Opinion Makers of British Colonial India

On the site of the Center of the South Asian Studies of University of Cambridge, which also forms the part of the British Library, a log of the microfilms of Newspapers of Colonial India is given.

I have made an extract of the data given there on the Newspaper of the Colonial India. It is reproduced below with some modification.

If one tries to just survey the data, numerous fascinating things emerge. It also raises many questions for further research.

I make some observation on the basis of the following data.

1. The Tribune, which is presently published from Chandigarh, was earlier published from Lahore. In the list of the Cambridge University, it is shown as Tribune, but the one which is published from Chandigarh is called The Tribune. I hope that it is the same paper.

2. Milap, another important newspaper of colonial India, in Urdu, was earlier published from Delhi. It was later published from Jalandhar.

3. Lahore and Delhi were the major publishing centres before partition. But later, Jalandhar emerged as the Publishing centre.

4. Three papers, Kesari, Khalsa Advocate and Khalsa Samachar were published from Amritsar. These were the papers which were in the forefront of the rise of Akali Movement and also the formation of Akali Dal, a regional party of Punjab.

5. In case of Kesari Newspaper, the place of publication has been shown as Kesari, which it seems, is the wrong entry. I do not think that there is any place called Kesari in Maharshatra. If it is so, then I have to check it.

6. There are more numbers of English newspapers. It raises the question that whether all of them were viable publication or not. Some of them like Hindu, Times of India and Hindustan Times have continued up to present day.

7. The library has a copy of the one of the oldest paper namely Calcutta Gazette dated back to 1792.

8. There are nearly 24 titles from nineteenth century. It is other thing, that the library does not have any copy of nineteenth century Amrit Bazar Patrika. Why is so?

9. There are copies of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha also which was in forefront of social reform movement in Bombay Presidency. I do not know whether the organization published any newspaper. It may be probably the souvenirs of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.

10. Yogaksheman in Hindi was published from Trichur, a non-Hindi area.

11. Nizam Vijay, a Marathi publication was issued from Hyderabad.

12. Indian Nation, in English was published from Patna. Whereas, most of the publication of Bengal Presidency were published from Kolkatta.

13. Indian Hindustan was published from San Francisco, the only paper in the list which was published from outside British India.

14. The publications in Urdu being published from Delhi and Kolkatta were more in number than what was published from Lahore.

15. As mentioned in point 6, another issue rises. It will be of interest to investigate that what was the actual number of readership of English paper. In most of the cases, the time period of publication belongs to same time band. There are nearly 129 publications. It suggests that there was a huge readership. Some of the papers like Hindu and Amrit Bazar Patrika were quite radical in their editorials. It suggests that these paper can be studied for ascertaining the public opinion of that time band.

Any how, the list has attracted me. I have kept it in record for a long time. I have not been able to make any further breakthrough about the outline editions or articles on such papers. I have reproduced the list below. I hope that those engaged in South Asian Studies and Colonial Period studies, will definitely find it interesting data.

Titles of South Asian Newspapers

Serial No.	Title	Place of publication	Language	Details of holdings
1	Advance	Calcutta	English	1930-31
2	Advocate	Lucknow	English	1917
3	Aj	Banares	Hindi	1920-51
4	Akashvani	Lahore	Hindi	1922-23
5	Al Balagh	Calcutta	Urdu	1915-16
6	Al Hilal	Calcutta	Urdu	1912-17
7	Aligarh Institute Gazette	Aligarh	Urdu and English	1886-97, 1901-36
8	Aljamiat	Delhi	Urdu	1926-39, 1948-53
9	Amrita Bazar Patrika	Calcutta	English	1905-42
10	Andhra Patrika	Madras	Telugu	1914-30, 1932-40
11	Arya	Lahore	Hindi	1926, 1933-37, 1945, 1948-49, 1952-54, 1957-59
12	Arya Musafir	Lahore	Urdu	1898-1915, 1934
13	Bangladesh Observer	Dhaka	English	1987, 1992-93
14	Benares Recorder	Benares	English	1846-47
15	Bharat Dharma	Kashi	Hindi	1924
16	Bharat Jiwan	Banaras	Hindi	1884-1911
17	Bharat Weekly	Allahabad	Hindi	1928-30
18	Bombay Chronicle	Bombay	English	1913-59
19	Bombay Sentinel	Bombay	English	1934-59
20	Bulwuntnamah			1875
21	Calcutta Gazette	Calcutta	English	1792-93
22	Calcutta Samachar	Calcutta	Hindi	1914-25
23	Commonweal	Adyar	English	1914-20
24	Comrade	Delhi	English	1911-14, 1925
25	Congress Socialist	Bombay	English	1934-38
26	Dawn	Delhi/Karachi	English	1941-47, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1966-86
27	Deccan Times	Madras	English	1945-49
28	Democrat	Allahabad	English	1922
29	Devnagar	Calcutta	Hindi	1907-09
30	Din Bandhu			1893-1912
31	Din Mitra			1910-18, 1925-32
32	Dnyan Prakash	Pune	Marathi	1914-50
33	Dnyanodaya	Pune	Marathi	1845-60, 1862-69, 1871-74, 1876-1906
34	Eastern Times	Lahore	English	1942-48
35	Economic Weekly	Bombay	English	1949-50
36	Enquiry		English	Nos1-2
37	Forward (New Forward/Liberty)	Calcutta	English	1923-29, 1933-35
38	Frontier	Calcutta	English	1968-78
39	Gujarat Mitra & Gujarat Darpan	Surat	Gujarati	1894-1949
40	Hamdard	Delhi	Urdu	1913-15, 1924-28
41	Hans	Kashi		1933-43
42	Harijan	Ahmedabad	English	1933-56
43	Hindi Pradipa	Allahabad	English	1877-1908
44	Hindu	Madras	English	1883-1937, 1968-72
45	Hindu Outlook	New Delhi	English	1938-61
46	Hindu Sansar	Delhi	Hindi	1925-30
47	Hindustan Times	New Delhi	English	1924-51, 1978, 1991
48	Hitavada	Nagpur	English	1913-31
49	Hunkar	Patna	Hindi	1944-49
50	Independent	Allahabad	English	Feb. 1919 - Dec. 1921
51	Independent Hindustan	San Francisco	English	1920-21
52	Independent India	Bombay	English	1937-49
53	Indian Election - Manifesto Collection		English	1967
54	Indian Mirror	Calcutta	English	Jan. 1880, May 1880, Oct. 1880, July 1881, Jan 1882, Sept, 1882, Jan. 1883, March 1883, May 1883, Jan. 1884
55	Indian Nation	Patna	English	1931-35
56	Indian National Herald and Sunday Edition	Bombay	English	1926-29
57	Indian Opinion		English	1903-1914
58	Indian People	Allahabad	English	1903-09
59	Indian Social Reformer	Bombay	English	1908-49
60	Indian Spectator	Bombay	English	1883-1901
61	Indu Prakash	Bombay	Marathi-English	1883-95
62	Jagriti			1917-24
63	Janata			1932-38
64	Janata Weekly		New Delhi	1946-80
65	Janmnabhumi	Masulipatam		1919-26
66	Justice	Madras	English	1928-29, 1944-47
67	Jyoti	Delhi		1923-30
68	Kaivari			1929-30
69	Karmayogin	Calcutta	English	1909-10
70	Kesari	Marathi	1881-1920
71	Khalsa Advocate	Amritsar	English	1903-30
72	Khalsa Samachar	Amritsar	Punjabi	1899-1930
73	Kirti	Amritsar		1926-30, 1933-36
74	Krishna Patrika	Machilipatnam	Telugu	1902-44
75	Lahore Chronicle	Lahore	English	1858-59
76	Leader	Allahabad	English	1909-29, 1939, 1950-51
77	Madras Mail, The Mail and Weekly Mail	Madras	English	1889, 1931-49, 1972-75
78	Maharashtra	Nagpur	Marathi	1914-35
79	Maharatta	Pune	English	1881-1950
80	Marwari Agarwal	Calcutta	Hindi	1921-25
81	Marx Panthi	Calcutta	Bengali	1934
82	Marxist Miscellany	Bombay	English	1945-46
83	Mathrubhumi	Calicut	Malayalam	1923-40
84	Milap	Delhi	Urdu	1923-48
85	Mithavadi	Calicut	Malayalam	1913-20
86	Morning News, Dacca	Dacca	English	1968-71
87	Muslim			1937-44
88	National Front	Bombay	English	1938-40
89	National Herald	Lucknow	English	1938-50
90	Native Opinion	Bombay	Marathi-English	1867-89
91	Navakal	Bombay		1928-33
92	New Age	Delhi	English	1936-39, 1953-60
93	New India	Madras	English	1914-28
94	Nizam Vijay	Hyderabad	Marathi	1921-39
95	Pakistan Times	Lahore	English	1950-51
96	Pakistani Newspapers Selected Issues		English	1970-71
97	Panjabee	Lahore	English	3 Oct. 1904 - 28 Dec 1907; 1 July 1909 - 30 Dec. 1909
98	The People	Lahore	English	1925-29, 1931-34
99	People's Age	Bombay	English	1945-48
100	People's War	Bombay	English	1944-45
101	Poona Sarvajnik Sabha	Poona	English	1878-95
102	Rangoon Gazette	Rangoon	English	1901, 1911, 1939, 1941
103	Rashtravir			1921-35
104	Sainik	Agra	Hindi	1936-37
105	Sangharsh	Lucknow	Hindi	1937-52
106	Sapru Correspondence
107	Searchlight	Patna	English	1918-48
108	Seminar		English
109	Servant of India	Pune	English	1918-23
110	Servant of India Society (Reports)	Pune	English	1905-79
111	Servants of the People Society		English
112	Sholapur Samachar	Sholapur		1929-39
113	Statesman	Calcutta	English	1936-51
114	Statesman Weekly	Calcutta	English	1979
115	Subodh Patrika	Bombay	Marathi-English	1899-1940
116	Swadeshamitran	Madras	Tamil	1905-22
117	Tej			1931
118	Times of India	Bombay	English	1878-79, 1889-1914
119	Tribune	Lahore	English	1881-1977
120	Varad Samachar	Akola	Marathi	1868-1898, 1901-18
121	Vartman	Kanpur	Hindi	1925-48
122	Vijay Maratha	Poona		1921-31
123	Workers Weekly	Bombay	English	1930
124	Working People's Daily	Rangoon	English	1969
125	Yogaksheman	Trichur	Hindi	1920-30
126	Yogaksheman (Weekly)	Trichur	Hindi	1935-37
127	Young India	Ahmedabad	English	1919-31
128	Zamana	Kanpur	Urdu	1906-08, 1910-44
129	Zulqarnain	Badaun	Urdu	1903-56

