Class Year
2025
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2022
Department 1
History
Abstract
This paper examines the British government’s approach to religious affairs in British India in the late nineteenth century, positing that religion was an important factor in understanding imperial governance in the period between 1857 and 1905. Beginning with a historiography containing the works of four authors, which is followed by a brief consideration of Queen Victoria’s 1858 proclamation, the paper proceeds to consider three distinct areas, namely personal law, caste, and interfaith interactions. Some of the specific elements examined include the role of English belief in Christianity in their dealings with religion and the British policy of “divide and rule,” specifically as it relates to how Hindus and Muslims coexisted in the late nineteenth century. There is also a legal historical element stressed through the in-depth examination of two cases within the time period at issue. The Partition of Bengal is the culminating event analyzed.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Rallabandi, Vivek K., "Religious Affairs in British Indian Governance: 1857-1905" (2022). Student Publications. 1160.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/1160
Included in
Asian History Commons, History of Religion Commons, South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons
Comments
Written for HIST 316: Transformations in Nineteenth Century Europe