For years I cherished the hope that one day I would go
to England,
the abode of liberty and freedom
I would go to that country where there is freedom in
every house,
To that country where there is freedom in every house
O Mother Bengal! Many of your sons go there in order
to receive education,
Why then, Mother, can’t we, your daughters, go there?
And illuminate our hearts with knowledge?
We too are human beings, and have eyes;
But we are blind and live in cages.
With what difficulties have I come out of one of these
cages!
I have come out, Mother, to fill my heart with the nectar of
Knowledge.
By Krishnabhabini Das in England e Banga Mahila (Murshid 85/86)
These lines by Krishnabhabini Das in her account, England e Banga Mahila, of her travels to England during the second half of the 19th century, expresses the varied concerns of Indian women travelling abroad in general and England in particular for various reasons. An increasing number of critical studies in recent years have devoted attention to the 19th century women travel writers, often seen as a neglected group. It’s only after the advent of critical theory that some efforts have been made to rediscover women travellers of the 19th century even at the behest of the feminist revival to provide an alternative to male cantered history. Women travellers are categorized as different from their male counterparts on two accounts, firstly, they differ from other more conventional women, and secondly, from male travellers who use the journey as a means of discovering more about their own manliness.
One of the earliest recorded travel accounts on England appears in Guajarati in 1861 by a Parsee writer, Dosabhai Faramji Karaka, under the title, Great Britain khatene Musafari (Travel to Great Britain). It is followed by England ni Musafari nu Varnan (An Account of Travels to England) by Mahipatram Nilkanth in 1864 and England man Pravas (Travels to England) by Karsandas Mulji in 1866. After that appeared lesser known travel accounts by the travelers like Khan Bahadur Shekh Yusufali and Faramji Dinshaji Pitit on England and Europe. The first travel account in Gujarati by a woman traveler appeared in 1902 by Nandkunvarba, titled as Gomandal Parikram. (Circumnavigation across the World)
Nandkunwarba, a Queen of erstwhile small princely state in Gujarat, India, visited Europe and other countries for more than four times in the later-half of 19th century. She was one the of earliest Gujarati women prose writers. She herself makes it clear in the introduction of her travelogue that the purpose of her travels to Europe was to get rid of prolong illness from which she was suffering. It was the advice of her doctors that inspired her to take these travels, which she undertook with her husband. She not only visited England and other Europeans countries but also Japan, Korea, China, Russia, America and the list is endless. The unabridged edition of her travels runs into almost 700 pages. She has provided a great number of details of European life ranging from agriculture, education, customs, museums, and libraries to reading habits, cleanliness and hygiene. Surprisingly, she could get rid of her illness during this voyage. To keep herself busy during her travels she kept on jotting down details about the places she visited. And she reveals in the introduction that providing details regarding Europe for the benefit of other travelers has inspired her to write this book. Needless to mention that the discipline of travel writing in Guajarati language was in a formative stage.
Nandkunwarba was the first Gujarati woman travel writer who traveled very extensively across continents in the 19th century. Her account gives an impression that she was very well exposed to the world outside in terms of cultures, languages, societies, geography, history, etc. Her knowledge of English language and literature seems very sound as they are reflected in the kind of references she has provided in the text. She fondly remembers her visit to Oxford and Cambridge universities, and her meeting with Max Muller, Sir Monier Williams and Sir William Hunter. She is highly ambivalent throughout her travelogue; appreciative as well as critical of the land she visited, which is found in many of the 19th century Guajarati travelers. Like any other Guajarati 19th century traveler, she is constantly comparing nations, society, people, customs, traditions, conducts etc. However, she is not apparently critical about the presence of British in India. One of the reasons could be that she herself belongs to a kingly state and that complicates her subject position, and so it seems that she does not feel like commenting on such crucial issue. On the contrary, she does not find anything wrong in India being ruled by a superior nation like, England. She was equally influenced and affected by the colonial power as many of her contemporaries, like, Karsandas Mulji and Mahipatram Nilkanth and so considers nothing wrong in appreciating the then British rule in India. But at the same time she is reminded of the great heritage of her own country and feels that Hindustan should awake from a long sleep.
