Chapter 6 – Civilising the Native Educating the Nation Notes

Content Structure

1. Impact of British Rule on Students
2. How the British saw Education
- 2A. The Tradition of Orientalism
- 2B. “Grave Errors of the East”
- 2C. Education for commerce
- 2D. The demand for moral education
3. What Happened to the Local Schools?
- 3A. The report of William Adam
- 3B. New routines, new rules
4. The Agenda for a National Education
- 4A. “English education has enslaved us.”
- 4B. Tagore’s “abode of peace”

1. Impact of British Rule on Students

British Goals in India– The British wanted to rule more land and control money. They also wanted to change Indian customs and values.
Cultural Mission– They believed it was their duty to “civilize the natives” by introducing new ways of life and education.
Changes in Education– The British wanted to educate Indians and turn them into “good subjects” who followed their rules.
Debates and Challenges– The British did not agree on how to educate Indians. This debate continued for many years.

2. How the British saw Education

British Ideas and Actions on Education– The British introduced new ideas about education, and many things we now accept were developed in the last 200 years.
Indian Reactions and New Ideas– Indians responded in different ways and created their own ideas about how they should be educated.

2A. The Tradition of Orientalism

(i) William Jones and His Interest in Indian Culture
In 1783, William Jones arrived at the Calcutta Supreme Court as a junior judge. He was a law expert and linguist who knew many languages like Greek, Latin, French, English, Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit. In Calcutta, he studied ancient Indian texts on law, religion, politics, medicine, and science.

(ii) The Asiatic Society and Indian Studies
Jones, along with Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed, wanted to learn about India’s past. They founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal and started Asiatick Researches to translate and share Indian texts.
Jones and Colebrooke believed India’s ancient culture was once great but had declined. They thought studying old Hindu and Muslim texts would help Indians rediscover their past and the British become protectors of Indian culture.

(iii) Promoting Indian Learning
Many British officials supported the idea of teaching Indian subjects instead of Western knowledge. They believed that Hindus and Muslims should learn what was familiar to them, like Sanskrit and Persian literature and poetry. They thought this would help the British gain the trust. Not all British officials agreed with these ideas. Some criticized the focus on Indian learning and wanted to promote Western education instead. This debate continued for many years.
To support this, they established:

A madrasa in Calcutta (1781) for Arabic, Persian, and Islamic law.
Hindu College in Benaras (1791) for Sanskrit studies.

(iv) Different Opinions
However, not all British officials agreed with these ideas. Some criticized the focus on Indian learning and wanted to promote Western education instead. This debate continued for many years.

Linguist – Someone who knows and studies several languages.

Madrasa – An Arabic word for a place of learning; any type of school or college.

Monument to Warren Hastings, by Richard Westmacott, 1830, now in Victoria Memorial in Calcutta

This image represents how Orientalists thought of British power in India. You will notice that the majestic figure of Hastings, an enthusiastic supporter of the Orientalists, is placed between the standing figure of a pandit on one side and a seated munshi on the other side. Hastings and other Orientalists needed Indian scholars to teach them the “vernacular” languages, tell them about local customs and laws, and help them translate and interpret ancient texts. Hastings took the initiative to set up the Calcutta Madrasa and believed that the ancient customs of the country and Oriental learning ought to be the basis of British rule in India

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

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

Vernacular – A term generally used to refer to a local language or dialect as distinct from what is seen as the standard language. In colonial countries like India, the British used the term to mark the difference between the local languages of everyday use and English, the language of the imperial masters.

2B. “Grave errors of the East”

(i) Criticism of Orientalist Learning
By the early 1800s, many British officials did not support Orientalist learning. They believed that Eastern knowledge had mistakes and was not scientific. They thought Arabic and Sanskrit literature was not useful, so they argued that the British should not waste time teaching it.

(ii) James Mill’s View
James Mill strongly opposed teaching Indian subjects. He said the British should not teach what Indians liked just to make them happy. Instead, education should focus on useful subjects like Western science and technology, not poetry or religious books.

(iii) Macaulay’s Ideas and English Education
By the 1830s, the British criticized Oriental learning even more. Thomas Babington Macaulay said India was an uncivilized country and needed British education. He believed European books were much better than Indian books. He said teaching English would help Indians learn Western science, ideas, and culture to make them “civilized.”

(iv) The English Education Act of 1835
Macaulay’s ideas led to the English Education Act of 1835. This law made English the main language for higher education. The British stopped supporting Indian learning centers like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College, calling them “temples of darkness.” Schools started using English textbooks.

2C. Education for commerce

(i) Wood’s Despatch (1854) and Its Impact
In 1854, the East India Company in London sent a message about education to India’s Governor-General. It was written by Charles Wood and became known as Wood’s Despatch. It said that European education was better than Indian learning.

(ii) Reasons for Promoting European Learning

Economic Growth – The British believed that European education would help Indians understand the benefits of trade and business. It would also make them desire British goods, increasing sales for British industries.
Moral Improvement – The Despatch said that European learning would make Indians more honest, responsible, and hardworking. This would help the British get trustworthy civil servants for government jobs.
Criticism of Indian Literature – It argued that Indian books had many mistakes and did not teach people how to be dutiful and skilled administrators.

(iii) Changes After Wood’s Despatch

Education departments were set up.
Universities were started in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay in 1857.
School education was changed to follow British rules.

