Vishnushastri Chiplunkar started the Marathi monthly magazine 'Nibandhamala', which defended Indian culture and criticised colonial rule, in:

Vishnushastri Chiplunkar started the Marathi monthly magazine "Nibandhamala" ("Garland of Essays") in Pune in 1874.

About Nibandhamala:

• It consisted of long essays written by Chiplunkar himself on literature, history, society, religion and politics.
• It defended Indian culture, the Marathi language and Hindu traditions, and criticised Christian missionaries, British rule and the uncritical imitation of the West.
• It also criticised some of the social reformers, whom Chiplunkar saw as too dependent on Western ideas.
• It is regarded as a landmark in the development of Marathi prose and of nationalist thought in Maharashtra.
• It was published for about seven years, until his death in 1882.

About Vishnushastri Chiplunkar:

• He was born on 20 May 1850 in Pune.
• He was the son of Krishnashastri Chiplunkar, a scholar of Sanskrit and Marathi.
• He worked as a teacher in a government high school, but resigned because he did not want to serve the British government.
• He is called the "Shivaji of Marathi language" (for defending Marathi) by his admirers.

His other contributions:

• He founded the New English School in Pune in 1880, along with others, to provide education in the national spirit.
• He was one of the founders of the Marathi newspaper "Kesari" and the English newspaper "Mahratta" (1881).
• He set up the Chitrashala Press and the Aryabhushan Press in Pune.
• He died on 17 March 1882, at the age of 31.

Significance:

He was one of the early figures of cultural nationalism in Maharashtra, and influenced younger leaders.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1857, 1885 and 1905 were the years of other events.