Development of Education in the Colonial...
Transcript of Development of Education in the Colonial...
Ph.D. Dissertation
Development of Education in the Colonial Punjab: The Role of Christian Missionaries (1849-1947)
Research Student
Mohammad Dilshad Mohabbat
Department of History
University of the Punjab
Lahore
Research Supervisor
Prof. Dr. S. Qalb-i-Abid
Dean, Faculty of Arts & Humanities
Chairman, Department of History
University of the Punjab
Lahore
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB, LAHORE
I
DECLARATION
I, Mohammad Dilshad Mohabbat, hereby declare that this thesis submitted in
fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in History, University
of the Punjab, Lahore, is wholly my personal research work unless otherwise referenced or
acknowledged. The thesis has not been submitted concurrently to any other university for any
other degree.
Mohammad Dilshad Mohabbat
II
CERTIFICATE BY THE RESEARCH SUPERVISOR
This is to certify that the research work described in this thesis is the original work of
the author and has been carried out under my direct supervision. I have personally gone
through all the data/results/material reported in the manuscript and certify their
correctness/authenticity. I further certify that the material included in this thesis have not
been used in part or full in a manuscript already submitted or in the process of submission in
partial/complete fulfilment of the award of any other degree from any other institution. I also
certify that the thesis has been prepared under my supervision according to the prescribed
format and I endorse its evaluation for the award of Ph.D. degree through the official
procedures of the university.
Prof. Dr. S. Qalb-i-Abid
Supervisor
III
DADICATED
TO
MY
KIND AND LOVING PARENTS,
ABLE AND SINCERE TEACHERS,
CARING FAMILY
AND
BELOVED DAUGHTERS,
MINAHIL, USWA AND SANA
IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful to my supervisor Prof. Dr. S. Qalb-i-Abid, Dean Faculty of Arts
and Humanities, for providing invaluable guidance throughout my research work. In fact this
work would not have been completed without his kind guidance, sympathies, and
administrative support. His invaluable intellectual ebullience played a key role in hammering
out decisive arguments and clarifications regarding this research work. I am extremely
obliged to his generous contribution. I am also obliged to my kind and sincere teacher Dr.
Muhammad Iqbal Chawla whose encouraging and supportive behaviour was always a source
of inspiration for me. I owe a debt of gratitude to my respected teacher Dr. Faraz Anjum who
has always been supportive of my intellectual endeavours. He was kind enough to spare
sufficient time for me to discuss various perspectives and view points in different contexts.
His valuable instructions and suggestions helped me a lot in improving the academic quality
of my research work. I have great regards for him and shall always be grateful to his valuable
input to this work.
The valuable colonial documents at Punjab Archives, Lahore, are one of the essential
sources for my research work and I was generously facilitated here in consulting these
sources by the Librarian, Muhammad Ejaz, and his staff members. I would like to sincerely
acknowledge their kind co-operation. A special thank is due to Mr. Muhammad Abbas,
Deputy Director Punjab Archives, whose administrative support was vital in accessing the
Archives‘ Library. I would like to thank thoughtfully and warmly the generous cooperation
of Mrs. Christiana Amjad Ali, administrator Christian Study Centre Rawalpindi. The
librarian of the Christian Study Centre, Ms. Musarrat, was also very much co-operative and
introduced me to a lot of valuable Christian colonial documents. I am also thankful to Mr.
Qamar Zaman, the Director National Documentation Wing Islamabad for his generous
cooperation at NDW library. Of many librarians, I acknowledge the cooperation of Mrs.
Rahat Khan, the librarian St. John Vianney Library of Our Lady Lords Minor Seminary,
Lalazar Rawalpindi. I acknowledge the valuable cooperation of the staff of the library,
Department of History, especially that of its librarian, Mrs. Faiqa Bhatti, with a lot of thanks
and gratitude. Many thanks are also due to the staff members of Main Library University of
the Punjab, Lahore, Quaid-i-Azam Library, Lahore, Punjab Public Library, Lahore, Library
V
of FC College, Lahore, Library of Rangmahal School, Lahore, National Archives, Islamabad,
for their cooperation and help. I also want to thank Mr. Manzur Gill from FC College,
Lahore, Mrs. Veeda Javed and Mr. Simon Jacob from Presbyterian Education Board, Lahore,
who cooperated with me and provided me great support in interacting within the Christian
community.
I must express my appreciation to my friend Mr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Ph.D. Scholar at
BZU, who supported me in different ways. In addition to his moral and material support, his
helping hand in dealing my official matters in education department was very vital for me
and I recognize it with great thanks. I am also indebted to the support of my colleague Mr.
Muhammad Arshad who was kind enough to share the burden of my official duties and
willingly spared me to complete my work. My special thanks are also due to my class fellows
Muhammad Ejaz, Raja Amir Hanif, Kamran Aziz Khan and Rana Khurshid Ahmed Khan
for their moral support.
Finally, I do not find words to express my gratitude to my parents and brothers for
their unyielding support. Their prayers and material help were vital for me and it was
impossible to complete this work without their support. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my
life partner and my daughters who suffered the most due to my research activities. Their
generous support, love and encouragement, during this critical period, are a memorable asset
for me and I acknowledge it with great thanks and gratitude.
MOHAMMAD DILSHAD
MOHABBAT
Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Missionary Education; its Aims and Objectives 20
1.1 Christian Missionaries in the Punjab: A Historical Overview 21
1.2 Main Aim of Missions 33
1.3 Origin of Missionary Education in India 36
1.4 Education: A Need of the Day 38
1.5 Types of Missionary Education 41
1.6 Objectives behind Missionary Education 43
Chapter 2 Origin and Expansion of Boys’ Missionary Schools
(1849-1880) 59
2.1 Pre-British Period 60
2.2 The British Period 62
2.3 Period of Expansion 67
2.4 Expansion Abandoned 83
Chapter 3: Origin and Expansion of Girls’ Missionary Schools
(1849-1880) 95
3.1 Challenges of the field 98
3.2 Christian Missionaries‘ Objectives behind Women Education 106
3.3 Zanana Missions in the Field 113
3.4 Missionaries‘ Modes of Action 115
Chapter 4 Missionaries’ Review of Policy and Development of
Women ‘s Higher Education (1881-1900) 135
4.1 Indian Education Commission (1882) 136
4.2 Missionaries‘ Future Course of Action 143
4.3 Initiation of Higher Education 146
4.4 Reaction and Response of the Native Population 156
4.5 Secondary Education for Girls 162
Chapter 5 Christian Missionary Education in the Twentieth Century
(1901-1947) 163
5.1 Qualitative Measures in boys Schools 168
5.2 Missionaries Endeavours in the Field of Women Education 185
5.3 Qualitative Measures in the Girls‘ Schools 187
5.4 Initiation of Female Higher Education: Missionaries‘ Contribution 194
5.5 Qualitative Measures 199
Conclusion 216
Selected Bibliography 228
Abbreviations
AP American Presbyterian Church of America
UP United Presbyterian Church of America
SPG Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
BZMS Baptist Zenana Missionary Society
ABCFM American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
CEZMS Church of England Zenana Missionary Society
CMS Church Missionary Society
WMC World Missionary Conference
CMD Cambridge Mission to Delhi
LMS London Missionary Society
WCC World Council of Churches
FES Society for Promoting Female Education in the East
1
Introduction
The history of Christian missions in the Indian sub-continent, including the British
province of the Punjab, is synchronous with the earliest period of Church history. The first
Christian community is reported to be originated in the first century A.D. It was started off
near the historical city of Taxila, under the leadership of Parthian King, Gundaphoros, who
embraced Christianity under the influence of Thomas Didymus, one of the earliest
missionaries in this land. Obviously the patronage of the King granted St. Thomas the liberty
of preaching in the length and breadth of his kingdom and the efforts of the pioneer
missionary resulted into the origination of this Christian community in the region.
The second phase of missionary activities started with the arrival of Francisco Xavier,
the founder of Jesuit missions, in the Indian sub-continent on May 6, 1542. The Jesuits
adopted the ‗trickle down policy‘1 and fancied the conversion of the Indian population
through that of their rulers. So they initiated their efforts to convert the Mughal Emperor
Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar and his son Salim, who afterwards succeeded Akbar with the
title of Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Jehangir. Although the missionaries could not succeed in
their efforts yet they were successful in seeking the favours of both the aforementioned
Mughal Emperors. The royal backing, in the subsequent years, worked for them and they
were able to build a church at the important city of Lahore. But the succession of Shahab-ud-
Din Muhammad Shah Jahan proved to be a set back for the missionaries. As he started to
impede the missionary activities and, in 1614, he was successful in ousting the whole
Christian community from Lahore to Agra.
1Trickle down policy implies that the religious beliefs of the ruling class would slowly and steadily trickle
down to the lower classes and in this way the conversion of the ruling class would ultimately affect the
religion of the masses.
2
The third phase of Christian missionary activities ushered with the arrival of
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry Plutschau, the first non-Catholic missionaries to enter
the Indian mission field.2 They established the first Protestant Christian mission under the
patronage of Frederick IV, the king of Denmark, in 1706. The introduction of Protestant
missions made a significant methodological difference with that of their earlier Catholic
counterparts. The latter attached greater importance to formal conversion while the former
were more concerned with the dissemination of Christian knowledge.3 Although the early
Catholic missionaries had some educational involvement yet it was declined by the end of
eighteenth century. The Protestant missions, from their earliest days in the Indian mission
field, felt the importance of education in the way of achieving of their evangelical goals and
the first principle of the strategy of the pioneer Protestants, P. Ziegenbalg and Henry
Plutschau, was, ‗Church and school are to go together.‘4
The modern phase of missionary activities is considered to be date with the formation
of the major missionary societies—the Baptist Missionary Society (1792), the London
Missionary Society (1799), the Church Missionary Society (1799), the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1810), the Methodist Missionary Society (1813), and
the like. William Carey‘s5 arrival in India on, November 11, 1793, is considered to be the
starting point of this phase of missionary activities.6 The pioneer Baptist missionary, William
Carey, attached great importance to education and believed that the schools were, ‗one of the
most effectual means of spreading the light of the gospel through the world‘. He therefore
2 Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, Evangelical Quarterly 69:3 (1997): 245.
3 P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954), 185.
4 Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986), 195.
5 The first missionary appointed by the Baptist Society to serve in India.
6 Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, translated by Sydney Moor (New York: Fleming H. Revell
Company, 1908), 131.
3
established his first school in India in 1794.7 Afterwards, he became the part of ‗Serampore
Trio‘8 which, by 1818, established a network of 92 schools with about 10000 pupils on the
rolls.9 The convention of missionary schools was further strengthened by Alexander Duff, a
Scottish Presbyterian missionary who landed in Calcutta, on May 27, 1830.10
He, after the
careful consideration of the challenges of the Indian mission field, decided to act through the
‗downward filtration‘11
theory and introduced English, instead of vernaculars, as medium of
instruction in his schools.
Rev. John C. Lowrie and Rev. William Reed, the missionaries from the Presbyterian
Church of America, entered the territory of the Punjab in 1834. In addition to the
establishment of a mission station, Mr. Lowrie, started superintending ‗Ludhiana Mission
High School‘, immediately after his arrival at Ludhiana. The school was known for having
students from some distinguished families of the region—the Afghan and the Sikh.12
His
popularity as an educationist tempted Maharaja Ranjeet Singh to invite him to establish an
English school for the sons of nobility, at the capital city of Lahore but the offer was declined
due to some differences over the scheme of studies at the proposed school.13
The mission
also maintained an orphanage for girls at Ludhiana. In spite of all this, the territory of the
7 Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 246.
8 In 1799, Ward and Marshman arrived in Calcutta to join William Carrey. Due to the critical circumstances, for
missionary work at Calcutta, they convinced Carrey to settle down at Serampore, a Dutch Settlement only 15
miles from Calcutta. The combination of these three missionaries was excellent for missionary work—Carrey
was a propagandist, Ward was a painter and Marshman was a school teacher— and is popularly known as
‗Serampore Trio‘. Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India, 1800-1947
(Bombay: Macmillan and Co., 1951), 35-36. 9 Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 248.
10 Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, 308.
11 The term refers to Duff‘s policy of aiming at educating the high class Brahmins, by using Christian education
through the medium of English, with a hope that the minority (Brahmans) would eventually affect the majority
(non-Brahmins). Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 248. 12
John Newton, Historical Sketches of the Indian Missions of the Presbyterian church in the United States of
America, (Allahabad: Allahabad Missionary Press, 1886), 27. 13
Ibid.
4
Punjab remained devoid of any other missionary society till the beginning of the second half
of the nineteenth century. But the scenario was changed considerably after the annexation of
the Punjab, in 1849, and the succession of the British officials to the helm of affairs made the
atmosphere of the province conducive for the growth of different missionary organizations.14
Consequently, the United Presbyterian Church of America, Church Missionary Society, the
Church of Scotland and the High Church Society for the Propagation of the Gospel entered in
the Punjabi mission field within the period of a decade after annexation. In this way, by the
annexation of the Punjab, the missionary education was emerged as a necessary component
of every mission and each and every mission station had a school attached to it.
The recommendations of the ‗Wood‘s Education Despatch‘15
, in 1854, also
encouraged the missionaries to enter the field of education. The Despatch suggested the
government‘s gradual withdrawal from the field of education in favour of some private
educational agency. It filled the missionaries with the hopes of commanding the whole
educational domain by presenting themselves as a substitute for the government in the field
of education.16
In addition to this the Despatch bestowed the missionaries with the claim of a
legal right to get financial aid for their educational institutions, through grant-in-aid
scheme.17
In this way it helped the missionaries in establishing an important position in the
European-led education system. The Punjab government set up its own Education
14
In the post annexation scenario, some prominent pro-missionary personalities like Henry Lawrence, John
Lawrence, Robert Montgomery, Herbert Edward and the like emerged as the pillars of new administration who
encouraged and supported the missionary enterprise to the best of their authority. 15
It is considered to be the most significant India Office education directive of the nineteenth century. Tim
Allender, ‗Anglican Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to Educate
‗the Masses‘‘, 1860-77‘, History of Education, 32:3 (May 2003): 274. 16
Since, in the Punjab, Christian missionaries were the only private agency involved in the diffusion of Western
education therefore they were hopeful of getting the command of the whole educational domain after the
anticipated withdrawal of government from the field. 17
The scheme was initiated to provide financial aid to the private bodies involved in the education of the
masses. In the Punjab, this scheme was considered to be meant for the missions because, at that time, they were
the only private educational agency in the province.
5
Department in 1855 but the mission schooling took impetus after the rise Robert
Montgomery to the designation of Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, in 1859. The
missionaries‘ educational endeavours, in spite of the British government‘s outward pledge of
adopting the policy of religious neutrality, were well supported by the top administrative
officials in the Punjab.18
.The missionaries‘ educational endeavours in the colonial Punjab could be divided
into two phases with the dawn of the twentieth century as demarcation line between the two.
Both the phases of missionary activities were marked by two different tendencies. The first
phase of their efforts was marked by their ultimate desire of commanding the whole field of
education. 19
So, during this period, they wanted to prove themselves as an appropriate
substitute for government, after its suggested withdrawal, and tried their best to multiply their
educational institutions to expand their network in the length and breadth of the Punjab. As a
corollary, their efforts were focused on getting the numeric dominance in the field and the
quality of education was, generally, neglected at their institutions.
This period of expansion is also important because of the initiation of formal women
education in the Punjab, during this period. The missionaries are considered to be the
pioneers in diffusing Western education to the female multitude of India. In the Punjab, the
missionaries‘ endeavours for women education took impetus after the encouragement by R.
18
The most senior British men including the then Lieutenant Governor, Robert Montgomery, and his brother in
law, Donald McLeod, were actively backing the missionaries in the Punjab. Tim Allender, ‗Anglican
Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to Educate ‗the Masses‘‘, 1860-
77‘, 276 19
Wood‘s Education Despatch presented the ‗doctrine of state withdrawal‘ which suggested government‘s
gradual withdrawal from the field of education and thus swelled the missionaries‘ hopes of commanding the
whole field of education in the country. ―It aroused missionaries‘ hopes of a great era of expansion in which
Government would eventually withdraw from direct educational enterprise and the missionary schools,
supported by liberal grant-in-aid, would cover the whole country.‖ Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟
History of Education in India, 1800-1947, 135
6
Montgomery. He as the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, conducted an educational
durbar, at Lahore in February 1862, and impressed upon the European officials and the
native gentlemen, present there, the importance of women‘s education and invited their
cooperation.20
The missionaries, along with the other communities of the society, responded
positively and initiated their efforts for the education of the girls. In addition to the
establishment of separate schools, boarding schools, and orphanages for the girls, they
initiated Zenana visiting to approach the secluded women of the society. The missionary
ladies were involved in aforementioned activities for the education of the native women.
Contrary to the missionary schools for boys, the missionary schools for girls were considered
better than all the others present in the field.
This period, popularly known as period of expansion, lasted till 1880. The subsequent
two decades, up to the dawn of the twentieth century, could be termed as the period of
transition for the missionaries because, during this period of about twenty years, they
remained busy in outlining their future course of action. Their previous policy of expansion
was unable to deliver the desired results and the condition of the field was going to change in
the future. The recommendations of the First Indian Education Commission, in 1882-83,
showed little favours for the missionaries. The Commission rejected the option of
government‘s withdrawal from the field of education in the favour of Christian missionaries.
Moreover it recommended the grant of financial support for the native private agencies,
through the scheme of grant-in-aid. The recommendations of the Commission were not
favourable for the missionaries and they sensed a different scenario of the mission field in the
future. They foresaw the future atmosphere of open competition of their educational
20
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 10.
7
institutions with government schools as well as those managed by the native agencies.
Consequently, they observed the prevailing condition of the field closely and came to the
conclusion that the changed circumstances of the field as well as the failure of their previous
policy in delivering the desired results demanded a complete review of their previous policy
of establishing as many schools as possible. In addition to the missionaries‘ review of the
previous policy, this period is well known for the advent of the native societies in the field of
education, the development of private collegiate education and for the development of
secondary education of women.
With the dawn of the twentieth century, Christian missionaries started implementing
their new policy which suggested a total reversal from their previous efforts of quantitative
supremacy and recommended the initiation of those for qualitative improvement.
Consequently, the missionaries became quality conscious and abandoned their efforts of
numeric increase. They initiated their efforts to improve the quality of instruction at their
institutions and from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the colonial rule in
the Punjab, in 1947, consistently followed this policy of quality improvement. They had
special focus on the development of leadership qualities in their students. The improved
standard of instruction at their schools and colleges served for the desired object and the
missionaries were able to catch the attention of the upper echelon of the society. Most of the
people form the upper rung of the society, in spite of having serious apprehensions against
the religious aspect of missionary education, started sending their children to the missionary
schools. They were draw to the missionary institutions due to the higher standards of
education maintained by the missionary educators at these institutions. It was this period in
which the missionary educational institutions led the race and emerged as the symbol of
8
excellence in the province and still in this modern age of competition they are able to
maintain it.21
Present education system of the Punjab is the legacy of the colonial education system
and Christian missionaries were one of the key players in developing this system in the
province which is still functioning in some modified form. The missionaries were considered
to be the allies of the colonial government in developing this system of education in the
Punjab. The opinion of the missionaries held a considerable weight in the decision making
process and they had enough influence to modify government educational policy according
to their desired lines. So it would be important to understand the missionaries‘ educational
enterprise to understand the complexities of the present education system. The selected
period is important to comprehend the missionaries‘ educational endeavours in the context of
different educational strategies adopted at different times by the missionaries. This research
work would be the first to conduct on this period with special reference to the missionaries‘
educational enterprise in this region.
All the Christian missionary societies, especially those of Protestant faction, adopted
education as a necessary part of their missionary labours during the nineteenth century in the
Indian mission field. This resolute involvement of missionary Societies in the field of
education is the most striking thing about the missionary strategy. It is quite appropriate to
probe ‗why these Societies involved themselves in an enterprise which had no direct relation
to their missionary goal of conversion? What was the real driving force which tempted the
missionaries to indulge in such a tiresome and expensive activity? The study also attempts to
21
Christian missionary institutions provided the majority of the leadership during Pakistan movement and most
of the leaders from the Punjab were the ex-students of missionary institutions. Even today a vast majority of the
ruling class in Pakistan is the product of the missionary institutions which shows the excellence of these
institutions.
9
analyze the missionaries‘ interaction with the colonial officials of the Punjab and tries to
understand how, during 1850s, the missionaries, in spite of the government‘s outward pledge
of adopting the policy of religious neutrality, were able to establish and expand their
missionary networks in the territory of the Punjab. The work also attempts to study the
transition of missionary educational institutions from lower class educational institutions to
those of emblem of excellence in the province.
Education has been central to the building of missionary institutions and the field of
women was no exception. The missionary wives began schools for girls as part of their
natural and normal role as a missionary wife, since their inception in the Punjab.
Missionaries‘ efforts for women education in the Punjab took impetus after 1860. Their
contribution, in this field, was very vital for the initiation of some system of women
education in the province. This work attempts to study the challenges of the field and the
missionaries‘ response to meet them. It attempts to show how the Zenana missions were
introduced in the field and different strategies adopted by them to approach the secluded
women of the upper rung of the social ladder. The study also examines the role played by the
missionaries in fashioning the collegiate education for women in the province. The work
goes on to show how the missionary ladies presented the Western ideals to the native ladies
which induced them to adopt those Western models.
Review of the Literature
Unfortunately we are short of sufficient secondary sources about the missionaries‘
educational contribution in the territory of the Punjab. A lot of work has been done on the
evangelical aspect of missionary activities in the Indian sub-continent. A great deal of work
10
has been done on the history of Christianity and Christian missions in India. A considerable
research work is also done on the educational activities of Christian missionaries focussing
the regions of Bengal, Madras and Bombay. Most of the writers focus on the educational
work of Serampore Trio and that of Alexander Duff. However the work done on the
educational enterprise of Christian missionaries in the territory of the Punjab is almost
negligible. The province of the Punjab was an important part of the British dominion. It was
the province which was roughly the size of England stretching from Delhi in the East to
Peshawar in the North West. The province once included both St. Stephen College Delhi and
Forman Christian College Lahore, the two prestigious missionary colleges of the sub-
continent. Moreover the province of the Punjab was considered, in the missionary circles, to
be an ecclesiastical pathway to Central Asia.22
In this context, the study of the missionary
work done in the field of education in the province of the Punjab is very important. This
research work fills the gap by fully concentrating on the missionaries‘ educational work done
in the territorial boundaries of the British Punjab. The attempted period of study is also
important because it helps in studying the missionaries‘ educational endeavours in their
proper socio-religious context.
It is important to have an overview of existing literature on this topic which contains
the works produced by different historians particularly mission historians, education
historians, social historians, historians of the gender and the like. There are some writes who
are interested in the origin and evolution of Christianity in the Indian sub-continent and
therefore tries to trace the history of Christianity and Christian missions in this peninsula,
22
Christian missionaries were convinced that the conversion of India would ultimately lead to the conversion of
Asia and they saw the province as an ecclesiastical pathway to Central Asia. Jeffrey Cox, Imperial Fault Lines:
Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818- 1940 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002), 26.
11
from the first century A.D. Robert Eric23
, Julius Richter24
and P. Thomas25
are the typical
examples of these kind of writers. The mission historians mostly trace the history of
Christian missions and their activities in the Indian sub-continent. Eugene Stock wrote the
History of Church Missionary Society (CMS) which consists of four volumes in which he
traces the history of CMS from 1799 to 1915. He seems to be concerned, mainly, with the
religious history of CMS. Julius Richter traces the history of missions in the subcontinent.
Avril A Powell26
reveals the story of Muslim-Christian religious encounters, Manazaras27
,
before the War of Independence. The most of these religious debates took place in the Indian
region known as ‗Gangetic Core‘28
, therefore this area is the main focus of the book.
Christian missionaries, who came to the Indian sub-continent, during the colonial rule, also
wrote their experiences in book forms. These accounts, obviously, are of great historical
importance due to the missionaries‘ first hand experiences of the field. Such accounts of John
Newton and those of Andrew Gordon are important in the Punjabi context.
There are very few researchers who have attempted to work on the educational
activities of the missionaries particularly in the geographical boundaries of British Punjab.
Tim Allender is one of the same groups. He in his article Anglican Evangelism in North
23
Robert Eric Frykenberg, Christianity in India from Beginnings to the Present (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2008). 24
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, translated by Sydney Moor (New York: Fleming H. Revell
Company, 1908). 25
P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954). 26
Avril A. Powell, Muslims and Missionaries in Pre-Mutiny India (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1993) 27
An Urdu term generally used, during nineteenth century, for a religious disputation or debate between the
adherents of Islam and Christianity. 28
A geographical term taken from Kenneth W. Jones, Scio-Religious Reforms Movements in British India,
Vol.II/3 (Cambridge, 1989). Avril A. Powell considered it as an appropriate encapsulation of the region within
which Muslim-missionary interaction took place. Avril A. Powell, Muslims and Missionaries in Pre-Mutiny
India, 1.
12
India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to Educate ‗the Masses‘‘, 1860-7729
focuses on the performance of Anglican mission schools in the Punjab from 1860 o 1877. He
tries to explore reasons behind the missionaries‘ inability to expand their educational
influence beyond their central city schools, in spite of their expansive programmes of
evangelism and conversion in the far off areas of the province. He also attempts to trace the
factors behind the sudden emergence of Anglican mission schools during 1860. The author is
also interested in bringing forth the educational problems originated from the conversion
imperative in the missionary schools. The missionaries‘ distrust on Government officials and
its ultimate impact on their future course of action is also an important part of this research
work. It also explains how the emergence of the native educational organizations, in the field
of education, brought a halt to the educational dominance of the missionary schools.
The same author analyzes Sir Robert Montgomery‘s role, as the Lieutenant Governor
of the Punjab, in initiating the campaign for women education in the province.30
He asserts
that Montgomery‘s movement in favour of women education was a politically motivated
move which was used to camouflage the failure of centralization scheme after the abolition
of Halkabandi school system.31
The same writer, in his research work titled ‗instructing the
Women: Changing State Agendas in Colonial India, 1854-1924‘32
, tries to explore the kind
29
Tim Allender, ‗Anglican Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to
Educate ‗the Masses‘‘, 1860-77‘, History of Education, 32:3 (May 2003): 273-288. 30
Tim Allender, ‗Robert Montgomery and the Daughter Slayers: A Punjabi Education Imperative, 1855-65‘,
Journal of South Asian Studies, 25:1 (April, 2002), 97-119. 31
A village school scheme called ‗Halkabandi‘ was set up in the Punjab, under the care of W.D. Arnold, first
Director of Public Instruction, during 1856. It was an experimental scheme evolved with a view to utilize the
indigenous resources since it aimed at learning in the local languages with classes taught by the indigenous
teachers and supervised by the indigenous inspectors. But in 1860, R. Montgomery, decided to avoid it and
directed the government and the mission schools to centralize at the urban sites and to teach in English, where
possible. Ibid, 99-101. 32
Tim Allender, ‗Instructing the Women: Changing State Agendas in Colonial India, 1854-1924‘, Proceedings
of 16th
Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Wollongong (26th of June, 2006).
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/biennial-conference/2006/Allender-Tim-ASAA2006.pdf
13
of relationship between women educators and the existing government. He also examines the
government‘s role in constructing these women educators and observes that the state directed
discourses, during this period of seventy years, were largely driven by other agendas. The
same writer examines the role of the colonial masters in constructing the female educational
ethics, based on race and class.33
The work of Jeffrey Cox34
is another important work on missionaries‘ activities in the
Punjab. The writer uses the metaphor of ‗fault line‘ for the problems which missionaries‘
close association with the colonial government created by and for the Christian missionaries‘
enterprise. It focuses on the missionary operations conducted in the Punjab, including Delhi,
and attempts to examine the complexity of missionaries‘ activities. He wants to evaluate the
influence of Christian missions on Indian society, within the larger imperial context, and also
the significant role of the native Indians in the mission efforts. The writer is of the opinion
that although the missionaries failed to achieve their desired objectives yet they had a
significant impact on the lives of a large number of Indians through their social service
institutions—educational and medical.
Sanjay Seth35
focuses on the educational activities of the missionaries and relates
them to their ultimate desire of conversion. His research focuses the missionaries‘
educational endeavours in the British India. He tries to prove that the missionaries‘
educational efforts were mainly originated from their longstanding desire of getting converts
33
Tim Allender, ‗ Educational Futures: Creating a Female Education Space in Colonial India, 1854-1934‘, 17th
Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Melbourne (1-3 July 2008).
http://arts.monash.edu.au/mai/asaa/timallender.pdf 34
Jeffrey Cox, Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818- 1940 (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 2002). 35
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 27-43.
14
from the host society and they used education as an auxiliary to achieve their ultimate goal of
evangelization. He elaborates how the missionaries introduced the Western science and
learning with a view to serve as the solvent of Hindu and Islamic beliefs ultimately paving
the way for the introduction of Christianity and how it (the introduction of Western
education), instead of producing desired results, proved to be a source of irreligion and
immorality in the Indian society.
Iftikhar Haider Malik36
tries to explore the advent of the American missionaries in
South Asia. He has examined the role and effects of the American missionaries in South
Asia. He tries to explore the interdependence of the missionaries and the British rulers by
highlighting the critical role played by the missionaries during the War of Independence, in
1857, and the governments‘ support to the missionaries after the restoration of the peace. He
is of the opinion that the introduction of modern science hastened the pace of modernization
and ushered a new social, political, educational and religious era in the existing Indian social
setting. To him the cultural interaction of the Indian and the non-Indian resulted directly into
the revivalist movements in India.
Syed Nurullah and J.P Naik37
wrote the standard history of education in the Colonial
India and discuss the progressive development of the present education system in the Indian
sub-continent. They criticize the role of British administration in suppressing the long living
indigenous education system. In addition to the destruction of indigenous education system,
the inability of the British Government in developing a national education system is their
36
Iftikhar Haider Malik, ‗The American Missionaries in South Asia, 1812-1870‘, Journal of the Research
Society of Pakistan, XIX: 3, (1982), 21-41. 37
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India, 1800-1947 (Bombay: Macmillan
and Co., 1951).
15
major allegation on the British administration. G.W. Leitner,38
the eminent educationist of
the nineteenth century Punjab, traced the history of the prevalent indigenous education
system in the province. He discusses the existing rich infrastructure of the indigenous
education system and held the British administration responsible for the fateful demise of the
indigenous education system. H.R. Mehta39
traces the initial growth of the Western education
in the Punjab, till 1884. He has elaborated some official efforts to implant the new education
system in the Punjab. He partially discusses the role of missionaries in the development of
the new education system. Women‘s education is also discussed briefly in his work.
Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar40
, in his doctoral research work, analyzes the social impact
of the missionaries‘ educational activities in Jampur. He describes the social changes in the
Muslim society of Jampur, originated from the missionaries‘ activities. Leslie A. Fleming41
discusses the social impact of American women missionaries‘ activities and analyzes their
role as ‗change agents‘. She has described the cultural mind-set of the American women
missionaries and discussed the role that missionaries propounded for the Indian women. She
attempts to elaborate the importance of the boarding schools in remodelling the social fabric
of the society. Michelle Maskiell42
discusses the impact of higher missionary education on
the lives of the female students of Kinnaird College during the first half of the twentieth
century. She used both the quantitative analysis of the college admission registers and a
38
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab: Since Annexation and in 1882, (Lahore:
Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2002). 39
H.R. Mehta, A History of the Growth and Development of Western Education in Punjab, 1846-1884 (Punjab
Government Record Office, Monograph No. 5, 1929). 40
Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar, Impact of Christian Missionary Activities on Muslim Society: A Case Study of
Jampur (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of the Punjab, 1996). 41
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change in
North India, 1870-1910‘, in Woman‟s Work for Woman: Missionaries and Social Change in Asia, ed. Leslie A.
Flemming (1989), 35-57. 42
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘,
Modern Asian Studies, 19:1 (1985): 55-83.
16
qualitative examination of additional institutional sources, alumnae records, and personal
interviews with former staff members and students, to show the overall impact of missionary
education on the lives of the college girls.
A close examination of these works reveals the fact that they have made little effort in
evaluating the educational aspect of missionary enterprise in the British Punjab. Although
there are some researchers who have focused the same in this region yet their work does not
cover the complete period of colonial rule in this region. No doubt the period from 1860 to
the formation of first Indian Education Commission, in 1882, is important but the latter
period has its significance due to the missionaries‘ review of their previous policy of
expansion and adoption of the new policy of quality education. The first part of the twentieth
century is also important because it is the period in which the missionary institutions
emerged as the emblems of excellence in the province. This research work, in addition to its
focus on the territory of the Punjab, is important due to its proposed period which covers the
complete colonial regime in the Punjab.
Methodology of the Research Work
The researcher has employed descriptive and analytical methods to conduct his
research work and has used a variety of primary and secondary sources. As the focus of the
research was the educational aspect of missionary enterprise in the province of the British
Punjab therefore the files of the primary documents, educational reports by the Director
Public Instruction Punjab, Reports of government commissions periodically formed to
analyze and evolve educational policies, the Reports of missionary conferences, Annual
Reports of missionary societies, letters showing official communications regarding matters of
17
education, and the like have been consulted. It has been tried to take care of the
chronological order of the events as they occurred but there may be some confusion at some
places as the events overlapped and the effects of the different events further affected one
another. The research is mainly conducted at the Punjab Archives, Lahore, National
Archives, Islamabad, National Documentation wing Establishment Division Islamabad,
Punjab Public Library Lahore, Jinnah Library Lahore, Main Library and the Departmental
Libraries in the University of the Punjab, Lahore, and other depositories in the Punjab.
The present study tries to locate and analyze the role and efforts of Christian
missionaries‘ educational endeavours in the province of the British Punjab from 1849 to 1947.
This work has been divided into five chapters. The first chapter traces the origin and
evolution of Christian missionaries in the Indian sub-continent. It also explores the advent of
Christian missionaries in the province of the Punjab, in the modern phase of missionary
activities. The most important part of this chapter analyzes the missionaries‘ aims and
objectives behind their educational endeavours. It attempts to explore the real driving force
which drew the missionaries in such a tiresome and expensive activity. The chapter also
attempts to discover how the missionaries, in spite of government‘s outward pledge of
adopting the policy of ‗religious neutrality‘, were supported by the top of the administrative
hierarchy and how they were able to institute and expand their missionary bases in the
different parts of the Punjab.
The second chapter cover the period from the annexation of the Punjab, in1849, to
1880. This is the most important period in the educational history of the Punjab since not
only the structure of the education system was formed but the missionaries were also
18
officially admitted in the field of education and a system of grant-in-aid was devised for their
financial support. The second chapter argues that the ‗Wood‘s Education Despatch‘ paved
the way for missionaries‘ dominance in the educational domain of the province. This chapter
tries to explore how the missionaries, with the active financial and administrative support of
the top administrative hierarchy, established their network of missionary schools at different
missionary headquarters. This chapter turns on the idea that the missionaries‘ hidden desire
of commanding the whole educational domain of the province, which tempted them to
establish as many schools as they could, was seriously shattered by the government‘s reversal
from her promised withdrawal from the field of education. At the close of this period, the
missionaries, demoralised by the government‘s attitude, decided to review their previous
policy of expanding their educational network. So the missionaries abandoned their
expansion well before the formation of first Indian Education Commission in 1882.
The third chapter traces the initiation of formal female education in the province,
during the same period—from 1849 to 1880. It states the missionaries‘ objectives behind
their entrance in this socially sensitive field of missionary labour. It argues that in addition to
the missionaries‘ religious objectives the missionaries were lured in this field by Robert
Montgomery‘s campaign in the favour of female education, during 1860s. It states that
Zenana missions were introduced to approach the secluded women of the upper strata of the
society. The chapter describes the story of missionaries‘ educational institutions for women
and states how the missionary ladies used the modes of Zenana visiting, separate female
schools, and boarding schools for girls to educate the female population of the province.
The fourth chapter deals with the period from 1880 to the turn of the twentieth
century. The period is known as the period of transition for the missionaries because, during
19
this period, missionaries were involved mostly in outlining their future course of action. They
analyzed their previous efforts in the context of their net outcome. The recommendations of
the First Indian Education Commission were also one of the major concerns for the
missionaries. This chapter discusses how the recommendations of the First Indian Education
Commission paved the way for the advent of different native organizations in the field of
education. The foundation of four missionary colleges at the important cities of Lahore,
Rawalpindi, Sialkot, and Delhi was an important phenomenon of this period. This chapter
also traces the initiation of female education of secondary level during this period.
The fifth chapter comprised the study of missionary education from the dawn of the
twentieth century to 1947. The major part of the chapter discusses how the missionary
institutions emerged as the symbols of excellence during this period. The study attempts to
explore what were the changes incorporated in the missionary institutions which raised the
standard of instruction at these institutions. It attempts to explore the missionaries‘ role in
the development of higher education for women. The analysis of the missionaries‘ efforts of
directing their educational activities to restructure the Punjabi society also constitutes the
major part of this chapter. The academic and social impact of the missionaries‘ endeavours in
the field of women‘s education is also discussed in this chapter.
20
Chapter 1
Missionary Education; its Aims and Objectives
The missionaries came to the Indian subcontinent with a declared aim of serving the
native population and devoted their lives for the service of mankind. They initiated long term
social service programmes to lessen the sufferings of the host society. Their activities were
mainly in the areas of health and education. The missionaries‘ emphasis on the education is
one of the most striking things of their strategies. As the pioneers of private educational
enterprise, the missionary educational institutions hold an important place in the history of
education of this region. Missionary education, during the nineteenth and twentieth century,
became a useful auxiliary to the preaching of the gospel and therefore became a necessary
component of missionary operations in the Indian subcontinent. The curriculum of the
missionary schools and colleges was adapted to serve the Christian cause. Secular education,
based on the study of Western sciences and English literature, emerged as a necessary part of
missionary curriculum. This chapter tries to explore the initial growth and development of
the missionary education in the Indian subcontinent. It traces the history of missionary
education with a view to study the aims and objectives of Christian missionaries behind their
educational labours. The chapter attempts to answer the questions such as: why the
missionaries opted to chose tiresome field of social service? Why the auxiliary of education
was considered a necessary component of the missionaries‘ activities? Was betterment of the
native population their main aim or had they something else behind their social services?
What was its utility and was it a distraction from their original task of conversion by winning
the hearts and minds of the people?
21
1.1 Christian Missionaries in the Punjab: A Historical Overview
The history of the Christian missions in India, including the Punjab, is synchronous
with the earliest period of Church history—from the first century A.D—when Thomas
Didymus, one of the disciples of Jesus, chose the north western territories of the Indian
subcontinent as the field of his religious labour.43
The conversion of Parthian king,
Gundaphoros, by St. Thomas was one of the landmarks in the history of Christianity in this
region. This significance development allowed the missionaries to preach the gospel
throughout the length and breadth of the Parthian kingdom.44
Consequently, the first
Christian community was reported to be originated in the first century A.D, under the
leadership of Gundaphoros and his brother Gad around his court at Sirkap, near modern
Taxila.45
The second phase of Christian missionaries‘ activities in this region of the
subcontinent started with the arrival of Vasco Da Gama, a Portuguese explorer who
commanded the first fleet of ships to sail directly from Europe to India. It opened the way for
the Portuguese missionaries to the subcontinent. Francisco Xavier, the pioneer Jesuit in India,
was the first star of magnitude in this galaxy of Portuguese missionary stars. He landed at the
Indian soil on May 6, 1542 and laid the foundation of Roman Catholic Church in India.46
Due to his known friendship with the Portuguese King Joao III and the governor Martin
Afonso de Sousa, he, from the very beginning of his arrival in the subcontinent, enjoyed
43
Robert Eric Frykenberg, Christianity in India from Beginnings to the Present, 95-98. 44
Ibid, 20-24, also see P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan, 20. 45
John Roony, Shadows in the Dark (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1984), 103-105. The finding of a
cross in 1935, related with the period of Gundaphoros, from the ancient city of Sirkap also confirms the
argument. 46
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India,, 44-45.
22
generous treatment from the administrative hierarchy of the Portuguese settlements. 47
He
was the founder of Jesuit missions who afterwards planned their efforts to convert the
Mughal Emperor Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar. Believing on the ‗trickle down theory‘48
,
the Jesuits fancied the conversion of the common man through that of the ruling master of the
region. They, therefore, focused their efforts to Christianize the Mughal Emperor rather than
that of his masses.49
Although the Jesuits were not successful in baptizing Akbar yet they
were succeeded in developing a close relationship with Akbar and his son Salim, who
afterwards succeeded Akbar with the title of Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Jehangir. As a
corollary, both the Mughal Emperors facilitated the missionaries, financially and officially, in
their religious preaching.50
The royal backing worked for the Jesuit missionaries and they
were able to build a Church at Lahore, with the active financial and administrative support of
the ruling sovereigns.51
In the beginning, they were successful in laying a strong foundation
for their missionary activities but the succession of Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Shah Jahan
(1628-1658) proved to be a set back for their Christian cause. He started to obstruct
missionary activities and his policies, ultimately in 1614, led the Christian community to
migrate from Lahore to Agra.52
From that time until well into the second quarter of the
nineteenth century, we know very little about any Christian presence in the land of five
rivers.
47
Ibid., 48. 48
Tickle down policy implies that the religious beliefs of the ruling class would slowly and steadily trickle
down to the lower classes and in this way the conversion of the ruling class would ultimately affect the religion
of the masses throughout the country. 49
P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan, 114. 50
Akbar permitted the Jesuits to erect a Church at Lahore and gave them funds for this purpose, as well. He also
permitted the missionaries to baptize the persons desirous of receiving baptism. Stephen Neill, A History of
Christianity in India, the Beginning to AD 1707 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 181. Prince
Salim also made a reasonable financial contribution for the construction of the Church. P. Thomas, Christians
and Christianity in India and Pakistan, 111. 51
Ibid., 110-111. 52
John Rooney, The Hesitant Dawn (Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1984), 97-98.
