HISTORY (VIII)-LESSON -7 CIVILISING THE “NATIVE”, EDUCATING THE NATION (LESSON NOTES)

HISTORY (VIII)-LESSON -7

CIVILISING THE “NATIVE”, EDUCATING THE NATION (LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION

Ø The British established their rule over in India. They don’t want only the territorial conquest or control on revenues. But they also felt that they had a cultural mission. They had to civilise the natives by giving them proper education and by changing their customs and values.

v HOW THE BRITISH SAW EDUCATION

Ø This lesson focus on the ideas of Britishers towards Indian Culture and education. We also see the status of local schools before Britishers, What, changes they have introduced. We will also see how Indians reacted to British ideas, and how they developed their own views about how Indians were to be educated. (Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindra Nath Tagore)

v THE TRADITION OF ORIENTALISM

Ø Orientalism refers to the knowledge and education system of Asian or eastern countries. William Jones, Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed have the great respect towards the orientalism.

Ø WILLIAM JONES

§  He was appointment as a junior judge at the Supreme Court in Calcutta in 1783.

§  He was an expert in law and a linguist (known many languages as Greek, Latin, French, English, Arabic, Sanskrit etc).

 

§  He has great interest in ancient culture of India. So, he began to study ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine etc.

§  So, he set up Asiatic Society of Bengal with the help of Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed to discovering the ancient Indian heritage. They also started a journal called Asiatick Researches so that other English persons also come to know about Indian heritage.

v IDEAS OF WILLIAM JONES AND COLEBROOKE

Ø They shared a deep respect for ancient cultures, both of India and the West.

Ø They felt that Indian civilisation, had attained its glory in the ancient, but had declined so to understand India it was necessary to discover ancient sacred and legal texts.

Ø They felt that the Hindus and the Muslims ought to be taught what they were already familiar with, and what they valued and treasured, not subjects that were alien to them.

Ø They believed that the ancient customs of the country and oriental learning ought to be the basis of the British rule in India.

Ø They believed that by this British could win the hearts of ‘natives’, and could get respect from them.

v STEPS TAKEN BY ORIENTALISTS

Ø A madrasa was set up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law.

Ø In 1791, the Hindu College was established in Benaras to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country.

v CRTICISE OF ORIENTILISM

Ø By 19^th century many officials began to criticise the Orientalist vision of learning. Two persons James Mills and Thomas Babington Macaulay were opposed the orientalism:-

§  They said that knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thought.

§  Eastern literature was non-serious and light-hearted.

§  The eastern education is not practical also.

v IDEAS OF JAMES MILL & THOMAS MACAULAY

Ø According to James Mill the aim of education ought to be to teach which is useful and practical.

Ø So, Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had.

Ø Macaulay told that, “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia”.

Ø He believed that knowledge of English allowed Indians to read the finest literature of the world. It also makes them civilised and changing their tastes, values and culture.

v STEPS TAKEN TO PROMOTE WESTERN EDUCATION

Ø English Education Act

§  English Education Act was introduced in 1835, on the basis of Macaulay Minutes.

§  According to that English become the medium of instruction for higher education.

§  Promotion of Oriental institutions were stopped. These institutions were seen as “temples of darkness.

§  English textbooks now began to be produced for schools.

Ø Wood’s Despatch

§  An educational despatch issued by the Charles Wood, (the President of the Board of Control of the Company) sent to India in 1854 for educational policy of India, was known as wood’s Despatch.

§  It emphasised on the practical benefits of European learning. They wanted to develop that education in India which promote their commerce. It would change their tastes and desires, and create a demand for British goods. It helps in the expansion of trade and commerce.

§  European learning would improve the moral character of Indians. It would make them truthful and honest.

§  On the basis of Woods despatch several measures were introduced by the British as

·      Education departments of the government were set up to extend control over all matters regarding education.

·      Universities were being established in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.

 

v MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES IN INDIA

Ø East India Company did not allowed to missionary activities in India, till 1813.

Ø They have feared that their activities provoke local people against company.

