Colonial Education and India 1781-1945, Vol. IV: Indian Responses [4] 9780815376552, 9781351212168, 9780815380825, 9781351212007

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COLONIAL EDUCATION AND INDIA 1781–1945

COLONIAL EDUCATION AND INDIA 1781–1945

Edited by Pramod K. Nayar Volume III Commentaries, Reports, Policy Documents

First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Pramod K. Nayar; individual owners retain copyright in their own material. The right of Pramod K. Nayar to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-8153-7655-2 (set) eISBN: 978-1-351-21216-8 (set) ISBN: 978-0-8153-8082-5 (Volume III) eISBN: 978-1-351-21200-7 (Volume III) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Publisher’s Note References within each chapter are as they appear in the original complete work.

CONTENTS

VOLUME III

1

2

3

4

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6

COMMENTARIES, REPORTS, POLICY DOCUMENTS

H.R. James, extracts from Education and Statesmanship in India (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1911), 74–91, 118–132

1

Indian Educational Policy, Being a Resolution Issued by the Governor General in Council on the 21st February 1913 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1915), 1–47

19

A. H. Benton, extracts from Indian Moral Instruction and Caste Problems (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1917), 1–10, 31–32, 92–112

43

Extracts from The Calcutta University Commission [Sadler] Report (1919), Vol. 1: 19–30, 143–194, 318–326; Vol. 6: 2–6, 132–135, 169–171

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Extracts from Village Education in India: The Report of a Commission of Inquiry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1920), 15–23, 66–74, 129–137

135

F. F. Monk, extracts from A History of Stephen’s College (Delhi, Calcutta: YMCA, 1935), 3–15, 111–131, 188–199

150

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Extracts from Progress of Education in India, 1937–1947: Decennial Review [Sargent Report], Vol. I (Central Bureau of Education-Ministry of Education, 1948), 155–160, 165–170, 231–240, 295–308

178

Sister Nivedita, extracts from Hints on National Education in India (Calcutta: Brahmachari Ganendranath, 1923, 3rd edn), 6–65, 95–110

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1 H.R. JAMES, EXTRACTS FROM EDUCATION AND STATESMANSHIP IN INDIA (LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO., 1911), 74–91, 118–132

XI MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION THE critics of State education in India are never weary of pointing out that its fatal defect is the absence of any moral and religious basis. Among those who say this are many whose attitude to educational effort in India is unquestionably friendly. Thus the Times correspondent, though guarded and moderate in finding fault, speaks of “the careless diffusion of an artificial system of education based none too firmly on mere intellectualism, and bereft of all moral and religious sanction.”1 Mr. S. M. Mitra, another discerning critic of its weak points, says: “Knowledge has been pursued without any regard for training in the moral virtues or in the development of character.”2 Now these and all similar criticisms, friendly or otherwise, must be admitted to have this much justification that all of us are agreed that the strengthening of character is the most important side of education, and that as yet we are far from satisfied with the degree of certainty we can feel that the education being given in India is effective in shaping character rightly. Yet these criticisms, like all the wise things that have been said about the moral and religious side of education since education was spoken of at all in India, remain mere words, until it has been shown practically how effect is to be given to this desire to give education in India a stronger moral foundation. For, in point of fact, admirable things have been reiterated about the importance of this side of education since quite the early days. Even when Charles Grant in 1797, before ever there was any State education at all, put forward his scheme for spreading the light of knowledge through India by means of English, the aim which he put first was moral improvement on the most comprehensive scale. “We now proceed,” he writes, “to the main object of this work—for the sake of which all the preceding topics and discussions have been brought forward—an inquiry into the means of remedying disorders which have become inveterate in the state of society among our Asiatic subjects, which 1

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destroy their happiness and obstruct every species of improvement among them.” He lays stress in particular on the effects of seeing “a pure, complete, and perfect system of morals and of duty enforced by the most awful sanctions and recommended by the most interesting motives.” Moral improvement is equally suggested by Lord Minto in 1811 as a reason for the restoration of Oriental learning. “Little doubt can be entertained,” says the resolution, “that the prevalence of the crimes of perjury and forgery so frequently noticed in the official records, is in great measure ascribable, both in Mahomedans and Hindus, to the want of instruction in the moral and religious tenets of their respective faiths. It has been even suggested, and apparently not without foundation, that to this uncultivated state of the minds of the natives is in a great degree to be ascribed the prevalence of those crimes which were recently a scourge to the country.” The primary object of the foundation of the Hindu College was no doubt to impart knowledge, the new knowledge of the West, which gave to Western nations their extraordinary superiority in the practical concerns of life. But David Hare was one of its first founders, and his connection with the college was undoubtedly moral in its nature. The close personal influence of such a man while he lived (he died in 1842) could not be without its effects. Indeed, its effects are living and visible to the present day in that cult of his memory which leads Hindus, alien in race and religion, to meet together on the anniversary of his death to do honour to his virtues and keep green the remembrance of his benefactions. Gratitude is a moral quality, and in this instance it has survived death. No doubt also Macaulay’s enthusiasm is for “intellectual improvement;” and his faith is that the way of improvement lies through the learning of English and the study of European literature. But it would be unfair to suppose that this zeal for pure knowledge and the impetus to educational effort which followed it are divorced from moral ideas. They were, on the contrary, inspired by an essentially moral idea, the idea of a general elevation in civilization. All that may fairly be said in criticism of Macaulay’s standpoint is that it was too easily assumed that more accurate knowledge would necessarily bring with it moral improvement and happiness. Yet there was definite moral instruction in Government institutions under the auspices of the General Committee after 1840. In that year Mr. Cameron, then a member of the committee, and from 1842 to 1847 its President, wrote in a Minute on the importance of moral training: “In most countries morality is taught as part of religion. Here we are prevented by the circumstances of the country from teaching morality in that manner. It is, therefore, more incumbent than upon other ministries of public instruction to teach morality in the form of Moral Philosophy.” In 1851 Mr. J. F. Thomas, one of the members of the Madras Council of education in a Minute criticizing sharply on many points the existing system, drew special attention to the very want of effective moral education which is fastened upon to-day. “Education without moral culture,” he wrote, “is probably as often injurious as beneficial to society; and at all events a system like that at present in force, which to a great degree overlooks this point, and which makes little or no provision for this most essential part of education, is so 2

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radically defective that I feel satisfied that although it may be upheld for a time under special and peculiar circumstances, it must in the end fail, and I hold that unless it can be shown that the people of this Presidency are opposed to receiving moral instruction, combined with intellectual, there is no ground for this palpable practical omission in the existing system.” There is no paragraph of the Despatch of 1854 directly bearing on the subject of moral education, but an earlier letter is quoted in support of the encouragement of education as calculated “not only to produce a higher degree of intellectual fitness, but to raise the moral character of those who partake of its advantages;” and a valuable testimony is later given to the actual efficacy of education in producing such effects. The Directors say: “We are sanguine enough to believe that some effect has already been produced by the improved education of the public service in India. The ability and integrity of a large and increasing number of the native judges, to whom the greater part of the civil jurisdiction in India is now committed, and the high estimation in which many among them are held by their fellowcountrymen is, in our opinion, much to be attributed, to the progress of education among these officers, and to their adoption along with it of that high moral tone which pervades the general literature of Europe.” The preamble to the Act constituting the universities in January, 1857, says nothing of moral education. The model of the Universities of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay was the London University, their declared aim was the test of proficiency in study and the affiliated colleges were non-residential. The method of education in the colleges, however, was what it had been before the establishment of universities, and what had been said in 1851 about moral education by the first historian of education in Bengal, Mr. J. Kerr, held good: “Whatever enlarges the mind or refines the taste, tends to improve character. All the studies of our colleges have thus, in a greater or less degree, the effect that is aimed at in a systematic treatise on moral science. If our students remain stunted in moral growth, it is not for want of instruction, which is imparted largely and in most attractive and impressive forms. The Education Commission of 1882 devoted separate sections to moral and religious training. Their preliminary remarks on the former settle once for all the limits of discussion: “The subject of moral training in colleges is replete with difficulties—difficulties, however, that are mainly practical. For there is no difference of opinion as to moral training being as necessary as intellectual or physical training, and no dissent from the principle that a system in which moral training was wholly neglected would be unworthy of the name of education. Nor, again, is there any difference of opinion as to the moral value of the love of law and order, of the respect for superiors, of the obedience, regularity, and attendance to duty which every well-conducted college is calculated to promote. All these have, by the nearly universal consent of the witnesses, done a great deal to elevate the moral tone and improve the daily practice of the great bulk of those who have been trained in the colleges of India. The degree in which different colleges have exerted a moral influence of this kind is probably as various as the degree of success that has attended the intellectual training given in them and has doubtless 3

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been different in all colleges at different times, depending as it does on the character and personal influence of the Principal and Professors who may form the staff at any given period. So far all the witnesses, and probably all intelligent men, are substantially agreed. Difficulties begin when the question is raised whether good can be done by distinct moral teaching over and above the moral supervision which all admit to be good and useful, and which all desire to see made more thorough than it is at present.” After a careful review of the conflicting opinions and practice, the Commission made two recommendations on the subject of direct moral instruction: (1) That an attempt be made to prepare a moral textbook based upon the fundamental principles of natural religion, such as may be taught in all Government and non-Government Colleges. (2) That the Principal or one of the Professors in each Government or Aided College deliver to each of the College classes in every session a series of lectures on the duties of a man and a citizen. These recommendations did not win the acceptance either of the Local or of the Supreme Government and have remained a dead letter. Some arguments used by the Commission in their report go far to remove any regret that might be felt on this account. They say: “In all colleges and under all courses of instruction the most effective moral training consists in inculcating habits of order, diligence, truthfulness, and due self-respect combined with submission to authority, all of which lessons a good teacher finds useful opportunities of imparting. The formation of such habits is promoted by the study of the lives and actions of great men, such as the student finds in the course of his English reading; and it may be hoped, by the silent influence upon his character of constant intercourse with teachers, whom he is able to regard with respect and affection. Nor, again, is there reason to believe that collegiate education of the present type has any injurious effect upon the life and character of students. On the contrary, the nearly unanimous testimony of those who have had the best opportunities of observing goes to show that in integrity, in self-respect, in stability of purpose, and generally in those solid qualities which constitute an honourable and useful character, the University graduate is generally superior to those who have not enjoyed the advantages which college training confers.” As regards direct religious teaching the Commission of 1882 report with no uncertain voice its impracticability. Government institutions cannot undertake such teaching owing to Government’s declared policy of religious neutrality. The Commission weigh carefully the complaints that have been made of the demoralizing influence of the exclusion of religion. They consider the remedy proposed “that Government should employ teachers of all prevalent forms of religion to give instruction in its colleges, or should at least give such teachers admission to its colleges if their services are provided by outside bodies.” They conclude: “We are unable to recommend any plan of this kind.” However praiseworthy the feelings that underlie such a proposal, “we are satisfied that no such scheme can be reduced to practice in the present state of Indian society.” It cannot be said that the subject of moral education has been neglected. If anything is wanting it is supplied by a resolution of the Government of India in 1887 4

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directed wholly to enforcing the necessity of careful attention to school and college discipline. “The question of discipline in schools and colleges,” it premises, “does not seem to have hitherto received any comprehensive consideration apart from the discussion of the subject by the Education Commission;” and it acknowledges that “the growth of tendencies unfavourable to discipline and favourable to irreverence has accompanied the general extension of education.” It advocates the firm maintenance of discipline in Indian schools and colleges, based on the standard recognized in the highest schools and colleges in England which nowadays does not err on the “side of severity. It then deals at length with the problem of discipline in schools, discerningly pointing out that, if right habits of discipline are formed in schools, the problem of collegiate discipline is materially simplified. Among the suggestions for schools are the introduction of the monitorial system, the building of boarding-houses, well-defined rules; and the value of training for teachers is especially insisted on. For colleges the suggestions are of weekly college meetings and recognized disciplinary powers (fines, suspension, rustication, expulsion) for both Principals and Professors. The value of the encouragement of physical exercise is emphasized, and teaching having a direct bearing upon conduct is recommended. The resolution concludes with an emphatic affirmation of the importance of the subject. “In conclusion I am to commend the whole subject to early and careful attention, for the importance of the considerations thus brought to notice cannot be exaggerated. The true interests of education are bound up with the solution of the problems now touched upon.” It would appear from all this that the importance of the moral side of education has by no means been overlooked in the sixty years that have passed since the despatch of 1854 formally adopted English education. If, as we have seen, there has been a steadily deepening sense of responsibility for the moral side of education in the policy of the Government of India, as evidenced by authoritative documents, and yet well-meant criticism continues to show that we have little ground to congratulate ourselves on the success achieved, the cause of failure must be sought otherwhere than in want of attention to the subject. A suspicion may take shape that the impediment lies in the nature of the task attempted. The education of character, which is presumably what is meant by moral education, is something very deep-lying, and depends on a number of factors of which school life is only one. Now it is not very difficult to put together a number of common-places on the importance of moral education. It may in some circumstances be exceedingly difficult to turn precept into practice. The thing to be done is so to train boys that they may grow up to be manly, truth-loving, courageous, law-abiding, with just notions of self-respect and of what is due to others. It is by no means easy anywhere to bring this to pass through the daily routine work of school and college, and in India there are hindrances of a very baffling nature. In any case the burden is laid upon the professed teacher in school and college. He it is who must bear the responsibility and do the work, if it can be done. It may be well then to listen to the comments of one whose profession is education on the last and most pointed government utterance on the subject, the very judicious circular of 1887. 5

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“I would respectfully beg leave to say a word or two with respect to the causal connection assumed in the letter of the Government of India to exist between the education imparted in our schools and colleges, and ‘the growth of tendencies unfavourable to discipline and favourable to irreverence in the rising generation.’ No one could be more sensible than I am of the imperfections of our educational system, but I cannot believe that schools and colleges have been largely instrumental in bringing about the state of things complained of. I consider, on the contrary, that we teachers have cause to complain that the tone of our schools has been prejudicially affected by the tendencies unfavourable to authority invading them from without . . . Indian society is breathing the same social and political atmosphere as all other civilized communities—an atmosphere which happens at present to be deficient in reverence for authority and in willingness to submit to it. Are the seeds of these tendencies sown in our schools and colleges and fostered and made to fructify there? I think not. Beyond what naturally follows from that emancipation of thought which is one of the first-fruits of a liberal education everywhere, I do not believe that the system of education pursued in India has had any hand in fostering ‘the growth of tendencies unfavourable to discipline and favourable to irreverence.’ My contentions that these tendencies belong to the world that lies outside our schools and colleges, that they colour the thoughts and feelings and aspirations of the grown-up generation, and that from this outside world they invade our schools and infect our pupils—these contentions are borne out by the two following considerations: first, that it was not till after the political and racial excitement of recent years had spread throughout India that the youth attending schools and colleges showed signs of turbulence and insubordination; and secondly, that these tendencies were practically confined to those provinces in the north of India where political and racial feelings were most bitter. In the Madras Presidency, where the feelings never ran very high, our educational institutions have hitherto enjoyed an almost absolute immunity from such disturbances; and to the honour of the students of this college, be it said, there has not, during the eighteen years I have been connected with them, been any other disposition manifested than that of cheerful and loyal obedience to the rules of the institution.” This commentary shows the whole question of the relation of the political and educational movements in a new aspect. Is it possible that cause and effect are being confused, when education is blamed, and that it is not the educational system which has produced political disaffection, but disaffection towards the existing order, otherwise generated, has first produced its effects in society at large, then invaded and injuriously affected the educational system. The relations of cause and effect are in a complicated material hard to disentangle, and where interaction is a necessary factor in the problem, mistake as to the ultimate causation is easily made. But the question here is not of the causes of “unrest,” but of the means of improving the moral influence of education. The writer of the memorandum from which the above quotation is made was Dr. Duncan, at the time Principal of the Presidency College, Madras, and afterwards for many years 6

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Director of Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency. His opinion in the matter is entitled to great weight, and what he further says on the subject may help to determine just conclusions on the difficult question of moral and religious education in Indian colleges and schools. Judgment of what has been done in the past and of what may be better done in the future depends closely on just conclusions as to what is possible. I will take first the question of religious education. When I see religious education seriously advocated as the basis of morality in Indian schools and colleges, I wonder if those who advocate it have any clear ideas as to what they mean. Which religion? In India there are many religions. “Have there not been, are there not religious beliefs utterly antagonistic to genuine morality? In spite of this people speak and write as if the problem of moral education would be solved were religious instruction provided for the young! It surely ought to be recognized that everything will depend on the moral character of the religious beliefs inculcated. No one would recommend the teaching of any and every religious dogma in Indian schools; and until such beliefs as may on moral grounds be taught, are separated from such as may not be taught, the question of religious instruction must remain one on which no practical policy can be adopted.” Dr. Duncan wrote thus in 1888. Now twenty years later the voices protesting the inadequacy of secular education and the indispensable necessity of religious education are many and powerful. Sir Andrew Fraser writes in October last in the Nineteenth Century “we want a higher type of education, a system that recognizes the moral and religious side of a man’s training as well as the intellectual and physical.” “The genius of Indian thought, the demands of Indian parents, the strong representation of Indian chiefs are all in favour of religious education.”3 Bishop Welldon, who knows a little of India and much of education, is reported a few weeks ago as declaring that he held with an intensity of conviction which it was difficult to express “that secular education, wherever it was given, and by whomsoever it was given, was a lamentable failure.” If one is seriously desirous of amending what is amiss with the educational system in India such utterances as these must give him pause. There is also something plausible and persuasive in the argument, especially when it follows on the failure, or assumed failure, of moral education without religion. Still one does not readily, perhaps, shake oneself free of the old prepossession that religious teaching is impossible in conjunction with modern education in India, which seemed so short a while ago a maxim universally accepted. At any rate we are entitled to inquire by what particular instrumentality it is to be done; done rightly; and done safely. For we have been apt to look upon religion in India as somewhat like a powder magazine, to be approached cautiously. Certainly there are difficulties. Illustrations quite remote from India will help to their clearer apprehension. Could we be content to found our school morality on the worship of Thor and Odin, of Hela and the Valkyries? Could we cheerfully revive in our colleges the many coloured polytheism of Greece and Rome? We should acknowledge there were elements of good in the religion of Hellas. There were also evil elements against which Plato and the philosophers inveighed before ever the zeal of the 7

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early Christians turned the gods of Greece into demons. There was the worship of Dionysus and Aphrodite as well as of Apollo and of Pallas Athene. In some cults human sacrifice survived. The thief, the murderer, and the adulterer all found their patron deity to pray to. In India, too, there are many and divers cults, and there is at all events danger of reviving religious cults in favour of evil morals rather than good. The problem is too hard for us. We take refuge in toleration. We tolerate all religions in colleges, so long as they do not actively propagate crime: we give free opportunity to religious teachers outside the guarded sphere of scholastic training. We do not actively assist religious teaching within it, because we are debarred from exercising any discrimination as to what we judge good or ill. We cannot secure that only the good shall come in: so we think it safer to admit none at all. There is a practical difficulty remaining also, if we should determine to make the experiment of aiding and abetting direct religious instruction. So far as colleges were intended to represent one religion only, like the Sanskrit College or Alighar, there would not be (as there is not now) any difficulty. But it is not practicable, even were it desirable, to make all schools and colleges sectarian. How can religious teaching be introduced, if the school or college authorities do not themselves take the responsibility for it? Only by admitting teachers from outside. This, however, gives rise to an objection which to the man who works in school or college is probably decisive: it would be to introduce rival authorities into college and school, the educational and the religious. There would be too great apprehension that this rival authority might undermine discipline for the teacher ever to acquiesce in it with an easy mind. It is not possible to discuss the subject exhaustively, and more might doubtless be said on both sides. The balance appears to the present writer to be decisively against the expediency of making a radical change in the policy hitherto followed by the Government of India in regard to religious education. It remains, then, that our education of character, so far as schools and colleges are concerned, must be independent of a specially religious basis. This does not, however, at all necessarily mean that it is cut off from all appeal to what is most morally persuasive in religion. The true essence of belief, as far as morals are concerned, is that God is on the side of righteousness. This it is which gives effective power to religion as a motive to morality. The appeal to this fundamental faith is not denied to the teacher on a purely secular basis of education. This belief involves no theological dogma and offends no religious susceptibilities. The appeal is, therefore, always within the secular teacher’s discretion. For the rest our task must be to make the best of the ordinary means of moral education: and the only practical question here is whether any means have been overlooked which might be employed; is there anything more which might be done now? “Morality,” Dr. Duncan well says, “must be taught in schools in the way in which it is taught at home, and in the social life of the young. Morality cannot be taught as a branch of knowledge forming part of the school curriculum, nor is a special text-book the best means of inculcating it. That danger of neglecting the spirit for the letter, which has to be particularly guarded against, 8

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when text-books are used in teaching the ordinary branches of knowledge, would be much more menacing were the attempt made to teach morality through a specially prepared. textbook.” This is well said and decisive against one of the two practical suggestions of the Commission of 1882. The second was for series of lectures on the duties of a man and a citizen. Now it is very certain that college addresses by the principal of a college to the college as a whole are very necessary as an incentive and support of the corporate life of a college. They should, however, deal with the duties of the members of a collegiate society rather than duties of members of the community in a wider sense. Such addresses should be made to students as students of the college (and of that college in particular), and should bear closely on the particular and present circumstances of life in the college. They should, in a broad sense, be lay sermons. A principal who is not full to overflowing with thoughts for such addresses can have very imperfectly realized the obligations and privileges of his position. If in particular cases, and for exceptional reasons, a principal feels unable to take on himself this responsibility, he may delegate the function to such members of the college staff as are fitted to discharge it. There is some loss of efficacy if the head of the college speaks by deputy, but the essential point is that there should be regular addresses, and that these addresses should concern themselves with the students’ present surroundings and responsibilities. If the student learns aright the lesson of his duties as a student, there will be no question later on as to his recognition of what is due from him as a man and a citizen. Addresses need not be very frequent, better not. Once or twice in a year should suffice; but there can be no hard-and-fast line drawn in the matter. Along with such direct and solemn incentives to right doing, the most potent instrument of moral education is, undoubtedly, good rules of discipline, considerately imposed and firmly enforced. The habit of obedience to rule has formal value in itself; willing obedience to good rules with a recognition that they are good is moral education of the most effective kind. In the main character must be formed by action; right actions from right motives trained into virtuous habits. As Dr. Duncan writes:—“Practical morality is an art which is learnt like every other art, solely by doing moral actions.” Hence the preponderant value of well-regulated school and college discipline. Yet even that cannot be fully efficacious of itself. So much depends also on the nature which the pupil brings for school discipline to mould and on the influences of his other surroundings, his earliest associations, his out-of-school companions, his home. These things cannot be regulated by the teacher: they lie almost absolutely outside the reach of his influence; and these outside influences are by no means always favourable. All the more pressing is his responsibility and the need for increasing the efficacy of moral teaching in the school. Undoubtedly the most important factor of all is the character of the teacher himself. And here again Government policy has not failed, but is on the right lines. “The Government of India,” says Dr. Duncan, “have rightly given the foremost place among their recommendations to the employment of trained teachers and the provision of efficient training schools”; and he is able to point with 9

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satisfaction to the attention which had already at that date been paid to the subject in Madras. Bengal, on the other hand, has lagged behind and is endeavouring with the happiest promise to make up ground now. The extreme importance of right selection of teachers in every grade, and especially in the highest, is not yet sufficiently recognized, at any rate not sufficiently provided for. In the matter of discipline also the support the teacher may count on getting might be made more assured. The enforcement of judicious rules is, as has been said, the chief educational instrument. There must be no doubt that the fearless enforcement of discipline by the teacher will receive support, if support is needed. This has not always been sufficiently well assured in the past. If these two things are better done: (1) unsparing effort made to secure that teachers shall be men of high character; (2) due provision made for establishing and maintaining sound discipline, Government will have done all that is at present possible for moral education. No radical change of policy is called for; only the better and more efficient carrying out of the policy long since adopted.

XV THE POLITICAL MOVEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO EDUCATION THE life of a community cannot be separated into unrelated compartments any more than the life of an individual. Each part affects the rest. The development of one faculty, or side of character, produces effects on other faculties, and influences the organism as a whole. And so the educational movement has, in a certain sense, been political from the outset. That is to say, in the very nature of things, and by reason of the essential constitution of the mind, it was impossible to educate a single native of India without thereby affecting his relation to British rule. Education enables a man to understand better society, government, and his own relation to both. An educated man is able to place himself in the universe; to realize better his true relation to what has gone before, and what will come after. If political ideas are in the air, the educated man will make acquaintance with them, and they will alter his mental outlook. So it might have been predicted, and so it was. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was, I suppose, the first English educated native of India. He reached man’s estate about the year 1802; and there was nothing that could be called English education publicly begun till 1817. He owed his education and his knowledge of English to his own genius and exertions. He was no enemy to British rule, though he relates in his brief autobiography that he began “with a great aversion to the establishment of the British power in India.” It was after he was twenty years of age that he first “saw and began to associate with Europeans,” and soon after, he says, “made myself tolerably acquainted with their laws and form of government!” He continues: “Finding them generally more intelligent, more steady and moderate in their conduct, I gave up my prejudice against them, and became inclined in their favour, feeling persuaded that their rule, though 10

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a foreign yoke, would lead more speedily and surely to the amelioration of the native inhabitants; and I enjoyed the confidence of several of them, even in their public capacity.” This, on a fair view, is typical of the normal effects of education in the general. That the natives of India, Hindu or Mahomedan, Mahratta or Madrasi, should naturally and spontaneously prefer a foreign government and admire manners and customs so unlike their own is altogether against nature. To suppose that antipathy to European ways, and criticism of European manners are new, and the pernicious effects of “English education,” is to be ignorant alike of the laws of human nature and the plain facts of history. The natural and “unenlightened” view of English manners and customs has been vividly drawn by Trevelyan in his “Competition Wallah”:—“But, on the other hand, many of our usages must, in their eyes, appear most debased and revolting. Imagine the horror with which a punctilious and devout Brahmin cannot but regard a people who eat the flesh of cows and pigs, and drink various sorts of strong liquor from morning till night. It is at least as hard for such a man to look up to us as his betters, morally and socially, as it would be for us to place amongst the most civilized nations of the world a population which was in the habit of dining on human flesh, and intoxicating itself daily with laudanum and sal-volatile.”4 This is from the natural standpoint of Hindu orthodoxy, and the effect of education could hardly be to deepen such aversion. It might do something to temper it. Neither is criticism of the British Government really anything new. Before the close of the eighteenth century, when the British administration of Bengal was still a novelty not twenty years old, Syed Gholam Hossein Khan, in the fourteenth section of his Seir Mutakherin, or “Review of Modern Times,” is at pains to set forth at length twelve causes of the decrease of population and revenue which he laments. The first is “that these new rulers are quite alien to this country both in customs and manners”; the second “their differing in language, as well as in almost every action and every custom in life.” And yet the Syed is in many respects an admirer and shows readiness to accord praise to the forceful foreigners, when in his judgment it is due. Some of his “causes,” curiously enough, such as inaccessibility to interviewers, frequent changes of appointments, excessive regard for promotion by seniority, are the commonplaces of criticism of the Anglo-Indian bureaucracy to this day. He even gives a large place in his sixth cause to the “drain.” “The sixth cause is that the English have deprived the inhabitants of these countries of various branches of commerce and benefit, which they had ever enjoyed heretofore.” Similarly, Ram Mohan Roy, in his evidence to the Select Committee of the House of Commons, which was considering the, renewal of the Company’s charter in 1831, refers to the “large sum of money now annually drawn from India by Europeans retiring from it with the fortunes realized there.” There is really not very much difference in the point of view of Syed Gholam Hossein Khan writing about 1780, Ram Mohan Roy writing in 1831, and Mr. Romesh Chunder Dutt writing in 1901, though the first knew little or no English, the second was educated before Government introduced any system of education, and the third is the fine flower of English education. The truth is that 11

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the criticism, sound or unsound, arises out of the circumstances,5 and would be in the minds of the peoples of India, altogether independently of their power of expressing it in English. All three may be said to be well affected towards British rule in the sense of willing it to continue. If we inquire into the causes of disaffection, it may plausibly be suggested that we shall find them to depend little on education, at least directly; indirectly they may depend a good deal. Disaffection is the contrary of affection. In the mildest degree it connotes merely the absence of affection, and passes from this through every degree of dislike up to settled hatred. Education has certainly not “produced in India hatred of all things English; not obviously of English literature, English games, English standards of conduct, English institutions: because the political party which voices the aspirations of the educated classes in India, and is charged with being disaffected, or allied with disaffection, is founded on an almost servile imitation of English standards and methods. As regards forms of government, it probably holds that men everywhere are well affected towards a government which they clearly see secures their welfare. Habit and sentiment are powerful adjuncts. A government is strong when it appeals to the national sentiment, and suits the traditional habits of the people who dwell under it. These latter supports have, from the circumstances, been almost wholly denied to the British Government in India. It was certainly so a hundred years ago, and it is doubtful whether these forces have as yet been very successfully rallied to it. That they might conceivably be rallied to it has not been beyond the pitch of a few daring speculators like Sir Theodore Mosison.6 The support of the interest of the people at large it has had, and the clearest thinkers believe it has now in an even greater degree. It may be asked whether education is or is not likely to produce in men’s minds a perception of their true interests. If, as must almost certainly be answered, it does tend to produce such a perception, the Government of India may be reasonably assured (superficial appearances to the contrary notwithstanding) of gaining strength from the spread of education, so long as it does really what it claims to do, secure the best interests of the Indian peoples. This, it may still be believed, has on the whole been the effect of the spread of education in British India. One of the questions answered by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1831 was, “What is the prevailing opinion of the native inhabitants regarding the existing form of government and its administrators, native and European?” His answer has interest, and even some relevance, to-day: “The peasantry and villagers in the interior,” he wrote, “are quite ignorant of, and indifferent about, either the former or present government, and attribute the protection they may enjoy, or oppression they may suffer, to the conduct of the public officers immediately presiding over them. But men of aspiring character, and members of such families as are very much reduced by the present system, consider it derogatory to accept of the trifling public situations which natives are allowed to hold under the British Government, and are decidedly disaffected to it. Many of those, however, who engage prosperously in commerce, and of those who are secured in the peaceful possession of their estates by the permanent settlement, and such as have sufficient intelligence to foresee the 12

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probability of future improvement, which presents itself under the British rulers, are not only reconciled to it, but really view it as a blessing to the country.” And then he concludes: “But I have no hesitation in stating, with reference to the general feeling of the more intelligent part of the native community, that the only course of policy which can ensure their attachment to any form of Government would be that of making them eligible to gradual promotion according to their respective abilities and merits, to situations of trust and respectability in the State.” Now these concluding words express with very fair exactness what has actually been both the aim and the outcome of the whole movement for education, seen on its political side. We may make again, now, the claim which the Commission of 1882 made in reporting on the effects of higher education, “An estimate of the effect which collegiate instruction has had upon the general education and enlightenment of the people must in fairness be accompanied by a reference to the objects which it sets before itself.” Now, what were these objects? They reached, no doubt, to general moral and intellectual enlightenment; but they were also expressly directed to the well-defined and limited object of fitting men by education for the public service. Thus, a letter from the Court of Directors, dated September 5th, 1827 (eight years, be it noticed, before Macaulay’s Minute), has these words: “In conclusion it is proper to remark to you, though we have no doubt that the same reflection has already occurred to you, that, adverting to the daily increasing demand for the employment of natives in the business of the country, and in important departments of the Government, the first object of improved education should be to prepare a body of individuals for discharging public duties. It may, we trust, be expected that the intended course of education will not only produce a higher degree of intellectual fitness, but that it will contribute to raise the moral character of those who partake of its advantages, and supply you with servants to whose probity you may; with increased confidence, commit offices of trust. To this, the last and highest object of education, we expect that a large share of your attention will be applied.” Sir Charles Trevelyan, writing in 1838, says: “Another great change has of late years been made in our Indian administration, which ought alone to excite us to corresponding exertions for the education of the natives. The system established by Lord Cornwallis was based upon the principle of doing everything by European agency. . . . The plan which Lord William Bentinck substituted for it was to transact the public business by native agency, under European superintendence, and this change is now in progress in all the different branches of administration. We have already native judges, collectors, and opium and salt agents; and it is now proposed to have native magistrates. . . . The success of this great measure depends entirely on the fitness of the natives for the exercise of the new functions to which they have been called.”7 In 1844 came Lord Hardinge’s resolution, raising selection for employment under Government on educational grounds into a recognized principle. The Despatch of 1854, besides referring back in one of its opening paragraphs to the letter of September, 1827, and later on to the resolution of 1844, definitely puts increased fitness for employment in the public services as one of the chief aims of the educational system to be inaugurated: “We have always been 13

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of opinion that the spread of education in India will produce a greater efficiency in all branches of administration, by enabling you to obtain the services of intelligent and trustworthy persons in every department of Government, and, on the other hand, we believe that the numerous vacancies of different kinds, which have constantly to be filled up, may afford a great stimulus to education.” Further, the Despatch claims that a measure of success has already been won: “We are sanguine enough to believe that some effect has already been produced by the improved education of the public service of India. The ability and integrity of a large and increasing number of the native judges, to whom the greater part of the civil jurisdiction in India is now committed, and the high estimation in which many among them are hold by their fellow-countrymen, is, in our opinion, much to be attributed to the progress of education among these officers, and to their adoption, along with it, of that high moral tone which pervades the general literature of Europe.” This judgment is re-affirmed by the Commission of 1882, with stronger assurance. After the words already quoted, the report continues: “The reformers of 1835, to whom the system is due, claimed that only by an education in English and after European methods could we hope to raise the moral and intellectual tone of Indian society, and supply the administration with a competent body of public servants. To what degree, then, have these objects been attained? Our answer is in the testimony of witnesses before this Commission, in the thoughtful opinion delivered from time to time by men whose position has given them ample opportunities of judging, and the facts obvious to all eyes throughout the country and that answer is conclusive; if not that collegiate education has fulfilled all the expectations entertained of it, at least that it has not disappointed the hopes of a sober judgment.” This was in 1883. It remains to consider whether, on a careful balance, the same verdict may not be pronounced in 1911. The process so well known to us all, to which the quotations above refer, namely, the substitution of Indian for European agency in higher and ever higher positions of responsibility, has gone on continuously since 1883, sometimes with increasing momentum, and so far the favourable verdict has not been reversed. The consummation, the legitimate consummation, the consummation which was deliberately aimed at from the beginning, is the reformed Councils and the eloquent speeches of the leaders of Indian opinion, which we read daily when the Imperial and Provincial Councils are in session. The aims which are now being realized are, perhaps, even better expressed by statesmen of the type of Mountstuart Elphinstone and Sir Thomas Munro than by the public documents which have been quoted. In 1826 Elphinstone wrote in a private letter: “It has always been a favourite notion of mine that our object ought to be to place ourselves in the same relation to the natives as the Tartars are in to the Chinese; retaining the government and military power, but gradually relinquishing all share in the civil administration, except that degree of control which is necessary to give the whole an impulse and direction. This operation must be so gradual that it need not even alarm the directors for their civil patronage; but it ought to be kept in mind, and all our measures ought to tend to that object. The first steps are to commence a 14

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systematic education of the natives for civil offices, to make over to them at once a larger share of judicial business, to increase their emoluments generally, and to open a few high prizes for the most able and honest among them. The period when they may be admitted into Council (as you propose) seems to be distant. . . .”8 To Sir Thomas Munro he had written in 1822: “Besides the necessity for having good native advisers in governing natives, it is necessary that we should pave the way for the introduction of the natives to some share in the government of their own country. It may be half a century before we are obliged to do so; but the system of Government and of education which we have already established must some time or other work such a change on the people of this country, that it will be impossible to confine them to subordinate employments. . . .”9 Of Sir Thomas Munro his biographer, Sir Alexander Arbuthnot, writes: “Munro attached little value to Schemes for improving the education of natives unless pari passu steps were taken for extending to them a greater share in the honours and emoluments of office. His view was that the two things, education and higher employment, should go together.”10 The inner significance of the whole process was expressed in 1821 by Sir Thomas Munro himself with a force and truth which could not be surpassed; “Our present system of Government by excluding all natives from power and trust and emolument is much more efficacious in depressing than all our laws and school-books can do in elevating their character. We are working against our own designs, and we can expect to make no progress while we work with a feeble instrument to improve and a powerful one to deteriorate. The improvement of the character of a people and the keeping them at the same time in the lowest state of dependency on foreign rulers to which they can be reduced by conquest, are matters quite incompatible with each other.”11 Again he wrote in 1824: “No conceit more wild and absurd than this was ever engendered in the darkest ages; for what is in every age. and every country the great stimulus to the pursuit of knowledge, but the prospect of fame, or wealth, or power? Or what is even the use of great attainments, if they are not to be devoted to their noblest purpose, the service of the community, by employing those who possess them, according to their respective qualifications, in the various duties of the public administration of the country.”12 The very oddity and irrelevance of these quotations now is a measure of the distance travelled since 1820. It is not amiss that these earlier forms of thought should be called to mind for those, on the one hand, who are apt to ignore what advance has been made in admitting educated Indians to posts of high responsibility and for those on the other who are ignorant of the great results which higher education has actually achieved. Even Lord Morley himself misses this, when the best he can find to say for higher education in India is that it has not wholly failed.13 Not only has higher education not failed to achieve what in 1835 it set out to do, but it has triumphantly succeeded; perhaps it has even succeeded too well. For though its success in training well-qualified candidates for public service is the most direct fulfillment of the original aim and purpose, it is by no means the whole achievement, or even the greatest part of it. Trevelyan writes in the monograph: “On the education of the People of India,” from which quotation 15

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has already been made: “The same means which will secure for the Government a body of intelligent and upright native servants will stimulate the mental activity and improve the morals of the people at large. The Government cannot make public employment the reward of distinguished merit without encouraging merit in all who look forward to public employ; it cannot open schools for educating its servants, without diffusing knowledge among all classes of its subjects.”14 These predictions also have been abundantly fulfilled. The renewed productivity of half a dozen literatures, the revival of art and letters, alert and critical interest in the past history and literature of Indian races (voiced as it was, for instance, eloquently but with unflinching recognition of present “shortcomings,” by Dr. Ashutosh Mukhopadhyaya, Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, at this year’s Convocation) bear witness to the stimulation of mental activity. The capacity for combination shown by numerous associations for social, literary and recreative purposes is a moral endowment. All these new capacities and powers education has conferred on the classes who have been able to profit by it. The bounds of legitimate aspiration are also herein clearly settled. This education was instituted by the British Government to enable the peoples of India to take a larger and more important share in the work of administration. This larger share of responsibility and employment has been accorded to them. The process is in mid-career. That there should be differences of opinion as to the ultimate limits of the process and as to the extent which is the due limit at any given time, is only natural. The aspiration for a larger share than that already gained is perfectly legitimate, and Indians may combine to secure this larger share by constitutional means: it is equally legitimate to hold the contrary view and oppose further extension. The bounds of legitimate aspiration are the limits consistent with the stability of British rule. But what then of the bugbear of anarchism and unrest? Measured by this standard it shrinks marvelously. These intellectual and moral results are the direct product of higher education; discontent and conspiracy, if to be called products of education at all, are indirect products, like some harmful bi-product of a useful chemical process. The causes of unrest in the sinister sense are foreign domination, racial prejudice, ignorance, misunderstanding, narrowness, want of education, lack of sympathy. Education is not directly a cause at all: indirectly it may, perhaps, be called a cause as putting these latent forces into activity. Education could never in any sound sense of the term lead to anarchist crime. A depraved and perverted nature may use the powers that education gives to evil purpose. A radically unsound education might help to produce criminals, but even so it must rather be from failure to supply deterrents than from positively supplying incentives. The education being given in Indian schools and colleges only contributes to the morbid condition of things that has produced political conspiracy and crime by its defects, by its unwholesome surroundings, by its failure to educate in any true sense at all. For want of foresight in allowing education to spread beyond the limits of effective control those in various degrees responsible for its organization must bear the blame. But the education itself must not be blamed: only the failure to make it effective. For the direct purpose of education in primary schools, in 16

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secondary schools, and in colleges alike, has been to train the will in obedience and in good habits, as well as to train the intellect. So far as the schools and colleges have failed in this, the purpose of education has been missed. All violence and breach of law are contrary to the very idea of education. The higher the education the greater the incompatibility of its influences with cruelty, treachery, physical violence and secret murder. Enlightenment must and does hate these things, and must still do so, even if it proclaimed the ultimate right of insurrection for national freedom. But in India enlightenment cannot proclaim the right of insurrection at all. For that enlightenment itself comes from the central power which holds together the congeries of races and creeds and peoples which make up modern India and alone gives unity alike to education and to political aspiration. The aim to destroy that central power would be not murder only but suicide as well. Success in that aim would inevitably throw back all the advance towards liberty made in the last hundred years, in which even the revolutionary aim itself owes such life and power as it has. It is just because all hopes of peaceful development and prosperity really are bound up with the maintenance of the one strong and stable government, that education must in proportion as it is true and thorough strengthen the forces that make for cohesion, not for disruption. The greater the independence of judgment, the deeper the insight that education gives, the clearer must be the perception of these truths. It is not meant in anything that has been said to question that the political developments of the last twenty years have given grave cause for anxiety and that their association with higher education in any sense is deeply to be regretted. We can no longer speak with the confidence of Sir Roper Lethbridge in defending “High Education in India” in 1882, when he wrote: “And for contradiction of the vague and unauthenticated aspersions on the character of the highly-educated section of the Indian community for loyalty, for morality, for religion generally, we need only look to the tone and character of that portion of the periodical press that is conducted and written by such men.” This we certainly can no longer say: but here in the rapid depravation of an uncontrolled press, we have (as I think Mr. Chirol himself shows) the real propagating agency of the gathering mischief, and not in education: and the regulation of the press, now that it has been firmly taken in hand, is already working a remedy.

Notes 1 Chirol, “Indian Unrest,” p. 322. 2 S. C. Mitra, “Indian Problems,” with an Introduction by Sir George Birdwood (Murray, 1908), p. 29. 3 “Indian Unrest,” by Sir Andrew Fraser. Nineteenth Century for October, 1910, p. 753. 4 Trevelyan (Sir George Otto), “The Competition Wallah” (Macmillan), 2nd ed., p. 346. 5 On the vexed question of “the drain,” the fair-minded inquirer should read chaps. viii. and ix. of Sir Theodore Morison’s recently-published book “The Economic Transition in India.” See especially p. 241: “The answer, then, which I give to the question, ‘What economic equivalent does India get for foreign payments?’ is this: India gets the

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6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

equipment of modern industry, and she gets an administration favourable to economic evolution cheaper than she could provide it herself.” “Imperial Rule in India,” chap. x., cf. chap. iv. Trevelyan (Sir Charles), “On the Education of the People in India,” p. 156. Colebrooke: “Life of Mountstuart Elphinstone, vol. ii., p. 186. Ib., vol. ii., p. 143. Arbuthnot, “Major General Sir Thomas Munro,” p. 154. Ib., p. 148. Ib., p. 150. “British Democracy and Indian Government,” by the Right Hon. Viscount Morley, O.M. Nineteenth Century for February, 1911, p. 209. “On the Education of the People of India,” p. 159.

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2 INDIAN EDUCATIONAL POLICY, BEING A RESOLUTION ISSUED BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL IN COUNCIL ON THE 21 ST FEBRUARY 1913 (CALCUTTA: SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRINTING, 1915), 1–47

HIS Most Gracious Imperial Majesty the King-Emperor, in replying to the address of the Calcutta University on the 6th JanuComprehensive systems of education. ary 1912, said:— “It is my wish that there may be spread over the land a network of schools and colleges, from which will go forth loyal and manly and useful citizens, able to hold their own in industries and agriculture and all the vocations in life. And it is my wish, too, that the homes of my Indian subjects may be brightened and their labour sweetened by the spread of knowledge with all that follows in its train, a higher level of thought, of comfort and a health. It is through education that my wish will be fulfilled, and the cause of education in India will ever be very close to my heart.” 2. The Government of India have decided, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to assist Local Governments, by means of large grants from imperial revenues as funds become available, to extend comprehensive systems of education in the several provinces. Each province has its own educational system, which has grown up under local conditions, and become familiar to the people as a part of their general well-being. In view of the diverse social conditions in India there cannot in practice be one set of regulations and one rate of progress for the whole of India. Even within provinces there is scope for greater variety in types of institutions than exists to-day. The Government of India have no desire to centralise provincial systems or to attempt to introduce a superficial uniformity. Still less do they desire to deprive Local Governments of interest and initiative in education. But it is important at intervals to review educational policy in India as a whole. Principles, bearing on education in its wider aspects and under modern conditions and conceptions, on orientalia and on the special needs of the domiciled

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community, were discussed at three important conferences of experts and representative non-officials held within the last two years. These principles are the basis of accepted policy. How far they can at any time find local application must be determined with reference to local conditions. 3. The defects of educational systems in India are well known and need not be re-stated. They have been largely due to want of funds. Of late years there has been real progress in removing them. In the last decade1 the total The need of true expenditure from all sources on education has risen from 4 perspective. crores to nearly 7¼ crores. The progress has been especially great since Lord Curzon’s government introduced large measures of educational reform. In the last four years the number of those under instruction has increased from about 5⅓ to 6⅓ millions. Again, the formerly crushing weight of examinations has been appreciably lightened; a commencement has been made in the reform of university and college organisation; and the grants from public funds to private institutions have almost doubled in the past nine years. These facts speak for themselves. Nor must the great benefits, which education has conferred on India, be ignored or minimised. Criticism based on imperfect analogies is often unjust. It is not just, for instance, to compare Indian systems still for the most part in their infancy with the matured systems of the modern western world, or to disregard the influences of social organization and mentality. Again the common charge that the higher education of India has been built up on a slender foundation of popular education and that its teaching agency is inefficient, is one that might have been levelled against every country in Europe at some period of its history. India is now passing through stages taken by other countries in their time. 4. In the forefront of their policy the Government of India desire to place the formation of the character of the scholars and under-graduates under tuition. In the formation of character the influence of home and Formation of character the personality of the teacher play the larger part. There the main objective. is reason to hope—in the light of acquired experience— that increased educational facilities under better educational conditions will accelerate social reform, spread female education and secure better teachers. Already much attention is being given to religious and moral education in the widest sense of the term, comprising, that is, direct religious and moral instruction, and indirect agencies such as monitorial or similar systems, tone, social life, traditions, discipline, the betterment of environment, hygiene, and that most important side of education, physical culture and organised recreation. 5. The question of religious and moral instruction was discussed at a local conference held in Bombay and subsequently at the imperial conference held in Allahabad in February 1911. Grave differences of opinion Direct religious and emerged as to the possibility or advantage of introducmoral instruction. ing direct religious instruction into schools generally, and apprehensions of difficulty in the working of any definite system were put forward. Doubts were also expressed as to the efficacy of direct moral instruction when divorced from religious sanctions. In the, matter of moral teaching, however, the 20

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difficulties are undoubtedly less than in the case of religious teaching. The papers laid before the conference indicate that not a little moral instruction is already given in the ordinary text-books and in other ways. The Government of Bombay are engaged upon the preparation of a book containing moral illustrations, which will be placed in the hands of teachers in order to assist them in imparting moral instruction. Excellent materials for ethical teaching are available in the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, portions of Hafiz, Sadi, Maulana Rumi and other classics in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Pali. The Government of India while bound to maintain a position of complete neutrality in matters of religion observe that the most thoughtful minds in India lament the tendency of existing systems of education to develop the intellectual at the expense of the moral and religious faculties. In September 1911 they invited Local Governments other than the Bombay Government to assemble local committees in order to consider the whole question. Such committees are still at work in some provinces. For the present the Government of India must be content to watch experiments and keep the matter prominently in view. Enlightened opinion and accumulated experience will, it is hoped, provide a practical solution to what is unquestionably the most important educational problem of the time. 6. There has been real progress of late years in the provision of hostels. In the last decade the numbers both of hostels and of resident male students have nearly doubled, and now stand at over 2,200 and over 78,000 respectively. The Government of India desire to see the hostel system Indirect agencies, e.g., hostels, develop until there is adequate residential accomschool buildings, traditions, etc. modation attached to every college and secondary school in India. But a hostel of itself will not achieve the desired end unless effective means are adopted for guiding students and assisting them in their work and in their recreation. Already in some first-class institutions in the country admirable arrangements have been made on European lines to secure the full benefits of the residential system. Again it is reassuring that traditions are growing up, that meetings of old boys are held, that debating and literary societies are becoming more common. All these require help which will in many cases best be organised in connection with the hostel system. Much has also been done of late to improve school buildings; but a large number of thoroughly unsuitable, not to say mean, squalid and insanitary buildings still exist in India. These will be replaced, as funds permit, by modern buildings designed upon sanitary lines and with a view to avoid overcrowding and to facilitate the maintenance of discipline. The Government of India hope that the time is not far distant when educational buildings will be distinguished as the most modern and commodious buildings in the locality, and scholars in India will have the advantages in this respect of scholars in the west. The influence for good of clean, well-arranged buildings with the concomitant domestic discipline can scarcely be exaggerated. 7. The claims of hygiene are paramount not only in the interests of the children themselves, though these are all-important, but also as an object-lesson to the rising generation. Hitherto want of funds and the apathy of the peoHygiene. ple have been responsible for the comparatively small attention 21

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paid to hygiene. In some provinces a simple course of instruction in hygiene is prescribed, at some period of the school course, but the lessons are often of too formal a type, are not connected with the life of the pupil, and fail to form his habits or to enlist his intelligence in after-life in the struggle against disease. In some areas there is a general inspection of school premises by a medical authority; but it is believed that little is done for the individual inspection of school children and that medical advice has not always been enlisted in regard to the length of the school day, the framing of curricula, and such matters. The Government of India commend to Local Governments a thorough enquiry, by a small committee of experts, medical and educational, into school and college hygiene. The scope of the enquiry will no doubt vary in different parts of India, but the following seem to be important matters for investigation:— (i) The condition of school houses, hostels and other places where pupils reside, from the point of view of sanitation. (ii) The professional examination of building plans from the hygienic point of view. (iii) The introduction of a simple and more practical course of hygiene; whether it should be a compulsory subject in the various schemes of school-leaving certificates, and whether it should be recommended to universities as part of their matriculation examination. (iv) The inspection, where possible, of male scholars, with special reference to infectious diseases, eyesight and malaria. (v) The length of the school-day, home-studies, and the effect upon health of the present system of working for formal examinations. (vi) The requirements in the way of recreation grounds, gardens, gymnasia, reading rooms, common-rooms, etc. (vii) The inspecting and administrating agency required, the possibility of co-operation with existing organisations and the provision of funds. Other cardinal principles of policy.

8. Other cardinal principles of policy may here be stated—

(1) The steady raising of the standard of existing institutions should not be postponed to increasing their number when the new institutions cannot be efficient without a better-trained and better-paid teaching staff. (2) The scheme of primary and secondary education for the average scholar should steadily, as trained teachers become available, be diverted to more practical ends, e.g., by means of manual training, gardening, outdoor observation, practical teaching of geography, school excursions, organised tours of instruction, etc. (3) Provision should be made for higher studies and research in India, so that Indian students may have every facility for higher work without having to go abroad. 22

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9. The provision of facilities for research cannot be postponed. In almost every branch of science and the arts, in philosophy, history, geography, language, literature, economics, sociology, medicine, public health, agriculResearch. ture, biology, geology, botany and in all the sciences applied to industry, not to particularise more closely, there is a wide untrodden field awaiting research. Among the essentials are good libraries, laboratories and collections, ample leisure and freedom in study, systematic collaboration of professors and students, an atmosphere engendered by the simultaneous working of many minds on numerous but interdependent branches of research. Only when they know the methods of research by which the knowledge they are to impart is secured and tested are teachers fully equipped for their work in the more advanced stages of education. 10. The propositions that illiteracy must be broken down and that primary education has in the present circumstances of India, a predominant claim upon the public funds, represent accepted policy no longer Primary Education, Comopen to discussion. For financial and administrapulsory and free education not tive reasons of decisive weight the Government practicable. of India have refused to recognise the principle of compulsory education; but they desire the widest possible extension of primary education on a voluntary basis. As regards free elementary education the time has not yet arrived when it is practicable to dispense wholly with fees without injustice to the many villages, which are waiting for the provision of schools. The fees derived from those pupils who can pay them are now devoted to the maintenance and expansion of primary education, and a total remission of fees would involve to a certain extent a more prolonged postponement of the provision of schools in villages without them. In some provinces elementary education is already free and in the majority of provinces liberal provision is already made for giving free elementary instruction to those boys whose parents cannot afford to pay fees. Local Governments have been requested to extend the application of the principle of free elementary education amongst the poorer and more backward sections of the population. Further than this it is not possible at present to go. 11. For guidance in the immediate future, with the necessary modifications due to local conditions, the Government of India desire Primary Education. General to lay down the following principles in regard to principles. primary education:— (i) Subject to the principle stated in paragraph 8 (1) supra, there should be a large expansion of lower primary schools teaching the three R’s with drawing, knowledge of the village map, nature-study and physical exercises. (ii) Simultaneously upper primary schools should be established at suitable centres and lower primary schools should where necessary be developed into upper primary schools. (iii) Expansion should be secured by means of board schools, except where this is financially impossible, when aided schools under recognised 23

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(iv)

(v)

(vi)

(vii) (viii) (ix)

management should be encouraged. In certain tracts liberal subsidies may advantageously be given to maktabs, patshalas and the like which are ready to undertake simple vernacular teaching of general knowledge. Reliance should not be placed upon “venture schools,” unless by subjecting themselves to suitable management and to inspection they earn recognition. It is not practicable at present in most parts of India to draw any great distinction between the curricula of rural and of urban primary schools. But in the latter class of schools there is special scope for practical teaching of geography, school excursions, etc., and the nature-study should vary with the environment, and some other form of simple knowledge of the locality might advantageously be substituted for the study of the village map. As competent teachers become available a greater differentiation in the courses will be possible. Teachers should be drawn from the class of the boys whom they will teach; they should have passed the middle vernacular examination, or been through a corresponding course, and should have undergone a year’s training. Where they have passed through only the upper primary course and have not already had sufficient experience in a school, a two years’ course of training is generally desirable. This training may in the first instance be given in small local institutions, but preferably, as funds permit, in larger and more efficient central normal schools. In both kinds of institutions adequate practising schools are a necessary adjunct, and the size of the practising school will generally determine the size of the normal school. As teachers left to themselves in villages are liable to deteriorate there are great advantages in periodical repetition and improvement courses for primary school teachers during the school vacations. Trained teachers should receive not less than Rs. 12 per month (special rates being given in certain areas); they should be placed in a graded service; and they should either be eligible for a pension or admitted to a provident fund. No teacher should be called on to instruct more than 50 pupils; preferably the number should be 30 or 40; and it is desirable to have a separate teacher for each class or standard. The continuation schools known as middle or secondary vernacular schools should be improved and multiplied. Schools should be housed in sanitary and commodious but inexpensive buildings.

12. While laying down these general principles the Government of India recognise that in regard to primary education conditions vary greatly in different provinces. In the old province of Bengal, for instance, where there is already some sort of primary school for a little over every three square miles of the total area of the 24

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province, the multiplication of schools may very well not be so urgent a problem as an increase in the attendance and an improvement in the qualifications of the teachers. In some parts of India at the present time no teacher in a primary school gets less than 12 rupees a month. In Burma all conditions are different and monastic schools are an important feature of the organisation. Different problems, again, present themselves where board schools and aided schools respectively are the basis of the system of primary education. Nor must it be supposed that the policy laid down in these general terms for the immediate future limits the aspirations of the Government of India or the Local Governments. Indeed the Government of India hope that the day is not far distant when teachers in primary schools will receive considerably higher remuneration, when all teachers will be trained, and when it will be possible to introduce more modern and elastic methods in primary schools. 13. Vernacular continuation schools are the only entrance to more advanced study which does not demand acquaintance with a foreign language; and it is in them that competent teachers for primary schools will be prepared. Technical and industrial progress also is likely to create numerous openings for men with a good vernacular education. In certain provinces owing to the popularity and cheapness of English education these institutions have declined. Vernacular continuation But in the whole of India in the last decade the number schools. of schools has increased from 2,135 to 2,666 and that of their scholars from over 177,000 to close on 257,000. The Government of India believe that these schools will become much more popular and useful when they are placed on a sound footing; they also think that it would be an advantage if an advanced vernacular course could be provided at selected centres for students desirous of becoming teachers in these continuation schools. 14. In some provinces special classes have been opened in secondary English schools for scholars who have been through the whole course at a vernacular continuation school in order to enable them to make up ground in English. There is much experience to the effect that scholars who have been through a complete vernacular course are exceptionally efficient mentally. Proposed expansion. The Government of India recommend arrangements on the above lines to all Local Governments and Administrations which have not already introduced them. 15. It is the desire and hope of the Government of India to see in the not distant future some 91,000 primary public schools added to the 100,000 which already exist for boys and to double the 4¼ millions of pupils who now receive instruction in them. For purposes of present calculation a sum of Rs. 375 per annum may be taken as a rough approximation of the probable average cost of maintenance of a primary board school. This figure provides for two teachers, one on Rs. 15 and one on Rs. 12 per month and Rs. 4 per month for the purchase of books and stationery, petty repairs, prizes and for necessary contingencies. This is, however, only an average figure for the whole of India. In India as a whole the average cost of a board or municipal school is at present Rs. 315 per annum. In Bombay the average cost of a primary school under any kind of management is now about Rs. 25

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437, but this figure includes the cost of the higher classes, which in some other provinces are classed as middle or secondary vernacular classes. 16. The education of girls remains to be organized. In 1904 the Government of India remarked that peculiar difficulties were encountered Education of girls. in this branch of education owing to the social customs of the people, but that as a far greater proportional impulse is imparted to the educational and moral tone of the people by the education of women than by the education of men, liberal treatment had been accorded for girls in respect of scholarships and fees. This policy has been continued. Efforts have been also made, not without success, to bring education, through the agency of governesses, within the reach of purda ladies, to increase the number of ladies on the inspecting staff and to replace male by female teachers in government and aided schools. The number of girls under instruction has risen from 444,470 in 1901–02 to 864,363 in 1910–11. But the total number still remains insignificant in proportion to the female population. The Government of India believe, however, that in certain areas there are indications of a swiftly growing demand for a more extensive education of girls. 17. The immediate problem in the education of girls is one of social development. The existing customs and ideas opposed to the education of girls will require different handling in different parts of India. The Governor General in Council accordingly hesitates to lay down general lines of policy which might hamper Local Governments and Administrations, and has preferred to call for schemes from each province; but he commends the following principles for general consideration:— (a) The education of girls should be practical with reference to the position which they will fill in social life; (b) It should not seek to imitate the education suitable for boys nor should it be dominated by examinations; (c) Special attention should be paid to hygiene and the surroundings of school life; (d) The services of women should be more freely enlisted for instruction and inspection; and (e) Continuity in inspection and control should be specially aimed at. 18. The difficulty of obtaining competent schoolmistresses is felt acutely in many parts of the country. In this connection it has been suggested that there is a large opening for women of the domiciled community, who have a knowledge of the vernacular and who might be specially trained for the purpose. 19. The importance of secondary English and in particular of high school education is far-reaching. Secondary education of one grade or another is the basis of all professional or industrial training in India. The inferior Secondary English output of secondary schools invades colleges and technical Education. institutions and hinders the development of higher education. At the Allahabad conference the directors of public instruction unanimously 26

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regarded the reform of secondary English schools as the most urgent of educational problems. The improvement of secondary English education has for some time occupied the attention of the Government of India and the Local Governments and it is hoped in the near future to remedy many defects of the present system. 20. In the last nine years the number of secondary schools has increased from nearly 5,500 to over 6,500 and the number of scholars from 622,000 to 900,000. The policy of Government is to rely so far as possible on private enterprise in secondary education. This policy, laid down in the despatch of 1854, was restated and amplified by the Education Commission of 1882, which, while doubtful as to how far the process of withdrawal on the part of Government should be carried, agreed that, whatever degree of withdrawal from the direct provision of education might be found advisable, there should be no relaxation of indirect but efficient control by the state. The admixture of private management and state control was again emphasised in the resolution of 1904. To this policy the Government of India adhere. It is dictated not by any belief in the inherent superiority of private over state management but by preference for an established system and, above all, by the necessity of concentrating the direct energies of the state and the bulk of its available resources upon the improvement and expansion of elementary education. The policy may be summarised as the encouragement of privately managed schools under suitable bodies, maintained in efficiency by government inspection, recognition and control, and by the aid of government funds. 21. Some idea of the extension of private enterprise may be gained by the reflection that, of 3,852 high and middle English schools, only 286 are government institutions. These figures, however, cover many types of schools, from the most efficient to the least efficient. Admirable schools have been and are maintained by missionaries and other bodies. But the underlying idea of the grant-system, the subvention of local organised effort, has not always been maintained. Schools of a money-making type, ill-housed, ill-equipped, and run on the cheapest lines, have in certain cases gained recognition and eluded the control of inspection. Schools have sprung into existence in destructive competition with neighbouring institutions. Physical health has been neglected and no provision has been made for suitable residential arrangements and play-fields. Fee-rates have been lowered; competition and laxity in transfer have destroyed discipline; teachers have been employed on rates of pay insufficient to attract men capable of instructing or controlling their pupils. Above all, the grants-in-aid have from want of funds often been inadequate. No fewer than 360 high schools with 80,247 pupils are in receipt of no grant at all, and are maintained at an average cost of less than half that of a government school, mainly by fee-collections. Especially do these conditions prevail in the area covered by the old provinces of Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam; a result due, no doubt, to the rapid extension of English education beyond the ability of the Local Governments to finance it. In Bengal and Eastern Bengal the number of high schools is greater than in the rest of British India put together, and the cost of their maintenance to public funds is proportionately less than a third of the cost prevailing in other provinces. A special inquiry showed that out of some 4,700 teachers in 27

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privately managed high schools in these areas about 4,200 were in receipt of less than Rs. 50 a month, some 3,300 of less than Rs. 30 a month, while many teachers of English and classical languages drew salaries that would not attract men to superior domestic service. The great variations in conditions in different parts of India point to the difficulty of making any but the most general statements about the results of private enterprise and the special measures that are needed to assist it to perform efficiently its work in the educational system. 22. Subject to the necessities of variation in deference to local conditions the Secondary English Schools. policy of the Government of India in regard to secGeneral principles. ondary English schools is— (1) To improve the few existing government schools, by— (a) Employing only graduates or trained teachers; (b) Introducing a graded service for teachers of English with a minimum salary of Rs. 40 per month and a maximum salary of Rs. 400 per month; (c) Providing proper hostel accommodation; (d) Introducing a school course complete in itself with a staff sufficient to teach what may be called the modern side with special attention to the development of an historical and a geographical sense; (e) Introducing manual training and improving science teaching. (2) To increase largely the grants-in-aid, in order that aided institutions may keep pace with the improvements in government schools on the abovementioned lines, and to encourage the establishment of new aided institutions where necessary. (3) To multiply and improve training colleges so that trained teachers may be available for public and private institutions. (4) To found government schools in such localities as may, on a survey of local conditions and with due regard to economy of educational effort and expense, be proved to require them. 23. The Government of India also desire that the grant-in-aid rules should be made more elastic so as to enable each school, which is recognised as necessary and conforms to the prescribed standards of manageGrants-in-aid. ment and efficiency, to obtain the special assistance which it requires in order to attain the fullest measure of utility. As larger grants become available and as the pay and the personnel of the teaching staff are improved, it will be possible for the inspecting officer to concentrate his attention more and more upon the general quality of instruction. Full encouragement can then be given to improved and original methods of teaching and courses; and gradually the grant-earning capacity of an institution will come to be judged on grounds of general efficiency and desert rather than by rigid rules of calculation. 28

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24. The introduction of a school course complete in itself and of a modern and practical character, freed from the domination of the matriculaModern side. tion examination, was recommended in the first instance by the Education Commission of 1882. In some provinces and particularly in Madras real progress has been made towards the accomplishment of this reform. The figures for 1901–02 and 1910–11 are:— 1901–02.

1910–11.

School Final (candidates).

Matriculation (candidates).

School Final (candidates).

Matriculation (candidates).

194 1,162

7,682 3,731 1,704 473

7,317* 1,360 946 538

782 3,766 2,206 702

Madras and Coorg . . Bombay . . . . . . . . . United Provinces . . Central Provinces . .

452

{

{

* School-leaving certificate.

