Imagining India in the world

To Raise a Fallen People: How 19th-Century Indians Saw Their World and Shaped Ours

Author: Rahul Sagar

Publisher: Juggernaut Books

Pages: 312

Price: Rs 799

With the rise of India as an important regional and global player in the 21st century there has been a need to understand whether the country ever had its own understanding of its geographical and geo-political locations. Much has been written and spoken about the ideas of non-alignment, non-violence, and strategic autonomy. But most of these ideas that are credited to Indian thinkers have emerged during or after the independence movement. This gives the impression that colonial India generally lacked any thinking or understanding about the world around it prior to this time frame. The book attempts to fill this gap.

The author has undertaken the important task of examining talks, discourses or writings by prominent 19th century Indians who were focussing on global and geo-political debates and whether they were able to locate their outlook vis-à-vis an Indian position. The task is not easy and as the editor has stated, it required a long time period and extensive focus to come up with a volume that could do justice to the debates. The book also had to be compiled in a way that it would cover most of the important ideas prevalent in the 19th century, while acknowledging that there will be some gaps still. With the extensive use of archives and numerous speeches, Rahul Sagar creates a coherent and linear narrative of the development of Indian thinking. He has also edited the speeches to suit the focus of the book.

Though the book focuses on 19th century ideas, it is striking how the speeches and ideas remain relevant to India’s domestic and foreign policy even today. The debates about local manufacturing and how India lags in this sector are central to Indian policymaking today; the speech by S E Gopalacharlu in 1892 strongly expresses this sentiment. The comparisons between India and China, based on their economic development and models of growth have renewed this debate in the 21st century. Both are Asian nations with huge populations, and the issue of why has one managed to build on that advantage when the other lags engages decision-makers in India today.

The same could be said about debates around defence and security. There were plenty of writings and speeches focused on modernising and strengthening the army, focused on the necessity of a strong and loyal military for a strong nation and the need to equip the military with the right weapons and training. Though this discourse is rooted in the colonial era, when military excursions were a standard feature, the idea of a strong military is even more relevant today given India’s unsettled northern and eastern boundaries and disputed territories, coupled with the rise in cross-border terrorism.

The book also highlights the debates and understandings of Indians towards the idea of Russian invasions or attacks on the Raj. It clearly shows that the interlocutors were aware of the challenges which the Russian military would face if it moved towards India and were also debating how things would pan out for India if Russians were to replace the British as rulers. To a large extent, the British had a positive image among Indians relative to the Russians because of the introduction of railways, English education and so on. Given the geo-political developments of recent months, the debates about Russian expansions and outcomes and how India should relate to it are pertinent.

Educated 19th century Indians were also aware of the challenges that China faced due to the opium trade. There were various schools of thought in India that were debating and discussing this development from economic and geo-political aspects. Current history is an example of how the opium trade shaped Chinese thinking and how the idea of the “century of humiliation” impacts Beijing’s foreign and domestic policies. The fact that Indians were aware and concerned about the way the British were trading with China counters the notion that Indians were inward-looking.

Given this backdrop, the book does much to underline the fact that there is more to Indian thinking than what has been discussed in the popular writings. Indians of eminence were acutely aware of their social and political situation. The book counters the notion that Indian thinking on international relations is heavily dependent on other influential nations and India lacks its own body of work. Indians were very much aware of how changes in the global system impacts the Indian position, positively or adversely. Every scholar, teacher or student keen on gaining insights on Indian international thinking, its roots and path of development would gain from reading this book.

The reviewer is Assistant Professor, OP Jindal Global University