[Reader-list] Fw: Allahabad as a cultural Centre

[Ravikant]

The Growth and Role of Allahabad as a Cultural Centre of the Hindi-Urdu Belt

Allahabad emerged as a cultural centre of modern esteem in the twentieth
 century, out of a very complicated and controversial background of the
 so-called nineteenth century renaissance where the planks of modernisation
 and enlightenment were doomed to be engrossed with revivalist and
 fundamentalist trends. The restricted capitalist transformation of colonial
 India could not afford otherwise.

In comparison to Bengal and Maharashtra the renaissance in the north-west
 province (i.e. Hindi-Urdu belt) was late and very weak. Muslim separatism
 and consequently a stronger reactionary trend, the Hindu fundamentalism,
 erupted in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The basic agenda of
 religious and social reforms was left behind, and there was a tug-of-war
 between the educated elite classes of both the communities, with a sole aim
 to preserve and secure their positions in services under the British rule
 and to pose their loyalties with the same. Besides, their fractured social
 status depended on the religious and ethnic identities of their respective
 communities. The colonial vested interests cleverly exploited this situation
 of communal imbalance and triggered the 'divide and rule' policy to
 strengthen their own regime, especially after 1857, the first Hindu-Muslim
 joint upsurge against the British Raj. The Indo-Persian composite culture
 was shaken effectively and there was a typical communal divide where Hindi
 and Urdu were identified with the Hindu and the Muslim religious communities
 respectively. Ironically both the languages belonged to the same lingustic
 diction and socio-historic demography of the same belt. Even the democratic
 demands like that of Devanagari script were raised in a communal way that
 tilted the balance in favour of the Hindus.

Aligarh, Benaras and Allahabad were the three major centres of the above
 described 'coloured' renaissance, the third one being a junior partner. But
 with the agencies like the Indian Press and the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan
 having come into force in the very beginning of the twentieth century almost
 the whole business was shifted to Allahabad, which had already acquired a
 typical, modern but colonial, intellectual face, with the academic
 achievements of Allahabad University. Besides, this second phase was coined
 as nationalism, where diverse political currents conglomerated under the
 banner of the Indian National Congress, the Swaraj Bhawan being its
 Headoffice, with a clear-cut target of gaining freedom and ousting the
 imperialist regime. The communal plank of 'Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan' prevailed
 in the nationalist guise of the Congress that led to P.D. Tondon's hegemonic
 theory of 'one nation, one language, one script, one culture'. Nonethless,
 the secular Gandhi-Nehru-Maulana Azad combine within the Congress and the
 cross-currents of the socialists, the communists, the revolutionaries along
 with powerful sections of Dalits and women, and the supermost factor of the
 pluralist, multilingual and composite character of our society always stood
 in the way and made a strong rational check thereon. The inherent communal
 hatred went on to culminate into the partition of the country, but the
 century in question also witnessed a number of linguistic, literary,
 cultural and socio-political movements, debates and discourses that paved
 the way for the foundation of a democratic and secular India.

On the otherhand, though lagging behind in the race, Urdu also faced the
 intricacies of Muslim separatism and fundamentalism and to some extent lost
 credibility among the masses. But with the versatile Arabic and Persian
 traditions, a big canon of contemporary literary giants in its fold,
 additionally internationalised community-based cultural support and a
 powerful secular tradition within India, Urdu acquired a strong and
 distinguished stature of its own.

And it goes without saying that Allahabad has been playing a vital leading
 role in all this throughout the century!

This is a brief account of the complex phenomenon and a preliminary outline
 of the proposed study. Any suggestions or criticism for the anomalies and
 misconceptions (if any) are most welcome.

(Himanshu Ranjan)
Sarai Independent Fellow, '04-05 


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