Assamese
Colonial Writings: Re-reading Women in Colonial Assam
Dr. Rashmi Buragohain,
Associate
Professor,
Department of
English,
Moran College,
Assam, India.
Abstract: In
order to study Indian women, it is very important to reckon with the colonial
women who had their first encounter with the outside world. This was the time
when they were first exposed to the new ideas of the western world with the
advent of the British in India. In Assam too the rapidly changing scenario
encouraged the women to awaken their consciousness and find their ‘voice’. The
emergence of the new woman was possible to a large extent because of the social
reformers who envisioned a better society with educated women. The reformers
had a western education in Calcutta which was an important site of the new
awakening in pre-independent India. It was for their efforts that education was
made accessible for women and that opened the doors of the world for them. But
it was no easy task, and the contemporary writings document the journey of
women in colonial Assam. Therefore, this paper is an exploration of women in
colonial Assam who were able to assert their individual self, but are still
under-represented and need to be unearthed.
Keywords: Colonial Women, Assamese women, New Woman, Re-presentation, Women’s
Question
History has always been interpreted to suit
the minds of the people. But recent trends in the study of history are
responsible for re-presentation of histories that also brought to the fore the
formerly occluded pages of the past. These occluded pages contained the stories
of women who have been since then constantly under the scanner. After much
deliberation, today, in the context of the colonial woman, she is always read
and re-read to analyse her ‘self’ and her ‘voice’. Women in colonial India are
also not devoid of speculations, especially because of the discovery of the
lives of so many remarkable women who left their mark in the society. The
contribution of so many such women like Pandita Ramabai and Tarabai Shinde
towards women’s emancipation is something to be reckoned with. Whenever we talk
of women in India reference is always made to the golden age of the past when
women were supposed to be regarded as equal to the men in society. Such a
picture of women enjoying freedom prompts some questions too as regards to the
how and what freedom they were privileged with. Were the women ever asked what
they wanted or what they wanted to do? Such questions still persist and
therefore it needs to be studied as to how far we have recognized women and
their voices. History books too are not explicit enough to highlight the role
of women in society – gaps remained while recording the happenings of life and
society. These are the gaps that involved women and the task remains to fill
those gaps and provide a clear and unambiguous picture of a society where women
too had their roles to play.
Assam
too is not devoid of women who were able to assert their individual self, but
they are still under-represented and need to be unearthed. It is the relentless work of women like Tilottama
Misra, Aparna Mahanta, Sheela Bora and Shiela Borthakur, and the laudable
efforts of the Asom Lekhika Samaroh Samiti and Lekhika Santha that we are today
aware of the women in colonial Assam who need to be placed in history with
utmost respect for their remarkable contribution towards the Assamese society. In order to study Indian women, it is very important to
reckon with the colonial women who had their first encounter with the outside
world. This was the time when they were first exposed to the new ideas of the
western world with the advent of the British in India. In Assam, too, the
rapidly changing scenario encouraged women to awaken their consciousness and
find their ‘voice’. The emergence of the new woman was possible to a large
extent because of the social reformers who envisioned a better society with
educated women. The reformers had a western education in Calcutta which was an
important site of the new awakening in pre-independent India. It was for their
efforts that education was made accessible for women and that opened the doors
of the world for them. But it was no easy task. There were backlashes by
those holding similar views like Bolinarayan Bora who wrote that “education for
women will be more dangerous than the Burmese invasion” (7Trans. Mine). Such comments were
uncalled for from a person like Bora who was educated abroad and had a wife who
played tennis.
Nevertheless, no one can deny the role of the
American Baptist Missionaries in spreading education in Assam, especially for the
girls. It was because of their sincere efforts that schools were established
both for boys and girls. But there were constraints on their paths and had to
endure a lot of opposition especially regarding the education of the women.
Women during that time in Assam were kept secluded and were married off early
in their childhood. Ignorance and chiefly illiteracy, even among the men, posed
as deterrents to the upliftment of women. They were forbidden to step out of
their homes let alone speak to any man. Their seclusion made them ignorant of
their own self and they themselves would never think of having a voice of their
own. These made them hesitant of stepping out of their homes and get themselves
educated. The Missionaries therefore had to face a lot of hardship and had to
remain content with a handful of girls from the lower strata of the society. It
was only after the emergence of the English educated social reformers, the
products of the Bengal renaissance, that women in Assam from the elite class
got the boost to get emancipated.
