J.S. Mill's Encounter with India

Book excerpt: John Stuart Mill worked for the East India Company in London for thirty-five years (1823-58), drafting many hundreds of dispatches for the guidance of British administrators in India. Historians have long been aware of Mill's involvement in British Indian government. This comprehensive effort brings together different strands of scholarship on Mill to determine the character of his role based on analyses of his draft despatches and comparisons of their practical and theoretical concerns with the broad themes of Mill's major writings on political philosophy and economics. The essays in this collection explore specific aspects of Mill's approach to Indian issues, including religion, law, education, and security, and also place him within the broader currents of utilitarianism. The contributors present different perspectives on the ideology in Mill's pragmatic work for the Company and his personal philosophy.