The original list can be accessed here.


Later Edited Inclusion dated August 18, 2006:
There are nearly nine publications from Madras or Madras Presidency Area. There are only two publications in Telugu in the list. I have another post on the publication in Telugu which may be of interest to research scholars. It is about V. Ramaswamy Sastrulu which had been taken from a site of Telugu enthusiast. However it has changed its format since my last visit. Fortunately, the blogger administrator has retained the original article under the title "He Left His Imprint on Telugu Printing".

Need of Rewriting the Gandhian Era

I

Prof. Khanna has tired to tackle some of the major questions concerning Indian history in his article Mohammad Ali Jinnah which remain unanswered to this day. He has adopted a contextual theme to present his view on the basis of secondary sources. However, I am here, trying to emphasis a different dimension which also has relevance for Indian History and its teaching in India. Prof. Khanna has raised the following questions and tried to answer them in a befitting manner.

The questoins which he had tried to answer are as follows:
What were the factors that within three years of the elections he openly announced the two nation theory, and made the formation of a separate State as the goal of the Muslim League.
a. Did the failure in the elections forced him to think otherwise?
b. Did the British rulers influence over him for this goal?
c. Was the short-sightedness of the Congress leadership responsible for Jinnah turning his path from a nationalist leader to a communal and separatist leader?
d. Had he become a puppet in the hands of the communal Muslim leadership?

One of the major theses he has given is that the electoral politics had laid the ground for a game plan for Jinnah and Muslim League. He has tried to bring out this thesis on the basis of figures on the election results. The election result of 1937 has always remained a major research point for the Indian historians and those who tried to study the history of India. On this issue, Prof. Khanna had touched the right chord but did not elaborate much on it. However, he has reached a conclusion. He writes, " Thus the League, after its failure in the 1937 elections had decided to wear the communal garb and it clicked." I modify it. I say that Jinnah wore the garb of communal politics after the failure in the 1937 elections and it clicked.

The second question is more pertinent and sensitive. It asks about the responsibility of Congress itself in inducing repulsion among the Muslim electorates against the policies of Congress and finally gave credence to Muslim League’s ‘Two Nation Theory’. Now, the Congress critics may grimace and Congressmen would yearn to twist the neck of Prof. Khanna. But there is truth in the elucidation given by the author. In Tara Chand version of history, the working of Congress government had been eulogised. But it never satisfies a researcher who tries to seek exact reports of the policies adopted and works done by Congress. Jwahar Lal Nehru might have given glowing account in his ‘Discovery of India’ of the exuberance of the common man visiting the offices of ministers held by Indians, but the question remains that whether it had also turned away another section from those offices wherein the ministers with Gandhi caps and Khadi were holding their darbars. The second point which the author has taken is the alliances of parties which was planned for United Province. Congress had betrayed Muslim League at that point when they did not go for allied rule at that time. It just reminds us about the recent alliance with NCP in Maharashtra wherein encouraged by election result it has forced the NCP to give away CM seat to Congress and also the failure of BJP when it became overconfident of itself before 2004 elections and broke away with Chauthala INLD party in Harayana and Karunnidhi DMK in Tamil Nadu. No doubt, Prof. Khanna has made a pointed remark that "it had a disastrous impact on the future course of history."

The apologist for Congress decisions may give numerous arguments in favour of 1937 decisions. Somewhere, by loosing Jinnah, the Congress lost the case of united India. If they try to stretch their argument too far then only one conclusion can be reached. They had lost the united India by saving India for the Hindus. This theory has never come up in case of Congress but it had definitely came up for the Muslim League. Muslim League thus obtained the slogan that they were saving Pakistan for the Muslims.

