Missionary education, knowledge and north Indian society, c. 1880-1915

Thesis

This dissertation is a critical examination of education via what I have termed the 'educational enterprise' run by Anglican Christian missions in north India c.1880-1915. It will focus in particular on the Gangetic plain, parts of Bengal, the Punjab and Central Provinces. The example of the United Provinces will be used to give context to missionary- Government relations, but will engage with arguments in upper and eastern India (especially Bengal) which are relevant to this research. The network of schools, their aims, orientation, and the degrees to which they were dependent upon Indian agency will all be considered. The first chapter begins with a review of the literature on colonial knowledge and Christian missions, and gives a brief review of religious debate and discourse in pre-British India. It then establishes the Protestant Christian theological context of the early-mid nineteenth century and delineates its development from a pugnacious confrontational one into a positivist and universal theology towards the late nineteenth century. Chapter II establishes the moral and economic context of education in late nineteenth century UP, accounting for religious instruction, the economic rationale for subsidising mission schools, the relationship between the two. It will further define the relationship between missions and Government. Chapter III defines the means and ends of mission schools, considers the degree to which they were dependent upon Indian agency and the impact of religious dialogue upon 'representations' of India. The reception and contestation of both religious and secular knowledge are dealt with in Chapter IV. Indian contestations of Orientalist and Christocentric scholarship receive particular attention. The development of a secular and religiously-plural educational sphere, as a by-product of missionary education, will be investigated in Chapter V. It considers the devaluation of the curriculum, investigates student hostels, Indian nationalism and their contribution to constructive nationalism. The infrastructural shortcomings of education will be addressed in Chapter VI, and ascertain the degree to which the enterprise reproduced Indian, European, and Christian values. Chapter VII will conclude with a review and offer insights into the relationships between Orientalism, religion and colonial Indian society.

Authors: Bellenoit, H; Bellenoit, H. J. A.

• Publication date: 2005
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-vjjp9n5vd
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Subjects: Educational sociology; Missions; India; Study and teaching