Reading Information

Bernard S. Cohn, “Chapter Five: Cloth, Clothes, and Colonialism: India in the Nineteenth Century”, Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge

Overview

In the beginning of chapter five, Cohen begins with a background on the value of turbans in relations to obedience. The turban and other Indian articles of clothing are associated with class, more specifically in Indian caste system. The British sought to take away the value of Indian clothing by over Orientalizing their clothes to the point where their clothes became ‘costumes’. The British at the same time, made a conscious effort not to present Indians with gifts that had the same commercial value. This is noted when the “prince of wales presented the [Indian] princes with copies of Max Muller’s English translation of the Rig-Veda. (Cohn, 126)

In later parts of the chapter, Cohn goes in detail the issues and controversy surrounding Indian and European style of dress. For example, the British’s insistence to regulate the wearing of certain garments of certain classes in the caste resulted in lash back from members of other classes. While the British downplayed the significance of Indian clothing, many Indians began to adopt European style of clothing, but at the same time, still maintained certain aspects of their Indian attire.

In the final portion of the chapter, Cohn highlights the shortcomings of the British in India in regards to accommodating themselves to India’s hot environment. Their attempt to accommodate themselves resulted in the Europeans adopting eerily similar clothing as the Indians. One prime example is the solar topi, which is “a cylindrical crown of large dimensions and a very broad brim.”  (Cohn, 157) The description of the topi is similar to a turban, which reinforces Cohn’s implied ideas that the British and the Indian began to swap some of their attires for each other.

This chapter tells readers that the British’s tactic of orientalizing Indian attire and introducing European attire to India resulted in an irreversible adoption of European clothing in India. This reading relates to imperialism because it displays a mother country’s regulations on clothing can have a negative effect on the colony.

Keywords

1. Sikh: “Sikhism was a religious movement that grew out of syncretic tendencies in theology and worship among Hindus and Muslims in north India in the fifteenth century.” (Cohn, 107) In regards to this chapter, Sikhs were known for their warrior capabilities and were sought out by the British army.
2. Sari: A female garment that resembled a dress with drapes covering the side of the body. The drape would be tossed over the shoulder.
3. Turban: A scarf wrapped on top of Sikh men in order to conceal the hair.

Argument

Cohen makes the argument that the relationship between India and Great Britain was strained because of the former’s insistence of controlling the latter’s daily routines such as clothing, has resulted and often antagonistic relationships towards Indians in India and abroad in Great Britain. This relationship continues to the present day in regards to Indians in Great Britain today.

Evidence

Cohn uses a primary source such as the first impressions of a Royal Navy doctor, who has just recently arrived to Calcutta. His flabbergasted response to the lack of clothing depicted by the Bengali boatman illustrates the British’s reaction to subsequent showcases of Indian attire. (Cohn, 130) The British’s flabbergasted response soon turns into a mockery and downplaying of Indian attire. This downplay of attire can be correlated back to the response of Great Britain, when a Sikh man was not allowed to wear his turban to work.

Cohn’s selection of evidence is reliable because in addition to the primary source mentioned above, Cohn makes use of secondary sources that comes from a variety of academic journals in anthropology. In addition, Cohn utilizes sources from the time period in which he is mentioning. For example, Cohn makes a reference to R.W. Falcon, author of the Handbook on the Sikhs for the Use of Regimental Officers. This work was published in 1896. (Cohn, 175) This shows that Cohn used evidence from not only the 20^th century from academic scholars, but from other scholars from the 17^th century.

Historiographical Debate

Cohn explicitly addresses the work of other scholars such as W.H. Russell (Cohn, 122), and N.C. Chaudhuri. (Cohn, 131) However, I am not sure how the author is situating himself in a wider scholarly debate. Cohn uses the works of the two authors in order to showcase the elaborate Indian clothing. It appears that the mentioning of these two scholars does not cause Cohn to situate himself on a side in a debate.

Contribution to Our Understanding of Colonial Rule

The assigned text on clothing made me understand that a mother country’s good intentions can often result in bad consequences for the colony. The British were looking out for themselves and their interests and thus created regulations it thought would be beneficial to themselves. However, these regulations back fired when the Indians began incorporating European style of clothing, which caused the Europeans to lose money. In addition, this chapter also made me aware of the power colonial powers have over their colony. The British were able to dictate specific clothing for certain groups of people in India, including princes. This breaking of tradition was essentially accomplished by the snap of the British’s fingers. The failure of the Indians to follow these regulations often resulted in scandal and shame. A prominent example is when the Gaewar of Baroda was criticized by London’s press for failing to follow the exact rules concerned with approaching King George V. (Cohn, 128) In a nutshell, this chapter made me aware of the vast powers of colonial power possessed over its colony.

