Case Study Based Questions: Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation | Social Studies (SST) Class 8 PDF Download

Case Study 1

In 1783, a person named William Jones arrived in Calcutta. He had an appointment as a junior judge at the Supreme Court that the Company had set up. In addition to being an expert in law, Jones was a linguist. He had studied Greek and Latin at Oxford, knew French and English, had picked up Arabic from a friend, and had also learnt Persian. At Calcutta, he began spending many hours a day with pandits who taught him the subtleties of Sanskrit language, grammar and poetry. Soon he was studying ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine and the other sciences. Jones discovered that his interests were shared by many British officials living in Calcutta at the time. Englishmen like Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed were also busy discovering the ancient Indian heritage, mastering Indian languages and translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English. Together with them, Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and started a journal called Asiatick Researches. Jones and Colebrooke came to represent a particular attitude towards India. They shared a deep respect for ancient cultures, both of India and the West. Indian civilisation, they felt, had attained its glory in the ancient past, but had subsequently declined. In order to understand India, it was necessary to discover the sacred and legal texts that were produced in the ancient period. For only those texts could reveal the real ideas and laws of the Hindus and Muslims, and only a new study of these texts could form the basis of future development in India. So Jones and Colebrooke went about discovering ancient texts, understanding their meaning, translating them, and making their findings known to others. This project, they believed, would not only help the British learn from Indian culture, but it would also help Indians rediscover their own heritage, and understand the lost glories of their past. In this process, the British would become the guardians of Indian culture as well as its masters. Influenced by such ideas, many Company officials argued that the British ought to promote Indian rather than Western learning. They felt that institutions should be set up to encourage the study of ancient Indian texts and teach Sanskrit and Persian literature and poetry. The officials also thought that Hindus and Muslims ought to be taught what they were already familiar with, and what they valued and treasured, not subjects that were alien to them. Only then, they believed, could the British hope to win a place in the hearts of the “natives”; only then could the alien rulers expect to be respected by their subjects. With this object in view, a madrasa was set up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law; and the Hindu College was established in Benaras in 1791 to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country. Not all officials shared these views. Many were very strong in their criticism of the Orientalists.

Question and Answer: 1 Mark

Q1: What is the meaning of ‘Linguist’?
Ans: The meaning of ‘Linguist’ is –someone who knows and studies several languages.

Q2: When did William Jones arrive in Calcutta?
Ans: In 1783,a person named William Jones arrived in Calcutta.

Q and Answer: 2 Mark

Q1: Who was Henry Thomas Colebrook?
Ans: He was a scholar of Sanskrit and ancient sacred writings of Hinduism.

Q2: When Hindu college was established? And what was the purpose of it?
Ans: The Hindu college was established in Benaras in 1791 to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country.

Case Study 2

From the early nineteenth century, many British officials began to criticise the Orientalist vision of learning. They said that knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thought; Eastern literature was non-serious and light-hearted. So they argued that it was wrong on the part of the British to spend so much effort in encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanskrit language and literature. James Mill was one of those who attacked the Orientalists. The British effort, he declared,should not be to teach what the natives wanted, or what they respected, in order to please them and “win a place in their heart”. The aim of education ought to be to teach what was useful and practical. So Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had made, rather than with the poetry and sacred literature of the Orient. By the 1830s, the attack on the Orientalists became sharper. One of the most outspoken and influential of such critics of the time was Thomas Babington Macaulay. He saw India as an uncivilised country that needed to be civilised. No branch of Eastern knowledge, according to him could be compared to what England had produced. Who could deny, declared Macaulay, that “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia”. He urged that the British government in India stop wasting public money in promoting Oriental learning, for it was of no practical use. With great energy and passion, Macaulay emphasised the need to teach the English language. He felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced; it would make them aware of the developments in Western science and philosophy. Teaching of English could thus be a way of civilising people, changing their tastes, values and culture. Following Macaulay’s minute, the English Education Act of 1835 was introduced. The decision was to make English the medium of instruction for higher education, and to stop the promotion of Oriental institutions like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College. These institutions were seen as “temples of darkness that were falling of themselves into decay”. English textbooks now began to be produced for schools.In the 1830s, William Adam, a Scottish missionary, toured the districts of Bengal and Bihar. He had been asked by the Company to report on the progress of education in vernacular schools. The report Adam produced is interesting. Adam found that there were over 1 lakh pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar. These were small institutions with no more than 20 students each. But the total number of children being taught in these pathshalas was considerable – over 20 lakh. These institutions were set up by wealthy people, or the local community. At times they were started by a teacher (guru).

