NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 7

In 1783, a person named William Jones arrived in Calcutta. He had an appointment as a junior judge at the Supreme Court that the Company had set up. In addition to being an expert in law, Jones was a linguist. He had studied Greek and Latin at Oxford, knew French and English, had picked up Arabic from a friend, and had also learnt Persian. At Calcutta, he began spending many hours a day with pandits who taught him the subtleties of Sanskrit language, grammar and poetry.
Soon he was studying ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine and the other sciences.

Englishmen like Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed were busy discovering the ancient Indian heritage, mastering Indian languages and translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English. Together with them, Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal and started a journal called Asiatick Researches.

James Mill was a severe critic of the Orientalists. True

William Jones had a deep respect for ancient cultures, both Indian and Western. He thought it important to discover the sacred texts in order to understand India. He was of the view that a new study of these texts could form the basis of future development in India. He felt that this would not only help the British learn from the Indian culture but would also help Indians rediscover their own heritage.

They thought that education should be useful and practical. They felt that Indians should be made familiar with the advances being made by the West. They thought that the Indians were uncivilized and needed to be civilized. This could be done only through English education.

Mahatma Gandhi gave more emphasis on skill development rather than an ability to read and write. He felt that a person should learn the necessary skills so that he could earn a livelihood. Hence, he wanted children to be taught handicrafts.

Mahatma Gandhi thought the English education developed a sense of inferiority among Indians. Many English educated Indians began to ape the Western ways of life; after getting educated in English. They also began to see the Indians with scorn. He believed that English education had enslaved the Indians.