Social Scientist
From Revolt to Agitation: Beginning of the National Movement
Author(s): K. N. Panikkar
Source: Social Scientist, Vol. 25, No. 9/10 (Sep. - Oct., 1997), pp. 28-42
Published by: Social Scientist
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3517679
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K. N. PANIKKAR*
FromRevolt to Agitation:
Beginningof TheNational Movement
The Revolt of 1857 was both a culmination and a beginning. No armed
struggleof that magnitudeagainstthe colonial rule took place thereafter.
It was, however, precededby a series of revolts by displacedaristocracy
and civil population in different parts of the country. Motivated by
differentreasonsandshapedby local circumstances,but invariablylinked
to the hardships generated by colonial subjection, they embodied the
early resistance against the alien rule. The peasants, tribals, zamindars
and former rulers were all part of these unsuccessful efforts to prevent
the consolidation of the British rule. Alive to the alien but not to the
colonial characterof the British rule they all remainedisolated incidents
and hence were easily suppressed.The Revolt of 1857, despite some coordination and communication among the leaders,was essentiallya large
scaleenactmentof earlierefforts.Its failurewas a landmarkin the political
consciousness of the nation, as it heralded a new phase in the struggle
against colonialism.
ATTITUDE OF THE INTELLIGENTSIA
The characterof the new phase was reflected in the attitude of the
intelligentsia towards the colonial rule. The emergence of a modern
intelligentsia in India was integral to the social and economic policies
pursued by the British rule. Products of Macaulayianambition to create
English minds in Indianbodies, the membersof the middle classimbibed,
through Western education, a political perspectiverooted in liberalism.
To them Britain represented the best of liberal tradition. More
importantly, they viewed British rule as the instrument, ordained by
God, for the dissemination of liberal enlightenment in countries like
*Professorof History at the Centre of Historical Studies,JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi
SocialScientist, Vol. 25, Nos. 9-10, Sept.-Oct. 1992
FROMREVOLTTO AGITATION
29
India. RammohunRoy, popularlyacknowledgedas the "Fatherof
ModernIndia",had given unambiguousexpressionto this sentiment.
He characterized
Englandas a "nationwho not only are blessedwith
the enjoymentof civil andpoliticallibertybut alsointerestthemselves
in promotinglibertyand socialhappiness,as well as free enquiryinto
literary and religioussubjects,among those nations to which their
influenceextended"1.
Giventhis understanding
of the colonialrulethe intelligentsiawas
alarmedby the possibilityof rebelsuccessin the Revolt. They had no
doubt aboutwhom to backin the unprecedentedchallengeto British
rule, as they fearedthat the rebels,if successful,would 'put the clock
back'and resurrectthe tyrannyof the pre-colonialdespoticrule.As a
consequence,in all three presidencytowns the intelligentsiacollected
togetherto prayfor Britishsuccessandwhenthe Revoltwassuppressed
the
they passedresolutionsthankingthe Almightyandcongratulating
Queen for reestablishing
pax Britanica.The reasonfor celebratingthe
continuedenslavementof theircountrywasnot solelyideological,their
material well-being was to a great extent dependent upon their
collaborationwith the colonialrule.2
The faithin Britishliberalism,
however,didnot denoteanunqualified
and
to
submission
the
Britishrule. On the contrary,from
acceptance
the early nineteenthcentury itself, the intelligentsiawas engagedin
initiatingand elaboratinga critiqueof the Britishrule.The emergence
of anti-colonialconsciousnesswas embededin this critiquewhich had
severalstrandswithin it.
practiceswhich
Initiallythe critiquewasfocussedon administrative
deviatedfromprofessedprinciplesof liberalism,be it the administration
of justice,the collectionof revenueor the freedomof the press.The
intelligentsiawas aghastthat such deviationstook placewhich in their
of the essentialnatureof the British
reckoningwere uncharacteristic
rule.This ideologicalobfuscationpersistedfor long. In fact,the ideaof
unBritish rule which DadabhaiNaoroji emphasisedin his rightly
celebratedbook, Povertyand UnBritishRule, is an expressionof its
continuedinfluence.
