Ideological Positions

Writings on the Raj have often been fuelled by political interests and nearly always served some particular ideological purpose. James Mill's History of British India (1817), for example, represents an early attempt by a distinguished protagonist of utilitarianism and advocate of Enlightenment values, to support the idea of converting the Indian subcontinent into a nation governed by reason, fed by European knowledge. There were many other accounts, both preceding and following Mill's description of pre-European India as a society characterized by despotic rule and barbarism, and of Europeans' corruption and idle high living, or devotion to duty. Some of these were immersed in a vision of the spirit of Enlightenment or, more militantly, the pax Britannica spreading across the Indian peninsula. They sometimes described gruesome details of violent Indian customs (such as the burning of widows, mutilation of children and strangling of travellers) as evidence for the necessity of Westernization. Others (of which there were fewer) attempted to adduce evidence as to why India was no longer ‘worth keeping’.

Diversity of view is however not confined to the realms of fiction and scientific writing. It is in fact liable to characterize any but the most totalitarian political system. Government officials in India, too, espoused a variety of different ideological positions, personal interests and idiosyncrasies. Discussion of any aspect of government is therefore bound to reflect this, and lunacy policy is no exception.