Question

write an essay on Indian literature after the advent of the British.​

Answer 1

Answer:

From the beginning of the nineteenth century a new order began to emerge and a fresh era was inaugurated in Bengali literature. It was, in fact, after the establishment of the Fort William College that important steps towards the development of modern Indian languages were taken.

In order to teach the young English officials Indian langu­ages the college had to undertake compilation works in different sub­jects and in different languages for the instruction of the students. Dr. Gilchrist was responsible for production of books in Hindustani, Persian and Arabic while William Carey was for Bengali and other languages. Bengali scholars who wrote text books were Mrityunjay Vidyalankar. Ramram Basu, Chandi Charan Munshi, Rajib Lochan Mukhopaydhyaya etc.

The Christian missionaries, were another agency in the develop­ment of Bengali prose—Carey, Marshman and Ward were the pioneers in this regard. Their main contributions were works on Bengali gram­mar, Dictionary, Translation from English. Felix Carey was respon­sible for the production of the first volume of an encyclopaedia dea­ling with Physiology and Anatomy. Kalimohan Banerjee an early con­vert to Christianity edited an encyclopaedia in thirteen volumes called Vidya Kalpadruma. Works on history, philosophy, science etc, were also brought out.

The development of the Bengali language was largely helped by the contributions of the journals like Samachar Darpan, of the Serampore missionaries, Sambad Kaumudi of Ram Mohan Roy, Tattwabodhini Patrika of Devendranath Tagore – Sambad Prabhakar of Iswar Chan­dra Gupta. Organisations like School Book Society established in 1817 arranged for the supply of cheap books for the schools, and pub­lication of translation of books in Bengali on subjects like history, geography etc.

4. Gujarati:

The progress of English education, foundation of edu­cational newspapers and associations, and the efforts of the Christian missionaries gave a great impetus to Gujarati language. In 1814 The Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor within the Government of Bombay was founded by Archdeacon Barnes which gradually set up six schools four in Bombay city one in Surat and one in Broach; in 1826 it set up another school at Ahmadabad. Under the patronage of this society Ranchhorbhai Girdharbhai who had learnt English produced first series of Gujarati text books and became the guide of almost all the aspiring youngmen who took to literature and social reform. The work was carried forward by the students of Elphinstone College founded in 1827 and of the Bombay University founded in 1857.

5. Marathi Literature:

With the passing of the Peshwa’s kingdom into the hands of the British in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, a situation similar to that had developed in Bengal began to rise in ‘the Bombay Presidency and factors—political, social and economic began to operate as they did in Bengal. The Marathi language and literature began to be transformed in the way similar to that of Bengal.

In conclusion it may be mentioned that the literary movements in some of the languages of India showed common trends in the deve­lopment of Indian mind and thought. Although the Indian mind was ready to absorb the Western ideas and adopt Western attitudes towards expression of thought yet it was never detached from the moorings of its own traditional heritage. In her efforts to effect a harmony bet­ween the Eastern and Western ideas, Indian mind did not abandon the essentials of the East. A common outlook, a community of ideas and sentiments characterised the minds of the Indians, which were the preconditions of a natural consciousness that we notice towards the second half of the nineteenth century.

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