MOVEMB3^,JU3D Ii»Iliiiimi>Iuiryii:' Ittitiifr} Riim V 26
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MOVEMB3^,JU3D ii»iliiiiMi>iuirYii:' ittitiifr} riim V 26 INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND SATARA DISTRICT BEGINNING OF INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT i The British established their rule in this country in the middle of the 18th century and they consolidated it very shrewdly in later years. But the Indian people never accepted the British rule whole heartedly. They resisted it from, its very inception. Hardly a year passed till 1857 when some part of the country or the other was not convulsed by armed rebellion. This continuous resistance, wholly traditional in character, took three broad forms * civil rebellions, tribal uprisings and peasant movements , . 1 and uprisings. These movements and uprisings, however, were not motivated by a national outlook. Even the great uprising of 1857 was far from nationalistic in character. The rise of Indian nationalism as such was the result of the developments that took place when the British rule was firmly established in the most parts of the country. It can. not be traced to any single measureable factorJ. Several factors generated the spirit of nationalism among the people of India. One and foremost of these factors was the Western education and English language. Nationalism in the modern sense of the term has a recent origin. It came into 27 prominence after the French Revolution of 1789 and it spread in different countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America in the second half of the 19th century. The spread of Western ideas such as liberty, equality, individual rights and popular sovereignity gave birth to nationalistic thoughts in these countries. It can not be denied that the introduction of Western education brought these ideas in this country, also. The impact of English education certainly contributed to the growth of eqalitirian out look in the traditional bound Indian Society. The spread of modern education took place in India only after 1813 ^ When governmentintroduced it. The missionaries and private Indian efforts have also played an important role.At the time of the renewal of the company's charter in 1813^ Parliament asked the East India Company to take measures for the introduction of useful knowledge and religious and moral improvements and further directed that ' a sum of not less than a lac of rupees should be set apart each year and applied to the revival and improvement of literature and the encouragement of the learned natives of India and for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of the science among the inhabitants of the 2 British territories in India.' But Lord Macaulay is said to be, mostly responsible for introducing the new education policy in India based on Western system of education. His object was to train and bring up Indians in the Western 28 manners and customs and thus to bring the two people# the British and the Indian, socially culturally and politically near.3 In 1854 Sir Charles Wood, president of the Board of Control, prepared the memorable despatch which laid the foundations on which the education system in British India has since developed. Even after the revolt of 1857, the policy makers in London continued to hold the belief that the age-old social customs and mental outlook of the Indian people must change, but the emphasis now shifted from legisfetion to education. 4 The introduction of Western education in this country brought about a profound intellectual transformation. It brought about the great Indian Renaissance. The Indian people, for the first time, came into contact with Western political ideas and thoughts. This gave them an opportunity to think about the political condition of their own country. The English language also played an important role in the development of Indian nationalism. It cut across provincial barriers and served the purpose of a lingua franca#a common all India language for Indians living in distant and different parts of the country and speaking different languages. The failure of the revolt of 1857 made it clear that the traditional political resistance to British rule could no longer succeed and the resistance to colonialism must flow along new channels. The modern Indian intelligentsia began 29 to grasp true nature of British rule. So the politically conscious Indians tried to form different kinds of organisation for safeguarding the interests of Indian people. Gradually they became increasingly aware of the need for an all-India organisation. In the year 1883 a retired civilian, Allan Octavian Hume addressed an open letter to the graduates of Calcutta University urging them to organise an association for the mental, moral, social and political regeneration of the people of India.Mr Hume with the support of some prominent Indians, succeeded in giving effect to his plan and the first Indian National Congress met in Bombay during the Christmas week of 1885 under the 5 Presidency of Mr. W.C.Bannerjea. Many noted Indians like Dadabhai Navroji, M.G.Ranade, K.T.Telang, Pherozesha Mehta, Ananda Charalu, Surendra Nath Banerjea played active part in the activities of the Indian National Congress and greatly contributed to the service of their country. The early Indian nationalist leadership believed that a direct struggle for the political emancipation of the country was not yet on the agenda of history.What was on the agenda was the arousal of national feeling, consolidation of this feeling, the bringing of a large number of the Indian people into the vortex of nationalist politics and their training in politics, political agitation and struggle.