Vol. 06, Issue 01,January 2021 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL) 54 DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE DURING COLONIAL PERIOD IN INDIA
Suyash Kamal Soni1, Shailendra Yadav2
Abstract:- English is a widely spoken language today.English isused to describe all dialects of the English language which are spoken in the Republic of India. English as a „global language‟, the lingua franca of the modern era and currently the language is most often taught as a second language around the world. The English Language was introduced by the British colonization and today it is the official language of the India along with Hindi.
According to current estimations, English is spoken as a second language by a minority of the educated population of 8 to 11%. English in India is being used for communicating with not only other countries but also for inter-state and intrastate communication.This paper would discuss, how development of English took place in the Colonial Period.
Index Terms:- Republic of India, Global Language, Colonial period.
1. INTRODUCTION
Language is a part of our lives, like the air we breathe, that very often we take it for granted and as oftenarenotaware of its characteristic features. The transmission usually happens as a result of interference of two or more languages.
English is the most important language of India. The basis of English language is the colonization of the British in India. It is the most comm. only spoken language in India after Hindi and probably the most read and written language in India.
In the beginning of the early 16th century, the British started to establish their trading posts in India and brought English “to a new territory”. British rule was over in the middle of the 20th century, but English remained in use in India. Almost two hundred thousand people claimed English as their first language and 125 million as a second language. English is associated with better education, better culture and higher intellect in Indian society.
It is used as the official language of the Indian government. Familiar to people, English plays a very significant rolein some systems – educational, legal, financial, and businessinIndia.Macaulay‟s most famous minute, in 1835, a report aimed at instructing the Indian elite in the English language, in order to produce
“a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect”.
2. BEGINNING OF ENGLISH IN INDIA The East India Company brought with them selves the English language in the 17th century.English stepped into the Indian subcontinent along with the British people. English was being used to conduct trade with India and other
countries in the east. The establishment of the British East India Company on the 31st of December, 1600, marks the beginning of the English language in India.
The Britishers initially tried to learn Indian languages to communicate with Indians and signing business deals with the native Indian rulers and kingdoms. Moreover, the company began to take part in politics with the help of the British Government in England. Political powers began to increase, which promoted them to create the British Indian provinces like Bengal, Madras and Bombay. Slowly the company started widening its horizons in India.
Hence this enabled the English traders to give more importance to Englishrather than to Indian languages.
Thus, the language which came along with them also initiated its spread over several parts of the country. Though the usage of the English Language in India spurred, Indian people did not have an access to it. Initially it was being spoken by the rulers throughout India.
3. GROWTH OF ENGLISH IN INDIA The East India Company started the educationof English in its provinces in India. English were being taught by some missionaries in Indian. The famous British philanthropist William Wilberforce proposed to add two clauses in support of the education of the Indians in the Company‟s Charter Act, in the year 1793.
But the British Government discouraged these clauses in the beginning.
The Governor General of India through the Company‟s Charter Act 1813, was expected to at least spend one lakh rupees for the education of the Indians
Vol. 06, Issue 01,January 2021 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL) 55 every year, furthering the greater spread
of English literature in India. The translations of the great Sanskrit and Arabic works of art that were present and popular was also encouraged. The production and publication of English books in India increased. It was thus very helpful for our ancient classic works to reach the world.
This led to the education of western subjects among Indians which broadened the horizons of scholarship.
The simultaneous growth of the regional languages in the education system (oriental policy) took place, along with the growth of English. The prime personalities who firmly supported the cause of education of Indians in the medium of English was Lord Macaulay. According to him, English stands pre-eminent even
among the languages of the west.
The one who has knowledge of this language, has ready access to all the vast intellectual wealth of the earth have created and hoarded in the course of ninety generation.” Later, the different changes to make English education in India a permanent feature of instruction in the Indian educational institutions were Lord Auckland‟s Minutes of 1839, Wood‟s Despatch of 1854, and Hunter Commission of 1882.
In the year 1923, The Committee of Public Instruction was set up in Calcutta (now Kolkata). The growth of English took place along with the simultaneous growth of the regional languages with the new education system (oriental policy).
4. RISE IN IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH IN COLONIAL PERIOD
Indians were understanding the avenues of English language. The imperial history of English language teaching began. According to A.P.R. Howatt, by 1830s, Indians began torealizethe importance of English languagefor a secure future in a government job, but, English was not taught in the secondary school.
Private schools were then providing this service were already doing good business, particularly in Calcutta. Some movements were meanwhile started by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. The aim was to replace traditional Sanskrit and Persian teaching and introduce western scientific education through English.
Later, Lord Macaulay held that the use of English as the medium of instruction be conducted in the place of Sanskrit and Persian.
4.1 Macaulay Minute (1935)
Macaulay‟s purposes were; one, to create the dominance of British culture over the Indians and to have the control over the minds of the Indian people through English and second, to educate and shape Indians and make them fit for the employment. He wanted to make the people Indian in blood and colour but English in taste and opinion. The educational policy drawn as per Macaulay Minute was credited with certain advantages.
