When the British
first arrived in Calcutta in the late 18th century, they were mainly
merchants and the British East India Company was setup. In the early 19th
century, when the East India Company was settled and their trade well
established, they began to fight against other western trade companies from
Portugal, France and Netherlands. The local rulers who were already weak from
continuous conflicts began seeking help from the western trade companies whose
armed forces were used only to guard the goods. The East India Company and
other trade companies started supporting the local rulers, this lead to many
battles. At the end The British East India Company emerged victorious and hence
had control of trade in the major parts of India and this lead to the
Colonization of the Indian Subcontinent.
The coming of
the East India Company and later the British rule, the idea of modernity was
changed to western technology such as Print, western religion of Christianity,
for the Northeastern Parts of India who don’t have a written script, the
British provided the script and later the idea of modernity lead to the
formation of a Nation. The Missionaries who came widely used printing to
produce many Bibles and thus started converting the natives. The British also
widely documented the history of India thoroughly this gave them the power of
knowledge and thus take the observations to better themselves.
The Presidency
states like Calcutta, Madras and Bombay greatly developed when the British
came. Calcutta was the first state where the British introduced English
Education which gave the people in Bengal a great advantage as the British
always take them along with them. The Bengal Gazette which was published in
January 29, 1780 was the first newspaper to be published in India, it gave the
Indians inspiration to write their own newspaper. In Madras and Bombay,
Regional language became very popular and flourished as they used the printing
technology brought by the British to promote their dialect as the locals were
able to print newspapers in their own language thus increasing the growth of
their language.
Print brought
the idea of Nationality and National language, it was widely used by the Indian
freedom Fighters to spread the spark of freedom and it was the last outcome of
the British introduced Print in India. Towards the 20th century,
there were many Indian newspapers which are opting for a free India as more and
more leaders propagated their Ideas of freedom using newspapers.
Thus we see the
influence of Print in the Indian subcontinent it shapes, spreads and inspires
people. It shaped the educational institutes and made it available to all.
Christianity was spread to almost all the parts of the country and in the very
end it Inspired Indians to strife for a free country for the freedom of
expression. Till this day Print media plays an important role in our everyday
lives.
- Damechwa L.
Mawnai
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