South Asian Nationalism

1. South Asian Nationalism • March 18, 2014

2. Review • Which Southeast Asian country did the Japanese not occupy? • Who was Sukarno? • Who was Ho Chi Minh? • Do you see any relationship between the religion of country and the appeal of Communism there? (Was Communism strong in Islamic, Catholic, or Theravada Buddhist countries?) • In which Southeast Asian nation were nationalism and Communism the most closely linked? • In which Southeast Asian country was nationalism the weakest before 1945?

3. Impact of Japanese rule in Southeast Asia • Showed that the West was vulnerable --The British, the Dutch, the Americans, and the French had all been defeated by an Asian people. • The Japanese claimed to be liberating Southeast Asians from Western domination, and they actually brought some local people into their puppet governments.(They claimed to be promoting a “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.”) This gave local leaders a taste of self-government, which stimulated an even greater desire for self-rule.

4. the modern nation-state • The modern nation-state is different from the countries of the past on two counts: • it is supposed to be a government chosen by, and representing, the people it governs.(Trautmann, 183-84) • it should rule in such a way that it improves the lives of those it governs-----it should not be a predatory government. (We see movement toward governments improving the lives of those it governed under colonialism)

5. Changes in British Rule • Civil Service exams implemented-but the exams were held in London,not India! • A census required Indians to state their religious affiliation • The decline of Persian led to more publications in local languages, and the separation of Hindi from Urdu based on differences in writing. • The British introduced the notion of the rule of law, and some limited self-government (though not democracy)

6. India under the Raj • http://faculty.smcm.edu/rpfeingold/images/1919-1947ndia.jpg • http://projects.ecfs.org/eastwest/Images/1857_india.gif

7. Religious Change • Reform movements to “purify” Hinduism by “returning” to the ancient Vedic scriptures. (pp. 184-88) • Three of those reforms movements (Brahma Samaj, Arya Samaj, and the Vivekananda Society) have a presence in British Columbia today. • Reform movements in South Asian Islam, to discourage Muslims from going to shrines for Sufi saints. • Reform among the Sikhs: calls for Sikhs to stop participating in Hindu festivals • Printing press made religious books more available • Yoga is extracted from Hindu texts and taught overseas. • India is portrayed as superior to the West in things spiritual.

8. British rule and Indian nationalism • How did colonial rule inspire nationalism in India? • economic integration created a more tightly-knit nation, as did new transportation and communication technologies. • Western education for Indians also inspired nationalism. • The Indian National Congress was founded by a Brit in 1885. It slowly became a nationalist organization though it remained an example of elite nationalism until Gandhi came along (p. 191)

9. Sprouts of Nationalism • Hindu College founded in 1816--taught Western civilization in English. Led to the founding in 1886 of an Anglo-Vedic College run by Indians themselves. • 1875 First Indo-Muslim college founded. • Division of Bengal in 1905 created a lot of anger at the British.

10. Indian anger rises • The great famine of 1899-1902 • 7See Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World, pp.140-75 • This book is available electronically via the UBC Library. The map is on p. 163.

11. Other stimulants to nationalism • Anger over famine deaths in 1895-96 • growing social isolation of British (after their wives joined them) • growing gap between rich and poor • urbanization • Indian participation in World War I • The Amritsar massacre of 1919 (p. 193) • The swadeshi (buy Indian goods) movement was an early sign of popular anger at the British.

12. Nationalistic Organizations • 1885 --Indian National Congress founded. (pp. 190-91) • A later leader was Annie Besant, the head of the Theosophical Society. • Muslim League was founded in 1906. • At first these were elite organizations, not expressions of mass nationalism. (Trautmann, 191)

13. Nationalist leaders • Gandhi-- British-educated but used traditional symbols to rouse the masses. Created a non-violent protest movement (pp. 191-96) • Nehru--British-educated socialist. For him, non-violence was only a tactic. • Jinnah-- British-educated Muslim. (pp.196-99)He was concerned that Muslims would be dominated by Hindus in an independent India. Eventually he called for a separate Muslim state. • Bose--left the Congress to lead armed resistance to the British during World War II.

14. Early Indian Nationalists • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru • for images of Gandhi and Nehru, and of Nehru and Jinnah • For Gandhi with Jinnah, • http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gandhi_Jinnah_1944.jpg

15. Gandhi and the creation of mass nationalism in India • Gandhi: the Rise to Fame (part 3 of 8) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh1wXZd0CY

16. The Massacre in Amristar • Gandhi: the Rise to Fame (part 4 of 8) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQiqRvr9nI

17. Women in Colonial India • The British outlawed child marriage and the burning of widows alive. • A few women began to receive an education, but at a much lower rate than men did. • A few women were allowed to join men in voting for representatives to local assemblies. • Women joined in the demonstrations for independence, so the British would look bad when they beat women.

18. evaluating British rule • Stimulated the rise of a middle-class with a modern education, and of English as a language spoken by the educated elite across India • stimulated the rise of Indian nationalism, as well as Muslim nationalism. (British rule hardened religious divisions in India.) • allowed, but did not promote, the beginnings of industrialization. • Widened the gap between an educated urban elite and the poor and uneducated majority, who lived in villages.

19. Unfolding of Nationalism • British began slowly giving Indians limited roles in the government of India. In 1921 it allowed 5 million Indians to vote for representatives on provincial legislative assemblies. Eventually there were separate seats for Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. • There is a rise in Hindu-Muslim violence in the last decades of British rule, leading to stronger separatist sentiment. • The untouchables (Dalits), led by Dr. Ambedkar, fought for a political identity distinct from Hindus. • Communism had little appeal

20. Buddhist nationalism in Ceylon • The British took over Ceylon from the Dutch in 1801, making it Britain’s first crown colony. • They promoted commercial agriculture, including a plantation system. This eroded the traditional social system. • Buddhists responded to the British challenge to the traditional way of life by a) identifying Buddhism with Sinhalese national identity and b) reforming Buddhism to make it more modern (looking more like Protestant Christianity).

21. Ceylon (Sri Lanka) • Population grew from 700,000 to 7 million under British rule. • British introduced a plantation system, and imported Tamils (who were mostly Hindus) to work on those plantations. • Sinhalese responded to British Christianity by reforming their Buddhism to emphasis texts over “magical” rituals. • Buddhism was identified with the anti-British movement. • In 1919, the Ceylon National Congress appeared.

22. Ceylon moves toward independence • In 1919, in imitation of the Indian example, a Congress Party was founded in Ceylon. It included both Sinhalese (Buddhists) and Tamils (Hindus). • In the 1920s, the British implemented a plan for elections and limited self-government, which included plans for elected representatives of specific ethnic groups. • Tamils began to worry that in a majority-rule government they would be overpowered by the majority Sinhalese. • Universal suffrage in 1932, including women (first in Asia). • Independence gained in 1948.

23. Consequences of British Rule • The British created nationalism in South Asia--they created nations where no real nations had existed before. • And they created nationalists by educating them, but then refused to grant them equal treatment. • They hardened ethno-religious differences