To show briefly the state of things to-day--how widely Government and
the people have drifted apart, and how unsuitable Government has become.
To examine the cures proposed and indicate how useless they must be.
Finally, to show how alone Government and the people can be brought
into harmony and the legitimate desires of both be fulfilled.
Let us go back on history, and recount the past so that we may explain
the present.
Some hundreds of years ago--it varies for different places--there were
in India kingdoms that were stable and strong and free. The peoples
were enterprising, active and intelligent, and a high degree of
civilisation was common throughout all classes. I don't think it is
generally realised that five or six hundred years ago India was ahead
of Europe in most matters.
Gradually all this decayed. How and why it decayed this is not the
place to explain; there were several causes, the principal being
religion; but these systems of government all crumbled into dust. It
was not merely dynasties or ruling classes that passed, but that the
whole fabric of its civilisation became weakened and lifeless. The
organisms that held the people together dissolved, and instead of
kingdoms India became simply a mass of village communities, with no
organism above that.
Into this more or less anarchical country came the Moguls from the
north, and established an empire. This Empire was accepted for the
same reason that ours subsequently was accepted--because the people
wanted first of all peace; and as peace could only be found under a
strong government, and the Mogul was the only strong power, they
accepted it. They had, moreover, no organisations to enable them to
resist.
But this Mogul power had no root in the soil, not in any soil. It had
cut itself away from its base, and it could not become rooted in India.
It had, therefore, never any real vitality. The Normans in England
coalesced with the people after a time, and drew strength from them and
their institutions, but the Mogul Empire did not.
Nevertheless, it did to a certain extent enlist the people on its side,
accept them into its organism. There was in the early Emperors no
fanaticism. "As tolerant as Akbar" almost became a proverb. Hindus
and Mussulmans worked together in harmony for the benefit of the
Empire. That is why it succeeded at all, because the line of division
was almost ignored. Then came the fanatic Aurungzebe, who by his zeal
for religion began the destruction of the Empire, which came very
quickly. And when the ruling power was weakened and began to pass,
nothing remained. It was simply a government from above. It had built
up no system; it was the head of no organism. When its rulers weakened
there was nothing to support them. A king in England might be weak or
be deposed, but the nation's life went on because the organism was not
dependent entirely on the head. Its strength came from below, not
above.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account