A dialogue between colonial and post-colonial Bengal: An exceptional mother and daughter in search of science

• Main Author: Datta, Chandrakala
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DS Asia
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/14448/1/13.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/14448/; http://www.iaha2014.uum.edu.my/

In India the colonial years were one of immense political,cultural and economic subordination of India by the colonizers. There was a deliberate attempt by the government to exclude Indians from higher education in science be it the core sciences, technical or medical education. The second half of the nineteenth century was marked by one of intensifying imperial control, particularly in the wake of the Great Mutiny of 1857, through the geographical surveys, a large number of scientific institutes such as the Botanical Survey of India which complemented the Geological Survey of India,the Zoological Survey of India, the Imperial Museum,the Indian Medical Service, the army among a host of others.and a spate of building activities. As in the metropolis, ‘literary rather than scientific knowledge was imparted at the University of Calcutta, for example, which was patterned on the London model. Natural philosophy and geology were the science subjects introduced in government colleges such as the Presidency college but the non-governmental colleges where the majority of students received instruction were unable to offer science courses.