Civilising the 'Native', Educating the Nation | Class 8 Social Science Notes

How the British saw Education

The British had varied and evolving ideas about education in India. Initially, many British officials believed in promoting Oriental learning, which involved studying ancient Indian texts and languages such as Sanskrit and Persian. This approach was led by Orientalists like William Jones and Henry Thomas Colebrooke, who respected India's ancient culture and believed that British rule should be based on understanding and preserving this heritage. They set up institutions like the Calcutta Madrasa (1781) and the Hindu College in Benaras (1791) to promote Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit studies. However, from the early 19th century, critics like James Mill and Thomas Babington Macaulay challenged this view. They argued that Oriental learning was unscientific and impractical. Macaulay famously stated that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the entire native literature of India and Arabia. He advocated for English education to introduce Indians to Western science, literature, and philosophy. This led to the English Education Act of 1835, which made English the medium of instruction for higher education and reduced support for Oriental institutions. The British saw education as a means to create a class of Indians who could assist in administration and promote British economic interests.

📊 Diagram: See figure_1: Linguist – Someone who knows and studies several languages; figure_2: Fig. 2 – Henry Thomas Colebrooke; figure_3: Fig. 3 – Monument to Warren Hastings, by Richard Westmacott, 1830, now in Victoria Memorial in Calcutta; figure_4: Fig. 4 – Thomas Babington Macaulay in his study.

🧪 Activity: None in this section.

🔗 Connection: Leads to the next section discussing the English Education Act and Wood's Despatch which further shaped education policy.