Merchant Tales and The Emergence of The Novel in Hindi

Merchant Tales and the Emergence of the Novel in Hindi
Author(s): Vasudha Dalmia

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , Aug. 23 - 29, 2008, Vol. 43, No. 34 (Aug. 23 - 29,
2008), pp. 43, 45-47, 49-60
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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Merchant Tales and the Emergence
of the Novel in Hindi
VASUDHA DALMIA
Did emer
the li
relat
and in op
both
rupture w
social
thenovel
mode
there
modes pr
about
rupture a
in, by
embedded
with
Indo-Pers
a radi
ment
India, par
single
well as th
ries o
cultural s
guidi
anticipate
the en
nuiti
Tutelage o
mesh
as it eme
mode
vicinity,
and h
(Half a Ta
specif
set "succ
in Jau
Howe
recurring
This e
communi
is, th
entering
Persia
the r
cultur
The e
of Tr
from
tales
centu
seven
This
impor
essay h
to tr
presentation
Socialmode
Scien
University,
in pe
suggestions
Guru
Blackburn,
Thakurta, A
early
juxta
Francesca O
links
critique of
also
sharpen t
the
edges which
the m
Vasudha
TheDa
Southand S
engag
Economic ÄPolitical weekly HS3 august 23, 2008 43

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-
emerge
(187
region
Shr
lise fies
itse
rou
structu
rrent s
narr
Ardhak
Hin
it
here w
is
also
genre-d
Onc
models
own fo
soci
wit
ground
emp
larly as
of
them et
an deli
expl
Wit
action
in Shr
the g
In his
juxt
beg
century
of the
boo
tha
change,
seemed
tha
notably
spee
social
In a
t
and
1 The
lang
has
In the
How
the Hin
etc,
jointly
ease
mat
Revisit
that
narrat
cohe
remark
Wh
Agra r
Calc
standar
Shr
compel
imm
brief p
of cal
the
liter
perenn
not
from A
18th
produc
the
Nagari
seen
with th
has a m
bee
andBen
Ag
lang
bhasha
why
momen
are
Hindi i
had
Perso-A
Thesati
spe
and
(1836-1
of subc
the E
the coul
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The
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andmat
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part
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the
written
cen
'banias'
Economic & Political weekly 033 august 23, 2008 45

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cpcf 1 ju ARTICLE : *
to rem
Premchand
his throu
novels f
the re
2 Agra, D
capita
The Delhi,
reput
one cal
monupo
time
tended to
someas th
well
gloryafter
rath
prestige
and it
st
ality
After its
cultu
shifted th
ular archit
suppr
at in
least the
def
of the
The
gr
h
Yamuna, d
histor
the massiv
been t
Mahra
moment A
India... (p 22).
The city wi
... The core of Delhi in the latter
The soilhalf of the 19th century was still i
and constituted by the Mughal city of Shahjahanabad.
Irak ...Though it T
of it nobles
seemed poised on the verge of the modern, its social and cultural
beauty and
life continued to draw from the life modes of the late Mughal
The period,
neweven if the nostalgia that came to be associated with it im
17thwas itself of latecentu
19th century origin.13 The most important
the religio
component defining the physical and symbolic structure of the
city was the wall that encircled it, defining it as a culturally
devotional
the contained unit. Even after the brutal suppression of the 1857
city an
busiest tr
uprising, and the demolition of a good third of the old city, the
and wallas
remained intact all the way up to the
hosformal ending of
with conn
colonial rule; the only openings in it were made for the railway,
when in 1863 the East India Railway
possess was built
an to pass
grain,
through Delhi.14 and
han move
Chandni Chowk, the main thoroughfare of the city, stretched
from the Lahori Gate of the fort to the Fatehpuri mosque; it
cultural an
nable wit
experienced a revival towards the end of the 19th century with
the recovery of trade that set
when the in once Delhi acquired a railway
and the
connection. Ag
The European "piece goods" forjwhose production
the the city was known proved to be great moneymakers. By 1872,
charac
British
Delhi could boast of possessing the largest share in therem
volume of
Indian trade compared to other
Lines wèst towns in Panjab.ls Chandni
but Chowk had begun to see prosperous
it days once again:
beca
with its
Ghalib had mourned the "ending" of the life around the canal in theo
ment hos
1860s but, quite soon after, the canal and Chandni Chowk were again
throbbing with life. Private trade, public business, public worship and
activity, l
politics were concentrated here. Its narrowing width (120 ft in 1890,
Missionary
84 ft in 1919) testified to pressure of trade and business... The spacious
served
'Company Bagh' around the Town Hall was another outdoorth club
Society,
where the maulvis, hakims, bankers and teachers met, while the Hall f
itself was used as the municipal office and, till the end of the century,
textbooks.
also housed the public library and
added to the European club. Religious as well th
as secular activity was concentrated in Chandni Chowk - the massive
the centre
Jain temple, built in the 1870s, the Sisganj Gurdwara, the Baptist
well into th
Chapel, St Stephen's School, the Fatehpuri masjid... Chandni chowk
The events
symbolised solid prosperity but also the cosmopolitan spirit. It was
Delhi and
much loved by the inhabitants, because it symbolised continuity...16 L
though
If one end of Chandni Chowk was dominated by theth
massive
ison Red Fort,to wh
towards the other end the newly built Victoria Clock
4" august 23, 2008 DBS Economic & Political weekly

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- r=zr_l-
Tower (1873) became "a symbol

Moral of reste
authority the
constant remmdercame
of a new orientation
in the form of
had been major the Indian members
demographical shifts
Muslims in the city after Nazir
British. the destructio
Ahmad se
followed 1857 - from all accounts
providing the model th
fo
relative peace withGauridutt, but
each other, as also th
indeed
the last Mughal Merchants
emperors.18 and
The merc
many k
in the area subject
continued to
to live the power
in the e
Indo-
evolved in the rules
past required
centuries, mercha
though th
the new ones Merchants
which were
the British trad
brought
The one great andof
regret extremely reluc
the elite of the
of the Delhi courts,
College for this
to Lahore. meant
Founded
18th century as butmadrasa
the also of family ho
of Ghaziu
resurrected it as could
the only
Delhi be regarde
College in 1
college have been seen as ushering
Merchant societyin the
work
"Delhi Renaissance". It trust,
and was here that
though the
gover
even honour. But some
the flourishing Urdu culture of the city w
the British tended to cr
knowledge took place. English was taugh
rent local customs. Pr
the brief span of bankrupt
15 years,merchant
as many we
as
scholarly fields, including
arbitrationthe sciences
of 'respectab
translated from [Bayly: into
English 372]."Urdu. Th
remarkable As
number ofBayly notes stud
outstanding in
but the events of merchants,
1857 infor
had made the firr
the
ally vibrant tions
institution and caste
from counci
the city and
the Lahore were increasingly
Government c
College in 187
some other merchants'
efforts might
to enrich the th
cultur
commissioner custom,
Hamilton etc" (1983: th
inaugurated 3
advancement of twin models
knowledge of trad
and gene
Englishmen and merchant
76 ormembers
Indians as the grea
"Many of the Bayly, ceased to be
Hindu alumni of Delhi Coo
mostly kayasths, an austere
were happy and modest
to be mem
just observed
as in former days, they the religious
had integrate
belonged and perfor
'musha'ara' culture".20
Nazir Ahmad's wealth
Mirat in
ul Urus a good
(The caus
Bride's
novel of note in not necessarily
Urdu, emerged repres
from
alumnus of Delhi an inner
College at piety24 that
the height o
in the 1840s,21 ative
Nazir that it
Ahmad tips
set the
his aw
an ideal spiritual
daughter-in-law whoand the her
helps commf
post-Mughul city trust
in the in the commun
vicinity of Cha
colourful, racy sense of
language, balance
it brims cle
with
the 'mohallas' women.
of the city,In an age
from that
Chand
with its easy indeed
access marital
to Sabzi fidelit
Mandi, whi
sections around more of avoiding
Turkoman ex
Gate. Most
transition from outside
the the home.
old system Th
of patro
ity to the new lavished
by his wealth
the British o
'sahibs
employment in the life that rivalled
municipal that
offices th
he law
in the 'kachahari' or could also associate
courts:
brother. He could in
Mukhtars, vakils, and pleaders of "lower"
moral peril and econ
admitted to practise before specified jur
relevant examinations.
hand and the balance
Often they were for
who now saw ways spending could
to use their lead to
knowledge
dure to develop some private mine of goodw
stance. Some legal From the
practice, perspective
especially whe
mercantile society was t
litigation over
zamindari holdings, could be
ity of its relations with
permanent residents, legal practitioners h
tions and information 'credit', a family
denied to the could
frequ
(1983: 375).
ment officials [Lelyveld: 62-63].
Economic ÄPolitical weekly OSS august 23, 2008 47

