J. R. Seeley's Lecture "The Indian Empire"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, as a secondary source document, Seeley's lecture "The Indian Empire" is a good example of its author's perception and interpretation of the making and evolution of the British Raj; the text offers a brief panorama of what Seeley calls the "monstrous enterprise". The author summarizes the key themes as (1) the conquest of India and the expansion of Greater Britain, (2) Seeley's vision of the processes at its origin, (3) the advantages and disadvantages of India as a dominion from a political and economic point of view, (4) the relationship between Britain and India and (5) a solution to the Indian question. The paper concludes that a historian not only describes historical facts but also strives to suggest future political actions; thus, history becomes a tool of politics.

From the Paper:

"From 1874 to the beginning of the 20th century, Britain added to her Empire 4 750 000 sq.m. inhabited by nearly 90 million people, who had a multitude of different languages and customs. At a time when the determination to hold British India became even greater, Seeley points out that the Punjab is superior in population to Spain in order to show on how great a scale British expansion had been carried out. Why would the British engage in large-scale expansion if it demanded such a considerable investment of resources and capital, in a part of the globe that seemed so removed from Englishness' Seeley seems to disapprove of the phenomenon that had actually begun with the first British expeditions to India and with Clive and Hastings (line 99 to 105). But acquisitions of larger territories were carried out much later, during the mid-18th century."

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