Racial Theories

The nineteenth century was the era of European imperialism. Many Europeans believed that they belonged to a superior race and that their religion. Christianity, was a superior religion compared to which all other religions were barbaric, particularly a religion like Hinduism which used many idols. 

The Europeans felt that it was their duty to covert non-Christians, sometimes even it required intimidation, force or bribery (we might add that this mentality and its effects are still in operation in a number of missionary efforts in India today). They saw non-Christians like children who had to be disciplined in order to become really civilized (that is, to become like the Europeans).

European thinkers of the era were dominated by a racial theory of man, which was interpreted primarily in terms of color.

The British thus, not surprisingly, looked upon the culture of India in a similar way as having been a land of a lighter-skinned or Aryan race (the North Indians), ruling a dark or Dravidian race (the South Indians).

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