Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947 ​ ​ Shriya Gautam

Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh

Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947

Presented at

NATIONAL SEMINAR ON EDUCATION AND CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA UNDER

THE BRITISH RULE
SEPTEMBER 27-28, 2011
ICDEOL HIMACHAL PRADESH UNIVERSITY

Shriya Gautam
Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh
Introduction
Annexation of North India, especially the state of Punjab, (which included the areas of modern
day Indian cities like Delhi, Shimla, Amritsar, Hissar, Gurgaon and Pakistani towns of Lahore,
Multan, Lyallpur, Montgomery and Taxila) took place on March 29, 1849 after the end of the
Second Anglo-Sikh War (Talbot, 2007). At that time, the task of setting up a peaceful
administration in Punjab lay before Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General of India. Until
this stage, the education system in North India in general and Punjab in particular, was highly
fragmentary in terms of uniformity of curriculum as well as the gender, the religion, the age and
the caste of the recipient. This was a direct result of the traditional system of education, which
was prevalent and popular in this area and mostly restricted to religious places (cf. Jones, 1989).

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the level as well as the nature of education in the area of
Punjab after the establishment of the British Rule in North India. For the purpose of this paper,
various secondary sources as well as archival records were studied and an attempt was made to
analyse the difference in the indigenous systems of education prevalent and the changes brought
in by the colonial regime. It also attempts to assess the benefits and limitations of the new system.

A Brief Assessment of the Indigenous Education System before Annexation of Punjab

It has been pointed out by several British enquiries into Indian Education, that prior to the British
rule, the indigenous schools, which existed in this part of the country, were not of a high order
(cf. Majumdar, 2008). This was partly due to lack of uniformity in the education received by
Indians from different walks of life and partly due to the religious undertones of indigenous
education in India.

The Muslims were taught the ​Quran​ and were generally taught in ​Madarsas​ and their subjects
included Theology, ​Fiqah,​ Astronomy and the system of ​Yunani​ medicine (Jafar, 1973). The
Hindus, on the other hand, were taught in ​Pathshalas​ and ​Chatsalas​. While the ​Pathshalas​ were
the local primary schools for Hindu children, the ​Chatshalas​, also known as the ​Mahajani Landa
Schools, met the needs of trading communities. In these schools, the teacher known as the​ Padha
taught the pupils mental arithmetic, by means of which, they could count mentally and carry on
the business transactions as well as maintain their accounts or ​Behi Khatas​. The curriculum of the
Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947 ​ ​ Shriya Gautam

Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh

Pathshalas​, meanwhile, included subjects like Philosophy, Astronomy, Astrology and even
Medicine (Nehru, 1945).

The Sikh seats of learning meanwhile testified to the zeal for ​Jhana​ or divine knowledge evinced
by their pupils (Grewal, 1998). The teachers at this time were usually men of eminence and not
only did they impart free education but also provided their pupils with food, clothing and shelter
in return for which the students were not expected to give teachers any presents. Thus, by and
large the native system of education was widespread and popular in a major part of North India
until 1849. That being said, women and people from the lower strata of society were mostly
excluded from education and the overall nature of the indigenous education was discriminatory.
At this juncture, it is, however, also necessary to mention that the assertion that indigenous
education in India was “not of a higher order” is probably not a factual criticism of the existing
system and probably arose as a result of colonial bias as well as inability to understand the
circularity of religion, philosophy, art and science in the Indic system of education. It is also
essential to point out that it is very likely that the indigenous systems of education were in an
advanced stage of stagnation at the point of British Annexation of Punjab, owing to the turbulent
state of polity and society.

The subsequent sections of this paper will be devoted to analysis of the changes brought in the
pattern of education in Punjab after its Annexation. For this, the changes and developments
hereafter will be studied in terms of Primary, Secondary and Higher education instead of
following the existing trend of studying the changes in relation to various Commissions and
Programmes introduced under the British Raj.

Primary Education

With the annexation of Punjab, which practically included almost half of the modern day North,
the British administrative set-up was established in Punjab. However, since the need of the hour
was to reorganise the province which extended upto 100 000 square miles with a population of 10
million people, education was not given any special concentration. Yet, it was not completely
ignored either, for even before the British troops occupied Punjab, the Christian Missionaries had
undertaken the task of establishing schools in this area and the first missionary institution, Gorton
Missionary School, for boys was set up in Kotgarh, in Shima hills in 1843 by the Church
Missionary Society (Wace, 1884).

