PM SHRI KENDRIYA VIDHYALAYA NO.

1
JHANSI CANTT

ENGLISH PROJECT

TOPIC - ORIGIN OF ENGLISH IN INDIA

SUBMITTED TO NAME - ROHAN VERMA

SUDHA CHATUVEDI CLASS - 11th B

ROLL NO. - 34
 2

ABSTRACT

Introduced by the British colonization and today the official language of the Indian Nation in

association with Hindi, English is spoken as a second language by a minority of the educated

population of 8 to 11% according to current estimations. English as a language in India has an

archive of about three hundred years. It existed in India with the entrance of the British on the

Indian coasts. English as a language from that time until now has a substantial journey in the

Indian subcontinent. People from different religions, communities, and cultures have attempted

to adopt English for many reasons. Consequently, in the present context,we cannot think our life

is comfortable in India without English. English in India is a symbol of people’s aspirations for

quality in education and fuller participation in national and international life. Therefore it is the

need of the hour to understand the history and evolution of English in India as well as to review

how we are progressing with the English language and the same is being highlighted in this

research paper.
 3

INTRODUCTION

Language which has been considered man’s most remarkable achievement, is so much a part of

our lives, that very often we take it for granted and as often are not aware of its characteristic

features. Language is a system. Indian English (originated from and therefore related to British

English) is the dialect of the English language spoken in the Republic of India and among the

Indian diaspora elsewhere in the world. English has a status of associate language, but in fact, it is

the most important language of India. After Hindi, it is the most commonly spokenlanguage in

India and probably the most read and written language in India.

English in India is used not only for communicating with the outside world but alsofor inter-state

and intrastate communication. English symbolizes in Indians’ minds, better education, better

culture, and higher intellect. English is very important in some systems – legal, financial,

educational, and business in India.

ENGLISH IN INDIA

The English language set foot in India with the granting of the East India Companycharter by

Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and the subsequent establishment of trading ports in coastal cities such

as Surat, Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta.

English language public instruction began in India in the 1830s during the rule of the East India

Company. In 1835, English replaced Persian as the official language of the Company. Thomas

Babington better known as Lord Macaulay played a major role in introducing English and western

concepts of education in India. He supported the replacement of Persian by English as the official

language, the use ofEnglish as the medium of instruction in all schools, and the training of
 4

English-speaking Indians as teachers. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, primary, middle, and

high-schools were opened in many districts of British India, with most high-schools offering

English language instruction in some subjects. In 1857, just before the end of Company rule,

universities modeled on the University of Londonand using English as the medium of instruction

were established in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. During the British Raj, lasting from 1858 to

1947, English language penetration increased throughout India. This was driven in part by the

gradually increasing hiring of Indians in the civil services. At the time of India's independence in

1947, English was the only functional lingua franca in the country. The view of the English

language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with

economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India.

PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India also paved the way for the introduction of English in

the sub-continent in 1498. However, it was only in the 18th century, when the Mughal Empire was on the

decline and the English East India Company had secured a foothold in India that India’s tryst with the

English language began. During this period, English was the language of communication ofthe elite people

and was not the lingua franca of the people. The English language came to India in the 17th century with the

East India Company. It was formed to conduct trade with India and other countries in the east. Initially, the

Britishers tried to learn Indian languages to communicate with Indians. They started special colleges for

this purpose. They also took the help of the translators. But when their political powers increased, they

created the British Indian provinces like Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. So the English traders gave more

importance to English rather than to Indian languages. Some missionary institutions taught English to

Indians. The East India Company took responsibility

 5

for the education of the Indians. The Indians were also realizing the importance of the English

language.

The state was set for the first ‘big moment’ in the imperial history of English language teaching.

Meanwhile, some movements were started by Raja Ram Mohan Roy to introduce western

scientific education through English. He wanted to replace traditional Sanskrit and Persian

teaching. To decide on the issue, a committee was formed. Lord Macaulay was the chairman of

this committee. He advocated English as the medium of instruction in the place of Sanskrit and

Persian. Lord Macaulay wanted to make the people “Indian in blood and color but English in taste

and opinion.” He thought the members of this class would spread their knowledge through

English. Macaulay’s purposes were: i) to create the dominance of British culture over the Indians

and to have control over the minds ofthe Indian people through English. ii) to train Indians and

make them fit for employment. The British Government gave preference in jobs to the Indians

who knew English. Many Indian students found poetry, drama, and other writings difficult to get

their degrees. Meanwhile, many new colleges and universities were formed. The system of

English education founded on English literature continued till independence.

