(i) Mention the qualities of ‘Arya Vamsa’ that were admired by the foreign travellers in earlier times.

Question

Answer the questions that follow:

‘In earlier times, foreign travellers in India marvelled at the courage, truthfulness and modesty of the people of the Arya Vamsa, now they remark mainly on the absence of those qualities. In those days Hindus would set out on conquest and hoist their flags in Tatas, China and other countries; now a few soldiers from a tiny island far away are lording it over the land of India.’ Tarni Charan Chattopadhyay, Bharathasher Itihas. (The History of Bharatvarsh) Vol. 1.1858.

(i) Mention the qualities of ‘Arya Vamsa’ that were admired by the foreign travellers in earlier times.

(ii) How did folklore help in the spread of nationalism amongst the Indian? Explain.

Answer 1

(i) The foreign travellers in earlier times admired the qualities like courage, truthfulness and modesty of the people of the ‘Arya Vamsa’.

(ii) In the late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted by outside forces. It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one’ national identity. In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore led the movement for folk revival. In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a four-volume collection of Tamil Folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India.*