Chapter VII PRINT CULTURE AND MODERN WORLD

1. How was printing done in China in the early period? Or What were the
features of woodblock printing?
i. The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea. This
was a system of hand printing.
ii. From AD 594 onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper, against the inked
surface of woodblocks. As both sides of the thin, porous sheet could not be printed, the
traditional Chinese ‘accordion book’ was folded and stitched at the side.
iii. Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate, with remarkable accuracy, the beauty of
calligraphy.
2. Why did the volume of print increase in China in the early period? Or How
did China become a major producer of printed materials for a long time?
i. The imperial state in China was, for a very long time, the major producer of printed
materials. China possessed a huge bureaucratic system, which recruited its personnel
through civil service examinations.
ii. Textbooks for this examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of
the imperial state.
iii. From the sixteenth century, the number of examination candidates went up and it
increased the volume of print.
3. How did a new print culture develop in China? Or What changes occurred
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in print culture in the 17 century in China? Or How was print culture
influenced by the rise of cities in China?
i. By the seventeenth century, as urban culture flourished in China, the uses of print
diversified. Print was no longer used just by scholar-officials.
ii. Merchants used print in their everyday life, as they collected trade information.
iii. Reading increasingly became a leisure activity. The new readership preferred fictional
narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary masterpieces, and romantic
plays.
iv. Rich women began to read, and many women began publishing their poetry and plays.
Wives of scholar-officials published their works and courtesans wrote about their lives.
v. The development of new reading culture in China and the development of a new
printing technology helped the development of print culture.
vi. Western printing techniques and mechanical presses were imported in the late nineteenth
century as Western powers established their outposts in China.
4. Give any three reasons favouring shift from hand printing to mechanical
printing in China. Ans. Above
5. Describe the development of print technology in Japan.
i. Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology into Japan
around AD 768-770. The oldest Japanese book, printed in AD 868, is the Buddhist
‘Diamond Sutra’, containing six sheets of text and woodcut illustrations. Pictures were
printed on textiles, playing cards and paper money.
ii. In medieval Japan, poets and prose writings were regularly published, and books were cheap
and abundant. Printing of visual material led to interesting publishing practices.
iii. In the late eighteenth century, in the flourishing urban circles at Edo (later to be known
as Tokyo), illustrated collections of paintings depicted an elegant urban culture,
involving artists, courtesans, and teahouse gatherings.

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 iv. Libraries and bookstores were packed with hand-printed material of various types –
books on women, musical instruments, calculations, tea ceremony, flower arrangements,
proper etiquette (manners), cooking and famous places.

6. Describe the development of print technology in Europe. Or Who was

Marco Polo? What was his contribution in print culture?
i. In the eleventh century, Chinese paper reached Europe via the silk route. Paper made
possible the production of manuscripts possible, carefully written by scribes.
ii. Then, in 1295, Marco Polo, a great explorer, returned to Italy after many years of
exploration in China. Marco Polo brought Chinese technology of woodblock printing.
back with him. Now Italians began producing books with woodblocks, and soon the
technology spread to other parts of Europe.
iii. Luxury editions were still handwritten on very expensive vellum, meant for aristocratic
circles and rich monastic libraries which ridiculed at printed books as cheap vulgarities.
Merchants and students in the university towns bought the cheaper printed copies.
7. Why did wood block printing become popular in Europe? Or What were the
drawback of the hand written manuscripts?
i. The production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever-increasing demand
for books.
ii. Copying was an expensive, laborious and time-consuming business.
iii. Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read
easily. Their circulation therefore remained limited. With the growing demand for
books, woodblock printing gradually became more and more popular.
iv. By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks were being widely used in Europe to print
textiles, playing cards, and religious pictures with simple, brief texts.
8. When and where was the first printing press developed?
The first printing press was developed, by Johann Gutenberg at Strasbourg, Germany in
the 1430s.
9. Describe the role of scribes in the productions of books in the medieval period.
i. In the eleventh century, Chinese paper reached Europe via the silk route. Paper made
the production of manuscripts possible, carefully written by scribes. Wealthy and
influential patrons employed these scribes to copy books.
ii. Wood- block printing could not satisfy the ever-increasing demand of books, so even
the book sellers employed large number of scribes. More than 50 scribes often worked
for one book seller.
10. How did Guttenberg develop the printing press?
i. Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up on a large agricultural estate. From
his childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses.
ii. Subsequently, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and also
acquired the expertise to create ‘lead moulds’ used for making jewellery.
iii. Drawing on this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted existing technology to design his
innovation. The olive press provided the model for the printing press, and moulds were
used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet.
iv. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. The first book he printed was the Bible.
About 180 copies were printed and it took three years to produce them. By the standards
of the time, this was fast production.

