Old Delhi and the Origins of ‘Modern’ South Asia

In a Vast History, Starting in the Middle

Written vedic texts in the first millennium BCE

Origins of several of the world’s great religions: Hinduism and Buddhism, not to mention Sikhism

Several notable dynastic traditions: Gupta, Cholan, Mughal

Also crucial to the understanding of the beginning of a changing global economy (disruption of Indian textiles)

European colonial conquest and rule: British East India Company

Independence: Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah

Religious/political radicalism: India/Pakistan tensions

The End of Old Delhi Straddles many historical themes

The End of the Mughal Dynasty

Shift in British Colonial Rule

Rallying cry for Independence Movements

Origins of modern Islamic/Hindu/Sikh animosity

Setting: A Rising and a Setting Sun

The first English endeavor in South Asia: British East India Company

From textiles to conquest

Mughal Decline from the 17th century to 19th century

The Last Mughal Emperor: Bahadur Shah II (henceforth “Zafar”)

Setting: Islamic and Hindu Relationships under Mughal Rule

General Model: Islamic tribute empire with Muslim emperor ruling over Hindu principalities

Akbar and the legacy of tolerance

Aurangzeb and Islamic orthodoxy

Less relevant after the slow decline in the 18th century

Zafar himself-Sufi

Setting: Evolving British Attitudes

Evolving relationships in the military reflective of generational differences and changing British attitudes

First generation British officers and administrators enthusiastic about South Asian Culture: Orientalist

Second generation: pragmatists and evangelists

Religion Evangelical Christians

Hindus

Mughal tradition of a flexible, perhaps cosmopolitan, Islam (Zafar himself was a mystic)

More orthodox Muslims (outside court)

The Military British Military presence

British Officers“Sepoys”-High caste Brahman Hindus

Successful campaigns initially and mutual trust

Later generation British officers held different attitudes

The controversy of the Enfield Rifle

Rebellion Begins in the military ranks

(Mostly) Hindu soldiers march to Delhi

Initial days of violence

Zafar petitioned for his approval-political legitimacy of the uprising across religious lines

The Last Mughal Emperor trapped between two forces of history

Faction emerge across and between religions, castes, and political interests

British Revenge Violent reprisal visited upon Delhi

Zafar imprisoned and the Mughal line broken

Great Britain remembers the “Sepoy Rebellion” as a warning: Hardening of the empire

Hindus and Muslims remember the uprising◦ 1) Evidence of the brutality of British Imperial

Rule◦ 2) Reason to doubt each other in political

struggles against the Empire

Legacies Fundamental change in British Colonial Rule in India: The British Raj

The Queen would rule directly (through a Governor-General)

No more influence by Orientalists

Pragmatists take a hard line

“The Company” gives way to a more direct form of rule

No more Mughal intermediaries

Use of the Gurkhas (Nepal)

Authoritarianism: Amritsar Massacre of 1919 (More than a 1000 die at Dyer’s orders)

Legacies II By the end of the turn of the 20th century nascent independence movements amongst Hindus and Muslims

Initially divided regionally and along religious and cultural lines

Indian National Congress begins in the last two decades of the 19th century-educated elites

Gandhi comes from South Africa in 1915-mass appeal and garners

Muslims and Hindus work together initially (Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah)

Suspicion, negotiation, partition in 1947