The third issue of the role of British rulers in using the rift between League and Congress for the benefit of the war efforts of allies is also very important. They issued August Declaration that "no constitution should be enacted by His Majesty’s Government and the Parliament without the consent and approval of Muslim India." It gave courage to Muslim league to follow up their Yaum-i-Nijat with Pakistan declaration. Somewhere, a feeling emerges that Congress did the wrong thing by demitting the office at that juncture. It gave grounds for manipulation for the British administration. They tried to play with both Gandhi and Jinnah and they succeeded in their game. All the talks of Cripps Mission, his returning back, Quit India movement, Wavell, Rajgopalacharia formula etc do not appeal to reasoning. They all emerge as justification for the Congress activities and nothing else. The fact was that Britain got the chance to play ‘Divide and Rule’ policy with vengeance and their main task at that time was to checkmate fascist forces in the interest of their own nation and Allies. It is a mere issue of debate whether there was any stuff in demand for Pakistan. Was the Muslim League really serious about it? The fact remains that Congress lost Jinnah and the ground realities and contemporary situation helped the British government to play Jinnah and Gandhi against each other for their own safeguards. The events which took place after 1945, just adopted a natural course of happenings. The die was cast well in 1937. The transformation of Jinnah from nationalist to separatist can be an issue and debate for the Indians but as for Pakistan, he became the saviour. One may discuss it in either of the way. One may debate that Jinnah was against communal politics but later became a separatist. One may say that he was always in favour of Muslim dominated rule and forced Congress to bend to his whims which the latter refused to oblige. But the fact remains somewhere, in 1930s, it was a loss to India when the Congress lost Jinnah. Now, when Congress lost Jinnha, it can say that Jinnah was not a secularist but the history tells something else.

However, Prof. Khanna has left one question incomplete. The question is Had he become a puppet in the hands of the communal Muslim leadership? He has tried to answer it to some extent but it would have been better had he studied it separately.

II

Now the article of Prof. Khanna has another dimension also. He is a teacher of history for the last 22 years. I am teaching history at undergraduate and postgraduate level for the last 16 years. As per the course of Punjab University Chandigarh, we get the opportunity to teach history of Modern India. Therein, we teach the period from 1919 to 1947 in detail. This portion of Indian history is also an inseparable part of All India Civil Services examination. It forms an important part of General Studies Paper I in Mains. It is quite crucial for the aspirants of Civil Services.

However, we never teach the Jinnah story in our classes. In Indian history, we term 1919 period onwards as Gandhi Era. Some of the major headings for elaboration are Philosophy of Satyagraha, Gandhi’s Earlier Satyagraha’s in India, Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh tragedy, Khilafat movement wherein we never point out that it did not have the support of Jinnah, Non-Cooperation Movement, Nagpur Session and Working Committee of Congress, Chaurichaura Incidence and Gandhi’s Declaration from Bardoli, Constructive Programmes of Gandhiji, Activities of Swarajist Party and Gandhi view on participation in electoral politics at that stage, Simon Commission, Nehru Report and for the first time we bring Jinnah through his Fourteen Demands, Lahore Session and Puran Swaraj Resolution, Second Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi March, Gandhi-Irwin Pact and Round Table Conference wherein we do not refer that Jinnah participated only in the first Round Table Conference, Communal Award, Poona Pact, rise of Socialists in Congress, rise of Dalit movement, Freedom Struggle in Princely States and view of Gandhiji, in between we also discuss Armed revolt or revolutionary movements different from Congress political activities and thus we reach 1937, that crucial year when the course of the history of India changed.


From there onwards, we try to trace activities upto Quit India Movement. For this, we discuss Government of India Act 1935, Provincial Elections and formation of Congress ministry wherein we avoid discussing the process of forming ministries in United Province and Bengal Province, Faizpur Session and peasants demand, then the Second World War and the reason of Congress Demitting the office wherein in we make special mention of separatist activity of Muslim League when they declared their Pakistan resolution, then the Cripps Mission and finally the Quit India movement.


After Quit India Movement, the debate always remains confined to Gandhi politics and Jinnah’s adamant stances on demands from the British rule vis-i-vis Muslims. With the discussion of Cabinet Mission plan, the discussion includes the role of Muslim League, their arm twisting techniques for constitutional assembly and interim government, their direct action day and finally the Mountbatten Plan. At this stage, there remains a full stress on the Congress activity and as teachers we fear that some student may not ask some uncomfortable question concerning the actual reason of accepting the partition of India.

Now in light of the article by Prof. Khanna, it may be apparent to some knowledgeable people that there is need to cover the story of Jinnah along with the freedom struggle under the Congress. It will not bring down the significance of the role of Congress but on the other hand, emphasis its contribution. Similarly, the role of Revolutionaries as well communist should also be made part of the general history of Modern India. They are completely missing.

Nowhere, it is being desired and suggested here that there Congress committed a fault. History does not pass judgement like that. It tries to study the things as it happened. The problems arises when under some wrong notion, some facts are hidden. It never helps. Rather, it damages one or the other groups. In the present geo-political situation, there is a need to reframe the contours as being taught in Modern Indian history.

III

Finally, I direct the attention to the bibliography which Prof. Khanna has given. His has pointed out the citation from various secondary sources. I consider it an important feature. During my course of developing of this blog, I have been concentrating on the dependable write ups as available on the net. There is need that whosoever writes on history, he must follow the rule of history. The Blogger must mention or cite the source from where he is deriving his argument. With the digitization of sources, it has become easy now. It is acquiring a practical shape. Some teachers, like William J. Turkel, who are equally comfortable with Information and Communication technology, are developing good models which will be mainstay of such academic activities on internet. The people who have some objection against activities like Wikipedia should try to evaluate the activity of Prof. R. K. Khanna. They should look at the manner, as the academic article should be presented.

I also hope, that those, who have this objection and they are right in raising that objection, that there are no good articles and source materials on net for Indian history, will find it useful.

Domesday Book

Domesday Book is the first public record of England which was got prepared by William the conqueror in 1085.

I am making a note here because I have surveyed the history of Europe from Lower Middle Ages. In India, the pre-Renaissance period of Europe is generally taught as the Dark Ages. However, from various references I had come to a conclusion that it was not the right interpretation. On the other hand, I found that many changes in the intellectual field which were showed as the causes of the Renaissance or defined as Renaissance itself, had taken place quite earlier in the Middle Ages. I had collected some references to the literary work of that period. I had also made a post "Was Middle Ages in Europe a Dark Age?". My conclusion was confirmed when I shared my opinion on H-Net. Frank Conlon was kind enough to introduce me to another expert on European history. From there, I learned that the European researchers as well American historians had already reached that conclusion. Since then, I am always in look out for examples wherein I try to collect such references where some major administrative work, or literary work or some scientific development had taken before the Renaissance period. In other words, I try to check that how the civilization developed in Middle Ages in the field of literature, science, and cultural sphere. No doubt, I am bit hindered by limitation of knowing only one European language that is English.