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11. What were the features of the books printed using the new technology by Guttenberg?
i. The printed books at first closely resembled the written manuscripts in appearance and
layout.
ii. The metal letters imitated the ornamental handwritten styles.
iii. Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns, and illustrations were
painted.
iv. In the books printed for the rich, space for decoration was kept blank on the printed
page. Each purchaser could choose the design and decide on the painting school that
would do the illustrations.
12. Examine the growth of printing during the hundred years between 1450 and
1550 in Europe.
i) A number of printing presses were set up in most countries of Europe during this period.
ii) Printers from Germany traveled to other countries, seeking work and helping start new
presses. As the number of printing presses grew book production boomed.
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iii) The second half of the 15 century saw 20 million copies of printed books flooding
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the market in Europe. The number went up to about 200 million in the 16 century.
13. What was the print revolution?
It was a sudden change in the production of books in large numbers with the invention
of printing press. It was a change from the old methods of producing handwritten
books by the scribes to the wood block printing and then to the mechanical printing. (
Continue point i below. )
14. State the impact of print revolution on European society.
i. Print revolution was a new way of producing books. It transformed the lives of people.
changing their relationship to information and knowledge and with institution and
authorities. It influenced popular perceptions and opened up new ways of looking at
things.
ii. With the printing press, a new reading public emerged. Printing reduced the cost of
books. The time and labour required to produce each book came down, and multiple
copies could be produced with greater ease. Books flooded the market, reaching out to
an ever-growing readership.
iii. Access to books created a new culture of reading. Earlier, reading was restricted to the
elites. Common people lived in a world of oral culture.. Now books could reach out to
wider sections of people. If earlier there was a hearing public, now a reading public
came into being.
iv. Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas, and introduced a new world of
debate and discussion. Even those who disagreed with established authorities could now
print and circulate their ideas. Through the printed message, they could persuade people
to think differently, and move them to action. This had significance in different spheres
of life.
v. Print and popular religious literature stimulated many distinctive individual
interpretations of faith even among little-educated working people. (See answer 20 for
explanation of this point)
15. What did the publishers do to persuade common people to welcome the printed books?
The literacy rate in most European countries was very low until the twentieth century.
Therefore to persuade common people to welcome the printed books the printers began
publishing popular ballads and folk tales, and such books would be profusely illustrated
with pictures. These were then sung and recited at gatherings in villages and in taverns in
towns.
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16. How was the oral culture and print culture complimentary to each other? Or How
did oral culture enter print and how was the printed material transmitted orally?
i. Earlier, reading was restricted to the elites. Common people lived in a world of oral
culture. They heard sacred texts read out, ballads recited, and folk tales narrated.
Knowledge was transferred orally.
ii. Before the age of print, books were not only expensive but were a few in number. People
collectively heard a story, or saw a performance. These were converted in to books. Now
books could reach out to wider sections of people. If earlier there was a hearing public,
now a reading public came into being.
iii. The literacy rate in most European countries was very low until the twentieth century.
There fore to persuade common people to welcome the printed books the printers began
publishing popular ballads and folk tales, and such books would be profusely illustrated
with pictures. These were then sung and recited at gatherings in villages and in taverns
in towns. Thus print technology helped oral culture.
iv. Oral culture thus entered print and printed materials were orally transmitted. The line
that separated the oral and reading culture blurred and the hearing public and
reading public became intermingled.
17. Why was the new printed literature criticized?
i. Not everyone welcomed the printed book, and those who did also had fears about it.
Many were anxious about the effects that the easier access to the printed word and the
wider circulation of books, could have on people’s minds.
ii. It was feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read then rebellious
and irreligious thoughts might spread. If that happened, the authority of ‘valuable’
literature would be destroyed.
iii. Expressed by religious authorities and monarchs, as well as many writers and artists, this
anxiety was the basis of widespread criticism of the new printed literature that had began
to circulate.
18. Why did Martin Luther support print culture? OR How did print culture help
Martin Luther challenge the Catholic church? Why?
i. In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther printed Ninety-Five theses criticizing
many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church and posted on a church
door in Wittenberg. It challenged the Church to debate his ideas.
ii. Luther’s writings were immediately reproduced in vast numbers and read widely. This
led to a division with in the Church and to the beginning of protestant reformation.
iii. Deeply grateful to print, Luther said, ‘Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest
one’ because print brought about a new intellectual atmosphere and helped spread the
new ideas that led to the Reformation.
iv. Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas, and introduced a new world of
debate and discussion.
19. Who was Manocchio? Why was he executed?
Manocchio was a miller in Italy in the sixteenth century. He began to read books that
were available in his locality. He reinterpreted the message of the Bible and formulated a
view of God and Creation that enraged the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church
declared him as a heretic, since he spoke against the existing beliefs and practices, and
was ultimately executed.