Though only an elementary school, the foundation of the Church Missionary School, Kotgarh,
led to the establishment of other English schools in the cities of Jalandhar (1848), Lahore,
Ludhiana (1851), Amritsar (1853) and Ambala (1854). The government soon followed the
example of the missionaries and established schools in cities and large towns while the District
Officers started and maintained schools in minor areas with the help of local funds. The first
government school was opened in Shimla in March 1848 (District Census Handbook Simla,
1961). In 1851, eight District schools were established which were followed by eight more
District schools in 1854. The subjects of study of these schools included English, Geometry and
Geography along with Persian and Arabic languages as well as Urdu.

The role of Christian Missionaries and the initiative of the Government opened a new chapter in
the field of Primary education in India. However, the need to improve the indigenous schools
without destroying their distinctive character was recognised by Sir Charles Aitchison (Howell,
1872). This need became more pronounced when the Wood’s Despatch of 1854 spelled out that
the main line of the education policy to be followed in India was, “the improvement and wider
extension of education, both English and Vernacular.” As a result of the guidelines provided by
the Wood’s Despatch, revised grant-in-aid rules provided for payment by results and staff grants
to certified teachers employed in the schools and the number of indigenous schools in Punjab
increased from 3, 372 in 1854-56 to 4,662 in 1871-72. By 1882 there were 13,109 indigenous
schools in the region besides 2011 government schools (Barrier and Singh, 1976; Mookerjee,
1944).

In 1886, an experiment was made to educate children of agriculturalists and for this purpose
Zamindari schools were established where only half time attendance was required. These schools
Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947 ​ ​ Shriya Gautam

Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh

were closed during harvest period and imparted elementary knowledge of reading, writing and
arithmetic (Adas, 1991). From 1886 to 1892, these schools prospered but they eventually became
unpopular since they did not make their pupils fit for government jobs and in 1901 only 187 such
schools existed in North India. So, in 1904, Village Schools were opened where a simple course
of studies was followed with special attention to the requirements of agriculturalists.
However, despite the increase in the outlay on primary education in Punjab and making primary
education free for all, there was no appreciable rise in the number of literates. This slow and tardy
development was the major concern for the government. In 1910 Sir H. Butler, the first education
member of the Viceroy’s Council managed to allocate a major portion of Royal Grants for the
Primary Education. This provided a great momentum to the spread of Primary Education in
Punjab (Chaudhary, 2009). In 1918, Sir Michael O’Dwyer inaugurated a five-year programme for
the expansion and improvement of Vernacular education in the rural areas. Then, in 1919, the
Compulsory Education Act was passed which, though applicable to the boys and that too initially
for four years, raised the enrolment to 54% in Multan and 62% in Lahore (Whitehead, 2005).

Secondary Education

The effective organisation of secondary education in North India dates to 1860 (Whitehead,
2005). As education spread, it became easier to find teachers for Middle and High schools and
increase the number of High Schools at a small cost.
A Middle school usually had a primary department and a middle department. A high school had a
primary, a middle and a high school department . The middle school course extended over three
classes and terminated, in case of vernacular schools, in middle school examination. The high
school course extended over two years terminating with matriculation and school leaving
certificate. The government encouraged secondary education in vernacular languages at district
level as a result of which secondary education made rapid progress and the number of high
schools increased from 25 in 1883-84 to 161 in 1920 (Sundaram, 1946).
The Hunter’s Commission of 1882, favoured private enterprise and withdrawal of government
from competition in promoting secondary education. Thus, a large number of non-official
agencies like D.A.V., Chief Khalsa Diwan, Dev Samaj and Sanatan Dharma as well as Christian
missions opened a number of schools which offered secondary education. The chief credit of
establishing secondary schools in the area goes to the D.A.V. institutions. In 1947, 823 high
schools existed in Punjab and more and more matriculates were churned out with every passing
year(Talbot, 1991).

Higher Education

The Wood’s Despatch of 1854 had sanctioned the establishment of colleges and Universities in
various provinces (Raina and Habib, 1993). However, in Punjab this was postponed and college
education did not start in North India until 1864 when the first colleges of Punjab were opened in
Lahore and Delhi. The students from this area, as a result, began to appear for the Entrance exam
of the Calcutta University. Only then, the colleges were established in Lahore and Delhi. At the
same time, the authorities at St. Stephen School, Delhi started two college classes. However there
was still no provision for studies in science and the colleges were not well attended because the
students could not afford to pay the cost of books and maintenance.

