that cat and d og will never get on

together,” I would not swear but that th e wish may be

father t o th e thought .Cat and d og got on well enough together in 1 857 . It was

not any religious dissension that saved th e sahibs frombeing driven into th e sea.

In one regard, however, it must be admitted that Englandhas in effect

,though not in outward form ,

adopted th e

principle of divide and rule .

” In h er po licy of m aintainingnearly four score native states* under h er suzerainty, sh e

has,not exactly divided , but deliberately abstained from

unifying . Th e rulers of these principalities , large andsmall

, are, as a whole, genuinely loyal to th e Empire,and sincerely oppo sed t o any idea of self-government .They see in British rule (quite j ustly) a conservative force,and they dread and shrink from th e New India, unknown ,

untried,and t o them unimaginable, which is germinating

in th e brains of po litical agitators . In a double sense,

then , th e native states are bulwarks of th e Empire. Theynot only strengthen it in th e present , but they make itdifficult t o conceive t h e place they are to occupy in anynon-autocratic organization of the future . Nor d o theyrender it possible t o d ream of a national autocracy, anIndian Em pire under an Indian Emperor . Not one of

them is , either in historic prestige or in actual wealth andpower, suffi ciently predominant to afford a rallying-pointTheir area is over square m iles , their populationover

48

THE UNITY OF IND IA

for any aspirations o f this order ; and, in fact , no suchaspirations exist . There ar e no Indian Jacobites or Carlists .I t is conceivable,

no doubt , that a United India might chooset o call it self an Empire,

and might enthrone as Emperor oneo f its princes . But if so ,

it wo uld be by reason of som e

personal merit or preponderance, no t of any revival of

historic loyalty .

I f England had incorporated all th e native states withh er own immediate dominions , sh e would have enormouslyfaci litated t h e movement towards national unity . Th e

m ingling of m oderation and astuteness which prevented h erfrom doing so will probably prolong h er rule in India

,

an d that,very likely, t o th e great ultim ate benefit of t h e

country . Th e chief danger which India h as t o fear is t h eprem ature dissolution of h er dependence on Britain . Butt h e obstacle of th e native states cannot for ever bar th eway to unity . T imes change and even maharaj as changewith them . It was a maharaj a wh o

,speaking t o Mr . Pryce

Col lier,hinted at a federation of states under a central

government .

To sum up th e argument of th e present chapter : Indiais one of th e most clearly-marked geographical units int h e world . Nature could scarcely have individualized h erbetter if , instead of a half-island ,

sh e had made h er awhole-island . There is

,indeed, much diversity of race and

language within h er bounds,but that has not hindered a

very marked unity of cul t and custom . All Indians havebeen Indi ans

,and as such

,definitely related t o each other

and distinguished from th e rest of t h e world,for a much

longer time than Englishm en have been English,French

m en French, or Germ ans Germ an . Th e num erous attemptst o translate into terms of political organization t h e geo

graphical unity of th e country have hitherto failed disast rously,

for th e simple reason that t h e country was t oohuge . In th e days when there were few roads and no

rai lways , it was impossible for a central power to ho ld itslieutenants in contro l , and an empire was no sooner formed

49


than it began to disintegrate . But roads, railroads andtelegraphs have changed all that . Th e British rule,

bringingthese things with i t ,* reduced India t o a manageable size .

It has made unity a political as well as a geographical andspiritual fact

,and it has thereby begotten a sentiment of

unity which it is folly t o ridi cule as factitious or denounceas seditious . Why should we dream that th ree hundredmillions of people wh o are, in t h e main ,

able-bodied,and

whom we are honestly, if not t oo efficiently,striving t o

render able-minded, should go on t o th e end of time obeying orders given in a foreign accent ? Why stake our

national prestige on achieving so undesirable a miracle ?Especially when our national glory so obviously lies in th eopposite direction— in th e building up of a united

,self

controlled, virile and responsible India .

Indian m alcontents are apt t o resent such statements as this , on th e

ground that Ind ia would no doubt have had railroads and telegraphseven if Br itish rule had never existed . That is true : European capitalwould no doubt have rushed in t o som e extent , whatever had been t h epo li tical con ditions of t h e country . But th e spread of these m ater ialadj uncts and forerunners o f civilization has been enorm ously facili tatedby t h e unity and peace of th e country ; and unity and peace i t woul dcer tainly no t have had except under Br i tish, or som e o ther external,ru le. And undoubtedly th e necessary capital has been obtained at afar cheaper rate than would have been possible under o ther po li ticalcondi tions.

50


under a cloud : a heaven-born paragon of genius,valour,

piety and learning, wh o has only t o cast off an evil spellin order t o shine forth in t h e eyes of all t h e world

,resplen

dent , incomparable, t h e saviour of t h e human species . Now

t h e evil spell is real enough : another name for it is t h ehistory of India . Th e illusion lies in supposing that t h eraces which have undergone that spell were in any wayspecially favoured at t h e outset , and that t h e ban can belifted in any other way than by a patient and reso lutestruggle gradually t o undo its effects .It cannot be said that India is self-hypnotized into this

illusion .

‘ I have already given one or two specimens of t h eflat teries— or if that word begs t h e question, let us sayeulogies—which have been heaped upon h er by Westernwr iters . These eulogies may be roughly divided into twoclasses those of scholars whose painfully-acquired knowledge o f Sanskrit literature naturally inclines them t o maket h e most of a treasure which has cost them so much ; andthose of a recent school of enthusiasts wh o find in th e

arcana of Hinduism t h e basis of certain esoteric doctrineswhi ch they believe t o be t h e ultimate truths of religion .

Of neither group of eulogists would I be understood t o speakwith disrespect . Certainly not of t h e latter group : Ibelieve that its leader, Mrs . Annie Besant , has done muchgood in India

,and I know that sh e has uttered a great deal

of sound sense on education and other topics . But when itcomes t o making India th e birthplace and home,

not onlyof all spirituality

,but of all science, I can no longer follow

either t h e learned or t h e illuminated .

Listen t o t h e late Colonel H . S . Olcott , lecturing atAmr itsar in 1 880 on Ind ia, P ast, P resent and F uture. Afterclaim ing for t h e Aryans a system of telegraphy withouteither poles , wires or pots of chemicals — in other words , aprobable enough knowledge of telepathy— h e proceeded :

And t hen t h e Aryans— i f we m ay believe t hat good m an t h e

late Bram ach ari Bawa—knew a branch o f science (Viman Vi dya)

52

H INDU SPIRITUALITY

about whi ch th e West is now speculating m uch , but h as learntnext to nothi ng . They could navi gate th e air , and not only navigate but fight batt les in it, like so m any war eagles combating fort h e domi ni on o f t h e clouds . To be perfect in aeronau t ics , as h e

j ustly says , they m ust have known all th e ar ts and sciences relatedto that sci ence, i nclud ing t h e strata and currents of t h e atm osphere,

their relat ive temperature, humi di ty an d density, and t h e spec ificgravity o f t h e vario us gases . At t h e Mayasabh a,

described int h e Bharat a , h e tells u s , were m icros copes , telescopes , clocks,wat ches

,m echanical si ngi ng birds , and art i culatin g and speaki ng

anim als . Th e Ash ta Vi dya—a science of which our m odern pro

fessors have no t even an inklin g—enabled i ts p roficients com pletelyt o des troy an i nvading army by enveloping it in an atm osphereo f po isonous gases filled wi th awe-str iki ng sh adowy shapes ,

andwith awf ul sounds .

Th e late Bramachari Bawa , one imagines , must havebeen a Spiritual kinsman— possibly a former incarnationof Mr . H . G . Wells . If t h e proficient s of t h e Ash ta Vi dya

had indeed at their command thi s short and easy methodof dealing with invadi ng armies , it seems a pity that theywere so chary of exercising i t— there was ample oppor

tuni ty in Indian hi story .

Colonel Olcott , it may be sai d, was a well-known visionary

,credulous of all marvels . But similar credulity is by

no means uncommon in India . I have known an educatedIndi an,

” says Professor Oman, t o maintain with muchwarmth that in t h e Golden Age t h e r i sh i s and others werewell acquainted with t h e art of aerial navigation , andprobably with other rapid modes of locomotion unknown t ous modem s . I have heard h im assert bo ldly that even t h etelephone, microphone and phonograph were known t o t h eHindu sages , up to t h e time when t h e sciences and arts oft h e ancient world perished on t h e fatal field of Kuruksh et ra. Some maintai n that t h e art of constructingaeroplanes , and other marvels of applied science, wasdeliberately withdrawn from hum an ken by t h e r i sh i s

a mysterious race of semi-divine sages— because they heldthem inappropriate to a dark age (Kali Yuga) which they

53


saw to be impending over t h e world . Why di d they not

apply their stupendous powers t o averting t h e dark age,

instead of giving us t h e trouble of conquering Nature allover againOn such insanities, however, it is profit less t o dwell .

Th e glory which is claimed for India by serious Westernthinkers— in words re-echoed a thousandfold by Indiansthemselves— is that of high spirituality

,a unique genius

for grasping and expoundi ng t h e realities behind t h e phenomenal world, and t h e innermost meanings of life.

One finds traces of this idea in th e most unexpectedquarters . I have heard a British civilian

,high in place and

rich in experience, say that in t h e daily work of adm inis

t rat ion and legislation h e o ften had t o deal with Indians ofgreater intellectual capacity than his own and on inquiringinto his reasons for so esteeming them

,I have found it t o

lie mainly in t h e fact that they were familiar with regionsof thought which were t o him untrodden ground, and ground,moreover, on which his robust practical intellect could findno foothold . Now it is probable enough that h e did

,as a

matter of fact , have t o meet , in discussion, foemen worthyof his steel —perhaps quicker and suppler-minded thanh e. But I contested, and still contest , his assumption thatfamiliarity with metaphysical conceptions— perhaps event h e power of arguing with some subtlety on metaphysicalpoints— is necessarily a proof of great mental capacity .

I am sceptical of t h e value of thought in a region where thereis no possible test of values .Another proof of t h e widespread acceptance of India ’s

claim t o supreme religio-philosophic genius may be foundin a very j udicious book by a highly qualified student andobserver of Indian affairs—The Econom ic Transi ti on in

Ind ia,by Sir Theodore Morison . Th e very last words of

that book are these We can only hope that India maybe warned in time by th e example of Europe, and that h erindustrial revolution may not be disfigured by t h e recklesswaste of human life and human happiness which has stained

54

H INDU SPIRITUALITY

t h e annals of European industry . Most of all must we wishthat

,in t h e fierce struggle for material wealth, sh e may not

lose t h e lofty idealism by which sh e has hitherto been sonobly distinguished .

What is this idealism What is its meaningWhat does it amount t o These are questions towhich I have been unable t o find a very satisfactoryanswer .Th e extraordinary interest of t h e early religio-phi losophic

literature o f India is beyond all doubt . Beginning with t h efour Vedas (hymns , invocations and magical formulas)it proceeds through t h e Brahmanas (ritual prescriptions)and t h e Aranyakas (literally j ungle books ,

”

for t h e use of

anchorites) t o t h e Upanishads or ph ilosophical treatises,

explaining,allegorizing or supplementing t h e

‘ primitivenature-worship of t h e Vedic hymns . Th e meani ng of t h e

word Upanishad is much di sputed, but Deussen

interprets it as secret word or secret text . Th e

Upanishads,or their doctrines , are sometimes termed t h e

Vedanta—t h e end or consummation of t h e Vedas .

*

Everyone admits that as documents in t h e hi story of t h e

human spirit t h e Vedas are invaluable . They can be datedonly within very wide limits their text is thought t o havebeen much worked over, and is so obscure as t o lenditself t o ludicrous divergences of interpretation but , afterall deductions, they remain, I take it , t h e earliest religiousoutpourings that have assumed anyt hing like literary form .

Some of t h e hymns are said t o be beautiful a few certainlyshow a gift of philosophi c penetration, rare among primitivepeoples . I shall quote in a later chapter an utterance of asort of agnosticism ,

very striking in a work of such earlydate. But t o place t h e Ved as as a whole on th e summitsof literature is to confuse historic with a sth et ic and spiritualvalues . It has been well said that two classes of personsentertain th e most exalted notions of t h e Vedas those wh oI trust there is no gross error in thi s paragraph but very confusing

explanations are given of even th e nom enclature of this li terature.

55


know nothing of them , and those wh o know nothing else .

Let us hear Max M illler on this point— an authority certainlynot apt to depreciate t h e wisdom of t h e Orient . He says

There have been silly persons wh o have represented t h e development of t h e Indian m ind as superior to any other , nay,

wh o wouldm ake us go back t o t h e Veda , or t o t h e sacred wr itings o f t h e

Buddhist s , in order to find there a t ruer religi on , a purer m o rali tyand a m ore sublim e phi losophy than our own . That t h eVeda is full of childish , silly, even to our

'

m i nd m onstrous con

cept i ons, wh o would deny

And again, in another place

Th e hi stori cal importance of t h e Veda can hardly be exaggerated ,

but i ts in tr in sic m er it, and part icularly t h e beauty or elevation of

its sentim ents , have by m any been rated far t oo hi gh . Largenum bers o f t h e Vedic hym ns are chi ldish in t h e extreme tedious

,

low, commonplace . Th e Veda contains a great deal of whati s childish and foo lish ,

though very lit t le o f what is bad and ob

jecti onable .

* Some o f i ts poet s ascribe t o t h e gods sent im ent sand passions unworthy o f deity, such as anger , revenge,

delightin material sacr ifices they likewise represent hum an natu re on a

low level of selfishness and worldli ness . Many hymns are utt erlyunmeaning and insipid , and we m ust search pati ent ly before wem eet, here and there, with sentim ents that com e from t h e depthof t h e soul, and with prayers in which we could jo in ourselves .

No one, assuredly, wh o looks into t h e translations of th eRig

-Veda can fail t o admire th e indomitable industry whichhas sustained scholars in their struggle not only with t h eobscurities but with t h e extreme tediousness of t h e greater

Her e Max Muller is , of cour se , thinking o f th e Rig-Veda, and t h e

sam e rem ark may probab ly apply t o t h e Sam a and Yaj ur Vedas , whichclosely fol low th e Rig-Ved a. But of th e later Ath arva Veda we are to ldthat it is “ full of m agical verses , some t o remove disease, cause hair t o

grow on bald heads, and to abate th e nuisance caused by verm in .

Th e incredible filth iness o f som e of these sym bo lical and magical r i tesis alm os t beyond belief, and th e fir st part of t h e Ai tareya

-Aranyakar ivals t h e mos t obscene Tantras o f t h e worsh ipper s of S h akti ." Burnell,

56

HINDU SPIRITUALITY

part of t h e hymns . Th e Rev . K . S . Macdonald,a mission

ary,no doubt , but a very liberal-minded one,

writes

Th e sam e prayers for t h e gratifica tion o f sensual , carnal andworldly desir es o ccur so cont inuously that i t is a po si tive pain t oread any large num ber o f hym ns at a sit ti ng . One becom es sicko f such praises and prayers , and longs t o see m en and wom en goabo u t t heir o rdinary occupa tions . T h e hori zon o f t h e R i sh i

is confined alm o st invariably t o him self . He prays for t h e happiness o f nei ther wife nor chi ld , no t for t h e good o f his village o r

his clan ,nor yet for his nat ion , or people . He m an ifes ts no com

m on joys , any m ore than comm on sorrows .

Th e evidence of high idealism in such literature as this iscertainly scant . Of th e m onstrous conceptions occur

ring in t h e Vedas t h e following specimen m ay suffice . Inone hymn

,says Max Mii ller

Indra is praised for having m ade Heaven and Ear th and then,

when t h e poe t rem em bers t ha t Heaven and Ear th had been prai sedelsewhere as t h e parent s o f t h e god s , and m ore especially as t h eparent s o f Indra

,h e does not hesi t ate a m om en t

,bu t says What

poet s livi ng before us have reached t h e end o f all thy grea tness ?for thou has t indeed bego t ten thy fa ther and thy m o ther t ogetherfrom t h y own body .

That is a strong measure,Max Muller continues ,

and a god wh o could once d o that was no doubt capableof anythi ng afterwards . Already we see at work t h e t end ency t o monstrous generation and incarnation-storiesthat runs through all Indian m ythology . Yet of t h e documents wherein such mere ravings occur , otherwise sanepeople are actually found t o declare ‘ that they are faultless from all eternity

,evident by themselves , and , as they

were revealed,unaffected by t h e shortcomings of human

authorship .

”

Somethi ng wi ll have t o be said in a later chapter of t h eBack t o th e Vedas movem ent

,which finds its chief

expression in t h e Arya Sam aj . But though ,in t h e orthodox

conception , t h e seeds o f India’s spirituality are thought t o

57 4


be sown in t h e Vedas , it is only in t h e Upanishads that theyreach their full flower . Now t h e interest of t h e Upanishadsis incontestable . They are, perhaps , t h e earliest ph iloso

ph ical writings in th e world ; and even if this be not so ,

they are unquestionably original , evolved entirely in t h e

Indian mind,not sprung from wandering foreign thought

germs . They reveal an extraordinary intensity andingenuity of speculation, 8. wonderful power of applyingto appearances t h e solvent of thought . No one can readDeussen

’

s great book on t h e Upanishads without marvellingat t h e luxuriance of sheer cerebration displayed in t h e

literature h e summarizes . That it proceeded from subtlebrains there is no doubt whatever . On t h e other hand, Id o not see h ow any one can fail t o observe that , on its constructive side, Indian thought merely built up a new, andfantastic

,and often self-contradictory, mythology, in which

speculative concepts took th e place of anthropomorphicdeities . This was

,indeed

,inevitable ; it is th e process of

all metaphysical thought that is not merely destructive ;but Indi a then fell into t h e error of thinking that it hadfathom ed t h e unfathomable

,and presenting speculation

in t h e guise of dogma . Wherever its teachi ngs can be

tested— as in its cosmology, physiology, psychologythey are found t o consist of j ust what one would naturallyexpect , nam ely

,baseless classifications and ingenious

guesses . Its wildest fancies are o ften interesting andsuggestive ; for t h e power t o think erroneously is betterthan mere brutish incapacity for thought . It is better t olet th e mind grope in t h e darkness than t o keep it torpid andincurious . But t o mistake groping for seeing, guessing forknowing— that is th e very unspiritual habit into whichIndia has fallen .

Whatever may have been t h e genius o f th e individual '

thinkers t o whom we owe t h e Upanishads , their dogm atismmust have had a cram ping rather than a stimulating effectupon th e minds of their disciples . Th e relation of gum

and ch ela, still admired by many as t h e basis o f India’ s intel

58


entirely meaningless , but precisely on that accountespecially fitted t o be th e symbol of Brahman May itnot fairly be suspected that this much-vaunted habit of

meditation is often a cloak for sheer blankness of mindTh e absolute value of India ’s contribution t o meta

physical thought is of course a matter on which specialistsonly can give a competent opinion . Several Westernphilosophers , and particularly Schopenhauer and Cousin ,

have spoken with warm admiration of th e Upanishads ;and th e influence of these and later speculations is traceablein a good many quarters—notably among t h e New Englandtranscendentalists . In fine,

there is no difficulty in adm itting that individual Indians , some nam eless , some knownby name, one—~Gautama Buddha—world-renowned , haveplayed a m ore or less distinguished part in th e history of

philosophy . But between this admission , and t h e pretension that India as a whole—th e Indi an people— has manitested a unique religi o-philosophic genius , there yawns animmeasurable gulf . Th e genius which t h e Indian people ,

from “

t h e Brahmin caste downwards,has displayed to great

perfection ,is a genius for obfuscating reason and formalizing ,

materializing,degrading religion .

This m ay seem a hazardous assertion in t h e face of acloud of witnesses . But t h e witnesses themselves may becited on both sides and where they advance anything likeproof , as distinct from t h e m ere repetition of stereotypedformulas , it is all on th e negative side of t h e case . TakeMr : Rom esh Chunder Dutt , for example. He assures us , onan early page of his Hi story of Ci vi li zati on i n Anci ent Ind i a,

that Th e history of th e intellectual and religious life of

th e ancient Hindus is matchless in its continuity , its fullnessand its philosophical truth . But a little further on h e

tells us that immediately upon th e Vedas followed th e

Brahm anas , inane and verbose compositions ” whichreflect th e enervation of t h e people and th e dogm aticpretensions of t h e priests and that later, in what h e callst h e Epic Period (B C. 1 400 to 1 000 th e gradual enerva

60

rH INDU SPIRITUALITY

tion of t h e Hindus was t h e cause of t h e m ost importantresults in religious and social rules . Religion changed itsspirit . Th e manly but simple hymns with which th e sturdyconquerors of th e Punj ab had invoked nature-gods scarcelycommended themselves t o t h e more effete and more ceremonious Hindus of th e Gangetic valley . Later , again , int h e Pauranik Period which followed th e expulsion of

Buddhism

An unheal t hy superstit ion and social system warped t h e nat ionalmi nd and paralysed t h e na ti onal vigou r . Worshippers were divo rcedfrom religi ou s learni n g, warr iors were divided from t h e people,

professions and sect s were disunited for ever and enfeebled . M en

were subject ed t o unm ean ing res t r ict ions and hur t ful rules . Wom enwere encouraged to per ish on t h e . pyre . A m onopo ly o f knowledgewas est ablished ,

social and religious freedom was ext inguished ,

and t h e lam p of nat i onal li fe was quenched wit h t h e light o f freedomand o f knowledge . Th e Hindu wh o can deservedly boas t o f t h ereligion o f t h e Upanishads and t h e ethics of Gau tam a Buddha , owesi t to Tru t h and t o History t o confess t o t h e degeneracy o f lat er

On this candid passage one comment seems called for,namely

,that th e ethics o f Gautama Buddha were them selves

a protest against t h e degeneracy ”

of earlier tim es , andthat t h e revival they effected was partial and transitoryIn t alking of th e extinction of social and religi ous freed om and so forth ,

Mr . Dutt falls into th e inveterate Hinduhabit o f assuming a past Golden Age, for which th e evidenceis of th e scantiest . Otherwise th e passage is sound enoughbut what becomes of t h e matchless continuity and fullness of th e intellectual and religious life o f th e

HindusWhen we look into it closely , we can trace th e general

estimate of Hindu spirituality t o two very di fferent sources

I t m ay be said that M r . D ut t ’s asser tion refers only to t h e anci ent

H indus,an expression whi ch m ight conceivably deno te only th e Aryans

of th e Vedas . But th e context puts this interpretation ou t of cour tancient ” m ust be understood in its wides t sense as simply m eaningno tmodern.

”

6 1


t o what m ay be called th e lower and t h e higher Hinduism .

We have on th e one hand th e spectacle of a people intenselydevoted t o an infini tud e o f cults and Observances which maybe classed as religious inasmuch as they show a constantpreoccupation with th e supernatural , and belief in itsactivity in ordinary life . On t h e other hand , we know thatt h e thinkers o f this same race have evolved certain religiophilosophical ideas , of great interest and importance .

Putting these two facts together, people vaguely concludethat t h e religious life of India is at once intimate andexalted— that th e average Hindu carries into his daily lifereligious conceptions of t h e highest order , even if they be,perhaps , expressed in outward forms that , t o an unsym

pathetic eye, may savour of idolatry .

Th e fact is , unfortunately ,that th e lower Hinduism knows

and cares very little about th e hi gher, while th e higher isso contaminated by th e lower that , except in small reforming sects , it can scarcely be said t o exist . Th e spirituali ty manifested in t h e lower Hinduism is that t o whichanthropologists have given th e name of animism . It ist h e spirituality of th e savage wh o

'

fears and seeks t o pro

p i t iat e,no t only ghosts and demons , but every natural

obj ect or phenomenon that can possibly influence his life .

New gods and new worships grow like weeds from th e teeming soil . They are growing to-day, if not quite with th e

old luxuriance and th e higher Hinduism makes no attemptt o keep them down . Listen t o what Th e Saint Ramdas ,

"

as quoted by Mr . Justice Ch and avarkar , of Bombay , has tosay on th e subject Many gods have risen and run rio tit is a medley of ghosts and deities th e One Supreme Godhas been forgotten ; so all has become a hotch-potch o f

worship . Hence t h e thinking power has been destroyed .

Wh o knows th e difference between t h e true and th e falsein this market cry of th e Shastras and th e noises of th e

gods ? Th e Saint , as is natural , assumes that this chaosresults from th e corruption and degradation of a once purefai th ; but , historically, th is is not th e case. Th e lower

62

HINDU SPIRITUALITY

Hinduism is sim ply an unweeded jungle of indigenous cultsand cult-making tendencies which th e higher Hinduismhas adopted

,and t o which it has largely assimi lated itself .

If it be spirituality t o think of th e whole world as being atth e mercy of myriads of capricious powers whi ch may beplacated by sacrifices and sometimes dom inated by spells ,then all one can say is that savagery and spirituality are

closely akin .

Th e higher Hinduism , or Brahminism in th e stri ctersense of th e term , is descended from t h e religion broughtinto India by th e Aryan invaders , but has , in t h e course of

ages , changed beyond recognition . It has thrown off, so

t o speak , philosophies th e apprai sement of which we haveagreed t o leave t o experts . But th e phi losophy whi chinheres in it as a workaday religion , which underlies suchdefinite doctrines as it can be sai d t o possess , is neithertechnical nor recondite, and may be discussed without presumption . A little scrutiny will show us , I think , that onthis side, t oo ,

Ind ia has achieved a reputation for spirituali ty which th e facts are far from justifyi ng . Greatthinkers sh e may have possessed ,

but sh e has not extractedfrom their thoughts a rational , an ennobling , or even amoral ly helpful religion .

* Hinduism is defined in th e

Census of India (1 90 1 ) as Animism more or less transformedby philosophy

,or , more briefly, as Magic tem pered by

metaphysics .

”

To my thi nking t h e animism and th e

magic are much more palpable than t h e transformationand tempering .

From th e holy texts , then , what has actually been ex

tracted ? Three fundamental doctrines , which may be

described as t h e essence of th e higher Hinduism . Theyare :

Deussen , indeed , says Th e Vedanta, in its unfalsified form 1 3 t h e

strongest suppo r t of pur e m orali ty , is th e gr eatest consolation i n t h e

suffer ings of l ife and death—Indi ans , keep to i t l Even if we couldaccept this opinion as authori tative , we should have to inquire h ow m anyIndi ans now, or at any tim e, have m ade t h e Ved anta in its unfalsifiedform

.

their gu ide in life and dea th :63

INDIA‘

AND THE FUTURE

( I ) Th e doctrine of Karma in association with th e

transm igration of souls .

(2) Th e doctrine that life is an incurable ill , from whichwe can be relieved only by attaining re-absorptioninto t h e All , or t h e Self , or That , as t h e inexpressibleis sometim es expressed .

*

(3) Th e doctrine of t h e supreme and all-conqueringefficacy o f asceticism .

Can we,then

,recogn ize in these doctrines symptoms of

high spirituality or idealism in th e p eople which has evolvedand lived upon them

TRANSMIGRAT ION AND KARMA .

Th e first is not a metaphysical doctrine at all , but anassertion of what m ay be called eth ico-physical fact , whichmight conceivably be proved by such evidence as wouldsatisfy a court of law . F or my part, I know of only one

objection to it , nam ely ,that satisfactory evidence,

o r anyevidence beyond th e assertions of th e holy texts , is entirely .

lacking . No one seem s t o know precisely h ow or whent h e doctrine of transmigration im planted itself in th e

Indian m ind— i t is not t o be found in th e Veda, nor d i d itcom e from Greece . It was in all probability borrowedfrom th e aboriginal tribes ; for it is a concept that hasoccurred t o t h e untutored savage fancy in almost everyregion of t h e w orld . It is , of course,

impossible of disproof . No one can say that his vital principle,

whateverit m ay be , has not at som e tim e inhabited other bodies ,anim al or hum an

,and may no t pass through a further series

of incarnations . But as it is scarcely asserted , and cer

tai nly not proved ,j that mem ory ever links-up these exist

There appears , indeed , t o be som e distinction be tween t h e Selfand That . ” Brahm a as That would seem t o include Brahma ast h e Self . T h e one is unm anifested , t h e o ther is m anifested . Th e

reader will , perhaps, pardon m e for no t go ing m ore at large into th e m atter .

1' Theosophists , I understand , som etim es profess to recall , or o therwise

identify, their previous incarnations bu t I am no t aware that they adduceanything that can be called evidence .

64

HINDU SPIRITUALIT Y

ences , so as t o establish their identity with one another , itis hard t o see what is th e value, or indeed t h e m eaning

,of

an identity which never represents itself in consciousness .

My memory is me what is outside my mem ory is not m e,

in any sense that matters t o m e ; and if an angel fromheaven assured m e that once upon a tim e I was Julius Caesaror Judas Iscariot , I should be politely interested— no more.

It would be otherwise if we were prom ised , and believed ,

that , at th e end of our series of avatars , we should suddenlyrecall them all , and see and realize t h e thread of personalityrunning through them . That would be a consummationof unique

'

interest a cinem atograph-show of th e ages ,which we could turn on at will in t h e theatre of our subli

mated brain . But what we are actually promised when wehave dreed our weird t o t h e end ,

is,not m em ory, but

forgetfulness , or somethi ng practically indistinguishablefrom it so that we should to il up a Him alaya of experiencesonly t o close our eyes t o th e view . Lafcadio Hearn somewhere relates a Buddhist legend of a disciple and Mastera chela and guru— painfully ascending a mountain whichseem s t o crumble away under their feet , until at last t h edisciple realizes that it is not on loose stones h e is treading ,but on skulls— th e mountain is entirely com posed of them .

Whose skulls are these h e asks and t h e Masterreplies They have all been your own . One could not

desire a better parable of th e transmigration theory eachof us is t o clim b up a mountain of his own skulls in order tomerit th e privilege of nirvana at th e t op .

As for karma, it is simply t h e transmigrationist form of

t h e old moral : as a man sows , so shall h e reap . It iscertainly more consonant with abstract j ustice than t h e

theory which allots us only one brief seed-time on earth ,

t o be fo llowed by a singularly disproportionate harvest ofeternal bliss or pain . Assuming that our actions are not

t h e mathematical result of their antecedents , but are insome measure, at any rate, originated by a free moral agentwithin us, there is doubtless a sort of fair-play in giving

65


us an indefinite series of lives in whi ch t o struggle upwards,through temporary error and defeat , t o some ultimategoal of spiritual perfection . If there were t h e smallestevidence that such was t h e lot imposed upon us, we couldaccept it , if not with rapture, at any rate with tolerablefortitude— on condition that in undergoing thi s series of

adventures , t h e soul should be conscious of its identity .

Th e admitted non-fulfilm ent of thi s condition robs t h escheme of all its virtues . Why should I care what I sowwhen it is (t o all intents and purposes) a stranger who willreap , I myself, as a conscious individual , having ceasedt o exist No doubt , as t h e world goes on, t h e idea of t h ewelfare of com ing generations takes more and more holdof us, and we are more and m ore wi lling to make strenuousexertions, and even t o sacrifice what may seem our immedi atepersonal good,

for t h e sake of that idea . But wh o is so fantast ically self-centred as t o feel his benevo lence towardsposterity reinforced by t h e notion that one of t h e partakersin t h e good time coming will, in some inconceivable andwholly unreali zed fashion, be h e himself ? Such identityis surely immaterial in every sense of th e word . A manwh o has children , may, indeed, tell himself that t h e pos

t er i ty h e works for will probably be, in some measure,

his very own ; but does that idea perceptibly stimulatehis endeavours To thi nk so would be t o take an ex t rava

gant ly cynical view of human nature. Egoists we maybe, but not such m orbi d x egoists as t o thi nk more of our

own great great great great grandsons than of t h e d e

scend ant s of other people . Do we find, as a matter of fact ,that t h e man wh o has children is apt t o be more concernedabout t h e future of humanity than t h e childless man ?No , we d o not it might rather be argued that , from JesusChrist onwards , t h e most passionate workers for t h e kingd om of heaven on earth have been celibate or chi ldless .

And if t h e real, though attenuated, continuance of our

personality in our distant offspring be not a sensible spurt o benevolence, why should an unrealizable, unthinkable

66


is an empty one, there is little proof o f spiritual geniusin having evolved it , and still less in having clung to itfor three thousand years .

PESSIMISM .

We come now t o t h e second characteristic of Hinduthought —its deep-seated pessimism . Here, again , t h e

credi t of mere priority cannot be denied t o t h e thinkersof Aryavarta. As they were t h e first t o seek t h e realitybehi nd t h e appearances of things , so , t oo , were they t h efirst t o frame a systematic indictment of life,

and t o aver ,like Leopardi, that m en are miserable by necessity, thoughresolute in declaring themselves miserable by accident .

Th e mere formulation of this theory shows considerableacuteness of thought— a substantial advance upon t h e

primitive attitude of mind which accepts life, as a d ogaccepts it , with unreflect ing acquiescence . Until man hasacquired t h e faculty of conscious discontent , h e is a merethral l t o his destiny . And, discontent once born, it wasinevitable that it should be carried to its logical issuein systematic pessimism ; even though , for t h e mass o f

mankind, psychology gives logic t h e lie, and re-assertst h e value of life, spite of age,

ache, penury and imprisonment . ”

But it is not in t h e mere formulation of a pessimisticphi losophy that Indi an spiritual genius is supposed t o havemanifested itself it is rather in t h e discovery of a methodof releasing t h e soul from t h e treadmill of innumerablere-incarnations . Wherein lies th e evil of life What is itthat binds us t o t h e wheel ? Wh y, desire, t h e thi rst forthis

,that or th e other gratification, which, being attained,

cloys ; not being attained, tortures . There are only twotragedies in life not getting what you want— and gettingit that is th e kernel of Indian wisdom . Consequently,

68

HINDU SPIRITUALITY

aS'

t h e soul is indestructible and cannot be simply ex t in

guish ed , t h e evil of life must be circumvented by t h e

extinction of desire, t h e cultivation of detachment , ind i fference, until nirvana, or re-absorption into Brahma, th eSelf

,from which all being emanates , be ultimately achieved .

Th e exact conditions of nirvana , and whether t h e soul ,after re-absorption, retains any sort of individuality, Ihave never been able t o make out . Th e oracles are eitherdumb or contradictory . But if individuality be not

retained, nirvana would seem t o be little more than aeuphemism for death .

Many people imagine that this pessimistic philosophy ,culminating in t h e dogma of nirvana

,is peculiar t o

Buddhism ; but that is not so .

* It was characteristic of

Hinduism long before Gautama was born and it remainsan int egral part of Hinduism

,though Buddhism is prae

tically extinct in t h e land of its birth . Th eBh agavad-Gita

,

though of comparatively late origin, and outside t h e paleof t h e so-called “ inspired books , is nevertheless recognized by t h e modern Hindu as a work of t h e highestauthority : so that t h e following quotations from it maybe accepted as presenting an orthodox View of t h e theoryof detachm ent . Th e speaker is t h e god Kr ishna , an incarnation of Vishnu ; and h e is supposed t o be addressingArj una

,t h e leading hero of t h e Mahabharata

,on t h e

eve of t h e battle of Kuruksh et ra. Thus,then, saith

Krishna

Hum ility , unpretenti ousness , harm lessness , rect it ude, servi ceo f t h e t eacher , purity and s tead fastness , self-cont ro l ,Ind ifference t o t h e objec ts o f t h e senses , and also absence of

ego ism , insight int o t h e pain and evil of bir th,deat h , old -age and

sickness ,Unat tachm en t , absence o f self-i d ent ificat ion wi t h son

, wife or

hom e, and cons tant balance of m ind in wished-for and unwi shed-forevent s ,

Buddhism , rej ecting t h e doctrine of t h e Self, and denying t h e individual' soul , has t o adopt a still m ore elusive conception o f nirvana .

69


Unfli nch ing devo t ion t o M e by yoga,

* withou t o ther obj ect,

resort t o sequestered places , absence of enjoym ent in t h e com panyof m en

,

“Const ancy in t h e Wisdom o f t h e Self

,understanding o f t h e

object o f essent ial wisdom : that is declared t o be t h e Wisdomall agains t it is ignorance .

”

One should nei ther rejo ice in obt ainin g what i s pleasant no r

sorrow in obtaining what is unpleasant ; with Reason firm , un

perplex t , t h e Brahm a-knower is est ablished in Brahm a .

He who se self i s unat tached t o external con tacts,and find et h

joy in t h e Self, having t h e self harm onized wi t h Brahma by yoga,

enjoyet h happiness exem pt from decay .

”

He wh o is happy within ,wh o rejo ices wi thin

,and wh o is illu

m inat ed wi thin t ha t yogi , becom ing Brahm a , go eth to t h e Nirvanao f Brahm a .

It may be noticed that in these passages there is no

reference to transm igration . Th e theory,indeed, is so

hard t o work out in detail , that Indian sages often forgett o use t h e language appropriate t o it . But none of them

,

so far as I am aware, explicitly renounces it ; and t h e

most m odern exponents of Hinduism cling t o it with d esperate tenacity . Witness this passage from S anatana

Dharma,a work from which I have already quoted, under

its sub-title of An Elementary Text Book of Hindu Religi onand Eth i cs

A J iva "that is , pract ically, a soul"m ay slip backwards fo r a

t im e, and stay awhile in a s t age that h e has long lef t behind h im .

There is som ethi n g h e has no t qui te learned ,som e power h e h as

no t quit e evolved , and h e falls by t his int o a lower s tage again,

as a boy at schoo l, i f h e were idle, m igh t be put back in to a lowerclass . A J iva whi ch has reached t h e hum an st age may be at tachedt o an an im al or to a plant , or even t o a s tone, till h e haslearnt t o use t h e hum an form bet t er . But t h e J iva is no t t obe ti ed for ever to t h e wheel of bir t hs and deaths . Th e ropes

Yoga, in this aspect, is defined as ecstatic union of sou l wi th t h esuprem e spir i t .

70


t o escape, from this dilemma, we may turn again t o t h e

Bh agavad-Gita . Th e argument , so far as I can follow it ,

amounts t o thi s : since nothing matters t o th e wise man,and since h e must d o something (for even h e wh o passeshis life in contemplating t h e end of his own nose, is performing action of some sort) , h e may just as well act virtuously as th e other way

T h e m an wh o rej oiceth in t h e SELF, wit h t h e SELF is sati sfied ,and is cont ent in t h e SELF,

for h im verily there is no thing to d o .

F or h im there is no interest in things done in t his world,nor

any in things no t done,nor doth any obj ec t of his depend on any

being .

Ther efore,wi th out att achm ent

,constan tly perform ac tion whi ch

is du ty,for by perform ing ac tion wi thou t a ttachm ent m an verily

reacheth th e Supreme .

”

I t does not,at this point

,occur t o Arj una t o inquire

what duty is,or why it is duty . I f h e did

,h e would prob

ably be referred t o th e holy texts , or t o th e will of Brahma .

A few lines further back,Krishna has to ld h im that all

things which have life are generated from th e bread theyeat : bread is generated from rain ,

rain from divine worship and divine worship from good works —so that th esanction of good works lies ultimately, even for Kr ishna,in their making for life . I t is only fair t o add that th eparticular good work which Krishna is enj oining uponArjuna is that of slaughter ing as many as possible of h is

kinsm en and form er friends in a gigantic battle,arising

out of a fam ily feud : a work which certainly cannot besaid t o make for life. But this does no t appreciably helpus t o find any stable foothold in a region of logical quicksands and whirlpools .

*

Th e upshot , as it seems to m e,is som ething like this :

I t m ight , perhaps, be possible t o construct a schem e of m oral valuesin wh i ch actions shou ld rank as m ore or less laudable according as theydid or did no t tend to prom o te in o ther s that subjugation of wi ll anddetachm ent from desire in which t h e highest goo d is assum ed to consist .But I am no t awar e that this has been

’

seri ously attempted .

72

HINDU SPIRITUALITY

Th e doctrine o f detachment , passionlessness , indifference,

as a cure for th e inherent evil of existence, is not a profoundone at all, but is merely th e exaggeration of a commonand somewhat pusillanimous rule of prudence . In itsexaggerated form

,it is violently anti-social , and consequently

incompatible with any rational system of ethics . I f,nevertheless , we find in th e Hindu writings many admirableethical doctrines

,it is only because Hindu philosophy is ,

after all, t oo hum an t o be logical . This is not th e place t odiscuss that problem so strangely overlooked by th e theologians

— t h e Origin of Good . Suffice it t o say that goodis a plant which springs from every so il

,along with th e

beginnings of social cohesion and co-operation ; andaccording as it flourishes or sickens we say that a peoplerises or falls in th e scale of hum anity . That it has attim es flourished greatly on th e soil of India is beyondquestion . One day, perhaps , when a wor ld-standard of

good has been evolved,it m ay be possible to m easure

with some accuracy t h e comparative values of th e ethicalachievem ents of India

,Judea, Greece, Rome and th e

modern world . In th e meantim e all we can say withconfidence is that India has lived an interesting andchequered m oral life

,with a fair share of Victor ies and

perhaps m ore than a fair share of disasters . But t o baseany claim t o special genius upon h er attem pt to reconcilea high conception o f m oral activity with a flat negationo f th e value of life is surely an extravagan t paradox .

Ascer rcrsm.

Th e third fundam ental doctrine of Hinduism is th e

suprem e and all-conquering virtue of . asceticism . Canthis be accepted as a token of spiritual geniusAsceticism has entered more or less largely into th e

practices of every religion ,and in some cases

,no

.d oubt ,

73 5


we m ust recognize it as a measure of spiritual hygiene .

Plain living,

”

Carried even t o th e po int of abstinence ,

may conduce t o high thinking and in times of rampantluxury and sensuality, th e ascetic

’s protest is at any ratewell m eant . Of more questionable value, but sti ll re

spectable,is th eascet icism which finds in physical privation

a m eans of spiritual illum ination , insight , intuition . Thisis som etim es

,no doubt , th e m otive of th eyogi but Indian

asceticism was,in its origin , neither a protest against

luxury,nor an ai d to clairvoyance, but very patently a

branch of magic . No t that it was peculiar in this respecta m agical elem ent is everywhere traceable in ascetic praetices but in India that element is particularly prominen tand persistent . Th e r i sh i s whom modern Hind uizers

would have us mention with bated breath , figure in popularlegend ,

no t as beneficent sages , but as peculiarly irr itableascetics wh o ,

by dint of hideous austerities , have acquireda power of cursing which they use with th e utm ost freedom

,

o ften on very slight provocation . Nor can it be said of

their comm inations that nobody seem s a penny th eworse .

On th e contrary,th e gods themselves cannot stan d up

against th e potent curse of a holy ascetic . Here isa characteristic story— one of hundreds— from th e Mahabharata . An ascetic , under a vow of silence

,was accused

of receiving t h e sto len goods of a gang of robbers . De

barred by his vow from pleading not guilty, h e was im paledalong with th e bandits.

_"With th e stake in his .body

,h e

serenely devoted him self to contemplation ,and lived

on as though nothing had happened . This m iracle beingbrought t o t h e notice of th e king , h e hum bly apologizedt o t h e skewered sage,

and ordered his imm ediate release .

I t was found im possible t o extract th e stake from hisbody

,so i t was sawn off

,and th e ascetic , apparently

none th e worse for this addition t o his internal economy,

went about as usual . He was no t grateful , however, forso notable an addition to his stock of merit

,and called

th e God of Justice t o account for his misadventure . That

74


enthusiasm for Hinduism m akes h er to lerant o f manystrange things; but even sh e cannot away with th e com

m on fakir . Addressing th e Hindu people,

sh e says :You are no t too poor t o build co lleges and schools foryour children while you are able t o m aintain

,as you are

doing, large crowds of m en as m endicants,in t h e full strength

of vigorous life, wh o are innocent of all sacred learning ,innocent of th e light , wh o have nothing of th e sannyasibut t h e cloth that covers them

,and wh o are yet fed and

sheltered by th e crore .

”

Th e Census of 1 90 1 showed that sad /i ns andpersons of like character lived by begging . Taking th ecost of their upkeep at th e low average of R3 a month"alittle m ore than three-halfpence a day", this m eans anannual tax of £1 2 , which th e workers of India payto th e drones . Th e alleged drain upon India

,d ue to

h er association with Britain ,amounts

,at any reasonable

reckoning, t o little more than half this sum . Whether itis really a drain at all is a question t o be afterwardsconsidered . In any case,

th e politicians wh o are so loudin their com plaints that India pays too dear for th e ser

vices rendered h er by Britain,would d o well t o inquire

what services are rendered by th e sad h us and sannyasi s

for whom sh e pays nearly twice as m uch . Th e answerthat t h e upkeep of th e mendicants does not go out o f th e

country is nothing t o th e point . Unless they rendersom e equivalent service, i t is j ust as though rats everyyear devoured grain to t h e value of twelve and a halfmillions .

On exam ination ,then ,

it would seem that India’s claimt o spiritual genius rests , no t on any exceptional value inh er contributions t o th e intellectual heritage of th e world

,

but simply on pr ior ity of date in som e of h er philosophicalspeculations . There seems t o have been a considerablebody of religio-philosophical thought in India som e cen

furies before any sim ilar body of doctrine can be shown

76

Asce t i c T ype s : ( l ) A Sann yas i . Benares .

Asce t i c T ypes : ( 2) A Sadh u . Benares .

"T o face 19. 76.


in religion , towards t h e form rather than t h e substance,

towards th e letter rather than t h e spir it . That is why Iho ld it th e very acm e of paradox to claim for them an exaltedspirituality .

Does not th e matter lie in a nutshell,when we find th e

most enlightened religious thought of t o-day concentratedon a m ovement back t o th e Vedas What a con

fession of t h e only t oo patent fact that t h e religious historyof th e people has been one long downward drift

,scarcely

interrupted by heroic but futile attempts to stem th e tideI t is hardly fair, however, to Speak as though th e Hinduismof to-day were a lineal, though degenerate,

descendant ofth e Vedic religion . I t is much rather t o be regarded as aproduct of th e welter of fetishism and witchcraft into whichth e Aryan settlers plunged on their arrival in India . Inphrases , nam es and form s , a good deal of degenerate Aryanism no doubt survives but th e substance of Indian popularreligion is little more than th e rank crop of superstitionswhich have always grown , and which continue t o grow,

out of t h e sun-baked soil . These superstitions,says Sir

Alfred Lyall,

are not so much th e o ffspring of Brah minism as its children by adoption ; but assuredly they haveoverrun and taken possession of th e house .