The British encounter saw the emergence of
Calcutta as the hub of British India’s all administrative and trade affairs and
envisaged it to be a centre for excellence. The English educated Indians that
emerged out of this encounter saw themselves as the elite of the society and
brought in a New Awakening. They saw themselves responding to the Western
ideology and wanted changes in the society that they considered as deterrents
to a tolerant ‘modern’ society. Proximity of Bengal to Assam saw the influx of
the Assamese young men to Calcutta for education. They enabled the land to
absorb the new ideas gradually and form a new Assam. The cause for women became
an important part of the new ideas and it was in the hands of the social reformers
that the task of elevating the status of women remained. The reformers indeed
wanted the women to be educated, but not at the cost of their position being
challenged. For them, women need to be enlightened but they should always
remain subservient to the male head of the household.
The American Baptist Missionaries had already
infused new ideas in the region upon landing in Sadiya in 1836 with their
printing press and printer. They had to overcome not only the illiteracy of the
people, but also had to endure the mistrust of the indigenous people and played
an important role in the struggle for a linguistic identity for the land. Their
effort to educate the girls of the region is remarkable for an age when women
were expected to remain indoors doing only the household chores. In this
struggle the Missionary wives were more responsible in imparting education
among the boys and girls of the region. Their journals and letters record their
difficulties in educating the girls specifically, because of the belief
impinged on women themselves that they are not fit for any kind of learning. In
spite of their efforts, they were not able to bring in the girls from the
upper-class families and therefore had to open boarding schools to bring in the
orphaned and destitute girls. These girls were kept away from the outside
society, and were, therefore, easily converted to Christianity.
It is important to note that these
missionaries no doubt imparted education to the girls, but restricted the
learning to only a basic vernacular education that included useful work like
weaving, sewing, cutting and stitching. They wanted to groom these girls to be
the wives of their native service providers like the gardeners or to be the
“Bible-women” to assist them in spreading the word of God. The girls were not
encouraged to strive for more than that. Their main thrust was on women’s
education so that they become the “meet companions” for the native converts.
But they were not able to reach out to the women of the upper classes who had
reservations regarding their eagerness to impart education. In spite of the
failure of the missionaries to reach all the sections of the society one cannot
deny the consciousness they implanted on a new class of educated men who paved
the way for a new beginning for the Assamese society.
The British in India pushed the woman’s
question further by promoting the idea that husbands and wives should be
friends or companions in marriage. It reflected the well-known Victorian
patriarchal ideals of what Geraldine Forbes has termed as ‘companionate
marriage’ which the British introduced in India in the nineteenth century and
which most of the reformers embraced with great zeal. In Colonialism/Postcolonialism Ania Loomba has noted that the image of
the ideal woman “fuses together older brahmanical notions of self-sacrifice and
devotion with the Victorian ideal of the enlightened mother, devoted
exclusively to the domestic sphere” (183). The trend-setter of Assamese
“modernity” Anandaram Dhekial Phukan was keen on women’s education. This was
recorded by his biographer Gunabhiram Barua who stated that Dhekial Phukan
educated his wife himself. She was, in fact, the perfect companionate wife who
could run the household smoothly and could ‘support’ the intellectual pursuits
of her husband apart from providing the domestic comforts (Mahanta 11).
Gunabhiram Barua went a step further by encouraging his wife as well as his
daughter to write articles and even books to develop their intellectual
pursuits.
Women’s education no doubt gained momentum,
but it still had a long way to go in terms of emancipation of women. “While
very often colonial education for women in India, and particularly, colonial
reforms, are seen as a simple function of mimicry, of what has been called
‘aspiration towards Victorian gentility’, they also point to the double
servitude that the reformed educated woman came under in terms of her husband’s
acquired needs for a more sympathetic wife and companion, and western Victorian
standards of patriarchy” (Moral 16). Sunity Devi, the Maharani of Cooch Behar
and daughter of Keshov Chandra Sen, had the freedom to dance with male partners
and even had her hand being kissed by a member of the royalty while she was in
England because her husband thought it was proper to do so, but back in India
rules had to be different (Misra 109). It is no wonder that the social
reformers in colonial Assam wanted to flaunt their educated wives while working
on the project of reforming the society. The figure of the modern woman was seen
as “the mother of the race, the companion and partner of the husband in
fulfilling his social, spiritual and soon, as nationalism comes to the fore,
political duties as his ardhangini”
(Moral16). She delivered all these duties unconditionally and was never
expected to relate any opinion. The rise of nationalism further enhanced this
condition of women as the new Indian intelligentsia with western education
stepped forward to defend the domestic sphere considered the last bastion left
to the colonised Hindu (Sarkar 99).
