Knowing Asia, Being Asian

Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism in Bengali Periodicals, 1860–1940

Sarvani Gooptu

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000489484
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

This book studies the various representations of Asia in Bengali literary periodicals between the 1860s and 1940s. It looks at how these periodicals tried to analyse the political situation in Asia in the context of world politics and how Indian nationalistic ideas and associations impacted their vision.

The volume highlights the influences of cosmopolitanism, universalism and nationalism which contributed towards a common vision of a united and powerful Asia and how these ideas were put into practice. It analyses travel accounts by men and women and examines how women became the focus of the didactic efforts of all writers for a horizontal dissemination of Asian consciousness. The author also provides a discussion on Asian art and culture, past and present connections between Asian countries and the resurgence of 19th-centuryBuddhism in the consciousness of the Bengalis.

Rich in archival material, Knowing Asia, Being Asian will be useful for scholars and researchers of history, Asian studies, modern India, cultural studies, media studies, journalism, publishing, post-colonial studies, travel writings, women and gender studies, political studies and social anthropology.

1 Othering the self through Sahitya Patrikas

DOI: 10.4324/9781003243786-1

The history of nationalism in India has shown us that like many nationalisms that existed along with the large framework of anti-colonial nationalism, there were also many ‘others’ besides the colonial government. Identifying the other was an important element in self-identification as well. The process of self-discovery is never uncomplicated or straightforward and for those who had discovered themselves and their country through the medium of western education with the ‘west as catalyst’, in the words of Tapan Raychaudhuri,¹ the path of othering was hazy. It required strong self-conviction to understand the self in the context of the relationship with the other and then to set forth on the task of othering – setting the self as different from the other. This self-analysis through the medium of vernacular literature and periodicals was a unique feature of nationalism which, according to the spirited nationalist Bipin Chandra Pal, provided a new ‘depth and reality’ to the old patriotism leading to growth of a ‘strong messianic hope and aspiration’.² I feel compelled to point out that though Pal distinguishes as ‘old style politics’ the pre-1905 anti-colonial movement since it was conducted in English and ‘which left no mark on vernacular literature’, the evidence of political articles in vernacular newspapers and journals from the mid-19th century belies that claim.

Despite the dilemma regarding the ‘benefits’ and the ‘drawbacks’ of the west among the educated elite of Bengal, there was a general acceptance of the view that the west was dominant because of its access to modern knowledge. One of the benefits of colonial rule was the beginning of arrival of world news through books and the press. No matter what the objective of the government, and despite the legendary war between any press and government control, with the start of the vernacular press which followed on the heels of the English language press, freedom to express opinions and influence the reading public became the new norm. Literary journals such as these could actually bypass the punitive repression acts that were more easily used against the openly nationalistic press. Another benefit of the new access to international news and knowledge system was an opening of the mind of the Bengali to the world. The easiest and the first connections made were with the west because their world was easier to access. But, surprisingly soon Asia became a focus – knowing about Asia and writing about it.

This chapter tries to surf through the immense amount of data to locate this focus from the large number of Samayik Patra/Patrika or periodicals published in Bengali. I have tried in brief to locate the start of the journals, identify the editors as well as the writers who wrote about Asia. This large intellectual group, most of whom were skilled writers as well, subtly influenced and trained the contemporary social mindset by bringing the world to the Bengali home and percolating through the latest cosmopolitan and nationalistic trends in a simple, comprehensible and attractive manner. But it is impossible for the most part to gauge the reaction of the readership since very few of the journals have a Letters to the Editor section. Reactions to articles can be gauged only through reports by other journals, but that too is more the reaction of the editor than the readers. Though there was no real watershed which differentiated the focus of the articles from the standpoint of cosmopolitanism and/or nationalism, I believe that in Bengal at least, patriotic nationalism, though in a state of flux in the second half of the 19th century, was more conducive to combining cosmopolitan ideas with universalist ideas than with the nationalist ideas that came in the 20th century and which were concretised through institutions and movements.

The very fact of time difference in the publication of the two types, i.e. one providing news daily and other published weekly, biweekly or monthly, makes a difference in the content. Since the journals do not provide daily news, they focus on summaries, notes, miscellanies while at the same time providing analytical featured essays on politics, social issues and inspirational and motivational features. Introspection as well as awareness of the outside world was noticeable from the beginning. The fact that the publications were by educated men or women who were also socially committed led to the richness of content. Some of the journals with professed literary focus as sahityapatra really means were generally led by or were associated with accomplished and established litterateurs. Others were organs of different associations and sabhas with commitment to the associated issues. It was a whole world within the intellectual world of the Bengalis who not only took pride in knowledge for themselves but desired to expand the horizon to include the rest of the country, Asia and the world. Communications through the written word of books and periodicals as well as physical travel played an important role in this journalistic world.

