literacy in kerala

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Growth of Literacy in Kerala: State Intervention, Missionary Initiatives and Social MovementsAuthor(s): E. T. MathewSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 34, No. 39 (Sep. 25 - Oct. 1, 1999), pp. 2811-2820Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4408460

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G r o w t h o f Literacy in K e r a l aStateIntervention,MissionaryInitiativesandSocialMovements

E T MathewContrary to the widely-held view which gives 'enlightened' native princes much of the credit for thewidespread of literacy in Kerala, the educational transformation of that part of the country was triggeredmainly by Christian missionaries (19th century) and movements for the uplift of deprived communities (firsthalf of 20th century).

AMONG the low-income countries/regions f theworldKerala s widelycitedas a unique example of high socialdevelopmentoupledwith oweconomicdevelopment.t is well known hatKeralais faraheadof therestof India n respectof thekey ndicatorsf socialdevelopment,such as literacy,nfantmortality ndlifeexpectancy. n fact, its achievements nthis field compare avourablywiththoseof several evelopedountries.No wonderthatdevelopmentiteratures repletewithlaudatoryeferenceso Kerala'sachieve-ments[UnitedNations1975, Sen 1994,Dreze and Sen 1995].This paper discusses how the statereached ts presentpre-eminent ositionin respectof one of thekey indicators fsocialdevelopment, amely, iteracy. nparticulart highlightsherelative ontri-butionsof differentagencies/institutionsto makingKerala he most literatestatein thecountry. t argues hatcontraryothe commonly held view that it wasprimarilyhebenevolencef nativeprincesand heir rogressiveolicies hatriggerededucational evelopmentn thestate, heeffortsof Christianmissionariesduringthemajorpartof the 19thcenturyand ofthe social reformmovementsduring hefirsthalfof the presentcentury ook thelead n the educationalransformationfKerala.The role playedby the state and theinitiativeakenbyit is oftenexaggerated.Here is an example.The census com-missioner of Travancore (the majorconstituentf present-dayKerala) tatedin his reportor 1941 that the highlevelof literacy chievedby theprincely tatewas heresult f successive ulers' ersonalinterestn the educationaluplift of thepeople Censusof India1941,Vol XXV,Part ,p 155).Insupport f thisassertion,thereport eferredo the rescript edict)issuedbyRaniGouriParvatiBayi n 1817directinghat hestate Travancore)shalldefrayhe entirecost of the educationofits people n order hat theremaybe nobackwardnessn thespreadof enlighten-

ment amongthem,thatby diffusionofeducation they might become bettersubjectsandpublicservants, ndthat hereputation f the statemaybe advancedthereby". iscerningcholarshave,how-ever,pointedout that the creditfor thisproclamationhouldgo to ColonelJohnMunro,the British Resident(1810-19),whowas alsothe 'dewan'of Travancorefor a shortperiodand not to the raniwhowas henonly nherearlyeensandgrosslyignorantof statecraft Nair 1978:40].Since theprincely ulers f Travancorewerenmany espectsarmore nlightenedthan heircounterpartsn the restof Indiathey took keen interest n the educationof theirsubjects.Butfunctioning s theydid in a highlycaste-riddenociety, therulers, n spite of theirbest intentions,mostoftenprovedn effectual nensuringeducational pportunitiesormembers fall castes and communities.Throughoutthe 19thcentury heTravancoreovern-ment did practically othingto promoteeducation mongbackward nddepressedcommunities which ogether ccountedfornearlyhalfthe state'spopulation oramongwomen.Thiswriter ontends hatthe earlyefforts at the educationof thebackward lasses and women came notfrom hestate,butfrom hemissionaries.In his administrationeport or 1862-63,thedewan,SirT MadhavaRao,confessedthat very little was done for femaleeducation Pillai 1940: 692]. It was thegrant-in-aidducationodeof 1895whichfor the first time provided undsfor theestablishmentof schools for backwardclasses n TravancoreTravancoreensus1931:433].Inspiteoftheconcertedffortsof the missionaries, iteracy amongthevulnerableroups emainedxtremelyowthroughouthe 19thcentury.Forbreakinghestrong asteistbarriersto educationandseveralotheraspectsofsocial life), the state had to await theemergenceat the dawn of the presentcentury f severalpowerful ocialreformmovements such as the SreeNarayanaDharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP

Yogam), founded in 1903 under theleadership f SreeNarayanaGuru 1855-1928) and the TravancoreSadhu JanaParipalanaSangham,founded in 1907under heleadership f Ayyankali1863-1941).1 The SNDP Yogam led manyagitationsorendingdiscriminationgainstthe ezhavacommunity.Theseagitationswere ater einforced ytheallianceorgedamongezhavas,Muslims and Christiansfor fair representationn publicserviceand for the totalremovalof all kinds ofdiscrimination ased on caste and com-munity.It was thisalliancewhicheventuallyedto the formationof theTravancore tateCongress,which pearheadedhe reedomstrugglein Travancore. n the wake ofindependenceand the establishmentofdemocratic ulebasedon adult ranchise,the backward and depressed castes/communities cquiredufficientpoliticalcloutto wrest heirdueshareof rightsandprivilegesfrom the government.Sincethehighrateof literacyn Keralahasbeen argelydueto therelatively apidprogressmade by the formerprincelystatesof TravancorendCochin, he dis-cussion in this paperwill be based ondevelopments in these two regions,especiallyTravancore.Broadly hreeperiodsaredistinguishedfor thepurpose f thediscussion:(1)The19th century,duringthe major partofwhich foreignmissionarynitiativewasprominent ndcloseco-operationxistedbetween hestateandthe missionariesntheireducational fforts.In the late 19thcenturythe educationalefforts of theforeignmissionarieswere n several asessupplementedand in a few instancesreplaced by the indigenous churches.(2) The irsthalfofthe20thcentury, uringwhichseveralpowerful ocialmovementsplayedadecisive role n thepromotion feducation. 3) the 43-yearperiodsincethe formationof Keralastate,when theelectedrepresentativesf thepeopleandthe governmentsn powerbecamemoreresponsiveto the economic and social

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aspirationsof different sections of thepopulation.,speciallythe educationallybackwardregions in northern Kerala.Sincedevelopments uringhisperiodaremorerecentand betterknown, hispaperwill makeonly a brief reference o thisphase.19THCENTURY OCIAL CENE

For hosefamiliarwithonlythepresent,positiveaspectsof the 'Keralamodel' ofdevelopment,t wouldbe ratherhockingto learnthat Kerala n the 19thcenturywas a highlyconservative,hierarchicaland caste-ridden society. AccordingtoTravancoreensusof 1854,theHindusocietyconsistedprincipallyf brahmins,nairs, backwardcommunities (mainlyezhavas) and slave castes (mainlypulayas).Brahminswere the only classwhich,free fromall social andreligiousdisabilities,njoyed ear-absolutereedomof action.All castes belowthe nairsweretreatedas low castes.The lowliest of the low inthe hierarchywere pulayas,pariahsandkuravaswho were agresticslaves. Un-touchabilityndevenunseeabilitywas invogue.2The members f the slave castescould be let on hire or transferredt thechoice of the owner,offered as presentsto friends rasgifts otemples, ndbought,sold,ormortgagednthesamemanner sthe land on which they dwelt or as thecattleandotherproperty f theirowners.Thepriceof a slavevaried rom Rs 6 toRs 9 [Mateer1870:43].The general circumstances of thebackward communities (shanars andezhavas)nTravancore ere 'mosthumi-liating and degrading'.They were notallowed o carryumbrellas, se footwearor goldornaments r carrypotsof wateron the hip. Shanarswerealso forbiddento buildhousesof morethanone storeyin height, milk cows or even use theordinaryanguage f thecountry Mateer1870:41].Most abominable f all is thefact hat heshanarwomenwere orbiddento wearany clothingabove the waist.The prevalenceof untouchability nd'unapproachability'had for centuriespreventedmembersof the lower castesfrom acquiringeducationof any kindexcepttheknowledgehandeddownfromancestorsby wordof mouth.Even wheninstitutionalisedducation egan, heonlyrecourse of these people consisted ofschoolsrunby hemissionaries.Missionaryschools which admitted lower-castechildrenwereunder he constant hreat fwithdrawl f theupper-casteupils. twasthis milieu which kept literacyrates inTravancore elatively ow.

