Factors that contributed to Renaissance in India

Table of Contents

The term ―Renaissance refers to the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world. In general parlance, it means a new growth of activity or interest in something, especially art, literature, or music. In India, four (4) main forces entered from the West, and these four forces were instrumental in bringing about the Renaissance.

1. The East India Company:

The only interest of the East India Company was trade. They took raw materials from India cheaply to England and sold manufactured goods to people of India and elsewhere at very high prices. Thus, India was converted into an exploitable market for the development of British industries. This resulted in the cruel destruction of many of the cottage industries in India and robbed India of precious natural resources. People suffered from discouragement and unemployment.

The Company, realizing the importance of Hinduism for the stability of their trade, believed that it was necessary to patronize the religions of India. Hence, they adopted three policies:

A large number of temples were brought under their management. They advanced money for rebuilding and repairing these temples and paid the temple officials salaries. Large sums of money were granted for sacrifices and festivals and feeding of the Brahmin priests. Under their supervision, cruel rites like Sati and hook-swinging (ritualistic torture practised among the Mandan Indians, in which a voluntary victim was suspended from hooks attached to the flesh of the back. The hook-swinging ceremony is said to be sometimes performed after the consent of the goddess has been obtained) were practised. Government officials were required to attend Hindu festivals in order to show their interest in celebrations. A pilgrim tax was imposed upon the people to pay for all this.
The company opposed Christian missionary work. They refused to allow any missionary to settle in their territory. William Carey, the first British missionary to India, was not allowed to stay in British territories; hence, he settled in Serampore, which was a Danish settlement. Many missionaries were deported by the authorities. However, this policy of the company was reversed in 1813 by an act of the British parliament.
The company refused to employ native Christians. Those who became Christians while in the army were expelled in Bengal. Many English believed that it was unwise to interfere with the religion and civilization of India. They thought that it was impossible to produce any lasting influence on the Hindu religion. Moreover, they believed that it would adversely affect their trade and administration of the land. Therefore, many British people were not in favour of educating the Indians.

However, even during this period, there was a certain amount of collaboration between the Company and Christian Missions. William Carey was engaged as a part-time professor at the College of Fort William in Calcutta, which was opened by Lord Wellesley, as he was the only one qualified to teach Bengali and Sanskrit. The English also took advantage of the mission printing press at Serampore, and for the first time, Indian languages were printed in their own script at Serampore. The missionaries provided invaluable assistance to the Company in preparing the ground through the Gospel.

2. The British Government:

Since a stable government and sound financial arrangements were necessary for profitable commerce, the Company had to undertake the administration of the country. Thus, during the last decade of the 18th century, the Company was transformed into a government. Through the leadership of men like Clive, Hastings and Cornwallis, the British were gradually awakened that they should govern India for the good of the people. Thus, traders were transformed into administrators living on a salary and were strictly forbidden to make money by trading. By 1849, the last portion of India was added to the British Empire at the conclusion of the Second Sikh War.

The whole activity of the government during the period of 1828-1870 was one of reforms which can be summarized in three categories.

Bentinck felt that it was the duty of the government to prohibit grossly immoral customs such as sati, strangling and robbery of travelers, female infanticide and human sacrifices, even though they were associated with religion.
Recognition of human equality. It was decided that all should be equal before the law, and Indians were employed in government services irrespective of their religion.
The English language became India’s official language. All higher education was through English medium. The government opened schools and colleges; medical colleges were also introduced. Universities were established in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. At the same time, vernacular education was not neglected. The results produced in India through English education were revolutionary. The new educational policy of the government created the educated class in India.

In 1843, slavery was rendered illegal by the passing of an Act, and this enabled many poor people to acquire freedom from rich landowners. Lord Dalhousie prohibited obscenities in the streets, which were very common during those days. Lord Rippon’s government passed a local self-government bill to educate the Indian people in self-government. In 1891, the Age of Consent Act was passed, which prohibited a husband from living with his child’s wife before she reached the age of 12.

From 1865 onwards, there was a new national spirit, and in places like Maharashtra, Punjab, and Bengal, serious preparations were made for revolutionary action.