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^=E^=EE^£r£^^==3^
Subjective knowledge of of
notions Sanskrit respectabilit
and Prakrit, and 'vividh desh bhasha
transactions. Ifdiverse
a regional
merchant had
languages. He has made special so
study of Sanskrit
hundis, or grammar and of Jain scriptural
promissory notes, texts. He does not mention
woul
ado in the Persian, but given
bazaar, where his close contact word
with the officials of
of th
and reputations could
Mughal empire, be
it is likely that he made
had a smattering of it, and lik
News of this kind travelled
his grandfather fast,
before him, he is equally likely a
to have know
cation such as the telegraph
Hindugi, predecessor and
of modern Urdu and Hindi, th
and presumably
the process. The newspaper
the spoken would
idiom of a certain section of society in and aroun
public morality that
Agra. superimposed
He also would have certainly known Avadhi, the languag
and the law courts
of Sufi poetry would then
emanating from his native be
Jaunpur. When times
closed circuits of the
were tough, bazaar.
he earned a meagre livelihood in Agra by recitin
Such was the the Avadhi and
life Sufi 'masnavis', extensive didactic-romantic
moral grid narrative
ways of knowing and
poems popular judging
in Jaunpur at ind
the time. He mentions the Mrigavat
century to the (1503) written by
19th Qutuban at the court of Sultan Husain Shah
century?
Sharqi of Jaunpur and Madhumalati (1545) also by a Jaunpu
3 17th Century Agra:
poet, Mir Sayyid Love,
Manjhan Rajgiri.28 Banarasidas callsLe
the
Merchanthood
language that he uses 'madhyadesha ki boli', or the language o
Ardhakathanak (1641) is the story of a merchant basedthe
in Agra in region or country,29 and writes in an idiom that was
middle
the heyday of Mughal glory and power. A poignant and powerful
surely close to that spoken in Agra in his time: Brajbhasha
tale, pragmatic and poetic in turns, it has attracted much
admixed with Khariboli as we know it today. An early instanc
scholarly attention since its publication in 1943. 25 The author,
then, of the very 'Agre ki bol', which would later be invoked by
Banarasidas, belonged to the shrimal clan of jewellers
modernand
writers of Hindi prose. It is noteworthy that Banaras
bankers. The -clan had flourishing communities in all major
makes no mention of the many Vaishnava communities in th
towns, supported by a wide kinship network all over north
regionIndia.
and the specific literary tropes they engendered. He seems
Banarasidas was born and brought up in Jaunpur, butoblivious
was basedof the literary idiom as it was evolving in the adjoining
in Agra for long stretches and settled there towards theBraj
end region,
of his which would come to be known as Brajbhasha late
life. He was a pleasure-loving youth, much addicted toin
the pursuit
the 17th century.
of women, but he was also dedicated to learning and had strong
Banarasidas seems to be following the format of the Sufi
spiritual leanings. In the latter realm, he was gullible masnavis,
and seemed'chaupais' capped by a 'doha', for his own biography
to be especially drawn to holy men of various hues, The Shaivas and is clearly a trans-lingual genre, not confined to
masnavi
Vaishnavas alike, irrespective of the credibility of their claims.
single linguistic tradition. The Jaunpur masnavis are in the
language
He would come to abandon these holy men and in his years in Agraof that region, today known as Avadhi. Yet, Banaras
become a part of, and later, play a leading role in, a rising protestant
chooses to write his tale not in Avadhi but in the language curren
movement within Jainismi the Adhyatmi, "contemplative"
in andbranch
around Agra. He writes without poetic flourish and he
of the Terapanth sect, which comprised both Shvetambars
displaysand
no self-consciousness about his frequent use of Perso
Digambars at the time.26 Nevertheless, recounting his spiritual
Arabie words. The two genres he explicitly invokes to denote his
growth and the lessons to be drawn from it never seem to become
work are elastic terms, used as self-denotations by a wide rang
the sole purpose of the narrative, though it does provide one He speaks of 'bat' (or Varta' in its purer Sanskrit
of works.30
frame. Banarasidas tells the tale because it so pleasesform),
him, Man
used for verse or prose narratives composed for a variety
Mem Ai, and he relates it for the benefit of his circle ofof
friends; he as pure entertainment, for chronicling historica
purposes,
exhorts them to 'Sunahu Kan Dhari Mere Mitra1 (p 7),events
listen and
to itfor hagiography, the most famous example of which
attentively my friends. The tale is not only a spiritualare
biography;
the Vaishnava hagiographies of the Vallabha community
it unfolds as a reflection on Banarasi's own character, stemming
on his life*From the Braj area. The second expression he uses is
experiences, and on the passing of time. Depicting the'charita'
"ripening
or 'charitra'. Charitra in Sanskrit is used for character
of the hero's subjectivity, released in action", it marks ancharita
while early tells of the deeds and exploits of a figure; it means
modern sense of biography as entwined with history.27 And it
action orismovement in life, which can be either an imagined
this self-reflexive mode that makes its juxtaposition with the
(Dashakumaracharita) or an actual historical event (Harshacharita)
Charita is one mode amongst many of 'kavya' (poetry) in th
novel in its early 19th century form of particular interest.
sense of literature, and it can be both in prose or verse. It is then
3.1 Language and Genre not a genre as such, but a mode that articulates itself in differen
Banarasi was acutely conscious of the many languages and liter-
literary formats, though, in specific historical, cultural contexts i
canfrom
ary cultures of the time, and his work seems to emerge become
an generically stable. In Hindi usage charitra and
amalgam of these. His grandfather, Muldas, had been in the
charita have been collapsed to mean the same thing: a life
story.31
service of a Mughal official of high rank in Malwa in the Tulsidas' famous Ramcharitmanas22 and Banarasi-
capacity
of a 'modi', or financier, and had studied Hindugi and Farsi.or
charita Hecharitra are then both life stories, albeit of very
informs us towards the end of the work that he himself has acasts; the one has a clear theological frame, the other
different
Economie & Political weekly EDS august 23, 2008 49