Discriminationn thebasisof castewasnot confined to Hindu society. TheChristians f Travancoreweresubjectedto severaldisabilitiesat thebeginningofthe 19th century despite their havingreceivedrightsand privilegesfrom therulers nearlier eriods.3Church istorianAgurhas given a graphicdescriptionofthe tormentsandtribulationswhich theChristian, communities had suffered[Agur 1903: 52-55]. Not only SyrianChristians,who have alwaysenjoyedahigher social status than those newlyconvertedoChristianityrom owerHinducastes,butevenEuropeans ere ubjectedto castebarriers.4twas nsuchanenviron-ment that Britishsupremacywas estab-lishedandalongwith tmissionarynter-prise.

HERALDINGISSIONARYCTIVITYA few events occurred in quicksuccession towards he end of the 18th

centuryandduring hefirst two decadesof the 19thcenturywhichpaved hewayfor Protestantmissionaryenterprise nKerala.The earliestamong hemwere heformationn 1795 and1799respectivelyof the London Missionary Society(LMS), consisting of Evangelicals,AnglicansandDissenters,nd heChurchMissionary ociety CMS), onstituted yan evangelicalgroupwithin the Churchof England o helpin thepropagationfthe Gospel in Africa and the east. Thesecond event was the addition of twoclausesto the charter f theEnglishEastIndiaCompany, argelyas a resultof thepressureexertedby evangelicals ed byWilliam Wilberforcewhen the chartercame up for renewal by the BritishParliamentn1813.The woclauses elatedto the formation of a regularchurchestablishmentnIndiaand hepractice fissuing licences to missionaries forpreachingn India.Thethird vent hada directbearingonKeralaMalabars it wasknown nthosedays). It was the visit to Travancoren1806 of Rev Dr Claudius Buchanan,chaplain of the English East IndiaCompany in Calcutta, whom LordWellesly, governor-generalof all theBritishpossessions n eastern ndia,haddeputed to inquire into the state ofChristiansnMalabar. uchananravelledextensively n the princelystate,visitedMar Dionysus,the metropolitan f theSyrianChurch, ndseveralancientSyrianchurches.Duringhis interviewwith themetropolitan,Buchananproposed theestablishment of schools in all the55 parishesof his (the metropolitan's)diocese. However,no concretestep to

helptheSyrianChristianswas nitiated illthe time of ColonelJohnMunro, esidentof Travancore nd Cochin.Thrfourth ventconsistedof apoliticaldevelopment f far-reachingignificance- theestablishmentfBritish verlordshipin Travancore and Cochin and theappointmentf a BritishResidentntheseprincelytates.Briefly tated,he nvasionsof HyderAli andTippuSultanof Mysoretightened the grip of the East IndiaCompany nTravancore ndCochin.Bya treatyconcludedwith the company n1791 heCochinrajaundertookobecomea vassal of the English and to pay anannual ribute. n 1795 a formal reatywasconcludedbetweenTravancore nd thecompany according to which the rajaacceptedBritish upremacy;olonelColinMacaulay5 asappointed ritishResidentin Travancore s well as Cochin n 1800.A fresh reaty f 'allianceand riendship'concluded between the company andTravancoren 1805conferred nthe ormerthespecificpowerointerferen ts nternalaffairs in the event of internal trifeorrebellion.Therajaalsoundertooko abideby whateveradvice the companymightchoosetogivehim nregardo the nternaladministrationf the state[Menon1967,Government f Kerala1970].

ENTER PIONEER MISSIONSColonel Macaulay helped ClaudiusBuchanan in his labours and research

among he Syrian Christians f Travan-core.Munro,who succeededMacaulay sResident (1810-1819), was still morezealous in the cause of Christianity.Hesent an appeal to the correspondingcommitteeof the CMS in Madras skingfor a few clergymenof the ChurchofEngland to work among the SyrianChristiansof Travancoreand Cochin.Accordingly,he CMSdecided o senda'missionof help' to the SyrianChurch.Rev Thomas Norton, the first CMSmissionary eputedoTravancore,andedat Cochin in May 1816 and settled atAlleppeyat the suggestionof Munro. n1817 he establishedhis firstschool,with40-50 children, n the Alleppeymissioncompound. hiswas he irstCMSprimaryschool established n centralTravancore.By 1839 Nortonhadeightvillageprimaryschools withatotalstrength f 289pupils[Eapen1985]. InNovember1816Benja-minBaileyandhis wife arrived, nd heychose to move to Kottayam n centralTravancore,nMarch1817.SubsequentlymissionariesosephFennandHenryBakeralso arrived n Kottayam.After the arrivalof Bailey, Fenn andBaker,Nortongraduallywithdrew rom

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the 'missionof help'to theSyrianChurchand concentrated on his individualeducationalffortsn andaroundAlleppey.TheNortons lsotookkeen nterestntheeducation f girls.In 1820Norton'swifeestablisheda girls' school at Alleppeywith 13pupils; he number ose to 18 in1829 and36 in 1840 [Agur 1903:768,Eapen1985:58].Nortonadmittedpupilsfrom all communities n his schools -Hindus nairs,vellalas,chetties,arayans),Muslims ndChristiansCatholics swellasProtestants].hecredit orintroducingthemodemsystemof primary ducationaccordingto many observers,goes toNorton[Eapen1985:59].ThomasDawson,amissionarywho hadarrivedwithBailey,remained n Cochinandengagedhimself n theeducationofthe ocalJewish ommunity. eestablisheda school for Jews at Mattancherry.Withthe permission f the rajaof Cochinheopenedanother chool at Crangannur.TheDawsonswere succeededbySamuelRidsdale n 1820. He opened six boys'schoolswithan enrolment f 294 pupilsand ourgirls'schoolswith a strength f64 pupils.As indicatedearlier, the aim of themissionof helpwas to establisha schoolineverySyrian arish.Theparish choolswerevernacular rimarychoolsattachedto thechurch.The first such school wasestablished y Baileyin 1817. In a royal'neet' grant)RaniParvathi ayi,thethenrulerof Travancore,madea gift of landfor he chool n1818.TheCMS ommitteeoffered n ncentive fRs2-3permensemtoanypersonwhobroughtn 30 childrento a school[Eapen1985:62].Thegrowthof parish schools during the earlydecadesof the 19thcenturymaybe seenin Table1.The partnershipbetween the SyrianChurch ndthe missionof helpcame toan abruptend in 1836 due to seriousdifferences etweenhetwoparties.Fromthen on the CMS mission functionedindependentlys a unit of the AnglicanChurch n India.The CMSmissionariesbegandevotingmore attention o othersectionsof thepopulation,specially heoutcastes.Several schools came to beestablishednder achofthenew'missionstations' establishedin many parts ofTravancore nd Cochin. In 1878 therewere141 choolsunderCMSmanagementwith4,665 pupils ncluding134 primaryschools with 4,113 pupils [Eapen1985:75]. At the time of its centenaryof missionaryactivities, celebrated n1916, hesocietyhad307 schools mostlyprimarychools-outofwhich244schoolsreceivedrants-in-aidromhegovernment

and the rest were recognised schoolsfinanced by the CMS itself [Eapen1985:83].This paper discusses next the LMS'seducational efforts in Travancore andCochin. Kanyakumari, districtof present-day Tamil Nadu, was part of Travancoretill the formationof the Kerala state follo-wing the reorganisation of states alonglinguistic lines in 1956. The LMS playeda major role in the educational develop-ment of southern Travancore. Itseducational activities began with thearrivalof Rev William TobiasRingeltaubeinTrivandrum nMay 1806 afterspendingmore than a year learning Tamil atTranquebar. It is worth mentioning thatthe British Resident had procured apassport for the missionary's travel toTravancore and offered to meet histravelling expenes.Though initially Ringeltaube wanted tosettle in Mylaudy, he withdrew toPalamcottah(in present-dayTamilNadu),in British India, as Velu Thampy, dewanof Travancore, had denied him sanctionfor building a church there. Due to thedirectinterventionof Resident Macaulay,however, Ringeltaubeeventuallyreceivedpermission to build Travancore's firstProtestant church, the foundation forwhichwas laid inMay 1809. Ringeltaube'sinterest in education was kindled byMunro, who in 1813 addressed a seriesof queries to him about the condition oftheMylaudyProtestantmission. One suchquery related to the existing state of theeducational facilities available to theclergy and the youth.By thetimeRingeltaube leftTravancoreinFebruary1816 he had established sevensingle-teacher schools with a total enrol-ment of 188 pupils. The curriculum con-sisted of reading, writing and arithmetic.The missionary, however, lamented thefact that girls never came to school inTravancore[Agur 1903:596]. Munrowasas much a benefactor of the Mylaudymission as he was of the mission of helpto the Syrian Church. He obtained fromthe raniof Travancore,between 1814 and1819, three paddy fields at very nominalland tax for the support of the Mylaudymission.

