Session 2: Power

Introduction

Empire placed the metropole and colony in a hierarchic relationship through which the centre exercised power over the periphery. The ‘sinews of power’, as some historians have termed them, were many and varied.

We can divide power into two distinct categories – hard and soft power. What do these terms mean? Hard power included the use of military and economic strength to dominate or influence. It was a form of coercion. Soft power included the use of cultural and political values to persuade or attract. It co-opted rather than coerced. Both could be in play simultaneously.

How did these forms of power apply to the formation, maintenance and eventual dismantling of empire?

Figure 1 Detail from the Shahinshah-nama (History of the King of Kings), from the late sixteenth century, depicting scholars at work in the observatorium of Taqi al-Din. The Ottomans used their cultural power to solidify their position as imperial rulers.

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A colour painting depicting Ottoman scholars at work in the beautifully tiled observatorium of Taqi al-Din. They wear turbans, and are using many different navigational aides and instruments including globes.

Figure 1 Detail from the Shahinshah-nama (History of the King of Kings), from the late sixteenth century, depicting scholars at work in ...

We can find different examples of the use of power across the history of empire. Let’s look at one example tracking different forms of power in one place. The East India Company exercised economic power to form a trade empire in the eighteenth century. Company official, Thomas Babington Macaulay’s (1800–59) Minute on Indian Education of 1835 established that British education should be taught to Indian peoples – this was a form of cultural power. Quelling the Indian Rebellion/Mutiny/First War of Independence of 1857 required the use of British military power. The rise of Indian nationalism which led eventually to independence was a form of anticolonial political power.

No one single form of power was enough to ensure the survival of an empire – it required the deployment of complex interlocking systems of power that could operate as mutually reinforcing ideas, policies, and practices.

Power was not monopolised by the coloniser – it could be wielded in important ways by the colonised as well. This raises important questions about agency, cooperation, and collaboration. Working with colonial regimes might offer some access to limited forms of power by proxy for the colonised.

This session examines some case studies to explore different forms of imperial power and their uses.

By the end of this session, you will:

• understand different forms of imperial power
• explore how those forms of power were used in different contexts.