18世纪末英国东方学家对印度形象的建构

Image of India Constructed by British Orientalists in the Late 18th Century

18世纪之前印度在英国人心目中是一个富裕的国家,但多有想象的成分。进入18世纪之后,随着英国实力的不断增强,英国的印度形象日益负面。在首任英属印度总督沃伦·黑斯廷斯的推动下,18世纪末英国涌现出一大批东方学家,对印度的历史、语言、法律及社会风俗等诸多方面进行了开创性研究,这使得英国的印度形象有了_学术基础。不过这些研究多侧重于对印度古代文明的研究,并塑造出有着光辉传统文化却在莫卧儿帝国统治之下日趋衰落、需要具有共同文化渊源的英国来拯救的印度形象。印度辉煌的古代文明与当时英国殖民统治的需要,为18世纪末英国东方学家的印度研究及其形象建构提供了条件。反过来,这种形象建构服务于英国对印度分而治之的殖民统治策略,扩大了印度不同群体间的隔阂,并埋下印巴分治的种子。

Before the 18th Century, India was a rich country in the eyes of the British, but this image had many imaginative ingredients. Afterwards, the image of India became increasingly negative with the growing strength of Britain. In the late 18th Century, a large number of British Orientalists emerged, promoted by the first British India governor, Warren Hastings. They conducted pioneering studies on India’s history, language, law and social customs and other aspects, and laid the academic foundation of the British impression of India. However, these studies mainly focused on India ancient civilization, and shaped the image of India which had a brilliant traditional culture but declined under the Mughal Empire rule, and needed to be saved by the British which shared a common cultural root. The great ancient civilization of India and the need of British colonial rule provided the basis for the study and construction of the image of India. In turn, the construction served the British divide-and-conquer colonial strategy, expanded the gaps between different groups in India, and embedded the seed of India-Pakistan partition.