British Language Policy in 19th century India and the Oriya Language Movement

Abstract

This article discusses the Oriya Language Movement, which was active between 1868 and 1870 in the Indian state of Orissa in the context of the colonial controversy over language policy between Orientalists, who claimed that vernacular languages were best for this purpose,and Anglicists, who favoured English. In the Orissa division, there were only seven Oriya schoolteachers; Bengalis formed the majority of teachers,even in remote areas. Consequently, Bengali books were prescribed textbooks for Oriya children. Emulating the Anglicists, the Bengalis made an effort to institutionalise Bengali medium education. After the Na'anka Famine in 1866, a resistance movement arose. It demanded that jobs be reserved for natives and that Oriya children read books in Oriya and not Bengali. It succeeded in dislodging Bengali from controlling schools in 1870. This victory of the native Oriya over the neo-colonising Bengali can be interpreted as a victory for Orientalism, with its tenet of vernacular education.