By Aditi Lazarus
Abstract:
This article explores the historical significance and evolution of cartoons as a medium of socio-political commentary in India, particularly during the British colonial rule. Initially introduced by the British through periodicals such as Punch, cartoons often depicted Indians in a stereotypical and negative light. However, Indian publications like the Hindi Punch and Parsi Punch adapted this medium to critique and satirize British colonial figures, thereby subverting colonial narratives. The article highlights key cartoons and their impact, including those surrounding the 1857 rebellion and the Partition of India in 1947. Through detailed analysis, the article demonstrates how cartoons evolved from tools of colonial propaganda to instruments of nationalist sentiment, playing a vital role in India’s struggle for independence by fostering a collective consciousness and resistance against British rule.
Introduction:
Funny. Charismatic. Potent. Cartoons are simply defined as drawings which depict its subject(s) for the purpose of satire, caricature, or absurdity. Often intended to humor the audience, satire–as a form of expression in art–ridicules various socio-political contexts and their discourse through mediums such as cartoons and influences public opinions invariably. While the origins of cartoon and caricature can be traced back to 16th Century Italy, it is also pivotal to note that these artful expressions have remained to be a part of the sacred relic of human consciousness and enlightenment. In this vein, cartoons have been instrumentalized during many historical moments such as the French Revolution, the American Revolution and throughout the decades of the Cold War. Similarly, in the history of colonial India, political cartoons emerged as a flashpoint, vividly capturing and permeating the socio-political subconscious of colonized India in the mid-19th century.
India: Subject of Colonial Satire
As a part of colonial cultural exports, the British introduced political cartoons in India through the Punch (1841) and other periodicals such as Fun (1861) and Pall Mall Gazette (1865). The British Punch took inspiration from Le Charivari, a renowned French publication, and primarily aimed to create satire based on local news and political events across the world. Eventually, it became an archive of social and political commentary. These publications were not only products to be consumed by the educated middle-class in India, but were also the ideological fruits of the colonial mentality that created stereotypical and negative depictions of the colonized people.
Two of the most popular cartoons in Punch, The British Lion’s Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger (1857) and The New Year’s Gift (1858), were amongst the first political cartoons introduced in British India, and gained attention due to the effect of the 1857 sepoy mutiny against the British East India Company, whose rebelling efforts were quashed by the British forces. The former cartoon showcased a savage Bengal tiger that had rendered an Indian woman and her child injured, being attacked by a lion. The element of anthropomorphism in the publication wasn’t lost to the audience, when it depicted India as an uncivilized and ferocious tiger being defeated by the powerful lion, a regal and noble representation of the British Crown. It symbolized the colonial narrative of British superiority over India. The cartoon in the 1858 issue presents the same Bengal tiger as tamed and being presented to the British Prime Minister, Lord Palmerstone by Sir Campbell. This shift from a fierce animal to a submissive one reflects the British restoration of the chaos created by the revolt.
Another publication, The Indian Charivari, created by Colonel Percy Wyndham in 1872, who arrived in India to launch his own cartoon magazine, became a hallmark platform for colonial satire. Despite conveying that the objectives of the magazine were to review matters of interest in a playful spirit, art historian Partha Mitter interpreted the political cartoons as exemplifying hostility and as a commercial product of racial malice and superiority. The magazine created a series of caricatures mocking the educated and westernized Bengali gentlemen post the 1857 revolt, to ridicule Bengalis who sought to intellectually equal themselves with the British civil servants. In another one of its caricature series, it also mocked Native Maharajas who desired to enforce modern reforms such as bills on the eligibility of marriage, satirizing their efforts to equalize with British modernity. This mockery of India as a caricatured colonial subject was not without consequence. It incited a response that equally challenged the colonial discourse.
From Subject to Satire: British Figures in Indian Cartoons
Over the course of time, several Indian vernacular publications emerged to match the gusto of the colonial discourse. It can be marked by the emergence of the Hindi Punch, the Parsi Punch, The Oudh Punch, the Bengali Punch, the Gujarati Punch, The Delhi Sketchbook and many more which originated from specific regions of India and gained prominence nation-wide. These publications proliferated through the linguistic adoption of the word Punch into Indian vernaculars.
