why is the 18th century regarded as the darkest period in the history of india?
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A comprehensive debate on eighteenth century in IndiaAs we take an insight into the eighteenth century we must address issues connected with both pre colonial (pre 1750s) and colonial trends (post 1750 era).To be clear, we must delve into two major debates in the eighteenth century- one of them being somewhat concluded on- on whether the eighteenth century is fit to be referred to as a 'dark age'. Most colonial writers including the likes of James Mill and that of Indian aristocrats and historians like Jadunath Sarkar, Iswari Prasad and Tara Chand point out that this was in fact a twilight period that characterized by a decline in most areas of life- be it political, economic or cultural. However, more recently there has been a thorough revision of this view. KN Panikkar, CA Bayly, Muzaffar Alam, Chetan Singh point out further that this century was an extremely vibrant age with new trends and whims in cultural and commercial sectors of life.The next debate revolves around whether one must see eighteenth century on continuum, or whether there is a break in structure and trends in the 1750s. This topic of debate is active and historians like Irfan Habib, Athar Ali, Sushil Chaudhuri, Om Prakash suggest that the acquiring of political control by the British in the mid eighteenth century had far reaching consequences and effects which moulded and changed the structure of the Indian economy. However, CA Bayly and Rajat Dutta beg to differ. They suggest that there were no structural changes and that there was in fact a continuity from the first half of the eighteenth century into the second. This line of argument is referred to as the 'continuity thesis'.Historians don't only record events but also ensure that they comprehensively interpret the same. Thus, we will come across historians taking into consideration two important events concerning the history of eighteenth century. The years 1707 and 1757 are held in high significance and much is interpreted from both in the light of varied perspectives. 1707 signifies the death of Aurangzeb after which the steady decline of the Mughal Empire took place. 1757 signifies the victory in the battle of plassey after which the Britishers founded colonial raj in India.The Eighteenth century has always held great significance in the study of Indian history
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