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

47
generous treatment from the administrative hierarchy of the Portuguese settlements. 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 object 58 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 9 th-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.