Untiltherenewal of the Charter of 1813, the East India Company blocked the entry of missionaries Into India.With a clear vision the Evangelicals now had access to Indiaandcould begin spreading the Gospel to the idolatrous, heathen Indians. The Church Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society joined the Baptist Missionary SocietyInthe Initial missionary efforts of translations of the Scripturesandtheestablishmentof schools. Their efforts built on the prior legendary work of the Rev.
William Careyandthe Baptist Missionary SocietyatSerampore. Vigorous effortsInevangelizing and bazaar preaching brought only modest results,butenoughto be seenasthreatening to the Hindu culture and thus a contributingcause of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Following the Mutiny the missionary focus rested on the use ofeducationaland medical missionsasvehicles for conversion.
At the turn of the twentieth century thefulfillment theory reigned for a time with the vision of Christianityasthe next step, or as thefulfillment of Hinduism. Following the 1914-19 War, the established churchseparated from Its British roots to become the Church of India and slowly Its hierarchy became Indlanlzed. In the end Christianity held Its greatest appeal among India's Untouchables.
1519. Father ThomasStevens, or Stephens, (c.1549·1619) arrived at Goa as the first British Missionary to India.
160I. Asapractice Initiated fromthetime of the first voyage, prayers were said every morning and evening In every ship. The Companyentrusted to the Pursuer acopy of The BibleandtheBook of Common Prayer.
1609. With theamalgamationof the two rival East India Companies Into the United Company of Merchants ofEngIand trading with the East Indies, the subsequent charter provided for a minister for every garrison, specifiedaplace of worship to beconstructed, and that allclergygoingto India reqUired the approvalof the Archbishop of Canterbury or theBishop of London.
1614. Rev. Edward Terry (1590·1660), a Company chaplain,served from 1617-19 with SirThomas Roe(c.1590-1644). Roewas the
British Ambassador to the Mughal Court at Ahmedabad.
1614. A captain of an East Indiaman returned to England with a young Indian man. The Company had himeducated and saw that he was religious Instruction. WiththeLord Mayor of London and the Company Directors present, he received baptismandwas the name of Peter by King JamesI.
1647. Rev. William Isaacson arrived In Madras where he servedasthe first Companychaplain until 1657. He handled the question of the baptism of children of mixed marriages In some instances byconditionalre-baptism.
1657. Withtheimplementation of Cromwell's renewedcharterfor the East India Company, the Court of Directors refused to make appointments of new clergyassignedto India for the nextfiveyears. The Company opposed the selection of fanatical non-conformistsand
tried with little success to seek orthodox clergymen licensed by the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge.
1662. The Company at Bombay promulgated apolicy of strict religious toleration. Itallowed for no compulsoryconversion,no interference with Indian religious practices, and that cow killing was forbidden in Hinduareas.
1675. The East India Company's Court of Directors noted that in theabsenceof English clergyatMadras that Roman Catholic priests had carried out weddings, burials, and baptisms. The Madras Council was sharply instructed to endsuchactivities. Additional concern emergedover children of Englishand Portuguese parents being brought upasRoman Catholics rather in the Protestant religion.
14-15 Dec. 1677. The East India Company convenedameeting of the AgentandCouncil of Bengal to examine James Harding and Samuel Hervey on chargesof atheism. FollOwingan examination of the evidenceand listening to personal testimony, both men were declared innocent.
1678. Rev. J. Evansarrived atHughliasthe first Companychaplainin Bengal.
28 Oct. 1680. Rev. Richard Portman, Company chaplain, consecrated St Mary's Church in Madras as the first Anglican Church In India. Streynsham Master (1640-1724) provided much of the encouragement and organization for this project.
1687. The East India Company charged a Portuguese RomanCatholicPriestatBombay with high treason for converting Nathaniel Thorpe to the Catholic Church. John Vaux, Judge of the Court of Judicature, jailed the priest and charged him under Acts of Parliament passed In the reigns of Elizabeth I andJamesI.
1694-95. Rev.Humphrey Prideaux, later the Dean of Norwich, prepared a plan for the establishmentof missionaries in Indiaand a program foranAnglican Churchestablishment.
His thoughts touched on the initiation of missions,establishment of aseminary, training in the Indian languages, and the future selectionofabishop.
History ofBritishIndia 145 1698. The Company's new Charter Includeda clause which prOVided for the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London toappoint chaplains to the portcitiesof India. Itfurther soughtthereligiOUS Instruction of the Hindus employed In theCompany'sservice.
1698. In England the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledgeandlater In 1702 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel In Foreign Parts began missionary efforts. Their Initial Involvement In India appeared as financial aid to Danish missionaries locatedatTranquebar.