She has traveled abroad for three or four times and observations and experiences of those various sojourns have been incorporated in this travel narrative. She has dedicated this travel narrative to the women of India which indicates her deep interest in the empowerment of women. Her travel narrative, Gomandal Parikram integrates her travels to many Eastern and Western countries but her travel to Europe occupies the major part of the work. Amongst these countries, the major part of the narrative is occupied by countries like England, Scotland and Ireland. The reason could be the advice of her doctors to stay in country like Scotland for the betterment of her health and as India was occupied by British under the reign of Queen Victoria, it indicates a curiosity of a subject to visit the nation of the masters. Apart from above mentioned three countries, she traveled to France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Greece, America, Turkey, Japan, China, Australia and Sri Lanka. Thus, she can be called the first Gujarati woman globetrotter, travelling and keeping an account of such a large number of places.
Nandkunwarba as a traveler is exceptional in many ways. Unlike many of the 19th century Indian travel writers she is not completely awestruck by the sight of everything foreign. Her narrative is a fine blend of admiration as well as a critique of what she observes and experiences. She is not carried away by the typical occidental notion. She is quite courageous to put forward her candid perspective. When she comes across the famous Kohinoor diamond studded in the crown of Queen Victoria, the love for her own nation becomes apparent. She becomes aware of the deteriorating condition of India under the British rule as the most of India is now part of British Empire. She indicates her likes and dislikes in a very refined tone and language. In her description of the city of London and elsewhere it becomes explicit. Like many other 19th century travelers she has given a detailed account of England, Scotland and Ireland. She is full of admiration when she describes the major cities, educational institutions and beauty of landscape. Her account of England in the chapter two begins with introducing the city of London, as:
No foreigner can remain without being enthralled while visiting England. I suspect if there is any nation on this planet as industrious as this. If at all the true character of industriousness needs to be found, one has to visit its foremost city London. Here, the industrious temperament can be found in its full bloom. A visit to London makes one suspect whether it’s heaven on earth or what? (Nandkunwarba 17)
The next country she describes is France. And like many 19th century Gujarati travellers she opines that Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. But if given choice she would prefer to live in London. She visited the famous museum Louvre in Paris. She is impressed by the liveliness of the French people. She fondly remembers Napoleon and incorporates the details of the French history while talking about France. The next halt is Switzerland. She is taken aback by the environment of the country. She praises the nature and the beauty of the landscape of this nation. In Rome she visits the places as a pilgrim. She narrates the present Rome in Italy with reminisces of its grand past. After paying visit to many churches of Rome she calls the city, Banaras of Europe. After travelling to Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome in Italy, Nandkunwarba describes her travels to Belgium, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal and Spain. Before moving to Russia she travels to Germany, Austria and Hungary. The Russia she visited was under the reign of Tsar Nicolai II. Her husband Bhagvatsinhji, the king of Gondal state was invited to attend the coronation ceremony of Tsar Nicolai II. This coronation ceremony took place on 26th may, 1896. She narrates her experience of being part of this coronation at a great length. From here onwards the travel narrative comprises of her travels to Turkey, Greece, America, Japan, China, Australia and Sri Lanka before coming back to her hometown, Gondal in India.
The British started accumulating the knowledge about India as early as from the 16th century, in contrast to this the Indians had no knowledge of England or its culture, people and society. Thus, the first Indians when they traveled, they encountered the foreign places and their culture as unknown terrains. It was only from the 16th century onwards that the Indians began to travel to England and return with firsthand knowledge of distant land. This knowledge about England at times supplemented but often contradicted the English self-representation in India. However, this accumulation of knowledge largely remained oral or in unpublished forms until the 19th century. This lack of well-defined body of knowledge led many Indian travelers to discover Britain in the 19th century without any prior knowledge of the place. For example, in Nandkunwarba’s travel narrative it is quite apparent that her point of reference to know British life, culture and society is her exposure to British history, polity and literature. At the same time Indian travelers to the West contributed to the body of knowledge about themselves and their homelands. The travel experience of Indian travelers, men in general and women in particular, travelling abroad, varied in their historical as well as their gender, class, ethnicity, and individual contexts.
The range and variety in the style of the 19th century Indian travel writing by men and women is also remarkable. To some extent this variety seems to have premised on distinctions like gender, social class, age, and religion of the traveler. The 19th century Indian women travel writing seems much more complex than previous studies have suggested and there is a need to recognize the diversity in their account. Surprisingly, not all women travelers were from middle class, as in the case of Nandkunwarba, and given that not all of them shared the same ideological standpoint. What makes the travel narratives by these women travelers exceptional is their sensibility of representation as a woman. Their modesty in their accounts of the societies, people, culture and representation of living conditions of the women is noteworthy. For example, Nandkunwarba’s Gomandal Parikram provides serious and detailed social documentation in the most effortless linguistic framework. There is no strong authorial presence in the travel account and any self-dramatizing or desire to reinvent oneself and certainly no desire to see travel as means of escape from the reality at home.
