india Flashcards
manuscripts in india
sanskrit, arabic and persian
manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper
pressed between wooden covers or sewn together for preservation.
could not be read easily as script was written in diff styles;
pre colonial bengal had extensive network of village primary school but they only learnt to write and often did not read texts
first prints
KONKANI - TAMIL - MALAYALAM
printing press first came to goa with Portuguese missionaries mix 16c; Jesuit priests learned Konkani and printed tracts, about 50 books were printed in Konkani and Kanara
Catholic priests printed first Tamil book in 16c and first Malayalam book in early 18c
by early 18c dutch protestant missionaries printed 32 tamil texts
english newspapers/magazines
in 1780. James Augustus Hickey began to edit the Bengal gazette, a private English enterprise. hickey published a lot of gossip about corrupt senior British officials in India which enraged the governor-general, Warren Hastings and he persecuted him.
Officially sanctioned newspapers were encouraged.
Indians too began to publish newspapers; first was the Bengal Cazette by Gangadhar Bhattacharya.
religious debate through print among hindus
intense controversies bw Hindu orthodoxy and reformers over widow immolation, idolatry, Brahmanical priesthood, monotheism, child marriage, widow remarriage, women’s education.
printed tracts not only spread new ideas but they shaped the nature of debates and allowed the participation of a wider public
arguments were printed in everyday spoken language of people
Rammohun Roy published Sambad Kaumudi which was opposed by Hindu orthodoxy with Samachar Chandrika
what problem did Muslims face due to print; define the terms
in north India, the ulama (legal scholars of islam and sharia- Islamic religious law) were deeply anxious about the collapse of Muslim dynasties
they feared that colonial rulers would encourage conversion and change Muslim personal laws
they used cheap lithographic presses to publish Persian and Urdu translations of holy scriptures and print religious pictures
The Deoband Seminary, UP, was founded in 1867 and published thousands of fatwas (legal pronouncements on Islamic law given by legal scholars) telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves.
Persian and Gujarati newspapers and hindu religious prints
PERSIAN: Jam-i-Jahan Nama and Shamshul Akhbar
GUJRATI: bombay samachar
Tulsidas- Ramcharitramanas printed edition in 1810
Naval KIshore Press at Lucknow and Shri Venkateshwar Press at Bombay
new literary forms, development of visual culture, impact
new literary forms-lyrics, short stories, essays; emphasized on human lives and intimate feelings and political and social rules that shaped them
by end of 19th c, new visual culture developed
Raja Ravi Verma produced images for mass circulation
Cheap prints and calendars for poor for decor
began shaping pop ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics, society and culture
caricatures and cartoons in journals and newspapers ridiculing Indians with modern tastes or expressing fear of social change. imperial caricatures lampooning nationalists and vice versa
women in conservative families
conservative Hindus believed literate girls would be widowed and Muslims feared would get corrected by reading Urdu romances
Muslim rebel woman in north India who secretly learnt to read and write in Urdu instead of reading Arabic Quran
Rashsundari Debi of East Bengal learned to read in the secrecy of her kitchen and published her autobiography, Amar Jiban, in 1876. the first full-length autobiography in Bengali
woman writing about women’s issues
Kailashbashni Debi wrote books highlighting the experience of women such has being imprisoned at home, kept in ignorance, hard domestic labour, unjust treatment
Maharashtra: Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai about miserable lives of upper caste hindi women especially widows
hindi printing began later and large segment was devoted to women edu; journals written by and for women discussed widowhood, remarriage, edu, national movement
Punjab’s books for women and Battala
In Punjab, Ram Chaddha published Istri Dharm Vichar to teach women how to be obedient wives; Khalsa Tract Society published cheap booklets with same message
In Bengal, an area in Calcutta called Battala, meaning below banyan tree, was devoted to printing pop books. you could find cheap editions of religious tracts, literature that was considered obscene and scandalous
poor people and caste discrimination
-very cheap small books brought to markets in Madras towns and sold at crossroads; public libraries set up by rich local patrons for prestige
-Jyotibha Phule, Maratha pioneer of low caste protest movements- Gulamgiri 1871
B.R.Ambedkar, Periyar wrote powerfully on caste
-Kanpur millworkers: Hashibaba wrote and published chhote aur bade ka sawal in 1938 showing links bw caste and class exploitation
Sudharshan Chakr- Sacchi Kavitayan
-Bangalore cotton millworkers set up libraries to educate themselves, following bombay workers, which was supported by social reformers to restrict excessive drinking and bring literacy
causes and effects of Vernacular Press Act
earlier focused on Englishmen in India who criticised company misrule
Calcutta Supreme Court passed reg in 1820s; but press laws revised in 1835- urgent petitions by editors of the press- governor general Bentick agreed.
Attitude changed after revolt of 1857- vernacular newspapers became assertively nationalist
VPA was passed in 1978, modelled on Irish Press Laws, providing the govt with extensive rights to censor press. Govt now kept regular track- if report judged seditious- warning- if ignored, liable to be seized and machinery confiscated
Despite repressive measures, news grew, reporting colonial misrule; led to cycle of persecution and protests
punjab revolutionaries deported 1907- balgangadhar tilak wrote kesari- imprisoned in 1908- widespread protests.