1700. A small Roman Catholic church was buildat Calcutta.
June 1700. Rev. Benjamin Adams became the firstchaplainto take up ministerial dutiesat Calcutta.
5 June 1709. Rev.William Owen Anderson consecrated St Anne's Church, the first Anglican church constructedatCalcutta. Later In 1756 Itwasdestroyed during the capture of Calcutta by Slraj-ud-daula (1733-1757), Nawab of Bengal.
25 Dec. 1718. Under the leadership of Rev.
Richard Cobbe, Company chaplain, an Anglican church at Bombay was opened for worship.
1726. Rev. Benjamin Schultz (1689-1760),a Danish Lutheran Missionary, relocated to Madras to establishanEnglish mission. The Society for PromotingChristianKnowledge In London supported him withasalary of £60 per annum.
1728-1825. The SOCiety for Promoting Christian Knowledge provided support of several German missionaries Including Rev.
Schultz (1689-1760) at Madras and atTanjore Rev. Christian Frederick Schwartz (1726-1789) and Rev JohnCasparKohlhoff.
In 1825 the Society for Propagation of the Gospel assumed control of the Society for PromotingChristianKnowledge missions in South India.
1746. Until this timetheEast India Company had possessed reasonable relationships with the RomanCatholics residing atMadrasand elsewhere in south India. At the French captureof Madras in 1746, the localCatholics
146 History of British India
had demonstrated a treachery, however, which dampened relations. In 1749 when the Company returned to power in Madras, the Catholics were expelled.
1750-89. Rev. Christian Frederick Schwartz (1726-1789) served the Danish mission in south India. From1762the English East India Company also employed him as a chaplain. He began churches in Trichinopoly, Tanjore and Palamcotta. As needed he accompanied the Company's European troops in the field.
1786. The arrival at Calcutta ofRev. David Brown (1763-1812) as Company chaplain initiated a new phase of Christianity in India.
Itmarked the beginning of a great missionary effort to them Indians which was to lay the foundations of the Indian Church.
1787-93. Charles Grant (1746-1823), a director andlaterchairman of the East India Company, took a position ofincreasingsupport for the introduction of ChristianityintoIndia.
In 1787 he published a paper entitled A Proposal for Establishing a Protestant Mission in Bengal and Bihar. In 1792 he wroteObservations on the State of Society among the Asiatic Subjects of Great Britain.
Here, he promoted Christianity as the resolution to the evils and oppressions oflslam and Hinduism.
24 June 1787. Rev. William Johnson andRev.
Thomas Blanshard, Company chaplains, consecrated St. John's Church at Calcutta. It replaced St. Anne's which had been destroyed by Siraj-ud-daulain1756.
1789. Rev.Abraham Thomas Clarke became the first Englishman appointed as a missionary to India. A graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Curate of Wigtoft, the Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge appointed him to serve in Calcutta. This action flew in the face of formal Company policy banning missionaries which was not
until the Charter of 1813. It demonstrated, however, the flexibility and difference in view of local Company offiCials.
1790s-1820. With the gathering of the Clapham Sect under theleadershipof William Wilberforce andCharles GrantinLondonand a second evangelical movement under Rev.
Charles Simeon (1759-1836), Vicar of Holy
Trinityat the University of Cambridge, sent numerous evangelical missionaries to India. In 1786 Rev. David Brown (1763-1812) was posted to Calcutta. In 1795 Rev. Claudius Buchanan(1766-1815) was assigned Bengal.
In 1805Rev. HenryMartyn(1781-1812) took a Company chaplainship in Bengal. Also a Simeon follower, Rev. Daniel Corrie (1777-1837) went to Agra in 1813 where he effected the beginning of the Anglican Church in northern India. At Madras Simeon's recruits includedRev. MarmadukeThompson (1796-1851) and Rev. Charles Church (d.1822) who in 1820 founded the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society. These chaplains combined the ministry to the English population with missionary endeavors to theIndians.
2 Oct. 1792.AtKettering,England the Baptist Missionary Society came into existence under the auspices ofRev. William Carey (1761-1834), Rev. Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) and Rev. John Ryland (1753-1825). Rev. Carey volunteered to serve as the SOCiety's first missionary to be assigned toIndia. He arrived in Calcutta on November 14, 1793.
1793. When negotiations of the renewal of the East India Company's charter were under way, William Wilberforce attempted to insert a clause allowing missionaries, who had been excluded up to this time, the right to enter India. He failed as the measure was struck down in the Commons during its third reading.
It was notfor another twenty years until the
"pious clause" appeared in the Company's charter that missionaries would formally be allowed intoIndia..