The reactionof the intelligentsiato these deviationswhich during
the courseof the nineteenthcenturyprogressivelybecamea rulerather
than an exception,implieda sense of affinitythey had nursed,quite
consciously,with the colonialrule.Forinstance,when restrictionswere
imposedon freedomof the press,throughanordinanceby the governor-
30
SOCIALSCIENTIST
general in 1823, the response of the intelligentsia was not merely of
disapproval;they were more concerned with their own position within
the scheme of the Empire. A memorandum submitted to the Supreme
Court by Rammohun Roy and five others underlined this anxiety:
... the inhabitants of Calcutta would be no longer justified in
boasting, that they are fortunately placed by Providence under the
protection of the whole British Nation, or that the king of England
and his Lords and Commons are their legislators,and that they are
secured in the enjoyment of the same civil and religious privileges
that every Briton is entitled to in England.3
Whenever administrative practices became discriminatory and
authoritarian,the intelligentsia registeredtheir protest, invoking British
commitment to liberalprinciples. But they hardly influenced the way in
which the administrationwas actually run, for to the British India was
not a field for liberal practice, but a colony to be held in subjection.
Subsequently the sense of affinity slowly gave way to alienation.
Within the parametersof liberalpremises and inherent in the above
process was another stream of consciousness which tried to realise, in
criticalterms,the colonial characterof Britishrule.Despite the intellectual
influences of the West filtered through the colonial agency, and perhaps
partly becauseof that, the intelligentsiawas able to sense the significance
of the qualitativelydifferentpolity evolving aroundthem. Some of them
like Akshay Kumar Dutt speculated about the implications of
dependence,particularlyin the light of the ideasthrown up by the French
Revolution. Rammohun tried to assesswhat Indiawas loosing in material
terms due to the British connection. He calculatedthe annual drain of
wealth from India to England since the battle of Plassy. Gopal Hari
Deshmukh located the reason for India'spoverty in the nature of British
trade which exploited the natural resources of India.
That the British connection, contrary to the liberal assumption, was
in reality detrimentalto the political progressand economic prosperity
of the country slowly dawned on the intelligentsia.An early articulation
of this was by Prasanna Kumar Tagore, one of the signatories to the
memorandum on press regulation, in 1831:
Without her (India)dependence on England as her conqueror and
possessor, her political situation would be more respectable and
her inhabitants would be more wealthy and prosperous. The
example of America which shows what she was when subject to
FROMREVOLTTO AGITATION
31
Englandandwhat she hasbeen sinceher freedom,mustnaturally
leadus to sucha conclusion.4
The exploitativecharacterof Britishrule was more directly and
forcefully brought out by BhaskarPandurangTarakadkar,a young
officialin Bombaymunicipality,in a seriesof lettershe publishedin the
BombayGazetteunderthe pseudonym,'A Hindu".He consideredthe
Britishrule more destructivethan the plunderand pillageby Pathans
and Pindaris. After all, unlike the British, the latter did not carry the
loot out of the country.5
The concern of the intelligentsiawas not limited to the present, they
also dreamed of a future in which colonial rule did not figure. An
interesting instance is an essay entitled, "A Journal of Fortyeight Hours
of the year 1945" by Kylas Chunder Dutt, a young student of Hindu
College published in 1835. In this he portrayed an imaginary armed
struggle between Indian patriots and the oppressive British rulers in
Calcutta. The description of its finale was as follows:
The people of India and particularlythose of the metropolis, had
been subject for the last fifty years to every species of subaltern
oppression.The daggerandthe bowl were dealtout with a merciless
hand and neither age, nor sex nor condition could repressthe rage
of the British barbarians. These events, together with the
recollection of the grievancessuffered by their ancestors, roused
the dormantspirit of the generallyconsideredtimid Indian.Finding
that every day offencesinsteadof being extenuatedwere aggravated,
that no redresscould be obtained by appealseither to the Lords or
Commons, he formed the bold but desperateresolution of hurling
Lord Fell Butchar,Viceroy of India, from his seat and establishing
a government composed of the most patriotic men in the kingdom
- with the rapidity of hightening the spirit of Rebellion spread
through this once pacific people.6
Kylas Chander's prediction was almost accurate in terms of time,
even if the methods actually followed to overthrow British rule were
fundamentally different.