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20. How did print culture lead to the growth of dissenting ideas?
i. Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas, and introduced a new world of
debate and discussion.
ii. Print and popular religious literature stimulated many distinctive individual
interpretations of faith even among little-educated working people.
iii. Print brought about a new intellectual atmosphere and helped spread the new ideas that
led to the Reformation.
21. Why did Roman Catholic Church turn against print culture and what did they do? Or
Why did the Catholic Church maintain an index of prohibited books from 1558?
i. In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther printed Ninety-Five theses criticizing
many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church and posted on a church
door in Wittenberg. It challenged the Church to debate his ideas.
ii. Manocchio a miller in Italy began to read books that were available in his locality. He
reinterpreted the message of the Bible and formulated a view of God and Creation which
was against the Roman Catholic Church. He was executed.
iii. The Roman Church, troubled by such effects of popular readings and questionings of
faith, imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers and began to maintain an
Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.
Explain the effects of print culture in the religious sphere in early modern
Europe. Two answers above( 20 and 21)
22. How did print culture help develop a reading mania among the people in Europe?
i. Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates went up in most parts of
Europe. Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages, carrying literacy
to peasants and artisans.
ii. By the end of the eighteenth century, in some parts of Europe literacy rates were as high
as 60 to 80 per cent. As literacy and schools spread in European countries, there was a
virtual reading mania. People wanted books to read and printers produced books in ever-
increasing numbers.
iii. New forms of popular literature appeared in print, targeting new audiences. Booksellers
employed peddlers who roamed around villages, carrying little books for sale.There
were almanacs or ritual calendars, along with ballads and folktales. But other forms
of reading matter, largely for entertainment, began to reach ordinary readers as Well.
iv. Then there were the romances, printed on four to six pages, and the more substantial
‘histories’ which were stories about the past. Books were of various sizes, serving many
different purposes and interests.
v. Newspapers and journals carried information about wars and trade, as well as news of
developments in other places. Similarly, the ideas of scientists and philosophers now
became more accessible to the common people. Ancient and medieval scientific texts
were compiled and published, and maps and scientific diagrams were widely printed.
vi. When scientists like Isaac Newton began to publish their discoveries, they could
influence a much wider circle of scientifically minded readers.
vii. The writings of thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau
were also widely printed and read. Thus, their ideas about science, reason and rationality
found their way into popular literature. (Explain 4 points well)
How did the ideas of scientists and philosophers become more accessible
to common people after the beginning of print revolution in Europe? Write
points v to vii .

