Punjabi literature in nineteenth century

THE book "Five Punjabi Centuries" has another article "Political Change and Punjabi Literature in the Nineteenth Century" by Attar Singh. It begins: The signing of the treaty of Amritsar between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the East India Company in 1809 virtually led to cultural division of the Punjab, with the river Sutlej as the border between Ranjit Singh`s kingdom and the territories under the direct control or political protection of the company. In the latter area fell the Sikh states of Patiala, Nabha, Jind and Farid Kot and the Sikh principalities of Kaithal and Kalsia. This divide cut off Muslim centres of learning, theology and literature in the rest of the country from the dominions of Ranjit Singh. While much has been said about division in the literary scene of the Punjab in which Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi literatures flourished as expressions of different religio-cultural affiliations, the significance of the division between the two parts of the Punjab, one coming under the Sikh kingdom and the other under British tutelage, has not even been recognized so far. The literary developments on the two sides of the divide took different directions â€" linguistically, stylistically and culturally. In areas falling within Ranjit Singh`s state the Muslim stream of Punjabi poetry, both mystical and secular, formed the mainstream through which the Punjabi national consciousness started seeking articulation and realization with only marginal participation by Sikhs or Hindus. On the other side of the divide, however, the literary stream flourished under court patronage and developed a pronounced drift away from the Punjab, with a sharp tendency to imbibe the influence of Braj classicism. The movement found its fulfillment in the vast storehouse of literature of the Punjab known as Hindi writing in Gurmukhi script, covering a broad spectrum: scriptural, exegesis, theology, metaphysics, history, religious biographies, statecraft, etc. In the areas under direct British control, foundations were sought to be laid for Christianization and modernization of Punjabi literary impulses through a widespread programme of translation and publication of Christian texts. This trifurcation of the literary history of the Punjab did not end with the fall of Ranjit Singh`s dynasty and the annexation of his kingdom to British India in 1849 and creation of the British province of the Punjab. This turn of events introduced a new element in the early 1850s, the imposition of Urdu, spoken nowhere in the province, as the official language of administration at local and secondary levels. This decision was followed by the introduction of Urdu as the school language, which relegated Punjabi to the status of the language of minority. The Muslim stream of writing in the Punjab which had become the vehicle of a nascent Punjabi identity during Ranjit Singh`s reign, drifted away from Punjabi towards Urdu as the carrier of the Indian Muslim consciousness, eschewing all its cultural concern with the land and the people of the Punjab. While the cultural dislocation gradually alienated the Punjabi Muslims from their Punjabi identity, the Sikh community shed its engagement with Braj Bhasha and started championing the cause of Punjabi language and literature at the crucial moment when new impulses for change and modernization were creating the ferment for a renaissance. As a major consequence, Punjabi was transformed from the literary medium of the mainstream of the state into the concern of a resurgent minority, also reflecting its perception of a `hostile` world around and its own `uncertain` place in it. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the western initiative was limited mainly to the activities of the Christian missionaries, Grammarians, Lexicographers and Linguists. The first Punjabi printing press was set up at Serampore (now West Bengal) which brought out the first ever Punjabi publication in 1811 under the title Parmeshar De Subh Bachan. Also described as Dharam Pothi, this version of the New Testament was published between 1811 and 1814 in three parts, running into 647 pages. Professedly translated from Greek into Punjabi by William Carey, these three parts were published in a single volume in 1814 under the title Holy Bible, running into 577 pages. This was a monumental work which, apart from its religious significance, happened to be the first major work in Punjabi prose of a great magnitude. The Serampore Mission Press also published the first grammar of Punjabi language prepared by Carey in 1812. The Presbyterian Church of USA established a Mission at Ludhiana on 5 November 1834, under John C. Lowrie. In 1835, this mission set up a Punjabi press, the first of its kind in the Punjab, which became the most active centre for the production of literature of missionary character in Punjabi and works written in English but dealing with different aspects of Punjabi language, especially grammars and dictionaries. These works played a crucial role in the standardization of Punjabi prose and in fixing its syntax. According to one account, `in a short period of 8 years this press was able to publish 267,000,000 pages`. This hectic activity, though meant to preach the faith of Christ, triggered off a widespread activity in preparation of grammars and compilation of dictionaries and glossaries of various dialects. In the process, Gurmukhi was adopted as the sole script for the missionary publications in Punjabi till the annexation of the Punjab, and for a long time afterwards as well.