The history of travel writing in general is associated with the history of mapping and surveying. Gillian Rose in her study Feminism and Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge opines that the idea that everything is knowable and possible to map is essentially a patriarchal concept. Women travelers across the continents invariably had to write about their experiences from within a convention that denied them a definite role. However, women did travel in various roles like – wives, sisters, and daughters of missionaries, diplomats or envoys, scientists, explorers, etc. The reasons other than this which made them undertake travel were like; travel became an apparatus for understanding and exploring the self, as individuals in search of the unforeseen or for leisure at times alone or often accompanied, for personal of professional reasons. These women did not burry their experiences and observations in silence rather they chose to write about it and inform to the discourse of travel from a gender perspective. It is equally noteworthy that not all narratives by women travelers could avail the opportunity of publication. This disparity reflects the dissimilarity in terms of equality between men and women in the 19th century, where men primarily occupied the public sphere, leaving women in margins.
The very diversity of women’s travel writing resists straightforward categorization. The search for self-expression and knowing the world primarily define the quest for travel in the 19th century. As far as stylistic features are concerned there is no way that women travel writing can be differentiated from that of male writers. Although, the difference might be evident in emphasis or in selection of material, etc. Travel writing is always necessarily a product of a particular time and a particular culture, and in this context travel narrative by Nandkunwarba becomes more interesting and diverse. The act of seeing or the ‘gaze’ in this travel account makes the inquiry more fascinating. Here what is important is how women, through apparatus of travel from different region, culture, religion, society and languages redefine themselves in the world outside home territories. Thus, travel writing as discourse is more complex than ever thought of.
The 19th century witnessed a great deal of cultural exchange between Indians and Britons which proved an equally enriching experience on either side. And to a great extent travel and travel writing facilitated this process of exchange. The 19th century Indian travel narratives, about the larger world in general and England in particular, records the process of transculturation within the contact zone, which gets articulated in terms of difference. Gomandal Parikram unfurls an interesting reading as Nandkunwarba imagines the world in which she travels; it not only discloses a new world but also reveals the multitudes of the traveler’s world within, i.e. self. The reading of Nandkunwarba’s Gomandal Parikram allows a critical inquiry into the dialogic of transculturation in the context of colonial discourse. Nandkunwarba’s travel narrative generates the exchange of dialogue were communication is defined in terms of differences, which is further facilitated by the contact zone where the self and the other encounter, confront, and contest each other. The process allows the textual space in the formation of dialogue between the dominant and the dominated, where the dominated receives the dominant culture, filtered through the modes of interpretation.
Thus, Nandkunwarba as a representative of a colonized nation resists any simple categorization as regards women’s travel writing. She makes use of the knowledge that has been facilitated by the masters but subverts what she is unable to accept. Travel writing is an explicit work of cultural translation, where the traveler represents and translates the foreign into something known. Needless to mention that a travel narrative like Gomandal Parikram is just as much a representation of the home culture of the traveler as it is a representation of the foreign culture that the travel writer visits. In doing so the travel writer is involved in a conscious act of producing meaning and knowledge from personal experiences. In Nandkunwarba’s case, she is the first Gujarati woman travel writer to write about her experiences in a coherent and intimate narrative style. Nandkunwarba’s narrative apparently deals with her experiences and observations about the English culture and society, but as it proceeds on comparative framework, it in the course of doing so, unfurls, simultaneously, the culture of the subject nation. In this sense Nandkunwarba’s travel narrative involves twin subject positions: firstly, as a traveler from a subject nation; and secondly, as a woman traveler which makes it even more complicated in terms of understanding and analyzing cultural differences and multiple shades of those differences entailed in the confluence of two cultures. In this way Gomandal Parikram exhibits much about the culture of the travel writer as that of the subject that is in focus.
Works cited:
- Borthwick, Meredith. The Changing Role of Women in Bengal 1849-1905. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
- Murshid, Ghulam. Reluctant Debutante: Response of Bengali Women to Modernization, 1849—1905. Rajshahi: Rajshahi University, 1983.
- Nandkunwarba. Gomandal Parikram. Gandhinagar: Gujarat Sahitya Akedemi, 2009 (reprint).
- Rose, Gillian. Feminism and Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge. London: Polity, 1993.
- Pratt, Mary Louise. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation. London: Routledge, 1992.
- Clark, Steve. Travel Writing and the Empire: The Post-colonial Theory in Transit. London: Zed Books, 1999.
- Todorov, Tzvetan. The Morals of History. trans. Alyson Waters. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995.