Margaret and James Mitchell
Teachers of Savitribai and Jotiba Phule
Jotiba Phule, in his deposition to the Sir
William Hunter Education Commission in 1882, has said:
``My
experience in educational matters is principally confined to Poona and the
surrounding villages. About 25 years ago, the missionaries had established a
female school at Poona, but no indigenous school for girls existed at the time.
I, therefore, was induced, about the year 1854 [this could be a spelling
error], to establish such a school, and in which I and my wife worked together
for many years. ‘’
In his
deposition to the Hunter Commission, Phule further says:
“After
some time I placed this school under the management of a committee of educated
natives. Under their auspices two more schools were opened in different parts
of the town. A year after the institution of the female schools, I also
established an indigenous mixed school for the lower classes, especially the
Mahars and Mangs. Two more schools for these classes were subsequently added,
Sir Erskine Perry, the president of the late Educational Board, and Mr.
Lumsdain, the then Secretary to Government, visited the female schools and were
much pleased with the movement set on foot, and presented me with a pair of
shawls. I continued to work in them for nearly 9 to 10 years, but owing to
circumstances, which it is needless here to detail, I seceded from the work.
These female schools still exist, having been made over by the committee to the
Educational Department under the management of Mrs. Mitchell. ‘’
A question
may arise. Who is this Mrs. Mitchell?
The names
of James Mitchell and Mrs. Mitchell appear in several contexts in biographies
of both Jotiba and his wife, Savitribai Phule. However not much light has been
thrown on this Scottish missionary couple and their exact contributions in the
shaping the lives of Jotiba and Savitribai Phule.
In a
recently released Marathi language movie, ‘Satyashodhak’, some scenes have been
shot at the very beginning of this movie on`James Saheb’, Reverend James
Mitchell in whose Scottish missionary school Jotiba and his companions had
studied in 1840s.
Explaining
his credentials to the Hunter Commission on submission of his views on
educational system, in the same paragraph of the deposition, Phule continues:
``A school
for the lower classes, Mahars and Mangs, also exists at the present day, but
not in a satisfactory condition. I have also been a teacher for some years in a
mission female boarding school.’’’
It is
significant to note that Jotiba Phule had been a student in the missionary
school ran by James Mitchell and later in 1850s, also functioned as a teacher
in the same school. The association of
the missionary couple James Mitchell and Mrs. Mitchell with the social reformer
couple Jotiba and Savitribai Phule thus runs for a long time.
Dhananjay
Keer in his biography ‘Mahatma Jotirao Phoolay – Father of the Indian Social
Revolution’ has written:
``Both
Jotirao and his wife had been serving the schools any remuneration, nobly and
selflessly. He passed some year engrossed in this work, which demanded close
and unremitted att His father had driven him out of his house and he now felt
the a job. He accepted the post of a teacher in a Scottish Missionary in Poona.
It was a female boarding school started in July 1854 compound of the Mission.
The institution consisted of an orphanage or home for destitute children, and a
boarding school for the children of converts whose parents could not rightly or
full them and such other children over whom the mission could exercise a control.
The
report on the working of these schools observes: "At we have 13 boarders.
During the day they are joined in their by 40 day-scholars. We have been happy
in securing the aid instruction (for nearly four hours a day), of one of the
most zeal accomplished teachers in Poona- Jotee Govind Rao Phooley- a native philanthropist
whose persevering efforts on behalf of the education of females and of the low
castes, have called for the warmest commendations of the Board of Education and
of Government itself. He has our highest expectations; the progress of the
girls has been most satisfactory.’’
Savitribai
Phule had studied in the female teachers training school established in Pune by
Mrs. Margaret Shaw Mitchell. This has
been recorded in various documents related to the lives of the Phule couple.
Savitribai Phule is rightly hailed as the first Indian trained woman teacher.
It
is recorded, ``James Mitchell was born in the neighbourhood of Stirling in
Scottland in 1800. As a young man, he moved to Leith, and became connected with
the congregation of the well-known Dr. Colquhoun. He felt an ardent desire to
preach the gospel in foreign nations although most of his relatives were
against it. After receiving a
considerable measure of academical training, he was sent out to Western India
as an agent of the Scottish Missionary Society.
