Title: A Study of History, Vol 8 – Contacts Between Civilizations
in Space – Heroic Ages
Author: Arnold
Joseph Toynbee
Publisher: Oxford
University Press, 1985 (First published 1954)
ISBN: 978-0-19-215216-9
Pages: 732
In this eighth volume of the
series on ‘A Study of History’, Toynbee analyzes the contacts between
civilizations in the Space domain, that is, the contacts between those
societies that are separated by a frontier in the form of a geographical
barrier like the sea or desert. The contacts between contemporary societies may
take the form of a military invention through the contraption of war, or in the
spiritual domain in the form of religion, literature or art. Whenever there is a
contact, intermingling between the opponents is bound to take place on the
cultural plane. The author describes a mechanism through which the cultural
assimilation is germinated on the soil of the assaulted society and the way in
which it spreads its roots. The defeated society first tries to imitate the
military techniques of the victor, by employing the same weapons, modes of
combat and drill of the soldiery. But this token adoption comes at a cost. A
society is proved to be incapable of copying only one aspect – in this case
military – of an alien civilization. The paraphernalia on other related spheres
gradually makes an entrance on the imitator’s bosom. Several examples are cited
to illustrate the point in a convincing manner. This volume is also an
excellent preface to the next one in which the contacts between civilizations
in the Time domain, in the form of Renaissances, are elucidated.
The interactions in the space
domain begins when a society in growth transmits its institutional ideas in the
spheres of culture, politics, economics and warfare towards the barbarians who
lie at the other end of a permeating border through which they willingly
assimilate the rays of civilization. This border, or limit, is not static. It
moves at the expense of the outsiders, as more and more of them will be incorporated
into the ambit of the growing civilization. Toynbee calls this border a ‘limen’, and bestows on it the status of
a benevolent feature of the growth phase of a society. But when disintegration
begins to set in, the initiative is lost on the part of the parent society’s
creative minority which will be usurped by a dominant minority who will move
the border outward again, but this time, by the use of coercion through force
of arms. This move is bound to generate opposition from the barbarians, but the
dominant minority continues to a stage where the border could just be
maintained inviolate through a long route of supply chain from the heart of its
domain. This border, being supported militarily, has to be constantly on the
guard against invasion from outside the pale. This static border is called a ‘limes’. Eventually the barbarians
acquire the art and technology of military science from the society and conquer
the parent society through forced annexation. Thus, the first stage between the
interactions of two societies over the geographical domain is very succinctly
spelt out.
About half of the volume is
concerned with the intercourse between modern Western Christendom and other
living specimens of the species called civilizations. The modern era was
inaugurated with the voyages of Columbus in 1492 and subjugation of the New
World. At that time, the West was culturally in a disadvantaged position, but
as the 20th century dawned, it spread its tentacles far and wide and
there was literally no society on the face of the earth that was not influenced
in some way by the West. There is no comparison between this comprehensive
domination by a particular civilization with anything that went before it. In
that sense, setting aside a large chunk of the available space is justifiable.
Toynbee identifies the turn of the 18th century as the tipping
point, when the Western Civilization began to win the hearts of other peoples.
This was also the chronological point when religion took the back seat for the
first time. Religious schism in the 16th century between the
Protestants and Catholics resulted in a series of religious wars for about 150
years since, at the end of which both the contenders arrived at a modus vivendi
of the right to coexist. The failure of religion to assert itself, coupled with
the resurgence in scientific pursuits helped create a secular outlook. It was
only when the Western culture divested itself of the burden of an intolerant
religion in the flavours of Catholicism and Protestantism that they could
prompt people all over the planet to emulate their ways. The author gives a
detailed ringside view of the societies of Orthodox Christendom, Ottoman Islam,
Hindu and the Far Eastern Civilizations that came in contact with the West and
the thorough transformation each of these societies underwent as a result of
that crucial encounter.
The rendezvous between Medieval
Western Christendom and the Eastern Orthodox and Islamic civilizations during
the crusades helped to transfer the relic of Hellenic cultural artefacts and
works of literature, which was preserved in a medium of the Syriac and then in
Arabic language, to the West, where it flourished to perfection in the form of
the Renaissance that enlightened it two centuries later. A catalogue of
fruitful encounters in the ancient period is also listed. Toynbee further categorizes
the nature of response on the part of the assailed society as a result of
intrusion from the other. There are two kinds of options usually seen exercised
by people, which are termed Herodian and Zealotist. Both the terms are borrowed
from Jewish history and their rejoinder to their subjugation by Hellenism in
its Roman incarnation through force of arms. Herod, who ruled Palestine at that
time, exhibited a conciliatory mindset in which he cooperated with the
aggressors without seriously undermining the basic Jewish tenets. On the other
hand, the Zealots opposed the Romans tooth and nail and isolated themselves
against the rays of cultural dissemination that followed the conquest. In the
end, the violent ways of the Zealots undermined their, as well as the
peace-loving Herodians’ overtures and caused devastation to descend on their
holy land.
There are a few curious points to
note in this long volume. His intellectual antipathy to Edward Gibbon has been made
more than exposed in previous volumes, and it is no different in this one too.
This time, he accuses Gibbon ‘to be
fooled by Heroic poetry (of barbarianism) describing Romans as pigmies and
Northern Barbarians as giants”. This volume also contains a scathing
indictment of Zionism in establishing the Jewish home state of Israel on Arab
soil, by displacing the lawful inhabitants of Palestine. He accuses Jewry of
inflicting the same hard punishment which they themselves received from Nazis.
This passage is a shot in the arm of Palestinian fighters opposing the
installation of a Jewish state in their midst.
An insightful discussion on the
change of attitude of Englishmen stationed in India in the 18th
century who were at home in the country and shared its customs, to the ruling
elite of the next two centuries who maintained aloofness on all grounds. The
early English were indistinguishable from the Indian elite, and shared in their
culture, art and debauchery. They held durbars, maintained zenanas, raised
children by Indian wives and educated them in England. A romantic description
of the state of affairs is presented in William Dalrymple’s ‘The White Mughals’ (reviewed earlier inthis blog). But all this changed, around the turn of the 18th
century, when Wellesley began a campaign for suzerainty in the subcontinent
that culminated in 1858, when the Crown took over the administration of the
country from commercial entrepreneurs of the East India Company. Toynbee
ascribes many reasons for this change of heart. The superiority complex of the
victors in a military conflict naturally comes to mind. The reduction in
traveling time between England and India through the opening up first of a land way in Egypt and then through the opening of Suez Canal in 1869 is a factor
to reckon with. Improvement in speed of communication with the home country,
especially after telegraph was invented prompted many men to bring their wives
to their place of employment in India. The growth in the number of English
women was proportional to the rising aloofness of the white civil servant. He
was incorrupt and his manners irreproachable, but the man himself was
unapproachable for the native subjects. The author adds one more controversial
reason of his own discovery to the above list. He says that the British were
made to administer the Hindu society which was riddled with a caste system and
its hierarchical discrimination. In fact, the caste system is perfect for a
group of people who happens to be on its topmost echelon! Probably a whiff of
that inhuman system might have seeped into the foreigners’ psyche ruling the
country then. This point is further strengthened by the shown example of
Indonesia where the Dutch, who were also Protestant, maintained intimate
relationship with the Natives right till their ouster in the 20th
century. This aspect should form the subject of further study.
The book is highly recommended.
Rating: 4 Star
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