It is not that I am interested in European history as such. In India, we try to depict Gupta period as a Golden Age. But after that, there was gradual decline in the cultural, social and intellectual sphere in India. I always fear that some intelligent student may ask that if India had reached a zenith of intellectual and technological achievement in the works of Aryabhatta, Charak, Sudrak, and intellectual field in works of Kalidasa, Vishakhadatta, Samhita of Yakvalkya, Narad, Vishnu etc, then it did not keep that pace of development of civilization. Why was there a general decline? Is it true that any advance in intellectual field does not assure continuos development? Therein, I have learned that somewhere we are interpreting our history wrongly. On the other hand, India was always in forefront of economic development during the Middle Ages of Europe. It was because of this attraction that people like Ghazni to Babur invaded India. It is now nicely elaborated in ‘India and World Civilization’ by D. P. Singhal. I believe that there was regular march of civilization in Europe, Asia and Africa (North Coast) towards progress. There is need to study and rewrite the history of this period. It is this interest and endeavour that had made me to make a note of this book here. (I am deriving a lot from the postings of Miland Brown.)

Now here is another example from England wherein it is showed that the Europe was not that uncivilized and the kings had the plans and ideas of undertaking the administrative work. There is no need to emphasize the exclusive place to Englightened Monarchs like Louis XIV and Ferdinand II.


Reference: National Archives of UK
Alecto Publications
Domesday Post on World History Blog

Prof. R. K. Khanna

R. K. Khanna is presently the Head of the Department of the Post Graduate Department of History, D. A. V. College, Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India, affliated to Punjab University, Chandigarh. His full name is Rajneesh Kumar Khanna. He is in teaching profession for the last 22 years. He is author of five major text books which cover the History of India for +1 level, History of Punjab, History of Ancient India, History of Mughal India and History of Modern India. He is M. Phil from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He did his post graduation from D. A. V. College, Jalandhar. His dissertation at M. Phil level is on Mohammad Ali Jinnah under the guidance of Prof Indu Banga, presently professor in Punjab University, Chandigarh. He has been guided in his books by illustrious academician and historian Dr. Satish Kapoor, presently with Layalpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar. He had attended numerous conference and is a regular participant in Punjab History Conference, organised by Punjabi University, Patiala, India, every year.


He is son of an illustrious journalist, Sh. S. D. Khanna. Sh. S. D. Khanna is presently a News Editor of Hind Samachar, an Urdu daily being published from Jalandhar more famous for Punjab Kesari. Hind Samachar is one of those leading Urdu dailies of India which had emerged along with the Freedom Struggle of India. His younger brother, Satish Khanna is also in journalism, and presently working with a leading Hindi daily. He is a resident of Jalandhar.


I have introduced him to academic blogging in month of June 2005. He was impressed by this medium but it required lot of persuasion by me that he had now taken this actively seriously. As a result, the outcome is before you. He is now active and had come out with number of substantial write-ups. I have won a co-worker. Somewhere, I have fulfilled my commitment with John Simkin of Education Forum who has asked me about Indian Teachers writing blogs. Now here is one Indian gem before you.


Some of the recent posts published by him are as follows:
1. Was Mohammad Tughlaq Really a Fool?
2. Uprising in 1857
3. Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
He has also brought out on the cyberspace an article written by his father who is a M. A. in Urdu and with a standing of 45 years in journalism. The article is Allama Iqbal : The Poet and Philosopher.


In coming days, I will comment on the above mentioned articles. Somewhere, his ‘Idea of History’ is similar to one held by me. I have been talking about re-writing of Indian history. I have now a supportive argument in the article Mohammed Ali Jinnah by Khanna. I have raised this issue in one of my article, Why was Gandhi not given Nobel Prize?


Similarly, in his article "Was Mohammed Tughlaq Really a Fool", he had raised some issues on methodology in history, historiography of India and issue of interpretation in Indian history.


Now, I have some one to respond to who will write about Indian perception of sources on history, interpretation and constraints on historian in India and methodology in history.

Kajari Teej (कजरी तीज)

Bharatendu Harishchandra had pointed out three main origins of the Raga Kajari.
1. The people of Central India invented the Raga Kajari, when they were overwhelmed by the grief of the sudden death their famous and popular King Dadurai followed by death of Queen Nagamati, who performed the custom of Sati.
2. The dense and sylvan forest of the kingdom of King Dadurai of Central India was called Kajali. The people had sung the pleasant beauty of the deep forest and the songs were named as Kajali. Later the word Kajali metamorphosed into the word Kajari.
3. The third origin of the word Kajari is the Teej of July August Monsoon season. The festival falls on the third day of full moon. On this day, the Kajari Songs are sung and therefore, Madhursravani is also called Kajari Teej.

As per another view, the origin of Kajari is identified with blackish shades of the clouds which rises during the Monsoon before raining down in the month of August.


The Kajari Teej is more famous in Central India covering Madhya Pardesh and Uttar Pardesh. No doubt, the Kajari of Mirzapur and Varanasi (Benaras) is part of folk heritage of India. In central India, Kajari Teej is associated with Kajari Songs and Swings. Both the swing and the Kajari songs are so much identified each other that during Janamashtami, even God Krishna in his Child incarnation, is shown on swing accompanied by Kajari songs.


It is pertinent to note that the Kajari Songs have to facets. Some of the songs exults the happiness of union with ones own lover and life partner. On the other hand, there are enough songs in this categories which depicts the pangs of separation and denial of union with the lover in the month of rainy season when there is greenery all around and even birds mate and enjoy the rain.


There are numerous other shades in Kajari Songs. The Songs include the historic references, social, economic, religious, spiritual and cultural heritage of India. Even the poets like Surdasa had written songs on the line of Kajari Songs.


The Kajari songs are mainly built around God Krishna. The Teej however, is based upon the mythological story of Shiva Purana and the union of Paravati and Shiva after a long separation.


Source:
कजरी तीज
Abhivyakti - An Online Hindi Magazine


Acknowledgement:
The above posting is basically an extract of a Hindi article "Jhula Lagal Kadam ki Dari" written by Bhagwati Prasad Diwedi. He has given excerpt of some folk songs of Kajari category. The article is a part of an online Hindi Magazine Abhivyakti.

Teej Festival

Teej Festival is mainly a festival of Indian women, both married and unmarried. It is festival of swings, bangles, dance, sweet dishes prepared by parents for their daughters, receiving and buying gifts in from of bridal clothes, bangles and indulgence in joy and happiness.


There are three Teej festivals in a year. These three Teej festivals are Haryali Teej, Kajari Teej and Hartalika Teej. In Haryali Teej, Moon is worshipped. In Kajari Teej, the whole community worships the Neem tree in which women sign songs in praise of Paravati and Lord Shiva. The pooja on this occasion is done with milk, curd and flowers. The toughest festival for women is Hartalika Teej. In this Teej, the fast is kept for three days. On the second day, not even water is taken for the whole day. This festival is equated to Karvachauth, another festival of married women in India.


Main Customs and Rituals:
The married women visit their parent’s house. The parents give gifts to the women and wish a fruitful and successful married life. The married women pray to Paravati and Lord Shiva. The Paravati idol is decked with new clothes. She is worshipped and prayed for giving long life to their husbands. The unmarried women pray for the prospective husbands. The newly engaged women (In India, arranged marriage, or Brahma Vivaha is considered the right marriage out of the eight form of marriages) receive gifts from their future in-laws and married women of their own family. The women apply henna and Mehndi on their hands and feet and sign folk songs accompanied with vigorous folk dances and playing on swings. They tie swings from a Vat tree and singsongs in praise of goddess Parvati, dance vigorously and wish for the long married life. In Rajasthan, the women perform Ghumar dance as an essential ritual.