1798. The London Missionary Society sent its first missionary, Rev. Nathaniel Forsyth (d.1816) to India. Due to the Company's hostility toward missionaries, he settled in the Dutch settlement of Chinsura, up the Hughli from Calcutta.
12 Apr. 1799. The laity of the Church of England and a group of Evangelical clergy founded the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East.
1800-40. The London Missionary SOCiety established the Gosport Missionary Seminary.
Itserved as a center of missionary training and scriptural teaching for new missionaries of whom the majority went to India. In 1825 the
Church Missionary Society InitiatedItsschool atIslington. Later the Bristol Baptist College and in 1840 the Bedford Missionary Training College began to prepare missionaries for placementIn India.
9 Jan. 1800. Under the auspices of theBaptist Missionary SOCiety, Rev. William Carey establishedatSerampore. aDanishsettlement north ofCalcutta. He was joined here byRev.
Joshua Marshman (1768·1837) and Rev.
William Ward(1769·1823). TheDanish locale offeredan Important haven In theface of the East India Company's opposition to the presence of Christian missions to the Indians.
1804. The British and Foreign Bible Society took up the challenge of distributing the Scriptures as widely as possible and In as many languages as possible throughout the world to IncludeIndia.
1805. Rev. Claudius Buchanan(1766·1815) published his Importantstatement.Memoir of the expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for India.... In part from Its consideration of this work, the ParlJament prOVided for the appOintment of a bishop to India.
1806. The Indian mutinyatVellore provoked a greater religious tension between the CompanyandtheEvangelicals. TheCompany tried and failed to block entry to two new Baptist missionaries, to terminate public preaching among the Indians. and to halt translations of the Scriptures. A bitterly critical tract againstIslam publJshed by the Serampore Press threatened the transfer of the press to Company control In Calcutta. In England the presence of missionaries In India also receivedcriticalattacks and subsequently called for strongsupport from Rev.Andrew Fuller (1754·1815) and Lord Teignmouth (1751·1834) as they addressed the "poor"
character of Hinduism and the consequent need for missionaries.
1807. The Serampore Press published the Persian Pamphlet, "An Address to Mussulmands...." which possessed a disturbing andabusive attackon Islam. Thecontroversy passedtoLondon where Itstirredupvarious religious Interest groups and the Board of Control. Initially the Government of India restricted the Press to printing and distributing
History of British India147 Bibles In Bengali and to have all other publJcations submitted for review.By August 16,1808Lord Minto(1751·1814), Governor·
General ofindla,hadreleased the missionaries frommost restraints prior to his receipt of the Boardof Control's rebuke forhis censorship measures.
1807. At CalcuttaDavid Brown(1763·1812), Rev.Claudius Buchanan(1766·1815), Rev.
Henry Martyn(1781·1812), and Rev. George Udny formedaCorrespondence Committee for the Church MiSSionary SOCiety. The Committee supported the translation ofthe Scriptures and sponsored an Indian reader, Abdul Maslh. who became the first Church Missionary Society agent In India at a time when the Company precluded English missionaries.
1808. Rev. Carey completed a Sanskrit translation of theNew Testament. Thiswas followed by similar translations In Orlya, Hindi. and Marathl In 1813, Punjablln 1815.
Assamese In 1819, and Gujaratlln 1820.
1811. Rev. Claudius Buchanan(1766·1815) published hisChristian ResearchesinAsia.
A recording of his observations made duringan 1807 tour of south India and Ceylon. It stimulated considerable Interest In the local conditions of the Syrian Christians and the Jews.
22 July 1813. The Crown gave Its assentto Ihe East India Act which prOVided for the admission of Christian missionaries Into India.
It alsoestablished abishop for India and three archdeacons to be posted to Calcutta. Madras and Bombay. In consequence of thisactthe first representatives of theChurchMiSSionary SOCietyarrivedat Calcutta In 1815.
Nov. 1815. Rt. Rev. Thomas Fanshaw Middleton(1769·1822) arrived InIndia asthe first Bishop of Calcutta. Otherpositionsalso created by the CharterActof1813.Rev. Henry Lloydwas appointed Archdeacon of Calcutta.
Rev. George Barnes of Bombay,andRev. John Mousley of Madras.
1816. Missionaries In the Calcutta region gathered from this time onward In what became the Monthly Missionary Prayer Meeting. It was composed of all available Protestant missionaries. Roman Catholics
148 History of British India
were excluded. By 1831 this gathering had become known as the Calcutta Missionary Conference.
1817. The Church Missionary Society began to publish itsMissionary Papers. Initially they included many articles attacking the East India Company's position of supporting various great Hindu festivals through the collection of the pilgrim tax, the practice of Indians on hooks and the sacrifice of Indian widows by suttee.
