1. Historic-political, socio-economic,
and religio-cultural conditions in India during the second half of the 18th
and throughout the 19th centuries.
Around 1800,
India was in a pitiable condition. Neither the earlier Hindu governments nor
the Muslim rulers who ruled from the 12th century succeeded in
creating or maintaining peace. As such, India had not known peace during
1200-1800 AD. Even under the best of Mughal rulers, there were frequent
fightings. There were no reform movements during that period.
Indian civilization and culture
during the 18th century was at its lowest. No important book was
known to be produced in any of the Indian languages. The lack of appreciation
and patronage given to indigenous arts led to the disappearance of many old
works of art, due to ignorance and carelessness. Some were taken away by
foreigners. No creative work in any field was produced during this period. In
the societal life, during this period, social evils perpetrated in the name of
religion were rampant.
1.
Caste system and Untouchability: Rigid casteism was one
of the major social evils of that time. Besides the high castes and the low
castes, there were large numbers of out-castes considered as untouchables. The
so-called high castes considered that they would be defiled if the shadows of the
untouchables fell on them. Highways were not open to the latter. There was
neither inter-dining nor inter-marriages between the high and low castes.
Social ostracization and education of only the privileged few kept a vast
majority of the populace as slaves. Those who produced wealth through hard
labour were deprived of the fruits through cunning manipulation of religion by
the Brahmins.
An understanding of creation
according to the teachings of Hinduism justified the hierarchical society and
the rigid casteism. One’s loyalty was limited to one’s caste. No one cared what
happened to people of other castes. Justice was in the hands of caste-councils
who punished those who broke the caste rules. There were no schools and only
the three upper castes i.e. Brahmins,
Kshatriyas and Vaishyas were allowed to be educated in the Vedas, mostly at home.
Therefore, people lived in much ignorance.
2.
Prohibition of foreign travel: It was considered a sin
to cross the seas and to go and live in foreign countries with peoples who have
different cultures. If anyone did go, he/she lost his/her standing in his/her
caste unless he/she underwent purificatory rites upon returning to India. This
discouraged people from going abroad for studies and people lived in isolation
from the rest of the world.
3.
Low status of women: Hinduism has had a very low status for
women. Manu, the greatest law-giver of Hinduism prescribed that a woman should
be under the control of her father before marriage, under her husband in
marriage and under the control of her son in old age. Thus a woman was allowed
no freedom at any stage of life. The higher castes (except the Brahmins)
believed that after the death of the husband, the wife’s chastity and
faithfulness is proved only by self-immolation in the funeral pyre of the dead
husband and thereby committing Sati.
Such a woman was regarded as satimata.
Some Hindu communities encouraged this practice where it altered inheritance
patterns. Moreover, it was considered a curse to live as a widow in the traditional
joint family system.
Those widows who refused to follow
this practice were not allowed to re-marry. It was considered evil for a widow
to re-marry whereas a widower could re-marry for any number of times. Due to
such customs, there were many child widows and youthful widows who had to live
the rest of their lives in much sorrow and seclusion. In some communities,
their heads had to be shaved and ornaments removed. The kinds of clothes they
were allowed to wear were the saffron coloured sarees worn by Sanyasis. They became slaves in the
household of their relatives. Young girls were married off to old men even
before they had attained puberty and when the husband died, they were declared
as widows and denied the possibility of remarriage.
4.
Devadasi system: This was a Hindu custom to dedicate
girls to serve in temples. The term devadasi
means female servant of God. The girls were dedicated to sing and dance
before the idols. But corrupt priests and worshippers used them to satisfy
their lust. Thus the devadasis became
“sacred” prostitutes.
5.
Female infanticide: Among the high castes, dowry was the
deciding factor in marriage. Therefore, many parents considered it a liability
to have girl-babies, for it was the girl’s father who had to pay the dowry to
the boy’s father. This extravagant expenditure led to the cruel practice of
letting girl babies to die. Female infanticide was common among the economically
poor.
6.
Human/Animal sacrifice: There was a belief that some of the
gods and goddesses required human sacrifices and that, such sacrifices are
highly meritorious. For this purpose often children were kidnapped and
slaughtered and their blood was offered specially to the goddess Kali – in
order to please her and to get benefits from her. In spite of the teachings of
Gautama Buddha and Mahavira against animal sacrifice and Ahimsa (Non-violence), the practice of animal sacrifice continued
during this period although in a lesser degree.
