Winning Punjabi Women through Education: A Study of Christian Missionaries’ Activities (1849-1900)

Abstract

Women’s formal education was initiated by the Colonial government in collaboration with the
Christian missionaries in Punjab. It was a very difficult task at that time because of the conservative
character of the native community. The participation of Christian missionaries in the movement of
women’s education is sometimes considered beyond their scope. They were expected to take popular
decisions to establish good relationship with the population of this region to achieve their ultimate
goal of conversion. On the contrary, they decided to work for women’s education, which was
considered to be against society's prevalent socio-religious customs and conventions. It could be
counterproductive for them by arousing the sentiments of the native society. This research attempts
to explore, why they were involved in the education of the female multitude of the society instead of
getting converts through preaching to the native community. Following the historical research
method, the data was collected from different archival sources. The data analysis shows that the
missionaries had some specific objectives behind their educational enterprise. They were serving their
theological obligation by rendering academic service to the female folk of the Punjabi society.