Anandamath
Contents |
How locations and religious identities shifted across editions
In this chapter from his 1966 book, BIMANBEHARI MAJUMDAR examines:
i) Why [Bankim] shifted the scene from North Bengal and Bihar to West Bengal
ii) [Why Bankim] added the word ‘Moslem’ before the term ‘Raja’ thereby absolving the English from all responsibility for misgovernment.
Militant Nationalism In India And Its Socio-Religious Background (1897—1917)
BIMANBEHARI MAJUMDAR, M.A., Ph.D. Bhagavataratna, Premchand Roychand Scholar
GENERAL PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED CALCUTTA
PUBLISHER; SURAJIT C. DAS GENERAL PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS PTE. LTD 119 , DHARAMTALA STREET, CALCUTTA-13. 1966 |
- This paper was read at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of
Culture, Gol Park, Calcutta, on Wednesday, the 1st of June, 1966.
ANANDA MATH AND PHADKE
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Ananda Math is as much an epoch-making work as Rousseau's Social Contract and Karl Marx’s Das Capital. “The Secret Societies”, writes Lord Ronaldshay, “modelled themselves closely upon the society of the children of Ananda Math. ‘Bande Mataram’! the battle cry of the children, became the war cry not only of the revolutionary societies, but of the whole of nationalist Bengal.” 1 Romesh Chandra Dutt states that the Ananda Math “was published in 1882, about the time of the agita- tion arising out of the Ilbert Bill.” 2 The book, however, be- gan to appear in the famous Bengali monthly Journal, the Bangadarsana, from Chaitra 1287 B.S. corresponding to April, 1881, and its last chapter was printed' in May, 1882 in that journal. It was not written in the heat of the con- troversy of the Ilbert Bill. Akshoy Chandra Sarkar. a close associate of Bankim Chandra records that while the author was posted as Deputy Magistrate at Hooghly he' allowed Sarkar to read the manuscript of the novel describing the last battle between the Santanas or the dedicated children of the Motherland and the forces of the Government. The Calcutta Gazette states that Bankijn Chandra was trans- ferred from Hooghly to Howrah and joined the post at the latter place on February 14, 1881. Ananda Math, therefore, was practically completed in 1880 before his transfer to Howrah and not just . begun, as has been imagined by the editors of the Cfentenary edition, published by the Bangijya Sahitya Parisat. The same writer informs that Bankim ad- mitted to him that he had taken the theme from the San- nyasi Insurrection, but had wilfully changed the place of its occurrence to Birbhum and the banks of the river Ajoy. 3
1 Ronaldshay— The Heart of Aryavarta, 114.
2 Encyclopaedia Britannica, article on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
3 Bangadarsana, ( new series ) Bhadra, 1319, i. e., August September, 1912.
No one has as yet cared to enquire why he shifted the scene from North Bengal and Bihar to West Bengal. There must have been weighty reasons for this change. A detailed com- parison of the original reading of the novel as published in the Bangadarsam with that of the first edition and the current fifth edition, 1892, the last during the author’s life- time, reveals the secret of this as well as of many other significant changes. The editors of the Centenary edition have taken infinite pains in comparing the variations in readings of the first three editions, which show little change, with the fifth edition, but they have not compared the ver- sion published in the Bangadarsana with that of subsequent editions. This, however, is highly important, especially in view of the fact that the date of composition of the book is strikingly contiguous to the date of conviction of Wasudeo Balwant Phadke (1845-1883), who has been des- cribed as the father of militant nationalism by an emiinent historian. 4
Phadke was arrested in the Nizam’s territory on July 2, 1879 by Major Daniel and Syed Abdul Hak, Police Com- missioner of Hyderabad, on the charge of raising an army of 200 men for looting the Khed' Treasury. The looting was designed with a view to equipping himself with men to raise an army for “destroying the English”. At the time of the arrest he was dressed as a Sannyasi and was known as a “Kashikar Buwd”, a hermit of Benares. The Legal Remem- brancer advised the Government of Bombay to prosecute him for “exciting feelings of dissatisfaction to the Govern- ment”, and for the “collection of men, arms, ammunition or otherwise preparing to wage war with the intention of either waging or being prepared to wage war against the queen”. He also wrote that charges could be framed against Phadke for individual robberies committed by him, but he could not be punished with death because no death occur- red at any of the dacoities. He further opined that Phadke could not be charged with “attempt to wage war against
