Reading Information

Bernard Cohn, “Chapter 5: Cloth, Clothes, and Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century,” Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge”

Overview

The fifth chapter starts a discussion on another integral of any culture, clothing and traditions. Throughout this chapter Cohn describes the different groups within India and how clothing was one of the major ways in identifying each group. Clothing was a sign of social status, caste, and beliefs. A majority of the chapter is used to the discuss the importance of the turbans to the Sikhs. Turbans were part of the Sikh cultured that the British colonists decided to use in order to try identify all Indian people.  The British were also very serious about fashion and clothing, as they too saw it as a way for them to express the view of their culture. They saw their clothing as way to express power and authority within India and to help differentiate themselves with the locals. Differences in ideologies about clothing often led to some tensions between the Indians and the British. One particular aspect of the British attempt to assimilate the Indians into British clothing was trying to convince the Indian women to dress like British women. The British believed the Indian women were not dressed modestly enough. The British also implemented a uniform system for Indians.

Keywords

turban- sacred wrap around the head worn by Sikhs.

topi- headwear used by the British in order to help them identify themselves around India.

Khilat- special robe worn by a ruler that is meant to be passed on

Argument

The British tried to make their stamp on India through clothing. They tried to completely change the way the Indian women dressed. “British women newly arrived in India recorded their shock not only at the seminakedness of lower-status Indian household servants, who seemed constantly underfoot, dusting, sweeping, lounging about, or playing with the babalog (white children), but also at their free access to the bedrooms of the memsahibs as if they were non-males”(Cohn 130). They were in complete awe about how the women dressed and act and they wanted to change it immediately.

Evidence

The evidence Cohn used help explain the fact that people of India were not very found of what British were trying to do them with regards to clothing. “N.C. Chaudhuri has described how males who worked in Muhal courts on in British offices would wear Muslim dress, but followed the rule that such garments were “worn for work only, and never in personal life… Hindus put on Muslim costume for public appearance scrupulously put them off when going into the inner house, and for religious observances, and they would never dream of wearing anything but orthodox Hindu clothes.” (Cohn 130) This evidence shows that they were being a little spiteful and does effective support his argument.

Historiographical Debate

Cohn does explicitly state the work of other scholars. However as in previous chapters, he doesn’t seem to take a side.

Contribution to Our Understanding of a Colonial Rule.

This chapter proved to be another important step for me to better understand colonial rule. Never before have I studied a culture in which clothing is such a crucial part. It was extremely interesting to see the interactions of the British and the Indians because of clothing. To see the British try to almost completely change the way Indians dress, when a huge reason for their dress was because of the climate and their religion. I thought it was rather inhuman of them to try to strip them of their liberty of dress and force them to wear certain articles of clothing as a form of identification. The portion of the chapter that explained how Hindus would wear Muslim clothing but would feel extremely out of place and disgraced because it wasn’t their religious clothes.

Reading Information

Bernard Cohn, “Chapter 3: Laws and the Colonial State In India,” Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge”

Overview

The third chapter discusses a crucial part of the colonization process, the creation of laws and government within India. India was rather large in size and population. Their government and laws were formed out religion. What was different in India that British settlers weren’t accustomed to was a pre-established government. Ultimately the main conflict that arose was which nations laws would be used? Cohn explains throughout the chapter that the British had decided to learn what exactly were the Indian laws, translate them into English, and begin to better understand those laws. Interestingly enough, Cohn explains how many Brits made it through India translating and interpreting Indian laws, and some of them had differing views. For instance, H.T. Colebrooke “completed a translation of Jones’ Digest (Sir William Jones)” and “developed a quite different perception of the nature and function of Hindu Law” (Cohn 72). It was a common trend for English settlers to begin to read and translate Hindu works of religion and law. The chapter also discusses the formation of the East India Company. It was the central power in control of the territory of India. Warren Hastings was described to be as one of the more influential individuals during the colonization of India because of his role as governor/governor of the territory.

Keywords

Despot- the definite relationship between ruler and ruled.

Collector- individual responsible for portraying the British ideologies in India.

Mimamasa- the method of taking multiple texts and applying different interpretations to them. A form of argumentation or debate.

