Nationalism spreads when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same nation when they discover some unity that binds them together.
THE SENSE OF COLLECTIVE BELONGING—
But how did the nation become a reality in the minds of people? How did people belonging to different communities, region or language groups develop a sense of collective belonging?
This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles.
But there were also a variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people's imagination.
History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.
The identity of the nation, as you know, is most often symbolised in a figure or image. This helps create an image with which people can identify the nation.
It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote 'Vande Mataram' as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abinndranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata.
In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints, and was painted by different artists. Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one's nationalism.
Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.
In late nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends.
These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces. It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one's national identity and restore a sense of pride in one's past.
In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths and led the movement for folk revival.
In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature; it was 'the most trustworthy manifestation of people's real thoughts and characteristics'.
As the national movement developed, nationalist leaders became more and more aware of such icons and symbols in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism.
During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag(red, green, yellow)was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.
By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour(red, green and white)and had a spinning wheel in the centre representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.
Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through a reinterpretation of history.
By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instil a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently. The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves.
In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India great achievements.
They wrote about the glorious developments in ancients times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished.
This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised. These nationalist histories urged the readers to take pride in India's great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.
These efforts to unify people were not without problems. When the past being glorified was Hind hen the images celebrated were drawn from Hindu iconography, then people of other communities felt left out.
CONCLUSION:
Growing anger against the colonial government was this bringing together various groups and classes of Indians into a common struggle for freedom in the first half of the twentieth century.
The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people's grievances into organised movements for independence. Through such movement, the nationalist tried to forge national unity.
But as we have seen, diverse groups and classes participated in these movements with varied aspirations and expectations. As their grievances we're wide-ranging, freedom from colonial rule also meant different things to different people.
Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another.
This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down. The high points of Congress activity and nationalist unity we're followed by phases of disunity and inner conflict between groups.
In other words, what was emerging as a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.
I hope this article is benefitted to you i.e. this article gave you for what you came for.
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| Notice how Bal Gangadhar tilak is surrounded by symbols of unity. The sacred institutions of different faiths(temple, church, masjid) frame the central figure. |
This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles.
But there were also a variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people's imagination.
History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.
The identity of the nation, as you know, is most often symbolised in a figure or image. This helps create an image with which people can identify the nation.
It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote 'Vande Mataram' as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abinndranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata.
 |
| The mother figure here is shown as dispensing learning, food and clothing. The mala in one hand emphasises her ascetic quality. Abanindranath Tagore, like Ravi Varma before him, tried to develop a style of painting that could be seen as truly Indian. |
In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints, and was painted by different artists. Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one's nationalism.
Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.
In late nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends.
These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces. It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one's national identity and restore a sense of pride in one's past.
In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths and led the movement for folk revival.
In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature; it was 'the most trustworthy manifestation of people's real thoughts and characteristics'.
As the national movement developed, nationalist leaders became more and more aware of such icons and symbols in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism.
During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag(red, green, yellow)was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.
By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour(red, green and white)and had a spinning wheel in the centre representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.
Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through a reinterpretation of history.
By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instil a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently. The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves.
In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India great achievements.
They wrote about the glorious developments in ancients times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished.
This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised. These nationalist histories urged the readers to take pride in India's great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.
These efforts to unify people were not without problems. When the past being glorified was Hind hen the images celebrated were drawn from Hindu iconography, then people of other communities felt left out.
CONCLUSION:
Growing anger against the colonial government was this bringing together various groups and classes of Indians into a common struggle for freedom in the first half of the twentieth century.
The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people's grievances into organised movements for independence. Through such movement, the nationalist tried to forge national unity.
But as we have seen, diverse groups and classes participated in these movements with varied aspirations and expectations. As their grievances we're wide-ranging, freedom from colonial rule also meant different things to different people.
Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another.
This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down. The high points of Congress activity and nationalist unity we're followed by phases of disunity and inner conflict between groups.
In other words, what was emerging as a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.
I hope this article is benefitted to you i.e. this article gave you for what you came for.
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