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SPECIAL ARTICLE = _=.-==
is biographical-s
The authority that stems from the elders of the clan is cited
known models in that he addresses his listeners and readers
and forms a moral backdrop to the story, though it has no
initially in the first person, to then shift to the third personimmediate
to impact on Banarasi. It is something that he nonethe-
refer to himself, making his story an extraordinary blend less
of internalises, making both for his own self censure in retro-
intimacy and objectivity.33 Both the language and the literary
spect, and for reform when a political crisis throws his life into
disarray later.
format of the work are part of a vast canvas, spanning Persian,
Avadhi, and the spoken idiom of Agra (vlvidh desh bhasha), and
3.3 The Erotic and the Domestic
drawing from the cultural repertoire of Sufis, Shaivas and Jains.
In the meantime, however, Banarasi remains unimpressed by the
3.2 Merchant Ethos and Excess
advice of the elders and continues in his dissolute ways, with gay
In considering Ardhakathanak briefly here, I focus on what itfor the way of frugal and upright merchanthood. Love,
disregard
learningof
conveys of the norms, normative instances and transgressions and spirituality continue to rule his days. Even as he
studies Jain works with the newly arrived monks in town to
merchant life and the resolutions that Banarasidas eventually
satisfy his spiritual cravings, he writes an erotic verse for his
finds for his own idiosyncratic needs and excesses. Ardhakathanak
reflects faithfully the merchant ethos discussed above: valori-
beloved. We get little sense of his love object; not surprisingly,
sation of the frugal and censure for the extravagant. As
shebecomes
remains of a type. Later in life, when he begins to settle down,
quickly clear at the beginning of the story, a merchant is both
we do, however, get a rare glimpse of domesticity.
For a variety of reasons, Banarasi's business ventures have
protected and ruled by the elders of the clan and its •panchayat',
or council of elders, who keep a close watch on his moral and unsuccessful. Having exhausted his means in a parti-
remained
financial credit and credibility. Kharagsen, Banarasi's father,
cular venture, Banarasi chooses not to go back home to his father
had risen from penury to wealth with the help of his kin. He
empty-handed, but gp instead to his second wife, the sister of his
managed the wealth of his former patron and partner when
first heIt is clear that she sees him rarely. But on this occasion
wife.
died, and he saw to the marriage of the patron's daughter.
they talk through the night and he tells her of the fate that has
Kharagsen found a suitable groom for her and had her married with
befallen him in Agra. She spontaneously offers him the 20 rupees
she has
great pomp and ceremony. He presented her with a large dowry saved. "Do not despair, my husband", she says, "for if a
in gold
and precious things and called a council of five elders to man
decide howhe can yet achieve everything" (p 53). She later corners
lives
much of the joint wealth he had shared with her father her rightfully
mother and tells her that her husband needs help but that his
belonged to her. He gave her all that was judged to be her father's share,
sorry state is to be kept a secret from everyone. She says quite
keeping nothing that was legitimately hers for himself (pp 10-11).34
explicitly that she fears to lose him: "O mother", she beseeched
The panchayat of elders is then closely involved inher, decisions
"as I am your daughter, help me in my need. My very honour
involving wealth, shared property and its distribution. is at stake. If you cannot do something within a few days, my
Banarasidas' indulgences manifest themselves earlyhusband
on. He is
is sure to leave us and go away. Though he does not utter
a word,
brought up in comfort and sent at the appropriate age to schoolhe
tois tormented with shame and humiliation" (p 53).
learn reading, writing and accounts. But he becomes'Inunduly
a rush of emotion, Banarasi proposes that they both go to
absorbed in the pursuit of knowledge (Vidya mem rame') and"But she dissuaded me, Jaunpur is in a state of turmoil,
Jaunpur.
continues to study till well into his 14th year, far beyond the
afflicted with a hundred troubles. Why not go to Agra once again?
needs of a merchant. He then acquires another absorbing passion
That is the right place for you" (p 54).
that keeps him from any thought of earning money: He Banarasi's
falls in wives (he has three in succession) share his troubled
love with a courtesan in the wild and ecstatic manner of a dervish
life in one way or the other, but they never enter the forefront of
Casikhbaj'). Forgetting all thought of family propriety and honourThe wifely type presented in the one domestic scene in
the story.
Ctaji kul kan lok ki laj'), he devotes himself wholly to the
theworship
work, mistreated yet faithful, is a kind of constant, the other
of his beloved, even stealing money and jewels from hishalf,
father in speak, of the classic pairing: courtesan as object of love
so to
order to buy her choice presents. But a spiritual restlessness also
and faithful wife as a resource to be drawn upon in the hour of
drives him. He seeks out holy men, displaying excessive gullibil-
need. We will meet her again in the 19th century, though tinged
ity and falling time and again into the trap set for himwith a Victorian hue. There will be a very similar scene in
by charla-
tans and rogues. Pariksha Guru when the wife will come to the rescue of her finan-
Banarasidas does go to Khairabad to bring his wife home

cially strapped husband by offering to clear his debts with her
after their marriage, suffering through a severe illness in jewels.
bag of the
process, but he is soon back to his old pursuits ('panali chal').
In Jaunpur, the elders Cgurujan') of the clan ('kul 3.4 The Way of the Righteous
kutumb')
accost him gravely: Banarasi is acutely aware of the state of his own mind and the
Pay attention, son, to what the old and experienced have todesires and impulses that drive him. He is as conscious of the
say. Give
up your ways of love, since love is for the darvesh, not for you. Give upof
passing time as he is of the ups and downs of public life,
your foolish pursuit of learning, since learning is only for brahmans
whether in Jaunpur or in Agra. In fact, the crucial moments in his
and bards (bambhan aru bhat). A merchant's son (banikputra) should
tend shop. Do not forget that a man who is too studious has life arefor
to beg often tied to political events, and he refers explicitly to
food (p 33). them, thus marking time not only astronomically, but also by
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-
of his third and last son, he tells us that he is still beset with
critica
sorrow. He takes melancholy stock of his life:
turning
in A him
full nine children lived and died:/bereft the parents twain/as trees
at leaf fall, stumps remain.35
had so
life car
It is this melancholy that marks the last sections of the story.
learnin
The concluding verses contain the sum of his observations, of
himself and of people at large. He tells us that there
with te are three
will bri
kinds of people. The best are those who praise others and speak
I only of their own faults. The
was worst are those
sit who praise
fulthemselves and find fault in others. In the middle are those who
new
with vio
do a bit a both, and this is where he belongs. He details his good
fell dow
and bad features in five 'chaupais' (quatrains). Never entirely the
When
sober merchant, he describes his own personality as perpetually
holy m
fun loving, citing his love of dancing and fooling around, even as
before
he proclaims his firm grounding in the Jain faith. Banarasi ends
the Go
his story then with psychological and moral reflections on his
the riv
own personality, condensing the kind of philosophical observa-
an tions that has been
unt scattered throughout the work.
past
A man's life is supposed to reach itswa
full span at a 100 and 10.
Having reached the halfway point, with the future beingth
From some-
dharam
thing of which god alone ('bhagvant') has knowledge, Banarasi
and
tells us that he can look beca
back at his life in a way from which others
Ofcan also benefit.not
The last 'doha' (couplet) proclaims:
repute
The story of the last 55 years of my life covers half of Banarasi's deeds
financ
in life (chant). Wicked men will laugh at this tale, but friends will
should
surely give it glad ear and attentive year and recite it to each other.
This work contains 675 donas and chaupais. All those who hear, recite
breadw
and read it will benefit from it (pp 9Ó-97).36
roti de
sends h
It is this frame, of the knowledge and wisdom derived from a
Toward
whole life span, which makes his deeds or charita, worth telling.
who in
It is a remarkable if not a model life, one that may well claim the
devoted
designation 'chartita' in its title. It contains the spiritual dimen-
immen
sions of the Sufi masnavis, even if the plotting follows its own
period
course. And it can certainly fit into the large body of work that
with al
called itself bat or varta, since it is a story well told, though it
social
expands in new directions, becoming the life story of an indivi- c
gives
dual who does not fit into the contours of merchant life. Even as h
others
he registers the moral authority emanating from the elders of his
other
clan and community Ckul kutumb'), antf the spiritual guidance o
once ag
provided by the Jain laity as well as by monks,37 Banarasi at no
Banara
point suggests that his life is anything other than self-propelled.38
histor
His self-reflexivity about having to function within the ethos of
ascends
the merchant community as well as within a wider political
wife
frame, and his sense of historical time make his lifedi
story an early
fated
modern work of exceptional clarity and insight. t
alienation from those around him. His release from this condi-
4 19th Century Delhi: 'True' Merchanthood and the
tion comes in 1635 when a wise Jain teacher, Rupchand Pande,
Welfare of the Nation
comes to Agra to stay at the house of Tihuna Sahu (p 90). It is he
who finally explains the doctrine that has so long eluded Banarasi.
The traits of the merchant community depicted by Shrinivasdas
"All my doubts and questionings were put to rest and I became a(1851-1888) in Pariksha Guru29 bore much resemblance to the one
new man. I had, at last, gained true and profound insight into the
depicted by Banarsidas 200 years before. The cohesion and exclu-
Jain doctrine of relativism" (p 91). With the resolution to his long-siveness of merchant communities continued to be supported by
standing spiritual quest, we are coming to the conclusion of
caste panchayats who took care to resolve disputes. Reputations
Banarasi's tale. and credits in the bazaar were still linked to lifestyles deemed
However, it is not to share his newly found wisdom alone that
frugal or excessive, and the connection to temples and charitable
works still determined one's status and standing in the
Banarasi seems to have penned his tale. Two years after the death
Economic & Political weekly Q2S3 august 23, 2008 $1

