Would India Be Better Under British Rule?

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A vast gulf exists between the British and the Hindu which negated any such possibility.

The Arya World View.
The Hindus of the Indian sub-continent considered themselves a civilization which’s antiquity extended deep into the ancient past. Theirs was a knowledge society. They had the world’s largest collection of written texts in the linguistically advanced Sanskrit language. It dealt on almost all issues related to every aspect of human endeavor. Their written script ‘“the Brahmi ‘“ was the oldest of all world scripts. Their religion, called Dharma, had well defined theories on the creation of the world and the purpose of human life. Their secular outlook was exhibited in their varieties of philosophies, in their numerous philosophers and in an established debating tradition.

The Education System of the Aryas .
The native Aryas gave great importance to education. The life of the average Hindu/Arya was divided into four stages, of which, the first stage, extending from childhood to the early 20s, was devoted to getting educated. The curriculum consisted of both material and spiritual knowledge with great emphasis on developing good human virtues and values.

The Economic Conditions of the Aryas .
The Hindu nation was successful economically and conducted a flourishing international trade through the Silk Road in the North, the Arabian Peninsula in the West and through the Oceans with the East. The Business caste was successful traders both within the sub continent and internationally. The nation’s coastline was dotted with numerous ports and harbors visited by ships of several nations. The Arya kingdoms in southern India possessed large naval fleets that established colonies in South East Asia, Indo China and Australia.

The British arrival ‘“a Calamity.
The Englishman came as traders peaceful commercial intentions. Gaining a foothold, the Englishmen cunningly intruded, undermined and eventually through gunboat diplomacy, deceit and subterfuge ruthlessly dismantled an existing successful economic structure. The materialistic and capitalistic background of the British was out of sync with a nation of spiritual Hindus.

English and Native interactions .

The average Englishman looked down upon the Hindu as racially inferior and civilization ally backward considered themselves as belonging to a superior race. English societies kept aloof of Indians and their interactions with Indians were only as servants, clerks, soldiers and subjugated kings. Even the educated Hindus were shown their place.

Disregarded everything Hindu.
All the intellectual treasures and achievements of the Hindus were condemned as nothing. Even where credit was given, emphasis was on an inspiration from a foreign influence. Even when Sanskrit came to be accepted as the source of modern European languages, they created the theory of the sudden exodus of Aryan Tribes from a common Central Asian homeland. The purest of this tribe went to Europe while that which entered Indian sub continent (Aryan invasion theory) intermarried with the aboriginal indigenous natives to create the impure Aryan stock of current Indians. Never in the history of mankind had such a massive exercise been resorted to distort the history and identity of a nation of people contrary to what is written in their indigenous literatures.

Erasing of indigenous identity.
Today the people of the sub-continent call themselves Indian, their homeland as India, their religion as Hinduism. The modern urban Hindu has little knowledge of his past and considers his traditional beliefs as unscientific and superstitious. This is the result of a deliberately designed education system which under pretext of imparting a modern knowledge sought to erase its very identity.

Conclusion .
Hence to conclude that India would have been better under the British would be a short sighted misinterpretation. The Hindu civilization would have charted it’s their own course, as it had before the British. It blunted the wrath of medieval Islam that , within a span of 300 years, had wiped out all trace of the indigenous civilizations of North Africa, West Asia, Asia Minor and Central Asia. The Hindu Civilization despite facing continuous invasions between 900AD to 1700AD remained intact and firm and 90% Hindu in 1947. International observers did not expect Independent India to remain united for long. Today however the Hindu nation is the second fastest growing economy, its business community, as in the past, actively and successfully engaged in business activities, worldwide.
If anything it is the legacy of institutions left by British that has held the Hindu nation back. It is the dysfunctional parliamentary democracy, a crawling lethargic judiciary, a mammoth bureaucracy and a spineless political class, that have kept the nation shackled for the past 68 years. The cracks however are appearing.
The phoenix is destined to rise again.

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