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Architecture, both secular and religious,
was patronized by the courts. The Muslim's urge to build mosques
and tombs posed a problem for the local mason, who found an
ingenious solution before conforming to the traditional forms.5
Similar was the case with calligraphy. An attempt to solve
the problem of carving unfamiliar Arabic and Persian letters
on stones gave rise to the "intrical Bow and Arrow and
the Organ Pipe" types of the Tughra in Bengal.6
The temple architecture of the period is
said to have been influenced by mosque architecture,7 but
more important was the appearance of the Cala style. That
the model of the Cala should be the thatched cottages of rural
Bengal is significant in itself, and the fact that the style
was applied both to temples and mosques makes it more so.
Simultaneously the period witnessed the reintroduction of
terracotta and the popularity of clay images. Thus it appears
that while the ruling class fostered massive buildings and
ornamental designs, another trend in architecture and sculpture
had its firm roots in the life-style of the masses; this is
further supported by "a marked naturalism and spontaneity"
and a shift towards folk art8 noticed in Bengal painting of
the period, represented by illustrations of manuscripts and
their wooden covers and those on separate sheets known as
pata.
Add to these the development of ivory, filigree,
and repousse work, and the magnificence of Bengal textile
on the one hand, and the continuous tradition of conch-shell
and brass works of various forms, the embroidered quilts,
the decorated mats and the alpana, on the other, and the picture
may become clearer.
The impact of British rule led to consequences
too numerous to recount here. The self-sufficient rural economy
was destroyed, and a new class of private and absentee landlords
was created, under whom the peasantry found themselves in
ever-increasing indebtedness to money-lenders. A new middle
class, English-educated, urban-based, and dependent on the
British administration for employment and professions, was
fostered. Due to the exploitation of the East India Company
and unequal competition with products of the industrial revolution
in Europe,, the endogenous industrial sector was gradually
destroyed. New industries such as tea, indigo, and cotton
were founded, thereby giving rise to an industrial working
class recruited from the impoverished peasantry. All these
called for a mobility that was facilitated by an improved
communication system for which the steam-engine was pressed
into service. A loosening of the caste system was effected
by economic changes that brought in new occupations. Correspondingly,
the introduction of the printing press in 1778, and the making
of Bengali type fonts by local blacksmiths, virtually put
an end to oral literary tradition. The founding of the Fort
William College in 1800 to impart training to the civilians
of the Company led to the development of the Bengali prose.
Due to local initiative, the Hindu College was established
in 1817 to provide western education for the young, and with
the introduction of Bengali journals in 1818, and the replacement
of Persian by English as the court language in 1835, together
these had far-reaching consequences.
The introduction of "westernized"
education virtually brought the collapse of the endogenous
education systems. With the cessation of contact with a changing
world, the products of the old systems could hardly make themselves
useful, and were reduced to the position of decadent hangers-on.
The endogenous schools of medicine, denied the scope of development
and modernization, gradually atrophied; endogenous creativity
in architecture and sculpture was similarly stunted. Although
European styles were adopted for churches, administration
buildings, and town houses, no breakthroughs in any of these
fields mentioned were made by the "modernizers".
However, endogenous intellectual creativity
was not entirely lost. A process of self-questioning started
with Rammohun Roy (1772-1833), who is generally regarded as
the forerunner of modernism in India. It will not be correct
to suggest that this was a result of western influence.9 We
know that Roy's first work, Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to
Deists, 1804), was composed in Persian, before he made any
serious study of English. The work showed his knowledge of
Hinduism and Islam, and his acquaintance with Arabic and Persian
works of secular, rationalist, and deistic trends. Similarly,
Iswarchandra Vidyasagar (1820-91), the great social reformer,
was a product of Sanskrit learning. The quest of these men,
and of the many others who followed them, took the form of
new religious ideas and social reform movements where the
validity of many Hindu practices was questioned and concern
for the condition of women was expressed.
In Tuhfat, Roy advocated the cause of reason
and utility, made a scathing attack on Hindu practices, and
added that "falsehood is common to all religions without
distinction". However, in his attempt to find solutions
for some of the problems of his times, Roy resorted to theology.
He adhered to his rejection of polytheism and image-worship,
but subsequently accepted the authority of the Upanisadas,
and found common grounds with Unitarian Christianity. At the
same time, Roy stressed the need of studying mathematics,
natural philosophy, chemistry, anatomy, and other "useful
sciences", identified his emotional involvement with
liberal and national movements in Europe, and successfully
carried out a movement for the abolition of the suttee. That,
in addition to producing pamphlets in which he copiously quoted
from the scriptures, and argued his case forcefully before
the Hindu reading public, he should also have successfully
urged the British government to adopt legislation preventing
the practice of widow-burning, a dequately shows his attitude
to the problems and his perception of the situation. Vidyasagar
followed the same procedure: he made it plain that he was
quoting from the scriptures only because his countrymen would
not judge an issue on merit but would always look for religious
sanction. His movement leading to the legal sanction of the
remarriage of Hindu widows was a logical sequel to Roy's movement
against the suttee. Vidyasagar also wanted to obtain a similar
act of law prohibiting polygamy, but was unsuccessful.
The opposition to social reform movements
of Roy and Vidyasagar came from the Dharma Sabha, established
to defend traditional Hindu values, under the leadership of
Radhakanta Dev (1784-1867) and Bhabanicharan Banerji (1787-1848).
It is of interest to note that Dev, a low-caste but wealthy
Hindu, was nevertheless accepted as the leader by a considerable
number of upper-caste Hindus of Calcutta, who were also aware
of the fact that he favored western education and approved
of female education within the purdah. This was indeed adequate
proof, if any were needed, of the eclipse of the old world.
A third group that emerged on the scene comprised
the Hindu college radicals who described themselves as "Hindu
by birth, yet European by education and its concomitants."
Inspired by H. L. V. Derozio (1809-31), a Eurasian teacher
of the college, they were the champions of free thinking,
glowing in the ideas of the French revolution and English
radicalism; they decried almost everything that was associated
with Hinduism, and considered Rammohun Roy's efforts inadequate,
but failed to develop any movement outside their own circle.
Orthodox society, however, was sufficiently stirred to cause
Derozio's dismissal from the college and to persecute his
disciples. Derozio died soon after, and the Young Bengal -
so they were called - began to disintegrate; some of them
were converted to Christianity, while many joined the Brahma
Samaj.
The Brahma Samaj grew up from the religious
ideas of Rammohun Roy as a theistic reform movement of Hinduism.
Founded in 1843 by Devendranath Tagore (1817-1905), who was
brought up in wealth and leisure, the Brahma Samaj exercised
a considerable influence in Bengal for a long time, particularly
among the urban educated middle class, and made positive contribution
to the emancipation of Bengali women belonging to that segment
of society. Soon after its foundation, the Samaj abandoned
its faith in the infallibility of the Vedas, but nevertheless
emphasized its bonds with Indian culture having roots in the
remote past. By this mixed attitude of acceptance and rejection,
the Brahma Samaj took up a middle position between the reforming
zeal of the Young Bengal and the conservatism of the Dharma
Sabha. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of the Young
Bengal in their later years, when their radicalism had been
somehow tempered, should have joined the Brahma Samaj. On
the other hand, the aggressive evangelical activities of the
Christian missionaries prompted the Samaj to make a common
cause with the leaders of the orthodox community.
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