4 Dr. R. C. Majumdar — British Paramountcy and Indian Renai- ssance, Part I, 913.
the queen” under Section 121, as ‘no- overt act of any kind
was ever committed against the Government.’ The common
people were sympathetic towards him. Very few persons
appeared before the Court to give evidence against him.
But the autobiography he had written between the 19th and
26th April, 1879 and his Diary from February 15 to the
27th May, 1879 fell into the hands of the Police and furni-
shed the clearest proof of his intention of freeing India from
the British Government. The Diary was published in the
Bombay Gazette on November 1, 1879. Bankim Chandra
was a keen student of contemporary affairs and it is not
unlikely that he came across this Diary, which gives an
insight into the high patriotic character of Phadke. In any
case, Phadke’s case created a great sensation at that time
and the newspapers published vivid account of his recep-
tion at the Poona railway station at the time of his transfer
from the Yarwada prison to the Thana jail. On the 23rd
November, 1879 the Deccan Star wrote that in the eyes
of his countrymen Phadke did not commit any wrong and
that all true Englishmen must sympathise with him. It ad-
ded: “This is evident from the fact that an English lady
thought proper to present Wasudev with a nosegay at the
railway station when he was carried away from Poona.”
The editor compared Phadke’s conduct with that of Dean
Tucker, who wrote a pamphlet advocating the separation of
the American colonies from England and stating that such a
measure would be a clear gain to the latter. In conclusion
it was said: “Wasudev deserves the highest praise not only
from all natives, but even from Englishmen who wish for the
prosperity of Her Majesty’s Eastern Empire. By sacrificing
himself he has averted a danger which sooner or later
must follow intolerable oppression. We consider him as
the harbinger of a bright future for India.” 5 The Indu
Prakash wrote on November 24, 1879, 'that when Wasu-
dev was carried from the court house after his conviction,
1 Quoted from the Source Material for a History of the Freedom Movement in India, collected from Bombay Government Records I, 127 - 28 .
some people in the crowd, which had assembled to wit- ness his trial shouted out ‘success to Wasudev’ 1 . This paper used to be quoted in the Amrita Bazar Patrika. There is no direct evidence to show that Bankim Chandra was aware of the life and writings of Phadke. But there is strong circumstantial evidence to show that he had the knowledge of the fruitless attempt of Phadke to liberate India and that the unsuccessful attempt of the Santanas of Ananda Math bears to a certain extent the impress of this event. '
The question can be discussed from the standpoint of the positive factors and that of negative evidences. The latter implies that there exists no proof to show that the leaders of the Sannyasi Insurrection had even the remotest idea of patriotism or nationalism and as such they could net have supplied the model to Bankim. This side of the problem will be discussed fully later on. On the positive side there are five points to consider. First and the most important is that of date. Phadke was transported for life in November, 1 879, 6 and we have already adduced proof to show that Bankim completed writing his Ananda Math in 1880. Secondly, the immediate cause which drove Phadke to take the vow of ‘destroying the English’, was the terrible famine of 1876-77 which took place in WJest- ern India and caused unbearable sufferings to the people. “The spectacle of their sad plight confirmed Wasudev in his belief that all that evil was a direct consequence of a foreign rule; and he decided to end that rule as quickly as possible.” The background of Bankim ’s Ananda Mctth is the devastating famine of 1768-69. Thirdly, Phadke went about preaching against the British domination in the garb of a Sannyasi. He writes in his autobiography:
6 Ibid., 102, giving the account of the Judicial proceedings from
the note of J. R. Naylor, the Legal Remembrancer, dated September
27, 1879 and 77, letter dated December 16, 1879 stating that the
High Court rejected the appeal of Phadke. The editor of the volume
is evidently mistaken when he writes on 74 that Phadke was senten-
ced in Nov., 1880.
