Indian Awakening and Bengal (An Old and Rare Book)

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In the long annals of the history of India the nineteenth century occupies a unique position. From the ruins of the Mughal Empire and turmoils and upheavals of the succeeding years gradually emerged a New India. The ominous clouds of decay and disintegration, the sense of despair and depression that overshadowed the country in the eighteenth century passed away and the nineteenth century ushered in an era of immense possibilities. The country throve with new life, unmistakable signs of a re-birth were manifest and momentous changes began to take place embracing various spheres of life. Boundless energy and revolutionary changes in the realm of ideas caused a transformation and this new spirit of rejuvenescence was reflected in the life and thought of the people. This historic and fascinating phase has variously been described as the Indian Renaissance, the Indian Reformation, the Indian Resurgence etc. But none of these terms is altogether satisfactory, and there is good ground for contesting the accuracy of each of them. But that Modern India evolved out of the awakening of the nineteenth century is a historic truth, and it was Bengal which was the centre of this awakening. The impact of British rule and Western education and the inspiration from her own classical literature and ancient heritage caused this change. The terms Indian Renaissance and the Bengal Renaissance, apparently borrowed from the European Renaissance, have often been applied to it. In the same vein the role of Bengal has been compared to that of Italy and Calcutta to that of Florence. Although such comparisons are often sweeping and misleading yet in a general sense these comparisons, to some extent, fit in with the history of nineteenth century-India. It was in Bengal that British rule was first firmly established, Western education was introduced, and a new economy was set up leading to the birth of middle class intelligentsia which was in the forefront of the awakening. The responsive Bengali intellectual mind spent no time in applying the new knowledge in creative pursuits. It will not be a travesty of truth to assert that the principal social, religious and political movements of the century emanated from Bengal.