These steps helped the British spread their education system while keeping control over India.

2D. The demand for moral education

(i) Missionary Schools and Education
In the 19th century, Christian missionaries criticised practical education. They believed that education should improve character and that Christian teachings were the best way to do this.

(ii) British Opposition
Before 1813, the East India Company did not allow missionary work in India, fearing it would anger locals. So, missionaries set up a mission in Serampore (under Danish rule), started a printing press in 1800, and a college in 1818.

(iii) Growth of Missionary Schools
By the 19th century, missionary schools spread across India. However, after 1857, the British stopped supporting them, fearing that changing Indian customs and beliefs might make people upset.

3. What Happened to the Local Schools?

Before British rule, children learned in traditional schools like pathshalas but under British rule, education changed, English schools were introduced, and traditional learning was reduced.

3A. The report of William Adam

(i) William Adam’s Report on Education (1830s)
In the 1830s, William Adam, a Scottish missionary, travelled across Bengal and Bihar to study education in vernacular schools.

(ii) Pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar
Adam found that there were over 1 lakh pathshalas with small classes of about 20 students each, but together they educated over 20 lakh children. These schools were started by wealthy people, local communities, or teachers (gurus).

(iii) Flexible Education System
Unlike modern schools, pathshalas had no:

Fixed fees (rich students paid more than poor ones)
Printed books, benches, blackboards, or exams
Separate classrooms or grades
Fixed timetable

Classes were held under trees, in temples, in village shops, temples or in the guru’s home. and fees depended on the income of the parents. Learning was oral, and the guru taught different students at different levels in the same place.

(iv) Education Adjusted to Local Needs
Pathshalas followed a flexible system that suited rural life. During harvest time, when children helped in the fields to cut and store crops, schools paused. After the harvest, classes resumed.

3B. New routines, new rules

(i) Changes in Vernacular Education After 1854
Before the mid-19th century, the British East India Company focused mainly on higher education and let local pathshalas run without much interference.

(ii) Company’s Plan to Improve Schools
After 1854, the company decided to organize vernacular education by

Setting rules and routines for schools
Appointing government pandits to inspect 4-5 schools each
Requiring periodic reports from gurus
Introducing textbooks, exams, and fixed timetables
Making students pay regular fees and follow strict discipline

(iii) Impact on Pathshalas and Teachers

Schools that accepted these rules got government funding.
Gurus who refused the changes got no support and found it hard to compete.

(iv) Effect on Poor Students
Earlier, poor children could attend pathshalas because the timetable was flexible. But the new system demanded regular attendance, even during harvest time when they had to help in the fields. If they missed school, they were seen as undisciplined and not interested in learning.

Sri Aurobindo Ghose

In a speech delivered on January 15, 1908, in Bombay, Aurobindo Ghose stated that the goal of national education was to awaken the spirit of nationality among the students. This required a contemplation of the heroic deeds of our ancestors. The education should be imparted in the vernacular to reach the largest number of people. Aurobindo Ghose emphasised that although the students should remain connected to their own roots, they should also take the fullest advantage of modern scientific discoveries and Western experiments in popular governments. Moreover, the students should also learn some useful crafts so that they could be able to find some moderately remunerative employment after leaving their schools.

4. The Agenda for a National Education

(i) Indian Views on Education
British officials were not the only ones thinking about education in India. From the early 19th century, many Indian thinkers believed that education should be spread widely.

(ii) Support for Western Education
Some Indians, inspired by European progress, thought Western education would modernise India. They asked the British to build more schools, colleges, and universities and spend more on education.

(iii) Opposition to Western Education
However, not all Indians agreed. Some thought Western education was not good for India. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore were among those who did not support it.

4A. “English education has enslaved us.”

(i) Mahatma Gandhi’s Views on Education
Mahatma Gandhi believed British education made Indians feel inferior and lose pride in their culture. He called it poison because it made Indians admire the British and accept their rule. He wanted education to restore self-respect. During the freedom movement, he asked students to leave British schools to show they rejected British rule.

(ii) Education in Indian Language
Gandhi said education should be in Indian languages, not English. He believed English separated Indians from their culture and people. Those educated in English looked down on their own traditions and could not connect with common people.

(iii) Focus on Practical Learning
He criticised British education for only teaching reading and writing and ignoring practical skills. He believed real education should develop the mind and soul. Just reading and writing was not enough—people should also learn crafts, work with their hands, and understand daily life skills.

(iv) A New National Education
As nationalism grew, other leaders also wanted a new Indian education system that was different from the British one.

4B. Tagore’s “abode of peace”

(i) Rabindranath Tagore and Santiniketan
Rabindranath Tagore started Santiniketan in 1901 because he hated school for a child. He found it strict and uncreative, like a prison where he couldn’t follow his interests.

(ii) Tagore’s Idea of Education
Tagore wanted a school where children were free, happy, and creative. He believed learning should be natural, not strict like British schools. Teachers should help children explore their curiosity instead of stopping their creativity.

(iii) A School in Nature
Tagore believed nature helps to learn, so he built Santiniketan 100 km from Calcutta, a peaceful village.

(iv) Tagore vs. Gandhi on Education:

Gandhi rejected Western technology.
Tagore wanted to mix Indian traditions with Western science, art, music, and dance.

(v) Debate on National Education
Some people wanted to change British education for more Indians, while others wanted a new Indian system. The debate on national education continued after independence.