"Education, Empire and the Heterogeneity of Investigative Modalities": A Reassessment of Colonial Surveys on Indigenous Indian Education

Autor/in	Kakkar, Ankur
Titel	"Education, Empire and the Heterogeneity of Investigative Modalities": A Reassessment of Colonial Surveys on Indigenous Indian Education
Quelle	In: Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, 53 (2017) 4, S.381-393 (13 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0030-9230
DOI	10.1080/00309230.2016.1270338
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Surveys; Indians; Foreign Policy; Case Studies; Indigenous Populations; Educational History; Politics of Education; Government (Administrative Body); Ethical Instruction; Religious Education; United Kingdom (Great Britain) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Survey; Umfrage; Befragung; Inder; Außenpolitik; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Sinti und Roma; History of education; Bildungsgeschichte; Educational policy; Bildungspolitik; Government; Regierung; Ethics instruction; Teaching of ethics; Ethikunterricht; Kirchliche Erziehung; Religionserziehung; Religionspädagogik
Abstract	As the British expanded their dominions in India, political and administrative needs made it imperative for them to acquire more information about their subjects. Hence, systematic and meticulous surveys began to be commissioned by the East India Company as it assumed charge of educating the natives. These surveys were an integral part of what Bernard Cohn has called the "documentation project" whose ultimate object was to control and subjugate the colonial subjects. Therefore, a key purpose of instituting educational surveys was to dismiss indigenous education and justify its supersession by colonial education. In the process, much of the information acquired by the colonial state was simplified and digested into a monolithic narrative. This article shows that regardless of the imperatives that influenced it, the colonial survey sometimes revealed fascinating details about the nature of indigenous institutions that were often overlooked by the British Governors General. As a case study, this article examines a set of enquiries instituted by the governments of Madras, Bombay, and Bengal in 1822, 1824, and 1835 respectively. By re-examining the reports submitted by district collectors in response to these government enquiries, this article seeks to challenge colonial notions about indigenous education. One of the principal aims of this article is to refute the charge that indigenous schools did not impart any moral or useful instruction. In doing so, the article also aims to highlight the instruction that was imparted in indigenous schools. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01