It facilitated for mutual interaction and gave a common language to the Indians and offered to unite them. Thus, it aroused political consciousness among the Indians much above from the fronts of region and religion (Mukhopadhyay, 1984). It also provided an opportunity to acquire knowledge about modern political
and economic ideas and science &
technology, etc.
It also broadened the outlook of educated Indians and helped in rescuing the society from superstitions and other socio-cultural malaises. This new scheme opened the scope for educated Indians for employment in governmental services.
However, the factories were having supply of clerks cheaply and hence the educational institutions emerged to serve this purpose (Psacha, 1973).
Lastly, the scheme of education based on the thoughts of Macaulay proved blessing in disguise for the Indians in long run. The preference in jobs were given by British Government to Indians who had the knowledge of English. It is said to have started English education in India only to make Indians Babus (clerks)
Vol. 06, Issue 01,January 2021 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL) 56 and serve them in administration. It is
being inferred by many historians that the members of this class would spread their knowledge through English.
4.2 Wood’s Dispatch (1854)
In 1844, English eventually became the official language of India and people who had knowledge of English would now be preferred for public employment. Bipan Chandra, an Eminent scholar, pointed out that, “The Government proclaimed its intention of creating a properly articulated system of education through the Wood‟s Dispatch from the primary school to the university level.”
Wood‟s Education Dispatch introduced the education policy of East India Company which described the first official document that made an attempt (Viswanathan, 2000). Thus, we can conclude that the British government had its own selfish motives behind introducing English in Indian educational system. Followed by this meanwhile many new colleges and universities were formed. However, despite of an exploitative purpose, the language brought by them proved to be a weapon and a boon for Indians.
The Language thus brought the authors a worldwide popularity and recognition. Indians also started producing literature in English which was then regarded as a separate branch in the English literature under the name „Indian English Literature‟. Indians thus, not only began to learnbut also useit to throw away the British Empire from Indian soil.
The status of English language started to change from a foreign language to the official language during the phase of British rule in India. Indian writers started writing in English.
They also started translating the works (either their own or of other writers) from their regional languages and mother tongues into English. An example of Dadabhai Naoroji could be quoted here, who published „Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, which exposed the exploitative nature of Britishers. Dr.
Ambedkar also believed that India‟s future lies not in revivalism, but in western education and institutions.
The western liberal political philosophy and education helped Dr.
Ambedkar to come out of caste oppression to Dalits, which is prevalent in
India even today. Dr. Ambedkar personifies Lord Macaulay and said that the transformation to the modern scientific and liberal education would bring upliftment in the Indian society.
The higher education was conducted in English and this created a problem because there was no official effort to translate western literature into the vernacular, nor was there any standardization of Indian scripts.
Since the second half of nineteenth century there was growth in educational institutions in India. All these institutions stressed over Western value- based education. Universal humanism began to be imparted, which interpreted not as emerging from the Christian base but fromEthics and morals portrayed in literature. English today too is associated with Christian metaphors, idioms and set phrases, which cannot be wholly understood and used without a grasp of the underlying Christian message.
There was a shift taking place since, the original pieces of writing by the native speakers of English are sought to be replaced by the writings of the nationals who are masters of English prose and poetry. The knowledge of English produced creative writing, metaphors, idioms, and set phrases from the national languages, which imply that the local culture and religion were more freely used.
5. THE HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF TODAY’S CONTRADICTION
English as an Indian language can be said as one of the legacies of the British colonization. But the introduction of English in the relations of dominants and dominates had not been immediate. This was proceeded by the formation in the
“vernacular” languages, when Lord Wellesley decided in the veryfirst years of the 19th century to open a language school in Fort William College in Calcutta.
In 1833, James Mill, from the India Office, indicates that a position such as member of the Board of Revenue could satisfactorily be entrusted to persons without knowledge of English.
According to the Charter Act of 1834, conceptions (right to education for the people, including girls, the trust in the equal value of all human beings, the faith in progress) had taken its place in the Indian elite through the contact of the
Vol. 06, Issue 01,January 2021 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL) 57 English language and the philosophical
and ideological trends it conveyed in its then literature.
This is why the “reformist” Indians of the time, who considered themselves as enlightened and modern, were often in favour of the pro-English modernists in the abovementioned controversy. Take for instance, Ram Mohan Roy, the famous reformist of the Bengali Renaissance, advocates as soon as 1823 the introduction of English in the academic curriculum.
He strongly criticizes the traditional Indian educational system as obscurantist and backward, while giving to the British the credit of progressive and philanthropic motivations: “The Sanskrit system of education would be the best calculated to keep this country in darkness, if such had been the policy of the British legislature”.
Charles Woods Education Dispatch of 1854 or Vernacular Dispatch, states that, even if the knowledge of English will always be an essential requirement for those Natives of India who want to achieve higher education.
Charles Woods Education Dispatch concludes that vernaculars should be used to instruct the larger classes of the population who ignore English or have no sufficient knowledge of it.
According to the instructors, they should know both languages, because this double knowledge only, will enable them to enrich the vernacular languages and cultures by means of ideas and words to express them. These two historical documents (the Vernacular Dispatch and Macaulay‟s Minute), served as the vehicle for the progressive ideology which was praised for, that by the reformists, who advocated mass education. English has not only been considered as the language of the elite, but it is also the vehicle for such notions as social progress and mass education.