As I have written elsewhere, ‘vernacular literary periodicals reached out to all sections of the Bengali society, including women and children, with the dual aim in mind – education and entertainment not only focussed on Indian heritage but knowledge about other civilizations as well’.³ In fact, Rabindranath Tagore testifies to the fact when he writes that his enjoyment of reading periodicals in his childhood proves that children do not really need magazines which are aimed at ‘childhood’ only. He always believed that every kind of information should be handed over to all, irrespective of age and sex and their minds would select what they ‘understood and what they didn’t’.⁴ Tagore considered of greatest importance in the formation of a large educated middle class

not journals which focussed on specialized and in depth discussions on science or archaeology or even large numbers of stories, poems and inane travelogues, but rather middle ranking magazines which were comfort reading for the common people. Rather like Chamber’s Journal, Castle’s Magazine, Strand Magazine of England majority of which cater to the ordinary folks. They use their wealth of knowledge to provide their countrymen their basic needs. It is this basic need, like food and clothing that is the greatest need of people.⁵

Bibidhartha Sangraha that he used to read in his childhood, according to Tagore, was one such periodical which was the need of the hour.

Here I will only take a quick glance at the periodicals that were published in the second half of the 19th century and some major ones in the 20th century which contain articles published on Asia, concentrating mainly on identifying authors and editors as far as possible. These periodicals are in their own microcosmic way a reflection of the social milieu it started in, whether in the metropolis or whether it was in the important district towns and each of them carries a story which again collectively form a larger picture of urban and social history. The distinction that Tagore makes about periodicals in the late 19th century and the period when he was writing Jibonsmriti, regarding content of the periodicals, is also applicable to my mind with slight modifications when looking at writings on Asia. In the former period which I have identified as 1850–1900, the periodicals brought varied information from other countries for the knowledge and entertainment of their readers with less nationalistic mission necessitating urgent pedagogy. I distinguish here between the two periods since it is striking how much awareness there existed in the society regarding the world outside the home where a conscious positioning of the nation does not yet occur. From the turn of the century, information about the rise of Japanese military power, Japan–China clashes over territorial ambitions and the rise of nationalistic ideas within Bengal culminating in anti-Partition of Bengal movement had created a consciousness of the self in Bengal vis-à-vis the colonial government as well as a position as Asian vis-à-vis an Asian power who had captured the world’s imagination. Having said that, I must also add the caveat that these differentiations between loving one’s own country and touring others in imagination or reality to understand other societies as well as taking a nationalistic stand as a world citizen should not be laboured too much because the sense of patriotism and nationalism in the period, if taken in the sense of an emotion, was very blurred. Also, since these are written testimonies by many people, the range of emotions and its scope too was vast. If one article could qualify as representing one particular type of nationalism, another would in the very same journal refute or go beyond it. What is certain is that while in the 19th century the quest for spreading knowledge about the lesser known parts of the continent of Asia was more dominant, from the beginning of the 20th century claiming a position started.

Understanding Asia through vernacular periodicals: the editors and writers identified

19 th century

Newspapers started in January 1780 when James Hickey published Hickey’s Bengal Gazette, the first newspaper in India.⁶ Along with other English newspapers in the late 18th century like Bengal Journal and Indian World (William Duane), Madras Gazette and Calcutta Journal (1818) by James Silk Buckingham (1818–1819), Bengali news publications were Digdarshan, a monthly, and Samachar Darpan, a weekly, published by the Serampore missionaries, Bengal Gazetti (1818) by Ganga Kishor Bhattacharya, Sangbad Kaumudi (1821 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy) and Sangbad Timir Nashak (1823).⁷ By 1830, there were 16 Bengali newspapers and periodicals published daily, weekly and biweekly. One was monthly – Tattvabodhini Patrika (1843) established to propagate principles of Brahmo religion and was edited by Akshay Kumar Dutta. It held a high place for the high quality of its writings and circulated 700 copies a month according to James Long in 1855.⁸ The other Bengali journals of the period were Samachar Chandrika (1822, published by Bhabani Charan Bandopadhyay, first as a weekly and then daily by 1829), Bibidhartha Sangraha (1851), Masik Patrika (1854), Som Prakash (1858), Sulabh Samachar (1870 by Keshav Chandra Sen) and Bangadarshan (1872 by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay). From this period onwards, a large number of periodicals started publication dealing with various aspects of Indian life and I will only refer to the ones I have used in this study, i.e. those with a focus on educating the Bengali readers about Asia and India’s linkages with other Asian countries.⁹ Many of the journals that I have referred to started publication from outside Calcutta, but most of them shifted to Calcutta, once the journal gained popularity or to avoid printing and distribution difficulties in the district towns.