In th e Vedas we have a wholesome, primitive, naturereligion, free from sacerdotalism,

free from asceticism ,

See S ir Alfred Lyall ’s classification of beliefs in his Asi ati c S tud i es.Vol. I . , p . 7 . T h e sam e highly qualified authori ty says in ano ther essayTh e m asses have preserved their imm em or ial po lytheism they wor shi pinnumerable gods direct ly by prayer and sacr ifice t h e m iddle class adoresth e great gods of th e Hindu pantheon as th e signs and figures of ubiquitousdivini ty . And again, In I ndia you may beho ld at this m om ent animm ense and intelligent society m uch given to dream y m editation overinso luble problem s , and practically unanim ous in rejecting any so lutionthat stops shor t of Pantheism .

” He is here wri ting in t h e assum edcharacter of a Brahm in but though t h e whole essay (Asi ati c S tud ies , V ol.

I I . , Chap . i . ) is ir onical , these passages are doubtless intended as soberstatem ents of fact . Presum ptuous as i t may appear , I canno t but wonderwhe ther , if h e could be cross-ques tioned , S ir Alfred m ight no t be m ovedto qual ify one or o ther o f t h e two epithets imm ense and intelligent .”

78

HINDU SPIRITUALIT Y

knowing nothing of m et empsych oms and based on a simple,

natural form of social organizat i on . A few centurieselapse, and we find religion t h e property of a hereditarypriesthood ; ceremonial so tinctured with magic that t h emisplacing of a syllable or an emphasis in a sacred mantrais supposed t o annul its efli cacy ; asceticism rampantand arrogant ; t h e theory of metempsychosis morbidlyoverstrai ning t h e imagination , and leading m en t o look uponlife as an illimitable, fantastic, more or less cruel fai rytale ; and, t o crown all , a social organization t h e mostelaborately anti-social that t h e mind of man ever con

ceived . Caste and its concomitant abuses we must considerin another chapter ; for t h e present it is sufficient t o notethat they are of t h e very essence of Hinduism

,growing

with its growth and strengtheni ng with its strength . Afew more centuries pass , and great efforts are made t o

remedy th e worst of these abuses . Two alm ost con

temporary movements , Buddhism and Jainism,have a

certain measure of success . But Brahminism ,tenaciously

invincible, soon rears its undiminished head . Buddhismis cast out ,* and th e Jains survive as a comparatively smallsect , worshipping a di fferent set of idols , and more fanaticalon t h e point of not taking animal life, but otherwise muchon a level with orthodox Hindus . And so it goes witha hundred attempts at reform , t h e Sikh propaganda in t h eseventeenth century being perhaps t h e most notable . Theyfind many adherents at first , generally among th e casteswhom Brahminism treads under foot but they soon sinkback almost indistinguishably into crass superstitionand inveterate social prej udice. Th e result is that th espiritual genius of t h e Indian people is to-day found ex

pressing itself, not here and there, but everywhere,in

forms which not only t h e Western world but China andJapan have for ages outgrown . Th e whole country is

No t without persecution it would appear , though as a rule Brahm inismis too vague, too unform ulated and unorganized , to be a per secuting

79


populated with m yriads of monster-gods , many-headed ,

many-armed, o ften colossal,always hideous t o say nothingof t h e animal gods , Ganesh and Hanuman , t h e elephantand t h e monkey, wh o are even more popular than theirquasi-hum an r ivals . If a census of idols— even confinedto objects of public , as distinct from domestic , worshipcould be taken in India, t h e result would be amazing ,certainly running into milli ons . Nor d o t h e rites wherebythese idols are worshipped bear testim ony to any superabundant spirituality . Of obscene and licentious practicesI say nothi ng . I did not witness any ; and though theycertainly prevai l t o some extent , it is hard t o say h ow farthey leaven t h e m ass of Hinduism . Even i f they did not

exist at all, t h e ordi nary daily practices of t h e cult are

sufficient t o place it beyond t h e pale of civi lization . Not

in out -oi -t h e-way barbarous corners , but wherever youturn

, you meet with repulsive performances of piety .

~A

twopenny tram will take you from t h e centre of Calcuttat o t h e Kaligh at ,

” from which some suppose that t h ecity takes its nam e, where you may see, in t h e slimy,swarming precincts of t h e temple, t h e ground crimsonwith t h e blood of sacrifices , whi le in a filthy but verysacred backwater of t h e Hooghly m en

, wom en and childrennot only bathe in their hundreds , but drink t h e yellow oozein whi ch their bodies and their garments have been steeped .

*

Hinduism has, indeed, a m arvellous gift for extractingbad effects from good intentions , actual ugliness from potential beauty . It is always washi ng and never clean someof its practices have probably been hygienic in their origin,yet it is innocent , and o ften bitterly resentful, of sanitationit professes a superstitious respect for animal li fe, j

' butThis is no t , however , t h e m os t disgusting beverage prescr ibed by

H indu piety . T h e urine o f cows , with o ther scarcely less nauseous i hgred ien t s, enters largely into their pur ificatory doses .T T h e Jains cover their m on th s with a respirator les t they shouldinadver tently inhale , and so kill , an insect . P inj rapole hospitals foranim als are, it is said , so admi nis tered as to cause m ore suffer ing thanthey prevent. They have been known t o contai n wards for bugs , liceand ; scorpi ons.

£80


towards pollution rather than purification that assigns itits place— incomparably t h e lowest— in t h e scale of worldreligions . Unti l Hinduism has somehow got itself filtered ,

India cannot reasonably claim fellowship on terms of

equality with t h e civi lized nations of t h e earth .

CASTE AND ITS CONCOMITANTS

N t h e foregoing chapter, Hinduism has been regardedin its religious , as distinct from its social , aspect .

Our object was t o ascertain h ow far it bore out t h e widespread belief in th e innate spiritual ity, t h e lofty idealism,

of th e Indian character . But Hinduism is much more thana religion . It has begotten, and it continues t o enforcewith all t h e power of sacerdotal sanctions , an extremelyelaborate social system . Of this social system what are

we t o say Is it one which justifies t h e people wh o adheret o it in claiming an independent - and equal place amongt h e nations of t h e world ? And, if not , what chances arethere of any effectual amendment within reasonabletimeIt is beating at an open door t o demonstrate t h e evi ls

of caste . If Hinduism had been in other respects t h eloftiest and purest religion imaginable, its intimate associationwith caste would have rendered it a calamity t o t h e Indianpeople. I have earnestly endeavoured, by reading andpersonal inqui ry, t o discover t h e good side of caste—Iwill not say any general j ustification of t h e system , buteven any appreciable set -off against its manifest evils .

Th e endeavour has been almost fruitless . Is a caste abenefit society ? Scarcely, if at all : caste comradeshipmani fests itself much more in ostentatious treating

83


than in systematic helpful charity .

* Is a caste a tradeguild ? Occasionally, in a very limited degree. Th e purposes of trade-protection are much better fulfilled byorganizations specially directed t o that end . It is saidthat caste secured a high level of hereditary skill in artsand handicrafts . I am not a sufficiently convinced ad

herent of Weissmann t o deny t h e possibility o f inheritedaptitude ; but t h e probability is that t h e al leged effectwas d ue simply t o t h e influence of caste in promotingearly and assiduous apprenticeship . So much merit m ay

be allowed it but a good apprenticeship-system has beenevo lved elsewhere, without enforced heredity of function .

Even if, in these or other respects,some odds and ends

of benefit m ay be shown t o have resulted from caste, theyare as nothing compared to t h e mountainous evils it hasentailed upon unhappy India . It has enfeebled h er

po litically by substituting class-exclu siveness for solidarity ,

class-vanity for patriotism . It has impoverished h er

physically by fostering a marriage system which isthoroughly unhealthy both in its obligations and in itsrestrictions . It has corrupted h er morally by makinginsensate arrogance a religious and social duty . It hasparalysed h er intellectually by forcing h er t o occupy h ermind with infantile rules and distinctions , and t o regardthem as t h e most ser ious interests in life.

Nor is there any defence for caste in t h e tu quoqueargument . It is true that class-distinctions , class-vanity

S ir Bampfylde Fuller (S tud i es of Ind i an Life and S en ti ment . p .

speaking of t h e extraordinary power of resis tance t o fam ine if i t be no t

too long continued , says , I t is d ue in t h e m ain t o t h e efficacy of t h e

fam ily and t h e cas te as institutions for m utual relief . There is no m an

but has som e one t o turn to in m isfor tune . Indeed it m ight perhapsbe argued th at cas te owes its extraordinary developm ent to apprehensiono f fam ine . Caste cer tainly es tablishes som e such responsibility for reliefas was thrown upon English villages by t h e Poor Law set tlem ent ." Thisis t h e m ost plausible plea for cas te that I have com e across ; but m os tauthori ties declare i t to be a very inefficient Poor Law. Mutual helpfulness wi thin t h e l im i ts of t h e fam ily is , of course, a different mat ter .

84


hereditary and hopeless sediment of

India has t h e monopoly of t h e Brahmin and t h e Pariah .

During times of conquest and migration,says Max

M ii ller , such as are represented t o us in th e hymns of th eRig

-Veda , t h e system of castes , as it is described , for in

stance,i h th e Laws of Manu , would have been a simple

im possibility . On t h e other hand we d o find in th e

gramas of th e Five Nations , warri ors , sometimes callednobles , leaders , kings counsellors, sometimes called priests ,prophets , j udges ; and worki ng

-men, whether ploughers ,or builders , or road-makers . These three divisions wecan clearly perceive, even in th e early hymns of th e RigVeda . These divisions manifestly correspond t o t h e

Ksh at t ryas, Brahmins and Vaisyas of later times ; andwhen we add th e Sudras , or servile caste, originally con

sisting, no doubt , of th e conquered aborigines , we have

t h e four castes of classic tradi tion . So far,t h e origin -o i

caste is clear enough and normal enough : th e problemwhich no one has satisfactorily solved is t o account forth e innumerable ramifications of later days , and th e absolutetyranny wh ich caste prej udice and exclusiveness camet o exercise over th e m ind of th e whole Indian people . Itis not difficult t o trace several of t h e influences which havegone t o th e building up of th e system . Totem ism ,

for

instance,played its part ; and clan-practices of en

d ogamy and exogamy are familiar t o anthropologists allover th e world . But th e fact that many of t h e elementsof caste are t o be found elsewhere and everywhere,

onlyrenders it harder t o understand why in India alone t h e

system should have run into such monstrous developments . To say that , in India, everything runs into ex

aggeration and monstrosity is only t o re-state t h e problem ,

not t o solve it . Th e system arose out of weakness andlifelessness among t h e people,

says Mr . R . C . Dutt , and

Th e term untouchable as applied to over Indians, is inno sense m erely m etaphoric . Saint Nihal S ingh in Contemporary Revi ew,

March, 1 9 1 3.

86

CASTE AND IT S CONCOMITANTS

t o a certain extent it has perpetuated that weakness .

One can und erstand t h at enervation begotten of climatem ight render t h e m ass of t h e people easy victims t o th e

exorbitant pretensions of th e priestly caste but why shouldweakness and lifelessness generate t h e fantastic multiplication o f mutually exclusive groups throughout th e

whole social system ? There is surely a good deal yett o be done in tracing out , not only th e historic , but th epsychological origins of caste .

In its practical effect , it may be likened t o a vi rulentepidem ic . It seems as though th e Indian peoples werepeculiarly susceptible t o t h e bacillus of arrogance. Generated among t h e Brahm ins

,t h e microbe spread , by way of

servile im itation ,through all classes , until a passion for

having someone t o despise and look down upon becam e

universal and ineradicable. Snobbery has been definedas a mean admiration for mean things but here we havean inverted and much more inhuman snobbery ,

whichconsists in aggressive contempt , without any semblanceof a rational basis . Th e Brahmin won ’ t take waterfrom m e ; therefore it is necessary t o my self-respect thatI should find someone from whom I may decline t o takewater —this , or som ethi ng like it

,appears t o have been

t h e instinctive feeling which lay at t h e root of caste . Th e

desire t o hand on a humiliation is one of t h e commonfoibles of human nature but in India alone has it becomea ruling principle of life . Th e infection has penetrated t oth e very depths o f t h e social scale, so that one of t h e d i ffi

cult ies in t h e way of raising th e depressed castes , isthat no one is so depressed but that h e will obj ect t ohaving his children educated along with th e children of

som eone whom h e imagines t o be a hair’s-breadth lowerthan him self

Dubo is speaks of a case in which a serious rio t had nearly ar isen becausea shoem aker at a public festival had stuck red flowers in his turban ,

whicht h e Par iahs—m ark that l— insisted that none of his caste had a right towean

87


Th e Census of 1 90 1 recognizes m ain castesas distinct from minor and fluctuating sub-divisions .

As t o precedence

I t is im po ssible,says Si r Herber t Risley, to draw up any

schem e for t h e who le of India. On e m ight as well t ry t o const ructa table o f so cial preceden ce fo r Europe,

which would br ing t ogetheron t h e sam e list Spanish grandees , Swi ss ho t el-keepers , Turki shPashas, and S t ock-Exchange m illionaires , and should ind ica te th e

precise degree o f rela tive dis tinc t ion at tachi ng t o each .

”

Yet som e sort of classification may be attempted in ac

cord ance with t h e following criteria :

That par ti cular cast es are suppo sed t o be m odern r epresent at ivesof one or o ther of t h e cast es of t h e t heoreti cal H indu sys tem (Brahm ins

,Ksh at t ryas , Vaisyas) t ha t Brahm ins will take wat er from

cer tain cas tes tha t Brahm in s of high st anding wi ll serve part icularcast es that cer tain cas tes , t hough no t served by t h e best Brahm ins ,have never t heless go t Brahm ins o f t heir own that cer taincastes are no t served by Brahm ins at al l, but have pr ies ts of theirown ; t hat th e statu s o f cer tain cas tes has been raised by t heirtaking t o infan t m arr iage, o r abandoning t h e re-m arr iage of wi dowsthat t h e st at us of som e castes has been lowered by their livin g ina part icular local ity ; t hat t h e st at u s o f o ther s has been m odifiedby t heir pursu ing som e o ccupati on in a special or peculi ar way ;t hat som e can claim t h e services of t h e village barber , t h e villagepalanquin-bearer , t h e village m idw ife,

etc . ,while o t hers canno t ;

t hat som e cast es m ay no t en ter t h e cou rtyard of cer t ain t em plesthat som e castes are subject t o special t aboo s , such as t hat theym ust not use t h e village well, that they m ust live ou tside t h e

village, or in a separate quar ter , t hat they m ust leave t h e road on

t h e approach of a high-cast e m an, o r m ust call out t o give warn in g

o f t heir approach . In Wes tern and Sou thern Ind ia Brahm inswill as a ru le take wat er only from Brahmi ns . In Nor thern Indiat hey will take wat er and cert ain sweetm eat s from som e o f t h e

bett er class o f Sudra cast es . In Madras t h e idea of cerem onialpo llut ion by t h e proxim i ty o f a m em ber of an unclean cast e hasbeen developed wit h m uch elaborat ion . In Co chin a Yayar canpollu t e a m an of a higher cast e only by t ouching h im ,

t h e Kamm alangroup (m asons , blacksmi ths , carpen ters and leather -workers)po llu t e at twenty-four feet , t oddy-drawers at thi r ty-six feet ,Pulayan or Ch erum an cult ivator s a t for ty-eigh t feet , Paraiyan(Pariahs ) wh o _

eat beef,at six ty-four feet .

”

88


m oney from t hem or o f taki ng away t heir wom en , but that hi ssole objec t was t o have th eir right s accepted by th e hi gher castes .

Th e Pundit went from shop t o shop and from house to houseappealin g t o t h e Hindus t o adm it t h e low castes t o t h e privilegesm enti oned above, and h i s words seem to have carr ied convict ion .

In t h e presence of thousands of H indu m en and wom en th e greatwork o f shud d i or purificati on was perform ed on hundreds of t h euntouchables . F or two days , ’ wr ites t h e Pundi t, we wen t on

shaving and puri fyi ng crowds of m en , wom en and children . Moret han were admi tted in to t h e Arya or H indu comm uni ty .

W e h ad distri bu ted t h e twen ty-seven razor s which I had purchasedfor t h e purpo se, whi le several barber s were worki ng wi th t heirown razors .

a But th e m o st touching part o f h i s account relatest o t h e incepti on o f t h e reform perm ittin g t h e low castes t o drawwater from t h e wells of t h e village comm unity . Th e Pundit calleda m eet in g of th e several bi rad ar i es or caste groups , and, in m ovinglanguage, prayed them t o admi t their low caste brethren to thi sprivilege so vital in a t ropical country . His prayer was grant ed .

In a‘ body t h e who le assembly arose and proceeded to t h e heart oft h e Hindu quart er of Sujampur where t h e incidents related heretook place . Thousands of H indus stood round t h e well when t h ePundit called upon one of t h e Dh oomna leaders to draw waterfrom i t . What followed is best t old in t h e Pundit’s own words .It was t oo m uch for h im . He took off his shoes , and with foldedhands trembli ng with em o t ion h e asked t h e bi rad ar i if h e co uldreally go up to t h e well . They ch eerq y assented . I helped h imup t h e stai rs , and to ld h im to ask their perm ission t hree times . He

did so thr ice, each tim e t h e perm i ssion was granted ,t h e bro th erhood

becom ing m ore and m ore ent husias t ic and full of feelin g in theirsym pat het i c reply t o h i s pet it ion . On t hi s I asked th e man to

fall at th e feet of t h e brotherhood wh o had raised h im . He obeyedand drew water from t h e well am idst cheer s . ’

This, be it noted , is not an event of fifty, twenty-five,

or even t en years ago , but of th e year of grace 1 91 2 andthere are in India from fifty to sixty millions as abject asthese Dh oomnas .

In th is case we see reform at work , as , indeed , it is inmany quarters but it moves very slowly and with m anyrelapses . Time out o f mind, attempts have been made t o

Times of Ind i a, September 1 1 , 1 9 1 2 .

90

CASTE AND ITS CONCOMIT ANTS

expel th e virus of caste from th e Indian body politicbut often t h e sectswhich thought t o abolish it have endedin them selves becoming castes , as exclusive as all th erest . Th e founders of

“

th e Sikh religion declared againstcaste,

with very little effect . Of th e three sections of th eBrahm o Samaj , a reforming body founded by Ramm ohunRoy about 1 830 ,

only one does not recognize caste . Th e

Arya Samaj,a younger and much more vi gorous sect of

reformers , professes t o rej ect caste altogether ; but , saysSir Herbert Risley ,

th e preaching of members of t h e

Samaj is in advance of their practice . I myself heardof a case in which t h e members of a local branch of th e

Samaj were violently excited by th e discovery that achamar , or leather-worker , had intruded among them underfalse pretences . In another place, a leading member of

th e community declined to sit at table with m e, not , it wasexplained , because h e himself had any obj ection ,

butbecause it might have scandalized th e weaker brethren .

Th e idea that t h e spread of railways,and th e popular

taste for railway travelling , tends t o break down th e

barriers of caste, is, as we shall presently see, only partial lytrue.

As regards eating and drinking, it is said that in Bengalt h e restrictions have almost di sappeared ; but thi s is farfrom being t h e cas e elsewh ere j

' Th e Aryan Brotherhoodin Bombay recently gave a dinner t o which invitationswere issued in deliberate di sregard of caste distinctions

,

Dr . Hoernle, however , points out tha t Nei ther Buddh ism nor

Jainism represents a revo l t against th e tyranny of cas te, but only againstt h e caste exclusiveness of Brahm in ascetics ; caste, as such, was fu llyacknowledged by them . Th e Buddhist or Jain pr iest only acted as th espir i tual guide of his followers ; for their religious and cerem onial ob v

servances, Brahm in priests had always to be called in .

”

1‘ I t seem s to be pret ty commonly recognized that nei ther ice nor

soda-water counts as water for t h e purpose of conveying pollution whilebiscuits and patent m edicines are also exempted from t h e s trict OperationOf east. “JIGS J

9 1


Sir Narayan Ch and avarkar occupying th e chair. Th e

occasion was most harmonious , but many of th e guests

go t into sad trouble with th e panchayats, or committees ,of their castes . Apparently it was th e presence of one man

,

known or suspected t o be an untouchable,that caused

t h e scandal . Some of t h e offenders were out -casted ,

others m ade their peace by doing penance, or in otherwords going through a particularly nasty process of purification .

* It is characteristic that in discussing this dinnerone of t h e Anglo-Vernacular papers of Bombay ap

proved it in an English article, but condemned it in itsvernacular columns . One of t h e evils of th e presentcondition of affai rs is that it engenders hypocrisy : lipservice t o enlightenm ent while th e heart is still int h e bondage of prej udice,

or (more commonly perhaps)conform ity t o social prej udice without any convictionbehind it .But even in Bengal , though restrictions on t h e jus

convivi i may be alm ost extinct , th e jus conubi i is extendingmuch m ore slowly— and this , of course, is a far m ore seriousmatter . F or it is one of th e gravest of India ’s many misfortunes that

,while social custom m akes marriage an

imperative obligation and celibacy a disgrace,caste sets

narrow bounds t o th e field of choice, and so leads t o infan tm arriage

,and t h e prohibition of widow re-marriage

, no t to

mention darker,though less wide-spread, evils . In assuming

these things to be evils,

‘

d o I imply that Western ideas as tomarriage and th e relations of th e sexes are t h e last wordof social wisdom ? Certainly not no one doubts that inthese matters our practices , and even our principles

,stand

in glaring need of amendm ent . But agai n , th e tu quoqueplea is of no avail . Our habits are no t , like those of India ,m ere crystallizations of barbarism and, even if they were,would that m ake th e Indi an habits any better ? In th e

Vedas there is no trace o f infant m arriage free cour tship

I t includes swallowing a bo lus composed of t h e panchagavya, t h e

five products of th e cow—m ilk, curds , ghee , urine and dung92


an ancient horror, dragged from th e ar chives of anthro

pology. Mr . E . A . Gai t , th e di rector of th e Census of

1 9 1 1 , tells us that a friend of his was di scussing with th eDurbar of a native state th e amount which ough t t o be

expended on th e m arriage of th e Chief ’s sister , and , asthere was some difference of opinion

,h e asked h ow much

had been spent on s imi lar occasions in th e past . He

was told in reply that there was no preced ent . Th e gi rl wasth e first in t h e family that had been allowed t o live"Th e same authority goes on t o say : A middle-agedPunj abi gentleman recently told m e that h e had beencompelled

,as a boy, t o assist at th e murder of an infant

sister, and that an aunt had had seven daughters andhad ki lled them all . Even now infanticide is kept incheck in Raj putana only by making things unpleasantfor a village which canno t show a fai r proportion of girls .I asked one of th e ofli cers wh o had taken th e 1 91 1 censusin this district whether th e practice was real ly a thing of

t h e past . They vow and swear that it i s was his replybut t h e statistics are against them . That femalechildren are much neglected there is no doubt . Girls

,

”

says Mr . Gait , are neither so well-fed nor so well-clothedas boys

,nor

,if they are ill, are they carefully looked after .

In Guj arat there is a proverb ,Th e parents look after

th e boys and God looks after t h e girls . ’

Th e ban upon widow re-marriage is clearly d ue t o th e

same cause as female infanticide : where it is so difficult,and at th e same time so necessary, t o get a gi rl married atonce

,it is naturally regarded as unfai r that any wom an

should add t o th e glut in th e wife-market by getting marriedtwice . Suttee was

,of course

,a conclusive safeguard against

widow re-m arriage but it was m ore than that . It was asacr ificial rite

,comparable with th e burying of his horse

T h e exposure of fem ale infants used t o be very comm on in Bengal ,wher e, too , th e caste of Kulin Brahm ins used to m ake a profession o f

m arrying " gir ls by t h e score, and so reli eving their parents o f t h e

r eproach attaching to their celibacy .

94

CASTE AND IT S CONCOMITANTS

and arms along with a dead Chieftain ; it obviated all

difficulties as to property and dower ; and it was a usefuldeterrent for any lady wh o m ight be tem pted t o com passt h e death of h er lord and master by witchcraft or poison .

I d o no t know that th e latter m otive was ever avowedin India

,as it is in some parts of West Africa ; but it is

not in hum an nature that so obvious an advantage shouldno t have contributed t o render th e institution popularwith husbands .

An unsympathetic Governm ent made suttee illegal in1 829 ; but it is said that cases of it still occur . In th e

matteri

of' child-m ar riage

,th e Governm ent is practically

powerless,though in Br itish terr itory th e consumm ation

o f such a m arriage before th e wife has reached th e age

of twelve is now a penal offence. Enlightened Indianopinion is alive t o th e physical and m oral evils arising fromth e practice

,as well as t o th e cruelty of forbidding th e

re-m arriage of widows , thousands of whom have neverbeen wives . But enlightened opinion

,in India

,is path et i

cally powerless against th e sheer inertia of imm em orialhabit . Moreover, qualified observers .hold that th e influenceo f railways an d th e pr inting-press is helping th e ingrainedsnobbery of caste t o introduce these abuses into socialstrata which were form erly innocent of them .

Th e strengt h o f t h e Hinduizing m ovem ent , says S ir HerbertRi sley , “ has been great ly augm ented by t h e im provem ent of comm unicat i ons . People travel m ore, pilgri m ages can be m ore eas ilym ade, and t h e influence of t h e ort hodox sect ion of society is thusm uchm orewidely diffused .

” And again : Th e ext ension of railwayswhich indirectly diffuses Brahm anical influen ce ; t h e t endencyt o revive t h e au thori ty of t h e Hindu scr ipt ures , and t o fin d in

them t h e so lut ion o f m odern problem s and t h e ad vance of

vernacular educati on which increases t h e dem and for popularversions of and extract s from these wr itings—t hese are am ong th ecauses which

,in my opinion , ar e tending on t h e one hand t o br ing

about t h e m ore rigid observance of t h e es senti al incidents of caste,

especially o f tho se connec ted wit h m arr iage,and on t h e o ther to

in troduce grea ter laxi ty in respect of t h e m in or injunct i ons whichare concerned wi th food and dr ink .

95


Imitation of th e higher by th e lower castes being th e

ultimate law o f th e caste system , and child m arriage andwidow non-m arriage being tokens , from of old

, of socialdistinction

,they ar e thought t o be spreading in India, very

much as th e habit of dining in evening dress is spreading inEngland . Can enlightened opinion m ake head againstsuch a tendencyOne would answer in t h e affirm ative with greater con

fid ence if enlightened opinion were not so afraid of its ownenlightenment , and so determined t o make out that— a few

trifling defects apart—Hindu civilization is on th e wholeth e most exalted and enviable th e world has ever seen .

One cannot but be a little sceptical of t h e regeneration thatis t o be founded on such very imperfect conviction of sin .

I take up a book entitled Hind u P rogress con

sisting of Papers co llected and ed ited by N . Subbarau

Pantulu Garu , B .A . , B .L .,Fellow of t h e Madras University

and fo rmer ly Member of th e Legislative Council , Madras .Th e fourth of th e twenty essays included in this work isentitled Th e Aim s of Hindu Social Life, by Mr . N .

Ram anuj ach ar iar , M .A . In it I read :

Every one wh o has in any way studied ancien t India wi t hprofit knows h ow well and h arm oniously t his mi ghty and com plexsocial organ izat ion of t h e Hindus has worked for t housands o f

years , and h ow i t has always tended to help on peace, order andprogres s . Can t h e his tory o f t h e world po in t out one o t her instanceof a social organizat ion which h as worked so successfully for so

long a t im e ? Even t o -day i t is as full o f strengt h and vi t alityas it was in ancient t im es . But owing t o variou s causes , int ernaland ext ernal , it i s not now in perfect worki ng o rder .

”

Before such an utterance of inveterate and insensateracial vanity

,one is alm ost tem pted t o despair . Th e social

organization of India tended t o help on peace yet th e

country was,from th e beginning of history, and almost

without respite torn by cruel wars . Th e social organization promoted order : yet , from sheer lack of any ap

proach t o order,India fell into th e hands of a European

96


s no t a ruling pr ince,but a great land-owning po tentate .

He speaks severely o f several m embers of th e Ksh at t rya

comm un ity wh o,in m arrying their children

,ignored t h e

resolutions that we have been carrying year after yearabout th e curtai lm ent of expenditure

,th e restriction o f

nautches and t h e avo idance of fireworks at m arriagefestivities . He deplores with evident sincerity th e

ignorance of th e uneducated am ong us,and of t h e poor

unfortunate wom en of our comm unity from whom en

ligh tenm ent has been withheld .

”

He urges th e rem ovalof barr iers to interm arriage between sub-sections of t h e

caste .

In all this , h e says , I am wit h you . Bu t for God ’s sakedon ’

t go fur ther . What I advoca te is not m ixed m arr iages . Ionly m ean taking int o our fo ld Ksh at t ryas of every grade and subcas te

,whils t t h e o ther m eans a deluge . I t m eans sowing t h e

seeds o f confusion and chao s . If you lean t oo m uch on t h e

delicate reed of social em ancipat ion of t h e West, you will go under ,

you will event ually be comm it ting a racial suicide, so great , so

stupendous,t ha t I trem ble even t o thi nk o f i t . I t herefore say,

bret hren ,advance

,but advance cau t iously : bu t , on t h e o ther

hand , revi ve t h e glori es of t h e past . ”

Alas for those glories of t h e past They are like t oprove a terrible hindrance t o t h e greatness of th e future .

*

Th e Hindu wh o could persuade his countrymen t o listent o t h e plain truth about t h e past would d o m ore for swaraj

than any number of pdli t ical declaim ers .

Not , o f course,that one would ignore t h e inherent d i ffi

cult ies of t h e case,or look for a sudden and general aban

d onm ent o f secular tradition . It is neither surprising nor

discouraging that t h e m ass o f t h e people should m ovevery slowly , if at all , towards a saner social system ; t h e

T h e Rev . C . F . Andrews , a wr i ter anim ated by t h e m ost ardentsympathy with India ’s national aspirations , says that som e years ago

a paralysing reco l lection of India’s greatness in t h e past took t h e placeof hopeful optim ism in t h e present . ” I hope h e is right in thinking thatt h e paralysis is passing away .

98

CASTE AND ITS CONCOMITANTS

discouragi ng part o f t h e m atter is that th e enlightenedclasses should be so half-hearted in their enlightenm ent .With conservatism in religion one can feel a good deal of

sym pathy . It is even possible that many people d o , as am atter of fact

,penetrate t h e rather revo lting husk of

H induism,interpret allegorically its multitudinous idolatry,

d cling t o th e lofty spiritual creed which is understoodt o lurk behind it . But where is t h e spiritual substratumof caste ? What sympathy can we feel with conservatismin in fant marriage*— that practice whereby a childawakens t o conscious life—m arried What respect forth e habit of mind, whi ch, admitting that there are a fewlittle adjustm ents t o be made, yet defends and even boastsof t h e Indian social system as a whole There was , indeed ,

something t o be sai d for caste so long as it was not castebefore it took on th e characteristics which now give th e

word its meaning . But these characteristics , and t h e

social habits ensuing from them , are nothing more nor

less than a disease of th e body po litic ; and t h e frankrecognition of thi s fact is th e beginning of wisdom for everyIndian wh o wishes h is country t o take rank among t h e greatnations of th e future .

I once asked one of th e leading European Hind ui zers ,

why it was that th e writings of that schoo l contained , so

far as I could see, no outspoken condemnation of caste .

Th e reply ran thus

Though t h e m odern tendency is , no doubt , t o make boy and gir lm arr iage equivalent t o our be tro thal, and postpone cohabitation untilt h e par ties are at any rate well in their teens , t h e fact rem ains that , inm any par ts of t h e country , gir ls becom e m o thers at t h e very ear lies tage that is physically possible . D eussen, an observer m ore than willingt o m ake t h e bes t of everything Ind ian, wr i tes , T h e actual m arr ied lifebegins t oo ear ly for t h e gir ls , before t h e bodies have attained a sufficientpower of resistance . T h e consequence is th at , no t only d o t h e womenfade very quickly, pine and d i e, but they bring very delicate childr eninto th e wor ld ; and th is , with th e absence of anim al food , is probablyth e chi ef reason why t h e Indian, though no t less intelligent , is bo thphysically and m ental ly unable t o compete with t h e Eur opean .

”

M y

I nd i an Rem i n i scences, p . 82 .

99


I d o not thi nk t h e four great castes stand in t h e way of nat i onalgrowt h . Caste has becom e inflexi ble, and there lies i ts evil : ifit regai ned t h e flexi bility o f i ts earlier days , so t hat m en m ightchange t heir cast e,

i t would be very useful . Class is ri gid inGerm any : t h e nobles d o no t in t er -marry with t h e bourgeo isie o r

t h e peasantry, yet German y h as very strong nati onal feeling . Ast o Hindui sm at large, I laid m uch s tress , in past years , upon itsgreatness

,because it was vit ally necessary t o im plant self-respect

in t h e people without this no building of a nati on was possible .

”

To this interesting utterance,there are three pretty

obvious rej oinders : (1 ) Flexible caste, with penetrablepartitions

,would no longer be caste, but simply class in

t h e European sense of t h e word . (2) Not in Germanyalone,

but throughout Europe, inter-class marriages are

of doubtful advantage, because marked differences of

education and social tradition are not conducive to marri edhappiness . But it is no such consideration which forbidsinter-caste marriages in India . It is sim ply an inveterateclinging t o rules , for t h e germs of which t h e anthropologi stmay discover some j ustification in th e d im dawn of society ,but which have long hardened into a rigid system of pre

j udice,quite out of touch with reason . (3) As for th e

implanting of self-respect in th e people, that , if we takeself-respect in its higher sense,

is eminently desirable .

But I very much fear that th e efforts of European sym

path izers have tended rather t o th e fostering of self-esteemand self-glorificat ion ,

which need no outside encouragement .At a congress of pundits

,held a few months ago at

Conjeevaram ,in Southern India , th e following views were

elicited :

On t h e ques tion of sea voyage,eight een pundit s held that sea

voyage is sinful in it self, twent y-seven were of opinion that itbecom es sinful only under special cir cum st ances , and one pund i t

on ly d ecreed that i t i s not sinful at all. On t h e quest ion of postpuber ty m arri age for Brahm in gir ls , eigh t pundit s declared thatt h e Shastras prescribe such m arr iages ; twen ty-one pundits wereo f opinion t hat they are perm it t ed by t h e Shast ras under cer t aincir cum stances for a period o f t hr ee or four year s after puber tywhile seven held that th e S hastras proh i bi t post

-puberty marr i ages .

TOO


which has no t t h e mental energy to shake off such anancestral obsessionI should be disposed t o accept th e success of th e social

reform m ovement as a very fair test of India ’s m oral andintellectual regeneration . In freeing herself from casteand its subsidi ary evils , sh e will give t h e best possibleproof of h er fitness for political enfranchisement . But sh e

wi ll never work out h er salvation whi le sh e continues tothink and talk in this strai n Ours is t h e eternal ideal ofspiritual perfection for t h e individual and for humanity ;and there is no t t h e least fear that th e nation which hasbeen working for t h e last six thousand years and moretowards th e achievement of such an aim will ever d ieso long as it clings firmly t o its great social ideal .

1 02

MANNERS

F t h e Europeans wh o visit India , probably three-fourthsland at t h e Apollo Bunder, Bombay . As they stand

on that famous wharf , they see adj oining it on their righta rambling

,gabled bui lding , with a pleasant lawn and a

tall flagstaff in front of it , looking out , from a position of

great advantage , over t h e noble harbour . This is th e

Yacht Club,one of th e chief centres of social life in Bombay

and (except servants) no one of Indian birth, not even

t h e Raj put prince or th e Parsi millionaire, m ay set footacross its threshold . Th e sam e rule obtains at t h e BycullaClub an Indian wh o was appointed t o a post which hadalways carried with it an alm ost ex-ofi

‘ici o membership of

t h e club ,was nevertheless excluded . On th e other hand,

as you drive round t h e Back Bay t o Malabar Hill, you pass

t h e unpretendi ng but commodious home of t h e OrientClub

,which has recently been founded for t h e express

purpo se of bringing Indians and Europeans together . ManyEuropean offi cials frequent it as a point of duty ,

and meeton equal terms their Indian colleagues , and th e leadersof t h e commercial world of Bom bay , Parsi , Hindu andMuhammadan . It is , I understand , a fairly successfulinstitution but it is not as a point o f duty that all official

Som e one has cal led i t t h e true Byculla (bi -co lour ) Club of Bom bay .

Mr . Pryce Collier dined at t h e Orient Club in a m ixed company of Indiansand Europeans , alm os t equally divided and h e records that problem sof governm ent and poli tics were discussed as freely as they would h avebeen in New York or London.

”

1 03


Bombay crowds t o t h e Yacht Club on t h e afternoon of

mail-day .

There you have a picture in little of social conditions inInd ia— o i th e great gulf fixed between th e races

,and o f

th e strenuous efforts that are being made t o bridge it .Th e natural tendency of th e liberal—m inded ,

stay-athome Briton is t o exclaim upon th e racial exclusivenesswhich makes t h e Yacht Club forbidden ground even t o

princes and potentates of t h e most ancient lineage andth e most cultivated manners . But we must take humannature as it is , and not harshly blame th e instinct whichmakes Englishm en ,

wh o are day by day imm ersed t o th e

eyes in Indian interests and affairs , hunger for one littlespot where they can ,

for an hour or two, entirely shut out

t h e obsession of th e Orient . Every club in Indi a is alittle England

,reproducing exactly t h e interests , t h e

com forts and t h e vulgarities of an English club ; and itis

,I repeat , only human nature t o desire that it should

rem ain a little England ,and not become a little India .

Moreover— and here lies t h e most serious d i fficulty— al l,

or almost all , Indian clubs admit ladies as well as m en ,and

are comm on ground t o th e two sexes . Is it desirable thatladies should be brought into frequent contact with m en

whose own wom enfolk are jealously secluded ,and wh o in

their hearts despise t h e unveiled Western woman ? No

doubt there are many Indian (especially Parsi) ladies inBombay wh o are not purdah but it would be ri diculous ,and it would not help matters , t o make a rule t o t h e effectthat Indian gentlemen may be admitted t o clubs on

condition that they are accompanied by their wives .

Let us own , then , that it is no m ere insensate arrogancewhich draws th e colour line at t h e threshold of t h e YachtClub and other institutions of a like nature .

But let us own ,t oo

,that such a drawing of t h e colour

line must be inexpressibly galling t o a proud and sensitive

T h e lowest spor ting papers m ust owe to India a large par t of theircirculation.

1 04

San n yasi . Benares .

A Barber'

s Sh o p. Benares .

"To face 1 05.

MANNERS

people, wh o see their alien rulers , when t h e business of

running t h e country is over, withdraw into impregnablecaste-strongholds , with t h e almost openly-confessed designof washing their hands of India, and returning in spiritt o their island home . Th e club is a far more irritatingm ark o f subj ection than t h e cantonment .

Th e better sort of British official feels t h e drawbacks oft h e situation acutely

,and is unwearied in his efforts to

diminish them . Aided sometimes (not always) by hiswomenfolk , h e tries to establish some reasonable systemof social intercourse with his Indian co lleagues and subordinates . Now and then h e succeeds in a certain measurebut h e has two great difficulties to encounter : obstinateprej udice among t h e stupider members of his own race,

and t h e domestic arrangements and traditions of t h e

other race . Very often t h e per sonal relations betweenBritish officials and their Indian assistants are excellentrelations of sincere mutual respect and friendship . Butt h e attempt t o carry these relations from official intosocial life is generally a laborious failure .

* It is almostimpossible for t h e average memsahib to get upon humanterms wi th t h e average uneducated purdah woman . Evenif t h e language difficulty be overcome, t h e three commontopics— dress , j ewels and babies— are soon exhausted . Afew Western women have no doubt a genius for gettingbehind t h e Indian veil ; but they are rare at best ,and they seldom happen to be the wives of collectors orcommissioners .Two little experiences of my own may be cited in illus

t rat ion of these social diffi culties . A hi gh-caste Hindu

Let i t be noted , however . that if our attempts at social intercourseare not br illiantly successful , between t h e different sections of Indiansociety no such attempts are m ade at all. There is less social intercourse , wri tes H . H . t h e Aga Khan, between Muhamm adan and Hinduor between Rajput and Par si than between any of these races and t h eEnglish in India . Englishmen, and Engl ishm en alone, receive andhave fri ends am ong all classes and races . Nati onal Revi ew, February,1 907 .

1 05


gentleman well up in t h e Government service, invitedm e t o visi t his house—thereby showing, of course, greatliberality of spirit . He even introduced m e t o his wife

,

a pleasant- featured lady,no longer young, wearing in h er

left nostril a sort of little aigrette of rubies and emeralds .

It would ill become m e t o repay his kindness by a detailedcriticism of his interior but every moment of th e

half-hour I spent in it brought home t o m e t h e world-widedifference of standards— in ventilation, freshness , decoration

,comfort things material and things spiritual

between this Ci vilization and ours . How impossible it wast o imagine any Englishwoman , not violently prepossessed,like Sister Nived i ta,

in favour of everything Indian,

getting into comfortable social relations with t h e mistressof th is mansion"It is not a question of superiority or

inferior ity,but simply (as I have said) of wor ld-wide dif

ference . Very likely t h e devotions done by t h e Brahminlady at t h e altar in h er back yard, with its little pot of

basil, m ay have more of spiritual quality than whateverexercises of a like nature t h e collector ’s or t h e colonel ’swife may indulge in . Th e decorations of h er salon— a

frieze of garish German colour-prints of Siva, and Parvati ,and Rama and Sita and other divine personages

,all elab

orat ely tinselled by'

t h e ladies of t h e family—mayperhaps express as much artistic feeling as t h e TottenhamCourt Road photogravures that adorn most of t h e bungalowsof t h e neighbouring civil station . F or my part , I have no

overpowering admiration for Western culture as it com

m only m anifests itself in India . But whether it be higheror lower, it is irreconcilably different from t h e cultureof t h e East . I could not but feel in this high-caste household that any attempt at social intercourse between itand t h e European households of t h e station must be anelaborate and laborious hypocrisy, however admirablemight be th e spirit prompting it .There are, in Calcutta, Bombay and elsewhere, a certai nnumber of emancipated and highly cultivated Indian

1 06

MANNERS

families with whom social intercourse is a privilege and apleasure . Th e diffi culty in their case is that one is aptto feel like a semi-barbarian intruder upon an abode of

ancient , fine-spun, aristocratic culture. One begins torealize t h e force of Arnold ’s lines

T h e brooding East wit h awe beheldI ts impious younger wo rld—Q

—only that awe is perhaps not quite t h e emotion withwhich these grave Orientals regard our Western crudities .

But such households are as drops in t h e ocean of Indianlife . They show what might be and may be but they areimmeasurably removed from t h e general level of what is .

My second little experience may be more briefly narrated .

I had t h e pleasure of spending some days with a Britishoffi cial of high rank wh o makes it a rule t o exclude fromhis kitchen all pork , bacon and other products of t h e pig

,

in order that his Muh ammadan subordinates m ay be ableat any time t o lunch or dine with him , without fear of

partaking of any forbidden dish . As a matter of fact,I

m et at his table two Muhammadan members of h is staff,

wh o were evidently quite at their ease among their European colleagues . Here was an admirable instance of real

,

unforced , social intercourse . But two things have t o be

noted . First,it was Muslims , not Hindus , wh o j oined in

t h e pleasant repast second, our host was a bachelor .There has been a great improvement , beyond a doubt ,

in th e manners of Europeans towards servants and lowerclass Indians in general . Th e days are long past whent h e memsahib could send a khitmutgar t o t h e cantonmentmagistrate with a chit Please give bearer a dozenlashes understood—knowing that th e order would be

executed without inquiry . I have heard an official—a

civi lian, I am sorry to say—cite admiringly John Nicholson’s

(alleged) exploit of tying a tehsildar t o a well and makinghim turn t h e wheel for twenty-four hours , an ord erly

'

wi th

a c‘

at-o ’-nine-tails standing over him th e while. But thi s

1 07 7*


was narrated with fond regret , as a trait of t h e good old

days never t o return : You couldn ’t d o such a thingnow— you ’d be broke. Outrageous domineering andbrutality are now very rare.

In t h e course of six months ’ pretty constant travelling,I came across only two mild cases of bad manners . Th e

offender in one instance was a Scotch commercial-travelleror insurance-agent . At t i ffin at a Madras hotel , h e tookit into his head that t h e waiter had brought him t oo smalla plate for his salad, though, for my part , I could see nothingwrong with t h e crockery . After angrily ordering t h e man—wh o was twice his age and three times as dignified inappearance and bearing— t o bring him another plate, h efell to badgering him in this strain Now,

why couldn ’t

you have done that at first , boy Just because you

were t oo lazy, h ey ? -and so on till h e was tired . Th e

waiter listened with imperturbable calm, and was , fort h e moment at any rate, immeasurably t h e better manof th e two . On t h e other occasion, a dyspeptic officer losthis temper, very foolishly, because of t h e failure of a refreshment-room attendant t o understand h i s order— of coursea frequent cause of frict ionff These were t h e only instancesof bad manners that came to my not ice i On t h e otherhand

,I heard on unquestionable authority of several cases

in which low-class unofficial Europeans , or (unfortunately)young subalterns fresh from England, had treated even

Th e habit of addressing wai ters as boy is gr eatly t o be deprecated .

I t is not originally Indian , I believe, but has crept in from China, wherei t is m uch less offensive. I heard an Am er ican wom an add ress a cashierin Cook's offi ce at Calcut ta as boy but this, I think , was a. m ere slipof t h e tongue. Sh e was hurr ied and rattled .

”

1' There goes my lord th e Fer ingh ee, wh o talks so civ il and blandTill h e raves like a soul in Jeh annum if I don’ t quite understand .

Lyall : T h e Old P i nd aree.

I I once heard, in England, a young m an in th e Indian police speakingo f t h e natives in brutal and indefensible terms . He took a verypessim istic V iew of our pos ition in India as well h e m ight , if there weremany offi cer s of his stamp in t h e services .

1 08


But however we may deplore t h e bad manners of t h e

past, and survivals in t h e present of a bad tradition , itis only fair to remember that in our worst excesses of

arrogance we were only doing at Rome as th e Romansdi d .

” When Burke inveighed against t h e despotic stylet h e extreme insolence of language and demeanour usedby Warren Hastings t o a person of great condition amongt h e politest people in t h e world, h e was indulging beyondall measure h i s gift of idealization . Polite,

” in his day,

had a wider meaning than in ours ; but , in this contextat any rate, it must be taken as including our narrowmeaning . It would seem that nothi ng less than a frenzyof partisanship could make that people th e politest int h e world which had

,in t h e caste system ,

elaborated arrogance into a science and elevated it into a religion . Ont h e inhuman insolence of caste what need is there t o dwellSomething has been said of it in t h e foregoing chapter . Itake, almost at random,

from t h e report of t h e 1 90 1 Census,t h e following quatrain , expressive, it is said, of t h e contem ptof t h e up

-country Brahmins for m en of their own castewh o had migrated t o Ch h at t isgarh :

This is Chh at ti sgarh ,where t h e Gond is king of t h e jungle,

Under his bed is a fire, for h e cann ot pay for a blanket,N or for a hookah indeed—a leaf-pipe holds his t obaccoKick h im soundly first

, and then h e will d o what you t ell h im .