Ringeltaube was succeeded inDecember 1819 by Rev Charles Mead,who spent56 yearsof his life in Travancoreand has been called the fatherof the southTravancore mission. In October 1819Meadopened a centralschool orseminaryat Nagercoil, admission being restrictedto 30 boys. With the active co-operationof Mrs Mead a boarding school forgirls was also opened. The Nagercoil

seminary was the first English schoolopened in Travancore. It was raised to thestatus of a second-grade college in 1893.While increasing the number of con-gregations after Ringeltaube left fromseven to 15, Mead was far-sighted enoughalso to provide for a school in eachcongregation. The Rev Charles Maultjoined the south Travancore mission inDecember 1819 to assist Mead, whosehealth had been deteriorating steadily.At the beginning of 1820 the missionstarted a school in the Nagercoil bazaarto meet the needs of the non-Christianpublic. This school had 50 pupils twoyears ater.A school of industrywas formedin 1820 to provide 'means of subsistenceandtheadvantagesof aChristianeducationat the same time'. Training in 'useful arts'such as printing, bookbinding, tanningand curing leather was imparted in thisschool. By 1824 the number of schoolsrun by the south Travancore mission hadrisen to 47, with a total of 1,300 pupils.For many years the government refusedpermission for a Christian mission to beestablished in Trivandrum. In 1838,however, Rev Cox helpedbythepatronageof Resident Fraser- was permitted tocommence a mission. The raja granted aplotof landat Kannammoola Trivandrum)for setting it up. Eight years later therewere 14schools forboys and threeforgirlsunder LMS's Trivandrummission [Agur1903: 877].On Mead's retirement from the southTravancore Protestant mission in 1853,General Cullen, the Resident, appointed.him the first superintendent of govern-ment schools in Travancore. One of hismajor educational initiatives was toamalgamate the district Englishschools and the 'vernacular' schools in1860.6The educational activities of the LMSin Travancore made steady progress. In1904 the society had 384 schools with15,641 pupils under its charge [Aiya1906:447]. These schools wereof differentlevels and types. While we do not havedetailed statistics relating to them, it isabundantly clear that the LMS made asubstantial contribution to the growth ofliteracyinTravancore,particularlyamong

TABLE1: GROWTH FPARISHCHOOLSYear No of No of No ofSchools Teachers Pupils1819 2 2 661821 10 9 2531824 51 51 13331826 29 29 7701836 25 27 A"?Source: Eapen 1985: 63.

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the lower castes,duringa periodwheneducationalacilitieswerevirtually eniedto them.EDUCATINGVULNERABLEGROUPS

Kerala'superiorerformancen iteracyvis-a-vis the rest of India has been duelargely to its unmatched lead in theeducationof women and the depressedcommunities. The missionaries hadtargetedhese egmentsntheir ducationalendeavourshroughouthe 19thcentury,whereashe stateremainedndifferent rpassivefor most partof the century.Both the CMS and the LMS accordedthe utmostpriority o female education.Infact, hepromotionf femaleeducationcanbereckoned soneofthemagnificentlyunique contributionsof the Protestantmissionaries.While hebulkof theschoolsestablished ythemwere co-educationalas a matter f policy,these missionariesalsoopenedmany irls' chools.Asalreadynoted MrsNorton,wife of a CMS mis-sionary,stablished girls'school n 1820[Eapen1985:147,Agur1903:768]. MrsBenjaminBailey had a few girls underinstructiont her own home,at herownexpense, oonafterherarrival tKottayamin 1817.MrsHenryBaker Sr)openedaformalschool for girls in Kottayam n1819.7While hemissionaryadies abourednthecause of femaleeducationwithgreatdedication uringheearlypart f the 19thcentury,hegovernmentwas 'supremelyindifferentn the matter'. n his admini-strationeport f Travancoreor 1862-63,SirT MadhavaRao,the dewan.candidlyadmitted hatthe governmenthad donelittle or femaleeducationn Travancore.At this time there were only twogovernmentchools for girlsin the state- one at the Trivandrum antonment,startedin 1858 for the education ofChristianirls,and he otherat Karamana(Trivandrum),pened in 1859 for theeducation of brahmin girls [Pillai1940:692-93,Agur 1903:770-71].Notethatwhile the firstmissionary choolforgirls was established n 1819, the firstgovernmentchoolfor girlswas openedonly about40 yearslater.It was soon realisedthat to promotegirls' education emaleteachers n ade-quatenumberswererequired.A 'normalschool'to train emale eacherswas estab-lishedby Mrs J Johnsonaround1848.Itwas the firstteachers' raining chool inKerala. ater twasmergedwith heBakerMemorialGirls' School in Kottayam.Thanks o the inspiration rovidedbythe initiativesof MrsNorton n AlleppeyandMrsBaileyandMrsHenryBaker Sr)

in Kottayam,everalgirls' schools weresubsequentlyestablishedt eadingmissioncentres nTravancore.hey ncludedMrsJosephPeet'sschoolatMavelikara1838),the school of Mrs HenryBaker(Jr) atPallom 1871) andMrsJohnChapman'sschoolatKottayamaround 847)[Eapen1985:144-51.Someofthese choolswereresidential.TheCMS missionaries id notconfinetheir activities in the cause of femaleeducation to Travancore.Their effortsreached ut oCochin tatealso.InCochinthefirstgirls' school was establishedbyMrsSamuelRidsdale,wife of the CMSmissionaryn the state, in 1826. Threemoregirls' schools had been openedbyherby 1836. Strangely, hefourschoolstogetherhada strength f only64 pupils.MrsRidsdalesrightly emembereds thepioneerof femaleeducationntheformerCochin tate.MrsHenryHarley,whosucc-eeded MrsRidsdale n 1836,established

a boardingschool for girls in Cochin,which was shifted to Trichur n 1841.JHBishop,CMSmissionary tTrichur[1880-1913] took keen interest n edu-cation.MrsBishopconducted boardingschool forgirls n the missioncompound;mostof thepupilsweredrawn romuppercasteHindu amilies.Therewere wo otherCMSgirls'schoolsin Trichur.Kunnam-kulam,which in courseof timeemergedas an importantCMS mission centre nCochin,also hadseveralgirls'schools.In1854 italready adthree choolsforgirls(Eapen1985: 152-54].No accountof the contribution f theCMS missionaries o thecauseof femaleeducation n Keralawould be completewithoutmention ftheworkof theChurchof EnglandZenanaMissionarySociety(CEZMS),which workedin close co-operation with the CMS in Kerala.Augusta Blandford, the first CEZMSmissionary n Kerala, oundedthe FortSchool for Girls n Trivandrumn 1864.This school, startedmainlyfor the edu-cation of caste Hindugirls,received hepatronage f theTrvancore oyalfamily.The CEZMS stablished irls'schools atMavelikkara,Kottayam,Olessa, Ema-kulamandTrichur s well. In 1906therewere15 schoolsunder hezenanamission.The LMS missionarieswere equallyzealous in promoting emale education.As arule,the schoolstheyestablishednsouth Travancorewere coeducational.However,parentsweregenerallyeluctantto send heirdaughterso schools.Inreplyto a querysent by Munro,Ringeltaubereplied hatgirlsnevercameto school inTravancore, hichwasagreatoss.Mead,Ringeltaube'ssuccessor, and his wife

