During the early nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began setting up schools in India for young boys. Local Hindu citizens were alarmed by the growing Christian influence and their monopolistic control of the education system. This prompted the wealthiest Hindu members of Calcutta to start their own school, independent of Christian ideology. They first approached Reverend Thomas Thomason, who directed them to Chief Justice Sir Edward Hyde East. Rammohan Roy, a controversial figure to Hindu citizens due to his radical beliefs, East, Buddinath Mookerjee, who acted as a go-between, and David Hare met to discuss the idea. A general body meeting was held in 1816, led by East and excluding Rammohan, to gather Hindu members of Calcutta to discuss and plan the formation of a Hindu run school with help from “respectable” Englishmen. Money was raised by the members of this meeting through subscriptions to fund the school. Afterwards, several more general body meetings were held with select committee members to draw up plans for the school. Finally, the Hindu College in Calcutta was founded in 1817 and opened on January 20. The school remained independent from the government for seven years before control eventually passed to them.
The Hindu College of Calcutta was the beginning of a new system of education independent of Christian missionary institutions. By the time of Haimabati Sen, women were allowed to receive limited education, particularly in the medical field. She attended the Campbell Medical School which would earn her the Vernacular Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery. The school was open to women of all classes, unlike the Calcutta Medical College which required a bachelor’s degree. This educational opportunity allowed Sen to carve an alternative role for herself as a financial provider for her family.
Citations:
Kochhar, Rajesh. “HINDOO COLLEGE CALCUTTA REVISITED: ITS PRE-HISTORY AND THE ROLE OF RAMMOHUN ROY.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 72, 2011, pp. 841–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44146776. Accessed 14 May 2024.
Sen, Indrani. “Resisting Patriarchy: Complexities and Conflicts in the Memoir of Haimabati Sen.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 47, no. 12, 2012, pp. 55–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23214502. Accessed 14 May 2024.