One would say that t h e whole spirit of t h e swashbucklingwhite ruffian toward t h e lowest African nigger breathedin these lines ; yet Sir Herbert Risley

’s comm ent is umdoubtedly just

,that they reflect t h e intolerant and

domineering attitude of t h e Indo-Aryan towards t h e

Dravidian, of t h e high-caste man towards t h e low, that

as there was only one b low, and i t was no t m eant to kill . ’ If M rs .

Besant can substantiate these accusations , and o thers, sh e would d o agreat service by giving them such prom inence th at t h e Governm ent ofIndia should be forced t o take cognisance o f them . T h e situation iscomplicated by t h e fact tha t young Indians are som etim es guil ty o f

deliberately provocative behaviour but that is all t h e m ore reason whyEuropean brutality should be sternly checked .

I I O

MANNERS

has been characteristic of Indian society from th e earliesttim es down t o t h e present day . Where such a spiritprevailed between Indian and Indi an, is it wonderfulthat t h e relat ions between t h e European and t h e Orientalwere not always regulated by t h e most scrupulous courtesyPerhaps it may be said that when impoliteness becomesa religion it ceases to be impo lite : in th e spirit of thatatrocious line of Dan te’s :

E cort esia f ir lu i esser villano .

I have not actually com e across this plea, but shouldno t be a t all surprised t o find it in th e works of th e Indiaworshippers .

* It must not be supposed , however , thatcaste is responsible for t h e whole of t h e m annerlessnessof Indian life . I t is at t h e root of a good deal of it , no

doubt but I think it may be taken as a general rule thatt h e am enities of social behaviour d o not greatly flourishanywhere am ong low-class Orientals . I am doubtful whetheran exception should be m ade for th e Japanese . When theyexist

,Oriental m anners are m agn ificent but in th e inter

course o i th e m asses of th e people, they are apt no t t o

exist . I am not assum ing that they are always conspicuousam ong t h e m asses of Europe . I am m aking no compar ison ,

but simply stating what I take t o be a fact . Beside th etwo instances I have m entioned of obj ectionable conducton t h e part of Europeans

,I could place numberless instances

of overbearing rudeness and hustling aggressiveness on th e

part of Indians towards Indians . These are , indeed , t h eeveryday incidents of travel . Mr . Pryce Collier bearswitness t o th e sam e effect . He says that in t h e courseof all his wanderings h e saw no cases of rudeness , except on

In The Web of Ind i an L ife (p . 46 ) S ister Nived i ta enlarges on

Indian cour tesy : no doubt j ustly, as r egards th e dom estic life o f cer taincastes . A m an , sh e adm i ts , wil l always take precedence of a woman passingthr ough a door but this is because they m aintain t h e tradition of t h e

path-breaker in t h e j ungle .

” I d o no t pretend that there is any im por tancein our conventional rule of ladies first —I m erely no te this as anam using exam ple of th e ingenuity which has been applied t o t h e ennoblem ent of every slightest trait o f Indian m anners .

I I I


th e part of minor railway officials towards travellers of theirown race . Once, h e says , sometime after midnight ,I saw an English officer pile out of his carriage in his pyj am asand slippers , and soundly berate a native official wh o wasbullying a third-class native woman passenger .

I shall not , I hope,be suspected of palli ating bad m anners

and brutality . I merely recall to mind a fact which issom etimes forgotten—namely, that t h e domineering t end encies of th e past

,which t o som e extent survive in th e

present , were indigenous rather than impor ted . Th e

trouble was that th e British official and soldier becam e t oo

much Or iental ized . So far as I can discover, after prettydiligent inquiry

,they found in th e Indian languages no

form s of politeness ready t o hand— no please or thank

you ,

”

or I beg your pardon .

” Fo rmulas o f servility andadulation existed in plenty

,but of ordinary courtesy,

none . This may seem a very trifling m atter , but it is not .

These little phrases are invaluable lubricants of socialintercourse, whether between equals or between superiorand inferior . Some languages are better supplied with themthan English ; and one misses them sadly on returningt o England from a country— I have Norway specially inmind— in which they are more abundant . In a countrywhere they are abso lutely lacking

,there is no such thing

as a request— there are only orders . What wonder if

Jo hookum ,As ordered , — is th e constant burden of

t h e intercourse between Indians and Europeans ? And whatwonder if th e awakening national spirit of India resents itHere agai n I suggest that a vast improvem ent would be

effected if we could r id our m inds of th e superstition thatBritish rule is and must be a failure if it aim s at anythingshort of an adam antine eternity . Not th e least of t h e evilresults ensuing from that habit of thought is t h e notionthat we must constantly pose as conquerors am ong a con

quered people— a notion peculiarly prevalent , it is onlyfair to say

,among bagmen, and shipping-clerks , and other

haughty spirits of th e type of my Madras compatriot .1 1 2


Thi s is only one of a number of sim ilar utteran ces whichappeared in th e Civi l and M i li tary about th e sam e tim e ,

and did incalculable harm—as th e conductors of t h e paperhave realized and tacitly adm itted . Here are one or two

m ore specim ens Let th e Babus clear ly understand thatwe have admitted them into th e adm inistration as our

servants,no t as our partners . A partnership between

Europeans and natives there must inevitably be,but it

must be with th e ruling classes,not with t h e servile classes .

Again : Already discerning people in England m ust bebeginning t o see that even half-a-dozen princely Counsellorsof th e intellectual type o f th e Maharaj a of Bikanir wouldbe worth a Who le parliament of babbling Yet

again— from a letter signed Fifty Years in India ”

When Swad esh i sm degenerates into ruffian ism,unveiled

disloyalty and racial antagonism ,I say again

,Sy

'

ambok I

Pretty sort ofwr iting this t o m itigate racial antagonism

Perhaps th e wor st , or at any rate t h e silliest of these effusions , wast h e fo llowing j ibe at th e extrem ely popu lar national song o f Bengal ,Hail to th e Mo ther land

BANDE MATARAM(By AUTOLYCUS ) .

I love my Aryan bro ther ,

And I love to see h im gayI t ’s nice to watch h im hard at work,And nicer sti ll at playAs David danced before t h e Ark(While thinking ou t a psalm ) ,

S o do th BengalNautch at th e callO f Bande Mataram .

Why should th e Raj at tem pt t o stayS uch pure innocuous fo llyA puny thing of fro th and fat(Hal f dho ti —quar ter bro lly

N o m ore accords t h e ruling raceAn obso lete Salaam ,

”

But—better stillWith organ shr il lCries Bande Mataram .

1 1 4

MANNERS

Th e senseless swagger of such utterances is directlyd ue to th e idea that we have some sort of providentialm andate t o rule Indi a for ever and a day, and that our rightis founded , not on adm inistrative capacity ,

but on aninborn genius for despotism

,in which every white-skinned

shop-boy has his share . I f we were encouraged by thosewh o set th e tone of Anglo-Indian thought to take a sanerview of our position and responsibilities , this pitiful andm ischievous racial snobbery would soon d ie out . Th e

fact that it is in som e m easure d ue t o th e contagion of our

Oriental environm ent does not at all excuse it . I f we are toj ustify our existence in India

,it m ust be by our resistance

t o this contagion,t o which all form er invaders succumbed .

*

Moreover,if we could realize and admit that our relation

t o India was tem porary,no t eternal , we should be less

discouraged by th e scant success of our hero ic effortst o lower existing - social barr iers . It is th e false ideal ofour status that m akes our isolation seem inhum an . Thoseof us wh o give any thought to th e matter know that tworaces cannot be locally intermingled in perpetuity withoutt h e sm allest social or spiritual intermingling so we strive

Our English topsy-turvy rulePossesses hum orous charm s

Beho ld a race that bares its legs,But never , sure. i ts arm s"

How can such children bo ther MENI t really takes t h e palm

T o think that weShou ld care a DF or Bande Mataram .

T h e fo llowing passage from an ar ticle in t h e Asiat ic Quarterly byShaikh Abdul Qadir (Apr il , is m uch t o th e point Th e Eur opeano fficial in India, in th e interests o f t h e Empir e, and in order to win t h econfidence o f th e people , should so act as no t to show any assumption o f

a D ivine right to rule , or any air of conscious super ior i ty, which , withou tstrengthening his position, j ars upon th e susceptibil ities of th e people .

I can quite im agine som ebody objecting to th e view I have expressedand saying : This m ust be som e new sensitiveness that t h e Indianshave developed , as their fathers rejoiced in honouring th e ru lers . ’ Yes

i t is new, but it is ther e, and i t has to be taken into account .”

1 1 5


to invent some form of social intercourse which shall m aket h e situation a little less m anifestly impossible . Butin all such efforts there is a tacit Thus far and no furtherwhich renders them artificial and in great m easure abortive .

Th e real am algamation which springs from inter-m arriageis

,by comm on consent , out of t h e question ; and it is

only in t h e rarest cases that anything like intim ate equalityof friendship is possible . Nor would it

,if possible

,be alto

gether desirable for th e strength of Br itish adm inistrationlies in its superiority

,not m erely t o pecun iary

,but t o

personal influences . Another difficulty arises from th e

fact that those Indians wh o show them selves most accessiblet o social advances from th e British side,

are not always th ebest or t h e m ost respected m embers of their own comm unity .

This view is stated ,with some exaggeration ,

in a letterfrom a Mussulm an which appeared in th e Civi l and

M i li tary Gazette at th e time when racial relations werebeing discussed in such an unfortunate tone by th e correspond ent s of that paper .

Those Indians , h e wro t e,wh o claim and crave adm ission t o

Anglo-Indian society are knaves ’ and fools ; but I subm itt o Anglo-Indians—t hese knaves and foo ls are your creat ion . Theyare a det es table set ; we Indians abhor t hem and call them d e

generat e . They are t h e bi ggest snobs we have . They decryyou when they com e strutt ing to us , and they denounce us whenthey go cringing before you .

”

This is clearly a somewhat intemperate,partisan out

burst ; but it points t o a real difficulty . No Indian ,and

especially no Hindu , can enter upon social relations withEuropeans without in som e degree derogating from th e

ideals of his race ; and though h e m ay be sincerely con

vinced that t h e ideals h e renounces are false and noxious ,h e none t h e less lays himself open t o suspicion of curryingfavour with t h e ruling caste .

I am far from suggesting that t h e efforts to place th e

two races on a better social footing should cease . I think1 1 6


If we would but see ourselves in a realistic light , as personscal led in t o perform for certain other persons a set of

services which, if honestly and capably rendered, must ,in t h e nature of things, work themselves out and becomeunnecessary, we should find ourselves relieved, not , indeed,of social duties , but of th e oppressive sense of their mo

mentous importance and insurmountable difficulty . Here,in England

,doctors, lawyers , architects, bankers , stock

brokers d o not feel themselves bound t o become th e personalcronies of their clients . It is only in a small minority of

cases that professional relations lead t o social intimacy ;nor does any professional man measure his success by t h enumber of such cases in hi s own experience. We are, inIndia, simply professional m en exercising certain protective,administrative, educative, constructive functions ; and itis only when ,

forgetting this, we pose as heaven-appo intedaffable archangels that we have any need t o reproachourselves with t h e incomplete success of our attemptsat affability .

1 1 8

THE INDIAN OPPOSITION

HE Abbé Dubois , that shrewd observer from whomI have already made several quotations , placed his

finger, a century ago ,upon t h e great difficulty of British

rule in India . Though a Frenchman , writing at a time whent h e defeat of French ambitions in t h e East was still com

parat ively recent , h e was in every way friendly t o anadministration which, as h e said, had freed t h e Indianpeople from t h e iron yoke of a long series of arbitraryrulers under whose oppression they groaned during so manycenturies . But h e added, with admirable insight or

foresight : It is t h e poverty of t h e country whi ch , inmy opinion , gives most cause for apprehension— a povertywhich is accompani ed by t h e most extraordi nary supinenesson t h e part of t h e people themselves . Th e question is ,will a government which is rightly determined t o be neitherunj ust nor oppressive be able always t o find within t h eborders of this immense em pire sufficient t o enable it t omeet t h e heavy expenses of its administration . Thismay seem t o imply that good administration is necessarilymore expensive than h ad ; but t h e seeming paradox iseasily resolved .

Under a system of oppression and corruption , th e cos tof government is enormous, but undefined . Th e peoplesuffer as long as they can, and d ie when they can sufferno more. Even if t h e cost in money were ascertainable

,

who could reckon t h e-cost in misery, enervation and general1 1 9


lowering of vitality ? As there is no assumption , open or

tacit , that governm ent exists for t h e good of t h e people,no one collects statistics of popular well-being o r ill-being.

Th e blight of misrule seem s t o be part of t h e natural orderof things ; and, if t h e sufferers complain at all, it is justas they might complain of any natural calamity

,such as

drought or pestilence . Among more energetic races ,intolerable suffering may seek relief in rebellion ; butpopular risings , as distinct from dynastic revolts and militarymutinies , are almost unknown t o Indian history . Misrule ,

in short , goes unaudited and unchecked . It sins againstno ideal because it owns none ; and its victims are t oo

inarticulate to protest .But good administration starts from t h e principle th at

it exists for t h e benefit of t h e people ; and , moreover, itcollects statistics and subm its its accounts t o criticism .

I f,then, its necessary expenses are heavy in proportion

t o t h e wealth, or t h e poverty, of t h e country, its practiceseems t o conflict with its professions , and discontent ,aided by education, becomes vocal and importunate . Peaceand security encourage t h e growth of population ; andunless a sim ilar increase in t h e means of subsistence can beeffected, t h e strain on th e resources of t h e country is byso much t h e more severe. It is possible, of course, thatan honest and well-meani ng administration may be extravagant in its finance, and may claim t oo high a remunerationfor its services . That , - as a matter of fact , is one of t h e

chief counts in t h e Indian indictment of B ritish rule. Butit is also quite possible— as t h e Abbé Dubois foresawthat a country may be so situated as t o require for itsadministration and defence, even on t h e m ost econom icalterms, such sums as t o involve a considerable draft upont h e scant subsistence of its poorer classes . That this is t h econdition of India there can be no doubt . It may bethat sh e is to some extent overcharged for t h e advantagesof British rule but even if that overcharge, on any reasonable estimate, were t o cease t o-morrow, th e country would

1 20


lead ing to a steady det eriorat ion of our race,and thi s

,I venture

to t hink, is a cruel and iniquitous wrong you are inflicti ng uponus . Let u s now t urn t o t h e m at er ial results , and here, I amsorry t o say, t h e verdict is even m ore emphati c agains t your rule .

T h e econom ic resu lts o f British rule in India have been abso

lut ely disastrous .

Read literally, this invective is surely inconsistentwith even t h e most guarded acceptance of t h e Britishconnection . I f it causes steady moral deteriorationand absolute economic disaster,

” what worse results couldensue from its overthrow, and a return t o t h e chaos of t h eeighteenth century, with , perhaps , a Japanese or Russianraj t o followMr . Gokhale, of course, is not t o be read literally when

h e uses such language. He speaks,no doubt , with sincerity,

but it is t h e sincerity of th e Leader of t h e Oppositiondenouncing a flagi t ious Treasury Bench . It should neverbe forgotten that this is, and must be, t h e nature of a greatdeal of Indian criticism of British rule. Th e Governmentof India is a Ministry which never goes out , and th e IndianNationalists are an Opposition which never com es in, andis consequently unrestrained by any sense of responsibility,by any anticipation of having t o make good its words whenits turn comes . From such an Opposition, scrupulousfairness is not t o be expected . Everyt hing that goeswrong is laid t o t h e charge of th e Government , and it isassumed that but for th e stupidity and arrogance andcupidity of t h e Government , everything would go right .

This is,indeed, th e nem esis of autocracy but most aut ocra

cies have a short way of dealing with an inconvenientOpposition . In India th e Opposition , far from beingsuppressed

,is allowed not only t h e utmost liberty of speech

that any constitutional party could possibly claim , but isgiven a clear and honourable official standing . It mighteven be said

,I think

,that t h e existence of such a man as

Mr .

’

Gokh ale, and his freedom t o utter such charges asthose above quoted

,carries in itself t h e confutation of one

1 22

THE INDIAN OPPOS ITION

of t h e charges- that of stunting and depressing t h e Indi angenius .

There are,then, two groups of grievances currently

alleged against t h e British rule : grievances material andgrievances moral . Let us look into them in this order .

Th e m aterial grievances all reduce themselves t o one :

t h e alleged impoverishment of th e country . But this fact ,if it be a fact , is viewed from different aspects and attributedt o three m ain causes

(1 ) Th e“ drain of weal th d ue t o heavy payments for

t h e services of an alien administration, a large part of whoseearni ngs is spent outside t h e country .

(2) Excessive military expenditure.

(3) Commercial subj ection .

MATERIAL GRIEVANCES—I . THE DRAIN .

Most of t h e Indian argum ents upon t h e drain —or,

as it is sometimes called, t h e annual tribute paid byIndi a t o England— would lead one to imagine that th eproverbial lore of India lacks an equivalent for th e wiseold saw : You cannot both eat your cake and haveit . No doubt it would be better for Indi a if peace, orderand security from invasion were products of h er own soil ,and had not t o be imported . But as this is

,for t h e present

,

not so—by t h e adm ission of all thinking m en— i t is futi let o talk of t h e payment for these imported commoditiesas a dead loss . Th e metaphor is neither fantastic nor

sophistical . It would be perfectly fair t o enter in t h e

balance-sheet , under t h e heading of Imports

Peace J£x ,ooo,ooo

Order £y,ooo,ooo

Security £z ,ooo,ooo

Items in th e detailed account may be open to criticismbut

‘

even i f an overcharge be detected here,an ungenerous

1 23 8*


exaction there, th e main result—a large surplus on th e

import side—will be very slightly affected . It is true

(and this is what we are all apt t o forget) that even peace,order an d security are no t absolute and unm ixed blessings ,but are good only in so far as a nation is capable of usingthem wisely . It is no special reproach t o India t o saythat sh e has not m ade th e wisest use of them ; for no

people on earth has yet discovered th e art of so orderingits social economy as t o beget th e highest measure of com

m on weal . But India is at least as far as any other nationfrom knowing h ow t o reap th e advantages of peace withoutits drawbacks and h er thinkers would perhaps be betteremployed in studying this art than in m aking fantasticcalculations (under English guidance, it m ust be owned)of t h e sum s of whi ch sh e is annually despo iled by ravenousEngland .

In his Econom i c Transi ti on in Ind i a Sir Theodore Morisonexam ines t h e theory of th e so-called drain .

”

He analysest h e Hom e Charges Budget ”

of 1 9 1 0—1 1 and shows (to

my sense,convincingly) that its total of nearly

reduces itself t o a sum of a little less than J{7 ,000 ,000 which

may not unreasonably be called a paym ent d ue t o th e

po litical connection with He then asks : IfIndia stood outside th e Empire

,as Japan does

,would sh e

be saved th e expenditure of these and hisanswer is that sh e would not . On t h e analogy of Japan

,

h e points out,sh e would have t o pay between four and

five m illions a year for a navy an d this is surely an underestim ate

,inasmuch as India o ffers a much m ore tempting

field than Japan for foreign aggression . Further, sh e hasno t t o m ai ntain a diplom atic and consular service ; andh e m ight have added that th e a year pai d t o h erViceroy is a trifle compared t o th e salaries and civil listsof m onarchs , whether European or Oriental . But , h e con

Th e o ther item s are Interest on Capital Invested, Interes ton Or dinary Debt (with cos t of m anagement ) , S tores andGoods (simply im por ts ) ,

1 24


We have seen that th e area o f India is equal to that of

Europe,m inus Russia ; and , oddly enough

,th e population

of Europe minus Russia is roughly equivalent t o th e pcpulation of India .

* To com pare th e cost of governm entof all Western Europe with th e cost of governm ent of Indiawould of course show a gigantic disproportion but in orderto d o this we should have to include all th e budgets of th enative states

,which ,

so far as I know,ar e not available .

It is m ore t o th e po int t o take British India alone,with

its population of which exceeds by aboutth e united populations of Great Britain and

Ireland,France

,Germ any

,Austria-Hungary

,and Italy .

Here,again

,a com parison of th e whole budgets would not

be instructive,th e d iscrepancy of conditions being so

enorm ous . It is sufficient t o put th e tax revenue of th e

United Kingdom alone— about —beside th e

tax-revenue of India— about {45,000 ,000 1T th e incidence

per head of population being about {3 83 . in th e UnitedKingdom

,as compared with 35. 8d . in India . It is m ore to

th e point t o see what th e defence of people inEurope costs , in compar ison with th e defence of

in India . This,I subm it

,is a legitim ate and real ly in

structive comparison for defence is a function that dependsnot so much upon what a country ough t to afiord ,

in con

sideration of its wealth, as upon what a country must

provi d e, in consideration of th e dangers to which it is exposed . I shall t ry to put my meaning more clearly afterhaving stated th e figures .

Defence now ranks in th e Indi an budget at about

per annum ,and th e Indian Opposition is

never tired of denouncing th e reckless extravagance of thisexpenditure . But th e defence of a smaller number of

people in Europe costs m ore than t en tim es as much ,

I take th e figur es from th e Internati onal Wh i taker for 1 9 1 3 ; Theywork ou t thus : Europe, m inus Russia, India,1' T h e to tal revenue and expenditure of Bri tish India are now between

and a year .

1 26

THE IND IAN OPPOS ITION

nam ely —to say nothing of th e economic lossinvolved in conscription . Western Europe (United Kingd om

,France

,Germ any, Austria, Italy) pays j ust about

{ 1 per head of population for defence : British India paysless than I S . 8d . h er head . Further

,as th e whole of India

benefits by th e secur ity it enj oys , it is quite fair to includet h e who le population in reckoning th e incidence of defensiveexpenditure in which case it works out at less than I S . 4d .

per head .

* Th e defence of Russia costs th e people of th e

Russian Empire about 75 . 9d . each ; th e defence of Japancosts th e people of Japan alone 73 . 5d . each if we includet h e population of h er dependencies

,th e figure is reduced

to about 55. 7d .

—more than four times as much as th ecost per head of th e defence of India .

Now this , I say, is no unfair comparison , since th e needsof defence are not to be measured by th e wealth or povertyof th e people

,but by th e dangers which threaten it . Wh y

does defence cost Western Europeans, per head, fifteen

times as much as it costs t o Indians ? Because WesternEurope is broken up into hostile communities

,j ealous of one

another’s prosperity,afraid of one another ’s power, and with

more than one old score t o be wiped out at th e first opportuni ty. Why is India not similarly broken up into hostilecomm unities with apparently conflicting interests

,with terri

tor ial disputes unsettled, with m utual j ealousies and rancours necessitating constant readiness to repel aggression ?Simply because British rule imposes unity and peace uponraces and religions m ore diverse than those of WesternEurope— peoples which , in th e past , have shown a tragicinability t o live at peace with each other . I t is true that

,

as we have seen in Chapter II I . ,British rule has begotten

a certain sense of solidarity,which will doubtless grow and

Th e inclusion of th e expenses of th e Imper ial Service Corps m ightinfini tesim ally affect this figure . T h e arm ies of th e Native S tates m aybe disregarded , as contr ibuting, not to th e defensive strength of t h e Em p ire ,

but to t h e necessity for m aintaining in high efficiency t h e forces whichguarantee t h e Imper ial bond.

1 27


strengthen if present conditions remain undisturbed ;but th e unifying process is as yet very incomplete, and itis scarcely t o be doubted that , were th e external pressurenow withdrawn ,

India would break up again into num erouspotentially hostile states , which would proceed t o arm

against each other with all t h e ruinous apparatus of modernwarfare . How long , in such an event , could th e requirements of defence be kept down t o one rupee per head ,

or

even t o one rupee,four annas

Let us im agine,however , that India, outside th e British

Empire,rem ained an empire at peace with itself , or a

confederation of united states , requiring no force for whatmay be called inter-state defence . It would in that casepresent a m arvellous and unprecedented spectacle t o t h e

world : that of a huge congeries of heterogeneous races,

tr ibes and tongues,falling into a condition of stable equi li

br ium without any external pressure a trium phant proof,by t h e way, of th e beneficence of th e al ien rule which

,

in a single century,had worked such a m iracle . But

would t h e adm iration which this spectacle ought t o com

mand render th e India of th e future any m ore inviolablefrom without than th e India of th e past ? Would th e

country which has tempted invasion after invasion sincet h e very dawn of history be exem pt from th e need of fortifying h er frontiers , patrolling h er coasts , and being prepared t o hurl back from h er soil any invaders wh o broke

I d o no t thi nk t h e com par ison with European expendi ture a goodone, wr i tes a fr iendly cr itic, fam iliar with India , “ because I d o no t

believe that , were we t o leave India, t h e separate races would ever arm

on such a stupendous scale against each o ther they would soon subm i tt o som e contro l either from within or from without . ” As to t h e probab ili ty of t h e latter contingency, I agree ; but I am putting it aside forth e m om ent to consider th e o ther al ternative. If i t be true that Indiawou ld soon " and peaceful ly subm it to contro l from within , thensh e is already r ipe for self-government . I wish I could believe it Thath er d ifierent sections would no t arm against each o ther on t h e stupen

dous Eur opean scale is no doubt true : their pover ty would render i tim possible . But they would strain their resources to m ake their armam ents as form idable as possible .

1 28

INDIA AND THE FUTURE.

MATERIAL GRIEVANCEs— II . M ILITARY EXPENDITURE .

We now come t o th e second count of t h e indictment ont h e material side— that of excessive military expenditure .

It may appear that I have already dealt with this subject ;but that is not so . I have tried to show that t h e burdenof defence is very sm all in comparison with that borneby other nations

,and in proportion t o th e tem ptations

which India has always o ffered t o foreign invaders . Butit does not follow from this that t h e military expenditureis not higher than it need be . If equal security could beattained at less cost— i i , say , it could be bought for one

shilling per head instead of I S . 4d .

— then India has , in so

far, a j ust grievance .

This is , of course,a question for experts , on which it

is difficult for a layman t o form a decided opinion . Indianpoliticians have not t h e least hesitation in condemningt h e forward frontier policy which has added so largelyt o the military budget . It is an article of faith t o themthat we should have ensconced ourselves behind t h e in

most line of defence* and no t gone out t o meet a possibleinvader . This opinion may conceivably be right in itselfbut it is held in India

,not because it is right , but because

it is th e opposite opinion t o that of th e Government . Id o not m ean that th e politi cians have no t studied th e question I mean that they have accepted th e arguments whichappealed t o them in their character of a perm anent Oppositiou , and which made for immediate ,

if not ultim ate ,

economy ; F or my part,I d o not attem pt t o decide . All

governments are fallible ; and if t h e Government of Indiahas made a mistake in its frontier policy ,

it has at least not

“ Br itish Baluchistan and t h e Gilgit Pro tectorate are beyond t h e

l ine of our im pregnable defences , and India has no concern with themexcept as Imper ial charges ." M r . Gokhale,

Evidence before t h e WelbyComm ission, 1 897 . I t is a lit tle surpr ising to find Mr . Gokhale speakingof t h e impregnable defences of t h e mos t invaded country in th e world .

1 30

UBrah u i , Shepherd C lan .

"To lace p. 1 31 .


without Such views find a certain am ount of sanctionin th e loose talk of t h e Imperialists wh o regard th e BritishEm pire as an asset and not as a responsibility . But ifit be no t true that we get from India any m ore than a veryreasonable equivalent for th e services we render h er

,

*

what becom es of t h e argument that we ought t o payheavily for t h e privilege of rendering these services ? We

d o pay heavily for it,outside India . Our interest in t h e

Eastern Question arises mainly , if not solely, from our

responsibilities in India ; and what has no t that interestcost us ? We assum e t h e entire charge of India’ s maritime defence except a little over a year . j It wouldbe rather hard if we had t o pay for th e defence of h er landfrontier as well .It does not appear from whom Mr . Gokhale quoted t h e

saying that India is t h e strategi c frontier of t h e BritishEm pire nor is it quite clear what t h e phrase means ,unless that it is th e most vulnerable point in t h e frontier .Mr . Dad abh ai Naoroj i , in his Presidential Address t o t h e

Indian National Congress at Lahore in 1 893,put t h e plea

more definitely,in quoting from Lord Roberts two state

ments t o t h e effect that t h e retention of our EasternEmpire is essential t o th e greatness and prosperity of t h e

United Kingdom ,and then asking why

,if this be so

,th e

cost of defence should be t o th e last farthing thrownon t h e wretched Indians . That this is far from being t h e

If we go back to t h e eighteenth century , we m ust of cour se pleadgui l ty to m uch shaking of t h e pagoda tree .

” W e robbed t h e nativerobber s wh o were bleeding t h e country to death ; and her e and therewe too k up and carr ied on their work . But t o quo te as applicable to t h e

present day, a ph rase of Ruskin’s about our native desire t o l ive on

t h e loo t o f India, is no t , I think, to promo te Iucidity of thought . S tillless is i t helpful to endorse wi thou t reserve t h e ph rases of Indian agitator s wh o talk of t h e Br itish as being day and night engaged in t h e

explo i tation of our country and th e spo liation of our people .

”

9 “

1‘

Th e average of t en year s m ar ine expend 1 tur e, 1 900—1 0 . This isless than a quar ter of t h e cos t of a single battleship, less than one-twentiethof t h e naval expendi ture of Japan , and less than one hundredth par t oft h e naval expendi ture of England .

1 32


case we have j ust seen but even if it were t h e case, whatcountry can j ustly claim t o be relieved of t h e cost of itsown defence ? It is not our fault that India is poor .

*

It is not our fault that sh e invites invasion . It is not our

faul t that sh e has never been able ,by h er own organization

and resources , t o offer any sustained resistance t o invasion .

We place h er in a strong defensive position by means of

an arm y of m en ,one third of whom are Europeans .

That th is force ,and t h e constructions and operations

undertaken for securing t h e frontier,should cost a little

over { 20 ,ooo ,ooo j a year is no doubt t o be regretted , when

we consider t h e poverty of t h e country ; and t h e Oppositiou h as every right t o urge economy and obj ect t o unfaircharges . Especially may it wi th reason protest against t h ethrowing upon India of expenses incurred in t h e service of

th e Empire in general and not of Indi a in particular . Butthat is a quite different thi ng from claiming exemptionfrom expenses incurred in t h e direct interest of h er security .

Som e of them may have been unwisely incurred but thatis not t h e point here at issue . Th e point is whether Englandought t o relieve India of a proportion of th e outlay necessaryfor h er land defence and in that contention I can see no

reason .

But , it may be urged , t h e British soldiersin Ind ia are not really— at any rate no t primarily— a

force hired t o protect t h e country against m enace fromwithout . They are th e garrison required t o consolidateBritish rule withi n th e country— t o give strength ,

whennecessary ,

t o t h e civil arm .

’

No doubt that is so ; no

doubt Indi a (by t h e admission of all reasonable Indians)requires

,as yet , protection against internal no less than

against external dangers . But is that t h e fault of England ? Can England be rightly debited with t h e cost of

M r . Naoroj i and M r . Gokhal e m ai ntain that it i s our faul t—a con

tention we have already exam ined , and shal l return to later .

T No te th at at least three-four ths of this sum is expended in India,and

'

can by no m anner of reckoning be docketed as drain .

”

I 33


maintai ning peace and order in a country which wouldcertainly never have come under h er control had it beenable t o perform that duty for itselfThis brings us round again t o t h e suggestion that

,on th e

evidence of Lord Roberts and many other authorities,India

is essential t o th e greatness and prosperity of England,

which therefore ought to pay for h er defence . Now it isperfectly true that th e prestige and (for a time at anyrate) t h e prosperity of England would suffer considerablyby a catastrophi c end of h er rule in India , whether d ue t oinvasion from without or rebellion from within . Anunsuccessful war is necessarily a calam ity , at any ratein its immediate results ; and as th e expulsion o f t h e

British from India would probably mean th e installationof a government (whether native or foreign) hostile t o

British trade, th e blow would doubtless be severely feltin t h e industrial world . But because t h e violent overthrow of an existing arrangement would be disastrous ,it does not follow that th e arrangem ent in itself is particularlyprofitable. Apart from th e question of trade, it is verydoubtful whether we make any clear profit at all out o f

our connection with Indi a . Sh e is a huge addition t o our

responsibilities , and sh e drains us year by year o f manyof our best intellects , returning them t o us when theirvigour is declining , and when (in many cases) they haveformed habits of thought and feeling of doubtful advantaget o their British citizenship . Whatever we gain by th e

connection , except in t h e way of commerce, is probably a very poor compensation for what we sacrifice .

If we are not in India for India ’s good , still less are we

there for our own . There is a certain stimulus , no doubt ,in th e romance of th e adventure, and a certain satisfactionin th e sense o f work well done, which ,

on t h e whole, anddespite our critics

, we may justly feel . But one need not

be a Little Englander to hold that Indi a has tended t o

check rather than t o promote th e course of sound development in our national life .

1 34


An excellent rule in Anglo-Indian financewould be, Whenin doubt , charge

MATERIAL GRIEVANCEs—I II . COMMERCIAL SUBJECTION .

Th e third grievance, on t h e material side, is that of

commercial subj ection or exploitation . It is very clearlyformulated by Mr . Gokhale in his evi dence before t h e WelbyCommission Th e resources of our Empire, h e said, are

really vast but th e great di fficulty in India is about capital ,and we are unable at present t o take advantage of theseresources ourselves, but our hope is that in course of tim e

we might be better able to spend money in that d irection ,

and then we should be able to utilize our resources for our

selves . At present , owing t o t h e vigorous manner in whichrailways are constructed, and t h e way in which foreigncapitalists are encouraged t o invest their money in India,t h e result is that we get only t h e wages of labour, whileall th e profits that are made are taken out of t h e country,and our resources are being utilized by others . Mr .Naoroj i , wh o was a member of t h e Commission, thenproceeded t o question Mr . Gokhale as to t h e reason whyIndia was so ill-provided with capital Is it not becauseour capital is carried away from t h e country ? Yes

that is so . Is not that at t h e root of t h e whole thingYes

,it is at th e root of t h e whole thing .

” Once moret h e famous drainMr. Gokhale further said that , while h e admitted t h e

benefit of t he trunk lines of railway, h e would have had nofurther development of t h e railway system , except such ascould be executed out of surplus revenue that , in a word,h e would have had India make h er own railroads . In

I d o no t rem em ber t o have seen any pro test agains t t h e i tem o f

Ecclesias tical Expenditure,

"running to over a year . T h e

Eur opean comm uni ty ought surely to pay for i ts own spir itual luxur ies .This i tem com es under Salar ies and Expenses o f Civil Depar tm ents.T h e Ecclesias tical expenses of th e army , which may fair ly be reckonedas necessary , are very m uch lower .

1 36

THE INDIAN OPPOS IT ION

hi s Budget Speeches of ten to fifteen years later, h e cri t i

cizes very severely t h e system of budgeting for surplusesand of paying ext raordinary expenses (such as those of

mi litary re-organization) out of revenue, instead of byway of loan . There is

, t o my mind, a great deal of forcein his objection t o any system of finance whi ch takes fromt h e Indian tax-payer more than is strictly needful for t h etime being ; but it is hard to see h ow,

on this principle,t h e Indian railroads would ever have got them selves built .

I have read cri ticisms on details (and important details)of Indian railway finance which seemed , t o my inexpertj udgment , distinctly damagi ng . That th e Government hasnow and then entered into disadvan tageous bargai ns , and allowed itself t o be put upon,

” seems probable enough . Butth e Indi an rai lways now bri ng into th e exchequer th e substant ial annual revenue of from to

far more than half th e total of th e so-much-denounced military expenditure . It would seem as though t h e system hadno t been, on th e whole, absolutely ruinous t o t h e country .

But t h e rai lways are only a particular instance of t h e

exploitation of which Mr . Gokhale and Mr . Naoroj i complain— t h e exploitation whi ch, t o use their own favouritephrase

,is reducing them t o nothing but hewers of wood

and drawers of water . ” Th e real question is whether theyare right in arguing that India ’s assumed inability t o

provide t h e capital for h er own development is d ue t o t h emalign influence of foreign rule, and whether, realizingthat inability

,a wise statesmanshi p ought t o h ave checked

development until such time as India could have paid forit out of h er own resources ?

Th e second half of th e question rai ses an economicproblem of great interest . Where it is a m atter of choosingbetween comparatively slow development by (so t o speak)home-grown capital , and rapid development by foreigncapital

,it is very probable that far-sighted statesmanship

would choose th e former alternative . But this choicewould pre-suppose two conditions first , that th e country

I 37 9


could afford to develop slowly secondly, that, given reasonable time, its people had t h e energy and th e thrift t o furni shfor themselves t h e means of development . Were thoseconditions present in India ? Would not t h e po licy now

advocated by t h e Indian Opposition— t h e deliberate ex

elusion of foreign capital— have left t h e country exposedt o far greater evils than those now complained of Effectivemeasures of famine relief would have remai ned impossibleeducation would have been enormously retarded t h e

sense of national unity would have grown very slowly, i fat all . I thi nk it may safely be sai d that t h e Indi an Oppositiou would never have existed, or at any rate would haveremained in t h e far future, if th e Government, fifty yearsago, had acted upon t h e economic principles which it isnow reproached with ignoring . It is not accused of havingrecklessly or corruptly given away valuable rights andconcessions t o foreign capitalists, or alienated what oughtt o be regarded as t h e property of t h e nation . It is notaccused of blindly pandering— after t h e manner of PorfirioD iaz— t o capitalistic greed . All it has done is not t o

inter fere artificially with t h e natural influx of capital fort h e development of resources which t h e Indian people lackedt h e m eans

,and more particularly t h e energy, t o develop for

themselves . Th e view that it should, or could, have actedotherwise, does not seem seriously tenable.

If, on t h e other hand, India

’s lack of capital was d uet o impoverishment consequent upon British rule, that is aserious, even a terrible, grievance. We have already seensome reason for doubting whether this fundamental theoryof t h e Indian Opposition tallies with th e facts of t h e casebut it may be well, at this point , t o look a little more closelyinto t h e whole question of Indian wealth and poverty .

In t h e first place : is it true that th e resources of th ecountry are being exploited exclusively, or nearly so,

by Europeans ? When one has seen t h e palaces of mer

chants and manufacturers around Bombay and Ahmedabad,and th e Calcutta mansions of t h e zemindars, or landlords ,

1 38

INDIA AND THE.FUTURE

Again , even as t o rai lways , is it th e case that India couldnot , .

i f it would, have provided t h e capital for their construction ? It did provide t h e capital for a certain partof them , in t h e form of loans from three or four Indianprinces, on terms said t o be not wholly advantageous to th eIndian tax-payer . As to t h e

“

general mass of railway stock ,I am not aware of any statistics t o show h ow much of it isheld in India ; but if it is a small proportion , t h e reasonmust lie in t h e Indian character . There is no doubt thatt h e hoarded, or , at any rate, th e uninvested wealth of Indiais great , and that rich m en,

from princes downwards ,might

d o a great deal more than they actually d o towards developing t h e resources of t h e country . If they lack t h e enterprise or t h e intelligence t o invest j udiciously in j oint stockconcerns, is that t h e fault of t h e British rule To say thatdevelopment ought t o have been suspended because Indiahad not t he capital to undertake it for herself , is not , atbest , very practical ;

'

but what becomes of t h e suggestionshould it appear that sh e had t h e capital , and forbore t ouse itOne of th e proofs of poverty which th e Indian Opposition

is fond of adducing is t h e small amount of t h e deposits in t h ePost Office Savings Bank . Th e total deposits in yourPostal Savings Bank

,

” sai d Mr . Gokhale at t h e NationalLiberal Club in 1 905, amount to 1 48 million sterling ,and you have, in addition , in t h e T rustee Savings Bank ,

about 52 million sterling . Our Postal Savings Bankdeposits , with a population seven times as large as yours ,are only about seven million ster ling, and even of this a littleover one tenth is held by This is certainlya striking contrast but Mr . Gokhale makes no allowancefor his count rywom en

’

s habit of carrying t h e family savings

On March 31 ,1 9 1 2 , there were in th e Pos t O ffice Savings Bank

accounts representing over { 1 2 , Governm ent prom issory no tes t o t h e am ount of had been issued ; and PostalLife Insur ance had been effec ted t o an aggregate sum of 32 . F or

fur ther figures showi ng th e steady incr ease of savings, see Lord Curzon

i n Ind i a, pp . 1 32 , 28 1 .


about their persons in th e shape of gold and silver ornamentsand jewellery . Th e European wh o has not visited Indiacan scarcely believe how universal is thi s practice, or whata weight of precious metals th e Indian woman will suspendat h er ears and string upon h er wrists and ankles . IfIndia would capital ize h er nose-rings alone, h er SavingsBank total would go up at a bound .

*

After all deductions and qualifications , however, wecome at last t o th e hard fact that th e peasantry of India—four-fift h s of th e population— are as a whole extremelypoor , and that many millions live habitually on t h e brinkof starvation . It is time that we should get at th e true andultimate reason of this fact .

THE CAUSES or INDIAN POVERTY .

Th e reason alleged by t h e Indian Opposition is that t h eryot has been ruthlessly taxed for a century past in ordert o pay t h e tribute demanded by his foreign rulers , so

that h e has all t h e time grown poorer and poorer, less able t olay by against a rainless day— in other words

,against tim es

of famine—and, by reason of impaired vitality, more apt t ofal l a victim t o plague, cholera, mal aria and other forms ofdisease . Nor is thi s a theory held by Indi ans alone. It isrepeated and worked out by Englishmen in such fantasticfigures that one wonders why t h e whole Indian people isnot dead of starvation years ago .

Even when more sanely stated, t hi s argument presentsserious di fficulties on t h e very threshold . There is , as wehave seen, ample evidence that t h e Indian peasant was verypoor a century ago j If, now, you keep on steadily makinga poor man poorer year by year, you must come ultimatelyto t h e point at which h e has nothi ng left at all and t h e fact

As t o t h e sum s lavished onm endicant ascetics see Chapter IV. . p . 7 6 .

1'

T h e indebtedness of t h e ryo t is no new thing . Munro in Madr as andElphinstone in Bom bay showed at th e beginning of th e nineteenth centuryh ow utter ly sunk in debt t h e ryo t was ." Mor ison , Econom i c Transi ti on

i n Ind ia, p . 79 .

1 41

IND IA AND'

THE FUT URE

that that point has not been reached in a hundred years isof itself sufficient t o throw doubt on t h e theory . Again,it is quite certain that in t h e eighteenth century

,not only

was t h e country tormented by war and brigandage, butmany princes and their deputies ground t h e people mostinhumanly in order t o meet t h e costs of their am bition andtheir luxury . Is it not , indeed, t h e standing and j ustreproach against t h e East India Company, that , before itawoke t o its responsibilities , some of its agents connivedat , profited by, and even participated in , gross tyranniesof this nature If this be so, wh o can believe that , undera reign of peace and order, legitimate taxation, even ifsomewhat burdensome, can have such a depressing andimpoverishi ng effect as rapine, pillage, and arbitrary exac

tion If,as a matter of fact , people are not much richer

than they were at th e end of that chaotic period—muchpoorer they could not possibly be—must we not suspectsome other cause or causes at work, besides th e pressureof taxationGoing still further back, to th e great days o f th e Mogu lEmpire

,we know that th e land revenue exacted by Akbar,

Shah Jahan,and Aurungzeb was very much larger than

that which has at any tim e been deman ded under Britishrule .

* Allowing for difference in area and purchasingpower of silver, writes Sir William Hunter, Akbar

’

s

tax was about three times t h e amount which t h e Britishtake (in Th e land revenue of Aurungzeb afterhis annexations in Southern India was nearly 38 millions ,exclusive of what h e drew from Kashmir and Kabul . Th e

land revenue of 1 91 0—1 1 was less than 2 1 m illions , probably

(though of this I am not quite sure) drawn from a largerarea than Aurungzeb contro lled . Aurungzeb ’s total revenuefrom all sources was estimated in 1 695at 80 m illions sterling,and in 1 697 at 77§ m illions . Th e total revenue of recentyears ranges somewhere around th e same figures but fromthis 20 to 25millions have to be written off as arising from

See Hunter’s Br i ef Hi story of th e Ind i an Peoples, pp. 1 39 , 1 44 , 1 50 .

1 42


with an innum erable host of cavalry glitter ing with cloth o f

But pageantry probably cost less than th e seraglio,

t o th e incredible expenses of which , under Aurungzeb ,Bernier bears explicit witness . Nor need we search old

records for testim onies of Mogul prodigality . Th e faceof th e land is covered with their palaces , mosques andtombs , which must have cost huge sum s of money , evenif th e cash paym ents were somewhat reduced by th e em

ploym ent of forced labour . Go to Fatehpur-Sikri and see

t h e m agnificent city which Akbar built only to be abandoned,nobody quite knows why . Return t o Agra and View th e

m arble m iracle which Shah Jahan dedicated t o th e m emoryof th e chief lady of his harem . Wander through th e

exquisite marble palaces of Agra, Delhi, Lahore . Mark th egiant plinths upon which such splendid structures as Hum ayun

’

s Tomb and t h e Jumm a Musj id at Delhi are elevated .

Then ask where t h e pr ice of all these high-piled gloriescame from , and you will find that it was , for t h e m ost part ,wrung from th e red soil of India . Th e proportion whicharose from m ines or manufactures or commerce musthave been com paratively small and if some of i t ' camefrom th e loot of conquered provi nces , even that must havesprung ultimately from th e soil . Any neglect of economythat could ever be laid t o t h e char ge of th e British Government shrinks into insign ificance when com pared with t h eimperial exorbitancies of t h e Moguls .T But at least

,

”

it may be said, th e wealth which they extracted from theirsubjects remained in India, and was not drained away .

I t did,no doubt ; but h ow much of it came back to th e

Elph ins tone : Hi story of Ind ia,

’

p . 536 . Those wh o have seen t h e

Lungar parade at Hyderabad , Deccan , can form som e conception of t h e

gorgeousness of Mogu l pageantry .

1“

Shah Jahan, says Elphinstone, was th e mos t m agni ficent pr incethat ever appeared in India . His expenses can only be palliatedby th e fact that they nei ther occasioned any incr ease to his exactionsnor any embarrassm ent of his finances ." But if his exactions were no t

increased , this c0uld only m ean that they were from th e first enorm ous .H is fam ous Peacock Thr one was valued at

I 44

F rom S tereo Copyr i gh t by" {(Underwood 6} Un rlerwood .

T h e lum ni a Mu sud . Delh i .

