Reformers in India : 1793-1833. An account of the work of Christian missionaries on behalf of social reform. 9780374941123, 0374941122

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R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A

The years between 1793 and 1833 were a period o f widespread Christian activity in India, and the influence of the missionaries on Indian social life was considerable. This book provides the posi­ tive evidence of .their work, and is based largely on the archives of missionary societies as well as on papers in the Commonwealth Relations Office and the Bodleian. Dr Ingham, in virtue ol his wide and original use of this source material, has made a distinct contribution to our know­ ledge of Indian Christianity. Despite the missionaries’ difficulties with the East India Company and the native population, their achievements included the overcoming of caste prejudices and the practice of satl (where the widow was burnt alive on her husband’s funeral pyre), the improvement of women’s social status and the founding of an educational system. This book also gives accounts of the missionaries’ work in biblical translation and literature, and the medical and agricultural improvements they helped to bring about. There are three appendices (including a list o f the Protestant Missionaries at work during the period), a bibliography and a map of the sites o f the Mission Stations.

RI) E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A l 7 9 3 ' l 8 33 AN A C C O U N T C H R IS T IA N

OF TH E W O R K

M IS S IO N A R IE S

O F S O C IA L

OF

ON BEH ALF

REFORM

BY

K E N N E T H I NGHA M M .G., M .A., ' U p h il . Senior Lecturer in History at Makerere College The University College o f East Africa

CAMBRIDGE AT

TH E

U N IV E R S IT Y

1956

PRESS

PUBLISHED THE SYNDICS OF T H E

BY

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

PRESS

London O ffice: Bentley House, n . w . i American Branch: New York Agents for Canada, India, and Pakistan: Macmillan

Printed in Great B ritain at the University Press, Cambridge {Brooke Crutchley, University Printer)

CONTENTS Preface

page vii

List o f Abbreviations

xi

Note on Transliteration

xi

Introduction I

I

THE MI S S I O N A R I E S A N D T H E E A S T I N D I A COMPANY

II III

IV V VI

6

CASTE IDOLATROUS

20 FESTIVALS AND

THEPRAC T I C E

OF ‘ S A T l ’

33

EDUCATION

55

T H E S T A T U S OF I N D I A N W O M E N

84

LANGUAGES,

LITERATURE, JOURNALISM

AND

TRANSLATION VII

MEDICINE AND A G R I C U L T U R E

96 112

Epilogue

122

Appendix A. List o f G overnors-General, 1793-1833

124

Appendix B . List o f the Protestant Christian Missionaries at w ork in India, 1793-1833

125

Appendix C. M a p Index

133

Map. Christian M ission Stations in India, 1793-1833 facing p. 136 Bibliography

137

Index

147

PREFACE T h e recording o f Christian missionary activity in India in the earlier p art o f the nineteenth century has depended very largely upon the writings o f active members o f missionary societies or o f equally active discreditors o f missionary work. In this book I have attem pted to describe w h at the missionaries did rather than w h at they hoped to do or w h at they ought or ought not to have done. I w ould say at once, however, that I have w ritten only o f the missionaries’ more strictly social work, since I believe the extent o f their success or failure in their w ork o f evangelism to be beyond hum an assessment. A t the same time, I have tried constantly to show how the virtu ally subordinate schemes for social reform w hich the missionaries undertook derived their strength and their impetus from the m ain task o f attem pting to spread the Christian teaching. In order to see the missionaries’ activities in their true per­ spective it has been necessary to set them not only against the background o f Indian life but also against that o f the rapidly increasing influence o f British authority in India. W ith that aim in view , the years 1793 and 1833 were singularly appro­ priate limits for a book. In 1793 the first agents o f the newer missionary societies arrived in India. In the same year the East Ind ia C om p any’s C harter was renewed but the A c t o f R en ew al om itted the House o f Commons Resolution w hich h ad urged the Presidency Governm ents to take steps for the im provem ent o f the education and social conditions o f their In d ian subjects. T h e year 1813 ap tly marks the m iddle o f the period. For, w ith the further renew al o f the C om pany’s C harter, missionaries w ho hitherto had obtained a licence to enter India from the C ourt o f Directors only w ith the greatest difficulty, and w ho had in consequence frequently entered the country w ithout permission, were now able to appeal to the Board o f C ontrol against an unfavourable reply to their

vii

PREFACE

applications from the C ourt o f Directors. B y 1833, the mission­ aries’ w ork had m ade great progress, and as i f to m ark the new status they had gained, the East In d ia C o m p an y’s C harter R e ­ newal A c t o f that year declared that they w ere no longer re­ quired to possess a licence in order to set foot in India. T o give cohesion to this study I have, throughout, treated o f missionaries generally, discrim inating betw een the w ork o f individuals and o f different societies only w here some one o f these has differed in opinion or behaviour from the rest or has been outstanding in any particular branch o f the work. In view o f the cordial relations and unanim ity o f purpose w hich pre­ vailed am ong members o f the various societies this appears to me not inappropriate. I have also tried to consider Ind ia as a whole, rather than as com prising a num ber o f distinct mission fields, although frequently differences betw een peoples and Presidencies have m ade this impossible. In the process o f this w ork I have studied the official corre­ spondence relating to India between 1793 and 1833, and have also m ade very full use o f the original m anuscript letters, journals and reports o f individual missionaries and o f missionary societies. I should like, particularly, to acknow ledge m y in­ debtedness to the Society for the Propagation o f the Gospel, the Baptist M issionary Society, the L ondon M issionary Society, the Church M issionary Society, the L ib rarian o f the C om m on­ w ealth Relations O ffice (B), and the Librarians o f the Ind ian Institute, O xford, for their kindness in perm itting me to use their archives. A detailed bibliography o f unpublished and printed sources and also o f secondary authorities is included at the end o f the book. I should also like to express m y sincere thanks to D r C . C . Davies, M .A ., P h .D ., R ead er in Ind ian History at the U niversity o f O xford, for his advice and direction and also for his assistance in enabling me to gain access to various m anuscript sources. Appendices B and C , com prising a list o f missionaries engaged in w ork in India between 1793 and 1833 and a m ap showing the mission stations in India during those years w ith the dates at w hich they were founded, are both the result o f an extensive

viii

PREFACE

study o f the m anuscript sources already mentioned. T here has never, hitherto, been an y sim ilar com pilation. I am indebted to M r A . B. Serubiri o f the D epartm ent o f G eography, M akerere College, for the original draft o f the m ap w hich faces page 136. F in ally I should like to thank m y wife, whose co-operation throughout the w riting o f this book has been o f the greatest value. K .I . MAKERERE February 1955

COLLEGE

L IS T

OF

A B B R E V IA T IO N S

( 1) A bbreviations occurring in both text and footnotes: B .M .S . Baptist Mission Society. G .M .S . C hurch M issionary Society. L .M .S . L ondon M issionary Society. S .P .C .K .

Society for Prom oting Christian Know ledge.

S .P .G . Society for the Propagation o f the Gospel. (2) Abbreviations occurring in the footnotes only: Bodl. Bodleian L ibrary. C .R .O .

Com m onw ealth Relations Office.

M .R . Missionary Register. P .P . Parliamentary Papers. P.Deb. Parliamentary Debates.

NOTE

ON

T R A N S L IT E R A T IO N

T h e most m odern transliteration o f Indian words and names is em ployed throughout the book except in the case o f quotations, w hich on every occasion retain the original spelling. In order to facilitate reference to the authorities w hich have been used, the spelling, often extrem ely varied, em ployed b y the writers o f original M S S . is retained in the footnotes.

INTRODUCTION T h e grow th o f Indian nationalism has tended to obscure the contribution o f external forces to the developm ent o f India. In the field o f social progress emphasis has been placed upon the activities o f the Brahm a Sam aj, the A rya Sam aj, and more recently the Congress Party, rather than upon the w ork o f Euro­ peans in India. But the history o f Christian missionary achieve­ ment is older than an y o f these indigenous movements, and prepared the w ay for them to a degree far greater than the num ber o f Christians in Ind ia m ight now suggest. Conversions to C hristianity w ere proportionately few, but the influence o f missionaries upon social conditions was outstanding. T ow ards the end o f the eighteenth century Christian missions in In d ia appeared o f m inor im portance. T h e activities and in­ fluence o f the R om an Catholics h ad declined appreciably, to be revived only in the m iddle o f the nineteenth century.1 T h e y had suffered considerably as a result o f the suppression o f the Jesuits b y the Pope, and the French R evolution followed b y the N apoleonic wars had an adverse effect upon vocations to the mission field am ongst the Christians o f Europe. Left largely in the hands o f Indian converts, the R om an Catholic missions exercised little influence. T h e Protestant missions could quote a num ber o f famous names at this period, D r John, C . F. Schw artz and J . C . K ohlhoff, but they were too few to make an y w ide­ spread impression upon the vast population o f India. T o the Indians these m en were im portant as individuals rather than as representatives o f an y unified body. B y the East India C om pany they w ere tolerated because they were so few in num ber and often proved useful in a secular capacity. Conservatism in every aspect o f Indian life was the natural outcom e o f the prevailing religions, and the C om p an y’s agents appeared unw illing to dis­ turb the existing system. Y e t in 1833, w hen the last restriction upon the free entry o f missionaries into India was removed, evangelism was in progress in m any parts o f the country and 1 Rev. J. C. Houpert, S. J., Catholic Church History, India and Ceylon A .D . 30 to 1930. Trichinopoly, 1932.

1

I

IK1

R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A

numerous reforms were on foot or already com pleted. For those reforms Christian missionaries w ere largely responsible. A t the end o f the eighteenth ceptury the break-up o f the order form erly m aintained b y the M uham m adan rulers had opened the w ay to corruption and local struggles after pow er. T h e H indu religion, w hich dictated the pattern o f life o f the greater part o f Indian society, was the ch ief indigenous influence possessing the authority to restore order and to set In d ia on the road to progress. But it proved incapable o f fulfilling the task. M any perversions had crept into its practices, and the rigidity o f its laws tended to encourage a static or even a retrogressive condition o f society. Reform was only possible through the in ­ fusion o f new ideas from outside. T h e East Ind ia C om pany, which was already becom ing the dom inant political force in India, hesitated to use its know ledge o f the social and technical changes w hich had been introduced into Europe. M an y o f its members attributed the decline o f Portuguese pow er to the fact that the early Portuguese settlers had intended to m ake In d ia an outpost o f their hom e-country b y im posing their religion, manners and laws upon the inhabitants. N ot surprisingly the English were nervous o f that precedent. T h eir tendency was to regard the C om pany’s governm ent as a superstructure imposed upon Indian society b y the requirements o f trade. T h e Indians had their own social organization, and the G overnm ent’s duty was prim arily to m aintain the peaceful conditions in w hich that organization could work and trade could prosper. In that setting the advent o f the evangelical Christian missionaries, w hich began in 1 793, had a stirring effect. N ot long before, a few zealous men o f both clergy and laity within the Established C hurch o f E ngland and outside it had begun to recognize their responsibility for spreading the know ­ ledge o f Christianity more w idely throughout the w orld. T h e y met w ith little support from their fellow church-m em bers. W hen W illiam C arey, who later becam e the greatest o f the new missionaries, first raised the question at a m eeting o f Baptist ministers he was silenced b y his more experienced colleagues. H itherto the only contribution to missionary w ork in In d ia m ade b y England had been o f a m onetary character. T h e Society for Prom oting Christian K n ow ledge had taken over financial res­ ponsibility for the work o f the D anish Mission w hich had spread 2

IN TRODUCTION

beyond the D anish territory o f T ranquebar. But the only English missionary to travel to Ind ia was the R ev. A . T . Clarke, sent b y the S .P .C .K . to C alcu tta in 1789, and the following year he forsook the w ork for a G overnm ent chaplaincy. T h e appointed field o f the S .P .C .K . and o f its sister society the Society for the Propagation o f the Gospel was the British colonies, not the non-Christian w orld at large. T h e period o f hesitation lasted some years more until the evangelicals could rem ain quiescent no longer. T h e Baptist M issionary Society was founded in 1792, and its first agents, W illiam C are y and Joh n Thom as, landed at C alcutta late in 1 793* From there the work o f the Society extended chiefly along the Ganges and also into East Bengal and Orissa. T h e London M issionary Society followed in 1795. Its sponsors included A nglicans, Independents and Presbyterians, but it was m ainly an organization o f Congregationals. N athaniel Forsyth began his w ork on b eh alf o f the London Society in the C alcutta area in 1798, but for some time the Society concentrated upon southern Ind ia and the C arnatic where its first representatives arrived in 1804. O n ly after 1812 w ere there large developments b y the L .M .S . in Bengal and along the Ganges. T h e C hu rch M issionary Society was established in 1799 b y a group o f evangelical clergy and laity o f the Established Church. It had no official patronage and sent no missionaries to India until 1814. A fter that date the Society had representatives in both southern India and Bengal. It is an indication o f the absence o f enthusiasm for this venture am ong A nglican clergy that a large proportion o f the Society’s missionaries were Germ ans o f the Lutheran Church. T h e C hu rch o f Scotland did not officially em bark upon missionary w ork until 1830 w hen A lexander D uff, the great educationalist, becam e its first agent in India. T h e Scottish M issionary Society, however, w hich began its work in the B om bay Presidency in 1823, ten years later than the A m erican Baptist Mission, was largely supported b y the evangelical section o f the C hu rch o f Scotland. A lso in the 1820’s the W esleyan M issionary Society sent its first representatives, chiefly to southern India. M eanw hile, the S .P .C .K . continued its w ork on a small scale until its missionary comm itments in Ind ia were taken over b y the S.P .G . in 1825.

3

1 -2

REFORMERS IN IN D I A

These two societies, the official missionary and evangelizing in­ struments o f the A n glican C hurch, gained a m ore authoritative status w ith the founding o f the C alcu tta Diocese in 1814. O th er societies also benefited, in spite o f the initial hesitancy o f the first bishop, T . F. M iddleton, in granting public recognition to their agents. L ater he adopted a m ore openly friendly attitude and his successors showed a keen interest in missionary w ork b y all denominations. O n e more society must be m entioned.,The British and Foreign B ible Society was founded in 1804 to provide Bibles in different languages. A lth ou gh it was not in the full sense a missionary society it played an im portant p art in prom oting reforms in India. In spite o f this rem arkable resurgence o f missionary activity the num ber o f men actually engaged in the w ork was never very large. T h e ap ath y o f the British people in the early years has already been noted. T h e geographical difficulties arising from the Indian clim ate and the vast distances to be covered b y the most prim itive means o f transport w ere factors o f w hich today we are w ell aw are. T h e high death-rate from tropical diseases resulted in the loss o f m any missionaries before they h ad been long enough in the country to begin effective work. L an gu age difficulties, w hen the aids to acquiring a know ledge o f Indian languages were few, lim ited the work w hich a handful o f m en could do. T h o u gh relatively few in num ber the missionaries’ abilities were exceptional and their enthusiasm never flagged. Because their m ain object was evangelization they could not rem ain aloofly uncritical o f the H indu religion and the social system w hich it engendered. N ot only considerations o f hum anity but the very progress o f the Christian gospel dem anded that Ind ian society should be purged and renovated. This spirit generated in the missionaries a violent sense o f urgency. T o their evangelical ardour they added numerous additional qualifications w hich often even the members o f the East Ind ia C o m p an y’s G overn­ ment lacked. T h e y were able to devote their w hole tim e to the problem o f reform ; their finances could be diverted to that task w ith the full approval o f their societies in E ngland ; they h ad no official responsibility for m aintaining order; they w ere not re­ quired to produce plans applicable to a w hole province a t once

4

INTRODUCTION

b u t could proceed piecem eal to an y extent w hich their facilities perm itted, a factor o f particular im portance w ith regard to their educational work. A d d ed to a ll these advantages was the support stirred up b y their associates in Britain. W ith these attributes the missionaries w ere able to brave the opposition o f the G overn­ m ent and to challenge Indian conservatism.

5

CHAPTER I

THE M I S S I O N A R I E S A ND THE E A S T I N D I A C O M P A N Y It is inevitable that the activities o f Christian missionaries in India between 1793 and 1833 should be contrasted w ith those o f the East India C om p any since they w ere the tw o most im portant European influences at w ork in Ind ia at that time. It is possible now, however, to avoid turning that contrast in­ evitably to the disadvantage o f one or other o f the tw o parties. Separated b y more than a century from the m agnificent u rgency o f the missionaries and the official conservatism o f the East Ind ia C om pany’s representatives one can note the not infrequent recklessness o f the form er group and the feebleness so often dis­ played b y the latter in their true perspective as the norm al off­ shoots o f the com bination o f enthusiasm and steadiness w hich makes for lasting and valuable progress. I f one is to appreciate the value o f the missionaries’ activities one must, nevertheless, see these men as their contem poraries did, uncertain o f the response not only o f the Indians but also o f those Englishm en whose authority in India was greatest; un­ certain too o f their legal right even to set foot in India, since m any o f them entered the country w ithout a licence from the monopolist East India C om pany. T h e uncertainty was not due to an y fixed policy o f opposition on the part o f the East India C om p an y’s officials. M an y indeed were staunch supporters o f the missionaries’ work. But the problem o f peaceful governm ent was serious, and the missionaries required strong characters i f they were to run contrary to the opposition w hich did frequently arise, either from conviction, tim idity, or self-interest. T h e im portance o f individual personality in deciding the attitude o f officials towards the missionaries was p articularly noticeable am ong the G overnors-General o f the period. Sir Joh n Shore, an adm irable civil servant but lacking both the determ ination and the creative ab ility necessary in a pow erful G overnor-G eneral, was encouraged b y his evangelical sym ­ pathies to connive at the activities o f the first Baptist missionaries 6

TH E MISSIONARIES AN D TH E EAST IN D I A C O M P A N Y

in Beng al in spite o f their illegal entry into the country. M arquess "W ellesley, although less interested in evangelical work, was suprem ely confident o f his own ability to m aintain order and in his private cap acity alw ays tolerated missionary activities. In ­ deed, he becam e so impressed b y W illiam C are y ’s learning and in te g rity that, w hile openly recognizing him as a missionary, he em ployed him as official teacher o f Bengali to the ju n ior servants o f the C om p an y at Fort W illiam College.1 ' Im m ediately upon W ellesley’s retirem ent there was a com ­ plete reversal in the G overnm ent’s behaviour although there was no change o f a sim ilar m agnitude either in the political situation or in the nature and extent o f missionary activities.2 Before L ord M into becam e G overnor-G eneral in 1807, how ­ ever, there appeared for a tim e to be real grounds for questioning the effects o f C hristian evangelism . A m utiny amongst some o f the C om p an y’s sepoys a t V ellore was w idely attributed to attacks upon the H indu religion. Fortunately the C hairm an and D ep uty-C h airm an o f the C ourt o f Directors o f the East India C om p any, E dw ard P arry and Charles G rant, both evangelicals, were able to w rite a convincing refutation o f the missionaries’ culpability in a letter to the President o f the Board o f Control dated 8 Ju ne 1807.3 L argely as a result o f these two m en’s efforts to influence the debates in the C ourt the Directors even­ tu ally accepted the view that the incautious behaviour o f the m ilitary com m ander and the failure o f the G overnor to check him w ere the fundam ental causes o f the disaster.4 Throughout the period o f uncertainty L ord M into’s behaviour was that o f the good-natured official, anxious for political stability but harassed w hen new ly come to office b y unexpected disturbances. His im m ediate reaction was in favour o f a cautious policy o f reassurance w hich naturally did not approve o f violent L missionary activity. ‘ T h e only successful engine o f sedition in an y partTof Ind ia ’ , he wrote, ‘ must be that o f persuading the people th at our G overnm ent entertains hostile and systematic designs against their religion. This persuasion, if it could be established 1 Memoir o f William Carey, ed. Eustace Carey, p. 453. London, 1836. 2 Bodl. MSS. ‘ Correspondence on Missions in India, 1807’ , fo. 2. 3 Bodl. MSS. ‘ Correspondence on Missions in India, 1807’ : Letter of Edward Parry and Charles Grant to the President of the Board of Control, dated 8 June 1807. 4 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Court Minutes’, vol. 118, fos. 572-77.

7

REFORMERS IN IN D I A

in Bengal, would be as fatal there as on the coast.51 H e a c ­ com panied this statement w ith the im position o f severe restric­ tions upon the Baptist Mission Press at Seram pore from which, unknown to the missionaries, there had recently issued a num ber o f violent attacks upon Islam and H induism . It m ay be added that the restrictions were quickly relaxed w hen L ord M in to’s attention was draw n to the hardships they w ould cause to the missionaries and he was greatly disturbed b y the m anner in w hich his words and actions h ad caused m any in E ngland to doubt his attachm ent to Christianity2 and h ad convinced the missionaries o f his hostility.3 W hen a sharp letter from the Secret Com m ittee o f the C ourt o f Directors w arned him against tem pting the Indians to confuse the acts o f individuals w ith those o f the governm ent b y falling into the same error himself,4 he realized that his anxiety for good order h ad undu ly in ­ fluenced his judgem ent. His attitude towards the missionaries becam e increasingly liberal. H e openly praised their transla­ tions into Indian languages. H e m ade a personal gift o f m oney to forw ard their studies o f Chinese, and fin ally took upon him ­ self the responsibility for perm itting tw o Baptist missionaries to proceed to A gra and D elhi.5 L ord M into’s successors did not adopt this m ore liberal attitude. Both Lord Hastings and L ord A m herst w ere obsessed w ith the fear o f causing disaffection b y interfering in Ind ian customs. Hastings, w ith the Nepalese w ar and the Pindari raids to trouble his adm inistration, and Am herst, harassed b y the king o f A va , felt they could not afford to risk disturbances nearer home b y extending anything more than the most lukew arm support towards missionary enterprises. E ach, on occasion, gave evidence o f his personal regard for the missionaries and for their less controversial work. Hastings, like M into, was fasci­ nated b y the vast am ount o f translation carried out b y the Seram pore Baptists,6 and the death o f the C .M .S . missionary, 1 Lord M into in India: the L ife and Letters o f Gilbert Eliot, First Earl o f M into, ed. the Countess of Minto, p. 62. London, 1880. 2 Ibid. p. 79. 3 B.M.S. MSS. ‘ Rev. J. Marshman’s Correspondence, 1799—1826’, no. 35: Letter of Hannah Marshman to Mrs Clarke, dated Serampore, 19 September 1807. 4 Bodl. MSS. ‘ Correspondence on Missions in India, 1807’, fo. 14. 6 Lord M into in India, p. 81. 6 Private Journal o f the Marquess o f Hastings, ed. the Marchioness of Bute, vol 11, PP- 94 ~5 ) 2nd edition. London, 1858.

8

TH E MISSIONARIES AN D TH E EAST IN DI A C O M P A N Y

C hristopher Schroeter, drew from the G overnor-G eneral an acknow ledgem ent o f his contribution to science and hum anity. B ut Schroeter’s desire to attem pt the evangelization o f the people in T ita ly a h on the borders o f N epal h ad been denied fulfilm ent b y the governm ent officer in that district w ithout an y comm ent from the G overnor-G eneral.1 Am herst, too, sent his own surgeon to attend upon W illiam C arey w hen the latter had a severe fall2 b u t m aintained an uncooperative attitude whenever the mis­ sionaries required support for their social reforms. T h e calm adoption o f a reform ing policy b y L ord W illiam Bentinck w hen he becam e G overnor-G eneral in 1828 and his toleration o f missionary activities only served to underline the extrem e caution o f his predecessors. In his case, too, caution m ight have seemed excusable since he had been recalled from the Governorship o f M adras on account o f the V ellore m utiny. Fluctuations o f this sort in the attitude o f the highest authority in In d ia h ad a dual effect. First, in E ngland; in the C ourt o f Directors, naturally more concerned w ith trading profits than w ith the irksome task o f governm ent, it produced increased caution and helped to sustain p robably the most united body o f anti-m issionary sentiment then in existence. A lready, in 1793, the C ourt h ad rejected a resolution o f the House o f Commons asserting the duty o f the legislature to adopt such measures as m ight grad u ally tend to the religious and m oral im provem ent o f the inhabitants o f British Ind ia.3 Stirred b y the fears w hich had arisen as a result o f the V ello re M utiny, they hastened in 1808 to claim that although they had from tim e to time sanctioned the entry o f missionaries into India, they had not intended to add the influence o f their authority to an y w ork the missionaries m ight undertake.4 In 1815 the same anxious, even hostile, spirit rem ained. T h e Board o f Control found it necessary to intervene and score out from a dispatch to the Bengal G overn­ m ent m an y o f the more virulent expressions em ployed b y the D irectors against tw o missionaries, N ott and H all, w ho had not undeservedly earned the C o u rt’s disapproval.5 Instances o f interference b y the Board o f Control in the 1 Memoir o f the Rev. Josiah Pratt, ed. J. and J. H. Pratt, pp. 210—11. 2 Memoir o f William Carey, p. 553. ■ Bodl. MSS. ‘ Correspondence on Missions in India, 1807’, fos. 5-6. 4 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 68, fos. 727 seq. 5 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 64, fos. 8-12.

9

R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A

Directors’ correspondence w ere frequent in the years w hich followed, and sometimes too, supporters o f the missionaries within the C ourt were able to swtey the debates. But, although the official attitude o f the Directors m ight be liable to variation because o f the influences to w hich it was subjected both from w ithin the C ourt and w ithout, the unofficial attitude o f the m ajority was one o f steady opposition w hich they scarcely attem pted to conceal. In general the Directors justified their views b y stressing the need for a more tolerant attitude towards alien religions w hich the missionaries unfairly condem ned w ithout understanding them. T o support their view they could resort to the m any p am ­ phlets w ritten b y the C om p an y’s servants at the tim e o f the V ellore m utiny when missionary enterprise was in greatest disfavour, or to the succession o f testimonies to the beneficial character o f Hinduism m ade before the House o f Com m ons in 1813 b y large numbers o f C om p an y’s officials. A lth ou gh the D irectors’ attitude was often based on honest i f uncritical conviction, equally often their apparent interest in religious im partiality served as a useful cloak for their greater interest in dividends. Seeing the im portance o f financial considerations am ong the Directors the supporters o f missions w ithin the C o u rt w ere quick to point out the danger o f w inning public disapproval w hen the renewal o f the C om p any’s C harter rested upon the decision o f Parliam ent. T h e rap idly grow ing interest in missions, they declared, was evident in the fact that the Baptist Mission in Bengal was financed b y the subscriptions o f all denom inations o f Protestant Christians although Dissenters still laboured under various disabilities in E ngland.1 T h e C om pany, they affirm ed, was already unpopular w ith a large p art o f the com m unity because o f its opposition to the House o f Com m ons resolution in 1793- A great b ody o f religious people throughout the island was already prepared to lead the attack on the renew al o f the C harter i f they believed the C om p any to be hostile to the prin­ ciple o f introducing C hristianity into India. T h e East India C om pany interest in the H ouse o f Com m ons was strong so that for norm al purposes the D irectors h ad little difficulty in imposing their views upon the House. If, how ever, a powerful influence could be brought to bear upon the members 1 Bodl. MSS. ‘ Correspondence on Missions in India, 1807’, fo. 5.

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TH E MISSIONARIES AND TH E EAST IN D I A C O M P A N Y

o f P arliam ent it was conceivable that the m ajority, whose in­ terest in Ind ian affairs was negligible, w ould vote against the C om pany. M oreover, the effectiveness o f popular feeling had not been exaggerated b y the evangelicals in the C ourt o f Directors. In 1813 a flood o f petitions to Parliam ent resulted in the inclusion o f a clause in the C harter R enew al A c t adm itting the principle o f m issionary activity in India. It w ould be inaccurate to regard the presentation o f so m any petitions as an entirely spontaneous gesture o f public opinion. E vangelical fervour h ad prepared the minds o f a large section o f the population for an appreciation o f missionary work, but the instigation o f a few inspired leaders was necessary to produce an outcry large enough to influence Parliam ent. In inciting public opinion and in convincing Parliam ent W illiam W ilberforce played the outstanding part. In the House o f Lords and as President o f the C hurch M issionary Society L ord G am bier took upon him self a similar role. But it was W ilberforce w ho linked together the forces o f the Established C h u rch and o f Nonconform ity, convincing the latter that the cam paign on b eh alf o f the missionaries w ould not cease when the A n glican C hu rch h ad achieved its prim ary aim o f an ecclesi­ astical establishm ent for India. It was, too, his com pelling voice in debate w hich undid the w ork o f the innum erable opponents w ho h ad been brought b y the C om pany to give evidence before the H ouse o f Comm ons. T h e opposition in Parliam ent was not w ithout its beneficial results to the missionaries. I f the activities o f the missionary societies stirred up the House, the sharply contested debate at W estminster in turn was responsible for encouraging public interest in missions. In consequence even the boldest opponents o f attempts at evangelization were at times anxious to avoid the accusation o f indifference towards missionary enterprise. Nevertheless, Parliam ent as a whole evolved no consistent p olicy w ith regard to missions in India, since Indian affairs cam e only rarely before their notice. T h e y expressed themselves continuously, as opposed to their occasional legislative inter­ vention, through their agents, the Board o f Control, and m ore particularly through the President o f that body. This group, not so concerned as the Directors w ith dividends, m aintained an im partial attitude towards the missionaries throughout this 11

R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A

period. But their effective control over the East Ind ia C om p an y was extrem ely lim ited. A lth ou gh the members o f the Board o f Control were the ultim ate supervisors o f Indian affairs they constantly lacked detailed and accurate inform ation. T h e y were compelled, therefore, to rely upon the decisions o f the C om pany’s agents in Ind ia and w ere unable to give a firm lead in m oulding their policy. T h e absence o f an y consistent attitude in E ngland towards Christian missions placed an added emphasis in In d ia upon the decisions o f the Governors-General. T h e lack o f an y firm direc­ tion from this latter source inevitably produced the unco­ ordinated behaviour evident am ong the C o m p an y’s lesser officials. Those whose character was natu rally cautious or w ho disliked the m ixture o f ardent C hristianity w ith their d aily w ork readily accepted the views o f the m ajority o f the Directors and derived illogical justification from accepting as the views o f higher authority opinions w hich they themselves h ad helped to m ould. O thers helped the missionaries w henever they could w hile the attitude o f the rest was determ ined largely b y the im pact m ade upon them b y the personalities o f individual missionaries. Bengal and the neighbouring territories, w here evangelical activity was more o f an innovation than elsewhere in In d ia and possibly more intensive, provided clear exam ples o f those con­ trasting tendencies. E ven before 1813, w hen the m ajority o f the missionaries in that area w ere w ithout a C o m p an y’s licence, a num ber o f the local officers w ith w hom they cam e into closest contact were w ell disposed towards them . W illiam C arey in ­ form ed the Baptist Society in 1797 that both he and his fellow missionary, M r Thom as, were respected b y the magistrates although their errand was w ell know n.1 Eighteen months later he was able to declare that it was quite unnecessary to conceal the nature o f their w ork except at the annual return o f E uro­ peans m ade b y order o f the G overnm ent.2 These occurrences cannot be accounted for solely b y the fact that before 1800 missionary activity was on a p articularly small scale, nor yet on the ground that C arey himself, having w on great estim ation as an O rien tal scholar, received special treatm ent. O thers a t a 1 B.M.S. MSS. India (Serampore), ‘ Letters of William Carey and Others’ : Letter of William Carey to Mr Fuller, dated Madnabatty, 22 June 1797. ' 2 Ibid. Letter of William Carey to the Baptist Missionary Society, dated Hoogly River, Near Plassey, 10 January 1799.

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TH E MISSIONARIES AN D TH E EAST IN D I A C O M P A N Y

later date gained sim ilar consideration. In a letter to the D irectors o f the L ondon M issionary Society, W illiam Lee, one o f its agents, expressed his appreciation o f the courteous treat­ m ent he had received from the acting Secretary to the G overn­ m ent at Fort W illiam , b y whose intervention he h ad been saved from considerable inconvenience and delay in travelling to V izag a p ata m .1 Expressions o f goodw ill o f this sort were certainly not rare on the p art o f governm ent officials, but the missionaries could not steadily rely upon them. B y the w him o f individual officers their situation was frequently rendered insecure. A t times they were forbidden to travel about the country w ithout an y valid reason having been given to explain the ban.2 In 1806 two new mis­ sionaries, M r C hater and M r Robinson, w ho arrived at C alcutta in an A m erican ship to jo in the Baptists in the Danish settlement a t Seram pore, w ere detained and then ordered to leave the country.3 T h e y were not, it is true, in possession o f licences, and governm ent officials justifiably argued that even though they stayed at Seram pore their influence w ould be felt in British territory. Nevertheless, the G overnm ent’s lack o f courtesy towards a smaller pow er was evidence o f their bitterness towards the missionaries a t this time. T h e question o f licences was also frequently used as an excuse b y the ill-disposed for issuing threats. A n d even as late as 1831, w hen most o f the missionaries w ere in possession o f a licence, J. D . Pearson o f the L .M .S . at C hinsurah expressed the view that the m ajority o f the C om p any’s servants in Bengal w ere decidedly hostile to missionary efforts.4 In southern India, w here in the eighteenth century the R ev. C . F. Schw artz h ad done invaluable work as ambassador extra­ ordinary at the C ourt o f the R a ja o f Tanjore and h ad treated w ith H aider A li and T ip u on b eh alf o f the C om p any’s G overn­ m ent, one m ight expect to find evidence o f a more universal support for missionary activities on the p art o f governm ent officials. Y e t here again was the same m ixture o f friendliness and mistrust. Several small acts o f consideration on the p art o f the 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: General’, box 1, folder 2, jacket C : Letter of W. Lee to the Directors of the L .M .S . dated Vizagapatam, 10 August 1810. 2 Bodl. MSS. ‘ Correspondence on Missions in India, 1807’, fo. 2. 3 Ibid. fo. 4. 4 L .M .S . MSS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 3, folder 1, jacket D : Letter of J. D. Pearson, L .M .S ., to the Rev. H. Townley, dated Chinsurah, 7 April 1831.

13

R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A

authorities received incidental notice in the official dispatches from E ngland to India. T h e advance o f an allow ance o f Rs. 200 a month to the Danish missionaries a t T ran q u eb ar w hen hostilities between D enm ark and E ngland in 1810 cut o ff their source o f supply1 was followed some years later b y an order that the C om pany’s surgeon should give m edical assistance to the missionaries at M adras.2 Sir Thom as M unro, G overnor at M adras, is said to have given a friendly and encouraging re­ ception to missionaries arriving in his presidency,3 and Stephen R . Lushington w ho succeeded him in 1827 prom ised to follow his exam ple. ‘ A ll m y recollections connected w ith this m om en­ tous subject’, w rote Lushington to the Secretary o f the S .P .G . in June 1827, ‘ entirely confirm ed the wisdom, hum anity and true piety o f the course w hich the Society has prescribed to itself, and it w ill be a m atter o f personal pride and gratification to me to pursue the exam ple o f Sir Thom as M unro b y affording to the native Protestant Christians in the Peninsula and to their pious and benevolent Instructors, the same countenance and Protection ’ .4 Y e t from all parts o f southern Ind ia there were reports throughout the period o f the unfavourable treatm ent m eted out both to the missionaries and to their converts b y English officials. T h e uncertainty o f their position was particularly illustrated b y the w ay in w hich the same missionaries w ere treated quite differently b y different officers. Joseph Fenn o f the C .M .S ., w riting at Q uilon in T ravan core in 1819, rem arked that the previous Resident had regarded it as his du ty to give his m oral support to the diffusion o f Christianity. His successor, how ever, was the decided enem y o f missionaries, and h ad gone beyond the im partiality w hich he h ad at first professed in order to p ro­ vide advantages for the non-Christians in the district.5 T e n years later, at N eyyur, Charles M ead o f the L .M .S . testified to an equal disparity in the behaviour towards him o f the Resident and the A ctin g Resident.6 T h e injudicious publications o f the 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Madras Despatches’, vol. 45, fos. 223-4. 2 Ibid. vol. 67, pp. 972-3. s M .R . 1827, P- 100. 4 S.P.G. MSS. Dio. Madras: Letter of Stephen Lushington to the Rev. Anthony Hamilton, dated 25 June 1827. 5 C .M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fo. 66, and vol, 2, fo. 8. ■ L .M .S . MSS. ‘ Travancore’, box 1, folder 4, jacket B: Letter of C. Mead to the Rev. W. Orme, dated Neyoor, 22 June 1830.

TH E MISSIONARIES AN D TH E EAST IN D I A CO MPANY

missionaries ap pear to have been at times the cause o f friction w ith authority.1 But the M adras G overnm ent R egulation o f 1816 w hich retarded the success o f missionary endeavour b y indirectly p lacin g restrictions upon the appointm ent o f Indian Christians to governm ent posts and forbidding them to be em ployed in the arm y, was not due to an y fault on the part o f the missionaries or their converts.2 T h e B om bay area, though a less active mission field, pro­ vided as varied a reception as an y other p art o f the country. A succession o f Governors displayed friendship towards such missionaries as gained their approval. W hile on his w ay from E ngland in 1812 Sir E van N epean wrote to the Directors o f the L ondon M issionary Society assuring them o f his awareness o f the advantages w hich w ould result from the extension o f C hristianity in Ind ia,3 and even the recalcitrant missionaries, N ott and H all, testified to his kindness towards them .4 T h e H on. M ountstuart Elphinstone and his successor Sir John M alcolm also displayed benevolent approval o f missionary activity, each o f them assisting w ith generous financial sub­ scriptions.5 H ere again, however, the lead given b y the Governors was not alw ays strong enough to impress itself upon lesser governm ent officials. W illiam F yvie o f the L .M .S . stated in 1818 that although the Europeans in the vicinity o f Surat h ad little fear o f an uprising because they were w ell acquainted w ith the Indians’ character and w ith the behaviour o f the missionaries it was still necessary for him and his colleagues to be w atchful o f their words and cautious in their proceedings.6 In the ligh t o f this widespread inconsistency in the treatm ent o f missionaries b y the agents o f the East India C om pany it is interesting to consider briefly the reaction o f the Indians to missionary activities and to try to discover how great was the danger o f upheaval. 1 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. i, fo. 12. ■ L.M .S. M SS. ‘ South India: T elugu’, box 1, folder 4, jacket D : Report of W . Howell, L .M .S ., dated Cuddapah, 21 February 1831. 3 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: General’, box 1, folder 3, jacket D : Letter of Sir Evan Nepean to the Treasurer and Secretary of the L. M.S., dated A t sea, 1 April 1812. 4 Ibid. box 2, folder 1, jacket B: Letter of S. Nott to the L.M .S., dated Bombay, 22 December 1813. 5 Memoir o f the Rev. Robert Nesbit, ed. J. M . Mitchell, p. 70. London, 1858. 6 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ North India: Gujerati’, box 1, folder 1, jacket B: Letter of W . Fyvie to the Rev. G . Burder, dated Surat, 20 November 1818.

