· There’s
an old belief about Europeans that they came to Asian countries for three
Gs—‘Gold,’ ‘Glory,’ and ‘God’. When the Europeans established their factories
in India, Christian missionaries also slowly started penetrating into India. Of
all the Europeans, the Portuguese were the most active in spreading
Christianity. They also used ‘force’ because of which they became unpopular
among the people.
· The
English East India Company on the other hand, was more cautious and did not
encourage the missionary’s activities, at least initially. It was the declared policy
of the Company not to interfere with the religion of Indians. The Company was
more interested in trade and empire in India and did not want any disturbances
till their goal was achieved.
· Till
the eighteenth century, Christianity progressed mainly in South India, but at
the beginning of the nineteenth century missionary work expanded in North India
too, particularly in Bengal. The Charter Act of 1813 removed restrictions on
the entry and activities of the Christian missionaries in India, which provided
an opportunity for increased and intensive missionary activities throughout the
country.
· Among
various Christian missionaries, the role of the Serampore (Srirampur)
missionaries is the most commendable one. The missionary establishment was set
up at Serampur (a Danish settlement in Bengal) because the English East India
Company was hostile to the idea of spreading Christianity.
· Its
founder was William Carey, a cobbler from a small village in England who was
helped by William Ward and Joshua Marshaman. William Carey and his fellow
missionaries were the first to draw the attention of the Government of India
towards the social evils of Hindu society, like Sati, caste system,
untouchability, etc. They kept writing against malpractices like Sati in the
columns of a number of journals urging the Government and society to abolish
it.
· In
May 1829, they submitted two petitions to William Bentinck, urging him to
abolish the practice of Sati. Carey also urged the Government to pass
legislation against the practice of female infanticide. Both these inhuman
practices were finally banned in British India. They opposed polygamy and
kulinism (kulinism means having mistress, especially common among the Zamindars
of Bengal) too. The Serampore missionaries also worked for uplifting the
depressed classes and the womenfolk too.
· Many
Christian missionaries of Europe and America were preaching actively in India.
Of these, the London Missionary Society, the Baptist Missionary Society and the
Church Missionary Society were the most active missionary organisations. The
Baptist Missionary Society (Serampore Mission) left a deep impression on the
minds of the people. Apart from raising the people s voice against social
evils, missionaries also did a lot of humanitarian work, especially during
droughts and famines, flood or any such natural disasters.
· The
real motive behind this work was unfortunately, to spread Christianity and to
prove a point that only Christianity can uplift mankind, to prove that it is
the most superior religion on the surface of the earth. Interestingly, in
Europe, rationalists, scientists, free thinkers attacked Christianity stating
that many teachings of the Bible and the Church were unfounded and
unscientific. The missionaries wanted to neutralise these attacks and thus
focused more on humanitarian work to impress the vulnerable people.
· Another
interesting aspect of this movement was that, the parent organizations in
Europe that sponsored the missionaries in India provided funds for them to
spread Christianity through conversion and not for any humanitarian activity.
But the missionaries, who actually lived and worked in India at grassroot
level, realised the unique value of humanitarian work.
· To
encourage religious conversion, Lord Dalhousie’s Government passed Caste
Disabilities Removal Act, 1850, under which a person could inherit family
property even if he changed his religion. Development and growth of western
educational curricula was also an important contribution of Christian
missionaries. They believed that a western model of education would help in
spreading Christianity.
· While
the Serampore missionaries opened many schools in Bengal, American missionaries
were more active in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. Education of girls was
also given a lot of importance. Baptist Female School Society, run by Serampore
Missionaries, opened its schools at Dhaka, Chittagong (Chattagram) and
Calcutta. London Missionary Society set up a girls college at Chinsura in 1818.
The Female Juvenile Society was running about six girls’ schools in Calcutta.
Besides, The Church Missionary Society established girls’ schools in Bombay and
Madras Presidencies. The Presbyterian Church opened schools for girls at Dehradun,
Sialkot and Gujaranwala. The Methodists opened a girls’ school at Nainital
while The Lutheran Church established a girls’ school at Guntur in Madras
Presidency. These schools gave a big blow to the priestly class of Hindus and
Muslims opposing education of girls.
· The
Christian missionaries also helped in the development of local Indian languages
like Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. They translated Bible into these
languages and ensured that the message of Christianity spread without any
language barriers. Their activities inspired many an Indians to undertake
social reform in an organised manner. Their consistent attacks on Indian
religion and society roused the Indian people and made them aware of their
society’s weaknesses. The limited renaissance was made possible because of the
activities of the Christian Missionaries.