প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 99 প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo A journal of Humanities & Social Science Published by: Dept. of Bengali Karimganj College, Karimganj, Assam, India Website: www.thecho.in Women Literacy Rate in the Princely State Tripura: A Historical Study Nilanjan De Asst. Prof, Dept. of History, Rabindrasadan Girls‟ College, Karimganj, Assam, Email: nilanjan.de0@gmail.com Abstract Tripura was a princely state and ruled by the rulers of Manikya dynasty for a long period. She merged with the Indian Union on 15 th Oct 1949. The rulers of Tripura wanted to modernise their state and educational modernisation was only a part of it. However, that process of modernisation was started only from the last quarter of 19 th century. Many schools, both primary and secondary were established during that short span of time. Nevertheless, due to its primitive and patriarchal character the ratio between the male and female literacy growth rate was not uniform. In this article the researcher tried to find out the female literacy growth rate in Tripura before her amalgamation and historically analyse the real cause behind the negligence of women education in the Princely state Tripura on the basis of various statistical records. Education is one of the pillars of modernisation and literacy growth rate is an indicator through which the educational growth can be measured partially. Tripura was a princely state before her amalgamation with the Indian Union. It was a tribal inhabited state based on its primitive culture and tradition. Hence, the state was far away from modern educational system. The process of modernisation was started from the last quarter of 19th century. However, due to the lack of proper educational infrastructure the literacy rate was very negligible in the state. During the last three quarters of Manikya rule, it is evident that the literacy growth rate of the state increased handsomely. However, the conditions of women literacy rate in Tripura were very insignificant. প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 100 A country or a state cannot make her progress only with her male or female citizens. Both have their equal roles behind the development. Nevertheless, in the patriarchal society the domination of male citizens and in the matriarchal society the domination of female citizens is evident and thus, those countries or states offer us a halfway developmental story. In 19 th century, in a primitive state like Tripura with her patriarchal outlook give us an idea about the social condition of women in Tripura. In 19 th century Tripura, tribal people were majority in the state under the Manikya rulers. Table No. 1 depicts that during the period there were very few numbers of schools in the princely state Tripura and the total numbers of pupils were very poor but unfortunately, there were no trace of any female students during the period. Hence, it is clear from the report that the female education was never appreciated by the rulers of Tripura. Table No. 1. Educational account of the state Tripura (1894-95) D iv is io n Number of Schools Students Race of Students Avera ge daily attend ance of F o r b o y s F o r g ir ls T o ta l B o y s G ir ls T o ta l T h ak u rs M an ip u ri s T ri p u ri s K u k is B en g al i H in d u s B en g al i M u sl im s C h ri st ia n s O th er s B o y s G ir ls Sadar 1 0 0 1 0 44 8 0 44 8 5 6 64 3 3 0 184 85 11 15 34 2. 89 0 Sonamur a 8 0 8 18 9 0 18 9 2 0 3 1 0 61 82 0 13 13 2. 41 0 Bilonia 5 0 5 13 7 0 13 7 0 0 0 0 54 83 0 0 95 .3 6 0 Kailasha har 1 2 0 1 2 30 6 0 30 6 0 17 4 0 1 5 65 50 0 2 23 4 0 প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 101 Total 3 5 0 3 5 10 80 0 10 80 5 8 23 8 6 4 1 5 364 300 11 30 80 4. 66 0 Source: The Administration Report of Tripura State For the Years (189495,1914-15, 1918-19), Tribal Research & Cultural Institute, Government of Tripura, Agartala, 2004 The aborigines were primitive, lived in deep forests and were satisfied with their age old culture and traditions and the people those who lived in urban area i.e. only the town Agartala and divisional headquarters were also very few in numbers. Accordingly, the Census Report of 1901 reveals that the educated tribal people in Tripura were very few in number. Until the thirties of 20 th century, the „Thakur‟ families represented the educated section of the tribals (Bareh, 2007). Table No. 2 shows the educated aborigines of Tripura in the year 1901. Table 2. Number of Educated Tribal people (Census 1901) Total Population 1, 73,325 Name of the Tribes Tribal Population Educated Tribes Chakma 4,510 10 Tripura 75,781 107 Kuki 7,547 04 Halam 2,215 Nil Lushai 135 Nil Mog 1,491 137 Total 91,679 258 Source: Atish Chandra Choudhury Census Report 1310 T.E. (1901 A.D.), Tribal Research Institute, Government of Tripura, Agartala, Reprinting 1995. Hence, from the above table it becomes clear that only 0.28% of the tribal population were educated. The person those who were educated other than the tribal peoples were especially the Bengalis. The reasons behind it was that, the progressive rulers of the state wanted to make their state modern and in this process of modernisation they invited educated intellectuals of colonial প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 102 