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SPECIAL ARTICLE ~=^-=. -ZZ3=r^=^=^=-
community. In the workwith

fact, in its first edition is 'anubhav dvara upadesh milne
modern modes ki
samsari varta' (the worldly tale
of fluctuating reputations of acquiring instruction by means
travelled faste
distance networks of
that were
experience). Setting now
forth the wide-ranging better
generic tradition m
Yet, merchant . of the bat or
ways varta, it is the worldly-secular
were changing vein that is now clearly
as w
city and the new foregrounded.44 Theprovided
frame modern novel is entering secular
by space,the
courts, not to where personal and
mention social issues lifestyle
the are to be resolved without refer-
of th
made for a ence to world.
shifting religion or spiritualityThese
- spheres now seen shifts
as inhabiting s
first extensive an altogether separate realm.
narrative In the English dedication,
venture init is thethe
from "dilli agare noveltyboli".
ki of the venture thatShrinivasdas
Shrinivasdas emphasises, describing w
themes in it as "mylife
merchant humble attempt at novel writing".
that had This dedication
preocc is
and the means foraddressed
coming to Lala Shri Ram, oneto
of the first
termsstudents from Delhi
with
wrote from a to have secured an ma and
noticeably 19thone of the most energetic members of
century pe
to privilege traditional ways
the Delhi municipal council.45 Shrinivasdas in the
eulogises him for his fac
anticipated those deep interest in "everythingand
changes connected with
the the weal of the
new
learning being imported from
people of India by showing them the
by your own example the best we
social and moral experience" asked
means of civilising the country". He clearly for
does not see the need
tale for the to explain theof
merchants novel as the
a form to his English readers, but in the
city.41
Shrinivasdas belonged to he an
longer Hindi dedication takes uponaffluent
himself the task of explain- and
family of Delhi and
ing it to hisMathura.42
readers. The work is written in an entirelyThough
new style.
through his familyThe
tonarrative
an will no longer be 'silsilevar', or sequentially
important new te
in his novelistic ordered, and there will
work therebe no formal introductions
is no of the chara-
men
spiritual cters at the start
institution, or of the text. Instead, it will contain
indeed, of a portrait
spiri
frame of reference(chitra)46
for of an merchant life.
imaginary gentleman Ckalpit rais') of Delhi. InNeit
authority in caste order to make the portrayal more naturalwhich
panchayats, ('svabhavik'), special are
sence in the attention
novel. The will be paid to everyday speech
sense of Csadharan bolchal').
commu
talk, a mode of The author will not make explicit who is speaking, only when the whi
information-sharing
break reputation, need arises. With (credit)
sakh the introduction of paragraphs
isandstill
syntactical rel
also new marks (inverted commas,
institutions of commas, colons, semi-colons,
moral and interro- po
papers control gations,
local exclamation marks, parenthesis and
reputation, full stops) matt
and the
in law courts reader will learn
presided overhow to read by
the work British
in the new way. The jud
The span of business of novel writing innovel
Shrinivasdas1 modern Hindi wasis
framed as a
not a
asidas' tale, but response to
five the changing perceptions of self and society
event-filled days rather in
young merchant, than as a mere imitation of a prestigious literary form from
Madanmohan.43 He li
style of the "great sahu"
Europe. The new literary form was (banker)
thus voicing and fulfilling n
the residential and
what werebusiness
perceived to be the new demandscentre
of the times. of
mohan wavers uncertainly between
Nonetheless, in considering the formal aspirations oiPariksha
Mughal ra'is of the
Guru, we
city
should keep inand
mind that the
shallow
new reader was also the im
the west. old reader. Shrinivasdas drew upon the literary cultures of the
Set up as a model Indo-Persianate
against world familiar
this to his readers and the newly
extravagan
class values as opened Anglo-European one. Heby
represented invoked asBrajkisho
his model works as
is the new various as the Mahabharata,
professional man Stribodh
who(Instruction for Women,
continu
the older one of
lifestyle, the many manuals
but with for women some
in circulation at this time),
modif
western influence Gulistan,
even the works of
as Oliver he
Goldsmith,allows
the essays of Lord Bacon,
selec
ate his own life. What becomes
and the Spectator, the moralising 18th century apparent
weekly in English.
on there are
two competing
Another important model was Hitopadesha, the value
collection of 'niti- sy
merchant katha' or didactic
community must tales that were not explicitly invoked
come to but term
frequently cited as moral authority.47 The niti-katha compiled in
4.1 Language and Genre the Hitopadesha or Panchatantra, with their pragmatic, this-
There are also two literary traditions that are major reference
worldly morality, gelled well with the kind of moral observation,
social realism and idealised character portrayal - the perfect
points for the new writers that work in this period: the older
Indian and the newer western. The need to operate within both friend,
is the ideal wife - presented in the essays of the English
reflected in the very terminology Shrinivasdas uses in presenting
moralising weekly and the writings of Goldsmith, particularly his
the book to his readers. As in Banarasidas' tale, the work Vicar of Wakefield (1766).
moves between different genres, in its self-description as also In spite of the fact that the 41 chapters of Pariksha Guru are
in the narrative techniques that it adopts. In the Hindi title,
offered within a single narrative frame, they read like weekly
Shrinivasdas denotes the work as a worldly tale; the subtitle of
instalments. The chapters are kept short - an average of seven
52 august 23, 2008 D2SI Economic & Political weekly

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- ' - ^=-
printed factors
pages - a
c
the what beg
narrator is
being set forth
('dharma f
of the aphoristi
lowly m
essays, such as
consider'
Milap' ones.
(the On
meet
ki racha
(goodliness), 'Mit
(true affection)
('nirarth
there are
be scenes
witho
from traditional
with Bra
the 'dastan' or
pronoun v
when the moral
sachcha m
interspersed
tions to
of
motley lary
sources
to th
self-refle
chapters tend to
this happens the
say, it 4.2 Urba
moves be
elevated languag
Banarasi
Through the tra
through
the moral essay
from f
tow
another, the
with pri
the
lated asdescripti
paramo
nature and tend
topograp
want, greed,
whether lu
reached; success
tales wer
outcome, the
place. ke
Bu
relationships, th
environm
of friends and
mixtured
the 'svabhava'
details (n
of
the keyMadanm
concept
only a ments
part of in
th
work itself. Only
elaborate
only pariksha
the c
city,
finally, only
This sev
gard
make a person
of the se
can
The primary
There d
wer
shorter,at places,
episodic
places, cr
resolutions foun
of all var
tained narrative
fish and
geographical
centreand
of
and arou
socio-political fr
least peacocks
partly crea
bhadom,
as being propelle
the midd
ers not only
chairsof
plt
tive, the nation.
eight grea
a man ceilings,
lives from
scious tables,
effect an
on
and moth
pragmatic call to
betel nut.
their needs.
a billiard
How does one
other re
thi
fast the walls had floral mosaics to
rules towhich the luster of mica added a
det
aptly silvery glitter. Material worth thousands of rupees was bought each
entitled '
month for this house (pp 177-78).
evil), the teachin
The The very interior of his establishment
'vritti' reflects the change in
(disp
here, takes
lifestyle. Though modelled on the garden houses of bot
the Mughuls,51
individual into
Madanmohan has collected a variety of new fangled articles of
Economic & Political weekly H2S august 23, 2008 53

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SPECIAL ARTICLE ^eee -
furnitur
This
to co
binocular
ings moha
also
tion
keeps a v
full them
of th
But the
whatn
Cjhuthi
It is n
journals,
repre
merc
goods fro
he w
mentione
show
honorary
Most
effort to
comm
showy ac
and howe
fro,
host of
and h
s
law
plotted o
fo
Madanm
could
and sahuk
song
in 'svab
his car
(tria
pleasant,
life,
blowing i
goodcoale
frie
have
Chunnila
Chunnila
Brajk
by Mada
the c
INDIA ECONOMY CHAIR

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54 august 23, 2008 ODO Economic & Political weekly

