Novels, Society and History

(i) To create a sense of equality : Colonial rulers regarded the contemporary culture of India as inferior. On the other hand, Indian novelist wrote to develop a modem literature of the country that could produce a sense of national belonging and cultural equality with their colonial masters.
(ii) To protect values of India's tradition and culture : Many novelist like that of Srinivas Das had expressed their fear and anger about the intermining of Indian and Western culture. The world of colonial modernity seems to be both frightening and irresistible to the characters. The novel tries to teach the reader the ‘right way' to live and expects all ‘sensible men' to be worldly- wise and practical, to remain rooted in the values of their own tradition and culture, and to live with dignity and honour.
(iii) The novel and nation making : Many novelists wrote about Marathas and Rajputs. These novels produced sense of a pan Indian belonging. The imagined nation of the novel was so powerful that it could inspire actual political movements. Bankim's
Anandamath (1882) is a novel about a secret Hindu militia that fights Muslims to establish a Hindu kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters.
(iv) Historical novels about Marathas and Rajputs : In Bengal, many historical novels . were about Marathas and Rajputs. These novels produced a sense of a pan-Indian belonging. They imagined the nation to be full of adventure, heroism, romance and sacrifice – qualities that could not be found in the offices and streets of the nineteenth- century world. The novel allowed the colonized to give shape to their desires.
(v) Shivaji as a nationalist : Bengali novel Anguriya Binimoy has shown Shivaji as a nationalist fighting for the freedom of Hindus.