Bhai Vir Singh.pdf - Vidhia.com
Bhai Vir Singh.pdf - Vidhia.com Bhai Vir Singh.pdf - Vidhia.com
2 / Bhai Vir Singh origins ofPunjabiprose, novel, lyric, epic, dramaandhistorical research. In his hands the capacity of the language was enhanced manifold. It received from his work dignity as well as form. Subjects which before his time could not be rendered through Punjabi were now well within its competence. Such was the impact he made upon Punjabi literature and so rapid its subsequent advance that by the time he had published his last book- a collection of highly subjective and individualized verse Mere Saiyan Jeo 1"0 My Lord Master", 19531- there had appeared in the language a considerable body of that "modernist" writing which would have scarcely been recognizable to him. Atthetime ofBhaiVirSingh'sbirth, Punjabwasinaferment ofnewideas. The social and culturalmilieuwasfast changing. A quarter of a century had gone by since the fall of the Sikh kingdom and its substitution by the British. The Punjab was the last major territory in India to become part of the English dominions. With the advent of the British, the barriers broke downandthe Punjab camewithinthe orbit ofthe introduction of Western education. One of the important consequences of the interaction of Western and Indian cultures was the development of indigenous languages and literatures. The stimulus for this came from theworkof Christian missionaries, English schools and colleges and the Orientalists who studied and discovered the beauty and richness of Indian learning. Especially important in this context was the contribution of the first major Protestant mission in India establishedin the Danish town of Serampore, near Calcutta. The East India Company was then averse to missionary activity and had, for the sake of its commercial interests, imposed restrictions onit which remained operative untill 1813. The work by the three English pioneers- William Carey, Joshua Marshman and William Ward- had therefore to be started under the Danish flag. With the permission of the local Governor they set up a centre at Serampore in the year 1800. The first task they undertook was the establishment of boarding schools and a printingpress.Ward specializedinHindureligion andliterature Page 10 of 108
Father of Modem Punjabi Literature / 3 and Marshman in Chinese. Carey mastered the Indian languages andwrote"grammars oftheBengalee,theSanskrit, and the Mahratta languages, and was carrying grammars of the Telinga and Punjabi throughout the press."l Translations of the Bible came off the Mission press ili Indian languages such as Sanskrit, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Marwari, Pushtu, Telugu, MarathiandPunjabi. ThePunjabiversion,inGurmukhi script, appeared in 181 P This was the first book printed in this language. In the field of education, the initiative came both from Christian mission and the government. Under direction from British Parliament, the East India Company founded schools for the revival and promotion of Sanskrit and Arabic. To this end, the Calcutta Madrasa and Benares Sanskrit College were opened with purely oriental courses of study. The labours of someEuropean8cholarsfurther popularizedclassicalleaming. Sir William Jones (1746-941, who founded in 1784 the Asiatic Society of Bengal, translatedthe Sanskrit Classics Hitopadesa andSakuntala into English. Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765 18371, a professor at the Fort William College, wrote on the Vedas and on Hindu mathematics and philosophy. Friedrich Max Mueller (1823-19001, Professor of Comparative Philology at Oxford, brouUht out an English edition of the Rigveda and sponsored translations of several Eastern works. Along with this newly awakened interest in Indian literature and philosophy had grown a demand for English education. The mostinfluentialadvocatewasRajaRammohan Roy, an Indian leader of extraordinary intellectual gifts and foresight. In 1817, he established in Calcutta the Vidyalaya, or Hindu College, which was the forerunner of the famous Presidency College. The stated purpose of the college was to 1. John Clark Marshman, The Life and Times of Carey, Marshman and Ward,Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and RobeJrts, 1859, London, p.466. 2. See plate 48 In A.K. Priolkar's The printing· Press in India, Marathi Samshodhana Mandala, Bombay, 1958, p.354. Page 11 of 108
- Page 1 and 2: Bhai Vir Singh Father' ofModem Punj
- Page 3 and 4: Preface In theyear 19'1'2 falls the
- Page 5 and 6: Foreword opularly Popularly known a
- Page 7 and 8: Contents 1. The Milieu." 1 2. Ances
- Page 9: CHAPTER ONE The Milieu F orPunjabil
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- Page 42 and 43: 34 / Bhai Vir Singh correspondence
- Page 44 and 45: 36 / Bhai Vir Singh tolerance. His
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Father of Modem Punjabi Literature / 3<br />
and Marshman in Chinese. Carey mastered the Indian<br />
languages andwrote"grammars oftheBengalee,theSanskrit,<br />
and the Mahratta languages, and was carrying grammars of<br />
the Telinga and Punjabi throughout the press."l Translations<br />
of the Bible came off the Mission press ili Indian languages<br />
such as Sanskrit, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Marwari, Pushtu,<br />
Telugu, MarathiandPunjabi. ThePunjabiversion,inGurmukhi<br />
script, appeared in 181 P This was the first book printed in<br />
this language.<br />
In the field of education, the initiative came both from<br />
Christian mission and the government. Under direction from<br />
British Parliament, the East India Company founded schools<br />
for the revival and promotion of Sanskrit and Arabic. To this<br />
end, the Calcutta Madrasa and Benares Sanskrit College were<br />
opened with purely oriental courses of study. The labours of<br />
someEuropean8cholarsfurther popularizedclassicalleaming.<br />
Sir William Jones (1746-941, who founded in 1784 the Asiatic<br />
Society of Bengal, translatedthe Sanskrit Classics Hitopadesa<br />
andSakuntala into English. Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765<br />
18371, a professor at the Fort William College, wrote on the<br />
Vedas and on Hindu mathematics and philosophy. Friedrich<br />
Max Mueller (1823-19001, Professor of Comparative Philology<br />
at Oxford, brouUht out an English edition of the Rigveda and<br />
sponsored translations of several Eastern works.<br />
Along with this newly awakened interest in Indian<br />
literature and philosophy had grown a demand for English<br />
education. The mostinfluentialadvocatewasRajaRammohan<br />
Roy, an Indian leader of extraordinary intellectual gifts and<br />
foresight. In 1817, he established in Calcutta the Vidyalaya, or<br />
Hindu College, which was the forerunner of the famous<br />
Presidency College. The stated purpose of the college was to<br />
1. John Clark Marshman, The Life and Times of Carey, Marshman and<br />
Ward,Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and RobeJrts, 1859, London,<br />
p.466.<br />
2. See plate 48 In A.K. Priolkar's The printing· Press in India, Marathi<br />
Samshodhana Mandala, Bombay, 1958, p.354.<br />
Page 11 of 108
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