223.185.129.210 on Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:08:17 UTC
=
revive the
are offered a view of this gallery of rogues, colourful and unscru- D
important
pulous in the best style of the niti tales, though here, in the novel,
they are described in more psychological and idiosyncratic
dispensing
court). And
detail.53 It is their vivacious commentary and conversation that
a makes for the vibrant realism of the novel. They are the scum
successful
the new
that is formed by mixing the new with the old. Theyid
are clerks,
only middle as
men, the newly forming lower
a middle class, half-edu-
m
points
cated and needy, with a smattering out
of knowledge about the new
progress of
ways, and with slim chances of rising in their own profession.
hilaye bina
An almost inadvertent gaiety characterises their operations and
food counter-operations,
does with Madanmohan fluttering between n
(p 199). Tha
them, torn to and fro between his own caprices and the interests
of his courtiers.
Those who s
abandon the
But things can hardly remain suspended in this state of eternal
of those wh
pleasure seeking. Amongst all of these hangers-on, there is also
they just ma
one Harkishor. It is the clash of his character with the rest that
tion they o
brings about the catastrophic denouement. Harkishor's offer to
machines, n
in procure goods is twice rejected by Madanmohan. Deeply
commer
good (p 201). offended, Harkishor asks for the money owed to him for past
In the catastrophic denouement of the novel, when Madan- services. The money does not materialise and Madanmohan's
mohan's sins catch up with him, and he is considered to be hangers-on manage to throw Harkishor out of the house.
insolvent by his many creditors, the question that Brajkishor Harkishor promptly declares that the penurious state this brings
poses is not a psychological one, but a larger social and about makes for the loss of his sakh in the bazaar (p 233). He duly
political one: sets out to take revenge, spreading a rumour about Madanmo-
If Indians today have become addicted to the emulation of the English, han's impending insolvency in order to destroy Madanmohan's
instead of indulging in the imitation of meaningless things like eating sakh. The narrator devotes a lively chapter or two to Harkishor's
habits and so on, why don't they emulate their genuinely good quali- rumour mongering. Various friends under various pretexts refuse
ties? Why don't they adopt their views concerning the welfare of the
to give Madanmohan the loan he now needs to satisfy the
country, craftsmanship and commerce? (p 330).
demands of his now nervous creditors. The narrator dwells on
The fate of the individual has come to be tied up with larger the behaviour of these friends at some length. Some show regard
issues. It is this widened perspective, this awareness of the for him initially, others simply avoid him. His sakh in the bazaar
individual placed in the larger context - social, historical, political is ruined, and with» modern modes of communication this news
- and temporally of past, present, and a collective future to be has travelled fast.54
collectively shaped, that makes for the necessity of the single Meanwhile, Brajkishor devises a plan to send Madanmohan's
narrative framework provided by the novel and for the new faithful wife back to her natal home in Meerut. Left alone,
spaces that this new literary form opens up. Madanmohan's fortunes rapidly decline, and his household
collapses in disarray and confusion. His servants steal shame-
4.3 Instances of Moral Authority: lessly. In the face of domestic unrest, Brajkishor threatens that he
Bazaar, Akhbar and Adalat will charge all the servants under the Indian Criminal Code
Article 408: "You are tigers in your own lanes. You can do what
We enter the tale directly, without any preamble. The novel opens
you like here, but your roar will impress no one in the court"
at an English merchant's shop, one that offers fancy fripperies at
exorbitant prices. The two English shopkeepers are depicted as(p 235). Here we may see how the court is being invoked to deal
self-seeking and exploitative, aware of the advantages they enjoy
with domestic crises. The influence of the court will soon perme-
ate other spheres of Madanmohan's life.
in the British raj. At first we see the main characters in the novel
in dramatic sequences; and only later, in chapters showcasing In the next scene, Madanmohan sits glumly in his reception
their arguments and counter-arguments on moral and social chamber Cdivankhana') when he happens to glance at a
issues, do we become privy to their inner thoughts. Brajkishor newspaper. An article catches his eye: The Outcome of a
Cultivated Life':
presents "the enlightened view"; he propagates a cautious moder-
nity, where the new ways are duly modified and practised in Observing the initial ascent of a young, well educated rais in our city,
moderation. Madanmohan and his friends champion new we not only nurtured the hope but even gave it expression, that in
fashions and crave instant satisfaction. It is their 'kathametat' some time we would surely see him act in a way that would have
("how is this"), in the style of the Hitopadhesha, which prompts immediate effects on the welfare of the country. This hope, we are
sorry to say, has now been crushed in its entirety. In fact, all signs to
Brajkishor to go on and on at times. It is only once we have come
the contrary are manifesting themselves. In a matter of days, three of
to know these friends that we are offered lively character sketches
four lakhs have been cleanly wiped out. There was a young man
which integrate with elegant irony the speech and perspective of named Durmody(?) in the west, who had such a sharp mind that at the
the character himself. In chapter nine, 'Sabhasad' (courtiers), we age of nine that he could be found teaching his fellow pupils Greek and
Economic & Political weekly O2S9 august 23, 2008 55

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SPECIAL ARTICLE eeeeee=
Latin. But his hand

ways over the
thereafter matte
did not b
very different from
just what
wantsthe
tobeginni
scare
reformers just appear to be reformer
serious legal troubl
improve their nature and their thought
such tendencies,
Harikishor
no trace of it
manag
remain
The poor become arrest
anxiousissued.
about Mada
food a
no leisure from debtor's
the prison.
relentless pursuit o
ment. Who has the time to think about
Who is to
discussions
4.4 foster
The Erotic and the Domestic about Art
impoverished state of the country an
gone awry, we
The transformation
are filled
of Madanmohan's
with
charactermuch
begins in earnest r
country, we can as he faces hiswish
only final pariksha that
(test). In prison for a night, he w
those
the welfare of experiences
the extreme distress, causing
country, whoa change of create
heart that will
lamp, be forthwith exposed.
link back to the restoration So
of his domestic situation. tha
We need to
opened and they don't take the jackal
recall that Madanmohan leads the life typical of his kind. The
himself (pp 383-84).
many courtesans who come into his life remain faceless, but we
His sakh and are told conduct
his that they take up much of his
are time and now
money. His
judged, in a forum that
hangers-on spoke goes
temptingly of Amirjan, a famous beyo
courtesan of
press administers this
Lucknow who new
was visiting Delhi, as well as of morali
a male dancer from
collective there. They fix performancesnot
responsibility, of well known singers from the
only fo
nation at large. Gwalior gharana,57 and they plan a trip to the Qutub, accompa-
In his hour of nied by a troupe of singers
need, and dancers. Madanmohan's wife
Madanmohan
out, is Brajkishor. Though
remains equally he she
nameless and faceless. However, had
is idealised
Madanmohan, he
in a wayhas kept
Banarasidas does watch
not even suggest. o
Without the presence
Brajkishor has not
of the new kindbeen not
of wife, the new way totall
of life would be incomplete;
Mr. Burchell in itGoldsmith's Vicar
would only tell half a story. In this respect, Madanmohan's wifeo
omnipresent. At one
has stepped stage,
straight out of'Stribodh', he
as it were, for she has ad
all
profession has made him
the Victorian virtues worthy
of a good and thrifty housewife and of a
that he can be unduly verbose,
loving and caring mother who carefully supervises the ofte
education
even though it of her children:
bores people (p 344).
We are taken inside the courthouse
With very little expense she has seen to such good arrangements in
which Brajkishor
the house handles
that Madanmohan does not havethe deb
to expend the least labour
quick repayment of
at home. the
When she has leisure, sheloans they
does not sit idly, gossiping about other
han. Chapter 32 people

