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Thomas Twining, the famous tea merchant writes to EIC on the dangers of missionary activity in India & why they should be stopped.
For close to 200 years EIC tried & managed to keep missionary activity at the minimum before being forced to allow it by British govt. Brief thread
For close to 200 years EIC tried & managed to keep missionary activity at the minimum before being forced to allow it by British govt. Brief thread
EIC's main purpose was trade & profit plus most of its army was made up local sepoys. Company officials realized that playing with religious sentiments would lead to revolt. Thus they tried to block missionary activity in India & many of its officials said so publicly.
Charles Stuart was an army officer in EIC during early 1800s. He took a liking to & immersed himself in Hinduism for which he was called Hindoo Stuart. In 1808 he wrote a book 'Vindication of the Hindoo' in which he opposed allowing Xian proselytization.
Even Warren Hastings said the same though he was a horrible guy on all other counts whose actions(deliberate or not) brought untold miseries on Bengal.
Blocked by the EIC, missionaries had no other option but to lobby the British public and Parliament.
A massive propoganda was carried out in Britain to show Hindus as uncivilized. This is where the gora focus on Sati begins, in it they found the perfect stick to beat us with...
A massive propoganda was carried out in Britain to show Hindus as uncivilized. This is where the gora focus on Sati begins, in it they found the perfect stick to beat us with...
...Sati numbers were vastly exaggerated & it was portrayed as if every household in India was doing so.
908 petitions with half a million signatured were presented before the British Parliament in 1813 to force the government's hand.
The effort was led by William Wilberforce...
908 petitions with half a million signatured were presented before the British Parliament in 1813 to force the government's hand.
The effort was led by William Wilberforce...
...one of the most influential Evangelicals of his time. He was the one who led the movement for abolition of slave trade. He would go on to say that, "the mission of civilizing India is more dear to me than the abolition of slavery". Such was the zeal
Finally the British govt agreed to their demans in 1813 & the Royal Charter of 1813 allowed missionaries to freely operate in India & ended EIC's monopoly of trade with India. This charter would the beginning of the end for EIC.
The administration was unofficially taken over by the British govt & many laws were passed to help conversions. For ex Dalhousie passed the Lex Loci Act in 1850 which allowed converts to Xianity to claim propery of their Hindu parents.