"T o face 1 44 .


lifetime shall serve them after death .

”

Th e last sentencesevidently apply rather t o th e urban middle-classthan to th e peasantry . But th e same acute observergoes on : Tyranny o ften grows t o that excess that ittakes away what is necess ary to th e life of a peasant ortradesman , wh o is starved for hunger an d misery .

Th e land is no t tilled but almost by force,consequently

very ill , and m uch of it is quite spoiled and ruined .

” Itis true that in this pas sage Bernier is speaking rather ofOriental countries in general than of Indi a in particular ;but it is th e condition of Indi a which suggests his remarks ,and h e makes no exception in h er favour .We see

,then

,that

,under th eMoguls , an enormous revenue

was raised, often by very oppressive methods and under

conditions far less favourable t o th e peaceful cultivation of

th e so il than those of t o-day . It m ay be added that plagueand famine were by no means unknown ,

* though peoplepaid much less attention t o them than they d o at present .Is it for a moment credi ble that t h e ryot was better off

then than now ? He was not : h e suffered, then as now,

apathetically an d uncomplainingly ; and it was nobody’s

business either to relieve his hardships or to bewail hisfate. To this day it is only th e clas s which has comeunder th e influence of European hum anitarianism that isgreatly concerned about th e sufferings of th e peasant .European officials engaged in famine work are frequentlystartled by th e fatal istic indifference of their Indian subord inates . Why trouble about this carrion they wi llsay It is th e will of th e gods .Assuredly th e lot of th e peasant is not worse to-day than

it was in th e brave days of old but th e fact remains thatit ought to be very conspicuously better, and that somehowit is not . Taking India all round, it cannot be said thatth e po sition of th e cultivator is satisfactory . There isconflict of evidence as to details . Th e official View seems

F or plague, se'

e Sir Thom as Roe (Ed . Hakluyt Society) , pp . 307 , 375, 505.

F or fam ine, see S ir Theod ore Mor ison , Econom i c Transi ti on, pp . 1 05-1 1 6 .

1 46

THE IND IAN OPPOSIT ION

to be that in some parts of th e country,at any rate

, th e

ryot shows greater recuperative power after a bad seasonthan h e formerly did th e Opposition view is j ust t h ereverse . Some people ho ld poverty to be systematicallyexaggerated (as Bernier says it was in th e seventeenthcentury) an d talk ,

with Mr . Kipling ’s philosopher,of th e

bloom in’

gari b adm i swindle . But th e m ain fact is onlyt oo evident , nam ely, that large masses of th e agricu lturalpopulation are in a condition of stagnant indigence andindebted ness

,and that th e failure of a single seas on ’s crops

deprives them even of th e han dful of pulse which is all theyrequire to keep body an d soul together . Why is it thatvastly improved external conditions have not broughtwi th them a striking advan ce in prosperityTh e reason , in my View,

is simple : namely, that th ebenefit of good government is , in part at any rate, nullified,when th e people take advantage of it , not to save and raisetheir standard of living

,but to breed to th e very margin

of subsistence. Henry George used to point out that everymouth that came into th e world brought two hands alongwith it ; but though th e physiologi cal fact is undeniable,

th e econom ic deduction suggested wi ll not hold good exceptin conditions that permit of th e profitable employment ofth e two hands . Can they

,by increasing th e efficiency

of cultivation , increase, in th e necessary ratio ,th e produc

t ivi ty of a given portion of soil ? Or is there fresh soilfor them to till Or can they be applied to th e productionof commodities exchangeable for food ? Under presentconditions in India, taking it all round, th e answer t o thesequestions can only be a qualified affirmative . Th e studyof intensive cultivation has not yet yielded great results ,and th e peasantry lack t h e intelligence, th e energy andth e capital to profit by such m ethods as have been devised .

In many parts there is no new land to be taken under

Speaking fr om their own observation , m any Bri t ish officials of longexperience asser t unhesitatingly that t h e peasantry in general are now

bet ter clo thed , bet ter fed , and bet ter able to afford t h e small conveniencesof m odern life, than they wer e th ir ty years ago .

1 47


cultivation ; and, where expansion is possible,it is to be

presum ed that, except where irrigation comes into play,th e new land is of inferior quality .

* As for manufactures ,though they d o in som e m easure relieve th e strain upon th esoil, they are as yet so little developed that th e effect isscarcely felt .T.

When India first came under British contro lsh e was already well-populated . Sh e had not , like th e

United States at th e sam e period , or Canada to-day, enormous powers of expansion . Sh e had not imm ense mineralresources t o supplement t h e resources of th e soil . Sh e hadnot an eager, energetic , provident breed of agriculturists ,quick to seize upon every method of saving labour andincreasing produce . What sh e had was a multitudinouspeasantry , frugal, indeed , inasmuch as its daily wantswere small, and industrious in a

“

languid,m echanical way,

but wasteful in its social habits , incapable of foresight orrational thrift , preyed upon by usurers and parasites , andregarding procreation as th e m ost sacred of all duties . I tis true that its marriage customs did not really make forhealthy fecundi ty, and that there were many checks uponincrease which would not have been operative in a moreenlightened community . Still, peace and order did theirwork, and th e population steadily grew . Though everym illion mouths was accom panied by two million hands ,that was far from meaning that production increased twi ceas fast as consumption . Theremust have come a po int afterwhich th e hands failed even to keep pace with th e mouthsand, as th e utmost m argin of productivity Was approached ,each new pair of hands meant a relatively diminished re

In 1 880 , said Lord Cur zon in 1 90 1 , there were only 1 94 m illionsof acres under cultivation in India. There are now 2 1 7 m illions , or anincrease in V ir tually t h e sam e ratio as t h e increase in population .

”

Th e

average quali ty of th e addi tional 23 m illion acr es does no t appear . Ifi t was be t ter than that o f th e 1 94 m illions t h e resul t would be a real addi tiont o t h e resour ces of t h e country . But t h e chances are that t h e averagequali ty was poorer , in wh ich case t h e rati o between population and subsistence was al tered for t h e worse1‘ In 1 9 1 1 , t h e to tal num ber of per sons em ployed in factories fell som e

thing shor t o i1 48


Mr . Dad abh ai Naoroj i , in his presidential address to th eIndian National Congress of 1 893, quoted this passage fromMacaulay To trade with civilized man is infinitely moreprofitable than to govern savages that would indeed be adoting wisdom whi ch , in order that India might remain adependency, would keep a hundred millions of men

from being our customers , in order that they might continuet o be our slaves . After th e words a hundred millionsMr . Naoroj i inserted in parenthesis now really

but it does not seem t o have occurredt o him that in this vast increase, unaccompanied by acommensurate increase of productivity , whether of foodor of commodities exchangeable for food , h e had foundth e key t o t h e poverty which h e and his fellow-congressm en were always (and rightly) bewailing . It is probablethat Macaulay ’s rough estimate of was underth e mark , and that th e population had not actually increased by 1 20 per cent . But even if we reduce that figureby one-sixth and assume an increase of 1 00 per cent is itnot manifest that thi s must mean a terrible strain uponresources at no time over-abundant ?And

,spite of famine, plague, malaria, child-marriages ,

and all th e ills that Indian life is heir t o , t h e increase stillgoes on . After deduction of th e figures for areas not

previously enumerated , th e increase of t h e thirty yearsbetween 1 88 1 and 1 9 1 1 works out at a little under—j ust about t h ewhole population of over-populated Japan .

*

been 60 per cent m easured in rupees ; but , as th e gold value of t h e

rupee has fallen from 24d . to 1 6d . , th e increase, if m easured in gold , isless than six per cent . ” And again, As wheat has r isen in value by 1 00

per cent . , a gi ven m oney assessment now represents a very m uch sm al lerpor tion of t h e produce than in 1 8 I d o no t know that exact figuresare available, but there is lit tle doubt that t h e incr ease of land revenue,

m easur ed in produce, is smaller in propor ti on than t h e incr ease eitherof population or of cultivated soil .

This m eans that assum ing t h e India of 1 88 1 t o have been just ablet o suppor t her self, W i th very lit tle over , a development of h er resources,equivalent t o t h e whole resour ces of Japan, ought t o have taken placein thir ty year s, i f sh e was no t t o find her self sensibly poorer per head of

population .

1 50


Th e decade 1 90 1—1 9 1 1 witnessed an increase of over

twelve and a half millions in British territory ,

six and a half millions in States and Agencies . Th e potencyof th e check exercised by famine and di sease is apparentin th e extraordinary fluctuations of th e rate of growth .

Mr . E . A . Gait,director of th e Census of 1 91 1 , after eli minat

ing all causes of error, estimates th e real increase between1 872 and 1 91 1 as follows

Referring to th e assertion that Indian fecund ity is lessthan normal , Mr . Gait po ints out that there is no suchthing as a normal rate of increase. All that can be saidis that since 1 872

* th e average increment has been about

5 per cent . per decade —which is less than that of th e

Teutonic races and greater than that of t h e Latin races .It is obvious that a country subject , as India is, t o pestilence and calamitous drought , is not likely, other thingsbeing equal , t o show so large a rate of increase as countriesin which better climatic and hygi enic conditions prevail .But such comparisons are irrelevant t o th e present question .

We are not discussing th e relative prosperity of India andother countries, but simply considering t h e fundamentalequation between mouths and food . If mouths increasein a hi gher ratio than food , th e tendency must be towardsgreater poverty, no matter what may happen in otherparts of t h e world .1

‘

Up t o which date no exact statis tics were available.

1‘ T h e views expressed in th e above paragraphs are in general borne ou t

in a singu lar ly ab le book , enti tled T h e P opulat i on P roblem i n I nd ia,by

Mr . P . K . W at tal, of t h e Ind ian Finance Depar tm ent (Bom bay : Bennet t ,Co lem an Co . I canno t too s trongly comm end t o all wh o are

in ter ested in t h e subject this intelligent , lucid and thoroughly wel linform ed study .

1 51


We have seen above that , both in area and in population ,

India is practically equal to th e whole of E urope minusRussia . If, now, we consider what an immense proportionof th e people of Western Europe are concentrated in towns ,and are occupied in manufacture and trade—d rawingtheir sustenance, that is t o say , largely from other portionsof t h e world— is it not evident that th e strain upon th e

soil must be incalculably greater in India than in EuropeIndia imports food-stuffs (mainly sugar) t o t h e value of

some ten millions a year ; but sh e exports food-stuffs

(mainly rice and wheat) t o more than double that value ;which means that sh e feeds not only herself, but a con

si d erable number of other people,from h er soil alone .

Here, no doubt , is a real a symptom of unsat is

factory economic conditions , t o which over-taxation maypossibly contribute ; but this is not th e same thi ng ast h e alleged drain in payment or over-payment forservices .

I am not denying that if such over-payment exists— i fsecurity, stability and good administration could be boughtat a cheaper rate—th e over-payment must help t o im

poverish t h e country . If my argument in precedingsections holds good , India buys h er defence and adm ini s

t rat ion far cheaper than most other countries ; and t h e

fact that these benefits have, for th e present , t o be in somemeasure purchased from abroad , is h er misfortune,

not

our fault . This does not prove, however, that good government might not be bought on even more advantageousterms ; and still less does it prove that t h e governmentfor which India pays might not be a better, wiser , morefar-seeing government . In pleading for economy, andin urging measures conducive t o general well-being , th eIndian Opposition is performing a natural and laudable

Many people ho ld that it ought to be checked by restr ictions on

th e expor t of grain ; but econom ic exper ience seem s t o show that th isis an illusory rem edy, inasmuch as any enactm ent which ar tificial ly lowerst h e pr ice reduces t h e quantity of grain raised in a country .

”SeeMorison ,

Econom i c T ransi ti on , Chap . V.

1 52

INDIA AND THE FUT URE

res t raint has vanished and t h e poor populat ion has m ult iplied to

such an extent that t h e wealt h accum ulat ed is not more able tosupport t h e increased m ass of people than t h e form er resourceswere to feed t h e then exis t ing num bers . Under native custom ,

properti es becom e sub-divided and agai n sub-d i vided ti ll thei r valuei s fri ttered away ; t h e m oney-lender st ep s in , and land begi ns t oaggr egate in t h e hands o f a class alien to agri cult ural knowledgeand interests . I m ust ad d t h e notor ious fact that in wellmanaged Nati ve S tates, where t h e revenue is double,

perhaps fou rtim es , as high as in Bri tish distri cts , t h e people are apparent ly as

Need we look any further for th e main reason'

of th e

poverty in India ? In th e face of these facts , can we

plausibly attribute it t o over-taxation ? Mr . Gokhalewould make Government further responsible for two sub-J

sid iary facts : th e decreasing fertility of th e soil and th eincreasing death-rate. He tells us that over th e greaterpart o f India agriculture is , as Sir James Caird pointed out

more than twenty years ago , only a process of exhaustionof th e so il ,

” and h e declares that in th e twenty years from1 885 to 1 905, th e average annual death-rate increased byno less than t en per thousand . Assuming th e facts

t o be as stated , where does th e responsibility of Englandcome in ? Is it th e fault of th e Government that from timeimmemorial th e people of India have used cow-dung forfuel instead of for manure— have flushed their floors withit instead of ferti lizing their field s—and have multipliedt o such a point as t o render it almost impossible t o giveth e land its necessary periods of rest ? It may be saidthat a far-seeing Government would have taken stepsto provide other sorts of fuel , and perhaps other sorts o fmanure as well . But I have not seen this point urgedby t h e Opposition : I have not seen any positive andconstructive remedial measures propo sed . It is so mucheasier t o cry out upon th e rapacious settlement-offi cer, andt o assume that all would be well if peace, order and m aterialdevelopment could be had for nothing . As for t h e highdeath-rate,

poverty no doubt contributes to it by rendering1 54

THE INDIAN OPPOS IT ION

t h e people less able t o resist t h e ravages of plague,malaria

and other diseases . If Britain is responsible for Indi a ’spoverty , then sh e is responsible for whatever part of t h e

death-rate is fairly attributable t o poverty ; but it is unreasonable t o bring this forward as a separate charge,

anadditional subj ect of reproach . If

,on th e other hand ,

t h e

responsibility for Indian poverty rests , no t with Britain ,

but with t h e Indian people themselves , it is not merelyunreasonable but unjust t o lay th e high death-rate at th edoor of t h e Government . British rule has brought withit medical science,

th e rudiments , at any rate, of sanitation ,

and a network of hospitals and di spensaries at which fromtwenty-five t o thirty million patients are annually treated .

It may,indeed ,

be argued that Governm ent has no t doneall that was possible in th e way o f forcing sanitation upona very recalcitrant people ; but sanitation costs m oney

,

and any extra expendi ture would have m eant either addit ional taxation or t h e di version of

‘

fund s from other purposes . Why not from defence ? th e Opposition cries—and so th e endless wrangle goes on . It is

, of course,

impossible t o prove that Governm ent estimates rightlyt h e relative urgency of t h e different obj ects t o whi ch itdevotes its resources but it is hard t o im agine any apport ionm ent at which no one should be found t o cavil .

EMIGRATION .

In t h e question of emigration we find a long-sm oulderinggrievance whi ch has recently become acute . Here we mustcarefully distinguish between two very different points atissue .

India has every right t o insist upon fair and humanetreatment for those of h er people wh o have already beeninduced or al lowed t o emi grate ; and t h e Governm ent ofIndia, though placed in a d ifficult and delicate position ,has n ot been slow t o take up their cause . But when Indi ansint erpret n

th e word Empire as implying th e right of

1 55 ro


unrestricted imm igration into any country under th e Britishflag

, t h e reply must be, in t h e first place,that Empire

does not connote any such right , and, secondly, that itwould not be t o India’s advantage if it di d .

Can India reasonably look to emigration as one of th e

remedies for t h e evi ls from whi ch sh e suffers ? I submitthat

,in t h e present condition of t h e world, th e remedy

is impossible, and that , if it were possible, it would beillusory . Why is it impossible ? Because there is no

part of t h e habitable globe where India can spill h er overflow in such numbers as sensibly t o relieve th e congestionat home, unless sh e is prepared t o conquer territory andsubdue or exterm inate t h e existing occupants . Wh y ist h e remedy illusory ? Because it would m erely postponet h e facing of h er population-problem , which Indi a mustassuredly undertake before sh e can claim h er d ue placeamong th e civilized nations of t h e world .

Is it conceivable that South Af rica, Australia, or Canadashould permit , except at t h e sword

’s point , t h e invasion of

their territory by such hordes of Indi ans as should appre

ciably alter t h e proportion between mouths and food inIndia ? There are

, between Kashmir and Cape Comorin,over three hundred million people. Suppose 4 per cent .of t h em ,

'

or were t o emigrate, what differencewould that make in India In a single decade (supposingno very grave calamity t o intervene) t h e population wouldhave risen at least t o i ts former level . But isvery little short of t h e whole whi te population of SouthAfrica

,Australi a, and Canada . Is it for a moment to be

imagined that these countries would submit to having theirwhole policy, their conditions of life and course of development , altered by such a huge influx of an alien and unassim ilable race ? -Of course, this is a flagrantly impossiblecontingency ; but that only makes it all t h e clearer thatno em igration which is practically conceivable wouldsensibly ameliorate Indian conditions . Any outflow thatshould be at all perceptible in India would mean, in other

1 56


exception to t h e rule that cheap labour is bad labour . Avast proletariat , with a low standard of living, will doubtlesshelp t o swell those im posing battalions of figures whichprove what may be called t h e statistical prosperity of acountry . But statistical prosperity has very little t o d o

with real well-being . To say that cheap labour is India ’sasset is practically t h e same as saying that poverty is India ’swealth . And wh i le t h e ryot does not mind h ow poor h eis, so long as h e can be prolific , it is certain that h e, at anyrate, will know no other form of wealth .

But em igration , on any considerable scale,being for

tunat ely impossible, a time m ust one day come when

(with t h e help of vernacular education) t h e peasant wi lllearn that

,beyond a certain point

,every addi tional pair

of hands m ean a diminishing return,whether in produce of

soil or in wages , and wi ll gradually adj ust t h e equationbetween labour and remunerative opportunity . He willlearn t o want m ore wants , and will r ise above thatextreme of frugality which may rather be cal led apathy .

Then Indi a will be on t h e high road t o real wealth— not

that weal th which consists in t h e explo itation of h er

greatest asset .

But what about irrigation P it may be asked . Mightnot sh e still add indefinitely t o h er 300,

000,000 if t h e Government did not culpably neglect irrigation in order t o multiplyrai lways Unfortunately— or , in my View,

fortunately—there is a limit t o t h e potentialities of irrigation, andexperts declare it t o be well within sight . Redistributionof population m ight no doubt permit of a certain amountof increase without any further pressure on t h e m argin of

subsistence ; but in a country where local attachm entsare so strong, and differences of race, caste and languageso many

,redi stribution is no easy matter . Sooner or

later, at all events, t h e pinch must come, and Ind ia m ustlearn that h er salvation lies, not in num er ical expansion,whether within or without h er boundaries, but in t h e

intensification and ennoblement of life.

1 58

THE IND IAN OPPOS ITION

Th e moral grievances on which th e Indian Oppositionis in t h e habit of dwelling may be classed, like th e materialgrievances, under three heads :

(1 ) Neglect of education .

(2) Exclusion from civil employment .

(3) Denial of opportunity for military training .

MORAL GRIEVANCES—I . NEGLECT OF EDUCATION .

Th e first and second complaints I shall not here discussat length . On t h e question of education there is a gooddeal t o be said in another chapter . For t h e moment , itmay be sufficient to po int out that when Indi an extremistsaccuse t h e Government (as they sometimes d o) of deliberatelykeeping India in darkness

,for its own oppressive ends ,

they are talking very wildly . As regards Western education ,with English as its medium

, th e Government is open only t oth e reproach of havi ng supplied, with perhaps inconsideratelavishness , an article which, though not very satisfactory,was t h e best it had to give. In th e face of numberlesswarnings that it was thereby sapping its own position,* itdeliberately set about t h e creation of that educated class,t o which, as t h e prophets foretold, we owe t h e unrestof t h e present day . It might easily have satisfied itsconscience by promoting only Oriental education— a coursewhich many people urged upon it , as its one clear duty .

By this means it would have saved itself a great deal oftrouble, and indefinitely retarded th e development of

India,both intellectual and material . But it chose th e

other course, and cal led into existence th e many excellentGovernment servants of to day, as well as th e less fortunatemultitude wh o bitterly complain because, having investedso-and-so many rupees in t h e attai nment of a B A. degree,or in th e fai lure t o attain one, they find that t h e lucrative

See t h e views on this point of Elphinstone, Metcalfe and Lyall ,pp‘. 283-285. These are only specim ens of a host o f sim ilar utterances.

I S9


posts t o which they thereby consider themselves entitledare not unlimited in number . Th e educational systemestablished some sixty years ago might no doubt havebeen very much better ; but its defects were those of

English education in general, which t h e Government of

Indi a could scarcely be expected t o reform . In this d e

partm ent,in short, whatever criticisms of detail may be

admissible, th e Government cannot reasonably be chargedwith any lack either of diligence or of good will .

In vernacular education,on th e other hand, it is true

that little has been done in proportion t o t h e vast work thatremains t o be done . Here it is that t h e Indi an Oppositionhas a plausible case. It may be argued that , in spite of th epoverty of t h e country, in spite of t h e indifference, if nothostility

, t o education displayed by th e people themselves ,th e Government ought t o have done more t o combat th egeneral illiteracy .

* To this end , either fresh taxation wouldhave had t o be im posed, or large sums must have beendi verted t o education from defence, public works, andother heads of expenditure . Th e latter is of course,t h e policy urged by t h e Opposition ; and 1 t is clearlyimpossible to prove them wrong . At th e same time, one

would be more willing t o accept their j udgment , if it werenot evident in many other ways that they are unduly,if not unnaturally, j ealous of any and every expenditureincurred by Government in t h e interests of its own securityand p restige. When one regards a given institution as anecessary evi l, one is apt , without desiring its overthr ow ,

t o scrutinize with a grudging eye every halfpenny of t h e

sums allotted to its maintenance . This being so , it isscarcely possible that t h e Opposition and th e Governmentshould agree in their estimate of t h e relative importanceof t h e various obj ects of public expenditure. Th e Government, at all events , is now definitely committed t o a largeand liberal policy in regard to vernacular education andsuch is t h e difficulty of th e problem that , for my part ,

F or statistics, see p . 244 .

1 60


Again and again I have put to British officials th e question , DO you know any Indian s whom you consider tobe capable of m ore im portant employment than theyactually hold—employment of high responsibility ? Th e

answer has alm ost always been , Yes , I know two or

three .

”

Th e inference seems to be that th e Governm enthas , at any rate, not proceeded with any undue rapidityin th e promotion of Indians to places of trust . On th e

oth er hand, there is no reason to doubt th e sincerity of itso ften-repeated desire t o advance in this direction as far asprudence wi ll permit . Manv of th e most di stinguishedadministrators have expressed themselves

,both in private

and in public,strongly in favour of th e policy of th e open

door . Sir Alfred Lyall,for instance

,writes in 1 882 : I

have j ust appo inted a native j udge to th e Allahabad HighCourt , t h e first wh o has ever been sent there . I want topush on th e native wherever I can—our only chance of

placing Government here on a broad and permanent basis .

Some of t h e highest j udicial appointments are, and havelong been , held by Indians, and that with great distinction .

There is a pretty general opinion that Indians are betterfitted , as yet , for j udicial than for executive functions ;and one can easily understand that this may be true.

Th e question at issue,in any case

,is not one of principle,

but only of rate of progress . It is certainly at first Sighta grave injustice that admission t o th e higher branches ofth e Civil Service Should be impossible t o Indians wh o havenot th e means t o present them selves for examination inLondon . Th e objection t o simultaneous exam inations inEngland and India which is commonly alleged by AngloIndians is in a sense flattering to Indian self-esteem . The

Hindu has such a prodi gious memory,

” it is said , and isso clever at examinations , that t h e Englishman cannotstand up against him . But t h e ability t o Shine in a com

pet i t ive examination is not in itself a proo f of either t h echaracter or th e talent required in adm inistr ative work ;and an English candidate wh o may be defeated by a few

1 62


marks is much more likely than his Hindu rival to developthese qualities AS matters stand at present , there issom ething in this argum ent . It may be mai ntained thatth e voyage t o England is in itself a valuable part of th e

test of fitness to which Indian candidates ought to be sub

jected . Th e poor,no doubt , are thereby absolutely ex

cluded ; but they could scarcely qualify even for S imultaneous exam inations . I f young m en of th e wealthy andwell- to—d o classes have no t sufficient will and energy t o

undertake th e j ourney, th e inference is (it may be said)that their character does not fit them for responsiblepositions . It is certainly hard t o conceive that an Indianwh o was prevented by religious scruples from crossing th ekala pani could be an efficient administrator .On t h e who le,

and with all sym pathy for th e nat uralimpatience of educated Indians

,I d o not find it proven that

Government could, with advantage to th e common weal ,have gone much faster and far t h er

’

in this matter than ithas actually done . But , whatever m ay be th e recomm end a

tions of th e Comm ission,I cannot doubt that henceforward

every effort should be made t o educate,and to employ

in responsible posts,a large class of efficient Indian civil

servants . This is evidently an indispensable preliminaryt o that fitness for self-governm ent which

,in my view,

both principle and po licy Should urge us to prom ote . So

long as th e opposite ideal is dom inant— so long as our ruleis supposed t o be j ustified by an incurable incapacity forself-direction on th e part of th e Indian people—i t is clearthat every official of Indian race labours under a very severedisadvantage . He is handi capped even in t h e eyes of hisown people, wh o ar e apt t o criticize his proceedings asthose of an amateur , admitted by some fluke t o th e heavenborn ruling caste . There is no reason t o doubt th e aneodotes one frequently hears of th e preference for sahibofficials

,som etimes amusingly manifested by Indian

villagers . But this is a state of thi ngs which is probablychanging of its own accord , and which, in any case, we should

1 63


m ake it our business to alter . Th e encouragem ent,and not

th e depression , of every legitim ate form of Indian energyshould be th e constant aim of a wise governm ent . We shouldtry t o abr idge,

not t o protract,th e term of our trusteeship .

But one proviso should perhaps be suggested— nam ely,that

t h e growth of a class of competent Governm ent servantswould not necessarily imply th e fitness of th e country forindependence . I t is possible, and even probable

,that such

a class may have com e into existence long before nationalunity is firmly established and th e m ass of th e people issufficiently civilized to dispense entirely with external influence and guidance .

MORAL GRIEVANCES— III . DENIAL or OPPORTUNITY F OR

MILITARY TRAINING .

F or an ofli cial statement of th e third grievance, I turnonce m ore t O ‘

Mr . Gokhale . In his Budget speech of 1 906

h e saidJapan ’ s ordinary Budget for t h e army is only about mi llions

yen*or a litt le under si x crores of rupees . And for so sm all an

expenditure it has a st anding army of m en , wit h reserveswhi ch can raise it t o Over m en in t im e of war . W e Spendnear ly six t im es as m uch m oney a year , and yet in return for itwe have only an i nexpansive force of about m en

,with

abou t nat ive reservists , and abo ut European volun

teer s Bo t h on financial and on political grounds , therefore, our

present unnati onal sys tem of m i litary defence is open t o t h e gr aves tobject ion . My Lord, I respect fully subm it t hat i t is a cruel wrongt o a whole people—o ne-fift h of th e entir e populati on of t h e world

-to exclude them from all honourable part icipat i on in t h e defenceo f t heir heart hs and hom es, t o keep them perm anen tly disarm ed

,

and t o subject them t o a process of d em art iali zat i on such as h as

never before been wi t nessed in t h e hist ory of t h e world .l

If this figure was correct in 1 906 ,Japan’s m ili tary expendi ture m ust

have doubled in six years . In t h e Budget of 1 9 1 2- 1 3 i t stands atyen , while an additional 1 75m il lions are put down as extraordinaryexpenditur e.

1' Japan, M r . Gokhale continued , came under t h e influence of

Western ideas only for ty years ago ,and yet alr eady under t h e foster ing

care o f its Government, that nation has taken i t s place by t h e side O f

1 64


then , attempt to argue from th e one country t o th e other,and reproach th e Governm ent of India for not im itating t h eGovernment of Japan ? If th e racial

,geographical and

historical conditions of t h e two countries were in th e leastalike, th e English would not be in India at all . Since theyare there,

they must act in accordance with th e conditionsof India, and not of Japan .

What,now,

of th e d emart ializat ion of India , th e

crushing of its manhood ? One would natural ly con

clud e from such language, that England had found in Indiaa highly-developed system of citizen service

,and had

deliberately put it down . As a matter of fact , India is asmartial tod ay as Sh e ever was

,except in SO far as

sh e no longer offers a happy hunting-ground for armies o frobbers and marauders . Sh e has Indian regulartroops , Imperial Service troops and nearlyreservists—an arm y practically equal to th e estim atedhosts of th e Mogul Emperors , and far superior t o them indiscipline

,appointments and every essential of soldiership .

T rue, there were other armies in India in th e Mogul periodbut so there are to-day . Th e troops of th e Indian princesmay not be very efficient

,but at least they are not denied

th e advantages (such as they are) of m ilitary training .

Again , there is an army in India t o-day of which t h e Mogulsknew nothing—I mean ‘

th e police-force of nearlyIt is not altogether a satisfactory body, but at all events itcannot be said that th e

'

police are having th e manhoodcrushed out of them . In brief, there are in India som ethinglike half-a-million m en under some sort of m ilitary training ,and more than of them very highly trained . Th e

statistics of former periods are too vague to permit of anexact numerical comparison . Th e plain fact is— andit cannot be seriously contested—that if India was evermore martial than to-day, it was only in so far aslarge numbers were employed in purely noxious m ilitaryoccupations

,whether intestine war or undisguised

brigandage.

1 66

Ou t s i de th e T em ple , T ri ch i no po ly . (Bo y w i th T r i fala o f Vi sh n u . )

An Ekka at Jai pur .

"To {ass 1 67 .


people are so clearly making for th e form er alternative,

that it is hard t o see what meaning they attach t o theirprotestations of loyalty .

*

IS it for a moment t o be expected, or , in t h e interestsof India

,t o be desired, that England should deliberately

face another and a greater Mutiny Th e Mutiny,according

t o Mr . Gokhale h im selfj was a serious di saster . Th e

cloud of distrust , suspicion and prej udice then raised stillhangs over t h e country, and casts its blighting Shadowover , more or less, t h ewhole of our Indi an finance. Whetherthis is true of finance in particular, we need not inquire ;but it is undeniable that t h e Mutiny gave us a stern warningagainst t h e policy of fatuous trustfulness in which it confessed ly originated . Mr . Gokhale, in a very curious passageof t h e document above cited, m akes it a po int of complaintthat India had to pay t h e who le cost of th e suppression of

t h e Mutiny . England,

”

h e says , contr ibuted absolutelynothing, though h er responsibility was possibly greaterthan ours

,in consequence of t h e withdrawal of European

regiments from t h e country, despite t h e protest of t h e

Government of India, for service in t h e Crimea and Persia .

”

This means , in effect , that England, in blind over-confid ence l: upset t h e balance of military power in Indi a, andought therefore t o have paid t h e price of h er folly in hardcash

,as well as in t h e lives of m en, women and children .

Th e contention is an od d one at best ; but it is doubly

Mr . Gokhale, as we have seen, admi ts that t h e arm ing of th e peoplem ust be gone about caut iously.

” But unless and until irnmense number sare arm ed , t h e m anhoo d which is being crushed out of t h e who le racecanno t , in term s of his argument , be restored. I t m ight perhaps besuggested to h im that m anhood can be attained and proved in o therways than by t h e bear ing of arm s .

1 See hi s evidence before th e Welby Comm ission of 1 897 .

1: T h e withdrawal of British troops was no t t h e only or th emain symptomo f over -confid ence . There ar e few things in his tory m or e patheticallyludicrous than t h e infatuated belief of m any Br it ish ofii cers in t h e loyaltyof their Sepoys .

1 68


strange as proceedi ng from a poli tician who calls it a cruelwrong that we d o not permanently destroy any possibilityof a balance of power by creating a nation in arms .

MINOR COMPLAINTS .

Other grievances there are which, by t h e adm ission ofall thoughtful people, English no less than Indian, ought t obe remedi ed as soon as possible. There is , for instance,t h e 5 per cent . excise on cotton manufactures , put on t ocounterbalance

,in th e interests of Lancashire, t h e 5 per

cent . import duty . It produces only a little over a quarterof a mi llion a year, and its depressing effect on t h e cottonindustry may perhaps be

~

exaggerated . But no Indiancan possibly be persuaded that it is either j ust or expedient ,and it is a rankling source of irritation which ought certainlyt o be removed . Lancashi re Should no doubt be givenfair warning but

,that being admitted , is it not conceivable

that Liberals and Conservatives might agree that , whicheverparty was in power at a given date, th e excise Should beremoved ? In this way neither party would take a meanadvantage of an act of j ustice done by th e other . But sucha proposal is probably quite Utopian .

*

Again , there is th e question of t h e separation of t h e

j udicial from th e executive. This is a subject uponwhich there is a Sharp division of Opinion . Administratorsaccustomed t o t h e existing union of j udicial and policefunctions defend it as being consonant with th e deeprooted convictions of t h e people, as making for economyand efficiency, and as obviating th e friction which is easilyset up between two separate departments . It is admitted

Th e gr ievance has now been removed , wi thout warni ng to Lancashire,and under influences which render i t doubtful whether t h e good o f Indiawas th e real m o tive of t h e m easure. I t is also very doubtful whetherth e people of Ind ia will really benefi t by it . But there is m uch t o besaid for doing away wi th a grievance, even if i t be founded on erroneouspreconceptions . ( 1 9 1

1 69


that abuses of power may occur, but it is urged that theyare rare, and that th e appellate courts are open .

” Ont h e other hand, t h e opposition case is something like thisTh e temptation t o petty tyranny, though it may be resistedin t h e gr eat maj ority of instances , ought not t o occur atall . AS t h e change would merely mean a new division of

labour between existing officials,it ought not to be costly

and even if it di d cost somethi ng, it is only fai r that aportion of t h e large revenue arising from court fees Shouldbe employed in enhancing th e efficiency of t h e system .

Those wh o urge that it would, on t h e contrary, impairefficiency, must understand by that term t h e power of anadministrator t o enforce his will with hi gh-handedpromptitude—which is precisely th e danger t o be guardedagainst . Efli ciency in t h e true sense cannot but be furthered by allowing a man to Specialize on j udicial work ,instead of spending three-fourths of his time on revenueand executive business . So runs t h e case for reform ;

and my own impression, gathered from conversation withm en of both races

,is that th e change is bound t o come .

Even supposing that th e considerations alleged in defenceof t h e existing system were as strong as those opposed t oit , th e fact that it affords, to say t h e least , a plausibleground for discontent , ought t o turn t h e scale against it .Abstract reason is unquestionably on t h e side of reformand even if it involved some sacrifice of practical convenience,

we Should not shrink from such a sacrifice as would placeBritish j ustice not only above reproach but above sus

picion .

*

On this question th e Comm issioners take up a non-comm i t tal attitude,

having decided, on no very convincing grounds, that it did not com e

s tri ctly within their term s of reference . Their general suggestion is thatt h e problem is autom atically so lving itself, in consequence of t h e naturalincrease in t h e vo lume of legal business in th e country . In th e presidencytowns separation is already an established fact . In Madras i t alr eadyexists in t h e lower grades,” etc etc. T h e natural reply would seem to

be that i t is a strange conception of policy which would sufler an un

desir able system to continue unamended on th e ground that i ts incon1 70


Here is t h e admirable peroration of a speech by Mr .Gokhale on Lord Curzon ’

s Indian Universities Act :

T o my mi nd ,t h e great est work o f West ern educat ion in t h e

present st ate of India is no t so m uch t h e encouragem ent of learning,as t h e liberat ion of t h e Indian m ind from t h e thr aldom o f old

world ideas , and t h e assimi lation of all t hat is highes t and bestin t h e li fe and thought and character of t h e West . F or this purpose,not only t h e highest, but all Western educat ion is u seful . I thi nkEnglishm en should have m ore faith in t h e influence o f their historyand t heir li terature . And whenever they are inclined t o feel annoyedat t h e utterances o f a discontented B .A . , let them real ize t hat h eis but an accident in t h e present period o f t ransiti on in India,and t hat they Should no m ore lose fai th in t h e results of Wes terneducat ion on t h i s account than Should my countrym en questi ont h e ult im ate aim of Bri t ish rule in t his land , because not everyEnglishm an wh o com es out t o India realizes t h e t rue characterof England ’s m ission t here.

Whatever wemay think of t h e opposition to Lord Curzon’

s

Act , there is no question that this particular passage iswisely and generously inspired . But t h e same speaker,addressing t h e National Congress at Benares two yearslater, said of Lord Curzon

Thus t h e m an wh o professed in all sinceri ty, before h e assum edt h e reins of Office, his great anxiety t o Show t h e u tm os t deferencet o t h e feelings and even

'

t h e prej udices o f tho se over whom h e

was set t o rule, ended by denouncing in unm easured t erm s not

only t h e present generat ion of Indians , but also t heir rem ote an

cestors, and even t h e ideal s of their race which t hey cherish aboveeverything else .

*

Now it may be admitted that Lord Curzon ’

s ConvocationSpeech of 1 905 was more conspicuous for candour than fortact

,but it is hard t o discover in it any denunciation of

Indian ideals , old or new. Supposing, however, that t h eViceroy had denounced certain ideals of t h e race,

” whyshould Mr . Gokhale have been so bitterly resentful How

could h e join in t h e clamour of outraged racial suscept i

Again, at th e New Reform Club in London , Mr . Gokhale reproachedLord Curzon with attacking no t only t h e educated classes of to-day ,

bu t also their ancestor s , of whom h e knows no thing, and t h e ideals o ftheir race, of which every Indian is j ustly proud .

"

1 72


bilify, h e, wh o had admitted, and even insisted, that t h ework of education is to liberate t h e Indian mind fromt h e th raldom of old -world ideas It may be sai d thatideas and ideals are not th e same thing ; but i f an idealis not an idea, and a dominant idea, what is it Ideas , assuch, d o not enthral th e mind even a false idea (th e idea ,for instance, of a flat earth resting on an elephant) doesno particular harm ; it is only when fal se, barbarous or

imbecile ideas take on t h e semblance of ideal s t hat theyestablish a thraldom from which t h e mind has t o beliberated . No wire-drawn verbal di stinctions will explai naway t h e radical inconsistency between Mr . Gokh ale

’

s

two utterances . In t h e one h e was Speaking as a man of

sense and enlightenment , in t h e other as an Indian patriotwh o cannot endure t o hear an unpopular Viceroy say of

his people what h e perfectly well knows t o be true, and what ,on occasion, h e is prepared t o say himself . This is a not

unamiable human weakness ; we are all willing t o say ofour country things that we Should resent if foreignersrepeated them but t h e Indi an Opposition can only createfriction and retard progress by identifying patriotismwith racial vanity .

Towards th e close of t h e speech which caused so muchexasperation , Lord Curzon, addressing t h e graduatingstudents of Calcutta University, Spoke as follows

T o all o f you wh o have t h e am biti on to ri se,I would say

Use your student days t o study t h e hi story and circum st ances ofyour race . Study i ts literature and t h e literature of EuropeCompare t h e two ; see what are their lessons or their warni ngs .Then equip yourselves with a genu ine and m anly love for yourown peo ple . Avo id t h e tyranny of faction and t h e po isono f racial bitt erness . Do no t arm yourselves against phantasm s

,

but fight against t h e real enemi es t o t h e welfare of your people,

which are backwardness and ignorance, and ant i quated so cialprescripti ons . Look for your ideals, no t in t h e air of heaven ,but in th e lives and duties of m en . Learn that t h e true salvationo f Ind ia wi ll not com e from wi thout, but m ust be created from

I 73


This may fairly be called t h e gist of t h e Speech,and it

is hard to see why it Should have been received with fury .

*

It differed only in one important particular from t h e

following passage from a Speech by a very distinguishedIndian patriot , t h e late Mr . Justice Ranad e, of whom Mr .Gokhale is proud t o call himself a disciple Th e true end

of your work,” sai d Mr . Ranad e, is t o renovate, t o purify ,

and also t o per fect t h e whole man by liberating his intellect ,elevating his standard of duty, and developing to th e fullall hi s powers . Ti ll so renovated, purified and perfected,we can never hope t o be what our ancestors once were— a chosen people, t o whom great tasks were allotted ,

andby whom great deeds were performed .

” Lord Curzon ’

s

admonition is very much t h e same as Mr . Ranad e’s, exceptfor his omission t o assure his hearers that their ancestorswere a chosen people. I f only t h e Indi an Oppositionwould understand, once for all, that chosen peoples are

an illusion , and that there are few peoples wh o have lessexcuse than themselves for yielding t o t h e illusion, theywould Shorten by years , and perhaps by centuries, t h eperiod of their tutelage.

But,when all is said and done, we must not wonder over

much at t h e captiousness of t h e Indi an Opposition . It isnot for a moment t o be expected that they should acceptBritish rule with effusive gratitude, as a good in itself .In itself it is at best a reminder of India’s failure to Shapeh er own destinies : ‘ a testimony t o h er lack of internalunity

, of self-assertive vi gour, and of political capacity .

Th e utmost that t h e Opposition can sincerely admit is

T h e m ain cause of O ffence lay in t h e fo llowing passage I h OpeI am m aking no false or arrogant claim when I say that t h e highes tideal of truth is to a large extent a Western conception . I d o not therebym ean t o claim that Eur opeans are universal ly or even generally truthfu l ,st ill less d o I m ean that Asiatics deliberately or habitual ly deviate fromt h e truth . But undoubtedly tru th took a high place in t h e m oralcode of t h e West before i t had been S im ilar ly honoured in t h e East , wher ecraftiness and diplom atic wile have always been held in m uch repute.

”

T h e po int of h i stor ic prior ity m ay be disputable no t so th e substantialj ustice of th e remark.

I 74


and to silence,or at any rate mitigate, th e grumblings of

our customers ? Certainly there is such a commodity ;we are all th e time heaping it into th e scale but we perver

'

sely insist on keeping up an official pretence that weare not . We are giving India what sh e has never hadbefore—unity, cohesion , in a word, nationality . We are

endowing h er with political ideals and ambitions , andare laboriously qualifying h er t o take h er place amongth e great nations of th e future. These things we are doing ,whether we like it or no ; and many of us have alwaysrealized it and glori ed in it . But officially we must needsdeny it ; officially we must denounce as disloyal anysuggestion that our rule in Indi a is destined t o serve agreat purpose, and that , when once that purpose is achi eved,it may naturally and rightly end . If we could only unlearnthis short-sighted habit , we might count upon a welcomechange in th e attitude of all Indian po liticians , except th efanatics of anarchy . And even they would be largelydisarmed .

Th e moment our rule b ecomes confessedly a means t oan end , and that end t h e creation of an enlightened ,

pros

perous, autonomous India, it ceases t o be in any true sensehum iliating . Th e disciple is not humiliated before histeacher, th e patient before his physician . All rationalIndians admit that

,whatever may have been h er spiritual

glories , India, as a whole has hitherto shown no greatpolitical capacity . Go d , says Mr . Gokhale, does notgive everything to every people, and Indi a in th e pastwas not known for that love of liberty and that appreciationof free institutions , which one finds t o be so stri king acharacteristic of t h e West . Th e same authority, andwith him all his thinking fellow-countrymen , confesses th eenormous di fficulties of enabling th e Ind ian people t o

govern themselves according t o t h e higher standards of th eThese obvious truths adm itted, there can be no

shame in accepting instruction in self-government at t h e

Address to th e New Reform Club, London, November 1 5, i gos.

x76

THE IND IAN OPPOSITION

hands of a country which has undoubtedly set t h e standardfor th e world in that art ; and it follows from th e veryterm s of th e case that th e process of instruction must beslow . But when th e gum turns upon hi s ckela and says ,You can never master this art , and it is not intendedthat you should : on t h e contrary ,

my personal welfareand glory are bound up in keeping you in a state of per

petual subjection —what wonder if th e ckela grows sullenand resentful , and accuses his preceptor of avarice andbase self-interest in everythi ng h e does ? Once let t h e

Indian Opposition feel that we sincerely and cordiallyinvite their co-operation towards th e one great end we

both have in view— th e building-up of a united ,self-sufficing,

self-controlled Indian nation— and th e whole tone of theircriticism will alter for th e better . There will still be plentyof room for discussion , especially , one can foresee, as t o th erate at which progress is being made, and t h e amountof acceleration that can safely be attempted . But th e stingof subj ection will be removed when it is recognized as anapprenticeship , and not as an unalterable status . Bothparties will approach th e common task in a much bettertemper and th e ideal of deliberative efficiency

— th e generation of light without heat—will perhaps be within m easur

able di stance of achi evement .

I 77

ART AND CULTURE

ND IAN art may be regarded in two aspects : as areflection of t h e soul of th e people in t h e past , and

as one of th e influences which must shape th e soul of th efuture . In other words

,it is at once a key t o t h e national

psychology and a factor in th e problem of education .

Th e term art is here understood as covering allaesthetic activities : not only architecture, sculpture,

pai nting and m usic,but all literature that is not primarily

religious or philosophical . Th e Vedic hymns are ruled out ,

for two reasons . In t h e first place,though scholars assure

us that they contain som e great lyric poetry, they are

primarily religious rather than aesthetic utterances . Inth e second place,

th e emotions they express cannot fairlybe called those of Indians

,but rather of an invading race

no t yet subdued t o t h e climatic and ethnic influenceswhich have made t h e Indian people as they emerge intot h e light of history . Even if we suppose all t h e hymns t ohave originated on Indian soil (and this is denied by goodauthorities) they remai n th e work of an external and as

yet unam algamated race .

I propose t o speak first of Hindu (as di stinct from Muh ammadan) art then of Hindu li terature down t o th e comingof t h e Muhammadans ; then of th e influence of Islam on

th e arts of India . Finally,I shall attempt an estim ate

of t h e evidence offered by Indian art as t o t h e capacitiesand limitations of Indian character .

1 78


champions would acknowledge themselves Theosophistsin t h e narrower sense of th e word, I d o not know .

Mr. E . B . Havell is a writer of wide knowledge andno small literary power . If whole-hearted , uncompromisingconviction be a merit in advocacy, then Indi an art is indeedfortunate in its champion . Let us turn t o his Id eals ofInd i an Art* for a few characteristic utterances

When we consider (h e wr it es ) t h e esoteric and exclusive characterof early Aryan cult ure,

we shall begin t o realize that what seem sto be an abnorm ally slow developm ent in t h e techni c ar ts in Indiancivi li zation was deliberately willed as a part o f t h e extraordinaryprecau t ions t aken by t h e early Aryan imm igr ants in India, andt heir alli es , t o prevent what they believed t o be their di vi nelyinspi red wisdom being perverted by popular superstition .

