British colonial education policies in the Bengal Presidency (1813-1857

This doctoral dissertation examines the educational policies enacted by the British Colonial Administration in Bengal during the period between 1813 and 1857, exploring their underlying motives, implementation strategies, and socio-cultural implications. The study argues that colonial education served as a pivotal instrument of social engineering, designed not only to sustain British hegemony but also to transform indigenous identities and societal structures. The selection of Bengal as the focus of this research is justified by its strategic and administrative significance as the epicenter of British governance in India, as well as its role as a key site for the implementation of colonial educational experiments.The fundamental policies based on documents such as the 1813 Charter Act and the 1854 Wood's Education Despatch are analyzed in relation to school practices and educational curricula, demonstrating the structured expansion of the British education system and how this system was aligned with colonial objectives. The study also scrutinizes the influence of missionary interventions, the imposition of Western epistemologies, and the widespread introduction of English as the medium of instruction, which collectively undermined indigenous cultural and linguistic systems. Employing a qualitative methodology grounded in archival research, the dissertation draws upon a diverse array of primary sources, including official colonial reports, correspondence, and commission documents, to uncover how educational policies reinforced colonial power dynamics. Furthermore, it highlights the ambivalent outcomes of these policies, which, while creating a Western-educated elite class loyal to the colonial administration, simultaneously sowed the seeds of anti-colonial consciousness and modern nationalist movements. Ultimately, this study contends that colonial educational policies left an indelible mark on the socio-cultural fabric of South Asia, with their enduring legacies visible in contemporary societal structures and identity formations. By providing a nuanced understanding of the intersections between education, culture, and colonialism, this dissertation contributes to the broader historiographical discourse on the transformative impacts of colonial governance.