COLONIAL PERIOD

T.B. Macaulay, in the Minutes of 1835, for the first time, formally introduced theteaching of

English in the South Asian subcontinent. In his Minutes he mentioned the importance and

usefulness of the education that would be given to the nativesthrough the medium of English.

Although it was designed to serve the interest of the Masters, not of the subjects, but provided the

framework of formal English education to India which to a large extent is followed even today.
 6

Thus by the middle of the nineteenth century the aims and objectives of teachingEnglish were

very clearly laid out For the remaining period of colonial rule there were a few landmarks in

the development of English such as:

● The establishment of universities in Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai in 1857and in Dhaka in

1920

● Selective education and training in administration, imparted through English, the Indian

University Act (1904)

● The Resolution on Educational Policy (1913).

For the entire period of British rule four broad developments concerning English education

took place:

● 1600 -1800: During the early years the variety of English used was imitativeand formal. It

was the language of the rulers and the elite class.

● 1850 -1947: During the later years more varieties (from very high to verylow) appeared.

Indian intellectuals and freedom fighters effectively used English as a tool for political

awakening and resurgence.

Interaction with vernacular languages: As the use of English penetrated the different sections of

the educated Indians, a new variety of English emerged. This variety of English had a very distinct

Indian flavor and several words of vernacularorigin were absorbed in English, e.g., Brahmin.

Coolie, jungle, and so on.

International Journal of English Learning and Teaching Skills; Vol. 3, No. 4; July 2021,ISSN: 2639-7412 (Print) ISSN: 2638-5546 (Online)

Methodology: Language studies were based on literature and grammar and the means of studies

was the grammar-translation method. The spoken component of the language was not practiced.

The emphasis was given on correctness and complete sentence construction.

English also played a critical role in India’s struggle for independence as it became the language

of political awakening and resurgence. Even Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), used the English

language effectively to put forth his message to the British Government.

POST-COLONIAL PERIOD

Post-independence, the perception of English as having an alien power base changed. For most of

the twentieth century, it remained a language used by a selectfew. English primarily remained the

language of law and administration.

TRANSPLANTATION versus EVOLUTION for a fairassessment:

Lord Macaulay’s attitude was that of a typical colonial administrator. The rulers required a class of

English knowing urban “baboos”- Western-educated bureaucrats who would be loyal to their

masters. Educating that class and allowingthem to ‘educate’ the masses was the policy of the

British. Macaulay visualized India to be a dependency of England, to be at war with their enemies,

to be at peace with their allies. He felt India cannot have a free government, but she may have a

firm and impartial despotism. After stating theobjectives of colonial education, he took up the

question of the medium of education. He wrote in the Minute:

 8

All parties seem to be agreed on one point: that the dialects commonly spokenamong the

natives of this part of India contain neither literary nor scientific information, and are,

moreover, so poor and rude that, until they are enrichedfrom other quarters, it will not be easy

to translate any valuable work into them.

The English language, its literature, and its religion were made central to thecultural

enterprise of the EMPIRE and the expansion of their trade. The firmestablishment of the

Empire was the ultimate aim of the Macaulayan transplantation approach.

The Orientalists were even prepared to compromise and make English an optionalmedium

along with the classical Indian languages, but the Anglicists wanted the English-only policy.

Hindus were not in favor of the alien English education and English Language. Rural areas were

untouched, urban areas were the only ones getting English, established. This was reflected in the

number of newspapers and periodicals that started during this period.

 9

NAME YEAR OF ESTABLISHMENT

Times of India, Bombay 1838

Calcutta review 1844

Examiner, Bombay 1850

Guardian, Madras 1851

Some Indians of the period, like Michael Madhusadan Dutt(Calcutta), C.V.Boriah(Madras),

Krishna Mohan Banerji(Calcutta), and Kashiprasad Ghose(Calcutta), are credited with literary

writing in English.

English and English education got firmly consolidated by 1850 and some sectionsof the people,

the Brahmins and a section of the middle class were very enthusiastic about learning English,

especially in Bengal and Madras. The Hindu College, Calcutta, started by individuals was taken

over by the Government in 1854and renamed Presidency College.