Question and Answer: 1 Mark

Q1: What is the meaning of ‘Munsi’?
Ans: The meaning of ‘Munsi’ is – a person who can read write and teach Persian.

Q2: Who attacked the Orientalists?
Ans: James Mill attacked Orientalists.

Q and Answer: 2 Mark

Q1: In 1830s, who toured the districts of Bengal and Bihar? And what did he ask by the company?
Ans: in 1830s, William Adam, Scottish missionary, toured the districts of Bengal and Bihar. He had been asked by the Company to report on the progress of education in vernacular schools.

Q2: What did Adam find in Bengal and Bihar?
Ans: Adam found that there were over 1 lakh Pathsalas in Bengal and Bihar. These were small institutions with no more than 20 students each. These institutions were set up by wealthy people, or the local community.

Case Study 3

Up to the mid-nineteenth century, the Company was concerned primarily with higher education. So it allowed the local pathshalas to function without much interference. After 1854, the Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education. It felt that this could be done by introducing order within the system, imposing routines, establishing rules, ensuring regular inspections. How was this to be done? What measures did the Company undertake? It appointed a number of government pandits, each in charge of looking after four to five schools. The task of the pandit was to visit the pathshalas and try and improve the standard of teaching. Each guru was asked to submit periodic reports and take classes according to a regular timetable. Teaching was now to be based on textbooks and learning was to be tested through a system of annual examination. Students were asked to pay a regular fee, attend regular classes, sit on fixed seats, and obey the new rules of discipline. Pathshalas which accepted the new rules were supported through government grants. Those who were unwilling to work within the new system received no government support. Over time, gurus who wanted to retain their independence found it difficult to compete with the government aided and regulated pathshalas. The new rules and routines had another consequence. In the earlier system, children from poor peasant families had been able to go to pathshalas, since the timetable was flexible. The discipline of the new system demanded regular attendance, even during harvest time when children of poor families had to work in the fields. Inability to attend school came to be seen as indiscipline, as evidence of the lack of desire to learn. In a speech delivered on January 15, 1908 in Bombay, Aurobindo Ghose stated that the goal of national education was to awaken the spirit of nationality among the students. This required a contemplation of the heroic deeds of our ancestors. The education should be imparted in the vernacular so as to reach the largest number of people. Aurobindo Ghose emphasised that although the students should remain connected to their own roots, they should also take the fullest advantage of modern scientific discoveries and Western experiments in popular governments. Moreover, the students should also learn some useful crafts so that they could be able to find some moderately remunerative employment after leaving their schools.

Question and Answer: 1 Mark

Q1: What was the concern of the company up to the mid –nineteenth century?
Ans: Up to the mid-nineteenth century, the Company was concerned primarily with higher education.

Q2: After 1854, what did the company decide?
Ans: After 1854, the Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education.

Question and Answer: 2 Mark

Q1: What did Aurobindo Ghose state in Bombay on January 15, 1908?
Ans: In a speech delivered on January 15, 1908 in Bombay, Aurobindo Ghose stated that the goal of national education was to awaken the spirit of nationality among the students.

Q2: What was the task of the pandit?
Ans: The task of the pandit was to visit the pathshalas and try and improve the standard of teaching. Each guru was asked to submit periodic reports and take classes according to a regular timetable.

