The Origins of Modern Historiography in India : Antiquarianism and Philology, 1780-1880

This book uncovers practices surrounding acts of collecting, surveying, and antiquarianism during British colonial rule in India. By examining these practices, this book traces the colonial conditions of the production of "sources," the forging of a new historical method, and the ascendance of positivist historiography in nineteenth-century India. Intellectual encounters abound in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century India comprising surveyors, collectors, antiquarians, philologists and their Indian assistants. The Origins of Modern Historiography in Indiauncovers everyday practices surrounding acts of collecting, surveying, and antiquarianism in the early period of British colonial rule in India. The new historical method construed by antiquarians, philologists and their assistants profoundly shaped access and perception of the Indian past. By examining early imperial strategies of producing historical knowledge, this book traces the colonial conditions of the production of "sources," the forging of a new historical method, and the ascendance of positivist historiography in nineteenth-century India "Intellectual encounters abound in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century India, comprising surveyors, collectors, antiquarians, philologists and their Indian assistants. The Origins of Modern Historiography in India uncovers everyday practices surrounding acts of collecting, surveying, and antiquarianism in the early period of British colonial rule in India. The new historical method construed by antiquarians, philologists, and their assistants profoundly shaped access and perception of the Indian past. By examining early imperial strategies of producing historical knowledge, this book traces the colonial conditions of the production of "sources," the forging of a new historical method, and the ascendance of positivist historiography in nineteenth-century India"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction: The Origins of Modern Historiography in India....Pages 1-30 Conquest and History: The Making of Colonial Archives....Pages 31-55 Colin Mackenzie and the Search for History....Pages 57-85 The Kavali Brothers: Native Intellectuals in Early Colonial Madras....Pages 87-121 Colin Mackenzie’s Archival Project and the Telugu Historical Record....Pages 123-149 Colonial Philology and the Progressive History of Telugu....Pages 151-177 Conclusion....Pages 179-184 Back Matter....Pages 185-261