State and society in Maharashtra in the nineteenth century

Abstract

The impact of British rule over India has received considerable attention at the hands of the historian. But there remain important gaps in our knowledge of this impact. These gaps are a result of the historian’s failure to discern a causal relationship between the values and objectives of British administrators in India, and the changes stemming from the policies they pursued. In focussing attention on the principles which inspired British administrators, the historian has thrown a flood of light on the premises of British policy. But despite the insight he has gained into the intellectual motivations of British policy, his task remains unaccomplished until he dwells upon the consequences of British rule, and relates these consequences to the social ideals and political objectives which inspired British administrators. Consider an obvious example. The decay of the village communities under British rule is often looked upon as a process independent of the values of British administrators. But the moment it is realised that a consuming belief in individualism and rationalism encouraged British administrators to promote progress and prosperity through destroying the cohesion of rural society, the decay of the village communities stands revealed as a piece of calculated social engineering rather than an accidental consequence of British rule over India, Before the British concern for progress and prosperity can be related to the atomisation of rural society, it is necessary to comprehend the institutions and the organisation of society prior to the British conquest. The complexity of Hindu society, and the diversity of conditions in different parts of India, prevent the historian from focussing attention on the country as a whole, and oblige him to embark upon a regional investigation. I have chosen Maharashtra as my field of study. This choice was determined by several factors. Maharashtra comprises a distinct geographical region, and it possesses an historical tradition and a cultural identity peculiarly its own. It was also the birthplace of a religious movement which transmitted the great tradition of Hinduism to the masses, and formed the basis of a polity that successfully challenged the domination of Islam, and constituted the hub of an imperial system which virtually embraced the entire subcontinent before its defeat and dissolution at British hands. Finally, because the polity of Maharashtra was based upon resurgent Hinduism, the institutions of Hindu society flourished there in a fullness of life which was absent in these institutions in parts of the country subject to Muslim rule. The vitality of Hindu institutions in Maharashtra was reinforced by a Brahmin ruling family, which buttressed its power through the creation of a landowning aristocracy from amongst its caste-fellows, and through recruiting the bureaucracy from members of its caste. The exercise of political authority by a Brahmin dynasty created a unique situation in Maharashtra. While the values of Hinduism assured the Brahmin caste of a superior status throughout the country, the combination of social status with political power enabled the Brahmins of Maharashtra to enjoy a predominance without parallel in India. This predominance was reflected in the vigour of caste organisations which defined social sanctions and enforced social order. It was also expressed in the moral life of the community and the cohesion which held castes and classes together, despite chronic political instability, and despite the existence of an administration which was not subject to legal or rational restraints. Both the values and institutions of Hindu society were related to a social order in which prescription and stability rather than progress and mobility formed the concern of the statesman and the administrator. The economic organisation of society was of a piece with these values and institutions... Show more