DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

10 ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION [1.3
end, retrogression, or evolution by atrophy are possible which
cannot stop the progress of mankind as a whole, not even mankind
under the threat of total annihilation by atomic warfare. We shall at
times have to reconstruct the material changes from what survives as
marks upon the-ideological superstructure, but let it be noted that
Marxism is far from the economic determinism which its opponents so
often take it to be. For that matter, any intelligent determinism must
discuss “ conditions “ rather than “ causes “, and take full cognizance of the
course of historical development. This is fairly well brought out in two
books by V. G. Childe : Piecing together The Past (London 1956) and The
Prehistory of European Society (London 1958). Ideas (including
superstition) become a force, once they have gripped the masses ; they
supply the forms in which men become conscious of their conflicts
and fight them out. No historian may dismiss or ignore such ideas nor
can he be regarded as having fulfilled his task unless he shows why, how,
and when the grip was secured. The adoption of Marx’s thesis does not
mean blind repetition of all his conclusions (and even less, those of
the official, party-line Marxists) at all times. It will be shown that
India had never a classical slave economy in the same sense as Greece or
Rome. The die-hard argument that some people were not free, there
was some sort of slavery, is not to the point here. The issue is of
quantity, which by massive change transforms quality too. The really
vexed question is what is meant by the Asiatic mode of production, 14
never clearly defined by Marx. Asia is dominated culturally by China and
India. The former with its great annals, court and family records,
inscriptions, coins now supplemented by excavation gives a far better
picture from about 1000 B. c. onwards than we can ever hope to obtain
for India. Chinese chronology is virtually undisputed from 841 B. c.
down, and the record can be pushed back to about 1400 B. c. by
careful study of the oracle bones. It is futile to expect that documents
might later be discovered in India to fill the long gaps, for it is known
that the mass of unpublished Sanskrit works contain virtually nothing of
solid historical importance. What Marx himself said about India 15 cannot
be taken as it stands.