Bharatvarshji,
Sri Harishchandra (Bharatendu was a title he was given) can be said to be the father of Modern Hindi.
In backdrop of the "failed" war for independence in 1857, all nation-loving people were doing a soul searching as to why we failed. One of the prominent reasons of failure of course was not having proper communication, and lack of one language in which majority of India can speak and understand each other. (While the battle had been planned and even started in one part of India, several other parts did not even know about it. Although language is not the only reason, it was one reason.) Then at the same time, missionaries were already implementing the English-based Macaulay education system in full swing, and with support from British.
In that background where did the hundreds of Hindi dialects stood in North West and Central India? Nowhere. There was absolutely no 'language', no common grammar, and no foundation at all. Farsi was largely the language of elite. While literature was indeed being produced but were completely without any indigenous literary foundation. Most of it was either direct translation from Farsi or French or English. For example, if you read the earliest Hindi Novels (e.g. Chandrakanta Santati) these are almost next to Farsi.
Then came Harishchanda, whose mother tongue was Bengali. Young man came to Varanasi which was and largely is the cultural capital of Hindus, he was from some royal family, and had ample financial and political backing. He saw the problem, and said India needed to have at least one language in which all or most Indians can talk to each other. He tried to identify one existing popular language, but none would fit what he wanted. So he decided to "create" a modern language based upon hundreds of dialects that existed. With that idea he started transforming what was then knows as 'Hindostani' or 'Khari boli' into a language called Hindi, which was unheard of until then. His slogan was - 'Matribhumi ka yah utthan - Hindi Hindu Hindusthan' (Let us uplift our motherland - through Hindi Hindus and Hindusthan). In a very short time, within 2 decades, he did so much of work - directly and through influencing others, that it was out of control of British to stop him.
In this he was completely supported by the Hindu kingdoms and princes. He also worked with Pandits of Tamil, Kannada and Telugu to refine a Hindi grammer based upon Sanskrit and Southern languages, since Hindi did not have a defined one until then. He also started several publishing houses, news papers, and scholarships. He also inspired various Sanskrit and Hindi schools throughout India, mostly North India. Pandit Malviya started Banaras Hindu University, likewise Sampurnananda started Kashi Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, and Kashi Nagri Pracharini Sabha etc. All largely his inspirations.
After him, there were various students of his, who continued his work, and soon Hindi became a modern language. This all happened within a sphere of 50-75 years. So much of literature was generated, and Hindi was so much refined, purified and cultured, that English and Farsi had a true alternative. India saw an explosion of great poets, writers, journalists... Jay Shankar Prasad, Maithili Shanan Gupt, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Ram Kumar Varma, Mahadevi Verma, Sumitra Nandan Pant, Phanishwar Nath Renu, Prem Chand, Harivansha Rai Bachchan ...so many more... As a result there was a tide of publication houses, magazines, news papers, cinema, radios, music.
That golden era is now over. Now India's talent goes into creating English literature. If trend continues, the names like these will be confined to universities and forgotten by the generations that come.
But this is the contribution of Harishchandra, who is aptly given the title of Bharatendu.
Sri Harishchandra (Bharatendu was a title he was given) can be said to be the father of Modern Hindi.
In backdrop of the "failed" war for independence in 1857, all nation-loving people were doing a soul searching as to why we failed. One of the prominent reasons of failure of course was not having proper communication, and lack of one language in which majority of India can speak and understand each other. (While the battle had been planned and even started in one part of India, several other parts did not even know about it. Although language is not the only reason, it was one reason.) Then at the same time, missionaries were already implementing the English-based Macaulay education system in full swing, and with support from British.
In that background where did the hundreds of Hindi dialects stood in North West and Central India? Nowhere. There was absolutely no 'language', no common grammar, and no foundation at all. Farsi was largely the language of elite. While literature was indeed being produced but were completely without any indigenous literary foundation. Most of it was either direct translation from Farsi or French or English. For example, if you read the earliest Hindi Novels (e.g. Chandrakanta Santati) these are almost next to Farsi.
Then came Harishchanda, whose mother tongue was Bengali. Young man came to Varanasi which was and largely is the cultural capital of Hindus, he was from some royal family, and had ample financial and political backing. He saw the problem, and said India needed to have at least one language in which all or most Indians can talk to each other. He tried to identify one existing popular language, but none would fit what he wanted. So he decided to "create" a modern language based upon hundreds of dialects that existed. With that idea he started transforming what was then knows as 'Hindostani' or 'Khari boli' into a language called Hindi, which was unheard of until then. His slogan was - 'Matribhumi ka yah utthan - Hindi Hindu Hindusthan' (Let us uplift our motherland - through Hindi Hindus and Hindusthan). In a very short time, within 2 decades, he did so much of work - directly and through influencing others, that it was out of control of British to stop him.
In this he was completely supported by the Hindu kingdoms and princes. He also worked with Pandits of Tamil, Kannada and Telugu to refine a Hindi grammer based upon Sanskrit and Southern languages, since Hindi did not have a defined one until then. He also started several publishing houses, news papers, and scholarships. He also inspired various Sanskrit and Hindi schools throughout India, mostly North India. Pandit Malviya started Banaras Hindu University, likewise Sampurnananda started Kashi Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, and Kashi Nagri Pracharini Sabha etc. All largely his inspirations.
After him, there were various students of his, who continued his work, and soon Hindi became a modern language. This all happened within a sphere of 50-75 years. So much of literature was generated, and Hindi was so much refined, purified and cultured, that English and Farsi had a true alternative. India saw an explosion of great poets, writers, journalists... Jay Shankar Prasad, Maithili Shanan Gupt, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Ram Kumar Varma, Mahadevi Verma, Sumitra Nandan Pant, Phanishwar Nath Renu, Prem Chand, Harivansha Rai Bachchan ...so many more... As a result there was a tide of publication houses, magazines, news papers, cinema, radios, music.
That golden era is now over. Now India's talent goes into creating English literature. If trend continues, the names like these will be confined to universities and forgotten by the generations that come.
But this is the contribution of Harishchandra, who is aptly given the title of Bharatendu.