Case Study 4

In 1783, a person named William Jones arrived in Calcutta. He had an appointment as a junior judge at the Supreme Court that the Company had set up. In addition to being an expert in law, Jones was a linguist. He had studied Greek and Latin at Oxford, knew French and English, had picked up Arabic from a friend, and had also learnt Persian. At Calcutta, he began spending many hours a day with pandits who taught him the subtleties of Sanskrit language, grammar and poetry. Soon he was studying ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine and the other sciences. Jones discovered that his interests were shared by many British officials living in Calcutta at the time. Englishmen like Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed were also busy discovering the ancient Indian heritage, mastering Indian languages and translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English. Together with them, Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and started a journal called Asiatick Researches. Jones and Colebrooke came to represent a particular attitude towards India. They shared a deep respect for ancient cultures, both of India and the West. Indian civilisation, they felt, had attained its glory in the ancient past, but had subsequently declined. In order to understand India, it was necessary to discover the sacred and legal texts that were produced in the ancient period. For only those texts could reveal the real ideas and laws of the Hindus and Muslims, and only a new study of these texts could form the basis of future development in India. So Jones and Colebrooke went about discovering ancient texts, understanding their meaning, translating them, and making their findings known to others. This project, they believed, would not only help the British learn from Indian culture, but it would also help Indians rediscover their own heritage, and understand the lost glories of their past. In this process, the British would become the guardians of Indian culture as well as its masters.

Q1: What did William Jones and other British officials in Calcutta do to explore ancient Indian culture?
Ans: William Jones and British officials like Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed studied Sanskrit and Persian, translated ancient Indian texts, and founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal, promoting a deep respect for ancient Indian heritage.

Q2: What was the primary goal behind the activities of William Jones and his colleagues?
Ans: The main objective was to understand Indian civilization by discovering and studying sacred and legal texts from the ancient period, believing that it would lead to both British learning from Indian culture and Indians rediscovering their own heritage.

Q3: According to William Jones and Colebrooke, how had Indian civilization evolved over time?
Ans: They believed that Indian civilization had reached its peak in ancient times but subsequently declined. Their research aimed to uncover the lost glories of the past through studying ancient texts.

Q4: What did William Jones and his British colleagues hope to achieve by translating and sharing their findings?
Ans: They aimed to not only help the British gain insights from Indian culture but also assist Indians in rediscovering their heritage. They believed that studying ancient texts would lay the foundation for India’s future development.

Q5: How did William Jones view the role of the British in relation to Indian culture?
Ans: William Jones believed that the British should become both the guardians of Indian culture and its masters through their efforts in studying and preserving ancient Indian texts.

Q6: Which organization did William Jones and his colleagues establish to further their research on Indian culture?
Ans: They founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal and published a journal called Asiatick Researches to disseminate their research findings on Indian culture.

Case Study 5

From the early nineteenth century, many British officials began to criticise the Orientalist vision of learning. They said that knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thought; Eastern literature was non-serious and light-hearted. So they argued that it was wrong on the part of the British to spend so much effort in encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanskrit language and literature. James Mill was one of those who attacked the Orientalists. The British effort, he declared, should not be to teach what the natives wanted, or what they respected, in order to please them and “win a place in their heart”. The aim of education ought to be to teach what was useful and practical. So Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had made, rather than with the poetry and sacred literature of the Orient. By the 1830s, the attack on the Orientalists became sharper. One of the most outspoken and influential of such critics of the time was Thomas Babington Macaulay. He saw India as an uncivilised country that needed to be civilised. No branch of Eastern knowledge, according to him could be compared to what England had produced. Who could deny, declared Macaulay, that “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia”. He urged that the British government in India stop wasting public money in promoting Oriental learning, for it was of no practical use. With great energy and passion, Macaulay emphasised the need to teach the English language. He felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced; it would make them aware of the developments in Western science and philosophy. Teaching of English could thus be a way of civilising people, changing their tastes, values and culture. Following Macaulay’s minute, the English Education Act of 1835 was introduced. The decision was to make English the medium of instruction for higher education, and to stop the promotion of Oriental institutions like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College. These institutions were seen as “temples of darkness that were falling of themselves into decay”. English textbooks now began to be produced for schools.

