Abstract

This research paper analyzes the transformation of the intellectual society of Murshidabad, from a traditional educational system to one that preserved the colonial educational trends while simultaneously acting as a carrier of English education.  After the Battle of Plassey (1757) and its loss of political capital Murshidabad once again retained its significance as a major cultural and intellectual center. The educated elite had grown up among city residents, especially landlords, lawyers, intellectuals and teachers formed the urban class to help them promote cultural and intellectual exchange and develop the urbanized city with an urbanist identity. This class interacted with the administrative systems of Britain pragmatically, adopting English education in select ways while retaining ancient Persian-Arabic and Sanskrit academic traditions, creating a hybrid intellectual culture (Valdos, 1979). Even though the popular instruction program of 1835 supported instruction in the English language, intellectuals in Murshidabad rejected this entire Anglicization and adopted an English education based on its needs in their local society, giving them agency to act in the context of their colonies. Schools, libraries, and literary societies were sponsored by local elites, leading to a growing regional public space wherein Bengali language and history were salient characteristics of cultural identity. It was this that helped to construct a kind of form of cultural nationalism, little more overt than a moralistic cultural resistance towards other cultures. But the intellectual and reform agendas were primarily limited to urban elite upper caste, with scantly any inclusion of women, poorer groups, rural populations, which underscored continued colonial and class hierarchies. In this way, Murshidabad’s cultural identity served as a “transitional intelligentsia”, navigating the tensions of tradition and modernity under colonial rule. The same, though did not lead the way in direct political engagement or management, played its part in building a solid foundation for modern Indian intellectual and nationalist thought, in the form of education, literature and cultural practices. Thus, rather challenging colonial intellectual formations and their legacy in the wider history of colonial India, this research highlights the nuanced complexities and paradox within colonial intellectual formations.