Scientific and Technical Education in India (1781-1900) An Old and Rare Book

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Scientific and Technical Education in India: 1781-1900 The book is a history of the development of scientific and technical education in India during the nineteenth century. The success of the educational experiment has been due largely to the country's long tradition in the promotion of learning and the early realization of the importance of modern science and technology. The first two chapters on education in Ancient and Medieval India and scientific and technical education in Europe before and during the nineteenth century provide the necessary backdrop for the understanding of this development. The system of education developed during 1781 to 1834 was based both on oriental learning and European science, leading inevitably to the controversy between the Orientalists and the Anglicists and the reforms of Macaulay and Bentinck. Besides the growth of various institutions in this period and of sci-ence teaching in them medical education, in particular, received special attention as it focussed attention on this controversy and, more importantly, because the medical science, owing to its multidisciplinary character, played the most significant role in laying the foundation of scientific education in the country. The next two decades between the foundation of the medical colleges and the three universities saw the consolidation of European science and learning as the cornerstone of education.

The engineering and technical education had a slow and halting career. Engineering and technical institutions started appearing from around the middle of the century. The subject however came into limelight during the last decades of the century in the face of growing unemployment and realization of the futility of purely literary education. Recurrent famines and staggering loss of life and live-stock had to take place before the Government woke up to the need for education in scientific agriculture towards the end of the century. Yet at the beginning of the century William Carey demonstrated un-mistakably how scientific agriculture was in a position to revolutionize agricutural yield. A reasonably good infrastructure for scientific and technical education was established in the course of the century. Universities were founded to nourishe net-work of schools and colleges for general education and professional institutions in medicine and surgery, engineering and technology, agriculture and forestry. Some of these institutions attained international standard. The century also witnessed a band of dedicated teachers, European and Indian, who spent the best years of their lives in initiating the students in modern science and technology. The study has presented the development of courses in various branches of science and professional subjects, the growth of facilities in scientific equipments, laboratories and museums, students' response and performance and the beginnings of interest among women students in scientific and technical education.

Prof. Sen has carried out an extensive survey of all available source materials in English and several Indian languages to collect data and new information and critically analyzed them for presentation in the volume. He has been able to weave an absorbing narrati with solid evidence of documentation, of conflicts of indigenous culture and tradition with the onset of European influences. The philosophical and cultural concepts of the European introduced in letters, minutes of the meetings, reports of committees and resolutions of Government are reflected in the statistics, curricula, text-books, experiments and courses, all summarized in the book.

Samarendra Nath Sen. Born in Calcutta (1918). M.Sc. in Pure Physics from the Calcutta University, University Gold medaIlist (1940). Lecturer in Physics, Scottish Church College (1941-47). Registrar, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (1947-78). Programme Specialist, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Paris, (1947-49).. Studied History of Science in Cambridge, U. K. under Prof. Joseph Needham F.R.S. (1962). Professor of History of Science at the Asiatic Society, Calcutta (1985-87). Author and editor of several books including: Vijnaner Itihas (A History of Science, 2 Vols, in Bengali) (1955-58); A Bibliography of Sanskrit Works on Astronomy and Mathematics, (1966); A Concise History of Science in India (one of the editors) (1971); The Sulba Sutras of Baudhayana, Apastamba, Katyayana and Manava (with A. K. Bag) (1983); Ancient Glass and India (with Mamata Chaudhury) (1985); A History of Astronomy in India (editor jointly with K. S. Shukla) (1985); The Cultural Heritage of India. Vol. VI Science and Technology (editor jointly with late Prof. P. Ray) (1986); Prof. C. V. Raman: Scientific Work at Calcutta (1988). Author of several articles on His-tory of Science, scientific organizations and science policies. Awarded the Rabindra Memorial Prize of the Government of West Bengal for 1955-56 and the Narsingdas Prize of the Delhi University for 1957 for the book Vijnaner Itihas.

My interest in the history of scientific and technical education in India was roused way back in the forties when I was associated with the teaching of physics at the Scottish Church College, Calcutta. This college developed out of the General Assembly's Institution of the Church of Scotland. Its long line of able Principals from the time of Reverend Alexander Duff played an active part in the promotion of education in Calcutta and Bengal, leading to the accumulation in its library of previous Government reports and reviews on education. Through the courtesy of my colleague and Librarian, Mr Bimalendu Mazumdar, I had the privilege of browsing through these reports in my spare time whenever I liked and of developing an abiding interest in the subject which survived despite many pre-occupations. After the formation in the mid-sixties of the National Commission for the Compilation of History of Science in India, I revived my old interest in the subject and started exploring the source materials in a somewhat broad perspective in the National Library, the West Bengal State Archives, the Sanskrit College, and the National Archives, New Delhi mainly around the early history of medical education in Bengal. The enormity of the available materials made it abundantly clear that a reasonably adequate treatment of the subject would call for whole time concentrated effort spread out for a number of years. For me this was possible only after retirement from service with the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science. In 1980-81, a research project on the study of scientific and technical education in India in the modern period was formulated and submitted to the National Commission for the Compilation of History of Science in India (now Indian National Commission for History of Science) under the sponsorship of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Calcutta. The Commission approved of the project with necessary financial grants and the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture provided me with accommodation, library and other facilities for the smooth working of the project. I place on record my thanks to the National Commission for History of Science of the Indian National Science Academy for taking an interest in the project and sanctioning financial support for its realization. I am also deeply indebted to the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture and its Secretary Maharaj Swami Lokeswarananda for sponsoring the project and encouraging my endeavours during the progress of the work.

