Mar 20, 2005
Clio (Not the Empire) Strikes Back
Niall Ferguson (I understand) suggests in Colossus, the Rise & Fall of the American Empire (2004), that US government officials & politicians should openly & explicitly acknowledge the existence & wide influence of the current -- implicit & unacknowledged -- American empire. This can then be modelled after the benign British Empire, to bring its order & other benefits to the subjects of its US counterpart. This proposition, in turn, has - naturally - brought out the standard anti-imperialist narratives, to show how horrible 'colonialism' really is.
The evil practices of colonialists are perpetrated on their hapless victims. Anti-imperialists then expose this wickedness. Thus colonialists & their opponents are the two protagonists in the story. The victims are there because, obviously, the imperialists' depravity must have an object - it is directed at someone. Victims, then, provide the sticks to beat the colonialists with.
Within this framework, a *pro-colonial case is the only other stance conceivable: how colonialism benefited the colonised. And on both sides, the criteria applied are those that apply to any sort of case: how strong/weak is it? How well does this material support/undermine the case?
Historical inquiry is, of course, an entirely distinct enterprise. It proceeds from a *specific interest in the *object of the inquiry. It poses a series of questions to ensure that all proceeds systematically; that the various influences at work are sorted out; etc. These questions include:- what is the overall historical context of this particular inquiry? What are the main 'sources' for the inquiry? How reliable/otherwise are they? How do the results of the inquiry fit into the overall context? into cognate areas of investigation? -- & so on. Thus historical inquiry is about *particulars -- gaining some sort of knowledge of, & perhaps even mastery over, certain particulars. And so such study is _specialised_.
The object of the exercise here, is to contrast the _respective outcomes_ of:- case-building & historical inquiry, - in *one specific instance. Consideration of the former will provide a bridge to the particular history involved. I take some points from a recent anti-colonialist work (from a Marxist, Mike Davis, see below), used in a review against Ferguson's book (above.) The points relate to the Madras (or Deccan) famine of 1876-78, in India.
Here, it is necessary to say that the historical study of India is highly specialised. To do the job properly requires a close knowledge of its many regions, especially their commercial geography, as also acquaintance with a vast number of specific, very complex circumstances. - This is merely to underline how different the two enterprises are: the study of Indian history, & fashioning an anti-imperial account.
The anti-imperialist points to various precipitating/exacerbating circumstances (relating to the famine), brought on by imperialism. Firstly, the latter broke up a pre-colonial harmony:
Merchants & the ‘cash nexus’ largely replaced the ‘traditional system of household & village grain reserves regulated by complex networks of patrimonial obligation’ (p. 26.)
(Tell that to the untouchables & the lower castes in the villages.) -- Historical inquiry:- Irfan Habib, the leading historian of Mughal India (& an Indian patriot), refers to ‘the _usual_ scenes of horror marking a _serious_ famine’ (in the 16th & 17th centuries; my emphasis.) These horrific pictures included: large numbers of unburied corpses; cannibalism; ‘choked’ slave markets; the sale of children by their parents. Neighbouring areas experienced significant looting. Entire regions were deserted & cultivation took years to recover.
There were less serious famines as well. One episode of ‘scarcity’ had only a limited impact (he feels.) The criterion? Shahjehan, the Mughal emperor, ordered Mughal officials to repurchase & restore the children sold by their parents. This means the numbers of children sold could not have been large - so it was a moderate famine. -- [NB, Shahjehan reigned from 1628-1658; also see below.]
Anti-imperialist: Rice & wheat harvests in the rest of India were good in the previous three years [before 1876-78.] But much of the surplus was exported to England. 'Londoners were in effect eating India's bread' (p.26.)
Historical inquiry:- The majority of the population throughout India ate _millets_, or poor-quality rice. Millets are a tough crop & _very_ coarse in quality (believe me.) They were never export crops, nor was poor-quality rice, nor could they ever be. Wheat is a luxury foodgrain & very delicate in its requirements. Therefore only a smaller proportion of total food output & acreage consists of wheat. It grows in central & northern India. The _small_ quantities of wheat exported were of the very best quality & came from the Central Provinces & the Punjab. The first lay about 300 miles north of the famine areas in the South; the second was over a thousand miles to the northwest. In the Central Provinces, the wheat area _declined_ from about a third of the total area under food (in 1867) to about 28% (in 1875.) The proportion under millets remained constant at around 42%. The famine areas were mainly ‘dry-crop’ areas, without irrigation. And the main rice-exporting region in Asia then & now, was (is) Thailand; its rice is of the very highest quality.
