The British Impact on India

ISBN-13: 9780367177799 / Angielski / Twarda / 2019 / 525 str.

Sir Percival Griffiths

Opis

First published in 1952, imperialism is a regularly recurring historical phenomenon, calling for neither approval not condemnation in the abstract. A more profitable exercise is to consider particular imperialisms and assess their spirit and their achievements. From this premise Sir Percival Griffiths proceeds to examine the political, administrative and economic effects on India of British rule. Formerly a member of the Indian Civil Service, later the leader of the British representatives in the Indian Legislative Assembly and now closely connected with commerce and industry in India and Pakistan, he has the advantage of a three-sided approach. He was, moreover, playing an active part in Indian public affairs throughout the years leading to the transfer of power. In 1942 he declared that he would fight any government which resiled from the promise of independence for India and when the Cabinet Mission visited India in 1947, it fell on him to assert - on behalf of the British community in India – their conviction that independence must be granted without further delay. It is because he has thus been a close eye-witness of the events of the last three decades in India that he has written this book. Although Western civilization is often regarded by Indians as materialistic, it is the spiritual rather than in the material sphere that British influence has been greatest. It has built up Indian nationalism; it has engendered in Indian minds a new concept of equality and of human rights; it has rekindled the scientific spirit; and is has profoundly modified the Indian intellectual approach to the problems in life. In all this there have been losses as well as gain – not least among the losses being the partial destruction of village corporate life and the spread of specticism among the intelligentsia – but there can be little doubt which way the balance lies. A further fifty years may have to elapse, Sir Percival suggests, before a final assessment of the impact of the British is possible. In the meantime the present book may be confidently recommended as the most authoritative and objective examination of the history and influence of British administration in Indian, which has yet appeared; a book, furthermore, that may be expected to achieve the status of a standard work.

Spis treści

Part 1: The Historical Background 1. Hindu India  2. Muslim India  3. The New Crusade – The Portuguese and the Dutch  4. The East India Company  5. English and French Rivalry  6. The Growth of British Power  7. Developments in Southern India  8. Expansion – The Second Phase  9. Expansion – The Last Phase  10. The Mutiny Part 2: The Administrative Impact  11. Ancient Indian Administration  12. Mediaeval Indian Administration  13. Mughal Administration (1)  14. Mughal Administration (2): Revenue  15. British Administration – The Dual Authority  16. The Growth of Parliamentary Control  17. The Growth of District Administration  18. British Revenue Administration  19. British Famine Administration  20. The Growth of the Services  21. The Restoration of Law and Order  22. Suttee  23. The Administrative Impact Part 3: The Political Impact  24. Indian Nationality  25. The Growth of Indian Nationalism (1): Education and Religion  26. The Growth of Indian Nationalism (2): Early Organisation  27. The Battle for the Freedom of the Press  28. The Deterioration of Relations  29. The Indian National Congress – The First Twenty Years  30. The Rise of Terrorism  31. Indian National Congress – The Second Phase  32. The Rise of the Muslim League  33. Steps Towards Self-Government  34. India Under Dyarchy  35. Towards Partition  36. The Second World War  37. The Transfer of Power Part 4: The Economic Impact  38. The Economic Problem Stated  39. Disruption of the Indian Economy  40. Currency Problems  41. Land Revenue  42. The Economic Policy of the Company  43. Irrigation  44. The Improvement of Agriculture  45. Development of Communisms  46. The Growth of Industry  47. The Growth of Minor Industries  48. The Managing Agency System  49. Industrial and Financial Policy in India under the Crown  50. The Economic Effects of British Rule  51. Conclusion

O autorze

Sir Percival Griffiths