Mitchell arrived in Bombay in July 1826, accompanied by Cooper, John
Stevenson, and Crawford. Donald Mitchell
had preceded them by a few months, but his course was very brief.’’
Free
Church Missionary Record, June 1866, mentions that ``James Mitchell was born in
the year 1800, in the vicinity of Stirling. Removing thence to Leith, he became
connected with the congregation of the well-known Dr Colquhoun, where,
especially in the Sabbath-school, his attention was directed to the claims of
missions. Against the remonstrance of his relatives he resolved to devote
himself to the work, and, after receiving a considerable measure of academic
training, was ordained in August 1822, as a missionary to India.’’
Following
information has been compiled from various records of the Scottish Mission in
Pune.
Historian
Rev. Robert Hunter writes, ``The Scottish Missionary Society sent out labourers
to the Sussoo country in West Africa, to Russia, to India, and to Jamaica. To
the West of India were dispatched in succession the Rev. Donald Mitchell, who
survived but a short time, the Rev. John Cooper, the Rev. Alexander Crawford,
the Rev. John Stevenson, the Rev. James Mitchell, afterwards of Poonah, with
the Rev. Robert Nesbit and the Rev. John Wilson, both, as is well known,
subsequently of Bombay.
The
first missionary was the Rev. Donald Mitchell, who arrived in January 1823, but
died about eight months subsequently. Shortly before his lamented decease,
there arrived three others labourers, the Rev. Messrs John Cooper, James
Mitchell, and Alexander Crawford, the little band being increased not long
afterwards by the coming, on the 17th February 1824, of the Rev. John
Stevenson. Of these, Rev. James Mitchell was ordained in August 1822; the Rev.
Mr. Nesbit on the 13th December 1826'; and the Rev. John Wilson on June 24,
1828.
All
these missionaries were married, and thus they had female assistance from the
first in carry carrying on their work. The intention had been that they should
permanently settle in Poonah (now Pune), the proper Mahratta capital, but the Government
would not hear of such a proposal.
Thus
baffled, the missionaries felt it to be a question where they should go. They
thought of Bombay, but to a certain extent that field seemed pre-occupied,
there having been there an American mission from the end of 1814 or the
beginning of 1815, and one belonging to the Church of England from 1820. They
therefore turned aside to the much less promising sphere of the Southern Concan
(Konkan). Two stations within the region just named were soon after occupied,
the one at the town of Bankote, about sixty miles south of Bombay, and the
other at Hurnee (Harnai).
After
acquiring the (Marathi) language, the missionaries preached to the adult native
population, for whose benefit also they composed and circulated tracts. By 1827
had under their nominal control 80 distinct schools, with about 3000 pupils, a
certain proportion of them being Brahmans. Nay, more, some few girls came along
with the boys.
By 1827,
wonderful to relate, the female pupils exceeded 300.
On
February 13, 1829, the mission received a splendid reinforcement by the arrival
of the Rev. John (now the Rev. Dr) Wilson, in himself a host, accompanied by
the first Mrs Wilson.
Messrs
Mitchell and Stevenson having preached to the people of Poonah in the year
1829, and been well received, Mr. Stevenson removed thither about 1831. When it
was found that Poonah was really open, and that the missionaries were likely
permanently to retain their footing there, the operations at Bankote and Hurnee
were allowed to come to an end.
In
November of the same year the Rev. John Murray Mitchell, a distinguished
graduate of Marischal College, arrived from Scotland.’’
Narayan Vishnu Joshi, in his Marathi book “Description of the City of Pune”, published
in 1868 wrote the following words about the schools of James Mitchell:
“The very first school for learning English in Pune was that
of Reverend James Mitchell Sahib and (Robert) Nesbit, missionaries of the
Scottish Mission. This school was later taken over by the government and housed
in Budhwar Wada. At that time, the number of students was very small, and no
monthly fees were charged from the boys; instead, to encourage deserving
students, they were given a monthly stipend. At the time of the annual
examination, very fine prizes such as shawls, turbans, bouquets, etc., were
awarded.