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23. What was the opinion of Louise-Sebastien Mercier about the printing press?
i. Louise-Sebastien Mercier, a novelist in eighteenth-century France, declared: ‘The
printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force
that will sweep despotism away.’
ii. In many of Mercier’s novels, the heroes are transformed by acts of reading. They read
books, are lost in the world books and become enlightened in the process.
iii. Convinced of the power of print in bringing enlightenment and destroying the basis of
despotism, Mercier proclaimed: ‘Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble
before the virtual writer!’
24. What was the common conviction about books by the mid-eighteenth century?
There was a common conviction that books were a means of spreading progress and
enlightenment. Many believed that books could change the world, liberate society from
despotism and tyranny, and herald a time when reason and intellect would rule.
(eg. Point i above.)
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25. Why did some people in the 18 century Europe think that print culture
would bring enlightenment and end despotism?
( Write the previous two answers and add point iv answer 14)
26. What are the three types of arguments to prove that print culture created
conditions for French revolution?
i. First: print popularized the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers. Collectively, their
writings provided a critical commentary on tradition, superstition and despotism. They
argued for the rule of reason rather than custom, and demanded that everything be
judged through the application of reason and rationality.
ii. They attacked the sacred authority of the Church and the despotic power of the state,
thus eroding the legitimacy of a social order based on tradition. The writings of Voltaire
and Rousseau were read widely; and those who read these books saw the world through
new eyes, eyes that were questioning, critical and rational.
iii. Second: print created a new culture of dialogue and debate. All values, norms and
institutions were re-evaluated and discussed by a public that had become aware of the
power of reason, and recognized the need to question existing ideas and beliefs. Within
this public culture, new ideas of social revolution came into being.
iv. Third: By the 1780s, there were a number of books that mocked the royalty and
criticized their morality. In the process, it raised questions about the existing social
order. Cartoons and caricatures typically suggested that the monarchy remained
absorbed in luxurious life while the common people suffered immense hardships. This
literature circulated underground and led to the growth of hostile sentiments against the
monarchy.
27. What was the counter argument regarding the role of print culture in the
French Revolution?
There is no doubt that print helps the spread of ideas. However, we must remember that
people did not read just one kind of literature. If they read the ideas of Voltaire and
Rousseau, they were also exposed to monarchical and Church propaganda. They were not
influenced directly by everything they read or saw. They accepted some ideas and
rejected others. They interpreted things their own way. Print did not directly shape their
minds, but it did open up the possibility of thinking differently.

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28. How did print culture influence women, children and workers in the 19
century in Europe?
i. As primary education became compulsory from the late nineteenth century, children
became an important category of readers. Production of school textbooks became critical
for the publishing industry. A children’s press, devoted to literature for children alone,
was set up in France in 1857. This press published new works as well as old fairy tales
and folk tales.
ii. Women became important as readers as well as writers. Penny magazines were
especially meant for women, and there were manuals teaching proper behaviour and
housekeeping. When novels began to be written in the nineteenth century, women were
seen as important readers. Some of the best-known novelists were women: Jane Austen,
the Bronte sisters, George Eliot. etc. Their writings became important in defining a new
type of woman: a person with will, strength of personality, determination and the power
to think.
iii. In the nineteenth century, lending libraries in England became instruments for educating
white-collar workers, artisans and lower-middle-class people. Sometimes, self-educated
working class people wrote for themselves. After the working day was gradually shortened
from the mid-nineteenth century, workers had some time for self-improvement and self-
expression. They wrote political tracts and autobiographies in large numbers.
29. Describe the growth of print culture meant for children?
i. Write point (i) above
ii. The Grimm Brothers in Germany spent years compiling traditional folk tales gathered
from peasants. What they collected was edited before the stories were published in a
collection in 1812. Anything that was considered unsuitable for children or would
appear vulgar to the elites, was not included in the published version. Rural folk tales
thus acquired a new form. In this way, print recorded old tales but also changed them.
30. What were the major innovations that improved printing technology?
i. By the late eighteenth century, the press came to be made out of metal.
ii. By the mid-nineteenth century, Richard M. Hoe of New York had perfected the power-
driven cylindrical press. This was capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour. This press
was particularly useful for printing newspapers.
iii. In the late nineteenth century, the offset press was developed which could print up to six
colours at a time.
iv. From the turn of the twentieth century, electrically operated presses accelerated printing
operations. A series of other developments followed. Methods of feeding paper
improved, the quality of plates became better, automatic paper reels and photoelectric
controls of the colour register were introduced.
v. In the 1920s in England, popular works were sold in cheap series, called the Shilling
Series. The dust cover or the book jacket is also a twentieth-century innovation. With the
onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, publishers feared a decline in book
purchases. To sustain buying, they brought out cheap paperback editions.
31. State any two strategies developed by printers and publishers to sell their products.

i. They serialized popular novels to arouse interest among readers. They compiled
traditional folk tales gathered from peasants. What they collected was edited before the
stories were published in a collection in 1812.
ii. In the 1920s in England, popular works were sold in cheap series, called the Shilling
Series. The dust cover or the book jacket is also a twentieth-century innovation.
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 iii. With the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, publishers feared a decline in book
purchases. To sustain buying, they brought out cheap paperback editions.