“Having hung the mendicant’s bag over my shoulder and allowed my hair to grow long I went to Nasik, Nagar, Khandesh, Berar, Nagpur, Indore, Oojein, Kolhapur, Tasgaon, Miraj, Sangli, Baroda etc., and strove hard.” 7 He was intensely religious. He spent much of his time in prayers. Having failed to collect adequate number of men, he determined like Bhavananda and Jivananda of Anctnda Math to sacrifice his life. Going to the altar of. Parvati at Sri Shaila in the Karnul District, Phadke decided to put an end to his life and wrote: “Finding there is no success to be obtained in this world, I having gone to the world above (Should plead on behalf of the people of India.” On the 20th April, 1879 he wrote in his autobiography: “I have only seven days to live, so I think, therefore, I bow before the feet of all you my brethren, inhabitants of India, and give up my life for you and will remain pleading for you in the just Court of God .... I pray to God that He may take my life 'as a sacrifice for your welfare, and of you all I take farewell.” The Santanas of Ananda Math bear a much closer resemblance to Phadke than the Sannyasis of the Insurrec- tion who went about naked, were mostly illiterate and caused nothing but havoc and depredation in the areas through which they passed in large bands of several thousands.
Fourthly, these Sannyasis are not known to have made
any attempt to loot the treasury, whereas Phadke writes:
“If I had assembled 200 men I would have looted the
Khed treasury and got much money, as at this time the
revenue was being collected, and had I got more money
1 could have got the assistance of 500 horses.” Bankim
describes the looting of the Government revenue in
Chapter VIII of the first part of his book, Arnnda Math.
This depicts the fulfilment of an unrealised desire of Phadke.
Fifthly, the novel relates in Chapter XVIII how the
Santanas broke open the prison, killed the guards and
released the prisoners. We do not find any such incident
7 Ibid, 97.
in the history of the “Sannyasi and Fakir Raiders in Bengal” compiled from official records by Jamini Mohan Ghosh. Phadke, on the other hand, discloses his plan of action in the following words: “Having obtained Rs. 5000' from a Sowkar I proposed to send to all sides three or four men a month in advance that small gangs might be raised by them from which great fear would come to the English. The mails would be stopped, and the railway and telegraph interrupted, so that no information could go from one place to another. Then the jails would be opened and all the long-sentenced prisoners would join me because if the English Government remained they would not get off. If I obtained 200 men, even should I not be able to loot the treasury I should carry out my inten- tion of releasing criminals.” Here too, Bankim Chandra appears to have satisfied the desire of Phadke in fiction, if not in fact. It may be mentioned in this connec- tion that M. N. Roy relates in his Memoirs how the Revolutionaries during the First World War made an attempt to attack the Andaman island and release the political prisoners there. He writes: “I made yet another attempt to bring help overseas from Indonesia. The plan was to use the German ships interned in a port at the northern tip of Sumatra, to storm the Andaman islands and free and arm the prisoners there, and land the army of liberation on the Orissa coast.” 8 It may not be wholly illogical to come to the conclusion that Phadke’s plan of action inspired Bankim Chandra to describe some of the incidents in the Amanda Mdfh in the way he has done and this again spurred on the militant nationalists to con- ceive heroic, though fantastic, plans for driving out the English.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee career in the Government
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee served the Government in the capacity of a Deputy Magistrate continuously for a period of more than 32 years, from 1858 to 1891. 9 He had
8 M. N. Roy— Memoirs (1964) 4.
9 Lord Ronaldshay is evidently under-estimating this fact when he writes : “for some time he was in Government service.” Op. Cit. 106.
to be extremely careful in bis writings, especially in view of the fact that the Press had been effectively gagged by Lord Lytton. Srish Chandra Majumdar, an intimate friend of Rabindranath, came in close contact with Bankim Chandra. He writes that Bankim published the first edi- tion of Artanda Math after a good deal of deliberation. As has been pointed out before, the last instalment of the book was published in the Barigadarsam in May, 1882.