Argument

The British were extremely enlightened about what they found out when intensely studying the Hindu Law and the Indian government. Their enlightenment led to different interpretations of their law. “Jones, and especially his successor, Colebrooke, established a European conception of the nature of Hindu Law that was to influence the whole course of British and Indo-British thought and institutions dealing with the administration of justice down to the present.” (Cohn 71)

Evidence

The evidence Cohn uses to support his or her arguments is his explanation of how the British began to translate the Hindu works to better understand their form of law. He explains how interpreters such as William Jones and H.T. Colebrooke were able to gain a keen understanding of the Indian law. I think this evidence is reliable because these particular writers were able to become experts on Sanskrit, which proved to be an integral part of the Indian history. It does indeed effectively support the author’s argument.

Historiographical Debate

Cohn does explicitly state the work of other scholars. In this chapter he references Sir William Jones, Digest. He does not take a particular stance he just mentions the piece.

Contribution to Our Understanding of a Colonial Rule.

This chapter was another important stepping stone helping me better under colonial rule. The main viewpoint I took out of this reading was that the British took a different stance upon colonizing India. They were insistent on understanding the Indian culture and laws in depth. This reading showed me how different individuals, even successors, can have different viewpoints when interpreting a cultures works. I learned you can tell a lot about a culture by looking through their history and comprehending where their values come from. The British colonial rule of India, on the surface, seemed to be rather graceful because they were looking to intellectually connect with the Indian people, rather than hostilely take over them

Reading Information

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

Overview

The introduction starts by giving a general overview of how the European nations are beginning to become imperial powers. The Cohn gets into a deeper discussion on how the British were taking control of India. Throughout the chapter, Cohn stresses how very unknowledgeable and surprised the British were when they came into India. He continually stressed how unprepared they were for what they were going to see or how to handle their attempted conquest of India. Additionally, Cohn made it a point throughout the chapter to explain how the British were in a small conflict within themselves, how were they going to govern the Indian colony? Cohn also begins to go into detail on the Indian culture. He discusses their traditions, dress, and culture. Throughout this entire chapter, it is shown how the British used investigative modalities in order to help better understand the people of India. This reading in relates to colonialism because it explains the early stages of the British imperialism within India. It was evident throughout the entire chapter the British realized in order to be able to conquer this rich nation, they had to learn how to assimilate to the Indian culture up to a certain extent.

Keywords

Colony-  an area or region, that is under the control of a central powerhouse or foreign nation

Historiographic Modality- the modality that the British colonizers used to learn the history and cultural background of India

Surveillance Modality- the modality that the British used to record and classify a set of permanent features that distinguished an individual

Argument

The British were absolutely fascinated by the culture and lifestyle of the Indian people. They knew conquering this land would require a vast understanding of all the aspects of the culture, sometimes even how the nation’s revenue was made. “Starting in the 1770s in Bengal, the British began to investigate through what they called ‘enquiries,’ a list of specific questions to which they sought answers about how the revenue was assessed and collected. (Cohn 5)

Evidence

The author used many examples to show how important understanding the history of India was important to the British. He stressed the importance of understanding almost every aspect of their culture. One way was how the nation made its money.  “Starting in the 1770s in Bengal, the British began to investigate through what they called ‘enquiries,’ a list of specific questions to which they sought answers about how the revenue was assessed and collected. (Cohn 5). Another way was through the need of understanding the Indian civilization “typified in the major historical writings of Alexander Dow, Robert Orme, Charles Grant, Mark Wilkes….”Cohn does use these claims to help his arguments because it mentions other writings of major writers.

Historiographical Debate

Cohn doesn’t explicitly state the specific works of other authors/scholars. However he does mention how the British were able to begin learning about the Indian civilizations. He claims that one can read about these discoveries through the famous works of authors such as Alexander Dow, Robert Orme, and Charles Grant amongst others.

Contribution to Our Understanding of a Colonial Rule.

This reading really helped get a better grasp of what is a colonial rule. This chapter brought some new aspects of colonialism to my attention, specifically the use of modalities. For instance, prior to this reading I didn’t know any of the modalities explained in the chapter. I was absolutely intrigued by the fact that there are different types of modalities and each one plays a particular role in the effective colonization of a nation. To me it was apparent that it is necessary for a colonial power to learn and study the history of its new colony, however I did not expect to learn the importance of modalities such as museological and enumerative modalities. It was interesting to learn that a majority of the art and literature was discovered only through individuals and societies. Also the fact that the British conducted censuses on the Indian people was quiet fascinating, doing this so they could get a better understanding of the caste system.

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