32. How were the ideas and information written before the age of print in India? Or
Write a short note on the tradition of manuscripts in India. Why was it not
used in everyday life?
i. India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts – in Sanskrit, Arabic,
Persian, as well as in various vernacular languages. Manuscripts were copied on palm
leaves or on handmade paper. Pages were sometimes beautifully illustrated. They would
be either pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure preservation.
Manuscripts continued to be produced even after the introduction of print, down to the
late nineteenth century.
ii. Manuscripts, however, were highly expensive and fragile. They had to be handled
carefully, and they could not be read easily as the script was written in different styles.
So manuscripts were not widely used in everyday life.
iii. Teachers dictated portions texts from memory and students wrote them down. Many,
thus became literate with out ever reading any kind of texts.
Why were manuscripts not widely used in every day life? Give three reasons.

33. How did the printing technique begin in India? Explain.

i. The printing press first came to Goa with Portuguese missionaries in the mid-sixteenth
century. Jesuit priests learnt Konkani and printed several tracts.
ii. By 1674, about 50 books had been printed in the Konkani and in Kanara languages.
iii. Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1679 at Cochin, and in 1713 the first
Malayalam book was printed by them.
iv. By 1710, Dutch Protestant missionaries had printed 32 Tamil texts, many of them
translations of older works.
v. By the close of the eighteenth century, a number of newspapers and journals appeared
in print. There were Indians, too, who began to publish Indian newspapers. The first to
appear was the weekly Bengal Gazette, brought out by Gangadhar Bhattacharya, who
was close to Rammohun Roy.
34. Who was James Augustus Hickey? Why was he persecuted by the British?
James Augustus Hickey was the editor of the Bengal Gazette, a weekly magazine from
1780. Hickey published a lot of advertisements, including those, related to the import and
sale of slaves. But he also published a lot of gossip about the East India Company’s
senior officials in India. Enraged by this, Governor-General Warren Hastings persecuted
Hickey, and encouraged the publication of officially sanctioned newspapers that could
counter the flow of information that damaged the image of the colonial government.

35. What role did print culture play on public debates on religious issues?
i. There were intense debates around religious issues from the early nineteenth century.
Different groups confronted the changes happening within colonial society in different
ways, and offered a variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions
ii. Some criticized existing practices and campaigned for reform, while others countered
the arguments of reformers. These debates were carried out in public and in print.
Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they shaped the nature
of the debate. A wider public could now participate in these public discussions and
express their views. New ideas emerged through these clashes of opinions.
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36. What role did print culture play in the religious reform movements? Or How
did religious reformers make use of print culture to spread their ideas? Or
What did the spread of print culture mean to the reformers?
i. This was a time of intense controversies between social and religious reformers and the
Hindu orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical
priesthood and idolatry. Reformers made use of newspapers to project the ill effects of
superstitious beliefs. They spread democratic ideals like liberty, equality and fraternity
among the public.
ii. In Bengal, Rammohun Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi from 1821 and the Hindu
orthodoxy commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his opinions.
iii. From 1822, two Persian newspapers were published, Jam-i-Jahan Nama and Shamsul
Akhbar. In the same year, a Gujarati newspaper, the Bombay Samachar, made its
appearance.
37. What were the steps taken by the ‘Ulemas’ to defend their religion?
i. The ‘Ulemas’ were Muslim theologians who feared that colonial rulers would
encourage conversion, change the Muslim personal laws. To counter this, they used
cheap lithographic presses, published Persian and Urdu translations of Holy Scriptures,
and printed religious newspapers and tracts.
ii. The Deoband Seminary, founded in 1867, published thousands upon thousands of
fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in their everyday lives, and
explaining the meanings of Islamic doctrines.
iii. All through the nineteenth century, a number of Muslim sects and seminaries appeared,
each with a different interpretation of faith, each keen on enlarging its following and
countering the influence of its opponents. Urdu print helped them conduct these battles
in public.
38. Name any two printing press established to publish Hindu religious texts in
vernacular languages.
From the 1880s, the Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwar
Press in Bombay published numerous religious texts in vernaculars.
39. How and to what extent did print encourage reading Hindu religious text in
Vernacular languages?
i. The first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a sixteenth-century text,
came out from Calcutta in 1810.
ii. By the mid-nineteenth century, cheap lithographic editions flooded north Indian markets.
iii. From the 1880s, the Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwar Press
in Bombay published numerous religious texts in vernaculars.
iv. In their printed and portable form, these could be read easily by the faithful at any place
and time. They could also be read out to large groups of illiterate men and women.

40. State any two results of using printed texts on religious matters.
i. Religious texts reached a very wide circle of people, encouraging discussions, debates
and controversies within and among different religions.
ii. Print not only stimulated the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities,
but it also connected communities and people in different parts of India.
iii. Newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, creating pan-Indian identities.
iv. In their printed and portable form, these could be read easily by the faithful at any place
and time. They could also be read out to large groups of illiterate men and women.