The first edition of the book must have been published a
little earlier, because we find that the Liberal dated
April 8, 1882, published a review which was nothing but
an attempt to convince the English people that the book
was entirely loyal in tone. Bankim took care to quote it
in extenso in his Preface to the second edition. The major
portion of the so-called review consists of the translation
of the Apologia Bankim wrote in the last chapter of his
book. The importance of this review, the earliest to be
published, justifies its quotation in full. It ran as follows :
“The leading idea of the plot is this — should the national
mind feel justified in harbouring violent thoughts against
the British Government? Or to present the question in
another form, is the establishment of English supremacy
providential in any sense? Or to put it in a still more
final and conclusive form, with what purpose and with
what immediate end in view did Providence send the
British to this country? The immediate object is thus
briefly described in the Preface — to put an end to Moslem
tyranny and anarchy in Bengal ; 10 and the mission is thus
strikingly pictured in the last chapter: “The Physician
said, Satyanand, be not crest-fallen. Whatever is, is for
the best. It is so written that the English should first
rule over the country before there could be a revival of
the Aryan faith. Harken unto the Counsels of Providence.
10 The Preface to the First edition did not? contain any reference to the Moslem tyranny. It, however, stated that revolutions are generally processes of self-torture and rebels are suicides and that the English have saved Bengal from anarchy. “These truths are eluci- dated in this work.”
The faith of Aryas consisteth not in the worship of three hundred and thirty millions of gods and goddesses; as a matter of fact that is a popular degradation of religion—' that which has brought about the death of the trueArya faith, the so-called Hinduism of the Mlechhas. True Hindu- ism is grounded on knowledge, and not on works. Knowl- edge is of two kinds — external and internal. The internal knowledge constitutes the chief part of Hinduism. But internal knowledge cannot grow unless there is a develop- ment of the external knowledge. The spiritual cannot be known unless you know the material. External knowledge has for a long time disappeared from the country, and with it has vanished the Arya faith. To bring about a revival we should first of all disseminate physical or external knowledge. Now there is none to teach that; we ourselves cannot teach it. We must get it from other countries. The English are profound masters of physical knowledge, and they axe apt teachers too. Let us then make them kings. English education will give our men a knowledge of physical science, and this will enable them to grapple with the problems of their inner nature. Thus the chief obstacle to the dissemination of Arya faith will be removed, and true religion will sparkle life spon- taneously and of its own accord. The British Government shall remain indestructible so long as the Hindus do not once more become great in knowledge, virtue and power. Hence, O wise man, refrain from fighting and follow me.” This passage embodies the most recent and the most enlightened views of the educated Hindus, and happening as it does in a novel powerfully conceived and wisely executed, it will influence the whole race for good. The author’s dictum we heartily accept as it is one which already forms the creed of English education. We may state it in this form: India is bound to accept the scienti- fic method of the west and apply it to the elucidation of all truth. This idea beautifully expressed, forms a silver thread as it were, and runs through the tissue of the whole work.”
Nobody will question the Reviewer’s conclusion regarding
the acceptance of the scientific method of the west. He,
however, did little else than render into English the Pre-
face and the conclusion, both of which seem to have been
t written as a coating to hide the real intention of the
author. To make the book still more acceptable to the
British authorities he added in the second edition another sentence after the line predicting the indestructibility of
the British rule as follows:
“Subjects will be happy under the English rule — they will be able to 1 practise religion with- out any obstacle.” This also has been put in the mouth | of the great Physician. But the question is: Did Bankim | really condemn the revolutionary activities of the Santanas? | He depicts their idealism, heroic deeds and nobility of character not only with genuine sympathy but also with | great enthusiasm. In the last but one chapter he exclaims I at the departure of Santi and Jivananda ‘Oh Mother! Will i such persons come back again? Will you ever bear in your | womb a son like Jivananda, a daughter like Santi?’ This does not look like a condemnation of the work of the San- tanas, whose activities have been described as suicidal in ! the preface. As a matter of fact the beauty and symmetry I of a perfect work of art was marred by the lengthy didactic | lecture of the Physician and the brief Preface of the author. | explaining the so-called object of the book.