WOOD’S DESPATCH
 10

Wood’s Despatch of 1854, sometimes called the Magna Carta of English educationin India, was

the first policy statement of the British Government and the Companyon education. The

following points were emphasized:

1. The English language would be taught where there was a demand for it andthat it would

not replace native languages.

2. The importance of female education. 2489

3. Teachers must be trained.

4. The establishment of universities.

Early Indian writers used English unadulterated by Indian words to convey an experience that

was essentially Indian. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) wrote Rajmohan's Wife and

published it in 1864; it is the first Indiannovel written in English. Lal Behari Day's Govinda

Samanta or the History of a Bengali Raiyat was published in 1874 and the same author's Folk

Tales of Bengal: Life's Secret was published in 1912. Bianca, or The Young Spanish Maiden

(1878)by Toru Dutt was the first novel written by an Indian woman. Both Toru Dutt and Krupabai

Satthianadhan, two promising Indian English writers of the nineteenth century died untimely in

their early twenties and thirties respectively.

Satthianadhan's autobiographical novel Saguna: A Story of Native Christian Lifewas published

serially in The Madras Christian College Magazine from 1887 to 1888. The only other novel by

Satthianandhan is Kamala: The Story of a Hindu Life (1894).

Wood’s despatch of 1854 very carefully and clearly stated the laudable aim of making English and

the vernacular languages the instruments for the diffusion of European knowledge. English was

made the
 11

language of administration. All these made English a commodity that was in great demand. The

Matriculation examination was the entrance examination to the university and it was conducted

in English; middle school instruction was preliminary to high school education; soEnglish

continued to be considered the most important language.

The British empire was getting more and more well-established as a territorial empire and

English and English education also got established in the minds of men, particularly in urban

areas, as the ‘English Empire’. It was at this time LordCurzon came to India as a Viceroy.

A Bengali gentleman once wrote, ‘If you happen to be traveling in a railway carriage in India,

you will find scores of Bengali gentlemen reading English books as a matter of recreation, and

some perusing The Times newspaper…’.They were accustomed to carry on a conversation in

English, even the British found no difficulty in communicating with them. Thus, English education

was producing “gentlemen-clerks” of the ‘most obedient’ type in India.

The Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 and in 1892 Dadabhai Naoroji was elected to

the British Parliament as India’s representative.

That was the time when the English educational system brought about the unification of the

Indian subcontinent and brought all the educated Indians togetherthrough a common language.

The use of a common language helped the native intelligentsia to exchange ideas with

comparative ease, and reinforced the forging of unity within their ranks.

Thus, one can say without the existence of the British regime and their effort ofteaching English

to the Indians turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Before the British came to India, she was ruled by hundreds of feudal lords who fought among

themselves for power. The British, by a combination of power and administrative ability, brought the

country together. English and English educationintroduced by them, led to the growth of educated
 12

Indians and mass which broughtabout the question of staying under a subjugation. This gave birth

to the nationalistmovements. A common language gave the Indians the nationalist ideology.

● “One of the most remarkable features of the British rule in India has been the fact that

the greatest injuries done to the people of India have taken the outward form of

blessings. Of this, English education is a striking example….” as said by Ananda K.

Coomarswamy.

● “England has introduced a revolutionary agent of mighty potency in this country. The

revolutionary agent is English education..” as said bySurendra Nath Banerjee.

It was said that the impact of European education and the common language,English had

prepared the country for national unity.

People from all strands of nationalism were English educated and they were at the forefront of the

nationalist movement. The English language itself, the linguistic and literary core of English

education, contained the message; the medium itselfwas the message.

After Indian Independence in 1947, Hindi was declared the first official language, and attempts were made to

declare Hindi the sole national language of India. Due to protests from Tamil Nadu and other

non-Hindi-speaking states, it was decided to temporarily retain English for official purposes until at least 1965.

By the end of this period, however, opposition from non-Hindi states was still too strong to have Hindi

declared the sole language. With this in mind, the English Language Amendment Bill declared English to be an

associate language "until all non-Hindi States had agreed to its being dropped." This has not yet occurred, and

it is still widely used. For instance, it is the only reliable means of day-to-day communication between the

central government and the non-Hindi states.

The view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to

associating it with economic progress, and English continuesto be an official language of India.
 13

While there is an assumption that English is readily available in India, available studies show that

its usage is restricted to the elite, because of inadequate educationto large parts of the Indian

population. The use of outdated teaching methods and the poor grasp of English exhibited by the

authors of many guidebooks disadvantage students who rely on these books, giving India only a

moderate proficiency in English.

