India and National Identity
A NATION OF INTERESTS
India, the land of thousands years of history, hundreds of millions of people, a myriad of cultures, numerous religions and languages is also home to an puzzle of great importance, the Indian national identity. The quest for Indian national identity has set its mark in the Indian history for the last one hundred and fifty years. Think-thanks of both Indian and Western origin sought an answer to the question whether India had a unique nation. Often the differences between their arguments boiled down to their ideological differences, subsequent ways they defined the nation and treated the history of India. The intellectual debate as well as the very experiences of the people of the lands showed that India is a state without a nation. India does not have a Staatsvolk. The duality and the resulting inconsistency between Hindu and Hindi mean that Staatsvolk even in its crudest term cannot be applied here. Hindu, being a religious identity is exercised by 80% of the population where Hindi, the supposed language of the Hindus, is only spoken by 40% of the total population. An examination of the ideologies that surround the Indian national identity and ways in which these ideologies were exercised throughout history will prove valuable insights in understanding what makes the puzzle of Indian national identity so unique.
As the British settled in India unofficially in 1700s with the establishment of the East Indian company and then officially with the dissolution of EIC and the foundation of the British Raj, India’s fate in the years to come were to take a rather dramatic turn towards what would ultimately be the Indian republic in 1947. The physical presence of the English was further enhanced by their institutions and perceptions. The interaction between the English, who represented the Western line of thought, and the Indian, who in turn represented his own culture, largely shaped the Indian cultural and political life from then on.
India, the land of thousands years of history, hundreds of millions of people, a myriad of cultures, numerous religions and languages is also home to an puzzle of great importance, the Indian national identity. The quest for Indian national identity has set its mark in the Indian history for the last one hundred and fifty years. Think-thanks of both Indian and Western origin sought an answer to the question whether India had a unique nation. Often the differences between their arguments boiled down to their ideological differences, subsequent ways they defined the nation and treated the history of India. The intellectual debate as well as the very experiences of the people of the lands showed that India is a state without a nation. India does not have a Staatsvolk. The duality and the resulting inconsistency between Hindu and Hindi mean that Staatsvolk even in its crudest term cannot be applied here. Hindu, being a religious identity is exercised by 80% of the population where Hindi, the supposed language of the Hindus, is only spoken by 40% of the total population. An examination of the ideologies that surround the Indian national identity and ways in which these ideologies were exercised throughout history will prove valuable insights in understanding what makes the puzzle of Indian national identity so unique.
As the British settled in India unofficially in 1700s with the establishment of the East Indian company and then officially with the dissolution of EIC and the foundation of the British Raj, India’s fate in the years to come were to take a rather dramatic turn towards what would ultimately be the Indian republic in 1947. The physical presence of the English was further enhanced by their institutions and perceptions. The interaction between the English, who represented the Western line of thought, and the Indian, who in turn represented his own culture, largely shaped the Indian cultural and political life from then on.