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For more than a century the D anish mission at T ra n q u eb a r had pursued its course o f preaching, itinerating, opening schools, translating the Scriptures and dissem inating literature. A m on g the circle o f Indians in the C arn atic w ith w hich the mission cam e in contact it had becom e a fam iliar institution. A t no tim e had it given rise to an y notable feelings either o f mistrust or o f widespread approval. O n the M alab ar coast the record was similar. In recent years the reduced activities o f the R om an Catholics h ad caused no uprising to trouble the various governm ents. Elsewhere in Ind ia missionary activity h ad for some tim e been on far too small a scale to arouse excitem ent. T h e arrival o f the Protestant missionaries in Bengal and southern India after 1793, however, drew new attention to missionary work in all its forms. T h e zeal o f these men, the diversity o f their talents, and the rapid expansion o f their sphere o f activity h ad not been equalled since the earliest days o f the Jesuits in India. Thousands o f Indians, both H indus and Muslims, felt for the first time the im pact o f enthusiastic evangel­ ism inseparably bound up w ith a program m e o f social and educational reform. This new activity had a profound effect upon those w ho felt its impulse. R am M ohan R oy, a reform er w ho h ad m ade a deep study o f both Eastern and W estern religion and culture before evolving his own eclectic version o f H induism , was able to give his full support to m any o f the reforms w hich he regarded as necessary for Indian society, while at the same tim e attacking certain aspects o f Christian doctrine. O th er Indians, o f a narrower and less profound education, found it difficult to dis­ crim inate so confidently. M em bers o f even the most conserva­ tive castes were at times unable to avoid the stimulus provided b y the missionaries’ encouragem ent o f indigenous literature.1 But their instinctive approval was often tinged w ith suspicion. U nhesitatingly they rejected even benefits w hich they believed to be p art o f an open cam paign against the religion upon w hich their privileged position depended.2 T h e missionaries m ade no attem pt to conceal the true nature 1 G.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 5, fos. 15 and 91—2. 2 L.M .S. M SS. ‘ Travancore’, box 1, folder 3, jacket 2: Letter of Charles Mead, L.M .S., dated Neyoor, 30 June 1829.

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T H E MISSIONARIES AN D TH E EAST IN D I A C O M P A N Y

o f their cam paign, how ever. T h e missionary societies issued in­ junctions to their agents to rem em ber their sacred purpose and to avoid interference in political concerns.1 But however desirous o f subscribing to these orders the missionaries m ight have been, the fervour w ith w hich they undertook their work and the reservations they perm itted themselves on the grounds o f conscience2 inevitably involved them in secular problems. T h e missionaries did not deny that their activities provoked opposition. W illiam C are y w rote to the Baptist Mission Society in E ngland telling w ith unconcealed approval o f a ‘ hard-m outhed attack on the B rahm uns’ , w ritten b y an Indian follower o f his, w hich h ad aroused considerable ill-feeling.3 Joshua M arshm an, C a re y ’s fellow-evangelist, h ad him self been pelted w ith stones w hen attem pting to preach in a village near Seram pore,4 and appeals against him were m ade to the ju d g e o f the district b y Brahm ans w ho h ad been frightened b y his teaching.5 Christian converts had, on occasion, been treated w ith far greater violence. ^ T h e y h ad been dragged from their homes and m altreated b y H indus and M uham m adans alike.6 T h eir possessions h ad been destroyed and their property rights ignored b y their landlords.7 In southern Ind ia there w ere sim ilar reports o f the persecutions extending a t times even to m urder to w hich Indian converts to C hristianity w ere subjected b y their neighbours.8 A n d in places w here less violence was shown Brahmans were often active in inducing the people to stay a w ay from the missionaries.9 It was futile to seek a peaceful solution as some o f the mis­ sionaries did b y buying land upon w hich to found Christian villages.10T h e converts w ho cam e to the villages w ere pitifully dependent upon their European protectors. M ost o f them were 1 L.M .S. M SS. ‘ South India: Kanarese’, box 2, folder 4, jacket B: Admonitory Hints by the Directors of the L .M .S . (undated), and Periodical Accounts, vol. I, p. 518. 2 Periodical Accounts, vol. 3, p. 276. 3 B.M .S. MSS. India (Serampore), ‘ Letters of Carey and Others’ : Letter of William Carey to Andrew Fuller, dated November 1800. 4 B.M .S. MSS. ‘ Rev. J. Marshman’s Correspondence, 1799-1826’ : Journal of J. Marshman for 30 January 1801. “ Ibid. Journal of J. Marshman for 27 December 1803. 6 Periodical Accounts, vol. 4, pp. 357-60. 7 Ibid. vol. 2, p. 184. 8 S.P.G. MSS. ‘ C. India’, 11, 2, no. 34: Letter of the Rev. J. C. Kohlhoff to the Rev. Dr Gaskin, dated Tanjore, 8 March 1805. ■ L.M .S. M SS. ‘ South India: General’, box 2, folder 2, jacket C : Letter of William Lee, to the Rev. G. Burder, dated Ganjam, 4 October 1815. 10 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 5, fos. 3, 24 and 107. 2

17

IRI

R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A

from the lowest classes and h ad little education. T h ere was small prospect that a strong com m unal life w ould develop in the villages because the inhabitants, did not constitute a true cross­ section o f society. Confusion rather than a grow ing self-reliance was the outcom e. O utside, antagonism instead o f envy was the sentiment o f other Indians as they saw their fellows deserting their religion and breaking their social ties to p ut themselves under jthe spiritual and m aterial dom ination o f foreigners. O pposition o f this sort was far from being universal, how ­ ever. T h e lowest castes in p articular w ere often w ell disposed towards the missionaries, and even a few members o f the higher orders took a profound interest in their activities, both M u h am ­ madans and orthodox H indus occasionally giving support to certain aspects o f social work. It is true the missionaries often acted incautiously. G eorge C ran o f the L .M .S ., w ho had a p ro­ found respect for the Baptists at Seram pore and for the w ork they were doing, frankly adm itted that at times they displayed more zeal than prudence.1 Som e o f the exam ples o f the perse­ cution resultant upon extrem e enthusiasm have alread y been noted, but to conclude from these that a serious political dis­ turbance was at an y time im m inent w ould be an exaggeration. In spite o f the missionaries’ European origins the Indians do not appear to have connected them closely w ith the East Ind ia C om pany’s Governm ent. T h e missionaries’ activities and teaching might, therefore, have been troublesome to the Indians but the latter were free to refuse their co-operation. Joshua M arshm an sum med up the argum ent against the likelihood o f a large-scale disturbance resulting from the missionaries’ work. T h e Hindus, he said, were not so m uch afraid o f becom ing Christians as o f being m ade to becom e Christians.2 This view was supported b y a num ber o f experienced govern­ ment officials and was borne out b y later events. Colonel M unro, whose testimony before the House o f Com m ons was an out­ spoken defence o f the policy o f non-intervention in Ind ian customs, did not set the danger o f rebellion very high. W hile adm itting that for individual Europeans to attack the religious ceremonies and doctrines o f the country was liable to cause local 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: General’, box i, folder i, jacket D : Letter of George Cran, dated Vizagapatam, 29 September 1808. 2 Periodical Accounts, vol. 3, p. 408.

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THE MISSIONARIES AND THE EAST INDIA C O M PAN Y

dissatisfaction he did not anticipate that it w ould result in insurrection.1 F. J . Shore, son o f Sir Joh n Shore, endorsed this view in 1835, citing the numerous occasions on w hich the pre­ jud ices and customs o f the H indus had been subjected to inter­ ference b y both the M uslim and English Governm ents without an y u ph eaval.2 W hen Shore wrote he had already before him the evidence o f a fairly widespread plot in 1832 b y w hich the M uham m adans in various towns o f southern Ind ia h ad tried to arouse anim osity against Christian missionaries. T h e plot failed to gain an y support from the very outset, in spite o f the attractive though false charge that Christian missionaries had been guilty o f defiling mosques b y throw ing into them the carcasses o f pigs.3 Perhaps it was even more significant that after Bentinck had carried out numerous reforms along the lines advocated b y the missionaries, w hen the Governm ents o f the three Presidencies had shown favour towards the missionaries’ educational work and the English Parliam ent in 1833 h ad sanctioned the free, unlicensed entry o f missionaries into India, it was not to revolt b u t to their British rulers that the Indians o f Bom bay appealed for redress when, in 1839, they feared the encroachm ent o f C hristianity upon their religion.4 ^ It was, therefore, in an unsettled though not w holly un­ favourable atm osphere that the missionaries carried on their w ork betw een 1793 and 1833. A m on g the Indians generally, suspicion far outweighed the acquiescence— it can scarcely be described as anything more active— o f some o f the lower classes and the occasional support o f a far smaller num ber am ong the higher castes. Sometimes, too, there was open hostility to indi­ vidu al missionaries. From the British Governm ents in India the missionaries m ight look in general for approval extending at times to active support, but an incautious step m ight produce im m ediate recrim inations. Individual officers, from the most ju n io r collector to the G overnor-G eneral, m ight give their assistance; yet a C om p an y’s Resident m ight equally effectively underm ine the whole structure o f missionary w ork in his district. > 1 P .D eb. vol 61, 11 M arch-10 M ay 1813, col. 786. 2 F. J. Shore, Notes on Indian Affairs, vol n, p. 413. London, 1837. 3 L .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India: T elu gu’, box 1, folder 5, jacket B: Letters of W. Howell to the Secretary and Treasurer of the L.M .S., and to the Rev. J, Clayton, dated Cuddapah, 22 June 1832. 4 Calcutta Review, Oct. 1909, vol. xxix, ‘ Letters of a Governor of Bombay’, p. 55.

*9

2 -2

C H A P T E R II

CASTE In the form ulation and perpetuation o f the Ind ian social order the caste system played the outstanding part. It was at once the product o f H induism and its ch ief support. It m aintained the unquestioned authority o f the priesthpod and ensured the sur­ vival o f customs no m atter how outworn or positively evil they m ight be. Conservatism was assured w hile caste prevailed. T o underm ine its pow er becam e one o f the missionaries’ ch ief Qoncerns. T o ignore it was to render nugatory their other re­ form ing activities. But caste presented them w ith problem s o f an extrem ely intricate nature and there was no consensus o f opinion am ong them either as to its true character or its functions. T h e agents o f the R om an C hu rch h ad arrived at no real uniform ity in their views in spite o f their centuries o f missionary experience in India. A lth ou gh the popes tried to insist that caste distinctions should be ignored the general practice even in the latter p art o f the nineteenth century was to regard them as civil or social in character rather than as religious gradations, and as such they were accepted. T h e Protestant missionaries in southern Ind ia noted this uneasy compromise w ith some dis­ approval but were themselves equally confused.1 T h e missionaries’ doubts are not surprising. M a n y writers have attem pted to define caste. R ecen tly M r J . H . H utton has provided an adm irable analysis which, b y its ve ry com pre­ hensiveness, has em phasized the com plicated nature o f the subject: ‘ T h ere are thought to be some 3000 castes in In d ia ’ , he writes, ‘ and it w ould need an encyclopedia to deal w ith them all. Some are derived from tribal or racial elements, some are occupational, being o f the nature originally o f guilds o f artificers or craftsmen, some are territorial, some religious, and so forth. T h e original bond w hich united members o f a caste has often been different in different cases, b u t it is suggested th at the society o f that country as a w hole has been built up b y the inte­ gration o f these different units into an organic com m unity and one into w hich a new unit is fitted w ithout difficulty, w hile an y 1 C .M .S. M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol, 3, p. 191.

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CASTE

group th at breaks a w a y from other units can easily form itself into a new cell w ithin the structure, and w ill indeed find it alm ost impossible to do anything else.’1 T h e fram ework o f In d ian society becomes even m ore involved w hen one realizes that the m ore prim itive elements, such as the hill tribes o f R ajm ah al, observe no distinction o f caste, w hile in m any areas, n otab ly in Bengal, M uham m adans have adopted the caste system and adhere to it as firm ly as do the Hindus. Before 1 793 there h ad been several attacks upon this structure w hich h ad m et w ith varyin g success. A t the end o f the seven­ teenth century G ovind Singh, a great teacher, organized the A k a li Sikhs on a m ilitary and political basis. T h e y repudiated caste and m any o f the traditional observances o f Hinduism . B ut their recession from the m ain stem o f the H indu religion did not disturb the general outlines o f Hinduism . A gain, T ip u Sultan’s forcible conversion o f thousands o f H indus to the Islam ic faith strengthened rather than weakened the adherence o f other H indus to their old beliefs. T h e missionaries h ad no intention o f em ploying T ip u ’s forceful methods, and they h ad no wish to set up a rival to the Sikh m ilitary com m unity. B ut it was difficult to see how they should handle a problem so deceptive in character. T h e y were attem pting to underm ine a system innately opposed to Chris­ tian ity yet apparently capable o f absorbing Indian Christians com fortably as a new caste w ithin the amorphous H indu p olity; a system essentially changeless and incapable o f rem edy yet constantly changing to adap t itself more satisfactorily to some new situation. In their uncertainty they m ight easily have been driven to accept the general view o f Englishm en in Ind ia that caste was m erely the equivalent o f the European social order, conserva­ tive indeed, but only as befitted a predom inantly agricultural and under-developed com m unity. H ad they brought to the problem a spirit o f curious interest in a strange phenom enon instead o f a burning faith in the transcendental nature o f their ow n religion they m ight indeed have reached that conclusion; they m ight also h ave becom e better O riental scholars, but they w ould have contributed less to social reform. H ere, as elsewhere, the w ork o f the missionaries was comple1 J. H. Hutton, Caste in India, p. 2. Cambridge, 1946.

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m entary to that o f the G overnm ent. T h e latter’s well-established English policy o f legalizing change w hen it h ad becom e in ­ evitable, but never forcing i t «upon their reluctant subjects, ensured that caste w ould not be destroyed b y ill-considered interference from above. H ad it in fact been possible to destroy caste in this w ay anarchy w ould alm ost certainly have followed unless it could have been averted b y the simultaneous introduc­ tion o f a new m orality and a new m ethod o f enforcing m oral law . But the G overnm ent’s cautious, policy did not in itself encourage progress, and the stagnation into w hich Indian society had sunk m eant that both impulse and exam ple were necessary to m ake progress possible. T h e missionaries provided both, and were confident too that rooted in C hristianity was a new social order w hich would more than com pensate for the loss o f the old. T h e fact that the Indians accepted a system w hich to the missionaries appeared so obviously fau lty did not seem to the latter an adequate reason for approving it. T h e missionaries were convinced that the low er classes w ere attached to the caste system through the simple fear o f losing the little m aterial security and social standing w hich they possessed. T h e y saw clearly, too, that for all its appearances caste differed funda­ m entally from the social order o f any European country. T h eir conception o f European society was based, it is true, upon an ideal rather than upon practice. Y e t their ideal reflected cen­ turies o f western European tradition in w hich classical philo­ sophy and Christian doctrine were closely m ingled. T h o u gh the ideal had for long rem ained unrealized and was still frequently obscured and flouted it had rem ained the true basis o f the social order. T h e anomalies o f caste, on the other hand, carried w ith them the full sanction o f H induism and thus barred the w a y to individual im provem ent and ultim ately to the betterm ent o f the w hole Indian com m unity. E ven the variety o f the missionaries’ views as to the nature o f caste was turned to good effect in that they em ployed an equal variety o f methods in their attem pt to tackle the problem . It resulted also in a far more im p r e s t and valuable exchange o f opinions than was norm ally custom ary am ong them. These experiments and inquiries were often inconclusive and no largescale defection from the caste system took place as a result o f them . But experience enabled the missionaries to am end their 22

CASTE

plans and pointed the w ay for future action in a m uch w ider field. O n e thing appeared certain. N either public denunciation nor the argum ents into w hich the missionaries and the Brahmans entered w ith equal zest could on their own turn the heart o f more than an occasional person against the traditional organization o f society. T h e profound ignorance o f the vast m ajority o f the people com prising that society m ilitated too strongly against a n y w ider success. It was in the schools that the first experi­ ments must be m ade and it was there the approach o f the different missionaries varied most. Som e w ere in favour o f a considerable measure o f tolerance in the hope that education w ould eventually change their students’ outlook. T h e R ev. B. Schm id o f the G .M .S . a t Palam cottah and the agents o f the London M issionary Society in Surat, though w idely separated geographically, concluded alm ost sim ultaneously in 1822 that their mission teachers must preach the equality o f castes. But because their pupils were still H indus it was an obligation o f Christian charity to accept their custom ary caste distinctions a t least as a tem porary measure.1 E ven the R ev. C . T . E. Rhenius o f the C .M .S ., so vehem ent in his opposition to all things contrary to his faith, abandoned his original intention o f excluding caste from his schools in M adras after only a year o f experim ent. In the initial fervour o f evan­ gelism w ith w hich they arrived in India both Rhenius and his com panion, the R ev. J . C . Schnarre, had announced their in ­ tention o f refusing to adm it caste into their schools, even if it m eant having as pupils none but pariah boys. ‘ W e shall think ourselves bound not to deviate from that resolution’, they con­ cluded.2 Y e t on 3 Septem ber 1816 Rhenius wrote to the R ev. M . Thom pson, Secretary to the M adras Corresponding C om ­ m ittee o f the C .M .S ., ‘ Experience during the existence o f our schools has brought me upon the consideration that we should m ake a distinction betw een the H eathen and N ative Christians, it being nearly impossible to dem and that heathens as such should enter into the views and principles o f Christianity, and that therefore in com pliance w ith their prejudices we should yield to the desires o f the heathen to have Pariah Schools and T am ul 1 G.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 164. 2 M .R . 1816, p. 59.

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Schools separately, lest w e hinder them from enjoying the benefits o f Christian instruction b y w hich they are first to be brought to think aright and libeVally.’1 These were for toleration, and in their policy there m ight appear to have been little prospect o f success. T h e standard o f education reached b y the children before they left school a t the usual early age was o f a most elem entary nature. L ittle could be done in those b rief years to instil into their minds a new range o f values. But there were at least tw o results o f some im portance. T h e period o f education, short though it was, enabled the children, in numbers often far greater because caste distinctions were perm itted in the schools, to h ear the doctrines o f Christianity expounded. These, w hen taught on a broad basis, were more likely to appeal to their hearers than w ould an initial and specialized attack on caste, and in tim e they m ight to some extent succeed in w eakening its religious authority. A bsorbed once more on leaving school b y the tradi­ tional social organization, the children frequently forgot the missionaries’ teaching. But h aving learnt the elements o f reading and w riting they were capable o f further reading w hen oppor­ tunity occurred, and the missionaries w ere a t pains to distribute elem entary literature o f a Christian nature as w id ely as possible. T h e dem and for the books suggests that the missionaries’ hopes o f success along these lines w ere not w ho lly w ithout foundation. Such concessions to caste won the com plete approval o f the non-missionary European population w ho considered them to be indispensable to the success o f an y educational scheme. T h e H on. M ountstuart Elphinstone gave expression in 1824 to a sound w ord o f caution. Unless the missionaries w ere prepared to tolerate caste prejudices in their schools, he w rote, the result m ight w ell be that caste H indus w ould ignore the educational opportunities they afforded and a class o f pariahs w ould develop, superior to the rest in useful knowledge, but hated and despised b y the castes.2 In spite o f this w id ely held opinion some o f the missionaries decided to risk the effects o f an anti-caste policy in their schools, 1 S.P.G. MSS. Box ‘ C . India’, 11, 2, no. 101: Letter of the Rev. C . T . E. Rhenius to the Rev. M. Thompson, dated Madras, 3 September 1816. 2 Selections from the Minutes and other Official Writings o f the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor o f Bombay, ed. G. W. Forrest, p. 105. London, 1837.

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and in certain cases the results justified the forebodings o f the opponents o f that policy. In 1821 Joh n D evasagayam , the ch ief In d ian Superintendent o f C .M .S . free schools in the Carnatic, adm itted that a num ber o f the higher-caste boys had been taken from the mission school at T illeyally, near M adras, because their parents considered they w ould be defiled b y com ing into contact w ith Sudras.1 Sim ilar results encountered b y Rhenius in the same district a few years earlier have already been noted. Elsewhere, how ever, the outcom e was frequently very different. In the C .M .S . schools in Burdw an and the surrounding area the children knew o f no precedence save that o f m erit.2 A t Seram ­ pore Mission C ollege the pandits, after considerable objection, w ere induced to teach the sacred classics o f H induism to a Sudra.3 T h e register o f the boys in the free school at Benares, w here no distinctions were perm itted, contains the names o f 142 pupils adm itted between Ju ne 1824 and M a y 1833, an d includes representatives o f innum erable castes ranging from Brahm ans to Sudras, Christians and M uham m adans, and even to R ajputs, w ho w ere most exclusive.4 From the M adras Presidency there is similar evidence that a calm persistence in refusing to adm it caste distinctions did oc­ casionally trium ph and, most surprisingly, in a girls’ school. T h e R ev. B. Schm id, like C . T . E. Rhenius w ith w hom he was associated in his work, objected strongly to caste distinctions. In 1823, he h ad at Palam cottah a girls’ school in w hich one o f the tw enty-three pupils was a Sudra, four were Shanans, a caste w hich m ade frequent though unavailing claims to be o f high birth, and the rem ainder were o f still low er castes. T h e m issionary’s views on caste h ad been explained to their parents, and the girls ate together and in all respects lived together as m embers o f one fam ily.5 T h e im portance o f this achievem ent is em phasized w hen it is recalled that in southern India the Sudras to all intents and purposes ranked next to the Brahmans, as few m embers rem ained o f the castes w hich originally cam e between. 1 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol i, fo. 560. 2 M .R . 1819, p. 30. Survey of Missionary Stations, Burdwan, C.M .S. 3 J. C . Marshman, The L ife and Times o f Carey, Marshman and Ward, vol. n, p. 354. London, 1859. 4 C .M .S . MSS., package 156, North India. Ecclesiastical Papers, etc. 5 M .R . 1824, p. 367.

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It is even more im portant in view o f the intense opposition generally displayed b y caste H indus to h aving their daughters educated at all. 1 It w ould be a grave exaggeration to conclude from these or even from numerous other examples that a firm stand against caste in schools resulted autom atically in its collapse. Y e t there is no doubt that the tem ptations offered b y the opportunities o f education in mission schools w ent far to overcom e the scruples w hich restrained caste from interm ingling w ith caste. T h e status o f Indian converts to C hristianity provided a different and three-sided problem . W hatever the feelings o f the converts themselves, H indus and M uham m adans refused to perm it them to retain their form er castes. A t the same time, the Christians cam e to form in the eyes o f others som ething in the nature o f a new caste. M an y o f the converts, how ever, wished to retain their old distinctions, and so established w h at could only be termed a spurious caste system w ithin their Christian communities. Tow ards this as towards other problems the attitude o f indi­ vidual missionaries differed w idely. In Bengal they ap pear to have m et w ith the greatest success in spite o f the numerous examples o f the persecution o f converts b y their H indu and M uslim families and o f the frequent appeals to local European magistrates or district officers b y incensed villagers.1 W illiam C arey h ad a t first been prepared to tolerate caste am ong his converts. W hen he realized, how ever, that conversion and caste were incom patible in the eyes o f orthodox H indus, he took a firm stand against the admission o f an y distinctions o f that nature am ong his Indian Christians.2 His p olicy m et w ith m arked success. T h e scornful accusation that only the lowest castes or outcasts could be induced to accep t a C hristianity w hich abjured caste distinctions was com pletely refuted in the Seram pore com m unity. In 1802 a Brahm an deliberately re­ jected his traditional status in order to associate w ith the Christians, as also did two other Indians o f a slightly low er caste.3 These were not the only H indus to em brace C hristianity 1 B.M.S. MSS. Journal of W. Ward, vol. 2,12 November 1804 and 23 December

100b.

2 Periodical Account, vol. 1, p. 361. 3 Ibid. vol. 2, p. 235.

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as a result o f the Seram pore Baptists’ teaching. A n even more striking exam ple o f the w ay in w hich caste was set aside in that com m unity was described a year later in the jo u rn al o f W illiam W ard, the associate o f C arey and M arshm an. O n e o f their earliest converts, K rishna Prasad, a Brahm an, h ad m arried A n an d a, the daughter o f another convert who h ad form erly been a Sudra. This alone, in view o f the strict laws regulating the interm arriage o f different castes, was o f great significance. But the m arried pair then w ent on to set the seal on their re­ nunciation o f caste b y eating their w edding supper at the same table as the English missionaries.1 In southern India caste retained a firm er hold. T h e R om an C ath olic missionary, J . A . Dubois, held the opinion that any attem pt to persuade an Indian convert that all men are on an equal footing in the sight o f G od w ould inevitably meet w ith failure.2 C ertain o f the Protestant missionaries were also in­ clined towards tolerance, but they refused to accept caste as a perm anent feature o f life in Christian communities. Charles M ead o f the L ondon M issionary Society at N agracoil announced in 1819 that the initial dem and that everyone wishing to become a Christian should renounce caste was both injudicious and un­ reasonable, and was the one sure w ay o f preventing Indians from inquiring thoroughly about Christianity. His view, he said, h ad been borne out b y experience at V izagap atam , B ellary and elsewhere in the peninsula. It was far better to let C hristianity w in the battle o f caste in the mind o f the convert than to threaten a H indu w ith the complete loss o f his status on his first m aking inquiries.3 This was not a solitary opinion. T h e R ev. J . C . K ohlhoff, after years o f experience, wrote to the R ev. Jam es H ough, East India C om p an y’s chaplain, a profoundly reasoned argum ent in favour o f his decision not to insist upon his converts renouncing caste at once. T o have done so, he said, would have given rise to an in­ flated sense o f im portance and often to insolence am ong the low er castes o f converts in their existing state o f social and m ental attainm ent. T h e higher castes, on the other hand, w ould feel 1 B.M .S. MSS. Journal o fW . Ward, vol. 2, 5 April 1802. 2 M .R . 1816, p. 445. Extract from a letter of Abbe Dubois. 8 L .M .S . MSS. ‘ Travancore’, box 1, 1817-31, folder 1, jacket B: Letter of C. Mead to the Rev. G. Burder, dated Nagracoil, 10 August 1819.

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justifiably degraded and consequently resentful. This was m ore than an argum ent o f expediency. K o h lh o ff was as intent upon the brotherhood o f his converts ks was the most fervent evan ­ gelical. But he realized the unreal nature o f a n y caste distinc­ tions w hich the converts m ight attem pt to retain w hen view ed in the light o f orthodox H indu opinion, and was therefore con­ vinced that under the added impulse o f C hristian teaching this spurious caste must inevitably lose its hold.1 His policy, as m ight be expected, did not m eet w ith swift success. T h e restric­ tions upon interm arriage and on eating w ith different castes lingered on, but he could truly affirm that in all other respects caste was o f little or no consequence am ongst the Christian congregations o f the T anjore mission, and he held out high hopes o f a further weakening in its observance in consequence o f the methods he h ad adopted. T h e M adras Corresponding C om m ittee o f the C .M .S . re­ spected K o h lh o ff’s opinion because they appreciated both his sincerity and the value o f his experience. His influence was to be seen in the m oderate and sym pathetic attitude o f the C o m ­ mittee towards the caste problems experienced b y n ew ly con­ verted Christians. Firm ly they urged the R ev. Thom as N orton, a m em ber o f their own Society, to bear in m ind the social b a ck­ ground o f the fem ale converts whose adherence to caste he so strongly deplored.2 W ith concern, too, they denounced the action o f the R ev. C . T . E. Rhenius in insisting that caste should be w holly excluded from the sem inary for Christian students at Palam cottah and thereby causing all the pupils to leave. A lthough Rhenius’s fiery evangelism h ad been tem pered b y experience to the extent o f his having reluctan tly adm itted that leniency should be displayed towards recent converts, he firm ly m aintained that m ature Christians and intending catechists must com pletely abjure caste distinctions. M oreover, in spite o f the disapproval o f the Corresponding C om m ittee he persisted in his views and was, surprisingly, justified in the outcom e. W hen it was realized b y the Indians that he had no intention o f m aking an y concessions to their prejudices new pupils o f various 1 S.P.G. MSS. Box ‘ C . India’, n, 3: Certified true copy by C . S. Kohlhoff of a letter from his father, J. C . Kohlhoff, to the Rev. James Hough, dated Tanjore, 28 July 1821. 2 C.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fo. 597.

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castes cam e to the sem inary and a little later some o f the ring­ leaders o f the revolt asked permission to return.1 R henius’s success, however, provided no criterion for caste p olicy in general in the missionaries’ schools for Christians. T h e M adras sem inary o f the C .M .S . found it necessary to adopt a ve ry circum spect attitude towards the question o f their pupils’ eating arrangem ents.2 A n d even w hen Bishop D aniel Wilson h ad issued his regulation that caste should not be adm itted into a n y A n glican com m unity grave difficulties were encountered in the Christian schools in a num ber o f districts. W hen the teachers w ere called upon to conform on pain o f dismissal, m any refused rather than lose their caste.3 Y e t both the forceful and the tolerant methods m et w ith some success in Christian communities. T h e examples were never numerous because the num ber o f converts was never large w ithin the period under consideration. But in the Christian com m unities it was possible to see most plainly whether a real renunciation o f caste had taken place. U nder the w atchful scrutiny o f the missionaries trends o f opinion am ongst their converts w ere im m ediately noted. W hen a schoolmaster o f Sudra caste at Palam cottah offered him self voluntarily for baptism w ith a pariah w asherwom an and her two daughters it was a clear trium ph for the missionaries’ anti-caste policy.4 A n d one o f the most rigid rules o f caste was p ublicly broken w hen a B rahm an convert at C udd apah m arried a pariah girl educated at the mission school.5 T h e obstacles to an Indian renouncing his caste were not w holly religious, however. Such a step m eant inevitably that the w hole social and m aterial structure o f his life must crum ble aw ay. R ejected b y his fam ily, he w ould also lose even his means o f livelihood. I f the missionaries hoped for an y success in their cam paign it was frequently essential that some means should be m ade available o f providing em ploym ent and possibly even 1 S.P.G. M SS. Extract from the Journal of the Rev. C. T . E. Rhenius, 13 February 1818, and C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 510. 2 C.M .S. M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 3, fos. 326-33. ‘ S.P.G. MSS. Box ‘ C . India’, 11, 4, no. 34: Letter of the Rev. E. J. Jones to the Rev. M . Campbell, dated Tanjore, 9 April 1834. 4 C .M .S . M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 434. 5 L.M .S. M SS. ‘ South India: T elu gu ’, box 1, folder 4, packet D : Letter of W . Howell to W . A . Hankey and the Rev. H. Townley, dated Cuddapah, 7 January 1831.

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IN IN DI A

accom m odation for their converts. T h e Seram pore Baptists saw at once that to lose all fo r Christ ,had an extrem ely literal m eaning for Indian Christians, and that it w ould be m aking too great a dem and upon simple people to expect them to em brace poverty as w ell as scorn. D uring his first year at M adn ab atty, W illiam C arey realized the possibilities opened b y the indigo factory o f his em ployer and patron, M r U dney, as a source o f em ploy­ ment for those prepared to lose caste.1 A t Seram pore, too, the missionaries’ paper-m ill and printing works offered a subsistence to some o f the converts. T h e com m unal life adopted b y the Seram pore Brotherhood was particularly suited to the establish­ ment o f a self-supporting group, and although they form ed a unit w hich could not expand indefinitely to accom m odate new arrivals their com m unity existence was undoubtedly one o f the reasons for their early success. T h e L .M .S . missionary, W illiam H ow ell, also elaborated a scheme in 1826 capable o f considerable expansion i f ju diciously handled. A factory containing a num ber o f looms was set up at C uddapah in southern India, tw o families w ere supplied w ith cattle and the implements o f husbandry to cater for the basic needs o f the factory workers, and the w om en in each fam ily were provided w ith a spinning-wheel. N o one was allow ed to com e and reside in this Christian com m unity unless he could earn b y his daily labour sufficient to provide him self w ith at least one m eal a day.2 This latter regulation was unfortunately necessary to check the practice o f beggars and idlers attem pting to impose upon the missionaries’ charity b y m aking a false profession o f Christianity. Unless the missionaries exercised the greatest caution they were always liable to be deceived b y assumed conversions. E ven w hen they were extrem ely careful they laid themselves open to the charge o f w inning only the lowest castes to Christianity, because the latter were thought to cherish hopes o f bettering their m aterial circumstances b y associating w ith Europeans. In m any cases the charge did not lack truth, for in attem pting to assert that a m an’s status should be decided purely on m erit they were advocating an impossible ideal. Nevertheless, it is an 1 Memoir o f William Carey, ed. Eustace Carey, p. 190. London, 1836. 2 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: T elu gu ’, box 1, 1817-35, folder 3, jacket A : Letters of W. Howell, dated Cuddapah, 6 October 1826 and 3 October 1829.

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inescapable fact that some members o f the highest castes were prepared to renounce their distinctions and becom e Christians. O thers w ho at first were loth to do so succum bed after a time to C hristian teaching. In T ranquebar, as early as 1799, a leading m em ber o f the congregation proposed that there should be only one C om m union cup instead o f the custom ary two— one for the caste Christians and one for outcasts. A fter some objection his proposal was put into effect.1 Since 1833 m any factors have weakened the bonds o f caste in Ind ia. E qu ality before the law , though it has not necessarily produced social equality, has gradu ally exerted an influence detrim ental to the sanctity o f the old distinctions. T h e desire to travel abroad has inevitably resulted in m any caste observances being ignored. M ore extensive and more advanced education has done m uch to arouse disapproval o f the more anomalous doctrines o f H induism , am ong them the most rigid restrictions im posed b y caste. But the caste system is still w idely prevalent even if frequently in a w eakened form, and the missionaries’ methods o f attack w ere far from being universally victorious. T h e mass conversions to C hristianity o f low-caste groups w hich have taken place in recent years suggest that caste is still a dom inant force. Certainly, b y 1833, the missionaries’ successes had been num erically very small. In 1830, A . L acroix o f the L .M .S . and form erly o f the N etherlands M issionary Society was still w riting that caste was the principal obstacle to conversion.2 T h e resistance to Bishop W ilson’s order that caste should not be observed in Christian comm unities was also evidence, along w ith the precedence w hich continued to be observed in the churches and even at the Com m union table, that some o f the converts themselves still clung to their old ideas. T o ju d g e the missionaries’ achievem ents purely b y numbers, how ever, w ould be to underestimate their work most seriously. F or it was they who, insistent upon the ultim ately evil effects o f caste, w ere the first Europeans to believe in the possibility o f rooting out its more harm ful aspects and to put their beliefs to the test. T h e y proved that caste was not unassailable even in its 1 Periodical Accounts, vol. 2, p. 28. 2 L .M .S . MSS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 3, 1830-3, folder 1, jacket C : Letter of A . Lacroix to the Rev. W. Orme, dated Calcutta, 20 M ay 1830.

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highest places, and they did so in the face o f doubting and often unsym pathetic Europeans and o f steady opposition from the Indians. M ore than an y other factor, the instruction th ey p ro­ vided, w hich was far more extensive and original in character than that provided b y an y other European group during those years, was the deciding elem ent in developing a critical approach to the im plications o f caste am ongst the Indian population. ( W herever Christian influence was most pow erfully felt there was a conscious transform ation o f cast,e distinctions into some­ thing resembling the less im m utable gradations o f society re­ ; cognized in Europe.

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C H A P T E R III

I D O L A T R O U S F E S T I V A L S AND T H E P R A C T I C E OF ‘ S A T I ’ T h e attack on caste was a lengthy m atter. Certain other prob­ lems, the missionaries felt, should be dealt w ith at once, and firm ly. A m ongst these w ere the great idolatrous festivals, in ­ volvin g both cruelty and extrem e degradation, w hich were held a t various religious centres, and the practice o f sati. T h e tactics the missionaries em ployed in dealing w ith both these customs w ere very similar. T h e y collected authoritative inform ation relating to the evils they wished to counter. T h e y presented it to the British public, both at hom e and in India, in a forceful yet scholarly fashion, and thus prepared the setting in which governm ent action becam e inevitable. T h e Presidency Governm ents had given their Indian subjects an assurance o f protection in the exercise o f their religions. T o have attem pted to do otherwise w ould have been neither just nor circum spect. T h e missionaries argued, however, that the attitude o f the Governm ents am ounted frequently not m erely to tolerance but to the active encouragem ent o f gross and super­ stitious practices w hich no plea for tolerance could ever justify. IDOLATROUS FESTIVALS

T h e missionaries had constantly denied the harmless character o f H induism , refusing to regard the degrading practices with w hich it had becom e increasingly perm eated as either quaint, fascinating or even childish. But in order to overcom e the un­ critical spirit engendered b y the policy o f tolerance it was necessary for them to escape from the verbiage o f political and ethical theory, and to concentrate their attack upon some visible evil. T h e culm inating error o f the East India C om p any’s policy, the missionaries thought, la y in their behaviour w ith reference to the pilgrim tax. T h e tax was levied b y the C om p any’s G overnm ent on the devotees attending certain o f the more fam ous H indu shrines such as those at G a y a and A llah abad . T h e object o f the tax was to provide a sum o f m oney for the 3

33

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upkeep o f the temples and the gods, and o f the priests and servants who ministered o n 'th e ir behalf. Such interference, the mis­ sionaries m aintained, was w holly incom patible w ith the d u ty o f a Christian governm ent or, to m ake the distinction stressed b y several o f the C om p any’s servants, o f a governm ent com posed o f Christians. T h e G overnm ent’s position becam e even m ore anom alous in 1805 w hen they reimposed the pilgrim tax at Jagan n ath in the district o f C uttack. T h e sole dissentient voice in the Suprem e C ouncil at Fort W illiam h ad been that o f M r U d n ey w ho h ad befriended the Baptist missionaries, C are y and Thom as, on their arrival in India. T o reimpose the tax, he h ad argued, could only serve to perpetuate the horrible ceremonies a t Jagan n ath b y giving them the countenance and apparent approval o f authority.1 In England, E dw ard P arry and Charles G rant, h aving failed to impress upon the C ourt o f Directors the im plications o f the Presidency G overnm ent’s action, transm itted a m em orandum to the President o f the Board o f Control on 26 A ugu st 1808.2 In reply, D undas denied an y intention on the p art o f the C o m p a n y ’s G overnm ent o f encouraging idolatry, and insisted that at J a g a n ­ nath as at other religious centres interference was necessary to fulfil the G overnm ent’s obligation o f m aintaining order. T h e financial benefit w hich the Presidency G overnm ent w ould derive from the transaction undoubtedly influenced the decision o f those w ho imposed the tax and the reception it gained from the C ourt o f Directors.3 Y e t other considerations also played their part, and it is characteristic o f the inconsistencies into w hich the East Ind ia C om pany was led in an endeavour to consult the interests o f its subjects that it saw nothing retro­ gressive in reim posing the ta x despite the fact that W ellesley had refused to do so w hen C uttack was first captured in 1803. T h e missionaries refused to be diverted from their object either b y financial considerations or b y a m uddled conception o f the duties o f an enlightened governm ent. I f the East In d ia * P .P . 1812-13, vol. vm, Papers relating to the Temple at Jaggemaut, p. 41: Minute of M r Udney, dated 3 April 1806. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Home Miscellaneous Series’, vol. 59, fo. 465. 3 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 56: Letter in the Revenue Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 30 December 1809, para. 132, and Bengal Despatches, vol. 57, fo. 518.