Later, when people leant the need to educate, a small fee of
eight annas per student per month was fixed. However, students who had
completed their studies in the Marathi school were admitted free of charge.
This practice continues even today. In this manner, the spread of education
gradually progressed.
At that time, Christian religious instruction was also
taught in this school; however, it is heard that this was discontinued because
an English Church clergyman held the view that it was not proper to place the
Holy Scriptures in the hands of sinful people.
In the year 1833, subjects such as geography, astronomy, and
physics were introduced in the government English and Marathi schools. Before
this, the people of Pune were aware only of the astronomical theories
propounded by Bhaskaracharya in their traditional astrology; even these were
not known to everyone, but only to the Joshi (Brahmin astrologer) community. As
for geography, the only knowledge consisted of Puranic stories—such as the
belief that the earth rests on the head of Shesha and that there are nine
continents and seven oceans. Physics as a discipline was entirely unknown.
Mr. Ijdell Sahib was the professor at this school. He ran the
school with great effort, because learning English was not at all popular among
the people of that time. People studied English only with the expectation that
it would lead to jobs with high salaries. There was no genuine love of
learning.”
James
Mitchell was one of the first Scottish missionaries who arrived in India in
1823 and started missionary work and
established schools at Bankot and Harnai in Konkan. All these Scottish
missionaries were married and their wives aided their husbands in their work. The missionary wives established female
schools and girls boarding schools.
The wife
of James Mitchell too was thus busy in the missionary and educational work.
Mrs. Mitchell who had for some time maintained female schools at Bankot however
died at Dapoli in Konkan on January 17, 1832.
In Scottish Mission documents and books, this social
reformer is mentioned only in passing as “the First Mrs. Mitchell,” meaning
“the first wife of James Mitchell,” or simply as “Mrs. Mitchell of Bankot in
the Konkan.” Finding her photograph is even more difficult. Nevertheless, the
contribution of this “First Mrs. Mitchell,” who ran a school and a boarding
facility for girls in the remote Konkan under extremely adverse conditions,
must certainly be acknowledged.
By this
time, John Stevenson, another Scottish missionary, had established a mission
base at Pune. Stevenson in 1833 gave up his missionary rank to join as a
chaplain of the East India Company and James Mitchell came to Pune to replace
him as the head of the Pune Scottish Mission. The Scottish mission centres in
Konkan were then permanently closed.
James
Mitchell in 1840 wrote to ``The Scottish Ladies Association for Female
Education in India’’, seeking help of some women to carry out female education
in India. At that time, the Scottish
Mission in Pune had five girls schools.
Women teachers were needed to teach in these schools.
In
response to his appeal, the Scottish Ladies Association deputed a young woman,
Miss Margaret Shaw, to Pune in 1841.
It is written in `` Story of our
Maratha Missions (Western and Central India with Aden, chapter VI):
``When the Rev. James Mitchell, one
of the first Scottish missionaries, applied to the Ladies’ Society for aid in
developing women’s work in 1840, he could tell of five girls’ schools which had
been begun and of nine female converts already won for Christ. In response to
his appeal, the Ladies’ Society sent out Miss Shaw in 1841.
She was married to Mr. Mitchell soon
afterwards, but that did not prevent her prosecuting the work to which she had
been sent, and which she carried on with much zeal for more than 20 years, She
visited the little day-schools regularly, and in 1843 began an orphanage on the
lines of Mrs. Wilson’s school in Bombay. And although the day of Zenana work
was not yet, she found her way her way to the women of several good caste Hindu
families.’’
This
Margaret Shaw Mitchell, simply referred to as `Mrs. Mitchell’ in various
documentations and books, later played an important role in female education in
India. She continued her work in India with dedication for the next two
decades.
Mr. and Mrs.