opened aboarding school forgirls in 1819.It is pointed out that so greatwas parentalprejudice against the school that girlsenrolled during a week "were withdrawnduring the next week". Apart from theusual subjects like arithmetic and geo-graphy,Mrs Meadtaughtsewing, spinning,knitting, etc, and Mrs Mault crochet, em-broidery and pillow lace work [Agur1903:766-69]. The school startedwith14 girls, all of whom were given freeboarding.In 1828 when Mead shifted residenceto Neyoor, a girls's boarding school wasestablished there too. Among the manyearlyefforts made to encourage girls' edu-cation in Travancore was the publicationin 1831 of a tract in Tamil - 'On theAdvantages of FemaleEducation', printedat theLMS press atNagercoil- which wasdistributedfree of cost [Agur 1903:769].Of the second-generation missionaryladies labouring in the cause of femaleeducation in Travancore,mention may bemade of Mrs Abbs, who founded a schoolat Parachalay (Parassala),Mrs Lewis oneat Santhapuram,Mrs Cox one at Kanna-moola (Trivandrum)and Mrs Thompsonone at Quilon. Around these boardingschools, a number of 'village day schoolsfor girls' were formed. In 1837 therewerein south Travancore 15 such village girls'schools with a total enrolment of 361pupils. The strengthincreased to 1,468 in1857 [Agur 1903:769-77].

DEPRIVED COMMUNITIESThe Protestant missionaries9 efforts to

bring the deprived communities to schoolwere extremely strenuous. At the earlystages they met with failures andbreakdowns. Forinstance, the first schoolfor the education of slave-caste children,opened by CMS missionary Norton atAlleppey in 1835, did not survive owingto lack of interest on the partof the pupils.Fennopened a school for slaves on MunroIsland in 1835 and Baker (Sr) one atKottayam in 1836. The schools facedvehement opposition from slave-owners.

Joseph Peet, missionary in chargeof theCMS district of Mavelikara and a greatliberator of the depressed classes, openedseveral schools chiefly for the benefit ofezhavas andpulayas.Oneguiding principlewas thatupper castechildrenshould attendthe same schools as the lower castechildren. Inspite of resistancefrom vestedinterests,Peet had 58 village schools underhischarge n 1878, including15exclusivelyfor the benefit of the pulayas.In the Tiruvella mission's jurisdictionthe first slave school was opened in 1850.It angered the higher castes so much that



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theschoolbuildingwas set on fire morethanonce [Eapen1985:171].In spiteofsuchprovocations,hemovement or theeducationof slavesgatheredmomentumand severalschools sprangup in otherpartsof-the jurisdiction, hanksto theinitiativeof JohnHawksworth.n 1849Hawksworthestablished two boardingschools or hebenefitof theslaveclasses,one for boys and anotherfor girls. Inadditiono vernacularrimaryducation,the mission also provided Englisheducation n these boarding chools.Baker Sr)established slave school nKottayamn 1836.By 1860or hereaboutsmore such schools had been openedindifferent arts fKottayamuchasOlessa,VelurandKumarakom.aker Jr), onofBaker Sr),established slave school atMundakayam n a shed of bamboosthatchedwithelephant rassaround 849.SamuelRidsdale,who served as CMSmissionary t Cochinbetween1826 and1836,alsomade omeattemptsteducatingthe slave classes.

During heearlyperiodsof missionaryenterprise, eparate chools were main-tainedfor the slave classes: the highercastes did not favourthe idea of theirchildren ttendinghesameschoolsas thechildren f theslave castes.AccordingotheProceedings f the CMSfor 1918-19,205 primarychools in all were runforslaveclasses,chieflypulayas ndpariahs,with a total enrolmentof 6,021 pupils[Eapen1985:175].Theeducationalxpe-rienceofezhava hildren uringheentire19thcenturyand the firstdecadeof the20thcenturywas not different romthatof slave-castechildren.TheCMSmissionaries lso took keeninterest n the educationof a hill tribeknownas 'Hill Arrians' MalaArayans).The establishmentf a one-roomschoolatMundakayamn 1849byBaker Jr)wasthemission's irstattemptn thisdirection.This school grew into an English highschool n 1939.Baker stablished choolsfor the educationof the tribals n otherparts f thewestern hatsaswell, ncludingPeermade(1850), Erumapra(1851),Koottickal and Melukavu (1852),Kannikkal1853),Koovapally1872)andValakam1873).Theschool at Melukavugrew nto a highschool in 1968 [Eapen1985:178-79].As alreadynoted, during the earlydecades f CMSmissionary nterprisenTravancoreeparate chools were estab-lished for 'slave' and other low-castechildren.ut ncourse f time hese choolswere hrown pen oallcastesandcreeds.WhenRichardCollinswas the principalof theCMScollege,Kottayam1855-65),

theadmissionf anoutcaste tudent ausedso much ommotionhathe waswithdrawnfrom hecollege.In afewyears,however,thehostilityubsided nd hecollegebeganto admit tudents romall disadvantagedcaste groups.Opposition o the admission of low-castechildren ontinuedmuch onger nCochin. An effort to admit themto theEnglish missionary chool at Trichur n1889 was vehementlyopposedbothbytheuppercastes andby the government.The missionaries,however,persisted ntheirefforts,and n 1923 the restrictionswere scrappedby a specialorderof theCochin government.The admissionofthreebackward-communitytudentsotheCambridge icholson nstitutionCNI)atKottayamhad raised a storm of upper-casteprotest ven as late as in 1907.Butthemissionaries toodfirm,and theCNIlaterbecamea vernacularmiddleschoolfor the educationof backward lasses.

Note that heCMS missionaries eganto admit lower-caste children to theirschoolsong nadvance f thegovernmentsof Travancpre nd Cochin.It was onlywith the introduction of Mitchell'sEducationCodein 1910 thatcaste-baseddiscriminationnthematter f admissionsto schoolswas abolished n Travancore.The government f Cochin took such astepnine yearslater.But even afterthelegalremoval fthe mpediment,nstancesofupper-castefpupilsboycottinglassesbecause of the 'pollutingpresence'oflower-castehildrenontinuedRajendran1974:24].TheLMSmissionaries'ole npromotingeducation f theslave-caste hildrenwasnotdifferent rom hatof theCMS.Meadmade a startlingannouncement circa1850) that schoolmasterswho broughtslave-children o school would get anadditional ayment f one 'fanam' one-seventhof arupee)orevery laveboyandone andahalf 'fanam' oreveryslavegirladmittedo the Christianchools.Withinayearmore han1,000slavechildrenwereenrolled in the schools in the Neyoormission Agur1903:892-93]. ftermovingto Trivandrumn 1855Meadestablished(circa 1860) a school for pulayas n theTrivandrumcantonment. The LMS'sefforts also substantially helped theeducational dvancementf the shanars,who constituted sizeableproportion fthe populationof south Travancore.

ROMAN CATHOLICMISSIONAswe have een,Protestant issionaries(allof them romEnglandwiththesingleexception fRingeltaube)ere esponsiblefor the introduction f modemeducation

in theformer rincely tatesofTravancoreandCochinduringhe irsthalfof the 19thcentury.AlthougheveralRomanCatholic(Latin) hurchesnTravancorendCochintracetheiroriginto a periodprior o thecomingof the Portuguese,he adventofregular Roman Catholic missions inTravancorebegan only with the estab-lishment of Portuguese power [Agur1903:200].FrancisXavier,who came tothe Malabar oast as a Jesuitmissionaryin 1542,travelled xtensively hroughhecoastal ishingvillagesandconvertedargenumbersof 'mukkuvars' nd 'paravars'(Hindu fishermen communities), whocame to be known as LatinCatholicsasdistinguishedrom the SyrianChristianswho wereconverted o theCatholic aith[Mateer 870:230-31,Agur1903:208-11,390-91].For most of the 19th century thecontribution f Catholic missionaries otheeducationalevelopmentfTravancoreand Cochin was minimal. Conflictingexplanationshave been offeredfor this.According to one view, the Catholicmissionarieswerenot muchto blameasmostof themwereItalians, paniardsndmenof othernationalitieswhofoundgreatdifficulty n takingactivepart n EnglisheducationAgur1903:418].Accordingoa esscharitableiew hePortugueseesuitsand Italian Carmelites who played adominant ole n the administrationf theCatholic church did not have any realinterestn modemeducation,particularlyEnglisheducaton.For themthe Englishlanguage itself was symbolic of theAnglican ebellion gainstRomanatholicsupremacynEuropeTharakan984:40].The Catholics,particularlyhe SyrianCatholics,made significant progress nestablishingchoolsonlyas of the 1880s.