In other provinces the school final examination has not yet been established except for special purposes. The total number of candidates in 1910–11 for the school final examination or leaving certificate in all British provinces was 10,161; that of candidates for matriculation was 16,952. 25. The principal objects of the school final examination are adaptability to the course of study and avoidance of cram. In those provinces in which a school final examination or school-leaving certificate has Secondary English Schoolnot been introduced the Government of India desire leaving Certificate. that it, should be instituted as soon as practicable. They suggest for the consideration of Local Governments and Administrations further developments of the system in regard to the character of the tests by which certificates are granted at the end of the school course. Before proceeding further, however, they restate and emphasise the three principles laid down by the Indian Universities Commission in paragraph 170 of their report. “(1) The conduct of a school final or other school examination should be regarded as altogether outside the functions of a University. (2) It would be of great benefit to the Universities if the Government would direct that the matriculation examination should not be accepted as a preliminary or full test for any post in Government service. In cases where the matriculation examination qualifies for admission to a professional examination the school final examination should be substituted for it. (3) It would be advantageous if the school final examination could, in the case of those boys who propose to follow a University career, be made a sufficient test of fitness to enter the University. Failing this, the best arrangement would appear to be that the matriculation candidate should pass in certain subjects in the school final examination, and be examined by the University with regard to any further requirements that may be deemed necessary.” 29

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26. The value of external examination cannot be overlooked. It sets before the teacher a definite aim and it maintains a standard; but the definite aim often unduly overshadows instruction, and the standard is necessarily narrow and in view of the large numbers that have to be examined must confine itself to mere examination achievement, without regard to mental development or general growth of character. On the other hand the drawbacks of external examinations are becoming more generally apparent, and attention was prominently drawn to them in the Report of the Consultative Committee on Examinations in Secondary Schools in England. They fail, especially in India, in that they eliminate the inspecting and teaching staff as factors in the system, that they impose all responsibility upon a body acquainted but little (if at all) with the, schools examined, that they rely upon written papers, which afford no searching test of intellect, no test at all of character or general ability, and that they encourage cram. 27. A combination of external and internal examinations is required. The Government of India consider that, in the case of a school recognised as qualified to present candidates for a school-leaving certificate, a record should be kept of the progress and conduct of each pupil in the highest classes of the school, and that the inspector should enter his remarks upon these records at his visits and thus obtain some acquaintance with the career of each candidate during the two or three years before examination. These records, together with the marks obtained by pupils at school tests, would be valuable and would supplement a test conducted partly through written papers on the more important subjects of instruction, but also orally and with regard to the pupil’s past career. The oral examination would be conducted by the inspector in consultation with members of the staff. A large increase in the superior inspecting staff would be required to work a system of this kind and safeguards would be necessary to protect teachers from undue influences; the Government of India are prepared to assist, with such grants as they may be able to afford, the introduction of any such system which may be locally practicable. The school-leaving certificate systems of Madras and the United Provinces fulfil many of the requirements of the reform in view, but their precise characteristics may not be found altogether suitable in other areas. Some such system, however, as has been sketched above, adapted to local conditions, would, it is believed, be most beneficial and do more than anything else to foster a system under which scholars would be taught to think for themselves instead of being made to memorize for examination purposes. Next to the improvement of the pay and prospects of teachers, which must accompany and even precede its introduction, this is perhaps the most important reform required in secondary English education. 28. No branch of education at present evokes greater public interest than technical and industrial instruction. Considerable progress has been made since 1904. Existing educational institutions have been overhauled Technical and Industrial and equipped for new courses. Scholarships tenable in Education. Europe and America have been established. Thanks to the generosity of the Tata family, seconded by liberal financial aid from the Government of India and His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore, an Indian Institute 30

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of Science, designed upon a large scale, has been established at Bangalore; it was thrown open to pupils in 1911. The establishment of a Technological Institute at Cawnpore for the chemistry of sugar manufacture and leather, for textiles and for acids and alkalis, has been sanctioned. Industrial schools have been opened in several provinces. Altogether the number of technical and industrial schools has risen since 1904 from 88 to 218, and the number of pupils from 5,072 to 10,535. 29. The system of technical scholarships tenable abroad is still on trial, and a committee is examining the whole question in England. It is not always easy to arrange suitable courses of study; and study abroad Technical Scholarships. puts the pupils at a disadvantage in removing them from the environment of Indian trade conditions. From the information available it appears that, of 73 scholars sent abroad, 36 have not returned to India while 18 are at present industrially employed in India. 30. The policy to be pursued in regard to technical and industrial education was discussed at the Allahabad conference. The Government of India accept the conclusions of that conference that progress should Co-ordination in Techcontinue along the lines generally followed hitherto, nical Education. viz., that— (1) The Indian Institute of Science, which provides for research, the application of new processes and the production of thoroughly trained managers, should be developed, as opportunity offers, and become eventually a complete faculty of pure and applied science; (2) The larger provincial institutions, which attract students from different parts of India, and afford instruction in practical methods of management and supervision, should in the first instance specialise along lines converging on local industries—a plan which will prevent overlapping and make for economy. Subsequently, as industries arise and the demand for managers and foremen increases, other and more varied courses may be found necessary; (3) The lesser industrial schools, minor weaving institutions, such of the schools of art as have an industrial bent, the artisan classes in Bengal, and trade schools generally, should be permanently directed toward such industries as exist in the localities where the institutions are situated. 31. The question has arisen as to how far educational institutions should develop on commercial lines. It has been decided that while educational institutions should in no case trade on commercial lines, in Technical education on certain cases instruction in industrial schools may be commercial lines. supplemented by practical training in workshops where the application of new processes needs to be demonstrated. In certain cases, also, it will be necessary to purchase and maintain experimental plant for demonstrating the advantages of new machinery or new processes, and for ascertaining the data of production. 32. Quite recently Lieutenant-Colonel E. H. deV. Atkinson, R.E., principal of the Thomason College, Roorkee, and Mr. T. S. Industrial openings for Indians. Dawson, principal of the Victoria Jubilee 31

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Technical Institute, Bombay, were deputed to enquire how technical institutions can be brought into closer touch and more practical relations with the employers of labour in India. Their report contains many suggestions which are under consideration, and emphasises the necessity of studying the demand for technically-trained men, of attracting Indian capital to industrial enterprise and of supplementing tuition at college by a period of apprenticeship. It also indicates that, while the field of employment or occupation in the highest grades is at present limited, the outlook for Indians is generally hopeful, provided the necessity for preliminary practical training is fully realised. 33. There are four government schools of art in India with some 1,300 pupils, of which two are mainly industrial schools or schools of design. Interesting developments are the rise at the Calcutta institution Schools of art. of a new school of Indian painting, which combines Indian treatment of subjects with western technique, and the foundation of an architectural branch in the institution at Bombay. But much remains to be done in connection with the indigenous art industries. This matter requires careful expert consideration. The Government of India will address Local Governments on the subject and for the present content themselves with advocating the importance and urgency of preserving for, and in, India scientifically arranged collections of the products of its ancient and modern arts and crafts. The understanding and appreciation of eastern art-work in Europe and America is draining good specimens in increasing volume into the public collections of those continents. 34. The relation of museums to the educational systems of India was discussed at the conference held at Simla in July 1911. Much valuable work has been done by the zoological and geological sections Museums. of the Indian Museum at Calcutta, which are now equipped on modern lines. The archaeological section of the same museum has recently been reorganised under the direction of Dr. Marshall, Director-General of Archæology. In provinces outside Bengal also there has been good progress in the right direction, but in the case of most local museums there is need of better equipment and a stronger staff. One of the most urgent needs in India is an ethnographic museum under scientific management designed to illustrate Indian civilisation in its varied phases. Otherwise students in the future will be compelled to visit the museums of Paris, Berlin, Munich and other places in order to study subjects, which should clearly be studied best on Indian soil. The Government of India will consult expert opinion on the subject; as at present advised they are inclined to favour the formation of a museum of Indian arts and ethnography at Delhi. Their accepted policy, though some overlapping is inevitable, is to develop local museums with special regard to local interest and to concentrate on matters of general interest in imperial museums. How to make museums more useful educationally and secure greater co-operation between museum authorities and educational authorities is a matter on which they have addressed Local Governments. 32

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35. The present scheme of agricultural education originated under Lord Curzon’s government and is, in fact, only seven years old. Previous to the year 1905, there was no central institution for research or teaching Agricultural Education. and such education as was then imparted in agriculture was represented by two colleges and three schools, in a more or less decadent condition. Very few Indians then had any knowledge of science in its application to agriculture and still fewer were capable of imparting such knowledge to others. In the year 1905 a comprehensive scheme was evolved under which arrangements were made both for the practical development of agriculture by government assistance and also for teaching and research in agriculture by subjects connected with it. A central institution for research and higher education was established at Pusa. The existing schools and colleges were reconstituted, improved and added to. Farms for experiments and demonstration were started, and as time went on, a change was effected in regard to agricultural education in its earlier stages. As now constituted the scheme of agricultural education has three main features, viz., (a) the provision of first class opportunities for the higher forms of teaching and research, (b) collegiate education and (c) the improvement of secondary and primary education. 36. The institute at Pusa, maintained at a cost of four lakhs a year, has 37 Europeans and Indians on its staff, engaged partly in research, partly in postgraduate education and the instruction, through short courses, of students or agriculturists in subjects which are not regularly treated in provincial institutions. There are now six provincial institutions, containing over 300 students and costing annually between five and six lakhs of rupees. Practical classes for agriculturists have also been established at various centres in several provinces. In the ordinary elementary schools, formal agriculture is not taught; but in some provinces a markedly agricultural colour is given to the general scheme of education. 37. Veterinary research is carried on at the Bacteriological Laboratory at Muktesar. The scheme of veterinary colleges has been thoroughly reorganised since 1904. There are now four such institutions, with 511 Veterinary Education. students, as well as a school at Rangoon. These institutions meet fairly well the growing demand for trained men. 38. The College at Dehra Dun has recently been improved; and a research institution has been established in connection with it. Indians can here obtain an education in forestry which approximates to that ordinarily Forestry Education. obtainable in Europe. 39. Instruction in the western system of medicine is imparted in five recognised colleges and fifteen recognised schools in British India. These now annually produce between six and seven hundred qualified medical Medical Education. practitioners. A Medical Registration Act has recently been passed for the presidency of Bombay, under which passed students of such schools are entitled to become registered; and a similar Act is now under consideration in the presidency of Bengal. In Calcutta there are four self-constituted medical schools, the diplomas of which are not recognised by the Government 33

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of India. Among recent developments may be mentioned the establishment of an X-ray institute at Dehra Dun, and the formation of postgraduate classes in connexion with the Central Research Institute at Kasauli. These latter include training in bacteriology and technique and preparation for special research; classes of practical instruction in malarial technique are also held twice a year at Amritsar under the officer in charge of the malarial bureau. 40. Other projects are engaging the attention of the Government of India, including the institution of a post-graduate course of tropical medicine. The practical want of such a course has long been felt; and the Government of India are now in communication with the Secretary of State regarding its establishment in the Medical College at Calcutta. The Calcutta University have expressed their willingness to co-operate by instituting a diploma to be open to graduates who have taken the course in tropical medicine. A scheme for a similar course in Bombay is also under consideration. The Government of Madras have submitted a scheme for the construction of a pathological institute and the appointment of a whole-time professor of pathology with a view to improve the teaching of that subject at the Madras Medical College. Other matters which are likely to come to the front at no distant date are the improvement of the Medical College at Lahore and its separation from the school, the improvement of the Dacca Medical School and the provision of facilities for medical training in the Central Provinces. 41. The subject of medical education is one in which the Government of India are deeply interested. It is also one that may be expected to appeal with special force to private generosity. A problem of particular importance is the inducement of ladies of the better classes to take employment in the medical profession and thus minister to the needs of the women, whom the purda system still deters from seeking timely medical assistance. One of the hindrances hitherto has been that Indian ladies are able to obtain instruction only in men’s colleges or in mixed classes. With a view to remedying this defect and commemorating the visit of the Queen-Empress to Delhi, certain of the princes and wealthy landowners in India have now come forward with generous subscriptions in response to an appeal by Her Excellency Lady Hardinge, who has decided to merge in this project her scheme for a school for training Indian nurses and midwives. The Government of India are considering proposals to found a women’s medical college and nurses’ training school at Delhi with the help of a subvention from government. Proposals are also under consideration for assisting the National Association for supplying female medical aid to the women of India (the Countess of Dufferin’s Fund) to improve the position of their staff. 42. There has been a marked development of legal education in the last decade. First it has been concentrated. In 1901 there were 35 institutions, colleges, classes and schools, containing 2,800 students. At the presLegal Education. ent time there are 27 institutions with a slightly larger number of students. The Madras and Bombay presidencies, Burma and the Central Provinces each possess a single institution; and in Bengal the instruction for the degree of bachelor of law has been restricted to certain colleges, although 34

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other institutions are still recognised for the pleadership examination. A law college has been established on a liberal scale under the University of Calcutta. This concentration has resulted in greater efficiency and greater expenditure. In 1901, the cost to government was a little over Rs. 7,000 and the total cost was 1¼ lakhs. At present the cost to government is over Rs. 45,000 and the total cost over Rs. 2,83,000. Secondly the courses have been remodelled and in some cases lengthened. The Government of India will be glad to see an extension of the policy of concentration and improvement. They also desire to see suitable arrangements made for the residence and guidance of law students. 43. There has recently been a considerable expansion in commercial education. Nine years ago there were ten colleges with less than 600 students, and government spent less than Rs. 4,000 upon these instituCommercial Education. tions. At the present time there are 26 institutions, three of which are under the management of government, the enrolment is now over 1,500 and the expenditure from provincial funds is over Rs. 22,000. The standard attained in the majority of these institutions is not, however, high, and the instruction given in them prepares for clerical duties in government and business offices rather than for the conduct of business itself. A project for a commercial college of a more advanced type in Bombay has been sanctioned and the Government of India are considering the question of making arrangements for organised study of the economic and allied sociological problems in India. 44. Good work, which the Government of India desire to acknowledge, has been done under conditions of difficulty by the Indian universities; and by common consent the Universities Act of 1904 has had benUniversity Education. eficial results; but the condition of university education is still far from satisfactory, in regard to residential arrangements, control, the courses of study and the system of examination. The Government of India have accordingly again reviewed the whole question of university education. 45. It is important to distinguish clearly on the one hand the federal university, in the strict sense, in which several colleges of approximately equal standing separated by no excessive distance or marked local Affiliating and teaching individuality are grouped together as a university—and Universities. on the other hand the affiliating university of the Indian type, which in its inception was merely an examining body, and, although limited as regards the area of its operations by the Act of 1904, has not been able to insist upon an identity of standard in the various institutions conjoined to it. The former of these types has in the past enjoyed some popularity in the United Kingdom, but after experience it has been largely abandoned there; and the constituent colleges which were grouped together have for the most part become separate teaching universities. without power of combination with other institutions at a distance. At present there are only five Indian universities for 185 arts and professional colleges in British India besides several institutions in Native States. The day is probably far distant when India will be able to dispense altogether with the affiliating university. But it is necessary to restrict the area over which the affiliating 35

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universities have control by securing, in the first instance, a separate university for each of the leading provinces in India, and secondly, to create new local teaching and residential universities within each of the provinces in harmony with the best modern opinion as to the right road to educational efficiency. The Government of India have decided to found a teaching and residential university at Dacca and they are prepared to sanction under certain conditions the establishment of similar universities at Aligarh and Benares and elsewhere as occasion may demand. They also contemplate the establishment of universities at Rangoon, Patna and Nagpur. It may be possible hereafter to sanction the conversion into local teaching universities, with power to confer degrees upon their own students, of those colleges which have shown the capacity to attract students from a distance and have attained the requisite standard of efficiency. Only by experiment will it be found out what type or types of universities are best suited to the different parts of India. 46. Simultaneously the Government of India desire to see teaching faculties developed at the seats of the existing universities and corporate life encouraged, in order to promote higher study and create an atmoHigher studies. sphere from which students will imbibe good social, moral and intellectual influences. They have already given grants and hope to give further grants hereafter to these ends. They trust that each university will soon build up a worthy university library, suitably housed, and that higher studies in India will soon enjoy all the external conveniences of such work in the west. 47. In order to free the universities for higher work and more efficient control of colleges, the Government of India are disposed to think it desirable (in provinces where this is not already the case) to place the preliminary recognition of schools for purposes of presenting candidates for matriculation in the hands of the Local Governments and in case of Native States of the durbars concerned, while leaving to the universities the power of selection from schools so recognised. The university has no machinery for carrying out this work and in most provinces already relies entirely on the departments of public instruction, which alone have the agency competent to inspect schools. As teaching and residential universities are developed the problem will become even more complex than it is at present. The question of amending the Universities Act will be separately considered. 48. The Government of India hope that by these developments a great impetus will be given to higher studies throughout India and that Indian students of the future will be better equipped for the battle of life than the students of the present generation. 49. The chiefs’ colleges advance in popularity. In developing character and imparting ideas of corporate life they are serving well the purpose for which they were founded. They are also attaining steadily increasing intellectual efficiency, but the Committee of the Mayo College, Ajmere, have Chiefs’ Colleges. decided that it is necessary to increase the European staff. The post-diploma course has on the whole worked satisfactorily and there is now a movement on foot to found a separate college for the students taking this

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course. Such a college may in the future become the nucleus of a university for those who now attend the chiefs’ colleges. 50. The grave disadvantages of sending their children to England to be educated away from home influences at the most impressionable time of life are being realised by Indian parents. The Government of India have been approached unofficially from more than one quarter in connection with a proposal to establish in India a thoroughly efficient school staffed entirely by Europeans and conducted on the most modern European lines for the sons of those parents who can afford to pay high fees. No project is yet before them, but the Government of India take this opportunity to express their sympathy with the proposal and, should sufficient funds be forthcoming, will be glad to assist in working out a practical scheme. 51. Few reforms are more urgently needed than the extension and improvement of the training of teachers, for both primary and secondary schools in all subjects including, in the case of the latter schools, sciTraining of teachers. ence and oriental studies. The object must steadily be kept in view that eventually under modern systems of education no teacher should be allowed to teach without a certificate that he is qualified to do so. There are at present 15 colleges and other institutions for the instruction of those who will teach through the medium of English; these contain nearly 1,400 students under training. There are 550 schools or classes for the training of vernacular (mainly primary) teachers; and their students number over 11,000. The courses vary in length from one to two years. The number of teachers turned out from these institutions does not meet the existing demand and is altogether inadequate in view of the prospects of a rapid expansion of education in the near future. The Government of India desire Local Governments to examine their schemes for training teachers of all grades and to enlarge them so as to provide for the great expansion which may be expected, especially in primary education. 52. As regards training colleges for secondary schools some experience has been gained. But the Government of India are conscious that the subject is one in which a free interchange of ideas based on the success or failure of experiment is desirable. The best size for a practising school and the relations between it and the college; the number of students in the college for which the practising school can afford facilities of demonstration without losing its character as a model institution; the nature of, and the most suitable methods of procedure in, practical work; the relative importance of methodology and of psychological study; the best treatment of educational history; the extent to which it is desirable and practicable to include courses in subject matter in the scheme of training, especially courses in new subjects such as manual training and experimental science; the points in which a course of training for graduates should differ from one for non-graduates; the degree to which the body awarding a diploma in teaching should base its award on the college records of the student’s work—these and other unsolved questions indicate that the instructors in training colleges in different parts of India should keep in touch with each other and constantly scrutinize the most modern developments in the west. Visits made by selected members of the staff 37

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of one college to other institutions and the pursuit of furlough studies would seem especially likely to lead to useful results in this branch of education. 53. The Government of India have for some time had under consideration the improvement of the pay and prospects of the educational services, Indian, Provincial and Subordinate. They had drawn up proposPay and prospects of the als in regard to the first two services and approved services. some schemes forwarded by Local Governments in regard to the third, when it was decided to appoint a Royal Commission on the Public Services of India. The Government of India recognise that improvement in the position of all the educational services is required, so as to attract first-class men in increasing numbers, and, while leaving questions of reorganisation for the consideration of the Commission, are considering minor proposals for the improvement of the position of these services. They attach the greatest importance to the provision for the old age of teachers, either by pension or provident fund. Teachers in government institutions and, in some areas, teachers in schools managed by local bodies are eligible for these privileges. But it is necessary to extend the provision in the case of board and municipal servants and still more in the cases of teachers of privately managed schools, for the great majority of whom no such system exists. It is not possible to have a healthy moral atmosphere in any schools, primary or secondary, or at any college when the teacher is discontented and anxious about the future. The Governor General in Council desires that due provision for teachers in their old age should be made with the least possible delay. Local Governments have already been addressed upon this subject. 54. The defective state of the education of the domiciled community has long been remarked. Many suggestions have from time to time been made for its improvement. An influential committee, presided Education of the domiover by Sir Robert Laidlaw, is now collecting funds ciled community. for the schools of all denominations except Roman Catholic schools. As in the case of secondary English education and for similar reasons the policy has been, and is, to rely on private enterprise guided by inspection and aided by grants from public funds. The Government of India have never had any intention of changing their policy. But in order to discuss the whole question and to obtain definite practical suggestions of reform they assembled an influential conference at Simla last July. 55. The recommendations of the conference were numerous and far-reaching. The Government of India are prepared to accept at once the view that the most urgent needs are the education of those children who do not at present attend school and the improvement of the pay and prospects of teachers. They are also disposed to regard favourably the proposal to erect a training college at Bangalore with arts and science classes for graduate courses attached to it. They recognise that grants-in-aid must be given in future on a more liberal scale and under a more elastic system. They will recommend to Local Governments the grant of a greater number of scholarships to study abroad. The proposals to re-classify the schools, to introduce leaving certificates, to include in courses of instruction 38

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general hygiene and physiology, special instruction in temperance and the effects of alcohol on the human body, and the several other detailed proposals of the conference will be carefully considered in the light of the opinions of Local Governments when they have been received. 56. The suggestion was put forward and largely supported at the conference that European education should be centralised under the Government of India. This suggestion cannot be accepted. Apart from the fact that decentralisation is the accepted policy of government, the course of the discussion at the conference showed how different were the conditions of life of members of the domiciled community In different parts of India, and how these differences necessarily reacted on their educational arrangements. The Government of India are convinced that although some difficulties might be removed, more would be created by centralisation. 57. The figures and general remarks contained in this resolution are general and applicable to all races and religions in India, but the special needs of the Muhammadans and the manner in which they have been Education of Muhammadans. met demand some mention. The last nine years have witnessed a remarkable awakening on the part of this community to the advantages of modern education. Within this period the number of Muhammadan pupils has increased by approximately 50 per cent. and now stands at nearly a million and a half. The total Muhammadan population of India is now 57,423,866 souls. The number at school accordingly represents over 16·7 per cent. of those of a school-going age. Still more remarkable has been the increase of Muhammadan pupils in higher institutions, the outturn of Muhammadan graduates having in the same period increased by nearly 80 per cent. But while in primary institutions the number of Muhammadans has actually raised the proportion at schools of all grades among the children of that community to a figure slightly in excess of the average proportion for children of all races and creeds in India, in the matter of higher education their numbers remain well below that proportion notwithstanding the large relative increase. The facilities offered to Muhammadans vary in different provinces, but generally take the form of special institutions, such as madrassas, hostels, scholarships and special inspectors. The introduction of simple vernacular courses into maktabs has gone far to spread elementary education amongst Muhammadans in certain parts of India. The whole question of Muhammadan education, which was specially treated by the Commission of 1882, is receiving the attention of the Government of India. 58. The Government of India attach great importance to the cultivation and improvement of oriental studies. There is increasing interest throughout India in her ancient civilisation, and it is necessary to investigate Oriental studies. that civilisation with the help of the medium of western methods of research and in relation to modern ideas. A conference of distinguished orientalists held at Simla in July 1911 recommended the establishment of a central research institute on lines somewhat similar to those of L’Ecole Française d’Extrême Orient at Hanoi. The question was discussed whether research could 39

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efficiently be carried on at the existing universities; and the opinion predominated that it would be difficult to create the appropriate atmosphere of oriental study in those universities as at present constituted, that it was desirable to have in one institution scholars working on different branches of the kindred subjects which comprise orientalia and that for reasons of economy it was preferable to start with one institute well equipped and possessing a first-class library. The Government of India are inclined to adopt this view and to agree with the conference that the central institute should not be isolated, that it should be open to students from all parts of India and that it should as far as possible combine its activities with those of the universities of India and different seats of learning. The object of the institute as apart from research is to provide Indians highly trained in original work who will enable schools of Indian history and archæology to be founded hereafter, prepare catalogues raisonnés of manuscripts, develop museums and build up research in universities and colleges of the different provinces. Another object is to attract in the course of time pandits and maulvis of eminence to the institute and so to promote an interchange of the higher scholarship of both the old and the new school of orientalists throughout India. But before formulating a definite scheme the Governor General in Council desires to consult Local Governments. 59. While making provision for scholarship on modern lines, the conference drew attention to the necessity of retaining separately the ancient and indigenous systems of instruction. The world of scholarship, Preservation of the ancient they thought, would suffer irreparable loss if the learning. old type of pandit and maulvi were to die out before their profound knowledge of their subjects had been made available to the world; and encouragement rather than reform was needed to prevent such an unfortunate result. Certain proposals for encouragement were made at the conference, viz.,— (a) Grants to Sanskrit colleges, madrassas, tols, patshalas, maktabs, pongyi kyaungs and other indigenous institutions in order to secure better salaries for teachers and to enable students by fellowships or scholarships to carry their education to the highest point possible; (b) The appointment of specially qualified inspectors in orientalia; (c) The provision of posts for highly trained pandits and maulvis; (d) The grant of money rewards for oriental work. The Government of India hope to see the adoption of measures that are practicable for the maintenance and furtherance of the ancient indigenous systems of learning and have called for proposals from the Local Governments to this end. 60. The functions of local bodies in regard to education generally and their relations with the departments of public instruction are under the consideration of the Government of India. But it is clear that if compreExperts required. hensive systems are to be introduced expert advice and control will be needed at every turn. The Government of India propose to examine in communication with Local Governments the organisation for education in 40

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each province and its readiness for expansion. A suggestion has been made that the director of public instruction should be ex officio secretary to government. The Government of India agreeing with the great majority of the Local Governments are unable to accept this view, which confuses the position of administrative and secretariat officers; but they consider it necessary that the director of public instruction should have regular access to the head of the administration or the member in charge of the portfolio of education. The Government of India wish generally to utilise to the full the support and enthusiasm of district officers and local bodies in the expansion and improvement of primary education; but the large schemes, which are now in contemplation, must be prepared with the cooperation and under the advice of experts. A considerable strengthening of the superior inspecting staff, including the appointment of specialists in science, orientalia, etc., may be found necessary in most provinces. In Madras an experienced officer in the education department has been placed on special duty for two years to assist the director of public instruction to prepare the scheme of expansion and improvement in that province, and the Government of India would be glad to see a similar arrangement in all the major provinces should the Local Governments desire it. 61. In the resolution of 1904 it was stated that arrangements would be made for periodical meetings of the directors of public instruction in order that they might compare their experience of the results of Interchange of views. different methods of work and discuss matters of special interest. The Government of India have already held general conferences at which the directors attended and they are convinced that periodical meetings of directors will be of great value. While each province has its own system it has much to learn from other provinces, and, when they meet, directors get into touch with new ideas and gain the benefit of experience obtained in other provinces. The Government of India are impressed with the necessity not only of exchange of views amongst experts, but also of the advantages of studying experiments all over India on the spot; and in a letter of the 7th July 1911, they invited Local Governments to arrange that professors of arts and technical colleges and inspectors of schools should visit institutions outside the province where they are posted, with a view to enlarging their experience. 62. Such in broad outline are the present outlook and the general policy for the near future of the Government of India. The main principles of this policy were forwarded to His Majesty’s Secretary of Conclusion. State on the 28th September 1911, and parts of it have already been announced. It was, however, deemed convenient to defer the publication of a resolution until the whole field could be surveyed. This has now been done. The Governor General in Council trusts that the growing section of the Indian public which is interested in education will join in establishing, under the guidance and with the help of government, those quickening systems of education on which the best minds in India are now converging and on which the prospects of the rising generation depend. He appeals with confidence to wealthy 41

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citizens throughout India to give of their abundance to the cause of education. In the foundation of scholarships; the building of hostels, schools, colleges, laboratories, gymnasia, swimming baths; the provision of playgrounds and other structural improvements; in furthering the cause of modern scientific studies and specially of technical education; in gifts of prizes and equipment; the endowment of chairs and fellowships; and the provision for research of every kind there is a wide field and a noble opportunity for the exercise on modern lines of that charity and benevolence for which India has been renowned from ancient times.

Note 1 i.e., 1901 to 1911.

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3 A. H. BENTON, EXTRACTS FROM INDIAN MORAL INSTRUCTION AND CASTE PROBLEMS (LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., 1917), 1–10, 31–32, 92–112

INTRODUCTION THE subject of this short treatise points to a political, administrative and moral problem of immense importance. Its right solution is of the deepest interest not only to India and its peoples, but also to the British Empire with all its Oversea Dominions. In short, it may even be maintained that the question is one of worldwide concern. About a fifth of the whole human race dwell within the Indian territories. Their extent and their well-defined natural features are calculated to form a possible sphere of immense political power, when the inhabitants have been moulded by sufficient civil and political experience, and have learned to keep their ranks and to march in step with their fellow-subjects elsewhere. India lies geographically in the centre of the self-governing British Dominions, each of them in all probability destined to attain an equal rank with the Great Powers of the planet. The Overseas Dominions’ ideal is that they shall remain united to the mother country “if not by constitutional arrangements at any rate by mutual service, mutual interests, and mutual devotion” (Mr. Balfour’s tribute to Mr. Chamberlain, Commons, 7th July, 1914). The Indian ideal should be at some distant date the attainment of a similar position. The tide of human affairs is working steadily and powerfully in this direction. Indian troops have been employed, fighting with the utmost gallantry the battles of the Empire at the same time in five different quarters. The Indian populations under British guidance may look forward to being bound together by a common language, a common law and a common interest in each other. Thus India should firmly hope to become in the course of centuries, a mighty, selfpossessed, self-governed, all but independent Power, only like the Dominions bound to a benignant Patron by devoted loyalty, hallowed in the lapse of ages. The progress of events and of the opinions and tendencies developed by the war, moreover, seems to indicate that, in order to settle the world’s peace on a sure foundation, a complete federation of the Mother country, of the Dominions and 43

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of all governments under British auspices, must be attempted and strenuously striven for without loss of time. If the prospect just suggested is to be realised, and India is ever to have a recognised place in the comity of nations, her people as a whole must acquire a character for patience, persistence, steadfastness and moderation in the conduct of public affairs, approaching those of the peoples, with which she desires to be associated in the administration of their share of the world. It must be remembered that for well-nigh a millennium the latter have been leading all mankind in teaching themselves and others the principles of government by the people for the people, while the task is still far from complete. India’s latest conquerors have been highly successful in advancing her material prosperity. No enemy has in their time ventured to assail her from the outside. Within her bounds life and property have always remained secure save for one limited period in a single province and its neighbourhood, when the Pax Britannica was interrupted. The successful administration of justice has ever been a strong feature of British rule, in glaring contrast with the times that preceded it. In fact, Indians have been furnished not only with great facilities for obtaining justice, but they have at the same time earned for themselves a great reputation for abusing them, in order to indulge their litigious instincts, and thereby wreak vengeance on their enemies. This indicates, it may be observed, not any defect of the Courts of Justice, but rather an urgent need for improving and strengthening the general conscience, so as to curb eristic propensities, nowhere so extravagantly displayed as in the highest philosophies dealing with the problems of the Universe, God and Soul, spirit and matter, reality and illusion. Following the example of the Roman conquerors of old in their dominions, the British were almost the first to introduce into the country grand highway communications, solidly constructed. In a modern State, however, in competition with all the countries of the world, in the age of scientific inventions, besides good roads, scores of other conveniences and appliances are demanded to meet human requirements. Without the conquest, it is hard to see how India could have secured the postal and telegraph services or the railway system extending to over 30,000 miles. She has an English and vernacular press, so vigorous as to require a certain amount of restraint and guidance. She has a complete system of agricultural land registration in connection with the land revenue administration. Municipalities and district boards have been instituted throughout the land; they render valuable service to their communities and serve to call out the leaders of the people and to initiate them in the work of local administration. The limit has almost been reached in applying the waters of all her magnificent rivers, to increase by irrigation agricultural produce and to bring under cultivation wide tracts, which otherwise must have remained barren waste. Much attention has been given to sanitation: much thought and money have been devoted to the prevention and extirpation of many diseases, which carried off or debilitated large masses of the population. Many other material boons might be indicated, for which India is indebted to her present rulers. 44

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In short, in developing the resources of the Indian Continent, in furthering trade, commerce and industry, in promoting the material comfort and welfare of its immense population, the Indian Government has a record which falls little short of any ideal that could have been anticipated. That is, it is admitted, a British way of looking at the material aspect of recent advancement; if an Indian were sketching the picture, it would doubtless be of a much more sombre character; Indians have but scant esteem for ideals of that nature; they would be much more readily gratified by a lively interest in their spiritual possessions and a similar strenuous effort to make the best of them. Turning then to the spiritual sphere of development, we find ourselves in a much less comfortable region. This cannot be attributed to any lack of amenability to mental culture on the part of the people, for they are on the whole kindly, docile, alert, keen-spirited, high and low one of the best-mannered peoples in the world, and they would appear to offer a very promising field for right spiritual treatment. There does not appear to be much to quarrel with for the present, all things considered, as to the extent of educational facilities. Leaving female education out of account, not as unimportant, but for the sake of simplicity merely, we find that elementary education already covers something short of one-third of the ground it occupies in more advanced communities. There is no doubt but that ethical training ought to be coextensive with secular education. The proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it,” contains the soundest wisdom. In India we have to a very large extent neglected it. The Court of Directors’ Despatch of 1854, the Magna Charta of Indian Education, not only prohibits religious instruction in government (including municipal and board) schools and colleges, but also makes no provision for ethical training anywhere; it relies entirely for moral progress on improvement of the intellect. We have greatly enhanced this sad defect by imposing universally a system of examination for advancement in life through the public services and for preparation for the universities. This system leaves outside its scope both religion and morals, and so effectually discourages all voluntary attention to proficiency therein. The result is a plague spot among those who have received the higher education. The Indian education problem has been pressed on public attention by the operations of anarchists, which were constantly in evidence throughout the period covered by the last Quinquennial Report (1908–1912 inclusive). The agents for perpetrating the many hideous and menacing outrages of the last seven or eight years have been chiefly, if not entirely, either Hindu students or Hindus fresh from school or college. This feature is important; an explanation will be offered, why no Muslims appear amongst the offenders. The most notable was the deplorable outrage on His Excellency the Viceroy on the 23rd December, 1912, at Delhi, on his formal entry into the new capital; when a bomb was thrown which severely wounded his Excellency and killed an attendant. The years 1913 and 1914 up to the outbreak of war showed no improvement, a distressingly large portion of an Indian weekly paper being constantly devoted to anarchist crimes and trials in various places. Every week chronicled the occurrence of murderous 45

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attacks on distinguished persons and zealous public servants. The patriotic demonstrations throughout India, which the war evoked, appeared to allay the anarchic spirit for a number of months, but then there seemed to follow a vigorous recrudescence of the evil. During the year 1915 special tribunals presided over by three judges sat for long periods, if not continuously, occupied with the trial of cases described in the newspaper headings as “Political Conspiracies,” in which large gangs were accused of robberies (dacoities) accompanied with murder with a view to secure funds for the overthrow of the British Government. It is not possible to ascertain from the reports that the accused had all of them been students, but the fact that some were, appears incidentally. The Lahore case, the most notable of these State trials, with sixty-three accused, was traced to a student who held a scholarship at Oxford, awarded by the Panjab Government (Times, 17th November, 1915). In February, 1916, there were three Special Tribunals sitting in three provinces. That at Lahore was occupied with a supplement to the Lahore State Trial in which there were seventy-one accused and one thousand witnesses to be examined for the defence alone (Pioneer Mail of 12th February, 1916). The pressing need for effectual action, whether in or outside the Education Department, to put an end to the source of disorders, is more than ever clearly demonstrated. The urgency of the situation has been admitted by the government over and over again. At the opening of the Indian Imperial Council, on the 25th January, 1910, the Viceroy, Lord Minto, referred to the subject in these words: “The present dangers we are prepared to meet; the moral training of the rising generation our duty will no longer allow us to neglect.” More than three years after we have a full deliverance of the Government of India on the subject of education reform in the Government resolution in the Department of Education, dated Delhi, 21st February, 1913. I think it worth while to transfer the whole passage, although of considerable length, to these pages, because it will serve for easy reference and because it enables us to understand exactly where we are, so far as the Government is concerned, where there is no enigma involved.

“DIRECT RELIGIOUS AND MORAL INSTRUCTION. “5. The question of religious and moral instruction was discussed at a local conference held in Bombay and subsequently at the Imperial Conference held in Allahabad in February, 1911. Grave differences of opinion emerged as to the possibility or advantage of introducing direct religious instruction into schools generally, and apprehensions of difficulty in the working of any definite system were put forward. Doubts were also expressed as to the efficacy of direct moral instruction, when divorced from religious sanctions. In the matter of moral teaching, however, the difficulties are undoubtedly less than in the case of religious teaching. The papers laid before the conference indicate that not a little moral instruction is already given in the ordinary text-books and in other ways. The Government of Bombay are engaged upon the preparation of a book containing ‘moral illustrations,’ which will be placed in the hands of teachers, in order to 46

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assist them in imparting moral instruction. Excellent materials for ethical teaching are available in the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, portions of Hafiz, Sadi, Maulana Rumi and other classics in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and Pali. The Government of India, while bound to maintain a position of complete neutrality in matters of religion, observe that the most thoughtful minds in India lament the tendency to develop the intellectual at the expense of the moral and religious faculties. In September, 1911, they invited Local Governments, other than the Bombay Government, to assemble local committees in order to consider the whole question. Such committees are still at work in some provinces. For the present the Government of India must be content to watch experiments and keep the matter prominently in view. Enlightened opinion and accumulated experience will, it is hoped, provide a practical solution to what is unquestionably the most important educational problem of the time.” This extract will afford a convenient text wherewith to summarise the chief points at issue and thereby give the reader a bird’s-eye view of the discussions that shall occupy our attention in the sequel. It appears a good omen, a sign of grace, that the Government bound by neutrality was able to countenance the discussion of religious and moral instruction at two conferences held at Bombay and Allahabad in 1911. The aloofness of neutrality might well have been expected to ban all reference to religion. Another good omen is that Government is watching experiments, that it sees clearly that the education problem to be solved is “unquestionably the most important educational problem of the time” and that it is hopeful of a practical solution. This sums up, it seems, the whole matter of a favourable nature to be found in the pronouncement. It betokens a benevolent neutrality. The neutrality would become still more benevolent, if it were only observed in practice or if it would only take itself away to limbo and resign the place it should never have occupied to something more English, more rational. If the business in hand had any concern with war or diplomacy there might be much to be said for it; for internal civil administration, where the business in hand is not to worst opponents by diplomatic art or somehow, where earnestness and sincerity should be the keynote, its introduction appears a sad mistake. It means literally, siding with neither of two parties. Who the two parties intended are, perhaps hardly any one knows. There are many parties and there should be kindness and goodwill to all. The most illustrious and the most talented advocate of Indian education at an important crisis, as will appear, failed to comprehend it. What can be hoped of people less capable? What of the ignorant masses? It originated with the Court of Directors in the Napoleonic era (Despatch, dated 7th September, 1808. Howell, p. 9). That is some excuse for its authors. Yet it is hard to understand how even they overlooked the principle of toleration expounded by English philosophy, first won for mankind after many persecutions, after a very troubled history and great expenditure of English tears and bloodshed. The Government of India does not appear to be bound by the principle of neutrality save by its own choice as to its expediency and by long use. Brought to a standstill, we may say, by pursuing it, it will have a fresh opportunity of considering 47

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its future adherence to it. In this connection some remarks of His Excellency the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge, at laying the foundation of the Hindu University at Benares are well worth pondering. “But I am not terrified,” said His Excellency, “by the bogey of religious intolerance; rather do I think that a deep belief in and reverence for one’s own religion ought to foster a spirit of respect for the religious convictions of others and signs are not wanting that the day is dawning, when tolerance and mutual good-will shall take the place of fanaticism and hatred.” These words, it may be observed, are a worthy echo of the Royal Proclamation of 1858. The following brief notes touch on other leading features of our text to be discussed hereafter:— No common sense could advocate the teaching of religion in mixed schools. Both teacher and pupils would be a laughing-stock to the other spectators. Such unfortunately is human nature! There should be no doubt as to the efficacy of moral teaching divorced from religious sanctions, in India at least. The experiment of the Buddha, which lasted for about 1500 years and failed, appears to prove quite clearly that Indians attach the highest importance to the influence of spiritual religion on human conduct and have very little reliance on the teaching of morals which lacks this support. This has a very important bearing on the value to be assigned to the direct moral teaching imparted to pupils in Government schools and colleges. As little doubt should there be, that a teacher, not qualified to teach religion to any particular class of pupils, is not in a position to give them the special moral instruction required in accordance therewith. The quantity of materials for ethical instruction to be found in this or that quarter is, it is most humbly and respectfully submitted, a very secondary consideration; the special quality, having regard to the pupils concerned, is the first and most important point. These views will be advocated in the sequel by the writer to the best of his ability; he proposes to recommend a scheme of moral instruction in accordance with the various religions of the pupils, after it has been tested by an experiment in the Secondary Schools, where the need is most urgent, or in a portion of them. The sphere to which the experiment would be applied, its extent and the consequent cost would be left to the discretion of the authorities concerned. The resolution of the Government of India may fairly be regarded as containing a clear invitation to the outside public to render it assistance in solving a most baffling problem. Three years have passed, and, so far as I am aware, there has been no response whatever on the part of men of light and leading in the fields of religion, philosophy, literature, and politics, who might here find a subject worthy of elucidation by their best efforts. Is it not, I must ask myself with my comparatively slender resources, great rashness and presumption on my part, to dream of dealing with such a task? The only excuse I can offer, is that I am attempting it, faute de mieux; that this effort of mine may at least tempt those with the best qualifications to come to the rescue. 48

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Living at a distance from India I could scarcely have ventured to publish my notions without some more intimate acquaintance with what had been recently said and done on the spot, than is to be obtained by reading Indian newspapers. I am very grateful to the Indian Department of Education, which at the request of my old friend, the Honourable Sir Michael O’Dwyer, Lieut.-Governor of the Panjab has favoured me with the official documents noted below,1 concerning educational doings. So I have been relieved of anxiety on this score. With a view to the effective disentanglement of our theme it appears necessary to discuss first, certain common features, pervading Indian existence, of a special character; and thereafter in succession a series of questions bearing on religion, state interference, morals, philosophy and history. The reader may not feel convinced at each stage of our progress that the ground we are treading is strictly relevant. He ought to bear in mind that we are dealing with ancient religions, strange to most of us, also with ancient communities the great masses of which are living in social conditions, which we have left long behind us. For the successful handling of such topics, it appears desirable that we should in some measure endeavour to create for ourselves a certain antique atmosphere, to which we are strangers. This may most easily be effected, it seems, by several historic sketches, which will serve to explain how the present position has been reached and to determine what modification of the same may be desirable and practicable. The first of these subjects to be dealt with is the curious union of singular, unique conditions of unknown antiquity, prevailing almost throughout the wide extent of the Indian territories. The two proposals, set out in the title page, may at first sight appear to have no intimate connection with each other or even to be antagonistic. As to antagonism, it may be observed, that in India, where caste is generally prevalent, the utterance of the word evokes no sentiment of moral disparagement, as it does in the West. The relation between the two, will, it is trusted, clearly appear from the following explanation. The moral instruction of the children of a community, with only one religion prevalent, is doubtless a very exalted and a very exacting theme. The Founder of Christianity thought proper to bestow special attention on children and to treat them with a distinction, which did not commend itself to the bystanders. A close imitation of His attitude and of His methods of teaching morality will be earnestly enjoined, because it appears to afford the best promise of success in the general treatment of the subject. A plurality of religions, even if they are not very numerous, greatly enhances the difficulty of the moral training of the young. A very considerable part of all the energies of all the churches in these islands, we can see, is devoted to the religious and moral instruction of young people. When the number of religions, cults, sects and castes is, as in India, without any limit (over 2000 we are told), the work of moral upbringing assumes an aspect of overwhelming magnitude and difficulty. The only hope of dealing with it successfully appears to lie in the possibility of utilising the agencies of the social framework, which causes the overpowering 49

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complexity, to provide also the means of coping with and overcoming it. Hence arises the urgent need for a rational explanation of the nature and origin of Indian caste, based on facts of no recondite character, which all can appreciate. Government and its supporters, the general body politic, we may say, cannot be expected to be content with accounts, based on mythology, tradition or the revelation of any particular religion, when it devolves on caste authorities most important public duties. The Indian Census Commissioner has pronounced the origin of caste to be an “insoluble conundrum.” Nevertheless a simple theory of the subject will be propounded in the next chapter and supported by all available argument. The writer hopes it may obtain acceptance, achieve at least a modicum of success. If he fail to make such headway in respect to both problems, he must resign himself to accept a verdict of failure, more or less complete, as regards the work in hand. Meanwhile he will confidently indulge the hope of a favourable issue. Should the notions he propounds be found anywhere near the mark, he is fully aware that much pioneer work will still remain for men on the spot, who alone can deal effectually with details in all their diversity. Before parting with the subject of religion we may profitably inquire, why the susceptibility to evil effects for religion is confined to Hindu students and does not affect Muhammadans. What I have to say on this topic is not addressed to any save those who, like myself, accept with fullest conviction that ancient precept, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” which was later on confirmed by its adoption by the Founder of Christianity on a memorable occasion. Notwithstanding, I do not say that public secular instruction may not in some cases prove adequate. Religious instruction, like secular, may be imparted either publicly or privately. It appears an absolute essential, however it may be got, and that is well illustrated by the two very interesting cases we are considering. The Muslims have a religion, which they sincerely believe and steadily practise; which they cannot cease to practise with impunity at the hands of their co-religionists. They have been very chary of subjecting their children to the risk of contagion in our schools, and they often delay their public secular education for years, in order that their religious instruction may be first attended to by private tuition or in their own maktabs (schools), thus handicapping them to some extent in the battle of life. In a community of this character public instruction may be secular without pernicious consequences. This is how Muhammadan students maintain, their moral balance and continue loyal and well behaved. It is altogether different with the Hindu. His peculiarities are extreme receptivity and toleration of dogmas and extreme religious sensibility. If any people may live without God in the world, it certainly is not the Hindus. The Hindu Pantheon contains divinities innumerable. Every object in Heaven or on earth, “everything good or evil, great or useful, strange or monstrous,” has divine significance attributed to it and moves to awe and reverence the ordinary Hindu. All rivers are more or less sacred, the most sacred being the Ganges and six others, and a favourite pilgrimage is the perambulation of their sources. There are endless holy places, 50

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and pilgrimages to them are one of the settled occupations as well as one of the usual diversions of Hindu existence. Again, as to toleration, a Hindu, we are informed, is not a man who believes Brahmanical or any other doctrine. In fact a Hindu may even adopt Muhammadan or Christian doctrines, like Rammohan Roy, and still remain a Hindu. A Hindu is a man who belongs to hirarchy of caste, headed by Brahmans, and who yields obedience to the rules of his own caste. These rules, any rate in the case of the higher castes, involve an interminable array of prescribed rites and ordinances for every day of his life, and still more injunctions for special days and special occasions, too tedious to contemplate. In the ordinary course the whole life of a Hindu is regulated by tradition, understood to have been received from inspired sages. The Higher Education, which directs his attention to a foreign literature and a history, of anything but a sedative character; to Science, which proceeds by observation and experiment and reasoning thereon grounded, and which can show wonderful results; to Philosophy, by which everything in heaven and earth is open to doubt and question, is the very antithesis2 of his former habits. The student naturally applies the new method to these traditions and to the ways and habits of his environment. He may find that they rest on no sound foundation and he is liable to despise and reject them. He may thus, losing his moral balance, be cut adrift from his moorings and be launched without compass or pilot on the ocean of life and so incur shipwreck; in fact he too often becomes an anarchist.

CHAPTER VI MORAL IMPROVEMENT AND REFORMATION

WE announced at the outset that one of the objects aimed at was to make the Indian peoples attain a political apprenticeship and ethos, approaching those of the best elements, with which they were associated. Now India is a very wide country, containing many nations differing in history, race, character, and religion. Moral training adapted to all these diversities must include very many varieties, widely apart, and must begin in each case with the present conditions of the particular unit under instruction. How is it possible, it may be asked, to unite and combine all these different features so as to reach a tolerably approximate character? Has this been considered; has any arrangement been provided, calculated to secure this desirable object? The candid admission is, that no such provision has been made, but it is maintained that nothing of the sort is needed, because every improvement in morals has a convergent effect, and will of itself tend to cause characters to approximate. All men are pretty near agreement about what conduct is good or bad, right or wrong. Good men, wherever they have come from or however diverse their up-bringing, it is the general experience, have no difficulty in getting on with each other, when they meet. If it were otherwise, the idea of a Heavenly Paradise, common to so many religions, would obviously be absurd. There are certain characters in history whom all 51

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men, in all ages, of all religions, have admired, for example Pericles, Epaminondas, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Sadi. The behaviour of the whole of vocal India at the outbreak of this war is a good illustration of the view contended for. Vocal India may be regarded as representing the small advanced sections in the local communities, into which the population would be divided from a religious standpoint for administrative purposes. A great moral problem, seriously affecting every one, was suddenly presented and it was answered with a unanimity which must have charmed the dwellers in all the lands of the Empire. The following is a good sample of what was common throughout the Indian Press at the time:— “India’s duty is clear to-day. She has never forgotten a benefit and never wavered, when the call of friendship demanded great sacrifices. Our great men have given their lives, their homes and their all for their friends. We are faced to-day by a common danger. The fate of India is interlinked with the future of England. Our duty is to stand as men so that the memory of our deeds may nerve the forces of coming generations. “Let us fight shoulder to shoulder in this great cause as a band of brothers. It is not always that the faith of a nation is put to trial. We have got a rare opportunity. Let us keep our faith in the wisdom of the Government. Let us nerve our hearts with the justice of our cause. There can be no question as to the issue. We must win.”3 In the next place it appears desirable that the principle of the specific to be recommended for our ailment, should be explained in advance. It depends, it will appear, on the power of habit and of mental adjustment to suit confirmed habit. Our complaint doubtless has its root in religion. Religions have a common feature; they are all framed in terms of the eternal: “One day is as a thousand years,” in each case. Yet religions, it must be admitted, have a beginning; they develop; their existence falls short of eternity; they disappear. The Polytheisms of the Mediterranean basin are gone; so also the Teutonic. Buddhism has mostly vanished from the Indian Continent, which it at one time pervaded. We know something of the history of Christianity. I pointed out what appeared to me a development as regards the recognition of conscience, as a guide for human conduct. At the Christian era slavery was universally prevalent, the slave population being perhaps in excess of the free (Gibbon, Cap. II.). Slaves were recommended to be obedient even to bad masters for conscience’ sake (1 Pet. ii. 18). The institution, thus recognised in the sphere of conscience, has disappeared among Christians in our time, as the result of a tremendous war. All the great religions took their rise prior to the discovery of the correct mechanism of the Universe and the phenomenal advance of Science, which has ensued. Science is a human possession of a different character from religion; ever under repair, it waxeth not old, so far as we know or can calculate. It proceeds on the principle of the Continuity and Uniformity of Nature, which is flagrantly at variance with many religious traditions. This clash of principle does not disturb many of the greatest intellects but it unsettles some, resulting in scepticism, unbelief, and rebellion against social usages and duties. 52

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In such a predicament what is the best remedy or palliative which can be suggested and how does it operate? The mischief to be overcome in India, like the advent of Science in the East, is a comparatively recent thing, but the West has had centuries of experience of the complaint. The result is, that the West would appear to be thoroughly convinced that the best plan is to give good heed to the old proverb: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.” This means that every child, in the course prescribed for him, will have full instruction according to his years both in religious and moral principles, and all the time he will be required to live in accordance therewith; if he come short in any respect, he will find his life anything but a bed of roses. When religious truths are imparted to him, as he matures in years, he will be furnished with reasons for accepting them, sufficiently powerful to make him think once, twice, and again, before he thinks of parting with the beliefs to which he has been inured. After protracted consideration he may come to the conclusion, that what he was taught in his childhood is unsound, and that he must find something more reasonable and more reliable to replace it. He thus becomes converted, we shall say, to a new set of beliefs and he may have to modify his conduct accordingly. All the time this religious debate has been going on internally, he has been treading in the old paths, indulging in old habits, which have become a second nature to him; he will not dispense with any of them save with the utmost regret. He will maintain his confirmed attitude to relations, old friends, acquaintances and the society of which he was a member in all respects, so far as this is possible. A pathetic instance on record will serve to illustrate the position. I am to quote a few sentences from Sterling’s last letter to his friend Carlyle. Sterling had been an English clergyman, and in the course of time had found himself compelled to part with some Christian beliefs, among them, it would appear, the cardinal belief in a future life. The letter begins— “MY DEAR CARLYLE, “For the first time for many months it seems possible to send you a few words; merely, however, for remembrance and Farewell. On higher matters there is nothing to say. I tread the common road into the great darkness without any thought of fear and with very much of hope. Certainty indeed I have none. . . . Heaven bless you! If I can lend you a hand when there that will not be wanting.” We see that the effect of an important change of belief was to produce a mental adjustment; to. replace certainty by hope. Similar changes of belief might have the effect of expunging many pages of religious traditionary records, as altogether incredible. Similar mental readjustments would replace them, if necessary with the best available substitutes without any anarchy or social disturbance. Something of this sort is what occurs in the green tree in the West under most favourable conditions. We are now witnessing what occurs in the dry tree in India, 53

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where youths are crammed by the Higher Education with anything that will win marks in examinations for advancement in life. Conduct and character are taken no account of. The acquisition of any knowledge of religion and morals is of no avail whatever, however essential it may be to a well-ordered and useful life. Hotheaded youths, who have failed in examinations, on reaching manhood, lose their bearings and find no career so attractive as forming large bands to commit raids and robberies. The specious pretext is, that they wish to secure resources in order to liberate India from an alien Government, whose hands are full with a great war elsewhere. In the Panjab alone in the first half of May, 1915, two Special Tribunals were sitting for the trial of 2121 of such misguided would-be rebels and other malcontents, who have adopted their weapon of organised robberies in order to redress their grievances. We shall now proceed to explain proposals for calling to our assistance the wise men of the East, in order to extract from their stores of wisdom, the requisite materials for teaching the young to love good habits and ever to choose the path of virtue.

CHAPTER VII REMEDIAL MEASURES

So far no reference has been made to the reports of the Bombay and Allahabad Conferences on Moral Education, referred to in the Introduction. I am not conscious that I have been influenced by them in the foregoing discussions, which were for the most part complete before receipt of the reports. The great value, I attach to them, is due to their use for verification. The gist of these pages is contained in this sentence of the address of the Lord Bishop of Bombay:—“For I should have thought that at least one possible solution of this problem is, that at school the children of each religion should receive teaching in the morality inculcated by that religion.” I have been busy so far in supporting this thesis and what remains to be done is, to supply one working plan for putting it in execution. I am quite ready to believe that much better schemes could be furnished. The Bishop was strongly supported by two other speakers; one of them a Roman Catholic clergyman. Of two other speakers one placed his chief reliance on the inspiring influence of the teacher, expounding and practising sound morality, and the other on the excellent advantages of a good home. We may adhere to our own conclusions with fullest confidence without calling in question the enormous advantages of first-rate teachers and admirable homes, if they were only procurable. The Allahabad Conference might be said to be all but unanimous as to the desirability of moral and religious instruction proceeding hand in hand. There was not a single suggestion pointing to any means of obtaining this inestimable boon in Government schools, while the unalterable policy of the Government was adhered to. The method of moral instruction without religious instruction, with accounts of the attitudes of parents and others towards it, had been fully laid 54

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before the Conference in careful reports of the Directors of Public Instruction, expressly prepared for the Conference. A Muhammadan member of the Conference did not mince matters in giving his opinion as to the value of the method; he pronounced it a farce. This pis aller of so-called Direct Moral Instruction must be regarded as having the verdict of the Conference in its favour, seeing that its members were unable to propound anything to replace it. It may be as well to explain the nature of the tuition. Books have been provided for class lessons of a literary, historical, geographical or other nature with a moral tendency. The teacher is expected not only to give the particular lesson effectively, but also to enforce with power and enthusiasm any morals that may be extracted from it by the way; even by personal example “to illustrate and sanctify the efficacy of their precepts to young minds.” I am quoting the words of a Deputy Inspector. If the teacher fails to accomplish all this, it is not because the scheme is not a sound one, but because he should be regarded as a failure. I have commented on Direct Moral Instruction unfavourably on two previous occasions, and any number of objections could be urged against it, if the task were not too ungrateful. Enough has been said, I trust, to enable readers to judge for themselves. The best that could be said of it was, that it was a courageous effort to find a way out of the impossible impasse, caused by the necessary embargo on religion for moral teaching, due to the Government policy. The Government must be disappointed by the outcome; for it is not prepared to go boldly forward but prefers to wait and see what further light may be shed on the problem. The position is doubtless an awkward one but under the circumstances the decision seems to me a right and proper one. I will explain why. India may well be regarded as the most difficult country in the world to deal with as regardas moral teaching. Owing to its history, to the various origins of its races, to the various conquests that have occurred within historical times and before them, to the devices adopted by the conquerors to maintain their superiority to their predecessors and to the aborigines, and owing also to the various religions of the inhabitants, due to all these causes, it may safely be maintained that there are not merely one, two, or three systems of morality current but an indefinite and unknown number, corresponding to the various religions which have grown up with and dominated them. From a material point of view all the conquests save the latest have only been partial. From the religious and spiritual standpoint there has never been any conquest at all. My meaning will be apparent from a comparison with Europe. The Christian religion has pervaded all Europe and in consequence there is there practically only one religion and one moral system, because the religious divisions do not affect morals. Europeans, when they go to India, take their morals with them, and naturally proceed to apply everywhere the notion of the single system. There are exceptions; the Lord Bishop of Bombay for instance takes full cognisance of the fact to which I am endeavouring to draw attention. Other people have glimmerings of it one moment and forget it the next. This may be illustrated from the quoted paragraph of the Resolution. Reference is made first to what we may call the Cosmopolitan morality to be found in the class text-books, gathered we may say from promiscuous sources and distributed to all 55

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pupils indiscriminately. A little further on we find reference to the ethical teachings to be found in the classical writers of various Eastern Countries. One might be excused for inquiring why, if moral materials gathered from anywhere were suitable for Indian pupils, there was any need to rummage for them in ancient classics, was this not great waste of labour and effort? The truth is that there is in many minds a notion half alive, that material from these ancient books might be very congenial and suitable to Indians, but there is not in the same minds even a suspicion that the former materials ought prima facie to be regarded as quite unsuitable. This is my contention, which I laboured to establish when I proposed a definition of morality suitable to Indian conditions and especially to the business of the Indian Education Department. We must, I say, recognise numerous moralities in India in consequence of the present condition of its peoples, all divided into distinct social communities, separated from each other by rifts and fissures or by vast ravines. This recognition is the only means of advancement, the only resource, which affords a hope that they may in time be brought into a state of approximate continuous homogeneousness. Meanwhile each community, each moral4 unit must have its own approximate moral treatment, if there is to be peace in the land. The Directors’ reports seem to confirm these views. The people they consulted seemed hardly to understand what is meant by morals; some say they do not wish moral teaching, but they are all keen for having religion taught, the real fact being that religion according to their conception includes morals. They are, as already remarked, so far as the domination of religion is concerned, where our ancestors were some centuries back. It seems a piece of good fortune accordingly that the Government thought proper to call a halt. Having read so much in the various Reports about school discipline, obedience, respect for superiors and so on, I am led to suggest that a great moral improvement might be effected by slight physical training calculated to produce correct bearing and deportment. Village louts and yokels should not appear as such in the schools but be smartened up into the beginnings of men. I am induced to give this advice in consequence of what I see of our “Boy Scouts.” In perusing the evidence with regard to Direct Moral Instruction, our attention is constantly called to the existence of a sinister phenomenon, pervading Indian school life. It distresses alike all pupils and teachers, who admire honest work and fair play. In consequence of it neither pupils nor teachers have any time to bestow on either religion or morals. The sole cause of the trouble is the Examination Fiend, who, like the Government, is precluded from interfering with religion, but is entitled to do his Devil’s work in every other sphere. An unfair handicap is thus imposed on all who give fair attention to religion and morals, and a premium is bestowed on those who do not scruple to neglect them. There ought to be no hesitation about penalising the latter. The examination for Matriculation and all such like avenues for advancement in life ought to be duly guarded by a passexamination in religion and morals, as matters of the first importance, and by an ample deduction of marks in cases where the test is not fully satisfied. We are 56

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assured by J. S. Mill (“Liberty,” p. 193), who should be a good authority on such a subject, that there is no reasonable objection to examining an atheist in the evidences of Christianity, provided he is not required to profess a belief in them. Still less ought there to be any objection to examining pupils in morals and the religion they profess. It would be a fine feat indeed to make this fiend exorcise himself. I would not have it supposed that I attach any very serious importance to the suggestions offered in the two preceding paragraphs, as contributions to the solution of our problem. They may be regarded as mere obiter dicta arising out of the discussion. The solution to which I attach high importance is based on the fact that it has been proved, we may say twice over, that the task of teaching morals, to be efficiently performed, must be handed over to independent authorities who are not prohibited from invoking the aid of religion for the purpose. It is proposed accordingly that independent committees be constituted in each district, to give moral instruction to the pupils of all Government and Grant-in-aid Primary Schools in accordance with the religion of the pupil, not in the schools but in separate buildings specially adapted for the purpose. It is quite well understood that independence is a virtue, which cannot be conferred on a small body of men in an ordinary Indian District by a simple fiat. It will have to be cherished and built up in process of time by measures, sedulously contrived to attain that object. It should be understood, that the primary qualification for any gentleman’s being appointed to serve on such a committee would be a religious one. In India all religious organisations, such as there are, are merely local. The authorities in one place have no control over authorities elsewhere. Gentlemen would be appointed to the committees merely as individuals. In short there is no spiritual authority of the nature of a Church, and it would be a great mistake to do anything to create one. Let us suppose for the present, that suitable authorities of the right sort, open to no objection, have been properly constituted. The next thing to be settled is the method of instruction. It must be remembered that we are not dealing with advanced students of morals, capable of understanding definitions and reasoning based thereon, but with children who must be supplied with matter suitable to their intelligence and who must take what they are told for the most part on trust. It is submitted that the matter taught must be couched in the form of a precept, felicitously expressed in simple terms, which even a child can understand, in terms calculated, however, by their force and charm to produce a lasting impression on the youthful mind. Moral maxims of this high character can only be the product of moral discernment of no mean order, and in some cases it may be no easy task to discover and arrange them. There is a profuse abundance of the treasure demanded in Christian ethics; there must also, it is believed, be very ample store in the text-books of the Buddhist tenets. In support of my contention as to the method of teaching I would ask Christian readers to look within their own breasts, and to ask themselves with respect to their moral notions, on which they set the highest value, from what source they have obtained them? Is it not directly from the Gospel precepts or indirectly 57

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through the society imbued with these precepts, in which they have spent their lives? I should be immensely surprised to hear from them, that they were to any sensible extent indebted for the moral thoughts they treasure most either to the treatises of moral philosophers or to catechisms. To illustrate this matter reference may be made to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, a subject of arduous study in the Scotch schools, which were established in every parish in consequence of the proposals of the Reformer John Knox, and which continued in existence down to the seventies of last century. The Catechism dealt at length with Effectual Calling, Justification, Adoption, and Sanctification. Nevertheless, in after life, when the Catechism was once got rid of, who ever gave a thought to these terms, which puzzled childhood, or heard of them in private conversation, or saw any allusion to them in the newspaper press or in any nontheological work? I entertain the sincere hope that both Hindus and Muhammadans may, if called on, have similar accounts to give regarding their religious possessions. The method of teaching may of course have to be varied, to adapt it to the means available and to the customs and usages of the localities and of the races concerned. Our next task is to settle how the Committees above proposed for presiding over religious and moral instruction should be constituted. We must remember that throughout British India the unit of Local administration is the district. Each district is in charge of the Collector and Magistrate or of the Deputy Commissioner; it has its District Board of which the Collector or Deputy Commissioner is Chairman. The Collector would be required to determine how the population should be divided from a religious standpoint into communities for religious and moral instruction, so that a committee might be appointed to represent each, to arrange its business with the District and Municipal Boards to draw up a religious and moral syllabus and to provide suitable buildings and establishment. Each committee’s scheme would have to be approved by the District and Municipal Boards, which would have to defray the cost. In preparing the syllabus the present religious and moral condition of the community would be the starting point as already indicated in Chapters II., IV., and V. (pp. 29, 71, 85). The committee’s business would be to maintain and improve the present status. In some cases the preparation of the syllabus would be easy, in some it might no doubt be a formidable business. The Muhammadans might be expected to be sticklers for the directions of the Euran and the Hadis, and might not care to admit much from extraneous sources; this would save the trouble of choosing. It would be for the Boards to decide whether the matter submitted was easily intelligible, sufficient and worth its cost. In the case of some of the committees there may not be available the learning in their own religious lore or the talent to manipulate it. Many of the committees would possess, it is presumed, exactly the same features and the less learned and clever committees might be advised and induced to copy the work of abler committees with like characteristics in other districts. Outside assistance might perhaps be obtained from the central Hindu College, Benares, and like bodies. All the difficulties in the way will 58

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only be discovered when an effort is made to surmount them. The first attempts should be regarded as a voyage of discovery in a new country. In selecting the first committee the Collector would of course consider, who among the leaders of the community seemed best qualified to deal with this important business and with the starting-off the committee on its career. It is suggested that in every case a section of the syllabus should be devoted to special local matter, moral proverbs, hymns and folk songs; also that each item of the collection should, if possible, have a marginal catchword. Vacancies in the committees might be filled by co-optation. It strikes me, that both to the District Boards and to the Committees it would be a great boon to have a pattern syllabus provided for them, even if it were for a different religion, say the Christian. The former would be able to decide by reference to the pattern, what was worthy of approval; the latter would understand what sort of product it was necessary for them to work up to, in order to obtain due sanction for their expenditure. I would suggest that it would be worth while for the Government to offer several handsome prizes for good specimens of a syllabus in the best literary style, drawn up according to directions supplied. With a view to the issue of such directions I will offer such ideas as occur to me. It would be necessary to restrict the pattern, to a convenient size, say 50 to 100 pages or so many words. It would contain a narrative of the barest facts of Christ’s life, simply told, with the most important Gospel precepts embodied. The precepts would be selected and simply copied. The selection would extend to other books of the New Testament and contain two or three texts regarding conscience. It would also extend to the Old Testament and to secular literature, both ancient and modern. I have not given much consideration to the secular side of the business; I will merely give a few specimens that occur to me at the moment, which might possibly find a place in the collection:— From Homer: “Aye to be first; fore all the rest.”

From Aristotle’s Ethics: “As it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a summer, so it is not one day or a short time, that makes a man blessed or happy.”

From Terence: “Being a man, nothing concerning man is outside my concern.”

From Kant, the declaration about the two infinities: “The starry heavens above and the moral law within.”

From Milton, the last two lines of the VIIth Sonnet: “All is, if I have grace to use it so, As ever in my great Taskmaster’s eye.”

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From Carlyle: “Do the duty which lies nearest.” —“Sartor Resartus,” Bk. 2. 9.

