MOVEMENTS FOR AUTONOMY IN DARJEELING 57 peasants and agricultural labourers. The ethnic identity of the Nepalis strove to cut across these major economic strata and sought to express itself in two distinct streams, which sometimes flowed together. The first one pivoted around the spread of Nepali language and literature which became the focal point for the composite ethnic culture of the hill sub-divisions of the district. In the second stream, the ethnic identity of the Nepalis was, expressed in terms of an exclusiveness which gradually took shape through demands for various forms of autonomy for Darjeeling. The move to improve Nepali language was initiated by the Christian missionaries at Serampore in Hooghly district of Bengal during the 1820s. A grammar of Nepali language was published by them. Later on Rev. William Macfarlane introduced Nepali as a language in the schools which he established in Darjeeling. However, all these efforts of the Christian missionaries were mostly motivated by their proselytizing zeal. Rev. Ganga Prasad Pradhan, one of the earliest Nepali converts to Christianity, translated the Bible into Nepali language. It was only after the emergence of a middle class Nepali literati led by the personalities like Parasmoni Pradhan, Dharanidhar Koirala and Surya Bikram Gewali that the ethnic cultural identity of the Nepalis of Darjeeling began to assert itself. It was because of their efforts that in 1918 Calcutta University recognised Nepali as a vernacular language for the purpose of composition in the Matriculation, Intermediate and B.A. examinations. In 1920, the first authentic revision of the Nepali grammar was done by Parasmoni Pradhan, who himself was an Inspector of Schools. Dharanidhar Koirala composed simple poems dealing with the themes of social reforms, urging all Nepalis to the task of national awakening. Surya Bikram Gewali, in his writings, gave a nationalist perspective on the Nepali royal and martial heroes. This literary movement was further strengthened by the publication of a Nepali monthly paper Chandrika which was edited by Parasmoni Pradhan in 1918. However, it was in 1901 that the first Nepali journal was published from Darjeeling and it was entitled as Gorkha Khabar Kagat. The famous Gorkhapatra was simultaneously published from Nepal. The journals, published from 1900 to 1940, concentrated on different aspects of the Nepali society, culture and language. The social evils were criticised and a radical change in the social outlook was advocated. Nepali Sahitya Sammelan Patra, published in 1932, contributed to the development of serious prose in the language. Along with the growth of literary movement for Nepali cultural