SYRIAN CHRISTIANENTERPRISEThe introduction f a liberalsystemofgrants-in-aidorthefirst imein 1868-69gave a substantial oost to privateenter-priseneducation,which he ocalchurchestook advantageof. Duringan epoch of

intense ivalry mongdifferentactions ftheindigenousSyrianChurch, peningagrant-in-aidchoolin theparishbecame,accordingo someobservers, nesurewayofensuringhe oyalty ftheparisheaders.The numberof such schools undertheindigenousMar Thoma SyrianChurchrose from 134 to 195 between 1879and1895 [Jeffrey1976:124].The Syrian Catholics did not startconducting well-organised,large-scaleeducational ctivitiesuntil he ate1880s.Therewereonlyfive grant-in-aidchoolsunder Roman Catholic managementn

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1885.Thenumber f grant-in-aidchoolsunder Syrian Catholic management,however,ncreasedo 25 in 1890 and 49in 1895 [Jeffrey 1976:124]. FatherImmanuelMani)Nidhiry, ontificalVicarGeneral1889-1892)wasaleading igureamongheRomo-Syriansnchampioningthe cause of moderneducation.He ac-corded the highest priorityto openingEnglishschools. In one of his speechesheis reportedo have said thatanEnglishschool would be more of a prizedassetthan hegoldcrossesof churches whichcould be stolen [Tharakan 984:50].A majorfactor which helped SyrianChristian (Jacobite, Marthomite andCatholic)educational xpansionwas theavailability f liberalgrants-in-aidromthe government.By the end of the 19thcentury indigenous Christians con-tributed relativelymore than the mis-sionaries o the educational evelopmentof the state(Table2).

It is importanto note thatthe abovedata overs choolsnotonly nTravancorebutalsoinCochinandperhapsa few) inMalabar.Besides,it includesunaidedaswell as aided schools. In fact, since thegrant-in-aidode was verystrict,8manyschoolsdidnotqualify oraid.As aresultunaidedschools far outnumbered idedschools,as shownby Table 3.It s observedhatenrolmentn unaidedlowerprimarychoolsaccountedor 55.5percentof thetotalenrolment coveringgovernment,aided and unaided lowerprimary chools. In promoting iteracyamong the people, the unaided lowerprimarychoolsobviouslyplayedamajorrole.Itmayalso be noted hat heunaidedschools ncludedalso the 'pyallschools',whichhavedisappeared iththepassageof time.GOVERNMENT'SOLENEDUCATION

The establishment f theRajah'sFreeSchool nTrivandrumn December1836markedhe irstattempt f thegovernmentto impart modern education [Aiya1906:447].Aboutthe sametime,severaldistrictEnglishschools were openedatcentres like Kayamkulam,KottarandChirayinkil ndplacedunderthe super-vision of J Roberts,who was succeededbyRevCMead n 1855assuperintendentofeducation. herewere22 district choolsin1887.Thequestion f improving erna-culareducation ngagedthe attentionofthegovernment nly during1865-66.Ofcourse,there were manyprivateverna-cular choolsnTravancorepyall chools- before that time. About 1,300 suchschoolswithatotalof50,000pupils xistedin 1891.

In 1866 a 'central chool' wasopenedin Trivandrumndalso a schoolin everytaluk n thestate.Therewere29 vernacularschoolsattended y2,152pupilsat heendof 1868-69. Another mportant tep wastaken n 1871 with the establishment fvillageschools. It was soon realised hatpublicexpenditure n vernacular duca-tion wasproving o be burdensomeo thegovernmentnd his ed totheencourage-mentofprivate gencies hroughhegrant-in-aid ystem.Thenumberof ided choolsrosefrom437 to 1,375between1881 and1893 [Aiya 1906:457].The grant-in-aid ode was revised inDecember1894.Thenewrules,knownasthe Travancoreducationalules',relatedtothequalificationsfteachers, uildings,accommodation ndsanitation,urnitureandeducational ppliances, dmission fpupils, tc.Arevised urriculumf studieswas introducedn 1902,andthe schoolswere classified as high, middle,upperprimarynd owerprimary.nthe ast twosets of schools the vernacularwas intro-ducedas thechiefmedium f instruction.English was taughtonly as the secondlanguage.Female education: As we have notedearlier,while the missionarieswereveryactive in setting up schools for femaleeducation,hegovernmentemainedatherindifferent.The first concretestep wastakenonly as late as 1865-66 whenthegovernmentookover hemanagementfa private choolwhichhadexisted at theTrivandrumantonment or a few years.It is this school which was raised to asecond-grade ollegefor women n 1897.Outof a totalof 3,894 ordinary chools(schoolsother thantraining chools andspecialschools)in the state in 1903-04,girls'schools numberednly 182 and hemajorityof them were runby the mis-sionaries[Aiya 1906:470].Educationofbackwardclasses: In 1855,when laverywasabolishednTravancore,children belonging to backward anddepressedslave) astesdidnothaveaccesstogovernmentchools.Onlyafterhegrant-in-aidcode wasrevised n 1894-95were

funds provided forgrantsto schools meantfor backward classes.10 The governmentfollowed up this initiative in 1895-96 byopening 15 schools for backward classes:four schools for Muslims, seven forezhavas, two for pulayas, one for mara-kkans(fishermen)and one forkani(tribals).Another 15 schools were added the follo-wing year. About the middle of 1904, thegovernment convened a conference atwhich it was decided that the governmentshould meet the entire cost of the primaryeducation of the backward classes.The term 'backwardclasses', however,excluded converts toChristianity.Further,one of the conditions for eligibility forgrant-in-aid was that at least 75 per centof the total number ofpupilson theregistershould belong to one or the other of thecastes recognised as backward by thegovernment's order of 1904.It is extremely importantto note, how-ever that until 1910, when Dr Mitchell'seducation code was adopted, non-casteHindus were not admitted to governmentschools astheywere treatedasuntouchable

TABLE 2: DISTRIBUTIONOF CHRISTIAN-RUNSCHOOLS,908

Denomination No ofSchoolsLondonMissionary society 393ChurchMissionary society(Travancore-Cochindiocese) 296Church of EnglandZenana Mission 16Salvation Army 74Protestant,total 779Archdiocese of Verapoly 130Diocese of Quilon 147Diocese of Cochin 92LatinCatholic, total 369The vicariat apostolic ofChanganacherry 424The vicariat apostolic ofErnakulam 178The vacariatof Trichur 186

SyrianCatholic (Romo-Syrian),total 778MalankaraJacobite Syrian Church 175MalankaraMar Thoma Syrian Church 97Syrian non-Catholic, total 272Grand total 2198Source: Tharakan1984:151.

TABLE 3: AGENCYWISEDISTRIBUTIONOF SCHOOLSIN TRAVANCORE,1903-1904Gradesof School Government Aided UnaidedNo of No of No of No of No of No ofSchools Pupils Schools Pupils Schools PupilsHigh school (English) 7 2938 15 4045 3 1173Middle school (English) 23 2584 19 2235 13 1039High school (vernacular) 2 1092 - -Middle school (") 75 17558 9 1073 3 546Upperprimaryschool 53 6948 30 3281 9 472Lowerprimaryschool 271 19432 951 47286 2211 83184Special schools 5 304 16 610 6 235Source:Aiya 1906, PartII,Ch XI, p 461.



