Press, Politics and Society : Uttar Pradesh 1885-1914

This book comprehensively covers the social, political, cultural and economic aspects of this very important period of history when changes of far-reaching significance were taking place. These phenomena are best revealed in the columns of the newspapers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially those of the Indian language newspapers. The book takes cognisance of the reporting in the language newspapers -- mostly in Hindi and Urdu -- which help us define and evaluate historical developments of the period. The editors and proprietors of the newspapers were often the leaders of the people; hence, when a threat to the colonial and imperialistic attitudes of the British was felt, the latter took punitive measures against them. The colonial and imperialistic British administration subverted the society, culture, politics and the economy of the province. The desire to rid the social evils in society were tinged with a desire at social control. Educational policies created divisiveness, both cultural and communal. The relationship between the tillers of the soil and the landowners was rather tenuous and tension between them gradually grew resulting in an unprecedented turmoil in the agrarian sector. The period witnessed a nascent national awareness developing into a full-fledged national movement of which the Pan-Islamic consciousness was an offshoot. Discords based on caste and communal consciousness and social discrepancies became the order of the day and soon newspapers became representative of the different socio-political permutations. All along the government fostered certain sections of the people, thus creating a loyalist bloc. Whether the evident divisiveness in all the spheres -- social, political, cultural or economic -- was a phenomenon inherent in the Indian consciousness or the creation of the colonial masters has been a question extensively debated upon by most historians. Uttar Pradesh during this sensitive period of history was a province with its own distinctive features which formed part and parcel of the national scenario.