Question

Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books? Choose one example from Europe and one from India.

Answer 1

The printed book was not welcomed by everyone. Even the people who had welcomed the printed books had fears about it.

• There was a fear that if there was no control over what was read and printed then irreligious and rebellious thoughts would spread.
• People feared that with the spread of irreligious thoughts and behaviour, then it would lead to the destruction of the authority of ‘valuable’ literature.
• Many were worried about the effects it could have on peoples’ minds with the wider circulation of books and easier access to the printed books.
• Print put forward a new world of discussion and debate and it led to the possibility of wide circulation of ideas.
• Even those who had disagreements with the established authorities could now circulate their ideas through print.
• The basis of widespread criticism and anxiety of the new printed literature that had begun to circulate were expressed by monarchs and religious authorities, as well as by many artists and writers.
• The print had significance in different spheres of life. Through the printed message, they could persuade people into action by making them think differently.

Europe – Implication of Print on Religion

• Criticizing many of the rituals and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, Martin Luther, the religious reformer wrote Ninety Five Theses, in 1517.
• In Wittenberg, on a church door, a printed copy of this was posted challenging the Church for a debate on his ideas.
• Luther’s writings were read widely and immediately reproduced in vast numbers.
• Within a few weeks, 5,000 copies of Luther’s translation of the New Testament were sold and within three months, a second edition appeared.
• All these led to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and a division within the Church.
• Luther said printing was the greatest and ultimate gift of God, thereby showing his deep gratitude to the print.
• Troubled by the questioning of faith as a result of popular readings, the Roman Church from 1558, began to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books and imposed severe controls over booksellers and publishers.
• The Roman Catholic Church was enraged by Menocchio, a miller in Italy, for reinterpreting the message of the Bible and formulating a view of creation and God, which ultimately led to his execution.

Other Effects of Print – Europe

• Journals and Newspapers began to carry news of developments in other places and carried information about trade and wars.
• The ideas of philosophers and scientists now became more accessible to the common people.
• There was a virtual reading mania in Europe with the spread of literacy and schools.

Effects of Print – India

• Print connected people and communities in different parts of India and it stimulated the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities.
• As a very wide circle of people started having access to religious texts, it led to controversies, debates and discussions within and among different religions.
• Newspapers created pan-Indian identities, by conveying news from one place to another.
• Especially in the vernacular languages, print encouraged the reading of religious texts, among Hindus. In 1810, from Calcutta, the first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a sixteenth-century text, was published.
• Thousands upon thousands of fatwas were published by the Deoband Seminary. It was founded in 1867. It explained the meanings of Islamic doctrines and explained how Muslim readers have to conduct themselves in their everyday lives.
• In North India, the ulama used cheap lithographic presses for the translation of holy scriptures to publish Urdu and Persian translations, and religious tracts and newspapers were printed.
• From 1821, Sambad Kaumudi was published by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and to oppose his opinions, the Samachar Chandrika was commissioned by the Hindu orthodoxy.