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Chapter 1

1 How, When and Where

Fill in the Blanks

1) In the common-sense notion, history was synonymous with ________.

2) History is certainly about changes that occur over ________. It is about finding out how

things happened?

3) The first map of India was made by ______________, 1782 on request of Robert Clive.

4) ______________, an enthusiastic supporter of British conquest of India, he saw preparation of

maps as essential to the process of domination.

5) Indians willingly gave over their ancient texts to ___________ the symbol of British power

as if asking her to become the protector of ________ ________.6) Sometimes it is actually incorrect to fix ________dates to processes that happen over a

period of time.

7) We cannot fix one single date on which British rule was established, or the national movement

started, or changes took place within the economy and society. All these things happened over a

stretch of ________.

8) We continue to associate history with a string of ________ as there was a time when history

was an account of battles and big events; and about rulers and their policies.

9) The dates become vital because we focus on a particular set of ________ as important.

10) In the histories written by British historians in India, the rule of each ___________-

___________ was important. These histories began with the rule of the first Governor-General,

___________ ___________, and ended with the last Viceroy, ________ ______________. The

events in life-history of Hastings, ___________, ___________, ___________, ___________,

___________, ___________, ___________, ___________, ___________, Irwin were important.

It was a seemingly never-ending succession of Governor- Generals and Viceroys. All the dates in

these history books were linked to these personalities to their activities, policies, achievements.

11) Old ______________ help us understand how markets for new products were created and

new tastes were popularised.

12) The 1922 advertisement for ________ _____ suggests that royalty all over the world is

associated with this tea.

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13) The third son of Queen Victoria of Britain, Prince ________ was given the title of Duke of

Connaught.

14) In the ___________ that revolve around the life of British Governor-Generals, the activities

of Indians simply do not fit, they have no space.

15) In 1817, ___________, a Scottish economist and political philosopher, published a massive

three-volume work, A History of British India. In this he divided Indian history into three

periods ________, ________ and ___________. This periodisation came to be widely

accepted.

16) James Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a ________ level of civilisation than

Europe. According to his telling of history, before the British came to India, Hindu and Muslim

________ ruled the country. Religious ______________, caste ________ and ______________

practices dominated social life.

17) ___________ ___________ became the first Governor-General of India in ________.

18) ___________ suggested that the British should conquer all the territories in India to ensure

the enlightenment and happiness of the Indian people as India was not capable of progress

without British help.

19) In above idea of history, British rule represented all the forces of ___________ and

___________. The period before British rule was one of ___________.

20) Moving away from British classification, historians have usually divided Indian history into

________, ___________ and ___________.

21) Modern period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity ________,

________, ___________, ________ and ___________.

22) ___________ was a term used to describe a society where these features of modern society

did not exist.

23) The above periodism can not be accepted as in British rule also, people neither have

equality, freedom or liberty nor was the period one of economic growth and progress. Many

historians therefore refer to this period as ___________.

24) When the subjugation of one country by another, it leads to different kinds of ___________,

___________, ________ and ________ changes, we refer to the process as colonisation.

25) One important source for writing history is the ________ ________ of the British

administration.

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26) The British believed that the act of writing was important, therefore, every ______________,

________, ______________, ___________, ______________ had to be clearly written up. This

conviction produced an administrative culture of memos, notings and reports.

27) The British also felt that all important documents and letters needed to be carefully

preserved. So they set up ________ ________ attached to all administrative institutions.

28) The village tahsildars office, the collectorate, the commissioners office, the provincial

secretariats, the lawcourts all had their record rooms. Specialised institutions like

___________ and ___________ were also established to preserve important records.

29) Letters and memos that moved from one branch of the administration to another in the early

years of the nineteenth century can still be read in the ___________.

30) In the early years of the nineteenth century these documents were carefully copied out and

beautifully written by ______________ that is, by those who specialised in the art of beautiful

writing.

31) By the middle of the nineteenth century, with the spread of ___________, multiple copies of

these records were printed as proceedings of each government department.

32) The ___________ ___________ of India came up in the 1920s When New Delhi was built,

the National ___________ and the National ___________ were both located close to the

Viceregal Palace. This location reflects the importance these institutions had in British

imagination.

33) The practice of ___________ also became common under the colonial administration. The

British believed that a country had to be properly known before it could be effectively

administered.

34) By the early nineteenth century detailed surveys were being carried out to ________ the

entire country.

35) In the villages, ___________ surveys were conducted. The effort was to know the

______________, the ________ quality, the ________, the ________, the local ___________,

and the ___________pattern all the facts seen as necessary to know about to administer the

region.

36) From the end of the nineteenth century, ________operations were held every ten years.

These prepared detailed records of the number of people in all the provinces of India, noting

information on ________, ___________ and ___________.

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37) There were many other surveys ___________ surveys, ___________ surveys,

______________ surveys, ______________ surveys, ________ surveys.

38) ___________ ________ and ___________ ________museums established by the British

collected plant specimens and information about their uses. Local artists were asked to draw

pictures of these specimens.

39) The ________ records tell us what the officials thought, what they were interested in, and

what they wished to preserve for posterity.

40) Other sources includes ___________ of people, ___________ of pilgrims and travellers,

______________ of important personalities, and popular booklets that were sold in the local

bazaars.

41) As printing spread, ___________ were published and issues were debated in public. Leaders

and reformers wrote to spread their ideas, poets and novelists wrote to express their feelings. All

these sources, however, were produced by those who were literate.

42) ___________ provide accounts of the movements in different parts of the country.

Lets recall

1. State whether true or false:

(a) James Mill divided Indian history into three periods Hindu, Muslim, Christian.

(b) Official documents help us understand what the people of the country think.

(c) The British thought surveys were important for effective administration.

Lets discuss

2. What is the problem with the periodisation of Indian history that James Mill offers?

3. Why did the British preserve official documents?

4. How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in

police reports?

Lets do

5. Can you think of examples of surveys in your world today? Think about how toy companies

get information about what young people enjoy playing with or how the government finds out

about the number of young people in school. What can a historian derive from such surveys?

Lets imagine

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Imagine that you are a historian wanting to find out about how agriculture changed in a remote

tribal area after independence. List the different ways in which you would find information on

this.

Extra Questions:

1) Can we not write about the history of British period in a different way?

2) How do we focus on the activities of different groups and classes in Indian society within the

format of this history of Governor-Generals?

3) What are