Transformation of the Culture of Kerala Society Through Colonial
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Aayvagam an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Volume No. 2 | Issue 3 | April 2014 24 Transformation of the Culture of Kerala Society through Colonial Education – A Special Reference to the Princely State of Cochin Dhanya B Nair, Assistant Professor, Department of History, N. S. S College, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Kerala Colonialism was the product of European culture and colonial modernisation involved not only the Indian economy but also in the social, political, administrative and cultural life. “A whole world was lost, an entire social fabric was dissolved, and a new social frame work came into being that was stagnant and decaying even as it was being born. India underwent a thorough going colonial ‘cultural revolution’.”1 The colonial Cultural Revolution influenced and changed the educational and social system of Kerala and there we can see a transformation of culture of Kerala society. The colonialists reformulated the inherited culture of Kerala to suit the colonial environment. They tried to make changes in the political, economical, social and cultural history of Kerala. These changes brought some basic changes in the life of the people of Kerala. Even though the British colonial rule hindered the economic development of our land but it deeply affected the educational system and the introduction of modern English education led to the changes in the structure of the social and cultural life of the people of Kerala. Thus colonialism acted as a boon for the natural development and progress of Kerala economically, but the educational system was modernized. “The economic forces generated during the British occupation and the new education system drastically changes the caste system. The economic changes eroded the traditional connection between caste and occupation. As a consequence caste became detached from its functional aspect. Modern education became a powerful instrument for fostering unity. It also liberated the low castes from traditionalism. The caste and communal organisations stimulated the self advancement programme of each community. Social taboos such as untouchability and unapproachability had been great obstacles to the progress of the low and depressed sections of the Hindu Society.”2 Before the colonial period, education was not commercialized. It had been restricted to the higher classes especially Namboothiris. Among the Nayars also there was a certain amount of rudimentary education depending upon the services of certain hereditary school masters known as Ezhuthasans. Each Kara3 had its own patasala or elementary school presided over by the Asan4. These schools were of the mixed type in which both boys and girls were taught reading, writing and arithmetic and a set of selected hymns, besides kavyas5 and a smattering of astronomy and astrology. There were held either in the houses of rich man or in sheds put by the people of the Kara6. With the coming of the westerners, new educational system also crept into the state. The English education had its genesis in Kerala in the early years of the 19th century. By 1829, the English East India Company had decided to make English the language of communication throughout the country7. The state entered in the field of education from the time of Col Munroe (1812 – 1818) at his instances, in the almost every village, a vernacular school was established with the avowed object of training young men state service as writers and accountants8. “Teach the native of India the marvellous results of the employment of labour and capital, rouse them to emulate as in the development of the vast resources of their country, guide them in their efforts and gradually but certainly, confer upon them all the advantages which accompany the healthy increase of wealth and commerce and more certain supply of many articles necessary for our manufactures and extensively consumed by all classes of our population as well as an almost inexhaustibly demand for the produce of the British labour.”9 Thus the British Government introduced English education to mould the society in their way. That was the beginning of the educational system of Kerala and education began to be institutionalised. The beginning of Western education in Kerala is an important milestone in the history of Kerala. It brought about far-reaching changes in social, economic, religious, political and cultural life of the people of the land. The pioneering works in this regard were done by the Christian Missionaries. They imparted scientific, 1 Bipan Chandra, Natinalism and Colonialism in Modern India, New Delhi, 1999, P.7 2 C. Ramachandran Nair, Social and Cultural History of Colonial Kerala, Trivandrum, 1999, P.133 3 Kara- The subdivision of a village. 