On the Education of the People of India

Front matter

ON

THE EDUCATION

of the

Chapter I.

ON

THE EDUCATION

OF

THE PEOPLE OF INDIA.

CHAPTER I.

The Measures first adopted for educating the Natives.—The Establishment of the Committee of Public Instruction—Their first Plan of Operations.—The Difference of Opinion which arose.—The Resolution of Government of the 7th March 1835.—The Measures adopted by the Committee in consequence.—No Distinction of Caste allowed in the new Seminaries.—Cultivation of the vernacular Languages.—Education of the Wards of Government.—The Medical College.—Mr. Adam’s Deputation..

he history of the first efforts made by us for the education of our Indian fellow-subjects may be told in a few words. The was established a.d. 1781, and the a. d. 1792. The course of study at these institutions was purely oriental, and the object of it was to provide a regular supply of qualified Hindu and Mohammedan law officers for the judicial administration. The next step taken was at the renewal of the in 1813, when 10,000l., or a lac of rupees a year, was set apart “for the revival and promotion of literature, and the encouragement of the learned natives of India, and for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of the sciences among the inhabitants of the British territories.” The subject was however regarded at that time in India with so much apathy, that no measures were adopted to fulfil the intentions of the British legislature till 1823. On the 17th of July in that year the governor general in council resolved, that “there should be constituted a general committee of public instruction for the purpose of ascertaining the state of public education, and of the public institutions designed for its promotion, and of considering, and from time to time submitting to government, the suggestion of such measures as it may appear expedient to adopt with a view to the better instruction of the people, to the introduction among them of useful knowledge, and to the improvement of their moral character.” Corresponding instructions were addressed to the gentlemen who were to compose the committee, and the arrears of the annual lac of rupees were accounted for to them from the 1st May 1821. From this period the general committee of public instruction must be regarded as the sole organ of the government in every thing that concerns that important branch of its functions.

The first measures of the new committee were to complete the organization of a , then lately established by the government at Calcutta, in lieu of two similar institutions, the formation of which had been previously contemplated at and ; to take under their patronage and greatly to improve the , which had been founded as far back as 1816, by the voluntary contributions of the natives themselves, for the instruction of their youth in English literature and science; to found two entirely new colleges at Delhi and Agra for the cultivation of oriental literature; to commence the printing of Sanskrit and Arabic books on a great scale, besides liberally encouraging such undertakings by others; and to employ an accomplished oriental scholar in translating European scientific works into Arabic, upon which undertaking large sums were subsequently expended. English classes were afterwards established in connection with the Mohammedan and Sanskrit college at Calcutta, the Sanskrit college at Benares, and the Agra college; and a separate institution was founded at Delhi in 1829 for the cultivation of western learning, in compliance with the urgent solicitation of the authorities at that place.

The principles which guided the proceedings of the committee throughout this period are explained in the following extract from their printed report, dated in December 1831:—

“The introduction of useful knowledge is the great object which they have proposed as the end of the measures adopted or recommended by them, keeping in view the necessity of consulting the feelings and conciliating the confidence of those for whose advantage their measures are designed.

“The committee has therefore continued to encourage the acquirement of the native literature of both Mohammedans and Hindus, in the institutions which they found established for these purposes, as the Madressa of Calcutta and Sanskrit college of Benares. They have also endeavoured to promote the activity of similar establishments, of which local considerations dictated the formation, as the Sanskrit college of Calcutta and the colleges of Agra and Delhi, as it is to such alone, even in the present day, that the influential and learned classes, those who are by birthright or profession teachers and expounders of literature, law, and religion, maulavis and pundits, willingly resort.

“In the absence of their natural patrons, the rich and powerful of their own creeds, the committee have felt it incumbent upon them to contribute to the support of the learned classes of India by literary endowments, which provide not only directly for a certain number, but indirectly for many more, who derive from collegiate acquirements consideration and subsistence amongst their countrymen. As far also as Mohammedan and Hindu law are concerned, an avenue is thus opened for them to public employment, and the state is provided with a supply of able servants and valuable subjects; for there is no doubt that, imperfect as oriental learning may be in many respects, yet the higher the degree of the attainments even in it possessed by any native, the more intelligent and liberal he will prove, and the better qualified to appreciate the acts and designs of the government.