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C om p any saw no reason to dissociate itself from idolatrous cere­ monies the British public must be m ade aw are o f the nature o f the practices w hich Englishm en were supporting either directly or indirectly. T h e R ev. Claudius Buchanan, although him self a C om p an y’s chaplain, was o f a profoundly evangelical dis­ position and h ad alw ays been closely associated w ith the work o f missionaries in India. Indeed, he him self had undertaken som ething closely akin to missionary w ork in attem pting to revive and purify the observances o f the Syrian Christians on the M a la b ar coast. H e had been responsible, just before leaving In d ia in 1805, for producing a Memoir o f the Expediency o f an Ecclesiastical Establishmentfor British India, in w hich he had boldly presented his ow n appreciation o f In d ia’s spiritual and m aterial requirem ents. This book had produced a considerable sensation in England, and w hen B uchanan returned to that country he began a cam paign o f preaching and publishing in an attem pt to stir p ub lic opinion still further. O n 26 F ebruary 1809 he delivered his famous and w idely publicized sermon, The Star in the East, in w hich he announced w ith prophetic authority that the tim e h ad com e for the active preaching o f Christianity in India. In 18 11, his Christian Researches in Asia was published and aroused p robably the greatest interest in Indian affairs that had ever been felt in E ngland. T h e first edition o f 1700 copies was soon exhausted, and before the end o f the year three further editions h ad been printed. Supporting his views w ith evidence w hich he him self h ad collected, Buchanan presented a fearsome account o f the ceremonies perform ed a t Jagan nath and o f the behaviour o f the priests and pilgrims. T h e condition o f the latter, he said, was worse than anyone could conceive, m any o f them having travelled hundreds o f miles w ithout adequate subsistence. T h e Idols w ere revolting in appearance, the songs and actions o f the priests obscene, and still more terrible w ere the acts o f im m ola­ tion o f thejDilgrims w ho threw themselves to their death under the enormous wheels o f the idols’ cars.1 — Charles Bullerr a form er Commissioner at C uttack, h ad also witnessed the ceremonies at Jagan n ath a few years later than B uchanan and refused to let the latter’s statements go unchallenged. In a letter to the C ourt o f Directors in 1813 he 1 Claudius Buchanan, Christian Researches in Asia, pp. London, 1811.

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endeavoured to refute B uchanan’s attack upon the policy o f the Presidency Governm ent, m aintaining that governm ent inter­ ference did no more than regulate an otherwise chaotic assem bly and protect the poorer pilgrim s w ho m ight otherwise have died from lack o f food.1 Buchanan was not overcom e, and continued to concentrate public attention upon the evil practices to w hich the Bengal G overnm ent gave protection. H e , also, wrote to the C ou rt o f Directors, and in tw o letters a b ly defended all his previous assertions.2 H e had support from other sources. A num ber o f articles on Indian topics w ere available, w ritten b y servants or ex-servants o f the C om pany who had taken an enthusiastic and scholarly interest in different aspects o f the life and customs o f the Indian people. O n m any points these works fully substan­ tiated B uchanan’s statements.3 But these w ere prim arily o f academ ic interest and showed little concern for the horror they described. t T o arouse their interest the British public required an equally accurate but far more propagandist m ethod o f exposition. In i,811 W illiam W ard, the Baptist missionary, helped to supply that need w ith his exhaustive and scholarly four-volum e w ork entitled An Account o f the Writings, Religion and Manners o f the Hindus. T h e frank object o f the book was to present to the English public a full account o f H induism and b y so doing to w in ju p p o rt for the missionaries’ aims. T h e missionary societies I n E ngland w ere active in other directions also. Joh n Bebb, a form er director o f the East Ind ia C om p any and no supporter o f missions, wrote tw o letters dated 22 and 23 A p ril 1813 to the C ourt o f D irectors expressing his extrem e consternation at the num ber o f public meetings organized b y the missionary societies to discuss the need for an actively Christian policy in In d ia.4 T h e ardour o f the societies a t hom e was kept alive b y a con1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Court Minutes’, vol. 121, fo. 129; and P .P . 1812-13, volv Temple of Jaggernaut: Letter from Charles Buller to the Court of Directors' dated 19 M ay 1813, pp. 1-3. ’ v iii,

2 P .P . 1812-13, vol ix, Idol Jaggernaut: Rev. Claudius Buchanan to the Court of Directors, 25 M ay 1813, pp. 1 seq.; and P .P . 1812-13, vol. x, Idol Jaggernaut, 8 June 1813, pp. 1-4. 3 Asiatic Researches, vol. v, p. 345; vol vn, p. 232; and vol v i i i , p. 62. 4 P .P . 1812-13, vol. x, Tw o letters from John Bebb Esq., dated 22 and 23 April 1813.

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stant flow o f inform ation from their agents in India and b y the inspiring leadership o f m en like B uchanan and Charles G rant. In turn, the inform ation was passed on to the British public and resulted, as has already been seen, in numerous petitions to P arliam ent w hich induced that b ody in 1813 to recognize the im portance o f taking steps to am end the m oral condition o f their In d ian subjects. For people residing in England to form ulate plans for putting this decision into practice was an almost impossible task, how ever, and Parliam ent left that problem to the G overnm ent in India. T h e latter rem ained unconvinced o f h aving in an y w ay acted contrary to the dictates o f hum anity w hich they genuinely sought to observe, and continued to inter­ fere in the conduct o f the great Indian festivals w ith a steady blend o f hum ane and profit-m aking m otives.1 D uring the tw enty years w hich followed Parliam ent’s decision certain o f the C o m p an y’s agents began to take exception to the p olicy o f the Presidency Governm ents, but they were very few in num ber. In 1814 M r Richardson, Commissioner at Cuttack, urged the abolition o f the pilgrim tax.2 Som e years later, in southern India, M r J . Sullivan and M r M onro, at Coim batore and Palam cottah respectively, refused to follow the official practice o f com pelling people to assist in draw ing the idols’ cars, m aintaining that i f the religion had an y m eaning at a ll the people w ould perform the service voluntarily.3 Even in the Suprem e C ouncil itself J . H . H arington recorded a m inute in 1827 against the levy o f the pilgrim tax anywhere in India.4 O n the other hand, in answer to a governm ent circular letter a d ­ dressed prin cipally to the officers in charge o f districts where the pilgrim tax was collected and inquiring whether they con­ sidered it advisable that the imposition should cease, the replies w ere o f a predom inantly conservative character. O n ly three o f thirteen officers w ho replied were decidedly in favour o f abolishing the tax, and eight were decidedly against aboli­ tion.5 E ven L ord W illiam Bentinck, reformer though he was, 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 66, fos. 343-5; vol. 75, fos. 549-50; vol. 121, fos. 1241-50; and ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 75: Letter in the Revenue Dept, to the Court of Directors dated 1 November 1816, para. 88. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 121, fo. 1138. 3 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 3, fo. 168; and vol. 4, fo. 332. 4 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 121, fo. 1136. 5 Ibid. fos. 1140-1.

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concluded in 1831 that it was his duty to afford every protection and aid towards thfe exercise, o f the m ore harmless rites asso­ ciated w ith the religions o f Ind ia and showed no disposition to interfere w ith the existing policy towards the pilgrim tax.1 , T h e G overnm ent at Fort St G eorge held sim ilar views. From various parts o f southern Ind ia the letters o f missionaries told 1 regretfully o f the G overnm ent’s active encouragem ent o f idolatry. ‘ Idolatry is so far countenanced and en cou raged ’ , wrote one missionary at Bangalore in, 1830, ‘ that dilapidated temples are rebuilt— annual festivals o f lifeless idol^are^H icially attended b y public functionaries— heathen priests receive regular stipends to sacrifice to devils and to keep up the-ebscene orgies o f tlieir pagodas— the immense offerings o f infatuated devotees are periodically sold b y public auction in the office o f the collector o f revenue— and their proceeds received into the treasury o f a Christian G overn m en t! ’ 2 In E ngland the Directors w ere in sym pathy w ith their agents’ policy and the C ourt o f Proprietors o f East Ind ia C om p an y Stock showed a sim ilar disinclination to put an end to govern­ ment protection o f w hat were virtu ally the worst features o f Hinduism . T h e influence o f financial gain cannot be ignored w hen accounting for this attitude. A fter all charges h ad been defrayed the C om p any’s treasury profited to the extent o f £99*205. i6 j. from the festivals at Jagan n ath in the seventeen years im m ediately preceding 1831. From G a y a and A llah a b ad respectively it had gained in sixteen years £ 445,941. 15J. and j£i 59s4 29 * 7 sA t T iru p ati £ 120 ,941. 2s. 6d. was collected in ten years, while in the seven years for w hich the returns w ere incom plete it was estimated that the incom e am ounted to a further £84,658. 15J. gd.3 T h ere was some truth a t least in the rem ark o f a missionary o f the L .M .S . in 1831 that so long as the C om p any obtained such a valuable revenue from H indu temples they w ould be unw illing to change their policy. A ctio n b y Parliam ent, he added, held out the only hope o f rem edy.4 1 Ibid. fos. 1181-94. ' L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: Kanarese’, box 3, folder 1, jacket B: Letter o f W. Reeve to the Directors of the L .M .S ., dated Bangalore, 23 October 1830. 1 M .R . 1831, pp. 31-32. 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: T am il’, box 4, folder 1, jacket A : Letter of W . Taylor to the Treasurer and Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Madras, 17 March 1831.

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A fter their lim ited success in Parliam ent in 1813 the mis­ sionaries’ cam paign gained m om entum . D aniel Corrie, a chaplain o f the East India Com pany, took the opportunity o f a visit to E ngland in 1816 to preach a series o f sermons urging the Christians o f E ngland to assist in rem edying the deplorable conditions in India. H e was followed in 1819 b y the Baptist missionary W illiam W ard, and in 1823 b y H enry T ow n ley o f the L ondon M issionary Society. In 1826 Jam es Peggs o f the G eneral Baptist Mission also arrived in England and began to publicize conditions in India. T h e reports o f the various missionary societies had also helped to draw attention to the problem s encountered b y missionaries in India. T o bring these facts to the notice o f a w ider p u b lic th e reports o f all Protestant missionary societies were now sum­ m arized in the Missionary Register, a m onthly m agazine pro­ duced b y the C hu rch M issionary Society. T h e editors frankly adm itted that their intention was to put forw ard the missionaries’ view point and extracts from missionaries’ letters and journals w ere freely quoted to add interest and vigour to the publication. From 1817 onwards the Missionary Papers published for the use o f contributors to the C hurch M issionary Society provided even more striking evidence o f the degradation o f nineteenthcentury H induism . T h e text o f the papers'was simple and direct and engravings, m ade impressive b y the ugliness and horror o f the subjects they depicted rather than b y an y artistic merit, com m anded the attention o f the reader. T h e midsummer num ber for 1817 contained a sketch o f Jagan n ath ’s car at PuriTand de­ scribed how it was pulled b y hum an beings, some o f whom volun tarily died under its wheels. This was followed in the M ichaelm as num ber b y a portrayal o f the devotees in the act o f draw ing the car, m any o f .them ,b y means o f hooks w hich were fixed in their flesh. A n d in the w ake o f the car lay the body o f a m arTcrushed b y its wheels. T h e practice o f swinging on hooks em bedded in the flesh was also a regular spectacle at certain festivals and this too was illustrated in the missionary papers together w ith hum an sacrifices to the goddess K a li. In 1828 Jam es Peggs, w ho had spent some years at Cuttack, subm itted to L o rd W illiam Bentinck a pam phlet entitled The Pilgrim Tax in India, w hich was later incorporated for more general "distribution in his volum e India's Cries to British Humanity.

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Peggs’s tone was that o f an ardent propagandist, but the scholarly exposition o f his views, his first-hand acquaintance w ith his sub­ je c t and his exhaustive know ledge o f official and private corre­ spondence relating to H indu practices countered an y suspicion o f casuistry to w hich the over-enthusiastic m anner o f his w riting m ight perhaps have given rise. H e forcibly asserted that the pilgrim tax enhanced the supposecTvalue o f the pilgrim ages and thence o f the places at w hich they w ere levied. Furtherm ore, ~the poverty, sickness, m ortality and brutal sufferings resulting from the vast assem b lieso f-pilgrim s clearly dem onstrated the harm ful tendency o f a system w hich regulated, supported and aggrandized such festivals. N ot content w ith sim ply pointing out the need for reform, Peggs w ent on to dem onstrate the ease and safety w ith w hich the G overnm ent could curb the practices to w hich he and other Christians objected so strongly. A t Chandernagore, he said, the French h ad refused to allow Jagan n ath ’s car to be dragged along a new ly repaired road because the priests could not p ay for the dam age w hich its large wheels w ould cause. Y e t there had been no outcry or disturbance.1 Peggs’s arguments failed to sw ay L ord Bentinck but the pow er o f their appeal to an English public recently aroused to some appreciation o f the missionaries’ efforts was evident from the appearance o f a third edition o f Peggs’s book in 1832. T h e contribution o f the Seram pore Baptists took the form o f scholarly articles published in their own periodical, The Friend o f India. T h e m onthly version o f this m agazine first appeared in 1818 and from 1820 another periodical was published quarterly w ith the same title. W illiam C are y and his fellow-contributors were acknow ledged authorities on Indian society and customs and it was they w ho first drew attention to the stimulus given to idolatrous festivals b y the British characteristics o f regularity, activity and faithfulness displayed b y the governm ent officials in their attem pt to adm inister the affairs o f the H indu shrines. R eginald H eber, w ho becam e the second bishop o f C alcu tta in 1823, quickly added the w eight o f his authority to the mis­ sionaries’ cam paign. A m an w ho possessed both poetic vision and a shrewd insight into practical affairs, H eber regarded him ­ self as the ch ief missionary o f the Christian C hu rch in India. 1 James Peggs, India's Cries to British Humanity, pp. 120 and 141-2, 3rd edition. London, 1832. '

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D urin g his b rief period o f office he did his utmost to get to know his diocese b y travelling extensively and m eeting all kinds o f people. A lth ou gh he was not harshly critical his writings provided clear evidence o f the squalor he encountered side b y side with the facade o f splendour b y w hich the servants o f the East India C om p an y w ere all too often fascinated and deceived.1 This w eight o f propaganda had a telling effect upon the con­ sciences o f thousands o f Englishm en w ho hitherto had shown little interest in India. A lth ou gh the C ourt o f Directors con­ tinued firm ly to uphold the justice o f their form er policy they w ere finally overruled b y the Board o f Control. T h e vital part played b y the missionaries in bringing about a change o f policy was clearly demonstrated b y a dispatch in the R evenue D epartm ent dated 20 F ebruary 1833 and addressed to the G overnor-G eneral in C ouncil.2 It was this docum ent w hich contained the order w hich eventually resulted in the severance o f the G overnm ent’s connexion w ith idolatry. T h e original draft, draw n up b y the C ourt o f Directors, h ad been very different in character. T h e Board o f Control, however, scored out the D irectors’ views and then w ent on to insert the opinions w hich the missionaries had been advocating con­ tinuously for thirty years. T h e smallest degree o f interference b y the G overnm ent in the religious affairs o f their subjects, beyond the m ere m aintenance o f order b y means o f a police force, they w rote, must inevitably be regarded b y the Indian people as im plying approval or even encouragem ent o f their religions. For this reason, even the levy o f a tax to be devoted solely to the paym ent o f police was unjustifiable. T h e y adm itted having approved orders o f a different character in 1814, but pleaded that m ore recent inform ation and further consideration had provided adequate grounds for revoking their form er opinion. In reaching this decision they h ad been inclined to m inim ize the argum ents o f those w ho supported the pilgrim tax because they felt that, how ever sincere the others’ denials, they had not entirely avoided the influence o f a natural desire to reap financial benefit for the C om pany. T h e Presidency Governm ents must, they believed, have felt some interest in the progress and 1 R . Heber, Narrative o f a Journey through the Upper Provinces o f India, vol. i, pp. 43-4 and 184, 2nd edition. London, 1849. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 121, fo. 1135 seq.

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extension o f the practices w hich brought in such an am ple revenue. T h e y w ere'quite read y to agree w ith Bentinck that all religious rites and offices which* were not flagrantly opposed to comm on hum anity and decency ought to be tolerated. O n the other hand, a governm ent w hich believed those rites to be pro­ ductive, even from a civil point o f view, o f serious evil was neither obliged nor at liberty to show any degree o f positive sanction or encouragement. T o em ploy the surplus tax, after paym ent o f the police force, in the upkeep o f temples a n d religious ceremonies was to advance far beyond the professed aim o f neutrality. T h e G overnm ent was placed in an invidious position w hen m en deliberately sent out b y the H indu priests to urge others to m ake pilgrim ages and to conduct them to the shrines were incited and quickened b y the assurance w hich the known good faith and exact­ ness o f the G overnm ent held out to them that their fees w ould be levied and paid w ith scrupulous punctuality. Furtherm ore, the feelings o f the Board revolted at the idea o f deliberately m aking profit from practices whose existence they deplored. T h e fact that these arguments and even at times the very w ording o f them bore such a close resem blance to the mis­ sionaries writings and sermons cannot be dismissed as a mere coincidence. T h e membership o f the Board o f C ontrol w ould im m ediately discount such a theory. T h e President o f the Board was the younger Charles G rant, and his brother, R obert, was another m ember. Both from their childhood h ad assimilated the ardent evangelism o f their father, the elder Charles G ran t who had exercised so im portant an influence on b e h a lf o f the missionaries a generation earlier. Both, too, h ad been nourished on the reports and propaganda o f the various missionary societies and in particular o f the C .M .S . W ith such men on the Board o f Control it is not surprising that the revised dispatch displayed such sym pathy for the missionaries point o f view. I t w ould, how ever, be w rong to assume that the missionaries’ cam paign h ad affected these m en alone. In spite o f Charles G ran t’s well-know n and not alw ays very fortunate predilection for actin g on the advice o f mission­ aries, it is certain that the Board o f Control, w hatever their sympathies, w ould not have dared to fly so bold ly in the face o f the unanimous opinion expressed b y members o f the East Ind ia C om pany h ad they not been sure o f strong support from the 42

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English public. Sym path y w ith the missionaries’ cam paign had, indeed, spread w idely in the i 8 2 o ’ s as could be seen from the great increase in the incom e o f the various societies. Parliam ent, too, h ad frequently been called upon to hear petitions from m issionary sym pathizers urging that action should be taken to p ut a stop to governm ent interference in Indian religious festivals. T h e missionaries’ writings, also, h ad been extensively quoted in the H ouse.1 T h e result o f the Board o f C ontrol’s new policy was an order to the effect that the pilgrim tax should be everywhere abolished. A ll interference b y British functionaries in the interior m anage­ m ent o f H in du temples and in the arrangem ent o f rites and ceremonies was to cease. Fines and offerings were no longer to be regarded as sources o f revenue b y the Governm ent. N o servant o f the C om p any was to be engaged in the collecting, m anagem ent or custody o f anything in the nature o f fines or offerings, under w hatever title or in w hatever m anner they were collected. N o C om p an y’s servant was to derive any em olument from an y such source, and the m aintenance o f order b y means o f police was to be the only form o f interference permitted. T h e missionaries’ victory was not complete, however. T h e B oard o f Control, more conscious than they o f the adm inistra­ tive problems w hich their policy involved, m odified their orders to the extent o f adm itting that they set forw ard a standard to w hich the Governm ents in Ind ia should ultim ately conform rather than a rule w hich they must instantly adopt w ithout respect o f circumstances. T h e methods to be em ployed, w hether swift or gradual, final or experim ental, were left entirely to the decision o f the Governm ents involved.2 W ith such latitude it is not surprising that the Governments w ere slow to carry out the wishes o f the Board. In spite o f steady progress it was some thirty years before the British connexion w ith idolatry was finally broken. But the dispatch o f 1833 was a clear turning-point. T h rough out the years w hich followed, the B oard o f Control, backed b y Parliam ent and a strong body o f public opinion, continued to insist upon the policy o f non­ interference in religious affairs. 1 P .D eb. vol. 104, 21 December 1830— 3 March 1831, cols. 60-3; vol. 121, 2 July-25 J uly 1833, cols. 490-2 and 527. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 121, fos. 1268-74.

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'

‘ S A T l’

Sati— the w ord describes both the H indu w idow w ho burned herself either on her husband’s funeral pyre or w ith some o f his personal effects and also the actual cerem ony o f burning— p ro­ vided the missionaries w ith another cam paigning grou n d . It was hallow ed b y long practice. Francisco Pelsaert, a m em ber o f the D utch East India C om pany, wrote about it in 1626,1 and before the end o f the seventeenth century it h ad also attracted the attention o f Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French m erchant who travelled extensively in Ind ia.2 In the history o f sati, how ­ ever, these must be regarded as com paratively m odern examples. It was usually a voluntary act, and so pow erful was the w om en’s b elief that only b y burning could they w in eternal happiness and bring blessings on their fam ily that it was a difficult m atter to dissuade them. O f the geographical extent o f the practice there are numerous records. W illiam H odge M ill, first Principal o f Bishop’s College, C alcutta, found considerable evidence, a t least o f its previous existence, at the confluence o f the K istna river and one o f its tributaries south o f Satara.3 Four years earlier, the Calcutta Gazette for 30 A p ril 1818 contained an account o f another M arathi sati reported b y an agent o f the C om p an y a t N agpur. T h e carved stones raised at the places o f burning testify to its form er prevalence am ong the R ajputs,4 and it was particularly comm on in Bengal. Such a frequent spectacle did not escape the notice o f the East India C om p any’s servants, and unlike certain other practices against w hich the missionaries h ad spoken it aroused genuine horror am ong all classes o f Europeans in India. A t the same time, its frequency and the interest displayed in its per­ form ance b y the Brahmans suggested to them the existence o f some religious decree com m anding the fulfilm ent o f the rite. Conscious o f their professed neutrality in religious matters the C om pany’s Governm ents in all three Presidencies w ere un1 W. H. Moreland, Jahangir's India. The Remonstrantie of Francisco Pelsaert trans. from the Dutch by Moreland and P. Geyl, p. 79. Cambridge, 1925. ’ 1 J.-B. Tavermer, Travels in India, trans. from the original French edition of 1676 by V . Ball, vol. 11, p. 210. London, 1889. ■ Bodl. MSS. Private Journal ofW illiam Hodge Mill, 31 March 1822. * J. H. Hutton, Caste in India, p. 31. Cambridge, 1946.

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w illing to inter-pose their authority to put an end to sati w ithout careful consideration. T h e practice was very far from being universal, however, even am ong any one caste or sect, and it is surprising that a governm ent w hich h ad shown itself extrem ely w illing to form ulate regulations and draw up agreements to assist in putting an end to the custom o f female infanticide should have shown such diffidence m their attitude towards sati. In 1798 Sir Joh n Anstruther, the C h ie f Justice, had pro­ hibited sati in C alcutta, and nine years before that the Collector a t Shahabad had announced to the G overnm ent o f Bengal that w ithout authority he could not allow the practice to continue w ithin the area o f his jurisdiction.1 N either o f these pronounce­ ments form ed p art o f any co-ordinated plan, however, and again it fell to the missionaries to stir the G overnm ent to effective action. T h eir task involved two m ain problem s: the first, to produce convincing p ro o f o f the absence o f any irrefutable religious com m and that sati must be performed, the second, to provide conclusive grounds for its im m ediate abolition. T n r8 o3 the Seram pore Baptists began their systematic cam ­ paign b y deputing a num ber o f Indians to travel from place to place w ithin a radius o f thirty miles round C alcutta and to report on the num ber o f satis o f w hich they heard. T h e following year they stationed ten agents w ithin the same area for six months in order to carry out their object more efficiently. Sim ultaneously W illiam C arey m ade use o f his position as lecturer a t Fort W illiam College to collect from the pandits there various texts from the Sastras, the ancient H indu writings, on w hich the practice o f sati was based. These latter confirmed the missionaries’ impression that the self-immolation o f widows, though countenanced b y H indu law , was in no w ay com m anded b y it. T h e returns m ade b y the Baptists’ agents were adm itted to be incom plete, but w hen they were presented to the G ov­ ernor-G eneral together w ith W illiam C are y ’s discoveries they created a sharp impression.2 A b o u t the same time, W ellesley’s attention was again draw n to the problem b y a letter from 1 P .P . 1821, vol xviii. Hindoo Widows and Voluntary Immolations, p. 2. 2 J. C . Marshman, The Life and Times o f Carey, Marshman and Ward, vol. 1, pp. 221-2. London, 1859.

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J . R . Elphinstone, acting m agistrate in B ihar.1 In F ebruary 1805, therefore, he called upon the N izam at A d alat, the supreme crim inal court, to investigate the m atter w ith a view to abolishing sati altogether, or i f this proved im practicable, to the adoption o f measures to prevent an y undue influence being brought to bear upon the minds o f H indu widows. In view o f W ellesley’s recent regulation prohibiting the drow ning o f children at Saugor there appeared to be a reasonable probability o f his decisive intervention in this further problem . T h e N izam at A d a la t did indeed com ply w ith his request that they should carry out investigations but W ellesley was recalled to England in the same year and no further official steps were taken for a considerable period. T h ere has been some divergence o f opinion as to the im por­ tance o f the next twenty-four years leading up to L ord B entinck’s R egulation o f 4 D ecem ber 1829 w hich prohibited sati in the Bengal Presidency. N oting the indecision o f successive G overnors-General, a com paratively recent w riter has bestowed the whole credit for the prohibition upon Bentinck alone.2 A hundred years ago, however, F. J. Shore expressed the view that the tide o f opinion in India was so strongly opposed to sati that an y G overnor-G eneral w ould have acted as Bentinck did.3 N either view does full justice to the situation. T o agree w ith Shore w ould be to overlook the fact that no one h ad supported a passive policy more consistently than Bentinck’s im m ediate predecessor L ord Am herst. A n d it was upon Bentinck alone that the burden o f responsibility w ould have fallen i f his m easure had resulted in the upheaval w hich m any predicted. O n the other hand, so swift and decisive a change in p olicy was evidence that considerable preparatory w ork had been done to overcom e the form er scruples o f the C om p an y’s agents, even before Bentinck took office. In a M inute dated 8 N ovem ber 1829, in w hich Bentinck enum erated the factors upon w hich his decision h ad been based, he k n itte d an y reference to the influence o f C hristianjnissionariesT^-Yet it was they w ho h ad consistently em phasized the 1 P -P ' *821, vol. xvm . Hindoo Widows and Voluntary Immolations, pp. 23-4. 2 Edward Thompson, Suttee, p. 77. London, 1928. 3 F- J- Shore, Notes on Indian Affairs, vol. 11, p. 217. London, 1837. 4 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Criminal Judicial Consultations’, Lower Provinces, 4 December, part 1, 1829, fo. 555.

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horrors o f sati and concentrated public attention upon them. T h eir cam paign had been w ell organized both in England and in India. T h e y had had unique contacts w ith the Indian people. T h eir religion had given them a feeling o f urgency. A n d it was these factors that had m ade the missionaries the most constant and pow erful force in the fight against widow-burning. T h e figures o f the satis w hich took place in Bengal in 1803 an d 1804, collected b y the Baptist missionaries, m ay have been forgotten b y the Presidency Governm ent, but Claudius B uchanan quoted them in 1811 in his w idely-read Christian Researches in Asia, and in 1813 he wrote to inform the C ourt o f Directors that on the basis o f further figures supplied b y the Seram pore missionaries and o f the official estimates o f the population o f India he h ad calculated that some 10,000 satis took place annually.1 T h e figure was almost certainly an ex­ aggeration since it was based upon returns from an area where sati was particularly prevalent. But no one was sufficiently w ell inform ed to contradict it, and it rem ained to create an impression b y its vastness. It m ight be added that Buchanan was p robably no more aw are o f his error than anyone else was. Further publicity was given to the Baptists’ statistics in the H ouse o f Com m ons in 1813 w hen W illiam W ilberforce in­ cluded them in his speech on the renewal o f the East India C om p an y’s C harter. H e also inserted in the printed record o f his speech a gruesome account o f a sati witnessed b y Joshua M arshm an, and expressed his regret for having failed to read it in the H ouse.2 Details o f this nature, collected in Bengal, gave authority to the words o f a gifted speaker w ho had not him self been to India, and enabled him to challenge the cautious advice o f the C om p an y’s agents. T h e outcom e o f the debate was inconclusive as far as sati was concerned, and it was necessary for the missionaries to publicize their inform ation still more w idely. As in the case o f the pilgrim tax, the Missionary Register and the Missionary Papers circulated a series o f authentic records o f sati forwarded b y the missionaries in India. T h e Missionary Papers in particular em phasized the horror o f the cerem ony w ith its vivid engravings o f widows about 1 P .P . 1812-13, vol. ix. Idol Jaggernaut, p. 5. Letter of Dr Buchanan, dated 25 M ay 1813. 2 P .D eb . vol lx ii, 11 M ay-22 July 1813, cols. 859-60.

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to cast themselves into the flames.1 W illiam W ard ’s visit to England supplied personal confirm ation o f these accounts. A n d ju st before his return to Ind ia he m ade a further attem pt to stir up public interest in the abolition o f sati b y describing the cruelties it involved in a series o f farew ell letters to friends w ith whom he had conversed on the subject during his stay in England.2 A lthough the C ourt o f Directors was still inclined, under the influence o f its agents in India, to doubt its right to interfere, the missionaries’ efforts were beginning to take effect elsewhere. In 1821, M r Fow ell B uxton m oved in the House o f Com m ons for the publication o f all correspondence relating to sati and his proposal was accepted.3 M r J . H . H arington, a m em ber o f the Suprem e C ouncil in Bengal, confidently attributed the H ouse o f Commons inquiry to the interest aroused in one section o f the English public,4 and there is no question that the missionary societies were the bodies responsible for stim ulating that interest. T h e increasing frequency w ith w hich sati was discussed in the House5 was a sure sign that more and m ore people w ere be­ com ing conscious o f the need to take steps to end the practice. James Peggs, w ho was so m uch to the fore in denouncing the pilgrim tax, was equally prom inent in inciting public opinion against sati. In a pam phlet w hich dem onstrated that sati formed no integral p art o f H induism he also stressed the tendency o f partial restrictions to prom ote the practice b y giving it in certain circumstances an appearance o f legality. From various authorities also, he showed the ease and safety w ith w hich sati could be w holly prohibited.6 T o give pow er to his statements he formed an association at C oventry under the title o f T h e Society for Prom oting the A bolition o f H um an Sacrifices in India. Its object was to circulate inform ation on the nature and extent o f 1 M .R . 1820, p. 120; 1821, p. 116; and Missionary Papers, nos. 11, xxvi, x x x i i and xxxrv. 1 M .R . 1822, pp. 263-4 and 422. 1 P.D eb. vol. 82, 3 A p r il-11 July 1821, cols. 1217-22. * P .P . 1825, vol. xxiv. East India Affairs, p. 8: J. H. Harington’s Minute, dated 28 June 1823. 5 P.D eb. vol. 82, 3 A p r il-11 July 1821, cols. 1221-2; vol. 86, 1 M a y -19 July 1823, col. 1020; and vol. 90, 19 April-6 Ju ly 1825, cols. 1044-6.

1 J- Peggs, India’s Cries to British Humanity, pp. 229 and 242, 3rd edition. London, 1832. * 48

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hum an sacrifices, including sati. Influential people in England and in India were approached b y the Society and it was hoped that sim ilar institutions m ight be established in other parts o f the country.1 Parliam ent was still nervous o f taking the m atter out o f the D irectors’ hands owing to the conflicting views in India as to the possible outcom e o f legislative action. T h e Board o f Control, although extrem ely anxious to put an end to sati, was equally handicapped b y contradictory inform ation.2 T h e C ourt o f Directors, too, still felt it expedient to leave the final decision to the G overnor-G eneral, although deeply stirred b y the public interest w hich the missionaries had aroused, and anxious to support an y methods w hich m ight be em ployed w ith safety to pro­ hibit w idow -burning. Thus L ord Bentinck w ent to India w ith the know ledge that both the Directors and Parliam ent actively desired the discontinuance o f sati, and that the section o f the English public w hich took an y interest in Indian affairs was convinced that the prohibition o f such hum an sacrifices was both a m oral responsibility and a physical possibility. Ind ia was not w holly unprepared for decisive action. T h e m ain obstacle to the prohibition o f sati had been the caution o f successive G overnors-General. E ach o f them h ad deplored the practice o f self-immolation, yet each in turn had clung to a policy o f non-intervention. L ord Hastings advanced and retreated in distressed un­ certainty. T h e sati returns for the L ow er Provinces o f Bengal showed a m arked increase in 1815 and 1816 and the N izam at A d a la t drafted a regulation for restricting the practice. In H astings’s absence in the U p p er Provinces, however, it was con­ sidered inadvisable to prom ulgate the measure in the form o f a regulation ow ing to the insufficiency and inaccuracy o f the inform ation at the G overnm ent’s disposal. A lthough Hastings ultim ately approved the order it is quite clear from official correspondence that it was never circulated. In 1819 the G overnor-G eneral even contem plated abolishing the existing restrictions.3 W hen, however, the sati returns for 1819 and 1820 1 M .R . 1829, pp. 146-8. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bombay Despatches’, vol. 53, fos. 705-8. 3 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 83: Letter in the Judicial Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 1 February 1820, paras. 52-61.

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showed a m arked decrease Hastings declared his entire confi­ dence in the regulations as they stood, and felt that an y m ore authoritative interposition, and p articularly an y attem pt to prohibit sati, w ould only inflam e religious fanaticism .1 T h e impression m ade b y such an indecisive policy upon the H indus was clearly dem onstrated when, on Hastings’s departure from India, R h adacan t D eb, a professedly orthodox H indu, p ro­ posed that the G overnor-G eneral should be particularly thanked for the protection he h ad afforded to the ancient custom o f sati.2 L ord Am herst’s attitude was grounded even m ore firm ly on the fear that decisive action m ight cause unrest. N on-inter­ vention he believed to be the one thing w hich reconciled the Indians to the Governm ent. It was characteristic o f the super­ ficial thinking consequent upon the p olicy o f toleration that both Hastings and Am herst feared the repercussions am ong the C om p any’s sepoys o f an y attem pt to prohibit sati. It was J . H . H arington w ho pointed out that the arm y was com posed o f ju st those classes w hich w ere almost entirely unaffected b y sati and the returns o f 1823 showed that only one sati in that year was the w idow o f a sepoy.3 O th er people, it is true, were in favour o f an extrem ely cautious policy. In 1823 the B om bay G overnm ent declared their approval o f the existing regulations and expressed the view that the com plete prohibition o f sati m ight check the progress w hich was being m ade.4 Sir Charles M etcalfe, whose prohibi­ tion o f sati in D elhi was frequently cited b y w ould-be reformers in Bengal, also opposed sudden action lest it should cause unrest.5 A n d year b y year the judges o f the N izam at A d a la t disagreed over the attitude w hich they felt the G overnm ent should adopt. Even local officers who were in closer touch w ith the sentiments o f the Indian people held views w hich varied in accordance w ith the prevalence o f sati in their own areas. 1 P .P . 1823, vol. XVII. Papers relating to East India Affairs, viz. Hindoo Widows etc., pp. 64-5. 2 Heber, Narrative o f a Downey through the Upper Provinces o f India, vol. i, p. 55, 2nd edition. London, 1859. 3 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Home Miscellaneous Series’, vol. 541, fos. 412-14. 4 P .P . 1824, vol. xxiii. Papers relating to East India Affairs, viz. Hindoo Widows, p. 47. Bombay Government, 25 June 1823. 1 P .P . 1830, vol. xxvni, Hindoo Widows, pp. 214 -15. Metcalfe, dated 29 December 1827.

50

Minute of Sir C. T .

I D O L A T R O U S F E S T I V A L S A N D T H E P R A C T I C E OF $S A T l ’

^ Nevertheless, the responsibility for inactivity must be laid increasingly upon the Governors-General, for am ong their subordinates the dem and for prohibition grew as the years w ent by. T h e records o f the times provide plentiful instances o f magis­ trates and other officials using their discretion and satisfying their hum anitarian instincts b y checking sati w ithin their own areas o f jurisdiction.1 But such actions were usually m et b y a w arn in g from the Presidency G overnm ent against undue zeal. J . W auchope, m agistrate a t Bundelkhand, and W . B ayley at B urdw an w ere more fortunate. A s a result o f their letters asking advice from the N izam at A d a la t m ore general action was taken to control the practice o f sati. Y e t even in this case the circular orders w hich w ere issued b y the Bengal Governm ent in 1813 and in 1814 am ounted to little m ore than an interpretation o f the H indu law as it was gradually becom ing known to the British authorities. In the former year magistrates were ordered to be diligent in obtaining inform ation about satis, and to prohibit them w hen they were not voluntary, when the w idow was less than sixteen years o f age, or i f force or intoxicating drugs had been em ployed to induce the w idow to burn herself. T h e orders o f 4 O ctob er 1814 were o f a similar nature, and simply forbade a w om an having a child under three years o f age to becom e a sati unless someone entered into a form al agreem ent, on a stam ped paper, to look after the child. Such regulations could only suggest to the Indian m ind that an y satis w hich did not contravene the official orders were regarded b y the Governm ent as entirely permissible. E ven the G overnm ent’s request o f 21 M arch 1815 that the N izam at A d a la t should transmit for its inspection annual reports o f satis was meaningless. For, as a result o f the official policy o f tolerance, no action was ever taken w hen the returns were made. T h e isolated and uncoordinated efforts o f the lesser officials could clearly have no decisive influence upon the G overnm ent’s policy. T h ere were needed a G overnor-G eneral sufficiently con­ fident o f the support o f the British public for him to be able to take bold action and sufficiently strong p ro o f o f the wisdom o f 1 P .P . 1821, vol. XVIII, Hindoo Widows and Voluntary Immolations, pp. 45-65; 1825, vol. xxiv, East India Affairs, pp. 166-202; and C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 83: Letter in the Political Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 15 January 1820, para. 174.

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such action to greet him on his arrival in India. T h e p art the missionaries played 'in influencing public opinion in E ngland has already been described. 19 Ind ia they rendered equally im portant service. T h e value o f their scholarship and o f their half-w ay position betw een E uropean officialdom and the In d ian people, w hich m ade them a n adm irable link betw een those two groups and enabled them to a ct as interpreters o f one to the other, was strengthened b y the possession o f several printing presses b y means o f w hich they could give w ide publicity to their views. In 1815 the second edition o f W illiam W ard ’s View o f the History, Literature and Mythology o f the Hindus was issued b y the Seram pore press. T h e book contained a chapter setting out the Baptists’ figures for satis in the C alcu tta area, together w ith extracts from the Sastras exposing the absence o f a n y legal com ­ pulsion to perform sati. T o these w ere appended accounts o f some o f the more outrageous cases o f w idow -burning know n to the writer. T h e same standard o f scholarship and the same in ­ cisive exposition were m aintained in the Baptist periodical, the Friend o f India, in w hich appeared at regular intervals learned articles underm ining the whole basis o f sati and dem anding its abolition. T h e academ ic qualities they em bodied and the care­ ful investigations upon w hich their inform ation was founded impressed the very highest officials. In com piling his influential m inute on sati at the request o f the President o f the B oard o f Control in 1823, J- H . H arington drew most o f his argum ents from the Quarterly Friend o f India for M arch 1821 an d frankly acknow ledged his debt. H e was particularly impressed b y the view , later reflected in L ord Bentinck’s m inute o f 8 N ovem ber 1829, that the G overnm ent’s decision to execute Brahm ans guilty o f m urder and their prohibition o f infanticide provided adequate precedent for prohibiting sati w ithout an y fear o f u p ­ heaval. A further suggestion o f the Quarterly Friend o f India for Septem ber 1822, that assistance a t the rite o f sati should be treated as m urder, was also em bodied in Bentinck’s R egu lation o f 1829,1 w hile W . Leycester, C h ie f Justice o f the N izam at A dalat, whose form er behaviour h ad been particularly cautious, was stung into m aking a strong declaration against sati b y an article dated 15 A p ril 1828.2 1 Bengal Regulations and Acts, vol u, 1806-34, PP- 878-80. London, 1854. 2 P .P . 1830, vol. x x v i i i , Hindoo Widows, pp. 229-30.