I ought not to part with this proposal of a model without stating that I am in this matter suggesting imitation, as exactly as possible, of the procedure of the greatest Moralist of Humanity. His followers now number in all the continents about one-third of mankind. They are progressive and powerful and may be regarded as controlling the affairs of the world; the destinies of India are committed to one of their nations. The attention of each committee should be specially directed to the character of the precepts, so that they may be stimulated to ransack their great resources, in order to make a selection to match them, as nearly as possible. They were not arrived at by any reasoning, which common people could not be expected to appropriate and digest. They were propounded in plain terms, which the meanest could understand. They were characterised by charming simplicity, by artistic point and vigour, also by sweet and winning reasonableness, which commended them to the people at large. They were astonished, we are told, at His doctrine; great popular commotions were the result. There was, moreover, always a religious spirit enforcing the ethical doctrine; there were constant allusions to the Father Almighty. In the first address, of which we have any account, we find the words: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.” It may be noted with regret that Animists and Primitive Tribes are outside our purview. The writer does not see how any recommendation can be made to the Government to go so low down as to have dealings of the nature suggested with believers in magic, sorcery, witchcraft, and such-like superstitions. I may be doing these classes injustice through unacquaintance with their character. I will therefore leave their case in the hands of persons who are able to profess that they do not lie under any such incapacity for handling it. It is to be hoped that the ten millions of Indian peoples in the condition supposed may in the process of civilisation, whether by conversion or otherwise, attain a higher status, which would permit of their case being dealt with on the ordinary lines. I have begun by explaining my proposals with regard to the pupils of elementary schools, because I wish to propound a complete scheme. So far, however, there is little harm being done in respect of pupils whose education stops at the elementary stage as has been noted (pp. 52–4). Their case is not urgent and the cost of dealing with them as a whole would be considerable, perhaps as much as an increase of 25 per cent, on the whole cost of education. The plague spot is in the Higher Schools and Colleges. It appears expedient to begin with them or better still with a convenient portion of them. If the plan succeeded with this portion, the experiment could be extended to the whole and afterwards, when there was no fear of failure, to the whole Indian system, primary as well as secondary. 60

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Suppose that it were decided to make the proposed experiment in any portion of a Province, private schools, receiving no support from Government, would have to be excluded from the operation. Without some legislation of a trivial character, it might not be possible to obtain from them the necessary facilities with regard to the adjustment of their time-tables, so as to enable the pupils at certain times to be absent for moral instruction. In no secondary schools or colleges of any description would there be any change in the programme of their studies or their arrangements save the proposed alteration of the time-tables. The buildings necessary for the new instruction would have to be found in the immediate neighbourhood or almost next door, so to speak, in order that as little time as possible might be lost in moving from the place of secular instruction to the other and vice versâ. The moral instruction would be quite independent of the secular, subject to a different authority and a different inspection; it would constitute a new department in the administration. Ethics would be treated as an entirely separate study, just like music, dancing, gymnastics, carpentry or the like. There would be a variety of ethical studies, to meet the wants of pupils of different religions and of different sects of the same religion. The pupils in each case would obtain their instruction by themselves; at the time of teaching there would be no intermingling and no contact with pupils of a different section. The buildings would have to be sufficiently extensive to permit of teaching being conducted according to the method suggested. It would be necessary that the authorities controlling both departments of education should be mutually obliging and accommodating for other reasons, but especially for the adjustment of the time-tables, so as, so far as possible, to secure economy in building. The arrangements for securing suitable text-books would be the same as suggested in the case of the elementary schools. The head of the District, or some authority independent of the Department of Education, would take the place of the District or Municipal Board in dealing with the committees charged with ethical education. These committees would require to be sufficiently numerous to meet the wants of the pupils attending the secular school. If there were very few pupils of any particular class, special provision would have to be made for them, unless the number was deemed negligible. Exemption from attendance at ethical instruction would be obtainable by parents from the head of the district or some one appointed by him for the purpose. It seems unnecessary to attempt further to elaborate details; difficulties will no doubt present themselves, but they will have to be disposed of, when they make their appearance. The Government would have to meet the whole cost of the experiment, whatever other arrangement might be found possible and fair, after it had succeeded. If the remedies suggested were found to answer, after being duly tested, and if they were extended accordingly, any adjustments shown by experience to be desirable being from time to time adopted, it might well be calculated that, instead of a few anarchists continuing to cause quite a disproportionate amount of commotion and unrest, there would be a great increase in the spirit of loyalty. The proper respect shown on all hands to the various Indian religions by the Government and 61

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by its officials and, mutually, by force of example by the various communities themselves should serve to increase the bonds of social union and to dispel causes of strife and illwill. Each individual affected by these measures should be enabled to feel some inches taller; he would be more determined than ever to support the authority, which not only protected the frontiers and maintained internal peace, but by arduous efforts in conjunction with the various communities sought by their moral improvement in accordance with their religious beliefs to minimise their ancient and outstanding differences, so as thereby to promote cohesion and to make them fairly homogeneous citizens, worthy of a great Empire. We have dealt with a great variety of subjects. Our discussions have travelled over extensive fields in Time, in the East and in the West. Considering their varied and discursive character it appears highly advantageous that here in conclusion I should attempt to gather together and briefly to set out the results we have arrived at as follows:— 1. At the outset I explained the high importance of the problem to be solved, for India, for the British Empire, even for the world at large. The clear invitation to render assistance in dealing with it was noted. The diversified nature of the discussion to be pursued in the fields of religion, morals, state action, philosophy, and history, as applied to a country with a number of special features pervading it, was outlined. 2. These special features included geological formation and boundaries, uniformities in respect of land settlement, administration, mode of human habitation and a peculiar social frame-work—caste to wit, corresponding to the prior conditions. The conclusion after examination of each prevalent uniformity was that they all held together, that each was part and parcel of the total complexus of conditions. The high antiquity and importance of the social framework was insisted on. The view of the caste system propounded was, that it was in origin a mere institution of matrimonial associations, gradually and spontaneously developed by the people themselves, in order to provide a supply of brides by ways and means more civilised and satisfactory than the old methods of raiding and kidnapping, recognised even by Manu. The Government experiment of Buddhism in establishing a system of morality in India without spiritual assistance and its ultimate failure was described. The numerous religions prevailing were adverted to; the difficulty in dealing with the Hindu religion, that of the great mass of the population, was considered and held not to be insurmountable. 3. The action of the Indian Government in education from the outset is curious. The business undertaken at the start was trivial; it was the useful expenditure of some small sums of money, especially one granted by Parliament in 1813. The Government was perpetually engaged while the conquest of India was in progress, in wars and conquests of immensely vaster importance at the time than the work undertaken in the interests of education, which was handed over to subordinate authorities and under the circumstances received little consideration. So far as appears from the evidence, mere bad luck had much to do with the policy 62

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actually adopted. The great English system of mutual toleration in religion, the very ideal of a policy for a country with more religions than any other, was apparently never thought of. Its place was taken by an obscure half-and-half arrangement of a plausible character, called neutrality in matters of religion, which has never been explained, perhaps never effectually thought out; it has been shown to be very distracting and misleading, even when handled by the highest talent. It is incompatible with, and of quite a different spirit from, the system of toleration. It appears to fix its attention on that part of the field of toleration which restricts the open action of the State in matters of religion and forbids proselytism and interference with religious observances. In practice it at the same time leaves room for unlimited interference with religions by indirect action, by the teaching of foreign sciences and literatures without any precautions taken, which has proved and is proving very deleterious. The Despatch of 1854, called the Magna Charta of Indian Education, in most respects an admirable State-paper ignored religion and morality. It made no provision for teaching either; it depended for maintaining and improving morality altogether on the culture of the intellect. A Commission was issued in India in 1882 to many experts of high distinction to inquire and report, how the provisions of this Despatch had been carried out. It made elaborate inquiries and it appears to have performed its task very satisfactorily in other respects, but unfortunately it gave no finding as to how far the so-called neutrality in matters of religion had been observed. There are indications that, if it had, a very serious and disappointing state of affairs would have been disclosed. The blame for this failure is to be ascribed both to oversight on the part of the Commission, which disregarded the general directions, and to the special instructions given it, in which the words “morals” and “religion” do not appear. The occurrence of these oversights is all the more surprising, seeing that prominent attention had been directed to the fact that the policy of neutrality was destroying religious belief by Howell’s Note, pp. 34, 35 (Appendix I.). The Commission proposed for colleges a moral text-book based on natural religion. The proposal was opposed to the system of toleration; very properly it has received no attention. 4. It was shown that in the West for the last 3000 years, where Polytheisms of a kindred character had prevailed, religion had been dominated by the State, until this system was changed at the time of the English Revolution. Then the first step was taken in the system of Toleration, which has since been completed and should be held applicable to all Governments under British auspices. The system is political and philosophic; it is not in origin a Christian principle; it is equally applicable to other religions, including the Muhammadan, for instance, in times of settled peace when no religious war (Jihad) is on foot. We went through the philosophy of the subject and we noted, so far as necessary, the legislation, by which it was applicable to the Government of India, but for the policy of so-called neutrality, adopted by Government on the executive side. That policy was shown to be at variance with the practice of the Government of India on various important occasions, also to be destructive of Indian religions and to allow no sufficient 63

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elbow room in dealing with morality and religion. It ought to be abandoned, and some such policy adopted instead as the following:— “The Government will regard all religions with impartial favour and respect; it will repress all acts which violate law, humanity, justice, or decency and all infringements of the rights of property, notwithstanding any plea of justification on religious grounds.” Or, to put it briefly, “Impartial favour for all religions with maintenance of the Law.” This is a condition precedent to the provision of effective remedies: its adoption would immensely improve the political situation and facilitate wellconsidered administration. 5. By philosophical discourse, based on the nature of religion and morality, and also on the experience of history, I sought to prove that instruction in morals must go hand in hand with instruction in religion. Religion, swaying human feeling through the imagination, I found to be the living motive power in operation, essential to producing and maintaining the required impression of the moral teaching imparted on the youthful mind. I felt assured, as we proceeded, that the arguments were sound. Assurance was rendered doubly sure, when it appeared that practically the whole weight of the opinions of the best experts in India enforced this view; also that the Government, in dealing with its most urgent educational problem, has thereby been driven to inaction and deliberation for a number of years, we may say, ever since the Allahabad Conference of February, 1911. We searched through history, ancient and modern, in order to acquire an acquaintance with the dealings of Governments with religion at various eras, and to ascertain what power the individual conscience was able to exercise at different stages. In ancient times religion controlled by the State dominated conduct; conscience had no weight of any consequence in comparison; it was not appealed to as an authority by Aristotle throughout the Ethics. In Rome, on the other hand, before the beginning of our era, in a community, in this and in many other respects unique, conscience had already obtained full stature. In the first century (60 A.D.) St. Paul, addressing converts in Borne, indicated it as a guide for human conduct, on a level with the Jewish Law. He and his fellow-workers regarded it as of equal authority with the Gospel they were preaching. Their example was followed down through the ages not only by Christian divines, but also by philosophers. Bishop Butler was the first who put the two authorities in competition, and he decided in favour of conscience. Recent philosophy gives conscience the paramount place in regulating human conduct. Mankind at the present hour may be divided into two sections: first, those whose conduct is dominated by their religion; secondly, those who can say their conduct is regulated by their conscience. Putting a large section of the European population into the more advanced category, we must declare that the Indian masses, all save a small portion of the educated fraction, who are on the same footing as most of the ruling race, belong to the first section; they are dominated by their religion and must be treated accordingly. Religion controls their manners and morals, as it did 64

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those of our ancestors who lived in the period prior to the initiation of toleration by the Toleration Act. So it follows, that if Government cannot interfere with the religions of its Indian subjects, as admittedly it cannot, so neither can it interfere with teaching them morals. In accord with this result, the people themselves, as was observed, quite generally conceive religion as including morals. The result arrived at is, that for the teaching of morals independent bodies, subject to no disabilities, must be created and cherished. 6. The most important point of all to remember in discussing morals for youthful Indians is, that India is not Europe but quite a place by itself with numerous unique features. In Europe there is practically only one religion and one moral system. I have maintained that owing to the events of history, immigrations, conquests, divisive policies, there are, so far as teaching the young is concerned, an unknown number of moral systems in India. I do not mean to say that they are essentially different—quite the reverse. The differences will be found in the form of expression, in the incidents chosen to express ideas, in the religious conceptions by which conduct is to be guided. I have also contended that the highest morality under all systems when perfected, is as nearly as possible identical. Many persons, I admit, show some signs of knowing how the case stands, but it seems only a glimmering notion they have: the next moment it is forgotten. The Government of India, for instance, seems to treat morality as if it were a drug or a chemical of uniform quality. It draws attention to the quantities of the article available in this, that, and the other quarter; it treats, the special qualities of morality as of no consequence whatever, as if they had no existence. Well, it is maintained in the sense just indicated that there are in India many moralities. If children are to be taught morals, they must be dealt with as they are received from the bosom of their families; the ways and manners, the religious and moral notions of the particular home must be suitably continued and, if possible, improved; all arrangements must be made on this basis. There must be authorities independent of Government, representing the various communities, regarded from religious standpoints, authorities who are not precluded from teaching religion and the teaching must be imparted in ways and forms adapted to the intelligence of the child. The Committees representing the various communities would in the first instance be appointed by the Head of the District; they might be maintained by co-optation. It would be their duty to draw up a suitable syllabus for religious and moral teaching, to appoint teachers, to arrange with the District and Municipal Boards for the times and places of teaching. Everything would have to be sanctioned by the District Boards, which would bear the cost. The introduction of a system of moral instruction is not so urgent in the elementary schools as in the higher schools and colleges, where the plague spot is to be found. Any scheme propounded had better form the subject of an experiment, on any scale deemed expedient, in the higher schools, before its general application to them, in case of success, and then to the elementary schools. All risk of failure would by this procedure be avoided. 65

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The scheme, it is hoped, sets forth one practical method of laying the moral foundation of that great destiny which India and its peoples may in the course of ages, by the favour of Providence, hope to attain. I shall be delighted if some better way be discovered. I shall be abundantly rewarded if this effort of mine should in any measure contribute to an object which I desire with all my heart to further.

Notes 1 (1) Report of the proceedings of a conference in Bombay on Moral, Civic and Sanitary Instruction, 1910. (2) Papers regarding the Educational Conference, Allahabad, February, 1911. (3) Three other series of documents of which no use has been made. 2 “Now,” says Sir H. S. Maine, “not only is all Oriental thought and literature embarrassed in all its walks by a weight of false physics, which at once gives a great advantage to all competing forms of knowledge, but it has a special difficulty in retaining its old interest. It is elaborately inaccurate, it is supremely and deliberately careless of all precision in magnitude, number and time. But to a very quick and subtle-minded people, which has hitherto been denied any mental food but this, mere accuracy of thought is by itself an intellectual luxury of the very highest order.” Maine’s “Village Communities,” p. 26. 3 Pamphlet, “The Great War,” by Jogendra Singh. 4 Nevertheless, we have here (in Berar) on the whole a fair average sample of Hinduism, as it exists at this time throughout the greater part of India; for we know that the religion varies in different parts of this vast country with endless diversities of detail. Berar Gazetteer, by Sir. A. Lyall. Of course if there be many varieties of religion, there must be as many of morality.— A. H. B.

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4 EXTRACTS FROM THE CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY COMMISSION [SADLER] REPORT (1919), VOL. 1: 19–30, 143–194, 318–326; VOL. 6: 2–6, 132–135, 169–171

CHAPTER II. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. I. One of the most remarkable features in the recent history of Bengal, and, indeed, of India, has been the very rapid increase in the number of university students which has taken place during the last two decades, and more especially since the Universities Act of 1904. In 1904, 2,430 candidates presented themselves for the intermediate examination1 of the University of Madras, 457 for that of Bombay, and 3,832 for that of Calcutta These numbers in themselves were striking enough, considering that the universities were in 1904 less than fifty years old. But the numbers in 1917 were 5,424 for Madras, 1,281 for Bombay, and no less than 8,020 for Calcutta. This means that while the increase in numbers has. everywhere been striking, it has been much greater in Bengal than in any other part of India; nor is it easy to find any parallel to it in any part of the world. The flood of candidates for university training has put so heavy a strain upon the University and its colleges as to lead almost to a breakdown. It has brought out in high relief every deficiency of the system. And if justice is to. be done to a great opportunity, and the eagerness of young Bengalis for academic training is to be made as advantageous to their country as it ought to be, it has become manifest that bold and drastic changes and improvements in the system are necessary. 2. The full significance of these facts can perhaps be most clearly brought out by a comparison between Bengal and the United Kingdom The populations of the two countries are almost the same—about 45,000,000. By a curious coincidence the number of students preparing for university degrees is also almost the same—about 26,000.2 But since in Bengal only about one in ten of the population can read and write, the proportion of the educated classes of Bengal who are taking full-time university courses is almost ten times as great as in the United Kingdom. 67

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3. Nor is this the most striking part of the contrast. The figures for the United Kingdom include students drawn from all parts of the British Empire, including Bengal itself; those of Bengal are purely Indian. Again, in the United Kingdom a substantial proportion of the student-population consists of women; in Bengal the number of women-students is—and in view of existing social conditions is likely long to remain—very small indeed. Still more important, in the United Kingdom a very large proportion of the student-population are following professional courses, in medicine, law, theology, teaching, engineering or technical science. In Bengal, though the number of students of law is very great, the number of medical students is much smaller than in the United Kingdom; there are very few students of engineering; students of theology, whether Hindu or Islamic, do not study for university degrees; students of teaching are extraordinarily few; and there are, as yet, practically no students of technical science, because the scientific industries of Bengal are in their infancy, and draw their experts mainly from England. 4. It appears, therefore, that while an enormously higher proportion of the educated male population of Bengal proceeds to university studies than is the case in the United Kingdom, a very much smaller proportion goes to the University for what is ordinarily described as vocational training. The great majority—over 22,000 out of 26,000—pursue purely literary courses which do not fit them for any but administrative, clerical, teaching and (indirectly) legal careers. In the United Kingdom (if the training of teachers be regarded as vocational training) it is possible that these proportions would be nearly reversed. A comparison with any other large and populous state would yield similar results. Bengal is unlike any other civilised country in that so high a proportion of its educated classes set before them a university degree as the natural goal of ambition, and seek this goal by means of studies which are almost purely literary in character, and which therefore provide scarcely any direct professional training. 5. Yet another feature of the contrast, not only between Bengal and the United Kingdom, but between Bengal and all other countries with a student-population of comparable size, is the fact that while other countries have many universities, Bengal has only one. The 26,000 students of the United Kingdom are divided among eighteen universities, which vary widely in type; the 26,000 students of Bengal are all brought under the control of a single vast university mechanism, follow in each subject the same courses of study, read the same books, and undergo the same examinations. The University of Calcutta is, in respect of the number of its students, the largest university in the world. But it is a commonplace that a university, just because it is concerned with so individual a business as the training of the mind, can easily become too large When the students of Berlin approached five figures, it was felt that their numbers were becoming too great to be effectively dealt with by a single organisation, even though they were all gathered in a single city. The University of Calcutta has to deal with 26,000 students scattered over an immense province wherein communications are very difficult; it is responsible also for the educational control of more than eight hundred schools, a function such as no university outside of India is called upon to 68

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perform; and under these conditions it is unreasonable to expect that its governing bodies should be able to deal with their immense and complex task in a wholly satisfactory way. 6. The striking facts which we have attempted to set forth briefly above can only be understood in the light of the social conditions of the country, and of the historical development of its educational system. On these subjects we shall have something to say in the following pages. But in the meanwhile there is one part of the explanation which ought to be noted at once, since it may help to correct some false judgments formed on a superficial consideration of the figures. As we shall demonstrate later, the secondary school system of Bengal as a whole is extremely inefficient. It is impossible for the vast majority of Bengali boys to obtain from their schools a really sound general education, such as the schools of many other countries provide. For that purpose—and especially in order to obtain a good working knowledge of English, which is necessary for all important avocations— the young Bengali must go on to the university course; and having once begun it, he is naturally ambitious to pursue it to the end. As a very large number of our witnesses and correspondents have urged, the first two years of the present university course are occupied with what is really school work. The students in these two years form about 15,000 out of the total of 26,000. Only the remaining 11,000 are many strict sense to be described as university students, except by the accident of organisation which places them under university control. 7. But even if we consider only this reduced number, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that an unduly large proportion of the able young men of Bengal are being trained in a manner too purely literary. Evidence from all sides, from Indians and Englishmen alike, shows that though some few have found the fullest scope for their abilities, and are occupying with distinction positions of the highest importance, and though practically all the graduates of the University do find employment of one sort or another, there is in Bengal a large number of men who after having either obtained university degrees, or reached an earlier stage in the university course, find that there are no outlets available for them such as their academic standing justifies them in expecting. At first they not unnaturally “decline to take any post which they consider an inadequate recognition of the credential which has rewarded their laborious efforts. They thus lose chances, and sometimes spend months or years loitering about some district headquarters, and living on the joint family to which they belong. As a general rule, they sooner or later accommodate themselves to circumstances, but often with an exceedingly bad grace, and with a strong sense of injury.”3 When we consider the humble status and low pay of many of the posts with which university graduates are compelled to be content, it is impossible not to recognise that there is some justification for this sense of injury. It is impossible, also, not to recognise that a system which leads to such results must be economically wasteful and socially dangerous, and must in the end lead to the intellectual impoverishment of the country. 8. It is inevitable that men of ability who, after an arduous training, find themselves in such a situation should be deeply discontented, and should be inclined 69

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to lay the blame—as is the natural temptation of the dissatisfied in all lands, and above all in India—upon the Government of their country. The anarchist movement which has been so distressing a feature of recent years in Bengal has, by some, been attributed largely to the influence of these discontented classes; and undoubtedly it has drawn from among them many of its recruits This does not mean that the colleges of the University have been, as has sometimes been alleged, in any large degree centres of revolutionary activity. Naturally the wave of unrest which has passed over Bengal has found a readier welcome among students than in other classes of the population; the ferment of new political ideas, drawn from the West, has of course “worked most strongly among the students of western politics and thought But, according to the Bengal District Administration Committee, whose opinion in this matter is confirmed by that of the Sedition Committee of 1918,4 it has been in some of the high schools, rather than in the colleges, that the more reckless agitators have found their most fruitful fields. The reasoned discipline of scholarship is hostile to the madness of anarchy; and the better that discipline is made, the more sane and healthy must be its influence. 9. Nevertheless it must be admitted that the existence, and the steady increase, of a sort of intellectual proletariat not without reasonable grievances, forms a menace to good government, especially in a country where, as in Bengal, the small educated class is alone vocal It must be an equal menace whatever form the Government may assume So long as the great mass of the nation’s intelligent manhood is driven, in ever increasing numbers, along the same, often unfruitful, course of study, which creates expectations that cannot be fulfilled, and actually unfits those who pursue it from undertaking many useful occupations necessary for, the welfare of the community, any Government, however it may be constituted, whether it be bureaucratic or popular, must find its work hampered by an unceasing stream of criticism, and of natural demands for relief which cannot possibly be met. 10. The growing demand of the people of Bengal for educational facilities is one of the most impressive features of our age. It is in itself altogether healthy and admirable. It is increasing in strength and volume every year. But, owing in part to social conditions, and in part to the educational methods which the traditions of the last half-century have established, this powerful movement is following unhealthy and unprofitable channels; and unless new courses can be cut for it, the flood may devastate instead of fertilising the country. Thus the problem with which we have to deal is by no means purely an academic or intellectual problem. It is a social, political and economic problem of the most complex and difficult character; and the longer the solution is postponed, the more difficult it will be Its very elements cannot be understood without some understanding of the social conditions from which it has arisen. II. 11. The rapid growth in the number of university students which has taken place during the last two generations in western countries has been due very largely to the 70

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growth of industrial and commercial enterprise, which demanded, in the first place, an army of scientific experts and of administrators with wide outlook and trained imagination, and in the second place, an army of teachers able to create educated managers, clerks and workpeople. Until these demands became urgent, a quite modest number of graduates met all the needs of the old learned professions in all the western countries. But the yet more rapid increase of university students in Bengal has not been due to any such cause. It must be attributed in a large degree to social usages and traditions which are peculiar to India, and specially strong in Bengal. 12. In spite of their marked intellectual gifts, the Bengalis have not, especially since the Industrial Revolution, shown much capacity or inclination for commerce or industry. They have allowed even the retail trade of their own country to be captured, in a remarkable degree, by the Marwaris of Rajputana. The export trade of the country is mainly in the hands of Europeans, Armenians and Japanese. Since the days when the old hand-loom weaving industry was beaten by the products of machinery, the Bengali has taken very little part in the development of those large-scale industries to which, the soil and climate of his country lend themselves.5 With a few conspicuous exceptions, the coal-mines, the jute-mills and the great engineering enterprises of the Presidency are mainly controlled and directed by immigrants. Even the labour employed in mine and mill is almost wholly drawn from other provinces,6 so that in the great industrial city of Calcutta only 49 per cent, of the population is Bengali-speaking.7 Alike in industry and in commerce the main function performed by Bengalis is that of clerical labour 13. It is a complaint frequently heard among Bengalis that they are excluded from the most lucrative activities in their own country, and that this exclusion is due to prejudice. But there seems to be no tangible justification for this view. No disabilities are imposed upon Bengalis that do not equally weigh upon Marwaris, Parsis, Armenians or Japanese. The real obstacle is to be found in the strength of the tradition among the educated classes of Bengal which excludes them from practical pursuits. Hitherto tradition has forbidden men of the literate classes to take part in these occupations; and long abstention has perhaps bred among them a certain incapacity for practical callings. Fortunately there is evidence that this attitude of aloofness is breaking down.8 The very complaints of exclusion are in themselves a good sign. Still more promising are the wide-spread demands that the educational system should be given a more practical turn. Educational reforms alone will not suffice to bring about the needed change. But at least it is well that the people of Bengal should be beginning to realise that the system as it stands, into which they have thrown themselves with so much ardour, is doing nothing to help or to hasten the change, because its whole bias is still in favour of purely literary forms of training. 14. Since industry and commerce, playing, as they do, but a small part in the real life of Bengal, have hitherto contributed nothing to the development of the educational system, we must look to the other sections of the population for the elements of this remarkable movement These other sections are two: the agricultural population, and the professional classes. 71

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15. It is from agriculture that almost the whole Bengali people has always derived, and still derives, its livelihood, directly or indirectly, and the conditions of soil and climate decree that this must continue to be so, however great the commercial expansion of the future. But the agricultural needs of the country are not such as to demand or stimulate any marked educational development. The great landlords of the country—the zamindars—who were once mainly collectors of land-revenue for the State, and were turned into hereditary landowners by the Permanent Settlement, have never played in Bengal anything like the part played by the landowners of England, who filled the public schools and universities in order that they might be trained for the political leadership of the nation Nor have the zamindars been tempted to develope their estates by the application of scientific methods of agriculture. Legislation for the protection of tenant-rights has in some degree tied their hands. But in truth the rich alluvial soil of Bengal is singularly well suited to the methods of culture by the hand-labour of small-holders which have been gradually developed through centuries, and the mechanical, scientific, large-scale methods of the West are difficult to adapt to the economic and social conditions of Bengal, and perhaps also to some of its crops. Hence agriculture, equally with industry and commerce, has hitherto made no direct demand upon the educational system. 16. The great majority of the population of Bengal consists of the actual cultivators of the soil. Many of them belong to the lower castes of Hinduism, or are outside the pale of orthodox Hindu society, and these are generally illiterate. But more than half of the cultivators, especially in the prosperous regions of Eastern Bengal, are Musalmans. The Musalmans form 52.7 per cent, of the total population of the Presidency;9 in some districts of Eastern Bengal they number as much as 90 or 95 per cent.; and overwhelmingly the greater part of the Musalmans are cultivators. They also are, for the most part, illiterate; such rudiments of education as they obtain are valued mainly for religious purposes, and are commonly limited to the memorising of parts of the Quran, taught in the maktabs attached to the mosques. Hitherto the western educational movement has scarcely touched the cultivator, except through a primary school system which is, and always has been, largely out of touch with some of the economic needs of the community which it ought to serve. The cultivator has not yet learnt to value education as an equipment for his life he often fears, not without reason, that his children may be tempted away from the land by a system of training which has no bearing upon the work of the fields. 17. Yet in recent years recruits have begun to come to the University in increasing numbers even from the cultivating classes. The jute-growing lands of Eastern Bengal in particular enjoyed until the period of the war great prosperity; and this has enabled many cultivators to send those of their sons who are not needed on the land through the normal routine of high school and college leading to the degree. This is the recognised pathway to respectability and social advancement, the course that leads to Government employment, or to success in the legal profession, wherein the most respected names of Bengal are enrolled. It is the one 72

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channel of escape from the rigid social barriers imposed by the, system of caste. The adoption of academic ambitions by even a small proportion of the cultivating class is an event of great moment in the social history of Bengal. It may be the herald of a social revolution. But its immediate result, so long as the present system remains unchanged, must be to enlarge indefinitely the already swollen mass of aspirants after a purely literary training, and to increase that discontented intellectual proletariat whose rise has, been so disturbing a feature of recent years; it threatens also to drain away much of the best talent from the villages, to the detriment of the country’s supreme economic interest. The movement is but just beginning, it is not too late to transform its character and consequences by giving a more practical bent, and a more varied character, to the educational system. 18. But it is not from the agricultural classes, any more than from the commercial or industrial classes, that the eager demand for educational opportunities has come, which has led to the remarkable results described above. The classes whose sons have filled the colleges to overflowing are the middle or professional classes, commonly known as the bhadralok; and it is their needs, and their traditions, which have, more than any other cause, dictated the character of university development in Bengal. Many of the bhadralok are zammdars, great or small, or hold land on permanent tenure under zamindars; but they seldom or never cultivate their own lands, being content to draw an income from subletting. Many, again, make a livelihood by lending money to the cultivators; and the high rate of interest which they are thus able to obtain is often adduced as a reason why they have abstained from the more precarious adventures of commerce. They are thus closely connected with the agricultural community, over which they have always held a real leadership; and they are distributed in large numbers over every part of the country. 19. Relatively few of the Musalmans are counted among the professional classes. The great majority of these classes belong to the three great Hindu literary castes, the Brahmins, the Vaidyas (doctors), and the Kayasthas (writers), who are relatively more numerous in Bengal than are the corresponding castes in any other part of India. For untold centuries they have been the administrators, the priests, the teachers, the lawyers, the doctors, the writers, the clerks of the community. Every successive Government in Bengal has drawn its corps of minor officials, and often also many of its major officials, from among them, the British equally with their Muslim predecessors. They have therefore always formed an educated class, and it may safely be said that there is no class of corresponding magnitude and importance in any other country which has so continuous a tradition of literacy, extending over so many centuries. It has always been the first duty of every father in these castes, however poor he might be, to see that his sons obtained the kind of education dictated by the tradition of their caste. 20. But this traditional system of education, which has lasted for untold centuries, has always been predominantly, and in most cases exclusively, literary in character: even the Vaidyas learnt their medical science mainly from books and from oral tradition. When the British administrators began, in the early nineteenth 73

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century, to investigate the existing educational system, they found a network of elementary schools spread over every part of the country, supplemented by groups of tôls, or institutions of higher learning, where Brahmin gurus taught the traditional learning of the Sanskrit classics without fee. These institutions still exist, though in diminished numbers; there are still, for example, a number of tôls at the once famous Nawadip in the district of Nadia. They existed, of course, purely for the use of the learned castes. The Musalmans developed a similar system, though on a less elaborate scale; their maktabs for the elementary religious education of the many, and their madrassahs for the more advanced instruction of maulvis, confined themselves to the sacred learning in the Arabic tongue, and to the court language of Persian, which the Muslim conquerors had established in India; and so long as Persian remained the language of the courts, as it did until 1837, these schools were to some extent used also by Hindus, anxious to qualify for Government employment. 21. Thus both among the literate Hindu castes and among the Musalmans, the traditional systems of learning were almost exclusively literary and religious in character. They consisted in the memorising of vast masses of ancient writings, and commentaries thereon, handed down from generation to generation. They cultivated, in an extraordinary degree, the memory-power of the classes which had pursued these studies for centuries; and the influence of these methods was necessarily deeply felt when these classes began to devote their attention to western learning. Both in their concentration upon purely literary studies, and in their reliance upon memory-work, the indigenous systems of education helped to fix the character which was to be assumed by western education in India. 22. It was a great epoch in the history of India when the intellectual powers trained by so many centuries of culture began to be turned from the ancient learning of the East to the new learning of the West. The habits and traditions of the bhadralok made it natural that, when they seized upon the western system, they should mould it to suit their needs, emphasise its purely literary side, and leave undeveloped its more practical sides. But the transition could not be made in a moment. For half a century the new system competed with the old, and the allegiance of the bhadralok was divided between them, probably not without misgivings. What we have witnessed during the more recent years has been, in effect, the adoption by the Hindu bhadralok of the new western system as, in practice, a substitute for the old, and as the necessary training which all their sons must undergo. Meanwhile the Musalmans of the bhadralok class, for the most part, stood aside from the new system. Long accustomed to regard themselves as the ruling race, they retained their devotion to the traditional Islamic studies in Arabic and Persian, which they had hitherto found not merely culturally valuable, but also practically useful. In recent years they have increasingly demanded a fuller share of the new learning. And beyond them we see the mass of the cultivators, stirring at last from their age-long acquiescence in unchanging modes of life. 23. Such, in broad outline, is the explanation of the remarkable movement with which we have to deal. The problem before us is as inspiring as it is complex and 74

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difficult. We have to consider whether the system now existing in Bengal is capable of meeting the demand, which, has developed so rapidly in recent years, and will certainly develope yet more rapidly in the future, and, if it is not so capable, how it can best be modified. But these are questions which cannot be intelligently answered unless we first gain a clear idea of the stages through which the existing system has passed, and the ideals at which it has aimed; and unless we also analyse carefully its actual working.

CHAPTER VI. THE MUSALMANS AND THEIR EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. I—The problem. 1. Musalmans have their own traditions and ideals—traditions and ideals which are the common property of Islam but which cannot be wholly identical with those of any other community. Prominent among the ideals which sway the ordinary Musalman is the conviction that nothing would compensate him for the loss of conscious membership of the great Muslim community of the world. So, while the Bengali Musalman is genuinely anxious that his community should reap the full benefits of secular education., he is not prepared to take those benefits at the price of any real sacrifice of Islamic tradition or custom. Certain things he has with reluctance foregone; others he may concede; but reluctance there will always be, and that reluctance will be all the more real, because it is not so much individual as corporate, communal rather than personal in its instincts and unity. The feeling of the Musalman is tinged with a not unnatural pride. His traditional culture is the culture which was evolved during the great days of Islam. It recalls the University of Baghdad and Haroun-al-Raschid. It is something for a boy in a remote village in Eastern Bengal to find that he is following the same line of study as that taught in the Azhar Mosque at Cairo. “It has to be borne in mind,” writes Maulvi Abdul Karim, an ex-Inspector of Schools and a protagonist of English education, “that in Islamic countries the education that makes great statesmen and administrators is similar to that imparted in the madrassahs in this country.”10 To-day the Hindu, like the Musalman, looks out on the world which lies outside India and feels the impulse of a more than national life. But his ideals spring from the soil of India. To him India is the abiding background of his thoughts and hopes. The Indian Musalman, like the Hindu, is an Indian patriot and feels towards India as towards his motherland. But rooted in his heart are other ideals also, the ideals of Islam, the conception of a society at once cosmopolitan and exclusive, traditions which carry his imagination back to a past which holds, not only Indian history but much beside. “We beg to point out”, wrote the Musalmans of Calcutta in a petition which, they brought to us, “that no scheme of reconstruction can be useful or beneficial, unless it recognises the existence of conflicting ideals and conflicting interests in almost every sphere of life—social, political, and religious’—among the different sections of the population The

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principle and practice of education which might have proved beneficial in a country with uniform people, uniform interests and uniform ideals, must necessarily be modified to suit the special circumstances that exist in this country.”11

2. The chapter on the education of Musalmans in the Quinquennial Review of Education in Bengal, 1912–17, begins as follows:—12 “The Moslem population of Bengal is 23,989,719 out of a total of 45,483,077, that is to say, 52 7 per cent, of the total population of Bengalis Moslem Of the total Moslem population 22,988,168 are illiterate, while 62,301 only are literate in English This review records a certain amount of progress, but the figures are not reassuring It is impossible to lay too much stress on the urgency of raising the standard of literacy in the Moslem community of Bengal. The ideals of this community differ to some extent from those of the other inhabitants of the Presidency Their history and traditions are stored away in Arabic and Persian manuscripts They are followers of Islam and the illiterate are readily swayed by maulvis, who profess to be learned in Moslem law and to speak as its interpreters The largest Moslem population in Bengal is in the northern and eastern districts of the Presidency. The people of these parts are generally conservative, and their only concern outside their own immediate personal interests is the propagation of Islam The successful Moslem cultivator of these parts who desires to educate his son will send him to a madrassah to learn Moslem law, literature, logic, rhetoric and philosophy and to study Hadís and Tafsír.13 He is not interested in the study of Arabic for its literature, but only because it is the language of the Koran If a Moslem in Eastern Bengal wants to endow an educational institution, he founds a madrassah and puts it under the charge of maulvis, who claim to be versed in Islamic lore. One thing which it is necessary to emphasise is that the backwardness of this community is primarily due to the apathy of the people in the matter of education, and until this indifference is removed progress is impossible. Moslems represent more than half the total population of Bengal and until they are educated sufficiently to be able to take an interest in the affairs of public life, it is difficult to conceive of Bengal as a part of a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. Indeed it seems that; the only possible way in which these people can be made to realise their privileges and responsibilities as subjects of the British Empire is by giving them every facility for English education”

3. The great disparity between the educational progress of the Hindus and the Musalmans attracted the attention of the Indian Education Commission of 1882. They pointed out that, whereas 32.3 per cent of the population of the provinces of Bengal and Assam, as they were then constituted, was Muslim, the percentage of Musahnans under instruction in all schools of which the Provincial Education Department had cognisance was 14.4 only They quoted the Bengal Director of Public Instruction as having reported to them that— “During the last five years, out of 3,499 candidates who passed the entrance examination from these provinces, 132 or 3 8 per cent, only were Musalmans They ought to have been ten-fold more numerous Out of 900 passed for the first arts in the same period, Musalmans gamed only 11 passes or 1–2 percent., and out of 429 passes for the B.A., they gamed only 5 or 11 per cent. Hence, not only the number of Musalmans who pass the entrance is less than one-tenth of what it ought to be, but this painful inferiority steadily increases in the higher examinations”14

4. During the 35 years which have passed since the Indian Education Commission wrote their report, there have been many and great changes in India. While 76

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the Commissioners were still deliberating, Mr. Ameer Ali published an article in the Nineteenth Century in which he expressed the conviction that “unless effective measures of reform are adopted, and that without delay, the unsatisfactory condition of the Muhammadans threatens to become a source of anxiety and danger to British administration in India.”15 About this time Sir Syed Ahmad entered the lists against the general opinion of his co-religionists. By popular lectures and in the columns of his “two journals he fought the view which advocated an almost exclusive devotion on the part of Musalnans to an oriental education of a traditional type. He founded several associations and ultimately organised the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference. His greatest achievement was the establishment of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh. But he was not alone in his work. Writing in the Fifth Quinquennial Review of Education in India (1902–1907), Mr H. W. Orange, who was then Director General of Education in India, recorded the view that among the causes contributory to the improvements which were then taking place in the education of Musalmans “a high place must be assigned to the propaganda carried on by public-spirited leaders such as the late Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk and to the Muhammadan educational conferences annually organised by them.” All this has not been without effect. The Musalmans throughout the length and breadth of India have been deeply stirred. But the difficulties are deep-seated. The following passage in which the Indian Education Commission discussed the backwardness of the Bengali Musalmans might almost have been written yesterday:— “Various causes, some general and some particular, were assigned by the officers consulted as the obstacles which had barred the progress of education, both higher and lower. Among the general causes assigned by them were the apathy of the Musalman race; their pride, their religious exclusiveness; the love of their own literature among those of them who cared for any education at all; the idea so persistently held that education ought to be a free gift. Among the particular causes, a want of sympathy between Hindu teachers and Musalman pupils; a want of consideration in the arrangements of the Education Department and, perhaps above all, the depressed condition of the bulk of Bengali Musalmans,”16

5. If an Education Commission, with the whole of India as its scope, were now to investigate the reason why in the matter of education the Muslim community is still lagging behind the Hindu, we doubt whether they would get much nearer the truth than the Commission of 1882. After discussing the deterrent causes—a subject of debate, the report explains, even among the Musalmans themselves—it suggested that a candid Musalman would probably admit, that the most powerful factors are to be found in pride of race, a memory of bygone superiority, religious fears, and a not unnatural attachment to the learning of Islam.17 6. The recommendations recorded by the Indian Education Commission in connexion with the education of Musalmans were concerned mainly with secondary and primary education. The Commission proposed that Muslim education should be helped by special grants, scholarships and free studentships, by encouraging the addition of secular subjects to the curricula of Muslim schools; by prescribing special standards for Muslim primary schools; by the use of 77

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Hindustani as the principal medium of instruction in many primary and middle Muslim schools; by better provision for instruction in Hindustani and Persian; by the encouragement of higher education among Musalmans; by the training of Muslim teachers; by the appointment of Muslim school inspectors; by devoting special attention to Muslim education in the annual report of the Department of Public Instruction; by the encouragement of associations for the prosecution of Muslim education; and by the distribution to Musalmans of a larger share of Government patronage. 7. In 1871 Dr. W. W. (later Sir William) Hunter had published a book on the Musalmans of India, in which he attributed the general indifference towards western education evinced by the Bengali Muslim community to three main causes: (a) the want of Muslim teachers, (b) the absence of the provision of Muslim languages, and (c) the absence of religious education. “The truth, is”, he wrote, “that our system of public instruction ignores the three most powerful instincts of the Musalman heart. In the first place, it conducts education in the vernacular of Bengal, a language which the educated Muhammadans despise, and by means of Hindu teachers, whom the whole Muhammadan community hates The Bengali school master talks his own dialect and a vile Urdu, the latter of which is to him an acquired language almost as much as it is to ourselves. Moreover, his gentle and timid character unfits him to maintain order among Musalman boys, ‘Nothing on earth’, said a Muhammadan husbandman recently to an English official, ‘would induce me to send my boy to a Bengali teacher.’ In the second place, our rural schools seldom enable a Muhammadan to learn the tongues necessary for his holding a respectable position in life, and for the performance of his religious duties. Every Muhammadan gentleman must have some knowledge of Persian, and Persian is a language unknown even in our higher class district schools Every Musalman, from the peasant to the prince, ought to say his prayers in one of the sacred languages, Persian or Arabic, and this our schools have never recognized. . . . In the third place, our system of public instruction makes no provision for the religious education of the Muhammadan youth. It overlooks the fact that among the Hindus a large and powerful caste has come down from time’ immemorial for supplying this part of a boy’s training, while among the Muhammadans no separate body of clergy exists Every head of a Musalman household is supposed to know the duties of his religion, and to be his own family priest Public ministrations are indeed conducted at the mosques, but it is the glory of Islam that its temples are not made with, hands, and that its ceremonies can be performed anywhere upon God’s earth or under His heavens. A system of purely secular education is adapted to very few nations In the opinion of many deeply thinking men, it has signally failed in Ireland, and it is certainly altogether unsuited to the alliterate and fanatical peasantry of Muhammadan Bengal.”18

8. During the Muslim rule in Bengal there were madrassahs all over the country, and, as Maulvi Abdul Karim says, “every mosque was a madrassah in miniature.”19 Arabic scholars taught the theology, the law and the literature of Islam, and asked for no remuneration from their pupils. With the break up of the Muslim power most of these institutions collapsed But in the time of Warren Hastings and until 1837 Persian still continued to be the language of the law courts, and when Warren Hastings established the Calcutta Madrassah in 1782, he did so mainly for the purpose of training Musalmans to be officers in the East India Company’s

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service. When in 1837 Persian was discontinued as the language of the courts, the Calcutta Madrassah and other institutions which had been founded on similar lines ceased to be of value as training grounds for the public service. Other schools and colleges were open to them, but the Musalmans held aloof from English education, which they regarded with suspicion not unmixed with contempt, as being secular not religious, technical rather than liberal—not in fact, in their opinion, the education of a gentleman. The feeling of the community has been modified. During the last few years the Musalmans of Bengal have taken more and more advantage of the ordinary courses of instruction. Their enrolment in secondary schools and colleges has considerably increased. It has been suggested to us that this development is due to economic pressure as well as to an increased regard for the education which secondary schools and colleges impart. We have referred elsewhere to the pressure on the soil, which forces the cultivator to look for the support of some of his sons to callings which take them away from the land.20 The small landholder moreover finds that his rents do not go so far as they went once, and that more of his dependents are compelled to earn something for themselves. In spite of this a considerable proportion, of the Musalmans under instruction are still pupils in maktabs and madrassahs. Whenever private Muslim educational enterprise is concerned, it tends to develope purely Islamic institutions. Muslim associations often ask Government to increase the facilities for Muslim boys, but they plead at the same time for special Muslim institutions, special text-books, special inspecting officers. This means that the community is anxious for a system of education which will enable it to preserve its social and religious personality and its communal traditions. 9. The position was described by the Committee which was appointed by the Government of Bengal in 1914, and to which reference is made in the next section of this chapter. “Although there has been a tendency during the past few years for Moslems to take more advantage of the ordinary courses of instruction, and although the number of Moslems in various kinds of schools has increased, yet wherever private Moslem enterprise is concerned, it tends to develope purely Islamic institutions The reason is that there is still a strong feeling in the community that a separate system of education will preserve the social and religious independence of Moslems. We fully realise this tendency and at the same time we feel that, with the limited funds which are at the disposal of the Government for the encouragement of education, it is impracticable to insist that a Moslem boy shall, throughout his educational career, be educated in schools intended exclusively for Moslems. At the same time we cannot ignore the fact that a large section of the community regards general educational institutions with suspicion and we therefore think that it is still necessary for Government to aid and in some cases to maintain a number of separate institutions for Moslems In this connexion we record the following recommendation:— That, while it is necessary to maintain special institutions for Moslems, it is undesirable to develope further a system of education for this community separate from that of other communities The existing systems should be carefully examined to see where they fail to satisfy members of the community, and necessary modifications should be introduced.”21

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This general statement of policy, which should be read in connexion with the specific recommendations which followed it, applied to the education of boys and men and not to the education of girls and women. II.—The Progress of Muslim Education in Bengal from 1905 to 1917. 10. In 1905 the Province of Eastern Bengal and Assam, was constituted This province ceased to exist on the 1st April 1912. During this period she educational progress made by the Musalmans of Eastern Bengal was marked Among the measures adopted by the Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam for the encouragement of the education of Musalmans, the following were the most important22— (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

the introduction of Urdu teaching into selected primary schools; the provision of liberal grants-in-aid; the reservation of special scholarships and free studentships; the provision of extended hostel accommodation; and the appointment of a larger proportion of Musalmans to the educational services.

11. As regards hostels the following extract from the resolution of the Government of Bengal on the Quinquennial Review of Education in Eastern Bengal for the period 1908–1913 is of interest— “The question of hostel accommodation is of urgent importance. The great majority of Muhammadans live in the villages, and they experience great difficulty in finding homes for their boys who attend school in the towns. Suitable accommodation amidst desirable surroundings is expensive or not available, and parents are naturally reluctant to send that boys away to live in conditions which may be harmful to them. Many, it is believed, are prevented from educating their sons by these obstacles. The remedy lies in providing adequate hostel accommodation for Muhammadan boys in connexion with the schools Special efforts have been made during the quinquennium to effect an improvement in this direction, with the result that every college and nearly every Government high school has now a Muhammadan hostel. Private schools have been encouraged to follow suit. It is satisfactory to note a readiness among the Muhammadans themselves to provide funds for the establishment of hostels in towns where there are large aided schools.”23

12. Shortly after the territorial readjustment had been announced Lord Hardinge visited Dacca. On his return from there lie received in Calcutta on the 16th February 1912 a deputation, headed by Dr. (now Sir) Rash Behary Ghose. In reply to this deputation His Excellency said:— “When I visited Dacca I found a widespread apprehension, particularly among the Muhammadans, who form the majority of the population, lest the attention which the partition of Bengal secured for the eastern provinces should be relaxed, and that there might be a set-back in educational progress It was to allay this not unreasonable apprehension that I stated to a deputation of Muhammadan gentlemen that the Government of India were so much, impressed with the necessity of promoting education in a province which had made

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such good progress during the past few years that we have decided to recommend to the Secretary of State the constitution of a university at Dacca and the appointment of a special officer for education in Eastern Bengal.”24

The whole question of the proposed Dacca University is discussed in Chapter XXXIII of this report. 13. In 1913 the Government of India asked the various local Governments to consider and report on certain general questions affecting the education of Musalmans. The Bengal Government appointed a committee to consider the suggestions made by the Government of India Mr. W. W. Hornell presided over this committee as Director of Public Instruction. 14. We quote below what the Secretary to the Government of India in the Education Department said in his letter with regard to secondary and collegiate education (the italics are in the original):— “The reasons which have retarded the spread of secondary education among the Muhammadans are the poverty of the community, the linguistic difficulty, the demand for religious instruction and want of Muhammadan representation on the Governing Bodies of educational institutions The first has been to a large extent met by special Government scholarships and by endowments. This is essentially a matter for the local Governments and the community themselves I am merely to observe that in part of the country where Muhammadans are slow to enter institutions for technical and industrial timing (and it has been noticed that very few Muhammadans have been selected for the State Technical Scholarships) it may be found desirable to offer some special facilities by way of stipends or scholarships. As to the second, it is alleged that Muhammadans suffer when they have to study English through the medium of a prak**tic vernacular with which they are little acquainted. Special schools or classes may go far to meet this difficulty. The demand for religious instruction can be arranged for in privately-managed hostels attached to Government institutions. It is represented that, in certain parts of the country, the great majority of secondary schools are managed by Hindu bodies, and it was recently observed that, among the 100 ordinary members of the Calcutta Senate, only six were Muhammadans The establishment of special Muhammadan schools and colleges would simplify these matters But this is an expedient which for financial reasons cannot be adopted generally. And, where it is not feasible, a good deal may be done by reserving a certain number of vacancies for Muhammadan pupils in institutions which, by reason of their reputation, draw many applicants for admission and by safeguarding the interests of the community in other ways. A subsidiary difficulty which may sometimes present itself is that of advance from a semi-secular muktab to an institution of higher grade This, however, is a matter of arrangement in the codes of the various provinces. The suggestions which the Government of India think may be of practical utility in the matter of secondary and collegiate education are— (i) The improvement of existing institutions for Muhammadans, such as the Calcutta Madrassah, the Islamia College, Lahore, and Islamia schools (ii) The establishment of separate Muhammadan institutions in places where this can be done without detriment to efficiency or discipline and without unreasonable expense (iii) When this is not possible (and it is apprehended it will but seldom be possible) the addition to the staff of a school of a teacher or teachers who will be able either to teach classes in English through the medium of Urdu, or to give special help to Muhammadan boys where a knowledge of some other vernacular is desirable either for the study of English or for general reasons

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(iv) The maintenance of hostels for Muhammadans under private management with religious teaching (v) The appointment of a reasonable number of Muhammadans to the committees (where such exist) of Government institutions and to the governing bodies of aided institutions (vi) The provision of Muhammadan teachers and inspectors”25

15. The Committee examined the working of the secondary-school system in close detail and recorded in their report no less than sixty-seven resolutions embodying the requirements of the Musalnians with regard to it. The chief demands were (1) that there should be more schools in centres convenient to Musalmans and an easier access for Muslim pupils to schools already in existence; (2) that Musalmans should be more adequately represented on the governing bodies of schools; (3) that there should be more Muslim head masters and assistant masters; (4) that there should be more adequate and effective provision for the teaching of Arabic, Persian and Urdu, (5) that there should be more scholarships and free-studentships; (6) that there should be more hostels and that these should be under the supervision of properly qualified Musalmans; (7) that there should be an increase in the number of the special officers of the Education Department charged with the special task of fostering the education of Musalmans (such officers are at present the Assistant Director of Public Instruction for Muhammadan Education and the special Muslim inspecting officers), and that the work of these officers should be so arranged as to make their influence most widely and expeditiously effective. 16. On one matter the Committee laid special emphasis. It pointed out that the secondary school system comprised (a) Government schools, (b) schools managed by local bodies, (c) aided schools and (d) unaided schools, and observed that whereas the Department of Public Instruction had some control over Government schools and schools managed by local bodies and could impose on aided schools certain regulations by way of conditions involved in the acceptance of grants, the authority of the Department over unaided schools was slight; and that the real control over high schools generally rested with the University of Calcutta. In the face of this situation the Committee found it necessary to record in their report that “even unaided schools recognised by the University are public institutions and as such the University should insist on their being made acceptable to all classes and communities of His Majesty’s subjects in Bengal.”26 17. This suggests a general consideration which is of importance We have referred elsewhere to a certain popular suspicion of Government control over education.27 The Muslim community does not appear to share in this suspicion; on the contrary it still looks with confidence to Government and appears reluctant to entrust its destinies to any popularly constituted body. A note submitted to the Commission by Nawab Syed Nawabaly Chaudhury contains the following passage— “The appointment of a board for secondary education in order to advise Government about the distribution of grants and other matters of policy, was first proposed in 1914

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during the lifetime of the late Nawab of Dacca. He considered the scheme detrimental to the interests of Muhammadans and, on account of his opposition, the proposal was dropped. Last year again a resolution for creating an advisory board for secondary education was moved in the Bengal Legislative Council and all Muhammadan members and the member in charge of the Education portfolio opposed it and, consequently, the resolution fell through. The Muhammadans of Bengal consider it a question of vital importance in their own interest that the distribution of grants and the control of educational policy should rest with Government The creation of a large secondary education board, with powers to distribute grants and to advise Government on questions of policy, will be detrimental to the interests of Muhammadans Muhammadans will never be able to derive their full share from the institutions maintained or started by public funds, until a special treatment, similar to that accorded by Lord Hardinge and Lord Carmichael, be reserved to them. Muhammadans are afraid that the special facilities which now exist in secondary education will no longer exist, if secondary education be entrusted to a board. . . . From the experience of the University of Calcutta Muhammadans will be afraid that the advantages and special facilities which they now enjoy, and which they expect to get in future, will all be set aside by the board should it unfortunately be created.”28

18. As regards the language problem, the Committee pointed out that, while a Bengali Hindu who takes a high school course has only to read three languages, English, Sanskrit and Bengali, a Bengali Muslim boy who takes the same course has to read as many as five languages, viz., English, Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Bengali, and that this burden of language has told seriously upon, the general educational progress of the Musalmans of Bengal. To lighten the burden, the Committee recommended that Urdu should be recognised by the University of Calcutta as a second language fox those whose vernacular is not Urdu.29 The deputation of the Musalmans of Calcutta which appeared before us made on this question the following statement:— “The Muhammadan leaders have come to the conclusion that though we cannot drop the study of any one of the five languages it is not necessary for every individual boy to study all of them The Muhammadan boy whose mother tongue is Bengali should receive his primary education in Bengali and should study a classical language, Arabic, Persian or Urdu . . . . . We can confidently assert that Urdu for a Bengali-speaking boy is even more difficult than Persian is for an Urdu-speaking boy.”30

19. The present regulations for the matriculation examination of the University of Calcutta prescribe that male candidates (some exceptions are made for women and girls) (a) should be examined in other subjects of which English is one, and in one of the following languages:—Sanskrit, Pali, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Classical Armenian, Classical Tibetan, Greek, Latin, and (b) that they should be required to write a composition in one of the following vernacular languages:— Bengali, Hindi, Uriya, Assamese, Urdu, Burmese, Modern Armenian, Modern Tibetan, Khasi. If the vernacular of a candidate is a language not included in the above list he has to take an alternative paper, either (i) in English composition, or (ii) in French, or (iii) in German. The proposal is that Urdu should be added to the languages under (a) above for those boys whose vernacular is not Urdu and who therefore do not offer it under (b).

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20. The Committee passed twenty-six resolutions on collegiate education and described the general position of the Musalmans in this regard in the following words:— “We notice with regret that, out of 14 746 students studying in arts colleges in Calcutta, only 1,154 are Moslems, and we appeal to Government to take such action as will enable Moslems to have a greater share in the facilities which are offered for college education. We consider the poverty of the community, its inadequate representation on the Senate, Syndicate and boards of studies of the University, as also on the governing bodies of colleges, the non-affiliation of colleges in Arabic and Persian, and the lack of hostel accommodation for Moslem college students are the chief reasons why Moslems do not take greater advantage of the collegiate system”31

21. The Committee recommended that no college should be given a grant-inaid unless there are professors of Arabic and Persian and Urdu on its staff, and that in order to enable the aided colleges to make this provision increased grants should be given where necessary. 22. In Chapter X of their report, which deals with religious and moral instruction, the Committee insisted that moral education for Musalmans cannot be separated from religious education. They desired to enforce religious observances in Muslim hostels and they urged the importance of Muslim pupils in all schools and colleges wearing their distinctive dress, including a cap.32 The question of religious instruction in hostels is discussed in Chapters XIX and XXXIX of this report. 23. The Governor of Bengal in Council dealt with the Committee’s report in his resolution No 1227-Edn, dated 3rd August 1916. On the general question of the educational progress of the Musalmans of the Presidency, the resolution said:— “The inequality of the progress in education made by the Hindu and Muhammadan communities is patent. The comparatively slow advance made by the Muhammadans more especially in the higher branches of education, has prevented them taking as full a part in the political, professional and industrial life of the province as the Hindus; and many of the present administrative difficulties in Bengal are due to the educational inequality between the two communities Comparatively few Muhammadans are engaged in professional pursuits They are largely outnumbered by the Hindus in industries and commerce The deficiency of Muhammadans qualified for appointment to administrative posts is a not infrequent source of embarrassment to Government Their disabilities are largely due to their having failed to keep pace with the Hindus in the matter of education The development of the country, in political as well as in other directions, is dependent on the uniform educational progress of the two mam constituents of the population and on their equal capacity to take advantage both of the opportunities now open to them and of the fuller opportunities which may be available hereafter The Government of India are anxious that all reasonable facilities should be provided for the education of Muhammadans, and the Governor in Council is convinced that it is in the interests both of the Government and the people as a whole that the Muhammadans who, in spite of recent efforts, have still much lost ground to make up, should receive such special facilities as may be necessary to enable them to benefit as fully as the Hindus from the educational institutions which are maintained, wholly or partially, out of public funds”

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24. As regards religious instruction, the Governor in Council expressed his sympathy with the desire of the Committee, but pointed out that the whole question of religious and moral instruction in schools was then (as it still is) under the consideration of the Government of India, and that, pending the issue of orders by that Government, the local Government were unable to take any action. 25. The Muslim deputations and representations which Ave have received (see Section VII below) laid stress on the subject of religious instruction and observances. The general contentions were (a) that religious instruction should be included in the courses of the University; (b) that provision should be made for religious instruction in all hostels in which Muslim students reside and that in all such hostels and in all colleges a room should be set apart for the prayers of the Musalmans; (c) that provision should be made for the religious instruction of Musalmans according to the tenets and practices of Islam in all those high English schools in which the students are wholly or mainly Muslim.33 26. The Governor in Council agreed to the introduction of the teaching of elementary Urdu in schools in order to facilitate the study of the Quran; the introduction of books, written in current Bengali, dealing with subjects of interest to the Muslim community; the direct appointment of a certain number of specially qualified Muslim head masters to Government high schools; the reservation of seats for Muslim boys in high schools and certain relaxations, in favour of Musalmans, in the rules regarding free studentships. 27. On the language difficulty the resolution said:— “His Excellency in Council has read with interest the remarks of the Committee on the difficulties which the Moslem community experience in connexion with the languages which its members desire to study owing to then association with Muhaminadan religion and history. He will forward to the University for their consideration the recommendation that Urdu should be included among the second languages which can be taken for the matriculation examination.”

The University has not as yet seen its way to make any change in the matriculation conditions referred to in paragraph 19 above. 28. Other demands put forward in this connexion are that Arabic should be excluded from all the Persian courses prescribed for examinations of the University; that Sanskrit quotations should be excluded from Bengali text-books;34 that a separate board should be established in connexion with the study of Bengali and that Musalmans should be adequately represented on it35 (the basis of this demand is the alleged rejection of books written in Bengali by Muslim authors as also of books which deal with Muslim traditions and heroes); that the study of the vernacular as a distinct subject should be excluded from the courses of the University.36 29. In the matter of hostel accommodation the Governor in Council desired that the Musalmans should be in as favourable a position and have the same facilities as Hindus. He accepted the principle that Government should establish hostels for Muslim, students in connexion with Government high schools, where the number 85

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of such pupils is sufficient to justify separate accommodation. He pointed out, however, that this was entirely a question of the funds at the disposal of the Government. Some of the representations which have been made to us contain complaints about the inadequacy of the hostel accommodation available for Muslim students in connexion with colleges not only in Calcutta but in the mufassal also. This point is dealt with in paragraph 48 below. 30. As regards collegiate education the Governor in Council said:— “The recommendations of the Committee on the subject of collegiate education mostly concern matters on which the Governor in Council is not competent to pass orders The contention of the Committee that in spite of the growing recognition of the value of hostels, the accommodation for Muhanmmadan students is inadequate is unfortunately only too true.”

So far as Government colleges were concerned the Governor in Council accepted the suggestion that a certain number of seats should be reserved for Muslim students. “The Governor in Council,” the resolution runs, “is prepared to reserve a definite proportion of places in Government colleges for Muhammadan students, and he accepts the suggestion that the ratio should be 25 per cent, which will for the present be regarded as the minimum and be liable to modification from time to time He will further consider whether similar action can be taken to ensure that Muhammadan students will be regarded as having a preferential claim to vacancies in aided colleges up to the same limit.”

The reservation for Muslim students of a certain number of vacancies in aided ‘arts colleges’ has since been ordered. 31. Some of the Muslim deputations which waited upon us complained that this order of the Government of Bengal which reserved for Musalmans 25 per cent, of the vacancies in colleges is not observed37 The number and percentage of Muslim students in the various types of university colleges in Bengal will be found in paragraph 45 below. Demands are put forward that the minimum of 25 per cent of vacancies should be raised. The percentages suggested are 30, 33, 40 and 50 according to the proportion of the Muslim population to the total population, of the area concerned.38 32. In order to increase the number of Muslim teachers, the Governor in Council agreed that the adequate representation of Musalmans on the managing committees and on the teaching staffs of schools should be a condition of grant-in-aid.39 33. It “is convenient at this point to sum up the more important arrangements which have been made by the Government of Bengal to facilitate and encourage the education of the Musalmans of the Presidency. The summary which follows is taken almost word for word from the Fifth Quinquennial Review of Education in Bengal.— (a) Twenty-five per cent, of the vacancies each year in all Government and aided colleges must be reserved for Musalmans. (b) In all Government schools a certain percentage of the vacancies each year in each class must be reserved for Musalmans. This percentage is fixed by the head masters in consultation with the divisional inspectors of schools and has reference not only to the Musalmans in the school, but also to the Muslim population of the locality

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(c) In order to provide funds for special scholarships in colleges and high schools, Government undertook the entire responsibility for the support of the madrassahs at Dacca, Chittagong, Hooghly and Rajshahi, thus setting free from the Mohsin fund40 a certain amount of money belonging to the fund. This amount has been utilised to establish a number of stipends tenable by Musahnans in arts and professional colleges and in madrassahs. (d) In order to remove, as far as possible, the disabilities of Muslim pupils in ordinary schools and colleges, the Government of Bengal have tried to insist on there being a Muslim element on the staff of every school, in addition to the teachers of Arabic and Persian. Annual reports have now to be submitted by the appointing authorities to the Director of Public Instruction, showing how vacancies during the year have been filled. A similar procedure is prescribed in respect to the appointment of clerks in offices (e) An Assistant Director of Public Instruction and five special assistant inspectors for Muslim education were appointed. Such appointments are not found outside Bengal (f ) In order to allow Muslim boys in colleges and schools to perform their jumma prayers, orders have been issued (1) that in all Government colleges work should be suspended for an hour about midday on Fridays, (2) that in Government schools the managing committees shall decide whether (a) the school shall be closed for a half-day on Fridays instead of on Saturdays (in this case schools would close on Fridays at 12-30 P.M.) or (6) work should be suspended for one hour on Fridays (g) Orders have been issued to divisional inspectors of schools to insist on the appointment of maulvis (viz, Muslim teachers of Arabic and Persian) where, in view of the Muslim population of the locality, a large number of Muslim pupils might be expected in the school (h) In order to mitigate the difficulties of Muslim students in Calcutta, a non-collegiate hostel with accommodation for 73 boarders was opened by the Bengal Government in Wellington Street, Calcutta, in July 1915. At the request of the Muslim community this hostel has been called the Taylor Hostel after Mr. J. A. Taylor, the Assistant Director of Public Instruction for Muhammadan Education; Government has also provided additional accommodation for 70 boarders in two wings which were added to the Baker Madrassah Hostel (the hostel for college students attached to the Calcutta Madrassah) (i) During the quinquennium a sum of Rs 84,000 a year was earmarked from 1914–15 from one of the recuring Imperial grants for the improvement of the education of Musalmans with special reference to what is known as the reformed madrassah scheme (see paragraph 60 of this chapter and Chapter XVI) This allotment has enabled the Education Department to increase the grants of all the six aided senior madrassahs and seven aided junior madrassaha and also to aid 55 junior madrassahs which had previously not been aided. ( j) During the quinquennium a scheme was worked out for establishing a Government ‘arts college’ in Calcutta for Musalmans. This scheme has been held up mainly on financial grounds The original Dacca University scheme included a college for Musalmans (see Chapter XXXIII of this report); (k) Facilities have been provided for Muslim students in connexion with professional colleges— (i)

The Civil Engineering College, Sibpur—The dearth of Muslim students in the various departments of this college was said to be chiefly due to the heavy charges that the students had to bear on account of messing. In order to remove this disability the Governing Body of the College proposed in 1914 that the charges on account of establishment, lighting, and superintendence of the Muslim hostel should be defrayed by Government, and that stipends should be paid to Muslim students according to a sliding scale These proposals were sanctioned by the Bengal Government who, in terms of then resolution no. 4147, dated the 16th November 1915, created four Mohsin

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stipends [see under (c) above] of Rs. 10 each tenable for two years in the civil engineering department of the College. (ii) The Medical College, Calcutta—The Government Resolution just referred to created six Mohsin stipends of Rs 15 a month and made them tenable in the Medical College [see under (c) above].41

III.—The present position. 34. The following table, which is based on the census of 1911, compares for each division of the Bengal Presidency, the number of Hindu and Muslim males and females (a) who are literate and (b) who are literate in English.42— Number of literate per 1,000 MUSALMANS

HINDUS

Division Dacca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Presidency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Burdwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chittagong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rajshahi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Males

Females

Males

Females

238 8 249 8 208 4 262 7 130 5

28 5 35 5 11 6 20 1 94

60 1 96 1 150 4 80 3 76 7

15 32 70 22 17

Number of literate in English per 1,000 Division Dacca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Presidency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Burdwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chittagong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rajshahi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MUSALMANS

HINDUS Males

Females

Males

Females

36 0 62 5 26 5 30 3 15 4

6 18 6 5 2

37 79 12 4 46 34

03 1 4 04 02

It will be noticed that in the Eastern Bengal divisions, where the Muslim population is much the largest, the proportion of Muslim literates is much smaller than in the Presidency and Burdwan divisions. 35. According to the recently issued Quinquennial Review of Education in Bengal the total number of Musalmans under instruction on the 31st March 1917 in all classes of institutions both public and private was 864,195 Of these 817,105 are returned as in colleges and schools of public instruction, viz., institutions working in accordance with courses and standards recognised, or prescribed, either by the Education Department or by the University. 36. The number of Muslim students in ‘arts colleges’ (i.e., institutions teaching for the ordinary university degrees in arts and science) was 1,639 or 8.8 per cent, of the total number of students of all creeds, as against 810 or 7.3 per cent. in 1912. In professional colleges the number was 303 or 6.8 per cent. of the total 88

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number of students, as against 94 or 4.2 per cent. in 1912. In high schools the number was 45,179 or 20 5 per cent. of the total number, as against 26,629 or 18.3 per cent. in 1912. In middle English schools the number was 54,039 or 33.2 per cent. of the total, as against 43,238 or 34.1 per cent., and in middle vernacular schools 8,258 or 34.1 per cent., as against 10,598 or 29.7 per cent. in 1912.43 In primary schools Musalmans almost hold their own. Their number was 680,273 or 49.5 per cent. of the total of pupils under instruction, as against 525,980 or 42.8 per cent. of the total in 1912. 37. To sum up the position as regards schools of public instruction, on the 31st March 1917 the Musalmans represented less than one-fifth of the total number of pupils in the high stage, less than a quarter of the pupils in the middle stage and just over a fifth of the pupils in the high and middle stages of school education taken together. In other words, though, the Musalmans represent 52.7 per cent. of the population of the Bengal Presidency, their children constitute only about a fifth of the boys and girls who are receiving a secondary school education. On the other hand 56.6 per cent. of the children receiving primary education including the primary grade in secondary schools are Musalmans. 38. Of the total 817,105, which represents Muslim pupils in colleges and schools of public instruction, no less than 228,438 or 27.9 per cent. were in those Muslim primary schools (maktabs) which give some secular instruction according to recognised departmental curricula, or in madrassahs which teach the courses prescribed by the Education Department (viz., 2,07,495 in maktabs and 20,945 in madrassahs). 39. The ‘private’ institutions which are included in the official statistics are institutions which do not work in accordance with courses or standards prescribed, or recognised, either by the Education Department or by the University The statistics for 1916–17 show 62,920 pupils as being in those institutions in Bengal Of these students 47,183 or 75 per cent. were Musalmans, these figures include 25,458 boys and 7,393 girls, who were pupils of schools which teach nothing beyond the chanting of the Quran. 40. The following table indicates the educational progress of Bengali Musalmans during the last 35 years, i.e., since the Education Commission of 1882. The figures are all the more striking, because the figures in the first column include Bihar and Orissa, while those in the last column refer to the existing Presidency of Bengal only.—

Institution

Number of pupils in 1881–82 in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa 106

Colleges—General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colleges—Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . High English Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Middle English Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . Middle Vernacular Schools . . . . . . . . . . Primary Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3,831 5,036 7,741 218,786

89

Number of pupils in 1916–17 in Bengal. 1,639 303 45,179 54,061 8,258 680,273

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41. In 1917 the number of Musalmans who were Fellows of the Calcutta University was 7 out of a total of 110. No Musalman has been elected a member of the Syndicate since its reconstruction in 1904. In 1917 there was no Muslim member of the Students’ Committee of Residence nor was the Muslim community represented on any of the other administrative bodies of the University. But some representation of the Muslim community has since been arranged. 42. The number of Musalmans in the governing bodies of the colleges is inadequate. The Mymensingh College is the only one which has two Musalmans on its governing body. Eight Government and aided colleges have one Muslim member each, the remaining 23 colleges have no Musalmans on their governing bodies. 43. The table below shows how few Musalmans were employed in 1917 on the staffs of the various colleges. This is a serious difficulty arising largely from the small number of Musalmans available for appointment. An adequate number of Muslim teachers is necessary not only to secure confidence among the Muslim, students but also for the organisation of Muslim hostels for the provision of social life and tutorial guidance for the students of that community. TEACHERS OF

TEACHERS OF

ORIENTAL SUBJECTS.