isandsimply
chattering about jewels and jewellery,
entitled, she practises reading
and writing, embroidery and drawing pictures, etc... The children are
The court is in session and the judge is
very small but while playing, she teaches them the basic moral princi-
are seated in their places. Nihalchand
ples and unawares, by increasing their knowledge of things, she slowly
Latif Hussein is the lawyer on his side.
stimulates their own natural capacity to increase their knowledge. But
questions from Madanmohan's side.
she does not burden their minds, there is no hindrance to their freedom
Hindi55 at Madanmohan's place in his c
to indulge in innocent play and laughter (pp 293-94).
very well how bankers' records were ke
fee and looked The new merchant and
through the professional
his accountsman both need their t
were needed in other half
this to manage their
case, it domestic
was sphere with care and
purely
loans (pp 357-78).
efficiency. And it is this preoccupation with the role of the good
The language of
wife this
in the domestic economy, chapter
the projection of a male nationa--
connected withlist the law
fantasy,58 that and
will become so lawye
vital to the structure of the
vocabulary that novel as it will evolve in modern Hindi. We need to
characterised note however,d
this
period, and the narrator
that many makes
of the features extolled by the novel, Madanmohan's
expressions as spouse sets forth the
alien. As model of the good wife Cpativrata') we
Brajkishor
reveals, the loans
know from
had Ardhakathanak
been and a myriadagreed
other tales: u
mohan's servants; the
With regard details
to her husband, were
Madanmohan's wife was truly affection- n
books. Why? Apparently Lala
ate, well-wishing, a companion in pleasure as Ma
well as pain and obedi-
sums he requiredent. In
be the beginning
handedMadanmohan also held over
her in great affection.
in
But when he began to keep the company of friends such as Chunnilal
that this was so? There was no pr
and Shimbhudayal, he caught the addiction of dance and music, and
who had advanced the loan, was r
went into raptures over the false airs and graces of the courtesans...
books in their entirety
His poor, simple, able wife beganbecause th
to seem rustic to him. For a while
sions he had given to
things were kept secret, but Madanmoh
how can there be pleasure in the flower of
illegal, both love after a worm has entered it? (pp
Nihalchand and291-92). the se
crimes. The It will take a while
judge, who for Madanmohan
is to revive
shownthe flower of love. t
says "Look here,The
ifprison any
scene is remarkable
kind for its focus
of on Madanmohan's
frau
SO august 23, 2008 OBS Economic & Political weekly

223.185.129.210 on Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:08:17 UTC
■---'- ------
interiority and for its new determined

valorisation of family life. Once
increasingly by
left alone in his narrow, pitch dark
family haddungeon of a cell, an
become...
courthouse has been emptied, with not a single person in
...a metaphor for society and ther
we are afforded a glimpse of the reality...
social new interiority which
As father Ma
figure, t
mohan expresses and to which he becomes
that social stability subject.
dependedTher
on
families.
thinks of his past life and of his many In this scenario,
friends who fail bank fa
to live
attention on the breakdown of th
the expectations one can have of genuine friends, that is to
social relations.59
who deserted him in his hour of need:
It is these links between the do
At this stage, it is extremely difficult to lay bare {prakat karna)
mental reflections of Lala Madanmohan. When before
to be set right, he thinks about
the tale th
ca
luxury from his childhood toBrajkishor
this day, darkness
manages wells up befor
to free Mad
eyes. The pleasurable chatter
hisof Lala Hardayal
debtors; and
he clears other
his plea
name a
loving friends, the false affection of Chunnilal, Shimbhudayal
position of power, even if as a
others, song and dance functions till the early hours of the morn
needs to be noted, that for all th
being surrounded by sycophants at all hours of the day, yes to ev
wish of his, praise lavished atcharacteristic of the pleasure
the slightest occasion, and at all th
sta
the readiness even to sacrificehis
their lives: when
roguish he compares
figures, all th
and perhaps
his situation today, and thinks about their
realism, that ungratefulness, then
they are allowed t
heart wallows in sorrow (p 403).
teristic of the social reform agen
And he wonders what willtary
become of once
tone, him at
he 60 ifseen
has this the
is w
he already feels at 30. He himself asks
thinks of that and
death his tale be wri
is immedi
can benefit
filled with the fear of ghosts. from it.
His imagination begins to
tricks on him. He sees all The
kinds of monstrous
suffering shapes,
that ought to haveh
deafening sounds, and feels physically
folly burdened
has now done falling by
upo
sparing myself
enormous weight of these apparitions. falsely of
He thinks now. For
his t
god
like the whole account to be
pleads for help, and in the Madanmohan
end,said. overcome by fear and em
he faints. This could be a moment for spiritual revela
Is there need of it? Those who want to learn will find the world full of
Instead, when he comes to, he finds his head cradled
moral treatises, said Lala Brajkishor, thinking over the matter with
woman's lap. Could it be his wife?
regard Is she also an apparition
to his own person.
hot tears wet his face. He shuts his eyes, refusing to believe
There's no need to ashamed of things which are true. I want with all
real person. Brajkishor has sneaked
my heart that once my faultsherbecome into the
public, people prison
have their eyes
shortly after she leaves, opened
he by himself will I'll
seeing their [ill] consequences. appear. But i
tell you all about the
meantime, she offers her love and
people I talked devotion.
to and the things I said to themAtso that first
you can put he
them down in your account, said Lala Madanmohan enthusiastically
quiet, out of fear. But when the woman tries to give him str
(P422).
and courage, he can no longer hold back his feelings: "Of al
mistakes I have made till now, I have
Madanmohan will have
to yet makemade the
his change of heart public. most mis
The primacyaof social
with regard to you. I mistook diamondconcern and corrections,
for as Ramvilas
a mereSharma pebble
(i975-mistaking
cast you far away for me, PP 93-99) has pointed out, directly
a sired the didactic-realistic necklace
valuable
tradition that is set
serpent" (p 407). The affections to forthbe
in the early novels of Premchand. for the wife
reserved
domesticity that now includes small children - who make a
5 Conclusion
appearance, babbling childish patter - is presented with a
Madanmohan's
mentality that we are seeing for 'samsari
the varta'first
or the 'kalpit
timechitra' of
in a 4rais',
a t
which
merchant life. We have only towas think
at the same of
"a humble
the attempt
nine at novel writing" ends B
children
thus onwas
asidas lost, not one of whom a note very similar to Banarasicharita
described to the or Ardhakathanak.
reader,
how the idea of the family, emerging as it does inalso
But the differences between the two works are vast. If
the there
reso
of this novel, is extremely are lessons to be drawn from the respective life-stories, in the
significant.
Madanmohan's crisis in the one case, prison
these will be restricted
cell to a smaller circle
does, of friends and
however,
fellows in the community
some resemblance to Banarasidas's moment of Adhyatma,
ofinilluminatio
the second a wider,
and more
Ardhakathanak. In that tale, the anonymous
plunge reading public stands
into to profit at
despair from the
them.
If we see "the
of Akbar's death had set him mediation of literary
thinking about model as form of
his way experience,
of
model of perception
After his climactic fall from the stairs and elaboration of reality to
leading itself,his
and genre
ho
as "a model
he gave up his literary and of realitypursuits,
erotic which mediates the empirical world"
abandonin
[Conte:
licentious ways and finally 112], that which
gaining credit distinguishes
as athe two works is also
merchant
eyes of his father and thethrown into stark relief if we juxtapose
community. Butthe hetemporal
had frames
ne
within which theywith
thought to repair his relationship operate. Banarasidas'
his wife sense ofnor
historical time
inde
is acute but
view it as in any way skewed toit consists
begin in registering
with. with However,
some consternation the
in
coming
new climate of social change, and going
for the of emperors,
banker the corresponding
in an environm births and
Economic ÄPolitical weekly OSS august 23, 2008 57