Bengal. Thus, a large numbers of educated intellectuals begin to immigrate into the State especially from Bengal. While, the total number of Bengali people living in Tripura in the year 1901 was 59,689 (Choudhury, Re-print 1995), it was enumerated that 43,894 people migrated to Tripura (Choudhury, Re-print 1995), though in the Imperial Gazetteers of India Vol. XIII the number of immigrants were 40,000 (Imperial Gazetteers of India, Vol, XIII (New Edition), 1908). As the educated Bengali immigrants began to immigrate into Tripura, the number of literacy increased but the census report 1901 reveals that though the number of male literacy increased significantly, the female literacy growth rate was quite insignificant (Table No. 3). One of the reasons behind this insignificant growth rate of female literacy was that, during the period those who migrated from Bengal to Tripura were moved by the easy earning in Tripura. The officials, government employees, farmers and the working class came to Tripura for employment only, not with the intention of settling in the State permanently and therefore, they left their family members at home. The new comers do not at once entirely leave their residence in British territory, they keep their families and friends there, and make in Hill Tipperah only Khamar Baris or farmhouses in which they live for the purposes of carrying on their cultivation (Annual Report on the General Administration of the Political Agency of Hill Tippera for the year 1886, No-407, dated , 7th July, 1887, para-34). For the first time one girls‟ school was opened within the campus of Imperial palace by the Queen Maharani Tulshibati. In 9 th April, 1894 the school with the name „Agartala Balika Vidyalaya started her journey. The school was completely aided by the Queen‟s personal treasury. At first, only the girls from royal families got their education from the school but later, girls from various places took admission. However, if we see table no. 3 than it depicts that initially the school was unable to increase the number of female literacy in the state, though it was an outstanding effort on the way of women education in Tripura. According to the Imperial Gazetteers of India, in 1901, only 2.3 percent of the population could read and write (The Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol. XIII, 1908) and among them 4.1% were males and 0.2% was females. In the year 1903-04 the numbers of educational institutions were 103 in Tripura and the number of pupils increased to 3125 (3008 boys and 117 girls) in the year 1903-04 প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 103 (The Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol. XIII, 1908). That number of schools and their pupils increased in the later years. Table: No. 3 Number of peoples (according to their religion) those who were educated in different languages in Tripura in the year 1901 In the year 1914-15, the numbers of schools increased to 154 and among them only 12 nos. of schools were made for the girls. Hence, though the number of male literacy increased in Tripura during the period the female literacy did not increase in the same proportion (Table No. 4). In addition, if we compare both the table no. 4 and 5, then we find that in 1918-19 the total literacy growth decreased though the numbers of administrative divisions in the state were increased. In both the tables, though we find that the number of schools for the girls remained same but the number of female students and their attendance were downwards in the later year. প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 104 Table 4 Educational account of the state Tripura (1914-15) Divisions Number of Schools No. of Students Average daily attendance of For boys For girls Tot al Boys Girl s Tota l Boys Girls Sadar 50 2 52 2095 174 2269 1511.6 3 82.73 Kailashahar 18 4 22 901 55 956 690.97 46.20 Sonamura 20 1 21 1029 39 1068 802.3 34.99 Belonia 13 1 14 699 23 722 569.85 14.89 Khowai 8 1 9 215 12 227 160.46 8.42 Dharmanag ar 16 1 17 555 48 603 419.06 32.01 Udaipur 11 2 13 241 35 276 167.42 21.11 Sabroom 6 0 6 189 11 200 157.10 7.80 Total 142 12 154 5924 397 6321 4478.6 2 249.15 Source: The Administration Report of Tripura State For the Years (189495,1914-15, 1918-19), Tribal Research & Cultural Institute, Government of Tripura, Agartala, 2004 Table 5 Educational account of the state Tripura (1918-19) Subdivision Number of Schools No. of Students Average daily attendance of For boys For girls Tot al Boys Girl s Tota l Boys Girls Sadar 51 2 53 1643 105 1748 1191.3 1 64.06 Kailashaha r 11 4 15 743 100 843 504.83 63.29 Sonamura 19 1 20 689 29 718 514.43 22.18 Belonia 10 1 11 517 23 540 351.5 14.07 Khowai 5 1 6 137 14 151 104.96 8.89 Dharmana gar 14 1 15 619 26 645 403.54 14.99 Udaipur 3 2 5 181 33 214 117.48 20.39 Sabroom 8 0 8 92 8 100 69.79 5.8 Amarpur 6 0 6 53 0 53 52.68 0 Kalyanpur 1 0 1 42 0 42 18.86 0 Total 128 12 140 4716 338 5054 3329.3 8 213.67 প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 105 Source: The Administration Report of Tripura State For the Years (189495,1914-15, 1918-19), Tribal Research & Cultural Institute, Government of Tripura, Agartala, 2004 However, the process of modernisation in Tripura continued and in that process of modernization, many schools including primary and secondary schools were