4 Asan – Village school master 5 Kavyam – A poetical composition 6 A Sreedhara Menon, Kerala District Gazetters, Ernakulam, Trivandrum, 1965, P.709 7 Ibid P.710 8 A Sreedhara Menon, Op.Cit, P.710 9 Despatch of 1854 in J.A. Ritchie (ed) Bureau of Educaiton, Part II, P.364. Aayvagam an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Volume No. 2 | Issue 3 | April 2014 25 secular and rational education. It was mainly the Protestant Missionaries who took the initiative in this field.10 The chief missions were the London Mission Society in erstwhile south Travancore area, the Church Mission Society in the erstwhile central Travancore and Cochin areas and the Basel Evangelical Mission in the Malabar area. The most illustrious of the CMS Missionaries was Rev. Mead who spent more than a half a century in educational work in South Travancore. During the period from 1817 to 1875, he established several institutions including industrial schools for the education of the girls. Kottayam became the scene of pioneering activities of the CMS Missionaries in the early decades of the 19th century. The Syrian Missionaries set up in 1813. With the object of training Syrian Priests and it developed into a centre of general learning for the State. The CMS Missionaries set up a chain of grammar schools to prepare the more talented for higher educations at the college level. In 1821, a grammar school was set up at Kottayam. The wives of the CMS Missionaries took the initiative in setting up schools for girls at Kottayam and adjoining areas. The first attempt to introduce the study of English language in Cochin was made by Rev. J. Dawson. He opened an English School at Mattancherry in 1818 and it received a grant – in –aid from Cochin government. In 1837 Mr. Brandenburg started an English school in Trissur. In the Malabar area the Basel Evangelical Mission did pioneering work in the field of education. In 1848, the Mission started a primary school at Kallayi in Calicut, the nucleus of the Malabar Christian College today.11 The fine example set by the Christian Missionaries in different parts of the state gave the necessary incentive to the Government to enter the field of education. In 1817, Rani Gouri Parvathi Bai, with the assistance of Col. Munro, introduced a system of free and compulsory education under the state control. Malayalam Primary Schools were started in all parts of the State. It was in 1824 that the Court of Directors of the East India Company decided in favour of western education and sought its introduction into the country .By 1829 English East India Company had decided to make English the language of communication through out the country. Its reflections had in the Cochin state also.12 The present Ernakulam District in Kerala comprises of territories which once formed part of the native states of Cochin and Travancore as well as the district of Malabar, which was under the direct control of the Company Raj. 13 The history of Ernakulam town which was the capital of the former princely state of Cochin is closely linked with the rise and growth of the Cochin state itself. The fall of Kulasekhara Empire in the 12th century resulted in the fragmentation of the Central Authority in Kerala and a chain of independent kingdom emerged subsequently. The native state of Cochin also owes it origin to the confusion that followed the break- up of the Kulasekhara Empire. In the mid 15th century, a peculiar geological change took place in Cochin thereby the long stretches of sea-board that separated sea from the inland lagoons was broken by an onrush of the sea. Thus Cochin gradually called, Cochu Azhi, emerged in A.D 134114. There are reasons to believe that the very name Cochin is associated with Kocchazhi, a word commonly used to indicate that place15. According to Mr. Puthezathu Raman Menon the town of Balapuri mentioned in some of the ancient literary works and some later works is to be identified with Cochin16. If this identification is correct it would mean that Cochin might have existed even before 1341 as a small harbour side by side with the busy and splendid harbour of Cranganore. As cited earlier, Cochin emerged as an independent political unit with the eclipse of the Kulasekharas. In its early days, it was known as Perumpadappu Swarupam17. Till the 14th century, Cranganore or Mohodayapuram was the headquarters of the Perumpadappu Swarupam. A flood of A.D. 1341 changed the courses of the Periyar River, thus flooding the Cranganore Port, which also created a small harbour in Cochin. The natural closing of the Cranganocre harbour forced the rulers to shift their centre to Cochin. Subsequently, the Perumpadappu Swarupam was known as the Cochi18n state. The Zamorin or Calicut frequently threatened the same state. The internal dissensions in the Perumpadappu Swarupam helped the Zamorin in his aggressive 10 A.sreedhara Menon,op.cit.p.198 11 Ibid,p.64 12 Ibid,p.226 13 Ibid,p.79 14 C. Achutha Menon, The Cochin State Manual, Ernakulam, 1911, P.2 15 F.S Davies, Cochin – British and native, Ernakulam 1923 16 P.P Raman Menon, Sakthan Tampuran (Mal.), Kozhikode, 1958, PP.19-20 17 A Sreedhara Menon, A Survey of Kerala History, Madras, 1991, P.147 Aayvagam an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Volume No.