23
The modern phase of the missionary activities in India is considered to date from the
day of William Carey‘s arrival in India, November 11, 1793.53
It was a hard time for the
missionaries to start their evangelical activities in the Indian settlements of East India
Company (EIC). As at that time, EIC was holding the notion of ‗non interference‘ with the
customs and religions of the native population.54
It was extremely conscious of the political
implications of any missionary interference in the religious and social structure of oriental
society. EIC, therefore, was maintaining a policy of strict religious neutrality in its territories
and, with the ever increasing boundaries of its empire, it became more and more particular in
its policy.55
On the other hand, its policy of non-interference was not acceptable for the
missionaries in India and back home in England. The missionaries thought that the territory
of the Indian subcontinent was endowed by the Providence to the Christian world and
therefore it was their bounden duty to preach the word of God to the heathens.56
The ultimate
result was that the relations between EIC‘s officials and the missionaries became extremely
strained due to the difference of opinion between the Christian missionaries and the EIC
officials. The missionaries decided to put pressure on the Company officials to waive off the
ban on missionary activities in company administered areas. So, the first parliamentary move
on the notion of non interference was made at the time of the renewal of Company‘s Charter,
in 1793. The missionaries led by William Wilberforce and some members of ‗Clapham
53
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 131. 54
In fact, the Company was supporting missionary enterprise till 1765 but after the acquisition of its
sovereignty, it became conscious of its political considerations which led it to change its earlier likings for
proselytizing activities and adopt a policy of strict religious neutrality in its settlements. Syed Nurullah and J.P.
Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India, 1800-1947, 37. 55
Ibid., 37-39. 56
This view was popular in the missionary ranks and was held through the ages. For details see the views of
Herbert Edwards, a Pro-missionary EIC official, in his lecture on ‗our Indian Empire‘, in Eugene Stock, The
History of Church Missionary society, its Environment, its Men and its Work, II, (London: Church Missionary
Society, 1899), 232-233.
24
sect‘57
attempted to win back the independence of missionary activities through the insertion
of a missionary clause in the Charter of the Company. The missionaries proposed the
insertion of the following clause in the Charter of EIC:
Resolved, that the Court of Directors of the Company shall be empowered and
commissioned to nominate and send out from time to time a sufficient number of
skilled and suitable persons, who shall attain the aforesaid object58
by serving as
schoolmasters, missionaries, or otherwise.59
The persons like Henry Dundas, the then secretary of state for the Home department,
came with the opposite viewpoint and were able to defend it in the British Parliament. The
Charter of EIC was renewed without opening up the EIC‘s administered areas for the
Christian missionaries and the Company carried on with its previous policy of religious
neutrality in its settlements. Consequently, the missionary societies were banned to enter the
Company‘s settlements for the subsequent years. On the other hand, some missionary
societies, by the beginning of the twentieth century, were able to establish their missionary
bases in different parts of India.60
But in spite of the establishment of these centres, the
beginning of missionary operations in EIC‘s administered areas was nearly impossible due to
the hostility of the Company officials.61
It became, finally, possible in 1813, when the
missionaries, under the leadership of William Wilberforce and Charles Grant, were able to
57
A group of influential like-minded social reformers, based in Clapham London. It got prominence during
1790-1830 due to their campaign against slavery and for the promotion of missionary work at home and abroad.
Its members included William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, James Stephen, Zachary Macaulay and the others.
Stephen Tomkins, The Clapham Sect: How Wilberforce‟s Circle Changed Britain (Oxford: Lion, 2010), 1. 58
Refers to the missionaries‘ resolution moved in the House of Commons in which they declared the gradual
advancement in the useful knowledge and the religious and moral improvement, of the inhabitants of the British
dominions in India, as their bounden duty. 59
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 149-150 60
The Baptist Missionary Society (1792), the London Missionary Society (1795) and the Church Missionary
Society (1799) were some of the major missionary societies who were able to establish their centres in the
Indian subcontinent by the start of the nineteenth century, Farheen Altaf, ‗Muslim Response to Christian
Missionaries Educational Activities in India (1757-1854)‘, Proceedings International 22nd
Pakistan History
Conference (Multan: Bahauddin Zakria University, 2010), 30. 61
Avril A. Powell, Muslims and Missionaries in Pre-Mutiny India, 80.
25
insert thirteenth resolution in the Charter which grants the missionaries access to the EIC‘s
settlements. The resolution ran as follows
It is the opinion of this Committee that it is the duty of this country to promote the
interests and happiness of the native inhabitants of the British dominions in India, and
that such measures ought to be adopted as may lead to the introduction among them
of useful knowledge, and of religious and moral improvement.62
That, in the
furtherance of the above objects, sufficient facilities shall be afforded by law to
persons desirous of going to and remaining in India for the purpose of accomplishing
these benevolent designs. 63
Apparently the insertion of this clause in the charter Act of EIC cleared the way for
the missionaries and it appeared as if they were ―allowed to fulfil their missionary calling
[message] in its completes and widest sense‖ but the case was, actually, different. The
Company not only made missionaries‘ entrance conditional but also tried to exert all kind of
its influence to their detriment. For instance, in stead of opening its settlements for the
Christian missionaries of the whole world, the Company confined its permission for the
British residents only. 64
As a result, the English and the Scotch missionary societies were the
only beneficiaries, during the next two decades, who were able to obtain some foothold in the
Indian settlements during this period. In addition to this the missionaries had to get a
residential permission before entering the Company‘s settlements. The license was issued
after a complex procedure of documentation and having taken the guarantee that nothing
harmful would be done to the British interests there.65
Furthermore, the missionaries were,
officially, free to enter and initiate their missionary activities for the promotion of religious
62
The term ‗useful knowledge‘ refers to the knowledge of Christianity and that of ‗religious and moral
improvement‘ implies the introduction of Christianity and Christian moral values in the Indian society. 63
J.C. Marshman, Life and Times, cited in Stephen Neill, A History of Christianity in India 1707-1858
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 153. 64
Ibid., 151. 65
Richard Lovett, M. A, the History of the London Missionary Society 1795-1895 (London: Oxford University
Press Warehouse, 1899), 47- 48.
26
and moral conditions of the Indian people.66
But, in reality, their activities were obstructed in
all possible ways.67
In fact the Company accepted the missionaries‘ entrance, in its
settlements, very reluctantly and, in spite of the insertion of the missionary clause in its
Charter, it held serious concerns over the political repercussions of the missionaries‘
interference with the religious beliefs and practices of the people. So, EIC officials
consistently tried to honour their pledge of religious neutrality and showed a cold shoulder to
the missionaries‘ activities. Consequently, the missionary activities in the Company‘s
administered areas of Indian subcontinent, after 1813, were permissible but were still
considerably hampered by the frequent interference of the Company officials.68
Being an occasion for general revision of the Company‘s policy in India, the year
1833 held a significant importance. This was the time when missionary activities, in a real
sense, were allowed and the British administration started to support the missionaries‘
evangelical endeavours, in the subcontinent. The review of the Charter of EIC opened up the
Indian territories for the missionaries of the whole world and the missionaries, other than the
British citizens, were also allowed to reside and initiate the proselytizing activities among the
people of this region.69
The result was that the missionaries from different parts of the globe
rushed towards India to extend their world of Christianity. In this way the missionary
enterprise started to flourish in leaps and bounds and the subsequent years were a period of
great missionary activity throughout the Indian subcontinent. The missionary societies,
66
Julius Richter interpreted it as ―that meant that the missionaries were to be allowed to enter India and to
reside there; they might preach, found churches, and discharge all spiritual duties.‖, Julius Richter, A History of
Missions in India,151. 67
Richard Lovett, M. A, the History of the London Missionary Society 1795-1895, 48. 68
Avril A. Powell, Muslims and Missionaries in Pre-Mutiny India, 80. 69
―India was thrown open to the whole world, and any and every honest man who liked might settle there. This
provision opened up India likewise to the missionary activity of other nations. It was in this year that the
missionary labours of the non-English missionary societies began in India‖. Julius Richter, A History of
Missions in India, 192.
27
already working in the field, extended their networks along with the advent of the new
missionary societies.
During this period of great missionary activity, the Punjab heard the Jesus cry for the
first time in this modern phase of Christian missionary activities. The annexation of the
province, in 1849, was a pleasing occasion for the missionaries. As the persons like Henry
Lawrence, John Lawrence, Robert Montgomery, Herbert Edward emerged as the pillars of
new administration. These persons were Christian men with true Christian spirit, and were
known for their pro-missionary attitude. They believed that their victories in the Indian sub-
continent were endowed by the Providence and it was their duty to spread the word of God in
this land. John Lawrence‘s views, regarding victory of the British in the War of 1857,
depicted his true religious character. He expressed his views in the following words:
That we were eventually successful against the fearful odds which beset us was alone
the work of the great God, who so merciful vouchsafed His protection. Nothing but a
series of miracles saved us. To Him therefore, alone is the glory due.70
The strong influence of these persons, at the helm of administrative affairs, was a
positive development for the missionaries. It paved the way for a rapid growth of different
missionary societies in the province. At the time of annexation, the Presbyterian Church of
U.S.A was the only missionary agency involved in the territory of the Punjab. But in the
post-annexation conducive atmosphere, many other missionary societies mushroomed
quickly and within the period of a decade founded their missionary bases throughout the
province.71
The American Presbyterians, already present in the field, also extended their
70
Eugene Stock, The History of Church Missionary society, its Environment, its Men and its Work, II, 231. 71
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 193-201.
28
network to the other parts of the province.72
As a corollary to these developments, the Punjab
was humming with missionary activities during the second half of the nineteenth century.
The following missionary societies established their missionary stations and earned a good
name in the field of education of this region.
1.1.1 Presbyterian Church of America
The Presbyterian Church was the first mission to establish its base in the Punjab, in
1834. In addition to its pioneering character, the mission is well known for its massive
educational contribution in the province. Rev. John C. Lowrie and Rev. William Reed, were
the pioneer missionaries to enter this region. The former was superintending ‗Lodiana
Mission High School‘, since his arrival at Ludhiana. The school was known for having
students from some distinguished families of the region—Afghan and Sikh.73
Rev. J.C.
Lowrie‘s popularity as an educationist tempted Maharaja Ranjeet Singh to invite him to
establish an English school for the sons of nobility, at the capital city of Lahore but the offer
was declined due to some differences over the scheme of studies at the proposed school.74
With the passage of time, the society extended its network to Rawalpindi, Lahore, Amritsar,
Peshawar, Jalandhar, Roorki, Ambala, Saharanpur, and Dera Duna.75
The Presbyterian
Church of America remained the lone missionary society to operate in the territory of the
Punjab by the start of the second half of the nineteenth century. The educational contribution
72
For instance C.W. Forman and John Newton, the first missionaries at Lahore, came here after getting the
assurance of every possible encouragement from Lawrence brothers and R. Montgomery. John Newton,
Historical Sketches of the Indian Missions of the Presbyterian church in the United States of America, 13.
C.M.S. entered the territory of the Punjab after having invited by the Christian soldiers and the statesmen of the
Punjab and were welcomed by the Lawrence brothers. Henry Martyn Clark, Robert Clark of the Punjab
(London: Andrew Melrose, 1907), 53. 73
John Newton, Historical Sketches of the Indian Missions of the Presbyterian church in the United States of
America, 27. 74
Ibid. 75
Iftikhar Haider Malik, ‗The American Missionaries in South Asia, 1812-1870, 27.
29
of this society, in the Punjab, is matchless and greater than any other in the field. The society
had the privilege of having the services of some high ranked missionaries who, afterwards,
earned good name in the field of education. John Newton, James Wilson, Joseph Warren,
Charles Foreman, and Ewing were some brighter stars of this galaxy.
1.1.2 United Presbyterian Church of America
The Presbyterian Church was divided into two groups—Presbyterian Church of US
and United Presbyterian Church of US. The former was already present in the Punjab since
1854 but the latter made its first appearance by sending Rev. Andrew Gordon to the
province, in 1854. His general commission was to select a field in North India after
conferring with missionaries already in the country. The founding missionary, with his wife
and a sister, sailed from New York in September 1854 and arrived at Calcutta early in
February 1855.76
Sialkot was visited in the following August and, being an eligible and
unoccupied field, was selected as the centre of the new Mission. Rev. Ifraheem and Rev.
Opal also joined the mission in 1856.
The missionaries of United Presbyterian Church worked in collaboration with the
Missionaries of the Church of Scotland, who followed them to found a mission in the same
area, and made a significant educational contribution in this region. Immediately after the
arrival of Rev. Ifraheem and Rev. Opal, the missionaries started their educational activities
by setting up two orphanage schools—one for the girls and the other for the boys—in the city
of Sialkot.77
But the work was interrupted in 1857, by the war of independence, and one of
the mission houses was plundered during the war. The missionaries of this mission were safe,
76
Ibid., 27. 77
Comfort Jacob, ‗Aspects of the History of C.T.I‘, Shua-e-Nau, Special Issue of C.T.I. Magazine (Sialkot:
Vincent David, PEB & Manzur Gill, January 2001): 35-36.
30
as they were already gone to Lahore to take refuge in the forte. After the war, the
missionaries returned to the field to resume their work. Christian Training Institution
established at Barah Patthar in 1881 is one of their significant educational institutions. The
field of the mission was extended by occupying the other important areas of the province—
Gujranwala in 1863, Gurdaspur in early 1872, Jhelum in 1876, Pathankot in 1880, Zafarwal
in 1894, Lyallpur in 1895, Sangla hill in 1901, Sargodha in 1905 and Dhariwal in 1920.78
1.1.3 Church Missionary Society
Church Missionary Society of the Church of England came into existence as a direct
consequence of the age of reason in Europe. A group of evangelical clergy met in England, to
establish a proper platform for the improvement of the prevalent erroneous social structure of
the society, in March 1799. The meeting ultimately resulted into the formation of a
missionary society, in April of the same year, named Society for Missions in Africa and the
East. The society was renamed as Church Missionary Society, in 1812. The organization is
also well known by Anglican Mission Church.79
In 1807 the Society made a grant of $ 250
for missionary work in India and sent two missionaries Rev. Brown and Rev. Buchanan
whose main function was to translate the scriptures into the Eastern Languages. The society
had a chance to enter in the terrain of the Punjab in 1840s when some English officers and
the civilians raised fund to start evangelistic work among the natives. They requested the
society to send some missionary but the request was denied, due to the financial concerns.
The society made its first appearance in the Punjab by instituting its centre at Amritsar, in
78
Annual Reports of the united Presbyterian Church of America (Ludhiana: Mission Press 1853 onwards). 79
Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar, Impact of Christian Missionary Activities on Muslim Society: A Case Study of
Jampur, 87.
31
1852.80
The active support of highly influential government officials like Henry Lawrence,
John Lawrence, Robert Montgomery, Herbert Edwards and General Reynell Taylor, helped
the society to extend its network in the province.81
The society was able to establish its small
frontier stations at the key outposts of Peshawar, Multan, Dera Ismail Khan, and Bannu in
1854, 1856, 1862 and 1865 respectively.82
1.1.4 The Church of Scotland
In February, 1796, two Missionary Societies— Glasgow and the Scottish Missionary
Society— were formed in the Church of Scotland. In 1822, the latter sent Rev. Donald
Mitchell to Western India who arrived in January 1823 and occupied Poona in 1831.83
At
about 1825-26, the Church of Scotland became more thoroughly awakened in the cause of
Missions and therefore a general Mission Collection was prepared in the next year. The
general Assembly of this Society resolved to found an institution for higher education in
Bengal in 1829. A College was opened in 1830 in the Bengal and this become at once very
popular. Similarly a flourishing educational institution was founded at Bombay in 1835,
chiefly through the efforts of Mr. Wilson. During the next few years the Church sent a
goodly number of Missionaries to the different parts of India. Mr. Anderson was sent to
Madras who opened a school in this territory in 1837.84
About this time in each of the three
presidency cities promising converts were added to Missions, through educational
institutions at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
80
Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series Punjab, II (Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing,
1908), 46. 81
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 194. 82
Tim Allender, ‗Anglican Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to
Educate ‗the Masses‘‘, 1860-77‘, 275. 83
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 161-62. 84
Ibid., 183.
32
The encouraging results, in these major cities of India, prompted the missionaries to
extend their network by approaching the Punjab. Consequently, the Punjab was accessed in
1856.85
Rev. Thomas Hunter and his wife, Jane Hunter, were the first missionaries of this
Church to enter the province.86
They landed at the port of Karachi and set their sails up the
Indus and the Jhelum to reach Sialkot. Rev. Hunter started his missionary work at Sialkot in
1857, in collaboration with the missionaries of the United Presbyterian Church of America.
Shortly after the beginning of his work, Rev. Hunter, with his wife and infant son, were
killed during the uprising of 1857.87
But this unfortunate incident could not stop the
missionaries‘ infiltration in this area and the missionary work of the Church was resumed by
John Tyler, another missionary of the same organization.88
The joint venture of the
missionaries of UPC and the Church of Scotland worked for them and both the missions
were able to extend their respective areas of field work. The Church of Scotland expanded its
field to the nearby cities of Sialkot, Wazirabad and Gujrat by opening missionary schools in
these areas.89
1.1.5 High Church Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
The High Church Society for the Propagation of the Gospel established its station at
Delhi in 1854.90
It was the time when Delhi was not included in the Punjab and was
integrated afterwards in 1858. At the same time both the Anglican missions, SPG and the
CMS, were not at good terms with each other, during 1860s and 1870s, which hampered their
85
Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar, Impact of Christian Missionary Activities on Muslim Society: A Case Study of
Jampur, 91. 86
Comfort Jacob, ‗Aspects of the History of C.T.I‘, 35 87
Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar, Impact of Christian Missionary Activities on Muslim Society: A Case Study of
Jampur, 91. 88
Comfort Jacob, ‗Aspects of the History of C.T.I‘, 35. 89
Muhammad Imtiaz Zafar, Impact of Christian Missionary Activities on Muslim Society: A Case Study of
Jampur, 91. 90
Ibid., 275.
33
performance badly. Moreover, SPG mission also developed a rivalry with the Baptist
Missionaries, working also in the territory of Delhi, which did not won good name for them
and had negative consequences for their missionary work.91
In spite of the difficulties of the
field, SPG mission made good contribution to the cause of education.
Serampore missions, instituted in a Bengali town far from the Punjab, also
contributed a lot in the missionary work done in the province of the Punjab. These
missionaries, towards the end of the eighteenth century, took the work of the translation of
the Bible into Panjabi in their hands and prepared the first rough draft by 1809. This may be
said to be the beginning of the missionaries‘ relations with the Punjab. Side by side with the
work on the translation of the Bible, Dr. William Carey, in 1810, had been carrying the
grammar of the Punjabi language.92
1.2 Main Aim of Missions
During the modern phase of missionary activities, the missionaries entered the Indian
subcontinent in the fold of social service and they devoted their lives for the service of
mankind. They initiated long term social service programmes to lessen the afflictions of the
native population. Watching closely, the distressed condition of the host society, they
focused on the fields of health and education. In addition to the establishment of hospitals
and dispensaries in different parts of the country, they established dozens of missionary
schools to provide the facility of modern education to the illiterate Indian population. They
are considered to be pioneers in the field of women‘s education, due to their revolutionary
91
Ibid., 275-285. 92
Ganda Singh, ‗Christianity in the Punjab: A Bibliographical Survey‘, 372
34
efforts for its initiation in the country, on modern lines. They set high standards in both the
fields of health and education and earned a good name for their institutions.
No doubt the missionaries‘ contribution in the betterment of the native life was
massive but their social service programmes were not commended by a major part of the
native population. The native people were sceptical about missionary institutions due to their
religious tilt towards conversion. They believed that missionaries‘ social service programmes
were originated from their religious obligation rather than a desire to serve the destitute. To
them, the missionaries were exploiting the distressed condition of the native population for
the fulfilment of their ultimate agenda of converting the native population to Christianity.
That is why, whenever a conversion took place in a missionary school, the people, as a
reaction, withdrew their children from the missionary institutions. Consequently, the
missionary schools remained almost empty for a long time and missionaries had to work very
hard to bring the students back to their schools.93
In fact, missionary zeal and zest had its origin in the ―great commission‖ from
Mathew the Biblical Commandment 28:19, which prompted the adherents of Christian faith
to toil the missionary hardships. It commands the Christian nation to spread in the world to
make disciples of all nations.94
So the Christian missionaries, taking it as their religious
obligation, responded positively and went to different parts of the globe to convey the
message of Jesus Christ. The great Charter of missions summed up the ultimate aim of the
missionary work in the following words:
93
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 33. 94
John Newton, ‗Preaching to the Heathen; How can it be Made More Efficacious than it has Generally been in
this part of India?‘, Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January,
1862-63 (Lodiana: American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1863), 3-4.
35
Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you.95
M. Rose Greenfield, the author of ―Five Years in Ludhiana‖, also identified the same
aims and objectives of founding the missions and missionary societies. In an address to the
conference of lady missionaries held at Amritsar in 1888, she declared evangelization as the
one and only objective of missions and missionary societies. Her statement ran as follows:
The one supreme aim of every missionary society, and the one all-absorbing business
of every individual missionary, is the evangelization of the heathen—the
proclamation of the Gospel to every creature. For this object societies are formed,
prayer is offered, money is collected, and lives are devoted. By whatever means we
may seek to reach the people, our aim is nothing less than this—to bring them to
know Him ―whom to know is life eternal.96
So, it is quite obvious that conversion of the native population was the ultimate goal
of all the missionary societies. They marched forward to plant the flag of Christianity in India
and other parts of the globe under the humanistic camouflage of different kind of social
service programmes. They used their social schema to establish some link with the native
population which afterwards was likely to be beneficial for accelerating the process of
conversion. So the social services of the missionaries were commenced with intent to support
their conversion agenda and the chief aim behind their social service programmes was
conversion rather than the betterment of the native population.
95
Cited in World Missionary Conference, 1910; Report of Commission III, Education in Relation to the
Christianization of National Life (Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company, n.d.), 16. 96
Greenfield, M. Rose, Education versus Evangelization, an address to the conference of lady missionaries
held at Amritsar, Punjab, 1888, 3,
http://www.archive.org/details/educationversuse00roseuoft
36
1.3 Origin of Missionary Education in India
Missionary education in the modern form is considered mainly the phenomenon of
early Protestant missionaries in the subcontinent. Though, the Catholics took lead in
responding to the Jesus command of preaching the gospel to the heathen yet the teaching
aspect of the Jesus command remained almost out of their preference. Prompted by their
desire of getting more and more converts, they mostly adopted the method of direct
preaching. They were interested in getting converts but paid little attention to their
(converts‘) spiritual growth.97
Consequently, the early Catholic missionaries were, although,
reported to be involved in some educational activities yet they were found to abandon them
by the end of eighteenth century.98
The Protestants, on the other hand, were not interested
even in the preaching of gospel in their early days. The theologians of Protestant school of
thought were of the opinion that ―Jesus‘ command to preach the Gospel to the nations of the
world was addressed to his immediate disciples, and their successors were not competent
enough to continue the work‖.99
They thought it better to focus on the purification of their
own selves than to preach the Gospel to the people of the East. But the situation did not
prevail for long and some bolder spirits like Ziegenbalg and William Carey emerged with an
opposite viewpoint. 100
Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plutschau were the first Protestant missionaries to enter the
Indian subcontinent on July 9, 1706.101
These missionaries laid the foundation of first
97
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in Southern Asia (New York: Friendship Press, 1963), 33. 98
Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 245. 99
P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan, 151. 100
Ibid. 101
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in Southern Asia, 39.
37
Protestant Church at Tranquebar, a small Danish settlement in South India.102
William Carey,
after his forced departure from Calcutta, took asylum of Danish governor of Serampore. He
played a key role in strengthening the base of the Protestants in Indian subcontinent and he is
considered to be the father of modern missions, due to his wide ranging missionary
activities.103
Alexander Duff was another missionary, form Protestant circle, who earned
universal respect in the missionary ranks for his contribution to the Christian cause in this
region. These early missionaries of Protestant circle started thinking of educational activities
as an integral part of their missionary enterprise. Ziegenbalg and Plutschau viewed education
as the first and foremost pillar of their missionary strategy.104
William Carrey was much
influenced by these pioneers105
and initiated educational activities through the operations of
‗Serampore Trio‘. Alexander Duff, believing on ―downward filtration theory‖106
targeted the
high-cast Brahmans through English medium education. Julius Richter saw his contribution
vital for the furtherance of Christian cause as well as for the after development of the Indian
education system.107
So the Christian Missionary education was mainly the prerogative of
early Protestant missionaries and they are, therefore, respected as the originators of
missionary education system in India.
. The territory of the Punjab although got the attention of Christian missionaries in the
early 1830s yet the real missionary activities, as stated previously, started in this region after
102
P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan, 153-154. 103
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in Southern Asia, 39 104
Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, 195. 105
Brian Stanley, The History of the Baptist Missionary Society 1792- 1992 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1992), 39. 106
The term ‗downward filtration theory‘ was introduced in 1820s by the East India Company. It had three
interpretations. 1) Only those classes of the society which had lost the most by the change of the government
should be educated. 2) The second interpretation suggested that the upper or the influential classes should be
educated first, as their culture was supposed to be trickle down to the lower classes of the society. 3) The last
interpretation of the term suggested good education for a few persons, may or may not from the upper classes,
and the education of the masses was expected through these persons. Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟
History of Education in India, 1800-1947, 82-84. 107
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 177-179.
38
its annexation to the British dominion. It was the time when the idea that ―education would
be a powerful and even predominant aspect of the missions to win over souls was taking firm
roots in missionary ranks.‖108
Education of the native population was taken as one of the
necessary components of Christian missionaries‘ campaigns. Most of the missionary
societies, who entered and founded their stations in this region, were already working on
these lines in the different parts of India. These societies, following the footsteps of their
founding fathers—Ziegenbalg, Carey and Duff— were closely involved in defusing
education to the native population.109
That is why most of the missionary societies, in the
Punjab, started their missionary activities by establishing a school for the education of the
native Christian and non Christian population of the province.
1.4 Education: A Need of the Day
Missionary education originated out of the conviction that the Indian mission field
was different from those in the other parts of the world. The pioneer Protestant missionaries
in the Indian subcontinent found it a hard and relatively unfruitful field than the others in the
globe. It was a territory with a diverse population having different religious and social
beliefs. The missionaries realized the fact: ―Indians, thus, in fact, are a congregation of
nations, a crowd of civilizations, customs, languages and types of humanity, thrown together
with no tendency to homogeneity, until an external civilization and foreign faith shall and
common interest possible by educating and Christianizing them.‖110
The Hindu and the
108
Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, Semeia,
88 (2001), 116. 109
The major missionary societies in the region were the Church Missionary Society of England, Anglicans
from the Church of England, Presbyterians from the Church of Scotland, and two north-American Presbyterian
denominations. 110
William Butler, The Land of the Veda (New York: n.p., 1871), 371, cited in Iftikhar Haider Malik, ‗The
American Missionaries in South Asia, 1812-1870‘, 33.
39
Muslim communities were numerically dominating the others in this heterogeneous society.
The former was difficult to convert because of its unconditional attachment to the existing
illogical religious and social customs. The missionaries mostly complained about the
insuperable barriers of institution of caste and that of the natives‘ stubborn attachment to
their superstitions which made their work extremely difficult. An LMS missionary E. P. Rice
identified the obstacles in the way of the conversion of Hindu community of the nineteenth
century in these words: ‗the institution of caste‘; ‗the absence of all religious and social
liberty‘; ‗the utterly perverted standard of conduct‘; the ‗oppressive supremacy of the
Brahman class‘; ‗polytheistic idolatry‘; ‗the fear of malignant demons‘; ‗the belief in
religious merit‘; ‗pantheistic teaching‘; ‗the degradation of women‘; ‗the degradation of low
caste‘; and ‗a whole jungle of superstitious beliefs and corrupt practices‘.111
Very few
conversions, due to these kinds of impediments, were possible by the early decades of the
nineteenth century. The missionaries were unable even to touch the ―heartlands of Hinduism‖
and the modest community of converted Christians was mainly from the lower rung of the
society—low castes, outcasts and tribal groups.112
On the other hand the Muslim community
also proved to be a hard nut to grind for the missionaries. The Muslims, in missionaries‘
views, showed ‗bigoted resistance to all the new truth‘ and attributed finality to the teaching
and practices of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which were the major obstacles in their
(missionaries) way to success.113
In these circumstances, the missionaries‘ existing method of direct preaching was
unable to produce the desired results. The conventional way of street preaching was although
111
Richard Lovett, The History of the London Missionary Society 1795-1895, 4-6. 112
Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 116. 113
Richard Lovett, the History of the London Missionary Society1795-1895, 6.
40
successful in drawing the audience yet it was ineffective in producing sufficient number of
conversions. Moreover, the policy of direct preaching totally failed to have any influence on
the upper echelon of the Hindu society. The review of the past missionary endeavours against
the net results produced, in terms of conversions, suggested modification in the missionary
strategies. The Christian Church, after a meticulous analysis of the existing circumstances,
suggested that in stead of ‗spasmodic attacks‘, ‗a careful, many-sided propaganda‘ should be
maintained, patiently and steadily, for a prolonged period‘ to get some good results.114
In
pursuance, the missionaries, in stead of attempting the direct preaching for conversion,
decided to adopt a, comparatively, circuitous and more time-consuming path to achieve their
ultimate aim of conversion. They decided to make progressive movement to get to their
desired end —evangelization. Preparation of the native mind, for the acceptance of Christian
faith, was recognized as the most important part of this new missionary strategy and the
missionary schools and colleges were selected to do the all important task of creating an
atmosphere conducive for the extension of Christian faith. Consequently, missionary
education, due to its anticipated versatile role at preparatory stage, emerged as an ally to the
missionaries in their quest to evangelize the Indian society. 115
It was considered a powerful
auxiliary to accelerate the work of conversion and the success of missionaries‘ new policy
was closely attached to the performance of their educational institutions. So, in the changed
circumstances of nineteenth and twentieth century, missionary education was materialized as
a compulsory component of their evangelical operations.
114
Ibid. 115
Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 114.
41
1.5 Types of Missionary Education
In the above said context missionary schools and colleges were established in
different parts of the country. Due to their crucial role, each and every mission was supposed
to operate schools in its periphery.116
The curriculum of missionary schools and colleges was
carefully devised to meet the challenges of the time. The blend of Christian religious
education, based on Bible studies, and that of secular education, based on western sciences
and literature, was considered to pave the way for the Christianization of the native
society.117
Religious education was seen as a unique opportunity for the missionary teachers to
interact with the native youth. Bible studies and daily worship were considered the best
means to interfere in the religious beliefs and practices of the native students.118
That is why
Bible studies became the most important part of missionary education. Special Bible classes
were conducted at missionary schools where missionaries themselves were involved in the
teachings of Bible. Trained Christian teachers were given priority over those of non-
Christians for the teaching of Bible. The stories of Adam and Eve, of Cain and Abel, of
Joseph and his brethren, etc., were supposed to have a good impact on children. The teacher
was expected to teach this kind of material with an animated way to get desired outcome.119
116
Iftikhar Haider Malik, ‗The American Missionaries in South Asia, 1812-1870‘, 29. 117
Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 264-265. 118
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in Southern Asia, 41. 119
C.W. Foreman, ‗Schools; How can They be Made in the Highest Degree Auxiliary to the Work of
Evangelizing the Country‘, Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and
January, 1862-63, 35.
42
Although Christian study material was the only desirable teaching material at
missionary schools120
yet secular education was included in the missionary curriculum. It got
importance in the missionary ranks due to its two fold impact on the native society. On the
one hand, it was important to create a liberal image of Christian missionary educational
institutions as it helped in removing the negative image of the missionary schools and
colleges—that they were working for conversion only. On the other hand it was a proposed
remedy for the ailments of caste system, superstitious nature and the other perceived wrong
doings of native society. It was considered a associate to Christianity because of its crucial
anticipated role in preparing the ground for ultimate conversion.121
So the secular education
was included in the curriculum of missionary education with a hope that the native educated
people would ultimately denounce their religious beliefs on the basis of logic and reason. The
native religious and social beliefs and practices were considered to be in opposition with the
scientific notions therefore the diffusion of scientific knowledge was likely to pave the way
for the conversion of the native population. Professor Robertson pronounced it in the
following words:
The sacred books of the Hindus are ‗inextricably committed to a collision with the
truths of astronomy, chemistry, medicine, geography, and all the facts of modern
science.‘ Instruction in the elements of physical science and or geography not only
upsets the old notions on these subjects, but so far forth uproots the Hindu122
religious
system.123
120
Ibid., 34 121
Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 120. 122
In fact, India was regarded as Hindu in character and its religious beliefs and practices were considered to
affect the evangelicals with a deep revulsion. Therefore, most of the missionaries‘ energies were spent on the
plans to draw the Hindu population in the Christian fold. Avril A Powell, Muslims and Missionaries in Pre-
Mutiny India, 81. 123
Rev. Professor Robertson, ‗the education of the young as a regular part of mission work‘ Report II 1888,
194, cited in Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 264.
43
This notion was not only popular in the missionary ranks but was also admitted by
the officials of the Punjab government.124
So the blend of Christian and secular education
was expected to do the trick for the missionaries. The secular part was aiming at preparing
the students to denounce their faith and the Christian part of missionary education was
expected to fill up the space, created by the secular instruction, by providing them the
alternative to substitute their old religious beliefs.
1.6 Objectives behind Missionary Education
The inclusion of the western sciences and English literature in the curriculum of
missionary institutions was a vital breakthrough in the history of missionary education. In
addition to its important role in the intellectual development of the native population, it also
helped the people in improving their financial condition and social status in the society. For,
the knowledge of English language and literature was an important means to get the lucrative
jobs in public and private sector organizations. The missionary institutions also played a
pivotal role in developing the education system of the country on modern lines.125
But the
missionaries, in addition to the massive contribution for the welfare of the society and
development of modern education system, were aiming at some other aims to achieve
through their educational institutions. To them, the missionary schools and colleges were
meant to serve the following purposes.126
124
In his reply to bishop Tait, John Lawrence, the Ex- lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, said, ―It is not
possible to introduce Western learning and science into India without leading its people to throw their faith.‖
Cited in Eugene Stock, The History of Church Missionary society, its Environment, its Men and its Work, 231. 125
Iftikhar Haider Malik, ‗The American Missionaries in South Asia, 1812-1870‘, 29. 126
It is noteworthy that none of the objectives stated here is in opposition to the others. There might be the
difference of more or less emphasis on each of them but no antithesis existed between them.
44
1.6.1 Conversion
As stated previously, the chief aim of missionaries‘ arrival in the subcontinent was
the evangelization of the native population. This longstanding desire was working behind the
establishment of missionary educational institutions. In fact, this was the most important
factor to prompt the missionaries to commence their educational activities and without it,
they were not likely to involve in any kind of educational enterprise.127
The originators of
missionary education, including Dr. Duff, saw education as an evangelistic agency and held
‗conversion of individual pupils and students‘ as one of their chief aims.128
William Carey
considered schools as ‗one of the most effectual means of spreading the light of the gospel
through to the world‘.129
Similarly C.W. Forman, in his essay in the PMC held at Lahore in
1862-63, suggested:
We must keep more steadily in view the conversion of our pupils, and the fitting of
them for extending still further the work of conversion, as the great end at which we
are to aim.130
Teaching of Bible was made compulsory at missionary educational institutions to
serve the purpose. Most of the missionary schools conducted a special Bible class for all
students.131
The atmosphere of a class-room provided the missionaries a unique opportunity
to preach the principles of Christianity in an efficient way to impress the attentive audience.
127
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India, 1800-1947, 32. 128
World Missionary Conference, 1910; Report of Commission III, Education in Relation to the
Christianization of National Life, 17. 129
William Carey to Jabez Carey, Serampore 20 August 1815. Cited in Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary
Education in British India‘, 246. 130
C.W. Foreman, ‗Schools; How can They be Made in the Highest Degree Auxiliary to the Work of
Evangelizing the Country‘, 31. 131
Ikram-ul-Haq, ‗The Punjab, 1849-83: Educational Activity‘, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan,
XVIII-III (July, 1981): 4.
45
Rev. Goluknath, an American Presbyterian missionary at Jullundur, pronounced this fact at
the forum of PMC, held at Lahore in 1862-63, in the following words:
We can communicate the principles of our religion more satisfactorily to a class of
boys in our schools, than we possibly can do to a crowd of men in the bazaar.132
The secular education, side by side with the Bible studies, was taught at missionary
schools but it was modified to serve the ultimate aim of conversion. The secular studies,
especially those of history and philosophy, were suggested to imbue with a Christian spirit.133
So it is crystal clear that the foremost object of missionary schools was to get converts from
the native community and almost all of their efforts for the improvement of their schools
were to make them efficient and productive in terms of conversions.
1.6.2 Preparation
.Preparation of the ground, for the acceptance of Christian faith, was another
important aim of missionary education in India. It emerged out of the missionaries‘ new
policy of progressive development toward the ultimate goal of conversion. The preparatory
stage was the most important stage in the missionaries‘ new policy. The originators of
missionary education in India—Ziegenbalg, Carey, and Duff, considered their schools and
colleges best to serve the purpose of preparing the native mind for the acceptance of the
gospel. So the missionary educational institutions, in the new setting, became an integral part
of missionary operations. Rev. Ziegenbalg‘s schools, besides their immediate influence,
were considered to help the missionaries to reach the parents through the medium of their
132
Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January, 1862-63, 46. 133
C.W. Foreman, ‗Schools; How can They be Made in the Highest Degree Auxiliary to the Work of
Evangelizing the Country‘, 34.
46
children.134
William Carrey, within one year of his arrival in India, set up a school because it
was considered to be the most effectual means to serve the Christian cause.135
In the same
way, the education programme of Alexander Duff was aiming at bringing the native youth
under the Christian influence. Julius Richter explained Duff‘s aims in the following words:
Duff firmly made up his mind within a few weeks of his arrival in India that the new
line of missionary work which he was destined to strike out was to bring the youth of
India under Christian influences by means of schools……………Duff‘s plan was to
create schools for the children of heathen parents, that the schools themselves might
be the instruments of pioneer missionary work.136
Realizing the importance of education, most of the missionary societies, by 1830s,
adopted it as an integral part of their missionary enterprise with the hope that it might prepare
the minds of the native population for the later receptiveness of Christianity. This preparatory
purpose of education dominated the missionary ranks through the ages and missionaries, time
and again, declared it as the major objective of their education. The same purpose of
missionary education was echoed in the missionary ranks at the floor of the World
Missionary Conference, held at Edinburgh in 1910. As the report of commission III of the
Conference observed:
Mission schools and colleges are to be maintained, not only for the purpose of
conversions, but even more as a preparation of the ground.137
So, during the nineteenth century, the notion ‗schools for the preparation of ground‘,
dominated the missionary ranks and educational institutions emerged as a necessary
component of missionary enterprise. The success of the missionaries‘ new policy was mainly
134
Rev. Andrew Thomson, D.D., Great Missionaries; A Series of Biographies (London: T. Nelson and Sons,
1870), 199. 135
Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 246. 136
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 174-175. 137
World Missionary Conference, 1910; Report of Commission III, Education in Relation to the Christianization
of National Life, 20.
47
dependant on the performance of the missionary schools and colleges, as the preparatory
work, done by the missionary educational institutions, was the real key to success. That is
why the missionaries were closely attached to such a laborious and tiresome task of
educating the native population. The preparatory work, in addition to its work against the
native institutions of caste, idolatry, Purdah, the natives‘ stubborn attachment to the illogical
superstitious beliefs and corrupt practices, etc., was supposed to extend the missionaries‘
influence in the society through the promotion of their image as the self-sacrificing men. The
preparation process included ‗extension of the Christian influence in the society‘,
‗intellectual development of the native population‘, and ‗diffusion of western culture in the
oriental society‘.
a) Extension of missionary influence
Caste system was thought to be an ‗insuperable barrier‘ in the way of conversion of
Hindu society. It was a stumbling block in the extension of the missionaries‘ influence in the
society. The upper rung of the Hindu community was totally out of the influence of Christian
missionaries, till the early decades of the nineteenth century.138
The importance of getting
converts from these classes was paramount because of their religious, social and political
influence in their respective communities. The missionaries, by the start of the nineteenth
century, realized that winning the people from the upper rung of the society was mandatory
to get some concrete output from their proselytizing activities. Obtaining access to these
classes was one of the great difficulties of the field, which was considered to affect the
performance of the missionaries very badly. The mission schools were considered to be the
138
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 30.
48
powerful agencies to break into the strong hold of caste hierarchy and extend the missionary
influence to the higher ranks of the society. Alexander Duff, one of the pioneer missionaries
to adopt education as an integral part of his proselytizing activities, was strongly motivated
by this aspect of missionary education and therefore adopted it as a means to access the
higher echelon of the society. Julius Richter described Duff‘s aims and objectives behind his
educational enterprise in the following words:
Education, and particularly higher education, is in the civilized lands of the East a
prerogative of the highest classes. If Duff could succeed in making his schools
popular, he would thereby gain entrance to the first circles of society in the country—
and that seemed to him desirable, not only because all the methods hitherto adopted
by the different missions had failed to gain such access, but also those very classes
were in India the privileged leaders of society, the sole possessors of higher culture
and of an already developed intellectual life.139
Almost the same views about the purpose of missionary education were echoed in the
letter of Dr. Miller of Madras which he wrote to the delegates of WMC held at Edinburgh in
1910. He insisted that:
India could never be won for Christ, if it is the lower castes or outcastes who are
relied upon. The higher casts must be reached, and the only way of reaching these
classes is by diffusing Christian influence amongst them by means of education.140
Secular part of missionary education, especially that of English language and
literature, was supposed to serve the purpose best in extending the missionaries‘ influence to
the upper classes of the society. English education at mission schools was supposed to exert a
pull on students from the upper rung of the society. For, the upper classes of the society were
in demand of English education, due to the Social prestige and economic benefits, attached to
139
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 175. 140
W.H.T. Gairdner, ―Edinburgh 1910” An Account and Interpretation of the World Missionary Conference
(Edinburgh; Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 1910), 122.
49
the language of the ruling class.141
The demand was further increased after 1835, when the
British government took the decision to patronize English over vernacular education and
attached the government employments with the educational attainment of the candidates.
