The British Makeover of India: Indigenous Education and Languages Downgraded

India, that is Bharat, has been a land of seekers of knowledge. Learning and pursuit of knowledge have been an integral part of Indian civilisation. Nearly eight decades into independence, India hasn’t yet completely reclaimed its civilisational heritage. Relentless Muslim invasions and British colonisation have struck at the very foundational structures of its civilisation.

In her rigorously researched two-volume series on the impact of the British Colonisation on India’s civilisation, Padma Sri Meenakshi Jain brought to light the systematic destruction of India’s indigenous institutions by the British East India Company (EIC). The first volume, released in 2024, expertly uncovers the colonial dismantling of the native judiciary and its allied institutions, which were rooted in the Dharma Shastras and Sutras. (A review of the first volume- The British Makeover of India: Judicial and Other Indigenous Institutions Upturned can be accessed here).

Structured in four sections, the second volume titled- “The British Makeover of India: Indigenous Education and Languages Downgraded” brings out in sordid detail the steady decline of the indigenous education system. Enduring the double whammy of lack of government support and impoverishment of the natives under colonial rule, the system that thrived for millennia crumbled.

Western travellers and the early EIC officials were in awe of the indigenous education system, mostly ‘single teacher run schools’ that imparted the 3 basic Rs of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Supported by the communities, the schools erected by teachers and built in clay catered to rudimentary learning. The curriculum enabled the students to become competent in the skills needed for local transactions. Mistakenly described as rote learning, the indigenous system focused on practice and memory as a tool of learning.  The author highlights and traces the functioning of Verdah or Tinnai Schools in Tamil Nadu that survived through the early decades of the 20^th century.

Soon, the colonial government often confronted the traditional and institutionalised learning of these schools, forcing them to shift to the modern (British curriculum). Arguing for Anglicisation or Christianisation, Charles Grant, along with Rev. David Brown and George Udny, drafted a plan, Mission to Bengal, to set up missionary schools headed by clergymen in all eight provinces of Bengal. He insisted “The People are universally and wholly corrupt, they are as depraved as they are blind, and as wretched as they are depraved, and to govern them and render them obedient and orderly upon right principles is no easy Work….. to reconcile them for a foreign dominion like Ours, it seems equally clear that We and they ought to have some strong common principles…… Religion is that Common Principle, the only just and durable one that can be established between us” (p35).

Terming the European arts and science as “superior lights”, Grant proposed that the ‘implantation’ of this British curriculum through the English language would silently disconnect the Hindus from their heritage. Drawing from the earlier Muslim invaders who conducted public affairs and governance in Persian and asserted their superiority, Grant believed that English must be made the language of administration and judicial work. Grant’s plans were the meat of the Company Charter of 1793.

EIC’s plans are renewed every twenty years by the parliament. Seemingly, in the early stages of colonisation, the parliament, taking a cautious approach on sending missionaries to India, didn’t endorse the plan in its entirety. However, Grant, who had the backing of Prime Minister Henry Dundas, using his authority, sent twenty Chaplains to India. Soon, the ‘Sermapore Trio’- William Carey, William Ward and Joshua Marshman, who arrived in Calcutta without valid licences, expanded the evangelisation programme. Anglicist William Wilberforce advocated for the dissemination of Christianity through various Indian languages.

Initially, a section of EIC officials, referred to as Orientalists, endorsed the indigenous education systems and espoused revival of traditional knowledge. They established new institutions in Bengal, Bombay province. Warren Hastings started Calcutta Madrassa in 1781 and Jonathan Duncan founded Sanskrit College in 1781 to increase intellectual contact between Pandits and British officials, surmising the concept of ‘reinvigorate, not replace’. But eventually, missionaries used these institutions to become proficient in vernacular languages. Translating the Bible into local languages, they distributed Christian texts and books to the common people. Soon, the missionaries even turned their focus to different Oriental languages and spread Christianity to South East Asia as well.

With the appointment of William Bentinck as Governor General of India in 1828, the pretence of ‘engrafting European sciences’ on traditional knowledge was shed. He approved the introduction of English to reduce administrative costs, and natives also showed interest to learn the language to earn a livelihood. Eventually, the Company Charter of 1793 fructified in 1835 when Anglicists Charles Trevelyan and Thomas B Macaulay pressed hard for its implementation.