Apart from the libraries and archives mentioned, the search for source materials led me to work in a number of other libraries and archives of which special mention may be made of the Central Secretariat Library at the Sastry Bhawan, New Delhi, the Central Medical Library at Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, the Calcutta Medical College Library, the Maharastra Government Archives at Elphinstone Institution, Bombay, and the Carey Library of the Serampore College. I express my thanks to the Directors, Librarians, and Officers-in-Charge and or Principals of the National Library, Calcutta, the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, the National Archives, New Delhi, the West Bengal State Archives, Calcutta, the Maharastra Government Archives, Bombay, the Central Secretariat Library, New Delhi, the Central Medical Library, New Delhi, the Calcutta Medical College Library, and the Carey Library of the Serampore College for permitting me to use their libraries and archives.

I also express my thanks to the Editor of the Indian Journal of History of Science for serializing the book in the Journal. I specially appreciate the many valuable suggestions made by Dr A. K. Bag, Associate Editor and Dr (Mrs) M. Chatterjee, Assistant Editor during the progress of its publication in the journal and express my sincere thanks to them. Last but not the least, I place on record my grateful thanks to my wife Srimati Kanika Sen for her ungrudging help in reading the manuscript, going through the proofs from the galley to the page-proof stage and in the preparation of the index.

The Indian National Commission for the History of Science has been rendering extraordinarily valuable services in initiating and supporting programmes and research projects related to all aspects of history of Indian Science and Technology. Thanks to the valuable cooperation extended by numerous scholars as well as by research institutions and universities, the Commission has been able to arrange for the preparation and publication of monographs on specific themes such as Pre-historic Technology, Glass Technology, Astronomy, Ancient and Medieval Medicine, Metals and Minerals.

It has been a privilege for the Commission to be associated with the preparation of a treatise on History of Scientific and Technical Education in India in the Nineteenth Century by Professor S. N. Sen. He has carried out extensive surveys of all available source materials in English and several Indian languages to collect data and new information and critically analyse them for presentation in this volume. The bibliography, notes and references in each chapter are indicative of the width and depth of Professor Sen's meticulous search and careful compilation.

Professor Sen has presented an excellent picture of the Education in Ancient and Medieval India as well of Scientific and Technical Edu-cation in Europe before and during the Nineteenth Century in the first two chapters as informative backdrop to the placement of Science in General Education from the last two decades of the Eighteenth Century in India. The introduction of Western Science and its gradual adoption by Governments, privately supported colleges and learned societies, publication of text-books and adoption of scientific experiments as part of teaching have been recorded. With the arrival of European physicians, surgeons and engineers, education and training of Indians in a formal manner in medical and technical professions commenced even in the end of Eighteenth Century but became a major activity and influence in the Nineteenth Century before the formulation of the scheme of Macaulay in 1834 which led to the establishment of Universities in 1857.

The acceptance of proposal outlined by Macaulay by Governor General William Bentinck in 1834 led to the replacement of Indian language for technical and medical education by totally European system in English language medium in the pre-university period. Although the three universities came into existence in 1857 in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, it is only in the last two decades of Nineteenth Century, technical and agricultural education gained formal stature. General Science itself increasingly became part of general education in the newly established universities as well as in Schools.

Certain training schools in industry incorporated technical education in the earlier pre-university period and even beyond. The necessity of technical education in university level gained recognition in mid eighteen eighties and degrees were then granted. Government involvement in agriculture began only in eighteen sixties after the effect of drought and famine through the establishment of a department of agriculture which led shortly thereafter to special Colleges of Agriculture and Institutes for Forestry. Medical Education Degrees and Post-graduate Degrees were introduced by the three universities again towards the late Nineteenth Century.

Professor Sen has been able to weave an absorbing narrative, with solid evidence of documentation of the conflicts of indigenous culture and tradition with the onset of European influences, with strong support of the governing powers and the resultant replacement of local know-ledge, systems, technologies and traditions as well as the media of local languages and schools by European systems imparted through English medium. The philosophical and cultural concepts of the European introduced in letters, minutes of the meetings, reports of committees and resolutions of Government are reflected in the statistics, curricula, prescribed text-books, experiments and courses, all summarised by Professor Sen. His account retains objectivity with a wealth of details and without prejudice and bias.

This is therefore a truly scientific endeavour and the present publication will be a very rich source of information to all scholars interested in the history of education and to all those engaged in technical and science education as well as in formulation of policies and strategies of higher education in India.