Christian missionaries, being aware of the extent of a teacher‘s influence on the life of a
student and his family in the oriental settings,142
fancied their access to the upper echelon of
the society through the means of the youth of these classes. So they presented English
education as an inducement to draw the youth of the upper classes of the society in the
mission schools.143
In addition to the English instruction, the scheme of studies and the atmosphere of the
missionary educational institutions were supposed to break the cast hierarchy in the society.
Missionary schools and colleges were aiming at creating a feeling of dislike against the cast
system, in the minds of native students. The blend of Christian and liberal education was
fashioned in the missionary institutions hoping that ‗it could not recognize or tolerate caste
observances within its walls‘.144
The atmosphere of these schools also accentuated the
breaking of the cast system where the students were admitted regardless of their social status.
The missionaries were prepared to admit the students from low caste or from outcastes,
despite its negative consequences on the enrolments of their schools. So the missionary
schools were working in their highest capacity to extend missionaries influence in the higher
141
English language was considered to be an influential means to get a job and enter ‗the emerging colonial
public sphere of courts, local and provincial councils, and the like‘. Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book?
Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 119. 142
Robert Clark, an eminent missionary of Church Missionary Society, described it as, ―the Gospel is carried by
the pupils into families, where otherwise it would hardly gain access; and it is very much through the means of
our heathen pupils in mission schools, that prejudice becomes disarmed, the native mind becomes accustomed
to contact with Christianity, and many of the indirect blessings of out holy religion are gradually conferred on
the people.‖ Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January, 1862-63,
44. 143
Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 119. 144
Duncan B. Forrester, Caste and Christianity: Attitudes and Policies on Cast of Anglo-Saxon Protestant
Missions in India (London: Curzon Press, 1980), 28.
50
ranks of the society by breaking the system of caste hierarchy and making the upper classes
accessible for the missionaries.
b) Intellectual Development
The superstitious behaviour of the native population was considered to be a stumbling
block in the way of conversion. The missionaries felt that the native people were not in a
state of mind to analyze things on the basis of reason and science rather they were in a habit
of accepting them blindly. Especially the beliefs and religious rituals of Hindu community—
their ‗belief in the religion‘s merits to be obtained by acts of idol-ritual, pilgrimages to
supposed sacred spots, bathing in supposed sacred waters, their seductive pantheistic
teaching which wipes out the distinction between right and wrong and denies the authority of
conscience, and a whole jungle of superstitions beliefs and corrupt practices‘145
—were the
typical examples of their illogical behaviour. In these circumstances, the native community,
according to the Christian missionaries, was unable to evaluate the truth of the Christian
doctrines presented to them. So the native mind was considered to be in a dire need of an
intellectual revolution. Consequently, the missionaries aimed at the development of native
mind on scientific lines to enable the people understand the value of missionaries‘ arguments,
by exercising their power of reason.146
The missionary schools and colleges came forward to
serve the purpose and initiated their efforts in this direction. Rev. Dr. D. O. Allen termed it
one of the important factors behind the establishment of the missionary schools and
observed:
In commencing their operations, missionaries have generally seen the propriety and
importance of establishing schools. One reason for them is to educate the minds of 145
Richard Lovett, M. A, The History of the London Missionary Society 1795-1895, 6. 146
T.F. Middleton, cited in Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and
Education in Colonial India‘, 30.
51
the people, so that they may be more capable of understanding and appreciating the
facts and evidences, the doctrines and duties of the Scriptures.147
Education of science was seen to sow the seed of reason and logic in the native
society. It was aiming at the intellectual development of the native mind on the lines to
analyze things on the basis of logic and reason rather than believing on them blindly. The
ultimate result of this development was seen as the denouncement of the native religious
beliefs by these educated classes of the native society, which was considered an important
and compulsory stage towards the absolute aim of conversion. So the knowledge of science
was thought beneficial to remove the superstitious behaviour of the native population and
making them able to evaluate the truth of the Christian beliefs and notions presented to them.
This preparatory work was expected to pave the way for the extension of the world of
Christianity.
c) Diffusion of Western Culture
Missions all over the world have contributed immensely to the development of the
society on Christian morals and so was the case in the colonial Indian society. Christian
missionaries aimed at making profound changes in the traditional culture of oriental society.
They were greatly disturbed by the significant aspects of the Indian culture and therefore
considered cultural change as a compulsory component of preparatory stage. The reformation
of the society on the basis of Christian models was thought to alleviate the influence of the
native social institutions of caste, Purdah, child marriage, superstitious behaviour, etc. in the
society. So they approached the Indian society with reformist intent and attempted to
incorporate major changes in the social structure of the society. They aimed at presenting
147
Rev. Dr. D. O. Allen, cited in Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India (1800-
1947), 32.
52
western ideals to adapt the decadent social values on western lines which were expected to
ultimately culminate in the formation of a liberal society with dominant Christian morals. To
them this social and cultural change was necessary for the preparation of native mind to
achieve the ultimate goal of conversion. So, the mission boards and missionaries remained
busy in establishing social institutions in the oriental society, throughout the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. They believed that these efforts would open the door for the conversion
of the native population.148
Furthermore, the missionaries were of the opinion that
evangelization and civilization go hand in hand in the south Asian society. Many of them
interpret ‗evangelism in the wider sense of bringing the people under the influence of
Christian social values and Christian attitudes towards life‘.149
Due to its intrinsic relation to culture, education is considered to be one of the most
powerful forces for social change. The missionaries also thought in the same vein and chose
the instrument of education to reform the traditional Indian society. American missionaries
are specially worth mentioning in this context. They were traditionally identified with the
group of missionaries who offered allegedly better civilization through the commencement of
their social service programmes—provision of educational, medical and other facilities.150
Their Women missionaries left a potent impact on the social structure of the host society.
They presented themselves as role models to the native female population and ―examples of
their own domestic arrangements, especially their conjugal marriages, their child-raising
148
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 3. 149
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in Southern Asia, 42. 150
Christensen and Hutchison, cited in Ruth Compton Brouwer, ‗Opening Doors Through Social Service:
Aspects of Women‘s Work in the Canadian Presbyterian Mission in Central India, 1877-1914‘, in Leslie A.
Flemming Woman‟s Work for Woman: Missionaries and Social Change in Asia, 35-57.
53
methods, their skills in cooking and sewing, and their attention to domestic hygiene, were
considered to be powerful civilizing forces.‖151
1.6.3 Education for the Native Christian Community
In addition to the conversion of the native population and doing the preparatory job,
missionary education was also considered beneficial for the converts, in their post conversion
phase. The missionaries were very conscious about the education and training of the
Christian converts based on the Christian principles. So the education of the Christian
converts was another important factor which prompted the missionaries to carry on with their
educational venture. Education for the native Christians was aiming at ‗Development of
Reading and Writing Skills‘, ‗edification or building up of the native church‘, ‗improvement
in the financial condition of the native Christians‘,
a) Development of Reading and Writing Skills
Reading of Bible is considered to be an important motivating factor for education
since the inception of Christianity. As, each and every Christian is supposed to be able to
read the holy Scriptures. It was considered necessary due to its eternal character and positive
effect on the heart and mind of the reader. The missionaries took great care of this and
Protestant Christians are, especially, considered the people of the Book. Therefore, the
Christian missionary educational institutions aimed at enabling the Christian converts to read
the word of God, a necessary prerequisite of salvation. Rev. N. G. Clark pronounced it as,
―some degree of education must be added to enable believers to read the Word of God for
151
Ibid., 3.
54
themselves in their native tongue.‖152
So, due to their contribution in making the students
able to read the scriptures, the missionary schools became a necessary part of the evangelical
enterprise of Christian missionaries.
The same purpose, providing the religious scriptures to the natives in their respective
languages, paved the way for the translation of Bible in different vernacular languages. The
missionaries took on this gigantic work and translated the sacred scriptures into native
dialects and languages. Printing press was introduced to make these translations available in
the published form for the native population. The work of the ‗Serampore trio‘ is especially
important who translated and printed the portions of Bible into about thirty one Indian
languages and dialects. M.A. Sherring observes the contribution in these words:
In no country in the world, and in no period in the history of Christianity, was there
ever displayed such an amount of energy in the translation of the sacred scriptures
from their originals into other tongues, as was exhibited by a handful of earnest men
in Calcutta and Serampore in the first ten years of the present century.153
So the development of reading and writing skills in the community of Christian
converts was an important factor behind the educational enterprise of Christian missionaries.
The missionary schools and colleges were aiming to enable the Christian converts to read the
word of God.
b) Edification
The word ‗edification‘ is used in the New Testament which suggests the divine
purpose of edifying the individual as well as the building up of the edifice—the church, the
152
Rev. N.G. Clark ―High Christian Education as a missionary agency‖ in Report of the Centenary Conference
on Protestant Missions of the World held in Exeter Hall (June 9th
-19th
) London 1888 ed. James Johnston, II
(London: James Nisbet &Co, 1889),185. Cited in Steve Bishop, ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British
India‘,. 255. 153
M.A. Sherring, The History of Protestant Missions in India (London: Trubner and Co. 1875), 75.
55
Christian community.154
The term ‗native Church‘ is used to show a community of local
Christians of some specific locality.155
Edification or the Building up of a native church
rested at the heart of almost the whole Christian community. In fact the state of the native
church in India was considered to be a crucial indicator to show the success or failure of the
missionaries on the mission field. Richard Lovett termed the work of earlier missionaries as
preparatory and related the survival of Christianity in India with the state of the native
church. He described it in the following words:
Christianity in India must ultimately stand or fall by its success in building up, or by
its failure to create a living, active, self-supporting Hindu Native Church. All that has
up to the present been achieved by all the Societies, separately and collectively,
cannot be considered as more than a preparation for the great Christian achievement
of the future—an enthusiastic, aggressive, Christ-like Church, Hindu in sentiment, in
modes of thought, in presentation of theological truth, which shall present Christ to
the millions of India, not as the God of her conqueror and master, but as the loving
Saviour who has won the devotion and the consecration of her own ablest sons.156
The governing bodies and the missionaries of all the great societies, still by the
second half of the nineteenth century, considered edification—development of the native
churches on self-supporting, self-governing, and self-extending systems—as one of the major
objectives of their enterprise.157
The training aspect of missionary schools was a subject of
paramount importance for the participants of WMC held at Edinburgh in 1910. The Bishop
of Birmingham related the efficiency of the clergy class to their efficient training. He
attached much importance to the missionary schools due to the training aspect of education.
His argument ran as follows:
154
Eugene Stock, The History of Church Missionary society, IV (London: Church Missionary Society, 1916),
393. 155
Ibid., 402. 156
Richard Lovett, the History of the London Missionary Society 1795-1895, 257-258. 157
Ibid., 259.
56
From the schools –with their range from kindergarten to university—come the leaders
of both Church and State in all these mission lands; the ministers, the teachers, all the
laymen who are going to lead. In these schools are educated the rank and file of the
christen communities, no less important than those, as we have seen, in carrying the
gospel to their own people. These are the men, then, who will interpret the Christian
faith to their fellow-countrymen; and therefore the whole question of education in the
mission field becomes at one of the most vital importance.158
Rev. W.L. Ferguson, an American Baptist missionary also pronounced in the same
vein and wrote:
Educational missionary work should serve to produce an intelligent Christian
community, able to read the Word of God in the vernacular, establish and maintain its
own churches, discipline and order, extend its influence in and beyond its local
habitat, and furnish a body from which leaders for church and secular life may be
drawn, this is the main purpose. Christianity cannot be said to be fully indigenous
until this is accomplished.159
Thus the training of the native Christians for the development of the native church
was one of the important objectives of missionary education. The missionary schools and
colleges took great pains to produce trained leadership for their respective churches.
c) Improvement in Social and Financial Condition
Missionaries‘ educational institutions aimed at improvement the social and financial
condition of the Christian converts. It is an obvious fact that the initial converts were from
the upper echelon of the society but they were few in numbers. The bulk of the Christian
converts, towards the end of the nineteenth century, was converted during the mass
movement. These converts were mainly form the lower rung of the society, mostly coming
158
W.H.T. Gairdner, ―Edinburgh 1910” An Account and Interpretation of the World Missionary Conference,
114-115. 159
World Missionary Conference, 1910; Report of Commission III, Education in Relation to the
Christianization of National Life, 18.
57
from the classes of chuhras and chamars.160
They were generally illiterate people with
pitiable financial condition. Their financial condition became even worst after their embrace
of Christianity because of the hostile behaviour of the native community towards them. In
these circumstances the missionaries came forward and took the responsibility of improving
their sources of income. Missionary education, especially its secular part, was considered the
best means to do the trick. Missionary curriculum was modified to prepare the students for
the professional careers. In addition to the provision of the professional courses at missionary
schools the missionaries also created opportunities for their successful students within the
missionary circles. The local Christian converts, educated from the missionary institutions,
were supposed to serve in the fields of education, health, and the like in private as well as in
the government sector. The missionaries also created jobs within their missionary circle
where Christian candidates were given priority over those from the other religious
communities.161
Hence the education of these native Christian was supposed to improve the financial
as well as the social condition of the native Christians by providing them some job under
government or some missionary organization.162
The missionary educational institutions had
special focus on the professional studies and devised special courses to serve the purpose.
The missionaries came to the Indian subcontinent in the fold of social service and
devoted their lives for the service of native population. Their social service agenda comprised
mainly the services in the fields of education and health. Their focus on education is
160
R.K. Ghai, ‗Christian Conversion in the Punjab: A Critical Analysis (1849-1914 A.D.)‘, Proceedings of
Punjab History Conference, 17th
Session (October, 8-10, 1982), 181-183. 161
The native Christian were given priority over the other religious communities while filling the teaching
vacancies at missionary schools, Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and
January, 1862-63, 40-45. 162
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India (1800-1947), 32-33.
58
considered to be the most striking things of their missionary strategy. Missionary education
was mainly the phenomenon of pioneer Protestant missionaries—Ziegenbalg, Carey and
Duff. Their major aim, same like their predecessors, was conversion of the native population
and they adopted education as a powerful auxiliary to serve their ultimate aim of
evangelization. They carried their educational venture to prepare the native mind for the
ultimate acceptance of Christian faith. This tradition of the pioneer Protestants was followed
by their successors and the missionary activities, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth
century, were dominated by the educational labours. In addition to enable the people to read
the religious scriptures the missionaries were lured to the education of the native population
due to its preparatory character. The secular aspect of missionary education was thought to
be extremely helpful in preparing the native mind to ultimately denounce their religious
beliefs and the religious aspect, based on Bible studies, was considered beneficial in
providing them the substitute for their original faith. So, the education was an ally to the
missionaries in their evangelical pursuit rather than a distraction from their ultimate goal of
extending the world of Christianity.
59
Chapter No. 2
Origin and Expansion of Boys’ Missionary Schools
(1849-1880)
The services rendered by Missionaries in the field of education are of immense
importance because of their valuable contribution to the education of Punjabi folk during the
Colonial rule, and also because of their services for the development of an education system
on the present lines. Christian missionaries‘ educational venture in the Punjab could be
divided into two phases, considering the appointment of Indian Education Commission in
1882, as the dividing line between the two. During the first phase of their enterprise, they
were determined to approach all and sundry in the province and therefore showed
commitment to increase the number of their schools. The first decade after the annexation
was the period of consolidation for the British Administration as well as for the missionary
societies. Woods Education Despatch, during this period of consolidation, created room for
missionaries in the field of education by introducing the system of grant-in-aid and by
suggesting gradual withdrawal of the Government from the field of education. The
missionaries‘ educational endeavours got impetus with the rise of Sir R. Montgomery, as the
Lieutenant Governor of the Province, in 1859. Benefitted by the generous grants from the
government during this period, the missionaries started expanding their educational network.
They were preparing themselves as an agency capable of occupying the Government‘s place,
after its anticipated withdrawal from the field. Their efforts, to establish as many educational
institutions as possible, did not last long and towards the end of 1870s they abandoned their
programme of expansion. This chapter contains the study of the missionaries‘ initial efforts
of establishing and expanding their educational network in the province. The main focus of
60
the chapter is the study of expansion of their educational network. It includes the
missionaries‘ temptations behind their desires of expansion and the reasons behind their
decision of abandoning the programme of extension. The critical role of the government in
encouraging the missionaries programme and afterwards that in missionaries‘ decision to
surrender their former policy of expansion forms an important part of this chapter.
2.1 Pre-British Period
Before its annexation to the British dominion in 1849, the Punjab was under the Sikh
rule. Being an outpost and an important entree to India from the North West, the previous
history of the province was mainly dominated by blood shed. Especially, during the second
quarter of the Nineteenth Century, it became the battlefield of the Sikh and the British
armies. Since the survival of their rule became the first priority of the Sikh regime therefore
the major focus of the Sikh administration remained on the enhancement of its warfare
resources. Consequently the danger of the British forces, during this period, hampered the
progress of education in the province and the education of the younger generation was
compromised in the process.
In spite of all this, the province of the Punjab, at the time of annexation, owed enough
educational traditions. It was sufficiently advanced in the field of education and was found
ahead of Agra presidency.163
There were about 3,3o,ooo pupils who could read, write, and
compute, in different types of schools. Thousands of students were studying in Arabic and
Sanskrit schools which were known for high standard teaching of law, logic, philosophy and
163
Letter from Melvill, Secretary to the Board of Administration, Punjab, to Sir Henry Elliot, Secretary to the
Governor General of India, Letter No. 613, Lahore, 20th
November, 1851. Cited in Anand Gauba, ‗Education in
Amritsar Under Sikh Rule‘, The Punjab Past And Present, IX:II ( October, 1975 ): 428.
61
medicine.164
It was the obvious outcome of an ancient, deep-rooted, and wide spread system
of education popularly known as indigenous system of education.165
The term ‗indigenous‘
has generally been used in educational reports to denote the system of religious and secular
education in the sub-continent, which was existent from the time immemorial. However, an
indigenous educational institution is defined as ―an institution established or conducted by
natives of India on native methods‖.166
This system of education was, generally, in the hands
of religious authorities who were free to design their educational activities to achieve the
specific objectives set by their respective religious communities. This system had a vast
network of elementary schools as well as those of higher learning. There was no mosque, a
temple or a dharamsala without a school attached to it.167
The school was an institution
which a village community was expected to maintain as a matter of course. The tutor and the
taught were looked after by the society. The state, by encouraging and patronizing men of
light and learning, supplied the initiative and rendered material help to the village schools in
the form of freehold grants.168
A large number of people were taught, in their childhood, to
read the Scriptures of their religion by rote. They also used to receive some instructions in
morals, faith and ceremonial observances.169
The best feature of indigenous educational
164
Shyamala Bhatia, ‗Educational Change in Early Twentieth Century Punjab‘, Proceedings of Punjab History
Conference, 33rd
Session (March 16-18, 2001), 183. 165
At the time of annexation of the Punjab, in 1849, the indigenous schools were the only kind of schools which
existed in the province. The Government schools were found in the districts of Delhi which was the part of
North-Western Provinces at that time. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series Punjab, I (Calcutta:
Superintendent of Government Printing, 1908), 134. 166
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission (Calcutta: Superintendent of Government
Printing, India, 1883), 50.
http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/dcd/page.php?record=2315 167
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab: Since Annexation and in 1882, 17. 168
H.R. Mehta, A History of the Growth and Development of Western Education in the Punjab (1846-1884), 12. 169
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year, 1879-80, by W.R.M.
Holroyd, (Lahore: Punjab Printing Company, 1880), 2.
62
institutions was that, in addition to the religious and mercantile classes, they were equally
open to the agricultural classes also.170
The indigenous education system was not devoid its of drawbacks. Although learning
was respected in this system of education yet it was limited in scope. The subjects like
history, science, and mechanics had little importance for the indigenous educators therefore
these subjects were not the part of learning scheme of a student.171
No specific curriculum or
Printed books were in vogue which hampered the growth of a systematic study in these
schools.172
Moreover the education of scheduled casts and that of women was not encouraged
in this system of education.173
The European critics considered the indigenous methods of
teaching to be imperfect. They had serious concerns over its neglect of the scholars‘
reasoning powers and the limit of the teacher‘s aim in securing a certain degree of
mechanical precision from his pupils.174
2.2 The British Period
After the annexation of the Punjab, the British Government emphatically declared its
intentions to take education of the masses in its own hands.175
But in spite of the
government‘s declared policy, its performance, in taking some practical steps towards the
education of the masses, was not up to the mark and the matter was overshadowed by the
administrative and political constraints of a newly conquered province. In the meantime the
Government of the Punjab constantly affirmed that it was their determined and immediate
170
Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series Punjab, I, 134-135. 171
Shyamala Bhatia, ‗Educational Change in Early Twentieth Century Punjab‘, 184. 172
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab, 152-154. 173
Des Raj Grover, ‗Development of Primary Education in Punjab 1937-1947‘, Proceedings of Punjab History
Conference, 26th
Session (March, 18-20, 1994), 254. 174
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 33. 175
Ibid., 1.
63
purpose to take measures for imparting the sound elementary knowledge to the people of the
Punjab. It also declared its intentions to establish a network of elementary schools throughout
the province providing every village with an elementary school.176
2.2.1 Wood’s Education Despatch
In 1853, at the time of the renewal of East India Company‘s Charter, a Select
Committee of the House of Commons was established under the chair of Sir Charles Wood
to hold a thorough review of the past educational developments and to formulate a
comprehensive policy for the educational reconstruction of the country. The Committee, on
the basis of its inquiry, presented its recommendations on 19th
July, 1854. Due to its wide
ranging implications on the education of this region, this valuable document, popularly
known as ―Wood‘s Education Despatch‖, is considered to be the ―Magna Charta of English
education in India‖.177
This document, comprising about hundred paragraphs, outlined a
general educational policy for the country. It contained recommendations dealing with the
issues like type of education, medium of instruction, superintendence, direction and
inspection, institution of universities, network of graded schools and grant-in-aid system,
training of teachers, vocational instruction and education of the women.178
Christian missionaries found some of the recommendations of the despatch extremely
beneficial for their cause. In fact they were able to exercise a definite influence in the
formulation of these recommendations, through Alexander Duff and his distinguished friend
Charles Trevelyan. As at the time of final negotiations, before the renewal of the EIC‘s
176
Ibid.,1. 177
Des Raj Grover, ‗Development of Primary Education in Punjab 1937-1947‘, 255. 178
A. Biswas and S.P. Agarwal, Development of Education in India: A Historical Survey of Educational
Documents before and after Independence (New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1986), 22.
64
Charter, Duff was present in England. He was frequently consulted upon this question of
highest importance because he was considered to be ―the supreme authority on Indian
affairs‖.179
Finding the document favourable for the missionaries‘ cause, he threw the whole
weight of his personality into balance in order to pass it into law.180
The recommendations of
the despatch regarding the initiation of system of grants-in-aid, the government‘s intention of
gradual withdrawal from the field of education leaving it wide open for the missionaries and
its compromising attitude towards religious instruction carried special interest for the
missionaries.
a) System of grants-in-aid
The grant-in-aid Clause lay down the principle that, ―local and private efforts should
be aided by Government‖181
. In pursuance, a scheme of financial aid, popularly known as
grant-in-aid scheme, was initiated to serve the purpose. Although the scheme was launched
for all the local private agencies yet the missionary societies in the Punjab, being the sole
private bodies involved in the field of education at that time, were supposed to be the lone
beneficiaries of this scheme. Mr. W. D. Arnold, the first Director of Public Instruction in the
Punjab, observed in the same vein that ―Such grants-in-aid consisted of assistance given to a
few mission schools.‖182
. The missionaries were in dire need of some financial assistance to
fulfil the financial needs of their educational institutions. The scheme of grant-in-aid
bestowed them with the claim of a legal right to get financial aid for their educational
institutions therefore they welcomed this scheme with open arms.
179
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 180. 180
Ibid. 181
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 4. 182
Ibid., 4.
65
b) Government’s withdrawal
Closely connected to the scheme of grant-in-aid was the government‘s pledge of
gradually withdrawing from the field of education in favour of private bodies. The Despatch
of 1854 recommended the establishment and maintenance of Government schools and
colleges purely on temporary basis. Government educational institutions were recommended
to be set up in the areas where no private institutions existed and were to be maintained only
till some private body emerged to establish an institution of its own or willing to administer
that of established by the Government.183
Being a lone private body in the field of education,
the missionaries fancied to occupy the entire educational domain after government‘s
anticipated withdrawal and therefore welcomed this recommendation also.
c) Religious neutrality
The question of religious education, in the aided schools was also discussed and it
was suggested that ―the Inspecting Officer should take no notice whatsoever….. of the
religious doctrines that may be taught in any school‖.184
This clause gave the aided private
educational bodies—which, in those days, meant the missionary societies only185
—some sort
of license to impart the desired religious instruction at their schools. This issue of diffusion of
religious education was closest to the missionaries‘ heart and they were more than happy on
the inclusion of this clause in the recommendations of Woods Despatch because it solved the
matter according to their wishes.
183
H.R. Mehta, A History of The Growth and Development of Western Education in Punjab, 1846-1884, 54-55. 184
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India, 1800-1947, 119. 185
Ibid.
66
The recommendations of the Despatch helped the missionaries to establish a strong
foothold in the field of education in the Punjab. The pro-missionary administrative hierarchy
of the province was also very keen to facilitate the missionaries in their educational pursuit
and played a good supportive role in the development of missionaries‘ educational
institutions. The system of grant-in-aid was initiated soon after the establishment of the
education department in the province which provided the government a legal framework to
release generous grants in favour of missionaries‘ educational institutions. As, contradictory
to its original objective,186
the scheme of grant-in-aid started to be considered as a support to
the missionary institutions only and the indigenous schools were aided out of the yields of
one percent cess.187
The Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, in 1856, sanctioned Rs.720 per
mensem in terms of aid to the institutions of higher class and at the end of that year ten
educational institutions, all of them missionary schools, were receiving aid from the
provincial government, under the scheme of grant-in-aid. 188
Benefitted by this kind of supportive attitude from the administration, the missionary
bodies were flourishing in the Punjab but the incident of War of 1857 hampered the rapid
growth of the missionaries‘ educational institutions. The missionary schools were burnt and
the missionaries, who were found, were assassinated during the War time. But their
operations were resumed soon after the maintenance of law and order in the country. The
transfer of power from EIC to the British Crown did not affect any fundamental changes to
the missionaries‘ activities as the new administration decided to carry on with almost the
same policy suggested in the Woods‘ Education Despatch. The British government continued
186
The scheme of grant-in-aid was actually developed to provide financial support to all the privately managed
educational institutions without any distinction of missionary or non-missionary management. 187
H.R. Mehta, A History of The Growth and Development of Western Education in Punjab, 1846-1884, 52. 188
Ibid.
67
to follow the recommendations of Woods Education Despatch till the Establishment of the
First Indian Education Commission in 1882-83, under the chair of Sir W.W. Hunter. During
this period of about three decades, from 1849 to 1880 expansion turned out to be the
watchword in the missionary circles. As, the missionaries tried to expand their educational
network by establishing more and more schools during this period. Their efforts took real
impetus after the rise of Robert Montgomery as the Lieutenant Governor of the Province in
1859.189
His encouraging behaviour swelled their hopes of occupying the whole educational
field of the province and they started to expand their network by establishing their
educational institutions in the length and breadth of the province.
2.3 Period of Expansion
This is the period in which the missionaries wanted to spread their educational
network in the length and breadth of the province and tried to establish schools in different
parts of the province. The British Punjab, at that time, was divided into five administrative
units known as divisions which were further divided into twenty nine districts.190
The
Education Department had four divisions of the province called Circles. The missionaries
expanded their educational network to these areas in no time. Different missionary
organizations established their missionary stations at the major cities and towns of the
province which were immediately followed by their educational institutions in these areas.
The missionaries, at the end of the period, were having not only secondary and primary
schools for the male population but also separate schools for female multitude of the
189
Although missionary schools were multiplied very quickly, in the pre-Mutiny period, but the number of
pupils in these schools was quite insufficient. Ikram-Ul-Haq, ‗The Punjab, 1849-83: Educational Activity‘, 04. 190
Ian Talbot, Tarikh-i-Punjab, translated by Tahir Kamran (Lahore: Takhlikat, 2006), 49.
68
province. Missionaries‘ efforts in the field of female education will be discussed in the next
chapter but those in the field of male education are discussed here.
2.3.1 Secondary Education
According to the uniform classification of education, adopted in 1879, Secondary
education was described as that which led up from the primary to the collegiate course. Its
higher limit was precisely defined by the matriculation standard of the universities which was
regarded as the final standard of secondary schools. 191
The middle and high schools were the
compulsory constituents of secondary education in the Punjab. The course of study, as
prescribed for the government schools, extended over three years in the middle school, and
two years in the high school.192
The scholars generally joined a middle school after passing
the upper primary school examination in English or vernacular.193
The missionaries‘
educational institutions of secondary education had English as a compulsory component of
their scheme of studies and therefore were termed as English schools. In 1879-80, at the end
of this period, the missionaries had 11 mission high schools at the key missionary stations in
different parts of the province. Here is the history of some of the missionaries‘ prominent
schools for secondary education in the province.
a) Ludhiana Mission High School
Ludhiana was the chief station for American Presbyterian Mission in India. It was a
military as well as a civil station under the jurisdiction of East India Company (EIC), during
191
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 177. 192
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year, 1879-80, by Lieut. Colonel
W.R.M. Holroyd, Director Public Instruction, Punjab,31. 193
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 44.
69
the Sikh rule in the Punjab.194
The population of the district mainly consisted of the Muslim
and the Hindu communities. It was situated 6 miles south of the Sutlej, 1277 miles north-
west of Calcutta and 116 miles south-east of the capital city of Lahore. The mission-friendly
attitude of chief civil and political officers at Ludhiana tempted the AP missionaries to select
this tract of land for their early missionary operations.195
The mission, afterwards, extended
its operations to the other parts of the district and established its outstations at Khanna,
Machhiwara, Raikot and Jagraon in the district.196
Mr. Lowrie, the pioneer missionary of AP mission at Ludhiana, took the charge of an
Anglo-vernacular school immediately after his arrival. The school was previously run by
Captain Claude Wade, the political agent of the town.197
The presence of a number of
students from some distinguished Afghan and Sikh families was an important feature of this
school. In 1836, the school was transferred to Ludhiana mission and therefore was known as
the Ludhiana Mission High School.198
The school helped the missionaries a lot in accessing
the nobility of the region.199
At the time of annexation of the Punjab, it was the only mission
school existent in the territory of the Punjab. The school, along with the mission of Ludhiana
faced a set back during the War of 1857. The building of the school was destroyed by fire. Its
194
John Newton, Historical Sketches of the Indian Missions of the Presbyterian church in the United States of
America, 08 195
Ibid. 196
Punjab District Gazetteers, vol. XV. A, Ludhiana District, ( The ―Civil and Military Gazette‖ Press, 1904),
93. 197
M.A. Sherring, The History of Protestant Missions in India, 218. 198
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1864-65, by Captain A. R.
Fuller, Director of Public Instruction, Punjab (Lahore: Independent Press 1865), xxxv. 199
In addition to the presence of a number of students from the afghan and Sikh families, the missionaries, due
to their growing popularity as good educationists, were invited by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and also by a former
Afghan King Shah shooja. John Newton, Historical Sketches of the Indian Missions of the Presbyterian church
in the United States of America, 27-28.This kind of relationship with the nobility of the region was quite helpful
for the missionaries to establish their relationship with the higher echelon of the society.
70
library containing a large number of valuable books, also shared the same fate.200
But after
the peace was restored, recovery process started and by 1861, the average daily attendance of
the school was gone up to 256.201
In 1864-65 there were 348 students on the roll out of which
250 were Hindus, 90 Muslims and 8 from the other religious communities.202
The school had
separate departments for the teaching of English and Persian, till 1865, but were merged into
one afterwards. The subjects of Geography, History of India and Arithmetic were also taught
at the school.203
The territorial influence of Ludhiana Mission School was broadened, in
1865-66, by opening four branch schools in different parts of the town.204
Quality of
education, at the school, was quite satisfactory at the school and it showed good results in
entrance examination of Calcutta University. Especially, in 1868-69 when it won first
position, along with Mission High school Jalandhar.205
It sent four students of whom one
passed in the first division and gained higher marks than any other student in the province.
The inspector of the Lahore circle reports very favourably of the result of Ludhiana Mission
School.206
The school went through a serious set back, in terms of massive numerical
decrease of students, in 1873-74. As large number of students were drawn towards a newly
established Hindu school in the town. The nominal fees levied on the students, at new school,
were the major source of attraction for the students.207
But the mission school recovered
reasonably within the period of a year and the number of students on the roll rose to 334 in
200
M.A. Sherring, The History of Protestant Missions in India, 221. 201
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1864-65, by Captain A. R.
Fuller, Director of Public Instruction, Punjab, LV. 202
Ibid., XXXV. 203
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1865-66, by Major A. R.
Fuller, Director of Public Instruction, Punjab, XXVI. 204
Ibid. 205
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1868-69, by Capt.
W.R.M.Holroyd, Director Public Instruction, Punjab (Lahore: Albion Press, 1869), 36. 206
Ibid., 34. 207
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1873-74, by Major
W.R.M.Holroyd, Director Public Instruction, Punjab (Lahore: W.E. Ball, 1874), 74.
71
1874-75. The branch schools attached to the main school, six in number, contained 317
students, raising the number of students to 651 altogether.208
It was termed as one of the
most efficient schools of Ambala circle, in 1879-80.209
b) Rang Mahal School
American Presbyterian Mission School, Lahore, popularly known as ‗Rang Mahal
School, was the most important school of the city. Dr. C. W. Forman opened the school, in
his house, on 19th
December, 1849, with only three students. The opening of this school, in
the Punjab, was the starting point of the priceless educational contribution of Dr. C. W.
Forman. He was one of the missionaries who devoted their efforts for the education of the
people and set high standards by producing excellent results at different forums. The scarcity
of pupils, at the initial stage, tempted the founder of the school to use the payment of pice to
lure the pupils towards the school. The tactic worked in his favour and the number of
students on the roll started to rise very rapidly. As within the period of a year, 80 students
were registered and the number rose to 300 by 1851. In 1853, the building of Rang Mahal
palace, previously belonged to Said Ullah Khan of Chiniot, was purchased for the school.
The school adopted its name, Rang Mahal School, due to its close attachment with this
building.210
This pioneer institution faced some hard times during the War of Independence
but managed to survive and by 1861 it bore 428 students on the roll.211
The scheme of
studies, during 1850s, contained ‗the History of India, the History of Greece, Parker‘s Aid to
208
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1874-75, by Major
W.R.M.Holroyd, Director Public Instruction, Punjab (Lahore: W.E. Ball, 1875), 74. 209
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1879-80, by Lieut. Colonel
W.R.M.Holroyd, Director Public Instruction, Punjab (Lahore: W.E. Ball, 1880), 40. 210
S.K. Datta, The history of the Forman Christian College College selection from the records of the College
1869-1936 (Lahore: n.p., 1936), 13. 211
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1864-65, XII.
72
English Composition, Natural Philosophy, Cyclopaedia of English Literature, Algebra, Urdu,
Hindi and Persian.
With the passage of the time, a large number of branch schools were opened in
connection with it to accommodate students from the outlying areas of the town. In 1864-65,
Mr. C. W. W. Alexander, the then Inspector of schools Lahore circle, observed 16 well
managed and organized branch schools attached to the school212
and termed the performance
of this school better than the Government Zillah schools.213
English was taught to all the
classes from the highest to the lowest. Study of Persian and that of Urdu was also allowed,
even from the lowest classes. Contrary to the other mission schools of the province,
Arithmetic was well taught at this school.214
The broad base and quality instruction at the
school made it a symbol of excellence and, during 1860s, it emerged as one of the largest and
one of the most popular schools of the country.215
It continued to bear the high character
throughout the ages and, at the end of this period, it was in very good condition maintained
under the auspices of Punjab Mission of the Presbyterian Church of U.S.A and the Lahore
church Council.
c) St. Stephen’s High School Delhi
St. Stephen‘s High School, Delhi, was a branch of missionary work of the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), Delhi. The mission was founded at Delhi in 1853 by
Midgley John Jennings, a chaplain of EIC at Delhi. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Hubbard, both from
the Caius College, Cambridge, came forward and established a mission school. It was opened
212
Ibid.,83-84. 213
Ibid., 6. 214
Ibid.,34. 215
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1869-70, by Capt.
W.R.M.Holroyd, Director Public Instruction, Punjab, 24.
73
in a hired house at Katra Kushal Rai, Chandni Chowk, in 1854.216
The school made a good
progress in the subsequent years but the incident of the War of 1857 hampered its progress.
The mission along with the mission school was destroyed during the War. Mr. M. J.
Jennings, the founder of the mission, was assassinated with his daughter and fellow
missionaries. After the restoration of the peace, the mission and the school were re-
established by Mr. Skelton, a fellow of Queen‘s College, Cambridge. The school was again
humming with educational activities and the average daily attendance by 1860-61 of the
school was 244 at that time.217
It made excellent progress under the able superintendence of
Mr. Winter and the number of students on the roll was increased up to 367 in 1864-65.218
The
teaching staff was strengthened by the appointment of Mr. Smithwhite. He was a gentleman
having a sound European education. He introduced many changes in the scheme of studies of
the school with a view to improve the vernaculars. The school continued to hold its position
as one of the best schools among the private aided enterprise of the respective circle and
Captain W. R. M. Holroyd, Inspector Ambala Circle, acknowledged it in his annual report.219
The school also led the lot, in the Departmental examination of 1866-67 for 3rd
, 4th
and 5th
classes, by sending more students than any other Mission School of the Province. Moreover
these students secured, in some subjects, higher marks than the students of the other schools
of their ranks.220
The Inspectors of schools, time and again, expressed their positive observations about
the school and it held its good standing, consistently, among the best schools of the province
216
Official Website of St. Stephen‘s College, University Enclave, Delhi, India.
http://www.ststephens.edu/archives/history3.htm Cited on 20-03-2011 at 11-00 pm. 217
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1864-65appendix lx 218
Ibid., 61. 219
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1866-67, 20. 220
Ibid.
74
till 1870. But after the lost of management services of Mr. Crowfoot in 1871, due to his ill
health, the school was unable to maintain its high mark of performance. The Inspector of the
schools repeatedly mentioned the deficiencies, especially in the teaching of arithmetic and
that of Persian, but the management of the school put a deaf ear to the directions of the
Inspector.221
As a corollary to this the performance of the school continued its downward
flight and suffered a great loss in terms of bad results at entrance examinations, conducted by
Calcutta and Punjab Universities and also at Middle standard examinations. The school also
suffered a considerable numeric loss and the number of students was decreasing day by day
towards the end of the period under consideration. By and large, at the end of this period the
school was considered to be an important school and held a good reputation among the aided
schools of the province.
d) CMS High School Amritsar
The CMS missionaries entered the Punjab with a desire to impart religious as well as
secular education to all the Christian children. In addition to this the establishment of a
school was also necessary for the teaching of Bible to the Christian and non-Christian
population.222
That is why Robert Clark, the veteran missionary of CMS opened a school at
Amritsar on April 1852. Mr. Clark found a very encouraging response from all the three
major religious communities of the town—the Sikh, the Hindu and the Muslim. As on the
first day of the school, about fifty youth, half from the Sikh and the rest from the Hindu and
221
The Inspector of Ambala circle, in 1872-73, wrote strongly about the defects in the teaching of Persian but
―little or no heed‘ was paid to his remarks and the inspector expressed his apprehensions in his report, 1873-74.
Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the year 1873-74, 74. Inspector of Ambala
circle, in 1877-78, also expressed in the same vein in his annual report when he wrote, ―After the remarks I
made last year on the teaching of Arithmetic I was certainly surprised to find the same teachers employed, and
naturally little sign of improvement.‖ Report on popular education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the
year 1877-78, 66. 222
Henry Martyn Clark, Robert Clark of the Punjab, 62.
75
the Muslim communities, attended the school.223
The Mission School Amritsar played an
important role in the education of the people of Amritsar. Branch schools were established to
expand the educational base of the school and, during 1864-65, about 200 boys were found to
be studying in its branch schools.224
A reasonable increase in the number of students was
observed during the next five years and, in 1869-70, six branch schools were attached to the
main school. The increase in the number of branch schools had a positive effect on the
number of students on the roll which went up to 969.225
The quality of education, especially
at the upper level, was very good. The school showed good results at Calcutta and Punjab
University‘s Entrance Examinations. Considering the examinations of 1874-75, the school
held the highest position.226
The number of students on the roll started decreasing from 1876
and number of branch schools also decreased to 4 during 1877-78. The loss of two branch
schools had a reasonable negative effect on the total number of students. Cultivation of
athletic sports, on regular basis, was the hallmark of the Amritsar Mission School and it
possessed the strongest cricket eleven in the province during the late 1870s.227
e) AP Mission High School Rawalpindi
Mr. Morrison, in September 1856, established City Mission School Rawalpindi with
twelve students, near Raja Bazaar. It was the first school established at Rawalpindi, on
modern lines. The school, subsequently, provided the base for the establishment of Gordon
College, in 1893. It faced some difficulties in finding some good teachers, during its initial
days. But with the passage of the time the problem was solved and the school showed
223
Ibid. 224
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1864-65, L. 225
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1869-70, 25. 226
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1874-75, 50. 227
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1878-79, 62.
