Introduction
The Babu was addressed with the prefix of ‘mister’ or ‘sir,’ a symbol of gentlemanly behaviour spread by the colonial culture. Calcutta, being the capital of colonial India, became the centre of the Babu culture. The fascination with copying the British and native culture contributed to the widespread adoption of the culture. Therefore, the Babu culture is a socio-political culmination of Western liberalism, European “fin de siècle” decadence, Mughal conservative ideologies, and indigenous revivalism.
The term ‘Babu’ indicated the aristocratic Brahmin (priest caste), along with the middle-level merchant elite who became an integral part of the colonial system in Bengal during the nineteenth century. They emerged as a social class due to the flourishing of colonial commercial industry and the establishment of English education in the Bengal society. The Kalighat Paintings, which emerged in mid-nineteenth-century Calcutta, displayed numerous perspectives on the Babu culture of Bengal through the Patua art form. The themes were generally humorous takes on the culture, and some were declared ‘scandalous’ as well.
Emergence of Babu Culture
The British, through the introduction of English education, trained the willing colonial subjects to be employed as clerks in British East India Company offices in Calcutta. These clerks or peons, known as English Babus (Native Indian Clerks), were the middle-class Bengali Bhadraloks who belonged to the upper caste. They were utilised as a tool to spread the westernised propaganda of “modernisation” and made wealthier compared to other classes, including the exploited lower class, who were isolated from British cultural imperialism.
Rise of Kalighat Painting
In the mid-nineteenth century, Kalighat painting emerged in the neighbourhood of the Kali temple in Calcutta. The famous Kalighat Temple of goddess Kali is situated on the banks of the river Hooghly (the lower portion of the riverbank of Bhagirathi, a branch of the Ganges). The river course has now shifted to the Adiganga Canal, a tiny link connecting to the Hooghly River, following the original path of the river.
Considered as one of the pious pilgrimages of India, commercial and religious activities saw increasing growth in this region. For generations, activities such as idol making and worshipping created employment for the locals residing in that area.
One of the distinct features of the Kalighat painting is the integration of secular subjects, along with a satirical representation of Kolkata’s rising European influence; for instance, the visual arts of Babus. Around 1830, the Pat artists who lived in rural Bengal, especially the parganas and the Midnapore district, migrated to Calcutta and established Kalighat Patachitra as a style of art. They were known as Patachitra due to the painting of lengthy narratives on handmade paper scrolls. Each part was referred to as a pat, and the artists were titled patuas.
The traces of the origin of Kalighat paintings are difficult to find due to the absence of historical documents. The alternatives used by historians include material evidence and the dates of acquisition of paintings. The paper and colour of Patua serve as major material evidence, indicating the timeline of the early nineteenth century. The dates of acquisitions by European collectors indicate the timeline of the first and second quarters of the nineteenth century.
Themes of Kalighat Painting
The paintings depict numerous themes, which include both religious and non-religious subjects. Along with representing themes on Hindu deities, especially the goddess Kali, the Kalighat artists also took inspiration from day-to-day life.
The religious themes were mostly dominated by art subjects, such as Shiva as Panchanan, who is depicted either with Parvati (his wife) or Nandi (his Vahan) or dancing with Sati’s lifeless body. Other subjects include the goddess Lakshmi depicted as Gajalakshmi, Durga, or sometimes as Mahisasurmardini; the incarnations of Lord Vishnu (Dashavatar); Lord Kartikeya; Lord Ganesha; Goddess Saraswati; and so on. Even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, an important figure of the Vaishnavite movement, is also depicted in this popular art form. Indian epics are also believed to be important religious themes for Kalighat paintings.
Meanwhile, the non-religious themes included personalities from daily lives and contemporary events. Even animals such as fish, birds, lobsters, and prawns were represented by Kalighat paintings. The artists mainly depicted English rulers, the Bengali Babus, the middle and upper classes, and domestic clashes, along with representations of women, servant classes (including prostitutes), and other occupational activities such as trade and commerce.
Visual Representation of Babu Culture through Kalighat Paintings
The Kalighat painters attempted to create a stereotype against the Bengali Babus of the colonial period. They were typically presented with unusual characteristics such as neatly oiled hair, holding pleats of dhoti in one hand, and either chewing the betel or smoking the hookah. Another usual characteristic of these themes is the association of the Bengali Babus with the courtesans. According to scholars and historians, the Patuas drew the activities of rich zamindars and the ‘Bhadralok’ Babus for restraining people from participating in such activities.