Bankim Chandra once told Srish Chandra Majumdar that | he would like to write a book on the Rani of Jhansi, but
| he refrained from doing so because the English officers had
already become cross with him for writing the Anmda
Math . 11 Bankim tried to save the situation by toning down
| the remarks which might be interpreted as a reflection on
| the conduct and character of the English. The following
examples will illustrate this point. In the Bctngadarsana
| (Ch. X) Bankings Bhavananda told Mahendra that in all
| the states the duty of the Raja was to protect die subjects,
I but our Raja did not protect the people . 13 In the fourth edi-
| 11 Suresh Chandra Samajpati — Bankim Prasanga and Somen
| Basu— Kachher Manus Bankim Chandra, 15. ,
I Ia Bangadarsana 1287, 587. ....
lion he added the word ‘Moslem’ before the term ‘Raja’
thereby absolving the English from all responsibility for mis-
government. 13 In the Bangadarsana Thomas was described as enjoying the charm, of the Santal maidens. 14 This was
dropped in the second edition and in its place was written
that Thomas devoted his time in enjoying the cooking of the
Moslem cook, who was as expert as Draupadi. 15 In the
Bangadarsana a small band of Santana soldiers are describ-
ed to have defeated a few English and Telangee soldiers. 16
But while publishing the first edition the word ‘English’ was
substituted by the term ‘Sepoys’. 17 The reason was obvious.
Then again fifty or sixty English soldiers were described in
the Bangadarsana as being overpowered by the Santanas. 18
While publishing the first edition the number was changed
to twenty or thirty. 19 For a small number of. British soldiers
like 20 or 30 it was considered no disgrace to be defeated
by Indians, but not for 50 or 60 soldiers. Then again in
the Bangadarsana the Santanas were described as cutting
jokes with Watson who was being fired at from the tree.
One of them told him : “Just wait a little Mister ; it is said
that Jivananda will embrace Christianity ; there! he comes”.
Five thousands of the Santana soldiers hotly pursued the
fleeing battalion of Watson. Jivananda exhorted the San-
tanas to destroy the army, wearing red, lback, blue and
multi-coloured uniforms and composed of Foujdari, Bad-
shahi and English soldiers all of whom were to be offered
as sacrifice to the Vaisnavas. 20 The last sentence was omit-
ted in the first edition and the rest from the second edition.
The Bangadarsana as well as the first edition referred to the
opponents of Jivananda as the English, 21 but in the second
edition it was changed to Yavana and in one place to Nere,
implying low class Moslems . 22
The changes introduced by Bankim Chandra served their
purpose. The book was not proscribed and the English offi-
cers were pacified. Their attitude towards it may be illus-
trated from the writings of Lovett and Ronaldshay. In des-
cribing the contents of the book Lovett writes that the
Sannyasi rebels became “victorious against Mussulman
sepoys, even though led by Englishmen. They bring Muslim
rule to a close.” Among the concluding passages of the
book are the following: “Satyananda” said the physician,
“grieve not! In your delusion you have won your victories
with the proceeds of robbery. A vice never leads to good
consequences and you may never expect to save your coun-
try by sinful procedure. Really what may happen now will
be for the best. There is no hope of a revival of the true
Faith if the English be not our rulers The English are
a friendly power ; and no one, in truth has the power to
come off victorious in a fight with the English .” 23 Lord
Ronaldshay also quotes with approval these very words and
observes: “The essence of the story is a Hindu revival,
necessitating the overthrow of the enemies of Hinduism — at
the time of the events narrated, Mussulman rule— which was
to be achieved by a body of men pledged by solemn vows
to the service of the Motherland. It provided the revolu-
tionaries with an ideal which made a strong appeal to their
imagination, and with the framework of an organization
admirably designed to meet the circumstances of their case.
