Name: Tanjina Yeasmin

ID: 223011389

EMB101

Sec: 20
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) wrote the book “Home and The World” based on “The

Swadeshi Movement” where he manifested his assumption through the protagonist Nikhil. The

Swadeshi movement took place at the very beginning of the twentieth century and the book is set

in the time frame of 1907 in Sukhsayar and includes Lord Curzon’s partition of Bengal,

boycotting foreign products and depending on internal commodities by uttering the Slogan

“Vande Mataram''.

The novel came up with the thought of interrogating British rule and sought to promote Indian

culture and their existence as they were always stubborn and rebellious (Tagore, 1916).

Though the British's exploitation was visible, fast modernization also happened. The British

made an alliance with the social elites of India. Christian missionary schools were established

and that played a significant role to promote western education and ideas. As the British wanted

to modernize and spread western culture here, Indian culture was gradually losing its charm.

From the beginning, the Hindus were in the British’s priority list which was why the Muslims

awakened, tried to ensure primary and secondary education through hunter commission (1882).

The purpose of the Aligarh movement was to ensure modern education and learning English so

that the muslims could get a job.

According to Goshami (1998), the lower castes were confronting biases as the British prioritized

the upper class and christian missionaries were promoting their religion. Additionally, they

abolished Sati and encouraged remarriage of widows. As a result, the ordinary people started to

think the British wanted to change their culture and religion. So, they revolted against the British

and they thought East India could not handle Indian administration and so the British Parliament

passed an act of Better Government of India and promised that they would give jobs according to

qualifications and there would be no discrimination. They also said that they would give freedom

to perform religion as they wished. However, the reality was different.

Goshami (1998) explained that by boycotting the British goods, the swadeshi aimed to promote

local products so that the Swadeshi could establish self-rule. Even the shopkeepers were

penalized for selling foreign products which affected the economy.

During viceroy Lord Curzon’s (1899-1905) period, nationalism arose and he felt the necessity to

stop nationalism. He came up with the idea of Bengal partition so that he could weaken the unity

of Hindus and Muslims. On the contrary, he claimed the reason behind the partition was that it

was difficult for them to manage the administration of 78 million people due to which they were

splitting the country in July, 1905. Consequently, the educated people along with the zamindars

created awareness and the Indian National Congress took the initiatives for public meetings,

petitions and thus the Swadeshi Movement occurred and they wanted to root out capitalism

(Kannangara, 1968).
As I mentioned the noticeable events from 1858 onward to 1905, I can relate the events of

Swadeshi like banning foreign products, practicing nationalistic songs and the British creating

conflict between the Muslims and the Hindus to the different socio-economic, cultural, and

political aspects of the story.

The book portrays the emergence of the middle class, the empowerment of women, and new

political principles as it progresses. It also provides the actual image of British colonialism on

Indian culture, society, religious and political issues. If we knew the context of the book, reading

would be effective and easy to understand.

The Swadeshi Movement which is the limelight of the book is connected with the topics

discussed in the class such as the Crown Rule in 1858, Muslim awakening, rising nationalism

and Partition of Bengal.

To conclude, the Swadeshi movement is one of the major movements which led us to be

independent from British colonialism. Moreover, the movement gives us the strength to fight

against misdeeds fearlessly.

References

Goswami, M. (1998). From Swadeshi to Swaraj: Nation, Economy, Territory in Colonial South

Asia, 1870 to 1907. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 40(4), 609–636.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/179304

Kannangara, A. P. (1968). Indian Millowners and Indian Nationalism before 1914. Past &

Present, 40, 147–164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/650072

Tagore, R. (2005). The home and the world (W. Radice, Ed.; S. Tagore, Trans.). Penguin

Classics