European missionaries were present in India from the sixteenth
century. Alongside often aggressive conversion efforts, missionaries
pioneered the study of indigenous languages, advanced print technology,
and engaged in educational reform. The earliest text on display is by
Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (1683-1719), a German Lutheran missionary who
established the Tranquebar Mission in South India. Ziegenbalg was one of
the first Europeans to master Tamil. His 1715 translation of the New
Testament is the first of its kind in any Indian language.
Missionaries brought with them two principal tools of conversion, the
schoolhouse and the printing press. Printing was key to disseminating
the Gospel and Christian tract literature, as well as school books in
Indian languages. Among the eminent pioneers of vernacular printing was
William Carey (1761-1834), who established a mission in the Danish
colony of Serampore near Calcutta in 1800. The legendary Serampore Press
printed bibles in almost 50 languages, most of them translated by Carey
and his associates. Carey's New Testament in Bengali (1801) is shown
here. Printed bibles were only a fraction of an estimated 2,120,000
copies of both religious and secular works that were issued from
Serampore between 1800 and 1832.
Christian missions in India proliferated in the wake of the Company
Charter Act of 1813, which opened British territories to missionary
activity. While missionaries played an important role in the expansion
of literacy and primary education, their work remained deeply
controversial. This was especially true for efforts at educating Indian
women, which consolidated from mid-century onward with the zenana missions, when female missionaries entered into the privacy of Indian homes. The beatific image of zenana work in Children of India (1883) projects a benevolent relationship that often did not correspond to reality.
An Account of the Religion, and Government, Learning and Oeconomy, &c. of the Malabarians... Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg (1683-1719) London: Joseph Downing, 1717 Rare Book Collection
Makhzan i Masihi. The Christian Treasury Makhzan i Masihi. The Christian Treasury
Allahabad: Allahabad Mission Press., 1869 Regenstein Library, General Collections
The Children of India. Written for the Children of England by One of Their Friends The Children of India. Written for the Children of England by One of Their Friends London: The Religious Tract Society, [1883]
Historical Children’s Book Collection
The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center