OTHER SUBJECTS.

Hindus Total. Musalmans (Sanskrit, (Arabic and Europeans Hindus Musalmans Bengali Persian). and Pali)

Colleges

11 Government Colleges 9 Aided Colleges1 . . . . . . 8 Mission Colleges1 . . . . 11 Unaided Colleges . . . University Staff (Arts and Science). 6 Professional Colleges2 (except law) University Law, Ripon, Earle, and Dacca Law Colleges. TOTAL

30 20 18 33 25

15 8 1 4 5

... ...

137

47 4 11

213 120 78 231 125

17 8 ... 4 6

258 128 125 239 142

...

24

69

2

95

...

2

76

...

78

116

912

37

1,065

33

28

1 Some of the mission colleges are aided, but no mission colleges are included under the head aided colleges’ as used in this table. 2 The teaching departments of the Diocesan College for Girls and Loreto House are not included.

44. The deputation of the Musalmans of Calcutta referred to the fact that there was no Musalman on the staff of the University Law College. They stated that competent Musalmans were available44 Three Musalmans have been appointed since then. 45. The following table shows the number and percentage of Muslim students in 1917 in the various types of colleges:—

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Total number of students

Colleges

Total number of Musalmans.

Percentage of Musalmans

11 Government Colleges . . . . . . . . . 9 Aided Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Mission Colleges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Unaided Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . . University Post-Graduate Classes Arts and Science 8 Professional Colleges (except Law) University Law, Ripon, Earle and Dacca Law Colleges

5,323 4,343 2,916 10,001 1,583

811 589 180 765 66

15·2 13·5 6·1 7·6 4·2

1,420 2,824

74 198

5·2 7·0

TOTAL

28,410

2,683

9·5

46. There is no Muslim college in Bengal but proposals for the establishment of an Islamia college in Calcutta are now under consideration. We have referred to this in Section V below.45 There are three Muslim high schools maintained by the Government of Bengal. The Anglo-Persian Department of the Calcutta Madrassah is a high school. The Anglo-Persian departments of the Government madrassahs in Dacca and Chittagong were recently transferred to the divisional inspectors as Muslim high schools Besides these high schools Government also maintains madrassahs teaching the reformed madrassah course.46 47. We have already shewn47 that in 1916–17 the Muslim pupils in the high schools of Bengal represented 20.5 per cent. only of the total number of students The percentage of the Musalmans who appeared at the matriculation examination of 1918 was 17.3 only 48. As regards residential accommodation, the following table shows the total number of Muslim students against the places available for them in. recognised hostels, i.e., college and non-collegiate hostels (for university students):—

Total number of Muslim students

Places.

Total number of Muslim students for whom hostel accommodation is available

The percentage of Muslim students for whom hostel accommodation exists.

Calcutta . . . . . . . . . Dacca . . . . . . . . . . . Mufassal . . . . . . . . .

1,241 250 1,192

515 180 335

41·4 72·0 29·8

TOTAL

2,683

1,050

39·6

IV.—The education of women and girls48 49. We have already stated (see paragraph 1 above) that according to the figures of the last census, the Muslim population of Bengal was 23,989,719. This figure 91

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includes women and girls, of whom 131,380 are in recognised colleges or schools. In 1916–17 there were two Muslim, girls only in colleges, 36 in high schools, 205 in middle schools, 129,341 in primary schools including maktabs, and 1,796 in special schools.49 No Muslim girl passed the Calcutta University matriculation examination in 1918. The recent Quinquennial Review of the Progress of Education in Bengal says that the demand for women’s education is steadily rising. “The advance of education among Moslem women of the upper classes ‘depends almost entirely upon the establishment and maintenance of strictly purdah schools which should he staffed by Muhammadan women and confined exclusively to Muhammadan girls There are a certain number of such schools already, and if any real progress is to be made the number of these schools must be increased. The difficulty in the way of increasing these schools is the dearth of teachers. If these schools are really to appeal to Muhammadans they must be staffed by qualified Moslem women and such women are almost unobtainable in Bengal.”50

50. Some of our witnesses advocated the house-to-house teaching of Muslim girls. Miss Bose, one of the Bengal inspectresses, wrote recently.— “The system of education by means of house-to-house visitation and in central gatherings is a great boon to purdah women, both. Hindu and Muhammnadan, and is very highly appreciated by people of both communities. . . . . I am sorry to say that some of these teachers are not competent to carry on the work. The women now employed with the exception of one or two have the most meagre education . . . . . The Muhammadans are still in their infancy, as far as female education is concerned, and need encouragement and help no doubt, but it is impossible to open new schools and zananas [centres] until we can secure the services of trained qualified teachers. A Muhammadan training institution—the scheme of which has had to wait for financial stringency owing to the war—is essentially needed for the purpose We shall never get qualified teachers until this is done.”51

51. The Muslim Education Committee52 recorded the opinion that a separate system of schools would have to be established and maintained for Muslim girls. It stated that the atmosphere of the existing schools was not congenial to Muslim girls and that it was therefore necessary to establish and maintain schools which would admit none but the daughters of Musalmans. The Committee did not, however, think it would be distasteful to the community if Muslim girls, where necessary, continued to attend the ordinary primary schools53 52. The Committee also recommended that provision should be made for the religious instruction of Muslim, girls in primary schools, the establishment in Calcutta and Dacca of model girl schools for Musalmans; the employment of Muslim women as assistant inspectresses; the endowment of liberal stipends for Muslim girl pupils; and the employment of more peripatetic women teachers for Muslim girls and women.54 53. On the question of the training of Muslim women teachers Begum Khajesta Bano Suhrawardy, in the course of a written statement forwarded to us, said:— “Indeed it is now difficult even to get non-Muslim Indian Urdu speaking trained teachers, having sufficient knowledge and capabilities of being useful in a secondary school. The teachers from Bankipore school appear fit only for primary education. Therefore

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unless a training school for Muslim teachers is established at Calcutta, on the lines of the one for Hindus of which Mrs. Mitter is the principal, the education of Muslim girls will remain seriously handicapped55

54. The Muslim Education Committee recommended56 that the University of Calcutta should be asked, where necessary, to make special arrangements for the examination under strictly purdah conditions of Muslim ladies. No application has ever been made to the University, but we understand that, if there was a demand, there would be no difficulty in meeting it. V—The proposed Calcutta ‘arts college’ for Musalmans. 55. We have already referred57 to the scheme for the establishment in Calcutta of a Government ‘arts college’ for Musalmans. At one time there were intermediate classes attached to the Calcutta Madrassah. In 1887 a question arose as to the raising of the status of the Madrassah to that of a first grade college and on the recommendation of the Principal of the Madrassah, Dr. Hoernle, and Sir Alfred Croft, who was then Director of Public Instruction, the Madrassah as an ‘arts college’ was amalgamated in 188858 with the Presidency College. The students, however, continued to appear at the university examinations as the students of the Calcutta Madrassah and to pay fees at the same rate of Rs. 2 a month. No restriction was imposed as to the number of the Muslim students who could be admitted to the Presidency College classes under these conditions. This arrangement continued till 1908 when the University disaffiliated the Madrassah. On the recommendation of Mr. (later Sir Archdale) Earle, Director of Public Instruction, and Dr. (now Sir) E. Denison Ross, the Principal of the Calcutta Madrassah, orders were issued by the Government of Bengal that 35 Muslim students should be admitted to each of the first and second year classes of the Presidency College at a fee of Rs. 2 a month. The number 35 was calculated on the average number of Muslim students who had during the immediately preceding years been under instruction in the first and second year classes of the Presidency College, as students of the Madrassah. We understand that in 1909 certain proposals which had been put forward in connexion with the Presidency College included the establishment of a Muslim arts college in Bengal, preferably in Calcutta. The suggestion was offered that such a college might be provided by removing the Calcutta Madrassah to a more suitable site and reorganising it on the model of the Aligarh College. 56. The gradual increase in the number of Musalmans passing the matriculation and intermediate examinations suggested to the Government of Bengal the desirability of reopening the question of a Muslim college; a scheme was worked out and in 1914 land was purchased in Wellesley Street, Calcutta, at a cost of Rs. 1,23,000. 57. The scheme is awaiting the issue of our report. We consider it desirable that a college for Musalmans should be established in Calcutta. This matter is dealt with in Chapter XXXIV. 93

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VI.—Madrassahs. 58. Maulvi Abdul Karim has informed us in his “Short Note on the Education imparted in Madrassahs” that during Muslim rule in Bengal there were madrassahs all over the country. He continues:— “Besides the well organised institutions of the kind every mosque was a madrassah in miniature Distinguished Arabic scholars, who devoted their lives to advancing Islamic learning, taught their co-religionists, without any remuneration from their pupils, theology, law and literature of Islam. Many of these institutions collapsed when the Musalmans lost their wealth and influence on account of the loss of sovereignty As in the beginning of British rule in India Persian was retained as the court language, it was necessary to have an institution, well-equipped and well-staffed, for the training of officers. Warren Hastings established the Calcutta Madrassah in order to meet this requirement. Its course of studies was so framed as to give Government servants a good training Some of the private madrassahs also adopted this course As long as a knowledge of Persian was a passport to posts of honour and emoluments, the education given in the madrassahs was very useful. When Persian was replaced by English and the provincial vernaculars, the madrassahs lost their utility and consequently also their popularity. But still a large number of orthodox Musalmans, who cared more for religious than for secular education, continued to send their children to the madrassahs instead of to the schools and colleges.59

59. Mr. Harley, the Principal of the Calcutta Madrassah, does not think that it is fair to treat madrassahs as mere theological departments, to provide special degrees and stipends for their students, and after that to leave them with no better prospects than they have at present. He reminds the Commission that students of madrassahs would in an Islamic country be qualified for Government posts.60 60. In the early part of the last century the madrassahs of Bengal (including those located in the present provinces of Bihar and Orissa and of Assam) were organised round the Calcutta Madrassah, the Principal of which held regular public tests for madrassah students, called the central madrassah examinations. Frequent efforts have been made to bring the Calcutta Madrassah and the madrassahs associated with it more into line with ordinary colleges and schools and more into touch with the requirements of modern life In 1903 the Government of Bengal had before them a proposal that from a certain stage in the course upwards two different courses should be taught in the Arabic Department of the Calcutta Madrassah—one partly English and partly oriental, the other wholly oriental. This proposal was rejected, mainly because it was felt that while a knowledge of English was to be acquired at the expense of oriental studies, the standard attained in that language would not be sufficiently high to justify the experiment. In a resolution issued by the Government of Bengal on the 24th February 1903 the view was expressed that, if a Musalman wished to learn English thoroughly, he should enter the Anglo-Persian Department of the Calcutta Madrassah, in which Arabic and Persian were taught as optional subjects for the matriculation examination. In 1906 Mr. (now Sir Archdale) Earle, as Director of Public Instruction, Bengal, reopened the general question of the education of the Musalmans of the Provinces of Bengal and of Eastern Bengal and Assam. A series of conferences were held in 1907 and 1908, and at these conferences the discussion centred mainly round 94

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two questions, (1) the institution of a title examination for madrassah students in literature, law and theology, similar to the Sanskrit title examination and (2) the revision of the course to enable madrassah students to acquire such a knowledge of English as would fit them for Government service and other profitable employment. There was considerable diversity of opinion on the question whether English should be made a compulsory subject in madrassahs The proposal that English should be made a compulsory subject was ultimately negatived, but the Muslim representatives of Eastern Bengal were unanimous in supporting it. In 1909–10 a conference representative of Muslim opinion in Eastern Bengal was summoned by the Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam to meet in Dacca. This conference drew up a revised syllabus, but Mr. Sharp, the present Educational Commissioner, who was then Director of Public Instruction in Eastern Bengal and Assam, pointed out, in submitting the revised curriculum to Government, that it attempted too much and comprised a heterogeneous mixture of subjects. He was unable to recommend its general adoption. At this point Mr. Nathan took up the case. The position which he assumed was that the revised curriculum should be as simple as possible and should be introduced into as many madrassahs as financial considerations would permit. A second conference was held in Dacca in March 1912, when the proposals of the 1910 conference were taken as the basis of discussion, and modifications were suggested with the object of making the course simpler and more practicable. These revised proposals were before the Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam when the territorial readjustment took place which resulted in the Presidency of Bengal; and, before any further progress had been made, the question of establishing a university at Dacca had been taken up. The committee appointed by the Government of Bengal to frame a scheme for the new University decided to adopt the suggestion of the Government of India that a department of Islamic studies should be included in the new University and appointed a sub-committee to work out the details. As the university course must necessarily be an extension of the course followed in the madrassahs, the subcommittee had to take into consideration the madrassah curriculum. The proposals made by the Dacca conference of 1912 were taken as a starting point and in 1913 after an informal conference, over which Mr. Nathan presided, a scheme known popularly as the reformed madrassab scheme was evolved, the adoption of which in all Government and aided madrassahs (except the Calcutta madrassah) was ordered by the Government of Bengal in their Resolution of the 31st July 1914.61 The proposals for the Dacca University Department of Islamic studies are dealt with in Chapter XXXIII of our report. The whole question of the courses of study followed in madrassahs is dealt with in detail in Chapter XVI. 61. In our opinion there can be no solution of the problem involved in the educational backwardness of the Muslim community, which does not include a persistent attempt not only to make madrassahs places of real intellectual culture and training but also to bring them into touch with the needs of modern life. The Government of Bengal resolution62 to which we have just referred prefaces its announcement by stating that the private madrassahs of the Presidency, though 95

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numerous, are, as a rule, small understaffed institutions in which a mere smattering of Arabic and Persian is taught, but practically nothing else. “Such an education is ill suited for the requirements of the present day. The students find themselves unable to earn a living and, for the most part, degenerate into useless members of society63 The leading Muhammadans of Bengal are fully alive to this evil and have repeatedly expressed their desire for a general reform of madrassahs. They hold that the course of study pursued therein, whilst not being exclusively secular, should be such as is likely to produce cultured Muhammadans fit to enter one or other of the careers open to educated men, and to play their part in, the various activities which go to make up the public life of modern India. They are alive to the need for scholars versed in the lore of Islam, but, while they recognise that scholars of this type will necessarily be few in number, they realise that, unless the community is to suffer, these exceptional persons must be genuine savants and real enthusiasts for religion and learning.”64

VII.—Muslim deputations and representations. 62. One of the striking indications of the interest which, the Musalmans now take in education was the number of Muslim deputations which waited upon us. We received deputations at Calcutta, Chittagong, Comilla, Dacca, Gauhati, Midnapore, Murshidabad Rajshahi and Rangpur.65 The resolutions of the All-India Muhammadan Conference and of the Bengal Presidency Muhammadan Educational Association were also submitted to us.66 These documents are printed in the volume of General Memoranda, and all the points raised therein are dealt with either in this chapter or in other parts of our report. 63. Among the points on which the deputations were emphatic was the desirability of providing increased pecuniary aid for Muslim students in the shape of stipends, scholarships and free studentships. They also urged that a certain proportion of Muslim students should be accommodated in hostels rent free. VIII.—Musalmans and, the problem of communal representation. 64. Practically all the Musalmans who have appeared before us or have favoured us with written statements are agreed in representing the present state of affairs in the University of Calcutta as unfavourable to the interests of their community. When, in 1912, the Government of India announced their intention of establishing a University of Dacca, they expressed the view that there seemed but little chance of a large increase in the number of Muslim university students until the Musalmans of Eastern Bengal had a university nearer to their doors, in the guidance of which they could have a voice (there were then only six Musalmans in the Calcutta University Senate) and in which there might perhaps be a Faculty of Islamic Studies. The question of the Pacca University is dealt with in Chapter XXXIII of our report. 65. A number of Muslim witnesses complain that neither the registered graduates nor the faculties of the Calcutta University have ever yet elected a Musalman to be a Fellow. Others, while not exonerating these electorates from blame for the

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way in which they have exercised their suffrages, recognise the fact that 80 per cent of the Ordinary Fellows of the University are nominated by the Chancellor and therefore complain that this right of nomination has not been fairly exercised. Maulvi Abdul Karirn, for example, writes:— “The reservation by the Chancellor of the power of nominating so many as four-fifths of the fellows, perhaps with a view to preserve the necessary equilibrium between the different communities interested in the University, should have secured the representation of the different communities on the different bodies of the University in proportion to their numerical strength and communal importance. Even if allowance were made for difference in educational advancement, their (i.e., the Musalmans) representation should, on no account, have been so absurdly disproportionate, as it is at present. That an overwhelming majority of even the nominated fellows should have come from one particular community is regarded as a grievance that calls for immediate redress There is no fixed principle according to which selection is made by Government It does not seem to have been always based on academic attainments.”67

The Maulvi, who contends that one-third of the Senate at least should be Muslim, will not hear of the suggestion that suitable Musalmans are not easy to find:— “If any one thinks that such a number of competent Musalmans in Bengal and Assam would not be forthcoming, he is not I am afraid, fully aware of the progress the community has lately made in education.”

66. The majority of our Muslim witnesses do not hesitate to attribute to this lack of Muslim representation in the University (and on the governing bodies of the several colleges) not only the inadequate proportion of the Musalmans among students of the University but also the continuance of conditions which are alleged by Musalmans to be prejudicial to the interests of Muslim students Most of these grievances are referred to in the course of this chapter; we summarise them below— (a) the lack of adequate provision for instruction in Persian and Arabic, (b) the difficulty experienced by Muslim students in obtaining admission into colleges, (c) the lack of hostel accommodation for Muslim students, (d) the encouragement by the University of a Sanskiitised Bengali, which is difficult for Musalmans to acquire, (e) the use by the University of books which are either uncongenial to Musalmans as being steeped in Hindu religion and tradition, or even positively objectionable to them, because they contain statements offensive to Muslim sentiment. Elphinstone’s History of India is cited as a case in point, (f ) the requirement that each candidate should write his name instead of giving a number, on the answer books shown up at university examinations. (It is suggested that this practice operates to the prejudice of Muslim candidates),68 and

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(g) the delay in the issue by the University of certain Arabic and Persian textbooks. Stress is also laid on the necessity for securing for the Muslim community ‘its fair share’ in the appointment of university examiners. We were informed by Nawab Syed Nawabaly Chaudhury that out of 895 examiners appointed by the Calcutta University in 1917 in subjects other than Urdu, Persian or Arabic, nine only were Musalmans. There were 44 examiners in that year in Urdu, Persian and Arabic.69 67. Some of the witnesses go so far as to charge the Calcutta University with indifference to Muslim representations. This view is emphasised in a note70 submitted to the Commission by Nawab Syed Nawabaly Chaudhury—a note giving expression to the views of those Muslim leaders of Bengal whom the Nawab had sounded. 68. Some of the leading Musalmans contend that the jurisdiction of the Calcutta University should be curtailed. The most carefully elaborated view on the subject from the Muslim stand point is to be found in the note from the Musalmans of Calcutta:— “Apart from any consideration of sectarian and separate interests, it is obvious that a university, such as we have in Calcutta, cannot possibly meet the educational requirements of 45½ millions of people. It is not possible for a single university to exercise efficient control over 62 colleges and about 800 high schools scattered all over the Presidency and to satisfactorily discharge the duties and responsibilities of maintaining discipline among more than 20,000 students in colleges and about 2 lakhs and 20,000 students in schools. Nor is it possible for a single university to satisfy the legitimate needs and aspirations of such a large number of people, considering the fact that centralisation of authority, as we have in Calcutta, means the over-concentration of the educational efforts of the Presidency at a single place and the under-estimation of the value and possibilities of the development of other places as centres of education”71

69. The questions raised in this note are fully discussed in Chapter XXXV of our report Here it is only necessary to say that we hope to see a general development of stronger centres of intellectual life in the various parts of the mufassal, Dacca being from the first chosen as the seat of a university. But Calcutta must always enjoy prominence in the educational life of the Presidency, because it is the focus of railway and other cornmunications, the headquarters of Government, the centre of intellectual activity in Bengal. Any board or public authority dealing with, education in the Presidency would find Calcutta the most convenient place for its regular meetings. There is no other place in Bengal so convenient for the purpose. What has to be devised therefore for higher education in the mufassal is a method of administration, which, without giving Calcutta a monopoly of influence in its direction, will avail itself of the intellectual resources of the metropolis, and take advantage of its experience. The central geographical position of Calcutta must be recognised and put to advantageous use. What has to be avoided is on the one hand over-concentration and disregard on the other hand

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of the local views and needs of the various Muslim and Hindu communities of the mufassal. 70. We addressed the following question72 to our correspondents:— “To what extent do you consider that the needs and interests of particular communities should be specially considered:— (a) in the government of the University, (b) in its courses of study, (c) in its residential and other arrangements?”

71. With few exceptions all our correspondents agree that in the matter of residential arrangements for students, the special needs of the various communities should be considered. Mr. Sharp says that “it is important that Musalmans should have their own hostels (to a considerable extent they now possess them) supervised by Muhammadan professors, and with arrangements for religious observance, which is much prized by this community.” Rai Brojendra Kishore Roy Chaudhury writes that “the Hindu and Muhammadan students ought to be placed in separate hostels built in entirely separate compounds with entirely separate arrangements regarding religious education”72 The staff of the Murarichand College, Sylhet, also recommend separate residential and messing arrangements for separate religious. denominations.72 Khan Bahadur Ammul Islam and Mr. Harley in their joint memorandum recommend that— “as far as possible separate hostels for Musalmans and Hindus should be constructed and, where this is not feasible owing to the small number of members of either community, they should have separate accommodation in the same house, with independent messing arrangements Seats should be reserved for Muhammadan students in colleges and hostels according to the population of the division. Hostel accommodation should be provided for Muhammadan M. A. and law students.”73

72. Some of our correspondents, Hindus, Muslims and British alike recognize the exigencies of the present situation but feel that an attempt should be made to provide mixed hostels for Hindus and Musalmans with separate feeding arrangements only. Maulvi Ahsanullah’s view is that— “Hindu and Muhammadan boarders should, as far as possible, be accommodated in the same place, separate arrangements bemg made for cooking and other purposes Combined hostels will be welcomed both from the scholastic and the economic point of view. They will greatly facilitate the growth of an intimate brotherhood among the students of different creeds and will permit of an organised tutorial system.”73

The Rev. W. B. S. Holland thinks that “students of all castes and religions can reside together in adjacent rooms and all that is needed is separate arrangements for food.” No reference is made by these witnesses to the difficulty of religious instruction. It is suggested on the other hand that the provision of common hostels for students of different faiths is only feasible if religious instruction, and possibly

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religious observances, are excluded from hostels. This question is discussed in Chapters XIX and XXXIX. 73. None of our correspondents have advocated any distinction being made as between community and community in the matter of purely secular instruction but some are of opinion that subjects representing communal traditions and scriptural languages should be included as alternative subjects in the university courses of study. Sir. Panchanandas Mukherji, Professor of Political Economy and Political Philosophy, Presidency College and a lecturer of Calcutta University, says that “as regards courses of study, the needs and interests of particular communities should be consulted with, reference to the study of the second languages and the vernacular.”73 Dr. Pramathanath Banerjea, Lecturer in Economics and Political Philosophy, Calcutta University, while disagreeing with communal representation in the government of universities favours the idea of the adjustment of the courses of study to the needs of particular communities.73 Mr. Langley of Dacca says that “courses of studies should be designed to meet the needs of the various communities, but narrow sectarianism in the selection of subjects should be discouraged,”74 74. Khan Sahib Mohammad Yusuf, Head Master Calcutta Madrassah, says “it is a universal complaint among Muhammadans that religious instruction has not been recognised as part of the curriculum”74 Shams-ul-Ulama Abu Nasr Waheed says “an Islamic course of studies, under a faculty of Islamic studies, combined with English, leading to the university degrees, should be provided. Every college should make provision for the teaching of Arabic, Persian and Urdu. The University should make provision for the study of the history of Islamic civilisation beginning from the intermediate stage”74 This question will be discussed in Chapter XVI Mr. M. A. N. Hydari thinks that “such subjects as Islamic history and such languages as Persian, Arabic and. Urdu should have a due place in the training of the university courses of study.”74 75. The witnesses who do not think that the needs of particular communities should be specially considered are either opposed to this consideration on principle or because they hold that any further special consideration is unnecessary. Mr. Surendra Nath Roy does not think that “particular communities have any real grievance either in the courses of studies or in the residential and other arrangements of the Calcutta University.” 76. The difference of opinion among our witnesses is more marked in the matter of communal representation in the government of universities. About 55 of our Hindu witnesses object to such communal representation, while 33 are in favour. 77. Sir Gooroo Dass Banerjee’s view is— “within the sacred precincts of the temple of learning all votaries should receive equal treatment, and none should claim any special favour”74

Mr P. Basu, Professor of Economics, Holkar College, Indore, says:— “As a general principle I consider special representation of any community as highly mischievous In university matters this is more so But as the needs of different communities

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differ much with regard to certain aspects of university life, to that extent specially competent persons for that purpose should be asked to give advice”74

78. Mr. Sasi Sekhar Banerjee, the Officiating Principal of the Krishnath College, Berhampur, says:— “The University being the centre of learning should be free from party considerations. There should not be any party government or communal representation in the University, but on its government only the best and most capable men should be enlisted, without any reference to nationality, so long as they will be able to serve the best interests of Government, of colleges and of learning”75

79. Dr. M. N. Banerjee, the Principal of the Belgachia Medical College, states unhesitatingly that the less we hear of communal interests in the University, the better. “The University is the only place where all races, creeds, and nationalities meet on common ground.”75 The Bengal Landholders Association have expressed themselves as being decidedly against the introduction of the ‘communal’ question in matters of university government and university education75 Sir E. G. Bhandarkar does not think that the centrifugal forces, which are so powerful in Indian society notwithstanding the contact of India with western civilisation for nearly two hundred years, should be further strengthened by the University, and in his judgment therefore “the needs and interests of particular communities should not be taken into consideration in the government of the University and in its courses of study. These should be arranged to meet the needs and interests of Indians, and Indians only.”75 80. Rai Yatindra Nath Choudhury of Barnagore would oppose any communal representation in the governing body of the University. In his view “what is wanted is good men, and not men selected in a haphazard way from any community, because they belong to it.” He admits, however, that in the department of oriental studies of the University and in the department of Indian history and antiquity there should be a certain percentage of men from the different communities, so that adequate consideration may be given to the needs and interests of each.75 Dr. Nares Chandra Sen Gupta, Vice-Principal of the Dacca Law College, records the view that “to look upon education from the point of view of sectional interests is a pernicious habit and should not be encouraged.” He suggests that questions in which the interests of Musalmans go against those of others “arise in the Senate once in fifty years or more” “For the sake of these rare occasions, it would be absurd permanently to weaken the Senate, by bringing in members who are there, not by virtue of their academic qualifications, but because they are supposed to look after the interests of a community.”76 81. The view of the Indian Association is that in the government of the University and in its courses of study the needs and interests of particular communities should not be considered76 This is also the view of Maharajah Sir Manindra Chandra Nandy of Kasimbazar, of Dr. Tej Bahadur Sapru, of Sir Nilratan Sircar and of the Rev. Garfield Williams Mr. R. P. Paranjpye of the Fergusson College,

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Poona, deprecates the introduction of any communal considerations whatever into a university. He writes— “I am strongly of opinion that no communal considerations should be introduced in the government of the University The Senate and Syndicate should consist of the best men As regards courses of study, it is natural that some subjects may specially appeal to some special community, e.g., Persian and Arabic to Muhammadans, Sanskrit to Hindus, Avesta and Pahlavi to Parsis, Pali to Buddhists, etc The Senate, or at least the boards of study, should contain representatives of all the subjects which the University offers to teach and the University should aim at teaching all the subjects for which there is a demand It should so arrange its courses that they are not too narrowly sectarian. Thus I would deprecate a course of Sanskrit for Jains in which no books but those by Jain authors are prescribed. Every student of Sanskrit should have some knowledge of the literature contained in Sanskrit as a whole before specialising in one particular branch. In the matter of separate institutions for different communities I deprecate the foundation of communal universities or even colleges I am willing to allow only separate hostels at the most, but I would prefer a hostel for all classes, the messes only being distinct for different classes. In this way all classes of young men will have ample opportunities of coming together and will begin to feel unconsciously that they are Indians first and foremost and not members of their separate little communities only. This is the impression that I want them to take from their education and not merely the prescubed amount of booklearning in various subjects”76

82. Mr. K. Zachariah, Professor of History at the Presidency College, Calcutta, is himself a member of a small community, the Syrian Christian commumty of the Malabar Coast His view is that communal representation tends “to create factions and cause questions to be decided not on their intrinsic merit, but on party grounds;” that it also inclines to keeping the communities so represented “in a continued state of tutelage.” “There is nothing,” he observes, “so invigorating and healthy as having to stand up and fight without special favour.”77 83. Mr. Saratlal Biswas, Assistant Professor of Geology, Calcutta University, holds an intermediate position. He is in favour of Indian and provincial representation but not in favour of communal representation. He says:—“The government of the University, as well as its teaching departments, should be composed, as far as possible, of Indians, and preference should always be given to the people of Bengal.”77 84. Turning to the representative views of those Hindu witnesses who are in favour of communal representation, Kumar Manindra Chandra Sinha of the Paikpara Raj writes— “every effort should be given to secure adequate representation for the interests of particular communities, such as the Muhammadan and the domiciled Anglo-Indian, and every attempt should be made to include representatives of such communities in the deliberations of the University. This will help a cosmopolitan view being taken of problems affecting the University”77

Mr. P. N. Nag, the Head Master of the United Free Church Mission School, Chinsurah, says that “the needs and interests of particular communities should be specially considered according to their educational and numerical strength (a) in the government of the University and (b) in its courses of study.”77 102

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85. Rai Mahendra Chandra Mitra Bahadur would, in arranging for communal representation, not fix the proportion according to numerical strength but according to the number of students who receive education.77 Mr. Jogendra Nath Hazra, the Principal of the Midnapore College, is not in favour of fixing any proportion. His view is that “the Muhammadans and the depressed classes should have their representatives in sufficient numbers on the governing bodies of the University to look after their interests.”77 86. Rai Sahib Nritya Gopal Chaki, a pleader of Pabna, recommends separate electorates of Musalmans and of pandits from recognised tôls for the purpose of electing members to the Senate.77 Mr. N. C. Bardaloi of Gauhati thinks that “the needs and interests of particular communities should be specially considered regarding the control and management of the University. There should be enough non-official members representing different communities and people”78 87. The opinions of our British witnesses on communal representation are practically balanced, nine on either side The majority of those who oppose communal representation are in favour of communal colleges and even of communal universities. Mr. Archbold sees “great danger of weakening communities by giving them privileges”78 The Rev. Garfield Williams is in favour of communal representation in the government of colleges but not in the government of universities.78 88. The view of Mr E. N Gilchrist, Principal of the Krishnagar College, is that it is impossible to secure the fair representation of sectarian interests in a centralised university like Calcutta. He continues:— ‘On general principles I object to the representation of interests of this kind, as such, in a university The present Government policy regarding Moslems is an example in point In the Education Department the favouring of sections means the acceptance of lower qualifications than competition in the open market would give. Political reasons, however, may demand such a procedure, and they will demand separate representation. A glance at the many memorials on university representation from Muhammadans in Bengal will show how far the demands made are incapable of fulfilment simply because of a lack of qualified men By local universities, however, fair representation of sectional interests is far more possible”78

89. Mr S. G. Dunn of the Murr College, Allahabad, considers that the needs of particular communities should be met by the establishment of special universities, such as the Hindu University at Benares, or the proposed University of Islam at Ahgarh. He considers that such universities should be financed and in every way controlled by the communities which demand their establishment, and that public funds should not be used for them at all. His view is that, apart from these communal or sectarian universities, the needs and interests of particular communities should not be specially considered in the government or academic organisation of the universities—“a university in which such needs and interests are considered is a contradiction in terms.”78 Mr. Mark Hunter, formerly Professor of English in the Presidency College, Madras, and now the Director of Public Instruction in Burma, regards it as desirable that the special 103

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needs and interests of particular communities should not be lost sight of, but he holds that— “it is not to the interests of the University as a whole that persons academically considered of little or no significance should be given place and influence in the University simply as representing this or that community, to the exclusion of men of high academic qualification who are likely to be of real service in university work”79

90. Turning to those who are in favour of communal representation, Mr H. Sharp writes:— “The consideration of the needs and interests of particular classes is of great importance. Among such communities in Bengal would be reckoned the Musalmans (who though numerically just over half the population, form a minority among those who seek higher education), the Buddhists and the depressed classes The Musalmans require larger representation on the governing bodies This can best be arranged by the establishment of local universities at centres of Muhammadan population like Dacca and Chittagong and by the devolution of examinations”79

91. Mr. W. C. Wordsworth, Officiating Director of Public Instruction, Bengal, writes:— “I consider that (a) the Muhammadan community, (b) those engaged in European education, (c) those engaged or interested in women’s education, should have their needs and interests specially considered in the government of the University, in its courses of study, in its residential and other arrangements It is advisable that efforts should be made to interest the non-official and non-educational community, both Indian and European, in the affairs of the University. Of recent years the University’s interpretation of the needs of the public it serves has been mainly inspired by one dominant personality, with much resultant unrest. A more catholic Government would give wider satisfaction and disarm much hostility A more catholic constitution of the Senate might be accompanied by the reservation to Government of the right of nominating two members of the Syndicate, this could be used to nominate, e.g., a Muhammadan, when, as is usual, neither tie Faculties nor the Senate elect one”79

92. Mr. J. R. Cunningham, the Director of Public Instruction, Assam, thinks that Musalmans and others should be adequately represented in the government of the University.79 Mr. Langley says that “each community should be fairly represented, because each subscribes to the funds whereby the University is supported. By fair representation also the interests of various communities will be maintained.” 93. Out of 38 Muslim witnesses who answered Question 22, Sir Ali Imam is definitely opposed to communal representation; Mr Altaf Ali while agreeing with, the views expressed by the deputation of Musalmans of Calcutta, does not favour special Muslim representation in connexion with the Calcutta University because of the benefits which the Dacca University is expected to confer on his community; all the other Muslim correspondents, besides the oral witnesses and Muslim deputations, to whom reference has already been made, urge the desirability of Muslim representation on the governing bodies of the University. 104

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94. Sir Ali Imam’s view is:— “Except in residential arrangements, and in matters of food and religious discipline, no special arrangement is needed for any particular community The highest branch of education should be open to all communities alike, and in my opinion the endeavour of the University should be to discourage sectarianism and not to emphasise them. In matters of study the needs of all the communities are very much alike, and the universities cannot regulate them with a view to the encouragement of the education of any particular community”80

95. Turning to Muslim correspondents in favour of Muslim representation, Mr Z. R. Zahid Suhrawardy says:— “The Muhammadan community, backward as it is in education, should receive special consideration, and for this purpose the representatives in the Senate should be increased so as to secure at least one-third of the number of Senators from the members of that community On the Syndicate there should be the same proportion. Besides, every institution should have a few Muhammadan professors in the general line and not for Arabic and Persian only as at present”80

Maulvi Mohomed Habibur Rahman Khan, the Secretary of the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference, writes that “the various communities should be adequately represented on the various executive and academic committees of the University. The proportion of the representatives of the Muslim community, considering its number and existing educational condition, should be 40 per cent.”80 96. Khan Bahadur Mohammad Ismail, Vice-Chairman, District Board, Mymensingh, would divide the seats on the university bodies which are to be held by Indians equally between the Hindus and Musalmans. “The needs and interests of the Muslim community should be safeguarded by adequate representation in the Senate as well as in the Syndicate In the Senate besides the European members of the teaching profession, the number of seats should be equally divided between the Hindus and Muhammadans The tame proportion should be observed in the Syndicate also The office of the Vice-Chancellor should be filled by a Hindu, European and Muhammadan in rotation”81

97. Mr. M. A. N. Hydari writes:— “I am strongly of opinion that in the highest interests of university life, even from its purely academic side, it is necessary that the needs and interests of particular communities like the Muhammadan community should be specially considered in the government of the University, its courses of study and its residential and other arrangements”81

Mr. Wahed Hossam, the Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Educational Conference, says.— “The Indian universities are intended for all races and communities inhabiting India, and they preside over the higher education of the children of all classes and denominations Among the Indian races, the Hindu and the Muslim form an important section of the educated class as a whole Naturally, the educated men who form these two communities are taking a keen interest in, and desire to associate themselves with, the affairs of the universities But as a matter of fact, the Muslim element has hardly been represented in the several bodies which preside over the destiny of the Indian universities They are almost entirely in the hands of one community only”81

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98. Maulvi Abdullah Abu Sayied writes:— “Rightly or wrongly there is a strong feeling amongst Muhammadans that though they are numerically superior to other communities in Bengal, and are making every effort to advance in education, very little regard is paid to their requirements in the University”81

99. Mr. Justice Abdur Rahim writes:— “Speaking for the Muhammadans it is extremely important that they should be adequately represented in the government of the University, including the Senate, the Syndicate, the Board of Studies and the examining board, and also on the governing bodies of hostels, messes and lodgmgs. . . . As for the courses of study, I would recommend that Islamic history be recognised at least as an optional subject”81

100. Taking the whole range of the recorded opinions it appears that of our correspondents of all nationalities who sent written answers to the question, 65 are against and 78 are in favour of communal representation in the government of the University. IX.—Some remarks in conclusion. 101. We have thought it wise to set out the problem involved in the education of the Musalmans of Bengal, neither depreciating its difficulties nor seeking to conceal the existence of interests and views which are on the surface contending 102. We desire at this point to draw a distinction in regard to the question of communal representation. In matters of educational administration, as in other branches of administration, communal representation may in the present conditions of India be necessary and for certain purposes we have advocated it. But we are convinced that in making appointments to the principal teaching posts of a university it would be fatal to depart from the principle that the best qualified man should be appointed without reference to his race or religion. The university which departs from this principle will not make the contribution which it could and should make towards the solution of those vexed and perplexing problems of national life of which the subject matter of this chapter is one. 103. The recommendations which we have decided to make will be found in the later chapters of our report We think that a satisfactory solution of the difficulties is not unattainable It may be found—we hope it will be found—partly in the establishment of Muslim colleges, halls of residence and hostels in which the tone of thought will be congenial to Musalmans and their way of life and worship observed; partly by endeavouring to ensure that, where there are considerable groups of Muslim students in any college, their tutorial and social needs should be provided for, partly through a reconstruction of the university which should welcome the erudition of Muslim teachers and other Islamic scholars, chosen for their eminent learning not from Bengal only but out of the whole Islamic world, and should furnish them with opportunities of teaching and research; but chiefly through the growth of a conviction that in the highest education of the Presidency 106

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Musalmans and Hindus should co-operate, each considerately respectful of the other’s convictions and ready to preserve communal traditions within the wider framework of the university’s corporate life.

CHAPTER VII. THE EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CLASSES. 1. The Education Commission of 1882 devoted special attention to the education of certain special classes of the Indian community. Among those special classes the Commission included aboriginal tubes and low castes Their reason was “the wide sympathy which their backward condition and slender opportunities had excited.”82 To-day the problem is one of vital importance. The aboriginal tribes and low castes still send very few students to the University, but ambition is beginning to stir this long-voiceless mass to a definite and persistent effort to educate its children to rise in the world. Conversely there are signs of an awakening of the more advanced sections of Bengali society to the claims of the depressed and the more primitive classes. The Bengal official educational reports testify to the gradual disappearance of the prejudice, once universal among the higher Hindu castes, to their children sitting in school side by side, with, low caste pupils. We read in the recent Quinquennial Review of Education in Bengal of a Bengal Social Service League and of a society for the improvement of the backward classes of Bengal and Assam83 and we have referred elsewhere to the work done by the students of St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College, Calcutta, among the low caste inhabitants of a neighbouring busti.84 2. We cannot do more than allude in passing to this aspect of the problem of the future of Bengal, and indeed of India, but for the better understanding of this phase of that momentous question, we reproduce below from the Fifth Quinquennial Review of the Progress of Education in Bengal to which we have just referred, a list of depressed classes of the Presidency with an estimate, based on the figures collected for the 1911 census, of the numerical strength of each. The Educational Commissioner with the Government of India has lately attempted to define three classes of people as falling within the category of depressed classes, viz.:—(a) the depressed classes proper, i.e., untouchables, (b) aboriginal and hill tribes, and (c) criminal tribes. (a) Depressed classes proper:— Caste or tribe—

Number

Bagdi ................................................................. 1,015,738 Baun .................................................................. 313,654 Bhuinmah .......................................................... 91,973 Bhuiya ............................................................... 69,044 Bhumij ............................................................... 90,282

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Caste or tribe—

Number

Chamai .............................................................. 136,533 Dhoba ................................................................ 228,052 Dom ................................................................... 173,991 Dosadh .............................................................. 45,863 Han .................................................................... 173,706 Kaora ................................................................. 112,281 Kora ................................................................... 46,497 Mai .................................................................... 108,163 Muchi ................................................................ 455,236 Munda ............................................................... 67,252 Namasudias ....................................................... 1,908,728 Oraon ................................................................. 165,337 Pod .................................................................... 536,568 Santhal ............................................................... 669,420 Sunn .................................................................. 119,325 Tiyar .................................................................. 215,270

(b) Aboriginal and hill tribes:— Chakmas ............................................................ Ganos ................................................................ Hadis ................................................................. Hajangs ............................................................. Koches ............................................................... Tipaias ...............................................................

54,362 42,728 26,212 25,016 46,619 35,950

(c) Criminal tribes:— Bediyas .............................................................. Gains ................................................................. Kaoias (24-Paraganas) ...................................... Lodhas ...............................................................

8,503 380 64,483 7,4031

1 Progress of Education in Bengal, 1912–13 to 1916–17 Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W. Horaell (Calcutta, 1918), Chapter XI, para 608

The list above is arranged in accordance with the classification of the Educational Commissioner and it excludes certain peoples who, though they cannot be classed as depressed classes, are not Bengali Hindus or Bengali Musalmans, e.g., Nepalees, the Bhutias and the Lepchas of the Darjeeling hills, the Meches of the Duars, and the Maghs, etc. The education of these peoples presents a special problem which is not altogether dissimilar from the problem of the education of the depressed classes proper, though it is not by any means identical with it. These

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peoples are not taken into account in the figures which are quoted in paragraph 4 below.85 3. The principal home of the Namasudras is in the Dacca, Mymensingh and Faridpur districts of the Dacca division. Santhals live in considerable numbers in the Bankura, Birbhum and Midnapore districts of the Burdwan division. They are also found in the Dinajpur district of the Rajshahi division. The Garos, Hadis, Hajangs and Koches, who belong to the Bengal Presidency, inhabit the foot of the Garo Hills in the Mymensigh district. Chakmas, Tiparas and Maghs are to be found mainly in the Chittagong hill tracts and in the Cox’s Bazar sub-division of the Chittagong district. The Darjeeling hills are peopled by Nepalees, Bhutias, Lepchas and Tibetans, while the tea gardens of the Duars in the Kajshahi district are worked by coolies of many different races, chief among which are the Oraons, the Kols and the Mundas, whose home is in Chota Nagpur. 4. According to the latest official returns there were, on the 31st March 1917, actually under instruction in Bengal 77,054 boys and 8,973 girls of the depressed and other backward classes. Of these 194 boys were in university colleges: 2,022 boys were in the high stage of instruction, 2,684 boys and 23 girls were in the middle stage; and 70,861 boys and 8,908 girls were in the primary stage. The remainder, viz., 1,293 boys and 42 girls were in special and indigenous schools.86 One point is immediately suggested by these figures, namely, the small proportion of pupils in special and indigenous schools. The Indian Education Commission of 1882 recommended that the principle laid down by the Court of Directors of the East India Company in their despatch of 1854 and again in their letter to the Government of India of the 20th May, 1857, and repeated by the Secretary of State in 1863, viz., “that no boy be refused admission to a Government college or school on the ground of caste” be reaffirmed, and be applied “with caution to every institution, not reserved for special races, which is wholly maintained at the cost of public funds, whether provincial, municipal or local.” At the same time the Commission recommended “that the establishment of special schools or classes for children of low castes be liberally encouraged in places where there are a sufficient number of such children to form separate schools or classes, and where the schools already maintained from public funds do not sufficiently provide for their education.”87 5. One of the most remarkable features of the social life of Bengal during the last 50 years has been the sustained effort made by certain sections of the lower castes, and, particularly the Namasudras, to rise in the social scale Towards the total 86,027, which represents the pupils of the depressed classes under instruction, the Namasudra community contributed no less than 41,105—35,932 boys and 5,173 girls. One hundred Namasudra boys were reading in university colleges; 1,489 boys were in the high stage of school instruction, and 1,690 boys in the middle stage. In the course of the last few years special hostels for Namasudra students have been established at Dacca, Faridpur and Barisal, Dr. Mead of the Australian Baptist Mission has organised a high school for Namasudras at Orakandi in the bhil tract of the Faridpur district. The Namasudras themselves 109

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have started associations in various centres and are making strenuous efforts to spread education among their community. They have recently protested to Government against being classified with the depressed classes. They consider that this classification is a serious set-back to their social advancement. 6. There has been a remarkable increase in the demand for English education among the peoples of the Darjeeling hills. The Nepalees are taking the lead, but the Bhutias and Lepchas are not lagging far behind. This is largely due to the admirable educational work which is being done by the Church of Scotland Mission from its centre at Kalimpong. The present Deputy Inspector of Schools in the Darjeeling district is a Lepcha, and Kumar Tobgye of Bhutan, who was himself educated at St Paul’s School, Darjeeling, has a flourshing school at his Jong at Ha in Bhutan. The Maharaja of Bhutan has a similar school at Pumthang in Bhutan. The Ha School is moved every winter to Kalimpong, so that the boys may come under the influence of Dr. Sutherland and the other missionaries of the Church of Scotland Mission and see how a sub-division of British India is worked. We make suggestions elsewhere for the teaching of the language and literature of Tibet at the Calcutta University 7. The Rev. Hedley Sutton of the Australian Baptist Mission at Mymensingh told us that the Garos were beginning to come forward for secondary education and that a few of their most promising boys were looking forward to a university course. The Fifth Quinquennial Review of the Progress of Education in Bengal states that, on the 31st March, 1917, 1,780 pupils of the Garos and other primitive races, which inhabit the foot of the Garo Hills, were under instruction and that of these 134 were in secondary schools.88 8. Government maintains a high school at Rangamati in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and attached to this high school there is a special teachers’ training class for Chakmas and Tiparas. Free education is provided for the hill boys and girls of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and for the Arakanese Maghs of the Cox’s Bazar subdivision. There is a hostel attached to the Rangamati High School at which 50 hill boys are boarded free. Government has also recently provided a special hostel in connexion with the Rangpur Zilla School for boys of the Rajbanshi community. Special scholarships are also provided by Government for children of backward classes. 9. But the way has not yet become altogether smooth for the aspiring student who comes from the backward classes. Students of such communities as the Namasudra find it difficult to get accommodation in Calcutta. The late ViceChancellor of the University of Calcutta recently brought a resolution before the Bengal Council the object of which was to obtain a grant from Government for the construction of a special hostel for the students of these classes. In the course of the debate Dr. (now Sir) Deva Prasad Sarbadhikari told the Council that, in order to obtain admission to a hostel, a Namasudra had been known to assume a Kayastha name and to pose as a member of that caste. We hear that the Government of Bengal has recently made a special grant to the Calcutta University, on the strength of which some special messes are now being provided in Calcutta for 110

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students belonging to the Namasudra and other communities who are outside the Hindu caste system. 10. The Dacca University Committee remarked that convenient arrangements could not be made to receive Namasudras and others of lower castes in the general hostels and that it was to be feared that this general difficulty sometimes stood in the way of their receiving university education. The Committee therefore proposed that an extra hostel should be attached to the Dacca College and that it should be used for the accommodation of a special caste or castes such as the Namasudras.89 11. It is important that the new university and other educational authorities should give careful consideration to the needs and interests of the now backward classes, under which term we include the aboriginal peoples. We shall therefore suggest in later chapters of this report that:— (i) the proposed new central authority for secondary and intermediate education should appoint a standing committee to advise it on questions affecting the educational welfare of these sections of the community.90 (ii) in the future developments of secondary and intermediate education91 contemplated in this report, the needs of the now backward classes for hostel accommodation should be met,92 (iii) in Calcutta, and so far as may be found necessary elsewhere, intercollegrate hostels should be established in order to meet their requirements,93 (iv) in the University of Dacca a hostel should be provided for special castes such as the Namasudras who might otherwise find a difficulty in obtaining university education.94 We desire that the new opportunities, including those of secondary and university education and of preparation for the medical and teaching professions and for industrial and commercial careers, should be open effectively to all students of ability and promise.

CHAPTER XI. THE EDUCATION OF EUROPEANS AND ANGLO-INDIANS. I 1. There is throughout India and Burma a separate school system for Europeans and Anglo-Indians, who constitute what is known officially as the Domiciled Community in India. There is also a separate code of regulations for European schools, and this code starts by defining the term ‘European’ as signifying “any person of European descent, pure or mixed, who retains European habits and modes of life.” 2. We recognise the social and political importance of this section of the population of the Bengal Presidency and realise that any system of university or secondary education which ignores its peculiar needs could not be regarded as in 111

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any sense complete. We have not visited the representative European secondary schools, but have availed ourselves of the experience of one of our members and we print elsewhere a memorandum by Mr. Hornell entitled “The education of Europeans and Anglo-Indians”.95 3. In the Bengal Presidency there were on the 31st March 1917, in 79 recognised institutions for the education of Europeans and Anglo-Indians, 9,634 pupils of whom 8,959 were Europeans and Anglo-Indians and 675 were Indians. These institutions included some special schools, viz.:— (a) An apprentice night school in Calcutta. (b) A night school for the Bengal Nagpur Railway European and AngloIndian apprentices at Khargpur. (c) The Young Women’s Christian Association Technical and Commercial Classes, Calcutta. (d) The Government Training Class for women teachers at Kurseong. (e) 16 technical or commercial classes attached to schools. The remaining 59 institutions were secondary and elementary schools. The secondary schools are divided into two categories: (i) higher secondary, and (ii) secondary, while elementary schools are graded either as (iii) higher elementary or (iv) elementary. The origin and significance of these grades are fully explained in Mr. Hornell’s memorandum. All we need state here is that on the 31st March 1917 the number of pupils in higher secondary, secondary, higher elementary and elementary schools were 3,363, 1,032, 3,109 and 1,728 respectively. There were also 94 boys and girls taking supplementary courses in higher elementary schools. The elementary school course comprises an infant stage and six standards. The complete secondary school (the higher secondary school as it is called) is organised in three sections: (a) the preparatory school, (b) the general school, (c) the upper school. The curriculum followed in the preparatory section of a secondary school is identical with that followed in the infant section and the first four standards of an elementary school. The arrangement of the pupils of European schools, according to grades of instruction, was on the 31st March 1917 as follows:— Grades of instruction.

Boys

Girls.

TOTAL

Supplementary courses in higher elementary schools . . . . . . 45 Infant classes of elementary and higher elementary schools 2,334 and standards I to VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The preparatory section of secondary and higher secondary 1,537 schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The general section of secondary and higher secondary schools 989 The upper section of higher secondary schools . . . . . . . . . . . 161 TOTAL 5,066

49 2,429

94 4,763

1,095

2,632

599 88 4,260

1,588 249 9,326

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This total (9,326) is exclusive of 308 pupils in special schools.96 4. The European school system is essentially a denominational one, as the table below will show97:—

Institution1

No. of institutions.

Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jewish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Non-Conformist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Church of Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roman Catholic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Church of England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Undenominational (including Y.M.C.A.) . . TOTAL

5 1 4 2 38 14 15 79

Percentage of total No. of number of pupils in pupils. secondary, primary, and special schools 302 131 581 490 5,360 1,645 1,123 9,634

3 13 1 36 6 03 5 09 55 64 17 07 11 68 100 00

1 Ibid, para. 29

5. The European schools are mainly located in Calcutta and Howrah and in the hill stations of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. The 9,232 pupils who were on the 31st March 1917 in the secondary and elementary schools for Europeans and Anglo-Indians of the Bengal Presidency were distributed locally as follows:—Calcutta and Howrah 6,159; Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong 1,955; Asansol 329; Dacca 174; Chittagong 176; along the East Indian Railway line 187; along the Eastern Bengal Railway line 75; along the Bengal Nagpur Railway line 177.98 6. The cost of the European school system of Bengal for the year 1916–17 was calculated to be Rs. 27,49,996. Towards this amount Provincial revenues contributed Rs. 8,32,150, while municipal grants amounted to Rs. 19,235. The balance was met as follows:—Rs. 10,55,427 from fees, Rs. 1,22,323 from endowments and Rs. 7,20,861 from subscriptions, donations and other sources. There are two general endowments, viz., the Bruce Institution—a fund left by the Misses Bruce, the daughters of an indigo planter, for the education and maintenance of AngloIndian girls, and the Doveton Trust, formed from the sale of the property of the Doveton College, the annual income of which amounts to about Rs. 5,500 and is spent on scholarships. The capital of the Bruce Institution is about 10½ lakhs and its annual income amounts to about Rs. 37,000.99 An anonymous donor has recently placed a capital grant of Rs. 10 lakhs at the disposal of the Government of Bengal to be spent mainly on the European schools of the Presidency. Some ten years ago the late Mr. Robert Laidlaw of Messrs. Whiteaway Laidlaw and Co., Ltd., placed certain funds at the disposal of trustees to be spent on European schools. These funds which have been added to by subscriptions are administered, by an organisation which makes occasional grants to the European schools of Bengal. The Roman Catholic schools do not participate these grants. 113

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7. Mr. W. H. H. Arden Wood, Principal, La Martiniere, Calcutta, writes as below on the general question of the education of Europeans and Anglo-Indians100:— “Europeans that are only temporarily resident in India usually send their children to England at an early age, some few may send their children to local schools in India for a few years. Of late years there has been a steady increase in the number of Europeans coming out to India to occupy comparatively subordinate positions in trade and commerce and in industries. Europeans of this class tend to become domiciled and in most cases are compelled by circumstances to educate their children in India. On the other hand, a small proportion of the more well-to-do domiciled. Europeans and Anglo-Indians send their children at a comparatively early age to England for education, and a larger proportion send their children to England at an age, say, from 14 years onwards, to complete their school education, and to receive technical or professional, or university education. Since the war began many children who would ordinarily have gone to England are being educated at hill schools and other schools in India. But the great majority of the children of the domiciled European and Anglo-Indian community receive the whole of their education in India. They are born, brought up, and, with the exception of the few who, by sheer ability and force of character, do exceptionally well, live and die in India. They are, in fact, natives of India and it seems to me to be in the interests of India to make the best of them that can be made”

8. Mr. Arden Wood deplores the fact that the number of European and AngloIndian boys who proceed to a university education from secondary schools in India is not as large as it should be. The Rev. Father F. Crohan of St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta, pleads that the needs of the Anglo-Indian community should be studied and their higher education more powerfully encouraged. In spite of the fact that there is attached to St. Xavier’s College an important and efficient school, designed to meet the needs of the Domiciled Community, ex-pupils of the school are conspicuous by their absence from the rolls of the college. “As it is,” writes the Rector, “the university courses do not fit in with their secondary education. The I.A. and I Sc. courses overlap with those of Senior Cambridge and the new course of study proposed by Cambridge for the last school class will even overlap the syllabus of the B.A. and B Sc. This is a cause of much disappointment to many.”101

9. Mr. Hornell has described at length in his memorandum the history of the curriculum and examinations taken in European schools. He has also mentioned certain institutions affiliated to the Calcutta University, as occasionally preparing European and Anglo-Indian students for the examinations of that University; but he has endorsed the statement repeatedly made in official reports, that collegiate education for Europeans, as a thing apart from the collegiate education of Indians, is practically non-existent. The memorandum discusses the question why Europeans and Anglo-Indians so rarely attempt university courses; and among the causes mentioned is the want of adjustment between the European secondary school courses, which are directed towards the Cambridge local examinations, and the requirements of the University. We may cite the following figures. During 1917 the successful candidates at the examinations of the Calcutta University included

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only thirty-three European and Anglo-Indian students (20 men and 13 women); only nineteen candidates, thirteen boys and six girls, passed the Calcutta matriculation examination during the quinquennium (1913–17) and in the course of this period 73 European or Anglo-Indian students were successful at the Cambridge higher local examinations.102 10. The rules for the final examination of European secondary schools are peculiar to Bengal, where the Cambridge local examinations—which are accepted by Calcutta University as an equivalent for its matriculation and to some extent for its intermediate examination—are the prescribed tests. Class promotion is decided in European schools in Bengal by the school authorities, subject to the control of the Inspector; it is so decided in all schools for Indians, except that the control of the Inspector does not apply to the very large number of high schools, which are neither Government institutions nor aided. The Bengal Code for European schools prescribes an elementary school certificate examination and the present practice of the Education Department is to make obligatory the appearance at this examination of every pupil in the sixth standard of European elementary schools. No such test is imposed in Indian schools. 11. In July 1912 the Government of India held an important conference in Simla on the education of the Domiciled Community. The conference generally deplored the absence of Europeans and Anglo-Indians from university colleges and some of the members advocated separate arrangements being made for the university education of the Domiciled Community. Other members, conspicuous among whom was Mr. Kuchler, then Director of Public Instruction in Bengal, held that the provision of separate arrangements was impracticable. The conference finally recommended to Government:— (a) That a separate university arts college should be instituted, either affiliated, if possible, to a western university or self-contained, conferring its own degrees. (b) That, if this be found to be impracticable, there may be added, in connexion with at least one of the training colleges for teachers, arts and science graduate courses both for the advantage of the candidates for the teaching diplomas and also for such other Anglo-Indian students as desire to take advantage of them; and that the college be affiliated to a recognised university.103 12. The discussions which have followed the conference have made it clear that a system of university education for Europeans and Anglo-Indians, divorced on its instructional side from the ordinary university system, is something which is neither desirable nor practicable. If, as our witnesses hope, the University of Calcutta is so developed and strengthened as to take its place among the great centres of learning and higher education in the world, other residents of Bengal, besides those of Indian descent, will wish to avail themselves of its advantages. We hope that this will be equally true of the University of Dacca.

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II. 13. The education of the European and Anglo-Indian community is a matter of great social and political importance. It is natural and right that those Europeans in India who have always kept in close touch with, their native land should, if they can afford to do so, send their children to Europe for secondary and university or technological training. But there is a large and increasing number of families in the Domiciled Community who cannot afford the expense of educating their children in Europe. Their needs should be carefully borne in mind when the system of university and technological education in Bengal is reorganised and improved. 14. The European secondary school system will best be continued upon present lines of organisation; partly with a view to climatic conditions, because boarding schools in the hills are best adapted to the needs of European children in India; partly, because, as some of the younger Europeans leave India before their school education is completed, their secondary education should be more assimilated to English methods than is desirable or possible in high schools for Indian boys and girls; partly also, because European children derive benefit from the corporate life, which the best of the existing schools afford, and from the care which religious bodies devote to this branch of educational work. But the examination tests applied to the European secondary schools of Bengal should be adjusted to the university system of the Presidency and the Universities of Calcutta and Dacca should accord due recognition to the results of these tests. The authority which we shall propose for secondary and intermediate education should take European schools into account, and should accord them appropriate treatment in view of their exceptional position. We shall recommend in a later chapter that one of its members should be chosen with. a view to the representation of the educational interests of the Domiciled Community.104 15. In the industrial and commercial development of Bengal young men and women of the European Domiciled Commnunity should bear an important part. They should therefore have access to and be encouraged to avail themselves of, facilities for university and technological education of the best type.105 Separate institutions for university and technological training should not be provided for Europeans and Anglo-Indians, because the expense of such provision would be prohibitive, and because it is desirable that, intending as they do to earn their livelihood in India, these younger members of the European Domiciled Community should be brought into association, during the years of their university and technological training, with the young Indians with whom they will afterwards be brought into association in business or in other ways. We believe that the universities and technological institutions, developed on the lines recommended in this report, will meet effectively the needs of the Domiciled Community.105 16. But, with this end in view, it is necessary that the European secondary school system in Bengal should be more closely coordinated with the university system. The new authority which we shall propose for secondary and intermediate education106 will be in a position to review the needs of the European schools

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and to provide for the more advanced stages of their teaching being equated with that done in the intermediate colleges the establishment of which we shall recommend.107 We desire to emphasise the importance of making adequate provision in European schools for the teaching of the principal Indian vernaculars in order that the members of the Domiciled Community may take their due share in the future administration of India and in its industrial and commercial development. And, further, though care should be taken not to overload the curriculum or to jeopardise the claims of other studies, the teaching of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian should not be ignored in European schools. The openings for administrative and commercial careers which are likely to offer themselves in the Middle East make it desriable that the young men of the Domiciled Community should have increased facilities for learning modern oriental languages. 17. The Domiciled European Community should have effective representation upon the governing body of the University of Calcutta and we shall recommend that the Court of that University should include representatives of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and other important public bodies, as well as of associations which may contribute a substantial sum annually to the University or one of its colleges.108 The experience of the community should also be represented in the Court of the University of Dacca, and for this our recommendations will provide.109 Suitable residential accommodation should be provided in the university towns for students belonging to the Domiciled Community in order that the new opportunities for university education may be effectively opened to them. 18. Our attention has been drawn to the great work which European and AngloIndian women teachers might do in connexion with the education of girls and women in India. Women qualified by training and entering upon the work with sympathy and enthusiasm will find in it careers of great usefulness and of absorbing interest. The example of an increasing number of women of the Domiciled European Community making the teaching of their Indian sisters their lives’ work would do much to promote social unity and to further the welfare of India.110

MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED BY THE COMMISSION TO THE SUBJECTS COMMITTEE (APPOINTED IN CONNEXION WITH THE REFORMS.) RELATIONS OF GOVERNMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION. Introductory 1. The Calcutta University Commission find that the present system of university education in Bengal is wholly inadequate to the modern needs of the Presidency. They have ascertained that experienced opinion, both Indian and European, is almost unanimous in criticising unfavourably the quality of the trailing which is usually given, and in deploring its failure adequately to develope the intelligence and practical capacity of the students. The constitution of the University is obsolete. It hampers academic freedom and impedes reform. At the same time, it is not sufficiently representative of the interests involved. The financial resources of 117

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the University and the colleges are insufficient; the courses of study are uninspiring; the conditions under which many thousands of the students live in Calcutta and the mufassal are injurious to their health and character. If the present state of things is allowed to continue, the results will be unhappy for the social welfare, the political development and the material interests of Bengal. 2. The Commission have therefore reached the conclusion that a drastic reconstruction of the present university system should be undertaken without delay. This reconstruction will involve a reform of higher secondary education, including the intermediate classes and the high English schools, upon which the work of the University and its colleges depends. The character of the changes which the Commission propose, and the grounds upon which they are based, cannot be fully set forth in a short memorandum. But, as some of the most important of their recommendations deal with the relations of the Government of India and the Government of Bengal to the future Universities of Calcutta and Dacca and have a direct bearing upon the question of what part of public education, if any, should be transferred to popular control, the Commission think that it will be convenient if they communicate at once to His Excellency the Viceroy for the information of the Reform Scheme Committees those salient features of their plan which touch upon matters now under consideration by those Committees. Proposed teaching universities in Calcutta and Dacca. 3. The Commission propose the establishment of a teaching university in Calcutta, based upon a new and closer association between the University and those Calcutta colleges which can be so organised as to take part in this co-operative work, provisional arrangements being made for those other Calcutta colleges which may not at first be able to fulfil the conditions imposed. The Commission also recommend that the new University of Dacca should be a teaching university, largely of a residential type. They recommend that in both universities the direction of academic policy connected with teaching and courses of study should be chiefly in the hands of the teaching body. Further, they propose that those of the Moffusil colleges which may provide courses leading up to a university degree should continue for the present to be in association with the University of Calcutta and remain under its aegis, though with more adequate representation than at present; subject however to conditions which will confer upon those stronger colleges which may show potentiality of growth the opportunity of rising stage by stage to academic independence. 4. In the constitutions proposed for the Universities of Calcutta and Dacca the Commission recommend a wide departure from the form of government and administration now characteristic of almost all Indian universities. Close contact between the University and all kinds of experienced public opinion in Bengal is secured by the establishment of a large and representative Court, whose sanction will be required for any change in the University Statutes, and, either directly or through a committee, for any substantial expenditure. The co-ordination of 118

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the business of the University as a whole is provided for by a strong Executive Council. Within the University, financial and administrative business is in the main assigned to one organ, educational business to another. The Government of Bengal will have representation upon all the chief Boards of the two universities; and the Governor of Bengal, as the Chancellor of both, will be in intimate relation to all the more important sides of academic policy and business. Future relations of the universities with Government. 5. These proposals, which the Commission regard as indispensable to the welfare of the universities, involve a great change in the present connexion between them and Government. They would sweep away the detailed control now exercised by the Government of India over the regulations of the University of Calcutta and would involve the repeal of the Indian Universities Act, 1904, so far as Calcutta is concerned. They would establish a new and organic connexion between the University of Calcutta and the provincial Government, while giving to the University responsibility for its own educational affairs and freedom in adapting its work to the needs of the community; in the University of Dacca also, they would make the Government of Bengal the ultimate authority in all matters affecting public policy and public finance. But they propose to throw upon each university greater responsibility for the conduct of its educational affairs. 6. Under these conditions, an entirely new form of Governmental supervision will be required. The Universities both of Calcutta and of Dacca should be protected against interference by any other public body or by any department of Government in those matters of educational administration and policy which are assigned to their responsible care. The Commission would therefore strongly deprecate the transfer of the present kind of control over university education to the provincial Government however constituted. For the exercise of control over the details of the internal educational work of a university the Commission feel that Government, whether in its present form or in that which it may assume under new conditions is not the appropriate body. Relation of the universities with the Government of India. 7. There are clear indications that in future the university problem will become in an increasing degree an all India problem. Each university, as it wins reputation for special excellence in some branch of learning, will attract a larger number of students from other provinces. Developments of technological instruction in the universities will entail some specialisation of work, not only on grounds of economy but because of the special facilities for practical training offered by the industries of different districts. And, as the Indian universities extend their work of scholarly research, aid will be required not only from the Government of the province but from the Government of India, which alone can survey the 119

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whole field of India’s needs. Moreover, the new universities will require some central authority which will assure public opinion in India and the learned world in other countries that a high standard of excellence is upheld in the award of their degrees and which may serve as a channel of communication between them and the governments of other countries, and be ready to assist them in the very difficult task of recruiting such members of their staffs as it may be necessary to draw from other parts of India and from Europe and America. And the Commission think it highly desirable that the power of establishing new universities in British India or of modifying the fundamental Acts or Charters which govern their work, and of making changes in the Acts governing existing universities, should lie with the Government of India and not with any provincial Government. 8. However far therefore the process of devolution to provincial Governments may be carried in the sphere of education, there will remain many functions in connection with university affairs which the Central Government can alone perform. These functions are (a) University legislation; (b) visitation, in order to ascertain continued efficiency of the several universities; (c) co-ordination, in order to secure the most economical co-operation among the universities in the advancement of knowledge and in the provision of special types of instruction; (d) the encouragement of research, in order that the Indian universities may have the means of rendering greater service to knowledge; and (e) assistance in recruitment, so that each university may have access to every source from which is can draw the best available scholars and teachers to its staff. The Commission propose therefore that the Viceroy should be the Visitor of the two universities in Bengal, and are further of opinion that these and other Indian universities will require the aid of the Government of India through a special organisation, associating with itself from time to time expert knowledge from all parts of India and from the West. The Cominission would therefore strongly deprecate any form of transference to provincial Governments which would wholly divest the Government of India of responsibilities in regard to university education. They observe that it is not thought desirable by the Imahn Industrial Commission that the Government of India should devolve upon provincial Governments all its responsibilities in regard to scientific and technological education. Proposed reconstruction of higher secondary education. 9. The Commission are of opinion that university studies should begin at the level of the present intermediate examination, and that the training now given in the colleges during the two years of the intermediate course should be wholly remodelled and entrusted to distinct and separate institutions to which they suggest that the name of intermediate colleges should be given. This change, in support of which they have received evidence from experienced witnesses in all parts of Bengal and of India, they regard as essential. It is the pivot of their scheme

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and a most urgently needed reform. Many of the intermediate colleges ought, in the judgment of the Commission, to be attached to the best of the high English schools. Both on educational and economic grounds it is important that the link between the intermediate colleges and the high English school system should be close. The Commission are of opinion that the administration of the intermediate stage and of the high English schools should be unified. Proposed Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education. 10. For the control both of the intermediate colleges and of the high English schools the Commission are of opinion that a special organisation is necessary. In view of the deep concern of the University in this grade of education and of the fact that the University has hitherto conducted the intermediate work and has largely controlled the work of high English schools, the Commission hold it to be essential that the universities should be strongly represented on the proposed new authority for secondary and intermediate education. They also desire to see an adequate representation of the interests of the Hindu and Muslim communities; and, as it is their hope that the new system will render some of its chief services in preparing boys for agriculture, and for industrial and commercial callings as well as for the lower grades of Government service, they think the Board should include representatives of agriculture, commerce and industry. It should also include representatives of medicine (including public health) and secondary education. They believe that these functions can be fulfilled with a Board of workable size, by the use of consultative committees. 11. The Commission therefore recommend that a Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education be established, with functions which would be partly executive and partly advisory. In regard to its executive functions the Board would act under the supervision and financial control of Government, and in its name. It should exercise a general supervision over all the institutions (i.e., intermediate colleges and high English schools) within its sphere and should grant recognition to high English schools and intermediate colleges, should plan their various courses of study, and should conduct the examinations corresponding to the present matriculation and intermediate. It should inspect all the intermediate colleges and high English schools and report upon their work. It should prepare estimates and should expend, under such conditions as Government might define, the funds allotted by Government in each year’s budget for the provision, maintenance, inspection and examination of the intermediate colleges and high English schools. 12. The part of education which would thus be dealt with by a Board under the Minister or Member is conveniently separable from the other parts of public instruction. While forming part of a great whole, it has a distinct character and lends itself to special administrative treatment. It may be designated as higher secondary education.

