South Asian Nationalism

Review Which Southeast Asian country was not occupied by the Japanese?
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 country was nationalism the weakest before 1945?

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.

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, )
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 even under colonialism movement toward governments improving the lives of those they
governed.)

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)

Religious Change
Reform movements to “purify” Hinduism by “returning” to the ancient Vedic scriptures. (pp )
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.

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 It slowly became a nationalist organization though it
remained an example of elite nationalism until Gandhi came along (p. 191)

Sprouts of Nationalism
Hindu College founded in 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.

Other stimulants to nationalism

Anger over famine deaths in
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.
Nationalistic Organizations
Indian National Congress founded (pp )
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)

Nationalist Leaders
Gandhi-- British-educated but used traditional symbols to rouse the masses. Created a non- violent protest
movement (pp )
Nehru--British-educated socialist. For him, non- violence was only a tactic.
Jinnah-- British-educated Muslim. (pp )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.

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.

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.

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, led by Dr. Ambedkar, fought for a political identity distinct from Hindus.
Communism had little appeal.

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).

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.

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.

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

Nationalism is a complex phenomenon and it may have different bases and expressions in different
situations. As a political tool it may incorporate diffèrent symbols and values and may contain positive
as well as negative connotations. Nationalism has been a strong force of political expressions in the
western countries that differs from the nationalism in developing countries in many ways. In South Asia
nationalism took roots during the struggle against the colonial rulers. The question of nationality and
nationalism has been tedious in South Asia due to the complex nature of society, politico-economic
discriminations and divergence, etc. The regional and ethno-cultural issues have been significant in
South Asia. Therefore, there have been subnationalistic tendencies in these countries. This situation
has also been interpreted as great nationalism and little nationalism. Nationalism has obtained different
shapes and expressions in South Asian countries, such as secular nationalism, lingua-cultural
nationalism, religious nationalism, linguistic nationalism, aggressive nationalism, etc. Nationalism has
succeeded in attaining the objective of unity in diversity but it has also proved to be a divisive force.
Whether nationalism has relevance in the context of globalisation and privatization is an important
issue. In the context of South Asia one would argue that nationalism has relevance as a tool of political
expressions.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41856240