The complex and ideologically obfuscated response of the
intelligentsiamarkedan importantphasein the evolution of anti-colonial
national consciousness. They were neither able to fully realise the
characterof the Britishrule nor relatethemselvesto the on-going popular
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SOCIALSCIENTIST
resistancelike the Revolt of 1857. Nevertheless, they initiated a process,
however limited in scope, which made the future possible.
FROMLOCALITYTO NATION
The nineteenth century was an era of fundamental change in the
way people related themselves with the world outside their immediate
surroundings. Before that their universe was largely confined within
their own localities. During the course of the century they were slowly
drawn out of these localities and merged with the regional and the
national. Not that the people had no communication beyond the locality
before that, but they were primarily for personal or religious reasons,
that too in a very limited way.
A variety of factorsmade such a transgressionpossible. Most decisive
among them were the development of print culture, growth of modern
means of communication, access to a common language and state
intervention in cultural life.
Almost all public activities, social, religious and political, to begin
with, hardly had any trans-local connections. The large number of
organisations, associations and movements originating in the early part
of the nineteenth century had their activities limited to a town, mostly
the administrativecentres of British presidencies and provinces where
the intelligentsia was concentrated. Even if the concerns were similar,
they hardly had any co-ordination or communication. Thus the Society
for Acquisition of General Knowledge in Calcutta,DyanprasarakSabha
in Bombay and the LiterarySociety in Madras,functioned independently
of each other, without sharing the fruits of their deliberations. The
proceedingsof innumerabledebatingclubswhich had come into existence
reflect common concerns, but without any dialogue between them.
The disseminationof print culture,institutionalisedin the nineteenth
century through newspapers, both English and vernacular, steadily
enlarged the local vision through a dual process of making the distant
accessibleto the locality and locality to the areasbeyond it. An analysis
of the newspapers of early nineteenth century would demonstrate how
this inter-exchange was taking place, leading to an enlargement of the
local horizon. Almost all newspapers during this time carried two
permanent columns - moffusal news and presidency news. They
encapsulatedand broughtto the readerswhat was happeningin the region
and in other partsof the country. The locality thus becamecontextualised
in terms of the region and the nation and vice-versa.
FROMREVOLTTO AGITATION
33
Such a changetook place in the religiousrealmalso. Initiallythe
activitiesof religiousreformmovementsin the nineteenthcenturydid
not go beyondthe townsor provincesof theirorigin.The earlyactivities
of BrahmoSamajwere mainlywithin Bengal,those of Arya Samajin
Punjab and of PrarthanaSamajin Bombay. But very soon they
the localandregionallimitsandextendedtheiractivitiesto
transgressed
other partsof the country.The leadersof BrahmoSamajtravelledto
differentpartsof Indiain orderto disseminateits ideasandto establish
Senwhose
its branches.MostsuccessfulamongthemwasKeshabchandra
in that
influence
visit to SouthIndiamarkedthe beginningof Brahmo
region.Similarly,from its originalbasein PunjabArya Samajreached
out to northandcentralIndia.The culturalawakeningthesemovements
represented developed a trans-local perspective which led to the
constitutionof new religiouscommunities.
Even duringthe pre-colonialperiodreligionhaddrawnpeopleout
of theirlocalities.Radhakumud
Mookerjihasin thiscontext,underlined
the importanceof pilgrimage:
The institutionof pilgrimageis undeniablya mostpowerfulfactor
sensein the people,whichenables
for developingthe geographical
them to think and feel that India is not a mere congeries of
geographicalfragments,but a single,though immenseorganism,
filledwith the tide of one strongpulsatinglife from end to end.7
The significanceof nineteenthcenturymovementswasqualitatively
different;the consciousnessthey generatedwent much beyond the
geographical.They were activelyengagedin transformingthe socioreligiousconditionswithin a commonly sharedcode of conduct and
institutionalframework. Moreimportantly,religiousreformationwas
not an end in itself, but as RammohunRoy indicated,was for "social
comfortandpoliticaladvantage".
