Calcutta Madrasa 1781
Topic: Europeans in India and the Rise of Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Calcutta Madrasa was a college of Islamic learning. Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal, founded it in Calcutta in 1781. It taught Arabic, Persian and Islamic law. It was one of the first times the East India Company paid for Indian ("oriental") learning. The Company had a practical reason: it needed Indians trained in Persian and Muslim law to help run its courts and revenue offices. Persian was still the language of the courts at that time.
Example
The Calcutta Madrasa (later called the Madrasa Aliya) trained maulvis (Muslim scholars of law). These scholars advised British judges on Islamic law in the Company's courts in Bengal during the late 18th century.
Don't confuse with
- Sanskrit College, Benaras (1791): Jonathan Duncan founded it to study Hindu law and Sanskrit learning. The Calcutta Madrasa focused on Islamic law and Persian–Arabic learning.
- Fort William College (1800): it was set up in Calcutta to train young British officials in Indian languages. It was not meant for educating Indians.
Related concepts
- Orientalists
- Sanskrit College Benaras 1791
- Charter Act 1813
- Hindu College 1817
- Orientalist-Anglicist controversy
- Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education
- William Bentinck
- Downward filtration theory
- Wood's Despatch 1854