In his speech before the Parliament opposing scholarships and funds to the indigenous institutions Macaulay said, “To have found a great people sunk in the lowest depths of slavery and superstition, to have so ruled them as to have them desirous and capable of all the privileges of citizens, would indeed be a title to glory all our own”. Confessing to having no knowledge of Sanskrit or Arabic, Macaulay argued, “who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia… It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected from all the books written in the Sancrit language is less valuable than what may be found in the most paltry abridgements used at preparatory schools in England” (p70).

The Macaulay Minute of Feb 2, 1835, which has veered the indigenous education system away from its traditional moorings and produced thousands of brown sahibs, was unhinged about its contempt for natives. Obtrusively citing the end goal, Macaulay indicated, “We must at present 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 tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of this country to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population”(p70). Perhaps, given the brazenness of Macaulay’s stance, the Minute was published in 1853. Macaulay didn’t want it to be published.

Apprised of the consequences of this wily Charter, which was approved by the Parliament, in a letter to his father, Macaulay confessed- “No Hindoo, who has received an English education, ever remains sincerely attached to his religion. Some continue to profess it as a matter of policy; but many profess themselves as pure Deists, and some embrace Christianity. It is my firm belief that, if our plans of education are followed up, there will not be a single idolater among the respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence. And this will be affected without any efforts to proselytise, without the smallest interference with religious liberty; merely by the natural operation of knowledge and reflection. I heartily rejoice in this prospect”. (p74). In fact, the growing tribe of influentials HINOs is a direct outcome of the Macaulay education system, which was imposed on the unsuspecting natives.

The Charter Act 1833 opened the floodgates for missionaries so much so that the period between 1830-57 was reckoned as “Age of Mission School”. Offering elementary education in vernacular languages, missionaries successfully penetrated even the rural areas. Given their increasing reach, evangelists argued for grants-in-aid for missionary schools, pressed for introduction of Bible as a class book and called for abolishing Oriental schools and colleges. Alexander Duff, author of educational despatch, described imparting English education without religion, “a blind suicidal” policy.

The EIC, wary of perceived threats to the interests of the Empire in the wake of the Vellore Mutiny, Tinnevelley riots and Nagpur riots, halted direct financial assistance to missionaries and tried to rein on the religious bigotry of missionaries. However, the missionaries soon ventured into secondary education. Simultaneously, the colonial government began tweaking the indigenous curriculum in colleges by removing key Sanskrit texts and adding the Western classics in arts and literature.

Post-1857 revolt, the government totally abandoned the policy of religious neutrality and imposed Christianity. Postulating, keeping people away from Christianity caused the 1857 Mutiny, Herbert Edwardes said, “between us and the Indian people, the great want is the want of a link. We are divided by our religions. There is no amalgamation between the races. There is nothing to twine one within the other and cement our interests. We stand aloof- and find nothing in our worldly policy to bridge the space. We shall only find that link in Christianity. If we Christianise one man, we have made one friend. If we Christianise a race, we have got an army. If we Christianise a province, we have founded a government. If we Christianise a people, we have made an empire…”. (p253).

In addition to Christianisation, rampant exploitation rendered the prosperous Indian society impoverished. Dire economic straits resulted in teachers' reluctance to barter knowledge. Further, the mandatory fees for enrolment into schools denied the masses basic access to elementary education. Once a thriving society of knowledge and education, the education system of India collapsed due to a lack of patronage from the government and the dire poverty of people.

The last section of the book examines the colonial times when Hindus and Muslims asserted civilisation identity through language. Stripping Hindavi, an amalgamation of Sanskrit and Persian languages of the Sanskrit heritage, elite Muslims during the decline of the Mughal Empire developed Urdu. Refurbishing Hindavi with Persian heritage, Muslims flaunted a separate identity. Urdu created fundamental dissensions between Hindus and Muslims. Soon, Hindus asserted their Indic heritage under the umbrella of Hindi, which became a unifying factor for Hindus during the freedom struggle. As politicians rake up language issues for electoral gains in different parts of India now, it would be the right time to revisit the pursuits of Hindu stalwarts to unite under a common language to awaken national pride and national unity.

Impeccably packed with numerous references, authentic original sources, survey reports and memorandums, the book is a testimony to the objective and unbigoted research of historian Meenakshi Jain. As a foremost historian of our times, she has silently brought out inconvenient and uncomfortable facts that tore into smithereens the colonial narrative peddled by left-lib historians. This book meticulously decodes the malevolence of British colonialism.

 

Number of pages: 400

Publishers: Aryan Books

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