What Rammohun meant by political advantageis not clear, but early
issues.Likein other
politicalactivitieswereenmeshedwith socio-cultural
spheres,they were also initially confined to specific localities. The
campaignagainstor in favourof Satididnot arousemuchinterestoutside
Calcuttaand the debateabouthook-swingingwas mainlyconfinedto
Madras.Thisinsularity,however,soon gavewayto a senseof commonly
sharedgrievancesandthus to the possibilityof commonstruggles.
The reactionto the increasingincidenceof conversionin the second
quarterof the nineteenthcenturyreflectedthis transition.Sensingthe
34
SOCIAL SCIENTIST
dangerit posed to their culturaland religiouslife, particularlyin the
light of the support for evangalisationof India from a section of
bureaucracy,the intelligentsiarealisedthe need to mobilise public opinion
all over the country. Some steps towards that end were taken when the
bill to provide for the inheritance of ancestral property to Hindus
converted to Christianity was introduced in 1845 and passed in 1851.
There were attempts to co-ordinatethe protest againstit in all the three
presidencies and messages of solidarity were forthcoming even from
princely states.An open letter addressedto the governor-generalasserted:
"I am confident that my countrymen in the three Presidencieswill join
in one compact for their own interests, and translate this letter into
common language of the country for its better circulation among our
community here and elsewhere".8A correspondent of Englishmanwas
critical of the Calcutta Committee formed to resistthe Act for appealing
only to Bengali Hindus for support. He asked "why does it not call
upon the inhabitants of the three Presidencies to join together in one
common cause?"9A larger vision of political belonging was clearly in
the making.
The Revolt of 1857 amply demonstratedthe power of the colonial
state as well as its ideological influences. The Indian feudal classes were
never again to challenge the might of the British rule and settled down
to be its supportersand collaborators,in a bid to preservetheir privileges
and prerogatives.On the other hand the intelligentsiawho had supported
the Britishduringthe Revolt slowly becamedisillusionedwith the British
rule and became the vanguardin organising political opposition to it.
This disillusionment was rooted in the contradictions generated by
colonialism which was articulatedin political, intellectual and cultural
terms and embodied in the national movement. As R.P. Dutt has rightly
pointed out, "The Indian national movement arose from social
conditions, from the conditions of imperialism and its system of
exploitation; and from the social and economic forces generatedwithin
Indian society under the conditions of that exploitation."10
The early organised political activities were undertaken by local
associationsin the presidencies.Prominent among them were the Poona
Sarvajanik Sabha (1870), the Indian Association (1876), the Madras
MahajanaSabha (1884) and the Bombay Presidency Association (1885).
Although initially set up as presidency organisations the activities of
some of them assumedall-Indiacharacteras well as establishedlinkages
with other associations. For instance, the Indian Association under the
FROMREVOLTTO AGITATION
35
leadershipof SurendranathBannerjispearheadedan agitation in 1877-78
for grantingequalopportunityfor Indiansin the civil serviceexamination.
There were several issues around which campaigns were mounted by
the intelligentsia:VernacularPress, Arms Act, Inland Emigration Act,
Ilbert Bill and so on. At the same time efforts were also afoot to organise
an All India National Conference which materialisedin December 1883
at the initiative of the Indian Association. Another meeting of the
Conference was planned for December 1885.
These associations and their activities were a precursorto national
politics which received an organisationalbasiswith the formation of the
Indian National Congress. At the initiative of Allan Hume, a retired
civil servant, credited with the now defunct theory of conceiving the
Congress as a safety-valve, 721 delegates attended its first session at
Bombay in 1885underthe presidentshipof W.C. Banerjee.The president
laid down the objectives of the Congress as follows:1
a) The promotion of personal intimacy and friendship amongst all
the more earnest workers in our country's cause in the various
parts of the Empire.
b) The eradication by direct friendly personal intercourse, of all
possible race, creed, or provincial prejudicesamongst all lovers of
our country, andthe fuller developmentand consolidation of those
sentiments of national unity that had their origin in our beloved
Lord Ripon's ever memorable reign.
c) The authoritative record, after this, has been carefully elicited by
the fullest discussion, of the matured opinions of the educated
classesin India or some of the more important and pressing of the
social questions of the day.
d) The determinationof the lines upon and methods by which during
the next twelve months it is desirable for Native politicians to
labour in the public interest.
