Question

“The idea of Fundamental unity of India is much older than British rule.”
Explain this statement with reference to the text ‘Fundamental Unity of
India’.

Answer 1

It is much old as there was already an inherent unity in Indian civilization.

• The author argued that while “Indian nationalism” gained more prominence under British rule, its origins and existence predate the arrival of the British in India.
• He said that Bharat saw itself as a cultural entity with a federation of sub-identities that maintained their identity while contributing equally to the evolution of a core or popular culture.
• To back up his claim, Mookerji used the Vedas and Puranas as historical records to map the emergence of collective shared geography as well as their veneration and pilgrimage of the geography and its constituents.
• In contrast to the colonial notion that British rule had unified India, the author proposed that Indian society as it emerged in ancient India had an intrinsic unity.