Orientalism

Introduction

Orientalists have been emphasizing academic knowledge growth among the Asian community regarding their local languages and cultures. Interestingly, the majority of British historians undoubtedly consider Indian culture as one of the most cultural societies in the world. 

Orientalism emerged during the European Enlightenment and the Arab World’s colonialism. As a justification for European colonialism, orientalism relied on a historical narrative that was skewed to the West’s advantage, in which the West framed “the East” as vastly inferior and in need of Western intervention or “rescue.”

The Tradition of Orientalism

• William Jones, who is a well-known linguist and law professional, decided to take in-depth knowledge of Indian law, history, and philosophy

• For this, he started to study all the ancient texts of India on the topics of morality, religious matters, rules and regulations, medicine, mathematics, and others 

• Further, Nathaniel Halhed and Henry Thomas Colebrooke also showed interest in learning Indian dialogues, including Sanskrit, and uncovering numerous ancient Indian heritage

• William Jones collaborated with these two English men to establish the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Further, they started publishing journals on their learnings with the name Asiatic Researches

• Aside from them, many organizations also started believing that Muslims and Hindus should be educated in their native languages instead of learning everything in any foreign dialect

• In 1781 a madrasa was set up in Kolkata. It promoted orientalism by delivering education to students in their native languages, including Persian and Arabic

Yara students learned about the loss of Islam, Persian, and Arabs. 

• In 1791 in Banaras, a Hinduism-based college was set up to promote the learning of the oldest Sanskrit text to benefit the country’s administration. All this led to the development of vernacular education

Development of Vernacular education

In the early 19th century, rich zamindars were the controllers of vernacular education development. 

To the West, the “Orient” is inferior, a cultural idea invented by Westerners that has come to be considered “truth” about the cultures and peoples from Turkey to Japan.

Through the media, the notion of contemporary culture’s superiority over other cultures is indoctrinated in the population as a standard. The concept of Western cultural superiority was not only created by the economic potential of the West, but it was also reinforced by the non-Western world through self-orientalism, and as a result, it was able to survive and thrive.

Development status in the years 1835, 1836 and 1838

As per William Adams’s report, there was numerous disappearance in the vernacular education system in Bengal and Bihar. 

In 1835, Macaulay’s minute favoured education in the English language and unsupported the vernacular education development. 

Development Status in Years 1843 to 53 

The northwest frontier province’s Lieutenant Governor attempted to boast the vernacular schools’ development. In every tahsildar, he was successful in setting up one model government school. 

Development Status in the Years 1853- 54

Lord Dalhousie, who was then the governor-general of India, showed support for the development of vernacular education.

A dispatch was formulated by Charles Wood for Indian academic growth in the year 1854. The dispatch focused on improving the quality of vernacular education with the help of the implementation of organized hierarchy from the primary schools for vernacular education in numerous villages. 

There was an establishment of Anglo vernacular colleges as well as High schools in Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay. 

Development Status Between 1854-71

There was a remarkable increase in the number of vernacular schools across the country during this period as the British government supported it. 

Criticism of Orientalism

Some personalities work completely against the idea of orientalism, like James mill. As per him, Indians must be educated about the advanced technical and scientific learnings similar to the West. 

The Occident’s perception of Asia, particularly the Middle East, as enigmatic yet ultimately inferior to the West. This mindset, which has its origins in colonialism, continues to influence Western socio-cultural and economic policies toward non-Western continents, frequently leading to the exploitation of other regions’ natural and human resources.

Thomas Babington Macaulay was another individual who criticized the idea. According to him, Indian people were uncivilized, and by teaching them the English language, they could be made more civilized. 

In the year 1835, the English education act came into operation. It intended to make the English language the only e dialect student should learn to get higher education. It also intended to demotivate the establishment of oriental institutions in the country.

Conclusion  

During election seasons in Turkey, it has been noticed that right-wing parties, in particular, commonly incorporate orientalist features in campaign ads. Large ancient mosque figures and Ottoman themes are common examples of orientalist components.

Orientalism has been a debated topic since the beginning. Although there is support for orientalism, English is dominating India’s education system even today.