established by the ruler of Tripura. In the year 1922(1332 T.E.) the number of schools were 168 and among them 152 schools were for the boys, while, the girls‟ schools remain the same. In the next ten years i.e. upto 1931-32, 56 nos. of new schools were established (Debvarma, 1997). A bold step had been taken by the royal administration in 1931-32 when compulsory primary education was introduced in Agartala, under the State Act 2 of 1932 and later it was decided to expand its scope upto the valley of Howrah and to the linked areas of the Subdivisional town (Menon, 1975). However, prior to her merger with the Indian union, Tripura had no facilities within her boundary for imparting collegiate education. The below table no. 6 depicts the number of primary schools from the year 1907 to 1946. Table No. 6. Number of Primary schools in Tripura from 1907 to 1946 Year Number of Schools Number of pupils 1907-08 137 4,011 1916-17 125 4,842 1926-27 139 4,215 1936-37 111 5,110 1943-46 123 5,115 Source: Tripura District Gazetteers, Government of Tripura, Agartala, 1975, p. 316. Therefore, as the number of schools was increased during the period, the literacy growth rate was also increased. However, table no. 7 shows that, the educated people in Tripura, from the year 1901 to 1941 were quite few in number and the number of female growth rate was quite insignificant. প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 106 Table No. 7. Literacy in Tripura during 1901 – 1941. Year Total % of literates Male Female 1901 2.5 4.5 0.2 1911 4.0 6.9 0.8 1921 8.2 14.3 1.1 1931 2.8 4.9 0.4 1941 7.9 12.7 2.5 Source: 1. Atish Chandra Choudhury, Census Report 1310 T.E. (1901 A.D.), Tribal Research Institute, Government of Tripura, Agartala, Reprint 1995, p. 16. 2. Thakhur Sri Somendrachandra Debvarma, 1340 T.E. Census Bibarani of Tripura (in Bengali), (Census Report of Tripura 1340 T.E.), Tribal Research Institute, Government of Tripura, Agartala, Re-print 1997, p. 60. 3. Census of India 1961, Vol. XXVI, Tripura, District Census Handbook, Section – I, C.R.Paul, Government of Tripura, Government Printing and Stationary Department, Agartala, 1964, p. 296. The number of English educated people in Tripura was quite a few but the trends were always upward (Table No. 8). In addition, it was only due to the immigration of English educated peoples from Bengal to Tripura. It is also evident that the Bengali Hindu people were much more English educated than the Bengali Muslim people in Tripura in the year 1931. "In the state 0.8% of people were English educated and among them 0.14% of male and 0.1 % of female were English educated. Among the Muslims 0.4% of people and among the Hindus 0.9% of people were English educated. Among the male, 0.17% were Hindu and 0.7% were Muslim English educated people." (Debvarma, 1997). Thus, we can affirm that the Bengali Hindu educated people migrated more than the Bengali Muslim educated people. Table No. 8 Number of English educated persons Year Number of English Educated persons 1901 324 1911 1208 1921 1707 1931 3087 প্রতিধ্বতি the Echo ISSN: 2278-5264 Volume-I Issue –I, July 2012 107 Source: Thakhur Sri Somendrachandra Debvarma, Census Bibarani of Tripura, 1340 T.E. (Bengali). Agartala: Tribal Research Institute, Government of Tripura, Re-print 1997, p.61. In the year 1946, prior to the State‟s accession to the Indian Union (15 th Oct, 1949) there were only 5 Lower Primary, 6 Middle and one High English school for girls in the state. Besides, 4 nos. of free primary schools were run on a co-educational basis at Agartala. The enrolment of girls‟ students in all the schools during the period was only 1026 (Menon, 1975). Hence, though the rulers of Tripura instigated several steps to make their state modern but due to her primitive character, static social ethics and patriarchal outlook, female education was in a setback. Female education among the tribes was never encouraged by the rulers except few steps taken by the female personalities of Royal House. Whatever developments we observe regarding female literacy growth rate from various sources were only due to Bengali female immigrants. Hence, from the female literacy growth rate in Tripura it become evident that in the first half of the 20 th century the educational infrastructure still remain in a primitive stage. References Bareh, H. (2007). Encyclopedia of North-East Vol. VIII Tripura. Delhi: Mittal Publications. Census of India 1961, Vol. XXVI, Tripura, District Census Handbook, Section – I, C.R.Paul, Government of Tripura, Government Printing and Stationary Department, Agartala, 1964. Choudhury, A. C. (Re-print 1995). Census Report 1310T/ T.E (1901 A.D.). Agartala: Tripura Tribal Research and Cultural Institute. Debvarma, T. S. (1997). Census Bibarani of Tripura, 1340 T.E. (Bengali). Agartala: Tribal Research Institute, Government of Tripura. Menon, K. D. (1975). Tripura District Gazetteers. Agartala, Tripura: Educational Publications, Department of Education, Government of Tripura. The Administration Report of Tripura State For the Years (1894-95,1914-15, 1918-19), Tribal Research & Cultural Institute, Government of Tripura, Agartala, 2004 The Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol. XIII. (1908). Oxford: Published under the authority of His Majestry's Secretary of State For India In Council.