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O th er influences must also be mentioned, since Bentinck him self acknow ledged them. R am M ohan R o y published two pam phlets in Bengali and in English in 1818 and 1820 w hich contained all available quotations from the Sastras to prove that sati was neither com pulsory nor even strongly recomm ended. T h e y h ad a n extensive circulation in those parts o f the country w here w idow -burning was most prevalent, and m ade a deep, though not alw ays favourable, impression on some o f the Indians in the neighbourhood o f C alcu tta.1 O n his arrival from E ngland L ord Bentinck consulted the opinion o f R am M ohan R o y and there is no doubt that the G overnor-G eneral was greatly im ­ pressed b y the fact that a n In d ian condem ned sati w ith such authority. It should be added that it was through the m edium o f the Missionary Register that one o f R am M oh an R o y ’s pam ­ phlets reached the English public, and Lord Bentinck acted on the missionaries’ suggestion o f im m ediate prohibition rather than adopting the more gradual policy advocated b y R am M oh an R o y .2 M r W . Ewer, Superintendent o f Police for the L ow er Prov­ inces, was another w ho must be credited w ith having stead­ fastly urged the im m ediate prohibition o f sati, and to him also L ord Bentinck paid tribute. In 1818 Ew er wrote to the Secretary to the Bengal G overnm ent stating that satis were rarely voluntary in spite o f the circular orders issued b y the G overnm ent, and that financial gain rather than devout religion m otivated the assistants a t the ceremony. In perm itting satis, he said, the authorities were sanctioning not a religious custom but the sacrifice o f widows to their relatives. N ot content w ith this letter, E w er subm itted in Jan u ary 1819 the returns m ade to a circular letter on sati w hich he had sent to the magistrates in the area under his supervision.3 A lth ou gh lacking the resources at the disposal o f the missionaries Ew er undoubtedly followed their system atic approach more closely than did anyone else. T o refer to the w ork o f others, however, only serves to 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 1, folder 2, jacket A : Letter of J. Keith to the Secretary of the L .M .S ., dated Calcutta, 22 M ay 1817. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Criminal Judicial Consultations. Lower Provinces’, 4 December, part 1, 1829: Minute of the Governor-General, dated 8 November 1829. 3 P .P . 1821, vol. xvni, Papers relating to East India Affairs, viz. Hindoo Widows, and Voluntary Immolations, pp. 227-40.

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em phasize the im portance o f the missionaries b y com parison. T o L ord W illiam Bentihck must be given the ultim ate credit for prohibiting sati in British Ind ia b y his regulation o f 4 D ecem ber 1829 w hich forbade w idow -burning in the Bengal Presidency,1 for the Governm ents o f M adras and B om bay followed his exam ple a year later.2 But in preparing the w ay, both in England and in India, for those enactments, the Christian missionaries were the pre-em inent power. T h e unrest so long predicted b y some o f the C om p an y’s servants did not m aterialize. A b ody o f the m ore conservative H indus m erely adopted the form al measure o f presenting a petition to the K in g in C ouncil protesting against B entinck’s action, but it achieved nothing. T h e Regulations themselves did not bring sati to an end im m ediately, but their strict enforce­ ment began to take effect and the Indians in British territory becam e steadily unaccustom ed to the practice.3 1 Bengal Regulations and Acts, vol. n, 1806-34, pp. 878-80. 2 The Regulations o f the Government o f Bombay, 1827-1850, p.

372. Regulation x v i of 1830. London, 1851; and The Regulations o f the Government o f Fort S t George, 1802—1847, pp. 496-8. Regulation 1 of 1830. London, 1848. 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 3, folder 2, jacket A : Letter of A . Lacroix to the Rev. D. Paterson, dated, Calcutta, 11 July 1831.

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EDUCATION W hilst legislative action m ight be the speediest rem edy for the m ore blatant evils o f Indian society, the missionaries soon be­ cam e aw are that education rather than legislation was necessary to m ake the Indians themselves desire reform. E ducation also served their missionary purpose adm irably. For in developing a critical appreciation o f life it encouraged criticism o f the religions b y w hich the lives o f the Indian people were ordered. T h e R ev. Benjam in B ailey o f the C hurch M issionary Society reflected the view o f all the Societies w hen he wrote to the C o m p an y’s Resident in T ravan core: ‘ W e are anxious for the diffusion o f knowledge generally, and shall be glad to do all in our pow er for the am elioration o f the tem poral and everlasting condition o f all Castes o f the Natives. W hile w e are principally affected b y the ultim ate good, into w hich the Christian Religion introduces its disciples, we are not ignorant or careless o f the innum erable tem poral blessings w hich accom pany it and are anxious to behold that im proved state o f Society which C hristianity never fails o f p roducin g.51 I t is unnecessary to rely solely upon missionary sources to reveal the inadequacy o f the indigenous educational system. Those Europeans w ho were sincerely anxious not to disturb w hat, to their superficial consideration, appeared as the pleasures o f a simple rural existence, believed the existing means o f education w holly satisfactory. Colonel, later Sir Thom as M unro, giving evidence before a comm ittee o f the whole House o f Com m ons in 1813, painted an attractive picture o f village schools catering for the elem entary requirements o f an agri­ cultural population.2 B ut that idyllic situation, in whose existence, it m ay be added, M unro genuinely believed a t the time, was w holly im aginary. W hen he him self instituted an inquiry into the state o f indigenous education in the M adras Presidency some years later the returns to his circular letter showed that the existing schools were both few in num ber and 1 C .M .S . M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fo. 64. 1 P .D eb . vol lx i, n M arch-10 M ay 1813, col. 786.

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poor in quality.1 A similar report was also m ade b y various officers in the B om bay Presidency. O n ly a very small propor­ tion o f the population received ev«n the most elem entary edu ca­ tion.2 In most o f the principal towns the children o f the trading classes learned writing, reading, accounts and such parts o f their religion as their caste perm itted them , but there was no free instruction. T h e peasants from poverty and the casual labourers from indifference seldom i f ever sent their children to school.3 O utside the towns the position was even worse. T h e num ber o f villages w ithout schools was far greater than the num ber w hich possessed them, and the academ ic standard reached b y the masters was scarcely higher than that o f their pupils.4 T h e institutions for more advanced learning ap p ear to have been no better. W illiam H odge M ill, first Principal o f Bishop’s College, C alcutta, had the opportunity o f visiting the H in du C ollege a t Poona in 1822. H e found the level o f instruction there very low, and the elem entary know ledge w hich was all that even the professors possessed had produced in them m erely m ental confusion.5 Before 1793 Europeans h ad played a com paratively unim ­ portant p art in educational projects in India. T h e Presidency Governm ents had m ade several attem pts to provide instruction for the children, and more particularly for the orphan children o f the C om pany’s soldiers. T h e elem entary education o f Indians, however, in so far as Europeans played an y p art in it, was undertaken almost entirely b y the missionaries. T h e S .P .C .K . in southern India and the D anish Mission a t T ran quebar founded a num ber o f elem entary schools during the eighteenth century, and the R om an Catholics w ere noted for their educational work in various parts o f the country. But these activities affected only a very small section o f the p op u la­ tion, and towards the end o f the eighteenth century the hitherto pre-eminent w ork o f the R om an Catholics declined so seriously 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Madras Despatches’, vol 75, fos. 362-86. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bombay Despatches’, vol. 54, fos. 543-4. 3 R. Heber, Narrative o f a Journey through the Upper Provinces o f India, vol. 11, p. 107, 2nd edition. London, 1849. 4 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bombay Despatches’, vol. 54, fos. 456-8. 6 Bodl. MSS. Private Journal of William Hodge M ill: ‘Journey in the Peninsula of India, 1822’. Entry for 28 March 1822.

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that even the instruction o f their converts was neglected.1 T h e bulk o f elem entary education was, inevitably, dependent upon the indigenous schools o f w hich so bad an account was given. H igh er education had felt a m ild impulse from the C om p any’s G overnm ent. Roused b y a petition from a considerable num ber o f respectable M uham m adans, W arren Hastings had founded a M adrassa, or college, in C alcutta in 1781. T h e prim ary object o f the college was to instruct the sons o f M uham m adan gentle­ m en in M uslim law w ith a view to their filling appointments in the civil and crim inal courts.2 T here were usually less than a hundred students in attendance and their ages ranged from seventeen to tw enty w hen they began their course o f studies. A ll w ere supported b y the college for seven years, and i f they stayed longer they w ere required to support themselves.3 E leven years later, Jonathan D uncan, Resident at Benares, opened the Benares Sanskrit College, the aim o f w hich was to preserve and cultivate the literature, laws and religion o f the H indus.4 D uring the last decade o f the eighteenth century and the first tw enty years o f the nineteenth, however, the Bengal G overnm ent was regretfully com pelled to adm it that neither o f these institutions was fulfilling the expectations o f the founders.5 T h e prospect o f an im provem ent in education seemed m omen­ tarily brighter in 1793 w hen the House o f Commons passed the resolution urging that measures be adopted to prom ote the gradu al advancem ent o f the Indian people in useful knowledge. O pposing interests having proved too powerful, the resolution was excluded from the final draft o f the C harter R enew al Bill, and a very genuine fear for the econom ic stability o f the C om ­ p an y delayed the adoption b y the Presidency Governm ents o f the then revolutionary theory o f the State’s responsibility for the education o f its subjects. A t the same time there were, ap art from the missionaries, few private individuals am ong the 1 G.M .S. M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fo. 275. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Home Miscellaneous Series’, vol. 487, fos. 1-6. 3 Friend o f India (Monthly Series), no. 2, p. 30. ■ C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Home Miscellaneous Series’, vol. 487, fos. 29-32. 5 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal. Letters Received’, vol. 81: Letter in the Territorial Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 30 July 1819, paras. 230-8; and vol. 85: Letter in the Revenue Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 16 March 1821, para. 153.

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Europeans in India to take upon themselves the educational duties norm ally accepted b y private and corporate benefactors in England. T h e one im portant,project before 1813 w hich did not originate from the missionaries was the establishm ent o f a college b y Marquess W ellesley at Fort W illiam in 1800. A lth ou gh the G overnor-G eneral’s object was to equip the C om p an y’s servants more fully for their work b y giving them a thorough prelim inary training in O rien tal languages and customs, his action h ad a salutary effect upon O rien tal learning in a m ore general sense. It required the assem bly in C alcutta o f the best scholars available, and led to a n exchange o f ideas am ong them w hich had a revivifying effect upon a culture w hich had decayed from lack o f patronage. It resulted also in the production o f books w hich greatly assisted the understanding o f the languages o f India, and although both this effect and the previous one were subsidiary to the m ain intention o f the college their value was considerable. E ven in this essentially governm ental scheme, how ever, the missionaries and evangelical clergy were called upon to p la y an im portant part. T h e C om p any’s evangelical chaplain, the R ev. D avid Brown, was selected to be Provost o f the college. T h e R ev. Claudius B uchanan becam e V ice-Provost and Professor o f Greek, L atin and English. F in ally W illiam C arey was a p ­ pointed teacher o f Sanskrit and Bengali, and w hen the disabili­ ties o f Nonconformists were later m odified, he, also, becam e a professor. T h e deadening effect upon the C ourt o f Directors o f an en­ larged debt in India and the consequent depression in public credit was to be seen in their hesitancy in sanctioning such a salutary undertaking as W ellesley’s college. A lth ou gh the Directors h ad no desire to restrict measures o f enlightenm ent, and frequently expressed their readiness to assist the progress o f education in India to the extent o f m aking considerable sacrifices, they were com pelled to exert a close supervision o f expenditure. For the G overnor-G eneral to inaugurate a n ex­ pensive project w ithout first seeking their approbation was a risk w hich the precarious state o f the C om p an y’s finances could not perm it them to condone.1 1 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 37, fos. 59-60; vol. 66, fos. 235-6: vol. 95, fos. 1071-2.

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A fter the departure o f W ellesley the b rief adm inistrations o f B arlow and Cornwallis produced no new idea upon the subject o f education. L o rd M into gave the m atter serious consideration, an d his M inute o f 6 M arch 1811 showed his awareness o f the need for greater educational facilities. But he was unable to propose a n y original means o f satisfying the country’s require­ ments, and in spite o f the overt failure o f the M adrassa and o f the Benares Sanskrit College his only suggestion was to try to im prove them as m uch as possible and to set up similar institu­ tions at N adia and T irh ut, both in the Bengal Presidency.1 A s a result o f the agitation o f Parliam ent b y various evan­ gelical associations the C harter R enew al A c t o f 1813 contained a clause w hich stated that at least one lakh o f rupees, about £7500, from the surplus revenue o f the C om pany’s G overnm ent should be devoted annually to the im provem ent o f education. T h e novelty o f the idea, w hich was not copied in England until 1833, found the Directors unable to propose an y useful suggestion for im plem enting the order. L ackin g any directive from England the Bengal G overnm ent was further handicapped b y the absence o f an y assurance that even so small a sum as the clause required w ould be available as surplus revenue for several years to come.2 I t was not, in fact, possible to set aside the prescribed am ount until 1823, although in that year the surplus was such that the allotm ent was back-dated to the financial y ear 1821-2 in order to have a w orking balance. Before 1823 the G overnm ent’s activities had been necessarily lim ited to small contributions in aid o f various private schemes w hich m et w ith their approval. T h e y h ad dissipated some o f their efforts in a fruitless attem pt to im prove the M adrassa and the Benares Sanskrit C ollege b y appointing European secretaries.3 M ore profitably, they h ad m ade a m onthly advance o f Rs. 600 in 1815 in support o f the schools set up at Chinsurah b y R obert M ay, an agent o f the London M issionary Society, and shortly 1 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 66, fos. 232-3. 2 P .P . 1831-2, vol. ix. Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on the East India Company. I. Public, p. xviii. 3 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 81: Letter in the Territorial Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 30 July 1819, paras. 230-6, and Friend o f India (Quarterly Series) vol. iv, no. xn, M ay 1825, p. 116; and R . Heber, Narrative o f a Journey through the Upper Provinces o f India, vol. 1, p. 169, 2nd edition. London, 1849.

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afterwards the sum was increased to Rs.800.1 L o rd Hastings, who had initiated this grant, was also directly responsible for enabling Jab ez C arey, the son o f W illiam C arey, to open schools in R ajpu tana in 1818. T o the sum o f Rs. 3000 w hich the N aw ab V izier o f O u d h had placed at his disposal for charitable p u r­ poses Hastings added an equal am ount from his ow n private purse and em ployed the total to finance Ja b ez C a rey ’s venture.2 T h e C alcutta School-Book Society also benefited from H astings’s interest to the extent o f Rs. 700 for its im m ediate requirements and a further Rs. 6000 a year towards its m aintenance, and the C alcutta School Society received a sim ilar annual grant.3 S till later, additional financial support was given b y the G overn­ ment to the schools at Chinsurah and in R ajp u tan a.4 T h e Marchioness o f Hastings, w ho h ad herself founded a school at Barrackpore for some eighty Indian boys and sixteen European and Eurasian girls, was amongst those responsible for creating the C alcutta School-Book Society, already m en­ tioned, in 1817. T h e following y ear the C alcutta School Society was also founded b y a group o f private individuals. A num ber o f inhabitants o f the M adras Presidency followed the exam ple set in Bengal b y form ing a School-Book Society in A p ril 1820, while Bom bay, w hich already had an E ducation Society established in 1815, founded a School-Book Society a few years later. A lthough none o f these enterprises was o f missionary origin missionaries frequently m ade valuable contributions to their success. A t the request o f the Marchioness o f Hastings the R ev. T . Thom ason, an evangelical chaplain, and W illiam C arey took p art in the form ation o f the C alcutta School-Book Society to w hich the C .M .S . m ade a grant in 1820 o f Rs. 1000 a y ear.5 T h e R ev. H . T ow nley o f the L .M .S ., together w ith W illiam Carey, was a m em ber o f the com m ittee o f the C alcu tta School Society, and to its upkeep his Society m ade a donation o f Rs. 1000, the Seram pore missionaries an annual subscription o f Rs. 100 and the Baptists in C alcutta Rs. 50 a year. In the 1 C .R .O . MSS. ■ The Private vol. 11, pp. 346-7, 3 Friend o f India 4 C .R .O . MSS. 6 C.M .S. MSS.

‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 80, fos. 627-9, and vol. 86, fos. 603-5. Journal o f the Marquess o f Hastings, ed. the Marchioness o f Bute, 2nd edition. London, 1858. ’ (Quarterly Series), vol. iv, no. x i i , M ay 1825, p. 126. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 108, fo. 394. ‘ North India. Letters’, vol. 1, fo. 19.

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same w ay when, occasionally, Europeans founded schools in different parts o f India the missionaries or their converts gave their services as teaching staff.1 Im portant as these activities were, the w ork o f the missionaries in establishing their own schools and in disseminating know ­ ledge b y their own methods far surpassed them. Because the spread o f education was so vitally necessary to their evangelical purpose the missionaries w ere the one group o f Europeans who w ere free to devote themselves unreservedly to the task. A n d because they regarded the conversion o f every individual as o f equal im portance they could not rely upon some long-term plan o f providing teachers for the next generation while neglecting the present. T h e y felt it incum bent upon them to provide educa­ tion im m ediately, at all levels, to the best o f their ability. T h ey w ere, in fact, the ideal pioneers o f education, some o f them men o f outstanding scholarship and almost a ll o f a reasonable academ ic standard, im pelled b y a grave urgency, w illing to experim ent a t all grades in the educational ladder, and conse­ quently providing an excellent pattern upon w hich the govern­ m ental authorities m ight ultim ately base their own w ider schemes w hen resources should perm it. B y travelling and preaching, in schools, and w ith the aid o f school-books and tracts, the missionaries undertook to instruct all w ho w ould hear them. These principles were evident even in the very modest en­ deavours w hich m arked the early years o f the period. D r Jo h n ’s schools a t T ra n q u eb a r were constantly developed b y their founder as his own observations and his discussions w ith the Ind ian people m ade the needs o f the latter clearer to him. W illiam C arey dem onstrated the im pelling urgency o f the missionaries b y establishing a school at M adnabatty as soon as his com m and o f the Bengali language w ould permit, which because o f his incredible linguistic abilities was less than a year after his arrival in India. W ith the same desire to satisfy an im m ediate need the Benevolent Institution was founded in C alcu tta in 1810. T h ere w ere a great m any Eurasians in the city w ho w ere nom inal Christians. D eprived b y their religion o f the opportunity o f attending even the indigenous schools, they h ad sunk low er in ignorance than the H indus and M uham 1 M .R . 1822, p. 73, 1824, p. 49, and 1828, p. 112.

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madans around them. T h e Benevolent Institution was estab­ lished in the very centre o f the Eurasian or, to the use the term more com m on at that time, Portuguese area o f the city. T h ere it provided for hundreds o f children, w ho w ould otherwise have been neglected, instruction in reading, w riting and arithm etic, in English and in Bengali, and in the study o f the Scriptures in both these languages. T h e aim o f its founders was to educate the children w ithout so radically dissociating them from their families that they w ould be unable to settle dow n in their ow n circle afterwards. N o age lim it was imposed, and students o f tw enty years o f age w ere adm itted. Charles Lushington, C h ie f Secretary to the Presidency G overnm ent, w holeheartedly attributed the establishm ent o f the Institution to the w ork o f the Seram pore missionaries. T h e latter, while expressing their pleasure at Lushington’s apprecia­ tion o f their efforts, hastened to acknow ledge their indebtedness to D r Leyden, late m agistrate in the C om p an y’s service, for originating the idea w hich h ad been seconded b y another educationalist, D avid H are. It was, nevertheless, as the result o f a sermon preached b y D r M arshm an at the L a i B azaar C hapel on 25 D ecem ber 1809 that the first collection was taken to inaugurate the w ork.1 T h e p ub lic w ere slow to respond, however, and w ithin a y ear the Institution was so deeply in debt that but for the tremendous labours o f D r M arshm an in arousing enthusiasm it could never have carried on its work. M eanw hile, along the coast o f the C arnatic, the L ondon M issionary Society h ad also begun to prom ote elem entary education, its annual reports providing an account o f gradu ally w idening activities. T h e charity school founded a t V izag a p ata m in 1805 was followed b y another a t M adras, and both schools proved a great success. R ingeltaube, another agent o f the L .M .S ., em ployed five or six Indian schoolmasters in various parts o f Travancore, and further inland, a t Bellary, a free school was established in N ovem ber 1811 for the purpose o f educating and in p art boarding destitute Indian, half-caste and European children, speaking the English language.2 These endeavours, like their Baptist counterpart in Bengal, 1 Friend o f India ( Quarterly Series), vol. iv, no. x i i , M ay 1825, P- 122. 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: Kanarese’, box 1, folder 1, jacket A : Letter of W. Reeve to the Rev. G. Burder, dated Bellary, 13 February 1818.

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continued for m any years on a very lim ited scale. T h e renewal o f the C om p an y’s C harter in 1813, however, helped to remove the disabilities arising from the scarcity o f missionaries in India b y giving them freer access to the country. I f the C ourt o f D irectors refused a licence o f entry into India as they had fre­ quen tly done before, after 1813 the missionaries could appeal against the decision to the Board o f Control w hich gave them a m ore sym pathetic hearing. T h e result o f this change was to in­ crease the num ber o f missionaries belonging to the Societies already active in India and to induce other bodies, notably the C h u rch M issionary Society, to send their representatives also. E ducational projects developed rapidly. T h e A m erican Board o f Missions, the Scottish M issionary Society and the W esleyan M issionary Society established themselves in Bom bay, and the W esleyans and the Netherlands M issionary Society began work in the M adras Presidency. T h e L .M .S . in southern India and Bengal and the Baptists spreading westwards from Seram pore w ere reinforced b y the C .M .S . In 1819 the Baptists already claim ed 7000 children in their schools, whilst the C .M .S . estimated their numbers a t 2500 pupils in the peninsula and 1800 in Bengal. T h e L .M .S . had 4000 children under instruction, and the A m erican Board betw een 700 and 800.1 Five years later, the R ev. Jam es H ough, a form er chaplain in the M adras Presidency, basing his figures on the most recent reports a t his disposal, claim ed that at least 39,000 children were receiving instruction in the various Societies’ schools, and suggested that possibly 50,000 m ight be a m ore accurate total.2 From the records o f the different Societies sum marized in the Missionary Register even H ough ’s low er figure w ould appear to have been excessive, but the rapid expansion o f the mission school system is undeniable. Between 1819 and 1826 the total o f children in the C .M .S . schools alone increased from 4300 to over 7000. In 1831 the mission schools ranged from C hittagong through D acca, Benares and Bareilly to A gra, even em bracing a C .M .S . establishment at G orakhpur for the backw ard tribes o f the R ajm ah al hills. From D elhi they extended through 1 M .R . 1819, pp. 24, 106 and 107. 1 James Hough, A Reply to the Letter o f the Abbe Dubois on the State o f Christianity in India, pp. 158-9. London, 1824.

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R ajputana, where Jab ez C arey h ad opened his schools a few miles from Ajm er, 'to link up w ith the developm ents in the Bom bay Presidency. From B qm bay the Scottish M issionary Society had projected their activities into the C oncan, and further south, along the coast, the C .M .S . h ad caused a revival o f interest in education am ong the ancient sect o f Syrian Christians. T h e southern extrem ity o f the peninsula h ad for m any years experienced the activities o f the S .P .C .K . W ith the arrival o f the L .M .S . and the C .M .S V N agracoil and Palam cottah becam e lively centres for the diffusion o f knowledge. M adras saw the schools ofseveral missionary societies established. In Pulicat and the surrounding country the Netherlands M issionary Society opened several T a m il elem entary schools and also a more advanced school where English was taught. A t Pondicherry the R om an Catholics still h ad an efficient school. Continuing northwards along the Corom andel coast, V izagap atam h ad been one o f the first towns to benefit from the work o f the L .M .S . In 1816 the C hu rch M issionary Society took responsibility for the schools founded b y D r Joh n at T ran quebar and already b y 1821 they h ad 1591 pupils there.1 Inland at Bellary and Bangalore schools had been opened b y the L .M .S . Still farther north, in Orissa, the G eneral Baptist Mission h ad com m enced its educational w ork a t C uttack. Th ence the survey continues to Bengal where, at Burdw an, Chinsurah, Seram pore, K a tw a, M onghyr and C alcutta itself, the most intensive activity was to be seen. From a purely quantitative point o f view there was no parallel to these achievem ents in Ind ia at that time, in spite o f the more regular cam paign inaugurated b y official circles in the 1820’s. Even after 1823, w hen the G eneral Com m ittee o f P ublic In ­ struction was set up b y the Bengal G overnm ent to ascertain the state o f public education in the Presidency and to subm it p ro­ posals for its im provem ent, no great extension o f the G overn ­ m ent’s educational work was anticipated or took place. Grants o f m oney were still m ade to approved projects. T h e C alcutta School Society received a m onthly contribution o f Rs. 500 from the G overnm ent in 1823 because its policy o f supporting and training teachers for the indigenous schools coincided w ith the 1 C .M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fo. 605; vol. 2, fo. 177; and vol. 5, fo. 155.

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authorities’ views as to the direction progress should take. T h e C alcu tta School-Book Society was granted equal support. T h e Benevolent Institution also received the large donation o f Rs. 13,000 in 1826 on W illiam C are y ’s good report o f the school’s proceedings. T h e w ork o f the Baptists at Seram pore benefited in its turn b y subscriptions towards the publication o f elem entary school-books. A ll these paym ents h ad the approval o f the C ourt o f D irectors.1 R ecognizin g that its resources were inadequate for more am bitious schemes o f elem entary education, however, the G overnm ent’s efforts were concentrated upon w hat appeared to be the m ore feasible policy o f providing teachers through w hom know ledge could be diffused to the vast numbers o f the uneducated. Consequently, support was still given to the M adrassa, the Benares Sanskrit College and, after 1823, to the V id y a la ya , a college founded in 1816 b y a group o f Hindus with the assistance o f D avid H are w ith a view to encouraging higher education along m ore m odern lines than those adopted b y the tw o colleges previously m entioned. T h e G overnm ent also established a new Sanskrit College in C alcutta and two others at A g ra and D elh i.2 In the M adras Presidency official activities were equally re­ stricted. In spite o f the comprehensive plan draw n up b y Sir Thom as M unro in the 1820’s for establishing a central school for H indus and another for M uham m adans in each Collectorate, and ultim ately a school for H indus in every Tahsil, or sub­ division o f a Collectorate, little progress was made. In 1833 only sixty-seven tahsildari schools were in existence, and thirtyeight teachers for the C ollectorate schools were under instruction. Betw een the form ulation o f M un ro’s plan and 1833 a total o f no m ore than 4467 children had passed through the schools, and m any o f them had left before m aking any appreciable progress.3 T h e central school had, up to that time, been a 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 90: Letter in the Territorial Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 30 July 1823, paras. 108-9, and ‘ Bengal Despatches’ , vol. 99, fos. 191 —4; vol. 107, fos. 867-8; and vol. 118, fos. 364-5. 2 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 90: Letter in the Public Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 31 July 1823, para. 75; ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 114, fo. 373; and L .M .S . M SS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 2, folder 1, jacket C : copy of a letter of Ram Mohan R oy to Lord Amherst, undated, but probably 1824. 3 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Madras Despatches’, vol. 75, fos. 388-94, and vol. 84, fos. 130-40.

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complete failure. M ost o f its pupils had been adm itted in 1826, but b y 1833 only five'had been considered qualified for em ploy­ ment as teachers and even they only after seven years o f tuition. A sum m ary o f their attainments revealed that, apart from their acquaintance w ith the vernacular language, they had only a tolerable knowledge o f English and enough m athem atics to enable them to give instruction at an extrem ely elem entary level. These faults were eventually traced b y the D irectors to inadequate supervision and to the la c k ,o f energy displayed b y the local governm ent officials. T h e B om bay G overnm ent also had evolved a relatively ambitious plan for the im m ediate establishment o f a school in each o f the principal towns, and, w hen these should have produced enough persons capable o f teaching, in all the larger villages too. B ut there as in M adras the plan had proved ineffectual up to 1833. Some appreciation o f the pre-em inence o f the missionaries’ activities is possible from a study o f the com parative figures o f students in missionary and governm ent schools. In 1852, w hen the G overnm ent’s policy o f concentrating upon training teachers should, i f sound, have begun to take effect, the missionary schools contained four times as m any pupils as the governm ent schools. T h e latter, in 1854, had still only 12,000 students, a num ber exceeded b y the mission school pupils a generation earlier. T h e missionaries did not excel only in the num erical strength o f their schools. T h e hierarchy o f schools w hich they established in various parts o f the country was unique, and gave to their educational policy a coherence and a cap acity for im provem ent w hich no other system then possessed. K o tta y am provided in the 1820’s an excellent exam ple o f this scheme o f graduated schools w hich was, however, duplicated in m any other mission stations. In rather more than thirty elem entary schools there were 800 pupils. A b ove them was a gram m ar school w ith forty pupils, and this provided a link w ith the more advanced w ork in the college w hich the C .M .S . had also established.1 In this w ay the missionaries’ centres o f higher education w ere, to a large extent, filled b y pupils from their ow n elem entary schools. A n educational cycle was created beginning w ith the elem entary education o f the pupil who m ight later, i f his abilities perm itted, 1 C .M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 213.

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progress to more advanced studies and in turn becom e a teacher himself. T h e missionaries, like the Governm ent, were fully aw are that i f their educational work was to expand they would require large numbers o f educated Indians to assist as teachers. As early as 1816 the London M issionary Society had a central school at B ellary where English was taught to the more promising pupils w ho had graduated from three K anarese and T elugu schools. A n almost contem porary foundation was the C .M .S . sem inary at Palam cottah where in 1825 the pupils after a good grounding in T a m il h ad begun to study theology and the geo­ grap h y o f Asia. M adras also had its L .M .S . central school. In northern Ind ia the R ev. D aniel Corrie, A rchdeacon o f C alcutta, attended the exam ination o f the C .M .S . central schools at B urdw an in F ebruary 1822 and discovered that m any o f the boys w ere m aking progress in English, Bengali, Persian, geo­ graphy, history and arithm etic. T h e im portance to the mission­ aries o f h aving their own central schools lay not only in the fact that they could ensure a reasonable standard o f education, but also in their freedom to choose their own syllabus. As a practical exam ple, the introduction o f history and geography, taught in the light o f W estern knowledge, m ade possible an attack upon the cosm ography o f the H indus and so helped to weaken the faith o f the students in their traditional superstitions. T h e missionary counterparts o f the Madrassa, the Benares Sanskrit C ollege and the V id y ala ya were the Seram pore College, w here the instruction in Sanskrit was com bined w ith the teaching o f European knowledge, and the Bishop’s College, founded in C alcutta b y the A n glican C hurch in 1820 to give instruction to Indian Christians in theology and to Hindus and M uham m adans in English, and to encourage the translation o f the Scriptures and other religious books. E ven adult education was undertaken in certain areas. O ften it began quite inform ally. T h e curiosity o f the parents was aroused b y the examinations w hich the missionaries held for their students, a curiosity w hich developed into genuine interest and sometimes into active participation b y the parents them ­ selves. W hen the R ev. G . T . Barenbruck exam ined a school in the T ran q u eb ar area in 1824 so m any adults attended that the schoolhouse w ould not hold them all, and they showed great enthusiasm for w hat was taking place. Seeing their advantage 67

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the missionaries almost in variab ly took the opportunity on such occasions o f addressing the parents w ho h ad flocked to hear their children catechized. T h e pupils, Mso, assisted in the diffusion o f knowledge am ong their elders b y recounting their most recent lessons on their arrival home. T h e Baptists, alert to recognize success, sought to carry this a step further b y dictating to their m ore advanced students two books a m onth w hich they h ad to copy down and were perm itted to take a w a y w ith them . Filled w ith the novelty o f w hat they had learfit the children w illin gly read the books to their parents and endeavoured to explain them. Soon adult schools appeared. Some, in the N agracoil area under the auspices o f the C hu rch M issionary Society, w ere estab­ lished b y the Indians themselves from a desire to know the contents o f the tracts w hich the missionaries h ad circulated. These were evening schools because the students w ere occupied during the day in m anual work. T o cater for the same class o f people the L .M .S . founded an A d u lt Sabbath School at K id d erpore in 1826. But so great was the enthusiasm for instruction that at some stations adults attended the children’s schools w hen tim e permitted. T o spread their w ork still further afield the missionaries relied largely upon occasional instruction carried out during their frequent tours in the areas at a distance from the mission stations, and upon the judicious distribution o f books w hich w ould help to consolidate w hat their hearers h ad learnt. T h e missionaries’ connexion w ith the C alcu tta School-Book Society has already been noted, and the Society undoubtedly benefited from the advice o f such accom plished linguists. But the mis­ sionaries felt that this did not entirely fulfil their requirem ents. Since the Society num bered am ong its patrons m en w ho differed in their religious outlook it was felt that the only w a y to avoid all dissension was to refrain from publishing an y works o f a religious character, and this decision was included in its regulations.1 In order to prom ote a more distinctly Christian education the missionaries com piled school-books o f their ow n w ith great success. T h e works varied from a simple geography an d a chronological outline o f history in the vernacular tongues to a selection from Indian books o f passages conveying ju st ideas on 1 M .R . 1819, p. 108.

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the duties o f life and excerpts from the Scriptures setting out the basic system o f Christian ethics. T h e value o f these activities was m ultiplied b y the intro­ duction o f printing presses into the more im portant mission stations. H ere, once again, the Seram pore Baptists were the pioneers. In 1820 they had thirteen presses at work, but they were soon to be rivalled b y the C .M .S . w ho in 1824 had three presses in C alcutta, two at M adras, two on their w ay out from E ngland and two m ore on order. T h e S .P .C .K ., anxious to m ake its own contribution, re-established its press at V ep ery w here, am ong other works, a series o f books com piled in E ngland b y the recently form ed N ational Society was published in T a m il and English. T h e London M issionary Society followed suit, and it was not long before printing presses were set up at B ellary, Surat and N agracoil.1 T h e output o f the various printing houses was, for the early nineteenth century, very big. T h e Baptists at C alcutta claim ed to have published 71,000 school-books in various languages by 1828, w hile 100,000 tracts were distributed in 1827 from Seram ­ pore. In 1828 the L ondon M issionary Society stated that its press at Surat had printed 28,000 tracts and 20,000 schoolcards, and its B ellary press 52,000 K anarese and T elu gu tracts in the previous tw elve months.2 T h ere was a great dem and for these books in the mission schools but care was also taken to ensure a w ider distribution. T h e energy and perseverance o f the missionaries in travelling about the country was phenom enal. In spite o f their numerous occupations in the mission stations they still found time to travel extensively, preaching, teaching and distributing their printed works to such people as could read them. D r Claudius Buchanan set the exam ple w ith his journeys in southern India at the beginning o f the nineteenth century, but his successors were equally assiduous. From all parts o f the country there came accounts o f sim ilar i f less extensive journeys, from the A m erican B oard at Bom bay, from the L .M .S . at Surat, and from Bellary w here Joseph H ands attended the great H indu festival and 1 M .R . 1820, p. 39; 1822, p. 82; and 1824, P- 4 2­ 2 M .R . 1828, pp. 81 and 88; 1829, p. 109; and L.M .S. M SS. ‘ South India: Kanarese’, box 2, folder 4, jacket A : Letter of J. Hands and W. Beynon, dated Bellary, 10 October 1828.

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distributed tracts am ong the crowds o f worshippers assembled there. T h e Seram pore Baptists had also adopted the m ethod o f m ingling w ith the crowds o f Jagan n ath worshippers in the vicinity o f their mission stations in order to talk w ith them and to circulate papers, while the C hurch M issionary Society’s agents attended the great fairs at Benares for the same purpose. For the Indians to enter into discussion w ith the missionaries stimulated the form er’s stagnating spirit o f enquiry. T h ere was, also, a lively dem and for the missionaries’ books am ong all classes o f Indian society, and there was evidence that they were carefully studied b y those to w hom they were given.1 T h e books distributed in this w ay penetrated to the furthest parts o f India. J . T . Thom pson, a Baptist missionary at D elhi, told o f his having taught at melas, or H indu festivals, where he received requests for books from Indians from Jam m u, 500 miles distant, and from others whose homes were as m uch as 1000 miles aw ay. Such b rief meetings could not bring about a great m eta­ morphosis in the educational standards o f the country. B ut their value as a means o f draw ing attention to a new learning was o f considerable im portance, and the books w hich were circulated rem ained as a perm anent incentive to inq uiry and discussion. T h e S .P .C .K ., whose object was to support m issionary enter­ prises rather than to perform the w ork through agents o f its own, m ade its contribution to the circulation o f educational literature b y establishing book depots in C alcutta, B om bay, M adras, Caw npore and other im portant towns. In M adras a feature o f its w ork was the setting up o f lending libraries, particularly for Indian troops. In this latter w ork they were preceded b y the C .M .S . w hich had obtained from E ngland collec­ tions o f sixty volumes com prising useful and popular works for C alcutta, M adras, and K o ttayam . T o these, other books were added in India, and new publications were sent from England. N ot only books but also financial aid cam e from England, where missionaries on leave succeeded in arousing considerable enthusiasm for their educational work. D uring his visit to England and A m erica W illiam W ard devoted m uch o f his time to pressing the claim o f the Seram pore C ollege to financial 1 C.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 101; and vol. 5, fo. 33.

