The Concept (or Idea) of India

The Danger of Amateur History 

Although I am starting this post with Indian actor Saif Ali Khan's interview where he said "the concept of India didn't exist before the British. I don't intend to berate the actor, he is a successful actor but he is no expert in the field of history. Any celebrity blurting out some silly words is not a line in stone, especially in the age of social media where emotions can be riled up very easily and everyone has the right to free speech (including humble me). 

A brief geographical history of India

An article in an online magazine quotes Hindu scriptures that describe the concept of India in great detail with corresponding scriptures as proof. We don't need to go into the far depths of our historic past to understand the concept of India. This existed even when India was an amalgamation of over 500 princely states and provinces of British India. 

A brief political history of India

When the British made a hurried decision to move the date for an independent India from 1948 to 1947, it must have created chaos were "well into 1947, the princely states were frantically pitching options where they would remain independent." On 26 March 1947, the Diwan of the kingdom of Travancore asked Lord Mountbatten ‘whether His Majesty’s government would accept Travancore as a dominion. The viceroy replied he wasn't prepared to discuss that yet.

Patel was determined not to lose any more of the country—especially since he had agreed to Pakistan under extreme duress, and then only to stop the Balkanization of India. So a concept of India existed in the mind of the likes of Tilak, Gandhi, Savarkar, Nehru, and Patel. It was a concept that had been subjugated and trivialized by over a thousand-year rule of invaders. But Patel was fighting for this idea.

And this concept of India even existed in the minds and hearts of the rulers of the princely states. On 12 August 1947, the Raja of Dewas, Yashwant Rao Pawar, wrote to Patel to explain his delay in signing on (source: The Man Who Saved India: Sardar Patel by Hindol Sengupta). 

May I, at this juncture, make a personal appeal to you not misconstrue or misunderstand the attitude of those of us who have held out so far. The question of accession was of far reaching importance; and, naturally, the princes had their own personal and dynastic apprehensions. They had to safeguard the autonomy of their states, and, at the same time, contribute to the unification of the country.

The last few words are important to note, 'contribute to the unification of the country, so the concept of the country of India was well ingrained in his mind but the move from a monarchy, feudalism, etc. to a democratic dominion needed patience and time. Although the odds were strongly against the unification of the country, the leadership of Patel, supported by Nehru, Gandhi, and others ensured the concept of India was preserved for generations. 

A great many challenges were to follow the journey of India but on 15 August 1947 the concept of modern India materialized and the concept of ancient was preserved although it lost the beautiful valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan, a portion of Sunderbans, and other territories which were ancient India united by religion, tradition, and culture. 

Adi Shankara - A journey across historic India

A monk traveled in the 8th century to places that are considered to be difficult to access even today due to landslides, floods, dense forests, and extreme weather. His concept of India was firm from Kanyakumari to Srinagar! More about that later, but you can read about this monk, Adi Shankar, here.