76
considerable improvement. In 1861, it had 89 students daily attending the school but number
of registered students was raised to 186, in 1865.228
The subjects of History, Geography,
Arithmetic, Algebra, along with the teaching of English, Persian, and Urdu were taught at the
school.229
In 1866-67, the school was considered to be at par with Government Zillah School
Rawalpindi and by 1869-70 it was the best Anglo-vernacular school of the circle.230
The staff
at the school was more than sufficient, numerically. The government thought it better to
leave the education of the town on the part of the missionaries and, in 1876-77, removed its
district school from the town. Consequently, City Mission School occupied the place of this
school and a considerable increase on the roll was observed during the year.231
In 1878-79
the school had three branch schools in the different parts of the city. The number of students
on the roll was 271 with average daily attendance of 225.232
In addition to these major schools, the missionaries had a goodly network of schools
in other parts of the province also. They had high schools with numerous branches of Middle
and Primary schools, at Gujranwala, Sialkot, Jalandhar, Batala and Peshawar. The High
school at Jalandhar was under the control of American Presbyterian missionaries and the
Church Missionary Society was running the Mission School at Peshawar. Both the schools
had the networks of branch schools in the different parts of their respective towns. Jalandhar
School was considered as a highly efficient educational institution and it showed some good
results at the entrance examination, in 1868-69.233
Church Mission School at Peshawar was
also a good school. It is a noteworthy fact that, at the end of this period under observation, all
228
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1864-65, 101. 229
Ibid., 101. 230
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year1876-77, 60, also see
inspector‘s report in Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year1869-70, 10. 231
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year, 60. 232
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1878-79, 62. 233
It won the first position in the entrance examination along with the Mission School of Ludhiana in 1869-70.
77
the eleven private aided High schools for the natives were under the supervision of the
Christian Missionaries. American Presbyterian missionaries were leading the lot by having
six schools at the key stations of Lahore, Jalandhar, Batala, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and
Ludhiana. The Church Missionary Society had two schools at the important cities of
Amritsar and Peshawar. The SPG Mission was having a school at the ancient city of Delhi
and the Scotland Mission possessed a school at Sialkot.234
These Mission High Schools were mostly situated at the missionary headquarters in
the province. The network of missionary schools was further expanded through the
establishment of Middle Schools. The middle schools, at the end of this period, were 23 in
number and were established at the key locations occupied by the missionaries, as an
extension of their central schools.235
At the end of the period under consideration the Church
Missionary Society had eleven Middle schools at Kangra, Dharamsala, Majitha, Batala,
Narowal, Peshawar Cantonment, Multan, Shujabad, Dera Ismail Khan, and Bannu. The
American Presbyterians had five schools at Ambala City, Ambala Cantt, Jalandhar Cantt.
Lahore and Rawalpindi. The Scotch Mission also had some missionary schools of this class
at Sialkot Cantonment, Wazirabad, and Gujrat.236
These schools taught up to the elementary
level and acted as the feeder schools to their High schools.
By and large, at the end of this period 35 out of 36 aided secondary schools for the
natives were mission schools. The scheme of studies at mission schools was almost identical
with that in the government schools with an exception of compulsory Bible teaching in the
former. Moreover all the mission schools were English schools. The aided mission schools
234
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1878-79, 60. 235
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1880-81, 32. 236
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1875-76, xxxviii.
78
imparted education of a similar character to that given in the government schools, at
somewhat cheaper rate. They drew their material resources mainly from the funds
contributed by the government through grant-in-aid scheme and those contributed by the
Missions, including subscriptions raised in the region. The fees contribute less than one-
twelfth of the expenditure of the schools.237
It is a noteworthy fact that the missionary societies throughout this period tried to
expand their educational network by establishing as many schools as possible and at the end
of this period they were able to establish a reasonable network of schools at different parts of
the province. Sixteen districts of the province, in 1879-80, were having one or more high
schools at their headquarters and eleven mission high schools were included in them.238
They
had schools at almost all the important district headquarters and towns of the province. But
the mission schools, in case of government‘s withdrawal from the field, were still not in a
position to substitute those of the government sector.239
2.3.2 Primary Education
The primary instruction consisted of a course of studies which extended over five
years starting from the earliest stage to the standard at which secondary education begins.
The primary education generally consisted of five classes and lasted for the same number of
years—one year for each class. So primary schools started their instruction from the first
class and terminated it with an examination called the upper primary examination.240
Before
the adoption of a uniform classification of schools, in 1879, the aided schools of this type
237
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1879-80, 35. 238
Ibid., 31. 239
Ibid.,37. 240
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission 1882-83, 80.
79
were termed as the schools of lower class. A large majority of aided English primary schools
were under the management of Christian missionaries attached to the missionary schools for
secondary education.241
These branch schools, previously under the management of a central
secondary school, after the adoption of the uniform policy of classification, were termed as
primary schools.242
The primary schools were of two kinds, vernacular and English, consisting of two
divisions— upper and lower sections—in both cases. The studies of the lower section spread
over three classes while that of the upper section covers two classes. The progress of this
scheme of studies was tested by Lower Primary School Examination and Upper Primary
School Examination. The former rendered the candidate eligible for admission to the upper
division of the school and the latter indicated the standard which a primary school required to
reach and served as an Entrance examination to the schools for Secondary education.243
Moreover the vernacular schools focused at the cultivation of classical languages whereas the
English schools promoted the study of English language. The standard and the syllabus of the
examinations are attached in appendix.
The character of primary education was determined by the practical needs of the
society—agricultural as well as those of the urban community. The Despatch of 1854 defined
the scope of education as ―consisting of so much knowledge, at least of reading and writing,
and of simple rules of arithmetic and of land measurement, as would enable each man to look
after his own rights.‖244
The course of studies, for the primary schools, was desired to include
reading and writing with elementary arithmetic and mensuration. Since, in government
241
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1879-80, 54. 242
Ibid.,36 243
Ibid., 53. 244
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission 1882-83, 80.
80
schools, English was not taught in the lower section and started with the promotion of the
student to the upper section therefore the studies pursued in the lower division of English and
vernacular schools were identical. But a small part of the course prescribed for vernacular
schools was omitted in the upper division of English schools.245
In aided schools for natives,
the course of instruction was similar, sometime identical, to that prescribed for government
schools. The chief point of difference was that in missionary schools the study of English
started from the lower section.246
Almost all the mission primary schools, except those
managed by Baptists at Delhi, were English schools and started teaching of English from
their lower sections.
The cost of educating each boy in the mission schools, at the end of the period under
consideration, was Rs. 8-2-0.247
A major part of this expenditure was derived from
government funds through the grant-in-aid scheme. Municipalities also provide some
financial assistance to the mission schools. School fees contributed about seventeen percent
of the total expenditure. About twenty five percent of the total expenditure was managed by
―other sources‖, mainly through the subscriptions and contributions made by English public
through various missionary societies. It is a noteworthy fact that the aided primary schools
were not much beneficial for the state but they spare her from the educational expenditure,
incurred upon this enterprise by the English community and also by different missions, which
otherwise might be defrayed from the local sources.248
The missionary primary schools were situated mostly in cities, towns or cantonments.
These schools were generally established to reinforce the influence of the main missionary
245
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1879-80, 52-53. 246
Ibid., 52-53. 247
Ibid., 55-56 248
Ibid.
81
schools, established at the missionary headquarters. The Schools of Baptist Missionary
Society developed a network of these kind of schools at Delhi, during 1870s. It established a
central school at Delhi and then broadened their educational circle by establishing its branch
schools at different parts of the city as well as in the suburbs. Church Missionary Society also
established such kind of network at Kotgurrh, but not of the same intensity.249
These schools
imparted very basic instruction in the languages of English, Urdu, Hindi and Persian. The
subjects of geography, History of India, and Art were the part of the teaching scheme of these
schools. Arithmetic of very elementary level was also found to be taught here.250
During
1879-80, there were 106 aided Primary schools. A vast majority of these schools was
missionary schools.251
The following table shows the progressive expansion of missionary
schools under different missionary bodies.
249
As, by 1875-76, it had only 7 Schools at Kotgurrh, in comparison to those of Baptists Missionary Society at
Delhi, numbering 35, Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1875-76,
xxxviii. 250
Ibid., 62-63. 251
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the Year 1879-80, 52.
82
Table: 2.1.Different missionary societies and the number of schools they had during the period of
expansion
Year
Missionary society
Schools of
Higher Class
Schools of
Middle Class
Schools of
Lower Class
Total
No. of
Sch
ools
No.
of
studen
ts
on t
he
roll
No. of
Sch
ools
No.
of
studen
ts
on t
he
roll
No. of
Sch
ools
No.
of
studen
ts
on t
he
roll
No. of
Sch
ools
No.
of
studen
ts
on t
he
roll
1866-6
7
American Presbyterian 06 2381 03 268 --- --- 09 2649
C. M. S. 07 1561 07 577 --- --- 14 2138
Mission of Scotland 01 90 02 197 --- --- 03 287
S. P. G 01 362 --- --- --- --- 01 362
Total 15 4394 12 1042 --- --- 27 5436
1871-7
2
American Presbyterian 06 1859 04 293 31 1850 41 4002
C. M. S. 02 348 08 851 19 982 29 2181
Mission of Scotland --- --- 04 426 01 109 05 535
S. P. G 01 181 --- --- 04--- 300 05 481
Total 09 2388 16 1570 55 3241 80 7199
1876
-77
American Presbyterian 04 1107 06 1020 36 1866 46 3993
C. M. S. 02 474 10 1337
0
14 800 26 2611
Mission of Scotland 01 285 03 559 --- --- 04 844
S. P. G 01 203 --- --- 08 649 09 852
B. M. S. --- --- --- --- 35 687 35 687
Total 08 2069 19 2916 93 4002 120 8987
The data extracted from the Reports on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies, for the
Years from 1865-66 to 1876-77.
83
2.4 Expansion Abandoned
Christian missionaries carried on with their policy of expansion for about three
decades but at the end of 1870s they became extremely unhappy with the existing
government‘s policies towards them. They had serious differences with the government at
the key issues of government‘s withdrawal from the field of education, attitude of the
government officials and the like. They abandoned their efforts of expansion around 1880,
due to the following reasons:
2.4.1 Government’s Withdrawal from the field of education
The recommendations of the Wood‘s Education Despatch brought the missionaries
closer to the British administration in India. In the province of the Punjab, the supporting
behaviour of Lawrence brothers and that of R. Montgomery, during 1850s, brought the
missionaries even closer to the government. The pledge of government‘s withdrawal from
the field of education, in the favour of missionaries, was reaffirmed at times by the Officials
of the Punjab Government. R. Montgomery, the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, vowed
the same in the following words:
The Government schools and colleges, whether high or low, should be regarded not
as permanent institutions, but only as means for generating a desire and demand for
education, and as models ……….the Government, in place of using its power and
resources to compete with private parties, should rather contract and circumscribe its
own measures of direct education, and so shape the measure as to pave the way for
the ultimate abolition of its own schools.252
252
Minutes by His Honour the Lieutenant Governor in the Education Department under the date the 21st
October, 1863, cited in John C. B. Webster, ‗Competing Systems of Western Education in the Punjab, 1858-
1882‘, Proceedings Punjab History Conference, Second Session (Patiala: Publication Bureau Punjabi
University, 1966), 188.
84
In spit of these kinds of assurances by the top of the administrative hierarchy, the
government, afterwards, refused to withdraw from the field. The feelings of distrust and
antagonism among the missionaries and government officials, which were developed in
subsequent years, led the government to abandon her desire of withdrawing from the field of
education. The proponents of this decision had some major apprehensions about the negative
consequences of the missionaries‘ dominance in the field. These can be discussed as follows:
a) Mission Schools Inferior to Government Schools
The performance of the missionary schools was in itself a question mark on their
desire of occupying the entire field of education. Missionaries‘ desires of numeric increase
were, to some extent, fulfilled at the stake of quality of education at mission school therefore
mission schools were considered inferior to those in the government sector.253
Their
performance, especially in the field of elementary and lower education, was not up to the
mark.254
The lower standard of education at mission schools was quite evident, especially
towards the end of this period, from the poor performance of the mission schools‘ candidates
in the examinations conducted by Calcutta and Punjab Universities.255
The following table
shows the brief history of these schools for the last six years before the end of the period
under consideration.
253
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1879-80, 36. 254
The education inspectors of different circles mentioned time and again, during this period, the inferior
quality of education at missionary schools Reports on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies
for the Years 864-65 to 1876-77. 255
Entrance Examinations were conducted, separately, by the Calcutta University and Punjab University
College. In expectation of a speedy realization of the promises held out for the grant of power of conferring
degrees, the Punjab Government instituted examinations corresponding to those of the Calcutta University. But
a difference of opinion materialized at the manner of evaluation. The Calcutta University wanted the students to
have a minute knowledge of prescribed textbooks while the Punjab University College intended to examine the
students in subjects, and came out with examining the candidates by translations rather than paraphrasing. Both
the parties stuck to their opinions and, as a corollary, a dual system of examination came into existence which
lasted for some years Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education
Commission, 1884, 19.
85
Table: 2.2. Missionary schools and their results at Entrance Examinations
Year No.
of
Instit
utions
No. of
students
on the
roll
Averag
e daily
attenda
nce
Calcutta
University
Entrance Exam
Punjab University
Entrance Exam
Passed in
both
Entrance
examinat
ions No.
candidates
appeared
No. of
passed
No.
candidates
appeared
No. of
passed
1879-80 35 1021256
-- -- 08 -- 22 --
1878-79 09 2673 1998 26 14 36 32 --
1877-78 08 2273 1692 26 13 36 32 --
1876-77 08 2069 1469 26 13 34 27 11
1875-76 08 1973 1590 33 17 27 18 12
1874-75 08 2207 1615 29 15 20 12 7
The table prepared from the statistics given in the Reports on popular education in the Punjab and its
Dependencies, for the years 1874-75 to 1879-80.
The scarcity of sufficient funds, the dearth of well educated trained teaching staff and
the incomplete organization of newly established schools were some of the serious problems
of these schools which damaged the process of quality education very badly.257
The poor
performance of missionary schools was attached with the scarcity of sufficient resources for
the mission schools. This situation led the officials to conceive that the Missions did not have
the resources, especially in terms of trained and qualified staff, to hold the educational
domain of the province. The Director Public Instruction, Punjab, expressed his views in the
following words:
256
The data of aided schools was for the first time collected on the basis of secondary education which included
high as well as the middle schools. 11 out of these 35 schools were high schools which contained 144 scholars
while rest of the schools were middle schools which contained 877 students having 1021 students altogether. 257
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1879-80, 36.
86
various Missions already expended as much as they are able to afford, from funds
provided in England, subscriptions raised in this country; and if any considerable
portion of the money expended on Government schools were withdrawn, its place
could not be supplied by the Missions, and there would be a corresponding decrease
in the number of scholars at present receiving Secondary Education.258
The performance of the educational institutions under the management of Education
Department, after their transfer to the missionary bodies, was even a more serious concern
for the officials of education department. Their experiences of handing over the government
schools to the missionaries at Sialkot and Jhelum, during 1860s, created some serious
questions on the performance of these institutions. The Government School at Sialkot was
transferred to the Church of Scotland Mission, as an aided school, in 1868-69. The school
was unable to flourish and a large majority of the scholars was withdrawn from the school.
The Government School at Jhelum was handed over to the Chaplain of the station but it also
shared the same fate and, after a few years, was regained by Education Department.259
On the other hand, the Government schools were considered to be highly beneficial in
the diffusion of Western education to the masses. These schools were acting as a stimulant to
attract the students towards them as well as for the missionary schools to improve their
performance, by creating an atmosphere of healthy competition.260
So the officials of
Education Department thought that the absence of these schools from the field would,
ultimately, cause a major numeric loss to the cause of education of the masses. Therefore the
withdrawal of these schools, from the field was not a healthy move towards the spread of
Western education.
258
Ibid., 37. 259
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 16-17. 260
John C. B. Webster, ‗Competing Systems of Western Education in the Punjab, 1858-1882‘, 191.
87
b) Prevalent Prejudice against Mission Schools
Though a portion of the native community, especially from the lower classes of the
Hindu community and also from the higher rung of the society, had no objection to send their
children to the mission schools yet a majority of the influential section of the native
population had strong prejudices against the mission schools.261
The prejudice of the people
was quite obvious when the Government School of Sialkot was handed over to a missionary
body. The parents withdrew their boys and only 13 scholars were found on the rolls,
immediately after the transfer of the school.262
The People of the cities found themselves in
quite ease where both the government and mission schools existed. The spirit of emulation
between the schools, at these places, created an atmosphere of healthy competition which
tempted the management of both types of institutions to improve their standard of teaching.
On the other hand, the most promising scholars after the primary schools at these places,
generally neglected the mission schools and chose their competitors— government schools—
for secondary education.263
This attitude shows the extent of native prejudice against the
mission schools.
In this kind of atmosphere, the officials of Education Department were quite hesitant
to leave the field wide open for the mission schools. They thought the government‘s
withdrawal a destructive step and were of the opinion that this would be a major set back for
the education of the masses. As the people of the cities, where only the mission school
261
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1879-80, 36. 262
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 16. 263
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1879-80, 36
88
occurred, opted to establish a school through their independent effort instead of sending their
children to the mission school.264
c) Religious Aspect of Missionary Education
It is an obvious fact that the missionaries started their educational venture, in India, as
a means to achieve their missionary goals. To them, education was a powerful auxiliary to
achieve their ultimate goal of extending the world of Christ. That is why their education was
mainly conversion-centric. The teaching of Bible was a compulsory component of
missionary education.265
On the other hand it was a source of irritation for the majority of the
Muslim and the Hindu communities. That is why they usually avoid the choice of mission
schools and tried their best to take their children away from these. In the absence of any
choice, when they were compelled to do so due to their desire of imparting Western
knowledge to their children, the secular aspect of missionary education remained the focus of
their attention. So, these influential people did not like the Government‘s withdrawal from
the field of education.
The pathetic condition of mission schools in terms of average daily attendance, in the
post conversion scenario, was a serious concern for the officials of education department.
The schools, generally, became empty at once after the conversion of a pupil. This kind of
situation led them (schools) to a very unstable condition which required much time and
energy to restore the previous condition of the school.266
This state of affairs, in an
anticipated post-withdrawal scenario, was considered as a major set back for the diffusion of
264
Ibid. 265
See the views of missionaries like C.W. Forman, Rev. R. Thackwell and others on compulsory Bible teaching
in the Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January, 1862-63, 31-54. 266
Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 119.
89
Western education to the masses. Consequently, the increased focus on religious education at
missionary schools and the strong reaction of the native population towards this conversion-
centric attitude of the Christian missionaries tempted the government not to leave the field of
education leaving it wide open for the missionaries.
d) Mutual Distrust
Although Christian missionaries started their educational venture with the strong
backing of the administrative hierarchy of the province and a government-missionary
alliance was seemed to be working in the field with which missionary schools were
mushrooming in the length and breadth of the province yet both the parties seemed to have
feelings of distrust for each other, since early 1860s. This atmosphere of distrust played its
part in government‘s decision of denying its withdrawal from the field of education and also
in persuading the other party—Christian missionaries—to abandon their efforts of expansion.
Although the government of the Punjab assured Christian missionaries to fulfil their
pecuniary needs under the grant-in-aid scheme and, in pursuance, released generous grants to
the missionary schools,267
yet the officials of Education Department started having
apprehensions about the dominance of mission schools. That is why the proposal of closing
the Government School at Lahore, by Revd. C. W. Forman as the representative of the
missionary bodies at a meeting of Educational Committee appointed by the Lieutenant
Governor was not entertained by the Director Public Instruction, Punjab, in 1863.268
The
267
By 1868, the Punjab Government distributed 15.4 percent of its educational expenditure, to the aided
institutions. It was Rs. 16545 per month more than the average amount paid by the other provinces, in the
support of mission schools. Tim Allender, ‗Anglican Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary
Classroom; the Failure to Educate ‗the Masses‘‘, 276. 268
T. D. Forsyth Esq., Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January,
1862-63, 45.
90
Government also became in direct competition with the Church Missionary School at
Peshawar, by establishing its own school at the town. Moreover, she fashioned traditional
indigenous studies—the teaching of Arabic, traditional laws of inheritance, geometry and
grammar—in the school, which was the most rare thing to do in a Government school. The
measure was taken to allure the pupils from Kabul and Kandahar. Furthermore, it enticed the
Pathan scholars by offering fellowship to them, at Lahore.269
Moreover a gradual feeling of sickness, towards the religious character of missionary
education, was developed among the officers of Education Department. As stated above the
missionary education was mainly conversion centric and the primacy of proselytizing
activities was the hallmark of the missionary schools. In fact the missionaries were striving to
establish an education system, based on Christian principles, without any distinction of aided
or Government education. Teaching of the Bible, in this anticipated system of education,
occupied an important place and was suggested to be taught as a regular, if not compulsory,
part of the daily programme.270
The primacy of proselytizing instruction in the missionary
schools was the major source of apprehension in the Government circles. The officials of
education department thought it a major hurdle in the spread of Western education. It was
also believed that this kind of conversion centric education would damage the secular face of
the Government and would, ultimately, be resulted into the loss of the support of the upper
strata of the society.271
On the other hand the missionaries also had ill feelings about the Government
Officials, since early 1860s. They were well aware of the negative feelings prevailed upon
269
Tim Allender, ‗Anglican Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to
Educate ‗the Masses‘, 1860-77‘‘, 283. 270
C. B. Webster, ‗Competing Systems of Western Education in the Punjab, 1858-1882‘, 191. 271
Ibid., 192.
91
the official circles, towards their religious education at missionary schools. But this kind of
education was lying at the heart of the missionaries and religious aspect of their education
was the one and only source of inspiration for them in this field. Education of the masses was
not their only object but they wanted to Christianize the native population through the means
of their education. Rev. C.W. Forman declared the conversion of India as the foremost object
of their education in the following words:
We cannot be satisfied with any amount of mere civilization, enlightenment, or
general elevation of character, united with the profoundest respect of Christianity.
Our great object is the conversion of India.272
The missionaries, on the one hand, enjoyed large grants for their educational
institutions on the other hand they doubted the sincerity of the officiating inspectors. To
them, the inspectors were their rivals with the object of modifying the missionary education
according to the wishes of the administration. The authority of the inspector was considered
against the prestige of the missionaries. The system of grant-in-aid was taken as a Begali
ploy to modify missionary system of education according to the wishes of an education
officer. That is why the question of grants or no grants was frequently discussed in the
Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in 1862-63. Rev. C.W. Forman‘s views, at the
platform of the Missionary Conference, showed the lucid picture of the opinion prevailed
upon the missionary circles. He concluded the discussion in the following words:
Many good men have feared the influence of Government aid upon the religious
character of our schools…..my own opinion is, that these fears are not altogether
groundless. It is much to be regretted, that Government agents should have a right to
visit, examine and report on our schools, officially and authoritatively………. If an
undue interference with our modes of instruction, or an undue authority over our
schools is attempted it must be all means by resisted. Far better would it be, to give
272
Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January, 1862-63, 31.
92
up Government aid, than thus to encourage the belief that our schools are under
Government control; or so to modify our system of education, with a view to meeting
the wishes of an educational officer, or securing a name for our schools by the
superiority of our pupils in secular knowledge, as to render them less efficient in
spreading the knowledge of Christianity, or in making converts.273
In this way the conflict of interest created feelings of distrust between the missionary
societies and the Government which proved to be damaging for both the parties. The officials
of Education Department observed the existing situation and after a meticulous analysis of
the ground realities of the region decided not to withdraw from the field.
2.4.2 Opposite View of a Missionary sect
There had been a group of people in the missionary circles, since the advent of
missionary schools in India, who considered direct preaching as the only means to serve the
missionary cause. To them, missionary schools were a distraction from the original
missionary objective. They, time and again, questioned the legitimacy of mission schools in
the field of missionary labours. They preferred preaching over teaching and were not
satisfied with the heavy cost, both in terms of manpower and operating expense incurred
upon the missionary education.274
Rev. W Ferguson belonged to the same school of thought
who, at the forum of Punjab Missionary Conference, presented his point of view in which he
regarded
Schools as the lowest form of missionary agency, and considering that there was
perfect liberty to preach everywhere, he thought schools a very questionable way of
applying mission funds.275
273
Ibid., 38. 274
Sanjay Seth, ‗Which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 118. 275
Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January, 1862-63, 40.
93
Similarly, a number of missionaries, at the Allahabad Missionary Conference,
questioned about the large sums incurred on missionary education. They thought it a
distraction from their main task of converting the souls to the world of Christianity.276
This
sect of missionaries, though in minority, was continuously putting pressure on their
colleagues to restrict their efforts to the direct preaching of the gospel only. Although this
group was in minority and had no considerable weight in the decision-making process yet
their voice was putting great pressure on the missionaries to abandon the missionary
educational enterprise.
2.4.3 Number of conversions
The missionaries were lured to the field of education, mainly, to get converts from the
host nations. The field of Punjab was also occupied with the same object but it did not
produced desired results. The missionary schools, situated at key locations, were mostly
filled with students but the net result, in terms of number of conversions, was negligible. As,
the majority, of the students, came there to learn European secular knowledge, in pursuit of
material benefits, attached to it.277
So, in spite of the utmost efforts on the part of missionary
educators, the conversions were not sufficient enough to satisfy the benefactors of the
missionary societies, back home. The missionaries in the field, by 1879-80, also came to the
conclusion that the conversion of the Muslim and the Hindu communities, at a large scale,
was a very hard nut to grind.278
So the Missionaries, instead of waiting for desired harvest
276
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 31. 277
Tim Allender, ‗Anglican Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to
Educate ‗the Masses‘, 1860-77‘‘, 277. 278
Ibid., 278.
94
from the barren land of five rivers, in terms of number of conversions, turned their attention
to the other parts of the empire.
The missionary societies flourished fairly rapidly in the Punjab, after its annexation to
the British dominion. The soft corner for the missionaries, in the hearts of the British officials
lured the missionaries to launch their missionary operations in the Province. Consequently,
different missionary societies mushroomed throughout the province during the 1850s.
Encouraged by the extended support of Sir R. Montgomery and the recommendations of the
Woods Education Despatch, the missionaries set their sails to multiply their schools by
occupying the key locations in the province. The network of missionary schools was
reinforced by the establishment of branch schools, of lower class, attached with the main
school. The branch schools functioned as the feeder schools for the main schools and thus
became a source of the extended missionary influence in the town. The missionaries
abandoned their efforts of extension in 1880, and started to consider the other options. There
were different reasons behind their ending of expansion programme. In addition to the
missionaries‘ incompetence to cope with the structural problems of the field, they were
unable to deliver in terms of conversions. The major reason behind their decision was the
government‘s reluctance in leaving the field of education. The antagonistic feelings of the
persons involved in the educational venture, of both the parties, contributed to make the
government take this all-important decision.
95
Chapter 3
Origin and Expansion of Girls’ Missionary Schools
(1849-1880)
Modern education system, with women education as one of its essential elements,
emerged in the Punjab under the umbrella of Colonial government, during the second half of
the nineteenth century. It was developed by suppressing the prevalent indigenous system of
education which had developed in the province through centuries past. Education of women
emerged as a necessary organ of the new education system in the province. The female
multitude of the province was considered to be entangled in some miserable social norms and
customs which were supposed to deprive them from some of their basic rights, including
education. Education is regarded as the most powerful instrument for changing the women‘s
subordinate role in the society. It not only develops the personality of the individual but also
improves their socio-economic status by qualifying them to fulfil certain economic, political
and cultural functions. Christian missionaries decided to use this all important tool to bring
about the desired social change in the favour of women of the Punjab. They were the
pioneers to enter this sensitive field. As described in the previous chapter, their efforts in the
field of education can be studied under two headings— efforts for expansion and efforts for
quality education. This chapter focuses on their efforts in the field of women education, from
the annexation of the Punjab to 1880. This period is important because it was the period
when the ground was prepared for the development of female education system. The system
of women‘s primary education was fostered during this period which paved the way for
secondary education, in the subsequent years. That is why this chapter focuses on the efforts
of Christian missionaries in the field of women education in the Punjab, during this period. It
96
attempts to explore missionaries‘ objectives behind their untiring efforts in this field. It also
tries to unearth the actual outcome of the missionaries‘ efforts during the period. The chapter
focuses to bring forth the supportive role of the Colonial government in favour of
missionaries. The modes of missionaries‘ activities in the field of women‘s education also
comprised the bulk of this chapter.
The province of the Punjab has been the cradle of two ancient civilizations—the
Indus Valley Civilization and the Vedic Civilization—and in both of these the women were
respected and regarded for their good status in the society. But in the post Vedic period
certain social traditions and customs made adverse impact on the status of women and,
during the medieval period, she became, almost, footwear in the oriental society.279
Although
the plight of women became one of the chief concerns of most of the socio-religious
reformers yet nothing could prevent the society from accepting the deep rooted customs and
traditions, which were considered to be the source of humiliation of the female multitude of
the society.280
The same situation prevailed up to the British period and the customs like Sati,
Purdah, female infanticide, etc, continued to be frequently practiced in the province, during
the colonial period.281
This inferior social status of women in the society made the female population
dependant on their male counterparts—before marriage on their fathers, after marriage on
their husbands, and in old age on their sons. This kind of subordinate role mostly deprived
the women from some of their fundamental rights, including that of education. The available
279
Manju Malhotra, ‗Status of Women in the Colonial Punjab‘, The Punjab Past and Present XXXI (October,
2000): 46. 280
Ibid. 281
Census of India, Punjab, 1891, 219.
97
historical sources, no doubt, suggest that there existed a tradition of women education
amongst the upper strata of the society. As, women of the nobility were given education in
their own houses by the learned ladies or old male tutors. They were mostly taught literature,
elementary arithmetic and religious scriptures.282
However it should be noted that the
proportion of these women was very meagre and they would not exceed a few hundreds.283
But the girls of ordinary classes were accepted only for the religious education. They were
allowed to join the boys‘ elementary schools, to a certain age, where they learnt to read the
religious scriptures of their sect.284
The female education at elementary level was entirely
religious in character and the girls of all the three major communities—Hindu, Muslim, and
the Sikh— were required to recite their respective religious books.285
But the doors of
secondary or secular educational institutions remained close for the Punjabi women and a
vast majority of women of the Punjab was deprived of formal education. The historical
evidence goes on to affirm that the indigenous education system of the colonial Punjab had
no specific arrangement for the formal education of an ordinary woman of that time. Punjabi
conservatism was considered the major hindrance in establishing the proper girls‘ schools.
Therefore, female education in the province remained confined to religious instruction
only.286
Here is the summary of some of the important challenges in the development of
women education in the Punjab.
282
Bhagat Singh, ‗Cultural Life in the Punjab in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century‘, The Punjab Past and
Present, XXIII: I (April, 1989): 111. 283
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 60. 284
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab, 108. 285
H.R. Mehta, A History of the Growth and Development of Western Education in the Punjab (1846-1884), 9. 286
Ikram-ul-Haq, ‗The Punjab, 1849-83: Educational Activity‘, 3.
98
3.1 Challenges of the Field
At the time of annexation, women were facing huge problems in terms of their
education, because their education was considered unnecessary, unorthodox, and
dangerous.287
Almost all the stakeholders of the three-fold indigenous education system—the
Muslims, the Hindus, and the Sikhs— looked at formal female education as against their
dignity. They thought it contradictory to their religion as well as to their social norms,
conventions and customs. The conservative character of the oriental society and its great
regards for its specific set of social values, norms, and conventions deprived the women,
even, from some of their fundamental rights including education. These social norms and
conventions were one of the major hurdles in the way of women education. Therefore, the
orthodox lifestyle of the society, customs like child marriage, Purdah and some distorted
religious beliefs were mostly held responsible for keeping women away from their education.
Let us have a look on some social and religious customs and traditions which made adverse
effects on the education of the women in the Punjab.
3.1.1 Purdah
The purdah system was not the part and parcel of ancient Indian society but its
existence is said to be synchronous with the advent of the Muslims in this region.288
No
doubt, some sort of purdah in shape of ghoonghat was observed in India, even before the
advent of the Muslims, as a mark of respect to the elder male members of her in-laws but the
elaborate and institutionalized form of purdah emerged with the advent of Muslims in this
287
Manju Malhotra, ‘Status of Women in the Colonial Punjab‘, 49. 288
Daljit Singh, ‗The Position of Women in the Punjab during Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries‘, The
Punjab Past and Present, XXXII:I (April, 2001): 50.
99
region.289
The Muslim women were supposed to confine themselves to the boundaries of
their homes and stay isolated from the world of men. Free mix up of men with women was
strictly prohibited and the nineteenth Century Punjabi society was no exception to this
custom. Although the custom belonged to the Muslim code of life yet it was observed as the
mark of respectability and mannerism by all communities of the Punjab.290
The common
practice of Purdah was also adopted by the Hindu women, while going out in the public. The
adoption of this tradition by the Hindu community had different notions behind it. According
to R.C. Majumdar, ―Hindus adopted purdah as a protective measure to save the honour of
their women folk and to maintain the purity of their social order.‖291
Downward filtration theory292
was also a contributory factor and according to this
argument the Hindu women adopted the custom of purdah to imitate the ruling class.
Another point of view describes that the chief reason for the adoption of this custom by the
Hindu women was to protect the beautiful young girls from the ill-designs of rich nobles.293
Because of the prohibited mix up of the male and female members of the society, the
formal education of the latter was badly affected. Generally the Punjabi girls, till the age of
nine or ten, were allowed to attend boys‘ elementary schools and vice versa.294
It shows that
the mixed education was not prohibited at elementary level, because of the immature age of
the pupils. But at secondary or higher level, the case was not the same and we have no traces
showing the existence of mixed secondary schools in the nineteenth Century Punjabi society.
289
Ibid., 51. 290
Manju Malhotra, ‗Status of Women in the Colonial Punjab‘, 49. 291
Cited in Daljit Singh, ‗The Position of Women in the Punjab during Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries‘,
51. 292
Referred to the second interpretation of the term which suggested that the culture of the superior classes
naturally descended to the lower classes. 293
Daljit Singh, ‗The Position of Women in the Punjab during Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries‘, 51. 294
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab: Since Annexation and in 1882, 98.
100
The students, at secondary schools, were mostly grown up to the teenage and therefore the
mixed education was considered harmful due to the free mix up of these young boys and
girls. On the other hand, separate girls‘ schools were not available for the secondary
education of the female multitude of this region. Although, the Muslims and the Sikhs of
some districts of the Punjab were found to have separate schools for girls‘ education but
these were not only few in number but also involved in diffusing elementary education,
only.295
The field of secondary or higher education was totally neglected in terms of separate
girls‘ education. So the bulk of the female population of the Punjab had to finish its
education at the end of its elementary education and a large part of Punjabi women were
deprived of their higher education due to the custom of Purdah.
In this way, the institution of Purdah was considered to be the major hurdle in the
progress of women education and it was argued that the social growth of the women was
tempered due to this custom. It was thought that although the Muslim community wanted
their girls to be knowledgeable about the ‗Quran‘ and some accounting tactics but their strict
confinement within the boundaries of their homes, due to the custom of Purdah, minimized
the opportunities for them. Even, the women of one religious community were not able to
have social intercourse with the others, due to this custom. In this way the Punjabi women
were cut off from the outer world and women of different social groups developed different
ideological groups, each largely ignorant of the others.296
Seclusion of women also had its negative impact on the education of women, in terms
of insufficient supply of female teaching staff in the girls‘ schools. The supply of female
295
Ibid. 296
J.L. Nehru, The Discovery of India (Delhi: Oxford University press, 1985), 268.
101
teachers for the girls was not an easy task at that time. The available female teaching staff
was scantier in quantity and was less satisfactory in quality, than that for the boys‘ schools.297
The shortage of female staff for the girls‘ schools was a major hurdle in the foundation of
separate girls‘ schools, at secondary or higher level.
3.1.2 Early Marriage
Early marriage was another major hurdle in the way of women‘s education. The
Custom of child marriage was actually a Hindu custom and the girls were married between
the ages of 10 and 15. The ancient ideal for high caste Hindu was that when children reached
the age of eight and twelve, the boys should go to school and the girls should be married.298
Moreover 63 per 1000 girls were reported to be married between the age of 5 and 10.299
But
this custom was less common among the Muslims. The custom of child- marriage created
difficulties at every step, for the promoters of women education. It actually reduced the
school going duration of the girls and thus deprived them from the acquisition of learning.
The education of the girl students was, generally, terminated with their marriage because,
after marriage, they were not allowed to attend any school due to the restriction of Purdah.
So the education of the girls was, generally, terminated at the age of nine and very scarcely
extended beyond the eleventh year.300
The indigenous educational institutions, usually, started the education of a child at the
age of five or six years.301
The Muslims, especially, celebrated the starting point of their
297
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 521. 298
Shiv Kumar Gupta, ‗Arya Samaj—A Potent Factor in the National Movement for Raising Womanhood‘,
Proceedings of Punjab History Conference, 24th
Session (March 15-17, 1991), 281. 299
The Census of India, 1911, XIV, 263. 300
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 521. 301
R.L. Ahuja, ‗Indigenous Education in the Punjab (1799-1849)‘ The Punjab Past and Present, XXIII: II
(October, 1989): 140.
102
child‘s education at the age of four years four months and four days. The child, dressed in its
best clothes, was brought to the school and his education started by that day.302
This was a
common practice for the children, regardless of their gender. But the female students leave
the school at the age of nine or eleven due to their marriage as well as that of seclusion.303
It
means that the duration of the education of girl students was about four to six years and after
that their relationship with their school was terminated. After leaving the school, it was
almost impossible for a married child to have any opportunity of going with her education.304
In this way the education of the female multitude was limited to their elementary education
and the secondary education was out of bounds for them due to their early marriages.
Child widow was another problem linked with the child marriage. Since child
marriage was a religious obligation therefore child widows became inevitable and many girls
became widows even before they reached the age of puberty. There were 1208 women
reported to become widows under the age of 9 and 6778 were reported to become widows
before the age of 14, in the Punjab.305
Mostly, life became miserable for these under age
widows, as society showed a sullen attitude towards them. They themselves were supposed
to have been the cause of their husbands‘ death and were regarded as inauspicious,
unfortunate, and condemned women.306
These widows were treated inhumanly and they were
not allowed to lead a normal life. Their participation in different social activities was
abandoned and they were not allowed, even, to attend the singing party or a marriage
302
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab: Since Annexation and in 1882, 66. 303
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 521. 304
Ibid. 305
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab: Since Annexation and in 1882, 100. 306
Manju Malhotra, ‗Status of Women in the Colonial Punjab‘, 51.
103
ceremony.307
Education of these girls remained a neglected issue in these circumstances and
their education, most of the times, was ended even before it started.
3.1.3 Utilitarian Aspect of Education
During the foreign rule, in India, education became a marketable commodity, as the
educated natives had better opportunities of having appointments than those who did not
possess this commodity. The power that office pen held over the ordinary people conferred
the clerks and high-ups an enviable status.308
Moreover, earning a livelihood became the one
and only function of education. Education, for most of the boys, merely meant employment
instead of increase of manliness and intelligence or increased fitness for the ordinary duties
of life.309
And the absence of an effective desire of earning a livelihood, on the part of
women, emerged as one of the major factors behind the miserable educational condition of
the women of the colonial Punjab.310
The foundation of Persian schools and the Mahajani schools presented the clear
evidence for the development of this materialistic approach. Persian, being the court
language since the Muslim rule, was taken as a tool of obtaining a significant post in the
helm of government affairs which may give the natives both political power and social
prestige over those higher than themselves in the Indian scale.311
Therefore, the efforts were,
made to acquire the language of the rulers to secure a monopoly of appointments and enjoy
multifarious benefits attached to these jobs. On the other hand, the Hindus belonging to trade
considered the orthodox indigenous education less beneficial for them and they were inclined
307
Manju Malhotra, ‗Status of Women in the Colonial Punjab‘, 51. 308
R.L. Ahuja, ‗Indigenous Education in the Punjab (1799-1849)‘, 144. 309
Ibid., 151. 310
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 521. 311
G.W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Punjab: Since Annexation and in 1882, 17.
104
towards the business studies. This professional approach towards education led to the
foundation of Mahajani schools which, instead of aiming at religious or moral education,
aimed to teach the art of daily accounts—to calculate mentally, to keep business
correspondence, to maintain ledger.312
The dominant utilitarian approach, determined money and social prestige as the major
objectives of education and women were not involved in neither of these two.313
According
to the social structure of the Punjabi society the male members of the family were
responsible for the earnings of livelihood of the family. Females were, basically, involved in
managing the domestic affairs and they were free from the worries of financial affairs, as the
male head of the family was responsible for that. Since, earning became the one and only
objective of education therefore the exemption of women from the financial affairs of the
family led to deprive them from their education. Therefore, no demand for education as a
means of livelihood among the girls and women was found in the society.314
This approach,
in addition to the foundation of Persian and Mahajani schools, also contributed in keeping
the women away from the education. Consequently, their education remained confined to the
religious education only and after elementary level they were not allowed to join any
educational institution.
3.1.4 Prevalent Socio-Religious Superstitions
The conservative Punjabi society had much regards for different kinds of
superstitions. The Hindu community, one of the largest groups of the homogeneous society
312
R.L. Ahuja, ‗Indigenous Education in the Punjab (1799-1849)‘, 149. 313
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 521. 314
Poonam Arora, ‗Role of Singh Sabha Movement in Promotion of Female Education in Punjab‘, Proceedings
of Punjab History Conference, Punjabi University, Patiala, 26th
Session (March 18-20, 1994), 210.
105
of the Punjab, was marked by its social differentiation. The Brahmins enjoyed the supreme
position among the four vernas of the Hindu community.315
They made it penal to
communicate any but elementary knowledge to the servile and mixed multitude and at the
same time used different tactics to forbid the women from the acquisition of learning. In fact
the early Vedic society allowed the girls to acquire knowledge and grow into prominence but
in the later Vedic society, the orthodox Brahmins introduced blind superstitions, rituals, and
rigid customs, which forbade girls from the acquisition of learning.
A superstition of the same kind was found to be existent in the majority of Hindu
families. It was mainly cherished by the Hindu women but the men were also involved in it
by not condemning or discouraging it. According to it the conservative Punjabi society had a
common belief that the husband of the girl, who learnt to read and write, would die soon after
his marriage and the girl would become a widow.316
According to the customs of the society,
a woman observed religious practices, all her life, wishing for the long life of the male
members of her family and she never want to do anything which was harmful for them. So it
was very easy to keep her away from the world of knowledge by the introduction of such
kind of demeaning superstitions.317
Nothing but evil and danger were supposed to be the
only outcome of the revolution of women‘s education as it was assumed to girls to be more
conceited and unmanageable.318
Christian missionaries, in response, picked education as the mightiest lever for
overturning low, contemptuous and tyrannical ideas and customs concerning women in the
315
Ali-ud- Din Mufti, Ibratnama, 353. Cited in Bhagat Singh, ‗Condition of Women in the Punjab in the Early
Nineteenth Century‘, The Punjab Past And Present, XV: II (October, 1981): 354. 316
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 336. 317
Ibid. 318
Ibid.