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Summary. 13. The recommendations of the Calcutta University Commission, so far as they bear upon the future relations between Government and the Universities of Calcutta and Dacca and upon the administration of the proposed intermediate colleges and of the high English schools in Bengal, may be summed up as follows:— (a) The Commission recommend that the Viceroy should be the Visitor of the Universities of Calcutta and Dacca, and the Governor of Bengal their Chancellor. In order that there may be a link between all Indian universities and due connexion between them and the supreme Government, the Commission suggest that in future the Viceroy should be the Visitor of all reconstituted universities in British India. (b) The fundamental points of university legislation described in paragraph 7 above should remain with the Government of India. (c) There should be an organisation in connexion with the Government of India for the assistance of the Viceroy in the discharge of his duties as Visitor of the universities. This organisation should be supplied with information by all Indian universities; should conduct at intervals of, say, five years general surveys of their work; should advise the Viceroy with regard to any appeals which may reach him as Visitor; should be ready to assist the universities in recruiting their staffs; and should be a connecting link between the Indian universities and a means of keeping them in touch with the university work of other countries. In the opinion of the Commission it is important that the Government of India should have funds out of which they may make supplementary grants to the universities in aid of special studies and research which are required in the general interest of India and for which provincial subsidies or private benefactions may not be forthcoming or are insufficient. (g) The reconstituted University of Calcutta and the new University of Dacca will be closely associated with the provincial Government but should not be subjected, to detailed control in their educational affairs. While the question of other Indian universities does not fall directly within the reference of the Commission, the latter would contemplate similar relations being established between Government and other universities which may hereafter be reconstituted or founded upon a plan of supervised responsibility. (e) The intermediate grade of instruction, now part of the university course, should be completely remodelled and be given in distinct institutions, many of which would necessarily for reasons of economy and educational unity be associated with high English schools. The Commission recommend that [Illegible Text] Bengal the recognition and supervision of the intermediate colleges and of high English schools, together with the conduct of examinations in both, should be entrusted to a small Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education, acting under the 122

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superintendence and financial control of Government and representative of the two universities, of Hindu and Muslim opinion and of experience in agriculture, industry, commerce, medicine (including public health) and secondary education. 14. The Commission consider that it is not within their province to express an opinion as to whether education in Bengal in whole or in part should be reserved or transferred. But they recommend that, whether university and higher secondary education (the latter comprising the proposed intermediate colleges and the high English schools) are treated as transferred or as reserved subjects, it should be stipulated (i) that the internal educational affairs of the universities, when the latter are reconstituted or established upon the plan proposed, should not be subject to detailed control by external authority, and (ii) that the intermediate colleges and high English schools should be administered by a small Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education, representative of the kinds of experience required for the reorganisation and superintendence of this grade of education, assisted by such Consultative Committees as may be found necessary, and acting as an organ of the provincial Government, to which it should annually submit estimates and under whose financial control and general supervision it should carry on its work. M. E. SADLER, President. ASUTOSH MOOKERJEE. W. W. HORNELL. ZIA-UD-DIN AHMAD.* P. J. HARTOG. J. W. GREGORY.* RAMSAY MUIR. G. ANDERSON, Secretary. CALCUTTA. The 21st November 1918.

APPENDIX XIV. SUMMARY OF THE REPORT OF A CONFERENCE HELD AT SIMLA ON 20TH AND 21ST AUGUST 1917 TO CONSIDER THE QUESTION OF ENGLISH AND VERNACULAR TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS. The members of the Conference were as follows:— The Hon’ble Sir Sankaran Nair, KT., C.I.E., B.A., B.L., Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council. The Hon’ble Mr. H. Sharp, M.A., C.S.I., C.I.E., Officiating Secretary to the Government of India. G. Anderson, Esq., M.A., Assistant Secretary to the Government of India. 123

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PROVINCIAL DELEGATES.

Madras. 1. The Hon’ble Mr. J. H. Stone, M.A., C.I.E., Director of Public Instruction. 2. T. V. Sivakumara Sastriyar, Esq., B.A., L.T., Lecturer, Teachers’ College, Saidapet. 3. The Revd. W. Meston, M.A., B.D., Bursar and Professor of English, Madras Christian College. 4. Rao Bahadur K. Sesha Ayyar, Head Master, Municipal High School, Mayavaram.

Bombay. 5. 6. 7. 8.

The Hon’ble Mr. J. G. Covernton, M.A., C.I.E., Director of Public Instruction. V. B. Naik, Esq., M.A., Superintendent, New English School, Poona. G. K. Devadhar, Esq., M.A., Servants of India Society, Poona. K. Natarajan, Esq., B.A., Editor, Indian Social Reformer, Bombay.

Bengal. 9. The Hon’ble Mr. W. W. Hornell, M.A., M.R.A.S., Director of Public Instruction. 10. Rai Bahadur Dr. Purnananda Chatterji, B.A., B.SC., Inspector of Schools, Rajshahi Division. 11. Khan Bahadur Maulvi Ahsanullah, M.A., M.R.A.S., Inspector of Schools, Presidency Division.

United Provinces. 12. 13. 14. 15.

The Hon’ble Mr. C. F. de la Fosse, M.A., Director of Public Instruction. The Hon’ble Sir Sundar Lai, Kt., C.I.E. Rai Bahadur G. N. Chakravarti, M.A., LL.B., Inspector of Schools. Khan Bahadur Saiyid Muhammad Abdur Raoof, Bar-at-Law, Allahabad.

Punjab. 16. The Hon’ble Mr. J. A. Richey, M.A., Director of Public Instruction. 17. The Hon’ble Khan Bahadur M. Fazl-i-Husain, M.A., Bar-at-Law. 18. Bakshi Ram Rattan, B.A., B.T., Head Master, Dayanand Anglo-Vedic High School, Lahore.

Bihar and Orissa. 19. The Hon’ble Rai Bahadur Dvarika Nath, B.A., LL.B. 124

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Central Provinces. 20. Pandit Kanhayalal Guru, M.A., Inspector of Schools, Chattisgarh Division. 21. Pandit Sitacharan Dube, M.A., B.L., Pleader and Chairman of the District Council, Hoshangabad. His Excellency the Viceroy delivered a speech at the opening of the Conference, in which he drew attention to the past policy of the Government of India in this matter; and to the importance both of encouraging and developing the vernaculars and of improving the teaching of English; and to the desirability of determining the relative position of the English and vernacular media, having in view the one object, viz., that the pupil should derive the greatest possible benefit from his schooling. Sir Sankaran Nair in opening the formal proceedings, of which he acted as chairman, said that that the intention was to see how far modifications in the present system might be effected so that pupils might (a) obtain a better grasp of the subjects which they are taught, and (b) complete their course with a more competent knowledge of English than at present. The printed record of the proceedings contains a full report of the speech of His Excellency the Viceroy and summaries of the discussions which followed. Those portions of the proceedings which record formal questions on the agenda paper and which relate to the adoption of resolutions are reprinted in the following sections:— “3. The Chairman. . . . . invited opinions on the teaching of English and drew attention to the following questions on the agenda paper:— (a) “At what period in a pupil’s career should English be taught as a language? Is it better for him, from the point of view of his ultimate mastery over the language, to start its study at an early age or only to receive such instruction after he has been well grounded in a vernacular?” (b) “Do the younger pupils gain a satisfactory knowledge of English by their instruction through the medium of that language or do they merely gain a smattering of incorrect and unidiomatic English?” (c) “What is the general experience of those boys who have passed through the vernacular middle course and then studied English at a high school? How have such boys distinguished themselves in the matter of English in comparison with those who have studied from an earlier period through the medium of English?” (d) “By what methods should the teaching of English be conducted? Does the present system attach too much importance to a knowledge of English literature as against the necessity of learning to speak and write the English language correctly? Should the teaching in the early stages be entirely oral or not?” (e) “Do the pupils in a vernacular middle school, as a rule, acquire a better knowledge and grasp of the ordinary school subjects than those 125

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of a similar age who have been instructed through the medium of English?” 8. The following resolutions were then put to the meeting:— (1) “Those pupils who come to the English schools, after some years of study in the vernacular ordinarily do better in subjects other than English than those who have begun the earlier study of the English language.” Messrs. Richey, Fazl-i-Husain, Kanhayalal Guru, Sitacharan Dube, Bakshi Ram Rattan, Saiyid Muhammad Abdur Raoof, Dvarika Nath, Devadhar, Naik, Covernton, and Sir Sundar Lal voted for the proposal. (2) “Those pupils who come to the English schools after some years of study in the vernacular ordinarily are and continue to be generally weaker in English than those who began their English studies at an earlier stage.” Messrs. Sivakumara Sastriyar, Sesha Ayyar, Maulvi Ahsanullah, Chakravarti, Bakhshi Ram Rattan, Saiyid Muhammad Abdul Raoof, Dvarika Nath, Chatterji, Natarajan, and Sir Sundar Lal voted for the proposal. Messrs. de la Fosse, Richey, Hornell, Fazl-i-Husain, Meston, Stone and Covernton accepted the proposal with the deletion of the words “and continue to be.” 13. The following resolutions were. . . . . . put to the vote:— (3) “From the point of view of proficiency in English, pupils should begin their study of the language as early in the school course as possible.” Messrs. de la Fosse, Sivakumara Sastriyar, Sesha Ayyar, Maulvi Ahsanullah, Richey, Hornell, Chakravarti, Bakhshi Ram Rattan, Saiyid Muhammad Abdur Raoof, Meston, Stone, Dvarika Nath, Chatterji, Natarajan and Sir Sundar Lal voted for the proposal, (4) “In existing conditions pupils should ordinarily begin their studies in English between the ages of 9 and 11, and after three years of study through their own vernacular.” Messrs. de la Fosse, Sivakumara Sastriyar, Sesha Ayyar, Maulvi Ahsanullah, Hornell, Chakravarti, Bakhshi Ram Rattan, Saiyid Muhammad Abdur Raoof, Meston, Stone, and Sir Sundar Lal voted for the proposal. (a) Messrs Sesha Ayyar and Dvarika Nath preferred to substitute ‘two’ for ‘three’ years. (b) Messrs. Richey, Fazl-i-Husain, Sitacharan Dube, Kanhayalal Guru, Devadhar, Naik, and Covernton accepted the proposal with the substitution of ‘four’ for ‘three’ years.

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19. The Chairman . . . . . . referred to another group of questions on the agenda paper which dealt with the medium of instruction in secondary schools. The questions were as follows:— (a) “To what extent does instruction through the medium of a foreign language (i) hamper the pupils in the acquisition of knowledge, crushing their independence and originality of thought and instilling in them the necessity of cram as the only means of learning, (ii) impose a burden on the teachers, and (iii) tend to the impoverishment of the vernaculars? (b) “Are the comparative paucity of suitable text-books in the vernacular, the deficiency, of the vernaculars in technical nomenclature and the multiplicity of the vernaculars insuperable objections to extending the use of the vernaculars as a medium of instruction?” (c) “Should English be introduced as a medium of instruction gradually or not? If so, at what period and in what degree should it be introduced?” (d) “To what extent is it advisable to examine students in certain subjects at the end of their school career in the vernaculars?” 25. The following resolutions were . . . . . . put to the meeting:— (5) “The vernacular should be the medium of instruction in all the classes of a high school.” Messrs. Fazl-i-Husain, Sitacharan Dube and Naik voted for the proposal. Messrs. Sesha Ayyar, Richey, Kanhayalal Guru and Devadhar accepted the proposal with the addition of the words ‘as far as possible in subjects other than English.’ (6) “English should be the principal medium of instruction in the two higher classes of a high school.” Messrs. de la Fosse, Sivakumara Sastriyar, Maulvi Ahsanullah, Hornell, Chakravarti, Saiyid Muhammad Abdur Raoof, Meston, Stone, Dvarika Nath, Chatterji, Natarajan, Devadhar, Covernton, and Sir Sundar Lai voted for the proposal. (a) Mr. Sesha Ayyar accepted the proposal with the substitution of ‘the highest class’ for ‘two higher classes.’ (b) Messrs. Sivakumara Sastriyar, Maulvi Ahsanullah, Hornell, Chakravarti, Meston, Stone, Dvarika Nath, Chatterji, Natarajan, Covernton and Sir Sundar Lal would accept the substitution of ‘three’ for ‘two’ classes. (c) Maulvi Ahsanullah, Messrs. Hornell, Chakravarti, Dvarika Nath, Chatterji, Natarajan and Covernton would accept the substitution of ‘four’ for ‘two’ classes. 26. The Conference was generally agreed that the introduction of English as the medium of instruction should be effected gradually.

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28. The following resolutions were put before the Conference:— 7. “Examinations at the end of the high school course should be in the vernacular in all subjects except English.” Messrs. Fazl-i-Husain and Sitacharan Dube for the proposal. 8. “Candidates should have the option of answering the examinations at the end of the high school course in English or the vernacular in all subjects except English.” Messrs. de la Fosse, Sesha Ayar, Richey, Fazl-i-Husain, Sitacharan Dube, Kanhayalal Guru, Chakravarti, Bakhshi Ram Rattan, Saiyid Muhammad Abdur Raoof, Chatterji, Devadhar, Naik and Covernton voted for the proposal.”

APPENDIX XXI. UNIVERSITY DIPLOMA IN SPOKEN ENGLISH.

A.—Draft Regulations of the Calcutta University. I. An examination for a Diploma in Spoken English shall be held annually in Calcutta and shall commence at such time as the Syndicate shall determine, the approximate date to be notified in the Calendar. II. Every candidate for the Diploma must have passed one of the following examinations in this University:— Master of Arts. Master of Science. Bachelor of Arts. Bachelor of Science. Bachelor of Teaching. Licentiate in Teaching. III. Every candidate for the Diploma shall produce a certificate to show that he has received training in elocution for a period of not less than one year under a teacher, recognised for this purpose by the Board of Higher Studies in English. IV. Every candidate for admission to the examination shall send his application to the Registrar with a certificate in the form prescribed by the Board of Higher Studies in English, and a fee of Rs. 50, not less than three months before the date fixed for the commencement of the examination. V. A candidate who fails to pass or present himself for examination, shall not be entitled to claim a refund of the fee. A candidate may be admitted to one or more subsequent examinations on payment of a like fee of Rs. 50 on each occasion. VI. The examination shall be written and oral, and shall be conducted on the lines of a syllabus to be drawn up from time to time by the Board of Higher 128

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Studies in English and Board of Studies in English jointly. The examiners shall be appointed by the Syndicate on the joint recommendation of the Boards. VII. The written examination will consist of one paper and will be held with a view to test a candidate’s knowledge of the elements of phonetics with special reference to the pronunciation of English words. VIII. The oral examination will be held mainly with a view to test a candidate’s power of elocution and his ability to carry on an ordinary conversation in English. IX. As soon as possible after the examination, the Syndicate shall publish a list of successful candidates, arranged in order of merit in two classes. Candidates shall be bracketted together unless the examiners are of opinion that there is clearly a difference in their merits. The candidate who is placed first in the first class shall receive a gold medal and a prize of books to the value of Rs. 200, the candidate who is placed second in the first class shall receive a silver medal and a prize of books to the value of Rs. 100.

B.—Memorandum submitted by the Commission on these Regulations. 1. We have considered the communication of the Government of India, No. 752, dated the 2nd September, 1918, enclosing draft regulations submitted by the University of Calcutta for a university diploma in spoken English. 2. We cordially approve the purpose of the University to encourage the improvement of spoken English, and believe that the institution of the university diploma would materially assist that purpose. We trust, therefore, that the Government of India will sanction the regulations communicated to us. 3. But while we recommend that the scheme should be brought into operation without delay, we believe that more comprehensive measures might perhaps be taken for promoting the object which the University has in view. The general questions involved will be more fittingly dealt with elsewhere; but we submit below certain suggestions in regard to the scheme as it stands. 4. It appears to us that examinations might be conducted, and certificates or diplomas awarded, by the University in spoken English for two allied but distinct objects, and that the present scheme suffers by attempting to combine these two objects. 5. The first kind of diploma would certify the power to pronounce English words correctly, and to read and speak the language with the right cadence and expression. A power of this kind is valuable not only for the ordinary purposes of life, but especially valuable for the teachers of all subjects in schools and colleges in which English is used as the medium of instruction. But for such persons, unless they are about to become teachers of English, an expert knowledge of phonetics appears to be unnecessary, and we see no reason why it should form a subject of the examination. We also see no reason why the University should compel its graduates to follow any prescribed course before being admitted to an examination of this kind. Without entering generally into the theory of examinations we may say that we regard the prescription of a course of study as desirable in the great majority of cases, in which 129

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the examination test must necessarily be an incomplete test, covering only a portion of the field of study. But one or two competent and experienced examiners, in half an hour or less, could completely test the capacity of a candidate to pronounce English well and to read and speak with the proper cadence and expression, without requiring any information as to the way in which he had acquired that capacity. 6. The second kind of diploma would be a teacher’s diploma. The examination for it would not only cover the same ground as. the first examination but would test the power of the candidate to teach others how to speak English well. For such a purpose the present scheme appears to us to err not by excess but by Defect. A person might be perfectly capable of obtaining the diploma of spoken English proposed by the University and yet be incapable of teaching others, and especially of teaching a class, to speak English well For a teacher’s diploma in spoken English there should, in our judgment, be a course of study, and one which would not only include training in phonetics, as proposed in the present scheme, but training in teaching; and the examination itself should include, in addition to the tests proposed in the scheme, a practical test with a class. 7. We desire to comment on one further point in the scheme. It proposes to arrange the candidates in ‘order of merit.’ We fear that this might, in existing circumstances, give rise to some difficulties. It must be admitted that while phonetic authorities may recognise a ‘standard’ pronunciation of English, there are a number of local varieties of pronunciation which are regarded in England as equally admissible in public life: Scotchmen and Irishmen suffer from no disability because their pronunciation differs in certain respects from that of well educated Englishmen. It seems probable that Indians may learn their spoken English from capable Scotch and Irish teachers and catch up their distinguishing characteristics. It would not be right to let any candidate suffer on this account, but nevertheless examiners in deciding between the claims of candidates otherwise equal would probably tend to deduct marks for such characteristics. We suggest that special proficiency in this subject might be more conveniently recognised by returning the somewhat heavy fee specified to those students who were judged worthy of distinction, than in the manner proposed in the draft regulations. 8. We do not wish to discourage in any way this experiment of the University in a new and important field of education. But we cannot help thinking that the diploma proposed may be unduly onerous for the very numerous class of persons other than teachers of English for whom a university diploma in spoken English would be of use; and, on the other hand, that such a diploma may be interpreted as implying a power of teaching good spoken English which those on whom it was conferred will not necessarily possess. We hope, therefore, that the University may be able at a convenient opportunity to modify the scheme on some such lines as those indicated above. CALCUTTA, The 9th November 1919.

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Notes 1 The number of candidates for the intermediate examination is chosen in preference to the number of matriculates because Madras has abandoned the matriculation in favour of a school-leaving examinaton; and also because the intermediate figure shows the number of persons who have not merely passed the matriculation, but proceeded to a university course. 2 The number of students in Bengal was in 1917-18 Just under 26,000; the number of ‘fulltime’ students in the United Kingdom in the year before the War was 26,710 (see tables published in Nature, August 15th, 1918, page 474). The ‘full-time’ students included many who were not preparing for degrees. In Bengal all students are preparing for degrees. In the United Kingdom there were also a number of students taking one or two courses, but not giving their whole time to university work. There is no parallel to this class in Bengal. 3 Bengal District Administration Committee Report, 1914, pages 13-14. 4 See the figures given in the appendix to their report. 5 See the Report of the Indian Industrial Commission, 1918, para 16, where an instructive comparison is drawn between Bengal and Bombay. 6 See the remarkable figures quoted by the Indian Industrial Commission, in para. 15 of their report. 7 Census Report, 1911 8 Thus the Indian Industrial Commission (para. 16) notes that while “Bengali capitalists have taken little part, otherwise than as mere investors, in the starting, and none at all in the management, of jute mills,” a feature of industrial life in recent years “is the number of small organised industries recently taken up by Indians, such as tanning, pottery and pencil-making.” 9 Census Report, 1911 10 General Memoranda, page 172 11 General Memoranda, page 209 12 Progress of Education in Bengal 1912-13 to 1916-17 Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W Hornell (Calcutta, 1918), paras. 593-595. 13 Tafsír is Quranic exegesis and Hadis, the science of Apostolic tradition. 14 Report of the Indian Education Commission, Chapter IX, para. 663, (Calcutta, 1883). 15 Nineteenth Century, August 1882, pages 193-215. 16 Report of the Indian Education Commission, Chapter IX, para. 563, page 489. 17 Ibid., para. 556, page 483. 18 The Indian Musalmans by Dr. W. W. Hunter, pages 181 and 182, (Second Edition, London, Trubner & Co., 1872.) 19 Para. 58, infra. 20 Chapter VIII para. 11. 21 Report of the Committee appointed by the Government of Bengal to consider questions connected with Muhammadan education, page 16 (Calcutta, 1915.) 22 Review of the Progress and Education in Eastern Bengal and Assam, 1907-08 to 191112, Volume I, para. 262. 23 Ibid, para. 267. 24 The outcome of the latter part of this proposal was not the appointment of a special officer for education in Eastern Bengal, but the appointment of an Assistant Director of Public Instruction for Muhammadan Education throughout the Bengal Presidency. 25 Report of the Committee appointed by the Bengal Government to consider questions connected with Muhammadan Education, page 111 (Calcutta 1915). 26 The Report of the Committee appointed by the Bengal Government to consider questions connected with Muhammadan education, Chapter VI, page 24 (Calcutta 1915). 27 Chapter X, Section IV.

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28 Question 4. 29 Report of the Committee appointed by the Bengal Government to consider questions connected with Muhammadan education, paras. 94-95 (Calcutta 1915). 30 General Memoranda, page 212. 31 Report of the Committee appointed by the Bengal Government to consider questions connected with Muhammadan education, paras. 114-139. 32 Ibid, para 145. The wearing of a cap by Muslim-students was also urged by the Muslim deputation which waited on the Commission at Rangpur. 33 The memorial of the Musalmans of Chittagong, para. 10—General Memoranda, page 215 34 Memorial of the Musalmans of Rajshahi, para. 14—General Memoranda, page 218 35 Memorial of the Musalmans of Calcutta, page. 15 (d)—General Memoianda, page 213 36 Muhammadan Deputation, Dacca—Question 4. 37 Nawab Syed Nawbaly Chaudhury—Question 4. 38 The memorial of the Musalmans of Rajshahi, para. 2, 40 per cent—General Memoranda, page 217; and memorial of the Musalmans of Assam, para. 5, 30 to 50 per cent.—General Memoranda, page 207. 39 See Resolution No. 1227-Edn., dated the 3rd August 1916, of the Government of Bengal, General Department, Education, Calcutta, Gazette, the 9th August 1916. 40 An endowment fund left by Haji Muhammad Mohsin of Hooghly, part of which is devoted to the education of Musalmans, see the volume of appendices to this report. 41 Progress of Education in Bengal, 1912-13 to 1916-17, Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W. Hornell (Calcutta, 1918), para 598 42 The test of literacy for the purposes of the census is that the individual should be able to write a letter to a friend and read the answer to it. The ordinary literate is one who can do this in the vernacular; a literate in English is one who can do it in English. 43 Progress, of Education in Bengal, 1912-13 to 1916-17. Fifth Quinquennial Review by W W Hornell (Calcutta, 1918), para. 599, and General Tables III A and III B The slight discrepancies between the figures given in para, 599 and the General Tables is due to the fact that Musalmans in European schools are included in the tables, but omitted from the totals in the test. There were 864,195 Musalmans in colleges and schools not specifically designed for Europeans and 64 in European schools. Thus the total number of Muslim students in public and private institutions including European schools was 864,259. 44 General Memoranda, page 210. 45 See also para. 33( j) above, and Chapter XXXIV. 46 See also Chapter XVI 47 Para 36 above 48 The education of Muslim women and girls is also dealt with in general in Chapter XIV. 49 Progress of Education in Bengal, 1912-13 to 1916-17. Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W. Hornell (Calcutta, 1918), para. 506 50 Ibid., para, 510. 51 Progress of Education in Bengal. Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W Hornell, para. 513 52 Para, 13 above. 53 The Report of the Committee appointed by the Bengal Government to consider questions connected with Muhammadan education, para. 135 (Calcutta, 1915). 54 Ibid. 55 Question 23. 56 Report of the Committee appointed by the Bengal Govornment to consider questions connected with Muhammadan education (Calcutta, 1916). Resolution 168, page 54. 57 Paras. 33( j) and 46 above. 58 Resolution of the Government of Bengal, General Department, Education, dated the 31st July 1888. 59 General Memoranda, page 171.

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60 Ibid., page 164. 61 Resolution no 450-T-G., dated the 31st July 1914, by the Government of Bengal, General (Education) Department 62 Ibid., para 10. 63 This is curiously reminiscent of what Sir Richard Burton wrote in 1853 of the students of the Azhar at Cairo in his Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Mecca (by Col. Sir Richard F Burton edited by Lady Burton with an introduction by Stanley Lane-Poole: London. G. Bell and Sons, Ltd 1915, Vol I), pp. 103-109—“The following is the course of study in the Azhar The school-boy of four or five years standing has been taught by a liberal application of the maxim ‘the Green Rod is of the Trees of Paradise’ to chant the Koran without understanding it, the elementary rules of arithmetic, and, if he is destined to be a learned man, the art of writing. He then registers his name in Al-Azhar, and applies himself to the branches of study most cultivated in Al-Islam, namely Nahw (syntax), Will (the law), Hadis (the traditions of the Prophet) and Tatsir, or exposition of the Koran. The young Egyptian reads at the same time Sarf, or inflexion, and Nahw (Syntax). But as Arabic is his mother tongue, he is not required to study the former so deeply as are the Turks, the Persians and the Indians. If he desires, however, to he proficient he must carefully peruse five books in Sarf, and six in Nahw Master of grammar, our student now applies himself to its proper am and purpose, Divinity. Of the four schools those of Abu Hanifah and Al Shafe’i are most common in Cairo, etc. . . . In order to become a Fakih, or divine of distinguished fame, the follower of Abu Hanifah must peruse about ten volumes, some of large size, written in a diffuse style; the Shafe’i’s reading is not quite so extensive. Theology is much studied, because it leads directly to the gaming of daily bread, as priest or tutor; and other scientific pursuits are neglected for the opposite reason. The theologian in Egypt, as in other parts of Al-Islam, must have a superficial know ledge of the Prophet’s traditions. Of these there are eight well-known collections, but only the first three are generally read School boys are instructed, almost when in their infancy, to intone the Koran . . . And after learning to read the whole volume, some savants are ambitious enough to wish to understand it; under these circumstances they must dive into “Ilm al Tafsir, or the exegesis of the Koran. Our student is now a perfect Fakah or Mullá. But the poor fellow has no scholarship or fellowship—no easy tutorship—no fat living to look forward to. After wasting seven years, or twice seven years, over his studies, and reading till his brain is dizzy, his digestion gone and his eyes half blind, he must either starve upon college alms, or squat like my old Shaykh Mohammed, in a druggist’s shop, or become pedagogue and preacher in some country place, on the pay of £8 per annum. With such prospects it is wonderful how the Azhar can present any attractions, but the southern man is essentially an idler, and many become Olemá, like Capuchins, in order to do nothing. A favoured few rise to the degree of Mudrriss (professors) and thence emerge Kazis and Muftis. This is another inducement to matriculate, every undergraduate having an eye upon the Kaziship with as much chance of obtaining it as the country parocco has of becoming a cardinal. Others again devote themselves to laical pursuits, degenerate into Wakils (lawyers) or seek their fortunes as Kátibs—public or private accountants.” 64 Resolution no. 450-T.G., dated the 31st July 1914 by the Government of Bengal, General (Education) Department, paras. 2 and 3. 65 General Memoranda, pages 207-218 66 Ibid., pages 201-206 67 Question 22. 68 Chapters XVII and XL. 69 Chapters XVII and XL. 70 Question 4. 71 General Memoranda, page 209. 72 Question 22. 73 Question 22.

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74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110

Question 22. Question 22. Question 22. Question 22. Question 22. Question 22. Question 22. Question 22. Report of the Indian Education Commission of 1882, Chapter IX, para 553 Progress of Education in Bengal, 1012-13 to 1016-17, Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W. Hornell (Calcutta, 1918), Chapter XI, para 610. The term busti signifies a collection of huts Progress of Education in Bengal, 1912-13 to 1916-17. Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W. Hornell (Calcutta, 1918), Chapter XI, para. 608 Ibid., para. 611. Report of the Indian Education Commission of 1882, Chapter IX, para. 591 Progress of Education in Bengal, 1912-13 to 1916-17, Fifth Quinquennial Review by W. W. Hornell (Calcutta, 1918), Chapter XI, para. 614 Dacca University Committee’s Report, Chapter XIII, page 72, para. 6 (Calcutta, 1912) Chapter XXXI, para. 27. Chapter XXXI, paras. 31-47, also Chapter XXXII Chapter XXXIX, paras. 24 and 26 Ibid, para. 12. Chapter XXXIII, para. 158. See the volume of appendices to this report. Mr. Hornell’s memorandum paras. 8 and 17-21 Mr. Hornell’s memorandum, para. 27 Ibid, para. 29 Mr. Hornell’s memorandum, para. 8 General Memoranda, page 108 Question 22. Mr. Hornell’s memorandum, paras. 39-45. Report of the Conference on the Education of the Domiciled Community in India, Simla, July 1912 (Calcutta, 1912), pages 18-21. Chapter XXXI, para. 25. On the 31st March 1917 there were only 506 Europeans and Anglo-Indians in all the professional and technical colleges and schools of the Bengal Presidency. Of these 147 were girls in commercial schools and 129 boys in engineering schools Chapter XXXI. Chapter XXXII. Chapter XXXVI, paras. 27-29. Chapter XXXIII, para. 184. For Calcutta, see Chapter XXXIX, para 12: for Dacca, Chapter XXXIII, para 150.

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CHAPTER III THE PROBLEM OF LITERACY ACCORDING to the Census of 1911 the percentage of literacy among Indian Christians was only 16.3, and in some provinces the percentage showed a decline compared with that of 1901. The situation thus disclosed is The Facts. very serious. Yet, lest an exaggerated emphasis should be laid on the figures, we desire to make the following statement regarding them. The standard required by the enumerators was a fairly high one—ability to read an ordinary letter and reply to it. Further, the percentage is of course on the basis of the entire Indian Christian community, including infants. If we deduct those under the age of seven and a half—about 21 per cent, according to the Census Report—the percentage of literacy would be raised to 20.6, still leaving 79.4 per cent. illiterate. Christians compare well with other religious communities. Taking the community as a whole,1 we find that they are surpassed only by the Parsees (71.1 per cent.), the Jains (27.5 per cent.), and the Buddhists (22.9 per cent.), and are far above the Sikhs (6.7 per cent.), the Hindus (5.5 per cent.), the Mohammedans (3.8 per cent.), and the animistic tribes (.6 per cent.). The Parsees as is well known, are a small and wealthy community. Among the Jains the percentage is brought up by the men—in the case of the women it is only 4 per cent.—whose position as traders makes literacy essential. The Buddhists of Burma have for long had an educational system connected with the monasteries, but even among them the standard of female literacy is low (5·8). In fact, the Christian community in the matter of the education of girls comes next to the Parsees, and is distinguished from all the others by having a percentage of literacy for women more than half that for men. The superiority of the Christian community, especially in the matter of female education, is commented on again and again in the Census Report.2

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With regard to the alleged decrease in the percentage of literacy, we find it impossible to make an exact statement, for in 1901 Indian Christians were not distinguished in some provinces from Christians of other nationalities. Taking the entire Christian community, we find a slight increase from 21·1 in 1901 (males 29·1, females 12·5) to 21·7 (males 29·3, females 13·5); this means that the literates of this community have increased 2·8 per cent., 1·6 per cent, for males and 8 per cent. for females. If we assume that the literacy of the European and Anglo-Indian community is stationary we may credit the Indian Community with the entire increase. Here, however, we turn from the encouraging to the discouraging side, for every other community save one shows a much larger increase.3 The reason, however, becomes apparent when the provincial returns are studied, for it is found that, in areas where large mass movements have recently taken place, the percentage has declined. In the United Provinces, for instance, the Christian population increased in the decade from ·22 per cent. of the population to ·38 per cent., while the percentage of literacy fell from 48·1 to 34·6 for males, and 31·8 to 23·2 for females.4 On the other hand, the literacy of the Christians has increased where the community has been established for a generation or more, or where it is still small. The decrease is thus largely accounted for by the fact that large numbers of illiterates were gathered in during the decade. For such people the missionaries do their best through oral instruction, so native to the genius of the country; and, while our aim must be nothing short of a literate Church, it should be remembered that some who cannot sign their names are yet possessed of considerable intelligence and power of judgment, and may show such spiritual maturity and strength of character as to be of real service to the Church. If, then, we could be assured that the children of converts were being taught, the situation would be much less alarming than appears at first sight. The disappointing thing is, that large numbers of them are not. The inforPercentage of mation regarding this matter with which we started has been Children at confirmed in the course of our tour. In each area we have made School. careful inquiries regarding the proportion of the children of Christian people attending school. In western countries the children of schoolgoing age are usually reckoned at about 17 per cent. of the entire population. In India, however, the percentage of children between the ages of five and fifteen is much higher (24·6 according to the Census of 1911), and it is higher still among the Christians (25·5). There is evidence that it is even higher among the humble classes from which most of the Christians spring. To expect poor village children to remain at school until they are fifteen is, of course, out of the question; but if they leave before the age of ten they are not likely to retain such literacy as they have acquired. In our view any percentage under fifteen is unsatisfactory. From the figures supplied to us in a number of different areas, we find that in many cases—usually in older Christian communities, or where the numbers are small—this figure is passed, and in a good many it is reached, but there are many in which the shortage is deplorable, some returns showing only about 3 per cent. A specially disappointing thing is that even in some of the older Churches less than half the available children are at school. The Alleged Decline.

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Of the causes of this unsatisfactory condition several are referred to in sundry parts of this Report. Here an attempt may be made to set them forth in order. (a) Shortage of Workers.—The tendency of mass movements has been to advance so rapidly that missions are unable to keep pace with them. Even if funds are available—which is not usually the case—teachers cannot be produced without years of work. Special courses are arranged and workers sent out to do their best. But many of them have no instruction in the art of teaching, and if, as often happens, they have to minister to as many as ten village churches, the holding of regular schools is impossible. In such cases children remain illiterate for lack of opportunity. Speaking generally, we may say that the degree of literacy is roughly in proportion to the adequacy of the staff. The following statistics for a mass movement district, kindly supplied by the missionary in charge, give some idea of the inadequacy of the staff: Causes of Illiteracy.

Number of Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . about 18,000 1,409 ” ” villages with Christians . . . . . . . . . . . ” ordained preachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ” ” ” primary schools (excluding ” ” boarding schools) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ” Number of Christian pupils (excluding boarding pupils) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 ” Number of pupils in Sunday schools . . . . . . . . . 4,029 ” Number of pupils in Sunday schools who can read the Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601 ”

(b) Indifference of Parents.—That people who are just emerging from the blindness and degradation of the life to which the outcastes have been condemned should have a keen sense of what their children really need is hardly to be expected. The disappointing thing is that the indifference to their highest welfare should be so persistent as it often is. We have sometimes found Christians even of the third generation not only illiterate, but requiring something approaching compulsion to secure the attendance of their children at school for an adequate time. Sometimes, but not always, there is every appearance of keenness at the beginning. Indeed, a desire to have their children rise in the world through education is undoubtedly a common reason for the demand for Christian instruction. But the desire is usually too weak to stimulate the parent to persevere in face of difficulties. The child is taken away after a year or two. The ostensible reason is that he must bring grist to the family mill; but if the parent were convinced that education was something worth having he would in many cases find means of overcoming the economic difficulty. Regarding this, however, there is a good deal of misunderstanding. It is often assumed that the education given in the village school is despised because it is not practical enough. In many cases, however, the parent’s objection is just the opposite. He has no desire to have his son taught agriculture, partly because he thinks he knows far more about that than the teacher, but still more because his 137

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ambition is that his boy should become a teacher or a clerk. If he finds that such a rise in the scale is improbable, his enthusiasm for education vanishes. Of the mental and spiritual value of education, even if it never leads beyond the outcaste mohulla, he is ignorant. (c) Economic Conditions.—That the parent has considerable reason for withdrawing his children from school before they have become literate must be frankly admitted. Again and again we have been told that the root of the difficulty is economic. As this is dealt with in other chapters, it need not be elaborated. (d ) Absence of Public Opinion.—The outcastes, including those who become Christian, naturally tend to follow those above them in the scale. If these lack public opinion for education, this makes it all the harder to create such an opinion among the outcastes. (e) Oppression.—A more serious hindrance is the active opposition of the caste Hindus and other employers to anything which makes for the elevation of their labourers. In this matter we were glad to find that the case was not wholly bad in all areas, and still more that, on the whole, an improvement was taking place. But, speaking generally, it is still the case that the caste man not only does nothing for the enlightenment of the outcaste, but puts positive obstacles in the way, knowing that if he is enlightened he can no longer be exploited. Outcastes who have the temerity to send their children to school—even if the school be in their quarter, so that there can be no complaint of defiling caste children by contact—find themselves subject to such violence and threatening that they yield and withdraw their children. If the outcastes want, not mere education, but Christian teaching, the persecution, for a time, is all the fiercer, for the caste people are afraid that if the outcastes become Christians they will no longer be available for menial service. ( f ) Faulty Educational Methods are responsible for a considerable failure to attain literacy on the part of those who actually begin their schooling. In the following chapters we shall state our views regarding the different kinds of school required for the education and elevation of the Christian community. Here we must touch on the initial difficulties of getting How to rouse Interest. a school at all. The problem with which we are here concerned is the development of the life of the Christian community scattered throughout the villages. How are workers to arouse such interest that schools with this object will be welcomed, and the children sent to them regularly enough and long enough to secure literacy? Remembering the level from which the people start, missionaries and their fellow-workers usually begin by showing the people that it is to their interest to have their children educated, not merely because a few may rise in the world, but because all who can read have certain advantages over others. The uneducated labourer is at the mercy of his employer. He cannot read the document he is asked to sign—by touching the pen of one who writes his name for him—and finds too late that he has signed away his property or his liberty. Being unable to count, he cannot refute his master’s statement that the debt which has brought him to serfdom has not been worked off. Through ignorance he is at the mercy of 138

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blackmailing constables and village officials. When he goes to a distant place as a sepoy or a coolie he has to pay some one to write a letter to his father. In other words, he has no real independence. The missionary worker tries to show him how different all this would be if his children could read, write, and count—how they might cease to be chattels and become men. He may also try to show him that education might in the course of time help him to do his ordinary work better, and perhaps supplement his livelihood through a subsidiary industry. And, while the great majority of his children will remain in their village, the mission should provide suitable outlets, to which the workers can point, for those who show fitness for higher education or industrial training. Such considerations apply to the outcastes as such, whether they have come under Christian instruction or not; and of course the schools intended specially for the Christians will aim as far as possible at benefiting the others also. For Christians arguments of a higher order can be pressed home. If they are to be delivered from the animism which peoples the world with evil spirits, they must advance in knowledge of the truth. They can be shown how greatly the opportunity of gaining this knowledge is increased if the worshipper can read the Bible and helpful literature for himself, and take an intelligent part in Christian worship. If, as is too often the case, the convert is too old to learn, there is all the more reason for appealing to him on behalf of his children. ‘You cannot make much of us,’ people often say, ‘but we want our children to be better than we have been.’ Once the school has been started, the teacher and those who supervise his work must do their utmost to make it so interesting that even the Maintaining the poorest will feel that it is worth while to make a big sacrifice Interest. to keep his children long enough at it.5 Those concerned must be prepared for disappointment, and not allow failure to put a stop to their endeavours. In a mission which has been successful beyond the average of its province in producing a literate

[[**MISSING PAGES**]] CHAPTER VII THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS MANY documents of great interest issued recently have dealt with the problem of female education in India. In England in 1915 a memorial on this subject was presented to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India The Present Condition by an influential deputation. The memorial emphasized of Girls’ Education. points which have long caused anxiety—the insignificant number of girls under instruction, the disparity in this respect of the condition of the male and female portions of the population, and the consequent danger to the social well-being of the Indian community. This memorial was forwarded to the Government of India, which invited local Governments to obtain the opinions 139

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of competent persons, local bodies, existing committees, and other authorities. These replies, when received, furnished a mass of valuable evidence which has not yet been published in full, but which was condensed in an important resolution issued by the Government of India in October 1919.6 The Calcutta University Commission7 have also emphasized the difficulties arising from early marriage, purdah, and the distrust of western education. Not all the difficulties are found, or at least found in an equal degree, in all parts of India, in some of which, for instance, the institution of purdah is for the most part unknown. But the extent to which obstacles arising from these causes, from conservatism, from ideas of caste, from the general want of desire for woman’s education, have interfered with progress is evident from the fact that only 1·6 per cent. of the Hindu female population, and 1·03 per cent. of the Mohammedan, are under instruction; while among Europeans (with Anglo-Indians), Parsees, and Indian Christians, the percentages are 22·5, 14·8 and 8 respectively; while if we look at the matter territorially we find the greatest percentage of girls under instruction is only 1·5 in Bombay and Madras, while the lowest is ·3 in the United Provinces. Again, if we look at the grade of this instruction, we get further light upon the backwardness of the situation, for over 90 per cent of the girls under instruction are in the primary grade, and very largely in the two lowest classes. Coming to our own particular problem, there is no doubt that the percentage in the villages is much lower than in the towns. Now, grave as the situation is, that it would have been very much worse without the work of the Christian missionaries is not seriously disputed. And while it is the case that in recent years the number of girls under instruction has been considerably increased, there is very little evidence, even now when so much is heard of the desire of the Indian for education, that either the Hindu or Mohammedan community as a whole is really awake or in earnest with regard to the education of girls. This absence of public opinion in favour of girls’ education must be emphasized because of its importance in any consideration of the relation of a missionary educational system to a government educational system. If the missionary effort is to be strongest where the government effort is weakest, then it is probable that for many years to come girls’ education will be a greater factor in the missionary system than in the other. Any scheme of education for the Indian girl should be based on a wise understanding of the tradition of womanhood into which she is born, of the place she occupies in the life of her own community, of the charThe Village Girl. acteristics which her own people deem in her noblest and most admirable, and of the functions which she is or may be allowed to perform. The girl is a very busy member of the Indian village home. She draws the water from the well, pounds and winnows the rice or other cereal for food, gathers firewood, cleans the house, and in every interval of freedom from these duties carries on her hip the inevitable baby of whose care she is almost entirely 140

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ignorant. Besides being maid-of-all-work, she is, as she grows up, a great cause of anxiety or at least solicitude to her parents, who must arrange for her marriage (not always an easy matter) while she is still a child. These two causes, her home duties and her early marriage, make it very difficult to secure her regular attendance at the village day school. Her attendance at the boarding school is generally more easily secured. This is not surprising when we consider that sometimes the total cost, and almost always the greater part of the cost, not only of instruction but of maintenance, is defrayed by the missionaries, who also undertake responsibility for the girl’s personal safety, thus relieving the parents of a double anxiety. The village day school will generally be co-educational. The bright intelligence of many of these little girls in the village schools is most marked, and full of promise if the proper teacher can be secured. The general Village Primary curriculum has already been discussed in Chapter IV, and Schools. little differentiation seems to be necessary for girls in the proposed four or five years’ course. Specialization on her home duties so early seems undesirable, while she shows herself quite as fit as the boy to meet the requirements with regard to the three R’s. Here again it must be urged, as in the chapter already referred to, that the school day, more especially for the girl, should be short. The five-hour day now quite common should be reduced to four hours, if not even less. The girl returns daily to the home, where many duties await her, and, while these rightly constitute a valuable part of her education, they also tax her energies. The problem of the education of the girl in the village school, then, is not especially one of curriculum. The most urgent matters are its wider extension, and the securing of a better type of teacher. When the girl completes the four years of the village school, she should be encouraged to continue her education further. As the number of girls going on is small, and efficient women teachers cannot be secured Vocational Middle in sufficient numbers, and further, the social conditions of Schools. the village still make unprotected women’s work there difficult and even dangerous, there seems, at least in this transition period, to be no alternative to the central boarding school of the middle grade. It is encouraging to note how clearly the missionaries have seen the strategic importance of such schools, so that now a girls’ boarding school is an almost constant feature in their educational system, and very often one of the strongest branches of the work. It is generally in charge of a trained experienced teacher from the home country, who is assisted by an Indian staff, often of her own training. One longs for the assistance in this work of more educated Indian women of good social standing. It would be well if, in recruiting for the mission field, the scope and opportunity of the teacher in these rural boarding schools was more clearly put before the students of our teachers’ training colleges both in India and at home. The work being done in them is invaluable; whatever agencies financial exigencies may cripple, full support should be secured for these. The work in these rural schools 141

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seems much more practical and nearer the life of the people than that of some of the urban boarding schools. The curriculum of these vocational middle schools has been discussed in Chapter VI, but something may be added on industries specially suited for girls. One good household craft such as cooking, plain-sewing, embroidery, lace-making, spinning, weaving or basket-making is now quite general. To this may be added the making of jellies, jams, chutneys, curry-powder, and oil. It should be noted that gardening and field work are much more suitable than needlework for some of the rough and sometimes unhealthy village girls who are admitted to these schools. It is in many cases a better training for life, for many of them come from the day labourer class, and in their own homes would be sent out into the fields. As wives for village labourers, too, they will be required to grind, milk, fetch fodder for the animals, or do a day’s weeding. Suggestions for other industries should be got from such a survey by the Department of Industries as is proposed in Chapter VI. In the hostels very simple conditions are wisely maintained, the girls generally taking part in, if not entirely managing, the housekeeping, cleaning, and cooking, as well as their personal needlework. In some places the ‘cotHostels. tage system’ has been introduced, allowing the girls to live in small separate groups to their great advantage. The more recent boarding-school buildings are of this type, generally affording accommodation for twelve to fifteen, or even fewer, in the separate houses built around a quadrangle. We have also seen the long dormitory of the old type divided cubicle-fashion to allow of the same arrangement. In the allocation of the girls to the household, two plans are followed. Either the children of the same age are placed in each, with older girls as house-mother and assistant, or else the occupants of each are of various ages, approximating in this respect to the diversity and number of an ordinary family. In either case stores for the whole week are given to the house-mother, who uses her own discretion as to how they can best be ‘made do,’ and sees to the cooking and serving. The care of the persons and clothing of the household is also hers. In some places it has been found possible to allow the girls to do the marketing. All this is very important, as the charge is often brought against the boarding school that the girls live so cloistered a life that they are unfitted to face the world at the end of their school course. While there is obvious inability on the part of many of those girls (who are still in a very primitive state) themselves to contrive occupation for much of their own time, there seems to be a tendency on the part of those in charge so to fill every working hour with prescribed duties that it is hard to see how the pupil is to acquire the very valuable power of occupying herself profitably. Of the same nature is the disinclination of those in charge in many schools to throw responsibility— responsibility for younger children, stores, etc.—on to the girls without too obvious supervision, although in a few schools this very educative factor is well used. Such a community offers an excellent sphere for the intelligent introduction of a certain amount of self-government. It is of the greatest importance that the girls 142

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should be made self-reliant and independent, and that their powers of initiative should be strengthened by an appeal to them to make suggestions as how best to meet the emergencies which daily arise. Drawing, music, and dancing are generally not strong. We would like to have seen more of the use of Indian musical instruments for purposes of accompaniment— what we did see was excellent—and a wider encouragement Music and Art. of Indian dances and games. In this connection we would urge that a strong effort should be made by missionaries to appreciate what is best in Indian music and art. Of the evil that attaches to much of it, especially in relation to folk-lore and mythology, missionaries are keenly conscious; but, after careful consideration, we are seriously of opinion that there is much that with suitable adaptation may be used for lofty ends. In other lands also a process of selection and sublimation has been necessary before what was objectionable—whether through primitive crudeness or through degeneration—could be redeemed so as to become the expression of what is lovely and of good report, and we urge that further efforts in this be made in India. In the matter of art, if few of the older mythological Indian pictures are appropriate to the walls of our girls’ schools, surely no objection could be taken to the pictures of the newer Indian school of oriental art of which many examples are quite cheaply reproduced.8 Those interested in girls’ training have in certain districts a new problem to consider. In the past, teachers and missionaries have been glad if they could retain the girl in school until such time as her marriage was Education for the arranged, or, in the case of child marriage until she went to Town. her husband’s home. Now, however, there is in some large towns a growing demand for the services of girls of a certain amount of education, as well as for skilled and unskilled labour. To the constant demand for nurses and teachers is now added the demand in manufacturing towns for girls for the factories (as for example the demand for leather workers for Cawnpore). This demand is affecting even the girls of little or no education in rural areas. The problem has been carefully considered by missionary committees in Madras and elsewhere, but as yet with little definite action. The matter is pressing. The needlework, crochet, embroidery and lace work, which so far have been almost exclusively the industries of the girls’ schools, cannot remain the sole opportunities of economic development. Indeed, it is a question if these can be relied on as stable, so long as they depend on sales in foreign countries, and exchange is volatile, except where the output is large, as in the case where there is a well-established village industry. We earnestly hope that those in charge of girls’ schools in areas affected by the new demand for labour will carefully consider the educational, moral, and economic value of direct vocational training to meet these demands, and take steps to secure the best training for the girls. Such economic development, inevitable as it is, will most fundamentally affect the life of Indian girls, and it is of the greatest importance that workers should prepare beforehand for the social changes involved. The establishment, for example, of girls’ hostels in the towns under Christian auspices is called for. It will be 143

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largely for the Christian body to see that this incursion of girl-labour to the towns takes place under much better conditions than have pertained in the West, and that the protective agency of social welfare work is well-established in the factory before the girl has come to grief there. Two important considerations remain—the need of more adequate medical supervision, and the great value of these schools as a recruiting ground for teachers, but these matters are so important that they must be fully treated in other chapters of this Report.

CHAPTER XII THE NEED FOR CHRISTIAN LITERATURE OF the need of a great forward movement for the production and distribution of Christian literature in general it is unnecessary to speak in this Report. At conference after conference the need has been acknowledged, and much has been done in recent years to increase and unify the forces at work, and concentrate their energies on the attainment of the object.9 Here we are concerned with the subject only in so far as it is part of our special problem. If the village community is to become literate and remain literate, if it is to have at its disposal what will help it to live its true life—spiritually, intellectually, economically—if its leaders are to be provided with the books Need of Special and magazines that will equip them for their task and keep Literature. them efficient, it is obvious that a great amount of suitable literature must be provided. That literature for this purpose is deplorably scanty is generally admitted. In no language of India is the amount of literature suitable for the Christian community sufficient, and in most it is quite inadequate; but when we remember that what is suited for people of ordinary education is likely to be quite unsuited for those recently brought in through a mass movement, we find that, even in the languages best provided for generally, the greatness of this special need is only beginning to be realized. We have seen in other chapters that one great cause of illiteracy is stagnation in the lowest class, due largely to the lack of facilities for the rapid teaching of the alphabet. That better methods can be adopted is known to Primers. many of those in charge. In some provinces only prescribed text-books can be used in schools recognized by Government, but in others any books may be used which have been approved of by the Department of Education, on the recommendation of a text-book committee. This liberty gives a splendid opportunity to the Christian Literature Society and other agencies. It lies with them to enter the open door, and see that books on the best lines are produced. In one province the best vernacular primer we have seen is published by the C.L.S. We recommend that the Literature Committees of the Provincial Missionary Councils look into the matter in their respective areas. Even in provinces where no choice is given it remains to be seen whether the authorities, if a better primer can be produced, will not adopt it instead of those now in use.10 144

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When pupils pass beyond the initial stage what they need is books which will not only enlarge their vocabulary but quicken their intelligence, widen their outlook, and help to prepare them for life. We have, as shown Reading-books. in other chapters, found ourselves unable to approve of the common idea that primary education should be vocational. But while we do not think that agriculture or industry can be rightly taught in the primary grade—the very vocabulary needed belongs to a more advanced stage—we strongly urge that in matter and style the Readers should be as closely related as possible to the surroundings of the pupils. This does not mean that they will not contain lessons calculated to enlarge the pupils’ horizon, leading them to have some elementary knowledge of other lands and races, as well as of the great fundamental truths which will lead them to a right attitude to God and their [Illegible Text]. But in everything the environment of the pupils, and their present limitations, should be kept in view, and much of the teaching should be such as will help them to observe and understand the phenomena of the world around them, and to prepare them for doing the ordinary work of the village and the home with new intelligence and new zest. In so far as the existing textbooks are defective in this way it lies with the C.L.S. and other societies to remedy the defect. The question whether anything further is required for the mass movement is one deserving serious consideration. It has been suggested that the ordinary readingbooks are unsuitable for children of outcaste origin, because Special Readers. ‘they assume a knowledge which these children do not possess and proceed at a rate of which such children are incapable.’ We incline to think, however, that a case for the preparation of easier books has not been made out. Even if teaching children to read the Bible were the main object of education it must be remembered that, if the Bible as a whole is to be an open book, facility in reading books as difficult as an ordinary fourth-class Reader is essential. Further, since our aim is to make children fit for life all round, it does not seem desirable to deprive them of the wider outlook that comes through a well-planned reading-book, or to simplify the course at the cost of ability in after-life to read a simple book or newspaper. Nor are we convinced that the outcaste children are naturally less intelligent than others. As to the difficulties arising from irregular attendance and shortness of school life, we hold that the effort to overcome them should be made rather by better teaching and organization11 than by the lowering of the standard, more especially as the latter would make it more difficult for the brighter pupils to go on to higher schools. We hold, accordingly, that while the reading-books should have a rural colour, the standard should not be appreciably lowered. Whatever be the view taken regarding the question of the simplification of reading-books, when we pass to the requirements of those who have left school the need for the utmost possible simplicity is apparLiterature for the ent. We have seen in Chapter V that one great cause Maintenance of Literacy. of illiteracy is the fact that so many never acquire the habit of reading, and that this is largely due to the fact that nothing that they 145

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care to read is provided. Literature of sorts exists in many of the vernaculars, but it is either not available at a cheap enough rate, or is not adapted to the needs of people whose literacy is precarious. If they are to be induced to battle with the difficulties in their way something must be provided which is at once suitable and interesting. To some of the attempts to meet the need reference has already been made (Chapter V), and we urge that the example set in the Central Provinces be widely followed. How to make a paper interesting to those whose outlook is so limited is a problem. In several provinces war journals had a wide circulation, and any one who could read the latest news would get a crowd of eager listeners. ‘I have found,’ writes a missionary regarding one of these, ‘village school boys reading it out aloud to an interested group of grown-ups. And the father of the boy was more than proud of his son’s attainments.’12 The notable success of the illustrated war journal published for the benefit of the Indian troops in France confirms this statement. To try to provide something which will be equally interesting in ordinary times is a task of great urgency. It is desirable that to news of the wider field be added matters of local interest, which might perhaps be done by having local supplements to a general paper. Along with the news would come simple articles on social and religious matters. Since very few village people could take more than one paper—even if the price be a single pie—the one would be required to serve a variety of interests. The paper, in short, should be one whose circulation would assist the village teacher in the varied efforts he makes to promote the people’s welfare— intellectual, economic, moral, spiritual. The paper should, if at all possible, be illustrated, and illustrations, even if they add to the cost, will greatly increase its circulation and usefulness. Here we pass from the value of reading matter as a means of maintaining literacy to its value for life. Our efforts to produce a literate community will fail unless we raise up a considerable number of people who are no longer Literature for Life. dependent on a teacher or a literate neighbour for instruction and information, but can obtain it for themselves and hand it on to others. The need becomes even greater in the case of Christians who migrate— the coolie who goes to work in a distant place, or the girl whose marriage takes her to a village which has no teacher. For such it is of the utmost importance that they are not only taught to read, but also provided with books they can take with them, written in a simple style. First, and beyond all comparison foremost, is the Bible. Through the efforts of the Bible societies the whole Bible is available in all the leading vernaculars of India, and portions—especially the Gospels and the Psalms— The Bible. in many of the less widely spoken languages and dialects. The style to be adopted for Bible translation has often been keenly discussed. Without pronouncing any opinion on existing versions, we suggest that the time has come for additional versions of portions of Scripture which will do for the Indian vernaculars what Dr. Weymouth and others have done for English, and we are glad to note that in several vernaculars a beginning has been made. 146

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Next to the Bible comes the hymn-book. In other chapters (IV and VII) we have urged the larger use of Indian music. There is an urgent need for the production of something in Indian metres simpler than is usually found— Hymnbooks. something which will take such hold of the people that they will sing it in their homes and in the distant places to which some of them go. Various translations suggest the existence of Indian devotional literature which appears to be suitable for adaptation to Christian worship.13 To familiarize the people with suitable lyrics the gramophone is sometimes used with good results. Nor is it merely for purposes of worship that Indian verse should be used. In one place we were deeply interested in the effort to train illiterate women to tell the gospel stories in verse, composed in an exceedingly simple style. For the production of such literature great skill and care are needed, and constant intercourse with illiterate people. Of the need for other books it is unnecessary to speak in detail. The literature societies have in mind the needs of the Christian community, and are producing books which throw light on the Bible—commentaries, Other Books. dictionaries, histories, etc.—and books of general interest— stories, biographies, simple statements on such subjects as hygiene, sanitation, the care of children, and many other topics. Care should be taken that some of these are so easy in style as to suit those whose school-days were short, and we are glad to learn that this is being done in some areas. Among other desiderata are books which will help people in the conduct of family worship, and literature that will be of service in evangelistic effort. The needs of the young should not be forgotten. It will be impossible to carry out the programme recommended in this Report unless the village teacher is better supplied than at present with suitable books. In addition to books of an exegetical or devotional charBooks for Teachers. acter, and helps to the teaching of nature study and other subjects included in the primary course, he will need, if his work is to be wide in range, books which will guide his efforts to uplift the community. We are glad to note that the Mass Movement Committee of the United Provinces has in view the publication of books on such subjects as co-operative credit, poultry-rearing, tanning, basket-making, Weaving, and rope-making. Full use should be made of the publications of Government Publicity Bureaus. A book showing the kind of social service that is possible for village people is a desideratum. Text-books for the boarding-school course on its industrial side will probably be found necessary in some vernaculars. We suggest that this Report be carefully studied by literature societies, and that they take counsel with mass movement committees regarding the most urgent needs. Our attention has been called to the need of illustrations—for none greater than for the villager whose mental appetite needs a stimulant. Textbooks of all sorts should be illustrated, and if some of the illustrations can Illustrations. be coloured so much the better. For Scripture teaching the excellent coloured pictures of Hole and Copping are available at cheap rates. So are others which may be crude, but are not on that account less acceptable to the 147

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villagers. It would be well to make coloured pictures available at still cheaper rates, and pictures of general interest should be more widely produced. Second only in importance to production comes distribution. The task of inducing the people who have learned to read to purchase books and subscribe to the newspapers and magazines will fall largely to the teacher. But, Distribution. since the vast majority of the people are in dire poverty, the question of cost must be considered. That the people should pay as much as they can is highly desirable, and some will doubtless hold that, rather than pauperize them, we should wait till they can pay the full price. To others the urgency of getting something into their hands seems so great that they regard it as worth while to sell at less than cost price. The extent to which the sale of literature should be thus subsidized is a matter on which those who are in charge of the work must judge according to circumstances. Opportunities will sometimes be found of getting Bibles and other books into people’s hands by giving them as prizes. All this requires money. Hitherto some publishing societies have depended almost for their existence on the profits realized on school-books. Other publications involve risk, and often actual loss. The enormous rise in the Financial cost of production since 1917 leaves little likelihood of profit, even Demands. on school-books, if they are to be sold at rates which people can afford to pay. If special school-books are produced the cost will be greater and the proceeds of sale considerably less—unless the missions will make up the difference. Illustrations, too, must be subsidized. We accordingly suggest that, in the appeal it is now making to home boards, the Literature Committee of the National Missionary Council lay special stress on the needs arising from the mass movements, and we urge the home boards to do their utmost to meet the demand. They should also be ready to set apart for literary production people with special gifts and experience.

Notes 1 Including Europeans and Anglo-Indians. 2 With regard to different Christian communities, so far as can be gathered from the Census Report for 1911, where figures are given only for certain areas—the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, with the associated States—Syrian Christians come first, with percentages of 31 for males and 8·6 for females; Protestants have 21·2 for males and 12 for females; Roman Catholics have 23·3 for males and 7·3 for females. Thus, it is only in the matter of female education that Protestants come first. As a whole they come second, the percentages being: Syrians, 20; Protestants 16·6; Roman Catholics, 15·4 (Census Report, India, vol i, pt. ii, p. 69.) 3 Had the standard of literacy required in 1901 in most provinces been as high as that adopted for all in 1911, the increase would have been greater. 4 In the Punjab the proportionate increase in the Christian population is much greater, and there is a similar decline in the percentage of literacy; but it is difficult to get the exact figures, as in 1901 the North-west Frontier Province is included with the Punjab. There is good reason to believe that in the nine years that have passed since the Census the decline in literacy in mass movement areas is still more marked. 5 For subsidiary means of maintaining and increasing interest see Chapter IX.

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6 Resolution on Female Education, issued at Simla, October 1919. 7 Calcutta University Commission Report, 1917-19, vol. ii, chap. xiv. 8 These can be studied at the rooms of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Hogg Street, Calcutta, where also information with regard to reproductions can be bad. 9 See Christian Literature in India, and The Programme of Advance in Christian Literature in India and Ceylon (Christian Literature Society, Madras). 10 See further, Appendix: ‘Note on Vernacular and Script.’ 11 See Chapter IV. 12 F. M. Perrill, ‘Literature for Mass Movement Work,’ in the Harvest Field, April 1920. 13 E.g., Nicol Macnicol, Psalms of Maratha Saints. (Calcutta: Association Press; London: Oxford University Press.)