Another important ritual is to worship Nyagrodha tree (Ficus Bengalensis) or Vat Vrikhsha. The tree is considered symbol of knowledge. The Vat tree is with its hanging branches is considered auspicious and origin of the city Baroda in Vidharbha region of Gujarat.


The main ceremony is to keep fast at the parent’s home by the married women. They go for shopping and receive bridal clothes from the parents and in-laws. They tie swings from Vat Brikhsa and dance and sing songs. In evening, they receive Baya (a pious food as a gift and present considered highly auspicious) from their parents. They gather at one place. They establish an idol of Paravati or visit Shiva Parvati temple. They propitiate Mata Parvati. They then break their fast with Baya received from parents and in-laws and then bust in dance making it a festival of joy and dance.


The Teej festival, especially Haryalli Teej is celebrated on the third days of Shravan month (July August generally identified with arrival of monsoon in India). The festival is more popular in Rajasthan and among the Rajput women. As many of the Jat families of Punjab have their origin in Rajput families since the days of Guru Har Rai, therefore, it is also popular among the Jat women of Punjab. The festival is equally popular in Maharashtra, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pardesh, Harayana and Madhya Pardesh. It is also a very popular festival in Nepal where Pashupatinath is the propitiated during the festival. In Nepal also it is mainly a festival of women. The Teej of rainy season is more popular. It has variation from place to place and state to state. In Haryana, it is celebrated on arrival of monsoon when an insect "Teej" appears near the trees. In Rajasthan, it is mainly popular for buying season and dance of Ghumar with ghagra decked with shinning bits by the Rajasthani women. In Uttar Pardesh and Maharashtra, it is mainly popular for the sweets which are made during this occasion.


The mythology Reference – Historic perspective:
According to Hindu Mythology, it is a festival which celebrate the union of Mother Paravati with Lord Shiva. As per the mythology, Parvati, the daughter of Parvat, the king of Himalaya, reached the house of her husband on 3rd day of Saravan or Shukla Tritiya of Saravan that is third day of full moon (Rainy season, Shukal Paksha) after completing a long penance of one hundred years during which even Lord Shiva had also went into a deep meditation. It was during such separation, that Lord Shiva appeared in his incarnation of Lord Hanuman as per the Shiva Purana. On the day, Mata Parvati again united with Lord Shiva after a long period of separation. Therefore, it is also known as Madhursravani. Hence, it is considered an occasion for unmarried women to sing song and wish for an ideal husband. The married women thus wish long lasting union with their husbands. It is considered highly auspicious and essential that the women receive fresh bridal dress from their parents. The Songs are considered as symbol of future happiness. The swings are symbols of serenity and noble life of perfect union.


National Efforts on Teej:
Indra Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) had used Teej of Shukla Tritiya of Saravan or Haryali Teej as day for organising seminar for Folk heritage and art in association with JNU and Jamia Milia Islamia in year 2002. The scholars sat together, shared their research and planned for future research in field of folk heritage and art.


Source:
Teej on Wikipedia


Rajasthan Travel Guide


Surf India


Harayana Online (non-official)


Welcome Pal


IGNCA


Ibbetson, Caste and Tribes of Punjab, Vol 1. (Kindly note, that reference to this source in above articles is mainly based on my personal notes during college days. At that time, I was not all that trained to maintain the right references.)


Manasullas, Thirteen century dictionary. (Kindly note, that reference to this source in above articles is mainly based on my personal notes during college days. At that time, I was not all that trained to maintain the right references.)


Shiva Purana, Gita Press, Haridwar.


Manu Samriti and Yakvalkya Smriti.

Kindly check Kajari Teej for more details.

Advancement in History Research Methodology

While writing a post titled "Working in the Browser" on optimizing the search activity for pursuing an answer to a question or a research work, William J. Turkel made the following remarks.

"Working with digital sources means that historians will spend more time working with computers. Most already use e-mail and word processing, search library catalogs and archival finding aids, read online journal articles and book reviews. Digital history puts primary and secondary sources onto the computer, too, and provides new opportunities for historical research and writing: blogging, digitization, web and wiki authoring, programming, and so on."

In the above quoted statement, the author has explained in a brief and an effective manner the change in the research methodology of history owing to advancement in the technology.

I have extracted it here because it tries to answer different questions which generally appears in the NET examination of India wherein it is asked that what are the new changes seen in the field of research methodology. Or, the question can be that how can ICT and computer be useful in research in history.

Turkel works in a realm of knowledge, skill and understanding which is presently beyond my capability, knowledge and skills, but I have also tried something in my article titled "Quasi Mutiny of 1824 by 47 Native Infantry at Barrackpore" . I have yet to complete the writing on this topic but I have used different digital resources already available online along with in-print secondary sources. No doubt, therein, I have done everything manually and there is less of software based activity and syndication as it is being done with coming of new tools now and then or rather every next second. The topic of quasi Mutiny was identified and located through online sources. The question was already with me but I did not have a starting point to explore my question. The question is that what is the real nature of historiography on Indian Nationalism. I had been commenting and criticizing which amounted to nothing much. In the topic which I have pursued there, I have used the digital sources, made right links to the primary and secondary sources and within the article used tags to present it as an article of research as it is presented in the field of history. The activity is not of the level which Turkel has achieved by establishing his own server and then optimizing the server itself as the storehouse of the primary and secondary sources using different computation devices that I have already admitted that I am incapable of understanding and less capable of practicing for the time being. But it is also a paradigm which lesser people like me can practice. No doubt, it is not all that original idea. There are similar paradigm found in Guttenburg ebooks. I have just tried to bring it out in open as to me it seems that it is also a good way of developing an archive. One topic is taken. The sources on online are located. The thesis is presented. All the references are given link to their source where they are needed. Continue to do it till that article reaches a saturation point. Ultimately, you will have a topic wherein you will find all the authentic and authoritative references at one place.

Well, I will be interested in the comments now.

Credit and Acknowledgement :
William J. Turkel at Digital History Hacks

Ban Is Lifted from Blogs In India

"A week ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem out pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially."

I am using Reliance Infocom for accessing internet. Now I can open my blogspot sites. I can also access typepad site. It seems that the ISPs have released these sites. I hope the rest of neticians can also open any site which they like on different blog portals.


I also hope that the government of India will review the procedures to implement their decisions in this technically advanced milieu. They have faced the music. They now know that the bloggers may be a "miniscule minority" but they can do great damage to the reputation of the government if the government behaves like an archaic state and conduct itself in a clumsy manner.

I also feel that some good has also come out of it. For me, I have learned about proxy servers. I am not going to remove the logo of Slap the block. I believe that it has bound the bloggers into a community. It may have popularized this activity of blogging.

I also want to thank the foreign media who had actually played a major role in voicing our concern. The Indian media had played its role but dear friends, it was on the milder site. They shout from the top of the roof on some clumsy stink operations or Matuk Das Chaudhary (Patna) lover affair with his student Julie. But they did not find the block on blogs as gagging of the freedom of the expression. No, they did not play the role which was expected of them.