Reading Information

Bernard S. Cohn, “Introduction”, “Chapter Three: Law and the Colonial State in India”, Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge

Overview

Cohn first introduces his readers to the various methods in which the British used in order to gain awareness of the vast territory of India, which they now controlled. To gain specific knowledge on their new colony, Cohn breaks down the British’s quest of knowledge into modalities. In each modality, Cohn explains how the British gained information in each sector of India, such as geography, population, the arts, and criminal justice. The investigation of each modality tells the readers that the British were keen on understanding the Indians in order to The time period in which Cohn is analyzing begins in 1765, when Cohn makes note of the “systematic survey of India” (Cohn, 7) and ends around the 1860s, when Cohn makes reference to “…the generation and transmission of knowledge of the antiquities of India…” (Cohn, 9) Cohn’s introduction relates to the general topic of colonialism/imperialism because the first step in which any colonial power acquire territory is to understand the land and its people in which it now controls.

In the final pages of the introduction, Cohn introduces the HRAF and its role in the “post- colonial world” (Cohn, 11) The HRAF main role was to deploy linguists during World War II to learn languages in freed territories. The HRAF used experts to understand the culture of these territories in order to understand and subsequently formulate U.S policy in those territories. Cohn uses the HRAF to make readers understand that the British’s use of modalities continued into the post-colonial world.

Keywords

1. Modality: A modality, in relation to Indian colonialism, is Great Britain’s procedure of conducting a broad overview of Indian culture and history to gain some awareness of the Indian subjects they now ruled over. Cohn mentions seven modalities: Historgraphic, Observational/ Travel, Survey, Enumerative, Museological, Surveillance, and Investigative.

2. HRAF: Human Relations File is an encyclopedia of people. The file classified people along class lines. The HRAF is viewed as a liaison between the Western world and the ‘native’ world.

3. “Epistemological Space”: An “epistemological space” in relation to Indian colonialism equates to obtaining knowledge on a specific area/territory. For example, in India, the British sought to grasp not only the Indian territory, but the Indian mind. This was achieved by several British scholars who studied India’s culture and languages.

Argument

Cohn argues that multiple modalities were used to gain intellectual and cultural awareness of the vastness of India and its people. These modalities Cohn argues was necessary to achieve domination of India.

Evidence

Cohn uses secondary sources across multiple disciplines such as Anthropology, Sociology, and History. In addition, Cohn uses some of his previous work to reinforce his ideas in the introduction. For example, Cohn’s article “The Census, Social Structure, and Objectification in South Asia” is used to expand on the ways the British government sought to understand the India’s social classes through censuses. (Cohn,8) Cohn’s selection of sources in the introduction is reliable because a significant number of his sources come for academic journals, which are reputed to be peer-reviewed. The evidence which Cohn presents to his readers does support his argument of Great Britain’s use of multiple modalities to gain awareness on the vastness of India’s various sectors such as criminal justice, art, history, and geography.

Historiographical Debate

Cohn explicitly addresses the work of anthropologists Mead and Ruth Benedict in order to illustrate that knowledge seeking scholars were significant in “…influencing U.S policy toward the emperor of Japan.” (Cohn, 14) Cohn makes reference to the Benedicts in order to reinforce his argument that scholarly work was necessary in order to efficiently run newly acquired territory.

Contribution to Our Understanding of Colonial Rule

Cohn’s introduction was necessary in order to understand the amount of manpower that was utilized in order to acquire as much knowledge on India. Imperialism to my understanding, can only be successful if the mother country makes the conscience effort to learn the history and the inner workings of newly acquired territory. The assigned text however, introduced the ways in which a colonial power obtains the necessary knowledge. The procurement of the necessary knowledge can have severe consequences. For example, the British “…were uncomfortable in the narrow confines of a city street, a bazaar, a mela – anywhere they were surrounded by their Indian subjects.” (Cohn,10) In other words, colonialism/imperialism sought to obtain knowledge on their colonies by minimizing actual contact with the people. This awkward distance can perhaps explain the major flaws of colonialism/imperialism. In addition, the introduction showcased that the British efforts on obtaining knowledge on their colony was adopted by other countries almost two centuries later. Imperialism never truly dies, it manifests and evolves into different forms.