So ‘Londoners’ ate a delicate, specialised export crop. The majority of Indians ate coarse millets.
Anti-imperialist:- ‘The taxes that financed the railroads also crushed the ryots’ [small farmers] (p.27.)
Historical inquiry:- The railways were built by British investors, as part of the world-wide process of railway-building, utilising British expertise, steel, & rolling stock, in the 19th century. By the late 1870s, the major part of the Indian railway network was complete, although construction of branch & feeder lines continued. By 1913, it was the world’s fifth largest network. Goods carried increased from just under 5 million tons in 1873 to 81 million tons in 1914. The goods were almost overwhelmingly agricultural commodities, including foodgrains. The Government of India paid interest (to British investors) out of railway revenues. No taxes burdened Indians for _this_ purpose.
Anti-imperialism:- Merchants used newly-constructed railroads to ship grain _out_ of drought-stricken areas to central depots, safe from rioters. In the cotton-exporting districts of the Deccan, forest enclosures & the displacement of ‘gram’ [chick-peas] by cotton, greatly reduced food security ( p. 26. )
Historical inquiry:- Before the railways were built, all regions _had_ to grow all crops, regardless of soil & climate -- transport facilities were that inadequate/nonexistent. Thus food crops were grown in unsuitable areas. Outputs were low, quality was poor, & the crops were highly vulnerable. Railway transport made regional specialisation & _exchange_ possible. In areas best suited to food crops, farmers increased the land under food & decreased the land under cash crops. In areas best suited to non-food crops, farmers did the opposite. Thus food output increased, quality improved, & risk was reduced. Interregional & national markets in foodgrains developed for the first time. Cash crops expanded spectacularly, increasing farmers’ incomes substantially. -- Incidentally, the railway network included ‘famine’ lines, built specifically for access to famine-prone regions.
Anti-colonialism:- Indians were unable to purchase subsistence partly because of the steep rise in the cost of imports -- the [silver] rupee was depreciating against the gold standard currencies (p.27.) The worsening depression in world trade spread misery & ignited discontent in the cotton-exporting districts of the Deccan….(p.26.)
Historical inquiry:- There are a number of distinct developments here.
A. Food imports into India were insignificant, except for Bengal, which imported rice from Burma when harvests declined [Davis does mention this.] Famines gradually fell in severity & then disappeared as output rose & as markets were integrated. Crop failures are usually localised; increased & improved transport allowed stocks to be brought in from neighbouring areas. And stocks rose with output. Further, the railways permitted temporary migration. When crops failed in a district, virtually all the able-bodied men moved to urban or to other rural areas to seek temporary work. Their earnings sustained them & their families & some of their cattle. These incomes also enabled the purchase of more cattle & of seed-grain in due course.
The officials of the Government of India also instituted a Famine Code (after 1878.) When crops failed, taxes were remittied & loans made for the purchase of cattle & seed-grain.
B. The silver currencies began depreciating in the late 1860s. But gold prices also declined from around 1873 to 1896 -- so import prices remained steady for the silver countries. Trade, output, employment -- the world economy -- expanded spectacularly during these years. In the silver areas, with the fall in silver against gold, exports & export incomes rose substantially. The bulk of Indian exports were agricultural commodities -- produced by _small farmers_: jute (from Bengal), cotton, hides & skins, bones, wheat, oilseeds & oilcake, wool, spices, dyes, tobacco, sugar. These exports rose dramatically; they went to the gold standard countries.
C. The Deccan riots of _1875_ occurred over other issues altogether. Cotton was exported to the expanding textile industries of Britain & Japan (both on the gold standard) & to the burgeoning Indian textile industries, mainly in Bombay.
Overall: India, as all the LDCs, participated in the world economic growth of the 19th century. This meant considerable improvement in the lives of the mass of the population.
I hope this has shown the difference between: (1) inquiring into the history of the people of India & (2) using sticks to beat imperialists with.