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CHAPTER I THE BEGINNINGS THE first mention of a ‘St. Stephen’s College’ in Delhi occurs in the Report of the Delhi Mission of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1864. This branch of the Society’s work had been opened in 1854, at the instance of the Rev. M. J. Jennings, Chaplain of Delhi; it had been completely swept away by the storm of the Mutiny, but had been promptly refounded in 1859.1 In the Report referred to, the following entry occurs under ‘Schools’: St. Stephen’s College. In 1863 some candidates passed the Entrance examination of the University of Calcutta; it was therefore thought well to have our College affiliated to enable the students to read for the B.A. degree. By 1868, however, the title had reverted to ‘St. Stephen’s School,’ and the entry for 1873–74 indicates the reason why. Alluding to the High School as preparing boys for the Matriculation of the Calcutta University the Report continues: Here our direct connection with the lads, now become young men, ceases; they then pass on to the Government College, where our especial thanks are due to the principal for aiding our students to obtain scholarships. Then follows a very significant comment: Here particularly would come in the work of another missionary from one of the universities, who would continue privately to help his old pupils in the really hard course of a letter addressed to the Cambridge Mission, which he also published in The Mission Field for February, 1878: I should like to say much, but the time perhaps is hardly yet come, about the great and urgent importance, as it seems to me, of their being a college as complete as possible in its proportions, religious, scientific, philosophic, at Delhi, and in connection with your Mission there, which should (by God’s help) rally round it the more highly educated natives, and Hindoos trained at the primary 150

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and middle Government schools; training them, indeed, for M.A. degrees both at Lahore and Calcutta, but with the loftier and purer aims which Christian teaching communicates to other studies, when that teaching is seen to be not merely a byend of an institution, but its quickening, informing and binding principle. . . . This is the very crisis at which it is required: Delhi is the very place: the Cambridge movement is in several respects, to say the least, the very instrument which seems to be needed. Curiously enough a Sirdar (native aristocrat) came upon me three weeks ago at a little durbar of native nobility or gentry, and said, ‘I hear that many missionaries are coming out to Delhi, and at this time the Government of India have just stopped their high class college at Delhi; why do not the Delhi missionaries undertake it?’ This was a very remarkable coincidence, I think. Of course he knew that Christianity would form the corner-stone and top-stone of the institute if it ever took shape and form. The external demand on the Mission to found a college, then, was definite enough. Internally the question was naturally approached with some hesitation. In May, 1879, the committee in Cambridge had invited Winter ‘to admit the Cambridge missionaries to a share in the work of St. Stephen’s High School,’ and in response Winter had agreed, on behalf of the S.P.G., that the Brotherhood should undertake the management not only of the High School but also of its branches. Again in October, 1879, the Cambridge Committee recorded in their minutes that, The St. Stephen’s High School was so powerful a means of reaching the higher classes as to form a most important part of the work of the Mission. It was also felt that the influence of the missionaries would be greatly increased if they held classes in some secular subjects and did not confine their teaching to direct religious instruction. Should a college be re-established at Delhi, the committee would view with favour all attempts by the missionaries to gain influence among the students at the college, as well by assisting them in their studies as by holding classes for direct religious instruction. Commenting on all this in a letter of February, 1880, to the Cambridge Committee, Bickersteth remarks that though this educational work among non-Christians, who of course formed the vast majority among the school pupils, was not mentioned among the original objects of the Mission, he believed it to be in accordance with the present wishes of the committee, and that, as the work had been undertaken, it was likely to form the principal effort of the Mission for many years. But he adds, ‘We have deferred for the present the question of the advisability of adding the higher college classes to the existing school.’ With Cambridge and Delhi thus committed not only to a concurrence of general outlook but also to an actual responsibility in the High School, it was really a foregone conclusion that this next step would sooner or later be forced on them by circumstances. In view, however, of the doubts current in some quarters even to this day regarding the legitimacy of missionary educational institutions for nonChristians, it must be emphasised that the necessity for the step was eventually admitted only after the most careful consideration both of the implications and of 151

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the risks involved. Bickersteth’s report to the S.P.G. for 1879 for instance, gives some of the pros and cons: The question of starting college classes still remains in abeyance. The Bishop has again strongly urged their establishment in a better which he has addressed to the S.P.G., but we have as yet heard of no qualified laymen willing to devote themselves to this special work, and without two such at least the scheme would be at present, at all events, impracticable. No doubt the fact that in a city of the size and fame of Delhi, there are no Government classes which teach up to the standard of degrees is greatly in favour of Missions undertaking the work, as pupils might be counted on from the Government as well as from the Mission schools. Mr. Kirkpatrick, the experienced master of the Government school, tells me he believes a class could be collected without difficulty. Regarded as a missionary agency, the danger of this as of all other schemes which are connected with Government examinations would seem to be that the religious element should be swamped and overwhelmed by the secular. Still there would be gained the opportunity of personal influence at the most critical period of the young Hindu’s life, when he first opens his eyes to the conflict of religions around him. Again in a letter of May, 1880, to his family, Lefroy writes: The Bishop has been strongly urging us to open a university college here to train men up to the degree standard. It is an immensely large and difficult subject. Once again, pray for us. If we do open, we must strain every nerve to make it the best in this part of India. There is no reason ultimately why it should not be the best in India. In July of the same year, he indicates a further complication: Difficult questions are pressing on us for solution. The last is the relation which we are to assume towards the old Delhi College which was shut up some four years ago by Government orders, chiefly for lack of funds, and is now being opened again by a sort of joint movement of chief Indians, chief Englishmen, privately, and Government. They would be glad enough to get a hold of one or two of us as lecturers, partly perhaps because they are not very flush of money, partly because the name of the thing would help them, at least at starting. It’s hard to see what to do. On the one hand we are distinctly pledged by our position to influence in any way we can the highest education of the Indian boys, and so if we don’t throw ourselves into this movement we seem to be pledged to open another college of our own for the boys of our own school. On the other hand neither of these courses is free from serious objection. In a native college our position as missionaries must be more or less anomalous, and might become untenable if (as is too often the case out here) the European at its head were a professed sceptic. On the other hand a College of our own would be a formidable undertaking, involving some expense, much trouble and responsibility, and possibly a decided severance of those chiefly engaged in it from other work because of the extreme difficulty of mastering the Urdu language if constantly teaching in English.

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By August, 1880, however, it had become clear that at least the first step must be taken, and the meeting of the Mission Council of that month resolved that, subject to the consent of the Cambridge Committee, and provision from England of the necessary funds, classes should be opened in connection with St. Stephen’s School in January, 1881, to carry on instruction up to the standard required for the B.A. degree, but that they should be limited to the scholars of St. Stephen’s and other Mission schools, the right being retained, however, to open the classes to students from other schools should it seem desirable to do so. The Cambridge Committee, sanctioning this resolution in October, added that they wished to ‘press upon the Council the consideration of the expediency of extending the college classes to students of non-Mission schools with as little delay as possible,’ and embodied their reasons in a memorandum which will be found at the end of this chapter. The Mission Council, however, considering the memorandum in December, directed Bickersteth to inform Dr. Westcott, the Chairman of the Cambridge Committee, that ‘the Council does not feel in a position for the present to undertake the wider work pressed upon it, specially owing to the diminished number of missionaries and the necessity of devoting considerable time to the study of Indian languages.’ Two other important reasons for taking only the more limited step are mentioned in Bickersteth’s annual report for 1881, the one a reminder that the original educational proposals of the Cambridge Mission extended only to establishing a hostel for Christian students attending the Government College; the other, that in view of the local efforts then current to revive that institution, the Brotherood ‘were anxious that if possible nothing should be done by them which might prejudice an independent and publicspirited movement.’ Such then were the events and discussions which led up to the actual birth of the new St. Stephen’s College on February 1st, 1881. It had fallen to Allnutt’s lot to take charge of the educational activities of the Brotherhood, and he thus describes, in a letter to his father dated February 2nd, 1881, his assumption of those responsibilities in the discharge of which he so justly earned the title later accorded to him of Founder of the College: Yesterday saw the opening of our College, about which you have read a good deal, I think, especially in my letters to Cambridge. We have five boys, or young men perhaps I should say, and might of course have many more but that we decline to open our ranks to outsiders for the present. Next year perhaps we may see our way to do so. Lefroy and myself will do the chief part of the English, indeed all, as Mathematics, which Carlyon undertakes, hardly ranks as an English subject. The chief subjects are Logic, Psychology (Abercrombie’s Intellectual Powers, a thoroughly good Christian treatise) and various selections from English literature. Logic and Literature fall to my share; History and Psychology to Lefroy’s. . . . Every day we commence with Scripture teaching. My subject is a continuation of a former one. Briefly, it is Man’s need of Revelation. . . . Since Bickersteth has returned from his wanderings he has handed over to me definitely the principalship of the School (and thereby of the College). It is indeed a responsible charge,

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but I think it is better that I should take it as I am fonder of dealing with boys than he is, and have always expected that education would occupy a large part of my time. Meanwhile, the local efforts to revive the Delhi College, with which the Brotherhood had been careful to give practical proof of their sympathy by their ‘self-denying ordinance,’ though unwilling to take the risks involved in actual cooperation, were not faring well. Bickersteth had reported to the Mission Council in July, 1880, that ‘unofficial overtures had been made to ascertain whether an offer of professorships in the Native College would be accepted’ (which, as Lefroy comments in a letter home, is ‘a big word for taking a class in some English subject and getting no pay’) and these had been followed up by an official enquiry from the Inspector, Mr. Cooke, regarding the intentions of the Mission. He had been informed of the proposal to open classes for Mission schoolboys only, and that no decision as to extending their operation had been taken. Next, in December, ‘the Secretary having reported to the Mission Council a verbal proposition made by Mr. Parker, presumably the Headmaster of the Government High School, to the effect that the Native and the Mission College should be started simultaneously and an amalgamated scheme of lectures be arranged, the Council agreed that the proposal was inconsistent with the special missionary aim of its educational efforts.’ Lefroy’s more informal account of things in a letter home dated, January 25th, 1881, reveals something more of the actual situation: We met the Lieut.-Governor (Sir Charles Aitchison) once or twice. . . . He definitely set his foot on a scheme for the establishment of a college here from native and Government funds. It was, you know, to prevent the opening of this that the Bishop of Lahore urged us so strongly to undertake the work of college classes. We, however, took an opposite view and although we did settle to open, we limited our College to students in our own or other mission schools, thus leaving the Native College to be fed by the Government School. On the other hand we would not close with any of the numerous offers which they made us to take professorships in their College. If they could do the thing genuinely out of their own resources, well and good, but we were determined to make our own start quite independently. Finding we were not amenable, one or two of the promoters of the scheme went off to Lahore to try to fix the matter somehow, and they did in a way we did not at all approve of by some slipshod arrangement that the Master of the Government School should be Principal of the College too. . . . But the LieutGovernor entirely refused his consent, in full durbar at Delhi, so we take the field alone on the 1st of February. Of course if the other scheme ultimately collapses we shall have eventually to admit all comers, but this we won’t do this year anyhow. When we do, the good old Bishop will have made his point in spite of us. The Bishop did make his point, within a very few months, and the influences which eventually induced the Cambridge Mission to open its College classes to the general public are of very great importance in appreciating the status of St. Stephen’s in the public system of higher education for North India. Allnutt’s 154

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report to the S.P.G. in 1882 sets out the development of events sufficiently clearly and concisely: In the course of the year it became quite evident that the scheme for resuscitating the old Delhi College, as an independent native effort, was certain to collapse, and that the higher education of the whole district would thus fall into our hands. About April, the Punjab Government made overtures to us on the subject, and we expressed our willingness to undertake the work, provided that a sufficient grant should be made and that we should be left wholly unfettered in the matter of religious education. The result of the negotiations was that our conditions were accepted, and early in the present year we received the promise of a liberal grant from Government. The College has now been thrown open to all students, whether private or from Government schools, as well as to those from Mission schools. In effect, the Mission had consented to undertake, on behalf of Government, the responsibility which the latter recognised towards the provision of college education for Delhi and the surrounding districts. Allnutt then proceeds to explain the academic implications: At present we retain our connection with the Calcutta University; but in the event of the Lahore University College being raised to the status of a University (a Bill for this purpose is to be introduced this year into the Legislative Council) we shall transfer our allegiance to it. In that case, so far as is at present known, we shall be the only college in the Punjab sending students up for these examinations, besides the Government College at Lahore. This fact is mentioned to show the great importance of the work which has been undertaken by us. Allnutt also stresses the significance of the situation from the Christian point of view: In view of the, in many ways disastrous, results that have followed from the spread of higher education in Bengal on a purely secular basis, the establishment of a College for the Punjab on the basis of religious and Christian teaching will, we think, be recognised as a matter claiming the interest and prayers of the friends of Christian education in India. At present we have not heard of any Christian students wishing to enter the College, but we hope to make special arrangements for such men when they come under our immediate supervision. The University of the Punjab2 duly received its charter in October, 1882, and for its first few years St. Stephen’s was the only college affiliated to it besides the Anglo-Vernacular and Oriental Colleges at Lahore. ‘So we are fairly in for it now,’ comments Lefroy in a letter home. It appears, however, from another letter of his of January, 1883, that local opinion was not altogether sympathetic: The L.-G. has been here. . . . He came to inspect our School and College. He expressed himself much pleased with what he saw, especially in the latter, and afterwards made a very nice allusion to us in a speech before the Delhi Municipality, though whether it was much relished by that august body or not may, I think, be 155

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doubted, considering how much opposition we are just now encountering in the town. The question of a Native College was indeed being raised again by many leading people. ‘I do not think,’ comments Allnutt in his official report, ‘it is at all likely that they will succeed in their endeavours; for though our College may not be popular, and many wish they had a purely secular college of their own, yet there is a vis inertiæ which operates very strongly, and probably more than counter-balances the positive force of their inclination, especially when the latter can only be realised by prolonged effort and self-denial. But meanwhile there is reason to fear that these efforts may tend to affect prejudicially the development of our College, as it will incline many to hold aloof who would otherwise have accepted things as they are, while students may be induced to go to Lahore rather than to the Mission College, thus making it appear that we have no chance of attracting students, and justifying the appeal for a Native College.’ These fears, however, were not realised, and till 1899, when the Hindu College appeared on the scene, St. Stephen’s shouldered alone the responsibility of providing, on behalf of both the Delhi public and the Government, the only facilities for college education between Agra and Lahore.

NOTE A THE DELHI COLLEGE IN 1792 certain leading Mohammadans of Delhi established an Arabic School in the sarai attached to the tomb of Ghaziad-din outside the Ajmir Gate. In 1824, Government associated themselves with the School and made it an enlarged ‘Institution’ with an English department, calling the whole ‘The Delhi Institution,’ of which the original Arabic College came to be classed as the Oriental department. In 1829, Nawab Fazl Ali Khan, Ihtima-ad-daula, Prime Minister of Oudh (who was a native of Delhi), put into the hands of Government Rs. 1,70,000 for the promotion of education at Delhi. This endowment yielded about Rs. 700 per mensem, and no doubt accelerated the creation of a more ambitious establishment than ‘The Delhi Institution’; for in 1846 the institution was transferred from its accommodation in the sarai and under the name of ‘The Delhi College’ was accommodated in the mansion (now used for the Government High School) built by Nawab Abdul Ahmad Khan (one of the ministers of Shah Jahan) which had at times after 1803 been used as the Residency, but which was no longer so used in 1846. The Delhi College had a career in this building up to 1857, supported by Government and the proceeds of the ‘Nawab Fund,’ the latter being devoted chiefly to the Oriental Branch (which itself had absorbed the original Arabic

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School of 1792). There were two branches, the Modern and the Oriental. After 1857–58, the College was re-founded, and the Nawab Fund came to be administered and expended by the educational department without distinction from the ordinary departmental grants. Meanwhile the sarai had become police barracks. The extinction of any trace of the Arabic School of 1829 was not pleasing to the leading Mohammadans of Delhi, who in 1870, revived the idea of a separate Arabic branch, and successfully moved Government to allot the proceeds of the Nawab Fund for its maintenance. In 1886, the Delhi College having meanwhile collapsed and having been replaced by St. Stephen’s College, the police were removed from the sarai and the Oriental Branch of the Delhi College, saved from the wreck, re-entered, under the name of the Anglo-Arabic School, its original house, first entered 94 years before. In 1924 the School, having opened Intermediate classes, was recognised as a constituent College of the University of Delhi, the recognition being extended to the degree classes in 1929. To the Anglo-Arabic College therefore must be conceded the claim of being, on a somewhat disconnected record, the oldest collegiate foundation in the present Imperial capital, while it shares with St. Stephen’s College that of being a direct successor to the Delhi College.

NOTE B MEMORANDUM OF THE CAMBRIDGE COMMITTEE OF THE DELHI MISSION MISSION SHOULD UNDERTAKE THE WORK OF PREPARING FOR THE HIGHER UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS.

IN REGARD TO THE PROPOSAL THAT THE

As Amended by the Committee on October 27th, 1880. The question whether the Cambridge Mission at Delhi should carry on a system of classes to prepare for the higher university examinations, to which not only students from mission schools but also others should be admitted, having been referred to the committee at Cambridge, they are of opinion that unless the circumstances have greatly altered since the date of Mr. Bickersteth’s letter (August 11), the work should be undertaken. The following considerations weighed with the committee in coming to this decision: 1. Such work is, in their opinion, entirely in accordance with the original design of the Mission. For although special prominence was given in its first papers to the higher education of native Christians and candidates for the ministry, educational efforts of a wider character were also hinted at; while ‘literary and other labours’ were spoken of through which it might be possible ‘to reach the more thoughtful heathen.’ Moreover, one reason for the selection of Delhi as the scene of the Mission was that ‘the students of the Government College have been found specially accessible to Christian influence.’ And apart from any express language

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in the description of the objects of the Mission, the proposed work is certainly not foreign to its general idea, as a Mission proceeding from an English university, from which no kind of labours calculated to introduce Christian influences into the education of natives would naturally be excluded. 2. When such an unhesitating and reiterated call to this special work is given by the Bishop of Lahore, whose words carry so much weight, owing both to his position in the Church and his long experience, to decline without clearly sufficient reasons would be to incur a heavy responsibility. 3. Independently of the Bishop’s appeal, the present crisis of educational matters in Delhi seems to offer peculiarly great opportunities which may never occur again. So far as it is possible to judge from a distance, the plan of taking students from mission schools, but not others, would be wanting in consideration to those interested in the Native College. It would be very difficult for them to carry on an independent College, if a considerable number of possible students were thus otherwise provided for. It would obviously show greater fairness for the Mission to begin with the larger scheme than to make the extension of the Mission classes contingent upon the failure of the Native College. Moreover if a native college were not established, parts of the work of higher education would remain unsupplied till the classes in connection with the Mission were thrown open to all. Unless the whole number of students brought in by the wider scheme were very large, much larger than there is reason to anticipate, the additional expenditure of labour and money would probably be comparatively small. 4. The committee attach weight to the account they have received of the favourable attitude of the Government Inspector. 5. While it would be an intelligible, if a narrow, policy to confine the efforts of the Cambridge Mission to the higher education of native Christians, there seems no sufficient reason for making a distinction in favour of heathens educated in mission schools, as compared with other heathens. Experience, there is reason to think, shows that the latter are often the more accessible, as young men, to Christian influence. The foregoing memorandum is sent on the assumption that the scheme for a native college has not come into operation. If it has, further consideration will be necessary.

CHAPTER IX AN INDIAN PRINCIPAL WHEN Hibbert-Ware went to England on furlough in the spring of 1906, it had been agreed ‘almost unanimously’ by the Brotherhood that Rudra should act as principal in his absence. His selection by Wright and continuance by Hibbert-Ware as Vice-Principal, his immensely successful superintendentship of the hostel, the increasing degree to which his counsel was relied on by his senior colleagues, and 158

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the experience he had gained by his recent visit to England, made it practically a foregone conclusion that he should be given the temporary charge. It was another matter, however, that he should be made the permanent head. A visitor to the Mission in 1907 (Rev. J. Carter, of Pusey House, Oxford), recorded in the Delhi Mission News that he would ‘say without any tinge of doubt or hesitation that the most valuable part of the work of the Cambridge Mission is centred in St. Stephen’s College.’ It would have been but human, therefore, if the Brotherhood had felt some disinclination to commit the control of this great enterprise of theirs to one who was not of their own number; though, as Day’s remark quoted in the preceding chapter shows, there was no hesitation about submitting themselves, individually, to Indian direction. On, that issue their outlook had been steadily developing since the day when Wright, constraining the unwilling Rudra to accept the Vice-Principalship by a final and irresistible appeal to his patriotism, had declared ‘You are to be Vice-Principal; and one day you will be Principal’: so that any element of racial consciousness, in the personal aspect, at the time of the appointment was contributed almost entirely by outsiders. To them indeed the step now taken by the Cambridge Mission was epoch-making, marking for the British Christian an objective which, once proved practicable (as it promptly was), he could never in future dare to disown, and for the Indian providing a demonstration of bona fides on the part of the ‘trustee’ nation that was an asset of incalculable value, far beyond merely missionary or educational circles, in the subsequent years of stress. To the Brotherhood, however, the only serious difficulty was one of constitutional procedure, and on June 3rd, 1907, the Chairman was able to announce to the Mission Council that ‘the Cambridge Committee had accepted in this case, pending final settlement of the question, the proposal of the Cambridge Brotherhood that they should appoint3 to the principalship of the College on occasions when it was not desired that a member of the Brotherhood should be appointed; and that in consequence Mr. Rudra’s acting appointment as Principal had now been confirmed by the Brotherhood.’ The previous day, directly he had received the assent of the Cambridge Committee, Allnutt had written as follows to Rudra: I wish to lose no time in announcing to you on behalf of the Brotherhood that you are confirmed in your appointment of Principal. If I could order a salute to be fired on the occasion to certify the pleasure it gives me to make the announcement, I would do so! It will be announced in the Council to-morrow. The pleasure is twofold—(1) personal, that a very dearly valued friend is so deservedly promoted to hold this high and responsible post permanently in our Mission; (2) derived from the sense that it is, if tardy, a step forward in the policy we all recognise as the one called for by the growth of the Indian Church and the duty that developes on us who have been permitted to aid in the early stages of its development, to seek every opportunity of effacing ourselves and giving more and more scope to our Indian brethren for the exercise of their powers and graces.4 I wish you every blessing in the work you have so devotedly and wholeheartedly taken up. I need 159

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hardly say I am and shall be always ready to aid you in every way that lies in my power, so far as my leisure and experience enable me to do so. Such direct evidence disposes finally of impressions that have occasionally gained currency, that the step of ‘appointing an Indian’ was rather forced on a more or less unwilling body of English missionaries. Some natural doubts there may have been in some minds, as there are at the time of any promotion; and to some of the older missionaries, both within and without the Cambridge Mission, such an unprecedented step was felt to involve too great a risk. But to the majority of the Brotherhood there was no doubt that it was right to take it, and they carried with them the full consent of the Home Committee. Without anticipating, therefore, any detailed estimate of Rudra’s long principalship, it may be well to quote, as that of one who was most immediately and personally concerned, Day’s summary of the way in which expectations were justified: At that time no Indian had ever been appointed Principal of an Indian Mission college, and there were considerable searchings of heart as to whether it would be wise to take this step now. But the European members of the staff were persuaded that Rudra was the right man, and they were determined that he should be appointed, and no other. So Rudra was appointed, and what a triumphant success his principalship was! All the qualities which in those days Indians were not supposed to possess—firmness, strength of purpose, organizing ability, the power of leadership, Rudra possessed in abundance. And added to these was a loftiness of character, a humility, a devotion to his Lord, a love for his fellow-men, which won the respect and affection of all who knew him. Allusion has already been made to the appeal which, on Allnutt’s suggestion, Rudra had written to Dr. Stanton, as Chairman of the Cambridge Committee, when at Wright’s death the staffing of the College had all but broken down. He had then expressed one of his most fundamental convictions regarding the College, namely the need for constant and loyal co-operation between Cambridge and India in the supply not merely of funds but of men, the best available. One of the chief handicaps of missionary educational institutions, then as now, was the fewness, and too frequent removal for one reason or another, of those whose religious vocation, added to their educational qualifications, made their personal influence of predominant importance. Even before he took over charge, therefore, Rudra had set himself to obtain a sufficient and continuous supply of missionary staff for the College, and, as will be seen, he had, (some twelve months before the outbreak of the war destroyed so many hopes) good grounds for believing that he had permanently secured this. For practically the whole of the intervening period, however, this part of the staffing was intensely precarious, and Rudra’s annual reports are full of urgent appeals that Cambridge should recognize its responsibilities and opportunities. A series of makeshifts provided for the teaching in the ‘English’ subjects. The College soon suffered a very heavy loss in Day: he broke down in October, 1906, and had to be invalided for eighteen months the following March. Purton’s partial help 160

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on the staff which ended in 1908, was replaced by that of another member of the Brotherhood, the Rev. B. P. W. French: but Western had to be withdrawn almost entirely from College teaching at the end of 1908 for work in the High School, of which he had to take over full charge in 1909, during the furlough of the Rev. N. C. Marsh, the member of the Brotherhood who was by then its Principal. The College therefore fell deeply in the debt of successive chaplains of Delhi, first the Rev. A. P. G. Maunsell, and then the Rev. A. L. H. Selwyn, without whose generous aid as Honorary Lecturers it would have been impossible to provide the necessary English teaching. The uncertainty of Andrews’ health, and of his ability to stand the strain, added to the anxiety of the Principal, who writes of 1908 ‘but for the arrival of Mr. C. H. C. Sharp, who came to us from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, to study Indian religious problems and assist in teaching, we should have been left in an almost desperate condition.’ Sharp was a forerunner of that short service scheme, which was just then being taken up by the Student Christian Movement, and which by opening up a fresh source of recruitment for this form of missionary service eventually solved the staffing problem. Meanwhile Rudra could do no more than reiterate three or four times in a single report how seriously under-staffed the College was on its European side, while emphasising how loyally old students were rallying round him to help him tide over the crisis. At one time no less than five old students, two of them honorary, were engaged in the teaching. But more significant still, Delhi city itself was contributing assistance. One leading citizen, Shams-ul Ulema Maulana Nazir Ahmad Khan Sahib, Hon. LL.D. of Edinburgh, a scholar and author of repute and one of the founders of the Aligarh College, had gratuitously given his services (in 1908) as tutor in Arabic for a particularly brilliant candidate for the degree of Master of Oriental Learning. This was the Rev. Joel Waiz Lal of the Baptist Mission, the holder of no less than six University gold medals, and later well-known as one of the chief translators of the Urdu New Testament: Students of Islam will appreciate the implications of a leading Muslim doctor being ready to train a Christian clergyman in Arabic itself and to rejoice whole-heartedly in his success. ‘An equally happy feature,’ continues Rudra in his report for 1908, ‘has been the invaluable services of Rai Bahadur Babu Mal Sahib, a leading orthodox Hindu, who has been honorary Architect and Engineer of our new Mission buildings, which were finished this year.’ No wonder that he is constrained to exclaim, ‘A Christian College, which is thus helped by leading non-Christians, and has won such a signal place in the respect and esteem of the city of Delhi, is surely worth every help that can be given by Christians in England. Yet year after year Cambridge has sent us no recruit to work in our College!’ Allnutt, as head of the Mission, added his voice to cry shame on Cambridge if it should prove content to let the general short service scheme save what was so essentially a Cambridge enterprise, but as will be seen it was actually only a considerable contribution of men from the sister University that got the College through the next few critical years. Day had, unfortunately, proved a total loss. On his return to the Mission in October, 1908, he was posted at first to district work 161

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with Carlyon at Rohtak, as likely to be less strain than the varied and ceaseless activities of college; but the shortage of staff in the College claimed him after a few weeks, his old malaria got a fresh grip on him the following summer, and he was ordered home for good by the doctors before the year was out. No one, Rudra wrote, had won the sympathy and devotion of the students as he had: the deep personal friendship he had with all his colleagues had made the College work go forward under almost ideally happy conditions. He left an abiding mark on the athletic life and sportsmanship of the College, and his geniality is still vividly remembered by old pupils. Yet, as Hibbert-Ware testifies, he won this affection without ever letting go discipline, and as a steadying influence on young ardent minds in those very difficult days of earliest national consciousness, he had been an immeasurable asset to the College. Happily, he was able in time to throw off the effects of the malaria and since 1920 has been the Bishop of Ossory and Ferns in his own country of Ireland. To offset the loss of Day and the complete withdrawal of Western (on his joining the short lived ‘Brotherhood of the Imitation’ founded by S. E. Stokes), a new lay recruit to the Cambridge Brotherhood, N. G. Leather (Trinity), arrived in October, 1909, specially for College work. At the same time, Sharp, who had found himself able to prolong his stay till 1911, was joined by another short service layman from Oxford, A. C. Judd (Exeter), whose services, however, had almost immediately to be lent for a few months to the Edwards’ College of the C.M.S. at Peshawar, and thereafter, from the spring of 1910 to the summer of 1911, to be shared with the High School. In May, 1910, Bishop Lefroy, at some inconvenience, lent his private secretary, F. F. Monk, another young Oxford layman (Lincoln), for ten months’ teaching in the College; and Rudra was able to report for 1910 that it was the first time since he took charge of the College that he had not been seriously burdened by anxiety about sufficient staff. The relief, however, was all too short, and by the summer of 1911 it was only an opportune change in the University year, whereby the new classes were formed in October instead of, as hitherto, in May, that saved the College from having to close temporarily for lack of staff. Andrews and Leather both were ill for many months and absent till well on into the autumn term: Sharp had gone home, Monk too: and Judd, the sole survivor of the English staff and he only part-time because of school claims, was only kept going by the assistance of C. B. Young of the Baptist Mission, yet another Oxford (Lincoln) man. Monk was back with them on a permanent footing by October, but till Andrews and Leather were fit for duty again, the ‘partial disorganisation of work’ admitted in Rudra’s report only faintly indicates what was involved in carrying on full classes, to say nothing of the games and other essential activities, not only with such shortage of staff, but also in the turmoil of the public preparations for the King’s Durbar of December, 1911, which were then in full swing. By the next year, 1912, however, things really had begun to move. The proclamation of Delhi as the Imperial Capital at the Durbar had fired the imaginations and hopes of all who knew something of the possibilities of the College. The new constitution already being drafted for it under University requirements 162

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was shaped to even wider ambitions and ideals. And Rudra and Andrews got to England together for a brief but effective campaign at the home base. The constitutional effects are dealt with in the next chapter; the results on staffing may be noted as both immediate and progressive. For the moment, Sharp responded to the call and returned in October, 1912, for another ‘short term,’ and with him came out another Oxford man, also on ‘short service,’ F. A. Cockin, (University). A permanent recruit arrived in January, 1913, in the person of S. N. Mukarji (Queens’) secured by Rudra and Andrews, while still engaged in his Cambridge course, as one of the definitely ‘missionary’ staff,5 and Cambridge provided a second permanent recruit in the autumn, Rev. P. N. F. Young, who had resigned the chaplaincy of St. John’s College, Cambridge, in order to join the Brotherhood for College work. With him came two more short service men, C.O. F. Jenkin (King’s) from Cambridge and W. G. Lawrence (St. John’s) from Oxford. Thus the undertakings, to be explained more fully in the next chapter, for the maintenance on the staff of at least eight Honours Graduates of Cambridge or Oxford, had been more than fulfilled.6 The War was still unthought of and Rudra might well flatter himself that he had at last made sure of the English section of his team. Meanwhile he had simultaneously to work for security on the Indian side. It is, unfortunately, notorious in Mission history that employment in Mission institutions, whatever other advantages it gave, was seldom paid for at market rates; while non-Christians, however long their service, were liable to be displaced at short notice by any Christian candidate for the post. (A specific entry to this effect may be found in the Cambridge Mission Council Minutes of those days.) But Rudra had had a strong lead in the ‘demonstrations’ made by his old chief, Wright, both on the issue of fair dealing with employees, irrespective of their religion, and on the question of rates of pay. Within a month or two of assuming acting charge, he found himself compelled to follow up this lead with representations on behalf of several of his Indian colleagues, whose support he was likely to lose just at the outset of his responsibilities, unless the Mission could give them more satisfactory economic conditions. In putting up their case he pointed out that the College had ‘not been altogether successful in combating prevalent ideas of cheapness’ as regards the Indian portion of the staff, and that as a result it was ‘hardly in any sense of the term a body of serious students of the subjects which in Indian parlance its members are supposed to profess’—in fact that its main character was that of ‘a body of tolerable coaches.’ Pointing out that the comparatively impecunious condition of these teachers was mainly responsible for the small share they had taken in the recent efforts to enlarge the scope of student life in the College, and was preventing them from buying books and developing fresh intellectual interests of their own, he boldly declared that ‘to make the College a real centre of intellectual activity the character of the teaching staff must be changed from that of examination coaches to that of students and enthusiasts; and this cannot be done without offering the teachers such pay and prospects that they may be able to look upon 163

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the work they engage in as their life work.’ Alluding to the recent great expansion in residential accommodation he admits,’ I know that it is asking a great deal to attempt a double line of advance’ but nevertheless ‘it is imperative that the personal staff should be strengthened at the same time, otherwise our progress will be one-sided and ineffective.’ While coherence and co-ordination of developments were thus recognised as fundamental conditions of success, the emphasis was really being laid on an even more vital principle, namely that the status of a true colleague, and not a mere employee, should be accorded to every teacher in the College. The policy proposed was all the more readily responded to inasmuch as a considerable proportion of those affected were, as already mentioned, themselves old students of the College. Although, therefore, the actual rises in pay for which the Principal felt able to ask for sanction at the moment fell considerably short of what might justifiably have been proposed, they were accepted ungrudgingly as the best adjustment possible to the current financial resources of the College. The complementary step of bringing locally appointed Christian members of the staff under the general rates, was next proposed in the Mission Council by Rudra, Andrews and Western. This involved the sacrifice by those concerned of their privileged position, and there were those who held that it would result in no Christian Indians being ready to join the staff. Happily a better faith in the spirit of the Indian Church prevailed, and though the High School, for sufficient, but none the less regrettable, reasons, was expressly excluded from the reform, the principle of equality of status among all locally recruited members of the staff was formally accepted in March, 1909. There remained the discrepancy between these rates of pay and those of the ‘European’ staff (actually a misnomer after the appointment of S. N. Mukarji on the missionary cadre by the Home Committees). The latter were sensitive both of the personal embarrassments and of the inconsistency with the principle of fellowship in vocation caused by the differentiation; and themselves took the initiative more than once in exploring means for either its elimination or its better justification. As the fee-income increased in succeeding years with the admission of more students, and Government grants advanced proportionately, both this problem and the general question of rates of pay was brought up again and again by Rudra for reconsideration, on the unassailable basis that the discovery of a proper economic minimum salary is as much the duty of a Christian institution as any other of its functions. It would be tedious and unnecessary to trace the successive developments of the principle, so it is enough to record that before his retirement Rudra had the satisfaction of seeing the whole question of staff salaries placed on a basis as satisfactory as it was secure for all concerned, whether recruited in India or in England. The fluctuations in English personnel during these years have already been recorded. On the Indian side the instability was fortunately not so marked. Two important accessions occurred in May, 1906, M. Abdur Rahman as Professor of Arabic succeeding Jamil-ur-Rahman, resigned (he went into retirement and died in 1924): and N. K. Sen, as Professor of Philosophy, replacing in that subject Western, who was needed for the English teaching. Martyn retired that same 164

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summer in order to complete his medical course at Edinburgh and devote himself to Medical Mission work among his own people in Madras. For thirteen years a devoted worker in the Mission, his ‘kindliness of nature, simplicity of life, integrity of purpose and devotion to duty’ were suitably recognised in the farewell party and presentation organised by members of the College on his departure. He died in 1912. His resignation led to Khub Ram’s promotion as Senior Professor of Science in July, 1906, and the appointment in November of Baikanath Chandra Roy as Professor of Mathematics. On Roy’s resignation in 1908 the gap was filled for some months by one of the M.A. students, Munshi Ram, later a prominent member of the Punjab Provincial Civil Service, till K. B. Basu was appointed in March, 1909, he again being succeeded in May, 1910 by D. N. Bhattacharya, who in his quiet and unobtrusive way quickly identified himself with the life and spirit of the College, served it loyally till 1920, and died in 1926. On January 17th, 1907, Maulvi Shah Jahan, the last survivor, on the rolls, of the original staff, ‘a finished scholar of the old type, highly venerated and loved,’ passed away after a brief illness of three days. The Mission Council recorded their ‘deep sense of his long and faithful services,’ and Rudra reported that he had accepted a generous offer of temporary help in the Persian teaching from Khwaja Abdul Majid till the appointment of Ghulam Yazdani took effect in May. Both of these were old students of the College. The latter, now Director of Archæology in the Nizam’s Dominions, left in 1908, and ‘the Khwaja Sahib’ became Professor of Persian till his retirement in 1916. In 1910, Ghose, the oldest old student member of the staff, who had been on it since 1898, left on a visit to England, and on his return was transferred to parish work in the city; by 1913, however, he had been requisitioned again for part time teaching. Two other old students were appointed temporarily during the cold weather of 1912–13, S. C. Chatterji as Assistant in Philosophy, and Mahdi Hasan to replace Khwaja Abdul Majid, absent on sick-leave. Early in 1913 a very wellknown figure in College life passed off the active list when B. Sri Kishen Das, the College clerk, went on pension after twenty-six years of loyal service. He died in 1930. Later in the same year, P. C. Mukerji retired after serving the College for twenty-eight years in most varied and valuable ways, in addition to his functions as Professor of Science, for the last seven years or so of them in the capacity of Vice-Principal and Bursar. Also in 1913, Khub Ram went to England to take a degree at Leeds University. The double vacancy thus caused on the science staff was filled by Jenkin and D. K. Roy, a Bengali Christian with an Edinburgh Science degree; the latter being replaced a year later by J. N. Mitra, an M.Sc. of Calcutta. P. C. Mukerji’s functions as Bursar were taken over by Raghubar Dayal, while the Vice-Principalship, which under the terms of the new Constitution had henceforth to be held by a member of the Church of England, was undertaken by Andrews. In less than a year, however, Andrews found himself compelled to respond to the wider claims to which from the first he had shown himself so sensitive. 165

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At the request of Mr. Gokhale and other national leaders he took leave from the College in the autumn of 1913 to go to South Africa as a mediator in the struggle then going on between Gandhi and the Natal Government over the condition of the indentured Indian labourers there. He has told the story himself (What I Owe to Christ, ch. xii) and the future historian of social emancipation may be left to pay adequate tribute to what he has since helped to accomplish, not only in South Africa but in other parts of the Empire also, in remedying the evils of the indentured labour system. His colleagues’ feelings are sufficiently expressed in a few sentences from the College Magazine: One thing stands out pre-eminently in the history of the College during the last two months, our Vice-Principal’s triumphant mission to South Africa. All parties there have publicly acknowledged the value of his help and presence. Let us not fail of grateful acknowledgement to Him from whom all good things come. It was with more mixed feelings, however, that the College learnt, on his return to India in the spring of 1914, after a brief visit home, that he had decided to leave it forthwith and throw in his lot with his friend the poet Rabindranath Tagore at the latter’s educational Asram, Santiniketan, in Bengal. But the loss to the College, which was to be lessened by an annual return to Delhi for two months (quite impracticable as events proved) was offset by the gain to Indian nationhood in a man of his spiritual and intellectual calibre thus identifying himself wholly and unreservedly with India. So the tributes to what he had been to, and done for, the Cambridge Mission during the nine years he had been with it were coloured by the satisfaction of regarding him as a gift to India from the Church in Delhi. This is confirmed, if confirmation were needed, in the characteristically generous tribute which Allnutt paid to Andrews in the Delhi Mission News of July, 1914. He acknowledged in some detail the debt which the Brotherhood owed him both in its devotional life and in the practical administration of the Mission, and, while frankly admitting some sense of relief that the Brotherhood would no longer be embarrassed, as on occasion it had been, by his diversity from its general standpoint, declared: If men like Andrews seem precipitate and inclined to break too hastily with the old traditions, I am inclined to say that, rather than condemn them, while we pray they may not by any rashness or ill-balanced judgment injure the cause we all have at heart, we have come to the time when we need bold ventures and experiments in the Mission field. It may be that some day we shall have reason to be thankful for what such men have been able to achieve as pioneers in a new era of missionary enterprise. From the College standpoint, Rudra’s farewell appreciation will not appear excessive to those who know anything of what the friendship of the two men meant both to themselves and to the College which they served in such close partnership:

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It is right and proper that I should record that no single personality has had so great an influence in the development of the College as Charles Freer Andrews. His advent in our midst was a gift from above. His scholarship and genius for teaching left a permanent mark both on classwork and on the courses of the Punjab University, of which for many years he was a very active Fellow. In practical questions, of administration or of building, his ability and advice were invaluable. And his versatility was exhibited in almost every other aspect of College life. But it was chiefly in the warm personal friendships formed not only with all colleagues, Indian and English equally, but also with a wide circle of leading men alike in the city of Delhi and in the official world, that his most lasting effect on the College is observable, both in internal and outward relationships. Apart from the estimate that still waits to be assessed of the part he has played in the making of modern India, he stands out in the history of the College as undoubtedly the greatest link on the British side, as Rudra was on the Indian, in that close personal association of the two races which St. Stephen’s has so long cherished as one of its outstanding features. Two other missionary members of the staff left that same spring of 1914. Cockin’s spell of short service had come to an end, and though the many services he was able to render the College as an officer of the Student Christian Movement have lately been crowned by his undertaking the Chairmanship of the London Committee of the Mission, the hopes of his eventual return to Delhi were unfortunately never fulfilled. Sharp too went home once more with the intention of returning after ordination. But the War intervened to prevent both intentions and it was six years before the College recovered him. The Vice-Principalship vacated by Andrews was filled by Monk. One element in the staffing, already alluded to, requires particular notice owing to its significance in the promotion of Christian unity. On more than one occasion, it will have been observed, it was the assistance given by the Baptist Mission, in the person of C. B. Young, an Oxford graduate and scholar who had been on their staff in Delhi since 1908, which saved the teaching arrangements from complete collapse. The Baptist Missionary Society had been working in Delhi even before the S.P.G., since 1818 in fact, but relations between the two Missions had been far from happy in the early days. At the time of Lefroy’s consecration as Bishop of Lahore in 1899, however, Allnutt had noted with great satisfaction not only the expressions of regard and congratulations received from the Baptist Mission, but also the increasing instances of mutual esteem and co-operation between the two bodies. All too much, however, still survived of the old attitude of aloofness and mistrust, perhaps more in official than in personal relations; and it was therefore, relatively, a signal advance towards true Christian relationships that was secured by the gradual inclusion of Young on the College staff. In 1909, with his Baptist colleague, the Rev. Joel Waiz Lal (who had already rendered valuable help in the teaching, the previous year, directly he had finished his examination for the M.O.L.), he helped to save the College from closing early for lack of teachers:

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in the summer of 1910, he was rendering the same service (this time in company with Dr. Garfield Williams from the C.M.S. at Agra), and early in 1911, on Sharp’s departure, he took over from him the superintendence of a small overflow hostel in a hired building. At this point his society showed a very notable spirit of cooperation by requesting to be allowed in future to make itself responsible for the provision of the accommodation thus needed and thereby to make a definite contribution to the education work of the Anglican Mission. It should be noted, too, that the hostellers concerned were not Christians and there was therefore no hint of sectarianism in the proposal. The College warmly welcomed it and when the apprehensions of the higher authorities had been satisfactorily allayed, the Baptist Mission Hostel became a permanent and integral part of the institution. Simultaneously, with the entire concurrence of his society, Young’s occasional teaching in the College was put on a more and more regular footing till by 1914 he was a full-time member of the staff. Part of his salary was provided by the Baptist Mission for his functions as hostel superintendent of their hostel (its own building was erected a mile or so from the College in 1916), and the remainder was carefully charged to College local revenues and not to the special ‘European Staff Fund’ from which missionary salaries are met mainly by grants from Anglican sources, viz. the Cambridge Committee and the S.P.G. Some ten years later it became convenient for his entire salary to be paid by the College, still, however, from local funds, but the Baptist Mission was loth to abandon the privilege of sharing in the work of the College and continued to provide the hostel and his residence as its superintendent. Needless to say, throughout these successive developments scrupulous care was taken by the authorities concerned to safeguard any questions of ecclesiastical principle, so that the most sensitive conscience could find no ground for complaining of compromise; and it was largely as a result of this successful demonstration of what was already practicable in the direction of Christian unity that the S.P.G. and the Baptist Missionary Society found themselves able in more recent years to combine in a joint enterprise, the Delhi United Christian School. Another venture of faith in the direction of co-operation was made in these days which has had a lasting effect, perhaps not so much on the students directly, as on the esprit de corps of the staff and its consequent influence over them. It arose out of Sharp’s introduction into his daily religious class of a course on comparative religion. His students complained that they found themselves at a disadvantage in subsequent discussions owing to their lack of knowledge of their own creeds. Voluntary classes were therefore arranged for the imparting of such information under the control of selected and loyal Hindu and Muslim members of the staff, these classes being later recognised formally as the Hindu and Muslim Religious Associations. It must be regretfully confessed that their original and ostensible purpose has exercised strangely little appeal among even the most religious-minded Hindu and Muslim students, but these associations at least stand witness to the bona fides of the Mission College in insisting that its rigid adherence to daily Christian instruction is not mere ‘proselytising,’ but the assertion of a fundamental and universal principle of education, namely, that it must be rooted in religion, 168

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which other creeds should also have the freedom to exemplify if they desire to do so. Consequent on this partial admission of the non-Christian staff to a share in the most vital function of the College, a further step was taken in 1910. Addresses were already being given by the Christian members of the staff on one day in the week to the whole College in place of the teaching in classes: another day was now set aside on which one or two of the Hindu and Muslim professors, whose loyalty to the spirit of the College could be relied on, were invited in turn to address the whole College on some religious or moral topic, the only proviso being that nothing should be said in disparagement of or hostility to the Christian Faith. As a result Rudra could claim, when reporting on the innovation in 1911; ‘The non-Christian staff is no longer a merely paid agency for secular teaching, but responsible with us for the whole moral life and tone of the College. The supremely strong Christian position of equity and truth that we occupy enables us to do this. The whole moral weight and influence of the staff as a body is brought to bear on the pupils in one direction, and the Christian position is maintained intact.’ Though the regularity of these elements in the weekly timetable has been modified in recent years in the interests of greater continuity and system in religious class-teaching, the practice still remains of this deliberate association of the non-Christian members of the staff from time to time with the moral and spiritual purpose of the College.

[[**MISSING PAGES**]] CHAPTER XIV THE UNIVERSITY OF DELHI THE conception of a University of Delhi was probably first formed in the swift imaginations of St. Stephen’s College staff, when at the Durbar of 1911, they heard the Royal announcement of Delhi’s new status. That the Imperial Capital should ultimately have a university of its own seemed inevitable, and the position which St. Stephen’s would hold in it was one of unlimited possibilities. As has been seen, plans were immediately formed for removing the College to the new city, and equipping it to meet in any case its vastly increased opportunities, and the application for a site and grants was met by the Government in the generous way already recorded. Official designs took longer to formulate, owing to natural delays and preoccupation with more urgent questions; but by January, 1915, Allnutt, in writing of hopes that the site to be given to the College would be an ideal one for its purpose, was able to add: A large block of the new city is set apart for higher educational purposes, and eventually it is the intention of the Government of India to found a Delhi University. As its buildings will be on the ground adjacent to our own buildings, we shall be, as first in the field, in a very favourable position. The idea at first entertained was the establishment of a Government college for some 500 students on one side of a triangular block bisected by what is now 169

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Curzon Road, but which was actually named Great College Street in the first layout; a site for St. Stephen’s was allotted on the opposite side; and in some indeterminate future a university building was contemplated at the base of the triangle. It was on this general basis that plans were first drawn up, progressing in the case of St. Stephen’s as far as detailed drawings for a most impressive group of buildings. As the war dragged on, however, all such projects were definitely held up, and by the time that peace was declared the defects and disadvantages of that particular scheme had become sufficiently obvious to call for a complete reconsideration of the proposals. In the first place the original site and plans allowed insufficiently for the inclusion of other colleges or for natural expansion; it was also now realised that it would not be of any great educational advantage to place a large body of students in such close proximity to the distractions of the capital; but the chief deterrent was the enormous rise in the cost of material and building in the new city. These considerations caused the recommendations of a special official committee, which reported in 1919, to be practically still-born, by no means to the regret of the existing local colleges, who would have found in the new Government College, which was the central proposal, such competition as would have seriously limited their development and usefulness. Meantime two other influences of even greater weight were affecting the general question. In the first place the Punjab University, for good reasons of its own, was endeavouring to counteract the more obvious defects of the affiliating system on which it was founded by requiring all M.A. and Honours B.A. work to be concentrated in Lahore. The effect of such a policy on the Delhi colleges, more particularly on one with such a staff as St. Stephen’s, would have been intolerable. Simultaneously, the report of the Calcutta University Commission issued in 1919 had crystallised the general dissatisfaction with merely affiliating and examining universities and promoted a movement for a new type of unitary and teaching university, such as rapidly came into being in the United Provinces and elsewhere. From the first of the above considerations therefore there arose an urgent local demand for the realisation of a Delhi University: and on the strength of the latter an explicit proposal was made in September, 1919, by Mr. (later Sir Henry) Sharp, then Secretary for Education in the Government of India. Sir Henry from the beginning had very clear ideas as to what he wanted, namely a unitary university of the type of the recently constituted University of Dacca, one in which the University would take up all post-Intermediate work, while the Intermediate students and their tuition would be left in the hands of the existing colleges. The implications of this scheme, especially as it would affect the colleges, were not fully perceived at the time, and at a committee consisting of certain officials and representatives of the three Delhi colleges, held in December, Sir Henry’s proposal was welcomed and it was still confidently expected that the University buildings would be erected in New Delhi. The educational authorities of the Mission turned to a consideration of this programme and during 1920, a scheme was worked out for a post-Intermediate college of 120 students, with four hostels and a staff of eight lecturers. 170

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Then came a long pause and for about a year nothing was done. This was perhaps just as well, as it gave time for consideration. It even produced a proposal from Lahore to confer a limited autonomy on the Delhi colleges. This, however, produced a reply in May, 1921 that the proposal had elicited no enthusiasm. Meanwhile, though as late at June, 1921, Rudra was writing quite cheerfully that the Hindu College and St. Stephen’s would, under the new University, cease as such to exist, at the end of that month a warning note is struck. It had begun to be perceived that it would be disastrous if the University were to have the effect of breaking up the corporate life of the College so carefully cherished for years. Further, various suspicions were beginning to show their heads. On the one hand was the feeling, shared by the leaders of the Hindu College, that undue official influence was a danger that would dominate the University and stereotype education. On the other hand the Hindu College was beginning to fear that it would have insufficient weight in the counsels of the University. There was tension and distrust. To meet these two dangers Monk, as Acting Principal, proposed that an effort should be made to bring together the various college authorities with the purpose of formulating an agreed scheme as a basis of negotiation with Government. After several abortive attempts and some misunderstanding a meeting of the representatives of the three colleges was held at the end of June, and at this meeting the crucial demand was made that ‘at least two-thirds of the controlling body of the University should be representatives of the existing colleges’; and further that it should be this controlling body that should decide the times of the move to the new city and of the separation of Intermediate and Degree classes. The colleges were beginning to assert themselves. Indeed by the autumn of this year a great step towards their protection was taken when, in response to a memorandum drawn up by representatives of the colleges, the Government agreed to take them into its confidence before producing the draft of the University Bill. Nevertheless, by the end of November, when the Bill was in the drafting stage, it had become clear that if the colleges were to preserve their privileges, their corporate life and character, in the new University, a very definite and firm stand would have to be taken. Sir H. Sharp quite definitely wanted a unitary scheme; St. Stephen’s was equally clear that unless the colleges, as such, formed constituent units of the University, all that it had stood for in the past would be lost. Consequently, representatives of the colleges met Sir H. Sharp, and after considerable discussion he gave verbal assurance that the principles pressed for would be safe-guarded. This did not give a sufficient sense of security and a meeting of the Governing Body of the College was held which drew up resolutions stating the conditions under which, with the expected concurrence of the Mission authorities in England, the College was prepared to co-operate. These conditions summarily stated were that the College should form a constituent part of the University; that its identity should not be merged in that of the University but that it should preserve its individual and corporate character; and in particular that its religious teaching and character should be preserved. Further, that the academic policy of the University should be mainly controlled by its teaching staff, and that members of the College 171

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staff should be eligible for all University appointments. These resolutions were forwarded to Mr. Sharp, and appear to have had a considerable influence on the drafting. On 2nd January, 1922, a meeting of the University Committee was held with Sir Muhammad Shafi, the Member for Education, in the chair, at which the colleges were assured that every effort had been made to draft the Bill in conformity with their views. Nevertheless, they were on tenterhooks until the Bill was passed by both houses of the Legislature by the end of February, and it was seen that in all essentials the end had been achieved and that the cherished corporate life of the College would go on under new conditions which seemed full of hope for educational progress and improvement. The main reason which had thus caused the Government, rather surprisingly perhaps, to concede the demands of the local colleges, was the all too familiar one of financial stringency. The desirability of a University of Delhi had been accepted, but its establishment in the form favoured officially was outside the range of practical finance: there were no funds available either for central buildings or for a University teaching staff. The Government was therefore glad to acknowledge the colleges, at least for the time being, as teaching units, and to accept their offer to bring the University into being as they stood, on their existing sites: it being understood that Government accepted for its part the obligation to proceed with the provision of sites, grants, and maintenance of supplementary University teaching staff, as soon as the financial situation allowed. Unfortunately the Inchcape Retrenchment Committee, in the course of its investigations the next year, expressed such drastic views on the question whether a university was needed in Delhi at all, that the cogent educational arguments which had justified its creation were apparently driven out of the official mind and the understanding with the colleges forgotten. The subsequent march of events is rather for the future historian of the Delhi University to trace: in brief, in place of the sites and grants which the colleges had been led to expect in order to enable the University to make good, there followed a succession of annual allotments of inadequate maintenance funds and a constant complaint that the colleges and the city of Delhi were not doing what they had, in fact, never undertaken to do, their resources being strained to the utmost by the effort to keep the constituent colleges up to the mark. Protests and reminders proved of no avail till eventually, in 1927, the University declared its inability to balance its budget and so forced the Government to give it the attention of a special Enquiry Committee. The findings of this Committee were, at any rate in principle as distinct from immediate practical application, satisfactory to the College authorities regarding the issues that had been exercising them. In the first place the tendency that still lingered in the official mind towards an ultimate merging of the colleges in the University was finally repudiated. Not only was their position as teaching units clearly recognised, but their staffs were also conceded the right of full association in even the highest grades of instruction. The crucial importance of this last admission for ensuring a supply of first-class recruits for college teaching is obvious. Secondly, the finding of a university site among the disused buildings of the ‘Temporary Capital’ to the north of Old Delhi, 172

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instead of in the prohibitively expensive area of New Delhi (an alternative which had been mooted as early as 1923 to facilitate Government’s discharge of its obligations), was at last agreed to after years of inter-departmental procrastination, and Old Viceregal Lodge indicated as the eventual location. At last, therefore, the College knew definitely where its future home was ultimately to be. On the third issue before the Enquiry Committee, namely the inclusion of the Intermediate classes for an indefinite period in the University, the decision so to retain them, though perhaps unavoidable under the actual circumstances, ought nevertheless to be regarded, educationally, as a confession of failure. One of the strongest points made by the Calcutta University Commission had been the need to relegate the Intermediate classes to their proper place in the secondary stage of education, both in the interests of the virtual schoolboys who comprised them and of the University classes on whom their presence acted as a drag. In the Delhi University Act therefore it had been expressly provided that after a certain term of years the Intermediate classes should be dropped. Strongly endorsing this outlook, both Rudra and Monk had stressed, with all the emphasis they could command, the consequent obligation laid upon the Mission. In his farewell report to Cambridge for 1922 Rudra puts forward the two main reasons for this view: Firstly, a strong Intermediate College will strengthen the University section of St. Stephen’s College; and secondly, for sound missionary work and influencing the life and character of the students for good and laying those foundations securely, we need to get hold of the young between the ages of 14 and 18, the time when they will be at an Intermediate College. He even goes so far as to add: This is even of greater importance in some ways than our contribution to University life. Monk, whose work had lain practically throughout his service with the Intermediate classes, developed the implications in a comprehensive scheme for the re-organisation of the whole ‘lay-out’ of education in the Mission, which he took with him to England on his furlough in 1924, to lay before the Home Committees. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the conditional character of the approval given by the Mission Council and by the Governing Body. The separation of the Intermediate classes had always been put forward along with an assumed extension of the Degree course from two years to three. The College now decided that, given the degree students for three years as suggested, it was prepared to forgo its influence over them at the earlier stage; otherwise not. Public disinclination to incur another year’s fees in the attainment of the degree, it was held, made the three-year course an impracticable proposition to put before the University bodies; and it was also only too clear that the authorities of some colleges would not be able to contemplate lightly the prospect of losing the fee-income from their large Intermediate classes. The application of the original provision of the Act 173

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was therefore deferred and deferred, till the Enquiry Committee at last tacitly accepted the situation and the Intermediate boy retains his status as a student of the Delhi University. This is not the place to discuss the bearing of that fact on national education: but two comments might be made in passing. It is quite a possibility, now that a minimum age for matriculation has been dropped, that the ‘child-matriculate’ will soon supersede the ‘child-bride’ as one of India’s major social problems; on the other hand the anomaly has had to be accepted for some years now of ‘undergraduates’ in St. Stephen’s College, if in the Intermediate classes and resident in one of the hostels, being required to attend a compulsory daily period of ‘supervised prep’! To revert to the immediate effects on St. Stephen’s, personal and institutional, of the passing of the Delhi University Act. For the transitional period that had to intervene before the authorities of the University could be constituted, powers were vested in the Vice-Chancellor and Provisional Executive Council, on which latter the College was represented by Monk, Sen and P. N. F. Young, with Western also by virtue of his position as Chairman of the Governing Body. The ViceChancellor appointed to direct the fortunes of the infant University was Dr. Hari Singh Gour, D.C.L., LL.D., an old Downing man, a member of the Legislative Assembly, and a jurist of more than Indian repute. A very vigorous personality, it was unfortunate that he was not a resident of Delhi and only able to be present for a small portion of the year. However, the Act permitted the appointment of a Rector to carry out most of the functions of the Vice-Chancellor in the latter’s absence, and the Chancellor (the Viceroy) was happily advised to select for this office Western, who had succeeded to the headship of the Mission on Allnutt’s death. It would be impossible to calculate all that the University owes to his immense ability and indefatigable industry during the early formative months of its existence, both in the Executive and in the Academic Councils, over each of which he presided. To constitute an Academic Council it was necessary not merely to ‘recognise’ the staffs of the colleges as teachers, but also to provide for University, as distinct from College, teaching by the appointment of professors and readers. It was agreed that none of the existing staffs were academically of sufficient repute to take the rank of Professor, but that several might without impropriety become readers. Accordingly fifteen readers in all were appointed from the three colleges. This was a larger number than for some reasons was desirable, but on the other hand it was felt to be unwise for St. Stephen’s to appear unduly dominant. Out of the fifteen, eight fell to the Mission College, as follows: English, C. B. Young; Philosophy, N. K. Sen; Economics, K. C. Nag; History, P. N. F. Young; Mathematics, S. N. Mukarji; Sanskrit, Lachhmi-Dhar; Arabic, Abdur Rahman; Physics, Khub Ram. With these appointments, and with the co-option of Sharp, the College held a majority on the Academic Council, which put it for the moment in a strong position. This was increased in the course of the next year, 1923, by the appointment of P. N. F. Young as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and of Khub Ram as Dean of the Faculty of Science. As a matter of fact Khub Ram was relinquished 174

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to the University as one of its scanty whole-time staff, at the same time that all post-intermediate science teaching was, by general agreement, devolved by the colleges on to the University, to be centralised, for the sake of economy, in the university laboratories.7 But by a happy provision of the Act, all university teachers had to be attached to some college, so Khub Ram retained his membership on the St. Stephen’s staff. In his farewell report to Cambridge for 1922, Rudra had welcomed the formation of the University on the ground that the Delhi colleges had hitherto worked in comparative isolation, involving wasteful duplication of machinery and equipment and some unhealthy rivalry, but would now enter into a scheme of co-operation under unified control in which their own staff members would have a consultative share. Everything, he observed, pointed to the timeliness of the new policy for concentrating and pooling the resources of educational institutions in the new type of University: and ‘if the Delhi experiment is successful,’ he declares, ‘it will be an object lesson to the country for the betterment of higher education.’ But that success would depend in the first place on the strength of the constituent colleges, and in the second on the spirit of mutual confidence and friendship among them. Unfortunately the first condition, as it worked out in actual fact, militated seriously for a time against the second. The Mission College was, in a way, too strong, and though its authorities took every occasion to repudiate any suggestion of a desire to dominate the University, in which it would only confess to the pardonable ambition, justified alike by its history and its personnel, of being primus inter pares, yet the very strength of its contribution, more particularly in men, inevitably gave rise to heart-burnings and tension with other colleges, which for a time created a rather unhappy atmosphere. The situation was unfortunately not alleviated by the course which the Vice-Chancellor pursued, and when on the conclusion of his original term of two years he was re-appointed, Western found himself unable to continue the moderating influence which as Rector he had been able to contribute. The influence of the College was therefore in some degree reduced, a fact which it welcomed on the whole as a practical proof of its disinterestedness in University politics; while increasing personal contacts and practical expressions of goodwill steadily improved the general inter-college relations. In University business, however, a situation arose in connection with certain University appointments which eventually ended in something like a crisis. In March, 1925, Monk found himself compelled to propose, and the Governing Body after the most careful and prolonged deliberation approved, the abstention of the Principal and members of the staff from all participation, ex-officio or elective, in the executive and administrative functions of the University. The grounds for this drastic action were formulated as ‘the deep divergence between the standards of the University as at present administered, and those which the Governing Body and those who work under it feel themselves bound to maintain.’ The decisions of the Arbitration tribunals, which considered the cases that had thus brought previous criticisms to a head, effectively reinforced the protest. It also acquired additional moral weight from the fact that this abstention from the Executive Council 175

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left the field absolutely free to the opposing elements in that body, and disproved conclusively the charge of seeking for undue power which had been persistently imputed to the College. At the same time any accusation of blind and harmful non-co-operation was precluded by the Governing Body’s explicit direction that members of the staff should continue their academic services to the University in readerships or on the Academic Council. This ‘demonstration’ had the effect which was hoped for, and by the next January the Governing Body, reviewing the position, felt justified in directing a return to full participation in all University affairs, in view of the indications of a better spirit and of the probability of an early change in the actual régime. This took place a few months later, and since then St. Stephen’s College has been proud to contribute its full weight and service, in all departments and activities, as an integral part of the University of Delhi.

Notes 1 Fuller details will be found in the Society’s publication, The Story of the Delhi Mission. 2 It should be noted that the Indian universities of those days were purely examining bodies based on the model of the London University. The defects recognised later to be inherent in the system are discussed in chapter viii. 3 i.e. make appointments of non-Brotherhood men to [Illegible text] 4 That this was no mere compliment but the acknowledged ideal of the Cambridge Mission as a whole, is shown by the following passages from Allnutt’s official reports as head of the Mission: REPORT OF THE S.P.G. AND CAMBRIDGE MISSION FOR 1906–7 Head of the Mission’s letter dated 31st January, 1907, Page 16 ‘Hibbert-Ware’s departure on furlough was made memorable both by the very remarkable demonstration of regard and affection towards him on the part of the students and many others when he left, and still more perhaps by the decision we almost unanimously came to, to appoint Mr. Rudra as his locum tenens. Whatever may be held and ultimately decided as to the principle that, cæteris paribus, a member of the Cambridge Mission ought to be Principal of the College, not one of us feels anything but pride and satisfaction that when the opportunity did, for the first time in the history of the Cambridge Mission, occur of appointing an Indian Christian to the post, so thoroughly eligible a member of the College staff was, so to say, ready at hand for it, and that the testimony of all concerned is so emphatically that of ‘the right man in the right post.’ But besides its justification per se, the appointment has been an important step in our Mission towards the assertion of the principle which I hope will more and more animate our policy, that whenever an Indian Christian is found both worthy and capable of rising to the charge of the higher posts in the Mission, no racial consideration shall bar the way to his selection for them, even when, as in the present case, the promotion involves the subordination of our own men to him.’

S. S. ALLNUTT. REPORT OF THE S.P.G. AND CAMBRIDGE MISSION FOR 1907 Head of the Mission’s letter dated 30th January, 1908, Page 17 ‘In one way (Hibbert-Ware’s) loss has, as he himself rejoiced to feel, been a blessing in disguise, for it has enabled us to confirm Rudra, our Indian Principal in his acting

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appointment; and I think that no one now doubts that our action two years ago in putting an Indian Christian in charge of this, the most honourable office in the Mission, has not only justified itself, but was a most important step in advance; the precursor, as I trust, of many similar advances in years to come. It enables me to judge what an immense and, if it be thoughtfully diagnosed, healthy development in public opinion has taken place during the last ten years, that an appointment such as this which would, when I left the College, have been deplored as retrograde by Indians themselves, should have now been welcomed with acclamation by all. It is certainly a great cause for satisfaction to have been able to help forward by one conspicuous success the assertion of the principle that in appointments the best man for the post is the one to find and place in it, irrespective altogether of race and nationality.

S. S. ALLNUTT. 5 Allnutt’s comment on this appointment is a fine example of the old man’s spiritual alertness regarding the racial ideals of the Mission, which his letter to Rudra on his appointment will have already revealed. According ‘a tribute to the self-denying and devoted efforts of our Indian Principal, to whom this (general) accession to the strength of the College cadre is mainly due,’ he specially expresses his thankfulness for the accession of an Indian graduate of Cambridge to the staff. ‘The one set-back to the introduction of so large a staff of Europeans, from the point of view of the development of the Indian Church, is that it must tend to overshadow and, despite efforts to the contrary, to dominate the Indian element of college life. The chairs occupied by Europeans being those in some cases which Indian Christians are best able at present to fill, increase in the former seemed likely to reduce the openings for the latter, and it is on this account that the accession of Mr. Mukarji is specially to be welcomed.’ 6 The staff list for November, 1913, carried the names of Andrews, Sharp, Leather, Monk, Mukarji, P. N. F. Young, Cockin, Jenkin, and Lawrence with C. B. Young doing parttime teaching. Judd had gone home in 1912, and after trying College work in China, and looking up old friends in Delhi on his way home in 1914, was killed in Prance in 1918 while serving as a chaplain. The memory of his most lovable character and readiness to serve in any way, and at any time, is still preserved by old colleagues and pupils. 7 Some Rs. 5,000 worth of apparatus was also contributed by the College to help launch the University Physics Department.

