Q. Answer the questions given at the end of the extract.
The lives and feelings of women began to be written in intense ways. Liberal husbands and fathers began educating their womenfolk at home, women school were also set up, but not all families were liberal. Conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims feared that women would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances. Many women writers came forward in favour of educating women by highlighting the experiences of women, about how women were imprisoned at home, treated unjustly and kept in ignorance. Tarabari Shinde and Ramabai wrote with passionate anger about the miserable lives of upper caste Hindu women, especially widows.
Questions :
1. How did liberal husbands and fathers help their women ?
Answer : Liberal husbands and fathers supported their women by educating them at home. Also women schools were set up by liberals.
2. What was the thinking of Conservative Indians ?
Answer: Conservative Indians believed that literate women would be widowed and also would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances.
3. Name some women writers other than in the extract who have helped women education ?
Answer: Rashsundari Debi , Kailashbashni Debi and Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein have helped women’s education.
Q. Give reasons for the following:
(a) Woodblock print came to Europe after 1295?
Ans: Woodblock print came to Europe along with Marco Polo in 1295. Marco Polo returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China, and he brought the knowledge of Woodblock print with him on his return.
(b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it?
Ans: He was in favour of print because print media helped popularise and spread his ideas. He wrote 95 thesis criticising many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. His writings were reproduced in vast numbers and read widely.This led to a division within the Church and to the beginning of Protestant reformation.Deeply grateful to print,He said, “Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one”.
(c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid 16th century?
Ans: The Roman Catholic Church had to face many dissents from mid 16th century onwards. People had written many books that interpreted the message of the Bible and formulated a view of God and Creation in their own ways. The Roman Catholic Church,troubled by such efforts of popular readings and questioning of faith, imposed severe controls over publishers and began to maintain an index of Prohibited Books from 1558.
( d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association?
Ans: According to Gandhi, without the liberty of speech, liberty of press and freedom of association,no nation can survive. If the country was to get free from foreign domination, then these liberties were quite important. He considered these liberties as the most powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion.
Q.Write short notes on the following:
(a) The Gutenberg Press: The first printing press was developed by Gutenberg in 1430s. It was a developed form of the Olive and Wine presses. By 1448 Gutenberg perfected this system.He developed metal types for each of the 26 characters of the Roman alphabet and devised a way of moving them around so as to compose different words of the text. This came to be known as the moveable type printing machine.It remained the basic print technology over the next 300 years. The first book he printed was the Bible.
(b) Erasmus idea of the printed book: Erasmus a Catholic reformer expressed a deep anxiety about printing.According to him, most of the books are stupid, ignorant,raving, irreligious and seditious.The number of such books is such that even the valuable publications lose their value. He said that the multitude of books is hurtful to scholarship because it creates a glut.
(c) The Vernacular Press Act: The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878 and it was modelled on the Irish Press Laws.The act provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. The government kept a regular watch of the vernacular newspapers.When a report was judged as seditious, the newspaper was warned. If the warning was ignored by the press, it was liable to be seized and the printing machinery confiscated.
Q. What did the spread of print culture in 19th century India mean to:
(a) Women: The spread of print culture in 19th century India brought about educational reforms for women.Liberal husband’s and father’s educated their women folk at home or sent them to schools. Women who had been restricted to a domestic life for generations now found a new medium of entertainment. They also began to write articles for journals, in favour of women’s education.Some women even wrote books like Rashsundari Devi.Her autobiography Amar Jiban was the first full length autobiography published in 1876. Many women learnt to read and write in secret.
( b) The Poor: The Poor benefited from the spread of print culture in India on account of the availability of low price books and public libraries. Enlightening essays were written against caste discrimination.They were read by people across the country. For example Kashibaba,a Kanpur mill worker wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal to show the links between caste and class exploitation. Jyotiba Phule also wrote about the injustice of the caste system in his book Gulamgiri.
( c) Reformers: Indian Reformers used print culture as the most potent means of spreading their reformist ideas and highlight the unethical issues. They began publishing various vernacular, english and hindi newspapers through which they spread their opinions against widow immolation, child marriage and idolatry to the common people of the country. In this way the print culture provided them a space for attacking religious orthodoxy and to spread modern social and political ideas across the country.
Q. Why did some people in 18th century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism?
Ans: Many people in the 18th century Europe thought that the print culture has the power in it to bring enlightenment and end despotism. Print helped in spreading of literacy and knowledge among all classes of people. The print allowed the ideals of freedom and equality set forth by Rousseau and Voltaire in their writings to reach the public.It created a new culture of dialogue and debate that initiated the working class into questioning and re- evaluating social customs and norms. The power of reason that public gained initiated social reform and brought an end to despotism.
Q. Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books? Give examples.
Ans: The people who feared the effect of easily available printed books were the ones who held some power whether in terms of religion, caste or politics. The fear was that their power and authority would get eroded if ideas questioning their power and authority gained mass popularity.
In Europe, the Roman Catholic Church tried to curb the printed books through the Index of Prohibited Books. Such books may lead to blasphemous questioning of faith and increase in heretical ideas.
In India, religious leaders and the upper castes understood that their religious and social superiority was in danger due to the easily accessible print.Also, Vernacular Press Act in India imposed restrictions on Indian press and various local newspapers.
Q. Explain how print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India?
Ans: Print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India by providing easy access to nationalist ideals and ideas of freedom and equality to the masses. Social reformers could now print their opinions in newspapers, which sparked off public debates. The power of reason made the common people question the authority of colonial power. The nationalist newspapers reported on colonial misrule and encouraged people to participate in nationalist activities. Attempts to censor anti – colonial publications aroused militant protests.
Q. How did the liberal policies of Maharaja Hari Singh lead to the development of press in Jammu and Kashmir?
Ans: Maharaja Hari Singh never developed any rigid approach towards the liberty of press.Though Hari Singh was bounded by the treaty commitments with the British regarding the censorship of press, he always tried to allow the freedom of expression. For this, he introduced the Press and Publications Act on 25th April 1932 which facilitated the publication of newspapers from both Srinagar and Jammu. Immediately after the promulgation of this act several newspapers like Paswaan, Hamdard and Vitasta started publishing in 1932.
Hari Singh firmly believed that healthy criticism of the government policies would serve as feedback to his administration to reduce the grievances of his subjects.It is clear from the fact that when Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir,there was only one Urdu weekly ( Ranbir) and in June 1949, when he left the state, there were sixty seven (67) newspapers being published from the state.
Q. Discuss the different initiatives taken by Dogra Maharaja Ranbir Singh for reviving print culture in Jammu and Kashmir region?
Ans: Maharaja Ranbir Singh established Raghunath Pathshala and Library where large number of Sanskrit manuscripts were collected and preserved. The first printing press namely Vidya Vilas Press was established in 1867 during the reign of Ranbir Singh. The press was established for printing the translated works of Sanskrit and Persian into Dogri. Other important works of Vidya Vilas Press were the publication of Ranbir Chikitsa, Leelavati, Vyavhar Gita etc.
Another important institution of printing and publication, Ranbir Press was also established. It published Jammu and Kashmir Gazette for the first time in 1882. Books in different subjects were printed in the Ranbir Press for free distribution to all scholars of the government schools, pathshalas and madrasas.