Education in British Rule. {PART-01}

 Education In Pre-British Times

Before the arrival of British, the system of education in India was very flexible. There were 'pathshalas' and 'madrasahs' in which a few students were taught by their teacher. There were no prescribed books textbooks. All teaching was imparted orally, generally at the house of the teacher. There was no fixed curriculum and the teacher taught whatever he deemed best for his students. Sanskrit, Persian and Mathematics were the most popular subjects. Science and geography were not taught. There was also no system of examinations. The teacher had a lot of freedom quite unlike the system prevalent today.

Think about it: Compare the system of education prevalent in pre-British times with that of today. Comment Downward!

At the times of British, the great Indians minds were divided into two groups: The Orientalists and The Anglicists.

The Orientalists: A linguist named Sir William Jones arrived in Calcutta in 1783. During his stay in India, he developed an interest in Sanskrit language.

Sir William Jones

Introduction To William Jones: Sir William Jones was an Anglo-Welsh philologist, a puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, and a scholar of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among European and Indo-Aryan languages, which he coined as Indo-European.

He was born 28 September 1746 in Westminster, London, United Kingdom and died 27 April 1794 in Kolkata, West Bengal in India.

He also wrote a book named "The Works of Sir William Jones".

He studied ancient Indian texts on different subjects and translated many of them. This, he believed, would serve two purpose..

• It would help the British know about Indian culture. 
• It would help Indians understand their own history and rediscover their lost heritage.

William Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784. He argued that Indian learning should be promoted in India. He Wanted the government to set up institutions where ancient Indians texts should be taught, Sanskrit and Persian were to be the medium of instruction.

The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity is of wonderful structure, more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin and more exquisitely refined than either..

__Sir William Jones

The Governor-General at this time was Warren Hastings. He was a supporter of Orientalist view. He helped set up a madrasah in Culcutta to promote the study of Islamic law. In 1792, Jonathan Duncan set up the Banaras Sanskrit College at Banaras (now Varanasi) to encourage that study of ancient Sanskrit texts.

The Anglicists: Many Britishers did not agree with the Orientalist vision of learning. They believed that Indian learning was unscientific and ofen supported superstitions. James Mill was of the opinion that to be useful, education needed to be practical. So the Anglicists felt that Indians should be imparted western learning. His views were supported by Lord Thomas B. Macaulay. He believed that, 'Oriental learning was completely inferior to European learning.' So western learning through the medium of English was the best option in India.

Lord Thomas B. Macaulay

Introduction To Lord Thomas B. Macaulay: Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, was a British historian and a politician. He wrote extensively as an columnist, on contemporary and historical, sociopolitical subjects, and as a commentator.

He was born on 24 October 1800, in Leicestershire, United Kingdom and died on 28 December 1859 in London, United Kingdom.