For the Mussalman rule of the novel they substituted British
rule , 24 and by so doing they ignored the conclusions drawn
- Anandamath ,93-94.
38 Lovett : A History of the Indian Nationalist Movement, 260-61.
84 Lord Ronaldshay did not know that Bankim Chandra himself had originally written the ‘British rule’ at some places and substituted them by ‘Mussalman rule’ later on. When Lord Ronaldshay ( Marquis of Zetland ) was the Secretary of State for India he read
- the present writer’s History of Political Thought from Rammohan to
by Bankim Chandra Chatterji at the close of the book on two points — the benefits of British rule, and the fallacy underlying the assumption that the attainment of any particular end justified the employment of any means.” 25 But a tree is known by the fruit it bears. Ananda Math is to be judged by the effect it produced not on the mind of a few Englishmen but on that of the thousands of Bankim Chandra's fellow countrymen.
Bankim Chandra has used the name of some historical
persons like Mirjafar, Warren Hastings, Reza Ali Khan,
Captain Thomas, Lieutenant Watson and Captain Edwards
in the Ananda Math . The story is related in the background
of the famine of 1769. The current version of the book,
printed from the fifth edition, does not indicate the year of
the last battle between the Santanas and the British army
under Thomas. In the Bangadarsana I as well as in the first
three editions there occurred a sentence at the end of the
first chapter of Part Three that in 1180 B.S. corresponding
to the year 1773-74 the name of the Santanas resounded
throughout Birbhum. This was dropped in subsequent
editions.
Dayananda , Vol. I and/wrote to him on January 7, 1935 : U 1 had always supposed that the famous poem “Bande Mataram” appeared for the first time in his romantic story, ‘Ananda Math*, but I now learn from your book that it had actually been published sometime before.’* The editors of the Sahitya Parisat edition mention this fact as a hearsay. But Puma Chandra Chatterjee, the youngest . brother of Bankim Chandra gives conclusive proof of this fact when he writes that one day the Pandit in charge, of the printing of Banga~ darsana came to Bankim and said that he wanted one page of writing to fill up a page which was vacant ; he saw the Bande Mataram song lying on the table and suggested that it should be used for filling up the gap. But Bankim did not allow him to do so and said that the value of this song would be properly appreciated after his ( Bankim’s ) death. The incident took place when Bankim was the editor of the Bangadarsana ( Vide Kachher Manus Bankim Chandra , 108-109 ). He resigned the editorship in March 1876, so the song must have been composed before that date.
Government records reveal that Captain Thomas fought
against 1500 Sannyasis near Rangpur town on the 30th
December, 1772. The Sannyasis at first gave way and the
Captain pursued them in a jungle where the sepoys spent
all their ammunitions in vain. When the Sannyasis found
that the sepoys had no more ammunition, they surrounded
them from all sides and then rushed upon them. Captain
Thomas ordered the sepoys to charge upon the Sannyasis
with their bayonets, but they refused to do so. At this
juncture the orderly of the Captain requested his master to
flee away on his horse, but Thomas declined to do so.
Charles Purling wrote to the President of the Council on
the 31st December, 1772, that is, the day after the battle as
follows: “Captain Thomas received one wound by a ball
through the head which he tied, and next he was cut down.
The ryots gave no assistance but joined the Sannyasis with
lathis and showed the Sannyasis those whom they saw
had concealed themselves in long grass and jungle and if
any of the sepoys attempted to go into their villages they
made a noise to bring the Sannyasis and they plundered the
sepoy’s firelocks.” 26 This letter is important for more than
one reason. Firstly, it shows that the Slannyasis had the
sympathy and support of the rural people behind them.
