Nationalism, Education and Migrant Identities

The England-returned

Sumita Mukherjee

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780415502047
• eBook ISBN: 9781135271121
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book examines the role western-education and social standing played in the development of Indian nationalism in the early twentieth century. It highlights the influences that education abroad had on a significant proportion of the Indian population. A large number of Indian students - including key figures such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru - took up prominent positions in government service, industry or political movements after having spent their student years in Britain before the Second World War. Having reaped the benefits of the British educational system, they spearheaded movements in India that sought to gain independence from British rule. The author analyses the long-term impact of this short-term migration on Britain, South Asia and Empire and deals with issues of migrant identities and the ways in which travel shaped ideas about the 'Self' and 'Home'. Through this study of the England-Returned, attention is drawn to contemporary concerns about the politicisation of foreign students and the antecedents of the growing South Asian student population in the USA and Europe today, as well as of Britain's growing South Asian diaspora.

1
Indian students in the UK (1900–1947)

Before 1907

From 1835, the British officially endorsed the use of English education in India. However, only a minority of the Indian population were willing and able to make use of provisions for English education. In 1844, Lord Hardinge’s administration announced that all those educated in English would be preferred in office appointments. Given the new importance placed upon English training, English education began to flourish in India through both government and private schools. The emphasis placed upon English education to further career opportunities and as a means to power under the British encouraged Indians to value British educationists and institutions highly. Yet despite these policies, the number of educated Indians was very small, especially in proportion to the whole population; the 1881 Census found that only one out of every 3600 people belonged to the ‘native intelligentsia’.¹

The first Indian universities were founded in 1858 in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, modelled on the federal college system of London University. The Indians who studied in the universities did not tend to come from the aristocracy or upper classes; they generally came from the middle classes, from small landholding and professional and merchant backgrounds. Indians from the middle classes could not only afford higher education but had the ambition and desire to work in the professional and service sectors that required such qualifications. There were, however, limited job opportunities for educated Indians, as the top levels of government service and the educational service were closed off to ‘natives’. The creation of modern universities opened up a greater choice of educational qualifications and allowed Indians to have higher aspirations. Those Indians who were able to attend the new universities now had greater opportunities to further their studies abroad.

A handful of Indians had come for some type of study and training in Britain from the beginning of the nineteenth century.² Nevertheless, it was the introduction of Open Competitive Exams for the Indian Civil Service (ICS) in London, and the foundation of universities in India in 1858 that really opened the doors for Indians to travel to Britain for higher studies. Paradoxically, the foundation of Indian universities actually encouraged more Indians to study in British universities. Indians were now qualified to gain admission at British universities and also were given greater incentive to journey to the UK in order to further their careers. The introduction of BA degrees gave Indians formally recognized qualifications that made it easier for them to apply to British universities. As the new Indian universities had limited resources in terms of libraries and laboratory space students became more aware of the limitations of the education system in India; there were minimal opportunities for postgraduate research in India and less traditional subjects such as commerce were not offered until the twentieth century. Until Indian universities were reformed and modernized, students looked to Britain.

The ICS was a highly prestigious career choice, known informally as the ‘heaven-born service’. If Indians could gain a post in the ICS they could wield some power over the community and work with the British to have a hand in the control of their country. In the nineteenth century, Indians were able to work in the provincial services under the command of British officers, who had been selected during the time of the East India Company through Haileybury College. As the British Crown formally took over control of India in 1858, the ICS was reformed and superior officers were now selected through an open examination held yearly in London.³ The exams were now also open to Indian candidates, as the Government wished to give the impression of some equality and opportunity for Indians. However, the syllabus of the exams was based upon the British educational system, and the Government did not expect any Indians either to compete or be successful in the competition.

Officials were surprised when Satyendranath Tagore became the first Indian to successfully pass through the open ICS exams in 1864.⁴ In response, the Government changed some of the qualification criteria, reducing the marks available for Indian Classical Languages and decreasing the maximum age, to prevent further Indians from joining the Superior Service. The age restrictions issue came to a head in 1869 when Surendranath Banerjea was not allowed to take up his place in the ICS as he was older than the maximum limit of 21. Banerjea was actually aged 21 at the time, there had been some confusion about his legal age, and was eventually allowed into the ICS only to be dismissed a few years later for a clerical error. In 1878, the Government reduced the maximum age limit for ICS candidates to nineteen years. Banerjea joined forces with Ananda Mohun Bose, a Cambridge Wrangler, to set up the Indian Association of Calcutta, which campaigned to increase the age limits, bringing the issue to the forefront of national politics. Despite these controversies, roughly three Indians passed through the competitive exams each year. In 1892, the age limit was raised to 23 and successful ICS candidates had to follow up their exams with a one-year probationary course in either Oxbridge or London. Other students followed the example of Banerjea and Bose by getting involved in political agitation when they returned to India. The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 and its founding members included W. C. Bonnerjee, Pherozeshah Mehta and Badruddin Tyabji, who had all studied in Britain. The Government became increasingly aware of the link between higher education and growing unrest in the country, but was unable to stop the tide.

