Orientalism and Race: Aryanism in the British Empire (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies)

This study traces the emergence and dissemination of Aryanism within the British Empire. The idea of an Aryan race became an important feature of imperial culture in the nineteenth century, feeding into debates in Britain, Ireland, India, and the Pacific. The global reach of the Aryan idea reflected the complex networks that enabled the global reach of British Imperialism. Tony Ballantyne charts the shifting meanings of Aryanism within these 'webs' of Empire. Cover 1 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 Map 12 Introduction: Aryanism and the Webs of Empire 13 1 The Emergence of Aryanism: Company Orientalism, Colonial Governance and Imperial Ethnology 30 Trade to dominion: the birth of Company Orientalism 32 Language and colonial power 34 Patronage and the institutional basis of colonial knowledge 35 Sir William Jones, Sanskrit and human origins 38 Language and cultural comparison 39 Colebrook and the Vedic golden age 42 The impact of Sanskritocentrism 44 Indocentrism: the Scottish Enlightenment in 'Further India' 45 Orientalism, the Irish Enlightenment and settler self-fashioning 47 Prichardian ethnology and the Anglo-Saxon revival 50 Max Müller and the Aryan theory 53 Aryans, India and 1857 56 Aryanism as an ethnological tool 60 Regional variation and the limits of racialization: Punjab 64 Conclusion 66 2 Indocentrism on the New Zealand Frontier: Geographies of Race, Empire and Nation 68 Pacific exploration and the question of origins 69 The Semitic Maori? 70 Richard Taylor and the emergence of Indocentrism 74 Indocentrism consolidated: Edward Shortland 78 Colonial science and philology 80 J. T. Thomson and the 'Barata' race 82 Tregear and the Aryan Maori 86 Conflict, consensus and synthesis: Indocentrism 1885–c. 1930 89 The death of Indocentrism: racial origins and the rise of nationalism 91 Conclusion 93 3 Systematizing Religion: from Tahiti to the Tat Khalsa 95 'Religion' 97 Presence and absence: Tahiti and New Zealand 99 A discourse of negation: the search for Maori religion 101 Missionary ethnography 102 Affirmation: religion in India 106 The structure of Brahmanical Hinduism: vaidik and laukik 107 Evangelical critiques of Hinduism 109 The 'jungle': Hinduism and ethnography 111 Sikhism: Nanak and the Indian 'Reformation' 114 Dissenting voices: Evangelical attacks on Sikhism 118 Macauliffe: the dialogics of Orientalism 121 Military recruitment and preserving Sikh identity 123 Conclusion 128 4 'Hello Ganesha!': Indocentrism and the Interpretation of Maori Religion 130 Material transformations and textualizing traditions 131 Fixing 'tradition' 134 Maui, evolution and comparative religion 136 Colonial comparative mythology 139 Hindu-centrism: Indian gods in the Pacific 141 Religion and the crisis of imperial authority 144 Maori phallic cults 146 Tapu, rank and caste 150 Religion and rationality: the Tohunga Suppression Act 154 Conclusion 156 5 Print, Literacy and the Recasting of Maori Identities 158 Historiographical models 159 Pre-colonial social structure and identity 161 Explorers and missionaries: a fatal impact? 162 The coming of print and Christianity 164 Literacy and social change: newspapers 166 Literacy: a social revolution? 168 The Bible and recasting Maori identity: Maori sectarianism 170 Christianity and unity: Kingitanga and its critics 173 Israelites not Aryans: the discourse of origins 176 Conclusion 179 6 The Politics of Language, Nation and Race: Hindu Identities in the Late Nineteenth Century 181 Sources: 'Arya' and the Vedas 182 Arya, religion and race 184 Dayananda Sarasvati and the Arya Samaj 188 Tilak and the rewriting of the history of civilization 191 'Arya', anti-colonialism and Hindu nationalism 193 Conclusion: Arya and the definition of Hindu identity 197 Conclusion: Knowledge, Empire, Globalization 200 Notes 209 Bibliography 247 Index 268 A 268 B 268 C 269 D 270 E 270 F 270 G 270 H 271 I 271 J 272 K 272 L 272 M 273 N 274 O 274 P 275 Q 275 R 275 S 276 T 277 U 277 V 278 W 278 Y 278 Z 278 This study of British colonialism examines the place of the idea of an Aryan race in cultural and political debtes within the British Empire from the 1760s through to the early twentieth century. An Aryan Empire traces the shifting interpretations of Aryansim, from its 'discovery' in Sanskrit tradition through to its prominent role in nationalist ideologies. Aryanism was not only a powerful idea in India and Britain, but it also became an important framework for discussions of Polynesian culture. But, asAn Aryan Empire demonstrates, indigenous groups found novel ways to rework this idea and constructed a powerful new vision of their past, present, and future. Most importantly, this study shows that debates over identity within the empire were energized by a complex series of imperial networks and cultural exchanges. These 'webs' of empire lie at the heart of this book Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction: Aryanism and the Webs of Empire....Pages 1-17 The Emergence of Aryanism: Company Orientalism, Colonial Governance and Imperial Ethnology....Pages 18-55 Indocentrism on the New Zealand Frontier: Geographies of Race, Empire and Nation....Pages 56-82 Systematizing Religion: from Tahiti to the Tat Khalsa....Pages 83-117 ‘Hello Ganesha!’: Indocentrism and the Interpretation of Maori Religion....Pages 118-145 Print, Literacy and the Recasting of Maori Identities....Pages 146-168 The Politics of Language, Nation and Race: Hindu Identities in the Late Nineteenth Century....Pages 169-187 Conclusion: Knowledge, Empire, Globalization....Pages 188-196 Back Matter....Pages 197-266 This is the undisputed best introduction to the history of the world-wide pattern of British activity in the nineteenth century, embracing its expansive spirit as well as its formal territorial empire. The dynamics of this extraordinary enterprise are considered broadly: the high-political concerns of strategy and international geopolitics are analyzed, as well as the economic dimension, missionary activity, and racial attitudes, together with a wide range of cultural aspects, including sport and the pursuit of sexual opportunity. Nor is the personal contribution of some of the leading Victorian figures neglected Orientalism and Race is a trailblazing transnational study of the relationship between racism and imperialism, tracing the emergence and dissemination of Aryanism within the British Empire. The global reach of the Aryan idea reflected the complex networks that enabled the global reach of British Imperialism The Idea Of An Aryan Race Became An Important Feature Of Imperial Culture In The 19th Century, Feeding Into Debates In Britain, Ireland, India, And The Pacific. This Study Traces The Emergence And Dissemination Of Aryanism Within The British Empire. Eric Wolf's insistence that historical writing should unravel the 'bundles of relationships' that constituted the past underpins this study of the complex networks that constituted the British empire.