Warren Hastings in his letters and despatches described
the Sannyasis simply as bandits and wrote that they burnt
and destroyed many villages. Some of these have been
quoted by Bankim Chandra in an Appendix to the third
and subsequent editions of his book. Secondly, Thomas
is known tq have fought against 1500 Sannyasis according
to the letter referred to above; but Hastings wrote
to Sir George Colebrooke on February 2, 1773 that
Thomas encountered about 3000 of them near Rangpore. 27
Bankim Chandra magnified the number to ten thousand in
the ninth Chapter of Part IH of his book. Thirdly, the
letter proves that Bankim Chandra deliberately shifted the
scene of occurrence from North Bengal to Birbhum.
We find in the BcaigadarSana as well as in the first two
editions of the book the name of the British Commander
as Major Wood ; but in the preface to the third edition
Bankim Chandra wrote that his real name was Edwards
and also admitted that the battle took place in North Ben-
gal and not in Birbhum. He said that these variations are
not important, because he was writing a novel, and not a
historical work. In 1884 he wrote in the Preface to his
Devi-Chaudhurarti that in his Ananda Math he did not
attempt to write a historical novel but he would like
to add a brief account of the Sannyasi Insurrection in the
the future edition of the work as many persons had asked
him whether the book was based on any historical fact.
In Chapter IV of Part IV of his book Bankim Chandra
describes the fight of the Santanas against Edwards, whom
he calls Major, but the contemporary official records call
him Captain. 28 In the Bangddarsana he made Birbhum
the venue of the fight and wrote that it went out of the
control of the English and the Moslems. In the second and
third editions, he dropped the word English. In the 4th
and subsequent editions the venue was changed to North
Bengal, which is described as having slipped away from
Moslem control. Bankim does not mention the date
of this fight. In the Bangadarsiana he wrote that it took
place on the bank of the river Ajoy on the full moon day
in the month of Magha (January) when the famous fair
associated with the name of the poet of Gitagovinda is
held at Kenduli in the district of Birbhum. He dropped
this reference and described the fair as being held on the
bank of a river. He had a purpose in making this change.
The fighting against Edwards took place on the 1st of
as Letter of Warren Hastings to the Collector of Midnapore, dated June 22, 1773. The Army List by Dodwell and Miles gives the following information : ’‘Timothy Edwards— 'Captain 1st Sept. 1769 ; drowned, March 1st, 1773 in a nullah at Barrypore,” which place’has been identified with a hamlet of the same name near Serajganj.
March, 1773. He had been directed by the Committee of Circuit, then at Dinajpur, to march against the Sannyasis in January. He reached. Ulipur in the district of Rangpur on the 17th January with three companies of sepoys. He could not meet them but marched from place to place in hot pursuit. Hastings had not much confidence in the sepoys and was apprehensive of ill consequences on account of smallness of their number. He, therefore, sent orders recalling Edwards. The latter made delay in complying with them as he learnt that the Sannyasis had re-entered the district. Hearing that they were stationed only at a distance of two miles, he formed his detachment into a division but as soon as he approached them he was fired at. He moved away a little. Captain Williams thus des- cribes the fight: “When Captain Edwards thought himself within a proper distance for engaging he rode to the head of the column and beat to arms intending that the divisions should double upon the left of the leading division as they came up ; but the men mistaking the orders wheeled to- the left and formed in battalion which laid' their right flank open to the enemy, he galloped to the left in order to draw them into line fronting the Sannyasis whilst Douglas exerted himself on the right for the same purpose ; but it was too late for the enemy, perceiving the confusion, rushed in upon them with their swords and spears and dispatched a few, put the rest to flight. Douglas was the first that fell but the fate of Captain Edwards was not known, his hat was found in the Nulla before mentioned, but the body was never discovered.” 29 This is the small incident which is supposed to furnish the model to Bankim Chandra’s description of the battle of the Santanas with Edwards and his army on the full moon day. The Arictnda [Ananda] Math (Part IV, Ch. 6) relates how Satyananda attacked Edwards with twenty-five thousand Santana soldiers- and massacred the British army.
