Spreading of Western Education in Bengal

during British Rule (1765 1857)

Pre-colonial India is well known for its system of indigenous education. There existed
Gurukulas and Patashalas to promote education of the caste Hindus and Madarasas and
Maktabs to promote the education of the Muslim community in India. This indigenous
education gave more stress to scholarship of languages rather than science and technology
and by the time the British came to India as traders, Persian was the court language and
irrespective of religious faith, both Hindus and Muslims learnt Persian to obtain jobs under
the rulers of pre-colonial India.Besides Madarsas and Patashalas, there too existed advanced
centres of learning in languages along with ordinary schools teaching language proficiency
based on oral tradition and memorization of the texts.
After the downfall of the Mughal Empire, the progress of education in India declined. After
the battle of Buxar (1764), the East India Company became a territorial power. The British
who acquired territorial control and became political masters did not interfere in the
educational field till 1813. The Court of Directors of the East India Company was reluctant to
shoulder the responsibility for education of the people of India and: left education to private
efforts. However, the British Parliament; compelled the company to devote its attention to the
existing educational system of India. After 1813, with the cooperation or a limited number of
Indians, the British colonial rulers introduced the western system of education in India.
The East India Companys charter of 1600 had directed the company to maintain the schools
and therefore the first school, called St. Marys Charity School was started in Madras in
1715. In 1781 Warren Hastings set up the Calcutta Madrasah for the study and learning
of Persian and Arabic. William James founded The Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784.
And in 1791, Jonathan Duncan, the British Resident of Benaras started a Sanskrit
College there for the study of Hindu Law, philosophy and literature. However these early
attempts for the spread of oriental languages met with little success.
A humble beginning towards the development of education in India was made in 1813 when
the Charter Act (1813) provided for an annual expenditure of one lakh of rupees for the
revival and promotion of literature and the encouragement of the learned
natives of India, and for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of
sciences among the inhabitants of the British territories. However this small
amount of money was not made available by the company till 1823. Between 1823 (o 1833 the
principal aim of the educational system was to spread English because the company required
young clerks well acquainted with English for its officer.
Orientalist-Anglicist Controversy:
For nearly more than half a century, the British followed a policy of neutrality or nonintervention in the matters of religion and culture of the indigenous people. During the first
quarter of nineteenth century a great controversy was going on regarding the nature of
education and medium of instruction in schools and colleges. The Orientalists led by Dr.
H.H.Wilson and H.T. Princep advocated in favour of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian as the
medium of education. The Anglicists led by Charles Trevelyan, Elphinstone advocated
the imparting of western education through the medium of English.
The Anglicists were supported by most advanced Indians of the time, like Raja Ram Mohan
Roy who advocated for the study of western education as the key to the treasures of
scientific and democratic thought of the modern west. A general committee of
public instruction was set up in 1823 to look after the development of education in India.
Lord Macauley, the Law member to the Supreme Council of Calcutta was appointed
Chairman of the Committee of Public Instruction.

