In my last article (part 1), I discussed about the
introduction of football in colonial Calcutta. In this article, I have made an
attempt to highlight the influence of the societal factors on the growth of football
in colonial Bengal and the contributions made by the ‘Father of Indian Football’,
Shri Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikari.
Shri Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikari played an important
role in broad-basing football in colonial Calcutta. Shri Sarbadhiakri, often
considered as the ‘Father of Indian Football’, inspired his fellow-mates of the
Hare School to play football in 1877. The journey of the Bengali community with
football started since then. Shri Sarbadhiakri, who kicked a football first
time at the age of ten, tried to make a social reform by using the medium of
football. He, along with Shri Nagendra Mallik, set up the Friends Club in the
premises of Rajendra Mallik’s house. He tried to consolidate the Wellington
Club (1884) with a vision of making the Bengali community strong enough to
compete against the British teams in the game of football. The club authorities
decided to offer membership irrespective of caste and creed.
However, Shri Sarbadhiakri faced a strong opposition
from the high class and high caste members of the club while trying to provide
membership to a potter’s son, Moni Das. The visionary leader of football was
shaken by this opposition and decided to dissolve the club. After that, he
established Shovabazar club in 1887 in the premises of the Shovabazar Rajbati. The
club was unique in offering membership free of caste and creed. They
implemented this vision by making Moni Das a member of this club. Even the
Europeans and the Anglo-Indians could also become the members of the club.
Shri
Sarbadhiakri, therefore, did not restrict himself in promoting football in
colonial Calcutta, but also played a prominent role in promoting it to all
sections of the society by making an attempt of breaking the social barriers.
He tried to make the Bengalis physically strong and technically sound to
compete against the British teams in their own game, football. It can be said
that, the inspiration of the epochal success of Mohun Bagan in 1911 in the IFA
Shield started with this initiative of Shri Sarbadhikari. However, he could not
influence the British rulers to adopt a liberal approach which would allow the
Indian teams to participate in the tournaments introduced by the British
administrators. Mitra Soumen, in his book ‘In Search of the Identity, History of
Football in Colonial Calcutta’, mentioned that the Shovabazar Club was set
up with the patronage of the Rajas of the Shovabazar Rajbati with an objective of
showing the British rulers that the Indians could also take part in the
leisurely activities introduced by the British Raj. They used to play matches
against teams like the Calcutta Football Club, Naval Volunteers, Dalhousie and
these matches were played in a ceremonial environment.
However, a sharp contrast can be observed in the
vision of the other Bengali clubs, among which the National Club was a
prominent name. This club was set up in 1885 by an idealistic teacher of the
Kalighat School, Shri Manmatha Ganguly, with an objective of establishing
nationalism in the game of football in colonial Calcutta by competing against
the European teams. To achieve this purpose, in the initial years, the club did
not participate in any competitive match, but prepared the players physically
so that they could face the strong challenges of the British teams. Moreover,
this club was instrumental in building the characters of the local youth.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was associated with this club as a player.
The first competitive football tournament,
introduced in colonial Calcutta, was the Trades Cup which was started in 1889
by the European traders. Shovabazar was the only club which was invited to
participate in the inaugural year of this tournament.
The Indian Football Association (IFA), which was the
first administrative body of football in India, was set up in 1893 with the
objective of organizing the IFA Shield tournament. Shri Nagendraprasad
Sarbadhikari joined hands with C.A. Brown, C. B. Lindsey and L. Watson to form
the IFA. The financial support to form this administrative body was provided by
the Maharaja of Coach Behar. However, neither Shri Sarbadhikari nor the
Maharaja of Coach Behar was successful in removing or reducing the influence of
the British from running the IFA. The prestigious IFA Shield was started in
1893 and the Calcutta Football League was launched in 1898. However, till 1914,
the Calcutta Football League was limited to the European teams only. Even in
1914, only two teams from Calcutta, Mohun Bagan and Aryans, were allowed to participate
in the second division of the League. This racial approach was adopted by the
colonial rulers in the game of football in Calcutta to discriminate the Indians
from them. Similar approach was adopted in other tournaments, such as the Cadet
Cup which was limited to the European and the Anglo-Indian students. The Indian
teams were not allowed to participate in the football competitions introduced
in other parts of the country, such as the Durand Cup (1888) and the Rovers Cup
(1891).
The Sepoy Mutiny, which took place in 1857, made a
radical change in the ruling pattern of the British rulers. Prior to that, a
liberal and interactive approach was practiced in which importance was given to
the socio-cultural exchange. However, after the mutiny, a dogmatic, racial,
authoritarian view was adopted which was reflected in the following statement:
“ignorant to the last degree and the empire must
remain an absolute government founded, not on consent but on conquest.”
(Metcalf T.R. Ideologies of the Raj. Cambridge,
1994)
A number of steps were taken during this period to
differentiate the native Indians from the white men. Indians were not allowed
to enter into the European clubs, separate railway carriages were made for
them. This marked the end of the socio- cultural exchange between the rulers
and the ruled and introduced a racial policy which was extended from the other
areas of society to the game of football.
In protest of this racial approach in football, a
nationalistic approach was adopted by the Maharaja of Coach Behar when he
introduced the Coach Behar Cup Tournament in 1893 only for the Indian teams.
This concept of nationalism in football took a complete shape with the historic
win of Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield in 1911 which should be discussed in the
context of the partition of Bengal.
In my next article, I shall discuss about the
historic win of Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield in 1911 and the impact of this
win on the movement against the partition of Bengal.
- Majumdar Boria and Magan J.A. (Edited): Sports in South Asians Society, Past and Present
- Nath Nirmal: History of Indian Football
- Mitra Soumen: In Search of an Identity, History of Football in Colonial Calcutta
- Majumdar Boria and Bandyopadhyay Kausik: A Social History of Indian Football : Striving to Score
- Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan: The History and Culture of Indian People, Struggle for Freedom
- Dimeo Paul and Mills James: Soccer in South
Asia Empire, Nation and Diaspora
