HISTORY CHAPTER 8.

Education and British Rule

A. Answer the following questions :

1. What is our main source of information about traditional education in

nineteenth-century India?
Reports compiled by civil servants of the time are our main source of information about traditional
education in nineteenth-century India.

2. Name two kinds of institutions that imparted higher education in pre-British

India. Mention the medium of instruction in each
. Institutions that imparted higher education in pre-British India were tols for the Hindus where the
medium of instruction was Sanskrit and madarsas for the Muslims where the medium of instruction was
Persian.

3. How did the Christian missionaries hope to remove the social evils that
existed in nineteenth-century India?
Christian missionaries hoped to remove social evils in Indian society by winning over the Indians to
Christianity through Western education

. 4. Name a place where Christian missionaries set up a printing press.

Christian missionaries set up a printing press at Serampore (now called Srirampur) some distance north
of Calcutta.

5. Name two Indian reformers who promoted Western education.

Raja Rammohun Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar promoted Western education.

6. Who were called Anglicists?

Anglicists were those who wanted Indians to be introduced to a system of education based entirely on
Western philosophy and science, which would be more useful to them.

7. Mention any three subjects that a student could choose to study at

Shantiniketan.
History, literature, and painting were three subjects that a student could choose to study at
Shantiniketan
8. Which university had its roots in the National Council of Education set up in
1906?
The Jadavpur University in Calcutta had its roots in the National Council of Education8. Which university
had its roots in the National Council of Education set up in 1906? The Jadavpur University in Calcutta had
its roots in the National Council of Education

9. Which ruler established a public library system in Baroda?

Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III established a public library system in Baroda

. B. Answer the following questions in not more than 20 words.

1.What were children taught to do in the elementary schools of nineteenth-

century India?
Children were taught to read, write, do simple arithmetic and memorise religious texts in the
elementary schools of nineteenth-century India.

2. Who came to be called Orientalists? Name any two renowned Orientalists

. European scholars who studied the knowledge and culture of the Orient (the East) were called
Orientalists. Warren Hastings and Henry Thomas Colebrooke were renowned Orientalists.

3. Why did some Indian reformers want Western education in India?

Indian reformers wanted Western education in India because they believed that promoting
Western education would help reduce social evils.

4. Why did James Mill want Western education in India?

James Mill thought oriental learning was unscientific and unpractical. He wanted Western
education based on Western philosophy and science, which would be useful to Indians.

5. What made the knowledge of English necessary for appointment to public

offices?
In 1844, English was made the official language. This made the knowledge of the English language
necessary for appointment to public offices

6. Mention one way in which Western education helped the Indians.

Western education introduced Indians to modern liberal ideas. English helped Indians unite by
becoming a language of communication among educated Indians across the country.
7. Name any two institutions established to promote national education.
Two institutions established to promote national education were Shantiniketan established by
Rabindranath Tagore and National Council of Education which developed into the Jadavpur
University.

C. Answer the following questions in not more than 40 words.

1. Write a brief note on William Jones.

William Jones, a judge of the Supreme Court, was a linguist. He read Sanskrit works and translated
some into English, one being Kalidasa’s Abhijnanashakuntala. In 1784, Jones founded the Asiatic
Society, which published Asiatick Researches – articles on oriental studies and translations of
oriental works.

2. Explain in brief why the Anglicists and Orientalists disagreed. Who finally
won?
The Orientalists wanted the promotion of traditional Indian learning and a bit of Western science,
using the vernacular languages. The Anglicists wanted the promotion of Western learning, using
English as the medium of instruction. The debate was ultimately resolved in favour of the Anglicists.

3. With what aim did Rabindranath Tagore establish an educational

institution in Shantiniketan?
Rabindranath Tagore believed that children could develop fully and freely only in natural
surroundings and not within the four walls of a classroom. He established an educational institution
in Shantiniketan in a beautiful rural setting to allow the creative abilities of students to develop

4. Write about the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College.

In 1875, Syed Ahmad Khan, a reformer who wanted to modernise Muslims, established the
Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh, which later became the Aligarh Muslim University.
Here, he introduced technical education with the study of arts and sciences. The medium of
instruction was English.

D. Answer the following questions in not more than 100 words.

1. In what ways did the British hope to benefit by giving the Indians
Western education?
In the early nineteenth century, Anglicists like James Mill, a senior civil servant in India, saw oriental
learning as being unscientific and unpractical. They wanted the Indians to be introduced to a system
of education based entirely on Western philosophy and science, which would be more useful to
them. In around the second decade of the nineteenth century, the British realised that introducing
Western education in India would serve several purposes.
 Employing Indians with Western education in public offices would drastically reduce
administrative costs.
 Indians thus educated and employed would develop Western moral values and a sense of loyalty
to the British.
 Western influence would change the lifestyle of educated Indians so that they would readily
accept British goods.

2. What changes did the British introduce in the system of elementary

education in India? How did these changes affect India’s traditional
education system?
The government introduced order and discipline in pathshalas and maktabs. It framed new rules
and gave grants to schools that accepted them. Teachers were asked to use textbooks written
according to a fixed syllabus and follow a regular routine. The evaluation of individual students on
the basis of their varying learning abilities was replaced by a uniform examination pattern. Fees and
sessions for classes (school timings) were fixed, without any consideration for the poor and working
students. Attendance declined; schools that did not accept the new rules received no government
aid, and gradually withered away, resulting in mass illiteracy. Thus the new education system
neglected the education of the masses. The traditional Indian education system declined and was
not replaced by any alternative