But due to constant pressure from different sections the Christian missionaries, the liberals,
the utilitarians, and the Anglicists the British yielded and agreed to take up the
responsibility of promoting Western education. In his famous Minute of 2nd February 1835,
Macauley fired the final shot of the battle between the Orientalists and Anglicists. He gave his
verdict in favour of English as the medium of instruction and western education, literatures
and sciences as the subjects of study for the Indians. There is also a view that the educational
policy was designed to legit-imize the domination of the British colonial needs.
Lord Macauley showed his hatred towards Oriental Literatures when he said that, a single
shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India
and Arabia. Lord William Bentick, the then Governor-General of India, approved
Macauleys Minute and on 7th March 1835 passed a resolution declaring that, His
Lordship in Council is of opinion that, the great object of the British
Government ought to be the promotion of European literature and science
among the natives of India and that all the fund appropriated for the purpose
of education would be best employed on English education alone. Besides
Macaulay, the efforts of Charles Grant and William Wilberforce deserve to be remembered in
this aspect.
William Bentinck announced in 1835 that English replaced Persian as the court language,
books in English were made available at low prices and more funds were allotted to support
the English education, and fund for the support of oriental learning was curtailed. Lord
Auckland, who succeeded Bentnick as the Governor General also continued encouragement
for the promotion of English learning by opening English colleges in Dacca, Patna, Benaras,
Allahabad, Agra, Delhi and Barielly.
Through the Macaulayian system the British Government intended to educate the upper and
middle classes who were likely to take up the task of educating and spreading modern ideas
among them. Macauley had faith in the infiltration theory. He wrote in his minute, We
must do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the
millions, whom we govern, a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but
English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. To that class we may
leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country.
Hereafter between 1835-39, the Government had established twenty- three schools. In 1842 a
Council of Education was established in place of the Committee of Public Instruction. During
1843-53, Mr. James Thomason, the Lieutenant Governor of North Western Provinces had
introduced a comprehensive scheme of village education. Under this scheme some villages
were grouped in one unit and every Zamindar of the unit had to pay one percent cess on the
revenue for the maintenance of the schools in his jurisdiction. In 1835 Bentick had
established a Medical College at Calcutta.
Gradually similar colleges were founded in different parts of the country. The introduction of
English education led to the growth of the English literature and civilization and marked the
dawn of a new epoch in the intellectual life of India. The social and religious outlook of the
Indians also underwent a great change. With the spread of western philosophy and science
the ground for Indian Renaissance was prepared. The educated Indians spread the ideas of
democracy, nationalism, social and economic quality among the common people.
Sir Charles Woods Despatch of 1854:
Another landmark in the development of Western education was Woods Despatch of 1854.
Sir Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control sent his recommendations known as
Woods Despatch of 1854 reorganizing the whole structure of education. Woods Despatch is
regarded as the Magna Carta of English education in India. The Despatch categorically states
the education that we desire to see extended in India is that which has for its
object the diffusion of the improved arts, science, and philosophy and
literature of Europe, in short, of European knowledge.

Charles Wood recommended for the starting of universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras,
for the establishment of a network of graded schools, high schools, middle schools and the
elementary schools, promotion of vernacular schools and the establishment of teacher
training institutions and the introduction of grant-in-aid system to non-government schools
opened by charitable bodies and individuals. The despatch also encouraged female education.
Almost all the recommendations of Woods were implemented.
As per the recommendation of Wood, a Department of Public Instruction was established in
1855 in each province under the Director of Public Instruction. In 1857 examining
universities on the model of London University were established at Calcutta, Bombay and
Madras. These Universities were to conduct examinations and award degrees. Vernacular
schools were established in the villages and education was imparted to the children through
vernacular language of the province in the lower classes. Due to Bethanes efforts girls schools
were established under the Governments grant-in-aid and inspection system. There were no
arrangements for the training of the teachers.
The Woods Despatch acted as a model for further development of education in India. Besides
government support for Western learning in India, Christian missionaries and others took
keen interest. The founding of Hindu College, which in later times was called Presidency
College in Calcutta by David Hare and others helped the promotion of secular learning among
the Hindus. Along with Western learning, womans education also received wide patronage.
The same pattern of promotion of education can be witnessed in Bombay and Madras
presidencies too.
We notice a slow and gradual promotion of Western learning in India which ultimately led to
a new spirit of rationalism and a new critical outlook in the Indians which finally led to the
emergence of a spirit of nationalism; championing of self-rule and self-reliance. It does not
mean that Western learning was primarily responsible for the above narrated process, but it
acted as a catalyst in fostering the awareness of the colonial economic exploitation.
As the consequence of the spread of Western educational system, new notions of reason,
justice and utilitarian concerns of welfare began to mould the minds of the educated Indians
in search of an answer to the problems of poverty and impoverishment that plagued Indian
society of the later 19th century. An inter-esting offshoot of the spread of Western education
and transformation of British East India Company from that of trader-conqueror to that of
rulers was the emergence of a middle class professional group to serve the interests of the
British colonial and imperial interests.