------------------------------------------------------
Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts, London, Verso 2002.
Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, London & Bombay, Asia Publishing House 1963, p. 107 (quote), pp.100-110, p. 105 fn 35 (moderate scarcity.)
The evil practices of colonialists are perpetrated on their hapless victims. Anti-imperialists then expose this wickedness. Thus colonialists & their opponents are the two protagonists in the story. The victims are there because, obviously, the imperialists' depravity must have an object - it is directed at someone. Victims, then, provide the sticks to beat the colonialists with.
Within this framework, a *pro-colonial case is the only other stance conceivable: how colonialism benefited the colonised. And on both sides, the criteria applied are those that apply to any sort of case: how strong/weak is it? How well does this material support/undermine the case?
Historical inquiry is, of course, an entirely distinct enterprise. It proceeds from a *specific interest in the *object of the inquiry. It poses a series of questions to ensure that all proceeds systematically; that the various influences at work are sorted out; etc. These questions include:- what is the overall historical context of this particular inquiry? What are the main 'sources' for the inquiry? How reliable/otherwise are they? How do the results of the inquiry fit into the overall context? into cognate areas of investigation? -- & so on. Thus historical inquiry is about *particulars -- gaining some sort of knowledge of, & perhaps even mastery over, certain particulars. And so such study is _specialised_.
The object of the exercise here, is to contrast the _respective outcomes_ of:- case-building & historical inquiry, - in *one specific instance. Consideration of the former will provide a bridge to the particular history involved. I take some points from a recent anti-colonialist work (from a Marxist, Mike Davis, see below), used in a review against Ferguson's book (above.) The points relate to the Madras (or Deccan) famine of 1876-78, in India.
Here, it is necessary to say that the historical study of India is highly specialised. To do the job properly requires a close knowledge of its many regions, especially their commercial geography, as also acquaintance with a vast number of specific, very complex circumstances. - This is merely to underline how different the two enterprises are: the study of Indian history, & fashioning an anti-imperial account.
The anti-imperialist points to various precipitating/exacerbating circumstances (relating to the famine), brought on by imperialism. Firstly, the latter broke up a pre-colonial harmony:
Merchants & the ‘cash nexus’ largely replaced the ‘traditional system of household & village grain reserves regulated by complex networks of patrimonial obligation’ (p. 26.)
(Tell that to the untouchables & the lower castes in the villages.) -- Historical inquiry:- Irfan Habib, the leading historian of Mughal India (& an Indian patriot), refers to ‘the _usual_ scenes of horror marking a _serious_ famine’ (in the 16th & 17th centuries; my emphasis.) These horrific pictures included: large numbers of unburied corpses; cannibalism; ‘choked’ slave markets; the sale of children by their parents. Neighbouring areas experienced significant looting. Entire regions were deserted & cultivation took years to recover.
There were less serious famines as well. One episode of ‘scarcity’ had only a limited impact (he feels.) The criterion? Shahjehan, the Mughal emperor, ordered Mughal officials to repurchase & restore the children sold by their parents. This means the numbers of children sold could not have been large - so it was a moderate famine. -- [NB, Shahjehan reigned from 1628-1658; also see below.]
Anti-imperialist: Rice & wheat harvests in the rest of India were good in the previous three years [before 1876-78.] But much of the surplus was exported to England. 'Londoners were in effect eating India's bread' (p.26.)
Historical inquiry:- The majority of the population throughout India ate _millets_, or poor-quality rice. Millets are a tough crop & _very_ coarse in quality (believe me.) They were never export crops, nor was poor-quality rice, nor could they ever be. Wheat is a luxury foodgrain & very delicate in its requirements. Therefore only a smaller proportion of total food output & acreage consists of wheat. It grows in central & northern India. The _small_ quantities of wheat exported were of the very best quality & came from the Central Provinces & the Punjab. The first lay about 300 miles north of the famine areas in the South; the second was over a thousand miles to the northwest. In the Central Provinces, the wheat area _declined_ from about a third of the total area under food (in 1867) to about 28% (in 1875.) The proportion under millets remained constant at around 42%. The famine areas were mainly ‘dry-crop’ areas, without irrigation. And the main rice-exporting region in Asia then & now, was (is) Thailand; its rice is of the very highest quality.