Ø So they set up their mission at Serampore (West Bengal) in an area under the control of the Danish East India Company. A printing press was set up in 1800 and a college established in 1818.

v WILLIAM ADAM REPORT ON LOCAL SCHOOLS (1830):

Ø William Adam was a Scottish missionary, who had prepared the report on the local school or pathshala in 1830 of Bengal and Bihar. The feature of the report were as follows:-

§  There were over 20 lakh students taught in nearly 1 lakh pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar.

§  These institutions were set up by wealthy people, or the local community.

 

§  There were no fixed fee, no printed books, no separate school building, no benches or chairs, no blackboards, no system of separate classes, no rollcall registers, no annual examinations, and no regular time-table.

§  Fee depended on the income of parents: the rich had to pay more than the poor.

§  The system of education was flexible because mostly students work on fields. They come to school when there is no work in the fields.

v NEW ROUTINES, NEW RULES: 

Ø After 1854 company decided to improve the system of vernacular education. So, they imposed new rules: -

§  The Britisher’s government-appointed officials who were made in-charge of four to five schools.

§  Teaching was now according to a regular timetable. Students wrote examinations, paid a regular fee and obeyed the new rules of discipline.

Ø These new rules had great impact as: -

§  The government supported only those school which accepted new rules.

§  So, all local pathshala completely declined without support.

§  It also affects the poor children; many were unable to pay fees.

§  New system demanded regular attendance, so children belonging to the farming were unable to attend these schools.

v AGENDA FOR NATIONAL EDUCATION: 

Ø In the 19th century, Indian thinkers felt that western education would help in modernization of India. They urged the British to open more schools, colleges and universities and spend more money on education.

Ø There were other Indians, however, who reacted against Western education. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore were two such individuals.

v GANDHI’S VIEW ON EDUCATION

Ø CRITICISE OF WESTERN EDUCATION

§  Gandhi argued that colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians.

§  It destroyed the pride on their own culture, it enslaved Indians.

§  Mahatma Gandhi argued that western education focus on reading and writing rather than oral knowledge. It valued textbooks rather than lived experience and practical knowledge.

Ø WHAT GNADHIJI WANTED

§  Mahatma Gandhi strongly felt that Indian languages ought to be the medium of teaching.

§  Mahatma Gandhi wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and self-respect.

§  He argued that education ought to develop a person’s mind and soul.

§  Literacy – or simply learning to read and write – by itself did not count as education.

§  Handicraft should be the part of education, which would develop their mind and capacity to work.

Ø TAGORE’S IDEAS ON EDUCATION 

§  Tagore felt that creative learning could be encouraged only within a natural environment.

§  Therefore in 1901, he set up his school, Shanti Niketan, in a rural setting where children lived in harmony with nature and cultivated their natural creativity.

 

§  Tagore gave the importance of self-learning, instead of rigid and restricting discipline.

§  He wanted that teachers had to be imaginative, understand the child, and help the child develop her curiosity.

v DIFFERENCE IN IDEAS ON EDUCATION OF GANDHIJI AND TAGORE

GANDHI VIEW	TAGORE VIEWS
Gandhiji was highly critical of Western civilisation	Tagore wanted to combine elements of modern Western civilisation with India’s best.
He emphasised on handicraft to develop mind and capacity.	He emphasised on science and technology along with art, music and dance.

 

v IMPORTANT TERM

Ø Linguist: One who knows and studies several languages.

Ø Native: Original inhabitant of the land.

Ø Orientalists: Those with a scholarly knowledge of the language and culture of Asia.

Ø Munshi: A person who can read, write and teach Persian.

Ø Vernacular: It refers to a local language or dialect as distinct from the standard language.

Ø Minute: A short note on a subject.
Despatch: A message or report.

Ø Pathshala: Local school.

Ø Guru: Teacher.

TIME LINE

1781 – A madrasa was set up in Calcutta.

1784 – Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded by William Jones

1791 – The Hindu College was set up in Benaras.

1818 – Serampore College was established by Missionary

1830 – William Adam report was published

1854 – Wood’s Despatch was issued.

1857-Eastablished three university in Bomaby, Calcutta and Madras

1901 – Rabindranath Tagore established Shantiniketan.