The above objectivesof the Congressemphasisedthe coming together
of people of different backgroundsand belonging to imbibe a common
sentiment and national identity. At the same time the resolutions passed
in the first session implied a critique, though couched in a language,
mild and loyal, of British rule. Thus, the formation of the Congress
symbolised the crystalisationof national and anti-colonialconsciousness
in an institutional form.
36
SOCIALSCIENTIST
EARLYPHASEOF THE CONGRESS
During the first twenty years, generally described as its moderate
phase, the Congress activities were very limited in nature. In fact, its
existence did not go much beyond annual gatheringsof delegates who
after passing resolutions, seeking political concessions from the colonial
government, returnedto pursuetheir professions. The Congress did not
exist duringthis time as an organisationcontinuously engagedin political
activity. What it did, however, was to voice the grievancesof people and
to press for political concessions from the colonial government. The
most important demands the Congress put forward pertained to
representation in legislative councils, Indianisation of civil services,
separation of judiciary, repeal of Arms Act, reduction of Home charges
and military expenditure, promotion of Indian industries and the
abolition of unfair tariffs and excise duties.
The importance of the moderate phase, however, was not in its
political achievements, but in advancingan economic critique of British
rule which was instrumental in furthering anti-colonial consciousness.
What the moderate leaders attempted was to show how India suffered
economically at the handsof Britainand how the poverty and destitution
of India was a result of colonial exploitation. Dadabhai Naoroji, a Parsi
businessman, detailed the drain of wealth from India effected by the
British and Romesh ChandraDutt, a retiredcivil servant,brought under
scrutiny the adverse consequences of British economic policies. Their
works, Povertyand Un BritishRule in India and TheEconomicHistoryof
India in two volumes respectively became the most potent ideological
weapons of the nationalmovement. The economic critiquewas furthered
and popularisedby a host of others, prominent among whom were M.G.
Ranade, G.V. Joshi, G. SubramanyaIyer and G.K. Ghokhale.
The economic critique of British rule mainly centered around three
key issues: poverty, drain of wealth and de-industralisation. The
moderatesconsistently and convincingly.arguedthat "thewretched,heart
- rending, blood-boiling conditions of India"was a consequence of the
"continuous impoverishment and exhaustion of the country" brought
about by the British rule."2The poverty of India was, therefore, not
inherited from the past, but created by the drain of wealth which the
nationalists estimated as about "one - half of government revenue, more
than the entire land revenue collection, and over one-third of India's
total savings".This was achievedby the Britishthrough the manipulation
of export surplus and making India pay for the administrativeexpenses
FROMREVOLTTO AGITATION
37
in England,euphemistically
calledthe Home charges.Apartfromthis, a
- destructionof Indianhandicrafts
deliberate
of
de-industrialisation
policy
- without a correspondinggrowthof modernindustries,subordinated
the Indianmarketto the Britishindustrialinterests.The resultof these
and other discriminatorypolicies,DadabhaiNaoroji argued,was the
"Englishrule, as it is (not as it can and should be), is an everlasting,
unceasing,and every day increasingforeigninvasion,utterly, though
gradually,
destroyingthecountry."DespitethisscathingcriticismNaoroji
believedthat"theresultof the Britishrulecanbe a blessingto Indiaand
a gloryto England- a resultworthyof the foremostandmost humane
nations on the face of the earth".There was obviously a mismatch
betweenthe idealandthe practical,butthe faithin the formerinfluenced
the methods adopted by the moderateswhich were ridiculed and
dismissedby the radicalsas the politicsof mendicancy.