If t h e intellectual ar istocracy o f th e Aryan tri bes refrain ed fromcomm itt i ng t heir thoughts o f t h e D ivinity t o wr iting, and st rict lyobserved t h e Mosai c law,

t hou shalt not m ake t o thyself anygraven im age

, or li keness of anyt hing whi ch is in heaven or earth ,i t was certainly on account of t h e peculiar conditi ons in whi chthey found t hem selves placed , and because t hey stood on a m uchhigher spiritual plane t han t h e races by which they were surrounded ,

no t from any‘ lack of art is t ic geni us

’

r (p .

Already in thi s Vedic peri od , centuries before Helleni c culturebegan t o exert i ts influence upon Asia, India h ad conceived t h ewhole phi lo sophy of h er art . Th e Vedic period , though i t

produced no imm ediate developm ent in what we are accustom edt o cal l t h e fine arts , m ust nevert heless be regarded as an age of

wonderful arti stic ri chness (p .

These passages afford a good example of th e intensity

London, John Murray, 1 9 1 1 .

T A li t tle fur ther on , Mr . Havell tells us that T h e d evas them selvescam e down from heaven t o take par t in th e sacr ificial feast , and thatth e correct recita tion of appropriate hym ns transpor ted th e soul

of th e sacrificer to th e abode of t h e gods . Then h e proceeds, When theysaw th e devas them selves sit ting at th e feast , and when m en could transpor tthem selves at will to th e abode of th e Shining Ones , what need had theyof gods of s tone or wood ? ” If this does not m ean that Mr . Havellli terally beli eves in these devas and their mani fes tations, what does i tm ean If h e is speaking of hallucinations, h e must know that th e prevalence of hallucinations in o ther religions never prevented th e productionof im ages and pictures .

1 80

ART AND CULTURE

of faith with which Mr . Havell contrives t o turn everythingt o th e advantage of th e Indian genius , even extracting fromth e absence of all art at a given period a testimony t o th ewealth of its artistic endowment . I d o not know what isth e evidence for th e abstention of t h e Vedic Aryans frommaking graven images or likenesses of anything in heavenor earth . One would suppose it probable that they mighthave exercised their graphic and plastic faculties uponperishable materials which had left no trace. At a laterpoint (p . 1 8) Mr . Havell says , Nearly all Indian sculptureprevious t o t h e Buddhist epoch was in wood or other impermanent materials . Given two periods

,A and B

,if

it is admitted that in period B sculpture existed ,but has

perished ,one does not see why it should be asserted that

in period A no sculpture existed at all. Probabilities ,however , must curtsey t o evidence and it is possible thatMr . Havell may have evi dence (t o m e unknown) for th eartistic barrenness of th e Vedic period .

* It is when h efinds in that barrenness a proof of consummate geniusthat reason falters and protests . He may be able t o provethat th e primitive Aryans would not if they could have madeimages or pictures but h ow can h e possibly arrive at t h eknowledge that they could an ’ if they would ”

P It issurely a masterpiece of paradox t o assert that an age whichproduced no art must nevertheless be regarded as anage of wonderful artistic richness .

Th e po int is of no importance except as a symptom ofMr . Havell’s mental habit . He cannot endure that thereshould be any period, from th e dawn of history until th eblight of South Kensington fell upon th e land, when Indiadid not possess a marvellous genius for art . I f, then , there

From t h e m ere non-existence of m onum ents or docum ents , no thi ng ,sur ely, can be concluded . T h e Aryans were cer tainly surrounded byDravidian and o ther tr ibes, wh o canno t possibly be supposed to havehad any conscientious scruples about im age-making . If, then, no sculptureat all has com e down to us from th e Ved ic per iod , we can only concludethat t h e sculpture of t h e Dravidian peoples has p erished—and why not

t hat of t h e Aryans with it1 81


was a period in which sh e produced no art , it can only havebeen because,

for good and sufficient reasons , sh e deliberately suppressed h er genius . Sh e had conceived th e wholephilosophy of h er art ,

” though as yet no art existed withinh er bounds , at any rate within th e limits of Aryavarta.

It is very true that India has an unr ivalled gift of apr iorism ; but one can as well imagine a blind man conceivingthe whole philosophy of light as an artless people conceivinga valid philosophy of art . Does not Mr . Havell reallv

mean that already in th e Vedic period th e philosophy wasmore or less developed which was destined in after agest o influence Indian art ? That is a rational proposition ;but th e value t o art o f a philosophy which knew no t art isperhaps open to doubt .Not

,however, for Mr . Havell . Here is another group

of extracts in which h e definitely discloses th e basis of hisdoctrine :

Indian art was conceived when that wonderful intuit ion flashedupon t h e Indian m ind that t h e soul of man is eternal and one witht h e Suprem e Soul, th e Lord and Cause of all things . Th e

creat i ve force generated from those great philosophical concept ionshas no t ceased t o stim u late t h e who le art of Asia from that tim e

t o t h e present day (p .

It was about t h e begi nni ng of t h e Chri sti an era t hat t h e greatuni versit ies of Northern India, in which t h e m any schools o f phi losophy were combined wi t h schoo ls of pain ti ng and sculptureprovided Asiat i c ar t once and for ever with a phi losophi c basis ,and created t h e Indian divine ideal in ar t (p .

It was by Yoga also—by spiri tual in sight o r int uit ion—rat herthan by observat ion and analysis of physical form and fact s

,tha t

t h e sculptor or t h e painter m ust attai n t o t h e highest power o f

ar t i st ic express ion (p .

Ar t thus becom es less t h e pursuit of beauty than an at tem pt t oreali ze t h e life which is wi thout and beyond by t h e life which iswi thin us—life in all i ts fu llness and m ystery, which is, and was ,and is to come (p .

Th e West, surfeited with t h e mater iali sm of t h e Renaissance,is already slowly turning again t o t h e East for spiri tual instruc ti on(p .

1 82


cannot d o better than quote a quotation m ade by Mr .Havell , with unquestioning approval, from an essay by hiskindred spirit

,Dr . A . K . Coomaraswamy. I t runs thus

Wh at, after all, is t h e secret of Indian greatness Th e

secret of t h e infinit e superiori ty of intuiti on , t h e m et hod o f di rectpercept ion , over intellect "Intu it ion"cam e to S ir Isaac Newtonwhen h e saw t h e apple fall and t here flashed acro ss h i s brai n th e lawo f gravity . It cam e t o Buddha as h e sat through t h e silent nightsin meditation , and hour by hour all thi ngs becam e apparent t o h i m .

Just consider th e difference between th e two phenomenaso air ily bracketed together We need not inquire whetherth e anecdote of th e apple be authentic or no t . No doubtthere did come t o Newton , whether in an orchard or elsewhere

,a flash of insight in which h e divined t h e universality

of a law towards which h e, and other physicists for centuriesbefore him

,had been feeling their way by dint of patient

experiment,measurem ent , calcul ation , reflection . Th e

precise magnitude of th e advan ce made in that moment ofinsight

,it must be left to specialists to estim ate . Probably,

if we could fo llow all th e mental processes that led up to it,we should find that .t h e leap was not a very great one.

But supposing it t o be— as it may have been— th e greatestsingle achievement recorded of any human mind

,can we

possibly call it an effort of intuition as di stinguished fromintellect No ,

surely . I t was th e last step in a longintellectual process ; and (mark this) it consisted in th e

formulation of a hyp othesis t o be experimentally verifiedor disproved . Verified it has been , a million-fold, and it iscontinually being verified in mechanical calculation andastronomi cal prediction . Those of us wh o are neitherphysicists nor astronomers have, indeed, to take it on trustbut to suppose it untrue is t o suppose ourselves th e victim sof an utterly incredible conspiracy of fraud . Now comparethis daily and hourly verified law with th e intuitions

,

”

not only of th e Buddha,but of all th e Indian sages put1 84

ART AND CULTURE

together . What characteristic have they in comm on Inplace of general ization based on a patient study of phenomena

,we have a logical exercise resulting in a denial of t h e

reality of phenomena, and then a fantastication at largeas to th e noumena conj ectured to lie

'

beh ind th e world of

illusion . It m ay be mentioned in passing that th e fantasiesof individual sages constantly contradict one an other . F or

instance, th e Buddha, cited by Dr . Coomaraswamy,

wouldnot have accepted th e wonderful intuition which Mr .Havell regards as th e root principle of Indian ar t

,that

th e soul of m an is eternal and one with th e Suprem e Soul,

th e Lord and Cause of all things .

” But th e contradictionsare of minor moment . Th e one plain fact is that theseIndian speculations are in th e nature of thi ngs unverifiable

,

and would remain so even if they could be reduced t o mutualconsistency or unanimity . I am no t denying th e subtletyor th e profundity of Indian metaphysics . I am no t denyingt h e historical importance of Indian thought . It wasinevitable that th e constitution of m ind should be investigated as well as th e constitution of matter and I am per

fect ly ready to admit that matter is only a nam e for th e

unknown an d hyp othetical cause of states of our own con

sciousness . Granted certain definitions,there is no doubt

that th e universe m ust be admitted to be illusion—w ays

So far we can all go along with Mr . Havell . It is when h eassumes th e positive, scientific val idity of this or thatattempt to penetrate th e illusion an d see behind th e veilwhen h e places such attem pts on an equal footing with averified hypothesis like th e law of gravitation—then it isthat I

,for my part , must regretfully part company with

him . Such speculations may be extremely ingenious .

They may even be incontrovertible conclusions from th e

stated premises . But they are all efforts t o know th e um

knowable, and think about th e unthinkable . To th e soulthat finds solace in them ,

wh o shall grudge it But whensuch a speculation is set up as a—or rather th e—basicprinciple of art , one cannot but cry out . Nor is there

1 85 1 2


anything in Mr . Havell’

s critical applications of this principle that tends to reconcile one t o it . On th e contrary,his very able treatises m erely confirm one in th e belief thatt h e dom ain of ar t is precisely th e phenomenal wor ld

,and

that,if it can ever get at noumena at all, it will not be by

distorting and denaturalizing phenom ena . Nature m ay be

(or , if you prefer it must be) an illusion ; but it is anillusion kept up wi th such adm irable consistency thatwe are all constrained t o act as if it were real . In what elsedoes sanity consist And ought not sanity to be th e basiso f ar t as well as of life

Before attempting a rational estim ate of Indian art,as

an index t o th e soul of th e people, I thought it well t o showclearly th e anti-rational basis of th e unqualified and um

m easured eulogies of th e Indian genius which have latelybeen loud in th e land . This done, I go on to state mypersonal impressions for what they are worth . They m aypossibly be coloured by t h e chance that I entered Indiafrom th e south, and that Hindu ar t first confronted m e insome of its most exaggerated form s, at Madura, Tri ch inopoly and Tanj ore . But I have done my best t o supplem entmy own observations by careful study of th e lavishlyillustrated works of Mr . Havell

,Dr . Coom araswamy,

Mr .

Vincent Sm ith and others and I can at all events say thatI approached th e whole subj ect without any prej udice .

On a broad general survey, and putting aside for th e

m om ent all question of individual exceptions , I d o no t see

h ow it is possible to argue away th e palpable and glaringfact that Hindu (as distinct from Muhamm adan) art habitually tends to extravagance and excess . It is th e art o f aswarm ing, pullulating people in a country where Natureitself scorns th e very idea of moderation . Rememberit is certainly no t irrelevant—that India is th e m ost tropicalcountry that ever possessed any art of importance . Chinais another region of multitudinous hum anity

,but only a

1 86


as a whole must have formed , when perfect , one of th e

most splendid exhibitions of artistic skill known in th e

history of th e world . This is high praise, and I am not

concerned t o discount it . I will even own it possible t opick out scenes which m ore or less j ustify Mr . Havell’s assertion that th e most varied and difficult movem ents of th ehuman figure are drawn and modelled with great freedomand skill . It is precisely because of th e merits of thesesculptures

,and because, being of Buddhist origin , they

contain none of th e monstrosities characteristic of Hinduart

,that I direct th e reader's attention t o them .

Can any unprej udiced observer deny that even theseexceptionally favourable specimens of Indian workmanship are marred by t h e gravest defects of conventionalityin form , of overcrowding in composition , of excess inornament ? In a few seated female figures , viewed frombehind , there is a certain natural grace, but most of th e

women wh o swarm all over t h e reliefs are th e productof a morbid convention which gives them enormousbreasts , wasp wai sts , and atrophi ed legs ,* and places themin attitudes suggestive of a violent dislocation of th e hipj oint . Whether such figures were actually cultivated att h e period, I d o not know ; but even if this could beproved, th e sculptures could only be regarded as con

vent ional exaggerations of an unhealthy fashi on . As t ocomposition, th e word is really out of place in this context .A certain ingenuity is

‘

shown in crowding th e utmostpossible number of figures into a given space ; but of

order, proportion , gradation , guidance and relief for t h e

eye,it is hard t o find a trace. In this respect , th e

sculptures would rank in Europe as interesting efforts of

a primitive school , struggling towards accomplishment ,but only at t h e beginni ng of th e struggle. As t o excess

T h e exaggerated th inness of t h e legs, says Mr . Havell, wasprobably less m arked when t h e sculptures had their finishing coat o f

(fine plaster ; but any even coating of plaster would leave unaffectedth e truly hideous d i sproporti on of legs and thighs .

1 88

ART AND CULTURE

in ornament , it may be asked h ow that can be affi rmedwhen we possess only di sj ointed fragments of t h e wholework and cannot replace them in position . It happens ,however

,that among th e remai ns there are several slabs

representing th e great stupa itself, and from these we

can see that it was simply crawling with ornament— thereis no other word for it . Perhaps it may be sai d that wehave no right t o transfer t o t h e East th e Western idealof temperance in decoration ; but Indian profusion didnot

, it would seem ,arise from any aesthetic principle, but

from t h e religious notion that th e more labour wasexpended on a pious work , th e more merit was acquired .

*

Artistic excellence, may, indeed , be achi eved in workinspired by this idea ; but an aesthetic defect cannot beconverted into an aesthetic merit by th e fact of its being soinspired .

In order t o estimate th e Amaravati sculptures at theirtrue value

, we need only turn over a few pages of Mr .Havell

’

s Ind i an Sculpture and P ai nti ng, and examine hi sadmirable photographs of portions of t h e two miles of

Buddhist reliefs on t h e vast pyram idal stapa at BoroBudur in Java . Thi s building, which dates from aboutth e ninth century of our era,

is styled by Mr . Havel lt h e Parthenon of Asia , and is certainly not unworthy

of t h e nam e . Th e od d thing is that h e should apparentlyfail t o realize th e gulf that separates Boro-Budur not onlyfrom Amaravati , but from Ellora , Elephanta, Vij ayanagar,and all th e other fam ous sculpture-sites of continentalIndia . Judging entirely from photographs , one is temptedt o place t h e Boro—Budur sculptures among t h e loveliestthi ngs in t h e world . They are crowded , yet not overcrowded ,

with figures of exquisite grace, in attitudes of

great expressiveness , yet devoid of violence . They are

perfect examples of th e art of composition as applied t o

long relief . I concur with every word that Mr . Havell

F or th e sam e reason , according t o Mr . Havel l , sculpture was m ore

cultivated than painting. I d eals of Ind i an Ar t , p . 1 33.

1 89


says in prai se of them ; it is only when h e places themwithout hesitation or reservation t o th e credit of India ,that I protest . Their themes are certainly Indianscenes from th e life of Buddha , and from Buddhistrom ances and jatakas or birth-stories . Som e part of theirtechnical method is , no doubt , Indian as well . But theirphysical types are quite un-Indian , and their suave andgracious humanity has nothing Indian about i t— is , indeed ,

particularly devoid of those very qualities which Mr .Havell declares t o be th e supreme glory of Indian art .

Certainly,these Javanese sculptors—for in th e absence of

evidence t o th e contrary , we may assume them t o havebeen Javanese—sought no inspiration in yoga,

and dreamtnot of dissipating maya in order t o disclose th e realitieswhich eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard . Theywere perfectly satisfied with what t h e eye sees in th e

phenom enal world . They loved it , studied it and re

produced i t with a rare combination of dram ati c instinctand decorative tact . Devout they may have been :indeed , there is no reason t o doubt it : but they wereartists first and devotees second . Nobody with t h e

least experience,says M r . Vincent Smith

,could mistake

a Javanese relief for one executed in India . But whenwe compare t h e Boro-Budur sculptures with th e seventhcentury relief at Mamal lapuram , or th e sixth-centuryfriezes at Badami

,th e difference almost amounts t o that

between fine art and barbarism .

Before we leave th e subj ect of Buddhist art,it may

be well t o say a few words as to th e numerous figures o ft h e Buddha himself for which th e Orientalizers are fullof adm iration . Most people are familiar with t h e type

- a short,round

,smooth face,

with eyelids drooped , eyeseither closed or reduced t o narrow slits , full lips , hugeears , head covered with conventional snail-shell curls ,broad ,

smooth shoulders and chest , narrow waist , legscrossed in th e traditional attitude of th e squatting yogi ,and hands disposed in one or another posture of con

1 90


fact that th e ideal of strength was based on th e proportionsof th e lion or th e tiger . Such an ideal is very naturallyformed by a people in a state of sem i-savagery ,

andadherence t o it might not unfairly be interpreted as showing that th e semi—savage state was not far outgrown .

At all events , one does not see h ow it can be alleged asa proof of superiority t o

,or even equality with ,

races whoseideal of heroic manhood is based ,

no t on theriolatry, buton a generalization from th e highest hum an types . Is apeople t o be applauded for going t o t h e j ungle for itsideals , instead of seeking them in t h e gymnasium and th ecouncil-hallAs for th e attribution t o Buddha of a new spiritualized

body supple and lithe as a young lion, we need

scarcely inquire into th e appropriateness of th e symbolism ,

for it is more than doubtful whether t h e effect which Mr .Havell declares t o be aimed at is actually attained . Hasanyone, looking without preconceived theo ry at th e crosslegged Buddha figures , ever dreamt of seeing in them t h e

suppleness and litheness of t h e young lion ? Is there anyplausible reason for crediting th e sculptors with thisintention ? Is it no t clear that t h e idea they sought t oexpress was that of contemplative imm obility

,and that

nothing was further from their minds than supplenessand litheness ? They adhered t o t h e accepted type of

m anhood because they had no particular reason for adopting any other ; but they did not dream of expressingqualities superfluous , and even incongruous , in th e yogi .

As for t h e avoidance of emaciation ,what reason is there

t o suppose that they intended t o represent t h e Buddha atth e moment of emerging from his fast and attainingenlightenm ent ? Asceticism was no part of his ideal ;it was a phase of spiritual experience which h e is repre

sented as havi ng lived through and put behind him .

Assum ing his story t o be historical , We cannot doubt that ,after his long ordeal was over, h e recovered his normalphysical condition ; and it is in that condition, as con

1 92

ART AND CULTURE

ceived under th e accepted canons of their craft,that th e

sculptors , quite naturally ,chose t o represent him . To

seek a deep spiritual mean ing in their abstention fromexhibiting him as a livi ng skeleton is t o chercher midiaquatorze heures .It is

, of course,impo ssible t o disprove Mr . Havell’s

assertion that t h e artists wh o so carefully concealed theirknowledge of anatomy were,

in fact , as skilled in it asPhidi as and Praxiteles . All that can be sai d is that h edoes not produce his evidence. And one thing is surelyundeniable : namely , that when once a type was establi sh ed in which all anatomical detail was suppressed , anda single hieratic pose was maintained with inconsiderablevar iations , it became very easy t o multiply that typeindefinitely, with comparatively little technical skill , andno spark of spiritual inspiration , or even understandi ng .

This thought constantly occurs t o us , not with referencet o th e Buddha alone,

in read ing Mr . Havell’s impassionedeulogies of Indian art : even supposing h e is right inmaintaining that such-and-such types express such-andsuch metaphysical and spiritual ideas , can we doubt thatmany of th e works h e so ardently adm ires are mere soullessreproductions , th e work of clever craftsmen ,

whollyinnocent of any desire t o get behind t h e phenomenal worldand realize th e life which is without and beyondHe reproduces with unwearying praise about a score of

divine figures (Buddhist and Hindu) from Thibet , Nepaul ,Ceylon ,

Java, and India proper , of dates extending oversom ething like a thousand years : can h e mean that allthese carvers and hammerers , deliberately and withconscious artistic-philosophic purpose, suppressed a knowledge of anatomy equal t o that of Ph idiasFinally, and coming back t o t h e Buddha-figures in

particular, what are we t o say of t h e marvellous spiritualityof expression often attributed to them ? It is to m e, Iown ,

far from apparent . Th e drooped eyelids and t h e

immobile pose d o , indeed, express t h e idea of contemplaI 93


tion ; but I am at a loss to find anythi ng Spiritual in th esm ooth

,insipid faces . In someof th e Gandharan Buddhas

(found in t h e North-West Frontier Province) there is acertain nobility of expression ; but t o these Hellenisticproducts Mr . Havell will have nothing t o say . My own

preference for them will , doubtless , be set down t o m ereEuropean prej udice ; and I frankly confess that I see

more spirituality in (for example) th e ideal head of Hom er ,seamed by suffering and furrowed by thought , than inth e whole pantheon of Buddhist-Hindu sculpture . Butmy preference is not founded on any general prej udice infavour of th e Western as com pared with th e Eastern type .

India t o-day abounds in living m en whose noble spiritualityof aspect puts all th e carven gods t o sham e . Is there asingle Buddha , from Peshawar t o Kamakura, that cancompare in spirituality with Rabind ranath Tagore

Hindu,as di stinct from Buddhist , sculpture carries t o

excess all t h e faults which we have noted in t h e Amaravatireliefs , and adds t o them t h e undesirable characteristic of

constantly dealing in grotesque monstrosities . Th e North ,

indeed, is not so extravagant as t h e South in its abuse of

t h e hum an form . No doubt t h e Muhammadans havedestroyed more images in th e regions they have morecompletely mastered . No doubt , t oo

,their influence

I am told that in this paragraph I m istake t h e m eaning of t h e spir i tuali ty

” at tr ibuted t o th e Buddha figures . W e are no t , i t would seem ,

t o look for any record or suggestion o f m ater iali ty m or tified and spir i tualexperience diligently ensued and at tained . T h e spir i tuality asser tedresides rather in t h e ar tist than in his work . A figure is spir itual whichseem s t o express sincere devo tion in its m aker , and to have been createdin an atm ospher e of faith . Perhaps so but is it no t t h e case that sinceredevo tion , working in an atm osphere of faith,

has often produced execrableand m ost unspir i tual ar t ? Moreover , qualities are often claim ed for

Indian sculpture which m ust reside in t h e object , and no t in any inf erencet o be drawn as t o t h e ar tist ’s soul-state . T o cite one exam ple am onghundreds , M r . Havel l says of a s tone figure of t h e Buddhist Goddess ofWisdom : Her face has that inefi'able expr ession of heavenly gracewhich Giovanni Bellini, above all o ther I talian m asters , gave to h i s

Madonnas ." Ind i an S culpture and P ai nt i ng, p . 51 .

I 94


tions of th e Divine, though h e sti ll maintains that th eWest is more idolatrous than th e East,

” inasmuch as itoften regards th e realization of form as t h e end of

Th e Indian artist , on t h e other hand , attempted t o di fferent iat e th e spiritual type from th e human by endowingt h e former with superhuman attributes, qui te regardlessof physiological probabilities or possibilities . Indian arthas never produced a Phidias or Praxiteles , not because anOlympian "eus or an Aphrodite of Cnidus was beyond itsintellectual gr asp , but because it deliberately chose animagi native rather than an intellectual ideal . A figurewith three heads and four, six or eight arms seems t o aEuropean a barbaric conception, though it is not less

(sic) physiologically impossible than t h e wings growingfrom t h e human scapula in European representations of

angels . All art is suggestion and convention, and ifIndian artists

,by their conventions, can suggest divine

attributes t o Indian people with Ind ian culture, they havefulfilled th e purpose of their art . ” 1

'

Again one can only reply that this process of reasoningwould place any African or Polynesian Mum bo-Jumbo on alevel with th e Apollo of Phi dias or t h e Moses of Michelangelo .

It is true, of course, that many-headed, many-armed godsare not more impossible than angels . Mr . Havell mighteven have argued that they are less impossible for we d o

hear of Two-headed Nightingales and Siamese Twins, andstill more abhorrent abortions are known t o physiologistswhereas I am not aware that any child has yet been bornwith even t h e rudiments of wings . But there is somethinggraceful and ethereal in t h e conception of a being, otherwise human, but endowed with t h e glorious privilege of

flight . Men have always , and very naturally, sighed fort h e wings of a dove, and envied t h e circling sea-gull andt h e soaring hawk . We constantly fly in our dreams , andwe feel t h e omission of Nature to add pinions t o our outfit

I d eals of Ind i an Art , p . 1 7 1 .

1 Ind ian Sculpture and Pai nti ng, pp. 56—60 .

£1 96

ART AND CULTURE

a very regrettable oversight , which we are now doingour best t o remedy . There is nothing grotesque or d e

grading in man ’s instinctive desire to assert hi s kinshi pwith his wonderful cousins, t h e birds . But no one everdesired three or four heads ; and six or eight arms wouldassert our kinship, not with th e bird, but with t h e octopus .

Th e natural , unsophisticated mind of t h e chi ld loves th eidea of flying, and delights in th e thought of angels, fairiesand beneficent genies ; from many-headed, many-armedogres , it shrinks in dread, and it sympathizes with th e

heroic gi ant-killers wh o go forth t o slay them . Let itnot be sai d that these are conventions of t h e Europeannursery . Th e monster gods of India are origi nally ogres ,j ust as much as Giant Blunderbore or Giant Cormoran .

Th ey are t h e figures in whi ch cowering savages embodiedthei r conception of t h e destructive powers of Nature. Theyhave no doubt been adopted into an originally higherreligion , and they have to a certain ext ent been used assymbols of more or less advanced conceptions of deity .

But their primitive associations cling t o them,and they

are almost always employed t o typify t h e destructiveand terrible aspect of supernatural power . It is Siva t h eDestroyer, it is th e grisly goddess Durga or Kali

,wh o is

characteristically represented with six arms and a necklaceof skulls , in a ravening attitude like that of a h am -stormingplayer of th e good old days, tearing a passion t o tatters . *

Sophisticate them as you please, t h e monster-gods of Indiaare survivals from a low stage of spiritual development ,and it is ridiculous to suggest that their infinite reduplication

Th e attitudes of gods and heroes in Indian sculptur e constantlyrem ind one of t h e penny plain , twopence co lour ed prints of postur ingactors which were so popu lar in England a hundred year s ago . Thisresem blance suggests t h e possibili ty that Indian sculptor s may havedrawn their inspiration from performers in ear ly m iracle-plays . Horrwi t z

(Th e Ind i an Th eatre, p . 23) tells us that th e o ldest Indian dramas, or ratherco lloquies (sanvad as ) , were, in fact , m ysteries in which ei ther Kr ishnaor S iva acted or danced t h e principal par t .” T h e at titudes so fam il iarin sculpture m ay very well have been th ose cul tivated by a schoo l ofm iracle-players, half dancers, h alf acrobats .

I 97


throughout t h e country is an attempt t o realize t h e lifewhich is without and beyond by t h e life which is within us .It was inevitable, Mr . Havell admits

,that Hinduism

,

comprising as it does so many diverse states of civilizationand of intellectual development , should embracem any artistic monstrosities, th e wild imaginings of primitive races , andt h e crude vulgarities of t h e uncultured . But it will neverbe difficult t o distinguish th e barbar ic elements of anundeveloped state of culture from t h e

‘ higher ideals of

Indian aesthetic philosophy . And again : It needhard ly be stated that th e Indian process of artistic thoughthas often produced many degenerate and revolting types ,j ust as t h e European process has produced a vast amountof inane and intolerable rubbish . Intentionally or not ,

Mr . Havell here points t o a distinction which I entirelyaccept . Much of t h e art of Europe is inane and intolerablerubbish, but it is not degenerate and revolting — at anyrate, not in anything like t h e same degree as an immenseamount of Indian ar t . I am far from denying t h e technicalmerit of a great deal of Hindu sculpture. Th e treatmentof animals, whether on a great scale or as motives indecoration, is o ften superb . There is no temptation t o

distort and denaturalize th e elephant , t h e bull and t h e

antelope. Such decorative work as that in t h e Hoysales

vara Temple at Halebid is entirely admirable in quality,if only it were more moderate in quantity . Everywhere,indeed, there is an astounding wealth of beautiful decoration,such as could be produced only by exuberant fancy in acountry where time had no existence . Th e Jain Templesof Mount Abu , for example, are decorated with a profusionabsolutely incredible t o anyone Wh o has not seen them .

Sometimes, t oo,there is extraordinary power and subtlety

in t h e treatment even of monstrosities . Th e famousstatuette of th e dancing Siva as Nat esa for instance,is a really wonderful piece of work, especi ally remarkable

This is a frequently repeated mo tive. T h e best example knownt o me is that in th e Madras Museum ,

reproduced by Mr . Havell .1 98


HINDU EPIC AND DRAMA .

Never, perhaps , have two forms of art more completelyreflected and interpreted each other than Hindu sculptureand th e Hindu epics . In saying so I am not thi nking of

t h e actual scenes from t h e two great poems , especially fromt h e Ramayana, which not infrequently occur in reliefs anddecorations . If these were entirely absent , it would remainnone t h e less true that in reading t h e epics we seem to see

t h e overstrained, over-elaborated, over-crowded sculptures,and in viewing t h e sculptures we seem t o hear t h e vast ,labyrinthine, multitudinous epics .Th e author of S i ri Ram ,

wh o has evidently studiedIndian character at close quarters, says : There is a popularfallacy that t h e Indi an is imaginative. Nothing is furtherfrom t h e truth . Imagination means much t h e sameto him as multiplication . It is a kind of magnifying-glassthrough which h e sees a swollen universe. Th e imaginativeman is t h e man wh o thinks in crores and hecatombs andholocausts, in Kalpas of time and vast compartments of

space. Th e light play of fancy does not touch him .

This is , I conceive, a far t oo sweeping statement , probablyfounded on observation of a mediocre type of Indian mind .

It would be easy t o deny imagination t o th e European, ifone j udged (say) by t h e average British schoolboy . Butit is probably true—and this is perhaps what t h e writerreally means— that t h e Indian imagination suffers fromhabitual and ancestral over-fatigue. Th e poet and t h e

artist have from of old , striven to live au-delad es forceshumaines . In a country where everythi ng is exaggerated— t h e height of t h e mountains , t h e width of t h e plains, t h evolume of th e rivers, rainfall and drought , fertility andaridity

,th e luxuriance of th e j ungle, th e size and strength

of animals , t h e fecundi ty and venomousness of reptilesand insects, t h e splendour of t h e stars at night , and aboveall t h e fierce prepotency of th e sun by -day—in such a

zoo

ART AND CULT URE

country it was perhaps inevitable that man should overs

strain hi s powers in t h e attempt to body forth hi s con

cept ions of might , maj esty and multitude. At all events ,that is what has happened . In t h e Indi an epics

, t h e poetsare always trying t o outdo themselves and each other intheir search for t h e marvellous , whether in virtue, prowess ,gorgeousness ,wickedness , dem oniacal fury,or mere numericalextravagance. They are constantly creating records inexaggeration, which are as constantly broken . Whatwonder that a people habituated from chi ld hood to theseorgies of unbridled fancy should suffer from a certai nslackening of imaginative fibre, an insensitiveness t o normaland wholesome stimulation It is that insensitivenesswhi ch seem s to m e t o account for all that is worst in Indi anart . It is that insensitiveness which will have t o be correctedbefore India can hope t o make th e best of h er intellectualgifts in a world in which , though all may be illusory, t h eGod—m ade illusion of Nature must in t h e end prevail overt h e man-made illusions of mythology and metaphysics .

Th e Indian epics and Indian sculpture are,of course,

co-ordinate product s of th e Indian mind,and must not be

placed in any direct relation of cause and effect . But as th ematter of th e epics , at any rate (if no t their extant form) ,is much o lder than m ost of th e sculpture that has come downto us , we can fairly say that art has been influenced byliterature rather than literature by ar t . And t o th i s day

,

by all accounts , th e epics continue t o re act po tently on th eIndian mind, and t o keep it stagnant in th e phase of developm ent to which they them selves belong . It is hard to see

h ow this can be looked upon otherwise than as a gravem isfortune . Even if we could assume that th e Greek and th eIndian epics stood fai rly on a level in po int of intellectualand ethi cal value, would it be t o th e advantage of Europeif th e Iliad and th e Odyssey were held t o be sacred revelat ions , were th e exclusive, or at any rate by far th e m ostdesirable, mental and moral sustenance of th e great majorityof th e people, and were regarded with a bibliolatrous rever

201 1 3


ence, m ore extravagant than any that has ever been paid t ot h e Hebrew Bible .

* Would th e European character bestrengthened and ennobled if it were currently believed thatsalvation was t o be attained by th e mechanical repetitionof t h e nam e of (say) Achilles or Ulysses And th e as sum ption of equality on which this com parison proceeds is reallya preposterous one . Th e Greek epics would make ten

tim es better Bibles than th e huge accumulations of sacervd otal ized fo lk-lore from which th e Indian populace derivetheir notions of th e heroic and th e divine . Althoughpriests are occasional ly mentioned in th e Iliad an d th e

Odyssey,” says Sir M . Monier-William s , there is wholly

wanting in th e Hom eric poems any recognition of a regularhierarchy or th e necessity for a m ediatorial caste of sacrificers . This

,which m ay be called th e sacerdotal element

of th e Indian epics,is m ore or less woven into their very

tissue . Priestcraf t has been at work in these poems alm ostas much as th e imagination of t h e poet and Brah minism ,

claiming a m onopo ly of all knowledge, human and divine,

has appropriated this , as it has every o ther departm ent ofliterature, and warped it to its own purposes . Its policybeing t o check th e development of intellect , and keep th einferior castes in perpetual childhood, it encouraged anappetite for exaggeration m ore monstrous and absurd thanwould be tolerated in th e most extravagant European fai rytale .

” In all religions there is t oo much of th e fai ry-taleelem ent

,but it surely cannot be t o t h e advantage of a

country that its popular religion and literature shouldconsist of extravagant fai ry-tales and little else .

Th e beauties of diction , of description , of episodic narrative, in th e Indian epics are acknowledged by good j udgesto be very great . I have no means of knowing h ow far

Som e idea o f t h e veneration in which i t ( th e Ramayana ) is held m ay

be form ed from t h e verses at th e end of th e introductory chapter , whichdeclare that h e wh o reads and repeats this ho ly life-giving Ramayanais liberated from all his sins and exal ted wi th all his posteri ty t o t h e highestheaven.

’ Monier-William s , Ind i an Epic P oetry, p . 1 6 .

202


th e superior power inherent in Brahm inism . Therefore,

h e determined to raise himself to that dignity,and accord

ingly subjected himself t o extreme austerities for thousandsof years . Th e gods , says Sir M . Monier-William s ,wh o had a har d struggle to hold their own against overzealous as cetics, did what they could t o interrupt him ,

and par tially succeed ed . Visvami tra yielded for a timeto th e seductions of th e nym ph Menaka . However

,

in th e end , th e obstinate old ascetic was too much for th ewhole troop of deities . He obtained complete power overhis passions , and when th e gods still refused t o Brah m inizehim ,

h e began creating new heavens an d new gods,and

had already manufactured a few stars when th e celestialhost thought it prudent to give in and make h im a Brahmin .

This legend shows Brahminism to be at once th e summ itof earthly ambition , and a summit unattainable to anyonenot born in it , unless h e be strong enough to conquer th egods themselves .In th e story of Visvam i tra, too , we come upon th e second

of th e general ideas which pervade th e epics— to wit,th e

sanctity,nobility and magical efficacy of asceticism . This

idea speaks , not to say shrieks , from every page. Th e

performance of penitences was like making deposits in th ebank of heaven . By degrees an enorm ous credit .wasaccumulated, which enabled th e depositor to draw to th e

amount of his savings , without fear of his drafts beingrefused paym ent . Th e power gai ned in this manner byweak mortals was so enormous that gods as well as m en

were equally at th e mercy of these all but omnipotentascetics . No serious attempt is made t o read ethicalvalue into asceticism ; it is practical ly admitted to be amethod of pure magic . This is apparent in th e fact thateven rakshasas , or demons , can accumulate power by selftorture. Th e theme of t h e Ramayana, indeed , is nothingbut th e outwitting of a demon

,Ravan , wh o had by this

means rendered himself inconveniently formidable . He hadextorted from th e god Brahma th e assurance that neither

204

ART AND CULTURE

gods,genu

,demons nor giants should be “able to vanquish

h im . But h e had disdained t o stipulate for invulnerabi lityat th e hands of m en wherefore Vishnu , ever ready for anew avatar

,consented t o be born as four m en

,th e reputed

sons of King Dasarath a. One half o f h im became Rama,one fourth Bharata ; and it needs no great skill in vulgarfractions t o conjecture that th e other two , Lakshman andSat rugna,

each represented one-eighth of th e godhead .

Nevertheless,they were men w ithin th e meaning of th e

Brahma-Ravan compact , and were therefore able, aftera gigantic struggle

,t o vanquish and slay th e demon ascetic .

This is by no means th e m ost grotesque example of th e partplayed by asceticism in th e m achinery of th e epics .

Ascetics are,indeed

, (paradoxical as it may seem) th e actualfathers of most of th e leading figures of th e Mahabharataand th e generation-stories ,* of these renowned personages ,of Vyasa,

Dri tarash t ra,Pandu

,and Vi d ura,

of Yud ish th ira,

Bhim a,Arj una

,Nakula

,Sahadeva

,and Duryodh ana, are

surely among th e most nauseous known to folklore . It isa characteristic of legendary asceticism that it renders itsvotaries insanely short-tempered and vindictive . Incalculable is th e trouble wrought by th e maledictions of

irascible r i sh i s . In short , it is not easy to think of a moreunwholesome doctrine than that of th e virtues of selftorture,

as presented t o th e Indian mind in th e epics .

Be it noted ,however , that asceticism is a j ealously

guarded pr ivilege of th e twice-born castes . Th e son of aBrahm in having died at th e age of fourteen , it was po intedout t o Rama that such a portent showed that there mustbe som e terrible sin in progress in th e world . He foundno sin in th e west , or in th e north ,

and th e east was crystalclear .

” But in th e south ,beside a sacred pool, a yogi

was standing on his head and practising th e most severedisciplines . ” Rama asked him t o what caste h e belonged ,

In t h e recently-published M yth s of the Hind us and Bud d h i sts (London ,Harrap , t h e bir th-stor ies of t h e Mahabharata are passed over indiscr eet silence . This par t of t h e work is by Sis ter Nived i ta.

205


and on learning that h e was a Sudra,promptly cut off his

head whereupon th e gods rained down flowers an d

praised t h e deed . Th e cold-blooded arrogance whi chinspired this legend is outdone in th e story of Ekalavya,

in th e Mah abharata . Ekalavya was a low-caste princeof non-Aryan birth wh o aspired t o be taught archery byDrona

, th e trainer of th e Pandu princes . Rej ected on

account of his low birth,h e retired t o th e forest and made a

clay im age of Drona,t o which h e paid such strenuous and

ascetic devotion that ’ he became an accomplished marksman . A d og belonging to Drona came upon th e devotee,and was so alarmed by his hi deous appearance that h e begant o bark . Before h e could close his mouth ,

th e princeEkalavya had shot into it no fewer than seven arrows ,aiming by sound alone . This achievem ent attractedattention t o Ekalavya, wh o ,

being interrogated,proclaimed

himself a pupil of Drona . Thereupon that hero sought himout and said

,If thou art really my pupil , give m e

,then

t h e teacher ’s fee . Give m e th e thumb of thy right hand .

Th e low-born pr ince,without flinch ing,

cut off his thumband laid it at Drona’s feet . But when t h e Brahm in hadgone

,and h e turned again t o his archery, h e found that his

m arvellous lightness of hand was for ever vanished . Thuswere th e royal princes left without r ivals in th e use of arms . ”

A m ore odious anecdote it would be hard t o find in anyof t h e Sacred Books of th e world . It passes

,however ,

without a word of protest . I f David had been a Ksh at trya

prince,t h e Brahmin Nathan would have smi led upon his

treatment of th e Sudra Ur iah ,and very probably th e gods

would have rained clown flowers .A third general idea running through t h e epics , is that

heroism consists in having th e stronger m edicine-man on

your side . Especially must you be amply provided withmagical weapons , like t h e arrow of R ama which piercedt h e stem s of seven palm trees , penetrated a hill that stoodbehind them ,

then sped through six hells and finallyreturned t o t h e hero ’ s quiver . Sim ilar ideas , on a less

206


times , some feeble effort was made t o carry th e rules of

t h e tourney into actual hostili ties , and it was held unfai rt o stri ke th e first blow without a formal declaration of

war . But even that formality no longer obtains . It isrecogni zed as t h e business of a belligerent t o take everypossible advantage ; and if treachery , such as th e abuseof th e white flag

,is barred ,

it is only because reason perceives th e observance of certain conventions t o be equallyt o th e advantage of both parties .It is not

,then ,

because magic is unfair that its prevalencein t h e epics is t o be regretted— i t is because it is unreal .

In sayi ng this,I am not dogmatizing as t o t h e existence

or non-existence of occult powers : I am merely assertingt h e obvious fact that t h e battles of life,

whether individualor national , have never been won by magic . When , bya convenient metaphor

,we speak of t h e m agic of

science, we mean t h e results , not of spells or talismans,

but of arduous research into t h e secrets of Nature,carried

on by generations of tireless and devoted students . Itis this recognition of t h e necessity for individual effortthat is absent from t h e epics . We seldom or never feelthat anyone is really brave,

really strong , really skilful .Of what worth is t h e valour of th e hero wh o fights withenchanted weapons , and knows that , even if h e is ki lled ,it is a hundred t o one that h e will be brought t o life againAs for strength and skill , they are both constantly repre

sented as so superlative, so astounding , that there is no

possibility of their having been acquired by honest humaneffort and assiduity— they are manifestly (even where itis not stated in so many words) th e results of sheer magic .

Can there be anything less fortifying t o character thanth e adoration of heroes wh o ,

while constantly exto lledfor their virtue, owe their prodigious powers t o influenceswith which character has nothi ng t o d oEven where character can actually be said to manifest

itself, it is . dehumanized by gross exaggeration . Th e

saintliness of Rama, for example—his uncomplaining,208

ART AND CULTURE

unresentful acquiescence in th e banishment brought uponhim by a wicked step-mother— his refusal t o return t o

Ayodhya even when Dasarat h a is dead and Bharataimplores him t o fulfil what bo th know t o have been t h e

real desire of their father— all this is t oo overstrained t ohave any true moral value. Again , his repudi ation of

Sita , not because h e has th e slightest doubt of h er purity ,

but because people talk ,and Rama’s wife m ust be

above suspicion ,is as unedifying an act as ever hero per

pet rated . Thi s story ,no doubt , occurs in t h e Uttara

Kanda,

” a late,and

,one may almost say ,

a spurious ,addi tion t o t h e Ram ayana proper ; but d o t h e myriadworshippers of th e hero , wh o think t o find salvation inrepeating, Ram

,Ram

,Sita

,Ram

,

” distingui sh criticallybetween th e sacred canon and th e apocrypha ? Wheret h e epic heroes perform any action that is not magical ,but recogni zably human , it is apt to be extremely un

desirable . Such an action is Lakshman’

s cutting off th e

nose and ears of t h e rakshasi Surpanakh a ; such an actionis the Pand us

’ burni ng alive of an unoffending low-castewoman and h er five sons . Yud hi sh th ira

’

s gambling frenzy ,

upon which t h e plot of t h e Mahabharata turns , is certainlyall- too hum an

, except in so far as it is represented thath e knew h e was being cheated ,

and played on as a pointof honour . Wh o can say h ow much t h e Indi an passionfor gambling has been fortified by this episode in t h e lifeof t h e Hindu ideal of excellence—a pattern of j ustice,

integrity , calm passionless composure,chivalrous honour

and cold heroism ? Th e same pattern of virtue, by t h eway

,on t h e field of Kuruksh et ra,

com passes t h e death of

Drona by a particularly base equivocation . Th e onlycharacters in t h e epics that can arouse anything likerational admiration are t h e long-suffering and devotedwomen of whom Sita is th e type . Their stories are som e

times really touching, though t h e heroism they displayis t oo often ,

like that of Alkest i s or Griselda, excessive t ot h e verge of immorality .

. 209


But in any discussion of th e Indian character as manifested in , and influenced by, t h e national epics , th e lastas well as th e first word must be one of regret for t h e selfdefeating , th e enervating

,t h e exhausting extravagance

of hyperbole which is their most characteristic feature .

English readers probably know them best in th e able,

but enormously condensed,translations of Romesh Chunder

Dutt,

* in which th e wildest monstrosities are verynaturally and properly suppressed . Let m e give a fewinstances culled at random from th e Ramayana, which ,

I take it , is really t h e more popular of t h e two . Thousands o i pilgrims are constantly making t h e round of th e

sacred spots where Rama and Sita abode during theirexile—th e stations of Rama’ s cross , so t o speak .

Here is a passage from th e battle between Vasish th a

and Vi svam i t ra for th e possession of t h e cow of plenty .

”

Vi svam i t ra has just slaughtered a mighty host of hisadversaries ’ warri ors :

So o’

er t h e field t hat host lay strewn ,

By V i svam i tra’

s darts o ’

ert h rown .

Then thus Vasi sh t h a charged th e cow

Create with all t h y vigour now .

”

Fort h sprang Kambojas as sh e lowedBright as th e sun t heir faces glowed .

Fort h from h er udder Barbars poured ,

Sold iers wh o brandished sp ear and swordAnd Yavans wi t h t heir shafts and dart s,And Sakas from h er hi nder part s .

And every po re upon h er fell ,And every hair-producing cell ,With Mlech ch as and K i ratas t eem ed ,

And fort h with t hem Hari tas st ream ed .

An d V isvam i t ra’

s mi gh ty force,

Car , elephant , and foot and hor se,Fell in a m om ent ’s tim e, subdued ,By that trem endous m ult itude .

Now accessible in Everyman’s Library (Dent ) , M r . Dutt ’s versioncontains som ething like lines . T h e Ram ayana (exclusive of t h e

U t tara Kanda runs to lines, and t h e Mahabharata toT h e Iliad and Odyssey together contain about lines .

