ভারতবর্ষ¹

The 1854 Project

a new retrospective
Edited by
Kalpit Parikh

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्माऽमृतं गमय ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Impressum

Published in કલા નગરી, kalā nagarī: "city of art"² by મન, man: "mind"³

Cataloging in Publication Data

Name: Kalpit Parikh, 2023— editor
Title: The 1854 Project/ edited by Kalpit Parikh
ASIN:
Subjects: 1. Sociology 2. Epistemology

Contents

Author’s Note
A Note About This Book
Epigraph
Preface

1. Capitalism and Indology
2. Utilitarianism and Empire
3. Indian Indenture System
4. Coloniality of Knowledge
5. Eighteen Fifty Seven
6. Colonialism and Caste
7. Indian Independence Movement
8. Divide and Rule
9. Communalism and Politics
10. India and The Making of The Modern World
11. Constitution of India
12. Global Wealth Gap
13. Eurocentrism and Public Education
14. India and Politics of History

Dedication
Acknowledgement
Contributors
Notes
Credits

README

The chapters of this book occur on a time-line that runs chronologically from the eariliest developments of Colonial Indology to the present. While the chapters are not strictly chronological, they have been arranged with a historial narratrive in mind.

A Note About This Book

This book occasionally uses words whose meanings have changed over time, and in some cases remain actively debated. In almost every case, the book tries to trace traditional meanings and highlight the ways Colonial Indology has shaped discourse.

Epigraph

उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत,
क्षुरासन्न धारा निशिता दुरत्यद्दुर्गम पथ: तत् कवयो वदन्ति |

uttisthata jagrata prapya varannibodhata
kshurasanna dhara nishita durataya durgama pathah tat kavayo vadanti

Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn.
Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, so the wise say—hard to tread and difficult to cross (Katha Upanishad 1.3.14).

Preface

Capitalism and Indology

Utilitarianism and Empire

Indian Indenture System

Coloniality of Knowledge

Eighteen Fifty Seven

Colonialism and Caste

Indian Independence Movement

Divide and Rule

Communalism and Politics

India and The Making of The Modern World

Constitution of India

Global Wealth Gap

History of Colonialism

Eurocentrism and Public Education

India and Politics of History

Dedication

Indians—Past, Present and Future

Acknowledgement

This book grew out of the original version of the 1619 Project, published in The New York Times Magazine in August 2019, and from long-running efforts to reframe India’s history by placing the consequences of colonialism and the contributions of Indians at the very center of India’s many narratives.

Notes

The Upanishads: Volume One: Katha, Īśa, Kena, and Mundaka. Translated by Swami Nikhilananda, Harper & Brothers, 1949.

Apte, Vaman Shivram. Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Shiralkar, 1890.

Belsare, Malhar Bhikaji. ગુજરાતી-અંગ્રેજી ડિકશનરી [Etymological Gujarati-English Dictionary]. 2nd Edition, Asian Educational Services, 2002.

Biswas, Sailendra. Samsad Bengali-English dictionary. 3rd ed. Calcutta, Sahitya Samsad, 2000.

Chakrabarti, Dilip K. Colonial Indology: Sociopolitics of the Ancient Indian Past.  Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Limited, 1997.

Contributors

Kalpit Parikh is an independent researcher in New Jersey focusing on the history of Colonial Indology.⁴

Credits

1. Greenough, George Bellas. General sketch of the physical and geological features of British India, 1855.
2. Hannah-Jones, Nikole. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. Random House Publishing Group, 2021.

Footnotes

1. ভারত bhārata n. India (formerly including Pakistan), the Republic of India, the Indian Union; a son or descendant of King Bharata (ভরত); the Mahabharata. ~নাট্যম n. Bharat Natyam, an Indian classical dance form. ~বর্ষ same as ভারত excepting the last two meanings. ~বর্ষীয় a. of or dwelling in India, Indian. ~বাসী a. living in India, Indian. n. an Indian. ~মহাসাগর n. the Indian Ocean. ~মাতা n. India personified as the common mother of all Indians; Mother India. ~রত্ন n. a jewel of India; the title of highest honour conferred upon eminent citizens by the President of India. ~রাষ্ট্র n. the Republic of India, the Indian Union. ~সন্তান n. a child of the Indian soil, an Indian. ~সভা n. Indian Association. ~সরকার n. the Government of India, the Indian Government. ভারতের সংবিধান the Constitution of India (Biswas 814). ↩

2. કલા, Classical form of કળા An art (Belsare 227) + નગર a city (Belsare 301). ↩

3. તન-મન-ધન a. n. [See તન + મન + ધન] Lit. The body, the mind, and one’s wealth. Hence, 2. All that one loves; the highest object of one’s ambition (Belsare 577). ↩

4. This book explores some underlying theoretical premises of the Western study of ancient India. These premises developed in response to the colonial need to manipulate the Indians' perception of their past. The need was felt most strongly from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, and an elaborate racist framework, in which the interrelationship between race, language and culture was a key element, slowly emerged as an explanation of the ancient Indian historical universe. The measure of its success is obvious from the fact that the Indian nationalist historians left this framework unchallenged, preferring to dispute it only in some comparatively minor matters of detail. This book argues that this framework is still in place, and implicitly accepted not merely by Western Indologists but also by their Indian counterparts. The image of the ancient Indian past remains the same. The persistence of the old image is reflective of India's relationship as a part of the Third World with the West and Western historical scholarship (Chakrabarti ix). ↩