THE MAKING OF REGIONAL CULTURES

 

CLASS-VII HISTORY

CHAPTER: 9.   THE MAKING OF REGIONAL CULTURES

 

How to associate people

•        Language

•         Clothing

•         Food

•         Dance and Music

•        Culture

•        Regional cultures are product of intermingling of local traditions with ideas from other parts of subcontinent

CHERAS

•        Chera kingdom of Mahodayapuram

•        Established in 9^th century

•        Language- Malayalam

•        Script- Malayalam

•        Earliest example of using regional language in official records

•        Temple theatre of Kerala got stories from Sanskrit epics

•        1^st literary work in Malayalam dated to 12^th century

•        14^th century: Lilatilakam, deals with grammar and poetics, was composed in Manipravalam- literally, ‘diamonds and corals’ refer to languages, Sanskrit and regional language

JAGANNATH CULT

•        Devotee of Vishnu

•        Puri, Odisha

•        Make wooden image of deity

•        Temple erected in 12^th century by Anantavarman, Ganga dynasty ruler

•        In 1230, king Anangabhima III dedicated his kingdom to deity and proclaimed himself as the deputy of the God

•        Temples gained importance

RAJPUTS

•        19^th century in Rajasthan (called Rajputana in British times)

•        Linked to ideals and aspirations of rulers

•        Prithviraj – ideal of hero- stories recorded in poems and songs

•        Dramatic situations and strong emotions- loyalty, friendship, love, valor, anger, etc.

•        Women were involved in valor

•        Sati or immolation of widows on funeral pyre of their husbands

 

KATHAK

·       In South India

·       Derived from – Katha (word used in Sanskrit)

·       Katha were caste of story tellers in North India

·       Evolved as dance in 15^th- 16^th century- spread of Bhakti Movement

·       Legends of Radha-Krishna enacted in folk plays- rasa lila (Combined folk dance with basic gestures of Kathak story-tellers

·       Performed in Mughal courts

·       Developed in two gharanas (Jaipur and Lucknow)

·       Under Wajid Ali Shah, last Nawab of Awadh it grew rapidly

·       By 19^th century, it spread to Punjab, Haryana, JK, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh

·       Viewed as disfavor by British administrator

•        Recognized as one of six ‘ classical’ forms of dance in the country after independence

Classical: performed based on rulers either classical forms include

·       Bharata Natyam - Tamil Nadu

·       Kathakali- Kerala

·       Odishi- Odisha

·       Kuchipudi- Andhra Pradesh

·       Manipuri- Manipur

MINIATURE PAINTINGS

·       Small sized paintings

·       Done with water color on cloth or paper

·       Earlier once on palm leaves and wood

·       In western India – illustrated Jaina teachings

·       Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan- Paintes in there rule illustrated manuscripts with historical accounts in brilliant colors depicted social life

·       Painters moved from Mughal court to regional centers in Deccan and Rajput courts in Rajasthan

·       Mythology and poetry were depicted at centers like Mewar, Jodhapur, Bundi, Kota, and Kishangarh

·       Common in Himachal Pradesh- 17^th century- paintings called Basohil- most popular text painted was Bhanudatta’sRasamanjari- artists moved to hills by Nadir Shah. Invasion and conquest of Delhi in 1739

KANGRA SCHOOL OF PAINTINGS – HIMACHAL PRADESH

·       18^th century- Miniature paintings with Vaishnavitetraditions, soft colors including cool blues and greens and a lyrical treatment of themes

BENGAL

·       Language- Bengali- derived from Sanskrit texts

·       But early Sanskrit texts ( mid- first millennium BCE) suggest that people of Bengal did not speak Sanskrit language

·       4^th- 3^rd BC- ties between Bengal and Magadha (South Bihar)

·       Development- brought Sanskrit

·       4^th century- Guptas in North Bengal and links with mid- Gangetic valley became strong

·       7^th century- Chinese traveler Xuan Zang observed that languages related to Sanskrit were in use all over Bengal

·       8^th century- under Palas

·       14^th-16^th century: Ruled by Sultans (independent of rulers in Delhi)

·       1586- Akbar conquered Bengal Suba (Persian was language of administration, Bengali developed as a regional language)

•        15^th century- Bengali dialects got united by literary language in west Bengal- Modern Bengali includes non- Sanskrit words and words from tribal language, Persian etc.

Early Bengali literature divided into two categories

·       Indebted to Sanskrit includes translations of Sanskrit epics, Mangala kavyas (literally auspicious poems, dealing with local deities) and Bhakti literature such as biographies of Chaitanyadeva (leader of Vaishnava bhakti movement) has manuscripts

·       Non- Sanskrit- Nath (Yogic practices) literature such as songs of Maynamati and Gopichandra (son of Maynanati), stories concerning worship of Dharma Thakur (worshipped in stone or wood), and fairy tales, folk tales and ballads – circulated orally, common in eastern Bengal where Brahmans influence was weak

 

PIRS AND TEMPLES

·       16^th century- people migrated from less fertile areas of West Bengal to more dense and forested areas of South East Bengal

·       Cleared forests- started rice cultivation

·       Local communities and shifting cultivators merged with new peasant community

·       It coincided with establishment of Sultanate (Mughal) rule and capital at Dhaka- officials received land and established mosques.

PIRS

·       Had supernatural powers, people respected them, community leaders. Included Saints of Sufis, daring colonizers and deified soldiers, various Hindu and Buddhists deities and even animistic spirits

·       15^th to 19^th century- Temple building in Bengal. Many of the modest brick and terracotta temples in Bengal were built with support of “low” social groups like Kolu (oil pressers) and Kansari (bell metal workers)

·       European trading communities- created new economic opportunities

·       Temples began to copy double- roofed ( Dochala) or four- roofed ( Chauchala) structure of thatched huts

·       Four-roofed structure: four triangular roofs placed on the four walls move up to converge on a curved line or a point. Temples were usually built on a square platform- interior was plain and outer wall was decorated

·       Temple-excellence- Vishnupur in Bankura dist. of West Bengal

·       Fish- traditional food along with rice from Bengalis

·       Terracotta Plaques on walls of temples and Viharas (Buddhist monasteries) depict scenes of fish being dressed and taken to the market in baskets

·       Bengal Brahmans- were allowed to eat fish due to popularity in local diet-permitted under Brihaddharma Purana, 13^th century sanskrit text from Bengal

NATION STATE IN EUROPE

•        Till 18^th century- were subject to empire- Austro- Hungarian Empire

•        After late 18^th century- Identify themselves as member of community with common language-French or German

•        19^th century- Rumania school text books began to be written in Rumania rather than Greek

•        In Hungary- Hungarian was adopted as official language insisted of Latin

•        Created consciousness among people that each linguistic community was a separate nation- Later strengthened by movements for Italian and German unification in late 19^th century

 

 

 

 

……..THE END……..