Bengal had a long history of caricature in the folk art of Patachitra, but the pictorial parody of Lieutenant General Sir George Campbell in the Bengali Amrita Bazar Patrika in 1872 marked the beginning of the satirical onslaught against the British Raj. The rise of the Municipality Movement in Calcutta further led to the emergence of the Basantak and Harbola Bhanda that published cartoons in Bengal in 1874. The growing middle-class behind these publications often depicted British city officials in humorous caricatures such as of Baraha avatar of Hindu God Vishnu, which materializes in the form of a pig, and also similarly targeted anglicized Bengalis in their caricatures. These depictions, though in English, aimed to present colonial mockery through cultural in-jokes and ridicule.
Meanwhile, the Parsi Punch established in Bombay provided a voice to the Parsi community which was financially and industrially well founded to directly address the British power through Punchoba. In one of its illustrations, The Reward of Good Conduct (1884), Punchoba awards Lord Ripon a bouquet, whilst Grant Duff, the Governor of Madras, is demonstrated as a shorter, almost childlike agitated figure that stands in contrast. Due to Duff’s partisan behavior during a case of rioting in 1881, he is not awarded a bouquet and is instead labelled as the mischievous boy of Madras. Whilst Punchoba’s publication provided a platform to directly address influential British figures, it also conveyed a socially relevant narrative by empowering the Indian people to praise or criticize British rule.
Another publication, the Oudh Panch, edited and published by Sajjad Husain, was circulated in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It employed different artists for its cartoons and caricatures, and many of them brilliantly contextualized the illustrations from the London Punch into Indian settings. For instance, the London Punch’s Shah of Iran Assuring Britannia (1873) illustration was adopted into Hind congratulating Dadabhai Naroji in 1925. The earlier issue aimed to depict the Shah of Iran visiting England and assuring that no one would cross into the gardens of India. Whilst India is depicted as a shy and timid young girl protected by Britain here, she is contrastingly interpreted as the gracious Hind in the latter issue. In the 1925 issue, she is seen as a mother who is proudly looking at her son Dadabhai Naroji after his election to the House of Commons in Britain in 1892, which ultimately gave him the platform to fearlessly advocate for the Indian cause and to highlight India’s resource drain. Such transcultural exchange did not only subvert the colonial gaze, but also sought to showcase the augment of India’s nationalist agency and the consciousness of Indian exploitation at the hands of the British Raj.
During the years surrounding the Partition of India in 1947, cartoons became a powerful medium for critiquing British rule and promoting nationalist sentiment. A notable example is from Dawn on February 23, 1946, titled The Experts. The cartoon depicts a damaged helicopter labeled ‘Akhand Hindustan’ (United India) with British officials, Alexander and Sir Cripps attempting to repair it using inadequate tools. The cartoon mocked the British effort to maintain India’s unity, portraying them as inept and unable to fix a country that was already falling apart under colonial rule. The image of the damaged helicopter symbolized a fractured India, resonating deeply with the growing sense of disillusionment and the Indian subconscious desire for independence. This cartoon effectively conveyed the idea that British rule was unsustainable and highlighted the urgency of India’s need for self-determination, amplifying the nationalist sentiment at the time.
The visual culture created by such cartoons did not only challenge British authority but also galvanized a collective national identity, making them integral to the discourse leading up to India’s independence from the Raj.
Conclusion:
In essence, cartoons served as a significant and dynamic tool in the Indian struggle against British colonial rule. From the early caricatures in British publications like Punch and The Indian Charivari, which ridiculed the colonized subjects, to the emergence of vernacular publications such as the Hindi Punch and Parsi Punch, the cartoons evolved to challenge the colonial narrative. These cartoons not only mocked British authority but also subverted colonial stereotypes, empowering Indians to reclaim their national identity. The creative use of satire became a means to critique the British, particularly as the Indian independence movement gained momentum. Cartoons like those in Dawn during the years surrounding Partition highlighted the fractured state of India and the ineptitude of British efforts to maintain control. In this way, cartoons played a critical role in formulating and magnifying the nationalist sentiment, shaping the public discourse, and fostering a collective consciousness that contributed to India’s eventual independence. As both art and activism, cartoons became an inseparable part of the political and cultural fabric of India’s resistance.
About the Author
Aditi Lazarus is a second year B.A. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy student at O. P. Jindal Global University. She has a strong affinity for researching art, literature, politics and economics.
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