106
society. Considering education as the most powerful force for social change, the missionaries
decided to promote women‘s education as the only remedy for the depressed condition of the
women. To them, it was the quickest method of elevating the home life of the Eastern
society.319
At the same time, these norms and customs were the major stumbling blocks in
the way of spreading women‘s education in the province. So any kind of improvement in the
one was supposed to have its proportional implications on the other and vice versa. So the
missionaries wanted to establish maximum number of missionary schools in the province
with a view to restructure the Oriental society. Consequently, in spite of the sensitivity of the
issue, the missionaries took up the cudgels and set their efforts for the education of the
female folk of the Punjab. In addition, Christian missionaries had some other objectives
behind their pursuit for women education.
3.2 Christian Missionaries’ Objectives behind Women Education
As stated in chapter 1, the missionaries came to India chiefly for the fulfilment of
their theological obligations. During the first half of the nineteenth century, a large number
of missionaries sailed towards the subcontinent due to the sped up efforts of Europe and
America to evangelize the ‗pagan world‘.320
The Charter Act of 1813 opened India to the
Missionary societies and the period of next fifty years was one of the greatest Missionary
activities in all parts of the Company‘s dominion.321
Moreover, the ‗mission fervour‘ in
Europe, during 1850s and 1860s, also prompted the missionaries to leave their homes for the
fulfilment of their religious obligation.
319
Helen Barrett Montgomery, Western Women in Eastern Lands (New York: Macmillan, 1910), 105-106. 320
Iftikhar Haider Malik, ‗The American Missionaries in South Asia, 1812-1870‘, 21. 321
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India (1800-1947), 95.
107
Women education, as stated above, was a sensitive area to work in the oriental social
settings but the missionaries opted for this field. They had some particular objectives behind
their entrance in this sensitive field which can be termed as follows:
3.2.1 Importance of Women in the Society
Christian missionaries, after working in the oriental society, came to the conclusion
that their ultimate goal of converting the Indian population to the World of Christianity could
not be achieved without winning the female folk of the subcontinent. Their experiences led
them to know the extent of power and authority of the Punjabi woman over her family—
acting as a mother, a wife, a sister, or a daughter. Especially, her supreme role, as a mother,
in moulding the moral and religious character of her young ones was quite critical for the
missionaries. 322
Having such an authority in the decision making process of a family,
women were supposed to play a key role in taking the all important decision of embracing a
new religion. So the Christian missionaries came to the conclusion that conversion of the
male population, in the oriental setting, was not possible without winning the female
members of the society. The evidence of a young high-cast Hindu, who had professed faith in
Christ but refused to convert for the fear of offending his wife and mother,323
was a typical
example of women‘s dominance in the decision making process. This kind of experiences
played an important role in developing this kind of thinking in the missionary ranks. Sir W.
322
Andrew Gordon, D.D., Our India Mission, A Thirty Years History of the India Mission of the United
Presbyterian Church of North America, 1855-1885, (Philadelphia: np. 1886), 471-472. 323
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U. S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 40.
108
Mackworth Young, addressing a great gathering of Oxford men, briefly stated his views in
the same vein by saying ―…..Win the women of India, and you will win the men!‖324
This realization of the social influence of the female sect of the oriental society led
the missionaries to broaden their focus to the female portion of the society. C.B. Newton
expressed his views in the following words:
The incidents….show that the women of India are a power in the land, and their faith
and religious zeal are today one of the most serious obstacles to the success of the
Gospel……My conclusion then is that the work which demands the most earnest,
persistent and prayerful effort of the Church and Mission Board is Woman‘s work for
woman.325
The realization of importance of women, in a family, led the missionaries to initiate
Christian vernacular education for the female portion of the society as well. To them the
seclusion of women kept them in a state of ignorance and perpetuated their superstitions. Due
to the strict social bindings they could not go out to hear gospel nor could the missionaries
carry it to their homes. Being unable to read, they could not learn the glad tidings of Saviour
through Bible and tracts. The missionaries thought their (women‘s) isolation together with
ignorance as the most effectual barrier between them and the light.326
Girls‘ missionary
schools were established with a view to teach the women to read the Bible and bring them
into contact with Christian influence in the school and through the school to introduce to the
Zenana the living Christian worker with her Bible.327
324
Eugene Stock, The History of the Church Missionary Society, IV, 145. 325
C.B. Newton, ‗Hindu Women and Woman‘s Work for Woman‘, Woman‟s Work for Woman, 8:4 (1893): 98. 326
Andrew Gordon, D.D., Our India Mission, A Thirty Years History of the India Mission of the United
Presbyterian Church of North America, 1855-1885, 471. 327
Ibid., 472.
109
3.2.2 Cultural change
Historians of American missionaries‘ activities in Asia have often characterized
missionaries as agents of profound changes in the Oriental traditional culture, due to their
major stress on the cultural change in this region. Christian missionaries were profoundly
disturbed by significant aspects of Indian culture and approached Indian society with a
distinctly reformist intent.328
Social customs and conventions of Oriental society, to them,
were the major stumbling blocks in the way of women‘s education and of conversion of the
Indian people. They, time and again, complained that the institutions of cast, purdah, child
marriage, etc, had made their work almost impossible. To them, the stubborn attachment, of
the natives, to illogical and irrational superstitions was also an insuperable barrier to the
cause of conversion.329
So, they decided to fight against these native institutions through their
educational institutions. They decided to establish educational institutions with a view to
incorporate cultural change in the Punjabi society.
Christian missionaries fancied a positive cultural change through the diffusion of
Western knowledge of science and the growth of the power of reasoning in their students.
Their institutions developed their distinct ethos, based on Western, Christian ideals330
and
aimed at fostering common characteristics in the lifestyle of their students. They focused to
develop a change in the behaviour of their students which was expected to challenge the
existing social customs and conventions. It was intended to provide an atmosphere, to the
female students, where they can live free of any social restrictions. The native institutions of
328
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U. S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 36. 329
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 30.
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 61.
110
caste and purdah were the major victims of missionaries‘ cultural assault.331
To them, this
change in the thought and mind of the native people was necessary to win over their souls for
the word of God.
3.2.3 Praeparatio Evangelica
Education as a Praeparatio evangelica332
was exemplified by Duff and Miller
and it became the majority view in the missionary circles during the nineteenth century.333
The missionaries took their schools as the converting agencies and education was considered
necessary to prepare the native mind for the achievement of the ultimate goal of conversion.
In the words of E.S. Summer, ―these colleges are leavening society with Christian thought
and developing Christian feeling, and so preparing for a great harvest of conversions in the
future‘. This aim of Christian education was considered the most successful and therefore,
from about 1830s onwards, many of the missionaries came up with the provision of
education as one of their major tasks.334
The missionaries thought that the general clearing away of ignorance, folly and
superstition, by the means of education, would ultimately pave the way for the Christ‘s
spirit.335
The Missionaries decided to proceed by stages and the modification in the irrational
and illogical thinking of the people, by the power of reasoning, became their first priority in
their way for the conversion of the native population. Spread of western education among the
331
Many of the behavioural standards, at Kinnaird College, were found opposite to the concept of purdah and
that of cast in Ibid., 61-64. 332
During the first half of the nineteenth century, the missionaries considered it necessary to educate the young
to prepare their minds for the later receptiveness to the word of God and the term ‗ praeparatio evangelica‟ was
used to denote this notion. Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and
Education in Colonial India‘, 31. 333
Steve Bishop ‗Protestant Missionary Education in British India‘, 256-257. 334
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 31. 335
Ibid.
111
people of India was the ultimate choice of the Christian missionaries to achieve their
aforesaid objective. They were fully convinced that education of the people would prepare
their minds for the later receptiveness to the word of God. Missionaries‘ education was to
seek ‗a change of thought and feeling, a modification of character and formation of principles
tending in Christian direction‘.336
Women education in the Punjab was also started as praeparatio evangelica. The
logical and analytical nourishment of native female mind was considered necessary first for
the rejection of prevalent socio-religious norms and customs and ultimately for the
embracement of the Christian religion. The removal of the barrier of Purdah was also
considered necessary for the extension of Christian influence in the Zenanas of the society
and missionary educational institutions were the best means to achieve this target. So the
preparatory character of education was more important for Women than that for the Punjabi
men. For the missionaries, education continued to be praeparatio evangelica and they were
fully convinced that the introduction of Western education in India would ultimately pave the
way for the triumph of Christianity, in this region of the subcontinent.337
3.2.4 Education: A Means of Social interaction
Although the missionaries entered in the subcontinent mainly due to their religious
obligations and conversion of the native population was their one and only goal yet the
education of women sprang up as the by product of their evangelizing agenda. As, the
fulfilment of their religious agenda required the development of some social interaction with
336
A. Mathew, Christian Missions, Education and Nationalism, (Delhi: Anamika Prakashan, 1988), 56, cited in
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial India‘,
31. 337
Sanjay Seth, ‗which Good Book? Missionary Education and Conversion in Colonial India‘, 120-124.
112
the targeted population and the missionaries tried to establish a social link, with the native
population of the Punjab, through their social service programmes—by providing educational
and health services.338
The depressed condition of Punjabi women, especially their pathetic
educational condition, provided them the desired launching pad for social service
programmes. They dreamt to influence the kitchen as well as the kith and kin of the natives,
through their work for women‘s education.
Christian missionaries started to pinpoint some weak links of the Punjabi society
through which they might act to form some influential link with the female sect of the
society. . The subservient social status of women and the socio-religious norms and customs
governing women, provided them the required weak spot and they decided to enter the social
arena of the Punjabi society through their social work for the emancipation of women from
these restrictions. So they set their efforts in the said direction and dreamt of some
considerable influence over the society through their social work in the field of women
education.
338
Andrew Gordon shared a practical experience when they rented a building with a view to establish a girls‘
school in it but the citizens were agreed only if the Bible teaching should be excluded from the studies. The
missionaries modified their plan and opened a Zenana hospital in this building. The hospital became popular
soon and the patients started to come from the city and the surrounding villages. The people who were
previously in demand of excluding Bible from the school, now voluntarily attended the devotional exercises and
the proceedings of Sabbath-school. This mode of social service helped the missionaries in establishing a social
link with the native population and opened the doors for the missionaries. Rev. Andrew Gordon described it in
the words, ―these patients, from city and village, rich and poor, and whether living in seclusion or otherwise,
after the kind treatment they had received, were found ever ready to open their doors to those who had relieved
their bodily ailments, now when they came to visit them with Bible in hand. Among the Zenanas opened by this
means were some in regard to which other methods had long been tried in vain—even men noted for their
public opposition to the gospel, on seeing their suffering wives and daughters relieved of their painful and
dangerous maladies, gratefully welcoming to their Zenanas the missionary, their benefactress, with her Bible.‖
Andrew Gordon, D.D., Our India Mission, A Thirty Years History of the India Mission of the United
Presbyterian Church of North America, 1855-1885, 479-480.
113
3.3 Zenana Missions in the Field
The female missionaries, during the first half of the nineteenth century, were not a
universally accepted group for missionary labours. Mary Ann Cooke, a thirty seven years old
former governess, was the first single female missionary in India. Her innovative step, of
participating in missionary work abroad, was an uncommon practice and was difficult to
pursue in the contemporary societies of both India and England. That is why, during 1820s
and 1830s, a scant handful of British women, mostly missionaries‘ wives, were found to be
involved in the missionary work in Indian. The Presbyterian Church of American also
followed and its Committee sent a young lady to Indian mission field in 1834. Although this
effort did not work for them and the lady was unable to proceed beyond Calcutta, due to the
discouraging circumstances of the field, 339
yet it was taken as a modest beginning in this
direction.
In spite of the discouragement situation of the field, for lady missionaries, the picture
changed dramatically in the second half of the nineteenth century. In fact it was nearly
impossible, at least in the Indian society, to achieve the missionary objectives without the
involvement of female missionaries. As, the male missionaries were denied the access of
native female population which meant about half of the population remained out of their
influence. The access of the female population was also important due to women‘s
fundamental influence within an oriental family. So the requirement of female missionaries
was felt badly and the missionaries, in response, decided to act through their female
counterparts. As a corollary, the largest missionary societies like the Society for the
339
John Newton, Historical Sketch of the Lodiana Mission, from Its Beginning, in 1834, to the Time of Its Fifth
Anniversary, in 1884, 31.
114
Propagation of the Gospel, the Church Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society,
and the like established ladies auxiliary committees to recruit female missionaries, during
1851 and 1880s.340
Most of the missionaries, involved in the field of female education in the Punjab were
the female missionaries. Women missionaries, by 1930, comprised two third of the total
missionary strength in the Punjab. About 312 evangelical ladies were sent, by the SPG, to
work in the important cities of Lahore and Delhi during 1860 and 1947.341
This numeric
dominance of women missionaries over their male counterparts was the apparent outcome of
the frequent influx of a large number of women missionaries, during 1860 and 1890, not only
in the area of the Punjab but the whole Indian peninsula. This period of three decades—
between 1860 and 1890— is termed as ‗the full flowering of women‘s missions in India‘.342
It was in this period that the women missionaries emerged as a necessary organ of Christian
missions in India. The emergence of ladies in the field of missionary labours enhanced the
quality of missionary work and their presence in the field became established and took an
institutional structure. Their relationship was defined in the Punjabi socio-religious context
and was legitimized by ideologies that specified a female role in an attempt to educate and
convert the female population of the province. The missionary ladies served as college
teachers, heads of schools, and as doctors in the expanding number of medical schools. Their
efforts in the field of education are vital in the region of the Punjab.
340
Jeffrey Cox, The British Missionary Enterprise Since 1700 (New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group,
2008), 190. 341
Ibid.,188. 342
Eliza Kent, Converting Women: Gender and Protestant Christianity in Colonial South India, 92.
115
3.4 Missionaries’ Modes of Action
Christian missionaries adopted different modes of action in the field of women
education. At the first place they, mostly, acted through the female missionaries, popularly
known as Zenana missions. They established separate girls‘ school for the female multitude
to lessen the apprehensions of Purdah in the society. Boarding schools were established to
affect the Christian lifestyle in the lives of the boarders. Observing the scarcity of the female
trained teaching staff in the separate girls‘ schools, they established female teachers‘ training
schools at different missionary stations in the province. . Furthermore they adopted the
strategy of Zenana visiting to access the women who could not be accessed at any other place
in the society. Here is a summary of their all round educational work done in the field of
women‘s education. The female missionaries used the following modes to achieve their
desired objectives.
3.4.1 Zenana Visiting
The activity that occupied most of the women missionaries was the ‗Zenana visiting‘.
The constraints of oriental social and family life prevented foreign men from easily
interacting with its women therefore women missionaries‘ access to the oriental ladies was
considered easier than that of their male counterparts. Moreover, most of the missionaries
believed that the women and the girls of the Punjabi society could not attend the schools due
to their largely dependent and domestic roles.343
Consequently, the missionaries established a
regular system of visiting in which the women missionaries, accompanied by the trained
343
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 47.
116
native women, visited the secluded women at home. The women missionaries were supposed
to effect religious as well as social change, through this mode of instruction.344
The female missionaries responded positively and contribute significant efforts for
the betterment of the women of the Punjab. The missionary ladies devoted their lives for the
cause of female education through the mode of home-teaching in the native families, who
received them willingly.345
Their education was confined to the female members of the
family and, in addition to the diffusion of basic Christian teaching, it was extended to secular
subjects. As the missionaries were convinced that secular education, consisted of the
sharpening of the intellectual nature produced by exercising the mind in the ordinary subjects
of education, was necessary part of their preparation for their religious work.346
The general
clearing away of ignorance, folly and superstitions through the means of education were
considered to pave the way for Christ‘s spirit and they acknowledged secular education as
their ally in their pursuit of spreading the gospel in the oriental society.347
These Zenana visiting groups were composed of one or more European ladies, with
the trained staff of Native Christians or Anglo-Indian young women, who taught in the
Zenanas allotted to them.348
Thirty European ladies, during the third quarter of the nineteenth
century, were reported to be involved in carrying on the female education in the Punjab. 349
These ladies and their assistants offered a mixture of religious and secular education in
hundreds of houses to Native gentlemen‘s wives and daughters, who being purdah-nishin
344
Ibid. 345
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 535. 346
Ibid. 347
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 31. 348
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 535. 349
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 61.
117
(secluded), could not attend the schools.350
Delhi, Ludhiana and Amritsar were the major
centres for this kind of instruction. The S.P.G Mission was receiving a grant in aid from the
Government for its Zenana teaching in Delhi and its neighbouring towns. American
Presbyterian mission and Christian Missionary Society were involved in this kind of teaching
in Ludhiana. Eight European ladies, assisted by seventeen female Christian teachers and
eight Muhammadans and Sikhs, were doing their educational work through nine schools and
130 families were visited in 1882.351
In spite of the involvement of a gigantic physical as well as mental effort, on the part
of the teacher, the pace of education in this mode of instruction was very slow and very
limited content of the course was likely to be covered, in the due course of time. In addition
to the interruption in the lessons, the Zenana mode of instruction was difficult to execute due
to the irresponsible behaviour of pupils. No serious efforts were mostly done on the part of
the pupils and they did not take much pain to improve themselves in the intervals between
the visits of their teachers.352
Furthermore, the continuity was also disrupted due to the
women‘s frequent visits back and forth between natal and in-laws‘ houses.353
All these
factors posed the serious challenges to the architects of Zenana visiting programme and the
missionaries involved in it found it discouraging and frustrating. They were mostly found
complaining as:
this is not an uncommon experience, to have one‘s heart all glow with zeal, to have
the message to carry for that morning clearly grasped, and then only to find one sick,
350
Ibid. 351
Ibid. 352
Ibid., 61-62. 353
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 47.
118
another absent from home, a third perfectly heedless, a forth looking blankly as if she
did not comprehend a single word, a fifth asking, ‗what is that cut on your hand?354
No doubt, the missionaries involved in this kind of instruction, mostly, derived their
funds from the missionary societies in Europe and America. Yet they also received grants
from the education department, as S. P. G. Mission received grant-in-aid from Government
for Zenana teaching in Delhi and some of the neighbouring towns.355
But the uncertain
behaviour of the officials, most of the times, created difficulties for the missionaries and
other organizations working for the cause of women‘s education. Having regards for the
Zenana educational enterprise,
Despite the all aforesaid difficulties, the missionaries generally preferred this type of
instruction to schools356
because this mode of instruction provided them direct interaction
with the little girls as well as with the adult female members of the family. This woman-to-
woman work was vital in terms of reaching the influential ladies of the society to create
awareness among the native families about the education of their daughters. The zealous
ladies engaged in this work achieved a lot by the tact of courtesy and wise moderation.357
These women missionaries affected a huge academic as well as social impact on the Oriental
society. Contemporary scholars, in their assessments about the impact of women
missionaries in India and the rest of Asia, recognize their contribution and tended to
characterize missionaries as change-agents.358
They are considered important because of their
contribution in changing women‘s status with their emphasis on education as well as their
354
Susan R. Janvier, ‗Inside the Zenanas of Allahabad‘, Woman‟s Work for Woman, 13: 8 (1898), 216. 355
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 61. 356
Ibid., 62. 357
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission , 1882-83, 535. 358
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 36.
119
demonstration of active care and concern for women which spurred Indian social reformers
to act.359
The missionary women stressed the degraded position of the Indian women and
contrasted it to the exalted position of American women. The customs of early marriage and
treatment of widow received special attention of these ladies and they often used strong
negative imagery to characterize the lives of the oriental girls.360
Troubled by the
interruption caused by early marriage, they lamented that ‗cruel custom‘ forced the girls to
soon leave their schools to be married. By the same token they were much disturbed by the
Hindu ban on widow remarriage and made serious efforts to rescue widows, by making them
economically self-sufficient.361
Critical of the early seclusion of the women and their
consequent lack of access to education, the missionary women pressed for the education of
women and the girls among both the Hindus and the Muslim communities. They took
considerable pleasure in arousing in educational interest among the women of the oriental
society.362
3.4.2 The European Training School Delhi
The European Training School Delhi was maintained by the SPG mission, with a view to supply
competent and trained teachers for Zenana work. During 1878-79, 3 girls were passed out of the
school. The Inspector of schools examined and found them competent in all subjects. They were
afterwards employed in the schools of the Society for the propagation of the Gospel mission.363
The
total expenditure was Rs. 994 and the Government grant Rs. 360. The performance of the school,
359
Glendora B. Paul, ‗Presbyterian Missionaries and the Women of India during the Nineteenth Century‘,
Journal of Presbyterian History, 62: 3 (1984): 233-234. 360
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 40. 361
Ibid. 362
Ibid., 41. 363Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1878-79, 71-72.
120
during the subsequent year, was termed below merit. the inspector gives the following expression
regarding the performance of the school:
There was this year one candidate only for a certificate, and she was found to be so backward
in Arithmetic that she could not be allowed to pass. The inspector was of the opinion that the
manager was not sufficiently careful in insisting upon a fair education in the case of all
applicants for admission to the school.364
It is a noteworthy fact that in spite of missionaries‘ desire to control the educational
domain of the Punjab, they never came in the position, in terms of number of missionary
schools and number of students, to do this uphill task. No doubt they were working whole
heartedly to extend their network but the network of their schools remained too short to fulfil
their long lasting desire. Although missionary schools for girls made a progressive increase
during this period yet they, by the end of the period, remained a meagre part of the total
female educational enterprise in the Punjab. Moreover the missionary schools were located
mostly in the towns of the province and almost the whole rural side of the province was
neglected by the missionaries.
3.4.3 Foundation of Missionary Girls’ Schools
The American Presbyterian Missionaries, after establishing their base at Ludhiana,
laid the foundation of female education by opening a girls‘ orphanage at Ludhiana in 1836.365
The Church Missionary Society followed the suit by establishing a girls‘ school at Kotgurrh
in 1844.366
The wives of the missionaries involved themselves in imparting education at these
schools. But these kinds of schools did not come off with success because of the lack of
interest of the native population. Female education, generally, found no favour with any of
364Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1879-80, 77-78
365
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1864-65, XLIII. 366
Ibid.
121
the religious communities of the province. The Missionaries founded schools at different
places but the number of students in these schools was alarmingly low. Only a small number
of girls from the lower rung of the social ladder were drawn to these schools through the
payment of pice, payment of clothes or both. In addition to the peoples‘ discouraging attitude
EIC‘s attitude towards the missionaries‘ activities, due to its strict policy of religious
neutrality, was also upsetting. The Court of Directors forbade ‗grants of money in aid of
education carried on in schools established and conducted by Christian Missionaries‘.367
But
this discouraging situation did not last for long in the province of Punjab and its annexation
to the British dominion brought about a positive change for the missionaries. it brought a
supportive administration at the missionaries‘ back. Moreover the Wood‘s Education
Despatch‘, in 1854, suggested the initiation of ‗grants in aid‘ scheme for the private
educational agencies, including the missionaries. The government started granting subsidies
through this scheme and the Christian missionaries became the major beneficiaries by
receiving a lion‘s share of these subsidies.368
The incident of War of Independence damaged
the missionaries‘ progress badly and a considerable time was spent for the repair work after
the restoration of the peace.
The missionaries started their fresh efforts after the rise of Robert Montgomery to the
status of Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, in 1859. Their efforts took impetus in the early
1860s when the Lieutenant Governor held a grand educational Durbar at Lahore in February
1862. He impressed upon the European officials and the native gentlemen present there the
367
Ikram-ul-haq, ‗The Punjab, 1849-83: Educational Activity‘, 3. 368
Vickie Langohr, ‗Colonial Education System and the Spread of Local Religious Movements: The Cases of
British Egypt and Punjab‘, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 47: 1, (2005): 15-16.
122
importance of women‘s education and invited their cooperation.369
The appeal of the
Lieutenant Governor had magical effect on the audience and the gentlemen present there
from all the three religious communities of the province—Hindu, Sikh and the Muslim—
started working in the said direction. So the public opinion was shaped in the favour of
female education and the girls‘ schools started to mushroom throughout the province.
Christian missionaries also responded positively and decided to recollect their efforts
in the important field of women education. The atmosphere, conducive for women education,
also drew the female missionaries in the field. The missionary ladies started not only to
administer schools for the girls of lower classes but also to enter the Zenanas to teach women
and girls of the nobility, who would never venture to appear in the public.370
So the
missionary schools started to multiply in the length and breadth of the province. By 1860
there were only two missionary schools for the native girls in the province of the Punjab but
a progressive increase in the number of missionary girls‘ schools was observed in the
subsequent years. By 1864-65, the number of these schools rose to 8 with 262 students on the
roll.371
The next decade witnessed a reasonable increase in the number of missionaries‘
schools and the number of girls‘ schools, under the missionaries‘ management, was raised to
36 in 1871. The returns illustrates the further numeric increase in these schools and the
number of missionary schools stood at 56 in 1876 and at 62 in the year 1878-79.372
It is a
noteworthy fact that at that time 170 private and 113 government schools were existent in the
province but the performance of only missionary schools was satisfactory and they were
369
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 10. 370
John Newton, Historical Sketch of the Lodiana Mission, from Its Beginning, in 1834, to the Time of Its Fifth
Anniversary, in 1884, 32-33. 371
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1865-66, XXXV. 372
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 68.
123
rated as first-class institutions.373
The missionaries‘ schools generally were of two types—
local day schools for young girls and boarding schools, mainly for the Christian girls.
a) Day Schools
Day schools were, generally were supervised by the missionary women. Mostly, these
schools started with 20 to 25 students, all under the age of ten. Christian women, having
mission based teachers‘ training, were generally appointed as teachers in these schools.
‗Callers‘ were also considered a necessary part of a girls‘ school. These were the widows
from the native community hired to go daily to the families in their respective areas and
gather girls into the school. In fact, it was thought improper for a native girl, above eight
years of age, to go unaccompanied outside of her home. It was a major hurdle in the progress
of girls‘ schools because the girls, above the age of eight, were unable to attend the schools
due to this social barrier. Christian missionaries hired the begging widows to cope with the
situation. Generally a widow was attached to a school who begged of the parents as a
personal favour to allow their daughter to accompany her a few hours daily to a school
opened in the neighbourhood. She ensured her responsibility for the girls during their
absence from home. For this service each widow was paid at least as much as she could
expect from her charity. 374
These schools were established, under the supervision of different missionary
societies, in almost all the important cities of the province. Presbyterian missionary society of
America, Scotland mission, SPG mission, Baptist missionary society, and Church missionary
373
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 83. 374
Andrew Gordon, our India Mission, Thirty Years History of the India Mission of the United Presbyterian
Church of North America together with Personal Reminiscences, 472-73.
124
society were the missionary organizations involved in the educational work in the province
of the Punjab. All these societies opened girls‘ school at their respective areas. American
Presbyterians had girls‘ schools at Ludhiana, Rawalpindi, and Lahore, CMS at Amritsar,
Peshawar and Multan, SPG at Delhi, Baptists also at Delhi, and Scotland mission at Sialkot
and Gujranwala District.
It is a considerable fact that the missionaries‘ aim of women education was different
from that of the education of men. The missionaries did not want to impart a bulk of secular
knowledge to their female students rather they wanted to make them only able to read and
write with a view to enable them read the Bible and exert some Christian influence through
the missionary schools.375
Girls‘ schools were mainly designed to bring the gospel to the
native women, both directly in the schools themselves, and indirectly by opening up and
preparing the way for Zenana work.376
So the instruction, at these schools, was of very basic
level and the students were taught in their respective native languages. English was not
taught even as a subject, in these schools. With a slight variation at different stations, the
curricula usually comprised the Bible, the Presbyterian catechism, graded readers, simple
arithmetic, and handwork.377
These schools had very little contribution, in terms of the academic development of
the students. In spite of offering the incentives and prizes to encourage the students‘
attendance,378
the missionaries were facing difficulties to make any significant academic
contribution, through these institutions. The girls left schools for marriage, usually at the age
375
Ibid., 472. 376
Ibid., 470. 377
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 46. 378
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 60.
125
of ten, which made it difficult for the missionaries to progress much beyond the graded
readers and the four simple arithmetic operations.379
Moreover the day schools were also
failed to change the lifestyle of the students. The education provided here was so basic and so
minimal that it scarcely provided any significant lifestyle changes.380
In spite of all the above said demerits of these schools, their importance cannot be
neglected. These schools were mostly staffed with the native female teachers which created
material interest in the education of women.381
The employment opportunities created in
these schools were considered to tempt the native community to educate and train their
females as teachers. The native teachers of the day schools also provided the models of
educated women for previously illiterate women, in a society that actively devalued
education for the women.382
The day schools were supposed to play an important role in
providing the missionaries‘ access to the isolated female multitude of the society. B.D.
Wyckoff in his writing to the Secretary Board of Foreign Missions characterized these
schools as follows:
The importance of these schools can hardly be overestimated when we remember that
they open the way for religious instruction and for admission to the Zenana. I believe
every house in the city open to visitation to the lady missionary has been opened by
means of these schools.383
The missionaries considered these schools to be a fitting means to achieve their
desired objectives. Importance of these schools can be seen from the fact that during the later
part of the nineteenth century each missionary station had five to ten day schools. These
379
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 46. 380
Ibid. 381
Ibid. 382
Ibid. 383
Board of Foreign Missions microfilm records, vol. 12, cc. Futtehgurh April 17, 1873, cited in Ibid., 45.
126
schools were vital in bringing the school-age girls under their influence and also in accessing
the secluded women of the society.
b) Boarding schools
Boarding schools were the major tools, in the hands of the missionaries, to affect their
desired academic as well as cultural changes in the society. These schools, headed by women
missionaries and, mostly, staffed by the native Christians, had a considerable potential for
effecting significant changes in women‘s lifestyle.384
The children of the converts, in the
boarding schools for Christian girls, were given Christian education in an atmosphere totally
different from that of the conventional Punjabi society.385
The missionaries were able to
introduce new values and model attainable roles, through these schools staffed by
independent minded women.386
The boarding schools, in this way, provided a highly
conducive atmosphere in which the students were encouraged to break the shackles of the
society.
The boarding schools mostly formed a ladder of educational opportunities, with the
ablest often progressing from one rung to the next.387
. These boarding schools, collectively,
provided education from basic to the secondary level with Biblical instruction to the girls of
urban as well as far off rural areas,388
who generally did not find these facilities near to their
homes. In addition to the formal education, these institutions also had their focus on the
character moulding process. The women missionaries, through this process, strove to
384
Ibid, 48. 385
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in South Asia, 44. 386
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 36. 387
Ibid., 49. 388
Ibid.
127
formulate the desired changes in girls‘ behaviour and values, through their close contact with
the resident students in communal living arrangements. Due to the high rate of success in this
kind of schools, the missionaries established boarding schools in the major cities, like
Lahore, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sialkot, and Deyra, of the Punjab.389
The following table
illustrates the contribution of Christian missionary schools in the education system by
showing the number of students in the missionary schools and those in the non-missionary
schools.
389
John Newton, Historical Sketches of the Indian Missions of the Presbyterian church in the United States of
America, 64.
128
Table 3.1: Numeric contribution of missionary schools
Data extracted from the Reports on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Years
1864-65 to 1878-79.
Year Missionary schools Government
schools
Total Aided
institutions
percentage of
missionary schools’ students
No. of
Schools
No. of
scholars
No. of
Schools
No. of
scholars
No. of
Schools
No. of
scholars
1864-65 8 262 272 5530 411 9715 1.718596
1865-66 8 277 333 6834 696 12727 1.416083
1866-67 13 360 296 6498 651 14243 1.735693
1867-68 18 512 272 5653 507 9838 3.305145
1868-69 25 629 206 4448 516 13010 3.602933
1869-70 20 637 164 3496 433 9712 4.822835
1870-71 20 624 138 3174 327 8645 5.279634
1871-72 21 582 125 2984 314 8095 5.253182
1872-73 21 589 91 2303 226 6061 7.042085
1873-74 23 736 101 2599 223 6444 8.138892
1874-75 25 843 128 3318 218 6262 8.799582
1875-76 27 1184 130 3374 213 6644 11.81873
1876-77 34 1223 134 3269 223 6576 12.42255
1877-78 50 1742 134 3270 224 7022 16.92577
1878-79 62 1869 113 3043 232 6854 18.88451
129
3.4.4 Foundation of Teacher Training Schools
The provision of insufficient number of trained female teachers in the girls‘ schools
was considered as the major hurdle in the spread of female education in the Punjab. The
phenomenon of separate girls‘ schools was very much new in the province and its success
was mainly dependant on the provision of sufficient trained female teaching staff for these
schools. But finding trained female staff for these schools looked to be a Herculean task in
the existing educational and social setting of the province. At the same time the Government
was lacking in spirit and in her efforts required to cope with the problem. As she was not
interested in establishing any training institutions for women and the required enterprise was
left, mostly, to the private bodies.390
The first Normal school for the native mistresses was established by SPG mission, at
Delhi, on 1st October, 1863. The native community followed the suit and established, with
the active support of Raja of Kuppoorthullah and that of the existing provincial
Government—Rs. 100 from each— two more Normal schools at the important cities of
Lahore and Amritsar, in 1865.391
A female Normal School was opened at Sialkot in 1869,
under the management of the Deputy Commissioner.392
Another female Normal school was
opened at Jalandhar, in 1870, under the management of Indian Female Normal Schools and
Instruction Society.393
In spite of establishing all these training institutions in a quick
succession, the performance of these institutions, in terms of number of female teachers
inducted in the system through these institutions, was a big question mark on their
establishment. The following graph shows the number of girls trained in these schools and 390
H.R. Mehta, A History of the Growth and Development of Western Education in the Punjab, 77. 391
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1865-66, 21. 392
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1868-69, 137. 393
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1872-73, 36.
130
the number of these trained females inducted in the system, since the establishment of
institutions to 31st march 1873.
By 1879-80, at the end of the period under consideration, there were only four Normal
schools for the native girls, with 244 scholars, in the Punjab. In each case an English lady
superintends the school but none of these answer the purpose for which it was intended. The
performance of all these schools was not up to the mark and the Inspectors of the respective
schools were not satisfied by the performance of any of these schools.394
The Lieutenant
Governor observed that ―Female Normal Schools are no more than middle class girls
schools....they were only maintained by Government scholarships, which the students
seemed to consider as a provision for life.‖395
Out of these four, the contribution of
missionaries was one, under the management of SPG mission, Delhi. Its performance was
comparatively better than the others in the province. Here is a brief history of this school
from its establishment to the end of this period:
a) SPG Mission Normal School, Delhi
The Female Normal school at Delhi was part of the great work carried on there by the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel mission. This all important institution for the
training of female teachers was established on 1st October 1863.
396 Mr. H.W.P. Hutton, the
then inspector of Schools, had very positive views about the future of the school and was
hopeful of getting some good trained female teachers from the school in the near future.397
Not to the disappointment of its managers, several of the trained teachers of the school, by
394
Reports on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Years, 1876-1880, 395
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884. 25. 396
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1872-73, 36. 397
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1863-64, 34.
131
1866-67, were found to be performing their duties as school mistresses in the neighbouring
areas of the school.398 The school comprised two separate departments providing separate
educational facilities for the Hindu and the Muslim girls. The course of studies included the
reading and writing skill of Hindi for Hindu girls and that of Urdu for the Muslim girls. The
study of geography, history of India and the elementary rules of Arithmetic and their
application were also included in the course of studies for a trainee. Women of both the
religious communities were found to be well acquainted with Geography and the elementary
rules of Arithmetic. They also knew something about the history of India. The Hindu women
were able to read and write in Hindi and those from the Muslim sect were well aware of
reading and writing in Urdu. The Muslim women belonged to the prominent families of
Delhi. They were termed as more intelligent than those of the Hindu section of the school.
The Arabic and Persian pronunciation of the Muslim women was termed as perfect to the
expectations. The Hindu women also belonged to the good caste. 399
Although the school may be considered to have answered its purpose sufficiently yet,
by 1872-73, less than a third of the women trained during the last ten years were employed as
teachers.400
The women at the S.P.G. Mission School were reported to be either too young or
too old. The work of teaching could not be done, earnestly, in both of these cases. Especially
the older candidates were not expected to attain any degree of proficiency throughout their
career. The inspector of schools, time and again, complained about the lower standard of
instruction and also about the higher ages of the pupils in the school. Consequently, the
Muslim section of the school was reorganised in 1875-76 and the elderly girls were
398
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1863-64, 24. 399
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1866-67, 47. 400
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1872-73, 37.
132
dismissed and succeeded by the more advanced girls from the SPG schools. The new setup
also extended the course of studies for three years and it went up to that of the 4th
class.401
The Hindu section of the schools also needed reorganisation but was not incorporated.
The change did not work in terms of quality of education and the inspectors of the schools
continued to report negatively about the school in the subsequent years. The inspector of
schools, Ambala Circle expressed his views about the school in the following words:
The school is no more than a primary school. I am surprised that so enterprising a
body as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel can shew but such excessively
meagre results for the large sum of money expended. The expenditure amounted to
Rs. 3812 of which Rs. 1800 were paid by Government.402
The next year the report of the inspector contained the following expressions:
That it does not succeed in turning out competent teachers; though, it must be
allowed, that the difficulties to contend with, are many and great. The women in
Muhammadan department are very much below the standard that should be required
for teachers of even the most elementary schools. Those in Hindu department could
read and write well, and knew something of the map of Asia but were very backward
in Arithmetic and could scarcely work easy sums in the simple rules.403
So at the end of the period under consideration the SPG Mission Normal School, Delhi, was
not in best of its performance but it was better than the others present in the field. The school
was felt to be in dire need of some reformatory measures which resulted into the merger of
the two separate departments for Hindu and the Muslim girls in the subsequent years.
Fostering of female education system in the province is largely indebted to the
Christian missionaries‘ untiring efforts in this field. It is the harvest of their long lasting
struggle of restructuring the Punjabi society with a view to emancipate women from the
401
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1876-77, 74. 402 Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1878-79, 71-72. 403
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1879-80, 78.
133
prevalent socio-religious norms and customs. That is why the Historians of Missionaries‘
activities in Asia have often characterized missionaries as agents of profound changes in the
traditional cultures of Asia.404
Christian missionaries, in their efforts to foster women
education in the province, were fairly backed by the existing British administration of the
time. With the active financial and administrative support of the top officials of the British
government, they, by 1880, were able to establish a base for the formal female education
system in the province. As, Primary education for the women of the Punjab was fashioned
during this period which ultimately paved the way for the development of secondary
education for women in the subsequent years. Although the missionaries entered in the
subcontinent mainly due to their religious obligations and conversion of the native people
was their one and only goal yet the education of women sprang up as the by product of their
evangelizing agenda. As, it is an observable fact that the missionaries are always in search of
some weaker aspect of the targeted society, to launch their social programme and the
miserable social conditions of women in the Punjabi society provided them the desired
launching pad for their social service programme. Considering education as the most
powerful force for social change, the missionaries promoted women‘s education as the
remedy for the depressed conditions of the women in society. But the fulfilment of their
religious agenda needed some entrée points in the social arena to establish social interaction
with the natives and this was mostly done through the means of social service—by providing
educational and health services. In the Punjab, the depressed conditions of Punjabi women,
especially, their pathetic educational condition provided them the desired room for social
404
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 35.
134
work. They dreamt to influence the kitchen as well as the kith and kin of the natives, through
their work for women‘s education.
135
Chapter No. 4
Missionaries’ Review of Policy and Development of
Women’s Higher Education (1881-1900)
Christian missionaries abandoned their efforts of expansion, by 1880. The subsequent
period of about two decades was spent in reviewing the previous policy and fixing a new
course of action for the future. The review of the previous efforts was thought necessary to
meet the new challenges of the field. As the ground realities of the field were totally changed
after the recommendations of the Indian Education Commission, in 1882. The
recommendations of the Indian Education Commission were very critical for the
missionaries‘ in formulating their future course of action. That is why the subsequent period,
of almost two decades, was spent in outlining the future course of action. After a meticulous
analysis of the field the missionaries came to the conclusion that the previous policy, of
establishing as many institutions as possible, was no more a viable option to get satisfactory
results in the future. In addition to the review of previous policy, this period is important for
the missionaries because of the advent of different missionary colleges in the Punjab, during
this period. The prestigious institutions of St. Stephen College, Delhi, the Forman Christian
College, Lahore, Murray College, Sialkot, and the Gordon College, Rawalpindi were opened
in this important period of about two decades. The establishment of these colleges was
important due to their extended influence in the field of higher education. This period is also
important due to the advent of the local organizations in the field of education. Almost all the
three major religious communities of the province—the Muslims, the Hindus and the
Sikhs—entered the field of education during this period. This chapter attempts to examine
the recommendations of the India Education Commission in the missionaries‘ context. It
136
attempts to analyze the factors prompting the missionaries to review their previous policy of
expansion. The chapter also attempts to trace the initiation of the missionary higher
education. It tries to study the establishment of different missionary colleges in the province
during this period. The chapter also examines the advent of different organizations in the
field of education. It not only attempts to trace the educational efforts of these organizations
but also tries to explore the factors which drew the native organizations in the field of
education.
4.1 Indian Education Commission, 1882
The Government of India continued to follow the recommendations of the Woods
Education Despatch, till 1882-83. After that, the recommendations of Indian Education
Commission replaced those of the Despatch of 1854. Due to its wide ranging impact on the
education system of the country including that of the missionaries, the recommendations of
the Commission held high position in the educational history of India. This document, like
that of Wood‘s Despatch, had an important impact on the missionaries‘ educational
approach. . In fact, the missionaries‘ previous policy was expansion was modified mainly to
neutralize the effect of the recommendations of the Indian Education Commission. That is
why it looks quite appropriate to have a brief overview of this important document in the
context its impact on missionary education.