It was at this time that Dr. Leitner, who was the first principal of Lahore college, founded the
Anjuman-i-Punjab​ in 1865 and formulated a proposal for establishing a university quite
independent of the government (Zaman, 1999). The proposal was duly considered by the
government and so, the government sanctioned the establishment of ‘The Punjab University
College’ which on the fulfillment of certain conditions might be expanded into a university later
on. Thus, with the aim of spreading vernacular education and promotion of European Sciences
the Punjab University College was established in 1870 under the administration of the Senate of
Seventy Members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor. Over the next decade, the Lahore
Medical college was affiliated to the University College and faculties for Law, Arts, Medicine
and Engineering were created. An Entrance exam was prescribed and special examinations in
Arabic, Sanskrit and Persian were instituted. Thus, by fulfilling the conditions of the promoters,
the Punjab University was finally established in Lahore in 1882. After the University Act of
1904, the university came under the direct control of the government and the Senate of Seventy
Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947 ​ ​ Shriya Gautam

Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh

Members was strengthened (District Census Handbook, 1961).

Soon, colleges sprang up in other parts of Punjab as well and Lahore emerged as the educational
hub of North India and became a home to many prestigious institutes like the Oriental College,
the Central Training College, Aitchison College, Forman Christian College, D.A.V. College and
Islamia College (Zaman, 1999). In 1884, a Medical College was set up in Ludhiana for girls. In
Lyallpur, in 1909, an Agricultural College was set up. In Rassol, an engineering college was set
up in 1912. Other colleges like Khalsa college, Khalsa Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Kanya
Mahavidyalay, Hansraj Mahila Mahavidyalaya were also established in Amritsar and Jalandhar.

With the rise of nationalist movement and the outbreak of Non Cooperation Movement,
Gurudwara Reform Movement and Civil Disobedience movement, education was disrupted in
Punjab (Grewal,1998). However it was only because of education that masses of Punjab
awakened to political and social conditions around them (Chandra ​et.al. ​1989).

Technical Education

The defects of purely literary teaching dominated the Indian education from the start. The need
for Technical education was sharply in 1886 (Raina and Habib, 1993). Before this, the Medical
and Veterinary College, the Law and Engineering class of Punjab University were the only real
technical institutions in the province (District Census Handbook Simla, 1961). With the
introduction of the Reforms Scheme in 1918, the control of industrial education was transferred to
the Department of Education. Later, in 1922, the Maclagan College of Engineering was opened
at Mughalpura which fulfilled the need for a higher institute of engineering in Punjab (District
Census Handbook Simla, 1961).
Female Education

The cause of Female Education was first stressed upon by the Wood’s Despatch of 1854 and
several schools for girls were opened in Punjab as early as 1855 (Kamat, 1976). Sir Robert
Montgomery, the in-charge of judicial administration of Punjab, held a Durbar at Lahore to enlist
the cooperation of local chiefs for enrollment of girls in these schools (Kamat, 1976). By 1886,
about 1000 schools with 20,000 girl scholars had been opened but the attendance soon fell
because orthodox Punjabis, particularly Mohammedans were reluctant to send their daughters to
these schools(Sayyid, 1998). Therefore, nothing tangible was done in the field of female
education until 1889 when, along with devising a better system of female education, an
Inspectress of School was appointed in 1889. Education was made free for girls and in middle
school, one out of two girls was to get a scholarship (Zahid, 1997).

At the same time, the Kanya Mahavidyalaya, the pioneer institute which was established by Lala
Devraj of the college wing of Arya Samaj with the cause of promoting female education, contrary
to the objections of the Hindus as well as the gurukul wing of Arya Samaj was started in 1888-89
in Jalandhar with the aim to impart physical, mental and religious education to women as well as
give them instructions on household economy, handicrafts, health and hygiene(Kishwar, 1986).
The target of this institution was not to create elite women, who could bring about revolution in
the society, but to churn out good wives and good mothers who could match the wit of the
educated men as well as make their children more disciplined and cultured. However, as the
Kanya Mahavidyalaya gained more and more students, people like Lala Devraj, who were
actively involved in evolving a new concept of women’s education were being carried by the
logic of their own experiments to positions and premises that challenged their own cherished
myths and notions of womanhood (Kishwar, 1986).

