Christian Missionary Activities in British India

• Generally, a missionary movement presupposes a group of people who take it as their religious duty to spread their religion to other parts of the World. It is to  make others conform to the same belief that a missionary movement is organised.
• The British Government had three roles in India, first that of a trader, second that of ruler and then that of a Christian propagandist.
• British rulers held and professed Christianity. Consequently British rule was equated with Christian domination.

Early years of British Rule: Upto 1813

• In the early years of British rule, the East India Company took a position of neutrality regarding the religious and social affairs of its subjects.

• The Company decided not to interfere with traditional cultures by supporting missionary work.

• The Company’s policy was non-interference in Indian education, while favoring traditional oriental learning.

• The policy of non-interference was likely based on fear that missionaries, through English education, might aid conversions and create unrest among Hindu subjects.

• The Company feared that missionaries would stir religious sentiments that could affect its business policy and diplomatic role.

• This policy of non-interference was reviewed after the Company Charter in 1813.

• During the 1770s and 1780s, Englishmen like Edmund Burke argued that the East India Company’s power could not be justified unless it was exercised with morality and subject to Parliament’s control.

• Charles Grant, a junior officer in the East India Company, drafted a proposal for missionary work in 1786-87 and campaigned for it at his own expense.

• Grant sought official endorsement from the East India Company for missionary work but did not request money or manpower.

• Despite being given a hearing by Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General, Grant could not receive active support for his proposal.

• Grant approached Christian leaders in England to gain support, arguing in 1792 that the ignorance of Indian people was caused by religious ideas, which could be changed through the dissemination of Christian light.

• Grant believed this was the noble mission of British rule in India and that Christianity could bring material prosperity without provoking dissent.

• His advocacy for English education was ignored before the Charter Act of 1793 due to fears of political unrest.

• Grant was concerned about the misrule of Company officials and believed that British superiority could be established through the moral and ethical values of the West, particularly its Christian heritage.

• Grant saw Christian instruction as the best way to prevent rebellion, as it would rescue natives from polytheistic Hinduism and integrate them into the colonial project.

• William Wilberforce, a Christian politician, helped publicize Grant’s ideas before the passage of the Charter Act of 1813, which allowed Christian missionaries to enter India without restrictions.

• The only Christian figure in England with the influence to bypass the East India Company and affect government policy was John Wesley.

• Wilberforce, after studying Grant’s work, moved the famous Resolution on Missions in 1793, which sought to empower the East India Company to send schoolmasters and other approved persons for the moral and religious improvement of Indians.

• The missionary clauses were accepted by the Committee but later rejected in the third reading of the Bill, with the Court of Proprietors passing a resolution against the Missionary Clause.

• The Company and certain influential people in England feared that missionary activities could lead to an awakening among Indians and harm the Company’s interests.

• This led to agitation against the East India Company, accusing it of neglecting the teaching of Christ and failing to provide education for Indians.

• Despite the ban, missionaries continued to use various methods to enter India and work towards the dissemination of Western education, which they believed would lead to proselytization.

• Protestant missionaries began working from the Danish station in Madras in the early 18th century, and by the end of the century, the Srirampur Danish settlement near Calcutta became a refuge for Baptist missionaries like William Carey, Ward, and Joshua Marshman.

• These missionaries ran a printery, translated the Bible into local languages, and established schools for both boys and girls.

• The Company tolerated missionary activities unless they directly offended the religious sensibilities of the local population, but such activities were small in number before 1813.