ORIENTALISMAs Vico says man makes his own history, that what they can know is what they have made. The idea of orientalism evolved over the years and was moulded to a great extent by the prevailing social, political, economic and geographical factors. Orientalism is a man-made distinction between the west, identified as the Occident and the east, known as the Orient. The relationship between occident and orient is a relationship of power. The orient was characterised as the inferior and uncivilised race. The occident being the refined race has the right to dominate and restructure the orient. It is the duty of the occident to civilise the orient and gift them modernity. Orientalism highlighted the notion of us and other, the Orient was projected as The Other. Orient was portrayed as exotic lands, where life was amidst romance, sex, wealth, exotic beings and extreme pleasures. It was presumed that east had a career for the western youth. This fascination about the Orient was a result of French imagination. The mythical representation of the orient germinated lustful desires in the minds of the west. Extensive research was done to know about the culture, history and practices of the Orient. After the political subordination of India, the British had to confront the problem of how to legitimise their rule over India. It is here that the whole understanding of orientalism goes through a process of change. The fascination about the orient is overrun by a relationship of power, which is in the hands of the more superior race, the occident.India was seen as a country of pagans, barbarians and infidels. It was hence the responsibility of the British to civilise us and bring rationality among the irrationals. Here we see the origin of the concept of white mans burden. India could be civilised only through political subordination and this state of subordination was beneficial for the Indians. Hence the rule of the white over the dark was thus justified.Gramsci asserts that ideas, persons and other cultures influence a particular culture not completely by force but mostly by consent. There was this general acceptance of the superiority of the occident over the orient. The concept of mai-baap was well constructed. The British played a fatherly role and had the right to punish us when we were wrong. It was not our body that the British wanted to rule over, it was our ideology that was important for them to rule. Hence the British control over India was not merely based on force but on a general acceptance. They controlled our minds. This notion strengthened the British hegemony over India.