Near the turn of the century, many more private institutions also took up the cause of female
education along with the social reform movement. The most important institutes of this field were
the Hansraj Mahila Mahavidyalaya and the Sikh Kanya Mahavidyalaya. The Normal School for
women at Lahore, which was opened in 1905 also marked a new era in development of female
education which gradually started to grow in Punjab (Sharma, 1986).

As early as 1902, the need to teach English to girls was felt ‘to bridge the gap between men and
Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947 ​ ​ Shriya Gautam

Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh

women’ and in KMV, English started in 1906 from class five onwards despite the storm of protest
by the people (Kishwar, 1986). Soon, women’s education gained momentum in Punjab and the
girls from these institutions became the first women political workers that Punjab produced for
education not only opened their eyes to their own problems but also made them an active
participant in the social scenario of which they had now become an integral part.

An Estimate of Education in North India under the British Rule

Though by 1947, education in North India had made progress by leaps and bounds. However the
system was not short of defects and drawbacks. In the first place, not sufficient funds had been
allocated for the cause of education by the British. Secondly, not much was done to promote
vernacular education in the region as a result of which very few people were attracted to send
their wards to schools. Also, since education was not made free and compulsory for children,
90% of the population of Punjab remained illiterate. The British Government also did not take
effective measures to promote the cause of women’s education. There were a very small number
of engineering, medical and agricultural colleges in the region as a result of which technical
education did not develop. Since the main objective of introducing education was to recruit more
and more clerks and soldiers, the British did not care to educate the Indians the way their own
countrymen were in the educational institutes of Britain.

However, despite the drawbacks of the education system,the new system ultimately proved to be
beneficial for the Indians and is largely accountable for the cultural, social and political
awakening of the Indians. It is by opening their eyes to the Western Education, the Indians
realised the drawbacks of their own society and sought out to bring about social reforms. Also,
political awakening and rise of national consciousness is another result of the spread of education
among the Indian masses. Thus, the foundation of education laid down by the British not only
sensitised the Indians to the drawbacks of their own society and brought about awakening but also
formed the basis of the educational system that is prevalent in India even today.

A Comparison of English Education with Traditional Educational System of India:

Although, it has been argued that the British Rule should not be accredited with the spread of
education in India, owing to the advanced stage of scientific education in terms of architecture,
iconometry and mathematics as well as traditional systems of medicine, nevertheless, the
uniformity and equality of education that resulted from the change in education system brought in
by the British rule, must be acknowledged.

Education in India, throughout the Ancient and Medieval times, was governed by religious and
social factors such as caste. Comparing the caste system to vocational education or traditional
religious university systems of Taxila and Nalanda, which were more monastic than educational
in nature, enabling men of a particular religion to undertake monkish life, to modern universities
of the British Period or the Post Independence institutions of present day India, is both a flawed
and half-baked assertion. In this regard, it has to be remembered that regardless of the nature of
traditional knowledge systems in India, the indigenous learning base became so dissimilar
around 1000 CE, that education became totally caste-based in an already caste-ridden society and
right from the rituals of initiation to the course of studies, everything varied for people belonging
to different walks of life, something that the British education system unintentionally succeeded
in altering by removing caste based restrictions.

Another important point to be remembered in the sphere of female education in India, was the
denial of education to women, which had already been declining since the Gupta Age when
pre-puberty marriages became more popular (Chopra, Puri, Das, 1974). Also it is worth
mentioning that, even in the Vedic times, women’s role as composers of the Vedic hymns or their
participation in discourses is limited to the religious and philosophical sphere alone. Similarly, the
so -called vocationalisation and specialisation of craft or traditional knowledge was largely
dependent on the caste of the pupil instead of his or her ability.
Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947 ​ ​ Shriya Gautam

Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh

A thorough and unbiased analysis of the consequences of the British Education in North India,
through a case study, such as the one presented above, shows that while the new system did lead
to decline of several important systems of traditional knowledge, including the loss of culturally
relevant information, nevertheless, it did succeed in providing a more secular, egalitarian
approach to education that the current day system in India is based on. This more inclusive
system, which emerged due to administrative exigencies, rather than as a need to facilitate reform,
must be acknowledged and can be used in tandem with scientific temperament to revive the older
traditional knowledge base in order to create a more holistic and balanced educational framework
for present-day India.
Bibliography:

