EDUCATION IN KERALA, 1793-1947 29
Regional Disparity
Kerala was predominantly a primitive agrarian economy at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It continued to be so during almost the entire period under review. At the same time Malabar lagged far behind Travancore and Cochin in educational growth: among the factors which favoured the latter region,2 the following seem to be the more outstanding.
The existence of an economy of small peasant proprietors and tenants with substantial economic independence and sustained interest in the land8 acted as a dynamic force of socio-economic change including educational growth. The policy of land distribution initiated by the kings of Travancore and Cochin in the 1750s and pushed further by the paramount power's representative, the British Resident, in the second decade of the nineteenth century seems to have so much whetted the appetite of the peasants for greater security and improved terms of land tenure that public demand fjr the conferment of ownership rights on all classes of tenants grew stronger over the years. In Travancore landlordism and feudalism declined quite rapidly from the 1860s onwards;4 in Cochin rapid changes came about by the beginning of the present century.
Internal political conditions in the Travancore and Cochin regions were relatively peaceful except for a short period from 1793 to 1810. The efforts initiated by Colonel Munro the Resident-Dewan of the two regions during the early years of the 1820s for restoring internal political peace took the form of a series of socio-economic reforms including administration, trade, land distribution and education.5
Certain social reform policies of the early British period generated tensions during the early decades of the nineteenth century between the high-caste Hindus and the Christians, particularly those converted from the lower classes of the Hindu society. The favoured treatment that the Christians received from the early British officials led to differential growth rates of educational and employment opportunities. In course of time, there was an awakening among certain sections like Nairs (who, with martial traditions and socio-economic privileges were rapidly losing ground from the days of King Marthanda Varma in the eighteenth century) when they began to follow the educational and economic examples set by the Christians. Strong rivalries ensued which in turn had reverberations among socially backward sections who entered the fray not long after.6
The early attempts to create an India in the British image came to be concentrated in Travancore and Cochin where the endeavour seemed to them to be easy thanks to the existence of a ^numerous body of Christians'5. The strengthening of Christianity was seen as a means to the reinforcement of British power. This objective was sought to be realized by importing European missionaries and furnishing them with liberal grants in the form of lands, buildings, building materials and money for