Butthenthe moderatephasewasnot one of agitationalpoliticsor of
massmobilisation.They werenot on the agendayet. Ghokhalewas far
from correctin sayingthat the moderateswere destinedto servethe
nationalistcauseby failure;in factthey hada fairshareof success.Their
successwas in unravelingthe colonialcharacterof Britishruleandthus
underminingits legitimacy.Without exposingthe "benevolent"and
characterof Britishruleandtherebyweakeningits moral
"progressive"
andideologicalfoundationsthe agitational
politicswouldnot havegained
muchsupport.The moderatephasewasthus a preparatorystagewhich
made mass politics possible.
AND NATIONALISM
CULTURE,REVIVALISM
The culturalregenerationrepresentedby the socio-religiousreform
movementsduringthe nineteenthcenturywasthe expressionof national
awakeningandthe urgeto democratisesocialandreligiousinstitutions
on the principlesof individuallibertyandhumandignity.Occasioned
by the colonialpresence,though not createdby it, the focus of early
effortswas on transformingthe existingculturalpracticeswhich were
anachronisticin the emergingnew order.But the increasingintrusion
into the culturalrealmby the colonial rule in order to establishits
hegemonybroughtabouta qualitativechange.As a consequence,the
culturalawakeningtendedto be more and more inwardlooking and
engagedin retrievingthe culturalpast.The revivalistelementintegralto
this processimparteda religioustinge to nationalconsciousness.For
example,movementslike the AryaSamaj,despitetheir reformingzeal,
38
SOCIALSCIENTIST
tried to mould the contemporaryculturalpracticesin the light of
scripturalprescriptions.In the process,the culturalpastwas perceived
only in religiousterms.The cultureof the nation was thus identified
with religion,ignoringthe historicalexperiencein which was inherent
the seeds of both acculturationand plurality.The identity between
culture, religion and nation imparteda religiouscharacterto nationalism.
This tendency had differentshadesand ways of articulation,in ideas,
in political activities and in cultural life. Nabagopal Mitra's intellectual
and cultural endeavours reflect some of them. He believed that
nationalism did not have the same source of inspiration in all countries.
In India,accordingto him, the unifying principlehas been Hindu religion.
He arguedthat "Hindu nationality is not confined to Bengal.It embraces
all of Hindu name and Hindu faith throughout the length and breadth
of Hindustan; neither geographicalposition, nor the languageis counted
a disability. The Hindus are destined to be a religious nation".14
Nabagopalorganisedan annualHindu Mela,foundeda nationalsociety
and published a national paper. All of them underlinedthe connection
between Hindu culture and Indiannation. Nabagopal'sefforts, however,
foregroundedthe questionof relationshipbetweencultureandnationalismin
a multi-religious and pluralistic society. While a religious view of this
relationshippersisted,nationalismalsodrewupon secularculturalethos.
It was not accidentalthat the last quarterof the nineteenth century
witnessed an intense enquiry into traditional knowledge and cultural
past of the country. D.D. Kosambi characterisedthis phenomenon as
"creative introspection" which coincided with the manifestation of
national consciousness. A new cultural sensitivity was born out of it
which heraldedthe emergenceof modern culture by critically reshaping
the traditional. This transition in culturalcreativity was not only linked
with nationalism but also articulatedits essential features.
The paintings of RajaRavi Varmainterpretingthe mythological and
classical literary figures and the historical novels of Bankim Chandra
Chatterji and C.V. Raman Pillai were products of its cultural climate.
So was the attempt of Jyotindranath Tagore to invent a national dress.
They were the precursors of more clearly etched nationalist culture,
both in style and content, of the twentieth century. As Ananda K
Coomaraswamy observed, "national unity needs a deeper foundation
than the perception of political wrongs"15which was laid by national
culture conceived and articulated in secular terms during its early
formative phase.
