The 19th Century Renissance in India

The nineteenth century witnessed a cultural, religious and literary resurgence in India- the Indian Renaissance. It was a period of great social, cultural and political change. The Europeans, especially the British, who came to trade in India assumed the role of colonisers and greatly influenced the Indian life. Though the British rule caused much destruction to the wealth and culture of India it also brought forth a reawakening of the Indian spirit, with the introduction of the English language and education. The factors that led to the Indian Renaissance were the arrival of Christian missionaries, the introduction of English education, the Westernisation of Indians, the spread of Christianity and the fervent response of the Indians to these changes. The Western contact gave a jolt to India's traditional life and created "a new awareness, a sense of urgency, a flair for practicality, and alertness in thought and action" (Iyengar, page29). The reawakening of the Indian spirit not only led to a new life in literature but also to a revival of interest in ancient literature and native religion.

India in the latter years of the eighteenth century was in a state of intellectual and spiritual decadence. The nation was diseased and self-divided. The ancient glory of India was lost long ago. The ingredients of the ancient India according to Sri Aurobindo were "an ingrained and dominant spirituality, an inexhaustible vital creativeness and gust of life and, mediating between the, a powerful, penetrating and scrupulous intelligence combined of the rational, ethical, and aesthetic mind each at a high intensity of action" (qtd. in Iyengar, page29)- that is, the spirit, the intellect, and the life-impulse, all functioning at the highest p...

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...stration of good Indian English prose.

Thus the Renaissance in India was triggered by the colonial rule of the British and the subsequent acquisition of a new language, which served as a window to the world. The meeting of the East and the West brought about a cultural, religious, spiritual and literary renaissance in the nineteenth century India, which was intellectually and spiritually dormant nation. The literary renaissance was caused by the initiation of Indians into creative expression in English. The religious and cultural Renaissance was brought forth by the strong consciousness in the nation's glory in the past, which was challenged by the missionaries by their attempts of Westernization and Conversion to their religion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Iyengar, K.R. Srinivasa. Indian Writing in English. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1985.