Botanical Explorations and the East India Company: Revisiting ‘Plant Colonialism’

Abstract

The concepts and the practices of colonialism and imperialism have fascinated scholars for almost a century and their relevance continues. They have myriad shades and have shaped human life as nothing else has done so far. Concepts such as modernity, new socio-economic forces, techno-scientific changes and globalization are in some way or another related to these phenomena. It is no coincidence that during the era of the Scientific Revolution, different trading companies were established to undertake colonial expansion. Flag followed trade and both recognized the relevance of techno-scientific knowledge. The era of exploration had its own romance. Later on, institutions were established and professionalization gradually came. It was a long and arduous process. The colonizer and the colonized cannot be seen only in terms of binaries. How should one characterize this delicate and dialectic relationship: in terms of core–periphery, network, web, circuits, persuasion — coercion, ‘gentlemanly’, ‘traditional’ imperial history or ‘new’ imperial history? Historical facts, dug honestly from different sites, do not seem to support deterministic or essentializing understandings. The very nature of historical construction invites one to look at cross-currents and fluidity. Colonialism as a process is no exception to this. Similarly, scientific knowledge, like colonialism itself, is no monolith: both needed and aided each other.