“But whilst every reasonable encouragement is given to indigenous native education, no opportunity has been omitted by the committee of improving its quality and adding to its value. In all the colleges the superintendence is European, and this circumstance is of itself an evidence and a cause of very important amelioration. In the Madressa of Calcutta and Hindu college of Benares, institutions of earlier days, European superintendence was for many years strenuously and successfully resisted. This opposition has long ceased. The consequences are a systematic course of study, diligent and regular habits, and an impartial appreciation of merits, which no institution left to native superintendence alone has ever been known to maintain.

“The plan of study adopted in the colleges is in general an improvement upon the native mode, and is intended to convey a well-founded knowledge of the languages studied, with a wider range of acquirement than is common, and to effect this in the least possible time. Agreeably to the native mode of instruction, for instance, a Hindu or Mohammedan lawyer devotes the best years of his life to the acquirement of law alone, and is very imperfectly acquainted with the language which treats of the subject of his studies. In the Madressa and Sanskrit college the first part of the course is now calculated to form a really good Arabic and Sanskrit scholar, and a competent knowledge of law is then acquired with comparative facility and contemporaneously with other branches of Hindu or Mohammedan learning.

“Again, the improvements effected have not been limited to a reformation in the course and scope of native study, but, whenever opportunity has favoured, new and better instruction has been grafted upon the original plan. Thus in the Madressa, has been long studied and with considerable advantage: European anatomy has also been introduced. In the Sanskrit college of Calcutta, European anatomy and medicine have nearly supplanted the native systems. At Agra and at Delhi the elements of geography and astronomy and mathematics are also part of the college course. To the Madressa, the Sanskrit college of Calcutta, and the Agra college, also, English classes are attached, whilst at Delhi and Benares distinct schools have been formed for the dissemination of the English language. Without offering therefore any violence to native prejudices, and whilst giving liberal encouragement to purely native education, the principle of connecting it with the introduction of real knowledge has never been lost sight of, and the foundation has been laid of great and beneficial change in the minds of those who by their character and profession direct and influence the intellect of Hindustan.

TasteForEnglish“In addition to the measures adopted for the diffusion of English in the provinces, and which are yet only in their infancy, the encouragement of the Vidyalaya, or Hindu college of Calcutta, has always been one of the chief objects of the committee’s attention. The consequence has surpassed expectation. A command of the English language and a familiarity with its literature and science have been acquired to an extent rarely equalled by any schools in Europe. A taste for English has been widely disseminated, and independent schools, conducted by young men reared in the Vidyalaya, are springing up in every direction. The moral effect has been equally remarkable, and an impatience of the restrictions of Hinduism and a disregard of its ceremonies are openly avowed by many young men of respectable birth and talents, and entertained by many more who outwardly conform to the practices of their countrymen. Another generation will probably witness a very material alteration in the notions and feelings of the educated classes of the Hindu community of Calcutta.”

Meanwhile the progress of events was leading to the necessity of adopting a more decided course. The taste for English became more and more “widely disseminated.” A loud call arose for the means of instruction in it, and the subject was pressed on the committee from various quarters. English books only were in any demand: upwards of thirty-one thousand English books were sold by the school-book society in the course of two years, while the education committee did not dispose of Arabic and Sanskrit volumes enough in three years to pay the expense of keeping them for two months, to say nothing of the printing expenses. Among other signs of the times, a petition was presented to the committee by a number of young men who had been brought up at the Sanskrit college, pathetically representing that, notwithstanding the long and elaborate course of study which they had gone through, they had little prospect of bettering their condition; that the indifference with which they were generally regarded by their countrymen left them no hope of assistance from them, and that they therefore trusted that the government, which had made them what they were, would not abandon them to destitution and neglect. The English classes which had been tacked on to this and other oriental colleges had entirely failed in their object. The boys had not time to go through an English, in addition to an oriental course, and the study which was secondary was naturally neglected. The translations into Arabic, also, appeared to have made as little impression upon the few who knew that language, as upon the mass of the people who were entirely unacquainted with it.

Under these circumstances a difference of opinion arose in the committee. One section of it was for following out the existing system, for continuing the Arabic translations, the profuse patronage of Arabic and Sanskrit works, and the printing operations; by all which means fresh masses would have been added to an already unsaleable and useless hoard. An edition of was also projected, at an expense of 2,000l.; and as it was found that, after hiring students to attend the Arabic college, and having translations made for their use at an expense of thirty-two shillings a page, neither students nor teachers could understand them, it was proposed to employ the translator as the interpreter of his own writings, at a further expense of 300 rupees a month. The other section of the committee wished to dispense with this cumbrous and expensive machinery for teaching English science through the medium of the Arabic language; to give no bounties, in the shape of stipends to students, for the encouragement of any particular kind of learning; to purchase or print only such Arabic and Sanskrit books as might actually be required for the use of the different colleges; and to employ that portion of their annual income which would by these means be set free, in the establishment of new seminaries for giving instruction in English and the vernacular languages, at the places where such institutions were most in demand.