Historians and scholars, especially the colonial historians, state that the nineteenth century observed a rivalry between the Orient (the East) and the Occident (the West, particularly the Europeans). The Patuas depicted the Bengali Babus as a presentation of the Occident, indicating their engagement with Western culture. Being from the lower order of society, their better understanding of societal issues was shown through their paintings compared to the rich and educated. While the paintings show positive aspects of the Bengal culture, they were also utilised to highlight the societal adversities to their target audience.
One of the interesting aspects of the visual representation of the Babus was their keen interest in quality music. The painting “Babu playing the Sitar” elaborates that the Babus often enjoyed a “mehfil” (musical performance accompanied by dance as a performative art) along with the courtesans. The palatial house of the Babus, for instance, had a special area known as ‘jalsaghar,’ which is the music and dance hall.
Babu and Bibi: With the growing popularity of Kalighat paintings, the painters took the risk to go beyond the religious themes. With their surrounding consciousness, they dared to compose the ‘Babu and Bibi’ paintings alongside gods, goddesses, and evils. This was a new attempt to contribute to Patachitra paintings. However, this daring attempt backfired as the Patuas faced a major economic setback. Some were even forced to choose other professions.
The Patuas represented the Babus as the ‘evil,’ and Bibi symbolised Shakti, having similarities with the goddess Kali. However, this representation has been a subject of debate. Though they tried to twist the expressions of pre-British painters, the unwillingness of society to accept this transformation faced severe criticism.
Babu and Bibi: A Scandalous Part of Kalighat Paintings
The 19th-century Calcutta saw the rise of a new class in the society, the Babus and Bibis, with the emergence of English education in the society. The Babus, as mentioned earlier, became great admirers of the Western lifestyle, involving themselves in art and fashion as well. The Bibis, the wives of the Babus, just like their husbands, followed a similar trend associated with fashion. They were highly influenced by the Anglo-French elements and incorporated them into their fashion sense. Although their model of empowerment does not align with today’s idea of women’s empowerment, their generation saw the humble beginnings of the movement. They received the opportunity to study and explore the external world, a world outside the Andarmahal (the internal environment of the household). This made them more progressive, building a better future generation than their ancestors.
Controversial aspect of Babu and Bibi paintings: One of the most controversial aspects of these paintings was that the Patuas openly portrayed the meeting of Babu and Bibi, both belonging to the Bhadralok community. This not only exposes the indulgences of the Bhadralok but also attempts to explore the many dimensions of a Bengali woman, including her sexuality, deplorable habits, negative traits such as anger and jealousy, and ultimately her immense control over the Babu. The control of Bibi over the Babu or the Bhadralok became the most controversial aspect of the painting as it tries to portray female dominance over a man, a nuance that challenges the strong masculinity and their stereotypes in the society.
The Kalighat paintings faced the rejection of society due to their attempt to portray a “new woman.” The woman, based on their ideas, was educated to fit the societal norms, hence challenging the social perspective of a woman in nineteenth-century Bengal. The Patua intentionally created marked differences for portraying Bengali women, where one is the wife and the other the prostitute. Through the examination of these paintings, it becomes clear that the Bibi was just another category that had many branches of women allocated in different sections of society. Whatever the scenario may be, they continue to be associated with the Babus even today.
Conclusion
The depiction of Kalighat painters of Bhadralok and Babu culture offers a unique blend of humour and nostalgia. It attempts to capture the very essence of the nineteenth-century colonial Bengali middle-class society through the visual representation of the socio-cultural legacy. The artists and the paintings combine traditions, modernity, artistic observations and human experiences of that period. The symbolisms reflected through these paintings are still relevant as they mirror the emotional and societal complexities of the elite classes. While with the changing generational mindsets, the Bhadralok behavioural mentality seems to decline, these paintings continue to spread the undying legacies of the Babu culture, respectively.
References
https://babubibi.com/from-the-banks-of-the-hooghly/
Sengupta Ramayni, Understanding the Babu Culture through Kalighat Paintings, The Itihasology Journal (Volume I, Issue 1): https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:AP:50142ca5-b902-4d13-bc22-c514e360a18f, pp: 193-199 (issue date: 10th January 2022)
Mukherjee Anuja, Kalighat Paintings: A National Artifact, the Folk and Counter Representation in the Making of Modern Art in Bengal (Article in The Chitrolekha Journal on Art and Design): https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:AP:fdf12031-3981-4173-accd-8e3cfe04b3b6, pp: 5-6 (issue date: March 2020) (DOI: 0.21659/cjad.41.v4n104)