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2. Factors responsible for the
Renaissance in India
The
term “Renaissance” refers to the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival
of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and
extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the
modern world. In general parlance, it means a new growth of activity or
interest in something, especially art, literature, or music. In India there
were four (4) main forces that entered from the West and these four forces were
instrumental in bringing about the Renaissance in India.
1.
The East India Company: The only interest of the East India
Company was trade. They took raw materials from India at a very cheap rate to
England and sold manufactured goods to people of India and elsewhere at very
high prices. Thus India was converted into an exploitable market for the
development of British industries. This resulted in cruel destruction of many
of the cottage industries in India and robbed India of precious natural
resources. People suffered from discouragement and unemployment.
The Company realizing the importance
of Hinduism for the stability of their trade believed that it was necessary to
patronize the religions of India. Hence they adopted three policies:
a) A large
number of temples were brought under their management. They advanced money for
rebuilding and repairing these temples and they also paid the salaries of the
temple officials. Large sums of money were granted for sacrifices and festivals
and for feeding of the Brahmin priests. Under their supervision, cruel rites
like Sati and hook-swinging (a
ritualistic torture, practiced among the Mandan Indians, in which a voluntary
victim was suspended from hooks attached to the flesh of the back. The hook-swinging
ceremony is said to be sometimes performed after the consent of the goddess has
been obtained) were practiced. Government officials were required to attend
Hindu festivals in order to show their interest in celebrations. To pay for all
this, a pilgrim tax was imposed upon the people.
b) The company
opposed Christian missionary work. They refused to allow any missionary to
settle in their territory. William Carey, the first British missionary to India
was not allowed to stay in British territories in India, hence he settled at
Serampore, which was a Danish settlement. Many missionaries were deported by
the authorities. However, this policy of the company was reversed in 1813 by an
act of the British parliament.
c) The company
refused to employ native Christians. Those who became Christians while in the
army were expelled in Bengal. Many English believed that it was unwise to
interfere with the religion and civilization of India. They thought that it was
impossible to produce any lasting influence on Hindu religion. Moreover, they
believed that it would adversely affect their trade and administration of the
land. Therefore, many British people were not in favour of educating the
Indians.
However, even during this period
there was a certain amount of collaboration between the Company and Christian
Missions. William Carey was engaged as part-time professor at College of Fort
William in Calcutta which was opened by Lord Wellesley, as he was the only one
qualified to teach Bengali and Sanskrit. The English also took advantage of the
mission printing press at Serampore and for the first time Indian languages
were printed in their own script at Serampore. The missionaries provided
invaluable assistance to the Company in preparing the ground through the
Gospel.
2.
The British Government: Since a stable government and sound
financial arrangements were necessary for profitable commerce, the Company had
to undertake the administration of the country. Thus, during the last decade of
the 18th century, the Company was transformed into a
government. Through the leadership of
men like Clive, Hastings and Cornwallis, the Bristish were gradually awakened
that India should be governed by them for the good of the people. Thus traders
were transformed into administrators living on a salary and strictly forbidden
to make money by trading. By 1849, the last portion of India was added to the
British Empire, at the conclusion of the Second Sikh War.
The whole activity of the government
during the period of 1828-1870 was one of reform which can be summarized in
three categories.
a) Bentinck felt
that it was the duty of the government to prohibit grossly immoral customs such
as sati, strangling and robbery of
travellers, female infanticide and human sacrifices, even though they were
associated with religion.
b) Recognition
of human equality. It was decided that all should be equal before the law and
Indians were employed in government services irrespective of their religion.
c) The English
language became the official language of India. All higher education was
through English medium. The government opened schools and colleges, medical
colleges were also introduced. Universities were established in Calcutta,
Bombay and Madras. At the same time, vernacular education was not neglected.
The results produced in India through English education were revolutionary. The
new educational policy of the government created the educated class in India.
In 1843, slavery was rendered
illegal by the passing of an Act and this enabled many poor people to acquire
freedom from rich land owners. Lord Dalhousie prohibited obscenities in the
streets, which were very common during those days. Lord Rippon’s government
passed a local self-government bill with the purpose of educating the Indian
people in self-government. In 1891, the Age of Consent Act was passed which
prohibited a husband from living with his child wife, before she reached the
age of 12.