Let us hope that there will be no next time.

Now, in future, I will be more abrasive and straightforward.


I will now return back to the theme of this blog and start posting history related articles. However, I will not remove those posting which were made on the issue of blocking of blogs in India.

Gift From Pakistan for the Indian Blocked Blogs

Pkblogs has gifted to Indians their own INTRUSION site.
It says, "Unable to view pictures on your blog??check http://www.inblogs.net to access banned blogs "with pictures" from India"
Check it

pkblogs.com

The blogspot, Typepad and geocities sites are blocked in India.

The bloggers were using various proxy servers to reach their sites. They were using pkblogs.com for blogspot sites.

It seems that it is now blocked. It also shows that blocking is being done intentionally. It is not that it is has been done by some foolish babu or something like that.

The government is becoming nasty. It is crub on fundsmental right of freedom of expression. The emergency days seems to be returning. No Pakistan has a case to present before Bush that India is more dictorial than General Musharaff.

On can keep on ranting on it. But it seems now is the time to take up some concrete action and check how this new technology can be a force.

An Update (July 20, 2006): It seems that pkblogs.com sometimes go off the web for some time. It might be that I had accessed it at such a time that prompted me to make the above remark.

The portal pkblogs.com is very much alive. Just visit the link "Funny Message on blocking the Access".

Use RTI against Blocked Blogspot, Typepad and Geocities

Nandan has made a point.

Now the word has spread that sites are blocked in India. However, there is no clarity about why this has happened. There is mere commotion and sweet wishes but no concrete suggestion on how to go about it and react in the right manner.

Nandan has made a suggestion at "Blogger has been blocked in India". Kindly read it. He suggests that the blogger should make use of Right to Information Act. He is quite right. He has even suggested the draft of the application for that. I think that it is a practical solution. I will follow it.

This post is related to "The Ghost of Lord Lytton is Still Alive in India" and "Cough Problem with Blogspot".


Here is a compendium of the posts gathered through technorati.com in the twenty four hours.


the-indian-government-does-a-big-brother
access-to-blogspot-has-been-banned
http://www.pkblogs.com/labnol
indian-government-blocking-access-to-blogspot
http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=854
what-is-up-with-blogspot-blogger-sites
http://www.pkblogs.com/nanopolitan
http://www.pkblogs.com/indiauncut
blogspot-blocked-in-india
http://www.pkblogs.com/gauravsabnis
http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2006/07/16/indian-government-blocking-access-to-blogspot/
http://www.pkblogs.com/barbarindians
http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=854
http://www.pkblogs.com/labnol
looks-like-even-airtel-is-blocking-blogspot
soon-you-may-not-be-able-to-see

http://www.pkblogs.com/dhoomk2/2006/07/censorship-against-blogspot.html
http://www.shivamvij.com/2006/07/somebody-must-have-blocked-some-sites-what-is-your-problem.html
http://www.pkblogs.com/nonedone/2006/07/blogger-has-been-blocked-in-india.html It has some practical action plan.
http://anupmankar.wordpress.com/2006/07/17/government-planning-to-ban-blogspot/
http://soumyadip.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?cid=72866
http://www.pkblogs.com/doesthisthat/2006/07/1984.html
http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=854
http://www.pkblogs.com/sumirsharma/2006/07/cough-problem-with-blogspot.html

Culprit Weblogs

Funny Message on Blocking from Access

It is seen that some of the bloggers are still adopting a typical Indian escapist approach. They are giving very innocent responses and diverting the attention from the real issue. They are raising points like BSNL and MTNL have yet not done it. They suggest that it means that the situation is not that bad and probably this is a foolish act on the part of a babu or the ISPs. They are so nice in suggesting that the people, who blocked it, are in their rights to do that. It is not the right approach. One of them even suggested that it was a usual Saturday maintenance activity of google. Dear friends, it started around 5 pm on July 14, 2006.

Ghori invaded Somnath and 5000 Rajputs lost their lives. The rest of the people just prayed that the situation would improve. Kindly come out of that mindset. Learn to call spade a spade. Do not expect that a Bhagat Singh should definitely take a rebirth but in a house of a neighbour.

Kindly go and watch Rang De Basanti.

The Ghost of Lord Lytton is Still Alive in India

The Ghost of Lord Lytton is still alive in India.


Somewhere on July 13, 2006, many blogs were blocked in India. All the blogs which contained the term "blogspot" or "typepad" in their addresses did not open. They are not accessible till this day. As per the subdued whisper among the bloggers in India, the sites of the blogs had been blocked on the orders of ‘the ministry’. The users of Tata Indicom ISP are able to access it. However, the users of Reliance, Spectranet and MTNL can not access their sites. The knowledgeable people have suggested a way out which was being used by Pakistan bloggers. One can reach his/her blog through proxy server and one of the suggested site for access is www.hidemyass.com. Even the Pakistan crusaders have their solution and one can use that also. ( Through dependable sources)


I do not go into the reasons and causes of this ‘Irish Coercion Act 1870’ activity. I do not find all the people in that All India Service cadre as bright chaps. They always adopt the worst and funniest responses to the crisis (7/11 and Zero Tolerance boosting). And the worst is that lot (politicians) which runs government as the elected members. I do not find complaints against them genuine because they are elected representatives and it is ‘we the people of India’ who are bound to suffer because of our exalted faith in ourselves wherein we believe we know better than everyone else. ‘All knowledge is there in Vedas mentality’ pervades without actually knowing what is there in Vedas. Even if some of us who know something about it, we have learnt it from the writings of the English scholars of western countries.


The episode of blocking of blogs has shattered my plans on writing on blogs. Earlier, it was the erratic supply of electricity which was the major problem. Then there was problem of broken roads which reduces your movement around the city and between the cities. The problem of unsupportive attitude of library people is always there and I have in my possession some emails which contain complaints against such attitudes. Now, some great great grand ****** son of Lytton has blocked the blogs because he might have thought that it was an intelligent way of undertaking an investigation.


The blocking of blogs has all the ingredients of Lytton Press act.


Lytton was the author of great tragedy of the Second Afghan War. He was strongly and ferociously condemned by the Indians. Lytton reacted like a mentally sick person. On March 13, 1878, he sent a telegram to the Secretary of State for India requesting to permit through reply telegram to allow him to issue an executive order on the lines of the Irish Coercion act of 1870. He got the sanction for the bill the next day that was March 14, 1878. Within the couple hours from receiving the permission, he issued the law called the Vernacular Press Act. It was nick named as "The Gagging Act" by the Indian people. It is on record in a statement of S. N. Banerjea, that "Within less than fifteen months, the vernacular press all over India, save that of Madra, was muzzled. ( V. D. Mahajan, Modern Indian History from 1707 and the Present Day; 1995; S. Chand and Company Ltd.; New Delhi. Pp. (487-499)


There was an ingredient of ‘Rang De Basanti’ in the sequel to the Gagging Act which the present day administrators may not know. It is believed and emphasized by many historians that it was the activity which followed this act, that laid the action plan of future protest movements that won freedom for India. It was undertaken in the following manner. A demonstration (first of its kind in the history of India) was organized in Calcutta in the Town Hall to discuss the Gagging Act. The activity continued through different public bodies and Press. The most interesting act was performed by Amrita Bazar Patrika of Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh. The act was against the Press in regional languages. When the act came into force on March 14, 1878, Ghosh converted it into an English Newspaper. (Bipin Chandra and others; India’s Struggle For Independence 1857-1947; Penguin Books India (P) Ltd. New Delhi; pp. 105). This act of Amrita Bazar Patrika is now played by Bloggers by accessing their site from proxy servers and for blogspot sites they are getting assistance from Pakistan bloggers who beat their government for similar bans.


