Christianity and Caste in XIXth Century South India. The Different Social Policies of British and Non-British Christian Missions / Christianisme et caste dans l'Inde du sud du XIXe siècle. Les politiques sociales des missions chrétiennes britanniques et non-britanniques

Abstract

The construction and growth of Christian congregations in South India are an important part of the social history of the XIXth century. The writings of the missionaries are abundant and mirror the perceptions of the social world expressed in various missionary societies. One of the most significant themes in all European writings on India in this period was the caste system. It was difficult to understand and difficult to rule a people with such an unfamiliar social class system. Here I have concentrated on two Catholic societies, the Jesuits and the French Missions Etrangères de Paris, and two Protestant Societies, the English London Missionary Society and the German Leipzig Mission. The societies were very different. Whereas the Jesuits and the Leipzig missionaries more or less accepted the caste system as it was, the French mission was critical and the English system downright forbidding and wanted no trace of the caste system in their congregations. To a certain extent this attitude was similar to the one found in the secular British administration which also introduced a number of social reforms during the XIXth century. Finally, it is stressed that we should avoid overlooking the non-British source-material. Even though the British missionaries were closely connected to the Raj they were not the only missionaries in India, and the non-British societies also formulated and discussed the Indian social system as it shaped their congregations