'Printed tract and newspapers played a major role in religious reformation of India'.
Explain the statement with examples in 3 points.
Answers
Following are the reasons to support the given statement:
1. The debate over social issues: print began an extraordinary debate between civil and religious reformers and the Hindu belief over concerns like monotheism, widow immolation, Brahmani-cal priesthood and adoration. In Bengal, as the debate developed, tracts and newspapers propagated, reporting a variety of arguments. To approach a wider audience, the ideas were published in every day in the regional or vernacular language.
2. Reforms in Muslims: the Ulemas in North India were strongly concerned about the fall of Muslim dynasties. They were worried about the fact that the colonial chiefs would encourage conversion, which will result in the Muslim personal laws. Therefore, to counter this situation they took the help of the cheap lithographic presses and published various translations of holy scriptures, and printed orthodox papers and tracts.
3. Reforms in Hindus: print encouraged the recitation of holy books, particularly in the vernacular dialects among Hindus. Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas was the first printed edition of the holy that come in 1810 from Calcutta.