Now these dates 13 and 14 are against the freedom of speech fundamental rights of Indians.


One really gets exasperated by the intellectually stifling and gagging atmosphere in India. There is so much talk of ICT, Edusat and e-governance in India. On the one hand, the infrastructure to support the economic growth (it seems that economic growth is only termed in earning money) is not at place and on the other hand there is myopic attitude and adhocism in every sphere. There may be one problem and crises but the solutions are always out of context. The government may be undertaking investigation in Bombay Bombing of 7/11. They have learnt that the anomaly groups are using cyberspace to communicate. They have found the solution. They are banning the cyberspace. On the other hand, the government is so proud in telling that how it is using GSAT – III (The Edusat – the name by which it is popularly known ) for the promotion of education and promoting forward looking technologies but on the other hand, the great great grand sons of Lytton are stifling this activity because they want to investigate.


One can only pray that they may release the blocked sites. Till then, Proxy Servers Rang de Basanti.

Quasi Mutiny of 1824 by 47 Native Infantry at Barrackpore

The mutiny of 1824 was quite significant from history perspective. It is proved from the fact that it has found special mention in many of the contemporary sources and as well been given due attention by various historians. However, it is other thing that they have not mentioned the name of Bindee Tiwari. On the other hand, there are many references in different sources that there was a Brahmin who had taken over the responsibility of leading the troops in revolt or who headed the revolt or who was remembered by the troops after he was hanged. In spite of these facts, this event has not found due place in regular history of Modern India. They are many reasons for that but here the aim is to identify that the event had taken place and it was an important event.


In case of the cause of the mutiny of 1824, there were a variety of causes which had been listed by different authorities. The causes which had been mentioned by the authorities who were directly involved in the administration of the affairs of East India Company whether sitting in London or in the field areas, were mainly related to the administrative shortcomings. They have viewed the mutiny in 1824 as a result of the shortcomings on the part of the British government or the officers of the East India. It is surprising that it had not been emphasized. The reason can be easily sought. There had been two types of history dominating the Indian history. One history was written by Cambridge school of historians who had tried to project Britain on a mission to civilize the world. The second history is by the nationalist historians of India who had tried to project that Britain was an imperialist power who was bent upon destroying the Indian culture and civilization. In between, they lost the scientific attitude of looking at the facts as they existed. As a result where the authorities had developed the feeling that it was their mismanagement and lack of concern due to pervading doctrine and policy, the Cambridge historians did not emphasized it because it weakened their thesis. The nationalist historians did not emphasize such aspects because they did not want to be identified as sympathizers of the imperialist power.


A review of the several sources on the incidence of the mutiny of 1824 will be a useful exercise to bring out the relevance of above observation.



The sources discussed here are mainly the online sources. However, this does not lower the credibility of this dissertation because those sources are such sources which are available in the archives and established libraries which are drawn upon for any serious research. The only difference is that some of the libraries and the archives have come online. The only difference is that a scholar now does not need to go to the buildings of the archives and libraries and sit in there to pursue these sources. Now, he can do the same job by watching at the screen of his monitor. However, some of the printed secondary sources have been cited and duly acknowledged while researching the details of this event from different perspectives of the historians and contemporary sources available online.



The Event of 1824:


There is need to first determine that the event occurred through various sources with special emphasis on the online contemporary sources.


According to Majumdar, the 47th Native Infantry was moved to Barrackpur in order to proceed to take part in some of the operations of the Burmese War during the early months of 1824. ¹


According to Leitch Ritchie account of 1846, it was in the middle of 1824, the 47th Native were marched to Barrackpore, with a view of being sent thence to Rangoon. Leitch Ritchie had given a graphic account on the basis of the an eyewitness information that “On the 1st November a parade took place at daybreak, but the order to fall in was only partially attended to.” As per his account, when the officer at that time, General Dalzell tried for total compilation of his command, all the troops, “dashed forward in a body, drove off their officers, tore the knapsacks from the backs of the soldiers of the fifth company, established themselves on the parade fronting the line, and having piled their arms, planted a cordon of sentries round them, openly raised the standard of revolt.” ²


Majumdar had attributed the information of this event to S. C. Chaudhari. In his account, he traced the event to the date October 30, 1824. As per his account, “In the parade held on October 30, 1824, they (the soldiers of 47th Native Infantry) appeared without their knapsacks and refused to bring them even when asked to do so, on the ground that they were unfit for use. A part of the regiment then declared that they would not proceed to Rangoon or elsewhere by sea and they would not move at all unless they were to have double batta. The Commanding Officer, unable to subdue the discontent, dismissed the regiment and proceeded to Calcutta to consult the Commander-in-Chief. After his return he held a parade on November 1. At this parade the sepoys burst into acts of open violence. The same mutinous spirit also affected the other regiments which were stationed at Barrackpur, preparatory to their proceeding on service.” ³


Jyoti Singh in an article in the Tribune without referring to the sources describes the event somewhat like this. The English officers at Barrackpore ordered the 47th infantry to march to Chittagong and from there to Rangoon by sea in 1824. The sepoys opposed this ordered due to number of issues. They also opposed the order “saying that there was not mandatory clause in their contract about serving overseas. In order to check their resistance against the imperial might, the British officers not only remained adamant but also stopped extra allowance. The hardened stand lead the sepoys to desist with an equal force. They got together to oppose the British and elected a commander – Bindee Tiwari – from amongst them. ⁴


Unable to face the ire of the speoys under Tiwari’s command, the British officers had no other option but to flee. For two days Barrackpore was under the command and control of Tiwari and his men.” ⁵


According to the research of Kanaippada Roy, the 47th regiment of Binda Tiwari was ordered to proceed to Rangoon (The present day Yangon). Lord Amherst was the Governor General at that time. “Binda refused to go to Rangoon. Several Native colleagues joined him in the refusal and later, as the things turned nasty, Binda and his men fired at the British officers killing some of them.”⁶


According to the official website of the Barrackpore cantonment maintained by Ministry of Defence, Government of India, Barrackpore is the older cantonment in the sub-continent. It was the symbolic seat of military power of Britain since 1765 and remained so upto 1910. It is emphasized on the web site that the “modern history of Barrackpore revolves around three historic events.” Out of the three events, the second event was the revolt in 1824. To quote from the site, “As a result of this Mutiny, native sepoys under the leadership of Bindce Tiwary famously called as Bindi Baba, Sepoy of 47 infantry rebelled on the order of British to move to Chittagong and on to Rangoon. Barrackpore was virtually under the control of 47 Native Infantry led by Sepoy Bindce Tiwary for 2 days and thereafter the rebellion was crushed with great force by British. All the rebels were mercilessly massacred. ⁷


