Poets in the Indian Independence Struggle
▪ In the 1850s, social reform thinker Raja Rammohun Roy, Nobel Prize winner for literature
Rabindranath Tagore, and others took up art and literature to highlight the greatness of Indian soil and criticize British rule.
▪ Following the Sepoy Mutiny that began in Meerut in 1857, referred to as India’s first war of
independence, British domination was expressed through folk songs, dramas, and stories.
▪ In Tamil Nadu, liberation sentiment was carried to the people through Villupattu and street theater arts.
▪ The ‘Swadesamitran’ newspaper where Mahakavi Bharathiyar worked sowed national sentiment among the people.
▪ Poet Bharathidasan, dancer Rukmini Devi Arundale, painter Abanindranath Tagore who painted ‘Bharat Mata’.
▪ Poet Allama Iqbal who wrote the song ‘Sare Jahan Se Accha’
▪ Indian film director Dadasaheb Phalke and many others fought for Indian liberation through art.
