12 min readConcept sheetSection A MCQ (1 mark) and objective (2 marks, two parts); Section B short answer (3 marks) or long answer (6 marks), often with a choice

English education, social policy, courts and what British rule left behind

The British spread English education to get cheap, loyal clerks. But it also carried ideas of liberty and equality that awakened Indians.

Charter Act, 1813Set aside one lakh rupees for education in India, including western sciences

Wood's Despatch, 1854Made the government responsible for educating the masses; education departments in all provinces

First universities, 1857Calcutta, Bombay and Madras

Sati banned1829, by Governor-General Lord William Bentinck

Social and cultural policy: cautious and half-hearted

The British came for profit. They wanted Indians modern enough to buy British goods, but not so modern that they would harm British interests. Some officials thought western ideas modern and superior, and Indian ideas old and inferior. That was not true: India had a rich tradition of learning that was still useful. A group of Radicals in England wanted India to join the modern world of science. But the government feared a reaction if it interfered too much with religion and custom. So it talked of reform but took few, half-hearted steps.

Why the British spread English education (their motives)

To get Indian clerks who would work for low wages, cutting the cost of administration.
To create a class of Indians loyal to the British, who admired British culture and stood apart from other Indians.
To let this class spread English culture to the masses, so the British could rule through it.
To widen the market for British goods.
To use education to strengthen British political authority.
Government jobs went only to those who knew English, so education became a monopoly of the rich and city dwellers.

Education under the Company: a timeline

The first four bodies were set up by **Orientalists**: British scholars and officials who studied Indian languages and culture, believing this would make India easier to rule. Through their translations, writers such as Kalidasa became known to the world.

1781
Warren Hastings founds the Calcutta Madrasa.
1784
William Jones founds the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
1791
Jonathan Duncan founds the Sanskrit College at Banaras.
Your NIOS lesson prints 1794, and its own matching exercise uses 1794. The college itself and most histories give 1791.
1800
Lord Wellesley founds Fort William College at Calcutta.
1813
The Charter Act sets aside one lakh rupees for education. A debate follows: western or Indian learning, English or Indian languages?
1835
The British decide to teach western subjects through English alone, a decision linked with Thomas Macaulay.
1854
Wood's Despatch makes the government responsible for mass education; education departments open in all provinces.
1857★
Universities open at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. A few English schools and colleges grow, but mass education is ignored.

★ key step

Unplanned gains: new ideas, new laws and a new middle class

Reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan took up western ideas of liberalism and democracy. They used them to fight harmful customs.
Indians read Locke, Mill, Rousseau and Ruskin, and admired Mazzini, Garibaldi and Cavour. Ideas of liberty, equality, fraternity and self-government spread.
English became the common language (lingua franca) of educated Indians from every region and helped unite them.
Newspapers, journals, novels, plays and songs spread national feeling.
Laws improved women's status. Sati was banned in 1829 and widow remarriage allowed in 1856. A law of 1872 allowed inter-caste marriage, and the Sharda Act (1929) barred marriage of girls under 14 and boys under 18.
A new middle class grew: agents of British traders, the new zamindars of the Permanent Settlement, and English-educated lawyers, clerks, teachers and officials.

British administration and courts: promise and reality

What was introducedA hierarchy of civil and criminal courts, written (codified) laws, attempts to separate the judiciary from the executive, and the idea of the rule of law.

How Indians found itIndians were denied political rights and kept out of higher posts in the civil service and the army. Courts were costly and hard to reach, and the law treated Europeans and Indians differently.

What this period left behind

Economic ruin and famine (12 major famines from 1770 to 1857) spread anger. Many also feared that British reforms were steps towards conversion. The anger burst out in the revolt of 1857.
The revolt ended the Company's rule and changed British policy towards the Indian states.
It brought together people of different religions, regions and classes, and gave rise to nationalism.
Afterwards the British used divide and rule, setting Hindus and Muslims against each other, which harmed national unity.
Around us today: railways, clubs, and buildings such as Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament House. Bread, cake and tea, and trousers, coats and ties, also spread in this period.
The civil service and the training style of the armed forces began then. So did the use of English in higher education and in the Supreme Court and High Courts.

In real life

When you sit a civil service exam, board a train or follow a High Court judgment in English, you meet systems that began under British rule. The Asiatic Society in Kolkata, founded in 1784, still runs its library and publishes research.

Exam angle

3 marks: “Why did the British want Indians to learn English? Give three reasons.” (1) To get clerks on low wages. (2) To create a class loyal to British rule that admired British culture. (3) To spread British culture and widen the market for British goods, which strengthened their authority.

2 marks: “Who were the Orientalists? Name one institution they set up, with its year.” British scholars and officials, such as William Jones, who studied Indian languages, literature and culture, believing this would help them rule. Example: the Asiatic Society of Bengal, founded by William Jones in 1784.

6 marks: “How did British education policy, social laws and courts change Indian society? Explain.” Opening line, then: cautious, half-hearted social policy; English education for cheap, loyal clerks (1813, 1854, 1857); western ideas of liberty and equality; laws of 1829, 1856, 1872 and 1929; new middle class and press; codified but costly courts; close.

Remember it

Orientalist years 81, 84, 91, 1800: Madrasa, Asiatic, Sanskrit, Fort William. Then 1813 money, 1854 Wood, 1857 universities.