Abstract

This article examines two major aspects of Indian society, that is, the construction of India’s lengthy and diverse society that developed from Dravidian and Indo-Aryan families that is ‘Indian Society’ with multi-languages. It also argues how the British dismantled Indian social fabrics after the introduction of western education, land settlements, legislation against social evil. The Christian Missionaries were used as a tool for making change in Indian society. This article also discusses about conflicting ideas that emerged between the English and the Indians scholars on the issue of Modern education. Indian society is a complex society which has a number of religions, languages, customs and traditions with regional variation that has been developed from ancient past. This society went on changing under various empires and finally it formulated as “Indian Society” with multi-culture and languages. However, the British on their arrival to India realized the evils of Indian society which was pointed out by Charles Grant in his pamphlet, Observation and he suggested that the key to modernization of Indian society was the English education. Karl Marx has also pointed out the dual role of the British the ‘destructive’ and ‘regenerative’ phase of British India. For almost two centuries, the British had effective control over the Indian subcontinent directly and exercised a considerable influence over it.

In the course of governance, the British realized the necessity for the introduction of modern education in India, as the oriental education was, in no way, beneficial for the people of this country, as they alleged. Contrary to it, Indian nationalists, especially in the first quarter of 20th century, were critic to modern education as it had devalued the cultural traditions of India. As a result, a large volume of literatures came into circulation during freedom struggle that provoked Indians of their core cultural values. However, in this article, the British education policy has been fiercely debated and re-examined in the light of ‘banned and controversial literature’ that put emphasis on the preservation of Indian culture. This article is based on textual analysis that tries to prove that the ultimate goal of the British education policy was to debase the cultural values of Indian people under colonial rule.

Keywords: Indian society; Colonial rule; Christian missionary; Education; Modernization; Proscribed literature