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and unapproachable.The new code abo-lished the differences between ordinaryschools and schools for the backwardclasses as laid down in the government'sorder of 1904 [Pillai 1940:718-19].Oursurveyof educationaldevelopmentsin Travancorehasconclusively shown thatfor most of the 19th century the stateplayed a very minimal role with regardtomajor ssues relatingto the moderisationof school education or the promotion offemale education and the education ofbackward ections. Whatever littlesuccessthe state had achieved in these spheresduring he 19thcenturywas almostentirelyduetothe effortsof Protestantmissionariesandthe indigenous churches. The relativepositions of the more numerouscastes andcommunities with regardto literacyat thebeginning of the 20th century s presentedin Table 4.Itcanreadilybe seen thatthroughout he19th century literacy in Travancore re-mained owmainlybecause 1) educationalfacilities were denied to the backwardclasses, including the 'untouchables';(2) female education in general was neg-lected;and(3)the backwardanddepressedcommunitieswere so numerous that mis-sionaryand ndigenouschurchefforts werenotable to make a significant dent in theireducational status. The literacy levels offive major backward and depressedcommunities, namely, ezhava, channan,pulaya,pariahandkurava,which togetherconstituted one-third of the state'spopulationin 1901, were deplorably lowandposed a majorobstacle to the progressofoverallliteracy nthestate. Itwas chieflyleft to two major social movements, oneheaded by Sree Narayana Guru (1855-1928), an ezhava 'sanyasi', and the otherby Sri Ayyan Kali (1863-1941), a pulayasocial reformer, o correct this imbalance.

SNDP YOGAMReferring o the progress by theezhavasonewriterhasobserved thattherehas beenno parallel anywhere in the world to thetremendous progress made by the com-

munityin so short a time. A communitywhich had been confined to the 'gutterofuntouchability'put up a heroic fight morevaliant han hatof theplebeians of ancientRomeforsecuringbasic humanrightsandproducedmanydistinguished personalitieswithinjust 30 years [Rajendran 1974:2].At the beginning of the 20th century,as alreadynoted, 927 out of every 1,000ezhavas in Travancore were illiterate.Admission to government schools wasdenied to ezhavas on the ground of un-touchability.Even afterthe legal removalof that mpedimentherewereinstances

of teachers and students belonging toupper castes boycotting classes becauseof the 'polluting' presence of ezhavastudents.Further, ven if they were educa-ted (in missionary schools in Kerala andelsewhere), employment opportunitieswere hardto come by: ezhavas were notrecruitedto government service. In 1891there was not even one member ofthe community holding sirkar job on amonthly salary of Rs 10 or more [Jeffrey1976:109].

Palpu(1863-1950), afounderof the SreeNarayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP)Yogam, who had completed his medicaleducation (LMS) in Madras, was notgranted recognition by the TravancoreMedical Council, and hadto seek employ-mentoutside the state.He championed thecause of the ezhava communityatall avail-able fora. During a meeting in 1896, thedewan of Travancore submitted to Palputhat admittingezhavas to schools and ap-pointingthem ngovernment ervicewouldbe 'contrary to tradition'. However, heheld out the assurancethatspecial schoolswould be granted o ezhavas providedtheytook the initiative.Though a largenumberof applications were filed, however, onlytwo primary schools got the go-ahead.Inreplyto a subsequent memorialto themaharajaof Travancoresigned by 13,176ezhavas, the dewan promised thatspecialschools could be grantedto ezhavas wher-ever they wanted. He also agreed to con-sider the possibility of opening separategovernment schools forezhavas and othersimilar castes on a caste-by-caste basis.Since these assurances produced noresults, Palpu took the initiative to forman effective organisation. The SNDPYogam was formedinMay 1903 withSreeNarayanaGuru,the great social reformer,as the patron.The firstattemptof theorganisationwasto remove the obstacles to the admission

TABLE 4: DISTRIBUTIONOFPOPULATIONAND LITERACYLEVELOF MAJOR COMMUNITIES NTRAVANCORE,1901 (Percentages)

MajorCommunities Government UnaidedTotal Male Female Total Male FemaleBrahmin(Malayali andnon-Malayali) 1.5 1.5 1.4 41.45 68.97 11.19Nair 17.7 17.4 17.8 21.64 37.58 5.71Christian(Native, Syrianandnon-Syrian) 23.6 23.7 23.4 15.57 25.71 5.10Ezhava 16.7 16.4 16.9 7.30 13.71 0.98Channan 5.3 5.3 5.3 3.70 6.98 0.36Pulaya 6.9 7.1 6.9 0.17 0.28 0.05Muslims 6.3 6.4 6.2 8.21 15.05 0.97Pariah 2.4 2.4 2.4 0.89 1.56 0.20Kuravan 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.45 0.75 0.17Vellala 1.7 1.6 1.7 23.07 43.42 3.14Source: Census of India 1901, Vol XXVI- A Travancore,PartII ImperialTables, Table VIII-IX.

of ezhavas togovernmentandgovernment-aided schools. The move was opposed bycaste Hindus and this led to widespreadriots between nairs and ezhavas in centralTravancore. In 1907 an order was issuedstipulating that ezhava children could bedenied admission to a government schoolonly if the school was close to a templeor a palace or if there was the possibilityof a riot. It was only in 1910 that govern-ment schools weredeclaredopento ezhavachildren. Even then, however, admissionwas confined to only 35 governmentschools [Abhimanyu 1990:85].Later the Yogam concentratedon estab-lishing its own schools. NarayanaGuru'smotto was "Strengthen through organi-sation, liberate by education". It proved

TABLE : GROWTHFEZHAVA ITERACYNTRAVANCORE

Year Percentageof Literates to thePopulation of the CommunityMale Female Persons1875 3.15 0.05 1.571881 12.10 NA 6.301901 13.71 0.98 7.301911 21.20 1.90 11.501921 31.59 8.50 20.071931 30.53 12.10 27.301941 61.00 32.00 46.50Source: Travancore census reports for 1891,1901, 1921, 1931 and 1941.

TABLE : LITERACYMONG ULAYASHINDU) NTRAVANCORE

Year Percentageof Literateto thePopulationof the CommunityMale Female Persons1875 0.19 NA 0.091901 0.28 0.05 0.171911 1.80 0.10 0.901921 3.55 1.19 2.391931 5.24 1.30 4.101941 25.20 8.7 17.00Source: Travancorecensus reports.



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to beagreat nspirationothe entire om-munity.TheSNDPYogamwasformallyextendedoCochin n 1938and oMalabarin 1946.Atpresentt has 13highschools,eightupper rimarychoolsand hree owerprimarychools.As moreand more civic libertieswerebeingwrestedrom hegovernmentytheezhavas, the community was makinggreater ndgreaterprogressn literacy. tneeds o beemphasisedhat hesignificantprogressn literacyt achievedduring heperiodwas the outcomenot so much ofthe ncreasen the number f schools runby heSNDPYogam sof thecommunity'unfettered ccessto governmentchoolssincethepassingof Mitchell'seducationcode in 1910 (Table5).Whilebothmaleand female iteracy ntheezhava ommunitymade apid rogressbeforeIndependence, he rateof growthsince1901was muchhigher nrespectoffemale iteracy.Whilemale iteracyratioof maleliterates o the malepopulation)rose from 13.71 to 61 percent between1901and1941,female iteracyncreasedfrom0.98 to 32.2 percent.

