Tiêu đề Chapter 6 Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation.pdf ✅

HISTORY Chapter 6: Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation
(1) CIVILISING THE “NATIVE”, EDUCATING THE NATION 06 CIVILISING THE “NATIVE”, EDUCATING THE NATION Education in India during the Initial Years of the British Rule After the British conquered India, many changes came into Indian political, economic, educational, social, and cultural aspects. Education was one of the fields which were impacted by British policies. Orientalism • Orientalists are people who have scholarly knowledge of the culture and languages of Asia. • William Jones was a linguist who had knowledge on Greek, Latin, French, English, Persian and Arabic. • After he arrived at Calcutta, he learnt Sanskrit grammar and poetry from the pundits. He also studied Indian texts on law, philosophy, politics, morality, arithmetic and medicine. • Many Englishmen such as Henry Thomas Colebrook and Nathaniel Halhed had the same interests as Jones. Along with them, Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal and started a journal known as Asiatick Research. • Jones along with Colebrooke had a deep respect for the ancient cultures of the East and the West. According to them, the ancient texts of the country were important for understanding the religions and the laws of the country which could further help them to rule the nation. • Both of them discovered, read and translated many ancient Indian texts. They believed that the discovery and translation of the ancient Indian texts would not only lead to the discovery of the lost glories of the ancient Indian texts but would also help the British to learn from Indian culture. This would also help the British to become the guardians and masters of Indian culture. • At this time, many officials of the Company argued for the promotion of Indian learning and that institutions should be set up to encourage the teaching of classical languages such as Sanskrit and Persian. Further, educating the natives through the languages in which they are familiar would help the British to win their hearts. • With this objective, a madrasa was set up at Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of
(2) CIVILISING THE “NATIVE”, EDUCATING THE NATION 06 Persian, Arabic and Islamic laws. Similarly, the Hindu college was set up at Benaras in 1791 to encourage the learning of ancient Sanskrit texts. This would also help the British in administering the country. Opposition to the Orientalists • However, not every British official thought like Jones and Colebrooke. Most of them contended that the knowledge of the East was unscientific, illogical and irrational. • James Mill, a British administrator historian, attacked the orientalists. He believed that Indians should be given the knowledge of scientific and technical advancements which have been made in the West. • Thomas B. Macaulay was a firm critique of the orientalists. To him, India along with the other Asian countries was uncivilised, and the British had the responsibilities of civilising them. He believed that even a single shelf of a European library was worth the whole native literature of Asia and Arabia. • Macaulay in his famous Minute on Education in 1835 emphasised that the Government should spend money on promoting Western scientific learning through the medium of the English language. ased on his Minute on Education, the English Education Act was introduced. In this Act, a decision was taken to make English the medium of instruction for higher education. • This Act also recommended the discontinuing of the promotion of oriental institutions.