2 1 0


with his austeri t ies , granted hi s boon th at Gunga should com e downt o water t h e ashes of h i s forefathers . Bh agi rat h a next spent ayear in adori ng S iva , that h e m ight break t h e fall of Gunga . Sh e

fell with grea t fury upon S iva , thi nki ng t o sweep h im down t o t h e

infernal regions . S iva, h owever , compelled h er to wand er many

years i n th e tresses of h i s h ai r . By furt her austeri ties Bh agi rat h aforced h er t o flow on t h e eart h .

Hard upon this follows th e story of th e Churning of

t h e Ocean , which I shall not recount . It is admired byth e thorough-go ing Indi a-worshipper , and sculpturesrepresenting it are warmly praised by Mr . Havell . To m e

it seem s (like t h e story of Manu, th e fish

,and th e flood)

a very interesting piece of folk-lore,but I cannot under

stand h ow it can awaken any feeling, other than scientificinterest , in any civi lized person ,

or person aspiring t o

civilization .

Let us now turn t o th e famous Hindi version of th e

Ramayana by Tulsi Das* —t h e version wh ich brings usnearest

,no

.

doubt , t o t h e form in which t h e poem now

reaches t h e Indian masses . Here are two specimens ofstyle :Not Sarada him self could d o just ice to t h e noble steed on whi chRam a rode . Sankara was enchanted with his beauty, and con

gr at ulated him self on having fif teen eyes . When Har i affec ti onat ely gazed on Rama, h e and Lakshm i were bo t h equally charm edwhi le Brahm a rejo iced t o behold his beauty ,

and regret t ed th at h ehad only eight eyes . Kart i keya exulted greatly t hat in t h e m at t erof eyes h e was half as well off again as Brahm a . All t h e godsbroke out in Indra’s praise, saying, “

To -day there is no one likeh im .

” "Because Indra h ad one t hou sand eyes ."All heaven wasdeli ght ed at t h e sight of Ram a . T h e welkin resounded withm ult itudinous kett ledrum s th e gods rained down flower s and shoutedin t he ir joy, Glory, glory, glory to Ragu ’s noble son (p .

From t h e description of Queen Kaikeyi , in th e scene inwhich sh e extorts from King Dasarath a th e prom ise t o

banish Rama

So sayin g t h e wretch ro se and stood erect , as i t were a swollenflood of wrath t hat had risen in t h e m ount ain s of sin ,

turgid wi thstream s o f passion , t errible t o beho ld , wi t h two boons for i ts banks ,

Translated by F . S . Growse , Allahabad, 1 883.

2 1 2

ART AND CULTURE

h er stern obduracy for i ts current, and h er voluble speech for i tseddi es , overflowing th e king like som e tree torn up by i ts roo ts,

as i t rushed on t o t h e ocean of calam ity .

Now let us take a char acteristic battle-piece—one of ahundred sim i lar passages scattered through th e two epics

Then Ravan ‘ hurled forth ten spear s , whi ch struck t h e four horsesand brought t hem t o t h e ground . Ram a was furi ous : h e rai sedt h e horses and t hen drew h i s bow and let fly h is arrows . Th e edgeof Ragh ubir

’

s "Ram a ’s"shafts swept off Ravan ’

s heads as thoughthey had been lo t uses . He sm ote each of h is heads wi th t en arrowst h e blood rushed fort h in torrent s . Stream i ng with gore

, h e rushedon in his str engt h ; but t h e Lord agai n fit t ed arr ows to his bowand let fly thi rty shaft s h i s heads and arm s all fell t o t h e ground .

Again Ram a sm ote away h i s arm s and heads for t hey h ad grownafresh aft er being cut o ff . T im e after tim e t h e Lord struck off

hi s arm s and heads , but they were no sooner smi tt en o ff than theywere again renewed . Th e who le heaven was full o f headsand arm s . When Ravan saw thi s m ulti pli cat ion o f h is heads ,h e thought no m ore of deat h and waxed stil l m ore fur ious . He

thundered aloud in hi s insane pride,and rushed forward with h i s

t en bows all s trung at once, raging wildly on t h e field o f bat t le,

and overwhelm ed Ram a ’s char io t with such a shower of arrowsthat, for a m om ent, it was qui te lost t o sight , as when t h e sunis obscured by a m ist . Th e gods cr ied Alack, alack -but t h e

Lord wrathfully grasped his bow , and parryin g t h e arrows ? sm ot e

o ff h i s enemy ’s heads , wh ich flew in all direc ti ons , coveri ng heavenand eart h . Severed as they were,

t hey flew t hr ough t h e sky,utter

ing hideo u s cr ies o f Victory, vic tory"Where is Lakshm an ,

where Sugriva and Angad ? Where Ram a, th e pri nce of Kosala ?

Where now is Ram a cri ed t h e heads as they sped t hrough t h eai r . Th e monkeys saw and t urned t o fli ght ; but th e jewel o f th erace of Raghu , wit h a sm ile, m ade ready h i s bow,

and with h i sarrows shot t h e heads through and t hrough as t hough t h e goddessKali

,wi th a rosary of sku lls in h er hand , and accom panied by all

h er at tendan ts, had bathed in t h e ri ver Blood and com e to worshipat t h e shr ine of Battle (pp . 47 1

I t may be m entioned that t h e char io ts of Ravan’

s hos t num beredhis elephants and hi s hor ses and assesGrimt h ’

s Ram ayana , Book VI . . Canto 96 .

T Ther e is no thi ng commoner than for t h e champion o f t h e s trongerm agic to ward off a hail-storm of arrows by breaking them in their flightwi th h is own arrows . Such feats are child’s play to Rama, Kam a,

andAr j una .

21 3


Let it be noted that this is no t a unique or exceptionalnightm ar e : it quite fairly represents all th e battle-scenesof th e two poem s . Indeed, there are many common circum stan ces of epic strife that d o not occur in this pas sage.

F or instance

Ravan m ounted his own shi ning car and led a rakshasa hos tagai nst t h e m onkeys h e seem ed like t h e Destroyer him self accompan i ed by gho s ts and flesh -devour ing m onster s with burnin g eyes .Big belly and Goblin and Man -dest royer and Three heads , fight erswi t h m ountain -peaks and flam in g m aces

,cam e wit h Ravan .

Then firs t Sugriva hur led a m oun t ain-top at h im ,but Ravan severed

i t wit h his golden shaft s . . So Kumbh akarna P o t-ear

drank two t hou sand flasks of wine, and m ar ched out like a m ovingm ountain ,

clad in go lden m ail , t o attack t h e m onkeys . T h e m onkeysfled in t error , but P o t -ear caught t hem and ru shed abou tdevouri ng them by handfuls so that t h e blood and fat droppedfrom h i s m ou th . Then Ram a wi th Hanum an and o t her bravem onkeys fell on h im wi th tr ees and m ountai n t ops . Despiteh i s wounds , Jambavan , t h e king of t h e bears , spoke t o Han um an ziTho u shal t bound over t h e sea, and reach Him alaya

,king of

m ountains , and bring thence t h e four li fe-giving herbs t hat growon h i m , and ret urn fort hwith wi th healing for t h e m onkey host .Then Hanum an roared an d sprang ; an d h e passed across t h e sea,

and over hills and woods and r ivers and cit ies t ill h e cam e t o Him alayaand beheld i ts hermi tages . He ranged th e m ountai n , but t h e herbswere hidden from him , and angered and im pat i ent Hanum anroo t ed up t h e who le m ountain and spran g wi t h it i n to t h e ai r andret urned t o Lanka"Ceylon". And t h e slain and wounded m onkeysro se up whole, as if from res t ful sleep , healed by t h e savour of t h e

four m edicinal herbs . Sakra sent down from Heaven his carand his char io t eer t o ai d

’

t h e son of Dasarath a in his fight ; andRam a wen t abo u t and greeted it, and , m oun tin g upon it, seem edt o light t h e who le world wi th his splendour . Bu t Ravan loosedat h i m a raksh asa weapon , and its go lden shafts, with fiery facesvom i t ing flam es , poured over Ram a from every side, and changedt o venom ous serpen t s . Then Ram a t ook up t h e Brahm aweapon given t o h im by Agastya . Blessing that shaft with Vedic

Som e of them , however , escaped through his nostrils and ears .

1"T h e m onkey hero worshi pped as a go d all over India . There is

no comm oner road-side ido l , unless it be t h e elephant-headed Ganesh .

Fancy Europe bestrewn with flower-decked shr ines dedicated to Pussin-Boo ts l

21 4


and th e revival o f t h e m onkey host by Hanum an ’s Him alayan herbs is (I think) a unique incident . Everywhere weare conscious of a background crowded with untold multitudes of unconsidered lives ; and agai n this character isticis reflected in sculpture to th e utm ost lim it of mater ialpossibility . Overstrain in individual figures , overcrowdingin backgrounds and decorations : these are th e besettingsins of Hindu art— both clearly traceable t o ethnic an d

climatic influences .Th e vice of hyperbole is by no m eans confined t o t h e epics .

I t m eets us on every hand . In th e Harsa-Carita* of Bana,a historical rom ance

,dating from t h e seventh century

of our era, th e epic poets are positively outdone ; whilewith their passion for hyperbole is blended an amazing andamusing Euphuism , anticipating Euphues by a thousandyears . Here is a descr iption of th e camp of Sri -Harsa

It seem ed like a creati on-ground where t h e Prajapat is practisedtheir skill, or a fourt h world m ade out of t h e cho ices t part s o f t h eo ther t hree i ts glory could no t be described in hundreds ‘

of Mahabharatas—i t m ust have been put toget her in a thousand go ldenages , and its perfect ion construct ed with m illi ons of swargas"heavens",and it seem ed watched over by crores of tutelary royal deit ies(p .

Four pages of wildly hyperbolical description of th e

King ’s favourite elephant culm inate in this outburst

And Ban a wondered , t hi nki ng to him self, Surely in h is creati onm oun t ai ns were used up as atom s , h ow else could thi s astonishi ngm ajesty have been produced It is indeed a marvel—a Vindhyawith t usks (p .

Th e Vind hyas are th e di viding range between northernand peninsular India . Th e description of Harsa himselfreminds one of Cleopatra ’s description of Antony His facewas as th e heavens , etc. ) m ultiplied about fifty timesboth in length and in extravagance . Harsa hears of hisfather’ s illness while away on an expedition , and takesprompt measures for t h e preservation of th e old king ’s life

Translation by E . B . Cowell and F. W. Th omas .

21 6

ART AND CULTURE

He rinsed his m ou th , and co nveyed to Brahm i ns t h e whole of

h i s regal equipage, j ewels and go ld and silver t o a vast amount .

But his munificence is un availing, and his father dies .Th e anguish of his loss

,however , is assuaged by t h e constant

attendance o f

O ld Brahmi n s versed in S ruti , Smr i ti,and I t i hasa“ approved

ascet ics well -t rai ned in t h e doct r ine o f t h e Self,sages indifferen t

t o pain and pleasure, Vedant ist s skilled in expounding th e no th i ngness of t h e fleet i ng world , mytho logist s exper t in al layi ng sorrow(p .

Th e pictures of m anners , so far as they can be seen throught h e m ists of exaggeration ,

are m ost interesting . Th e writershows real ar t in descr iptions of swarm ing life,

in which h ebrings together a hun dred anim ated groups , such as we see

in Indian paintings and illum inations . Everywherethroughout t h e book we seem t o be moving am ong bewilder ing throngs of m ultitudinous hum anity . And this is

,

no doubt , m ere realism on th e author ’s part , so long as h ekeeps in check his passion for myth ologico

-metaphor icalaggrandisem ent

,after this fashion :

Th e kin g hims elf was surprised at hi s forces , and , cast ing h i seyes in every dir ecti on , beheld an army st arti ng out of i ts encampm ent , in appearance like th e anim at e wor ld t um bling at an aeon ’ scomm encem ent from Vishnu ’s belly

,t h e ocean overflood ing t h e

wor ld in a st ream from Agastya ’s m outh , t h e Narm ada ’s floodrolling a thousand r ills af ter being damm ed and let loo se againby Arjuna’

s thousand arm s (p .

Bana’s m ost stupendous effort , however, is th e statem ent that th e Comm ander- in-Chief

, Skand agup ta,had a

nose as long as his soy ereign’

s pedigree .

”

This is singledout by M r . Vincent Sm ith as th e m ost grotesque sim ilein all literature —and certainly it would be hard t o beat .

When we pass from epic t o dram a, we escape from t h e

atm osphere of system atic inflation and contortion . Hereth e im agination can move healthfully and at ease,

insteadof passing through epilepsy to paralysis . Th e dramatic

*. S ruti—~revelations . Sm r i ti—authori tative wr i tings , no t revealed .

I ti h asafl h istor ies .

2 1 7


form imposed strict limits upon fantasy, since it was irnpossible to show heroes fighting with sixty thousand foemenat once,

or hurling m ountain peaks , or cleaving one flyingarrow with another

,t o say nothing of perform ing th e sam e

feat with hundreds of shafts simultan eously . Th e m agicof th e epics so infinitely surpassed all possible magic of th estage, that playwrights m ade no attempt to reproduce it .But even th e dialogue

,in which , of course,

hyperbole wouldhave been possible,

is comparatively free from i t .

* Th e

dram a,in fact

,is a culture-product

,m arked, in m any cases ,

by real grace and charm . Th e testim ony of a cloud of

witnesses proclaims Kalidasa t o be a great poet ; andthough his Sakuntala m ay not seem quite to j ustifyGoethe’s ecstatic quatrain

,it is undoubtedly an exquisite

fairy-tale . The Toy-Cart

,again ,

is a spiri ted novel in dialogue

,really interesting as a m ore or less credible picture

o f manners M alati and M ad hava is a wild but picturesqueromance

,playing around th e horrors of hum an sacrifice ;

Retnavali is a com edy of intrigue,in which disguise and

m istaken identity are employed with a recklessness no t

without paral lel,perhaps , in th e

'

Spanish and Elizabethantheatre ; and several other plays are like anticipations ofLope or Calderon in their m ost rom antic and rhetoricalm oods . Of any influence proceeding from t h e Atticdrama I can find no trace . Th e m ere fact that anythinglike tragedy is undreamed of in India ought surely t o

negative that hypothesis .

But,with all its hum an qualities

,t h e Hindu drama

remains a cur iously undeveloped ar t - form . In po int of

There seem s t o have been in t h e dram atic per iod a real reactionagainst m onstrosity , no t m erely d ue t o t h e conditions of presentation .

In t h e Uttara Rama Cher i tra of Bhavabhuti, a large par t o f t h e Ram ayanais summ ar ized in a ser ies of pictures supposed to be viewed by Ram a ,S i ta and Lakshm an . I t would have been easy, in t h e description o f

these pictures , t o pile up t h e m arvels after t h e epic m anner ; but t h etem ptation is , on t h e who le, resisted . So , too , in t h e description byAerial Spir its of t h e fight between Lava and Ch and raketu ,

suppo sedt o be proceeding behind t h e scenes , t h e hyperbo les, though trem endous ,are jud iciouslyavague .

2 1 8


Along with t h e fluidity of form goes a no less notablefluidi ty of spirit . Th e element o f will

,in which some

critics see t h e very essence of dram a,and which is cer

fai nly t h e mainspring of m ost of t h e great dram as of t h eworld, is conspicuously absent from Indian plays . No

where d o we find a great character at odds with destiny,or a great passion sweeping everything before it , like aglistering lava stream . Nowhere d o we find energeticdetermination indom itably compassing its ends ,‘ or , itmay be

,baffled and broken by superior cunning, or vi rtue,

or m ight . Th e personages of Indian drama are alwayst h e sport of circumstances or of capricious supernaturalpowers . Take, for instance, t h e Sakuntala. More thana third of t h e play is occupied with th e idyllic love-makingof hero and hero ine . Then, after their Gand h arvan

m arr iage, an ascetic , irritated by some fancied neglect onSakuntala ’s part

,decrees that King Dushyanta shall

lose all memory of his m arriage until it is recalled to hismind by t h e sight of a signet ring which h e has given t oSakuntala . On h er way t o Dush yanta

’

s palace,Sakuntala

chances t o drop t h e ring into a stream ,and is consequently

disowned by h er husband . Does sh e, then, d o anythi ng,make any effort t o counteract these unhappy chances ,t h e angering of t h e r i sh i and t h e loss of t h e ring ? 0 1

does anybody make any effort on h er behalf ? Not atall . Sh e is wafted away t o som e agreeable retreat by afriendly nymph ; t h e

”

ring is recovered in : a fish ’s maw,

and brought t o Dush yanta ; and then, either by pur echance or by di vine intervention— at any rate, withoutany effort of his own— h e com es upon th e chi ld Sakuntalahas borne h im ,

recognizes him by t h e help of t h e voix d a

sang and other evidences, and is finally reunited t o

Sakuntala herself . This is,as I have said, a pretty fairy

One play, M udra rakshasa, m ay perhaps be quo ted as an exceptiont o this rule. I t deal s with t h e stratagem s whereby Ch anakya, t h e Brahm inm inis ter of Chand ragupta, wi ns over a r ival po li tician t o his side . I tis m ore dram atic in th e European sense o f t h e word than any o ther Indianplay known to m e.

220

ART AND CULTURE

tale, but it is entirely lacki ng in that exercise of volitionwhi ch might have made it a drama . Compare it withShakespeare’s All’s

‘

tvell that end s well, of which th e themeis not quite dissimilar . Th e means whi ch Helena takest o impose h er will on t h e recalcitrant Bertram are im

probable and repellent , but they are dramatic . Sh e makesa determined struggle t o obtain h er ends sh e is resolutelyactive, while Sakuntala (like everybody else in t h e play)is as passive as a leaf on a stream . Th e Indian poem isincomparably t h e more beautiful of t h e two but if it bed rama at all

,it is t h e drama of passivity, whi ch is , t o t h e

European mind, a contradiction in terms . Does not

drama mean thing doneIn Vikrama and Urvasi , another of Kalid asa

’

s plays,

t h e plot again turns on a sage’s curse ; again t h e vain da

sang contri butes t o th e so lution and again t h e charactersare t h e passive puppets of supernatural wire-pulling .

Th e Uttara Rama Cher i tra, which deal s with Rama’srepudiation of Sita because popular rum our castssuspicion on h er conduct during h er captivity in Lanka,o ffers a good instance o f t h e Ind ian playwright ’s practiceof skipping over t h e very crisis in whi ch character displaysitself . One would thi nk “ that t h e interest of such asubject would lie in t h e struggle in Rama ’s soul betweenh i s love for Sita and his fancied duty t o his people . But ,as a matter of fact

,no such struggle occurs .

* Th e momentt h e popular slander is reported to h im ,

h e decides t o casth er off, though a fiery ordeal has

"long ago removed from

his own mind all doubt of h er innocence .

D urmukha. Must sh e be banished henceTo please a thankless and malignant people P

Rama . Nay, blam e them no t F or wh o that wit nessed no tTh e wondrous t est of puri ty could creditSuch m arvels in a di stant region wrought ?1‘

Though there is no s truggle there is plenty of lam entation . I t maybe no ted that th e Indian dram atic hero , even Ram a h im self , is very m uchgi ven t o fainting at cr i tical m oments .

l

‘

l‘ Translation by H . H .Wilson Theatre of th eWi nd us, Vol. I . , p . 309 .

221


And this is t h e di vine hero of t h e Indian people, t h eseventh avatar of Vishnu"It is noteworthy, t oo ,

thatt h e playwright entirely omits t o present t o us Sita’s di scovery of t h e heartless stratagem whereby sh e has beenlured away

,without leave-taking, from t h e court of

Ayodhya . It almost seems as though opportunities fort h e active manifestation of character were systematicallyavoided .

In assuming character-in-action to be t h e essence of

dram a, I may appear t o be ins isting on an arbitrary pointof aesthetic definition ; but that is not really so . Indiahas, no doubt , a perfect right t o define mimetic art in h erown way . Sh e owes no deference either t o t h e Greekword drama

,

”

or t o t h e European conception which itembodi es . My point is psychological, not aesthetic . Apeople which leaves out of its drama t h e element of will,probably does so because t h e element of will plays no

efficient part in its life. And is not thi s j ust t h e key t o

Indian history ? Hinduism,as a popular religion

,con

sists in th e cult of a monstrou s fo lk-lore, oppressing andparalysing t h e imagination

,and showing human beings

as t h e passive playthings of stupendous and multitudinousgods

,demigods and demons . What avai ls t h e human

will in a world whi ch is entirely at th e mercy of magicalinfluences

,in which courage is useless without an appro

pri at e mantra,and resolution impotent against an in

auspicious star ? Hinduism,as a philosophy, preaches

t h e unreality of t h e material world, detachment fromterrestrial interests , and t h e unimportance of t h e life oft h e m oment as compared with th e endless chai n of pastand future existences— all doctrines whi ch tend directlyt o t h e enfeeblement of volitional individuality . Is it notthis passivity of mental habit , mirrored in t h e drama, thathas

,time out of mind, left India at t h e mercy of strong

willed races from without, until they have, in their turn ,yielded t o th e creeping paralysis

222


mosques and m ausoleums . A preponderance o f patentlyMuhammadan names on t h e rolls of t h e craftsmen em

ployed upon famous edifices has no terrors for Mr . Havell .He probably assum es that m ost of them were Muslim ized

Hindus though this explanation seem s hardly compatiblewith his tracing of t h e decline of architecture underAurungzeb t o that em peror ’s dismissal of all craftsmenwh o were no t true believers .

* If a Muslim ized Hinduretained h i s racial genius under Shah Jahan, it is not clearwhy h e should have lost it under Aurungzeb . I d o not

presum e, however, t o controvert Mr . Havell’

s eagerarguments on po ints on which h e is learned and I veryignorant . Nor d o I doubt that h e is right in vindicatingfor Hindu craftsmanship a very large share in t h e triumphsof Muhammadan architecture and decoration . All I sayis that h e does not succeed in arguing away— or , rather,that h e seems t o ignore— th e cardinal fact that

.

whereverwe find in Indi a a building of remarkable beauty or (if Imay so phrase it) of rational magnificence

,it is almost

certain t o be distinctively Muhammadan . Am ong re

ligious edifices , I can think of no exception t o this rule .

Th e exceptions that occur to m e ar e certain Hindupalaces , chiefly in Raj putana, from which

,however,

Muslim and even European influences are by no meansexcluded .

Th e giant temples of Southern India are no doubtmarvels of massive construction , and have often a sortof t i tant ic impressiveness . They seem as though theymight have been built by t h e rakshasas of t h e Ramayana .

But of unity, clarity, nobili ty of design they show no trace .

Everything is ponderous , everything is overwrought .Their most prominent features , t h e pyramidal gopuras, or

gate-towers , swarming— one might almost say writhing—with contorted semi-human figures , are surely as senseless as anyt hing in archi tecture . Here and there someindividual detail , such as t h e colonnade around a sacred

Ind i an A rch i tecture, pp . 31 and 37 .

224

Hi ndu Arch i tec ture : A T em ple . A jm i r .

"To face p. 224 .

De ta i l o f a Hi n du T em ple, A jm i r

"To face p. 225.


in middle and northern India is a cluster of elongatedcupolas

,suggested ,

I suppose, by t h e form of th e primitivereed hut of Bengal . Most of these excrescences correspondt o no internal feature, and are in no way impressive eitherindividually or in their grouping . They are less barbarous ,perhaps , than th e gopuras of t h e south , but scarcely morebeautiful.Th e self-defeating wastefulness of Hindu architecture

is nowhere more conspicuous than in t h e Di lwarra Temples

(Jain) at Mount Abu , dating from t h e eleventh and twelfthcenturies . Externally they are of small account ; internally they might be exquisitely beautiful if (perhaps) atwentieth part of t h e labour expended on chiselling andundercutting their white m arble had been judiciously appliedt o reasonable o rnament . As it is

,they are almost incredi ble

marvels o f insensate over-elaboration . I should be disposed, in t h e face of a great array of authorities , t o applyt h e same criticism t o t h e famous Towers o f Victory atChitor . Th e labour lavished on them seem s t o m e quiteincommensurate with th e effect achieved but as I visitedthem hurriedly, when twilight was falling, I was perhapsunduly unim pressed .

To turn from Hindu t o Muhammadan architecture is t oenter another world . As chance would have it , I passedwith scarcely a pause by t h e way from th e sinister gloom of

Madura t o th e grace and refinement of Ahmedabad . Nevershall I forget t h e impression m ade upon m e by t h e exquisitemarble traceries in Sidi Sayyid’s m osque a nd a t t h e tombof Shah Alam . It was my first encounter with this wond erful art o f piercing thin sheets of marble in designs of

inexhaustible Variety ; and I was scarcely more delightedwith its beauty than with its appropriateness , in giving airalong with j ewelled light t o th e shady spaces of mosqueand tomb . Here Mr . Havell agrees with m e ; but h e, o f

course,claims all t h e merit for Hinduism . In this class

of window tracery ,h e says , India stands alone it is a

purely Indian development of th e sculptor’s craft having

226


Mogul palaces have t o us an air of theatrical unreality .

We find it d i fficult t o dissociate them from our m em ories ofth e Arabian Nights , and t o imagine them tenanted by realpeople . Their very perfection of detail is cloying . Theysuggest , not only unbridled luxury , but effeminacy anddecadence . If , however , we put aside fortuitous associationand m oral suggestion ,

and are content with visual,sensuous

beauty ,we cannot but adm it that Aladdin ’s genie could

not possibly have conj ured up anything more enchanting .

F or grandeur, again ,we m ay turn t o t h e Jumma Musj id at

Delhi , t o Humayun’s Tomb , t o th e Buland Darwaza at

Fatehpur Sikri , t o th e great buildings of Bij apur , and ascore of other famous sites . Th e Muslim habit of raisingmosques and tom bs on m agnificent plinths or platformsgives them an extraordinary nobility of effect . Th e TajMahal itself , that

Fabr ic o f enchantm ent, hewnFrom lu cent quarri es o f t h e m oon ,Or curdled by som e thaum aturgeFrom lace-like foam o f southern surge,From ear liest dr ift of blossom -spray,And star-lit snows o f Him alay

— th e Taj itself owes a great part of its impressiveness t oth e art with which it is enthroned on t h e margent of t h eJumna

,and sequestered by its plinth , its sentinel minarets ,

its garden and its maj estic gateways , from all prosaic andcommonplace contiguities .

Th e share of t h e purely Indian genius in all these wond erful achievements is an interesting question , t o be determined— i i it can ever be determined— by close investi

gat ion on th e part of technical experts . One would haveno hesitation in accepting Mr . Havell

’

s j udgment on th e

point , were h e not manifestly biased by theosoph ical convict ions. His all-pervading note of impassioned specialpleading is sufficient in itself t o awaken scepticism . F or

my part,however , I readily grant that it would be absurd

t o look upon Muslim architecture in India as something228

T he Ta j Mah al


t h e beginnings o f a bolder , freer, m ore virile art than hasever, in fact , been developed in Indi a . They show vigourwithout violence, and a certain sense of composition . Iftheir colour , in th e reproductions , is not very pleasing, Ipresum e we must allow for th e effects of age, and for t h epeculiar conditions of light under which they were intendedt o be viewed . How it happens that they stand alonethat they seem t o have sprung from noth ing and led t o

nothing—historians must explain if they can . Was paintingneglected because sculpture

,as t h e more laborious

,was

considered t h e more meritorious art I cannot tell . Indiais th e home of arrested developments and prom ises un

fulfilled . There are only t oo many analogies t o th e abortiveimpulse which has left its traces at Aj anta .

Apart from these frescoes , Indian painting is a lateand post-Muhammadan development . It does not seemthat anything of importance has come down t o us of anearlier date than th e sixteenth century . Heaven forbidthat I should commit myself t o any theory of foreign influence ; but as a matter of historic fact , painting wasmainly cultivated at th e courts of th e Mogul emperors , andof Raj put and other princes , during t h e Mogul period .

It is thus not primarily a religious art , but concerns itselflargely with historic scenes , martial and ceremonial , insubstance not unlike t h e illustrations of royal progresses ,investitures , marriages , reviews , drawing-rooms , etc.

,so

familiar in th e illustrated papers of t o-day . There are alsomany episodes of princely domesticity, hunting-scenes ,and t h e like. Where religion is touched upon , so far asI have observed , it is usually th e sensual -sentimental cultof Krishna that provides th e inspiration .

What , then , are t h e general characteristics of this wholebody of work ? They are wonderful illuminative richness ,extraordinary delicacy of draughtsmanshi p in miniature,great beauty of decorative detail , a certain power of lendinganimation t o scenes of swarming life, but withal a totalinability t o escape from a laborious convention ,

t o attain230

ART AND CULTURE

freedom and breadth of design ,t o suggest t o th e imagination

anything more than is presented t o t h e eye . Th e absenceor gross im perfection of perspective throws everything uponone plane,

and forbids any gradation of tone, any play of

light and shade. There are, no doubt , certain night scenesin which fireligh t or torchlight is employed t o produce whatare comm only called Rembrandtesque effects ; but thereis no depth ,

no mystery about them—at most a certain hardand lim ited cleverness . They are an agreeable Change fromt h e relentless glitter of military and ceremonial pageantry ,

and they are interesting as showing a feeling-forth towardssomethi ng outside t h e dom inant convention . But thoughthey m ay be great by Indian standards , by world-standardsthey remain sm all .Just as m onstrous is t h e epithet that constantly

forces itself upon us in dealing with Hindu sculpture,so

m iniature is t h e term from which there is no escape int h e discussion of Indian painting . If Florentine art hadstopped short at Pinturicchio and Benozzo Gozzoli , and ifthese painters had habitually worked on th e scale of portfo lio illuminations

,then Florentine ar t and Indian art would

have stood somewhere on t h e same level . Th e Indianpainter, at his best , is a consumm ate m iniaturist . Nothingcan exceed th e delicacy and beauty of th e best Mogulportrai ture,

though even here th e sitter is usually presentedin flat profile, and we feel that t h e painter

’s mastery moveswithin very narrow limits . I am very far, however, fromdenying t h e charm of this style of art . I would no t evenmake any large deduction from Mr . Havell

’

s praise of certainexamples of t h e school : With all t h e sincerity, truthfulness

,and perfect finish of th e old Dutch and Flemish

masters , these drawings have a delicate flavour of theirown ,

a subtlety an d sensitiveness which suggest th e m usicof th e Indian vina

, or th e sonnet s of Hafiz or OmarKhayyam . All I say is that Indian design has neverthrown off th e shackles of a som ewhat helpless convention .

With what a sense of enlargem ent and invigoration does231


one turn from th e graphic arts of India to those of Chinaan d JapanThough Indi an painting is, as a rule, worldly rather than

other-worldly, it must no t be suppo sed that th e spiritualgenius of India fails t o manifest it self in this form of art .Th e Indi an landscape-painter, says Mr . Havell , endeavourst o see with th e mind, not m erely with th e eye and

,

above all, t o identify him self with t h e inner consciousnessof th e Nature h e portrays , and t o m ake m anifest t h e one

harmonious law which governs Nature in all h er m oods .

”

And again : Th e difference which th e European andAnglicized Indian attribute t o defective technical powersor undeveloped intellect , is really d ue t o a different intellectual atmosphere and a different artistic tem peram ent ,created by th e different answers which East and West givet o t h e question—what is reality ? On this contentionthere are two remarks t o be made . Firstly

,th e arrest of

developm ent in Indian art seem s t o be closely paralleledby th e arrest of development in Indian Civilization

,which

can scar cely have been determined by metaphysicalinfluences

,though they may, no doubt

,have contributed

t o it . Secondly, th e Western answer t o th e question ,What is reality would appear t o be th e right answerfrom th e artist ’s point of View ,

if from no other,since it has

begotten t h e superbly vigorous and various painting of

Europe,as opposed t o th e elaborate miniature-work of

India . I have seen In a private collection one unfinishedpainting— I think it represented Aurungzeb with a huntingparty crossing a river by night—which seem ed t o m e a realpicture,

largely-conceived, im aginative, suggestive . Allother Indian paintings that I have com e across ar e m ore or

less elaborate and beautiful illuminations an d illustrations .

ART AND CHARACTER .

There is no more ungracious or unpopular task th an th eattem pt t o restore things t o reasonable propor tions , afterthey have been exaggerated and distorted by enthusiasm .

232


All this , of course, is shocking heresy in th e eyes of th eenthusiasts . And why ? Because they have fallen underIndia ’s illusion , and have persuaded them selves that artinspired by transcendental T ruth must be th e greatest ar tin th e world .

* But India ’s truth,if it were true— and it is

neither more nor less true than any other expression o f t h e

inexpressible -would be destructive t o art . It is only in so

far as India ignores h er own truth,and accepts , provisionally ,

th e real existence of th e visible universe,that sh e possesses

any ar t at all. Nor is it probable that h er ar tists , as a class,troubled them selves about transcendental Truth . They seemt o have been highly contented with th e surface aspects of th etropical j ungle of folk-lore which they regarded as revelation .

Th e apotheosis o f Indian art has aptly co incided with atendency t o depreciate t h e accepted values o f t h e West .Europe is a little tired of h er own accomplishment , ando ppressed ,

it may be , by th e very mass of h er achievem ent .But though this transient weariness is natural enough ,

andis

,indeed , only a symptom of that divine discontent which

saves Western ar t from stagnant self-complacency ,it must

not be suffered entirely to upset our sense of proportion .

Th e plain truth is that if all th e great masterpieces of

European sculpture, painting , epic and dramatic literature,were destroyed, Europe would, still , in virtue of its worksof th e second and third order, be incomparably richer thanIndia in products of artistic genius . In architecture alonecan India put forward a really plausible Claim t o equality,and then no t with Europe as a whole,

but rather with asingle region or a single school . If it be said that th econfrontation is no t fair, inasmuch as it pits a countryagainst a continent , I reply,

firstly,that it is not I , but t h e

India-worshippers wh o Challenge th e comparison , secondly ,

that Ind ia is as large and populous as all Western Europe,

If India took this from here, that from there, so d i d Greece , so

did I taly ; but ou t of what sh e took cam e higher ideals than Greeceever dream t o f , and th ings o f beauty that I taly never realized . E . B .

Havel l, I nd i an Sculpture and P ain ti ng,p. 1 69 .

234

ART AND CULTURE

and is never tired of asser t ing th e greater antiquity of h er

civili zation .

What is th e inmost secret , when all is said and done,

of th e radical inferiority of Indian art ? Does it no t liein t h e almost total lack of strong and individual humancharacter ? Why have th e Indian epics taken no holdupon th e im agination of t h e wor ld at large ? Simplybecause Ram a and Sita and Lakshman ,

Ar j una and Yud ishthira

,Drona and Karna, Kunti and Draupad i , are no t human

beings,but clockwork idols , moving in an atm osphere of

mag ic . It is by devotion that they are endowed with asemblance of life for their Indian worshippers . F or thosewh o cannot approach them with devo tion ,

they d o not liveat all . And this lack of human individuality is curiouslym anifest in t h e types assigned to them in painting andsculpture . Nothing can be m ore insipid and character lessthan th e epic heroes as represented whether in ancient orin modern art .

* It is wonderful,as I have already re

marked,h ow hieratic convention has succeeded in blinding

Indian artists t o th e splendid types of hum anity they see

every day around them .

If we compare Classic antiquity with Indian antiquity,is it not m an ifest that th e fundam ental difference lies int h e wealth of t h e one, th e poverty of th e o ther , in individualhum an character , m ythic and historical Greek epic anddrama is one glorious pageant o f strong individual ities ;Greek and Rom an history is so obviously a battleground of

great m en , that historian s have o ften neglected t o lookbehind th e protagonists

,and study t h e social and econom ic

forces they represented Greek and Rom an sculpture ,even

in its ideal aspects , pre-supposes a profound knowledge of

reality,and has , m oreover , left us such abundant treasures

of consummate portraiture that t h e statesmen and generals

Note, for instance , t h e sm oo th pre t ti-pret tiness of th e hero ic typesin t h e o therwise charm ing illustrations provided by th e Tagore schoo lof ar t for t h e M yths of theHi ndus and Bud d h i sts . Aban ind r o Nath Tagorehim self gives his Buddha as Mendicant great nob ili tv o f characterbut t h e type is European .

235


of antiquity, from Pericles t o th e Antonines , are almost asfamiliar to us as th e celebrities of our own age. What acon trast is presented by th e corresponding period in IndiaTh e heroes of epic and drama are shadowy and conventionalwhen they are not monstrous and as for t h e leading figuresof real life, only a few of them are known to us even byname, not one by portraiture . To th e splendid processionof Greek and Roman worthies , we can only oppose a shadowyChandragupta

,an Asoka to be laboriously reconstructed

from h is graven ed icts, a vague Kanish ka and Vikramad i tya.

It may be said that there m ust have been strong m en inIndia, as elsewhere, but that it was not th e habit of th epeople t o write histories or carve portraits . They are

empty names to us , carent quia vate sacro . But whywas history not written Why was portraiture neglectedA complete answer to these questions would be a com

plete psychology of th e Indian people. Briefly, I think wemust attribute th e facts t o th e general undervaluing inreligion and phi losophy of will and endeavour . Life wasconceived as a shoreless expanse in which generations roseand fell as helplessly and purpo selessly as waves in m id

ocean . Passivity, detachment , th e inhibition of will,was

t h e summ it alike of wisdom and virtue . Men had to beargued into activity, as Krishna, in th e Bhagavat-Gita

,

exhorts Arj una not to take th e doctrine of detachm ent tooliterally . Virtue, much talked of, consisted in ceremonialObservances and obedience t o th e rules of caste. Energy

,

strenuousness, were of no avail for since life, by hypo th esis

,was not worth living

, to labour for its betterm ent wasfutile,

if not impious . Kings,indeed, were flattered and

adulated ; but even a king was only, as it were, a foamfleck on th e crest of a wave,

conspicuous for a m oment , butwith many obscure existences behind him , and many o thers,no doubt , awaiting him in t h e future . Thus th e individuallife was in every way dwarfed and depreciated, th e cultivation of individual character discouraged , and its recognitionimpeded . Something like this , I conceive, must be our

236


this depression of'

wi ll and energy, th e fact can scarcelybe contested ; and India would d o well t o realize andreflect upon it .

MUS IC .

There remains one art of which nothing has yet beensaid, and of which

,in th e absence of technical knowledge,

I can at best speak vaguely . There is an undeniable andpenetrating charm about Indian music . Th e fine artists ,whom I have been so fortunate as t o hear

,can produce

delightful effects from their very picturesque stringedinstrum ents— ci thar

,sarangi and vi na . I was especially

struck with t h e way in which they could make t h e stringsalm ost literally speak ,

coaxing from them plaintive utterauces which

,with one’s eyes shut , one could alm ost believe

t o proceed from t h e human voice . Th e pieces I heardappeared t o m e t o be com posed of fragments of m elodyakin t o t h e folk-songs of Europe

,but developed on wholly

different rhythm ic principles . I have not t h e least doubtthat Indian music is a most interesting , highly—subtilizedand elaborated science

,though on som e of th e Claim s

put forward on its behalf—such as th e power of paintinglandscapes

,which can be quite definitely visualized by

t h e initiated— one may beg leave t o m aintain an attitudeof suspended judgm ent . I very sincerely take on trusta great many refinem ents and excellences which cannotbe fully apprehended without a special education : j ustas I take on trust t h e verbal beauties both of Sanskrit andof vernacular poetry . Yet in music , it seems t o m e , we

have th e final,irrefragable proof that th e Western mind

has decisively outgrown th e Eastern , has embraced awider range of experience,

and touched greater heightsand— I d o no t hesitate t o say— deeper depths of thought .Once m ore,

it is a m ere denial of all sense of proportion t oinstitute any serious com parison between th e two formsof ar t— t o place t h e delicate tinklings of Indian m elodybeside t h e titanic harmonies of Handel and Haydn ,

238

ART AND CULTURE

Beethoven and Wagner . Th e triumphs of imaginationwhich t h e epic poets sought t o attain by force of hyperbolical arithm etic ; th e miracles of intuition which t h e

sages hoped t o achieve by yoga these,and far greater

triumphs and m iracles,

are nightly com passed in t h e

European concert-room ,by t h e mightiest ri sh i s th e world

ever saw,through th e medium of that divinest of human

inventions, th e m odern orchestra . It is very possible

that Indian music has delicacies and exquisitenesses whichescape our grosser ears ; but it is , I suggest , absolutelyim possible that t h e little threads of sound plucked daintilyout o f t h e ci thar or vi na can betoken any approach t o t h egrasp of mind that weaves

,from a thousand filaments of

passion,and wonder

,and ecstasy and despair , th e celestial

tissues of t h e European symphony .

I unfeignedly regret,in conclusion

,t h e controversial

and even depreciatory tone of this Chapter . Had it beenwritten twenty years ago ,

its tenor would have been verydifferent . One could then have dwelt with warm appre

ciat ion on th e numberless beauties of Indian art ; one

could have noted ,without insistence,

its obvious defectsof exaggeration , excess and m onstrosity ,

and one neednot have embarked upon disobliging and quite unnecessarycomparisons . Th e intelligent Indi an has undoubtedly agreat deal t o be proud of in t h e artistic past of his country .

Even its barbarisms are m agnificent , while its sane achievements are o ften of exquisite,

som etimes of unique, beauty .

Far be it from m e t o deny that India is from t h e artisticpo int of view , one of t h e m ost interesting countri es in th eworld . Her art contributed potently t o t h e Spell sh e

cast upon m e, but for which th is book would never havebeen written . But when t h e intelligent Indian is assuredthat

,in alm ost every branch of artistic activity ,

hiscountry ,

by express favour of t h e gods , stands suprem e

over all th e world, one can only advise him , in his own

interest , not t o believe it . That way lies—well , not sanityand sanity is essential t o India’s salvation .

259

EDUCAT ION

‘EVER-END ING are t h e discussions as t o whatIndia ought t o learn

,and h ow that knowledge

should be imparted t o h er . But it is much m ore vital t oascertai n what India will consent t o unlearn . Upont h e answer t o that question h er future depends .Som eone— is it Sir Alfred Lyall —tells of an Indian

wh o was thoroughly versed in t h e m athematics of astronomy,

and could calculate eclipses m any years ahead ,

but wh o confessed that h e still believed ,and should teach

hi s son,that eclipses were caused by a d og eating t h e

moon . Nothing could be more Characteristic .

* Indi anshave an am azing capacity for learni ng , and for ignoringt h e consequences of what they learn . They will adm itthat

,for t h e outer world, two and two make four, but

they pin their actual faith t o th e sages of old whose subtlergenius assured them that two and two made five . Not

till India has unlearnt this habit of mind will th e day of

h er true greatness dawn .

Many people hold that t h e worst error of our rule hasbeen t h e effort t o substitute European for Oriental education . This I cannot believe. Our error —our inevitableerror , since we knew no better— lay in introducing badeducation instead of good . We gave what we had, andit was better than no thing ; but it was not what t h e

A schoolm aster once tr ied t o convince his pupi ls that t h e ear thgoes round t h e sun .

‘

Now, d o you believe i t ? ’h e asked .

‘

Yes,

as long as we are in th e Class-room .

’ Jam es Kennedy, in A si ati c

Quar terly Revi ew, October , 1 9 1 0 .

240


is not very easily accessible, I may quote some of its mostcharacteristic passages

I never found one am ong "t h e O rientali sts"wh o could denythat a single shelf of a good European library was wort h t h e who lenative literat ure of India and Arabia .

T h e quest ion now before us is sim ply whet her , when i t is in our

power t o t each "English"we shall t each languages in which , byuniversal confes sion , there ar e no books on any subject whi ch deservet o be com pared wit h our own whether , when we can t each European science,

we shall t each system s which ,by universal confession ,

whenever t hey differ from t hose of Europe,differ for t h e worse ;

and whether , when we can patronize sound Ph ilosophy and t rueHis tory, we shall countenance,

a t t h e public expense,m edical

doc trines which would disgrace an Engli sh farri er—Ast ronom ywhi ch would m ove laught er in t h e girls at ' an English boardin gschoo l—History aboundin g with kings t hir ty feet high and reignst hir ty t housand years long—and Geo graphy m ade up o f seas o f

tr eacle and seas of but ter .

W e are forced t o pay our Arabic and Sanskri t students , whiletho se wh o lear n English are wi lling t o pay us .I t i s confessed t hat a language i s barren of useful knowledge .

W e are t o ld t o t each i t because it is fruitful o f m onst rou s superst i ti ons . W e are t o t each false history, false ast ronomy, falsem edicine, because we find t hem in com pany

’

wi th false religion .

There are faults of excess and faults of emphasis in thispronouncement ; but

'

i t is absurd to talk of t h e m ischiefwrought by Macaulay ’s blighting rhetoric . Such language can be held only by those wh o think that Englandought t o have perpetuated h er empire in Indi a by keepingt h e people entirely ignorant of Western political ideas .Even supposing that this would have been desirable (whichI d o not believe) it would certainly have been impossible .

Not in India alone, but all th e world over, t h e day of t h e

ring- fence is for ever past . We might have hindered t h epercolation of ideas ; we could not have prevented it .F or t h e material developm ent of t h e country, by m eans oft h e railroad and t h e telegraph ,

a lingua-franca was indispensable ; and if some other language than English (sayHindustani) had been chosen for t h e purpose, Westernbooks would have been translated into that language, and

242

A Palace . Benan s .

"To lace p. 24 z.

Palace an d C hat, Benares .

"To face p 243.


It is true that we have t h e Babu, t o carry out a thousandduties of civilization for which t h e Pundi t would havebeen unfit , even if h e would have condescended t o them .

We also have (a m ore doubtful blessing) t h e vakil or pleaderand we have t h e failed B .A . ,

and t h e successful B .A. wh o

feels himself cruelly wronged because Government does notprovide for him t h e comfortable post t o which h e thi nks h eis entitled . English education has had m any drawbacks ,some of them inevitable

,some of them ari sing from defects

in our very idea of education . But wh o can doubt that int h emain Macaulay was right Hemay even be said to havebuilded better than h e knew for h e

,laid t h e foundation

of a united India, capable— unless it deliberately misuses itsopportunities— of taking its place among t h e great nationsof t h e world . It is never t h e intelligent Indi an wh o doubtst h e benefits of English education . Hemay resent Macaulay ’slanguage, but t h e j ustice of h i s conclusion h e knows t obe beyond dispute . Th e only rational obj ector t o Englisheducation is h e wh o holds (as Lord Ellenborough helda century ago) that it endangers t h e eternity of English rule .

That it certainly does but if England desired t o hold forever an empire founded on ignorance and mental stagnation,one could only say t h e less England sh e.

”

STATISTICS .

It was not unti l £854 that Macaulay’s Minute took

full effect,and t h e existing educational machinery was set

in motion . After sixty years have passed, we find that

(roughly speaking) rather more than one m ale in t en

and one female in a hundred can read and write less thanone male in a hund red and one female in a thousand canread and write English .