223.185.129.210 on Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:08:17 UTC
SPECIAL ARTICLE
influe
deaths in t
dar. Parik
The na
of emer
secular
He group
sets as t
exper
others to r
style
future, tha
prise unsta
to cr
Lala most
Shrin
frequ
For that pr
time, expou
and th
vocab
divided int
Modernity
tant m
Europe's 18
to po
historical t
the e
newer, secu
sense jethan
of pr
ment
allowing ind
assumption
instan
the future,
poten
of successfu
decad
These dim
aroun
any then alsonotio
in Hindi.
notes 5 Ardhakathanak seems to be an almost picture book rather than the more extensive Agra Gazetteers,
1 As illustration
for of the early modern in south Asia as it since it is easy to access and recalls many forgotten
instanc
Guru, has unfolded in the scholarly discussion
Dalmia in the last details of the 19th and 20th century Agra, unlikely (
years, especially in the works of Rao, Shulman and to be found elsewhere.
2 Literary hist
Subrahmanyam on literature and historiography in 12 See Stark (2007: 49*53) for more information on
move between
genresouth India. I find particularly
in relevant their printing and
Hindi publishing in Agra in the 19th century.
and notion of the early modern as marked most of all 13 See Naim.(2003) for a discussion of Hin
erudite the late origin
by its new sense of timeupon
builds and of self, of events of this nostalgia. I thank Francesca
his Orsini for
"strongly
ularly and necessarily connectedtheto the prior drawing my attention tocom this essay.
context
(1968-69); of intelligible causes", of the peculiarity or a
14 King (1976: 212-13).
of individuals "with complex motivations and an
trajectory, such
15 Cf Gupta (1981: 42-43).
interior depth", operating in a world which is no
synoptic Real
longer idealised or predictable (2003: 136-37). 16 Gupta (1981:50, 51).
Society in India
6 Taylor (1989: 103). 17 King (1976:219). There are huge clock towers also
of regional dif
in Lucknow - the tallest in India apparently - as
7 The very term Khari boli, as Lallujilal pointed view
"holistic of
well as in Allahabad in the Chowk. I am grateful
For out in
detailed his General Principles of Inflection and dis
to Francesca Orsini for drawing my attention to
Hindi Conjugation in the Braj Bakha (1811:
see iii), as cited these oarallel structures. McG
291-300). by Vedalankar (1969:63),« was used by the
Hindus of the region to distinguish it both from 18 Hasan (2005: 30-32).
3 Though after awarding the work this distinction,
Brajbhasha and the Perso-Arabie inflected 19 See the introduction and the essays by Pernau in
literary histories tend to dispose of its actual
'Rekhta'or Urdu. her edited volume on the Delhi College (2006) for
achievements in a few summary remarks.
detailed studies of the architecture and students
Contemporaries were ready to dismiss the novel. 8 I cite from Gopal Ray's edition of the work
(1966: 1 ff). of the college.
Gopal Ray (2002:53) has cited Balkrishna Bhatt's
20 For more information on the activities of the Delhi
scathing critique of the novel in the December 9 Bharatendu repeatedly resorted to literary models
1882 issue of Hindi Pradip, the journal he edited. in Bengali, particularly in the matter of dramatic Society, see Gupta (1981:97ft*). in addition to the
Bhatt found that the sweetness and elegance composition. In Natak (1884), the lengthy treatise quotation cited here.
of the prose of Bharatendu Harischandra on drama written in the last year of his life, he 21 Nazir Ahmad (1831-1912) had learnt Persian and
(1850-85), the leading literary figure of the day, was to refer explicitly to Bengali as the 'bari Arabic at the Aurangabadi Mosque in the city but
was entirely missing in this work. There was not bahin' (elder sister) of Hindi. For more on Bhara- had gone on to study in the Delhi College. He
even a glimpse, he complained, of the erotic and tendu's language, see Dalmia (pp 146-221). joined the British colonial administration
the comic 'rasas' that provided the primary 10 As A S Kalsi pointed out in an important essay: "It thereafter to become deputy inspector of schools.
aesthetic pleasures of the novel, or for that matter, may be further noted that sister languages like He acquired sufficient knowledge of English to
of the heroic and the sorrowful. Instead there was Urdu and Hindi, faced with new identical educa- translate the income tax law in 1859-60, followed
dry, discursive prose, which had no place in the tional needs, responded by producing similar di- by the translation of Indian penal code (1861).
dactic fictional works aimed at the education of His interest in education had led to a close
novel, not even if the novelistic genre were seen
as mere imitation of the English. More modern women. That this should have been so is to be association with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his
literary history has also reacted with some expected, that it should have remained unrecog- Aligarh College.
impatience. Shukla (1947:473 ff) devotes all of 10 nised across the critical boundaries that lie be- 22 As Bayly notes "Merchant arbitrations and caste
lines to a description of the work. Of late, however, tween Hindi and Urdu cannot be described as councils continued to operate but their judgments
it has begun to receive the attention it deserves. satisfactory. At a broader level, the Hindi fic- were increasingly challenged in civil courts;
See Trivedi (1993:211 ff) for some discussion of tional works discussed above probably provide 'respectable merchants' might then be asked to submit
the work and and Kalsi (1992), who offers an the first instance of Hindi drawing strength fromwritten evidence on custom, etc" (1983: 372).
in-depth analysis and evaluation. 23of
its elder sibling Urdu in the field of fiction, For an extensive discussion of merchant family
4 Kadambari was translated early on from the which the second important example was to beethos, see Bayly (1983: 370-93).
Bengali by Gadadhar Singh and serialised in seen in the last decade of the 19th century when
24 Cf Dundas: "One of the main concerns of Indian
Harishchandra's Magazine from its very first issue Devakinandan Khatri (1861-1936) drew upon themerchants, Jain and Hindu alike, in the early
in 1873; it was published in book form in 1879 Urdu dastans for his tilismi novels" (1990: 44). modern period was the gaining of abru, a Persian
with the subtitle Prachin Sanskrit Upanyas or 11 I draw the citations above from Shailaja Kathuria's word signifying 'prestige' or 'reputation' (the
Ancient Sanskrit Novel. introduction to Thomas Smith's Agra (2007), equivalent Sanskrit term 'pratishtha' was also
5° august 23, 2008 1129 Economic & Political weekly

