Hindu Civilization During British
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
** A HISTORY V OF Hindu Civilisation during British, Rule BY PRAMATHA NATH BOSE, B.Sc. (Lond.\ F.G.S., M.R.A.S- OFFICIATING SUPERINTENDENT, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA AUTHOR OF "THE CENTENARY REVIEW OF THE RESEARCHES OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL IN NATURAL SCIENCE." IN FOUR VOLUMES VOL. I RELIGIOUS CONDITION CALCUTTA: W. NEWMAN, & Co. LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & Co. LEIPZIG. OTTO HARRASSOWITZ. 1894 **t.% Printed by Jadu Nath Seal, HARE PRESS : 46, Bechu Chatterjee's Street, Calcutta. 3>S At c I ? l^ (A I The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved. TO PROFESSOR F. MAX MULLER, K. M., WHO HAS NOBLY DEVOTED HIS LIFE TO THE ELUCIDATION OF THE ANCIENT LITERATURE AND HISTORY OF MY COUNTRY, AND HAS AWAKENED IN MY COUNTRYMEN A LIVING INTEREST IN THEIR PAST, I GRATEFULLY DEDICATE THIS VOLUME. PREFACE. IT? HE idea of writing a History of Hindu Civili- "#* sation first occurred to me sixteen years ago, when I submitted to the Oriental Congress a short essay on Aryan Civilisation in India, which earned a prize awarded by the Italian Govern- ment. The execution of the work, however, has had to be postponed from year to year for various reasons which it is needless to mention. Even now, the work is published with consider- able diffidence, as, on many points, the informa- tion which I have been able to collect is meagre and unsatisfactory. I venture to hope, however, that the present publication will create interest in the subject, and thus lead eventually to a more exhaustive treatment of it. PREFACE. Of the friends to whom I am indebted for this attempt, I desire, in the first place, to men- tion the name of Mr. R. C. Dutt, c. I. e., who has helped me very materially by his advice and suggestions. 1 have also to gratefully acknow- ledge my obligations to Mr. G. C. Bose, M. A., m. r. a. for the on to c, chapter Agriculture ; Mr. T. N. Mukharji, f. l. s., for the chapter on and to Mr. C. Dutt for his Art-industries ; J. kind and sympathetic help. j 6, Park Street, Calcutta. P. N. Bose. August, i8g^. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. INTRODUCTION. SUBJF.CT. PAGE. Religion, not a sure criterion of civilisation I iv Influence of religion upon intellectual progress and vice versa Causes which modify the influence of intellectual upon religious progress ...... v Influence of religion upon Hindu civilisation vii Illustrations of the influence of religion upon the Hindu mind ; Yogis ...... xi Employment of wealth on religious purposes xii Recent religious movements .... xiii Sanctity, not wealth, honoured by the Hindus ib. Hindu religious life never quite dormant xiv Caste qualification dispensed with in the case of men of special sanctity ...... xv Domination of religion a cause of mixed good xvi Absence of patriotism partly due to caste, a socio-religious insti- tution ..... ib. Interference with religion, the most important casus belli with Hindus ..... xviii Religion hitherto the only common bond among the Hindus xxi The protective policy in religion injurious to progress xxii Illustrations from the history of Christianity, the Inquisition ib. Persecution of Galileo and of Bruno xxiv The Reformation diminished the protective spirit of Christianity, and thus favoured progress xxvi Liberality of Hinduism in purely religious and intellectual matters favourable to progress xxvii 9 CONTENTS. si BJECT. PAGE. Interference of Hinduism in social matters injurious to progress XXX xxxiii Stagnation, the result of such interference Caste ....•• ib. xxxiv Its good, and its evil ..... Hindu social progress in pre-Mahomedan period xxxvii On lines different from those on which Western society has ad- vanced ...... xxxix Freedom in the earlier Vedic period ib. Accompanied by lax morals .... xli Puritanic movement in the later Ve lie period xlii Its comprehensive character .... ib. Origin of early marriage &c. .... xliit Origin of restrictions upon food and drink xliv Increased stringency of socio-religious rules owing to the decay of Hindu civilisation in the Puranic period xlv Influence of causes civilisation xlix / physical upon Indireft influence of physical causes upon religious and intellec- tual progress ..... Hi. Influence of physical causes upon Hindu civilisation liii National character of the Hindus lv Influence of the doctrine of Karma lviii Comparative absence of the military spirit among Hindus . lix The contact of the British with the Hindu civilisation has affected the latter more than the former; reasons why lxi Comparative absence of selfishness prom Hei by Hindu social organisation ..... Ixv Increased sense of self-interest due to the contact of Western civilisation ..... Ixviii Increased sense of individuality under Western influence lxix Arts and manufactures in the Vedic period lxxi In the Buddhist-Hindu period .... ib. The material condition of the people under the Moguls Ixxii Labourers . , . lxxiv Artisans ...... ib. Indian industries a century ago . Ixxv European travellers on— the material condition of the people under Moslem rule Conti. .... lxxvi Manrique ..... ib. Mandeslo ... lxxvii • Bernief . lxxviii Causes of the ruin of indigenous industries lxxix 10 CONTENTS. SUBJECT. PAGH. lxxxt Effects of the extinction of indigenous industries . lxxxii Increased pressure upon land .... Condition of the cultivators .... Ixxxiv Of the labourers . lxxxv The middle class ..... lxxxvii Industrial expansion the chief remedy for increasing distress lxxxix Indian art . xciv BOOK I. RELIGIOUS CONDITION. CHAPTER I. A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF HINDUISM FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE BRITISH RULE. Division into periods: Vedic, Buddhist-Hindus, Pur^nic.and Recent Hindu . .1 Post-Vedic different from Vedic Hinduism . 