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41. Describe the development of visual culture in print media by the end of 19
century in India.
i. By the end of the nineteenth century, a new visual culture was taking shape. With the
setting up of an increasing number of printing presses, visual images could be easily
reproduced in multiple copies.
ii. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation. Poor wood
engravers who made woodblocks, set up shop near the letterpresses, and were employed
by print shops.
iii. Cheap prints and calendars, easily available in the bazaar, could be bought even by the
poor to decorate the walls of their homes or places of work. These prints began shaping
popular ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics, and society and
culture.
iv. By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were being published in journals and newspapers,
commenting on social and political issues. Some caricatures ridiculed the educated
Indians’ fascination with Western tastes and clothes, while others expressed the fear of
social change. There were imperial caricatures that ridiculed nationalists, as well as
nationalist cartoons criticizing imperial rule.
42. What did women mean by the spread of print culture? Or How did the spread
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of print culture improve the status of women in India in the 19 century?
i. The status of women improved in the Indian society. Lives and feelings of women began
to be written in particularly vivid and intense ways. Women’s reading, therefore,
increased enormously in middle-class homes.
ii. Liberal husbands and fathers began educating their womenfolk at home, and sent them
to schools when women’s schools were set up in the cities and towns after the mid-
nineteenth century.
iii. Many journals began carrying writings by women, and explained why women should be
educated. They also carried a syllabus and attached suitable reading matter, which could
be used for home-based schooling.
iv. Printed books helped women to emerge as rebels and defied the prohibition of the
conservative Hindus.
v. Many women writers were emerged. Auto biography of Amar Jiban was published in
1876 in Bengali language.
vi. Bengali women Kailashbhashini wrote books highlighting the experience of women.
vii. In Maharashtra Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote about miserable life of upper
class women especially widows.
43. Why did the conservatives among Hindus and Muslims prohibit education for women?
Conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims feared
that educated women would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances.
44. State two examples of rebel women who defied prohibition of education for
women by the conservative society?
i. A girl in a conservative Muslim family of north India secretly learnt to read and write in
Urdu. Her family wanted her to read only the Arabic Quran, which she did not
understand. So she insisted on learning to read a language that was her own.
ii. In East Bengal, in the early nineteenth century, Rashsundari Debi, a young married girl
in a very orthodox household, learnt to read in the secrecy of her kitchen. Later, she
wrote her autobiography Amar Jiban which was published in 1876. It was the first full-
length autobiography published in the Bengali language. (Name the first auto
biography published in Bengali language.)
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45. Examine the role / contribution of women in the spread of print culture in
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the 19 century in India.
(Write the answer above and continue..)
iii. From the 1860s, a few Bengali women like Kailashbashini Debi wrote books
highlighting the experiences of women – about how women were imprisoned at home,
kept in ignorance, forced to do hard domestic labour and treated unjustly by the very
people they served.
iv. In the 1880s, in present-day Maharashtra, Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote
with passionate anger about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women, especially
widows. A woman in a Tamil novel expressed what reading meant to women who were
so greatly confined by social regulations.
v. Hindi printing began seriously only from the 1870s. Soon, a large segment of it was
devoted to the education of women. In the early twentieth century, journals, written for
and sometimes edited by women, became extremely popular. They discussed issues like
women’s education, widowhood, widow remarriage and the national movement.
vi. In Punjab, too, a similar folk literature was widely printed from the early twentieth
century. Ram Chaddha published the fast-selling Istri Dharm Vichar to teach women
how to be obedient wives. The Khalsa Tract Society published cheap booklets with a
similar message. Many of these were in the form of dialogues about the qualities of a
good woman.
vii. In Bengal, an entire area in central Calcutta – the Battala – was devoted to the printing of
popular books. Here you could buy cheap editions of religious tracts and scriptures, as
well as literature that was considered obscene and scandalous. By the late nineteenth
century, a lot of these books were being profusely illustrated with woodcuts and
coloured lithographs. Pedlars took the Battala publications to homes, enabling women to
read them in their leisure time.
What were the issues / messages projected by the printed books
th
published in the 19 century in India? ( Answer any 4 points above)

46. How did print culture help poor people? Or What were the effects of the
spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth century India? Or What
did poor people mean by the spread of print culture?