Q1: What criticism did many British officials level against the Orientalist vision of learning in the early nineteenth century?
Ans: They argued that knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thought, and that the study of Arabic and Sanskrit literature was a waste of effort, advocating instead for teaching practical and useful subjects from the West.

Q2: Who was one of the prominent critics of the Orientalists, and what was his stance on Indian education?
Ans: James Mill was one such critic who believed that education in India should focus on teaching useful and practical knowledge from the West, rather than poetry and sacred literature of the Orient.

Q3: Who was Thomas Babington Macaulay, and what was his view of India and its education system?
Ans: Thomas Babington Macaulay was a vocal critic who saw India as an uncivilized country that needed to be civilized. He advocated for promoting the English language and considered Western literature far superior to the entire native literature of India and Arabia.

Q4: What impact did Macaulay’s ideas have on Indian education?
Ans: Following Macaulay’s suggestions, the English Education Act of 1835 was introduced, making English the medium of instruction for higher education and discontinuing support for Oriental institutions like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College.

Q5: Why did Macaulay emphasize teaching the English language to Indians?
Ans: Macaulay believed that knowledge of English would expose Indians to the finest literature and developments in Western science and philosophy, leading to cultural transformation and civilization of the Indian population.

Case Study 6

In 1854, the Court of Directors of the East India Company in London sent an educational despatch to the Governor-General in India. Issued by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the Company, it has come to be known as Wood’s Despatch. Outlining the educational policy that was to be followed in India, it emphasised once again the practical benefits of a system of European learning, as opposed to Oriental knowledge. One of the practical uses the Despatch pointed to was economic. European learning, it said, would enable Indians to recognise the advantages that flow from the expansion of trade and commerce, and make them see the importance of developing the resources of the country. Introducing them to European ways of life, would change their tastes and desires, and create a demand for British goods, for Indians would begin to appreciate and buy things that were produced in Europe. Wood’s Despatch also argued that European learning would improve the moral character of Indians. It would make them truthful and honest, and thus supply the Company with civil servants who could be trusted and depended upon. The literature of the East was not only full of grave errors, it could also not instill in people a sense of duty and a commitment to work, nor could it develop the skills required for administration. Following the 1854 Despatch, several measures were introduced by the British. Education departments of the government were set up to extend control over all matters regarding education. Steps were taken to establish a system of university education. In 1857, while the sepoys rose in revolt in Meerut and Delhi, universities were being established in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Attempts were also made to bring about changes within the system of school education.

Q1: What was Wood’s Despatch, and why is it significant in the context of Indian education?
Ans: Wood’s Despatch was an educational policy issued by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the East India Company in 1854. It emphasized the practical benefits of European learning over Oriental knowledge and influenced subsequent educational measures in India.

Q2: According to Wood’s Despatch, what were the economic advantages of promoting European learning in India?
Ans: Wood’s Despatch pointed out that European learning would enable Indians to recognize the benefits of trade and commerce, leading to a demand for British goods as they adopted European ways of life and tastes.

Q3: How did Wood’s Despatch argue that European learning could improve the moral character of Indians?
Ans: The Despatch claimed that European learning would make Indians more truthful and honest, thus producing civil servants who could be trusted and depended upon. It believed Oriental literature lacked in instilling a sense of duty and commitment to work.

Q4: What initiatives were undertaken by the British after Wood’s Despatch to reform Indian education?
Ans: The British established education departments to have better control over education matters. They also started setting up universities, such as those in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, despite the backdrop of the 1857 revolt.

Q5: How did the British try to bring changes to the system of school education in India following Wood’s Despatch?
Ans: The British made attempts to reform the system of school education in India, though the specific details of the changes are not mentioned in the provided text.