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assistance, and in G reat Britain alone he raised ^3000 b y preaching and addressing meetings. T h e R ev. J. D . Pearson did sim ilar w ork on b eh alf o f the L .M .S . educational establishment at C hinsurah w hen he attended the anniversary o f the Sunday School U nion in 1824. T h e annual meetings o f the various Societies also offered an excellent opportunity for spreading inform ation about Indian education am ong people who knew little about the country. T h e missionaries’ experim ental technique o f exploiting every opportunity o f developm ent was o f particular im portance in their attitude towards the caste problem in education. T h e pupils o f the government-sponsored colleges were almost ex­ clusively o f the highest caste. In the Sanskrit Colleges only Brahm ans were perm itted to study: the students at the M adrassa w ere, w ith few exceptions, M uham m adans; even the V id y a la ya was closed to all except good-caste Hindus. A m ong a people w ho for centuries had believed education to be the exclusive m onopoly o f the highest castes the probability o f a dow nw ard diffusion o f knowledge for w hich the G overnm ent hoped was extrem ely remote. Even the Brahm ans’ traditional duty to teach had come to be regarded as applying only to the educa­ tion o f their own caste if it was observed at all. W hile the G overnm ent’s lim ited financial resources precluded it from em barking upon any schemes o f elem entary education, its policy o f supporting the indigenous teacher-training centres clearly held out little prospect o f a w ide diffusion o f know ­ ledge. B y opening their schools and colleges to all castes the mission­ aries did m uch to overcom e this difficulty, and com pletely refuted the charge, so frequently levelled against them, o f educating only the very poorest classes. Some opposition was evident am ong the Brahmans. A t Tinnevelly, at C uddapah, at V izag a p ata m and elsewhere, however, both Brahmans and members o f other castes were present in the schools. Brahmans were also em ployed as teachers in a num ber o f mission schools. A particularly striking exam ple o f this was recorded at T in n e­ velly where a Brahm an o f considerable learning was em ployed to instruct Sudras in an area where, only six years earlier, a youn g Brahm an who had been constrained b y poverty to becom e a schoolmaster had been so harassed b y members

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o f his own caste because he taught Sudras that he had run aw ay.1 ' M uham m adans also were susceptible to the attractions o f the mission schools. L ike the H indus they w ere refractory on occasion, and Bishop H eber rem arked on their jealou sy o f the missionaries at Benares w hich resulted in only small numbers o f them attending for instruction. In southern India, how ever, where their religious exclusiveness was no longer so strong, they were present in the mission schools in num bers w hich though small were proportionate to their representation am ong the population at large. A t M adras the L ondon M issionary Society opened a H industani school especially for M uham m adans in 1825, while in the T ran q u eb ar schools under the direction o f the G .M .S . M uham m adans m ingled w ith H indus o f every caste. E ven in H industan, where the missionaries’ success was more lim ited, M uham m adans were to be found attending the Seram ­ pore C ollege and the Free School at M eerut. This practical attitude was extended b y the missionaries to their treatm ent o f the O rientalist-A nglicist controversy. Both Orientalists and Anglicists were agreed that vernacular in­ struction was essential for teaching the rudim ents o f know ledge.2 T h e dispute arose over more advanced studies w here both parties were again united in the opinion that the vernacular languages contained neither the vo cab u lary nor the ideas necessary to convey more profound learning, but disagreed over the language to be em ployed. T h e teaching o f the H industani vernacular at the D elhi College was only an isolated case, and the general argum ent revolved about the respective merits o f Sanskrit and English instruction. T h e establishment o f the Benares Sanskrit C ollege and the proposal for colleges at N adia and T irh u t laid the foundations o f an Orientalist policy w hich, in view o f the lim ited resources at the disposal o f the C om p any’s G overnm ent, was p robab ly the only one it was at that time free to adopt. In the 1820’s, how ­ ever, the C ourt o f Directors dispatched several letters to the 1 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 248; and L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South In dia: T elugu ’, box 1, folder 2, j acket A : Letter of J. Gordon and J. Dawson dated Vizagapatam, 12 January 1824; and jacket C : Letter of W. Howell to the Directors of the L.M .S., dated Cuddapah, 21 September 1825; and M .R . 1826, p. 105, and 1829, p. 422. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 74, fos. 251-2.

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G overnor-G eneral recom m ending the encouragem ent o f English w ith a view to providing the C om p any w ith able public servants from am ong their Indian subjects. O f the Orientalist policy the D irectors w rote in 1824: ‘ In professing. . . to establish Seminaries for the purpose o f teaching mere H indoo, or mere M ahom edan literature, you bound yourself to teach a great deal o f w hat was frivolous, not a little o f w h at was m erely mischievous, and a sm all rem ainder indeed in w hich utility was in any w ay con­ cerned.’1 T h e study o f English was, in the D irectors’ view , the surest means o f disseminating that ‘ useful knowledge ’ w hich was rap idly becom ing an obsession am id the m aterial prosperity o f nineteenth-century England. This was a notable change from the D irectors’ earlier attitude and m et w ith little response from the Governm ents o f either the B engal or B om bay Presidencies. Both the Com m ittee o f Public Instruction in C alcutta and M ountstuart Elphinstone, G overnor o f B om bay, foresaw considerable difficulties in introducing English instruction. E ach adm itted the benefits to be derived from a study o f European knowledge through the m edium o f a E uropean language. But each declared that exhaustive in­ quiries had failed to reveal any dem and for instruction o f this nature, w hile the problem o f providing suitable books and teachers w ould be a serious consideration. A s a result o f this pessimistic view the supporters o f an O rientalist policy tended to over-emphasize the value o f tradi­ tional H in du learning in an effort to dispel their own misgivings. In justice to them, however, it must be added that they were prepared to support English instruction i f not to initiate it. T h e weakness o f their policy la y in their acceptance o f the inevita­ b ility o f a slow progress in introducing new ideas. Since the Anglicists only gained the predom inant voice in the Presidency Governm ents in the 1830’s their activities before that time w ere lim ited to the expounding o f their views. But these w ere not undeserving o f criticism. Conscious only o f the contribution to be m ade to Ind ia b y the introduction o f E uro­ pean knowledge, they w ere inclined to set aside too carelessly considerations o f the effect upon the stability o f Indian society o f uprooting traditional ideas w ithout deliberately substituting a new order. E ven had the official educationalists recognized 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 95, fo. 1075.

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the need for swiftly im planting a new conception o f society, the G overnm ent’s professed neutrality in religious matters w ould have m ade such a scheme impossible. T h e unfortunate results o f adopting an extrem e A nglicist policy were evident am ong the disaffected students o f the V id y a la y a ,1 w ho learned to scorn their old beliefs w ithout gaining sufficient education to enable them to create new standards o f behaviour for themselves and w ithout being in­ troduced to a new ethic b y their instructors. E ven i f the outcom e should not be so serious there was the danger that education m ight becom e that purely negative thing, a technical accom ­ plishment w holly divorced from the Indian w ay o f life. A p a rt from Charles G rant, President o f the C .M .S . and form er servant o f the East India C om pany, and A lexand er D uff, the great Scottish educationalist, both o f w hom were staunch Anglicists, the m ajority o f the missionaries engaged in educa­ tional work in India favoured a more practical plan. It was a compromise between O rientalism and A nglicism w hich con­ ceded nothing to the obscurantism o f the form er and sought to avoid the dangers inherent in the latter. W ith their m ain object o f preaching the Gospel always in view the missionaries w ere aware that they had little to expect from contem porary B rahm an ideology. But they readily m ade use o f such portions o f the classical O rien tal writings as contained views in accordance w ith the Christian ethic. M a n y o f them also recognized that i f their students were to exercise any influence over their educated fellow-countrym en they must be as w ell versed in the Sastras as the Brahmans were. ‘ I f the gospel stands in In d ia ’ , the Seram pore Baptists wrote in 1818, ‘ it must be b y native being opposed to native in dem onstrating its excellence above all other systems.’2 O n this principle the Seram pore C ollege was established. A n understanding o f Sanskrit was m ade a pre­ requisite there for those w ho wished to proceed to E uropean studies. T h e efficacy o f this practice, w hich was adopted else­ where in India, was stressed b y the R ev. C . T . E. R henius w ho told in a letter dated 1 o F ebruary 1817 o f how an Ind ian Christian, 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 3, folder 3, jacket A : Letter of G. Gogerly to the Foreign Secretaries of the L.M .S., dated Calcutta, 23 March 1832. 2 Prospectus o f a College fo r the Instruction o f Asiatic Christians and Other Youth in Eastern Literature and European Science at Serampore'', p. 5. Serampore, 1818.

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through his knowledge o f the H indu writings, had been able to arouse the curiosity o f a ch ief at V adadelli, causing him to question the veracity o f the H indu gods and inducing him to give his support for the establishment o f schools. T h e Seram pore missionaries also advocated the teaching o f Sanskrit on the more disinterested ground o f its im portance as the source o f m any o f the more colloquial languages o f India. B ut to none o f the missionaries was this any more than a step in their educational schemes. T h e y uniform ly recognized that only through a know ledge o f some European language could the Indians come to a full appreciation o f the Christian doctrines and W estern learning w hich the missionaries wished to convey. Bishop M iddleton wrote in 1818: ‘ I have, however, laid parti­ cular stress upon the teaching o f E nglish : i f this were generally understood through the C ountry, it would, I doubt not, alter the condition o f the people; it w ould give them access to our literature and habits o f thinking; and the fam iliar use o f it w ould tend very m uch to dissipate the prejudices and the indifference w hich now stand in the w ay o f conversion.’1 O n these grounds the English language was included in the curriculum o f two institutions as w idely separated geographically as the Syrian College at K o tta y am and the Seram pore College. T h e same principle m otivated the teaching o f English in the central schools and the seminaries where the more advanced students from the elem entary schools were being trained as teachers. In the case o f prospective teachers the interm ediate stage o f learning Sanskrit was often om itted since they would not be required to take part in such profound discussions as those students w ho w ent out from the colleges as evangelists. A s a long term policy, however, the omission proved to be a mistake as the advance from the vernacular tongues to the study o f English was too great a step for the understanding o f the norm al Indian student. In consequence there was a tendency for them to desire only such a grasp o f the elements o f English as w ould enable them to leave school as soon as possible and to take up an appointm ent as a clerk or as a m inor official o f the G overnm ent. Nevertheless, the scheme did in some measure 1 S.P.G. MSS. Box ‘ C. In dia’, i, i. Dio. Calcutta (exclusive of Bishop’s College papers): Letter of the Rt. Rev. T . F. Middleton to the Rev. A . Hamilton, dated Calcutta, 16 November 1818.

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achieve the missionaries’ im m ediate object o f providing for the elem entary schools teachers whose training, abbreviated though it was, had involved sufficient* acquaintance w ith E uropean knowledge to enable them to im part prim ary instruction w ith some degree o f enlightenment. T h e prim ary students under such guidance were better equipped than the pupils in indigenous schools to appreciate the next stages o f their education, so that there was a grow ing tendency for the weakness at high levels to be rectified. , A ll these projects were not set on foot w ithout opposition. T h e ch ief objection o f the Indian people was to the introduction o f Christian teaching and Christian books into the schools. B y a judicious m ixture o f firmness and adaptation, how ever, even this difficulty was in m any instances surm ounted. A t Benares a num ber o f children were taken from the mission schools because the Scriptures were taught, but although Christian instruction continued prejudices gradu ally declined. T h e Baptists failed to establish a school at A jm er ow ing to local disapproval; but they founded one only seven miles a w ay and thirty pupils presented themselves for instruction. In 1814 E. Pritchett o f the L .M .S . found it necessary to refrain from introducing C hristianity into a new school w hich he had opened near V izag a p ata m . B ut in time his fears o f opposition grew w eaker and in 1827 there w ere twelve schools for boys in that area, all o f them teaching the Scriptures, and containing 525 students. Such was the reputa­ tion o f these schools, m oreover, that others could have been established if the means for their support h ad been available. Sim ilar examples o f trium ph over prejudice w ere to be found all over In d ia; in M adras w here the C .M .S . persevered in teaching Christianity in spite o f the reduction it caused in the num ber o f students in the school, and w here, in 1821, the L .M .S . ordered its schoolmasters to receive Christian instruc­ tion; in Palam cottah where the B rahm an children w ho left the C .M .S . school because o f the em ploym ent o f Christian books returned to their studies after only a few days’ absence; in Bellary, and in Surat, where the L .M .S . sought to approach those w ho could not or w ould not attend schools, through the m edium o f tracts. T h e inclusion o f Christian teaching amongst the other topics o f instruction m ight appear open to the charge o f attem pting to 76

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further C hristianity b y bribery. A note b y the R ev. C . T . E. Rhenius gives some measure o f authority to this view . ‘ T h e children’s learning the religious Books b y h e a rt’ , he wrote, ‘ has certainly not pleased the Inhabitants o f the respective villages; and in general w e must say that they suffer it in a m anner by constraint not being w illing to deprive their children o f the opportunity o f learning to cypher, or the school-master o f his sa la ry .51 B ut such a conclusion was far from being universally true. T h e instruction provided b y the missionaries was never lim ited to Christian children. E ven in the Seram pore College and the Bishop’s C ollege at C alcutta, both o f w hich aim ed prim arily at training students for missionary work, provision was m ade for the education o f H indus and M uslims w ith no object beyond their secular advantage. A t the Seram pore C ollege it was specifically laid down that no Indian youth should be required to perform a single act to w hich he attached an y m oral evil as the condition o f enjoying the benefits o f the,, instruction offered.2 T h e explanation o f the doubts to w hich the 1 missionaries’ actions sometimes gave rise lay in their inability to separate the concept o f good education from Christian educa­ tion rather than in an unprincipled opportunism. It is, m ore­ over, a tribute to the quality o f the missionaries’ educational w ork, as w ell as an acknowledgem ent o f the inadequacy o f the indigenous schools, that at times even Brahmans were prepared to w aive their religious scruples to the extent o f sending their | children to mission schools. 1 O th er causes o f uncertainty troubled the Indian parents, am ong them the fear that their children m ight be sent to join the C om p an y’s arm y as sepoys w hen they could read and write. R um ours o f this nature, however, were usually spread b y Indian schoolmasters w ho wished to prevent their pupils from deserting them to attend mission schools. It was not difficult for the missionaries to convince the Indians o f their error. But there rem ained m any other obstacles o f an origin more natural than those deliberately erected b y the opponents o f mission schools. T h e lack o f suitable books was a problem w hich the printing presses were labouring to solve. T h e shortage o f m anpow er also gave rise to com plications w hich the missionaries 1 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 8i. 2 First Report o f the Serampore College, p. 4. Serampore, 1819.

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were ever w illing to acknowledge. T h e y themselves were too few in num ber to Undertake, the whole w ork o f instruction. Indian teachers o f sufficient qualifications w ere difficult to train, and m any o f them even after receiving instruction were found to be lazy and lacking in any sense o f responsibility to­ wards their work. E ven greater than the difficulties arising out o f the actual prejudices o f the people were those resulting from their insen­ sibility to the higher purposes o f education. T h e clam our for instruction in English was largely due to a desire to obtain more highly paid em ploym ent. C aution was required even in m eeting the dem and for reading m atter. C . T . E. Rhenius noted in his jou rn al for 1829 that tracts were being requested b y Indians w ho could not read but w ho wished to use them as charm s to keep the devils from their houses, and although this was p rob ­ ab ly an extreme case there were m an y others in w hich an idle curiosity or pure acquisitiveness was at the root o f the request. U pon even the lim ited ends o f prim ary instruction the parents placed restrictions, often desiring to take their children from school as soon as they had learnt accounts. A ll too frequently actions o f this sort were due to the extrem e poverty o f the parents who could not afford to keep their children longer at school because their help was needed in augm enting the fam ily income. T h e com bined reasons o f irresponsibility and poverty resulted in the discouragingly irregular attendance o f the pupils for instruction. Frequent H indu festivals drew the children aw ay from school w ithout any consideration o f the adverse effects upon their progress. A t the times o f planting and harvest every child was required to w ork on the land. T h e monsoons also hindered attendance, while epidemics o f cholera often decim ated the population o f whole districts or caused the in­ habitants to move aw ay from the area. T h e H indu m arriage m onth regularly em ptied the schools, as the students took p art in the celebrations, and this together w ith the other social and natural phenom ena m ade consistent progress extrem ely difficult. There is some indication o f the severity o f the problem in the far from isolated statement from the C .M .S . schools in M adras in 1819, that only 75 per cent o f the children whose names w ere on the registers were present at an y one time, and there was nothing to indicate that the same children attended daily.

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In the face o f these difficulties the missionaries displayed great skill in evolving remedies and putting them into practice. T h eir enthusiasm for their w ork took the form o f a steady con­ centration on efficiency rather than o f a desire for irresponsible extension. T h e y were am ong the first to introduce into their schools the m onitorial system originated b y Bell and Lancaster w hich aim ed at overcom ing the problem o f a lack o f qualified teachers b y using the more advanced pupils to assist the more backw ard. In this w ay one teacher could supervise a num ber o f classes. A lth ou gh D r Bell had only published his ideas in 1797 and Joseph Lancaster his modifications six years later, the Lancasterian system was em ployed in the Benevolent Institution at C alcutta from the school’s foundation, and the London M issionary Society introduced it into the schools at M adras and Surat in 1816. B y 1818 if not earlier, the C .M .S . schools at B urdw an, the Society’s greatest educational centre in India, had adopted the new method. T h e S .P .C .K ., as befitted an A nglican society, introduced B ell’s N ational System at V ep ery, and even the more recently arrived Scottish M issionary Society gave a trial to the Lancasterian system at Bankot. T h e lim itations o f the m onitorial method are obvious. It am ounted solely to a system o f drill and mechanism w hereby large bodies o f children could be m ade orderly and obedient, and b y w hich students who knew little were m ade to help those w ho knew less. T h e missionaries did not perm it themselves to be bound too rigidly to the scheme, however, and were ready to make adaptations w hen circumstances m ade them necessary. Being fully aware that the children could retain far more than they could understand, the R ev. G . T . Barenbruck, o f the C .M .S . at Tranq ueb ar, was content to introduce the m onitorial system grad u ally in order to m ake it comprehensible to the teachers before its cap acity for expansion began to take effect. Some three years later, in 1827, the R ev. J. W . D oran o f the same Society cam e to the conclusion that it w ould be advisable to delay the introduction o f the new system into the Syrian C ollege at C och in lest its com petitive basis should engender excessive feeling am ong the students. Still w ith the object o f overcom ing the shortage o f qualified teachers the missionaries often found it necessary to em ploy as schoolmasters non-Christians or form er teachers at indigenous

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schools. T h e Seram pore Baptists even w ent so far as to give financial support td a num ber o f these schools.1 Both these actions, however, were regarded purely as em ergency measures to augm ent their m ain policy o f prom oting their ow n system o f teacher-training. N or were they perm itted to affect adversely the quality o f the education provided. C haracteristic o f all the missionaries’ educational schemes w ere the stringent measures they em ployed to ensure the efficient w orking o f their institu­ tions. Careful and frequent supervision was the root o f their policy. W eekly or m onthly the missionaries visited their schools and carried out examinations o f the pupils to check on the pro­ gress they had made. This necessitated the concentration o f schools w ithin an area easily accessible to a traveller w ith m an y centres to visit, and the missionaries firm ly i f regretfully closed down any w hich were outside their effective supervision. T h e R ev. C . T . E. Rhenius also instituted a more careful system o f keeping and checking the registers o f attendance, w hile members o f every society found it necessary to refuse numerous requests for schools ow ing to their inability to undertake adequate superintendence. In addition to supplying the teachers w ith suitable books to be used according to their ow n taste, m any o f the missionaries began the practice o f assembling teachers in regular classes for further instruction. A t M adras this took place quarterly, at Palam cottah m onthly, and at various other centres the teachers received instruction each week. A further incentive was given to teachers in some areas b y paying them according to the pro­ gress shown b y their pupils in the examinations. A lthough it was custom ary for the missionaries to give in ­ struction free o f charge they occasionally required their students to p ay or to b u y their books i f they w ere able to afford to do so, in order to test the sincerity o f their desire for education. A t the same time, they w ere prepared to grant rewards to encourage keen scholarship and regular attendance. In 1820 the Seram ­ pore Baptists adopted the practice o f giving books to the most deserving students in their vernacular schools, and six years later the L .M .S . at M adras introduced the same scheme into their schools. These awards served a double purpose, for the 1 Third Report o f the Institution fo r the Encouragement o f Native Schools in India, pp. 19-20. London, 1821.

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books w ere o f an instructive as w ell as o f an interesting character. T o encourage their students to read still more w id ely the Seram ­ pore missionaries displayed particular inventiveness b y sending a copy o f the Samachar Darpan, their w eekly Bengali journal, to a num ber o f their schools. T h ere it was read b y the senior students and at times schoolmasters read passages aloud. T h e m onthly D ig Darsan was also distributed for the same purpose. T h e missionaries had no illusions as to the im perm anency o f the effects o f the b rief education w hich most o f their pupils received w hen once the latter were re-enveloped in the daily round o f superstition. Nevertheless, they had just grounds for the increasingly optim istic view w hich they took o f their educa­ tional achievem ents. A com parison w ith the standard o f educa­ tion am ong English children at that time, particularly am ong the poorer classes, w ould alone give some assurance that the missionaries’ efforts in Ind ia were m eeting w ith success. From the elem entary schools where the children were chiefly occupied in learning to w rite their vernacular languages, at first on sand and later on paper, and also to read w hat was written, to the m ore advanced schools like the Free School at Benares where the most prom ising pupils had m ade a sound beginning in reading, spelling, parsing and translating G oldsm ith’s History o f England, and in w orking exercises on the rules o f syntax and on the problems o f geography, valuable w ork was in progress. O f the beneficial effects manifested b y the children w ho at­ tended the mission schools there are m any records. B y 1815 M r G . Forbes, Comm issioner at Chinsurah, had already decided that the L .M .S . schools recently founded there were a decided advance upon the indigenous system. W hile catechizing the pupils in the mission schools in southern India in 1822 G . T . B arenbruck also noted the difference between the children who h ad been in attendance for some time and the new arrivals. T o the latter it was quite foreign to think for themselves, w hile the form er were eager to answer questions. A t B ellary in the central D eccan an im provem ent was observed in the manners and habits o f the people w ho had been influenced b y the mission schools. A t G orakhpur in O u d h the R ev. M . W ilkinson re­ m arked upon the change in the children at the mission school w ho had rid themselves o f their form er dirtiness and disagree­ able habits and had becom e clean in appearance and interesting 6

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and intelligent in m anner. G eorge Pearce o f the B .M .S . at C hitpur was encouraged b y the w ider and more accurate view o f the geography and history o f the w orld, and o f other branches o f knowledge calculated to increase the powers o f understanding, displayed b y the pupils o f the Baptist Society’s schools. In the southern C oncan the value o f even the elem entary education provided b y the missionaries was evident w hen the agents o f the Scottish M issionary Society discovered that their autom atic practice o f teaching the students the m eaning o f the words and passages they read cam e as an entirely new idea in that area. A n d one o f the most notew orthy tributes to the q uality o f the education provided b y the missionaries was m ade b y a relative o f the R a ja o f T anjore w ho for some time hesitated to send his son to a mission free school lest it should seem degrading to his high station. W hen he saw the progress o f his servants’ children w ho attended the mission school and com pared it w ith the ignorance o f his son under a private tutor, how ever, he im m edi­ ately changed his views.1 T h e success o f the missionaries’ educational w ork was not lim ited to its effects upon the students themselves. I t provided opportunities for both Indians and Europeans to dedicate some o f their energy and financial resources in support o f a project o f w hich they approved. A num ber o f Indians w ho feared to offend their orthodox compatriots b y initiating educational schemes along European lines did not hesitate to give their financial support secretly to the missionaries. T h e interest o f the European population was more openly displayed in their frequent attendance at the exam inations held in the schools and in their readiness to give m oney to support educational work. In both these activities L a d y Hastings, wife o f the G overnorG eneral, was prominent, and Sir Joh n M alcolm , G overnor o f Bom bay, becam e a patron o f the Seram pore C ollege. T h e establishment b y the Seram pore Baptists o f the Institution for the Encouragem ent o f N ative Schools in In d ia in 1817 was a deliberate attem pt to provide an opportunity for the scattered supporters o f better education to m ake their contributions to an organized movem ent, and the C alcu tta D istrict Com m ittee o f the S.P .G ., form ed on 28 N ovem ber 1825, served a similar purpose. 1 M.R. 1827, p. 553.

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It is perhaps to be regretted that it later becam e necessary for the mission schools wishing to prepare their students for govern­ m ent exam inations to m ake their curriculum conform more closely to the intrinsically utilitarian pattern o f instruction in force in the governm ent schools. But the contribution o f the missionaries to Indian education between 1793 and 1833 was invaluable in initiating and laying the foundation for future developm ents. W hen indigenous education was both inadequate in quan tity and o f an exceptionally low standard; when the C om p an y’s G overnm ent was unable to undertake the promotion o f educational schemes; and w hen private individuals, both Ind ian and European, lacked the organization to take the re­ sponsibility upon themselves, the missionaries provided educa­ tion o f a relatively high quality at all levels for a considerable num ber o f Indians both Christian and non-Christian.

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T HE S T A T U S OF I N D I A N W O ME N In their cam paign against sati the missionaries w ere attacking probably the most glaring evil w ith w hich Indian w om anhood was afflicted at the beginning o f the nineteenth century. As their acquaintance w ith Ind ia grew,’ how ever, they q uickly realized that sati was only one aspect o f a problem involving the whole status o f wom en in Indian society. T h e y noted the illtreatm ent o f widows w ho did not perform sati, the practice o f child-m arriage, and the seclusion o f w om en w ithin their homes, and resolved to make the social im provem ent o f In d ian w om en p art o f their reform ing plan. B y so doing they gained some support from Europeans both in Ind ia and in England, and aroused trepidation am ong others, m any o f w hom denied them any hope o f success. A tiny group o f cultured Indians approved o f the missionaries’ plans, but the m ajority aligned themselves in opposition, regarding the proposed schemes as an unw arranted attack upon a conception o f the status o f w om en w hich the re­ formers were w ho lly unable to com prehend. It is difficult to obtain a clear picture o f the condition o f Indian wom en at the beginning o f the nineteenth century. E arly H indu literature and history suggest that w om en occupied an honourable position in society and frequently exercised con­ siderable influence upon the highest affairs o f state. A m on g the Rajputs in particular, w om en shared the adventurous disposition o f the men and often w ent w ith them into battle.1 A s late as the eighteenth century there were several examples o f w om en w ho had m ade a nam e for themselves b y their literary and poetic gifts,2 and in 1801 M irza A b u T a le b K h an , a M uh am m adan w ho had travelled extensively in Europe as w ell as in A sia and A frica, stated in a pam phlet that in his opinion the greater apparent freedom o f English w om en as com pared w ith M uslim wom en was in fact accom panied b y greater real restraint.3 1 J. H. Hutton, Caste in India, p. 32. Cambridge, 1946. 2 K . Datta, Education and Social Amelioration o f Women in Pre-Mutiny India, pp. 2-3. Patna, 1936. 3 A . Yusuf Ali, A Cultural History o f India during the British Period, p. 97. Bombay, 1940.

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T h e missionaries were o f a different opinion. Charles G rant h ad sum m arized their attitude at the end o f the eighteenth century w hen he wrote that the Indian w om an’s state was one o f subjection and seclusion, to be comm iserated with, and to be im proved i f h um anly possible.1 A later w riter in the Quarterly Friend o f India for D ecem ber 1822 issued a w arning against the assumption that the antiquity o f Indian civilization guaranteed the hum ane treatm ent o f wom en in m odern times. Education, he felt, was the one means b y w hich Indian wom en could come to realize the unnaturalness o f their position, and it was through education that the missionaries prim arily sought to gain their object. A lth ou gh it is probable that the missionaries never fully understood the im portant influence exerted b y Indian wom en in their ow n fam ily circle, there was justification for their view th at both H indu and M uham m adan wom en were in a state o f inequality, com pared w ith men, w hich was something far re­ m oved from the natural differences in the function o f men and w om en in society. T h e perform ance o f sati m ight, and often did, indicate a supreme loyalty for her husband on the part o f the w id o w ; but a w idow ed husband never burned w ith the body o f his wife. R a m M oh an R o y pointed out that the H indu laws o f inheritance, as set dow n in the most ancient authorities, unan­ im ously entitled a w idow to a share o f her husband’s property equal to that o f a son. Instead, she was rendered destitute. Sim ilarly, a daughter should inherit a quarter o f the am ount due to a son, but in practice this was denied her. T h e rem edy for m any o f these ills, he w ent on to suggest, lay w ith the Presidency Governm ents. Form erly ignorance o f the Sanskrit law had com pelled the English to rely upon the advice o f pandits in the various civil courts. This was no longer necessary, and the erroneous and corrupt interpretation o f the law deliberately supplied b y the pandits could henceforth be avoided.2 It w ould seem, therefore, that w hatever the dictates o f the Sastras w ith regard to wom en, current practice, though allegedly based upon them, was far from being ideal. T h e G overnm ent hesitated to respond to R a m M oh an R o y ’s appeal. E ver cautious o f excessive interference in Indian customs, 1 P .P . 1812-13, vol. x. ‘ Asiatic Subjects of G t Britain’, pp. 29-30. 2 M .R . 1823, pp. 187-90.

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the British authorities felt this was particularly questionable ground. N ot only were Indian m en opposed to an y intrusion in so intim ate a fam ily matte*, but also the In d ian w om en appeared to have little desire to change their condition. T h e absence o f any detailed inform ation concerning Indian fam ily life constituted another troublesome factor. T h e missionaries, on the other hand, felt that risks should be taken. In their anxiety to prom ote the Christian faith they were extrem ely conscious o f the barrier ereeted b y a state o f society in w hich one h a lf o f the population was com pelled to abjure instruction o f any kind and rem ained content to do so. 6T h ere must be a change here wrote H . Crisp o f the L ondon M issionary Society in 1828, ‘ for w hile the fem ale character continues ignorant and degraded as at present, how can any great m oral revolution be exp ected ?’1 In spite o f the exceptions noted b y W illiam A dam , w ho was deputed b y L ord W illiam Bentinck in 1833 to survey the state o f indigenous education in Bengal, the higher castes in particular were opposed to the idea o f having their daughters educated because it was the custom that only dancing girls and the prostitutes in the service o f the H in du temples were taught to read. In conceiving the idea o f providing education for the fem ale population o f Ind ia the missionaries were, therefore, not only pioneers but pioneers faced w ith a powerful opposition. It is difficult to discover w ho took the initial step. T h e missionary m ovem ent for fem ale education appears to have sprung up simultaneously in both the Bengal and M adras Presidencies round about the year 1820. M rs T raveller, the wife o f a missionary o f the L .M .S ., already h ad a school for countryborn and Eurasian girls at V e p e ry in M a y 1819,2 but there were no Indian girls am ong her pupils. R o b ert M a y, also o f the L ondon M issionary Society, is reported to have started a girls’ school at Chinsurah in 1818, and although its extension was considerably im peded b y the insistence o f his successors upon the inclusion o f a Christian catechism amongst the subjects for instruction this was p robably the first institution o f its 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: T a m il’, box 3, folder 2, jacket A : Letter of H. Crisp to the Secretary and Treasurer of the L.M .S., dated Salem, 19 M ay 1828. 2 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: T am il’, box 1, folder 2, jacket A : Letter of C . Traveller to the Secretary of the L .M .S ., dated Vepery, 12 M ay 1819.

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kind.1 T h e C .M .S . also was early in the field, and the C om p any’s chaplain, Jam es H ough, established two schools for girls to the south o f Palam cottah on b eh alf o f that Society at the very beginning o f 1820.2 D uring the 1820’s other schools began to appear at mission stations in all parts o f India, at N agracoil in the extrem e south o f the peninsula, at C uddapah and at Bellary; and in 1826 the C .M .S . opened their first girls’ school in the B om bay Presidency. In this w ork the wives o f the missionaries played an im portant part. M rs Barenbruck, wife o f a C .M .S . missionary, established a girls’ T a m il school at M adras.3 A t V izagap atam M rs Dawson, whose husband was an agent o f the L .M .S ., collected some tw enty Indian girls for instruction.4 M rs Stephen T raw in and M rs G . M u n d y o f the same Society gave instruction to girls at K idderp ore and Chinsurah respectively,5 and the wife o f W illiam C arey (junior) had fourteen girls under her care at K a tw a .6 In the B om bay Presidency Mrs C . Farrer o f the C .M .S . opened a school at Bandra in 1832, and although she was com pelled to close it the same year w hen she m oved w ith her husband to Nasik, she renewed her w ork at the new station.7 E ven more notew orthy were the achievements o f M rs J. R ow e, w idow o f a Baptist m issionary at D igah, who, after her husband’s death, not only continued to superintend the female schools she had founded but also took upon herself the full m aintenance o f the mission station. In a country where wom en were kept in such strict seclusion from m en w ho were not members o f their fam ily, only the fact that the missionaries’ wives undertook to give instruction themselves m ade the education o f Indian girls a feasible project. These activities constituted the ch ief answer to the problem o f fem ale education w hich the missionaries provided during the period before 1833. A gain, however, the Seram pore Baptists took the lead b y producing the first m ain developm ent o f the 1 L .M .S . MSS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box i, folder 4, jacket B: Letter of G. Mundy to the Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Chinsurah, 6 April 1822. 2 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fo. 108. 3 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 485. 4 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: Telugu’, box 1, folder2, jacket B: Letter of J. Dawson to the Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Vizagapatam, 28February 1825. 5 M .R . 1824, pp. 23 and 55. ■ M .R . 1821, p. 55. 7 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ West India Mission’, vol. 1, fos. 398 and 454-76.

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otherwise sporadic treatm ent o f the question. In 1819 they enlisted the support 6 f several English ladies residing in C alcu tta to form the C alcu tta Fem ale Juvenile Society in an attem pt to make more organized provision for the education o f Ind ian girls. This was followed soon afterwards b y the establishm ent o f a N ative Fem ale Society at Seram pore, and together the two Societies were able to give a considerable impetus to the work. W illiam W ard, one o f the Seram pore Baptists, also assisted in the consultations in E ngland resulting in the dispatch to In d ia o f Miss M . A . Cooke, the first w om an to be sent from E ngland as a teacher for the girls o f India. It appeared briefly at this point as if the C alcutta School Society was about to take a share in the task o f fem ale education, for it was Miss C ooke’s intention to place her services at the Society’s disposal. B ut as a result o f the prejudices o f some o f the Indian m embers the Society was unable to em ploy her.1 It was next suggested that Miss Cooke should be attached to the L .M .S . but this plan also was never put into effect. A lthough a donation o f Rs. 1000 had been sent b y the Directors o f the Society to Chinsurah in 1821 to help in founding a Fem ale School Society their wishes h ad not been fulfilled, and their agents in Ind ia felt themselves unable to supply the necessary financial support for Miss Cooke, whose m aintenance was therefore undertaken b y the C .M .S .2 H er connexion w ith that Society was further strengthened b y her m arriage a few years later to one o f its missionaries, Isaac W ilson. T h e tenacity o f the Indians’ opposition was illustrated b y a report from Jam es H ough in 1820 that it was only w ith diffi­ culty, and after some delay, that he had been able to establish two girls’ schools in villages composed entirely o f Protestant Christians. E qu ally difficult to counter was the ap ath y o f the parents towards fem ale education, w hich in some areas took the place o f open antagonism. In C alcutta the agents o f the London M issionary Society stated in 1824 that even the parents o f the girls w ho attended their school appeared indifferent as to whether their daughters were educated or not, and all the w ork 1 M .R . 1822, p. 481. 2 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 1, folder 4, jacket A : Letter of H. Townley to the Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Chinsurah, 24 September 1821; and jacket B: Letter of J. Keith to the Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Calcutta, 11 January 1822.

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o f collecting the girls had to be done b y the missionaries them ­ selves. T h e shortage o f teachers was a further problem. In the initial stages no Indian wom en were available to undertake the task, so that the whole burden fell upon the small num ber o f missionaries’ wives. T h e precariousness o f the situation was dem onstrated at V izag a p ata m in 1825 when, on the death o f M rs J . D awson, no one was qualified to instruct the tw enty girls w hom she had w ith difficulty assembled after overcom ing the prejudices o f their parents. E ven w hen one or two Indian w om en teachers becam e qualified they lacked the industry o f the missionaries, and their negligence at times had an adverse effect upon the progress o f the children under their care and upon the numbers attending the schools. T h e pupils themselves were in­ dolent, and the lack o f even the m eagre equipm ent necessary for the task o f teaching them the rudiments o f a num ber o f useful occupations such as needlework was a further handicap. E ven more stultifying was the effect o f the early marriages into w hich the girls were required to enter, and w hich frequently resulted in the few w ho had responded to the missionaries’ appeal being taken from school at the age o f nine.1 W ith these various difficulties in m ind the A b b e Dubois, a R om an C ath olic missionary, declared the undertaking to be impossible. T h e very wretchedness from w hich the reformers wished to rescue the wom en o f India m ade the latter incapable o f responding to the missionaries’ efforts. ‘A t least five-sixths o f the H indoo fem ales’, he wrote, ‘ live in such distressed circum ­ stances, that from the age o f eight or ten years to the end o f their lives, they are obliged to labour w ithout intermission, from m orning till evening, a n d . . . notwithstanding their incessant labours, they are hard ly capable o f saving enough to purchase a coarse cloth o f the value o f five or six shillings, to cover them ­ selves.’ N o t only the deeply-rooted prejudices o f the country, but also the state o f poverty o f the girls and their numerous avocations w ould prevent them from attending schools.2 But the reformers persevered, and Stephen L aidler o f the L .M .S . voiced their sentiments w hen he wrote from Bangalore in 1822: ‘ Fem ale education must be kept in view . W hatever the 1 L.M .S. M SS. ‘ India: Bengal’, box 2, folder 2, jacket C : Letter of John Edmonds to the Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Chinsurah, 1 November 1825. 2 J. A . Dubois, Letters on the State o f Christianity in India, pp. 205-6. London, 1823.

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trials, disappointments and sacrifices m ay be they must not paralyse nor cause a hiom entary hesitation.’1 Nevertheless, the missionaries’ objects were limited* b y necessity. In the b rief time during w hich girls were available for instruction they could, clearly, learn little more than the com m on elements o f reading and writing. Bengali, K anarese, T a m il and T elu g u were taught in the appropriate parts o f the country, and at Bangalore and V izagap atam attempts were m ade to teach English. T o these subjects w ere added various crafts such as knitting, sewing, spinning and lace-m aking, and in an attem pt to gain the m axi­ m um salutary effect from so short a training the L .M .S ., in spite o f the opposition it aroused, introduced a small am ount o f Christian teaching w herever possible. T h e activities o f the missionaries were not w holly unsuccessful. In 1826 W illiam C arey w rote: ‘ F ew attempts to do good I sup­ pose appeared more hedged up w ith obstacles than the m ental instruction o f the poor females o f India, and y e t . . . evident progress has been m ade and beneficial results witnessed__ W e have now 14 schools and m any more in contem plation. . . some o f them are 6 or 7 miles distant one from the other and some o f them 5 or 6 miles distant from the premises purchased b y the missionaries.’2 A t M adras, where strong opposition had originally been encountered, 600 girls had been taught in the L .M .S . free school before 1833.8 I n the neighbourhood o f Calcutta, also, Miss Cooke in 1823 had under her superin­ tendence fifteen schools w ith 600 scholars after little more than a year’s activity.4 T h e missionaries m ade no attem pt to exaggerate their achievements, but the sixth report o f the Corresponding C o m ­ mittee o f the C .M .S . in C alcutta recorded that on 23 Ju n e 1823 at the exam ination o f Miss C ooke’s scholars 110 girls acquitted themselves w ell in reading Bengali and in needlew ork w ho, seventeen months earlier, knew not a letter o f the alphabet.5 A t the exam ination o f the fem ale sem inary at P alam cottah on 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: Kanarese’, box 1, folder 2, jacket D : Letter of Stephen Laidler, dated Bangalore, 10 October 1822. 2 B.M.S. MSS. Packet A i : Letter of W. Carey to the Rev. John Dyer, dated Calcutta, January 1826, and completed 27 April 1826. 3 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: T am il’, box 5, folder 2, jacket A : Printed account of the Black Town Free Schools of the L.M .S. 1833. 1 M .R . 1823, pp. 358-60. 8 M .R . 1824, pp. 226-8.