i. Poor people wanted printed books should be affordable and available cheaply. They
wanted it as a medium to fight against injustice and discrimination. They wanted to
spread literacy and prevent bad habits like drinking. They wanted to make use of
printed matters to spread nationalism.
ii. Very cheap small books were brought to markets in nineteenth-century Madras towns
and sold at crossroads, allowing poor people traveling to markets to buy them.
iii. Public libraries were set up from the early twentieth century, expanding the access to
books. These libraries were located mostly in cities and towns, and at times in
prosperous villages.
iv. From the late nineteenth century, issues of caste discrimination began to be
written about in many printed tracts and essays. Jyotiba Phule, the Maratha pioneer
of ‘low caste’ protest movements, wrote about the injustices of the caste system in his
Gulamgiri (1871).

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 v. In the twentieth century, B.R. Ambedkar in Maharashtra and E.V. Ramaswamy
Naicker in Madras, better known as Periyar, wrote powerfully on caste and their
writings were read by people all over India. Local protest movements and sects also
created a lot of popular journals and tracts criticizing ancient scriptures and envisioning
a new and just future.
47. Name any four authors who wrote for the poor people of the society ? How were
restrictions imposed on the Indian Press? Explain with examples.
Answer: 2 points above 1 point below and Answer 49 below.
48. Describe the contribution of factory workers in the spread of print culture.
i. Kashibaba, a Kanpur mill worker, wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in
1938 to show the links between caste and class exploitation.
ii. The poems of another Kanpur mill worker, who wrote under the name of Sudarshan
Chakr between 1935 and 1955, were brought together and published in a collection
called Sacchi Kavitayan.
iii. By the 1930s, Bangalore cotton Mill workers set up libraries to educate themselves,
following the example of Bombay workers. These were sponsored by social reformers
who tried to restrict excessive drinking among them, to bring literacy and, sometimes, to
propagate the message of nationalism.
49. Examine the effort made by the British in India to impose censorship on the press.
i. By the 1820s, the Calcutta Supreme Court passed certain regulations to control press
freedom and the Company began encouraging publication of newspapers that would
celebrate British rule.
ii. In 1835, faced with urgent petitions by editors of English and vernacular newspapers,
Governor-General Bentinck agreed to revise press laws.
iii. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, modeled on the Irish Press Laws. It
provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the
vernacular press. From now on the government kept regular track of the vernacular
newspapers published in different provinces. When a report was judged as seditious, the
newspaper was warned, and if the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized
and the printing machinery confiscated.

49. Describe the role of nationalist news papers in spreading national feelings
th
among the people in the early 20 century. OR Explain how print culture
assisted the growth of nationalism in India.
i. The news papers reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities.
News papers, weeklies and books were used to project the ill effect of British rule and to
develop patriotic feeling among people. Neel Darpan a book written by Prem Chand
revealed how the British exploited the Indigo peasants in Bihar and Orissa.
ii. Attempts to throttle nationalist criticism provoked militant protest. This in turn led to a
renewed cycle of persecution and protests. The ideas of nationalist leaders were
communicated to the people through these newspapers. When Punjab revolutionaries
were deported in 1907, Balgangadhar Tilak wrote with great sympathy about them in his
Kesari. This led to his imprisonment in 1908, provoking in turn widespread protests all
over India.

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50. Why did the British Government curtail the freedom of Press after 1857 in India? 1
The British Government curtailed the freedom of Press after 1857 in India because the
vernacular newspapers were becoming more and more nationalists after the revolt of
1857 Or The British feared that the news papers will publish articles that are harmful to
British interests. Or. The British Government curtailed the freedom of Press after 1857 in
India to stop the spreading of nationalist ideas.

51. Describe any two popular themes on which women writers in England
wrote in the 19th century.
The popular themes were the following:
th th
i. Domestic life: In the 18 and 19 centuries novel began exploring the world of
women their emotions and identities their experiences and problems. The principal theme
about women were allowed to speak with authority was domestic life. They wrote their
experience and got due recognition.
ii. Proper behavior and house keeping: Penny magazines published between 1832 and
1835 were meant for women. It was primarily aimed at the working class. There were
manuals published, teaching proper behaviour and house keeping.
iv. New type of women: Some of the best known novelists were women: Jane Austen, the
Bronte Sisters, George Eliot etc. Their writings became important in defining a new type
of women– women with will power, strength with personality, determination and power
to think. They even supported feminist movements.

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