Role of Christian Missionaries and the Indian Renaissance

At a Glance

• Entry Missionaries permitted by the Charter Act of 1813
• Allies Radicals, Imperialists and business
• Reformers Rammohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Malabari
• Government dilemma Fear of too much modernisation
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: British Policies and Their Impact

Where Does It Fit?

This is the fourth topic of the category on British policies and their impact. The previous topic covered British social and cultural policy. This topic covers the role of Christian missionaries and the Indian renaissance. The next topic covers British policy towards the princely states and foreign policy. Previous topic: British Social and Cultural Policy in India.

What Was the Missionaries’ Aim?

Christian missionaries were allowed to come to India and preach their religion by the Charter Act of 1813, as noted in Pitt’s India Act: Board of Control 1793 to…">Constitutional Development 1773-1858: Regulating Act to the Act of 1858. They regarded Christianity as a superior religion and wanted to spread it in India through westernisation, which they believed would destroy the natives’ faith in their own religion and culture.

Whom Did the Missionaries Support?

The schools of thought among the administrators are in British Social and Cultural Policy in India.

What Was the Indian Renaissance?

Many Indians instigated social reform and caused legislation to control and remove social evils that were embedded in so-called tradition. Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and B.M. Malabari, to name a few social reformers, worked hard to get the government to pass legislation to remove social evils. The Radicals among British officials were strongly supported by Raja Rammohan Roy and like-minded reformers. These matters are discussed in detail in the topics on religious and social reform, including Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and the Aligarh Movement.

How Did the Missionaries and the Reformers Relate?

The missionaries and the reformers moved in the same period and used some of the same tools: schools, printed tracts and appeals to reason. But their purposes differed. The missionaries meant to replace what they saw as the false beliefs of the natives with Christianity, and measured their success in converts. The reformers wanted to remove particular evils within Hindu and Muslim society, and to answer the missionaries’ criticisms of Indian practices by showing that reform could come from within. Their appeals for legislation, to a government that had its own reasons to hold back, show the limits of what a colonial state would do: it was willing to pass some laws, but it feared social disturbance, and after 1858 it preferred not to arouse the orthodox. This is why reform in the nineteenth century advanced through Indian initiative, with the government acting only at points where the reformers had built enough support.

The effect on the educated Indians was important. The criticisms of Indian practices by missionaries made many educated Indians study their own traditions anew, and the response, as seen in the reform movements, ranged from reform to revival, and eventually to the nationalist assertion of Indian culture that the British came to oppose.

What Was the Government’s Dilemma?

The government feared that too much modernisation might create forces hostile to its interests, and so thought it appropriate to introduce modernisation in some respects and block it in others, a colonial modernisation. After 1858 the policy of hesitant modernisation was gradually abandoned. Yet the Indians had proved apt pupils: they shifted rapidly towards modernising their society and asserting their culture and demanded rule in line with modern principles of liberty, equality and justice. The British then sided with the socially orthodox and conservative elements and encouraged casteism and communalism.

As an analytical point, the missionaries and the reformers both worked for changes in Indian society, but with opposite aims: the missionaries to replace the natives’ beliefs, the reformers to reform them from within and to use modern education to strengthen Indian society. This difference is why the reform movements often took a stance against the missionaries while using some of the same ideas of reason and humanism. The effect on education is in Education Under Company Rule: Charter Act of 1813 to Macaulay’s Minute.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Missionary aims A common Mains point on colonial motives
• Alliance of interests Shows convergence of religion, empire and trade
• Indian renaissance Links the reform movements to British policy

What Came Next?

The next topic covers British policy towards the princely states and foreign policy. Next topic: British Policy Towards Princely States and Foreign Policy.

Key People and Terms

• Missionaries Christian preachers allowed from 1813
• Westernisation Adoption of Western ideas and practices
• Radicals Officials supported by the missionaries for their scientific approach
• Indian renaissance The movement for social and religious reform
• Vidyasagar Reformer who pressed for social legislation
• Malabari Reformer who worked for social legislation

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the role of missionaries and the response of Indians. These points add depth.

• Missionary motives Westernisation and conversion
• Alliances Radicals, Imperialists, business
• Reformers Legislation and renaissance