This paper argues that the concept of unified Indian civilisation and the inception of Indian nationalism were not fully indigenous phenomena, but were profoundly shaped by Western Orientalist discourse, and that India was never a homogenous entity prior to the Orientalist construct of a unified and monolithic ‘Indian Culture’, overlooking the relativity and the diverse spread of culture. Using a historical-analytical and comparative-textual methodology, this study examines how the orientalist scholars like William Jones and Max Muller constructed a romantic, spiritual, and unified image of India’s past, and how it was used as a foundation to create a national identity of India by the early nationalist thinkers, like Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay who later adopted, appropriated, and reinterpreted this colonial orientalist framework.
Raju Sarder (Wed,) studied this question.