4.1.1 Appointment of the Commission
In addition to the fulfilment of a longstanding need of reviewing the functioning of
existing system of public instruction, the missionaries‘ agitation, especially back home in
137
England, was the major cause behind the appointment of this Commission.405
The
missionaries‘ agitation was originated from their differences with the existing Government
officials of India, particularly, on the issue of Government‘s withdrawal from the field. 406
They claimed that the Government was not following the recommendations of Wood‘s
Despatch in letter and spirit of the document and pressed upon the government to look into
the matter seriously. In fact both the sides were feeling uneasy and had apprehensions about
each other. As, in addition to the missionaries‘ complaints, the government officials also had
their concerns about the missionary school managements.
The missionaries differed with the government officials on two major points. Their
foremost objection was on the Government‘s refusal to withdraw from the field of education.
They were of the opinion that the Government, by not closing or transferring its schools to
the other agencies, was distracting from the recommendations of the Woods Education
Despatch. The Government was not only declining to do so but also coming into direct
competition with the mission schools. The attitude of the government officials, especially
those of the inspectors of education department, was extremely objectionable in this context.
The Government‘s attitude was not the Punjab specific rather the depiction of the whole
country. Julius Richter described the rivalry of missionary institutions with those of the
Government in the following words:
Down to 1854 the elementary school system, with the exception of the native schools,
had been completely under missionary control; almost half the scholars attending the High
Schools had likewise belonged to them, and through the scholars they had exerted a large
405
A. Biswas and S.P. Agarwal, Development of Education in India: A Historical Survey of Educational
Documents before and after Independence, 30. 406
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India, 135-36.
138
important influence. They now found in the rapidly developing educational schemes of
Government an all-powerful rival. What position should they take up with regard to it?407
The issue of religious education was also a major contention between the missionaries
and the officials. The missionaries were against the policy of religious neutrality since the
very beginning of this policy. They thought it against the spiritual interests of the Indian
people. They believed that the Government officials backed by the policy of religious
neutrality were showing their cold shoulder to the missionary activities. Their harsh and
unsympathetic attitude, throughout the country, towards the missionaries‘ activities was a
continuous source of trouble for the missionaries.408
Missionary activities, especially those in
the field of education, were discouraged and obstructed in every possible way. The
missionaries were wary of the authoritative attitude of the inspectors and did not like their
interference in the mission schools. Rev. C. W. Forman, at the platform of PMC described
this condition in the following words:
It is much to be regretted, that Government agents should have a right to visit,
examine and report on our schools, officially and authoritatively. it seems to place us
in a false position before the native community.409
The conditions imposed by the Government for the release of funds under the scheme
of grant-in-aid were also troubling for the missionaries. They thought the examination system
of the Government as an inducement to the students for the neglect of religious studies.410
Moreover the introduction of the recommended textbooks in the mission schools was also
seen as damaging for the missionary cause. This was described by Julius Richter as:
407
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 312. 408
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India, 135. 409
Report of the Punjab Missionary Conference held at Lahore in December and January, 1862-63, 38. 410
Comments of Rev. R. Thackwell. Ibid., 46.
139
The text books recommended by those in authority were introduced practically
everywhere; these text books were for the most part neutral as to religion even, if not
directly antagonistic to Christianity, and their introduction simply meant that the
books compiled at great pains by the missionaries were crowded out of existence.411
They also believed in the diffusion of religious education in all the educational
institutions, without any exception of Government or private school. Moreover, they wanted
the freedom of conducting compulsory Bible teaching at their schools.412
By 1882, the
missionaries‘ stance, about the compulsory religious education at government as well as at
private schools, was reinforced by other groups of the society also. As, different sects of the
society came up with their demand of compulsory religious education for their children in the
lines of their respective faiths. The Hindus wanted a blend of Western sciences, literature,
and their religious principles for the education of their younger generations. The Muslims
were also insisting on the teaching of ‗Quran‘ for their children.413
The missionaries stood against the existing Government, in India and back home in
England. They started agitating against its non-cooperation and termed the official moves
against the recommendations of Woods Education Despatch. They made special references to
the recommendations of the Despatch, mentioning the closure or transfer of the Government
schools to the non governmental agencies. The Government‘s irritating attitude of competing
with the missionary institutions, in contradiction to the recommendations of the Despatch,
was severely criticized and was termed as a threat to the missionaries‘ subsistence in the
field.414
Government schools were also the major victims of the missionaries‘ rhetorical
411
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 308. 412
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India, 138. 413
Ibid. 414
Ibid., 136
140
onslaught who declared these as Godless and irreligious.415
The Government of India was
compelled to investigate the matter and therefore it appointed an Education Commission for
the careful consideration of the matter.
4.1.2 Formation of the Commission
The first Indian Education Commission, generally known as ‗Hunter Commission‘
was appointed by Lord Ripon on February 3, 1882. It consisted of twenty members under the
chair of Sir W. W. Hunter, a member of the Viceroy‘s Legislative Council and one of the
most experienced Anglo-Indians. A certain number of members were taken from each of the
Presidencies and Provinces excepting Burma and Assam. These members were supposed to
represent various races, classes, and stake holders in the field of education. Christian
missionaries had a fair representation in the towering missionary figures of Dr. Miller, the
Principal of Christian College Madras, W. B. Blacket, Principal Church Mission Divinity
College Calcutta, and Rev. A. Jean, D. D., Rector of St. Joseph‘s College Negapatam.416
The
Commission held its first meeting at Calcutta, on 13th
of February, 1882, and completed its
work on 16th
March 1883.417
The Commission came up with 222 specific recommendations
with an intention to accept these as its deliberate decisions.418
The Provincial Committee for
the Punjab of the Education Commission examined fifty three witnesses including
representatives of different literary societies. The report of the Commission was forwarded to
the Government of India on 9th
October, 1883.419
The proceedings of the Commission were
415
Ibid., 136-37. 416
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 1. 417
H .R. Mehta, A History of The Growth and Development of Western Education in Punjab, 1846-1884, 90. 418
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 1. 419
H.R. Mehta, A History of The Growth and Development of Western Education in Punjab, 1846-1884, 90.
141
published in 1884, in nine folio volumes. After having a careful review of the matter, it
declared its unanimous decisions and decided the matters about missionary education
a) Government’s withdrawal
The most important and the most controversial issue, in front of the Commission,
was whether the Government should withdraw, in pursuance of the recommendations of the
Woods Education Despatch, from the field of education leaving it wide open for the
missionaries, or not? The varied opinions amongst the witnesses, examined by the
Commission, and that of the members of the Commission raised the complexity of the
matter.420
The Commission, after a careful consideration of the matter, decided not only the
matter of withdrawal of Government institutions, but also defined the missionaries‘ position
in the national system of education. Paradoxical to the recommendations of the Woods
Education Despatch, the recommendations of the Indian Education Commission, on the issue
of Government‘s withdrawal, went against the missionaries‘ hopes. On this all important
issue, the Commission discarded the option of Government‘s withdrawal from the field and
decided to avoid this option. The unanimous recommendation of the Commission went the
following way:
We think it well to put on record our unanimous opinion that withdrawal of direct
departmental agency should not take place in favour of missionary bodies and that
departmental institutions of the higher order should not be transferred to missionary
management.421
The Commission allowed the missionary bodies to carry on their work, following
their own course, under the supervision of the State. But at the same time it declared that
420 William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 451. 421
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 453.
142
their educational activities would hold not more than a secondary place in the National
system of education. On the one hand, it fixed subordinate role for the missionaries‘
educational enterprise, on the other hand it encourage the native agencies to operate in the
field of education. It decided the matter in the following words:
They422
should be allowed to follow their own independent course under the general
supervision of the State;…… they should receive all the encouragement and aid that
private effort can legitimately claim…….. But it must not be forgotten that the private
effort which it is mainly intended to evoke is that of the people themselves. Natives of
India must constitute the most important of all agencies if educational means are ever
to be co-extensive with educational wants.423
b) Religious Education
The longstanding question of religious education, both at the Government and
Private schools, was also an important issue for the Commission. The commission was to
decide whether religious education should be imparted in the schools or not? If yes, then
what should be the form, subject, and conditions to allow its instruction in the schools?424
The declared policy of religious neutrality forbade the Commission to connect the state
schools with any kind of religious education.425
Administrative and financial constraints also
led the Commission to decline the demand of teaching each child in his own religion.426
So,
the Commission preferred to reiterate the necessity of keeping the Government schools
secular and decided to uphold the policy of secular education at Government schools. The
question of religious education at private schools was another problem closely attached to the
missionaries. The Commission permitted the private schools to impart religious instruction of
422
The pronoun refers to the missionary institutions. 423
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, 1882-83, 454. 424
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India, 137. 425
A. Biswas and S.P. Agarwal, Development Of Education In India, 32. 426
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India, 138.
143
their own choice and decided that Government should pay grants to the schools on the basis
of secular instruction, irrespective of the religious education imparted in these schools.427
4.2 Missionaries’ Future Course of Action
The Woods Education Despatch of 1854 was one of the most important documents,
which created room for the missionaries and helped them in cementing their strong footing in
the educational terrain of India.428
It even swelled their hopes to the extent that they, at a
time, were preparing themselves to replace the British Government, in the field of education.
But the recommendations of the Indian Education Commission, which soon became the
official policy shattered these hopes completely.429
The missionaries could visualize the
future educational scenario of the country in which missionary schools would have to
compete with those of the Government and other private bodies. The missionaries‘ belief in
the prominent position of education, in achieving religious objectives, was also diluted
considerably.
The anticipated negative consequences of recommendations of the Indian Education
Commission, the net result of missionaries‘ previous efforts in the field of education and the
views of a group of missionaries about the unimportant role of educational endeavours in
achieving the missionary goals, led them to the conclusion that their previous policy of
expansion needed a complete review.430
Their previous efforts to reach all and sundry were
considered to be inappropriate in the new scenario. The anti-education group of missionaries
was gaining importance and was pressing upon for the complete closure of missionaries‘
427
Ibid., 139 428
Tim Allender, ‗Anglican Evangelism in North India and the Punjabi Missionary Classroom; the Failure to
Educate ‗the Masses‘, 1860-77‘‘, 274. 429
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India, 138. 430
Ibid., 141.
144
educational operations. The question, whether the missions should have schools for the
heathens or not, became the burning issue of the day and caused some animated and
elaborate discussions.431
The group of missionaries, against the maintenance of schools for
the heathen, was of the opinion that the missions had neither a call nor mandate to incur
precious missionary resources on the teaching of subjects of English literature, history,
mathematics, natural science and the like. They thought;
The results of mission schools, as regards the number of baptisms, bear no sort of
comparison with the means and strength employed; many mission schools are unable
to record one case of baptism in an entire decade.432
There were strong arguments on the other side also. They admitted their inability in
producing conversions at large scale but the small number of converts produced by the
Christian schools were declared as ―the very crown and rejoicing of Indian missions‖.433
It
was also argued that:
Missionaries held an important place in the world of Indian education and that they
ought not to lose it; that the teachings of Christ were spreading largely among the
educated Indians although only a few of them became the direct adherents of the
Christian religion; that it was a duty of the missionaries to satisfy the growing Indian
demand for knowledge; and that mission schools were the only means by which the
gospel could be parched to the upper and influential classes of society.434
The careful consideration of these factors led them to the decision of a total reversal
of their previous efforts of quantitative improvement. Influenced by the ‗downward filtration
theory‘, the missionaries shifted their focus from the education of all and sundry to that of the
privileged few. The education of the upper echelon of the society was thought to have a
431
Julius Richter, A History of Missions in India, 313. 432
Ibid., 315. 433
Ibid. 434
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education In India, 142.
145
trickle down effect and would have a healthy influence on the lower fractions of the social
hierarchy.
The missionaries responded positively and set their efforts to cope with the challenges of the
new century. They made a major shift in their previous policy of quantitative improvement
and came up with a new policy of qualitative improvement. They decided to make
fundamental changes in their course of action to comply with the upcoming challenges of the
new century. Therefore, they decided to review their previous efforts and formulate their
future policy in connection with the changed circumstances of the new century. So they made
a major shift in their previous policy and entered the new century with a modified approach.
Prevailed by the downward filtration theory, they substituted their previous policy of
quantitative improvement with that of the qualitative improvement.435
Therefore the
missionaries‘ educational efforts, throughout the period under consideration, were
determined by their new policy of qualitative improvement.
The Christian missionaries‘ religious objectives also played an important behind this major
change in their policy. Their previous strategy, to command the whole sphere of education in
the province, proved to be unfruitful in terms of number of conversions. The small number of
conversions forced the missionaries to change their way of action in the oriental society.
Moreover, a new party from within the missionaries arose with a view that the missionary
enterprise bore no obligation to educate the non Christians.436 The issue was discussed in
detail and the conclusion was described as, ―the missionaries should rest content with the
435
The downward filtration theory suggested the diffusion of quality education to a few persons so the
missionaries decided to abandon their previous efforts to improve the number of their schools, instead they
directed their efforts to maintain a high standard of education at their institutions. Their new policy of focusing
the quality of education is known as their policy of qualitative improvement. 436
Syed Nurullah and J.P. Naik, A Students‟ History of Education in India (1800-1947), 140.
146
maintenance of a few efficient schools and colleges and should refrain, as far as possible,
from any large scale expansion of their educational activities.437
4.3 Initiation of higher education
This period is known for the initiation of higher education in the province.
Although, previously, some government colleges were working in the province yet the higher
education took real impetus and a number of colleges were established during this period. By
188o, there were only two Arts colleges in the province and the number was raised to 12 at
the end of this period. Christian missionaries established four colleges at different important
places in the province. Here is a brief history of Christian colleges, established during this
period.
4.3.1 St. Stephen College Delhi
St Stephen's College, the most prestigious mission college in the territory of the
Punjab, was founded on 1st February 1882, at Delhi, by the Cambridge Mission in
conjunction with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The SPG was running St.
Stephen Mission High School at Delhi since about 1854. By 1879-80, the school, with the
fresh induction of six university graduates, was reported to have a very strong teaching
staff.438 The Inspector of schools was quite hopeful about the future progress of the school
and commented that it would probably take the first place in the province.439
437
Ibid., 142-143.
438
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1879-80, 40. 439
Ibid.
147
The Cambridge Mission, comprised a number of Dons from various colleges at
Cambridge University, arrived at Delhi in the 1877.440
The mission arrived India with the
plans of building a ―new Alexandria‖ on the banks of the Jumna. But the meticulous analysis
of the circumstances of the mission field tempted them to modify their initial plan foundation
of a Christian college for non-Christian students at Delhi.441
In fact the ground was prepared
for the foundation of a college by the closure of Government College at Delhi, in 1877. The
college was amalgamated with the Government College Lahore to strengthen the staff of the
Lahore College, without any increased expenditure.442
But the abolition of the Delhi College
created disappointment to the people of Delhi. The native community attempted to carry on
the college as an aided institution and promised to provide more than Rs. 60,000, raised
through subscriptions, to serve the purpose. The offer was declined by the Lieutenant
Governor considering the funds as quite insufficient. Moreover he was not willing to
reorganize annual subscription as a stable source of income. In these circumstances, the
Cambridge Mission offered to establish an aided college in the public benefit. The Mission
was well equipped with the sufficient qualified staff to conduct a college therefore the offer
was accepted by the government.443
A grant of Rs. 5400 per mensem was sanctioned through
the scheme of grant-in-aid with an additional grant of Rs. 2,000 for the purchase of scientific
apparatus.444
The Cambridge Brothers‘ initially showed reluctance to countenance
government grants but f accepted wholeheartedly afterwards. By 1885 the province was
providing 80 percent of St. Stephen‘s college budget and the Delhi municipal government
another 10 percent.
440
Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series Punjab, I, 53. 441
Jeffrey Cox, Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818- 1940, 193. 442
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 53. 443
Ibid., 60. 444
Report on the State of Education in the Punjab and Its Dependencies for the Year1882-83, 42
148
The college was started in a rented building in the bye lanes of Chandni Chowk.
Afterwards it was housed in a large native house near St. Stephen‘s High school, with a
school and college club in the same building. The presence of all these institutions in the
same building provided the member students an opportunity of meeting daily for the purpose
of reading, lectures, games and the like.445
As the number of students grew, a new campus
opened on government-donated land near Kashmiri gate.446
The college moved into its own
beautiful buildings designed by Col Swinton Jacob, Chief Engineer of Jaipur State. This
building stood on both sides of the road in Kashmiri Gate, close to the historic St. James'
Church.
There were ten students on the roll at the end of the year, 1882-83. In the FA
examination of the Calcutta University, held in December 1882, the college sent 6
candidates, of whom 3 passed—1 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd division. The college also sent
3 candidates for the intermediate examination conducted by the Punjab University, held in
May 1883, 2 out of these 3 students were successful.447
By 1885, the students included 48
Hindus, 4 Muslims, 3 Christians and 1 Parsi and, the college remained largely Hindu with
small Muslim and Christian minorities.448
By the 1891, the college was reported to be
established its prominent position in the field. The conduct of the students was excellent.
Cricket and lawn-tennis were gaining popularity with general athletics as the weaker aspect
of the college activities. In addition to the regular religious instruction, lectures were
delivered frequently by the visitors also. A class of Shakespeare reading was initiated and it
445
Ibid. 446
Jeffrey Cox, Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818- 1940, 194 447
Report on the State of Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year,1882-83, 42 448
Jeffrey Cox, Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818- 1940, 194.
149
was flourishing steadily. Another class of conversation and discussion on the social and other
related subjects was started which met with great success.449
4.3.2 Forman Christian College Lahore
The Prestigious Forman Christian College is named after its founder, Dr. Charles
William Forman. It is ranked among the best institutions of higher education in Punjab. Dr.
Forman‘s position contribution in the field of education, in the Punjab, is supreme and he
earned a prominent position through the provision valuable services in the field of education.
He started his labours by opening up the Lahore Mission School, popularly known as Rang
Mahal School, at Lahore in 1849, which was the first Anglo-vernacular school in the
Province. The school earned a good popularity and, by 1861, the school contained 428
students on the roll with a daily attendance of about 400 students.450
The establishment of
the Calcutta University, in 1857, obsessed the missionaries with a desire to prepare their
pupils for the examination of entrance into the University. It was this desired which tempted
the missionaries to add a college department in the Rang Mahal School, which was
afterwards known as Forman Christian College, in 1865.451
The College, at the end of its first year, contained 14 students. These students were
divided into two classes on the basis of the year of passing the entrance examination. The
students who passed the examination in 1863 constituted one class and those who passed the
exam in 1864 constituted the other. They were taught by the Head Master of the School and
449
Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year, 1890-91, by J. Sime, Esquire,
(Lahore: the Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1891), 38. 450
S.K. Datta, History of Rang Mahal school, 3. 451
Ibid., 4.
150
the other gentlemen from the Mission.452
Although the cost of education was lower, at
Lahore Mission College, than its competitor, the government College Lahore yet the mission
college was unable to draw a sufficient number of students towards it. The long course of
study comprising four years—from Matriculation to B.A.—, lack of sufficient number of
scholarships, and the secession originating from the conversion of some mission scholars at
Lahore, were considered to be the major reasons behind this scarcity of students at mission
college.453
The following graph shows the number of students on the college roll from 1864-
65 to 1869, the year of its closure.
452
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1864-65, 83. 453
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1866-67, 18.
151
Graph 4.1: Number of scholars at FC College during its first period (1864-1869)
Data extracted from Reports on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the
Years 1864 to 1869.
In addition to the scarcity of pupils, the college suffered a great set back in the shape
of the death of its principal, Revd. Alexander Henry, in 1869. The mission college, already,
suffering from difficult conditions, could not recover from the shock and was temporarily
closed in December 1869. The majority of the students of the college took admission in
Government College Lahore. The Director of Public Instruction, Punjab, termed the closure
of the college a wise move and hoped that it would work in the best of missionaries‘
3
14
15
10
9
17
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
152
benefit.454
It is a noteworthy fact that the college produced 4 F.A. and 2 B.A. passes
candidates who afterwards held some important public sector offices.455
Although the missionary management, in 1869, closed the college with a hope that it
should not be closed for a long period of time yet it took a period of about seventeen years to
reopen. As, the college was reopened with the same name, Lahore Mission College, in 1886
with a class of 22 students. The number of students on the roll rose to 68 in 1888.456
The
college was placed under the control of a Board of Directors, nominated by the Ludhiana
Mission. Dr. Forman and Revd. J. Newton were elected as the Chairman and President of the
Board respectively, in its first meeting held on 19th January, 1888.457
The Board also
considered the building plans of the college in its meeting held on the next day. The main
object of the college is stated in the annual report of the Board of Home Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in these words:
Its chief object is evangelistic; it is to be an agency for great good, as it is believed, in
leavening the public mind with the principles of Christianity, and in leading many
young men to Christ as their Saviour, and to his service as the work of their lives.458
After the declaration of the accommodation of Rang Mahal School as insufficient, in
April 1888, the college was authorized to rent some building for the same purpose.
Afterwards the problem of the building was solved with the effective co-operation of Sir
Charles Aitcheson, the then Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. He not only approved grant a
land of five acres to the college but the plan of building and building operations were carried
454
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1869-70, 33. 455
S.K. Datta, The History of the Forman Christian College, 5. 456
Eighteenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1888), 258. 457
S.K. Datta, The History of the Forman Christian College, 38. 458
Nineteenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1889), 246.
153
out by P.W.D. under the control of government Engineers. The government bears the
expenditure of Rs. 20000 for these activities.459
The new building was occupied in April
1889.
In the meantime Dr. Forman resigned from the principalship of the college, in favour
of Dr. James Carruthers Rhea Ewing popularly known as J.C.R. Ewing, who succeeded him
[Dr. Forman] in December 1888.460
The college was named as Forman Christian College
after the death of Dr. Forman in 1894. The college was the first to start F. Sc. and B.Sc.
classes in the province.461
At the dawn of the century the college was in a flourishing
condition and was rated among the first grade institution of province.
4.3.3 Murray Collage Sialkot
Murray College, Sialkot, the Alma Mater of Dr. Allama Mohammad Iqbal, the
greatest poet-thinker of the East, had a very modest beginning. It was originated from the
Scotch Mission High School, situated in Kanak Mandi Sialkot, in 1889. The intermediate
department of the college was opened in the school at the request of Sir Charles Aitcheson,
one of the European government officials.462
The Foreign Committee of the Church of
Scotland was requested in to open a college in Lahore in 1883, but the request was denied.
The Government again approached the aforementioned Foreign Committee to open a College
at Sialkot, in 1889 and was offered a financial grant for the purpose, by Sir James
Broadwood Lyall, the then Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. The Scotch mission of
Sialkot, in response, started the intermediate section of the college in the school building.
459
S.K. Datta, The History of the Forman Christian College, 8. 460
Nineteenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America, 246. 461
S.K. Datta, The History of the Forman Christian College, 68. 462
Jeffrey Cox, Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818- 1940, 193.
154
The teaching staff, at the beginning of the college, consisted of only four members.
Incidentally, all the four staff members represented the four major communities of the
province—Rev. Dr. Youngson the first principal of the college, Christian, Moulvi Mir Hasan,
Muslims, Mr. Narinjan Das, Hindu, and Sardar Harnam Singh, Sikh.
The college was reported to have an excellent start as for as the arrangements and
discipline were concerned. The inspector of Rawalpindi Circle, in his report for the year of
1890-91, had favourable remarks for the future prospects of the college. The college was
started with 11 students on teh roll and at the end of the year, 1890-91, 16 students were
reported to be on the roll—10 in the second year and 6 in the first year.463
The college, for
the first time, presented candidates for the Intermediate Examination and the showed good
results—seven candidates were passes out of 10.464
In spite of taking a good start, the college was unable to establish its excellence,
during its initial period, and the institution, till its affiliation with the Punjab University,
suffered the reputation of a ―second grade‖ institution. Most of its problems stemmed from
those regarding financial management of the institution. Although the college was
established at the instance of Sir Charles Aitcheson yet no financial support, from the
government grant-in-aid scheme, was available to the institution till its affiliation with the
University of the Punjab in 1906. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the college was not
included in the best of the institutions of the province but it flourished considerably during
the twentieth century.
463
Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1890-91, 39. 464
Ibid., 40
155
4.4.4 Gordon College Rawalpindi
Gordon College, one of the prestigious and the oldest colleges of the province,
was established in 1893 at the important city of Rawalpindi.465
Like the other missionary
colleges in the province, it was also originated from a missionary high school, the American
Presbyterian Mission High School Raja Bazaar Rawalpindi. The college section was started
in the school‘s premises, by the initiation of Intermediate classes. Although the college was
an unaided institution and was not availing financial aid through the scheme of grant-in-aid
yet it was recognized for the award of scholarships in 1895.466
Its candidates showed good
results in the examinations and, in 1895-96, it was the only college in the province to show
hundred percent results in the intermediate examination.467
Initially the college was started as
an unaided college and became on the list of aided institutions in 1904.468
Initially the college section was started in the premises of the school and the same
arrangement of classes in the same premises continued up till 1902, when the college was
shifted to the new building and BA classes were introduced.469
The new building, on the edge
of the City and opposite the Municipal garden, was large enough to fulfil the needs of the
institution. The grounds provided ample accommodation for the students to play the games
such as football, basket ball, tennis, and the like. The main building included an assembly
hall, eight lecture rooms, a chemical laboratory, a well equipped biological laboratory, a
library and reading room, a staff room, and the office. The Boarding Hall contained
465
Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1893-94, I. 466
Punjab District Gazetteers , Vol. XXVIII A, Rawalpindi District (Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press,
1909), 90. 467
Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year, 1895-96, by J. Sime, Esquire,
(Lahore: the Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1896), 2. 468
Punjab District Gazetteers , Vol. XXVIII A, Rawalpindi District, 90. 469
Ibid.
156
accommodation for 35 men.470
By 1907, the college was transformed into a good institution
and was included in the first grade colleges of the province. It was the only college, to the
north of Lahore, involved in the studies up to the graduation level. In 1907 the college
contained 50 students on the roll of whom 11 were Christians, 15 Muslims, 8 Sikhs and 25
Hindus. For the Intermediate examination, lectures were given in English, Mathematics,
Philosophy, History, Physics and Chemistry, Botany and Zoology, Persian, Sanskrit, and
Arabic. For the Bachelor‘s degree courses were offered in English, Philosophy, History,
Mathematics Pure and Applied, Persian and Sanskrit.471
4.4 Reaction and Response of the Native Population
No doubt the Christian Missionaries came to India with evangelical intentions and
they adopted different means of social welfare to achieve their desired objectives. With their
focus on teaching, preaching, and healing, diffusion of education among the native
population of the Punjab became an important part of their activities. Having in mind the
miserable condition of the women of this region, they decided to work for the betterment of
the women especially for the spread of education among the tender sex of this area. So, on
the one hand their role was highly appreciated and accepted by a part of the native
community. On the other hand the fear of promulgation of Christian ideology led different
confrontationists to rise up against the missionaries. Sensitivity of the issue of women, in the
context of violation of social patterns, and politicization of the missionaries‘ activities also
inflamed the situation in many areas of the Punjab. Moreover the missionaries‘ agenda of
spreading the education among the female population of the province was largely against the
470
Ibid. 471
Ibid.
157
social model of the Punjabi society. They saw this effort as the part of missionaries‘ cultural
assault on the Oriental social structure. Ultimately the reaction was inevitable from the
conservative forces of the society and it was shown, almost with the same magnitude, by all
the three major religious communities of the province —the Hindus, the Muslims, and the
Sikhs.
Emergence of different revivalist religious movements in the Indian society,
including Punjab, during the later half of the nineteenth century was also a reaction to the
activities of the Christian missionaries. These movements strove to save their respective
communities form the religious and cultural onslaught of the missionaries. Together with the
provision of religious protection to their respective communities, the proponents of these
movements launched different kinds of educational and public welfare programs, to bring the
people out of the influence of Christian missionaries. In addition to the reactionary spirit, the
provision of grants from the government also contributed in the multiplicaiton of natively
administered schools. Previously the missionaries were the major beneficiaries of these
grants but the 1882 Hunter Commission indicated that the government would redirect funds
to schools run by Indians.472
4.4.1 Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam
The menace of Hindu dominance and that of the proselytizing activities of the
Christian missionaries gave birth to several Muslim Anjumans (societies), at least one in
every important city and town of the Punjab, during the later half of the nineteenth
472
Vickie Langohr, ‗Colonial Education System and The Spread of Local Religious Movements: The Cases of
British Egypt and Punjab‘, 16.
158
century.473
These Anjumans posed serious resistance to the missionaries‘ socio-religious
activities.474
Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, the major contributor among these, came into being
in 1884. It was founded mainly with the intention of safeguarding the interests of the Muslim
community of the Punjab.475
It devoted its efforts for the safeguard of the Muslim religious
and educational fronts. Propagation of Islam, diffusion of education to the Muslim boys and
girls, educational aid to the Muslim boys and girls, and establishment of the educational
institutions and orphanages, were the major objects of the Anjuman.476
As an educational
organization, it realized the importance of female education in the changed circumstances of
the society and inaugurated its efforts in this direction by establishing five girls‘ schools, in
1885. One hundred and sixty nine girls were reported to be on the rolls of these schools
during the first year of their existence. The number of schools was raised to ten in the next
year and was further extended to fifteen in 1894.477
Similar kinds of schools were opened by
several other Muslim societies. The schools, with the enrollment fluctuating from thirty to
fifty, were offering facilities to the families which were reluctant to send their girls to the
Government or Missionary schools. They provided only elementary education according to a
syllabus prepared to suit the needs and traditions of Muslim society.478
The Anjuman also set
up a publishing house for ‗appropriate‘ textbooks for Muslim girls‘ schools, and these were
used all over the Punjab and beyond.479
The outcome of all this effort was that Muslim girls‘
education was relatively more advanced in Lahore in the 1880s and 1890s than in Delhi or
473
Ikram Ali Malik, ‗Muslim Anjumans in the Punjab‘, Journal of Regional History, V (1984): 107. 474
Ibid., 98. 475
S. Razi Wasti, ‗Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, Lahore—A Brief History‘, Journal of Research Society of
Pakistan, III-1 (January, 1966): 64. 476
Ibid, 64-65. 477
Ibid., 69. 478
Ikram Ali Malik, ‗Muslim Anjumans in the Punjab‘, 104. 479
Sarah Ansari, ‗Winds of Change?‘ The Role of Women Activists in Lahore before and after Partition‘,
Pakistan Vision, 9-2, 2.
159
Aligarh at this time, though of course many ‗respectable‘ Muslim girls continued to be
educated at home by other family members or tutors.480
4.4.2 Arya Samaj
Similar kinds of societies were also founded by the Hindu and the Sikh communities
to confront with the same kind of problems and issues. The Arya Samaj and the Singh Sabha
movement served the same purpose for the Hindu and the Sikh communities respectively.
The former, in addition to the establishment of educational institutions mostly for boys, was
actively involved in emancipating women from the existing socio-religious constraints in the
society.481
Although the Arya Samaj and the Missionaries were, to some extent, working on
the same agenda—of reforming the Punjabi society by working against the prevalent social
evils, like child marriage, sati, dowry, seclusion of women, yet both were doing with
different spirits as the former was doing it to pose an opposition to the missionaries and their
proselytizing work.482
The Arya Samaj wanted to keep their co-religionists away from the
influence of Christian missionaries. So the Samaj, with a reactionary spirit, was able to play
key role in the emancipation of Punjabi women and thus indirectly contributed a lot in the
extension of education among the women of this region.483
4.4.3 Singh Sabha
Singh Sabah movement was spurred to spread the Sikh philosophy and Sikh way of
life to their boys and girls who were drifting away from their roots. The spread of education
480
Ibid. 481
Shiv Kumar Gupta, ‗Arya Samaj—A Potent Factor in the National Movement for Raising Womanhood‘,
280. 482
Ibid., 279. 483
Ibid., 284.
160
and the influence of the enlightened ideas of the West made the Singh Sabah Leaders to
realize that the education of both males and females was a healthy sign in a progressive
society.484
It spurred the consciousness of the leaders of the Movement to revolt against the
old age prejudices and practices which had led to the backwardness of women in the
society.485
So the Singh Sabah Movement started with two main objects—(a) to impart
modern education to the Sikh women, (b) to educate the Sikh women in the true principles of
their religious system and to make them conscious of their distinct identity.486
It opened
khalsa schools and colleges in the Punjab for the education of the Sikh youth, in accordance
with the Sikh philosophy of education. For the first time in the history of the Sikhs,
systematic efforts were started for the spread of education among the female folk of the Sikh
community. A highly commendable work in this field was done by Baba Khem Singh Bedi,
one of the founding members of the Amritsar Singh Sabah. He championed the cause of
female education in the Punjab by establishing a number of girls‘ schools in the province.
Besides the opening of educational institutions, the Sikh leaders stressed the importance of
education through newspapers, magazines, and tracts.487
Above and beyond the collective reaction of these local movements, the people of
the Punjab showed their response or reaction at individual level also. They thought that the
missionaries had come to their land to make them Christians. Missionary schools were seen
as the converting agents and their education as the solvent of the native religions. The
Muslims were more conscious of their religion than the other two communities and they
484
Poonam Arora, ‗Role of Singh Sabha Movement in Promotion of Female Education in Punjab‘, 210. 485
Ibid. 486
Ibid. 487
Ibid., 212.
161
thought the missionary education a threat to their religious belief.488
The learning of English
language was also not favoured in the Muslim circles. So they rejected it completely and
consequently, suffered a lot, in terms of their financial condition. But the other two
communities were lured by the prestige attached to the colonizer‘s language and the material
advantages compelled them to send their children to the institutions providing this
commodity. So, most of the native Hindu parents were sending their young ones to the
missionary schools, not to make them learned ones but to give them so much knowledge of
English as would enable them to obtain a decent position in the social hierarchy.489
Material
benefits were also attached with the female education by creating posts of female teachers in
the girls‘ schools. But the material benefits attached to the female education were unable to
bring the people out of the fear of conversion. So, whenever a conversion did occur,
occasionally in some missionary institution, the school was at once emptied and its former
position, in terms of number of students, was gained after a certain period of time and with
considerable efforts in this direction.490
In 1883-84, there were only three colleges in the province including only one
missionary institution, St. Stephen‘s College at Delhi, and only 16 students graduated that
year.491
But the launching pad was founded and a rapid progress was observed in the
subsequent years. The educational certificates and diplomas became a passport to public
sector employment which tempted the students to make earnest progress in the field of higher
education. The number of colleges also increased during this period and in addition to the
488
Leslie A. Flemming, ‗New Models, New Roles: U.S. Presbyterian Women Missionaries and Social Change
in North India, 1870-1910‘, 39. 489
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 33. 490
Ibid. 491
Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series Punjab, I, 136.
162
establishment of Christian missionary colleges, the native organizations also established
educational institutions of higher education for their respective religious communities.
Consequently, by 1900, the number of Arts colleges rose to 12 in the province.
4.5 Secondary Education of Girls
Initiation of secondary education of girls during the last quarter of the nineteenth
century was one of the hallmarks of this period. Female primary education was, to some
extent, fostered in the Punjab but that of the secondary education was still in abeyance. It was
this period in which secondary education, for the female multitude of the province, was
started which proved to be a footstep for the initiation of female higher education in the
twentieth century.
The census of 1881 showed 6101 females under instruction, in the territory of the
British Punjab, and only 8407 who could read and write against 8625827 who could not. The
returns of the Education Department showed 9925 girls in Government and Aided schools.492
These returns go on to conclude that one woman out of about one thousand was educated.
Nothing can show more clearly the backward condition of women education in the province.
In spite of the gigantic efforts put in by the government and the missionaries during the
previous three decades, it was only the primary education of girls which was developed, to
some extent, and the growth of secondary and higher education of women was still in
anticipation. As there were only one high and two middle schools out of 317 girls‘ schools,
492
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884,
60.
163
present in the province in 1881-82.493
Moreover no native girls, up to 1881-82, even
attempted the middle school examination.494
On the other hand, in spite of the establishment of a large number of primary schools,
the standard of instruction in the existing primary schools was not satisfactory. A large
portion of the schools, in Rawalpindi and Jhelum districts, was working under the patronage
of Baba Khem Sigh Bedi, one of the chiefs of the Sikh religion having a large number of
following disciples among certain classes of Hindus. These schools accept the government
grants eagerly but with the habit of the fulfilment of official requirements in a least
satisfactory manner.495
The performance of the schools under the management of the
government or some other native body was also not satisfactory. The schools under the
management of European missionary ladies were considered to be the best in the province.496
Moreover secondary education throughout India, with the exception of Bengal and to some
extent Madras, was in the hands of missionary bodies and native managers.497
In spite of this disappointing condition there were also signs of improvement,
especially regarding primary education. The difficulties which arose from the early age, at
which girls were withdrawn from the school life, had little application at the beginning of this
period.498
Although general opinion of the native population was not in favour of the
education of their daughter and wives yet the prejudice against it was, to some extent,
removed. But in spite of these encouraging indicators, female education was still in a
493
Ibid., 61. 494
Ibid., 62 495
Ibid., 61 496
Ibid., 61 497
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, Calcutta, 531. 498
Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1890-91, by J. Sime, Esquire,
(Lahore: the Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1891), 3.
164
backward condition which needed to be fostered in the province. The secondary education
needed special attention to grow from nothing. In these circumstances, government, with the
active support of Christian missionaries, initiated their efforts for the development of
secondary education for the female population of the province. By 1890-91, the number of
secondary educational institutions was raised to 10 with 2 high schools—the Alexandra
School at Amritsar and the Lady Dufferin School at Lahore. The rest 8 are middle schools
with missionaries‘ contribution of four.499
The number of secondary schools was further
increased and, in 1895-96, 14 secondary schools were found to be existent in the province.
The missionary institutions contributed about fifty percent of the total number of secondary
institutions. At the turn of the century there were 28 girls‘ secondary schools with
government contributing only the five, rest of the schools were maintained by the private
bodies.500
4.5.1 Training of Female Teachers
Provision of qualified and trained female teaching staff was the principal obstacle in
the extension of female education in the province. The supply of trained female teachers, at
the beginning of the period under consideration, was wholly inadequate to its demand. The
unavailability of the Normal schools to the nearest of the candidates was one of the main
reasons. There were only three Normal Schools for the training of female teachers, two of
which were managed by Native Committees and the third was under the management of SPG
mission. But none of these was reported to fulfil the purpose of their establishment.501
In
addition to the inefficient or insufficient number of training institutions, social constraints of
499
Report on the State of Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1882-83, 75. 500
Report on the Public Instruction in the Punjab and its dependencies for the Year 1900-01, (Lahore: the Civil
and Military Gazette Press, 1901), Appendix IV. 501
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 62.
165
the society were also major hindrances in the provision of sufficient supply of trained female
teachers.
During the last decade of the nineteenth century new arrangement for the training of
the female teachers was evolved by the Punjab government. Due to the unsuitable character
of the Girls‘ Normal schools with the social norms of the society, the Government decided to
attach the training classes with the ordinary primary schools. Previously, the girls had to go
to far off areas for the purpose of training because the training classes were attached with the
secondary schools.502
The later arrangement lessened the pains of the girls, who were willing
to be trained as teachers in these schools. The missionaries also started teachers‘ training
classes with the girls‘ primary schools at different places.503
This policy came of with
encouraging results and had a healthy impact on the supply of female teachers in the girls‘
schools. So at the close of the century the department as well as the missionaries was relying
on this kind of arrangement to get some trained female teachers for the schools.504
Although the Indian Education Commission was formed to lessen the apprehensions
of Christian missionaries yet its recommendations were disappointing for the missionaries. It
recommended the issuance of financial grants to the native organizations which were
previously meant for the missionaries only and, in the Punjab, missionaries were taking a
lion‘s share from these grants. The Commission also refused to accept the missionaries
interpretation of ‗Wood‘s Education Despatch‘ according to which the government should
withdraw from the field education leaving the field wide open for the missionaries.
502
Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1890-91, 68-69. 503
By 1895, the Normal Classes were maintained in Alexandra School Amritsar, the Christian Girls‘ School,
and Mission Girls‘ School at Gujranwala. Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for
the Year 1895-96 (Lahore: The Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1896), 46. 504
Report on Public Instruction in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1900-01, 19-20.
166
Missionaries‘ demand of religious education was also not entertained. All these
developments tempted the missionaries to abandon their previous policy and form a new
course of action for their future activities. Consequently, the option of quality instruction at a
limited number of missionary schools, in stead of numeric dominance in the field, was
thought to be a better choice for the time. Under the influence of ‗downward filtration theory‘
they decided to limit their efforts to the maintenance of some well-organized institutions,
instead of many lacking in efficiency. So the missionaries, in stead of, approaching all and
sundry decided to impart quality education to the trend-setter upper echelon of the society
and thought that their education would ultimately trickle down to the lower rung of the social
hierarchy. Christian missionaries, during this period, made good advance in the field of
higher education. They established missionary colleges at almost all the important cities of
the province. Most of these colleges earned a good reputation for the missionaries in the
subsequent period. Advent of different native organizations in the field of education was
another important development. Native organizations from all the religious communities of
the province entered the field and did a precious work for the education of their respective
religious communities. Missionaries‘ increasing social and religious influence in the society
was the major source of drawing them in the field.
167
Chapter 5
Christian Missionary Education in the Twentieth Century
(1901-1947)
The missionaries entered the twentieth century with the decision of adopting the
‗trickle down‘ policy in the field of education. Since their review of the previous fifty years
efforts suggested a shift in their future course of action therefore they modified their previous
policy in which quality of instruction preceded the quantity of educational institutions. So
their educational activities in this last phase—from the dawn of the twentieth century to the
end of the colonial rule in the subcontinent in 1947— were driven by their desire of
improving the quality of instruction at their institutions. They adopted different measures to
make their institutions the symbol of quality education. Their quality improvement measures
for the male missionary educational institutions comprise the establishment of Union
Institutions, improvement in the quality of training of the teachers, increased focus on the
religious efficiency, improvement in the education of the native Christians and the like. The
same policy of qualitative improvement was implemented in the field of women education.