The Government of India had considered introducing scholarships for Indians to study in Britain in 1867 after the success of Satyendranath Tagore. The Secretary of State, the Duke of Argylle, was opposed to these plans so scholarships were not introduced until the 1880s. Two scholarships were awarded annually on a rotation from the Indian Universities; Madras and Allahabad in one year, Punjab and Patna in the next, and Calcutta and Bombay in the third. Scholars were given £200 a year for expenses and fees, although Oxbridge scholars were awarded £250 a year to account for the extra costs incurred there. In 1904, the Government introduced scholarships for Indians to study technical subjects such as mining, engineering or textiles training. These amounted to £150 a year, as the course fees were paid directly by the India Office, and the Government only allowed for thirty holders at any one time. The introduction of scholarships now eased the passage for Indians to study in Britain. The technical scholarships also marked an important sea-change. Now Indians were being encouraged to take up less traditional subjects of which they had no experience in India, to join lesser-known universities and training centres in Britain, and to take up careers in industry upon return to India.

As the number of Indians coming to study in Britain increased towards the end of the nineteenth century, the India Office did wonder whether they should devise a policy to control these students. In 1902, Government officials considered building a hostel in London to closely supervise Indian students. Sir Curzon Wyllie, an advisor to the India Office (and who was later to be murdered by an Indian student in 1909), estimated that there were nearly 200 Indian law students in London under no supervision. Indians at the Bar were particularly numerous, and as they did not have much regular contact with lecturers the Government was concerned that these students were liable to be led astray. The Steward of Gray’s Inn wrote to the Government to tell them of cases of gambling, drinking and visiting brothels by Indian students, thus encouraging the India Office to seriously consider managing a hostel to control Indian students. Ultimately the hostel was not built due to fears that this would lead to suspicion and distrust of the Government by Indians, which could exacerbate tensions. The Government also feared that a hostel with only Indian lodgers would encourage insularity which would create further problems rather than alleviating them.⁵

Before 1907, there were no official reports or figures collated about the presence of Indian students in the United Kingdom. A useful source for this period is the National Indian Association (NIA). This association was set up in Bristol by Mary Carpenter and Keshub Chunder Sen in 1870, with a branch in London that took over control after Carpenter’s death in 1877. Initially interested in the welfare and education of Indians in India, it also became concerned about the welfare of Indian students in Britain as their numbers grew. From 1871, the NIA produced a monthly journal, which often included articles about or from Indian students. The NIA estimated that there had been over 700 Indian students who had come to Britain in the twenty years before 1885. In that year, 1885, they knew of over 100 Indian students in Britain, thus demonstrating that numbers were on the increase. Out of the students they knew then, 53 were preparing for the legal profession, 38 were studying medicine and 23 were studying science or agricultural subjects. The Bar was the most popular qualification for Indians who came to Britain. They had to apply to one of the four Inns of Court in London and keep term by attending Bar dinners. Once they were called to the Bar and returned to India, they were given higher pay and prestige than Indian-trained lawyers, known as vakils. Famous Indians who were called to the Bar in this period before the twentieth century include Michael Madhusudhan Dutt, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Figures from the NIA Journal in 1885 reveal the provinces from which the Indian students came.⁶ Bengal and Bombay, with 58 and 54 students respectively, had larger numbers of students going to Britain as they contained successful universities from which the students would have qualified beforehand. However, Madras also had a university and yet there were only 4 students from the South of India. The NW Provinces sent 19, Punjab sent 12 and there were 9 students from the Native States. The predominance of students from Bengal, besides Bombay, for the first wave of Indian students fits in with the perception of the domination of educated Bengali ‘Babus’. It did appear that Bengalis were predominate among Indian ICS members in its early stages and were the most anglicized. The status accorded to education and professional careers among Bengalis encouraged more people from that province to travel and compete in Britain. Within five years though, the numbers had changed. In 1890, there were now 207 known Indians studying in Britain, including 10 women. Punjabis were now increasingly travelling to Britain for their studies (31 students), after the Punjab University was established in 1882, whilst Bombay (63 students) had overtaken Bengal (53 students) as the province sending the most youths to Britain for higher studies.⁷