Assam in the nineteenth century saw the
advent of the American Baptist Missionaries before the British came in. They
brought along with them the printing machine that saw the publication of the
first periodical, Orunodoi, in
Assamese in 1846. Dealing extensively with women’s issues along with other
articles the pages of the journal today are an important source for history of
the nineteenth century. It carries the call for social reforms made by the
missionaries and through its pages do we come to know of the lone case of
attempted sati in Assam. This is the
only and the first recorded case that took place in Kalugaon in Sibsagar. As
recorded, the widow of the elder brother of Lambodar Mauzadar was ready to be a
sati at the death of her husband, but
it was averted in time by the then daroga
(SL. NO XVII).
It was also because of the efforts of
American Baptist Missionaries that the issue of women’s education gained
momentum during this period. The Missionaries, especially the Missionary wives,
worked zealously for the education of the girls. Schools were set up, but had
to face a lot of opposition and criticism from the society. The Orunodoi speaks of the kind of attitude
the Assamese people had on hearing about women’s education. In Orunodoi the writer states that “the
main barriers to women’s education were the women’s own belief, imposed upon
them from birth, in their ignorance and inability to learn; and the ridicule
they faced if they ever tried to do so.” Their objective in educating the girls
was to enable them to read the Bible and the scriptures in their own language
as translated by the missionaries themselves. Such “plain education” along with
sewing and weaving were considered sufficient for the girls to qualify them to
become the “meet companions” of the native brethren. But they failed in
reaching the women of the Assamese upper classes.
The debate on women’s education in Assam took
place mainly in the pages of Assam Bandhu (1885-86), Mou (1886-87) and Jonaki (1889-1906). Assam Bandhu
in its short span of sixteen years published many writings on women’s education
that includes two contributions by women writers – one by Padmawati Devi
Phukanani and the other by Swarnalata. In spite of their feeble voices, it is
significant that they were the voices of women who were never expected to speak
their views. In contrast to them the opposing voices of Ratneswar Mahanta,
Purnakanta Sharma and Lamboodar Bora in the pages of Assam Bandhu were very strong and they vehemently opposed women’s
education. In their own different ways, they all saw women’s education as a
threat to the sanctity of Assamese society. The fear loomed large in their
writings that the spread of western ideas in regard to women’s education would
take its toll on the female moral character. Mahanta and Sharma were of the
view that if women were educated, they would not only avoid the household
chores, but would also neglect their wifely duties and head for a moral
degradation. They held the view that while boys could be trusted with the bot-tala (Jnanadhiram Barua 380) books,
girls were not to be trusted being weaker in minds. Lamboodar Bora in his
satirical dictionary gives a definition of “stri-swadhinata”
(woman’s independence) as a woman who rides on the male by stepping on him. He
also gives a meaning of “Bharjya” as
a woman who shows off her husband’s wealth.
In contrast to such degrading comments, the
writings by Padmawati Devi Phukanani and Swarnalata come as a whiff of fresh
air with endearing views regarding a woman’s individual self. In her “Narir Muktabastha” (Women’s Free State),
Phukanani extols the dexterity of ancient Aryan women like Chitralekha who
upheld their right to freedom. Swarnalata too, in spite of being a mere
schoolgirl, is able to air her view regarding the purdah system prevailing at
that time in her “Prakrita Laaj Ki?”
(What is True Shame?). Her technique of driving home the point by using
dialogues between two girls is engrossing and thought-provoking. In the article
the two girls come to the point that the sense of shame does not depend on the
veil or purdah, but depends on the state of the mind, whether the thoughts are
pure or impure. This is also evident of the young writer’s awareness of the
need for women’s education.
Soon after, another periodical, Mou (1886-87), was
published which, too, did not survive for long. In spite of the four published
issues only, the periodical provides a definite male-centric view regarding
women’s education. The stance taken by its editor Bolinarayan Bora, authoring
most of the articles, comes as a surprise because he was educated abroad and
had an educated wife who moved freely in the social circles. Bora saw women’s
education as more dangerous than the Burmese invasion and saw women becoming
doctors or lawyers as a transgression of gender roles thereby losing their
feminine character. He preferred girls to be imparted the rudiments of
education at home in order to make them efficient in the affairs of the home.
The periodical Jonaki (1889-1906) followed with the tune a bit changed. Now the
debate went on as to have the women educated in order to procure a companionate
wife who would be a good listener of the husband’s intellectual pursuits. It is
best echoed in what Phanindranath Gogoi had to say in the pages of Jonaki –
“While
I am in favour of women's education, I do not support the present system. I am
totally against a type of education for women that would enable them to pass
their B.A or M. A. examinations, and encourage them to compete with their
husbands. I do not see the necessity for a woman to be educated like a man,
since such education causes more harm than good” (Mahanta32).