SADHUJANAPARIPALANAANGHOMNext to the ezhavas,the pulayacom-munity asbeen he argest fthebackwardand depressed classes. Traditionallypulayas ormed he dominant lave classinTravancorelongwith thepariahs ndthekuravas.As notedearlier, hroughoutthe19th enturyiteracyatesnTravancoreremainedow in absolute ermsbecause

largecommunitiesike the ezhavasandthe pulayas were denied the right toeducation.WhiletheSNDPYogamwor-ked mainlyfor the uplift of the ezhavacommunity,imilarmovementsprang pamongotherdisadvantagedlasses also.SadhuJanaParipalanaSJP) Sanghom,established at Vengannur in southTravancore y Ayyan Kali in February1907, was one of them.The formation f thisorganisationwasassisted yadvice nd upportrom eadersof the SNDP Yogam, which had beenformednlya ewyears arlierAbhimanyu1990:79]. During the dewanship ofP Rajagopalachari1909-1914), AyyanKali submitteda petitionfor admittingpulayachildren o goverment schools.On beinginformedby the dewanthatadecision favourable to the depressedclasseshadalreadybeen taken n 1907,he approached he governmentschoolauthorities ndpressedhis demandsAyyanKalimade public nnouncementto the effect thatunlesspulayachildrenwere admitted n governmentschools,pulaya abourerswouldnot workin the

paddyfields. The announcemented toconflicts between the landlords(casteHindus)andpulayaagricultural orkers.An 'AyyanKaliarmy'was formed o foilthe attemptof the landlords o cultivatelandswith hehelpofloyalpulayaworkers.Therewas much turmoil for a year; acompromisewas,however, eached oon.OnMarch1, 1910 thegovernmentssuedan orderaccording o whichall schoolsto which ezhavachildrenwereadmittedshould also accept pulaya children[Abhimanyu 990:91].In a speechin March 1912 in the SriMulamPrajaSabha,o whichhehadbeennominated,AyyanKalidrew he attentionof the legislatureo the fact thatpulayaswereadmittedo onlysevengovernmentschools in southTravancore ecauseofresistanceromheadmasterselongingouppercastes. His insistenceon pulayachildren eingadmittedoallgovernmentschools led to many clashes. In 1914Mitchell,hedirectorof ublicnstruction,issuedanorderwhichmade headmissionof pulaya hildrenogovernmentchoolsmandatory.The casteHindus henhit upona newstrategy.The momentdepressedcaste/community hildren ntereda classroomupper astechildrenwould eavetheroomen bloc. HenceMitchell ssuedan orderwhichstipulatedhatchildrenwho conti-nuouslyabsented hemselves rom classshould submit an explanationof theirabsence o the headmasterndapplyforexemption. f thechildren ailedto do sotheywere obegivencompulsoryransfercertificates.nspiteof thisorder,violentclashesbetween hepro-andanti-pulayagroupstook place in many places likeOoruttampalam Neyyanttinkara)andPullad.

In 1914 Ayyan Kali himself started aschool atVengannur.Interestingly,acasteHindu teacher who was offered a monthlysalary Rs 9 (instead of the normal Rs 5)was appointed to the post.TheTempleEntryProclamationof Nove-mber 1936 and Gandhiji's active involve-ment in the uplift of harijans (dalits) onan all-India basis helped the pulayasgradually to get integratedwith the main-stream. Gandhiji himself undertook apilgrimage to temples in Kerala n January1937; duringthis mission he visited AyyanKaliatVengannur.Indue course the initialbarriers, which appeared to be insur-mountable, were overcome. Literacy am-ong the pulayas as well as otherdepressedclasses advanced rapidly (Table 6).The series of agitations led by the SJPSanghom produced spectacular resultsbefore Independence, as evidenced bythe fact that at the end of the school year1929-30, only 12 of the 3,641 recognisedschools in Travancore kept pulayas andother similarly placed groups out[Travancore Census Report 1931:435].In asingle decade (1931-1941) thepulayacommunity's literacy level rose by 13percentagepoints. Though female literacylagged behind male literacy, it grew at amuch faster rate. It cannot be over-emphasised that t was radicalsocial trans-formation of the ezhavas and the pulayaswhich contributed to the rise in literacyin Travancorefrom 12.36 percent in 1901to 47.1 per cent in 1941.Inspired by the contributions of theSNDP Yogam and the SJP Sanghom tothe uplift of the ezhava and pulaya com-munitiesrespectively,severalotherorgani-sations came to be started n Travancore.lThese organisations concentrated theiractivities in different partsof the state and

TABLE : TRENDSNLITERACYATESNKERALA, 961-91District 1961 1971 1981 1991Male FemalePersons MaleFemalePersons Male FemalePersonsMale FemalePersonsKasaragod - - - - 74.8 64.9 69.8Kannur 34.8 21.0 27.8 63.7 47.1 55.3 72.2 59.5 65.7 82.4 76.5 79.4Wayanad - - - 55.0 39.1 47.3 64.8 51.5 58.3 74.8 66.3 70.6Kozhikode 35.3 21.3 28.3 67.6 49.9 58.8 76.6 63.8 70.1 82.5 75.7 79.6Malapuram - - - 55.3 40.8 47.9 65.9 55.3 60.5 74.5 69.5 71.9Palghat 30.8 20.0 25.2 54.6 39.2 46.7 64.8 51.5 58.0 74.2 65.4 69.6Thrissur 36.8 27.9 32.1 66.3 57.2 61.6 77.3 70.2 73.6 81.5 76.9 79.1Ernakulam 38.2 29.8 34.0 70.5 60.2 65.4 80.7 72.9 76.8 84.5 79.5 82.0Idukki - - - 62.2 50.2 56.4 72.1 62.5 67.4 79.1 72.4 75.8Kottayam 38.7 33.7 36.2 76.2 69.5 72.9 84.0 79.3 81.7 86.3 83.8 85.1Alappuzha 43.9 35.9 39.9 75.2 65.8 70.4 82.1 75.1 78.5 85.4 81.4 83.4Pathananthitta - -- - 84.8 83.1 83.9Kollam 38.8 30.7 34.7 70.1 59.8 65.0 78.1 70.2 74.1 82.2 76.8 79.4Thiruva-nanthapuram 4.1 25.6 30.1 68.6 56.5 62.5 75.3 65.8 70.5 80.5 75.1 77.8Kerala 36.9 27.0 31.9 66.6 54.3 60.4 75.3 65.7 70.4 80.8 75.2 78.0Source:Census reports or the relevantyears.



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for thebenefitof differentcommunities.Their broad hrustwas the same as thatof the other educationalagencies, andovera periodof time theseorganisationsreinforcedheefforts o educate hemajorbackward nddepressedcommunities.SPURT AFTER NDEPENDENCE

After ndependenceheprincely tatesofTravancorendCochinwere ntegratedto formthe Travancore-CochintateonJuly1, 1949. Thepresent tateof Keralawasbor on November , 1956as aresultof the reorganisationof Indian statesalong linguisticlines. The Tamil majo-rity taluks of Travancore-Cochin erelost to Tamil Nadu andthe Malayalam-speakingMalabar egion was addedtoTravancore-Cochino form henew state.The formationof Keralabroughtabouttwo majorchanges n the socio-politicalscenario:1) theemergenceof the Com-munistPartyof Indiaas a strongrivaltotheIndianNationalCongress,which hadheld swayoverTravancore-Cochin;nd(2)theriseof theMuslim ommunityandtheirpolitical organisation,he MuslimLeague)as a majorplayer.In course of time coalition govern-ments formed by either the UnitedDemocratic ront r the LeftDemocraticFront became the rule rather than theexceptionin Kerala. Since both frontshave been of roughly equal strength,eachhas been pursuingpolicies whichwould ensure the greatest possiblesupportfrom every region and com-munity.This'balancing ct' has resultedin rapidprogressof literacy n districtssuch as Kasaragod,Kannur,Palghat,MalappuramndWayanad,which werefarbehind he stateaveragewhen Keralawas born. The districtwiseprogressofliteracy in Kerala is summarised inTable7. Note that a rapidadvance infemale iteracyhas been the main factorcontributing o substantialprogressingeneral literacy wherever it wasachieved.OnApril18, 1991 Keralawasdeclareda totally iterate tate on the basis of thenormsacceptedby theNationalLiteracyMission.Theeffectiveliteracyrate thenumberofiterate eople n thepopulationdivided y otalpopulationesspopulationinthe0-6agegroup of Kerala, ccordingto the1991Census, toodatabout90 percent (nearly94 per cent for males andaround 6 percent for females).