Reading Information

Bernard S. Cohn, “Chapter Three: Law and the Colonial State in India”, Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge

Overview

In “Law and the Colonial State”, Cohn sheds light on the multiple problems the British faced while trying to overhaul the existing Indian law system with a system that would appease both the British and the Indians. Cohn discusses the obstacles the British, more specifically the East Indian Company, faced with the overhaul, such as the problems that a state already existed in India with well-established legal systems and codes, and the multiple and complicated languages which the Indians conversed in. (Cohn, 58)

Chapter 3, is broken into three arcs featuring three major characters who attempted to make the Indian legal system benefit both the British and the Indians. Warren Hastings, who was appointed governor-general in 1772 (Cohn, 60), embraced Indian law and tradition and sought to make the Indian law system religious oriented. Hastings solution to the dilemma was to create courts based off of Hindu and Muslim law. (Cohn, 62) But in order for these courts to become a reality, the archaic Mughal law codes had to be translated into English, which was undertaken by Sir William Jones and his successor Colebrooke. Despite their groundbreaking work in translating the law codes into English, ultimately by 1864, the hard work of Hastings, Jones, and Colebrooke becomes obsolete when “…English law [became] the law of India.” (Cohn, 75)

The geographic area and time period depicted in chapter three ranges across multiple decades and multiple locations in India. This is because Cohen mentions Hastings, Jones, and Warren; who influenced Indian-British law in overlapping but sometimes different decades and locations within India. Hastings’ era is roughly from 1772 to 1773 when he was governor-general in the Bengal territories (Cohn, 60).  Jones is mentioned in 1783, when he is “…appointed to the Crown Court in Calcutta…” (Cohn, 68) Mentions of Jones and his work ends with his death in 1794. (Cohn, 72) Finally, Colebrooke’s work towards translating Sanskrit legal texts into English, is mentioned between 1794-1795. (Cohn, 72)

Keywords

1. East India Company: The East India Company was a company based out of Great Britain that possessed quasi state power in India. Their responsibilities included but not limited to collecting taxes, maintaining a judicial system, and raising an army.

2. Theocracy: Ruled by religion.

3. Mughals: The Mughals ruled over the Indians and were extremely efficient in administration and legal codes. The British used the Mughals as reference in order to create an Indian-British legal system.

Argument

In chapter 3, Cohn argues that although great strides were taken towards creating a legal system that reflected India’s intricate history and culture, ultimately the British were unable to maintain the delicate balance of Hindu law and English common law. This resulted in a complete English system by 1864. (Cohn,75) To create a legal system which reflected the ideas of India, scholars, translators, and other legal experts, numerous Hindu law was translated from a vast number of languages such as Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic. (Cohn,61)

Evidence

In chapter three, Cohn uses secondary sources in order to depict the vast amount of research Hastings, Jones, and Colebrooke encountered while trying to create the hybrid British-Indian legal system. Examples of these secondary sources include Alexander Dow’s “translation of Ferishta’s History of Hindostan…”to make the readers aware that the Indians are able and accustomed to being introduced to new legal systems. (Cohn, 62) Cohn’s selection of evidence is reliable and it supports his argument because it conveys the difficulties in translating Hindu law.

Historiographical Debate

In chapter three, Cohn explicitly addresses the work of other scholars such as Rosane Rocher, but I am not sure how the Cohn is situating himself in a wider scholarly debate. Rocher is critical of Halhed’s translation of A Code of Gentoo Laws; or, Ordinations of the Pundits. She argues that Halhed’s translation did not help the “…further development of the East India Company’s legal system… [but rather] establishing indological studies in Europe…” (Cohn,67) This would go against Cohn’s argument that the translations helped make the Indian-British legal system a reality. It seems as if Cohn mentions Rocher as an alternative view and gives the readers an opportunity to make their own conclusions.

Contribution to Our Understanding of Colonial Rule

Chapter three was necessary to under the complexities of trying to create new systems that appeases both the mother country and the colony. However, this chapter shows that despite the best efforts of the mother country to make an accommodating system such as a legal system, if it becomes too complex, the mother country would resort back to its own tactics. This exhibits the vast powers and control the British had over the Indians and in a broader sense the amount of power imperial powers possessed. Chapter three also highlights the role of language in imperialism/colonialism. Language barriers can create a state of uneasiness. This is highlighted when Sir Jones stresses the importance that the “…honesty and competence of these [Indian] interpreters had to be guaranteed by careful selection and by pay adequate to place them above temptation.” (Cohn, 68) In other words, colonial powers are always wary of their colonies because of the risk of deception that can occur because of language barriers.

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