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CHAPTER VIII THE EDUCATION OF THE HANDICAPPED Schools for the Blind IN Assam, there is no school for blind children. The blind children of this Province have, therefore, to go to the Blind School at Calcutta. Though scholarships of Rs. 15 per month are offered and 24 seats are reserved for children from Assam, very few of them avail of these facilities. In Bengal, there are two important institutions, both situated in Calcutta, viz., The Calcutta Blind School at Behala (24 Parganas) and the Lighthouse for the Blind, Calcutta. The institution for the vocational rehabilitation of blind children of age-groups 5 to 18 years, belonging mostly to families of ex-soldiers and hillmen at Kalimpong, run by Dr. Mary Scott, also deserves special mention. The Calcutta University had a department for training teachers for the blind, but it has now been closed. The Lighthouse for the Blind is a co-educational institution started specially to provide facilities for the education and training of the adult blind. The Calcutta Blind School at Behala provides instruction from Primary to High School stage and prepares students for the Matriculation examination. It is a residential school providing separate hostels for boys and girls. In 1945–46 it had an enrolment of 67 pupils of which 19 were girls. This school has a teachers’ training department. Vocational training in Carpentry, Weaving, Basket-making. Spinning and Knitting as well as in Music is provided in these schools. In Bihar, there are two schools for the blind, viz., the S. P. G. Mission School at Ranchi and the Patna Blind School. The former teaches up to the middle vernacular 178

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course in addition to vocational subjects like Weaving, Knitting and Cane-work, and the latter teaches up to Matriculation standard and subjects like Typewriting, Music, Cane-work, Rope-making, Gardening and Cooking, etc. This school admits only boys, while the one at Ranchi admits girls also. The enrolment in these schools on the 31st March, 1947, were 33 at Patna and 57 at Ranchi. Special scholarships are awarded to students by Government and local bodies. The S. P. G. Mission Blind School at Ranchi is managed by the Missionaries. The Patna School is run by a managing committee representing the public. Provision has been made in the post-war scheme for opening two more special schools for the blind in Bihar. In Bombay, there are four schools for the blind, viz., The Victoria Memorial School and the Dadar School at Bombay, the School and Home for the Blind at Poona and the School for the Blind at Ahmedabad. Mention may also be made in this connection of the Narsingrao Shivaji Dharmaji’s Industrial Home for the Blind and the Haji Allarakhia Sonavala Andhakshi Ashram, Andheri, Bombay, which are doing good work. The schools for the defective are generally maintained by private bodies or individuals and are aided by Government or by local bodies. A majority of the schools provide for board and lodging for their pupils. The blind receive instruction in the 3 R’s in regional languages through Braille. English is also taught to some of the pupils. Various useful crafts are taught to enable the pupils eventually to earn a living. Provision has also been made for vocal and instrumental music. In the Central Provinces, there is one school for the blind—the Blind Boys’ Institute at Nagpur. It is a residential school and pupils are mostly destitutes. The instruction here is free. The subjects taught are the 3 R’s, Elementary Geography, Music and Craft. The total number of students receiving education and training in the school was 38 during 1946. In Madras, there are five schools in all for the blind, one of them being a part of the Deaf and Dumb School at Teynampet. There are in addition two schools at Palamcottah, one at Poonamalle and one at Rentachintala. The school formerly at Teynampet in Madras was moved to Srivilliputtur in 1942 due to the war but has again been moved back to Madras during 1946–47. Excepting the Tinnevelly Diocesan Trust Association’s School for Blind Girls at Palamcottah, all the schools are mixed schools. They provide general education for their pupils at least up to Standard V and lay emphasis on teaching several small cottage industries and music. The Victory Memorial Blind School, Poonamalle, has also attached to it an industrial section In the North-West Frontier Province and Orissa, there is no school for the blind. No provision for their schooling outside the Province has been reported. In the Punjab, there are two schools for the blind, one at Lahore and the other at Amritsar, both exclusively for boys. The schooling extends over four to five years 179

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and includes general subjects like Arithmetic, Sanskrit and English in Braille and crafts like Spinning and Weaving, Cane and Moonje work and Band-playing. In Sind, there is one institution known as Ida Rieu School for the Blind, managed by the Ida Rieu Poor Welfare Association. In the United Provinces, there are six schools for the blind situated in Dehra Dun, Aligarh, Mainpuri, Lucknow, Banaras and Naini near Allahabad. The school at Dehra Dun is mainly for girls though boys up to the age of 7 are admitted. The subjects taught in these schools include the 3 R’s, music and various other crafts. In the Centrally Administered Areas, there is one residential school for the blind at Ajmer. Its enrolment was 13 during the year 1946–47. There is another school for the blind in Tuglakabad, Delhi, which is managed by a private body. Schools for the Deaf and Dumb In Assam, there is a school at Sylhet, providing instruction to boys and girls for a period of ten years in Lip-reading and Writing, Tailoring, Sewing, etc. Some children are also sent to the Deaf and Dumb School at Calcutta, and they get scholarships from the Provincial Government. In Bengal, there are one or two deaf and dumb schools in each Division. The most important of them is the Deaf and Dumb School at Calcutta, the others being in Dacca, Mymensingh, Chittagong, Suri, Berhampore, Burdwan, Rajshahi, Bogra, Barisal and Brahmanbaria. Except for the school at Calcutta, these are managed by private bodies and Municipalities. Their courses of study range from 8 to 10 years and comprise general subjects like Writing, Lip-reading, History and Arithmetic and Carpentry, Tailoring, Weaving and Printing. The Calcutta Deaf and Dumb School is important owing to its Teachers’ Training Department where teachers from different parts of the country come for training in the methods of teaching the deaf. Diplomas and certificates are awarded to successful candidates. In Bihar, there are two schools, one at Ranchi and the other at Patna. Government give grants-in-aid and special scholarships. Both the schools are co-educational and their courses extend from 8 to 10 years. The subjects of study are the 3 R’s, Tailoring, Drawing, Clay-modelling, Spinning, Bee-keeping, Typewriting, etc. In Bombay, the number of schools increased during the period under review from 5 to 8. They are in Bombay, Poona, Sholapur, Ratnagiri, Nasik and Ahmedabad. Lip-reading and Articulation form main features of instruction in these schools. Practical instruction in at least one of the common crafts is also given. In the Central Provinces there is only one school, viz., the Bhonsla Deaf and Dumb School situated at Nagpur. The school is in receipt of grants from Government and local bodies. 180

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In Madras, there are co-educational institutions, one each in Coimbatore, Karaikudi, Palamcottah, Teynampet and Mylapore. The one at Teynampet is a combined school for the blind and the deaf-mute. During the period under review, the school at Erode was closed. Articulation and Lip-reading are special methods used in schools for dumb children and Drawing, Painting, Needle-work and Embroidery are encouraged. In Orissa, there is one small school at Cuttack, the All Orissa Deaf and Dumb School, with an enrolment of 4 on 31st March, 1946. It is a co-educational institution. Its course of studies extends over five years and consists of 3 R’s and a few crafts. In the Punjab, there are no facilities for the deaf and dumb. The Government, however, give an annual subsidy to the Lady Noyce School for Deaf and Dumb at New Delhi, for taking in the afflicted children of this Province. In Sind, there are no schools, nor any facilities for the teaching of the deaf and dumb. In the United Provinces, there were schools at Allahabad, Lucknow and Cawnpore, but the last one was closed in 1943–44. The Cawnpore school was a combined school for the deaf-mutes and the blind. In the Centrally Administered Areas, there is one school at New Delhi, the Lady Noyce School for the Deaf and Dumb. Its course of training includes the 3 R’s and crafts like Carpentry, Needle-work, Weaving, Dyeing, Tailoring and Toy-making. It is co-educational, partly residential and it serves the Province of the Punjab and other areas. Schools for Those Afflicted with other Organic Diseases Besides the blind, the deaf and the dumb, children suffering from other physical handicaps such as diseases of the heart, lungs, skin, etc., also come within the purview of the educational system. No facilities for such children have, however, been reported. Bihar and Madras have schools for children whose parents are afflicted with the heritable disease of leprosy. The Bihar School at Purulia had an enrolment of 251 (including 125 girls) on 31st March, 1947. The Purulia Leper Asylum received a grant-in-aid of Rs. 720 per annum from the State Government. In Madras, there are five schools for leper children. Medical attention forms a chief feature of these schools. The total strength of these schools was 197 on the 31st March, 1947. Speech Defect No information is available regarding the existence of any special schools for this type of deficiency in children and youth. Elocution and right pronunciation are, however, given some attention in many schools in the course of their normal teaching. One of the benefits of oratorial contests, which are becoming more and more popular, is to improve elocution and the art of speech generally. 181

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School for the Mentally Handicapped During the decennium three schools for mentally handicapped children have been reported—two in Bengal and one in Bombay. Of the schools in Bengal, The Children’s Home at Kurseong which catered only for Anglo-Indian and European children was closed in 1944. The other school, the Bodhana Niketan, is at Jhargram in Midnapore District. The school in Bombay (Chembur) forms a part of the Children’s Home conducted by the Local Children’s Aid Society. The training in these institutions aims at correcting the special and the general mental deficiencies of the children and giving them as much general education as they are capable of. The institutions, however, are not run on scientific lines. Table XXXI gives the number of institutions for the handicapped during 1946– 47, together with their enrolment and expenditure. TABLE XXXI Education of the Handicapped, 1946–47

Province

NUMBER OF INSTITUTIONS

NUMBER OF SCHOLARS IN INSTITUTIONS

EXPENDITURE

Males

Females

Males

Females

Males

Females

Assam . . . . . . . . . . Bengal* . . . . . . . . . Bihar . . . . . . . . . . . Bombay . . . . . . . . . C. P. and Berar . . . Madras . . . . . . . . . . Orissa . . . . . . . . . . Punjab* . . . . . . . . . Sind* . . . . . . . . . . . United Provinces . . Ajmer-Merwara . . . Delhi . . . . . . . . . . .

1 15 4 11 3 12 1 2 1 5 1 1

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. ..

22 252 123 360 50 592 6 83 7 118 13 68

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 55 .. ..

Rs. 3,060 1,80,752 23,843 65,248 11,648 92,713 1,420 34,370 4,094 29,251 1,935 12,838

Rs. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8,711 .. ..

TOTAL . . . . . .

57

1

1,694

55

4,61,172

8,711

* Indicates estimated figures.

REFORMATORY SCHOOLS FOR YOUNG OFFENDERS Some children suffer from aberrations of conduct due to wrong education or native impulse which, if neglected, is likely to render them social misfits and social dangers. The Borstal or Reformatory schools aim at educating such children so that they may become healthy and useful members of society. 182

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TABLE XXXII Statistics of Reformatory Schools, 1946–47 Province

Number of Schools

Enrolment

Expenditure

Bengal . . . . . . . . Bihar . . . . . . . . . Bombay . . . . . . . C. P. and Berar . . Madras . . . . . . . . Punjab . . . . . . . .

3 1 1 1 5 2

222 177 155 204 2,540 117

Rs. 69,451 1,27,441 93,088 11,648 4,12,850 62,207

TOTAL . . . .

13

3,415

7,76,685

Table XXXII shows the facilities available in India for the education of young offenders. In Bengal, there were three schools, but the one at Alipore, which was for delinquents below 15 years of age, was closed in 1942–43 and the children sent to the Hazaribagh Reformatory School in Bihar, which was jointly maintained by the Provinces of Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Orissa. The two other schools at Bankura and Berhampore admit delinquents between 15 and 21. These Borstal schools are under control of the Inspector-General of Prisons. Instruction is given in general subjects and in useful handicrafts. There is no machinery for keeping in touch with the children after they leave the school and for checking relapses which may occur. The Aftercare Association of Bengal, however, receives into it those boys who have no guardians and wish to stay there after their course of training. In Bihar, the Hazaribagh Reformatory School is an outstanding institution. It is a joint institution for Bihar, Bengal, Assam and Orissa and is maintained out of Government grants supplemented by income derived from sale proceeds from the workshop and other miscellaneous sources. In 1946–47, there were 177 boys of whom 76 were from Bihar, 88 from Bengal, 12 from Orissa and 1 from Jaipur State. Besides handicrafts, tho boys are taught general subjects up to the upper primary standard. After pupils leave the school they are kept under observation for two years. In Bombay, there are two types of institutions, viz., the Certified schools and Borstal schools. The Certified1 schools are 3 in number and admit boys of 16 and under. Of the second type there is one school meant for boys above 16 at Dharwar. The Province also had in 1945–46 20 homes for delinquents. All the schools teach up to the primary standard and give training in some vocational subjects. In Punjab, there are several Borstal schools and the Government also maintain the Reformatory School at Delhi. 183

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In the United Provinces, there is only one school at Chunar. It was formerly controlled by the Education Department, but in 1942–43 it was transferred to the Prison Department. All-India Institutions There is no All-India or Central Institution for the problems of afflicted children for their schooling or for the training of their teachers. There are, however, some schools for children, notably two, which have attained an inter-provincial standing. The school for deaf-mutes at Calcutta serves not only Bengal but also the neighbouring Provinces of Assam, Bihar and Orissa. The Hazaribagh Reformatory School in Bihar also serves the same areas. The Central Advisory Board of Education took up the question of an All-India Braille Code for the blind in 1941 and appointed an Expert Committee for the purpose. The Braille Committee has since designed a Uniform Braille Code for the major Indian languages and its use has been recommended by the Government of India for all schools for the blind in India. The Uniform Indian Braille will satisfy a long-felt need for a common braille code for all Indian languages. The Government of India are taking active steps to set up an up-to-date Braille Printing Press for the production of suitable literature in Uniform Indian Braille. Apparatus and appliances for the education and training of the blind will be manufactured. It is also proposed to establish a Central Model Institute for the blind at a very early date.

CHAPTER IX ÆSTHETIC EDUCATION Arts and Crafts TABLE XXXIII shows the number of schools teaching Arts and Crafts other than Music, Dancing and Architecture, along with their enrolment and expenditure. TABLE XXXIII 1937–38 Province*

Number of Schools

Enrolment

Expenditure

Bengal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bombay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Madras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Punjab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . United Provinces . . . . . . . .

5 3 5 1 2

524 685 332 161 332

Rs. 79,383 1,17,629 67,281 65,842 66,644

TOTAL . . . . . . . . .

16

2,034

3,96,779

184

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1941–42 Bengal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bihar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bombay C. P. and Berar . . . . . . . . . Madras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Punjab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . United Provinces . . . . . . . .

6 1 3 1 5 1 2

407 24 726 44 388 172 280

86,620 605 1,24,743 3,502 72,001 64,336 65,303

TOTAL . . . . . . . . .

19

2,041

4,17,110

1946–47 Bengal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bihar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bombay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. P. and Berar . . . . . . . . . Madras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Punjab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . United Provinces . . . . . . . .

4 1 3 1 4 1 2

376 27 784 66 261 125 163

1,00,293 5,467 1,93,587 4,322 96,919 1,36,475 57,887

TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . .

16

1,802

5,94,950

* In other provinces/areas not mentioned in this table, there are no Arts and Crafts Schools. There are no Arts Schools exclusively for Females.

The following is a brief account of the institutions and courses in Fine Arts and Manual Arts and Crafts as they have developed or continued in various provinces during the decennium. In Assam, there is no institution under the Education Department exclusively’ for these subjects. Hand-work, Drawing, Painting and Needle-work, however, form part of the school routine. In Bengal, Art in a rudimentary form forms part of the curriculum for Primary Schools and is included as one of the optional subjects—Handwork. The training gives an impetus to children to acquire a taste for Fine Arts. In Secondary Schools, Drawing is a compulsory subject up to Class VIII and an alternative subject in Classes IX and X. Among the special institutions devoted to Arts and Crafts, an important place is taken by the Kalabhavana of the Visva Bharati at Santiniketan and by the Government School of Art at Calcutta. The Kalabhavana has attracted students from all over India and some from outside the country. The Government School of Art, Calcutta, provides training in both elementary and advanced vocational grades in Lithography, Clay Modelling, Wood Engraving, Commercial Art, Draftsmanship and Drawing.

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In Bihar, Drawing continued to be a compulsory subject in Primary and Middle Schools and an optional subject in the Matriculation Examination. Clay Modelling and Artistic Hand-work have been special features of education in schools. Only one special school of Arts and Crafts exists in the Province, viz., the Art School of Patna, which was recognised by Government in 1941–42. There is a proposal to take it over under the management of Government. In Bombay, there are three institutions specialising in Arts and Crafts, two managed by Government and one by a private body. Of these the most important is the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay. It provides training in Painting, Modelling, Architecture and Commercial Art, Designing and Artistic Research, Sculpture, etc. In the Central Provinces and Berar, the Nagpur School of Art is the only recognised and Government-aided institution that provides instruction in Drawing and Painting up to the Diploma standard. It prepares candidates for the examinations held by the J. J. School of Art, Bombay. Drawing or Hand-work (manual training) is a compulsory subject in Middle Schools in the Province. At the High School stage, there are courses in Drawing, Painting, Art, Needle-work, Wood and Metal work. In Madras, a large number of institutions consisting of schools, colleges, training schools and colleges and special schools have manual training classes attached to them. Several arts and crafts subjects are taught in these classes. For advanced vocational courses, the following institutions may be named: (i) The School of Arts and Crafts, Egmore, Madras. (ii) Art Masters’ Class, Teachers’ College, Saidapet. (iii) Manual Training Class, Teachers’ College, Saidapet. (iv) Municipal Art School, Kumbakonam. The Manual Training Class at Saidapet was, however, suspended during 1946–47. In the North-West Frontier Province, there are no special Arts and Crafts schools, but Primary and Middle Schools in the districts provide elementary training in local crafts. Basket-making, Gold and Silver Embroidery, Hazara Embroidery, Toy and Doll-making, Mokiash work, Chab and Kundi work and Rug-making are some of the important crafts taught. Orissa offers a few scholarships to her students for study in other provinces, as she has no school for Arts and Crafts herself. For the Matriculation Examination, however, Drawing and Manual Training have been included as optional subjects. In Primary and Middle Schools, instruction is provided in handicrafts. Provision has also been made for Arts and Crafts in teachers’ training schools. Hand-work forms a compulsory subject for elementary school teachers. Needle-work and Clay Modelling are compulsory for women teachers of this grade. In Punjab, elementary training in some Arts and Crafts has been provided in Primary and Middle Schools for both boys and girls. Training in Arts and Crafts 186

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has also been insisted for training of teachers of all grades. The Re-organisation Committee of 1937–38 recommended this training as compulsory for elementary school teachers, and the recommendation was brought into force in 1939–40. At the Central Training College, Lahore, instruction in Pottery-making, Clay Modelling, Cardboard Modelling, Papier-mache work, Book-binding and Marbling has been provided in a separate class since 1942. In order to make University Education more realistic and attractive for girls, the latter have been allowed to offer Art as an elective subject at the Intermediate and B.A. Examinations. This is reported to have proved a great success. Of the special schools, the outstanding institution is the Mayo School of Art at Lahore. During 1939–40, a Designs Department was added to it. In Sind, Drawing is taught in Primary and Secondary Schools. Handwork has been assigned an important place in the revised curriculum (1942) for Primary Schools for boys and girls. In the United Provinces, Arts and Crafts of an elementary character are taught in the Basic and other Primary and Secondary Schools for boys and girls. Art and handicraft classes have been provided in the Government Basic Training College for Teachers at Allahabad. Facilities also exist for the teaching of Arts and Crafts outside the control of the Department of Education. There was a good deal of artistic activity in the Province. Private Art Schools came into existence at various places, the one at Allahabad attracting a large number of students. The Painting Class at the Allahabad University maintained all-round progress. In Ajmer-Merwara, Vernacular Primary and Secondary Schools provide instruction in Arts and Crafts as optional subjects, while High Schools encourage them in the form of students’ hobbies. Arts and Crafts form part of the compulsory course of studies in the Government Normal School for Women. The Sophia Girls’ Intermediate College at Ajraer provides instruction in Needle-work, Drawing and Painting. For men teachers under training, the Government Normal School and the Training College, both at Ajmer, provide instruction in Clay Modelling, Painting, etc., of which in two subjects teachers are compulsorily required to take training. In Delhi, no special schools exist for Arts and Crafts. But in the Delhi Polytechnic and the Modern Higher Secondary School, provision is made for teaching certain items of Arts and Crafts as part of the general curriculum, leading up to Higher Secondary School or Matriculation Examination. Music In Assam, one notable event was the appointment of a Committee in 1941 to consider the needs of Music Education in girls’ schools. As a result of its recommendations, arrangements for teaching Music were made in four girls’ schools in Shillong and 9 music teachers were appointed. In 1942, these classes had to be closed on account of poor attendance due to the war. For college students, similar provision outside college hours exists in the Murarichand College, Sylhet, where there is a Music section organised on a voluntary basis. 187

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For specialised study of Music, the Govardhana Sangit Vidyalaya, Sylhet, provides a four-year course leading to the award of a Diploma. The Province also provides an annual scholarship for advanced students at the Marris College of Hindustani Music in Lucknow. In Bengal, Music is taught as a regular subject in many girls’ schools and is a subject for Matriculation. Of the special schools of Music, the most prominent are the Calcutta School of Music, the Sangit Vidyalala and the Sangit Sangha, all in Calcutta, and the Sangit Bhavana of the Visva Bharati, Santiniketan. Sangit Bhavana attracts students from all over India and abroad. The Music School at Moynadal in the district of Birbhum was meant specially for imparting training in Kirtan. In Bihar, Music is taught either as an extra-curricular subject or as an optional subject for Matriculation Examination in selected High Schools particularly in Giris’ High Schools. In all Middle Schools for Girls, Music is taught as a regular subject. European Secondary Schools for Girls prepare pupils for the Music examination of the Trinity College of Music, London. The Patna University has decided to open a College of Music at Patna for which the Provincial Government have sanctioned a grant of Rs. 10,000 for a period of three years and a non-recurring grant of Rs. 3,000. Though not progressing satisfactorily, mention may be made of the two music schools at Purulia, viz., Pashupati Gangadhar Sangit Vidyalaya and Saraswati Sangit Vidyalaya. In Bombay, the number of special music schools in 1945–46 was 10 with an enrolment of 338. Instruction in Music is also imparted in certain Primary and Secondary Schools. In Central Provinces and Berar, there is provision for courses in Music at the High School stage. Besides, there are a number of popular Music classes run by private bodies in some of the big towns like Nagpur, Jubbulpore, etc. These classes generally follow the Bhatkhande curriculum of Music and some of them prepare students for examination in Music of the Lucknow University. In Madras, the only recognised special institution for Music is the Teachers’ College of Music, Madras, which was recognised in 1937–38. This College presented 4 men and 9 women candidates in April 1946 for the examination for Teachers’ Certificate in Indian Music and all of them were declared successful. The Madras University has instituted a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. In the North-West Frontier Province, Western Music is taught in the Convent Day School, Peshawar. Indian Music is taught in a few of the Hindu and Sikh schools. In Orissa, Music is provided in a few high schools and training institutions for boys and in all high schools and training schools for girls. It is an optional subject for the Matriculation and Teachers’ Certificate Examinations. 188

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Of the special schools, mention may be made of the Utkal Sangit Samaj at Cuttack, which provides facilities for the teaching of vocal as well as instrumental Music. It receives a grant from the Provincial Government. In Punjab, Music is provided in a large number of girls’ schools as an extracurricular subject and is reported to be very popular. It is also an optional subject for women for the Intermediate and B.A. Degree Examination of the Punjab University. In Sind, almost all the district towns have music schools which are private institutions. Some of them are proprietary while others are managed by social, charitable and semi-charitable bodies. In the United Provinces, Music maintained its popularity during the period under review. Apart from its being taught in a larger number of high schools and inter-colleges as an optional subject, it was also taught in the Allahabad University which had organised Diploma courses in Music. It has also been introduced as one of the subjects for the B.Sc. special course for women. The chief institutions for teaching of higher classical Music are the Marris College of Hindustani Music at Lucknow and the Prayag Sangit Samiti at Allahabad. The Marris College of Hindustani Music is an all-India institution where students from all over the country and even from outside come. It teaches the Bhatkhande system of Music. It has two courses—one leading to Intermediate in Music, lasting three years and five months, the other to Bachelor of Music, lasting two years after the Intermediate. The financial condition of the institution is still unsatisfactory. The Sangit Samiti at Allahabad has increased in strength steadily since its foundation in 1926, and developed into an affiliating and examining institution, with the authority to grant diplomas in Music. During 1943–44, dancing classes were added. The Uday Shankar Culture Centre at Almora, which was designed primarily as an institution for the Art of Dance, has also provided facilities for learning Indian Music. In Ajmer-Merwara, Indian schools for girls and the European and Anglo-Indian schools for boys and girls provide for teaching of Music. It is an optional subject for the High School Examination of the Rajputana area. Provision for Music exists also in the Savitri College and the Government Normal School for Women Teachers. During 1934–44, a private Music College was started in Ajmer. In Delhi, about 12 girls’ schools have arrangements for Music which is an optional subject both for the High School and S. L. C. and Higher Secondary Education, Delhi Province. Dancing Action-songs and elementary forms of Dancing are taught in most of Primary Schools in all provinces. 189

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In Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Ajmer and Delhi, in Secondary Schools for Girls, Dancing is taught in conjunction with music. In some provinces like Bengal and Bihar, Dancing on the Bratachari lines has been introduced in some schools. Only a few provinces provide facilities for specialised study of Dancing. Bengal has an outstanding centre for the cultivation of this art in the Sangita Bhavan at the Visva Bharati, Santiniketan. A notable institution in Indian Dancing is Kala Kshetra at Adyar, Madras. Mention may also be made of the Kerala Kala Mandalam situated in the Cochin State which is devoted to the Kathakali, another Indian style of Dance. In the United Provinces, the Uday Shankar Culture Centre at Almora flourished, though for a brief period, as an institute of Indian Dance. Founded in 1938–39, on contributions from England and America, amounting to the sum of £20,000, it provided a course of five years’ training in various branches of Dance and Music. The Provincial Government also sanctioned a grant in 1941–42, but at the end of 1943, the institute had to close down on account of financial difficulties. During its brief period of existence it gathered together eminent exponents of various schools of Indian Dance and Music.

POST-WAR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I THE REPORT OF THE CENTRAL ADVISORY BOARD OF EDUCATION A.

Main Features of Recommendations and Endorsement by the Department of Education

THE Report of the Central Advisory Board of Education was submitted to the Reconstruction Committee of His Excellency the Viceroy’s Executive Council in 1944, together with a Memorandum by what was then the Education, Health and Lands Department of the Government of India. The Report consisted of an Introduction and a Conclusion and twelve chapters dealing with the main branches of activity in a modern and democratic system of public instruction, viz., Basic (Primary and Middle) Education, Pre-Primary Education, High School Education, University Education, Technical, Commercial and Art Education, Adult Education, The Training of Teachers, The Health of the School Child, The Education of the Handicapped, Recreative and Social Activities, Employment Bureaux and Administration. In view of their importance the recommendations at the end of each chapter are set out below:— Chapter I—Basic (Primary and Middle) Education (a) A system of universal, compulsory and free education for all boys and girls between the ages of six and fourteen should be introduced as speedily as 190

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possible though in view of the practical difficulty of recruiting the requisite supply of trained teachers it may not be possible to complete it in less than forty years. (b) The character of the instruction to be provided should follow the general lines laid down in the reports of the Central Advisory Board’s two Committees on Basic Education. (c) The Senior Basic (Middle) School, being the finishing school for the great majority of future citizens, is of fundamental importance and should be generously staffed and equipped. (d) All education depends on the teacher. The present status and remuneration of teachers, and especially those in Primary Schools, are deplorable. The standards in regard to the training, recruitment and conditions of service of teachers prescribed in the Report of the Committee approved by the Central Advisory Board in 1943 represent the minimum compatible with the success of a national system: these should be adopted and enforced everywhere. (e) A vast increase in the number of trained women teachers will be required. (f ) The total estimated annual cost of the proposals contained in this chapter when in full operation is Rs. 200 crores approximately. Chapter II—Pre-Primary Education (a) An adequate provision of pre-primary instruction in the form of Nursery Schools or classes is an essential adjunct to any national system of education. The provision in this respect at present is negligible. (b) In urban areas, where sufficient children are available within a reasonable radius, separate Nursery Schools or departments may be provided: elsewhere Nursery classes should be attached to Junior Basic (Primary) Schools. (c) Nursery Schools and classes should invariably be staffed with women teachers who have received special training for this work. (d) Pre-Primary Education should in all cases be free. While it may not be feasible to make attendance compulsory, no efforts should be spared to persuade parents to send their children to school voluntarily, particularly in areas where housing conditions are unsatisfactory and/or mothers are accustomed to go out to work. (e) The main object of education at this stage is to give young children social experience rather than formal instruction. ( f ) On the basis of a normal age range of three to six years, provision has been made for 1,000,000 places in Nursery Schools and classes. (g) The total estimated net cost of the proposals set out in this chapter when in full operation is Rs. 3,18,40,000. Chapter III—High School Education (a) The High School course should cover six years and the normal age of admission should be about eleven. 191

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(b) Entry to High Schools should be on a selective basis; only those pupils should be admitted who show promise of taking full advantage of the education provided. Additional places may be provided for those not selected provided that no cost falls on public funds. (c) In accordance with the general principle set out in (b) above, places in High Schools should be provided for at least one child in every five of the appropriate age group. (d) In order to secure the right children, the methods of selection to be employed will require the most careful consideration. Special arrangements will have to be made for the transfer from Senior Basic (Middle) Schools to High Schools of suitable children and particularly of those who show signs of late development. (e) High Schools should be of two main types: (a) Academic (b) Technical. The objective of both should be to provide a good all-round education combined with some preparation in the later stages for the careers which pupils will enter on leaving school. ( f ) The curriculum in all cases should be as varied as circumstances permit and should not be unduly restricted by the requirements of Universities or examining bodies. (g) In order that no poor child of ability may be excluded, liberal assistance in the form of free places, scholarships and stipends should be available throughout the course. (h) In order to secure teachers of the right type, the salaries paid in all recognised schools, whether maintained by the State or by private bodies, should not be less than those prescribed by the Central Advisory Board of Education. (i) The estimated minimum net annual cost of the High School system outlined in this chapter when in full operation is Rs. 50 crores. Chapter IV—University Education (a) Indian Universities, as they exist to-day, despite many admirable features, do not fully satisfy the requirements of a national system of education. (b) In order to raise standards all round, the conditions for admission must be revised with the object of ensuring that all students are capable of taking full advantage of a University course. The proposed reorganisation of the High School system will facilitate this. Adequate financial assistance must be provided for poor students. (c) The present Intermediate course should be abolished. Ultimately the whole of this course should be covered in the High School but as an immediate step the first year of the course should be transferred to High Schools and the second to Universities. (d) The minimum length of a University degree course should be three years. (e) The tutorial system should be widely extended and closer personal contacts established between teachers and students. 192

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( f ) The importance of establishing a high standard in post-graduate studies and particularly in pure and applied research should be emphasised. (g) Steps should be taken to improve the conditions of service, including remuneration, of University and College teachers where those now in operation are not attracting men and women of the requisite calibre. (h) An Indian University Grants Committee should be constituted for the purposes and with the terms of reference set out in this chapter. (i) To provide for the increased number of able and well-prepared students which a national system of High Schools may be expected to produce, approximately 240,000 places, or double the existing number, should be available in Universities. ( j) The estimated total net annual cost of the scheme for University education set out in this chapter when in full operation is Rs. 672 lakhs. Chapter V—Technical, Commercial and Art Education (a) In view of the prospective needs of post-war industry and commerce for skilled technicians, and in order to cater for the aptitudes of those who will derive greater benefit from a practical course, the establishment of an efficient system of Technical Education at all stages, on the lines set out in the Report of the Technical Education Committee, is a matter of great urgency. (b) Due regard should be paid to the recommendations of the Abbott-Wood Report in respect of the scope and content of Technical Instruction. (c) The estimated gross annual cost of the proposals contained in this chapter will be approximately Rs. 10 crores and the net cost Rs. 8 crores. Chapter VI—Adult Education (a) Comprehensive arrangements on the general lines set out in the Adult Education Committee’s Report should form an integral part of any national system of education. These are particularly important in India to-day in view of the very high percentage of illiterates. (b) Literacy is a means not an end in itself. Although the main emphasis in the beginning may be placed on the liquidation of illiteracy, adult education in the full sense must be provided for those already literate. The amount of this should progressively increase as illiteracy disappears. (c) It is estimated that even with the introduction of a universal system of Basic Education there will be over 9 crores of illiterates (age group 10 to 40) to be dealt with. Plans should be made to solve this problem by a campaign spread over twenty years. Before this campaign opens, five years should be devoted to the necessary preparations, including the recruitment and training of the staff of teachers required. (d) In this as in all branches of education the quality of the teacher is of supreme importance. The difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of teachers of the right type, particularly women, must on no account be underestimated. 193

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(e) The responsibility for adult education must rest with the State but every effort should be made to enlist the aid of suitable voluntary organisations wherever available. ( f ) The estimated total annual cost of the proposals contained in this chapter is Rs. 3 crores. At the height of the literacy campaign this may be exceeded.by Rs. 25 to 30 lakhs, but the average annual cost for the twenty years will be little less than Rs. 3 crores. Chapter VII—The Training of Teachers (a) The proposals for the recruitment and training of teachers as set out in the Report approved by the Central Advisory Board in January 1943 should be generally adopted. (b) The existing training institutions are barely sufficient to meet wastage among existing teachers and to train those hitherto untrained. (c) New Training Schools and Colleges (including University Education Departments) must be provided to supply the additional teachers whom a national system will require. These will amount to over 2,000,000 non-graduates for schools of all types and 180,000 graduates for High Schools. (d) Arrangements should be made to pick out suitable boys and girls towards the end of the High School course. This is particularly important in Girls’ High Schools in view of the vast increase in the number of women teachers required. (e) The courses provided should be essentially practical and should be specially related to the needs of the schools in which the trainees will subsequently serve. ( f ) No fees should be charged either in Training Schools or Training Colleges: liberal assistance should be available for the maintenance of poor students. (g) Refresher courses are of the utmost importance and should be provided for all types of teachers but particularly for those in remote rural areas. Facilities should be provided for research and selected teachers should be encouraged to study educational methods in foreign countries. (h) It is impossible to calculate the precise annual cost of the proposals contained in this chapter. The total net cost of training the additional teachers required for a national system will amount, including maintenance where necessary, to Rs. 1,59,94,98,250 over a period of thirty-five years or an average of Rs. 4,56,99,950 a year. Chapter VIII—The Health of the School Child (a) Provision for ensuring the physical welfare of all pupils and students should be made on the lines set out in the Report of the Joint Committee. (b) The cost of the School Medical Service including provision of meals and special schools, etc., has, on the analogy of other countries, been estimated at 10

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per cent, of the total expenditure on the schools. Provision has been made for this in the estimates of the cost of the national system at the appropriate stages. Chapter IX—The Education of the Handicapped (a) Provision for the mentally or physically handicapped should form an essential part of a national system of education and should be administered by the Education Department. (b) Hitherto in India Governments have hardly interested themselves at all in this branch of education: what has been done has been due almost entirely to voluntary effort. (c) Wherever possible, handicapped children should not be segregated from normal children. Only when the nature and extent of their defect make it necessary, should they be sent to special schools or institutions. Partialty handicapped children should receive special treatment at ordinary schools. (d) The blind and deaf need special educational arrangements, including specially trained teachers. It may be desirable to establish central institutions for training the teachers required. (e) Particular care should be taken to train the handicapped, whereever possible, for remunerative employment and to find such employment for them. Aftercare work is essential. ( f ) In the absence of any reliable data it is impossible to estimate what would be the cost of making adequate provision for the handicapped in India; 10 per cent, of the total expenditure on Basic and High Schools has been set aside for special services, which include such provision, and it is hoped that this will suffice. Chapter X—Recreative and Social Activities (a) The provision of recreative and social activities on an adequate scale is an essential feature of any modern educational system. (b) Apart from the needs of boys and girls in schools and colleges special attention should be paid to those in the 14 to 20 age group who are no longer attending school. To serve these a Youth Movement on an all-India basis should be set up. (c) A Youth Movement should aim at co-ordinating and supplementing rather than superseding the work of organisations already dealing with aspects of this problem. (d) The main need of a Youth Movement will be for leaders, both men and women, who will have to be specially trained. The possibility of finding suitable recruits among demobilised Officers and N.C.O’s should be explored. (e) The provision of social and recreative facilities for adults should form an important part of any Social Service Scheme. Reference is invited for the Report of the Board’s Committee on Social Service and Public Administration (1941).

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( f ) It is impossible to estimate the ultimate cost of the provision contemplated in this chapter. Rs. 1 crore may be included in the estimate. Chapter XI—Employment Bureaux (a) Employment Bureaux form an essential part of educational administration: they are especially necessary in India in view of the restricted openings at the moment for progressive employment. (b) Employment Bureaux, if they are to fulfil successfully the functions set out in this chapter, must be staffed by trained experts with practical experience of teaching and of industrial conditions. (c) While contact should be maintained with Unemployment Exchanges, Labour Tribunals, etc., established by other departments, Employment Bureaux which deal with the output of educational institutions, should be under the control of the Education Department. (d) It is estimated that the gross annual cost of running Employment Bureaux (apart from those separately established by institutions of University rank) will amount to Rs. 64,00,000. This should be regarded ultimately as a normal part of administrative expenditure. Chapter XII—Administration (a) The Provinces should remain the main units for educational administration except in regard to University and Higher Technical Education, the activities of which should be co-ordinated on an all-India basis. (b) In the event of the Indian States taking part in educational development on an all-India scale it may be necessary in order to form economic educational units to group the smaller ones or attach them to larger States or contiguous Provinces. (c) A national system of education will require much closer cooperation, financial and otherwise, between the Central and Provincial Governments. (d) Provincial Governments should be left to make such changes in their administrative arrangements as the carrying out of educational developments on the scale contemplated may require. Experience, however, suggests that they would be well advised to resume all educational powers from local bodies, except where these are functioning efficiently. (e) In order to enlist local interest in education, School Managing Bodies, School Boards and District Education Committees may be constituted, if and when sufficient people of the right type are available to serve on them. An Education Advisory Board for the whole Province may be desirable. ( f ) A strong Education Department will be required at the Centre and in this connection the scope and functions of the Central Advisory Board should be enlarged. (g) Steps should be taken in accordance with the recommendations of the Board’s Committee on the Recruitment of Education Officers (1943) to check the 196

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present deterioration in the status and calibre of the educational administrative service and to enable it to secure the services of the type of officer who will be capable of carrying a scheme of the kind contemplated into successful operation. (h) Arrangements should be made for the exchange of officers between the Centre and the Provinces and between one Province and another. The desirability of establishing a senior educational administrative service on an all-India basis should receive consideration. (i) The Director of Public Instruction should be directly responsible for the general administration of education, other than University and Higher Technical Education, throughout the Province. He should also be Secretary for Education, should it be thought necessary, to keep in existence a separate post of this kind. ( j) Provision has been made under each separate branch of education for the cost of administration which may be estimated at 5 percent, of the gross annual expenditure. At the same time as the Report a companion volume was issued containing in a slightly abridged form the reports of the Board’s Committees on which the main Report was based. The attention of those who are more interested in the educational methods than in organic structure is specially invited to this companion volume, which can hardly be summarised here. The Departmental Memorandum, which will be found in full in Appendix I, is also a document of sufficient interest and importance and deserves a fairly full summary here, if only because it attempts to deal with the major issues raised by earlier critics, including those contained in the minutes of dissent to the Report itself. Perhaps the most important of all the issues raised was that which concerned the future relations between the Central and Provincial Governments. It was apprehended in some quarters that if the financial implications of the Plan involved substantial grants-in-aid from Central Revenues—as they in fact did and do— it might lead to some infringement of Provincial autonomy. The Departmental Memo, pointed out in this connection that as a matter of principle no Central Government could be expected to subsidise Provincial activities on a large scale without requiring to satisfy itself that the money was spent for the purpose for and in accordance with the conditions on which it was given but at the same time since there would seem to be a large measure of agreement between the Centre and the Provinces, both as to the objects to be secured and as to the best ways of securing them, there was no reason why such liaison as might be essential should involve any onerous interference by one with the other. Indeed, the Department of Education looked forward to the establishment in the common interest of a cordial spirit of co-operation between the parties concerned, a hope which the experience of other countries where the cost of a public system of education is defrayed partly from Central and partly from Local funds has shown to be not unrealisable. Indeed, although such development as has so far taken place in the Provinces has received substantial assistance from the Centre both in the way of money and advice, there has been no instance as yet of any Province complaining of interference. 197

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The Memorandum also endorsed the views of the Central Advisory Board of Education in regard to the sphere of work of the Central Government vis-a-vis Provincial Governments in the field of education, viz., that its administration at any rate up to the end of the High School stage, must remain a Provincial responsibility. In the higher ranges of education, however, it was generally felt that the more advanced forms of Technical, Commercial and Art Education in view of their special character, their costliness and their intimate relation to the requirements of industry and commerce rather than to those of any definite geographic area could hardly be organised efficiently on a Provincial basis. The steps which have already been taken at the instance of the All-India Council for Technical Education (a product of the Report) to promote the development of higher technical institutions on this broader basis are described in Chapter V of Part III of the Survey. Fears had also been expressed that the application of the selective principle for higher education as advocated in the Report might result in unfairness to members of backward communities. The Memorandum recognised that pending the complete establishment of a national system of education which catered impartially for all, special measures would be necessary to safeguard the interests of backward communities during the transitional period but pointed out that there was nothing in the Report which precluded the Provincial authorities from taking such measures as they thought necessary in this connection. There could, however, be little doubt as to the validity of the selective principle itself, since boys and girls are born with different abilities and aptitudes and apart from any question of social justice, the public interest requires that those with the requisite capacity, in whatever class or community they may be found, should be given the chance of further education in order that they may be equipped to serve the community to the best of their ability. The Memorandum then dealt at some length with the admittedly difficult and controversial recommendation of the Report that the introduction of a compulsory system of basic education, since it obviously could not be brought into operation all over the country at one and the same time, should proceed from area to area instead of from age to age. It had been argued that this might create serious social conflicts, since the people in certain areas might have to wait a long time for the educational facilities which those in other areas enjoyed. The Memorandum, while admitting the force of this argument, pointed out that any scheme for educational development would fail to achieve its purpose if it merely provided education for all up to a certain point, e.g., the end of the primary or junior basic stage without providing at the same time the necessary facilities for further education for those who have the capacity to benefit by it. There was an urgent need for increasing the supply of persons with expert knowledge and equipped to fill positions of responsibility in all spheres of the national life and the time required to satisfy it would be indefinitely extended if the number of High Schools from which the additional required leaders, experts—not to mention teachers—could alone be recruited was not very largely increased as quickly as possible. That

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was also the further consideration that public opinion which might acquiesce, as elsewhere, in an inadequate provision of education, if this were the same for all, would be stimulated to demand the most rapid extension possible by the very fact that certain areas were given facilities in advance of others. Although clearly recognising that it is for the Provincial and State Governments to work out for themselves the best way of carrying out the policy outlined in the Report, the Memorandum sets out certain considerations which should determine the minimum size of any selected area. The determining factor is that the area should be large enough to justify the provision of an adequate variety of facilities at the High School stage. There are advantages in areas being partly urban and partly rural, though there is no reason why an area which is exclusively urban or exclusively rural should not be made an effective unit for organisation. The advantage of a “mixed” area is that it emphasises the importance of variety more clearly than an area of uniform character. Such an area would obviously need in addition to High Schools of the normal academic type, High Schools with a technical or commercial bias for urban districts and others with an agricultural bias for rural districts. From the point of view of minimum size, it is suggested that the area should be at least large enough to provide sufficient children of the requisite ability to fill 12 High Schools and, in order to ensure the minimum variety of curriculum in the individual schools, each school should contain at least two parallel classes in each year of the course. On the basis of 30 pupils per class and a six years’ course, each High School would thus contain not less than 360 pupils and an area with 12 schools would have not less than 4,320 pupils at the High School stage. Assuming for the sake of simplicity that the distribution of the school population at the lower stages is normal, this would mean that there would be 18,000 pupils in the Junior Basic stage and 8,640 in the Senior stage. A school population of 28,800 between 6 and 14 years of age (i.e., 18,000 + 8,640 + half of 4,320 falling within the age group) would mean a total population of about 1,46,000. There is of course no reason why areas should be of uniform size or restricted to the basis set out above which should indeed be regarded as the absolute minimum for economic organisation rather than the optimum size. There may be excellent arguments in favour of making them much bigger in many places and it would almost always be desirable to treat large towns and their suburbs as single administrative units. On the other hand, particularly in the earlier stages when the rate of expansion must be conditioned by the number of teachers available, it would be easier with smaller units to meet the special claims of backward communities and by spreading these units over the whole area to obviate the criticism that one geographical section of Province or State was being favoured at the expense of the rest. While it would be convenient, that pre-Primary Education should also be organised on a similar basis, the area principle would not serve the purpose of Higher Technical Education or University Education. Moreover, a separate approach on much broader lines would also be required for such branches of education as

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Adult Education, the Training of Teachers, Employment Bureaux and the provision of Recreative and Social Activities for people of all ages. In conclusion, the Memorandum endorses the opinion of the Central Advisory Board of Education that it would imperil the ultimate success of the scheme if in order to secure a large number of teachers in a short period the standards prescribed for qualifications and training were in any way lowered and it expresses the hope that every opportunity would be given to suitable recruits from the exservice personnel to join the teaching profession.

B. Approval of the Report by the Central Government. On 19th October, 1945, the Viceroy’s Executive Council after considering the Report, the Memorandum from the Department of Education and other relevant documents arrived at the following decisions:— 1. The Council accepted generally, subject to the limitation of finance, the principles and objects of the Central Advisory Board of Education on post-war educational development of India, but resolved— (a) that until the recommendation of the Central Advisory Board of Education that educational opportunities should be available for all has been fully implemented, steps should be taken to secure the provision of adequate facilities for Muslims and other minority communities and to accelerate the progress of the scheduled castes and backward communities; (b) that with this object in view the Education Department be required to examine all schemes submitted by Provincial Governments and Local Administrations with a view to seeing that both in the selection of areas for development and in the provision of facilities for education generally, the needs of Muslim and other minority communities, the scheduled castes and backward communities are adequately satisfied; and (c) that Central Government grants-in-aid for Provincial educational development should only be sanctioned where the Education Department is satisfied that the requirement set out above has been fulfilled. 2. The Council further directed that the Education Department in consultation with the Finance Department should send a letter to Provincial Governments setting out the general principles accepted by Council. While conveying the decision of the Government of India accepting the Report of the Central Advisory Board of Education to the Provinces, in January 1946, the Department of Education reiterated the importance at all stages of educational development, of preferring quality to quantity and of resisting the temptation under political or other pressure to lower standards and to spread such funds as 200

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might be available thinly over the whole sphere of education rather than to concentrate on high standards in a more limited field.

CHAPTER VII ANTHROPOLOGY, ARCHÆOLOGY, ARCHIVES AND LIBRARY THE Department, now Ministry, of Education has also to deal with the Anthropological Survey of India, Archaeology, the National Archives and the Imperial Library. Each of these sections have their own five-year plans, which are briefly described below:— A.

The Anthropological Survey of India

The Anthropological Survey of India came into existence as a separate organisation from 1st December, 1945. Prior to that, it had functioned since 1937 as a section of the Zoological Survey of India. The study of Man, in all its varied aspects, is of special importance in an age like the present when the physical sciences are advancing at a pace out of all proportion to the progress made by social and economic studies, and in a country like India which in the dawn of independence is faced with the task of welding her population into a unified whole. In Russia, for example, the work of anthropologists has been recognised as of the first value in helping to unite the U.S.S.R.’s great conglomeration of tribes and races of diverse language, origin and customs into a single nation. Furthermore, the importance of having a wellorganised Anthropological Survey in a land which has an aboriginal population of twenty-five millions, who need special care and protection against the disintegrating forces of modern civilisation, cannot be overstated. Already, through lack of proper attention, deterioration and depopulation have taken place in several of the aboriginal tribes like the Todas, the Andamanese, the Nicobarese, etc. In India an enormous field of research, both theoretical and practical, lies before the Anthropologist. Despite a number of outstanding monographs on individual tribes and concise “glossaries” of tribes and castes, the social organisation, the religion and the customs of vast numbers of the Indian people are still scantily recorded and imperfectly understood. The great fascinating fields of criminology, tribal art, primitive linguistics, the application of modern methods of psychological investigation to aboriginal people, the economics of the countryside not only offer a tempting subject of research to the scientist, but urgently require investigation if the inhabitants (and specially the more primitive inhabitants) of the country are to be administered with sympathy and understanding. The Five-Year Plan of the Anthropological Survey has, therefore, been drawn on broad and comprehensive lines keeping in view the development in science in 201

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the advanced countries of Europe and America, which can be grouped under the heads of Physical, Biological and Cultural. I. Physical Anthropology. Under this head the following lines of investigation are proposed:— (a) Somatology, Craniometry and Osteometry (i) Paleontological Work. The occurrence of such early forms as Sivapithecus and Ramapithecus suggest the possibility that further exploration may and probably will discover prehuman remains similar to those found in China, South Africa and Java. (ii) Pre-historical Survey. In this work close collaboration has already been established between the archaeological and anthropological surveys. Many human remains discovered by archaeologists have already been handed over to the Anthropological Survey for study, and there are opportunities, as for example the excavation of such cave-sites as are suspected of having been inhabited, for joint research by the two departments. (iii) A Survey of Present-day Conditions. The acquisition of Somatometric and Osteometric data regarding the whole population is of great importance. This study will include the examination of the skeletons of the existing population by means of X-rays. (b) Radiological Work The examination of the skeletons of individuals of known age and the radiological examination of living people in order to determine the age at which the bones of the skeleton attain their final mature form or other differences in their maturation, proportional lengths, general configuration, and adaptation to such habitual postures as squatting. Such work is not only of anthropological interest but also of legal value, as it will provide data for the determination of the age of any individual. (c) Somatological Work This includes the study of such characters as the pigmentation of the skin, colour of the eye, type of hair, and other bodily characteristics. It provides evidence of the existence of different physical types, and research into such features as finger-prints, hand-prints, types of nails, etc., are not only of legal value but will provide data that will have bearing on the question of heredity. (d) Physiological Work Investigations will be conducted to discover whether any difference can be detected in different tribes and especially in the more primitive groups in such physiological factors as acuity of vision, range of colour vision, range of hearing, etc.

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(e) Psychological Work Investigations will be carried out on the psychology of the various tribes and races, particularly the more primitive, to discover their natural aptitudes, special abilities and disabilities and the lines along which adjustment to modern conditions can be directed without upsetting their general equilibrium. II. Biological Investigations. Under this head the following lines of research are proposed:— (a) The examination of blood groups and the determination of the various proportions of each in the different tribes and races. (b) A study of the effects of nutrition and particularly of malnutrition, or of an unbalanced diet, on growth, the vital capacity, age of onset of puberty, resistance to disease, etc. (c) A study of human genetics, and the effects of inter-marriage, endogamy, etc., a study which has a direct bearing on the inheritance of criminal trait, lunacy and other morbid conditions. (d) The study of Twins, which will provide evidence with regard to human heredity not obtainable except by direct experiments. III. Cultural Studies The need for this has already been emphasised. It will include the investigation of social organisation, economics, religion, tribal and local self-government, linguistics, folk-lore, technology and art, crime and tribal law and the effects of the impact of modern upon more primitive life. This line of research is of special applied significance as leading to a right administration, especially of tribal peoples. The paucity of ethnographical objects in the museums of India as compared to the Indian collections abroad has long been a matter of concern. Unless steps are taken without delay to complete the collections in the Indian museum and elsewhere a whole world of primitive arts and crafts of this country will pass away without record. The preservation of the existing specimens is also a task of considerable magnitude. Towards the fulfilment of this programme a good beginning has already been made. Work already done may be summarised under three heads: (a) organisation of an efficient nucleus staff with proper equipment, library and laboratories, (b) initiation of scientific studies, and (c) provision of post-graduate training in all branches of anthropology. As regards (a) the following posts have been created—Director, Anthropological Survey, and Anthropological Adviser to the Government of India.

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Deputy Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Superintending Anthropologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthropologists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biochemist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Statistician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Subordinate Technical and Ministerial Posts . . . . Training Scheme: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthropologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Anthropologists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sub-technical and Ministerial Staff . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 4 1 1 50 1 2 4

For the second year, as part of the Five-Year Plan, the following posts have been sanctioned:— Anthropologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Assistant Anthropologists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sub-technical and Ministerial Staff . . . . . . . 20

Some of the appointments have already been made and others are being made through the Federal Public Service Commission. Four Research Associates have also been appointed to work in the fields of Physical Anthropology, Primitive Linguistics, Psychology and Folklore and others will be appointed later. The greater part of the year 1946–47 was spent in building up the equipment, library and laboratories of the Department. An X-ray plant with accessories and radiographic material has been purchased. The Applied Psychological Laboratory has been equipped with apparatus for mental tests, accessories and equipment being made locally. Arrangements have also been made for purchasing from America more delicate and complicated instruments for testing primitive people. The number of books in the library has been doubled and complete sets of important anthropological journals, such as Hereditas from Norway and The American Anthropologist from Washington, as well as any other books and journals not otherwise available in India, have been obtained from abroad. The scientific studies undertaken since December 1945 are as follows:— (i) The detailed study and restoration of the skeletal materials from Harappa. These fragile remains, in spite of the regular application of preservatives and all possible care, have suffered greatly by being shifted from Calcutta to Dehra Dun during the war and then again to Banaras and by the subsequent damage caused by the great Varuna flood of September 1943. The greater part of the repairing and restoration has now been completed; so has the larger portion of the diaptographic tracing of skulls which were ruined by flood water. Much progress has also been 204

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made in the osteometric study of the bones including parallelograph drawings and tracings and measurements of angles of retroversion and torsion. Two short reports, one on the animal remains from Orikamedu and the other giving a preliminary account of Harappa skeletons excavated this year, have been sent to the Director-General of Archaeology. (ii) Another important work completed was the preparation of a comprehensive report on the cultural and racial affinities of the primitive tribes of India and the problems affecting their administration in the light of the experience of tribal peoples in different parts of the world. Maps illustrating the distribution of these tribes and their proportionate strength were also prepared. This work entailed examination of a large mass of material on non-Indian tribes which was only with difficulty obtained. (iii) Field work was commenced at the earliest possible moment, even before touring equipment was available. The Deputy Director went with a party into the hills of Orissa, where he made a special study of the religion of the Lanjhia Saoras, while members of the party investigated the economics and physical characters of the people from December 1946 to February 1947. In May 1947, the Director led a large expedition to the Jaunsar Bawar area, and valuable work was done both on the physical side and in investigating the psychology and sociology of the inhabitants whose social customs present problems of peculiar difficulty and complexity to the administration. Mr. Asutosh Bhattacharaya, a Research Associate, toured in the villages of Bengal and has made a useful report on the distribution of the Dharma cult in that Province. (iv) Another scientific investigation started during the year was the application of mental tests to school-going children in Banaras for the assessment and gradation of their mental abilities in order to provide norms for comparison with the results of similar tests on children of primitive races. (v) Arrangements for the publication of the first Bulletin and Memoirs of the Anthropological Survey are now in an advanced stage and will include studies of the Kols of Central India, the Santals, the Saoras and the anthropometry of Indus Kohistan. An important aspect of the Survey’s literary work is the preparation of popular handbooks in the national languages of the scientific works produced by members of the Survey. One of these is now ready for the press and others are in preparation. Six post-graduate students were selected for advanced training in anthropology during 1946–47 and four others will be trained in 1947–48. Two students went on the Orissa expedition early in the year and two others accompanied the Director to Jaunsar Bawar. While at headquarters they have been given regular instruction and opportunities for laboratory training on a scale at present unobtainable elsewhere. The training course for these students is of two years’ duration and a stipend of Rs. 150 a month is allowed to them. In view of the rapid advance in the development of method and technique in other countries, it is proposed to offer a few visiting Fellowships 205

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to foreign scholars, both Asiatic and Western, to facilitate their researches in India and it is hoped that thereby not only will the cause of science be advanced but the latest experience of world scholarship will be made available to the Survey. B. 1.

The Archælogical Survey of India

Reorganisation of the Survey

With the setting up of Education as a separate department in 1945, the responsibility for the maintenance and administration of the Archæological Survey was allotted to the Department of Education. The Archæological Survey of India was established in 1862, but was reconstituted and reinforced by Lord Curzon in 1902. It developed along three main lines:— (a) The conservation of historic and pre-historic buildings and sites; (b) the excavation of ancient sites with a view to widening and deepening our knowledge of the history of the Indian peoples; and (c) the collection of the almost infinite epigraphical evidence upon which much of the history of India must be founded. To-day about 3,000 of the most important buildings and sites of India are controlled in varying degree by the Department. These include monuments such as the great group of temples at Bhubaneswar, the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri and other world-famous buildings. It may fairly be said that an appreciable part of the surviving contributions of India to the material culture of the world comes within the purview of the Survey. The Department’s responsibility to India—and, for that matter, outside India—is proportionately great. Due to a number of factors, the Survey had reached a static stage by 1938 and in order to revitalise it and to enable it to play its part to better effect, an enquiry was made into the working of the Survey which brought to light a number of defects. A three-year plan of development was accordingly worked out by the present Director-General of Archæology and was accepted by Government for initiation from 1945–46. As a result of these steps, considerable improvements have been made in the reorganisation of the staff and the training of the circles and branches in conformity with modern standards. The basic reconstruction of the Survey is now nearing completion. A detailed account of the reorganisation and recent development of the Survey has been given in three memoranda issued by the Director-General in December 1947, March 1948, and April 1948. These are documents of the greatest interest to all those interested in India’s vast, archæological treasures. Brief summaries of them are given below:—

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Department of Archoælogy, 1944 to 1947 Organisation The Department of Archæology was reorganised in many directions during the last four years. The conservation of ancient monuments, which, in most Provinces, had been done by the Provincial Public Works Departments, often with deplorable results, was taken over for departmental execution. To cope with the extra work, the strength of the cadre of gazetted officers was increased, so that all circles could have a Superintendent and an Assistant Superintendent; a conservation staff of uniform strength was also sanctioned for all circles, which again were reconstituted on an administratively convenient basis. The Epigraphical Branch was strengthened by the addition of an Assistant Superintendent for Muslim Epigraphy, and the Chemical Branch by that of an Assistant Chemist. Another important addition was a pre-historian, to deal with the rich pre-historic material of India, especially of the South. The activities of the Department are mainly judged outside by its publications, and it was therefore essential that a new orientation should be given to its publications. A cheap and handy six-monthly Bulletin, named Ancient India, was initiated and a new series of cheap and attractive guide-books to monuments both in English and Indian languages was started. To look after the increased publication activities a Superintendent for Publications was appointed. The constitution of the Excavations Branch to replace the Exploration Branch abolished in 1931 has been an event of great importance; it is the nucleus of a bigger scheme of extensive exploration both pre-historic and historical. The specialised skill required of an excavator and his staff could not be expected in the previous system of mustering an ad hoc staff for excavation, lacking in continuity and specialised training. Exploration Already the Excavations Branch, working under the Director-General on a few chosen sites, has achieved notable results. The sites have been equally divided between the north and the south, so that the Dark Ages may be attacked from both ends. The first site tackled by the Excavations Branch was Taxila; the work showed that the occupation of the earliest city of Taxila extended back towards, but scarcely beyond the annexation of North-West India by the Persian empire in the sixth century B.C. Renewed excavation at Harappa, the famous Indus Valley site in 1946, proved the existence of formidable fortifications, which not only altered radically the earlier interpretation of the Indus civilisation but seems to have enabled us to bring that civilisation into direct relationship with the Aryan invasions reflected in the Rigveda.

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In the South, a fixed datum-line has been fixed by the 1945 excavation at Arikamedu near Pondicherry, where, for the first time in the history of South-Indian archæology, pottery and glassware imported from the Roman world in the first century A.D. was found in association with a vast amount of local pottery, which was thus now definitely dated. It was now easy to extend this new knowledge inlands, and Brahmagiri in the northern outskirts of Mysore State, where a distinctive type of Arikamedu pottery had been known to exist, was the next choice. Here, in 1947, a simultaneous exploration on the town-site and the adjacent megalithic cemetery was carried out. The former revealed three successive cultures. The earliest was a primitive culture by the use of polished stone axes, microliths, rough hand-made pottery and occasionally small objects of copper and bronze; a reasonable computation enables us to fix. 1000 to 200 B.C. as its date. The second may be called the “megalithic culture” as its ceramic, polished, wheel-turned and parti-coloured in black and brown, was also typical, of the neighbouring megalithic cist-burials. This culture may be dated between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D., when it was supplanted by a culture associated from the outset with pottery which had been dated at Arikamedu to the first century A.D. and which, at Chandravalli, also in Mysore State, is coeval with the coins of the later Satavahanas (first century A.D.). The dominant need of Indian archaeology at present is the systematisation of the proto-historic and early historical cultures of India and the evolution of a culture-sequence. The excavations mentioned above are a preliminary step towards the fulfilment of the dominant need of Indian archæology at present—the systématisation of the proto-historic and early historical cultures of India and the evolution of a culture-sequence. 2.

Proposed National Museum of Art, Archæology and Anthropology

The Government of India propose to establish a National Museum of Art, Archæology and Anthropology for co-ordinating and developing cultural studies in India and regarding India. As yet there is no institution in India where the public and the students can obtain anything approaching a general conception of the development of Indian civilisation during the thousands of years in which man has inhabited this sub-continent. The idea originated with the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal in November 1944 and received the whole-hearted support of the Anthropological Society of Bombay. A scheme was prepared by the Director-General of Archæology and was considered by the Central Advisory Board of Archæology at their meeting held in January 1945. It was suggested that the main functions of the Museum should be— 1. To maintain a representative collection illustrating the arts, crafts and cultures of India from the earliest human occupation down to recent times. 208

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2. To provide the necessary materials and facilities for appropriate research. 3. To set an international standard of presentation and general museum technique and so to provide India with the much-needed “scale of values” in these matters. 4. To provide authoritative guidance to the Indian general public and to foreign enquirers in matters relating to the cultural heritage of India. 5. To provide authoritative guidance and technical assistance to provincial and local museums in India. 6. To advise Government in the distribution of grants to the museum service of India. 7. To issue publications for the information both of the general public and of scholars. 8. To maintain and circulate loan collections amongst the educational and other appropriate institutions of India, particularly in those towns and districts lacking a museum service of their own. 9. Generally, to represent India both to Indians and to the outside world in matters relating to the material contributions of India to the sum-total of human civilisation. The Government of India accepted these proposals in principle but appointed a small Committee under the chairmanship of Sir Maurice Gwyer, Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University, to frame the details for the establishment of such a Museum. The Report of this Committee has since been received and is under examination. The scheme in broad outline provides for a Directorate and five departments, namely, Art, Pre-historic Archæology and Historic Archæology (Buddhist, Jaina, Brahmanical, Muslim), Numismatics and Epigraphy and Anthropology (Cultural and Physical). The whole scheme is again under scrutiny and it is to be hoped that Government will initiate it in 1947–1948.

C.

The National Archves

1. A Research Centre Originally the Imperial Record Department used to be treated not as a public records office where research facilities were available to all bona-fide scholars but merely as a department of the Central Government catering mainly for the Central administration and its officers. Since 1910 the Rt. Hon’ble the Secretary of State for India had been urging upon the Government of India the need of throwing open their records to research scholars and the Indian Historical Records Commission, appointed in 1919, also lent its support to the steadily growing demand. But the suggestions from the India Office could not be fully implemented on account of opposition from the Provinces and in the years following the first great war, when the Commission was in a state of suspended animation, the facilities previously 209

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granted were in many respects strictly circumscribed. In 1939, however, the Government of India decided to bring their policy in line with that of other progressive countries and threw open all their records up to 1880 with such precautionary restrictions as the safety of the archives themselves demanded. The result was that the Imperial Record Department, or the National Archives of India as it is now called, became one of the greatest research centres in the country. Since 1939 no less than 350 research students have made use of the unpublished manuscript records of the Government of India. In 1938 only 14 research scholars came to the Department and in 1939 their number rose to 30. During the war years the number steadily went on rising despite the difficulties of transport and accommodation. In 1946 it reached the peak (57). In 1947, however, there was an appreciable decrease due probably to the unsettled condition in the country. The research scholars came from all parts of the country from Quetta to Mysore. Nor were other countries absolutely unrepresented; one scholar came from Burma, another from Ceylon and a third from Indo-China. Nor were the services of the Department limited to scholars of established reputation like Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Sir Rustom Masani, Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka, Sir Torick Ameer Ali and Colonel Thikimore but University students and even Junior Technical Assistants of the Department, who stood in need of expert guidance, took advantage of the new rules. Nearly 100,000 pages of excerpts have been scrutinised and released for their use. It is a matter of great satisfaction that so far there has been no case of abuse of the privileges offered by the 1939 rules. 2.

Preservation

During this period preservation work has received fresh stimulus. The years of retrenchment following the peace of 1918 badly affected this Department and the preservation staff was considerably reduced. Fragile documents demanding immediate repair could not therefore be attended to in all cases and arrears in repair work quickly accumulated. But although the Department suffered from war-time scarcity of repairing materials, it has a good record of work to its credit. During the period 1939 to 1947, 1,655,771 sheets of documents were rehabilitated, 1,825 volumes were bound, 14,934 volumes or bundles were fumigated as a protection against insects and mildew and 60,260 leather bound volumes were treated with a leather preservative dressing. In addition to this more than 200 old maps and charts were reconditioned and mounted and quite a number of valuable manuscripts belonging to learned institutions, Government agencies and individual scholars were rehabilitated as a courtesy service. Taking the figures for the year 1939 as the basis of normal outturn, the rehabilitation of documents increased by 500 per cent, and the treatment of leather bound volumes by 1,400 per cent, during the year of their maximum production. The Research Laboratory was started in 1940 with a modest grant of Rs. 500 with one Technical Assistant and one Mechanic on the staff. The work done in 210

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this laboratory has received wide recognition. A rotary laminator and a type of insecticide paper have been developed by this laboratory and the latter has since been patented. There has been considerable progress in the preservation of documents by mechanical and scientific processes. The laminating machine and the vacuum fumigation plant and their accessories are now awaiting shipment and a part has already been shipped from the U.S.A. Amongst the laboratory apparatus and accessory machines, for which orders have been placed, may be mentioned the following:— 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Electric Boiler. Photomicrographic Equipment. Paper Testing Machines. H.P. Meter for investigating the acidity of paper. Humidifiers. Rotary and Automatic Ironers. Experimental Fumigation Tank. Microfilming Cameras and Accessory Photographic Outfits. Microfilm Storage Cabinets. Air-Cleaning Tables.

One of the investigations in which the laboratory has been engaged is about the indigenous methods of preservation. 3.

Publication

In 1942 the Indian Historical Records Commission prepared a five-year publication programme which was later approved by the Government of India. The programme falls under four main heads:— 1.

Twenty-one volumes of Fort William-East India House Correspondence to be published in extenso. The publication is to be financed by the Government of India and the editing is to be entrusted to eminent scholars from the Universities and learned institutions. General Editor: Director of Archives, Government of India. The typescripts of all the volumes have been prepared and distributed among selected Editors. Editing of five volumes has been completed.

2.

Following five volumes to be edited by the Director of Archives and to be published at Government expense:— Three volumes of Shore Papers (typescript ready). One volume of Browne Correspondence (gaps have yet to be filled by transcripts from the India Office). 211

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Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri (now ready for the Press). 3.

Records in Oriental languages to be published through private agencies (under the general editorship of the Director of Archives). One volume of Bengali records (1779–1820) edited by the Director of Archives already published by the Calcutta University. One volume of Sanskrit records (1778–1857) edited by the Director of Archives (in the press). One volume of Marathi records (1779–1803) to be published by the Bharata Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandala, Poona. Two volumes of Hindi records (1793–1820) to be published by the Allahabad University and Kotah Durbar. One volume of Tamil records (1824–1864) to be published by the Annamalai University. One volume of Kannada records (1791–1865).

4.

Selections from English records to be published through outside bodies. (i) Selections from Orme manuscripts on Coromandel affairs to be published by the Annamalai University. (ii) Elphinstone Correspondence—Nagpur Period (1839–1842) to be published by the Nagpur University. (iii) Punjab Akhbars (1839–1841) to be published by the Sikh History Society, Amritsar. (iv) Punjab and Frontier News Letters (1839–1842). (v) Ochterlony Papers on Delhi and Central India (1818–1825)—A scholar is engaged in preparing a list of documents.

Besides these the Department is also responsible for the preparation and publication of:— 1. 2. 3. 4.

Calendar of Persian Correspondence—7 volumes already out, 2 volumes in the press, 1 volume nearing completion. List of Heads of the Administration—revised every five years. Notes, etc., on Preservation of Old Records. Handbook of Records (now under revision).

Two undertakings under this head deserve special mention:— 1.

A Comprehensive Index to Records on Scientific Lines. The shortest series in our custody, Revenue records from 1837–1859 has already been indexed on these lines and the Department is now indexing the late Political Department records.

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2.

4.

The Indian Archives—a quarterly journal, of which two issues have been out and reviewed favourably in England and U.S.A. The journal aims at popularising new developments in Archives science both in this country and abroad.

Training

Few trained Archivists are now available in this country and if we have to provide for even the minimum number of Archives offices in the Provinces and the States a large number of them will be needed. In anticipation of this demand a diploma course was opened in the National Archives of India in 1942. So far 17 students have been awarded diplomas either for the entire course or for some special branches and 10 are under training now. 5.

Reconstitution of the Indian Historical Records Commission

In 1919 the Commission was appointed by the Government of India. It consisted of a small number of official and non-official experts. It was soon perceived that unless a larger number of scholars was associated with it, the Commission would not be in a position to accomplish its task properly. Consequently, a number of corresponding members was appointed for a period of three years each. After several years of experiment it ‘was realised that the Commissioner’s recommendations would not carry due weight unless it was representative of all the interests concerned. In 1940 therefore the Commission was reconstituted. The Provincial Governments, the Indian States, the Universities and learned institutions of India are now entitled to nominate their representatives to the Indian Historical Records Commission. The reconstituted Indian Historical Records Commission have already got a fair record to their credit. They have prepared a comprehensive Post-War Scheme of Archives reconstruction which has been accepted by the Government of India in principle. The main aim of this scheme is to extend further the research facilities available in this country and to convert the National Archives of India into a great research centre. It proposes to acquire from abroad authenticated copies of such manuscript records and works on India as are not available here to carry on a countrywide survey with a view to bringing to light hitherto unnoticed records and historical manuscripts and to provide for their preservation. It has also formulated detailed proposals for mechanising the preservation section and the Government have already purchased a Microfilm Unit. A number of ad hoc Regional Committees have been appointed and the Government have provided some funds for their survey work. A provision has also been made for purchase of old records and rare manuscripts and some manuscripts have already been acquired.

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6.