By 1900, Britain had 336 Indian men and 31 Indian women as students. More than half were Hindu, nearly 100 were Muslim and nearly 50 Parsi students. The Parsi contingent was extremely large in proportion to their share of the Indian population, but as most lived near Bombay and the University, they were especially attracted to higher education. The majority of Parsi students came from well-off liberal families who encouraged their children to pursue education abroad and take up prestigious careers in the law or medicine in particular.⁸ More than half of the Indian students were studying law, over 30 studying medicine and nearly 40 were preparing for the ICS exams.⁹ One clear conclusion from these select figures collected by the National Indian Association is that Indians were coming from all over India, from the largest urbanized provinces to the smaller Princely states in order to take up the opportunities available to them in Britain and to receive qualifications that would enable them to progress and develop as a society and nation.

1907 until the First World War

In 1907, the British Government decided to commission a Report into the Position of Indian Students in the UK. Chaired by Sir William Lee-Warner, the Committee consulted British university heads as well as a number of Indian students. The Report placed attention on the political nature and radical tendencies of Indian students in Britain which led to Government fears that they would be perceived as criticizing the Indian student community. The Government was especially concerned not to antagonize the educated classes in India and hence the report was not made public. The Lee-Warner Report was later published as an appendix to a subsequent report into Indian Students in 1922, known as the Lytton Report. The Lee-Warner Report had made a number of recommendations that were heeded even though the report itself was not published. The most significant was the creation of a Bureau of Information in London for Indian students, providing them with advice about all aspects of their stay. This Bureau was linked up with Provincial Advisory Committees in India which could liaise to advise Indians before they travelled about necessary procedures, applications and precautions about travel and study in Britain. These Provincial Advisory Committees liaised with principals of colleges and headmasters of schools in their district in order to spread information throughout India about education abroad.¹⁰ The Bureau of Information in London was subsequently transformed into the Indian Students’ Department in 1913. This Office was part of the Education Department of the India Office, but was then transferred to the Office of the High Commissioner in London in 1920 after which annual reports were published about the work of the department and the numbers of students in Britain.¹¹

The Lee-Warner Committee estimated that there were 700 Indian students in the UK at the time of their Report. Out of these 700 students, over half (380) were found in London, 150 at Edinburgh, 85 at Cambridge, 32 at Oxford.¹² London had the largest number of students for a number of reasons. First, it was the capital city and the natural port of call for most visitors; many students were attracted to the metropolitan character of London and the many opportunities available. For those Indians who wished to be called to the Bar, London was the only place to gain admission to an Inn, and London was the place where the Open ICS exams were held, although students could study elsewhere and then commute into the capital for the exam. There were many associations that helped Indian students in London, the NIA has already been mentioned but there was also the Northbrook Society (originally a sub-society of the NIA) that was run by British people interested in the welfare of Indians. The Bureau of Information for Indian Students and the India Office were also located in London and so even if Indians did not study in institutions in London, nearly all would visit the city at some point during their stay in the United Kingdom. Of the 150 Indians in Edinburgh recorded in the Lee-Warner Report, 80 were studying medicine.¹³ The Edinburgh Indian Association was a large organization for Indians in the city and also supplied their membership figures to the Government committee. Of their 84 members, 74 were medical students. They came from a range of provinces and with a range of religious backgrounds: Indians were spreading themselves out and that they did not merely stick to universities where other Indians of the same regional backgrounds went to.¹⁴

The majority of Indian students in the UK were Hindu. A number did come from the smaller religious communities of Parsis, Sikhs and Christians but the most significant comparison is the very small proportion of Muslim Indian students. This is the more interesting as Muslims had no cultural or religious restrictions or objections to travelling abroad, whereas within the Hindu community there were many deep-set objections to crossing the seas; some Hindus believed that they would lose their caste if they either went abroad or ate with those who had been abroad unless a caste purification ceremony was observed upon return. Despite these reservations, it was mainly Hindus who did study abroad. The caste objections gradually diminished as the first pioneers returned from Britain and as the benefits of studying abr...

Table of contents

• Routledge Studies in South Asian History
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Preface and acknowledgements
• Abbreviations used in references
• Introduction
• 1 Indian students in the UK (1900–1947)
• 2 Images of Britain, India and the England-returned
• 3 The social interactions of the England-returned
• 4 The political identities of the England-returned
• 5 The careers and long-term impact of the England-returned
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index