India, advocated by men like William Wilberforce; the other, its
westernisation, symbolised by men like T.B. Macaulay and
William Bentinck. As indicated earlier, both ideas were
encompassed in the Charter Act of 1813. Additionally, the
reports of Adam, although not formal official documents, were
nonetheless sanctioned and financed by the orders of the
Governor General himself. Naturally, therefore, while they may
imply many things—as do some of the reports of the Madras
Presidency collectors—they were nevertheless phrased in such a
way as not to lay the blame directly on past government policy
and action.
Varied and Valuable Sociological Data
The more important point which comes through Adam’s
voluminous writing, however, was his remarkable industry and
the detail and variety of data which he was able to collect: first,
from the post-1800 existing sources; and second, through his
own investigations. While the controversy about his 1,00,000
village schools in Bengal and Bihar is finally forgotten, the
material which he provided (regarding the caste composition of
the pupils taught as well as the teachers, their average ages at
various periods, and the books which were then in use in the
districts he surveyed) will still have great relevance.
Selections Reproduced
Some selections from Adam’s material are reproduced in the
present work (Annexure D). These include: (i) descriptions of
elementary education taken from the first and second reports; (ii)
description of higher learning, from the first report, (iii) a section
on Medical education taken from the second report, based on
investigations in Nattore, Rajshahy; and (iv), some tabulations of
the basic data for the five surveyed districts contained in the
third report. This latter tabulation is given under the following
heads:
a. Elementary Schools and caste-wise division of students
b. Elementary Schools and caste-wise division of teachers
c. Books used in Elementary Schools
d. Details of institutions of Sanskritic Learning
e. Books used in Sanskritic Studies
f. Details of institutions of Persian and Arabic Learning
g. Books used in Persian and Arabic Studies
h. Subject and districtwise duration of Study