2 Continuity between Vedic and post-Vedic Hinduism . 5 The Rigveda ...... 6 deities in their natural Its and supernatural characters . 6 Henotheism ...... 8 Tendency towards Monotheism . -9 The Brahmanas . 9 of Their extravagant estimate sacrificial ceremonies . 12 The Upanishads . .12 Protest against sacrificial ceremonies . 14 Pantheism ...... 13 Buddhist-Hindu period : Buddhism . .16 Its fundamental principles . .18 Its divergence from Hinduism . 18 Amicable relations between Buddhism and Hinduism . 19 Progress under Asoka . .19 Later Buddhism an essentially non-Aryan form of faith . 20 Personal of the description Vedic deities does not imply idolatry . 21 Saivism • . .22 Rudra of the . , . Rigveda . .24 l 1 CONTENTS. PAGE. SUBJECT. Transformed into Mah&deva of later Hinduism 24 of and Kal • The two-fold character, Aryan and non-Aryan, Siva 25 Vishnu 25 . 26 Brahma . Conflict between Buddhism and Hinduism 26 . 28 Ultimate victory of Hinduism 28 Puranic period : Samkara Saivism .... • 30 Becomes unpopular 3i Saktism • 3 1 Vaishnavism 32 Krishna-cult • 33 In the Mahabharata 34 In the PurSnas 34 Rama-cult 35 Ramanuja • 36 Madhavacharya 36 Ramananda • 37 Kabir 38 Attacks Hindu and Mahomedan superstition . 38 Nanak .... 40 Guru Govind • 40 Dadu 4i Neo- Vaishnavism • 4i Ballabhacharya 42 Chaitanya .... • 43 CHAPTER II. ENGLISH INFLUENCE ON HINDUISM. Composite character of Hinduism 45 Tolerant policy of the Moslem rulers in India 47 Influence of Mahomedanism on Hinduism 48 In Southern India , 49 50 Opposition of E. I. Company to Christian Missionaries, Its ostensible and real reasons 5i Missionary work .... 55 Not successful • very T> Especially amongst upper-class Hindus 57 Reasons why . 59 12 PAGE. CONTENTS. CONTENTS. SUBJECT Its prosperity Keshab Chandra Sen's early life The Brahma school, 1859 Commencement of missionary work Keshab as ministers of the Samaj Missionary tour in Bombay and Madras Foundation of the Brahma Samaj of India Lecture on Jesus Christ . Keshab at Monghyr The Samaj Building Keshab in England . Marriage of Keshab's eldest daughter Opposition to the marriage Establishment of Sadharan Brahma Samaj Influence of Paramhamsa Ram Krishna The New Dispensation Keshab's death The New Dispensation Church after Keshab's death Protap Chandra Mozumdar . The Vedi dispute Recent dissentions . Organs of the Samaj The Sadharan BrAhma Samaj Conditions of its membership Its principles Its constitution Organs .... Numerical strength and Finance . Recent secession of several missionaries Educational work, 1891 . Brahmaism in Southern India The Veda Samaj Converted into the Brahnu Samaj of Southern India Sridharalu Naidu Work of the S. I. Brahma Samaj, 1892 Monotheism in Western India '* *>?** •**» ^r .*» *» v ' ££& QQUm&renclrarbartT* oad, r jv *--*^ii INTRODUCTION. We propose to treat our subject under five heads— Religious Condition, Socio-Religious Religion, not a sure criterion of Condition, Social Condition, Industrial civilisation. Condition, and Intellectual Condition.* As a test of civilisation, the last is the most important, and we propose to devote to it the third and fourth volumes of this work. With regard to religious con- dition, which forms the subject of the first Book, there is not the same accordance in the standard of religious progress as there is in that of intellectual progress. The Hindus judge of the intellectual productions of the K Moral condition is also of the highest importance. As much of it as is capable of historical' treatment will be dealt with in this Introduction and in Hooks II £nd III. li INTRODUCTION. Christians by very nearly the same standard as that which the Christians apply to the intellectual productions of the Hindus. Knowledge is the common property of as Christian Mathe- all peoples. There is no such thing matics, Hindu Mathematics, or Mahomedan Mathe matics. There is also considerable uniformity in the standard of individual morality among all civilised nations. It is otherwise with religi >n. The Christian, the Mahomedan, and the Hindu, each would consider his religion to be the truest, each would consider his ideal of spiritual culture to be the best; and there is no standard by which their conflicting claims could be settled. Christianity is the religion of the most advanced nations of the modern age. Yet, from one point of view, Mahomedanism maybe said to be superior to for it inculcates a form of monothe- Christianity ; purer ism. Idolatry is now held in abhorrence; it is supposed to have a demoralising and enervating effect.