1. Adas, Michael, "Scientific standards and colonial education in British India and French
Senegal." In ​Science, medicine and cultural imperialism​, (London, 1991).
2. Barrier, N. Gerald, and Singh, Harbans, ​Punjab Past and Present: Essays in Honour of
Dr. Ganda Singh​, (Patiala, 1976).
3. Basham, A.L., ​The Wonder that was India (A Survey of the History and Culture of the
Indian Subcontinent Before the Coming of the Muslims) ​(London, 2007)
4. Chandra, Bipin​ et al​.​ India’s Struggle for Independence​ (London, 1989)
5. Chaudhary, Latika, "Determinants of primary schooling in British India," ​The Journal of
Economic History 69, no. 1 ​(2009): 269-302.
6. Chopra, P.N., Puri, B.N. and Das, M.N., ​A Social, Cultural and Economic History of
India Volume I ​(New Delhi, 2007)
7. Chopra, P.N., Puri, B.N. and Das, M.N., ​A Social, Cultural and Economic History of
India Volume III ​(New Delhi, 2007)
8. District Census Handbook, 1961, ​Office of the Registrar General & Census
Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
9. Grewal, Jagtar S. ​The Sikhs of the Punjab. Vol. 2​. (Cambridge, 1998).
10. Howell, Arthur Pearse.​ Education in British India, Prior to 1854, and in 1870-71​. (Office
of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1872).
11. Jafar, S.M.,​ ​Education in Muslim India: being an inquiry into the state of education
during the Muslim period of Indian history, 1000-1800 A. C.
12. Jones, K.W. ​Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India, ​(Cambridge, 1989).
13. Issue 16 of IAD Oriental Series​ (Delhi, 1973)
14. Kamat, A. R. "Women's education and social change in India," ​Social Scientist​ (1976):
3-27.
15. Khilnani, N.M. ​The Punjab under the Lawrences, ​(Punjab Government, 1951)
Education in Punjab under the British Rule from 1849 to 1947 ​ ​ Shriya Gautam

Department of History
MCM DAV College for Women
Panjab University, Chandigarh

16. Kishwar, Madhu, “Arya Samaj and Women’s Education,” ​Economic and Political
Weekly, Volume 21, ​(26 April 1986)
17. Lee, Harold, ​Brothers in the Raj: The Lives of John and Henry Lawrence.​ (Oxford, 2002)
18. Majumdar, R.C., ​The History and Culture of the Indian People: British Paramountcy and
Indian Renaissance: Volume X ​(New Delhi, 2008).
19. Mookerjee, Syama Prasad, "Education in British India," ​The Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science​ 233, no. 1 (1944): 30-38.
20. Raina, Dhruv, and S. Irfan Habib. "The unfolding of an engagement:' The Dawn'on
science, technical education and industrialization: India, 1896-1912." ​Studies in History
9, no. 1 (1993): 87-117.
21. Saiyid, Dushka, ​Muslim Women of the British Punjab: From Seclusion to Politics.​ (New
York, 1998).
22. Sharma, M.R., "The Arya Samaj and the Origin of College Education of the girls in
Jalandhar." ​Economic and Political Weekly 21, no. 17 ​(1986).
23. Sundaram, M. S. "Education in British India." ​The Journal of Negro Education 15, no. 3
(1946): 513-525.
24. Talbot, Ian. "British rule in the Punjab, 1849–1947: Characteristics and consequences."
The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 19, no. 2 ​(1991): 203-221.
25. Trevelyan, Charles Edward, ​On the Education of the People of India​, (London, 1838).
26. Wace, E.G.,​ Final Report on the First Regular Settlement of the Simla District in the
Punjab​ (Oxford, 1884)
27. Whitehead, Clive. "The historiography of British imperial education policy, Part I: India."
History of Education 34, no. 3​ (2005): 315-329.
28. Zahid, Masood Akhtar. "Traditionalism and female literacy in late nineteenth century
Punjab." ​Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society 45, no. 2 ​(1997): 203-213.
29. Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. "Religious education and the rhetoric of reform: The
madrasa in British India and Pakistan." ​Comparative Studies in Society and History​ 41,
no. 2 (1999): 294-323.