Thesis to obtain the degree of Philosophy Doctor in
History (Candidate of Historical Science) on the specialty 07.00.02. – The World History. – Diplomatic
Academy of Ukraine under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. – Kyiv, 2017.
The thesis is dedicated to the formation of the
Hindu political elites in North India during the period 1858–1921 from the time of Government of India Act 1858 until the Indian
National Congress session in Ahmedabad when satyagraha tactic evolved from the
private initiative of Gandhi to officially accepted national politics. We argue
that from this time a new period of westernization which had many antiwestern displays
began.
This research, which is based on numerous and
diverse historical sources including official (acts, censuses, gazetteers,
minutes) and personal (memoirs, letters, essays, news-paper articles,
speeches), reveals the main characteristics of the formation of westernized
political elites among Hindus in the region. To achieve this, the research is
based on such historical methods as analysis and synthesis, elements of
discourse-analysis, biography method and prosopography. The dissertation also uses
such methodological instruments as «traditionalist – modernist» gradation of the response of political elites on Western culture
proposed by Indian historian B. Parekh, the instrument of dividing westernization
into four phases (imitative, assimilative, asseverative, and creative), the
civilization approach by Arnold J. Toynbee («challenge-and-response» frame) and
by S. Hantington (three options for a developing nation: rejectionism, reformism,
kemalism).
The analysis of the formation of westernized Hindu
political elites includes institutional and personal levels. The first deals
with modern political and socioreligious institutions in colonial north India,
the second demonstrates the attitudes of leading politicians of Punjab and north-western
provinces on various issues concerning India’s encounters with Western culture.
The research argues that the range of economic,
political and demographic factors defined the characteristics of the formation
of political elites among Hindus in North India. These include the dominant
status of Hindu culture in the North Western provinces and its minor status in
Punjab; the Hindu loss of political power in Punjab in the 13th century, the
presence of a strong Mughal culture in North India and a policy of
discrimination against Hindus by the Shia Mughal rulers in the Oudh state.
Western education as the main precondition for forming the new political elite
also had some peculiarities. The oriental line of education (Persian, Urdu,
Sanskrit languages and literature) in Allahabad and Punjab Universities were
much more popular than in presidential Universities. Students had much greater
interest in western science than in literature.
Political development of Punjab and the northern
western provinces gradually trended to representation on religious grounds and
the first Hindu political organization – Hindu Mahasabha – emerged here.
The Western religious challenge received a
particular response from politicians in North India: Christianity was rejected and
the Bengali “creative” model of response in the form of Brahmo samaj was
declared inappropriate in the region. Instead the organization of a defense
type – Arya samaj and Radhasoami faith – was influential.
An analysis of the biographies of five of the most
influential politicians of North India – Motilal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malavia, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Bishan Narain Dar
and Lala Lajpat Rai shows that all of them were deeply rooted in traditional
culture through their traditional families, primary education and teachers.
The research states that during the entire period
from 1858 until 1921, the assimilative phase of westernization dominated in the
region. The government was treated as the main instrument of change in this
phase. The imitative phase was absent in the region.
There are two nationalist ideologies among
politicians in North India – Hindu and
Indian. Both represent political nationalism according to which the secular
state was the main base for the Indian nation. Westernization in the religious
sphere on a personal level showed that most of the five representatives of
educated Indians were critical modernists in socio-religious issues – specifically, that the caste system should not be rejected fully but should
be reformed.
Source: Fil Y. S. The formation of westernized Hindu political elites in North
India (1858–1921). – Manuscript.