Case Study 7

Up to the mid-nineteenth century, the Company was concerned primarily with higher education. So it allowed the local pathshalas to function without much interference. After 1854, the Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education. It felt that this could be done by introducing order within the system, imposing routines, establishing rules, ensuring regular inspections. How was this to be done? What measures did the Company undertake? It appointed a number of government pandits, each in charge of looking after four to five schools. The task of the pandit was to visit the pathshalas and try and improve the standard of teaching. Each guru was asked to submit periodic reports and take classes according to a regular timetable. Teaching was now to be based on textbooks and learning was to be tested through a system of annual examination. Students were asked to pay a regular fee, attend regular classes, sit on fixed seats, and obey the new rules of discipline. Pathshalas which accepted the new rules were supported through government grants. Those who were unwilling to work within the new system received no government support. Over time, gurus who wanted to retain their independence found it difficult to compete with the government aided and regulated pathshalas. The new rules and routines had another consequence. In the earlier system, children from poor peasant families had been able to go to pathshalas, since the timetable was flexible. The discipline of the new system demanded regular attendance, even during harvest time when children of poor families had to work in the fields. Inability to attend school came to be seen as indiscipline, as evidence of the lack of desire to learn.

Q1: How did the Company aim to improve vernacular education after 1854, and what measures did it take?
Ans: The Company appointed government pandits to oversee multiple schools, enforce regular inspections, and establish routines and rules. Teaching was standardized using textbooks, and annual examinations were introduced to assess learning.

Q2: How did the government provide support to pathshalas that accepted the new rules?
Ans: Pathshalas adhering to the new regulations received government grants, which helped them financially. On the other hand, those unwilling to comply with the new system received no such support.

Q3: What impact did the new rules and routines have on independent gurus and their pathshalas?
Ans: Independent gurus found it challenging to compete with the government-aided and regulated pathshalas. Many of them had to give up their independence due to the benefits associated with government support.

Q4: How did the discipline imposed by the new system affect children from poor peasant families?
Ans: The rigid timetable and regular attendance demands made it difficult for children from poor peasant families to attend pathshalas. Previously, they could attend at their convenience, but the new system required them to be present even during harvest time when they had to work in the fields.

Q5: How was the inability to attend school viewed in the new system, especially for children from poor families?
Ans: Inability to attend school due to agricultural work was considered indiscipline and a lack of interest in learning, implying that these children were not committed to their education.

Case Study 8

Mahatma Gandhi argued that colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians. It made them see Western civilisation as superior, and destroyed the pride they had in their own culture. There was poison in this education, said Mahatma Gandhi, it was sinful, it enslaved Indians, it cast an evil spell on them. Charmed by the West, appreciating everything that came from the West, Indians educated in these institutions began admiring British rule. Mahatma Gandhi wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and self-respect. During the national movement, he urged students to leave educational institutions in order to show to the British that Indians were no longer willing to be enslaved. Mahatma Gandhi strongly felt that Indian languages ought to be the medium of teaching. Education in English crippled Indians, distanced them from their own social surroundings, and made them “strangers in their own lands”. Speaking a foreign tongue, despising local culture, the English educated did not know how to relate to the masses. Western education, Mahatma Gandhi said, focused on reading and writing rather than oral knowledge; it valued textbooks rather than lived experience and practical knowledge. He argued that education ought to develop a person’s mind and soul. Literacy – or simply learning to read and write – by itself did not count as education. People had to work with their hands, learn a craft, and know how different things operated. This would develop their mind and their capacity to understand.

Q1: What harmful effects did colonial education have on Indians, in Gandhi’s opinion?
Ans: According to Mahatma Gandhi, colonial education made Indians feel inferior, making them think of Western civilisation as superior and eroding their pride in their own culture. He believed that this schooling was destructive and enslaving.

