The College of Fort William: ‘Oasis of Learning or Colonial Bridgehead?’
Abstract
As a result of the internal feuding of the Indian potentates, to which the British added their share of divisive power-playing, the British had become, by the end of the eighteenth century, the most powerful geopolitical force and the commanding player on the chessboard of subcontinental politics. The rise of the British, from an enterprising commercial entity to a position of power and sovereignty created and demanded that they retain a paramountcy over their Indian rivals and foes and not remain merely primus inter pares. Certain prerequisites were demanded by circumstances to foster, promote and generate the idea of British domination in the Indian subcontinent. These included a combination of a civil and military hierarchy as would be conducive to the control of a vast and discontented local population and to the furtherance of their own annexationist aspirations. The British employees of the East India Company were poorly equipped to handle the gigantic task of governing a large, unruly population scattered over a territory as extensive as Europe.1 The British possessions in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa were of key importance being rich in resources, human and natural, besides providing the tantalising bridgehead to further expansionist designs.2