Contents

Acknowledgement 3-4

Abstract 5-6

Chapter 1 7-20

Chapter 2 21-39

Chapter 3 40-70

Conclusion 71-76

Bibliography 77-78
 INTRODUCTION

The term “Indian English Literature” (formerly known as “Indo Anglican”) or Indo-English
Literature connotes literature written in English by Indian authors. It remarkably differs from
Anglo-Indian literature which was created by Englishmen in India who were fascinated by her
romantic and exotic charm. They made India the main theme of their writings. It is “for the most
part, merely English literature marked by Indian local colour.” Indian writing in English began
much before the establishment of the British colonial rule in India and has survived the collapse
of the Empire. The resilience of Indian writing in English is largely due to the English education
provided by the Christian missionaries in the nineteenth and twentieth century and the high
adaptability of the Indian mind to Western education. Indian writing in English was
able to mutate by combining typically Indian “feeling,” “emotion” and “experience” with the
“discipline” imposed by English.
The Britisher came to India when the Mughals were still firmly in the saddle. He hoped to trade
and " get rich quick " in India-; he gained a footing in two or three places, he traded with the '
natives ', and he prospered. One thing led to another; the Britisher was more and more in
evidence, and not alone as trader; it was clear that he would not go back. The Britisher remained
in India to govern, and by the end of the eighteenth century the incredible transformation had
been all but completed.
The Britisher could give his attention now to the arts of peace, to Education, for instance. At first,
the British administrators in India, even when they were well-meaning and conscientious, were
without any spontaneous interest in Hindu culture and Oriental learning and hence they did not
boldly tackle the problem of illiteracy among the masses. Warren Hastings, indeed, founded and
liberally endowed the Calcutta Madrassa in 1781. (In the previous year, James Augustus Hicky
had founded Calcutta India's first newspaper, Hicky's Bengal Gazette). It was, however, the
arrival of Sir William Jones that ushered in a new era in the education of India. He loved the
peoples of India and their sacred literature and he looked upon himself as a servant, rather than as
a ruler, of the people in whose midst he had been privileged (as he thought) to live, move and
have his being.
Jones was certainly one of such "high-minded Men"; he founded the Bengal Asiatic Society; he
published vigorous renderings of Sakuntala and Hitopadesa; he addressed an astonishing series of
odes to various Hindu gods and he wrote a long verse tale, The Enchanted Fruit, based on a
Mahabharata episode., Jones was an enlightened Englishman whose work inspired, not only other
Englishmen, but also Indians to study the sacred Indian literature reverently, to bring it to the
notice of the masses, and to help the Indian renaissance to' its fruitful blossoming in the fullness
of time.
Jones and his comrades in Oriental scholarship were no doubt inspired by a stern, missionary
zeal. But there were difficulties in communicating the message of the Renaissance to the
unlettered masses. The humanists were one and all compelled to face this question: Was India to
adopt a wholly Westernized system of education with English as the medium of instruction, or
was she merely to revive the study of Sanskrit and Persian and impart general
education with the various mother tongues as the media? Opinion was sharply divided and things
drifted for two or three decades.) Meanwhile, Jonathan Duncan started Sanskrit College at
Benares. Charles Grant and Lord Moira issued their weighty " Observations " and " Minutes ",
and a Committee of Public Instruction was constituted in 1823.
Of a sudden three factors now emerged and, acting as a solvent of the doubts and perplexities of
the situation, they defined with unmistakable clarity the course of education 'in India for the next
one hundred years and more. These were: (1) the new intellectualism and renascent ardour among
the Indians, as symbolized in Raja Rammohan Roy; (2) the perseverance of the Christian
missionaries; and, above all, (3) the persuasiveness and metallic clarity of Macaulay's English
proper style.
Rammohan Roy and his friends had tasted the fruits of Western literature and culture and were
persuaded that India required a Western type of education with English as the medium of
instruction.) With the help of two Englishmen, David Hare, and Sir Edward Hyde East, Raja
Rammohan Roy brought into existence the Calcutta Hindu College, which later developed into
the Presidency College. Starting with only one hundred students in 1817, the College steadily
grew more and more popular and the number was quadrupled within the next twenty years. In
Bombay and Madras, however, people with the conviction and energy of Rammohan Roy were
wanting and these provinces were content then to follow in the footsteps of enterprising,
energetic, and ever-experimenting Bengal.
The second factor which determined the course of education in India was the advent and activities
of the Christian missionaries. The ultimate aim of these latter has always been the proselytization
of the Hindu, Muslim and other non-Christian communities in India. And yet nothing but simple
prejudice will belittle the pioneering work of c the missionaries in the fields of education and
social service. The Serampore College was founded in 1818 by Carey, Ward and Marshman, and
it is to this day a flourishing institution. Other missionary schools and colleges were started
presently all over India. English was generally the medium of instruction in these missionary
institutions and western curricula and methods were more or less transported wholesale to make
Christian liberal education possible to the * natives ' of India.
The third factor was Macaulay's 'Minute' urging that it was necessary and possible " to make
natives of this country good English scholars and that to this end our efforts ought to be directed.^
Lord William Bentinck perused the * Minute' and his former perplexities vanished for ever ; he
hesitated no longer.^ On March 7, 1835, the Governor-General-in-Council gave official
imprimatur to Macaulay's policy by resolving that "the great object of the British Government
ought to be the promotion of European literature and science among the natives of India, and that
all funds appropriated for the purpose of education would be best employed on English education
alone. "

On English education alone! The emphasis was deliberate. The intention was by no means to
educate the masses through the medium of English. Government was to organize secondary and
collegiate education with the available funds; and the young men who went out of these schools
and colleges were expected either to enter Government service as clerks or to go back to their
villages and confer the blessings of the new education on the masses. Thus was the new culture to
filter from the higher and intellectual classes down to the parched throats in India's seven lakhs of
villages. ~~ An admirable arrangement on paper, only, it refused to work. The average educated
Indian refused to return to his village, and became rather an absurd copy of the European in India,
imitating his dress, speaking his language, and thinking his thoughts; thus the redeemed Indian
was alas almost a total loss to the' country. Later educational experiments have tried to broaden
the basis of education and to carry its message to the villages; but English continues to dominate
the curriculum. Willy nilly, men and women in India, in very considerable numbers, still read
English, write and talk in English, often think even in English.

INTRODUCTION
Sarojini Naidu was born on 13 February 1879 in Hyderabad.
She was a good poet and also a politician. She was called
the Nightingale of India. In 1947, she became the first
woman, governing an Indian state. In 1925, she became the
second woman to become the president of the Indian
National Congress.
Her father was Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay who was a
doctorate of Science from Edinburgh University and Her
mother was Barada Sundari Devi who was a poet. She used
to write poems in bengali. Her husband was Govindarajulu
Naidu was a physician. In 1915, she traveled across India to
give lectures about women empowerment. Social welfare
and nationalism.
She was not only a good politician but also wrote many
poems. She died on 2nd March 1949 because of heart
attack. She was working in the office when she got a heart
attack.