Historical Development

of English in India
By,Rakhi Raju

Pre-Independence Period
The formation of East India Company in 1600
The English sailor William Hawkins got
permission to open trade centres in different
places of India from the Mughal Emperor
Jahangir
Collision with other European trading
companies, and the English gradually gained
the rift.
In 1661 Company raised garrisons and
exercised jurisdiction in the areas under their
control
The decline of Mughal power facilitated the
establishment of the British Empire in India

Colonial wars were fought and won

by the British. In 1771 Company was
under Cabinet control and Governors
were appointed at the headquarters
of the Company in Calcutta.
Governor of Calcutta became
Governor of British India
In 1857 Company was abolished
The British assumed responsibility of
governing the Indian empire

Imperial servants in India become accountable

to the Queen
To the Englishmen, the inferior Indian people
were to be civilized
With missionary zeal, the English tried to
modernize Indians in their own fashion and
civilize them
Positive results in fields like education, social
reform industry etc..
Several missionary organizations started
English schools in India in 19 th century
Raja Ram Mohan Roy requested the Governor
General to open English colleges for the
purpose of modernization in1832

Charter Act and East-West Controversy

The Charter Act of East India Company empowered
the imperial Government to use not less than one
lakh of rupees every year for the improvement of
literature and the encouragement of learned
motives in India
Controversy the English Eastern pundits or
orientalists argued that the money should be used
for Indian schools with Sanskrit and Arabic, as the
medium of instruction
The Government grant was given only to the native
educational institutions
The number of English medium schools and
colleges increased and they began to demand
Government aid

Macaulay's Minute
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59),
a legal member of the GovernorGenerals council and the Chairman of
the Committee on education up the
Minute
It was decided to wholly for the
promotion of Modern English Education
in India in 1835
William Bentinck, the Governor General
acted promptly to the new aid. English
education was discontinued, grant also
was stopped

 The excuse was not English teaching was

ineffective and hence the student who
passed out were not at all proficient in
English. The medium of instruction should
be English
Orientalists like Horace Wilson expressed
their disapproval against the minute
It was an attempt to create caste
hierarchy in Indian Education
It would create two types of educated
citizens, the privileged English educated,
and the inferior native educated
It generated nationalistic feelings in the
leaders

Woods Despatch

Charles Wood, the president of the board of

East India Company, submitted his
recommendations regarding education
reforms in India, in 1854 called Woods
Despatch
Co-ordinated the system of education in
schools and colleges
Establishment of Department of Education.
Universities in Calcutta, Bombay and
Madras(1857)
Woods Despatch was accepted
English universities for Higher Education and
for training future administrators

Thank You...