So ‘Londoners’ ate a delicate, specialised export crop. The majority of Indians ate coarse millets.
Anti-imperialist:- ‘The taxes that financed the railroads also crushed the ryots’ [small farmers] (p.27.)
Historical inquiry:- The railways were built by British investors, as part of the world-wide process of railway-building, utilising British expertise, steel, & rolling stock, in the 19th century. By the late 1870s, the major part of the Indian railway network was complete, although construction of branch & feeder lines continued. By 1913, it was the world’s fifth largest network. Goods carried increased from just under 5 million tons in 1873 to 81 million tons in 1914. The goods were almost overwhelmingly agricultural commodities, including foodgrains. The Government of India paid interest (to British investors) out of railway revenues. No taxes burdened Indians for _this_ purpose.
Anti-imperialism:- Merchants used newly-constructed railroads to ship grain _out_ of drought-stricken areas to central depots, safe from rioters. In the cotton-exporting districts of the Deccan, forest enclosures & the displacement of ‘gram’ [chick-peas] by cotton, greatly reduced food security ( p. 26. )
Historical inquiry:- Before the railways were built, all regions _had_ to grow all crops, regardless of soil & climate -- transport facilities were that inadequate/nonexistent. Thus food crops were grown in unsuitable areas. Outputs were low, quality was poor, & the crops were highly vulnerable. Railway transport made regional specialisation & _exchange_ possible. In areas best suited to food crops, farmers increased the land under food & decreased the land under cash crops. In areas best suited to non-food crops, farmers did the opposite. Thus food output increased, quality improved, & risk was reduced. Interregional & national markets in foodgrains developed for the first time. Cash crops expanded spectacularly, increasing farmers’ incomes substantially. -- Incidentally, the railway network included ‘famine’ lines, built specifically for access to famine-prone regions.
Anti-colonialism:- Indians were unable to purchase subsistence partly because of the steep rise in the cost of imports -- the [silver] rupee was depreciating against the gold standard currencies (p.27.) The worsening depression in world trade spread misery & ignited discontent in the cotton-exporting districts of the Deccan….(p.26.)
Historical inquiry:- There are a number of distinct developments here.
A. Food imports into India were insignificant, except for Bengal, which imported rice from Burma when harvests declined [Davis does mention this.] Famines gradually fell in severity & then disappeared as output rose & as markets were integrated. Crop failures are usually localised; increased & improved transport allowed stocks to be brought in from neighbouring areas. And stocks rose with output. Further, the railways permitted temporary migration. When crops failed in a district, virtually all the able-bodied men moved to urban or to other rural areas to seek temporary work. Their earnings sustained them & their families & some of their cattle. These incomes also enabled the purchase of more cattle & of seed-grain in due course.
The officials of the Government of India also instituted a Famine Code (after 1878.) When crops failed, taxes were remittied & loans made for the purchase of cattle & seed-grain.
B. The silver currencies began depreciating in the late 1860s. But gold prices also declined from around 1873 to 1896 -- so import prices remained steady for the silver countries. Trade, output, employment -- the world economy -- expanded spectacularly during these years. In the silver areas, with the fall in silver against gold, exports & export incomes rose substantially. The bulk of Indian exports were agricultural commodities -- produced by _small farmers_: jute (from Bengal), cotton, hides & skins, bones, wheat, oilseeds & oilcake, wool, spices, dyes, tobacco, sugar. These exports rose dramatically; they went to the gold standard countries.
C. The Deccan riots of _1875_ occurred over other issues altogether. Cotton was exported to the expanding textile industries of Britain & Japan (both on the gold standard) & to the burgeoning Indian textile industries, mainly in Bombay.
Overall: India, as all the LDCs, participated in the world economic growth of the 19th century. This meant considerable improvement in the lives of the mass of the population.
I hope this has shown the difference between: (1) inquiring into the history of the people of India & (2) using sticks to beat imperialists with.
------------------------------------------------------
Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts, London, Verso 2002.
Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, London & Bombay, Asia Publishing House 1963, p. 107 (quote), pp.100-110, p. 105 fn 35 (moderate scarcity.)