“The pre-British period was not a period of slavery. We had some sort of swaraj under Mogul rule. In Akbar’s time the birth of a Pratap was possible, and in Aurangzeb’s time a Sivaji could flourish. Has 150 years of British rule produced any Pratap and Sivaji?”
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Source: Young India, 13 April 1921; CWMG Vol. 19 p. 477 (archive.org scan). Dated primary.
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Whoever holds power tends to paint the era before them as chaos, so their control can pass for rescue. Recalling the real achievements that predated them punctures that story and reminds people they were capable long before anyone claimed to be saving them.
When to use it
- A new boss who insists the team was a mess before he arrived, when it had shipped reliably for years.
- Someone remembering she managed money well on her own before a controlling partner insisted she couldn't.
- A neighborhood pushing back on a developer's line that the area was worthless until the project came in.