Question

Mention the popular ‘watchwords’ during the French revolution which influenced Indians due to the introduction of western education in india?

Answer 1

Hint: British came in India not only for territorial conquest but also for cultural conquest. Through western education, they wanted to civilise the Indians as they considered India as an uncivilised country. After getting education many Indian leaders fought for their rights which further helped them to do many reforms.

Complete Step by Step answer: From the early nineteenth century, British officials started criticizing the Indian education system, by calling Eastern Knowledge as full of errors and unscientific thought. One of the biggest critics of the time was Thomas Babington Macaulay, who saw Indian education system with no respect as he quoted “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia”.
From the English education act, teaching was based on the textbook and learning, with an annual mode of examination. They mainly focused on science, literature and arts. Many leaders felt that Western education would help modernise India. Raja Rammohun Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Swami Dayanand Saraswati and others supported it as they argued that it will help Indians to stand for their rights of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity were the rights which earlier claimed by people of France in the French revolution against the absolute monarchy. The ideas of this revolution not only spread in Europe but all over the world and India was one of them which got influenced by the French revolution and popular watchwords like mentioned, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity became the tool for uniting against the British to get Independence.

Note: British introduced western education not to help Indians but to make them puppet for themselves who could help them in administrative work but it helped Indians to understand the western ideologies.