One puzzling aspect of India is the sharply contrasting attitude of Indians towards its Muslim rulers vs British Raj
Every Indian schoolkid has heard of Sher Shah Suri who ruled from 1538 to 1545. But how many kids are familiar with Lord Ripon - Viceroy from 1880 to 84?
Every Indian schoolkid has heard of Sher Shah Suri who ruled from 1538 to 1545. But how many kids are familiar with Lord Ripon - Viceroy from 1880 to 84?
Most kids know the Mughal line of succession (atleast for the Great Mughals) -
Babar->Humayun->Akbar->Jehangir->Shah Jehan->Aurangazeb
But do we know the list of Viceroys from Canning to Mountbatten?
Why is that considered less important or relevant?
Babar->Humayun->Akbar->Jehangir->Shah Jehan->Aurangazeb
But do we know the list of Viceroys from Canning to Mountbatten?
Why is that considered less important or relevant?
It's not as though the Viceroys had no distinguishing mark.
The legacy of say a Lord Lytton in the 1870s is very different from that of Lord Ripon in the 1880s. Different personalities. Vastly different records
Yet they are not studied in school books
The legacy of say a Lord Lytton in the 1870s is very different from that of Lord Ripon in the 1880s. Different personalities. Vastly different records
Yet they are not studied in school books
The tendency is to lump them all together as old white men, and as a result the average Indian's understanding of the British Raj is a blur.
Few would say that about the Great Mughals. Every Indian knows that Aurangazeb's record was not quite the same as Akbar's.
Few would say that about the Great Mughals. Every Indian knows that Aurangazeb's record was not quite the same as Akbar's.
I am not sure if this obfuscation of the 200 year period preceding British rule was deiberate. But it has not done Indians any good.
Similar obfuscation exists w.r.t the 18th century and the Great Marathas, who remain poorly understood by the populace at large.
Similar obfuscation exists w.r.t the 18th century and the Great Marathas, who remain poorly understood by the populace at large.
It's about time we study both the Maratha period and the British period (both EIC and the Raj) in far greater detail.
They deserve as much if not more attention than distant figures like Ashoka or even Akbar
They deserve as much if not more attention than distant figures like Ashoka or even Akbar