In addition to the quality of education at missionary schools for girls, the initiation of
women‘s higher education was the major challenge for the missionaries. The missionaries
initiated their efforts to meet the challenges of the new century. They focused on the supply
of the female teachers, both in quality and in quantity, for their girls‘ schools. Separate
curriculum for the girls‘ schools was also an essential element to improve the quality of
education therefore the missionaries worked in this field also. Development of the girls‘
higher education led them to introduce co-education at collegiate level. They also established
168
a pioneer institution for the higher education of the girls in the province where the students
were encouraged to adopt western ideals. This chapter contains the history of missionaries‘
educational efforts during the first half of the twentieth century. The chapter attempts to
explore the key measures, taken by the missionaries, which transformed their educational
institutions from the low class institutions to those of emblem of excellence. It also studies
the missionaries‘ role in the initiation of women‘s higher education, in the province. The
academic and social impact of the missionaries‘ endeavours in the field of women‘s
education is also discussed in this chapter. The missionaries‘ efforts in the fields of men and
women are discussed separately in this chapter.
5.1 Qualitative Measures in Boys’ Schools
The recommendations of the Indian Education Commission made the field wide open
for all the educational agencies. In this atmosphere of open competition, the missionary
institutions were supposed to compete with those managed by the non-missionary agencies,
including the government institutions. Anticipating to the challenges of the field, the
missionaries saw improvement in the quality of education at missionary schools as the best
solution to survive in the field. Consequently, they decided to improve the quality of
education at their educational institutions, instead of their numeric increase. As a corollary,
by 1902, they initiated their efforts to maintain their institutions in as high a state of
efficiency as possible.505
The improvement in the standard of instruction needed a total
revision of missionaries‘ priorities at their educational institutions. The matter was discussed
505
‗Findings of Calcutta Conference‘, in the Findings of the Continuation Committee Conferences held in Asia,
1912-1913 Arranged by Topics (New York City: Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign missions, 1913),
211, also See National Conference for India in the Findings of the Continuation Committee Conferences held in
Asia, 1912-1913 Arranged by Topics (New York City: Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign missions,
1913), 212.
169
at different levels and the missionaries working in the field were also consulted to decide the
preferences to improve the quality of education at missionary institutions. The ‗World
Missionary Conference‘ 1910, held at Edinburgh did commendable task in this direction.506
The meticulous analysis of educational conditions of their institutions and that of the ground
realities of the time led the missionaries to incorporate some fundamental changes at their
educational institutions.
5.1.1 Provision of Trained Teaching Staff
Teachers‘ training was considered the most important area to improve the quality of
instruction at the schools. The scarcity of trained and qualified teaching staff was taken as
one of the major hurdles in the way of quality instruction at mission schools. As, the persons
equipped for educational work can produce quality education507
therefore the training of the
teaching staff was considered the best means to produce the desired results. So trained
teachers were suggested to give priority over the untrained ones at the time of new
appointments.508
These kind of considerations shifted the focus on the training of teachers
and ultimately to the establishment of Normal schools or hostels attached to the Government
training schools.509
The field of training was made attractive through the initiation of the
scheme of scholarships for the trainees. The missionary societies started to award
scholarships to induce the students towards the training institutions. The scholarships were
awarded on the conditions laid down by the Government, according to which the scholars
506
It appointed a Continuation Committee to carry forward the investigations started by the Commissions. Dr.
John R. Mott. the Chairman of WMC, visited principal Asiatic mission fields from October 1912 to May1913
and discussed different matters, including that of the measures for the qualitative improvement in missionary
educational institutions, with the missionaries in the field. Ibid., 7. 507
Ibid., 213. 508
Ibid., 211. 509
Ibid., 215.
170
were bound to serve in the schools of the respective society.510
This measure was quite
helpful in inducing the students to the training and ultimately in fulfilling the teaching needs
of the respective Society.
The missionaries became conscious of maintaining a balance in the number of
teachers and that of the students at their schools. The excessive number of students in a class
was considered to mar the performance of the teacher. The ‗National Conference for India‘
recommended a sufficient increase in the number of existing teaching staff at missionary
schools. It recommended that:
The number of teachers, foreign and Indian, engaged in our colleges and schools,
should be largely increased, so that they shall not be so entirely absorbed in their
educational duties as to be precluded from close personal contact with their present
and past students.511
Maintenance of teachers‘ training institutions was one of the remedies suggested for
the disease. But the limited financial benefits, attached to the job, and lack of job security
were the major concerns of mission school teachers. As, during 1904-05, a large number of
efficient staff of Rang Mahal School Lahore was attracted by the Government school due to
the provided better package of pensions.512
Responding to this challenging situation, the
missionaries also decided to provide better packages for their teachers. Having these factors
in mind the Conference recommended to attach extra benefits with the profession of teaching
and suggested:
510
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, Sialkot,
India, October 15th
to 26th
, 1915 (Rawalpindi: Frontier Exchange Press, 1915), 448- 49. 511
Findings of National Missionary Conference for India‘, 213, 512
One Hundred and Third Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1905), 151.
171
That every legitimate effort be made to make the teaching profession attractive by
ensuring reasonable permanence of appointment, promotion, salary and provision of
old age.513
The missionaries were successful in drawing a sufficient number of candidates in
their training institutions. But the ever increasing number of pupils were difficult to manage
in the existing training institutions. For instance, Christian Training Institution at Sialkot was
gaining popularity and, in 1915, there were 252 students on the roll of the institution. The
boarding of the institution, which was recommended for not more than 76 people, was more
than full and there were 194 boarders residing in it. The number of students, at the boarding,
continued to increase and was gone to 209 in 1918. This type of situation confronted the
missionaries with another challenge of lack of sufficient number of institutions. The
missionaries felt the need of the day and decided to establish new training institutions in the
field. So they establish more training institutions to accommodate these teachers of the
future. The United Presbyterian Mission, following the decided policy, recommended the
establishment of a training institution at Sheikhupura, in 1918.514
5.1.2 Religious Efficiency
Religious efficiency was also considered an important component to improve the
standard of missionary school. It urges upon the creation of an efficient and strong Christian
atmosphere in the missionary schools. The presence of a strong and sufficient Christian staff
was the first and foremost requirement to achieve this end. But the scarcity of Christian
teachers, in the mission schools, was a major impediment in achieving the goal of religious
efficiency. Non Christian teachers were considered unsuitable for the teaching of Bible and
513
Findings of National Missionary Conference for India‘, 215. 514
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, Sialkot,
India, October 18th
to 26th
, 1918 (Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1918), 228.
172
other religious teachings. But they were holding their positions at mission schools due to the
paucity of Christian teachers in the field. The ‗National Conference for India‘ recommended
the replacement of non-Christian teachers with those of Christian religion.515
Since, the profound Christian impression, rather than a diffused Christian atmosphere
became the order of the day. The increased number of students, without having sufficient
number of Christian teachers, generally had a negative impact on the progress of a school,
especially in terms of its religious efficiency. So the choice of efficient education prompted
the missionaries to fix this important issue. The National Conference of India considered the
matter and suggested the maintenance of a suitable proportion between the number of
students and that of effective Christian members of the staff. The Lahore Conference also
observed in the same vein and declared that:
In order to attain the fullest efficiency, ……… It is further recommended that mission
schools and colleges be not multiplied more rapidly than they can be manned by
Christian teachers.516
The hostels attached to the mission schools and colleges were and effective means of
creating Christian atmosphere at their respective institution. The missionary administrative
staff at these kinds of hostels, especially the top of the hierarchy was considered to play a key
role in establishing Christian culture in the daily life of the resident students.517
In this
context, the ‗National Conference of India‘ suggested to bring all mission hostels under the
charge of Christian superintendents. Due to the extended importance of this office, the
515
‗Findings of National Missionary Conference for India‘, 213. 516
Ibid., 209. 517
Eugene Stock, The History of Church Missionary society, 200.
173
superintendents should be ―thoroughly qualified by character to exert a strong spiritual
influence‖ on the resident Pupils.518
Religious teaching especially that of the Bible, was preferred at almost every mission
school. Christian teachers of mission schools conduct Bible classes daily in the schools. A
period of forty minutes, on daily basis, was specifically used for the teaching of Bible. In
addition, the other subjects were also adapted in Christian spirit and they were quite useful in
diffusing Christian spirit in the school. They were given scholarships to study religious
pedagogy, abroad, to adopt the latest teaching techniques in the teaching of Bible. The
missionaries believed that the success of students, in different examinations mainly
evaluating their secular knowledge, exerted a strong pull on the students to prefer secular
subjects to that of the Bible.519
Competitions of Bible studies, among the mission school
students were started to improve the religious efficiency and arousing the pupils‘ interest in
the Bible studies. These competitions were hoped to neutralize the attraction of secular
knowledge.
5.1.3 Union Institutions
The competitive atmosphere of the Indian education field prompted the missionaries
to unite their efforts. Previously the missionaries were overstretched by establishing more
and more institutions which made it difficult for them to concentrate on the one main school.
This lack of concentration was one of the major hurdles in the way of maintaining quality
instruction at missionary schools. Moreover the missionaries were making their endeavours
518
‗Findings of National Missionary Conference for India‘, 215 519
One Hundred and Third Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America, 151.
174
separately and even with some rivalry with the other missionary societies.520
Although the
missionaries supported one another521
yet their efforts in the field of education were devoid
of cooperation. For instance, Church Missionary Society and the Presbyterian Missionaries
showed hospitality for each other and adopted the rules of missionary comity as their
working basis. They demarcated their territories and did not interfere with the work of each
other but the collective efforts, to build quality institutions, were totally missing in their
relationship. The challenges of the twentieth century made the missionaries to join hands and
put collective efforts to meet those of the changed scenario. By the start of the twentieth
century, the missionaries felt the united efforts as the need of the day and decided to unite
their efforts. The missionary bodies working in the Punjab took a step in this direction as
early as 1904. They formed a central council under the chair of Bishop, consisting of clerics,
lay men, and certain officials, to unite all their work.522
The National Conference of India,
recognizing the need of co-operation, made an appeal for co-operation to the missionaries in
the field and urged them to put their collective efforts in establishing and maintaining
educational institutions especially those of higher class. The views of the Bishop Whitehead
were typical who felt the dire need of co-operation to achieve the desired goals. At the annual
meeting of CMS, in 1914, he urged the missionaries to unite their force. He described his
experience in the following works:
When I first went to India thirty years ago I was strongly opposed to co-operation
with bodies outside the Church of England. Thirty years experience has made me a
520
Rivalry of SPG with the Baptists and the missionaries of the Church Missionary Society in the territory of
Delhi are some common examples. 521
As the Church Missionary Society came to the province of the Punjab on the invitation of C. W. Forman, a
missionary of Presbyterian Church of America. They maintained their spirit of mutual friendship in the
subsequent years. Henry Martin Clark, Robert Clark of the Punjab, 56. 522
Eugene Stock, The History of Church Missionary society, II, 201.
175
complete convert…..if we are to do the work as God calls us to do it, we must have
co-operation now.523
As a corollary to these efforts the co-operation among different missionary
organizations became the hallmark of the twentieth century mission history. Efforts were put
to unite the missionary force and steps were taken to improve the standard of missionary
educational institutions. The efforts of the Punjab Christian Conference, in uniting and
inspiring a spirit of brotherhood in the Christian community, were of special note.524
The missionaries‘ efforts culminated into the development of different Union
institutions, under missionary organizations, in the twentieth century. The efforts were made,
by different missionary societies, to approach U.P Mission with a view to offer their co-
operation for Boys Industrial Home Gujranwala in making it a Union institution.525
Language
school of Landour was another good example of missionaries‘ Union institutions. As it
accepts missionaries from the other societies and train them in their desired languages.
Kinnaird College for women, Lahore and Woodstock College at Landour were the highlights
of missionaries‘ united efforts, in pursuit of establishing institutions of high standard.
5.1.4 Provision of Basic Facilities at Missionary Schools
In addition to all these measures, a special attention was focused on improving the
hygienic conditions at missionary schools. Large sums were incurred for renovation and
buildings purposed. The provision of fresh water and that of latrines got special attention of
523
Eugene Stock, The History of Church Missionary society, II, 193. 524
Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.(Philadelphia: Office of the
General Assembly, 1922), 253. 525
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, Sialkot,
October 19th
to 24th
, 1925( Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1926), 329.
176
the missionaries. The Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, on his visit to the Mission High
School, Gujranwala, in 1915, admired the new building of the school in the following words:
I was glad of having an opportunity of paying a visit to the new Mission High School
building this morning. The school is an admirable one, and the new buildings are very
spacious, open, and airy. The high price of land in the vicinity prevents the expansion
which the management would desire but they are to be congratulated on having
accomplished so much for an institution which has done and is still doing excellent
work in Gujranwala.526
5.1.5 Focus on the native Christians
The education of the native Christian community also got attention of the
missionaries in the twentieth century. The major reason behind this development was the
conversion of a large number of low caste natives. The educational, social and financial
condition of these people was very poor. They were in dire need of some support from their
new co-religionists. On the other hand the establishment of native church was a longstanding
desire of Christian missionaries therefore they wanted the native congregations to establish
independent native churches. But the church needed educated leaders which were rare to find
in the native Christian community. This situation led the missionaries to take fundamental
steps for the education of the native Christian community. The missionaries suggested that
special attention should be focused on the education of Christian pupils at missionary schools
and colleges. So the Safeguard of the rights of Christian pupils became the foremost priority
of missionary educators.527
In order to improve the quality of instruction for the Christian
pupils, the National Conference of India suggested their separation from the students of other
526
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, 1915,
450. 527
‗Findings of Jubbulpore Conference‘, in the Findings of the Continuation Committee Conferences held in
Asia, 1912-1913 Arranged by Topics (New York City: Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign missions,
1913), 205.
177
religious communities. The idea was imported from the girls‘ educational institutions which
were imparting quality education to the Christina girls, in the separate classes. The separation
of the boys at primary stage was the most desirable priority.528
Moreover the missionaries
were suggested to pay their attention to the education of the village Christians also.529
The education of the native Christian community became more important for the
missionaries and they tried to take measures for the betterment of their everyday life. The
Christian students were encouraged to go to normal schools for training and, afterwards,
were preferred over the non-Christian candidates for appointment. Christian teachers were
given prominence and non-Christian teaching staff was largely replaced by that of Christian
teachers. The scholarships for Christian children were announced. Scholarships were also
awarded to the competent students to continue their studies at higher level. In 1915, 2
scholarships were given to the students of normal classes and 7 to the Christian students.530
U.P Mission Sialkot raised the amount of scholarships for the Christian students to Rs. 9388
in 1919 which was the largest amount it paid ever to its students.531
The Education Board of
Mission schools noted the measure as satisfactory.532
The missionaries also formed different village schools to accommodate their village
brethren in the field of education. The provision of trained teaching staff at the rural schools
was a major problem in establishing schools in the rural sites. The missionaries solved the
problem by establishing training schools in these areas. Training school at Moga was a
528
‗Findings of National Missionary Conference for India‘, 214. 529
‗Findings of Jubbulpore Conference‘, 205. 530
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, 1915,
,451. 531
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, 1919,
,228. 532
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, Sialkot,
October, 18th
to 27th
, 1920, (Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1920), 380.
178
typical example which was established to train the village Christians in their religion and
teaching. Training schools at Hajipura near Sialkot, was also founded to accommodate the
rural community.
Initiation of industrial training at missionary schools was a distinct decision taken
with a view to better the financial condition of the native converts. In addition to the
initiation of many types of vocational courses at missionary schools, different industrial
institutions were also established. For instance, industrial school was established at
Saharanpur and Ferozepur. The arts such as gardening, tailoring, blacksmithing,
carpentering, shoemaking, etc, were taught at these schools. The learning of these arts was
supposed to improve the financial condition of the learners. There were 175 students on the
roll of Saharanpur industrial school in 1905, with majority of these learning trades. In 1910,
32 students were learning carpeting, 5 blacksmithing, 12 shoemaking, and 7 tailoring.533
A
Boys Industrial Home was also started at Gujranwala in 1917. It was working quite
satisfactorily and the plan of its extension, to accommodate the increasing number of pupils,
was under process during 1919s. Moreover, vocational classes were started at Christian
Training Centre, Sialkot, in 1921.534
Furthermore, the U.P Mission decided to take steps for
the development of other indigenous industries—like pottery, tanning, shoemaking, basketry,
book-binding and the like.535
Rang Mahal High School at Lahore was one of the most important schools in the
province. Its presence at the cultural hub of the province and its multi directional influence
533
One Hundred and Eighth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1910), 180. 534
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, 1921.
56. 535
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Sialkot Mission of the Presbyterian Church of North America, 1919,
299.
179
on the lives of the people further increased its importance. A brief historical overview of this
school during the first quarter of the twentieth century would be appropriate in
comprehending the missionaries‘ adoption and implementation of the qualitative measures in
their schools.
5.1.6 Rang Mahal High School, Lahore: A Reflection of Quality Institution
The pioneer missionary school situated in the capital of the Punjab was established by
the pioneer Presbyterian missionary C.W. Forman, in 1849. It earned a good name for its
extended network in the town during the first phase of missionary activities. During this
period it expanded its base and tried to have more and more students. In 1876-77, it was the
largest school among the entire lot of aided educational institutions. It had 22 branches
attached to the main school with the total enrolment of 1277 students on the roll.536
At the
main school, 12 out of 372 students were Christians and the teaching staff of 12 comprised 6
Christians.537
After the adoption of the policy of qualitative improvement, the school management
abandoned its efforts for expansion, in terms of number of students on the roll. As, in the
opening decade of the twentieth century, the number of students were a little lower than that
in 1876-77.538
The building of the school was although old but the hygienic conditions were
better than the others. As during the time of outbreak of the plague, the periodic and thorough
measures taken by the school management, remained it disinfected and it remained open,
536
Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1876-77, xxxvi. 537
Ibid., XXXVI. 538
There were 1136 and 1071 students on the roll in 1804 and 1809 respectively, against those of 1277 in
1876-77. See One Hundred and Third Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States of America, 151 and One Hundred and Eighth Annual Report of the Board of Home
Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 188 , in comparison with the report of
popular education Report on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Year 1876-77, 74.
180
whereas those of the other agencies were closed. No death on account of attending the school
was observed in this period of calamity.539
Moreover the building and the conditions of the
classrooms was improved progressively and, by 1914, all the rooms had sufficient furniture
and appliances. The inspector of schools therefore declared it ‗one of the best equipped in the
division.‘540
The school management was quite eager in maintaining a good number of teachers in
proportion to the number of students. This remains the focus of the management and the
schools were having 50 teachers for 1000 students on the role, in 1920.541
This proportion, of
one teacher for twenty students, was quite a good one for a teacher to pay individual attention
to the students. Due to the paucity of the Christian teachers, the teaching staff during the first
decade of the twentieth century was mainly dominated by the non-Christian teaching staff.
But, in spite of the flight of the best teaching staff during 1904-05, due to the better package
of pension, the school was able to maintain a sufficient number of teachers, in accordance
with the number of students.542
On the other hand, the paucity of Christian teaching staff did
not last for long and, during 1912, six Christian teachers were inducted in the staff.543
The
measure had a healthy effect in improving the standard of the school, in terms of religious
efficiency.
539
One Hundred and Third Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America 1905, 151. 540
One Hundred and twelfth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1914), 204. 541
One Hundred Eighteenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1920), 239 542
One Hundred and Third Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America , 151. 543
One Hundred tenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States of America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1912), 237.
181
The year, 1915, was marked by the increased interest, of the teachers as well as of the
students, in the teaching of Bible. The teachers spent most of their time in studying religious
pedagogy to improve their methodology of religious teaching. The students were daily taught
Bible and a considerable time was set aside for this purpose.544
The management of the
school stuck to achieve its declared objective of ―making Christ known by word and life as a
personal Saviour‖.545
By 1922 the school was using graded teaching of Bible according to the
following scheme of studies. The boys at primary section were taught the ‗Bible Lessons for
Little Beginners‘ and Bible stories from the old and new testament. The boys of the middle
section learnt ‗Heroes of Israel, a course on the life of Christ, and ‗what it Means to Be a
Christian‘ in the first, second, and third years of their studies, respectively. The High school
boys were given a complete knowledge of the life of Christ with a view of presenting him as
a Saviour. Special emphasis was focused on transforming the knowledge about the Church
membership, discipleship, missions, and about the future life.546
The civic training of the students was a distinct component of missionary education.
They were encouraged to found and manage the affairs of local societies at missionary
schools and colleges. This healthy activity was supposed to train the students in the worldly
affairs as well as to arouse their leadership qualities. Rang Mahal School, being the leader of
the lot, had a special emphasis on this aspect of missionary education. During the early
1910s, the older Christian boys of the school were encouraged to establish a fund for the
betterment of their poor brethren at school. A committee, of four students a headmaster and a
544
One Hundred Thirteenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America (New York: Presbyterian Building, 1912), 219. 545
One Hundred Eighteenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America 1920, 239. 546
Ibid.
182
Principal, was formed to collect funds. The fund gained good popularity and the students
were supported in their books, fees, and clothing.547
The presence of a large number of graduates at key posts under the provincial
Government, during the second quarter of the twentieth century, shows the excellent standard
of education that the school attained in this period. Mr. K. L. Rallia Ram, the Headmaster of
the school, earned another type of honour for the school. He was elected as the member of
Legislative Council, in 1922. He was the second Vice-president of the Lahore Municipal
committee. As a member of Legislative Council, he had the honour to introduce a resolution,
in favour of Local option in the province.548
5.1.7 General Impact of Missionaries’ New Policy
The most important feature of this period was the commencement of missionaries‘
efforts to achieve the high standard of instruction at their educational institutions. Although
they abandoned their efforts of expansion yet it did not mean that the missionaries ended all
of their efforts to open the new schools. They did open new schools, but in the rural areas
with a view to accommodate the Christian village community. Being a major missionary
Society to contribute in the educational field of the Punjab, the efforts of the Presbyterian
Mission of America during 1910-1922, are worth noting. The following table tells the story
of their efforts during this period.
547
One Hundred tenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States of America 1912, 237. 548
Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A 1922, 239.
183
Table 5.1: Number of students in the missionary schools during 1910-1922
Data extracted from the Annual Reports of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America, for the Years 1910 to 1922.
Missionaries‘ new policy of qualitative improvement had a mixed impact on the
society. It was good in improving the quality of instruction at the schools and presenting a
model for the others to follow. Previously, the missionary schools were lacking in efficiency
and the Inspectors of schools, time and again mentioned the lower standard of instruction at
these schools.549
But, the standard of missionary educational institutions was improved
considerably, in the twentieth century. The missionary educational institutions were rated as
first class institutions and most of the graduates of these institutions were successful in
securing good jobs in the Government sector.550
Rang Mahal School of Lahore along with
the Mission Schools at Ludhiana, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Gujranwala were the typical
examples of high standard mission schools.
549
Reports on Popular Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies for the Years 1864-65 to 1876-77. 550
One Hundred Eighteenth Annual Report of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America 1920. , 239.
Year No. of schools No. of pupils Year No. of schools No. of pupils
1910-11 90 5655 1916-17 161 6759
1911-12 109 5665 1917-18 121 6671
1912-13 121 6442 1918-19 97 5973
1913-14 120 6326 1919-20 104 6732
1914-15 134 6530 1920-21 96 6507
1915-16 146 6523 1921-22 97 6361
184
Teachers‘ training was another issue related to the efficiency of the schools. The
insufficient supply of trained teaching staff was a major problem in the previous century. In
addition to the insufficient supply, the poor quality of training was also considered to be a
major problem in attaining the objective of quality instruction. The standard of teaching was
reasonably improved due to the increasing supply of trained teachers from the missionary
training institutions.
It is a noteworthy fact that the conversions taken place during this period were mostly
from the lower classes of the society. The newly formed Christian community, consisting of
former outcasts, was mostly from the lowest rung of the social ladder. Their education at
boarding schools was quite meaningful in transforming their social habits.551
The schemes of
industrial and vocational education were started to better the financial condition of these
depressed classes of the society. These institutions tried their best and, to some extent,
fulfilled the desired objectives. But in the long run these institutions had a very little impact
on the financial and social status of the majority of the existing Christian community.552
In addition to the conversion of the people missionary institutions did a lot in
diffusing the Western social values in the society. The study of Western sciences, at
missionary schools, was quite helpful in developing the spirit of reasoning and logic in the
minds of the people. Moreover many people from the upper rung of the society were
influenced by the Christina spirit but did not come to the Christian fold. But, these people
were important because they, in spite of not losing their faith, came hard at the rites and
rituals of their religion. They spirit of scepticism, created in them by the missionary
551
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in Southern Asia, 44. 552
As at the time of partition, in 1947, and even today the Christian community is not in a position to rate
themselves as upper or middle class of the society.
185
educational institutions, opened their eyes and they became sceptical of their religious
principles.553
It was termed as a great success on the part of missionary schools.
5.2 Missionaries Endeavours in the Field of Women’s Education
Education of women in the Punjab was still in a backward condition, at the dawn of
the twentieth century. Although considerable efforts were made by the Christian
missionaries, government and the native organizations, during the previous fifty years, yet a
meagre improvement was recorded in terms of increase in the literacy rate of the female
population of the province. The comparison of the returns of the census of 1901 and those of
the 1881 clearly showed the negligible progress made in this field of education. Three
women, out of one thousand, were found to be literate in 1901 against one out of thousand in
1881.554
The remarks of the Indian Education Commission also supported the argument by
stating ―it have been seen that female education is still in an extremely backward condition
and that it needs to be fostered in every legitimate way.‖555
The Director of Public
Instruction, Punjab, in 1900-1901, also observed in the same vein and described the
improvement in the field of women education in these words: ―The female education is
making slow but perceptible progress, but it is still in its infancy.‖556
In spite of the inadequate progress in the increase of women‘s literacy rate, during the
last half of the nineteenth century, some encouraging developments were also observed. The
prejudices against women‘s education were reduced to a considerable proportion and the
girls‘ schools were having not as much problems as at the time of annexation, in terms of
553
Sanjay Seth, ‗Secular Enlightenment and Christian Conversion: Missionaries and Education in Colonial
India‘, 37-38. 554
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 60 and
Census of India, 1901. 555
A. Biswas and S.P. Agarwal, Development Of Education In India, 31. 556
Report on the Public Instruction in the Punjab and its dependencies for the Year 1900-01, 4.
186
strength of their students. The normal schools were also playing good role in providing an
augmented supply of female teachers consequently the supply of the female teachers for the
girls‘ schools was better than that in the previous century. So the ground was prepared and a
satisfactory improvement in the field of women‘s education was anticipated. Although the
collegiate education for women was totally non-existent in the field but the development of
school education, during the past fifty years, was expected to provide the foundation for the
former.
5.2.1 Challenges of the Twentieth Century
The challenges of women‘s education, at the dawn of the twentieth century, differ
from those in the previous fifty years. The social atmosphere of the society was changed and
the prevailing prejudices against women‘s education in the society were reduced, to some
extent. The reduction of the social prejudices against the women‘s education was resulted
into increase in the number of students at girls‘ schools. This changed situation posed serious
challenges to the proponents of the women education in the province. As, the streaming of
girls students towards the schools, as a result of this change, created some serious problems
like, the shortage of teaching staff , lack of sufficient space and buildings for these schools,
and likewise. So the changed circumstances demanded some serious planning, on the part of
the schools‘ management.
Paradoxical to the initiation of the school education, women‘s higher education, at the
start of the twentieth century, was totally non-existent in the province. The missionaries,
during the second half of the nineteenth century, were able to implant school education, with
the active support of the British government, but the matter of collegiate education was still
187
in abeyance. The fostering of women‘s higher education, due to the serious social as well as
financial constraints attached to it, was a big challenge for the promoters of female education.
5.3 Qualitative Measures in the Girls’ Schools
The same policy of qualitative improvement was adopted in the field of women‘s
education also. The decision worked well for the cause of women‘s education in the region.
The missionaries‘ previous efforts of quantitative improvement were beneficial in implanting
the girls‘ education in the province. During the nineteenth century, the missionaries tried to
approach all and sundry by establishing schools throughout the province. On the other hand
the native people were not interested in the education of their girls. So the missionaries had
to work hard to bring the girls to the schools. But, the circumstances, at the start of the
twentieth century, were different and the people were willing, to some extent, to send their
girls to schools due to the motivational work done by the missionaries in the previous
century. Their efforts to bring the girls to schools became successful but their compromise on
the quality of education, during the process, was not without its grave consequences. But the
missionaries‘ decision, to focus the quality of education at their institutions, looked to be a
good decision to make amends for their previous shortcomings. They started using their
resources to deal with the problems like the shortage of trained teaching staff for the girls‘
schools, lack of separate curriculum for the girls‘ schools, lack of sufficient buildings, space
and furniture, development of higher education, etc instead of extending their network.
5.3.1 Training of the Female Teachers
Diffusion of true education depends a lot more on the personality and zeal of the
teaching staff and on their numeric adequacy than on the commodious buildings and
188
expensive equipments. The provision of female trained teaching staff in the women‘s
educational institutions, in the Punjab was the major problem in the way of spreading
education among the female folk of this region. Although the level of difficulty was not as
high for the missionaries as it was for the other agencies yet the problem existed in their way
in terms of imparting quality education. As the training schools for women teachers were
mostly maintained by the missionaries‘ bodies with the object of supplying teachers to their
own schools557
therefore they had little problems, in terms of the supply of female teachers.
The review of the previous performance of missionaries‘ schools suggested that the main
reason of their poor performance, during the previous century, lay in the defective training of
the teachers. The supply of female teachers for their schools was sufficient in numbers but
the quality of training was inferior to that of the desired standards. None of the three normal
schools in the province, in 1882-83, for the training of teachers for girls‘ schools, was
reported to answer the purpose for which they were maintained.558
Consequently, to achieve
the objective of quality education, the missionaries decided to focus on the quality of training
of female teachers in their training institutions.
Most of the female training institutions were already in the hands of missionaries‘
bodies and, in twentieth century, they focused to improve the quality of their training at their
training institutions. They also increase the number of their training institutions to improve
the supply of teachers. As a corollary to their efforts their training institutions, during the
twentieth century, became the major contributors in the field of women‘s education. Kinnaird
girls‘ high school played an important role in training the women teachers for the girls‘
557
Sir Alfred Croft, Review of Education in India in 1886, with special Reference to the Report of the Education
Commission (Calcutta: the Superintendant of Government Printing, 1888), 288. 558
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 62.
189
schools. Up to 1916-17, it was the only institution which offered the English teachers‘
training course of two years, very similar to that of Junior Anglo-vernacular Certificate.559
The United Presbyterian American mission at Sialkot also maintained very good classes of
Junior and senior vernacular during the first half of the twentieth century. It held the
responsibility of providing the female teachers to all the missionaries‘ schools, maintained by
that mission at different places of the province. The Church Missionary Society at Amritsar
and the American Presbyterians at Ambala also contributed by maintaining the training
classes for the women of their respective areas.560
Furthermore, the missionaries also contributed by providing trained female teachers
to the government schools. A significant increase, in the number of girls‘ schools, was
observed after the state‘s attempts to ‗decentralize‘ and ‗Indianize‘ the administration of
education, in 1919. The dramatic increase in the number of female educational institutions,
throughout India, was a reflection of the West where social and economic domestic
transformations during both world wars, and the influence of feminist thought, saw the
gradual emergence of girls‘ education as a primary objective of reformist governments.561
This increase in the number of institutions was ultimately culminated into the scarcity of
female teachers for these schools. The missionaries helped the education department in
solving the problem by increasing the supply of missionary teachers to the government
schools. They also helped in the training of the female teachers by lending their helping hand
to the government teachers‘ training institutions. For instance, Lahore Normal School for
Women was having problems in terms of the residence of its students. No suitable place for
559
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies During the Quinquennium Ending,
1916-17 (Lahore: Superintendent Government Printing, 1917), 35. 560
Ibid., 45. 561
Tim Allender, ‗ Educational Futures: Creating a Female Education Space in Colonial India, 1854-1934‘, 1.
190
residential purpose was available to them. It was the Church of England Mission who came
forward and, in 1916-17, opened a special hostel under the mission‘s superintendence in
connection with the normal school.562
5.3.2 Curriculum of Girls’ Schools
The missionaries also focused on the curriculum of their girls‘ schools. They made
fundamental changes to enrich it with a view to improve the quality of their education. They
also tried to make their schools ‗change agents‘ by modifying their character to bring the
change in the traditional Punjabi society. Although the social values, which were creating
difficulties in the way of spreading education among the female multitude of the province,
were deteriorating gradually during the previous century, yet these social mores, still at the
start of the twentieth century, were existent in the society. Therefore, they initiated their
efforts to reform the conventional Punjabi society and tried to modify the curricula of their
institutions accordingly.
Up to the beginning of the twentieth century most of the girls were receiving
instruction in the same branches of general and professional knowledge as men, with the
exception of the Oriental studies, Engineering and Agriculture.563
The scheme of the studies,
in most of the girls‘ schools of the Punjab, was formed on the model of boys‘ schools. Such
instruction was almost unacceptable for the native population which was resulting into the
unpopularity of the girls‘ education in the province. As it was very unlikely for a woman in a
segregated country that the books prepared for boys would be either interesting or suitable to
the needs of the girls of the same area. Morality no doubt was the same for the both sexes and
562
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the year 1917-18 (Lahore: Superintendent of
Government Printing, 1918), 15. 563
Progress of Education in India 1902-1907, l (Calcutta: Superintendent Government, India, 1909), 212.
191
for all classes still the native community did not want to see its girls advancing in boldness
and independence of spirit.564
Female education possessing a separate course of studies, with
a distinct religious and moral character along with some secular instruction, to help the girls
becoming good housewives, was the need of the day which could induce the native
population to educate their female children.
With the turn of the century, the missionaries, constrained with the considerations to
improve the quality of education, initiated their efforts to make changes in the curriculum of
their girls‘ schools to match it with the social needs of the female folk of the Punjab.
Needlework, according to the English methods, was, already taught in some of the mission
schools565
but with the beginning of the twentieth century, the missionaries made it an
integral part of the curricula of all their schools. In addition to the teaching of needlework
they also introduced the teaching of Domestic economy in some of their institutions. The
Boarding schools as compared to the day schools had ample opportunities to impart practical
training in the household work. The Christian Boarding Schools took up the subject
efficiently and consequently were able to earn a good name in this field. Practical training of
cooking, cleaning, washing and stretching the clothes, ironing, and housekeeping became the
integral part of the Christian boarding schools like those of Sialkot and Delhi. 566
Physical
training of female pupils was also the phenomenon of Christian missionaries‘ girls‘ schools.
Most of the schools, other than missionaries‘, were not having any proper arrangement for
the physical exercise of the female students due to the lack of space, equipment and that of
564
William Hunter, Report of the Indian Education Commission, Calcutta 83, 534. 565
Report of the Provincial Committee for the Punjab, of the [Hunter] Education Commission, 1884, 62. 566
Report on the Public Instruction in the Punjab and its dependencies for the Year 1900-01, 26.
192
organization of the games.567
On the contrary the missionaries were very much concerned
about the physical exercise of the girls and therefore initiated their efforts in this direction.
The girls were encouraged to take part in the games especially the boarding schools had
arrangements for indoor and outdoor games, on regular basis, for their residents.
5.3.3 General Impact
The quality management measures of the Christian missionaries were quite helpful in
improving the standard of female education in the province. Although these schools were not
able to produce desired results, in terms of conversions, yet they were able to produce a
generation who was fired with zeal for the service of mankind.568
Boarding schools, where
the children of the converts were given a Christian education in an atmosphere totally
different from the existing conservative society, were meant to be the fittest means for
revolutionary change in the society. Transformation of the personal habits was one of the
glaring features of these institutions because the missionaries were able to train the students
through their communal arrangements in the hostels of these schools. In this way the
missionaries used their institutions to develop trained leadership for the Christian
community.569
The missionaries‘ schools were also helpful in influencing the students of
other communities, also. The Christian schools provided a unique opportunity for the
missionary teachers to impart instruction in the faith to Hindu and Muslim youth through
Bible study and daily worship.570
567
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab and its Dependencies During the Quinquennium Ending
1916-17, 45. 568
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in South Asia, 41. 569
Ibid., 42-44. 570
P.D. Devanandan, Christian Issues in South Asia, 41.
193
The missionaries, in the nineteenth century, were able to draw, all the three major
religious communities, into the field of women‘s education. The Muslims, Hindus and the
Sikhs had some sort of educational networks for the education of their respective
communities. In the twentieth century, the missionaries created a healthy competition with
the native educational institutions, by their qualitative stress. So by their quality management
measures for their educational institutions, they drew the native individuals and organizations
in the competition and made them conscious about the quality of their respective educational
institutions. As Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, representing the Muslim community quickened
its efforts for the education of their women. Due to its serious concerns about the curriculum
of the girls‘ schools, it set up a publishing house which was involved in the publication of
books for the girls and these books were used all over the Punjab and beyond.571
Anjuman
also started secondary education for the Muslim girls and some institutions for this purpose
were founded in 1920s and 1930s.572
It established separate orphanages for men and women
where education was provided to the orphan boys and girls and children were prepared for
life.573
The Sikh reformers were also much concerned about the curriculum, taught in their
girls‘ educational institutions and this burning issue was debated in the Sikh newspapers and
periodicals of early twentieth century.574
The Sikh reformers believed that separate
curriculum for boys and girls was the need of the day and the otherwise option would be
destructive for the patriarchal oriental society. Opening of Sri Guru Kanya Maha Vidyalayia
by Bhai Takhat Singh was one of the major developments of the twentieth century, regarding
education of the Sikh women. As, by 1935, the institution singlehandedly produced 840
571
Sarah Ansari, ‗Winds of Change?‘ The Role of Women Activists in Lahore before and after Partition‘, 2. 572
S.Razi Wasti, ‗Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, Lahore—A Brief History‘, 69. 573
Ibid., 72. 574
Joginder Singh, ‗Women Education and Sikh Reformers: A Study of Sikh Newspapers and Periodicals in the
Early 20th
Century‘, Journal of Regional History, VII (2001): 79.
194
Matric, 1260 Middle and around 2500 primary students.575
So, the earnest efforts made by
the native reformers, to keep their respective communities away from the missionaries‘
institutions, and the missionaries‘ quality management measures were ultimately culminated
into the improvement of quality of female education in the province.
5.4 Initiation of Female Higher Education: Missionaries’ Contribution
Fostering of higher education among the women of the Punjab was another challenge
of the new century. Development of the female education, to the school stage, was the
phenomenon of the previous century and that of the higher education was the need of the
day. In addition to the social prejudices against the higher education of women, the nature of
education at college level was also a serious challenge for the promoters of women‘s higher
education in the province. Sensing the importance of the matter, the missionaries came
forward and initiated their efforts in this field.
5.4.1 Development of Collegiate Education
As stated above the female collegiate education, at the dawn of the twentieth century,
was non existent in the Punjab. The British Government, with the active support of Christian
missionaries, was successful in establishing some arrangement for the girls‘ education to the
level of secondary education. Due to the lessening the intensity of the local prejudices against
the female education, the female education to the level of school, can be said to be in a
flourishing condition as, at the close of the nineteenth century, there were 315 primary
schools with 12103 scholars, 25 middle schools with 1845 scholars and 9 high schools with
575
Ibid., 84.
195
875 scholars in the province. 576
In spite of this encouraging situation of women‘s education
at school level, the higher education was totally non-existent and, by the end of the
nineteenth century, not a single women‘s college was found in the province. But with the
turn of the century, the argument of the debate was shifted from the basic question ‗whether
the girls should be educated or not‘ to ‗how far women‘s education should go‘.577
Christian Missions, known as institution builders, responded positively to the issue of
fostering collegiate education for women in the Punjab. This uphill task in the Punjabi
society required a gigantic effort because of the conservative spirit of the society towards the
female education, which was still prevailing over the society with lesser intensity. The
prejudice against the college education of the girls was greater than that at school level and
the questions were raised about the women‘s intellectual capacity to do work and their
relevance of college experience.578
The native reformers had the strong belief that the women
were physically, mentally and spiritually inferior to their male counter parts and therefore
majority of the women were deprived of higher education. On the contrary the missionaries
stressed the intellectual equality of women and were of the opinion that men and women
should be taught the same scheme of studies. In fact the debate among the social reformers,
the provincial government and the Christian Missionaries, on the aforesaid questions,
hampered institutional development of women‘s higher education in the Punjab.579
576
Report on the Public Instruction in the Punjab and its dependencies for the Year 1900-01, 26-29. 577
David Moles, ‗Memsahibs, Goddesses and Whores: Debates over Women‘s Education in Late Nineteenth-
Century India (February, 2000): 7.
http://www.chrononaut.org/~dm/papers/education.pdf 578
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘,
56-57. 579
Ibid., 56.
196
a) Co-Education
The missionaries initiated their efforts in the field of collegiate education for women,
immediately after the turn of the century. Finding themselves lacking in resources to
establish separate colleges for women, they decided for the first time to adopt the policy of
co-education. This was a risky area to work as the society was not liberal enough to accept
this mode of education for their girls. Even at school level, co-education was not acceptable
to the native community. The girls attending boys‘ schools were considered to have little
protection and were brought up in an atmosphere not conducive to the development of
qualities of gentleness, reserve, and the quiet behaviour which was inherent in the Indian
ideal of womanhood.580
The majority of the inspectresses reported that the feelings of the
people in their circles were against co-education.581
But the missionaries took the first
practical step in this direction, in 1902-03, by admitting two female students in the Forman
Christian College, Lahore.582
The F.C. College remained the only institution to provide
higher education facilities to the women of this region, till the foundation of Kinnaird
College, the first women‘s College in the Punjab. Although the performance of the college,
in the early years, was below satisfactory due to the prevailing social intolerance towards co-
education yet the missionaries, slowly but steadily, became successful in promoting this
mode of instruction in the province. As, by the start of 1930s, many girls were found
studying in boys‘ colleges and a distinct inclination towards co-education at the collegiate
stage was observed583
580
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the year 1930-31 (Lahore: Superintendent
Government Printing, 1932), 70. 581
Progress of Education in India, 1902-1907, I, 260. 582
S.K. Datta, History of the Forman Christian College, selection from the records of the College 1869-1936, 9. 583
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the year 1930-31, 71.