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5 J u ly 1826 a sim ilar factual record o f the pupils’ progress was m ade. T h e girls’ reading in T am il, it stated, ranged from toler­ able to very fluent. Some o f the students were only beginning to learn letters, but all took p art in knitting or spinning.1 E vidence o f this nature from various parts o f the country had a salutary effect upon the attitude o f some Indian parents to­ w ards the education o f their daughters. T h e Baptists in C alcutta noted a grow ing friendliness as the progress o f the girls in the schools becam e more obvious. A t N agracoil also, m any who h ad form erly considered it to be useless or impossible for their daughters to be instructed were sufficiently impressed b y the w ork done in the mission school to declare their willingness to have their girls taught. T h e reduction in prejudice was revealed in several ways. In 1824 a num ber o f families living in the neighbourhood o f the C .M .S . station at M adras voluntarily applied for the establish­ m ent o f a girls’ school.2 A t Palam cottah the C .M .S . mission­ aries reported in 1823 that the Indians themselves had begun the elem entary instruction o f their daughters.3 T here was no indica­ tion in this latter statement as to w hich classes were involved, and it m ay possibly have referred only to Christian parents. B ut the grow ing enthusiasm for female education in that area was dem onstrated unm istakably b y the readiness w ith w hich the boys o f the Palam cottah sem inary brought their sisters and other girls from their ow n villages to be taught in the new mission sem inary to be established for girls.4 N um erically, however, only a m inute proportion o f Indian girls were affected b y these activities before 1833. In an attem pt to increase the num ber, the missionaries resorted to various schemes, some o f them o f dubious efficacy. A t C alcutta the Baptists gave a m onthly gratuity to their schoolmasters for every girl under instruction. Frequently, however, this led to the masters buying the attendance o f their pupils w ith no intention that the latter should devote themselves seriously to their studies. A t T richin op oly also, the S .P .G . adopted the rather questionable policy o f offering four cloths a year to the children who attended 1 C .M .S . M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 5: Account of the State of the Female Seminary at Palamcottah at the Half-yearly Examination 5 July 1826. 2 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 4, fo. 435. 1 M .R . 1824, P- 59 ­ 4 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 3, fo. 453.

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their school. T h e Society frankly acknow ledged its intention to be to encourage poor children to becom e pupils, b u t again it is probable that some o f the girls presented themselves at the school solely for the cloth and w ith no real desire for instruction. A nother weakness, readily adm itted b y the missionaries, was that generally only the lowest classes allow ed their daughters to attend the schools. Frequently the m ajority o f the pupils were orphans who w ould otherwise have been destitute. T h e higher castes were not m erely prejudiced agair\st their daughters being educated, but were also unw illing to allow them to em erge from the seclusion o f their homes, particularly to attend schools where, through lack o f w om en teachers, they w ould necessarily have been instructed b y men. A lth ou gh the latter difficulty did not apply to the individual schools where the wives o f mission­ aries were the teachers, it was an obstacle to the effective develop­ ment o f such associations as the N ative Fem ale Society o f C alcutta and Miss C ooke’s organization. A t B ellary in 1829 the L .M .S . had a flourishing girls’ school in w hich the school­ mistress was a Brahm an and several o f the girls were o f the same high caste, but it was an exceptional case. It was Miss Cooke who faced the problem o f educating highcaste girls, and her persuasiveness won the attention o f R a d h a K a n t D eb, an influential H indu. O n his advice she decided to carry instruction to the girls w ho w ould not attend her schools, and w ith his assistance she collected a num ber o f high-caste girls for lessons on a veranda w ithin the com pound o f a rich Indian. It was a rem arkable step for Indians to accept a European w om an as teacher for their daughters and to adm it her into their com pound, and very gradu ally Miss Cooke was able to make provision for the daughters o f an increasing num ber o f higher-caste families. T h e only fem ale teacher w hom she had been able to find was asked to instruct a B rahm an w id ow and two other wom en w hen she was not engaged in school, and the w idow herself, though still in the early stages o f instruction, daily taught the two daughters o f a Brahm an at his ow n house.1 It is doubtful that Miss Cooke’s endeavours influenced m any o f the high-caste H indus w ho were not previously w ell disposed towards the education o f their daughters. For those w ho w ere, she provided an opportunity to express their approval, not only 1 M .R . 1824, pp. 226-8.

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b y perm itting their own girls to be educated, but also b y giving financial help to the whole m ovem ent for female education. Several Indian members o f the C alcutta School Society who declined to take p art publicly in the prom otion o f an object so contrary to the prejudices o f orthodox Hindus, privately assisted b y procuring land upon w hich the missionaries’ female schools could be built.1 O ne o f them, B abu B abinath R oy, openly presented Rs. 20,000 towards the erection o f a central school for girls in C alcutta. T h a t school, w hich was opened on 5 A p ril 1828, was the realization o f one o f Miss Cooke’s ch ief aims. O w in g to the recurrent difficulty o f supplying teachers for the numerous local schools w hich she had b y that time established, she felt that the best solution w ould be to assemble the pupils together in one place under her supervision. H er classes h ad already produced a sufficient num ber o f girls qualified to act as teachers or monitors in a central school, so that the scheme could function w ithout delay. T h e num ber o f scholars varied from forty to seventy, and it was unquestionably a rem arkable achievem ent to gather so m any Indian girls under a Christian ro o f to take p art in lessons. T h e plan had its draw ­ backs how ever. A lth ou gh the centralization led to greater efficiency because more adequate supervision could be m ain­ tained, it was not intended that any decidedly advanced studies should be introduced into the school. A t the same time, m any parents w ho had tentatively perm itted their daughters to attend schools in their own locality were unw illing for them to travel several miles for their lessons. A s a result, a num ber o f children were deprived o f the opportunity o f attending school. T h e value o f Miss C ooke’s pioneer work remains, nevertheless, and its merits were appreciated b y Europeans as well as Indians. L a d y Am herst, the H on. Miss Am herst and the Bishop o f C alcutta, all o f w hom were present at the exam ination o f her schools on 12 D ecem ber 1823, were deeply affected b y the q uality o f the children’s reading and b y the specimens o f their needlew ork and w riting w hich were displayed. A t Miss C ooke’s instigation also, and as a result o f the impression created b y her achievem ents, the Ladies’ Society for N ative Fem ale E ducation was form ed on 25 M arch 1824, to assume the m anagem ent and direction o f the schools under her charge.2 This Society 1 M .R . 1823, p. 195.

2 M .R . 1824, p. 509.

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emphasized the interest in Indian fem ale education w hich could be aroused b y enthusiastic leadership. L a d y Hastings h ad also displayed a benevolent interest \n the activities o f Miss Cooke, encouraging her in her earlier endeavours, and later providing materials for the children’s needlework. Sim ilarly, in the south o f India M r M onro, the C ollector at Palam cottah, subscribed in 1823 to the sem inary for girls founded b y the C .M .S ., and in succeeding years other assistance was forthcom ing from Europeans in various w ays.1 A t C h itty r G . J . W aters entirely supported the orphan girls in the L .M .S . school,2 and at Trinchinopoly a num ber o f ladies contributed to the establish­ m ent o f a girls’ school in 1829, and afterwards m et every three months to take note o f the progress made, to inspect the accounts, and to make any arrangements w hich the institution required.3 Such a benevolent interest on the p art o f the Europeans in India, valuable though it was, could not hide the outstanding nature o f the w ork done b y the missionary societies, not only in initiating education for Indian w om en but also in carryin g out the actual w ork o f m anagem ent and teaching. As Miss Cooke pointed out, the m ajority o f the members o f the L ad ies’ Society only saw the girls in the schools once a year. In Ja n u ary 1825, however, a Ladies’ Association was founded, quite distinct from the Ladies’ Society, and composed o f pious middle-class wom en in C alcutta w ho did m uch more to prom ote education b y their own efforts than did the rather more opulent m embers o f the Ladies3 Society. A lrea d y b y J u ly 1825 eight youn g ladies from the Association w ho had learnt the vernacular had begun to superintend schools, and four others were preparing to do the same.4 Progress continued to be slow. Bengal, w here the greatest efforts had been made, showed little im provem ent, but in the M adras and Bom bay Presidencies the prom otion o f fem ale education fared rather better. Because there was so little advance in this field however, little could be done to im prove the general 1 C.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 3, fo. 421. 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: T am il’, box 3, folder 2, jacket A : Report on the Chittoor Mission by Robert Jennings, dated Chittoor, 30 July 1828. * S.P.G. MSS. Box ‘ C . India’, 11. 4; Madras and S. India, no. 3: English translation of a letter in German by the Rev. D. Schreyvogel, dated Madras Mission, 1829. 1 C.M .S. MSS. ‘ North India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 337.

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condition o f Indian w om en since they themselves continued to show no desire for im provem ent. B y 1833 it had not been possible to m ake any attack upon child m arriage and little success had been gained in the attem pt to underm ine the strict rules o f seclusion b y w hich the higher-caste wom en were bound. Y e t the efforts o f the missionaries before 1833 were o f supreme im portance. T h e y alone brought the status o f Indian wom en under public question. T h e y were the first, and for long the only ones to attem pt the education o f Indian women. T h e y trained the first Indian w om en as teachers, and these latter, together w ith the missionaries’ wives, m ade possible the plan o f bringing instruction to girls o f higher castes. T o the missionaries’ wives p articularly must be given the credit for w hat was achieved, for during a considerable period they were the only European wom en prepared to undertake the task o f teaching. L ate r Indian movements like the Brahm a Samaj have taken up the cause o f Indian w om anhood, and there has been a dem and am ong some o f the wom en themselves to be allowed to return to the status they form erly enjoyed according to the Sastras. B ut all these movements, w hatever the characteristically Indian forms they adopted, had their foundation in the educational w ork begun am ong Indian w om en b y the missionaries round about the year 1820 and developed in the years w hich followed. I t was the missionaries who, in spite o f the inevitable limitations o f their w ork, demonstrated that Indian wom en were capable o f im provem ent i f an effort was m ade on their behalf, and who aroused in some o f the wom en themselves the pow er to appre­ ciate a better condition o f life.

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LANGUAGES, L I T E R A T U R E , J O U R N A L I S M A ND T R A N S L A T I O N It is frequently said o f Christian missionaries in In d ia that, i f they had lim ited their activities to social w ork and avoided all attem pts at evangelization, they w ould have w on nothing but praise from the Indian people. Such a statement not only overlooks the op­ position w hich almost invariably greeted social reform, b u t also ignores the obvious fact that the im portance o f the missionaries’ social cam paign, as w ell as its weaknesses, w ere a direct result o f their fervent desire to prom ote Christianity. T h e m ain aspects o f their social w ork were undertaken as aids to, and almost inevit­ able expressions of, their m ain task o f evangelization. This was obvious in connexion w ith their educational work, and it was equally im portant in respect o f their literary and linguistic achievements. T h e prom otion o f C hristianity called for the ex­ tension o f education to assist in the attack upon the superstition and m ental slavery fostered b y ignorance. For education to flourish it required in turn a literature capable o f conveying and inspiring new ideas, and a language sufficiently rich and flexible to express them. A t the beginning o f the nineteenth century the m ajority o f the languages and dialects o f In d ia possessed neither o f these features. In the interests o f their religion the Christian missionaries undertook to supply them to the best o f their ability. It m ight be suspected that the missionaries’ overriding con­ cern for the translation o f the B ible must in evitab ly have narrowed the effective scope o f their work. M a n y observers pointed to the inaccuracies w hich crept into their publications, and accused them o f undertaking too hastily a task for w hich they were inadequately qualified. B ut it was the very u rgency o f their desire to see the Christian Scriptures printed in the languages o f India w hich stirred the missionaries to achieve such m astery o f strange tongues. T h a t errors should have crept into their w ork is not surprising. A t the beginning o f the nine­ teenth century only the sacred or classical languages o f the country, Sanskrit and A rab ic, possessed an y generally accepted 1 form or were preserved in w riting. T h e missionaries’ transla-

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tions, therefore, constituted for m any years the greater p art o f the vernacular literature o f India, and their w ork was an im portant contribution to the establishment o f structural unity am ong the vernaculars and to their uniform developm ent. Christian missionaries had been pre-eminent in the w ork o f translation into the languages o f India for more than two centuries before W illiam C arey turned to the task. C h arac­ teristically, the translations carried out b y governm ent officers h ad been prim arily from O rien tal languages into English, the emphasis being laid upon the Englishm an’s problem o f under­ standing the Indians rather than upon the encouragem ent o f Indians to understand the new and grow ing pow er in their midst. Into this category fell the translation into English in 1 786 o f the Bhagavadgita b y M r, later Sir Charles, W ilkins. Sir W illiam Jones’s version o f the Shakuntala was o f the same character and so too were the translations b y both these m en o f the Hitopadesha. Com m entaries on Indian literature appearing in the Asiatic Researches supplied the essential com plem ent to the translations and it was chiefly through such m edia that the doctrines and traditions o f the Indian peoples were m ade ac­ cessible to Englishm en. T h e missionaries had only a secondary interest in w ork o f that nature. T o analyse and to understand Ind ian ideas was an essential adjunct to their m ain purpose, but it was not an end in itself. O riental scholarship o f a relatively high order was to be found am ong the R om an C atholic missionaries in southern India during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their successors o f the Protestant per­ suasion w ere not inferior in their attainments, but they were both handicapped b y the smallness o f their numbers. From the days o f Francis X a vie r the missionaries had con­ centrated upon translation from European languages into Ind ian languages. X a v ie r him self had prepared translations o f the Apostles’ Creed, the T e n Com m andm ents and a num ber o f prayers in the language o f the Paravas, a fishing caste living to the north-east o f C ap e Com orin. R ob ert de N obili, w ho had a sound knowledge o f Sanskrit, T elu gu and T am il, translated the M issal into T a m il and produced works on Christian theology and m etaphysics.1 T h e Protestant missionaries placed greater 1 K . S. Latourette, A History o f the Expansion o f Christianity, vol. 111, pp. 260, 274. London and New York, 1945.

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emphasis upon the im portance o f m aking the B ible itself available to all w ho could read. Z iegenbalg, a Saxon o f the D anish Mission at T ranquebar, translated the N ew Testam ent and p art o f the O ld into T a m il early in the eighteenth century. Fabricius, another G erm an, translated the w hole B ible and a num ber o f hymns into the same language, and another mission­ ary, nam ed Schultze, produced a B ible in T elu g u .1 Im portant though these publications were, they were rela­ tively few in num ber and w ere separated from each other in time b y centuries and half-centuries. In comparison, the early nineteenth century was a period o f intense activity. As in so m any other fields o f w ork the Seram pore Baptists were to the fore. W ith in fifteen months o f his arrival in India, W illiam C arey had translated into Bengali the Book o f Genesis and tw enty chapters o f Exodus.2 H e and his associates gave themselves w holeheartedly to their task and displayed a re­ m arkable capacity for acquiring a know ledge o f O rien tal languages. In a letter to the king o f Burm a in 1812 they claim ed that w ith the aid o f Indian scholars they had portions o f the Scriptures in the process o f translation or printing in Sanskrit, T am il, G ujarati, O riya, Bengali, H indi, M arathi, Baluchi, Pashtu, K ashm iri, Assamese and Chinese, and they now pro­ posed to add Burmese to their list.3 N ine years later they an­ nounced the translation o f the whole B ible into five languages and the N ew Testam ent into fifteen more. T h e fifth edition o f the Bengali N ew Testam ent, com prising five thousand copies, was nearly exhausted. T h e sixth was in the press and also the second edition o f the N ew Testam ent in Sanskrit, M arath i and H indi.4 In 1825 D r C arey stated that the N ew Testam ent w ould soon be published in at least thirty-four languages.5 O th er societies followed the Baptists’ impressive exam ple. In the first decade o f the nineteenth century the L ondon M issionary Society undertook the translation o f the Bible into T elu gu , and in 1819 the first edition o f 2000 copies o f the N ew Testam ent was 1 J. Richter, A History o f Missions in India, trans. by S. H. Moore, pp. 107, 114. London. No date. 2 B.M .S. MSS. Packet no. A 1: Letter of W. Carey to the Baptist Mission Society, dated Madnabatty, 10 March 1795. ■ B.M.S. MSS. Packet no. A 1: Letter of the Serampore Missionaries to the King of Burma, dated 14 December 1812. ■ M .R . 1821, p. 383. 6 M .R . 1826, p. 92.

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printed at M adras.1 O th er agents o f the Society were at work upon the G ujarati and K anarese versions. T h e G ujarati N ew Testam ent was printed at Surat in 1821 and the O ld Testam ent in 1823.2 T h e translation o f the whole Bible into Kanarese was com pleted at B ellary in 1826, and it was printed in 1831.3 M em bers o f the A n glican com m unity, both chaplains and missionaries, also m ade their contribution. D r Claudius B uch­ anan stimulated the Syrian C hurch o f M alab ar into producing a M alayalam translation o f the N ew Testam ent in 1807. His w ork was followed b y that o f the R ev. B. B ailey o f the C .M .S . w ho superintended the translation o f the Scriptures into Southern M alayalam at K o ttayam .4 T h e nam e o f the R ev. H en ry M artyn , a C om p any’s chaplain, is perm anently asso­ ciated w ith the preparation o f the Bible in H industani.5 For versions o f the A n glican liturgy in the same language the C hurch in Ind ia was indebted to A rchdeacon Corrie o f C alcutta and to W illiam B ow ley o f the C .M .S .6 R ich ard K en n y o f the C .M .S . at B om bay prepared a M arath i translation o f the liturgy,7 and D r R ottier, a S .P .C .K . missionary at V ep ery, produced a T a m il version.8 O f the then lesser-known societies, the A m erican Board o f Missions at Bom bay was responsible for a Bible in M arath i and W esleyan missionaries were associated w ith a Cingalese version.9 T h e missionaries were not alone in translating the Scriptures. T h e first version o f an y o f the Gospels in Persian and H indu­ stani printed in India was issued b y the press at Fort W illiam 1 L.M .S. Reports, 1807, p. 256; 1808, p. 290; 1809, p. 309; and L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: T am il’, box 1, folder 2, jacket A : Letter of E. Pritchett to the Directors of the L.M .S., dated Madras, 14 March 1819. 2 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ North India: Gujarati’, box 1, folder 1, jacket C : Letter of James Skinner to the Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Surat, 14 August 1821; and folder 2, jacket A : Letter of W. and A . Fyvie to the Directors of the L.M .S., dated Surat, ■October 1824. 3 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: Kanarese’, box 2, folder 1, jacket A : Letter of J. Hands and W.Beynon to the Directors of the L.M .S., dated Bellary, 5 December 1826, and box 3, folder 2, jacket B: Letter of W. Reeve, dated Madras, 23 M ay 1831. 4 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, Quarterly Report on translations by the Rev. B. Bailey, dated Kottayam, M ay 1821. 5 C . Buchanan, Christian Researches in Asia, p. 187, 2nd edition, enlarged. London, 18 11; and C .M .S . Report, 1815, p. 567. 6 C.M .S. Reports, 1815, p. 568; 1818-19, p. 126; and M .R . 1829, p. 77. 7 M .R . 1826, p. 108. 8 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Madras Despatches’, vol. 67, fo. 926. 9 J. Richter, A History o f Missions in India, pp. 290-1. London. No date.

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C ollege. T h e translation o f the form er was superintended b y L ieut.-C ol. Colebrooke and o f the latter b y W illiam H unter, Secretary to the A siatic Society, o f Bengal. D r L eyd en o f Fort W illiam College also offered his services in conducting trans­ lations o f the Scriptures into Pashtu, K ashm iri, Siamese and certain languages current in the Celebes and the M ald ive Islands. But in the scope o f their w ork these individuals were far outstripped b y the missionaries. M ention must be m ade o f the encouragem ent given to the missionaries in this branch o f their w ork b y the British and Foreign Bible Society. A t the latter’s request W alter U d ney, the R ev. D avid Brown, D r Claudius B uchanan and the leaders o f the Seram pore Baptists form ed a corresponding society in 1807 in order to give an impulse to Scriptural translations. T h e A u xiliary Bible Societies w hich were founded in C alcu tta, M adras and Bom bay also rendered valuable assistance in co­ ordinating and scrutinizing the missionaries’ translations. Outside this particular field o f literary activity the mission­ aries’ ch ief object was the preparation o f school-books. It m ight be briefly noted, however, that D r M arshm an m ade an English translation o f the writings o f Confucius, and D r C are y edited and translated the Ramayana, a Sanskrit classic. T h e school-books were for the most p art translations o f standard English works. T h e Pilgrim’s Progress was translated into T elu g u and Bengali. G oldsm ith’s History o f England and an abridged version o f H am ilton’s standard geography also appeared in Bengali, and in that and other languages translations o f various elem entary m anuals o f instruction were prepared. These books provided a sound introduction to E uropean learning, but, like the Scriptural translations, they w ere criticized as an attem pt to express external ideas through an unsym pa­ thetic m edium . T h e thoroughness o f the missionaries’ work, however, enabled them eventually to dispel this suspicion, and their translations m ade a valuable contribution to the develop­ m ent o f Indian literature. T h e difficulty o f conveying new ideas through the traditional languages o f Ind ia was in itself an incentive to the missionaries to probe the possibilities o f those languages to the utmost. T h e result o f their earliest investigations was not very prom ising. M ost o f the languages o f Ind ia lacked everything but the rudi­ 100

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ments o f gram m ar. T h e y needed to be standardized and also expanded b y the inclusion o f new expressions i f they were to becom e useful vehicles o f more precise modern knowledge. T h e Bengali gram m ar com piled and published b y H alhed o f the East Ind ia C om p any at H ugli in 1783, and the T am il gram m ar and T a m il—English and E n glish-T am il dictionaries prepared b y the missionary, Fabricius, at M adras about the sam e time, were am ong the earlier attempts to provide a solution to the difficulty. A fter 1793 a more concentrated attem pt was made. Dictionaries and gram m ars were prepared in greatly increased numbers. T h e Presidency Governm ents and the C ourt o f Directors were particularly interested in this work and contributed generously in support o f it.1 T h e missionaries, also, continued to be active. H alh ed’s Bengali gram m ar was a meritorious w ork but had becom e scarce at the beginning o f the nineteenth century. T h e first edition o f C are y ’s Bengali gram m ar w hich appeared in 1801 was, consequently, in no w ay redundant. Further, while ac­ know ledging his debt to H alhed, C arey added that he had intro­ duced into his ow n w ork m any distinctions and observations om itted b y his predecessor, and b y the time the second edition o f C a re y ’s w ork appeared in 1805 further improvements had been m ade as a result o f the author’s closer study o f his subject. A sim ilar situation arose in connexion w ith Sanskrit. A lthough the first volum e o f H . T . Colebrooke’s Sanskrit gram m ar was published in 1805, C are y ’s Sanskrit gram m ar was the first com ­ plete version to be printed. Concerning the latter publication the Suprem e C ouncil o f Bengal w ro te : ‘ T h e M erits o f this W ork are (so) w ell known that no other reason need be assigned for its P atronage.’2 These were only the forerunners o f m any other compilations o f a sim ilar character. In 1813 C arey wrote to A ndrew Fuller, Secretary to the B .M .S ., w ith the news that he had finished a gram m ar o f T elu g u w hich was about to be printed. His Panjabi gram m ar, w hich for m any years was the only one o f its kind, was already in the press and he was collecting materials for gram m ars o f the K ashm iri, Pashtu, Baluchi and O riy a 1 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 98, fos. 732-3. 1 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Public Consultations’, 5-26 March 1813: Proceedings at a Council presided over by Lord Minto at Fort William, 19 March 1813.

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languages. T h e care o f publishing and correcting F elix C a rey ’s Burmese gram m ar Was also in his hands and he was in the process o f com piling a dictionary o f Bengali. W hen published in 1825 the latter w ork comprised three quarto volum es and was adversely criticized on account o f its bulk. D r M arshm an rem edied that weakness two years later, however, b y producing an abridged version w hich greatly increased its u tility while detracting to the m inim um from the scholarship em bodied in the original.1 « T h e Baptist missionaries also gave assistance to others outside their own com m unity. Colebrooke’s English translation o f the popular Sanskrit dictionary, Amara Kosha, was published at Seram pore in 1808, and was corrected in the process b y W illiam C arey.2 T h e latter was also engaged b y the Presidency G overn­ ment to correct and publish the gram m ar and dictionary in the language o f Bhutan com piled b y the late C . G . Schroeter o f the C .M .S .,3 and a Chinese gram m ar prepared b y a M r M orrison was also published at Seram pore, in 1814.4 T h e output o f the Seram pore Baptists is apt to overshadow the achievements o f other missionaries in India. These latter too were active however. E ven before the end o f the eighteenth century C . H . H orst and C . W . G ericke o f the S .P .C .K . w ere at work upon a T a m il gram m ar, and in the years w hich followed agents o f the L .M .S . produced gram m ars or dictionaries o f the K anarese, G ujarati and T elu gu languages. A link was still needed between the dry bones o f lexicography and the living spirit o f prose literature. Poetry, w eighted w ith conceits and w holly unsuitable for expressing lucid thought, alone existed in most o f the languages o f India. A new literature was required, therefore, w hich w ould becom e the instrum ent o f modern developm ent in every field o f study. T h e link was prim arily supplied b y the Scriptural translations and text-books w hich, w ith the invaluable assistance o f the m any mission presses, were circulated in large num bers from 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 99: Letter in the Public Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 21 March 1827, para. 68. 2 B.M.S. MSS. India (Serampore). ‘ Letters of Carey and others’ : Letter of W. Carey to M r Sutcliff, dated Calcutta, 22 August 1805. 3 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 90: Letter in the Public Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 31 January 1823, para. 63. ■ C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 72, fo. 380.

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the beginning o f the nineteenth century. Bengali in particular benefited from the w ork o f the Seram pore Baptists. A History o f Pritapadityn, com piled b y an Indian under the guidance o f W illiam C arey and published at Seram pore in 1801, was the first prose w ork to be printed in Bengali w ith the exception o f codes o f law s and tracts. C are y ’s translations o f religious writings into H in di also manifested a purity o f style w hich was rem arkable considering the period at w hich he wrote and the literary vacuu m o f the preceding years.1 M arath i prose had rem ained undeveloped until the translations o f the Scottish M issionary Society’s agents stim ulated indigenous literary activity. In southern Ind ia missionaries had been striving for some years to build up the vernaculars. T h e T a m il works o f the R om an C ath olic missionary, Beschi, were probably the most scholarly, although he had been preceded in that field b y members o f the Spanish M ission at Cochin. T h e arrival o f the missionaries o f the L .M .S . and C .M .S . w ith their numerous printing presses m ultiplied the effects o f such w ork and T elu gu and K anarese w ere sim ilarly stimulated. Possibly o f even greater im portance in shaping the character o f Ind ian prose were the newspapers and periodicals w hich began to issue from the mission presses in the second decade o f the nineteenth century. C om bining topicality w ith a high standard o f scholarship and a swift circulation they were ideal for stim ulating public opinion and for presenting new ideas in incisive language. Akhbars, or newspapers, produced b y hand and filled largely w ith the details o f C ourt activities had for some tim e been popular am ong the M uham m adans in India. B ut their inevitably lim ited circulation and the triviality o f their contents prevented them from having any profound effect upon vernacular literature. In 1816 a Bengali, G an gadh ar Bhattacharya, took a step forw ard b y printing a paper under the title o f the Bangla Gazette, but it was so short-lived that few people knew o f its existence. T h e first periodical in Bengali to gain a steady circulation was the Dig Darsan ( The Signpost), a m onthly work, first published b y the Baptists at Seram pore in 1818. It contained articles o f general inform ation and gave notice oflocal events.2 1 Modern India and the West, ed. L. S. S. O ’ Malley, p. 494. O .U .P . 1941­ 2 Friend o f India (Monthly Series), no. 1, M ay 1818, p. 26.

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T h e Dig Darsan was in the nature o f a feeler. Encountering no opposition frorq. the G overnm ent the missionaries took courage and com m enced a w eekly newspaper in Bengali in the same year under the title o f Samachar Darpan (Mirror o f the News) } T h e novelty o f the paper ensured its p opularity and it ran continuously until 1841. It was the Samachar Darpan w hich aroused the Bengalis to an appreciation o f the pow er o f the periodical press. First to react to the stimulus was R a m M oh an R o y who, w ith a view to de­ fending H induism against the attacks’ o f the Samachar Darpan and to propounding his own plans for reform, began the p ub lica­ tion o f the Sambad Kaumadi. This new paper dealt w ith current topics and published articles on political, historical, literary and scientific subjects. But ow ing to the difficulty o f obtaining access to English papers it had to borrow its political news from the Darpan. As the Kaumadi em erged to oppose the Darpan so in turn it was itself attacked b y the Chandrika. T h e latter paper was the organ o f the orthodox H indu party, and was edited b y B haw ani C haran Banerji, form er coadjutor o f R a m M oh an R o y , w ho broke his connexion w ith the reform ing elem ent after only thirteen numbers o f the Kaumadi h ad been published because o f differences o f opinion on social problems, and particularly w ith regard to sati. T h e pace was quickening. In the 1820’s there appeared another Bengali paper, the Destroyer o f Darkness, R a m M oh an R o y ’s Persian w eekly, Mirat-al-Akhbar, and a diglot paper in Bengali and Persian, Banga Dut ( The Bengal Herald), w hich was also the product o f the Indian reform ing party. In 1831 the Bengali Sambad Pravakar ( The Sun) followed, and in the same year the students o f the H indu College started the Gyananneshan ( The Search after Knowledge) . T o m aintain the initiative and to give a spur to these new developments W illiam W ard started a religious m agazine in Bengali in 1822 to w hich he encouraged the students o f Seram ­ pore C ollege to contribute articles. A n d although R a m M oh an R o y voluntarily suspended his Persian newspaper in 1823 as a protest against the G overnm ent’s new licensing regulations, the returns o f East India periodical publications in circulation in 1 Friend o f India ( Quarterly Series), vol. iv, no. xn, M ay 1825, p. 143.

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1830 show that the Bengal Presidency had no less than eight vernacular papers, w hile B om bay h ad four.1 F or the B om bay publications the missionaries had no direct responsibility. T h e y were the w ork o f Indians. In the M adras Presidency, how ever, the vernacular periodical press un­ doubtedly received its earliest stimulus from Christian mission­ aries. T h e first num ber o f a quarterly publication in T a m il was issued b y the L .M .S . in Ju ne 1831.2 Its contents were largely concerned w ith religious topics or w ith the social improvem ents w hich the missionaries advocated. Several other missionary periodicals appeared in the vernaculars o f southern India, how ever, before an y response was evoked from the Indians themselves. In B engal the Darpan continued to be the leading publication and b y its m oderate tone added greatly to the status o f the vernacular periodical press. It originated at a time w hen official circles were ill-disposed towards vernacular publications through fear th at a challenge to the stability o f the G overnm ent m ight result from the free circulation o f inform ation and ideas amongst the In d ian people. A vo id in g all political controversies, the Seram pore Baptists set an exam ple o f integrity w ith the Samachar Darpan w hich w on them the constant approval o f authority. In 1818 L ord Hastings induced the Suprem e C ouncil to perm it the circulation o f the Darpan at a quarter o f the norm al postal rate in order that its influence m ight be felt outside C alcutta.3 A n d at the very height o f the controversy over the freedom o f the press in the 1820’s the governm ent displayed still further confidence in the missionaries b y ordering that official regula­ tions should be printed in the Darpan, b y subscribing to a hundred copies for the various governm ent offices in Bengal, and b y extending its patronage to a Persian edition o f the paper.4 In the early nineteenth century the circulation o f vernacular newspapers was never very great, it is true. T h e Quarterly Friend o f India for M a y 1825 estimated that, together, the papers 1 P .P . 1831—2, vol. xxxi.

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Printing Presses. 2 L .M .S . M SS. ‘ South India: T am il’, box 4, folder 1, jacket C : Letter of J. Smith to the Secretary of the L.M .S., dated Madras, 31 M ay 1831. 3 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 86, fos. 546-8. 4 J. C . Marshman, The L ife and Times o f Carey, Marshman and Ward, vol. 11, PP- 35 6- 7 - London, 1859.

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published in Bengal in O rien tal languages h ad from eight hundred to a thousand subscribers. T o each cop y o f the papers circulated it allotted an average o f five readers.1 B ut these apparently small numbers canrtot conceal the stim ulating effect upon the literate members o f Indian society o f h aving a regular source o f inform ation relating to contem porary events. In the midst o f the new and frequently ephem eral publications o f the Indians themselves, m oreover, the stability o f the mission­ aries’ work gave continuity to the progress o f vernacular literature. T o give a just account o f the im portance o f these varied publications it is necessary to attem pt to estimate the q uality o f the work, the accuracy o f the translations, the p urity o f the language and the value o f the new ideas and phraseology w hich they infused into Indian literature. Progress was not equal in every language. Bengali, Sanskrit and Chinese w ere the ch ief concern o f the Seram pore Baptists. T h e missionaries in the west o f India were prim arily occupied w ith M arath i and G ujarati, and those in the south w ith T am il, T elu g u and M alayalam . T h e m any other languages into w hich translations w ere m ade took up less time and their accuracy was consequently not so great. Nevertheless, the missionary publications in those languages were frequently the only ones w hich appeared until late in the nineteenth century. W illiam C are y ’s translation o f the Bible into K ashm iri was adm ittedly unsatisfactory. B ut it was not until the 1880’s that others undertook to produce a more accurate version. T o counter the m any difficulties o f orthography, o f local variations in language, and o f lim ited vocabularies, the mission­ aries exercised considerable care in evolving methods o f w ork and revision w hich w ould obviate as m any mistakes as possible. From the very beginning W illiam C arey adopted the practice w hich others followed o f em ploying learned pandits, w ell ac­ quainted w ith the languages, to assist him in his task o f trans­ lation.2 Laboriously he checked their w ork sentence b y sentence, at times rendering his English ideas into some interm ediate language known both to him self and to the pandits, in order 1 Friend, o f India (Quarterly Series), vol. iv, no. xii, M ay 1825, p. 145. 2 B.M.S. MSS. India (Serampore). ‘ Letters of Carey and others’ : Letter o f W. Carey to A . Fuller, dated Madnabatty, 16 November 1796.

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to be assured o f his having conveyed an accurate impression. E ven the Darpan was com piled b y Indians under missionary editorship.1 E ven after these precautions the missionaries had to be on the alert. C arey soon discovered that the approval o f his linguistic attainments expressed b y the pandits was frequently no more than flattery. Benjam in Bailey o f the C .M .S . also found that Claudius B uchanan’s reliance upon the accuracy o f the M a la ya lam translation o f the Bible prepared b y the priests o f the Syrian C hu rch was w holly unjustified.2 O th er checks were necessary, and am ong the most effective was the missionaries’ m utual criticism o f their work. N o considerations o f friendship prevented an exhaustive scrutiny from being made. C . T . E. R henius’s T a m il translations were subjected to a particularly severe castigation b y his fellow-missionaries.3 Y e t even these measures w ere not considered to provide sufficient assurance o f the accu racy o f Scriptural translation. T h e M adras A u xiliary B ible Society appointed subcommittees o f translation consisting o f Englishm en acquainted w ith the languages o f particular districts and authorized to procure the assistance o f other Europeans and o f Indians where necessary. T o those bodies translations were subm itted for scrutiny and revision and were often referred to their authors again and again for further com ­ m ent before being finally adopted.4 Frequently the actual printing was carried out under the translator’s supervision. A t Seram pore where the presses were on the mission premises it was easy to m ake an arrangem ent o f that sort. Elsewhere, missionaries travelled m any miles in order to be present when their w ork was being printed, often revising it even whilst it was going through the press.5 W hen a book had been printed it was still subject to revision under skilled superintendence to bring it to a higher standard o f accuracy, and in this branch o f the w ork the comments o f Indian readers were o f particular 1 U . N. Ball, Rammohun Roy, p. 179, Calcutta, 1933. 2 C .M .S . MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 47. 3 S.P.G. MSS. box ‘ C . India’, 11. 2, Private Letters to and from the Rev. C . F. Schwartz and the Rev. J. C. KohlhofT 1773-1819. No. 89: Letter o f j . C. Kohlhoff to the Rev. C . Pohle, dated Tanjore, 21 December 1815. 1 M .R . 1821, p. 68; 1826, pp. 122-3; 1829, p. 423. 5 S.P.G. M SS. Box ‘ C. India’, 1. 1, Dio. Calcutta: Letter of the Rev. W. Morton to the Secretary of the S.P.G., dated Tollygunge, near Calcutta, 16 July 1825.

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value in m aking a book more acceptable to the public for w hich it was intended.1 In the light o f these proceedings the unfavourable comments m ade b y the A b b e D ubois can h ave little credence since he had no knowledge o f any Indian language save that o f the district in w hich he spent so m uch o f his life. T h e literature produced b y the missionaries undoubtedly had m any faults, but their intense desire to spread Christianity endowed them w ith an application to their literary w ork w hich could not fail to pro­ duce sound results. A t a time w hen Indian languages w ere in their infancy the missionaries were the ch ie f agents in their systematization. W ith their gram m ars and dictionaries they established those languages upon a firm basis. T h e y enriched them w ith new expressions, new words, and new ideas. T h eir numerous printing presses ensured a far w ider circulation o f books than had ever been known before. Fresh w ith the learning and technical devices o f the W est, and fired w ith the spirit o f evangelism, the missionaries gave an impulse to the developm ent o f Indian vernacular literature w hich no indigenous m ovem ent could have supplied and w hich no other European b ody I attem pted to supply. T h e influence o f missionary journalism upon the English press was not so impressive, and the missionaries w ere not the first to arouse interest in periodical publications in English. In spite o f their desire for liberty they took no p art in the agitation for the freedom o f the press during the adm inistration o f Joh n A d am in 1823 and in the early years o f L ord A m herst’s G overnorGeneralship w hen the violence o f Joh n Silk B uckingham ’s articles in the Calcutta Journal had resulted in restrictions upon the whole publishing industry. Perhaps the missionaries’ most valuable contributions were the unfailing political m oderation and the general integrity o f their periodicals at a time o f violent journalistic conflict. T h e Calcutta Journal and the John Bull, representing two opposing factions am ong the European society, engaged in ceaseless altercations until the form er was discontinued b y order o f the G overnm ent. It appeared again as the Scotsman in the East, but very soon died out once more. T h e Calcutta Chronicle was also suppressed on 31 M a y 1827 because the general tone o f its 1 M .R . 1820, pp. 445-6.

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articles h ad been for some time h ighly disrespectful to the governm ent and the C ourt o f Directors. O n ly technical publica­ tions and non-political scholastic journals contrived to avoid becom ing involved in the turm oil o f p arty feeling. T h e leading missionary papers during that excitable period w ere the Monthly Friend o f India, w hich first appeared in A p ril 1818, and the Quarterly Friend o f India w hich followed shortly afterwards. Both were issued b y the Seram pore press. T here w ere others, but they were not so prominent. A m ong them were the Gospel Magazine published b y the L .M .S . from D ecem ber 1819, and the Missionary Herald, printed in C alcutta b y the Baptist M ission.1 T h e two latter w ere chiefly concerned w ith religious subjects and lacked the w ider scope o f the Seram pore publications w hich, in spite o f openly discussing m any questions o f particular moment, were never in danger o f being suppressed. T o introduce references to purely m echanical developments into an account o f the grow th o f Indian literature m ay appear incongruous, but w ithout their printing presses the circulation o f the m any books produced b y the missionaries would have been so restricted as to have rendered their influence com ­ paratively negligible. Printing w ith O riental characters did not originate in the nineteenth century. T h e first vernacular printing press in British India was established in the south b y the S .P .C .K . a hundred years earlier, and an edition o f the N ew Testam ent in T a m il was printed on it.2 In 1718 Bartholom ew Z iegen b alg announced that a paper m ill had been established at T ran q u eb ar and that preparations had been m ade for m aking types, binding books and for the m any other adjuncts o f a publishing business.3 In Bom bay, the Bombay Courier, a news­ paper w hich began to circulate in 1790, used G ujarati type for its advertisements.4 T h e first Bengali type was em ployed in printing H alh ed ’s Grammar o f Bengali at the H ugli press, and the punches were prepared b y M r Charles W ilkins. W ilkins instructed an Ind ian blacksm ith in the art o f m aking type and through the labours o f the latter type-casting becam e dom esticated in Bengal. T h e next printed w ork in Bengali was 1 M .R . 1821, p. 51; 1824, p. 42. 2 N. N . Law, Promotion o f Learning in India by Early European Settlers, p. 105. London, 1915. 3 Missionary Records. India, p. 8. London, 1835. 4 M . Bams, The Indian Press, p. 59. London, 1940.