1817. The Government of Madras passed into law Regulation VII which gave to the Madras Board of Revenue the responsibility and control of theIndianreligious and sacred institutions in the Presidency. This included the administration of monies, land, temple structures, and supporting infrastructure.
During the negotiations over the 1833 Charter renewal, pressure was exerted to disestablish the Company from this involvement. In 1843 Company's withdrawal finally transpired, 27 Sept. 1817, In England Letters Patent were issuedplacing Ceylon within the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Calcutta.
1818. The Baptist Missionary Society founded the Serampore College for the purpose of training Indians for the Christian missions, 1818. Rev. John Clark Marshman (1794-1877) began publication of the monthly periodical,Dig-Darshan,orThe Signpost,in English and Bengali. Its contents included botheducational andreligious content.
1818. Bishop Middleton launchedplans for the establishment of Bishop's College at Sibpur. near Calcutta, Its purpose embraced the teaching of Indian Christians in the doctrines of the Church of England and forthe grooming of preachers, catechists and schoolmasters. The work of construction began on December 15, 1820 and in 1824 the school initiated its first classes,
1819. In South India,exceptforTranquebar, the Danish Mission passedto the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge responsibility for eleven congregationsand chapels andabout 1,300 Christians,
1819. The passage of the Charter Act of 1813
liftedtheCompany's restriction on the entry of missionaries intoIndia. In consequence the LondonMissionary Society began to workat Calcuttain1819 and at Benares in1820.
1819. A Company chaplain ofthe Bengal Army converted Prabhu Din Naick to Christianity. A subsequent Army investigation found that the Indian had done no wrong, but refused to return him to duty, He was retired on full pay, Alaterreview of the case byBishop Middleton and then byBishop Reginald Heber (1783-1826)alsoacqUittedNaick of all blame, 1820s. Due to the growing number of British Catholics, a center of Roman Catholicism developed at Sardhana, near Meerut. Over time the community possessed a church. a seminary. an orphanage, a convent, a college, aprinting press, and ahospital.
1820-28. Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833), a great Hindu scholar, and the Baptist missionaries at Seramporeentereda dialogue on Christianity and a reformed Hindu faith, The statementsregardingthe debate appeared in a variety of newspapers, journals and books in Bengal.
1820, By this pOint in time,theSerampore Baptists possessed thirteen printing pressesin their facilities, In the 1820s the Church Missionary Society, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and London Missionary Society had also established presses throughout India for the printing ofBibles, tracts andeducationalpublications.
May 1821. The British and Foreign School Society sent Mary Anne Cooke (c.1795-c.1861) to Calcutta where she taught young ladies under the auspices of the Calcutta School Society. In 1824 the Ladies SOCiety for Native Female Education absorbed Ms, Cooke's efforts. Her mission followed the path of providing education in the Scriptures but avoided explicit attempts at conversion. In 1826-28 The wife ofIndia'sGovernor-General sponsored the construction of the Female Central School for Ms. Cooke,
1823. The Scottish Missionary Society began its work in the Bombay Presidency.
11 Oct, 1823. Bishop Reginald Heber (783-1826) arrivedatCalcutta as the successor to
Bishop Middleton. Through the Impact of his ability and personality. he encouraged the early years of Blshop's College. Improved relationships with the Church Missionary Society. and conductedextensivetours ofIndla.
In his tenureBishop Heber ordained the first two Indiansinto the Anglican ministry.
1824. In London the Church Missionary Societyestablished the Islington Institutefor thetrainingof Its missionaries. Itscourseof training produced men holding strong evangelicalopinionsand values.
1824. InSouthIndia theconflictof the Indian caste system and Christianity elicited the attention ofBishop Heber. Heapproachedthe conflict bysurveyingthe opinions of twenty·
four missionaries from the Church Missionary Society. London Missionary SOCiety. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. the Royal Danish Mission. and two representatives of the Wesleyan Mission.The overwhelming response indicated thatChristianity simply could not surviveIn amtlleu of thecaste system.
Dec. 1825. Bishop Heber ordained the first Indian preacher. Abdul Masih.whowas placed aLucknow.
1828-31. In this period the Calcutta episcopate sufferedfrom theshorttenures due to bad health of Bishop John Thomas James (l786-1828)In office only from 19January to 22 August 1828 and similarly Bishop John Matthias Turner(1786-1831)from December 1829to1831.
1828. The London Missionary Society established the Benares and Chunar Tract Association in conjunctionwith aid from the Religious Tract Society of London. The Society had concluded that Its strongest Impact in Benares.amajor seat of Hinduism.would be through the printed word.
1828. Rev. John Wtlson (1804-1875)of the
1828. Rev. John Wtlson (1804-1875)of the