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Article: The star in the east: the controversy over Christian missions to India, 1805-1813.
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- March 22, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1805, the publication of a pamphlet by Claudius Buchanan, a little known Anglican clergyman in Calcutta, sparked a bitter eight-year debate over the right of Christian missionaries to operate in British India. The issue became the subject of dozens of pamphlets, many emotional sermons, and nearly 1,000 parliamentary petitions. While missions advocates stressed the need to combat immorality and convert the unsaved, their opponents, led by the powerful East India Company, argued that such mission work caused disaffection among Indian citizens and undermined British political authority.(1)
Most scholars have assigned motives to the two groups involved in the ...