James Mitchell were on furlough, the work was in the hands of Dr. Murray
Mitchell, who, with his warm-hearted and gifted wife, did much to foster
women’s work. The Orphanage specially owed much to Mrs. Mitchell’s kindly
superintendence. A delightfully graphic “peep” at the school is given in her
recent booklet, `Peep into my Poona School.’’
In a
letter by Mr James Mitchell, of Poonah, published in the Missionary Record for
1842, p. 152, there is a foreshadowing of something very like the zenana scheme.
Mitchell has written-
“Mrs. Mitchell has lately begun visiting in
the families of some of the girls and others. A few days ago she had rather an
interesting interview with the females of one of the chief pundits in Poonah, a
man of the highest rank, both as Sirdar (nobleman) and a Brahman. They were so
taken with the interview that the pundit called yesterday to ask her to repeat
the visit’’.
Records
reveal that on 28th January 1845, Miss Joanna Shaw arrived from
Europe, as assistant to her sister, Mrs. Mitchell, who was superintendent of
the female schools.
From the
Assembly report, we learn that during the year 1844-1845, the schools were
flourishing. There were in the
English
schools about 125 students
5 Marathi
boys' schools about 365 students
5
Marathi girls’ schools
about 110 students
Indapore about 160 students
760 students
The
numbers at the bazaar school in Pune were greater than those at the city one.
Yet the city school was, in some important respects, the more important one;
for, first, it was attended chiefly by Brahmans, while the bazaar pupils were
mostly low caste camp followers; and, and, the students in the city school
belonged to the permanent population, whereas those in the bazaar one were here
this year and gone the next.
The
bazaar was called the Camp bazaar, or the Sudder, that is, the chief bazaar,
and was about a mile from the city. The population was very mixed and
migratory. When the two English schools were temporarily united in 1845, their
aggregate number, 125, was reduced to go.
Mr
Cassidy was teacher of the bazaar English school, and Mr Wazir Beg of the city
one. In July 1849, the former contained 90 pupils and the latter 50.
At this
time we find in Mr Mitchell's, arrangements a quiet anticipation of what are
now termed rural missions. For instance, in 1846 he had the convert Shewanath
located at a village called Kotrur (Kothrud). A second one, Appa, was at Little
Kondwa, two miles from Poonah, teaching a school with twenty children. Gopalla,
the younger of two Brahman converts baptized a little before, was directed to
commence operations at a place a mile further off, whilst the other Brahman
still remained as a pupil in the English school.
Historian
Rev. Robert Hunter writes ``It is always interesting to the student of human
progress to see how historic scenes repeat themselves, and that in different
regions of the world. Readers will remember how poor students of the
Reformation period, and Luther himself among the number, had to beg bread from
door to door, to aid in their support whilst they prosecuted their studies. The
same scene is reproduced even yet in Poonah. In his report for 1845, Mr
Mitchell mentions the very interesting fact that some of the Brahman boys
literally beg for support whilst upder instruction, calling at the houses of a
certain number of their richer caste people about dinner-time, and obtaining a
little rice from each. The scanty supplies of rice thus obtained keep them in
food for whole day, and leave them free to devote a number of hours to their
lessons.’’
That
year 1846 was one of death at Poonah. Mr Mitchell wrote in August 1846 that in
the two months previously the cholera had cut off about a third of the population.
Mitchell
father-son duo together at mission
On
August 10, 1852, the Rev. William Kinnaird Mitchell was ordained a missionary
to Poonah, where his father had so long laboured, and, with Mrs Mitchell,
reached the old Mahratta capital on the 20th January 1853. Writing on 9th May
1853, Mr Kinnaird Mitchell said that the day previously about 400 soldiers
belonging to the 78th Regiment had been pre- sent at the morning service,
making, with others, about 450 present, while in the evening there were about
150.
Towards
the end of the year the Rev. James Mitchel was compelled to repair to Europe
for the restoration of his health, which had suffered from thirty years'
arduous labour in India, and the Rev. J. Murray Mitchell proceeded to Poonah
temporarily to occupy his place.
