British India, Divide and Rule Tactic
Artificial Divisions in Indian Society leading to communal violence
Sep 17, 2009
As an option for ruling their massive holding in India, the British operated what was perceived to be a tactic of divide and rule which, whilst paying off in the short term, gave massive impetus to the growth of violence and terrorism in India along religious and sectarian lines, culminating in the 'bloody' creation of the country of Pakistan.
Racial and Ethnic Stereotyping
Whilst it is generally accepted that the British encouraged division in Indian society along the lines of the caste system, the Victorian ethnologists also divided Indians into racial types with Dravidians as the most primitive (dark skins) and fair Indo Aryans, the higher and dominant castes, supposedly descended from the same racial stock as white Europeans
To the Victorian ethnologists, caste divisions in Indian society were an Indo Aryan invention to maintain the purity of their bloodline and retain the fair skin which was so prized as a mark of high status.
However, by the beginning of the twentieth century ethnologists, such as Ibbetson, were arguing tribal/ethnic affiliations, rather than caste, as the predominant divider within Indian society, with the capacity to move between castes possible, for example attainment of the high Rajput status, through the acquisition of land and power and the fact that women were able to move between castes by judicious marriage, and therefore enhance the status of their children.
Certainly, the tribal affiliation amongst the Sikh, Hindu and Muslims of the martial Jat group in the Punjab was strong enough for the formation of a Punjab Unionist Government which ruled the Punjab area for the twenty years leading up to 1947. Indeed it was not until the strength of the Muslim League and their election successes in 1946 forced Punjabi Jats to choose religious affiliation over ethnic grouping that the Punjab Unionist Government collapsed and all Punjab plunged into a state of civil war.
Religious Divisions in Indian Society between Hindu, Muslim and Sikh
Indeed, Indian society as a whole was further divided by the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh religion, and once again the British created further artificial fractures within Indian society by taking advantage of religious differences within their tactics of controlling the Empire. The 1909 grant of separate electorates to Muslims is seen as an example of this by creating a political electorate based purely upon religious difference.
Whilst the British perceived the growing politicisation of India and the growth of the Indian National Congress with concern realising that this would be the downfall of British India, they felt that the creation of separate electorates for Muslims would allow them to remain in command longer. It is a rare politician indeed who divides a country and electorate upon religious grounds, due to awareness of the capacity for religion to cause animosities. Indeed, communal rifts between the Muslims and Hindus became commonplace occurrences throughout India after this.
Race for Creation of Muslim Homeland, Pakistan
It is hardly surprising that the division of the Indian electorate on sectarian grounds began the race to communalism, violence and terrorism which ended in the creation of a separate Pakistan for Muslim Indians.
In conclusion, the few examples above illustrate the fact that the British utilised division within Indian society in order to maintain a semblance of control. To Winston Churchill, Viceroy Curzon and other empiricists, Britain was nothing without her Empire of which India was the “Jewel in the Crown” and although the British accepted that India would eventually achieve independence, this was certainly not anticipated for several hundred years.
Source:
Susan Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age