CONCLUSIONTheimpression s often sought to becreatedby writingson Kerala that thehigh evel of literacyas well as the other

social-sector developments (of the'Keralamodel') achieved by the stateis the outcome mainlyof the vigorouspursuitof enlightenedandprogressivepoliciesbythestate.Ouranalysisshows,however,that the state was only one ofthe players - and a relatively passiveone - in the transformation f Keralaintothemostliteratestatein the nation.Comparedto the rapid strides madeduring he 20thcentury, hroughout he19thcentury iteracy ates nTravancore(andCochin)- which spearheaded heprocess of educational developmentduringthe Britishdays- remained owbecause the statedenied largesectionsof the population ike the ezhavas andthepulayaseducationon castegrounds.Although he literacy evels of the casteHindus were slightly higherthan thoseof the depressed castes during thatcentury, hegeneral iteracy evel of thestate as a whole remained ow becauseof thewidespread lliteracyof thehigh-population backward and depressedclasses.It must hock he admirersf the Keralamodel of development to learn thatthroughouthe 19thcentury he statedidvery ittletopromoteemaleeducation rthe education f thedowntrodden.What-everprogresswasachievedn these ieldswas due to the effortsof the Protestantmissionaries ndthe indigenouschurch.The missionariescame to the Malabarcoastnotat the initiativeof thestatebutas a resultof thedeterminedffortsof theBritishResidents.Whilethe rulersof thestatesextendedmany avours othemissionaries,mainlyat the instance of the Residents, themissionariesoften faced thehostilityofthe caste Hindus and the bureaucracy,presided over by dewans (mostlybrahminor foreign) and staffed bycaste Hindus. The entry of the indi-genouschurch ntoeducational ctivities- duringhe atterpartof the 19thcentury- owesmuch o thegrant-in-aidchemesof the government.

Duringhe irsthalfof thepresent enturythe educational efforts of the foreignmissionaries and the indigenouschurches n Travancorewerereinforcedby severalpowerfulsocial movements,amongwhichthe SNDPYogamand theSJPSanghom,representinghe ezhavasand the pulayasrespectively,were themost prominent.The organised mightof these movements eventually madethe government agree to throw itsschools open to members of thebackwardanddepressedcommunities.Once this objective was achieved the

literacy evels of thosecommunities oserapidly.The formationof the Keralastate in1956 resultedin the educationalupliftof thebackwardregionsof Malabar ofthe erstwhile Madrasstate), thanks toa patrioticfervour n favour of a unitedKerala, political compulsions and anunprecedented xpansionof literacy nall parts of the state and among allsections of the population.

Notes[Theauthorexpresses ratitudeo P RGopinathanNair for his valuable comments.]

1 The powerful Nair Service Society (NSS),formed in 1914 by MannathPadmanabhan,was analtogetherdifferentkindof movement.As literacy among the nairs was among thehighest in the state, the NSS focused on theeradicationof superstitiousbeliefsand socialevils, besides working for the economicadvancement of the community.2 Customprescribedthat a nairmayapproachbut not touch a brahmin and that a shanaror ezhava must remain 36 paces away anda pulaya slave 96 paces away. Similardistances wereappointed or othercastes andbetween different castes.3 Therightsandprivilegesgranted o theSyrianChristians during the early centuries wereinscribed on copper plates. Such plates arebelieved to have been executed by rulers ikeCheraman Perumal fourthcentury), AyyanAtikal Thiruvatikalof Venad(ninthcentury)and Vira Raghava of Mahodayapuram.4 Samuel Mateer, a prominent London

MissionarySocietymanwhospentnineyearsin Travancore,has said thatEuropeanswereforbidden to use the main road and wererequiredto traverse a path along the coastwhere brahminsrarelytravelled. He himselfhadbeenorderedoff apublicroadbyservantsof a brahminpriest who was passing alongin his palanquin. Mateer refused to oblige.Other missionaries had been assaulted fornon-compliance [Mateer 1870:32-33].5 Colin Macaulay was the brotherof ZacharyMacaulay,one of the foundersof the ChurchMissionary Society in England. No wonderhe had concern for the uplift of the SyrianChristians of Malabar.6 Mead retired from his new assignment in1871 andhis end came on January19, 1873.Duringhis 57 years'residence nIndia 816-1873), Mead had contributed a lot to thespiritual and material progress of theunderprivileged people of southernTravancore.7 The Baker Memorial Girls' High School,which became a full-fledged English highschool in 1903, has grown out of the mergerandconsolidation of theearliestgirls'schoolsstartedin Kottayamby the wives of Bailey,Fenn and Henry Baker (Sr).8 Thegrant-in-aid odestipulated hefollowingconditions:(a) Thecourse of instructionpro-vided should be the same as that obtained



11/11

in governmentschools; (b) The prescribedtextbooks should be the same; and (c) onlyproperly qualified teachers should beemployed.9 Thecurriculumof apyallschool consisted ofsome lessons inarithmetic, stronomy,neethi-saram,he housandnamesofVishnu,aportionof the Sanskrit dictionary, easy lessons incasting horoscopesand the calendar,a fewverses on medicine and general poetry, allwrittenon palmyra eaf [Aiya 1906:453-54].10 Declaredbackwardfor the purposewere thepulaya,pariah, edan, zhawa,shanar,kurava,vettaran,marakkan, aravan,mukkuva,velan,pullan, malayarayan, talavan, tandan,mutuvan, velutedan,maranand kshaurakancastes,as well as the Mahomedancommunity[Aiya 1906:482].11 Among such organisations,we may list thefollowing:1 PrathiykshaRekshaDaiva Sabha (for thebenefit of pulayas and pariahs turnedChristians) 1909.2 Central TravancorePulaya Samajam.3 The CheramarMahajana Sanghom (forthe uplift of pulaya converts toChristianity) 1919.4 The SouthTravancore ambavarMahajana

Sanghom(organisationof pariahs) 1919.5 The SouthTravancoreAiyanavarSamajam(organisation of aiyanavar community)1916.

6 The South Travancore ChackalavarSamajam.7 The South Travancore KeralamuthaliSamajam.8 The Kerala Adimajana Sabha (for thecommongoodofkuravas,pulayas,pariahsand vedas).9 The All-KeralaAraya Mahajana Yogam.10 The All-Travancore VarnavarSamajam.11 The Yogiswara Mahajana Sanghom.

12 The Travancore Virasaiva Samajam.13The KeraliyaPanarSamajam.14 The Lajna MohammadiyaSabha.References

Abhimanyu,C (1990): AyyanKali, Departmentof Publications, Government of Kerala,Trivandrum.Agur, C M (1903): Church History ofTravancore, Parts I and II, Madras.Ajay,V N (1906): The TravancoreState ManualVol II, Government Press, Trivandrum.Dreze, J and A Sen (1995): India: Economic

Development and Social Opportunity,Delhi.Eapen, K V (1985): ChurchMissionary Societyand Education in Kerala, Kottayam.Government of Kerala(1970): The History ofFreedom Movement in Kerala, Vol I,Trivandrum.Jeffrey, R (1976): The Decline of NayarDominance: Society and Politics in

Travancore 1847-1908, Vikas PublishingHouse, New Delhi.Mateer, S (1991): The Land of Charity, a

Descriptive Account of Travancore and ItsPeople (firstpublished,London,1870),AsianEducational Services Reprint, Madras.Menon, A S (1967): ASurveyof KeralaHistory,Kottayam.-(1979): Social and CulturalHistoryof Kerala,Sterling Publishers, New Delhi.

Nair, P R G (1978): Education and EconomicChange in Kerala (Mimeo), Centre forDevelopment Studies, Trivandrum.Pillai, T K V (1940): TravancoreStateManual,Vol III, Government Press, Trivandrum.

Rajendran,G (1974): The Ezhava Communityand Kerala Politics, St Joseph's Press,Trivandrum.Sen, A (1994): Beyond Liberalisation: Social

Opportunityand Human Capability, NewDelhi.Tharakan,P K M(1984): Socio-EcnomicFactorsin Educational Development: The Case of19th Century Travancore, Centre for

Development Studies, Working PaperNo 190, Trivandrum.Travancorecensus reports for relevant years.Unitd Nations, Department of Economic andSocial Affairs (1975): Poverty, Unemploy-ment and DevelopmentPolicy:A CaseStudyof Selected Issues withReference to Kerala,New York.

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