FROMREVOLTTO AGITATION
39
EMERGENCEOF COMMUNALPOLITICS
It is paradoxical,
buttrue,thatnationalandcommunalconsciousness
in Indiansociety.Thecommunitarian
consciousness
grewsimultaneously
which existedfor long and inherentin the socio-religiousmovements
didnot submergein nationalconsciousness;
insteadit transformeditself
into communalconsciousness.This transformationdid not take place
view was widely
uniformlyall over the country,but a communitarian
shared.Even the earlyCongresswas not free from it, as evidentfrom
one of the resolutionspassedin its Allahabadsessionin 1888 which
assuredthat no subjectwould be discussedto which "the Hindu or
Muslimdelegatesasa bodyobject,unanimouslyor nearunanimously".16
The two examplesof inherentpotentialfor transformationwithin
communitarianconsciousnessare the Arya Samajand the Aligarh
movement. Both of them were essentially reformistorganisations,
Withthe onsetof nationalist
workingwithintheirreligiouscommunities.
politics the perspectiveof both of them underwentrapidchange.In
PunjabArya Samajdevelopedon Hindu communallines andin Uttar
Pradesh,AligarhmovementmovedtowardsMuslimcommunalpolitics.
Both eschewedsecular-national
politics and contributedto communal
solidarity.
Even earlier,the relationshipbetween differentreligiouscommunities
were not without friction and conflict or without mutual suspicion.
Hindu-Muslim riots had taken place in Benaresin 1809 and in Bhiwandi
in 1828. For about twenty years beginning 1855 the Parsees and the
Muslims in Bombay lived in constant tension. The same period also
witnessed several riots in different parts of Maharashtra.Yet, they were
all incidental to social-collective living and hence the rancour they
engendered were soon overcome, if not fully forgotten. By the closing
decadesof the century the situation had substantiallychanged. Not only
the gulf between the two communities widened, the internal solidarity
of communities also increased.
This process was extremely complex and multi-dimensional and
found articulation in a variety of endeavours - social, cultural and
political. Two of them may be singledout. The Hindu-Urdu controversy
and the cow protection movement. The demand for adopting Hindi as
court language in place of Urdu created a communal divide within the
elite who regardlessof religious affiliations had earlierused Urdu as the
common language.ThereafterHindi became associatedwith the Hindus
40
SOCIALSCIENTIST
andUrduwith the Muslims.17
The sloganof "Hindi,Hindu,Hindustan"
soon becamepartof Hinducommunalconsciousness.
The impactof cow protectionmovementwasmorewidespreadand
intensethanthe languagecontroversy.Conductedby Gaurakshini
Sabhas
active all over north India and supportedby landlords,government
officials and Sadhus,the campaignfor the protection of cow had a
powerful revivalistappealand in turn communalimplications.The
unprecedented
spurtin the numberof communalriots- 31 in Biharand
North WesternProvincesalonein 1893- wasanimmediateconsequence
of the movement.The spreadof violence from Azamgarhin North
WesternProvincesto JunagarhandBombayin westernIndiaindicates
its all Indiaappeal.By furtheringthe processof communalisation,it
influencedthe futurerelationsbetweenthe HindusandMuslims18
and
affectedtheparticipation
of thelatterin the Congresslednationalpolitics.
The emergenceof communalpolitics with the formationof the
MuslimLeaguein 1906and Hindu MahaSabhain 1914was a logical
The colonialrule aidedandabettedthis
sequenceof communalisation.
process.
TOWARDSMASSPOLITICS
By the beginningof the twentieth centurythe natureof politics
followedby the Congresshadcomeundercriticalscrutinyfromwithin
the organisation.The objectiveconditionsweresuchthat the rationale
andefficacyof itsmethodshadoutlinedtheirutility.Theeffortsto arouse
the liberalconscienceof the Britishto the genuinehardshipof Indiahad
not yieldedany result.None of the existingrepressivemeasureswere
repealednor any new concessionswere granted.Insteadthe attitudeof
the governmentto the Congresschangedfrom friendshipto hostility.
In fact,LordCurzon,the governor-general
(1900-05)lookedforwardto
its earlydemiseandgleefullyanticipatedthe possibilityof providingit
an honourableburial.
Thereality,however,wasdifferentfromwhatCurzonhadenvisaged.