This fundamental difference of opinion long obstructed the business of the committee. Almost every thing which came before them was more or less involved in it. The two parties were so equally balanced as to be unable to make a forward movement in any direction. A particular point might occasionally be decided by an accidental majority of one or two, but as the decision was likely to be reversed the next time the subject came under consideration, this only added inconsistency to inefficiency. This state of things lasted for about three years, until both parties became convinced that the usefulness and respectability of their body would be utterly compromised by its longer continuance. The committee had come to a dead stop, and the government alone could set it in motion again, by giving a preponderance to one or the other of the two opposite sections. The members, therefore, took the only course which remained open to them, and laid before the government a statement of their existing position, and of the grounds of the conflicting opinions held by them.

The question was now fairly brought to issue, and the government was forced to make its election between two opposite principles. So much, perhaps, never depended upon the determination of any government. Happily there was then at the head of affairs one of the few who pursue the welfare of the public independently of every personal consideration: happily also he was supported by one who, after having embellished the literature of Europe, came to its aid when it was trembling in the scale with the literature of Asia. The decision which was come to is worthy of everlasting record. Although homely in its words, it will be mighty in its effects long after we are mouldering in the dust. It was as follows:—

GovernmentResolutionMarch1835“Resolution of Government, dated 7th March 1835.

“The governor general of India in council has attentively considered the two letters from the secretary to the committee, dated the 21st and 22d January last, and the papers referred to in them.

“2d.—His lordship in council is of opinion that the great object of the British government ought to be the promotion of European literature and science amongst the natives of India, and that all the funds appropriated for the purposes of education would be best employed on English education alone.

“3d.—But it is not the intention of his lordship in council to abolish any college or school of native learning, while the native population shall appear to be inclined to avail themselves of the advantages which it affords; and his lordship in council directs that all the existing professors and students at all the institutions under the superintendence of the committee shall continue to receive their stipends. But his lordship in council decidedly objects to the practice which has hitherto prevailed, of supporting the students during the period of their education. He conceives that the only effect of such a system can be to give artificial encouragement to branches of learning which, in the natural course of things, would be superseded by more useful studies; and he directs that no stipend shall be given to any student who may hereafter enter at any of these institutions, and that when any professor of oriental learning shall vacate his situation, the committee shall report to the government the number and state of the class, in order that the government may be able to decide upon the expediency of appointing a successor.

“4th.—It has come to the knowledge of the governor general in council that a large sum has been expended by the committee in the printing of oriental works. His lordship in council directs that no portion of the funds shall hereafter be so employed.

“5th.—His lordship in council directs, that all the funds which these reforms will leave at the disposal of the committee be henceforth employed in imparting to the native population a knowledge of English literature and science, through the medium of the English language; and his lordship in council requests the committee to submit to government with all expedition a plan for the accomplishment of this purpose.

“(A true copy.) “(Signed) , “Sec to Government.”

This decision was followed by a series of corresponding measures. The former president of the committee, seeing the turn affairs were taking, had handsomely offered to resign in favor of any one whose views were more in accordance with the prevailing opinions, continuing however to render very valuable assistance as a member of the committee. Mr. Macaulay had been appointed to the vacant post. Two of the members most warmly attached to the oriental side of the question now gave in their resignation, and several new members were appointed, whose views coin- cided with those of the government. The natives also were now for the first time admitted to take a share in the deliberations on the subject of national instruction. This was done by conferring on the managers of the Hindu college the privilege of electing two of their number in rotation as members of the committee, and a Mohammedan gentleman was soon after appointed a member of it. Six new seminaries were immediately established with a portion of the fund which had been placed at the disposal of the committee by the cessation of the Arabic and Sanskrit printing and translating, and six more were established at the commencement of the following year. Rules were devised for bringing the proceedings in the provincial seminaries periodically under the review of the general committee, and for stimulating exertion by rewarding the most deserving students. It was resolved to annex a good library to each seminary, and a large supply of books suited to all ages was ordered from England. By permitting every body to make use of the books on payment of a fixed subscription, these libraries have become the means of diffusing knowledge much beyond the immediate circle of the government seminaries, and being now objects of general interest, many valuable contributions are from time to time made to them. Scientific apparatus of various kinds was ordered from England. Professor , of , Cambridge, at the request of the committee, selected and sent out the mathematical class books required at the different institutions. Arrangements were made with the school-book society for the publication of a book of selections from the English poets, from downwards, and the expediency of publishing a corresponding volume in prose is now under consideration.