3. Christian Missions:

Protestant missionary work in India began with the Danish Mission, which did great work in Tamil Nadu during the 18th century, but it was William Carey and his colleagues Joshua Marshman and William Ward who first awakened the British, then the Americans and the Europeans towards their duty to the non-Christian world.

They opened boarding schools and orphanages. They did some medical work, especially among the lepers. They were eager to send out native missionaries to preach throughout the country, and a college was opened at Serampore to train them. The King of Denmark gave this college the authority to confer degrees. Due to the good work done by Carey and his colleagues, in 1813, the British parliament granted missionaries full freedom to settle and work in India. Soon after this, missionaries from Britain, America, and Europe entered India in large numbers.

Many schools and colleges for Western education were opened by a number of individual Europeans in the large cities of India. In 1830, Alexander Duff, a Scottish missionary, opened a school in Calcutta to teach English. Duff’s work opened a new era in India. All the most promising young men of Calcutta flocked to him. Ram Mohan Roy (founder of Brahmo Samaj) was also one of Duff’s pupils. Most of the leaders who were involved in starting modern religious movements were those who had an English education.

Christian education of women was pushed forward, and a great number of unmarried missionaries arrived in India. From around 1854, work was done among the women shut up in zenanas. Women medical missionaries also came to work with women. Orphanages and widows’ homes were opened. Famine relief was carried out to some extent during these years.

4. Orientalism:

The Orientalists were European scholars who objectively studied Indian literature, art and architecture. The rise of Orientalism began with the British attempt to give a better government in India, but it did not impress itself on the Indian mind until later. Three men stand out as pioneer orientalists during the period: Colebrook, H. H. Wilson and Tod.

Warren Hastings took steps which led Europeans to become acquainted with Sanskrit and the Hindu religion. Influenced by Hastings, Charles Wilkins translated and published 1789 Shakuntala, the masterpiece of Kalidasa, the greatest Sanskrit dramatist. Some Englishmen also began to study the peoples of India.

Though Oriental studies blossomed before 1879, the fruits were gathered only in the next 30 years. Some of the significant works of this period were The Sacred Books of the East (Max Mueller), Oriental Series (Trubner), The Harvard Oriental Series (Trubner), Light of Asia (Edwin Arnold), The Song Celestial (Childers). Since 1870, Oriental studies have touched the Indian mind very powerfully; Indian scholars trained in European methods began to render excellent service by editing and translating the texts.

General Impact of the West

These four forces that entered India from the outside paved the way for India’s social and religious awakening in the 19th and 20th centuries. They had a tremendous impact on the minds and hearts of the Indian people.

The Indians felt that the Westerners were energetic and active compared to the Indians, who were lazy and lethargic.
The Westerners were highly disciplined – they had organizational skills, whereas Indians were doing things in a haphazard way.
The Westerners had a scientific outlook, while the Indian people were still using outdated tools and were superstitious.
Simplicity of the Christian faith with the Bible as the guidebook was a revolutionary factor. In contrast, Hinduism was a highly complex religion. The common people had access and knowledge to the Puranas only with their gods and goddesses, and this gave rise to gross idolatry.
The Western spirit of nationalism and belief in democratic principles taught that all are equal before the law. Whereas, in India, due to the rigid caste system, people had only communal loyalty. There was no spirit of nationalism.
That there was equality of women in Western society. In India, women were considered inferior to men, and they were backward in many respects.
Westerners gave importance to education. They opened schools and colleges for the common people at a time when education was a privilege enjoyed only by the upper castes.
The Western use of the printing press was an effective medium of communication in India, where printing presses were non-existent.
The military might and prowess of the British greatly influenced and impressed the Indian mind. At that time, India was not unified; many native states existed, and loyalty was divided

The reaction of Indian people to all that they saw of the West was one of admiration, and for a time, the Indian people resorted to copying anything Western. However, this did not last long. People began to use scientific knowledge to bring about reformation in order to get rid of social and religious evils detrimental to human welfare. Reformers arose to purge society of evils.

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