Page 67 - SST Class 08

wireless, postal services etc. These means resources of India. This war occurred during the
facilitated the people to go from one place to period of Lord Lytton. Moreover, he arranged the
another and come into contact with the people of Delhi Durbar to declare Queen Victoria the
other regions. This strengthened the spirit of Empress of India at a time when India was
nationalism. suffering from famine and epidemic. Also, he
passed the Vernacular Press Act which curbed the
International Events
liberty of the Indian press. The Arms Act too
As the Indians came into contact with other
instilled a feeling of dissatisfaction among the
countries, they came to know of the events Indians as they were not permitted to keep arms.
occurring in the international arena. The
These measures created widespread
economic development of other countries;
discontentment among the Indians.
democratic movements in America, France and
Russia; the First World War; the defeat of Russia at Ilbert Bill Controversy
the hands of Japan etc. were some of the events During the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon , the Ilbert
that awoke the Indians out of their deep slumber. Bill was presented, under which it was proposed
The Indians already possessed a sense of self- that the Indian judges would have the right to try
confidence because of the revolt of 1857 in which the Europeans as well. Prior to it, the Europeans
the poorly-equipped Indians had confronted the could not be tried by an Indian judge. It created
British tooth and nail. The contact with the outside discontentment among the British and European
world inspired Indian nationalism in ways more citizens and they opposed it in India, Britain and
than one. other countries. As a result, the bill was amended

Press and Literature but it lost its spirit. It hurt the Indian psyche. They
The establishment of printing press helped in wide understood that the British were firm on their
policy of racial discrimination. The way the
circulation of ideas. A large number of
newspapers were published in different Indian movement against the bill was organised by the
languages. In 1875, the number of Indian Europeans taught a lesson to the Indians how a
movement is organised.
newspapers was 498. All these newspapers were
mostly anti-British and gave publicity to racial Maladministration of Lord Curzon
arrogance, economic exploitation, British
Lord Curzon divided Bengal with a view to divide
brutalities, injustice and oppressions etc. Some of the Hindus and Muslims on communal lines. This
the popular newspapers of this time were the awakened the Indians. So they used Swadeshi (use
Samvad Kaumudi , Bombay Samachar , Banga
of indigenous goods) and Boycott (of foreign
,
,
Doota , Rast Guftar Amrit Bazar Patrika Kesari , goods), which created the sentiments of
Hindu Patriot and Tribune .
nationalism among the Indians.
About the same time, many writers helped in
building up national feelings through their Pride in Past Glory
writings. Bankim Chandra wrote the Anand Math , The British declared that the Indians were not fit
a novel, containing the national song Vande to rule themselves. This made many people study
Mataram . Some of the other prominent writers of the past and rediscover the past glory. It
this time were Madhu Sudan Datt in Bengali, strengthened their belief that they belong to a
Bhartendu Harishchandra in Hindi, Narmad in great race and were, by no means, inferior to the
Gujarati, Chiplunkar in Marathi and Subramania British. This contributed to the growth of
Bharati in Tamil. These and many other writers nationalism among the Indians.
created a vast treasure of Indian literature and
Racial Arrogance of Rulers and British
helped to arouse national feelings of the Indians.
Administration of Lord Lytton The revolt of 1857 had filled both Indians and
British with a feeling of bitterness towards one
The Afghan war adversely affected the economic
Nationalist Movement (1885-1919)
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