Comment on the differences between the Orientalists and the Utilitarians.

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A Orientalists - They were the British administrators who were of the opinion that to administer India
properly, a thorough knowledge of India and its past was needed. Orientalists like Warren Hastings
wanted to establish institutions of learning which would first acquire the knowledge of the golden past
of India and then convey it to those who could be administering India. He was not in favor of introducing
English laws & English ways in India. His main idea was to rule India in their own way. He felt that the
rapid growth of the British rule had started various prejudices. These, he felt, needed to be stopped.
Secondly, he wanted to reconcile British rule with the Indian institutions. This required more intensive
investigation into the 'manners and customs' of the country. It also required an in-depth analysis of the
literature and laws of the Indians. It is for this purpose that Halhed, one of Hastings's lieutenants, drew
up a list of religious and customary laws called the 'Gentoo Laws' which would help in facilitating the
process of reconciliation.

Another orientalist William Jones, an English Jurist helped in establishing an Asiatic society in 1784. This
society was engaged in studying India from within close quarters of its social, religious, linguistic &
political aspects. The Asiatic Society contributed in a major way by translating from Persian & Sanskrit
works of Grammar, Puranas and the writings of Kalidasa. Secondly, the members of the Asiatic Society
researched and published a large number of articles on Indian society and religion.

In order to provide practical training & familiarizing with Indian administration, the Orientalists
established the Fort William College at Calcutta in 1800. The Fort William College basically impressed
upon its students to study the Indian language so that the future administrators are at ease while
dealing with Indian subjects, their customs, sensitivities, etc. It would also help them in understanding
society and India's past in a more concrete fashion. Moreover, studying Persian served the very practical
needs of the British administrators. Most of the Indian states used Persian as the language for
maintaining official records and running the day to day business. Thus the vision of learning about India's
past glory and the practical needs of the British administration were neatly dovetailed(intermixed).

It is because of Orientalist vision that the Indian Residents who were posted at the courts of various
submissive Indian rulers, combined both the knowledge and usage of Persian with the cultural lifestyles
of the court.

Utilitarians - The Utilitarians didn’t believe in the liberal route of education for the task of 'civilizing' and
'improving' India. The utilitarians didn’t share the ideas and visions of orientalists. The utilitarians had no
regard for Indian past history or experience. They wanted to bring in change through reforms of law and
landed property. They wanted to create conditions where the markets could flourish.

The question of law as an instrument of change was proposed by them. They wanted judiciary or law to
be used for changing Indian society and restricting practices like Sati and female infanticide. They
believed that law could be an instrument of change and through the enactment of laws under their
supervision, Indian society could be transformed into a modern society from that of superstitious
society. Thereafter a series of laws and penal codes were enacted under the influence of Utilitarians.

The utilitarians opposed any form of representative government in India at that time as well as in the
near future. Utilitarianism in India despite being born in the tradition of liberalism could never accept a
democratic government in India. One of the utilitarian James Mill consistently opposed any form of
representative government in India then or in the future. Moreover, the impulse of changing the Indian
society through the enactment of laws, landed property or education gradually declined under the
utilitarians. The later British administrators were to emphasize that the British rule had always been
governed by law. However, it was argued then for efficient administration force had to be used and
there was no need to justify it by consideration of political change or reform. The utilitarian task of
transforming India from an uncivilized society to a civilized nation was subsumed under the principle of
an efficient and good government. The government was supported by the 'steel frame'of British
administration. The utilitarian philosophy also influenced the views of Dalhousie who created all-India
departments with single heads. Under the utilitarians there was a decline of the overall spirit of reform
and the British administration was now dominated by the outlook of pragmatism and rationality.

Q Analyse the importance of utilitarian ideas in bringing about change in India. 12

A The Utilitarians didn’t believe in the liberal route to education for the task of 'civilizing' and
'improving' India, they had no regard for Indian past history or experience. They wanted to bring in
reforms of law and landed property to create conditions where the market could flourish. The question
of law as an instrument of change was proposed by them. They wanted judiciary or law to be the
instrument of changing Indian practices like Sati and female infanticide. They believed that law could be
an instrument of change and through the enactment of laws; Indian society could be transformed into a
modern society from that of superstitious society. A series of laws and penal codes were enacted under
the influence of Utilitarians. As a result of their efforts, a series of laws and penal codes were enacted to
make India civilized and improved.

The utilitarians opposed any form of representative government in India at that time as well as in the
near future. Utilitarianism in India despite being born in the tradition of liberalism could never accept a
democratic government in India. James Mill consistently opposed any form of representative
government in India then or in future. However this impulse to link the, task of changing the Indian
society to the tasks of law, landed property or education gradually declined under the utilitarians. The
later British administrators of our period were to emphasize that the British rule had always been
governed by law. However, it was argued then for efficient administration force had to be used and
there was no need to justify it by consideration of political change or reform. The utilitarian task of
transforming India then was subsumed under the principle of an efficient and good government held up
by the 'steel frame'of British administration. The utilitarian philosophy also influenced the views of
Dalhousie in creating all-India departments with single heads. What we notice was the decline of the
overall spirit of reform and the British administration was now dominated by the outlook of pragmatism
and rationality.

Q Evangelicalism 6

A In the initial part the British Orientalists focused on learning about the Indian past, society and
wanted to administer it, in its own way without disturbing it, however, the Christian Missionaries
resented this approach. The missionaries were of opinion that Indian society was in a degenerative state
and only Christian values and Religion is the remedy. They wanted to get on with the task of reforming
the current degeneration of the Indian society. The missionaries were hostile to Indian traditions,
culture, religion etc. This hostility was the hallmark of evangelicalism, it was combined with the desire to
'civilize' India. The missionaries were supported by the merchant community who wanted to benefit
from the enactment of laws to acquire property etc. in India as desired by missionaries. Under "free
trade' the merchant community wanted to creating a market for British goods amongst the Indians. The
British East India Company also supported the activities of missionaries. Missionary like Charles Grant
saw a complementarity between the civilizing process and material prosperity.