It is estimated that , in all, about one million Indianshave some knowledge of our language. Many of them ,

no

doubt , speak and write it very badly ; but t h e amazingthing

,as I have already noted, is that thousands of them have

244

EDUCAT ION

m astered it t o absolute perfection . Macaulay,ind eed, when

h e wrote his Minute, was probably influenced by his 0b

servation of t h e extraordinary linguistic faculty so com

mon in India . It is unusual,”

h e writes, t o find, evenin t h e literary circles of t h e Continent , any foreigner whocan express himself in English with so much facility andcorrectness as many Hindus . ” I had m ade t h e sameremark a hundred times before I came across it in th e Minuteof 1 835.

In t h e decade of 1 902—1 2 t h e total number of educationalinstitutions in Indi a increased from about t o about

and th e number of pupi ls from t o

Th e total number of boys under instructionrose from t o or by 43 per cent . , andt h e total number of gi rls from t o or by1 1 4 per cent . These are at first sight large figures ; butthey mean that , after a decade of steady increase

,only

29 per cent . of boys of school-going age, and 5 per cent . ofgirls

,were receiving any sort of instruction . Th e total

expenditure on education had risen during t h e decade fromt o About half of thi s expenditure

is m et by Governm ent , or by municipalities or local boards .About a quarter is covered by fees,* and t h e remainder byendowments and subscriptions . T

THE NEXT MOVE : VERNACULAR EDUCATION .

In one point , sai d Macaulay in 1 835, I fully agreewith t h e gentlemen t o whose general views I am opposed .

I feel with them that it is impossible for us, with our limitedmeans, t o attempt t o educate th e body of t h e people.

We m ust at present d o our best t o educate a class wh o maybe interpreters between us and t h emillions whomwe govern .

I t is s tated that t h e unwill ingness of even t h e well-to-d o classes topay reasonable fees for their childr en’s schoo ling seriously retards t h eprogress of education .

1‘

Th e above figures are taken from t h e S tatement exh i bi t i ng th o M oral

and M ater i al P rogress and Cond i t i on of Ind i a, 1 9 1 1-1 2 .

1245


In that we"

have succeeded and we now cry out, not with

out reason, that th e intermediary class d o not interpret uswisely or fairly . Yet we are preparing, with sublime inconsistency, t o multiply tenfold th e possible readers of t h evernacular press ; for t h e day of universal education israpidly approachi ng . What was impossible in 1 835 willin all probabili ty be an accomplished fact in 1 935. Mr .Gokhale has drafted a bill by whi ch free and compulsoryeducation would, with all reasonable celerity, be establishedthroughout British India ; and though t h e Government ,for financial and other reasons , cannot accept that measure,it stands committed t o t h e pr inciple that lies behi nd it .In a Reso lution issued at Delhi on February 2 1 , 1 9 1 3,

we read Th e propositions that illiteracy must be brokendown

,and that prim ary education has , in t h e present cir

cum stances of India, a predom inant claim upon t h e publicfunds

,represent accepted po licy no longer open t o dis

cussion . And again : “ It is t h e desire and hope of th e

Government of Indi a t o see in t h e not d istant future someprivate schools added t o t h e which already

exist for boys, and t o double t h e 4§ m illions of pupi lswh o now receive instruction in them . And yet again :Th e Governm ent of Indi a hope that t h e time is not fardistant when educational buildings will be distinguishedas t h e m ost modern and commodious buildings in t h e

locality, and scholars in India will have t h e advantage inthis respect of scholars in th e West . ” Critics of t h e Government , European as well as Indian, ho ld that this insistenceon buildi ngs m erely delays progress . What ought t ohappen

,says Sir F . S . P . Lely,* is that t h e Depar tment

should assign a master and staff to every vi llage where t h epeople undertake t o provide a house. Th e villagers ,i f left to themselves, could provide a house at a fraction o f

what t h e Governm ent department has t o pay t h e

Deputy Inspector having no word in t h e matter, unlessonly h e found t h e conditions insanitary . It is not necessary

S uggesti ons for th e Better Govern i ng 0/ Ind ia, 1 906 .

246


matter of education it would be hard to conceive . We d o

our immediate duty according t o our lights, and we lett h e consequences take care of themselves .

ANGLO-LITERARY TRAINING .

Th e problem is enorm ously difficult,for two m ain reas ons

first (as Jam es Darm esteter po ints out ) , because we have notourselves developed a rational system o f education ;second

,because a rational system of education would be

resented and resisted by t h e people whom we propose t oteach . How are we to get round this complication o f

difficulties ? Our only ch ance,it seem s to m e

, is clearlyt o realize t h e conditions of th e problem ,

and t o call in th ebest Indian intelligence t o help us in so lving it . Thisis as much as t o say that we m ust frankly and sincerelyadm it our obj ect t o be

,not t o m ake Indians Englishm en ,

or

even citizens of t h e British Em pire,but t o m ake them

competent,clear-sighted citizens of their own country .

Hitherto,for th e vast maj or i ty of Indians

,India has not

existed in th e real world,but in a world o fmyth , nightm are,

and vain im agination . Only by th e aid of h er own finerspir its can sh e be brought down from this cloud-cuckooland and anchored on th e solid earth . And only by a frankrecognition of h er right t o self-governm ent as soon as sh eis ready for it can th e co -operation of h er finer spirits besecured .

It is comm only said that th e education we have hithertogiven India errs in being t oo literary . That is tr ue enoughbut it would be equally true,

and would com e nearer th eheart of th e m atter , t o say that it is t oo English . Our aimh as been t o m ake of Indians pseudo-Englishm en ; and itmust be owned that in this endeavour we have attainedrem arkable success . To their great linguistic gifts Indiansad d a tenacious verbal m em orv which enables them t o

master what may be called th e catchwords of culture .

There are hundreds of Indians wh o write quite as good248

EDUCATION

English as th e average British journalist , and bet rav theirforeignness only in their excessive fondness for quotationsand ready-made phrases . Babu English is th e ri d icu

lous aspect of this characteristic— t h e Engli sh of a man wh o‘has stuffed his head with idiom s and stereotypes which h epours forth without any sense of fitness , as in th e case of

t h e m an wh o announced his mother ’s death in these term sTh e hand tha t rocked t h e cradle h as kicked th e bucket .But Babu English is really a rare phenom enon .

* Th e

educated Indian generally uses his quotations an d tags withperfect appropr iateness , if only h e would be a little morespar ing o f them .

It m ay have seem ed for a brief m om ent , some thirty or

forty years ago ,as though this gradual Anglicization of

India were destined t o so lve t h e problem of h er spiritualfuture . Religious and social reforms appeared t o be

gradually fo llowing in th e track of literary education,and

such an institution as th e Brahmo Samaj , with its eclectic

(unitarianism ,may have seem ed full of prom ise . But it

was very soon evident that this apparently marvellousr eceptivity and adaptab i lity was a sur face phenom enon of

sm all significance . Th e Indians wh o became effectuallyAnglicized lost

'

touch with their own countrym en,and

carried with them no real following . Th e genuine outcom e

of our literary education— our training in Milton and Byron

Perhaps comm oner in practice than Babu English is t h e expressiono f sentim ents which seem all t h e m ore quaint for being couched in irreproach able language. I have before me a type-wri t ten let ter from anIndian offi cia l to his Eur opean superior , com plaining that som e chari tablework h e has under taken has been m isinterpreted, and has go t h im intotrouble with his com patr io ts . After all ,” h e wri tes , I took up t h e

work as it was o f public char i ty , and therefore , H is"God ’s"work , andalso t h e work which interested Governm ent , whose servant I am . I twas m y am bition t o please Him as wel l as yourself. His verdict we may

no t know. As for your appreciation , I m ight as well get i t by a sm al lpr ivate testim oni al . Here is a no t very lum inous passage from no teson a laws uit under revision . T h e issues firs t and second though theycontain automatic po in ts in their latter and form er por tions respectively,yet t h e objects wh ich they hide in them selves apply mutat i s mutand i s ,

d i fleren t ially to t h e statem ents of th e par ties .

”

249


and Shelley, in Burke,Mill

,Macaulay and Spencer—was

t h e dissem ination of dem ocratic ideals,invectives against

tyranny , and vio lently partisan views of th e historicalrelations between England and India . All this is perfectlynatural , and m ight have been foreseen . You cannot teachth e subj ects of an alien autocracy t o declaim about

Som e village Ham pden t hat wi th daunt less breastT h e lit t le tyrant o f his fields withstood ,

”

and expect them to refrain from m aking any personalapplication of th e lines . What was less easy t o foresee wasth e recrudescence of aggressive Hinduism ,

or in other words ,of anti-rational ism ,

which has followed upon th e spread of

Anglo—literary education . This is , in my view,th e real ly

disquieting and baffling feature of th e situation . One thing,at all events , that has not resulted from our well-meanteducational efforts is any wide dissemination of politicalor spiri tual wisdom . How was it t o be expected that Indiashould greatly profit by a course of irrelevant , or , at anyrate

,prem ature

,politics , unsifted history, and poetry which ,

t o Eastern learners , could at best be little more than halfunderstood rhetor icLet m e give one or two instances of what I mean by

Anglo-literary education . I once visited a High Schoo l forGirls

,very well conducted by an English head-m istress .

Th e physical dr ill and teaching of household occupationsseemed to m e excellent it was in th e class-room devotedt o geography and history that my doubts were aroused bytwo m aps displayed on th e walls , and pointed out , withno little pr ide, as th e work of th e gir ls them selves . One

was a map of England,in which th e principal products

of th e chief towns were shown by m eans of obj ects attachedat th e appropr iate spots . Thus a t oy m otor-car indicatedCoventry, a ship , Liverpool , a knife,

Sh eflfield ,a scrap of

woollen cloth , Bradford, and so forth . In this there was noharm

,if one had felt sure that th e local products of India

had been illustrated with sim ilar care but one or two maps250


of recitation is general ly understood t o m ean sui ting th eaction to th e word in such detail that every line shall beillustrated by at least one appropr iate gesture . If youtalk of your heart you must clutch your left breast if youallude t o your eyes

, you must point t o these organs . Iremember hearing a boy recite, Break , break , break ,and accompany it wi th a whole gymnastic of gesticulation .

At th e linesAnd th e stately ship goes pastT o i ts haven under t h e h i ll

,

”

h e shaded his eyes an d assumed th e attitude of an old coastguardsm an scanning a sail on th e horizon . At

But, oh , for t h e touch of a vanished hand ,

h e brandished a very visible paw and at

T h e sound o f a vo ice that is sti ll

h e po inted downwards with a significant flourish,im plying

,

t o th e European mind , th e gloom iest conjecture as to th epresent location of th e owner of th e vo ice. On t h e otherhand

,I have seen Indian schoolboys go through th e Trial

Scene in Th e M erchant of Ven ice with excellent di scretion .

THE ARYA SAMAJ .

Whatever th e successes or failures of Anglo-literary ed u

cation ,i t has at least

‘

done one indispensable service inmaking th e bas is of instruction (theoretically, at any rate)an appeal t o reason , in place of th e Oriental appeal t o sheerauthority, of which som ething has al ready been sai d inChapter IV . Th e traditional idea of education in India,

”

says Mr . S . M . Mitra, is based on reverence for th e teacher

(guru) whose word was law,and wh o was almost worshipped

by his pupils (ch elas) . Such an ideal was natural enoughso long as all knowledge was held t o be stored up in th epast

,and thought was conceived as a mere pouring of th e

mind into ready-made moulds, or at best as th e ability to252

EDUCATION

perform certain prescribed feats on a mental flying-trapeze .

When European Hinduizers speak with awe of th e cultureimparted at th e universities of ancient India

,I cannot

but think of th e University of Cairo as it exists t o-day,and of th e great mosques in which hundreds of young m en

are squatted on th e floor , rocking them selves t o and fro

hour after hour , day after day, year after year ,while

,with

closed eyes and muttering lips , they mem or ize th e Koran .

No doubt th e Indian gurus som etim es inculcated th e doctrineof subtler thinkers than Muhamm ad ; but th e whole con

cept ion of education as th e reverential acceptance of a set

of sacred texts and glosses is fitted only for a static worldwhich never existed in fact , and has ceased to exist even intheory . There is t oo much reliance on authority

,t oo much

m echanical mem orizing,in Western systems of education ;

but their aim ,their ideal

,is t o make th e pupil think for

himself, and accept a formula only when h e h as tested itand found it work . Th e West has at any rate proceededsom e way towards t h e realization that th e true teacherought not t o strangle,

but rather t o stimulate, th e critical ,t h e questioning instinct in his pupil . It is clear that thismust also be th e ideal of Indian education if India is t odevelop h er character and make th e best of h er intelligence .

Th e relation of gum and chela,in so far as it survives

,is a

thing t o be discouraged and finally eradicated . In th e

m odern world,intellectual ido latry is as much out of place

as religious ido latry .

It is for this reas on that I look with hesitation upon th ewo rk of t h e Arya Sam aj

,a reform ing body of great and

growing influence in Northern India . I t numbers near ly aquarter of a m illion adherents

,conducts numerous schoo ls ,

and h as two great educational centres , th e Dayanand

Anglo-Vedi c Co llege at Lahore,and t h e Gurukula near

Hardwar , th e sacred spot where th e Ganges flows out fromt h e foothills of th e Him alayas . Th e Lahore Co llege takesits nam e from th e founder of t h e sect , Swami DayanandSaraswati (1 824 called by his followers th e Luther

253


o f India . He was a Brahmin from Kathiawar, wh o broke

away from his cas te and preached a doctrine of which th ewatchword was Back t o th e Vedas .

” Idol-worship,

pilgrimages , child-marriage, enforced widowhood . evencaste itself, Dayanand rejected . He rej ected th e nam e

Hindu, which h e held to be originally a Muslim term of

contempt . Arya h e declared t o be th e only nam e thatought to be acknowledged -by adherents of th e Vedicreligion . He‘ made a principle of proselytism

,which is to

t h e or thodox Hindu an impossibility,inasmuch as Hinduism

is not a result of conviction but a privilege o f birth . Heeven gave practical proof of his moral courage by publiclyreclaiming Hindu converts to Islam .

I have visited both th e Lahore and t h e HardwarColleges , and have been greatly struck by th e earnestspirit in which their work is conducted . Lala Hans Raj ,th e late Principal of th e Anglo-Vedi c Co llege, and MahatmaMunshi Ram , th e present Principal of th e Gurukula, willalways rank in my recollection among th e most impressivefigures I m et in India—whi ch is saying a great deal .Their splendid physique, and t h e grave dignity andurbanity of their manners , made them seem , in everything but years— for neither is more than middle-aged—ideal types of t h e Eastern sage . Th e Gurukula, whichrepresents a different shade of heterodoxy from that of

th e Anglo-Vedic College, is animated by a spirit of cloistralausterity . It is situated on th e eastern bank of t h e

Ganges , four branches* of which divide it from th e pilgr imhaunted Hardwar . This seclusion is chosen on purposethat th e three hundred pupils may be as remote as possiblefrom evil influences especially those of t h e home.

Pupils are received at th e age of seven and d o not passout of th e college until they are twenty-four . They never

go home for t h e ho lidays , and intercourse with theirparents is severely restricted . They rise at four in t h e

I crossed one o f these s tream s on a raft of kerosene-tins, ano therby ferry-boat, t h e third on a br idge of boats, and th e four th on horseback.

‘254

Navi ga t i on o n th e G ange s . (A Raf t o f i nfla ted Ni lghauTSki n s . )

"To face 255.

EDUCAT ION

morni ng , and bathe either in th e Ganges or in th e longbathing-sheds of th e Co llege . They d o their own m enialwork and wait upon each other at meals . Hindi is t h eusual medium of instruction ,

but Western philosophy andscience are taught in English . Sanskrit , of course , bulkslarge in th e curriculum ,

and cricket , football , and hockeyare played in that language . Fire t h e g od Agni of t h eVedas— is prominent in both public and private acts of

worship ; but I was assured that it was regarded ,not

idolatrously ,but as a symbo l of purification . It chanced

that when I arrived at th e Co llege ,t h e Principal was

kneeling on t h e verandah of his bungalow , facing a red

sunset over t h e green Gan ges , and absorbed in prayer,while a tongue of spirit-flam e wavered aloft from a brazencrucible placed on t h e ground before him . Assuredly , Inever saw a more impressive act of devotion .

Th e Arya Samaj is regarded with suspicion by th e

authorities , on account of its supposed seditious tendencies .Several of its adherents , in conversation with m e, ener

get ically repudiated this suspicion . We depend for our

very existence ,

” they sai d ,on t h e British Government .

Th e orthodox Hindus hate us , t h e Muhamm adans hateus , th e Chr istians hate us . We are encircled by enemies :in t h e British Governm ent lies our sole security : whyshould we dream of oversetting it ? And again

,One

may be loyal t o t h e King-Emperor and t h e great officersof t h e Government without being loyal t o every po liceman .

" And yet again : By their fruits ye shal l knowthem . There are no Aryas in Bengal , and outrages occurin Bengal . There are no Aryas in Bombay ,

and outragesoccur in Bom bay . In t h e Punj ab th e Arya Samaj ispowerful , and there are no outrages in t h e Punj ab .

Thi s reasoning is specious and no doubt sincere . Th e

wiser spirits of th e Arya Samaj realize that British rulegives India h er best chance of moral and intellectualregeneration . It was Mahatma Munshi Ram himself wh owrote (in th e Ci vi l and M i li tary Gazette) :

255


I f any insane persons have for one m om ent thought that t h eH indus of t h e present day—t h e gr eat m ajori ty o f whom are d e

graded , hypocri t i cal and base—are fit for governing t h e country ,

and have preached sedi t i on in t heir m adnes s,surely t h e teachi ngs

of t h e great apostle o f Vaidic Dharm a cannot be held responsible .

A teacher holding these views is not likely t o work fora premature overthrow of th e British power . But it mustnot be supposed that th e missionaries wh o go forth fromth e Gurukula— and its pupils are being expressly educatedfor missionary work—will preach th e doctrine of eternalsubservience t o alien mastery . If it be sedition t o worktowards th e ultimate fitness of India t o control h er own

destinies , then is t h e Arya Samaj , beyond all doubt , apotent instrum ent of sedition .

It may appear, then ,as if this body were carrying out

a schem e of education exactly consonant with th e ideasI am trying to set forth . Perhaps it comes , in fact , asnear t o enlightenment as can reasonably be expected .

But its idolatry of th e Vedas is a huge set -off t o its manymerits . How can an education based on so outrageousan excess of authori ty-worship fit m en for rational actionin th e real worldSwami Dayanand ,

it is true,rejected as apocryphal th e

Brahm anas and Puranas,which orthodox Hinduism

accepts , in a general way ,as revealed ; and in so doing

h e purified th e doctrine of his sect . But at th e sametime,

h e,as it were,

concentrated and intensified th e claimof t h e Vedas t o a superhum an o rigin . It is impossiblet o think of God as actually th e author of a large mass ofheterogeneous literature having its sources in all sorts of

historic circumstances . As soon as t h e heterogeneousnature of th e Bible is clearly realized , its claim t o divineauthorship is fatally weakened . If inspiration is stil lasserted ,

it is only in a very attenuated sense . So ,t oo ,

with th e diverse and multifarious sacred books of

t h e Hindus : t h e inspiration claim ed for them was not

—could not be— very literally understood . But when256


m anifestly under lie t h e Vedic literature have remainedunrecorded ; but while we cannot bring th e Vedas intodefinite relation with history , it is only t oo easy t o placethem in their anthropological context

,and t o see in them

not t h e oracles of a God , but th e artless utterances of

primitive m en (in som e cases highly gifted) personifyingand seeking t o propitiate t h e powers of Nature. Anything , on th e face of it

,less like a divine revelation it would

be difficult to conceive . Th e first condition of a revelation ,

(as t h e Sam aj ist pundit j ustly observes) is that it shallreveal som ething otherwise unknown ; but this conditiont h e Vedas d o not fulfil . They reveal ”

t h e hunger of

primitive man for all sorts of worldly advantages— forcattle,

for rain ,for sons

,for th e destruction of enemies ,

for long life, etc.

— and they show his eagerness , in th e

pursuit o f these blessings , t o make friends with everyunseen power h e can possibly conceive or conj ecture .

They reveal worship and sacrifice as a form of directbribery, after th e fashion of thi s artless Invocation t o

Indra : Desirous of milking thee like a milch cow atpasture ;

Vasish th a has let loose his prayers_

t o thee.

”

They reveal th e tendency of primitive man t o ingratiatehimself with one god by outbursts of unmeasured flatteryat t h e expense of all th e rest— th e tendency which MaxMuller has denominated henotheism . They revealt oo— but this is infrequent— th e perplexities of a reflectivemind in view of th e mystery of existence. But what isthere in all this that needed t o be revealed ? Th e

hymns of t h e last class* are doubtless t h e noblest , andare extremely interesting ; but it is surely t h e business

T h e 1 29 th Hymn o f Book X . of t h e Rig Veda is, as rendered byMax M i i ller , a rem arkable ut terance of a sor t of agn osticism . I t endsthus

W h o knows t h e secret W h o proclai m ed i t here,

Whence, whence, this m anifo ld creation sprangHe from whom all thi s great creation came,

Whether his wi ll created or was m ute ,

T h e m ost high seer that is in highest heaven,He knows it , or , per chance, e

’

en h e knows no t .

(258

EDUCAT ION

of revelation not t o utter perplexities , but t o solvethem .

No doubt th e Samajists explain away t h e manifestlyhuman and non-divine contents of t h e Vedas , by processesnot unknown t o other theologians . F or one thing , theypro fess t o extract monotheistic teaching from docum entswhich breathe polytheism in every line . But though Ibelieve th e Vedas t o be, of all th e sacred books of th eworld

,perhaps th e most unprom ising m aterials for d eifica

tion,it is not on their individual demerits that I wi sh t o

dwell . What I cannot but deplore is th e fact that th eArya Samaj

,so enlightened in many of its tenets , should

give its soul into bondage t o any holy texts whatsoever,and should simply substitute an intellectual idolatry forth e worship of stocks and stones . Th e chi ldish in

competence of thought revealed in th e expository tractsof th e Sam aj is only accentuated by a parade of modernscientific m ethod . We are o ffered , for example,

internal and external evidences that th e Vedasare th e Word D ivine .

”

Th e internal evidences are simplyassertions contained in th e Vedas themselves for example

He from whom t h e Rig Veda spran g , He from whom t h e Yaj urVeda sprang , like unto who se hairs are t h e Sam as, and li ke untowho se m outh is t h e At h arva-Angiras—what is t hat Being like ?Him d o t hou declare, O Sage .

Answer : Know , 0 m ortal s , that t his Being is Skambh a (Pi llarof t h e universe or Fulcrum o f all existence) —A tharva X . , 7

—20 .

Th e external evidences are sim ilar assertions occurringin o ther writings such as this from Manu

To t h e wise elders , to t h e sages and sain ts and m anki nd in general ,

t h e scrip ture is an eye giving constant light nor could t h e VedaShas tra have been m ade by hum an facult ies , nor can it be m easuredby human reason (unassisted by revealed glosses and comments)th is is a sure propositi on .

It would seem that t h e followers of Dayanand , if noth e h imself , admit revelation in glosses and commentssubsequent to th e Vedas ; but it would be mere waste

259

IND IA AND . THE FUTURE

of time t o examine t h e evi dential value of such statements , whether internal or external . Argumentin a circle is everywhere a pleasant intellectual exercise,

but nowhere is it more popular than in India . You provean author inspired by showing that h e was inspired t o

assert his own inspiration , and that other (uninspired)authors have repeated his assertion .

Dayanand , indeed, must not be held responsible for t h elogic of his followers . Here, however, are a couple of

extracts from t h e writings of t h e Maharishi himself, whichsufficiently disclose th e intellectual level upon whi ch h emoved .

*

Th e Rig Veda , t h e Sam a Veda, t h e Yajur Veda, and t h e At h arvaVed a are t h e outbreat h ings of that great being .

—S hathapatha,

Kan . I Chapter 5.

T o m ake thi s clearerMai triya (says Yajnavalka) by Him wh o encom passes even

Space, t h e Rig Veda as well as t h e o t her Vedas- all four of them—are breathed fo rt h wi t hout eff ort .

” Thi s is a fact . An d as t h evi tal ai r issu ing from t h e body i s brea thed in again , even so are

t h e Vedas breat hed forth and finally breat hed in again by God .

Thi s is certai n .

On t hi s subj ect m any people say : How could t h e Veda whichis in wor d form have proceeded from Go d wh o is i ncorporeal andwit hout part s ? T o t his we reply : Such an obj ecti on cannotho ld good when urged against an alm igh ty God . Why Becauseeven in t h e absence of m ou t h, th e pranas (breathi ng power ) ando ther applian ces in t h e Suprem e, t h e power t o d o His work, is everpresent (or m anifest ) in

”

Him . And even as in t h e m i nd o f man ,

when absorbed in silent thought , words in quest ion-and-answerform are bei ng const ant ly pronounced , even such (we m ust believe)is t h e case wit h t h e Suprem e also . He whose om nipo tence i s

undoub ted , t aketh no t t h e help of anyone in do ing Hi s work .

Mortal s canno t d o their work without t h e help o f others , but suchis not t h e case with God . Wh en He,

t hough incorporeal and

without parts ,made th e en t ire universe, t hen h ow can th e fac t of

Hi s having made (revealed) t h e Vedas be doubted

Just as a father ever does kind ofli ces un to h i s chi ldren ,even

so does God , in His i nfinite Mercy, preach His knowledge unto all

From An I nt roducti on to a Commentary on the Vedas . Young-m en’sArya Sam aj Tract Socie ty,-. Lahore.

260


fairly enlightened and fairly acceptable t o t h e Indian peopleOught not th e Government , perhaps, in its promisedcampaign against illiteracy, t o take a leaf out of t h e bookof t h e Arya Samaj Might it not even entrust t o th e

Samaj,at all events in Northern India, t h e working-out

of its proposals ? Such thoughts as these have againand again beset m e

,in reflecting upon th e difficulties of t h e

situation . Assuming,I have said t o myself, that some

compromise with unreason is inevitable, might not thiscompromise prove t h e least injuriousTo these questions there are many answers ; but th e

most conclusive is that t h e compromise would not be evenfairly acceptable t o t h e Indian people . Th e AryaSamaj is

,after all, only a heretic sect and th e Government

is forbidden, by its essential princrple of religious impartiality

,t o endow any sect whatever . It might almost

as well endow Christianity while it was about it , and tryt o force Christian education upon th e masses . Th e attemptwould be scarcely more shocking t o th e general sentiment .

THE CHANCES or CHRISTIAN ITY .

Here a word may be said in passing as to t h e prospect ofa solution of India’s problems through t h e Spread of Christ iani ty. It is a vision that has haunted many fine spirits,from Herbert Edwardes in th e past t o t h e Rev . C . F .

Andrews in t h e present . The Renai ssance i n I nd ia

I ts M i ssi onary Aspect, by t h e last-mentioned writer, iscertai nly one of t h e most helpful books of recent years .

Its ardent humanity,its faultless sweet-reasonableness ,

almost persuade one t o share t h e writer ’s hopes that inChrist lies t h e key t o India

’s future .

” But what are th eChances ? After many centuries of occasional missionaryeffort , and a century of constant labour by many Europeanand American organizations, t h e tale of Indian Christiansdoes not amount t o quite four millions"In other wordsthere are three hundred and eleven millions still awaiting

262

EDUCATION

conversion . It is true that t h e influence of Christianityis not t o be m easured by t h e number of actual converts .

It is traceable in all t h e in tellectual m ovements of modernIndia— in every reform,

indeed, whi ch does not proceeddi rectly from t h e Government , and in many which d o .

But this merely means that Western enlightenment hascome t o t h e East in such close association with Christianitythat it is im possible t o distinguish between t h e one influenceand t h e other. Christian missions— and not least amongthem t h e Salvation Army— have assuredly done splendidwork . I brought with m e (I confess) a vague prej udi ceagainst t h e missionary and his calling, but it did not takem e long t o thr ow it off . After a few weeks in India, onefully enters into t h e spirit of Sir Alfred Lyall ’s Theologyi n Extrem i s, and feels that here one would di e for a religionwhich elsewhere one would disown . Certainly it would bet o t h e imm easurable advantage of India if t h e great landslide in t h e direction of Christianity

,which Mr . C . F .

Andrews seems t o anticipate, were one day t o occur . So

strongly d o I feel this that I should be sorry t o say a wordthat might have a featherweight of influence in impedi ngsuch a movement . Christianity would be for India ahalf-way house t o civilization—o f that there is no doubt .But if you ask for t h e evidence portending a mass-movement towards that halfway-house, I confess that I cannotfind it either by observation or in t h e writings of th e missionaries . Some people hold that t h e current is rathersetting towards Islam , and that View seems t o be quite asplausible .

Th e coming education for t h e masses , at all events,cannot be Christian . So far as it is directed by Government—and no other agency is adequate t o t h e gigantic taski t must be who lly dissociated from sect or creed . But ahost of authorities rise up t o assure us, theoretically, thateducation without a religious basis is like building ahouse without foundations, and practically

,that under

th e system of secular education hitherto pursued by t h e263


Government no appreciable rise in morality can be ob

served .

” It would seem,then, that we are in a Cleft stick

that we cannot give religious education , and that non

religious education is powerless for good .

A little examination, however, may perhaps lead us t oa more cheerful view of t h e case. To take t h e question of

experience first, t h e weight of evidence is against t h e

assertion that secular education is powerless for good .

Grave as have been t h e defects of t h e m ethods hithertoadopted, th e saner View seems t o be that they have donemuch t o raise t h e average character of those wh o havecom e under their influence . It would take pages t o m arshalt h e evidence on both sides . Here it need only be saidthat , from t h e nature of t h e case, t h e failures are m ore aptt o be noted and remembered than t h e successes

,and that

large allowance m ust be m ade for t h e point of view . Th e

British official may sometim es record as moral delinquencywhat is

,in fact, t h e awakening of a (perhaps misguided)

sense of moral responsibili ty .

Passing now t o t h e theoretical question, is it , in fact ,im possible t o devise a form of education whi ch, withoutaffirming or denying anything as t o powers unseen o r

other lives than thi s , may have a definite and potent effectin t h e upbuilding of Character ? It does not seem t o m e

im possible at all , if Indi a will faithfully apply h er bestintelligence t o t h e task, and if t h e British Government ,on its part , will place no hindr ance in t h e way of a schem e

of instruction whi ch shall answer t o t h e legitimate aspirations of intelligent India .

It is true, no doubt , that little is t o be expected fromth e administration of t h e three R ’

s with a cauld clash o’

Th e mistake lies in imagi ning that it is

Som ethi ng, however , can be done on these lines . T h e Governm entResolution of February, 1 9 1 3, lays it down that Excellent m ater ialsfor ethical teachi ng are available in t h e Mahabharata, t h e Ram ayana ,por tions of Hafiz , Sadi , Maulana Rum i , and o ther classics o f Sanskr it ,Ar abic, Per sian, and Pali . ” I imagine that thi s rem ark was par tly , atany rate, inspir ed by t h e success which is said t o have attended t h e in

264


we place our moral teaching on a historic basis,and admit

that its sanctions are antecedent t o,and independent

of, theology, will th e problem of English education be

ultimately solved .

Thi s, however, is a digression, intended merely t o illustrate t h e fact that it is not through religion alone thatmorality can be raised to th e temperature at which itpasses into our blood and nerve— into t h e very fibre of

our being . All that is needed is to kindle a sentiment , or

(one might almost say) t o awaken an instinct, of loyaltyto something higher than our own personal or familyinterests something, not ourselves, that makes for,or rather demands, righteousness .

PATRIOT ISM AS AN INSPIRING PRINCIPLE .

Where are we to find in India this som ething no t ourselves To appeal t o t h e Indian masses on th e groundof world-Citizenship—of their participation in th e onwardmarch of hum anity —would be so premature that th e suggestion sounds ironic . But may not th e necessar y stimulusbe found in that very idea of India, of th e Motherland , whicha t irnorous or merely selfish policy would have us proscribeas seditious ? Just as th e loyalty of an English ,

French,

or German schoo lboy ought t o be extended so as t o embrace,

not only his country, but th e wor ld, so th e loyalty of th e

Indian schoolboy of th e near future should be encouragedto attach itself, not merely to hi s cas te or sect , but t o hiscountry . Whether we like it or not , this is what will happen—nay

,is happening in certain parts of India . It seems t o

m e that th e only true wisdom for th e Government is torecognize that th e inevitable is also th e desirable, and t oseek in patrio tism that reinforcement of character which isfalsely declared t o be th e peculiar property of religion .

Bande Mataram Should no longer be th e watchword of

sedition , but should be accepted as th e inspiring principleof a great effor t of national regeneration . I t should be th emotto , not only of th e schoolroom ,

but of th e secretariat .266

EDUCATION

Is national patriotism ,some people may ask , th e

only,or t h e best, inspiring pr inciple ? What about Im

perial ism Why should not th e loyalty in which you wouldhave us seek th e starch of character be loyalty to th e BritishEmpire I d o not discuss t h e question ,

because t o anyone wh o has a living vision of India it is merely absurd .

What can th e British Empire m ean t o t h e Indian schoo lboy What has it m eant to th e Indians wh o have actuallyput th e idea to th e test in South Africa and Canada Th e

question of th e ultim ate relation of India t o th e BritishEmpire wi ll be solved, when t h e time .Comes

,by considera

tions of statesmanship which we cannot yet foresee, in aworld very different from that of t o -day . In th e m eantim e

,

of course,loyalty to India need not exclude loyalty t o th e

King-Emperor, th e head of th e actual Governm ent . Th e

best way to endanger t h e latter loyalty is t o declare it inconsistent with t h e former .Let it not be thought

,however, that I consider t h e

problem solved by th e mere ment ion of t h e word patriotism as th e inspiring pr inciple of th e new education . Th e

real difficulty lies in disengaging patriotism from th e ignorantor misinform ed vanity t o which India is already far t ooprone . Th e battle will lie,

not between patriotism and no

patriotism,but between enlightened and m isguided patr iot

ism and if,by a narrow and j ealous po licy, we strengthen

th e worser cause,nothing but disaster can follow . By

misguided patriotism I m ean that which declares Indi a tobe a land Specially favoured by heaven th e hom e of th e

loftiest religions , th e profoundest philosophies , th e noblestcivilizations , th e world has ever seen a land whose divinegenius has passed under th e eclipse of brutal foreign domination , which it has but to cast off in order to shine forth inredoubled radiance, th e wonder and envy of mankind . Ofthis vision of India, what can one say but that historylaughs .and weeps it down It should be th e task of th e

true scholar-patriot to teach ' his country that no region

See no te, p . 1 67

267


of earth is specially favoured by heaven ; that t o India’s

lot has fallen many glories , but also many calam ities thatif we regard th e past alone, we are bound to admit that th ebalance deflects on th e wrong Side ; but that it lies withthis and th e coming generations t o redress th e balance ,

andm ake th e real India of th e future far greater and m oreSplendid than any of th e fabled Indias of th e past .

Especially should th e teacher Show that , whatever m ay be

th e truth about these vanished glories , it will be tim e to

boast of them when they are restored, and not till then .

It may be thought that th e whole tenor of this bookis to depreciate and belittle th e past of India but I attackonly th e legendary and fictitious past which threatens t oenslave and blight th e future . No one feels more keenlythan I d o that a reasonable an d well-founded patriotic prideis possible t o every Indian . His country is one of th e mostbeautiful and wonderful in t h e wor ld . Th e very legendsthat have gathered round it , th e very superstitions that haveweighed it down , are am ong th e most fascinating phenom enain th e history of th e human Spirit . In philosophy, in art ,it has been

,though not supreme, as its idolaters would have

us think, yet nobly distinguished . It has set th e world ’s

standard of spectacular magnificence. If it has been th eprey of many conquerors , that is only because it has beenth e dream of all . Had India never existed

,history would

have lacked many of its most marvellous pages,and th e

imagination of th e world would have been immeasurablyth e poorer . Th e children of th e Motherland have am plegrounds for legitimate, though chastened, pride ; and un

chastened pride is , in any people, only another name forignorant vanity . If India can but find th e wise teachersSh e needs , sh e may one day exchange that chastened sentiment for th e exultant pride which says These and theseevi ls were,

and are no more.

What is wanted , then , is a sound course of Indi an ele

mentary education , and especially a series of text-bookswritten by Indians for Indians , which shall place India

268


with religion , but are insepar ably bound up with it in th epopular m ind ? This is a problem which th e intelligenceof India must solve for itself and it is j ust here that th epatriotic ideal , j udiciously brought into play, ought t o beth e determ ining factor . It may be sai d that th e patrioticideal can never take hold upon th e popular m ind untilcaste, its negation ,

is vanquished . But this is t o assumethat India is exempt from th e providential muddle-headedness with which

,as we have j ust no ted

,sh e is, in fact , rather

superabundantly endowed . Th e idea of caste and th e ideaof a great united India

,though essentially incompatible

,

may quite well be housed in th e same head but under th er ight system of education

,th e larger

,saner

,wholesom er

idea ought gradually t o eliminate its rival . So too,with

immature marriage and enforced widowhood : it is one

thing t o cling t o them in opposition t o European prej udicean d Chr istian disapproval , quite another to close th e earst o th e rem onstrances of Indians wh o have obviously nothingbut t h e welfare and greatness of India at heart . Wh ilesocial reform m eans , or appear s t o m ean

,th e victory of

Europe over th e national ideal , it is natural enough thatmany otherwise enlightened Indians should view it withcoldness

,and even hostility ; but if once it is seen and

admitted t o be an indispensable prelim inary ,no t t o th e

defeat,but t o th e trium ph of th e national ideal , patriotism

cannot but rally t o its support .Even now

,it seem s t o m e, enlightened Servants of

Indi a — t o use th e title of Mr . Gokh ale’

s nobly-inspiredconfraternity—m ight set about th e composition and com

p ilat ion of vernacular text-books , and thus show th e Government th e way it ought t o go . What books already existI d o not know but they can scarcely be informed by th eideal here propounded, Perhaps a Central Comm itteem ight be formed which should di stribute th e different tasksam ong m en of known com petence . It would , I assume,

matter little in what language th e books were originallywritten

,since they could be translated into all th e others .

270

EDUCATION

But each division of th e country should have its specialhistorical -geogr aphical handbook in its own idiom .

And here we come upon a po int t o whi ch I cannot findthat sufficient attention has been given It is an amazingfact , writes th e Rev . J . Knowles

,

* that th e Indi an Empirehas a greater number of alphabets than there are for all th eo ther lan guages in th e world . This statement may ,perhaps

,be open t o criticism but th e fact that it can be

made without patent absurdity is sufficiently Significant .Mr Knowles continues :

There are about 50 recogni zed indigenous al phabets ,and

there ar e probably twi ce as m any vari et ies of scri pts used in wri tingthem . Mo st of t h e sounds are comm on t o all languages but

it is rem arkable that hardly any of th e le tters for t h e sam e soundhave t h e sam e form in any two different vernacular s . N o lessthan sym bo ls are in use to represent t h e 64 sounds whi ch areall t h e vernacular s contai n .

To print t h e m ost ordinary book in th e Devanagaricharacter , a fount of some eight hundred types is requiredMalayalam and Sinhalese require over seven hundred each . 1

‘

Th e great number of syllabic characters renders it veryd ifli cult to learn t o read and write in these languages ;and even if th e number of types required were smaller , th enecessity for employing so many different founts mustenorm ously enh ance th e cost of providing books for ageneral schem e of vernacular education . A quarter of acentury ago ,

Sir M . Monier-William s wrote : Britain isbound t o give h er unlettered millions of subj ects th e

option of acquiring a Simple alphabet , which would , ifadopted , reduce th e labour of education ,

now much increased by th e com plexity of indigenous graphic systems .

”

I cannot learn that any definite steps in this direction have

Our Duty to I nd i a and Ind i an I lli terates London , Chr istian Li teratur eS ociety, 1 9 1 0 . See also t h e sam e wr i ter ’s Common Alphabet for Ind i an

Languages , Eastbourne, W . H . Chr is tian, 1 9 1 3.

1' There are great discrepancies in t h e num ber s s tated by different

wr i ters , and even by th e same wr i ter at d ifferent tim es . I t is sufficientfor t h e argum ent that th e num ber of types required by any syl labicsystem o f no tation is necessar ily very large .

27 1


yet been taken ; but surely an All-Indian Alphabet is th em ost indi spensable of pre requisites for a cam paign againstilliteracy . Mr . Knowles , th e unwear ied Cham pion of thisidea, reckons that fifty-three alphabetic Characters wouldbe sufficient t o represent all th e sounds in th e Indianvernaculars

,and has actually designed such an alphabet ,

based on our ordi nary Rom an types . I am told that hisphonetic analysis is defective

,and that his schem e would

require serious m odification . On this point I can have no

opinion but,whatever th e m erits or defects of his System ,

th e principle rem ains unaffected . If it be true (and thereis no reason to doubt it) that all , or even th e chief

,vernacu

lar languages of India could be printed and written by m eansof a single alphabet of from fifty t o sixty letters

,it would

seem t o be t h e plai nest duty o f th e Governm ent to appointa comm ission of expert s t o devise such an alphabet .

*

Though there should certainly be no unnecessary delayin setting about t h e great effort of enlightenment now

formally promised, I would suggest t o t h e Indians wh oare impatient for sweeping measures that a well-consideredand thoroughly-prepared movement is better than a hastyrush at so difficult a problem . F or one thing, t h e trainingof teachers is an indi spensable prelim inary

,and for this

t h e best European aid should be called in . F or anotherth i ng, it is of vast importance that fem ale education shouldnot be left t o lag hopelessly behind, but that m easuresShould be taken t o bring it more or less into line. Better,for a beginning, com paratively few schools taught bycompetent and tolerably-paid m asters,1

' than a gr eatnum ber taught by starved incompetents . Better schools

There would be som e opposition t o t h e introduction of a r einforcedRom an alphabet on t h e scor e o f its being un-Indian . Bu t this oppositioncould surely be over com e unless , indeed , one of t h e indigenous syllabar iescould be so adapted as t o give i t t h e advantages of an alphabet .

1' How low is t h e standard of rem uneration m ay be gather ed from th e

fact that t h e Resolution o f February, 1 9 1 3, lays it down that trainedteacher s should receive no t less than Rs . 1 2 per m onth,

”—that Is,

sixteen sh illings .272


sophist wi ll be loud in t h e land . If t h e Government bedetermined to remain obstinately hostile to nationalaspirations, it is , as I have already said, pursuing t h e

maddest of policies in educating t h e masses . Even if itadopted (as it wi ll surely be driven to adopt) t h e view thatits great function is precisely t o trai n India for Swaraj ,it may have t o face a difficult period of turbulent impatience, t o which, in th e interests of t h e country itself,it must not yield . I cannot but thi nk that one way t oavoid or minimize this danger would be for th e Government t o become itself a purveyor of vernacular literature,both in t h e shape of books and periodicals . If you createa reading public , it is but reason t o provide it with something good t o read . Well-edited, interesting, wellillustrated papers , t o circulate through each of t h e greatregions of t h e country

,would be only a logical corollary

t o t h e whole theory of popular education . There is no

harm in a subsidized press , so long as its position is franklyavowed . A secret bribe paid t o a paper which professesindependence is a totally different matter . *

In this chapter, even more than in its predecessors , Iam only t oo well aware that I must have been guilty of

many superficiali t ies , and doubtless of not a few errors .

Th e one theory which I advance with perfect confidence,is that t h e educational problem falls into line with all t h erest , inasmuch as t h e key t o it lies in t h e recogni tion thatour rule in Indi a is a means, not an end , and that t h e end

is none other than t h e addition of a great self-sufficing,self-respecting civilized community to t h e free and equalnations of t h e earth .

Scarcely had I wr i tten these lines when I cam e across a let ter fromS ir Henry Lawr ence t o Lord Canning , wr i t ten shor tly before t h e Mutiny ,

in wh ich h e speaks o f incendiary newspapers . I would not troubleany of them ,

”h e says , but , with your Lordship ’s perm ission, I think

we m ight squash half t h e num ber by helping one or two of t h e cleverestwith inform ation , and even with editor ials and illustrations . Anillustrated vernacular , Clever ly edited , would tell well , and d o good bo thpo li tically and m orally.

”

274

E P I L O GU E

N attempting to thi nk out a problem like that of t h efuture of India, one must inevitably take as a

starting-point some more or less definite expectation, or ,

at any rate, desire, regarding t h e future of t h e world atlarge. Th e fundamental assumption on which my argument proceeds is that some rational and stable worldorder is ultimately attai nable. I f that be denied— i f itbe asserted, for instance, that t h e more pro lific nationsand races will always tend t o encroach upon t h e territoryof t h e less prolific , and that t h e struggle for existence

,in

t h e shape of wars for territorial expansion, must go on

t o th e end of time— then t h e attempt t o apply reason t ointernational problems becomes , if not absolutely futi le,at any rate,

comparatively uninteresting . Blind instinctbeing

,by hypothesis, t h e determining force in human

affairs, and periods of civilization and rational progressbeing simply lucid intervals between recurrent crises ofbarbarism

,why Should we toi l and struggle towards a

foredoomed and self-defeating ideal ? And why, inparticular, Should we trouble our heads as to t h e futureof India ? Let British rule maintain itself as long as itcan, and then pass away in th e welter of t h e next worldconvulsion . Progress being illusory, or at best evanescent ,why force it upon a country which, in its inmost heart ,resents and despises itThi s argument , pushed to its limits, would imply that

constructive thought , in th e political sphere, is an absurdity,since there is nothing ultimately good or ultimately bad

275


in an incurably chaotic world . Th e wise man will confinehis care t o matters of immediate expediency, knowingthat every seeming triumph of reason and order will, int h e long run , have t o be paid for—perhaps with usury .

But if,on th e other hand, a rational world-order be

not , in t h e nature of things, impossible, t h e future of Indi abecomes a matter of absorbing interest , because it offers,so to speak , a test case. One of t h e great obstacles t o astable equilibrium among th e peoples of t h e earth lies int h e immense differences in th e development of th e differentraces . If

,in a case so conspicuous as that of Indi a, th e

obstacle can be overcome, and one-fifth of th e human racecan , in t h e course of a couple of centuries (say fromA .D . 1 800 to A.D . 2000) be emancipated from med ievalism,

and fitted to take an equal place among t h e peoples wh oare shaping t h e future, then t h e solution of th e wholeproblem will at last be definitely in sight .

