What did the spread of print culture in nineteenth century India mean to:
a) Women
b) The poor
c) Reformers
(a) The spread of print culture in 19th century India benefitted Indian women through learning and education. The liberal families supported the education of women to study or read as they believed education and reading would make the women corrupt. This led to the counter reaction, as most of the oppressed women began to study and read books and learnt writing in secrecy. Some literate women started to write books and their autobiographies. Rashasundari Devi, a young married girl wrote her autobiography “Amar Jiban” which was published in 1876. Overall, the print culture in 19th century India helped in spread of the feeling of self-reliance among Indian women.
(b) The poor people benefitted from the spread of print culture because of the availability of books at a low price. The readership among them increased due to the publication of low priced books. Public libraries were also set up from the early 19th century, expanding the access to the books where all people could gain knowledge. Encouraged and inspired by the social reformers, the people like factory workers too set up their libraries and some even wrote books. Kashibaba, a Kanpur mill worker wrote and published ‘Chote aur Bade Ka Sawal’.
(c) Indian reforms of 19th century utilized print culture as the most potent means of spreading their reformist ideas and highlight the unethical issues. They began publishing various vernacular and English and Hindi newspapers and books through which they could spread their opinions against widow immolation, child marriage, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatry to the
common people of the country. In this way the spread of print culture in the 19th century provided
them a space for attacking religious orthodoxy and to spread modern social and political ideas to the people of different languages across the country.
Give reasons for the following:
a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.
b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century.
d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association.
Write short notes to show what you know about:
a) The Gutenberg Press
b) Erasmus’s idea of the printed book
c) The Vernacular Press Act
Explain how print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India.
Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books? Choose one example from Europe and one from India.
Why did some people in eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism?
a) Guiseppe Mazzini
b) Count Camillo de Cavour
c) The Greek war of independence
d) Frankfurt parliament
e) The role of women in nationalist struggles
a) Why growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement.
b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India.
c) Why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act.
d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place before the seventeenth century, choosing one example from Asia and one from the Americas.
Explain the following:
a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people?
What is meant by the idea of satyagraha?
Explain how the global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
Write True or False against each statement:
a) At the end of the nine- teenth century, 80 per cent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?
Write a newspaper report on:
a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre
b) The Simon Commission
What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?
Imagine that you have been asked to write an article for an encyclopaedia on Britain and the history of cotton. Write your piece using information from the entire chapter.
Explain what is referred to as the G-77 countries. In what ways can G-77 be seen as a reaction to the activities of the Bretton Woods twins?
Explain the three types of movements or flows within international economic ex- change. Find one example of each type of flow which involved India and Indians, and write a short account of it.
Write a newspaper report on:
a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre
b) The Simon Commission
Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
a) Guiseppe Mazzini
b) Count Camillo de Cavour
c) The Greek war of independence
d) Frankfurt parliament
e) The role of women in nationalist struggles
Discuss the Salt March to make clear why it was an effective symbol of resistance against colonialism.
Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.