‘I Have Scinde’: Orientalism and Guilt 1
‘I Have Scinde’: Orientalism and Guilt 1
This chapter reflects on Orientalism, anti-Orientalism, and guilt with regards to Britain’s moral ambivalence about its conquest of India. It begins with a discussion of the story about General Sir Charles James Fox Napier, commander of Sind (or Scinde/Sindh), an area that became part of Pakistan in 1947. In 1843, Napier crushed a resistance and conquered the territory for the British Empire. After the capture of Scinde, Napier sent a despatch to Lord Ellenborough consisting of the words—“Peccavi,” “I have Scinde” (sinned). This statement has a double meaning: “I have gained possession of a place called Scinde” and “I have sinned” (that is, “I have committed a moral error”). The chapter examines the meaning of this message and considers the anti-Orientalist argument that the British “invented” or “imagined” India, or Hinduism. It also considers Edward Said’s views about Kim, a novel written by Rudyard Kipling.
Keywords: guilt, Orientalism, anti-Orientalism, guilt, Britain, conquest, India, Charles James Fox Napier, Sind, Rudyard Kipling
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