Reading Information

Bernard S. Cohn, “Introduction,” Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge

Overview

This section introduces the reader to Great Britain’s (GB) colonial actions in India. Bernard Cohen provides various modalities that act as tools for GB’s expansion into India. Cohen focuses his work in this section towards the late 18^th century and the 19^th century. He discusses British India while noting areas such as Bengal in his focus to address how the British affected the various parts. In this section, Cohen analyzes different modalities that the British used. For example, in examining the “Historiographic modality,” Cohen notes that the British used this to attain the “history and practices of Indian states …the most valuable form of knowledge in which to build the colonial state” (5). Through these various modalities, the British began to understand Indian culture and efficiently inserted themselves into a dominating position. Unlike in many other cases, the British realized that they encountered a strong civilization with a defining state. In regards to the general topic of empire and colonialism, the British needed to adapt. Rather than solely treat India’s colonization as another military conquest, GB relied at first on the East India Company to establish a foothold. Here we see a state sponsored company take control of a nation. After the rebellions, the British would restructure and assume control. This acquisition shows us that the British were very adaptable and were able to use non-military means to occupy and control such a vast region.

Keywords

1. Historiographic Modality- It is Britain’s attempt to understand the history and practices of the Indian states
2. Observational/ Travel Modality- developing an understanding of India’s culture through traveling and observation, a tourist perspective.
3. The Survey Modality- The British developed projects to map India that would require serious exploration by surveyors.
4. The Enumerative Modality- The British relied on the census and other forms of record keeping to track their colony’s progress.
5. The Museological Modality- According to Cohen, British people tended to treat India as one large museum/zoo. As such, people would purchase a plethora of artifacts to bring back to the host country.
6. The Surveillance Modality- The British preferred to observe India’s culture at a distance. Rather than integrate up close in places like bazaars and the narrow streets, they would watch from a distance ex: behind a wall, on a horse, a carriage.

Argument

Cohen argues that when the British arrived in India, “they unknowingly and wittingly invaded and conquered not only a territory but an epistemological space as well” (4). Essentially, British had to overwhelm and absorb the culture completely, and not just conquer it.

Evidence

In addressing his introduction, he provides various examples to support and illustrate his “modalities.” He presents to the reader historical examples and notes that help showcase his position. As this is the introduction of his book, he doesn’t present all his evidence upfront. He briefly mentions cases and its surround background. I think that his presentation is sufficient enough to set the stage for a much more in-depth analysis.

Historiographical Debate

The author doesn’t explicitly address the work of other scholars, nor does he position himself in any position for a wider scholarly debate in the text.

Contribution to Our Understanding of Colonial Rule

Great Britain became a fantastic case study for historians to examine the difference between “ancient imperialism” and early modern colonialism. What we typically saw in ancient empire building was the core understanding that all who resisted were killed or enslaved. Conquered peoples were at the will of the conquerors, morality notwithstanding. In the early modern period, we see a moral justification in colonization. Furthermore, we also see the conquering nation, Great Britain in our case, take a serious interest towards the local customs and histories of India to maintain the most peaceful period of transition and rule. India proved itself as a new type of challenge for Great Britain. The East India Company, an extension of the British Empire, originally conducted this form of colonization and they had to be careful to observe local customs. Leaders of both the EIC and Great Britain understood that they couldn’t take the “broadsword” approach in dominating this new colony.