When these operations commenced there were fourteen seminaries under the control of the Committee: there are now forty. At the first-mentioned period there were about 3,398 pupils, of whom 1,818 were learning English, 218 Arabic, and 473 Sanskrit. There are now upwards of 6,000. The number of Sanskrit and Arabic students is smaller than before. A small number study Persian, or learn the vernacular language only; all the rest receive an English education. The seminary which was last established completely exhausted the funds at the disposal of the committee. It was for the district of Dinajpoor, which is computed to contain 6,000 square miles, above 12,000 towns and villages, and a population exceeding 2,300,000; and it is a district remarkable even in Bengal for the darkness of the ignorance which prevails in it. Though many of the leading inhabitants concurred with the European authorities in desiring that some effectual steps should be taken to enlighten this part of the country, the utmost the committee was able to afford was seventy rupees a month.

As the general superintendence of the system is vested in a “general committee,” residing at Calcutta, so the management of each particular seminary is intrusted to a local committee residing on the spot. The members of these committees are appointed by the government from all classes of the community, native as well as European. Care is taken in the selection to secure for the support of the system as much zeal, influence, and information as possible, and nobody who has the cause at heart, and can really aid it, need be without a share in the management. It is the wish of the general committee to employ the government fund only in the payment of the salaries of teachers; by this means the permanence of the institutions will be secured, at the same time that full scope will be left for the exercise of private munificence; and as the outlay of the committee will be confined to fixed payments, easily susceptible of control, no inconvenience will be likely to ensue from the wide extension of the system. The pupils themselves are expected to pay for the ordinary school-books used by them, and it is intended to demand a small fixed sum in part of payment for their instruction. More regular attendance is thus secured; nominal students, who injure the discipline and retard the progress of the institutions, become rare; the system is raised in general estimation, and additional means are acquired for improving and extending it. Boarding-houses are beginning to be established in connection with some of the seminaries, for the accommodation of pupils who reside at a distance.

In all the new institutions the important principle has been established of admitting boys of every caste without distinction. A different practice prevailed in the older institutions; the Sanskrit colleges were appropriated to Brahmins; the Arabic colleges, with a few exceptions, to Mohammedans; and even at the Anglo-Indian institution, which goes by the name of the Hindu college, none but Hindus of good caste were ad- mitted. This practice was found to encourage the prejudice which it was meant to conciliate. The opposite practice has been attended with no inconvenience of any kind; Christian, Mohammedan, and Hindu boys, of every shade of colour and variety of descent, may be seen standing side by side in the same class, engaged in the common pursuit of English literature, contending for the same honours, and forced to acknowledge the existence of superior merit in their comrades of the lowest, as well as in those of the highest caste. This is a great point gained. The artificial institution of caste cannot long survive the period when the youth of India, instead of being trained to observe it, shall be led by the daily habit of their lives to disregard it. All we have to do is to bring them together, to impress the same character on them, and to leave the yielding and affectionate mind of youth to its natural impulse. Habits of friendly communication will thus be established between all classes, they will insensibly become one people, and the process of enlightening our subjects will proceed simultaneously with that of uniting them among themselves.

