The British Makeover of India: Judicial and Other Indigenous Institutions Upturned

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Early officials of the East India Company were of surprised to discover that indigenous institutions c judicial redress had survived in a surprisingly good state during the centuries of "Tartar" rule. They noted that those institutions had largely remained beyond the purview of the medieval state, and had well served the needs of the populace. Subsequently, Company-men observed the functioning of indigenous judicial institutions in the areas under their control and cautioned against any trans- plantation from Britain.

The eighteenth-century reverence for indigenous institutions was overturned in the mid- nineteenth century when a marked change in the British attitude became perceptible. The earlier appreciation gave way to censure. The trans- formation could be attributed to mounting self- confidence following a series of military successes in India, and triumph over Napoleonic France by 1815.

Among other factors that turned the tide against India was the advent of the Scientific Revolution. As a result, a racist element entered the British perception of India. A view gained currency that human progress was closely linked to the biological traits of people. The shape of the skull determined the size of the brain, and hence, the degree of human intelligence. Charles Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) was used to justify Europe's triumph in Africa and Asia; it was the natural dominance of superior white men over inferior races.

As the notion of race increasingly gained currency, there was a noticeable decline in the admiration for Indian culture. India began to be seen as a land of the past that needed to be reformed. The policy of non-interference with Indian traditions, a British byword in the eighteenth century, was abandoned in favour of change through the initiation of British institutions and values.

Meenakshi Jain is a historian interested in cultural and religious developments in Indian history. In 2020, she was awarded Padma Sri by the Government of India for her contributions in the field of literature and education. Her recent publications include -Vishwanath Rises and Rises: The Story of Eternal Kashi (2024); The Hindus of Hindustan (2023); Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura (2021); Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples (2019); The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya (2017); Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse (2016); and Rama and Ayodhya (2013).

Entrusted with administrative responsibilities in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa with the grant of diwani rights by the Mughal Emperor in 1765, early officials of the East India Company were particularly interested in the functioning of indigenous institutions. They found indigenous institutions in the realms of judicial redress and education, in a surprisingly good state. They noted, those institutions had largely remained beyond the purview of the medieval state, and had well served the needs of the populace. It was only in the field of agrarian taxation that common people came into contact with government functionaries.

Early Company men became strong proponents of indigenous institutions, and cautioned against any transplantation from Britain. A small, but significant, minority of officials, were "either evangelical militants or sympathizers." They too were curious about their Indian subjects, "only to the extent that they could be proselytized" (Raj 2001: 187).

MARKED CHANGE IN COMPANY ATTITUDE IN NINETEENTH CENTURY

The Governor General-ship of Lord Wellesley had made it abundantly clear that the British would soon emerge as the paramount power in the subcontinent. In 1798, the Nizam of Hyderabad had been compelled to sign a subsidiary treaty, by which his troops were brought under British control, and he himself ceased to be an independent ruler. In 1799, the East India Company vanquished Tipu Sultan of Mysore; and in 1801, Awadh was forced to cede half its territories. The Marathas were worsted in a series of battles across the Deccan and North India, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. In 1803, British forces entered Delhi, and ousted the Marathas from the imperial capital. A final win in the Third Maratha War in 1817-1819, during the time of the Marquis of Hastings (1813-1823), ensured that no political rivals remained. By the early nineteenth century, the Indian Army had grown to nearly 200,000 troops (Peers 2006: 39). On 1" December 1815, the Marquis declared, "The British Government stands pre-eminent among the Powers of India..." (Desika Char 1983: 195-197).

NOTION OF RACE

Several other forces were at work to turn the tide against India. The making of the British Empire occurred alongside the advent of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment in Britain. As a result of the Scientific Revolution, a racist element entered the British perception of India. A view gained currency that human progress was closely linked to the biological traits of people. The shape of the skull determined the size of the brain, and hence, the degree of human intelligence. Charles Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) was used to justify Europe's triumph in Africa and Asia; it was the natural dominance of superior white men over inferior races.