In
December 1853 Mr Wazir Beg was licenced a preacher. On the 27th January
following he opened a Hindustani school for Mohammedans in the city. About
forty boys joined it, a large number, considering the peculiar difficulty
everywhere found to induce Mohammedans to consent to receive education,
especially if, imbued with Christianity. Mr Wazir Beg visited Scotland. Later
he settled in Australia.
Under Mr
Murray Mitchell's auspices, the institution wonderfully flourished. In 1855, he
mentioned that there were now in it 250 pupils. In1855, James Mitchell again returned to
Pune.
About
the end of 1856, James Mitchell’s son Rev. W. Kinnaird Mitchell, returned to
Europe due to health issues with little hope of his ever being able to return to
India. Rev. James Wardrop Gardner was sent out in his room. In one of the early
months of 1860, Mr James Mitchell was again ordered home. As earlier, John
Murray Mitchell replaced him.
Rev.
John Small, a teacher of the Free Church school at Aberuthven, was appointed to
Pune Mission in 1863.
Jotiba
Phule conducted a public examination of the girls schools at the Poona College
grounds on Saturday, 12 February 1852.
The function was attended by a large number of invited dignitaries,
natives as well as Europeans. The newspaper records of the event mention names
of James Mitchel and Mrs. Mitchell among those present.
Both
Jotiba and Savitribai were students of James Mitchell and Mrs. Margaret Shaw
Mitchell and the missionary couple may have derived great satisfaction on their
students performing extraordinary service in the field of female
education.
Savitribai
Phule was among the first women trained by Mrs. Margaret Mitchell in her
teachers training school. Savitribai later won an acclaim as efficient
head-mistress of the girls schools established by the Phule couple in
Pune.
In his autobiography, Scottish
missionary John Murray Mitchell has described the work and personalities of the
Scottish Missions in Mumbai and Pune. He
writes:
``All or nearly all the Scotsmen (
John Stevenson, John Wilson, Robert Nesbit)
that have been mentioned were men of mark.’’ In Contrast to these great
scholars, John Murray Mitchell had following words to describe the remaining
member of the Scottish mission in western India, James Mitchell.
``The remaining member of the mission had not
enjoyed an academic training ; but he was a true - hearted , good man , who
laboured long and faithfully and was held in much respect both by Europeans and
natives . ‘’
Murray Mitchell writes : ``What was
remarkable, we had a school for Mohammadan girls maintained by the fees paid by
pupils. The attendance was full seventy. There was no other school for
Mohammadan girls in Poona. ‘’
Various books dealing on the history of the Scottish Mission in
western India mention the work of James Mitchell and Mrs. Margaret Shaw
Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell who ran girls
schools and also a boarding for girls in Pune was superintendent of these
schools for two decades till 1863. The
mission had then one female boarding and six day schools, with an aggregate of
310 pupils. In 1863, the post of schools superintendent was taken up by Mrs. Gardner, wife of a Scottish
missionary James Wardrop Gardner who had arrived in Pune to assist James
Mitchell in his mission work.
In 1866,
the long missionary career of Mr James Mitchell came to a close. He expired on
the heights of Matheran on the 28th of March, after a short illness.
"He
died," says the Rev. Dr John Wilson, "in the full exercise of all his
mental and spiritual faculties, and in the possession of perfect rest and peace
in Jesus. Mrs Mitchell, his eldest daughter, Dr. Fraser, and Mr Small were
present with him when the solemn event occurred."
James Mitchell
was about sixty-six when he died; and with the exception of two short visits
home, had laboured in India continuously for the long period of forty-three
years. He was laid to rest in Pune.
Recently,
to my pleasant surprise, I discovered that Rev. James Mitchell is the founder
of the Christ Church, the Rasta Peth-based church located on the Laxmi Road
which joins The Peth areas and Pune Camp in Pune. A plaque at the altar of the city’s one of
the oldest churches, testifies this. Incidentally, veteran cricketer Chandu
Borde, is a member of this Christ Church. It was a pleasant surprise to find
footsteps of this veteran missionary and his wife Mrs Mitchell who moulded the
lives of Savitribai and Jotiba Phule.
Camil Parkhe
^^^