223.185.129.210 on Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:08:17 UTC
used).It was 'abru'
us understand which
the moral tension in Glikl's text, a selection from the works of Hindi Avadhi
was the and tes
a merchant tensionwas creditworthy
heightened by her insertion of folktales at Brajbhasha poets: Kabir, Tulsi (Ramcharitmanas
and co
such respectability,
several junctures to illustrate or comment on the when confirm
and Vinaypat rika), Gang, Vrnda (who seems to be
generate story of her life (1997: 65-66).
further abru a favourite),
and and Girdhardas. still mo
concomitant financial
36 Lath's translation success.
of verses 674 and 675, slightly 48 On the significance of the moral essay in thisRep
based on publicly
emended. observable
period, see Dalmia (1997:260-267). beha
regarded as an
37 Cf Dundas: index
"Banarasidas is the best documentedof inner
49 On the importance of the niti kathapiety,
in the early
take the form early example of aof
trend withintheJainism, albeit organisation
literature of modern Marathi, see Raeside (1970). of
those of one's immediate relatives i
not a dominant one, which authorises lay people Blackburn has noted the importance of tales from
with certain
to take chargeessentially
of their own spiritual affairs the Panchatantraconservativ
in early Tamil literature. The
These would include
without reference to ascetic influence. He does lack of ostentat
Hitopadesha itself was one of the earliest Sanskrit
in the conduct of private and comme
works to be published in translation by the Fort
not depict himself, even in his pre-Adhyatma
strict vegetarianism
period, the bulk of his life, in fact, in which he
and temperan
William College. Translated by Lallujilal into
of overt involvement
followed a relatively conventional lay's path, as in political
Brajbhasha, it appeared in i860 under the tellingmatt
regulatedhavingmarriage
had any serious dealings with ascetics, title: alliances
Rajniti or Tales exhibiting the Civil and an
approach to business enterprises
Military Policy of the Hindus. It was to see in w
although admittedly he did study briefly with a
cial was credit generally several reprints. For advanced
bibliographical details, see
Shevatambara monk when young. This should
basis of short-term returns,
Krishnacharya (1966: 5O. and acti
alert us to a basic fact of lay experience in Jainism,
the religious sect to which one belon
namely that, contrary to lay ideology, the lay 50 Ian Watt cites Defoe as "the first of our writers
25 The discussion
person does not gain identity solely through was inter- given
who visualised aas
the whole of his narrative fur
Mukund Lath's brilliant translation o
action with ascetics and that a satisfactory and though it occurred in an actual physical environ-
into English, accompanied
fully Jain religious life may be constructed around ment" Ü1957) 1987:by26). an exte
duction and detailed historical annotations
events and practices in which ascetics play a 51 Cf Blake: "Mughal gardens were rectangular,
(1981). The citations from the work are in Lath's
minimal or non-existent path" (1992:167-68). surrounded by high walls broken by gateways,
translation, which I have occasionally modified to
•*8 Cf Rao Shulman and Subrahmanyam (2003: 166). and topped with towers, The principal design,
read more literally. Premi (1943) has a detailed from which the most intricate and elaborate
39 1The section on Pariksha Guru is partly based on
discussion of Banarasidas' language, from which
variations developed, featured a central pool
draw here. Snell (2005) has discussions of themy earlier essay, Dalmia (1998).
containing a small open structure called a bar ah ■
40 See Rajat Kama Ray (1984: 244, 248, 250-52).
language and metre and analysis of several key dari (summer house). Four wide canals led from
passages, including the scene with his wife,41toThus, Ian Watt on Defoe, Richardson and Field-
the pool to the surrounding walls. Smaller canals
which I will refer later. ing, whose work he saw as being affected not only
branched off from the major waterways and
26 See Lath (xxxiv-lxiv) for an extensive discussionby the changes in the reading public of their time subdivided the large rectangles. Colored flowers,
oftheAdhyatmasect. but "surely more profoundly conditioned by the
cypress trees (symbols of death and eternity),
27 As Rao, Shulman and Subrahmanyam have shown new climate of social and moral experience"
almond, plum, and mango trees (symbols of life
for slightly later narratives from the south(I1957) 19877). and hope), plumed birds, and fish of different
(2003:166-70). 42 His father Shri Mangilal had been manager of the sizes and colours filled the duly appointed garden.
28 He makes no mention of Padmavat (1540), todayenormously wealthy estate of the Mathura Seths, Members of imperial and noble families built
the best-known Sufi masnavi from the region. Radhakrishnadas and Gobinddas, recent converts
gardens on the banks of the Jamuna and in tree-
from Jainism to Vaishnavism under the influence
29 On the shifting geographical boundaries of shaded groves near the city gates. While the city
of Swami Rangacharya, whom, as Growse tells us
'madhyadesh' or middle country, used for centu- was being built, Shahjahan laid out a garden
ries to denote the area covered by the Indo-in his Mathura Gazetteer, they placed at the head called Khizrabad on the banks of the Jamuna
of the great temple of Shri Rangji in Vrindavan. about five miles south of the Akbarabadi gate of
Gangetic plains, see Lath (1981: 103-04).
See Growse ([1882] 1979: 14-16) for information on
30 Ardhakathanak is its modern name. the city... Outside the Kabul gate of the city Shahja-
the family, and for more on the temple (260-62). han constructed a garden filled with neem trees
31 I thank professor R K Sharma for clarifying the
The second of Mangilal's three sons, Shrinivasdas called Tis Hazari Bagh (Garden of Three Thousand)
use of these terms to me.
was educated at home in Hindi and Urdu. He had ... In 1650 Raushan Ara Begum constructed a large
32 According to Lath, the work was composed four
some Persian and Sanskrit, and was widely read garden in Sabzimandi" (p 62).
years after the Ramcharitmanas, which servedin English. He succeeded his father as the agent of
as a model for it. However, it seems unlikelythe Mathura Seths in Delhi, while his brother took 52 Uday Kumar notes the fascination that English
that Banarasidas knew the work; he shows little objects exercised on the novelists of this period:
over the management of the temple in Vrindavan.
awareness of its Sanskritic mould. He nowhere "It is not accidental that many of the early novels in
Shrinivasdas was a public figure of some note, the
mentions it, nor does the omission seem Malayalam display a fascination with collections of
Panjab government having asked him to occupy
deliberate, for he is eager to display what he objects - these can be seen as located at an intersec-
the posts of both municipal commissioner and
does know, so manifest is his reverence for tion of coordinates representing coherence and value.
honorary magistrate of Delhi. From all accounts,
learning and literature. According to Snell, the lndulekha presents two kinds of collections. The
he was urbane, courteous, and successful, devot-
Ardhakathanak was actually written a dozen first is Suri's collection of valuable objects, all gold
ing the time he could spare from business to liter-
years earlier than Ramcharitmanas. and silver, which he prepares to carry with him on
ary pursuits. He wrote articles, four plays of his visit to Indulekha's house... In contrast to this,
33 For reasons he explicates in his long introduction, varying quality, the novel that drew from his own
Mukund Lath chooses to retain the first person in there is a collection of 'English sorts of objects
professional experience in the city, and edited the
his translation. beautifully arranged in Indulekha's rooms.' This sec-
journal Sadadarsh from 1875 to 1876 when it was
ond collection of objects, laid out in a certain style in
34 Cf Bayly: "Panchayats for the arbitration of assimilated into the Kavivachansudha, the journal
order to constitute a new domestic space - that of
separations in joint-families took into account edited *by his close friend and literary mentor,
modern cultivation and style - in the early novel. This
matters such as the imminence of a daughter's Bharatendu Harishchandra.
can be seen especially in the description of the
marriage" (376: note 16). 43 Gopal Ray cites Jnanchandra Jain as noting that rooms of the nair men in Malabar and Madras. Round
35 Verse 643 in Snell's translation (2005:91). See the action plays itself out in five days, possibly tables, reclining chairs, painted mirrors, embroi-
Natalie Zemon Davis for similar strains of melan-
replicating the five-act scheme of the well-made dered covers, glass lamps, carpets and, sometimes in
choly in Jewish merchant biographies of the 17th play (2002:50). the centre, glass cupboards of books in English
century: "The autobiographical/biographical 44 The author is well aware of the novelty of his enter-
and in Sanskrit, beautifully bound and embossed
texts being used here have certain common prise in writing this in Hindi. On the back cover of with golden lettering - these objects conjure up a new
sources, even while their authors had divergent the first edition of the work is the announcement world of coherence, die universe of a new civility and
learning. Glikl began to write her Yiddish memoirs
that an Urdu translation will be appearing soon. new values" [in Mukheriee 2002:164].
in 1689 to help her fight the "melancholy
45 See Gupta (1981: 60, 75, 99, 195) for more infor- 53 Bharatendu Harichandra had written a short
thoughts" that followed the sudden loss of her mation on Lala Shri Ram.
first husband and then added to them during autobiographical piece that could have grown into
46 Interestingly, he does not invoke chanta or charitra a novel, Kuch Apbiti, Kuch Jagbiti (A story part
her years of widowhood and remarriage in
experienced by the self, part by the world) in 1877,
Metz. Though her experience keeping business 47 A wide range of Sanskrit works are cited, including
accounts may have encouraged her skills of self- the Mahabharata, Hahvamsha, Valmiki's which described just this experience, of a young
observation, her autobiography was not a spin off Ramayana, Manusmriti, Vishnupurana, Kaildasa's man of 23, wealthy and inexperienced, surrounded
from a ledger or a livre de raison, as was often the Raghuvamsha and finally, Viduraprajagara; there by rogues of all kinds: pimps, and moneylenders
case in Christian Italy and France. Rather, Jewish are also several Persian citations from Saadi; the and well wishers of motley hue -who praise his
life history was fostered by the centuries-old Quran is cited once. Further there is a profusion beauty, learning, talent, dress, taste, his women,
"ethical will", an exposition of moral lessons and of citations and references to English authors: horses and his very pigeons. For a detailed discus-
Chesterfield, William Cowper, Alexander Pope, sion of this piece, see Dalmia (1997: 297-99)-
personal wisdom passed on to one's children
along with instructions for one's burial and the Byron, and two plays of Shakespeare, Othello54 One of Madanmohan's most galling encounters,
arid The Merchant of Venice and an equally wide one which also documents the role that the new
disposition of one's goods. This connection helps
Economic &Political weekly HZ3 august 2.3. 2008 59

223.185.129.210 on Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:08:17 UTC
SPECIAL ARTICLE =
modes McGregor, R S (1970): The Rise of Standard Hindi,

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Merchant Tales and the Emergence of the Novel in Hindi

Author(s): Vasudha Dalmia

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INDIA ECONOMY CHAIR

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