Further, continuing the narration of the history of the place, the third event is described as follows.
“The third event happens to be the most prominent and tipped to had started first was of Indian Independence in 1857, when the first shot against British was fired by Sepoy Mangal Pandey on 29 March at Barrackpore. The thread of social events running through these periods is best left to the imagination of oneself since this mutiny of 1857 has had a tranquil existence.” ⁸


On the web site of Barrackpore, among the heritage structures, a Hanuman Temple is included and mentioned prominently. It is called the Bindee Baba’s Hanuman Mandir. The following details has given.
“The facts which have been gathered are that in the mutiny of 1824, 47th native Infantry was abandoned by the Officer and was Commanded for two days by a Sepoy named Bindee Tiwary. He was caught and later hanged in chains and his body was left hanging as a warning to potential recalcitrant. Later offering were made by Sepoys to his remains as he was considered a martyr. Folklore made him 'Colone' Bindee and the temple stand today where his body was left hanging.” ⁹



According to George Francis Train, an American, “During the Burmese war in 1824 (the year before the panic) the Barrackpore regiments refused to go to Burmah.” ¹⁰


According to St. George Tucker, in his book published in 1853 posthumously and edited by John William Kaye, “The quasi mutiny at Barrackpore, in 1824, was one of the most unfortunate occurrences in our military history – one which I have always deplored. The regiment could not move without the means of conveyance for its baggage, which had not been provided; ….”¹¹


Hence, it can be safely said that the sepoys of 47 Native Infantry mutinied in year 1824 at Barrackpore, a seat of Military power near Calcutta, the seat of the Governor General of British India. Lord Amherst was the Governor General. He was pursuing a Anglo Burmese War which is also remembered as First Anglo-Burmese War. During the course of the war, 47 Native Infantry was ordered to move to Rangoon but it mutinied.


The next question is, What were the causes of the mutiny of 1824? It will be taken up in a future posting.

Footnote 1:
(return)(R. C. Majumdar_British Paramountcy and Indian Renaissance_Part I, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan Bombay, Third Edition, 1988. pp 428.)

Footnote 2:
(return)( Leitch Ritchie, “The British World in the East – A Guide Historical, Moral, and Commercial, to India, China, Australia, South Africa, and the other Possessions or Connexions of Great Britain in Eastern and South Sea. Two Volumes. ” by Leitch Ritchie, W. H. Allen, 1846.pp 278, (Source: Books Google, accessed on June 20, 2006, link: Leithch Ritchie on Google Books

Footnote 3:
(return)R. C. Majumdar Op. Cite. pp 428.

Footnote 4:
(return)Bindee Tiwari by Joyti Singh: as accessed on July 14, 2006.

Footnote 5:
(return)Bindee Tiwari by Joyti Singh: as accessed on July 14, 2006.

Footnote 6:
(return) Who first sounded bugle of freedom – Mangal or Binda? Accessed on June 19, 2006. The same article has appeared at different portals also.

Footnote 7:
(return)History of Barrackpore Cantonment as accessed on July 14, 2006.

Footnote 8:
(return)History of Barrackpore as accessed on July 14, 2006.

Footnote 9:
(return)Heritage Sites of Barrackpore as accessed on July 14, 2006.

Footnote 10:
(return)
Geroge Francis Train, Date of Accessing: Friday, June 30, 2006

Footnote 11:
(return)St. George Tucker

Happiness of Mind through Tantra Vidya

The name of the blog is Manasollasa ( मानस उल्लाह्स). The etymology and composite(सन्धिविछेद्द ) of the word is given in the very title of the blog. The meaning of the word Manasollasa, which can be derived from the elucidation, is the Happiness of Mana or The Mind. The blog is located through a posting at Jinajik, a blog by Ian Sinclair, a scholar of Vajrayana with special interest on Nepal Buddhist Tantraism and also a writer on South Asian history and culture. His remark is imbued with some amazement and he wrote:
"This semi-‘experiential’ yogin’s diary, peppered with Sanskrit soundbites, echoes tantric literature in its subject matter as well as in its sheer eclecticism: proper ritual procedure, useful mantras, lineage authenticity, mythical history, and pseudo-real reports of encounters with deities and Sadhakas."


Well, the contents are really awesome. However, it leaves you unsatisfied. The author (agnikula : probably the caste and gotra of the author or may be the name) has adopted a style of notations for writing the Sanskrit Mantras. It becomes difficult to read them with their real sound pattern in their given form. The display of the contents shows that the blogger knows about the technical aspects of making a site and HTML quite well. He may have adopted UTF 8 code for writing the Devnagri and that would have been more effective. It seems that the author is addressing to the audience who know English. However, the author can get good assistance from the Hindi bloggers like Akshargram, Chittahvishav or e-swami if interested in giving Devanagri version of the mantras.


The Tantrism has its roots in Vedic literature. The Tantraism traces its origin to the contents of Black Yajur Veda (Yajur Veda has two renditions namely White Yajur Veda and Black Yajur Veda. It is Black Yajur Veda, which contains Tantric practices) and Atharva Veda. In eighth century A. D., tantraism dominated the Indian religious scene. The Vajrayana after Hinayana (Thervada) and Mahayana involved tantraism in Buddhist religion.


There are many postings which are of great interest. I was really attracted to the contents of the Gatha on the founder of our nation. There are many more such posts which are related to the history as well as to tantraism as explained by Ian Sinclair. The author has interest in Ornithology and paleontology. The blogger has special interest for cricket. There are many postings related to history of other continents.


I regret that I have not introduced these sites to Miland Brown for Asian History Carnival 5.


I have made a noting to this blog because I take a particular view of the definition of history. I do not consider history merely a continuity and change relations over a period of time and space based on written records. This definition is good if you are interested merely in political history. For me, history is also a continuity of customs, traditions, rituals and collective memory over a period of time on the basis of such records which are available in present also. From that point of view, all the rituals, folklores, faiths, customs, traditions are part of history subject. From this perspective, the study of Tantrism and its development in India forms the subject matter of history also. That is other thing, that I have never undertaken this definition in practice. On the other hand, there are many rituals in daily life of an Indian which points towards tantric practice. Whenever one visits a cremation ground, before living the cremation ground, the mourners pick up a small twig or dried piece of a stamp, break it and throw over theri heads behind them. It is generally taken as a ritual and tradition. But it is believed that it is a very strong tantric device. It saves from malevolent spirits which may follow back to your house. This act works as a weapon to throw them back into the cremation ground. There are many such rituals and practices which are ingrained into social practices and they have their origin in tantric practices. Even in case of numerous revolts during the colonial periods, it were the traditions which became the source of the strength and all such traditions were not based on any written records.


Apart from such aspects of social life, there is a sect of Aghoris who practice Tantrism and they played a big role in history of India. Similarly, Lingyats and Shulikas, who are considered to be devotees of Lord Shiva practice Tantric practices. Lord Shiva himself is called the Bhottnatha who is always accompanied by goblins, dakanis and pichshasa.


Well, I have yet to fully explore the above mentioned site but as Ian Sinclair was fascinated by its presence on cyberspace, same is the case with me.


I end this note with another observation. I have pointed out somewhere else, that all such people who talk about esoteric sciences and mysticism, they prefer to pick black background for their site. It intrigues me. There must be some logic on their part for adopting such a background. As far I am concerned, I prefer white back ground.