THE PRESENT STATE

Twentieth-century witnessed great advancements in science and technology and this enabled

many new ways of sharing information and doing business. India’s international commercial

activities led to the need for acquiring proficiency in English as an international language. Now,

English is not just the language of the administrators and policymakers but also has become the

language of the businessand professional class. In India, the English speaking population is only

about 3-4%, but with India’s massive population, India is among the top three countries in the

world with the highest number of English speakers. In terms of numbers of English speakers,

theIndian subcontinent ranks third in the world, after the USA and UK. Most Englishspeakers in

India are second language speakers, in 1971, it was estimated that the rate of bilingualism in India

was 13% and 99% of English speakers are second-language speakers English is the most widely

spoken second language, followed by Hindi. English is more useful as a “lingua franca”; the

usefulness of Hindi as a lingua franca is regionally limited. The small segment of the English

speaking population controls domains that have professional prestige. It is this small segment of

the Indian population that leads India’s economic, industrial, professional, political, and social

progress. Most interactions in the above spheresof life take place in English.
 14

In the linguistically plural settings of India, English often acts as the link -languageamong people

of different dialects. For many educated Indians, English is virtually the first language. Thus, in the

present context, English is playing a vital role in bringing together people from different regional

languages for a closer exchange ofsocial, educational, and administrative networks of India. It

provides a linguistic tool for the administrative cohesiveness of a country.

English is used in both public and personal domains and its functions “extend far beyond those

normally associated with an outside language, including the instrumental, the regulative, the

interpersonal and the innovative, self-expressivefunction”. As pointed out before, the role of

English is not replacive: it overlaps with local languages in certain domains.

English language in Indian Education System

English is taught as a second language at every stage of education in all states of India and has

been accepted as the main medium of instruction in higher education.English is also the state

language of two states in eastern India, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.

In India, English has become an integral part of the curriculum almost at all levels of education.

However, various social, political, and cultural factors affect the position of English in different

boards, universities, and other institutions. While most States accord English the position of the

second language, some others treat itas the third language; the regional language and the national

language getting precedence.

 15

English language in other fields

Nowadays English is “the so-called associate official language of the Indian Union” which is

particularly used in the areas “education, administration, law,mass media, science, and

technology”.

The common usage of English in India’s governmental affairs clearly shows its important

role/importance in the country. Even in the Indian Constitution, it is defined “that all orders, rules

and regulations, and bye-laws, etc., shall be in English”. Furthermore, the knowledge in the

sectors “medicine, engineering, technology and all the sciences” is imparted in English and due to

the reputable Anglophone school-learning and the fact that Indian Universities mostly teach

inEnglish, the “English-medium education enjoys great prestige”.

Besides the judicial and educational usage, there still is the cultural aspect of theEnglish language

in India which includes, inter alia, mass media like

English-language newspapers. In addition to the press, the English language affectsthe sector’s

film and theatre as well.

The firm establishment of English after independence benefitted India in several ways. Indians

not only started learning it seriously but also learned how to express themselves efficiently in

English. Several authors started writing in English. This gave a boost for the development of the

special field in literature called ‘Indian English Literature’. Various genres of literature started

employing the English language. Not only that, but English also worked as a vehicle to transport

and popularise Indian works of art throughout the world.

 16

Not only in literature has English played a major role, but it has also played a vital role in the economic

development of the nation. India has been able to progress in the industrial competition in the modern

era. The government policies regarding foreign affairs, international transactions are all very important

in business and trade overseas. The use of English is inevitable in all these activities.

India has been able to advance in the scientific and technological fields too. All the credit must go

primarily to the English language. We cannot now imagine the condition of India at present, had we

rejected the English language after independence.

CONCLUSION

We have thus in brief discussed the beginning, growth, and development of English in India. We also

studied how the status of the English language changed from the time the British people ruled to the

time after independence. All we could see in this discussion is that the English language has been the

most valuable gift for the Indians. It has helped Indians in several ways. Being the window to the

outside world and gateway to knowledge, English has been of great prominence and importance. The

study of this language not only makes us more intelligible but also opens up many great opportunities

for us in the professional world. We can easily say today that “ There is no success, if there is no

English!”.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Englis
h
2. https://www.ukessays.com
3. https://books.google.co.in
4. www.grin.com
5. www.researchgate.net
6. https://www.google.com