Civilizing the Native, Educating the Nation Class 8 Revision Notes CBSE History Chapter 6

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Last Updated on March 23, 2024 by XAM CONTENT

Here you will find revision notes for CBSE Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 6 Civilizing the Native, Educating the Nation. It is a part of Revision Notes for CBSE Class 8 Social Science Series.

Civilizing the Native, Educating the Nation Class 8 Revision Notes CBSE History Chapter 6 (PDF Download)

Notes

  • The British wanted to “civilise the natives”and change their customs and values.
  • In 1783, a person named William Jones arrived in Calcutta who happened to be a linguist.
  • Jones started studying ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine and the other sciences.
  • Together with Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed, Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and started a journal called Asiatick Researches.
  • They shared a deep respect for ancient cultures and went about discovering ancient texts, understanding their meaning, translating them, and making their findings known to others.
  • Influenced by such ideas, many Company officials argued that the British ought to promote Indian rather than Western learning.
  • 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.
  • From the early nineteenth century, many British officials began to criticise the Orientalist vision of learning and criticised the knowledge of the East as full of errors and unscientific.
  • James Mill who was one of the first to attack the Orientalists, argued that the aim of education ought to be to teach what was useful and practical.
  • Macaulay urged that the British Government in India stop wasting public Money promoting Oriental learning, for it was of no practical use. He also emphasised the need to teach English language.
  • 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.
  • In 1854, Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the Company, issued the Wood’s Despatch which outlined the educational policy that was to be followed in India.
  • It proposed that European learning would improve the moral character of Indians.
  • Following the 1854 Despatch, several measures were introduced by the British.
  • In the 1830s, William Adam, a Scottish missionary, toured the districts of Bengal and Bihar and noted the flexible working system of pathshalas.
  • After 1854, the Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education.
  • Mahatma Gandhi argued that colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians.
  • Mahatma Gandhi strongly felt that Indian languages ought to be the medium of teaching.
  • Tagore was of the view that creative learning could be encouraged only within a natural environment. With this view, Tagore founded Shantiniketan 100 kilometres away from Calcutta, in a rural setting.
  • 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.

Important Keywords

  • Diffusion (noun): The state of being spread out. Origin: Latin diffundere.
  • Emphatically (adj.): marked with emphasis. Origin: Greek emphatikos.
  • Remunerative (adj.): related to money to be paid for a service. Origin: unknown.
  • Literacy: The ability to read and write.
  • Despising (verb): to dislike something very much. Origin: Middle English, from Anglo French despise.
  • Abode (noun): place of stay. Origin: Middle English abade.

Important Dates

  • 1783 : A person named William Jones arrived in Calcutta.
  • 1781 : A madrasa was set up in Calcutta
  • 1791 : The Hindu College was established in Benaras
  • 1854 : The Court of Directors of the East India Company in London sent an educational despatch to the Governor-General in India. It was called the Wood’s Despatch.
  • 1901 : Tagore started Shantiniketan.

We hope the given revision notes for Civilizing the Native, Educating the Nation Class 8 helps you in your learning.

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CBSE Class 8 Social Science Revision Notes for all chapters

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