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Sir E lijah Im p ey’s Code o f R egulations, translated b y Jon ath an D un can and published b y the C o m p an y’s press in 1785. In 1793 the Cornw allis C ode was printed at the same press but w ith a better fount o f type w hich continued to be the standard kind until the Seram pore Baptists introduced im provem ents. U nder the supervision o f W illiam C arey a new D evanagari type was cast containing all the com pound letters, and b y the construction o f certain initial, m edial and final letters the characters cam e into contact as in cursive w riting. This type was o f considerable beauty and had an im portant influence upon the later casting o f founts in the N agari character. Soon afterwards, too, C arey superintended the casting o f the first fount o f O riy a type.1 Particularly im portant advances were m ade at Seram pore in printing in Chinese. In the earlier stages o f the w ork D r M arshm an overcam e the difficulty due to the absence o f any Chinese versed in typographical engraving b y em ploying two men trained in engraving patterns for calico printing. U n d er his direction the two prepared type from blocks o f tam arind wood and m ade possible the publication o f Chinese books in Ind ia.2 Soon it becam e advisable to use the European m ovable m etal type instead o f the w ooden blocks and J . C . M arshm an, son o f D r Joshua M arshm an, prepared the first m etal characters for Chinese printing.3 M r Thom s, printer to the East Ind ia C om pany, continued to urge that on all counts, o f speed, econom y and cheapness o f labour the w ooden block system was to be preferred, but there is no doubt that the introduction o f m etal type b y the missionaries for printing in Chinese enabled books to be published in a m uch handier and less expensive size, particularly since even the cheapest paper could be printed on both sides b y the new er m ethod.4 Also, the expense o f carving wooden blocks arose w ith each new edition because they w ore out so quickly, w hile the m etal type gave five times the num ber o f impressions w ithout im pairing the delicacy o f the lettering. T h e use o f separate m etal characters m ade revision 1 G. Buchanan, The College o f Fort W illiam in Bengal, p. 233. London, 1805. 1 J. C. Marshman, The L ife and Times o f Carey, Marshman and Ward, vol. 1, p. 388. London, 1859. ■ 1 B.M .S. MSS. Letter of W. Ward to Dr Ryland, dated Serampore, 30 April 1817. ■M .R . 1816, p. 292; 1817, p. 372; 1819, p. 58.

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easier too, since a single letter could be changed instead o f h aving to destroy an entire wooden block carved to print a w hole page. Further econom y was m ade possible at Seram pore b y the preparation o f a new fount o f Bengali type which, while clear to read, was small enough to perm it the O ld Testam ent to be included in one or possibly tw o small volumes o f double octavo num bering some 1300 pages. This, the missionaries estimated, w ould save h a lf the expense o f the paper and two-thirds that o f binding, and w hen all economies had been effected they were able to print the Scriptures in almost any language more cheaply than an equal quantity o f letterpress could be printed in E ngland.1 T o com plete the sum m ary o f the Seram pore Baptists’ achievem ents m ention must be m ade o f the paper m ill w hich th ey established on the mission premises. T here they devoted considerable time to im proving the quality o f India-m ade paper. O th er missionary societies had a similar though not so im ­ pressive record. T h e Baptists w ho separated from their col­ leagues at Seram pore established a press and a type foundry at C alcutta, and prepared A rab ic, Persian, N agari, Bengali, O riy a and Burmese type, not only for their own use but also to furnish other societies.2 A t K o tta y am the C .M .S . prepared M a la ya lam type, and b y 1824 their press at M adras was able to print T a m il characters.3 E ven the Scottish missionaries, arriving in the C oncan only late in this period, were able to carry out useful experiments w hich m ade possible the use o f a lithograph press in high tem peratures.4 W ith the object o f im proving and extending the languages and literature o f Ind ia the missionaries’ versatility was exercised to the utmost. A cadem ic ability was closely interm ingled w ith technical skill, and the whole was welded together b y a tireless enthusiasm. W hatever there is o f value in Indian literature and journalism today is generally adm itted to have been virtually non-existent at the end o f the eighteenth century. T h e most im portant factor in its grow th in the earlier p art o f the nine­ teenth century was the contribution o f Christian missionaries. 1 M .R . 1816, p. 181; 1821, pp. 383-4. 3 M .R . 1824, p. 62; 1830, p. 423.

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2 M .R . 1828, p. 81. 4 M .R . 1826, p. 110.

C H A P T E R VII

M E D I C I N E A ND A G R I C U L T U R E M edical w ork was not so autom atically associated w ith missionary activity in the early nineteenth century as it is today, but In d ia’s m edical requirements were no less serious. Epidem ics, particularly o f cholera, were frequent and caused widespread suffering.1 Sm allpox was prevalent and the huge gatherings at H indu festivals brought infection from the most distant provinces. For various reasons m edical services were inadequate even in norm al circumstances. A lth ou gh m any cures for diseases comm on to tropical and sub-tropical areas were know n b y Indians while Europeans were still entirely ignorant o f them, Indian doctors displayed a scant knowledge o f such scientific treatm ent o f illness and disability as h ad been learnt in Europe. Religious scruples w hich forbade H indus to touch a dead b ody prevented them from having experience in dissection and in consequence they knew little about anatom y. O n religious grounds also H indus often resented any attem pt to introduce European medicines into India, and the Brahm ans natu rally displayed an aversion to the practice o f vaccination. T h e missionaries were conscious o f the need for im provem ent and several o f them wrote home advocating a basic training in m edicine for all w ho should be sent to Ind ia to assist them . T h e R ev. B. Schm id o f the C .M .S . at Palam cottah also suggested that the seminarists should be taught some o f the m edical cures o f the country as p art o f their training in the mission school.2 But few o f the missionaries possessed real m edical skill, and those w ho did were not forceful personalities like C arey, Rhenius, K o h lh o ff and D uff, whose activities in other fields produced such astounding results. Frequently, indeed, the missionaries themselves had to rely upon the C om p an y’s surgeons for m edical attention. N or was it so necessary as in other spheres for the missionaries to draw attention to the need for reform, 1 C .R .O . M SS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 98: Letter in the Military Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 15 September 1826, para. 3. 2 C .M .S. MSS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 2, fo. 128; and vol. 3, fos. 165 and 433.

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for the Presidency Governm ents and individual Europeans resident in India displayed a lively interest in the state o f the m edical services. T h e Governm ents were prim arily concerned w ith the treatm ent o f the C om p any’s servants, but their atten­ tion was also directed to the health o f their Indian subjects in general. Lim ited though their funds were, they tried not only to encourage a more scientific study o f m edicine am ong the Indians themselves but also to support the benevolent activities o f some o f the European inhabitants o f the country and to add their own quota to the remedies required. In the face o f such official liberality and interest it was neither possible nor necessary for the missionaries to em bark upon a com parable undertaking. T h e nature o f their work, however, enabled them to m ake a characteristically individual contribu­ tion to the extension o f m edical facilities in India. T h e G overn­ m ent’s m edical services were necessarily lim ited to official stations and their environs. V a st areas were w holly unaffected b y them. Journeying about the country the missionaries were able to take a small am ount o f W estern m edical supplies into outlying districts where they h ad hitherto been unknown and w here deeply-rooted prejudices w ould have prevented the in­ habitants from visiting the G overnm ent dispensaries even if the latter h ad been accessible. Slowly, b y teaching and b y ele­ m entary m edical treatment, the missionaries broke dow n the Indians’ attachm ent to traditional and ineffective methods o f dealing w ith sickness, and w on their confidence in W estern methods. In B engal the Baptist missionary, M r Thom as, was instrum ental in saving a num ber o f lives b y his m edical skill, and in consequence his house was constantly surrounded b y people afflicted w ith various illnesses.1 In the same w ay, the R ev. R ob ert Nesbit o f the Scottish M issionary Society in the C oncan, having cured a m an o f the effects o f snake-bite, found him self possessed o f the confidence o f sufferers from every kind o f disease in that area.2 N ear T inn evelly even the wom en o f the Christian congregation refused to allow M rs W inckler, the wife o f a C .M .S . missionary, to attend to their sick children until all 1 B.M .S. MSS. India (Serampore). ‘ Letters of Carey and others’ : Letter of William Carey to the Baptist Society, dated Hoogly River, Plassey, 10 January 1799. 2 Rev. R. Nesbit, Memoir o f the Rev. Robert Nesbit, ed. J. M . Mitchell, p. 89. London, 1858.

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other means o f cure had failed and they w ere driven to recognize the greater effectiveness o f her remedies.1 T w o other mission­ aries’ wives, M rs W ilson and M rs R eichardt, w ere hailed as benefactresses b y the Indians w herever they travelled in the vicinity o f C alcutta as a result o f the m edical treatm ent they were able to give. T h e governm ent also was so impressed b y their w ork that it granted them an order for medicines from the official dispensary free o f charge.2 I f such incidental contacts were the missionaries’ most characteristic achievements in the m edical field they w ere not the only ones. A lth ou gh their m edical science was generally o f an elem entary nature, one o f the missionaries at least brought, to his w ork a more profound knowledge. F elix C arey, a son o f W illiam Carey, w on the approval o f both the B engal G overn­ m ent and the C ourt o f Directors b y his exertions at R an goon and at the capital o f the kingdom o f A v a .3 T h e first m an to introduce vaccination into Burm a, he gained the interest o f the king o f A v a who, at his own expense, sent C arey to C alcu tta for a supply o f lym ph.4 F elix C arey was only an isolated case. T h e other m ain activities o f the missionaries in the cause o f m edicine la y in a different direction, and were the outcom e o f their views on education. T h ere was already a m edical class at the M adrassa but its teaching was generally know n to be out o f date. H avin g its foundations in the im perfect books o f A rab ian physicians o f form er ages its results were as bad as m ight be expected.5 E arly in the 1820’s the Bengal G overnm ent undertook to provide education in m edicine for H indus, and founded a m edical school at C alcutta to be superintended b y a European having a knowledge o f at least one Indian language. Surgeon Breton, who becam e its first superintendent, added to the efficiency o f the school b y publishing a num ber o f m edical treatises in H industani, and the G overnm ent was h igh ly satisfied w ith the progress o f the students.6 A lth ou gh the school aim ed at giving 1 M .R . 1831, p. 240. * M .R . 1827, p. 3 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 74, fos. 361-3. * J. C. Marshman, The Life and Times o f Carey, Marshman p. 54. London, 1859. 5 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Despatches’, vol. 120, fo. 580. 6 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 116: Letter Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 21 November 1831, para.

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in the Military 14.

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instruction on European lines it was far from perfect. T h e Seram ­ pore Baptists pointed out that W estern m edical science could only be satisfactorily taught in the languages in w hich books w ere im m ediately available in large numbers, nam ely, in one o f the languages o f western Europe. English was the obvious choice. It was w ith this idea that they gained the support o f the G overnm ent for their project o f setting up a European professorship o f m edicine at the Seram pore College in 1822.1 T h e plan did not m aterialize in exactly this form, but the missionaries continued to em phasize the im portance o f teaching m edicine in the English language, and w hen Lord Bentinck instituted inquiries into the possibility o f creating a m edical profession in Ind ia backed b y m odern science their insistence bore fruit. T h e great obstacle to the scheme was the prohibition, real or supposed, o f the H indu Sastras against touching a dead b ody for anatom ical purposes. It was confidently held b y Orientalists that dissection w ould never be practised b y H indus and that it was useless to contem plate it. T h e commission o f inq uiry visited the college o f A lexander D u ff whose firm support o f European instruction has already been noted. T h e students o f the college said they had so far acquired a new outlook as a result o f their European studies that they regarded the pro­ hibition o f the Sastras w ith indifference. D u ff him self reiterated the opinion that Indian students could learn all that Europeans could learn, but only through the m edium o f English. W hatever m ight be said for teaching the hum anities through the classical In d ian tongues, he argued, there were clearly no grounds for teaching science through those languages.2 W ith this authority to fortify the results o f his other inquiries, Bentinck replaced the m edical school b y the M edical College o f C alcutta, where instruction was to be entirely W esternized. N ot very w id ely separated from their m edical w ork were the missionaries’ activities on b eh alf o f the poor, for m any o f w hom poverty was the result o f some physical disability. T h e problem created b y the vast num ber o f beggars in India was virtu ally insoluble, and w hen the system o f outdoor relief was still in­ 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 89: Letter in the Public Dept, to the Court of Directors, dated 1 January 1823, paras. 97-8. 2 W . Paton, Alexander Duff, Pioneer o f Missionary Education, pp. 99-100. London,

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effectively em ployed in England it was unlikely that the Presi­ dency Governm ents in Ind ia w ould evolve the sovereign rem edy. E xcept in the Presidencies themselves, m oreover, scarcely a charitable establishment existed in 1805 to cater for the needs o f the poor or o f widows and orphans.1 In d ividu al Europeans showed their custom ary readiness to subscribe to an y deserving scheme w hich m ight be put forward, but they did not take the initiative. Characteristically, it was left to others to turn to good account the generous bequest, o f Rs. 150,000 m ade b y G eneral C laude M artin in 1800 for the benefit o f the poor o f C alcu tta.2 T h e missionaries w ith their lim ited numbers and m eagre finances could not introduce a widespread scheme o f relief how ­ ever stirred they m ight be b y the sufferings o f the poor. Instead, they adopted the methods w hich proved so efficacious in other branches o f their activities. T h e y dealt w ith the problem in their im m ediate vicinity, em ployed the means at their disposal w hich they felt w ould prove most effective in any p articular circum ­ stances, and thereby provided varied examples w hich m ight be followed b y others w hen the opportunity arose. A t B elgaum and C hu nar almshouses were opened b y the L .M .S . and C .M .S . respectively, the latter institution being built at the expense o f the G overnm ent.3 T h e same two Societies also m ade a w eekly distribution o f food to the poor in the neighbourhood o f their stations at Tinnevelly, T ellich erry and Surat.4 A t Seram pore the Baptists distributed m oney to the lam e and the b lind .5 These efforts could bring help to only a m inute fraction o f In d ia’s poor, but they brought some alleviation to the sufferings o f m any w ho w ould otherwise have been destitute and greatly curtailed m endicity in the districts where the missionaries were at w ork.6 T h e y also disproved the theory that charity w ould only act as an encouragem ent to idleness, since m any people 1 L.M .S. MSS. ‘ South India: General’, box 1, 1796-1812, folder 1, jacket B: Letter of Dr C. S. John to Joseph Hardcastle, dated Tranquebar, 1 February 1805. 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Home Miscellaneous Series’, vol. 488, fo. 165. 3 M .R . 1827, pp. 88 and 488. * C .M .S. M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fos. 265; 29 1-3; and L .M .S . MSS ‘ North India: Gujerati’, box 1, 1817-38, folder 3, jacket B: Account of Gospel Work by Alexander Fyvie, dated Surat, 25 June 1830. 6 Periodical Accounts, vol. 2, no. xiii, p. 446. 6 M .R . 1827, p. 88.

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w ho received relief w hile suffering from some tem porary in­ firm ity glad ly relinquished their claims upon the fund and returned to w ork on recovering their health.1 T h e developm ent o f a country-w ide scheme to deal w ith the problem o f extreme poverty was the only perfect solution, but it was beyond the cap acity o f the Presidency Governm ents to adm inister it. Some form o f action was vitally necessary, and the missionaries, w ith their com bined qualities o f independence and organization, were able to act w hen the G overnm ent or private individuals could not. T y p ica l o f the originality o f the schemes w hich the missionaries evolved was the establishment o f a savings bank at Seram pore in an attem pt to counteract im providence am ong the Indians. T h e plan received w ide­ spread approval and deposits in the first twelve months am ounted to £5000. A fter four years the labour o f m anaging the bank was found to be too great for the missionaries and all the m oney was returned. T h e idea was not wasted, however, for some years later it was taken up b y L ord W illiam Bentinck and a govern­ m ent savings bank was established.2 W hile m edical w ork has b y long association come to be regarded as a norm al function o f missionary societies, it is perhaps surprising that they should have interested themselves in agricultural and horticultural developments. Y e t, insisting that the am elioration o f the whole condition o f life o f the Indian people was inseparable from the m ain object o f conversion to Christianity, the missionaries m ade a num ber o f im portant con­ tributions to Indian farm ing. T h e elder Charles G ran t was am ong the first to make a clear exposition o f the urgent need for im provem ent. In his Observa­ tions on the state o f Society among the Asiatic Subjects o f Great Britain com piled towards the end o f the eighteenth century, he insisted that i f the problem was properly handled Bengal m ight becom e an extrem ely w ealthy province. It w ould require a people in­ telligent in the principles o f agriculture, he said, skilled at m aking the most o f soils and seasons and at im proving the existing methods o f cultivation, pasturage, cattle-rearing and defence against flood or drought. T h e farmers o f Bengal lacked 1 C .M .S . M SS. ‘ South India Mission’, vol. 1, fo. 293. 2 M .R . 1822, p. 67; and J. C. Marshman, The L ife and Times o f Carey, Marshman and Ward, vol. n, p. 225- London, 1859.

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those qualities, and instead o f m aking an y attem pt at im prove.ment believed themselves destined to their sufferings.1 Various inquiries instituted b y the Ea*t In d ia C o m p an y revealed the fact that conditions were sim ilar throughout the C om p an y’s territories, but largely for financial reasons no large-scale plans were produced for dealing w ith the m atter. In spite o f their lim ited resources the missionaries felt them ­ selves bound to take action because they saw that agricultural developm ent formed part o f their whole project o f infusing new life into the country through Christian teaching and W estern learning. In enunciating that policy and in putting it into practice the versatile and w holly indefatigable W illiam C are y was once more pre-eminent. In 1 798, after less than four years’ residence in India, he began to com pile a classified natural history o f Bengal.2 His additions to and comments upon the official catalogue o f plants in the C om p an y’s botanical garden in C alcutta are still to be seen am ong the archives o f the Baptist Mission Society,3 and he later edited the Flora Indica o f R o x ­ burgh w hich was published at Seram pore in 1832.4 In 1831 he delivered a course o f lectures at Seram pore C ollege in w hich he gave a detailed description o f English farm ing, and dem on­ strated the contribution it m ight m ake to the im provem ent o f agriculture in Bengal.5 R ealizin g too the need for the mission­ aries themselves to give a lead, he urged that preference should be shown in choosing future missionaries to m en w ho, apart from their other qualifications, had had experience o f farm ing or gardening.6 Setting the exam ple, he w rote hom e as soon as he was established in India asking for various garden tools and a yearly assortment o f seeds.7 It is interesting to note that it was three years before the G overnm ent in Bengal was aroused to a 1 P .P . 1812-13, vol. 10. 2 B.M .S. MSS. India (Serampore). ‘ Letters of Carey and Others’ : Letter of William Carey to Mr Sutcliffe, dated Madnabatty, 16 January 1798. 3 B.M .S. MSS. ‘ Hortus Bengalensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants growing in the Honourable East India Company’s Garden at C alcutta’, by W . Roxburgh. Serampore, 1814. With MS. additions by W. Carey. 1 E. Carey, Memoir of'W illiam Carey, p. 579. 8 Eleventh Report relative to Serampore College, fo r the Tear ending 31 December 1831. Serampore, 1832. 1 B.M.S. MSS. India (Serampore). ‘ Letters of Carey and others’ : Letter of William Carey to A . Fuller, dated Madnabatty, 16 November 1796. 7 E. Carey, Memoir o f William Carey, p. 191.

Il8

MEDICINE AND AGRICULTURE

realization o f the value o f such a plan, and then only b y chance. M r M allet, a servant o f the East India C om pany w ho had studied agriculture in England and had brought to India various agricultural implements and European grass seed, wished to recover the capital he had expended. H e therefore offered both his purchases and his services to the Governm ent, and they were accepted w ith a view to using any crops w hich m ight be produced as fodder for the C om pany’s stud at T irh u t.1 C arey, m eanwhile, had a w ider objective and in time devised a plan w hich w ould give u nity to all attempts at agricultural im provem ent. H e saw that sporadic inquiries and purely local action could supply no satisfactory solution to the general state o f agriculture. A perm anent organization was needed, having correspondence w ith Europe in order to keep in touch w ith the newest developm ents there and also w ith Englishm en and Indians in all parts o f India. H e realized, further, that the suc­ cess o f such a project required the complete co-operation o f the In d ian leaders. It must not be m erely a governm ent department. T h e G overnm ent itself had established a botanical garden at C alcu tta w hich had achieved some success in extending botanical knowledge. But in 1829 it was freely adm itted that it had done little to prom ote the agricultural and com m ercial interests o f the country. T h e C ivil Finance Com m ittee w hich conducted the inquiry resulting in this report confirmed the missionaries’ view that the lim ited effectiveness o f the G overnm ent’s venture was due to the extrem ely prim itive and correspondingly unco­ operative state o f Indian society.2 In the first planned attem pt to surmount these obstacles, C arey issued a prospectus for the form ation o f an A gricultural and H orticultural Society in India on 15 A p ril 1820. H e had already gained the support o f L a d y Hastings to w hom he had outlined his plan.3 In Europe, C arey pointed out, agriculture h ad profited greatly from the w ork o f similar associations w hich h ad frequently been able to overcom e traditional prejudices and to ensure a fuller use o f scientific discoveries. A n A gri1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Letters Received’, vol. 37: Letter in the Military Dept, from the Governor-General in Council, dated 28 August i 797 > Para- I 9 °_ 2 P .P . 1831-2, vol. ix, p. 327: Extract; letter from the Civil Finance Committee to the Governor-General in Council, dated 1 October 1829. 3 E. Carey, Memoir o f William Carey, p. 544.

” 9

REFORMERS IN I N D I A

cultural Society o f India was p articularly necessary in view o f the backw ard state o f cultivation. Its object w ould not be the increase o f the G overnm ent’s revenue, but the prom otion o f the people’s welfare. It must arouse the Indian landowners to an appreciation o f their responsibility towards their tenants and o f the possibilities w hich their land offered i f properly cultivated, and it must dispel the torpor and prejudices o f the peasantry. These two aims were closely linked, for i f the land produced its full quota o f crops the necessity for rack-renting w ould disappear, and w ith it the debilitating effect w hich it had upon the zeal o f the labouring classes. T h e rew ard o f the Europeans w ho assisted in prom oting these ends w ould not be a financial one, but w ould consist in the satisfaction o f witnessing the im provem ent o f the country, and the increasing respectability and happiness o f its inhabitants.1 It w ould seem im probable that the p lan was likely to endear itself either to the Bengal G overnm ent or to Ind ian landowners for such disinterested motives, and it tended to take an ideal view o f the reactions o f the peasantry. A t the same tim e it held out a prospect o f considerable m aterial advantages. T h e p ro­ spectus itself, outlining a scheme to institute inquiries through­ out India, to encourage new systems o f drainage, o f rotation o f crops and o f m anuring, to undertake experiments w ith new crops and new fruit trees, to introduce European implements, to recover tracts o f waste land, marshes and ju n gle, and to publish periodical accounts o f the work, displayed a breadth o f vision and a systematic approach to the problem w hich promised success. A t a m eeting held on 14 Septem ber 1820 several Indians as w ell as a large num ber o f the leading E uro­ peans resident in C alcutta were present and expressed their desire to participate in the work. In these auspicious circum ­ stances the Society was formed. It was decided that the V ic e ­ President and one o f the Secretaries must be an Indian, and as an earnest o f the Society’s good intentions it was agreed that it should m eet regularly once every three m onths.2 L ord Hastings gave his support at once and becam e Patron o f the Society as a

1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Revenue Consultations’, 9-23 November 1821; Prospectus of an Agricultural and Horticultural Society in India, 9 November 1 2 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Revenue Consultations’, 9-23 November 1821; Entry no. 2, for 9 November.

120

MEDICINE AND AG RICU LTURE

tribute to its founders. A lth ou gh he felt that the approval o f the G overnm ent w ould be o f inestim able value to the Society he did not consider it necessary to involve the form er in any serious expense. W ith these sentiments the C ourt o f Directors was in full agreem ent.1 A cautious financial policy was typical o f the East India C om p an y’s officials both in E ngland and in Ind ia throughout this period, and resulted in retrenchm ent rather than develop­ m ent even in so im portant a m atter as In d ia’s m ain source o f incom e. It was left therefore to private individuals to encourage and initiate schemes for agricultural im provem ent. W hile the G overnm ent curtailed the expenses o f the botanical gardens in C alcu tta and abolished the offices o f Botanist and N aturalist at M adras, D r K oenig, the famous naturalist o f the Danish Mission at Tranq ueb ar, kept a nursery o f the most useful trees and plants in the mission garden, and m ade them available for Europeans and Indians living in the surrounding district.2 It was W illiam C are y ’s w ork in his ow n botanical garden at Seram pore also w hich provided the genesis o f his plan for an A gricultural and H orticultural Society. O nce again the catholicity o f the missionaries’ activities supplied an exam ple for future developments. 1 C .R .O . MSS. ‘ Bengal Revenue Consultations’, 9-23 November 1821: Entry no. 1, for 9 November, and Bengal Despatches, vol. 97, fos. 872-3. 2 S.P.G. MSS. ‘ C . India’, 11. 2, no. 35: Copy of a letter of Dr C. S. John and the Rev. J. P. Rottler to Lord William Bentinck, dated Vepery, near Madras, 16 October 1806.

121

EPILOGUE B y 1833 the missionaries had established their position as essential contributors to the developm ent o f India. N o w that they could enter the country w ithout a licence from the East India C om pany their activities expanded steadily. Conversions cam e very largely from am ong the pariahs and lowest castes, but the effects o f the missionaries’ w ork w ere felt am ong the higher castes in various ways, p articularly in the field o f social developm ent. Y e t the achievements o f the earlier missionaries betw een 1793 and 1833 rem ain the most striking o f all, because missionaries are pioneers b y tem peram ent, and their genius is most evident before others have decided to participate in their work. C om ­ pared w ith the reluctant and tardy acceptance b y the East Ind ia C om pany o f the responsibilities to w hich it had inadvertently become heir, the creative schemes o f W illiam C are y or Claudius Buchanan, or o f others whose names are less famous, stand out in their bold originality. T h e missionaries, though an external force, provided an impulse towards social reform in Ind ia sim ilar in m an y respects to that supplied b y individual Englishm en and b y volun tary societies in E ngland in the early nineteenth century. In the latter country it becam e ultim ately necessary for the G overn ­ m ent not only to take cognizance o f the new movem ents but also to intervene in them and to take the greater burden o f responsibility for their further developm ent. So too in India, the British authorities gradu ally cam e to participate more extensively in social reform, and, as in England, in p art absorbed the w ork o f the pioneers in their w ider plan. T h e Christian flavour w hich the missionaries had infused into all their activities still rem ained, however, to im part a vital spirit o f individuality w hen the characteristics o f the pioneer and the missionary becam e necessarily less pronounced than those o f the adm inistrator and the pastor. T h e increasingly im portant p art played b y the Indians them ­ selves in the new reform ing movements also m eant that the 122

EPILOGUE

exclusive reliance upon external influences w hich characterized the pioneer stage o f developm ent were steadily replaced b y an interm ixture o f indigenous ideas w ith foreign theories and m ethods. T h en , it was possible for the missionaries to make fuller use o f their position, m idw ay between the G overnm ent and its Indian subjects, to foster the most valuable features o f In d ian civilization and to m ingle them judiciously w ith their Christian teaching. This tendency becam e an increasingly im portant factor in all branches o f the missionaries’ work, and was, indeed, essential to the m ature developm ent o f the missionaries’ plans for evangelization and reform.

123

APPENDIX A

L I S T OF G O V E R N O R S - G E N E R A L i 7 9 3 ~ i 8 33 Sir Joh n M arquess E arl Sir

Shore,

1793-1798

W ellesley,

C orn w allis,

George

1798-1805

1805

B arlow ,

1805-1807

L o r d M into,

1807-1813

Lord

(Marquess of Hastings), 1813-1823

M oira

J o h n Adam,

1823

Lord

Am herst,

Lord

W illiam

1823-1828 B entinck,

124

1828-1835

APPENDIX B

L I S T OF T H E P R O T E S T A N T C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N A R I E S A T W O R K IN I N D I A 17 9 3 -18 3 3 A number o f missionaries were successively engaged b y more than one Society. This is indicated as follows: b see c d k I n p

also ,, „ „ „ „ „

Baptist Missionary Society. Church Missionary Society. R o ya l Danish (Lutheran) Mission. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. London Missionary Society, Netherlands Missionary Society. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. D a te of A rea

(L U T H E R A N )

of

of

or

activity

arrival

death (d.)

m issio n

C . S. Jo h n

departure

:

South

1778

South

1788

South

—

CO

R O Y A L DAN ISH

A: J . P. R ottler A . F. Caem errer

D ate

_

*

d. 1813

SO C IE TY FO R P R O M O T IN G CH RISTIAN K N O W L E D G E :

Christian Frederick Schw artz

South

1750

Christian Pohle

South

1778

p J o h n C asp ar K o h lh o ff

South

1788

1826

d C . W . Gericke

South

1788

d. 1803

J . D . Jaen icke

South

1788

d. 1800

C . H . H orst

South

1792

d. 1810

I W . T . R in geltau b e

N orth

1797

1799

I W . T . R in geltau b e

South

1806

1807

South

1797

d. I 79 8 d . 1818

South

1803

d . 1824 1826

C . W . Paezold

South

1804

d. 18 17

C . A . J a co b i

South

1813

d. 1814

p , d J . P. R ottler

South

18 17

1826

South

1819

1826

H olzberg p H . D . Schreyvogel

p L . P. H au broe *

A dash in the last colum n implies that the missionary was still active

in 1833. !2 5

R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A D a te o f A rea

D a te

departure

of

of

or

activity

arrival

death (d.)

J . G . P. Sperchneider p D . Rosen

South

1819

1826

South

1819

1826

Ernest A . G . Falke

South

1822

d. 1824

B A P T IS T M ISSIO N A R Y S O C IE T Y :

_

W illiam C arey

N orth

Jo h n Thom as

N orth

1793 1793

d. 1801

Jo h n Fountain

N orth

1796

d. 1800

W illiam G ran t

N o rth

D an iel Brunsdon

N orth

d - 1799 d. 1801

W illiam W ard

N orth

Joshua M arshm an

N orth

1799 1799 1799 1799

Felix C arey

N orth

1800

1807

Jo h n Cham berlain

N orth

1803

d. 1821

Joshua R ow e

N orth

1805

d. 1823

Jo h n Biss

N o rth

1805

d. 1806

W illiam M oore

N orth

1805

R ich ard M ardon

N orth

1805

J . C hater

N orth

1806

1811

W . Robinson

N orth

1806

1812

d. 1823 —

—

d. 1812

Ignatius Fernandez

N orth

1806

—

W illiam C arey (Junior)

N orth

1808

—

Carapeit A ratoon

N orth

1809

J o h n Peter

N orth

1809

1821 1813

—

W illiam Johns

N orth

1809

— Cornish

N orth

1810

1812

H . Peacock

N orth

1810

d . 1821 d. 1825

J o h n Lawson

N orth

1810

J. T . Thom pson

N orth

1810

W illiam Thom as

N orth

1811

D . D a C ruz

N orth

1811

1826

D e Bruyn

N orth

d. 18 17

L . M ackintosh

N orth

1812 1812

N . K err

N orth

1816

1828

—

W . Sm ith

N orth

1812 1813

W . Yates

N orth

1814

1827

D a Silva

N orth

1815

1819

Eustace C arey

N orth

1816

1824

J . R an dall

N orth

1816

d. 1819

Jam es Penney

N orth

1816

W . H . Pearce

N orth

18 17

Stephen Sutton

N orth

18 17

1823

W illiam A d a m

N orth

18 17

1821

Ja b ez C arey

N orth

1819

126

—

— —

—

APPENDIX B D a te o f A rea

D a te

of

of

departure or

activity

arrival

death (d.)

O w e n Leonard

N orth

1819

J o h n Johannes (schoolmaster)

N orth

1821

J o h n M a c k (professor)

N orth

1821

J o h n H arle

N orth

1821

d. 1822

J o h n Stratham

N orth

1822

1827

R . Richards

N orth

1822

— H am p ton

N orth

1822

J . W illiam son

N orth

1823

J . C . Fin k

N orth

1823

A n d rew Leslie

N orth

1824

J o h n M arshm an

N orth

1824

— A lbrech t

N orth

1824

T hom as Sw an

N orth

1825

W illiam K irkpatrick

N orth

W . R obinson

N orth

1825 1826

1825

d. 1825 1828

R ich ard Burton

N orth

1826

d. 1828

— Fenw ick

N orth

1826

1827

Jam es Thom as

N orth

1826

G . Pearce

N orth

1826

W . Buckingham

N orth

1827

Jam es R a e

N orth

1829

J . D . Ellis

N orth

1831

J o h n Law rence

N orth

1831

H en ry B eddy

N orth

1832

— de M o n te

N orth

1833

L O N D O N M ISSIO N A R Y SO C IE TY

N ath an iel Forsyth

N orth

1798

G eorge C ran

South

1804

d. 1809

A ugustus des Granges

South

1804

d. 1810

k W illiam T obias R ingeltau be

South

1804

1806

k W illiam T o bias R in geltau b e

South

1807

1816

W illiam Charles Loveless

South

1805

1824

J o h n T a ylo r

South

1805

1806

W illiam Lee

South

1809

1817

J o h n Gordon

South

1810

d. 1828

J o h n H ands

South

1810

d. 1816

E d w a rd Pritchett

South

1811

d. 1820

J o h n T hom pson

South

1812

d. 1812

R ob ert M a y

N orth

d. 1818

Jam es D aw son

South

1812 1815

Joseph T a y lo r

South

1815

W illiam F yv ie

W est

1815

Jam es Skinner

W est

1815

127

d. 1832

d.

1821

REFORMERS IN IN DI A D a te o f A rea

D a te

departure

of

of

or

activity

arrival

death (d.)

Jam es K e ith

N orth

1816

H en ry T o w n le y

N orth

1816

d. 1822 1822

R ich ard K n ill

South

1816

1819 —

Charles M e a d

South

1816

W illiam R eeve

South

1816

Sam uel Render

South

1816

1818

Jo h n D a v id Pearson

N orth

18 17

d . 1831

N orth

18 17

1821

W est

18 17

d. 1818

b Jo h n H arle John Donaldson

—

R obert Flem ing

South

1818

1819

John H am pson

N orth

1819

d. 1820

Sam uel T raw in

N orth

1819

d. 1827

Thom as Nicholson

South

1819

d. 1822

Cornelius Traveller

South

1819

1823

G eorge H arve y Ashton

South

1819

Charles M a u lt

South

1819

Jo h n Sm ith

South

1820

1824

A ndrew Forbes

South

1820

1821

Stephen Laidler

South

1820

1827

M a tth e w Thom son A d a m

N orth

1820

1830

G eorge M u n d y

N orth

1820

E dw ard R a y

N orth

1820

W illiam H u g h Bankhead

N orth

1821

d. 1822

H iram Cham bers

South

1821

d. 1826

— —

—

1831

W illiam H ow ell

South

1821

—

A lexander F yvie

W est

1822

—

E dm u n d Crisp

South

1822

Thom as Brown (printer)

N orth

1822

d. 1822

Jam es H ill

N orth

1822

1833

M ica ia h H ill

N orth

1822

Joseph Bradley W arden

N orth

1822

d. 1826 1827

Jam es W illiam M assie

South

1823

Jo h n Em anuel N im m o

South

1823

W illiam C row

South

1823

—

—

—

1825

W illiam C am p b ell

South

1824

—

W illiam T a y lo r

South

1824

—

G eorge W alton

South

1824

Jo h n Edm onds

N orth

1824

—

1826

Charles Piffard

N orth

1825

W illiam Beynon

South

1825

T hom as Salm on

W est

1825

I ^33 1827

A d a m Lillie

South

1826

Bennington H aill Paine (printer)

South

1826

Jam es Robertson

N orth

1826

128

— —

—

d . 1833

APPENDIX B D a te o f A re a

D a te

departure

of

of

or

activity

arrival

death (d.)

_ _ _

A lphon se Frangois L a cro ix

N orth

1827

W illiam B aw n A ddis

South

1827

W illiam M iller

South

1827

Jam es Charles Thom pson H en ry Crisp

South

1827

South

1827

d. 1831 d. 1831

R o b e rt Jennings J o h n Sm ith

South

1827

South

1828

John A dam

N orth

1828

____

____

d . 1831

G eorge Christie

N orth

1830

1832

T h o m as K ilp in H iggs J o h n R e id

N orth

1830

d. 1832

South

1830

—

W illiam Buyers

N orth

1831

____

W illiam Harris

South

1831

1832

O rlan d o T h o m as D o b b in

N o rth

1832

1832

Jam es Paterson

N orth

1832

J o h n Bilderbeck

South

1832

—

W illiam H ayles D rew

South

—

Charles M iller

South

1832 1833

J o h n C am p b ell

N orth

i 8 3 3

R o b e rt C o tto n M ath er

N orth

i 8 3 3

J o h n A d a m Shurm an

N orth

1 8 3 3

— — — —

A M E R I C A N B O A R D OF C O M M ISSIO N ER S F O R F O R E I G N MISSIONS:

Sam uel N o tt

W est

1812

1815

Sam uel N ew ell

W est

1812

d . 1821

G ordon H all

W est W est

1812 1816

d . 1826

H oratio Bardwell J o h n Nicholls

W est

1818

d. 1824

1821

A llen Graves

W est

1818

—

Jam es G arrett (printer)

W est

1821

—

E d m u n d Frost

W est

1823

C yrus Stone

W est

1827

—

D a v id O lliv er A llen

W est

1827

—

d. 1825

C H U R C H M ISSIO NARY S O C IE T Y :

J o h n Christian Schnarre

South

1814

Charles T heophilus E w a ld R henius

South

1814

d. 1820 —

Christopher G o ttb o ld Schroeter

N orth

1815

d. 1820

W illiam G reenw ood

N orth

1815

T hom as N orton

South

1815

1828 —

Benjam in Bailey

South

1816

—

T h o m as D aw son

South

1816

1818

D eocar Schm id

N orth

18 17

1820

L . Bernhard E . Schm id

South

1817

9

129

— IRI

R E F O R M E R S IN I N D I A D a te o f departure

A rea

D a te

of activity

arrival

death (d.) 1828

or

of

Jo h n A dlin gton

N orth

1817

H en ry Baker G eorge Theophilus Barenbruck

South

1818

South

1818

1831

Joseph Fenn

S o u th '

1818

1826

Jo h n A n d rew Jetter

N orth

1819

1824

W illiam Jam es Deerr

N orth

1819

N orth

1820

1829 1821

Thom as M orris

.