The appealof nationalistideashadconsiderablyincreasedbecauseof the
ideologicalwork undertakenby the Congressleadersandworkers.The
newspaperswerea majorinstrumentof this activity.Prominentamong
them were TheHindu and Swadesamitran
in Madras,Kesari,Mahratta
andSudharak
in Bombay,BengaleeandAmritaBazarPatrikain Bengal,
TribuneandAkbar-i-Aam
in PunjabandInduPrakashandDhyanPrakash
in Gujarat.The circulationof vernacularnewspapersincreasedfrom
FROM REVOLT TO AGITATION
41
299,000 in 1885 to 817,000 in 1905. This did not denote any substantial
change in the social base of the movement, except its horizontal spread
among the petty-bourgeosiewhich combined with the resentmentagainst
the repressivepolicies of the government made a change in the nature of
politics possible and necessary. The emergence of extremism which
promoted popular agitation heralded a qualitative change in the anticolonial struggle. The partition of Bengal in 1905 and the Swadeshi
movement which ensued marked this transition by renouncing
'mendicancy' in favour of agitationalmass politics.
The Swadeshi movement shifted the focus of politics from
concessions to self-reliance.Bal GangadharTilak, the most prominent
of the extremist leaders underlined this change when he claimed that
"Swarajis my birthright and I shall have it". The Swadeshiprogramme
was therefore,not confined to the more popularboycott of foreign goods
in which people participatedall over the country. More importantly, it
undertook constructive work and institution building, which made the
period of Swadeshimovement one of the most creativeepochs in modern
Indian history. It promoted national education, stimulated national
cultureand encouragednationalindustries.RabindranathTagore'sShanti
Niketan, AbhanindranathTagore'spaintingsandPrafullaChandraRay's
Bengal Chemicals Factory were the most representativeof the Swadeshi
enterprise.19
Swadeshimovement, however, could not sustain for long, given the
limitations of its social base and the collective participatorynature of its
mobilisation. Yet, it launched the national movement on the path of
mass politics. And perhaps, more importantly, tried to impart to it a
holistic character- political, economic and cultural.
NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
RammohunRoy, 'FinalAppealto the ChristianPublic'in J.C. Ghose(ed)The
EnglishWorksofRammohunRoy,Allahabad,1906,p.874.
It is necessaryto makea distinctionbetweenthe intelligentsiaandintellectuals.
While the intelligentsiawas subjectof the ideologicalinfluenceand material
interests,the intellectualsconstantlytriedto overcomethem.
Thememorandum
wassignedby ChunderKumarTagore,Dwarakanath
Tagore,
RammohunRoy, HurchunderGhose,GowreeChurunBanerjeeandProssunno
CoomarTagore.TheEnglishWorksofRammohunRoy,p.442.
"The capabilitiesof India"by A Friendto Improvement,CalcuttaMonthly
Journal,Feb. 1813., in GoutamChattopadhyaya(ed),Awakeningin Bengal,
Calcutta,1965,p.XIV.
BombayGazette,30July, 1841.
42
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
SOCIAL SCIENTIST
Kylas Chunder Dutt, "AJournal of Fortyeight Hours of the year 1945",Calcutta
Literary Gazette, 6 June, 1835 in Awakening in Bengal,p.XIV.
Radhakumud Mookerji, Nationalism in Hindu Culture, London, 1921, p.39.
Quoted in S.R. Mehrotra,Emergenceof theIndian National Congress,Delhi, 1971,
p.48.
Ibid.
R.P. Dutt, India Today, 1970 Edition, p.303.
PattabhiSitaramayya,Historyof theIndianNational Congress,Delhi, 1969edition,
p.188.
DadabhaiNaoroji, Povertyand UnBritishRule in India, Delhi, 1969edition, p.214.
Ibid.
Quoted in Bimanbehari Majumdar,History of Indian Social and Political Ideas,
Calcutta, 1967, p. 116.
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Essaysin National Idealism, Colombo, 1909, p.ii.
Quoted in Mushir-ul-Hasan,Nationalism and CommunalPolitics in India, New
Delhi, 1979, p.32.
Francis Robinson, SeparatismAmong Indian Muslims,Delhi, 1975, p.76.
John R. McLane, Indian Nationalism and the Early Congress,Princeton, 1977,
Part IV.
For details see Sumit Sarkar,SwadeshiMovementin Bengal, 1903-08,New Delhi,
1973.