James Mill's History of British India in Its Intellectual Context
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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. JAMES MILL'S HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA IN ITS INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT By Jeng-Guo Chen A Thesis Submitted for the PhD Degree The University of Edinburgh 2000 ABSTRACT This thesis argues that James Mill's History of British India is, on the one hand, intellectually linked to the Scottish Enlightenment, while, on the other hand, moves beyond that intellectual tradition in the post-French Revolution age. This thesis makes three central claims. First, it argues that in reacting to Montesqueiu's idea of oriental society, the contributors to the Scottish Enlightenment used ideas of moral philosophy, philosophical history and political economy in order to create an image of a wealthy Asia whose societies possessed barbarous social manners. Some new writings about Asian societies that were published in the 1790s adopted Montesquieu' s views of oriental societies, and started to consider the history of manners and of political institutions as the true criteria of the state of civilisation. These works criticised some Asian social manners, such as female slavery, and questioned previous assumptions about the high civilisation of Indian and Chinese societies. This thesis argues that Mill's History, following William Robertson's History ofAmerica, was based on a study of the historical mind to interpret the texts published in the 1790s and the early nineteenth century. Second, this thesis argues that Mill adopted Francis Jeffrey's idea of semi-barbarism in his study of India. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, William Alexander and Francis J effrey started to think of history in the context of a tri -stadia! theory, which was more idealist and less materialist than the earlier four-stages theory. Mill tried to develop a holistic view of Asian society. In so doing, he came to criticise the British government's mistaken mercantilist view of government, which he regarded as unsuitable for the conditions of Indian society. Following Adam Smith's moral philosophy, and inspired by the socio-economic progress of North America, Mill suggested that the primary goals for the British government in India should be to improve its agriculture and to secure social freedom. This thesis also concludes that the discussions about Chinese society played an important part in shaping Mill's view of the concept of semi-barbarism. The theory of semi-barbarism helped Mill to reject the cultural ideology of Hindu superiority over Muslim societies. Lastly, this thesis argues that Mill's History was influenced by and sought to accommodate Benthamite Utilitarianism. Mill believed the supposed semi-barbarous and problematic native of Indian society could be reformed without following the steps taken by European history or institutions. He prescribed a powerful state for India in order to remove the mercantilist view of government, and to execute administrative and judicial reforms. This thesis concludes that, while Scottish philosophical history helped Mill to create a critique of the British government's attempts to govern India as a commercial society, Benthamite Utilitarianism taught Mill to see history from a teleological viewpoint. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Ministry of Education in Taiwan financed my study, and I thank all those concerned in offering this invaluable financial support. This study was largely carried out at the Library of Edinburgh University, the National Library of Scotland, the British Library, the Library of University College London and the library at Senate House, University of London. I wish to express my thanks to all the librarians concerned, but particularly to the staff of the Special Collection section of the library at the University of Edinburgh and the North Reading Room of the National Library of Scotland, for their professionalism and their valuable assistance. Dr Nicholas Phillipson's characteristic enthusiasm for knowledge and the scholarly improvement of his students proved to be crucial to my progress. As my senior supervisor, he has been my instructor, to borrow John Pocock's words, my pilot, and control tower of the Scottish Enlightenment at different stages of my study at Edinburgh. I also wish to thank Dr Crispin Bates who shared his broad knowledge of historiography and Indian history with me at the early stages of my research. I owe a debt to Professor V. G. Kieman for his encouragement. He read the Introduction and Chapter 4 of this work and gave many useful comments. I only wish I could have responded to all his helpful comments and criticisms. I am greatly indebted to Professor Harry Dickinson. His understanding and consideration helped me to settle into the study environment of Edinburgh, and his great editorial skills and general knowledge of eighteenth-century British history benefited this study more than he might think. I wish to thank Ben Young for his Boethius' eyes proof-reading my chapters in the last stages. I have appreciated Donald Winch's useful introduction to and collection of Mill's economics writings and Robert Fenn's great list of Mill's review articles. No student of lames Mill can understate how much he has benefited from the perceptive studies of Dun can F orbes. I hope this study has contributed to his legacy. J ane Rendall' s pioneering article encouraged me to find out more about the influence of Scottish Enlightenment on the historiography of non-European societies. Geoffrey Camall read my texts meticulously and rescued me from some silly errors. For all the mistakes which remain, I alone am responsible. Last, but not the least, the supports of two ladies in my life is crucial. I cherish Juo Yung's company, which has always made my life in the UK much easier. Doing research certainly demands perseverance as well as intelligence. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of the woman who constantly demonstrated to me the virtue of perseverance through her life, my late mother, Liu Guo ( 1925-89). CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgement Introduction: James Mill on Trial. .......................................... pp. 1-24 Chapter 1: The Eighteenth-Century Scottish Literati's View of C.IVIISa 'I' t' IOn ....................................................................pp. 25-61 i. The context of the four stages theory ii. Savage society and civilisation in the four stages theory iii. The four stages theory and the history of manners iv. The four stages theory and the idea of progress v. The four stages theory and unintended consequences Chapter 2: The Scat's View of Asian Civilisation ...................... pp. 62-117 i. Politics, manners and economy: from Montesquieu to Adam Smith ii. Women and Asian civilisation iii. William Robertson, William Jones and Asian civilisation in the language of Political Economy iv. William Jones, Dugald Stewart and Asian civilisation Chapter 3: New Texts on Asian Civilisation and James Mill ........ pp. 118-144 i. Charles Grant and the New Texts on Indian Civilisation ii. Grant, Robertson and James Mill iii. New knowledge of Chinese civilisation Chapter 4: The Edinburgh Review (1802-1818) and James Mill ....................................................................pp. 145-182 i. The Edinburgh Review and Philosophical History ii. Jeffrey on Asian civilisation iii. Jeffrey's idea of semi-barbarism iv. Jeffrey and the Jonesian legacy v. The Jonesian legacy in the debate over the relative merits of Hinduism and Islam vi. Public opinion and the monopoly of knowledge of India vii. Conservative government in India Chapter 5: James Mill and the History of The History of British India ............................................................................ pp. 183-247 i. Mill's motive in writing the History ii. Reformation culture in The History of British India iii. Masculine culture and the superiority of Muslim society iv. James Mill's ideas of history and progress v. The history of the human mind: clear and distinct ideas vi. Cartesian and positivist historiography vii. The theory of semi-barbarism and Millian Orientalism viii. Moral philosophy and imperialist sentiment Chapter 6: The History of British India and Administrative Reform in British India .....................................................pp. 248-297 i. Utilitarian politics ii. The better government of India iii. Autonomous and panoptic government iv. Tensions in Mill's ideas for administrative reform of British India v. Stadia! history and legislation vi. Mill's criticism of Cornwallis's legal reforms vii. The emphasis on state power Conclusion ........................................................................pp. 298-307 Appendix: Correspondence between James Mill and Alexander Walker ...........................................................pp.