Educational Development Under British Rule
For the first 60 years the East India Company was a purely trading company. His aim was only to earn maximum profit by doing business and he was not interested in promoting education in the country. What ever efforts were made for the promotion and development of education during these years, they were done at the individual level only. Some prominent examples of these efforts are as follows:
• In 1781, Warren Hastings founded the Calcutta Madrasa. Its aim,To teach Muslim laws and other subjects related to it.
• Sanskrit College was established in Banaras in 1791 with the efforts of Jonathan Duncan, the British Resident of Banaras. Its purpose was to study Hindu law and philosophy.
• In the year 1800, Lord Wellesley established the Fort William College for the education of the civilian officers of the Company. Various officers in this college. Indian languages and Indian customs were also taught. (But in1802, this college was closed on the orders of the directors).
The system of education at the Calcutta Madrasa and Sanskrit College was designed in such a way that the Company could regularly be provided with educated Indians who were well versed in classical and local languages and could assist it in the legal administration of the Company. Knowledge of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit was needed in the Justice Department, so that they could sit as counselors with the British judges in the courts and interpret Muslim and Hindu laws. For the correspondence with the Indian princely states, the company was also given to the scholars of these languages
was required. At the same time, enlightened Indians and missionaries started pressurising the government to encourage modern, secular and western education because
(i) Enlightened Indians concluded that the social, economic and political weakness of the country could be removed only through western education.
(ii) The missionaries concluded that due to the promotion of Western education, Indians would lose faith in their traditional religion and they would convert to Christianity. The missionaries of Serampore were very enthusiastic in this area.