Sangbad Prabhakar, one of India’s most important newspapers which also continued for a long period, was started in 1831 as a weekly and its editor was Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. Within three years, it turned into a triweekly and from 1839 became a daily newspaper. In 1835, a newspaper Sangbad Purnachandra started as a monthly and nine years later it became a daily. It continued to publish for 73 years. In 1843, Tattvabodhini Patrika, a monthly was started as an organ of the Brahmo Samaj. Most of the social reform activities like women’s education, religious reformation and science education were strongly supported in this journal. It was a very important periodical for the propagation of science and modern thought in Bengali. The first editor of the periodical was Akshoy Kumar Dutta from 1843 to 1855 followed by Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar in 1856. Many members of the Tagore family like Satyendranath, Dwijendranath, Rabindranath, Kshitindranath, Kshemendranath Tagore were its editors. The last editors were Kshitindranath Tagore and Banawarilal Chaudhury in the 1930s. Another newspaper which started as a biweekly in 1839 was Sangbad Bhaskar which ten years later became triweekly. Other than Debendranath Tagore’s visit to China, these journals did not show much Asia consciousness.

In 1851, Rajendralal Mitra started Bibidhartha Sangraha which was taken over after ten years by Kaliprasanna Sinha. It was the first illustrated magazine and its popularity is testified by Tagore in Jibonsmriti. In that year, a Vernacular Literary Committee (a translations committee) had been set up in Calcutta under the leadership of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Radhakanta Deb, Rajendralal Mitra, Hajson Pratt (ICS inspector of Schools in Nadia and who set up the Bidhannagar public library), Archdeacon of Calcutta, Seaton Kerr, Reverend Long and Robinson. Its aim was

to publish translations of such works as are not included in the design of the Tract of Christian Knowledge societies on the one hand, or of the school Book and Asiatic societies on the other and likewise to provide a sound and useful vernacular Domestic literature for Bengal.

In the tradition of Penny Magazine, the first periodical with pictures with the intention of providing, as the advertisement said, the people of Bengal with knowledge – moral and uplifting – written for young and old, the journal used simple language and for greater comprehension was accompanied by pictures. The 16-page periodical’s subscription was fixed at 1 rupee annually.¹⁰ Bibidhartha Sangraha however did not provide pleasure to everyone as was evident during the editorship of Kaliprasanna Sinha who criticised in his editorial the interment of Reverend Long by the Indigo planters in 1861. The retribution of the colonial government was swift and definite – the periodical, in Brojendranath Bandopadhyay’s words, ‘died an untimely death’.¹¹ In 1858, Som Prakash was published as a weekly newspaper on political and cultural subjects from Calcutta with Dwarkanath Vidyabhushan as editor and supported by Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. Somprakash became a key element in the growth of nationalistic press in Bengal and majority of its pages were translated for government review. It faced the government’s wrath under the Vernacular Press Regulation Act in 1878 and went underground for two years. Rahasya Sandharbha, started in 1862 by Rajendralal Mitra, was aimed at spreading modern knowledge and had a number of articles on natural sciences.

In 1863, a revolution of sorts took place when Bamabodhini Patrika was started with the aim to kindle the minds of women, as the name suggested. Umesh Chandra Dutta was the editor of this magazine which became an important vehicle of analysis of social status of contemporary women. The most important issues discussed in this journal were debates on women’s education and the editorial board of the periodical was comprised of liberal advocates of women’s education. That this journal was important is justified by the very fact of its continuity for 60 years when most periodicals had a very short life. Dutta, one of the key figures of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj under Keshav Chandra Sen’s leadership, was a staunch supporter of education for women and also wrote two books on the subject – Bamarachanabali (Women’s Writings) and Strilokdiger bidyar abasykata (The Need for Female Education). After Dutta, the editorship was continued by Ashutosh Ghosh (1904–1905) and for a longer time by Santosh Kumar Dutta (1908–1923). In the earlier years of Bamabodhini Patrika, the names of the authors were not mentioned and only in the second decade of the 20th century do we occasionally find authors mentioned. Bamabodhini Patrika’s dedication in imparting education also included knowledge about other Asian countries as the many articles show. Many of the articles in the early phase do not contain the writer’s name or else, it was the editor who did most of the writing. A scrutiny of Bamabodhini’s articles in the first phase shows that along with lessons in ethics and values, an attempt to educate Indians on how women live in other Asian countries is visible. I have discussed these writings in another chapter, but it is important to note that women’s lives in China, Japan, Persia, Sri Lanka and Burma were discussed in the period 1867–1895. The periodical was the organ of the Bamabodhini Sabha. As the introduction pointed out:

it was divine grace that the attention of the country had fallen on their women. Just like men, women’s education was vital not only to end their miserable condition but for the future well-being and development of the country. Effort...