The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c5.35

c5.35

It would seem that it is precisely this that the first carrier of modernity in India, the British Indian government, achieved to a remarkable, previously unknown degree. It is, of course, the old but traditionally unattainable ideal. What made its success possible was the simple fact that British rule over India was part of an expanding world power that had its center outside India and drew its main strength from its dominant position in the world trade backed up by a growing industry. Though it needed India in different ways, it was not solely dependent on India's agrarian resources. It could therefore afford to stay away from involvement in Indian society. In fact, it could not only afford to do so, it simply had to work hard to establish and maintain this privileged position, for the first decades of the East India Company's rule over Bengal had clearly shown that its resources and power were not safe from the danger of being drained away. Whatever the philosophy behind the code of rules and regulations of 1795, including the "Permanent Settlement" of the land revenue in Bengal, its aim was unmistakably to disengage the government from involvement in the local and regional segmentary order. The government's resources and power, including the use of force, were reserved and administered according to an ever-expanding, rational system of impersonal regulations.