Imperial policy, provincial practices

This article explores three interrelated themes in the history of British colonialism in nineteenth-century India by examining colonial language policy. These themes are: the tensions between imperial and provincial imperatives of colonial rule; the relationship between language and colonial governance; and the limits of colonial power. I argue in particular that the transformation in colonial language policy in the 1830s, from using Persian to using regional vernacular languages in provincial administration, was grounded in an ideology of efficient, just and legitimate rule. This shift to regional vernacular languages was implemented in all Company territories, and became a principle of the Company's rule in India. However, when the Punjab was annexed to the Company in 1849, the regional vernacular (Punjabi) was not adopted as the official language of provincial government. This article examines why language policy in the Punjab was different, arguing that the local contingencies of rule in the region trumped imperial ideology, and then examines the implications of language policy in colonial Punjab. Language policy had a profound impact on indigenous literary practices in colonial Punjab, yet this impact was in no way absolute. In marking out the arenas where colonial language policy reached its limits, this article also considers the limits of colonial power.