Women’s education was accepted as a medium to produce
educated children who would become the future leaders of the country. Queen Victoria
was presented as the role model for being a queen in spite of the absence of
her father: it was because of her educated mother that she was able to sit on
the throne and reign.
After Jonaki
ceased to publish, other publications came into being like Usha (1906), Alochani (1909) and Banhi
(1909). They, too, carried on the debate regarding the contemporary social
issues and saw an increasing number of women contributors. The common theme
that ran through them was a support for women’s education that would make them
more compatible to the inner confines of the home and not to the outer world.
It has to be noted that it was the voice of a woman, Dr. Durgabashini Das, who
pointed out clearly in Alochani that
women need to be educated for the welfare of the country. She made a direct
appeal to the educated that instead of doing all the talking they should be
resolute to spread women’s education. It is also surprising that Lakshminath
Bezbarua, who was one of those who vehemently protested against Bolinarayan
Bora’s Mou and was all praise for the
progress women showed in Dibrugarh and Golaghat, too, called for an education
that would enable women to be the ideal wife and not someone ‘useless’ and
‘unfit’ for work through Banhi.
The year 1927 saw the publication of Assam’s
first women’s journal Ghar-Jeutiby
the Sibsagar Mahila Samiti and edited by two women, Kanaklata Chaliha and
Kamalalaya Chaliha. It provided a platform for the women to present their voice
and also reflected the participation of Assamese women in the political and
social movements of the time. No doubt, it performed the role of mouthpiece for
Assam Mahila Samiti, but no one can deny its distinct identity as a woman’s
magazine. Its main objective was to bring the women of Assam together to initiate
an effective education for them and ensure their development. Ghar-Jeuti paved the way for many
emerging women writers and a few of them went to become well-known like
Nalinibala Devi and Alaka Patangia. It also kept abreast the Assamese women
about the happenings around the world and also about the women in other
countries. What is noteworthy is to come across the diverse views by the
contributors regarding women’s education. The contradictions of the nationalist
view on women’s role at that time are also evident in writers like Chandraprova
Das, Punyaprova Das, Durbasundari Gogoi and Dipeswari Gohain. While talking
about the women in the villages and asserting that women should be educated to
assist the men folk, Dipeswari Gohain makes a point that apart from reading and
writing the women in the towns do nothing when compared to the village women
(334-338). There were also writers like Labanyaprova Borbora who supported
women’s education and their visibility outside their homes for a better
society, but noted at the same time that education for boys and girls should be
different (623-627).
These journals provide us an insight into the
contemporary attitude of the colonized in Assam which need to be deliberated
upon in order to understand the status of the colonial women. The dire need and
struggles for emancipation of women can be traced in these writings; the
intelligentsia of colonial Assam had mixed feelings, but the fact that women
took to writing is a proof enough of their repressed desires for equality. The
reminder is always there that the Assamese women yearned for respect and
freedom. Their history needs to be revisited and reorganized in order to
conform to a more acceptable one for the women today to move forward from the
point of achievement the colonial women acquired.
Works Cited
Loomba, Ania. Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London and New York: Routledge,
2009.Print.
Mahanta, Aparna. Journey of Assamese Women, 1836-1937. Guwahati: Publication Board
Assam, 2008.
Misra, Tilottama. “Subverting the Myth of the Uncolonised
Space: The Autobiography of a Maharani”. Eds. Puna Mahanta and Bijay Kumar
Danta. Dibrugarh University Journal of
English Studies 12 (1996-97): 107-116.
Moral, Rakhee Kalita. “Assamese Modernity, Social History
and the ‘New Woman’: Acts of Transgression in Colonial Writing”, Concerns
and Voices. Eds. Abanti Barua and Rakhee K
Moral. Guwahati:
Cotton College Women’s Forum, 2010. Print.
Neog, M., ed. Orunodoi.Guwahati:
Publication Board Assam, 1983. Print.
Saikia, Nagen, ed. Assam Bandhu. Guwahati:
Publication Board Assam, 1984. Print.
Sarkar, Sumit
and Tanika Sarkar, ed. Women and Social
Reform in Modern India. New Delhi: Permanent Black. 2007. Print.
Sarkar, Tanika. Hindu Wife, Hindu
Nation. India: permanent black, 2002. Print.
Sarma S. N., ed. Mou.
Guwahati: Publication Board Assam, 1980. Print.