Points of Controversy between Anglicists and Orientalists

Points of Controversy between Anglicists and Orientalists:

In 1813, the British government decided to spend a sum of one lakh rupees on the spread of education in India. Soon, a controversy began between two groups of educationists called the Anglicists and the Orientalists.

Both of them differed on the following points-

• The Anglicists, headed by Lord Macaulay, wanted English as the medium of instruction while the Orientalists, headed by H.H. Wilson and H.T. Prinsep, supported the Indian languages.

• The Anglicists were the supporters of western system of education while the Orientalists pleaded for the Eastern system of education.

• The supporters of western systems wanted teaching of English literature and sciences, while the supporters of the eastern system wanted the teaching of Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit languages.

• The supporters of the eastern system wanted the government should take the responsibility of education of all, whereas the supporters of English wanted it for a few only.