Reawakening of India
By Jawaharlal Nehru
1. Who was Jawaharlal Nehru?
Nehru was born in 1889 in Allahabad. He was a freedom fighter, patriot, scholar, statesman, writer and one of the greatest liberal thinkers in the twentieth century. He became the Prime Minister of India in 1947 and till his death in 1964; he was the champion of non-alignment and world peace.
2. What was Nehru’s contribution to Literature of India?
One of the acknowledged masters of English prose, Nehru wrote most of his articles during his term in jail. His works include: An Autobiography (1936), The Discovery of India (1946), and Glimpses of World History (1949).
3. What is Reawakening of India?
The Reawakening of India is one of the 196 letters that Nehru wrote to her daughter Indira. It has been taken from his book Glimpses of World History.
4. What are the key points that Nehru discusses?
a. Impact of British
• Good – thieves and dacoits were put down, brought a feeling of nationality and political unity in India
• Bad – misery and poverty
b. English Education
• English education intended to produce clerks put Indians in touch with current western thought.
• A new class began to arise, the English-educated class, destined to take the lead in the nationalist movements.
c. Reformers of Hinduism
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy – He was a great man & a great scholar. He is known for his works for the abolition of Sati. He founded a society- Brahmo Samaj. The family of Tagores’ took to it and for long, the poet Rabindra Nath Tagore’s father Debendra Nath Tagore was the prop and pillar of the Samaj. Another leading member was Keshab Chandra Sen.
• Swami Dayananda Saraswati –Later religious reform movement took place in Punjab and the founder was Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He started a society called Arya Samaj. Its cry was ‘Back to Vedas’. The Arya Samaj which of many Hindu sects came nearest to Islam became a rival and opponent of Islam. The movement was meant to revive Hinduism and got its strength from the coloring of nationalism the majority of which were Hindus. And the very fact that it was Hindu nationalism made it difficult for it to become Indian nationalism.
• Ramkrishna Paramhansa – A remarkable religious man of that century but he did not stress on a society, he laid stress on service. Swami Vivekananda was a famous disciple of Ramkrishna. This too had its root in Hindu religion and culture.
d. New Middle Class
• The middle class arose consisting of professional people such as lawyers and doctors. This class was a direct outcome of the British rule.
• India as a whole and the masses grew poorer, the handful of people comprising of this class prospered to some extent because they shared in country’s exploitation.
• Soon, Indian industrial capitalist class began to arise. As this bourgeoisie grew, their appetite also grew.
• They found that the British were obstructing them in every path. All high posts were occupied by the British and industry was run for the profit of British. So they began agitating leading to the Revolt of 1857*.
e. Cause of tension between Hindus and Muslims
• The new middle class consisted mainly the Hindus due to their somewhat better economic condition than the Muslims and also their taking to English education.
• Bengal had the biggest Muslim population of any Indian province but majority of Muslims were poor tenants or land holders. The landlord was usually a Hindu in a position to oppress the tenant and exploit him. Here, lies the root cause of tension between the Hindu and the Muslim.
f. Literature in Bengal
• Bengali literature had a great influence on the development of Nationalism.
• Our famous song ‘ Vande Mataram’ has been taken from Bankim Chaterjee’s book Ananda Math.
• A Bengali play which created a stir was Nil Darpan – the mirror of Indigo.
g. Indian National Congress
• It was founded in 1885 and challenged the very basis of British rule in India.
• Initially it represented the richer bourgeoisie. It was the organ of English educated class and carried its activities in our step mother tongue English.
• INC paid little attention to the grinding poverty of the masses or their needs.
• Dadabhai Naroji (member of Congress) was the first one to use the term ‘Swaraj’ for India’s goal.
• Some Muslims leaders joined INC but Muslims as a whole kept away.
h. Syed Ahmad Khan
• Syed Ahmad Khan was a great Muslim leader of that time. He saw that lack of modern education had injured Muslims greatly.
• He persuaded them to take education before dabbling in politics. He also advised the Muslims to stay away from Congress.
• With the help of the government a fine college in Aligarh (now known as Aligarh Muslim University).
i. Victory of Japan 1904-05
• The victory of Japan over Russia influenced the colonies ruled by the British in Asia greatly.
• People thought if Japan could win against the most powerful European country why not India?
j. British domination
• Indians were made to believe that they were an inferior race. Even the history that was taught to them was false.
• By the Arms Act Indians were prevented from keeping arms.
k. Division of Bengal
• The British divided Bengal in two parts, one of these being Eastern Bengal.
• People suspected that British wanted to weaken them dividing them.
• Eastern Bengal had a majority of Muslims; the question of Hindu-Muslim division was also raised.
• This led to the cry of ‘Swadeshi’ and then the movement for the boycott of British goods was started.
• Bomb also made its first appearance in Indian politics.
l. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
• In Maharashtra aggressive nationalism was revived triggered by Hinduism.
• The great mass leader who arose was Bal Gangadhar Tilak also known as Lokmanya.
• Tilak was the first political leader who reached the masses and drew strength from them.
m. Division of Congress
• Congress members were used to quieter brand of politics and did not feel at home with the new unbending spirit of Maharashtra as embodied by Tilak.
• They praised Swadeshi but hesitated at the boycott of British goods.
• Two parties developed in the Congress- The Extremists under Tilak and the Moderates under older Congress leaders.
• The split came in 1907.
*Additional information – After the 1857 Revolt, the responsibility of ruling India was directly assumed by the British Crown. Lord Lytton became the Viceroy of India in 1858. The Indian Arms Act of 1878 was enacted by legislated during Lord Lytton's time. By this act, no Indians could manufacture, sell, possess, and carry firearms
**Additional information - The Indian Revolt of 1857 was a major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company. The revolt is also referred to as Sepoy Mutiny.
5. What is the drawback of this letter/prose?
Nehru covers many aspects of Nationalism but leaves a very important one that is the role of women. He does not discuss about any woman writer, any woman freedom fighter, any woman politician, and any woman reformer or even about the miserable condition of women as if women didn’t exist.
Quite helpful
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