Bankim ‘Chandra wisely omitted the line giving the date
1180 B.S. because it betrayed the absurdity of his plea
that the Santanas were fighting against the Moslems and
not the British. The Directors of the East India Company
resolved “to stand forth as Dewan” and directed the
Compauy’s servants to take upon themselves the entire
care and management of the revenues. They communicated
their decision to the President and Council at Fort William
in their letter dated August 28, 1771. Warren Hastings
became the Governor of Bengal early in 1772. He held
that the cession of the Dewani in 1765 “had been merely
a solemn farce, that the company had in fact conquered
Bengal, and that the emperor could not give what it was
not in his power to bestow.” According to the official
records Thomas lost his life on the 31st of December, 1772
and Edwards on the 1st of March, 1773. Both these dates
fall during the period of Governorship of Warren Hastings,
who had already taken steps to discharge the duties of
administration directly through the officers of the Com-
pany. Bankim Chandra was not unaware of these elemen-
tary facts of history. But he could not write that the San-
tanas took the vow of liberating their Motherland from the
clutches of the British. He made the Moslem rule a con-
venient scapegoat. It was well known to all intelligent
people that political authority had passed from the hands
of the Moslems to those of the British as soon as Mirzafar
was installed on the masnad for the second time after the
defeat of Mirkashim.
Originally Bankim Chandra selected Birbhum as the
centre of the events described in the Ananda Math because
of some peculiarity in the status of that region. He him-
self explained in the seventh chapter of the book as
published in the Bangadarsana that while the rest of
Bengal was nominally under Mirzafar, Birbhpm was under
the administration of the Muslim Raja of that place, though
its revenue was sent to the English. The East India Com-
pany had appointed their officers at other places for
supervising the collection of revenue but none was
appointed in Birbhum. This is why Bankim Chandra
considered it safe to make Birbhum the place of occur-
rence of the main events of Ananda Math. He could say,
he thought, that the Santanas were fighting against the
Moslem power and not the English. But while bringing
out the third edition he considered this sort of veil almost
transparent and frankly admitted that the fights took place
in North Bengal and not in Birbhum. He added in that
edition an appendix (in English) on the Sannyasi raid
from the letters and despatches of Warren Hastings. As
the book was becoming popular and attracting the atten-
tion of the Government he considered it safer to introduce
in the fifth edition many sentences in praise of the
British rule.
But his attempt to connect the Ananda Math with the
incidents of the Sannyasi raid was not very successful.
Relying on the version of the fifth edition Romesh Chandra
Dutt wrote in the Encyclopaedia Britannica: “The story
deals with the Sannyasi rebellion of 1772 near Pumea,
Tirhut and Dinajpur. Bankim Chandra could not make a
thorough change in the readings of the! novel.”' In Chapter
twelve of part three the “bank of Ajoy” still remained. We
have already shown that the fight against Edwards took
place in 1773, when the E-ast India Company had assumed
direct charge of the administration. From all these we may
surmise that on reading of the heroic resolution of
Wasudeo Balwant Phadke to rescue his countrymen from
the domination of the British, whose misrule had, accord-
ing to him, produced the terrible famine of 1876-77, Bankim
Chandra conceived the idea of depicting the exploits of
the Santanas on the canvas of the famine of 1769. Being
a Government servant thoroughly conversant with the trend
of thought of the British Indian bureaucracy he tried to
veil the patriotic efforts of the heroes of his novel by
identifying these with the Sannyasis of a century earlier.
He knew that the Sannyasi raids did not come to an end
in 1772-73 as one would imagine from the conversation of
the Physician with Satyananda. The Hindu Sannyasis and
the Moslem Fakirs continued to make depredations on
Bihar and Assam till the last decade of the eighteenth
century. Neither Phadke, nor the Santanas of Ananda
Math could achieve success in their plan. But Bankim
Chandra with prophetic vision observed at the end of the
book: “The fire which Satyananda kindled was not ex-
tinguished easily. If I can, I will relate that later on.” These
two sentences occurred in the Bangadarsam and in the
first edition but as the significance of these was ominous
for the British rulers, he considered it prudent to omit
them in subsequent editions.*
See also
National Anthem, India: Jehovah’s Witnesses
Anandamath