^ Some criticj are of the opinion that the early nationalists did not achieve much success. The Congress of 30 early times is often criticised for its lack of vigour and effectiveness. The leaders believed in the method of prayers and petitions and took every possible care to avoid a conflict with the government. But it is not correct to suggest that the national movement of this period did not achieve anything. The early nationalists succeeded in creating a wide political awakening and in arousing among the middle and lower-middle class Indians and the intelligentsia the feeling that they belonged to one common nation - the Indian nation. They made the people of India conscious of the bounds of common political, economic and cultural interests and of the existence of a common enemy in imperialism and thus helped to weld them 7 in a common nationality. NATIONAL MOVEMENT IN MAHARASHTRA s Maharashtra was one of the three areas of India where British power was consolidated at the earliest. Naturally the impact of British rule was greatly felt in this region from the very beginning. In the Igth century various social and religious reform movements were introduced by different social reformers. Prominent among them were Balshastri Jambhekar, • Lokhitwadi * , G.H. Deshmukh, Vishnubava Brahmachari, Bhau Mahajan, Dadoba Pandurang, Justice M.G. Ranade, Mahatma Jotiba Phule and many others. In Bombay, Dadoba Pandurang and others organised a secret association named ' Paramhuns Si 0 Y XL' IM& BAUbA'rit-d 1^- •• \\ A J * gillVAJi UttiVEBStTY &CHP&-A<K 31 to eradicate castism. We heard of secret associations formed for political purpose but we rarely heard of secret association formed for the purpose to do away with social organisation like caste system. Justice Ranade, Dr. Bhandarkar, Dr. Atmaram Pandurang and others took the lead in establishing * Prarthana Samaj ' in Bombay in the Q year 1867. Justice Ranade# Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi and others organised the • Poona Sarvajanik Sabha ' in 1870. The Sabha carried on active political education for next thirty years. Mahatma Phule established 1 Satyashodhak Samaj • in 1873. These leaders were influenced by social and political thoughts of the British people and they wanted to create new society in this country, based on social and political justice. The work of these leaders served as a base for National Movement in later years. Many leaders from Maharashtra took lead in organising the Indian National Congress. In 1866 Dadabhai Navroji organised the East India Association in London to discuss Indian questions and to influence British public opinion. His greatest contribution came in his economic analysis of British rule. He showed that the poverty and economic backwardness of India were not inherent in local conditions, but were caused by colonial rule, which was draining India of its wealth and capital.'*'0 The first Indian National congress met in Bombay in 1885 and 38 representatives from old Bombay province attended the session. Netable among them were Dadabhai Navroji, 32 Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T. Telang, Justice Ranade, Dr. Bhandarkar and others.11 Thus the Maharashtrian leaders ’ played important role in forming the Indian National congress. They also took active part in the activities of the Congress in the following years. Among the people of different parts of India the Marathas who had lost their independence so recently, had special reasons to join a movement for national regeneration. No wonder, therefore, that the Maratha country proved a congenial soil for 12 fostering the new spirit. By the turn of the century a new group began to take form within the congress, which expressed different attitudes, than the early nationalist leaders, towards the foreign rulers. This group began to question the wisdom of the method of prayers and petitions in order to achieve political objectives of the indian people. As a result of this development the Indian National congress was split into two groups, namely the moderates and the extremists. In Maharashtra too, national movement witnessed the conflict between the moderates and the extremists. Here the moderate group was led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale and the extremist group was led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Gokhale had always immence faith in British liberalism. He believed in constitutional methods for achieving his ends, on the other hand Tilak advocated the method of open conflict with the government.