In the long discussions which preceded the change in the plan of the committee, there was one point on which all parties were agreed: this was, that the vernacular languages contained neither the literary nor scientific information necessary for a liberal education. It was admitted on all sides that while the instruction of the mass of the people through the medium of their own language was the ultimate object to be kept in view, yet, meanwhile, teachers had to be trained, a literature had to be created, and the co-operation of the upper and middle classes of native society had to be secured. The question which divided the committee was, What language was the best instrument for the accomplishment of these great objects? Half the members contended that it was English, the other half that it was Sanskrit and Arabic. As there was no dispute about the vernacular language, no mention was made of it in the resolution of the 7th March 1835, which contained the decision of the government. This omission led many, who were not acquainted with the course the discussion had taken, to fear that the point had been altogether overlooked; and in order to obviate this misapprehension the committee made the following remarks, in the first annual report submitted by them to the government after the promulgation of the resolution referred to:— “We are deeply sensible of the importance of encouraging the cultivation of the vernacular languages. We do not conceive that the order of the 7th of March precludes us from doing this, and we have constantly acted on this construction. In the discussions which preceded that order, the claims of the vernacular languages were broadly and prominently admitted by all parties, and the question submitted for the decision of government, only concerned the relative advantage of teaching English on the one side, and the learned eastern languages on the other. We therefore conceive that the phrases ‘European literature and science,’ ‘English education alone,’ and ‘imparting to the native population a knowledge of English literature and science through the medium of the English language,’ are intended merely to secure the preference to European learning taught through the medium of the English language, over oriental learning taught through the medium of the Sanskrit and Arabic languages, as regards the instruction of those natives who receive a learned education at our seminaries. These expressions have, as we understand them, no reference to the question through what ulterior medium such instruction as the mass of the people is capable of receiving, is to be conveyed. If Eng- lish had been rejected, and the learned eastern tongues adopted, the people must equally have received their knowledge through the vernacular dialects. It was therefore quite unnecessary for the government, in deciding the question between the rival languages, to take any notice of the vernacular tongues, and consequently we have thought that nothing could reasonably be inferred from its omission to take such notice.

“We conceive the formation of a vernacular literature to be the ultimate object to which all our efforts must be directed. At present, the extensive cultivation of some foreign language, which is always very improving to the mind, is rendered indispensable by the almost total absence of a vernacular literature, and the consequent impossibility of obtaining a tolerable education from that source only. The study of English, to which many circumstances induce the natives to give the preference, and with it the knowledge of the learning of the west, is therefore daily spreading. This, as it appears to us, is the first stage in the process by which India is to be enlightened. The natives must learn before they can teach. The best educated among them must be placed in possession of our knowledge, before they can transfer it into their own language. We trust that the number of such translations will now multiply every year. As the superiority of European learning becomes more generally appreciated, the demand for them will no doubt increase, and we shall be able to encourage any good books which may be brought out in the native languages by adopting them extensively in our seminaries.

“A teacher of the vernacular language of the province is already attached to several of our institutions, and we look to this plan soon becoming general. We have also endeavoured to secure the means of judging for ourselves of the degree of attention which is paid to this important branch of instruction, by requiring that the best translations from English into the vernacular language, and vice versa, should be sent to us after each annual examination, and if they seem to deserve it, a pecuniary prize is awarded by us to the authors of them.”

These views were entirely approved by the government, and have since been steadily acted upon by the committee. One or more teachers of the vernacular language of the district form a regular part of the establishment of each English school, (at the there are as many as ten,) and pains are taken to give the pupils the habit of writing it with facility and propriety. The instructions to the local committees on this head are, “that the pupils should be constantly exercised in translating into their own language, as well as into English, from the time they enter the seminaries till their departure; and that they should also practise original composition in both languages as soon as their minds have been sufficiently opened to attempt it with advantage.”

The revenue authorities took advantage of the establishment of the new provincial seminaries to carry into effect a plan, which had been previously attempted without success, for securing a proper education for the numerous wards of the government. Rules were laid down for this purpose. The wards are either to be brought up at the nearest seminary, or to be provided with tutors and books for their instruction at their own homes. Their attention is to be particularly directed to those branches of knowledge which have an obvious bearing on the good management and improvement of their estates; and their progress in their studies is to be periodically tested and reported on. There is, perhaps, no part of the world where so much wealth and influence is possessed by persons so little able to make a good use of it as in the interior of Bengal. The substitution of a single humane and enlightened landlord would be a blessing to a whole neighbourhood. The elevation of the character of the whole class would be a national benefit of the first magnitude. A great deal has been said about the advantage of having English landholders, but till lately nothing has been done to render the native landholders, who must always be the majority, more fit for the performance of their duties. In Bengal, owing to the indolent and intemperate habits, and consequent early deaths of many of the great zemindars, minorities are frequent, and a large proportion of the landed property of the country falls under the management of the government in the course of a few years. In the western provinces, where landed property exists in a more wholesome form, a new settlement for thirty years has given peace of mind, leisure, and comparative opulence to the agricultural classes. If these circumstances are properly taken advantage of, we shall ere long be able to make a salutary impression on this most important part of the community.