History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s2.11

v7.c96.s2.11

The British Government's interest in Indian education (particularly higher education) was lukewarm. Three Universities (of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras) were first established in 1857 for the whole of India, but they were merely examining bodies. In the whole of the Bombay Presidency there was no Science Institute entirely maintained by Government till about 1920. An Indian could pass the M. A. examination in Philosophy without knowing anything about ancient Indian philosophy till only a few years ago. However, English education by Government and missionaries produced a result exactly opposite of what was expected by them. The missionaries miserably failed in securing the Indians (except a few among the lower castes and *ādivāsis*) for Christ and Government found that reading the classics of English literature and works of men like Burke, Spencer, Mill and others created among the educated emotions of nationalism and discontent with their own abject political status. Political agitation daily increased. Lokamanya Tilak was called 'the father of Indian unrest' by an English writer. He passed away in 1920. But his mantle fell on Mahatma Gandhi, who while agitating for political power and eventual freedom, adopted the technique of *satyāgraha*.