5.1 Middle - Class Intelligentsia
On one hand, the middleclass intelligentsia or English educated Indian class improved their own ways of living, but they drifted themselves from the general population. In this case, the general public was ignored, both by the British rule and the educated Indian elite group. It is also said that after implementation of this theory in practice,
too many English educated Indians came out in the field and it was not possible for the British government to absorb them according to their expectations leading to unemployment on a vast scale throughout the country.
The learned group opened some schools on the Western pattern, thus there was a visible increase in number of new English schools. The early leaders, mostly from middle class intelligentsia were not in favour of including masses in the movements. This apprehensions regarding educational and political awareness of masses made their fight limited with a narrow social base, mostly limited to the urban community.
The middle-class intelligentsia also laid the foundation for a powerful nationalist agitation against the British colonial rule which started in the 20th century under the leadership of Tilak, Lajpat Rai, Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders. The Bengal partition, Swadeshi and Boycott form of mass protest of
„swadeshi and boycott‟ attained popularity among the English educated members of the Congress. There were several attempts to achieve mass mobilization and „samitis‟ were formed which penetrated deep into the interiors of Bengal spreading the swadeshi message.
This was instigated by the use of traditional and popular festivals to reach the people. Festivals such as Ganapati and Shivajifestivals were employed in Maharashtra by Tilak to draw the masses to the movement and educate them about it. This concept of nationalism and right of self-determination was initiated by French Revolution. The text available studied by these educated class gave rise of nationalism among masses.
This offshoot of modernization initiated by the British in India was filtered down from intelligentsia to the masses. Thus, the middle- class intelligentsia played a great role in mobilizing the masses and struggle for Indian National Movement.
5.2 English and Vernacular Languages The introduction of English was accompanied by a growing neglect of the vernacular languages. The emphasis on the so-called vernaculars thus got transformed into an elimination of the languages of the people.
Vol. 06, Issue 01,January 2021 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL) 58 S.C. Shukla (1998) said that the
reason for this side-effect of the introduction of English in the education system. He said that there is a total apathy of the elite regarding the education of masses, and notes that the middle classes had gone. They even opposed the attempt for taxation on land which aimed at opening schools for poor children at the end of the twenties.
By this time, he vernaculars as school medium have constantly decreased in the period because of the promotion of English – and to a lesser degree of Sanskrit, Jha (1998). The schools, mainly in towns were seen by dominant class as a single purpose of promoting their own members by educating them in English so that they may get a job in the administrative services.
Bhokta (1998), attributes that an Indian teaching English earning far more than an Indian teaching a vernacular language – and far less than a British, which led to marginalization of folk languages. Gandhi and the Congress Party started debating about a pan-Indian language during the first decades of the 20th century, the situation was burdened by the colonial contradictions in the field of language policy.
In the 20th century, English, which remains the language of the elite, is no longer perceived as the vehicle of modernity and of the social project but rather as the only real pan-Indian language. It also explains, the trans-local notion of an abstract nation: a nation abstracted from its concrete components, whether religious, regional or linguistic, which could not be fitted into a common project, as convincingly argued by Khilnani for the Nehruvian idea of India (1997).
Gandhi ledthe nationalist movement by directly reaching the masses, on the line of the symbols he manipulated, both moral and concrete (like the charkha). The concept was more associated with religiosity than marked with a specific religion, and on the other hand by the use of popular language. The nationalist ideology and the nationalist discourse were born in the Anglophone intelligentsia.
As far as language is concerned, the end of the colonial period was then dominated, by this schism between masses and elite (Di Bona (1998), a
schism which still exists in India, although in a different way since it got reframed into the modern dialectic nation/local.
Di Bona (1998), said that, not to know English means being relegated in the provincial margins of intellectual life, describing that the road for success today is English. Thegovernment school teaching in regional languages was left to those who cannot afford English medium private schools.
However, Gandhi, pictured English as alienation: “The pillory began with the fourth year”. “I know now that what I took four years to learn of Arithmetic, Algebra, Chemistry and Astronomy, I should have learnt easily in one year, if I had not to learn them through English but Gujarati.
This English medium created an impassable barrier between me and the members of my family, who had not gone through English schools”.
A well-known chemist, Ray, tried to oppose in 1932 education in a foreign language, saying that to extinguish all creativity and originality: “Imagine for a moment what would happen if the English lads were compelled, to learn Persian or Chinese, and then had to read through the medium of such a tongue”.
6. CONCLUSION
In India, the leaders in modern era, also supported English language and claimed it to be the main key towards success.
The British laws the language of instruction at university level was in English, because of this schools that emphasized English were preferred by ambitious Indians. English have remained the main language of India even after India‟s independence English was officially given a status of an assistant language, which was supposed to terminate officially after 15 years of independence of India, but it still remains the important language of India.
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Vol. 06, Issue 01,January 2021 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL) 59 4. Kachru, Braj B, (1986b), English education
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