Work Connected with Records Administration

The following figures will give some idea of the work done under the records administration programme of the Department during the decade under review: Accessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5,100 bundles 4,369 volumes Requisitions received . . . . . . . . . . . . 216,190 Restorations done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158,958

Plans for Development The Government of India have accepted the proposals of the Director of Archives to implement the recommendations made by the Research and Publication Committee of the Indian Historical Records Commission concerning the post-war reorganisation of the Archives Offices and Historical Research in India. The scheme, which extends over five years, is designed to make available to bona-fide students working in India the original sources of Indian history without putting them to the trouble and expense of going to foreign countries. To achieve this object the scheme contemplates a large-scale expansion of the activities of the National Archives on the following lines:— 1. Acquisition of records from official custody, e.g., from the India Office, the Public Record Office, the British Museum, the Bodleian Library, the Royal Asiatic Society of England and other European countries and the United States of America; and also unearthing records in private custody in India. 2. Publication of records so as to make records available in print as far as possible and expedite the calendaring and indexing programme for the convenience of research scholars. 3. Preservation of records by Air-conditioning, Vacuum Fumigation, Lamination, etc. The scheme involves the procurement from abroad of costly equipment and machinery, provision of additional accommodation as well as staff. The machinery to be installed includes Air-clearing Unit, Fumigatorium, Film Preservation and Micro-photographic Equipment and a Laminating Machine. Courses have already been started at the National Archives for training a certain number of students in Archives keeping. The scheme is to come into operation from 1947–1948. D.

The National (formerly Imperial) Library, Calcutta

The National Library, Calcutta, was established in 1901 with the object of affording greater facilities for research to students in this country. The then 214

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existing library in the Civil Secretariat buildings formed the nucleus of the new institution. The Library was formally opened by Lord Curzon in January 1903. It is under the control of the Government of India, but its internal management is vested in a Council which in 1947 consisted of nominees of the Governor-General in Council, the Government of Bengal and Calcutta University with the Educational Adviser to the Government of India as ex-officio Chairman. The future constitution of the Council is under consideration. The original intention was to establish a library at the metropolis of the Government of India similar in character to that attached to the British museum. The object of the Library is thus described in the despatch of August the 8th, 1900, to the Secretary of State:— “We intend that it should be a library of reference, a working place for students and a repository of material for the future historians of India, in which, so far as possible, every book written about India at any time can be seen and read.” But with the transfer of the capital of India to Delhi, the character and functions of the National Library have gradually changed and since 1924 the Library has tended more and more to assume the character of an ordinary provincial library. This continues to be, in the main, the present position. For example, during the year 1945–1946, which is the last year for which a report is available, 92 percent, of the books lent out were lent in Calcutta, the second largest percentage of books borrowed being 1.9 for the Province of Bengal. The question of transferring the Library from Calcutta to Delhi is still under the consideration of the Ministry of Education, but in the meanwhile the Government of India have decided to establish a Central Reference Library with a Copyright Section. It is proposed to appoint in 1947–1948 a small Expert Committee to work out the various details in the first instance. The importance of such a Library, where all the literature produced would be available for purposes of reference, is of course beyond dispute.

Note 1 Included under “other schools” in the Statistical returns.

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PAPER ON EDUCATION—I. The education that we give our children inevitably expresses our own conception of that synthesis of which our lives form a part. Thus, the American school will consider itself incomplete, until it has found out how to initiate the youth into mechanical processes. The Australian school will probably strive to lay the foundations of agriculture. The schools of a scientific age will recognise the importance of science, and those of a classical revival, that of dead languages. It follows that two different ages will, never repeat each other exactly, in the matter of education, for the simple reason that in different historical epochs, nations select different branches of training, as of central necessity to their children, really because they are paramount factors for the moment, in the national life. In Bengal, for instance, under the Sanskrit Renascence of the Guptas, a knowledge of the Sanskrit language and literature became the distinctive mark of a gentleman. A thousand years later, a man in the same position had to be versed in. Persian also. To-day, English is the test. Thus a similar mental and social dignity is atained by changing means, at different epochs. Fortunately for the civilisation of India, the Hindu has always clearly perceived the mind behind the method, as the thing with which education has fundamentally to deal. It is this which, in spite of so many catastrophes, has, in the past, saved the Indian genius from destruction. And it is this which constitutes its best security for the future. Just so long as the Brahminic system of directly training the minds of the young to concentration persists, will the Indian people remain potentially equal to the conquest of any difficulty that the changing ages may bring them. But once let this training be neglected or lost, and in spite of purity of race, the vigour of the Indian mind would probably fall to a level with that of modern peoples in general, waxing and waning with the degree and freedom of self-expression that the passing period might permit them. At present—owing largely to the peculiar psychological discipline, received by girls as well as boys, 216

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along with their devotional training—the most salient characteristic of the Hindu intellect is its reserve of strength, its conservation of power. As we read the history of the country, we are amazed at the unforeseenness with which geniuses occur, and the brilliance of their isolated achievements. The Indian Bhaskaracharya in the twelfth century, envisages the fact of gravitation with as unflinching a conviction—though social conditions do not lead him to so clear an enunciation— as the Western Newton, in the seventeenth. A race of women, cloistered and secluded, blossom forth suddenly into a Chand Bibi. Within the last twenty years, in spite of universal clerkship, we have given to the world men who have enriched humanity in Religion, in Science, and in Art. The invention of smokeless powder, and improvements made in surgery, are extended applications of knowledge, merely. India has shown herself potent to add to knowledge itself. These things are some indication of the sleeping power of the Indian mind. They are the chance blossoms that show the living-ness of the whole tree. They tell us that what Indian people have done in the past, that Indian people can do in the future. And if it be so, then we owe this undying vitality to the fact that, whatever may have been the characteristic expression most prized, at any given moment, our forefathers never neglected the culture and development of the mind itself. The training of the attention—rather than the learning of any special subject, or the development of any particular faculty—has always been, as the Swami Vivekananda claimed for it, the chosen goal of Hindu education. Great men have been only as incidents, in the tale of this national effort, to achieve control and self-direction of the mind itself. It is not here, then, in the object and nature of the inner psychological process, that Western educators have anything to teach India. Instead of this, the superiority of the West lies in her realisation of the value of great united efforts in any given direction,—even that of self-education—and in the particular synthesis which, as she may think, it is necessary for the educational process to reflect. Thus, India may, all things considered, be capable of producing a greater number of geniuses, per thousand of her population, than Germany or America: but Germany and America have known how to bring the national mind to bear on their respective problems! That is to say, they have organised the common, popular mind, and to this organised mind they have presented the riddle that is to be guessed. Let us think of the mental weight and area, the material quantity and power, so to speak, of the thought thus brought in contact with the question they want answered. What is that question? Very probably it is strictly relative in its character. We may perhaps assume, without injustice, that it is the prosperity and well-being of their respective country and people, only. This is no impersonal, no absolute goal, such as that Renunciation and Mukti which India proposes to her children. Quite true. And yet, to the mind and soul of the individual German or American the prosperity of his country will appear as an impersonal end. Even the Hindu has to begin climbing towards renunciation in the abstract, by first practising self-suppression, for the sake of others, in the concrete. Even to the Hindu, the thought of the family is apt to be the first, as it were, of “those altar-stairs that 217

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slope through darkness up to God.” Those dependent on him, he will say if we ask him, are a trust put into his hands, as a means whereby to work out his own karma, and reach true discrimination. And why should the German and the American not feel the same thing about their own countries? Why should this not be to them the last great step in “the altar-stairs” of life? Supposing that it is so, the individual of each nation must be able to pursue the studies necessary to the earning of a livelihood, with the idea before him of a noble devotion to the cause of his people as a whole. Not cherishing this idea, he would still have had to prepare himself for a life of earning—even the Hindu has to do that! with the difference that he could not then have put into his training or his service all the ardour of motive, or all the lofty imagination of which he is capable. There is nothing so belittling to the human soul, as the acquisition of knowledge, for the sake of worldly reward. There is nothing so degrading to a nation, as coming to look upon, the life of the mind as a means to bread-winning. Unless we strive for truth because we love it, and must at any cost attain, unless we live the life of thought out of our own rejoicing in it, the great things of heart and intellect will close their doors to us. There is a very definite limit to the distance a man can go, under the impulsion of a worldly motive. But if, on the other hand, his very love for those dear to him, is on a plane so lofty and so true that it presents itself to him as a reason for being and reaching the utmost possible; if he knows that the more he can realise, the better will it be, if not for his own immediate family, yet for that wider kindred that he calls his country, then his public spirit is of a quality to give him wings. It adds freedom, not bondage. It becomes an achievement, not a limitation. In this matter, India may have something to learn from the West. Why should we limit the social motive to a man’s own family, or to his own community? Why not alter the focus, till we all stand, aiming each at the good of all-the-others, and willing, if need be, to sacrifice himself, his family, and even his particular’ social group, for the good of the whole? The will of the hero is ever an impulse to selfsacrifice. It is for the good of the People—not for my own good that I should strive to become one with the highest, the noblest, and the most truth-loving that I can conceive. It may even work out to my own personal destruction. It may lead to my swimming across the flood, to carry on the work of the telegraph-station, or leaping into the pit of death, for the rescue of a comrade. Either might be fatal. Shall I leave my family to struggle with poverty, unprovided? Away with the little vision! Shall we not eagerly die, both I and they, to show to the world what the Indian idea of duty may be? May not a single household be glad to starve, in order that a nation’s face may shine? The hero’s choice is made in a flash. To him, the larger vision is closer than the near. Within an instant, he strikes for eternity, strikes and is done. In concentrating the individual mind on the national problem, the West makes a hero out of many a common man. This also is a form of realisation. We have to think, then, of the concentration of the Indian mind on the Indian problem. In order to do this, we are not asked to abandon that older system of training the mind itself, and rendering it familiar with absolute and universal 218

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considerations, on which, as already, said, so much that is distinctive in Indian power and culture has depended in the past, and must depend in the future. But whereas, at present, the great bulk of our popular mind is pre-occupied with schemes of instruction, for the purpose of earning individual livelihoods, we now desire to consider the best means for bringing about a conscious unification of that mind, in order that we may be better able to compass thereby the common weal, the good of the whole. This substitution of the common good for the particular good—with the result that a higher level of individual good is rendered possible—is a. process whose practicability is evidenced in Europe herself. It is not on special personalities and rarely-equipped faculties that the course of European history depends to-day, so much as the weight and power of common mind that has been unified and released, to work on certain given tasks. It is so released, and prepared for such release, by the form and quality of popular education. It is for us, then, who are Indian, to see what are the essentials of that education, with a view to appropriating its benefits to India and the Indian people.

PAPER ON EDUCATION—II. In a perfect education, we can easily distinguish three different elements not always chronologically distinct. First, if we would obtain from a human mind the highest possible return, we must recognise in its education the stage of preparing it to learn, of training it to receive impressions, of developing it intensively, as it were, independently of the particular branch of knowledge through which this is done. Of the very existence of this phase of the educational process, many are unaware. Secondly, in all historic epochs, but preeminently in this modern age, there is a certain characteristic fund of ideas and concepts which is common to society as a whole, and must be imparted to every individual, who is to pass, in his mature life, as efficient. This is the element that is supposed in the common acceptance to be the whole of education. It bulks the largest. It costs the most labour. It is the process that it is most obviously impossible to eliminate. And yet it is really only one of three elements. And strange to say, it is the very one which is least essential to the manifestation of what we call genius. Never was there a period in the world’s history, when this aspect of education was so large or imperative as to-day. ‘Geography, history, algebra and arithmetic, all that mkes up the worry and fret of childish life,’ as some one said, ‘are in reality the key to a glorious city. They are the franchise of the modern consciousness. Carrying them, a man has a basis of communication with the whole wide world of educated minds.’ But thirdly, these two elements taken together, in their highest degree (and it is quite possible to be taken as ‘educated’, on a very modest allowance of the second, only!) will only prepare the mind for real education. They are nothing more than preliminary conditions. They are by no means the essential itself. Having them, the mind has become a fit instrument. But of what? What shall be its message? What is to constitute the burden of its education? What is it that so much preparation has prepared it for? The third element in a perfect human development 219

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sweeps away the other two. It takes note of them only by implication, as it were, in the higher or lower fitness of the mind itself. The man meets his guru, and devotes himself to a perfect passivity. Or he surrenders to some absorbing idea, which becomes the passion of his life. Or he takes up a pursuit, and lives henceforth for it, and it alone. The phase of the one has succeeded to the phase of the many. Regarded as a mind, the man has become a full human organism. He now stands a chance of contributing to the riches of humanity as a whole. It is characteristic of India that it is the third and highest of these three elements that she has observed and analysed, allowing the other two to occur by accident. It is equally characteristic of the West that it is numbers one and two that she has observed and analysed, allowing number three to occur by accident! Yet all three have their science, and certainly the last is not without it. Egoistic response to stimulus, constant mental activity, much restlessness and intellectual change of appetite, loud self-assertion, argumentativeness, and desire to manifest power, are apt to be the characteristics of a healthy second stage. But when the guru comes, or the idea that is to dominate the life is apprehended, there may be a keen initial struggle, but after it there is a period of profound apparent quiet. To see the thing as it appears to the mind of the master, is the one necessity. To serve him, acting as his hands and feet, as it were, in order that one’s mind and heart may be made one with his; to serve him silently, broodingly, with the constant attempt to assimilate his thought, this is the method. Throughout this period, there is no room for rebellion. Eventually the guru emancipates: he does not bind. It would be a poor service to him, if we felt compelled in his name to arrest the growth of an idea. Eventually we have to realise that the service to which he has called us is not his own, but that of Truth itself, and that this may take any form. But in the first place it is essential that we begin where he left off. In the first place, emptied of self, we have to labour to give expression to that idea which has struck root in us through him. We must understand that the whole significance of our own lives depends, first and last, on their relation to his life. The guru may have remained hidden, and the disciple may stand in the blaze of the world. But every word, every gesture, will point the way to that secret sanctuary, whence comes his strength. For the greatest energy is imparted by the sense of working for the glory of another. No man could be so nobly ambitious for himself as his wife could be, for him. The very fact that it was for himself would undermine his sense of loftiness and inspiration. No disciple can win the same joy from spiritual independence, as from the enthusiasm of guru-bhakti. No son can feel so eager to make his own name famous, as he will be to magnify that of his father. These are amongst the deepest secrets of the human heart, and they form the area that India has chosen to explore. It is in this way that greatness is made. It is difficult, however, in modern times,—and speaking in a sense more or less worldly,—difficult to recognise greatness, unless it speaks in the language of the second educational element. There is a certain fund of information which is more or less essential to the development and manifestation of modern personality. It is interesting to enquire, what are the essentials of this fund of information? But 220

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before we can enter into this, it may be advisable to consider the matter more as a whole. We can see that unselfishness is the real distinction of fine persons, of what Ramakrishna Paramhamsa might have called Vidyâvân-lok. In this sense, a peasant-woman may be greater than a reigning queen. Even in intellect, the farmer’s wife may be the greater, for she may have keenness of judgment, discrimination, mother-wit, and a hundred powers in which the woman of rank and power is by no means her superior. Are the tales of the world’s worship not of shepherds and dairy women, of carpenters and camel-drivers? But we can see that a mind whose field of activity is limited to some remote or obscure pursuit, has not the same chance of making its power felt, as one that is able to deal with those counters that the world as a whole recognises. Some Bhutia lad may be potentially a great poet, but he is likely to live and die mute and inglorious. The Homers and Shaksperes of history are partakers in the world-culture of their time. And intellectual formulæ may be made a great help to moral development. We know that we ought to restrain our individual anger and impatience. But it is undoubtedly easier to do so, when we know something about the size and distance of the fixed stars, and can take refuge in the thought of the vastness of the cosmos. The growth of character can be much aided by intellectual activity, besides, requiring it in its maturity as a means of self-expression. We do not want to identify the mere drill of learning to read and write, and the memorising of a few facts conveyed by that vehicle, with the idea of culture. We are well aware that even literary culture might easily be greater in some illiterate Indian villager, familiar with kathaks and mangol-gâyens in the most accomplished passer of examinations. But we do not wish, on the other hand, to forget that it is a duty to develop our intellectual powers. No Hindu, who wishes to fulfil his obligations to the janadesh-dharma ( ), can afford to neglect any opportunity of learning that he can possibly make for himself. This is the daily sacrifice to the Rishis, and it is as binding on women as on men. By emphasising the third educational element, are made the poets and scholars of the world. The idea before which we are passive, that we may absorb it, the idea that fills our lives henceforth, the idea to which all our education has only been preparatory, this is the idea that is spirituality itself. Our self-subordination here is renunciation. Our enthusiasm here is an apostolate. It matters nothing about the form of expression. Our whole character is bathed in the river of this intellectual passion to emerge new, radiant, self-restrained, and self-directed. The only sin is to expect a return to ourselves, in riches, or honour, or fame. But the man who has really entered into the great life of ideas is not long held back, or seriously embittered by this childishness, for the energy of his pursuit dominates him, and excludes even himself from his thought. Palissy the potter was such an idealist. So was Stephenson, who invented the railway engine. Newton, boiling his watch instead of an egg, was a third. A nation stands or falls, in the long run, by the number of such souls that she is capable of producing, out of the rank and file of ordinary education. What about India, in this respect, to-day? Let the army of her poor scholars answer! Let the capacity of her people for universal ideas 221

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answer! Let the trumpet-call of Advaita, on the lips of Vivekananda answer! Science, art, history, the crafts, business, the development of men on planes external and internal, all these are but so many different expressions of That One. Through any of them may come the flood of light, the shaping and moulding of character, the infinite self-forgetting that means the goal itself. To have a chance of this, the idea must be stated. The ideal must be consciously held. Common education must be reverenced as a sacrament, making the opportunity for this exaltation and consecration. And if we once grasp these things, we shall see that we have no choice, that the education of all, the People as well as the classes, woman as well as man,—is not to be a desire with us, but lies upon us as a command. Humanity is mind, not body—soul, not flesh. Its heritage is in the life of thought and feeling. To close against any the gates of the higher life is a sin far greater than that of murder, for it means responsibility for spiritual death, for inner bondage, and the result is ruin unspeakable. There is but one imperative duty before us to-day. It is to help on Education by our very lives if need be—Education in the great sense as well as the little, in the little as well as in the big.

PAPER ON EDUCATION—III. Our conception of education must have a soul. It must form a unity. . It must take note of the child as a whole, as heart as well as mind, will as well as mind and heart. Unless we train the feelings and the choice, our man is not educated. He is only decked out in certain intellectual tricks that he has learnt to perform. By these tricks he can earn his bread. He cannot appeal to the heart, or give life. He is not a man at all; he is a clever ape. Learning, in order to appear clever, or learning, in order to earn a livelihood,—not in order to become a man, to develop one’s own manhood and manliness,—means running into this danger, Therefore, in every piece of information that is imparted to a child, we must convey an appeal to the heart. At every step in the ascent of knowledge, the child’s own will must act. We must never carry the little one upwards and onwards; he must himself struggle to. climb. Our care must be to put just so much difficulty in his way as would stimulate his will, just so little as to avoid discouragement. When, within and behind the knowledge gained, there stands a man, there stands a mind, then the task of instruction can be changed into one of self-education. The taught is now safe, he will teach himself. Every boy sent abroad is sent, on the understanding that he is in this sense developed. He is thrown into the moral ocean to battle for himself with the waves of difficulty and of temptation. We assume that he is a swimmer. But what have we done to ensure it? There is one way, and one way only. It is, throughout the early years of education, to remember that there is nothing so important as the training of the feelings. To feel nobly, and to choose loftily and honestly, is a thousandfold more important to the development of faculty than any other single aspect of the educational process. The lad in whom this power is really present and really dominant, will’ always do the best thing possible under any given circumstances. The boy in 222

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whom it is not present is liable to confusion of the will, and confusion may mean only error, or it may mean demoralisation. Very few parents and teachers amongst us at present have thought much of the pre-eminent necessity and importance of this training of the heart. What is it then that we trust to, for our children, in a fashion so blind? We trust, more or less unconsciously, to the general action of home, family, religion, and country, on the conscience and the emotions. It is the immense moral genius of the Indian people as a whole that has really formed so many fine men out of the students of the past two or three generations. And it is the crucial importance of the element in the environment that makes the foreign educator so undesirable. Our own countryman, however unversed in educational theory, is likely to be in harmony with our highest emotional life. His chance words will touch the keys of spiritual motive, where the best-intentioned foreigner with all his efforts, is liable to fail. The man who could not deliberately awaken the great formative influences, may do so by accident, if he and we are sufficiently of one world. The chance is very small that a stranger will even dream of the need for doing so. It is almost true that the worst of ourselves is a better schoolmaster for us, than the best of another people. Having once recognised the law, however, we are no longer at the mercy of circumstances. The home can see to it that the school builds up the child. Even an ignorant mother, by teaching her boy to love, and to act on his love, can be the finest of educators. It is this that makes, so many of our great men of to-day, attribute so much to their mothers. The old education of the girl, by the brata, is full of this appeal to the heart, as the only sound basis of education. But modern education, in its first inception, ignored this factor altogether, and thus produced faculty out of relation to its environment. Henceforth, the Indian people will not repeat this error. Henceforth they will understand—indeed they have understood for several years past—that even schooling has to justify itself to the conscience of the schooled, by the great law of sacrifice, and that this law here is, the development of the child for the good, not of himself, but of jana-desha-dharma ( ) or, as the western would phrase it, the development of the individual for the benefit of the environment. ‘Why are you going to school?’ says the mother to her little one, at the moment of parting. And the child answers, in some form or other, growing clearer and more eager with growing age and knowledge. ‘That I may learn to be a man, AND HELP!’ There is no fear of weakness and selfishness for one whose whole training has been formed round this nucleus. This, the desire to serve, the longing to better conditions, to advance our fellows, to lift the whole, is the real religion of the present day. Everything else is doctrine, opinion, theory. Here is the fire of faith and action. Each day should begin with some conscious act of reference to it. A moment of silence, a hymn, a prayer, a salutation, any of these is ritual sufficient. It is not to the thing worshipped, but to ourselves, that our worship is important! Any symbol will do, or none. It is for this that our fathers have bidden us worship the water of the seven sacred rivers, or the earth of holy places, the footsteps of the guru, or the name of 223

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the Mother. All these are but suggestions to the mind, of the jana-desha-dharma ( ) to which we dedicate ourselves, whose service is the motive-spring of all our struggles. “No man liveth to himself alone.” In proportion as we realise this, can be the greatness of our living. In proportion as it is our motive, will be the reality of our education.

PAPER ON EDUCATION—IV. Education in India to-day, has to be not only national, but NATION-MAKING. We have seen what a national education is—a training which has a strong colour of its own, and begins by relating the child to his home and country, through all that is familiar, but ends by making him free of all that is true, cosmopolitan, and universal. This is the necessary condition of all healthy education, in all countries, whatever their political position or stage of development. These general statements are as true of England and France, as of India, as true in happiness as in adversity. The need for special attention to nation-making, however, is a question of the moment, a matter of those temporary vicissitudes through which a country may be passing, in a given period. It is always easy, by common consent of responsible persons, or by the sound communal instincts of a healthy people, to select out and emphasise, for a definite purpose, any elements in a general education that may be thought desirable. All our institutions have arisen in some such way. The need of purity was first brought forward, in our customs at some time when loss of civilisation was a pressing danger. The regulation of marriage was a device deliberately intended to prevent mixture of race. In a period that had to face this as a possibility. Similarly, a people who need above all things the development of a national sense, can make special provision for developing the necessary elements of thought and character throughout the education of their children. National feeling is, above all, feeling for others. It is rooted in public spirit, in a strong civic sense. But these are only grandiloquent names for what may be described as organised unselfishness. The best preparation for nation-making that a child can receive is to see his elders always eager to consider the general good, rather than their own. A family that willingly sacrifices its own interests to those of the village, or the street, or the town; a household that condones no act of dishonesty on the part of public servants, out of consideration for its own comfort or safety; a father who will fling himself at any obstacle, in the cause of honour and justice for the people, these are the best and strongest education for nation-making that a child can have. The wild-boar, small as he is, throws himself upon the horse and his rider, never doubting his own capacity to destroy both. This is the courage of the man who attacks public evils. This is the object-lesson by which a child can best be trained. Hunger for the good of others, as an end in itself, the infinite pity that wakes in the heart of an Avatar, at sight of the suffering of humanity, these are the seed and root of nation-making. We are a nation, when every man is an organ of the whole, when every part of the whole is precious to us; when the family weighs nothing, in comparison with the People. 224

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China in Asia, and France in Europe, are the two countries that have best known how to make the public spirit into religion. This is the fact that made Joan of Arc a possibility. A peasant-girl in a remote village could brood over the sorrows of her country, till she was possessed by the feeling that “there was much pity in Heaven for the fair realm of France”. An idea like this was like the compassion of a Buddha, and nowhere but in France could it have been applied to the country. We must surround our children with the thought of their nation and their country. The centre of gravity must lie, for them, outside the family. We must demand from them sacrifices for India, bhakti for India, learning for India. The ideal for its own sake. India for the sake of India. This must be as the breath of life to them. We must teach them about India, in school and at home. Some lessons must fill out the conception, others must build up the sense of contrast. Burning love, love without a limit. Love that seeks only the good of the beloved, and has no thought, of self, this is the passion that we must demand of them. We must teach them to think heroically. They must be brought up to believe in their own people. Few stories are so moving as that of two English youths who were killed by an angry mob in the Punjab, dying with the words on their lips, “We are not the last of the English!” Similarly we must learn to draw every breath in the proud conviction, “We are not the last of the Indians!” This faith our children must inherit from us, along with all other forms of stern and heroic thought. It is a mistake to think heroes are born. Nothing of the sort. They are made, not born; made by the pressure of heroic thought. All human beings long at bottom for self-sacrifice. No other thirst is so deep as this. We desire destruction, not prosperity, and the good of others. Let us recognise this. Let us make room for it. Let us emphasise it, and direct it towards one single bhakti. Let love for country and countrymen, for People and Soil, be the mould into which our lives flow hot. If we reach this, every thought we think, every word of knowledge gained, will aid in making clearer and clearer the great picture. With faith in the Mother, and bhakti for India, the true interpretation of facts will come to us unsought. We shall see the country as united, where we were told that she was fragmentary. Thinking her united, she will actually be so. The universe is the creation of mind, not matter. And can any one force in the world resist a single thought, held with intensity by three hundred millions of people? Here we have the true course of a nation-making education.

PAPER ON EDUCATION—V. The reconstitution of a nation has to begin with its ideals. This, because in a nation three primary elements have to be considered, first the country, or region, second, the people, and third, the national mind. Of the three, the last is dominant, and all-directing. By working through it, we may modify or even re-create either or both of the other two while their influence upon it is comparatively feeble and in-direct. Mind can re-make any thing, however inert or rebellious, but a rebellious mind, what can reach? It follows that in national reconstruction there is 225

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no other factor so important as education. How is this to be made national and nationalising? What is a national education? And conversely, what is un-national? And further what kind of education offers the best preparation for the attempt to solve the national problems? What type of education would be not only national, but also nation-making? Education has to deal with various factors, the imparting of special processes, the assimilating of certain kinds and quantities of know-ledge, the development of the man himself. Of all these it is the last which is incomparably the most important, and in the man, it is again his ideals which form the critical element. It is useless to attempt to teach a man anything which he does not desire to learn. It is absurd to try to force on him an advantage which he resists. Education is like mining. It begins with the ideal, it builds first at the top. New ideals have to be approached through the old. The unfamiliar has to be reached through the familiar. It may indeed be questioned whether there is such a thing as a new ideal. There is an ideal and there is a form through which it is expressed, but when we reach the ideal itself, we have reached the eternal. Here, all humanity is at one. Here, there is neither new nor old, neither own nor foreign. The limiting forms are some old, some new, but the ideal itself knows nothing of time. Yet the expression “new ideals” has a certain meaning. European poetry, for instance, glorifies and exalts the betrothed maiden. Indian poetry equally idealises the faithful wife. Both are only customary forms through which is reached the supreme conception, that of holiness in woman. Obviously, however, it would be futile to try to lead the imagination of an Indian child to this ideal, through, the characteristically European conception, and equally, foolish to try to lead the European child through the prevailing Indian form. Yet, when education has done its perfect work, in the emancipation of the imagination towards great and gracious womanhood, it is clear that there will be an instant apprehension of this ideal, even in new forms. The poetry of Tennyson and Browning will at once be understood as its highest and best, by the trained and developed heart and yet it would have been a crime to try to bring up the Indian child on it. Equal would be the folly of trying to educate the European child on Sita and Savitri instead of Beatrice and Joan of Arc, although the same child when grown up, may well test the depth of its own culture by its instant sympathy with the Eastern heroines. A national education is, first and foremost, an education in the national idealism. We must remember, however, that the aim of education is emancipation of sympathy and intellect. This is not often reached by foreign methods. But in the exceptional cases of a few individuals it may seem to occur; and better emancipation through the foreign, than bondage through our own! By this fact of the attainment of the universal, must the education ultimately stand justified, or condemned. To emancipate the greatest number of people most easily and effectively, it is necessary to choose familiar ideals and forms, and in every case, it is necessary to make progression absolutely continuous, so that there be no sharp incongruity amongst the elements of early experience. Such incongruity begets confusion of thought, and this confusion is educational chaos. A national education then, must be made 226

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up of familiar elements. The ideals presented must always be first clothed in a form evolved by our own past. Our imagination must be first based on our own heroic literature. Our hope must be woven out of our history. From the known to the unknown, from the easy to the difficult, must be the motto of every teacher, the rule of every lesson. The familiar is not the goal; knowledge is the goal: trained faculty is the aim. An education that stopped short at the familiar would be a bondage instead of, an emancipation; a mockery not a reality. The familiar is merely the first step. But as the first step, it is essential. Geographical ideas must be built up first through the ideas of India. But they must not stop there. A knowledge of geography would be singularly rustic, if it did not include a clear concept of the world, as a whole. And even this is not sufficient. There must, in a complete education, be a release of the geographical faculty, an initiation into geographical enquiry, an inception of geographical research. Similarly of history. The sense of historic sequence must be trained through India. To that, every thing else historical must stand related., But the history of India must be only a stepping-stone to constantly-widening circles of knowledge. The history of Mongolian, Semitic, European and African peoples; their civilisations and their movements, must all be followed up. And the crown of this training will be found in the power to interpret anew the old facts, to perceive fresh significance, and unthought of sequences, and to gather from the story of the past the dynamic forces of the future. So much for the historical education. It must never be forgotten that nationality in culture is the means, not the end. There is a level of achievement where all the educated persons of the world can meet, understand and enjoy each others associations. This level is freedom. Intellectually speaking, it is mukti But it can be reached only by him whose knowledge is firm-rooted in love for mother and mother-land, in tender memories of childhood and the early struggle after knowledge, and in an unshakable assurance that the face of God shines brightest and His name sounds sweetest, in the village of his birth.

THE PLACE OF FOREIGN CULTURE IN A TRUE EDUCATION. There is a great difference between a child’s relation to his own family and to that of the great man of the village, in which he may be kindly received. Let us suppose the child’s own father and mother and family, to be blotted out, and nothing substituted for them save the more formal terms of a guest in the richman’s house. What a blank the emotional life of the child has become! His feelings have no natural root. The sense of the world has no centre within himself where he can rest, and feel that he has found the home of the soul. The external is not in organic continuity with an internal, in his life, Nothing can ever again equal, for any of us, the sense of being enfolded in the old old associations of our babyhood, in the arms where we lay, in the hour of our first awakening to the world, our childhood’s home. 227

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Every outer ought to be a direct branching out from some inner. The mind that is fed from the beginning on foreign knowledge and ideas, not rooted and built upon the sense of intimacy, is like the waif brought up in the stranger’s home. The waif may behave well and reward his benefactor, but this is apt to be the fruit of an intellectual notion of duty, not because, loving him, he could not help it. Can foreign learning then ever be so deeply grafted upon the stem of a man’s own development that it forms a real and vital part of his intellectual personality? We might as well ask. Is there no place for the king or the zamindar in the mind of a child who has, his own father and mother? Again, there is the question of our relation to what is foreign, when our own culture is perfect. There is such a thing as the emancipation of the heart. For instance, we cannot imagine a cultivated person, of whatever nationality, not feeling the beauty of the Tâj. Nor can we imagine a cultivated Hindu—whether he knows English or not, failing to enjoy some beautiful old wood-carved Madonna of Europe. The appeal of the highest poetry is universal. One of the supreme blossoms of culture is taste. We notice here that the man coming to admire the Tâj is not a learner but is already mature. The Indian standing before the Madonna is not going to imitate her. He is there only to enjoy. This distinction is vital. In a true education the place of foreign culture is never at the beginning. All true development must proceed from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the near to the far. In all learning we should try to give knowledge, only in answer to enquiry. This is the ideal. If we could attain it perfectly, every child would grow up to be a genius. But how can there be curiosity about truth that is not within our world? If we could realise how complex a process is the growth of knowledge in a child, how the question that school must answer, awakens in him at some unforeseen moment, at play, on the road, at home, in the family, then we should also understand that every branch of thought in which the full activity of the mind is to be looked for, must be knit up with the daily life. The American child can learn truthfulness from George Washington: the Hindu had far better learn it from Yudhisthira, The Hindu man may be thrilled by Shakespeare’s Brutus. But he can appreciate him only in proportion as his own childhood has been fed on heroic political ideals that he could understand in his own home, and in the Mahabharata. There is no such thing in education as a pure idea. Pure ideas are attained by paramahamsas. The ideas of the child are inextricably entangled with the things he sees about him, with social institutions, and with his own acts. Hence a foreign medium of education must first be translated by him into the weird and wonderful forms, characteristic or his ignorance, and only after this, if it be so lucky, has it the chance to emerge as knowledge at all. The difference here between knowledge and the results of knowledge, is vital. Knowledge is one. In pure. knowledge, and therefore in science, there can be neither native nor foreign. Emotion on the other hand, is entirely a matter of locality. All form is purely local. Every man’s heart has its own country. Therefore art, 228

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which is form infused with emotion, must always be strongly characteristic of the place, the people and the mental tradition, whence it has sprung. While the beautiful is one, and art the unveiler of the beautiful that art must nevertheless always be distinguishable as of this area or that. Knowledge is a duty, art is an enjoyment. For this reason we should give infinite searching of heart to the question of the place that foreign art may hold in a true education. And by art let it here be understood that we refer, above all, to poetry, with its exotic forms of feeling; drama; sculpture that is guided by canons that are not ours; music that we do not understand; and architecture that is modern, and apt to be cheap and gaudy. This not deeply and intimately understanding is of the essence of the whole question. We are insincere when we strive for a thing, not because we already love it, but because we believe that it ought to be admired. And this kind of insincerity may creep into any action or opinion, even into so simple a thing as the choosing of a jewel, to make one’s own character and personality seem vulgar and shoddy. ‘Imitation’, says Ruskin, ‘is like prayer; done for love it is beautiful, for show, horrible.’ But have we no right to seek to extend our modes of feeling and forms of expression? This question may be answered by a reference to architecture. Fergusson points out in his great work that when the architecture of a people is great and living, they are all the better for accepting and assimilating minor elements of foreign origin. It matters very little, he tells us, whether the jewelled mosaics of the Indo-Saracenic style were or were not Italian in their origin, since India made of them something so singular in its beauty and so peculiarly her own. It is clear however that she could not have done this from the standpoint of an architecture that was itself a vague experiment. Because she knew thoroughly well what she liked, in her own building, therefore she knew what would be a beautiful ornament upon it. The dazed builder of to-day, working in forms with which he is unfamiliar, is by no means so fortunate, when he adorns them with crazy pottery or with monstrosities in the shape of artificial rockeries and many-coloured foliage! Certainly we have a right to increase the area of our emotional experience. But, if we are sincere in this, it will be done only a little at a time, and as a result of toil and pain. Not by chattering about love, even though we do it in rhyme, can we become lovers! It is the delicacies, the renunciations, and the austerities of the great sentiments through which we extend the area of our experience, and not the gross caricatures of an easy pleasure-seeking. And there is none of us who seeks to have the sword in his own heart. In all directions we find that only when deeply rooted in the familiar, may we safely take up the unfamiliar. In proportion as we rightly analyse the known, rightly distinguishing, even in what is familiar, between the ideal ex-pressed and the form assumed, in that proportion will it open for us the book of the whole world. But in any case the man who does not love his own, the man who is not clear as to what is his own, will never be received by any people as anything more than half a man. 229

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How much this comes home to one when one sees the futile efforts made by Indian parents to send their boys out into foreign countries to master the details of scientific industry! The seedling that has no root is transplanted to the wilderness for its growth! How clear it is that the one thing of all others that was necessary was a rooting and grounding in its own environment! In. other words, before the lad left India, he ought first to have acquired the methods of science. Then, in the light of these methods he should have learnt all that India could have taught him, of the particular industry he was going out to master, in its simple and primitive Swadeshi form. Having weighed the primitive industry against his own modern schooling, having become aware of the gap between the two, having read all that he can find; having even experimented in so far as is possible, then let the lad be sent out, when his own mind is quivering with enquiry. Only when curiosity is already awakened, have we, the energy to proceed from the known to the unknown. I heard of a student who went to a foreign country in the hope of learning from some farm how to make the printers ink. Naturally enough, factory after factory refused him, and he had to return to India, having wasted his own efforts and his father’s money, without the knowledge he went out to seek. This instance was particularly flagrant, because by India and China long ago was invented the very idea of durable inks, and because the knowledge of these is still so far from lost, that any manufacture of Swadeshi ink begun in a back lane to-day, can drive out of competition at once an equal quantity of the foreign writing-fluid of commerce. It follows that an Indian lad seeking to invent some form of printers’ ink, with a moderate amount of intelligence and technological information, has a far better start than, fifty or sixty years ago, had the people from whom he now proposes to beg or steal. The whole trouble and loss arose in this case from a misconception of the place of foreign knowledge in a true scheme of education. It has no right to be, save as capstone and finial to a genuine, honest faculty and experience of indigenous growth. Of course while this is said, and the ideal laid down so glibly for the individual, one. remembers, with a pang, the ordeal that India as a whole has had to face. One remembers the unprecedented influx of foreign knowledge and foreign criticism, from the early decades of the nineteenth century onwards—an influx that has lost her many a mind and many a character that should have been amongst the noblest of her sons—an influx that only an extraordinary national integrity and self-determination could have enabled her to survive so long. While we remember this with fulness of comprehension and compassion, however, it is only the more binding upon us to walk warily in the matter of individual development; for only by the bone and muscle of the individual, can we do aught to set right the wrong that has been done the whole. Even in science, apart altogether from industry, it will only be those men who believe themselves to be inheriting and working out the greatest ideals of the Indian past, who will be able to lay one stone in the edifice of the national future,—if there is to be such an edifice at all. Not by the man who is working for 230

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his living, and wants it increased, that he may keep his wife and child in respectability and comfort; not by the man who counts the cost; not by the man who holds something back; not by the man who strikes a bargain with ideals will the path of Indian science be ‘blazed’ through the forest. Asoka was the conqueror of Kalinga, and therefore the enemy of some of his people, till the bar sinister was wiped off his scutcheon by the message of Buddha, and he felt himself a man, and an Indian man, with a right to rule in greatness over his own empire. Even so will he who carries the torch of modern knowledge to the India of the future, be one who feels himself enfranchised of the whole greatness of Indian spirituality. That river of renunciation that courses through his will, must find its ocean indeed in Science. But Science will not stand suspect of that bhakta as less than the highest truth. Two things will contend in him,—the passion for truth, and the yearning over his own people in their ignorance. There will be no time for thought of mukti in that heart. Has the soldier thought of mukti when he follows his captain to the breach? A fire of sacrifice, without let or limit, will be. the life that achieves this end. The form may be modern; the name of science may be foreign; but the life, the exfergy, the holiness of dedication will be Indian and know themselves for Indian. So to cease from the quest of mukti is mukti itself. Viewed in the light of such an impulse how mean and pitiful seems the effort at self-culture! The whole body of foreign knowledge can be assimilated easily by one thus rooted and grounded in his relation to his own country. The anxiety for a theory of the right place of foreign culture too often, clothes a mere desire for foreign luxury. With regard to this whole question, a man cannot have too severe a standard of self-respect. There was a time when men were born, either ravenous individuals, or at best, with the instincts of the pack. Today we cannot imagine a child in whom family honour is not a primitive instinct. It may be that ages will yet dawn in which the thought of motherland and countrymen will be as deeply inwrought in the human heart. To the men of that age how might the question look of the place of foreign luxuries in noble lives? Why should we not be ‘anachronisms of the future,’ using only what belongs to us or ours, by right of toil or moral conquest? Some standard of self-restraint and self-denial in these matters is demanded of every individual by his own need of moral dignity. The code that would use to the utmost not only all its opportunities but also all its chances, this code is too likely to turn, Indian men into European women! Effeminacy is the curse that follows upon indulgence, even innocent indulgence. In foreign luxury. Frivolity, in moments of crisis, is the bane of the effeminate. One of the noblest of Christian adjurations lies in the words, “Let us endure hardness, as good soldiers of Christ;” and again the sublime exclamation, “Quit ye like men! Be strong.” The inability to endure hardness, the inability to be earnest, the inability to play the man, either in action or devotion, in life or in imagination, these, if no worse, are the fruits of the tree of a luxury to which we have no right. In the last and final court, It may be said, Humanity is one, and the distinction between native and foreign, purely artificial. The difference is relative. In a man’s own country are many things, foreign to his experience. With many a foreign 231

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luxury he has been familiar from his cradle. Morals, also it may be answered, are entirely relative. The difference between life and death, between victory and defeat, between excellence and degradation, are all entirely relative. By walking truly with discrimination through the world of the relative, do we grow to the understanding of such abstract and absolute ideas as the unity of Humanity. That unity makes itself known to the soul as a vast enfranchisement. It is never even dimly perceived by him who has taken the half for the whole, the outcast from human experience, the seeker after foreign ways and foreign thoughts, whose shame is his own mother,—the man who has no native land.

THE FUTURE EDUCATION OF THE INDIAN WOMAN Here in India, the woman of the future haunts us. Her beauty rises on our vision perpetually. Her voice cries out on us. Until we have made ready a place for her, until we throw wide the portals of our life, and go out, and take her by the hand to bring her in, the Motherland Herself stands veiled and ineffective, with eyes lost, in set patience, on the earth. It is essential, for the joyous revealing of that great Mother, that she be first surrounded by the mighty circle of these, Her daughters, the Indian women of the days to come. It is they who must consecrate themselves before Her, touching Her feet with their proud heads, and vowing, to her their own, their husbands’, and their children’s lives. Then and then only will she stand crowned before the world. Her sanctuary to-day is full of shadows. But when the womanhood of India can perform the great ârati of nationality, that temple shall be all light, nay, the dawn verily shall be near at hand. From end to end of India, all who understand are agreed that the education of our women must needs, at this crisis, undergo some revision. Without their aid and co-operation none of the tasks of the present can be finally accomplished. The problems of the day are woman’s as well as man’s. And how idle were it to boast that our hearts are given to the Mother, unless we seek to enshrine Her in every one of our lives. Indian hesitation, however, about a new type of feminine education, has always been due to a misgiving as to its actual aims, and in this the people have surely been wise. Have the Hindu women of the past been a source of shame to us, that we should hasten to discard their old-time grace and sweetness, their gentleness and piety, their tolerance and child-like depth of love and pity, in favour of the first crude product of Western information and social aggressiveness? On this point India speaks with no uncertain voice. “Granted,” she says in effect, “that a more arduous range of mental equipment is now required by women, it is nevertheless better to fail in the acquisition of this, than to fail in the more essential demand, made by the old type of training, on character. An education of the brain that uprooted humility and took away tenderness, would be no true education at all. These virtues may find different forms of expression in mediæval and modern civilisations, but they are necessary in both. All education worth having must first devote itself to the developing and consolidating of character, and only secondarily concern itself with intellectual accomplishment.” 232

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The question that has to be solved for Indian women, therefore, is a form of education that might attain this end, of developing the faculties of soul and mind in harmony with one another. Once such a form shall be successfully thought out and its adequacy demonstrated, we shall, without further ado, have an era amongst us of Woman’s Education. Each successful experiment will be the signal for a circle of new attempts. Already there is longing enough abroad to serve the cause of woman. All that we ask is to be shown the way. Important to education as is the question of method, it is still only subordinate to that of purpose. It is our fundamental motive that tells in the development we attempt to give our children. It is therefore the more urgently necessary that in the training of girls we should have a clearly-understood ideal towards which to work. And in this particular respect, there is perhaps no other country in the world so fortunately placed as India. She is, above all others, the land of great women. Wherever we turn, whether to history or literature, we are met on every hand by those figures, whose strength she mothered and recognised, while she keeps their memory eternally sacred. What is the type of woman we most admire? Is she strong, resourceful, inspired, fit for moments of crisis? Have we not Padmini of Cheetore, Chand Bibi, Jhansi Rani? Is she saintly, a poet, and a mystic? Is there not Meera Bae? Is she the queen, great in administration? Where is Rani Bhowani, where Ahalya Bae, where Janhabi of Mymensingh? Is it wifehood in which we deem that woman shines brightest? What of Sati, of Savitri, of the ever glorious Sita? Is it in maidenhood? There is Uma. And where in all the womanhood of the world, shall be found another as grand as Gandhari? These ideals moreover are constructive. That is to say, it is not their fame and glory that the Indian child is trained to contemplate. It is their holiness, simplicity, sincerity, in a word, their character. This, indeed, is always a difference between one’s own and an alien ideal. Impressed by the first, it is an effort that we seek to imitate: admiring the second, we endeavour to arrive at its results. There can never be any sound education of the Indian woman, which does not begin and end in exaltation of the national ideals of womanhood, as embodied in her own history and heroic literature. But woman must undoubtedly be made efficient. Sita and Savitri were great in wifehood, only as the fruit of that antecedent fact, that they were great women. There was no place in life that they did not fill graciously and dutifully. Both satisfied every demand of the social ideal. At once queen and housewife, saint and citizen, submissive wife and solitary nun, as heroic combatant, both were equal to all the parts permitted them, In the drama of their time. Perfect wives as they were, if they had never been married at all, they must have been perfect just the same, as daughters, sisters, and disciples. This efficiency to all the circumstances of life, this womanhood before wifehood, and humanity before womanhood, is something at which the education of the girl must aim in every age. But the moral ideal of the India of to-day has taken on new dimensions—the national and civic. Here also woman must be trained to play her part. And again, 233

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by struggling towards these she will be educated. Every age has its own intellectual synthesis, which must be apprehended, before the ideal of that age can be attained. The numberless pathways of definite mental concept, by which the orthodox Hindu woman must go to self-fulfilment, form, to the Western mind a veritable labyrinth. So far from being really un-educated, or non-educated, indeed, as is so commonly assumed, the conservative Hindu woman has received an education which in its own way is highly specialised, only it is not a type recognised as of value by modern peoples. Similarly, in order to achieve the ideal of efficiency for the exigencies of the twentieth century, a characteristic synthesis has to be acquired. It is no longer merely the spiritual or emotional content of a statement that has to be conveyed to the learner, as in the mythologico-social culture of the past. The student must now seek to understand the limitations of the statement, its relation to cognate ideas and the steps by which the race has come to this particular formulation. The modern synthesis, in other words, is scientific, geographical, and historical, and these three modes of knowing must needs—since there is no sex in truth—be achieved by woman as by man. Science, history and geography, are thus as three dimensions in which the mind of the present age moves, and from which it seeks to envisage all ideas. Thus the conception of nationality—on which Indian efforts to-day converge—must be realised by us, in the first place, as a result of the study of the history of our own nation, with all its divergent elements of custom, race, language, and the rest. The civic sense, in the same way, must be reached by a study of our own cities, their positions, and the history of their changes from age to age. Again, the nation must be seen, not only in relation to its own past, and its own place, but also, in relation to other nations. Here we come upon the necessity for geographical knowledge. Again, history must be viewed geographically and geography historically. A great part of the glory and dignity of the ideally modern woman lies in her knowledge that her house is but a tent pitched for a night on the star-lit world-plane, that each hour, as it passes, is but a drop from an infinite stream, flowing through her hand, to be used as she will, for benediction or for sorrow, and then to flow on irresistibly again. And behind such an attitude of mind, lies a severe intellectual discipline. But even the proportion which the personal moment bears to space and time, is not formula enough for the modern spirit. This demands, in addition, that we learn what is to it the meaning of the truth, or science, the fact, in itself. This particular conception of truth is perhaps no more absolute than others, current in other ages, but it is characteristic of the times, and by those who have to pass the world’s test, it has to be understood. Yet even this marked truth, thus thirsted after, has to be held as only a fragment of an infinitely extended idea, in which Evolution and Classification of the sciences play the parts of history and geography. Nature, the Earth, and Time, are thus the three symbols by whose means the modern mind attains to possession of itself. No perfect means of using them educationally has ever been discovered or devised by man. The spirit of each 234

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individual is the scene of a struggle for their better realisation. Every school-room embodies an attempt to communalise the same endeavour. Those who would transmit the modern idea to the Indian woman, must begin where they can, and learn, from their own struggles, how better to achieve. In the end, the idea once caught, the Indian woman herself will educate Indian woman—meanwhile every means that offers ought to be taken. The wandering Bhâgabatas or Kathakas, with the magic lantern, may popularise geography, by showing slides illustrative of the various pilgrimages. History outside the Mahabharata and Ramayana might be familiarised in the same way. And there is no reason why simple lectures on hygiene, sanitation, and the plants and animals of the environment should not also be given by the wandering teachers to the assembled community, with its women behind the screens. Pictures, pictures, pictures, these are the first of instruments in trying to concretise ideas, pictures and the mother-tongue. If we would impart a love of country, we must give a country to love. How shall women be enthusiastic about something they cannot imagine? Schools large and small, schools in the home and out of it, schools elementary and advanced, all these are an essential part of any working out of the great problem. But these schools must be within Indian life, not antagonistic to it. The mind set between two opposing worlds of school and home, is inevitably destroyed. The highest ambition of the school must be to give moral support to the ideals taught in the home, and the home to those imparted in the school—the densest ignorance would be better for our women than any departure from this particular canon. In making the school as much an essential of the girl’s life, as it has always been of the boy’s, we are establishing something which is never to be undone. Every generation as it comes will have to carry out the great task of the next generation’s schooling. This is one of the constant and normal functions of human society. But much in the problem of Woman’s Education as we to-day see it, is difficulty of the time only. We have to carry our country through an arduous transition. Once the main content of the modern consciousness finds its way into the Indian vernaculars, the problem will have disappeared, for we learn more from our Mothertongue itself, than from all our schools and schoolmasters. In order to bring about that great day, however, the Mother Herself calls for vows and service of a vast spiritual knighthood. Hundreds of youngmen are necessary, to league themselves together for the deepening of education in the best ways amongst women. Most students, perhaps, might be able to vow twelve lessons in a year to be given either in home or village, during the holidays—this should hardly prove an exhausting undertaking—yet, how much might be done by it. Others might be willing to give themselves to the task of building up the vernacular literatures. The book and the magazine penetrate into recesses where the teacher’s foot never yet trod. The library, or the book-self, is a mute university. How are women to understand Indian history, if, in order to read about Buddha or Asoka, about Chandragupta or Akbar, they have first to learn a foreign language? Great will be the glory of those hereafter who hide their ambition for the present, in the task of conveying modern knowledge in the tongues of women and the People? 235

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Seeing that this first generation of pioneer-work must needs be done mainly by men, on behalf of women, there are some who would scoff at the possibility of such generosity and devotion. But those who know the Indian people deeply cannot consent to this sneer. Life in India is socially sound. Civilisation is organic, spiritual, altruistic. When the practice of suttee was to be abolished, it was done on the initiative of an Indian man, Ram Mohun Roy. When monogamy was to be emphasised as the one ideal of marriage, it was again from a man, Vidyasagar of Bengal, that the impulse came. In the East, it is not by selfish agitation, from within, that great reforms and extensions of privilege are brought about. It is by spontaneous effort, by gracious conferring of right from the other side. Or if indeed woman feel the pinch of some sharp necessity, some ill to be righted, is she not mother of man as well as of woman? Can she not whisper to her son, in his childhood, of the task to which she assigns him? And shall she not thus forge a weapon more powerful than any her own weak hands could wield? Such a woman was the mother of Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and such was the inspiration that made him the woman’s champion. But one word there is to be said, of warning and direction to that young priesthood of learning, to whom this generation entrusts the problem we have been considering. Education can never be carried out by criticism or discouragement. Only he who sees the noblest thing in the taught can be an effective teacher. Only by the greatness of Indian life can we give a sense of the greatness of the world outside India. Only by the love of our own people can we learn the love of humanity—and only by, a profound belief in the future of the Indian woman, can any man be made worthy to help in bringing that future about. Let the preacher of the New Learning be consecrated to the vision of one who resumes into herself the greatness of the whole Indian past. Let him hope and most earnestly pray that in this our time, in all our villages, we are to see women great even as Gandhari, faithful and brave as Savitri, holy and full of tenderness as Sita. Let the past be as wings unto the feet of the future. Let all that has been be as steps leading us up the mountain of what is yet to be. Let every Indian woman incarnate for us the whole spirit of the Mother and the culture and protection of the Homeland, Bhumyâ Devi! Goddess of the Homestead! Bande Mâtaram!

A NOTE ON HISTORICAL RESEARCH. 1. In all that you do, be dominated by the moral aim. Remember that Truth, in its fulness, is revealed, not only through the intellect, but also through the heart, and the will. Never rest content, therefore, with a realisation which is purely mental. And never forget that every act of our lives is a necessary sacrifice to knowledge, that a man who consciously chooses a mean or ignoble course cannot long continue to be a pioneer in the march of his fellows onwards. Only if we are always striving, in every way for the highest that is attainable can we actually achieve anything at all in any path. 236

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It has been said that “the great scientific discoveries are great social events.” This is true of all advances in learning. We labour, even to win truth, not on behalf of Self, but on behalf of man and the fruits of our labour are to be given to man, not selfishly enjoyed. Better a low attainment generously shared, than a high vision seen by oneself alone. Better, because more finally effective to the advance of knowledge. The result of the straggle of the individual in our generation ought to be the starting-point of the race in the next. 2. Never be contented with the ideas and the wisdom which are gathered in the study. We are bodies as well as minds. We have other senses and other faculties, besides those of language. We have limbs as well as brains. Use the body. Use all the senses, use even the limbs in the pursuit of truth. That which is learned, not only with the mind, by means of manuscripts and books, but also through the eyes and the touch, by travel and by work, is really known. Therefore, if you want to understand India, visit the great historic centres of each age. Turn over the earth and stroke the chiselled stones, with your own hands, walk to the sight that you want to see, if possible, rather than ride. Ride rather than drive. Stand in the spot where an event happened, even if no trace of its occurrence is still visible. If you desire to understand a religious idea, reproduce as perfectly as you can, in every detail, the daily life of the man to whom it came, or the race to which it was familiar. To understand the Buddhist Bhikku, go out and beg. To understand Aurangzebe, sit in the mosque at Delhi, and pray there the prayers of the Mohammedan. Or, if social formations are your study, be sure to work, to experiment, as well as to learn. Verify each truth, test each idea, that comes to you, Whatever you seek, bend every faculty on its achievement. What you believe, make yourself to it as dough kneaded by the baker, as clay worked by the potter, as the channel to the water of the river. Spurn ease. Never rest content. Make thought into sensation; sensation into experience; experience into knowledge. Let knowledge become character. Glory in suffering. By what your work costs you, you may know its possible value to the world. 3. Never forget the future. “By means of the past to understand the present, for the conquest of the future.” Let this be your motto. Knowledge without a purpose is mere pedantry. Yet at the same time, the intrusion of self-interest upon the pursuit of knowledge, must be turned aside, as with the flaming sword. Purpose, moral purpose, others-regarding purpose is the very antithesis of selfinterest. Refuse to be drawn into personal, social, or doctrinal disputes. Release the energy that belongs to these worlds, and let it find a higher function, in aiding you to your self-chosen goal. 4. And now comes the question of the scope of your work, the question of what you are actually to do. On two points I know you to be clear,—first, you are determined, whatever you do, through it to serve the Indian Nationality; and second, you know that to do this, you must make yourself a world-authority in that particular branch of work. On these two points, therefore, I do not need to dwell. With regard to the actual field of labour, it has long, I think, been determined amongst us that India’s assimilation of the modern spirit may be divided into three 237

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elements, which She has not only to grasp but also to democratise. These are: Modern Science; Indian History; and the World-Sense or Geography,—Synthetic Geography. 5. Now in whichever of these you choose your own task, most of your intellectual pleasure must come from the others. If you were a worker in Science, you might read a good deal of History, in interesting forms, as recreation. And so on. One of the modes by which a line of high research becomes democratised is just this. The historical epoch, for instance, that is opened up by the scholar is immediately appropriated and clothed with flesh, by the novelist, the poet and the dramatist. Scott’s novels have been one of the chief factors in the creation of the modern spirit. And you do not need to be told what poetry has done for the popularising of Buddhist research amongst the English-speaking peoples. 6. But whatever you do, plunge into it heart and soul. Believe that, in a sense, it alone,—this modern form of knowledge, young though it be,—is true. Carry into it no prepossessions, no prejudices. Do not try, through it, to prove that your ancestors understood all things, but manfully determine to add its mastery to the intellectual realm of your ancestor’s descendants, I see this vice on all hands. People imagine that it is “national” to reply when told something new that ought to thrill them through and through, “Ah yes, I am familiar with that in Sanskrit, or from the Mahabharata, or from the sayings of such and such a Sadhu.” And there their thought ends. This is pure idleness and irreverence. Such recognition kills thought, and coffins it: it offers it no home in which to dwell, no garden in which to grow! The man who would conquer new realms intellectually must never look back except to find tools. The man who would see truth face to face must first wash his eyes in dew, unused by human kind. Afterwards, when the task is done, when you come home laden with your spoils, you may perform the great sacrifice of reverence. You may tally this and that, amongst your own discoveries, with this and that amongst the utterances of the fore-fathers, and find, in an ecstacy of reconciliation, that you have gone by the same road as they, only calling the milestones by different names. But, to-day, set your face sternly towards the tabulation of difference, towards the new, the strange, the unproven, and undreamt, you will prove yourself the true son of your father, not by wearing garments of their fashions but by living their life, by fighting with their strength. Concentration and renunciation are the true differentiæ of the Hindu mind, not certain subjects of study, or a pre-occupation with Sanskrit. 7. And now, as to the subject itself. Already you have progressed in the direction of History and Indian Economics. It is to be supposed therefore that your work itself will be somewhere in this region. But side by side with your own specialism—in which you will faithfully do, with your trained habits, what Professor Jadu Nath Sarkar calls “spade-work”—do not forget to interest yourself in subjects as a whole. If you take up Geography, read History for recreation, but be a great geographer, like Reclus. If you take up History do not forget to read Reclus’ Universal Geography, and every other synthetic work that you can find. The mind seeks energy by reposing in synthesis or unity, and uses the energy so acquired, in 238

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analytical or specialistic fields. Again if Indian History be your work of research, read the finest European treatises on Western History. They may not always be valuable for their facts, but they are priceless for their methods. Read Buckle and Lecky as well as Gibbon. And read the great Frenchmen if you can. It is said that Bossuet’s short work on the movement of History, written for a Dauphin of France, was the spark that set the soul of Napoleon on fire. I have not yet read it but I hope to do so. I hope also to read Condorcet and Lamartine, and more than I have yet done of Michelet. About Comte, I feel unable to advise you. I believe fully that his has been the greatest mind ever devoted to History. But whether his treatment of the subject is as valuable as his conclusions, I am unable to tell you; for my own part, I have hitherto only been able to grasp a little bit at a time, and with regard to the thousands of questions that are in my mind, I cannot even tell whether he has given definite answers to them or not. Yet the two books that I have lent you, by an English Positivist,—“The Meaning of History”—and “The New Calendar of Great Men,”—seem to me, though very popular yet extremely profound. As I have already pointed out to you, the short essays with which each division of the latter book is introduced, and the connectedness of the treatment of each life with others, are to my mind worth their weight in gold. In Indian History, such a point of view is conspicuous by its absence. Some writers are interested in Buddhist India (if indeed we have any right to employ such a term) and some in various stages of Mahratta or Sikh or Indo-Islamic History, or what not. But who has caught the palpitation of the Indian heart-beat through one and all of these? It is India that makes Indian History glorious. It is India that makes the whole joy of the Indian places. I felt this when I was at Rajgir, and saw so plainly, shining through the Buddhist period, the outline and colour of an earlier India still,—the India of the Mahabharata. And the other day amongst the ruins at Sanchi, when a lady who had been in Egypt turned and said to me, “If you think so much of 2,000 years what would you think of 4,000?” I said “I care nothing for 2,000! Even Sanchi is but a heap of stones. But this strength is in the Indian people still!” Are you the man who can catch this truth, and justify it before the whole world by the mingling of stern scholarship, with poetic warmth? Better still, are you the man who can make India herself feel it? An Upanishad of the National History would make eternal foundations for the Indian Nationality, in the Indian heart, the only world in which the nationality can be built enduringly. Or do you lean rather to the economic side of your studies? If so, do not allow yourself to become a mere specialist on statistics, and still more earnestly guard yourself against being the one person in the world who knows all that is to be known about India’s grievances, and knows nothing else. Every country and every community in the world has grievances, and grievances against certain definite other persons and communities also. To think of our mistakes and weaknesses as our grievances against another, is to postpone indefinitely the day of setting them right. The active, the aggressive, attitude is quite different. Accepting the past—and if you wish to be proud of some of your ancestor’s deeds, you must be calmly prepared to suffer for 239

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others. The law of opposites will hold here, as elsewhere!—the question is, what is to be done next? Even the science of economics may be made moral, may be made constructive. The doctrine that man always does what pays him, is vulgar nonsense. In fact the highest men are rather attracted to the opposite extreme, of doing always what does not pay. Ruskin, Wicksteed and the Fabians, amongst English writers, may help one to a true viewpoint for economics, for these have felt the wholeness of human interests, through the specialism. For the technology of the subject, you must read many books. But the morality and wholesomeness of human love, in it, you will share with very few, and those nearly always representatives of some cult or other, which teaches the love and service, instead of the exploiting and extermination, of human beings, as the highest and most permanent joy of man. There is however a third subject which you might take up, and feed from both your studies, of Indian History and Indian Economics. I allude to Sociology, or the Study of Society. This term was the creation of Comte, but was popularised by Herbert Spencer, a very different person. Spencer and a host of other writers have gone into the subject, through the study of Customs, in which there can be little doubt that the history of society is chiefly written. Comte regarded it rather from the point of view of an organism having a meaning, a responsibility and a destiny. He saw the whole spirituality of man in every human being of every human race! And many writers have attempted to work out theories of society, by comparing those of men with those of ants and bees and so on. King of modern sociologists is perhaps Kropotkin, with, his book on Mutual Aid published by Heinemann, in which he works out the idea that mutual aid, co-operation, self-organisation, have been much stronger factors than the competition of fellows, in, the evolution of the higher forms of life and in the determining of success for the community. Now this is surely a line of thought and research which is most important to the question of Nationality. In my own opinion, we are entering here on a new period in which Mutual Aid, Co-operation, Self-organisation, is to be the motto, and we want, not only determined workers, but also great leaders, equipped with all the knowledge that is to be had, and therefore capable of leading us in thought. Is it true that an industrial society represents the highest social formation? If so, is it equally true that it is always based upon an antecedent military? “From the military, through the active, to the industrial,” some one said to me the other day. We stand here on the verge of great questions. Yet one thing would seem clear— only a people who are capable of industrialism, are capable of anything else. If the beginning determines the end, clearly the end also determines the beginning; the struggle to become fully industrialised is as high as the highest struggle that there is. Even to write the History of India, even to set down clearly the problems which that history involves, I have long felt that we must first have experts in sociology,— men who can at a glance assign to a social group its possible age in pre-historic chronology. We want after that, and combined with it, those to whom the History of the early Asiatic Empires,—Chaldean, Assyrian, Tartar, Pelasgian, Egyptian, 240

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Phœnician,—is an open book. And, lastly, we want those who are competent to look out upon the future and determine towards what goal, by what line upon the traceless ocean, the great ship of national well-being is to be navigated. Are you to be a solitary student? Or are you one of those most happy and fruitful workers who can call about them fellow-captains and fellow-crewsmen to toil along the same lines and exchange the results of thought?

A NOTE ON CO-OPERATION. As to what you can read. First, for what part of the national work do you wish to train yourself? I believe, if rightly carried on, India is now entering on a period in which her motto is to be—“Mutual Aid: Self-organisation: Co-operation.” If you will look into the matter you will see that most cases of oppression and corruption—where the advantage of numbers is so uniformly on one side, as here—could be met by Organisation. It is more difficult to do wrong to ten thousand men who stand solid and are intelligent, than to an isolated and illiterate person. Take the case of clerks in offices, of Government servants, railway servants, rate payers, peasants. Much could be done amongst all these classes by simple enrolment and united action. But everything depends on such cases on the organiser, who is usually the Secretary. Do you care to do, such work as this? It is not merely for self-protection that the organ could be used, but for obtaining credit, tools, knowledge, co-operation and mutual aid of many kinds. If this is the branch which you are to take up, you will find that the subject has a history and a literature of its own. Read up Co-operation in the Encyclopædia Britannica. * * Read Mutual Aid, a scientific work, by Kropotkin, published by Heinemann. Study the history of Trade Unions, Study the history of Co-operation in Denmark. And study particularly the history of small countries, Norway, Sweden, the Hanseatic League, Motley’s Rise of the Dutch Republic, etc. Make a small society for reading and discussing these subjects. Indeed do this in any case. Share your own knowledge, and co-operate in extending and deepening it. Above all, think things out, and put your thought into practice, learning from your own mistakes. Organise a single group of people for some definite aim, and see how you get on. Organise a class for, say, legal aid. That ought not to be difficult. But I think it would be a better experiment to make than organising for a charity, an enterprise which we are all accustomed to attempting and failing in. Organise for a united struggle of some kind, against something definite. Or do you want to specialise in politics? In that case you must study the Economic History of India,—and the Congress publications, together with the books of Dutt, Digby, Naoroji, P. C. Ray and others, with the speeches of Ranade, Gokhale, and so on, will be your best fare. Or is it India? In that case, work at History and do not neglect the History and Geography of other countries besides your own. For remember, it is the national sense in the world-sense that we have to achieve. The structure of human society,—Spencer, Tylor, Clodd, Lubbock and others; the history of Early 241

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Empires,—Assyria, Chaldea, China, Persia, Egypt, Greece, etc., and for India,— Tilak’s two books, Fergusson’s Architecture, Cunningham’s Ancient India, and other books. M’Crindle’s collections. Archæological survey reports etc., etc., etc. In this kind of reading, constantly reinforced by pilgrimages to the places of which you read as far as possible—you can find the materials for a history yet to be written. Or will you serve the great cause through the Industrial Revival? In that case all that helps for co-operation should help you. And a different class of work is wanted. Or do you care to undertake the work of getting modern knowledge written up in the vernaculars? What books have you in your own vernacular, in which women can read History? If you worked at this, in your own language, you would need helpers, an army of them. And then, again, you would want the courage that is born of feeling that others were carrying out the same idea in other languages. For this, we would need the heroic devotion of thousands, of our choicest graduates the country over, each choosing his own subject, and filling up a single space in your great roll. There is nothing that so much needs doing. Nothing that would bring more illumination with it. Here is a case of co-operation. Each man would give only a few hours of leisure daily. The rest of his time he would be earning his bread. Do you see? But there are other causes. There is physical training, for example. This is much needed. And so on and so on. In any case read everything you can lay hands on, by Frederick Harrison. His books are expensive, but worth their weight in gold. They are published by Macmillan.

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