The Sense of Collective Belonging

 

How did people belong to different communities, regions or language group develop a sense of collective belonging?
    This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles, History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

    Identity of the nation
    It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
    The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

    Movement to revive Indian folklore
    In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
    In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. 
    In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature.

    Symbols
    During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. 
    By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

    Reinterpretation of History
    By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
    The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. 
    They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
    These nationalist historians urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

    Conclusion
    The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
    Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
    The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down.
    What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.    

 

The Sense of Collective Belonging

 

How did people belong to different communities, regions or language group develop a sense of collective belonging?
    This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles, History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

    Identity of the nation
    It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
    The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

    Movement to revive Indian folklore
    In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
    In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. 
    In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature.

    Symbols
    During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. 
    By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

    Reinterpretation of History
    By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
    The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. 
    They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
    These nationalist historians urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

    Conclusion
    The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
    Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
    The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down.
    What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.    

 

The Sense of Collective Belonging

 

How did people belong to different communities, regions or language group develop a sense of collective belonging?
    This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles, History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

    Identity of the nation
    It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
    The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

    Movement to revive Indian folklore
    In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
    In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. 
    In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature.

    Symbols
    During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. 
    By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

    Reinterpretation of History
    By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
    The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. 
    They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
    These nationalist historians urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

    Conclusion
    The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
    Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
    The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down.
    What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.    

 

The Sense of Collective Belonging

 

How did people belong to different communities, regions or language group develop a sense of collective belonging?
    This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles, History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

    Identity of the nation
    It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
    The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

    Movement to revive Indian folklore
    In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
    In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. 
    In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature.

    Symbols
    During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. 
    By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

    Reinterpretation of History
    By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
    The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. 
    They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
    These nationalist historians urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

    Conclusion
    The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
    Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
    The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down.
    What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.    

 

The Sense of Collective Belonging

 

How did people belong to different communities, regions or language group develop a sense of collective belonging?
    This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles, History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

    Identity of the nation
    It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
    The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

    Movement to revive Indian folklore
    In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
    In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. 
    In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature.

    Symbols
    During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. 
    By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

    Reinterpretation of History
    By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
    The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. 
    They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
    These nationalist historians urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

    Conclusion
    The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
    Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
    The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down.
    What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.    

 

The Sense of Collective Belonging

 

How did people belong to different communities, regions or language group develop a sense of collective belonging?
    This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles, History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

    Identity of the nation
    It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
    The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

    Movement to revive Indian folklore
    In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
    In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. 
    In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature.

    Symbols
    During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. 
    By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

    Reinterpretation of History
    By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
    The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. 
    They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
    These nationalist historians urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

    Conclusion
    The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
    Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
    The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down.
    What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.    

 

The Sense of Collective Belonging

 

How did people belong to different communities, regions or language group develop a sense of collective belonging?
    This sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles, History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

    Identity of the nation
    It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
    The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Devotion to the mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

    Movement to revive Indian folklore
    In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
    In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival. 
    In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature.

    Symbols
    During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. 
    By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.

    Reinterpretation of History
    By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
    The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. 
    They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
    These nationalist historians urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

    Conclusion
    The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
    Through such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
    The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another. This is precisely why the unity within the movement often broke down.
    What was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.