Q2: How did Mahatma Gandhi view Indians educated in Western institutions?
Ans: Gandhi believed that Indians educated in such institutions admired British rule, charmed and appreciating everything from the West. He urged students to leave these institutions to show resistance against British oppression.

Q3: What was Mahatma Gandhi’s stance on the medium of teaching in Indian education?
Ans: Gandhi strongly advocated Indian languages as the medium of teaching. He believed that education in English distanced Indians from their culture and made them strangers in their own land, preventing them from relating to the masses.

Q4: How did Mahatma Gandhi define true education?
Ans: Gandhi emphasized that true education should develop a person’s mind and soul, not just focus on reading and writing. He believed in practical knowledge, including learning crafts and understanding how things operated.

Q5: Why did Mahatma Gandhi criticize Western education’s emphasis on literacy alone?
Ans: Gandhi argued that Western education’s focus on literacy neglected practical knowledge and experiential learning. He believed that true education involved working with one’s hands and developing a deeper capacity to understand the world.

Case Study 9

Rabindranath Tagore started the institution in 1901. As a child, Tagore hated going to school. He found it suffocating and oppressive. The school appeared like a prison, for he could never do what he felt like doing. So while other children listened to the teacher, Tagore’s mind would wander away. The experience of his schooldays in Calcutta shaped Tagore’s ideas of education. On growing up, he wanted to set up a school where the child was happy, where she could be free and creative, where she was able to explore her own thoughts and desires. Tagore felt that childhood ought to be a time of self-learning, outside the rigid and restricting discipline of the schooling system set up by the British. Teachers had to be imaginative, understand the child, and help the child develop her curiosity. According to Tagore, the existing schools killed the natural desire of the child to be creative, her sense of wonder. Tagore was of the view that creative learning could be encouraged only within a natural environment. So he chose to set up his school 100 kilometres away from Calcutta, in a rural setting. He saw it as an abode of peace (santiniketan), where living in harmony with nature, children could cultivate their natural creativity. In many senses, Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi thought about education in similar ways. There were, however, differences too. Gandhiji was highly critical of Western civilisation and its worship of machines and technology. Tagore wanted to combine elements of modern Western civilisation with what he saw as the best within Indian tradition. He emphasised the need to teach science and technology at Santiniketan, along with art, music and dance. Many individuals and thinkers were thus thinking about the way a national educational system could be fashioned. Some wanted changes within the system set up by the British, and felt that the system could be extended so as to include wider sections of people. Others urged that alternative systems be created so that people were educated into a culture that was truly national. Who was to define what was truly national? The debate about what this “national education” ought to be continued till after independence.

Q1: What were Rabindranath Tagore’s educational principles and what motivated him to create his own school?
Ans: A school where students might be joyful, liberated, and creative was what Tagore envisioned after having horrible school experiences in Calcutta. He thought that, instead of traditional British schooling, children should be a time of self-learning and curiosity.

Q2: Why did Rabindranath Tagore decide to build Santiniketan in a rural area?
Ans: Tagore established Santiniketan 100 kilometres outside of Calcutta in order to promote creative learning in a natural setting. Children could live in harmony with nature and develop their innate creativity in the rural environment.

Q3: How were Mahatma Gandhi’s and Tagore’s perspectives on education different?
Ans: While both intellectuals had similar perspectives on education, Tagore aimed to combine the best of Indian tradition with parts of contemporary Western culture. At Santiniketan, he put a focus on teaching subjects like science, technology, art, music, and dance.

Q4: What were the differing opinions among individuals and thinkers regarding a national educational system?
Ans: Some believed in extending the existing British system to include a broader population, while others advocated for alternative systems promoting a truly national culture. The definition of “national education” remained a subject of debate even after independence.

Q5: How did Tagore’s school, Santiniketan, seek to nurture children’s creativity and curiosity?
Ans: Tagore’s school focused on creating an imaginative and free environment for children. Teachers understood each child, encouraging their curiosity and allowing them to explore their thoughts and desires without suffocating discipline.