British Intellectual Currents in India

Orientalists – The Custodians of Ancient Knowledge

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British in India were not a single-minded block. Within their administration, there existed different schools of thought on how to govern this vast and culturally rich land.

One such school was called the Orientalists.

The term Orientalist simply means a scholar who possesses deep knowledge of the languages, cultures, and traditions of Asia (Orient in European terminology referred to the East). These were not people who dismissed Indian civilisation as “backward” — rather, they looked at it with genuine respect, sometimes even awe.

Core Belief of Orientalists

They believed that India had already reached the peak of its civilisation in the ancient period. The problem, in their eyes, was that over time, this brilliance had declined — not that India lacked greatness.

So, their mission was almost like that of cultural archaeologists:

• Rediscover the ancient sacred and legal texts of Hindus and Muslims.
• Master Indian languages like Sanskrit and Persian.
• Translate these works into English so that they could be studied widely.
• Preserve India’s ancient heritage for both scholarly and administrative purposes.

Their Policy Approach

Orientalists argued that British rule in India should be rooted in Indian traditions and customs, not forcibly replaced by Western systems.

They believed:

1. Ancient customs should guide governance.
2. Indian learning should be encouraged over Western learning.
3. Institutions should be created for the study of Sanskrit, Persian, and ancient Indian literature.

Major Initiatives

• Warren Hastings (Governor-General) – Founded Calcutta Madrassa (1781) for teaching Muslim law.
• Jonathan Duncan – Established a Sanskrit College at Varanasi (1791) for Hindu philosophy and law.
• William Jones – Founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784) for research and translation of Indian texts.

Key Orientalist Figures & Contributions

1. Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765–1837)

• Known as the first great Sanskrit scholar of Europe.
• Came to India in 1782, served in various administrative and academic roles, and mastered Sanskrit.
• Appointed in 1805 by Lord Wellesley as honorary professor of Hindu law and Sanskrit at the College of Fort William.
• Works:
  • A Digest of Hindu Law on Contracts and Succession – based on Sanskrit sources.
  • Translated Mitakshara (by Vijnaneshwara) and Dayabhaga (by Jimutavahana) under the title Law of Inheritance.
  • Wrote Sanskrit Grammar and Essay on the Vedas.

2. Nathaniel Halhed (1751–1830)

• English Orientalist and grammarian.
• First person to write a Bengali grammar using Bengali texts and script.
• Close associate of Warren Hastings.
• Major Works:
  • A Code of Gentoo Laws (1776) – a digest of Hindu law originally compiled in Sanskrit by eleven Brahmin pundits → translated to Persian → translated to English by Halhed.
  • A Grammar of the Bengal Language (1778).

3. William Jones (1746–1794)

• Judge at the Supreme Court of Calcutta, passionate about Indian history and literature.
• Founded Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784, along with other Orientalists.
• Started Asiatick Researches, a journal for scholarly work on Indian culture.
• Translations:
  • Manusmriti
  • Abhijnana Shakuntalam (Kalidasa’s play)
• His associate Wilkins translated the Bhagavad Gita into English.

4. Jonathan Duncan (1756–1811)

• Resident at Benares (1788) and later Governor of Bombay (1795–1811).
• Founding member of Asiatic Society of Bengal.
• Established Sanskrit College at Varanasi in 1791.

UPSC Insights:

• The Orientalists represent the first phase of British cultural policy, which respected indigenous traditions and sought to integrate them into governance.
• Later, this approach would be challenged by the Anglicists, who wanted Western education and culture to replace traditional learning.
• Understanding Orientalist thought helps us trace the shift in British educational policy in India, which became a point of political and social change.

Alright, let’s now move from the Orientalists to their ideological rivals — the Anglicists — and understand this shift as if we’re tracing a debate inside the British Raj’s own mind.

The Anglicists – Advocates of Westernisation

If the Orientalists were like respectful guests who wanted to blend in with India’s cultural traditions, the Anglicists were more like reformers with a missionary zeal — convinced that India’s ancient learning was outdated, unscientific, and irrelevant for a modern world.

Where the Orientalists saw preservation, the Anglicists saw obsolescence.
Where the Orientalists said “Let’s govern India through Indian culture,” the Anglicists said, “Let’s reform India by replacing Indian culture with Western ideas.”

Core Belief of Anglicists

• Knowledge of the East (India, Arabia, etc.) was full of errors and lacked the scientific spirit.
• Indians, they argued, needed exposure to Western science, technology, philosophy, and literature rather than being confined to poetry or sacred scriptures.
• The West, in their eyes, represented progress; the East represented stagnation.

Key Figures & Their Ideas

1. James Mill (1773–1836)

• A Scottish historian, economist, and philosopher — one of the founders of the Ricardian school of economics.
• Authored A History of British India (1817), which became extremely influential in shaping colonial thinking.
• Divided Indian history into three periods:
  1. Hindu
  2. Muslim
  3. British
     (This classification was arguably flawed because multiple religions coexisted in each period; it also reduced history to the religion of rulers.)

Mill’s Eurocentric Lens

• Saw all Asian societies as being at a lower stage of civilisation than Europe.
• Painted pre-British India as a land of despotism, religious intolerance, caste oppression, and superstition.
• Believed British conquest was essential for India’s progress — to bring European manners, arts, institutions, and laws.
• Viewed British rule as civilising and progressive, and considered pre-British India a dark age.

2. Thomas Macaulay (1800–1859)

• Served as the first Law Member of the Governor-General’s Council in 1834.
• Architect of introducing Western-style institutional education in India.
• Famously declared:

“A single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.”

This quote encapsulates his belief in the intellectual superiority of the West.

Colonial Perceptions of Indian Civilisation

• Saw India as uncivilised and in need of Westernisation.
• Criticised public spending on Oriental learning, calling it of “no practical use.”
• Argued for teaching English, so that Indians could:
  • Access the finest literature of the West.
  • Learn about Western science and philosophy.
  • Develop the intellectual tools to participate in the modern world.

Practical Pragmatism of the Orientalists

Interestingly, the Orientalists’ approach under leaders like Warren Hastings was not purely driven by cultural respect.
It also had political motives:

• Training British officials in local languages and customs helped them govern more effectively.
• Knowledge of Indian society made it easier to win over local elites and understand social codes.
• This “non-interference” stance also helped avoid unnecessary conflicts while the British were still consolidating power.

So, while the Orientalists may have admired Indian civilisation, their policies were also tools of governance, not just acts of scholarship.

Orientalists vs. Anglicists – A Summary of the Debate

Aspect	Orientalists	Anglicists
View on Indian Knowledge	Rich, to be preserved and used for governance	Outdated, to be replaced
Key Figures	Warren Hastings, William Jones, Colebrooke, Halhed	James Mill, Thomas Macaulay
Language of Instruction	Sanskrit, Persian	English
Goal	Rule through Indian traditions	Reform India through Westernisation
Political Logic	Gain local trust, understand society	Create a Western-educated class loyal to the British

Why This Debate Matters in History

This clash between Orientalists and Anglicists wasn’t just about education policy — it was about the cultural direction of colonial India.

• Orientalist phase: Respect and preservation of Indian traditions (1780s–1820s).
• Anglicist shift: Introduction of Western education and values (1830s onwards).

The result? By 1835, Macaulay’s famous Minute on Education would firmly set the course for English-medium, Western-oriented education in India — a legacy that still shapes our system today.

Alright — next we will be moving into a bigger picture framework of how British policy-makers thought about India. So, let’s move on to the next section.