The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century c4.s5.t5.16

c4.s5.t5.16

Though it is not fair to compare individuals and to speculate on the motivations which move them, it does seem that at this stage Sir Philip Hartog had feelings similar to those experienced by W.H. Moreland after the latter had read Vincent Smith's observations (in his book on *Akbar the Great Mogul*) that 'the hired landless labourer in the time of Akbar and Jahangir probably had more to eat in ordinary years than he has now.'⁷³ In reviewing the book, Moreland had then said, 'Mr Vincent Smith's authority in Indian History is so deservedly great that this statement, if allowed to stand unquestioned, will probably pass quickly into a dogma of the schools; before it does so, I venture to plead for further examination of the data.'⁷⁴ And from then on, Moreland seems to have set himself the task of countering such a 'heretical view, and of stopping it from becoming a dogma of the schools.'