Geoffrey A. Oddie

This study of British missionary activity in the later nineteenth century India focuses attention on the missionaries' concern with social issues and involvement in agitation for social reform. With no stake in the Indian social system, the missionaries were sometimes more outspoken than the Hindu reformers in attacking social evils. They were also involved in controversies over the status of Hindu women, in campaigns against European abuse of Indian labour, in temperance campaigns, and in crusades for reform of opium system. In the course of his analysis, the author not only raises questions about the nature and ramifications of the missionary movement itself, but also about the attitude of the educated elite and the nature of the forces opposing reforms within Indian society. What, for instance, were the missionaries' objectives and why, if con­version with their ultimate aim, were they so concerned with these social issues? Was their social zeal exogenous in its origin or indigenous? How far were they divided among themselves and why? Again how far did they help to shape Indian views and influence Government policy?

The Rev. James Long was one of the most remarkable Protestant missionaries working in India in the nineteenth century. Sent to Calcutta at the age of 22 in 1840, he devoted his life to representing what he passionately believed were the best interests of the forgotten poor and oppressed among the Bengali population. Long was a central figure in the indigo planting controversy of 1861 and suffered imprisonment as a result. His memory is revered even today in modern India, where his contribution to the development of Bengali vernacular education, literature, history, and sociology is highly regarded. Dr Oddie has produced the first full-length biography of Rev Long, examining his work and activities in the context of his own background, philosophy and motivation as well as the political and cultural climate of the day. This book will add significantly to our knowledge of social movements in nineteenth century India and the colonial responses to them.

The Rev. James Long was one of the most remarkable Protestant missionaries working in India in the nineteenth century. Sent to Calcutta at the age of 22 in 1840, he devoted his life to representing what he passionately believed were the best interests of the forgotten poor and oppressed among the Bengali population. Long was a central figure in the indigo planting controversy of 1861 and suffered imprisonment as a result. His memory is revered even today in modern India, where his contribution to the development of Bengali vernacular education, literature, history, and sociology is highly regarded. Dr Oddie has produced the first full-length biography of Rev Long, examining his work and activities in the context of his own background, philosophy and motivation as well as the political and cultural climate of the day. This book will add significantly to our knowledge of social movements in nineteenth century India and the colonial responses to them.