—

—

Benedict L a R och e

N o rth

1820

Jo h n Perowne

N o rth

1820

1827

Jam es R idsdale

South

1820

d . 1831

R ich ard K e n n ey

W est

1820

1826

W illiam Bow ley

N orth

1820

South and

1820

Isaac W ilson

—

d . 1828

N orth Joseph Bailey

South

1820

1823

A b d u l Messih

N orth

1820

d . 1827

W illiam Sawyer

South

1822

1829

Ja co b M aisch

N orth

1822

d. 1825

Theophilus R eichard t

N o rth

1822

M ich a el W ilkinson

N orth

1823

Joseph B eddy

South

1824

Sam uel R idsdale Jo h n W illiam Doran

South

1824

South

1825

W . M itchell Jo h n Steward

W est

1826

W est

1826

1828

n John K indlinger

South

1827

d . 1829

n Jo h n W inckler

South

1827

Paul Pacifique Schaffter

South

1827

Jo h n L a th am

N orth

1827

1830

Charles Friend

N orth

1828

d. 1828 1831

— —

1825 —

0

CD 00 —

— '

—

R a lp h Eteson

N orth

1828

Jam es M orew ood

South

1829

—

Charles Pinhorn Farrer

W est

1829

—

Jo h n B. D ixon

W est

1829

—

T im o th y Sandys

N orth

1830

—

Charles Blackm an

South

1830

—

Joseph M arsh

South

1830

Stephen L em a

South

1830

—

W illiam Sm ith

N orth

1830

—

Jo h n D evasagayam

South

1830

—

Jo h n W eitbrecht

N orth

1830

—

Jam es Thom pson

N o rth

1830

—

E dw ard D ene

South

1830

—

Peter Fjellstedt

South

1831

—

130

d. 1831

APPENDIX B D a te o f A re a

D ate

departure

of

of

or

activity

arrival

death (d.)

H en ry Christian K ruckeberg

N orth

1831

—

J o h n Jam es M u ller

South

1831

—

W illiam M orse

N orth

1832

—

J o h n H aberlin

N orth

1832

—

Charles G o ttlob K n o rp p

N orth

1832

—

Benjam in Charles L eu p o lt

N orth

1832

—

J o h n Lin cke

N orth

1832

—

Joseph Peet

South

1833

—

G eorge P ettitt

South

1833

—

J o h n T u ck er

South

1833

—

H en ry Snashall

South

1833

—

W E S L E Y A N M ISSIO N A R Y S O C IE TY :

J o h n H orner

W est

1816

Jam es L yn ch

South

1816

1824

T itu s Close

South

1818

1823

Joseph Fletcher

W est

1819

E lija h H oole

South

1820

1822 1828

1822

T . H . Squance

South

1820

Jam es M o w att

South

1820

1822 —

Jo h n K a tts

South

1822

1826

A b ra h a m Stead

South

1823

1824

J o h n F. E ngland

South

1824

J o h n F. E ngland

South

1827

1825 —

R o b e rt Carver

South

1825

T . J . W illiam son

South

1825

— d . 1827 ,—

A lfred Bourne

South

1827

Jose J. M artens

South

S. H ard ey

South

1827 1828

— —

T . C ryer

South

1829

—

N E T H E R L A N D S M I S S I O N A R Y S O C IE

c J o h n K in dlinger

South

1821

1827

I A . F. L acroix

N orth

1821

1827

c J . C . W inckler

South

1823

1827

p J o h n Lewis Irion

South

1823

1827

South

1821

_

jew s

s o c ie t y

:

M ich a el Sargon G E N E R A L B A P T IS T M ISSIO N:

W . Bam pton

N orth

1822

d. 1830

J- Peggs C . Lacey

N orth

1822

1825

N orth

1823

—

9-2

REFORM ERS

IN

IN D IA D a te 0 A rea

D a te

departui

of

of

or

activity

arrival

death (c

A . Sutton

N o rth

1825

J . Cropper

N orth

1828

— d. 1828

W . Brown

N orth

1830

—

J . G oadby

N orth

1833

--

SCO TT ISH M ISSIO N A R Y S O C IE T Y :

d. 1823

D o n ald M itchell

W est

1823

Jam es M itchell

W est

1823

—

A lexander Crawford

W est

1823

—

J o h n Cooper

W est

1823

—

Jo h n Stevenson

W est

1824

—

R ob ert Nesbit

W est

1827

—

Jo h n W ilson

W est

1829

—

S O C IE TY FO R TH E P R O P A G A T IO N

OF T H E

GOSPEL:

W illiam H od ge M ill

N orth

Thom as Christian

N orth

1821 1823

d. 1827

W illiam T w ed d le

N orth

1824

d. 1832

W illiam M orton

N orth

1825

1830

M . G . Sarjant

N orth

1825

Frederick Holmes

N orth

1825 1826

M a tth e w R oq u e de M ello

N orth

1826

—

Charles C raven

N orth

1826

1827

—

k H . D an iel Schreyvogel

South

1826

k L . P. H aubroe

South

1826

— —

k J . C . K o h lh o ff

South

1826

—

d k j . P. R ottler

South

1826

k D . Rosen

South

1826

d . 1830

N orth South

1827 1828

1828 —

W illiam Birrell n J. L . Irion

—

Peter M . D . Wissing

South

1828

1831

J o h n H eavyside

South

1830

1831

G eorge D u n b ar H au ghton

N orth

1830

1831

E . J . Jones

N orth

1833

—

Jam es Bowyer

N orth

1833

—

D an iel Jones

N orth

1833

—

Joseph Jam es Carshore

N orth

1833

—

Charles C althorp

South

!8 3 3

—

N o rth

1830

E S T A B L I S H E D C H U R C H OF S C O T L A N D :

A lexander D u ff

132

APPENDIX G

MAP I N D E X T h e m a p h a s b e e n c o m p ile d fr o m b o th m a n u s c r ip t a n d p u b lis h e d so u rces o f a n e x tr e m e ly v a r ie d c h a r a c te r , as n o o n e so u r ce e ith e r in t h e fo r m o f a m a p o r o f a p r in te d list o f m issio n s ta tio n s g iv e s m o r e t h a n a fr a c t io n o f th e d e ta ils in c o r p o r a te d h e re . T h e v o lu m e s o f th e M is s io n a r y R e g is te r fo r th e y e a rs 1 8 1 3 - 3 3 p r o b a b l y c o n t a in th e m o st in fo r m a tio n , b u t it m u s t b e sifte d fr o m a m ass o f o th e r m is sio n a r y in te llig e n c e .

S in c e th e R e g is te r w a s p u b lis h e d in E n g la n d , h o w e v e r ,

its c o n te n ts w e r e f r e q u e n t ly b a s e d u p o n in a d e q u a t e o r co n fu s e d rep o r ts , a n d in a c c u r a c ie s w e r e n u m e r o u s , p a r tic u la r ly w it h r e g a r d to d a te s.

M a n y o th e r sou rces c o n t a in th e s a m e fa u lt, a n d o fte n

q u o t e th e d a te w h e n th e e s ta b lis h m e n t o f a s ta tio n w a s first c o n ­ t e m p la te d r a th e r t h a n th e a c tu a l d a te o f its fo u n d in g .

I t is b e lie v e d ,

h o w e v e r , t h a t th e se errors h a v e b e e n a v o id e d in th e a c c o m p a n y in g lis t l a r g e l y as a r e s u lt o f re fe r e n c e to m a n u s c r ip t reco rd s. T h e list n o w sets o u t th e d a te s a t w h ic h th e sta tio n s w e r e fo u n d e d to g e th e r w it h th e n a m e s o f th e so cieties w h ic h fo u n d e d th e m .

I f a s ta tio n w a s

c lo s e d d u r in g th e p e r io d c o v e r e d b y th is b o o k th e la tte r d a te is also record ed . I n c o m p ilin g th e m a p i t w a s in te n d e d to s h o w o n ly th o se sta tio n s w h ic h w e r e e ff e c t iv e ly o c c u p ie d b u t i t w a s d iffic u lt to fin d a d e fin i­ tio n o f e ffe c tiv e o c c u p a tio n .

A l l s ta tio n s a t w h ic h a m is sio n a r y w a s

r e s id e n t, e v e n i f fo r b a r e ly a y e a r , a r e in c lu d e d .

O t h e r sta tio n s

w h ic h w e r e fo u n d e d b y m issio n aries w h o le ft th e m in c h a r g e o f t r a in e d I n d i a n c o n v e r ts w h e n th e in itia l w o r k w a s o v e r, a n d re ­ tu r n e d fr o m tim e to tim e to su p erv ise th e a c tiv itie s in p ro gress, a r e also in c lu d e d .

S o , to o , a r e th o se sta tio n s fo u n d e d b y a n

I n d ia n

C h r is tia n s e n t o u t b y o n e o r o th e r o f th e m is s io n a r y so cieties a n d la t e r s u p p o r te d b y v isits fr o m E u r o p e a n m issio n aries.

O u t-s t a t io n s

w h e r e r e g u la r s u p e r v is io n w a s p o s sib le a r e also m a r k e d o n th e m a p b u t th e rest a r e o m itte d .

I t is fa ir to a ssu m e t h a t th e effects o f

m is s io n a r y a c t i v i t y w e r e fe lt fo r a r a d iu s o f s e v e r a l m iles r o u n d th e m issio n s ta tio n s.

•

In 1793 the missionaries were stationed almost entirely in the south or along the coasts o f the peninsula. During the twenty years which followed, the greatest changes were the opening o f stations in Bengal b y the Baptists and the reinforcement o f missionary activity in southern India b y the arrival o f representatives o f the London Missionary Society. T h e increase in the number o f stations was not 133

REFORMERS IN IN D I A

very large, however. The renewal of the East India Company s Charter in 1813 brought with it a reduction of the restrictions upon the free entry of missionaries into India, and from that year the extension of missionary activity \vas much greater. L IS T

OF

A B B R E V IA T IO N S

USED

IN

A .B .M .

A m erican Board o f Missions.

B .M .S .

Baptist Mission Society.

C .M .S .

C h u rch M issionary Society.

TH E

M AP

IN D E X

E .C .S .M .

Established C h u rch o f Scotland Mission.

G .B .M . J .S .

G eneral Baptist Mission. Lond on Society for Prom oting C hristianity am ong

L .M .S .

Lond on M issionary Society.

the Jews. N .M .S .

Netherlands M issionary Society.

R .C .

R om a n C ath o lic Missions.

R .D .M .

R o y a l D anish (Lutheran) Mission.

S .M .S . S .P .C .K .

Scottish M issionary Society. Society for Prom oting Christian K n ow ledge.

S .P .G .

Society for the Propagation o f the Gospel.

W .M .S .

W esleyan M ethodist M issionary Society.

A g ra

R .C . 15 9 5 -18 0 3 ; B .M .S . 1 8 1 1 - 1 6 ; C .M .S . 1813.

A h m ad ab ad S .P .G . 1830—31. A jm er

B .M .S . 1819.

A kyab

B .M .S . 1826.

A lla h a b a d

B .M .S . 1814.

A llep ey

C .M .S . 1816.

Balasore

B .M .S . 1 8 x 0 -1 7 ; G .B .M . 1827.

Bandra

C .M .S . 1828.

Bangalore

L .M .S . 1820; W .M .S . 18 2 1-2 3 , 1826.

Bankot

S .M .S . 1823.

Bareilly

C .M .S . 18 18 -2 4 ; 1828.

Barisal

B .M .S . 1829.

Belgaum

L .M .S . 1820.

Bellary

L .M .S . 1810.

Benares

B .M .S . 1 8 17 ; C .M .S . 1 8 17 ; L .M .S . 1820.

Berham pore B .M .S . 1 8 14 -2 3 ; L .M .S . 1824. Bhagalpur

S .P .G . 1824-27.

Birbhum (Suri)

B .M .S . 1819—20; 1822.

B om bay

R .C . 1534; B .M .S . 1812 o n ly; A .B .M . 18 13 ; W .M .S .

Burdw an

C .M .S . 1817.

C a lcu tta

B .M .S . 1801; S .P .C .K . 18 14 ; C .M .S . 18 16; L .M .S .

C a lic u t

R .C . 1500.

Can n an ore

R .C . 1534; C .M .S . 18 17 -2 4 .

18 16 -2 2 ; C .M .S . 1820; S .M .S . 1823.

18 17 ; S .P .G . 1820; E .C .S .M . 1830; W .M .S . 1830.

134

APPENDIX C C aw np ore

B .M .S . 18 19 ; S .P .G . 1833.

Chinsurah

L .M .S . 1798; N .M .S . 1 8 2 1-2 6 ; S .P .G . 1826.

C h ittago n g

B .M .S . 1812.

C h ittu r

L .M .S . 1826.

C h u n ar

C .M .S . 1814.

C o ch in Coim batore C u ddalore

R .C . 1534; C .M .S . 18 17 ; J .S . 1821. L .M .S . 1831. S .P .C .K . 1 7 3 7 -1 8 2 5 ; S .P .G . 1825.

Cuddapah

L .M .S . 1822.

C u tta ck

G .B .M . 1822.

D a cca

B .M .S . 1817.

D am an

R .C . 1534.

D e lh i

B .M .S . 1 8 17 ;

D h arw ar

L .M .S . 1830.

D ig a h

B .M .S . 18 11.

D in ajpu r

B .M .S . 1804.

D iu

R .C . 1534.

Dum D um

B .M .S . 1816.

C .M .S .

18 25 -2 7.

Farrukhabad B .M .S . 1823 only. F ateh garh

B .M .S . 18 2 1-2 7 .

G a n ja m

L .M .S . 1 8 1 3 -1 7 .

G a u h a ti

B .M .S . 1829.

G aya

B .M .S . 18 15 -2 2 .

Goa

R .C . 1510.

G orakhpur

C .M .S . 1824.

H arn a i

S .M .S .

H enripur

C .M .S . 18 2 1-2 5 .

Ja ga n n a th

G .B .M . 1824.

1824.

Ja n gip u r

B .M .S . 1823 only.

Ja u n p u r

C .M .S . 1831.

Jessore

B .M .S . 1807.

K a ira

L .M .S . 1830^32.

K a ln a

C .M .S . 18 2 5 -3 1.

K a rn a l

C .M .S . 1827.

K a tw a

B .M .S . 1804.

K o tta y a m

C .M .S . 18 17.

K rish nagar

C .M .S . 1831.

K u m b a k o n am

L .M .S . 1825.

L u ckn o w M ad ras

C .M .S . 1825 —27 L .M .S . 1805; C .M .S . 18 15 ;

M a h im

A .B .M . 1818-28.

M a ld a M an ga lo re

B .M .S . 1 7 9 4 - 9 9 ; 18 0 8 -13; 18 13 -2 2 . R .C . 1670.

M a y a v a r a m C .M .S . 1825. M eeru t

C .M .S . 1815.

M idn ap ore

B .M .S . 18 18 -2 4.

M onghyr

B .M .S . 1816.

M u rsh id ab ad

W .M .S . 1817.

B .M .S .

1816—23.

*35

REFORM ER S IN IN D I A M u ttr a

B .M .S . 1837.

M ym en singh B .M .S . 1823 only. N agracoil

L .M .S . 1805.

N asik

C .M .S . 1833.

N eg a p a ta m

S .P .C .K . 1 7 8 5 -18 0 ? ; W .M .S . 18 2 1; S .P .G . 1833.

N ellore

C .M .S . 1824-25.

N eyyu r

L .M .S . 1827.

Palam cottah

S .P .C .K . 17 7 8 -1 8 2 5 ; C .M .S . 1820; S .P .G . 1825.

P atn a

R .C . 1706; B .M .S . 1 8 1 2 -1 7 .

Pondicherry

R .C . 1664.

Pulicat

N .M .S . 1 8 2 1 -2 7 ; C .M .S . 1827.

Q u ilo n

L .M .S . 1821.

Sadras

N .M .S . 18 23-2 7.

St T h o m e

R .C . c. 1540.

Salem

L .M .S . 1827.

Sardhana

B .M .S . 18 13 -14 .

Serampore

B .M .S . 1799.

Seringapatam Surat

L .M .S . 1824; W .M .S . 1826. B .M .S . 1 8 1 3 -1 9 ; L .M .S . 1815.

Sylhet

B .M .S . 1 8 13 -19 .

T a m lu k

B .M .S . 182c only.

T an jo re Tellicherry

S .P .C .K . 17 3 2 -18 2 5 ; S .P .G . 1825. C .M .S . 1817.

Thana

A .B .M . 1 8 1 7 -2 7 ; C .M .S . 18 27-28 .

Thom e

R .C . c. 1540.

T iru p patu r

L .M .S . 1828.

T ita ly a h

C .M .S . 1816—17.

T o llyg a n j

L .M .S . 1 8 19 -2 3 ; S .P .G . 1823.

T ran qu eb ar

R .D .M . 17 0 6 -1 8 1 6 ; C .M .S . 18 16 -2 5 .

T richin op oly S .P .C .K . 17 6 6 -1 8 2 5 ; S .P .G . 1825. V a d ad e lli

C .M .S . 1 8 1 7 -1 9 .

V ello re

S .P .C .K . 1 7 8 2 -18 2 5 ; S .P .G . 1825.

V epery V irap oli

S .P .C .K . 17 2 8 -18 2 5 ; S .P .G . 1825. R .C . 1656.

V iza g a p a ta m L .M .S . 1805.

136

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BIBLIOGRAPHY U N PU B LISH E D

SOURCES

Society f o r the Propagation o f the Gospel S .P .G . H ouse, 15 T u fto n Street, Westminster, S.W . 1

M y sources at the headquarters o f the S.P.G . consisted o f original letters, both official and private, to and from missionaries o f the S .P .C .K ., S.P .G ., and C .M .S ., together with reports o f the District Committees o f the S.P.G . in India. These are kept in boxes Under general headings. Each letter or report is enclosed in a folder giving a brief summary o f its subject-matter together with the names o f the writer and recipient, and the date. N o index has been made, however. M ost useful were the boxes ‘ C . In d ia ’, 1. 1,1. 5, and 1. 6, dealing w ith the Bengal Presidency, and boxes ‘ C . In d ia ’, 11. 2,11. 3,11. 4, and 11. 5, relating to the Presidency o f Fort St George and the South India Mission. T h e box entitled ‘ Dio. M ad ra s’ is unsorted and con­ tains only a few letters written between 1793 and 1833. T h e other boxes o f sorted correspondence in the two series ‘ C . India ’, 1 and 11, and the unsorted box ‘ M ad ra s’, contain nothing which has any bearing on the subject o f this book. Baptist M ission Society T h e M ission H ouse, L o w er Street, K ettering, Northants

T h e Baptist Society’s manuscripts consist of miscellaneous letters and journals, in packages or collected into volumes. T h e catalogue was destroyed during the war and the manuscripts are now classified only under the general heading on each package or volume. T h e following collections contain material which I have incorporated in this book: (1) Packet no. A 1: Letters o f D r Carey, M arshman and W ard and others in India, and also o f Andrew Fuller, D r R yland, etc. T h e package also contains other letters from America, Prussia and France. T h e y are not arranged in any special sequence. (2) Packet no. A 2: Letters from members o f the Carey family and others, chiefly to W illiam Carey. T h e y are not in chronological order. (3) India (Serampore). A packet o f M SS. comprising letters of C a rey and others, but not in chronological order as the label suggests. 137

REFORMERS IN IN DI A

(4) R ev. J. M arshm an’s Correspondence, 1799-1826. Original letters and portions o f M arshm an’s journal assembled in one volume, and for the most part arranged in chronological order. Some o f the letters are dated 1827, and some were written b y Mrs H annah Marshman. (5) M S . duplicates o f the letters o f Andrew Fuller, Secretary to the B .M .S., written to the Baptist missionaries at Serampore between 25 M arch 1794 and 11 February 1815. O n e quarto volume. (6) M S . duplicates of two letters from M r Brunsdon and W . W ard to J. Sutcliff and A . Fuller, dated Decem ber 1799 and February 1800, and contained in a small notebook. (7) Letter of W . W ard to D r R yland, Secretary to the B .M .S., begun 16 Decem ber 1816 and finished 30 A pril 1817. In notebook form. (8) M S . journal of W illiam Carey, 13 June 1793 to 2 O ctober * 795-

(9) M S . journal o f W illiam W ard, M a y 1799 to O ctober 18 11, 4 vols. From an entry, dated 1850, inside the cover o f the first volume there would appear to have been an impression that there were originally five volumes of which the third was missing. T h e belief still persisted in 1880 and was remarked upon in a letter, written b y the then possessor o f these volumes, which can be seen along with them. I can find no grounds for this assumption as the entries in the four volumes are continuous. T h e suggestion con­ tained in the letter that the third volume m ay have been destroyed at Serampore b y J. C . M arshman only adds greater im probability to the idea o f its loss. London Missionary Society Livingstone H ouse, 42 Broadw ay, S .W . 1

T h e sources here consist o f m any hundreds o f original letters, reports and extracts from the journals o f individual missionaries or o f the District Committees, addressed to each other and to the head­ quarters o f the Society in England. A lthough they are all written in English these records are divided chiefly in accordance w ith the prevalent language in each area o f missionary activity. T here are, therefore, such headings as ‘ South India: T a m il’ , or ‘ N orth India: G u jerati’ . Occasionally the distinction is solely territorial as ‘ T ravan core’, or ‘ North India: U n ited Provinces’ . T h e m anu­ scripts are excellently filed in boxes, folders and jackets, in date sequence. There is a good table o f contents with each box, which includes a brief precis o f the subject-matter o f each manuscript.

138

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I found the contents o f the following boxes extremely useful: (1) South India: General. Boxes i and 2, 1792-1816. (2) South India: Telugu. Box 1, 18 17-35. (3) South India: Kanarese. Boxes 1-3 , 18 17-35. (4) South India: T am il. Boxes 1-5 , 18 17-33. (5) Travancore. Boxes 1 and 2, 1817-38. (6) India: Bengal. Boxes 1-3 , 1800-33. (7) North India: Gujerati. Box 1, 1817-38. (8) North India: U nited Provinces, etc., Box 1, 1820-35. C h u r c h M is s io n a r y S o ciety C h u rch M issionary House, Salisbury Square, E .C . 4

(1) North India Letters. Vols. 1 and 2, 1820-42. Original letters from Church Missionary House to the Society’s agents in India. T h e y are not indexed. (2) South India Mission. Vols. 1-10 , 1820-33. (3) N orth India Mission. Vols. 1-5 , 1820-33. (4) W est India Mission. V ol. 1, 1820-34. These volumes contain M S . copies o f correspondence between individual missionaries o f the C .M .S . and their Corresponding Committees in M adras, Calcutta and Bom bay o f the letters and reports o f those committees to the headquarters o f the Society in England, and o f the day-journals o f the missionaries themselves. T h e y are particularly valuable in providing a first-hand account of the missionaries’ activities, and the sober comments of the corre­ sponding committees satisfactorily balance the more volatile state­ ments o f the missionaries. T h e y are not indexed, but appear to be in chronological sequence. (5) There are also a number of bundles o f unsorted and uncata­ logued papers, including letters and reports o f missionaries from all parts o f the world. C o m m o n w e a lth R e la tio n s O ffice

(1) Bengal Despatches. Vols. 29-124, 6 Ju ly

1795

to 27 December

! 833 . (2) India and Bengal Despatches. Vol. 8, 9 M arch to 29 June 1836. (3) M adras Despatches. Vols. 19, 20, 23, 24, 27-29, 32, 36, 39, 41, 45> 47> 50, 53? 56>58>60,61, 63-5, 67, 69, 70-2, 75, 76, 79, 81, 83, 84. (4) Bom bay Despatches. Vols. 20, 21, 23, 29, 31, 38, 4 1-3 , 5 1-6 , 60-2, 64. _ A ll these volumes contain correspondence from England to India, and there is an index o f subject-matter. 139

REFORMERS IN IN D I A (5)

Bengal Letters Received. Vols.

62, 64, 67, 69, 70, 7 2 -5 , 103, 104, n o ,

37, 40, 44, 4 9 -5 3 , 56, 59,

61,

77, 80, 81, 83, 84B , 8 5 -9 1 , 9 3 -6 , 98, 99,

112.

These volumes comprise letters'of the Bengal Governm ent to the Court o f Directors and are not indexed. (6) Bengal Consultations: Revenue Consultations, 9-23 N ovem ber 1821. Public Consultations, 5 -2 6 M arch 1813. Crim inal Judicial Consultations, 4 Decem ber 1829, Pt. *• (7) Court Minutes o f the Directors o f the East India Com pany. Vols. 1 1 8 , 1 2 1 , 1 2 2 , 1 2 2 A, 1 2 4 , 1 2 4 A , 1 2 5 . These are indexed. (8) Hom e Miscellaneous Series. Vols. 31, 59, 274, 293, 48 7-9,

5 2 I s 532- 4 1) 690, 723, 726, 737, 790. A heterogeneous series, with a published catalogue. None o f the volumes under headings (1) to (8) above is solely concerned with missionary work, but their perusal is essential to any assessment o f the value o f missionary achievement. D ealing at great length with the social as well as the political and m ilitary adminis­ tration o f the Governments in India, and, in so far as they have any bearing upon government action, with the work o f private groups in the social sphere, they provide the setting in which the missionaries worked, and a standard o f official and private opinion against which the missionaries’ achievements can be contrasted. Bodleian Library (1) Correspondence on M issions in India 180J. Collected under this title are a number of original letters from Edw ard Parry, Chair­ man o f the Court o f Directors o f the East India Com pany, and Charles Grant, Vice-Chairm an, to R obert Dundas, President o f the Board o f Control. There are also the minutes o f Secret Courts o f Directors, held in Ju ly and August 1808, and the draft o f a proposed answer to the secret letter from the Bengal Government, dated 2 November 1807, detailing its proceedings relative to the Protestant missionaries at Serampore. This group o f manuscripts presents a detailed defence o f the work o f missionaries in India, particularly against the charge o f being largely responsible for the Vellore mutiny o f 1806. It provides, also, an exposition o f the cautious policy with respect to reform advocated b y the m ajority o f the Directors as opposed to that o f the Chairm an and D ep uty Chairm an, and of their suspicion o f the exciting effects o f too open attempts at evangelization. T h e whole group o f M S S . provides a valuable summary of the conflicting attitudes which had been adopted in England towards missionary endeavours by the years 1807-8.

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146

IN D E X Adam, John, 108 Adam, William, 86 Agra, 8, 63; Sanskrit College at, 65 Agricultural and Horticultural Society in India, 119, 120, 121 Ajmer, 64, 76 Akali Sikhs, 21 Akhbars, 103 Allahabad, 33, 38 Amara Kosha, 102 American Board, 3, 63, 64, 6g, 99 Amherst, Hon. Miss, 93 Amherst, Lady, 93 Amherst, Lord, 8, 9, 46, 50, 108 Ananda, 27 Anglicist policy in Education, 72-5 Anstruther, Sir John, 45 Arya Samaj, 1 Asiatic Researches, 97 Asiatic Society of Bengal, 100 Ava, K ing of, 8, 114 Bailey, Benjamin, 55, 99, 107 Bandora, 87 Banga D ut, 104 ' Bangalore, 38, 64, 89, 90 Bangla Gazette, 103 Bankot, 79 Baptist Missionary Society, 3, 8, 10, 12, 17, 63, 68, 82, 109, 118 Bareilly, 63 Barenbruck, G. T ., 67, 79 Barenbruck, Mrs, 87 Barlow, Sir George, 59 Barrackpore, 60 Bayley, W., 51 Belgaum, 116 Bell, Dr A ., 79 Bellary, 27, 62, 64, 67, 69, 76, 81, 87, 92 , 99 . Benares, 25, 57, 63, 72, 76; Sanskrit College at, 57, 59, 65, 67, 72 Benevolent Institution, 61, 62, 65, 79 Bentinck, Lord William, 9, 19, 37, 40, 46> 49) 52, 53= 54) 86, 115, 117 Beschi, Joseph-Constant, 103 Bhagavadgita, 97

Bhawani Charan Banerji, 104 Bihar, 46 Bishop’s College, Calcutta, 44,56,67,77 Board of Control, 7, 9, 11, 34, 41, 42, 49> 52, 63 Bombay: Courier, 109; Education So­ ciety, 60; School-Book Society, 60 Bowley, William, 99 Brahmans, 17, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 44, 52 , 71, 74 ) 76 , 77 ) 92 Brahma Samaj, 1, 95 Breton, Surgeon, 114 British and Foreign Bible Society, 4, 100 Brown, David, 58, 100 Buchanan, Claudius, 35, 36, 37, 47, 58, 69, 99) !0o, 107 Buckingham, John Silk, 108 Buller, Charles, 35 Bundelkhand, 51 Burdwan, 25, 51, 64, 67, 79 Buxton, Fowell, 48 Calcutta: Chronicle, 108; Female Juve­ nile Society, 88; Gazette, 44; Journal, 108; Medical College, 115; Sanskrit College, 65; School-Book Society, 60, 65, 68; School Society, 60, 64, 88, 93 Carey, Felix, 102, 114 Carey, Jabez, 60, 64 Carey, Mrs, wife of William Carey (junior), 87 Carey, William (junior), 87 Carey, William (senior), 2, 3, 40, 58, 112; agricultural interests, 119, 121; and caste distinctions, 26-7, 30; early missionary activity, 7, 9, 12, 17; educational activity, 60-1, 65, go; supervises casting of Oriya type, n o ; as translator and writer, 97-8, 100-7, 118 Carnatic, 3, 16, 25, 62 Cawnpore, 70 Celebes, 100 Chandernagore, 40 Chandrika, 104 Chater, J., 13

147

INDEX Elphinstone, J. R ., 46 Ewer, W., 53

Chinsurah, 13, 59, 60, 64, 71, 81, 86, 87, 88 ^ Chitpur, 82 Chittur, 94 Chunar, 1x6 Church Missionary Society, 3; alms­ houses, 116; Madras seminary, 28-9, 76, 91; periodicals, 39, 42; printing press, 111; schools, 25, 55, 60, 63-70, 72, 76-9; schools for girls, 8 7-8 ,9 1,9 4 Church of Scotland, 3 Clarke, A. T ., 3 Cochin, Syrian College at, 79 Coimbatore, 37 Colebrooke, H. T ., 101, 102 Committee of Public Instruction, 64, 73 Concan, 64, 82, 111, 113 Congress Party, 1 Cooke, Miss (later Mrs I. Wilson), 88,

Fabricius, Philip, 98, 101 Farrer, Mrs, 87 Fenn, Joseph, 14 Flora Indica, 118 Forbes, G., 81 Forsyth, Nathaniel, 3 Fort St George, 38 Fort William, College, 7, 45, 58, 99, ioo}’ Supreme Council, 34 French Revolution, 1 Friend o f India, 40, 52, 85, 105, 109 Fuller, Andrew, 10 Fyvie, William, 15 Gambier, Lord, n Ganges, 3 Gaya, 33, 38 General Baptist Mission, 39, 64 Gericke, C . W., 102 Gorakhpur, 63, 81 Gospel Magazine, 109 Govind Singh, 21 Grant, Charles (junior), Lord Glenelg, 42 Grant, Charles (senior), 7, 34, 37, 42,

90, 92, 93. 94. ” 4

Cornwallis, Earl, 59, n o Coromandel, 64 Corrie, Daniel, 39, 67, 99 Court of Directors of the East India Company, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 34, 35, 36, 38, 41, 47, 49, 58, 59, 63, 65, 66, 72, 73. 101, 109, 114 Court of Proprietors of East India Com­ pany Stock, 38 Coventry, 48 Cran, George, 18 Crisp, H., 86 Cuddapah, 29, 30, 71, 87 Cuttack, 34, 35, 64

74. 85, 117 Grant, Robert, 42 Gyananneshan, 104 Haider Ali, Sultan of Mysore, 13 Hall, Gordon, 9, 15 Hands, Joseph, 69 Hare, David, 62, 65 Harington, J. H., 37, 48, 50, 52 Hastings, Marchioness, 60, 82, 94, 119 Hastings, Marquess, 8, 49, 50, 60, 105, 120 Hastings, Warren, 57 Heber, Rt. Rev. Reginald, 40, 72 Hitopadesha, 97 Horst, C. H., 102 Hough, James, 27, 63, 87, 88 House of Commons, 10, 43, 47, 48,

Dacca, 63 Danish Mission, 2, 14, 16, 56, 121 Dawson, Mrs, 87, 89 Delhi, 8, 50, 63, 70; Sanskrit College,

65. 72 Destroyer o f Darkness, 104 Devasagayam, John, 25 Digah, 87 D ig Darsan, 81, 103, 104 Doran, J. W., 79 Dubois, J. A., 27, 89, 108 Duff, Alexander, 3, 74, 112, 115 Duncan, Jonathan, 57, n o Dundas, Charles, 34 Dutch East India Company, 44

57

Howell, William, 30 Hunter, William, 100 Hutton, J. H., 20

East India Company, I, 2, 6 Elphinstone, Hon. Mountstuart, 15, 24,

73

Impey, Sir Elijah, 110 Institution for the Encouragement of Native Schools in India, 82

148

INDEX Jagannath, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 70 Jammu, 70 Jesuits, 1, 16 John B u ll, 108 John, C. S., 1, 61, 64 Jones, Sir William, 97

Meerut, 72 Metcalfe, Sir Charles, 50 Middleton, Rt. Rev. T . F., 4, 75 Mill, William Hodge, 44, 56 Minto, Lord, 7, 8, 51, 59 Mirat-al-Akhbar, 104 Mirza A bu Taleb Khan, 84 Missionary Herald, 109 Missionary Papers, 39, 47 Missionary Register, 39, 47, 53, 63 Monghyr, 64 Monro, Mr, 37, 94 Morrison, Mr, 102 Mundy, Mrs, 87 Munro, Sir Thomas, 14, 18, 55, 65

Katwa, 64, 87 . Kenney, Richard, 99 Kidderpore, 68, 87 Kistna River, 44 Koenig, Dr, 121 Kohlhoff, J. C., 1, 27, 28, 112 Kottayam, 66, 70, 75, 99, i n Krishna Prasad, 27 Lacroix, A ., 31 Ladies’ Association, 94 Ladies’ Society for Native Female Education, 93, 94 Laidler, Stephen, 89 Lai Bazaar, 62 Lancaster, Joseph, 79 Lee, William, 13 Leycester, W., 52 Leyden, Dr, 62, 100 London Missionary Society, 3, 38-9; almshouses, 116; and caste distinc­ tion, 23, 27, 3 0 -1; schools, 60-9, 71-2, 76, 79, 81; schools for girls, 86-go, 92, 94; translations and publi­ cations undertaken by, 98-9, 102, 105, 109 Lushington, Charles, 62 Lushington, Stephen, 14 Lutheran Church, 3

Nadia, 59, 72 Nagpur, 44 Nagracoil, 27, 64, 68, 69, 87, 91 Nasik, 87 Native Female Society, 88, 92 Nepal, 9 Nepalese War, 8 Nepean, Sir Evan, 15 Nesbit, Robert, 113 Netherlands Missionary Society, 31, 63, 64 Neyyur, 14 Nizamat Adalat, 46, 49, 50, 51, 52 Nobili, Robert de, g7 Norton, Thomas, 28 Nott, Samuel, 9, 15

Madnabatty, 29, 61 Madras, 14, 70, 72; C .M .S. seminary, 28-9, 76, 9 1 ; mission printing presses, 69; mission schools, 62-6, 78-80, 9 0 -1 ; School-Book Society, 60 Madrassa, 57, 59, 65, 67, 71, 114 Malabar, 16, 35 Malcolm, Sir John, 15, 82 Maldive Islands, 100 Mallet, Mr, 119 Marshman, J. C., n o Marshman, Joshua, 17, 18, 27, 47, 62, 100, 102, n o Martin, General Claude, 116 Martyn, Henry, 99 M ay, Robert, 59, 86 Mead, Charles, 14, 27

Palamcottah, 23, 25, 28, 29, 37, 64, 66, 76, 80, 87, go, g i, g4, 112 Paravas, g7 Pariahs, 23, 2g Parry, Edward, 7, 34 Pearce, George, 82 Pearson, J. D., 13, 71 Peggs, James, 3g, 40, 48 Pelsaert, Francisco, 44 Pindaris, 8 Pondicherry, 64 Poona, 56 Pritchett, E., 76 Pulicat, 64 Puri, 3g

Orientalist policy in Education, 72-3 Orissa, 3, 64 Oudh, Nawab Vizier of, 60

Q u il o n , 14

149

INDEX Rajmahal Hills, 21, 63 Rajputana, 60, 64 . Rajputs, 25, 44 Ramayana, 100 Ram Mohan Roy, 16, 53, 85, 104 Reichardt, Mrs, 114 Rhadacant Deb, 50, 92 Rhenius, C . T . E., 23, 25, 28, 29, 74, 77, 78, 80, 107, 112 Richardson, Mr, 37 Ringeltaube, W . T ., 62 Robinson, W., 13 Rottler, J. P., 99 Rowe, Mrs, 87 Samachar Darpan, 81, 104, 105, 107 Sambad Kaumadi, 104 Sambad Pravakar, 104 Sastras, 45, 52, 53, 74, 95, 115 Satara, 44 Saugor, 46 Schmid, B., 23, 25, 112 Schnarre, J. C., 23 Schroeter, Christopher, 9, 102 , Schultze, Mr, 98 Schwartz, C. F., 1, 13 Scotsman in the East, 108 Scottish Missionary Society, 3, 63, 64,

79) 82, 113 Serampore, 47, 66, 67; Baptist Mission, 17-18, 27, 40, 45, 65, 80, 100, 102-5; College, 25, 67, 70-1, 74-7, 82, 115, 118; mission paper-mill and printing works, 8, 30, i i i ; Native Female Society, 88 Shahabad, 45 Shakuntala, 97 Shanans, 25 Shore, F. J., 19, 46 Shore, Sir John, 6, 19 Society for Promoting Christian Know­ ledge, 2, 3, 56, 64, 69, 70, 79, 99, 102, 109 Society for Promoting the Abolition of Human Sacrifices in India, 48 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 3, 14, 82, 91 Sudras, 25, 27, 29, 71, 72 Sullivan, J., 37 Supreme Council, Bengal, 34, 37, 48, 101, 105

Surat, 69, 76, 79, 116 Syrian Christians, 35, 64, 99, 107 Syrian College, 75 Tanjore, 28; R aja of, 13, 82 Tavemier, Jean-Baptiste, 44 Tellicherry, 116 Thomas, John, 3, 12, 34, 113 Thomason, T ., 60 Thompson, J. T ., 70 Thompson, M ., 23 Thoms, Mr, n o Tilleyally, 25 Tinnevelly, 71, 113, 116 Tipu, Sultan of Mysore, 13, 21 Tirhut, 59, 72, 119 Tirupati, 38 Titalyah, 9 Townley, Henry, 39, 60 Tranquebar, 14, 16, 31, 56, 61, 64, 67, 72, 79, 109 Travancore, 14, 55, 62 Traveller, Mrs, 86 Trawin, Mrs, 87 Trichinopoly, 91, 94 Udney, Walter, 29, 34, 100 Vadadelly, 75 Vellore, 7, 9, 10 Vepery, 69, 79, 86 Vidyalaya, 65, 67, 71, 73 Vizagapatam, 13, 27, 62, 64, 71, 76, 87, 89, 90 Ward, William, 27, 36, 39, 52, 70, 88, 104 Waters, G. J., 94 Wauchope, J., 51 Wellesley, Marquess, 7, 34, 45, 47, 58,

59 Wesleyan Missionary Society, 3, 63, 99 Wilberforce, William, 11, 47 Wilkins, Sir Charles, 97, 109 Wilkinson, W., 81 Wilson, Rt. Rev. Daniel, 29, 31 Winckler, Mrs, 113 Xavier, St Francis, 97 Ziegenbalg, Bartholomew, 98, 109