Why the East India Company opposed missionaries in India

Express Research

EXPRESS RESEARCH

Dear reader,   The presence of English Christian missionaries in India is almost certainly traced to the beginnings of the British Empire. Lesser known, however, is that the British East India Company (EIC) was in fact staunchly opposed to the entry of missionaries to the subcontinent. The foundation of the opposition was both religious and political, and rooted as much in the East India Company’s territories in India as in their home country.   Our story this week looks at why the EIC was opposed to Christian missionaries preaching their faith in India. The matter was in fact hotly debated through pamphlets, memoirs and petitions to the Parliament. It was only in 1813 that English missionaries were finally legally allowed to propagate Christianity in India and they also played their part in combating social evils like female infanticide and Sati.    In recent years countries such as Egypt, Palau, Burma, Nigeria and Belize have announced new capitals. In our other story this week, Mira Patel, digs into the role of the capital city in any country and what the reasons are behind shifting them as per political, environmental or other necessities.    This week we also observed the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, which is celebrated as the National Youth Day. Do look up this piece from our archives on how Vivekananda is to be credited for spreading knowledge about Yoga in the West.  Read the stories: Why the East India Company opposed Christian missionary activity in India   Why countries change their capital cities   How Swami Vivekananda helped popularise Yoga in the West Sincerely, Adrija Roychowdhury

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How Swami Vivekananda helped popularise Yoga in the West   Why the East India Company opposed Christian missionary activity in India   How Indo-China border dispute once split the Communist Party of India   Why countries change their capital cities

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