197
b) Separate Girls’ Colleges
The experience of co-education did not proved to be successful in the conservative
society of the Punjab. The people were already not in favour of girls‘ education especially
that of higher education, and the system of co-education at higher level was extremely
unacceptable for them. Consequently the missionaries‘ efforts for the initiation of higher
education of women, through co-education, bore little fruits. So the missionaries decided to
try separate college for women and the foundation of Kinnaird College was the ultimate
result of the decision. Kinnaird College provided the real base for the girls‘ higher education
in the province. This premier women‘s educational institution was founded in 1913 by the
Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, a British Mission devoted to the work for South Asian
women.584
The management of the college was, initially, interested in increasing the
professional qualifications of the native Christian women but the missionary staff of the
college had to address the long debating issues like the competence of the women for
collegiate education and the relevance of college experience for women.585
So, in the
beginning the first Intermediate class, comprising six students, was started at Kinnaird Girls
High School with Miss Joan McDonald as Principal of the college. The girls who desired to
study beyond intermediate were obliged to study privately for degree examinations or to
attend some boys‘ college.586
Afterwards, the college was granted affiliation up to the B.A.
classes, in 1916, on the condition that the collegiate classes were held quite separately from
584
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 56. 585
Ibid., 56-57. 586
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the Year 1917-18, 17.
198
the school.587
So after the compliance of the condition, the B.A classes were commenced in
1917, by admitting five students in the third year class. 588
The college was started in and around Kinnaird Girls High School but, sensing the
need for more room to grow, was moved to Lake Road in 1926.589
The college administration
acquired twenty acres of land near Lahore's canal, in 1933, and new buildings were
constructed to accommodate the streaming numbers of girls studying at the college. The
college was shifted to the new building in 1938 and this twenty-acre campus was humming
with activity by 1939.590
The college remained the only institution in the province to impart
collegiate education to the female students, till the foundation of Lahore College for Women
in 1922. Both these colleges were the only women degree colleges in the province till 1939,
when Islamia College for Women was founded.
Kinnaird College was one of the major missionaries‘ institutions of the province and
it brought about major changes in the lifestyle of its students and ultimately in the social
structure of the society. This unique missionary institution performed a very critical role in
reforming the conservative Punjabi society as well as in promoting higher education among
the women of the province. The missionaries, through this institution, were able to break the
shackles of social customs and norms which, in their view, were depriving women from their
basic right of education. Although, in the beginning, the missionaries were unable to attract
the students from the Hindu and the Muslim communities but with the passage of the time
the prejudice was minimized and after 1933 the majority of the Students were found from the
587
Ibid. 588
Ibid., 17-18. 589
Official website of Kinnaird College, http://www.kinnaird.edu.pk/about-kinnaird-college, accessed on 28-
10-09 at 03-05 pm. 590
Ibid
199
Hindu community. The Muslim community was also influenced, directly or indirectly, by
this institution as its popularity forced the Muslim community to establish their own college,
to prevent the Muslim girls from joining the missionaries‘ institution. The missionaries‘
effective interference, in the field of women‘s higher education, consistently tempted the
other organizations to deliver in this field. So, this college from its inception to partition of
the province in 1947, either by its quality of education or by the distinct ethos based on
western ideals, provided a permanent source of promoting higher education in the province.
5.5 Qualitative Measures
Like the other fields of education, Christian missionaries applied their qualitative
measures in the field of female higher education also. They introduced the following
measures to improve the standard of their institutions.
5.5.1 Kinnaird College: A Union Institution
The adoption of the new policy of qualitative improvement tempted the missionaries
to direct their efforts to improve the quality of their existing educational institutions rather
than increasing the number of their institutions. Acting according to their policy, different
missionary societies joined hands to make the Kinnaird College their Union Institution in
1919. The Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, the American Presbyterian Mission, the
Church Missionary Society, the United Presbyterian Mission and the Punjab Indian Christian
Conference became the members of the Association of the College. The Church of Scotland
and the Methodist Church in Sothern Asia were also found to be providing financial support
to the college in the subsequent years. The College was governed by a Board of Directors
composed of the representatives of the members of the Association and some co-opted
200
members.591
The collective quality conscious efforts of the Christian missionaries bore fruits
and the college, due to its distinct quality of instruction and discrete personality building
features, achieved the status of an apex institution for girls‘ education.
The early days of the college were not without difficulties and the missionaries were
facing financial problems, due to the World War I, as well as those of students‘ strength, due
to the communal prejudices against the Christian missionaries and the higher education of
women. As only a few Hindu, Sikh and Muslim Punjabi families were willing to expose their
daughters to the influence of Christianity.592
But the missionaries faced these difficulties
judiciously and remained committed to achieve the basic object of quality instruction. So by
1920-21, only thirty eight students were on the rolls of the college but as a corollary to the
missionaries‘ qualitative stress the college started to show gratifying results. As in the same
year, Miss L. Fazal, a student of Kinnaird College, stood first in English in the University
and in addition to winning a university scholarship, was awarded the Patiala-Sime Gold
Medal. Miss Harkishen Lal, another student, also gained the Shah Din Asghari Khanum Gold
Medal for heading the list of women candidates in Urdu.593
The college also showed good
results in the co-curricular activities and carried off the gold medal for the best woman
speaker at All India Students‘ debate held at Hindu University Benares, in 1921-22.594
In a
nutshell, by 1930, the Kinnaird College acquired a reputation of standard-setting in certain
social skills. Moreover, its admission standards, teacher-pupil ratio, extracurricular activities
591
Directory of Churches and Missions in India and Pakistan (Ootacamund: the World Dominion Press, 1951),
308. 592
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 61. 593
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the Year 1920-21, 54. 594
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the Year 1921-22(Lahore: Superintendent
Government Printing, Punjab, 1922), 133.
201
and fee schedule combined to set it apart as the most prestigious women‘s college of the
region.595
The missionaries introduced many kinds of novel things for the purpose of enhancing
the performance of their institutions. Here in the Punjab they, most of the times, focused on
academic as well as the personality development features of the educational institutions.
Kinnaird College, as the missionaries‘ Union institution, reflected their collective wisdom
regarding their concept of quality educational institution. Here are some of its discrete
features which won fame for the college and helped it in maintaining its distinct character
amongst the contemporary institutions.
5.5.2 Building and Social Setting
It is true that good work depends far more upon the personality and zeal of the
teaching staff and on the pupils‘ keenness to learn than on commodious buildings and
expensive equipment. But a certain minimum of accommodation and equipment, in the way,
is however a necessary factor, if really good work is desired. In its absence energy is
dissipated and enthusiasm is apt to cool. Kinnaird College was grown out from a girls‘ High
school and therefore was in need of a building, commodious enough to fulfil the needs of the
college.
The missionary management of the college sensed the need of more room to grow
and shifted on the Lake Road building. But shortly after the shifting of the college at Lake
Road, the building failed to accommodate the ever growing number of students in the
college. The girls were streaming towards the college, but Kinnaird College along with
Lahore College for Women, the only degree colleges of the province till the late 1930s, were 595
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 71.
202
consistently compelled to refuse admission to many students owing to lack of sufficient
accommodation.596
The missionary administration responded positively to the needs of the
time and the Board of Directors of Kinnaird College as early as 1930 decided that the
existing compound was not large enough to fulfil the needs of the college.597
Therefore the
funds were collected in America and in England for the purchase of land and negotiations for
the purchase of site, a little outside Lahore, were proceeding.598
In 1933, a twenty acres tract
of land was acquired near Lahore‘s famous canal and new buildings were constructed to
house the ever increasing number of girls who were streaming towards this institution.599
By
1939 the college was moved to the new twenty acre campus and it started humming with
educational activity. The new campus proved to be spacious enough to fulfil the futuristic
needs of the college and the administration never faced the problem of accommodation, in
the future.
The early twentieth century Punjabi society was a collection of different religious
groups—Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, etc—each of these groups had its own social
hierarchy. Economic, linguistic and geographical factors were the indicators of social identity
in these groups. The norms of gender segregation underlying purdah were frequently
observed by almost all the three major communities—Hindu, Muslim and Sikh—which,
according to the missionaries‘, deprived the women from their basic right of education,
during the second half of the nineteenth century.600
But in the early twentieth century, the
intensity of gender segregation was lessened, to some extent, due to the development of girls‘
596
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the Year 1935-36 (Lahore: Superintendent
Government Printing, Punjab, 1937), 79. See also Reports on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the
Years 1930 to 1939. 597
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the Year 1930-31, 71. 598
Ibid., 71. 599
Official website of Kinnaird College. 600
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 58.
203
schooling in the province. Women‘s dependence on their male counterparts was another
social feature of the society and this tendency was found in all the middle and high-status
Punjabi women, regardless of their communal groups.601
This dependence of a young girl
was transferred from her natal to her conjugal family through the system of ‗arrange
marriage‘. This system of women‘s dependence, in missionaries‘ views, was highly
damaging for the education of the young girls. Moreover, joint family system of the society
was also considered to be a major hurdle in the way of female education. As, members of the
family were expected to fulfil the needs of the family before fulfilling their personal desires
consequently, the extended family system sacrificed the pleasures of an individual for the
sake of others‘ satisfaction.602
In this kind of social setting, the missionaries found themselves at back foot and
decided to select Lahore as the centre of their higher education activities. Lahore was the
provincial capital of the Punjab and thus was recognized as the cultural centre of new
English-educated Punjabi elite groups. As, men of these groups secured appointments in
government service by attending the English- language educational institutions, providing the
prerequisite for the government employment.603
The missionaries highlighted the utilitarian
aspect of the education and set professional ideals to attract the female students to their
institutions. They challenged the existing social values of the society, directly and indirectly.
5.5.3 Professional and Social Idealism
Christian missionaries used the social setting of Lahore to promote higher education
by encouraging professional ideals for women, instead of their dependence on their male
601
Ibid., 60. 602
Tom G. Kissinger, Vilyatpur, 1848-1968; Social and Economic Change in a North Indian Village (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1974), 177-184. 603
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 58.
204
family members. They, throughout the second quarter of the twentieth century, promoted
professional careers for educated women, through Kinnaird College. In their pursuit for
professionalism, the missionary staff of Kinnaird College overruled the provincial
government and University policies and directed students‘ life and extracurricular activities
to teach them to be informed teachers and responsible citizens instead of training them for
domestic roles.604
‗Social training‘ of the students was another feature of missionary
education at Kinnaird College. The missionary staff of the college encouraged women to
develop their ideas of what women could accomplish, in case they were inclined to assume
domestic roles as adults. The missionaries‘ stress on professionalism along with their
personality building features for women won them fame and, by 1930s, students from almost
all the religious communities of the province started to join Kinnaird College. In March
1931, 81 students were found on the rolls of the college, out of whom 39 were Christian, 20
Hindu, 12 Muslim, 8 Sikh, 1Parsi, and 1 Jain.605
The importance of the social and
professional skills was determined by the students‘ generation and natal religion.
The native Christian community of the Punjab had neither the established patterns of
seclusion nor the financial resources to keep their daughters at home until their marriage.606
Moreover, about one quarter of the first Christian community comprised orphans who were
in dire need of employment training due to non availability of families for their arrange
marriages. So the Initial Christian students, often coming from a real financial need, started
to attend the college mainly to get employment as teachers in the education department. The
missionary staff of Kinnaird College responded positively to their needs as, during 1920s,
604
Ibid, 57. 605
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the Year 1930-31, 72. 606
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 72.
205
they designed college life according to the needs of the Christian majority of students and
helped Christian graduates in finding employment in the mission schools network.607
The
ever expanding network of girls‘ educational institutions created lots of teaching vacancies
for women in the province. The missionaries also offered scholarships for the education of
Christian girls and help them in seeking some employment after graduation. In this way
education of a daughter became a good investment for the family which induced the
Christian families to educate their daughters. All these factors went on to the dominance of
Christian women in the teaching profession, till 1930.608
The Hindu girls started to dominate the students‘ body of the college from 1933 till
the partition of the Punjab in 1947. The early Hindu students, contrary to those of the
Christian community, came from economically privileged families of the Hindu community.
These families did not send their girls due to any financial constraints rather for the purpose
of their social accomplishment. The parents were determined to find suitable matches for
their daughters from the professional classes of the society and socialization of the girls was
considered to be a good merit in this regards. English education and university degrees
through Kinnaird College became a social accomplishment for the Hindu girls, in this way,
the prestige of English education from the Kinnaird made it an attractive investment for
Hindu families who wanted their daughters to marry professional men. 609
The Muslim students‘ representation at Kinnaird College was found to be lower than
that of the Christians and Hindus, till 1947. In fact very few Muslim families allowed their
daughters to join Kinnaird due to their fear of Christian influence and disapproval of the lack
607
Ibid., 73. 608
Ibid., 72. 609
Ibid., 75-78.
206
of purdah arrangements.610
Rather the Muslim students were attracted towards Lahore
College for women, which was a secular government college offering purdah facilities.611
The few students who joined Kinnaird College did so, on the inclination of their Western-
educated father or some other relative.
In a nutshell the missionaries, by presenting education as a professional or social
accomplishment, were able to induce the students which ultimately went on to the
development of Western ideals and the feelings of disregard for the prevailing conservative
attitude of the Punjabi society. The utilitarian factor, attached with teachers‘ training, and the
socialization of the students through English education were the glaring features of Christian
missionaries‘ higher education.
5.5.4 Western Culture
Grown out of a high school, Kinnaird College, by 1920, was able to establish itself as
a separate institution with a distinct ethos based on Western ideals. The ideals of the college
shaped a distinct philosophy of life which fostered common characteristics in the adult
lifestyle of its students, irrespective of their diverse religious identities. The Christian staff
imbued the students with moral and social values and college life influenced almost all
patterns of adult social interaction. It comprised lessening of gender segregation for educated
women, all aspects of marriage arrangements—from the age of the bride to the choice of
suitable husband and to their expectations of married life—and other aspects of life.612
610
Ibid., 79. 611
Report on the Progress of Education in the Punjab for the Year 1930-31, 71. 612
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 70.
207
The dormitory of the college and the extracurricular activities were the only means to
influence the social aspect of students‘ lives. As the curriculum of the college was dictated by
the University of the Punjab and the college staff was involved only in the above said two
areas of college activities. More than half of the students of the college used to live in the
college hostel and residents students continued to comprise between half and three-quarters
of the total enrolment of the students, till 1947.613
Most of these students, during the early
days of the college, lived in a small compound with the Christian missionaries and therefore
had the opportunities of frequent interaction with the missionary staff. This interaction
developed a familial solidarity, centred upon the mission staff‘s ideals, among the staff and
resident students. They took their meals together at the college as members of one family.614
This matter of common dining room, contradictory to the Hindu caste dietary exclusiveness,
was one of the significant features of Kinnaird College‘s hostel-life.
In addition to this the Muslim tradition of purdah was also non existent at Kinnaird
College. Even day students at college were not able to spare themselves from interacting with
the male community, due to the appointment of part-time male teachers. The missionary staff
thought the students‘ training of self reliance and responsibility, by allowing them some
social freedom under guidance, as the part of the function of the college which induced the
students to give up the restriction of purdah615
. Furthermore, the college was involved in the
coeducational public debates. The students of the college were consistently showing good
results in their debating and declamation competitions with both male and female candidates
at university level. This activity of participating in the mixed debates was a serious violation
613
Ibid., 62. 614
Staff, Kinnaird college for Women, Lahore (n.p., 1923), 11-12.cited in Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change
and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 62. 615
Staff, Kinnaird college for Women, Lahore, 11-12. Ibid.
208
of purdah restriction which was not without objections, even from the families which were
not observing purdah.616
I.T. McNair, the Principal of the college, enhanced the Kinnaird College‘s ethos,
developed in 1920s, by her emphasis on women‘s civic training and conviction that women‘s
education should be intellectually equal to that of men.617
The students were urged to develop
a sense of responsibility, as members of the college community, and a ‗civic spirit‘ that
would stay with them after graduation.618
For this purpose the college life was structured to
give students experience in different kinds of social settings, through the system of
committees to conduct the daily affairs of the college. The students, with the help of a staff
member, were involved in running the extra curricular activities such as debates, social
service, etc.619
As far as the intellectual equality of men and women is concerned, Kinnaird‘s
Principal McNair, in 1933, was glad to know that men‘s and women‘s colleges were to
follow the same procedure of granting degrees to their successful candidates in the university
examinations. In 1936, she strongly argued against the inclusion of domestic science in the
curriculum, in a university committee appointed by the Vice Chancellor to explore the
question of female education in reference to Indian social needs.620
The British Vice
Chancellor of the University was inclined to take in domestic science in the curriculum and
presented the matter by saying:
616
E.M. Edwards, Kinnaird College Records, 1922-23 , 9. Ibid., 64. 617
Ibid., 68. 618
I. T. McNair, KCR 1938-39,13; interview with Mangat Rai cited in Ibid., 64.. 619
Kinnaird College, Lahore; College Handbook (Lahore: the Punjab Religious Book Society Press, 1950), 2. 620
Ishwar Das to the Vice Chancellor, 11 June, 1936, cited in Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social
Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘, 67.
209
Would it not be possible to make the women‘s education of a far more practical kind
than it is now, so that no woman can obtain any kind of diploma or degree without
being really well-trained for what is bound to be the main occupation of 99% of her
sex? I do not see how we can avoid the conclusion that education has got to fit people
for the battle of life, but if education is going to unfit the women for the places they
will have to occupy in life, it will become harder and harder to obtain a strong public
opinion in favour of female education.621
McNair differed fundamentally with the views of the Vice chancellor and said that
domestic science should be based on science to have some academic value. Therefore, its
introduction must be preceded by the introduction of teaching of science in the girls‘ high
schools and colleges. In fact she was against the inclusion of domestic science in the
curriculum therefore, realizing the acute financial problems in introducing the science classes
at school and college level, she attached the matter with the introduction of science.622
In this
way Kinnaird College continued its previous policy and the Vice Chancellor‘s directions
were not followed by the college administration.
5.5.5 Impact on the Society
a) Academic impact
Christian missionaries‘ educational efforts had long lasting impact on the society in
terms of educational condition of the female population of the province. They were the
pioneers in establishing their network of institutions for women‘s formal education in the
Punjab and their efforts initiated a new era in this important field of education. The
missionaries, with the strong support of the imperial government, were able to foster the
tradition of female education in this region, by the end of the nineteenth century. But their
621
D.O letter no. 372-9, F. L. Brayne, Vice Chancellor, Punjab University, to Bishop…….., Commissioner of
Rural Reconstruction. Simla, 10 June, 1936,I. copy in Kinnaird College files Ibid., 67. 622
Ibid.
210
efforts, till that time, were restricted only to school education only. With the turn of the
century they started their efforts in the field of higher education and, by the end of the first
quarter of the twentieth century, they were able to fashion it in the Punjabi society. As their
foundation of the first women‘s college at the queen city of Lahore was followed by the
others and more colleges for women were founded in the province.623
It is a notable fact that although the missionaries did not have numerical dominance,
in terms of educational institutions, yet they were able to induce the others to work in the
field of women‘s education. They set high standards of quality education and, by their
effective interference, they were able to create an atmosphere of competition with the other
educational agencies. For instance the Hindu and the Christian communities responded
positively to the missionaries‘ efforts in the field of women‘s higher education but the
Muslim community reacted through the work of Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam (Association for
the Service of Islam). Anjuman was working for the education of Muslim women, since its
inception in 1884, and was able to create a network of girls‘ schools and orphanages in
different parts of the province where girls were taught Urdu and the Qur‘an, as well as
mathematics, needlework and other crafts.624
By the mid 1920s, it took up the issue of
women‘s secondary or collegiate education and initiated its efforts in this field which were
culminated into the foundation of Islamia College for Women, Lahore, in 1939.625
Anjuman
was also conscious of quality of education at its institutions. It attempted to make an
623
Queen Mary‘s College and Lahore College for women started their work in this field. Furthermore,
Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam also took up the issue of secondary or collegiate education for women by 1925, see
Sarah Ansari, ‗Winds of Change?‘ The Role of Women Activists in Lahore before and after Partition‘, 2. 624
Ibid., 1. 625
Gail Minault, Secluded Scholars: Women‟s Education and Muslim Social Reform in Colonial India (Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1998), 176.
211
arrangement for the higher education for the girls according to the Islamic concept of
education and Islamia College for Women was a classical example in this context.
b) Social Impact
Education of women is considered to be one of the most powerful forces to the social
reformation. The Christian Missionaries promoted it as a remedy to the depressed position of
women in the Punjabi society. Higher education holds more important place, in this regard,
than that of the school education, because of its critical role in moulding the lifestyle of the
students under instruction. So the progressive evolution of higher education in the Punjab,
during the twentieth century, generated long lasting social impact in shaping the established
social patterns on the modern lines. Although the immediate effect of missionaries‘ efforts
was relatively smaller than it was expected yet it was enough to provide them a launching
pad in their pursuit to reform the society.
Punjabi women were performing the role of subordinate to their male counterparts,
for centuries. The women, irrespective of their class, community or religion, were heavily
dependent on their male family members and were confined to their domestic roles. A sharp
line between the roles of men and women was drawn by the restriction of purdah. The
missionaries propagated the equality of women and their slogan was well echoed in the
activities of Kinnaird College, the missionaries‘ Union institution. Some serious violations of
purdah were observed in its academic as well as extracurricular activities. Therefore the
alumnae of Kinnaird College, even from the Muslim families, were willing to drop purdah
restrictions.626
Independence of women was also dreamt through their socialization and
626
Michelle Maskiell, ‗Social Change and Social Control: College-Educated Punjabi Women 1913 to 1960‘,
69-83.
212
encouragement for professional ideals. As the missionaries, through Kinnaird College,
promoted female intellectual quality and encouraged women to consider professional careers
after graduation.627
So, women‘s world was expanded from their domestic roles, as wives and
mothers, to the non-domestic by including social work and other activities beyond their kin
groups.628
Missionary institutions also attempted to develop familial relationships among the
students, irrespective of their religious identities. Although they were not fully successful in
their efforts to bring students out of their religious boundaries yet some kind of familial ties
were found to be exist among the students. They shared common educational experiences
which helped them to evolve their concepts of life. The same tradition was also found in the
other educational institutions and many of the women, who participated with vigour in the
pro-Pakistan agitation of the mid-1940s, had shared common educational experiences which
shaped their political responses.629
Furthermore English education brought about changes in all the religious
communities of the Punjab. The Christian converts, the Muslims, the Hindus and all other
communities were heavily influenced by the streaming wave of English educational
institutions. Kinnaird College, the Union educational institution of the missionaries, had
separate value for different religious communities. The Christian converts were found it
beneficial for them due to its material benefits, pouched in its teacher training activities. The
Hindus were induced to send their daughters to this institution due to its unique socialization
feature, which was considered helpful in finding suitable matches for the girls. There were
627
Ibid., 57. 628
Ibid., 83. 629
Sarah Ansari, ‗Winds of Change?‘ The Role of Women Activists in Lahore before and after Partition‘, 3.
213
very few Muslim families who sent their daughters to Kinnaird College, because of its anti
Islamic social agenda.
Although the missionaries were not able to make the women equal to men and the
issue, still in twenty first century, is the centre of debate in this region, yet the missionaries,
through their educational institutions, were able to foster changes that allowed educated
women more social options than their uneducated contemporaries. Moreover, their quality
management strategy hindered their approach to all and sundry of the province and their
influence at that time was limited to the lives of the few. The results of their ‗downward
filtration‘ policy trickled down slowly and the upshot of their efforts is still pending, in terms
of social equality of women.
The missionaries entered the twentieth century with a modified policy and their
previous efforts, to increase the number of their institutions, were replaced by those to
improve the quality of education in their existing institutions. Therefore no significant
numerical increase in their educational institutions was found during the twentieth century.
The recommendations of the Indian Education Commission were the major driving force to
make the missionaries review their previous policy of expansion. The recommendations of
the Commission put the missionary educational institutions into the open competition with
those of the other agencies. The missionaries find their survival in choosing the option of
qualitative improvement as the best solution for their problem. They selected their priorities
to improve the quality of education at their institutions. The efforts for qualitative
improvement were culminated into the transformation of inefficient missionary schools into
those of the symbol of excellence. The religious efficiency of the missionary schools was
also improved by increasing the number of Christian teachers in the schools. Compulsory
214
Bible teaching classes were introduced on daily basis. Moreover the secular subjects in the
syllabus of the missionary schools were also adapted according to the Christian spirit. Focus
on the betterment of the financial and the social condition of the newly converted Christian
community was the other desired objective, lying at the heart of the new policy. I brought the
native Christians the focal point at missionary schools. Scholarships were awarded to the
Christian students for higher studies as well as for the teacher‘s training courses. The
Christian teachers started to get preference over those of the other communities. The arts of
carpentering, blacksmithing, gardening, pottery, shoemaking, tailoring, tanning and the like
were taught at the industrial schools, with a view to make the Christian pupils able to earn
their living through these skills. The missionaries were successful in improving the quality of
their institutions but the objective of the betterment of the social and financial condition of
the Christian community was not fully achieved. The missionaries‘ pursuit, to institute
women‘s‘ higher education in the province, led them first to introduce co-education and then
to establish a separate girls‘ college in the province. Their policy of qualitative improvement
prompted them to make it their Union institution and collective efforts of different
missionary organizations raised the educational standard of their pioneer institution. They
used it to introduce the desired changes in the Punjabi society. The conservative ideas in the
society, especially about women, were heavily influenced by the Western liberal ideals of
life. The Western ideals of women‘s equality, their economic and social independence,
different aspects of married life for women, were promoted through this institution to bring
about the desired changes in the Punjabi society. Missionaries‘ attempts to restructure the
Punjabi society, through their educational institutions, forced the native population to
establish their own educational institutions. So the native attempts, to insulate their youth
215
from the cultural onslaught of the missionaries‘, ultimately served for the cause of women‘s
education in the province. At the end of the period under consideration, the social impact of
missionaries‘ activities was in anticipation because their belief on the downward filtration
theory hindered them to approach all and sundry and the trickle down effect needed some
time to filter down to the masses.
216
Conclusion
The missionaries came to the Indian sub-continent, basically, for the fulfilment of
their evangelical agenda and therefore were carrying conversion of the native population as
one and only objective of their pursuit. They entered here in the garb of social service and
devoted their lives for the service of native population. They did valuable contribution in the
fields of education and health. Their serious involvement in the field of education is one of
the most striking things of the Indian mission field. In fact, their all important objective of
conversion was the major driving force to draw them in this field of immense importance.
The early missionaries were not interested in this field rather they preferred to work on the
smooth way of getting converts through direct preaching. But the challenges of the Indian
mission field tempted them to change their course of action. The field of education got their
special attention due to its preparatory character in the way of baptizing a person.
Ziegenbalg, Carey and Duff were the Pioneers to adopt education as a powerful auxiliary to
do the desired trick. Their intensive involvement in the education of the native population
made it a compulsory organ of missionary operations. Their successors, following the
footsteps of their predecessors, adopted education as a compulsory component of their
missionary operations. Since, every mission station was supposed to have a school attached
to it, therefore the missionary educational institutions started to flourish fairly rapidly, in the
first half of the nineteenth century.
The missionary societies started to grow after the renewal of Charter of EIC, in 1813.
As the missionary clause in the Charter permitted the missionaries to reside and conduct
missionary activities in the Company‘s administered areas. But the permission was specific
217
for the British missionaries therefore, only, the missionary societies of British origin were
able to establish and extended their networks in the Indian mission field. It was in 1833 that
the missionaries of the other countries also got permission and subsequently entered the
Indian peninsula. The land of five rivers, Punjab, heard the Jesus cry in 1834 when the
missionaries from Presbyterian Church of America entered in the province. This was an
important occasion because, afterwards, this mission contributed a valuable educational work
in the province.
The Presbyterian missionary society remained the lone missionary society in the
Punjab, till its annexation in 1849. The missionaries work, in the Punjab, took real impetus
after its annexation to the British dominion. The rise of pro-missionary administration, in the
post-annexation scenario, attracted some other missionary societies to the field. In spite of
the Company‘s declared policy of religious neutrality, most of the officials at the top of the
British administrative hierarchy in the Punjab, lent their supportive hand to the missionaries.
As a corollary the Church Missionary Society, the United Presbyterian Church of America,
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Church of Scotland Missionary Society
entered the Punjab within the period of a decade after annexation. Their missionary
operations were hampered, to some extent, due to the uprising of 1857, but they consolidated
themselves rapidly after the restoration of peace. Consequently, by 1860, the networks of
different missionary societies were found to be present all over the province.
Wood‘s Education Despatch of 1854 was an important document not only in the
history of education but also in the mission history of India. It, in addition to outlining the
future education policy, helped the missionaries to hold a strong footing in the educational
218
terrain of India. It suggested the Government‘s withdrawal, in favour of missionaries, from
the field of education. Moreover it recommended the initiation of a system of grant-in-aid to
encourage and draw the private agencies in this field. As the former was perceived an
important landmark in establishing missionaries‘ command over the whole field of education
and the latter was considered beneficial for the fulfilment of their financial needs. The
missionaries decided to establish a network of missionary schools, throughout the province,
which would fill the gap, after the Government‘s anticipated withdrawal form the field. The
Punjab administration was so kind, under the chair of Sir R. Montgomery, that, during 1860s,
it was dispensing much more amount on grant-in-aid scheme, than that prescribed by the
finance department. Christian missionaries, being the lone private agency in the field of
Western education, were the sole beneficiaries of these extended grants. They continued to
take a lion‘s share of these grants, till 1882.
The encouraging attitude of Robert Montgomery, the then Lieutenant Governor of the
Punjab, and the issuance of generous grants through the scheme of grant-in-aid helped the
missionaries in extending their network to the key locations of the Punjab. They established
their missionary bases at the key urban locations of the province. The rural population of the
province was mostly neglected by both the Government and missionary educators. The
extension of the missionary schools‘ network, which started with the rise of R. Montgomery,
continued to swell up till the early 1880s when missionaries abandoned their efforts of
expansion and started agitations against the existing Government. They were of the opinion
that Government was not following the recommendations of the Wood‘s Education
Despatch. For, in stead of withdrawing from the field, it was coming into direct competition
with the missionary institutions. The attitude of officiating officers was also objectionable to
219
the missionaries. Furthermore, they were not happy with the conditions imposed by the
Government for the release of grants to the missionary institutions.
Practically, this was the end of missionaries‘ efforts for expansion. As, the subsequent
period of almost two decades, till the end of the nineteenth century, was spent in formulating
a new policy for future course of action. At the end of this phase of expansion, the
missionaries had a good network of schools. They had high schools at key cities of Lahore,
Amritsar, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Multan, Delhi, Gujranwala and the like. The base of these
main schools was broadened by establishing branch schools attached to these. These branch
schools functioned as the feeders for their respective main schools and impart very
elementary education to the pupils. The extended efforts of the missionaries were successful
in establishing a network but it was established at the expense of quality of education. As,
their extended desires of expansion, prompted them to compromise on the quality of
education.
The initiation of women‘s education, in the Punjab, was the hall mark of R.
Montgomery‘s regime. Paradoxical to the men‘s s education, it was a difficult and sensitive
field, due to the prevailing soc-religious customs of the Punjabi society. Robert Montgomery
encouraged the missionaries and other educational agencies to initiate their efforts in this
field. Christian missionaries were already searching for some official support to operate
freely in this field. As they were putting their efforts, in this all important field since their
arrival at Ludhiana but they were unable to draw sufficient number of female pupils in their
schools. Lieutenant Governor‘s encouragement provided the desired patronage and they
initiated their educational operations in this important field. So, Robert Montgomery‘s
220
movement in the favour of women‘s education, during early 1860s, provided a boost to the
missionaries‘ enterprise for women‘s education. The movement came to naught but the
missionaries were able to get the required initiative established a strong foothold in the field.
The missionaries wanted to influence the kitchen as well as the kith and kin of the
natives, through their work in the field of women‘s education. But in their pursuit of
promoting women‘s education, they were up against the challenge of restructuring the
existing social structure of the society. The prevalent social mores like the seclusion of
women in the form of purdah, child marriage, sati, women‘s dependence on their male
counterparts, existing superstitions, etc were the major challenges in their way. The
missionaries considered promotion of education as the best remedy to eliminate these kinds
of social norms and customs. So, both the issues of women‘s education and that of social
restructuring were co-related with each other and any advancement in the one had its
proportional implications on the other. In this context the missionaries, on the one hand,
initiated their efforts to foster the school education for the girls and on the other hand they
adopted the technique of Zenana visiting to approach the secluded women of the society.
They devised their educational activities to support their religious cause and also emancipate
women from the existing social constraints of the society.
Just like the missionaries‘ in the field of men‘s education, the female missionary
educators were also striving for extension in their network. Their desire of numeric
dominance made them adopt the policy of quantitative improvement and they started to
believe that ‗some institutions of inferior quality were better than none.‘ So the missionaries,
having in mind the prevalent prejudices against the free mix up of male and female pupils,
221
established exclusive girls‘ schools, boarding schools and normal schools for women,
throughout the province. The female missionaries started the tiresome scheme of Zenana
visiting to approach the grown up female population. As the movement of these ladies was
confined to the boundary of the house and they were not allowed even to attend the female
schools. The missionaries used these institutions to propagated Western religious and social
ideals. The outcome of these institutions was not according to the expectations of their
initiators, in terms of number of conversions. But the missionaries through the means of their
educational institutions especially through the Zenana visiting of female missionaries were
able to minimize the rigidity of the social taboos.
In spite of reducing the intensity of the social prejudices against the women‘s
education, the majority of the native population remained hostile towards the missionaries‘
institutions, mainly due to its fear of religious conversion. The native people were of the
opinion that the wholesale transplantation of the Western lifestyle in the Oriental society
would lead them to their moral and social chaos. So the fear of conversion along with that of
the erosion of Punjabi traditions and customs, by the introduction of western model of
education, compelled the natives to take precautionary measures. Their consequent attempts
to neutralize the missionaries‘ influence resulted in the foundation of natively managed girls‘
schools. These schools, under the native administrators, were the major development in the
promotion of western education in the oriental society.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the horizon of the people was expanded and as a
corollary to this the social prejudices against women‘s education were reduced, to a
considerable extent. The condition of education among the Punjabi women became better
222
than that at the time of annexation. The primary education was well fashioned and primary
schools for girls were found in almost all the important urban areas of the province. The
secondary education had taken start but it was at its very early stage. The condition of higher
or collegiate education for women was in the most disgusting condition, which was still to
start in the province.
During the last decade of the nineteenth century, the missionaries remained busy in
reviewing their previous policy of quantitative dominance. The review was considered
indispensable in formulating a new course of action, to meet the challenges of the changed
atmosphere of the field. Although it was the need of the day and missionaries‘ previous
efforts were needed to be analyzed in terms of achievement of desired goals yet it was
intensified by the recommendations of the first Indian Education Commission in 1882. The
recommendations of the Commission changed the whole scenario of the field by rejecting the
option of Government‘s withdrawal from the field. It was a major setback for the
missionaries who, for last two decades, were preparing themselves as a substitute to replace
Government in the field of education. The recommendations not only weakened their stance
of approaching all and sundry but also made them sceptical about their belief of conducting
missionary schools as a footstep to the ultimate end of conversion. Consequently
missionaries reviewed their policy and decided to adapt it according to the changed
circumstances of the field. The missionaries, foreseeing an atmosphere of open competition
in the future, decided to put a permanent halt on the previous policy of expansion and
suggested the maintenance of a limited number of schools but with a high note of efficiency.
It was considered a best remedy to compete with the other agencies in the field.
223
The missionaries stuck to their new task of improving quality of instruction at their
schools and colleges. They took a little more time in setting their priorities to fulfil the
demands of their new course of action and the process continued till the end of World
Missionary Conference held at Edinburgh in 1910. It is a noteworthy fact that this process of
setting priorities did not disturb their work of qualitative improvement. As they, instead of
putting it in abeyance due to the absence of a set of modalities for quality improvement,
continued their work in their own way to improve the quality of their institutions. After the
approval of a uniform policy, they adopted it and started to follow it in letter and spirit. Their
efforts for qualitative improvement were culminated into the transformation of inefficient
missionary schools into those as the symbols of excellence in the future.
In addition to the increased focus on quality of instruction, the native Christian
community also sought the limelight of missionaries who decided to better their financial and
social status in the society. Missionary educational institutions were considered best means to
do the trick. Consequently, missionary educators started focusing the native Christians at
their schools and colleges. The Christian teachers started to get preference over those from
the other communities. Scholarships were awarded to Christian students for teacher‘s training
courses as well as for higher studies. Industrial schools were opened in different parts of the
province where the arts of carpentering, blacksmithing, gardening, pottery, shoemaking,
tailoring, tanning and the like were taught, with a view to make the Christian pupils able to
earn their living through the means of these skills. The religious efficiency of the missionary
schools was improved by increasing the number of Christian teachers in the schools.
Compulsory Bible teaching classes were introduced on daily basis. Moreover the secular
subjects in the syllabus of missionary schools were also adapted according to the Christian
224
spirit. The missionaries were successful in raising the standard of their institutions and they
were considered an emblem of excellence at the time of partition of India, in 1947. On the
other hand the objective of the betterment of social and financial condition of the native
Christian community was not fully achieved and majority of them is still living its life at the
lower rung of the social hierarchy.
The scope of women‘s education, by the end of the nineteenth century, was expanded
and the social prejudices against women‘s education were reduced to a considerable extent.
The condition of education among the Punjabi women was comparatively better than that at
the time of annexation. The primary education was well fashioned and primary schools for
girls were found in almost all the important urban areas of the province. The secondary
education had taken start but it was at its very early stage. The collegiate education of women
was in its most disgusting condition, which was still to start in the province. In this
educational setting the missionaries came up with their new policy of qualitative
improvement. They took qualitative measures to ensure the high standard of instruction at
their schools. The scarcity of trained female teachers especially at secondary level tempted
the missionaries to expand their network of teachers‘ training institutions. They encouraged
their female students to adopt professional careers, especially in the field of teaching, and
facilitated them by offering teaching employments in the missionary schools. Furthermore,
they focused their efforts to enhance the quality of training at their training schools.
Development of separate curriculum for the Punjabi girls, in accordance with the social
values of the region, was another stroke of excellence to achieve the desired goal of quality
education. The syllabus of missionary schools was modified according to the needs of the
225
day and it mostly comprised not only textual knowledge but also the knowledge of cooking,
needlework and family management.
Christian missionaries started their efforts for the commencement of collegiate
education for women. Finding themselves short of resources, firstly they chose the cheapest
mode of instruction—co-education—for this purpose. But the scheme did not work and the
number of girls‘ students remained discouragingly low. Therefore the missionaries were
prompted to establish a separate girls‘ college in the province and Kinnaird College, the first
women‘s college in the province, was founded at Lahore in 1913. Sticking to the new policy
of founding Union institutions, different missionary organizations made it their union
institution and put their collective efforts to ensure a high standard of instruction at this
premier institution. They tactically chose the city of Lahore, the cultural hub of the province,
as their centre for higher education with a view to access the new English-educated Punjabi
elite groups of the society. Their collective efforts bore fruit and they were able to raise the
standard of their union institution which ultimately resulted into the introduction of women‘s
higher education in the province.
Kinnaird College set high standards of education and was successful in attracting the
students from almost all the religious communities of the province, with Christians and
Hindus forming the bulk of its students‘ body. The missionaries attempted to incorporate
significant social changes in the society by developing the personality of their students on
desired Western lines. The missionary staff of the college attempted to change the lifestyle of
the students by presenting Western ideals to them. They challenged the established social
norms like purdah, child marriage and women‘s dependence on their male counterparts. The
226
missionaries propagated social and intellectual equality of women and encouraged them to
adopt the professional careers. Socialization of Punjabi women was also one of the glaring
aspects of missionaries‘ educational institutions. The quality improvement measures also
included the academic and non-academic civic training of the students. The wholesome
liberal spirit of the college persuaded the students to change their standard of living, diet,
eating, dress, accent, manners and the like.
The native population showed a mixed response to the missionaries‘ educational
activities. The society was divided into liberal and conservative groups. The former chose to
educate their daughters in the missionary institutions whereas the latter was quite conscious
of the missionaries‘ religious and social influence on the students and therefore decided to
establish their own institutions for the education of their daughters. So, they founded their
own colleges with their exclusive scheme of studies. The healthy competition, created by the
presence of different native organizations and those of the missionary Societies, prompted
the native managers of educational institutions to improve the quality of instruction at their
educational institutions. This atmosphere of competition had a valuable contribution in
improving the quality of women‘s education in the province.
In a nutshell, Christian missionaries played a vital role in the development of a
modern system of education. They, with the active support of existing colonial government,
were able to initiate the new system of education in the length and breadth of the province.
Their untiring struggle, against the existing socio-religious mores, played a key role in
fostering female education in this region. The native community also contributed in the
process and the native organizations like Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam, Arya Samaj and Singh
227
Sabha movement had significant work on their credit. In fact, without the earnest
participation of the native community, the destination of establishing a system of education
on Western lines especially that for women would remain nothing more than a dream. But
the pioneering initiative taken in this direction, by the missionaries, was one of the most
important factors in drawing the native community in the all important field of education.
Although the results, at the end of the colonial period, were far beyond satisfaction especially
in the field of women‘s education, but the process was started and encouraging results were
anticipated in the future.
228
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Yaqubi, Himayatullah. ‗Introduction of English Education in British India: Rhetoric and
Implications‘ Pakistan Vision, 11-2, 180-238.
C. Journals
Asian Affairs
Asian Survey
Comparative Education Review
Contemporary South Asia
Evangelical Quarterly
Journal of Gender Studies
Journal of International Women‟s Studies
241
Journal of Regional History
Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan
Modern Asian Studies
Pakistan Vision
South Asian Journal
The Indian Economic and Social History Review
The International Review of Missions
The Muslim World
The Punjab Educational Journal
The Punjab Past and Present
Third World Quarterly
D. Magazines and Newspapers
C.T.I. Magazine, Sialkot
Dawn, Lahore.
Daily Jang, Lahore.
Daily Nawa-i-Waqat, Lahore.
Daily Times, Lahore.
The Nation, Lahore.
The News, Lahore.