From 1865 onwards, there was a new
national spirit and in places like Maharashtra, Punjab and Bengal, there were
serious preparations for revolutionary action.
3.
Christian Missions: Protestant missionary work in India began
with the Danish Mission which did a great work in Tamil Nadu during the 18th
century; but it was William Carey and his colleagues Marshman and Ward, who
first awakened the British, then the Americans and the Europeans towards their
duty to the non-Christian world.
They opened boarding schools and
orphanages. They did some medical work, especially among the lepers. They were
eager to send out native missionaries to preach throughout the country and a
College was opened at Serampore to train them and the King of Denmark gave this
college the authority to confer degrees. Due to the good work done by Carey and
his colleagues, in 1813 the British parliament granted missionaries full
freedom to settle and work in India. Soon after this missionaries from Britain,
America and Europe entered India in large numbers.
Many schools and colleges for
Western education were opened by a number of individual Europeans in the large
cities of India. In 1830, Alexander Duff, a Scottish missionary opened a school
in Calcutta for teaching English. Duff’s work opened a new era in India. All
the most promising young men of Calcutta flocked to him. Ram Mohan Roy (founder
of Brahmo Samaj) was also one of Duff’s pupils. Most of the leaders who were
involved in starting modern religious movements were those who had an English
education.
Christian education of women was
pushed forward and a great number of unmarried missionaries arrived in India.
From around 1854, work was done among the women shut up in zenanas. Women
medical missionaries also came to work with women. Orphanages and widows’ homes
were opened. Famine relief was carried out to some extent during these years.
4.
Orientalism: The Orientalists were European scholars
who made an objective study of Indian literature, art and architecture. The
rise of orientalism began with the British attempt to give better government in
India, but it did not impress itself on the Indian mind until later. Three men
stand out as pioneer orientalists during the period: Colebrook, H.H, Wilson and
Tod.
Warren Hastings took steps which led
Europeans becoming acquainted with Sanskrit and the Hindu religion. Influenced
by Hastings, Charles Wilkins translated and published in 1789, Shakuntala, the masterpiece of Kalidasa,
the greatest Sanskrit dramatist. Some English men also began to study the
peoples of India.
Though Oriental studies blossomed
before 1879, the fruits were gathered only in the next 30 years. Some of the
significant works of this period were: The
Sacred Books of the East (Max Mueller), Oriental
Series (Trubner), The Harvard
Oriental Series (Trubner), Light of
Asia (Edwin Arnold), The Song
Celestial (Childers). Since 1870, Oriental studies have touched the Indian
mind very powerfully; Indian scholars trained in European methods began to
render excellent service by editing and translating the texts.
5.
General Impact of the West: These four forces that
entered India from outside paved the way for the social and religious awakening
of India in the 19th and 20th centuries. They had a
tremendous impact on the minds and hearts of the Indian people.
ü The
Indians felt that the Westerners were energetic and active as compared to the
Indians who were lazy and lethargic.
ü The
Westerners were highly disciplined – they had organizational skills whereas
Indians were doing things in a haphazard way.
ü The
Westerners had scientific outlook, while the Indian people were still using
outdated tools and they were superstitious.
ü Simplicity
of the Christian faith with the Bible as the guide-book was a revolutionary
factor. In contrast, Hinduism was a highly complex religion. The common people
had access and knowledge to the Puranas only with their gods and goddesses and
this gave rise to gross idolatry.
ü The
Western spirit of nationalism and belief in democratic principles taught that
all are equal before the law. Whereas, in India, due to the rigid caste system,
people had only communal loyalty. There was no spirit of nationalism.
ü That
there was equality of women in Western society. In India, women were considered
inferior to men and they were backward in many respects.
ü Importance
was given to education by the westerners. They opened schools and colleges for
the common people at a time when education was a privilege enjoyed only by the
upper castes.
ü The
Western use of the printing press was an effective medium of communication in
India where printing presses were non-existent.
ü The
military might and prowess of the British greatly influenced and impressed the
Indian mind. At that time India was not unified and many native states existed
and loyalty was divided
ü Reaction
of Indian people to all that they saw of the West was one of admiration and for
a time the Indian people resorted to copying anything Western. However, this
did not last long. People began to use scientific knowledge to bring about
reformation in order to get rid of social and religious evils detrimental to
human welfare. Reformers arose to purge society of evils.
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