THE COMING OF THE EUROPEANS AND THE RISE OF CULTURAL AWAKENING.

THE COMING OF THE EUROPEANS AND THE RISE OF CULTURAL AWAKENING.  

   

In 1498-99, a Christian naval power, the Portuguese, with its base in Europe entered the Indian waters after the arrival of Vasco de Gama at Calicut. Though the so – called Portuguese empire faded away after the advent of other India. They made some contribution to the cultural life of India.  They have enriched Indian vocabulary and medical science to some extent. The introduction of printing press, European architecture, Christianity and the establishment of seminaries for the training of Indian priests at Verapoly and at Goa are notable contributions of the Portuguese.

The east India Company of Britain was established in 1600 for trade with East. France also entered the fray with the establishment of the French East India Company in 1664. The former acquired a settlement on the Madras cost. This ws followed by England’s regular fight for supremacy in India.

A notable achievement of the British rule was in the field of arts. In 1860 Alexander Cunningham was appointed the first Director of archaeology and later of Ferguson wrote his famous work describing the magnificent architecture monuments of India. These two factors paved the path for revival of Indian interest in arts, \. The appointment of Dr. Hutch as first eminent epigraphist to the Government of India was the beginning of the great work of reclamation of Indian History. The deciphering of the scripts of ancient Indian\ and the official search for old inscriptions and documents all over the country and their publication provided India the first corpus of course – material from which her history was constructed. City soon created among Indians a historical sense, a pride in their achievements and nationality. Panikkar observes that “even the revival of Sanskrit studies on Modern lines in India is due largely to the activities of the British Government and the scholars patronized by them. The Queen’s college at Varanasi was the first serious attempt to teach Sanskrit in a systematic way to young India”.

In the field of art and architecture Indians have been completely ignorant of the rich heritage of their country. Ellora, Ajanta, Bagh and Mahabalipuram mean nothing to Indians in the beginning of the nineteenth century. They had become stronger to their own inheritance.” Hindu tuart” was perhaps the first European to appreciate the beauty and charm of Indian sculpture. In due time, the taste spread first among the European critics before India awake to her own artistic treasures.