Paper Details

Introduction of English education in colonial India was a watershed in the intellectual, social and political milieu of the subcontinent. Raja Rammohan Roy was one of the earliest Indians to argue for Western education. He was a key figure in the promotion of modern scientific education and rational enquiry through the English language. This article discusses the link between Rammohan Roy’s educational vision and the colonial education policies which led to the Anglicist victory of 1835. The study is based on contemporary writings, official reports on education and secondary scholarship to examine his advocacy of the introduction of western sciences, philosophy and literature. The article also addresses the implications of significant policy initiatives, particularly the educational controversies between the Orientalists and the Anglicists and the issuance of Thomas Babington Macaulay’s Minute on Education. It demonstrates how English education helped to produce a new Indian intellectual elite which was to play a central role in the growth of public debate, social reform movements, political awareness and early nationalism. The article locates Rammohan Roy in the larger context of colonial educational policy and underscores the complex interaction between indigenous reform movements and colonial initiatives.

English Education, Raja Rammohan Roy, Colonial Education Policy, Indian Intellectual Elite, Bengal Renaissance, Modern India