Culture And Nationalism

Indian nationalism gained prominence after the first war of independence i.e. 1857. Earlier to that, the whole Indian was a disintegrated country comprised of many small empires but the sepoy mutiny of 1857 awakened a sense of nationalism among the Indians. It integrated them into one country. The British were successful in suppressing the war but they could not suppress the ever-increasing nationalism among the Indian minds against the atrocities of colonialism.

All the people were discontented with the colonial rule and they had their own reasons to participate and fight in the fight against the British yet the core motive of all was same i.e., to earn freedom from foreign rule. The British colonialism exploited Indians and the resources to the maximum level. They exploited the people in order to gain profits which they could transfer their homeland and they did so, but in this process they completely drained India economically and financially. On the other hand, they were exploiting the peasants to grow commercial crops which resulted in a shortage of food crops for the natives but the British had the sole aim of looting India by hook or by crook so they practiced every brutal act they could to fulfil their aim. Nonetheless, they took the Indian manpower for granted. They thought that Indians are not capable and civilized enough to raise their voice against all this. So, the late 19^th and early 20^th century witnessed the Indian people stepping up against the British rule and they participated actively in the Indian nationalist activities in order to gain freedom. The middle class educated people also helped at their own level by introducing various reforms in the country. They used newspapers and journals in order to communicate with the masses and it proved helpful in further spreading the message of nationalism.

The newspapers were first introduced in India during the times of British India Company. The Indian Press was a private enterprise during those times. In its initial time, the newspapers of the late 18^th century were of interest to the British residents only. They reported news about the developments in England and the East India Company. But Raja Ram Mohan Roy i.e., the founder of modern India started some of the early Indian newspapers, which proved as a carrier of liberal and rational ideas. His newspaper managed to attack the social evils of Indian society and to bring all the Indian people at an equal level so the sense of nationalism could be awakened in them.

In the late 19^th century the newspaper acted as a harbinger of modernity and unity. It contributed to the construction of national identity. Despite very low literacy and strict press laws introduced by successive British colonial administrations, the press played a key role in the nationalist movement. Post-1857 period witnessed more strict regulations despite this, during the last quarter of the 19^th century came to be known as the nationalist press. Among the notable newspapers were Rast Goftar, edited by Dadabhai Naoroji. Various other nationalists started newspapers in their vernacular language. The main motive behind their publications was to unite the people with the use of print media. Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab and United Province saw the emergence of regional languages. These newspapers were spreading the nationalist activities that as going all over the country and it increased the sense of unity among the people and united them on the basis of discontent they had against the British rule.

Before the advent of the British, India had Gurukul, Pathshalas, Maqtabs and Madrasas as the educational institutes. English education was introduced in India with the aim that Indian people would work as obedient subjects of the British.

Reformers like Raja Ram Mohan, Aurobindo Ghosh was convinced that knowledge of western education would enable the countrymen to get rid of the social evils and religious superstitions. Gradually, the middle-class people attained education on western lines and understood that in order to bring a feeling of nationalism and unity among the people they would have to imbibe the western ideas of democracy, freedom , liberty. Being influenced by the ideas and methods of the political work of the western leaders and reformers some of the English- educated middle class integrated the Indian people into a modern nation. The modern education system helped the nationalist leader from different linguistic regions to come to the same page linguistically. They used English as a common language for communicating with reformers of the other parts of the country. They were able to isolate the Brahmanical culture and rise above it in order to bring the common masses together.

Although for their own gains the British introduced various reforms in education as Woods dispatch, Hunter commission, Saddler’s commission etc, but they all proved to spread education among the Indian youth who were driven by the feeling of nationalism. So these educational reforms helped more in the spreading of nationalism rather than helping the British in retaining their rule for a longer time.

i. A) Vallathol Narayana Menon : Malayalam

B) Altaf Husain Hali : Urdu Poet and writer (also known as Maulana Khwaja Hali. He was known for his epic poem “Musaddas e- Madd o- Jazr e- Islam”).

ii. A) Bharath Mata : Abanindranath Tagore

B) Sati : Raja Ram Mohan Roy ( Sati was abolished in 1829 by William Bentick with the active efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy).

iii. A) Anandamath : Novel

B) Nil Darpan : Play (It was written by Dinbandhu Mitra)

iv. A) Arya Samaj : Swami Dayananda Saraswati

B) Rama Krishna Mission : Swami Vivekananda (The mission was founded by him in 1897. It propagated the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta)

1. Anand Math – it was a novel written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1882. It was inspired by the Sanyasi rebellion Bengal in later 18^th century.

2. Neel Darpan- it was a Bengali play written by Dinbandhu Mitra in 1858-1859. It showed the plight of indigo planters who were being exploited by the British.

3. Godan- written by Munshi Prem Chand. The novel presented the plight of the poor farmer against the Zamindars and moneylenders of colonial times.

4. Bande Mataram Newspaper- It was an English newspaper edited by Sir Aurobindo. It was published in order to spread the message of nationalism among the Indian intelligentsia.

5. The Hindustan Times- the newspaper was started in 1924 with its roots in the Indian independence movements.

6. Harijan Sewak- the newspaper was started by Mahatama Gandhi in 1936. It was started in order to end the atrocities of Hindu society against the untouchables.

7. Young India- It was a weekly journal started by Mahatma Gandhi from 1919 to 1931. He used this journal to spread his ideologies and thoughts among the young Indian masses.

8. Amrita Bazar Patrika- it was one of the oldest newspapers in India. It was started in 1868 by Sisir Ghosh.