As t o t h e general j ustification of our rule in Indi a, up t ot h e present point , we need have, I thi nk,

no qualms . Itis rather surprising t o find a philosophic historian li keLord Bryce— and after him ,

Lord Morley— raising t h e

question whether t h e immediate result of th e influenceof Europe upon Asia will be t o increase t h e sum of

human One is inclined t o answer as RobertBruce, in John Davidson

’s play,answers th e question

whether it might not“

have been better for Scotland ifRome had conquered h er :

A subtle ques t ion , so ldier ,But p rofit less , requiri ng fate unwound .

Th e influence of Europe upon Asia is no mere accidentwhich we can, as it were, thi nk away, in order t o speculateupon t h e course things would have taken if it had not

happened . There is a sense in which (for instance) th eresult of t h e battle of Waterloo was an accident . A very

Lord Bryce in Th e Roman and the B r i t i sh Empi res , p . 7 3. Lord Mor leyin a speech at Manchester , June , 1 9 1 2 .

276


becomes i rresistible . In vain do t h e sages proclaim thatthey are not benefits at all, and strive to stop t h e breachesin t h e ring-fence. Human nature is t oo strong for them .

When desirable things can be done and procured rapidlyand economically, no section of mankind can, in th e longrun, be persuaded that it is better t o go without them , or

t o d o and procure them slowly and with infinite labour .

Surely t h e one unmistakable lesson of th e history of th e

past hundred years is that great disparities of m aterialcivilization cannot for ever co-exist on this tiny globe of

ours . Th e railway,t h e telegraph and t h e automobile are

penetrating, and are bound t o penetrate, everywhere .

Should they be superseded by still more efficient andeconomical devices, all t h e more rapidly will t h e wholeworld be permeated by t h e filaments of one great nervoussystem . Th e East was fated t o fall under t h e influenceo f t h e West

,because t h e East denied, while t h e West

affirmed, t h e potency of T ime as a factor in hum an affairs .Therefore I am unm oved by th e sarcasm of that able

Japanese writer, Okakura Kakuzo , when h e exclaimsYou talk of t h e Yellow Peril— but what about th eWh iteDisaster ? It was because Asia m isread th e essentialnature of things that Sh e was fated t o undergo th e influenceof Europe . To ask whether that influence makes for happiness seem s t o m e not unlike inquiring whether a child wouldno t be happier if it could rem ain a child for ever .It is true that th e ring-fence theory was never formally

adopted in India,as it was in China and Japan . How could

it be, in th e most invaded country in th e world ,wi th th e

possible exception of Italy There were t oo many practicable gaps in th e physical ring-fence. But India fell a victim ,

no less than h er neighbours , to t h e spiritual disease, endem icin Asia, of which th e ring-fence theory is th e most familiarsymptom . Even t o-day

,d o we not find pundi ts solemnly

discussing whether it is lawful for a Hindu t o cross t h ekala pani , and deciding in th e negative by a maj ori ty of

forty-five t o one ? A century ago ,th e prohi bition was

278

EPILOGUE

absolute and unquestioned—and what Clearer evidencecould one require of unfitness t o take part in th e inevitabledevelopment of th e real world A race which thus walleditself in behi nd Himalayas of arrogant ignorance, and thensplit itself up into a thousand segments of no less arrogantm utual exclusiveness , was manifestly predestined t o aperiod of tutelage and probation ere it could fall into stepwith th e advancing host of civilization . Ignorance andarrogance are poor defences against t h e resistless trend of

human affairs nor can any race,by taking counci l with its

gods and its r i sh i s , elect t o stand still in a moving world .

Th e task of opening passes through th e mountains of

ignorance fell t o England , an d not t o France or another ,because Englan d, at t h e cri tical period , happened t o com

mand th e sea. Th e bait which lured h er on was commercialadvantage

,and for some time,

before sh e realized h er truemission

,Sh e pursued that advantage unscrupulously and

even ruthlessly . But it was not long before h er betterinstincts awoke

,and sh e saw herself , not in t h e light of an

irresponsible t rafficker , but of a guardian and trustee . It isupon h er more and more perfect realization of th e dutiesinvolved in this relationship that th e success of h er greatundertaking , in my j udgm ent , depends .

In any picture that we can form of a stable world-order,can we possibly imagine three hundred million peopleabjuring for ever t h e exercise of their will on political matterso f any importance,

and resting content t o leave theirnational fortunes and their indi vidual welfare in th e nu

restricted charge, prim arily , of a body of alien adm ini s

t rators, and ultimately of t h e elective assembly of an al iennation , nearly half th e world away ? If these three hundred milli on people belonged t o an essentially low and un

im provable stock , such a solution of their destiny might bethinkable, though scarcely desirable . But , as we haveseen , this is by no means th e case . They are a blendi ng ofvarious races , almost all of relatively hi gh potentialities .

There is , indeed , a large infusion of a breed neither hi gher279


nor lower than our own , Since it is ultimately th e same . Nor

is this composite race, when once awakened from th e Sheerapathy of a m eagre life on t h e soil , by any means inclinedt o humility and subservience. It is much more apt t o overvalue than t o underrate its grounds for racial and hi storicalself-complacency . Wh o can po ssibly believe that such apeople will passively submit t o perpetual tutelage ? Orthat any other people,

which has its own work t o d o and itsown troubles t o face in t h e world , can perm anently affordt o hold them in subjection by what service-club declaim erscall t h e swordNo doubt one may be deceived in anticipating that th e

coming world-order will be in th e mai n democratic . Th e

apparent drift towards democracy may be a false start,

and order may be ultim ately imposed by a confederation ,

or a conspiracy , of military autocracies . But that wouldmean a rearrangement of world-forces in which

,most

assuredly, th e British rule in India could not subsist inanything like its present form . If , on t h e other hand ,

democratic institutions survive and develop , it is whollyinconceivable that an educated an d Civili zed India shouldnever aspire t o take its fate into its own hands , or , so aspir

ing , should be forcibly balked of its wi ll by a far smallernation at th e other side of th e planet . This autocracy of ademocracy is a paradox and a marvel which may ,

if we are

wise , work out beneficent ly for th e one party and glo riouslyfor th e other . But work out it must , for good or for illit cannot endure for ever .Meredith Townsend , a man of long (unofficial) Indian

experience,and author of a clear-sighted though rather t oo

pessimistic book , Asi a and Europe, goes t o t h e root of th ematter when h e writes

Th e Indian Em pire is a m iracle,no t in t h e rhetori cian ’s sense,

but in t h e t heo logian ’s sen se . It is a m iracle,as a floati ng

i sland of grani te would be a m iracle, or a bird of brass whi ch flewand sang and lived on in mi d -air .

280


twelve hundred control three hundred and fifteen millions ,doing it with so little friction that they have ceased t o besurprised at this extraordinary fact . That is exactlytrue . Th e British official goes t o India young

,before h e

has begun t o think very seriously about things and by t h etim e hi s m ind has matured

,h e has becom e so habituated

t o t h e sm ooth working of t h e adm inistrative m achine thath e regards it as a matter of course

,and quite in th e natural

order of things . He is acutely conscious of im perfectionsin t h e m echanism

,both from his own point of view and

from that of t h e people entrusted to his charge but in th every existence of such a mechanism h e sees nothing surprising . I d o not say that this frame of m ind is universal .On th e contrary

, one finds cases of a j ust appreciation of

t h e m arvel , and cases , t oo ,of an exaggerated fear of it .

But on t h e who le one m ay say that t h e typical AngloIndian (and still m ore, th e typical memsah i b) is serenelyunconscious of th e utter ast ound ingness of his and h er

position .

On th e other hand,when we turn to th e great m en wh o

bui lt up th e Indian Em pire,we find that many of them fully

realized that they were not layi ng bases for eternity . Theysaw, indeed ,

that t h e very success of their work must maket h e position of a foreign ruling caste ultimately untenable.

Here is t h e passage— much better known ,unfortunately,

in India than England— in whi ch Macaulay forecasts whatseemed t o hi m t h e most desirable development of t h e relation between t h e two countries

Th e destin ies of our Indian Em pire are covered wi th thick darkness . I t m ay be that t h e publi c mi nd of India m ay expandunder our syst em t i ll i t h as ou tgrown that syst em ; that by goodgovernm ent we m ay educat e our subj ects in to a capaci ty for bet tergovernm ent ; that havi ng becom e inst ru cted in European knowledge

,they m ay in som e fu ture age dem and European inst i tu t ions .

Whet her such a day wi ll ever com e I know no t . But never willI a tt em p t t o avert or ret ard it . Whenever it com es , it wi ll be t h eproudest day in English h istory . To have found a great people

282

EPILOGUE

sunk in th e lowest depths of slavery and supersti ti on , to have so

ruled them as t o have made them des irous an d capable of all t h e

privileges of Citi zens, would i ndeed be a t i t le to glory all our own .

These words were spoken in 1 833, before Macaulay wentt o India ; but there is not th e slightest reason t o supposethat experience led t o any Change in his views . A somewhatolder contemporary of his , and an empire-builder in t h e

sanest sense of th e word , was Mountstuart Elphi nstone,administrator of th e Maharashtra and Governor of Bombay ,

where his ardour in t h e cause of education is commemoratedin th e Elphinstone College . No abler man has Englandsent to India and h e spoke in t h e same sense as Macaulay,without Macaulay ’s note of hesitation . We find him

writing t o Mackintosh in 1 8 1 9

I am afraid t h e belief that our Indi an Em pire will not be longli ved is reason and no t prej udice . I t is difficult t o guess th e deathi t may d ie . T h e m ost desirable deat h for us to d i e of shouldbe t h e im provem ent of t h e nat ives reachi ng such a pitch as wouldrender it im possible for a foreign nat ion to retain t h e governm entbut thi s seems at an imm easurable di stance . A tim e of separati on m ust com e and it is for our interest to have an ear ly separationfrom a civili zed people rather than a vio lent rupturewi th a barbarousnat ion .

This was not th e utterance of a mood , but of a settledconviction for thirty-five years later we find him writingt o his biographer , Sir T . E . Colebrooke

Th e m oral is that we m ust not dream of perpetual possess ion , butm ust apply ourselves t o br ing t h e nat ives into a state that wil ladmi t o f their governin g them selves in a m anner t hat m ay be

beneficial t o our interes t as well as t heir own and t hat o f t h e resto f t h e world ; and t o t ake t h e glory of t h e achi evem ent, and t h esense of having done our duty, for t h e chief reward of our exerti ons .

Very similar was th e view of Sir Char les Metcal fe,wh o ,

in defending his policy of granting liberty t o t h e press ,wrote If my opponents ’ argument be that th e spread of

knowledge may eventually be fatal t o our rule in India , I283 1 8*


close with them on that point , and mai ntain that , whatevermay be t h e ~consequences, it is our duty t o communicatet h e benefits of knowledge. If India could be preserved asa part of th e British Em pire only by keeping its inhabitantsin a state of ignorance, our domi nation would be a curse t oth e country

,and ought t o cease.

”

He went on , indeed , t o

argue that our rule was endangered by ignorance ratherthan by knowledge but h e had at best no great confidencein t h e security of our position . Our hold , h e wrote inanother place,

is so precarious that a very littlemismanagem ent might accom plish our expulsion ; and t h e cour se of

events may be of itself sufficient , without any mismanagement . All our native establishm ents , military andcivil , are th e followers of fortune ; they serve us for theirlivelihood ,

and generally serve us well . From a sense o f

what is d ue t o th e hand that feeds them— which is one of th evirtues that they m ost extol—they may often displayfidelity under trying circum stances ; but in their inwardfeelings they partake more or less of th e universal d isaffection which prevails against us

,no t from bad government ,

but from natural and irresistible antipathy .

”

This , t o besure, was written before th e Mutiny ,

at a time when our

m ilitary position was much weaker than it is now but itcertainly cannot be sai d that we are more generally belovedthan we were in Metcal fe’s day .

Of Sir Henry Lawrence, one wh o had known himwell wrote, With all his love for t h e people and theirinterests, h e felt that t h e rule of strangers was only toleratedbecause they could not help themselves .

” Lawrencehimself is reported t o have said We measure t oo muchby English rules , and expect , contrary t o all experience,that t h e energetic and aspiring among immense m ilitarymasses should like our arrogation t o ourselves,even when we are notorious imbeciles, of all authorityand all emo lument . Though we have somewhat relaxedour exclusive grasp upon authority and emolument sinceLawrence’s day, on t h e other hand

, t h e Class of persons284


innate craving t o be ruled, are apt to be m en whose int elligence we must take on trust, since they have given no

other conspicuous proof of itIn point of character, Sir Herbert Edwardes ranks very

hi gh among t h e heroes of British India . He was one

of t h e strongest m en of a masterful generation ; and h ewas t h e bosom friend and confidant of John Nicho lson,a man not t o be suspected of taking or tolerating sentimental or pusillanimous views of any situation whatever .Hear, then, what Herbert Edwardes has to say

If we would but think of it a bi t , is no t our Indian Em pire j ust th em ost abnorm al and unnatural thi ng in all thi s topsy-t urvy fallenworld of ours And is it not , then , t h e m o st unreasonable th i ngto take i t so easy as we d o,

and assum e th at it will go on for everSurely it would be no great wonder if India, now so topsy-turvy ,

were to go t urvy-topsy som e fine day, and ri ght itself,as it were,

in t h e creati on .

God would never have put upon two hundred m i llions of m en th e

heavy tri al of bein g subject to t hi rty mi lli ons of forei gner s , m erelyt o have t heir roads im proved , their canal s constructed upon m ore

scientifi c pr inciples , t hei r lett ers carried by a penny post, theirm essages flashed by lightning, thei r erroneous no t ions of geographycorrect ed ; nor even to have their in ternal quarrels s topped andpeace restored , and li fe in many ways am eliorated . This freeand sym path i zin g country , which has now a heart for Italy, andshouts acro ss these narrower seas Italy for t h e Italian s l should“lift that vo ice sti ll higher and Shout across th e world Indi a for

t h e Indians In short, England , taught by both past and present,should set before h er th e noble po licy offirstfitting Ind i afor freed omand th en setting h er free.

It may take year s, it m ay take a century,to fit India for self

governm ent, but it is a t hi ng wort h do ing and a t hin g th at maybe done . It is a d i st inct and in t elligible po licy for England to

pursue—a way for bo th coun tr ies out of t h e embarrassm ents of

thei r twi sted d es t ini es i

T h e om ission, for brevity ’s sake, of a por tion of this paragraphhas forced m e here and in th e following sentence, to subs titu te shouldfor would .

”

Th e sense is unaffected .

T Our Ind i an Empi re : I ts Begi nn i ng and End , by Major -GeneralSir H . B . Edwardes, K .C.B .

286

EPILOGUE

It is only fair to add that Edwardes believed in t h e

conversion of India to Christianity . Until sh e isleavened with Christianity, h e wrote

,sh e will be unfit

for freedom . And again If we pursue t h e igni s .fatnus

of secular education in a pagan land, destitute of otherlight

,then we English will lose India without those

Indians gaining any future .

”

Th e half-century which has elapsed since these wordswere written does not seem t o m e (though it does seemt o others) t o lend encouragement t o t h e idea of a formalChristianization of India . But if we give a liberal inter

pretat ion t o th e phrase leavened with Christiani ty,we may perhaps adm it that even here Edwardes was notso far wrong . And

,thi s question of method apart , d o

not sound sense and right feeling breathe from everysyllable of t h e passage I have quoted ?In calling t h e course h e advocated a di stinct and

intelli gible policy, Edwardes went t o t h e heart of t h e

m atter . He might j ustly have called it t h e only in

t elligible policy ; for t h e al ternative policy of stakingour all on t h e permanence of th e raj postulates a rigidi tyof conditions unknown in hum an affairs . Everyoneadmits that India is changing rapidly before our eyes,and that measures t o whi ch t h e Government is committedmust accelerate t h e process . Is t h e dogma that , changeh ow it may , it can never so change as t o be capable of

managing its own affairs, a reasonable, an intelligibledoctrineThere is , indeed, one intelli gible argument in favour

of th e assumption of permanence, though , for obviousreasons , it is not often openly stated . Of course,

” itmay be said, we d o not deny t h e ultimate mutability of

human affai rs , or doubt that our Indi an Empire is subj ectt o t h e law of change. But it is for t h e good of India thatwe should hold on as long as possible ; and to that end

We must loudly assert that we are here for ever and a day,since any admission to t h e contrary would fatally diminish

287


our prestige . I d o not say that this argument is quitewithout weight , or that inconveniences would not resultfrom any sudden and sensational proclamation of th e

temporary nature of our rule . But , closely examined,

t h e argument will be found t o move in a circle. F or t h e

prestige which would be impaired is needed t o suppor ta permanent

,autocratic rule

,im posed without regard to

th e will or feelings of t h e people . I f t h e nature of our rulecan be gradually altered -or rather , no t its nature,

but itstheory— so that it shall be recognized as a collaborationwith all that is best in th e Indi an Character towards th egreat end of creating a united , self-respecting India, thent h e prestige of th e heaven-sent autocrat

,t h e infal lible

,

inevitable,immovable sahib ,

will no longer be essentialt o th e efficiency of government . In o ther words

,by

insisting on th e perpetuity of th e raj , we create th e con

d i t ions which compel us t o rely upon prestige,which

m eans , after all , a certain measure of illusion . I am agreat believer- as it would seem Herbert Edwardes wast oo— in th e ultim ate wisdom of looking facts in th e face.

I f both England and India can be induced to d o so , th e

roman ce of their association may resolve itself into beneficent reality for them selves and for th e world .

But it is necessary that both parties Should adopt thissalutary principle,

and that India should realize h ow

much sh e h as t o learn and to unleam before Sh e canreasonably Claim an equal place am ong th e civilizednations o f th e wor ld . Rapid as h er progress has beenin som e respects , th e essential fact is that th e great masso f h er people are at this moment given over t o beliefs ,prej udices and habits a thousand years behind those o f

races wh o live efficiently in th e real world . A countrywhich has lain for twenty or thirty centuries under th em aleficent spell of caste

,fetishism

,cow-and-Brahm in

worship, and almost equally enervating metaphysics ,cannot all of a sudden wake up

,rub its eyes , and Claim

to be a civilized nation . There is now,as we have seen ,

288


government t o our best patent institutions , Sir Alfred ’scomm ent was : I know h e is right ; and we hear th esame story on every hand . But th e alternative of reverting to th e sort of bad governm ent they are said t o like,

is not,in fact , open to th e Indian people . They m ay

easily fall under a worse governm ent than ours,but it

will have none of th e imagined charms of th e good old

days of Maratha and Pindari , begar and chauth .

* F or abrief interval , no doubt , chaos m ay be revived ; butassuredly it will not be suffered to endure . India has oncefor all been drawn into th e stream of th e world-movem ent

,

and h er ancient backwater is for ever closed to h er .

Impatient spirits are fond of urging that political freed om should precede social reform : and I certainly wouldnot maintain that th e one should be entirely postponedt o th e other . If a nation had t o be thoroughly civilizedbefore it was fit for self-governm ent

,th e wor ld would

indeed be in a par lous state . What people can boastitself fully emancipated from degrading superstitions ,and evil traditions , and surv ivals of ancient blindnessand folly ? I f India ’s feet were once firm ly set upon th eupward path

,we might reasonably fall t o di scussing th e

po int at which sh e m ight be left to h er'

own‘ devices with

out danger of relapse . But th e truth is that th e upwardm ovem ent has barely begun

,and only in certain

.

lim itedclasses . Th e great mass of th e people are practicallyuntouched by t h e spirit of progress ; they d o not wantit ; they resent it ; an d so long as that frame of m indsubsists

,som e outward stim ulus is necessary t o prevent

a general slip-back . Th e actual resentm ent of th e rudiments of civilization is , I believe,

dying away, at all eventsin cer tain districts . It is quite conceivable that , whenonce th e decisive impuls e is given ,

thi ngs may move withgathering momentum , and that fifty or sixty years m ay

see a surprising change . But,in th e meantime

,t o star t

India o ff on an independent career would be like send ingFor ced labour and blackm ail.

290

EPILOGUE

a great liner to sea with wrangling landsm en for officersand a crew of child ren .

There exists as yet (so far as I have been able to discover) no plausible schem e for national organization apartfrom British rule. Th e Gaekwar of Baroda, speaking toMr . Pryce Co llier, hinted at a federation of states undera central governm ent ; and this

, no doubt , is th e ideawhich naturally suggests itself . But no one h as appliedany constructive imagination t o t h e task of dr awing updetailed proposals for serious discussion . When I haveasked why this obvi ous preliminary t o self-governm entwas neglected

,th e answer has been that anyone wh o

dared to put forward such proposals would be prosecuted,and perhaps deported . I f thi s be so— i i a calm and un

provocative survey of possibilities in th e matter of nationalorganization would be treated by th e Governm ent asseditious—there could not be a better example of th e

purblind po licy against which my who le argum ent isdirected . Government ought to place no obstacle in th eway of any feeling—forward of th e Indi an m ind towardsa stable an d ordered method of self-regulation . I f th eideal to be aimed at were,

in a general way, clear andaccepted

,th e course of intellectual and social trai ning

necessary for its realization would be imm ensely facilitated . It is because no ideal is proposed—mo goal , h owever di stant

,offered t o hope an d endeavour— that national

sent im ent is so apt t o wander off into visions of catastrophic revolution

,without plan ,

without forecast , without any reasonable or probable expectation of th e

achievem ent of lasting good . Mr . E . B . Havell enlargeson th e splendid results attained by Indian master-builders

(as distinct from architects) wh o go t o work , it wouldseem , without any definite plan . That may be possiblein building palaces , but not in building states .

* I t would

I t m ay be said that t h e Br i ti sh constitu tion was no t designed , butgrew. Yes bu t a m odern state, which aspir es to peaceful developm ent ,canno t wait for i ts consti tution to grow. I t m us t s t ar t wi th som e defini teschem e of national life, which does no t exclude, of course , th e probabili tyof subsequent growt h .

291


be m adness for India t o throw off h er present organizationwithout any clear conception of that which was t o takeits place . Her architect-statesm en ought t o devoteearnest thought and care t o designing h er ultimate polity

,

and th e Governm ent ought t o encourage th em t o d o so .

I f sh e has no architect-statesm en capable of working out

th e problem ,and producing a scheme or schem es which

shall o ffer reasonable chances of success,t h e inference is

that sh e is still m ore unr ipe for self-governm ent thanI,for my part , im agine h er to be .

*

It may be asked wh o is t o be th e j udge as t o when Indiais ripe for swaraj , and whether there is any likelihood thatIndia and England will ever come to a peaceful agreementon that point . I reply that we need not cross this bridgebefore we come t o it . Let m e add that I d o not think t h edifficulty at all a serious one . If India earnestly appliesherself t o t h e task of qualifying for recognition as a selfrespecting, self-di recting member of th e Grand Committeeof civilized nations, sh e will one day make foreign tutelagesuch a manifest superfiui ty that it will cease and determinealmost by process of nature. One imagines that th e ultimate discussion may be rather between th e forward and t h ebackward party in India itself, than between India as awhole and England . It is almost inconceivable, at anyrate

,that England should attempt t o maintai n by force of

arms h er autocracy over a country unanimously demandingindependence, and giving evidence, by that very unanimity,of a highly-developed national self-consciousness . As soonas th e Indian people are capable of forminga sane politicalj udgment , that j udgment will command respect . So long,on t h e contrary ,

as th e withdrawal of outside control wouldhand over th e patient , inarticulate masses to mere anarchy

So , too , i t were greatly to be desir ed that at leas t one or two Indianpoli ticians should show a statesm an-like realization of t h e larger issuesof th e em igration question discussed in Chapter VII . I have not com e

across any very penetrating forecast of t h e econom ic future of India,though in such a work there cou ld be no question of sedi tion.

292


would h ave been held in honour by their nat ion , as we honor Schill ,Scharnhorst, Blacher , and t h e o ther heroes of t h e War s o f Independ ence . As they were overt hrown , t hey are now termed m uti neersand their m em ory decri ed .

Dr . Deussen omits to mention t h e reason why th e well isdisused —namely, that it contains t h e bodies of somesix-score butchered women and children . Even if NanaSahib, Azimoolah Khan and Tant ia Topi had been ultimately victorious , it is doubtful whether Bliich er , Schi lland Scharnhorst would have welcomed them with openarms t o th e Elysium of Liberators .

* And t h e infamies ofCawnpore were only t h e culmination of a campaign of

massacre, which ,in its very nature, was foredoomed t o

failure. Had t h e British been encountered by civilized,enlightened, organized patriotism ,

whi ch offered them , ifbeaten in fair fight

,an honourable retreat from t h e country,

with their women and children unharmed, it is not at allimprobable that they might have weakened in t h e unequalstruggle. Faced with t h e al ternative of victory or

massacre, they set their teeth and chose victory . That iswhy to-day, over t h e battered ruins of t h e Residency atLucknow

,t h e banner of England blows . ” And that is

why no fair-mi nded Indian ought to blame us if we take allreasonable precautions against th e recurrence of a frenzywhi ch was

,and would be again, far more calamitous to hi s

country than t o ours . a

,

Th e moral of these reflections is that Indian self-government . is bound t o come, almost automatically, as soon ast h e country is intellectually, morally and socially preparedfor i t

'

; whereas any attempt t o upset t h e existing order,while th e nation is imperfectly welded together and butslowly emerging from barbarism,

would, even if it nominallysucceeded, mean a reversion t o anarchy which t h e worldcould not and would not permit . Should England get into

This is one of th e passages whi ch would have been differently wordedif I could , at th e t im e of wr i ting , have foreseen th e events of th e pastthree year s . ( 1 9 1 7 )

294

EPILOGUE

serious trouble elsewhere,India might doubtless achieve

t h e expulsion of h er depleted garrison and h er sun-driedbureaucrats with their mountainous files . But theywould in all probability only make room for a more dom ineering garrison, and another breed of bureaucrats, perhapscongenitally yellow of h ue .

I suggest , then , that patience and unwearied effort in th ecause of enlightenment ought t o be t h e watchword of saneIndian patriotism . It should in especial devote itself,not merely to t h e venti lation of grievances , but t o con

structive thinking-forward . Nothing could more effectuallyreinforce t h e dem and for ultimate self-government than someunmistakable proofs of th e power of reasoned political forecast, as distinct from t h e power t o carry on a merecampaign of criticism and opposition, however able. Butif we ask for patience, sanity and constructive thought onth e part of our Indian friends, we must meet them withsimilar qualities on our own side. We must not take our

stand on a dogma of perpetuity which is as unpracticalas it is unphilosophical . We must recognize—I repeat t h ephrase for t h e twentieth time, for it puts th e matter in anutshell— that our rule is a means , not an end . It is nota good in itself, but an alternative t o greater evi ls . Onlyon condition that it is recognized as such can it ever betolerable t o enlightened and self-respecting Indians— t h eclass which we have ourselves done so much t o enlarge, andwhich must inevitably go on growing . We can reasonablyask these Indians t o co-operate with us in th e enfranchisement of their countrymen— enfranchisement , in th e firstinstance, from age

-old Spiritual and social bonds—but wecannot expect them to co—operate loyally i n measuresconfessedly directed t o perpetual enthralmentI am no belittler of our work in India . In my heart I

am perhaps irrationally proud of it . We have lavishlyspent on Indi a t h e best we had t o spend in talent and incharacter . It has been a very real sacrifice, not onlynational but individual . F or , though t h e Indian services

295


may o ffer t h e lordliest life on earth,” it is also one

of t h e most laborious and most thankless . Anglo-Indianbiography is, in t h e main, very tragic reading . In sayingso I d o not think merely of t h e thousands wh o have laiddown their lives in and for India, but also of t h e two or

three-score m en,from Viceroys downwards , wh o might be

cal led conspicuous successes . Many of them have sacrificedtheir health, almost al l their peace of mind,

t o their splendidbut almost superhuman responsibilities . Th e land of

regrets is also , and above all , t h e land of disappointments ,and of t h e patient endurance of m isunderstanding, m isrepresentation, and, not infrequently, bitter and undeservedhumiliation .

If tear s be t h e pr ice of em pery,

Lord God we h a’ paid in fu ll

and most of all in those unshed tears that , dropping inward ly, sear th e greatest souls .Without skulking behind a perhaps or an almost , I

make bold t o call our rule in India t h e most heroic adventurein history . But every adventure must have an end andif this one could, by miracle, be eternalized, that wouldonly mean that it had missed t h e highest success . An end

must come and this book is inspired, however inad e

quat ely, by t h e desire and hope that it m ay be a gloriousone. Or at least, if fate has otherwise decreed, and a tragicdoom impends, let us endeavour that history may not havet o find t h e tragi

'

sche Schuld in our own unintelligence .

ABDUL QAD IR , SHAIKH, 1 1 5.

Abu , Mount , 1 98 , 226 .

Adam son, Sir Harvey, 1 7 1 .

Aga Khan , H.H. t h e , 1 05.

Agra , 1 , 1 2 , 97 , 1 43, 2 27 .

Ahm edabad , 1 38 , 226 .

Aj anta frescoes , 229 .

Akbar , 1 42 , 237 .

Alexander th e Great , 1 , 1 6 .

Allah abad 1 2 , 1 43.

Am aravat i stupa, 1 87 .

Amr i tsar , 1 , 1 2 .

Andrews , Rev . C. F . , 98 , 262 .

Anglo-Indian, 7 , 1 1 5.

Animals, Cruelty to , 8 1 .

Anim ism , 63.

Ant ioch os , 1 6 .

Aranyakas , 55

Archi tectureH indu , 224 .

Muhamm adan , 226 , 233.

N D EX

Ar j una, 47 , 69 , 72 , 205, 2 1 3, 2 1 7 .

Ar t

Hindu , 1 78—1 99 .

Muhamm adan , 223—229 .

Aryans , 24 , 52 , 6 1 , 63, 1 1 0 , 1 80 .

Arya Samaj , 57 , 9 1 , 252—262 .

Aryavar ta, 22 , 68 , 1 94 .

Asceticism , 73—76 , 2 05.

Asoka , 1 0 , 27 , 236 , 237 .

Aurungzeb , 47 , 1 42, 224 , 232 , 237 .

Ayodhya , 209 , 222 .

Azim oolah Khan , 294 .

BABAR , 1 .

Babu , Th e, 1 1 4 , 243.

Babu , English , 249 .

Badam i , 1 90 .

Baden-Powell , B . H. , 1 53.

Baluchistan, 1 30 .

Bana , 2 1 6 .

Bande Mataram , 1 1 4 , 266 .

Bangalore , 1 0 .

Baroda, Gaekwar of , 29 1

Benares , 1 , 1 2 , 24 3.

Bengal,Par tition of , 43 .

Bernier , 1 43, 1 45.

Besant , M rs , 2 1 , 52 , 75, 1 09 .

Bevan , Edwyn , 289 .

Bhagavad Gita, 69 ,236 .

Bh agirat h a, 2 1 1 .

Bharata, 205.

Bh avabhuti , 2 1 8 .

Bhim a, 205.

Bijapur , 1 .

Bikan ir , Maharaja of, 1 1 4 .

Bir dwood , S ir George, 1 79 .

Bom bay, 1 03, 1 06 , 1 09 , 1 38 .

Bodhisat tvas , 1 9 1 .

Boro Budur , Reliefs at , 1 89 .

Brahm a , 60 , 64 , 69 , 205.

Brahm anas, 55, 60 , 256 .

Brahm inism , 63, 7 8 , 79 , 9 5.

Brahm ins , 35, 47 , 60 , 7 1 .

Brahm o Sam aj , 9 1 ,249 .

Bram ach ar i Bawa , 53.

Br i tish Empir e , 20 , 1 55, 1 75, 267 .

India its strategic frontier , 1 31 .

Bri tish ruleA m eans , not an end , 1 6 , 1 9 , 1 76 ,

295

A m iracle, 280 .

Indictment byMr. Gokhale , 1 2 1 ;

INDEX

Br itish ruleIs Indi a overcharged for , 1 20

1 29 .

Mos t abnormal and unnaturalthing,” 286 .

Bryce, Lord , 276 , 28 1 .

Buddha , Gau tama, 60 , 6 1 , 69 , 7 1 ,

Im ages of , 1 90 .

Buddhism , 1 0 , 65, 69 , 79 , 9 1 , 229 .

Buland Darwaza , 228 .

Burdwan, -Maharajad h i raja Bahad ur of , 97 .

Burke, Edmund, 1 0 , 1 1 0 .

Burn , ML , 67 .

CALCUT ‘

I‘

A , 1 1 , 29 , 80 , 1 06 , 1 38 .

Caird , Sir Jam es, 1 54 .

Caste, 26 , 43, 79 , 83

Brahm ins , 26, 35, 47,60 , 7 1 , 86 ,

87 . 88 , 1 1 0 ,203.

Classification, 88 .

Dh oomnas . 89 .

Kshat tryas , 86 , 88 , 97 , 203,206 .

Pariahs , 26 , 87 . 88 .

Pleas in defence of, 83, 1 00 .

Rejected by Arya Sam aj , 26 1 .

Sudras, 86, 88 , 206 .

Vaisyas , 86, 88 .

Caste-m arks, 30 .

Cawnpore, 89 ,

Central Hindu College, 23.

Chand avarkar , Sir Narayan, 1 6 , 92 .

Chandragupta , 220 , 236 .

Char l ton, Hon . Mrs , 8 1 .

Chaubal, M r . M . B . , xxi . , 1 7 1 .

Chiro l , Sir Valentine, 1 57 .

Ch itor (Towers of Victory ) , 226 .

Chr ist , 66 , 8 1 , 262 .

Chr is tianity , 85, 262 , 287 .

Chron i cles of Bud gepore, xxiii .Civi l and M i li tary Gazette, Let ter st o , 1 1 2 .

Civi l employm ent , Exclusion fr om ,

1 6 1 .

Clubs, 1 3,

College for Indian probationers , xvi .Co llier , Pryce, 39 , 49 , 1 0 3, 1 1 1 , 29 1 .

Co lom bo , 28 .

Comm ercial subjection of India,1 36—1 4 1 .

Confessi ons of a T hug, xxiii .Conjeevaram , 1 00 .

Coomaraswam y, Dr . A. K

Co t ton excise, 1 69 .

Couch, S ir Richard , 1 7 1 .

Cousin, Victor , 60 .

Crewe , Marquis o f , xiv .

Di savows Lord Hard inge’s d espatch, 4 .

Cur zon, Lord , 1 9 , 43, 1 48 , 1 7 2 .

1 84 .

EAR-R IN GS , 31 , 1 4 1 .

Eas t India Com pany , 1 42 .

Education, 240—274 .

300

DADA HARIR ’

S well , 229 .

Darm esteter , Jam es , 24 1 .

Dasarat h a , King , 205, 209 .

Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Co llege,253

Dayanand Saraswati, Swam i , 253,

256 .

Delhi , 1 , 1 2 , 1 43, 227 .

“Demar t iali zat ion ,

”1 64 , 1 66 .

Deussen , Paul , 55, 58 , 63, 99 , 243,

293.

D i lwarra Tem ples , 1 92 ,226 .

D iwan Chand , 257 .

Drain , T h e (financial ) , 76 , 1 3 1 ,

1 44 , 1 52 .

Theory exam ined , 1 23- 1 29 .

Draupad i , 235.

Dravid ians, 24 , 1 1 0 , 1 88 , 1 95.

Dri tarash tra, 205.

Drona, 206 , 209 , 235.

Dubo i s , Abbé , 40 , 51 , 87 , 1 1 9 .

B ursa. 37 . 1 97 .

Duryodhana, 205.

Dush yan ta, 220 .

Dutt , Rom esh Chunder , 60 , 86 , 9 3,

2 1 0 .

Dutt , Pund i t Ram bh aj , 89 .

INDEX

IndiaCompared with I taly, 2 , 40 , 234 .

Com pared with Greece, 234 .

Geographi cal unity, 4 1 .

Mul tiplicity of languages , 4 3.

Th e Mo ther land ,” 46 , 1 57 .

Idealism ,

”

55, 1 02 .

Philosophy, 57- 60 , 1 85.

Pover ty , 1 1 9 , 1 40 .

Causes of pover ty , 1 4 1—1 54 .

Lack of capital , 1 25, 1 38—1 4 1 .

Taxation, Incidence per head ,1 26 .

Defence , Cos t of , 1 26 .

Her value to Br i tain , 1 34 .

Trade with Br itai n, 1 35.

Comm ercial subjection , 1 36—1 4 1 .

Land revenue, 1 49 .

Agricul ture, 1 54 .

D eath-rate r ising, 1 54 .

Sani tati on, 1 55.

Her greatest asse t ,Magna Char ta of, 1 6 1 .

Contrasted with Japan , 1 65.

India Office , Cost of, 1 35.

Indian Mutiny, 1 0 , 4 8 , 1 68 , 293.

Music, 238 .

IndiansIn Government service , 1 4 .

Physical types , 24 , 28 .

Had no word for patr iotism , 44 .

H indus versus Muhamm adans ,45. 47 . 1 05

r .

Vai n and self-sufficien t people,

51 , 96 .

Char acter and religion , 77 .

Em ancipated , 1 06 , 1 1 7 .

Assim ilative talent , xix . , 1 1 7 .

Chosen People ,

”

1 74 .

Psycho logy, 236 .

Indra, 57 .

Infanticide , 94 .

Irr igation, 1 58 .

1 57 .

JAGANNA‘

I‘

H car , 34 , 36 .

Jahangir , 1 45.

Jainism , 80 , 9 1 , 1 9 1 .

Japan contrasted with India, 1 65.

Jewellery , 31 , 1 4 1 .

Judicial and Executive , Separationof, 1 69 .

Jumm a Musp d , 1 44 , 2 28 .

KAIKBY I , QUEEN , 2 1 2 .

Kala pan i , Prohibition o f crossing ,1 00 , 278 .

Kali , 1 97 , 26 1 .

Kalidasa, 75, 2 1 8 .

Kaligh at , Th e, 80 .

Kan ish ka, 236 .

Kapila , 2 1 1 .

Karma, 64—68 .

Kam a , 2 1 3, 235.

Kashm ir , 1 .

Kennedy, Jam es , 240 .

Khyber Pass, 1 .

King-Emperor ’s visit to India, xiii4 .

Kipling,Rudyard , xxiii

Knowles , R ev . R . J. , 27 1 .

Kohat , 89 .

Koran, T h e,253, 269 .

Kr ishna, 47 , 69 , 7 2 , 1 97 ,230 , 236 .

Kunti , 235.

Kuruksh etra Battle of, 1 , 53, 69 ,

209 , 2 1 5.

LAHORB , 1 , 1 2 , 89 , 1 32 , 1 43, 227 ,

Lakshman , 205, 207 , 2 1 8 , 235.

Lanka (Ceylon) , 2 1 4 .

Lawrence, S ir Henry ,274 , 284 .

Lely, S ir F . S . P . , 246 .

Leopardi, 68 .

Lo ti , Pierre, 34 , 36 .

Low , Sydney, 2 .

Lucknow, 1 2 , 294 .

Lyall, Sir Alfred , 34 , 4 1 , 7 8 , 1 0 8 ,

MACAULAY , LORD , 1 50 , 282 .

H is Minute on education, 24 1 .

302

INDEX

Macdonald , Rev . K . S . , 57 .

Madhura, . 243.

Madras , 1 1 , 1 09 .

Madura , 29 , 46 , 1 86 , 226 .

Th e great t em ple , 33.

Magic, 63, 74 , 206 .

Mahabharata, Th e , 46 , 74 , 205, 2 1 5,

264 .

M alati and M ad hava,2 1 8 .

M alavikagnimi tra, 223.

Mamallapuram , 1 90 .

Manners and custom s

Of Bri tish , 1 3, -

1 03- 1 1 8 .

Of Indians , 1 1 0 , 1 1 2 .

Manu , Laws of , 93.

Marr iage, Infant , 92 , 95, 99 , 26 1 .

Marr iage of widows forbidden , 92 ,

26 1 .

Megasth enes , 27 .

Memsahib , Th e, 1 3, 1 05, 1 07 .

Menander , 1 6 .

Mendi cants , 75.

Metaphysics , Indian, 1 85.

Metcalfe, S ir Ch ar les , 1 59 , 283.

Metempsychosis, 64—68 , 79 .

Mi li tary expendi tur e, 1 30—1 35.

Mi li tary training, Denial of, 1 64

1 68 .

Mi tra, Mr . S . M . , 252 .

Mogu l Empire, 1 42- 1 47 , 1 66 , 230 .

Monier-William s, S ir M 20 2 , 203,

27 1 .

Mor ison, Sir Theodore, 54 , 1 24 , 1 4 1 ,

Mor ley, Lord , 276 .

M udm Rakshasa, 220 .

Muhammad , 8 1 .

Muhammadanism , 43, 45, 77 , 85.

1 07 , 223.

Muhamm adans , 43, 47 , 1 39 , 1 57 .

Muhammadans ver sus Hindus , 45,47 . I05

M i‘

iller , Max, 56, 86 , 258 .

Munro , S ir Thom as , 1 4 1 .

Munshi Ram , Mahatma , 254 , 255.

Mysore, 1 0 .

NAD IR SHAH, 1 .

Naidu , Saroj ini , 22 .

Nakula,205.

Nana Sahib , 89 , 294 .

Naoroj i , Mr . Dad abh ai , 2 1 , 1 32 , 1 39 ,

1 50 .

Nevinson , H . W 2 .

N icho lson, John, 1 07 , 286 .

N irvana , 69 .

Nose-r ings , 31 , 1 4 1 .

OKAKURA , Kakuzo , 278 .

O lco t t , Co lonel H . S . , 52 .

OM (m ys tic syllable) , 59 .

Oman, Professor , 53.

PA1 N 1 1NG , 229—232 .

Panch agavya, 80 , 9 2 .

Pandu , 205.

P and urangHari , xxiii .Panipat , Battles of , 1 .

Par iahs , 26 , 87 , 88 .

Pars is , 2 1 , 1 03, 1 39 .

Parvati, 1 06 .

Pau l , Saint , 8 1 .

Peacock th rone , 1 44 .

Pessim ism , 68—73.

Pindar is (m arauders ) , 97 .

Pinjrapole hospitals , 80 .

Plassey, Battle of , 1 , 27 .

Poona, 1 2 .

P tolemy, 1 6 .

Public Services Comm ission Re

por t , 1 9 1 7 , xvi . , xx . , 1 6 1 , 1 70 .

Punjab , 6 1 .

Puranas , 59 , 256 .

Pur dah wom en, 44 , 1 04 .

RAHIM , Mr . ABDUR, xxii . , 1 7 1 .

Rajputs , 1 , 93, 1 03.

Railways, 50 , 9 1 , 95, 1 36 .

Rama, 1 06 , 2 1 8 , 22 1 ,

235.

Ram anujachariar , Mr . N 96 .

Ram ayana , T h e, 46 , 200 , 202 , 204 ,

2 1 0 , 2 1 8 , 224 , 264 .

Ranad e, M r . Justice, 1 74 .

303

INDEX

Rao ,Raj ah Dinkur , 289 .

Rao , Sir Mad hava,289 .

Ravan, 205, 2 1 3.

Rebe llion ,Possibi li ty of , xii . , 1 7 .

Retnavali , 2 1 8 , 223.

Rishis , 1 , 53, 57 , 74 , 1 0 1 , 220 .

Ri sley , S ir Herber t , 88 , 9 1 , 95, 1 1 0 .

Rober ts , Lord , 1 32 , 1 34 , 2 89 .

Roe , S ir Thom as , 1 43, 1 46 .

SADHUS , 76 .

Sahadeva , 205.

Saint Nihal S ingh , 44 , 86 .

Sakuntala, 75, 2 1 8 , 220 .

Salisbury , Lord , 2 1 .

Samud ragup ta, 27 .

Sannyasis , 76 .

Satrugna, 205.

Savings Bank statis tics , 1 40 .

Schopenhauer , Ar thur , 60 .

Sculptur e , H indu and Buddhi st ,1 7 1 .

Gandharan, 1 9 1 , 1 94 .

Sect-m arks , 30 .

Secunderabad , 1 0 .

S ervants of Ind ia , xviii 1 2 1

270 .

Shah Alam , Tom b of , 226 .

Shah Jahan , 1 42 , 224 , 237 .

S idi Sayyid , Mosque o f, 226 .

S ikhs , 1 , 79 , 90 .

S ister N ived i ta , 1 06 , 1 1 1 , 205.

S ita , 22 1 , 235.

g

S iva, 30 , 1 06 , 1 95, 1 97 , 1 98 , 2 1 2 ,

26 1 .

S ivaj i, 237 .

Sm ith , Vincent A 1 6 , 4 1 , 1 87 , 1 90 ,

2 1 7 .

Sobraon , Battle o f , 1 .

Spir ituality ,

” H indu , 51—82 .

S r i Sh ankaranand Sannyasi, 26 1 .

S teevens, G . W 2 .

S tudents , Indi an , in England, xivxvi .

Sujam pur , 90 .

Surpanakh a, 209 .

Su t tee, 93, 95, 97 , 2 1 5.

Swadeshism , 1 1 4 .

Swaraj , 98 , 274 , 292 .

Sydenh am of Com be, Lord, xvi .

UN TOUCHABLES , 26 , 86 .

Upanish ads, 55, 58 , 6 1 .

Uttara Rama Cher i tra, 22 1 .

WELLS , H . G . , 53.

Wilson , H . H 22 1 .

YOGA , 70 , 74 , 1 82 , 1 87 .

Yud i sh t hi r a, 205, 209 , 235.

P r i n ted at The Cleapel R iver P r ess, Ki ngston , Sm

TAGORE , ABAN INDRO NArH, 235.

Tagore, S ir Rabind ra Nath, 1 94 .

Taj Mahal , T h e, 1 44 ,228 .

Tanj ore, 35, 1 86 .

Tan t ia Topi, 294 .

Taylor , Co lonel Meadows , xxm .

Theosophy , 64 , 1 79 , 1 83.

Thugs , 97 .

Tir thankaras , 1 9 1 .

T im ur , 1 .

Townsend , Meredi th , 243, 280 .

Toy-Cart , T he, 2 1 8 .

Transm igration, 64—6 8 , 79 .

Tr ichinopoly . 35, 1 86 .

Tulsi Das , 203, 2 1 2 .

Tuticorin, 29 .

VAS i snr nA , 203, 2 1 0 , 258 .

Vedanta , 55, 63.

Vedas , 55, 60 , 64 , 78 , 86 , 9 1 , 1 0 1 ,

1 78 , 254 .

Back t o t h e Vedas , 256- 26 1 .

Vedic per iod , 1 88 .

Vi d d ha S alabhankq a, 223.

V i d ura, 205.

Vijayanagar , 1 89 .

Vikrama and Urvasi , 22 1 .

Vikram ad i tya. 236 .

Vishnu, 31 , 69 , 205, 222 .

V i svam i tra, 203, 2 1 0 .

Vivekananda , Swam i, 26 1 .

Vyasa, 205.

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